《Mending the Battle Wounds (TodoBakuDeku)》Chapter 26
Advertisement
"Is this where we place bets to see how long it takes them to check the kitchen?" Shoto asked, taking a seat on the counter next to Izuku as Katsuki got to work on cooking.
"Seems kind of pointless." Katsuki said offhandedly.
"Why?" Izuku asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Because they just saw us." Katsuki said, pointing to the living room where Toga was now angrily stomping her way over to them, Dabi in toe and dragging Shigaraki with him.
Twice seemed to have given up, really not caring who Izuku was dating and settled for taking a seat on the couch and having a erratic conversation with Kaminari. The yellow haired boy seemed overly happy about having someone to talk to that could be just as excitable as him and Kirishima was just watching it all with an amused smile on his face.
"Izuku! What the hell?" Toga said angrily as she finally reached the kitchen.
"Yes, we're all going there for a variety of reasons. We've talked about this before Himi." Izuku said, deflecting like he usually did with his sister when it came to arguments like this.
"Not funny." She said, crossing her arms.
"I thought it was quite humorous Izu." Shoto said, resting his chin on the shorter boy's shoulder.
"See? And he doesn't find anything funny." Izuku said with a proud smile.
Katsuki stayed focused on cooking, seeming to not be caring about the conversation. He was actually listening intently, making sure none of the villains tried anything. "That's wrong and you know it. And it wasn't funny, he's just obligated to say that now because you two had a fight." The blond stated like he was giving a report of some sort.
Izuku turned to his duel haired boyfriend. "Is- is that true Shoto?" He asked, faking sniffling for dramatic effect.
"First off, it's not true. I thought it was quite funny. Second, I do believe you're the one making him apology katsudon right now." Shoto pointed out.
"Jeez, you already have 'em whipped, huh?" Shigaraki asked, taking a seat on one of the stools that were placed around the counter.
Unlike his boyfriend and adoptive sister, he didn't see a problem with the relationship. They'd already beaten the crap out of Katsuki, which he took, and Izuku had forgiven him, so he had nothing else to say on the matter. He was just trying to appease his own boyfriend.
"I'm not whipped. Shoto? Yeah, but not me." Katsuki said with a grumble.
"Apology cuddles and katsudon because you joked about him being controlling and he pouted." Shoto reminded. "And hey, look at that, you do know my name." He added as an extra tease.
Katsuki just rolled his eyes with a faint smile he tried to hide.
"I don't like it." Toga mumbled, taking a seat next to Shigaraki. She wanted to observe them to see how they interacted. She might be able to be swayed. Might.
"He's not thirty." Dabi said while crossing his arms and sitting on the other side of Shigaraki.
Shigaraki nudged him with his shoulder. "Neither are we." He pointed out.
"But we're different." Dabi said simply.
"How? You were brothers before you dated and Shoto and I are both your brothers, so you know I'm seeing a lot of parallels." Izuku chimed in. Shoto and him were sitting on the counter while his siblings were at the island, so they were all facing each other while Katsuki cooked.
Advertisement
Dabi and Shigaraki both gagged. "Please, never call us brothers ever again." Shigaraki groaned. They had never really been brothers, obviously, and had never seen each other as such. They just shared siblings, which was kind of weird when they thought about it to hard, so they tended to stay away from the topic.
Izuku nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that was a bit far. Sorry." He said sheepishly.
"Jesus, did he seriously fall asleep?" Katsuki asked, looking at Shoto. He still had his Izuku's shoulder, but his eyes were now closed.
Izuku giggled at the question. "No, he just doesn't want to deal with anyone." He responded.
Katsuki eyed the green haired boy suspiciously. "How'd you know?"
Izuku lifted up his and Shoto's intertwined hands. "When you asked, he squeezed my hand. I just inferred the rest."
"Just because I'm not asleep yet doesn't mean I'm not trying." Shoto spoke up.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'll shut up now." Izuku said with a playful eye roll that Shoto couldn't see.
"Thanks." The duel haired teen responded.
"Ah yes, a healthy relationship if I've ever seen one." Toga said sarcastically from the island.
Izuku shot her a glare. "Dabi and Tomura tell each other to shut up on a daily basis."
"We're different." Dabi said again.
Shigaraki placed his palm over Dabi's mouth, being careful to keep his fingers off. "Stop saying that."
"It's the truth." Dabi's muffled response sounded.
Shigaraki moved his hand, but sent a glare at him and Toga. "Just let him be happy. He's had a shit life for, well most of it. Just let him be happy."
Neither of them could say anything in disagreement without sounding like complete dicks, so they stayed quiet. They were glaring at the island, but they weren't arguing anymore.
"Thank you Tomu, you're my new favorite sibling." Izuku said with a bright smile.
Shigaraki sent him a look. "Imply that I wasn't before?"
Izuku just shrugged in response. "It seems to change daily lately."
"What have I done?" Twice called from the living room.
"Absolutely nothing! You're definitely my all time favorite." Izuku called back.
"Fuck you guys, I'm all time favorite!" "I don't want that title!"
Katsuki turned around and leaned back on the empty counter space behind him. He just had to let the food settle for a few minutes and then it was good to go. "Why does he always where the mask? Even now?" He asked, purely out of curiosity.
"Got a problem with it dandelion?" Toga shot back. She seemed to be looking for any reason to hate the blond even more.
Izuku sent her a heated glare. "He's just asking and it's a perfectly reasonable question." He hissed at her. He calmed down as he turned back to Katsuki. "He made a lot of clones of himself, like a lot. He eventually couldn't tell which was the real him and which were clones, it kind of messed with him. It's why he's always saying contradicting stuff. He wears the mask because without it, he feels like he's forcefully splitting himself apart, like the mask is the only thing holding him together." He explained somberly.
"Damn..." Katsuki said, trying to imagine what that'd feel like.
"Spill all our back stories why don't ya." Toga said quietly.
"Shoto already knows everyone's." Izuku said nonchalantly.
"Of course he does." Dabi said, letting his head hit the counter top in front of him.
Advertisement
"I was really mad and he was trying to calm me down and then I just snapped and started rambling. I didn't mean to, honest. Sorry guys." Izuku admitted, absently reaching his hand behind Shoto and then up to his hair, letting his fingers comb through it.
The 'sleeping' boy softly smiled at the action.
"We're getting you a shock collar, you know the ones that zap the dog every time it barks. I bet we could tweak it for every time you start rambling." Dabi said, resting his chin on his arms as he glared at Izuku.
"Like hell you are." Katsuki said, grabbing bowls out of the cupboard.
Dabi turned his attention to the blond. "Excuse me?"
"Like hell you're putting a shock collar on him. Sure the rambling and mumbling are annoying, but you're overreacting. Besides, Shoto's actually your brother." He said, getting Izuku and Shoto bowls of katsudon.
"Since when do you care?" Dabi shot back.
"Did you really just ask that?" Katsuki asked, stopping in the middle of handing Izuku a bowl. The green haired boy frowned when the bowl stopped just out of his reach. He couldn't even move further to grab it because of Shoto.
Dabi sat up with a shrug. "I'm just saying, it's super fucking weird that you care about him all of a sudden."
Katsuki caught Izuku's frown and moved his arm a little more so the other boy could grab the bowl. His face softened as Izuku's lit up.
"Whatever, I don't have to keep explaining myself to you." He said, turning back to get Shoto's bowl.
Dabi scoffed. "As the older brother and closest thing to a dad he has, yeah you kind of do."
Katsuki froze his movements. He placed the still empty bowl on the counter as he turned to face the older boy. Izuku watched them both carefully as he ate, ready to spring up if anything got physical, but at the same time he was a little happy. Katsuki had finally accepted that Izuku wasn't upset with him and was willing to stand up to the ridicule his siblings were putting him through.
"Yeah, you're right. You are the big brother, of both of them. So do you just pick and choose when you want to act like it?" Katsuki growled at him.
Shoto's eyes opened, as he shifted to look at Katsuki, but kept his head on Izuku's shoulder. "Katsuki," He said in a warning tone.
"No Shoto. He's so adamant about dragging me through hell and back for my past mistakes, so why shouldn't he get the same treatment?" Katsuki asked with a quirked up brow in Dabi's direction.
The stitched teen's jaw clenched. What really pissed him off the most was that he couldn't actually argue with him. If he was gonna berate Katsuki for bully Izuku, he should get the same for abandoning his family.
"Look at him, he's not even fighting it. He knowns I'm right." Katsuki pointed out.
"Seriously, just drop it." Shoto insisted.
"Remember when I told you that you should let him know how much you hate him for what he did? Well now's the time. It's gotta get worse before it gets better." Katsuki said, turning to finish what he was doing before Dabi decided to be a hypocrite.
"Awe you guys have talked about your trauma before? And I wasn't there? And you're both still alive? I'm so proud." Izuku said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
"You're a sarcastic little shit, ya know that?" Shigaraki said, pointing at him.
"I'm well aware of that Tomu, have you just noticed?"
"No, I picked up on it recently." He joked.
"Here." Katsuki said, handing Shoto a bowl, which the half and half teen gently took.
"Thanks." He mumbled, staring down at it intently.
Katsuki quickly grabbed a bowl for himself and then took a seat on the counter next to Shoto. "There's a lot, so go crazy." He said to the other people in the kitchen.
"Hey idiots!" He called into the living room. Immediately Kaminari and Kirishima turned their attention to him. "Food."
"Oh shit, sweet!" Kaminari said excitedly as he ran to the kitchen. Kirishima followed after him, just as excited.
"Thanks Bakubro." The red head said with a bright smile.
"Didn't make it for you, just had extras." Katsuki grumbled.
Everyone knew he didn't accidently have that much extra when he only intended to make enough for the three of them. He just wouldn't admit that he had thought of the rest of the class while cooking.
"You're sweet, you know that?" Izuku said to him softly. It was hard to see him because Shoto was in between them, so he settled for his looking at his food.
"Whatever nerd." He huffed.
Shigaraki got up from his stool and went over to the stove. "You two can pout like children all you want, but I haven't had homemade katsudon since Izuku's last birthday."
Dabi rolled his eyes, but followed his boyfriend.
"Seriously, none of you have a backbone." Toga complained while she to, got a bowl of food.
"Guys, it's better than Mamagiri's." Izuku said while eating.
"No fucking way." Dabi said while shaking his head.
"Just try it and then try to lie to my face again." Izuku said.
"Holy shit, it's better than Mamagiri's." Shigaraki gasped, having already gotten his food and taken a seat again.
"Who the hell is Mamagiri?" Katsuki asked with his eyebrows scrunched up.
Izuku swallowed what he still had in his mouth before answering. "The one with the warp gate quirk. He kind of raised us and we adopted the name of Mamagiri." He explained.
Katsuki scowled. "I hate that guy." He said quietly while thinking back to his kidnaping.
Izuku gave him a soft look. "He's really not that bad, he was just... he was following orders." He said, knowing that it wouldn't make up for what he had to go through, but that's all any of them ever did. They followed orders.
At the mention of orders, Shigaraki and Dabi shared a look. Shigaraki definitely seemed more panicked, but Dabi was still worried. Izuku shot them a questioning gaze, but he was ignored.
"Okay, so your relationship is cute, yada yada yada, but we really need to talk to Izuku." Shigaraki said abruptly while standing up.
"Tomu," Dabi said lowly.
"Nope, it's happening. C'mon you two." He said, pointing at Izuku and Toga in turn.
Toga was ready to go in seconds. She knew that tone. Shigaraki and Dabi had orders. Izuku recognized it to, but he wasn't so excited. Besides, he was confused as to what the hell they could possibly be doing.
He gently set his bowl down and hopped off the counter. Looking back at his bewildered boyfriends, he placed a small kiss on each of their cheeks. "I'll be back, promise." He said, but something in his voice gave away that he wasn't so sure.
"Huh? Nerd, what the hell do you mean?" Katsuki asked, getting ready to follow after them.
Izuku lightly laughed, trying to play off his nerves. "I'm just saying that they aren't gonna lock me in my room again, so don't worry." He said.
Katsuki suspiciously nodded, but decided to trust him.
"Just be quick or your food will get cold." Shoto said, still eating his own.
Izuku sent them a nod and then followed his siblings as they all gathered on the elevator. When he tried to ask them what it was about then, he was shushed by his blue haired sibling. The dye Izuku had used washed out fairly easily, leaving him with his natural blue hue.
Once they were all back in Toga's dorm, her and Izuku took a seat on her bed and waited for the two older boys to talk. Twice was still downstairs with Kaminari, chatting away, so they both assumed he already knew what was going on.
"What's going on?" Izuku asked them hesitantly.
"We got orders from Kurogiri." Dabi said, leaning back on Toga's wall.
He had used Kurogiri's actual name. He was serious.
"About? We're kind going to hero school now." Izuku said, crossing his arms. He honestly just... he wasn't sure he wanted to be a villain anymore.
"That's the thing. He's breaking us out."
Advertisement
- In Serial55 Chapters
Phoenix Academy: Extracerebral Educations and Emotional Melodies
A terrorist organization is kidnapping psychics across Arizona, and 15 year-old Natasha “Taz” Cooper is offered a safe haven at the largest school for psionic education in the world: Phoenix-Paiute Academy. Eager to refine her powers, Taz’s teachers – and other, more malignant forces – come to realize that she has a natural aptitude they are keen to take advantage of. Meanwhile, her mother, Anna Cooper, searches for the truth about the terrorists threatening her daughter’s life and, in the process, is forced to confront the demons of her past.
8 100 - In Serial14 Chapters
The Immortal Cultivator Is An Otaku
The age of cultivation has finally descended unto the world. It was a bloody era, brutal for everyone; one to revere for the weak, one to oppress for the strong.In this new era, the forsaken scrap for food while the talentless put their hopes in the next generation.In this new era, the dauntless awaken through countless tortures while the gifted ascend through sheer enlightenment.In this new era, the rich eat medicinal pills like candy and repress those who possess solid foundations...Bloodlines, classes, skills, perks, and mana pool:Those were the five determinants for assessing the potential of young cultivators.Hibari, who was born in a prominent clan of exorcists, didn't show attunement for any of those.For seven years, he who was recognized as "trash" by his contemporaries, has lived the path of a recluse, spending his days watching anime or playing video games.Like any hot-blooded kid, the young man had dreamed of a golden finger.But a prayer he made on his fifteenth birthday would compromise the majesty of the heavens for eternity.The second: "I must have heard you wrong."Heaven's Dao:"The first Immortal Emperor was an Otaku..."The third: "..."The fourth: "..."
8 272 - In Serial13 Chapters
The Beta Test
Our nameless narrator participates in a beta test for an early VRMMO game Meridian 60. That's not the real name but it captures the spirit of the adventure given the chronological and contextual era of the game. His character is unique and special but purely for mundane reasons and not because of any inherent or social significance. The first chapter which is mandatory to submit a story on RR serves as a bit of a prologue with some exposition, although I limited that to a reasonble level. I plan to begin releasing additional chapters starting Thursday, to align with the 48 hour submission approval process and also because I have something to do Wednesday. I haven't written anything but the summary and first chapter, nor have I plotted anything out. This is because my plan is to release roughly 34000 words a day, 10 chapters of ~12.5 pages each, for 3 days at which point the story will be complete. I'd have liked to plan for more but handling the interface tables and so forth needed for a data heavy litrpg slows down the writing process. 100k words is a bit short, a standard pre epic fantasy 300 page spec fic novel, but this is mostly a writing exercise and I am considering a longer project if I can maintain the pace. Probably do a different concept, maybe a dungeon core, over 5 days, since a 500 page novel is more common these days. Slight subversion of VRMMO stories Stat heavy/crunchy No paying your bills by gaming No out of game conspiracies No angst, interpersonal drama, or damsels/dudes in distress Schedule is 30000 words a day excepting the first chapter, a limitation of RRs fiction submission system Fantasy, high magic, male lead, no party, guild, or harem No gore, some profanity, no sexual content, and no current plans for anything traumatic
8 92 - In Serial11 Chapters
The Inheritance
Condemned as a black mark against a noble family's name, hidden and suppressed all her life, Sera was thrilled when the Messengers of the Nine Heavens announced that the end of the world was nye. This was her chance. Her chance to do as she pleased. To travel where she desired. To test her limits and reach beyond. To live. This new world is so much larger than she imagines. Filled with a maze of opportunities and obstacles. She will not yield. She will not bow. She will seek the power she needs and protect those she cares for. The Inheritance she is fated for but an after-thought in her journey. Nobody will decide her fate but she. After all, stars do not simply twinkle prettily in the night sky. They Burn.
8 148 - In Serial50 Chapters
Dungeon Crawler Katia
The aliens killed everyone on Earth...almost. Every structure, from the Taj Mahal to the lowliest lobster trap, vanished into the earth, killing everyone inside. The survivors were given a choice: Endure on the surface without food or shelter or tools, or descend into a world-spanning nightmare dungeon that is also a reality TV show. Katia, an art professor from Iceland who has given up her humanity to transform into a shapeshifting doppelganger, meets up with Carl and his cat, Donut. Together, the three fight to survive in a dungeon filled with Clarketech goblin murderdozers and pyramid-scheme fairy moonshine-makers. The above is, of course, describing Dungeon Crawler Carl. With DoctorHepa's (the author) permission I'm posting some fanfic to expand on Katia, one of the secondary characters who started off not getting as much exploration as I would have preferred. I started off writing chapters that matched up to canon except from her POV instead of Carl's; that lasted a couple of chapters before going off the rails and spinning off into a completely new story, which suggests I should really go back and renumber all the chapters as soon as I find some tuits.
8 123 - In Serial29 Chapters
Is This Love? ||Byler|| (Finished!)
Will Byers falls inlove with his bestfriend Mike Wheeler. The only problem is Mike is straight and has a girlfriend. Will has to hide his true self from the world out of fear of anyone finding out the truth. Things go downhill fast
8 169