🍁Ren🍁
I jolt upright at the sound of my phone vibrating on my nightstand. I wince and make a silent cry of pain when the sudden movement caused my wounds to throb. I reach over, my mind barley registering it as I hover over a slumbering Bakugo. I grab my phone, swiping answer, then hold it up to my ear. "Hello," I murmur sleepily.
When the boy shifts next to me, I'm suddenly reminded that I let Bakugo crash in my room last night. I manage to climb over him, off the mattress, and to the floor without waking him. I barley listen to the voice speaking on the other end. I rub the grit from my eyes with my thumb and forefinger.
"Sorry, repeat that." I keep my voice low, hoping the ash blonde remains asleep. I go to my door and open it, slip out, then close it carefully behind me. "Todoroki, it's Detective Tsukauchi." My eyes go wide as my brain starts functioning at 100% again.
"Sorry to call so early, but I figured you'd want to know what I've found as soon as possible."
"Yeah, of course. What do you got, Detective?" I lean my back against the wall, ignoring the pain in various spots all over my body. I hope I won't have to move too much during training or I just might have to go see Recovery Girl. "I've found your guy." I straighten up at his words.
"He now goes by the alias Kaname Endou."
"Whoa, that was fast. Though after what happened with the League I'd expect nothing less."
"Todoroki." I could hear the tone in his voice and sigh. I knew that when I asked him to look into Yukimura, he'd find out just how personal this was. I mean, my mother and the principal both filed a police report. "I know exactly what you're thinking, but revenge isn't something I'm interested in."
"Still, giving you this information wouldn't be a good idea. If anything were to happen and my captain found out about my involvement-"
"Listen, Detective, I promise not to start anything. I just need to talk to the guy. That's it. He's the only one that can help me. Please." I swallow the anger and disgust rising up at the thought of being face to face with the man that ruined my life. But I can't live with these nagging questions eating away at me.
I need answers and he's the only one that can give them to me. "Don't make me regret this," he sighs. He gives me Yukimura's current whereabouts and I commit it to memory. "Thanks again, Detective."
"Yeah, don't mention it." He hangs up and I pull my phone away from my ear. I open my notepad app and write down the info Tsukauchi gave me. I save it, then shut off my phone. I head back into my room and set my phone down. It's still pretty early so I have a lot of time before needing to get ready for school.
The best part about being on campus is that we don't have to leave until right before class starts. Even though Iida badgers us about needing to be at least ten minutes early. I study Bakugo's peaceful expression and smile fondly. He really is handsome. He's also kind of cute when angry, but I'm more than a little curious to see the other sides of Bakugo.
Wondering if my imagination will hold up to reality? Only when he's ready though. Every previous encounter I had was all physical and nothing else. I want things to be different cause it is different. Bakugo's different. I lower myself down, having to sit back on my legs cause my thighs are aching thanks to all the cuts I received from that asshole.
I listen to the ash blonde's even breaths. He's more than worth it. I stand back up and carefully climb over his legs to reach my previous spot, slipping under the covers. It's weird being awake before Bakugo is. At first, I try going back to sleep, but my wounds are being so annoying, making it practically impossible.
Eventually, I just give up and roll onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. Then, I close my eyes and just try to doze to pass the time. The mattress dipping is what brought me out of it, but I don't bother opening my eyes. It's obviously Bakugo, but he could just be moving in his sleep.
The mattress creaks slightly when the ash blonde rolls over and suddenly rests his head on my chest, curling against my side. "Hmm?" I open my eyes, blinking as his blonde locks come into focus. "Cold," is all he grumbles and I chuckle in amusement. I wrap my arm around him. "You're so cute."
"Shut it."
"Hey, Katsuki?" He groans in annoyance and opens his eyes, turning his head to glare daggers at me. "What?"
"Will you go somewhere with me after school?" He stares at me for a moment. "Where?"
"Minato City." His eyes widen before narrowing. "What the hell? Why the fuck do you need to go there?"
"There's someone important I need to talk to. Will you come with?" I smile sweetly at him and he continues to glare at me. "Pretty please?" I cup his cheek with my free hand, brushing my thumb over his slowly reddening skin. "Ah, fine! But you better tell me what this is all about later!"
"I will, I promise." I press my lips to his briefly. I pull back only for his lips to suddenly be on mine. "I haven't even brushed my teeth yet," I try to tell him, but he barely pulls back to stare at me seriously. "Don't care." He leans down and swipes his tongue over my lips.
I open my mouth and allow the kiss to deepen. My mind was going hazy again as my body grew warm. Pain shooting through my torso cut through the haze and I jerked backward. "Ow!"
"What? What's wrong?" I have him move and push myself up into a sitting position. "Just my wounds. Don't worry about it." He grabs the hem of my shirt and lifts it up. "Hey." I glance down and see a thin trail of blood from my reopened wound. It's not a big deal. Didn't even really have to bandage it.
It'll scab over again in no time. I'm jolted from my thoughts when I feel his touch. I focus and see him brushing his thumb over the scar I received from Moonfish. "Yep, no reason to worry." I gently push his hand away and pull my shirt back down, concealing my scars once again.
"I know," he states, but the look in his eyes told me otherwise. "Good." I press my forehead against his and chuckle at the unamused look he gives me. I press my lips to his in a short kiss. "Ren, sorry to barge in, but—" I pull back and turn to face a mortified Midoriya. The greenette becomes a stuttering mess.
"The fuck are you doing?! Coming in as you please, Deku!" I smile in amusement as a blushing Bakugo gets out of the bed. "Sorry, Kacchan! I'm sorry!"
"Get the fuck out!" He sent the poor boy running with a kick to the ass and a mini explosion, slamming the door closed behind him. "Stop fucking laughing!" I cover my mouth to muffle it and shake my head. "Oh, come on, Katsuki. Don't you think that was a little uncalled for?"
"No! The little shit's as annoying as ever." I get off the bed and head over to the angry teen. "Yes, well, you probably woke up the others with all that noise so maybe you should go back to your room. I'm gonna see what Midoriya wanted."
"Fine. Whatever." He opens the door and I follow him out. I close it behind me and Kirishima's door opens when Bakugo reaches his. "What was all that ruckus for?" The shark like boy still looked half asleep. "Don't worry about it, Kirishima."
"Tch." That's all Bakugo does, then disappears into his room. "Well, good morning, Ren." I smile happily and push today's endgame to the back of my mind. Might as well make the most out of today. "Good morning, Eijiro!"
"Nice to see you in higher spirits, Ren," he says fondly and I nod. "No use dwelling on what ifs, remember?"
"Right." He throws me a thumbs up. I wave goodbye before heading past him, down the hallway that leads to the elevator. I reach it just as it opens and am shocked when my brother steps off. His eyes widen in momentary surprise before a smile graces his face. "Good morning."
"Hey, Shoto. Here for me?" He nods and I repeat the action. "What's up, then?"
"Well, since you and Bakugo are together, I figure you're the one to ask on this matter." I tilt my head slightly with a quizzical gaze. "Huh?"
"What does it mean to like someone? Like how you like Bakugo." My face heats up and I rub the back of my head, filled with embarrassment for some reason. "I didn't think you'd ever ask for my advice on this. Anytime I tried to talk to you about it, you just ignored me. What's changed?"
"I think that's how I feel towards Midoriya, but I'm uncertain if it truly is romantic. I want to confirm my feelings, so I figured I should ask you."
"That's fair. Feelings are complicated, especially ones of this magnitude, but I'll try my best to explain. But just so you know, there isn't just one way of loving someone. Ours might be completely different, but it doesn't mean you don't love him. Does that make sense?"
"Not really," he replies bluntly and I sigh. "Well, this is also the first time I've ever been serious about another guy, so I'm not too sure how to explain this."
"Please try your best." I sigh again and gesture him to follow me. "Fine, but let's take this conversation out of the hallway. Let's head back to my room." He nods and I lead the way back to my room. We take a seat across from each other on the floor and I try to think up a response to his question. When did I realize I loved Bakugo?
"Hmm. Well, I guess no matter how he acted, I always wanted to be around him. Just being next to him was enough for me in the beginning. I started liking everything about him, even the bad parts. But the more he accepted me, the more my feelings grew. He was just an odd infatuation and before I knew it he become one of the most important people in my life."
Shoto remains quiet as I speak. "So much so that I couldn't really imagine him no longer being by my side. Being with him makes me so incredibly happy that I can't quite put it into words. Goodbyes become reluctant and good mornings are anticipated the moment you open your eyes. Does that make sense?"
I glance at him sheepishly feeling like Izuku when he spouts word vomit. That didn't sound cohesive at all! "But aren't you like that with Kirishima?" My eyes widen and my face floods with heat. "What?! No!"
"But your overly familiar with him and even shower each other with affection. More than what I've seen you show Bakugo? Am I wrong?"
"Well, no, I guess not. I just don't do that publicly because I know he wouldn't like that. Besides, I'm overly familiar with a lot of you guys. It's how I showed affection to Rin. And now that I have good friends again, that's just how I am. It makes me happy to show you guys how much your companionship means to me."
"Mmm. I guess that makes sense. I do enjoy your hugs." I laugh and shake my head at him. "I'm glad. But did I at least help you out with your question, Shoto? As I said before, I don't think I'm very useful, since this is all new to me."
"You did. Thank you."
"Great! I'm glad!" We stand up and I quickly wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Huh?"
"You like them, right?" He chuckles and returns the embrace. Everytime I hug him is when I can clearly feel the distinctions between his left and right sides. "Yeah." I smile and close my eyes for a moment, enjoying my time with him.
°°°°
I'm walking beside Bakugo on the way to the train station. "Will you tell me what the fuck this is about now?" I slip my hands into my jacket pockets, nerves eating away at me as well as nausea at the thought of seeing him again. "Do you promise not to get mad?"
"I've accepted that being your boyfriend means my anger is gonna be a constant byproduct."
"Katsuki," I groan and he fixes me with a serious gaze. "Hey, it's the truth. You constantly drive me crazy! Your impulsive, idiotic, and careless!" I sigh and look down at my shoes as we continue walking. You're one to talk! "But I also like those parts of you." He punches me in the shoulder and it hurt a little, but I didn't mind.
"You still drive me crazy, though." I smile as warmth floods my body. "I can't promise I won't get mad, but I can promise that whatever you tell me, I won't hate you for it. So just tell me, you idiot."
"Okay. Then, do you remember when I was crying at camp, the dreams I mentioned?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Something about them contradicting each other?" I nod and look ahead. "The guy that molested me at the mall wasn't Yukimura, just a twisted perception of him. And the memories I recovered at camp showed him in the opposite light. So I had a hard time distinguishing which one is the real him. Is he someone who actually cared about me or a true monster that only pretended to?"
"What are you getting at, Ren?"
"Detective Tsukauchi. He found him." Bakugo stops moving so I do the same. "What? That's why you went to the police station? Why didn't you just tell me that?"
"Cause I knew you wouldn't understand—"
"Damn right I don't understand." I hang my head and squeeze my eyes shut. It's the same as last time. "So why don't you help me understand," he says calmly and I lift my head up, meeting his determined gaze. "Why would you want to meet your childhood tormenter face to face?"
"Because it's clear that I can't trust my own memories. I'm completely disconnected from my own past. I clearly have memories of the hell that my PTSD put me through. Some of the repressed memories of that time, but other than that it's just blank. As if it never happened. But I know it did, right?"
I don't know what's worse remembering the trauma fully or feeling like your crazy for not remembering it all, except in small glimpses from over the years. I know our memoires fade and grow foggy as time passes, but not something like this. There's no way I could forget something so horrific entirely, right?!
"Ren!" His voice snaps me from my thoughts and I focus back on his face. "I'm scared, Katsuki. I don't want to see him again, but I can't live with this uncertainty either. I have to know if it's real or not. I feel like I'm going crazy!" Tears well up in my eyes and Bakugo sighs.
"I got it, so don't cry. I'll help you get to the bottom of this, even if it means killing that bastard, got it?" I chuckle quietly and rub at my eyes to get rid of the stinging liquid. We make it to the station and get on, sitting down next to each other. This is the last thing I want to do, but I know I need to.
Besides, I'm not a scared little kid anymore. And I know if Bakugo's by my side, I can do anything. Suddenly, his hand wraps around mine, holding it firmly. "Katsuki," I whisper warily, glancing around at the other passengers who couldn't care less about us and are minding their own business.
"It's fine," he whispers back into my ear, resting his forehead against my temple. I close my eyes and just take comfort in his closeness, squeezing his hand back in thanks. We stay like that until our stop, then disembark.
"How far till we find this bastard?"
"Not long now. This way," I point in the direction that follows Detective Tsukauchi's information. We walk side by side further into the city until we're close to where his apartment should be. We stop at a crosswalk, so I glance at my phone, having put the destination into google maps. We're close.
I glance up as the light changes only to freeze as the crowd on the other side begins moving toward us. "Ren?" Bakugo questions with clear concern. "Hanzō Yukimura," I call out without thinking. The man stops along with his companion, turning in my direction.
His hair was black instead of brown, his frames circular instead of square, but without a doubt that's him. His gaze meets mine and flash with immediate recognition. His eyes soften and a gentle smile appears on his face. "Who's that, Yuki," the man next to him questions. "Ren Todoroki. It's been so long." The breeze picks up, snagging at my hair as I stare back at him. Yes, it has.