Izuku was grateful to Shoto for finding them a less dense area. He was able to quickly rule out garages and stations. He's definitely walking.. and well, if I don't spot him.. I'll definitely *hear* him.
With an eye roll, he set off to weave between merchants' booths. He couldn't have gotten far..
Thumbing a tender spot low on his neck, he wandered towards a park he didn't think was the one he was looking for, but he had run out of familiar trail.
He stared at his cel knowing Katsuki wouldn't answer, and let out a sigh in frustration. What would I even say? He had no idea how to feel about this development at all.
Looking through Katsuki's earlier messages.. they were too short to get anything else out of them either.
"Why are you here?"
Izuku jumped in his skin. He turned to find a bench mostly hidden by a gorgeous ginkgo. It was a nicer section of the park, and Izuku realized it was the one he had meant to find, just that he had come in from a different side.
Katsuki remained unmoved, waiting.
"I-I.."
"If you found me just to stutter then don't waste your breath. Go back to your mom."
"Kacchan." Izuku steeled himself to continue, "When.. when did you read..?"
"Oh, you're gonna love this, Deku." Katsuki spat out with dead amusement, "Today. Today I remembered, found, and read your stupid letter - but not all before agreeing to dinner."
Absorbing this, Izuku plowed through, "..I wrote that almost a year ago, Kacchan. Things then were different, I was different-"
Pfft, "America the great turned you into a real man now, huh? Guess those feelings were crap to begin with."
What does that even-? "..What do you want from me, Kacchan?"
"Me? Why should I want anything? I haven't thought about you for the better part of a year and in one day I happen to think of your name just one time too many times.. before *poof*, you're here." Katsuki delivered with an accompanying flourish of the hand.
Izuku, pretty wiped out from the day, plopped down opposite to him on the bench - scrubbing his face with open palms.
"What did you.. want from me?" Katsuki's tone changed, giving Izuku emotional whiplash.
Mid-scrub, Izuku kept his face in his hands and dropped his elbows to his thighs. He didn't dare search the red eyes he wanted so badly to read right now.
"I.. would have never told you had I stayed here, so I guess.. nothing. We would've been in each other's way. We needed to grow on our own, away from each other.. That's all I could've expected from you." Izuku lowered his hands, staring at them.
"...I'd be lying if I said I hadn't found a kind of peace after you left.." Katsuki admitted, no venom behind his words.
This shot through Izuku, but he accepted it as it furthered his point.
"But also.. I admitted for the first time since you left.. or since ever.. that I had missed you."
Izuku chanced a glance at Katsuki, surprised to find him sitting relaxed with a soft expression.
"Shoto picked me up from the airport. I told him I might be back for good, and he offered for me to crash at his place." Izuku felt the sudden need to fill in.
What he wasn't expecting was for Katsuki to stand up and cross over to a short fence, overlooking a small pond.
Not knowing whether to follow or not, Izuku wracked his brain for his old Kacchan how-to's to contain a blow-up.. but one thing was for certain now; In the stillness of the otherwise deserted park, this was a different Kacchan.
Katsuki seemed to be having a conversation with himself, or just as likely with the koi in the pond. He had a lot of questions but settled for, "Why would you come back?"
"Oh.. I'm not completely sure that I am.. I'd still need to go back to wrap up some things.. but I feel like I've gotten all I was going to get out of being there. I'm sure mom would like me back too, even if she was worried when I tol-"
"I don't want you to leave." Katsuki turned back to Izuku, who was biting down his lip to stop rambling.
Izuku had reclined, knees spread with his lower arms on his thighs, hands and feet resting palm to palm and sole to sole.
Katsuki noted his urge to consume him in this image, but held back to apologize. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. Part of me felt like I was expected to play this.. this character/old version of me, the Kat-Kacchan you wrote to.. while also trying to figure out how I feel."
How you feel?
Katsuki slowly resumed his spot on the bench, after a moment he asked, "When did you know you liked guys?"
"Huh? Um." Izuku's ears reddened as he admitted, "I'm not sure that I do.. like guys.. as in general. I just.. liked you."
It wasn't lost on Katsuki the use of past tense, but he asked before he could stop himself, "You.. haven't been with anyone then?"
Izuku would've noticed Katsuki's mix of vulnerability and excitement had his eyes not glazed over, "Like I said, I would still need to wrap some things up.." Izuku stated simply, without making eye contact.
The air felt heavier around them. Katsuki had more questions but he also felt the weight of having to meet Eijiro still.
Tch "To think I had asked that half and half bastard if he wanted to room with me by the lake. I'm tired of the city. I want to mountain climb, and.."
"What about Eijiro?" when seeing Katsuki's pause, Izuku expanded, "We ran into him and had lunch.. he invited us to join you guys later.." Izuku looked at his phone for the time, "Well, soon. I should let you get going.."
As Katsuki registered this, he gathered the string of thoughts he's had on the matter into one coherent one for the first time.
"It's just that.. after UA and after you left.. it's been mostly quiet around here. Outside of hero work, I've been sort of coasting.
Eijiro's taken full advantage to nag me all the time on how to be better.. *scoff* and I guess since nothing else is going on, I've let him.
He loves the city so I thought this would be an easy way to go our own way for a bit.."
*Ping*
***
