Glass Heart

Glass Heart - Chapter Twenty-Seven

Katsuki Bakugou felt his glass of water slip from his fingers and smash onto the floor. He ignored his parents cries and concerned questioning, and simply moved closer to the TV screen.

On the screen was live coverage of the trial of Hisashi Midoriya.

Following his eyes, Mitsuki and Masaru gasped, Mitsuki running closer to the screen, and Masaru backing away.

"This... this can't be... after Inko died, I... he told me... Izuku was safe with him..." Mitsuki whispered, tears streaming down her face. "A - Abuse?"

Katsuki let off small explosions in the palms of his hands. "W... WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" As he calmed back down, scared about her crying, and muttering about Inko - Inko wasn't dead, she couldn't be - he asked again, quieter. "W - What's going on?"

Mitsuki turned to him, tears continuing to trickle down her cheeks and splash onto the floor. It angered Katsuki further - his mum was the strongest person he knew! Why was she crying?

"Inko... she died, three or so years ago." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "She had left Hisashi a few months beforehand. She never told me the reason why, but I always assumed it was because of Izuku's quirklessness - but now..." She stared back at the screen, and the word 'ABUSE' shone in Katsuki's head so loud, it was impossible to not figure out what Mitsuki meant.

"Auntie... died...?" Katsuki felt like he couldn't breathe. He hadn't gone around Izuku's house because, well... yeah, but he just thought Inko spent most of her time working or at home, and just didn't leave the house very often - not... not...

"When I went to her funeral," Mitsuki continued, not realising Katsuki's breakdown. "I talked to Hisashi. I spoke to him, and he promised me Izuku was in good hands, and that he'd be well taken care of. I... I had no idea... no idea that..."

With each word she spoke, she got angrier. "That bastard... how dare he do something like this to Izuku? That man is inhuman."

Katsuki froze, realising... he had done similar things to Izuku. Izuku had suffered both in own his home and out of it, simply for being on the wrong side of the genetic ratio.

He was as bad as Hisashi was.

He was as bad as a villain.

He was a villain.

Thoughts overwhelming him, Katsuki sprinted away from the TV and towards the safety of his own room. He had to move, he had to get away from the truth that was stalking him. He... He couldn't be a villain! He was going to be a hero! A HERO!

"A... A hero..." Katsuki muttered to himself, hands on his head, as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Katsuki?" Masaru said, knocking on Katsuki's bedroom door. "Are you okay?"

"D... Dad..." Masaru's eyes widened at Katsuki's words.

"I... I have to tell you and mum something."

---TimeSkip---

"Again."

Izuku jumped over Shouta's capture weapon and ducked under his punches.

"Again."

Izuku kicked at Shouta's legs and somersaulted over his head.

"Again!"

Finally... Finally...

With one large burst of energy, Izuku rushed forward, and slammed his full weight onto Shouta. The sudden additional weight took Shouta off guard, and he and Izuku both fell to the floor. In an instant, Izuku had Shouta's arms pinned to the ground.

While Shouta could use his adult strength to get off Izuku whenever he wanted, that's beside the point.

"Well done, kid!" Shouta praised him.

Izuku beamed, getting off of Shouta's back. "I worked so hard, and now I've finally got the reflexes to beat you!"

"Yeah, but now we need to work on your strength." Shouta replied, ruffling Izuku's hair. "We've got to work even harder if you want to be a hero!"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm gonna be number one! Symbol of peace!" Izuku chimed in. Shouta smiled, happy that his son - yes his son, he signed the adoption papers two days ago - was finally able to be himself.

Hisashi was given ten years in prison, with no chance of parole. Currently he's served about a week of it. Shouta would've preferred he got life - but since it was 'just' a case of child abuse - with only one (quirkless) kid involved - the judge gave the strictest punishment she could. At least he's been stripped of all connections to Izuku.

"You're going to be an amazing hero, Izuku." Shouta said, crouching down to Izuku's level and placing his hands on Izuku's shoulders.

"It doesn't matter whether you're number one or not. It doesn't matter whether or not you're a symbol of peace. What matters is that you're a hero - one who does their best to help and protect. That's what it truly means to be a hero. And if that was the true guidelines for the hero rankings, then, well..."

If Shouta was crying, no one pointed it out - for fear of death.

"Then kid, you'd always be number one."

Hi! New chapter! It's now 6:30pm, and I'm really tired XD

I hope you all enjoyed! I planned for Bakugou's section to be a chapter on its own buuuut... I didn't write enough so. Yeah XD

I normally would use 'Bakugou' just because that's what I'm used to, but when referring to the family as a whole, it'd be weird to write about 'Bakugou, mum Bakugou and dad Bakugou' XD

Okay, plan for next chapter - first major time skip. Think of this chapter - the one you're currently on lol - as the conclusion of an arc - and the next chapter will be the start of another arc. Maybe a gap of a year, maybe even more than that. It's going to be focused on Izuku training for heroics. I don't quite know what I wanna write next, but we'll see.

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊