Something Different

16: Kacchan

"Do you hate me, Kacchan?"

That was… a great way to start off a conversation. He was buying time, and both sides knew it. If the round were to end at that moment, that would be preferable. But they had a few minutes of the Cavalry Battle left, and Izuku knew what Kacchan was capable of doing during that time.

"Hate you? I fucking despise you, Deku," Kacchan scowled, but there was a forlorn look in his eyes. It looked like… regret, sorrow… Did those feelings have to do with their conversation the other day?

"Why…? Do you still think that I lied to you? I already told you that–"

"Shut up, I don't wanna hear it again!" Kacchan snapped, startling Izuku into silence. He could almost hear the slight tremble in Kacchan's voice and see the glimmer in his eyes. "I don't… that wasn't… my fault. You're the one that made that shitty decision, right?! It wasn't my fucking fault!"

"Yeah…" Izuku furrowed his brow. Kacchan was… blaming himself, wasn't he? Well, at least, he was in denial. The dark circles under his childhood friend's eyes proved that he had stayed up at night, thinking about what Izuku had said. "It was my fault. I made the decision, and almost suffered the consequences. But you were right, in the end, weren't you? Your advice worked, so you shouldn't feel regretful at all…"

"I'm not regretful about shit, you damn Deku!"

Luckily, the audience couldn't hear their interaction from the stands since they were too far away. But anyone else who was able to listen in still wouldn't understand anything. It was a personal feud, after all. As Izuku had assumed, this was about their other exchange—the one they had after the Battle Training. Kacchan's team glanced at each other, then at him, sharing expressions of concern.

"Then, why? Why do you hate me so much?" Izuku bit his lips anxiously. He had never understood Kacchan's reasoning, even to that day. No matter how much he thought about it, Kacchan gained no merit from subjecting Izuku to constant abuse.

"You… You're better. You've always been better. Even without a Quirk, you're so fucking heroic that it sickens me. You're a much better hero than me, and…" Kacchan lowered his head, "I… got jealous."

"There's no way…" so, this entire time, he was just… jealous? There had to be some other reason, right? There was no way that Izuku became a villain because his childhood friend was jealous. "You can't be serious."

In spite of himself, Izuku breathed out a huff of laughter and ran a his fingers through his slightly tangled hair. "You got jealous? That's what this is about? All those years… you did those things because of jealousy?"

Years of getting beaten up before, during and after school. An endless torture of burns on his skin, seeping to his flesh and imprinting scars. Every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he would grimace at the sight of his disemboweled skin. The countless nights of crying himself to sleep, self-deprecating thoughts invading his mind. "When is this going to end? Will Kacchan ever be my friend again? Am I really that useless? Why did all of this have to happen to me?"

Everything happened… because Kacchan was jealous?

"The Cavalry Battle ends in two minutes!"

"Midoriya, I'd hate to ruin the moment, but…" Tokoyami glanced around them, meeting the eyes of many riders as every group surrounded their own. Oh—they must have realised that their headbands were missing, and noticed the abundance that Izuku possessed. It didn't compare to Todoroki, but it was damn near Kacchan's.

Kacchan…

One For All buzzed under his skin at 15%—it was too bad that Izuku couldn't use his full potential. If he could, the entire arena would probably be wiped out in the next second. He rolled his shoulders and focussed on what the 5th User had taught him. Control your heart.

In the next moment, dark tendrils extended from his back and stabbed into the ground. Stretching, they lifted Izuku's team off the ground and suspended them in mid-air. He couldn't rely on Uraraka's Quirk too much, because she had a limit that, if reached, would hinder the team's mobility. He held onto his teammates with Blackwhip, as well—it wasn't as though he could abandon them.

"Two minutes," Izuku breathed, sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He had never practised much with Blackwhip—he had only unlocked it about three days ago, after all. The fact that he had such a decent hold on it already was impressive, even to Izuku. Well, according to Daigoro, all he had to do was control his thoughts and whatnot.

All Izuku had to do was cancel his emotions and everything would be alright. Well, if someone had a flight Quirk, that would be a problem. Oh, wait—

Familiar explosions echoed from below, and Izuku's face contorted into horror. Kacchan…! With all the others teams surrounding him, he had completely forgotten about the most prominent threat! And… oh.

Izuku felt a chill travel up his spine, but was able to move away in the nick of time to avoid the wave of ice that barelled past him. One minute. Just one more minute, and everything would be over. Well, there still was the final event, but at least Izuku would be able to rest for a while.

Suddenly, there was a needle through his brain. Izuku whirled around just in time to catch Iida's wrist, his hand an inch away from touching the headbands around his neck. In a burst of instinct, Izuku crushed his wrist within his grip. The sound of Iida's carpal bones breaking made Izuku flinch away and create distance between the two groups.

Iida clucthed his swelling wrist with a wince, his teammates worriedly checking on him. That was close… Any longer and Izuku would have snapped his arm in two. He hoped that the camera didn't capture that one up close.

A spike jabbed his brain, and Izuku turned around once again to see the palm of his childhood friend. It reminded him of the time they were in middle school, when Kacchan would reached out, grab his arm, and set off an explosion. His memories then muddled to his first encounter with Kacchan as a villain, the way rage overtook his features and he attacked Izuku. He wasn't able to fight back, only try to block until Touya came to his rescue.

The glowing palm grew closer as each second passed, until…

"Times up!"

It stopped.

Kacchan fell onto the ground with a resounding thud. "Bakugou! Are y–" When Kirishima tried to approach him, his head suddenly snapped up and he started to yell profanities. Kirishima backed away with an awkward chuckle.

"Midoriya?" Even after his team had brought him to ground level, Izuku remained unmoving. Concerned, Uraraka placed a hand on his shoulder and slightly leaned over it. "Are you…"

Absentmindedly, Izuku brought a hand up to his chest. His heart's rapid beating was the only indication that he was alive, at the moment. Following a stiff nod, Izuku made his way toward the bathroom. Midnight had ended the round, so it should be fine, right…?

Izuku didn't even bother to check whether his team had made it into the final event.

Once he reached the bathroom, Izuku cupped his hands under the running sink water. The cold washed over his face as he splashed it with the water, barely succeeding in bringing him out from his stupor. Izuku pressed his palms onto the sides of the sink, leaning against it.

"Scary…" Izuku muttered, laughing drily after. "That was so… scary."

-

Thank you for reading! Remember to vote for the chapter if you enjoyed it! <3