Patchwork

Threading

'You managed to attend UA, didn't you? Even though I suppose It wasn't for long, but still. How was it? Were you... happy?''

Everything had changed after that visit to Inko's house, or at least, everything was thrown off balance for Katsuki.

It wasn't bad per se, quite the contrary, for his mother had started to mellow out considerably in the days that followed, letting a peaceful but uncharacteristic quiet cover their household. It made him uncomfortable, in a way he knew to be irrational; as if deep down inside him he didn't want it to last if only to return to more familiar habits.

Maybe it was like walking on thin ice, or tip-toeing around eggshells, a small nudge in the wrong direction and his mother would promptly change her mind, or so Katsuki believed.

It was easier to stay quiet, less he perturbs the tentative serenity that had been built on top of remorse and shame. This change in demeanor, however, had not gone unnoticed by the outside world, because while his parents may have kept quiet about the lack of explosive screams and loud tone overall, his classmates were not so kind as to cover their mouths.

Everyone knew of the incident, and therefore, it was a known fact, that Bakugou had been the last person to be seen with him, some of them being witnesses to this fact. Was it really a surprise that a rumor then arose?

Akin to a disease, suddenly everyone had at least heard of Bakugou Katsuki, the high schooler who had murdered a fellow classmate in cold blood.

It may have been unthinkable, and the finer details may have been clouded and perhaps hard to perform, yet it persisted, for everyone knew of his sharp smile, his powerful quirk, and his love for showing it to everyone, even when it meant violence.

A switch had clicked, and abruptly, it wasn't so important as to who had died exactly, or if they were quirkless or not, no, it was the fact that Bakugou had done it, the fact that even when everyone hadn't even cared at the beginning, now they saw him as some sort of criminal, a bad influence, and no longer privy to any privileges.

He was no longer praised, no longer applauded for his good marks or his hero-worthy quirk. Now people only saw the worst of him, the features they had once ignored, now in full scrutiny, murmurs and disapproving glances following his every move.

It was alright though, he'd reasoned, this was nothing in comparison to the mere scorn Izuku had tolerated, so he wouldn't complain, it was better if his mother didn't catch wind of it anyways.

(He no longer had the right to complain).

Now, being free of long drawling hours of mind boringly easy lessons, he was finally open to relax for some time at the beach, perhaps to look over the setting sun as he always preferred to do.

It was right when he'd taken the time to sit atop a fridge under a mountain of trash, that a shadow sat beside him, making him startle slightly, for he hadn't even heard him approach at all.

''Bakugou Katsuki, right?'' The man said, his legs now crisscrossed against the smooth surface, a hand lowering his yellow goggles to face him properly.

Bakugou nodded, and the man did not look impressed, probably having already guessed as such.

''I have a message for you, from... Deku'' The name rolled off weirdly on his tongue, maybe because he had another name in mind when talking about this person.

Bakugou froze.

''Are-are you kidding me?'' He said. The voice detached from his own, thoughts going a mile a minute.