Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Izuku, come on! We are going to be late!” Inko yelled, walking out the door with the last box and shoving it in the back of her car, which barely has enough room.

Izuku runs out the door, panting.

“Mom, did you ever find that card that I got when I was little? You know the one with All Might on it?”

He had been looking for this special card for the past day, it is kinda like a good luck charm to him.

“Is this all?” she says, pointing to her car. “You don’t have any more? I don’t know, seems like you should ha-”

“Mom! The card?” Izuku asks again, but this time with a little more passion.

“Oh! Yes! Yes! I think I set it on the kitchen counter. It took me forever t-”

Izuku doesn't hear the rest of what she said, running fast back into their home. Once he sees it, he lets out a sigh of relief. He puts it back where it belongs, in the back of his phone case.

“Thank you so much, Mom!” The green-haired boy yells, running back up to his room to get one last glance at it before he leaves for college.
It was so empty.

His clothes tucked away his bags. Pictures of him and his friends, and his mother, were put in the boxes. Metals from school are taken down just so he can put them on his desk in his dorm to keep him encouraged, though encouragement is not something he lacks.

He stares at his room for a little then breathes in and then lets it out slowly, turns off the lights, closes the door, and runs out in his light blue shirt and grey shorts with red sneakers.

“Alright. I’m ready, let's go.”

He opens the door on the passenger side and hops in.

“Okay.. ‘zuku are you sure you want to stay in a dorm? It's not that far! You can always drive there and still live here!” Inko says while dropping her shoulder and furrowing her brows.

“Mom, it's two hours. And I can't take your car every day! What are you going to drive?”

Izuku does not have his own car. His mother was scared that he would get in a car crash if he drove every day. But, occasionally, she would let him take her car. They live in a very small town, though, so he usually walks everywhere.

“I know I'm just saying..”

“I'm sure that I want to do this. It would make things harder if I didn’t.”

Finally, Inko gets in the car and puts it in drive, so now they are driving to Izuku's college!

It was a long drive there. Very long. His mom is very worried about him living in the dorm and asked a lot of questions.

“Okay ‘zuku.. I’m leaving now. Don’t forget to call me every day! Don’t worry, you poor ol’ mom!” She obviously did not want to leave, but they had been unpacking for 2 hours now, so there was no reason for her to stay… Plus, his roommate was going to be there soon.

The housing and residence life department said that they got a mix-up while they were assigning rooms. So the person he was originally told he would be rooming with will be someone else.

Izuku waited a while in the dorm, but his roommate did not come, so he took a stroll around campus. He walked for about 45 minutes looking at all the clubs that were giving out sign-up papers, though he didn’t see anything he wanted to sign up for.

When he got to his dorm, he heard some rummaging inside it, so he took a step back and made sure it was the right number. ‘213’ yup, sure was the right number. He took a breath before turning the door handle.

“Hey! I’m Midoriya, your new roomma-”

He stopped in his steps, standing in the doorway. He couldn't even breathe.

“K-kacchan?” he uttered.

A 6’2 blond whipped his head around.

“Deku?” and a firm, shape voice said

Izuku closed the door.

Shocked.

He walked away at a fast pace. Hearing a door open with something being said behind him, but he could not hear it. All he could hear was ringing in his ears.

He had not seen Katsuki since middle school. They went their separate ways when they started high school. He thought he would never see him again.

He entered the public bathroom and took out his phone to call Urarka.

It rings for a while.

“U-uraraka?”

“Izuku? Hey!”

“.....”

“Izuku, everything okay?”

“Uraraka, are you in your dorm? Are you here?”

“Yes! Yes! I am come to room 107.”

He hangs up the phone with tears in his big green eyes. It takes him a while to find her room, but eventually he sees it.

“107.”

He knocks very quietly but loud enough for the brunette to hear. The brown door swings open.

“Oh my god, Izuku, come in! Come in!”

Uraraka dorms alone. She was lucky enough not to get a roommate.

“Izuku, calm down.”

She takes his hand and walks him to her private bathroom, turns on the cold water, and puts his hands under it.

This brings Izuku back to reality.

“Take a deep breath, ready? In and out. In and out.”

He follows along.

“Alright! See you’re okay! You're here with me.”

Both of them walk over to her bed, and he sits on it while Uraraka grabs a bottle of cold water.

“Here, drink this.”

The curly-haired boy grabs the water, takes the cap off, and takes a big sip of it.

“So what happened?”

There is a moment of silence.

“You remember the guy I told you I was rooming with?”

Uraraka hmm’s

“While they mixed it up.”

“So who is it?”

He takes a breath in and out.

“Kacchan..”

The girl looks confused.

She repeats Izuku.

“Kachhan..hmmm. Where have I heard that name before?”

Izuku is looking at her with teary eyes, the corners of his mouth turned down, shoulders folded over, shaking a little bit.

A realization looks comes on her face.

“Oh! I remember!”

She thinks for a little while and slowly says “oh…”

“Oh my Izuku... How- wha- I-”

She stutters over her words, moving her hands around.

Izuku opens his mouth, then closes it.

“I..Know.”

He said slowly.

‘Ding!’

His phone rings, so he looks at it and then realizes the time.

9:54 P.M

He has to be back in his room by 10. He doesn't want to give the impression that he's a bad student on the first day of dorming.

“Uraraka, it's 9:54.. I need to get back to my dorm.”

He stands up quickly, walking towards the door.

“Okay.. Come to my dorm whenever you need to.”

Once Izuku exited her room, she could not help but worry about him.

The green-haired boy was approaching his dorm door. He is feeling a bit calmer, but not feeling the greatest.

He slowly twists the handle, unlocking it.

Then, he pushes it open and finds Katsuki sitting at the edge of his bed, thinking about something. Once he hears Izuku open the door, his head flips up and stares while Izuku walks to his desk.

“Deku listen..I-”

“Kacchan, we don’t have to talk. I’m just here to get a place to stay for school.”

Izuku lets out in a soft yet aggressive way. Still not looking at him.

Katsuki left standing in the middle of the room, doesn’t say anything, probably for the best. He just sighs, grabs a new pair of fresh clothes, and leaves for what Izuku thinks is the shower.

Izuku finishes the bottle of water Uraraka gave him and throws it away in the tiny grey trash can in the middle of the room. He goes to grab some PJs, but finds something else instead. A white notebook with light blue lining.

“What the hell? I thought I threw this away.”

He walks back to the trash can but just can’t bring himself to throw it away. So.. he just tucks it under some other books.

Once Katsuki got back to his dorm, Izuku was lying in his bed, about to fall asleep, but the smell of caramel woke him up. His head flips up, locking eyes with ruby eyes. Izuku quickly puts his head where it was before, shaken by the familiar eyes, though this time, with not so much hatred.

“You want this off, or are you still scared of the dark ya damn nerd?” Katsuki says half joking, half serious.

Izuku doesn’t move, just says tired and dry.

“Off.”

So, with that, they both went to sleep in their new dorm, with classes in the morning.

º• *☆

“Love can kill you and will kill you ‘zuku. Falling in love with someone means exposing the softest, most fragile parts of yourself and praying they don’t rip you into pieces.”

"Be careful who you fall in love with, Izuku. Some people feel at home until you realize they were the fire.”

“Be careful with your heart. Not everyone who says they love you will know how to hold it.”

“Sweetheart, love isn't always kind. Sometimes it teaches you lessons you didn’t ask to learn.”

“You’re such a gentle soul, baby. Please don’t give your heart to someone who doesn’t know how to keep you safe.”

“I loved someone once who made me feel small. I don’t want that for you. I want your love to make you feel big.”

“Love is beautiful, Izuku. But it can be cruel too. Especially when it makes you wait for someone who won’t come back.”

Izuku woke up with a tear rolling down his cheek.

Not because of a scary dream, but because he had a dream of all the things his mom told him growing up about love. Love is powerful. Love is soft. But most of all, love is brutal.

Izuku learned this a long, long time ago. He learned it from the person who is now sleeping a few feet away from him at night.

Though he did shove these feelings very deep down, they resurfaced when he saw the very handsome blond with ruby, sharp eyes standing in their shared room.

“Out of everyone in this world.. It had to be you.” Izuku let out softly while waking up.

“What was that?” Katsuki said with his glasses on, looking at his schedule for the day.

Izuku sits straight up when he hears Katsuki. He thought he was already gone.

“Oh uhh… I was just, umm, just saying I need to get up!” Izuku tries his best to cover it up.

“Right. Anyway, get your lazy ass up. It’s nearly 10.” Katsuki says, still scanning his paper.

“What!?! I have a class at 10! What the hell! I set an alarm!” he starts to panic, he can’t be late to his very first class.

“Oh, that annoying ass alarm? Yeah, I turned it off, it woke me up, and I don't have a class till 12.” The blond said calmly.

“What the fuck, Kacchan!”

Izuku struggles to put on his jeans, tripping over them in his rush.

“Slow your ass down, it's only 9:25, you have time, Deku.”

Katsuki sits back in his chair, looking at Izuku with a smirk. The green haired boy stops in his place. Just staring at Katsuki.

Oh, so he hasn’t changed.

Izuku is annoyed. So very annoyed.

For some odd reason, he thought maybe… just maybe, this time would be different.

He continues to get ready and goes to his classes for the day, and goes back to the dorm around 6. Katsuki does not get there till after he goes to sleep, leaves before he wakes up.

The next week and a half was like this. Every. Single. Day.

He is not necessarily complaining.

It stayed like this till the dorm next door knocked on their door on the rare occasion Katsuki is studying at his desk.

Izuku is closest to the door, so he gets up to answer it.

“Hey! I’m Virex, your Midoriya. I have seen you around campus.”

Kael Virex.

Lean build, sharp jawline, tousled black hair that falls into his gray eyes. Always looks like he hasn’t slept, but somehow makes it work. Wears layered hoodies and beat-up sneakers. Has a quiet intensity about him.

“Oh yes! That’s me, do you need some help or something?”

The big, green-eyed boy says with a smile.

Virex is giving him a flirtatious smile.

“Oh no! I was just coming over here to see if you would like to come to a party tomorrow at my beach house. You’ll have a great time! Can always come just to hang out with me.”

This guy is not exactly Izuku’s type, but he is cute.

This caught Katsuki's attention.

“Oh, umm..”

The 5’11 boy does like parties, but he does not want to go to one when he does not know anyone who will be there.

“Oh, don’t worry, you can bring whoever you want. We will have plenty of drinks.”
The black hair boy says while winking at Izuku.

Oh, this boy is bold. Izuku thinks to himself, "I like that."

A different voice speaks up.

“Don’t worry, Deku. I will go.”

Katsuki says playfully.

“Deku? And yeah, you can go!”

Virex says, stepping a bit closer to Izuku to see who called him Deku.

“Oh, um, he just calls me Deku as a nickname. It's so annoying, but it's whatever. But can I invite my friend Uraraka? She is nice, I promise!”

He says with a big smile, excited to go to his first college party.

“Oh? Nickname you into that Midoriya?”

Virex says while raising a brow.

“Then can I call you baby?”

He grabs Izuku's waist and pulls him up against his taller body, looking down at him.

“Don’t fucking touch him, asshole!”

Katsuki slams the desk, standing up and walking fast towards the two.

“Whoa! Woah! No harm meant, man!”

The boy steps back, putting his hands up in the air.

“Kacchan, it's alright!”

Izuku snaps back at him, tired of Katsuki controlling his life.

This is why he left in the first place.

“Yeah, Kacchan.”

Grey eyes met red eyes, tension between them.

Katsuki raises his hand to point at Virex. But Izuku flinches.

The ruby-eyed boy breaks eye contact and stares at Izuku, with a look of hurt yet shock.

The silence is loud. Tension is high. And a lot of weird emotions are going around.

“Right, so.. Midoriya, I will see you tomorrow?”

“Uhh yeah… I will be there. Thanks for the invite.”

Izuku closes the door softly.

“What the hell was that?”

Katsuki says, surprisingly, softly.

“What? You mean me flinching? Kacchan, you hit me for years! What did you expect?!”

Izuku throws his hands up and turns to walk away, but Katsuki grabs his hand.

Izuku turns his head to look at the blonde.

“You.. you still think I would hit you?”

He says quietly.

Izuku pauses, looks him straight in the eyes, and says.

“I keep every version of you, even the ones that hurt me the most.”

º• *☆

“Omg Izuku, you look so good!!!” Uraraka squeals upon seeing Izuku entering his room.

-Earlier in the dorm, while Izuku is picking out his outfit-

Izuku has tried on two different outfits by now.

“Ughhh, what to wear..” Izuku mutters to himself.

Katsuki opens the door to their room, shocked by what he sees.

Izuku is wearing tight black low-rise swim trunks that fit his hips perfectly. With a big mash button-up that goes down to his hips and short yet oversized sleeves, with two of the buttons undone. And a tiny silver chain and small diamond earrings. He looks stunning, honestly.

“tsk. What the hell are you wearing? Aren't you too little to be wearing that?”

Katsuki says as he walks into their shared room and sets his bag on his desk.

“This is not your style at all, Deku.”

Katsuki crosses his arms, staring at Izuku.

“I’m still me. Just dressed up,”

The shorter boy says while looking in the mirror that is hanging on the door.

“Tsk. Yeah whatever. Where the hell are you going dressed like that?”

Katsuki is digging in his backpack for something, but stops once Izuku answers.

“To Virex’s party. You know the guy who came over here yesterday and called me baby.”

Izuku says with a smirk, looking at Katsuki.

“Oh, that shitty nerd, yeah, I remembered. Fucking dumbass,”

He mutters until his breath while starting to dig in his bag again.

“Right well, I’m going over to a friend's place before, so bye Kacchan.”

Izuku opens the door and walks out.

Once the door is closed, Katsuki goes and opens his drawer that holds his clothes.

-Back is Uraraka’s room-

“Thank you! Kacchan would say different...” he says while sitting down.

“Well, who cares about ‘Kacchan’!” She says loudly while doing her blush.

“Well, he is only the love of my life.” Izuku grabs the brush out of her hands and puts some blush on.

That is true. Katsuki Bakugo is the love of his love.

“Shhh, no bad vibes, Izuku! We are going to have a great time, and Virex is going to be there, it is his party after all.”

Virex is in her class, so she knows the guy.

“He is a real cutie, huh?”

Uraraka looks to the side with a big smile.

“I mean, yeah, I guess. But K-”

“Izuku!! What did I say! Not bad vibes!”

She playfully snaps at him

“Okay! Okay! Are you about ready? It’s 8:00, we need to go soon. It started at 7:00.”

“Yup! I just finished. Let's go!!!”

She puts on some cute slides.

Uraraka is wearing a cute pink bikini with a white look sleeve button-up, but she left it open so you could see the bikini.

º• *☆

Once they get there, they already hear music, currently Lights Out by Chris Brown X Tyga (Ft. Fat Trel) is playing loudly.

They walk in and already see a lot going on, people playing cup pong, taking shots and doing body shots, people swimming, some out on the beach.

“Yo! Midoriya! You came, and you look so good!”

Virex says, running over to them.

“Oh hey Uraraka! You look good too!”

The brunette sees Mina, one of her friends, and takes the chance to leave them alone.

“Hey Izuku! Mina is over there, I'm going to say hi!"

She tried to talk over the music so he could hear her.

“Oh, she is!! Tell her I said hi to!”

She gives him a thumbs-up and walks away.

“So you want a drink?” Virex whispers in Izuku’s ears.

“Uh, yeah, sure!”

The black hair boy grabs Izuku's waist and starts walking. As they are walking, Izuku sees a very familiar face.

“Kacchan?” he says quietly

“Hm, what was that?”

Virex whispers and leans down to talk to him.

“Oh! It was nothing, I just saw someone that I knew!”

“Oh, alright. Well, what drink would you like? We have whitecl-”

Izuku interrupts him.

“The strongest one you got.”

Virex smirks.

“Oh? Mm, so you're like that Midoriya?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I am.”

Izuku flirts back, shrugging his arms.

He needs a distraction. Katsuki has been everywhere lately, even here.

He and Virex started dancing at some point in the night after both had had a few drinks, both drunk by now.

The boy's hand was around his waist, pulling his back on him.

But Izuku's mind is somewhere else.

Katsuki. Katsuki, Katsuki, Katsuki.

His Katsuki.

Currently, the blonde is dancing with Lumi. Lumi is a beautiful name; it means snow.

Petite girl, about 5’3. Icy platinum long blond hair that is so smooth it feels like a snowflake. Pale skin with a cool undertone, almost glowing in certain lights. Big silver-gray eyes that always look like they’re holding back something. Sadness or wonder. Very quiet, she is a transfer student.

She’s wearing a white slip dress with delicate lace at the hem.

Beautiful.

That's all Izuku can think of. Is this Katsuki’s type? Is this what he likes?

“Midoriya, you're so fucking sexy.”

Virex says so quietly, almost like Izuku is not supposed to hear.

“Oh, me? Thank you!” He turns his body around to put his arms around his neck.

Virex is staring hard at his lips. He knows what he wants. So, he gives him what he wants.

They start making out. Right then. Right there.

They hear a couple of people whispering, so Virex bends down and says to Izuku.

“Come with me, I have a room upstairs.”

He grabs Izuku’s arm, and he follows him up the stairs, straight down the hall, and to the left. Now it’s just them.

Alone.

Once Izuku walks in, Virex closes the door and pushes Izuku up against it.

“Are you sure you want this, Midoriya?”

“I will want to do this again. I don’t just fuck and leave.”

They are looking each other straight in the eyes.

This.

This is what Izuku needs. To make his mind blank, not thinking about anything.

Not thinking about Katsuki.

Izuku doesn’t say anything, just pulls him into a kiss. So, Virex goes along with it.

Picking him up and laying him on the bed, taking his shirt off while he is at it.

But the door opens.

Katsuki.

Fucking Katsuki Bakugo.

“What the hell!”

Virex turns around to see who walked in.

Katsuki walks over and grabs Izuku’s arm.

“Get the hell up, Deku. You're drunk, you don’t want this.”

The boy says while grabbing Izuku’s shirt to put it on him.

“What the hell do you know, Kacchan!

Izuku snaps.

He left Katsuki and never looked back.

He left Katsuki because he loved him too much to look back.

“I know that you are drunk and you don’t want a mistake like this weighing you down.”

“You don’t know shit! Leave.”

It's quiet.

The three of them are just staring at one another, like they are the only people in the world.

“Oh! Oh, you want me to leave like you left me? Ha. You want me to walk out on you like you did me, Deku!”

The blonde walks up to Izuku and gets in his face.

“You want me to leave like you did to me.”

Izuku doesn’t say anything because..

He doesn’t.

He doesn’t want Katsuki to walk out. He wants Katsuki to drag him out of that room, take him back to their dorm, strip him down, and tell him he loved him too much to leave him standing there.

“Leave me like I left you, Katsuki.”

His green eyes looked straight into his ruby eyes.

For some reason, when Izuku said this, the boy looked like he wanted to cry, just for a short second.

Katsuki backs up, drops his shirt, and walks out, closing the door behind him.

“Whoa.. what the hell is his problem. Dude is a maniac.”

Virex says after witnessing the interaction in the corner.

“Don’t talk about him like that.”

Izuku says with a harsh voice. Making eye contact with the black hair boy.

“Oh.. sorry. But they get back what we were d-”

He grabs Izuku's chin and lifts it to look at him.

“Don’t!”

He says loudly but corrects himself.

“Don't touch me.”

The green-haired calmly says.

“What, why? Don’t tell me..”

The gray-eyed boy takes a step back.

“Don’t tell you what?”

They are both standing there awkwardly.

“Do.. you like hi-”

“Of course not!”

Izuku grabs his shirt and puts it back on.

“Wait, don’t lea-”

Izuku shuts the door and walks downstairs. He doesn’t look around, scared to see Katsuki. Just walked out the door.

“Izuku! Izuku!”

A familiar voice calls him.

“Uraraka?”

“What happened? Want me to take you back?”

Izuku is about to break down.

“Y-yes please.”

He sniffles.

“Aww, come here.”

Uraraka hugs him tightly.

“Alright, let's go.”

º• *☆

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in my dorm tonight?”

“Yeah, I'm sure. I think I need to have a conversation with Kacchan.”

To be honest, Izuku is scared.

Izuku is so scared that Katsuki will leave him like he left.

“Alright, but I'm always here.”

Uraraka says, opening her dorm door.

“Goodnight, Uraraka. Sleep well. I will see you tomorrow.”

Once she closes the door, it just makes Izuku even more scared because now he has to go back.

But, they do need to talk.

Talk about everything.

Izuku pulls out his keys, messing with them to find the right one outside of their dorm, but before he could put the key in the handle, the door opens.

Katsuki swung the door open like Izuku did on the first time they saw each other in years.

“K-kacchan?”

Izuku looks at him with confused eyes.

“Deku.”

They are just standing there, in the doorway.

“R-right yeah.”

Izuku walks in and sets his stuff on his desk.

“Listen, Kacchan, we need to ta-”

“No need.”

Katsuki interrupts.

“You said what you said. You need space, that's why you left in the first place, right? So I'll leave you alo-”

“I never left you because I wanted to.”

Izuku is ashamed to admit this. So ashamed that he is hesitant to say the next line.

“I left because I knew staying would break you. And I loved you too much to watch you fall apart because of me, Kacchan.”

Izuku turns around to look up at him, eyes red-rimmed but unflinching.

“Every day I walked away from you, it felt like carving pieces out of myself. But I thought if I hurt alone, at least you’d be okay. At least you could forget about me when I couldn't forget about you.”

Katsuki scoffed, but it didn’t carry the weight it used to. His hands were fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms.

“You think that makes it better?”

He snaps.

“You think saying it was for me makes it hurt less?”

He steps forward, too close, like he was daring Izuku to flinch.

“You disappeared. You left me standing in the wreckage, thinking you'd never come back. And you wouldn’t.. not if it wasn't for those stupid fucking people who put us together."

His voice is sturdy.

“You didn’t even say goodbye.”

He looks away, jaw tight.

“Don’t come back acting like it was noble. You don’t get to decide what’s best for me, Deku. You don’t get to hurt me and call it love."

Izuku swallowed hard. Katsuki’s words hit like a punch to the gut, but he didn’t back down.

Not this time.

“You think it didn’t kill me to walk away?”

He said, voice trembling.

“You think I wanted to disappear without a word? Every second I stayed, I kept thinking.. I’m the reason he’s hurting. I’m the reason he’s angry. I’m the reason he’s falling apart.”

He took a shaky step forward, eyes shining.

“I was trying to protect you from me.”

Katsuki laughed. Sharp, bitter, not really a laugh at all.

“Bullshit.”

His voice was low now, almost quiet, but full of venom.

“You left because it was easier than staying and facing what you were feeling? What I-”

He stopped himself, teeth clenched, and looked away.

“You ran.”

Izuku flinched.

“Yeah,”

he whispered.

“I did.”

A silence hung heavy between them, full of everything unsaid.

“But I never stopped loving you.”

Izuku says barely audible.

Katsuki’s expression didn’t change.

Not at first then..

“That’s the problem, Deku.”

His voice was tired, now bitter but soft.

“You think love means leaving before it gets hard. Like you’re doing me a favor.”

He finally looked him in the eye.

“But all you did was prove that I was never enough for you to stay.”

That broke something in the air.

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat.

“Th-that’s not true.”

Katsuki didn't answer.

He turned like he might leave, like maybe that was his own kind of revenge.

“You don’t get to say that now.”

He muttered over his shoulder.

“You had your chance.”

He grabs some fresh clothes and heads to the shower.

º• *☆

The next few days were very awkward.

No talking. Radio silence.

But this time, it was Izuku who would leave early and come back when Katsuki was asleep.

They don’t have any classes together, so it makes it really easy to avoid each other.

“Oh my god, Izuku, the flowers are so pretty!!”

Izuku and Uraraka are at a flower farm right now.

He likes flowers because, though they grow so pretty, most have a sad meaning.

His favorite flowers are..

Purple Lilac means first love, but also bittersweet memories.

Anemone meaning forsaken, forgotten, fading hope.

Blue Hyacinth meaning regret, sorrow, asking for forgiveness.

Cyclamen meaning Resignation, goodbye, letting go.

But if you were to ask which Izuku is favorite, it would be Cyclamen.

What do all these have in common?

Katsuki.

They all remind him of Katsuki.

“I think I'm going to buy these.”

He has all four flowers in his hand.

“Those are all so beautiful! I think I'm just going to get some pink lilies. They are my favorite!"

Izuku likes pink lilies. They are very pretty and fit Uraraka very well.

“Is this all for you today, sweetie?”

A very nice old lady owns the flower farm. She is super cute.

About 5’1, grey hair that about to her shoulders, usually wears pink shirts with white pants, and is very skinny.

“Yes, this is all. Thank you!”

Izuku sets the flowers down on the wooden desk and gives her a nice, gentle smile.

“Oh, these are some nice flowers you got here! Tell me, young man, do you know the means of these?”

There is a short silence before he answers.

“I do.. but that is not the rea-”

“You can have them for free, people who like flowers have to stick together after all.”

Izuku is shocked. He can’t just take these flowers from her.

“Oh no! I couldn’t!”

“Of course you can! Think of it as a gift. A beautiful gift.”

“Thank you so much! I truly mean it!”

“And the young girl can have hers as a gift too because those are my favorites!”

Uraraka overhears this and walks over fast.

“Oh, I truly couldn’t!”

The old lady repeated herself.

“Of course you can! Think of it as a gift. A beautiful gift.”

Izuku and Uraraka look at each other and then nod at the old lady.

“Tell me, would you two like to sit down with me and have a cup of tea?”

Izuku quickly agrees. I mean, she did give them free flowers.

“Follow me!”

After walking up to her house, she opens the door.

Cute little house. Fits her very well.

She walks them to the kitchen and starts the tea.

“Hmm, that smells very good!”

Izuku jumps at the chance to start a conversation.

“So it does! This is the tea I drink every morning.”

Once it's done she pours it into a cup for herself, Izuku, and Uraraka.

“Thank you so much for all this!”

“You are very welcome! Don’t mention it! So tell me, do you have a lover?”

Izuku was not expecting this.

“Or should I say someone whom you love. Not a lover.”

Izuku was left speechless with his mouth open.

How does she know this?

Uraraka is just staring at Izuku, speechless too.

“Uh, um, yeah, actually, how did you know?”

The old lady just gives him a gentle smile.

“Would you like to tell me about them? I think I have a flower I want to give you.”

Izuku is taking back. A flower she wants to give him?

“A flower?”

He leans his head to the side while asking.

“Yes, a flower.”

Izuku is clueless, but he just goes with it.

“Alright, well…”

He takes a breath before he starts.

“I met him when I was little, our parents knew each other, so we grew up together. But one day it just switched, like his personality changed, and I don't know what I did. He started bullying me throughout middle school, so when we started high school.. I left. I left and never looked back. I thought it was for the better. Like I was the cause of all these bad emotions, but now I realized I was just being selfish."

It was silent for a moment, but he continued.

“I just started college and I knew my roommate, he was a sweet guy from my high school. But once I got there to move in, they told me they had a switch-up, and it was him. I didn’t think I would ever see him again. But once I saw his handsome face again, all the feelings came back, the ones I pushed deep, deep down.”

She stares at him with a soft expression.

After he finished talking, she got up from her seat and walked away, only to come back with a wallflower.

“Set this on his desk and don’t say anything about it, let the boy figure it out on his own.”

When Izuku grabbed the flower, he felt her soft, frail hands.

“Thank you!”

Izuku and Uaraka got up since the conversation was nearing the end.

“Now you come back to me when you are having problems, alright?”

He keeps this noted.

Once Izuku got back to the dorm, Katsuki was not there, which was expected. It is a Sunday, so he is usually out doing god knows what.

But for the first time since middle school, Izuku takes out his notebook and writes in it.

"I never didn’t love you. That’s what this flower means.”

Though the words are written neater, cleaner, they still have the same feeling.

He closes the book, puts it back where it was, and sets the flower on his desk.

“Stupid.”

He mutters under his breath.

This is stupid.

Them becoming roommates. Their passes. And his one-sided love.

Once Izuku goes to pick out the flower, the door opens.

He quickly picks it up and puts it behind his back.

“Tsk. Nerd.”

Katsuki says, putting his gym bag down by his bed.

Nerd? They haven’t talked in days, and he is just acting like everything is normal.

Izuku doesn’t say anything.

“What the fuck are you doing near my desk?”

Katsuki starts to walk toward him.

“Uh, well, I just dropped a stem of the flowers I was cutting.”

Izuku panics.

“Oh, really?”

Katsuki raises a brow and smirks.

“So is that what's behind your back? Why hide it, Deku?”

Katsuki continued to walk closer.

“Come on, a stem of a flower? That’s the best you can come up with?”

Izuku quickly, in one motion, breaks the top of the flower and puts it in his back pocket.

“See! It really is a stem of a flower. I told you. Now I'm going back to putting the flowers in the vase.”

Izuku turns around and lets out a very quiet sigh, relieved he didn’t notice.

sº• *☆

Izuku looks over at the clock.

12:10 P.M

He had been studying for a big test coming up.

He had a couple of assignments coming up, but there was this one particular one he was looking forward to.

An art assignment.

Izuku likes to draw; it’s soothing to him.

Though he does not know what it will be about, he is still very excited.

It took him a long time to study for the test because there was something else on his mind.

Katsuki.

He can not get it out of his mind.

So..

Izuku decides to do his laundry.

Why? Because he does need to do it, yes, but when he does his laundry, he plays music, and that usually helps.

He grabs his laundry basket and heads to the washing machine.

Once he gets there, he puts his clothes in the washer and starts it, sits on top of it with his feet dangling, then he pulls out his phone and presses shuffle.

Izuku is lost in thought, but when he hears the door open, he looks to the left.

“Seriously?”

Katsuki said in a low growl.

The big-eyed boy blinks at him, startled.

“Yeah. I… couldn’t sleep. I didn’t think anyone else would be here.”

Katsuki stares at him like he’s debating turning around. Instead, he walks to the machine furthest from Izuku and starts dumping clothes in roughly.

The silence is thick. Uncomfortable.

“You still do laundry like it insulted you.”

“And you still talk too damn much.”

He is hesitant to ask where he was, so he doesn't, just lets out a small breath somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, slides down from the machine, and leans on it.

“I didn’t think we’d end up talking for another week.”

“Didn’t exactly ask for it.”

After the blond said that his heart ached.

“Yeah... Me either.”

Silence. Just the dryer buzzing. Katsuki doesn’t look at him. Izuku stares at the floor.

“You didn’t ask where I went.”

“Didn’t matter, did it?”

“It did to me.”

The curly-haired boy doesn’t skip a beat, says it straight after Katsuki finishes his sentence, and says it like he meant it because he did.

Katsuki freezes, just for a second. Then goes back to folding a shirt like his life depends on it.

“I wanted something I couldn't have, and every day I stayed, I kept pretending I did have it... until I could not take it anymore.”

Katsuki drops the shirt he’s folding, but doesn’t turn around. Just staring at the shirt.

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

He says gently.

“Say things that don’t mean anything.”

“It meant everything! You-”

He pauses, swallows hard.

Before he said what he was about to, he fixed his tone.

“You meant everything, Kacchan.”

Katsuki turns slowly, eyes sharp. Not angry, just.. guarded.

“Then why’d you leave?”

Staring each other straight in the eyes. Katsuki looking down at him, Izuku looking up at him.

“Because.”

He says quietly, slowly.

“Because I love you. And it was killing me to be next to you and know I’d never be more than a background noise.”

Silence.

A pause. Just the thrum of the machines and something cracking beneath it.

Coldly, Katsuki says, “That’s not my fault.”

“I didn’t say it was.”

Another pause.

Izuku waits for something, anything, but Katsuki just turns back to his laundry.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

“What do you want me to say?’

“I don’t know... that I wasn’t crazy? That maybe you… just maybe felt something too?”

Katsuki doesn’t turn, voice quieter than before.

“You don’t get to show up and throw that at me and expect me to have the right words. I don't know how to talk like you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Izuku steps back, just a little. His voice was soft, less confrontational, and more exhausted.

“I don't want to start anything. I just… couldn’t carry it anymore without saying it. Even if it makes things worse.”

He turns, heading for the door.

Katsuki stares at the shirt in his hands like it might explode.

“I’ll leave you alone now.”

Quietly, without turning, Katsuki says,

“Don’t.”

Izuku pauses in the doorway.

Barely breathing.

“You always leave right when I start to feel like I know how to say something.”

Izuku doesn’t answer.

He just stands there, back towards him, hand on the door handle.

“Then say it next time.”

He walks out.

Katsuki stays frozen, chest tight, eyes burning, but his mouth stays shut because he’s not ready.

Not yet.

When Izuku leaves, he goes back to the dorm, grabs a hoodie and pajama pants, and heads for Uraraka.

Once he gets to her door, he knocks on it a couple of times.

He heard some sounds in the room, then a click from the handle.

“I-Izuku?”

She says while rubbing her eyes.

“Oh yeah, I’m so sorry! I forgot it was late at night, and I just uh I will go back I’m sor-”

“Izuku!”

Uraraka says louder than before.

“What happened?”

Izuku takes a breath before he answers, feeling his eyes get watery.

“Well..”

He starts to weep.

The boy wept harder than he ever had before.

“Oh! Izuku, come in! Come in!"

She takes his hand and pulls him in.

Once he is in, she closes the door and walks into the bed, he sits down on it and pulls his legs up, crossing them.

They don’t talk. Uraraka can feel the pain he is going through right now, but at some point, she pulls Izuku into her arms and holds him tightly. After 20 minutes, he calms down enough to speak.

“We... fought.”

The girl thinks for a minute.

“Okay. How about we talk about this in the morning, go to sleep first.”

And with that, Izuku goes to sleep.

The next morning, they never talked about it.

Mainly because he had class early in the morning, but also because he frankly just didn’t want to talk about it.

Acting like things never happened was something he was good at.

Izuku never went back to the dorm in the morning, just grabbed the sweatpants he was wearing the previous day and put those on with the hoodie he slept in.

9:10 A.M

His schedule usually looks like this:
7:30 A.M - Morning jog
8:00 A.M - Shower and/or breakfast
9:00 A.M - Classes start
12:00 P.M. - lunch
3:00 P.M. - Classes end
3:30 P.M. - Work shift
6:00 P.M. - Shift ends
6:30 P.M. - Dinner
7:00 P.M. - Homework
11:30 P.M. - Sleep (If he can)

Though it changes throughout the week with meetings and hanging out with his friends.

But since he had a hard time last night, he just skipped the jog and breakfast.

Today, he has College Writing II, Developmental Psychology, and Studio Art.

He is fine with all these classes, but he is most excited for art.

The teacher, Professor Arai, is going to announce what their big project is going to be that she has been thinking of for weeks now. He has talked about it for the past few classes, so it has made him very curious.

College Writing went by very fast, but not so much for Developmental Psychology.

Izuku was just zoned out the whole time and didn't take any notes.

He lets out a sigh, walking to Studio Art, holding his books in one hand and his phone in the other, checking it.

Inko: How are you today, Izuku?

Inko has been texting him extra lately. It’s been about 2 months since he moved into his dorm, so talking daily has not stopped, but has picked up more.

Izuku: I’m fine, Mom. How are you?

After he sends that text, he puts his phone away, approaching the door.

Once he walks into the classroom, he is already ticked off because the seat he usually sits in was a girl.

The only seat left was by a guy whom he did not know, but he had no other option, so he went and sat by him.

“Hello! I’m Midoriya. Is this seat taken?”

A boy with loose blond curls looks at him with his soft red eyes. It makes Izuku's heart skip a beat. They look just like Katsuki, but... Soft, maybe how he would look at him if he loved him.

“Oh, hi! I’m Ishikawa, and yeah! You can sit here. I see your seat is taken.”

Izuku wonders how he never noticed a guy with the same beautiful eyes.

Eyes like his.

As he stares into his eyes, he remembers a quote he wrote in his notebook.

“There’s a brightness in them that feels dangerous. Like they’re not meant to be looked at for too long. Still, I always do.”

Once he realizes that he has been staring for too long, he smiles at him and says, “I like your eyes.”

The boy looks taken aback when Izuku says this, but gives him what looks like a forced smile.

“Oh.. thank you! Most people tell me they are scary.”

He says with a following chuckle.

The green-haired boy takes a seat.

“Well, I think they are beautiful.”

With this Ishikawa blushes.

“So what’s your ma-”

“Good morning, class!”

Professor Arai says to the class, signaling that class is about to start. Walking in, closing the door behind her.

“Today I will announce the project we will be working on for the next couple of weeks for the art show.”

After setting some papers down on her desk, she walks to the middle of the floor, analyzing her students' faces.

“For this project, you're not turning in a technique. You're turning in a truth.”

She paces slowly, looking at the class, not unkind, but serious.

“This project is about grief.”

She pauses to let that sink in.

“Not just death. Not just funerals. I mean the kind of grief that hides in the walls. The kind you carry in silence. The kind where someone is still alive, and you’re mourning them anyway… It can be an object. A space. A memory. A sound. Anything.”

A pause.

The kind that feels like she’s letting the weight of her words settle on your skin.

“Don’t give me something pretty. Give me something that hurts that you’ve never said out loud. If you make something that makes you uncomfortable to share, you’re doing it right. The piece must speak. You don’t get to explain it."

She stops in her steps and looks up, straight at Izuku.

“Let the work do the talking.”

Chapter Text

She stops in her steps and looks up straight at Izuku.

“Let the work do the talking.”

When Izuku locked eyes with the teacher, he got shivers because he knew exactly who he was going to make this about.

‘Someone is still alive, and you’re mourning them anyway.’

“For the next couple of weeks, class will be canceled. I want you to focus on your project. Two weeks before the art show classes start again.”

Professor Arai speaks with such passion. You can almost feel the words hitting you as she speaks.

“You have three weeks to create this work of art outside of class. After that time is up, you will have two weeks in class to work on it. I don’t want you working on it outside of class for those two weeks.”

A girl with red hair raises her hand, sitting straight up like she is trying to touch the sky.

“Yes! What's your question?”

Professor Arai points at her, looking like she is excited to answer her question.

“Why can we not work outside of class for the last two weeks?”

“Great question, Riko. But let me ask you this... Why do you think?”

She says with a gentle smile, looking at the girl.

“Well.. if I had to guess. It would be to reflect on what we made?”

The Professor walks around the room, waiting to see if anyone else has an answer.

“Midoriya! What do you think?”

He gives her a confused look. He didn’t raise his hand. Why is she calling on him?

“Oh well... I don’t know! I mean, there could be multiple reasons like what Riko said, probably to refl-”

“No, no, no. I want your opinion. What do you think?”

She repeats herself.

Izuku looks over at Ishikawa with his mouth open like he would have an answer written on his face.

The boy just shrugs.

“Well… I think the next couple of weeks will be a bit emotional, as we bring emotions to life. So, before the art show, you want us to put ourselves back together before we see everyone's art. But also, what will we do before the show? Because there will still be one week, right? There are 6 weeks before the show. You only mentioned 5.”

When she hears this, a big grin crosses her face.

“Well, Midoriya… you are correct! It's going to be a challenging few weeks. You will yearn for this person as you create this beautiful art. But I also want you to take care of yourself: go on walks, listen to music while drawing and painting, spend time with friends, and have a good time! The purpose of this project is to show you that you can live without this person. Great things can happen with or without this person. Life is beautiful, and you all need to realize that.”

The whole class is speechless. How can such a painful piece of art show you that life is beautiful?

“I know that sounds weird, that it sounds impossible. But I want you to put your trust in me, please. Let me show you the pain that art can evoke and the beauty it can bring.”

She is right. It does sound impossible.

“Alright, class is dismissed. You can start on your project today, tomorrow, or the day before the art show. Just have it done."

Although the class is over, everyone remains still.

Ishikawa taps his pencil on Izuku’s books, which brings him out of her words and back to his seat.

“Hey, I was thinking... maybe we could go out to grab a snack? Do you have any more classes?”

He blinks at the blonde a couple of times, still spaced out.

“Oh, um, no, I don’t have any more classes.”

Ishikawa just stares at him, waiting for an answer.

“Oh! Right, yeah, we can get a snack! Sorry, that class was just... I don't even know how to put it in words.”

Izuku chuckles, standing up and gathering his books.

Ishikawa does the same, but with a big smile on his face.

“I know, right?! Professor Arai has such powerful words! It’s awesome!”

They both head to the door, walking out of it with some fellow students.

They stopped under a tree so Izuku could put his books in his bag, and the other did the same.

“So, where are we going? There is this excellent coffee shop called Bean & Bloom. I used to go there a lot. It's about 30 minutes away. We can take my car.”

“Sure! That sounds good!”

Ishikawa and Izuku walk to his car, which is not too far.

“So, Midoriya, I was trying to ask you earlier, but class started. What’s your major?”

The green-eyed boy looks to the side.

“Oh! I’m majoring in Psychology. What’s your Major?”

He smiles at the blonde.

“Really? That’s so cool! I’m an Art major.”

They are clicking faster than he thought they would.

“That’s so fun! I draw on the side and sometimes paint. So, what do you think about the project? Do you have something in mind?”

The boy hmm’s

“Actually, no. I don’t, which is weird. Because I have been faced with tough projects, but none like this.”

Izukiu agrees. Honestly, it's a challenging project, but he does have something in mind.

“What about you? Do you have anything in mind?”

After Ishikawa finished his sentence, Izuku felt something in his pocket.

He reaches his hand into his pocket and feels a flower.

A wallflower.

“No. I don’t.”

He lies.

They arrive at Bean & Bloom and go in.

“Hello! What can I get for you two?”

“Uhh, I will take the Bloom Matcha and Study fuel trail mix. Midoriya, what do you want?”

Ishikawa looks over at Izuku, who is standing next to him.

“Hmm, good question. I will take the Hazellight Cold brew with a Strawberry Milk Muffin.”

The red-eyed boy pulls out his card and pays before Izuku can.

“Oh! Ishikawa, you don’t really have to!”

“Don’t mention it! I was the one who offered, How about we go sit over there, yeah?”

They walk over to a table by the window, where you can see the pretty blue sky and the beautiful green grass.

“So, how old are you?”

Ishikawa asks in a curious voice.

“I’m 19, I just graduated from high school. I knew what I wanted to do since I started high school and which colleges I wanted to attend. So everything was already planned out.”

“Really? That's impressive. It sounds like everything is going according to your plan.”

Izuku goes quiet.

“No.. not everything.”

He pauses.

“But that’s okay! What about you?”

He quickly says, realizing he is bringing the mood down.

Ishikawa smiles.

“I’m 21. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. I originally wanted to do Criminal Justice, but I love art too much to let it go.”

“Here is your food! Be careful. It’s hot!”

The waitress gives them their food and walks away.

Izuku takes a sip of his drink.

“Ouch! She was right. It is hot!”

Ishikawa laughs and looks at him with his beautiful red eyes.

“You know, Midoriya. You really are funny.”

His red eyes stare at him. Softly, gently.

The way Katsuki would never look at him.

Izuku lets out a sigh with a smile.

“Thank you, Ishikawa.”

After about 45 minutes of talking, they leave the cafe.

“Do you live in the dorms, Ishikawa?”

“Yes. Do you?”

Izuku nods his head.

“Wants your dorm number?”

“213”

Ishikawa has a shocked look on his face.

“Really! Mine is 207. You should come over and hang out sometime! I don’t have a roommate, so it gets kinda lonely. Do you?”

Izuku takes a big breath in.

“Yeah. I do”

He says while breathing out.

“Man. That must be fun. I always wanted a roommate.”

The green-eyed boy laughs.

“Not as fun as you think it is.”

Ishikawa looks confused.

“Why's that?”

Izuku doesn’t want to tell him, so he just dismisses it.

“Ehhh... I don’t know. Doesn’t matter.”

“Well, alright. Want to go for a walk around the park? Looks like the sun is setting.”

“Sure! That sounds really fun!”

Izuku's face lights up with excitement to see more of the city.

The park is lovely. There is a pond nearby, and beautiful flowers surround the park.

“The flowers are pretty.”

Izuku says.

“They are, aren’t they?

He smiles.

“Do you have a favorite one?”

The green-haired boy looks down at his feet.

“Cyclamen. It’s a pink flower with a white tip. Stunning, honestly.”

Ishikawa looks down at Izuku as he speaks. Like, talking to him is just enough to make him smile.

“Mine are roses. They are stunning, but nobody wants to touch them because they may hurt them. Kind of stupid, but I have sympathy for them.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid.”

Izuku looks up at him, meeting his eyes.

“Your eyes remind me of roses.”

Roses. His eyes remind him of roses. Not fire.

Hopefully, one day, Katsuki's eyes will remind him of roses.

“You're too kind, Midoriya.”

He says with a laugh.

“Oh my gosh! That kid just jumped in the pond!”

Izuku points at the kid, now soaked, laughing.

Ishikawa laughs with him.

“You know, that happens a lot more than you think. When I was little, my friends and I would jump in there, too. We would always get in big trouble. Want to go sit on the swings?”

“Sure! I love the swings!”

Izuku races over to the swings, filled with joy.

They both sit down next to each other.

“So… you grew up here?”

The blonde nods

“Yup, I was born here. My partners also grew up here. Where are you from?”

“Carmel sea, it’s about two hours from here.”

Izuku is looking up at the sky, a mix of purple, pink, and orange.

“When I was little, my best friend and I snuck into a waterpark.”

He laughs. Looking at his feet.

“It’s one of my favorite memories with him.”

There is a pause as if the whole world has gone silent.

“And... where is he now?”

Ishikawa looks at him with a soft smile.

“He died when I turned 17. He got into a car accident. After that, I have had a tough time making friends.”

Izuku feels his heart drop as if he almost wants to cry for him.

“Well, Ishikawa, I like you. I would enjoy being your friend.”

Ishikawa flips his head up with a shocked look on his face.

Izuku smiles at him.

“Oh... okay. I would like to be your friend too, Midoriya.”

He says while blushing.

Izuku laughs.

“You're blushing.”

Ishikawa stands up, looking away.

“What! No, I’m not!

“You totally are!”

He has tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.

“Ugh! Whatever!”

He says while pulling Izuku out of the swing.

“By the way, Ishikawa. What's your number?”

The boy says while pulling out his phone so he can put it in.

“Oh! Here, hand me your phone. I will put it in.”

Once they get back to the dorms, he walks Izuku back to his dorm. Saying goodbye as he walks in.

“Thank you again for the meal! Bye, see you later!”

Izuku closes the door, taking his heavy bag off as he does so.

Katsuki is at his desk studying for a test.

He looks over as Izuku enters the room, but looks down before Izuku can catch him staring.

After the door closes, Izuku walks over to his desk. Taking out the empty canvas.

He stares at it for a bit while thinking of all the different things he would paint on it. But sets it down and walks over to his bed to sit on it.

Once he sits down, he takes out his phone to check it.

Ishikawa: I had lots of fun tonight :) Want to hang out again?

Izuku smiles at his text. Glad he has made a new friend.

Izuku: Sure!! Let me know when you are free.

He turns off his phone, distracted by something else.

Distracted by an empty canvas.

“Ughhh. What to do. What to do. Well, I could do that, but I don’t think it fits the theme to-”

“Deku! I’m trying to study. Shut up!”

He didn’t realize he was mumbling to himself.

“Oh, right.. Sorry.”

Katsuki goes back to studying.

The boy puts the canvas back down for the second time.

He walks over to his clothes drawer and grabs a pair of pajamas. And heads to the showers.

Once he goes to take off his pants, he feels the flower again.

“Oh.. right.”

He sets it by his clothes and goes to the shower.

Once he goes back to his dorm, Katsuki is lying in bed watching TV.

He is watching the same show he watched when they were little to go to sleep. He usually watches it when he is stressed out about something and can’t sleep.

When they were little, they used to play superheroes, but Katsuki said that he didn’t have any power and started calling him Deku—the same name as the show he was watching, where the main character had no power.

Izuku puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket while hiding the flower in his notebook.

He climbs into bed, puts his phone on the charger, and watches the show with Katsuki.

Just like they did when they were little.

At some point in the night, he drifted off to sleep. He woke up to someone shaking him.

“Deku! Holy shit. Get the hell up!”

“K-Kacchan”

Izuku says while rubbing his eyes.

“Who the fuck else? Your alarm was going off.”

Izuku sits up, blinking at Katsuki.

“Oh.. right. Thanks for waking me up.”

Izuku gets out of bed and stretches, letting out a sigh.

He only had one class today, at noon. So he has some time before it starts.

He and Ishikawa were planning to sit outside and work on his project today before class.

He gets dressed in jeans and a light green sweatshirt, grabs his canvas, and leaves to meet him under a tree.

He was 30 minutes early, so he did not expect the blonde to be there, but there he was, sitting under the beautiful tree. His hair was blowing in the wind, and his eyes were focused on his canvas.

“Hey, Ishikawa! Did I keep you waiting?”

He looks up, green eyes meeting red eyes.

“Oh! Hey! No, you didn’t. I woke up early, so I just decided to come here. “

Izuku walks up to him and sits down next to him.

“Oh, you already started drawing?”

Ishikawa puts his hand behind his head, rubbing it like he is embarrassed.

“Uhh yeah, I have had a hard time sleeping at night, so I started working on the project. Quite early, huh? Guess I should have thought of that.”

The green-eyed boy stares at him for a while, then laughs.

“Pfff, you are just like me. I had a hard time sleeping, thinking of my empty canvas. But I’m still having a hard time figuring out what to put on it. I have so many ideas, so my mind just goes blank when I think about it.”

The weather is very nice out, sunny, with a light breeze. Great day to sit outside.

“Hey Midoriya, wild question, but will you sneak out with me tonight? I know that sounds very weird, but can you trust me?”

Izuku tries to hide his facial expression, but his confusion is so intense that a strange look crosses his face.

“Oh! Um, sorry, I overstepped the boundaries there, didn't I?”

The blonde with curly hair says with a little uncomfortable laugh.

“Oh no! It’s okay! I was just a little confused. I just didn’t expect to be asked that. But I guess, yeah! Why not? I have not had fun in a while. School has been a little stressful.”

Ishikawa's face lights up with happiness.

“Really!? I mean, you don't have to, of course. I totally understand if you don’t want to. We just became friends, so of course you don’t wa-”

“Ishikawa! It's okay! I'd like to, and it sounds like a lot of fun… Though I don’t know what we are doing.”

Izuku interrupted him before he could get lost too deep in thought.

“I will just sleep over at yours tonight since we will be sneaking out after all, if that is okay, of course!”

The red-eyed boy looks shocked.

“Yeah! That works! Come to my dorm whenever you like. I'll most likely be there. I spend a lot of time in my dorm, haha.”

In a way, Izuku feels bad for the boy. He sounds lonely.

“Of course.”

Izuku says with a smile.

“So, what are you drawing?”

After an hour and a half, Izuku has to leave for class, though he genuinely does not want to.

“Right, well, I’m off to class! See you tonight!”

“Hey Midoriya!”

Ishikawa yells his name from far away, making him turn around.

“What’s up?”

Izuku yells back, feeling silly yelling from afar.

“Since we are friends now, can I call you by your first name?”

Izuku stays quiet for a while, shocked, but agrees.

Ishikawa and Izuku spent most of their time talking to each other. They didn’t get much done. If he were honest, Ishikawa is a fascinating person. Very kind, too.

But also very lonely.

His best friend Yamazaki, died in a car crash when he was 17. Ever since then, he has not had very many friends. But he has noticed that he has taken a liking to him, which he does not mind.

The class went by very slowly. It was hot in the classroom. The air conditioning was broken, and the humidity did not make it any better.

He was sweating profusely, so he went to the vending machine and bought a bottle of water, then sat under a tree in the shade.

“Izuku? Hey! Izuku!”

He hears a familiar voice calling his name. He looks over his shoulder and sees Uraraka running towards him.

“Hey, Uraraka! How are you?”

She stands in front of him, catching her breath. Eventually, she sits next to him.

“Oh, you know, running around campus trying to get to my classes on time.”

She says this while flashing him a smile, her head resting back against the tree.

“Are you on break right now?”

Izuku asks while putting a bottle of water towards her, offering her a drink. But she shakes her head as a no.

“Yeah. I have one more class, though. Hey, would you like to hang out tonight? Mina and I are watching a movie in my room. You are welcome to come.”

The green-eyed boy was about to say yes, but remembered the plans he had made with Ishikawa.

“Yeah, sorry, I can’t. I have plans with Ishikawa tonight.”

“Oh! Ishikawa, the guy you told me about, who you meant in art class. By the way, how is that art project coming along?”

He sighs at this question.

“Well… I don’t have anything down yet. I’m kind of stuck. I know what I want to put... Just don’t know how to bring it to life.”

The girl hmm’s

“Well, you know I was never good at this art stuff, so... sorry, I’m no help! I need to head to class now! See you… Whenever I do!”

Izuku laughs to himself as she walks away.

Uraraku is like a pink lily. She is always so pretty, and when people see her, they feel happy.

After cooling off for a bit, Izuku decides to go back to his dorm to freshen up before he leaves.

But once he gets to his dorm, he sees a weird sight.

Katsuki is visibly stressed.

“Hey, Kacchan... You doing okay?”

Katsuki looked up at Izuku, and all the emotion he had on his face before had gone away.

“Why the fuck would I not be?”

Izuku finds this weird. He has never seen an emotion like that on his face. As if he were not just stressed but also puzzled.

He does not say anything back. He just puts his backpack on his desk and checks his phone.

Ishikawa: Oh, bring a hoodie. You might need it.

This text only confuses him further about what they were going to do tonight.

But without questioning it, he gets out a hoodie and sets it on his bed, along with some sweatpants to sleep in.

Katsuki doesn’t look at him. He just stares at the same piece of paper he has been staring at for the past day.

The green-haired boy pulls out an empty bag he had tucked away. He puts his hoodie and sweatpants in it, along with some snacks and his phone charger.

It is 6:20 P.M. He is going to head over early because he has nothing else to do.

“Right, well... I won’t be back tonight. Just thought I should let you know.”

Izuku says while putting the backpack on his back and heading for the door.

“Why”

“What?”

Izuku heard Katsuki say something, but he couldn't make out what he said.

“Nothing.”

Once he gets to Ishikawa’s dorm, he knocks on the door. At the sound of a knock, he hears some rummaging inside, and then the door swings open.

“Hey! Come in!”

The blonde is holding the door open for him with a gentle smile.

“I like ur dorm. It has some kinda vibe to it that I like.”

Ishikawa chuckles at this, closing the door and walking over to his desk.

“A good vibe or a bad one?”

“Oh, horrible.”

Izuku says, jokingly shaking his head with a smile.

“You have wounded me, Izuku.”

The red-eyed boy says while bringing his hand up to his chest.

When Izuku hears his name, he is a little taken aback.

He did like how it sounded, though.

 

“Anyways, we have a little time before we leave, so you want to play some games or watch a movie?”

Ishikawa points at his TV and looks at Izuku, waiting for an answer.

“Um.. yeah, we can play games… Ren.”

When the blonde hears his name, a little pigment comes to his face, along with a shy look.

“Oh... Okay! Well, I have…”

After a couple of hours of playing games, eating Izuku snacks, and just talking, Ishikawa gets up and grabs his dark blue hoodie. He puts it on, walks over to where Izuku is sitting, and pulls him up, now standing on his feet.

Without a word being spoken, Ishikawa grabs Izuku’s grey hoodie and puts it on him, along with putting his own slides on Izuku.

Once that is all done, the curly-haired blonde walks over to a packed bag that Izuku had overlooked till now. Ishikawa throws it over his shoulder, grabs Izuku’s hand, opens the door, and walks out. Closing it behind them.

“Hey, so what are we doing?”

Green eyes looked around, confused about what had just happened.

“It’s a secret, remember?”

Ishikawa turns his head around, putting a finger over his lips.

Izuku lifts his brows with a light smile.

As they are walking down the hall, they see Virex.

Virex and Ishikawa have some history, though they are not on the best of terms.

They attended the same high school but got into a fight one time.

Yamazaki, Ishikawa's old best friend, and Virex used to be in a friend group. Just the three of them.

One day, all of them were cliff driving, and Virex pushed Yamazaki off the cliff jokingly. However, after about 30 seconds, Yamazaki did not come up to the water.

So Ishikawa jumped in and found his best friend passed out underwater. He dragged himself and Yamazaki out of the water onto a big rock. Crying, thinking his best friend had just died in front of him.

But as he was about to give him mouth-to-mouth, he started to cough.

“Yamazaki? Yamazaki! Yeah! Stay with me, okay? We are going to get you help, alright? Just give me a second.”

Everything felt like it was going at 100 miles per hour. Ishikawa was having one of the worst panic attacks he had ever had, but he felt arms around his shoulder as he was picking Yamazaki up, not in a way that sturdy him but in a genuine hug way.

“Ren.. Ren, it’s okay. I’m okay. Slow down for a second.”

He hears from the person he is holding. He looks down and sees a smile on Yamazaki's face.

His dark curly green hair almost looks black, but in the sunlight, it’s the prettiest color you will ever see. His beautiful hazel eyes reminded him of gold that would cost a million dollars. And his light brown freckles that are on his cheekbone and across his nose reminded him how much he loved his best friend.

Ishikawa was so in love with Yamazaki.

He drops to his knees, Yamazaki in his lap, holding on to him as he cries.

“Naoki.. Noaki. I was so scared.”

Ishikawa pulls Yamazaki in closer. Holding him so tightly that he feels like he holds him any tighter, it would break him.

“Well, the good thing is I’m not dead! See! Ren... look at me.”

Yamazaki gets out of his grip, sitting on his knees. His hands cupped Ishikawa's face, lifting it to look at him.

“Ren, look, I’m Oka-”

“Yamazaki! Hey, look, man. I’m sorry, I never meant to hur-”

Ishikawa punches Virex mid-sentence, full of rage.

“What the fuck, Virex! What the hell were you thinking?”

His red eyes were full of rage, furious that Virex even came and talked to them right now.

“Do you know how dangerous that was?”

Ishikawa is up in his face. His face is scaly, veins bulging on his forehead.

“He got fucking hurt becau-”

Virex punches him back angrily.

“Don’t you fucking look at me with those scary eyes! Freak!”

Ishikawa, sitting on the rock, pushed down for the impact. Glaring at the black-haired boy with a hateful look, lips pursed, eyebrows turning down.

“Guys!”

Yamazaki interrupts them both.

“That is enough. I’m fine! Let's just go home. Virex, you can drive your car home, and Ren will take me home. Let’s just leave it at this, okay? We will talk at school tomorrow.”

Ishikawa and Virex stare at each other for a while, then Ishikawa grabs both his and Yamazaki's shirts, holds his hand and takes him to the car. Leaving Virex there. Alone.

Things between Virex and him have never been the same since.

“Oh hey, Mioriya!”

Virex calls out to him as they are passing each other, making both of them stop and turn around.

“Oh hey, Virex! How are you?”

The boy with grey eyes walks closer to them.

“I’m good… but what are you doing with this freak?”

A confused look comes across Izuku's face, but when he looks up at Ishikawa, he is staring at Virex. Dead in the eyes.

“This freak?”

Izuku repeats slowly.

“Virex.”

A different voice speaks up.

“Leave him alone. We will be leaving now. Come on, Izuku.”

“Oh! Ha. First name basics now, are you?”

Virex says with a sarcastic voice.

“Hey Midoriya! Be careful around that freak! He is dangerous.”

He yells at the two as they walk down the hall.

Once they get in the car, there is an awkward silence.

“Um, so... You guys know each other?”

“No.”

Ishikawa says instantly.

“Oh.. okay. Well, can you tell me where we are going?!”

Izuku says cheerfully, trying to bring the mood back up.

Ishikawa's head is on the headrest, turned to the left, looking at Izuku with a gentle smile.

“You’ll see. Be patient now.”

He says as he starts up the car.

After about twenty-five minutes of driving, the song Opera House by Cigarettes After Sex comes on. Izuku hums along to it.

“You know this song?”

Ishikawa takes his eyes off the road to look at the green-haired boy.

“Hm? Oh, yeah! I do! Cigarettes After Sex is one of my favorite bands.”

The blonde looks happy to hear this.

“Really? Me too!”

He says as he turns the volume up a little.

For the next 30 minutes of the drive, they listened to Cigarettes After Sex. Both were singing along calmly and gently.

“What are we doing at a place like this at 10:45 at night?”

Currently, Izuku and Ishikawa are pulled over on a road that he does not recognize.

A cute little town that he has never seen before.

Ishikawa gets out of the car, grabs his keys and another pair, and the backpack he brought.

Once he closes the door, he walks over to Izuku's door and opens it.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!”

He grabs Izuku's hand and pulls him out, closing the car door, holding his hand again, and starts walking.

“Hey, so... Where exactly are we going?”

Ishikawa looks back with a cheeky smile but says nothing.

After about two minutes of walking in silence, they turn the corner and walk down some stairs made out of wood onto a boat dock.

“What are we doing here?”

Ishikawa brings Izuku to this nice pontoon and hops on it, letting go of Izuku's hand.

“Ha! Come on, Izuku. Get on! Don’t worry, I’m not stealing a boat if that’s what you think… This is my family's boat.”

Izuku thinks for a while, a bit confused. But eventually hops on.

“Fine, but can you at least tell me what we are doing on a boat this late at night?”

“We are going stargazing. I saw something about how they are supposed to look prettier tonight or something. I don’t know, but it sounded fun, though. Open up that backpack, I brought a blanket and some snacks for us.”

He says while starting up the boat.

“Wait, really? That sounds so fun, Ren!”

Izuku grabs the backpack a little harder than he meant to, out of excitement.

Once he pulls the zipper down, a dark green blanket appears that almost looks black. It is the softest thing he has ever felt, along with some chips and candy and two bottles of water.

“Whoa, this is the softest blanket I have ever felt! It's a gorgeous color, too.”

He hears Ren sigh with a little laugh, but the laugh sounds as though it is full of tears.

“It is a gorgeous color, isn't it?”

After about 10 minutes of driving, the boy parks the boat in the middle of the lake.

Izuku looks up and sees stars, but the sky is more like a dark purple than black.

Ren walks over to where Izuku is and puts his hands on his hips, looking up along with the green-haired boy.

“Told you it was going to be pretty out.”

The red-eyed boy pokes the green-eyed boy in the waist jokingly.

“Ouch!”

Izuku turns around, trying to poke him back, but Ren grabs his hands so he can’t.

There is a good height difference between them. Ren is about 6’3. Izuku didn’t notice how tall he was till he grabbed both of his hands easily.

“Hey, did you ever play sports in high school? You are really tall!”

Izuku is looking up at him with his eyebrows raised.

Red eyes look down at green eyes, staring so intensely that it feels like they would mix and make a beautiful color.

“Yeah. I did boxing for a while, actually. It was fun. I enjoyed it.”

Ren let go of his hands and walked over to the backpack, pulling out the blanket.

“Why did you stop then? If you enjoyed something and it makes you happy, shouldn’t you keep doing it?”

Izuku turns around but does not follow him, only with his eyes.

Once the boy pulls out the blanket and sets it down on the seats along the boat, he turns around and looks at Izuku with a gentle smile.

“I lost my passion when…” he pauses for a moment, his mouth open. “The person I loved most left me.”

Silence.

The world goes quiet.

The words weren’t meant to hurt. They weren’t even meant for Izuku.

But they landed like a blow to his chest anyway.

Izuku blinked at him, caught off guard. His hands, which had been fidgeting with the end of his hoodie, suddenly froze.

‘The person I loved most… left me.’

He left the air shift. Or maybe... It was something inside him that shifted.

“Anyways, let's get looking at these stars, shall we?”

Ren pats on the cushion right next to him, signaling Izuku to sit.

His voice brings Izuku back to earth after he zones out for what feels like an hour, but in reality, it was only thirty seconds.

Izuku walks over to where Ren is patting and takes a seat, pulling some of the blanket on him.

They are sitting pretty close. Their legs touching each other.

About forty-five minutes have passed. They have just been talking and eating snacks. Izuku truly was enjoying himself.

It had been silent for five minutes or so. They both just kind of… just stopped talking. It was a comfortable silence. A warm silence. A gentle silence.

But suddenly, Izuku feels a finger on his cheek.

He looks over and meets Ren’s rosy eyes.

“Your freckles.”

“What?”

Izuku says softly.

“Your freckles… remind me of the stars.”

Izuku feels his face getting hot.

He looks away and tucks his hair behind his ear.

“Oh… really?”

Ren laughs, just a little chuckle.

“Yeah, really.”

He says softly.

At some point, Izuku fell asleep on the blonde's shoulder.

“Hey.”

He heard someone whisper.

“Hey, Izuku.”

He left his head up. Confused, looking around.

“Oh... Hey Ren. What time is it?”

Izuku sees a bright light. Ren looks down at his phone, checking the time.

“3:30”

He says while setting his phone down and looking back at Izuku.

“Oh.. we should probably go back.”

Izuku says, half asleep.

“Yeah. We should.”

Ren gets up, takes off his hoodie, and puts it down where he was sitting.

“Here. Go back to sleep.”

The green-haired boy says nothing. He just lies down, puts his head on the hoodie, and falls back asleep.

He wakes back up when he feels the boat come to a stop.

He sits up, still gloomy from being asleep, and sees Ren packing stuff up.

“Izuku, get on my back.”

“What?”

He blinks at the boy in confusion.

“Get on my back. You're half asleep. I don’t think you can walk ever well.”

He stands up, yawning. His legs felt like jelly.

“No. It’s okay, I got it.”

He says, taking a step only to trip over the blanket he had been covered with.

“Ha! Yeah, I don’t think so. Now’s not the time to be stubborn.”

Ren walks over to where he fell and pulls him up, then puts him on his back.

Izuku does not fight back, thinking he is probably right.

“You're too nice for your own kind, Ren.”

The big-eyed boy puts his head on his shoulder, looking at the side of his face.

“Well, without kindness, what does this world have to offer?”

Izuku laughs a little, knowing he is right.

“I suppose you're right.”

Once they get back to his dorm, Ren tells Izuku that he can sleep on his bed and he will rest on the floor.

Izuku walks over to the bed and falls asleep instantly once his head hits the pillow.

It was nighttime. The streets were quiet, the kind of quiet that only comes after a storm.

Izuku stood at the corner of a small park, the streetlights flickering behind him. The sky was washed in a dull gray as if the color had been drained from it.

He looked across the street, and there was Katsuki. Standing under a flickering lamppost. He looked the same. Hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets, hair messy, and his eyes tired. But he wasn’t looking at Izuku.

He was staring at the sidewalk.

Izuku tried to speak, his lips moved. But nothing came out. Not his apology. Not his explanation.

Nothing.

“You left.”

Katsuki said. Not angrily. Just… tired.

“Did you even think about what that would do to me?”

Izuku’s throat was dry and burning.

He stepped forward, reaching out. But Katsuki stepped back.

“I waited,” He pauses. “Every day. I thought you’d come back. I thought I was enough.”

The words hit harder than a punch.

“You didn’t even say goodbye.”

Then, just like that, Katsuki turned and walked away. Disappearing down the street.
Fading away with each step until there was nothing left.

“Izuku? Hey Izuku!”

Izuku jolted awake.

Heart pounding, breath caught in his chest.

He sees red eyes looking at him.

“Kacchan?”

He blinks a couple of times.

“Oh no, it’s Ren. You slept in my dorm last night, remember?”

Once his eyes focused, he realized where he was.

“Oh yeah! I’m so sorry! I um, What time is it?”

The blonde looks over at his desk, where a clock is.

“12:30 P.M. You have slept for a while.”

He says calmly.

“You can stay here if you would like. I have to leave, though. I’m meeting up with Virex for a talk.”

This catches his attention.

What is he meeting up with Virex for? Though he wanted to ask, he was not going to overstep his boundaries.

“Okay, I will leave. I need to get back to my dorm anyway. Thank you for last night! I had fun.”

Ren smiles at him, grabbing his keys.

“You're welcome, Izuku. I will text you! Bye!”

He says while walking out and closing the door.

When Izuku gets up to stretch, he sees a photo sitting on his desk.

He walks over and picks it up.

It was a photo of Ren and a person he did not know.

A beautiful guy with dark green hair that almost looked black, freckles, and hazel eyes that almost looked like gold.

They were sitting on a rock, but a small piece of it had been torn off, almost like he had cut someone out of the picture.

But he did see black hair.

He flips it over, and on the back was written:
“I miss the look in your eyes more than you will ever know.”

Izuku felt his heart physically hurt.

He could not imagine what kind of pain Ren was in.

He sets the photo down and walks over to his bed, puts it back together, then throws away the snacks from the night before. So when he gets back, he comes back to a clean room.

Once he is done cleaning up, he puts on his shoes, grabs his backpack, opens the door, and leaves.

Once he leaves, he can hear a sound out in the hallway that sounds like it is coming from someone's dorm.

As he walks down the hall, the sound gets louder, and louder, and louder till he is at his dorm.

“Shitty hair, I swear to god. You have been here for an hour!”

“Hahah! Oh my god! Bakugo! Is this you when you were little?! Aww! You were so cute! Now you just look so… Manly!”

Izuku stood outside the door for a little while, trying to muster up the courage to walk in.

When he opened up the door, everyone in the room stopped to turn and look at him.

“Midoriya?”

The green-eyed boy looks up to see who called his name.

“Kirishima?”

He pauses.

“Denki? What are you guys doing here? I have not seen you in forever! How are you guys?”

Izuku, Katsuki, Kirishima, and Denki all went to the same middle school. But when Izuku left, he had never seen all of them till now.

“Midoriya! Dude, where have you been?!”

Denki runs over to him with a shocked look on his face.

“Oh, you know.. Just switched schools at the last minute. My mom wanted me to switch high schools at the last minute! Sorry, I didn’t tell anyone, it all happened so fast!”

As he is saying this, Katsuki looks him dead in the eyes.

“Tsk.”

“Did you say something, Bakugo?”

Kirishima turns around to look at him, finally giving Izuku some room. But turns back just as fast as he turned around.

“Oh yeah! Midoriya, we are going to get drinks tonight! Do you want to come and catch up?”

Izuku puts his backpack down on his bed and pulls out his phone after feeling it vibrate.

“Oh, um, I would not want to intrude!”

Once he opens his phone, he sees a text from Ren.

“Oh, come on! It will be fun!”

Denki charms in.

Ren: Hey you free tonight? Do you want to hang out and maybe grab some drinks?

“Ahh, sorry, I can't! I forgot I already had plans! I am already going out tonight, sorry guys!”

He wasn’t planning on hanging out with Ren back to back, but it's an easy way to get out of an uncomfortable situation.

“Then… we can all hang out! Whoever you were going to get drinks with, and all of us!”

“Oh, um.. It’s actually a um… date! Yeah, it’s actually a date.”

“Ha! A date, huh?”

A new voice spoke up at the convention.

All of their attention turns to Katsuki, sitting down at his desk.

Katsuki stands up and walks over to where the three of them were gathering.

“Oh yes.. a date.”

Izuku knew he had messed up, really messed up.

His face is now bright red, unable to make eye contact with Katsuki.

“Alright. Then I guess it will just be me, shitty hair, and dunce face.”

Denki has a confused look on his face when Izuku looks over at him.

“But I thought you didn’t want to go?”

The blonde turns around to walk away.

“Who said that? Because it sure as hell was not me.”

Izuku took his phone out to text Ren back.

Izuku: Yeah!! We can get drinks!

“Really!? Let go, Bakugo! You're actually losing up!”

Katsuki walks over to his desk and picks up a paper, looks at Izuku, then puts it back down, putting his hands on his face, dropping his shoulders.

“I could use a fucking drink too.”

Ren: Great!!! What time? I just got done talking with Virex. I’m going to take a nap, we can meet at the bar at 8. My friend had to use my car, but the bar is very close!! It’s called Cherry Collapse. I will send you the location!!

Izuku was staring into space. Thinking about what Virex and Ren could have talked about, till he hears what Kirishima says.

“We should go to Cherry Collapse, Mina told me they have really good drinks. She went there with Uraraka the other day.”

His face apparently had a panicked look on it, and Denki noticed.

“You alright there, bro?”

He throws his arm around Izuku.

“Oh.. um, yeah, I’m okay! Thanks for asking.”

“Right well.. Kirishima, I think we have some business to attend to.”

The boy winked at the redhead.

“Oh yeah! That.. business. Bye guys! Bakugo, see you tonight!”

He points at Katsuki as he is taking his leave.

Izuku watches them both leave, moving his head as they walk.

“Business?”

He says under his breath.

“Yeah. Apparently, they are going to see Mina and Jiro, some girl that dunce face met on campus.”

The blonde says, pulling out his phone to what appears to text someone.

Izuku walks over to his desk.

‘1:30 P.M.’

The time reads.

He has 5 hours till he has to start getting ready.

He sees the homework lying on his desk and decides to do it till he has to start getting ready.

“Ughhh”

Izuku leans back in his chair, tilting it back a little.

‘6:49 P.M.’

Katsuki is lying in his bed watching his phone.

After double-checking his homework to make sure it is all correct, he gets up to get ready.

He opens his clothes drawer. Pulls out a pair of black jeans and a silk white button up.

He puts on the low-rise black jeans, along with the silk button-up, but only buttons it up a little so it falls off his shoulder slightly, and tucks one side into his jeans.

He also puts on a silver watch, diamond earrings, and a long silver necklace.

Izuku picks up his phone and sees that Ren has sent him a text.

Ren: Hey, Hey, Hey!! I’m at the bar, so come when you're ready!

The boy closes his green eyes, taking a breath in, mentally preparing himself for whatever is about to come in the next couple of hours.

After checking in the minor one more time, he grabs his wallet and heads out.

It was a lovely evening out, cold but with a warm breeze, which made it more bearable.

The walk there was not bad at all, about a ten minute walk. Straight path and a couple of turns.

Once he walked into the bar, he stood in the doorway for a little while trying to find Ren.

“Izuku! Over here!”

The blonde says, waving with a big smile.

He was sitting on the stools at the bar with a couple of empty seats by him.

“Hey! How are you, Ren?”

Ren had already ordered a drink. It looked kind of tropical, which Izuku liked.

“Oh, ya know. I’m good. That nap earlier hit, though I really needed it.”

He laughs, bringing his drink up to his lips, then pushing it towards Izuku, offering him a sip.

“You want to try?”

The green-haired boy takes a sip of his drink. A sweet and tangy, yet exotic taste hits his taste buds.

“Mhmmm!! That's really good!!”

Izuku waves the waiter over and orders the same thing as Ren.

“Soo..”

He says while sliding down on the tabletop, with a cheeky grin.

“May I ask what you and Virex talked about today?”

The blonde returns the grin, locking his red eyes with Izuku's big, beautiful green eyes.

“Oh, we're curious, aren’t we?”

Ren playfully says, tilting his head to the side.

Izuku looks away after a while, feeling eyes on him.

He can’t tell if they are Rens or… someone else.

“Yes. I’m very curious. You said you guys don’t know each other, and he called you dangerous.”

There is a little bit of silence.

“But I don’t think you are a dangerous, Ren.”

“Yo! Midoriya! What a coincidence, didn’t think I would see you here.”

Both of the boys look to their left, behind Izuku.

There appears Denki.

“Oh. Hi Denki, This is Ren!”

Izuku looks back at Ren, who seems very confused.

“Ren, this is Denki. I met him in middle school.”

They both give each other a warm, welcoming smile.

“Hey, dumbass. Get over here, we are ordering drinks.”

He hears a former voice.

The one and only Katsuki.

“Hey.. isn’t that your roomm-”

“Shhh!!!”

Izuku puts his hand over Ren's mouth.

“Okay. Here is what we are going to do.”

He whispers closely to the other.

“We are not going to look over there just.. You know, act like they are not there.”

The red-eyed boy looks confused, but also appears to be putting something together in his head.

“Oh my, Izuku..! Do you like your roommate?”

They hold eye contact while Izuku's face turns red.

“N-no…”

He can feel the guilty look on his face.

“Okay! Whatever!”

Ren starts to giggle like a little kid when they get candy.

“What is so funny about that?!”

His green eyes widen at the blonde.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. How is your drink?”

He slides back down on the table, looking up at Ren.

“It’s really good, actually. I’m almost done with it, though I will probably order another one.”

He did, in fact, order another one. He ordered a couple more.

“So, have you worked anymore on your art project?”

“Ugh, don’t remember me. I have not even started. It’s like I can’t even think straight when I think about it.”

Izuku grumbles, leaning his head down on the table. But he feels his arm being pulled.

“Come on.”

He looks to see who is pulling him and sees Katsuki.

“Kacchan?”

Katsuki looks back at him, sitting down.

“Deku, get your ass up. You're drunk, I’m taking you home.”

“Oh, I can do it!”

Ren pitches him.

“No.”

Katsuki gives him a sharp glare.

“Alright, man! I understand.”

Ren puts his hands up in the air.

“Get home safe, Izuku. I will talk to you soon.”

The streets are empty, drowned in a downpour.

Rain is spilling from the sky onto the streets, bouncing off the pavement, and making pools of water.

“It’s really coming down, isn’t it?”

He and Katsuki are standing outside the bar, staring out into the empty streets.

“Yeah, but if we want to get back, we need to start walking. Let go.”

Katsuki takes Izuku’s arm, pulling him behind him.

“Hey! Hey! We are going to get soaked! We should wait!”

Katsuki does not turn around, walking like he is on a mission.

“A little water won’t hurt. You can shower when we get back to the dorms.”

After a little while, they slowed down their pace. Now walking side by side.

“Funny how quiet it gets when it rains like this. Like the world’s holding its breath or something.”

Izuku means to talk to himself, but he must have talked a little too loudly.

“Hm.”

Katsuki grunts low.

Izuku looks over at him and smiles, his vision blurred because of the rain.

“Though maybe it’s just my brain that’s loud tonight. Always kinda hard to tell.”

The blonde keeps looking forward like he is going to make the rain disappear just by staring at it.

“You never shut up long enough to find out.”

Izuku chuckles, tilting his head to the side and lifting his shoulders.

“That’s fair. But talking helps. Making things less heavy, you know?”

Katsuki does not answer.

Just shifts his weight slightly, hands shove into his pockets, water running down his face in thin streams.

“God, I hate the rain.”

He speaks up after a little while.

“I used to hate the rain when I was a kid. I’d get soaked on the way home, and it’d always feel like the cold followed me inside. Couldn’t get warm for hours. I still feel that sometimes, even now. Like, no matter how much I dry off, there’s something that won’t stop clinging.”

Katsuki looks over at him, then back at the street.

“You’re rambling again.”

He says in a low voice, sounding tired.

Izuku smiles.

“I know. I think sometimes I talk just to keep the silence from swallowing me up. It’s… easier, I guess, than actually thinking too much.”

They walk a little farther. Izuku’s steps slow slightly, and Katsuki adjusts to match his pace without comment.

“Do you ever feel like the past is just... always right behind you? Like, no matter how fast you go, it’s there. Breathing down your neck.”

He mumbles quietly.

Katsuki’s jaw tightens.

He doesn’t respond, but the way his shoulders stiffen is an answer in itself.

Izuku sighs.

“Yeah. I figured. It’s like… you move on, right? You grow, you change, people expect you to just be better. Stronger. But some things don’t go away just because you’ve outgrown them. Some things stay stuck.”

They round the corner, and a small bus stop comes into view.

A simple metal bench beneath a curved glass roof, fogged from the rain.

“There.”

Katsuki jerks his chin towards it.

Once they got to the bus stop, Izuku sat first, letting out a soft sigh as he shook water from his sleeves.

Katsuki stays standing for a moment before finally sitting beside him, not too close, not too far.

“At least it’s dry.”

Izuku rubs his arm.

“Sort of.”

The blonde watched the rain fall.

“Don’t think this is stopping anytime soon.”

Izuku leans back against the glass, looking up at the roof of the bus stop.

“That’s okay.”

Katsuki crossed his arms, eyes fixed on a distant point in the street, water dripping from his hair.

“When I was little, I used to think that if I waited long enough in the rain, something magical would happen. Like I’d get powers. Or wings. Or someone would show up.”

Katsuki chuckles a little at this.

“You're fucking ridiculous.”

After a second or two, Izuku stands up and walks back out to the rain. Standing in the middle of the street.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Katsuki yells at him.

“Seeing if I will get powers!”

He yells back.

“You're going to get sick!”

“No! I’m going to get powers!”

Izuku stands there for a little while. Eventually, Katsuki walks over to him and grabs his hand, walking him back to where he was sitting before.

“So did you get your powers?”

Katsuki sits down, wet again.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got my powers.”

He did not get his powers this time.

But this time, someone showed up.

After the rain calmed down, both of them walked back to the dorms.

Both Katsuki and Izuku took a shower.

When Izuku got back to the dorm, Katsuki was already passed out.

When Izuku finishes his skincare, he turns off his lamp and lies in bed. Only the moonlight lights the room.

After trying to fall asleep for forty-five minutes, Izuku lies awake. One arm behind his head, staring at the shadows crawling across the ceiling.

The soft, slow rhythm of Katsuki’s breathing fills the room. Deep, even, almost graceful.

It’s the only time he ever hears him this calm.

He turns his head slightly, just enough to peek over the side.

Katsuki is lying on his back, one arm flung over his face like he’s shielding himself from a dream.

Izuku watches him in silence.

Every sharp edge, every scowl, every barbed word.

Gone.

Just like that.

Like a switch flipped.

Like, he never carried the things Izuku does.

Izuku swallows hard.

He doesn’t know what makes his chest ache more: that Katsuki looks at peace, or that Izuku never has.

Not once, not since the day he walked away.

“You fall asleep and everything disappears.”

The thoughts creep in like they’ve been waiting all to be said.

“I’ve spent years trying to disappear the same way.”

But he never could.

He holds on to things way too long.

Regret, guilt, love, loss.

It all builds inside him until he feels like he’s going to break open in the dark.

Izuku shifts on the mattress, exhaling slowly, quietly, like he’s trying not to wake the past.

And suddenly he wonders..

If I had just stayed…
Would he have slept like this back then, too?

Chapter Text

Regret, guilt, love, loss.

It all builds inside him until he feels like he’s going to break open in the dark.

Izuku shifts on the mattress, exhaling slowly, quietly, like he’s trying not to wake the past.

And suddenly he wonders...

If I had just stayed…
Would he have slept like this back then, too?

That night, Izuku had a dream of all the moments they had shared, from elementary school to middle school.

But only the last sense he had flicker through his head was him walking away and Katsuki putting out his hand with a tear rolling down his cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

Izuku says, opening his eyes and feeling his pillow wet.

When he looks to his left, there is an unmade bed with no one in it. Katsuki was already gone.

“I’m so sorry, Kacchan.”

Another tear rolls down.

And another, and another. Until he could just not get them to stop.

“Maybe in another universe, things were different.”

At some point, when he was crying, he fell asleep again and woke up to the sound of banging.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Katsuki looking hard for something.

“Kacchan? What are you doing?”

Katsuki looks over to where he was sleeping before and raises his eyebrows.

“Wow. You look like a fucking mess, Deku.”

He could feel how swollen his face was, so he was probably right.

“Yeah.. I bet I do. Anyways, what are you doing?”

The blonde was back to looking all over his desk.

“I am obviously looking for something dumbass. Why are you so noisy?”

The boy gets out of bed and stretches.

“Yeah. Right. Do you need help?”

Katsuki looks over at him as if he were offended, eyebrows drawn together.

“Why would I need your help?”

The blonde turns and goes back to looking for whatever he was looking for.

Izuku does not answer. He walks over to his desk and sees a paper on it.

The green-haired boy picks it up, not recognizing what it is.

“Some goodbyes happen quietly. The things we break, and the softness we can’t touch.”

He reads out loud.

He looks over at Katsuki, then back at the paper.

“Hey, so, um… is this what you're looking for?”

Katsuki flips his head up, and when he sees Izuku holding up the paper he had been looking for, he rips it out of his hand so fast that it rips a little.

“Did you take my paper!?”

Izuku widened his eyes, looking to the left, then to the right, and finally back at Katsuki.

“N-no… Why would I take your paper? And why didn’t you look at my desk earlier?”

His red eyes narrow. One hand has a finger pointing at Izuku, and the other holds a piece of paper.

“Because I don’t give a shit about your stuff! And I didn’t think that it would be over there in the first place.”

“Well. I didn’t put it there, Kacchan!”

He is confused about the paper. What does it mean?

‘Some goodbyes happen quietly. The things we break, and the softness we can’t touch.’

“Besied.. What even is that paper?”

“None of your business!”

Katsuki turns around and sets it on his desk.

He does not answer. But Izuku knows he is not good at talking about… anything, so he doesn't push it.

When the boy stares into Katsuki’s burning red eyes, all he can think about his how peaceful he looked last night.

How peaceful he wishes he could make him feel, but he knows he will never get the chance to.

Izuku walks over to the sliding window and opens it, but when he opens it, he sees Uraraka with a beautiful blonde girl.

Himiko Toga.

Cute buns in her hair with little pieces falling out, a cream colored cardigan with a red bow, a blue skirt, and long socks with cute brown shoes.

Uraraka has mentioned her to him before, but he has never actually seen her. The girl says she is good at blending in, so that's probably why he hasn’t seen her.

“Hey, dumbass. Stop staring into nothing and pick up your phone. It’s ringing.”

Izuku looks over at his desk and sees Ren calling him.

“Oh, hey, Ren! How are you?”

The boy's voice sounds tired, as if he had just woken up.

“Hey Izuku, I’m good! Just wanted to call and see if you got home alright last night.”

 

“Uh… yeah, I did. Thanks for asking!”

His green eyes look over at Katsuki while he answers.

“Ah, well, that’s good. Well, I have to go, but I just wanted to check on you. Have a good day.”

He hears the line cut after he finishes his sentence. He sets down his phone, and he pulls his chair out from under his desk to sit in.

He lays his head down on the desk and lets out a quiet groan.

After pondering what he should do for the day, he decides to go for a run to clear his mind.

He puts on his rundown sneakers, shorts, and a sweatshirt.

His curly hair blows in the cold breeze, his nose picking up the light smell of flowers.

He passes the park where he befriended Ren, seeing children jumping into the lake.

Once Izuku gets back to the dorm, it’s quiet except for the song playing from Katsuki’s speaker and the scribble of his pencil and the rub of the eraser.

The music begins softly, almost inaudible at first.

A slow piano, the kind that feels like rain even when it isn’t raining.

Izuku doesn’t recognize the melody, but it hits him immediately. Deep. Somewhere behind his ribs.

He kicks off his shoes and grabs his bottle of water to satisfy his thirst.

Katsuki’s back is to him, hunched slightly over his desk. Not looking at him, not even a glimpse.

Izuku grabs a book and sits on the floor, back pressed against his bed. Eyes wide open, trying not to breathe too loudly.

Trying not to feel too much.

And then the lyrics start.

‘Turn down the voices inside my head. Lie down with me. Tell me no lies.’

Izuku swallows. Hard.

He knows Katsuki didn’t mean to play this song once he came into the room, but for some reason, it feels intentional.

‘Cause I can’t make you love me if you don’t. You can’t make your heart feel somethin’ it won’t.’

Izuku squeezes his eyes shut.

He shouldn’t care this much. Not after all the times Katsuki only looked at him like he wanted to push him so far that he would never see him again.

But he does care. He cares so much it makes his chest feel hollow.

He wants to say, Turn it off.
He wants to say, Did you mean to make me hear this?
He wants to say, If you hated me so much, why weren’t you the one who left?

But he doesn’t.

Because he knows the truth already, he can feel it in the space between them, thick and echoing.

Katsuki won’t reach for him.

And Izuku will keep reaching alone.

But he can’t reach forever.

‘Mornin’ will come. And I’ll do what’s right. Just give me till then to give up this fight. And I will give up this fight.’

Izuku turns his face to the door.

Bites down hard on the inside of his cheek until he tastes blood.

He wonders if Katsuki even notices the tension in the room, or if this is just another day for him. Just another song. Another way to bleed without making a sound.

‘I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power. But you won’t, no, you won't.”

Izuku was so focused on the song, he did not realize that the blonde was writing then erasing over and over again and visibly getting more and more frustrated.

“Fuck.”

A low voice said.

Izuku watched as Katsuki would write a sentence or two, then erase it.

“Stop watching you, creep.”

Izuku looked side to side like he was talking to someone else.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to stare. I just… I don’t know, you seem frustrated.”

The blonde turns his head to look at Izuku.

“Yeah? And what could you do about it, Deku?”

Izuku does not answer. Because he knows if he answers, it will only hurt him more.

The sweat from his run starts to make his skin feel sticky. The kind that makes your skin feel like bugs are crawling on you.

His shirt sticks to him along with his shorts, hair plastered to his forehead.

He gets up quietly, scared to awaken something in the air, grabbing sweatpants and a loose shirt with black ankle socks along with his phone.

He usually uses the shared showers because they are bigger and surprisingly very clean, but he is feeling a little bit stuffy, so he decides to use their shared bathroom.

The scent of Katsuki’s shampoo fills his nose when he steps into the shower.

The hot water feels nice on his aching body, so he just stands there for a while.

He feels pressure behind his eyes, which signals that he is getting sick.

Once he gets out of the shower, he takes some Tylenol to help relieve the aching in his back and the pressure behind his eyes.

The boy lets a little sigh out with his hands on the sink. Eyes closed, praying the medicine will help.

When Izuku exits the bathroom, he sees the blond stretching on the floor, which is not a rare sight.

“You going to go to the gym or something?”

Izuku rubs the towel against his curly green hair, drying it.

“No.”

Katsuki answers low.

“Why are you stretching then?”

The blonde flips his head up to look at Izuku.

“Because I don’t need my muscles to tighten up. Don’t you know how all that works, nerd?”

He rolls his eyes while saying so.

“Oh… right.”

On Izuku’s desk lies homework that needs to be done by next week.

“Oh shoot!”

School has been picking up lately, which he had expected.

Izuku pulls out the chair from his desk and grabs a pencil.

Focusing on his goals his one of his strong suits. He reaches for his goals and never stops putting his hand out.

But some things seem impossible.

The room was quiet except for the faint scratch of pencil on paper and the occasional rustle of a notebook page being flipped.

The desk lamp cast a pool of light across the corner of the room, painting Izuku’s hunched-over form in a soft amber.

His notes were a mess. Scribbles layered over scribbles, arrows darting paragraphs, reminders crammed in the margins. He didn’t mind. He fixed it later. He always did.

Katsuki had gone to bed a while ago. Not that Izuku had looked at the clock, but the way the room had darkened and stilled, the faint sound of breathing behind him, he could tell.

It made him feel less alone. Even if Katsuki didn’t talk to him much when they were both awake, there was something weirdly comforting about the weight of his presence just a few feet away.

Izuku’s head nodded once. Then again.

The pencil slipped from his hand and rolled off the desk.

He didn’t notice.

It was unclear what woke him. The cold sweat, or the full body ache, or maybe just the pressure in his head.

But something was wrong. He knew that immediately.

Not the usual I-stayed-up-too-late grogginess or the tired soreness that came from sitting hunched over a desk too long.

This was deeper. Hotter. Heavier.

His mouth was dry, his tongue thick behind his teeth, and his eyes stung when he tried to open them fully.

The room is spinning. Not like he was dizzy, but like the floor had started to tilt in slow motion beneath him.

Izuku blinked blearily at the desk, still lit by the dim, humming lamp. His breath felt too shallow. His arms trembled just trying to sit up.

“What the…?”

The words barely made it past his lips, rough and low like he hadn’t spoken in days.

He sat up or tried to at least. His vision blurred at the edges immediately, and a pulse of pain flared across his shoulders and the back of his neck. His hands, resting on the edge of the desk, drooped under his own weight.

“Shit!”

The chair scraped loudly as it shot back.

Izuku’s knees hit the floor hard, and for a second, all he could do was stay crouched there, arms limp at his side, breathing hard like he’d run a mile.

He was so hot. But shivering.

And God, his bones hurt.

Behind him, Katsuki mumbled something into his pillow. The rusting sheets stopped for a moment. Then nothing. Back to silence.

Izuku swallowed hard, trying to call out.

“Ka-Kacchan?”

No response.

He glanced behind him, breath hitching.

Katsuki was still curled on his side, one arm over his face, dead to the world.

Izuku braced himself against the side of the desk and pushed.

He barely made it halfway up before his arms gave out again, and he collapsed on the floor, knees folding beneath him like they couldn’t remember how to work. His palms slapped flat against the floor. It felt freezing under his feverish skin.

His forehead dropped forward until it rested against the cool floor too.

He wasn’t going to make it to bed.

This was ridiculous. Embarrassing.

He has to move. He couldn’t just… lie on the floor like this, right?

“Just… five seconds,”

He muttered to himself.

“Then I’ll get up… yeah.”

His whole body trembled.

Katsuki heard the chair scrape. That was what dragged him out of sleep.

At first, he stayed in bed, eyes closed, not really awake, assuming it was just Izuku being a restless idiot.

But then it was quiet again. Too quiet.

No desk lamp flicking off. No soft shuffle toward the closet or the bed. No toothbrush. No sigh of exhaustion. Just silence and… breathing.

Not even breathing. Panting. Unsteady.

Katsuki sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes.

“...Deku?”

No answer.

The breath caught in his throat. A cold, sharp instinct punched through the center of his chest.

He pushed back the covers and got up.

The first thing he saw was the overturned chair.

Then the half-finished notes.

Then… Izuku crumpled on the floor next to the desk, forehead pressed against the floor, shoulders visibly shaking.

“What the fuck!”

Katsuki rushed over, crouching immediately beside him.

“What the hell happened?! Did you fall?!”

Izuku flinched at the sound of his voice but didn’t look up.

“I don’t… I don’t know. I just… woke up like this.”

Katsuki froze.

Up close, he could see the sweat beading on Izuku’s skin, soaking the collar of his shirt. His face pale, lips dry, and he was shivering hard.

“You’re burning up.”

Katsuki muttered, more to himself than anything.

“Goddamnit.”

“I think it’s just the flu,”

Izuku whispered.

“I-I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep…”

“You can’t even stand up.”

Izuku blinked at him slowly.

“Yeah… I noticed.”

Katsuki stared at him, expression flickering like a million things were fighting to come out of his mouth, but none of them made it past his clenched teeth.

Then, without a word, he grabbed Izuku under his arms and hauled him up.

Izuku groaned softly, arms dangling, and slumping forward.

“Kacchan-”

“Shut up,”

Katsuki snapped.

“Just shut up and let me do it.”

He carried him to bed, one arm slung around his back, the other under his knees, when Izuku finally gave up walking entirely.

Katsuki grunted and dropped him gently on his own mattress, caught up in the moment, then yanked the blanket up over him.

Izuku curled in on himself immediately.

The smell of Katsuki filled his nose immediately, making him hotter than he already was.

Katsuki stood at the edge of the bed for a second, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

Then disappeared and returned with a damp washcloth from the bathroom, pressing it lightly against Izuku’s forehead.

“You’re gonna take some damn medicine in the morning,”

He muttered.

“Mhm.”

“And drink water.”

“Mhm…”

“And if you still look like a dying sea slug, I’m taking you to the fucking hospital.”

Izuku chuckled weakly, his eyelids fluttering shut.

“What kind of slug?”

Katsuki rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed, arms crossed.

“Go to sleep, dumbass.”

“You’re… kind of nice when you’re worried.”

A pause.

“... I’m not worried about you, idiot.”

He murmured.

He didn’t open his eyes, but the corner of his mouth lifted just a little.

“Really?”

Katsuki’s throat worked around a reply he didn’t know how to give. His jaw tightened instead.

He didn’t move for a long time. Just sat there beside the bed, staring straight ahead, waiting for Izuku’s breathing to slow into something softer.

When it finally did, Katsuki let out a breath and dragged a hand down his face.

“You dumbass. Stop scaring me.”

He whispered very low.

He didn’t say it louder. He didn’t know if Izuku was awake enough to hear it.

Maybe he didn’t want him to.

The hallway was too bright. Katsuku didn’t notice it until he was already halfway to their dorm, jaw clenched, keys in hand, backpack weighing heavily on his shoulders. The lights felt wrong. Too sharp. Too loud.

He hadn’t gotten a single thing from class.

All day, every minute, his brain kept circling back to that image.

Izuku slumped on the floor last night, burning with a fever and barely able to lift his head.

Katsuki had wanted to stay. Skipping classes crossed his mind more than once.

But Izuku had mumbled something about “not making a big deal” and “It’s just because I’m tired.”

Katsuki had scowled, cursed under his breath, and gone.

The minute he opened the door, he knew something was wrong.

The lights were off.

The room smelled off, too… like sweat and something sharp underneath. Something sour.

There was no rusting, no sound of pages turning, no awkward cough to greet him.

Just the still hum of silence.

Then… a low groan.

Not pain exactly, but close.

Weak.

Katsuki’s body moved before his brain did.

He threw his backpack.

It crashed against the far wall, paper spilling out, pens clattering to the floor, but he didn’t care.

“Izuku?!”

There, on the edge of the bed. Half hanging off, arms trembling, face ghost-pale and slick with sweat. One hand gripped the side of the mattress like it was the only thing anchoring him. The other was pressed flat against his stomach.

“I-I’m fine,”

Izuku rasped voice barely a whisper.

“Just got dizzy…”

“You’re not fine.”

Katsuki was already at his side, dropping to a crouch.

“You look like death.”

Izuku swayed, then clapped a hand over his mouth.

Katsuki barely managed to grab the trash bin in time.

Izuku vomited with a choked sound, his whole body convulsing, heaving violently until there was nothing left in his stomach.

Katsuki didn’t flinch. He held the bin, steady and close, free hand pressed lightly to Izuku’s back. He didn’t speak.

When Izuku slumped back, shaking, Katsuki grabbed the towel from last night, wiped his mouth, and snapped.

“That’s it. Get up. We’re going.”

“I-no, Kacchan-”

“Don’t.”

Izuku looked up, dazed, eyes glassy and unfocused.

“I don’t want to drag you.”

“I’m not doing this shit with you. Get up, Deku.”

There was something sharp in his voice, like the edge of a blade he couldn’t figure out how to put away. Fear disguised as fury. It clung to him like static. He moved fast after that, grabbing shoes, throwing on his hoodie, and yanking Izuku’s jacket from the hook.

Izuku tried to protest once more, but his knees buckled the second he stood. Katsuki caught him before he hit the floor.

“Jesus,”

He said, already adjusting his grip, hauling him up.

“You’re so goddamn stubborn.”

He didn’t let Izuku walk after that.

Katsuki’s car smelled like it was brand new. Izuku liked that.

He slumped in the passenger seat, legs curled awkwardly beneath him, forehead resting against the cool window. Every bump in the road made his stomach flip. The heat was too much. The motion was too much. The light from the passing street lamps, slashing too fast across his eyes, was too much.

Katsuki hadn’t spoken since they left the dorm.

Not out loud, anyway.

His knuckles were white around the steering wheel, jaw locked tight.

Every time he had to brake too hard or turn a little sharp, he muttered something under his breath directed at traffic, at a red light, at himself.

“I’m fine.”

Izuku rasped, barely above a whisper.

“You’re not.”

Silence again.

The hospital came into view, and Izuku blinked slowly at the glowing red ER sign.

His chest ached. His body felt like it was full of wet sand.

He wasn’t used to needing help like this. Wasn’t used to being the one who had to lean on anyone.

Katsuki pulled into the drop-off zone too fast and put the car in park without a word.

“Don’t get out of the car. I mean it.”

He opens the door and hurries over to Izuku’s door.

Once the door opened, Izuku got up and tried to walk even though Katsuki said not to. He nearly collapsed into the car door.

“I fucking knew it. Don’t move, Deku. Listen to me, goddamnit!”

Izuku didn’t argue this time. He couldn’t. His head was spinning too violently.

Katsuki ducked under one of Izuku’s arms and looped his own around his back, guiding him through the sliding glass doors and into the bright, sterile chill of the emergency room.

The waiting room was mostly empty, just a few quiet people sitting under flickering fluorescent lights. The air conditioning was blasting, and the silence was broken only by the distant buzz of a TV playing muted news.

After the check-in, a nurse handed Katsuki a clipboard and told them it would be a little while.

He took the clipboard without looking at it.

He guided Izuku to the nearest chair and eased him down carefully, then sat beside him, arms crossed. The paperwork sat untouched in his lap.

Izuku was trembling again.

His head tilted against the chair, then slumped sideways. Once, then twice before he gave up and let it fall against Katsuki’s shoulder.

Katsuki stiffened. Froze completely.

Izuku mumbled something, maybe an apology, maybe not. He didn’t lift his head.

His forehead was burning against Katsuki’s hoodie. Too hot. Way too hot.

Katsuki stared straight ahead, unmoving. But then Izuku’s head began to slide off his shoulder again, too weak to stay there on its own. The movement made Izuku’s breath hitch. Like he was waking up every time it happened, trying and failing to adjust.

Katsuki’s hand twitched.

Then, finally, he moved.

Lifting his right hand, slow and unsure, until he placed it lightly against the side of Izuku’s head. Just enough pressure to keep it in place.

Not too hard. Not too soft. Just enough.

Izuku sighed against him.

Katsuki didn’t move after that.

He didn’t speak. Didn’t shake him off. Just sat there with his hand cupping Izuku’s feverish head, holding it against his shoulder, glaring at the reception desk like he could make the nurse call their name sooner.

When Izuku’s breathing deepened and his body sagged heavily against him, Katsuki shifted his fingers slightly, just a little into his hair.

Only because it was slipping again.

Nothing else.

He kept telling himself that.

He didn’t even notice the clipboard slipping from his lap to the floor.

“Izuku Midoriya?”

The voice cut through the air like it didn’t belong there. Too sharp, too clear, slicing through the haze that had settled in Izuku’s skull. For a second, he didn’t register it. Didn’t realize it was his name.

“Deku.”

Izuku blinked, sluggish and confused. His body hadn’t moved in what felt like hours. His head still rested against Katsuki’s shoulder, held up by the steady warmth of Katsuki’s hand. When that hand dropped away, his head drooped to the side, and he barely caught himself.

A nurse stood near the double doors, clipboard in hand.

He tried to sit up straight. Tried to say something, but his voice didn’t come. Only a dry cough.

“Midoriya?”

The nurse repeated, scanning the waiting room.

He raised his hand weakly as if that would help.

“I’m–yeah. Sorry.”

He tried to stand. His legs didn’t cooperate.

Katsuki moved instantly, slipping under his arm again without a word.

Izuku hated how fast he leaned into him.

Hated how much he needed the support.

The walk in the hallway was a blur.

Fluorescent lights burned overhead, buzzing softly. The floor tiles were off-white, speckled gray, the kind that seemed designed to be invisible. The hallway was too long. Too cold. His feet shuffled along the linoleum like he wasn’t really attached to them. He kept his eyes mainly on the nurse’s sneakers ahead of him, just to stay upright.

“Just in here.”

She said gently, opening the curtain to a small room.

Izuku swayed. Katsuki guided him to sit on the narrow hospital bed, legs dangling off the edge. The moment he let go, Izuku nearly toppled sideways.

“Hey, easy. Gotcha.”

The nurse’s hands steadied him.

He didn’t like the way she said it, as if she were talking to someone fragile.

Like he was.

His stomach rolled. The light above the bed felt too bright, like it was spotlighting every inch of him. Sweat beaded along his hairline again, despite the cold room. His hoodie clung to his back uncomfortably.

“Can you take that off for me, sweetheart?”

The nurse asked, nodding to his jacket.

Izuku blinked slowly, looking down at his own hands like he wasn’t sure how they worked.

Katsuki stepped in before he could answer.

“I’ve got it.”

He stepped closer to the bed and stood there like he was waiting for something.

“Well. Lifted your arms, nerd.”

He helps Izuku out of his hoodie with rough, efficient movements. No ceremony, no tenderness, just done.

The nurse gave a small smile, then pulled out the thermometer, a blood pressure cuff, and started asking questions.

Name, birthdate, symptoms, and when they started.

Izuku tried to answer, but every time he opened his mouth, it felt like gravel and fire had settled in his throat.

“Izuku Midoriya. July 15th. High fever, throwing up, cold sweat, body chills. They started yesterday in the early morning.”

A voice spoke up that he did not expect.

“Okay. Thank you!”

The nurse said with a smile while typing everything out.

The cuff tightened on his arm. He hated how much it hurt. He hated the way the thermometer beeped too loudly in the quiet room.

“Fever’s still climbing,”

She muttered.

“We’re gonna get you on fluids right away. The doctor will be in soon.”

Izuku nodded numbly.

The nurse left. The curtain fell back into place behind her with a soft swish.

And the silence after that was… strange.

Izuku stared down at his lap. His hands were shaking again. He curled them into fists to make it stop.

His vision swam in and out of focus. He knew he wasn’t going to pass out. Not yet. But it felt like something was dragging him closer to the edge of unconsciousness, breath by breath.

“Hey,”

Katsuki said lowly beside the bed.

Izuku looked over.

“You still with me?’

He gave the slightest nod.

“Good,”

Katsuki muttered.

“Stay awake until the doctor comes.”

“...Why?”

Izuku asked hoarsely, almost smiling.

“You scared I’ll die dramatically in front of you?”

Katsuki scoffed, but didn’t look away.

“Don’t make me regret bringing you.”

“You won’t”

Katsuki didn’t reply to that.

Instead, he sat down in the chair next to the bed, arms crossed, leg bouncing, and stayed close. Close enough that if Izuku’s head fell sideways again, it might land somewhere safe.

But this time, he didn’t lean.

He just sat there, blinking slowly, hands clenched into the paper gown in his lap, eyes unfocused on the silver sink across the room.

Waiting.

Everything hurt. His back. His throat. His eyes. Even the skin on his arms felt too heavy, like it didn’t quite belong to him.

He didn’t mean to scare anyone.

He just didn’t want to need this much.

The soft sound of a curtain sliding open broke the quietness.

“Midoriya?”

A woman’s voice said gently.

Izuku didn’t lift his head.

“Hi there. I’m Dr. Takeda. You’re not feeling very well, huh?”

He managed a slow blind. That was all.

She stepped closer, clipboard in hand.

“I’m gonna take a look, okay? You don’t have to talk if you’re too tired.”

He liked her voice. It wasn’t rushed or pitiful. Just quiet. Calm.

Katsuki stood up immediately, shifting to the other side of the room, arms crossed. He didn’t sit down again.

Dr. Takeda checked his vitals, gently pressed on his abdomen, listened to his chest. When she asked him questions, he nodded or shook his head slowly, eyes half shut. Sometimes his answers were too soft to hear.

She didn’t push it.

“You’ve got a high fever, dehydration, and most likely a pretty nasty virus infection.”

She said after a few minutes, her tone low but not alarming.

“Nothing looks dangerous, but I want to monitor your fever for a bit longer. You’re staying here tonight, okay?”

Izuku didn’t respond.

She looked up at him.

“Midoriya?”

“...Okay.”

She smiled.

“We’ll take good care of you. Don’t worry.”

As she walked to the door, she glanced at Katsuki.

“Does he have any family nearby?”

Katsuki hesitated.

“No.”

“You staying with him tonight?”

He didn’t answer right away. His jaw shifted.

“Yeah.”

“Good. He shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Then the curtain closed again, and they were alone.

Izuku let his eyes fall shut. He didn’t mean to pretend to sleep. He just couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. The world swayed faintly around him, like being on a boat that never stopped rocking.

He heard the chair squeak. Katsuki must’ve sat back down.

The silence stretched again.

Then…

“You’re such a pain in the ass,”

Katsuki muttered under his breath.

Izuku wanted to smile, but he didn’t move.

“You scare the shit out of me, and you act like it’s nothing,”

He went on, quieter now. It was almost like he was talking to the floor.

“You don't eat. You don’t sleep. You don’t ask for help until you’re puking in a trash can. What a dumbass.”

A pause.

Then the soft sound of a breath, sharp through Katsuki’s nose.

“I don’t know how to do this if you’re not–”

He cut himself off.

Izuku’s heart twisted. He kept still.

Katsuki stood again. He paced once, then stopped. The floor creaked.

“...Don’t make me get good at this, idiot.”

Izuku’s eyes stayed fixed. But his chest pulled tight, his throat burned, and somewhere deep in the haze of fever and the IV drip and the cold sheets, he let something inside him ache.

Not from the flu.

From the way Katsuki said that.

Like he didn’t think he was allowed to care.

Like he already did.

But he didn’t know what to do with it.

Not yet.

Izuku stayed silent.

Katsuki didn’t say anything else after that.

But he didn’t sit down again either.

He stayed standing. Guarding. Watching the monitor blink quietly beside the bed.

Once they moved Izuku into his room, he fell asleep immediately. At the same time, Katsuki found a corner to sit in.

He hadn’t really slept, just closed his eyes once in a while, only to snap them open again at the slightest sound.

He told himself he stayed because he couldn’t leave Izuku in a hospital alone when he was this sick. That was just a dorm thing, a courtesy. They lived together now, that’s all.

When the door clicked open, Katsuki’s head lifted fast on instinct, defensive. But it was only the doctor.

He was young, maybe mid-thirties, wearing navy scrubs and a white coat with a few pens poking out of the breast pocket. He smiled softly as he stepped in, closing the door gently behind him.

“Good morning.”

The doctor said in a low voice, careful not to wake the patient.

Katsuki nodded once, silently.

The doctor moved to Izuku’s bedside, checking the monitors first, then flipping through the clipboard at the end of the bed. His hands were fast but gentle, eyes scanning the numbers as if searching for reassurance.

“He’s stable,”

He murmured.

“That’s good.”

Katsuki said nothing.

“Fever broke around 4 A.M. Still dehydrated, and we’re keeping him on fluids. His body’s been under stress for longer than it should’ve been. Could be a virus, but we’ve ruled out anything serious so far.”

Katsuki’s eyes never left Izuku.

“He waited too long to say something.”

Katsuki’s jaw tightened.

“Tried to stand last night and just collapsed.”

The doctor glanced at him.

“You were the one who brought him in?”

Katsuki nodded.

“Yeah.”

“He’s lucky someone noticed.”

Katsuki didn’t reply. He didn’t feel like being told he’s done something right. It didn’t feel like luck, not when he’d almost ignored it. Not when Izuku had been pale and shaking and barely able to breathe. And Katsuki hadn’t realized until it was nearly too late.

The doctor scribbled something on the chart, then paused.

“Your family?”

He asked.

Katsuki bristled.

“No.”

The doctor tilted his head, looking at Katsuki for a moment longer than necessary. But he didn’t press.

“Well,”

He said quietly.

“Whoever you are. You staying here made a difference.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything.

Didn’t move.

He just stared at Izuku’s face. The way his lips were slightly parted, his freckles dulled his exhaustion, his breath warm and steady.

The doctor finished his notes and placed the chart back where it was. He started walking toward the door but paused halfway.

“He might sleep a while,”

He said.

“Let him. He needs it.”

Katsuki gave a slight nod.

Then the doctor left, door clicking gently behind him.

Katsuki exhaled through his nose.

He rubbed a hand down his face, leaned forward in the chair, and stared at the floor for a long minute. His chest felt tight. Not angry tight. Just something else. Something uncomfortable and quiet.

He glanced up.

“Dumbass.”

Katsuki muttered under his breath.

But he didn’t leave.

He didn’t even move.

The first thing Izuku noticed was the warmth.

Not like a fever, though his body still ached, dull and distant, but actual warth. The heavy kind. The kind that came with blankets tucked too carefully around him and the distant hum of machines and vents.

His mouth felt dry.

His eyes burned.

His limbs didn’t want to move.

He blinked, slowly.

The room was washed in pale morning light now, slats of sun crawling through the blinds and striping the wall. He didn’t recognize it at first, stark white walls, the faint antiseptic smell.

Hospital.

Right.

Everything hit him in pieces. The run. The late night. Trying to stand and not being able to. The garbage can. Katsuki yelling. The care ride. The waiting room.

And then, sleep.

He shifted, barely, and a rustle sounded beside him.

There, in the corner chair, slouched like he’d been punched in the gut, was Katsuki.

His head was tilted back against the wall, mouth slightly open, brows still furrowed even in sleep. Arms crossed tight over his chest, fingers curled.

Izuku stared at him.

The sunlight made his hair look softer than it ever did back at the dorm.

He looked tired. Not the kind of look you have from staying up too late. This was different. He looked worn down.

Like he’d been up all night for someone else.

Like he hadn’t left.

Izuku swallowed hard. His throat raw.

“Kacchan.”

He whispers.

It was barely a sound, but Katsuki jolted awake like he’d been shot.

His head snapped forward, eyes wild for half a second before they landed on Izuku.

He froze.

“...The hell. You’re awake.”

He muttered.

Izuku tried to sit up, his back hurting from lying down for too long.

“Don’t!”

Katsuki stood too fast, stepping to the side of the bed.

“You’re… just don’t be an idiot. You still look like death.”

Izuku blinked slowly. His eyes felt heavy again, but lighter now somehow. Less pressure. Less heat.

“Did… you stay all night?”

He asked, voice thin and rough.

Katsuki scoffed.

“No, dumbass. I teleported back in when I heard you breathe.”

Izuku gave a weak smile.

“You didn’t have to.”

“Yeah, well, someone had to make sure you didn’t choke on your own spit.”

Izuke looked at Katsuki and saw the shadows under his eyes, the tension in his shoulders that hadn’t let go.

“...Thanks.”

Katsuki went quiet. He looked like the word had physically hit him.

“Tch. Whatever.”

He said while brushing his hand through his hair.

Izuku glanced away, hearing the door open.

A different nurse stepped in with a warm, practiced smile. She looked about mid-40s with coffee in her hand.

“Good morning, sweetheart. I heard you’re finally awake.”

She said gently to Izuku. He gave her a tired smile and nodded.

Katsuki muttered something under his breath and stood off to the side. He looked everywhere except at either of them.

The nurse came closer, setting the clipboard on a rolling table.

“Let's get a quick look at you.”

She checked his IV, his pulse, and the monitor.

“How’s the throat?”

“Hurts.”

Izuku rasped.

“That’s expected. You were running a high fever last night. It broke around down, but your vitals were shaky for a while.”

Izuku glanced at Katsuki for a second. He looked tense again, hands shoved in his hoodie pocket.

“You scared your friend half to death.”

The nurse added as she wrote on her chart.

Katsuki didn’t say anything.

Izuku looked at him again. Still nothing.

“You’re staying overnight again just to monitor your levels. The doctor will be in soon. We’re gonna keep the fluids going and bring you some actual food.”

“Thank you.”

Izuku said softly.

The nurse smiled again and turned to Katsuki.

“And you.”

She points at him.

“Don’t look so stressed. You did the right thing bringing him in.”

Katsuki blinked.

“Wasn’t stressed.”

“Mhm.”

She gave him a knowing look, then she smiled again at Izuku before leaving.

When the door clicked softly behind her, Izuku let his head fall back against the pillow.

His throat arched when he swallowed, and his limbs still felt like they didn’t belong to him. But it wasn’t just that. It was… everything.

Katsuki hadn’t moved.

He was still standing by the window now, arms crossed like armor, eyes locked on some invisible point in the corner of the room.

“You didn’t have to. You know… stay.”

Izuku said as he stared at him.

Katsuki’s mouth twitched.

“I’m not heartless, idiot.”

Izuku let out a breath. Not quite a laugh.

“I didn’t think you were.”

He didn’t answer.

There was a pause. Too long. Too quiet.

“I didn’t think you’d care.”

Izuku said. Too soft. Too raw.

The silence snapped tight.

Katsuki turned toward sharply, eyes flashing with something unreadable.

“What?”

Izuku blinked slowly.

“It’s not your fault. I know that. I just… I didn’t think you’d care.”

Red eyes stared at him like the words had knocked the wind out of him.

“I don’t.”

He said it. Too fast. Too sharp.

“I just…I saw you, and you looked like you were gonna pass out, and I’m not gonna leave someone to-”

He cut himself off, jaw clenched, breath shallow.

“You could’ve died.”

Izuku didn’t look away.

“But I didn’t.”

Katsuki's hands were fists now.

“You didn’t leave. You didn’t sleep.”

Katsuki opened his mouth, then closed it.

He turned back to the window like it offended him.

“You’re the one who passed out in a hoodie on the floor.”

Izuku smiled faintly, his eyes already starting to drift closed again.

“...Thanks for carrying me.”

That made Katsuki freeze again.

His fingers flexed once at his side. He seemed to want to throw something, or hold something.

Izuku drifted back to sleep before Katsuki could reply.

So he didn’t.

He stood there.

Watching him breathe.

It was quieter this time when Izuku opened his eyes.

Softer, somehow. Like the world had settled around him instead of pressing down.

The light was dimmer now. Late afternoon, maybe. The sun had turned gold behind the blinds, painting the room in lazy stripes and shadows.

Izuku blinked slowly. His body still ached, but not as sharply. His skin felt less on fire. The IV was still in his arm. The monitor still beeped in that soft, slow rhythm like a heartbeat outside his own.

Then he heard it.

Breathing.

Not his.

He turned his head, just slightly, careful not to jostle anything, and saw Katsuki.

Still there.

Still in the chair.

Still slumped like he hadn’t moved in hours.

This time, though, he wasn’t asleep. His chin was in his hand, elbow braced against the arm of the chair, and he was staring, not at Izuku, but at the floor. His brows were drawn, lips slightly parted, lost somewhere deep in his head.

“...Kacchan?”

Katsuki flinched.

His head shot up, eyes landing on Izuku instantly like he’d been waiting for the sound.

“You’re awake.”

The words came out low and tight.

Izuku gave a slight nod.

“Again.”

Katsuki shifted in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’ve been out for hours. The nurse came back twice, once to give you food, but you fell asleep again. They almost made me leave.”

“You didn’t?”

“Obviously not.”

A small smile crept onto Izuku’s face. It was weak. Tired. But real.

“Thanks.”

“Stop saying thanks. It's annoying.”

Izuku looked at him, really looked at him, and saw that Katsuki’s hoodie was wrinkled, and his hair was sticking up weirdly back like he’d run his hand through it too many times. He looked like he hadn’t eaten. Hadn’t showered. Hadn’t left.

“Did you eat?”

He asked quietly.

Katsuki scoffed.

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“I’m serious.”

Katsuki leaned back in the chair and groaned, tossing his head back.

“God, you’re still the same.”

Izuku smiled again.

“So are you.”

That made Katsuki glance over, just for a second, with a hurt look, and then look away like the contact burned.

A pause passed between them. Heavier than the last one. A little more raw.

Then Katsuki muttered.

“You really scared the shit out of me.”

Izuku’s breath caught.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t sharp. It was barely a confession. But it was real.

“...Sorry.”

He whispered.

Katsuki shook his head and didn’t say anything more. He picked at the hem of his sleeve like he was fighting something inside himself he didn’t want to name.

Izuku looked at him, quieter now. More careful.

“You didn’t have to stay…”

“I know Deku.”

Katsuki snapped like he was sick of hearing it. But there wasn’t any real heat in it. Only exhaustion. He slumped again, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand.

“Just shut up and get better already.”

Izuku let the silence take over again. This time, it didn’t feel so lonely.

“...Kacchan?”

He said, softer.

Katsuki glanced up.

Izuku’s eyes were drooping again, heavy with sleep, but still focused. Still clear.

“You didn’t leave.”

Katsuki stared at him. His jaw clenched.

“... I don’t think I’d want you to.”

Katsuki froze.

The room felt quiet. Like, even the machines had stopped beeping to listen.

He stared at Izuku, waiting for his eyes to close again. For the words to have been a half-asleep slip. Something said in a fever haze. Something that could be ignored.

But Izuku didn’t look away. His eyes stayed open. Dull with exhaustion, rimmed red, but focused, locked right on him.

“I mean it. I don’t think I want you to go.”

Katsuki's breath stuttered. His chest was too tight. The air felt heavier, thicker.

“You’re still sick,”

He muttered, trying to look anywhere else.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

Izuku swallowed.

“I do.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m not trying to make this into a thing, Kacchan-”

“Then don’t.”

That landed with a thud between them.

Izuku flinched, just slightly, and Katsuki hated himself for it, but he didn’t take it back. He couldn’t. If he opened his mouth now, he might say something real.

Izuku looked away first. His hand curled slightly over the hospital blanket, knuckles pale.

A long silence stretched between them. Not cold, just brittle. Like glass.

Katsuki stood abruptly and dragged a hand through his hair.

“You always do this.”

He muttered under his breath.

“Say some shit like that and expect me to-”

“I didn’t expect anything, I just told the truth.”

Izuku said, voice quiet but steady.

“Why?”

Izuku blinked.

“What do you mean by why?”

“Why would you say that? Why not? After all this time?”

His voice rose, rough around the edges.

“You hadn’t said something like that to me since-”

“I was scared.”

Katsuki stopped.

“I felt like I was gonna disappear. And then I woke up, and you were still here. Not yelling. Not leaving. Just here.”

Katsuki looked at him, face unreadable.

“I guess I just didn’t want it to go back to the way it was… before.”

Silence again.

This time, it filled every corner of the room. The IV beeped once. The heating vent hummed.

Katsuki stared at him, chest rising and falling like he was holding in a storm.

“You think it’s gonna go back?”

Izuku shrugged weakly.

“I don’t know. I think… you don’t want it to, and so do I.”

Katsuki didn’t answer.

He stepped toward the bed slowly, getting too close for comfort.

Izuku's eyes didn’t leave him.

“I don’t know what the hell this is.”

His voice is lower now, barely audible.

“I don’t know why I didn’t leave. I just… didn’t.”

Izuku nodded, like that was enough.

Katsuki turned to the chair and sat down, leaning back, hands gripping the arms of the chair.

“You’ve always been like that. Saying shit you’re not supposed to say.”

“And you’ve always pretended not to hear it.”

Katsuki huffed, but it wasn’t quite a laugh. It wasn’t quite anything.

They sat like that for a while.

Nothing more spoken. Nothing more admitted. Just a low, quiet tension neither of them wanted to touch.

Izuku shifted slightly under the blankets.

“You look like you haven’t eaten in a day.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“You’re literally in a hospital bed and you're worried about me? I should leave just to shut you up.”

“You won’t”

Katsuki glared at him, but it didn’t land the way it used to. His expression broke, just slightly. Something in his face folded like he’d been hit in the chest by something too soft to block.

“Whatever.”

“Yeah, I got it!”

A voice said while opening the door.

“Hey! Looks like you are up and feeling better. You are ready to leave. Your vitals look good. We just need you to eat so we can see if you can hold down a meal. What would you like? Also, I will take out your IV.”

“Um… I will just have some rice. I’m not that hungry, but can I get two bowls, please?”

“Of course, I will go get that along with a drink.”

Once she closed the door, Izuku got up to stretch and put back on his hoodie.

“Ugh! I feel so much better! That bed is so uncomfortable.”

“Oh yeah?”

Katsuki said with a cheeky grin and hopped on the bed.

“It’s not that bad, Deku. You're being dramatic.”

Katsuki’s long legs hung off the bed.

“Ha! Kacchan, you look so stupid! You can barely fit.”

Izuku puts his hand over his mouth, laughing, learning forward a little.

“Yeah, well, you looked stupid lying on the floor.”

“Ouch! Mean, eh?”

Katsuki sits up, tilting his head to the side a little.

“Here is your food, sir!”

The nurse says while opening the door.

“Oh! Thank you, let me just uh… get my bed back, and I will eat!”

Izuku walks over to where Katsuki is sitting and pulls him up.

“Here. I will take the tray because this nerd is too busy pulling the table over to his liking. Thanks.”

The nurse gives Katsuki a quick smile, then leaves the room.

Once the table is moved over the bed, Katsuki sets it down and sits back in the chair.

“Here.”

Izuku grabs one of the bowls and puts it towards Katsuki for him to grab.

“The hell. That's for you. Eat.”

“There is a reason I got two bowls, Kacchan. You look like you are starving, so just take it.”

Katsuki does not argue. He takes the bowl out of Izuku’s hand along with the spoon.

They both finish the bowls pretty quickly, hungry from the past hectic days.

Izuku checks his phone and sees a whole bunch of text messages.

Six missed calls and thirty-four texts from Inko.

Two texts from Ren.

Two missed calls and nine texts from Uraraka.

“Jeez…”

“Yeah, Jeez. Your phone was going off like crazy, so I shut it off.”

Izuku rolls his eyes a little bit.

“Well… guess I will call mom, this should be fun…”

His phone only rings once before he hears his mom's voice.

“Hi, Mom. Yes, I know… I’m sorry. No- I uh… I got sick. No, I’m okay, you stay home, Kacchan is with me… yes, Kacchan. Okay. I will tell him. Bye, I love you. Yes… I will call you if I start to feel sick again. Yes okay. Bye, love you. I know, Mom. Yes, I promise I’m okay. Okay, love you, bye.”

Once the line cuts, he lets out a big sigh and turns toward Katsuki.

“Kacchan… You can not tell my mom I was in the hospital, okay? She is already paranoid enough that I am staying in the dorms, and if she finds out I was lying on the floor and could not get up because I was too weak, she will have a heart attack. Also, she wanted me to tell you hi and thank you.”

Katsuki is looking at Izuku with his head in his hand, his eyes shut just a little with a smirk.

“Jesus. She has you on a rope. Fine, I won’t say anything. I have not even talked to Auntie in years. Why would this make anything different?”

The blonde goes back to looking at his phone as if he is texting a friend.

“Right. Why would this make anything different? Not like you carried me in your arms or anything.”

Izuku says to himself so low that Katsuki could not hear.

When Izuku was answering all his texts, he got interrupted by the nurse coming in and giving him his discharge paperwork.

“Alright, you are ready to go! Take care!”

“I am so ready to get out of this damn place.”

“You're telling me.”

The car smelled faintly like rain, and the paper bag of meds Katsuki tossed into the back seat. The heater was on low, just enough to keep the chill off without making the air stuffy.

Katsuki pulled out of the hospital lot without a word, one hand steady on the wheel, the other drumming lightly against the gearshift at each red light.

Izuku adjusted the seatbelt across his chest and glanced out the window. The streets were still damp, puddles reflecting the washed-out sky.

“It’s weird.”

Izuku breaks the silence.

“It’s like the world is scared the smallest noise will break it right now.”

Katsuki side-eyed him.

“What, are you writing poetry now?’

Izuku smiled faintly.

“No… It’s just an observation.”

“Observation sounds like something you write in a lab report. Stop making it weird.”

Izuku laughed under his breath, shaking his head.

“You’re impossible.”

“Good.”

They fell into a comfortable pause. The only sounds were the hum of the engine and the occasional swish of tires cutting through shallow water.

Izuku’s gaze followed the blur of the passing trees, their branches dripping.

“You didn’t have to drive me back to the dorms, you already did so much I could have taken the bus-”

“Shut up, nerd.”

Katsuki said without heat.

“You would’ve taken the bus and ended up on the floor of the campus store.”

Izuku rolled his eyes.

“I’m not that fragile.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

Izuku leaned back in his seat.

“You know, you could have just said ‘you’re welcome.’ ”

Katsuki’s mouth twitched. Almost a smirk, almost not.

“You’re welcome for not letting you embarrass yourself, then.”

They hit a red light, the brakes pressing them, causing them to move slightly forward. Izuku’s arm brushed Katsuki’s where their elbows rested between the seats, and Katsuki shifted almost imperceptibly but didn’t pull away.

Izuku tilted his head, steadying him.

“You’re quiet.”

Katsuki kept his eyes on the light.

“Just driving.”

The light turned green, and the car rolled forward, the rhythm of the ride settling back into an easy, steady pace.

Izuku didn’t push any further, but there was a faint warmth in his chest that hadn’t been there when they left the hospital.

“Once we get back, we are going to the store and we are getting food. And you are eating.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Is that an order?”

“Yeah.”

Katsuki said.

“Deal with it.”

Izuku shook his head but followed him anyway.

The convenience store’s fluorescent lights spilled a pale glow onto the sidewalk, turning the puddles into little pools of white and yellow.

Katsuki shoved open the door with his shoulder, the bell above it giving a tired jingle. The place smelled faintly of coffee that had been sitting on a burner too long.

He walked in like he owned the place, heading straight for the refrigerated section without checking to see if Izuku was keeping up.

Izuku trailed after him, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You know, I could have just gone to the dorms and eaten something there.”

Katsuki didn’t look back at him.

“You’d ‘eat something’ and by that you mean two crackers and some tea you left sitting on your desk for three hours. Not happening.”

Izuku huffed a little but didn’t argue because he knew he was right.

He crouched to scan the sandwich on the lower shelf, the cold air from the fridge brushing his face.

“Turkey or chicken?”

He asked, half to himself.

“Chicken.”

Katsuki didn’t hesitate.

He grabbed it and dropped it into Izuku’s hands before he could decide for himself. Then came the bottle of water pressed into his chest.

“You’re finishing all of that before you even think about sleeping. No coffee, no energy drinks, no candy.”

“I wasn’t going to get coffee.”

Izuku muffled, clutching the items.

“Good. Saves me from having to knock it out of your hands.”

“But… some chocolate sounds good…”

Izuku says to himself.

Katsuki bent to grab his own dinner. A chicken sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bright blue sports drink. He didn’t linger over choices, just went for what he knew he wanted.

Izuku followed him toward the counter, looking like he was working up to something.

“You know, I can pay for mine.”

Katsuki snorted without turning around.

“You could. But you’re not.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ve been in a hospital gown all night, you idiot. Consider this a pity purchase.”

Izuku opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again when Katsuki slapped a crumpled bill down on the counter. The cashier barely glanced up as he rang them through.

They stepped outside, the air was cool and damp.

Izuku’s sandwich wrapper crinkled as he tore it open, the smell of bread and chicken mixing with the faint scent of rain. Katsuki cracked open his drink, taking a long swing before they started walking back.

For a minute, neither of them spoke. The street was quiet except for the slap of their sneakers against the wet pavement and the hum of a streetlight overhead.

“You chew like you’re mad at your food.”

Izuku said suddenly, glancing sideways at him.

Katsuki looked down at the chips in his hand, then at Izuku.

“And you talk like you’re trying to narrate a documentary. What’s your point?”

Izuku smiled around a bite.

“Just another observation.”

“Stop observing me, creep.”

“Not possible.”

Izuku laughed lightly and took another bite of his sandwich.

They passed the bike rack outside the dorm, water droplets still clinging to the handlebars. Katsuki kept half a step ahead, but Izuku noticed, without meaning to, that he was matching his pace to his own slower stride.

“Do you always walk like you are escorting someone?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Katsuki frowned.

“You’re just… aware of where I am.”

Katsuki scoffed.

“I’m aware of everything. Don’t make it about you.”

Izuku let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.

“What? You want me to run, hm?”

Katsuki starts to pick up his pace faster and faster, and Izuku follows.

“Kacchan! Hey! Slow down! You can’t leave me in the dark alone!”

Izuku yells right behind him.

“The fuck I can’t! Damn, Deku, I didn’t think you were this fast-”

Right after Katsuki finished his sentence, he felt hands land on his back.

“Shit!”

Izuku says as he falls onto Katsuki's back.

They both stop and just kind of stand there.

After a minute or so, Katsuki turns around to look at Izuku.

“What the hell! Why did you run after me! You just got out of the hospital! Dumbass.”

“Well! Why did you start running?!”

Katsuki turns around and starts walking at the same pace they were before to the dorms.

By the time they reached the dorm doors, the sandwich was gone except for the last bite, which Izuku ate just before they stepped inside. Katsuki didn’t say anything about it, but there was the tiniest flicker of satisfaction in the way he glanced at the empty wrapper before tossing it in the trash.

As he headed toward the elevator, Katsuki shifted his bag higher on his shoulder.

“Tomorrow, you’re eating breakfast. And not something pathetic.”

“You’re very invested in my meals all of a sudden.”

Izuku smiled.

“Yeah.”

Katsuki muttered, hitting the elevator button.

“Because the sooner you stop looking like you’re about to keel over, the sooner I can stop babysitting you.”

“No one asked you to.”

“Yeah, well. I can’t disappoint Auntie, can I?”

Izuku didn’t answer, but the corners of his mouth turned up anyway.

Katsuki pulled out his key to their shared dorms and unlocked it.

The room was too cold for Izuku’s liking. The smell of the air conditioning filled the room.

The memories of him lying in Katsuki’s bed showed up in his head along with all the others. Falling with the chair, calling out to Katsuki, Katsuki picking him up in his arms, and he… lying in his bed. And the smell.

“Ugh, it’s so cold in here.”

He said, wrapping himself with his arms. While he was doing so, he noticed that the presence he felt before was gone.

He turned around to see that Katsuki was no longer there.

“Oh.”

He turned back around to set his bottle of water on his desk, changing into a new pair of clothes, setting the other ones to the side to be washed tomorrow.

As he climbed into bed, he felt a wave of tiredness come over him, making his bones weak. His warmth filled the bed, making it cozy enough to sleep.

At some point in the night, he woke up to Katsuki climbing into bed and moving around, but that was the last time he woke up till morning.

The sunlight filled the room. The warmth pooled in the folds of his sheets, soaking through the fabric into his skin, so gentle it felt like it might slip away if he moved too quickly.

He sat up to see a couple of things sitting on his desk.

The first thing he noticed was the time.

‘12:34 P.M.’

The second thing he noticed was a bag with colorful paper sticking out.

And the third was a bowl of soup, a fruit cup, and a chocolate bar with a note saying “get one yourself next time, nerd” on it.

Inside the present was a red oversized hoodie, a couple of packets of green tea, a small candle with a vanilla scent, a sketch notebook with a pen that was obviously not cheap, and fuzzy socks with a note that says “Hey, thought you could use a few things to make resting less boring. Don’t rush back into stuff too fast, okay? You’re allowed to just… breathe for a while. — Ren.”

This was sweet. Ren is sweet.

When he got on his phone to text him to say thank you, he saw Ren had already texted him.

Ren: You were asleep when I came over to give you your get better soon gift, so I just gave it to your roommate. I hope you like it. :))) Don’t stay sick too long, Izuku.

He typed out a quick reply.

Izuku: Sorry, I missed you. Thank you so much for the gift. It really means a lot!

But as he set the phone down, the guilt still sat there. A text felt too small for the effort Ren had made.

His eyes wandered to the stack of neon sticky notes on his desk right next to the note Ren left him. An idea sparked in his head. Maybe he could leave a little thank-you note for him to find later, something small, but not just another text.

He pulled one free and scribbled “Yes, I’m wearing the hoodie today. No, you can’t have it back. Your playlist is still stuck in my head, and honestly, today’s weather is perfect for staying in bed. Doctor’s orders (mine) :p”

The handwriting was a little messy from the way he leaned on the desk, but it made him grin anyway.

Before he leaves, he lights the candle Ren got him. He slipped out into the hallway, padding quietly toward Ren’s room, and stuck the note right in the center of the door.

This was silly. He felt so foolish, but in a good way.

On the way back to the dorm, he saw Katsuki walking down the walkway.

“Hey Kacchan!”

He says with a big smile as they both approach the same door.

“Nerd. What the hell are you doing out of your cell, huh?”

Katsuki says as he is taking out his keys.

“It’s already unlocked. Plus, I’m not a prisoner!”

As the door opens, a gentle, sugar-sweet warmth fills the air.

“What the hell is that smell?”

“A candle that Ren got me. You know, the guy who came by when I was asleep.”

He says, going up on his tiptoes with his hands interlocked.

But when he came back down, his phone fell out of his pocket and smacked the back of it.

“Shit.”

Izuku picks up his phone and takes off the case to see if it broke, and puts it on his bed, but he forgot what he put in it when he left for college.

“Thank god! It’s not broken.”

He says as he flips his phone around.

He looks up at Katsuki and sees this odd look on his face.

“Kacchan?”

His eyes were locked on something else.

Izuku’s stomach dropped before his mind even caught up.

The All Might card.

Katsuki walked up to the phone case and picked up the card.

Izuku froze. He hasn’t thought about the card in weeks. It had just… always been there, tucked in the back of his phone case like a fossil from another lifetime.

Katsuki’s gaze flicked up to him, and the look in his eyes wasn’t just sharp. It was surgical.

“You’ve had this the whole damn time?”

His voice was low, dangerous, but not loud. Not yet.

Izuku's mouth opened, then shut again.

“I-”

“No.”

Katsuki cut in, stepping closer, the card dangling between his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t start feeding me your weak ass explanations.”

He lifted the card slightly, like he wanted to make sure Izuku could see it. Could feel the weight of it hanging there.

“Not pathetic? Not proof you’re a damn masochist? You kept things I-”

His jaw locked so hard the word seemed to get stuck, and he spat the rest out like it burned.

“The thing that should’ve been garbage.”

Izuku swallowed, his palms pressing flat against his thighs.

“It wasn’t garbage to me.”

Katsuki let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

“Oh, right. Of course it wasn’t. Of course you’d keep some useless crap from back then, like it’s a trophy.”

He turned the card over again, slower this time, his thumb tracing along the creases at the edges.

“What, did you look at this every night? Pretend it meant something good?”

Izuku shook his head quickly.

“No. I just-”

“Just what? You hung onto it because you couldn’t let go? You’ve got that bad of a memory problem, or are you actually addicted to the stuff that screw you up?”

Katsuki pushed his finger so hard on his head that he moved Izuku’s head.

“It was mine.”

He said, more force in his tone now, though his eyes still flickered down to the card.

“I bought it. I was happy when I got it. That doesn’t change just because-”

“Because I was a complete piece of shit to you?”

Katsuki finished for him, the words blunt and ugly.

Izuku’s breath hitched, but he didn’t answer.

Katsuki stared at him for a long moment, and something in his expression shifted. Not softer, but heavier, like the anger had found something deeper to cling to.

He looked down at the card, turning it between his fingers again and again until it bent under the pressure.

“You’re unbelievable.”

Katsuki muttered, almost to himself.

“You keep this like it’s proof we were ever-”

He stopped, eyes cutting to Izuku’s again.

“And what? You think that makes me feel better? You think I want to know you’ve been carrying around crap from when I made your life hell?”

Izuku’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“I didn’t keep it for you.”

That seemed to hit harder than anything else he’d said.

Katsuki’s fingers tightened until the cardboard bowed, but he didn’t rip it.

He stared at the little bend in it for a second, breathing too fast, before shoving the card down onto the bed.

“Get rid of it. Burn it. Tear It. I don’t care. But don’t keep that shit where I can find it.”

His voice was rough and low.

He turned away so fast it was almost like he was afraid he’d change his mind and start shouting again.

His shoulders were rigid as he crossed the room, and his hands kept flexing at his sides like he couldn’t shake the feel of the card out of them.

Izuku walked over and set it on his desk, and the card stayed on the desk for the rest of the night, the slight crease in its corner catching the light every time Izuku’s eyes strayed toward it.

The next morning, while Izuku was looking for breakfast, he saw that they were running low on food, so he decided to go to the grocery store.

After getting back to the dorms, he stepped into the room, the soft click of the door echoing in the quiet space.

The bag of groceries in his hands felt heavier than it should have. He set it down carefully on the floor, expecting to see the little card sitting where he’d left it in the night before.

It wasn’t there.

His heart sank.

He moved closer to the desk, lifting notebooks and rifling through drawers, trying not to panic.

“It… it was here yesterday. I know I didn’t move it…”

His voice was soft, almost fragile, as if saying the words out loud would make the card appear magically.

“Hey.”

The voice made him freeze.

Katsuki was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, leaning casually against the frame. But the calm in his posture only made the tension in the room feel sharper, like electricity.

“The card.”

Katsuki said slowly, deliberately, as though every word was measured.

“It’s… gone.”

Izuku’s stomach dropped.

“Gone? What… what do you mean gone?”

Katsuki pushed off the frame and stepped into the room, walking slowly, eyes scanning the papers scattered across the desk, lingering just enough on Izuku to make him uncomfortable.

“I mean… it’s not here. Didn’t see anyone touch it, so…”

He shrugged, fauntly smirking, though the expression didn’t soften his eyes.

“Someone must’ve… taken it. Could’ve been me. Could’ve been someone else. Could’ve been that friend of yours.”

Izuku’s throat tightened.

“Y-you… took it? No… no, you wouldn’t. Right? You wouldn’t do that, Kacchan.”

His voice was small, tinged with disbelief and hurt.

Katsuki didn’t answer directly. Instead, he tilted his head, as if he was studying Izuku’s reaction like a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve.

“Maybe. Maybe not. It could be gone for good. Could be…”

He trailed off, the words hanging in the air, heavy and dangerous.

“Who knows?”

Izuku’s chest ached. He felt that familiar pang of being powerless, of having someone else control something he cared about.

“But… it was mine. I-”

Katsuki’s laugh cut him off, sharp and humorless.

“Relax. I’m not gonna explain. It’s… gone. Deal with it.”

Izuku’s hands dropped to the desk, fingers brushing the empty surface where the card had been.

His mind raced, a tangle of confusion, worry, and something deeper he didn’t want to admit.

How could Katsuki just… say it’s gone like that? What did that mean? Had he taken it? Was it destroyed?

He remembered the nights he had stared at that card, tracing the faded lines with his finger, thinking about how much it had meant to him. Not because of anyone else, not because it was a piece of his past he had fought to keep. And now… it was gone.

“Why… would someone take it?”

Izuku whispered to himself, barely making a sound.

His thoughts were spiraling. He felt an ache in his chest, a mixture of frustration, fear, and strange longing he couldn’t name.

Katsuki’s eyes flicked to him, sharp and unreadable.

He leaned closer, almost brushing the edge of the desk, hovering over Izuku.

“Maybe… just maybe you’re too attached to it.”

He said, voice low, teasing, almost cruel.

“Maybe it was too sentimental for your own good.”

Izuku’s breath hitched.

“It… it wasn’t just that.”

He muttered, clutching the edge of the desk.

“It’s… it mattered. It’s… part of me.”

Katsuki’s smirk softened ever so slightly, just enough for a flicker of something else to pass through his eyes. Curiosity? Unease? Something was buried beneath his usual defiance.

Then he straightened abruptly, stepping back toward the doorway.

“Well… it’s gone now. Maybe that’s for the best. Maybe not.”

He paused, one hand on the frame, then added, almost casually.

“Don’t go looking for it. Just… let it be, Deku.”

Izuku swallowed hard, staring at the empty spot on the desk.

The words didn’t make him feel relieved. They made him feel hollow. Hollow, and oddly… exposed. It was as if Katsuki could see not just the card, but the part of him that clung to it, that needed it, that hadn’t wanted to let go of a tiny piece of the past that felt safe.

And yet… there was that smirk, the teasing tone, and the deliberate ambiguity.

Katsuki hadn’t said he had it. He’d only suggested he might have taken it, or maybe it was gone, or maybe… something else entirely.

Izuku’s chest tightened, a storm of emotions swirling inside him.

Frustration, fear, curiosity, longing, and somewhere deep down, a quiet, stubborn spark of hope that maybe.. Just maybe… the card wasn’t really gone.

The room felt too quiet after Katsuki left, the weight of his words hanging in the air like smoke.

Izuku reached out, brushing the empty space on his desk once again, almost expecting the card to be there again, almost wishing he could confront Katsuki and demand the truth.

But he didn’t. Not yet.

Because he wasn’t sure he could handle it.

A knock.

Izuku almost didn’t open the door. It was late, the hallway was quiet, and his bed looked so warm and inviting.

But the knock was insistent. Three sharp raps, then silence, then another three.

He tugged the door open, blinking.

Ren was there, hoodie damp from the rain storm that had been passing by for a little while, sneakers squeaking faintly against the linoleum.

He wasn’t smiling. Not outright at least. But his expression carried a mischievous tilt, like a secret tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Uh… hey?”

Izuku asked, rubbing his neck.

Ren didn’t answer. He simply reached forward, pressing a neon sticky note into Izuku’s hand, and then stepped back.

Izuku stared down at it. The handwriting was sharp, a little messy.

‘Get ready. I’ll text you in thirty minutes. Your first clue.’

By the time Izuku looked back up, Ren was already walking away down the hall, hood up, hands shoved into his pockets.

“...What the hell.”

Izuku muttered. But his pulse had quickened.

But without a doubt, Izuku went and turned on the shower.

Thirty minutes later, Izuku had tugged on jeans, sneakers, and a sweater, hair still damp from the quickest shower of his life. He wasn’t sure why he’d gone through the effort.

But when his phone buzzed, the message was a simple one.

Ren: Check under your door.

Izuku crouched. Sure enough, another sticky note was waiting, perfectly centered on the carpet like it had been measured.

Clue #1: Take ten steps forward. Look right.

He frowned, but counted out the steps anyway, bare soles against the dorm floor.

On the floor near the vending machine was another square.

Clue #2: You look lost already. Are you bad at directions or just dramatic? Left at the stairs.

He huffed out a laugh despite himself. He followed the arrows Ren had sketched onto the sticky’s corner.

The stairwell was dim, the overhead light buzzing faintly.

Another note was stuck right to the railing.

Clue #3: Don’t trip. I’m not carrying you. (Fine, maybe I would.) Go to the common room.

Izuku froze for half a second at the parentheses, heat crawling up his ears, before quickly moving on.

Once he got to the common room, it was dark, only the glow of the streetlights spilling through the blinds. On the darkened TV screen, another note.

Clue #4: You don’t think I’d be obvious, right? Wrong. Front doors.

His laugh rang louder this time.

At the glass doors of the dorm, taped outside against the drizzle, a note.

Clue #5: Bring an umbrella. Or don’t. It might make you look silly if you don’t, though. Head right, follow the lampposts.

Izuku shook his head, biting his lip against the grin tugging at his mouth.

He grabbed the umbrella anyway and stepped into the rain.

The world smelled wet asphalt, the hiss of drizzle against pavement filling the silence.

Every lamppost had a note, taped at eye level.

Lamppost one.

Clue #6: Bet you thought I’d make you run all over town. Relax. Just a few more.

Lamppost two.

Clue #7: Someone’s gonna see you reading these. Don’t care. I like the idea.

Lamppost three.

Clue #8: You’re close. Don’t roll your eyes. I can feel you doing it.

By now, Izuku’s cheeks ached from smiling. His shoes splashed in puddles, his umbrella glowing faintly under the streetlights.

The last note was plastered to a crosswalk pole.

Clue #9: Last stop. Turn left. Look for the neon heart.

At the end of the block, there it was. An old dinner squat and sturdy, it’s noen sign flickering faintly in the sprinkling rain.

Heart to heart – Open 24 hours.

As Izuku opened the door, the bell over it jingled softly. The air was warm, humming with the sound of sizzling oil and low music from a jukebox in the corner. The place smelled like coffee, fried food, and sugar.

Ren was in a booth by the window, damp hair falling into his eyes, a stack of sticky notes beside him like a proud trophy. He looked when Izuku spotted him, smirking slowly and satisfied across his face.

“About time.”

Ren teased.

“I thought you got stuck at clue two.”

Izuku, still holding his umbrella, damp from the walk, slid into the seat across from him.

“You made me chase you through the rain with sticky notes.”

“Worth it.”

Ren shoved a menu across the table.

“Pick something. You’re buying me pancakes for my hard work.”

Izuku rolled his eyes but flipped the menu open. His chest light, fizzing in a way that almost tickled.

The waitress came by, and Ren ordered like he’d done this a thousand times.

“Coffee. Black. Short stack of pancakes, extra butter. Please and thank you!”

Izuku hesitated, then pointed to the photo of a milkshake.

“Uh… strawberry shake. And fries. Please.”

Ren snorted.

“Classic.”

When the waitress left, Izuku eyed the pile of sticky notes.

“How long did it take you to do all that?”

Ren shrugged.

“Couple hours. The rain almost ruined everything, but hey, it adds to the drama, right?”

“You're insane.”

Izuku said, but his grin betrayed him.

Ren leaned back against the booth, eyes narrowing like he was studying him.

“You had fun, though.”

Izuku’s face heated, and he shoved his straw into his water glass.

“That’s not the point-”

“It’s exactly the point.”

Ren stretched his arms over his head, hoodie riding up slightly at his waist, just enough to see his underwear waistband.

“Life's boring. I fixed that.”

Izuku was trying to hide his smile while making eye contact.

The food arrived, the plates clattering onto the table.

Ren drowned his pancakes in syrup, cutting into them with the kind of focus usually reserved for war.

Izuku sipped his shake, watching the condensation drip down the glass.

“So why this dinner?”

Ren didn’t look up from his plate.

“Name’s funny.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

Ren shoved a bite of pancake in his mouth, chewed, then finally met his eyes. His smirk softened just a fraction.

“Thought it fit.”

Izuku widened his eyes for just a second, but Ren seemed to notice.

Ren leaned forward, syrup still glistening on his fork.

“Don’t look so serious. It’s just pancakes. Sticky notes. A diner.”

But Izuku wasn’t sure he believed him.

Chapter Text

Ren shoved a bite of pancake in his mouth, chewed, then finally met his eyes. His smirk softened just a fraction.

“Thought it fit.”

Izuku widened his eyes for just a second, but Ren seemed to notice.

Ren leaned forward, syrup still glistening on his fork.

“Don’t look so serious. It’s just pancakes. Sticky notes. A diner.”

But Izuku wasn’t sure he believed him.

Izuku tugged the plate of his fries closer, fingers brushing over the salt shaker automatically. He sprinkled a quick layer, then, without hesitation, reached for the sugar.

Ren, halfway through taking a drink of his coffee, froze. The cup in his hand paused mid-air. His eyes narrowed.

“...What are… What are you doing?”

Izuku didn’t look up. He carefully tapped a light dust of sugar over the fries like he’d done it a thousand times before.

“What does it look like? I’m making them better?”

Ren slowly set his cup down like he was handling a bomb.

“You’re putting sugar on your fries.”

Izuku popped one in his mouth, chewing like nothing was wrong.

“Yeah. They’re good.”

Ren slapped his palm against the table, loud enough that the waitress glanced over before deciding she didn’t get paid enough to care.

“That’s not good, that’s a cry for help.”

Izuku snorted, covering his mouth to stop from laughing.

“It’s not that weird! My mom used to do it for me sometimes, and I liked it, so…”

He shrugged, reaching for another.

“Sweet and salty. Perfect combo.”

Ren leaned back in the booth, staring at him with open disbelief.

“You realize you’re basically turning your fries into sad little donuts, right?”

Izuku blinked.

“...Donuts?”

“Yeah. Fried starch. Covered in sugar. That’s a donut. You’re eating discount diner donuts and calling them fries.”

Izuku’s cheeks warmed, but he held his ground.

“You’re exaggerating.”

Ren jabbed a finger at him across the table.

“No, I’m diagnosing you. The hospital missed this. Clearly, you’re terminal.”

Izuku let out a laugh that cracked in the middle, trying to shove his plate a little closer to himself.

“Stop-”

Ren leaned forward like he was interrogating him.

“Do you eat sugar on everything? Rice? Soup? Eggs?”

Izuku sputtered.

“Of course not!”

Ren tilted his head, squinting.

“You hesitated.”

“I didn’t!”

“You did.”

Ren said finality, like he’d won some grand argument. He sat back, arms crossed smugly.

Izuku huffed, muttering into his fries.

“You’re impossible.”

For a few minutes, the only sound was forks scraping plates, the low sound of the junkbox, and the rain tapping softly against the windows.

Ren polished off his pancakes like a man on a mission, while Izuku nursed his strawberry shake, trying very hard to pretend like the sugar fries commentary hadn’t completely derailed him.

But of course, Ren was not done.

“So, hospital. Did they ban you from sugar fries while you were there?”

He said casually, stabbing the last bite of his pancakes.

Izuku groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“Ren-”

“I’m just asking. Like, did they look at you and go, ‘Mr. Midoriya, you clearly don’t need medicine, you just need to stop sprinkling dessert on your side dishes’ ?”

Izuku peeked at him through his fingers, cheeks burning from both laughter and embarrassment.

“That’s not what happened.”

Ren shrugged, cutting into the final bite.

“Bet it was. They probably had a whole meeting about it. ‘Case study: one idiot boy, thinks French fries are funnel cake.’ “

Izuku wheezed a laugh before he could stop himself, his shoulders shaking.

“Stop it!”

Ren’s smirk widened. He leaned back, licking syrup off his fork with deliberate slowness.

“But seriously. You okay? They didn’t find anything bad?”

The teasing had softened, just enough for Izuku to notice. His laughter stuttered into something quieter.

“Yeah. Just… exhaustion. Nothing scary.”

Ren’s eyes flickered over him, sharp and unreadable, before he looked away, pretending to study the coffee mug in front of him.

“Good. Because if you flake out again, I’m replacing you with someone who eats fries like a normal person.”

Izuku kicked him under the table with a grin. Ren pretended to collapse dramatically against the booth, throwing his head back with his hand on his forehead and grabbing his shin.

“Abuse! He strikes the innocent! Help! Help!”

Before Izuku could snap back, the waitress appeared with the coffee pot in her hand, stopping beside their booth, eyebrows raised as she refilled Ren’s mug.

“Careful with those kicks, sugar. Some of us charge extra for that.”

She said smoothly, giving Izuku a wink and a smirk.

He went red instantly, choking on his milkshake, leaning forward to wipe his mouth.

“I- what-?!”

Ren grinned widely, sitting up straighter.

“Oh, c’mon. Don’t terrify him, Maggie.”

The name caught Izuku off guard. His head snapped toward Ren.

“Wait- you… You know her?”

The waitress laughed, slipping the pot back into her hands.

“Haven’t seen this one in forever.”

She gave Ren a mocking glare.

“What? Too good for my pancakes these days?”

Ren rolled his eyes, though his smirk softened a little.

“Been busy. You know. Life.”

“Busy my foot.”

Maggie said, and without asking, slid into the booth beside Izuku, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Izuku stiffened instantly, glancing between them in wide-eyed confusion.

Maggie leaned an elbow on the table, chin in hand.

“Back in the day, he and his loudmouth friend used to come in here nearly every week. Sometimes twice a week, if they got detention and needed somewhere to sulk about it.”

Izuku blinked.

“He… what?”

Ren groaned.

“Don’t start.”

But Maggie was already warming up.

“Oh, the stories I could tell. Like the time he and Noaki tried to out-eat each other in a pancake contest and nearly passed out in this very booth.”

Izuku turned to stare at Ren.

“You almost… passed out eating pancakes?”

Ren’s ears went pink.

“It was- shut up. That was years ago.”

Maggie smirked, clearly enjoying herself.

“Or the time they spent three hours scribbling insults on napkins and sliding them back and forth instead of talking. I thought they were passing love notes, honestly.”

Izuku clapped a hand over his mouth, laughter bubbling out.

Ren shoved a hand through his hair, muttering curses under his breath.

“And don’t forget the root beer float spill on your eighteenth birthday. He still owes me for the mop bucket I ruined that night.”

She continued, ticking off points on her fingers.

“Jesus Christ, Maggie.”

Ren said, glaring at her through his fingers.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Maggie just patted his arm affectionately.

“Nah. Just reminding you someone remembers you before you got all lame.”

Izuku practically doubled over at this point, trying to catch his breath.

“You… used to come here all the time?”

Ren shrugged, still glaring at Maggie but clearly losing the battle against a reluctant smile.

“Yeah, yeah. Back when it was the only place open late. We were dumb kids with nothing better to do.”

Maggie winked at Izuku.

“Still dumb. Still a kid. But hey! He tips better now.”

Ren groaned again, dragging a hand down his face.

“I’m twenty-one! I’m not a kid! Unbelievable. I’m never living this one down.”

Maggie finally stood. Brushing off her apron.

“I’ll let you two get back to your… sugar fry date.”

She gave Izuku a smile as she walked off.

Izuku immediately dropped his head onto the table, muffling a laugh.

“Oh my god!”

“Hush it! Don’t act like you were not dumb as a kid!”

But out of the corner of Ren’s eye, he sees Maggie coming back with her phone.

“Almost forgot.”

She said cheerfully, sliding right back into the booth beside Izuku like she’d never left.

“You've got to see this.”

Ren’s eyes went wide.

“No. Maggie. No!”

Izuku blinked, already leaning forward.

“See what?”

Before Ren could stop her, she unlocked her phone, swiped a few times, and then spun it around toward Izuku.

On the screen was a grainy photo of a much younger Ren, maybe thirteen, with pancake batter smeared across his cheek and the dopiest grin imaginable. His hair stuck up worse than ever, and a tower of empty plates loomed in front of him.

Izuku laughed way louder than he should have.

“Oh my god-!”

Ren lunged across the table.

“Delete that!”

Maggie snorted, holding the phone up out of reach.

“Oh, please. This is gold. You think I’m getting rid of this? I should frame it.”

She scrolled again, ignoring Ren’s pleading to stop.

Izuku’s eyes went wide at the next photo that came up.

Ren and Noaki grinning manically behind a wall of stacked syrup bottles, mid-collapses.

“Here’s another. Look. Noaki and he thought it would be funny to build a fort out of syrup bottles. Nearly took the whole shelf down with them.”

“Ren! You- look at your face. Ha! You look so proud!”

Izuku says in between laughs.

“I was proud!”

Ren snapped before realizing what he’d admitted.

“I hate both of you. UGH!”

Maggie kept scrolling.

“Oh! Here’s a classic. They got into a whipped cream fight once. Guess who lost?”

She zoomed in on Ren’s face, buried under a mound of whipped cream with only his hair visible.

Izuku nearly fell sideways against the booth, laughing so hard tears pricked at his eyes.

“You- oh my god! You look like dessert!”

“Don’t encourage her.”

He growled, shooting him a betrayed look.

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Izuku grinned through his laughter.

“I’m absolutely not.”

Maggie nudged Izuku with her elbow, delighted.

“You’re a fast learner. Keep this up, and you’ll fit right in. Ren bring him around more often!”

Ren slumped down until his forehead hit the table.

“I’m moving. Changing my name. New identity. You’ll never see me again.”

“Oh, relax.”

Maggie said, waving him off.

“These are the best years of your life, kid. You just don’t appreciate the comedy.”

She scrolled one more time, then gasped.

“Ah! This one’s my favorite!”

She set the phone down so Izuku could see clearly.

It was a picture of Ren mid-jump on one of the diner booths, hair flying, mouth open in what looked like either a battle cry or a terrible attempt at signing. His friend was rolling on the ground, laughing in the corner of the photo.

“What are you even doing!?”

Ren peeked miserably at the photo.

“We dared each other to a screaming karaoke. Don’t ask.”

Maggie gave Izuku a sly grin.

“And let me tell you, he has a terrible singing voice. We had customers leaving early that night.”

Izuku leaned back, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“I… I don’t know what’s funnier. Your face, or imagining you singing in here.”

Ren smacked the table with the heel of his hand.

“I told you! Don’t ask!”

Maggie just tucked her phone back into her apron, thoroughly satisfied.

“Alright, I’ll stop embarrassing him… for now.”

She turned her head over at Izuku.

“But if you ever need more material, you know where to find me.”

Izuku beamed, cheeks still pink from laughing.

“I-I might actually take you up on that.”

Ren lifted his head just enough to glare.

“Don’t. Even. Think about it.”

Maggie patted his shoulder sweetly.

“Love you too, kid.”

Then hopped out of the booth and headed back to her other tables, humming to herself.

“I’m not a kid, Maggie!”

Izuku finally caught his breath, still wiping at the corners of his eyes.

“I… I can’t believe you never told me any of that!!”

Ren slouched further into the booth, sulking.

“Because none of it’s relevant. And she’s a liar. Half those stories are exaggerated.”

Izuku snorted.

“Pretty sure photographic evidence proves otherwise.”

He leaned an elbow on the table, resting his cheek in his hand as he grinned, staring straight at Ren.

“You were… really different back then, huh?”

Ren looked away, jaw tightening for a second.

“Yeah. Guess so.”

Izuku's smile softened, something fond tugging at the edges of his chest. Before he could say anything more, Ren abruptly grabbed a sticky note and scribbled furiously, then slapped it onto Izuku’s milkshake cup.

Clue 10: Midoriya Izuku has now witnessed too much classified material. Must be silenced immediately.

Izuku laughed again, tugging the note free.

“You’re never gonna scare me off, you know.”

Ren tried to glare, but it didn’t hold.

Izuku kept glancing over at Maggie, biting his lip to keep from laughing all over again.

Everything his eyes met Ren’s, he’d start giggling all over again.

Ren finally snapped.

“What. What is it now?”

Izuku pressed his hands to his mouth, but the words spilled out anyway.

“You-you look like such a bad singer in that photo. Like, really bad. Like nails on a chalkboard bad.”

Ren narrowed his eyes.

“You’ve never even heard me sing!”

“I don’t have to!”

Ren leaned forward, smirking dangerously.

“You think you’re so funny, huh?”

Then he stood so suddenly his shoes squealed against the tile.

“Fine. You want a concert? I’ll give you a concert.”

Before Izuku could protest, Ren stomped over to the old jukebox in the corner of the diner.

He smacked a few buttons, and a crackly pop song burst to life, filling the diner with tinny, too-loud music.

“Maggie’s gonna kill you!!”

Izuku hissed, but his smile was too big.

Ren just pointed at him from across the diner.

“Get up. You don’t get to laugh at me unless you're singing too.”

Izuku shook his head furiously, laughing.

“Nope. No way! No way, Ren! You stay over there!”

Ren marched back, grabbed his wrist, and tugged him out of the booth.

“Too late. You’re in it now.”

Izuku pulled back till he was sitting back in the booth.

“Oh? You think I won’t pick you up, huh?”

Ren pulled Izuku back out of the booth, and before he could sit back down, he was already over Ren’s shoulder.

“Ah! Hey! What are you doing! Put me down!”

He kicks his legs and slaps Ren’s back, but Ren just sings off-key lyrics, intentionally too loud and dramatic.

Once he puts Izuku back down, he starts bouncing like he was back in that old photo.

Izuku bends over, clutching his stomach out of laughter.

“You sound terrible!”

“Exactly!”

Ren shouted over the music.

“That’s the point! Now sing!”

The ridiculousness of it all finally got to Izuku. Laughing so hard he could barely breathe, he joined in, his own voice cracking embarrassingly as he tried to keep up.

They jumped around between the tables, waving their arms like idiots, both entirely out of tune.

Maggie leaned against the counter, shaking her head with an amused smile.

“Unbelievable.”

She muttered, but her eyes were bright.

“You’re-you’re so bad!”

“You’re worse!’

Ren shot back, his smile so wide it looked like it hurt.

They sang the last chorus together, howling the words, and collapsed back into the booth when the music ended, both breathless and red-faced.

Izuku’s cheeks hurt from smiling.

“I take it back. That was the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You boys better be getting back home! It’s two in the morning, don’t you have school?”

Izuku looked at his phone.

“Shit.”

He muttered to himself.

“You're right. I need to get back to my dorm. Maggie, I will be coming back, you need to show me so many more photos!”

Ren’s eyes shot to Maggie with a don’t even think about it look.

“Oh, you bet I will!”

Maggie watches Izuku and Ren walk out the door laughing together.

“You finally found another Noaki, huh, kid? Take good care of him.”

The night air is calm now, when Ren slows his steps. He turned around, walking backwards in front of Izuku, with that mischievous look on his face.

Izuku looked at Ren’s rosy eyes.

“...What?”

“Nothing.”

Ren bolts before Izuku even realizes what’s happening.

One second, they’re walking, still half-lit by the diner’s flickering sign, the warmth of the fries and late-night chatter fading from the air.

Now he’s gone, sprinting down the empty street with Izuku’s jacket slung over his shoulder like a prize.

“Ren–hey! Wait!”

Izuku calls, startled.

Ren only turns enough to flash a grin over his shoulder. His breath catches the cold air as he shouts.

“You’ll have to catch me first!”

Izuku groans, but he’s already moving. His sneakers hit the pavement, the rhythm syncing with Ren’s just ahead. Their laughter bounces off the quiet buildings, alive and reckless.

Streetlights spill uneven pools of gold, the power lines buzzing faintly above them. Somewhere in the distance, a train whistles.

Everything's still. Just them and their footsteps and the sound of Ren’s laughter slipping into the night.

Izuku shakes his head, pushing harder to close the gap. His lungs sting, but it feels good. Freeing even.

The kind of running that isn’t about escaping, just about moving.

Ren cuts a sharp turn down a narrow path between two buildings. Izuku follows without thinking, the scent of asphalt and night air rushing past him.

The path opens suddenly into an old park. Swings half rusted, benches creaking in the wind. Past that, fenced in by tall chain-link, sits a basketball court bathed in half-working floodlights.

Ren slows down, slipping through the open gate. His breath fogs in the air, cheeks flushed. He holds up the jacket like a trophy.

Izuku stops just outside the fence, bent slightly at the waist, catching his breath.

“You’re-”

He starts, laughing between words.

“You’re actually out of your mind.”

Ren shrugs, walking backward into the middle of the court.

“Maybe. But you chased me, so what does that make you?”

“Regretting it.”

Izuku mutters, though he’s still smiling as he pushes through the gate.

The hinges squeal loudly in the quiet.

The court looks like it hasn’t seen a real game in years.

Cracks slice through the concrete, the white paint lines ghostly and uneven. One hoop leans slightly, the net has more gaps than string, the light above hums and flickers, casting Ren’s shadow in and out of the shape as he moves.

He spins the jacket lazily on one finger before tossing it onto a bench.

“Didn’t think you’d keep up.”

Izuku snorts.

“You underestimate me.”

Ren lifts an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? You run much?”

Izuku hesitates, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Track. In high school.”

Ren tilts his head, curious.

“Track, huh? That checks out.”

“And gymnastics.”

He adds quietly.

“I was never really good at sports that involve… you know… balls.”

Ren stifles a laugh, leaning on his knees a little.

“You could’ve worded that differently.”

Izuku gives him a flat look.

“You know what I meant.”

“Sure. Sure.”

Ren raises both hands in mock surrender.

“No ball sports. Got it. So you do like… flips?”

Izuku’s green eyes move to a tree behind him, not wanting to make eye contact.

“Yeah. And I was pretty good at it, kinda really good. Till I got a mental block and could never tumble again.”

The wind brushes through the chain-link, a low, metallic hum that sounds almost like static.

Ren looks around, eyes tracing the faded lines of the court.

“Used to come here a lot.”

He switches the topic, noticing Izuku is starting to close down.

“When it’s late like this. No one’s ever here.”

Izuku glances at him.

“You play?”

Ren shrugs one shoulder.

“A little. Not anymore.”

He walks toward the hoop, kicking an empty bottle out of the way.

“It’s not about the game, really. Just… something about the sound. The echo.”

He stops under the net and glances back at Izuku, voice quieter.

“You shoot. It misses. It still sounds like something.”

Izuku watches him for a long second.

The way his voice drops near the end. The way his words don’t quite match the look on his face.

He takes a few steps closer.

“So this is where you bring people to steal their jackets and get all mysterious?”

Ren turns, smiling again. Not the wide, teasing one, but something smaller.

“Maybe.”

Izuku rolls his eyes.

“That's not really an answer.”

“Wasn’t supposed to be.”

Ren steps closer, his sneakers scuffing against the concrete.

The distance between them shrinks until Izuku can see the faint sheen of sweat at Ren’s temple, the curve of his breath when he laughs under it.

“You tired?”

“A little.”

He admits, though his heartbeat’s still racing for a different reason.

“Good.”

Ren nods toward the court.

“Means you were actually trying to catch me.”

Izuku huffs out a laugh.

 

“You are… something.”

“Persistent.”

Ren corrects, eyes glinting.

The air feels weird.

Not uncomfortable, just thick with leftover laughter and something quiter beneath it. Ren’s still closed, and the sound of their breathing fills the space where words don’t.

Izuku glances up toward the flickering floodlight, the halo of moths around.

“You do this a lot? Just run until something feels right?”

Ren’s gaze drops for a second, then back to him.

“Sometimes it’s the only way to feel like I’m not stuck.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just stands there. Letting the quiet settle. Ren looks away first, eyes darting toward the hoop again.

“You ever want to learn?”

He asks after a while.

“Learn what?”

Ren leans forward.

“How to not completely embarrass yourself on a basketball court.”

Izuku laughs under his breath.

“That's a lost cause.”

“Lucky for you, I like lost causes.”

Izuku groans, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re stalling.”

Ren picks up the old basketball lying near the bench and bounces it once, the sound echoing through the empty park.

“Come on. I’ll teach you.”

Izuku looks up, meets his gaze, then sighs.

“Fine. But if you hit me in the face, I’m quitting.”

Ren laughs, low and warm, tossing the ball once from hand to hand.

“Deal.”

Ren bounces the ball a few times, then tosses it lightly toward Izuku.

“Alright track star, let’s fix your stance. You’ve got the start of it right… just not the finish.”

Izuku catches the ball awkwardly, holding it close like he’s not sure what to do with it.

“I swear this is harder than it looks!”

Ren chuckles under his breath.

“Only because you keep overthinking it.”

“That’s kinda just how I function.”

“Yeah…”

Ren says, stepping closer.

“I noticed.”

Ren comes to stand behind Izuku, close enough for their shadows to overlap.

“Feet apart, a little wider. Good. Now bend your knees. Not too much. Just enough to hold your balance.”

Izuku adjusts, awkward at first.

“Like this?”

Ren’s eyes trace his position for a moment before he shakes his head slightly.

“Almost. You’re leaning forward too much. You’ll throw off your center.”

He steps in again, his presence warm against Izuku’s back.

“Here. Shift your weight back. The tricks to feel where your balance settles.”

Izuku exhales slowly, moving as instructed.

Ren watches, patient.

“Better. Now loosen your grip. You’re strangling the ball.”

Izuku laughs under his breath.

“Sorry.”

“It’s supposed to look easy. But that’s the difference… when you’re doing it right, you stop thinking about it.”

Izuku focuses again, adjusting his hands. The sound of his breathing mingles with the quiet pulse of the night.

Ren moves closer once more, slow enough for Izuku to notice.

He gestures, his voice low and calm.

“The shots from your legs. Everything else just follows through.”

Izuku glances over his shoulder.

“So… it’s not really about my arms?”

Ren shakes his head.

“Not really. Your legs drive the motion. Your arms just aim.”

He takes a step closer so Izuku can mirror his movement.

“Alright. Look. When you bend here, the power transfers up. You release when it feels like your body wants to extend, not when your brain tells you to.”

Izuku nods, his brow furrowed with concentration.

“Good. Now, go through the motion once without throwing.”

Izuku does, slow and unsure.

Ren tilts his head, watching.

“You’re stopping halfway. Follow through all the way to the end. Let it roll off your fingertips.”

He tries again, this time with greater smoothness.

Ren hums.

“Better.”

He circles around to face him, his tone still quiet but more approving now.

“Now… shoot.”

Izuku inhales, draws his arms back, and releases.

The ball arcs high into the air, the light catching it just before it falls and hits the rim, spinning once, teetering, and drops through.

Izuku freezes.

The ball swishes clean through the net.

Izuku blinks for a second, stunned, then breaks into laughter.

Breathless and disbelief.

“I actually made it!”

Izuku spins, throwing his hands up.

“That was perfect!”

Ren chuckles.

“You’re acting like you just won the Olympics.”

“I might as well have. I’ve been missing for nearly two hours now.”

Ren looks down, laughing.

“Fair enough.”

Izuku looks up at the sky, still catching his breath.

Beyond them, the stars are faint but visible, scattered line pinpricks over the dark.

He drops onto the court without warning, lying flat on his back, letting his arms rest at his side.

The concrete is cool against his skin.

“You ever think about… home?”

He asked quietly.

Ren looks to the side slightly, a shadow crossing his face.

“Home?”

He repeats softly.

“I… I don’t think about it much. Not the way most people do.”

Izuku glanced at him.

“Why not?”

Ren lets out a sigh.

“Because it wasn’t… much of a place to think about. Growing up, home was more like a weight I had to carry around with me.”

He paused, swallowed, and then let the words fall slowly.

“My parents… they weren't cruel exactly, but they weren’t… there either. Not really. I was mostly on my own. Had to figure out how to survive from the time I could remember.”

Izuku stayed silent, letting Ren take his time, the night stretching around them.

“They fought a lot. Or maybe not fought… I don’t know. Just… ignored me. I learned to disappear in corners, not to take up space. I guess I just… got used to it.”

His jaw tightened.

“There were nights I went to bed with an empty kitchen, empty rooms, empty everything… and I didn’t even cry anymore because I knew no one would hear it.”

Izuku's chest tightened. He thought he understood struggle, but Ren’s words carried a weight he hadn’t imagined.

“I… I’m sorry. I can’t imagine that. That sounds… awful.”

He said softly.

Ren shrugged lightly, not looking at him.

“It was just life. You used to it, or break. I chose to get used to it.”

He exhaled.

“Sometimes I wonder if I broke anyway, in ways no one saw.”

Izuku nods slowly, thinking of his own childhood.

“I get that too, in a way. My mom… she’s strict. Not mean, but expects everything to be perfect. Grades, behavior, even he way I walk sometimes. And my dad… he's not there. Got mad at her over… I don’t remember exactly what. I just remember the silence after he left. The quiet that wasn’t peaceful. It was heavy. Like everything was my fault, somehow.”

Ren turned his head, finally meeting Izuku’s eyes.

“So you know what it’s like to feel… alone, even when someone’s technically there.”

Izuku let out a small, humorless laugh.

“Yeah. You could say that. I had to figure out early how to… keep my head down, do what I needed to do without messing up too much. I couldn’t make the person I admired happy, so I learned to make myself small.”

Ren's eyes darkened, slowly.

“Funny. I did the same thing. Made myself small so no one would notice when I failed. So I wouldn’t get yelled at, or ignored, or-”

He stopped, shaking his head.

“I don’t know. It’s stupid. We were just kids. Kids shouldn’t have to… do that.”

“They do, though.”

Izuku whispered.

“Sometimes.”

Ren lets the words hang in the night.

“Sometimes.”

He echoed, almost to himself.

“I thought I’d never be anything but… that kid in the corner. You know? Always surviving, never really living.”

Izuku shifted closer, just slightly.

“I thought that too. That I’d always be that kid trying not to mess up, not the person I wanted to be. I think… I still feel it sometimes. Even now.”

Ren’s hand rested lightly on the ground near his side, close enough that Izuku could feel it without meaning to.

“I still feel it even when I try not to. The past… it doesn’t just go away.”

Ren said quietly.

“No. It doesn’t. But talking helps… a little.”

Izuku whispered.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“I’m glad I’m here, talking to you. It… feels less heavy, somehow. But um… Ren?”

He lets Ren’s name out quieter than the other worlds.

“Izuku…”

His eyes flickered toward Izuku, calm and steady.

Izuku hesitated, swallowing hard.

“What… what is love to you?”

Ren blinked, the question lingering between them, unexpected.

For a moment, he just stared up at the stars as if trying to find the answer in their sparkle.

“I don’t know if there’s a single answer. It’s… complicated. Maybe it’s more than just feeling for someone. Maybe it’s… caring, even when it’s hard, even when it hurts, even when you don’t get anything back.”

Izuku listened quietly, letting the words drift into him, slow and deliberate.

“Even when it hurts…”

He repeated slowly, softly.

“So… it isn’t just one emotion?”

Ren shook his head slowly.

“No. Not always. Love isn’t just light and warmth. Sometimes it’s heavy, messy, and exhausting. But it’s still worth it because it makes you want to be better, even when you don’t know why. Even when you’re scared.”

Izuku sits up, right in front of the other boy.

“So it’s… wanting someone, but also… wanting them to be okay, even when it’s complicated?”

Ren’s gaze softened, distant in the faint light.

“Yeah. Exactly that. Wanting them to be safe. Wanting them to feel seen. Wanting them… even when it’s complicated.”

Izuku swallowed, his chest tightening.

“Even when it scares you?”

Ren exhaled long and slowly.

“Especially then, Izuku. Love… real love… doesn’t always feel easy. Sometimes it’s terrifying. But it’s still there, quietly, stubbornly. It's… the thing that keeps you going when everything else doesn’t.”

The boy let his green hair hit the concrete again, but this time his hair ended up in Ren's hand.

“So… it’s more than just feeling good. It’s responsibility, care… even pain.”

Ren’s lips curved faintly.

“Yeah. And hope, I guess. The hope that it can survive everything, that it can last. That the love does not destroy you.”

Izuku’s eyes met Ren’s, steady and faintly haunted.

“Yeah... Hope… It's all I know. Hahaha.”

Ren tilts his head with a smile, playing with Izuku’s hair.

“If you fight for it. If you’re honest with it. It can happen. Just takes time. And… the right person.”

Izuku stares at the boy's blonde curls, the rose eyes, the stars behind him, all of it.

“I think… I understand, at least a little.”

He says softly.

“It’s not something you figure out all at once. Sometimes you just… feel it, and live it, and hope you’re doing it right.”

Ren was a beautiful sight. The sky was a beautiful sight. The stars were a beautiful sight.

“Ren….”

“Izuku…”

Nothing else was said after that.

They just sat there in silence for twenty minutes.

“You ready to leave?”

Izuku said after a while, his hair messy from Ren playing with it.

“Yeah, guess we should.”

Izuku nods, pushing himself up with a soft grunt. He brushes the pebbles off his pants, the motion slow, tired.

Ren stood too, more reluctantly, like the act itself took effort.

The gravel crunched under their shoes as they followed the path back toward the main street.

A faint breeze slipped past them, cool against their necks.

Izuku shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulder hunched.

They heard rustle of leaves every now and then and the faint squeak of their shoes.

“Hey.”

Izuku said softly.

“Yes?”

Ren looked to his left.

Izuku hesitated, his breath visible in the cool air.

“You think it’s weird? Talking about stuff like that? Since we met not too long ago.”

Ren didn’t answer right away. He walked a few more steps.

“No.”

Izuku blinked, caught off guard by how certain he sounded.

“No?”

Ren shook his head.

“Sometimes people who barely know you see you better than ones who think they do.”

Izuku frowned slightly.

“That’s… kind of sad?”

Ren huffed a laugh.

The way he said it made Izuku think there was a story behind it.

Ren kicked at a loose pebble on the ground, sending it skittering ahead of them.

“Anyway, I don’t mind talking to you.”

He added, more casually this time, but there was something in his tone. Something small and almost shy is hiding beneath the words.

He glanced at him, trying not to smile too obviously.

“You don’t?”

Ren shrugged, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re not the worst company.”

Izuku chuckled quietly, the sound echoing softly in the empty street.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. I don’t enjoy people's company a lot.”

He said, still not looking at him.

They turned down another street, the dorm building now visible in the distance, its windows glowing faintly through the trees.

Izuku glanced at Ren again, the soft yellow light catching the edge of his blonde hair.

“You’re different from what I thought you’d be.”

Ren slowed down, his voice low, like he was talking more to himself than to Izuku.

“What's the supposed to mean?”

Ren looked at him then.

Really looked.

His gaze steady in the dim light.

“You just… surprised me.”

Izuku’s throat went dry.

“In a good way or… bad way?”

Ren’s mouth smiled.

“Good way.”

He said simply, then looked away before Izuku could respond.

When they reached the dorm courtyard, the grass was damp under the faint glow of the light.

They both stopped near the steps, neither rushing to go inside.

Ren rubbed the back of his neck, glancing up at the building.

“You good?”

He asked, his tone soft.

Izuku nodded.

“Yeah. Just… not ready for all the noise again.”

Ren gave a small nod.

“Yeah. I get that.”

A beat passed. Then Izuku smiled, a small, tired, real smile.

“Thanks for tonight.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

Ren was caught off guard by the sincerity in his voice.

“I know. But I wanted to.”

Ren looked at him for a second too long before glancing away.

“You're weird, ya know that?”

Izuku laughed.

“Yeah. People tell me that a lot.”

“It fits you.”

That made Izuku pause, unsure what to say to that.

Ren pushed the glass door open with his shoulder, holding it long enough for Izuku to step through.

Their shoes echoed lightly on the tile, down the nearly empty hallway. It smelled faintly like floor polish and instant coffee.

And then Izuku heard it.

A laugh.

Soft, feminine, too close.

Then a voice he knew instantly, even though it was lower now, rough.

Katsuki.

He was standing by the vending machine at the far end of the hall, one hand braced against the wall beside it, the other gesturing as he talked.

A girl leaning slightly toward him, a bottled drink in her hand. Her hair caught the light, and she smiled like whatever he’d said was worth listening to.

Katsuki’s grin was sharp but not mean, the kind that slipped out of him without thinking.

“You’re tellin’ me you actually like that crap?”

“It’s not crap. It’s peach soda.”

She laughed.

He scoffed.

“You got sugar for blood or somethin’?”

She nudged him lightly with her elbow.

“You should try it sometime, grump.”

Katsuki smirked, voice low.

“You offering to share?”

She rolled her eyes, still smiling.

“Depends. You gonna be nice about it?”

“I’m always… a bit kind.”

He said, but there was a teasing edge that made her laugh again.

Ren glanced sideways at Izuku.

“Um… so…”

Izuku didn't answer.

He just stared ahead, pulse spiking. His throat dry, words useless.

Katsuki’s voice sounded too easy, too practiced, but Izuku could still hear rough edges underneath, the ones that never smoothed out no matter how much he tried.

They were halfway down the hall before Katsuki noticed them. The girl was still talking, but his gaze flicked up at the movement and froze.

Izuku didn’t mean to meet his eyes. He really didn’t. But once he did, he couldn’t look away.

Katsuki’s expression faltered for a second. Not a lot, just enough for Izuku to see it. His shoulders straightened, mouth tightening, the cocky grin fading into something unreadable.

The girl noticed the shift.

“What?”

She asked softly, following his gaze.

Katsuki’s voice came quieter now, rougher.

“Nothing.”

Izuku kept walking. His steps sounded too loud, too deliberate. Ren walked beside him, silent but aware of everything.

They passed closely.

Close enough that Izuku could smell the faint trace of Katsuki’s cologne, something clean and sharp, the kind that lingered.

He just watched him, eyes flicking over his face like he was searching for something and didn’t know what.

Izuku looked back once. Quick, defensive, not wanting to seem like he cared, but unable to help himself. Their gazes collide again, that same silent, impossible pull that hadn’t gone away since middle school.

“Deku.”

Katsuki said, nickname rolling out quietly but steadily. Not cruel this time. Just familiar.

Izuku’s hand tightened around the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Kacchan.”

He said back. No bite in it, but no warmth either.

That was it. No one else said a word. The hallway swallowed the sound of their footsteps until it was just the faint sound of the vending machine again.

Ren didn’t push it. He didn’t want to upset Izuku.

Katsuki was still there. Leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets now, pretending to listen to the girl, but his eyes were following the reflection in the windows.

Izuku’s stomach turned.

He looked away just as they were turning the corner, cutting off the view.

Ren walked behind him with his hands in his pockets.

Neither of them said much, there wasn’t anything left to say after everything that had happened that night.

When they reached Izuku’s door, Ren slowed down beside him.

“This is your stop.”

Izuku nodded, glancing at the door.

“Yeah. It is.”

Ren gave a small nod back.

“Alright.”

For a second, they both just stood there, caught in that moment before goodbye.

Izuku shifted his weight.

“You’re gonna head back?”

“Yeah. Eventually. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

He gave a small smile.

“I might.”

He let out a huff.

“Then don’t stand out here too long.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“See you… soon?”

Izuku hesitated before nodding.

“Yeah. See you. Goodnight… Ren.”

“Goodnight… Izuku.”

Ren stared down the hall, hands buried in his jacket pockets.

Izuku watched him go for a moment before turning to his door, just as he reached for the handle, someone else's hand grabbed it.

“Oi.”

Katsuki’s voice came, low, the same tone that always made Izuku’s chest tighten.

“Where the hell you been?”

Izuku blinked, caught off guard.

“You-uh, what?”

Katsuki stepped around him, unlocking the door with the key that was already in his hand. He pushed it open like it belonged to him alone, which, technically, it half did.

“You heard me.”

He muttered.

Izuku followed him inside, the sound of the door shutting echoing in the quiet room. The clock on the wall ticked softly.

Katsuki tossed his hoodie onto the back of his chair, the fabric landing with a dull thud. His hair slightly messy, like he hadn’t slept either.

He didn’t look at Izuku when he spoke again.

“You know it’s late as hell, right?”

Izuku sighed, setting his phone on his desk.

“Yeah… I know.”

Katsuki finally turned to face him, his arms crossing over his chest.

“Then why’re you out this late?”

Izuku frowned a little.

“What. Are you keeping track of my curfew now?”

“Answer the question, Deku.”

“I was just-”

He stopped, running a hand through his hair.

“I was with Ren.”

That made Katsuki’s eyebrow twitch.

“That guy again.”

“Yeah.”

Izuku said carefully.

“He’s my friend.”

Katsuki’s jaw flexed.

“Didn't know you made friends that fast.”

Izuku exhaled sharply through his nose.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Katsuki didn’t reply. He just looked at him.

“What?”

Izuku asked finally.

Katsuki’s voice came low.

“I’ve heard some things about him.”

Izuku blinked.

“What things?”

Katsuki hesitated for half a second before continuing, tone controlled.

“People talk. That’s all. Heard he's the kind that gets close to whoever’s around. Doesn’t mean what he says.”

“From who?”

Katsuki shrugged, looking away.

“Don’t matter.”

“It does.”

Izuku said, stepping closer.

“You can’t just say something like that and not tell me what it’s based on.”

Katsuki’s gaze flicked back toward him, sharp again.

“I said I ‘heard’. Didn’t say it was true.”

“Then why bring it up?”

“'Cause you don’t think about shit like that.”

Katsuki snapped, voice rising before he caught himself. He looked down, breathing out through his nose fast.

“You just… trust people too easily.”

Izuku stared at him.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“When it gets you hurt, yeah?”

“Who the hell are you to tell me when stuff hurts me?!”

Slipped out of Izuku’s mouth without him meaning to.

The words hung in the air like smoke.

For a second, neither of them moved.

“You really think I don’t know what people are like, Kacchan? You… of all people.”

Katsuki didn’t answer. His shoulders tightened.

“I’m not stupid.”

Izuku said, his voice steady now.

“I know people lie. I know they leave. I just-”

He stopped shaking his head.

“I’d rather trust and be wrong than spend my whole life assuming everyone’s out to scew me over.”

Katsuki’s eyes met his then. Not angry anymore… just something close to tired.

“You sound like an idiot.”

He muttered.

“You sound like someone who doesn’t want to get close to anyone.”

Katsuki looked away first, jaw tight.

“Maybe I don’t.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yeah?”

He turned, eyes hard again.

“Then what do you think you know about me, huh?”

Izuku didn’t look away this time.

“More than you want me to.”

The room felt small. Suffocating.

Katsuki sat down at his desk without replying, pulling his phone toward him and pretending to scroll, but his hand stayed still on the screen.

Izuku kicked off his shoes and sat on the edge of his bed. The springs creaked softly under his weight.

After a minute, Katsuki spoke, still not looking at him.

“Just… be careful with that guy, alright?”

Izuku looked over, surprised at the shift in his tone.

“You sound like you almost care, Kacchan.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I just don’t wanna deal with drama if he ends up screwin’ you over.”

Izuku smiled faintly.

“Right. You’re worried about the drama.”

The blonde shot him a glare, but there wasn’t much heat behind it this time.

“Shut the hell up and go to sleep.”

Izuku kicked back, pulling the blanket over himself.

“You could’ve just said goodnight, you know.”

Katsuki grunted, dragging his chair back toward his desk.

“Don’t feel like it.”

But as the lights dimmed, Izuku caught the faintest twitch of Katsuki’s mouth.

Not quite a smirk, not quite a frown.

Something in between.

The kind of expression that said he was worried, even if he’d die before admitting it.

Izuku turned over, facing the wall, listening to the quiet creak of Katsuki settling into bed.

The silence that followed wasn’t peaceful, exactly… but it wasn’t hostile anymore either.

It was something in between.

Almost familiar.

His head felt foggy, his body heavy with sleep. The world around him was gray-blue and quiet. The air was cold against his cheek where the blanket had slipped down.

He didn’t move right away, just listened.

The door was half-open.

Katsuki stood in front of it, shoulders squared, one hand braced on the frame.

Outside, Ren leaned lazily against the wall, hoodie up, a small shape in his hand that caught the light when he moved.

“Didn’t think you’d be up.”

Ren said, his voice low and almost friendly.

“I wasn’t. You knocked loud enough to make sure of it.”

Ren grinned faintly.

“You could’ve ignored it.”

“I would’ve, if you didn’t sound like you were about to beat the door down.”

Izuku blinked, still half-awake, still trying to figure out if he was dreaming this. His eyes adjusted enough to see the faint golden light spilling into the room from the hall.

The clock read 6:14 A.M.

Ren lifted the small notebook he’d been holding.

“He left this in my dorm a couple of days ago.”

“Then why the hell are you giving it to me?”

Katsuki’s voice dropped.

Ren’s mouth curved slightly.

“Because I wasn’t sure if he was awake.”

That was the moment Izuku shifted, the blanket rustling.

Both of them looked over.

Katsuki first, his head snapping slightly toward the sound, then Ren, whose smile widened a fraction.

“Guess I didn’t have to worry about that.”

Ren said.

Izuku blinked at the light, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

“What’s going on?”

Katsuki grunted.

“You got a visitor.”

Ren held the notebook up a little higher.

“Found this under my desk, I think it’s yours.”

Izuku frowned, still dazed.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

He said, stepping just a little closer to the door.

“Didn’t even notice it until last night. Figured I’d drip it off before classes.”

Katsuki didn’t move from the doorway even though Ren clearly wanted to step inside.

His body filled most of the space. Not blocking Ren exactly, but making it very clear he wasn’t welcome to cross the threshold.

“You didn't have to come this early, you could’ve just-”

“Yeah, I could’ve. But I figured your roommate wouldn’t want me hanging around later in the day.”

Katsuki’s jaw flexed.

“You figured right.”

Ren laughed under his breath.

“You always this warm in the morning, Bakugo?”

“Only when people show up uninvited.”

Izuku could feel the tension rippling in the air even from his bed. It wasn’t loud, but it was sharp, like two wires pressed too close together.

Ren looked at Katsuki, finally stepped aside, barely just enough for Ren to step inside and set it on Izuku’s bed.

“You’ve got messy handwriting, by the way.”

He said while sliding his hands into his pockets.

“I tried to figure out what you were scribbling in there.”

Ren gave a small laugh.

“You-you looked at it?”

Izuku’s face went pink.

“Only a little.”

He said, teasing but soft.

“But I didn’t look if you are embarrassed about it.”

“No… I’m not.”

Izuku said quickly, but his voice was small.

Katsuki’s glare cut across the space.

“Maybe don’t touch other people’s stuff.”

Ren’s smile didn’t fade.

“You’re really good at giving orders to people you just met.”

“I’m good at telling people when they’re being annoying.”

He said in a low tone.

“That explains a lot.”

Izuku sat there, frozen between them and the notebook in front of him.

Ren finally sighed, pushing off the doorframe.

“Relax. I’m not trying to start anything.”

He looked at Izuku, his expression softening again.

“Didn’t mean to wake you. I just thought you might want this back.”

Izuku nodded slowly.

“Thanks, Ren.”

“Anytime, Izuku.”

Ren hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to say something else.

“I’ll see you guys later. Have a good day!”

“You know damn well you will not be seeing me.”

Katsuki snapped.

Ren’s gaze flicked back toward Katsuki one last time. His smirk returned, smaller, more controlled now.

“You’re a hard guy to get along with.”

Katsuki’s response came out flat.

“Don’t plan on changing that.”

“Yeah. Didn’t think you would.”

Then he turned, heading down the hall, his steps slow but steady.

The door clicked softly, shutting behind him, leaving the room too quiet again.

Izuku stared down at the notebook, running his thumb over the cover.

“You really don’t like him, do you?”

“Don’t even know the loser.”

Katsuki didn’t look up from the counter where he was pouring water into a kettle.

“Yeah.”

Izuku said under his breath.

“That’s kinda the problem when you have such a strong opinion about the guy.”

Katsuki didn’t respond.

The sound of the kettle heating filled the silence, steady, low, and tense.

As the sunlight finally began to cut across the floor, Izuku felt the space between them stretch again.

That careful distance Katsuki built, just wide enough to keep him guessing where he stood.