Blame it on me

Changes 5

The silence was nerve-racking. Izuku had a hard time thinking of a starter, even though he had so much to say and even more to ask. Kacchan went out of his way to evade having to look at him ever since he barked out his orders considering their roles in cleaning. Kacchan changed from that suspicious Red Riot hoodie before coming back to the common area to start cleaning, implying they weren't going to talk about that either. They were vacuuming the common area in silence for about twenty minutes before Izuku found something to talk about.

"So, um, my shoot style... what did you think of it?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder. Kacchan stayed silent for long enough to make Izuku give up on getting a reply at all.

"Your movements are too obvious." Kacchan croaked without turning toward him. "Even when you got faster I was able to dodge them. You're not gonna win any fight that way."

Was that... advice?

"Gotcha." Izuku gulped.

"And when you added punches, you really pissed me off." Kacchan added.

"R-Right..." Izuku responded, and they stayed quiet for another while until Izuku gathered his courage to proceed. "Kacchan... thank y—"

"Shut up. Don't fucking thank me anything, you dweeb." Kacchan cut him off and suddenly Izuku was reminded of the fact he learned yesterday. Kacchan was feeling guilty. It was nevertheless a phenomenon.

"I still appreciate it." Izuku mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. "Since you know about my secret... I've been meaning to ask, uh,"

"Don't fucking ask." Kacchan warned.

Izuku swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. On any other day, he wouldn't have brought it up out of underlying spite, but after what he overheard last night, Izuku couldn't allow himself to stay silent about it. With the number of black spots he couldn't shine a light on for the life of him, Izuku was determined to talk with Kacchan.

"I'm sorry." He started with an apology, knowing Kacchan wouldn't ever return it. "For not helping when we were kids—"

He was grabbed by his shirt and Kacchan yanked him closer. His eyes were flaming daggers piercing through his heart.

"I didn't need your fucking help," Kacchan growled through gritted teeth. "I was fine on my own."

"We both know you weren't!" Izuku found the strength to fight back. If they weren't going to talk about this now, they probably never will. "My mom told me what happened—"

Kacchan pushed him backward and Izuku lost his balance, falling to the floor.

"The fuck does she know anyway? You think you can blackmail me into keeping your fucking secrets? Huh?" Kacchan yelled with fury burning through his aura. "You think I give a fuck if you tell everyone? I've been waiting for you to go back on me like this, you little—"

"I'm not going to tell anyone! Listen to me for a second, please." Izuku cut him off, and the tension froze upon the blond's features. "We never talked about... when we met again after you disappeared in middle school."