✓THE SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS|| BakuDeku Au

Chapter Sixteen: Where You Go I Follow . . .

" —she called me. I don't know how she obtained my number but . . . well, Izuku she's in the hospital. She said she had been attempting to reach you all day but never could," he explained, a flicker of empathy for his friend washing onto his face before inevitably being replaced with his usual monotonous expression.

"Is—" he paused, unsure how to breathe. "—is she okay?" the questions felt wrong slipping off his tongue like it needed to hold more concern and affection. 

Whereas he sounded robotic.

Noticing this, Todoroki stares at the boy intently before slowly nodding his head. "The doctors said it was alcohol poisoning. She had a seizure at work . . . but they managed to help her before it became too fatal,"

Izuku blinked. Once. Twice. Auto-pilot had soon clicked on once more in his brain, plastering on a weak smile onto his face. He heard himself whisper a small okay and a thank you, though the actions never processed completely in his mind. Before he could stop himself, before he could regain a snippet of control, Izuku watched idly as his body began moving away from a confused Todoroki. 

He walked stiffly into the banquet hall, past bustling workers eagerly setting up and early-arriving guests who discussed business strategies. Right past Katsuki who gazed at Izuku with knitted brows.

An excuse, that was what Izuku had, an excuse to get away from it all. 

It didn't come as much as a surprise that his mother had done something so stupidly naïve such as getting alcohol poisoning. The notion seemed rather logical—which was the only thing surprising considering his state of mind. 

A shiver erupted through his spine, either from the cold air that nipped his skin as he opened the back door to go outside or from the warm hand firmly grasping his shoulder. His eyes slipped close and he shuddered, for that wasn't Todoroki. No, he recognized that blazing heat anywhere.

"Katsuki,"

The floor swayed underneath the gentle touch of Izuku's feet, barely holding him in place. 

Concern sunk its claws deep within Katsuki's core, each fragment desperately wanting to reach out and grab Izuku. Questions swirled through his mind, just as they did Izuku's. Albeit his questions were laced with unease for Izuku's current well-being.

"Hey," the elder whispered softly, tugging at Izuku's rigid shoulder. "You okay?"

Silence.

"Izuku, c'mon what is it—?"

"My mother's in this hospital," he interjected, again sounding robotic. "I have to go. I'm sorry,"

A sharp eyebrow slowly rose upward, Katsuki sputtered for words. "Wait I—what the fuck happened to her?" 

"Alcohol poisoning . . . again,"

Inhaling deeply with the sense that something else was wrong, Katsuki wraps an arm around the boy. Again, finding his body to go rigid as he touched him. "What else is it? I know something else is wrong . . . Is it all the cameras outside? Because if so I can find a way to get them to go away—"

Izuku shifts from under him. "Why does Ashido have pictures of me from when I was young?" he demands, eyes blank and unreadable. "Why does she have pictures of me and all of you guys when we were young?"

Fuck.

. . . Double fuck.

Triple fuck!

Katsuki released a shallow breath, one he was aware of holding yet never bothered to let go of. Hoping he would pass out and wake up—finding this all to be a dream. It wasn't supposed to happen like this . . . he was supposed to tell Izuku on his own accord, unrepairable and potential brain damage be damned. Fuck.