Chapter 31

They didn't know how much time had passed. Katsuki simply held an exhausted Izuku on his arms, mind whirring with the previous events. As the greenette took even breaths, he couldn't help but feel guilty. If he hadn't forced Izuku to stop cutting so abruptly, perhaps he would've been handling the situation better. It was his fault that Izuku had such a bad episode.

Although...

"What caused it?" Katsuki asked softly, causing Izuku to stir. He was dozing off to Katsuki's scent until his voice had caught his attention.

"Hm?" Izuku asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

"Did something caused you to have an episode?"

Izuku lifted his head, thinking back to Mineta and his mother. He gnawed on his bottom lip, debating whether to tell the blond or not. Katsuki watched him closely, taking in his far away look and how he bit his lower lip. "What was it?"

Izuku played with a stray curl that lingered over his eyes, tugging at it pensively. Could he tell him that Mineta's words triggered bad memories?

"It's kind of stupid, honestly," Izuku said softly with a chuckle, not looking at Katsuki in the eye. Katsuki scowled, smacking the side of Izuku's head.

"Watch it," he growled. "If it had you reacting so badly to it, it's not stupid, dumbass."

Izuku rubbed the side of his head with a pout, looking up at Katsuki's pointed gaze. With a sigh, he gave in. Barely. "Just had a flashback."

"Mind to elaborate?" Katsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. Izuku hesitated, ruffling his own hair in thought. The blond noticed, and sighed. "I don't want to pressure you, but I can't help you if you don't let me."

He was right, and Izuku knew that. It was obvious that Katsuki wanted to help him, but he had to open up to him. He had to face his fears. He couldn't keep running away from every single problem. He needed help.

"Mineta," Izuku whispered, averting his eyes and looking at the ground. If he didn't have sharp ears, Katsuki might have not heard him. But oh he did. And somebody was going to die.

A dark look fell over Katsuki's ruby red eyes, remembering the snide remarks the purple midget had made. He should've known. The greenette had suffered bullying because of his sexuality back in middle school thanks to him. Of course Mineta's words would have such an impact on him.

"He told me that he would lend me some...magazines to 'change my mind'. That I was just confused. That I'm not normal," Izuku continued in a small voice, eyes not leaving the floor.

Rage surged through Katsuki's veins. The pain behind Izuku's voice was unbearable. He sounded miserable and broken.

Without saying anything, Katsuki stood up, a murderous aura surrounding him. This caught Izuku's attention, eyes widening in alert as he scrambled to his feet. Katsuki stomped out of Izuku's bedroom, ignoring the greenette's voice that called out to him in a hush. He was intent on finding the perverted asshole and make him regret ever being fucking born.

"Please, wait!" Izuku whisper-yelled, halting Katsuki's movements by grabbing his arm with both of his hands. Although the blond had stopped, his shoulders were tense as he glared in the direction of Mineta's dorm room. Distant chatter and laughter could be heard from downstairs in the common room as the two of them stood in the middle of the hallway.

"Kacchan, please, calm down," Izuku mumbled, his grip on his boyfriend firm.

"Calm down?" Katsuki asked, letting out a bitter laugh. "Do you really think that I'm going to let that fucking asshole get away with this shit?"

"It's not a big deal-"

"Not a big deal?!" Katsuki asked incredulously, eyes looking at Izuku in disbelief. Before he continued, he pulled Izuku back into the room and kicked the door shut. "Your reaction to his words would like to fucking object!"

"Even so, you can't just go over to him and scream 'DIE' while you blast him to death!" Izuku argued.

"Well, he fucking deserves it!"

"You are already walking on a very thin ice with Aizawa. If you go after Mineta, you might as well be walking straight onto your damn expulsion," Izuku huffed while crossing his arms with a pout.

Katsuki ground his teeth together but didn't retort. Izuku had a point, and he hated how he couldn't just go blast Mineta off the face of the earth. Even so, he wasn't going to stay quiet.

"Fine. I won't 'blast him to death'. I will...express my feelings," Katsuki growled, turning to go out of the room again. That was until Izuku spoke again.

"The reason why his words triggered me so much..." he took a deep breath, closing his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. He was really going to do this. "Is because they were similar to...what mom had told me...when I came out to her."

Taken aback, Katsuki abruptly turned back around to stare at Izuku with wide eyes. Izuku was back to staring intently at the ground, head hung low and knuckles turning white. He waited for Katsuki to say something, but the blond was too stunned to speak. The flashbacks came rushing back like a tidal wave, making him close his eyes shut tight.

"What do you mean you're gay?!"

"I never liked keeping secrets from her," Izuku continued, his voice shaking. "So when I mustered up the courage to tell her...she didn't take it very well."

"But...you're a boy! Izuku, honey, are you sure you're not confused?"

"She had always dreamed of the day that I would bring a girl home and introduced her as my girlfriend," Izuku chuckled sadly. "I completely shattered those dreams."

"I understand that you're confused. I mean, you're starting to go into your teenager phase where you start being curious! But that's fine, I'm sure you'll get over that silly idea."

"She insisted that I was confused. That I would get over that 'silly idea'...until I told her that I was certain."

"You can't!"

"She was furious," a tear rolled down his cheek, voice breaking.

"How could you do this to me?!"

"Because, not only was I quirkless...I was also a freak. She began questioning herself."

"First, we find out that you're quirkless, and now...now this! Why?! Where did I go wrong?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

"That was the last straw, Kacchan," Izuku admitted, burying his face in his hands as he cried. "I...broke her."

"Izu-"

"I did!" He sobbed. "You didn't see the disappointment in her eyes, the hurt."

"Why would you do this to me Izu? I had to suffer your father's abandonment because of you...I had to raise you by myself! And this is how you repay me?!"

"After that day, she turned into a completely different person. She would look at me with such hatred; she completely resented me..."

Katsuki couldn't process what Izuku was telling him. Never in a million years would he have thought that his caring, amazing Auntie, was capable of such thing. She was the most kind, understanding person that he knew, aside from Izuku himself. To say that he was flabbergasted was the understatement of the year.

"She was unhappy," Izuku cried, looking up at Katsuki with a sorrowful gaze. The look squeezed Katsuki's heart, to the point that his own eyes teared up. "I made her miserable, Kacchan."

Katsuki didn't hesitate to quickly engulf Izuku in a tight hug. He let him cry out all of the anguish he felt. Every day he learned something new, and he was amazed by the amount of pain Izuku carried around. He had gone through so much, and what tugged at Katsuki's heartstrings even more was the fact that he knew that there was more to be uncovered.

Izuku had to carry all that weight for so long by himself...and he managed to fool everybody around him. Specially Katsuki.

"I'm sorry," Katsuki whispered, hugging Izuku even tighter. As if he could somehow glue the greenette back together and take away all of his pain. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. Fuck, Izuku. I'm sorry that I made your life even worse..."

"You didn't know," Izuku said softly with a sniffle.

"I should've," Katsuki whispered with a frown. He looked straight into Izuku's teary eyes, and gently wiped his thumb under them to get rid of any underlying teats. Izuku blushed lightly, leaning into the blond's touch appreciatively. He hadn't told anyone about what he had confessed. But now that he did, he felt so much lighter.

"Thanks, Kacchan," Izuku said with a tired, but genuine smile. Katsuki smiled softly, capturing his lips in a gentle, loving peck. Although Izuku's lips tasted like salty tears, he enjoyed the feeling. The greenette had cried enough for that day, he deserved to receive affection.

"That's what I'm here for now, nerd," the blond mumbled, leaning back slightly. He raised his arm, and with the sleeve of his blazer, he gently cleaned Izuku's face. The greenette would cutely close his eyes and make faces as the fabric rubbed against his skin, but he didn't complain.

Once his face was clean enough, Katsuki grabbed Izuku's hand and lead him out of the dorm room. Curious, Izuku tilted his head. "Where are we going?"

"You need to rehydrate. God knows you used up all the 60% of water that was in that small body of yours," Katsuki snorted, earning a smack from an offended Izuku.

"I'm not that small! Besides, you're only taller than me by three inches!"

"At least I'm in the average height," Katsuki smirked.

"Asshole," Izuku pouted, making Katsuki grin. They both made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Uraraka, Ojiro, Tokoyami, and Yaoyoruzu were preparing dinner. Izuku did his best to not look directly into someone's eyes, afraid that they would notice the redness and puffiness around his own.

He greeted his classmates with a closed-eye smile, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. Katsuki threw an arm around his shoulder carelessly, making him blush and shyly drink from his water bottle. Only seconds after that did they hear the midget's annoying voice.

"If it isn't the gay freaks," Mineta gagged loudly, causing everyone to look at him. "Keep your disgusting gayness away from here, it's extremely disturbing."

Izuku tensed, and everyone else in the kitchen and common room glared at Mineta. Katsuki has had enough. He would rather face Aizawa's wrath than let that stupid fuck get away with what he was doing. Katsuki gave Mineta a murderous glare, seething as he made his way towards him menacingly.

Alarmed, Izuku reached out to stop him, but someone placed a firm hand on his shoulder. It happened so fast that he would've missed it if he had blinked.

Katsuki had raised his fist and punched Mineta directly on the bridge of his nose. Mineta let out a painful shriek as his head snapped back by the force. He was immediately sent to the ground, hands cupping his now bleeding nose. "What the fuck is your problem?!"

"You," Katsuki growled, ready to send another punch his way until a very familiar scarf wrapped around his fist. Everyone's head snapped over to Aizawa, who was standing behind Izuku with his eyes glowing red and hair floating around his head.

"I'm sure one was enough," he said in a low tone. Izuku's gaze snapped to the hand on his shoulder, and sure enough, it belonged to his homeroom teacher.

"A-Aizawa sensei!" Izuku said alarmed. Aizawa paid no mind to him as he walked over to where Katsuki and Mineta were. Mineta quickly stood up, blood running down his hands and arms.

"Bakugo punched me for no re-!" Mineta started, but was immediately shut up by Aizawa's scarf wrapping tightly over his mouth. Their teacher glared down at the two of them, and released Katsuki's fist.

He didn't say anything to the blond, just gave him a stern gaze before settling his eyes on Mineta. "You're coming with me to Nezu's office."

Mineta's eyes widened as he tried to speak, but the scarf over his mouth thankfully prevented him from doing so. Aizawa dragged the midget out of the building, and everyone stared at the door for a solid minute...before everyone started cheering loudly.

Although worried, Izuku fought back a smile. Relief flooded through his veins, and his classmates' cheers definitely lifted his spirits up. Katsuki approached Izuku with a smirk, ruffling his hair.

"It sure felt good to 'express' my feelings," he said, causing Izuku to laugh.

It felt very good indeed.