Katsuki Noumu (Krbk)

pt21. the story for another time

((A/N PLEASE READ: Just FYI, most of the stuff that happens here was planned from the start, and I meant to hint at the twists in the main story a bit, but I just couldn't figure out how to reveal it. Anyway, here's the answer to the last chapter when Kirishima asked, "why didn't you step in sooner?" I'm not justifying Masaru's actions because he can die in prison for all I care or justifying Satsuki staying back. I just thought that the reasons behind both of their actions (or inactions) would be a fun story to share.))

Mitsuki and Masaru were high school sweethearts; the man had aspirations, plans for his future, for his country. He talked a lot about how there would be something big that even the heroes couldn't take care of, and he had a way to protect Japan from this disaster.

And he was a good guy.

Mitsuki loved him very much. He was sweet to her, and Satsuki approved. They were friends even.

They went in separate directions as they moved up in rank, but they were never more than a call away. Sometimes those calls would come at extremely late hours of the night, but Satsuki usually answered if he was awake. He always thought the man was like a puppy in his younger years; when he got a call in the early hours of the morning, he would just set the phone on speaker and listen as Masaru rambled, trying to nitpick his ideas.

He said on several occasions that, with the current rise of the quirk population, it would eventually get out of hand, and someone needed to prepare for it. The doomsday theory. Masaru insisted that he would be that person.

At the couple's wedding, Satsuki was his best man. It was a wonderful time. He loved seeing his sister happy with him. He was at the hospital when little Katsuki was born and was the first—after Mitsuki and Masaru, of course—to hold the boy. He knew then and there that he would fight God himself to protect this kid.

When the boy was only a toddler, the parents went through a particularly rough marital spat. Masaru left the house, bought a twelve-pack of beer, and made his way across town to his friend's place.

After dropping down on his couch, he and Satsuki had a beer as he was still fuming. "She knows I'm working when I'm not home; it's not like I'm sneaking off with a bunch of whores. Hell, she even knows what I'm working on!" He angrily tilts his head back to get a heavy drink of alcohol.

Satsuki's eyes shoot up to the left as he questions that last remark. Satsuki can't remember the last time he was updated on what the man was up to at work. "How's your whole mission to save Japan going?"

He gives a bubbly shrug with a very slurred 'I don't know.' He reaches for another beer and twists the cap off, dropping it on the tabletop. "Lost another volunteer for the project yesterday, gotta start looking again."

"Another quitter?"

"Nope, he died."

"Wait, your volunteer died? What do you even need them for anyway?"

"Testing. I'm trying to see if there's a way to have multiple quirks reside in one body," again, he drinks. Satsuki can't tell if he's being this open because it's been a while since they last spent time together or if he's just getting drunk. "It could work. The problem is the differences in the quirk users' DNA. It's a load of bullshit."

"I hope you don't use that language around the kid. He's at the age where he starts picking up words, you know."

"Ah, the brat's fine," he waves him off. "It's cool if I crash here, yeah? Mitsuki's still pissed at me."

"Yeah, it's fine. You should apologize to her soon, though. It's no fun when you guys are fighting."

"That's a lie, and you love having me over."