Chapter 6

The water that pooled up beneath Izuku's feet was tainted a crimson color. His fingers trembled as he gritted his teeth, sliding the blade across his scarred thighs. It was barely past four in the morning when he had woken up from yet another nightmare. The urge to cut was unbearable as he had gathered up his things and rushed down to the showers, leading up to the events that were currently taking place. Everybody else was still asleep, which he was grateful for since no one would see him in such a miserable state.

It had been a week since Katsuki started making sure he went to sleep early. They haven't exchanged many words since then, even when Katsuki would invite himself inside Izuku's room and sit down on the desk chair until the greenette would fall asleep. The blond would grumble a few words under his breath once in a while, but other than that he would just stay slumped in the wooden chair with his arms crossed. Izuku thought that Katsuki would've stopped by now, but the time bomb certainly wouldn't go back on his word.

Another slash against Izuku's pale skin had him feeling nauseous. The blood loss was finally catching up to his brain, leaving him dizzy. As much as he wanted to continue, he knew that he had to stop. He couldn't risk fainting, not when he didn't know how long he would be unconscious for. With shaky fingers, he carefully cleaned the blade as best as he could and placed it back inside his toiletries bag.

His green eyes blinked as he tried to regain focus on his blurry eyesight. He leaned his back against the cold wall, his body slowly sliding down until it reached the cold, wet floor. The hot water washed away the blood from his thighs, the crimson color from the water slowly dissipating to its regular transparent. The recent scars were a deep red, small droplets of blood barely oozing out of them anymore.

Time passed until Izuku didn't feel light-headed anymore. The tip of his fingers had become pruney considering the amount of time he had been under the water. Shaking his head to get rid of what was left of the dizziness, he stood back up and cleaned his wounds. A small hiss would occasionally leave his mouth as he treated his cuts, some deeper than others. He counted them mindlessly, not remembering how many times he had sliced at his skin.

Eighteen new cuts in total.

A scoff left his mouth once he finished counting, the water from the showerhead coming to a stop once he turned the key. He carefully dried the skin around his cuts and bandaged them, proceeding to dry the rest of his body and put his clothes on. His hair was slightly damped, but not completely wet since he had avoided wetting his hair too much. It was still too early, and he still had to go up to his bedroom and lay down until it was time to go to his lessons.

His bare feet padded silently through the bathroom and into the common room. All the lights were off, so he had to be careful to not bump into anything on the way. He was just a few steps away from the stairs when a ding from the elevator was heard. Startled, he hid behind a nearby wall in hopes that whoever walked out of the elevator wouldn't see him.

Heavy footsteps were heard stomping towards the common room and past the wall Izuku was currently hiding behind. When he caught sight of the familiar spiky hair, his eyes widened in panic. Eyes darting around the place, they landed on the clock and noticed the time. Did he seriously spend almost two hours in the damn showers?!

His thoughts were cut off by a light being switched on, making him place a hand in front of his eyes due to the sudden brightness. He was frozen in place as he thought of an escape plan, but it all went down the drain the moment Katsuki spoke up.

"Why the fuck are you hiding there, nerd?!" the blond spat when he took notice of the frozen boy. He was wearing his usual running attire; basketball shorts and tank top along with a jacket since it was chilly outside.

"K-Kacchan. Hi!" Izuku chirped, his cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment since he had been caught. Out of all people, the one to find him had to be his childhood friend. "I- uh, I was just heading back to my room."

"Then what are ya standing there for? Looks like you saw a damn ghost or something." Katsuki retorted, rolling his eyes and heading inside the kitchen.

"R-Right! I'll be leaving now." Izuku said while scratching his head nervously. The blond only 'tsked' in reply and Izuku rushed over to the stairs, not wasting any time in going up to his room.

Katsuki's eyes were trained on the stairs where the greenette had just rushed up. His eyebrows were knitted together, an annoyed look on his face. Ever since the night that he confronted Izuku about the vitamins, the greenette seemed to be avoiding him in some way. It pissed him off to no avail!

Who did he think he was?! Katsuki made sure to take care of him and that's how he repaid him?! That thought alone was unacceptable. So, with his usual scowl, Katsuki made his way out of the building to start his daily morning run.

Inside his dorm room, Izuku laid on his bed with a pounding heart. He seemed to be getting more and more careless with each passing day. He needed to get his act together or else he would get caught, and nothing terrified him more. The taunting voices inside his head were getting much more unbearable and the tightness in his chest was growing worse by the minute.

Somehow, slashing at his own skin was not as satisfying anymore. He wanted to go deeper; wrap his own hands around his neck and squeeze until the airflow didn't make its way through to his lungs. The dark thoughts would swim around in his mind day and night to the point where it felt like he should just give in.

Should he?

Izuku's body was moving on autopilot as he got ready for the day. He went downstairs to meet his friends, who were waiting for him to eat some breakfast and head to class right after.

"Deku-kun! Good morning!" Uraraka greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning Uraraka, Iida!" Izuku smiled as he neared the two. He sat next to them in the common room as they all ate and chatted among themselves. Soon after, they were walking out of the dorm building towards their homeroom class. Along the way, Izuku noticed that Todoroki was walking a few feet in front of them, so he jogged over to catch up to him.

"Good morning, Todoroki-kun!" he greeted the heterochromatic boy who seemed to be in his own little world.

"Oh, good morning to you too, Izuku," Todoroki replied with his stoic expression. "It looks like you're doing better than last week, I'm glad."

"Ah, it's no big deal, really," the greenette chuckled with a wave of his hand. Todoroki nodded once and stuffed his hands inside his pockets as they kept on walking. Iida and Uraraka were having a hearty conversation behind them as they neared their classroom, just a few minutes before the bell rang.

Katsuki was already sitting at his desk with his feet propped up and his hands behind his head. Kirishima and Sero were next to him speaking animatedly as Izuku got to his own desk, catching their attention. The redhead was the first to greet him, quickly followed by Sero meanwhile Katsuki ignored him as usual.

Aizawa walked in a few minutes after the bell rang, and everybody was already on their seats obediently. Looking around the classroom momentarily, his eyes stopped on Izuku for a short moment before he heaved a sigh and started the lesson.

Izuku made sure to keep his mind distracted, writing down every single detail he found would be important down in his notebook. His occasional muttering during the lesson would constantly catch the attention of the boy sitting in front of him. Even though Katsuki would usually call him out on it and state how annoying it was, he opted for listening in at the moment. Maybe that way he would get the slightest clue as to why the greenette was avoiding him.

A shadow loomed in the doorway of the classroom a few minutes before the end of the lesson. Aizawa, who was currently stuffed inside his yellow sleeping bag, slowly got out of it once he noticed the person waiting patiently outside the classroom. With a slight scowl and a nod of his head, he motioned for All Might to step inside.

The students' attention was now on the frail man who made the sudden appearance. Some of them shared concerned glances since they were used to All Might making flashy entrances with his booming "I am here!" announcement. This time, he seemed grim as he shared a glance with Aizawa then looked over at where Izuku and Katsuki were sitting. The greenette felt tense at his heavy gaze, while Katsuki eyed the retired hero in curiosity.

"Please forgive me for interrupting your lesson, I promise I won't be long. If you'd allow me to, Shouta, I would like to borrow Young Bakugo and Young Midoriya for a while." All Might spoke up, directing his word to Aizawa.

"Very well," Aizawa sighed, turning to look at the boys. "Take your stuff with you and follow Toshinori. The lesson is almost over, so you won't miss out on anything."

Everyone's eyes were on them now as they packed their stuff in their bags and silently made their way out of the classroom. Izuku's mind was wondering why they were suddenly called out by All Might. They hadn't gotten into another fight in the middle of Ground Beta again, so what could they have possibly done?

While Izuku was imagining the worst-case scenarios in his head, Katsuki stared ahead with his hands inside his pockets, occasionally stealing a few glances towards the greenette. All Might would evade every question Izuku would throw his way as he led them inside the teacher's lounge.

Izuku's heart stopped the moment his eyes made contact with Tsukauchi. Something didn't feel right.

"Bakugo, Midoriya, please take a seat." The officer instructed them both with a calm tone.

"Alright, what the hell is going on?!" Katsuki finally spoke up once he hastily sat down on one of the chairs.

"I'm pretty sure that you guys are curious as to why you've been summoned from class to meet up with me here. I would have waited until later if this wasn't an important matter," Tsukauchi explained while inhaling deeply and looking over at Izuku. "This is about Inko Midoriya. Your mother."