Chapter Text
Izuku and Katsuki had been put under house arrest a couple days ago, as consequence for their fight in ground beta. Today was Izuku's last day. At first they made small talk, discussing combat moves, dividing tasks. But now, they had stopped, all moves analysed, all chores split. There was nothing left to talk about, to attempt to bond over. That bridge had been burned years ago.
Katsuki had a small vacuum in one hand as he moved the cushions off the couches and hoovered the crumbs that had fallen down the back, from where- as much as he told everyone not to- the class had been snacking on them again, to which, he yelled and cursed.
But the whirring of the vacuum between Kacchan's shouts did nothing to ground Izuku, or slow down his racing mind even a little bit as he swept the kitchen floor in complete silence.
Because Izuku's mind was plagued with thoughts of Kacchan yelling 'DIE' at him, and although he'd grown used to him screaming bloody murder at anyone and everyone all the time- especially in a fight; something about hearing it so much at once re-opened an old wound.
“Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.”
Whilst he understood the fact that he had a quirk now, the point still stood that he had told him to kill himself, and that had, and probably always will, cut deep.
He didn't cry, or tear up, or even make any sound at all. He simply swept the floor in silence, trying to concentrate on the crumbs and whatever else was there from that morning formed a pile.
It didn't work.
He sighed, grabbing the dustpan and brush off the counter and sweeping the pile of dirt into it and emptying it into the bin as Kacchan walked over to empty the contents of the vacuum into the bin after him.
He looked at Izuku for a moment.
"You missed a spot."
"I did? Where?" He turned around to look.
"There."
Izuku looked up to see where he was pointing. He stared blankly, realising that Kacchan was pointing at his face. Of course.
"You look like shit."
"Yeah... I.. I barely slept last night."
...
"Go clean up." He ordered.
"What?"
"Are you fucking deaf or just stupid? I said go clean up. You look like shit, and it's pissing me off."
"I.. I am." Izuku turned, sluggishy putting away the dustpan, brush, and broom, trading them for chemicals, and gloves, about to clean the counter, when Katsuki grabbed his wrist roughly.
"I said go clean up, idiot." He said harshly. "That means clean yourself up, shower and shit. If I meant clean the fucking counter, I would've said clean the fucking counter."
"O-okay, Kacchan." He murmered, putting down the gloves and chemicals before turning around and beginning to heading upstairs.
.
Izuku came back downstairs around noon, looking refreshed; after his shower, he had a two-hour long nap, completely by accident. He just sat on his bed, about to get dressed, and the next second, he was waking up. Which did help- immensely, on one hand. On the other, it filled him with dread, imagining the reaction he'd get from Kacchan. Would he yell about Izuku being a slacker? Scratch that. He would yell.
As he walked into the kitchen, the first thing he noticed was the lack of an angry blonde. The second thing he noticed was the way the kitchen had been done- the counters cleaned, the dishes washed and put away. And upon looking around, he found Kacchan wasn't in the room.
He wandered around the room. The carpet had been hovered- even underneath the couches, the windowsills dusted, the coffee table wiped, there was nothing left to do.
And then, "You took your fucking time." Kacchan materialised behind him, and he almost jumped out of his skin. He hadn't even heard his footsteps.
Izuku simply stared at the floor, his hand on his breath as he tried to catch his breath. "Yeah... I.. oh my god.. I fell asleep. Sorry, Kacchan."
...
"Learn to sleep at night, like a normal fucking person."
...
"Y-yeah, I will." He finally stood up, looking at Katsuki, who had his back to him. "Hey, Kacchan?"
"What, nerd?"
"I can't find anything to do."
Katsuki turned to glare at him. "What, am I your shitty fucking friends, or something? It aint my job to entertain you."
"No, I don't mean that. I mean the chores. Did- Did you do everything?"
"What does it look like to you?" He raised an eyebrow, still glaring.
"Yes?"
Katsuki scoffed, turning to walk away. "Well there you go. Congratulations, Deku. You can use your fucking eyes" He went to the kitchen, grabbed a glass and poured himself some water before going to walk to his dorm. He was at the bottom of the stairs when Izuku spoke up again.
"Why?"
He tuned to Izuku, looking like he just grew a second head. "Why what?"
"Why did you do everything?"
Katsuki scoffed again, as if it was obvious. "Because the dorm won't clean itself, dumbass. And you decided to skip out on it."
"Oh. Right. Sorry, Kachan. I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Yeah, well. Like I said, learn to sleep at night."
"Okay."
They didn't talk for the rest of the day, didn't even see each other again. They both simply went back to their room and studied. Izuku, until the other's came back from classes and everyone ate together. Kacchan didnt come down. Not that Izuku had been expecting him to.
Izuku was no longer under house arrest and could attend classes again by the next day. He grabbed his already packed bag excitedly, showered, dressed into his uniform, making sure that it's extra neat, and practically sprinted out of his dorm. Uraraka and Todoroki were waiting for him when he got downstairs, and he went up to them excitedly, almost tripping over Katsuki (who had appeared out of nowhere)
"Watch it, nerd." He said simply, sounding weird, but Izuku was too caught up in his excitement to really think about it, so he just assumed Kacchan was tired before shouting an apology over his shoulder, not looking back as he ran to his friends, who stred at him blankly for a moment, relaxing before Izuku really noticed.
Uraraka broke out her usual warm, bubbly smile. "You ready, Deku?" Her voice determined as ever.
"Yeah!" He cheered, looking around, curious. "Where's Iida?"
"Oh, you know him, class rep and all. He wanted to be early, but me and Todoroki wanted to wait for you. It's your first day back after all!"
Izuku chuckled. "Yeah that sounds like him. Thanks guys, but you really didn't have to wait."
"Don't be silly, you're our friend! Of course we did."
Izuku smiled, Uraraka smiled. Todoroki looked deep in thought, but he didn't say anything about it.
"So, Deku?" She said, obviously trying to lessen the awkwardness in the air that had built in the momentary silence, trying to come up with something on the spot. "Uh.. Do you need to borrow any notes? I know you and Bakugo have been cleaning a lot, so, um, have you been able to study much?"
"Uh, yeah, I did actually. Kacchan kind of did most of the cleaning yesterday because.. I kinda fell asleep." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Todoroki paused, looking at him. "He what?"
Izuku couldn't tell what the expression on his face was, so he just answered honestly, not really thinking anything of it. Todoroki was a contemplative person, after all. "Yeah. I went to go shower and I fell asleep afterwards. When I came downstairs a few hours later, everything had been done."
Todoroki hummed in response, adding: "Did he say why?"
"He said it was because the dorm wouldn't clean itself, and I decided to skip out."
Uraraka giggled. "He probably wanted to prove he was even best at cleaning or something." Earning a laugh from Izuku.
But Todoroki went quiet again, continuing to walk. He was still silent by the time they got to class, not even saying anything to the others as he took his seat and sat down. The other two exchanged a glance but decided not to question it, going to their own assigned seats.
Huh. That was weird.
Kacchan had returned to class today, and already, it was like he never missed any school at all, because as Izuku walked in, closely followed by Todoroki, Iida and the blond were already arguing.
"What the fuck does it have to do with you, Four Eyes?"
"Bakugo, may I remind you that we attend the most prestigious school in Japan? Have some decency!"
"See, whos bossing people around now, eh? Honestly, just fuck off."
"Did house arrest teach you nothing?"
"Yeah, it taught me you're all a bunch of grubby little shits"
The arguing continued, a few moments after Izuku started to walk over, until Katsuki turned to glare at him, a hint of suspicion hidden in his eyes that Izuku wouldnt have even noticed if he hadnt known him for as long as he had.
He still hadn't rehealed the wounds that Kacchan had unknowingly opened that night, but he was doing his best not to let show how much he was hurting. Because that would lead to questions, questions would lead to certain truths coming out, and if those truths came out... Izuku didn't even know what would happen. He didn't want to find out. So he turned and went to sit down in his assigned seat. The arguing continued once hed sat down. The Kacchan's anger wasn't aimed at him anymore, yet he couldn't help but instinctively bury his head in his arms- however, the bright sunray that shined directly around his desk provided a reasonable excuse if anyone asked. He wasn't sad, or scared, or hurt, or anything of the sort- the sun was just in his eyes.
"If you really want to be a hero that badly, there actually might be another way."
Izuku was perfectly fine. Here he was, sat in a class of heroes in training. He was a hero in training. He had found another way,just like Kacchan had said, there was actually another way. Kacchan had been-
"Take a swan dive off the roof of the building"
-right.
"Midoriya." Aizawa called sternly.
Because Izuku had zoned out with his head down on the desk. He hadn't heard the rest of the class, or Aizawa, come in. Or the othertimes his name had been called- judging by his teacher's tone, it had been a few. It probably looked like he fell asleep. He never fell asleep in class, so everyone was giving him concerned looks.
So much for not hiding it.
Throughout the class, Izuku noticed the glances from his friends as he took notes, or the way Kacchan glared at him as he left the room. It was strange, seeing that look on his face. Izuku had never seen it before, so he took a mental image to analyse before the blond went out of sight, surrounded by his friends.
It had been a glare, no doubt that meant he was angry. Classic Kacchan. But what definately threw Izuku off, was the hint of exhasperated bewilderment. When was Kacchan ever confused? Why was he?
The questions played on loop in his head cutting through his thoughts. Todoroki stepped silently to his side, and he helped Izuku pack his things up, noticing the uncharacteristic behaviour of the green-haired boy. Todoroki stared at him, a mix of concern an confusement in his mismatched eyes. Izuku noticed, but didn't say anything either.
They still hadn't spoken a word to each other by the time they sat down with Iida and Uraraka, each of them deep in their own thoughts, and their friends gave them a look.
"Todoroki, Midoriya? Are you both alright?"
"Yeah. I'm alright." Todoroki spoke up first. "Just thinking. But it's Midoriya we should be worried about."
Everyone turned to look at him, then at Izuku.
"Deku... are you okay? Did you fall asleep earlier?"
He looked down at his hands. He couldn't exactly say 'no, sorry, i zoned out thinking about when Kacchan told me to kill myself', because that would lead questions that he couldn't answer, no matter what answers he initially gave.
Why would he say that? Because I was quirkless. But you have a quirk? All Might gave me his. And that would lead to a conversation about One For All that he couldn't have.
Why would he say that? He bullied me throughout our childhoods. Why would he do that, it's not exactly heroic behavior. Kacchan isn't really one to care about that, especially not back then. And that would lead to question about whether he deserves to be a hero, and probably him getting reported over it. Which in Izuku's opinion, he didn't deserve. He knew that if anyone found out about that, then it would land Kacchan in heaps of trouble, if not risk his entire career over something he said thoughtlessly in middle school. And it would lead to the exposure of the fact he used to be quirkless, which nobody could answer without conversations about One For All. The pros wouldn't accept the same lie that he'd told his mother: that his quirk just manifested late.
"Deku.? Is something wrong? Why did you fall asleep?" Uraraka had encouraged when she was met with silence.
He knew his only option was to lie. Lie to his friends in order to not risk All Might's secret. And not the lie he'd prepared earlier about the sun being too bright. They wouldn't fall for that, because he took so long to answer Aizawa.
"Yeah, sorry. I haven't been able to sleep much, I guess, so I'm just tired."
"Huh. You said that yesterday too." Todoroki pointed out.
"And the day before." Uraraka added.
"Do you have any idea what's keeping you up, Midoriya?" Iida asked, looking thoughtful.
"No, I-" Izuku continued staring at his hands, but the words died on his tongue as he caught sight of something in his peripheral. He looked up to see Todoroki staring at something. Glaring, he realised after a moment. Todoroki was glaring at something?
He looked around to see what- oh. Kacchan; who's eyes were fixed on Izuku from a few tables away, looking the same as before. Angry, bewildered.
Izuku hopped back onto his earlier train of thought. What was Kacchan so confused about? And then he realised. Kacchan had probably thought he'd fallen asleep in class too, heard that he's still tired, and that he's been saying for days that he was tired.
In Kacchan's mind, Izuku had deliberately ignored him, and the blond hated being ignored; and their continued eye contact gave Izuku perfect view as that exact realisation hit him- crimson eyes turning from confused, to analysing, to exhasperated, to anger. Pure anger.
Kirishima, who was at next to Katsuki, obviould noticed the look in his best friend's eyes and could tell he was about to start something, and put a hand on his shoulder, whispered something to him, and they both turned back to the table.
Izuku turned back to his friends. Uraraka was staring at him expectantly, Iida's eyes were darting between him and the mismatched boy next to him, as if he couldnt figure out what to say, and Todoroki was staring blankly at Katsuki, who now had his back turned.