Chapter Text
Inertia, force, mass, gravity, velocity, acceleration. . .cause and effect.
Katsuki Bakugou understands all of it.
He understands why things like petals, teardrops, snowflakes, rain, leaves, and even the sun, falls. But what he could never understand, no matter how hard he tried, was the idea of the human heart and how it falls. Where it falls. And why it would fall.
✿ Petals ✿
School starts in a blur of new books and new beginnings. The school gate is covered in a sea of clean pressed shirts and tight-pleated skirts all bearing the same color as the students flock off to their designated classrooms for a new school year. The scent of newly bought books lingers in the air as students begin to read over the pages, launching themselves back into their studies, ignoring the cold gusts of wind that remain despite the approaching spring as they head on to class; their generation convinced that they are the very first to starve off of sleep in the pursuit of fleeting ambitions and success.
It is spring, and two weeks into his first year of middle school, age fourteen, Katsuki Bakugou meets a certain Izuku Midoriya.
He meets the boy through a friend (well, a friend of some sort), Kirishima—a loud, red haired boy who can play soccer like hell and has taken a very keen interest in anything that has to do with fitness and masculinity and perhaps the equally loud and caring blonde boy who sits next to him in class.
Izuku is, to Katsuki, plain. Yet he is also spontaneous and genuine and (despite Katsuki's strong denial) beautiful. He has stars in his eyes and in his face—they shine whenever Izuku talks about something he likes and whenever his lips form into a smile, the kind of stars that mean he could reach out and touch the constellations in the sky if he really wanted to, and he could.
Something that, if Katsuki tried to do, would ignite and burn him up. He would explode.
Izuku Midoriya is a force to be reckoned with, with eyes full of determination and a smile as bright as the sun itself, and with sheer resolve and an unyielding will, he’s managed to latch himself onto Katsuki despite the blonde’s (empty) threats and protests and managed to stay against it all. Three weeks after the start of the school year and Katsuki’s beginning to believe this fact, There was no getting rid of this Izuku Midoriya, not when every morning on his way to school he’d be greeted with a “Good morning, Kacchan!”
---
It first happens on a cool Monday morning.
Their physics class was given the assignment to read about Newton's three laws of motion over the weekend and Katsuki was reciting the first law, inertia, in his head when he happened to hear his name being called. He stops walking and turns around to meet green unruly hair and a set of bright green eyes. "Good morning, Kacchan." Katsuki frowned upon the nickname and replied with a short "Shut up, nerd." as he continued walking to school with Izuku walking closely beside him. The green haired boy smiles as if Katsuki had given him the whole world instead of his short and rude insult. Katsuki turns his face away at the sight, and for a moment he felt something drop from his chest, but whatever it is, it's free falling with an acceleration speed much faster than 9.8 meters per second squared and Katsuki has no fucking clue if Newton’s Law of Gravity ever mentioned anything about this.
A cool spring breeze passes by the two of them, shaking the cherry blossom from the trees. Like rain drops, light pink petals began to fall, dancing softly to the ground. And Katsuki, cliché as it is, noticed that one of them happened to fall on top Izuku's head, said boy was frozen in his tracks, his face the perfect description of awe as his eyes lights up with every falling petal that reaches his gaze, it was almost comical how he'd try to gather up as many petals in his hands before a gust of wind blew them all away, Katsuki found it endearing, though he'll never admit it out loud.
An object that is at rest will stay at rest unless a force acts upon it. Katsuki remembers reading about this in one of his notes. It was the first law, he remembers, and just like the wind that forced the petals to move, maybe it was also inertia that forced Katsuki to remove the fallen petal on top of Izuku's head.
Izuku was surprised at the sudden proximity of their faces. It was rare for Katsuki to even look at him, choosing to ignore his existence after all his failed attempts at getting Izuku to stay away, but to have him not only looking at him in the eye but also staying this close had Izuku blushing profusely. Katsuki who’s only inches away from his face, Izuku decides, was even more beautiful up close. He was even more beautiful like this, where Izuku could see the forming of a blush as it spread across the other boy’s cheeks at their closeness and watch as the red of Katsuki’s eyes glow from the light of the sun. The crease in his eyebrows and the permanent frown on his lips made Izuku smile, it was endearing.
The ash blonde male looked like he had something to say, but decided against it. Before Izuku could ask him what was wrong, Katsuki was already taking his hand and placing a sakura petal he took on top of Izuku’s head on it and walking away as if nothing happened. Izuku looked at the soft pink petal lying on top of his palm, with the warmth of the other boy’s hand still remaining onto his hands.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, Newton’s third law stated, Izuku thought fondly.
“We’re gonna be fuckin’ late, shitty nerd.” Katsuki warns, already a good distance away from where Izuku stands, never the less, the blonde boy still managed to slow his pace in order for Izuku to catch up. With another smile on his face and the petal safely kept at the back of his physics’ notebook, Izuku began to make his way to class with Katsuki side by side, thanking the laws of motion for making this possible.