What Just Happened

Death of Love

"Somethings wrong with Deku."

Katsuki's statement caught the attention of his two followers.

Hifumi, the grey-haired bully with a long finger quirk, looked up from his book, brow raised. "Bakugo? What are you talking about? There's always something wrong with that dude."

"Yeah, man. When you say something's wrong, you gotta be a lot more descriptive," remarked Teijo, the brown-haired bully with a teeth-sharpening quirk. He chuckled as he sat his phone down.

"Shut up!" shouted Katsuki, irritated. "He doesn't fight back anymore... he doesn't even seem to think twice about what I say to him anymore."

"Let me guess, it's pissing you off," teased Teijo, tilting his head at Katsuki.

"No, no. I see where Bakugo's coming from. I didn't think it was possible, but Midoriya seems more pitiful than usual now that I think about it," agreed Hifumi, jerking a thumb at Izuku who was staring out the window.

Izuku sat motionless in his seat, his hero analysis notebook was closed and untouched. His phone remained flipped screen-down. His right hand was gripping his pencil so hard it looked borderline painful. The three stared, watching Izuku blankly stare at the outside world with a frown. It was unnerving once they realized Izuku was not doing well.

Izuku's hand trembled and his pencil snapped in half. Izuku jumped, surprising himself. The three had been caught off guard as well. The Hifumi flinched, the quickness shocking him. Teijo felt his eyes widen, his mouth falling agape at the sight of Izuku looking shocked. Katsuki was surprised but focused more rather than caring too much about being shocked. None of them could believe Izuku was so zoned out he didn't realize he was death-gripping a pencil.

Izuku gripped the broken pencil tighter momentarily before setting it down firmly. Hands rising to his face, Izuku sighed. His frustration was easy to read as his head probably ran a million miles a minute. Izuku's hands slid across his face so his fingers could rake through the messy curls that made up his bangs. Slowly he lowered his head, hiding his face in his crossed arms.

The group looked at one another in mild concern. They just watched Izuku blank out, snap himself out of his trance by breaking a pencil, and deflate on the desk once he came back to his senses. Katsuki's frown deepened, left in the dark about what was messing with Izuku. He never did anything different than usual, yet Izuku looked like he was hit by a bus. The other two seemed just as lost, unable to admit they were concerned.

Izuku didn't budge until the bell rang. The trio watched as the day went on. Izuku went through his classes in a blank daze. It wasn't until the school day had ended that they decided to pull a risky stunt. They waited for the class to file out, anticipating Izuku would leave so they could follow him out. What they didn't expect was the door to open to reveal the class president.

"Izuku-," greeted the handsome teen, quickly stopping when he noticed three in the room.

Izuku frowned, turning to look at the guy. "Hello, President."

"Izu-," whispered the school's President, Koto Uchimura. His voice sounded pathetic as if he was pleading for some reason.

Izuku rose from his seat, tossing his bag over his shoulder. "I have nothing to say to you. Go to your girlfriend. I'm sure she'd love your company."

The three felt their eyes widen. Hifumi smiled, excited to see Izuku mock and sass their school's president. Teijo was surprised by how bitchy Izuku sounded, petty even. Katsuki frowned, not liking how Izuku was bringing up "company" and "girlfriend" as if he was close with the boy.

"Come on. Let me explain," begged Uchimura, looking at Izuku in panic.

Izuku elbowed his way past Uchimura, knocking him back. He stumbled back to catch his footing. His face was pale from distress and his cheeks burned up from embarrassment. Katsuki's two friends gasped, not bothering to quiet their volume. It was Katsuki's turn to smile, excited to see the uppity class president get disrespected by Izuku. This was entertaining.

Not bothering to acknowledge them, Uchimura rushed after Izuku. The three got up and followed, refusing to miss something as awesome as a feud between Izuku and their class president. They turned down the hall where they were and realized they lost them. Considering they were still on the top floor and they headed towards the opposite direction of the stairs they couldn't be anywhere other than the top floor.

Slowly they started searching classrooms, first listening and then peaking. They looked through every room until they reached the empty art room that was filled with easels that didn't have canvases on them. Bottles of paint, colored pencils, watercolors, and paintbrushes littered the stands.

When they peeked into the classroom, they saw Uchimura kneeling before Izuku. Izuku had his back pressed up against the wall, knees brought to his chest. His arms wrapped around his legs, using them as a shield to hide his face as he cried. The group instantly held their breath, watching with blooming worry.

"Common, let me see your face," whispered Uchimura, his voice sounding strangely demanding.

"You ruined everything," cried Izuku, his voice barely loud enough for the bullies to hear. "Koto you lied about-."

"How about we ignore that?" interrupted Uchimura, his words coming out aggressive.

The bullied all felt their heartbeats speed up, nervous by the first-name basis of the two. They didn't like how Uchimura cut off Izuku and the tone he used. It also prevented them from getting more information. They knew Uchimura did something. They knew Uchimura was the cause of Izuku's distress.

Izuku remained silent, refusing to appease Uchimura, and kept his face hidden.

"Izuku, talk to me," urged Uchimura, although it didn't exactly sound like he wanted Izuku to talk. He was the one who stopped Izuku from taking in the first place. Uchimura's "request" sounded more like a belittling comment, testing Izuku. It didn't take long for Uchimura to speak again.

"Everything got in the way and I didn't know how to tell you. You know you can't be replaced. I'm not going anywhere," sang Uchimura, his choice of words sounding more than manipulative to the three that were eavesdropping. In a way, it sounded like Uchimura was making Izuku seem like the one who was in the wrong for being upset.

The bullies all knew that no matter what the case may be, Izuku was not the one in the wrong. Uchimura was smart, he could easily manipulate and control anyone and anything. Not only was Uchimura popular, but he could use his popularity as a way to intimidate Izuku into complying with him.

Uchimura crawled closer, taking Izuku's hands and pulling them. It forced Izuku to lose his shield. He looked up, his eyes puffy and his lip trembling with tears wetting them.

Uchimura rested his forehead on Izuku's, whispering to him.  "She doesn't matter, it's just us. You know why I had to do this." Izuku scoffed in response, but Uchimura persisted, "You have to understand. You're the only one who sees me."

Izuku couldn't help but cried harder, tilting his head down to force Uchimura to back away. Uchimura backed away, his face still far too close to Izuku's.

"So when are you gonna tell her?" inquired Izuku, letting his eyes narrow at Uchimura. The coldness in his gaze matched his tone as he hissed, "When are you going to tell her that you're gay... that you're dating the quirkless kid? When are you going to tell her all your quirky ideas are secondhand?" asked Izuku, finally revealing what was happening.