Set You Free [Angst!] - Chapter 2

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The sky was dark beyond Katsuki’s windows, only a single streetlight casting some light through onto the carpet. He had intended to get up and turn a light on hours prior, but the energy to move had never come. All night he’d been staring at the blue-tinged glow of his laptop screen, leaning on his hand as he scrolled through pages and pages of links that had long since been turned purple. Most of them had been that way before he’d even visited Izuku’s hometown – he’d gleaned so little information from the pages that he’d resorted to interviewing people directly, only to come up with more and more questions after hearing their stories.

It was understandable, he supposed. People writing articles and making videos online didn’t really want to sound like they were sympathising with him, after all – that was the whole problem Katsuki was having with writing his own version. People had loved his last few deep-dives into convicted murderers, had enjoyed the way he tore them to pieces and criticized their every decision. Most of them had made stupid decisions that led them to be imprisoned, so it was easy enough to taunt them, but Izuku was...

Different, somehow.

So his “man behind the crime” idea was off the table, but maybe he could do some kind of “what led him here” story? Dive into the experiences that Izuku went through, what drove him to snap – was it the stress of his job? Some kind of PTSD? A personal vendetta?

God, he really wished he’d asked more questions during their meeting.

Instead, he turned to researching the victims. Maybe he could uncover something about the family who died that would lead him to an answer.

He opened up a new document, drumming his fingers on the desk for a minute as he contemplated his words.

What drives a multiple-award-winning officer to commit the most heinous crime himself?

It would be a good use of his interview, at least. He could introduce Izuku, talk about his background, his interests, even his personality – all the things that made him so different from the others. He could tell the story of his career, of the arrests he made, the people he saved, could map out every scar on his body and every hospital stay in tales of his glory. It would be a little controversial, sure, but it would also serve to show all his readers that these were normal people. Everyone in town had said it, after all – no one saw it coming. People were complacent, they thought their friends and their families were always the exception – that they would know if someone close to them was going to become a criminal, but then here was little Izuku who rescued butterflies in the park and helped people carry their groceries.

They were just ordinary people, and no one ever saw it coming.

And hell, maybe he could tell the stories of the victims, too. How they, too, were just ordinary people who lost their lives too soon at the hands of a cop who snapped. He could hunt down some of their family members, learn their stories, their backgrounds, their dreams for the future that never came. Then, maybe, he wouldn’t be accused of sympathising. He could even draw an artsy parallel between Izuku and his victims, the things they had in common and the things that set them apart.

Yeah, that seemed like a good angle. It shouldn’t tread on too many toes, but at the same time, it would give him a chance to use the information he’d gathered.

So, the victims it was. Time for another sleepless night of research, though at least he might find some blue links to click on this time, rather than pore over words he’d already read to death. He had their names from the original newspaper articles, he just had to set his search filters to exclude anything from after their deaths – they’d existed online before the incident, surely, even if it had all been drowned out by the murder in the months since.

Shigaraki Tomura.

That one was the easiest to look up. His father had started it all, had run multiple businesses and started a few charities to go along with it, dedicating his time and money to good causes. Tomura had taken over when his father retired, had continued to expand the businesses and pour more money into the charities, and had all but adopted the group he referred to as his family. After his death, the businesses had quickly fallen into ruin, the charities had closed their doors, and the family had practically ceased to exist. Katsuki knew all this, everyone knew all this, but it seemed like any personal information about the man was wiped after his death. He didn’t have any family remaining, as far as Katsuki could tell, so maybe whoever took over the businesses had decided to wipe it all clean before their inevitable shut down.

He had to admit, though, there was something weird about it.

Himiko Toga.

There was a little more information on that one, photos of a young girl in school uniform, but still it all seemed oddly empty. She’d been a teenager when she died, surely she should have had some kind of a social media presence, right?

On he went, through the names of all six victims, turning up blanks at every turn. He’d never stopped to think about how odd that was, until he’d begun to think about what might have made Izuku snap – was there more to the story than anyone had been told? Was something being hidden from the public? Or was he just falling into Izuku’s trap, letting the guy’s charisma and smile win him over and make him see things that weren’t really there?

With a groan he finally saved his documents, shutting his laptop down and closing the lid with a heavy click. He drummed his fingers on the top, staring at it for a minute, then finally reached for his cellphone. In his list of recent calls sat a long string of numbers he hadn’t bothered to save as a contact, and he tapped on it again, hitting the little green button that made the phone begin to ring.

“This is Bakugou Katsuki, I’d like to schedule another visit with one of your prisoners.”

─────

Katsuki had come prepared, this time. He left his laptop safe at home and his phone in the glove box of his car, he wore a pair of shoes that were easy to kick on and off at the search point, and he made sure everything metal was left behind except for his car keys. It made passing through reception much quicker and easier, and soon he was sitting in the familiar little meeting room, flanked by guards, as they brought in the man with the same bright smile as he’d worn the week before.

“Katsuki!” Izuku grinned, taking his seat with that same wide berth kept between them. “You missed me that much, huh?”

Katsuki snorted, and Izuku laughed brightly, a sound Katsuki had never expected to hear within prison walls. He leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on his knees, and Katsuki flipped his notebook open again.

“I kept getting stuck on what to write,” Katsuki confessed. “There are so many questions I still want answers to, and we didn’t have the time last week. It’s a pain that you can’t have visitors more often, huh?”

“It’s never really mattered before,” Izuku shrugged, smile wobbling a little. “My mother came to visit at first, back when it was once a month, but she uh, she’s gone now. So you’re the first, since then!”

“Your father?”

“He’s um, never been in the picture. He got a job overseas when I was a baby so he used to send money back to us and call and stuff, but then they got divorced and he stopped.”

“Oh. Uh, I’m sorry.”

“No big deal! It’s been a long time, I’m over it!”

“So have you been um, lonely, then? In... here?”

“Not lonely,” Izuku hummed, tipping his head back as he contemplated. “There’s always someone around to talk to, even if they don’t talk back. Everyone is kind of... Apprehensive about me? Probably since I’m a cop, I guess. Or, I was. I’m the type of person who put them in here, so they don’t like me for that, but they’re... Not exactly willing to cross me? I’m okay with them thinking that, though. Keeps me safe, after all.”

“Yeah. Um, about that...”

“It’s okay,” Izuku smiled faintly. “I murdered a bunch of people, I know, you don’t have to talk around it. I killed a whole group even though they were all armed, so the other prisoners don’t want to test me, they were drug dealers and stuff, not violent criminals.”

“They were all armed?” he prompted. “I don’t remember that from the police report.”

Izuku nodded faintly, turning awkward for the first time, and glanced away toward the guards keeping an eye on them. They seemed pretty lax, in Katsuki’s books, but he supposed with someone like Izuku as their charge it was probably pretty easy to sit back and take a break.

“They just... Weren’t the people everyone thought they were,” Izuku said quietly, shrugging. “I um, don’t really want to... Talk about that.”

His eyes darted to the guards again, and Katsuki nodded faintly, flipping a page in his notebook to look at the words he’d inked out over the past week.

“We talked about All Might last week,” Katsuki said instead, watching green eyes dart up. “When you were telling me about work, you said he inspired you to be a hero?”

“Yeah! I loved those comics as a kid. Well, honestly, I still loved them as an adult too. I’m not allowed to get gifts and stuff in here though, if you were planning to bribe me.”

“First of all I was not trying to bribe you,” Katsuki snorted. “Second, I know that. But I did have some spare time this week while I was waiting to see you again, so I did some... Catching up.”

“No way, really?”

“I know it’s not the same, but do you want me to tell you about it?”

“Please!”

His face filled with so much excitement that Katsuki had to look away just to handle it, looking instead at the vague notes he’d made as he went through the series.

“Alright, where do you want me to start?” he asked, his voice softer than usual. “The beginning? Or do you remember where you left off?”

“I’d just read the fight with Toxic Chainsaw! I didn’t see how it ended, though!”

“Oh man you’re in for a ride. Alright, get comfy, nerd.”

Izuku’s eyes shone with a new life as Katsuki regaled him with stories of his childhood heroes, walking him through Katsuki’s personal favourite arc: the search for a successor. He’d found a kid who actually reminded Katsuki of Izuku, all bright-eyed and hopeful, who was just determined to help the world in any way he could. Over the last few arcs he’d passed on all the knowledge he had, they’d fought side by side, and finally, in the midst of saving the kid’s childhood friend, All Might had used up the last of his power.

Izuku’s eyes filled with tears when he heard the words it’s your turn next, and Katsuki paused for a moment, watching him sniffle.

“That’s such a good ending,” he explained, laughing at himself. “Sorry, it’s just so emotional! All those fights together, him trying to live up to All Might’s name and expectations, it’s just a lot, you know?”

“There’s a whole spin-off series now,” Katsuki informed him, glancing at his notes again. “I haven’t read it yet, but it starts with him fighting in a big war and going kind of vigilante on all their asses. Maybe I’ll read it and uh, tell you how it is. Next week?”

“Yeah?” Izuku asked, smile wobbly. “That would be really cool.”

“It’s a date, then. I’ll try to book the same time, so you can... Look forward to it. Take care of yourself until then, okay?”

“Thank you, Katsuki. For everything.”

“My pleasure, thanks for having me.”

Izuku paused as he stood up, glancing at the guards who were moving to cuff him again, and with his voice so low Katsuki could barely hear it, he gave Katsuki a single name.

Shimura Tenko.

Katsuki wrote it down quickly, flashing it at Izuku for confirmation, and then he was gone again, led out into the hall by one of the burly guards. Katsuki waited patiently for the buzzer that said Izuku was gone, then he tucked his notebook back into his bag, giving the guard a quick nod as he stood up to leave.

“Thanks,” he said gruffly, when they got back to the reception area and his keys were handed back to him. “Um, can I book another visit? Next week?”

“Of course, Sir. The same time?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“My pleasure. Have a good weekend.”

“You too.”

As he walked out to his car, his fingers were twitching with the itch to start researching, but he knew sitting in his car on his phone was not the right place for it. He just had to resist until he got home, until he could sit down at his proper workstation and finally do the deep dive he’d been waiting for.

Shimura Tenko...

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