The Downfall

Chapter 9

Bakugou walked down to the common room, expecting to see the greenette down there. He didn't see him last night, not even at dinner, but he assumed he was just tired and needed the rest. Although, normally he would be awake by this time. Over the last couple weeks, he'd been down here early either because of a nightmare or just paranoia.

"Bakubro!"

Katsuki snapped back to reality as a blonde stood in front of him.

"What do you want, dunce face?!"

Kaminari chuckled softly, "Glad to have you back, bro. You've been spaced out for the last five minutes!"

Bakugou rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Kaminari's eyes darted towards the stairs, "Morning, Midobro!"

The angry blonde turned around to see Midoriya walked down the stairs with an unusual smile. That smile.. it didn't seem like it was genuine. He was probably just hallucinating.

"Morning, Kaminari! Morning, Kacchan!"

Bakugou looked at him. Something was different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Iida waved his arm up and down in a continuous motion, "If we do not go to class now, we will all be late!"

Maybe I'm just delusional, the blonde thought.

Aizawa always knew if something was wrong with his problem children. Lately, Midoriya had been jumpy, paranoid, on edge even. But, this morning, he was.. different. For starters, that smile was in no way genuine.

"Midoriya!"

The greenette looked up, "Yes, sir?"

"Meet me after class."

The class seemed confused, was their classmate in trouble? But, Midoriya, he just displayed that same happiness that he had before he was taken. As if nothing had ever happened at all. Aizawa sighed as he started class.

During class, Midoriya was acting differently than before. It was worrying. He had gone through a traumatic experience, but wasn't phased by it, like before? It was like he had recovered mentally overnight, which was nothing like before. He wasn't sure yet, but this definitely wasn't Midoriya.

Izuku tapped his shoulder, "Sir? You wanted to see me?"

Aizawa looked at the greenette, "Yes. I wanted to know how you were doing."

Midoriya smiled, "I'm fine, Mr Aizawa."

Aizawa nodded. Izuku then left the classroom, skipping along through the corridor. Wait, skipping?, he thought, why does that seem so familiar? I'll keep an eye on him for now, he mentally noted as he grabbed his empty coffee cup and left the classroom.

Bakugou was, for the most part, confused. What happened to the scared, on edge Izuku he had been looking after before? The one who had night terrors throughout the last two weeks? Even in class today, he showed no signs of fear or paranoia like before. Was that even Midoriya or a fake?

The sound of a door opening pulled him out of his thoughts. Izuku had returned from the classroom and was skipping, for some odd reason. That seemed... familiar, thought the blonde.

Uraraka waved to him, "Hey, Deku!"

Midoriya looked up, focusing his eyes towards Uraraka and Bakugou's direction in the kitchen.

"Hey, Uraraka and Bakugou!"

Everything stopped.

Some stared, some were just in plain shock.

Katsuki walked towards him, "What did you just call me?..."

Toga realised her mistake.

The blonde stared at the greenette, "I knew something was off. Your mistake and obvious nervousness just confirmed it. You're not actually Midoriya, are you?"

Midoriya laughed then, an unsettling aura coming from the boy.

"I didn't think you'd discover me that quickly!"

His skin began to melt as the mask was lifted. There in his place stood a blonde girl. She wore a brown school girl uniform with a red bow tie around her neck badly tied. Her eyes were a golden yellow, which stared deeply into the student's souls. Himiko Toga. Of course, Katsuki should have known from the beginning. Aizawa said they had taken his blood, for All Might's sake! But, now that left one burning question. Where was Izuku Midoriya?

Before he could ask, the girl began to run out of the dorms building. It looked as though she was heading towards the U.A Barrier, the only way in and out of this school.

"Crap, she's going to get away, Icyhot! Help me out here!"

Todoroki turned to see Bakugou powering up his explosions while running out of the building. He followed, making a kind of ice ramp a few feet in front of them both so that they could both try and get the upper hand.

"Wait for us guys!"

The blonde glanced behind them to see Uraraka and Iida racing behind them. Well, not exactly 'racing'. Iida was using his quirk to catch up while Uraraka rode on his back, making herself lighter with her own quirk. Pink cheeks and four eyes could be of some help.. I'll tolerate them, just this once, he thought.

Toga stopped running as she heard the distant rushed footsteps of the students. There was no use running, they'd catch up somehow. She turned around to face them with a malicious smile, one that definitely couldn't be trusted. They stopped a few feet away, unable to uncover her intentions.

Suddenly, a portal of some sort opened up behind her. It was a purple and black misty mess, which the students knew was the warp gate villain, Kurogiri. Had she called them here, just minutes before?

Toga just stood there, smiling. She then stepped back as Dabi, Twice, Spinner and Mr Compress walked through the portal opening. Where was Shigaraki?, Bakugou thought, wasn't he their leader?

Todoroki shook the blonde out of his thoughts as a familiar blue-headed person walked through the portal opening, just before it closed. He was holding something, no, not something. A person. He squinted a little as the person became clearer as Shigaraki walked forwards so that he was in front of the group.

Katsuki's eyes widened as he familiarized himself with the person. Izu!, he internally screamed. He was supposed to protect him, he promised! His head was overflowing with past promises and overall anxiety as he stared at his childhood friend. Shigaraki wore a glove on the hand that held Izuku's neck, holding up his unconscious hostage proudly.

"Now, now. It seems that I have your friend here. You wouldn't want to hurt him, would you?"