Chapter Text
Present Mic trudged up the stairs on the high building, the pep in his step gone. Aizawa wouldn't be there another ten minutes, so he had time to calm his nerves. Which, on second thought, probably wouldn't happen.
Nobody could be calm in his situation.
Yamada hadn't been calm in a long time. Not even with his best friend. He tried to fight off the constant fear lurking in the back of his mind, doing endlessly pointless things to distract himself.
But today, he was done trying to hide from it. He was going to face it. And he wouldn't have to deal with the fear anymore.
He wouldn't have to deal with the guilt of betraying his best friend.
The gun strapped tightly to his belt would be his savior, today.
...
Aizawa climbed the stairs quickly, a minute or so late. He was worried, almost.
Yamada had suddenly text him to meet him on the roof of some agency, probably seventy stories up. He said he had something to tell him, and that could go one of many ways.
Maybe something was wrong, or maybe Mic was tired of being his friend. Maybe Aizawa had done something wrong. Or what if Mic had killed somebody and needed him to hide a body? What if he had a secret crush on one of the UA staff? What if he had a crush on Aizawa!?!
Really, Shota wasn't one to overthink. But when it came to Hizashi, he tended to overthink everything.
He thought of dozens more possibilities, and as he neared the roof, he found himself having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Pushing open the door, he saw Yamada, wearing his hero costume as well, standing by the edge of the roof with his hands in his pockets. His shoulders were tight, posture slumped.
This wasn't like him at all.
One of the first things he noticed was that Present Mic was carrying a gun, securely attached to the belt of his costume.
Hizashi never carried a gun. As far as Shota knew, he didn't even OWN a gun.
Aizawa did not like that.
Something was very wrong here.
He slowly walked up to Hizashi, noticing how his he tensed at the noise of his footsteps. Upon closer inspection, he was also trembling.
"Hizashi.." He put a hand on his best friends shoulder from behind, as he continued to look off into the distance. The sun was about to set, and the sky had slightly darkened, nearing a yellowish shade. "What's going on?"
Yamada could hear the worry in his friends voice. But almost impossible to hear, just barely there, was fear. He didn't want Aizawa to feel fear too. He was tired of fear.
"I need to tell you something. And you're not going to like it. I'm not sure if you'll even like me, after this." He said loudly, but Shota didn't even flinch. He was used to his friends heightened volume. Moving closer, Eraserhead noticed the almost twisted anxious smile on his friends face. He felt his stomach drop.
"You know how much I care about you. Just because I don't like something you tell doesn't mean I won't still like you." He comforted, his voice starting to shake similarly to Hizashi's.
Mic turned around, taking Aizawa's hand off his shoulder. He gently pushed Aizawa backwards, and then backed up until he was nearly touching the wall at the edge of the roof. The distance eased his anxiety a little bit, but somehow increased it as well. He absentmindedly wondered if there was an afterlife. If there was, he hoped he wouldn't be scared there.
"Hizashi, talk to me. What is it?" Aizawa questioned worriedly, obviously disliking the unusual distance Mic had put between them.
"Shota... We've known each other so long. You're my best friend, and I wish I could be yours.. but I'm not your friend. Even so, I'm still gonna miss working with you.."
"Cut the crap, what the hell do you mean? Did you get fired? Talk to me, please! You're starting to really worry me.."
"I'm the traitor."
"Don't.. don't joke around like that, Yamada.. C'mon, why are we r-really up here?" He asked, a numb anxiety coursing through him.
"Shota... Aizawa, I know what I said. Is it really that hard to believe..? I'm so conveniently absent so frequently.. I have all the charisma to get information I need. I'm the traitor." He said, dazed.
Aizawa froze. What did he mean he was the traitor, that was.. quite frankly, impossible. Shota knew him. He knew he'd never do that.
They became heroes together, and Yamada would never give that up. He would never abandon his radio show, or his hero work, or his job at UA. He just wouldn't. Never.
"N-No.. how......" He paused, trembling, wishing he could stop. "...why?..." He barely whispered.
"I'm a bad guy, it doesn't matter. I'm with the League Of Villains. I helped them plot attacks that could kill people, could kill you. It's probably better for you to hate me, anyways."
"Hizashi what the fuck are you talking about?" He asked, his voice raising an octave and cracking a bit. "I know you. You would never betray us.. you would never betray me, not without a reason. So why? What do they have on you? Are you being controlled? What's-"
"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY, SHOTA?!" Aizawa flinched at the volume, not used to Yamada actually screaming at him. Being loud, yeah, but he never directly screamed at him or used his quirk.
"FINE! I'LL TELL YOU WHY! THEY'VE GOT A BOMB IN THE FREAKING SCHOOL, AND NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY THERES NEVER A TIME WHEN NOBODY IS ON CAMPUS! THEY EVEN FUCKING TAPPED ME SO I COULDN'T TELL YOU OFF CAMPUS! But now, everyone is off at the same time.. I've sent a message out to everyone telling them not to go near the school, and there's no press at the school. I can finally stop.. stop being afraid. Now, I can finally be free. But I know they'll go after me again. They're just going to use you and the students against me again." Aizawa didn't like how Mic's hand brushed against the gun in his belt.
"And it's a danger to you if I'm left alive.." his fingers curled around the handle. "So..." He pulled the gun out of his belt, holding it up to his head with an insane, yet pained expression.
For the first time in his life, Hizashi Yamada spoke quietly.
"...I'm done being afraid..."
Aizawa could only watch in absolute terror.