Artifice

Bullet

Bakugo POV:

My whole body hurt. The coldness pricked at my skin. My head was spinning, and my mind was clouded.

Pain coursed through my body. Every part of me hurt. But the thing that hurt the most was the thing that could shatter into a million pieces, the part of me that I've tried so hard to block, my heart.

I shouldn't feel like this towards him. As the person who told him to kill himself, I have no right to long for him like I do.

It felt so good to be close to him, even if the only contact we made was him beating the shit out of me. All I wanted to do in that moment was reach out my arms and pull him into my chest. I wanted to feel the heat from his body on mine. I wanted to repent for my sins against him. I want him.

Izuku POV:

My feet slammed against the concrete one after the other. My mind was racing.

Why didn't I kill him?

He's hurt me countless times, and yet I couldn't bring myself to give him the suffering he deserves.

He didn't fight back. Even as I was pummeling him into the ground, all he did was smile weakly at me as he lost consciousness.

Even after my tantrum was over, I felt guilty. I wrapped his bloody side with some cloth I found in an emergency kit. The wound wasn't life-threateningly deep, I just couldn't bear to see what I had done to him.

Why do I care?

My heart pounded in my chest. The intense mix of emotions clouded my mind as I reentered the main area.

At this point in the fight, they had split up the students, and Master Tomura was holding down Aizawa while disintegrating his elbow. I managed to avoid their line of vision and wandered around looking for a fight to make myself useful.

A moving red and white head of hair caught my attention, Endeavors son. It looked like he had just finished taking out a good chunk of the lowlife villains he was up against.

He was out of breath, and his footing was wobbly. His diminished state didn't stop him from charging at me. He connected his hand to the ground, and a spike of ice started to protrude out of the concrete. I quickly dodged his attack. My movements were sloppy, but I still got the job done.

We continued to fight sloppily for a few more minutes until a bang came from the entrance. Then, the all too familiar words rang out like a bell.

"I am here,"

Fuck.

With a swift kick to the gut, I sent the half and half boy back and broke into a sprint towards the source of the voice.

When I arrived, Master Tomura was explaining a bit too pridefully about the  Nomu to no one other than All Might.

All Might, the man I adored for a majority of my life. The man that I had countless figurines, posters, and clothes of. The man that I would kill.

In a few seconds, he was already in a head to head battle against the Nomu. I rolled up my sleeve and took one of Toga's daggers up to my arm. I cut through layers of my skin until blood pooled continuously out of it.

I had cut deeper than I would have liked, but some kind of pressure in my mind pushed me to keep going.

A pistol formed from the blood, and I took a kneeling position. I cocked the gun and aimed at my ex-idol. Inhaling shakily, my finger lached onto the trigger. I checked my aim once more and pulled the trigger.

The second I pulled it, I felt a body crash onto mine. The bullet I shot went the wrong way, and instead of hitting All Might in the head, it grazed his thigh.

I looked up angrily to see I was pinned down by no other than that blond idiot for the second time today.

"What the hell are you doing, Deku?!" He screamed, his voice cracking.

"Trying to kill that dick. What's it look like? Get off of me." I growled.

"Why would you want to kill your idol?"

"That asshole? My idol? Sorry, but I don't idolize jackasses." I hissed.

He stared down at me wide-eyed. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. Tears started to well up in his eyes and slowly trickle down his cheeks before dripping onto my face.

The silence was so loud. Neither of us made an attempt to move. We just stared at eachother mindlessly.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"Why" He paused. "Why would you try to kill him, but spare me?"

I felt my breath hitch in my throat. This time, I was speechless. I had nothing to counter that, so I did the only thing I could think of. I shoved him off of me and started swinging at him. He dodged every single blow.

I felt unshed tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Nonetheless I kept swinging. I felt the first tear fall from my eyes. From there, they fell like a never ending stream.

Another bang came from the entrance, but before I could turn to see what it was, a sharp pain came from my shoulder. Warm blood flowed from the hole. I had been shot.

I collapsed onto my knees as I heard an incoherent yell from Bakugo.

I tried to close the wound or at the very least stop the bleeding, but I couldn't. My emotions were everywhere.

I felt a hand grab my wrist and squeeze it. I couldn't tell if it was a threatening hand or a comforting one. Either way, I melted into the touch.

My whole body trembled. I could still distinguish the warm liquid soaking into my clothes and sticking to my skin. My mind was spinning as I prayed for the pain to stop.

Just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, I felt a stream of electricity come from the bracelet hidden under my jacket. I let out a blood curdling scream.

"You aren't done. Are you?" Shigaraki growled.

"N-no." I choked out.

"Good. Then go kill one more student and we'll call it a day."

"Yes, sir." I stood up shakily, but kept my gaze fixed on the floor.

A rough hand pulled me back.

"Deku, don't do this." Bakugo whispered.

I shook him off weakly. My body begged me to stop, but I didn't listen. I started towards Aoyama, slowly picking up the pace. Every part of me screamed in pain, but I kept pushing.

I took up the blade and stabbed the boy in the stomach. His naval laser shot up at me, grazing my side, drawing more blood. I stabbed as fast as I could just to get this over with. I felt multiple eyes on me but I didn't care. I couldn't care.

Finally, his breathing came to a stop. I dropped the blade and fell back. Between my heaving breaths, I heard a slow clap getting closer.

"Good boy, Izuku." Tomura towered over me.

"Are we done?" I whispered.

"Yes we are." He said calmer than he's been recently.

He kneeled beside me and carefully picked me up. Which I was grateful for because at this point my legs would've given out if I tried to stand.

"Kurogiri warp gate." He said calmly.
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A/N

Title is from "Bullet" by Hollywood Undead