Papa Meets Old Crush

Izuku's sleepless night

On that night, Izuku couldn't sleep.

He knew he should have taken the medication for sleepiness, especially after experiencing a weird feeling that persisted throughout the day, causing him to anticipate a bit of insomnia. However, he had put it off due to the aftereffects of drowsiness from the pill, and now he had to face the consequences of that silly decision.

In the middle of the night, after struggling to sleep in bed for hours, Izuku finally gave up and crept out of his room. The clock on the wall pointed to around 2 am. He settled onto the couch in the living room, holding a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. It was an alternative for his sake since he quit any alcohol to live with the little girl.

As he slowly sipped the hot chocolate, his restless feeling, which had been keeping him from sleep, started swelling in his chest again. The memories of his recent encounter with him came back to Izuku.

─ Baku, you brought her here. You're such a family man, huh?
─ Mama told you not to use bad words, didn't she?
─ Your eyes... They look really red, Izuku.

'I'm such an idiot,' he sighed deeply, leaning back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling, feeling exhausted. 'Why did I get so flustered in front of all of them? I must have looked really, really stupid...'

He blamed himself repeatedly, collapsing on his side on the couch and staring at the dim red light of the set-top box under the TV a few feet away from him. The light reminded him of his missing friend's gaze.
'Kacchan.' he mouthed soundlessly, lost in memories that soon drowned him back into the brilliant yet painful days.

───

It was their high school days. Katsuki had been kidnapped by the League of Villains when they were in 1st grade. Izuku tried to rescue him with some classmates, and All Might was there too. Izuku managed to defeat A.F.O, but as a consequence, he lost his powers completely, forever. It was the end of the symbol of peace.

Since then, Katsuki had gradually broken down in his mind, secretly believing that it was his fault and that he was responsible for All Might's downfall. Izuku learned about it one night when Katsuki called him out and forced him to fight. Katsuki screamed in front of him.

「If I'd been stronger, and if I hadn't been kidnapped by villains, then that wouldn't have happened. Even if I try not to think about it, it just comes to mind unexpectedly! I don't know what to do!」

He poured out his emotions into Izuku like that, only him, until All Might came and stopped them.

To be honest, Izuku was pleased at it, knowing he was the only one who could accept Kacchan's feeling right then. Yet, it also broke his heart to see how Katsuki had carried the guilt for so long. This day marked a turning point in their relationship.

During the three days of house arrest that followed, Katsuki was kinder and softer to Izuku, as they cleaned the dormitory together and talked. Izuku felt a glimmer of happiness, thinking they could be as close as they were in their younger days. Despite their past issues, Katsuki remained an amazing person much closer to him than All Might in the first place.

But things changed afterward. Katsuki started pushing Izuku away again, though he had changed somewhat, becoming more cooperative and sociable with others. (Izuku couldn't still believe Katsuki played the drum for their class in U.A. School Festival)

He just ignored only Izuku, acting as if they were strangers, like he'd done in their last year of middle school. However, this time, the distance between them was more pronounced, and Katsuki even avoided looking him in the eye.