Poison From The Same Vine

10 | Finding Him

- KATSUKI -

The dummy blew up in flames before falling through the floor, a new dummy replacing it. I continued punching it, threading my explosions into the move. Each time, the explosions became bigger, my hand feeling numb from how times I'd destroyed this thing.

I hit it again, the pain of the blast numb. I needed to save Zuku and being weak like this was not going to help me save him. If I could just make the blast bigger I could kill the villains who took him from me. I needed to kill them.

The dummy blew up again, being replaced with a new one. My head felt dizzying, everything seeming to blur together.

I threw my arm forward to punch it again, but instead fell forwards.

Someone caught me, their arm under my chest to prevent me from falling.

"Wh-Who..?"

They grumbled, picking me up into a more comfortable position. "Katsuki, you can't keep overworking yourself like this."

I blinked up at them, my vision blurred. All I could see was blurred lines of black and grey. It seemed familiar, the gravelly voice all too well-known somewhere in my mind.

After a moment, everything seemed to clear, black eyes staring down at me as they awaited confirmation. "Are you with me now, Katsuki?"

I nodded, the unwelcomed sleepiness clouding my mind. Unknowingly, I snuggled closer to the welcoming warmth, eyes getting heavier by the second.

"I need.. to s-save.. Zu.. ku," I tried to say, the words delayed and quiet.

A hand stroked the hair out of my face. "You will. But first, you need to rest."

A knock sounded at the door.

I stood up from the bed, running a hand through my hair as I pulled the door open. "What?" I asked sleepily.

Eraserhead stood there in his full hero suit, goggles just barely hidden underneath his capture scarf. He adjusted his capture scarf, holding a pile of clothes. "You've been allowed to join us on the rescue mission as long as you stay with me at all times."

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "You're not.. you're not joking?"

He pushed the clothes into my hands. "Not at all, problem child." He ruffled my hair. "Now, get changed into your hero suit and meet me outside the teachers' dorms."

A few moments later, I waited outside the teachers' dorms, adjusting my sleeves. Eraserhead had somehow gotten my costume earlier than expected, the material skin-tight but comfortable to wear. It was perfect, completely compatible with my quirks.

It was a dark suit, the stitches a beautiful viridian green. It had a sample of my camouflage quirk woven into the material, allowing me to go completely invisible in the enemy's line of sight rather than just seeing a bunch of floating clothes.

I couldn't help but feel guilty, standing here so happy with my hero suit. Zuku was still stuck with those villains, and who knew what they could be doing to him? What they could have done to him.

"Katsuki," I looked up, seeing Eraserhead and a few other heroes. "We can go now."

"Wait, hobo." He stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "How do we even know where he is? You never told me."

He sighed. "Recovery Girl placed a tracker on you both, as U.A is known for being a villain-magnet. We traced the tracker the day he was taken."

"Then why didn't we go then?" I asked, angry. Aizawa had kept that fact from me, telling me they were trying their hardest and all that other nonsense. It just didn't seem fair.

He stopped in front of me. "If we went in then, the villains could have threatened Izuku's life the moment we got there. We also needed to get a team together for this mission as there is a whole league of villains." He sighed again. "Trust me Katsuki, if we could've gone in sooner, I would have taken the chance."

I looked away. I hated the fact that the whole situation was kept from me, but at the same time, I was beginning to understand. They didn't want to hurt me, they didn't want to risk Zuku getting hurt either, they were just trying to find the best time possible to break in without the risk of harming my other.

Someone tapped my shoulder. "Come on, Katsuki, we need to go."

Blue flames grazed my shoulder, the material of the suit disintegrating. A burn mark lay on my shoulder, red with searing pain. I rubbed the wound, ignoring the pain as I tried to fend off against the fire-quirked villain.

"Katsuki!"

I looked to my left, seeing Aizawa running towards me. "E-Eraser?"

"Yeah, kid." He confirmed, pulling a small device out of his pocket. He handed it to me, the device beeping. "Go find him. I'll fend off against these guys."

I smiled. "Thank you, sir."

I took a quick look at the device, noting that the red dot was focused on the second floor before running off towards the stairs.

A few minutes later, I stood in front of a locked metal door, the device beeping loudly. The other heroes were taking care of the villains, most of them downstairs. Midnight had been guarding the stairs, gassing any villains that wanted to come and check on their hostage.

I powered up my explosion quirk, focusing it so that I could use that hero move I've been working on. The familiar burning sensation returned to my hand, sparks popping as I made a fist-shape with my hand.

Without hesitation, I punched the door, just above the handle. The metal fell through, the hole sizzling as smoke escaped to the roof.

Slowly, I put my hand through the door, fiddling with the handle. It took a few minutes, but I managed to wrench open the door. The metal creaked as I pushed it forward, the sound uncomfortable.

The room itself was quite dark, no source of light visible anywhere. There was only a lamp which I was sure was going to die on me if I turned it on.

I fiddled for the emergency flashlight in my pocket (thank you hobo) to search the room. The device was beeping like crazy now, the red dot focused at the back of the room. I wondered if Zuku was really there or if the league knew and placed his tracker there.

After a moment, I got the flashlight out and working. Angling it around the room, I noticed the shadow of a person on a chair. Edging closer, I recognized the familiar green locks of hair.

"Zuku?" I whispered, not sure if he was conscious.

I angled the flashlight at him when I was closer, noting that he was unconscious. He seemed to have new scars, fresh ones littering his face. I examined him closer, noticing the new black stumps on his head, dried blood present at both the tips and on the skin surrounding them.

I carefully loosened the restraints, slipping his arms and legs out of the now loose ropes. Calming myself, I picked him up, his head resting against my chest. I smiled at his sleeping face, carefully placing my arms so I didn't irritate his healing wings.

"I promise I'll never let this happen again."