My Omega

Chapter 11

                    Remastered: January 20th, 2025
                        
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The next few days at U.A. were suffocating. Katsuki couldn't escape the tension that seemed to hang in the air every time he stepped into a room with Izuku. It wasn't the usual competitive energy that had defined their relationship for so long, but something heavier, something unspoken that pressed down on both of them. Every glance from Izuku, every slight shift in his posture, felt like it carried a weight. A burden that neither of them could easily shake off.

Katsuki threw himself into training, trying to drown out the noise in his head. He focused on his movements, pushing his body to the limit in hopes of exhausting the frustration swirling inside him. But no matter how much he trained, no matter how hard he fought against his own emotions, he couldn't escape it.

Izuku was always there, always in his peripheral vision, but the space between them seemed endless now. Katsuki could feel it. The distance wasn't just physical—it was emotional, and that was far harder to bridge.

It wasn't until the afternoon training session that things finally snapped.

The class was finishing up with a grueling endurance exercise. Katsuki had been keeping an eye on Izuku throughout, watching his movements closely. He'd been quieter than usual—distracted, almost. Katsuki didn't miss the way Izuku hesitated when it was his turn to attack in the drills, or the way his usual fire had dimmed into something more subdued.

It was infuriating. Katsuki had tried to push it aside, tried to focus on his own performance, but his frustration had reached its peak.

During the cooldown, Katsuki stalked toward Izuku, his boots heavy on the mats.

Izuku didn't see him coming until he was standing right in front of him. Katsuki glared down at him, chest heaving slightly from the exertion, his fists balled at his sides.

"You've been acting weird," Katsuki growled, his voice rough. "What the hell's going on with you?"

Izuku froze, his gaze flickering up to meet Katsuki's for a split second before he looked away again. "I'm fine," he muttered, his voice strained.

"No, you're not." Katsuki's tone was biting. "You've been all over the place lately. One minute, you're avoiding me, the next you're getting all up in my business with Lorenzo. So what the hell is going on, Deku?"

Izuku flinched at the name, but he didn't back down. "Katsuki," he said, his voice small but firm. "I told you already. I'm not trying to get in the way. I just—" He paused, as though struggling with the words. "I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt, okay?"

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything? I don't need you protecting me from anything, damn it."

Izuku's gaze softened, but there was a deep sadness in his eyes that Katsuki wasn't prepared for. "I don't want you to end up like me, Katsuki. I don't want you to—" His words caught in his throat, and he exhaled shakily, frustrated. "I can't be the one to mess things up for you."

Katsuki's chest tightened at the words, but his anger flared again before he could process it. "You really think I need you to protect me from my own choices? Damn it, Izuku, I'm not some fragile little kid anymore!"

Izuku's face twisted in pain, his fists clenching at his sides. "I never thought you were fragile. I just—" He took a deep breath, like he was trying to steady himself. "I'm trying to make sure you're not stuck in a relationship that's going to hurt you. Lorenzo's—he's not who you think he is."

Katsuki scoffed, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "What, you think I don't know what I'm doing? I don't need your damn advice, Izuku."

There was a beat of silence before Izuku spoke again, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just... I'm just saying, I don't want to watch you get hurt because you're too stubborn to see it. I—" He broke off, frustration spilling over. "I can't stand seeing you with him, Katsuki. It drives me crazy, and I don't know how to stop it."

Katsuki blinked, caught off guard by the raw honesty in Izuku's words. The declaration hit him harder than he expected. His chest clenched uncomfortably as the reality of the situation settled in. He had been so focused on his own feelings of betrayal, on his own jealousy, that he hadn't fully grasped the weight of what Izuku was saying.

Izuku wasn't talking about jealousy. He wasn't trying to get in the way because of some petty rivalry. Izuku was afraid. Afraid that Katsuki was making a mistake, afraid of losing him.

Katsuki didn't know how to respond to that. How could he?

He opened his mouth, but no words came. His throat was tight, his mind a storm of confusion and anger. How could he even begin to deal with this? He didn't want to admit it, but seeing Izuku like this—so vulnerable, so torn—was breaking through the wall Katsuki had so carefully built around his emotions.

"I don't want to lose you either, you know," Izuku continued, his voice shaking slightly. "But I also can't be the one to drag you into my mess. I'm not the person you think I am. Not anymore."

Katsuki's mind raced, his thoughts a blur of hurt and confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he spat, voice thick with emotion he wasn't ready to deal with.

Izuku shook his head slowly, eyes closed as if trying to hold back tears. "It means I'm not the same person you knew, Katsuki. I can't be that person for you anymore."

And in that moment, something inside Katsuki snapped. The anger that had been building inside him, the jealousy, the frustration—it all came crashing down. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and before he could think better of it, he reached out, grabbing Izuku's shoulder with more force than he intended.

"I don't want you to change," Katsuki growled, his voice rough with something deeper than anger. "I don't give a damn about your mess, alright? So don't you dare push me away. Don't you dare act like you're some kind of liability I need to get away from."

Izuku met his gaze then, the vulnerability still in his eyes, but there was something else—something raw. "But I'm the one who's messed up, Katsuki. I'm the one who's broken."

Katsuki's grip tightened on his shoulder, pulling him closer. His heart was pounding, and the words came out before he could stop them. "Then let me fix it," he said, his voice low, but full of a determination he hadn't even realized he had. "Let me be the one to fix it. I'm not running away, damn it."

Izuku's breath hitched, and for a moment, they just stood there, inches apart, the weight of their unspoken emotions hanging heavily between them.

And for the first time in a long while, Katsuki wasn't sure if he was ready for what was coming next. But he knew one thing: he couldn't walk away, not now. Not when everything was finally coming to a head.

The silence between them stretched on, but in it, there was an unspoken understanding.

And neither of them knew where this would lead.

But they both knew that the tension between them was only just beginning.