Chapter 55

In the late morning of the next day, Kirishima and Kaminari entered a police station. They came right at the moment someone inside said something that made them listen up.

"… Midoriya. In an alleyway near the Aldera Junior high."

They exchanged a glare and went over to the counter where two boys, one with dragon wings, the other one with longer blonde hair, were standing. The dragonwinged one looked quite beaten up, as if he had gotten into a fight with someone. Kaminari decided to eavesdrop a bit.

"Young man, is Midoriya the culprit of your injuries?" "… Yeah, but I hit first. It was self-defense." "Alright. Don't do that again, young man. You don't just start a fight with people. But thanks for the information about Midoriya. You can leave now."

The two boys left the police station without noticing they had been 'spied' on. Kirishima and Kaminari immediately went to the same counter. Kirishima took the word. "Excuse me, sir." The officer looked up to him. "Yes, what can I do for you?" "Well, we didn't mean to eavesdrop, but we couldn't help but overhear what the two boys before us were talking about…"

The officer shot them a reproachful look. "That's very impolite of you." Kaminari chimed in. "And we apologize for that. It's just that we, well… We're here because of a certain Izuku Midoriya too…" The police officer took a piece of paper from a pile and opened a pen. "I'm listening."

-/-

Deku and I were living too fast. Too careless.

He was in a strange mood the day after he snapped and I couldn't blame him. There was a tension between us I didn't get, but even more tension to the outer world. We were doing our thing next to each other, somewhat secluded through a bubble of our own thoughts.

If we had paid more attention to the world, maybe things wouldn't have ended up this way. Ever since Deku showed up again, I had to realize something. Things might get better, life can be nice sometimes, but in general… Life is just a repeated, endless kick into the fucking balls.

You'd be telling white lies if you said anything different.

In the afternoon, someone rang the doorbell. I opened and three police officers entered. One of them shoved a piece of paper into my face. It was some kind of warrant for entering my house. Two of them barged into the kitchen, to Deku. "Izuku Midoriya, you are under arrest for physically injuring a citizen. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in court."

I was frozen in place, while they handcuffed stoically staring Deku. Just when they left with him, I snapped out of my trance. I stumbled to the front door, just in time to see Deku sitting in the police car. He gave me a slight grin and waved at me, then they were gone. I stood there for a moment, as if I was glued to the spot. Then I slammed my hand against the door. "FUCK! NO, FUCKING NO!"

I kicked the door shut and ran back into the kitchen, slamming my hands on the countertop and almost hyperventilating. What was I supposed to do now? What was gonna happen to Deku? What to me? We had fucked up big time.

Suddenly, I heard a concerned voice behind me. "Hey Bakugou, calm down. He's gone. Everything's gonna be alright." I churned around with flaming eyes and spotted Kirishima, who had apparently come with the officers. "YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE ALREADY!" I pointed my finger towards the door, aggressively waving it around.

Kirishima didn't budge. "What do you mean, 'get out'? I just saved you!" "From what?! I was perfectly fucking fine!" "Bakugou, MIDORIYA CUT YOU UP!" I pulled him close by his collar. "He fucking didn't! Stop spreading lies!" The way I spat my lies into his face was so intense, I almost believed myself.

Kirishima pushed my hand off his collar and sat down at the kitchen table. "If he didn't hurt you, who did?!" I gritted my teeth. "Nobody did. Like I said the other day, extra training." "Yeah, right." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Then what did Midoriya do?! Why is he here?! Who even is he?! What's the deal with how he acts?!"

I leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "Deku didn't do anything I didn't want, got it?! I made a huge fucking mistake in the past and I need to fix it. None of your damn business anyways." Kirishima had a serious and determined expression. "I won't leave until you tell me. I care about you, and I want to be sure you're alright!"

I stayed silent for a moment, then I sat down on the counter, resting my lower arms on my thighs. "Fine, but tell ya something: We aren't fucking friends anymore after this. I tried to make you stay away with this once, but you wouldn't listen. And now I fucking mean it."

Kirishima stared at the floor. "I… can live with that, I guess. Just tell me already." "Right. Brace your ass." I pulled a chair out for myself and sat down. Then I sorted the words in my head until everything made sense without Dekus crimes. I wouldn't tell Kirishima anything that could be used against Deku.

"Deku and I are childhood friends. You already know that. I don't know what he told you when you talked the other day, but he's quirkless." Kirishima nodded with a knowing expression and I continued. "I… I started bullying him when that came out. Beating him up. Taunting him. I gave him that nickname, Deku. Means 'good-for-nothing'."

I rested the back of my hand on my eyes with a tired expression. "I kept doing that until middle school. Reached its climax when I told him to dive off a roof. He vanished a few days later. You probably saw it on the news."

Kirishima nodded. "That's how we found out who Midoriya is." I sighed, bracing for the worst. "Well, apparently, Deku had actually thought about committing suicide, but was too much of a coward in the end." Kirishima's eyes widened at my explanations. He wasn't believing me. And until now, I hadn't even lied yet.

"He lived on the streets for a while. Got raped. Almost killed. They played tic-tac-toe on his back with a knife. Then some ominous 'sensei' found him and taught him self-defense and shit." I wasn't gonna tell Kirishima that Deku learned to harm and kill. "Deku also found a place to live later. Around the time he mastered with his sensei, this… thing must've taken over him."

Kirishima was confused. "Thing?" "Yeah. Deku hasn't always been the way he is now. He used to be nice, shy, easily excitable and totally into heroes. But he developed some kind of 'mean' second personality, probably to protect himself. And it took over."

Kirishima furrowed his eyebrows. "So… Midoriya isn't actually Midoriya?" I shrugged. "If you wanna put it that way. Anyways, he came back a few weeks prior and confronted me about the shit I had done to him. I swore to myself to fix it. Somehow. Anyhow." I stared down at the tabletop and noticed something wet dripping from my eyes.

I quickly wiped my tears. "Shit…" Then I took a deep breath. "I wanted to get his old self to the main control again and made a deal that would make him stay for a while and let me talk to his old self. He agreed, probably because he already had fun with my damn despair." Kirishima's eyes hardened. "Bakugou, he legitimately tortured you."

I slammed my hands on the tabletop. "AND I FUCKING DESERVED IT! I know I can't fix him anymore, but I could at least give him some kind of peace of mind!" Kirishima shook his head. "By now, that's not the reason anymore why you want him to stay." I ran my right hand through my hair.

"Probably not, but it's still what I want to do. What kinda Hero would I be if I didn't do anything?! I just-" Kirishima looked directly into my eyes when I broke off. "You fell in love with him, didn't you?" I gritted my teeth. "Don't say it out loud. It sounds fucking ridiculous."

I wiped my eyes once again, trying to suppress my tears. "I wish I could turn time back. No matter if I became the nicest person ever from now, no matter how many people I'll save, I can't save Deku and it's fucking KILLING me! If I had never existed, he could be HAPPY now!"

Kirishima patted my shoulder. "Hey, don't say that! Sure, you've made a big mistake, but we all do. You can't waste your life trying to change the past." I stood up abruptly. "I CAN. I would kill myself if it meant Deku could go back to before. I would do anything. And everything. I would kill you right here, right now for him. I would end Lemillion (New No. 1 Hero, bcuz All Might made Mirio the successor), I would poison all of the oceans, I'd destroy the damn universe if I had to!"

He stared at me with an unbelieving expression. "Is a VILLAIN like him really worth doing all of that? Is Midoriya worth dying for?" I lowered my face to his height. "Worth killing for. Worth dying for. Worth going to hell for."