Walk of Shame
It was close to noon when the insistent beeping sound of his phone woke him up from his peaceful slumber; he didn’t remember a time he slept so well, but his comfort soon gave place to the pain that spread all over his waist and hips when he moved to stand.
He pushed away the covers to take a better look at the aching area and realized it was indeed covered in bruises; a moment later, memories from the past night hit him like a truck, bringing along a turmoil of feelings, the most tangible one being the guilt he felt for letting that happen.
He looked around the room twice to find out he was all by himself; apparently his “date” from last night already erased each and every trace he had once been there.
Izuku sighed tiredly.
Since the messages beeping on his phone wouldn’t cease, he decided to worry about himself later and answer whoever it was, sleepily rubbing his face and being met with a flood of texts from Uraraka and Iida - mostly Uraraka - on his phone.
Now more awake, the greenette froze. He didn’t know how long he had been asleep for that morning and didn’t want to worry his friends, nobody would know if he ended up in the hands of a psychopath after all.
As soon as he started to type in a reply, a call from Uraraka rang on his phone.
“Hi, Uraraka.” He greeted her sleepily.
“Izuku! I’ve been trying to talk to you the whole morning! Where are you?!” The girl didn’t try to mask her impatience or worry.
“Well… home.” The boy answered slowly.
Uraraka sighed relieved on the other end. “You had me so worried… but tell me: how was last night? Did you have fun?” She asked suggestively.
“I, uh… Well, I’m not sure.” He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his tone.
“What happened…? Don’t tell me, he took up all his stuff and vanished in the morning, didn’t he?”
“Well…”
Uraraka sighed tiredly. “Izuku, what else did you expect from a stranger you met at a dance club?”
“I know, I know… I just- I feel guilty for letting that happen.”
“I know… I’m sorry about that, I didn’t want you to lose your-”
“Is okay.” Izuku cut her off impatiently.
“I know how important that is, your first time should be special… but you wore a condom, right?”
“Uraraka-!”
“You have to tell me that one, you know that's important.”
Izuku hesitated; even though he didn’t want to get into details, he should at least tell his best friend and worry her a bit less. “Yes… we did.”
“That makes me a bit more relieved… Take care, will ya? Try not to think too much into it.”
“I’ll try… See you later.”
“Bye.”
Setting his phone aside, Izuku sighed one last time to lament himself; he couldn't help but think about that. What was he thinking? Even though he was perfectly sober, he simply invited a complete stranger into his house and let him do as he pleased, what a great way of losing something as precious as his virginity.
The greenette stood difficulty with his whole body aching and headed towards the bathroom to wash himself from the previous night, he needed it after all. Only did he wish for the warm water to wash away that mix of angsty feelings as well.
As the week went by, guilt and shame still took him over; it wasn't as if he would forget that so easily and, even though it was a secret kept within four walls, for Izuku, he couldn't walk out on the streets confidently.
He knew it was psychological, the idea that strangers on the streets would see the marks on his body under his clothes was entirely in his head, but he couldn't help but worry. He felt like that stranger in the club had taken all his worth away from him, as if he was a cheap hooker and he even gave himself in for free, what else could the greenette think of himself?
Those intrusive thoughts drove him to the brink of freaking out, so Izuku tried to get his mind busy, he would spend more time with his friends who expressed all their support, Iida himself was particularly worried to learn what happened to young Midoriya; his house chores were also never left to do, he was always getting himself busy with buying groceries, cooking, cleaning and whatnot and, whenever he had some free time, he got himself busy with his fashion designs, he was about to start on a big company after all, and it wasn't some strange tramp who would take something like that away from him.
“Midoriya, could you take the new collection's designs to Bakugou?” His coworker asked as she approached his cubicle.
“Oh, sure! On it, Hagakure.” Izuku agreed right away as he took the clipboard with the sketches.
The greenette walked with full confidence towards his boss’ office, it was his first time seeing him after all, so he expected to make a good first impression; as he walked the long hallway towards his secretary, however, he strangely felt an inevitable uneasiness.
“Good afternoon!” Izuku greeted the secretary with a bow. “I'm here to turn in the new collection's designs.”
“Oh, sure! I'll let Bakugou know you're here.” The secretary of intense red hair turned to his headset.
Izuku waited to have access and entered his boss' office. “Excuse m-” He couldn't finish the sentence; as he saw that face that haunted his thoughts, Izuku almost dropped the clipboard and stared with his mouth agape.
He had been wondering as to why the stranger in the club didn't tell him his surname, trying to keep a double life, perhaps?
Katsuki was writing something on a sheet of paper in front of him and he finally looked up upon finishing the task, for he noticed that whoever was bothering him didn't even finish the sentence and saw that slightly familiar face staring back at him, mortified.
“May I help you?” He asked impatiently.
“Uh…” Izuku held back his tears and cleaned his throat; that was his boss, he maybe should take the chance that the blonde didn't recognize him and keep his personal life out of his professional life. “I-I brought the… designs for the new collection.”
“Huh…? Speak up, I can't hear your mumbling.”
The greenette jolted at the stern tone of voice. “Well I… I mean…” He gathered all his strengths to look into those scarlet orbs that pierced impatiently into him. “Y-you… don't remember me…?”
Katsuki quirked a brow, staring at him in spite. “Should I?”
Izuku had to gather up all his strengths not to cry this time. He really shouldn't expect more from a stranger he met at a dance club, but he couldn't help but feel hurt.
The blonde man sighed heavily, impatient. “How long are you standing there for? If you got work to do, you better do it before I-”
Izuku looked up confusedly, Katsuki suddenly cut himself off and was holding the left side of his chest with an agonized expression on his face as tears threatened to sprout.
For a moment there, Izuku felt worried; could he be having a heart attack right then?
“Katsuki!” The redheaded secretary ran into the room towards his boss and tried to calm him down.
“W-what’s happening…? Should we call an ambulance?!” The greenette asked.
“No! No… is okay. It’s just a condition he has.” The redhead explained.
“And can I… do something to help?”
“No, it's okay. Thank you but I’ll take it from here… you can leave the clipboard on my desk, I’ll take care of it later.” The redhead instructed as he tried to ease his boss’ heavy breathing.
Izuku hesitated for a moment before turning back with one last glance behind and finally did as he was told.
Really, that situation couldn’t get any weirder; he tried not to think much about all that and went back to his cubicle after leaving the clipboard on the secretary’s desk. Only did he hope for his position in the new job not to be at risk after what happened…
At the office, Katsuki bent his body with a strong, sharp pain in his chest, trying to control his emotions in vain.
“This is bad… it wasn’t supposed to happen today!” Eijirou exclaimed, worried.
“Tell me something I don’t know…!” His friend complained difficultly.
“There’s something wrong… I think we should go see aunt Mitsuki.” The redhead suggested to win a furious glare from his friend, Eijirou sighed. “This is serious, Katsuki… There's something wrong! Work can wait, right now we just need to take care of you.”
Katsuki fell silent in defeat and then let Eijirou hold onto him and, together, they teleported to his mother’s house in Hell.
When they suddenly showed up in front of the gates, they got the help from some servants working on the garden to take the cupid to the front door and, with the commotion outside, a butler went to investigate to see his master being dragged through the stone path towards the mansion.
“Master Katsuki!” The butler exclaimed worriedly as he ran up to help.
They all took him to the sumptuous fireplace room where they laid him on one of the large couches. They barely had time to call Mitsuki, she herself showed up in the room out of curiosity from the commotion she heard.
“What’s going on here?” She asked worriedly as she saw her son in the middle of a breakdown on the couch.
“Aunt Mitsuki! It’s the curse…” Eijirou exclaimed in panic. “It’s taking effect out of the period, I don’t know what’s-!”
“Calm down, Eijirou.” Mitsuki tried to tranquilize him with an affectionate touch on his shoulder before crouching in front of her son who agonized on the couch. “I need details, what happened before the fit?”
“I-I don’t know…” Eijirou ran his fingers through his long, red hair and wetted his lips as he forced himself to remember. “We were at work… I just remember letting an employee get in the office and, before I noticed, he was having a fit! I don’t know what happened in there, I-!”
Mitsuki raised a hand, signaling for Eijirou to go silent and calm down, she then sighed tiredly as she turned to her son who glared at her with anger in his tear-filled eyes.
The Succubus got up slowly, not taking her eyes off Katsuki. “Do you think you can still get in contact with the employee?” She asked Eijirou.
“W-well… I guess so, why?” The redhead stuttered as he tried to stay calm.
“Well, if the curse is taking effect out of the period, it could only mean that he refused his-”
“DON’T START IT, YOU OLD HAG!!!” Katsuki yelled loudly, cutting off his mother’s speech.
Mitsuki sighed to try and control her anger. “Katsuki, you know the prophecy…! Every cupid has a human soulmate, or did you think that it’d be different for you? Do you really think that, for some miracle, you’d be an exception?!”
Katsuki glared at her furiously, that was the worst time for a reality check from his mother.
“A-aunt Mitsuki?!” Eijirou exclaimed, shocked by the lack of consideration at a time like that.
“I’m sorry, but it was about time for him to listen!” Mitsuki crossed her arms impatiently. “Being a cupid doesn’t make you any special, Katsuki! You still need to remember that you have your responsibilities and you must fulfill them…! I know it’s not an easy task and that the curse you hold only makes us lose hope in humans as cupids… trust me, I know that better than anyone! But you need to quit your stubbornness, kid. The prophecy is real and we’re all fated to it, you have to accept it!”
Katsuki widened his eyes as shocked as Eijirou in the middle of her speech before contorting his face in spite. “And what should I do…? Let that human betray me like any other?!” He said difficultly in the middle of his fit.
“Katsuki-”
“No!” The cupid cut his mother off. “Humans are a cancer that plagues the surface! I know… they have no hope! Every couple I joined has done all of the bad and the worst that humanity is capable of… Divorces over the stupidest excuses there are, cheating, rape… and then, who suffers the consequences of their actions is me! I will not trust any of them!”
Mitsuki opened her mouth to argue, but Eijirou spoke over her. “But don’t you think you could at least try and get close to him, Katsubro? Maybe give him a chance, or do you really want to keep feeling the pain of so many broken hearts?”
“What? Just for that little shit to trick me afterwards?!” Katsuki shouted in a nosy voice.
“Has your father ever tricked aunt Mitsuki, by any chance?” Eijirou said sternly.
There was no argument for that, Katsuki grit his teeth in defeat and inevitably started to consider the pros and cons of the situation.
He really couldn’t trust a human so easily, but the pain of the curse was no fun either. If that human really was his soulmate, he maybe could try and approach him, at least to try and avoid the effects.
The Incubus sighed heavily in defeat. ”Let’s go back, Ei.” He ordered.
Eijirou sighed inaudibly and helped his friend to stand before teleporting them both back to his office in the human world; Mitsuki, on her end, could only watch disappointed as her son and his friend vanished from sight before shaking her head.
Katsuki still had a lot to learn as a cupid and, for the looks of it, he would learn it the hardest way.
In his cubicle, Izuku sniffled as he tried his best to hold back his tears and keep his mind away from intrusive thoughts. He knew he couldn’t hope for much, still, he couldn’t help but feel hurt.
Not only was he used and thrown away like a sex toy, his job could also be at grave danger; he was watching his social and professional life go downhill and all of that because he couldn’t hold himself back.
He didn’t even know what gave into him, he wasn't used to frequenting dance clubs and, on the first time he stepped into one, he threw common sense out the window and let a stranger take advantage of him to vanish right after, a stranger who, ironically, was now his boss… Just how cruel could be fate, after all?
“Midoriya.” An anxious voice startled him out of his numb state of mind and he quickly turned to his coworker. “... Is everything okay?”
Izuku quickly wiped his last few tears, trying his best to look presentable then turned back to her. “Y-yes… I’m okay, Hagakure… What is it?”
“Bakugou wants you in his office… 'seems to be important.”
Izuku sighed shakily; he knew what he should expect from that situation, it was no help.
Deciding to feel sorry for himself later, he turned back to his coworker. “Thank you… I’m on it.” He said, standing up slowly.
“Don’t take too long, Kirishima looked very wary.”
“Of course… thanks for telling me.”
Hagakure looked towards where her new coworker left worriedly, he walked slowly and distracted, as if dragging himself through death’s corridor; if something happened between him and the boss, she knew exactly what to expect from that.
Entering the elevator, Izuku selected the last floor and waited, barely paying attention to the floors going by through the visor; he sighed in frustration, maybe if the elevator breaks, he wouldn’t complain. He knew he was just trying to delay the inevitable, but getting fired on the first week of his dream job is sure to let anyone down.
He felt sick to his stomach as he made it to the top floor, and took so long to step out of the cabin that the door almost closed itself in front of him. Walking along the long hallway up to the boss’ room, he had a glimpse of the secretary anxiously bouncing a leg on his desk chair, he soon hopped up on his feet when he spot that familiar green dot approaching.
Izuku hesitated briefly before getting closer, the secretary was already heading up to the office’s door and opening it so that Izuku could go through.
“Thank you for coming, Midoriya! Bakugou is waiting for you, come in!” Said the anxious redhead.
Izuku simply nodded and went through the door mumbling “thank you” to the secretary, entering the room to see the blonde man holding a hostile expression and looking slightly drained due to his previous fit.
Izuku gulped as he heard the door close behind him, he wanted to speak up but Bakugou was soon jerking his head at the two chairs in front of his desk, silently demanding him to sit, which he did hesitantly.
“You joined the company recently, correct…?” Bakugou spoke in monotone and paused to check something on a paper in his hand before speaking up again. “Deku… Midoriya, right?”
“Izuku.” The greenette corrected with a sigh.
Bakugou eyed him boredly before leaning back on the office chair. “Well… formalities aside, I want you to know that I don’t usually give newbies a special treatment, much less someone who joined less than a week ago.”
Izuku balled his fists on his lap, hoping for the worst out of that speech.
“But I won't lie… you have potential.”
The greenette’s eyes shot straight back up, did he hear that correctly? “I… do…?” He said uncertainly, especially upon noticing the sarcastic tone in his boss’ voice.
“Yeah, in a way.” Bakugou ignored him to take a look at the clipboard with the sketches that the small one had handed in earlier.
Izuku stared at him with his mouth agape as he waited for him to finish. Could that be some sort of game? Did Katsuki remember him after all and was now planning something to trick him? Those questions mixed confusedly in his mind, especially given his boss’ persistent sarcastic tone, making him sound more like he was complimenting Izuku against his own will.
“I couldn’t help but notice the designs you brought earlier… I must confess that yours stand out from the others.” Bakugou spoke up, not taking his eyes off the clipboard in his hands. “I also checked your performance of the last few days.” He set down the clipboard and turned to his computer’s screen. “You didn’t have time to do anything to stand out much, right? But you did have a performance that stood out from your coworkers… Let’s just say you have potential.”
“I-I do what I can… What do you mean by all that?” Izuku asked cautiously to receive an intimidating look from his boss and froze.
“Very well, I guess we can head straight to business…” Katsuki leaned forward, intertwining his fingers over his desk. “I need another secretary to join Kirishima, and I want you for the job.”
That definitely caught the greenette off-guard. “Huh…?”
“Did I stutter?” Katsuki said impatiently.
“Me-? I mean… be the boss’ secretary is like a promotion, I thought that-”
“You thought what?” Bakugou asked him confusedly.
Izuku gulped; apparently Katsuki really did not remember him at all, he only didn’t know the reason for that promotion.
The freckled one sighed in the failed attempt to hide his hurt feelings before opening his mouth. “Well… I may not have experience on the job, but I won't lie that being accepted into this company has always been my dream, I-” Looking up, Izuku had to cut himself off under his boss’ intimidating stare who exhaled impatient through his nose; he gulped before finishing his speech. “I- will do my best!”
“That’s what I hoped to hear…” Bakugou leaned behind on his chair and stared at him from under his nose. “You start tomorrow, Kirishima will pass you the details; you can go back to your cubicle for now, I want you at my reach.”
That last part caught him off-guard; Izuku felt a strong nausea and had to hold himself back not to freak out in front of his boss who went back to his businesses right away, ignoring him completely until remembering his presence. “‘Still here?” He asked severely.
“Oh! Sorry, is just that…” He hesitated briefly as he eyed Katsuki’s stern look. “There’s… nothing else?”
“Do you want me to spell it out for you? You’re dismissed for now.”
“Well, okay!” Izuku stood up abruptly with a stiff bow. “Thank you very much for the opportunity, mi-mister Bakugou!”
Without another word, the greenette quickly left through the door and almost slammed it shut as he ran up to the elevator, startling Kirishima on his way out.
He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or have a nervous breakdown, he anxiously finished his work for the day before going back home to fall under an agitated slumber. That was the last thing he expected to happen to him, if Katsuki did remember him or not, it would remain a mystery, only did Izuku hope for Katsuki not to take advantage of his good will now that he got a promotion to work right beside him.
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