[EXCLUSIVE] FIC - “Kill the Ghost” Chapter 3

A/N: SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! It’s been A Week. But it’s still Friday for me so yay! 🤣

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CHAPTER THREE

Once Shouto had realized that Izuku's mind was set, he'd insisted on coming along. Izuku wanted to object—he didn't need his hand held, and besides that, it might be dangerous—but he knew Shouto well enough to understand that there'd be no changing his mind.

As they waited at the train station, Izuku cast Bakugou's jacket and the dagger concealed beneath a wary look. The guy was dangerous, but he'd also been defending his friend—no, Izuku, you are not allowed to think that's hot, please have some self-preservation.

Then again, Bakugou also thought Izuku was the reason said friend had fainted so… maybe Izuku was the crazy one for agreeing to go with these people.

"Where are we going again?" Izuku asked.

"Kousaten," Sero said. "Guild-run restaurant."

Shouto made a face. "I know that place. Snobby district. Ridiculously overpriced."

"Everything in that district is overpriced," Sero agreed happily.

Fishing out his phone from his pocket, Izuku checked the time. Then, gnawing at the inside of his cheek, he turned his back on the group and called his neighbor Tanaka. She was a sweet woman who was always happy to keep his dad company. Toshinori liked her as well, which eased the guilt a little.

When Izuku turned around again, he found Bakugou and Eri caught in a bizarre staring contest. The boy looked more amused than anything, but the intensity of those sharp red eyes could intimidate kids twice her age. To Izuku's surprise, though, Eri didn't look intimidated.

Her cheeks were red and her eyes were big and a little watery, but she was glaring up at the much taller boy, tiny fists balled at her sides.

Bakugou crossed his arms, gaze flitting from the too-big shirt to her cascade of silver hair and the bud of her horn where it jutted from her forehead. "What's your name, kid?"

Eri's glare faltered. She shifted on her feet and hiked her sagging shorts back up around her waist. "Ask Izuku."

At this, Bakugou looked at him. Izuku stiffened at once again being the recipient of that focused gaze.

"She your sister?" he asked, head cocked.

The suggestion seemed to delight Eri because she lit up. "Izuku made—"

"Eri!" Izuku blurted, cutting her off. "She— That's— Uh... Eri. Her name is Eri." He tried not to grimace. Although he still felt certain he hadn't called her that, he did suddenly remember where he'd heard that name before. Eri had been the name of his goldfish when he was six.

Eri—the girl, not the goldfish—turned to him, mouth going slack with awe. Then she wrapped herself around his arm and made a small, happy sound. In spite of himself, he smiled. She was pretty adorable.

"Really," Bakugou said, sounding dubious. "And what happened to your clothes?"

"I like Izuku's better," Eri said before Izuku could make something up.

He avoided Bakugou's shrewd gaze by pretending to be busy on his phone.

As the train approached, the wind brought with it the smell of burnt metal and oil, heightened by Izuku's uncertainty. Fortunately, the train wasn't crowded yet, and they claimed a corner with open seats. Farther down across the aisle, a sleeping man in a yellow fedora grunted at their noisy entrance and lowered the brim over his face.

Bakugou sat beside Izuku, who tried not to stiffen at the proximity, while Sero remained standing, braced against a rail. Unless Izuku was overthinking it, which was entirely possible, it almost seemed like Sero was deliberately shielding them from the other passengers.

Once the doors shut and the train began moving, Izuku shifted toward Bakugou and tried to ignore the flutter in his stomach when said boy did the same, pale brows pinched above his eyes. At Izuku's other side, Shouto leaned in as well.

"So that thing back there—the anima," Izuku began. "You said it's not a ghost?"

Voice a low rumble, Bakugou murmured, "Ghosts are dead spirits that don't wanna move on. An anima is a spirit that did move on, but then left the Light to come back. They're the spirits of people, sometimes, but also animals or elementals."

Izuku pinched his bottom lip, uncertain how to process the information. "Okay… what did it want?"

"When an anima leaves the Light, there's no going back. No reincarnation, no afterlife, no zen garden of rainbows or whatever—end of the fucking line. So if they wanna keep from fading into vapor, they need magus magic. That's why they look for a tamer. Our magic feeds them, gives them solid form. In exchange, we get new abilities and a familiar."

That was a lot. Izuku glanced at Shouto, who was listening intently but also glaring skeptically at Bakugou.

"Anima rarely leave the Whispering City," Bakugou continued.

Oh, good, more names Izuku didn't know.

"But they've been showing up in Musutafu in bigger numbers lately. They only do that around large sources of magic. Wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Bakugou's brows rose, clearly not expecting an answer.

Izuku had noticed the increase in monsters, but he didn't see how that had anything to do with him.

"The problem with taming anima," Sero said without turning away from his (casual?) surveillance of their train car, "is that the more powerful it is, the more magic it needs to stay solid. Some magi, the really terrible ones, want a familiar to work for them but not at the cost of repeatedly draining their magic."

Izuku considered this and what Sero seemed to be implying. "Are you saying it doesn't have to be their own magic they give to the anima?"

"Not so slow after all," Bakugou said with a small smirk that made Izuku's neck burn. At least until Shouto elbowed him in the ribs.

"But what about those extra abilities you mentioned?" Shouto asked. It sounded more like a challenge, like he was trying to catch them in a lie.

Sneering at the question, Bakugou said, "Doesn't matter when the anima is always sucking their magic dry."

"Yep," Sero said. "So they force another magus to be their anima's battery."

That sounded like it should be awful. But if the magus-battery wasn't keen on being a magus, would it be so bad to just… give it to someone else? That seemed like an unwise thing to say, though, so Izuku kept it to himself. He was obviously missing some crucial details about that kind of exchange.

Sero finally shifted from his position against the rail, dark eyes finding Shouto. "You ever going to tell us your name or does Bakugou get to make one up for you?"

"Half-and-Half," Bakugou immediately said, grinning meanly. "Who the fuck dyes their hair like that? You look like a goddamn peppermint."

Other than a twitch of his brow, Shouto chose not to take the bait.

Izuku, though, scratched a nervous finger along his cheek. "Uh, it's natural actually. It's a rare, um, medical condition, but totally harmless and asymptomatic aside from the unique physical characteristics."

Bakugou regarded him for a tense second. Izuku didn't know how to interpret the look, but his heart seriously needed to calm down before he fainted like a complete and utter loser.

Then he reminded himself that he did not want to impress the pretty stranger with a knife.

"Oh yeah?" Bakugou asked, leaning in. Izuku's eyes went wide as something of a teasing smile dressed those pretty lips. "How do you know? Did he tell you, or have you seen more than what's on his head?"

Then those sharp red eyes lowered to Izuku's lap while a pink tongue playfully scraped over his canine. Izuku's brain shut down. He felt certain he was about to spontaneously combust into a self-immolating pyre of horny shame.

Bakugou let out a short but loud laugh that could arguably be called a cackle, before slumping back in his seat. "Relax, Freckles. I ain't interested in your boyfriend. Not my type."

Still feeling like his ears must be spewing smoke, Izuku pointedly turned away from him. That wasn't much better, though, given he now had to look at Shouto's thoroughly unimpressed face. They’d known each other long enough that Izuku could tell that other boy was mentally screaming, ‘Don’t you dare ask him what his type is, Midoriya Izuku!’

"Don't call me Freckles," Izuku finally settled on saying. He'd always been self-conscious about them. "It's Izuku."

"Family name?" Sero asked.

"Just Izuku.” He still didn't trust these people, and while 'Midoriya' wasn't a rare surname, it was uncommon enough that it’d make him easy to find.

Bakugou grunted. "Just Katsuki then."

Even though Izuku had literally just given them permission to use his first name, the reciprocation had him flushing all over again.

"Oh?" Sero said, turning a broad, toothy grin to his friend. "That's rare, Bakugou."

"Shut the fuck up," Baku—no, Katsuki said. One long leg kicked out, and his foot would've bashed into Sero's shin if the other boy hadn't darted away with a muffled laugh.

"I'm not his boyfriend," Shouto suddenly said, which made all of them pause to look at him. At the sudden pointed attention, Shouto frowned. "What?"

"N-nothing," Izuku hurried to assure him. To the others, he added, "Yeah, we're not… He's my best friend. That's all."

"Best friend got a name?" Sero asked.

After a beat of hesitation, Shouto grudgingly said, "Shouto."

Katsuki nodded at Eri. "What about her? You never said whether she's your sister or not."

"I don't have any siblings," Izuku said.

Eri reacted to his words by ducking her head and anxiously weaving silver strands of hair around her thin fingers.

“Then who is she?” Katsuki asked, a renewed glint of interest in his gaze.

Before Eri could say something about how Izuku had ‘made’ her, he decided on an explanation that was a mixture of truth and lie. "We found her this morning. She was lost. We were on our way to the Koban."

Sero and Katsuki exchanged an indecipherable look. They didn't ask any more questions, but Izuku could tell from the way they observed her that they weren’t finished with Eri. The thought made him uneasy.

The train swayed a little as it came to a stop. With Katsuki leading and Sero taking the rear, Izuku felt a bit like they were being herded off the train and onto another one.

When they were once situated, Sero returned to standing guard, watching as passengers crowded in through the sliding doors. Eri scooted closer, leaning over the armrest between their seats. Her fingers got lost in her hair, and she made a face as she pulled them free. He really should’ve gotten her a comb.

He didn't know what waited for them at this Kousaten restaurant, but afterward, what was he supposed to do with her? Somewhere between getting accosted by that first pair of weirdos, being threatened with a knife to his throat, and boarding a train with Katsuki and Sero, he'd realized he couldn't just hand her over to the police anymore.

With everything he’d learned so far about the so-called existence of magic, he couldn’t deny that there was something about Eri that wasn’t quite… human.

But the kid hadn't asked for help, so Izuku didn't even know what she wanted.

He listened in silence to the automated voice that announced each stop until finally, Sero moved back, creating enough space for them to stand and exit. This time, Sero took the lead with Katsuki stepping off last, gathering their small trip onto the platform. Izuku couldn't help feeling once again like cattle being herded toward— Maybe he should stop thinking in metaphors.

Sero led them to the surface and set off down the sidewalk with only a glance back to ensure they were all accounted for. Izuku mentally tracked their path, taking note of shop fronts and street names. He’d never been here before. It was clearly an affluent district, just like Shouto had said. The fact Shouto was familiar with this part of Musutafu in general and with Kousaten in particular did put his mind slightly at ease.

Turning off onto a side road, they crossed the street and came to a pause in front of a pair of heavy doors with shiny knobs. A sign above read, "Kousaten" in elegant kanji.

A host greeted them inside, his head bowed low. Izuku rubbed his palms down his arms at the rush of cooler air and waited until Shouto had cleared the door before following Katsuki into the restaurant. One proper look at the place and Izuku's feet faltered, his eyebrows shooting upward.

Inside were vaulted ceilings and gleaming hardwood floors stained a richly dark color. A dais in the corner featured a stunning thirteen-stringed koto, and traditional Japanese paintings separated by intricate wood panels decorated the walls. Izuku just about swallowed his tongue as Katsuki and Sero guided them through the restaurant toward an inconspicuous door between two panels.

Every employee they passed paused in their task to bow low, which wouldn’t have been unusual except even most of the patrons did the same, setting down their chopsticks to dip their heads until they had passed. Feeling acutely out of place, Izuku wanted to shrivel out of existence.

Even Shouto looked uncomfortable, and his family lived in an entire freaking complex of traditional Japanese mansions.

The moment they were through the door, it slid shut, abruptly cutting off the low din of the restaurant. They were inside a broad corridor lit by dim sconces that cast duplicate shadows around their feet like flower petals. It ended at a grand staircase the likes of which Izuku had only ever seen on TV.

"Madam will be in the drawing room," Katsuki said, taking the stairs two at a time.

"You live here?" Izuku asked, voice hushed.

"Most of the time," he said in an offhand manner that Izuku supposed came with being raised rich even if he didn't understand it.

The staircase opened onto a foyer where several people dressed in suits mingled around starchy upholstery.

Eri peeked out from beneath Izuku’s arm where she’d been hiding the whole time, blinking her enormous eyes in wonderment at one of the strangers. Izuku followed her line of sight to a woman across the room. She reclined on a chaise, and in her lap was a creature he would have thought to be an enormous, bushy gray cat if not for the way its tail smoked at the end. It flicked back and forth, leaving a hazy trail in its wake like lines of charcoal. Its round eyes were a smoldering orange like burning coals.

The woman waved her fingers, white and gaunt, over the not-cat's head. The air in front of her rippled, and Izuku stumbled on his own feet. That same awareness returned, and he shivered as it passed through him, just painful enough to make his jaw tighten. Lights flickered around the woman's fingers like embers in a breeze as white flowers sprouted from the creature's mane, the blooms duplicating as they wove through the long gray fur at the tips of its ears.

"What did she just do?" Shouto demanded, voice quiet but implacable. He looked pale, mismatched eyes staring at the not-cat, and he’d stopped walking, body tensed in a way Izuku recognized from when they were facing off at the dojo.

Honestly, Izuku had to restrain his own fight-or-flight instincts. He didn’t understand what was happening, but that was all the more reason to stay. He needed answers.

"Casual magic," Sero explained.

"It's prohibited in the city, but Kousaten tolerates it," Katsuki said with a faint sneer. "The anima in her lap is tamed."

"Why does it hurt?" Izuku asked, tearing his gaze away from the creature.

"You're just not used to magic yet. Eventually, you'll get the awareness without the pain. Unless the magic is strong.” Katsuki jerked his chin in the direction they’d been heading. “This way."

They continued deeper into the building, descending several flights of stairs. Izuku guessed they were probably farther underground than the train station.

At length, they reached a pair of metal doors. Engraved across both, and split in half at the seam, was a coat of arms. A serpentine dragon coiled around two blocky letters that glowed faintly: UA. Izuku thought he saw smoke trail from the dragon's open mouth, but he blinked and it was gone.

"Well, that's welcoming," Shouto said.

+++

Izuku wasn’t sure what to expect from this ‘Madam’ he was meeting with, but this was… definitely not it.

The woman was dressed in a pinstripe pantsuit, except she’d forgone any kind of button-up or blouse beneath her suit jacket. Or a bra.

When they entered the drawing room, she’d been pouring herself a glass of something that was probably some stupidly expensive liquor from a small but immaculately stocked bar. Then she’d turned to greet them and nearly spilled completely out of her suit. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Izuku’s face burned as he dropped his head into a polite bow and kept his gaze firmly on his own feet.

At his side, Shouto was faring much better. His cheeks were pink, but he otherwise appeared unaffected. He was probably used to eccentric rich people.

Sero and Katsuki didn’t even blink, apparently used to her… display.

“Come here, young man,” the Madam said.

Peeking up through his curls confirmed that she was, in fact, talking to him. Swallowing tightly, Izuku straightened and fixed his eyes on her face and not the excess of cleavage trying to bust through the top button of her jacket. She was probably around his uncle’s age, maybe a little younger, with voluminous black hair that fell around her shoulders and down her back. Red cat eye glasses perched across the bridge of her nose.

Izuku took a tentative step forward. Standing behind her with a tablet in hand was a man who, although he stood taller than anyone else in the room, couldn’t have been any older than him and Shouto. He wore glasses as well, his dark hair swept neatly to the side and revealing an undercut.

“This is Iida, my assistant,” the Madam said, noticing the direction of Izuku’s gaze. “Don’t mind him. Tell me—do you know who I am?”

"No," he said. After a pause, he added, "Madam-san."

She laughed a little and sipped her drink. “It’s Madam Midnight, but simply Midnight will do.”

Long, red fingernails tapped against her glass before she set it down on a nearby coffee table.

“It is the duty of the UA Guild to maintain order in Musutafu and protect the city’s magi," she said. Izuku blinked at the formality. "Do you mean for me to believe you had no knowledge of what you did last night?"

Izuku shook his head. "I don't know what any of you are talking about. I only came here because Katsuki and Sero said I'd get some answers."

One perfectly sculpted eyebrow hitched, and her gaze briefly cut away from Izuku to Katsuki. It only lasted a moment, but it made him realize he’d said Katsuki instead of Bakugou. He didn’t have time to be embarrassed as Midnight continued.

"To what questions?" she asked.

Izuku made a broad, slightly frantic gesture. "So far, this whole day has been a question."

She considered him for a few seconds more. Then she turned to look at the man behind her, the assistant she’d called Iida.

His eyes on Izuku were appraising. He was young but carried himself like a man twice Izuku’s age.

After an uncomfortable length of time, Iida nodded and said, "I believe he's telling the truth."

At Izuku's side, Katsuki's imperceptibly relaxed. Sero was more obvious, sinking onto a plush burgundy sofa.

Izuku had no idea what just happened.

"UA welcomes you to the Crossroads," Midnight continued. "Bakugou and—"

A door Izuku hadn't noticed opened behind her. It had blended seamlessly into the wall. Two men stood in the doorway, both dressed in nondescript black suits and their heads bowed low.

"Forgive us," one of them said, "but we have the exorcist."

Midnight’s forehead wrinkled for a moment before it smoothed away. She tugged down the front of her suit, which nearly allowed her breasts to finally break free from the meager restraints of her jacket’s lapels. "Iida will assist you for the time being. If you'll excuse me."

The men at the door stepped aside as she passed, bent at the waist in deference, and then disappeared after her. Iida tapped rapidly on his tablet, the glow of the screen reflecting off his glasses and concealing his eyes.

Izuku turned to Katsuki. "What was that about?"

He dropped onto the sofa beside Sero and casually reached beneath his jacket to withdraw his dagger from its sheath. He ran his thumb along the sharp edge, and Izuku couldn’t help but watch the light ride the length of the blade.

"Some of our guildmates have been tracking an exorcist for a couple weeks."

"What, like exorcising ghosts?" Izuku asked.

"No, like stealing the souls from people."

Sero rolled his eyes. "He's exaggerating."

"Are they dangerous then?"

"All magi have the potential to be dangerous," Iida said without looking up from whatever he was doing on his tablet. "But you’ve little to fear from exorcists. They were hunted to near extinction centuries ago."

"Wait," Izuku said. "Hunted to extinction? What's going to happen to that exorcist?"

Sero's smile remained in place, although something changed in his eyes. "Why do you care?"

Izuku met his gaze without flinching, even as a cold knot formed in his gut. "Because nowadays, that’s called kidnapping and murder.”

The silence that followed his statement was fraught with the unspoken.

Then Iida said, “Please don’t worry. UA is a guild with unquestionable morals.”

Izuku’s gaze met Shouto’s in mutual agreement to table the confrontation for when they weren’t deep inside UA’s secret lair. It made him nervous that these people seemed to have their own laws and means of enforcing them. It sounded too much like the yakuza.

"Seeing as you don't know what you are," Iida said, obviously shifting topics, "I take it your parents never told you about magi."

Izuku frowned. "My dad and uncle are normal."

"And your mother?"

"I don't know," Izuku admitted. "She died when I was born."

"When we felt your magic last night," Iida continued, "Bakugou and Sero were sent to find the magus responsible. Something that disruptive couldn't be overlooked."

"But I didn't do anything." Izuku held out his hands as if their emptiness could convince them. At his side, Eri stared up at the ceiling, spots of light reflected in her eyes. In that position, her messy hair fell away from her face, baring the obvious and unusual horn at the top right of her forehead. Izuku resisted the urge to lean over and pull her hair over her face.

"Course you did. Everyone felt it." Katsuki slouched against the sofa cushions, his long fingers tracing the designs on the handle of his dagger. Muscles shifted along his forearm where a prominent vein caught Izuku’s attention.

"It happened shortly before sunrise. When did you say you found Eri?" Sero asked.

Mentally cursing himself, Izuku looked at Eri, who smiled at his attention. He remembered jolting awake, the unnatural darkness, the dim glow of his phone. It had been sunrise.

"Izuku, we need you to be honest," Sero said. "She wasn't lost when you found her, was she?"

Izuku rubbed at the spot between his eyebrows, conflicted. If anyone could help to explain who Eri was, it’d have to be them, right? What did he have to lose at this point by telling the truth?

"I don't know where she came from," he finally admitted. "She was just… suddenly there." He nodded at Eri. "Go ahead and tell them."

"Izuku made me," she announced proudly.

Sero’s head tilted in confusion. "What do you mean by 'made'? Like… he created you?"

"That's impossible," Katsuki said. "You can't just will life into being."

"I didn't will anything," Izuku said. "Like I said, I don't know where she came from."

"You must be mistaken," Sero said, sounding thoughtful. Eri scowled and shook her head vigorously, pale hair flying about her face. "Although I guess that would explain why the whole city felt it. I can't even imagine the sort of power it would take to—"

"It's not possible," Katsuki repeated. "She's obviously not all human, but magic doesn't work that way."

"But if you did, in fact, pluck her out from somewhere," Iida said to Izuku, "how did you do it?"

"And why?" Katsuki said. "It’s a hell of a way to announce you're a magus."

"I don't know what I did," Izuku repeated, thoroughly exasperated.

"This is ridiculous," Shouto muttered.

"Excuse me, but perhaps we should refrain from having this conversation in front of an outsider,” Iida said, adjusting his glasses. “Technically, your kind isn’t allowed here, but we made an exception at Sero’s request.”

Shouto snorted loudly. “My kind,” he muttered, words thick with derision.

“I’d just tell him everything anyway,” Izuku said, which earned him amused looks from Shouto and Sero, disapproval from Iida, and an annoyed grunt from Katsuki.

"Seekers get a general sense of your abilities," Katsuki said. "But if we want to know what you did, and what the kid is, then we have to know what you're capable of.” He almost sounded excited by the prospect. “We're gonna need a sieve."

Iida nodded. "I'll have rooms arranged for you until we can—"

"Whoa, hold on," Izuku interrupted. "We’re not staying."

"Others are gonna come for you," Katsuki said. "Those Ketsubutsu morons and the anima—they were nothing compared to what's out there. You think you’re ready to take that on?"

Izuku shook his head, backing away toward the exit, Shouto at his side. Eri latched onto his arm as well.

"You don't understand,” Izuku said. “My dad needs me. I can't just leave him for—f-for whatever a sieve is and however long that’ll take.”

Katsuki crossed his arms, emphasizing the wildly distracting shape of his pecs and the shadow of cleavage that was somehow a thousand times more flustering than Midnight’s.

"That release of power, all at once, doesn't just happen at random,” Katsuki said, oblivious to Izuku’s bi panic. “Something, or someone, triggered it. Until your magic settles, this is the safest place to be."

"Forget it. I'm not leaving my dad."

"We don't gotta have your permission, you know," Katsuki said, voice so soft it was a low growl.

Maybe in a different situation, Izuku would’ve found that unbearably hot. Who was he kidding—he still found it unbearably hot. But it also pissed him the fuck off.

Sero quickly cut in before either Izuku or Shouto could answer the threat. "He’s kidding! He’s just being an ass. You get used to it."

"Then perhaps you'd consider leaving the girl with us." Iida looked at Izuku, his expression hard.

"No!" Eri cried, flinging herself into Izuku and wrapping around him like a baby monkey. Izuku threw his arms up, not sure where to put them.

"What would you do with her otherwise? We have the means and the resources to help her. Leaving her with us is the logical solution."

Izuku hated the idea, but Iida wasn’t wrong. The police would write off her unique features as abnormalities and refer her to social services. Wouldn’t that be worse? He thought about how she'd looked standing at his window, wreathed in dawn. He might have believed, then, that she belonged with magi, but he didn't have the right to make that decision for her.

"And then what?" Izuku asked, wincing at the death grip the girl had around him.

"We would, of course, return her to where she came from. It is the duty of our guild to safeguard the city's magi."

Izuku’s eyes narrowed. "Unless they're exorcists?"

Iida didn't miss a beat. "Unless they've broken the laws of our city."

"Iida’s a fucking dork, but he’s an honest one. You can trust him to keep his word." A hard edge sharpened Katsuki's voice. He apparently didn’t like Izuku questioning his guildmate’s integrity.

"Sounds like a plan," Shouto said.

"Shouto," Izuku said.

"We were going to leave her with the police, Izuku. This is the better choice. What do you think your uncle will do if you take her back home? She’s not exactly inconspicuous.”

“Izuku,” came Eri’s soft, trembling voice. She finally released him, slowly easing away but not completely. Her small hands clung to his larger one and tugged gently.

Understanding what she wanted, Izuku crouched down to meet her eyes, big and searching. “Look, Eri—”

“I-It’s okay,” she whispered. “I… I’ve been troubling you.”

Guilt struck him like Katsuki’s dagger, right between his ribs. “Eri—”

“But you have to promise to come back,” she added, a little louder. “Promise me.”

Those big watery eyes were full of apprehension, but to Izuku’s amazement, they were also determined and brave. Strong in a way Izuku hadn’t expected.

Izuku swallowed around the lump in his throat. “You’re sure about this?”

She nodded firmly despite the wrinkle between her pale brows.

“Then I promise I’ll be back to see you. And if it’s not working out, then we’ll find something else. Okay?”

She smiled then and nodded once more.

Holding her hand, Iida escorted her from the room. Izuku watched her go with a strange and sudden surge of pride, although he wasn’t even sure why.

"Most magi would do cartwheels to stay at the Crossroads." Katsuki dug into his pocket and withdrew a delicate red pouch of embroidered silk, sealed with an intricate knot. "Take this amulet. It’s protection."

He held it out. Izuku blinked at the pretty pouch, uncertain if the other boy was being serious. Izuku had seen other omamori, usually at a shrine, but he’d never thought of them as anything more than a good luck charm.

Hesitant, he accepted the omamori. Katsuki’s fingers were soft, unexpected given the way he handled a dagger.

Sero shifted on the sofa and reached into his own pocket. He withdrew a pale yellow omamori, which he held out to Shouto. "You should have one as well."

Shouto looked down his nose at the offering. "I can take care of myself."

"Not against magic, you can't. An amulet is only as powerful first as the magus who made it and second as the magus who wears it. I made this myself. You're not a magus. You'll need it."

"Why do you have one then if you're so powerful?"

"Bakugou isn’t always around to watch my back."

"I don't need—"

"Shouto," Izuku said. Even if he didn't know what was real anymore, it was at least a gesture of good will. "Take it."

"Fine." He snatched the amulet from Sero's hand.

He shoved it into his back pocket as Izuku studied the one from Katsuki. UA’s crest was embroidered into the silk pouch.

On the sofa, Katsuki leaned back into the cushion, tongue poking again at the tip of his canine. "You're welcome.

TBC

A/N: Try not to be too upset with Izuku. Literally what would he do with a whole ass child!?