Protecting You (Katsuki Bakugo x Reader)

Chapter 88- Bloody Truths

"Well...I can't say I expected this." Hawks commented with crossed arms and a semi-concerned expression on his masculine features. His black button-down t-shirt exposed the top half of his chest with matching sunglasses keeping his flowing gold hair out of his face. Keigo's cheeks had a light sheen of pink on them as if he was basking in the sunlight just a few minutes before. Knowing him, he probably was. 

You and your misfit crew of mercenaries-in-training were in one of the Doctor's abandoned warehouses where he stole quirks from children in Okinawa some ten to fifteen years ago. Katsuki passed out after Vixen's mind control wore off and so Hawks arrived on the scene to carry him to the warehouse where Shinso met up with you with Vixen. The smug look on that purple-haired troll doll was absolutely contagious in every way. He knew he won...he knew he finally got back what that bitch owed him. Now Katsuki was bandaged up and resting in the observation room with you, Hawks, and Shinso and Miss Vixen was handcuffed in the prisoners' hold. 

This warehouse was built almost exactly like the one they held you in, even using the same labyrinth of a layout. Your arms shook and your knees quivered the moment you saw the experimentation room...and the only reason you could stand now was because Shinso kept washing away the intense rolls of panic lacing within your veins. 

"I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu..." Shinso muttered with an uncomfortable look in his violet eyes. Both Keigo and Shinso looked over at you to see your teeth chattering...and not from the cold.

"(y/n)...are you alright?" Keigo asked of you as he shortened the gap between you two. His wings were back to their full span now and he made use of them to wrap around your shivering body. You weren't cold...in fact it was hot as hell in the warehouse.

But the memories of what the Doctor did to you...the memories of what it was like to be tortured to the brink of death day in and day out...going weeks without seeing the sun or smelling fresh air...the thought that if you died then who knew what hell Eri would have suffered...

"Look at me kid...just me, okay?" Your eyes connected with Keigo's golden ones, his expression soft and affectionate. His crimson wings were a shield to hide away the pain of your environment...his warmth defrosted the frozen fear that entwined like thorns around your heart. 

The heat also reminded you of beautiful cerulean flames...the same ones that cleansed the world of the Doctor forever. You were safe because of him...and the memory of the last thing he said to you pulled at your aching chest.

"Thanks, Keigo..." you whispered to your companion. 

"You got this," he started with that infamous soft smile of his that always felt welcoming. It suddenly turned quite serious and you knew exactly what that keen glow meant. "Remember what she took from you...what she took from Shinso...Don't let her off easy." 

For some reason, that sense of motivation calmed you more than Keigo's soft words or the knowledge that Katsuki was safe in the same room. Deep down inside, this moment excited you. You weren't looking at the face of your parents' killer, you weren't able to get them back, but this was close enough. Vixen had a major hand in everything and you knew it. That fear that once shackled you to a room far below the surface of the earth now was reborn as a spiteful rage that lingered as cackling energy on your fingertips.

It took you only a few moments to cross the room as Hawks stayed in the observation room with Katsuki, hidden away with earphones in to prevent Vixen from controlling his mind. He still kept an eye on you and a feather in the room so he knew what was going on, but truthfully he just wanted a free vacation out of this whole ordeal. Revenge was never really his style, but he did enjoy knowing that burden in your gut would get just a tad bit lighter.