"Take a breath, Midoriya," Eijirou urged as he brought another bite of ramen to his mouth. "We can't do anything to you in public without risking our identities." 

Izuku's steaming bowl of ramen sat untouched in front of him. He'd been almost catatonic since they'd arrived, Katsuki having to order for him. His brain couldn't wrap itself around the unfortunate series of events that had led up to this. "You keep saying vaguely threatening shit and expecting it to calm me down," he said in a dull and automatic response. 

"When did you learn to swear?" Katsuki asked in a grunt between bites of his own food. 

Eijirou pointed his chopsticks at the hero while chewing, only opening his mouth again after swallowing his food. Izuku silently wondered if he always had manners or if he was putting on a show in front of him. "Not trying to be threatening, but clearly, our word isn't getting you to relax. I was trying to make the argument more logical for you, don't you prefer that sort of thing?" 

Izuku reeled back at the idea of the redhead knowing anything about him as a person. "Why the hell would you say that?" he asked, his eyes flashing around the restaurant. He'd never been before, but it was quiet and homey, a stark contrast to his own internal feelings at the moment. 

"Dude," Eijirou breathed in astonishment, "You're famous for your brawn and your brain. You gotta be one of the smartest pros on the streets right now." The redhead's chopsticks were once again pointed at Izuku. "Very manly, by the way." 

Izuku's nose scrunched up. What the hell was that supposed to mean? 

"It's a compliment, nerd," Katsuki clarified with a small eye roll. "Ei's obsessed with the idea of manliness." 

"Killing people isn't very manly," Izuku found himself muttering under his breath before he could stop. His eyes went wide as he realized who he had just provoked. 

"Okay," Eijirou said a little too loud, causing Izuku to flinch back as he set his chopsticks down across his bowl and rested his elbows on the table. "We're not here to talk about my rap sheet. I thought you wanted to talk to Katsuki." 

Izuku slumped back in his seat, weary eyes glancing between the two men on the other side of the booth. "Honestly, I don't want to talk to either of you." 

"Then why the fuck are you here?" Katsuki snapped, his red eyes narrowing. The look was so achingly familiar that it caused Izuku's heart to stutter. He'd spent years praying to whatever was out there that those eyes would look at him, glare at him, anything, just one more time. He supposed this was some cruel god's idea of a sick joke. 

"I don't know," Izuku hissed. It was as if he was physically unable to not rise to Katsuki's challenge, but that wasn't anything new. "Maybe I wanted some closure. You know, when the guy you grew up with, never spending more than a week apart at a time, up and disappears one day without a trace, you're left with a lot of goddamn questions." 

"Well, I don't have any fucking answers." 

Izuku scoffed at his words, glaring out the window on his left. "Typical, Kacchan." 

"Damn," Eijirou said under his breath, catching Izuku's attention. "You guys were close. I can't believe you never told me about him, Kats." 

The last of Izuku's resolve snapped, and hurriedly shifted to climb out of the booth. 

"Oi, where the hell are you going?" Katsuki asked, but making no move to follow after the pro. 

Izuku was on his feet at the side of their table, hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. "I'm going home, switching patrol routes, and praying to whatever god is out there that I never fucking see you again." He turned on his heels and started for the door, content to leave the little reunion at that. 

Honestly, what had he been expecting? It's not like the Kacchan he remembered would welcome him back with open arms anyway. Izuku had spent so long mourning what could have been, who he could have been, that he forgot how much of a jackass the blond really was. He'd never considered Katsuki to be a villain, but maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised about the revelation. 

"Nerd, just- fuck." The words were mumbled and not loud enough for Izuku to care as he reached the front door, hand poised to throw it open. "Just wait, would ya?!" 

The shout made him pause, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the restaurant employee, who looked like he couldn't care less what was happening, flipping through some magazine behind the front counter. When he heard the other men getting up from the table, he continued outside. 

"Deku," Katsuki hissed once all three of them were back on the street. 

Izuku had shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, ignoring the sting on his back when the sweatshirt was roughly pressed into the burns. He was going home, whether Katsuki followed him or not. Both villains already knew where his apartment was, why did it matter anymore? 

"Did you ever, for even a fucking second, use that stupid brain of yours to think that maybe it was hard for me too?" Katsuki shouted into the night. 

Izuku's steady and sure steps faltered. A quick glance over his shoulder showed that Katsuki had stopped just a few feet away from the ramen place, Eijirou right at his side. The blond was huffing enough for his shoulders to move up and down rapidly. 

In a split-second decision, he whirled around and marched up to the blond, standing nearly chest to chest. "I thought you were kidnapped," he hissed, using one hand to push Katsuki back. There was no quirk usage, just pure rage, frustration, and hurt. "I thought you were dead. We all did. I've spent years of my life working my ass off to become the number one hero for you because it was your dream that was cut short by whatever the hell happened. And now what? You're the bad guy in the story? Some fucking villain who takes people's lives without a second thought?" 

Katsuki's jaw ticked as he let himself get pushed around by the hero. "Don't sit there and act like you became a hero for anyone but yourself. I know you, Deku. That was your dream, so don't try to turn it around on me." 

Izuku stared at him for a second in disbelief. How could he claim to know him and be so utterly wrong at the same time? "You know about my quirk," he said, the heat leaving his words. All that was left was dull and empty as he finally admitted to one of the lowest moments in his life. One that not a single other soul knew about. "After you disappeared, I was going to give it to Mirio. Being a hero didn't sound all that great without the Wonder Duo." 

There, Izuku thought, that's what I was looking for. 

At the mention of their childhood dream team, Katsuki's brows furrowed, and his eyes redirected to the ground below him. Guilt, or shame, or something akin to it, took over his normally proud and unshakable face. Izuku had found the nerve he'd so badly wanted to hit. 

"What happened to you, Kacchan?" Izuku asked again, looking up and down at the man he barely recognized anymore. 

It was the wrong thing to ask. Katsuki's scowl was slipped back into place effortlessly as his red eyes narrowed on the hero. "What happened doesn't fucking matter. All that does is the fact that this is who I am now. If that makes you so fucking sick to your stomach, then switch your patrol route and be done with it. I'm not gonna chase after you, Deku. We're not kids anymore." 

"You're right," he admitted, quiet and contemplative. "We're not kids anymore. Even if we were, chasing was never your strong suit." 

He paused, watching as Katsuki grew even more defensive in front of him. Even after all those years, the blond was still so painfully readable to Izuku. 

"It's a good thing I've spent my entire life chasing you then," Izuku mumbled, kicking at a loose rock beneath him. "If you were too far gone, Kacchan, you wouldn't have followed me out of the restaurant." 

"What the fuck are you talking about, Deku?" Katsuki asked in a rushed voice, his eyes wide as he took a small step back. 

Izuku shrugged one of his shoulders, managing to keep the pain in his back from showing on his face. "I'm gonna do what a hero does and save you, both of you," he added, glancing around the blond to Eijirou. The redhead was rubbing the back of his neck with a frown directed at the sidewalk below him. "Not today, probably not tomorrow, but... One day, I'll get you back, Kacchan. You can count on it." 

Very short chapter for today, but it was good so I'm not even upset about it. In case you haven't caught on yet, I've written about half this fic already and am slowly posting updates daily. I would rush and post more than one a day, but I don't wanna run out of chapters when my work schedule is so hectic.