From Distant Lands - Juro's Return

Chapter Twenty-Five

There was a trip I took with Katsuki almost two years ago to the middle of nowhere. It was the middle of summer, the car we were driving had no AC and we were broken down on the side of the road without a single stop in sight. I remember him being so frustrated, cursing and muttering to himself about how perfect the trip was supposed to be... I just laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him against me. No matter where we are, it's perfect as long as we're together... I told him that. He rolled his eyes, but even I could see the smile playing on his lips as he bowed his head under the hood. It was before he started his own agency... before he ever asked me to move in with him... I remember thinking I would do anything for him. I'd sit out in the heat and fry to death for that faint half smile... now he falls to his knees, blood pooling on the floor around him and my entire world feels like it's shattering around me. In the moments that it happened... he looked so surprised and lost... I clamor towards him now, forgetting everything else around me and realizing, throat raw and aching, that I haven't stopped screaming. 

I catch Katsuki as he falls back, the staff leaving his chest as Juro yanks it back, and tears roll down my cheeks, chest shuddering with sobs when he looks up at me, eyes dulling by the second.

"Katsuki! No! No, no, no, please!" I cry, pressing my shaking hands over the wound in his chest, desperate to close it somehow. This can't be it, this can't be happening. Not to him. Not to my Katsuki. We were supposed to live together... to grow old and piss each other off forever. He can't die!

"It'll be okay, it has to be okay!" I sob, frantically trying to keep the blood from spilling through my fingers, but Katsuki just smiles up at me, eyes heavy.

"Don't... c-cry... dumbass" he rasps and when he breathes, I can hear the wet rattling in his chest. My eyes widen, panic exploding through me.

"No!" I cry, shaking my head, but his hand falls limply on mine and his eyes slip closed.

"I love..." he breathes, but his chest falls still before he can finish, before I can say anything. I scream again, pulling him against me as the energy in my body thrashes against my skin. The ground beneath us shudders as I cradle Katsuki's head to my chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Not my Katsuki... please... I can't. I can't lose him.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Juro asks suddenly, an expectant note to his voice. I squeeze Katsuki tighter to me, the pain of his death making my chest feel ragged and raw. No... this can't be...

"You can finally be free, little dragon" Juro tells me and the sound of his voice only amplifies the rage and agony within me. My head whips up towards him, tears streaming down my face as I glare at him murderously. Fury explodes throughout my body and the power of the serum makes me feel like my body is going to tear itself in half to let it out.

"You son of a bitch" I snarl, clutching Katsuki against me. Juro makes a disapproving face, tilting his head. Behind him, I can see my friends still fighting, some of them winning... some of them... I grit my teeth, looking down at the love of my life lying completely still in my arms. Katsuki...

"Let him go, Kaida" Juro instructs and it sets something off in me that can't quite be contained. Years of rage and heartbreak make my skin feel like it's going to burn off of me and I gently lay Katsuki down at my feet as I stand, limbs shaking with my anger.

"I love you..." I murmur to him, chest aching as I look up at Juro again, hatred making my eyes burn. He smiles... opening his mouth to speak, but I don't let him. Faster than I've ever moved before, I barrel into him at full force, my fist slamming so hard into his abdomen that I feel the fabric of his clothing and his skin break apart. I drive him into the wall, knuckles shredding into him and heart singing when he chokes on his own blood, eyes wide with surprise.