Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 22 - Why did you forget about me?

POV Katsuki

The principal had been delighted with his visit. Apparently the rat already knew Izuku, or rather the person Zero. Katsuki wondered what had become of his former childhood friend. What had happened to him after he had disappeared?

Why did he have memory problems? Had Deku really forgotten him completely? He had called him Kacchan. That meant the nerd couldn't have forgotten him completely, right? He hadn't realized how much he had missed that silly nickname until today. Izuku was the only one who had held on to that name after kindergarten, no matter how horribly Katsuki had behaved towards him.

The question remained, though, what else Deku could remember. Katsuki had been an asshole to him. It had felt wrong even back then, but the little boy with the too big ego he had been back then had let himself be carried away by the others. Everyone had seen him as the leader. In the end, Katsuki had been nothing more than a follower, doing what the others had expected of him. As a result, he had lost his only real friend. He hadn't been interested in the other children back then. Nevertheless, their opinions had been important to him.

After Izuku's disappearance, he had become a loner. None of the extras at primary and later middle school had understood what was going on inside him and how much the uncertainty about Izuku's whereabouts weighed on him. Only at UA had he let his classmates get close to him again - but the bunch of idiots had been really persistent.

Katsuki found himself in front of the oversized door to his classroom. He didn't feel like dealing with his nosy classmates. All he wanted to do right now was talk to Izuku. Quietly this time. However, he had no choice but to wait for Aizawa to give him the green light.Grumbling, he opened the classroom door. All eyes immediately turned to him. Katsuki was bombarded with questions.

"Are you okay, Kat?"

"What was that all about, Bakugou?"

"Who's the new guy?"

"How do you know each other?"

Katsuki ignored his classmates and walked silently to his seat. There he sat down and stared at the blank page of his notebook, which he had already laid out for the coming lesson. Apart from Izuku or Aizawa, he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"Kat?"

"Bro?"

He heard the concern in his friends' voices, but he couldn't talk to them right now. So he just let out an indeterminate hum.

A chair scraped across the floor. Their class president had stood up and was waving his arms around stupidly. "I understand that you're all curious, but please talk to each other during the next break. Now we should use the time to study. After all, we don't want to disappoint Aizawa-sensei."

For the moment, the others left him alone. Katsuki continued to stare stubbornly at his blank page or out of the window. All the while, he hoped that their teacher would come back with Deku.

The bell rang. The lesson was officially over without Aizawa reappearing. To continue avoiding his nosy friends, Katsuki put headphones in his ears and turned up the music. He buried his head between his arms, which he rested on the tabletop.

Neither Izuku nor Aizawa came back during the morning.

Finally, it was time for lunch. Katsuki jumped up and hurried out of the classroom. Maybe Deku would be in the cafeteria. The corridors were still almost empty and Katsuki reached his destination. So far, there were only a few students in the large dining hall - none of them had green curls or wings.

Disappointed, the blond joined the queue. As soon as he had his food, Katsuki went to a table where he had a view of all the entrances to the hall. If Deku or Aizawa came to eat, he would see them.