The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

31

Katsuki has been watching the clock on the wall for hours now, waiting for the seconds to tick by. He knows that someone is coming to get him. It's only a matter of when they'll be here. He paces back and forth in his holding cell, trying to think through all of the ways that he could have handled that differently. It's not that he necessarily regrets his course of action, more that he regrets that he isn't with Izuku right now. That, and there's no telling what Masa— No, Shinobu. There's no telling what Shinobu is up to right now. He's still out there, and yet, here Katsuki sits. He can still see the malice in his eyes as he spoke to him, calling him by his actual name and asking him if Izuku was just a ploy. It makes bile rise up into his throat and his hands shake as if he'd ever use Izuku. As if Shinobu, himself, weren't doing it already.

I'll have to explain all of this to Izuku when I get out of here. That'll be a headache, unlike anything I've ever seen or had before. What if he doesn't trust me after that? What if he hates me and wants nothing to do with me anymore? I can't lose him over this. I can't lose him at all. I don't want to lose him, I just got him.

He hears footsteps approaching and hears someone opening the door, pulling him from his thoughts. He looks up to see one of the commission members as well as Kyoka approaching his cell. He sighs as they unlock his cell and allow him to step out. They finish processing whatever paperwork the Commission hands off before letting him out. They all walk out to the car waiting for them on the curb, Katsuki taking the backseat and hoping that Kyoka will join him there, but instead, he's sharing his seat with the commission member. He frowns, leaning his arm against the door and turning his face out the window. The first part of the ride is quiet, but that all comes to a halt as soon as the commission member speaks. "Mr. Bakugo, you must have been very reckless to have gotten yourself arrested. Do you care to explain why you assaulted an upstanding member of the community?"

Katsuki cackles at the question without any show of actual happiness or glee. "Upstanding?" he asks. "That's rich."

"They said that Mr. Inoue is a wonderful example of--"

"I don't give a damn what they said, they don't know shit," Katsuki huffs. "That Mr. Inoue isn't who they think he is. Akaguro Shinobu has been hiding in plain sight, what's worse is that he knows I have been too."

Silence consumes them all once again, and that sinking feeling returns to Katsuki's stomach. He hates every bit of this. The woman from the commission sighs and sinks into her seat. "I see," she whispers. "Look, Mr. Bakugo. I understand you did what you felt you had to do, but the head won't see it that way. You put everything at risk over a move like that, what exactly were you thinking?" He shrugs. "That's not going to cut it. You better think of something quickly, we'll be meeting with him in another three minutes or so."

"Yeah, because whatever I'll have to say will actually be taken seriously," he grunts. "Starting to think I should've just gone straight to an agency."

Within a few minutes, as promised, they're pulling up outside of Eijiro and Shoto's apartment. They walk in and find his two friends talking to the head about what they were working on when Katsuki originally left earlier in the day. The man nods in understanding and sighs, "We'll start making arrangements, you four just need to be ready for whatever happens next." He turns and faces Katsuki as well as the two women that flank his sides. "As for you, Mr. Bakugo, you and I are about to have a little chat. Come on, let's go to the room back here," he says, nodding his head toward Eijiro and Shoto's shared bedroom. Katsuki follows and shuts the door behind him.

"Let's get this going," Katsuki murmurs, watching as the man peruses the room.

He stops, staring at a picture of the two lovebirds on their dresser. "You know, the last thing I should be worried about is your romantic affairs. Usually, I'm quite happy to see that a pro has found love. It's hard to do in this line of work. With how busy you always are and how many secrets you have to keep, the dangers associated with it all, and so on, very few pros ever find a person that can handle all of it and maintain their relationship. That said, your relations with Mr. Midoriya is getting in the way of you doing your job with the tact and the caution that is necessary," he starts. He turns and faces Katsuki with level eyes, leaning against the dresser leisurely. "I've already spoken to you once about how this budding romance is a pain in my ass, and I should not be having to have this conversation a second time. Was your time in Osaka not enough? Do I have to take you off of the mission completely? Is that it?"