Kiri(Baku?)Kami I probably won't finish

Chapter Forty-One

I hefted him up, helping him walk out with me. We were pretty deep in the center of the already massive gym that was (oh-so conveniently) a maze of jagged rocks and hills.

The whole way to the outside world, we didn't speak to each other. He didn't even open his mouth once. I just didn't know what to say to him. Maybe it was because I still thought of his face as a menacing one. It had been twisted so cruelly no less than an hour ago. Seeing him in person still hurt, even though he hadn't even done anything to 'Suki at all.

Maybe I was still upset with him because he hadn't stopped it.

I knew that wasn't fair. He couldn't have. I really doubted that he still had his quirk, either. Otherwise, it would've been easy for him to escape no matter how broken he was, physically or mentally. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but harbor some unwanted negativity against him.

Despite that annoying seed in the back of my mind, once we were outside, I texted our group chat.

Found him. We're outside

There were no replies, but everyone came out pretty quickly.

"Deku!" 'Suki skidded to a stop right in front of us. He was in absolute tears. "Are you okay? I'm so, so sorry that this happened and you were right here the whole time and we didn't even notice you were gone and—"

Midoriya held up a finger and touched it lightly to 'Suki's lips. Then he made a quick movement with his hands. It looked like sign language.

"He says it's not out fault," 'Suki translated.

"Wait, you guys both know sign? That's cool," I offered, trying to break the tension. That was when the other two came back.

"We learned it a really long time ago. Some kid in our preschool was deaf so we started learning it so that he wouldn't be so alone and I guess we've never fallen out of practice," 'Suki explained. "But why..."

More signs. I had no idea what he was saying, but when 'Suki's face grew sullen and more tears brimmed on his eyes, I got the feeling that he wasn't just signing for fun.

"Bakugo, can he speak?" They both shook their heads. Did the villains cut his tongue out? That's fucked up!

"Along with muting him, they also shot him with the quirk-destroying bullet," he continued to translate. "That was why he couldn't respond when he heard Kirishima calling his name, and he could barely make any noise at all because he's gotten so weak..." 'Suki paused. Midoriya gave a soft smile and signed once more. The ash-blonde gulped and whispered, "He's very lucky." Then he turned to the smallest boy and debriefed him on the situation. "We need to get you out of here. The school is evacuating. And we'll give you some real food and a nice place to lay down for a little while..."

"Blasty, stop talking and start moving. We can talk about the rest of everything once we're safe. I'm sure everyone's worried," Denki said quickly. 'Suki sighed, then nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go."

So we hurried (I ended up just carrying Deku) off campus. Everyone was glad to see us, especially Midoriya. Aizawa was with our class, and he looked relieved as well.

"I'm going to call an ambulance for Midoriya right away. Bakugo, to be honest, you should probably at least get checked up, too," he said upon seeing us. "We're calling the police, too, to see if they can sniff out the bombs before they go off." The five of us nodded. "Midoriya, what exactly is your condition?... They did, huh?... I'm so sorry we didn't help you, I am... Major blood loss. It's a miracle you haven't died of malnourishment... no, they did feed you so that you didn't die. That's good, at least... You want to know what happened here?" Aizawa glanced at 'Suki, who took a deep breath, and eventually rolled up his sleeves.

Across his forearms were ugly scars and deep scratches, some words even written in his skin. Things like "worthless" and "Deku's". Others were just long gashes in his flesh. I flinched upon the sight, and I could feel Midoriya's grip tighten on my shirt.

He let go after a moment and signed something. "The hell are you apologizing for?" 'Suki exclaimed. "Yeah, it says your name... it's not like it was you who did it, it's not your fault you couldn't stop her!... I could say the same thing..."

"The ambulance should be here in a few minutes," Aizawa informed us.

"I'm not sure," 'Suki bit his lip in response to something Midoriya had just asked him. "I don't blame you at all. But it's hard to look at you and not remember all the things she did while wearing your face."

"What was the question?" I asked. 'Suki glanced at Deku, who signed something before the other looked back up at me.

"Alright, he said I could tell you... he wanted to know if I could still stand the thought of being with him," 'Suki explained. I guess that question made sense. I looked down at Deku.

"I get the feeling you're both blaming yourselves for it, aren't you? All of this?" Gradually, they both nodded. "Neither of you could help it," I reassured them, then turned somber. "Toga did a lot of horrible things to both of you. You were both scared. It was a different kind of fear than what you get from fighting villains. I won't pretend to understand any of it, because I wasn't there for half of it, but I will punch you both if you blame yourselves. There's no point in doing that to yourselves because you can't change any of it. All you can do now is get better, slowly."

Deku smiled up at me. He signed something, and I asked for a translation. "I can see why Kacchan likes you."

"How could you tell—"

"I have my ways," 'Suki continued to speak for Midoriya.

I laughed a little. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, and I shrugged, which was a little difficult considering how I was still holding him bridal-style.

"I'm not sure. For letting another friend get hurt right under my nose again, I guess," I replied.

"It's not your fault either, Kirishima." Just then, we heard the ambulance in the distance. It would be here any second to swallow the two boys from view. I set the greenette on his own feet, and he leaned against 'Suki. "Don't worry about me. I can only get better from here, after all."

Midoriya didn't sign that time, but it still felt like it came from both of them.