Chapter 8
Bakugo found Mineta easily. He had been dumb enough to be up to his old bullshit.
His hideout, if you could even call it that, was located on the same street as Midnight's house. That scumbag was still stalking their old teacher. Walking up to the door, he blasted it down.
Since Mineta already knew somebody would be coming after him the element of surprise was lost. He’d helped plan attacks against pro-heroes and violated the restraining order saying he couldn’t be within 50 miles of Midnight. Meaning Bakugo could go all out as long as he didn’t kill him.
“MINETA! Come out, come out wherever you are!” He yelled.
He heard shuffling before a knife was thrown in his general direction, he ducked it easily. Peeking into the doorway again, he could only see one person. The blue-haired telepath from before. Damnit he’d forgotten all about that person.
“I’m ready for my rematch!” The person called out
“I hope you’re ready to lose again!”
He let off a massive blast into the room and rolled in behind it. He used it to hide his entrance as he ducked behind the closest piece of furniture. It was the couch, lucky for him. It hid his body completely.
He stayed completely still. He had hoped the telepath would still think he was outside but they were smarter than that. The furniture in the room started to float. He grabbed onto the back of the couch clinging to it as it rose.
“Where the hell are you? I know you’re in this room!”
Instead of replying, he flipped over the back of the couch and dove for the telepath firing off blasts to try and cover him. He managed to slam into them but his body was instantly lifted off them as the furniture crashed down. He was being forced to float yet again. He had decided to come alone meaning he didn’t have backup this time. This could get bad quickly.
An invisible force punched him in the chest. Looking down the telepath had to concentrate hard to keep him floating and punch him mentally.
“Why not punch me yourself? It would be easier than trying to do it mentally. Oh never mind I know. It’s because you’re too weak.”
A dangerous taunt but an effective one. The telepath sneered at him and dropped his body to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him but at least he wasn’t still floating. A kick to his ribs sent him back a bit. It hurt like a bitch but sure enough, it wasn’t as powerful as the mental hit.
Another kick to his hip this time. Two kicks in the same spot. He couldn’t get up because there was an invisible force holding him down.
“You always rely on your quirk to do all the work for you. If I were soft I probably would too. Your kicks barely hurt but that mental punch, mhm that’s a real hit.” It was a gamble, telling them which one hurt worse would probably result in more mental hits but instead, the person started to yell at him.
“And you don’t ?! You use your quirk every chance you get. I’m not weak either! Why does everybody say that? They always underestimate me!” They kicked him again, this time in his ribs.
He barely felt the pain at this point, his adrenaline was racing. It has been worth it, the person got so upset they dropped whatever force had been holding him down. When the next kick came he twisted so he could catch their foot. He blasted at their ankle and threw his weight causing them to fall to the ground and turn.
Twisting further he managed to break their ankle. The scream they let out hurt his ears and made him feel bad but he’d find someone to heal them later. It only took a few seconds for the telepath to pass out from the pain, now he needed to find Mineta, he’d wasted enough time here already.
He stumbled to his feet and headed deeper into the house. Living room, dining room, bathroom, kitchen. Nobody was there. He found the basement door and eased it open. What was up with bad guys and basements? He peeked down and a purple sticky ball flew past him.
He didn’t even have to dodge it, it missed him completely. Lame ass. It was surprising he even graduated from UA in the first place. Not wanting to prolong things too much he leaped down the stairs, rolled, and was face-to-face with a gun.
Unfortunate but not impossible to deal with. He didn’t let it phase him; he grabbed the barrel and twisted it away from his face. It went off but missed him. He yanked the gun from Mineta’s hands and punched him in the chest, sending him flying back.
“Bakugo! Stay away from me! It’s not fair, you guys got to be heroes and I got sidelined. I just did what everybody was thinking! Please leave me alone. I wasn't really going to kill anybody that was all Monoma!”
“Shut it perv.”
Before he could do anything else Mineta rushed at him, he dodged it but the sneaky little shit managed to stab him. Bakugo hadn’t even seen the knife. Damn that was his second time getting stabbed recently. He really had to start dodging these things better.
He grabbed Mineta’s arm and twisted it back, dislocating his shoulder in the process. Mineta started screaming but he knocked him out to shut him up. The pain had started to catch up to him and he still had a knife in him.
He sank to the floor and video-dialed the group chat. Faces slowly popped up one by one.
“Kacchan! Are you okay?!.”
“Oh man, where are you?” Kirishima said even though his camera showed Uraraka
“Don’t tell me you got stabbed again.” Todoroki’s monotone voice called out next.
“Bakugo! Where are you? You know the protocol about going off alone! You’re lucky I convinced Detective Tsukauchi you could handle it!” Iida scolded him.
He grinned at the worried faces of his classmates and then flipped the camera so they could see Mineta.
“Got the little shit. Now come get me.” He demanded before hanging up.
Despite all their protests he’d started sharing his location with the group before he left. They knew exactly where he was the whole time but let him handle it. He could already hear somebody bickering upstairs despite the fact that he had just hung up. It sounded like Kaminari and Jiro but he couldn’t be sure.
/ / / /
Turns out it had been Kaminari and Jiro. They’d been waiting nearby in case he needed help apparently. Todoroki had been close by as well. Since they already had a solid case against Mineta he was arrested and after a bit of encouragement placed in solitary. Things were good again… mostly.
Deku wouldn’t leave his side. He was currently in an itchy hospital gown listening to yet another doctor talk.
“You should be able to go home tomorrow. You’ll need someone to bring you clothes for discharge though.”
“I’ll do it!” Deku volunteered
“No.” He deadpanned
The doctors had to cut his costume to help him and removed his adhesive patch again. Deku getting him clothes was specifically the issue though. The problem was if it went through his stuff he might find the patches. Even if he didn’t find them, Bakugo still needed them which meant he couldn’t let Deku get his stuff.
“What? Kacchan? Why not?”
He ignored the other man’s questions and insisted on Uraraka instead. Deku was extremely shocked, hurt and confused. Too bad he couldn’t explain it to him. Luckily more of their friends walked into the room saving him from having to make something up. Uraraka and Kirishima were the last two to come into the room. Holding hands and joined at the hip as expected.
“Oi, Uraraka. Can you grab me some stuff from my place?” he asked her trying to sound as normal as possible.
“Why don’t Deku or I do it?” Kirishima asked, confused.
“I could do it!” Kaminari offered.
“No, NO! I’ll do it,” Uraraka said quickly and more aggressively than everybody expected.
A few of their friends looked shocked, mostly Kirishima but he played it off with a smile. “I’ll go with you!” He offered to which she agreed.
Bakugo wasn’t worried though. He knew she wouldn’t tell Kirishima the truth. She’d shown that she would keep his secret as long as he planned to keep it a secret. Now that the matter of his clothes was settled the class started chattering about how crazy it was that former classmates had been targeting them.
He didn’t offer much to the conversation because he was too busy noticing the quiet green-haired man next to him. Deku’s eyes were trained on the floor and his face was fixed in a frown.
Typically he’d be one of the main ones talking with everyone else. Damn, he must really be bothered that Bakugo didn’t want him to grab his clothes. He was trying to figure out how to fix things without telling the truth but luckily he didn’t have to.
“Stop making Midoriya frown.” Todoroki appeared on his opposite side.
“It’s okay! It’s not his fault. It’s just because I wanted to help! But you see he’s friends with everyone so really I should be more…”
“You just had to get him started didn’t you.” Bakugo snapped at the other man. They both tuned out whatever Deku was saying. Not to be mean but just because he didn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Despite everything going on Bakugo was pretty happy. Deku had managed to thread their fingers together while he was distracted but he chose not to bring it up. Instead, he settled for letting his thumb slowly caress the scars on the back of his hand. Everybody was safe, in one place, and bickering about things that didn’t matter. Instead of saying this though he yelled at everybody to get out. No one listened.
___
Uraraka brought him his bag the next morning. He checked the inside of it and sure enough, there was a patch at the bottom. He had one more check-up before he could put it back on though. He couldn’t wait to get out of this damn hospital. He hadn’t even been injured that badly.
Maybe when he got out he could convince Deku to go somewhere with him. He’d have to make up some kind of excuse but he really wanted them to do something together. The kidnapping made him realize that even if he didn’t tell Deku the truth he wanted to spend more time with him. Plus thanks to Todoroki’s meddling, he might actually have a real chance with Deku. Even if they didn’t do anything dramatic like date, the other man didn’t seem opposed to Bakugo’s flirting.
“Katsuki Bakugo?”
“Yea doc that’s me. Hurry up so I can go home.” He snapped but the doctor only smiled.
He did one last check over everything and removed the IV from his arm. The process itself wasn’t even that long but he felt like it took forever. Once he was done he told him that once he was dressed he was free to go. Bakugo hopped out of the bed and went over to the duffle bag without waiting for the doctor to finish. Pulling on his boxers and then yanking off that stupid paper gown. He had to wipe off the area before he put the patch on.
“Please allow me to leave first.” The doctor said and he could hear the pull of the curtain.
Rifling through the bag he tried to locate the patch again. Damn, where did he put it? He looked at it as soon as she brought him the bag. It was definitely there.
His fingers grazed over a familiar material and he grasped it. Finally .
He sighed out loud as he yanked out the patch that had gotten wrapped up in his shirt somehow. He slipped it out and pulled the backing off, he had to pull it tight to make sure it actually looked like his skin. If it had any crinkles anybody who saw it would know it wasn’t actually his skin.
He was applying it when he heard the curtain rustle behind him. Looking toward the door, there was Deku. He’d stepped past the curtain and Bakugo hadn’t heard the door. That fucking doctor must not have closed it. He was in the middle of applying the patch.
From this spot, Deku couldn’t see his mark but he could definitely see that Bakugo was applying a skin-colored patch. He was frozen in place. He couldn’t think of a lie to tell fast enough. He physically felt the color drain from his face.
“K-Kacchan… wh-at… what are you… doing?” Deku took a shaky step forward.
“You weren’t injured there. Why would you need some kind of patch? Why is… that’s… your left hip…that’s the same spot as…”
He could see the dots connecting in his head. Deku looked just as shocked as he felt. He was rooted to the spot unable to move, he wasn’t even sure he was breathing. How could he get out of this situation? What could he say? What should he do? He couldn’t let him find out. Not like this. Behind Deku three more people filed in. Todoroki, Kirishima, and Uraraka.
“What’s taking so long Midoriya? Did you get him? Bakugo why aren’t you dressed?” Kirishima kept asking questions as he assessed the scene in front of him.
He wasn’t sure what face they were making. He couldn’t move his eyes from Deku. The other three looked blurry to him. The only thing he could clearly focus on was the way Deku’s eyebrows were curled up in confusion.
“Kacchan! Answer me…” Deku demanded taking another shaky step closer.
When Bakugo didn’t move, the other man surged forward. He pushed Bakugo’s hands back and ripped the patch away. His skin hurt where he’d already attached it but he didn’t even somewhat react to the pain.
He watched Deku stand there with wide eyes. They were staring right at Bakugo’s soulmark. They started to glaze before large tears escaped his eyes and ran down his cheeks.
“W-w… wh… what… is that… you… have… you’re my…” he sank to the ground, tears still streaming down his face. He hadn’t looked away once. Bakugo didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to fix it.
He knew Deku would be surprised if he ever found out. Upset maybe. Possibly even angry. He never expected him to be so sad. There was nothing he could say to fix it though. It was obvious he’d been purposely hiding his mark.
Uraraka came into his line of sight trying to comfort Deku but he yanked himself away from her scooting back on the floor.
“You knew!” He yelled at her.
Her face tightened but she didn’t deny it. This was all his fault, their friendship might be messed up all because Bakugo told her to keep it a secret. He’d fucked everything up for more than just himself he realized.
“Hold on. Why are you yelling at her? What’s wrong?” Kirishima moved to stand in front of Bakugo.
He gasped when he saw it. Everybody in their class knew what Deku’s mark looked like so of course Kirishima would recognize it right away.
“That’s why you asked Uraraka to grab your stuff? How’d you even find out?” Kirishima directed the last part to Uraraka but neither of them answered.
“How long have you known?” Deku asked in a deadly cold voice. He didn’t stutter, he didn’t sound nervous. Despite the tears streaming down his face, his voice wasn’t watery. It was firm… and angry.
He opened his mouth to say something then shut it again. Any answer he gave would be bad. Even if he said he found out at UA that would still mean he’d kept it a secret all 4 years they were there plus the years since they’d graduated.
Honestly. He’d kept it a secret for so damn long. It was already out now. Nothing he said would make things better so he might as well tell it all.
“Since the first time you showed me”
“I showed you when we were five! FIVE! Why? How? How did I not know?” The tears were flowing harder now.
He wanted to say something, do something. Now wasn’t the time but maybe… he should just tell it all. If Deku was going to be upset, he might as well be upset about everything, yeah?
“Because I was scared to lose you. Deku, I lo-…”
“NO YOU DON’T. Don’t say it…don’t you dare say it…”
His heart dropped, he took a step forward and tried to say it anyway. To say anything to convince Deku to listen to him but the other man recoiled instantly before racing out of the room using his quirk. There was no way to catch him and honestly… he didn’t deserve to try and stop him anyway.
He stood there gazing at where Deku had been standing. How could this have happened? He’d hidden it for years. How did he find out now? How could Bakugo have been so careless? He had just been hoping Deku might return his feelings but now… it was obvious that it never would’ve happened anyway. He looked so devasted when he found out about the mark.
He heard somebody calling his name, probably Uraraka but he couldn’t answer. His system was shocked. He had stopped him. He knew what Bakugo was going to say but he stopped him. Deku stopped him from saying it. Shit.
SHIT. What was he going to do now? They wouldn’t be able to go back to how they were before. That was for sure. How would they work together after this? Would he even talk to him ever again?
“Bakugo, listen to me, Deku will come back. He just needs time to process it. It’ll be okay,” Todoroki’s voice finally broke through his thoughts.
He still couldn’t answer but he nodded acknowledging the man’s words. The room was strangely devoid of their other friends. When had the other two left? He hadn’t noticed them leave. Fuck. How long had it been since Deku left? Was he off somewhere crying by himself? Damn it. He shouldn’t have hidden it but how could he have told him? He was spiraling again and he could feel it.
“Bakugo, Bakugo, Katsuki !” He heard Todoroki but he couldn’t stop the spiral.
He loved Deku so much. He just wanted to be near him, that was enough. Until recently he’d started to hope for more and now… and now he might not talk to him again. Even though Todoroki said he’d come back, what if he didn’t? How would he know for sure that Deku would return?
SLAP.
“Did you just fucking slap me Todoroki?” he snapped in shock.
“Yeah, it didn’t work though,” right after he said that he slapped him again.
“I swear I will kill you, Icyhot. Slap me again. I dare you.” He threatened fingers sparking. Why the fuck did he just slap him twice. He was obviously upset now wasn’t the time for that.
“Ah, that's better. Now if you want him, fight for him.”
Todoroki’s words resonated with him. Freaking out wasn’t how he usually handled things. Only when it came to Deku. In all other things, he wasn’t the type to give up so why the hell was he giving up and freaking out now. He needed to figure out a plan to make sure Deku heard him out. Even if he wanted to be upset for a while they would talk again and figure out where to go from there. He was about to thank Todoroki when he remembered the sting of those slaps. Searching those mismatched eyes suspiciously he just had to ask
“Did you just slap me to get me to call you Icyhot and threaten to kill you?”
“Maybe?”
“I’m seriously going to beat your ass.”