No.14 - Tumblr Posts

🎃Whumptober Day 14: "Just hold on." (Yu Narukami x Reader)🎃

Spoilers: Final boss fight

You stand in front of Narukami, who was laying on the ground. The area that you two both are in is filled with fog. It seems like this is the end. Izanami is far too strong for us. But you know that Narukami, and he is going to overcome that struggle. He just needs that little pick me up right now. You kneel down, "C'mon Yu...I know you can do it. You were able to save your friends and Nanako. You are the most powerful member. Probably because you can wield multiple personas." You softly chuckled, "You helped so many people, including me. You've helped me to being more comfortable on talking to other people and to accept myself on who I am and not to be ashamed of myself. I am sure that other people who you helped are cheering you on right now." You stand up, and you smile,"Besides, I know you are too determined to lose. Remember Yu, I believe in you. I love you and...

just hold on..."

"I'm ready now for what's coming...

I've seen it all with my eyes closed.

Unsteady now but I won't quit running.

No, I'll never let go.

Final hour, I feel my heart racing-

I feel my body bracing.

The darkness descends...

Lord knows, the glory I've been chasing,

It's stripped me of everything,

And now it might be the end..."

~

-Call Me Fighter, Matt Beilis

Whumptober No.14

She was a candlestick lit from both ends. It was only a matter of time before she burned out.

(Click for better quality)

Whumptober Prompt #14 Tear-Stained

Woooooow guys!  Nineteen notes on my last post?  Last time I checked anyway.  Thank you.  Thank you all for the support.  I am kinda overwhelmed, my last one was more popular than anything I’ve ever had!  And here I am thinking that no one is reading this shit!  Thank you all.  I adore each and every one of you.  You’re amazing.  So here’s fourteen- this one is set after Killian’s death in my (Not sure if this will be the name but I need to name this damn verse) Villainous verse.  @winedark-whump if you have any suggestions, I’m open to them- fuck if anyone has any suggestions

......

It was raining.

She should’ve figured.  Of course it would rain on a day like this.  Once she would’ve danced in delight, it hardly ever truly rained here, and she had always treasured the rain when it did come.  Whenever it rained, truly rained not the usual sprinkle in the wee hours of the morning followed by thick fog and high humidity, that meant hot chocolate, cuddling on the couch, and her favorite movies.  She had always laughed when he put the same movie on for the millionth time, telling him he could pick one for once, and he would laugh back with her and say that he had chosen one.  Rainy days she always went to bed with a smile, chocolate lingering on her tongue.

She wasn’t smiling now.

Lying in bed took too much energy.  Getting up took too much energy.  Breathing took too much energy.

Knock.  Knock.  Knock.

“Little one?”  The Administrator.  “Are you awake in there?”

She found her body sitting up without her permission.  “I’m awake, sir.”

The Administrator slowly opened the door, to give her time to become decent she assumed.  She wasn’t sure where the strength to sit up was coming from, she certainly wasn’t putting on other clothes, but she did manage a proper salute.

“No need, little one.”  The Administrator waved her off, sitting on the edge of her bed.  “There is no need for such formalities in this trying time.  How are you feeling?”

She couldn’t answer him.  Though, she supposed to tear stains all over her face, stained into her pillow, her disgusting, tattered uniform she had yet to change out of was answer enough.

“I understand, my dear.”  The Administrator said kindly.  “You have no obligation to speak if you don’t want to.”

“Why…” She barely managed a whisper, but she said it, “are you here, sir?”

The Administrator sighed.  “I wanted to check up on you.  No Sidekick should lose their Hero so early.  And Soldier practically raised you, which I know makes his loss so much harder.”

She flinched away from him.

“Like I said, no obligation to speak.”  The Administrator repeated.  “But listen closely, little one.  This feeling, while you must suffer it, as all those with hearts do, are what separates us from Villains. They’re incapable of feeling grief, as that would mean they had felt love.”

She flinched, ducking her head. “Wonder told you.”

“That you called yourself a Villain because you feel what happened was your fault?”  The Administrator said, not unkindly.  “Yes, Wonder told me.  Little one, you have no need to think such terrible things.  The fact that you feel such grief, that means you are capable of feeling a great love.  You must turn that love you had for Soldier into something for the betterment of all humanity.  Heroes cannot be biased towards any minority or majority, and that love must be given freely.  This grief will soon become a source of strength for you.”

She curled into a ball, her joints cracking from stiffness.  She did not want strength right now.  She wanted Killian.

“If there is anything you need, my dear, please let us know.”  The Administrator said at last, realizing she was not going to answer him.  “We will do everything we can to rectify the situation.  Call is no matter what you need, whether it is help with rent payments, or a school tutor.  Nothing is too small or too big to call us for.”

But they couldn’t.  What she needed they couldn’t give.  She needed Killian back.  She needed a warm voice, strong hugs, gentle forehead kisses, blinding smiles, and so much laughter her heart might burst.  That was what she needed.  That was what she was lost without.

Fresh tears streaked down her face.  She went to wipe them away, to not show such weakness in front of The Administrator.  He stopped her hand.

“There is no shame in crying, little one.”  The Administrator said kindly.  “I have outlived many friends, even family.  Grief is not something to be ashamed of.  It is not a weakness.  Not yet, anyway.”

She furrowed her brow at him.

“If left too long in the grieving process, grief turns to hate.”  The Administrator explained.  “Hate leads to vengeance.  And Heroes do not seek revenge.  Revenge is something only Villains are capable of.”

“I’m not a Hero.”  She sobbed.

“Not yet, you’re not.”  The Administrator said.  “But soon you will be. Soldier’s death is a trial he could never have prepared you for, and you are facing it.  Take heart in that.  There is no need for you to submit to state testing, I have already submitted your trial as complete.”

She stared at The Administrator.  Very, very few Heroes didn’t have to go through state testing.  It was all there, the final step to become a Hero.  Psychological profiles, physicals, tests of strength and speed and everything in between, there were nine levels of passing Paradiso.  Some Heroes were excused from certain tests, only if they had already proven themselves, but no one had been excused from them all.

“Soldier would have wanted you to become a great Hero.”  The Administrator said.  “It was often the only long term goal he spoke of.  He had no interest in finding a wife, or a husband.  He only wanted you to become the Hero you were meant to be.  I intend to honor his final wish.”

“Thank you, sir.”  She said, wiping away tears.  “I won’t let you down.  I won’t let him die in vain.”

“I know you won’t.”  The Administrator said.  “I only have one order for you, little one, until your new Hero orders come in.”

“Yes, sir?”  She asked.

“Get out of those disgusting clothes and take a shower.”  The Administrator said, a touch of teasing in his voice.  “Wonder must sleep in here as well, until we catch Soldier’s killer, and you can be released to your old apartment.  And right now, my nose feels very bad for her.”

She blushed.  “Yes, sir.  I’ll do it immediately.”

The Administrator nodded and walked out the door.

Ever since Killian died, she hadn’t had the strength to get up, let alone stand in a shower.  But if the Administrator wanted her to clean herself up, she was going to do so.  She had already let Killian down, had already failed him.  She wasn’t going to fail anyone else, ever again.

Day 14, 21, 24, 28- Never Shall We Die

This was inspired by @olldolldraws they did a great piece with a pirate Katsuki that just made me feral. The story didn't end up like the drawing, but Katsuki's appearance is basically completely the same. But Kirishima wouldn't be the mermaid, so Todoroki ended up doing it. I'm not a fantasy writer, so this might not be the best, but I hope you all really enjoy it.

prompts- water inhalation, restraints, goodbye note, sacrifice- pirate Katsuki has to walk the plank to save his crew, and is resigned to his death. but he's saved by someone, something, completely unexpected

AO3 link- https://archiveofourown.org/works/50193352

Katsuki had never been one that saw the point in making prisoners walk the plank. He thought it was entirely unnecessary, too much energy for too little of a reward. It was far easier to simply stab them and throw the body overboard. His efficiency in executions aided in his rise to becoming one of the most feared pirates on all seven seas, so he never saw a need to make anyone, be them soldier or buccaneer.

He never thought he’d be the one walking to his own death off a flimsy piece of wood.

Granted, he may have been a bit overconfident when the Tainted Revenge first fired upon them, but he won every battle he’d ever entered into. It had never been overconfidence, just a factual statement that he’d win, that is… until now. He’d treated this as any other battle he fought, with the fierce determination to win, unwilling to accept defeat, with complete confidence in his crew. He only took on the best, so Katsuki thought it impossible for them to lose.

It seemed that death had finally caught up to him, having evaded it for so long. Pirates’ lives were grand and full of adventure, but very often, they were also rather short.

“Captain, don’t!” Kirishima shouted, so strong the two men holding him were having trouble keeping him under control. A gag was immediately tied around his loyal first mate’s mouth, but Katsuki had already made his choice. Katsuki had already accepted Captain Shigaraki’s bargain, his life for his crews’. It was a choice Katsuki made without even thinking.

“How can I know you’ll spare them?” Katsuki asked instead, talking directly to Captain Shigaraki, trying to ignore his crews’ shouts and struggles. They had always been loyal to him, and he to them, and the scream that had echoed from all of them when he’d accepted had been one of the most awful noises he’d ever heard. But he refused to let them die when he could save them. “It’s not like a dead man can hold you to your word.”

“Captain!” Mina screamed, causing the blonde bitch holding her to put her sword to her throat, giggling like a madwoman. The bloodlust in her eyes just intensified his resolve to save them.

Shigraki smirked, as if amused by his question. Instead of answering him directly, the bastard turned to another member of his crew. “Magne, prepare the lifeboat.”

Shigaraki turned back to him. “There’s an island a few clicks away from here. It’s uninhabited, but there’s enough life for a signal fire. Once they’re on the water, they’re out of my hands.”

Katsuki knew that would be the best deal he’d get. “Put them on first. Then I’ll walk.”

“Uh, uh, ah.” Shigaraki sneered. “If I do that, they’ll just row over and grab you. Would make the deal a bit moot.”

“I’m not dying before they’re freed.” Katsuki said, stepping up to Shigaraki showing no fear. With his hands tied behind his back, he couldn’t do anything if Shigaraki tried, but he refused to show this sadistic bastard what he wanted. If he was going to die, he was going to die with his pride intact.

“Captain, please don’t!” He could hear the tears in Kaminari’s voice. The young boy was the newest member of his trusted crew, just a simple cabin boy, but the best one he’d ever had, if a little constantly distracted.

“Fine.” Shigaraki rolled his eyes. “I’ll put them on, but I’m not lowering them until I’m sure you’re dead.”

Katsuki took the last long look at his crew. A third man had to join to keep holding Kirishima back, even with the sword at his throat. Mina was crying as the blonde bitch held her too close for Katsuki’s liking, Denki was too, his body trembling in the scarred bastard’s grip. Shinsou was trying to staunch a bleeding wound in Sero’s leg, but they still kept looking up at him in terror. They saw him as unbeatable, and it broke his heart that this was the last time they’d ever see him.

He gave them a smile that was a little too shaky to be as confident as he wanted it to be, and then turned and gave Shigaraki a nod. His crew screamed again as they were thrown roughly into the lifeboat the woman had already prepared. Kirishima tried to rush them but three swords were pointed at his crew in seconds. “Eijirou, stand down!” Katsuki commanded, and Kirishima looked up at him, broken-hearted. “You know your duty. Keep them safe.”

Kirishima just stared at him, the grief so powerful in his eyes, Katsuki had to look away. Shigaraki then pushed him roughly so he stumbled towards the edge of the boat, where the plank lay, as inviting as a siren’s call. “Go on then.”

Katsuki’s heart sped up in fear, but he held firm. He wouldn’t die a coward. He wouldn’t.

The plank was a pathetic piece of wood, and the first step he took made a horrible creaking sound. He hoped he’d be able to walk all the way to the end before it collapsed. If he was going to die, then it was going to be on his terms. Walking on something so narrow with his hands bound was more difficult than he thought it would be, so he took it a little slow, his steps sure and careful. As he walked, he whispered the mantra he’d taught every member of his crew. It was from the first sea shanty he’d learned as a pirate, and the way he’d lived his life on the sea.

“Oh hurry up already, before I get bored!” Shigaraki shouted, startling him a little, causing him to wobble. His steps got a little faster but he tried to keep his cautious approach.

It was the longest walk of his life, but it was only a few short steps until he reached the end. He took a breath, held his head high, and spun on his ankles to face the bastards, but his eyes were only on his crew. Crimson met red, black, yellow, black and purple.

“Never shall we die.”

He jumped.

Panic hit him the second he hit the water. Katsuki had grown up on the ocean, his parents silk merchants who often took him with them as they went from port to port. He’d learned to swim before he’d learned how to spell his own name. But now all those years of expertise were useless, his body jerking out with no traction, his legs directionless as he tried to get back up to the surface. He’d breach the surface for a moment before the ocean’s current would rise again and he couldn’t tread water to keep from being pushed down all over again. Holding his breath was his last resort, trying to take as big of a breath as he could when his head was above the surface but the rolling waves were coming too fast. He could hear voices he knew but the water pushed him down before he could decipher them, and his legs were quickly losing energy to be able to keep himself afloat. His wrists strained on the ropes, trying desperately to get out, but the fiber just dug into his skin, rubbing his wrists raw, the salt of the ocean stinging him as water shoved itself down his throat. Energy drained out of him as he began to sink under the waves, his legs kicking out without strength before going completely limp. He could see the sun shining down on the water, the bright light with its shining rays getting dim as his eyes fluttered. A few bubbles escaped his lips, taking the last bit of air he had, and his last thought was a prayer that his sacrifice was worth it, that his crew, his friends would live on even if he didn't. Darkness claimed him as he sank down into the depths of Davy Jones locker.

Katsuki could feel the touch of fingers on his cheek, gentle as they turned his face a little, and a little pressure on his chest had him coughing up the water in his lungs. Air that wasn’t laden with water passed his lips and he took a breath he didn’t think he’d ever take again. A presence, the fingers owner, was talking to him he thought, but he couldn’t understand the voice at all. But it sounded… it sounded…

Ethereal

Breaking the salt crusting his lids shut, Katsuki’s eyes fluttered to see something his drowned mind couldn’t understand. The sun shone around this stranger like a halo, making the white and red sparkle in the light, but blue as bright as ice and gray like a fierce storm captivated him. He’d never seen such eyes. There was a gentleness in them, though it was guarded with caution. An uncoordinated hand went to reach for the stranger’s face but another hand caught it. The hand was cool, cooler than he’d ever felt a hand be before. His brow furrowed. What… who…

A loud sound caught the stranger’s attention, and his eyes went wide as he saw the stranger shrink back. They weren’t wearing a shirt, and their muscles were on full display, with Katsuki able to see each one of their abs as they went down, down, down until they reached… a tail. Katsuki blinked hard, and still saw the fish tail, the scales enmeshed with their skin. Katsuki’s head swam again, getting dizzy from the sight. The stranger looked down at him again, and with a sadness he didn’t understand, the stranger then crawled away on their hands quickly, and threw themselves back into the water, white and red tail fins high before disappearing under the water. Katsuki stared for another long moment, unable to comprehend what he’d just seen.

It was only then he realized his hands were no longer bound, and another uncoordinated hand came to his wrist, which was still red and raw from the ropes. He could still feel the dried salt on his skin, could feel his waterlogged clothes still glued to him, the water in his ears throwing off his equilibrium, the sand on literally every part of his body, and he just didn’t understand, couldn’t. The stranger was his savior, one of the most beautiful creatures he’d ever seen in his life, but his guardian angel was something he could barely describe. There was a word for what he’d just seen, but his mind just couldn’t connect what he’d seen to that particular word. He had to go after them, had to go after his angel.

Weak arms tried to push upwards, but he barely got his chest up before he crashed back down to the ground. It should not have taken so much energy to move, but his reserves of energy were spent again, and his eyes fluttered shut. The sound of the waves that drowned him rang in his ears, but his mind began to slip back into darkness, unable to keep himself awake. With his eyes closed and sleep infecting his body like a virus, he missed white and red popping back out of the water, staring at him as he lay on the beach.

“Katsuki!”

Katsuki whimpered from the pitch of the scream, his ears sensitive to the noise, wanting to sink back into sleep. In sleep there was no feeling of being like a dried fish, crusted with salt and stiff from the sun. Moving his whole body was too much energy, so he hoped just turning his head to the side would be enough. But then he heard knees crash to the ground, and the sun was blocked from further drying out his form.

“Katsuki, oh god, Katsuki, fuck, how did you- we thought we lost you, oh my god.” Tears were streaming down his first mate’s face, but the watery smile was so powerful that Katsuki had a hard time focusing on his face. Katsuki was then lifted into a strong embrace with corded muscles holding him tight. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I thought… we thought… alive, you’re alive, god, I can’t believe it.” Kirishima pressed a kiss to his hair, the spikes fluffing up as they dried. And then a couple more in his desperation.

“S’itty hair.” Katsuki croaked out, and then he had to turn to his side to cough out a little more water, his lungs aching in his chest.

Kirishima patted his back gently until the fit subsided, letting him gasp until it was just air, and then held him close once again.

“You’re alive.” Kirishima whispered, holding his head gently, Katsuki without the strength to hold himself up. “You’re alive.”

“Al’ve.” Katsuki gasped, attempting for a smile. Kirishima just gave a watery laugh, shaky and overwhelmed, and pressed their foreheads together. Katsuki’s eyes fluttered shut as they took a moment to breathe together. Air had never tasted so sweet.

“You know, when you said never shall we die, I didn’t think you meant literally.” Kirishima breathed a chuckle, still obviously shaken over what happened. Honestly, so was Katsuki.

“N’ther did I.” Katsuki choked out, trying to laugh this all off, but tears poured down his face before he could stop them. Kirishima pulled him into the nape of his neck, holding him together as Katsuki sobbed with what breath he had. Kirishima pulled his body close to his own, cradling Katsuki in his arms, gently massaging at the back of his head, scratching lightly at his hair, whispering soft comforts and encouraging him to just let himself cry. Katsuki hated crying, but these tears were irrepressible, and he broke down in a way he’d never thought he could.

Katsuki had heard stories of drowning, but none of them compared to what actually happened, how someone actually drowned. Drowning was so painful, so terrifying, it was almost enough to keep him from ever going on the ocean again. Katsuki wasn’t sure how long he cried out his fears into his first mate’s embrace, but eventually his sobs subsided into coughing, heavy breaths.

Acting as if nothing had happened, Kirishima stood, standing with such strength he brought Katsuki up with him. This is why Katsuki had chosen him to be first mate, he knew Katsuki best, as well as their crew. “Come on, captain. Let’s get you home with us.”

Katsuki flopped his arm around Kirishima’s shoulders, and Kirishima took his hip, a position they’d been in many times over the years. It was the closest Katuski got to letting people help him, not wanting to show any weakness as the captain of the Howitzer. But this time Katsuki was so spent and felt so shitty that he just let Kirishima drag him, his feet barely pushing him forward as he tried to walk. He knew it was scaring his first mate, but he couldn’t do anything else. He just had nothing left.

He was halfway to unconsciousness when he heard another shout from voices he recognized, this one of joy. A body wrapped around him, and then another, and then he lost track of all the bodies in his personal bubble. Questions were thrown at him too rapidly for him to understand, and they only stopped when Kirishima loudly cleared his throat.

“Guys, back off.” Kirishima said authoritatively. “He’s been through a lot. Give him some space.”

“But how did he survive, Kiri?” Kaminari said, redirecting his question. “He should’ve drowned, how could he have gotten here, and before us?”

“M’rman.” Katsuki panted, leaning too heavily into Kirishima as black spots teased at his vision.

“Did he just say merman?” Kaminari breathed, shock all over his face. “Like merpeople? Like half fish, half hot person merpeople?”

“Denki, back off, now.” Shinsou said, grabbing Katsuki’s other arm to sling over his shoulder. “He needs rest right now, more than we need answers. He probably got sun sickness laying out there as long as he did.”

Kirishima and Shinsou then grabbed Katsuki’s thighs and lifted him into the air a little, his head lolling to the side limply. The fact that Shinsou could take charge in a crisis was one of the reasons he’d chosen Shinsou for his crew, to tend what medical aid he could. He wasn’t a doctor, but he’d been trained in several arts by a teacher even Katsuki respected. They carried him over to somewhere much shadier, and then set him down on some soft dirt, propped up against a tree. This was the best he’d felt since the battle.

“Help me get his clothes off.” Shinsou said, already starting to unbutton his shirt.

“Shinsou, don’t, you know how he is when it comes to stuff like that.” Kirishima hesitated, placing a hand on Shinsou's shoulder. Even when half-dead, Katsuki could appreciate his first mate's desire to protect him. Kirishima knew he never liked anyone seeing him undressed. He was unashamed of his body, but he was Captain. He was always supposed to be strong, put together, collected. His crew looked to him for strength, and being undressed and vulnerable wasn't strong.

“Staying in these wet clothes is worse for him, he needs to dry off completely, he’ll get sicker.” Shinsou said, Kirishima not even breaking his focus. “Besides, his shirt is white, it’s not like we can’t see everything anyways.”

Kirishima sighed but nodded. His first mate then got his boots off, pulling a noise from him as he hadn’t realized how uncomfortable his boots were until they were off. Kirishima then cupped his cheek, trying to reassure him. Shinsou removed his scarf, and then his shirt, Katsuki completely limp as his crew maneuvered his body, blinking in and out of consciousness. He didn’t even notice them taking his pants off, but he could feel that they were done when they got to his undergarments and he was grateful to his crew for that anyways. Katsuki never liked being undressed, even around his crew, the concept too vulnerable to let anyone see, so his muddied mind was at least grateful for the gesture. He drifted when he felt hands stop touching him, voices unintelligibly whispering around him.

A soft cloth with cool water then touched his forehead, gently brushing across his face, drawing him weakly back to consciousness. After his closed eyes were done, he opened them to see Mina with a bowl of water. River water it felt like, since there wasn’t any salt residue left over and it was washing that same salt from his face. River water had never felt so good on his skin. He tried for a smile, wanting to thank her but without the strength to speak.

“It’s okay, captain, we’ve got you.” Mina said, kissing his cheek. “We’ll figure out how to get out of here. It’s our turn to protect you. You can rest now.”

That brought out a genuine, if exhausted, smile. Tomorrow, when he was more coherent, had more strength, he’d tell his crew the tale of his guardian angel, of how he was rescued, and what he thought he’d been rescued by. But for now, his eyes just closed, and he drifted to sleep, completely confident that his crew would get them out of this. Instead of the nightmares he was prone to, tonight he dreamt of his angel with those incredible eyes and inexplicable tail.

When the Past Comes Calling, I Can't Breathe

Day 1 Panic Attack, Day 2 Trust Issues, Day 11 Loneliness, Day 13 Team as Family, Day 14 Left for Dead, Day 15 Childhood Trauma, Day 28 Exposure

When an old "friend" of Katsuki's resurfaces, he tries hard to keep that sludge villain incident a secret from his squad. Unfortunately, it's harder said than done.

Class 1-A had been kept inside of UA’s walls for a while, and as soon as they were given the greenlight to finally go out again now that they all had their provisional licenses, Katsuki’s extras roped him into a trip to the arcade. He hadn’t wanted to go with them, but one of the conditions Aizawa-sensei had set was they had to go in groups, and his extras were some of the few in their class that Katsuki could stand, so he was left with little choice. The allure of going outside and not having people stare at him or whisper about him just out of earshot was worth dealing with his extras being overly excited and overdramatic for a little while. They’d gone back to their system of having one person choose their destination, as they had done before the dorm system, and it was Sero’s turn. He’d chosen to go to the arcade, and Katsuki figured at least he’d have some fun wiping the floor with his extras at all the games.

Somehow, the day had actually been going rather smoothly, as they hadn’t gotten kicked out yet, they hadn’t broken anything in their enthusiasm, and the only time they air hockey puck went off of the table, which surprisingly hadn’t been his fault, no one had gotten hurt. Katsuki had actually smiled a couple of times after watching his extras play, and seeing their disappointed faces whenever he won. He really should’ve known better than to trust and let his guard down a little thinking it would just be a simple day with his extras. His life was never that easy anymore.

“Hey, Katsuki. Long time no see.”

Katsuki went completely still, his heart beginning to pound in his chest as a voice he hadn’t heard in months drifted back into his ears.

“Come on, Katsuki, don’t ignore me. We’ve been friends for too long for that.”

Katsuki’s temper flared at that, feeling like he wanted to tear the bastard’s face off, but he tried his best to keep his anger under control. His fists however seemed to have different ideas, and he only noticed he’d been crushing his cup when soda started to spill down his hand.

He took a shaky, deep breath, turned towards the bastard, and said, “I have no idea who you are. Leave me alone.” Then he turned to his extras, who had mercifully been very absorbed in the shooting game they’d been playing, and just muttered, “I’m getting another drink.”

His extras acknowledged him briefly, and he stormed off to the nearest trash can, hoping that the damn bastard would get the hint and leave him alone. But it seemed the bastard was just as stupid as he was in middle school, and followed him.

“Don’t be such an asshole, Katsuki. Just because I didn’t end up going to UA doesn’t mean you can ignore me now.”

Katsuki whirled around, facing Koshinuke, his heart still pounding in his chest from anger and an emotion he was trying to smother with anger. He wanted to scream in this fucker’s face, he wanted to tear his throat out, but he couldn’t, that would draw too much attention, so he just settled on a low growl filled with hatred. “I told you, I don’t know who you are, leave me alone.”

Koshinuke rolled his eyes, and lightly glared at him. “You can’t just pretend you don’t know me, asshole. Come on, we’ve been friends for years, and suddenly when you get into UA, you just block everyone and drop off the face of the planet? Not cool, man.”

Katsuki’s hand clenched even harder on the paper cup, and he threw it into the trash can as hard as he could, some drops of soda still spilling down his hand. “I won’t tell you again, leave me the fuck alone.”

“What? Are you afraid to be seen with me with your big shot UA friends, or something?” Koshinuke asked presumptuously. “You can’t just ignore the past.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened as keeping his temper under control became even harder. Middle school Katsuki probably would’ve blown him up, but he didn’t want to ruin today for his extras, they’d been so restless and antsy being kept inside the dorms all the time. If he used his quirk, they’d get kicked out and he just couldn’t do that to his extras.

“You have no right to bring up the past with me, you selfish bastard.” Katsuki hissed, his voice full of venom. “You ever think I fucking blocked you because I didn’t want to fucking talk to you ever again after what you did to me?”

Koshinuke scoffed. “Seriously, dude, are you still mad about that? That was forever ago.”

“Time makes no goddamn difference, you abandoned me to that thing.” Katsuki growled, some of his emotions leaking into his voice.

“We knew you’d be okay.” Koshinuke dismissed. “You’re Bakugou Katsuki, you can do anything. You always said you could.”

“Don’t throw my own fucking words back in my face, you traitorous bastard!” Katsuki’s heart was beating so loud, everyone in this arcade should’ve been able to hear it, and he didn’t think it was only from righteous anger.

“Ugh, why are you still so mad about that, Katsuki?” Koshinuke sighed as if Katsuki was annoying him. “You’re fine now. You got into UA, you’re becoming a hero, everything you always said you’d do, you did. It’s not like it really did anything to you.”

“That’s not the goddamn point.” Katsuki sneered. “And stop calling me Katsuki, you lost that right a long time ago.”

“Why are you being so sensitive, dude?” Koshinuke groaned. “I swear, you’re sounding like pathetic Deku or something.”

Katsuki had never wanted to punch someone in the face so badly in his life. His body was trembling with anger, his heart was beating out of his chest, and his fingernails were digging into his palms as he tried his best to keep his anger under control.

“ You left me there to die. ” Katsuki whispered out, his voice gravelly and rough as his throat closed as he spoke.

“This guy bothering you, man?” Katsuki was startled to hear Kirishima, but his extras were suddenly behind him, looking mildly upset. They must have finished their game and gone looking for him when he hadn’t returned.

“We’re old friends from middle school.” Koshinuke said, smiling in a way that made Katsuki want to stab him in the eye.

“No we’re not.” Katsuki stated flatly. “And yes, he is bothering me. I told him to leave me alone, get him out of my sight before I blow this whole damn building.”

The words had thankfully come out like an order, but there had been an inflection in his voice he hadn’t wanted. He just hoped his extras chalked it up to him being ridiculously angry.

“You heard him, beat it.” Kaminari said, looking as serious as he could be. In any other situation, Katsuki would’ve found it hilarious. “Kacchan doesn’t want you around.”

“Yeah, leave us alone, dude.” Sero said. “We don’t want any drama, okay?

Koshinuke seemed affronted by his extras. “Katsuki, come on, we’re friends-”

“Don’t make us get the security guard.” Kirishima interrupted, crossing his arms. “Bakugou told you to leave him alone, I suggest you listen this time. Trust me, man, you don’t want this fight.”

Koshinuke looked between his extras, still looking offended, but when all of his extras glared right back, moving closer to him as if to protect him, something they’d started after Kamino, he finally backed off to Katsuki’s relief.

“Fine, whatever, man. Guess you’re still the same asshole you always were.” Koshinuke scoffed, sneering at him. “Hope you all enjoy being an asshole’s lapdog.”

Koshinuke put his hands in his pockets and stormed off. Katsuki was still trembling with anger, but hopefully his heart would calm down soon. He wasn’t sure why it was beating so fast, it didn’t usually, but he hadn’t been this angry since Ground Beta.

“You okay, dude? You seem really upset.” Kirishima said, placing his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off.

“I’m fine. The fucker just wouldn’t leave me alone.” Katsuki said, still glaring at the bastard’s back as he walked away. He held up his hand, which was still covered in sticky soda, and he just sighed in annoyance. “Need to fucking wash my hands. I’ll be back.”

Before his extras could say anything, he stalked off the bathroom, trying to hide how his hands were shaking. He ran his hands under the cold water, scrubbing them intensely, and tried to push the interaction out of his mind. His breathing was coming faster and faster, and his heart was beating so hard in his chest it was painful. His wet hands then came to his throat, clawing at it as breathing suddenly became much, much harder than it should be.

Suppressed memories started to break through to his mind’s eye, flashing across his eyes and devastating them with his power. The sight of his shaking hands in the shower as he scrubbed his body raw trying to get rid of the feeling of sludge all over his body, his stomach rolling as he still felt disgusting no matter how hard he scrubbed. The panic that had been caused by the attack, the fires that had started, the way his quirk had turned from a defensive measure into an uncontrollable weapon for the villain. Coughing as much as he was breathing, feeling the villain’s sludge go down his throat, only being allowed to breathe on the villain’s terms. His friends staring in terror at the monstrosity swirling around him, his arm still outstretched as he silently begged for their help. Watching in horror as the people he thought were friends turned around and ran away from him, abandoning him to be at the villain’s mercy, letting his body get swallowed by the darkness he couldn’t escape on his own.

Katsuki crashed to his knees, his soapy hands still clawing at his throat, his heart beating so hard it must be cracking his ribs. Up until that point, Katsuki had never felt so close to death, and now it felt like he was right back there, his body trembling and weakening from the inescapable power of the memories that seemed to be slowly killing him.

“-kugou! Bakugou! Katsuki!” A strange hand grasped his, holding it tightly.

Instinctively, Katsuki’s quirk went off, as if trying to protect himself from a threat he couldn’t recognize. But the hand stayed, unaffected by his explosion, and another hand then cupped his cheek. Again, Katsuki’s hand came to the foreign feeling, setting off another firecracker. Again, the hand didn’t pull away, and Katsuki didn’t know why.

It took a little bit, but eventually Katsuki recognized a red blur, recognizing the color of Kirishima’s hair anywhere. He blinked hard, just now realizing that he was crying and that was why he couldn’t see, trying to focus on the sight of his friend to keep him grounded.

“You can do it, Katsuki, just try to breathe with me, okay?” Kirishima said, pulling Katsuki’s hand to Kirishima’s chest. He breathed in slowly, a soft voice besides them counting to four, and then breathed out as the voice counted to seven.

Breath slowly scraped through Katsuki’s lungs, his body still trembling as he tried his best to focus on his friends. The voice belonged to Mina, who wore the same worried expression that Kirishima did as Katsuki became dizzy from the lack of oxygen.

“Maybe we should call Aizawa-sensei.” He heard Sero whisper to Kirishima. “Or take him to the hospital, he’s not calming down.”

Katsuki whimpered as he shook his head quickly, as the thought of someone else seeing him like this made his skin crawl. He was still gasping for air, but he managed to whisper, “no hospitals.”

“Katsuki, you’re having a panic attack.” Kirishima said, still squeezing his hands. Ah, Kirishima had his quirk activated on his hands, that’s why the explosions hadn’t worked. As much as he didn’t want to be touched right now, he was somewhat glad he hadn’t hurt his friend. “I really think you need to go to the hospital.”

He shook his head again, his stomach twisting painfully, knowing that a trip to the hospital would only lead to negative outcomes. “Please. No hospitals.”

Kirishima bit his lip with his shark teeth, and Katsuki saw the uncertainty in his friends’ faces. The tiny part of his logical mind that wasn’t being drowned out by panic told him he needed to calm down or his friends would take him to the hospital. While the panic was still strong, while his body still trembled, he tried to match the four-seven breathing pattern Kirishima and Mina had shown him. Encouraged by Katsuki’s attempts, Kirishima squeezed his hand again and started breathing deeply again, keeping Katsuki’s hand pressed against his chest.

Katsuki wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually his breathing finally calmed down to meet the four-seven pattern his friends were giving him. The dizziness that had sent his stomach rolling finally calmed down, and while stray tears were still streaming down his cheeks, he could finally breathe again, letting him think clearly.

“You back with us, Bakugou?” Kirishima’s voice was barely a whisper, as if afraid to set him off again.

Katsuki wanted to shove his friends away, to scream at them to leave him alone, but he didn’t have the strength to. Instead he just nodded, still panting.

“Are you okay, Kacchan?” Kaminari asked, and Katsuki just glared at him. He nodded, grimacing. “Yeah, got it, stupid question, shutting up.”

“Okay, what the hell just happened?” Mina asked, staring at him with her raccoon eyes, emotion shining within them.

“‘Ts nothing.” Katsuki muttered.

“Bullshit, you don’t have panic attacks for nothing.” Kirishima said, and he wondered when his friends had gotten so good at calling him out. “Come on, dude, you gotta tell us what happened. We’re your friends. Did that guy hurt you or something?”

Katsuki shook his head, and thought for a moment. His extras were like dogs with bones, once they were on the trail of something, they never let it go. He hated revealing any weaknesses to anyone, but he supposed they had just talked him down from a panic attack, and they’d want to ‘help’ him. But since he still didn’t want to talk, his still shaking hand felt around for his phone for a moment, and then pulled it out. He searched up the story, as he knew it had made the news, and then held his phone out for them to read.

His friends looked confused, but they took the phone from him. All of his friends crowded around so they could all read the article.

“All Might defeats sludge type villain… hey wait a minute I remember this, it was on the news.” Sero said, staring at the phone with a puzzled expression before his eyes went wide and his voice became incredulous. “Wait a minute, that was you? ”

Katsuki just nodded curtly.

“Oh my god, this is about you? ” Mina said, gesturing to the article. “You were the one that he…”

Katsuki nodded again.

His friends’ faces went white and he looked down at the floor, unable to take the emotions in their eyes. Kirishima squeezed his hand again, disarming his quirk so he just felt his friend’s calloused skin.

“Dude, I’m so sorry- I, I mean,” Kirishima sputtered, “We’re glad you’re okay.”

“Are… you okay?” Kaminari asked hesitantly.

Katsuki nodded again, even if his body was still trembling and the occasional tear still ran down his cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kirishima said, his voice sounding far too sincere for Katsuki to handle. “We’re your friends, you can tell us stuff like this. We’re here to support you.”

Katsuki glared at Kirishima. “It was none of your business.”

Kirishima winced as if he’d been expecting that answer.

“But… wait a minute.” Sero said. “If this happened because you got attacked by a villain, then… what does that guy have to do with it?”

Katsuki squirmed a little uncomfortably. “Just drop it, okay? This has nothing to do with you. It’s none of your business.”

That got him looks from all of his friends.

“Bakugou, we’re your friends.” Kirishima said. “When some random asshole hurts you, we’re here to help you. We care about you.”

“Besides, it kinda became our business when we needed to talk you down from a panic attack.” Sero said plainly.

“Yeah. So stop being mister stoic and secretive and emotionally repressed for a little bit, okay?” Mina added. “Just talk to us.”

“I’m not emotionally repressed.” Katsuki murmured petulantly.

“Kacchan, you’re the king of being emotionally repressed.” Kaminari deadpanned. “Come on, man. We- we need to know why we need to beat up that guy if we ever see him again.”

That got Katsuki to snort, chuckling a little at his friend’s idiocy. Katsuki took a deep breath and sighed. His stomach was still twisting painfully, but his heart was at least calming a little being surrounded by his friends. There was still a part of him that wanted to scrub his skin raw again, but it was calming down the longer his friends’ spent hovering over him.

“I… was walking home like I always did. Was hanging out with that bastard and another idiot from middle school. We were… taking a shortcut, deciding what to do for the day. We… went into this alleyway, and then this wall of sludge came up from the sewers. Grabs me. And those two fucking cowards… they turned and ran at the first fucking sign of trouble. Left me to deal with it alone. I was fine, of course, All Might was right around the corner, it was nothing, but… I couldn’t forgive them for just leaving me there. Haven’t talked to them since.”

Katsuki kept his eyes on the ground, able to sense his friends’ godawful pity in their eyes without needing to see it. His friends knew him well enough that that last bit of bravado was fake. He could tell by how hard Kirishima was squeezing his hand.

“That’s so horrible.” Mina said, her voice wavering a little. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“I told you, it was nothing!” Katsuki snapped.

“Oh yeah, it was totally nothing.” Sero muttered, rolling his eyes and glaring at him. “It was so nothing that you were sent into a panic attack just by seeing that asshole again.”

Katsuki matched his glare. Sero didn’t back down.

“So we’re totally actually beating them up if we ever see them again, right?” Kaminari asked, breaking the tension a little.

Katsuki breathed out a soft chuckle. “I don’t need you to fight my battles.”

“We’re not saying you need us to fight your battles.” Sero smirked. “We’re just saying that if we ever see those guys again, they’re just gonna accidentally get punched in the face a couple dozen times. No biggie.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Katsuki scoffed quietly.

“Yeah, but trust me, we want to.” Kaminari said with a soft, idiotic smirk. “No one abandons our Kacchan to die and gets away with it.”

Katuki’s eyes went wide, looking at Kaminari in shock. “What… did you just say?”

“Oh um. When- when we were walking over to you after I kicked Sero’s ass-”

There was a soft interruption of “We fucking tied! That last kill didn’t count!”

A beat.

“After I finished kicking Sero’s ass, I um, kinda heard you say that he- that he left you for dead.” Kaminari said, obviously trying to be light despite the subject matter, trying to play it off as if it was nothing. “So yeah, we’re gonna punch those guys, like, a lot. They fucking suck.”

Katsuki flushed red, unaware that his friends had heard that part of the conversation. Fuck. He opened his mouth to dismiss his own words, but he couldn’t come up with anything that would actually work. Fuck.

Kirishima squeezed his hand again. “It’s okay, Bakugou. You don’t have to say anything.”

Kirishima then let go of him and stood up. “I think we should all go home. I’m kinda tired. What about you guys?”

“No.” Katsuki said. “You were all so excited to get out of the dorms for a little while. I’m fine, let’s go back to playing.”

His legs were still shaking a little, but Katsuki managed to get himself up. His friends hovered over him a little, as if waiting to catch him if he fell. Katsuki held his head up, and looked them all in the eye. His friends’ exchanged a couple of worried glances, but they eventually nodded, letting him not be held back by this as he wanted.

“Yeah, sure, man.” Sero said. “I say Kami owes me a rematch from earlier, we fucking tied!”

Katsuki felt a tiny smile grace his lips, and then Kirishima slung an arm around Katsuki’s shoulder. This time, Katsuki let it stay a whole three seconds longer than he usually did.

When the Past Comes Calling, I Can't Breathe

Day 1 Panic Attack, Day 2 Trust Issues, Day 11 Loneliness, Day 13 Team as Family, Day 14 Left for Dead, Day 15 Childhood Trauma, Day 28 Exposure

When an old "friend" of Katsuki's resurfaces, he tries hard to keep that sludge villain incident a secret from his squad. Unfortunately, it's harder said than done.

Class 1-A had been kept inside of UA’s walls for a while, and as soon as they were given the greenlight to finally go out again now that they all had their provisional licenses, Katsuki’s extras roped him into a trip to the arcade. He hadn’t wanted to go with them, but one of the conditions Aizawa-sensei had set was they had to go in groups, and his extras were some of the few in their class that Katsuki could stand, so he was left with little choice. The allure of going outside and not having people stare at him or whisper about him just out of earshot was worth dealing with his extras being overly excited and overdramatic for a little while. They’d gone back to their system of having one person choose their destination, as they had done before the dorm system, and it was Sero’s turn. He’d chosen to go to the arcade, and Katsuki figured at least he’d have some fun wiping the floor with his extras at all the games.

Somehow, the day had actually been going rather smoothly, as they hadn’t gotten kicked out yet, they hadn’t broken anything in their enthusiasm, and the only time they air hockey puck went off of the table, which surprisingly hadn’t been his fault, no one had gotten hurt. Katsuki had actually smiled a couple of times after watching his extras play, and seeing their disappointed faces whenever he won. He really should’ve known better than to trust and let his guard down a little thinking it would just be a simple day with his extras. His life was never that easy anymore.

“Hey, Katsuki. Long time no see.”

Katsuki went completely still, his heart beginning to pound in his chest as a voice he hadn’t heard in months drifted back into his ears.

“Come on, Katsuki, don’t ignore me. We’ve been friends for too long for that.”

Katsuki’s temper flared at that, feeling like he wanted to tear the bastard’s face off, but he tried his best to keep his anger under control. His fists however seemed to have different ideas, and he only noticed he’d been crushing his cup when soda started to spill down his hand.

He took a shaky, deep breath, turned towards the bastard, and said, “I have no idea who you are. Leave me alone.” Then he turned to his extras, who had mercifully been very absorbed in the shooting game they’d been playing, and just muttered, “I’m getting another drink.”

His extras acknowledged him briefly, and he stormed off to the nearest trash can, hoping that the damn bastard would get the hint and leave him alone. But it seemed the bastard was just as stupid as he was in middle school, and followed him.

“Don’t be such an asshole, Katsuki. Just because I didn’t end up going to UA doesn’t mean you can ignore me now.”

Katsuki whirled around, facing Koshinuke, his heart still pounding in his chest from anger and an emotion he was trying to smother with anger. He wanted to scream in this fucker’s face, he wanted to tear his throat out, but he couldn’t, that would draw too much attention, so he just settled on a low growl filled with hatred. “I told you, I don’t know who you are, leave me alone.”

Koshinuke rolled his eyes, and lightly glared at him. “You can’t just pretend you don’t know me, asshole. Come on, we’ve been friends for years, and suddenly when you get into UA, you just block everyone and drop off the face of the planet? Not cool, man.”

Katsuki’s hand clenched even harder on the paper cup, and he threw it into the trash can as hard as he could, some drops of soda still spilling down his hand. “I won’t tell you again, leave me the fuck alone.”

“What? Are you afraid to be seen with me with your big shot UA friends, or something?” Koshinuke asked presumptuously. “You can’t just ignore the past.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened as keeping his temper under control became even harder. Middle school Katsuki probably would’ve blown him up, but he didn’t want to ruin today for his extras, they’d been so restless and antsy being kept inside the dorms all the time. If he used his quirk, they’d get kicked out and he just couldn’t do that to his extras.

“You have no right to bring up the past with me, you selfish bastard.” Katsuki hissed, his voice full of venom. “You ever think I fucking blocked you because I didn’t want to fucking talk to you ever again after what you did to me?”

Koshinuke scoffed. “Seriously, dude, are you still mad about that? That was forever ago.”

“Time makes no goddamn difference, you abandoned me to that thing.” Katsuki growled, some of his emotions leaking into his voice.

“We knew you’d be okay.” Koshinuke dismissed. “You’re Bakugou Katsuki, you can do anything. You always said you could.”

“Don’t throw my own fucking words back in my face, you traitorous bastard!” Katsuki’s heart was beating so loud, everyone in this arcade should’ve been able to hear it, and he didn’t think it was only from righteous anger.

“Ugh, why are you still so mad about that, Katsuki?” Koshinuke sighed as if Katsuki was annoying him. “You’re fine now. You got into UA, you’re becoming a hero, everything you always said you’d do, you did. It’s not like it really did anything to you.”

“That’s not the goddamn point.” Katsuki sneered. “And stop calling me Katsuki, you lost that right a long time ago.”

“Why are you being so sensitive, dude?” Koshinuke groaned. “I swear, you’re sounding like pathetic Deku or something.”

Katsuki had never wanted to punch someone in the face so badly in his life. His body was trembling with anger, his heart was beating out of his chest, and his fingernails were digging into his palms as he tried his best to keep his anger under control.

“ You left me there to die. ” Katsuki whispered out, his voice gravelly and rough as his throat closed as he spoke.

“This guy bothering you, man?” Katsuki was startled to hear Kirishima, but his extras were suddenly behind him, looking mildly upset. They must have finished their game and gone looking for him when he hadn’t returned.

“We’re old friends from middle school.” Koshinuke said, smiling in a way that made Katsuki want to stab him in the eye.

“No we’re not.” Katsuki stated flatly. “And yes, he is bothering me. I told him to leave me alone, get him out of my sight before I blow this whole damn building.”

The words had thankfully come out like an order, but there had been an inflection in his voice he hadn’t wanted. He just hoped his extras chalked it up to him being ridiculously angry.

“You heard him, beat it.” Kaminari said, looking as serious as he could be. In any other situation, Katsuki would’ve found it hilarious. “Kacchan doesn’t want you around.”

“Yeah, leave us alone, dude.” Sero said. “We don’t want any drama, okay?

Koshinuke seemed affronted by his extras. “Katsuki, come on, we’re friends-”

“Don’t make us get the security guard.” Kirishima interrupted, crossing his arms. “Bakugou told you to leave him alone, I suggest you listen this time. Trust me, man, you don’t want this fight.”

Koshinuke looked between his extras, still looking offended, but when all of his extras glared right back, moving closer to him as if to protect him, something they’d started after Kamino, he finally backed off to Katsuki’s relief.

“Fine, whatever, man. Guess you’re still the same asshole you always were.” Koshinuke scoffed, sneering at him. “Hope you all enjoy being an asshole’s lapdog.”

Koshinuke put his hands in his pockets and stormed off. Katsuki was still trembling with anger, but hopefully his heart would calm down soon. He wasn’t sure why it was beating so fast, it didn’t usually, but he hadn’t been this angry since Ground Beta.

“You okay, dude? You seem really upset.” Kirishima said, placing his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off.

“I’m fine. The fucker just wouldn’t leave me alone.” Katsuki said, still glaring at the bastard’s back as he walked away. He held up his hand, which was still covered in sticky soda, and he just sighed in annoyance. “Need to fucking wash my hands. I’ll be back.”

Before his extras could say anything, he stalked off the bathroom, trying to hide how his hands were shaking. He ran his hands under the cold water, scrubbing them intensely, and tried to push the interaction out of his mind. His breathing was coming faster and faster, and his heart was beating so hard in his chest it was painful. His wet hands then came to his throat, clawing at it as breathing suddenly became much, much harder than it should be.

Suppressed memories started to break through to his mind’s eye, flashing across his eyes and devastating them with his power. The sight of his shaking hands in the shower as he scrubbed his body raw trying to get rid of the feeling of sludge all over his body, his stomach rolling as he still felt disgusting no matter how hard he scrubbed. The panic that had been caused by the attack, the fires that had started, the way his quirk had turned from a defensive measure into an uncontrollable weapon for the villain. Coughing as much as he was breathing, feeling the villain’s sludge go down his throat, only being allowed to breathe on the villain’s terms. His friends staring in terror at the monstrosity swirling around him, his arm still outstretched as he silently begged for their help. Watching in horror as the people he thought were friends turned around and ran away from him, abandoning him to be at the villain’s mercy, letting his body get swallowed by the darkness he couldn’t escape on his own.

Katsuki crashed to his knees, his soapy hands still clawing at his throat, his heart beating so hard it must be cracking his ribs. Up until that point, Katsuki had never felt so close to death, and now it felt like he was right back there, his body trembling and weakening from the inescapable power of the memories that seemed to be slowly killing him.

“-kugou! Bakugou! Katsuki!” A strange hand grasped his, holding it tightly.

Instinctively, Katsuki’s quirk went off, as if trying to protect himself from a threat he couldn’t recognize. But the hand stayed, unaffected by his explosion, and another hand then cupped his cheek. Again, Katsuki’s hand came to the foreign feeling, setting off another firecracker. Again, the hand didn’t pull away, and Katsuki didn’t know why.

It took a little bit, but eventually Katsuki recognized a red blur, recognizing the color of Kirishima’s hair anywhere. He blinked hard, just now realizing that he was crying and that was why he couldn’t see, trying to focus on the sight of his friend to keep him grounded.

“You can do it, Katsuki, just try to breathe with me, okay?” Kirishima said, pulling Katsuki’s hand to Kirishima’s chest. He breathed in slowly, a soft voice besides them counting to four, and then breathed out as the voice counted to seven.

Breath slowly scraped through Katsuki’s lungs, his body still trembling as he tried his best to focus on his friends. The voice belonged to Mina, who wore the same worried expression that Kirishima did as Katsuki became dizzy from the lack of oxygen.

“Maybe we should call Aizawa-sensei.” He heard Sero whisper to Kirishima. “Or take him to the hospital, he’s not calming down.”

Katsuki whimpered as he shook his head quickly, as the thought of someone else seeing him like this made his skin crawl. He was still gasping for air, but he managed to whisper, “no hospitals.”

“Katsuki, you’re having a panic attack.” Kirishima said, still squeezing his hands. Ah, Kirishima had his quirk activated on his hands, that’s why the explosions hadn’t worked. As much as he didn’t want to be touched right now, he was somewhat glad he hadn’t hurt his friend. “I really think you need to go to the hospital.”

He shook his head again, his stomach twisting painfully, knowing that a trip to the hospital would only lead to negative outcomes. “Please. No hospitals.”

Kirishima bit his lip with his shark teeth, and Katsuki saw the uncertainty in his friends’ faces. The tiny part of his logical mind that wasn’t being drowned out by panic told him he needed to calm down or his friends would take him to the hospital. While the panic was still strong, while his body still trembled, he tried to match the four-seven breathing pattern Kirishima and Mina had shown him. Encouraged by Katsuki’s attempts, Kirishima squeezed his hand again and started breathing deeply again, keeping Katsuki’s hand pressed against his chest.

Katsuki wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually his breathing finally calmed down to meet the four-seven pattern his friends were giving him. The dizziness that had sent his stomach rolling finally calmed down, and while stray tears were still streaming down his cheeks, he could finally breathe again, letting him think clearly.

“You back with us, Bakugou?” Kirishima’s voice was barely a whisper, as if afraid to set him off again.

Katsuki wanted to shove his friends away, to scream at them to leave him alone, but he didn’t have the strength to. Instead he just nodded, still panting.

“Are you okay, Kacchan?” Kaminari asked, and Katsuki just glared at him. He nodded, grimacing. “Yeah, got it, stupid question, shutting up.”

“Okay, what the hell just happened?” Mina asked, staring at him with her raccoon eyes, emotion shining within them.

“‘Ts nothing.” Katsuki muttered.

“Bullshit, you don’t have panic attacks for nothing.” Kirishima said, and he wondered when his friends had gotten so good at calling him out. “Come on, dude, you gotta tell us what happened. We’re your friends. Did that guy hurt you or something?”

Katsuki shook his head, and thought for a moment. His extras were like dogs with bones, once they were on the trail of something, they never let it go. He hated revealing any weaknesses to anyone, but he supposed they had just talked him down from a panic attack, and they’d want to ‘help’ him. But since he still didn’t want to talk, his still shaking hand felt around for his phone for a moment, and then pulled it out. He searched up the story, as he knew it had made the news, and then held his phone out for them to read.

His friends looked confused, but they took the phone from him. All of his friends crowded around so they could all read the article.

“All Might defeats sludge type villain… hey wait a minute I remember this, it was on the news.” Sero said, staring at the phone with a puzzled expression before his eyes went wide and his voice became incredulous. “Wait a minute, that was you? ”

Katsuki just nodded curtly.

“Oh my god, this is about you? ” Mina said, gesturing to the article. “You were the one that he…”

Katsuki nodded again.

His friends’ faces went white and he looked down at the floor, unable to take the emotions in their eyes. Kirishima squeezed his hand again, disarming his quirk so he just felt his friend’s calloused skin.

“Dude, I’m so sorry- I, I mean,” Kirishima sputtered, “We’re glad you’re okay.”

“Are… you okay?” Kaminari asked hesitantly.

Katsuki nodded again, even if his body was still trembling and the occasional tear still ran down his cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kirishima said, his voice sounding far too sincere for Katsuki to handle. “We’re your friends, you can tell us stuff like this. We’re here to support you.”

Katsuki glared at Kirishima. “It was none of your business.”

Kirishima winced as if he’d been expecting that answer.

“But… wait a minute.” Sero said. “If this happened because you got attacked by a villain, then… what does that guy have to do with it?”

Katsuki squirmed a little uncomfortably. “Just drop it, okay? This has nothing to do with you. It’s none of your business.”

That got him looks from all of his friends.

“Bakugou, we’re your friends.” Kirishima said. “When some random asshole hurts you, we’re here to help you. We care about you.”

“Besides, it kinda became our business when we needed to talk you down from a panic attack.” Sero said plainly.

“Yeah. So stop being mister stoic and secretive and emotionally repressed for a little bit, okay?” Mina added. “Just talk to us.”

“I’m not emotionally repressed.” Katsuki murmured petulantly.

“Kacchan, you’re the king of being emotionally repressed.” Kaminari deadpanned. “Come on, man. We- we need to know why we need to beat up that guy if we ever see him again.”

That got Katsuki to snort, chuckling a little at his friend’s idiocy. Katsuki took a deep breath and sighed. His stomach was still twisting painfully, but his heart was at least calming a little being surrounded by his friends. There was still a part of him that wanted to scrub his skin raw again, but it was calming down the longer his friends’ spent hovering over him.

“I… was walking home like I always did. Was hanging out with that bastard and another idiot from middle school. We were… taking a shortcut, deciding what to do for the day. We… went into this alleyway, and then this wall of sludge came up from the sewers. Grabs me. And those two fucking cowards… they turned and ran at the first fucking sign of trouble. Left me to deal with it alone. I was fine, of course, All Might was right around the corner, it was nothing, but… I couldn’t forgive them for just leaving me there. Haven’t talked to them since.”

Katsuki kept his eyes on the ground, able to sense his friends’ godawful pity in their eyes without needing to see it. His friends knew him well enough that that last bit of bravado was fake. He could tell by how hard Kirishima was squeezing his hand.

“That’s so horrible.” Mina said, her voice wavering a little. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“I told you, it was nothing!” Katsuki snapped.

“Oh yeah, it was totally nothing.” Sero muttered, rolling his eyes and glaring at him. “It was so nothing that you were sent into a panic attack just by seeing that asshole again.”

Katsuki matched his glare. Sero didn’t back down.

“So we’re totally actually beating them up if we ever see them again, right?” Kaminari asked, breaking the tension a little.

Katsuki breathed out a soft chuckle. “I don’t need you to fight my battles.”

“We’re not saying you need us to fight your battles.” Sero smirked. “We’re just saying that if we ever see those guys again, they’re just gonna accidentally get punched in the face a couple dozen times. No biggie.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Katsuki scoffed quietly.

“Yeah, but trust me, we want to.” Kaminari said with a soft, idiotic smirk. “No one abandons our Kacchan to die and gets away with it.”

Katuki’s eyes went wide, looking at Kaminari in shock. “What… did you just say?”

“Oh um. When- when we were walking over to you after I kicked Sero’s ass-”

There was a soft interruption of “We fucking tied! That last kill didn’t count!”

A beat.

“After I finished kicking Sero’s ass, I um, kinda heard you say that he- that he left you for dead.” Kaminari said, obviously trying to be light despite the subject matter, trying to play it off as if it was nothing. “So yeah, we’re gonna punch those guys, like, a lot. They fucking suck.”

Katsuki flushed red, unaware that his friends had heard that part of the conversation. Fuck. He opened his mouth to dismiss his own words, but he couldn’t come up with anything that would actually work. Fuck.

Kirishima squeezed his hand again. “It’s okay, Bakugou. You don’t have to say anything.”

Kirishima then let go of him and stood up. “I think we should all go home. I’m kinda tired. What about you guys?”

“No.” Katsuki said. “You were all so excited to get out of the dorms for a little while. I’m fine, let’s go back to playing.”

His legs were still shaking a little, but Katsuki managed to get himself up. His friends hovered over him a little, as if waiting to catch him if he fell. Katsuki held his head up, and looked them all in the eye. His friends’ exchanged a couple of worried glances, but they eventually nodded, letting him not be held back by this as he wanted.

“Yeah, sure, man.” Sero said. “I say Kami owes me a rematch from earlier, we fucking tied!”

Katsuki felt a tiny smile grace his lips, and then Kirishima slung an arm around Katsuki’s shoulder. This time, Katsuki let it stay a whole three seconds longer than he usually did.

Thaddeus Ross goes after Tony because he won't surrender the location of the Rogue Avengers. Tony hides that Ross is trying to get him on charges of treason because he may be hiding the Rogue's location, but things become intense when Ross takes things into his own hands by sending agents into into Tony's home, arrests him, and kidnaps Peter at the same time. The avengers must band together to save the two before Ross kills them.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my plot.

Whumptober day 14 - Tear-stained

My fourteenth fill for @whumptober2019​. It’s another WinterIron AU, this time one where they are younger. Be careful though, there’s some mentions of Howard being an abusive parent. It’s also available on Ao3 if you prefer that.

----- ----- -----

The first thing he noticed was that Tony had been crying. His eyes were red-rimmed and his cheeks were still wet. Not to mention that his lips were all nearly bitten through, which was one of Tony's unfortunate tendencies when he was feeling bad.

The second thing, and that really pissed Bucky off, was the bruise that was starting to grow on Tony's cheek.

Part of him wanted to snarl, wanted to insist Tony tell him what had happened and who had done this so he could destroy them. But he knew that wasn't what Tony needed right now, and it wasn't like he couldn't guess who'd hit him.

"C'mon in," he told his boyfriend as calmly as he could, stepping back. He knew Tony had probably noticed his barely contained rage, but there was only so much he could do.

"Thanks," Tony mumbled, head held down as he entered Bucky's apartment.

Wordlessly, Bucky headed to the freezer and grabbed one of the cold packs he sometimes used after boxing. He hoped it'd help with the physical pain at least.

Then he grabbed one of his softest blankets and sat down next to his boyfriend, wrapping the both of them up.

With a soft whine that always made Bucky want to take on the world if it meant no one else would ever be able to hurt him, Tony curled trustingly into him.

For a few minutes, the two of them just breathed together.

Bucky could feel the exact moment Tony's tears started up again, his chest slowly getting wet as Tony's breathing became quicker, interspersed with the occasional hiccup. "I just don't get it," he whimpered, sounding absolutely desolate. "He wants me to build weapons, and they have to be great. But then I do and he hates it. And I just..."

"It's not fair," Bucky agreed, stroking Tony's hair the way he knew would soothe him. "He's not fair."

Of course, he could guess exactly what Howard's problem was. He demanded that Tony be good enough, and smart enough, and worthy enough to be his son and heir. But on the other hand, Tony was all of that and far more, and the man couldn't stand knowing how much better than him Tony was.

And in the end, Tony was the one suffering for it.

As much as he wished there was something he could do, Bucky knew there wasn’t a thing he could do. Not against Howard Stark, of all people. Nothing legal, at least. So instead all he could do was sit on his couch, holding his boyfriend as he cried and hoping it would help him feel at least a little bit better.

Finally, Tony’s breathing started to ease up again. His breaths still hitched every once in a while, but he had relaxed some. “Thank you,” he sighed, hoarse.

“Anytime, doll,” Bucky reassured him. “Wish it wasn’t necessary, but I’ll always be there for you if you need me.”

When Tony raised his head to smile at him, Bucky noticed that the bruise had become even clearer. The cold pack did seem to have helped with the swelling, though. And despite the puffy eyes and the red nose and the bruise on his cheek, he was still the most gorgeous person Bucky had ever seen.

“I love you,” Tony admitted quietly, eyes soft as he looked up at Bucky and a faint smile on his face.

“And I love you, doll.” As gently as possible, Bucky stroked a hand over Tony’s injured cheek, pressing his lips against the bruise tenderly. “So very much. I wish I could take you away from all of this, keep you safe…”

“You do,” Tony insisted. “I’m so much safer with you.”

“Except when you have to go back.” Most of the time, Tony’s parents didn’t care where he was, so Tony spent most of his time at Bucky’s apartment. It kept him out of the way of most of the incidental violence, and the moments where Howard was drunk and looking for someone to help get rid of his frustration.

It was moments like tonight, where Howard demanded Tony’s presence and proof of an invention, that he simply couldn’t do a thing against.

After all of the stories Tony had told him of people trying to arrange for intervention of some kind, after which they disappeared from his life and nothing ever happened, Bucky knew better than to try. At least this way, he could be there for all of the other moments.

He didn’t like wishing that someone would die, but when it came to Howard? He couldn’t even feel guilty.

In his arms, Tony yawned.

“How about we go to bed?” he suggested.

“Yeah, that… that sounds lovely,” Tony agreed. Now that he was cried out and the emotions had faded a little, the exhaustion hit twice as hard. It was something Bucky was familiar with as well. He just hoped Tony would be able to sleep without his bruise bothering him too much, let alone nightmares.

Considering the exhaustion, they both made quick work of preparing for bed. The only thing Bucky did take time for was to gently rub a bruise cream on Tony’s cheek - the good it would do, both for the pain and for the healing, was worth the extra time investment.

Then they were in bed together, Tony curled up tightly in Bucky’s arms like he preferred. And like Bucky preferred, too, if he had to be honest. This way, he felt like he could keep Tony safe from everything that would try to hurt him, keep him sheltered and protected.

Tension he hadn’t even been aware of disappeared as he felt the way Tony snuggled into his arms, warm and trusting. He honestly wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he whispered into Tony’s hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“And I love you, so much,” Tony muttered into his chest. “So much.” Bucky could feel the way Tony pressed a kiss of his own over his heart, and warmth filled him.

Forever.

Whumptober: Oh, Breathe Without Me (Under Pressure)

A/N: Oh look, a song verse as a title (Wozwald by Yuu Miyashita)

-----------------------------

Leonardo tested the door first, then signaled to his brothers that it was alright as he slid the door open just enough for him to creep in and duck into a hiding place. His family followed suit and disappeared into the shadows, hiding from prying eyes, invisible if you didn’t already know that they were there.

The building itself that they were “breaking into” was a large, multi-tier warehouse that Raphael reported seeing Purple Dragons at when he was with Casey. He said that they looked like they were taking only specific crates, and it was decided upon with unanimous vote that it was worth checking out, since the new leader of the street gang had been willing to step things up quite a bit.

“So, here’s the plan,” Leonardo whispered, “Raph and Donnie will take this level, look around for any gang members and see if they can learn anything or see what they’re taking. Me and Mikey will go to the top level and do the same thing, then we meet midway. Any objections?”

When he received only silence as a response, Leonardo took that as a sign that nobody was against it and began walking over to the staircase, Mikey following close behind.

The two went to the top floor, and worked their way through the whole level, finding a single member moving about, but nothing important or worthwhile, not what they were looking for. Still, they covered the whole floor, making sure that they checked every suspicious object, every nook and cranny, anything that looked fake and could be hiding something.

But they found nothing, so they went to the middle floor to get a headstart on looking there. Leonardo began to grow frustrated, though, feeling that familiar itch. Had they been too late? Had they missed the things that they actually needed to see? What if they missed something that had been really important, and everything was messed up just because of it? He bit back the low growl that threatened to leave him. Calm, he needed to be calm. They weren’t done here yet.

There were a pair of voices, and Leo was obligated to move closer to listen in, as he couldn’t yet make out what they were saying. It was a pair of gang members (finally, something they might be able to use!), leaned up against the wall and speaking in undertones.

“Are we almost done here?” The one to Leonardo’s left grunted. He had a long, winding snake tattoo that started on his snake and roped around his right arm, that Leonardo honestly thought was cool. However, he sounded like he had been chain smoking for years, which would explain the aged look on his face, even though Leonardo estimated that he could only be in his twenties or thirties.

“Almost,” The one to his right responded automatically. In contrast to the one on his left, this member looked a heck of a lot younger. There were no scars, no tattoos, he didn’t look nor sound any older than fifteen. Instead, he had long hair pulled into a tight bun and a few piercings, some of which were shaped like crosses. Huh, he was religious, maybe? “We’re just grabbing the last of things, and then they plan on blowing the place to the high heavens.”

Leonardo froze, exchanging a look with Michelangelo, who looked equally as appalled.

“Really? Won’t that grab us attention as terrorists?”

“Dunno, but the boss don’t care ‘bout that.”

“Huh.”

And then they just left, as if they hadn’t talked about blowing up a building in the middle of a highly populated city, risking probably quite a few civilians’ lives.

Michelangelo looked at him, and Leonardo nodded, understanding what he meant immediately. They needed to tell Donatello and Raphael, and get out as soon as possible, or try to step them from blowing up the building.

They bolted towards the stairs, just as the middle pair were coming up. All four of them ended up retreating back to the middle floor, ducking between crates as Leonardo and Michelangelo passed on what they had learned, earning almost yells and curses.

“We need to find the detonator before they set whatever bombs they have set up,” Leonardo said, stating the obvious. “The member with it is probably outside already, but I did see somebody lingering on the top level, and I think I’m gonna see, just in case. I don’t think they would blow up their own.

Leonardo didn’t want them in the building if it exploded. He was putting them in a potentially dangerous situation, he needed them outside, they couldn’t get hurt there. At least, not too terribly. Maybe from debris, but that would be more manageable then being in the building when it went down.

“Are you sure?” Raphael looked him over, eye ridges furrowed in concern. They were catching on.

“Mhm. I’m going to stay inside for just a minute, I’ll be out soon. Just try and check the people outside. At the very least, make sure that whatever they’re exporting stays here.”

Thankfully, they bought it, leaving him alone in the building. Now he just had to keep going with the act. And yes, he was afraid. No, he was terrified, he knew that he was probably going to die, but it was an occupational hazard, he guessed. They weren't always going to have some form of protection.

Leonardo turned and went upstairs, just in time to hear rapid beeping before a near deafening explosion. Then, everything went dark.

%%%

A splintering pain in his lower back and legs was the first thing, and Leonardo let out a low groan. What happened? Why did he feel like he was getting crushed? Had they fallen asleep in a Turtle Pile again?

Something shifted above him, and dust drifted down lazily. Oh right.

The only thing keeping him from having his skull crushed were some metal rods that creaked and bent under the weight of the concrete. A little movement revealed that his legs were most likely crushed from the boulders, and the only thing keeping his spinal cord from meeting the same fate was his shell, a natural armor he would be eternally grateful for. He struggled a bit, which only elicited protests and screams from his aching body.

Then he then heard people, humans, talking, close enough to feel them stepping over the concrete, but they sounded so far away…

He froze, then retreated into a cracked shell, holding his breath and waiting for them to pass.

“I could’ve sworn I heard somebody over here…”

A few minutes passed, then they moved on, leaving him alone to his misery. While the help would have been appreciated, he couldn’t risk letting humans see him, especially not in a state where he couldn’t move, much less defend himself.

Leonardo thrashed a bit, being careful not to let his shell hit things and make sounds that could draw attention to himself, but was quickly stopped by white hot fire in his arm, like a thousand needles pushed past his scales.

No, apparently that was not going to work.

Leonardo worked his mind for paths out of his situation, trying desperately to seek some way to get out of the hole he dug for himself, and eventually fell asleep. There was nothing he could do in the day, when he was at a higher risk for being seen by humans.

%%%

When he came to, he quickly realized that it was night. Unlike before, there was barely any light streaming through the cracks between the debris, leaving him nearly blind.

Taking hold of the situation, he started struggling. He had to get out, he couldn’t stay there, not when there were people depending on him to come back. By the second, his struggles grew more and more frantic, scrambling at the boulders pushing on his legs and shell to the best of his ability with his limited reach.

But the agony only grew in his fractured arm, pushing him to the point of tears, burning and tearing through his muscle. Him, Leonardo “Supernatural Pain Tolerance” Hamato, crying over a fracture. Shell, now the tears were flowing freely, racing down his face and staining the ground beneath him. Frustration and pain and anger, all mixed together and finally bursting free. How could he have been so stupid?

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly he was opening his eyes, head resting on his good arm. It wasn’t another day, as far as he knew, since the humans probably would have been working on removing the rubble. It was still dark, he still couldn’t see. The sounds of cars felt distant, although he wasn’t too far from the road, as far as he knew. Had the explosion done something to his hearing? Shoot, was he deaf? Or, at least, almost there? It wouldn’t be too terrible, he didn’t rely on his hearing that much, but. It was still a shocking development-

He couldn’t feel his legs. Frick, he couldn’t feel his legs. He needed to say alert, he needed- He couldn’t start losing then, trapped under cement and at risk all the time. Leonardo clawed at his arm, biting his tongue when it burned, spreading the same agony from before, but the pain was good- The pain was good, pain helped stay alert, he couldn’t lose himself then, couldn’t lose feeling.

Leonardo was loopy, he knew. He was in and out again, a faint blue light of the early morning streaming in. But he heard voices again, so close to him he wanted to cry. He knew the voices that time. His family hadn’t left him, why would they? They came back for him, even if they were risking coming early in the morning, when the humans were waking up. 

He took a shaky breath, then: “Marco.”

The response that came was from Michelangelo, sounding overjoyed in his response and like he had been crying too. “Polo!”

“Marco.”

“Polo- Donnie! Raph! He’s here, I think he’s here!”

The grating and scratching was faint, but the light grew, he could hear them, he could hear them looking, they were trying to dig him out!

“Shoot- Don! I found ‘im!”

Strong arms wrapped around him as the last of the rubble was moved off of him, and slowly pulled him up. Beside him, Raphael growled: “You’re so stupid, Fearless. What were you thinkin’ playing a dang martyr?”

Donatello came running over from where he was a few feet away, a short, strangled sob leaving him.

“Oh my God- Leo! Leo I’m so sorry, we should have come sooner, we should have realized, I- You-”

“Hey,” Leonardo hushed him, struggling a bit in Raphael’s grip although he couldn’t even stand on his own, “It was my fault. My plan.”

“No, you shut up- Raph carry him, we need to be home fast.”

Leonardo bit his tongue to hold back a protest as Raphael smirked and lifted him up bridal style. He noted that the younger was careful not to jostle him too much. He was still being careful.

Once home, Leonardo received a thorough lecture (who would’ve thought?) and a check-up, before being told he needed bed rest, and couldn’t leave. Donatello announced that both his legs were, in fact, broken from the weight on them. His shell was the only reason that he wasn’t paralyzed from the waist down, taking the brunt of the hit. However, from being so close to the explosion, Leonardo was, for the most part, hard of hearing, just as he thought.

For the rest of the night, they all insisted on being close enough to him to smother him, but he wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t like he could run from it, anyway.

The Second Call|M|509 Words

Read on AO3

Fandom: 9-1-1

Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz, Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz

Characters: Eddie Diaz, Original Characters

Tags: Whumptober 2024, Blackmail, Kidnapped Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Phone Calls & Telephones, proof of life - Freeform, Angry Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Terrified Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Worried Eddie Diaz, Scared Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Scared Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Mentioned Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Mentioned Evan "Buck" Buckley, Hurt Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV)

Summary: The coordinator knows what buttons to press to get what he wants.

Whumptober 2024 Day 14: Blackmail

Notes: Chronologically, part 9 of Kidnapped Chris AU.

Disarmed By Pastries|G|953 Words

Read on AO3

Fandom: 9-1-1

Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz

Characters: Evan "Buck" Buckley, Eddie Diaz, Christopher Diaz

Tags: Flufftober 2024, Fantasy AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Evan "Buck" Buckley Cooks, Evan "Buck" Buckley Flirts, Flirting, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz First Meeting, Fluff, Meet-Cute, First Meetings

Summary: Eddie goes into a bakery after being dismissed for the day.

Flufftober 2024 Day 14: Fantasy AU

flare / water inhalation / just hold on (feed me poison, fill me ‘til I drown.)

The flare was merely a distraction, and one that Jet felt doubly incensed about falling prey to given the fact that he'd been blinded and blindsided in a situation many years before. Of course, everyone with sight was vulnerable to bright lights so it's not like this bounty had gleaned a weakness about Jet specifically. The fact that his arm was already artificial was surprisingly a saving grace even if the flare going off at his elbow had unhinged the joint to a point where his arm was entirely useless. If he'd been flesh and bone there, he would have been a mess of blood and pain writhing on the dock. As it was, he was furious as he tried to blindly fight back with his good arm. The bounty had the benefit of sight and all his limbs working, so Jet wasn't entirely caught off guard by the way a strong blow landed across his jaw and knocked him reeling backwards.

Reeling backwards and suddenly without anything under his feet.

The water closed overhead as he dropped into the sea with flailing limbs - all the ones that could currently flail, that is - and tried to close his mouth as soon as he registered the fact that he was being submerged. His brain had caught up to the situation a moment or two after his body was embroiled in it, though, and that meant that he sucked in a hearty surge of sea water in his hasty attempt at drawing a breath of air before going completely under.

Normally he was a strong swimmer, but normally he had the full use of both limbs even if one wasn't real. Normally he wasn't disoriented and unsure if he was right side up or upside down. Where was the surface? Where were the pilings of the dock? How long could he flounder here in the dark depths while simultaneously choking from water inhalation?

His vision, only barely returned and blurry, was beginning to dim by the time he felt something grabbing hold of the back of his collar and yanking him. It could be a siren dragging him soundlessly out to sea for all he cared at that point. Feed me poison 'til I drown... Water, one of the cornerstones of life itself, could be just as lethal as anything else.

A voice - a man's voice, though he supposed sirens could be male too - was shouting at him as they broached the choppy surface of the harbor.

"Just hold on!"

Hold on to what? Hold on to who? Maybe the man was talking to himself. Jet coughed and choked and spluttered and waited to die.

And then there was someone above him - he was ashore somehow - and a bedraggled toothpick of a man in dark waterlogged clothing was repeatedly bringing his fists down on Jet's chest. What was this? What was happening?

Forcibly, he was rolled onto his side and the man smacked his back with just as much ferocity as he had banged on his chest. Jet would have bruises on both side for days if he survived this assault. And then suddenly he was vomiting forcibly. What felt like liter after liter of salty water poured from his mouth and nose. He spewed and gagged and eventually drew a ragged breath and then the man was laughing. Hell, Jet felt like laughing too.

"You put up a good fight, old man," The man said. "Even though I saved your life... I'll still split that bounty with you. Seventy-thirty, in my favor. I'm the one who bagged him after he knocked you in the drink after all. Team effort though, you tired him out initially. He was easy pickings after that. Good thing too, or I might not have gotten to you in time."

"You... little... braggart..." Jet rasped. "Fifty-fifty." He countered then, coughing weakly.

The man grinned down at him and pushed a hand through his sopping wet green hair to get some of the curls plastered across his forehead out of his eyes.

"Sixty-forty for this one. Fifty-fifty for whatever ones come next?"

Jet laughed then, painful as it was with his lungs still trying to recover. "All right... stringbean... got yourself a deal."

The man chuckled too. "Better than that. Got myself a partner. Name's Spike by the way. Now shut up and concentrate on remembering how to breathe, old timer."