Ashido, being Ashido, was more than willing to go along with my plan. She was making sure everyone was heading to Katsuki and Eijirou's after school (which wasn't very hard but still). She'd shoot me a text when they were there and then I would head over, or Himiko and I would head over. The blonde girl was refusing to leave my side for the foreseeable future.

"Are you nervous?" Himiko asked, breaking the tense silence of my living room. She was laying against the armrest of the couch, her feet in my lap as I sat on the other side.

I barely spared her a look. "Did that question seriously just leave your mouth? Of course I'm fucking nervous. They basically broke up with me yesterday, again, and now I'm going to ask them to be bait in order to catch my stalker who blew up my old high school. Yeah, I'm a little fucking nervous." I took a breath, trying to calm my racing heart.

"Feel better?" Her head tilted as she smiled at me knowingly.

I nodded, taking another breath. "Thank you," I said honestly. She knew I was about to snap from all the pressure, so instead of waiting for me to do it with the people I already have a strained relationship with, she took the hit.

I glanced down at my phone, seeing the go ahead text from Ashido. "Fuck, here we go," I mumbled to my best friend. She quickly popped up and grabbed my hand, dragging me to my front door. I couldn't tell if she was excited for the drama, or worried I'd back out.

The little blonde girl ended up pulling me all the way into the boys' garage, completely halting the practice that had previously been going on. All eyes were on us.

I gulped as my eyes darted between all of them. "I have to tell you all something, and trust me it's not an excuse or anything. I'd actually prefer if you all hated me by the end of this because that means you won't agree to the plan and you'll all be safe and okay and-"

"Izuku," Himiko said in a soft voice, breaking me out of my ramble.

"Oh," I said, taking a deep breath as I tried to gauge Eijirou's and Katsuki's expressions. "Shigaraki hasn't just been sending me death threats. He's been threatening all of you." I watched as everyone's eyes went a little wider at that information, besides Katsuki who had steeled his expression as soon as I walked in.

I took another breath, deciding to just stare at my hands instead of my friends. It was easier to talk when I couldn't see them. "He, uh, his favorite threat was making Katsuki roadkill, and I know him, I know he would do it. I couldn't tell any of you what he was saying or making me do." I paused again, tears starting to well up in my eyes.

"What did he make you do?" Katsuki's voice wasn't angry or loud, but it still made me flinch. I wasn't expecting him to speak up.

Another deep breath. "I'm the one that called the cops on Dabi's club."

A thick silence followed my confession. It appeared we were all waiting to see Eijirou's reaction.

"You're the one who got me arrested?" There was hurt in his voice, but there wasn't anger. I took that as a sign that we weren't doomed.

I finally looked up, wiping away a stray tear that had managed to fall. "I'd rather you be in jail than dead. I'm not going to apologize for it," I said firmly. He could hate me for it if he wanted to, that was something he could still do because Shigaraki hadn't killed him.

A look of confusion took over his face as he swung his guitar so it hung on his back. "You could have ruined my life, Izuku. Do you get that?"

"At least you still have a life!" I didn't mean to yell, but I was sick of everyone calling me selfish when all I had done since moving here was try to protect them. Over my own sanity, over my own life, I protected them. "You're the one that was yelling at me for not taking Shigaraki's threats seriously, well I was. I did a terrible thing to protect you, because I know what he's capable of. He doesn't have remorse, or respect for other people's lives. He would have killed you without a second thought. I have been playing some sick fucking game for weeks trying to make sure he doesn't turn his sights on everyone I care about. I won't apologize for putting your lives above mine." I was breathing hard and holding my ground. I was visibly shaking, from anger or anxiety, I didn't even know.

I think the weight of what I had actually done for all of them was finally starting to set in. Eijirou didn't say anything else, just stared at me like I was a different person. Katsuki, as always, was perfectly blank. It might make me horrible, but I didn't care enough to look at anyone else.

"Shigaraki was the one who destroyed your truck and your bike," I told them, not finished with my story. "He wanted me to pick, turn everyone against Sero, or turn you all against me. I… I finally cracked today and called him. I threatened to just kill myself and end the game that way, but that just made him more mad. He said," I groaned and rubbed at my face with the heel of my palm. "He said he'd use my friends from back home as target practice, see how many bullets they could take before they died. Then he said he was going to strap C4 to you two and see how many pieces you'd be blown to." I wasn't sure I could keep talking, the images of my dead and bleeding friends shoved full force into the front of my mind. It was all I could see or think about.

"Izuku showed up at the club today," Himiko swooped in, saving me like always. "He told Dabi the truth, had a gun pointed at his head and everything. Dabi can find Shigaraki, but we'll need bait in order to take him out. Izuku won't work, since Shigaraki doesn't want him dead, but…" she trailed off, not having the strength to ask this of my friends either. Even though it was her idea to ask them in the first place. What a hypocrite.

"You want us to be the bait," Katsuki stated. He knew that was what we were asking.

I shook my head. "What I want is for none of you to have to deal with this. What I want is to go back in time and stop myself from getting that first detention, to never have a reason for Shigaraki to use you against me. I want you to say no," I admitted. Even now, I was trying to protect them.

"Izuku didn't want to even tell you guys," Himiko assured, taking a step forward so she stood next to me. "Dabi and I were the ones that insisted that you get a choice." The blonde shrugged her shoulders and checked her nails, making me lower my eyebrows in confusion. What the hell was she doing? "We can't make you. Besides, I'm sure Todoroki and Shinsou would drop everything to fly out here and be our bait."

Oh, that's what she was doing.

"Are you trying to make us fucking jealous right now?" It was Eijirou who spoke, completely disgusted with Himiko's methods.

She shot him one of her psychotic smiles. "Depends, is it working?"

I watched as Katsuki rolled his eyes in annoyance at the two of them. "We would have agreed to it either way, dumbass."

My eyes widened in horror as I took a single step forward. "No, you can't agree to this. We can't guarantee that you'll be safe." I looked between the redhead and blond, waiting for one of them to say sike.

"So, you're the only one who's allowed to risk their life here?" Katsuki asked me, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," I said with no hesitation.

"C'mon, Iz," Eijirou said, catching me off guard. "That's not fair." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Was it sarcasm? I couldn't read him at all.

Katsuki rested his elbow on his knee behind his drum set. "You've been protecting us for weeks, just let us protect you this one time."

Eijirou leaned an arm on his mic stand. "If you weren't going to let us decide, why did you even ask?"

I shook my head, my tears coming back full force. "You were supposed to say no." 

The redhead in front of me let out a light laugh. "Well, that's too bad, darlin'. I don't think you can stop us."

"Awesome," Himiko said with a small fist pump. "Shinsou and Todoroki would have taken days to get here. I'll text Dabi!" She was happily bouncing on her toes while typing out her message.

I looked back to Eijirou and Katsuki. "You don't have to do this. We can find another way." I was pleading to a brick wall at this point, but I didn't care. If there was even a chance, I had to try to talk them out of it.

Katsuki just pushed himself to his feet and walked right up to me. "You're wasting your breath, Ei and I are two of the most stubborn people you'll ever meet."

I sniffled while looking up at him. "You guys are assholes for it," I said back weakly. The whole day was catching up to me and I didn't have the energy left to be strong.

The blond in front of me cracked a smile. "You wouldn't want us any other way," he pointed out.

"Clearly," I said, looking between the two of them. "What I want doesn't matter."

Katsuki rolled his eyes and aggressively pulled me into a suffocating hug. It was exactly what I needed. "Shut the fuck up. Just let us do this."

I shook my head, but didn't argue any more than that. I could try again tomorrow, once I don't feel like I'll shatter at the drop of a hat.

I looked up from the embrace when I felt a hand land on my head, tugging at my curls lightly. Eijirou was there, a stern expression on his features. "You tell us everything from here on out, got it?"

I begrudgingly nodded, knowing that he was right. Clearly, trying to handle everything on my own didn't work, I just ended up hurting them more.

Eijirou finally smiled, his hand running through my hair in a comforting manner. "Missed you, darlin'."

I rested my head against Katsuki's chest, letting my eyes close. "I missed you guys too."

in all fairness, i never said this ship would be 100% happy and healthy. it's boring if it's not a little bit toxic.