Something Like a Star (B. Katsuki)

Twenty One: Home

     "Here we are. Everything is happening exactly the way it's supposed to. You came back, because you always will."

     "Where are the rest of your little lackeys?"

     "Gone. Transported to somewhere else, somewhere safe, thanks to Kurugiri. This? This is familial. Personal. This is between a woman and her daughter."

     "I didn't come back because I changed my mind. You do realize that, don't you?"

     "You haven't changed your mind... yet. But I figured long before now that if I couldn't coerce you with words then beating you into submission was a viable option as well, and now here you are, having given up your one chance at escape and practically handing me the opportunity to teach you your place in the world. Why else would you return to me?"

     "To find the means to an end, that's why. You run a two bit circus act and call it a theatre and who better than me to teach you your place in the world? The next time you turn your back on me, it'll either be because you're in handcuffs or because I'm too busy dying to stop you."

     A rush of air. The repetitive whooshing of helicopter blades, far above and lingering. A red-eyed gaze shifted, then returned, this time with a sinister smile.

     "They're watching us, you know. I bet nearly all of Japan is tuned into this very talk of ours; stacks upon stacks of microphones trained to pick up the very march of our heartbeats. I wonder if your little friends from UA are watching? Perhaps your infuriating rescue squad has landed somewhere that your precious boyfriend can see? I for one would love to know if he's out there somewhere right now, kicking himself for letting you slip from his fingers and wondering if he is preparing to watch you die. Maybe he's even crying."

     And indeed, Bakugou Katsuki was watching. Indeed he was kicking himself and indeed he was in tears. He was there and she wasn't beside him. She was nothing but a small dot on a screen and indeed, he was wondering if he would have to watch her die.

     "You know, you're exceptionally good at changing the subject. What do cameras and other people matter when right now the only things in this world are me and you? I thought that was what you wanted."

     "Not like this. I didn't want it like this. We were supposed to be unstoppable."

     "I am unstoppable. The difference is... you aren't. It's time for the games to come to an end, Akiko. You've hurt people and you've destroyed things and I can't stand by and pretend not to know it anymore."

    A grin. Familiar, yet at the same time, a stranger. "You know, if you're going to act so disrespectful, the least you could do is call me mother."

     "Why would I when you've been anything but motherly?" Head tilted. Voice... oddly calm. "I'm not going to live my life one step behind you, lifting your heavy things and being the fear you strike into the people who won't listen. You are not a ruler, mother, you are a dreamer. You kneel before ambition and pay no mind to the way it eats at you from the inside out."

     "You speak as if you know me."

     "I speak because I am you, whether I like it or not. The difference is, my ambition bit and I bit back. I desire to save, you desire to be the reason people need saving. But now I'm offering you the chance to stand down; to hand yourself over to the authorities and take the consequences you've made for yourself in stride, because even if you are a villain, you're my mother, and I don't want to hurt you."

     Bitter laughter. Mirthless laughter. Cold sounds lying six feet under. They tasted like metal. Crumbled like dirt.

     "Oh, dear child, even after all these years you still live with your head in the clouds. The only person who will wind up hurt is you."