Never

PDV d'Izuku

          BOOM

          I struggled to my feet, coughing and trying to figure out what had just happened. My gaze fell on the workbench now ablaze and the girl with pink hair — now blackened by soot — and my memories rushed back.

          I was in support class. I was tinkering with Mei. She had made the gadget we were working on explode. Normally, I'd have stopped her before it happened, but today, I was distracted.

          For one, there was this strange sensation constricting my chest. I didn't know why or how, but I knew something bad, something dangerous, was happening somewhere. I just didn't know what, or where.

           Then, there was my conversation with Kita from the day before. I had finally mustered the courage to ask her how she knew so much about my quirk, and her response had left me... indescribable. I was only just beginning to sort through and analyze my thoughts and emotions.

"Your quirk... remember what the doctor said ? There's another one like it. And I happen to know the person who has it."

« Who ? Sorry, but they didn't want to be known. I can only tell you I knew them when I lived on the streets."

"Easy on the questions ! Haah... This person never developed their quirk much, so you'll know far more about your abilities than I ever could. All I can say is they hated their quirk. They refused to feed it, so it never really grew. But they often spoke to their demon, which is why I advised you to talk to Tanjiro."

"What happened to them ? ... Their blood... had the same miraculous effect as your tears. They were captured by a gang and tortured. One day, they went too far. That person died."

          I think the worst part was the look in her eyes when she said those words. Completely empty.

          I knew that asking might make her uncomfortable or stir up bad memories, but this... She talked about the horrific death of a friend with an impassive face and a total absence of life in her gaze. I'd seen her devastated before, but never so... dead.

          I felt guilty. And I was beginning to realize how little I actually knew about Kita — the Kita from before Aizawa. She was the only one who never spoke about herself, and Toshi and I had decided to give her time, but now I was questioning if that was the right choice. I didn't want to push or force her to talk, but...

          I was starting to think that, unlike us, she might not be healing from her past wounds. On the contrary, it seemed like she was consciously keeping the knife in the wound.

          I sighed.

I hope she's okay...

Katsuki's POV

          I had managed to drag Alien Queen to the entrance, arriving just as Shitty Hair hauled along the half-dead Dunce Face, Pseudo-Might carried the tail-guy — also unconscious, bandaged, and splinted — and Icy Hot came to assist.

          Which was a good thing, as Baldy was struggling because he didn't want to hurt Goth Bird. As it turned out, the light of my almost-brother's flames freaked the shadow beast out. The quirk retreated into its host, who promptly passed out.

          Once that was done, we laid the three injured — four, counting the teacher — on the ground together. We decided to cuff the unconscious Bird Brain by tearing strips from his cape and silently and collectively agreed that the bodies didn't exist until this mess was over.