Chapter 6: Apollo's Love and Icarus' Fall
Izuku panted as he leaned against his knees, exhausted from running.
"Don't tell me that you're tired already," Kacchan laughed breathlessly, coming to a stop next to him.
"Oh, shut up," Izuku said, standing up and playfully swatting at Kacchan's shoulder. "We literally just ran 3 miles."
Kacchan laughed. "Yeah, you're right, let's head back to the dorms. We don't wanna be late for class."
Izuku shook his head as they began walking back to the dorms from the entrance of the school where they'd stopped their morning run. Aizawa and the other heroes and officers had cleared the dorm building within a few hours and they had all changed rooms that day as well. Now that he was on a floor with only his closest friends, he barely had to interact with the rest of the class anymore outside of actual classes. Those were, to be frank, quite miserable. Even in heroics, they would barely talk to him, only in the group pairings did anyone actually interact with him. And besides the students, All Might was now distancing himself as well.
"He's being an idiot, kid, don't worry about him," Fifth said.
"I can't wait to give him a piece of my mind," Seven added, anger clear in her voice. "I swear he used to be so much better than this."
"Izuku, are you okay?" Kacchan asked, stopping their walk as he moved to stand in front of the green haired boy.
Izuku's eyes snapped to the blonde and he put on a nervous smile. "Yeah, sorry, I'm fine."
"You're lying to yourself kid," Second countered.
"Shut up," Izuku said, cutting Kacchan off as he was about to respond.
"Oi," Kacchan said, tapping the side of Izuku's head lightly. "Leave the nerd alone for a minute so I can talk to him."
Izuku couldn't help the giggle that escaped him as the vestiges grumbled a bit, but eventually quieted. "They actually listened to you."
"Of course they did," Kacchan scoffed. "They know what's good for them. Now, tell me what's wrong."
Izuku looked up at the sky, wondering if he should really tell Kacchan how he was feeling.
"Trust him, he cares about you," First offered before disappearing again.
Izuku sighed. "Fine. I just feel like I'm cursed or something. No matter what I do, no matter my quirk status, everyone always finds a way to turn on me. Practically everyone that I thought were my friends won't make eye contact with me anymore and honestly? I'm scared. I'm scared that people will believe I'm the traitor and there's nothing I'll be able to do to stop it. I'm scared that I'll be arrested and I'll never get a chance to be a hero. I feel like I should have followed everyone's advice and dropped my dream of becoming a hero when I was diagnosed as quirkless at four years old."
Kacchan reached forward and pulled Izuku into a hug. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Izuku asked, sniffling as tears started falling down his face.
"That I treated you so horribly," Kacchan said, squeezing Izuku tighter as he went to counter the statement. "I did, don't deny it. I'm sorry that society is so fucked and that growing up was miserable for you. I'm sorry that our classmates are taking everything out of proportion and making an already stressful situation worse for you. You deserve to be happy," Kacchan said, dropping his face into Izuku's curls. "You deserve to be loved."
Izuku pulled his head back and looked Kacchan in the eyes, tears still falling. "Thank you Kacchan."
"You know I'd do anything for you right?" Kacchan asked, looking intensely into Izuku's eyes. "I just want you to be happy and to see your dream come true."
"What about your dream?" Izuku whispered.
Kacchan squeezed him a little tighter again. "My dream is the same as it was when we were in diapers, Zu. I want to become heroes together. To work to save as many as possible, together ."
"What are you saying Kacchan?" Izuku asked, tilting his head.
" He's admitting his feelings to you !" Seven squealed, the other vestiges quick to hush her. A deep blush bloomed across Izuku's face and a fresh wave of tears sprang from his eyes.
"I'm saying that I always want to be by your side, nerd," Kacchan admitted, gently wiping Izuku's tears away. "I'm saying that even when you're crying, you're beautiful. Your tears shine like a pearl in the ocean."
Izuku giggled, trying to hide his face but failing as Kacchan raised it back up to look at him. "You wouldn't see the pearl, Kacchan, you'd see the oyster and oysters are ugly."
"Let me by sentimental goddammit!" Kacchan huffed, squeezing Izuku's cheeks together. "You're beautiful Izuku and if you'll have me, I want to be your boyfriend, okay?"
" Say yes !" Yoichi shouted.
" Stop trying to push the aesthetic of our own relationship on the kid ," Second sighed.
" But it's too perfect! He and I are the green bois and you and Katsuki are the angry spiky bois ," First complained.
Second sighed again. " Do what feels right kid ."
The voices inside of his head quieted down and Izuku closed his eyes for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. When he finally opened them, Katsuki was looking at him nervously. "You know, I've had a crush on you since we were little."
Kacchan looked back and forth at Izuku's eyes. "Does that mean…?"
The tears finally stopped as Izuku leaned forward and kissed Kacchan's cheek. "I would love to be your boyfriend, Kacchan."
Kacchan shouted excitedly and picked Izuku up, spinning him once before kissing him as Izuku laughed.
Izuku managed to pull away just barely and lightly shoved Kacchan's shoulder. "Come on, we have to get back and change or else we'll really be late for class."
Neither of them could hide their wide grins as they headed back to the dorms hand in hand to go get ready for class.
Not 15 minutes later, found them in their seats in 1-A classroom, just before Aizawa walked in, gathering the attention from the class.
"Good, you're all here and quiet. Let's begin class, shall we?" Their teacher asked, moving to write on the white board. "There's a couple big tests coming up for you all, so I would spend homeroom wisely and use the time to study."
As Aizawa took a seat at his test and began grading papers, Shouto and Hitoshi came up to Kacchan and Izuku.
"What's with the tardiness?" Shouto asked as Kacchan turned around in his desk to face the trio.
"And the giddiness," Hitoshi pointed out with a smirk.
Izuku could feel his blush rising again as he hid his face in his hands. "Please."
"No, he has a point," Shouto said. "Even Kats has a blush."
"I asked the damn nerd out, he accepted," Kacchan snapped, though it was more out of embarrassment than anger. "End of subject."
Unfortunately for the new couple, it was the opposite of the end of the subject as they heard a small gasp and they all turned to see Mina staring at them from where she stood behind Hitoshi, clearly having been walking to Sero's desk. A look around the room showed Jirou and Shouji both looking at them in shock as well.
"Raccoon Eyes," Kacchan growled, getting up out of his seat. "Don't you dare say a damn word."
Mina's eyes were wide, as was her smile, but she still shook her head, confirming that she wouldn't say anything. The former Bakusquad were all watching the interaction with curiosity, as was Momo. Izuku sent her a look trying to convey that he would tell her later, which she thankfully caught on to as she nodded and grabbed her work, walking over to Jirou.
"What was that all about?" Sero asked Mina as she turned back to him.
Mina waved the boy off. "Nothing important, just got surprised when I heard Izuku's last test score."
The conversation thankfully turned away from their group as everyone refocused on what they had decided to spend homeroom doing, whether that was gossiping, catching up or getting ahead in homework, or studying for the tests as Aizawa had suggested.
"Are there any tests that any of you are worried about?" Shouto asked, drawing their attention back.
"Nah, I've been studying a shit ton, I just want a break," Hitoshi answered.
"Nerd's too smart and I study too much to be worried," Kacchan added.
"Unless you count dealing with our classmates as one of the tests, then I'm not worried," Izuku confirmed, laying his head down on the desk. He felt fingers card through his hair and he closed his eyes. It'd been about a week since his room had been trashed and they'd needed to completely rearrange the living situations in the dorms.
"Well, is there anything you particularly wanna do since interacting with the class isn't a test?" Hitoshi asked with a snicker.
Izuku looked up, finding it to be Kacchan's hand that was woven into his curls. He sent a smile at his new boyfriend before turning back to his friends. "Wanna play a game?"
"What would we even play, nerd?" Kacchan asked, detangling his fingers from Izuku's hair.
"I have a hanafuda deck in my bag," Shouto offered.
"Oh, I haven't played that in a while," Izuku said, finally sitting up.
"I'll go grab it," Shouto said with a nod.
"Grab your chair as well," Kacchan muttered, pulling out his phone. "You too, Eyebags."
"Yeah, yeah," Hitoshi said with an eye roll, walking back to his desk. "Whatever the almighty Kacchan says."
"Damn straight," Kacchan huffed.
Izuku chuckled as he laid his head back down onto the desk. Shouto and Hitoshi returned moments later, Shouto waving the card deck in front of Izuku's face in order to get him up.
Izuku groaned as he sat up fully, taking the deck out of Shouto's hands and beginning to shuffle the deck.
"What's got you so tired anyways?" Hitoshi asked as he sat in his chair.
"Run. Sleep," Izuku said, passing the shuffled deck back to Shouto.
"How much did you guys run this morning?" Shouto asked, turning to Kacchan as Izuku leaned against his hand.
"About 3 miles around the school," Kacchan said with a shrug, not looking up from his phone.
"Hey," Izuku said. Shouto and Hitoshi looked at him, then looked at Kacchan who hadn't looked up from his phone. He reached over and grabbed a card from the pile that Shouto was making for Kacchan, or at least that's what he assumed. He flicked the card forward and it pegged Kacchan right in the middle of the forehead, leaving a red mark behind and causing him to snap his head up.
"What the hell was that for?" Kacchan snapped.
Izuku raised an eyebrow at the explosive boy. "What's so important on your phone?"
"The Old Hag is hosting a show today, she wants us to come after school," Kacchan explained.
"Oh!" Izuku said, perking up. "It's been a while since I've seen Auntie."
"Does your mom know you're dating?" Shouto asked.
Kacchan winced. "Not yet."
"We can tell her tonight, together," Izuku said. "I'm sure I can redirect her… excitement."
Kacchan sent him a thankful smile. "Thanks, Zu."
"Okay, let's knock off the lovey-dovey crap and play the game," Hitoshi said, chuckling.
Shouto nodded in agreement causing Izuku and Kacchan to roll their eyes. Kacchan tossed the stray card back to Shouto who reshuffled and dealt out their hands and then the playing field.
"Everyone know how to play?" Shouto asked, looking up from the cards as he passed them out.
"Yeah, let's just get on with it," Kacchan said, waving his hand dismissively.
Izuku smiled and nodded and Hitoshi just shrugged. Deeming that all confirmation enough, Shouto goes first. He places one of the cards down in his hand, not having any matches with the field, then draws another card. Hitoshi, sitting to his right, goes next and the game continues.
Izuku had just placed down his last card, ending the game when the classroom door opened. Izuku doesn't pay much attention as he places the pair he'd made into his point pile.
"Midoriya Izuku, you're going to have to come with us," a voice says, causing his group's attention to snap towards the people that'd entered the classroom, shattering the peaceful atmosphere of the classroom.
"You are interrupting my class," Aizawa says, standing and moving to be in their way of reaching Izuku, who is staring at the men with wide eyes. Four men, one dressed in a neat suit and the others wearing the HPSC officer uniforms. "State your business."
"We are here to collect one Midoriya Izuku on the offense that he is the UA traitor," the man in a suit replied.
"He's not the damn traitor!" Kacchan shouted, grabbing Izuku's hand as he stood up.
Izuku just squeezed his hand back as he continued watching. His throat was closed and even if he did want to say anything, he didn't think he would be able to.
"And you decided to choose the day that Detective Naomasa left on a mission to come arrest him?" Aizawa asked with a glare. "What convenient timing."
"Don't say anything," Hitoshi whispered to him. "They can use anything you do or say against you."
"You'll have to come in for questioning, young man," the suit man continued, ignoring Aizawa. "You do not have a choice."
"We'll find a way to prove them wrong," Shouto offered, laying a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "We'll get you out."
"I don't know if you can," Izuku replied with a small smile towards his friends. He stood up and turned Kacchan to face him. Kacchan's face was filled with vengeance and anger. Izuku raised a hand and put it on his boyfriend's cheek. "I'll be fine, Kacchan."
"And if you're not?" Kacchan whispered. "We all know the HPSC doesn't have the most humane procedures."
Izuku smiled again. "I believe in myself, okay? So, please, believe in me too."
Kacchan nodded and turned his face to press a kiss into Izuku's palm. "Just come back to me, we haven't even had our first date."
Izuku chuckled. "We'll have to make it grand after all of this."
"Kid," Aizawa cut in, regret clear in the lines of his face. "You have to go with them, but we will be looking into this."
Izuku nodded and gave a small smile to his teacher. "I know, Sensei. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me as much as you have the past few months. You're the first teacher to ever treat me as if I can actually be a hero." He gave a little laugh, though there was no humor behind it. "Actually, you're the first adult to treat me as a human being."
Aizawa winced at that, but wasn't able to respond before Izuku walked past him and up to the man in the suit, who started reading his rights. One of the officers placed quirk canceling cuffs on him and then they led him out, through the school building and off campus to the awaiting patrol car. Izuku didn't say a word the entire time, following the process and hoping they would realize the truth soon enough.
Midoriya Izuku was not the traitor.