💥𝔸 𝔾𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕎𝕒𝕤 𝕆𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕍.𝟚💥𝔹𝕒𝕜𝕦𝔻𝕖𝕜𝕦

Chapter 5

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Steppingstones

Katsuki cradled Deku against him, clinging to the one person he swore he'd never care about, not understanding why this was so unbearably fucking painful. This wasn't him—this wasn't what he signed up for. Heroes don't crumble, don't feel the sting of weakness. But here he was, feeling like his fucking heart had been ripped out of his chest.

The only thing he ever cared about was his aggressive intuition to be the best, to be the number one hero. For Katsuki, people were nothing more than a means to an end—steppingstones to reach the top.

And then there was that one stubborn ass pebble, that somehow always ended up in his damn shoe—Deku. An annoying rock that stuck to him, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off. Katsuki despised him, wished he'd vanish. Hell, he even told him to go kill himself once. But the damn nerd never quit. Even going as far as to become All Might's successor to obtain OFA.

When Deku started outshining him, the resentment burned hotter than hell. But now, facing this devastation, that rage... the years of hatred fizzled out, leaving behind nothing but smoldering embers of pain. Katsuki's heart screamed in protest; a sensation so alien that it felt like someone was ripping him apart from the inside out.

The sting of tears blurred his vision, but he didn't care; all that mattered was the emptiness in Deku's eyes staring back at him, hauntingly vacant. The sobs wracked his entire body, each convulsion echoing the torment that gripped his heart. It was a guttural cry, a scream that tore through the darkness surrounding him. In that moment of weakness, he didn't care about the heroes around or the impending danger; all that mattered was the crushing pain of this loss.

In the hollowness of the moment, memories flashed before Katsuki's eyes—snippets of an innocent green-haired boy, fueled by dreams of becoming the next Symbol of Peace. The echoes of a younger boy's voice resonated in his mind, declaring with unwavering determination that he would surpass All Might and take the mantle of the number one hero and that he and Katsuki would stand together at the top of society. At the top of their world.

And now that dream slipped away into the void with him. The thought of Katsuki living on to take the title for himself, achieving the very dream that they both had held so dear, felt like a wrenching twist in his gut. The once burning desire to surpass everyone, especially Deku, now tasted like a acid.

And it was in there that he grasped the depth of how much he truly cared for Deku, the profound impact the nerd truly had on his life. Deku... no, Izuku wasn't just a pebble; he was a vital pillar in Katsuki's existence, one he damn well realized too late he never wanted to lose.

Katsuki, who never believed in anyone or anything, found himself silently praying for someone—anyone—to save Izuku.

And then, like the universe tuned in, a blue light flickered in his jeans pocket, causing him to stop abruptly. The shitty tracker was finally on. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as static buzzed through the earpiece, and Katsuki's desperate prayers seemed to have been answered. He carefully put Deku down and fumbled for the earpiece to communicate with the incoming help.

"Bakugo, we should be ri—" Ochako's voice crackled through but cut off abruptly as Katsuki roared into the earpiece, "HURRY THE FUCK UP, HE'S DYING!"

As if the heavens responded, dust began raining down. The lone light source flickered, then died, plunging him back into complete darkness.

"We're coming as fast as we can, but there's a lot of debris in our way," Teya's voice echoed through the earpiece. "We'll prep the med kit for when we get there," another male voice added, the static barely masking the urgency.