Leave a Light On - Chapter Three

In the initial impact, when the first building had fallen, thirty-five people had died instantly. The gang of villains had struck the most occupied part of the city, in the middle of a work day, and had started their reign of chaos by destroying one of the most populated buildings. Twenty-six occupants died in the fall, struck by collapsing ceilings or flying furniture. Nine more had been crushed in the street when the building landed.

Deku had tried to help them, they'd all seen it in the footage. He'd scrambled through the wreckage, digging out screaming civilians and unconscious bodies. While he struggled to help, the villains had continued down the street, and Deku had been too late to stop them. While he tried to help the first casualties, countless more had arisen.

Katsuki didn't know what he'd have done differently. Would he have done anything differently?

He contemplated it as he watched the new construction going up, perched on the edge of a rooftop to eat his cheap sandwich for lunch. There were still cracks in the concrete where buildings fell, still countless roads that needed repaving.

Would he have ignored the cries for help and gone after the villains? Maybe. If he asked any of his friends, that would be the outcome they expected of him. But with people screaming in the background?

He shuddered at the thought, looking away, and instead contemplated the busy streets off to his other side, where people crossed paths and wove through crowds to get their lunch and return to their jobs, to hope and pray that the next incident wouldn't be them.

If Deku had been good for one thing, it was inspiration. When he was in charge, no one feared what might happen. They all knew he would be there if anything occurred.

Katsuki had never been able to instill that same faith.

When his shift finally ended and he headed home for the night, he found news alerts waiting for him on his laptop. Bright red numbers demanding his attention, flooding him with reports about a villain found dead.

He knew that face.

He'd seen that face on the news before, leering through his mask as he...

As he fought with Deku.

Thirty-five people died in the first impact. Thirty-five days later, the first body showed up.

Katsuki had a sick feeling he knew where this was going.

─

After the incident was over, when everyone had been taken to morgues and hospitals, one person had been left behind. While everyone else found their way into hospital beds to be taken care of, one man had lain trapped, his windpipe crushed by the blow, unable to call for help.

He was forty-seven years old, with a wife and two children at home.

Forty-seven days later, the second body showed up.

This time Katsuki found out at work, when the entire staff was called together for an announcement. In that room, with a hundred other heroes, Katsuki saw the image of the mutilated body and he froze. He knew that face, and he knew those wounds. Those were wounds that came from anger, from a violent beating with the assistance of a borrowed Quirk.

He looked through the crowd but no one betrayed a hint of understanding, or even suspicion.

“We have reason to believe this person is acting as some kind of vigilante. At this time we have no evidence to prove that he will not attack heroes also. Based on the wounds, it is speculated that he wants to test his strength by fighting the people he deems most worthy.”

Katsuki almost argued with them, but caught himself, staring at the lifeless eyes in the photograph.

If Izuku was found, he would be incarcerated in a heartbeat. They would deem him mentally unstable, traumatised, a danger to himself and others. Not all of it was untrue, of course, but Katsuki would die before he'd let Izuku be locked up for killing the villains who ruined his life.

If Izuku wanted to play vigilante, then fuck it, Katsuki wouldn't stop him.

That night he slept on the couch, hoping and praying he might wake up to the timid knock at his door under the dim porch light.

─

It had taken sixty heroes to clean up the mess, to get everybody out of the rubble. They'd captured three villains and delivered them to police, but still three more had gotten away. Sixty heroes treating over a thousand injuries. Sixty heroes unable to prevent the deaths.

Sixty days later, the bad news broke.

“It has come to our attention that a group of villains has escaped from their cells. They are currently at large and you should all be vigilant until they are captured again. We expect them to lay low for now, but they may surprise us.”

Katsuki snorted quietly to himself, thinking about the irony of the words 'be vigilant' when they had spent the last month terrified of the 'vigilante'.

“He's more powerful than anyone we've had to deal with,” they had explained, to Katsuki's conflicted mix of delight and offense. “If he sets his sights on one of you in this room, you will be in significant trouble.”

Patrol security was being raised, Katsuki gathered. More people assigned to more areas, everyone working longer hours to catch the villains. Katsuki almost suggested leaving it to the vigilante, but he couldn't quite bring himself to start that whole conversation.

Sixty heroes: that was what it had taken to treat the injured. Sixty days was what it took for the villains to escape again.

Sixty-one buildings had been destroyed in total.

Katsuki slept on the couch again.

─

Sure enough, a body showed up. If Katsuki had still harboured any doubt about what was going on, it was gone when he saw that headline.

[Vigilante Strikes Again!]

People were calming down a little, with the attacks spread so many days apart, and still no heroes under fire. Some of the general public had warmed to their mysterious villain-killer, but still the hero agencies were wary.

“Just because he hasn't yet doesn't mean he won't get bored and go for heroes!”

He wouldn't. Never.

Katsuki stopped at the convenience store on his way back from patrol, grabbing a can of hot coffee to drink during his drive home. It was long since dark out, the nights growing longer as winter set in, and Katsuki was relieved to get home for his brief reprieve before the next morning of work would start. Honestly, he wasn't sure how Deku had done it for so long. The hours were grueling, and coupled with his struggles to sleep over the past forty days, he wasn't in great shape.

His phone lit up as he was parking his car, a thousand pings of messages coming through, and he stopped in the middle of the driveway to read them.

[Escaped villains found dead]

[Vigilante hard at work]

[Pro-Hero found among villain casualties.]

The last one made him halt, breathing hard as he tapped on it in a hurry, his breath fogging his phone screen as he scanned the article.

No way. It couldn't be true.

─

Sixty-three children had been amongst the casualties of the incident. They were the deaths Izuku took the hardest, Katsuki knew. Sixty-three lives that had barely begun. Sixty-three innocent young people, full of energy like the pair of them were, back when they first met. Kids still learning to use their Quirks and figuring out who they were.

Katsuki didn't bother trying to sleep.

The headlines came through as usual – the last of the villains involved was now taken care of, but along with his body there were three more pro-heroes, and the world was on high alert. Katsuki just kept staring at his screen, watching more and more news outlets weighing in on the matter.

He blinked hard. He could have sworn he saw a shadow cross the far wall, but he was sure he hadn't moved. Maybe he needed to sleep after all. Unless...

He leapt from the couch, almost kicking the coffee table over in his haste, and slammed open the front door. He saw the figure walking away, and he knew. He knew that shadow, that frame decked in black clothing. He knew.

“Izuku!” he yelled, running out the door without bothering to get his shoes or his jacket. “Izuku, please! Don't leave!”

At the end of the road, the body froze, and Katsuki kept running. He leapt at the familiar young man, throwing him over a shoulder to haul him back toward the warmth of his living room, and the moment he closed the door he realised he was still yelling obscenities, his eyes watering with unfallen tears.

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” he demanded. “You're gonna get yourself killed!”

“You always said I would make a shitty hero.”

“What the hell are you talking about?! You're an amazing hero! You're the best hero! Why the fuck are you doing this?!”

“I'm tired of it. I won't do it.”

“What won't you do?! Return a damn phone call to someone who thinks you've killed yourself? Talk to your best friends about the shit you're clearly going through?!”

“I won't be a hero.”

“The fuck, Deku?!”

“How come villains can kill thousands of people, and all we're allowed to do is stick them in a cell? I'm sick of people saying that we're no better than the villains if we give them what they deserve.”

“And what about the heroes?! Were they just collateral damage?!”

“How do you think the villains got out of jail?” Izuku asked flatly. “They were no heroes.”

“So this is what you do, now? You take this Quirk that was supposed to make you the symbol of hope and you use it to play God?!”

“I'm creating peace. I'm ridding the world of the evil, heartless, disgusting human beings who would attack innocent people for no reason. Maybe less villains will arise if they know there are consequences to their actions.”

“And this is what you want? This is what you want to do for the rest of your life?”

Izuku paused, a 'yes' halting on his lips, and Katsuki took the freckled face in his hands firmly, leaning in until their foreheads almost touched.

“I get it, Izuku,” he said softly. “I understand, I really do.”

“Then you're not going to turn me in?”

“I would never. You've just lost your way, Izuku. We both know it.”

“I'm not-”

“I get it. You went through hell, and you lost your way, but I promise, I will help you find it if you'll just let me.”

Katsuki pressed his lips to Izuku's firmly, surprised by how warm and soft they were despite the trembling.

“If this is what you choose, I will support you to the ends of the Earth. But you've done what you needed to do, and I really, really hope that you'll stop here, before it gets out of hand.”

Tears trailed down Izuku’s cheeks, his lips wobbly, but Katsuki only smiled softly.

“Stay here with me, and I'll take care of you. I'll help you. I promise.”

“With you?”

“With me.”

Katsuki closed his eyes, pretending not to notice the sobs and tears, pressing their foreheads together lightly and savouring the warmth that spread between them.

“My light will always be on for you, Izuku. You're never alone.”

“I love you. I've always loved you.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki smiled faintly. “Me too.”

“I need help, Kacchan.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said again, nodding. “I know. We'll get you help.”

“And you'll stay? No matter what?”

“For the rest of my life.”