Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 48: Conviction: Part II

It was late when Katsuki waved goodbye to his friends and boarded the train. Being introduced to the underground had been...weird. Kinda scary, but in a good way, like it was more intimidating than anything else. But still, it was weird to be around villains all day. The annoying part of him that still forgot that villains were people kept expecting to be attacked at any moment, which was probably why he still wasn't able to shake the feeling that he was being watched. He simply rolled his shoulders and ignored it like he had all day. There was no need to be paranoid just because some people had done some bad things. At the end of the day, he'd done bad things too, so being freaked out like this was dumb and hypocritical. Heroes needed to be better than that.

It was a fairly short ride back to his own stop and the streets were practically deserted, which made the feeling of being watched that much more unsettling. Katsuki shook his head and huffed as he started walking home. Seriously?! He was back in the good part of town! There was no reason for his stupid brain to still be freaking out! It was fucking annoying!

Or, at least, it was... until he felt himself being pulled into an alley as he passed it. That's what he fucking got for ignoring his instincts.

"Fuck!" Katsuki swore and twisted to dislodge the grip of whatever extra was attacking him before blindly swinging his fist in the general direction of where he thought his attacker should be, only to hit empty air. Damn. They were fast.

Katsuki contemplated using his quirk, but dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it came. He was already on thin ice from the sludge villain attack. The last thing he needed was a vigilantism charge three months before the UA entrance exam. He felt the next attack more than saw it, and only managed to dodge at the last second. As it was, the knife that was aimed at his gut ended up slicing through his jeans and he heard his wallet fall out of his pocket and hit the floor, but he figured he could worry about that later, like maybe after he'd taken care of the fucker trying to stab him.

He caught movement out of the movement of his eye and aimed another punch, only for his attacker to dodge again, "Stay still and fight me, you goddamn mother fucker!"

"That's not very hero-like."

Katsuki hissed as something sliced his arm, "Shit! You're gonna regret that you..." His stomach dropped like a stone at the same time his body did, "What the...why the fuck can't I move?! What did you do to me?!"

Katsuki cursed again as his brain raced. What a stupid question. It was obviously the fucker's quirk, but what was it? It had something to do with whatever sliced his arm, but he wasn't Izuku. He couldn't figure out a quirk just by looking at a person and he still hadn't even seen the guy attacking him.

Speaking of the devil, his attacker finally stepped into view and crouched in front of him, allowing Katsuki a first look at his attacker's...well, not his face, because he was wearing a red rag tied around his head like a mask and he didn't even have a nose. Actually, most of his outfit consisted of rags, which was what led to Katsuki's next words leaving his mouth before he could stop them.

"Was there a sale at goodwill or did you just raid a dumpster?"

His attacker's eyes filled with rage and Katsuki gulped. This. This was how he died. Why did he have to open his stupid mouth. He knew every other word out of his mouth was an insult, so why had he decided to say something anyway? He wasn't even going to be able to apologize to Izuku, dammit! Why did it have to end here?! He was just starting to become better!

"Does society really expect filth like you to be the next generation of heroes?" His attacker sneered down at him. "No wonder there are so few true heroes left."

Katsuki's mind raced in confusion, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Did this guy know he wanted to be a hero? Or did he just assume because every kid wanted to be a hero? Wait, was this who had been following them all day? Ogawa had introduced him as a future hero a couple of times, so that made sense, but why attack him just because he wanted to be a hero? There had to be something Katsuki was missing.

Thankfully, his attacker was more than happy to explain, "You want to be a hero, yet you act like a villain and associate with criminals. You call them your friends and seek them out, which is why I cannot let you live, even if you are a child. If villains like you are allowed to live, you will sully the title of hero."

Ok, Katsuki was actually starting to freak out now. Well, he'd been freaking out before, but he hadn't been serious about it! Suddenly, his fear flipped the switch over to anger, thank goodness for terrible coping mechanisms, "Who the fuck do you even think you are to judge me?! You're taking about fucking murder!"

"I am Stain. I stain myself with the blood of fake heroes to cleanse society." His attacker said, grabbing Katsuki's wallet from where it had dropped. "And who are you? Just another false idol begging for me to cull you."

Katsuki snarled as Stain rifled through his wallet, grabbing his ID and holding it up to compare it to his captive, "Katsuki Bakugo. The world will be a better place without your villainy corrupting it."

He may have already been frozen, but those words still made Katsuki feel like he'd been doused in ice water. Would the world be a better place without him? His first thought was no, but...but he'd suicide baited his own best freind. He'd bullied dozens of kids. He'd let his teachers get away with quirk discrimination. He was still letting his teachers get away with it.

Maybe this Stain guy was right .

Katuski was jarred out of his thoughts by a faint rustling of paper, "Hey! Get your filthy hands off those!"

Stain, that fucking murderer, was reading his letter to Izuku. In his other hand was Katsuki's paper listing the kind of hero he wanted to be. Both papers were practically falling apart at the seams from how many times Katsuki had folded and unfolded them during the past few months, constantly pulling them out of his pocket and rereading them every time he needed to remind himself why it was worth losing all his lackeys at school or getting into a war of the wills with his teachers. Having somebody that he didn't even know read them, never mind the fact that this person was currently trying to kill him, was disturbingly violating. It was like he was looking deep into Katsuki's soul and reading every single one of his insecurities.

"S-stop! That isn't for you!" Katsuki could feel a tear rolling down his cheek and he hated it. He hated feeling this fucking weak. It was like the sludge villain all over again. Trapped. Unable to move. Helpless. The only difference was that this time, Izuku wasn't going to come running in to save him. Katsuki wished he could move so he could wipe that stupid tear away, but then again, if he could move, would have been able to stop this asshole from reading Izuku's letter. "Stop!"

"You..." Stain glanced at Katsuki, then back at the letter. "You want to be a hero."

"Yeah, asshole, and I'm gonna be the fucking best one you've ever seen." Katsuki tried to force enough anger into his voice to cover the wit was cracking. "So if you'd give me back my letter and go murder somebody else, that'd be great."

Stain looked at him oddly, and kept staring at him for what felt like forever before he stood.

"You're immature. You're brash and rude. But you have conviction, which is more than most of those fakes can boast of. Perhaps...perhaps this is simply your way of staining yourself to save others, just like me? I'll let you grow for now, but if you fail to live up to the seeds of true heroism that I see in you," he drew a katana from his belt and placed the point of the blade between Katsuki's eyes, "then you will be culled. Understood?"

Katsuki would have nodded, but he was still paralyzed from that fuckers quirk, so he settled for spitting at him instead. Stain, like the crazy bitch he was, simply grinned. That wasn't creepy at all.

"I look forward to seeing what you become." With that, Stain turned and began walking away. "Don't disappoint me...Kacchan."