Chapter 24

A fist collided with the old mahogany tabletop, anger radiating off the owner's body in thick waves. His underlings were all in front of the old box T.V, awaiting orders from their leader's boss. Dabi had a bored expression, eyes rolling at the over-dramatic action of All for One.

"Find that hacker and incinerate her," the man seethed. "Actually, no. Bring her to me alive. Her power will be mine, you can kill her after. "

"My pleasure," Shigaraki smirked, eyes crazy and nails scratching at his neck. The T.V. then cut off, turning to static and leaving the group to themselves. Toga giggled, waving two butterfly knives around with a huge grin.

"Finally something fun to do! He won't mind if I get some of her blood before handing her to him, do ya?" The sandy blonde asked, adrenaline pumping through her veins at the new task.

"I doubt he'll care as long as you don't kill her," Dabi shrugged indifferently.

"Kurogiri, start the search," Shigaraki ordered, sitting on a rusty old chair and clapping his hands together.

Inside a secluded room, All for One paced around, hands behind his back. If the police was behind his back before, they were even more annoying now. If it weren't for that woman he would've been at peace, but that damned detective just had to dig even further. Flashes of the memory from months ago raced in his already overthinking brain, recalling the events very clearly.

It was the exact same day he had escaped Tartarus prison. His underlings had managed to break into the high-end security building and infiltrate their systems, successfully setting him and Kurogiri free. It was a big hassle with all the stupid guards behind them, but once they were out of the quirk-cancelling cuffs, it only took a portal to have them out of there in no time. For being the "most guarded" prison, getting in and out was pretty easy.

Despite the successful breakout, All for One was quite angry. Angry that his plan at stealing Katsuki's quirk was interrupted. Angry that he lost a one-on-one battle with All Might. Angry that he ended up in the fucking prison to begin with.

Furious that All Might had passed One for All to none other than his ignominious son: Izuku Midoriya. The quirkless bastard who was now destined to defeat him. How fucking ironic.

He knew exactly where to go the moment Kurogiri's portal had opened. It was time to visit his little, worthless, "family". It was obvious that the freckled boy still didn't have such great power under control, so the fastest he could be taken out, the better. All for One would be the end of the very quirk he had created—or so he had hoped.

Unfortunate for him, Izuku was running a few errands for his mother, so he wasn't at their little cozy apartment the moment he arrived. It was only Inko, the woman he had once loved. The woman he decided to let his anger out on.

"W-Who are you?" Inko had stuttered out, frightened by the tall, unrecognizable man.

"That's quite harsh, dear," Hisashi spoke with venom, a fake and sadistic smile overtaking his lips below the ventilator. "How could you forget about me, your ex-husband?"

Inko's eyes had grown in disbelief and fear, quickly grabbing a knife from the marbled countertop. She refused to believe the man, who she slowly recognized as the man who abandoned her and her son. It squeezed at her erratic heart, which felt like it would break through her ribcage.

"Stay away, or I'll call the police!" She threatened with a shaky voice, fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of the chef's knife. The man merely laughed, amused by her fake bravery. The knife flew out of her hands with a single flick of his wrist, the clanking sound of it reaching the ground resonating through the walls.

"Now, now, that's not nice. Aren't you happy to see me after all this time?" Hisashi taunted, clicking his tongue mockingly. "I was hoping to see little Izuku. I heard he got an...interesting quirk."

"You will not go anywhere near him!" Inko seethed, standing her ground. She was intimidated, yes, but she would not let the man that broke their hearts in such a horrible way near the boy. She herself had done something horrible to the boy and was trying to fix her mistakes. Izuku could not know that his father had just made an appearance.

"I'll deal with him another time," All for One said dismissively, glaring down at the woman with a scowl. "You should do for now."

The things he did after that sent a chill down his spine. The blood, the muffled screams, the tears. She had dug her nails into his skin, trying to escape but to no avail. It pleased his sadistic self in an unimaginable way. Something about slashing into the skin of the woman was just gratifying.

Perhaps he and Toga Himiko had something in common.

Meanwhile, back at the dorms, Izuku was being cornered in his own room by his best friend. Despite his protests, Uraraka insisted on playing cupid and get him and Katsuki together. He had tried explaining that there was no way that the blond would even consider it, but it fell in deaf ears.

"Have some faith! I know what I've seen, just trust me!" Uraraka pleaded, getting frustrated by Izuku's refusal.

"No, Ochako," Izuku frowned, not liking the idea one bit. "It's not like feelings will randomly spark in him after hating me for so long. We're just starting to get along."

He couldn't be more wrong.

"There's a thin line between love and hate," Uraraka pointed out with a smirk. "You should see the way Bakugo looks at you when you're not paying attention."

"He glares at me, that's what he does," Izuku denied, fighting off a blush. In fact, he had caught the blond staring at him a few times with an indecipherable look in his ruby red eyes. It made his heart skip a beat whenever he noticed. He for sure didn't want to get his hopes up, but Katsuki was making that task a little bit difficult for him.

"Ha!" The brunette exclaimed like she had won the jackpot. "You're blushing!"

"Ochako, stop!" The greenette covered his face with a pleading look in his eyes. Uraraka simply giggled, reaching to ruffle his curls with a smile.

"Alright, fine. I'll stop..." she trailed off, stepping back and pacing the room.

"Thank you," Izuku sighed, thinking that she would finally drop it. That was until she abruptly stopped, giving him a malicious grin.

"Let's make a deal, shall we?"

"You look creepy," Izuku commented, eyes widening in both, fear and curiosity.

"If you let me help you," Uraraka started, completely ignoring his statement and taking a deep breath before continuing. "I will confess to Tsu-chan in front of the whole class."

Izuku choked on his own saliva, disbelief evident in his features as he took in the sudden information. Uraraka's cheeks were flushed in utter embarrassment, the tip of her ears a deep red as she stood tall. Izuku definitely admired her determination.

"Wait, so you're lesbian?" Izuku asked, very much intrigued. He wouldn't have guessed it, to be honest.

"Bisexual, actually," she corrected with a mindless shrug. "If I'm being honest I kind of had a crush on you at the beginning of the school year."

"Huh?" Izuku blushed. Although being gay, this was the first time someone had confessed to him. Even if the person didn't have any feelings for him anymore, it was still a first.

"Yeah," Uraraka giggled, punching his arm playfully. "I mean, you were pretty much my knight in shining armor. Saving me from that giant zero pointer at the entrance exams and all."

"I didn't know..." the greenette trailed off, feeling sorry for his best friend.

"Of course you didn't," she laughed. "No hard feelings, though. As the days went by, I could sense the inexplicit tension between you and Bakugo. Plus, I got to meet Tsu-chan a little better and ended up falling for her."

"What do you mean by 'inexplicit tension'?" Izuku asked, brows furrowed.

"How can I explain this...?" Uraraka thought for a moment, sitting on the edge of his bed. "To anyone who doesn't look closely enough, you two just seem like old friends that went wrong. But whenever you two fight, or even argue, there is a certain fondness for the other in your eyes that neither of you want to show. But it is there."

"How can you be so sure?" The freckled boy asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

"You're so oblivious, geez," Uraraka sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't exactly know what's going on between you two, but what I do know is that you both are stubborn as fuck. That, and you have major communication issues. Seriously, you guys have to work on that big time."

"Hey! I'm not oblivious," Izuku huffed in defense.

"Then stop being in denial, stupid," she chuckled, poking his nose. Izuku swatted her hand away, blushing as he considered it. Could she be telling the truth?

After pondering for a minute or two, the greenette looked at his expectant friend with a sigh. "Please don't make me regret this."

The screech that left her mouth had him covering his ears, already regretting his decision. Even so, he couldn't help the grin that tugged at his lips the moment the brunette started shaking him by his shoulders excitedly.

"I'll do my best!" She giggled, suddenly getting on her feet and bolting out of the room. Izuku sat there dumbfounded. Uraraka didn't even bother on closing the door behind her as she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Izuku was genuinely worried.

A familiar face randomly popped up in his doorframe, ruby red eyes looking at him quizzically with a raised eyebrow. "What the fuck is wrong with Pink Cheeks? She just bolted out of here laughing like a creepy-ass maniac."

"Nothing!" Izuku immediately squeaked out, blushing furiously. If the blond had been there a minute earlier he would've heard the entire conversation. 

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at the greenette, taking in his flushed, embarrassed face. His eyes then widened, suddenly thinking the worse. "I thought you were gay!"

Izuku was in front of him in a flash, his scarred hand slapping over Katsuki's mouth and pulling him inside the room frantically. Kicking the door closed, the greenette pushed the blond against the wall and glared at him.

"I am," he seethed through gritted teeth. "Mind saying it any louder so that everyone in the dorms find out?"

Katsuki simply quirked an eyebrow, clearly amused. He would be lying if he said the thought of the freckled boy and Uraraka together didn't hurt, because it did. But hearing Izuku confirm his homosexuality brought him secret joy, not even mad at the way the greenette had manhandled him. It was quite the turn on, actually.

Get your mind out of the gutter, Katsuki!

The blond raised his arms in mock surrender, making Izuku roll his eyes and retreat his hand from his mouth. Katsuki had a sly smirk on his face, staring down at the slightly shorter boy. "Well? Are you going to explain or what?"

"No," Izuku grumbled out, sticking his tongue out childishly. Katsuki kissed his teeth, holding back the urge to bite Izuku's tongue. Out of lust or irritation, he didn't know.

"What are you? A kid?" Katsuki retorted, leaning his back against the wall and crossing his legs. If Izuku didn't want to tell, he would respect that. The greenette had admitted to being gay, so he wasn't worried about them having done something romantic or whatever.

"Ah, but we all are a child at heart," Izuku grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth. "You? You're just a grumpy one."

"Am not!" Katsuki huffed, glaring at him. Izuku laughed, tilting his head back.

"You just proved my point, Kacchan," Izuku giggled, a slight flush to his freckled cheeks. Katsuki rolled his eyes, though a small smile played at his lips. He loved to see the greenette laugh so wholeheartedly. It was a whole lot better than his tear stained face, eyes full of grief and sorrow.

But what he loved most was that he was the reason for such joy.