Because of you {Tododeku/kiribaku}

Chapter 16

Midoriya stood quietly while Aizawa was explaining their newest objective: signature moves. Everyone seemed especially excited for this part of their training and deep down, he was too. But he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with self-doubt and worry.

The doctor had let him know that injuring his arms that severely even two more times would result in their permanent paralysis and he had nowhere near complete control of his quirk. With how prone to life-threatening situations he was, Izuku knew that he had to think of something completely new or risk losing his dream forever without the potential for another chance.

His eyes flickered over to Todoroki and then away, wishing that he could go over and hold his hand for support even though he knew that he couldn't. "How do Kacchan and Kirishima do this?" He wondered, realizing now how difficult it would be to keep his emotions in check around prying eyes.

As if a loud alert went off in his mind, he remembered that Bakugo and the redhead had been acting strangely directly following the rescue mission, though he hadn't given it much thought since then. Izuku looked over at Katsuki first, examining his confident and excited demeanor.

He almost chuckled, finding nothing out of the ordinary there. But once he looked over to Kirishima, his prior worry returned in full force. To just about anyone else, it would look like the redhead was just as pumped as the rest of their classmates, but Izuku could see the tenseness in his posture—the way he stood on the opposite side of their group away from the BakuSquad and Katsuki himself.

As they all headed in separate directions following the conclusion of Aizawa's bored explanation and instructions, he followed after the redhead. "Hey! Kirishima!" he called, jogging slightly to catch up with him.

"What's up Midoriya! Come for some manly advice on a cool new technique?" Eijiro replied, hiding his devastation from the night before behind a bright smile.

"I just wanted to thank you, you know... for being so supportive and encouraging us to go after Kacchan. I'm sure he was happy to be with you again." Izuku stated skillfully, noticing the forced light-hearted attitude. He'd used it himself many times before and knew when someone was bullshitting him with fake happiness.

Kirishima's smile faltered some, barely able to hold back how much he was hurting. "I... Uh... Well, you're welcome. I'm just happy he's back you know..."

Izuku frowned slightly, really not liking how the redhead was behaving. "You don't really seem all that happy."

Eijiro finally lost the battle against his emotions, tears welling into his eyes as he shifted from foot to foot. "I am happy he's back and safe" he insisted, his voice confident before it gradually started to shake. "It's just he decided to break up with me and I don't know bro... Kats—Bakugo and I kept our relationship secret so I guess we really aren't changing much but whenever I'm alone or I go to check my messages or I get bored... I have to remember that we aren't together anymore and it hurts."

Midoriya was expecting turbulence of some kind from the quick analysis of Kirishima's behavior, but he was not ready for that. His jaw dropped slightly, knowing just how worried the redhead had been about Katsuki only to have him throw that deep, scared love right back in his face. "He what? When? Why?"

"It's cool bro..." Eijiro responded, shaking his head with a wobbly smile even as tears threatened to slip from his eyes. He sniffed back his emotions, clearing his throat to signify the end of their conversation. "Anyway... I hope things are getting better with you and Todoroki; I'm rooting for you two!"

Izuku watched as the redhead turned with a deflated wave and headed off to train in a more isolated part of the large arena, feeling his own heart throb painfully. He knew what it felt like to be rejected by Todoroki and that had been awful, but he also had dealt with Bakugo rejecting him as well.