Katsuki wasnât good at remembering to be mean to Izuku in middle school
This is more of a headcanon than an actual theory, but I think that there is solid ground for thinking that while Katsuki consciously disliked and was mean to Izuku, unconsciously he was fond of and even occasionally friendly to Izuku.
There may have been breaks in Katsukiâs derision, maybe even long ones, where he was able to talk and have conversations with Izuku that were totally amicable and nice. An example:
This is right before the entrance exam. Mic has explained that Izuku and Katsuki will be in separate arenas for the physical exam, and Katsuki turns to Izuku and basically says: âso I guess weâre separated, huh?â Izuku is surprised, but answers readily enough.
Then, in the next speech bubble, Katsuki remembers himself. âDonât look at me!â He says. But he was the one to start the conversation. He was the one to be amicable, first!
Katsuki, distracted and interested in the upcoming test, forgot to be mean to Deku for a second. Then he rememberedâŚ
And he backtracks even more! In the first panel, he says that theyâre separated so that they canât help each other. Now itâs so that Katsuki canât crush Izuku. A total switch in the reasoning and perspective! His expression darkens too. Is he regretting that he canât crush Izuku, or is he berating himself for his slip-up? HmmâŚ.
Applied, I think that this means that Katsukiâs and Izukuâs relationship wasnât completely straight forward in middle school. Most likely there were times where Katsuki accidentally treated Izuku like the friend he subconsciously thought of him as.
Maybe they had pleasant conversations on their walk home from school sometimes. Maybe Izuku asked Katsuki for help on a question during a study period and he helped. Maybe Inko dragged Izuku over to the Bakugouâs occasionally, and maybe Katsuki didnât feel as self conscious when it was just him and Izuku. Maybe he and Izuku could hang out just fine, actually, when it was one on one.
It makes sense, because where we are in the manga now we know that Katsuki has strong, positive feelings for Izuku. Those didnât appear out of nowhere! Theyâve been there the whole time, Katsuki had just buried them for awhile. But children, and especially emotionally-constipated ones like Katsuki, arenât good at hiding their true feelings. They come out sometimes, or a lot of the times! So most likely, I think that Katsuki exposed his true feelings on occasion and was friendly and even fond towards Izuku.
This would explain a lot of Izukuâs behavior as well. I think many people, when they first read the manga, think: why does Izuku even care about this jerk? Well Katsukiâs good and admirable qualities get revealed over time. But also, it would make sense if Katsuki sometimes treated Izuku as a friend, and Izuku was able to not only see, but to experience, Katsukiâs good qualities.
(In some ways though, this is almost a sad theory! Because poor Izuku probably experienced some emotional whiplash before he either caught on, or got used to it.)
So yeah, I think their relationship has never been straightforward, and that they have always been weird as hell about each other.
Who wasnât weird as hell about their friends in middle school though?
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