The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

22

Katsuki rests his head against the headrest in his car upon parking his vehicle outside of the hotel he's staying in here in Osaka. At the very least, he can be happy that he's no longer at the mercy of the Commission in Musutafu anymore, but after his visit to see Izuku the other day, he can't bring himself to be happy that he's here . A lot can happen within the span of a thirty-minute visit, such as his best friends telling him that Masashi wants them to move. It did come as a relief however that Izuku seems to be on board with moving into Ena's apartment with her. The problem with that situation lies therein the fact that Izuku never mentioned it. Did he know before I left town? I know I visit sporadically and never for long, but wouldn't he have thought to at least mention that it was happening? Maybe he has other things on his mind. Who am I kidding? Of course, he has other things on his mind. Akasuki said as much. Even that conversation is taking up a larger fraction of his mind than he would like for it to.

"He's got a lot on his mind. Something has him on edge almost constantly."

He spent the short drive from the ramen shop all the way to Izuku's house wondering what it could be until he caught sight of something that had the potential to be it. As he pulled into the driveway, a man stood on the other side of the street. Upon Katsuki yelling over to see what his problem was, the stranger simply turned on his heel and walked away. It made his stomach churn.

Not to mention the conversation with Izuku himself felt like a lot to take in. He can't close his eyes without seeing the anguish in Izuku's eyes or the tears on his cheeks. He can still hear the crack in his voice as he pleaded with Katsuki to give him some form of clarity.

"When you say 'friend' is that all you mean?"

Katsuki had been dreaming of all the ways to tell Izuku that he liked him as more than a friend. He never, once, imagined it being like that. Then again, he never thought the day would come when he'd have a chance to say it in the first place. In a perfect world, it would've gone differently than it did only a few hours ago. In a perfect world, Masashi would have never been

an obstacle and he would've said something to him while they were both at the ramen shop, or maybe even the dandelion field. Perhaps he would've taken his hand and pulled him close. He would've kissed him and laid all of it out, plain as day, for Izuku to see. They could've been happy together, but instead, Izuku is hurt and confused. And, though he should be happy that Izuku is showing interest in him, he can't help but be infuriated with the fact that his heart is hurting because all of it feels so unclear to him.

And as much as he wants nothing more than to go home and help Izuku sort the mess in his heart and mind, he has other things to make a priority for the time being. He groans and makes his way out of the vehicle and up to his room to sit at the poor excuse for a workspace that his room has been given. He pulls a thumb drive from his pocket and lays it on the desk with a sigh before making his way to the bathroom to clean up. He's in no rush to look through the thumb drive, as most of it is stuff that his friends and himself have already gone over together. Other than that, it's just a few extra files with official reports that the commission has compiled for him to look over before setting out on his own set of tasks.

The hot water helps to soothe his tense muscles as it cascades over him. Even most of the frustration seems to dissipate, save for the lingering frustration that he should've paid more attention to his actual job so that he wouldn't be here now. The thought of having to spend more time away is agitating as it is, but with everything going on it makes him wish he could crawl out of his own skin and disappear. This is miserable.

He reaches down and shuts the water off, reaching for a towel and wrapping it around his waist. He makes quick work of putting on some clean clothes before sitting at the desk and plugging the thumb drive into his laptop. At least if I look over all of this tonight, I won't have to deal with it tomorrow. I can get started and hopefully get enough done to be sent home quicker. He scoffs, Yeah, right.