"What did you just say?" Katsuki reiterated, his throat beginning to close with panic. ' No, no, no. Don't let this be true. Don't tell me this happened to Deku and I- I shunned him for it?!'

A tear rolled off of Uraraka's jaw when she looked at him. She looked back at Deku, who was looking between the both of them like a deer in headlights. "Tell him, Deku."

"I-" Izuku seemed at a loss for words. "I'm sorry, I think I also need you to repeat that."

Round Face wiped her eyes and set her jaw, leaning forward to take both of Deku's hands in hers. "Deku. You were drugged and raped at that party. That's why your drink tasted funny, and why you couldn't speak or move. You- you didn't cheat on your boyfriend, Deku-kun. You were assaulted ."

Katsuki's knees felt weak, and he slowly sunk to the ground, his mind awash with images. Images of Deku being pinned to a bed, of some sicko taking advantage of him when he was helpless to fight back. Images of Deku's crying, heartbroken face when Katsuki left him all alone three days ago. A slow sort of numbness was beginning to take over Katsuki's limbs, and his arms hung limply at his sides. ' I... I did that. I abandoned him when he needed me most. I didn't let him fucking explain, and now-'

"I don't understand," Deku said, his lower lip beginning to quiver. "Why- why would somebody do that to me? To me ?"

Uraraka swallowed hard, squeezing Deku's hands again. "Because you're amazing, Deku, and

anybody can see it from a mile away. I'm so, so sorry this happened to you. I left you alone when you needed me- I didn't know, I-"

"Ochako," Deku whispered. "I'm sorry, but I really don't think that's what happened. Yes, I felt funny, but I probably just had too much to drink! Why would anyone want to- I mean, I'm a guy !"

"Sweetie, you had two drinks," Uraraka reminded him. "That's not enough to get anyone drunk. I understand that this might be hard for you to accept-"

"No!" Deku snapped, getting to his feet. He looked dangerously close to tears, but his face was beginning to turn red the way it always did when he was angry. "No, this isn't funny anymore! Why would you even s-say-"

"Deku," Katsuki said softly, rising to his feet too. He reached out and gently cupped his boyfriend's- 'god, can I even call him that anymore after what I did?'- face, caressing his thumb over his soft cheekbone in the way he knew Deku loved. The green-eyed man took a deep, shuddering breath, and in that moment, Katsuki knew that he knew. A moment later, when the silent tears began to roll down his face, he did the only thing he could think to do. He pulled Deku into his arms and held him there, pressing his face into the top of his curls. Deku began to sob against his chest, both of his arms wrapping so tightly around Katsuki that the blond could hardly breathe, but he didn't care. Tears of his own dripped onto Deku's head, but he ignored them in favour of strengthening his hold on the younger boy.

The two of them sank back to their knees, still holding onto each other like a lifeline. Uraraka gathered in as well, hugging her own arms around Deku's waist, resting her cheek against the back of his shoulders. She and Katsuki briefly made eye contact, and in those chocolate irises, Katsuki saw the same look his own ruby eyes held- complete and utter devastation. They had both failed him when he needed them, and he was sure they would both hold that guilt for a long, long time.

For now though, they simply held on tight, glad to be Deku's support during what might be the hardest day of his life.

(x)

Izuku didn't let go of Katsuki until his tears had long since dried. When he finally found the strength to pull away, it seemed that both he and Ochako were both reluctant to let him go, but they did so. Izuku eased back until he could rest against the side of his bed, and the other two followed suit, curling in on him on either side, each grabbing one of his hands to squeeze. Midoriya closed his aching eyes and turned his face up toward the ceiling, struggling to calm his breathing down until his heart rate returned to normal once more.

After another few silent minutes, Kacchan spoke again. "Deku... I'm so fucking sorry . I should have let you explain sooner. I should have fucking waited the day that you told me, but- but I-"

Izuku snapped his eyes open and looked at his boyfriend(?), scowling at him. Kacchan abruptly stopped speaking, his eyes widening a bit at the fierce expression on his face. "No, Kacchan," Izuku said. "You didn't know. I didn't know. I sure as hell wasn't going to explain anything that day, so there was nothing you could have done. You were hurt, and I... I understand that."

"It's no excuse," Katsuki tried to protest, but Izuku shook his head, reaching up to brush his thumb underneath Katsuki's eye. He wiped away the dampness there, trailing that same thumb down to his jaw in a similar touch to the one Kacchan had showed him earlier before his breakdown.

"I'm telling you that it's alright," he said softly. Then something occurred to him. "Why were you coming to see me again? I broke your heart , Kacchan."

Katsuki closed his eyes briefly, sucking in a slow breath of air. When he opened them again, his expression was something more determined. "I was coming over here to ask you to explain everything. I'd decided... I'd decided that if it was some random hookup with some guy you'd never met, then I could accept that, and we could try to move on. I just- I couldn't imagine my life without you, Deku. God, I never want to."

Izuku bit his lower lip hard , more tears threatening to spill over. He had never cried this much in his life, and it was a bit embarrassing that he seemed to be on a hair trigger. "Do you... do you still love me?"

Katsuki's expression shattered into something so sad that it tugged at Izuku's heart strings. "Deku, I could never stop loving you, even if you cheated on me with one hundred people. My heart is yours to break. It always has been."

"Kacchan!" Izuku sniffled, throwing himself back into a hug. "I love you so much! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Shh," Katsuki whispered, reaching up to card his fingers through Izuku's hair. "Don't ever apologize, sweetheart. It wasn't your fault. Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault. "

A gentle hand touched Izuku's back, and he pulled away from his boyfriend(!) to look at Ochako. His best friend looked just as heartbroken as Katsuki, her face pinker than usual from the tears she'd shed. "Deku," she said. "I will never be able to apologize enough for not being there for you." Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand to stop him. "I know you're going to say that it wasn't my fault, but it was . I'm not Bakugou, I had no reason to be heartbroken. I was- I was shocked that you could do something like that, but when I came over here today, I knew something was wrong. I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Ochako..." Izuku whimpered. "I love you."

"I love you more," she said with a gentle smile. A moment later, she scrunched up her face and let out a harsh breath. "Okay Deku. I think... I think you need more of a support system than just Bakugou and I. If you want to keep this between the three of us, that's completely up to you, and I will support you no matter what, but... I really think you could use your friends right now."

Izuku swallowed hard, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. His mind began to race, thinking about all of their friends. Kirishima, Sero, Todoroki, Shinsou, Kaminari, Mina- all of them, his best friends. The people closest to him in the world. He had a special, unique bond with each of them, strings of hard times, phone calls and laughter connecting him to all of them with wire as thick as steel. It would be humiliating to tell any of them what had happened to him, but...

He couldn't deny that he wanted them there. He wanted his friends right now. "Okay," he croaked.

"Okay?" Kacchan asked.

"Okay," Izuku nodded. "Please... call them. I could really use them right now." He tried for a smile, but knew that it looked as broken as he felt. Uraraka, to her credit, didn't miss a beat, standing up and pulling out her phone. She left the room briefly to make some phone calls, leaving Katsuki and Izuku alone.

Katsuki pulled Izuku into another embrace, lightly kissing the top of his head. Izuku's heart filled with warmth for his boyfriend and he hugged him back, inhaling the scent of the burnt sugar that was so familiar to him by now. He had no idea why Kacchan always smelled that way, but he had since childhood. It was a smell that reminded Izuku of safety, of home , just the same as his mother's perfume, or his childhood bedroom. He snuggled in closer, pushing his memories out of his mind so that they wouldn't ruin this moment. He had thought he would never be able to have this again, and the giddiness that he was getting it was nearly overwhelming.

"I love you," Katsuki said into his hair. Izuku smiled.

(x)

Todoroki sat in his boyfriend's living room, watching all of their other friends as they discussed what was happening.

"Where do you think he went?" Ashido asked, reaching up to play with one of her pink curls. "Isn't it obvious?" Kaminari snorted. "He obviously went to go make up with Midoriya!" "We don't know that for sure," Shinsou reminded him, nudging his shoulder.

"I think he's right," Hanta shrugged, relaxing into the sofa behind him. "I can't imagine a world without the two of them together. I thought out of all of us, those two are definitely soulmates. And I don't believe in soulmates!"

"Neither do I," Shouto said with a small smile on his face. The smile dropped a moment later, his thoughts catching up to him. "But I don't think I could ever forgive that. Something like that..." he trailed off.

"Well, it's a good thing you're not Bakugou," Kirishima said firmly, his eyes flashing with a hardness that Shouto had never seen on him before. "No matter what happens, we are all going to support them . Okay?"

They all nodded, a few of them muttering something under their breath. Sero reached out and took Shouto's hand, brushing his thumb over his knuckles tenderly. When Shouto looked down, the brunette smiled up at him. There was a slight quirk to his eyebrow, a question that Shouto could read without him having to say anything. ' You okay?'

He nodded, pressing his lips together in a line. A moment later his phone rang, disrupting the relative silence of the room. He blinked, pulling away from Hanta to grab his phone out of his back pocket. "It's Uraraka," he announced, sliding his thumb across the screen to answer it. "Hello?"

" Hey Todoroki," Uraraka said. Todoroki was alarmed when he registered the thick quality of her voice, like she had recently been crying. He straightened his shoulders immediately. He and Uraraka had gotten rather close over the years, both of them being Midoriya's best friends. He would like to think that they were as close as they each were with Midoriya.

"What's wrong?" he demanded immediately. Everyone in the room shut up completely, staring at him.

" Where are you right now?" Uraraka asked, sniffling a little.

"I'm at Hanta's house," he told her. " Is everyone there?"

"Yes, we're all here. We gathered after Bakugou disappeared a few hours ago. What happened, Uraraka? You sound like you've been crying."

Uraraka let out a small, choked noise, like she was holding back tears. " It's an emergency, Shou. You all need to get to Deku's dorm room, now ."

Shouto's heart dropped to his feet, alarm and dread filling every inch of him in an instant. "What's wrong? Is Midoriya alright?"

His mind flashed with images of his past, of walking in on his sister hurting herself after a particularly nasty fight, of hearing the wailing screams of his brother Natsuo after their oldest brother's suicide attempt. Before he could let his mind trail too far, Uraraka spoke again.

" He's... he's not physically hurt. Just please, everyone needs to get here right away. I can't explain over the phone. I'll see you soon." With that, she hung up, giving him no more information.

Shouto pulled the phone away from his ear and stared down at it, unsure of what to make of the call. Hanta pulled him out of it with a panicked expression. "What happened? Is Midoriya okay?"

"He's..." he tried, but words failed him. "I don't know. Uraraka said there was an emergency, and we all need to get to his dorm room right now."

In an instant, they were all on their feet, hurrying toward the door. None of them needed to say anything as they piled into Shinsou's car, the biggest of all of their vehicles. Silence permeated the air on the entire drive over to Midoriya's dorm building, anxiety nearly palpable in the air around them. They had no idea what to expect when they arrived, and despite being told that Midoriya wasn't physically harmed, Shouto still couldn't stop picturing images of him lying in his room with bloody wrists, or hanging from his ceiling. He squeezed his eyes shut to stop the images and took a deep breath to calm himself down. Hanta, who was sitting next to him, reached over and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.

Still, none of them said a word.

When they arrived, they all left the car in a rush and followed Shouto to the elevators that would take them to the floor Midoriya's room was on. It seemed to take ages, but when it finally stopped, Todoroki practically sprinted to the door with which his best friends were behind. He didn't even bother knocking before he ripped it open and rushed inside, his eyes doing a quick scan of the room to see if anything was out of place. Midoriya, Uraraka and Bakugou were all sitting on the ground leaning against Izuku's bed, each of their faces holding clear signs of distress and crying.

Everyone else filed into the room behind Shouto, taking in the scene like he was. Midoriya looked up at them, his red-rimmed eyes seeming far older than they had merely a week ago. The dread in Shouto's gut seemed to increase tenfold, despite knowing that Izuku hadn't hurt himself or done anything drastic.

"Hi, guys," he said quietly.