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“How long has it been?” Uraraka asks, her concerned gaze falls on Izuku who is leaning on his desk, not talking.
“A few days... leave him alone. It's been very hard for him, give him some space.” Iida answers her, putting a hand on her shoulder just when she was about to stand up.
“But I can’t just sit here and do nothing! He clearly needs someone to talk to and everyone's been avoiding him like the plague!” she whispers but her voice held anger and sadness.
“I know... but we can’t do anything. Aizawa-sensei told us to give him space and we should do that. Do you think he said so without a reason? I'm sure it’s best if he gets some alone time. When he’s ready, he’ll approach. Alright?” Iida looks into her eyes, she was hesitant but nodded. She knew after all that he was right. Even though both of them were dying to talk to Izuku, they had to wait. Losing someone close to you isn’t easy.
The door slid open and Aizawa walked in, Iida took it as a cue to go and sit in his assigned seat.
“Good morning class. Today we’ll be continuing with quirk training so grab your hero costumes and meet me in Gym Gamma. Don't take too much time.” he informed them as the class quickly complied. The changing rooms weren’t that far away, thankfully, and their hero costumes were now in their lockers so they didn’t have to carry them everywhere.
Izuku was quiet the whole time. Not talking nor making eye contact with anyone. His classmates knew better than to talk to him, they knew it wouldn’t change anything either way. He refused to open up. The once bright boy was refusing to get help from anyone.
With a silent sigh he grabbed his hero costume, already stuffing his school uniform in his locker. It took all of his strength to not cry when his eyes landed on it. His mom had made the original version of it... He slipped his gloves and boots on and followed Shoji and Tokoyami out to Gym Gamma. They were the most quiet ones, he wouldn’t have to talk or be questioned like last time.
They walked into the gym in silence where Aizawa, Cementos, Jiro, Koda, Sato and Ojiro were waiting. They didn’t have that much attire to wear so they were always the first ones there. Izuku stood to the side by himself as the rest of the people trickled in.
“I’ve changed my mind. Instead of quirk training you guys are going against each other in teams.” Aizawa said loud and clear making the class quiet down. Of course, the noise picked right back up.
“What?! Why?!” Sero exclaimed and Aizawa was wearing his signature grin once again.
“You don’t need a reason! Heroes should expect the unexpected and look underneath the underneath!”
“Aizawa-sensei! If I may ask!” Iida exclaimed loudly, his hand in the air.
“What is it?”
“What are the teams?”
“I was about to announce them.” Aizawa cleared his throat and pulled out a paper.
“Team 1: Aoyama and Yaoyorozu.
Team 2: Mineta and Ashido.
Team 3: Midoriya and Asui.
Team 4: Iida and Bakugo.
Team 5: Uraraka and Hagakure.
Team 6: Todoroki and Ojiro.
Team 7: Kaminari and Tokoyami.
Team 8: Kirishima and Sero.
Team 9: Koda and Jiro and
Team 10: Shoji and Sato. Remember your teams because I won’t be saying them again.” Aizawa stated as he crumbled the paper and threw it away.
“Here’s how this is going to go. It'll be like your first training with All Might, Heroes vs Villains. Except this time, it isn’t about capturing a weapon or of that sort. The heroes will have to stop the villains and save the hostages that are kept hidden! The hostages will be small robots that the villains will hide. No killing, only fighting. If the scene calls for drastic measures, I'll step up and stop you.” Aizawa stated as the class now walked to their partners. Izuku watched as Mina hesitated to stand next to Mineta who looked hurt while Asui made her way over to him.
“While Cementos is fixing the fields, I want the first teams to get ready. The rest will be waiting here for their turn.” Aizawa was about to turn around when Iidas hand flew up again.
“Which teams will begin?” Iida asked and Aizawa sighed, mumbling something about that he shouldn’t have thrown a paper away. He bent down and picked up the crumpled paper with the teams.
“Team 1 against team 8 on this side” Aizawa pointed to the class’s left side “and team 3 against team 9 on this side.” Aizawa looked up and pointed to the class’s right side “Begin fighting immediately after Cementos is done.”
“Aizawa-sensei... both of them are done.” Kaminari pointed at Cementos who was now standing beside Aizawa.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Villains, begin strategizing, the robots that you’re hiding are over there.” Aizawa pointed at a bunch of small devices on the side.
Iidas hand flew up once again and Aizawa looked ready to kill.
“Yes, Iida?”
“Who are the villains?”
“Flip a coin!”
¨~¨
“Man! Today was exhausting!” Mina exclaimed loudly. Kaminari, Sero, Kirishima, Asui, Iida, Todoroki and Uraraka were hanging out in the common room while Katsuki was in the kitchen doing... whatever he was doing.
“We didn’t even do anything...? The only thing we did was morning training and then classes went on as usual...” Asui said with a confused tone.
“Oh, come on! Let me live my life and pretend to be an anime girl having an exhausting day!” Mina crossed her arms over her chest.
“If this is what you call an exhausting day then I don’t want to see you complaining when you become a pro hero.” Sero answered with a sigh.
“Shut up!” Mina hit him lightly on the arm.
“So, what do you guys wanna do? I'm bored!” Kaminari exclaimed loudly, leaning back on the couch.
“We can study! We have homework for next Friday and it’s always the best to begin early!” Iida exclaimed with his robotic hand motions.
“Or we could watch a movie! Or something.” Kirishima suggested.
“But... homework!”
“But Iida! It's Tuesday! We don’t have to do homework that isn’t until next Friday! It's too early!” Uraraka cut him off.
“There you go!” Mina laughed. The elevator door opened and Izuku was seen stepping out. Hanging on his shoulder was his gym bag, he made his way across the room, their eyes on him the whole time.
“Hey nerd. Where are you going?” Katsuki asked, his angry voice echoing through the room. Izuku turned around to face his direction and waited for what seemed like years before he spoke up.
“Training. I'm going to be at the gym. Why?” his voice was slightly hoarse as if he was screaming for hours, or maybe he was sick? Maybe all the crying he had done the past few days was the reason.
“Nothing.” Katsuki waved him off and discreetly glanced at the clock. Five in the afternoon. If the nerd came home later than eight then it was over for him, Katsuki would personally scold him. That is if he came back by then.
Izuku took that as a sign to leave and continued making his way out, glancing at the group who was sitting on the couches. He sighed and stepped out of the dorms.
“Are you guys stupid? Or just plain stupid?” Kirishima asked, his brows furrowed. He was referring to Izukus closest friends.
“Yeah, why haven’t you guys been talking to him?” Kaminari pressed. Aizawa hadn’t told the entire class. Only Izukus closest friends – including Katsuki – knew about the incident. The rest of their classmates have noticed that something was off the past few days, but nobody made a move.
“It’s... nothing.” Uraraka began but decided against it, her voice growing softer at the end. It wasn’t her place to tell them about his situation.
“Like hell it’s nothing.” Katsuki grumbled as he continued with his tinkering in the kitchen. Nobody ever knew what it was he was cooking but they knew better than to eat. It was spicy as all hell, Kaminari should know better than anyone else.
“Even Bakugo knows?!” Mina asked.
“We can’t tell you. Aizawa-sensei told us not to let this information leak.” Asui stated.
“This must be serious. What are you guys hiding? Did Midoriya do something?” Mina leaned forward.
“He’s too nice to do something for Aizawa to tell them to stay away from him...” Sero informed her.
“I’ll give you a point for that.”
“It’s not our place to tell you. It's about him, not about us.” Iida added.
“Just leave that nerd alone. He needs his time. What he went through isn’t easy. My old hag won’t stop talking about it at home so shut up and leave it be.” Katsuki exclaimed and his statement silenced them. They continued talking, avoiding anything about Izuku, and watched “IT 2” together.
To say the least, some of them weren’t going to get a good night's sleep. Kaminari almost electrocuted the group because, apparently, he’s easily scared. Katsuki was planning on storing that information in case he needed it anytime soon.
When the movie was over it was around eight. The group was on their way to their separate dorms, Katsuki doing the same when he remembered Izuku. That damn nerd hadn’t returned and that was it. He was sick of just watching by as that idiot just wasted his time crying, Inko wouldn’t have appreciated that. And so, he grabbed a jacket and headed towards whatever training ground Izuku was using.
It was going to take a good while to find him so he picked up his pace to speed the process up and if someone saw him, he would just excuse himself by saying that he was jogging. He let out a sigh. Life was never easy for the freckled boy. He was fragile since birth, abandoned by his father when he found out the boy was quirkless and years of bullying. And now it was the cherry at the top with Inkos death. If only they had been more careful...
He heard shouts from the open training ground to his left, but it wasn’t the person he was looking for. It was that brainwashing bastard from General and the crazy quirk stealer from B class. They were sparring, not that Katsuki cared of course, he just ignored them and continued walking, but they noticed him.
“Hey, you! What are you doing this late?” Shinsou asked and Katsuki knew better than to answer him. That damn bastard, going around and brainwashing people like it’s fun. Katsuki merely glanced at him to show him that he got his attention but wasn’t planning on talking.
“At least you have your guard up. Guess you must be looking for Midoriya, he was training here but went out of his way and gave us the training ground. He said he’ll be heading to the gym.” Katsuki nodded and held his hand up as he turned right and continued.
“Would you look at that! He does have a heart!” Monoma exclaimed and Katsuki was honestly surprised that was all the latter said.
He continued walking in silence until he arrived at the gym. The lights were on, so someone had to be inside, or recently had been inside. He pushed one door open and was face to face with Izuku who was on his way out.
“K-Kacchan! What are you doing here?” he asked, his breathing was unstable, and beads of sweat were rolling down his face. Was that idiot really on his way out in the cold like that? He'd catch a fever! Had he even taken a break since starting? He's probably exhausted himself.
“I could ask you the same. You shouldn’t be out training this late, especially in your condition. Did you even take a bath? You'll catch a cold like that.” Katsuki stated calmly but his brows were furrowed, he pushed Izuku lightly so that he was inside again.
“I...”
“What did All Might say? Didn't he tell you to not overwork yourself? Huh?!” he raised his voice slightly to show Izuku that he wasn’t kidding around. Not that he ever was but Izuku tended to not take him seriously.
“I know Kacchan...” Izuku mumbled, he looked down at the ground and Katsuki crossed his arms, clicking his tongue.
“You idiot. What is even going through that head of yours? Do you think you’ll be able to beat me if you can’t move a muscle?! What would aunt Inko say about this?!” Katsuki was now shouting and Izuku flinched. Katsuki didn’t regret his words, not one, because he knew that’s what Izuku needed. He wanted Izuku to explode, to shout at him. He wanted Izuku to take it out on him just this once since no one is there for him. It felt like his job to be there for him...
“Shut up already! I know that!” Izuku shouted back, his face held an angry expression “I know it already so please just shut up!” Izuku held his hands over his ears to block out the loud noise his voice was making by echoing around the empty gym.
“And why should I do that? Listen to me! Do you think aunt Inko would be happy to know that you’re beating yourself up over her death? Do you think she would be happy to know that she’s in the way of you becoming a hero?! Do you?!” Katsuki was rubbing salt on Izukus wound and Izuku wasn’t resisting. Because he too knew that’s what he needed. That's what he’s been needing the past few days, but nobody had approached him. In addition, it’s not like he can go around screaming at people about his problems.
Izuku let out a shaky sigh and reverted his gaze from Katsuki to the floor, he didn’t want Katsuki to see him so weak. He didn’t want to cry anymore, he was going to be a hero and heroes don’t cry, they smile.
“What are you thinking, Izuku? Let your frustrations out! You're going to drive yourself crazy like this!” Katsuki threw his hands up in the air, leaning slightly forward.
“I know...” Izukus voice was wavering. Just a little more...
“You know a lot, but you do very little. Heroes are allowed to cry! Hell, you’ve seen me cry a ton of times! And yet, for a cry baby, you don’t do that at all! Just because you cry when you’re alone, doesn’t mean that you’re revealing yourself. You're only burdening yourself more!”
Izuku turned around so that his back was facing Katsuki, that ticked the latter off for a second but before he could act out, he saw how Izukus shoulders were trembling. And so, he walked up to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, forced him to turn around and ingulfed him in a hug. Izuku leaned into the hug and began sobbing.
“I hate this! I know that mom wouldn’t be happy to see me like this, but I can’t help it! I can’t help it Kacchan!” Izuku exclaimed and Katsuki only hugged him tighter. Damn it, he was close to crying as well.
“I know... I can’t say I know how it feels but you shouldn’t do this to yourself. You should’ve gone to someone. You could’ve gone to Aizawa, All Might, Recovery Girl, heck you could’ve come to me and I'd let you scream at me for hours.” Katsuki talked in a calm tone. Even though the two weren’t as close as they used to be, they were still childhood friends and rivals. He knew that he should give him a shoulder to cry on.
“I know that...”
“I know that you know... but you aren’t doing much.” Katsuki whispered. Izukus hiccups echoed in the empty gym, his shoulders trembling and his tears staining Katsukis shirt. Katsuki rubbed his hands on Izukus back.
“Thank you...” Izuku mumbled.
“Don’t mention it... literally.” Katsuki answered as Izuku chuckled making the corner of Katsukis mouth twitch “Come on now. We better go back. You should really take a bath.” he said as he felt Izuku go limp in his arms. It's not like he wasn’t expecting it... him fainting from exhaustion and fatigue... but he still hoped it wouldn’t happen. At least he calmed him down...
Katsuki sighed and picked him up, throwing him over his right shoulder and holding the gym bag with his left. He stepped outside and closed the door. The air was slightly warmer to his surprise. He walked back the same way and it looked like brainwashing bastard and the crazy quirk stealer were starting to wrap up. As he passed by, he could feel how they were staring.
“Is he alright?” Shinsou asked and Katsuki knew he shouldn’t answer in case he was using his quirk, but he couldn’t exactly leave them wondering why he was carrying Deku like that.
“Not exactly... but he will be.” Katsuki answered shortly and continued walking to the dorms when Shinsou nodded. Surprisingly the other one didn’t comment.
Soon enough he was standing in front of the dorms. And just his luck, the doors were locked. Just how long was he gone for? Now he was forced to ring the small doorbell for Aizawa to open the door and then he’d be forced to explain. With a sigh he pressed the button and waited. Hopefully, Aizawa would be coming soon.
“And why are you out so late? Why is Midoriya on your shoulder?” Katsuki turned around and saw Aizawa standing there. Was he already on his way here or is he just that quick?
“Deku was out practising late and I went to get him. He's alright.” Katsuki answered and Aizawa nodded. He got the message and opened the door for him.
“I can take him. You can go to your room and do whatever you do.” Aizawa said and Katsuki nodded. He handed Izuku and the bag over before walking back to his dorm.
¨~¨
“Papa...? Are we there yet?” a five-year-old girl asked as she looked up at Izuku.
“Almost... you want me to carry you?” Izuku asked and she nodded happily. Izuku picked her up and continued walking. She rested her head on his shoulders and closed her eyes.
Izuku let her rest as he walked up to a grave and crouched down. He smiled sadly and grabbed two pictures from his pocket. One was him and his mother when he was younger. The other was him holding up his daughter and his wife, sadly her face was blocked by a ray of sunlight making it impossible for the audience to see who it was. He set the pictures down and hugged his daughter.
“Hey, look mom... I made it.” he smiled sadly, and his daughter began stirring.
“We’re here...” she said and Izuku smiled.
“Yes, Ichigo. We're here... you want to say something to your grandma?”
“Mm... yeah!” she smiled brightly “Can you pick that flower up? I want to show grandma my quirk!” Izuku chuckled and plucked a flower. He held it in his hand and Ichigo levitated it towards her and set it down in front of the pictures.