Katsuki Noumu (Krbk)

Pt11. Yami Himitsu

Throughout the rest of the day, Kirishima stayed at Bakugou's side, smiling and trying to conceal his worry. Katsuki ignored how clearly uneasy Eijirou still is and simply listened as he filled the silence. Recovery Girl gave him some medicine and checked him out one last time before giving him the OK to leave. Ei and Katsuki walked back to their dorm rooms shoulder to shoulder.

Friday afternoon, well, a few things happened.

One) after the schoolwork and training had finished, Katsuki sitting out, Midoriya approached him once he had changed back into his uniform on campus. Katsuki was already annoyed, having to sit behind for several hours, and now Deku just has to pull him aside for some nonsense reason.

"What do you want, I don't wanna chat, loser," he complained as he followed him to the courtyard anyway with his arms crossed.

Izuku turned to him once they were out of earshot of the rest in the locker rooms and smiled, though it oddly seemed fake. "How are you doing?"

"Don't give me that bullshit. Get to the damn point."

He sighs and his smile falls. "Kacchan, what happened yesterday? I know you don't like to talk to me about all this stuff, but I'm-"

Katsuki groans lengthily, turning his nose to the sky. "I swear, if you say you're fucking worried, I'm going to hit you."

"Eh?! Why?!"

"I've heard it way too much lately, okay. I'm fucking fine and I'm going to stay fine, got it?! Damn, Satsuki, Aizawa, Kirishima, now you too. When does it end." He's clearly tired of these interventions.

Two) He got a text from his father. The one thing he never likes to see when he opens his phone. At ten o'clock, only five minutes from now, he was told there would be someone to pick him up and he would go to Yami Himitsu.

Yami Himitsu. His stomach dropped the moment he read the words, dread overwhelming him. He hadn't been there since the summer after junior high and he never wanted to return. Thoughts of the place terrorized him daily and the dread of returning only makes the trauma heavier to burden.

He raked a hand through his hair and looked away from the message to stare wide-eyed at a blank wall. His breathing became shallow and slow, he felt like the room was too small and it was giving him a headache, (not the dangerous kind.) Everywhere he looked it seemed that the place was closing in on him.

He gets to his feet several moments later and takes a few deep breaths to calm his claustrophobia, telling himself that he's still okay and he can still move. The clock reads 9:58. Shit, Shit. He nearly rips his hair out, why does this have to happen now?

He opens the door and leaves, slowly heading down the hall toward the stairs and ignoring the few people in the common space that call after him curiously. Once outside, he finds the car that is always used to pick him up from school and gets in the back seat. He's confused to see that Satsuki isn't the one in the driver's seat, considering he's always been the one to take care of him, he doesn't want to ask the unfamiliar man, either.

During the long drive to their destination, the car is silent to him. He doesn't know if the man is trying to make conversation with him or rambling about who knows what, he's blocked it out, he folds his hands over and over in his lap as he stares out the window at the dark scenery washing by. His foot abuses the floorboard and his chest hasn't stopped pounding since he saw the text.

When the car finally does come to a stop, he doesn't register it, staring unblinking up to the building. The driver opens the door and says something Katsuki doesn't hear, breaking him out of the trance. He stands out on the gravel and keeps his eyes locked on the outer wall of the base, the barbed wire at the top, and the orange-toned lamps that only slightly illuminate the moths that circle them in the night.