Nearing the end of part 3 :D
Patreon is on Part 4 rn, they're no longer crying, but I don't think they like me rn.
Thank you to everyone who shares this story. I want to get to 10 million reads as a form of closure when Opposites does end.
Reminder that Patreon has the first 21,000 words of Parallels, headcanons, one fun NSFW chapter from it, as well as all the art :)!
It's super fun to write hehe. Can't wait to see what you guys think of it. Are you gonna read Parallels when it's on Wattpad? Let me know any questions you have <3
***
Weeks in the Future
Atomic. Shigaraki spoke, laughing, spreading manic in the air already soiled with the prospect of violence.
Yes. The power answered, gazing over the scenery, loyalty in the way he slithered and latched himself atop Tenko's shoulders.
You understand why we're here?
Take Army. Atomic said, remembering word for word his orders, his teachings, his preparation. Take stronghold. The sound was music to Shigaraki's ears as they stared down at the city before them, at the center one of the most formidable opponents he and his league would ever face. Take power.
A smile spread on Shigaraki's lips below his father's hand. The crimson of his single eye that could witness the light atop reflective roofs shown with pride and peace. It seemed his quirk was not only learning its duties. It was becoming one with his intentions.
Do you know what power is, Atomic?
The literal definition, the way it was a certain force that could separate and relink atoms, yes. But in the far more inclusive sense that Tenko meant, no he did not.
Power is like money. Tenko began, crouched down on the ledge, Dabi, Toga, Compress, and Twice reading themselves with impatience. It's a currency. And those who are born with more than others usually take advantage of those who don't.
Atomic listened attentively. The quirk found priority in Tenko's teachings. You merely ordered, let him take in his own information and formulate what he could. For that, he could protect you, know what to do in certain situations, follow your orders.
But with Tenko, it was an entirely different dynamic. Rather than protector and host, it was a mutually enriching relationship in which neither quirk nor human had distinct dominance. It was equal. And Atomic found himself favoring the environment where he could become a better version of himself. A better protector for you and Tenko both.
Money and power, Tenko went on, feeling Atomic spread through the nerves in his palms and fingers. They have more in common than you'd think. They're just lies- both of them. They're made up. They just have value because people say it does. Money and power create greed enforced by heroes and their little society.
Crazed with the sheer anticipation of what was about to happen, the boy smirked, shaking he was so excited.
You'd talked to the police right? You had to, he understood. It was all the more motivation to attain his goal. To defeat all hero kind and save you from them as well. The quirk in his body, in his mind- it wasn't the only one evolving.
We need to take their lies, Atomic. He said, the colors of Deika city coming alive as he stood back up, ready to take it for himself. Heroes have been at the top of the food chain far too long. It's only natural. It's only necessary. Remember what I told you: Now... It's our turn.
***
"Where is your mind at?" Aizawa wasn't sure what to say. So he opted for a question he was actually curious about. The slow and steady sound of wheels rolling on concrete and the passing scenery wasn't enough of a distraction from the tension.
You sat directly at the other side of the car, head neatly poised straight above your shoulders, hands in your lap, focus elsewhere but reality. Whenever Shota turned slightly in your direction, took a glimpse you looked like a well kept corpse held up by puppet strings. Just... empty.
"That's a good question." You finally answered him, moving in a slightly more human way, rubbing the back of your neck and sighing with tiresome in the eyes.
You had a driver from UA in the front seat, taking you wherever All Might suggested. Somewhere he said might get you to remember more about your past. Ergo. Somewhere that would make you more useful to the hero commission and their endless goal to destroy your brother's life. Well, what else was fun to do on a saturday than that anyhow, right?
You had no idea where you were being taken. Aizawa didn't even know. He just came to be supportive. To make sure if things got out of hand he could reel you in, bring back the calm in that way he did so well.
Looking at you now though, his hand cupping his chin, elbow on the car door against the window, he barely recognized your spirit. If that anger and passion so characteristically a part of you had ever existed, it died along the way. He never thought he'd hope for it's return until he saw you now.
"You know how when people feel desperate, it can make them impulsive?" You asked, fumbling with your fingers in your lap, the void of color in your gaze telling Aizawa how in your head you were; just, not present. "It causes them to lash out or even do the inverse and hold onto whatever they can to stay afloat?"
"Yes," He replied, nodding his head.
"I feel desperate all the time." It was a casual admittance. One your teacher should've expected. Nonetheless it hurt him inside to know you were dealing with so much and he could do so little.
The light in you had been fading ever since the Hassaikai, ever since you found out about your family, about Tenko. Ever Since you felt torn between two worlds. So of course, you felt desperate.
"I feel like no matter what decisions I make- whether I follow my heart or my head- either way I lose something dear to me." Such candidness would've gotten you in trouble with annoying else. But Aizawa didn't judge nor become alarmed. He just sat in his seat, listening. Since it's all he could really do.
"It's paralyzing." You said, breathing it out, frustrated. "Everyone thinks I'm depressed, but I'm not. I'm not doing nothing, being nothing because I'm depressed- I'm staying put, I'm living in the paralysis, doing nothing, because I don't want to risk what happens if I take even a step forward in any direction."
The heavy inhale you took after that confession might've been one you'd been waiting to take for weeks. You might've been thinking about Bakugo, Tenko, Shoto, anyone dear to you in that moment. Either way, there were tears welling at your waterline, your emptiness ceasing to bring light to that desperation.
You let out a chuckle, Aizawa keeping a straight face. He couldn't bear to show how broken you made him feel talking that way about yourself. Because how desperate must've he felt to not be able to do anything.
"Where's my mind at?" You repeated, wiping your face with your sleeve, nodding with a great big fake smile, welcoming the chaos. "Good question."
Maybe it's scattered about every place I ever lost my sanity, you thought and honestly it was as good an explanation as any.
Aizawa sighed again, stopped holding his breath as he drew a hand through his hair. Teenagers were complicated enough, but you? God, what a shitshow and it wasn't even your fault! The car slowed down as it took a turn and he feared you might be nearing your destination soon. Swallowing, he summoned the courage to actually respond and give you some hope. Some shred of light to shine through that awful feeling tucked away in your bones.
"If this is a decision you have to make alone, then you have to remember;" He said, looking you in the eye, forcing you to believe him. "Whatever happens, the people who really care about you always will. No matter which path you take."
It helped to hear that. It helped to see the black and red of his irises shine with the genuine thought. Hell, it even helped that he opened his mouth and said anything at all rather than just ignore you like the rest of the world surely would.
To everyone else, including Katsuki, it was a sin to sympathize with a villain of any kind. So hearing Aizawa say that despite knowing your heritage it just... it helped to hear that.
"Hey Mr. Aizawa," You called, the car coming to a halt as it parked alongside a curb. "I'm sorry for being such a dick to you sometimes. As far as fathers go, you're the only one I can truly say I'm thankful for."
The man scoffed at your comment, smiling slightly, and shaking his head. At least, you still had some of your fire. Some of you shining past in little moments like that. Patting your head playfully, your teacher opened the door, exited promptly, walked to your side to open yours.
"We're here."
When you got out of the car, the scenery nearly stopped your heart.
Faded yellow crime tape ruffled in the gentle breeze. Behind it's forbidden barrier, there laid the ruins of a house turned to rubble, the ground and earth surrounding dug apart as if subject to an earthquake. It was all grey, lifeless, a wreckage probably a decade old. But you knew instantly what this was.
It was the house you grew up in as Shimura.
***
The Christmas party didn't take place on Christmas day. It took place weeks before so everyone could go home to their families during the holiday. But Katsuki didn't want to go home.
It felt like ages gone since that party even if it only transpired a few days ago. Katsuki often thought about it anyhow. Lying down in the common room, his earbuds in, only a few souls passing through in the gentle Saturday afternoon, the boy lived in those memories.
"Ya know, a gentleman would wear whatever festive attire his friends' requested," You said, raising both brows once, smirking with teasing.
"I'm not wearing a fuckin Christmas hat."
"Oh the hat is obligatory, I meant the coat." You said, pointing to the red and white attire Mina and Denki had desperately been trying to force onto the boy's shoulders.
"The hell would I wear that shit for?"
"Mm, I don't know," You cooed, edging closer to him, elbows propped up on your knees, lips pursing at him, "It's kinda sexy."
"You have a santa kink now?"
"Well, he is a good father figure and you already know my history."
"Weirdo."
The laughter gently shaking your chest made a smile blossom on Katsuki's lips. The coldness of your distance dissipated so easily when you remained close like that, sitting together surrounded by others.
And the conversation itself was a distraction. A funny sort of intermittence to get his posture to loosen, his body to sit back into the couch rather than stay stringent and tense. Even if he knew, he still appreciated the gesture. He appreciated your hair brushing his face when you turned your head, the sweet, strawberry shortcake smell of your breath, the easy color of your eyes.
Yeah, there wasn't much room to sit, but this warm proximity more than sated him. It created a want more he hadn't felt around you. A want to hold you close against him and kiss your temple, thumb coursing back and forth over your skin.
When you put that coat on his shoulders, patting it down with ease, adorning him in that ugly outfit, he didn't even protest. Your lips met his cheek chastly in afterthought, whispering leaving them promptly after, "For our friends, okay?"
He eyed you with both suspicion and admiration then. You looked so beautiful, yet so exhausted. Half overjoyed by the party, half drained by your own torments. Was that half that seemed so happy to be at his side, so touchy and teasing and temperate- was it real, or-
"Is that why you're wearing that smile?" He asked, no judgement in his voice, just curiosity. "For our friends?"
It took you a moment to understand. You cocked your head to the side, furrowed your brows because it dawned on you he was just insecure. And why wouldn't he be after the fight you had at his house. After the training against 1B. After the walk in the woods where it took you ages to answer a question he hoped to god you could answer without hesitation.
"No." You said, shaking your head. "I'm smiling because of you. For real. A-and I'm sorry I was a bitch the other day-"
"You weren't." Katsuki said, taking your hand tucking it under his arm, keeping it close to him as if it were a candle to warm his cold body. "You were upset about the phone and I shouldn't have lied-"
"But I shouldn't have fallen apart on you like that, I'm sorry," You added, a tinge of hurt crawling through his chest.
"You mean like I did?" He went on, eyes glossy behind their ever-strong persona. Flashes of his frail, beaten soul falling to the ground in tears, unaccepting of the guilt your death brought stung in his and your mind alike. Even the recent memories of coaxing him back to health, of bringing him back to reality with you didn't exactly relax the tension.
"We're such messes you and I," You whispered, sighing out a sorrowful breath, wishing it were appropriate to kiss him on the lips even with everyone in the room.
Of course, Katsuki didn't care all that much. Long gone were his fears he'd be perceived as weak for being with you. And so, whenever he felt your relationship going through trudges and hard times such as these, no matter who was around he did what he felt was right.
Grabbing your downturn chin between thumb and forefinger, the boy pushed it upward till his mouth met yours with nothing but tenderness. The kiss shut both your eyes for a brief moment, but the act alone was enough. Like the earlier conversation, it's purpose was to let you know everything was okay. But it was as much for him as you.
"No matter what," Katsuki whispered, letting the glow of colored lights illuminate your face, the casted shadows just as easy to fall into. He blinked once, slowly, let his gaze flicker about your features till it met yours. "I still love you too, got it Headset?"
And somehow, to Katsuki's surprise, it was him who caused a blossoming smile on your lips next...
He opened his eyes to a much different scene. Rather than string lights and the hum of everyone's company, there was only the white noise of the AC, his music stopped to halt. There was only the boring atmosphere of a near empty common room for him to meet as he left his warmer memory behind.
Katsuki sat up on the couch, his neck sore and eye bags heavy. Groaning, he cracked and popped the bones in his hands and back, turning his hips till his feet landed on the floor.
It was then, he realized, stuck in his perpetual state of longing, Todoroki was sitting there too; on a neighboring couch, reading through something.
"Hello," He spoke, blinking at Katsuki for a moment, gaging his mood.
"Mm," The boy nodded his head back at him.
It was easy to see how down he was, so Shoto indulged him in conversation for a while. Even if Bakugo would never admit it, he was kind of thankful for it. Distraction is more than welcome when you're stuck in your own relationship's limbo. Especially one where you realized you rely far too much on the person than you thought.
Shoto asked him about training, about his plans for his next internships. Him and Deku already agreed to go to Endeavor's in the coming week. Such would be a refreshing start after working so hard to get his provisional license.
They each talked some more about boring things, but at the very least small talk was easier to handle than thinking anymore about you. You were with Aizawa and All Might somewhere. That meant you'd come home like you did every time you met with the hero commission.
Just- pissed off. Needing to let loose some frustration. Probably in the mood to have another altercation with your lover because your morals were so un-aligned now that even he was getting pissed with every new conversation.
"Do you ever feel like you're losing her?" Katsuki asked once there was a lull in conversation between him and Shoto. Todoroki gazed up at him, not understanding till Katsuki clarified. "She's got another sibling now. One she obviously feels at least half loyal to. Does that ever make you feel... disconnected?"
Shoto thought about it for a moment, but very honestly-
"No." He said, shaking his head, elaborating, "I learned at the sport's festival from my past mistakes. She's her own person with her own thoughts and feelings which makes her as unpredictable as anyone. But I trust her. That's the only part that really matters. I trust her and I trust no matter what she does or where she goes, she'll come back to me as my sister."
Well he wasn't certainly expecting such a mature answer from icy hot. Let alone one that made so much sense from his perspective. I mean, Todoroki was never the best at articulating himself.
On the flip side, Katsuki thought, you'd probably never told him you were willing to kill people. Willing to let people die. That's where he drew the line. That's where he began to feel you weren't the person he once knew crying in Camino ward out of sheer sorrow for the deaths of those she didn't even know.
"I wish I trusted that she wouldn't leave me the way you do," Katsuki admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, eyes now void of color.
"If she ever does," Shoto said, reaching out as any friend would. "Don't think it's because she doesn't love you."
"I know she loves me," Katsuki replied, lying back into the couch again, distraught and wishing he could just give up at the same time. "But read some history books would ya? Love doesn't do much for people in the end. And I'm only just now realizing how fragile ours really is."
It was then a certain question popped into Shoto's mind. One he wasn't sure he had the right to ask, nor how to take whatever answer Bakugo gave him.
"Are you going to leave her?"
The memory of your lips and your laughter and your smile made a single tear fall down Katsuki's cheek. The memory of your violence and your tears and your ruthlessness made another follow. So what could he do, but tell the truth?
"...I don't know."