There's some distant muttering she can hear, she shouldn't be hearing anything after she led herself to her doom, it feels like a fever dream when she opens her eyes, she can't make sense of things and they're so familiar her heartbeat picks up, she can't be back to the place she's escaped in the world, she's not supposed to be drawing a strained breath, she's not supposed to be here again.
She's not dead.
She can truly hear someone talk, but they are far and the voice of her bully is within earshot, he's talking to someone and she doesn't know who.
She's gotta try her best again.
Gently plucking the syringe out of her hand, she looks at her bruised hands, no longer clean as she remembers, they're not the same... And she's not the same, she can not run when she cannot sit up without a scream or two, puffing out air from her mouth she pulled up her shirt, just to see bandages covering her waist, she couldn't resist her heightened emotions and soon, tears gathered in her eyes.
Her faint groaning had gained the attention of the blonde, seeing the two detectives off, who managed to hear her as well spoke up, "Your fiance must be up." Cameron tried to look behind him, but the man simply hummed and hurried to change the subject.
She did not have the energy to sit up.
Trying to leave her bully had become physically taxing, she'd had to come to terms with having a scar for everything she did, if she wanted to leave, putting her well-being aside was essential. Or else, she'd have no chance of seeing her parents again.
Everything she's going to do will have a price, she realized, and desperation will fuel her.
"Yeah, yeah alright, just go home to your wives already, I have my fiance to take care of." katsuki urged, moving back from the door.
"I'll have you know I'm not married yet!"
The door slammed back into its place and the lock settled in, whoever had come was no longer around and that leaves her alone with her bully again, how many more incidents are to occur till she was finally set free?
Her injuries will slow her down, and it does as she slowly lies down, relieving her pain with anxious thoughts and shut eyes. Lucky for her, he moves into the kitchen and allows her some mental space to think. Darting her eyes across the room she's come to hate, no sharp objects or anything left in the room that she could use. There's a chair beside her, and she is sure he's been watching her sleep.
She needs to get her hands on a phone. His phone could do the trick if only he'd leave it around her, and her reaction time will be slower and she'll get caught before she calls anyone.
There's a slight ruckus coming from outside her room, and neither can she hide or defend herself, she could only hope to talk her way through problems.
She's done a grave mistake.
She should have thought through her options.
She bit her lips tight and glanced at the open door, something so odd about it that she couldn't direct her gaze elsewhere, perhaps seeing closed doors unlocked had gotten strange, and if she could bolt for it, she could still escape.
The pain won't let her, at least for the time being. Forced to retreat and strategize for a better chance, and she'd take it, her first cannot be her last. She's gotta keep trying, like izuku.
"Why are you crying?" she knew he was coming, his footsteps had only gotten louder, and she couldn't be bothered to swallow down her tears.
"Maybe because you saved me." she choked out, bringing her hand up to wipe her cheek, "I should have been out of this house, and never had to see you."
He silently approached her bed and plopped down the chair, a hot bowl of soup in the tray he held, and eyes glued to her while he softly smiles, "Don't you ought to be grateful that you are drawing breath? The shit I went through for you wasn't easy, so how about we appreciate each other, hmm? Don't want to start anew with a fight, right?"
"Other times, I would have been. But, it's not like you ever gave me space or much choice."
"If you would have considered mine, I would have considered yours." he was quick to retort, voice latched with irritation and doing a poor job at hiding it, not that he's been good at it.
She silently laughed upon hearing, shaking her head as if she had paid attention to the most outlandish thing. And questioning why did she ever try to talk it out like a decent human being?
"That's rich coming from you."
He stopped, eyes narrowed down and he furrowed his eyebrows, dropping the spoon back into the bowl, he glared up at her. His knuckles were slightly white, and clear signs of anger had manifested on his face.
Taking her eyes off him meant she was giving up and regretting what she said, so she didn't, staring into his soul remaining motionless and stiff.
"You really ought to keep tabs on your anger. You haven't been improving," she uttered firmly and recreating one of his old habits of wearing a mocking smile whenever he wanted an ego boost.
"Well, I mean I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up killing me during your blind rage, I think I would appreciate that-"
It had taken two comments for him to snap, a second to stand up and throw down the tray with all his might and rage, all done with an abrupt stoic face. Storming out the door and slamming it loud and clear for nobody in the house to hear, except her.
This wasn't the first time he had door-slammed nor would it be the last.
She sat staring at the door, despite not wanting to admit it, his sudden action had given her a shock, and triggered her fight or flight response, making her heart pound and think he was about to hit her.
Thankfully, that never happened and she wouldn't wish for it. Never would.
Tracing her eyes back to the window, she remembered how many times she's done that, just looking at the cloudy glass allowing filtered light to fill in her dreaded place, the soft tranquility was almost surreal after thinking about her predicament. How her setting doesn't match the fear she's feeling inside.
And, how it oddly reminded her of things that would happen after class in school.
She's got nothing to do but wait for her injuries to heal, and put up with him again. Trying to understand him was a fool's errand she wasn't willing to take, but there were not enough options given how limited her resources are, and how further down her disadvantages go after making a reckless mistake.
She can't forgive herself for being so idiotic.
She signs, lips frowning deeper as she looks back to the door and down to the floor, observing the spilled contents spattered across the white marble flooring, chicken soup she presumes she's led him to waste, but what can she do crying over destroyed milk?
She's not that hungry.
--
"Hey- um hi, I was going to meet up with kacchan today, you wanna come with me Kirishima?" izuku spoke into his phone while he adjusted his tie, looking over to the mirror to take in his appearance and slightly brushing through his hair with his fingers. Appearing nervous and fidgety as the conversation went on.
"I promise I won't tell him you told me his address, I was just thinking if we all went instead of just me, it wouldn't be that suspicious, you know?" he started pacing around his office, saying, "It's not like kacchan's grown any fond of me, he doesn't like me that much and well, if he knows anything about her and if it is her he's marrying, we could try to confirm without asking."
Izuku sighs after hearing the next response, tilting his head, and he continued, "I tried asking him already, but it didn't go well, he blew up on me and hang up, I don't think that same method will work."
"Look, Kirishima I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come and help me with dealing with kacchan, he's your friend and I'm not if there's anything he wants to tell, he would tell you."
"I don't want him to think I'm suspecting him. Our friendship is already frayed enough." his shoulder shrank down but listened to his classmate nonetheless.
"You'll bring along Kaminari?"
"Alright, what's the plan?" The ride to their friend's house had already begun, with Kirishima in the front seat and izuku in the back, Kaminari bringing their attention to him as he handled the stirring wheel, looking over to see if they had any intentions to spill the details.
"What plan?" Kirishima muttered.
"Ohoh okay- you expect me to believe to go to bakubros house without any reason? The dude's not social, and it feels like we are walking into a lion's den, you feel me?"
"We're just going to meet up with kacchan, make a surprise visit, and hopefully ask where he's been, plus we haven't seen him for some time." izuku voted to answer instead, leaning over to the two and staring at the road.
"Oh yeah, I haven't seen him around the city either, he's on a break I'm assuming, but I think I heard some pros saying he took an injured woman to a hospital."
"What did she look like?" Izuku perked up looking at the driver with intent, "How should I know? I wasn't there." Kaminari then proceeded to eye the two suspiciously, furrowing his eyebrows as though he were attempting to see their purpose.
"Are you two on a secret mission or something? Looking for the missing person on posters you found in the streets?"
"No! No! Nothing like that!" izuku exclaimed.
"You guys aren't convincing me. Also, Kirishima is quieter than usual you expect me to believe that, he can't keep his mouth shut!"
"Hey! I was just thinking!" protected Kirishima, frowning and bending his head to the window, "Yeah... Okay, I do not believe you guys."
Izuku sat still for a second, observing the calm area they were passing by, scenic views of goliath trees and natural life forms, desolated from the rest of the city and from far ahead, no sign of people, just eerie and motionless peace.
Even in broad daylight, it had the sensation of an abandoned town.
Hating to acknowledge it to himself, a perfect place for many things to come, good and bad.
"We think kacchan might be getting married."
Izuku was pouring fuel into the fire but, didn't care to stop himself from disclosing more. "But we are not too sure so we can't mention anything about it, not even say anything remotely related to it, kacchan is smart and it's likely he won't tell us anything."
"Oh!! So are we going to find out for ourselves huh? I like that idea!! And you two were keeping this a secret from me?!"
"Not just you, everyone but don't go around telling anyone!" Kirishima butted in, brought out of his thoughts and into the present. Eyes opened wide with an underlying coating of fear, which went unnoticed.
"Ohoh! I won't! Bakubro getting married way before us man! I'm kinda jealous! But I'm not too surprised, he was one step ahead of us all the time!" he chuckled, although he seemed happy to receive the news, his other two friends had glum faces.
"Yeah..." Kirishima mumbled, resting his forehead against the window and staring out, slouching his shoulders and keeping himself out of the conversation.
"Hmm, you guys are still acting weird though."
"Guess it's a shock!" izuku tried to de-escalate with an agitated laugh and straining his smile, "kacchan also moved out of his old apartment all of a sudden, don't you think that's strange? At least he didn't tell us."
"Well, not like he's ever told us much but it is strange I guess, though, I suppose we could dig out some information now." kaminari mischievously chuckled, grinning while he drove.
"Yup, remember to keep it secret!"
"Yeah don't worry about it! I got this!"
By the time they reached it, the sun had started going down, giving the house an almost dreamy glow, izuku got out of the car and looked at their destination, though nothing stuck out like a sore thumb it made his chest ache. Like most crime scenes he's had to face, there's always some sort of gut-wrenching sensation in the stomach.
"I know he changed houses, but man look at that beauty in the middle of nowhere!" Kaminari ogled and whistled, stepping away from his group to admire the place.
"He has temper issues but got good taste, is that a plus or just nah?"
"Hey, knock it off don't you want to surprise him?" Kirishima weakly grinned and wrapped his arm around his yellow-haired friend. "You're right."
"So who's gonna knock on the lion's den?" he joked, whispering so that they can't be heard while they climbed up the stairs and to the entrance, "It's gotta be you since you are ahead of us," Kirishima answered.
"Yeah, I knew you guys were gonna do this to me."
Stopping in front of the door, kaminari knocked on it and earned a look from his friend, "You could have just used the doorbell instead." Kirishima said, "Let's first see if he lets us in or not." he replied with a scowl, folding his arms and waiting for the blonde to show himself.
Which didn't happen.
"You think he's not home?"
"Use the doorbell." izuku suggested, being the last one in the group.
"Right." he did what was told and the sound rang inside the house, and the three stiffly stood by. "He sure is taking a long time to respond to us."
"Yeah, I don't think he is letting us in."
To his surprise, Katsuki opened the door and glared at them, holding the gapped door, he growled, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Hey, bakubro! No long no see!"
"What do you want and why is Deku here?" Katsuki ignored kaminari's greeting and settled his gaze on the green-haired man standing behind the two. His unwelcoming expression they had gotten used to seeing all the time during high school, seemed a bit out of place.
"We came to see you man, you haven't been working for a while so we thought we'd come by to see if you were fine!" Kirishima smiled, directing his red eyes to himself he hoped for a positive outcome.
"And can we come inside? I drove them here for 2 hours!" kaminari added.
Katsuki didn't seem certain but leaned back from the door and reluctantly opened it, "You idiots better not touch anything." he warned, "Bakubro! Chillax we are just here for you!" kaminari cooed.
Izuku and katsuki shared a brief look. Instantly feeling like he was going to be watched, izuku kept close to his friends and looked around the inside. Landing on one of the rooms near the entrance, then to the few decorations on the walls. Black and White paintings add a unique touch. He noticed how clean it was. And how katsuki didn't bother to lock the front exit.
"Nice place you got here!" The four of them walked straight inside, and the long corridor led to the main hall, with the main attraction being shattered. There were many other rooms along the way, all doorways connected, similar to a maze.
"Yeah man, anyway... How are you doing?"
"The hell do you mean by that? I'm fine, you idiots don't need to worry about me," he answered in a hostile tone, for some reason, izuku noted how on-guard his friend was. Mildly more irritated than his usual grumpy self.
"Geez, good to see you haven't changed much."
"Woah!" The three stopped at the sight of the large broken window, Kirishima first one to ask, "what happened here?"
"Just some pity thief trying to rile me up," Katsuki responded, standing behind the three and observing their expression.
"You mean someone tried to break in?"
"Were you robbed in your own house?! That's huge!"
"Shut up!! I wasn't home!"
Izuku watched them bicker, eyes drawing back to the one room he was curious about, but it felt like he was walking on thin ice the moment he took a step inside.
"Hey umm... Maybe we should go out and have dinner together!" izuku suddenly proposed the idea, hoping it would give him some sort of clue, "Yeah!! I like that idea and bakugo is paying!!"
"The hell? I'm not, you can pay for yourself! I have better things to do."
"Are you busy today kacchan? How about tomorrow?" katsuki looked at him, with a blank expression. Catching onto what izuku was trying, trying to get an answer.
"Yeah, I'm busy," he says sarcastically.
"Then what about the day after tomorrow?" izuku pressed on.
"Still busy, why would I want to eat with you losers?"
"But you haven't been showing up to work." izuku uttered, putting a full stop to Katsuki's dismissive intentions, but only for a brief moment before he smiled and chortled, "Yeah as if you'll see me when you're sleeping. You guys don't do late duty, remember?"
"Kacchan... are you hiding something?"
Kaminari and Kirishima stood idly beside one another anxiously watching the tense scene unfold and the safe ambiance had dimmed, "H-hey, you guys maybe not fight when we just got here..." The redhead bravely interrupted, smiling wide and moving an inch closer.
While Kastuki's eyes stared at izuku's face, and when he looked down his fists were clenched. "If this is about her, then kindly shut up and out of my house." he threatened with a smirking grin.
"So you are not denying anything?" izuku countered.
"The fuck should I deny? You are just jealous for no fucking reason and I want these absolute nobodies to stop questioning me and move on with their goddamn life!!" he moved closer, face to face with izuku and ready to tear down whatever he has going for him.
"So was it you who went those shitheads after me?" he continues, "because I sure didn't enjoy it, and if my reputation goes down because of you, I'll bring you down with me as well."
"Kacchan, you are getting worked up for no reason, I didn't even say anything?" izuku blinked his eyes, "but since you are getting stressed over nothing, let's talk about her because she is missing and I want to find her and help her."
Katsuki stopped breathing, bloodshot eyes wide and peeled open and he clenched his trembling fist heaving out a heavy breath and then, chaos broke loose. Swinging a punch at his friend's face, he quickly threw another, but unfortunately for him, izuku had blocked it.
"You better shut your mouth before I beat you up so bad you'll be unrecognizable!!" Katsuki shouted and tackled izuku to the ground, immediately hurling a series of punches while yelling incomplete sentences, "You should have just- bastard I'll fucking kill you!!"
"Hey!!! You guys stop fighting!!!" Kirishima pleaded, rushing over to grab ahold of his friend and pull him off izuku, "what has gotten into you man?! Why are you being so violent with midoriya!?"
They couldn't believe how fast the situation changed.
"I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this!" Kaminari screeched dragging and yanking izuku away from the clutches of the blonde, who still furiously reached out to exert his anger.
"Let me go!! I'm gonna teach that bastard a lesson!! How dare he question me!! Do you think you're all high and mighty after you received the title of the number one hero?! Huh?!!" he laughed and continued, "well guess what, you'll always be a loser Deku! You got what I wanted but not anymore!! You hear me!? I won't let you win this time!!"
"Get out of my house before I kick you out myself!!" giving one shove to Kirishima, his grip slacken and finally freed katsuki to make his own decisions. Izuku hadn't taken any real damage, but it had hurt upon impact.
As katsuki is about to open his mouth to yell some more and make them leave, a thud comes from the floor above them luring all of their attention toward the ceiling, "What was that?" Kaminari fearfully asked, allowing izuku freedom and maintaining a distance from the blonde. Both had gathered near the entrance, ready to leave, izuku was less willing but kaminari didn't let him step inside any further.
"Is there someone in the house?! Don't tell me your home is haunted bakugo!" Kaminari filled in the silence stepping back as he did.
"Don't even think about changing the topic!"
Another noise greeted them, it was almost like someone had fallen and couldn't consistently make more sounds as if something was holding them back, "Kacchan, what are you hiding?"
"Don't even think about questioning me, get out right now!! Get out of my house!!" progressively growing pushier, he shoved izuku, and in return kaminari who was behind him stumbled and fell right through the door with izuku, katsuki instantly forced Kirishima out.
"If I see your face again! You are dead-meat Deku!!"
Not giving them a chance to recover, he slammed the door in their faces and bolted it shut, locking them outside and nowhere to go except to their car.
Silence returned, but something was weighing them down. They couldn't tell what it was.
----
Not proofread, it's been a long time since I've updated but I'll finish this story before I jump onto anything else, life after someone dear to you gets married is so... Different? Kinda hard to get adjusted.
But here I am, again, lol don't get tired of me and leave or else I won't be happy, don't leave me now. Hehe, anyway hope you enjoyed it!
Your comments are what made me push on to finish faster, so thanks a lot for your support.
I'll keep the chapters long and the number of chapters short so, yeah, if anyone is willing to help me edit my story, do contact me. Also, I saw some comments about the flashbacks being slighlyyyy annoying, is that true? If so then, I'll probably rush onto the main dish of the story without context.
Either way, good day.