Chapter 11

Izuku stared longingly at the mess he had made inside his dorm room. The longer he stared, the more he regretted trashing the place considering the long amount of time it would take to clean it all up. He let out a long sigh, running a hand down his face in frustration. He was glad that the teacher didn't force an explanation out of him, but, for how long? The greenette needed to think of something, and fast.

Carefully, he stepped over the things scattered across the floor and searched for a duffle bag. It surprisingly didn't take him long to find one among the mess, which he was silently grateful for. He lazily grabbed the things he would need to spend the few nights in Katsuki's room and stuffed them inside the bag. Just the mere thought of sleeping in the same room as the blonde had him nervous. He was one-hundred percent sure that his face would be blown up to smithereens the moment he made any wrong movement.

Just as Izuku was finishing packing up his bag, Katsuki kicked the door open with his hands deep inside his pockets, an annoyed expression plastered on his face. "Are you done or what?"

"Y-Yes, I just need to grab a few things from the bathroom," Izuku rushed out, scrambling to his feet and going inside the bathroom. He did his best to ignore the broken mirror and splatters of dried-up blood across the sink, collecting his small toiletries bag and heading back inside the room. Katsuki stood there waiting, glancing around the room while Izuku finally zipped up the duffel bag.

"About damn time," Katsuki grumbled, watching as Izuku grabbed a clean uniform out of his closet and his annoying yellow bag from a corner of the room.

"This should be all," Izuku mumbled, not daring to make eye contact with the blond. Without another word, Katsuki stepped aside to let the greenette walk out of the room. Once Izuku stepped out, Katsuki grabbed something from the floor and followed after him, closing the door as best as he could.

The greenette balanced his things as best as he could while they stepped inside the elevator, Katsuki pressing the button to his floor level. The blond noticed Izuku's struggle but made no comment on it as he watched the doors close. Glancing down at the bottle of vitamins he had previously picked up from the floor in Izuku's room, a smirk tugged at his lips as a thought occurred to him.

"You almost forgot something," Katsuki spoke once the elevator reached its destination. Before Izuku could speak, Katsuki balanced the bottle on top of his messy curls and stepped out of the elevator.

"W-Wait!" Izuku shrieked as he tried to keep whatever was on his head balanced. His hands were already full with his school uniform and duffle bag, so he couldn't exactly grab the item and prevent it from falling. Katsuki kept on walking with his triumphant smirk, not needing to look at the greenette to notice his struggle.

The doors started closing in front of Izuku's face, so he quickly rushed out of the elevator while still balancing the item on his head. How did he manage to do that? He had no idea.

"Kacchan!" Izuku huffed, watching how a very amused blond leaned against the wall next to his door.

"If you don't hurry the fuck up I'm going to leave you outside," Katsuki threatened, not even trying to hide how much he enjoyed teasing the greenette. Izuku glared at him, obviously not finding the situation funny, until a thought occurred to him. The blond's smug expression turned into a curious one when he noticed the slight smirk on Izuku's lips, wondering just what idea the greenette had come up with.

His silent question was answered when black tendrils slithered their way out of Izuku's fingertips and took hold of the vitamins. The blond couldn't hold back an eye-roll at the nerd's victorious expression, opening the door to his room and stepping inside. Izuku hurried behind him, not wanting to be left out, while still holding the vitamins with his quirk. Blackwhip sure came in handy in such situations.

"You're lucky you have that stupid quirk," Katsuki grumbled under his breath, kicking the door closed right after Izuku stepped in. The greenette's eyes still held that victorious gleam, but he didn't say anything in response to the remark. Instead, he stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, not knowing where to put his things.

"Uhm, w-where should I put my things?" Izuku asked, his nerves coming back at full force. He tried so hard to keep them at bay, but he feared that with everything that has been going on between the two of them his old feelings would come to the surface. Feelings that he kept buried deep down below in the pits of his miserable soul for many years.

"Just put them in a corner somewhere that won't bother," Katsuki shrugged, oblivious to Izuku's inner turmoil. Izuku nodded slowly, forcing his mind to stop revolving around his newfound problems. He couldn't dwell on such things in his current situation. Whatever feelings he had towards the blond would remain deep inside its grave, just like they have been for so long.

Finally finding a good spot, Izuku carefully placed his bags down and threw the vitamins on top of them, looking around for a place to hang his uniform. He would've probably thrown the uniform on top of his bags as well, but he didn't want to face Katsuki's wrath over the few wrinkles the uniform would gain. It was quite ironic since the blond would normally wear his uniform in a lazy manner, not even bothering with using his tie.

"What the fuck are you mumbling about now, stupid nerd?" Katsuki grumbled while crossing his arms in front of his chest. The greenette had been standing at the same spot, mumbling nonsense under his breath while holding his school uniform. Izuku, slightly startled by the blond's voice, blushed in embarrassment while bringing a hand to the back of his neck.

"I don't know where to hang this..." he trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek. He silently cursed himself for his stupid habit, hating how easily he embarrassed himself because of it.

"Just hang it in the damn closet next to mine," Katsuki said with an eye-roll. Izuku nodded quickly and hurried to do as told, being careful not to mess with the blond's carefully organized closet. It was quite impressive how neat Katsuki's closet was. He had always been some kind of clean freak-organizing his clothes by color and style. How could someone have enough patience to do those things?

Silence settled between the two of them, Katsuki thrown over across his bed and Izuku still standing on the same spot. Their classmates would be getting out of their lessons in less than an hour, so the quietness in the building would soon reach its end. Izuku didn't know what to do in the meantime. Should he start a conversation? Should he stay still and act like a statue until Katsuki said something or exploded his face? Why was Katsuki so quiet?

Millions of questions were running through both of their minds at incredible speed. It made them both uneasy, and Katsuki was growing frustrated. He had waited patiently for the greenette to start explaining what had happened earlier. He hasn't brought up the situation, but the fact that Izuku didn't even try to make an excuse bothered him greatly.

Was he expecting the nerd to blurt everything out to him? No-he was aware that Izuku would be reluctant to tell him anything. But still, the way the greenette clung to him in the bathroom and broke down had him preoccupied. More so than he could admit. Why wouldn't Izuku say something? He needed to get answers one way or another.

"Sit down," Katsuki ordered, shifting on his bed to give Izuku space to settle down. Izuku eyed the open space before reluctantly sitting down, keeping his distance. "Are you going to start speaking or what?"

"A-About what?" Izuku asked, fiddling with the hem of his basketball shorts, tugging them down absentmindedly. The blond gave him a glare, obviously not falling for his oblivious act.

"Cut the crap. What happened, Deku?" Katsuki asked, his tone serious. He has never been a person to go beating around the bush.

"I-I, uh..." Izuku trailed off, avoiding eye contact. His heart was beating wildly against his ribcage as we racked his brain to find the right words to say. "What Tsukauchi said...about my parents...it was just too overwhelming, I guess?"

Katsuki stayed silent, his eyes never leaving Izuku's face. The expression on Izuku's face was a pained one, and Katsuki could tell that he was being careful with his words. There was more to it-he knew it. Whatever was going through the nerd's head was troubling him more than he let on.

"To go on destroying your room and breaking mirrors take more than bad news," Katsuki pointed out, his voice low. The way Izuku tensed up confirmed Katsuki's words, making him scowl. "You've been acting off for a while now. There's something going on with you that you don't want anyone to know. You're being incredibly on guard as if you're afraid of anyone finding something out-something you're keeping a secret."

Upon hearing those words, Izuku's eyes widened in fear. He knew that Katsuki would catch up sooner or later, but he really hoped that it would've been a lot later. His eyes were kept on the floor, unblinking, his body rigid and void of movement. His fight or flight mode was kicking in, and he so wanted to make a run for it. He wanted to run so far, far away that Katsuki's piercing eyes wouldn't catch him.

"The fact that you won't look at me or even try to make up an excuse just proves that I'm right," Katsuki continued, standing up from his bed. When Izuku noticed him approaching him, he immediately bolted-only for the blond to catch him by the elbow, pulling him right back on the bed.

"I-I-I..." Izuku spluttered out, not being able to form a coherent sentence.

"Don't even try running away from me, Deku," Katsuki growled, pinning Izuku in place with his unyielding stare. Izuku shook under his gaze, breathing becoming labored as he panicked. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? The person he had least wanted to find out about his problems was now demanding answers from him. Oh, how he wanted to disappear.

"I d-don't know what you want me to s-say," Izuku stammered out as he tried to control his breathing. News flash-he was failing miserably.

"I swear to All Might, Deku, if you lie to me one more time I will break every bone in your body until you yield," Katsuki sneered.

"K-Kacchan, please, d-don't," Izuku silently pleaded, his eyes brimming with tears as the tightness in his chest grew worse. Katsuki was about to retort until he noticed Izuku's state. He let out a silent curse as the greenette started trembling uncontrollably, his breathing coming out in short gasps and his eyes unfocused. He was having a goddammed panic attack, for crying out loud!

"Oi, Deku!" Katsuki exclaimed, leaning over Izuku's trembling body and brushing the green locks out of his now sweaty forehead. He snapped his fingers in front of Izuku's eyes, trying to get his attention. "Oi, focus on me! Hey!"

It took a few seconds until green orbs slowly came into focus, switching between Katsuki's ruby orbs in panic.

"That's it, come on," Katsuki whispered, placing a hand behind the greenette's neck to try and keep him steady.

"K-Kacchan," Izuku managed to let out between shallow breaths, tears starting to roll down his cheeks.

"Shh, breathe, Deku. Focus on your breathing," Katsuki whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder he would trigger the greenette. Izuku gave a faint nod, taking shaky breaths to try and match Katsuki's. It took about five minutes for him to finally calm down, his body going limp on the bed as Katsuki stared at him. A wave of tiredness washed over him as he closed his eyes in defeat, not wanting to see the blond's expression.

Katsuki's rough hand stayed behind Izuku's neck, slightly feeling the greenette's heartbeat under his fingertips. It was obvious that what was going on with the nerd was much more serious than he thought. And that fact made his chest tighten up.

Just what was Izuku going through?