If I Had One Wish

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty-Two-Absence

Why is it so hard to say five simple words?- Sorry

Why was it even harder to say the four? The three words all adjoined, becoming too difficult to bear to say aloud.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Izuku didn't turn up in class the next day. Bakugou sat in his usual seat, finding himself glancing at the door as if expecting him to walk in with a sheepish smile about being late but he didn't. To say the class didn't notice would be a lie, Aizawa was the only one who put their worries at ease when he walked into class tiredly and spoke breezily.

"Problem Child is fine, the hospital room for him remains vacant-" He muttered a thanks to the lord above for that, the teenager was far too reckless for his own good. "-he's visiting relatives."

And that's when classmates would drop it, drop the subject and go on with their day and they all did except- you guessed it- Katsuki. He knew better, his suspicion didn't subside; it grew. Izuku Midoriya had no relatives he cared to visit, he never had, since he was a child it was him and his Mother Inko as far as Katsuki knew. And Katsuki knew a lot, so when his teacher had spoken without a doubt claiming he was visiting 'relatives' the blonde got antsy.

Throughout class his leg would bounce relentlessly, his boots gently thumping against the tile in a noticeable yet not annoying fashion since no one asked him to stop- or maybe they were too scared to.

Like Deku is too scared to-

He pursed his lips, glancing at his phone underneath his desk. It was safe to say this was probably the one day Katsuki Bakugou didn't pay attention in class, but why should he care? He pondered that instead of the Linear, exponential and quadratic functions Ectoplasm taught that day. He had gotten away with ignoring him this long and him being absent one time, one fucking time, is threatning to break that streak.

He hovered over the contact in his list, Izuku's name flickering out when his phone closed after being opened too long and Katsuki's reflection replaced it. Had his eyes always been so dark? Scowl so permanent?

His leg jumped faster, he didn't think he could make it through the rest of the school day. His thoughts swirled so violently it was making him nauseous because right before the bell released them to lunch he connected the dots.

*.☽ .*

"Relatives?" Izuku had laughed, he was smaller than Bakugou at the time but at that moment he was braver as he stared down the guard. "Sure."

Katsuki was about to shake his head but Midoriya held him back, shaking his head slightly. Oh, so young but they grew up so fast.

"Why say we're related to that fucking monster?" He had growled but Midoriya had replied calmly.

"In some places it's legal to kill someone just because you're related, plus the guard wouldn't let me in and I don't want you to go alone. I want her to look me in the eye-" He shook his head. "No, I want her to be too afraid to look me in the eye when I grow up."

"Why would you want to come back here?"

He never got an answer.

*.☽ .*

The shrill shriek of the bell rang through his brain as he stared blankly at the wall, then he was running. He was up on his feet, out the door and sprinting without a care of the worried glances he earned by the action.

"Bakugou!" He heard someone call out, footsteps behind him, he kept running. He wouldn't stop, he refused to stop.

Kirishima stared at his back, holding the males bag and catching up to run alongside him through the halls. Letting out absentminded apologies as they barged through students, Eijiro didn't even think of slowing either. He had been friends with the blonde for three years now and he knew from year one he'd stick by his side, people said if you could have platonic soulmates and if that were true it'd be these two. Best friends, nothing more and nothing less, they had each other's backs without needing an explanation.

The redhead could never live up to Izuku, never live up to how good Izuku was to Katsuki but he sure could be a rock in Bakugou's life. So if Katsuki ran through the halls like he was on fire, determination and a small hint of fear in his eyes; Kirishima was sure to follow. He followed him to the parking lot, both of them skidding in front of the school. Katsuki panted, eyes shifting everywhere at once, Eijirou had never seen him this panicked. His hands shook, purposely as if he was trying to shake off a ghost.

"Take my car." He grabbed his keys from his pocket, his mothers having gotten him a car despite his protest that he didn't need one. It was the one birthday present he cherished, no one drove Kirishima's red Pontiac but himself.

"I can't fucking drive like this." He growled, hinting at what Kirishima would have offered. They were going together.

"Where to?"

"Prison."

"Tarturus?"

"No, Kiri." He gave him a look. "You fucking wish it was Tarturus."