𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐧 | b.k.

Chapter Twenty-Four

24.
Chapter Twenty-Four : Debt

50-odd years ago, the people of Mighty River were given permission to live on the land. They could make up their little settlement and they could raise their cattle. They could settle down and start their families. They could do all of this and more as long as they paid their debt when the time came.

Most of the people from the original settlement have died and moved on, but there's a few that have lingered. It will be Katsuki's job to pay the debt for them.

—

A few weeks later...

The fire has only gotten worse. It's bigger and it's hotter, and Katsuki has nearly lost himself to it. He is one with the fire, and it's something he has learned to accept.

He lives his day-to-day accepting that he's being burned from the inside out and he lives his-day-to-day knowing that Y/n and Izuku will be married in two weeks time. These are things he can not change. He can only work and hope that eventually, he'll succumb to the stress that comes with his job.

Sadly, the fire would overwhelm him before then.

Tonight he doesn't go home like he usually does after his shift. No, instead he rides through town to the home he had become so familiar with. The home belonging to his girl.

Before he begin his rise up her driveway, that familiar Englishman appears. He appears with the gust of the wind, and he's snickering.

"You're pathetic." He scoffs, is accent thick.

Katsuki is shocked, but he doesn't have the energy to fight him. Yes, he is pathetic. God what am I doing? He asks himself, glancing up at the house. It's dark. He can't see inside. He can't see anyone, but something tells him that Y/n and Izuku are together. A nasty feeling settles in his stomach. That's supposed to be him.

"Let's make a new deal, kid." The man proposes, grabbing his attention.

"What do you want?"

The Englishman clicks his tongue and takes a step closer to the man. "I want you to kill the rest of the Original Five. Two of them have moved on, but three remain. You know who I'm talking about so don't play dumb." He rolls his eyes, "Once you've succeeded, you can kill that boy—the one that lays with your lover." He sighs.

Katsuki's eyes widen, but without a second thought he agrees. Before he takes off, the Englishman says one more thing. "Fire, boy. Use the fire."

And with that, he tilts his head to the man and swiftly turns his horse around to ride back into town.

He's got someone to kill.

Katsuki stares into the house belonging to his role-model. His jaw clenches and he can feel his fists ball up at his sides. That fire—the one that man told him to use—is alive and well within his veins.

Part of him wants to leave Toshinori alone. He didn't do anything. He's just an old man living on the land he found. Another part of him—the one keeping that fire burning—is insisting he finish this new job because when he's done, Y/n will be in his arms. That's enough to make him walk up the lane to Toshinori's small house.

Toshinori no longer lives at the small jailhouse. No, he lives in a small little house on the outskirts of town. He lives alone, as far as Katsuki knows. He doesn't own any cattle or anything so he requires no farmhand. He is old, but he refuses the help of anyone who isn't a doctor. Toshinori is alone.

Which is perfect. The blond finds himself thinking. Nobody will heed witness to his crime.

Katsuki goes to open the front door, but when the wood creaks he stops. Those man's words ring through his ears. "Use the fire." He said. Albeit a little confused, Katsuki pushes himself forward and into Toshinori's house. It's just as small on the inside as it is on the outside. It's one room, his bed in the far corner with the frail old man laying soundly asleep. There's a rifle right beside his bed—within reaching distance of his hand—but Katsuki doesn't stop. Toshinori would be too slow.

Curiously, Katsuki locates that fire within his veins and he ignites it. Using the anger he feels for the loss of Y/n and the fact that she chose Izuku over him, he sets it ablaze and it's a lot more surprising than he would've imagined.

Within seconds, his body is lost in a blaze of fire. He watches the flesh stretched across his hands burn away to reveal the ivory bones that make up his hands. It stung—the feeling of his skin and muscle burning away. That feeling took place everywhere. He could tell the skin on his face melt away and the hair on his head catch fire. That fire does not leave. No, it replaces his very skin and the hair on his head. To his utter shock, his clothes remain in place. They look a little black, but they do not burn. He looks like the embodiment of Hell.

The light provided by his hellish fire dances on the four walls that make up Toshinori's home, and they flicker against his small body, effectively waking him up. The old man sits up tall in his bed and slowly reaches for his rifle. Curiosity, he furrowed his eyebrows.

Without a word, Katsuki reaches for the curtains hanging in front of the single window to his right. Rather quickly, the fire crawls up the fabric and spreads to the wooden wall. The fire is quick and it is ruthless.

Toshinori watches with wide eyes as it spreads, grabbing at every grain in the wood and setting the room ablaze.

"What... What's going on?!" The old man yells over the sound of his home burning.

Katsuki hums, taking a step closer to the old man. He should at least know what's going on, shouldn't he?

"Your debt." He spits, "I'm collecting your debt."

And all at once, as Toshinori's face twists into one of recognition, his house collapsed in on itself.