Chapter 63

I entered the small, dimly lit pub, my head held low, so noone would recognize me. Luckily, all the seats at the counter were free. I sat down and stared at the countertop. Not long after, the familiar calloused voice called my name. "Hey Kacchan."

Deku was rummaging around in the shelf across from me, sorting a few whiskey bottles. "Work was out early today, huh?" I rested my head in my right hand. "Yeah. Best Jeanist sent me home immediately after the incident was sorted out. Said I was working too much or something."

"Hmm. Quite one hell of a Nomu, that was." "Whom are you telling that?! I burned both of my lower arms. Just glad healing quirks aren't as rare anymore. I could've been running around with those burns until next month." Deku chuckled at my bitter voice. "Let me guess, You'll be using your free time for extra training because of that."

I smirked lightly. "You bet I will. Anyways, weren't you supposed to be done around eight?" "Indeed. Fuhaku-san is late again. That'll be the last time, though." Deku shot me a glare seeping with malevolence not meant for me this once. Just then, the back door opened and a fat, bald man with a giant moustache entered.

He came over to Deku, but didn't manage to bring his excuse up. "You're late." Dekus voice was cold as ice. The man started fiddling with his fingers. "Well Midoriya-san, you see-" My favorite ravenet turned to him with a smile. The friendliness of it was clearly insincere. "The next time you're late, I won't charge people for their drinks in the time between the end of my shift and the time you show up."

Dekus smile became wider and more conceited. "It's your problem to find a way to pay for that with your vile salary, Fuhaku-san." "But you have the same salary…" "Well, I don't have three children to feed with it. Just be on time. It's not that hard, really." Having said that, Deku vanished in the staff room.

Every other person would've judged Deku for being this heartless, but… After all the time I had spent putting up with him, there was nothing I hadn't seen now. And this was the lesser evil of everything he could've done.

A few minutes later he came back, hopped over the counter and went towards the exit. I quickly followed him. We didn't talk much on the way home, until Deku suddenly turned to me and smirked coldly. "You saved at least sixty people with that attack of yours." I nodded lightly, knowing where this was going. Nowhere good, you should know.

Dekus mood changed in a split second. "I have the 8pm to 4am shift tomorrow, by the way." I growled lightly. "Seriously?! I'll get all pent up again. I'm almost sorry for the next damn Nomu crossing my path." "Blame your libido, not me." I hissed. "We're in fucking public, idiot." Deku chuckled. "You started this."

-/-

"You're getting a mass discount today. Sixty for six. Quite a good deal, huh?" Deku laughed quietly, malice in his eyes. I couldn't appreciate his humor, since I was too busy biting my lower lip bloody. Walls were as thin as skin in this building, and I couldn't afford letting anyone know what was going on here.

Deku dragged his knife over my back a second time, even slower than before. "Don't get me wrong, your silence is my favorite sound, but sometimes I really wish you'd at least wince." He pushed the knife so deep, it felt like he was halfway through me and I made a noise like a beaten dog.

"That's more like it, isn't it?" And the knife ripped my flesh up again. Again. Again. And again. Time ran slower with each drop of blood I lost and Deku was bathing in the satisfaction of my pain. I was close to passing out, but he was finally done. It had been only twenty minutes, but if you had told me it had been years of torture, I would've believed you without a second thought.

I felt Deku licking through at least three of the large gashes in my back, savoring the taste of my blood. All I could was drily sob into the blanket under me. Finally, I heard his knife snapping shut and tried to relax a bit. Impossible. My back was just a field of pure, unimpeded pain.

Deku turned my head towards him and stared at my tear-stained, agonized face for a moment. Then he kissed me, letting me taste the remains of my own blood. But since his plan wasn't soothing my pain, he quickly broke off again and left the room. "Good night, Kacchan. Glad you had a bad time."

It wasn't until an hour later that I managed to get up, clean and patch myself up as good as I could and go to bed too. As soon as I was lying next to Deku, staring at his peaceful sleeping face and feeling his body in my arms, I couldn't even think anything bad about him anymore.

I was aware I was in an abusive relationship, but guess what- even after two years, I still didn't care.

-/-

The next evening, I was just getting changed after training, someone rang the door of our apartment. "Oi Deku! Do me a favor and open up!" "At it. Don't order me around." I grumbled. That boy.

I heard the door opening and Dekus 'visitor voice'. "Hello, how can I-" A few seconds of silence. "Kacchan, that's for you. Try not to blow everything up." Dekus voice was still cheerful, but colder than dry ice. I quickly pulled my shirt over my head and went to the entrance.

On the way, Deku brushed past me. "Nothing about us. Not a word." I nodded lightly, not really paying attention. When I finally reached the door, I almost slammed it shut. "Hey Bakugou… Sorry, but this was inevitable."

-/-

A few moments later, Kirishima and I were sitting at the kitchen table, not talking much. We had been assigned on a mission together. If I could believe Kirishima, he had tried to get other people assigned, but it was a fact that we were the most suitable for this job. And people knew we were a good team, despite our private disputes.

I was looking through the papers he had brought and sighed gruffly. This looked like overtime work and sleepless nights. Whatever. As long as I could kick the asses of that damn villain organization, I wouldn't mind. Then I heard a door opening behind me and shot a glare over my shoulder.

Deku came out of the bedroom in his 'work clothes'. Work clothes my ass, he always looked like he was going to some fancy party. Why? Because he was wearing a white button-up shirt with a black waistcoat, black pants and a red tie. His army boots didn't really fit into the image, but it didn't matter. I still always got jealous of all the drunk idiots that stared at Deku all night.

He brushed some hair out of his face. "I'm going to work now, Kacchan. When do you have to get up tomorrow?" I threw a quick glance at the paper in front of me. "6am or earlier. Depends on if there's more to this." "And when will you be back?" "You'll already be at work again, that's for sure. I don't even know if I will come back tomorrow."

Deku exhaled heavily. "Just great. How long can it take to redecorate the faces of a few idiots?" I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I signed up for this one. But the fucking world won't save itself." Deku dropped his shoulders in annoyance. "See you sometime, then. Don't get killed." He ruffled his hand through my hair.

I grumbled. "Oi, don't treat me like a child." Deku gave me an amused smirk. "Alright, you won. You can have your plushie back." "You're an asshole." "And you have a nice asshole." "What the actual fuck, Deku?!" I was half standing up to kill him, half to do… some other things. He just giggled.

I dropped back. "Just get the fuck out already. Someone needs to get those extras drunk." Deku sarcastically bowed. "Alright then. Good night, gentlemen." Then he was gone. I snorted. "Fucking Deku." When I turned back to Kirishima, I noticed he was staring at me with wide eyes. "What?!"

Kirishima sighed. "It's all stayed the same, huh?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "Eh?! Why the fuck wouldn't it?" "Because of that." He pointed at the thin silver chain around my neck. I pulled it out from under my shirt. "This? Explain." "Well, isn't that an engagement ring?"

I felt myself turning red. "Huh? No. Wish it fucking was." "Then what is it?" Kirishima had a puzzled expression. I avoided looking at him. "Well… Deku despises all this couple stuff, including the following engagement and marriage thing. He doesn't even let me call him my boyfriend. He doesn't want to be bound to anyone or anything, while I wanted some kind of binding contract."

I leaned forwards a bit with a stern expression. "Remember the deal all our drama was about?" He nodded lightly. I smirked coldly. "This is it, objectified." Kirishima was taken aback. "But why?" "It has always been a vow close to marriage. From the very fucking beginning. This more or less reassures me that Deku stays with me forever."

I stared at the ring on the necklace, lost in thoughts. Kirishima had the impertinence to try and fuck with Dekus and my relationship again. "About Midoriya and refusing 'couple stuff', how you called it… Ever thought he might be… cheating on you or something?" My head shot up. "Haah?! Do you wanna piss me off?! Stop fucking trying to put ideas into my head!"

Kirishima averted his eyes from me. "Sorry. Uhm… can I see it?" I took the necklace off and held it in front of his face. He stared at it for a while. The ring was made out of black obsidian with a tiny, elliptical black diamond in the middle and a silver-plated engraving on the inside saying 'Anything & everything' in a sharp font.

Kirishima raised his eyebrows. "That thing must've been impossibly expensive. Especially two of them." I pulled the necklace back over my head. "Do you know my fucking salary? I don't even know what to do with the damn money. And this was worth it for me." My redheaded ex-friend looked like he had just gotten news about his grandmother dying.

Suddenly, he jumped up. "I won't bother you any longer. Keep the papers and study up on that stuff. I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded lightly, observing him closely. Something deeply bothered Kirishima, and it wasn't just the fact that I had spent a couple ten thousands of yen on rings that would never make anything official.

I shook the thought off once Kirishima was gone and focused on my mission. He was the past. And this was the future.

-/-

… It's so unfair how I still can't let go of you.

Sometimes, I wish Midoriya didn't exist. Or at least not like that…

-/-

I hope it hurts.

-/-

"Aren't you gonna punish me?"

"Not this time. This once, I'm actually proud of you. It's just a little girl, and she had to go through so much… Reminds me of myself, but she had it even worse. But if you hadn't managed to save her… I would've killed you."