Semester Three, Part Five
It's not that unusual for reporters to be outside of UA so at first Izuku's not concerned. When they all stare at him with hungry cameras the second he gets out of his mother's car he starts to worry. It's just as his mom is pulling away that one of them asks if he's Quirkless and Izuku's stomach drops.
They ask him thousands of questions all about whether he has a Quirk. It's like he's been convicted of something already when all he did was eat some of Toshinori's hair. Izuku's frozen in place, he can't move or even breathe, everything he's worked for is gone.
Someone grabs Izuku's shoulder and he looks up to see Bakugo yelling at the reporters. He tells them that they've known each other since they were infants and that all of their questions are nonsense. Izuku's shocked as Bakugo drags him forward, he should be taking full advantage of this opportunity. But when he glances back at Izuku and tells him that he's taking them to Toshinori's room he seems genuinely concerned.
They get into the school and Izuku wonders if they all know, he's been faking all of this for nearly a year. The walk to the classroom is agonizing and too slow, everyone is staring at him and he hates it. He wants to disappear, sink into the ground and just not have to deal with this anymore.
Finally they get to Toshinori's room and the second they door is closed Toshinori hugs him. For a second they just stand there before Bakugo clears his throat and Izuku remembers how weird this looks. Bakugo has two questions for them, where did Izuku get a Quirk and why is he hugging his teacher.
Izuku explains the basics of it and Bakugo looks angrier than Izuku has ever seen him. He walks towards Toshinori and asks if the Quirk nonsense was why Izuku was sick all the time last year. He's shocked that Bakugo even remembers that, it was mostly headaches and muscle cramps. He rarely left school for them but somehow Bakugo noticed.
Izuku tries to defend Toshinori, saying that his parents know and the nepotism is if anything a bad thing. He clearly said something wrong because Bakugo looks like he's about to kill Toshinori. Thankfully he doesn't and lets Toshinori call Izuku's parents to pick him up.
Some anonymous source told a newspaper that Izuku was Quirkless and that he got his Quirk from The Quirk Giver, at least it confirms that the empire didn't die. If not for the obvious Izuku would be focused on investigating that and trying to take down The Quirk Giver, now he's just sitting in his room and staring at the ceiling.
He would only have the resources to do anything like that if he were a hero and he knows that after this mess that dream is dead and gone. It's been a two days since the article released and Izuku has stayed home from school the whole time. The idea of facing all the people he's lied to makes him feel sick.
When the doorbell rings he doesn't get up to get it and only decides to when they ring again. He runs his fingers through his hair but doesn't bother doing anything else, just walking to the door as it rings for a third time.
It's Ashido on the other side, clearly ready to press the doorbell again. All four of his friends are here and he wishes they weren't, it would be so much easier to never see them again. Without thinking about it he asks what they're doing here and Ashido answers that they're checking on him. They don't think it's true and that is both the best and worst thing that he's ever heard.
Iida asks how he is and he just shrugs, resisting the urge to tell them everything just to see how they'd react. For a second he contemplates if not taking Toshinori's offer would have been better than that outcome. Iida nudges Izuku and he realizes that he's going to start spiraling, again.
They gather around Izuku in the living room and Iida says that it's nonsense before telling him about some of his relative's scandals. It's not comforting but Izuku appreciates the effort. The whole thing is made worse when he says that the idea of Izuku being Quirkless is ridiculous.
Izuku suggests that they put on some old kids movies he still has and they agree. When it's an All Might movie Uraraka suggests that Izuku is an All Might simp he gags. Things almost seem normal again but he knows that the idea of anything being normal for him is a pipe dream.
Katsuki ignores the journalists and waits outside for Deku, no Midoriya, tapping his foot against the ground. When he does arrive he looks shocked to see Katsuki, his eyes widening like a deer in headlights. That's been normal for them for years but recently he's begun to hate it more than he hates himself. Midoriya looks even more shocked when he tells him that he's not going to tell anyone.
They walk into hell together, with Katsuki flipping off the reporters as Midoriya stares at the ground. When Kirishima waves to them from the front of the building Midoriya tenses again and Katsuki frowns to himself. If Kirishima's a jerk about any of this he'll break his jaw, screw being a hero if that's what it takes to make it up to Midoriya.
They talk for a few minutes before Ashido comes up to them, asking to steal Midoriya. They both nod and Katsuki wishes that he hadn't, that he could say any of the stuff that he's been thinking for months now. He doesn't though, he's done enough to Midoriya.
Izuku's in a surprisingly good mood until he sees the crowd outside his apartment building. Even without everything going on he'd be nervous about it but he wouldn't think it was about him. Now he knows it is, Die is written in spray paint on the wall and Izuku has never been more scared.