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Katsuki’s pissed. He stomps angrily through the hall, the echo of his heavy steps his only companion. It’s his third time this week going across this dreadful hallway and it’s always as unpleasant as the first time.
Thick metal doors line the sides with small rectangle windows that only get opened during mealtimes, otherwise, the hall is barren. Not even a fake potted plant for some kind of decoration – not that Katsuki needs it. Katsuki doesn’t even know half of the residents in this part of the building he works at but somehow, behind a very specific door at the end of the hall on the left side, trouble always beckons him.
“You just don’t know when to stop, huh, you half and half bastard!?” Katsuki screams upon swinging the heavy door open, his anger and momentum causing the thick slab of metal to slam against the concrete wall. For someone of his size, he’s still dense and can pack a punch when needed.
That’s exactly why he chose this place to further his career. Being a nurse in a regular hospital is stressful enough as it is but Katsuki wants to challenge himself. Go to where no sane nurse would pick for themselves unless they’re masochists (and that’s a thought that Katsuki wouldn’t even dare unpack).
“Whatever do you mean, Katsuki? Aren’t you just doing your job?”
Katsuki’s ire increases tenfold at the nonchalant yet teasing tone of the asshole in front of him.
Todoroki Shouto, the nation’s top 3rd villain, a yakuza boss whose quirk can cause great devastation with his powerful control over ice and fire. Shouto, who is now strapped on his back, quirk cancelling reinforced metal straps holding him down, his arms strapped together in a quirk cancelling metal cage, looks as put together as he always is. He’s supposed to look pitiful and weak now that he’s restrained – Katsuki always thought that the villains here always are whenever they get stripped off their powers.
But not Shouto. Shouto who still has that smug look on his face, eyes cool and passive, and somehow, despite being held down unflatteringly, he still manages to exude this aura of authority. Katsuki hates him. Hates him even more now that he still looks so unbothered despite the gnarly gash running down his side to the point that Katsuki can see the way the flesh rips like how it would from a blunt blade. Blood is running down to the floor, a bucket is situated where the blood drips, catching what it can.
The floor is relatively clear of blood, presumably mopped by the guards who got into a scuffle with Shouto in the first place. Useless assholes don’t know when to set aside their pride and never let the prisoners get in their nerves.
And now they leave it to Katsuki to do the dirty work after strapping the criminal back onto the table. To think Shouto just got released from it yesterday morning for ‘good behavior’. Katsuki thinks the people in this high security prison is already not worth saving and rehabilitating – especially not someone like Shouto whose ego is as big as this fucking island prison.
“Don’t call me by my fucking first name, you bastard,” Katsuki hisses with venom as he slams the door back closed. He grabs the nurse’s cart innocently lying around on one corner of the room, his supplies already ready for use. Katsuki clicks his tongue.
“But you willingly gave it to me that one time, no? So of course, I have the right to use it now.”
“You have the least rights here right now,” Katsuki scoffs, choosing instead to ignore the bait rather than risk getting his blood pressure higher than it already is. He can’t shout for the nth time that Shouto basically forced his name out of him. It was always against Katsuki’s will.
Katsuki walks towards Shouto, muscle memory working its magic as he begins his preparations. He puts on his surgical mask and his gloves, mindful of his sanitation. Even though he’s a nurse for the most deplorable human beings and mutants in the country, he still made his oath to save and support these people with his medical skills. Unfortunately. And Katsuki’s own sense of work ethic won’t let him half-ass his job no matter how much he wants to.
“You’re not going to numb me?” Shouto asks curiously with a raised brow as Katsuki comes closer, thread and needle in hand.
“You’re a fucking criminal mastermind, you can handle some stitches without anesthesia,” Katsuki scoffs with a roll of his eyes.
“But then you won’t have more time to spend with me,” Shouto seems to pout, tone pitching in a petulant whine and Katsuki just knows that the asshole is looking at him with a disappointed frown. He clicks his tongue.
“The sooner I’m done with this the better. I don’t want to see your ugly mug for one more second,” Katsuki spits out and makes the first stitch. Shouto barely even flinches.
“But isn’t my ‘ugly mug’ the reason why you keep picking up my cases? I know you aren’t the only nurse for the entire Tartarus,” Shouto hums out amusedly, looking down at Katsuki’s pale blond hair as his hands make quick work on the bloody mess.
“Don’t think so fucking highly of yourself,” Katsuki snorts, making sure that the stitches are tight and close together to make sure it won’t tear. If Katsuki tugs unnecessarily harsher than usual, well, Shouto doesn’t need to know.
“The other useless nurses here are terrified of your fucking mind games that’s why they don’t want to be around you.”
“Whatever do you mean, princess? I’m just trying to be nice by starting conversation,” Shouto hums in amusement, smile apparent in his tone, telling Katsuki exactly that he knows what his nurse meant.
“What you’re doing is harassment,” Katsuki bites out, angry that the sweet pet name makes him flush despite himself. He’s halfway through the scar and the bleeding is not as bad as earlier. His surgical gloves are drenched in them though and for sure his scrubs aren’t going to survive unscathed.
“Oh, darling, you don’t have to worry about that. I only ever harass you, because I like you,” Shouto coos in a breathy tone. Katsuki doesn’t know if the blood loss is finally getting into his head and he’s starting to lose oxygen up there but nevertheless Katsuki jumps up at the declaration, instinctive snarl already forming on his lips.
“I’ll put a fucking muzzle on you if you don’t shut up,” he seethes, eyes intense and blazing with hatred, face flushed in embarrassment and rage. Shouto smiles up at him haughtily.
“If you truly didn’t want me to speak, then you would’ve muzzled me the moment you entered the room, no? Admit it already, Katsuki – you like hearing me talk. You’re obsessed with my voice after all,” Shouto raises a brow in a challenge. He has his subtle smile on his face, making Katsuki all the more infuriated.
It’s bait. Katsuki knows it’s bait. He’s been here long enough to know that this asshole is waiting for him to blow his top and stomp out of his room only to come back a minute later to finish his actual job properly. But Katsuki doesn’t want to enter this goddamn dreadful room one more time this day, so he’d rather get it done and over with in one fell swoop.
Katsuki breathes, remembering the lessons from his therapist for his anger management. It works, sometimes. Sometimes the impatience makes him even angrier. Thankfully it does work this time– the breathing exercises paving the way for his rage to seep out. He’s still glaring at Shouto but he opts to sit himself down on his stool and work on the yakuza’s gash, keeping silent to himself.
“Aw, that’s no fun, sweetheart. You’re learning to cope with my teasing?”
Katsuki remains silent for the rest of his operation. Stitching Shouto neatly before cleaning him up with antiseptic. Shouto continues to babble all throughout that time, trying to get a reaction out of him.
“I’ve matured now, Todoroki. I don’t have enough time for your stupid manipulation tactics. I don’t get paid enough to deal with that shit,” Katsuki scoffs as he tightens the knot on the trash bag in his hand filled with all of the disposable supplies that he used.
“Well, what do you say you work for me then?” Shouto pipes up suddenly, making Katsuki go rigid and frozen in shock.
“You’ll be compensated handsomely if you’ll be my personal house nurse while ‘dealing with my shit’. How does ten million yen a month sound? Of course, with additional benefits. Although, I don’t allow for leaves,” Shouto continues, making the most impossible offer Katsuki has ever heard his entire life.
Katsuki quickly shakes himself out of his trance, scoffing at Shouto with a nasty glare before turning to face the door. The contents of his nurse’s cart rattle in his jerky movements.
“You won’t be getting anywhere other than in the four walls of this very room, Todoroki. Don’t be delusional.”
“In three days, I want you packed and ready to leave.”
“…What?” Katsuki stops in his tracks, the wheels of the nurse’s cart squeaking at the sudden pause. Katsuki doesn’t dare look back behind him, feeling dread pit in hi stomach. The hairs on his arms and nape standing out in alarm.
“I’ll pick you up in three days and then you can be my personal house nurse,” Shouto says it so casually that it’s chilling Katsuki to his very core. Tartarus is the highest security prison there is in all of Japan, no one can ever get out of here – not even the staff. Katsuki has only ever been to the mainland once in the two years he’s spent here. He had to get special permit and recommendation letters from people in and out of the facility for his bosses to even consider his one-day leave. Yet here Shouto is saying, without fear or reservation, that he’s going to leave?
He's definitely the most insane patient Katsuki has ever had the misfortune to deal with.
“I’m going to tell the military you plan to escape,” Katsuki growls, trying to sound brave more than he feels. He still refuses to face Shouto, his knees locking and trembling, hands shaking in trepidation. The yakuza boss simply hums.
“You can go ahead and tell them. It’s not like they can stop me,” Shouto’s tone is bored, nonchalant. It’s like he’s lounging in a beach chair with a margarita in hand rather than strapped powerless on an operating table.
“I won’t go with you.”
“But you have no choice, Katsuki,” Shouto says it so coldly, voice pitched low and sweet yet still dripping with the danger that Katsuki feels seep into his bones.
“You’re not the boss of me,” Katsuki replies, still trying to be strong. He makes the mistake of turning his head to glare at Shouto and he’s met with the criminal’s unhinged gaze, eyes wide and unblinking, mouth set in a thin line.
“Oh, but I will be. I get everything I want, princess. That includes you,” Shouto’s lips stretch slightly into an even smile and Katsuki almost couldn’t prevent the gasp escaping his throat.
“I won’t let you,” with finality, Katsuki turns to leave, finding the strength in his legs finally to move away from the asshole. He pulls the door open with shaky hands and lets it swing shut, much gentler than when he entered the room earlier. Shouto’s voice continues to haunt him as he makes his way through the hallway, heart thudding uncontrollably inside his chest, like it’s trying to punch out of his ribcage and lay his fears bare for all to see.
He tightens his hold on the handle of his cart. He won’t allow it. He won’t allow himself to be taken without a fight. He’s Bakugou fucking Katsuki, damn it. If Shouto can get what he wants then Katsuki will make sure he won’t make it easy for the spoiled brat.