Fire Within -Tododeku

Lies

It took him some time to tell Izuku what he had done to obtain information from the League, how he had pretended to hand over a diary and had been caught.

"They found out it wasn't your diary," he said vaguely. Izuku's frown showed concentration and worry, and Shouto felt his neck burn under Izuku's intense gaze, avoiding eye contact.

If he told him how Himiko Toga found out the truth about the diary, it would mean revealing the reason why she was killed; Shouto had been a fool who thought he was smarter than he actually was, and the murder of the innocent girl weighed heavily on his shoulders.

"How did they know I had a diary?" Izuku looked at the floor, clearly trying to think of a reason, his brain always working at maximum capacity.

"I think Himiko Toga stalked you," Shouto avoided telling the whole truth again. He felt his heart race to an unbearable pulse, knowing he had lied to the one person he truly loved. He felt a lump in his throat, his palms sweating. "I know I should have trusted you before, Izuku, but I didn't want you to bear all this." I didn't want to and still don't want to tell you that our best friend died because of me, and that I'm a cold-blooded murderer... what does that make me? A heartless bastard, Shouto thought to himself.

A silence fell as Izuku seemed to be processing all the information Shouto had dared to tell him. He didn't dare look him in the eyes, deciding to focus on his own light blue Converse.

"I understand why you didn't want to tell anyone," a comforting hand rested on his shoulder, startling him, "but that must have been a great burden to deal with. I'm glad you could tell me what happened. You can trust me, Shouto!" Izuku smiled, though his voice showed nervousness.

Normally, his smiles were always contagious, but the muscles in his face were too tense to form a reciprocal smile. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead. Faced with his stubborn silence, Izuku's expression turned worried, his smile disappearing, and his brow furrowing.

Izuku was smart. He must have known that Shouto hadn't told him the whole truth. Clearly, he had made a clumsy attempt to dodge everything Dabi had said, and he must be wondering when Shouto would mention it.

"Seriously, Shouto. You're the best friend I've ever had. You can trust me." Shouto felt a finger touch his hand, soft and encouraging. "He... called you little brother."

"He just said that to mess with me." Shouto felt like he was drowning in his lies, his throat so dry he started coughing. "He thinks I killed a villain who was his friend, but he has no evidence."

He had done it.

There was no turning back.

"How dare he implicate you in this? Clearly, you'd never do something like that. I know you. That guy must have really been mistaken." Izuku suggested, his voice a mix of anger and reflection. "Shouto, you can lean on me. You don't have to be alone in these tough situations. I... will do whatever it takes to make sure you don't feel like this, forced to take justice into your own hands. We'll do things together, okay?"

Shouto nodded, knowing he had sealed his fate.

"We need to find out who killed Uraraka on our own." Shouto hadn't expected those words, and before he could speak, Izuku continued. "It's true that no one is doing anything. Maybe we can help the police in our own way. It's clear the man we met knew something. We should ask him..."

Shouto let out an incredulous laugh.

"Ask the psychopath who thinks I killed his friend what he knows about Uraraka? He'd shoot us before we could even talk. I think we've gotten too involved in all this. We should trust the heroes." The words tasted bitter on his lips, but risking their lives together when he had already done justice, in his own twisted way, was out of the question.

"I know Uraraka would have done the same for us." Shouto's heart sank in his chest. "She wouldn't have stood by idly."

Everything would be so simple if he told the truth, he thought, and yet, he didn't.

"I'm sure Katsuki Bakugo has something to do with all this." Izuku's eyes widened.

"Giving a quirk? Is that possible?"

"Apparently, the guy never had a quirk at all." Shouto felt even more guilty.

"I don't think he did anything, but it's possible he knows things about the organization that might have something to do with this. The man in the alley told me a villain gave him his quirk and that right now he's spying for the League of Villains. He's in a psychiatric facility, so he still doesn't know what I've done." That I killed someone, just for revenge, when maybe someday justice could have done it, and right now I'm lying to you.

"Then we'll have to act first, while he's still in that therapy."