Bakugou's POV

Eijiro stared at us intensely from the recliner in the living room. Deku and I sat on opposite ends of the couch. Deku somehow seemed unaffected by the intimidating gaze of my boyfriend, but his hazy eyes only told me it's because he's completely unfocused and out of it. He stared at the cut on his arm, his expression slightly dark.

Meanwhile, Eijiro continued to narrow his eyes at us from across the room. More specifically, he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Fucking-Stop staring at me like that!" I snapped. I couldn't decipher the look he was giving me. It was like he blamed me for something.

Eijiro only frowned. "I'm just trying to piece things together!" he defended.

"Piece what together?! And why does it involve me!?" I yelled, standing up from my spot on the couch.

Deku looked up after my outburst. "What's going on?"

"The fuck is going on-you know what the fuck is going on!" I shouted.

Deku frowned and leaned further back into the couch. "I was thinking. I don't know what's going on between you two," he defended.

My eye twitched.

"Okay, okay. Let's all take a breath real quick," Eijiro cut in and waved his arms around, trying to remind us all to breathe.

I huffed and crossed my arms. I glared at the wall, making it feel like this is all its fault.

"Midoriya, what were you thinking about?" my boyfriend asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Oh, just about what happened," Deku said. "I still can't think of a plausible reason why she would want my blood," he explained.

I scoffed, but looked over at the two of them. "Probably to turn it against you, who the fuck knows."

I watched Eijiro shake his head. "We'll figure it out. Though, I do think they are plotting something extreme. I hope its not a recurring Nomu thing like we saw with the league."

Deku scrunched his face. "I don't know. It seems more complicated than that. I keep thinking it's related to what those villains said," he stated, but then he went on a muttering rampage that myself, nor Eijiro could understand.

"Deku," I called. "You're muttering."

Deku glanced up at me. "Oh sorry. I didn't notice."

I rolled my eyes, but dropped it. The nerd will never change. "The villains say shit all the time. What the hell are you talking about?"

Deku thought for a moment before explaining. "Remember when there was that incident where a bunch of villains got together and started attacking?"

"The one where you lost your shit and nearly killed a guy?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but I didn't nearly kill him," he deflected.

"You literally almost did."

Deku shook his head. "That's not the point. Listen, they all said that the Black Lotus promised them something in return," he observed. He placed his hand on the back of his neck. "Then there's the cases where some of them keep saying that their boss would like to meet me, that he could help me. Doesn't it make sense if taking my blood was related to this somehow?" he questioned, looking back and forth between us.

I watched Eijiro pause and pursed his lips in thought. "What could they be promising? Riches? Fame? Power?"

"Deku already has all of that," I remarked.

Deku grimaced. "I-I think I have an idea," he started.

I glared at the damn nerd. What the hell does he mean by that? "You gonna fill us in?"

Deku started squirming under our gazes, and he picked at his scarred hands.

"Deku," I said coldly.

"They have something of mine," he admitted.

Eijiro's eyes widened. "What? What is it?"

"Spill Deku, before I split you open."

Deku groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "They have Ochako's engagement ring." His voice was small and timid.

The two of us went quiet. Eijiro looked strangely uncomfortable all of a sudden. He bit his lip and looked down.

"How?" I asked.

Deku shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if they're really telling the truth," he stated. "I buried it with her. Surely they couldn't have gotten it."

"And you're letting them control you with this?" I argued with a raise of my eyebrow.

Deku's mouth opened. "No I am not! I don't know if it's true, okay?!"

"So that could be what they are promising you? Speak to the boss and you'll get your ring back?" Eijiro questioned.

"That's kinda what I have been thinking. Though, it doesn't explain the blood part."

"Too bad we can't catch someone higher up in the chain to question them," he added.

"We keep following their trail. They'll fuck up eventually," I remarked.

Deku sighed. "Yeah, hopefully."

The three of us went quiet again. The conversation clearly ended.

Deku went back to staring at the cut on his arm. The fucking idiot is still thinking it over too much.

Eijiro stared at the ground, seeming to collect his thoughts.

"Okay, this is fucking ridiculous. Who wants lunch?" I uncrossed my arms and made my way to the kitchen.

"Me!" my boyfriend shouted.

"I'll take some," Deku replied.

"Tch, damn lazy," I remarked.

I prepared sandwiches and a fruit salad for lunch. Eijiro mentioned going out for dinner, so I didn't plan for a large meal. The portions they serve at restaurants is large enough.

I heard the pitter patter of feet coming up from behind me. "What do you want?" I asked, already knowing that it's my boyfriend.

"Can we talk now?" he asked.

"Is this a discussion you want with the damn nerd as well?"

Eijiro went silent for a moment. I turned around to see what was up. He bit his lip roughly. "I think I want to hear it from you first, before bringing Midoriya in."

"The fuck is this about? Did I do something?" I asked. I couldn't help but think of everything I had done this past week that would lead to an interrogation.

"No, I don't think so. I just-" he sighed. "You said we would talk about what happened at the party later." He continued to fidget. "Well, it's later."

Ei looked worried, extremely so as he continued to roughly bite at his lips and twirl his hands around the fabric of his shirt. He wouldn't make eye contact with me.

I sighed before taking a step closer to him. "Don't do that," I muttered and pulled his lip free from his teeth.

"Sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright. Let's talk."

Ei looked up at me, finally reaching my eyes. "What happened? Why are the two of you acting strange?"

I grimaced, thinking back to what was said between the nerd and I. "I never really told anyone, nor did the nerd," I started.

"About what?"

"About the way I treated him. You remember me being rude and abrasive with him back in school, but you don't know that I was much worse before UA."

"Kat, what happened?" His face scrunched up in worry.

"I can't say everything. Some of it is Deku's secret, and I won't be able to fully explain it." I took a deep breath before continuing. "I did horrible things to him because he was different, and I didn't like it. The two of us were inseparable when we were younger, but things changed after I got my quirk." I crossed my arms and leaned back, pressing my lower back onto the counter. "I think part of me wanted to protect him, and I didn't know how to do it. He wanted to be a hero, but I wanted to deter him away from the idea, so I got mean."

"What did you do?"

"That scar on Deku's shoulder?" I questioned. Ei nodded his head, knowing what I was talking about. Everyone's seen it, we've spent too much time together. "That was from me during junior high. I burned him with my quirk and threatened him."

"And?" His head tilted slightly.

I pursed my lips, not wanting to continue. "....I told him to go kill himself."

Eijiro's eyes widened and jaw went slack. "Katsuki-"

"I know! I know. It was incredibly disgusting, what I said and did, but it happened, and I can't take it back."

"Is that what the two of you were talking about then? At the party?"

"Yes. I was apologizing. I never did give him a full apology for what I did. It was long overdue." I looked down.

Eijiro placed a hand on my shoulder. "What you did was wrong, but I am glad you recognized that and apologized, even if it is overdue," he said. "I'm going to assume Midoriya forgave you?"

I scoffed. "He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He said he forgives me, not that I really deserve it."

Eijiro pointed his finger at me. "Then you better start making up for it. He deserves that much at least."

I rolled my eyes at my boyfriends stern gaze. "Yeah, I know."

Ei gave me a light smile. "That doesn't fully answer my question though."

I grunted. "Right. Well, he asked me what was different. Between you and him."

Eijiro blinked, thinking about my words. "What did you tell him?"

"I said I don't think there is." I quickly turned back around and focused on the sandwiches again, nervous to see the look on his face.

"Kat, that's-wow uhm."

"Don't go thinking dumb thoughts," I remarked.

"No, that's not it," he replied. "I guess it just makes a lot of sense," he acknowledged. "Kat, do you have feelings for him? Like you do me?"

I took in a sharp breath of air. "Ei-"

"Guys! Get in here!" Deku's voice cut me off.

I grumbled when Ei turned to go into the living room where Deku stood, staring at the tv.

"What the fuck-" I halted.

The news was on. Deku stared intently at the screen where a familiar figure made an appearance on screen.

"What happened?!" Ei asked. "Is Iida okay?!" He grabbed the remote from Deku's shaking hands and turned the volume up.

The news crew zoomed in on four eyes being loaded into an ambulance. A building behind him looked completely destroyed. 

"A large explosion happened downtown earlier today where the hero, Ingenium was located for patrol. There are little reports on what happened, but the hero seems to be in critical condition and is headed straight to the hospital for immediate care. One local claims she saw a strange hooded girl with purple hair enter the building followed by Ingenium only a few minutes before the explosion went off. Police and heroes are still looking into the cause of the explosion, but have ruled out an accident. It seems the hero Ingenium is the target of the assault."

"The fuck, it's that same girl!" I shouted.

Eijiro turned the tv off and turned to Deku. "Midoriya," he called.

The nerd looked awfully pale and his body shook. "Deku," I stood in front of the nerd. His eyes still glued to the blank tv.

His body gave out from beneath him, and he started falling towards the ground. I was quick in my response and caught him with ease.

"Midoriya!" Eijiro shouted in concern.

"I-I need to get to the h-hospital!" he stuttered.

"You're not going anywhere. You need to calm down."

"K-Kacchan, it was t-them. I know it. I-I need to see Iida. I need to see that he's o-okay." The nerd went to stand up, I helped support him as he did so. His body was still shaking and he still looked unsteady.

"Fine, but you're staying in our line of sight. No going off on your own, got it?"

He nodded. The three of us made to the door and put our shoes on before rushing out of the house.

We quickly ran to the hospital, passing by pedestrians and other heroes on shift. On our way there, Deku's phone went off.

"Sho, do you know what happened?" the nerd asked after picking it up.

I couldn't hear what was being said on the other side. I watched Deku's face grow paler and he picked up his speed. We followed in pursuit. 

"Okay. I'll be there soon." He hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Iida's in critical condition. They don't know if he'll make it," he said, but his glazed over eyes told me something else.

"What else? There's more to it," I questioned and glared the nerd down.

Deku glanced at me with a frown. "The Black Lotus was there. They left a message."

"What did it say?" Ei asked. The three of us were close to reaching the hospital. It wasn't too far from where we lived.

"Let this be a warning to those who meddle."