A/N: Hi, everyone! First off, thank you all for the overwhelming positive reviews and comments, and if you didn't review or comment, then I thank you for reading! It means a lot to me to know that there are lots of other Katsuyu shippers who believe in this ship as much as I do (or that I've at least interested people enough to read the fanfic and consider/understand the Katsuyu dynamic).

This chapter took longer to get out than I had intended because when I first envisioned this fanfic, I was going to have it go down a route that involved a lot more drama, but instead, it took a completely different route while writing, probably because I kept unconsciously thinking about the angst and hurt/comfort. I liked this new route it took, though, and I'll be sticking with it from now on! But, it meant I had to go back and adjust a lot of things and triple-check that everything was perfect before posting, so there wouldn't be any new plot holes due to the changes. (And boy, that took a while to fix.)

Also, small heads-up in case none of you knew already: Katsuyu Week 2018 is starting this Saturday, August 25 to Friday, August 31! Look up details about it on its Tumblr, which is called katsuyuweek, to see all the prompts for Katsuyu Week 2018.

With all that said, enjoy!

Change of Heart

Chapter 2: A Surprising Revelation

The next day, even though it was Sunday, Katsuki woke up early out of habit. When he looked at his phone's clock, he saw that it was 8:00 A.M., which made him scowl. Then again, he had fallen asleep shortly after that conversation with Tsuyu last night because he was exhausted. He debated on going back to bed, but when his stomach growled, he groaned in defeat and went through his typical morning routine of getting up and dressed, brushing his teeth, and preparing breakfast.

When he went to his fridge and opened it to see what he had, however, he realized it was practically empty. No meat, vegetables, or even leftovers he had made from the past week.

Katsuki resisted the urge to groan. It was 8:30 A.M… He did not want to go grocery shopping before eating at least something. Katsuki bent down and opened the drawer in the fridge, hoping that there were some eggs left for him.

Unfortunately, there was nothing inside the drawer, which made him groan.

"Fucking shit," Katsuki growled before he closed the drawer, stood back up, and slammed the fridge shut.

Without another word, he got dressed into a casual white t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts and grabbed two large grocery tote bags, his keys, wallet, coupons, and cell phone from his room. Once he put on his sneakers, his stomach growled, and he glared at the door.

If only he had the luxury to eat out…

Katsuki sighed, ignoring his growling stomach, and left his apartment room. Just as soon as he closed the door, he was surprised to see that Tsuyu was outside of her apartment room as well.

"Good morning," Tsuyu greeted after she locked her door.

Katsuki nodded before he locked the door to his room. He was going to open his mouth to say something else, like maybe ask her why the hell she was up so early on a Sunday morning, but when he turned his head, she was already walking toward the elevators.

Katsuki frowned and went to the elevators as well. Just as soon as he was right behind Tsuyu, the elevator doors opened, and they both entered.

Words weren't exchanged between the two as they stood on different sides of the elevator. The elevator ride was quiet, which Katsuki didn't mind—at least, until his stomach growled again.

Katsuki resisted the urge to flinch and hoped to God that Tsuyu didn't hear. When he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, however, she didn't even look in his direction. He felt his posture relax when he realized that maybe she hadn't noticed, after all.

When the doors finally opened, Tsuyu was the first to step out, and Katsuki followed.

The two didn't exchange any sort of looks, glances, or words, even after they both left the apartment building and went in the opposite direction.

Honestly, if their mornings were going to be spent like this, then Katsuki didn't mind having her as his neighbor.

Grocery shopping took Katsuki longer than he originally thought. Then again, he hadn't gone shopping for food in a while since he had been so preoccupied with one thing after another.

He bought enough food that should last him for a while. He had debated on buying cup ramen, just as emergency food in case he suddenly ran out of food again, but since he didn't have a car, the commute would've been a lot more difficult for him to carry two large grocery tote bags and boxes of cup ramen, so he decided not to buy it. Instead, he made a mental note to himself to go back next week to buy those boxes.

After what seemed like a long commute, he arrived at his apartment room. Just as he dug into his pockets for his keys, he heard someone call his last name from down the hall, and he instinctively turned his head.

Walking towards him was none other than Tsuyu Asui.

"Good morning again," Tsuyu greeted when she stood before him.

Katsuki grunted in response. Within seconds, though, his stomach growled, and he hoped that Tsuyu didn't hear. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch…

"You still haven't eaten?" Tsuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Breakfast, of course. It's already past 11. I thought you would've eaten something by now."

Katsuki inwardly cursed, realizing that she did hear his stomach growl this morning in the elevator. Well, at least she didn't make a comment about it at the time… Finally, Katsuki let out a small sigh. "I haven't eaten anything."

"At all?"

Katsuki grunted in response.

Tsuyu looked taken aback before she fell silent.

There was a long pause, and Katsuki contemplated on ending the conversation, so he could enter his apartment and eat already.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer, then," Tsuyu suddenly said as she walked away from him.

Katsuki's eyes were on her as she went to her apartment room. He stayed silent as he watched her quickly unlock her apartment door, and he resisted the urge to outwardly flinch when she suddenly looked at him.

"See you later," Tsuyu said with a small wave. Without waiting for Katsuki's reply, she entered her apartment room.

Katsuki did the same with his without hesitation. He hurriedly kicked off his shoes near the door and ran to the refrigerator with the grocery bags in hand. As he opened the refrigerator, there was a small part of him that wondered if he should've said something because she did ask him if they could catch up with each other.

He dismissed those thoughts from his mind as he began putting food away.

"Focus, Katsuki," he muttered out loud. "After eating, you got job hunting to do."

And that was exactly what he did. Unfortunately, just like yesterday, he was out of luck. At the rate that he was going, he wasn't going to find another part-time job at all.

Katsuki let out a frustrated sigh before he glanced at the time. "Shit."

It was time to go jogging.

Immediately, he went to go change into his black muscle tank and dark red athletic shorts. His smartphone was hooked to a sports armband that he attached onto his left bicep, and his water bottle, earphones, and other necessities were in his waist pouch. After slipping on his running sneakers, he spun his keys around on his finger as he left the apartment room.

After he locked the door, he unconsciously glanced over at Tsuyu's room. He stared briefly, waiting for any motion of her leaving, but when there was none, he turned to leave.

Just then, however, Katsuki saw Tsuyu's doorknob turn, so he briskly walked toward the elevator doors. He didn't want to make eye contact with her, and if anything, he hoped that she didn't see him standing there.

He was thankful that the elevator doors opened as soon as he pressed the button and that Tsuyu was nowhere near him. After he entered the elevator, he couldn't help but glance at Tsuyu from down the hall. From what he saw, it looked like she was double-checking that she had everything in her bag before locking her door.

He forced himself to look away as he pushed the button to the apartment's lobby floor. Normally, he wouldn't pay attention to his neighbors, but maybe it was because Tsuyu was his high school classmate that he couldn't help it. Everyone else in the building was a stranger to him, so seeing a familiar face daily now, at the very place he called home, felt…unusual—and this face was someone that he knew from high school and a close friend of hers, to boot.

As the elevator doors closed, Katsuki purposely stared at the floor number the elevator was on. His gaze just had to be anywhere away from Tsuyu.

After all, the last thing he needed was someone close to her interfering with his life.

A week had passed since then. He and Tsuyu rarely interacted, just like back in high school. For the past week, all they did—or rather, all Tsuyu did since Katsuki always grunted or nodded in response—was greet each other whenever they saw the other person before returning to their daily routine. She never even brought up the topic of catching up with him, which he was thankful for. He had thought about her offer every time he saw her, but he kept brushing it off because he needed to find another part-time job.

Katsuki still had no luck with finding anything around the neighborhood. For the past week, he had gone into shops near his apartment and university to see if they were looking for any part-timers. Unfortunately, every manager at the shop had told him that they weren't looking for any, which only added further to his growing frustration.

Unfortunately, since he only had five weeks left of summer break now, he had no choice but to give up. If he tried to find any part-time job now, it wouldn't look good to any employer if he left just after a month. At least he told his manager last Friday that he'd be willing to work overtime on the weekends for the rest of his summer break, so that alleviated his stress.

Plus, his daily jogging helped keep things off his mind. Katsuki's normal jogging route was pretty much around the neighborhood. Most of the time, he took the scenic route because there were less people, which meant less annoyances and he could relax.

Katsuki had just finished his jogging and was currently wiping his face and neck from the accumulated sweat from jogging and being under the heat of the evening sun. He was on his way back, casually drinking from his water bottle with his towel around his neck when he passed by a restaurant and glanced into it briefly before turning his attention back to the streets.

He immediately stopped drinking and ran back to look through the large window of the restaurant again, his eyes narrowing when he saw a petite girl with her long hair tied into a bow.

Standing at a great distance away from the window and taking orders from customers was none other than Tsuyu. She wore a waitress uniform: a black skirt, white short-sleeved blouse, and a cream-colored apron. Although she had on simple black flats, she adorned thigh-high black socks, almost as if to elongate her legs and draw attention to the amount of skin her legs showed.

Katsuki stared at the way Tsuyu tucked those hair strands behind her ear as she recited the order to the customer. Even from such a distance, he could tell how warm and inviting her eyes were as she smiled politely.

Without another thought, he walked away and continued heading home.

Later that night, Katsuki just finished dinner and was taking a break from online job hunting. His portable Bluetooth speaker, which was connected to his smartphone, was quietly playing music in the background.

He contemplated on turning in for the night when he saw that it was 9 P.M. until he heard the doorbell ring. He frowned, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he sauntered to the door. When he looked through the peephole, however, his eyes widened in surprise before he opened the door and frowned at his visitor.

"Nice to see you, too," Tsuyu greeted in a dry tone.

"What do you want?" Katsuki asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"May I come in?" Tsuyu asked instead, tilting her head.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes to mask his hesitation, especially since it was a girl coming into his apartment room and not some guy, like Izuku or Eijiro.

"I'd rather not talk about what I have to say out in the open," Tsuyu added. "I won't stay for long."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at her in response, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't, he sighed in defeat. "Fine, come on in."

"Thanks," Tsuyu replied as she entered. However, she stood in the area near the doorway, not bothering to take off her shoes.

Katsuki frowned, not understanding what the hell was going on, but he closed and locked the door nonetheless. He turned around to face her, and in that moment, he was reminded of how much he towered over her petite figure.

"Were you near a café today, by any chance?" Tsuyu asked.

"No," Katsuki lied, and he momentarily wondered if he answered too quickly or curtly, which would've made his lie evident.

"Strange. I'm pretty sure I saw you there."

Katsuki resisted the urge to scowl, inwardly cursing at the fact that she did see him. "I wasn't there, Froggy." He paused when he saw Tsuyu frown at his old nickname for her. "Simple as that."

There was a long pause as the two stared at each other. As every second passed, Katsuki grew uncomfortable under Tsuyu's gaze. There was always something about her gaze whenever she looked at him, even back in high school, that made him feel…visible, as if she could always see through to him and his reactions, even though they weren't close friends. Honestly, he thought that it was a frightening trait of hers and hoped that she hadn't managed to see through his lie.

"I see," Tsuyu said, breaking the silence before she sighed. "Well, in that case, I'll be heading off now."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed before he blocked Tsuyu's pathway to the door. "You don't just walk into a guy's apartment room to ask him if he was at your workplace."

"How did you know that I work there?" Tsuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katsuki inwardly cursed at his slip-up. "You implied it."

"No, I didn't. Besides, I said a café. Wouldn't someone who hasn't visited ask for clarification?"

Katsuki scowled, and after a small moment of silence passed, he finally grumbled, "Yeah, fine, I happened to drop by where you work." He sighed in irritation. "Look, I just passed by it on my way home after jogging. Simple as that. Is that so wrong?"

"No, it's not wrong," Tsuyu replied. "I know that you happened to pass by. That spiky blond hair of yours is hard to miss."

Katsuki's scowl grew, but he remained silent.

"But, that's not why I'm here."

Katsuki furrowed his brow. "Then, what?"

"If you can, avoid taking that route tomorrow." Tsuyu paused. "Well, from now on might be for the best."

"Why?"

Tsuyu hesitated, her eyes slowly shifting to the floor as a long pause ensued.

"Whatever it is you're talking about, spit it out already," Katsuki said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't have all night, you know."

When Tsuyu's gaze flickered to Katsuki's face, she sighed in defeat. "It's about Ochaco."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and in that moment, he felt everything in his heart sink. He felt his brain shut off, and breathing suddenly felt nonexistent to him. Just hearing that name—her name, for that matter—brought the daily heartache he dealt with back in high school.

Her smile, her laugh—she had this energy that made every guy smile and swoon at her feet, every girl wanting to be friends with her because she was so energetic, so happy, so full of life, so…unlike him. Everything about her felt contagious, and even he himself couldn't help but be caught in the tornado of Ochaco Uraraka.

His eyes glazed over as he recalled distant memories of him pining after Ochaco, but always being jealous, always angry over the fact that she never saw him that way—that she would only talk to him when Izuku was involved. Every day, seeing the two together within such proximity of each other reminded him that he could never come between the two—never break the bond they had, in fact, because what they had was something indescribable and so much more than just pure infatuation, compared to most of the guys who pined after Ochaco.

And worst of all, it hurt him knowing that he could never have that same bond with her.

"Even after all this time, you still like her, huh?" Tsuyu muttered.

Katsuki blinked, suddenly brought back to reality when he heard Tsuyu's voice. "What? You knew?"

"You had this…look in your eyes whenever you saw her," Tsuyu replied, her eyes shifting to the floor momentarily, and she sighed before looking back at him. "It wasn't hard to piece it together."

Katsuki stared at her for a few seconds before he scowled.

He tried so hard, so very hard to hide his feelings for Ochaco when Izuku was in the picture. If Izuku ever knew, he wouldn't dare continue liking Ochaco and probably do his best to keep a polite distance away from her, no matter how much it hurt him. Katsuki knew how selfish he could be, but he wasn't going to let his selfishness get in the way of Izuku's one chance of happiness. The only person who ever found out about Katsuki's feelings for Ochaco was Eijiro.

But to think that even Tsuyu knew about his feelings for Ochaco… A part of him wondered if anyone else in their class knew. And if that were the case…wouldn't that mean that Izuku might've known as well?

Katsuki shut his eyes, not daring to continue his thoughts. He had to stop them before they got worse in his head. Finally, he opened his eyes and grumbled, "You…You need to stop doing that."

Tsuyu tilted her head. "Doing what?"

"Being observant. It's scary as hell when you…you…" Katsuki couldn't bring himself to continue, so he sighed.

"When I what, Bakugo?"

Katsuki inaudibly gulped. He didn't want to say that it was frightening to think that this petite level-headed woman was always able to see through him, no matter what he did. He didn't like how uncomfortable it made him feel, how her gaze made him just feel too…visible. He wanted her to just stop.

"Bakugo?"

Katsuki knew he had to respond and change the subject somehow, but how could he now that he knew that Ochaco was in the picture? His mind felt like a mess, his heart felt like it was in shambles, and it took everything in him to just not shut down emotionally.

"Bakugo, the reason why I brought her up is because she's dropping by the café I work at tomorrow," Tsuyu muttered, just loudly enough for Katsuki to hear in the dead silence of his apartment.

Katsuki inaudibly gulped, trying to ignore the fact that he felt his body become cold as more images of Ochaco popped into his head. He finally closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, furrowing his brow. "Why?"

Tsuyu tilted her head in response.

"Why are you telling me this?" Katsuki asked, this time opening his eyes to look at her.

"Because I know how much you like her."

Katsuki flinched.

"And I know that your heart must've been breaking a lot whenever Midoriya was in the picture with Ochaco."

Katsuki glanced away, just anywhere away from Tsuyu's gaze. "That doesn't explain why the hell you're telling me this."

"Because you're my friend, and I care."

Katsuki's eyes widened, and he looked back at Tsuyu. "What?"

"You're my friend, and I care about you, Bakugo."

Katsuki blinked in confusion before he furrowed his brow. "I…I don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"We rarely talked to each other in high school. Hell, we barely even hung out. How can you call me your friend when we don't know anything about each other?"

Tsuyu frowned before she let out a small sigh and moved past Katsuki. When her hand was on the doorknob, she finally turned to look at him and gave him a small rueful smile. "Maybe you never thought of me as a friend, but I always saw you as one."

Katsuki was so stunned at her statement that as he watched her walk out the door, he momentarily forgot about his heartbreak.