I Found What I Was Missing

Chapter 44: I Couldn't Be Any More Proud

I Couldn't Be Any More Proud

"Are we not going to talk about this?" Ochaco asked as she watched her friends bustle about in the kitchen.

Hitoshi had moved to sit on top of one of the counters, visibly lost in thought; he was quieter than what was normal for him.

"Talk about what?" Izuku asked, leaning against one of the counters.

Ochaco stared at him in surprise for a moment, mouth agape. "Izuku, you realise all those things that Killua told us, actually happened to him," she stated.

Izuku blinked at her. "I know that,"

Ochaco shook her head. "I don't think you really realise, Izuku; you're not processing this right. Your mother, was tortured by his own family. Stabbed, drowned, whipped, electrocuted, you name it. Don't you realise how painful that must have been? The emotional and mental strain that put on him?" She asked.

Izuku continued to stare at her, eyes a bit dull as he was lost in thought. Denki bit his lip, moved to Izuku's side and poked him in the arm, sending a mild zap up his arm. The alpha yelped, slapping his hand on his arm and rubbing up and down.

"What was that for?" Izuku asked, frowning as his arm started to grow numb.

"Now imagine that, but probably two or three times stronger and to the point where blood leaks out of your ears. This was done to him, on a regular basis," Denki pointed out, taking a step back.

"Just think of how painful it was the few times you broke your arms," Shoto added, frowning down at the floor.

Katsuki took a deep breath, placing his palms on the counter top, slouching as he stared down at his hands.

Izuku frowned. "I know," he spoke softly, lower lip trembling. "I just, I don't want to think about how someone could hurt him like that," he stated as tears started to pool in his eyes. "Someone so kind and caring, being hurt and tortured and, and I, I just-" He cut off with a whimper, turning his back to his friends.

"I just!" Izuku spoke, voice gaining volume with supressed emotion as he tried to force himself not to start sobbing. "I wish I could save him from that! Like a-like'-"

"A hero," Katsuki supplied for him, body aquiver as he clenched his teeth.

Eijirou stood near the doorway, tears falling freely, it was difficult to picture a young Killua, bloodied, sick and crying because he was hurting so much, and there was no one there to save him from that.

Denki stared sadly down at the tiled floor as Ochaco started to cry softly, hands wiping furiously at her cheeks. Hitoshi remained quiet, gazing at his mate's back, trying to imagine how Gon must be feeling now, too.

He would be willing to bet that Gon was feeling guilty, thinking things like, if he'd only met Killua sooner, if he'd tried harder, done better, then he could have saved Killua from his family and the pain they had caused.

"Don't you see?" Tenya spoke up for the first time, smiling at his friends as he held his hands out in front of him. "Killua has already been saved, he already has a hero,"

Katsuki looked up, ignoring the sting in his eyes and the warmth sliding down his cheeks.

"He may not have been saved from actually experiencing all that pain, but Gon took him away from that environment, and loved him, nurtured him, healed all of his wounds, and now, Killua is safe and happy. He was able to tell us all these things without breaking down or stopping because it grew too much for him," Tenya uttered, smiling softly as Izuku turned around to look at him.