Chapter 19: Confontation (Patreon)

“Alright, gather around and I’ll reveal you how you all did.” Aizawa harrumphed as he fiddled with the clipboard while the rest of his class stared at him with anxious eyes, save for some who were already confident in the way they displayed their abilities. “Instead of calling you one by one, find your name on the list so we can wrap this up.”

With a single flick of a button in Aizawa’s highly advanced clipboard, a hologram appeared within thin air, detailing the results and placements each of the student got.

At the bottom of the list, a single Hagakure Toru sat listed, the girl in question looking like a set of floating clothes, but if the trembling fabric was anything to go by, she was terrified.

Aizawa glared at the set of floating clothes, the invisible girl losing all feelings in her legs as she dropped to her knees.

“By the way, I lied about the last placer being transferred to the General Course. A logical ruse, so to speak.” Aizawa bluntly stated before heading off towards the campus building. “Pick up the syllabus provided on your desk to check your schedules for the year and stay there for your next subject. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

The invisible girl stayed silent for a moment, before heaving a sigh of massive relief.

“Oh, thank god…” Her breath came in hitches and gasps, the rest of the class looking at her in sympathy.

“Hey, don’t worry about that girl!” Mina, the bubbly acidic girl that she was, strutted over to the nearly crying girl and wrapped her arm around the invisible girl’s neck. “You’re still here in the Hero Course. That’s a sign for celebration, if anything!”

“Indeed. Homeroom teacher or not, they do not have the capabilities to transfer a student on the first day of class.” The black pony-tailed girl scoffed as she glared at the retreating back of their homeroom teacher. “Such actions are a disgrace, not only as a teacher, but as a person who is held in high regard due to their status.”

“I have no idea how to react.” The blue-haired speedster grumbled to himself with a face that looked like he ate a lemon. “Should I be appalled that a hero school as prestigious as this should resort to this kind of threats just to get the students to be serious, or applaud them for forward thinking?”

“Dude, just say it sucks.” The blond-haired lightning teen sighed. “Good thing I did my basic exercises.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Another black-haired teen with enlarged elbows muttered to himself.

Izuku, still grinning at the fact Aizawa lied as easily as he breathed, felt something tap him on the shoulder. Looking to his side, he spotted the ash blond scowling at him, but without any malice.

‘Huh, first time getting a face like that.’ Izuku blinked, not knowing how a person could look so angry, yet not as well.

“Follow me.” Katsuki pointed his head at a random direction, but upon further inspection, Izuku noticed that it was not, in fact, a random direction. Instead, the ash blond guided him to a secluded area of the track and field grounds, just beside the shed that held most of the gear used for said grounds.

“Okay, normally when I get dragged to places like these, the one who did so want to chop my head off.” Izuku started, causing Katsuki to go bug-eyed for a moment. “You aren’t one of them, though. So, Katsuki, why bring me here?”

His tone betrayed no negative emotion, other than curiosity. It stunned Katsuki. Why didn’t he hate him for what he did? Why didn’t he go into a rage just for being near him? He deserved that much. He deserved to be called a villain for what he did to his once best friend.

Just why… did he look at him like nothing he did ever matter?

All the years of torment… of suffering and agony at his hands, and all Izuku did was just tilt his head and ask a question as to why?

It should be obvious! He deserved his hate. His loathing.

Memories of the good times when they were younger passed by quickly, like a candle flickering in the wind. The days when they laughed at each other when one of them did dumb things. The days when he would play heroes with Izuku.

The days when they shared their dreams together and vowed that nothing would change that.

What the hell went wrong? Was it because he viewed Izuku as inferior when he didn’t get his quirk? Was it because he viewed himself as superior because he got his quirk? He didn’t know.

Months of introspection and reflection, and he still didn’t know why he did those things to Izuku. He just knew that it was bad and vowed to never be the same asshole again.

“I just want to apologize.” Katsuki gritted his teeth, the words sounding foreign as it left his tongue. He wasn’t one for apologies. Words meant little when actions meant a lot. But now, words meant everything for both him, and his victim. “For everything I did to you in the past. I promise you that I won’t be the same asshole again, you hear me?”

“Oh, sure. Apology accepted.” Izuku quickly replied, as if the weight on Katsuki’s shoulders wasn’t anything of consequence. The ash blond’s only response was to gape silently at the teen, still not believing the words that entered his ears. “Truth be told, I don’t care much about what happened before, so yes, you’re forgiven. Also, even if you were an ass about it, you were right.”

And now Katsuki was stunned. He was right? About what? What was he right about!?

Katsuki wanted to yell, to shout that Izuku wasn’t making much sense. He wanted his victim to have his revenge! To talk him down to the ground! Beat him down like he did so to him before! Rip apart his dreams and throw them to the wind! And maybe… Just maybe…

He can finally release this smothering feeling of guilt hovering within his chest, drowning him like a tide of tar.

“You know, it’s funny.” And in the first time Katsuki had seen Izuku in months after his supposed death, he saw the teen… no longer permanently happy, or grinning, or even just smirking…

Just a face of pure serenity and calm. Eyes as clear and tranquil as a motionless sea stared at him, like he was reaching for the depths of his soul.

“Before I broke… I always thought of what to do with you when I got back…” Izuku took a step closed and cupped Katsuki’s cheek. “I always thought of what you would feel when I did the same to you… How your screams would sound like mine every time you squeak.”

Izuku then dropped his hand to his side, taking a few steps backs before turning his back on him.

“But now, all I can feel when I think about you was how right you are.” Izuku glanced back at Katsuki, but instead of a calm face greeting him, all he saw was an unhinged grin. “Power begets power. And what would a quirkless being like me do against those who had the power to bring down buildings and endure punishment no ordinary mortal could take? Nothing, that’s what.”

Izuku shrugged before chuckling. “Of course, you could’ve been less of an ass about it, but anyway, water under the bridge. I forgive you, so let’s start all over.” The white-haired teen waved his hand at Katsuki before walking back towards the class. “Let’s head back. Can’t wait to see what the school has in store for us.”

Katsuki looked on as Izuku slowly made his way back to the gatherings of the other students, all the while confused, angry at himself, and frustrated. This wasn’t how he wanted it to go. He always thought that Izuku would’ve wanted to punch his ass, beat him into submission.

It was what he would do if anybody wronged him like he wronged Izuku. But now, that situation felt like reaching for the stars with just your hands. Impossible.

Grudgingly, Katsuki followed in Izuku’s footsteps, all the while guilt gnawed on him like a hungry wolf. He thought that in time, it would vanish, like ashes in the wind. But no…

The guilt he felt would never leave him until he could make things right.

[][][]

Nezu laughed. Actually laughed. He thoughts Aizawa would’ve transferred at least one student to the General Course, but the rat guessed that the students must’ve impressed him.

Which was nearly impossible to do.

Tapping his paws on the table, he waited for the door to open. By his calculations, the door would open in about 3.543 seconds, revealing the hero that was supposed to meet him after the quirk apprehension test.

And lo and behold, 3.543 seconds later, the door did open and in came Aizawa, his signature scowl still on display for the whole world to see.

“No transfer requests this time, Aizawa?” Nezu grinned while Aizawa groaned before sitting just across the principal. “My, the world must be ending soon.”

“Enough with the witty remarks.” Aizawa grumbled before laying out a folder on the desk of the principal. “Here, the records of one Midoriya Izuku with his Quirk Apprehension Test.”

“Hmm…” Nezu hummed and grabbed the folder with his paws. Damn these digits for not being to hold things properly. Maybe he should get Power Loader to make him a prosthetic? Maybe then, he could finally drink his tea without spilling it over his nice fur.

Opening the folder, he spared only a single glance at every other result of class 1-A, some could use some help, while others just needed the right guidance to improve. His eyes stopped to hover over at Izuku, a maniacal smile replacing his previous neutral lips.

“My? Oh my, my…” Nezu’s grin unnerved Aizawa. The RAT GOD already unnerved him, but now, he was just being plain creepy. Aizawa pitied the poor bastards who would get on his shit list. “This is… unprecedented, even for me.”

“A valid assumption.” Aizawa wasn’t surprised a bit. If Izuku could surprise him so much that his eyebrows vanished all the way to his hairline, then he would no doubt surprise the cunning RAT GOD. “Strong enough to send a ball into orbit, fast enough to make people with speed quirks look like a joke, and durable enough to endure the weight of a sixteen-wheeler ramming him at 60 kph…”

“Indeed.” Nezu’s grin turned into a frown, his paws once again tapping the table in a rhythmic manner. “This makes him even more of a target than I thought.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Aizawa questioned with a frown. He couldn’t guess what lay behind the cunning RAT GOD’s mind, and he didn’t dare try.

“Why, simple. Continue as normal.” And now Aizawa was confused. “Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it obvious? Don’t make any overt moves and the HPSC will remain none the wiser until we are ready or if a significant event happens.”

“… You know what, forget I asked.” Aizawa rubbed his temples before moving to the door. “You can make your introduction to the class now, by the way, once they return.”

“Oho, I plan to.” Nezu’s grin was wide enough, Aizawa thought it would stretch even further and morph the RAT GOD’s face into one of a comic book villain in the pre-quirk era.

Leaving the room to the cackling of the RAT GOD, Aizawa shuddered. May those souls rest in peace, for the RAT GOD would never let go once he has them in his paws.