Conversion

Guilt

As the trio bundles their supplies quietly, with sadness dripping through the air, Katsuki trails behind. Shoto felt guilty. However, he wasn't about losing Izuku, but about Mirio, Katsuki, and Shouta's feelings. He could've done something to stop Izuku from running off, though he's happy he didn't. He got to see Kai and Hari. It made him conflicted; he was feeling this way as the others deemed it to be wrong.

It hurt to see them upset and frustrated while he wasn't.

At Shouta's house and while catching him up on the events, Shoto felt the need to speak up. If the three are going to be on the side that Kai and Hari are bad people and hurt Izuku, he isn't sure he can be around them anymore. He's sticking to his values and doesn't want to waver. "I have something to say."

The three turned away from their fight about Izuku and when they should get him back. Katsuki and Shouta were yelling at each other for an hour, refusing to back down from their ideals. Katsuki strongly believed they should go out and take back Izuku before it was too late. While Shouta wanted to wait and figure things out logically, Mirio stayed in the middle, adding points to either side. To everyone, Mirio was the neutral side of the war.

Shoto took a deep breath from the couch, quickly organising his thoughts. "I feel guilty."

"No shit." Katsuki rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"It's not what you're thinking, rather, I feel guilty about how you are feeling. If I didn't stop Izuku from running off, I would've saved you from feeling depressed."

That seemed to get everyone's attention. "You mean," Mirio said, "you don't feel guilty about Izuku going to the villains?"

Shoto nodded, "I don't like seeing you three upset about it, as I'm not upset. I believe it was a good thing that Izuku went back to them-"

A force of power slammed into his cheek, hurtling him to the ground. He opened his mouth slightly to feel the damage to his jaw. He looked for the culprit. "You punched me, Katsuki."

"Fuck yes I did."

Shoto narrowed his eyes as a reply, thinking the punch wasn't necessary. "Izuku being with them is a fucking bad thing, IcyHot. Remember the last time? Izuku was manipulated to think his treatment was healthy and was tortured mentally. Can't you just get it inside your fucking head that Izuku was abused by them?!"

"Izuku loved them and they took good care of him. It's better than anything I've ever experienced."

Katsuki scoffed, twisting away from him. "I can't believe you. Of all people, you are taking the villains' side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I'm just stating a fact."

The two stared at each other for a moment, anger boiling from within. Mirio and Shouta were passive on the sidelines, watching the fight as if it was a tennis match. "Stop it." Shouta snapped.

The two offenders looked over at him, eyes narrowed. "Look, I agree with Shoto that it's a good thing Izuku is with them. As long as he is with the people he loves, not just random people. He knows who they are and so forth. However, I'm not saying it's entirely good. They're rather toxic and manipulative to Izuku. I'm not sure what their goal is with Izuku, but I can't imagine it being any good."

"You also have to put into perspective," Mirio said, "that all our efforts to make Izuku... like us will be for nothing if we are not fast enough. They will try their hardest to make Izuku the way they had him before he was saved by us."

Shoto shuffled a tad; he hadn't thought about that. Katsuki mentioned that Izuku was very childish and dependent on Kai, Hari, and even Shouta. Shoto just hasn't seen the extent of it.