"Dek- Izu." Katsuki waved his hand without rush as he took large strides towards him. Izuku gave him a small smile, pushing the brief encounter with Hanta to the back of his mind–for now at least. Katsuki opened his mouth to speak as he adjusted the strap of his backpack, in the process his eyes drifted behind Izuku.
Biting the inside of his cheek Katsuki casually eyed Hanta scurrying away to his friend group with a disturbingly avoidant expression on his face. Izuku couldn't help but let his eyes roam over him, taking in every detail, the subtle twitches of his face. Or the way his fingers quietly fidgeted with the palm of his hands, self soothing the most dangerous parts of himself.
"Friends?" Izuku muttered quietly, unable to ignore the blonde's gaze fixed on the guy. Katsuki's eyes snapped back his expression shifted, his lips pursed and his eyebrows raised. Katsuki realized that Izuku had caught onto his not so subtle behavior.
"What?" He hummed his eyes darting across the green's eyes, he paid a special attention to the faint freckles.
"Hanta. Friend of yours?" Izuku repeated.
"Oh you know him?" Katsuki said leaning against the wall, letting his interest–or concern show. Izuku shrugged slightly.
"An airhead that hangs around during lunch." He explained, Izuku's eyebrows shot up slowly a nod of understanding. "Airhead?" Izukzu repeated with a slight purse of his lips, amusement in his eyes.
"Yeah." Katsuki confirmed, he kept his eyes on him. Izuku squinted his eyes, "alright then." Izuku said. Katsuki tilted his head slightly. "You done with classes today?"
Izuku nodded. "Just finished my last one." He paused. "You?" Katsuki sifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Yeah. Had Advanced Combat." Katsuki's lip curled slightly. "Boring as hell."
They fell into step together, their footsteps echoing softly down the dorm hallway. Izuku glanced over at him, still wondering about Hanta's reaction earlier, but the quietness between the two felt too calm to ruin just yet. He kept it tucked in the back of his mind.
"Wanna hang out in the common room for a bit?" Katsuki spoke up, keeping his vision ahead.
Izuku blinked. "You? Asking to hang out?"
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Don't make it weird."
Still, Izuku smiled. "Alright. Just for a bit, I think I got like... a shit ton of homework." He greenette complained a bit.
"Shit? On the first day?" Katsuki glanced over with furrowed eyebrows, Izuku just shrugged.
_
They both sat on opposite ends of the couch, the TV playing quietly in the background. Katsuki has his arms crossed, gaze flicking between the screen and Izuku every few seconds.
Izuku's trying to focus, but the silence starts gnawing at him again. "Hey... earlier," he finally said, "why'd that Hanta dude look so freaked out by you?"
Katsuki didn't respond at first, turning his gaze away—pretending to concentrate on the tv. He shifted in his seat, letting out a soft sigh.
"He doesn't like me."
"He doesn't like you?" Izuku asked skeptically, already forming a obvious reason as to why.
Katsuki let out a slow breath. "Yeah." He said making eye contact with Izuku, he looked back with a look. He knew why, no explanation needed, really.
The room felt heavier now, even with the bright hum of the TV. "You know... you could go easy on the names." Izuku teased lightly, hoping to lighten the awkward topic of the conversation.
Katsuki let out a soft chuckle, but inside his head were a million thoughts, preventing him from letting his brain think before he spoke. "Do you care...what they say?" Katsuki spat out, voice soft—his gaze avoidant.
Izuku blinked caught off guard, the question unexpected. "No?" He replied without second thought, but he paused to think. "Should I?" He said curious as to why.
The words hung in the air like a held breath.
Katsuki stared at him. His heart thudded—not in panic, not in fear, but something else. Something quieter. Something he hadn't let himself feel in a long time.
He didn't know what to say. So instead, he shrugged, eyes back on the screen. Hoping that his feigned indifference would make the whole thing go away.
"...You're not the same as you were back then."
Katsuki sat frozen, like the words caught him off guard.
"I know," he said. Not defensive. Just quiet.
They sat there again in silence, this time less awkward, more... settled. Like they'd said enough for now.
Izuku turned back to the screen and spoke without thinking, voice soft but certain. "I don't care what they think." He reassured the blond once more.
Katsuki didn't say anything, he just nodded slightly.
The show kept playing. Neither of them really watched it.
YOU ARE READING
Virtus
Fanfiction- A sequel to 'Soul Snatcher' - An incident bringing Izuku back from the dead proves to be a complicated situation in his life. However that won't stop him from continuing his dream of heroism along with his childhood friend by his side. By miracle...
