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Once Again from Better Days

Katsuki wakes to find himself reset. It's a time when quirks are just starting, and he only remembers a bit about happened before. He remembers enough to know Deku is someone he hurt a lot. He remembers enough to know he had to watch Deku fall. He remembers enough to try to make things better this time. ----- This is a KatsuDeku story, which means it is shounen ai/malexmale. Please keep this in mind before reading. There will also plenty of blood/gore/violence. ----- Also posted on Ao3 and wattpad.

limesicle · Anime & Comics
Not enough ratings
74 Chs

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Katsuki makes it to the cafeteria about halfway through lunch, which means that he has to awkwardly dodge the questions about where he was and what he was doing. Kaminari asks him if he was in the bathroom crying because Izuku ditched him. And while he wants to strangle Kaminari, it does bring an end to the interrogation. 

He spends the rest of the day sticking as close to Izuku as he can and glaring at 20th. She doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. With his concentration split between watching Izuku and watching Toga, he hardly has anything left to devote to what he's actually supposed to be doing. As a result, when Sero taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, Katsuki grabs his arm and throws him on reflex. Being in the hero course and all, Sero only ends up with a couple of bruises, but All Might scolds him for being distracted.

Izuku notices, too, of course. But he waits until they're done with the exercises and in the changing rooms to say anything.

"Kacchan, did something happen?" he asks.

"No," Katsuki answers quickly.

If Izuku is suspicious, he doesn't say anything. Instead he turns his attention to getting out of his gym uniform. Katsuki tries to make himself relax, but his mind is still on high alert and the day isn't quite over. He does such a bad job of putting himself into a normal mental state that he only has his shirt half-buttoned by the time Izuku is fully changed. Katsuki hurries to finish.

Once they're away from the walls of UA and on the way home, Izuku tries to ask him again. 

"Kacchan, you've been really...distracted lately, is there something you're worried about?" he tries.

"No," he snaps. If Izuku wasn't sure before, he certainly is now. Shit.

"If you don't want to tell me just say so." There's an annoyed edge to Izuku's voice.

Katsuki doesn't respond immediately. He doubts that Izuku would understand his suspicion even if he wanted to try and explain it.

"It's really nothing," Katsuki says. He's met with one of Izuku's worried looks. "Stop that."

He flicks Izuku in the forehead where the crease between his eyebrows is. That earns him a noise of complaint and an attempted jab in the ribs. Izuku looks entirely unconvinced but drops the subject all the same.

They part ways once they reach the apartment building. Katsuki shuts the door to his room so he can think properly, but he only has a few pieces of Toga's story. It's not enough. He doesn't even know what her quirk is. Her disguise could be due to her quirk or someone else's or maybe she's just good with make up–he doesn't remember her face well enough to be able to tell.

That night, his dreams are disturbing. 20th appears as she does at school. Then she morphs into Toga, her face blurry except for the manic grin on her lips. There's blood, too. So much blood. Blood that he realizes is his. It runs down his neck and the palm he presses to it comes away red. When he looks up, the same crimson stains Toga's smile. His head starts to spin and he falls to the ground. The scene changes. Rubble is scattered across the floor, and he finds himself in the place where so many of his nightmares occur–where his worst memories are. 

He's pinned down by a weight on his back. He manages to twist his neck far enough to see Toga. Her face is already spattered with blood and the school uniform she usually wears is in tatters. Her fingers grip a short silver knife, its edge already stained with gore. Katsuki  has just enough time to see her smile widen before the blade flashes and he wakes up in cold sweat. It takes a minute to acclimate to the dark stillness of his room. He tries to analyze his dreams for clues, because his nightmares are mixed with memories, but nothing comes of it.

The week comes to a close, and he's not any closer to proving her guilty. He comes in fifth in the class ranking, which he blames on being distracted. But still, it's a shitty score, and he catches Izuku giving him concerned looks for the rest of the day.