Mezo wished he could say that he had been blindsided by the reveal that Bakugou had once hurt Mido-Kun.
That he felt the same shock that Awa-Kun and Uki felt when Bakugou had brought them out to the woods and confessed everything to them.
And while he was surprised by the actual depth of the pain and torment that Bakugou inflicted upon Mido-Kun, Mezo wasn't at all shocked that Bakugou bullied him.
There had been some nagging doubt in the back of his mind since he first met Bakugou about how close he and Mido-Kun actually were.
Why hadn't they met Bakugou earlier with how much Mido-Kun talked about him before now?
Mido-Kun came up with a lot of excuses for why before, excuses that he could see through now that he knew the full context.
Bakugou was apparently in therapy and refusing to see Mido-Kun because it wasn't healthy for them.
Mido-Kun had just thought they were taking a break from each other after having been bound by the hip for years until he got a letter from Bakugou about their friendship.
A letter that had apparently forced Mido-Kun to re-evaluate his friendship with Bakugou without the rose-tinted view coloring it as much, Mido-Kun had to admit to himself that he had taken to lying to everyone including himself about how his relationship with Bakugou actually was.
But Mezo had suspected as much long before he met Bakugou in person that there was a reason they didn't talk, some kind of falling out of sorts when they were young considering most to of the stories that Mido-Kun told them was from when they were five.
He'd seen people drift apart once quirks came in, even if he didn't have friends before Mido-Kun, Mezo wasn't blind either and had seen the other kids he went to school with build and break friendships based upon their quirks.
It was stupid, but it happened. 'Villainous' quirked kids stuck together, and mutant-quirked kids had all sorts of cliques revolving around what their quirks made them look like.
Part of Mezo wanted to lie to himself and to think the reason that Bakugou was so abrasive, and crude was because of having to deal with the bigotry surrounding Mido-Kun since they were kids.
Having developed it to keep everyone away from him and Mido-Kun and just naturally defensive after all of these years.
However, Mezo was also ready for the less romantic and reality-based idea that Bakugou and Mido-Kun drifted ungracefully away from each other once Mido-Kun was announced to be a two-toes.
Kids were dumb like that, especially hot-headed ones that thought they had been betrayed, even if it was something completely out of anyone's hands.
Maybe some fighting between them over Mido-Kun's admittedly dangerous choice of job and charity in the red-light districts all over Japan if they had tentatively reconnected later when they were older and more mature than toddlers.
But not in his wildest of thoughts did Mezo think that Bakugou had hurt Mido-Kun enough to put him in the hospital.
He'd been angry at first, much like Uki had been, but after the initial rage simmered away, a very deep-seated concern had replaced it.
Mido-Kun had always brushed off a lot of the mistreatment he used to get, with a shrug of 'what can you do?' after his fear of interaction with people outside the districts faded away.
And Mido-Kun's surprising pain tolerance had come to his mind.
So, once he'd had a night to sleep on it, he asked Mido-Kun more about Bakugou, trying in some vain attempt to better understand why Mido-Kun still hung out with someone that he told them he'd steer his students away from in any other circumstance.
Mido-Kun's answers were enlightening as they were concerning, sometimes his answers were both but not always.
"My classmates used to leave red spider lilies on my desk when they knew Bakugou wasn't going to be early like usual," Mido-Kun told him one night and Mezo's heart almost fell out of his chest like a stone.
"I didn't mind that you know, they're actually my favorite flower because I can relate to them in a way. But I had to hide them in my backpack before Katsuki got there or he would have lost his mind and beat everyone in our class to hell and back." Mido-Kun continued to explain when he hadn't been able to choke out anything in response.
There had been a lot of comments like that in their late-night talks.
That made his concerns feel more real, but just as quickly as a troubling behavior was mentioned Mido-Kun followed up with something related to it that usually connected back to Bakugou in some way.
Even if Mezo didn't like the way Bakugou had reacted and treated Mido-Kun back then, he begrudgingly could see how Mido-Kun could twist and turn Bakugou's actions in a more thoughtful light.
Bakugou was like barbwire back then, Mido-Kun compared at some point during their conversations.
If I got too close or pushed him the wrong way he'd hurt me, but for as much as he hurt me, he ultimately kept me safe from people that were much worse.
Mezo couldn't help asking who could have hurt worse than Bakugou had, and Mido-Kun chuckled in a mirthless way some of the more jaded people in the apartments had.
"Emotionally, I don't know anyone but my mom who could have. Physically? Not by a long shot, you didn't think Katsuki was the only person that hurt me, did you?" Mido-Kun replied, in a voice that would have been light-heartedly teasing if Mezo didn't know that Mido-Kun was probably being one hundred percent serious as he said that.
When Mezo remained quiet Mido-Kun started to ramble on briefly naming some of the people that had struck out in his mind.
Most of Mido-Kun and Bakugou's classmates apparently 'knew' better than to mess with Mido-Kun physically unless they wanted Bakugou to swiftly turn on them for getting in the way.
Outside of their classmates though, Mido-Kun was basically free game to anyone that could recognize him as a two-toes because of his shoes.
A drunk that tossed a half empty bottle that left his back with cuts and broken glass in them, had been recounted with the same levity that Awa-Kun had when he told them about the little cut on his knee from trying to impress a girl with his non-existent skating skills before, they met the boy.
As was the girl with a strength quirk that would literally grab him by the hair and toss him around, a girl that did so without any care that if Mido-Kun didn't know how to tuck himself in right could have broken something if he landed wrong.
The said girl left the prefecture because Bakugou caught her doing that once and all but mauled her for it without using his quirk except to singe her hair, Mido-Kun did confess that Bakugou would have done more to that girl, but Mido-Kun had recovered enough to stop the fight from getting any worse than that.
Mezo hated hearing each story, for so many reasons.
The stories hadn't painted Bakugou to be a saint by any measure, he still sounded like he'd been awful to Mido-Kun most of the time.
But Bakugou was also the lesser of two evils at times when compared to the few stories of other people hurting Mido-Kun.
Unless Bakugou was in the middle of a fit or 'blackout' then the burns never went beyond first degree burns that could be treated with off the rack burn cream.
Punches hurt, but Bakugou was careful not to hit anywhere he knew Mido-Kun had been hurt bad recently.
The same 'care' was not shown to him from other people, such as intentionally spilling lemonade or other acidic drinks on him when they knew that he had cuts from one of the students that kissed up to Bakugou.
Mido-Kun bemoaned how he'd have to clean out those cuts in the bathrooms and hope he didn't get an infection from them doing that, while Mezo listened on in silent horror on the other end of the phone.
Because the more and more he learned of Mido-Kun's mistreatment before his mother found out, the more he wondered how Mido-Kun managed to be anything less than paranoid of the people around him.
If Mezo had been in Mido-Kun's shoes, then he would have run away years ago just to escape from everyone in his life and live under a rock or something to avoid people.
When he asked how his mom hadn't found out about the bullying Mido-Kun bashfully answered.
"Mom used to work at a hospital, kid's terminal ward and her quirk was great for helping with kids that couldn't have people in their rooms, so she worked a lot of back-to-back shifts so we would have to worry about money." Mido-Kun explained.
"So, most days she would be gone before I left for school and I'd walk with Bakugou, after school I'd have hours to hide or dispose of the evidence before she got home. With how tired she was it was easy to hide it most of the time, and I had her old medical books to learn how to patch myself back up with stuff I got with my pocket money." Mido-Kun further elaborated.
"I didn't feel good about it-I still don't... but I-I just couldn't let her know." Mido-Kun confessed shamefully.
Mezo wished he didn't understand Mido-Kun from that one justification alone.
But he did.
He had been bullied a lot for various reasons, and he never told his mom about it either, when she was working nights at seedy places before they moved it was easy to hide the bullying from his tired mom coming off of her night shift.
It was because of all of those resulting talks that Mezo told Mido-Kun he wouldn't mind if Bakugou had come to his birthday party and that he'd be coming regardless.
Uki had also come to celebrate despite Bakugou's presence, she had mainly ignored Bakugou for the couple of hours they had been there and focused on wishing Mido-Kun a happy birthday.
And it was a great party so far.
Any awkwardness was easily overlooked as everyone had just seemed to be having fun talking about what they had gotten up to during their break or getting wrapped up in the new board game that Awa-Kun bought for Mido-Kun that was full of Hero trivia.
As everyone was distracted with the game however, Mezo took the opportunity to sneak outside, dragging a surprisingly cooperative Bakugou along with him.
The sun had set an hour ago so the two of them stood out in the relative darkness, only able to see each other in the pleasantly cool night because of the not-too-distant streetlights.
"You got something to say to me or not?" Bakugou questioned after a minute, his arms crossed as he turned to Mezo, the bandage on his nose making his voice sound just a touch off key.
Mezo took a moment to just stare at Bakugou, then took a deep breath and he began to say his peace.
"I don't forgive you for what you did to Mido-Kun," Mezo told him, pausing to see what kind of response Bakugou would have.
"Good." was all the blonde said unwaveringly.
"I won't stop Mido-Kun from hanging out with you, or meeting with you myself, but don't think that means I'll will forget what you've done to him either." Mezo flatly said next.
Bakugou gave a tiny respectful nod to him "I wouldn't expect anything less." he told Mezo, relieved of all things.
Mezo paused to consider Bakugou again, whether he wanted to go through with the last part he thought of when he planned this confrontation with Bakugou.
Because for all intents and purposes, it looked like Mido-Kun was being honest about Bakugou wanting to change and have people there to hold him accountable.
As Bakugou moved to go back inside though his mind was made up, and Mezo grabbed Bakugou by the neck and slammed Bakugou's back to the wall of the apartment building.
Bakugou hissed and his hands went to Mezo's hand holding his neck and looking at him wearily.
But Bakugou made no move to call for help or even pry Mezo's hand off of his neck.
Mezo brought his free hand up to pull down his mask, and he revealed his bulky and uneven fangs as he leaned in to be almost nose-to-nose to Bakugou's face.
"If you ever hurt Mido-Kun like that again, I will make sure there won't be enough left of you to bury or burn." Mezo snarled, using his own voice, it was wispy, and his words cracked from his lack of using it.
"Am I clear?" Mezo questioned glaring down at Bakugou.
Bakugou stared at him then said "Crystal Eldritch fucker."
"Good." Mezo rasped then let go of Bakugou and he pulled his mask back up, he waited for Bakugou to get back to his feet, the boy rubbing his sore neck before following him inside.
"Hey, are you guys, okay? We heard a thump, and we were just about to come check on you." Mido-Kun asked concerned as he stood in the doorway.
Mezo paused, not wanting to lie to Mido-Kun but not wanting to ruin Mido-Kun's birthday either by telling him the truth that he had threatened Bakugou.
Bakugou though tsked, and then signed to Mido-Kun.
'That dumb alley cat the upstairs neighbors got ran pass us while we were taking a breather and I had to avoid the fucking demon.'
Mido-Kun relaxed and began to look over Bakugou's back until Bakugou flipped him and stalked back into the main area.
Mezo watched the two of them, momentarily forgotten as Bakugou and Mido-Kun bickered playfully.
He wasn't sure that he could be friends with Bakugou again.
But part of him wasn't as opposed to the idea as he previously was, if only because Bakugou was so willing to take the responsibility for what he had done.
Izuku, causally trauma dumping on his friend
Mezo, having an existential crisis in his bed over said trauma dumping
Katsuki with his broken nose and had to live through a lot of said trauma with Izuku/caused it: First time?