Tabula Rasa (BakuDeku)

05

Rumor Has It

One thing Katsuki's learned after moving into the dorms: trying to have private time outside his room is virtually impossible.

Today he didn't feel like being completely alone, scrolling on Instagram on the couch as he silently revels the dull common room chatter that he's grown to tolerate. He's just trying to exist peacefully for once, but no, of course Denki Kaminari has to come and ruin it all. Per usual.

"Bakugouuu, I wanna show you something!" The electric blond cradles his dented, space gray laptop with both hands to his chest, the rest of the self proclaimed 'bakusquad' barely a step away. Katsuki rolls his eyes and shoves his face even deeper into his phone, a position screaming 'I'm busy!' But Denki being the hardheaded oaf he is, doesn't even pick up on the signal.

"No."

Denki whines like a child, "Awe c'mon, please? I promise you'll find it interesting!" Either way, he makes himself comfortable next to the grumpy teen on the couch. Katsuki has half a mind to kick him off. Or his laptop.

"No."

But he's ignored, of course he is, and the rest of the extras gather around the big screen as well. Denki connects his laptop to the tv via USB cable, letting out a small sound of success when the screen of his computer appears.

"Just so you guys know, this is like, seven months old." Denki warns, and presses play.

"Good Evening, Marilyn." The co-host says with a disgustingly cheesy smile. The reporter's scalp shines through his thinning brown hair despite his best efforts, and his suit looks too small. (Or his neck is just fat.)

"Good Evening Bob!" A jittery blonde waves at the camera in a loud red pencil dress with matching lipstick and nails. She looks annoying, "Today we have a great story for all the listeners back home!"

Bob gives a petty chuckle, "Yes! To the ten people who watch this youtube channel!" This is on youtube? Katsuki eyes the electric blond next to him, what kind if bootleg news report is this?

Marilyn giggles like a school girl and places a dainty hand over Bob's meaty one. Katsuki almost hurls. "Exactly! Today we have more insight on the mysterious villain, alias Deku, that has been rampaging in the streets as of late, and recently seen with the League of Villains? Stay tuned to find out more!"

Interest piqued.

Then a shitty theme song plays, but Katsuki doesn't care. His interest peaks the second he heard that childhood nickname come out of that preppy reporters mouth.

Denki shoves the laptop farther in his face, "See? Wanna watch now?" Katsuki swats him away, but his crimson eyes never leave the screen.

"Shut up and listen, Short Circuit." Denki huffs, and places the laptop in between his crossed legs.

"So," Bob says, getting them back on track (from what? Katsuki doesn't know, because Denki was busy running his big ass mouth.) "As some of you may know, there's a new, mysterious menace in the streets."

"And Daddy in the sheets?" Marilyn finishes, "A recent photo has been leaked of this new villain, who the public now refers to as Deku, after the incident in Fukushima last month." Multiple shots of the same scene appear on screen: Deku, written in big bold letters on a wall in blood. No wonder they don't have any subscribers, Katsuki thinks. These photos are gross.

Then a photo of Deku's face appears, but it's nothing special. He's just in a dark green sweatshirt, leaning against a wall, looking just as tired and bored as he always does. "Oh wow," Bob says in amazement, Katsuki scoffs, "He's just a kid!"

"I know," Marilyn fawns, like she's talking about some big hotshot superhero, "But this kid was caught doing some dirty business with some pretty nasty grown ups the other night."

Bob pushes his glasses against his nose and shuffles his papers around, "Ah yes, The League of Villains. They're definitely a rowdy bunch."

"Yep! And nothing's more terrifying than a bunch of S-ranked and A-ranked villains meeting in the same place!" She winks at the camera excitedly, like she's happy for them or something. Like Deku's having a fucking baby.

"What is Deku? B-Ranked?"

"Nope! S-Ranked!" She cheers, making Katsuki rolls his eyes. Is the excitement necessary? He's a fucking villain.

"Really? But he's so new to the game...?"

"He derailed a train, Bob." Bob gives the camera a cheesy gasp. Marilyn laughs it off. Katsuki rolls his eyes, that has to be a rumor, "Anyway, back to the facts you don't know! Bob, take it from here."

"Yes!" His voice is loud and energetic. So loud, that the feedback in the room beings to pitch. It dies down quickly, but now Katsuki's ears are ringing. Why didn't they edit that out?

Bob shuffles his papers around again, and continues like nothing happened, "How to know if your murdered family members have targeted by an S-ranked villain. More specifically, Deku." Did they get this off Buzzfeed?

"All of Deku's victims have something in common: They're all men, and roughly in their mid 30s. He also cuts all their arms off."

"Oh! Gruesome!" Marilyn jokes, and lets out a hearty laugh. Bob jumps when she slaps the table in her amused stupor. Gesturing to the timid man next to her, Bob's mentally realigns himself as he focuses back on the paper in front of him.

"The autopsy reports say his victims arms seem to be torn off, not the usual clean cut you'd get from a knife...This is terrible!" Bob shakes his head and puts the paper down, "I can't read any more."

Marilyn pouts, and Katsuki's starting to wonder if there isn't just coffee in her Worlds Best Reporter's mug, "Awe, but you're missing all the juicy details! There's a common rumor that Deku actually killed his mo-"

There's a beep and the TV winks to black. Denki groans and gets up to see who was interrupting their nightly entertainment. (Big emphasis on their, Katsuki's not enjoying this one bit.)

"What are you doing?" The snarl is deep, raspy and unfamiliar. Katsuki turns around to see Deku gripping the remote so hard his fingers turn white, burning emerald eyes look at them with pure rage. A completely unrelated shiver runs down Katsuki's spine.

Eijirou rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry, dude. We shouldn't have watched it without your permission..." but Deku's trembling now, like all Eijirou's words did is douse the angry flames in butane. Katsuki scoffs.

"Oh come on, it's fucking public information! Why the fuck are you shaking, you did it." Mina lets out an offended noise for the greenette and slaps the Katsuki on the arm, but the Deku's face is already red and puffy with anger as he bores holes into Katsuki's forehead. He's shaking like an angry, green leaf in the wind, the water bottle in his left hand swelling under the pressure.

"Oh? And should I add one more death to that list?" The greenette hisses through grit teeth.

Katsuki pushes himself onto his feet and barks out a laugh, "Because a nerd like you has any chance of hurting someone like me." Hands smoking, he smiles down on the greenette and raises a condescending eyebrow. The old Deku would've never talked back to his precious Kacchan like this before, and Katsuki'd be lying if he said it isn't exhilarating. Like, rollercoaster exhilarating, "Well?"

Deku's grip around the plastic water bottle tightens so until his fist shakes, and then the cap bursts, spraying water everywhere. (AKA: all over the green idiot.)

Instead of getting angry, Deku's shoulders relax and his face reverts to it's normal, pale color once again, "You're lucky I had a water bottle. You might not be so fortunate next time, Kacchan." It's a casual threat, but one that puts a bitter feeling in Katsuki's mouth. Calm, Deku crushes the remote into technical bits, chucks it over to Denki and turns on his heel with the grace of a ballerina. "Whatever. I've got better shit to do."

Better shit to do? What's more important to do other than Katsuki?

Absolutely nothing. That's what.

"Oi! Get back here you fucking nerd!" But by the time Katsuki storms after him, the fuckers already on the elevator.