From Distant Lands - Juro's Return

Chapter Four

Telling Shiori was one thing, but telling Katsuki about Juro is quite another and as I stare at his apartment number on the wall, my whole body is tense with nerves. Katsuki opens the door, towel drying his tousled blonde hair and freezing when he sees the look on my face.

"What is it?" he demands, a suspicious look on his face. I swallow my anxiety and walk inside, listening as he closes the door and follows me. Katsuki's apartment is almost twice the size of mine, though it's definitely more minimalist, and when I walk into the living room, there's a clear view of the city. I lock my eyes on it, hoping it'll bring me some semblance of stability. I can only guess at how Katsuki will handle the news and none of my guesses end well.

"Kaida" he says again, an edge to his voice. I turn around to face him, heart beating out of my chest. I won't ask Katsuki to sit first. He'd probably just stand up and pace around anyway. I take another deep breath.

"I have to tell you something" I say. He just blinks at me, the look on his face torn between a thousand different emotions.

"Say it, Ito. What's going on?" he barks, impatience and worry winning over. Here goes nothing.

"Shimizu called me down to the police station today... Juro's back" I tell him, forcing it out even though I don't want to. Katsuki goes very still, a stone like expression on his face. For a few moments, he just stands like that and the silence unsettles me. I expected a lot of things... anger, questions, demands to keep me safe, but I didn't expect silence. I didn't expect a slow burn of fury, not when Katsuki's usual reactions are as explosive as his quirk is.

"Katsuki..." I begin and he clenches his jaw, his eyes seeming to gleam with the anger he holds onto.

"Someone saw him?" he asks, dangerously quiet. I look away.

"No. But I know it's him... I can feel it" I answer. I can feel Katsuki's eyes burning holes into me, so many unspoken thoughts... I know he wants to go off at a million words per minute. I know he's angry and upset, and underneath it all, I know he's scared. He'll never show that, not in a hundred years or beyond, but Juro's last stint in our lives involved a lot of trauma for the both of us.

"How do you know?" he asks me, forcing himself to maintain composure. I clench my fists, remembering the images of all those people... the body of the boy.

"He left those flowers behind after he killed someone else... by draining their energy" I tell him, finally looking back at him again. Katsuki's eyes widen and I know he's thinking what I am. That he knows what this might mean. Juro is learning how to manipulate energy somehow and if that's the case... he could become that much more dangerous to me.

"Do they have any leads? Anything to go off of? We can't let him get this far" Katsuki insists, an urgent note to his tone. Part of me is relieved that he didn't know about this yet, but another part of me is angry. They didn't even warn him. And what the hell was Hawks doing? Knowing this guy was so close and keeping it from Shiori... she's part of his agency for god's sake! To be investigating all of this under her nose... it makes me sick.

"They don't know anything yet. Our best bet would be to start with Endeavor and Hawks... the police force has apparently been working with them on the case" I say flatly. Katsuki's nostrils flare, his whole face becoming a mask of rage.

"They what?" he growls, staring me down.

"Yeah. I already gave Endeavor and Shoto a piece of my mind today so..."

"And they were just keeping it to themselves? Fucking, icy hot bastard! I'll kill him!" he snarls, tearing off towards the front door. My eyes widen, startled by his sudden drive to head over there. I catch up to him quickly, standing in front of him and pressing both of my hands firmly to his chest.