FIC - “Kill the Ghost” Chapter 5

To his horror, he felt heat rise in his neck. She definitely didn’t mean it that way. Izuku was plain. Unremarkable. Katsuki never would’ve

A/N: At this point, I might as well just switch updates to Saturdays 🙃

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CHAPTER FIVE

"Can you tell me what a sieve is?" Izuku had an idea, but no one had quite made it clear.

Sero rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed at the realization no one had actually explained it to him. "They're magi who can siphon another magus's powers. As the power passes through them, sieves can read exactly what that magus's abilities are, and make an accurate estimation of the strength."

"That's so cool," Izuku mumbled, more so to himself than the others. He hadn't expected it to be so literal, but it did sound pretty useful. It might be worth his uncle's wrath to know exactly what he could do. And what did Sero mean by 'siphon' exactly? Did the sieve actually take his power temporarily? Could it be stolen? Permanently even? Not that he wanted that, but how easy would it be for someone to just pretend they were a sieve so that—

"Yeah, he does that," came Shouto's monotone, interrupting his stream of thoughts.

Izuku snapped back to attention, taking in the way Sero had one eyebrow raised, head cocked at him. "Uh… sorry. A-anyway, how is Eri doing? I did tell her I'd come back, so since I'm here…"

With only an amused half-smile, Sero said, "I'm not sure. Iida gave her a room, but he didn't say where. She's probably in one of the other dormitories. He's out of town with the Madam, but I'll ask around and let you know. If you need anything, there's an intercom on the wall beside the headboard. Press the white button to reach the foyer. If you ask for me, they'll connect you."

Once he'd left, Izuku turned to Shouto who was surveying their temporary accommodations. He looked at ease, but Izuku could read him well enough to know it was a front. His lazy perusal hid a sharp eye, taking everything in.

They'd been given a suite, with a sitting area separated from the bedroom by a sliding door. The rooms were more a western design than the rigidly Japanese style of the restaurant aboveground.

"Nice," he said, looking up at a pattern of bamboo leaves painted against a coffered ceiling. "I should call home."

Sasaki wouldn't be back yet, but he'd leave a message with Tanaka. It was the better alternative—he couldn't disobey his uncle if his uncle wasn't there to tell him to come home.

Once that was done, Izuku glanced at Shouto where he'd flopped onto the huge four-poster bed. "Maybe you should go home. It'll probably be dangerous."

"All the more reason for me to stay," Shouto said, not looking away from the ceiling.

Izuku genuinely appreciated his best friend, but he sometimes worried about what, exactly, he was to Shouto. His best friend in return, definitely, but he didn't also want to be someone Shouto felt like he needed to protect or someone who couldn't fight his own battles. Sure, Shouto was the blackbelt between them, but it wasn't always about physical strength. Izuku was strong enough to handle this, whatever 'this' might be.

"Shouto, you saw what that magus could do," he continued, perched at the edge of the bed.. "It was dumb luck that we got away. There's no point dragging you into this."

When Shouto spoke, his voice was tight. "Because I'm not a magus?"

Izuku frowned. The thought had occurred to him, but not for the reason Shouto's tone of voice seemed to be suggesting. "That's not it."

"I can tell when you're lying, Izuku."

"Shouto–"

"I'm going to look around." Shouto slid off the bed and marched resolutely for the door.

Izuku watched him go, biting back the urge to explain. Shouto's anger wasn't directed at him.

Alone with his thoughts, Izuku spread out in the spot Shouto had just vacated, wishing there was a way to just… go back to when things weren't so complicated…

Izuku opened his eyes, confused by the fuzziness of his thoughts. Blinking blearily, he turned his head to look at his phone, which was still clutched loosely in his right hand. The time indicated an hour had passed since Shouto had left. He must have fallen asleep.

Seeing as Shouto had yet to return, and Sero hadn't come back either, Izuku set out to find Eri on his own. He was in an underground facility… base… type thing. How hard could it be?

He retraced their steps through the Crossroads until he found his way back to the stairwell. A low rumbling vibration climbed up through the walls, the metal railing shuddering beneath his palm and rattling in their supports. A train? He had no idea how deep underground they were.

Several flights down, the stairs ended on a platform before a metal door with no visible handle. Izuku pushed against it, but it didn't budge. Off limits then.

He turned to head back up the stairwell when the seams of the door lit blue and opened with a hiss. He half expected smoke to spill out the doors to reveal an ominous figure in an astronaut suit and was mildly disappointed when it didn't happen.

Instead, the woman from the foyer—the one with the feline familiar—stepped out and startled at the sight of him. Blinking rapidly, she looked up the stairs and then behind herself, hands smoothing down the front of her skirt.

"Um… hi?" Izuku started.

"Do you have security clearance?" she asked abruptly, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I was just looking around," he said. "I don't suppose you've seen a blonde kid? She's—"

The woman brushed past him. "Try the recreation wing. Third level, three floors up."

"Thanks," he said, but she was already out of sight, her footsteps echoing up the stairwell.

So that was odd, right?

Mulling over the encounter, Izuku followed her directions and arrived at a sitting room. Two corridors branched in opposite directions.

At length, he came to a pair of frosted glass doors. Pushing through, he found himself in a library. His feet sank into thick carpeting in a mosaic pattern that echoed the pattern on the ceiling. Rows of bookshelves ran parallel to the door, too high for him to peer over, and stacked end to end with thick tomes. He walked along the wall, slanting his head to scan the spines, but most of the titles were written in languages he could neither read nor discern.

He turned a corner and, curled into an armchair between the wall and a bookshelf, a girl looked up.

"Oh, excuse me," Izuku said, surprised. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

She had a warm smile, with round cheeks and brown hair that curled beneath her chin. She closed the book in her lap, the page she'd been reading marked with her thumb.

"You must be Izuku," she said.

Izuku’s brows rose. “You know who I am?”

“Word gets around when you drop Sero on his face,” she said with a stifled laugh. “Not many can do that.”

His shoulders climbed up around his ears. “O-oh,” he said, mortified. “That was an accident.”

“Yeah,” she said, like that made it even funnier. “Bakugou gave him so much shit for it.”

“Really?” Izuku asked. “He was… uh, pretty mad at the time.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s just how Bakugou is. You can’t really take him at face value.”

“He put a knife to my neck,” Izuku mumbled, uncertain if this girl was just messing with him.

“And now he’s helping you find a sieve.”

Again, Izuku blinked in surprise. So she knew about that, too.

He tilted his head a little, curious despite himself about who this girl was to Katsuki that he’d apparently told her all of this. Or was his situation just common knowledge now within the whole guild, details passed along like gossip? That made UA sound more like a high school than a magical institution meant to protect the city.

“I see why you made such an impression on him,” the girl continued, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.

To his horror, he felt heat rise in his neck. She definitely didn’t mean it that way. Izuku was plain. Unremarkable. Katsuki never would’ve even looked his way if not for the mystery his magic posed. Taking her comment to mean anything more than that would only end in humiliation. No thanks.

He needed to change the topic fast. "Hey, you wouldn't know who Eri is, would you? She's a kid but with gray hair and red eyes."

She looked thoughtful. "I haven't heard about anyone like that staying here."

That was interesting. So certain details about his circumstances were being kept quiet after all, particularly about Eri.

“Ah, don’t worry about it then,” Izuku assured her. He pointed over his shoulder. “I should probably get back to my room. Sorry to disturb you.”

“You didn’t. I’m Uraraka Ochako, by the way. It’s great to meet you.”

“You, too.” He began to turn away but paused before the image of a solid metal door flashed in his mind. “Actually, one last thing? What's on the sixth floor?"

Uraraka considered the question for an uncomfortably long time, long enough that Izuku shifted on his feet and was about to tell her to never mind. But then her lips pursed and she sighed through her nose.

“Security,” she finally said. “Restricted personnel only.”

That made sense. The woman down there had asked if he had clearance. “Is that where UA would’ve taken that exorcist yesterday?”

Uraraka dropped her book. She startled at the sound of it hitting the floor, quickly leaning over to retrieve it. “How do you know about that?”

“I was here meeting with Midnight when she was pulled away to deal with something about an exorcist.”

The look she gave him as she mindlessly fingered the pages of her book was indecipherable. “You’re observant, aren’t you? Yeah, that’s probably where the guild would keep the exorcist.”

"What’s the deal with them? Sero mentioned that they were, um… hunted?”

She nodded faintly, like she agreed that the idea was off putting. "Exorcist magic is… well, unique, I guess. They can break a spirit’s mortal chain—that is, whatever might be keeping them from moving on. But what makes their magic unique is that they can’t coexist with other exorcists. Their magic will seek others like it nearby, and the stronger one will gradually absorb the weaker until they kill them. The exorcists themselves have no control over it—it's just the nature of their magic. And since they get stronger the more exorcists they kill, they can quickly become a threat to everyone."

He’d wondered earlier if a sieve could take and keep a magus’s magic, but it seemed he’d been questioning the wrong type of magus. How easy would it have been for a power-hungry exorcist to deliberately seek out other exorcists to kill?

“There’ve been instances of corrupt exorcists all throughout history, but it wasn’t until an exorcist who called himself All For One became so powerful that he could break the mortal chains of living people that Japan’s Magus Safety Commission decided something had to be done. A lot of magi died fighting him, but once he was defeated, the Commission basically declared war on all exorcists. They couldn’t let something like that ever happen again.”

Izuku frowned. Discontent squirmed through his stomach. Nothing about war was ever fair, but to go after exorcists who had nothing to do with All For One, who were just living their lives like everyone else—that was corruption and cruelty under the guise of leadership. And if UA was still upholding those kinds of horrific “laws,” then maybe the Crossroads wasn’t the safe haven he’d been told it was.

+++

When Izuku returned to their rooms, Shouto was back as well. He was changing, having just pulled his shirt off. The bruise on his back had grown darker, and new abrasions had formed over his skin.

Izuku paused in the doorway. "What happened to you?"

"I found the gym."

He didn't understand how this equated to a whole new set of injuries.

"By 'gym,' do you mean torture chamber?" Someone like Madam Midnight was bound to have one, he was sure.

Shouto turned, revealing another bruise darkening across his ribs. "Sero was there."

"And... he beat you up?" he asked, still confused.

Shouto smiled. "He was practicing sword forms." He made a vague gesture that Izuku interpreted as a complicated and highly improbable sword move. "I asked to spar."

"Did you win?"

His smile dropped, his expression shifting to grudging admiration. "Turns out he's well-trained."

"That’s rare to find someone you can’t beat." At least the fight seemed to have helped Shouto work through his anger.

He winced as he tossed his shirt into a wicker hamper. "I need to shower."

"There are towels in the bathroom," Izuku said. "You need help?"

"Well, if you're eager to lend a hand..."

Izuku waved him away, his reply interrupted by a beep. A little red light on the panel beside the headboard was blinking. Wary, Izuku tapped the light.

A voice suddenly same through, bright and entirely too loud. “Good evening!”

Grimacing, he spotted buttons labeled with little volume symbols and turned it down. “H-hey?” he asked.

“Sero-san has asked me to inform you that dinner will be served in a half hour in the second floor dining hall. Do you need directions?"

”We'll be okay," Izuku said. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened. Steam spilled out in humid plumes.

"Dinner soon," Izuku said.

"Great. I'm starving."

A huge dresser sat on the other side of the bed with seven beveled drawers and handles etched in leaves. Shouto slid open drawers and rummaged inside until he made an amused sound and pulled out a black t-shirt and matching drawstring pants, both still packaged inside plastic.

"Just what I've always wanted,” he said. “Shrink-wrapped pajamas."

They poked around the suite for a bit and then made their way to the second floor. From there, the low buzz of voices led them to the dining hall.

Heavy doors framed the entrance. Inside, bands of gold leaves made glittering paths along the walls, and a massive chandelier hung like an inverted pyramid. Porcelain plates and silverware were arranged on a long table in front of each chair, many of which were already occupied.

He felt even more like he'd walked into another world, one far removed from things as mundane as the summer homework he hadn't started or the job he would have to put off until this was all over. He'd probably have to find a new one. The thought was disappointing.

The most elaborate seat at the head of the table sat vacant. A man sat directly right of the empty chair though. He had unruly blond hair, darker and longer than Katsuki’s. His eyes were a pretty amber, made more striking by black markings at the corners. When he caught Izuku looking, he smiled and raised one hand in a lazy greeting.

The action caught the attention of someone nearby, and Izuku felt his face go hot when he saw that it was Katsuki. He was dressed casually in a black graphic tee, but he still somehow managed to look unbearably attractive. Izuku had to physically stop himself from smoothing down his nest of curls. It wasn’t like it would help.

They headed toward Katsuki and the empty chair next to him. Sero sat across from him, and at Katsuki’s other side, Uraraka waved cheerfully.

"Izuku! It’s nice to see you again so soon," she said, resting her hand on Katsuki’s shoulder so that she could lean over him to speak to Izuku.

Izuku looked away as he sat. “Yeah, same! Um, thanks.” He winced. God, he was so lame.

As Shouto took the seat next to Sero, the briefest flash of discomfort tightened his features. Izuku didn’t miss it. Apparently, Sero didn't either.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. "Did I go too hard?" He reached for Shouto's collar, behind his neck where the purpling bruise from his back was just visible.

Shouto jerked away, elbowing Sero's searching hand. "I'm fine."

"You are hurt." Sero looked at Izuku. "Isn't he?"

Izuku ignored Shouto's glare and nodded. "It's from earlier. Against that seeker. Sparring probably didn't help."

"Our healer could take a look if—"

"I'm fine," Shouto snapped.

An awkward silence ensued. Izuku folded and unfolded his dinner napkin, fingers restless.

When Izuku could no longer bear it, he blurted out, “Is there an age or something when a magus gets his powers?" Maybe it was like puberty, only with less hair, and instead of his voice cracking, it was his sanity.

"A magus has his powers from birth, but it can take several years to manifest,” Sero said. “It's just weird that nothing's happened until now."

Nothing that Izuku knew of anyway.

“Iida will be back tomorrow," Sero said. "We can talk to him then about finding you a sieve."

"Did you find out where Eri is? Why isn't she here?" Shouldn’t she have been at the dinner table along with the other guests?

Sero glanced at the man with the eye markings. “Hawks is head of security, and he works directly under Midnight, but he said he doesn’t know where she is either."

"That’s pretty suspicious," Shouto said.

Izuku agreed. Anxiety coiled within him, wrapped up with all his questions. For the time being, he busied himself with observing the other guests. The woman from earlier sat two seats down from Shouto. She was having an animated conversation in Chinese with a man wearing, off all things, a plague mask.

"That guy there," Katsuki said, his voice suddenly a rumble against Izuku’s ear.

Izuku went rigid, suddenly acutely aware of Katsuki’s nearness. When had he gotten so close? The boy leaned into his arm, his body a shock of warmth in the air conditioned hall. Although it made his head spin, Katsuki’s disregard of Izuku’s personal space was as confusing as it was welcome.

"He calls himself Overhaul. He’s a massive dick and a germaphobe. He’s trying to negotiate with Midnight about getting control over some shitty district.”

"Do you think she’ll agree?"

"Nah. She doesn’t trust him either. But everything’s gotta be by the books so they have to meet and treat or whatever."

He was beginning to see that the magus world was just as rigidly controlled as the mundane. It was all pretty weird, honestly.

Across from them, Hawks had his phone to his ear, frowning at whatever he was hearing. He murmured something indistinguishable, his warm amber eyes going hard and flat. The abrupt shift in his demeanor was frankly a little terrifying.

Katsuki and Sero had noticed as well because the moment Hawks hung up, they both demanded to know what that was about.

“You two,” Hawks said with a long-suffering sigh. “That was Aizawa. He got in this evening to check on the girl only to find her missing."

Even though Izuku had yet to eat a single thing, his throat closed like he was choking. "Missing? Missing how? When?"

"No one has seen her since this morning. Aizawa’s team is going through security footage as we speak. We’re hoping she simply ran away to try and find you."

A door in the wall swung open, interrupting them. Servers arrived wheeling a trolley of dishes covered in silver domes that smelled heavenly. Even through Izuku's haze of worry and guilt, his stomach growled.

“Sero and I will find her,” Katsuki declared.

Hawks gave them a sharp look. “You’ll stay put until I say otherwise.”

As the servants lay out a veritable feast, Hawks refused to speak further on the matter,

+++

"You're not serious."

"You don't have to come with me."

Shouto crossed his arms, glaring first around their room then at Izuku. "Of course I will, but why is this your issue to resolve? She doesn’t mean anything to you."

“Shouto, I’m that one who left her here.”

“You had no other choice. That’s not on you.”

Izuku rubbed a hand over his face. "Look, I know going after her myself might not make much difference, but it's better than sitting on my hands and waiting."

"And what makes you think you'll have any more luck than Sero or Bakugou who can seek or whatever?"

"Because she's trying to find me, too."

As they made their way back to the stairwell, Shouto said, "Someone's after you, remember? That seeker who att—"

Another set of footsteps pounded down the stairwell. After a moment, Katsuki rounded the corner and jerked to a stop at the sight of them.

"Izuku. Just the nerd I was looking for."

His heart jumped at his words, despite being immediately suspicious "Why’s that?"

“Aizawa just sent out a search team. Security footage caught her being forced into a car behind the restaurant.”

Izuku felt cold even as his pulse ratcheted, a rising sound filling his ears. This changed things. Eri was in real danger. What if she was hurt? What if she...

Izuku pressed his palm to his forehead. He shouldn't have left her here. He should have done more to help her. He didn't know what that might have been, but he hadn't even tried.

He brushed past Katsuki and continued up the stairs.

"The fuck you think you’re going?" Katsuki demanded, following on his heels. "You were just attacked today."

"This is my fault. She was my responsibility, and instead of helping her, I left her." He could only imagine what anyone would want with a little girl, and he wouldn't sit idly while she was hurt or killed because of him.

He wouldn’t lie to himself though. The idea of going after kidnappers—and magi—did leave him feeling uncertain. This wasn't like sneaking out after dark or lying about where he was going for the night.

The last time he'd gone looking for a fight, it had ended with a bruised cheekbone and bleeding knuckles. Sasaki had grounded him for a month. Izuku had been angry enough with what he felt to be unfair punishment to disobey Sasaki's orders to remain home, and Sasaki had punished him in the worst way possible: he had restricted Izuku’s access to his dad.

If Izuku couldn't prove himself responsible, Sasaki had said, then Izuku couldn't be trusted to care for Toshinori.

The worst part was that Toshinori had taken his brother's side. Izuku had carried around a mixture of guilt, frustration, and resentment for weeks before his dad explained that they both owed his brother a responsibility and a debt.

It had been Izuku's first year living with Sasaki, and his first—and last—lesson in learning when to test his uncle’s restrictions.

He pushed through the restaurant, hurrying past startled servants who quickly bowed when they saw Katsuki. He ignored Katsuki's harsh questions and barreled out the front door.

"Do you even have a plan? Or the vaguest idea where to start looking? You can't control your powers. Even if you find her, what makes you think you'll be able to do anything?" Katsuki asked.

He was right, of course. But that wouldn't excuse Izuku’s inaction.

"It's better than doing nothing." He was half a block away from the Crossroads before Katsuki cut in front of him, a solid wall that Izuku had to quickly draw back from to keep from colliding into.

"Listen, you idiot. You can’t just run off and get yourself killed. How’s that supposed to help her?"

“I’ll figure something out,” Izuku argued. “I’m not as useless as you seem to think I am.”

“Fuck off, at least let me try something first.”

“What does that—” His question died on a pained gasp as magic knifed through him, and he staggered into Shouto.

Katsuki was seeking, but it wasn't like before when he’d been proving a point. This time, he looked strained, his entire body held taut. Izuku watched him in silence, fingers digging into his stomach to keep from doubling over as his magic pulsed around them.

There was a weighty to Katsuki’s power that Izuku hadn’t realized before—it hurt but it also sparked and pulsed, warm and alive, like tiny explosions setting off all across his skin.

The front door of the restaurant burst open. Stalking up the sidewalk, Sero brushed past them and reached for Katsuki, stopping short of touching him. He must have sensed his magic and came running.

"Bakugou, stop it!" Sero shouted. "Stop it before you hurt yourself!"

Exertion pulled at the handsome lines of his face. Then, he suddenly drew in a ragged, hoarse breath, his entire body sagging and swaying. Sweat ran down his temples. Sero tried to steady him, but Katsuki batted him away.

"I found her,” he said through his teeth, his voice scraped raw. When he wiped at his nose, his hand came away bloody.

"Katsuki,” Izuku said, his own voice strangled at the sight of his blood.

“Where is she?" Shouto asked.

Katsuki cupped his head. "Heading north."

Sero looked between the three of them and quickly gathered what was going on. "You can't be thinking of going after her."

Surprising Izuku further, Katsuki said, "We can't let these idiots go alone."

"No one is going anywhere. If Hawks hears about this, he'll—"

"We’re just as much at fault here," Katsuki said, which surprised Sero enough that he stopped talking mid-sentence. "We told her and Izuku that she’d be safe with us."

The two stared each other down, one with an angry storm cloud in his red eyes and the other with a pained look of acceptance.

Finally, Sero gave a curt nod. "Fine. Lead the way."

TBC

A/N: This fic is now 21.6k words. We’re not even close to halfway yet lolol