Veridesent [Vigilante Izuku]

Chapter 6

| Chapter 6 - A Fri-END-ship |

————

Once at the ice cream parlor, they both got a flavor that they'd liked (Bakugou got mint and chip because mint flavored is like spicy-sweet in a weird way and Midoriya got banana because he likes fruit-flavored ice cream) and ate it as they walked to the park nearby. Inko smiled at the two, knowing that although they were different, they were still her children.

Izuku pretended not to notice as Bakugou kept staring at his cast but none the less they kept walking, finally making it to the park.

Bakugou took ahold of Izuku's good arm and yelled out that he was gonna steal him before running into the mess of trees; he wanted to talk to him in private. Inko thought nothing of it and relaxed at a bench nearby, deciding to look through the books Eva gave her and what Izuku would be learning from them.

Katsuki and Izuku walked through the trees until they ended up at their secluded little spot, one that not even the others knew about. They had planned to make a treehouse there when they got older, but for now, it was just an empty spot with a big tree. They sat down at the blanket placed from many visits before and made small talk, about their moms and about heroes. Then Katsuki asked the question.

"Hey Deku.. what's up with the cast? You fall or something?" He tried not to sound too concerned but he really wanted to know why Deku was bandaged up.

"Ah, I uh, It's uh.. because of my quirk.. or uh.. because I don't... Uhm..."

At this, Katsuki sat up. Deku got his quirk?

"Alright, what's your quirk then? And how'd you manage to hurt yourself with it, ya Deku!"

Izuku flinched at that, but Katsuki didn't notice, he just leaned closer, wanting to know his quirk.

"Ka.. Kacchan.. I don't.. I.."

Izuku stood up and took a few steps back, looking straight at the ground not wanting to see Kacchan's reaction when he said it.

"Kacchan I'm... I'm quirkless.. I-I'm sorry.."

His eyes were brimming with tears as Katsuki paused. Quirkless?

He racked his mind for an explanation but only found that quirkless equaled bad and Deku being quirkless was wrong.

"Please don't hurt me."

At the small whimper, Katsuki shot up, not knowing what he was doing.

"Quirkless, you really are a weak Deku huh?"

His feet moved without him thinking and he stood in front of Izuku, grabbing his bad arm and lifting it a bit, ignoring how the boy winced at the touch.

"Look how weak you are, no quirk and already a broken arm, that's pathetic."

Izuku tried to pull his arm away but he couldn't. His arm was weak, he was weak.

"Kacchan... It's not broken, I-I. It-"

"Shut up Deku! You stupid weakling! What can you do, cry about it? You can't do anything."

"Please Kacch- Kacchan, it hurts, let go!" He tried pulling it once more but Bakugou was relentless.

"I said Shut Up!"

and then it happened.

Bakugou didn't mean to, he still had no control of his quirk.

And yet

He tried to move his hand before it happened, but he didn't know it would happen.

And yet

Katsuki didn't want to hurt Deku, he just wanted him to stop crying.

And yet

Katsuki Bakugou had used his quirk against his only true friend. And on his hurt arm too. The boy let out a scream before running off towards the park, to his mom, and most likely back to the hospital, leaving Bakugou there to think about what he did.

He just attacked Deku, and he didn't even apologize. He didn't go with him or help him, he just insulted and injured him. And the worst part, he didn't feel particularly bad about it.

Sure, he hurt his friend, if he could call him that, but he was quirkless. Everyone said quirkless was a bad thing and so he thought so too. He didn't think what he did was bad, and that was worse. He cursed the incident and left too, heading back home to never return to that spot nor the memory. If he thought too much about it, he would eventually feel bad and he didn't want to, so he didn't.

The whole way back home, he only thought of what to do afterward when he saw him in school in a few days, but little did he know that was the last time he'd see Izuku Midoriya for a while.

------------

When Inko heard screaming, she thought nothing of it, as there were multiple children screaming on the playground. But it got louder and sounded more and more familiar, and painful. She put the books back into the bag and looked around, not seeing anything until she looked towards where Izuku and Katsuki ran off.

Izuku was running back, but Katsuki was nowhere near. Then she saw the burnt cast and the fear mixed with pain on her son's face.

At first, she thought it might have been Hisashi, but Izuku would have been dead if it were. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized what must have happened.

Katsuki did this.

She wanted to wait for him to come after Izuku but she couldn't. She felt bad but Izuku was hurt and she doesn't think she could face him. She didn't think he'd be able to face her either.

So running off once more to the hospital, she called Mitsuki to let her know Bakugou was still at the park and cried for her son as she ran. He was just a kid, he didn't deserve this. He couldn't live this way. They couldn't live like this. Not anymore.

...

Once again in the hospital bed, Izuku was being treated for his burns, and Inko was blaming herself. Evvanya wasn't working at this time but she was on her way the minute Inko called her. She couldn't be grateful enough for that woman.

Sighing, Inko watched the rise and fall of her son's chest, afraid if she looked away for a minute more he would be hurt again. She couldn't do this.

She couldn't keep failing him. She needed to keep him safe but she didn't know how to do that. She looked towards the bag full of languages and words she didn't know and decided that this was the way she could help him. This was how he could protect himself.

Sure, he didn't have a quirk but he had a mother who would do anything in the world for him. She believed he could be a hero with or without a quirk, and with or without magic, but she would feel a lot safer if he had more ways to protect and defend himself out there.

Her baby was going to be a witch, warlock, wizard, whatever the term was. But he was also going to be a hero. Of course, that was if he chose to, but she knew he would.

She just had to wait until he woke up.

------------

HHhhh Hello once again, thank you for reading! This chapter seems a bit fast-paced so I apologize for that, I just really want to get to the main storyline, or at least to the "magical" parts of it. I'm sure this is a bit boring for some of you so thank you for putting up with me, just a bit longer I promise! Hope you enjoyed it anyways and until next time! :)

-V