What was Bakugo's dead last ranked kidnapping experience?
Hm, this is something I’ve talked about in the discord before, but I think his lowest ranked one would actually be the worst one. It has the shortest section in his kidnapping notebook, and it’s the one he’s least willing to talk about.
Warning, this gets pretty triggery. I know a lot of Katsuki kidnappings have been decently lighthearted, but this is a bit of a darker take on the whole situation.
This one is his lowest ranked one, not because the kidnappers were bad at kidnapping (though they kind of were), but because it’s the one he hated the most and while he tries not to think about it too much, he still found every little flaw in it afterwards to justify it being the lowest on his list. He hates thinking about it, he hates talking about it, and even the memories sneak up on him from time to time.
As fucked up as it is, Katsuki could handle all his other kidnappings. Violence, people refusing to respect him when he says no, having to fight for his own freedom and right to choice, all of that is comfortingly familiar to him. If anything, escaping his kidnappings often made him feel skilled and powerful. But not this one.
This one isn’t one that’s discovered by the heroes. They might learn about it afterwards, but they aren’t the ones to discover it. This one is discovered by the villains.
Katsuki’s been kidnapped for a second time, only this time it’s by the new and improved league of villlians. They’ve got a lot more people running around now, and rescuing him and/or him escaping is going to be a lot harder. The PLF even has some of Katsuki’s former kidnappers helping out, and they’ve learned their lessons with him. Honestly a lot of the league is a bit freaked out when they find out how many times Katsuki has been kidnapped and how young, but he’s mostly just pissy/proud of it. He’ll talk shit at his former kidnappers running around, he’ll bitch at the league members, he’ll spit in Tomura’s face. Kid’s not scared of anything.
Hawks is hanging around and keeping an eye on Katsuki, but despite being horrified, he can’t do anything without blowing his cover. All he can do is watch Katsuki from a distance and pray the kid makes it out okay. Dabi’s pretty impressed with Katsuki overall, while Tomura’s mostly frustrated that he’s not getting his way. This goes on for a few days, and then someone new comes to visit Katsuki.
This guy’s been with the PLF for awhile, and he isn’t particularly high ranking but he is considered decently powerful. He’d mentioned having met Katsuki previously, but nobody in the higher ranks thought much of it. None of them really knew him or had a strong opinion on him. When the guy comes down to visit Katsuki’s cell, Dabi’s already down there, mostly just annoying Katsuki since it’s fun, while Hawks is watching them from a safe location. The guy saunters in, greeting Katsuki with a smirk on his face and saying it’s been awhile. Katsuki’s prior kidnappers have visited him before, and it was never a big deal, but something’s different this time.
Katsuki freezes up as the guy enters him and gets unnecessarily close to him, and then goes feral trying to get the fuck away from and/or deal some damage to the guy.
Dabi kicks the guy out near instantly after that, stepping out of the cell himself to catch his breath and give Katsuki a second. Hawks is confused and really worried because he has never seen Katsuki react to someone like that. None of them have.
After taking a minute to collect himself and think what just happened over, Dabi gets a murderous mood about him that he takes a few deep breaths to control, before he steps back in the cell. Katsuki is obviously relieved to see him (and only him), although that quickly fades to fear/aggression completely unlike anything Dabi (or anyone else for that matter) has seen from him previous. Sure, Dabi’s been playing the big bad villain game with this kid for awhile, all of them have been poking at him and making various threats, for fuck sake the kid is obviously in a dangerous situation, but up until this point Katsuki had been handling all of this decently calmly. He’d faced them down without a hint of fear, but all that guy did was show up and he lost his shit.
Dabi pretty much already knows what happened. He wishes that he didn’t, but he knows the signs. Katsuki hasn’t been afraid of any of the shit that’s going down. Violence and pain don’t scare the kid, which leaves very few things left for a kidnapper who needed him alive to have done. It’s obvious in how Katsuki is now watching Dabi’s hands extremely closely, in how he’s curled up and his teeth are bared, and how he’s staying as far away from Dabi as possible. The guy didn’t just scare Katsuki, but his presence fundamentally shifted the situation and made Katsuki scared of Dabi because of what Katsuki now considers possible. It sickens Dabi to his core.
“What the fuck did he do to you kid?”
“Fuck off. It’s none of your fucking business.”
Katsuki’s shaking, it’s a fine tremble, but it’s there.
After weighing that statement for a moment, Dabi sighs.
“Kid, you’ve had prior kidnappers in here day in and day out and the most you’ve done is bitched them out. Fuck, I’ve kidnapped you before and you were more pissed off than anything else. Yet that guy just walks in and you lost your damn mind.”
A beat passes, and more quietly he adds, “Listen, kid, I know we’re the bad guys and all that, but there are some fucking lines you don’t cross. Ever.”
Then he tilts his head to catch Katsuki’s gaze, blue holding red steadily, so the kid can see that he means it when he asks again,
“What’d he do to you kid?”
Maybe it’s easier because Katsuki doesn’t care what Dabi thinks of him. Or maybe it’s easier because Dabi kicked the guy out earlier. Or maybe Katsuki is just that fucking tired. Regardless of the why, Katsuki tells Dabi a secret he hasn’t told anyone else. Hasn’t been able to tell anyone else because of overwhelming shame and wanting to forget it ever happened.
He doesn’t spell it out for Dabi. He doesn’t need to.
“I was 11.” And those three little words mean so fucking much.
“He said I was pretty for a boy.”
There’s venom in his tone, hatred and fear mixing together.
“I was already in chains and on some weird fucking drugs.”
Katsuki spits out the last line, and doesn’t say anything else. He can’t. His body is shaking with long suppressed trauma, and Dabi really wants to fucking hug the kid but he knows damn well that that’s an awful idea, so instead he takes a few deep breaths to push down his own murderous rage, and moves a bit closer. Not close enough to scare, but close enough to murmur soothing words as Katsuki sobs silently. It takes a bit for Katsuki to calm down, but Dabi waits with him until the tears have been shed and he’s quiet.
Outside the cell, watching on a camera system perhaps, Hawks is shaking too. Mostly with rage. He waits though. He waits until Dabi gets the kid calm and steps out of the cell.
While Dabi was inside the cell, he’d been soft and calm, rather unlike his usual self. Outside the cell he’s still calm, but it’s a deadly, near demonic calm that falls over him. He doesn’t say anything, just gestures for Hawks to follow him, and Hawks does without comment or hesitation.
Dabi pauses just long enough to shoot off a quick series of text messages, and then he’s on the prowl. People scrabble to get out of his way as he makes his way through the base. These people have seen Dabi in dangerous moods, but it’s nothing compared to the sheer rage surrounding him now. Nor have they ever seen Hawks embracing his predatory hero name quite so thoroughly.
Now, let it be said that Hawks has never believed in murdering people in revenge. But he’s playing the role of a double agent, and sometimes that means doing morally dubious things. The Hero Commission told him to do whatever it takes after all.
That’s his excuse anyways as red feathers fly out from his wings to pin the guy down the moment he enters their line of sight. He doesn’t smile. He takes no pleasure in watching what happens next. But there’s no sympathy, guilt or remorse in his heart as he watches what happens next.
The whole event is bloody, public, it takes near and hour before the guy is dead. Tomura shows up near the end, having been busy elsewhere before he got Dabi’s texts. He cleans up the body without a word, vanishing the mess without a trace left behind of what just happened. Then he turns tp the shell-shocked crowd with disdain in his eyes, and in a few words, he makes the PLF’s stance on those that take advantage of children extraordinarily clear. With that, he thanks Dabi for taking care of the situation so promptly, and more quietly asks him to offer his apologies to Katsuki that such a man was ever allowed among their ranks, let alone then allowed to interact with Katsuki again. Obviously, Dabi is more then happy to do so.
When he goes back to Katsuki’s cell, he doesn’t tell Katsuki that he killed the guy. Honestly, he would’ve let the kid have a go at it and kill him himself, but Katsuki’s still got that whole hero thing going on, which means he’s got an issue with murder, so he figured the less emotional trauma on him the better. Instead, he tells Katsuki that the man has been removed from the PLF’s ranks in a tone of voice that says a lot. Katsuki doesn’t ask any questions, and he doesn’t thank Dabi for it, but he stops flinching back when Dabi moves in his cell, and his eyes lose that fearful edge to them. That speaks volumes on it’s own, and as far as Dabi’s concerned, it’s a victory.
Not too long after that, the heroes find and rescue Katsuki. There’s less of a fight put up by the villains to keep him this time around. And if Dabi happens to know Hawks was the one who leaked the kid’s location, well, he keeps that info to himself. He might just so happen to let it slip to the heroes that Katsuki’s been kidnapped before. Not saying too much of course, but enough to get them to investigate, enough that he hopes the kid might tell someone who can really help him someday. He might also happen to do a bit of investigation himself, into those that had previously kidnapped Katsuki. It’s good to keep an eye on your competition after all, and if he takes out a few others, well nobody’s gonna miss ‘em. All of that’s his business, and the rest of the league is certainly not going to be the one to get in his way.
