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Izuku picks up the picture frame and hurls it to the ground the apartment. He just couldn't bear to look at it any longer. The frame cracks and the glass follows it shortly after. It would be almost cathartic if not for the way the picture lands face up and Izuku is forced to look at it through the shards of glass.
The picture is from a year ago and it pictures both Izuku and Katsuki with varying degrees of smiles. Izuku’s face is practically split in half with how big he’s grinning. He’s looking up at Katsuki on his side with eyes full of love and devotion. Katsuki is looking at the camera with a smirk – he doesn’t even notice Izuku’s admiration.
Even though the two of them have been dating for the past four years, Izuku can’t remember if Katsuki has ever looked at him with such emotion. And especially this past year, Katsuki’s been acting so half-heartedly towards him. Izuku curses his past self for not noticing it all. That the love he felt had never truly gone both ways.
His obliviousness had ended him here; throwing a fit in their shared apartment after Katsuki had made it clear to him how much he didn’t value Izuku’s experiences or emotions. He supposes it’s always been like that.
Ever since Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless, he was just something for Katsuki to play with. Why did Izuku ever think that would change? Because he now has a quirk? Because Katsuki agreed to go out with him? Because… No, there’s no proper reasoning. He should have seen this coming.
Who knows how many similar instances of Katsuki’s lack of care for him he missed before these last three all because he was in love?
Izuku leans down to grab the picture from out of the broken frame and he scowl down at it before ripping it in half. It’s only a copy of a digital picture but it feels nice to do something so destructive. He’s never felt this inclined towards feeding his anger before but now when he looks around the apartment and sees traces of their romance all around him, destroying is all he wants to do.
On the wall in front of him, another picture of them mocks him and he makes his way towards it. He can barely stop himself. His body just moves.
5 weeks ago
Izuku is startled away from his paperwork when a newspaper is slapped down next to him. He doesn’t even spare it a glance before looking up at who put it there. Standing above him with a glare on his face is Katsuki. Despite the uneasy feeling in Izuku’s chest, he smiles up at Katsuki and greets him, “Hi, Kacchan. Did you just get back from patrol?”
Katsuki ignores his question and brings the newspaper back to Izuku’s attention, “Did you see this, Deku?” he demands to know and Izuku finally squints at the paper.
The front page reads, “From Victim and Bully to Wonder Duo” and Izuku already knows where this is going. Briefly scanning the article, Izuku figures out of that one of their old classmates spoke up about Katsuki’s past behavior in middle school – how he used to beat up and yell at Izuku all the time. It doesn’t say anything about Izuku’s quirkless status and for that, he’s grateful. But it does go into detail about their past relationship and heavily questions their current relationship plus Katsuki’s standing as a hero.
The last part about how Katsuki doesn’t deserve his place as a hero makes Izuku a bit angry, “What? That’s ridiculous. Just because you didn’t have the best past doesn’t mean you’re a poor hero!” Izuku insists.
This doesn’t seem to appease Katsuki who continues scowling, “Then go tell them to pull this fucking article,” he snarls.
Izuku quirks an eyebrow, “But how? No matter how much I preach that there’s no one I’d rather work with, I don’t think it’ll change this piece,” he admits.
Katsuki rolls his eyes like Izuku’s missed an obvious hint, “Just tell them it didn’t happen,” he says and Izuku’s jaw drops.
“You want me to lie?” He asks in a low whisper, “I can’t do that.”
“Why the fuck not? This is gonna look bad on the both of us and our strength as partners!” Katsuki tells him as if Izuku doesn’t already know that.
Izuku frowns at him, “I love you, Kacchan. And I forgave you a long time ago. But I can’t just pretend none of that happened. I thought you would understand that.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Katsuki presses on, “You’re just being too sensitive,” he tells him and Izuku’s eyes fill with tears as he watches Katsuki stomp away.
2 weeks ago
This time, Izuku is the one with an article. But he doesn’t want to use it when he talks to Katsuki about this. All the article does is speculate about a possible relationship between Katsuki and one of the heroes they worked with during their last mission.
Izuku knows that Katsuki would never cheat on him (or at least, he hopes) but this article and the way Katsuki handled the situation during that mission is rubbing him wrong.
The whole time they worked with Pause Trail, the hero had been flirting with Katsuki non-stop. Izuku figured it was sort of a given considering how they’d kept their relationship a secret this whole time, but Katsuki just let the flirting happen. Even worse, it was like he was encouraging it.
It hadn’t made sense to Izuku at all because at the end of the mission Katsuki ended up rejecting Pause Trail. But they’d still been close enough that the pictures of them were being used in this article.
Katsuki hadn’t ever let Izuku that close to him in public. So why hadn’t he pushed the hero away.
Did he just enjoy the attention? Or was it possible that he’d actually been slightly interested in Pause Trail? Izuku’s heart squeezes in his chest a bit at the thought and he finally approaches his boyfriend.
“Hey Kacchan, can we talk for a second?” He asks. Kacchan is in the shared office of their apartment playing a video game that Izuku is unfamiliar with. The office had originally been a guest room, at least before All Might gave Izuku this apartment. Izuku turned it into an office long before Katsuki moved in and it was where he kept all of his merchandise as well.
He pauses the game and takes his headphones half off, “Yeah? The fuck is it?” Katsuki asks brashly. His tone is filled with annoyance and impatience.
“If this isn’t a good time,” he trails off as a way out but Katsuki just rolls his eyes and motions for Izuku to keep talking, “Okay, well, I wanted to talk about our last mission,” he starts off.
“What about? It’s over and done with,” Katsuki says.
“Actually, it’s more about Pause Trail. He was flirting with you a lot and you didn’t seem to mind?” Izuku says holding his hands tight together. He feels so nervous.
“Hah? What the fuck are you implying? That I liked that dumb fucking extra? Was I supposed to just let the cat out of the bag and tell everyone we’re dating? Thought we were keeping that shit secret,” he scoff as if Izuku was in the wrong. But he doesn’t deny letting Pause Trail flirt with him.
“I was just wondering why you let him flirt with you the whole time,” Izuku tells him, backtracking a bit, “I’m not accusing of anything, I’m just confused,” he says in a quiet voice.
Katsuki narrows his eyes at Izuku, “You’re so fucking insecure. It kinda gets on my nerves sometimes,” he says and Izuku’s eyes widen.
Was Katsuki trying to turn this into a fight? Why else would he say something so hurtful? Izuku won’t entertain him any longer, “Fine; whatever, I’m leaving,” he says before exiting the room. From what he can hear, Katsuki goes back to his game in seconds but Izuku is left standing outside the room – delicately trying to piece his heart back together.
30 minutes ago
Izuku rushes into the bar. When Kirishima had invited him along with Katsuki, Izuku really thought he wouldn't be able to make it. Because of that, he’d apologetically turned down the offer but encouraged Katsuki to go along without him.
Then, one of his sidekicks finished his paperwork for him – bless their soul – and Izuku was suddenly free. He didn’t bother texting Kirishima about his freed-up plans felt rushing over to the bar. They tended to get private rooms for these things, so they didn’t end up making fools of themselves and there was always enough room.
He introduces himself to the bar tender and they point him in the direction of the room. He thanks them and heads over to the door. He hesitates for a second because Katsuki is being loud. His boyfriend is laughing loudly at something one of the others said and Izuku slides the door open just a centimeter. Everyone inside looks mildly uncomfortable aside from Katsuki.
“Bro? Why are you laughing?” Kirishima asks, “I thought you and Midoriya were pretty serious?” He asks and Izuku stills outside the door.
“Just because we’ve been together for a long time doesn’t mean we’re serious. Deku’s just a placeholder. He’s easy and I can still focus on my hero work with him. Once I’m number one I can let myself relax a bit and find someone I really want to be with.” Izuku feels like he’s gonna break down. Does Katsuki really mean that?
“Doesn’t Midoriya rank higher than you though?” Kaminari brilliantly asks and Katsuki scowls at him.
Kirishima cuts in, he looks unhappy, “Okay, what the fuck, Bakugou?” He asks, a bit of anger in his voice, “I knew you could be hard to get along with, but I didn’t realize you were such a dick,” he says.
Katsuki looks nonplussed, “It doesn’t even matter. At this point, I’m doing Deku a favor by giving him at least a semblance of a chance,” Katsuki brags. Izuku wants to throw up but before he can, Kirishima gets out of his seat and heads to the door.
Izuku stumbles backwards and starts walking away. He can’t be here right now.
Before he makes it out the door, a hand lands on his shoulder. Izuku can’t help but look at his friend with tears in his eyes, “My schedule cleared up, but I guess I shouldn't have come, huh?” He asks.
Kirishima looks regretful but he steps closer to hug Izuku. He steps away before the red head can and holds up his hands, “Sorry, I just… Need to go,” he tells him and leaves the bar.
Now, the entire apartment is a mess. Izuku had torn through it with unrelenting ferocity. He feels an odd mix of relief and exhaustion. There’s also a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
He looks all around the apartment and feels tears run down his face. What had he done?
No.
What had Katsuki done? Had he really felt that way the whole time they were dating? Or did those feelings start a bit later? Maybe once Izuku passed him in the hero rankings?
Izuku doesn’t want to believe that the rankings truly meant more to Katsuki than Izuku did. But it made sense.
He collapses down on himself and looks down at his hands with are slightly nicked by all of the broken glass he’d been touching.
Everywhere he looks is reminders of what Katsuki said and what Izuku couldn’t stop himself from doing. He just wants a break from his ever present thoughts.
Standing up, Izuku drags himself over to the bathroom and locks the door behind him. It’s silent in here and the cold air feels soothing on his skin.
Here, he doesn’t have to think about the mess he’s left outside on the floor.
Barely thinking, Izuku steps inside the bathtub and sits himself down. He leans his back against the cold walls of the tub and presses closer to the feeling.
He’s a perfect fit for the bathtub and he let’s out a long breath as he wipes away his tears. His body is slowly slipping further into the empty bathtub but he doesn’t bother stopping it. His emotions are slowly dulling towards numbness.
There’s no second guessing when he pulls out his phone and types a simple text to Katsuki, “I’m breaking up with you.” is all it says, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
Then he turns off his phone and sets it on the smooth surface below him before closing his eyes. Now that that’s done he can let himself relax. His shoulders release any tension and he fully slumps against the curve of the tub below him.
He’s not quite sure if he falls asleep because all of his thoughts fade in and out of his head with mild coherency. Nothing really makes sense right now and that’s how he likes it.
It’s only the phone’s vibration that shakes him out of his thoughts.
He looks at his messages to see that, thirty minutes after sending the text, Katsuki had finally responded, “What the fuck? Are you being serious right now?!” The text demands and Izuku sighs.
Does he really think that Izuku would ever joke about something like this?
“I am serious. Please move your stuff out of the apartment tomorrow,” he requests back.
This ends up with Katsuki sending back quite a few heated texts but they barely affect Izuku.
The last one is, “You can’t just kick me out because of a stupid whim.”
“Actually, yes, I can. I own the apartment and we never made a contract for your living here. You can come at 10 tomorrow, and I’ll help you pack. But you should go sleep in a hotel for tonight.”
He gets a few more angry texts that he has no problem ignoring in fact, he thinks that he even starts to fall asleep again until the front door is slammed open, shaking him out of his rest.
Izuku rests his arms on the side of the tub and his head on them. Disconnected, Izuku listens as Katsuki freaks out at the mess Izuku made.
It’s not very interest to he lies back in the tub and closes his eyes. Their whole relationship, Izuku had done whatever he could to hold their relationship together but now, he was done picking up the pieces.