Behind the Smile | TodoBakuDeku | Book 1

Chapter 8

***Five Days Later***

Third Person POV

"About fuckin' time!" Bakugo shouted, slamming Midoriya's door shut behind him and locking it.

"Nice to see you, too," Todoroki replied, rather unfazed by his friend's typical outburst.

"Tch-" Bakugo scrunched his face as he made his way over to the fragile greenette, whose knees were tucked into his chest and whose head was down, covered by his arms. The boy was swimming in a large black sweatshirt, while his once fluffy and vibrant hair greasily draped in front of his face, its color further faded from the first day at the hospital. "Deku, I've got some news."

Bakugo paused, hoping to get some sort of response out of Midoriya, but the boy didn't make any indication that he heard or even cared. The explosive blond let out a deep sigh and looked over to Todoroki for some sort of response. "How long has he been like this?"

Todoroki shrugged, looking down in disappointment at the lack of information he had to share. The boys had been trying their best to keep Midoriya from spiraling further since the incident, but some days were harder than others. "I haven't been here too long, but he hasn't really budged from that spot or said much of anything."

Bakugo closed his eyes and rolled his neck, as he cleared his head. He then tapped Midoriya's shoulder and started nudging him, while moving himself onto the bed next to his childhood friend. "Oi, Deku. Move. Scoot over, will you?"

Midoriya inched his way towards the other end of the bed and lent against the wall to make room for Bakugo, all while keeping his head hung low. Bakugo sat crisscrossed on the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Midoriya and gave him another light and playful nudge. "They think they've found him," he said slightly louder than a whisper.

Todoroki shot up from his previously slouched position in the beanbag chair. "Seriously? That's great, right Midoriya?"

The poor boy lifted his head, resting his chin on his crossed arms that laid limp on his knees. "Mhm." Was all the response he could manage. His eyes were bright red and swollen with deep bags underneath, while his skin was a ghostly white. The only thing keeping him from looking completely defeated was his smile. He tried so hard to grin and bear the pain for his friends. He wanted them to believe he still had fight left in him. In truth though, he was running low on willpower. If someone didn't put an end to his suffering soon, he was going to do it himself.

"So, the villain's name is Psycho Flip. His quirk is still kinda confusing to the extras trying to figure out this shit, but from what I see he uses the mental energy and willpower from his victims and to self regenerate somehow," Bakugo said. "They think they've tracked him down and are making the move tonight. So, if-"

"If Aizawa can erase his quirk, you should be in the clear!" Todoroki cut off Bakugo in excitement, though his voice was more of a rushed, monotone sound.

"Way to cut me off, Icy Hot!" Bakugo snapped, but then redirected the conversation back to Midoriya. "So by tonight, you should be good as new, and you can stop pouting around everywhere, got it?!"

Neither Bakugo nor Todoroki saw Dark Deku sitting on the other side of Midoriya, whispering into his ear. "That won't work. Don't get your hopes up, because you're stuck with me until the end you worthless, once-quirkless hero wannabe," he snickered.

Midoriya did his best to ignore Dark Deku, at least while his friends were around. As far as they were concerned, he had the other Deku on lockdown and was able to block him out most of the time, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Wiping away some stray tears, Midoriya sat up straight and forced another painful smile. "That is good news."

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