Chapter Text
Is he really about to die in one of UA’s prestigious hallways after reaching his dream only today?
“Kacchan, come on–” Izuku tries and slightly tugs his wrist in Katsuki’s grip. No dice. It doesn’t budge. “You can’t keep dragging me off every time you want to talk. You can talk to me like normal in class too, you know. Plus, you literally have my phone number.”
The offended look Katsuki gives over his shoulder will probably make him laugh later.
“I know that, fuck you.” The veins in Katsuki’s browline pop when Izuku cocks a brow at him in response. “And I don’t keep ‘dragging you off’, nerd.”
They round another corner to make their way down a flight of stairs. It’s much less crowded now since most of the students have already left for the day back to the dorms.
“Really? You don’t?” His face deadpans without permission. “What about at the provisional exam?”
“Whatever.” Katsuki’s lips let out his signature little ‘tch’. “That doesn’t count.”
That’s absurd. “Wh- Doesn’t count? What possible reason do you have that makes it ‘not count’?” Crooked fingers make little air quotations next to his mouth for emphasis.
“Because someone was being stupid and not hurrying the fuck up!” Even without looking at him, Katsuki growls at Izuku’s obvious sass. “God damn it, Deku, I wasn’t kidding when I said your mouth has gotten even more unbearable.”
“Of course you would say that.” Izuku sighs, and then promptly almost trips over himself as Katsuki drags him around a corner. “Kacchan, where are we even going–?”
Well, at least one of his questions is answered as he allows Katsuki to drag him into a men's bathroom. They round the corner of the hall inside when Katsuki finally releases his wrist in favor of pushing each of the bathroom stall doors open.
He’s making sure we’re alone.
Suspicion sparks in his gut, glimpsing the other up and down. “Kacchan?”
After the last stall is pushed open, Katsuki crosses his arms and turns back to face him; they’re about two meters apart.
Izuku swallows.
“What’s up with you today?”
…Huh?
The question catches him so off guard he has to take a good ten seconds to process what he just said. His face must look some brand of dumbfounded from the look Katsuki gives him. Did… Katsuki drag him down here to ask if he’s okay?
“...What do you mean?” Did he do something in class that pissed him off? Surely there’s some kind of explanation for… whatever this is.
For some reason, Katsuki obliges.
“You never used to raise your hand willingly in class. When you were called on, you usually said the wrong answer or that you didn’t know to be skipped over.” His voice is low. When did Katsuki’s voice gain a little gravel in his tone? Probably after he started his training here in UA, or maybe that’s just what he sounds like when he isn’t yelling. Either are believable. “We’ve known each other since we were three. I saw your test scores back then. With your GPA, there’s no fuckin’ way you would’ve gotten into UA without an insane score on the entrance exam.”
Izuku’s figure shifts uncomfortably in his spot.
“Now you show up out of thin air this morning, and you’re the complete opposite.”
“...Thank you?” Izuku meekly smiles, wringing his fingers between one another.
“I’m not complimenting you, god fucking–” Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose as his brows furrow, pushing a huff of air through his flared nostrils. Kacchan really does look like his mom when he’s frustrated. How is she doing, anyway? “What the hell changed?”
“Does it matter?” Shaky fingers rub the fabric at the end of his blazer.
Sharp red narrows into slits. Yes, apparently it does. Unlike the end of the provisional exam, he isn’t demanding a response.
Maybe he broke through to him in the locker room at the provisional exam enough to be considered worthy enough to speak to. Clearly something processed in his hormonal, rage-filled teenage brain after they last spoke.
Izuku releases the breath he’s been holding. How does he put this in a way Katsuki will understand?
“Why would I want to draw attention to myself in middle school, or even elementary? We both know the teachers didn’t like me. Any correct answer or word from my mouth would just put a target on my back.” His hands move as he speaks. Shockingly, Katsuki doesn’t interrupt him. Izuku continues. “I tried to keep my head down and blend in as much as I possibly could. You weren’t the only one who had a problem with me, Kacchan.”
An unfamiliar emotion flickers across Katsuki’s face. Izuku isn’t sure he wants to know what it is.
“What about your tests and assignments?” Katsuki shifts his weight to his opposite leg and shoves his hands in his pockets.
Emerald blinks at him. “What about them?”
“Why did you score so low, nerd? Did you get a tutor over the summer or some shit?”
He hesitates for a fraction of a second. Then, he meets Katsuki’s expectant stare. “It was on purpose.”
A sink against the wall mockingly drips a few loose droplets in the background.
“Hah?” Katsuki blinks a few times to process what the actual hell Izuku just said to him. His eye even twitches the way it always does when he’s in a state of sheer disbelief.
“I scored low on purpose. Intentionally.” Izuku reconfirms twice, watching the gears in the blond’s head try to wrap around the concept of intentionally sabotaging his own grades.
Now Kacchan really is glaring at him like he’s grown three heads. “...Are you fucking stupid? What the hell?”
“Kacchan–”
“No, Deku, what the fuck?” One hand raises from his pocket to wave, signaling for Izuku to shut his mouth — so he does. “Let me get this straight: UA was your dream school, and like a genius, you sabotaged your own grades and relied entirely on the entrance exam score to get into the general education course. Your second choice program– actually, knowing you, that was probably your third choice. You totally would’ve done support course work if you would’ve been allowed to.”
…When he puts it like that, it sounds insane. Why was the fact that he originally applied to the general education course important? “Yes.”
“Fucking why?”
“Why?” Izuku breathes, brows high on his forehead. “Because a quirkless, ‘worthless, useless freak’ like me couldn’t score high in my classes. I couldn’t possibly be good at anything. I ‘must have cheated’ somehow, according to our teachers.” Scarred fingers make air quotes while he speaks. “If the other kids found out I had good test scores, that’d make me useful for something. I’d end up having to do others’ homework to get through the day. There’s no way I’d risk getting a stupid mark on my record for helping any of them cheat on tests and risk not attending this school at all . Do you understand?”
Unlike Katsuki’s usual glare, his expression is almost… thoughtful. Almost like he’s taking apart Izuku’s words in his head.
“...You have a quirk.” Katsuki’s voice comes out slow, testing the waters.
“I didn’t always.” His gaze softens. “You of all people should know that, Kacchan.”
“...And?" Katsuki prompts.
“... And?” Doe eyes desperately search the ones across from him for anything to help keep this conversation going. Anything. “What is it?”
Their shared silence is unbearably loud as they watch each other. A bead of sweat trickles down the side of Izuku’s jaw.
Izuku perks up as Katsuki’s lips begin to move.
“...Nothing. Forget it, nerd.” Katsuki steps forward and around where Izuku stands still. “It doesn’t matter.”
Kacchan is leaving.
…No. No. They were just talking again after years.
The gears in Izuku’s brain finally process enough to allow him the luxury of spinning around and grabbing Katsuki’s sleeve. “Kacchan, wait–”
The pale hand in Katsuki’s sleeve clenches, then roughly shoves itself in the center of Izuku’s chest, forcing him back. “I said it doesn’t matter, damn it!”
“What if it matters to me?!” It’s desperate. He’s borderline insane to keep pushing after Katsuki already shoved him away.
However…
Katsuki’s shoulders tense up like some feral animal, but he doesn’t charge nor attack. Wide eyed crimson blatantly stare back.
Click-click.
Suddenly, both boys turn toward the bathroom’s entrance.
“...Am I interrupting something?” Shinsou cocks a brow and peers over Katsuki’s shoulder at Izuku’s slightly disheveled uniform. “I can… find another bathroom.”
“Get out of my way, Eyebags.” The explosive blond pushes his way past Shinsou’s towering figure in the doorway, and Izuku can’t do anything except watch him leave with his mouth hung open and too many words left unsaid.
…Shit. Shit. He’s gone, damn it–…!
Viridian stares directly through the tall frame towering in the doorway where Katsuki stormed past him.
“…Midoriya?” Shinsou quietly, carefully starts. “Are you… you know, good?”
“I, uh…” Glazed over irises blink a few times to regain their focus. “Yeah– yeah, I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything. You know.” He stammers without meeting the man’s questioning eyes. “Sorry, Kacchan and I were just… talking.”
Lavender flicks his expression up and down. Even Izuku knows his explanation sounds like complete bullshit. “Seemed like a kind of intense ‘talk’ to me.”
Izuku thoughtfully stares into the countertop for a good few moments. Could Shinsou have been eavesdropping, even unintentionally?
Can the damage be undone if he did?
“…Did you hear any of what we talked about?” Izuku watches the student’s posture tense through the mirror.
Yeah. From that reaction alone, he definitely heard something.
“I heard some of it, but it was pretty muffled through the door. You don’t have to talk about any of it with me if you don’t want to.” A pale hand rubs the back of his neck. “I get it. My middle school experience wasn’t exactly shitting sunshine either.”
Finally, that tugs the corners of Izuku’s lips into a smile, even if only a small one.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here. You said you had stuff to do after talking with Aizawa-sensei.” Shinsou steps back and leans into the bathroom’s door, holding it open for both of them. “I can walk you to the gate.”
“...Thank you.” Izuku murmurs. Slow steps lead him to quietly duck between the other’s arm and the door.
Shinsou hums, abandoning the entryway as promised to follow him. “Don’t mention it.”
The bathroom door quietly closes itself behind them with a soft ‘click’.