✓ My Brother! (BakuDeku)

▪ Chapter 21 (Apprehension)▪

     Katsuki walked back towards the camp with a bland expression planted on his angular face. The rain mixing with his silent tears as he trudged through the muddy floor. He didn't bother looking for his friends, too caught up in the woman's words.

     Aizawa met him near the door with a towel. 

     "Where's Midoriya?" he asked, looking around Katsuki. "And your classmates?"

     When Katsuki didn't answer him, Aizawa sighed but said nothing nonetheless. He ran into the rain, most likely to find his other abandoned classmates, after Katsuki silently walked inside. 

     He felt hollow, but it was short-lived when he saw Hisako happily sipping on some tea. 

     He grabbed her harshly on the shoulders, screaming as tears ran down his face. He didn't hear the words he was saying, some were incoherent to anyone in the room. Eventually, things got physical. Too physical. 

     Half of the kitchen was blown up, along with some of the structure for the building. The rest of the group was back now, but they stopped trying to stop Katsuki. He, with his already bruised body from the forest trip, had a black eye and a bleeding nose. 

     Hisako had a gash on her shoulder and burn marks scrambled around her body. 

     She breathing evened, "Y-You don't know what you're talking about. Deku's probably lost or something. That woman was crazy! I didn't do anything!"

     Katsuki blasted the already-deteriorating wall next to her, "Like I would believe you after all the things you did!" He had pushed his limit with his quirk, but his blasts came on full powered. One for all helped somewhat, but even Katsuki knew that if he had used one for all, she would be gone by now. He wanted to kill her, but it would be immoral, even though her existence was immoral itself.

      Aizawa stepped in, finally, once he came back from searching the forest himself. He intervened quite quickly, but by then, they were already close to exhaustion. They both knew their limits, and both decided to pass it. 

. o O o . 

     Dabi shivered slightly at the dead blonde girl in front of him. Surely, Himiko knew what she was getting herself into, but even Dabi didn't expect the last bit. 

     Their original plan? It was to shape Himiko into Izuku after they took him. Then, Dabi would throw some punches till Himiko pretended to die. Well, Hisako apparently had other plans. She attracted the heat from her heart and pulled it straight towards her hand. It was gruesome to watch the blood come splattering and landing the precious organ onto the hand of a high schooler. A first year high schooler at that. 

     Even if Dabi was a villain, he still cringed at the thought of it being that easy to kill. 

     It worked in the end; however, as the woman got a good scare (as the rest of the team did). 

     So, I guess I haven't covered the question everyone is waiting to here the answer to-

     Yes, it does mean Izuku was alive. In fact, he was very much alive....

     "Ugh! Just stop struggling!" Hisako shouted as Dabi pressed another hand onto his back. His hand was heated to the max with his quirk, and asking someone- any sane someone- to stop struggling when they are getting burned is quite an impossible request. 

     Dabi whistled, it had been the fifth hand and still, Izuku didn't yield. 

     "Look... I'm kind of getting tired..." Dabi said, not completely lying, but not completely telling the truth. He had just felt a bit of pity for the little guy. 

     Hisako's mad eyes turned towards him, "'Look, I'm kind of getting tired'." She mocked as she scoffed at the end. "Listen, I'm not stopping until he tells me where it is!"

     Izuku took a shaky breath in, "I-I told you, I d-don't have it."

     She slapped him hard across the face, "Don't lie again. I'll bring in father if I have to."

. o O o . 

     Katsuki couldn't sleep that night. His dark thoughts and nightmares diminishing any chance of getting a restful sleep. But to him, it didn't matter, for he thought it would be much wiser to look for Izuku. However, Aizawa prohibited it as it was cold and still raining. He didn't want Katsuki to get sick. 

     Katsuki, to the shock of his friends, cried for hours, sniffing or sobbing or screaming. He still wouldn't tell anyone what he had heard, but Aizawa did tell the heroes to look for a missing kid. 

     Mina's motherly patience won over all the rest as she tried all the different ways to calm a sad blonde. 

     "Kat..." she said, her voice laced with sorrow. The others in the group heard, and all turned their heads toward the usually bright woman. 

     "What happened?" she asked, gently trying to go closer, but Katsuki just stayed still. 

     "He's gone," his voice oddly calm, but cold. 

     Denki frowned, "Like gone- gone or like dead-" 

     Eijiro slapped a hand onto his friend's mouth. 

     "Mina, he's gone. That woman wasn't lying about what she saw," Katsuki repeated.

     Mina's face turned pale, "No, Izuku's just lost."

     "No, Mina, please," Katsuki said, turning to look at her. But she wasn't looking at him anymore. She was looking on the window.

     Everyone noted her strange behavior and followed her gaze towards the window. Katsuki spotted it next. The small black ink writing in the corner. Written in easily erasable ink.

     

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