Nonchalant (Discontinued)

Chapter 8

⚠️TW: Bullying. Please skip if you are uncomfortable with this topic. Thank you.⚠️

Bakugo shoved Izuku against the wall roughly. They were at the back of the school, where anyone rarely came across. Bakugo's two 'friends' weren't there with him, which surprised Izuku.

Bakugo must have noticed Izuku's confusion, to which he snickered. 

"Those two decided to back off for once and let me have the fun," he cracked his palms.

Izuku was both relieved and anxious. Relieved because less people meant just a little less pain, yet anxious because he would be left alone with Bakugo.

The blonde threw a punch to Izuku's side. He was sure it was going to leave a bruise. He knew Bakugo preferred to hit him in inconspicuous areas, as to not raise questions. But who would bother if the quirkless kid had a black eye or a busted lip?

Literally no one.

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Bakugo cracked his palms and burned the sleeve of Izuku's uniform, the bandages around his wrist in plain sight. He stared at the white cloth, unsure of what to make of it. He flicked his red eyes into Izuku's green ones in confusion and-Bakugo would not admit it- slight worry. 

He hurriedly unwrapped the gauze and peered at his classmate's wrist.

Izuku struggled, but he knew it was too late.

Etched into the pale skin was a multitude of thin lines, and Bakugo knew exactly what they were.

His shock gave Izuku a chance to knock the blonde's hand away and run. Bakugo stared at him before snapping out of his shock and chasing after him, a bandage in his hand.

The nerd was fast. Very fast.

Bakugo's head was fighting with himself. 

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe those lines weren't what he thought they were. Maybe the nerd had a habit of drawing on himself with pencils, or maybe he got affected by a quirk or something.

Anything else to prove himself wrong. It wasn't what he thought it was.

Damn it, the nerd was really fast.

"Get your ass over here and tell me what those were!" he yelled out, startling Izuku and making him run faster.

Then came the road that led to the neighborhood. There were dozens of places to hide and if Bakugo lost him, then Izuku would be able to escape.

But a thought crossed his mind. Where would Izuku escape to, once he evaded Bakugo?

Home.

There was no other place he would go at night. After all, where would could he go?

At that thought, Bakugo stopped running after Izuku had turned a corner. He knew that all he had to do was visit in the evening. He could tell his mom that he wanted to give Deku a gift. His mom would probably want to talk to Auntie Inko, and then he'd be able to confront him about those things on his arms.

What were they?

Bakugo grasped the cloth in his hand tightly and set for home. All the way, he thought about the lines on his wrists. 

Maybe a cat had scratched him? Deku had always loved animals, feeding the occasional hungry cat a piece of fish from lunch. Bakugo had seen him do so many times.

No, cat scratches looked different from those marks. 

What if it was an accident? Maybe he'd pulled out a knife to cut fruits and accidentally sliced himself on the wrist.

Who 'accidentally' cut themselves in a perfectly parallel way?

Maybe a villain attacked him? Used a knife or a quirk on him, and the result would be scars?

Bakugo didn't know anymore. He decided to settle on a villain for now.

Was he lying to himself? He didn't know.

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 Izuku huffed as he got air into his lungs. Peering around the corner, he checked if Bakugo was still following him, only to be greeted by thin air.

He'd almost had a heart attack when Bakugo started running after him.

No, no, no! Kacchan can't know about this, or else he'll-

Wait. What was Kacchan going to do?

Even if the blonde poked fun at him for being pathetic enough to cut or accuse him of being dramatic, what difference would it make from his regular torment?

Sure, more violence was a possibility,  but it still would be the same, wouldn't it?

Izuku took a shaky breath. He couldn't think of a reason to be scared of Bakugo finding out. He made his way home.

Bakugo had wasted perfectly good bandages, he had just put them on this morning. What a shame.

Izuku pulled out the first-aid kit from his drawer and opened it. He was running low on gauze, and he didn't have money to buy any. Maybe if he sold his All Might poster he could get some cash.

He shook his head, keeping that thought in the back of his head. He tried not to cut off more gauze than needed, and began winding the cloth around his wrists.

Izuku peered out of his bedroom window. It was still bright out, the clouds were nowhere to be seen. He rummaged through his drawers and came across a ¥500 coin. Enough to buy him more gauze, and the pharmacist wasn't too far away.

Izuku slipped the coin into his pocket and set out for the pharmacy.