Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 28 - Tingling in the stomach and communication problems

POV Katsuki

He walked down the dorm stairs and headed straight for the exit - no time for distractions. Katsuki was one of the first to be ready for the upcoming school day. Most of his classmates were still sitting in the communal kitchen eating breakfast. Some of them were even still wearing their pyjamas. Kiri and Mina waved to him briefly. His friends knew better and didn't even try to persuade him to wait for them.

Katsuki put on his shoes and went outside. The air was cold and made his cheeks tingle. He buried his face in his scarf and his hands in his jacket pockets. The cold wasn't something he liked and probably never would be. At least it woke him up a little.

He felt the exhaustion in his muscles. It was the second night in a row that Katsuki had slept too little. Nevertheless, his bad mood was limited. After all, it was proof that he hadn't imagined last night. Izuku was not only back, but had been sitting on the roof with him.

They had been so close. Unconsciously, his former childhood friend had slipped closer and closer to him as soon as Katsuki had created the sparks for Izuku. All he had to do was lean forward to kiss the greenette. Stop! Katsuki had to interrupt his thoughts very quickly before he fell too far down this rabbit hole. In any case, the previous conversation had gone quite well. They had confided in each other about things that hardly anyone on Katsuki's side knew anything about.

It had almost been like before. Before he had become one of Izuku's bullies, he had often used his quirk to take the nerd's mind off things and comfort him. After Izuku's disappearance, it had become a tried and tested method for Katsuki to calm himself down and regain control of his emotions when they ran wild again.

This early in the morning, the school grounds looked deserted. He only came across a few teachers and even fewer students who, like him, were already on their way to the main building.

Katsuki reached the door to his classroom undisturbed. In his eagerness, the handle slipped out of his hand and the door hit the wall as he opened it. The unintentional bang made him flinch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something green, but when he looked towards Izuku's seat, there was no sign of him.

Had Katsuki just imagined seeing him? He looked around the classroom and, contrary to his hopes, couldn't see the nerd. He sighed in disappointment. Since Izuku lived with Aizawa and Present Mic, Katsuki had assumed that he might come to school earlier than most.

He shuffled to his seat and plopped down in it. Maybe Izuku would come earlier than the rest after all and Katsuki would get a few minutes alone with him before the others came and started to annoy him - especially Shinsou.

Rest or study? Katsuki couldn't decide how to use the time and, above all, the peace and quiet. He decided to stretch his arms out on the table and rest his head on it.

Yesterday went through his mind and he stopped. But of course! He had forgotten all about that. Katsuki straightened up and looked at Izuku's seat again. There was a brand new book bag under the table and an open notebook lying on the tabletop.

"Izuku? Are you here?" He felt a little strange talking to a seemingly empty room. On the other hand, there was a good chance that the nerd was here. After all, he could make himself invisible now. Izuku was no longer quirkless - a fact that Katsuki still had to get used to. But he didn't really care about his quirk status anymore. The most important thing was that Izuku was back.

"Sorry if the slamming door startled you. I didn't mean to, it slipped out of my hand." Katsuki waited another moment, but nothing happened. He sighed. "Okay, that either means you don't want to be seen by me or you're not here at all and I'm talking to myself like a stupid loser. Both suck."