I don't own MHA
He continues, knowing he's caught her attention. He may not be good at this therapy bullshit, but maybe he can distract her.
"I had a great quirk, and everybody worshiped me for it."
"Doesn't sound very shitty." Realizing she said it out loud, she winces. He ignores it.
"Well, I didn't say my life was shitty. I said I was a piece of shit."
She only looks more confused.
"I was a bully."
Her eyes widen with fear and a little bit of awe. He wonders what she's thinking. Probably completely thrown that, in comparison to her bullies, he's being...not horrible.
"And," he continues, "The kid I bullied the most was the nicest, smartest kid in school. Never did a damn thing wrong except maybe worship me like everyone else. But he was different."
She leans in closer, waiting for him to elaborate.
Katsuki glares at his hands and bites the bullet.
"He was quirkless."
He doesn't look up to see her reaction, and he hears nothing to hint at how anyone is reacting to him spilling his guts about his past. He keeps going.
"You know what I hated the most about him, though?"
She tentatively shakes her head.
"When we were kids, I fell, and he tried to help me up. It pissed me off."
"Why?" She asks, bewildered enough to forget her fear.
Katsuki looks her in the eyes. "I thought he was looking down on me."
The kid's jaw drops. She sputters, forgetting herself.
"Wh- why would you think that?! He just wanted to help! How can you hate him for that?! He ju- he just," she starts choking up again. Katsuki knows she's taking it personally. She's probably tried to do the right thing before, because she wanted to, but also because she thought that maybe she'd earn some semblance of forgiveness for being born 'wrong.'
"Because weak, quirkless little deku thought I needed his help. If I needed help from him of all people, I thought it meant I wasn't strong enough. Everyone expected me to be perfect. He didn't. I didn't know how to handle someone who was supposed to be so weak, seeing me that way."
He shrugs his shoulders.
"I thought he looked down on me our whole lives."
She's silent for a long time after that. Probably seeing her bullies' motivations in a whole new light.
"Wait." She says, freezing. "You called him Deku."
Bakugou hears a sharp intake of breath from behind them. Probably one of their classmates. What did they think of him now?
No. It wasn't the time for that.
"I.." He doesn't know what to say. He can't reveal Deku's secret.
"My quirk came late," Deku says quietly from behind them.
The girl swerves her head around to see him. Katsuki, after making sure she's not going to fall from the sudden movement, looks back too.
For a split second, he takes in all of the faces of his classmates. Most are in tears. Some are solemn, looking at him like he's a different person. But there's no judgment in their eyes. Maybe they're too surprised or too busy trying to save a life to bother. Even Kirishima's pained expression and teary eyes hold no judgment.
Katsuki looks away. His eyes zero in on Deku. He's crying, of course, but he's smiling a wobbly, hopeful smile like he does. Normally it'd piss Katsuki off, but he only feels relief.
"My quirk came late," Deku repeats, his voice quiet but steady. "It didn't come till I was fourteen."
"What?" The girl whispers, mostly to herself.
"It's nearly unheard of. I'm the only case I know. I thought it would solve all of my problems... it did help me a lot, but…"
"It only made me fucking hate him more." Katsuki finishes.
"Why??" the girl asks.
"Because it was never about him being quirkless. It was about the teachers who put him down and told us all he was stupid and fragile. About my fear of being weak. There was never anything wrong with Deku, before or after he got his quirk. There was something wrong with everyone around him. There is something wrong with the way people treat quirkless kids."
He looks her in the eyes.
"Kid, there's nothing wrong with you. You don't deserve to be bullied. You don't deserve this." He gestures to the roof.
Following his gesture, her eyes widen, as though she's just realizing where she is. Their story had distracted her, but now she's not even looking at them. She's staring at the ground below.
She starts hyperventilating. With shaking hands, she grips the edge. Katsuki realizes she's having a panic attack. He knows what those feel like. She can not have one on the edge of a roof.
"Kid. Kid, you need to look at me. Just look at me."
She ignores him, leaning over the edge dizzily, one of her hands pulling at her hair, while the other continues to grip the edge.
He tries to reach out. To be closer so he can grab her if she slips.
She jerks away, just out of his reach.
And loses her balance.
They make eye contact, and he sees exactly when she realizes she's going to fall.
She screams.
Ok, sorry for the cliffhanger, but I didn't know where else to end it!!!! Have mercy!
Please review!
Love ya!
*runs away with speed quirk*