Chapter Text
Katsuki picked up his pace. He couldn’t believe himself, how did he sleep until ten in the morning. His parents would most definitely be awake by now.
Usually, he would get home while they were still asleep and slip into his room. He swore at himself for falling asleep. He wasn’t thinking at the moment, it just happened. It was the first time he felt such peace in a while, not even his thoughts screaming at him.
He climbed the steps to the door, but halted when he reached it. What was waiting for him on the other side of this door? He remembered last night when he left, his father never completed what he planned to do. A chill crept through Katsuki, it seeped into his bones.
This was a feeling that Katsuki had grown accustomed to. A deep sorrow. A heavy darkness that grew by the day. It felt like his heart stopped, but his breath quickened.
He carefully turned the doorknob, and opened it with precision. He cringed when it creaked. He prayed his parents didn’t hear. He stepped foot inside and put his palm on the door to close it while pulling the handle towards him simultaneously, so as to not make a sound when it shut. A breath escaped that he didn’t even realize he was holding.
Now he just had to make it to his room. He was just about to turn around when cold, slim fingers wrapped around his neck. He stopped in his tracks, his breath hitched.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Mitsuki spoke. “Thought you could run out of here and come sneaking back in, huh?” Her words were quiet and calm. “Is this what we’re doing now? Sneaking around! This is my house. You don’t try to slip under my nose! Do you take me for a fool?”
“No” Katsuki's voice came out but a whisper.
“What was that?”
“No!” Katsuki choked out.
“Yeah that’s right, so why the fuck would you try? You keep on disappointing me Katsuki.” Her grip tightened on his neck and she led him upstairs.
“I haven’t had to do this since you were younger, but I guess since you’ve decided to be childish we’ll revisit it.”
No. Katsuki can’t go back there. He can’t. He thought these days were over. No.
“No”, he begged, “please no, mom. Please!” He cried out. “No!”
She pushed him into the closet.
“This is what you fucking deserve for acting like a brat.” She closed the door and locked it.
It was pitch black in the closet. It was tiny. He was sitting against the wall with his knees up. He couldn’t catch his breath. No fucking way this was happening.
He thought these days were behind him. He hasn’t been inside here since he was ten years old. He didn’t think it would happen again.
His closet always lurked in the corner of his room. It had a dark past looming over it. Katsuki paid it no mind. He didn’t store his clothes in it, didn’t ever open it. He pretended it didn’t exist.
He curled in on himself more. How long would his mother leave him here? When he was younger she would leave him here anywhere from hours to days, however long she wanted to live a child free life.
The closet felt smaller than it did. He felt like throwing up.
There was nothing he could do but wait. Once Katsuki’s quirk came in, his mother was quick to make renovations to the closet. She hired some shady man she had connections with, and his quirk allowed him to make any material appear as another material. He made the closet out of some type of metal, resistant to his explosions, but it appeared as normal drywall and wood. The lengths his mother would go through just to pretend Katsuki didn’t exist.
Tears started to fall. Katsuki just kept making mistakes, didn’t he? Otherwise his mother wouldn’t have to keep punishing him. He wouldn’t be in the closet again if he was just a good kid. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t be good.
It was just him, he guessed. He could never be good. He ruined everyone's life around him.
He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, praying this was all a dream.
—-
Mina was worrying. Katsuki hadn’t shown up to the restaurant since they went to the skatepark. It’s been almost three days. A pit grew in her stomach as she thought about every possible thing that could have happened to him.
Sure, Katsuki doesn’t show up every day, but this time something felt wrong. She couldn’t shake the horrible feeling.
She grabbed her coat and decided to go for a walk to clear her head.
“Bye ma! I’ll be back in a few!” She shouted as she exited through the door.
The chill evening air hit her and she inhaled a fresh breath. Maybe this would help ease her anxiety.
She walked through the city and decided to go walk in a place she hasn’t before. She didn’t know where she was going exactly, she was just wandering. As she walked further the houses started to change, they grew in size and detail. The cars became nicer and the yard sizes bigger. She must have entered a rich neighbourhood.
She began to turn around, when she saw one specific house. There was nothing special about it, but she had a weird feeling. This house felt like it was calling her, telling her to enter inside. The feeling was gnawing at her. She shook her head as she decided it would be best to leave and go home.
She made it a few houses down when a low silver car drove past. She turned her head to look at it as it drove past, and she saw a familiar head of blonde hair in the passenger seat. Katsuki! Does he live on this street? She felt so relieved to see him. She began running towards the house the car pulled in. “Katsuki!” She shouted out in excitement.
The smile on her face dropped as who turned around wasn’t Katsuki, but an almost identical woman, who was obviously older.
“Who are you?” The woman asked. “How do you know my Katsuki?” her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked like a mean woman. Mina usually wouldn’t judge based on appearances, but memories of their last conversation flooded her mind.
“I’m his classmate! We go to school together” Mina decided to lie. She didn’t know why she said that, but she had a feeling it was the right thing to do.
“Oh, nice to meet you.” She smiled, “I'm sorry, I'm guessing he caused some sort of trouble.”
Mina was confused, why would she assume that? Katsuki can be somewhat abrasive, sure, but he wasn’t a bad person. “No,” she laughed, “I just haven’t seen him in a little while, came to check up on him!” She was lying again. She didn’t know this was his house until a few seconds ago, but something urged her to keep talking to his mother.
“No need to check in, he’s inside and perfectly fine.” She smiled, but it was surface level. Her eyes didn’t change, and it was a bit scary if Mina admitted.
“Do you mind if I come in and say hello?” Mina asked. Miss Bakugou’s eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw, but she stopped quickly.
“No, I’m sorry,” Miss Bakugou stated, “I don’t think he’s up for seeing anyone right now.”
Mina knew something was going on. Images of the bruise on Katsuki’s face surfaced in her mind. She remembered all the times he had bruises, cuts, a limp, or any injury. She always had her suspicions, but it wasn’t until a few days ago when Katsuki told her that his parents hit him that they were confirmed. She felt a deep hatred for this woman. How could she do that to her own child?
“Please, I promise I won’t be more than a few seconds!” She asked again.
“No, Katsuki isn’t feeling very well right now. You will see him at school once the break is over.”
That didn’t add up. She just said he was perfectly fine, why only mention him not feeling well now? Mina was determined to find out what was going on, so she instigated.
“Well if he’s feeling bad I should definitely say hi.”
Miss Bakugou snapped.
“No! You may not come see him, end of story! He will see nobody.” She was fuming and stomped furiously to the door. “Damn, fucking brat keeps causing me more and more problems” She mumbled under her breath, probably thinking Mina wouldn’t hear. Mina did hear, and she was taken aback. “Don’t come back to my house.” She said to Mina, before opening the door. “I’ll have to leave that brat in there for longer,” she said in a hushed voice.
Katsuki’s mothers eyes were dark, empty of emotion.
The door slammed.
What should she do?
Her mind was racing. She couldn’t handle thinking about what could be happening to Katsuki inside that house. She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants, they were shaking slightly. C’mon, Mina, think.
This situation was most likely far worse than she could imagine. She reached for her pocket, only to find it empty. She pulled on her hair. Why was she so stupid to leave her phone at home?
She ran down the street towards the busier part of town, finding it hard to catch her breath. She ran faster than she ever has before. The look on Katsuki’s mother’s face kept replaying in her head.
She finally found the closest payphone, and she dialed 110, but it took a few tries as she missed the right number due to her shaky hands. The operator picked up right after the first ring. “Hello, this is the police. What is your emergency?”
“My friend, you have to send someone to his house.” She was breathing hard.
“What is the situation and address?” the operator asked.
“Something really bad is going to happen. His parents are bad people.” She wasn’t sure how to explain. “Please, just send somebody please!” she begged.
“We will sweetie, now could I please have that address?” her tone remained calm.
“Oh, uhm, I’m not sure of the address but it's on xxx street. It has a fancy silver car in the driveway. The house is beige with a brown door.” She spat out as quickly as she could. “I haven’t seen him in days, I think something really, really bad happened.”
“Thank you, that will be enough.” The operator's voice grew distant as she talked to somebody else. “Send whoever is in the area to xxx street, beige house with brown door. Silver car in the driveway. Possible CA17-72.”
Mina wasn’t sure what the last part meant, but she prayed someone would come save her friend.
—-
Shouta was on his afternoon patrol, nothing much happened other than an attempted robbery so far.
He was in a pretty rich area, so not much happened on his patrols when he was assigned here.
“Eraserhead. Eraserhead come in.” His comm turned on.
“Here.” He replied.
“Suspected CA17, police aren’t close enough. Go to xxx street.” Shouta was already on the move, not wasting a second. “Beige house, brown door. Entering permitted, child hasn’t been seen in a few days.”
“On my way.”
—-
Katsuki didn’t know how long he had been inside the closet. His hands were bleeding from banging on the closet door, trying to escape. It was impossible. The closet was a cage designed especially for him.
He was very grateful he didn’t eat or drink anything beforehand, he didn’t know how he could live with himself if he had to go to the washroom.
He heard footsteps in his room. Maybe his mother would let him out. The door opened and light shone through, blinding Katsuki's sensitive eyes. She grabbed his collar and yanked him out. He fell straight to his knees, unable to stand or support himself after being seated in one position for so long.
“You fucking useless boy!” She spat with venom. “I lock you up, but you still cause trouble? How is this even possible? I should just throw you to the streets!” She screamed. She grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head up, only to smash it down on the floor.
White flooded his vision and he felt like he was going to throw up. It hurt so bad. He placed his hands down to try and help himself up, but Mitsuki stomped on his back to shove him into the ground. She started kicking him, not holding back.
“I’m so done with you! All you do is make my life miserable.” She grabbed a lamp off of his desk. Her eyes were a void of darkness. She didn’t look human.
Katsuki never got too scared when his parents would lay hands on him, but this time fear struck down to his bones. He was horrified.
“Maybe, I should just kill you.” She raised her arm holding the lamp and made a move for Katsuki’s head.
Katsuki could move. He didn’t have the strength. Was this really happening? Is this how he would die? Helpless at the hands of his own parents.
He shut his eyes, praying she wouldn’t do it. He heard commotion, it sounded as if there were two people. It must’ve been Katsuki’s ears playing a trick on him. She was just getting ready to finish the final blow.
“Who the fuck are you!” Mitsuki spat out.
“Eraserhead, a pro hero.” A man spoke. “You’re under arrest for child abuse and attempted murder.” He spoke coolly, but harshly.
Katsuki opened one of his eyes, scared to open both as it might seem more real. His mother was pinned against the wall, her hands behind her back with Eraserhead clicking handcuffs closed around her wrists.
“You can’t do this!” She cried. “He’s a monster. A fucking monster! He deserves to die!”
“Shut your mouth.” Eraserhead said. “You have the right to remain silent.”
Katsuki backed into the corner slowly and curled in on himself. His eyes were wide and his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest.
Police sirens grew louder, and soon enough they were marching through the house.
Everything felt fuzzy. He could hear muffled footsteps and voices, but he didn’t know what was going on.
He squeezed his eyes shut and laid his head down on his knees.
Katsuki didn’t know how much time had passed, but he stayed like that.
“Katsuki?”
He ignored the voice.
“Katsuki?” It asked again.
He lifted his head and squinted his eyes as he opened them.
It was Aizawa. The same man who saved him a little bit ago. When was that? He couldn’t remember. He didn’t even know what day it was.
Eraserheads eyes were filled with sorrow, they looked heavy. “Hey, kid.”
Katsuki didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go back home.” He said quietly. Katsuki didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything at all.
“You’re injured, let’s get you to the hospital.”
Katsuki’s blood ran cold. Not a hospital. Tears started to fall, he couldn’t control it. He wiped furiously at them, but it didn’t help. He shook his head. He can’t go to a hospital.
“Is it because of your mother? Is she why you can’t go to a hospital?” Aizawa asked. Katsuki didn’t know how he knew that. His brain was all mixed up. He nodded, not knowing what else to do.
“Well you don’t have to worry about her, or your father, ever again. They were arrested and will be put in jail. You don’t have to be scared anymore.”
Katsuki froze. Is this just a dream? He didn’t know how to react. He should be happy? Or should he be mad? He didn’t know. He guessed he should probably go to the hospital. He would be fine to not go and stay home. Would this even be his home anymore? He couldn’t process any of this.
He’d never see his parents again. Is he an orphan now? No, probably not, his parents are still alive. Where will he go? The foster care system, or the streets?
Katsuki was just so, so tired. He was starving, but the thought of eating grossed him out.
He hurt everywhere. His head was thumping and his ankle screamed if he even thought of moving it.
“Are you okay to walk?” Aizawa asked. Katsuki didn’t respond, but instead attempted to stand up. His vision clouded with black, and his leg gave out on him. Aizawa steadied him and gave him enough support to stand. “I’m going to pick you up, okay?” He waited for Katsuki to acknowledge him. Katsuki nodded, barely enough to see, but Aizawa saw, and that was enough.
He gently scooped his arm underneath Katsuki’s knees and lifted him like a baby. He didn’t look fazed, like Katsuki was as light as a feather.
“You’re safe now.”
Aizawa began walking through the house to the front door. Katsuki’s eyes were drooping. For once he didn’t feel scared. He was scared of the future, but he was too tired to think about that. He let his eyes close.
Katsuki fell asleep, but his face was still scrunched up. Even in his sleep he didn’t look peaceful.
Aizawa was so angry. He was angry at himself, he was angry at the boy's parents, angry at the world for letting this happen. He exited the door, and there were two police cars left, as well as one ambulance. There were four police cars, but one drove away Miss Bakugou, and one drove Mister Bakugou, who arrived home, in perfect timing to be arrested by the police.
Aizawa doesn’t know what would have happened if he arrived one second later. Katsuki’s mother would have killed him. He doesn’t want to think about that.
“Eraserhead, is the boy badly injured?” A police officer asked.
“He is injured, but not too badly I hope.” He replied and laid Katsuki on the bed in the ambulance.
“Will you ride with us to the hospital?” A paramedic asked.
He nodded.
—-
Katsuki looked so small on the hospital bed. He was bandaged up, and hooked to an IV. The doctor said he hadn’t eaten for days, and had barely slept. Aizawa’s heart hurt. This little boy who didn’t do anything was hurt so badly by the people who were supposed to protect him. He wanted to march straight into the police station and strangle them. Images of the closet that was in the room came up in his mind. He saw the scratch marks, the blood stains, and the lock. What did this kid go through?
The nurse told him he had nobody on his emergency list other than his parents. Aizawa decided he would stay with the kid. He would watch over him and make sure he was okay.
Part of him wanted to bring this kid home with him, show him what parents were supposed to be like. Teach him love, give him the life he hasn’t had. He didn’t want to send Katsuki into the system.
His other son, Hitoshi, had horrible experiences in the system. He didn’t want to seal Katsuki’s fate. He couldn’t.
His phone began to ring. He huffed before answering.
“Shouta?” Hizashi asked.
Aizawa broke down.