Silhouette

Ch. 2

Izuku had half the mind to smack the blond, but knew he would be in a load of trouble if anyone found out Pro Hero Deku had smacked an innocent civilian. Even if he really wanted to.

"Missed me that much, huh?" Katsuki asked with a smirk that looked just a little too forced to Izuku.

Out of pure spite, Izuku crossed his arms and scowled at the taller man. "Not in the slightest, actually."

That was a lie. It was a complete and utter lie, and something told him Katsuki knew it too.

"So, do I get the pleasure of knowing what's going on, or do I have to guess?" Eijirou spoke up, looking between the pro hero and his friend.

Katsuki looked away from Izuku, but also avoided looking at the redhead. "We used to know each other." He said in a simple and casual tone.

It made Izuku bristle.

"We used to know each other? We were best friends. At least until you up and left me in the middle of our first year of high school." Izuku's voice wavered slightly as he spoke, but he tried to cover it up.

Eijirou coughed slightly, showing signs of amusement as he spoke. "Damn, bro, that's harsh." Katsuki just rolled his eyes at him.

Izuku took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair and squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Talking about high school brought back anything but good memories for him. "Whatever, I have to get home." He said in a quiet voice, backing away from the two and walking the way he came.

He stopped when Katsuki called out to him.

"I'm... sorry... about leaving like that." The blond said in a strained voice. Apologizing clearly hadn't gotten any easier since the last time Izuku had seen him.

"So am I," Izuku said in a whisper before continuing to walk away. He had said it so quietly he doubted Katsuki had even heard him.

But he had.

Once the pro hero was out of sight, Eijirou shoved Katsuki's shoulder. "What the hell was that about? You never told me you were besties with Deku before." He whisper-yelled, unsure if the green-haired man could still hear them.

The scowl Eijirou had grown so used to appeared on the blond's face quickly. "It doesn't matter anymore."

He had started walking away quickly, and Eijirou had to jog to catch up, continuing to prod. "Like hell, it doesn't. He's the number one pro hero, why did you never mention you knew him?"

Katsuki finally snapped, turning on the other man and trying to keep his quirk under control, and his voice rose. "Because it doesn't fucking matter now, so drop it!"

Knowing he'd crossed a line, Eijirou was silent the rest of the walk back to the bar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Izuku was back at the agency building bright and early. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, or any for that matter, but that's not something he wasn't used to by now. Besides, seeing his childhood best friend after so many years really messed with his head.

"Don't make me send you home again," Iida said with a tired sigh as soon as he caught sight of Izuku. The man looked dead on his feet, and he expected Iida to let him work?

Forcing a smile and running a hand through his hair, Izuku spoke up, "You don't have to, I promise I'm fine."

"You're not, and anyone with even a little bit of sense can see it."

Izuku dropped his facade, suddenly realizing just how tired he actually was. "Yeah, I guess you're not wrong about that." He mumbled.

Iida's forehead creased with worry as he looked down on one of his closest friends. "You usually don't give in that easily. What's wrong?"

Before responding, Izuku pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes, trying to push the exhaustion away long enough to confide in his friend. "I, uh, I kinda saw Kacchan last night."

Iida was only confused for a second before he realized who the shorter man was talking about. "Bakugou? You saw Bakugou? Where? Did you talk to him?"

His reaction was to be expected. Iida had actually known Katsuki at one point in time, all of Izuku's class did, seeing as Katsuki was part of it for a while. He randomly dropped out right before he was supposed to receive his provisional license and no one in class 1-A heard from him again. Izuku had even gone to his house and talked with his mother, but Mitsuki wouldn't let him see Katsuki.

"I saw him in a park a few blocks away. We talked, but nothing really came from the conversation. He was with someone else and introduced me as some guy he used to know." Izuku explained, wrapping his arms around himself tightly while looking anywhere but at Iida.

Of course Iida knew how much that must have stung, Katsuki and Izuku were practically attached at the hip in school and the latter was absolutely devastated when Katsuki just up and left one day, refusing to see or talk to him anymore.

Iida placed a gentle hand on Izuku's shoulder, ignoring the small flinch. "Well, it's to be expected. You know how Bakugou is, he's not good with emotions and such-"

"He apologized," Izuku said, stopping Iida in his tracks. "Sincerely, too. It wasn't sarcastic or half-assed. It was the most sincere apology I've ever received from him."

The blue-haired male wasn't even sure how to respond to that. Katsuki had purposefully hidden how much Izuku had used to mean to him, but then openly apologized for up and leaving? The blond hadn't made any sense to him back in high school, but Iida was even more confused now.

"Hey! What's up with you two?" A high pitched voice asked, the owner walking up to the two men. Uraraka was smiling cheerfully and clearly hadn't picked up on the tone of her friend's previous conversation.

Not knowing how much Izuku wanted to share with the brunette, Iida quickly covered. "Izuku's clearly not taking proper care of himself and thinks I'm still going to allow him to work today." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking over to his friends.

Uraraka's smile slipped, and a concerned frown took its place. "Deku, how many times do we have to have this conversation? You can't help anyone if you can't even take care of yourself. Go home, eat something, and then try to get some sleep. Please?"

He let out a tired sigh, not even trying to argue with her. Uraraka was always harder to convince than Iida, and Izuku just didn't have the energy for it. "Okay, but you two have to promise to call me if you need any help, okay? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something went wrong while I was just sitting at home-"

Uraraka grabbed both sides of his face before he could let his mind wander too far. "Hey, nothing's going to happen on the one day you're off. And if, for some random reason, it does, we'll call you. Please go get some rest."

Izuku let his frown show his clear displeasure with the idea but offered a nod and didn't say anything else. He waved a small goodbye and then headed back home.

He was taking a shortcut home through a back alley, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head down. He was too tired to deal with fans, so he was trying to stay as hidden as possible, which is how he ended up running right into someone and falling back, not even having the energy to catch himself.

"Whoa, are you okay, dude?"