Their Hero Academia – Chapter Eight: Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo and the Need to Woman Up
Katsumi's fists pounded into the heavy bag hanging from her ceiling, letting her vent her anger and frustration. At least, that was the theory. As of right now, it didn't seem to be doing her much good. The events of the previous day kept playing over in her mind.
It had been one shit show after another. First, her team had fallen in the fourth round. She'd exhausted her reserves and run out of explosive power and the rest of her team had let her down to boot. Some people might have said that lasting four rounds was good. But not her. She was aiming for the finish line.
And then Izzy… She'd always known Izzy was powerful. But she hadn't realized just how powerful she was. That girl truly was silk hiding steel. Even if she'd pushed herself too far. But Katsumi did the same thing. She could hardly blame Izzy for that. Even if her heart had seized up in her chest when Izzy went down.
In some dumb way, she was grateful to the Newb. If he hadn't caught Izzy… Dumb Newb had damn near gotten himself killed for it though. Maybe she really could ease up on him. A little. She had a reputation to uphold.
But her thoughts lingered longest on what she'd said in front of Izzy's parents. She'd threatened to fight two Pro Heroes, one of them the Number Three Hero. She'd threatened to fight them for Izzy, to keep them from taking her away. Who knows what she would have done if that withered old crone hadn't dragged her off?
Well, Dad probably would have laughed and encouraged her. Though they were generally on all right terms, he did still have something of an antagonistic friendship with Izzy's dad. So that was something. Papa on the other hand… He probably would have been disappointed in her. Sticking up for your friend was Wo-Manly. But threatening her parents definitely was not.
"You are a mess, girl," she told herself, pausing to catch her breath. "And you've got it bad."
There was a series of knocks at her door. Three short taps, one hard tap, a pause, then two more hard taps. Go Beyond! Plus…ULTRA!
Katsumi shook her head. "What do you want, Toshi?"
"Can I come in?"
"Before I answer that, do you have Loud Kid with you? Because I cannot deal with him before I've had coffee."
"Shota's having breakfast with Asuka and Haimawari."
"Then you can come in."
Toshi slid the door open awkwardly, as he was carrying a pair of coffees and a pair of those Pro Hero branded power bars he liked so much. "Thought you might like some breakfast," he said, offering her one of each.
She eyed the coffee mug suspiciously. "What kind of coffee is that?"
"It's coffee-flavored coffee. Black, no sugar." Toshi made what she was guessing he thought was an imitation of her signature scowl. "Like my heart."
She gave him a blank look. "Was that supposed to be me?"
His eyes went wide. "Ah… that depends on whether or not you liked it?"
Toshi could be annoying sometimes, but he did know how to make her laugh. And whether she liked it or not, he was always looking out for her. For all of them. Even if they didn't want or need it. She took the coffee mug and gave him an affectionate punch in the arm, nearly causing him to spill his own coffee. "You're all right, Toshi," she said. "Thanks."
She accepted the offered power bar and took a bite out of it. "So what're you really doing here?"
"Why do you assume I have an ulterior motive?"
"Because you only bring me food and coffee when you wanna talk."
"Well, you do get kind of hangry…"
She rolled her eyes. "Out with it, Toshi."
"Just checking up on you," he said. "After everything that happened yesterday, I was worried about you."
Her pride flared. Who did he think she was? Some kid who needed a babysitter? She wasn't somebody who needed looking out for, like Loud Kid. "I'm a big girl," she said.
"I know that," he said. "But yesterday… yesterday as rough."
Sometimes, Toshi had a real talent for understatement.
"I mean, you and me, we know the risks. Our parents are Pro Heroes. We've seen them get hurt sometimes. Sometimes badly."
That was true. Dad got hurt all the time, mostly minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises. But she was still haunted sometimes by a memory from years ago, when Papa had been badly beaten by a Villain named Strongarm. She remembered seeing him broken and bandaged in that hospital bed, she remembered hanging onto Dad. It was one of the only times she could remember seeing him cry…
"You don't have to remind me," she said. "I know getting hurt's a possibility."
"You know you getting hurt is a possibility."
She paused, coffee cup halfway to her mouth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I saw you, when we were watching Izumi's group…" He trailed off, as she began to glare at him. "I didn't mean to! But you were getting kind of loud and everything! But, every time Izumi nearly got hit or had to dodge or when she collapsed… I saw your face."
"Probably the same kind of face you were making," she snapped. "It's Izzy. We all care about her."
"Yeah, we do," Toshi agreed. "And maybe I'm not a really great judge about this… but maybe you care about her as more than just a friend."
She had him pressed up against the wall, one hand on his neck, before she knew what she was doing. Both coffee cups had clattered to the floor, spilling their contents on the carpet. "The hell did you just say, Toshi?!"
His eyes were widening as he struggled against her grip. "Can't… can't… breathe… Katsumi…"
With a growl, she let him go. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have said…"
"Is it that obvious?" she asked. Did the whole freaking school know? How the hell was she supposed to make people quake in fear of her if everyone knew she was soft over somebody? …Did Izzy know?
Toshi shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I haven't talked to everybody about it, but Asuka noticed it even earlier than I did. But I don't think most of them know. Shota definitely doesn't. And we're not going to tell him."
Okay, that all added up. And she could definitely cross Ojiro off the list of people who knew. If the invisible teen knew, the entire school would have known. People in America would have known. Theoretical evil twins from an alternate universe would have known. No gossip was safe from invisible lips.
She jabbed a finger in Toshi's direction. "You tell no one about this."
Toshi backed away from her finger, up against the wall again. "Is this… is this because you like girls?" he asked. "Because we're all okay with that. Sero's gay too, you know…"
"It's not that, you idiot!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "First off, I like guys and I like girls! And that's still not the point! It's… it's an Izzy thing. I don't know if she'd feel that way about me. I don't know what a girl like her would even want with a girl like me."
Toshi held up his hands. "I don't know what to tell you, Katsumi. I really don't. But I think you're going to have to do something. You can't just keep circling like that."
He offered her a smile. "What I do know is you're a pretty amazing person. And you and Izumi have been friends a long time. That's not going to change, no matter what else happens. And I'm your friend too."
"…I really hate it when you make sense."
The silence hung over the room for a moment. "This isn't the part where we hug, Toshi. Get outta here."
He laughed as he exited her room. "Okay, Katsumi. I'm… I'm rooting for you."
When she stepped into the Common Room, Katsumi was a woman on a mission. She was going to find Izzy and she was going to talk to her. An actual talk, with words and everything. The kind of mushy, touch-feely talk Dad derided and tried to substitute grunts for and the kind that Papa was so good at.
Step One: locate Izzy.
Actually, Step One turned about to be: Dodge the Chaos.
"You take that back, Frenchie!" Mineta snapped at Aoyama.
"I just call them like I see them, Chéri." the blonde snapped back. "You prance around here, trying to seduce everything with a pulse. You know what that makes you."
"Okay, that's it!"
"Bring it!"
What happened next… couldn't exactly be called a fight. Not with both of them just standing at arms' length, flailing their arms and slapping them hands against each other.
And then some of the others started cheering them on. Sero was recording the whole thing on his phone, Ojiro was cheering on Aoyama, Kaminari was cheering on Mineta, and the Iida Twins were yelling at everyone that fighting would not be tolerated…
Yep, she just sidestepped that whole thing, passing by Koda, who was watching the whole thing rather helplessly.
There. Izzy was at one of the tables… with the Newb.
Great. Just great.
Maybe she could try the whole "being nicer" thing?
Yep. She was going to walk over there and ask to talk to Izzy. She wasn't even going to threaten the Newb into moving. She was going to put on her friendliest face, go over there, and talk to Izzy.
So why weren't her legs working?
She was Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo, the Wo-Manliest Hero-in-Training in the whole school, daughter of two of Manliest and most awesome heroes on the planet. She didn't back down from anything. Not from a fight, not from a challenge, and definitely not from a girl she'd had a crush on since she was eight.
One foot in front of the other. She could do this.
So why… was the Newb… holding her hand? And grinning like an idiot? And Izzy was smiling too…
She ran.
Izzy was back in school finally, having been gone for a long time because she'd been so sick. She'd ended up in the same class as Katsumi.
There'd been three of them. She didn't remember their names. She just remembered what they'd done.
She'd fallen on the playground, while they were running, playing tag. She wasn't as fast as anyone else, panting and out of breath.
"Why don't you just stay down?" one girl had sneered, all three of her eyes cold and cruel.
"Nobody wants to play with a sick kid like you!" another had taunted, her spiked tail swinging behind her.
"Can't believe somebody like her has Hero parents!" a third had said. "They must be so embarrassed!"
"All of you, shut up! Leave her alone!" She'd picked up a handful of rocks, letting her explosive power seep into them. She wasn't supposed to use her Quirk while at school or on the playground, but they just made her so mad…! She threw the rocks, where they exploded at the mean girls' feet, all bang and no flame, but more than enough to scare them off.
"Fine!" the three-eyed girl had snapped. "You want her, you can have her!"
She offered Izzy a hand-up. "It's okay," Katsumi had said. "I'm here.
Slowly, Izzy's sobs stopped. "Thank you," she'd said. "I didn't… I didn't know they'd be so mean."
"Don't worry, Izzy," she'd said. "Anything happens, I'll exploderize them!"
Izzy had pressed her hands to her face. "I… I wouldn't want anybody to get hurt…"
"Aaaw, maybe I can just exploderize them a little?"
"Maybe just a little, Katsumi."
"Don't worry," she told Izzy again. "I'll take care of you."
And Izzy was hugging her and she had never felt more like a Hero than she had right then.
Katsumi hadn't gotten far, just under one of the trees in the courtyard. She wasn't going to cry. She was not going to cry. She was Katsumi Kirishima-Bakugo, and she definitely did not just go crying over anything.
She was… she was happy for Izzy. Yes. Izzy absolutely deserved all the happiness in the world. She couldn't be mad at her for finding happiness…
"ARGH!" She let out a scream, releasing some of the rage she felt burning up inside her. Katsumi was well aware that she had what some might call "anger issues." And sometimes, yeah, she let it out at the wrong times. Usually when someone pissed her off or did something stupid. But she had rarely been as angry as she was right now. Angry at the unfairness of it all, angry at missed chances, angry at herself for waiting so long.
She needed something to punch, something to explode. But no targets presented themselves. And she was smart enough not to just unleash random property damage. She didn't need the headache or the detention that would come with that.
Problems she could punch were so much easier to solve.
"Katsumi."
She looked up and blinked rapidly, because she had to be dreaming. It was Izzy. But why would Izzy be out here?
"Katsumi," Izzy repeated. "In all the time I have known you, I have never seen you run like that. What's wrong?"
Words left her mouth before she had the chance to stop them. "You came running after me? You break up with your new boyfriend already?"
Confusion worked its way across Izzy's face. "My… what?"
She struggled to remember the Newb's actual name. "Haimawari. I saw the two of you. I'm… I'm happy for you. Much as I hate to admit it… he seems like the Hero-type. And you deserve the best, Izzy."
"Katsumi," Izzy said, still looking very confused, "Haimawari is my friend. That is all. I don't know what would lead you to believe otherwise."
"I saw the two of you! Smiling, holding hands…"
"Ah." Izumi nodded. "We were just speaking to each other. I apologized for setting him on fire."
Only Izzy could have delivered a statement like that.
"He forgave me," she went on. "I was… grateful for that. I was so ashamed of what I had done to him… I feared he might hate me."
No one could hate Izzy, that much, Katsumi was certain of.
"So you don't… like him, like that?" Katsumi prompted. "You're just friends?'
"Just friends," Izzy assured her.
Relief washed over Katsumi like a wave, quieting some of the flames of rage within her. Those flames were quickly replaced by icy, cold dread gripping its way around her heart. Izzy might not have been involved with the Newb… but she still seemed blind to how she felt about her.
"I am sorry if I upset you somehow," Izzy told her. "I know… I am not always good at knowing how other people will react. But I truly do not understand why it would upset you so."
Katsumi looked away, the words dying in her throat for once, instead of escaping before she could consider them. How could she tell Izzy how she felt? What if she didn't feel the same way?
"Katsumi. Please. Talk to me."
It was now or never. Time to Woman Up.
"I'm in love with you, Izzy. Been in love with you for a long time."
And then the dormitory exploded.