Katsuki stood aside, his back against the wall, checking his phone as a stream of people passed by.
After agreeing to go do something fun with Ochako and her friends, it had taken them an entire week to agree on what they were going to do.
The morning after Ochako had visited his house she had added him to a group chat on LINE so they could discuss things. Katsuki got annoyed with that chat very quickly, seeing as they mostly discussed off topic things and spammed all day. He had left within two hours.
He simply assumed he automatically wasn't invited anymore after leaving the chat, but was surprised when he got a message from Ochako stating the date, time and location they were supposed to meet.
So here he was, standing outside the Musutafu mall, being fifteen minutes early.
Katsuki always preferred being early, rather than late, even though he must admit that this time he had overdone himself.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time yet again, only to realize that not even a minute had passed.
He chewed on his lower lip. He didn't really understand why, but ever since last night, he had been on edge. When he tried to sleep, all he could do was toss and turn as his mind went a thousand miles a minute for no apparent reason.
He had tried to squeeze his eyes shut in an attempt to force himself to sleep, but it hadn't worked. In the end, he ended up with only a couple of hours of interrupted sleep, waking up even more exhausted than when he went to bed.
After that terrible start of the day, he had spent at least an hour in front of his closet trying to pick out his outfit.
He didn't really care about his appearance or anything like that, but for some reason whatever he put on just wasn't right.
On the tenth outfit he tried on, his mom had come in and yelled at him for ruining all the clothes she had worked so hard on folding, practically shoving him out of the house in the items he was wearing at that moment, not giving him any chance to think about it any longer.
Katsuki looked around. He hoped for either Ochako or Eijiro to show up first, since he was most comfortable around them. As soon as either of them were there, Katsuki would just stay with them; he didn't feel much for interacting with anyone else.
All of a sudden he heard his name being called, but not by any of those two, much to Katsuki's annoyance.
His gaze went to the place the voice had come from, a blur of pink dashing its way over to him.
'Bakugouuu!' Mina squealed, stretching out the last syllable of his name far too long. 'I didn't know you'd come today!'
Katsuki put his hands deeper in his pockets, chewing on his bottom lip again. 'Why wouldn't I?' he replied.
Mina tilted her head a little as Sero finally caught up with her.
'Because you left the chat,' he chipped in. 'We thought you weren't interested in going anymore.'
Katsuki looked away, heat creeping to his cheeks. It made sense that he wouldn't want to join anymore if he left the chat so suddenly.
'I don't like all those notifications,' he simply responded.
Mina responded with a short 'Oh' before glancing at Sero.
Sero turned and smiled at Katsuki before leaning against the wall next to him. 'I'm glad you could make it.'
Katsuki glanced at him sideways before looking at the ground again, humming something of an agreement.
The silence that ensued did nothing to make Katsuki more comfortable. His attention was pulled towards Mina as she spoke again.
'So, are you excited for today?' she asked, nearly bouncing up and down.
Katsuki averted his gaze. 'I guess.'
Mina pouted slightly, seemingly unsatisfied by the bland answer. 'Aren't you totally hyped for what we're doing? I've never been there!'
Katsuki kept his gaze firmly fixated on the ground, his cheeks slightly turning red again. 'I… I don't know what we're doing.' W
ith every word spoken, Katsuki felt more out of place. He just wanted to make up an excuse of not feeling well – did it really count as an excuse if he actually felt nauseous? – and going home, but he kept himself firmly in place, having promised Ochako and Eijiro he'd be there.
Mina cocked her head at him. 'Didn't anybody tell you?' she asked, sounding genuinely curious and surprised.
Katsuki ground his teeth. 'Ochako only mentioned where and when we'd meet.'
At the use of her first name, Mina and Sero exchanged amused looks, but remained silent.
'We're going somewhere super awesome today!' Mina said, pumping her fist in the air.
Katsuki looked aside, narrowing his eyes as Sero softly nudged him with his elbow. 'Have you heard of that indoor amusement park that just opened?'
Katsuki raised an eyebrow at him. 'Yeah? What about it.'
Sero gave him a knowing smile.
'Oh,' Katsuki responded.
At that, Katsuki softly smiled to himself. He had heard about it opening, and it had seemed amazing, but he had never found the motivation to actually go check it out. Hearing that's their activity for the day, it actually made him a little excited.
It didn't take long before more people started showing up. Everyone started chatting happily with each other, Kaminari throwing his arm around Sero's shoulder as they laughed, Tsuyu striking up a friendly conversation with Mina, as finally Ochako and Eijiro arrived.
Eijiro didn't give as much as polite greetings to everyone before settling next to Katsuki, making the blond instantly more at ease.
'Excited for today?' Eijiro asked, that familiar smile always on his face.
The corners of Katsuki's mouth tugged up at the sight of it. 'Yeah,' he replied.
With everyone finally gathered, they took off.
Katsuki walked at the back of the group together with Eijiro, watching everyone in front of them lead the way towards the amusement park.
Even though it had just recently opened, the line wasn't very long. As soon as they passed the gates and walked in, Katsuki got overwhelmed.
The flashing colorful lights that shone around the area blinded him and the sounds of children and teenagers screaming in glee pierced his ears.
A hand on his shoulder made him come back to reality as he looked over at Eijiro.
'Are you okay?' he asked, frowning at Katsuki, eyes flickering over to the rest of the group that went ahead.
Katsuki relaxed the muscles in his shoulders, releasing the tension he didn't know was there. 'I'm fine. Let's go, before they're leaving without us.'
They quickly followed the small crowd, Ochako and Mina taking the lead as they bounced excitedly and cooed over every ride they saw. They gushed for a good ten minutes over all the technology and amazing designs before finally deciding to actually use them.
'Hey!' Kaminari said, slinging his arms over Katsuki's shoulders and around his neck. Katsuki cringed under the touch. 'We're going to check out the rollercoaster, are you joining?'
Katsuki reached up and pried Kaminari's hands off of him. The blond pouted a little at that, but quickly regained his usual smile. 'So? Are you coming or not?'
Katsuki clicked his tongue. 'Go without me,' he replied.
At that, Kaminari narrowed his eyes, a mischievous smile creeping onto his lips. 'Why? Are you.. afraid?'
Heat crept to Katsuki's cheeks. 'Of course I'm not!' he shouted, making Kaminari take a step back and hold up his hands in defense.
'How about you prove it by coming then?' Kaminari teased.
Katsuki looked over at Eijiro, who simply chuckled and shrugged at him.
'You don't have to if you don't want,' Ochako reassured him.
Katsuki looked up at the tracks that wound through the building.
A cart passed by, filled with teens his age, screaming in joy. Something in his heart ached for a feeling like that, so without thinking about it anymore, he stepped forward, earning him some cheers from Sero, Kaminari and Mina.
As they stood waiting in line everyone goofed around, taking selfies with stupid filters and telling scary stories of buckles breaking in the middle of the ride.
Standing in the middle of that tiny crowd made Katsuki feel weird. He can't remember ever being surrounded by so many people that wanted him to be there.
The crowd scooted a little further, giggling as they tripped over their own feet in the closed space. The closer they got to the start of the line, the more fuzzy feelings acted up in his stomach.
Maybe Katsuki lied. Maybe he was afraid of rollercoasters.
The group scuffled further, now being next in line, as Katsuki's hands were shaking. He took deep breaths and tried to keep himself grounded. His fear of rollercoasters was irrational, so he certainly wasn't going to give in now.
The cart came to a halt in front of them, the previous group of kids climbing out on the other side as their gates opened. All of the group flooded into the seats.
Katsuki reached out for Eijiro, wanting to sit next to him, but the redhead was already being pulled away by Kaminari to take place next to him.
When Katsuki sat down, the bar pushed down and pressing into his abdomen, he realized that someone he had never spoken to before was sitting next to him.
'Are you okay?' Tsuyu asked, looking over Katsuki.
The blond had gone pale, gripping the bar so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He forced himself to nod.
With his gaze directed at his hands, he saw a small slender hand come up to them, softly prying one of his hands away from the bar and into hers.
Katsuki glanced over at her, heart pounding in his chest.
'It's okay,' she said. 'You can rely on me. I'm not afraid.'
Katsuki opened his mouth, not sure what he was going to say, but having no time for it anyways as the cart was slowly pulled up and up until they reached the summit and they were released.
To Katsuki's imagination, it felt as if they were just launched into space with incredible speed, not slowing down for anything as they turned a corner, flipped upside down and were thrown every which way against the side of the cart, seemingly never ending.
In front of him, he could see the others hollering, throwing their hands up in the air as they screamed in joy.
He wasn't able to pinpoint exactly when, but at some point along the ride, all of his nerves drifted away.
The grip on his bar was slowly lessening, the fluttery feelings of anxiety being replaced with those of pure adrenaline as his face broke out into a massive grin.
He didn't know how or when, but as the cart slowly came to a stop, his hands were in the air, his right still intertwined with Tsuyu's.
When they finally came to a complete halt and the bars were released, he got up, his legs shaking, unable to wipe the smile off his face.
'Did you like it?' Mina asked, immediately jumping up to him.
Katsuki chuckled. Then, he started laughing. Everyone must've thought he'd gone insane with how hard he was laughing, until he composed himself and said:
'Let's go again!'
'So, did you have fun today?' Ochako asked as she slid into the booth next to Katsuki, her tray filled with fries and chicken nuggets in her hands.
Katsuki chewed on his burger. 'I guess,' he replied after swallowing.
Ochako cocked her head at him. 'Why the doubt?' she asked, stuffing a handful of fries in her face.
Katsuki redirected his gaze at his tray. He didn't know why he was doubting. He did have fun today, but everything felt so off.
He glanced up, looking at Eijiro who was still waiting in line with the others. He shrugged.
'Everyone hates me.' The words spilled out of his mouth before he noticed it.
Ochako put her fries down, her eyebrows drawing together. 'They don't,' she stated matter-of-factly.
Katsuki hunched his shoulders. 'Of course they do.'
'And why's that?'
'Because..,' he started, feeling vulnerable again and not wanting to. 'Because I was a terrible person to be around. I barely said anything, I've only been on the rollercoaster twice and after that I did nothing.'
Katsuki reached out for his fries, but Ochako's hand hovering over them stopped him, forcing him to look at her.
'Nobody said anything about that,' she said.
Katsuki's eyebrows knitted together. 'So?' he replied, pushing her hand aside so he could eat.
'So that means nobody really minded.'
Katsuki frowned again as he dipped his fries in the sauce and ate them.
'What are you talking about?' Kaminari asked as he sat down opposite Katsuki.
'Nothing,' Katsuki responded, focusing back on his meal.
Soon everyone else joined, chatting happily while Katsuki just felt exhausted.
A sharp stab of Ochako's elbow in his ribs brought him back to his senses. He glared at her before she jerked her chin towards Kaminari.
Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
Kaminari chuckled.
'I said that I'm glad you came today,' he repeated.
Before Katsuki could say anything, Sero spoke up. 'Yeah. We thought you weren't coming anymore, but it was really fun. You should join more often.'
Katsuki's stomach twisted. How could they be glad he was there today? He didn't do anything but sulk.
'Totally!' Mina cheered. 'Hey, we should go to the zoo next time!'
Kaminari scrunched his nose. 'Why a zoo? That's so boring!'
'I like that,' Tsuyu added, her finger to her chin.
Even though everyone moved on to the next topic, Katsuki's mind was still reeling about the previous one. He had done nothing for them today, except be a burden. He couldn't understand how they were happy he was there.
As he looked around the table, he saw Kaminari sticking fries up his upper lip, pretending to be a walrus, as Mina doubled over from laughter.
Eijiro was excitedly talking to Tsuyu about their idea for the zoo.
Katsuki glanced aside and saw that Ochako was eyeing everyone with a content smile on her face.
'They liked your presence, y'know,' she suddenly said out of the blue.
Katsuki eyed her warily. 'Why? I didn't do anything.'
She shrugged. 'Sometimes people just know.'
That made Katsuki even more confused. 'Know what?'
She turned to face him and smiled. 'Just things,' she said, giving him a warm and genuine smile.
He didn't understand, couldn't. All his life, people had only been around him because he was considered cool and amazing, because he was intimidating and practically forced them to be friends with him.
He had been neither of those things since joining UA, so why did they want him to be there? It didn't make sense.
His eyes scanned the table once more as the puzzle pieces fitted together in his head. His classmates were all on their way to becoming a hero. They weren't just ordinary people, like his former friends used to be, they were special.
One by one, Katsuki saw everything unfold in front of him. How Ochako, despite her fears and insecurities, always strived to save people.
How Kaminari, marked the class clown and idiot, tried to make everyone smile at all times.
How Tsuyu, even if she always stayed in the background, barely visible, strived to be the best like everyone else.
All those traits, Katsuki was only able to recognize because of one person. Izuku. It was only clear to Katsuki now that all the traits Izuku had were the perfect ones for becoming a hero.
Katsuki closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No. That was wrong.
Everyone's traits, everyone at this table and in his class, they were all perfect for becoming heroes.
They were all selfless, pushing themselves more than they were able to handle to achieve their goals or to save someone.
And suddenly, to Katsuki, nobody was a replacement for what he lost anymore. Every single one of them, laughing, talking, became their own person.
Katsuki sat back, lifting his head higher. It had always been unclear to him. Everyone in his class seemed like a nuisance to Katsuki, people not worth knowing, noises not worth hearing.
As he looked around, a smile crept up on his face. Katsuki had no idea how much he had missed out on, tuning out everyone as he focused solely on the past instead of the future.
Even though he hadn't done anything towards the rest of the group today to make them like him, they did. They put in the effort even though he never acknowledged it. Katsuki felt grateful for that.
He looked over at Eijiro who was shooting him funny looks, probably worried about Katsuki's silence, but all the blond could think about was how a frown didn't suit the redhead.
To Katsuki, it felt as if a barrier had been broken and all of the sounds of everything around him flooded in.
And for that moment, Katsuki stopped living in the past, and laughed.