Rebirth and Blood

There were very few things in this life that ever truly made him angry anymore. Most of his rage had been burned out in the war when he finally, fucking finally put that bastard and his cronies down for good. He could still picture the look on that sick fucker's face when he put his grenade gauntlet up to his head and pulled the pin. He smirked even now knowing that Shigaraki was without a doubt dead, that he saved the day despite all odds thanks to some quick thinking and a lot of help from Lamillion.

He still recalled screaming that name. The only name which gave him any reserve of confidence or comfort even in the darkest of times. It was the name of the only person who earnestly believed he could have been a hero because he was himself and not because of his quirk. It was a signal to better times back when the world was young and innocent and his biggest worry was just trying to find the best looking bug to catch. Back when he was still happy and safe and had an actual friend.

It was strange whenever he screamed out that name, he only did it when he was absolutely scared for his life and without fail it always calmed him, assured him that even in the darkest of places there was always hope and that he would never be alone. That somewhere out there was one person rooting for him to win so he owed it to him to do as such. Like his childhood friend was there right with him in those bowel losing moments fighting alongside him.

He missed Deku. He wished that he could have reached out the second after he survived the attack at the USJ, but he never could because that would have made him a Target. Even when his own father was murdered by that animal, he couldn't reach out to his aunt or to Deku no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't live with himself if what happened to his father happened to his friend or his aunt. So he bore the burden by himself for all those years and all those battles, never wanting anything more than to just see the one person who would remind him that everything would be okay.

Round Face barely spoke to him anymore, Spiky Hair left for the States years ago and everyone else despised him. Everyone around him either ponied up to him because of his wealth and power or they reviled him because of how brutal he was in personality. The only person to ever truly accept him was the same person that he could never speak to. He believed it would be better for everyone since Deku would at least lead a safe life, or rather he did until he got a call.

It was late on a Thursday, he had completed his rounds around Tokyo and had gotten right off his shift when he heard a plea for help that he couldn't ignore. 

Auntie Inko had dialed his phone asking for his help, sounding on the verge of tears as she vaguely said it involved something about Deku. Instantly his worst fears kicked in and he had to stop himself from blasting off to reach them, but instead he allowed that fear to transfer to his pores and make him sweat. He even took the train so as not to raise suspicion in case any villains were monitoring him. 

Even as he sat on the rail line, his eyes darted left and right, feeling tense like a spring ready to leap at the slightest provocation. This was his life and it was going to send him to a very early grave, but somebody had to do it. If he didn't...he shivered at the thought.

The world was a horrible, terrifying place filled with demons who lurked in the unseen places of the earth, walking just below the surface of normality. The things he'd seen, the monsters he met, they all still haunt him even now. Better to remove those kinds of cancers off the face of the world before more evil could be done.

It wasn't like All Might, he didn't want to be like All Might anymore, not after his father died and he was taken by those animals. All Might was a great man and a hero without equal, but there are times the world doesn't need a hero, instead it needs an executioner to remove the worst of the worst. If All Might had just finished off that old demon when he had the chance then nothing would have gone wrong.

That's why he took out that hand wearing bastard before anyone could react. That parasite needed to be culled for the sake of everyone alive and the same went for his old lackies. They were nearly all dead now, he made sure of that.

Still he wished at times to be back in middle school where he could easily hold that childish view of heroics before the rot of the world showed itself to him. He was only fifthteen when someone tried to murder him for the first time and the wounds still ached every so often. He didn't regret jumping to save Eraserhead while the rest stood around in shock as that Nomu beat him to the ground, but good god did it earn him a lot of problems.

If only he had killed that fucker right then, maybe his father would still be alive and maybe Deku might have been a part of his life.

Too late to dwell on it now, those were just ghosts, echoes of times long gone and as he stepped off the train Katsuki smiled at the view of his old neighborhood when a wave of nostalgia washed over him in a tide. How long had it been since he had Auntie's snickerdoodle cookies? He had to be...ten? Maybe seven?

It had been a long time...maybe too long. Stepping out towards the direction of the Midoriya apartment Katsuki began to whistle a tune he had heard countless times in his internships with Best Jeaniest, it was always this weird techno beat that he had jammed into his head for nearly two years and it never could get out.

Passing by a playground he paused for a second to stare at the empty slide and the yellow monkey bars and the swings. He and Deku used to play here and it somehow survived the war. Suddenly he wasn't where he was anymore, instead he was four again chasing his green haired best friend up the steps of the mountain while their mothers chatted away like nothing was wrong in the world. He was laughing and smiling and filled with joy and friendship.

He...Katsuki blinked when something wet rolled down his cheeks. A sigh came to him as he wiped it away. "Not again." He thought to himself as he began to move on in his journey down a literal memory lane. Eventually he saw the drab apartment complex and made his way upward to the fourth level. Finding the right number he knocked on the door.

"Auntie? It's me, Katsuki."

The locks were undone and the door pulled back to reveal a far skinnier woman then he knew back in his childhood. Yet her eyes were set with fresh tears as she struggled out a smile, wiping away the starting ones and giving her best auntie voice.

"Hello Sweetie, I'm glad you could come over despite you being so busy with your job."

The explosion user shrugged and entered as Inko let him in. His guard didn't drop however and he kept both his arms tense in case it was a trap.

"Not a problem, now you said over the phone there was some trouble with Deku? Is he alright? Did he get in trouble with the law?"

Inko shook her head, staying where she was. Her expression was one of righteous anger which peeked out from her usually kind features. Her hands balled into fists and there was a tremor to them that didn't belong. 

"No, nothing like that. It's…"

Shaking her head, Inko pulled up a chair for herself and him by the dinner table. She was silent for a while as her nails began to dig into the wood.

"Katty, let me ask you when you and Izuku were in school together did he show any...signs of enjoying pain?"

The blond raised an eyebrow at his aunt, not expecting that to ever be a thing she would ask, ever. He thought about it for a moment, his training causing him to plan before acting. Looking back Deku always was weird, but that weird? He did always stick around even if people were rough with him, but...that seemed more like him just wanting to fit in rather than…he grimaced, anything that got him off.

He studied the look on Inko's face, seeing a vengeful, scornful look filled with disgust that really appeared alien.

"No...why do you ask?"

Shame and embarrassment battled the anger, only to then be drowned in motherly concern.

"For the past couple of months, Izuku has been in a...relationship with a woman. This woman has been a very bad influence on him and I think she's been manipulating him into doing things. Things that involve blood and pain and other awful acts."

Katsuki kept his gaze even as he listened, having learned not to let his inner shock show when faced with someone in need.

"Auntie, where do you have any proof of this? Deku isn't stupid enough to-"

He was cut off as a shrill shout came from the woman who had a hand in raising him. Had he been less hardened by the horrors he faced, Katsuki would have flinched.

"I saw him come home with a gaping wound wrapped in bandages that were soaked red! He came back with this vampiric little skank who had the audacity to take my child out of his own home because she believed I was making HIM upset! She slammed him against a wall and ordered him to come back with her and you wanna know what he said to her!?"

Inko continued without waiting for a response, her voice growing more high as she yelled.

"Yes Mommy! My own child said that right in front of me before he was carted off by this broken leech of a person! He stopped answering his phone, he started leaving work earlier and he just keeps defending her even when there's clear evidence that she's insane! My baby boy is being abused by some mentally ill monster and...and…"

She inhaled as the fury left her. Composing herself Inko looked at her godson who still was somehow unfazed by everything she said.

"Katsuki, right now Izuku is making a very big mistake in his life and I believe he's doing it because he's lonely. Ever since college ended he's led an extremely isolated life and I think he hangs around this girl because she's the first to ever really give him attention. That girl is insane Sweetie, she has a level eight blood quirk and everything about her just screamed wrong, but I can't do anything about it."

She put a hand on his arm gripping it like she did when he was a child.

"Izuku fights me at every corner and he's even started to act violently when I bring it up. I know that's because right now he doesn't need his mother, what he needs is a friend. Someone he trusts to give him good advice and bring him back to good health. That's why I called you, because you're the only person I can think of who'd have his best interest at heart and he'd listen to."

The number one hero sighed and remained as stoic as possible, not letting his emotions fall out. 

"Alright Auntie, I can do that for Deku. If he needs help like that then it's the least I can do. My duties might interfere, but I'll try and reach out to him as soon as I can, okay?"

The mother wrapped her arms around the younger man as tears began to stream in the characteristic Midoriya fashion, staining his shirt partially wet.

"Thank you so much! I wasn't sure what I would have done if you hadn't shown up!"

He patted her softly on the back as he began to move towards the door.

"It's no problem at all, he's my friend so I'll just do what a hero is meant to do."

Inko released her hold on him with a heave of sniffling, finally letting the man leave after such a short visit. Once outside Katsuki couldn't stop himself from blinking and gagging at the idea of something like that happening to Deku. What in the hell has he been up to in the past ten years!? How big was this issue? Was Auntie just blowing it out of proportion or was there really a threat to the guy's safety?

He scowled at whatever was ahead as he thought about it. Freaky shit was nothing new for him to deal with in his line of work, most of the time it was nothing but little, strange bullshit people did because it got them off. Other times...things turned darker and you wind up with monsters that he didn't want to think about. 

The sort who torture others for sexual gratification or eat them or kill them or maim them or blind them, just because they were sick in the head.

He recalled one face that came up when he thought about such animals, one who had haunted his nightmares and done so many unspeakable things to innocent people simply because it "felt good" to her. It was the last remaining member of the League of Villains, the one who turned herself in before he could find her and put her down. Himiko Toga, the blood clad slasher, commander of the Carmine regiment of the PLA.

That bitch had a hand in how everything turned out and if only it wasn't for the courts letting her slip away and hide under a new identity, he'd have ended her miserable existence long ago.

A sharp *boom* came from his palms as he made his way back to the train station. There was killing on his mind again and it was righteous, but at the moment Katsuki had bigger issues at hand. Entering the rail cart a mutter escaped his breath as he eased himself down for the ride.

"Don't worry Deku, Kacchan is coming to save the day."