Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku knew there was a community center a few city blocks away from Aldera Middle with some pretty strong anti-discrimination policies, but it just… he knew by now those policies never lasted long. It didn’t mean he couldn’t still enjoy what they had while it lasted! If he ever got the time to swing by he really wanted to! But with Kacchan and school and Mom starting a new job he just never got around to it— 

“Get back here you stupid Deku!” 

Izuku skidded out of the alleyway seconds before the explosions burst behind him and he scrambled to get back to his feet. The heat from the blasts actually helped him run away this time! Crazy right? 

“Stupid bitch! Get back here!” 

“No thanks!” He screeched with a manic grin on his face, already calculating the quickest way out from the back of his school. It would really suck if he got lost! He finally popped out on the main street he usually took home — the light at the end of his tunnel!

“DEKU!”  

On second thought maybe he should go a different way today. He took off in the opposite direction and even though the sounds of the blasts had gotten quieter, he didn’t stop until he’d ducked into the chain link fence of… Oh hey! That’s the new community center! Awesome!

“Oi deku! Where the fuck did you go!” 

“Eep!” Izuku ran from the yard to the entrance, thankful to find a receptionist there, as well as a couple other people he didn’t recognize — great! They wouldn’t know he was quirkless. 

“Good afternoon! How can I help you?”

Oh I’m just here to explore—

“I’m running away from my bully!”

He stopped in his tracks. That is very much not what he meant to say! 

“I’m running…” for fun. “—away from—” Kacchan! “—the person who bullies me.” He opened his mouth again but had a feeling it was useless to try. “Wow. Okay, not what I meant to say.”

The receptionist sighed wearily. “Yeah I know. That’s my quirk, sorry kiddo.” 

Izuku lit up. “Ohmygosh, really?!? That is such a cool quirk! How does it work? Is it an area if effect or just someone you focus on or does it only effect people that are lying to you specifically or in general and have you ever used it against someone that was trying to hurt you? I bet that would be amazing to use in hero work or at the very least in the police force—”

“Another fanboy huh?” The receptionist — a really tired middle aged lady with librarian glasses — pushed her glasses up and stood. “Quick summary: I have an area of effect quirk that makes people speak the truth about their situation or intent no matter their willingness. No it would not work well with law enforcement since everyone bluffs and yes I have used it to protect myself. Let’s get you hidden somewhere safe, ‘kay?”

Izuku nodded, satisfied with the information he’d gotten — and without getting told off for rambling! Awesome!

“Wait, how do I know you can trust you?”

Outside he heard screaming and explosions so he really shouldn’t be pushing away any chance of escape — but his mom had told him not to go anywhere with a stranger he didn’t know.

The librarian receptionist lady sighed again. “Because I’m being— worried— shit I hate this quirk.” She backpedaled. “Okay, I can’t do any of this comforting stuff the right way because my stupid ass quirk won’t let me give placating lies. Kid, your sleeve is burning, you’ve got a black eye that makes your eyebags even worse than I hope they are, I’m pretty sure that’s blood leaking out your ear, and there’s obviously someone searching for you outside. I’m worried alright? And I just told you my quirk doesn’t fucking let me lie.”

Fair enough. “Still don’t trust you.”

“You can just hide behind my desk if that’s better.”

Outside the screams got louder. Turning around showed flickering lights not too far away.

“Fucking Deku GET BACK HERE!”

Turning back around, Izuku smiled brightly. “Okay! I’ll follow the weird stranger lady and hope nothing goes wrong!”

She groaned. “Just because you can’t lie doesn’t mean you have to be brutally honest.” Still she let him duck behind the desk she was still standing behind and started typing away at her computer. Izuku had the hardest time trying not to laugh when he saw her playing Geometry Dash on her computer but he managed somehow. 

Or maybe it was just hearing Kacchan’s voice that made him freeze up that made him not laugh. 

“Oi! Librarian Lady! You seen a wimp come through here?!” 

Shit shit shit she can’t lie—

“Only wimp I’ve seen is you kid,” the lady said without missing a beat on her game. “Unless you’re talking about the landlord, in which case I should tell you that yes he is cheating on his wife and he’s too fucking scared of both his wife and the mistress to do shit about it.” 

He could hear Kacchan sputter from the emotional whiplash of those completely incorrect truths! Well, Izuku didn’t know about the landlord but still! Kacchan wasn’t a wimp!

He almost said that too, but then Kacchan said something crazy. 

(Crazy? I was crazy once—)

“Fine! Have you seen a stick figured kid that’s too fucking smart for his own good?” 

The lady paused her game to put a hand on Izuku’s head, which was crazy because how did she know he was about to bolt before he did?! He needed to see Kacchan’s face! Was he shocked about that truth — no, no way, that was a lie! — or was he begrudgingly reluctant of it?! He wanted to see!!! He was gonna go crazy if he didn’t see!

(—they locked me in a room, a rubber room—)  

“I’ve seen lots of skinny kids walk through here since it is a community outreach center. Why do you want to see this kid so badly?” 

“I’m gonna fuck him up—” Kacchan made a strangled sound. “What the fuck.”  

“Ah yup. Gonna need you to leave kid. We don’t allow fighting indoors.” 

(—a rubber room with rats. And rats make me crazy!)  

“That’s crazy! I ain’t gonna fight him—” Kacchan made that weird noise again. “—because he never fights back— okay what the fuck is going on here?!”

“Quirk use. Please leave.” 

“You— You can’t use quirks on someone without their permission!” 

“In a private residence I sure can. Get out please.” 

“Fuck you!” 

Izuku was shocked to hear the doors slam shut just a few moments later. He stared up at the lady, slack-jawed, as she just went back to her Geometry Dash level. This lady was a hero!  

“You can come out now. I think he’s gone.” She glanced down at him with an almost blank look that still seemed a little worried. “You can stay if you want though. There might be some snacks in the bottom drawer over there.” 

Izuku nodded quietly but didn’t move to get a snack. Now that he was kinda sorta almost safe, he was starting to hear a ringing in his right ear and wow, yeah, his sleeve did look kind of scorched. He thought he got rid of that at lunchtime though? Oh wow, flashing lights? That’s cool. 

He didn’t really notice that his head was drooping forward until the lady appeared and helped him sit back up. “Hey kid. Stay awake here. Can you give me a guardian’s number? Mom or dad? Grandpa? Weird wine aunt?” 

“Mom’s number… oh yeah…” He pulled out his phone, whined when he saw the cracked screen — aw darn, he’d already had to pay for repairs twice that week! — and managed to pull up his mom’s contact info. 

“Kid? Hey kid! Stay…” 

“Izu…”

“…at the center…” 

His head was really hurting, but he didn’t think he could keep running too long though, not after already having to deal with Kacchan at lunch! He dove out a window — what the heck, since when did he defenestrate himself? — and there was this really weird music track playing while he was running through a back alley. 

In the eyes of a teenage crystallized
Oh, the prettiest of lights

The alley got darker and darker the longer he ran, jumping over random trash in the alleyway until he was suddenly running through the halls of Aldera all over again. No matter where he ran, how fast he ran, he was stuck stuck stuck—

They hang the hallways of the home
And the cries from the strangers out at night

The explosions were getting bigger. The lights were brighter and the heat was all-encompassing. There was laughter everywhere, echoing and screeching and cackling and pointing at him because he was a stupid fucking loser

They don’t keep us up at night
We have the curtains drawn and closed

He tripped. He put his hands out to catch himself and—

He jerked awake but managed to keep himself quiet. He hated it when he accidentally screamed and his mom had to come in and help him get back to sleep. 

We all are living in a dream
But life ain’t what it seems
Oh, everything’s a mess

Oh, someone was singing. That made so much more sense actually. Izuku had never heard the song before so he thought it was weird that his brain would make it up just for a silly nightmare. 

And all these sorrows I have seen
They lead me to believe
That everything’s a mess

But I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream

“Your voice is pretty.” 

He heard some shuffling somewhere to his right and he looked over to realize there was a curtain there. Huh. Interesting. 

Wait, where was he?? He was warm because he was wrapped in cushy blankets, not because Kacchan was chasing him. And yeah, it was kind of dark here but it was only because the little lamp on the corner was at a nice dim glow. It looked a little weird for a room that was mostly barren and white — oh, was this a nurse’s office? — but it did make it seem warmer. 

“Fuck off,” the nice voice muttered. 

“No, I mean it! Except for the fact it got into my dream somehow it was pretty awesome! Like, your voice is kinda cracky because I’m guessing you’re a teenager — me too actually! — but like, sometimes you sang kinda higher pitched and it made the song seem more stressed like you needed to get it out but then it’d get really deep and it was like listen to this, you’ll feel better and—I dunno, that’s pretty cool I guess.” 

Ahhhh shoot. Why did he keep rambling today? Normally he knew better and kept his mouth shut! 

“S-Sorry. You probably didn’t want to hear that whole… mess.” 

Behind the curtain, someone rustled what sounded like paper. “…thanks. For the compliment.”

“Hey, uh, where am I?” 

“Dunno. Haven’t really explored this place yet.” A chair scraped across the floor and Izuku guessed the person was standing. “Bye.” 

“Uh, bye?” 

A door shut and Izuku was left — presumably — alone. He was kinda sad but oh well. He should probably get home soon anyways. 

He sat up only to see dark spots swimming in his vision and he promptly collapsed again with a groan. Aw shoot. This sucked. 

“Izuku?” 

He grimaced. “Hey Mom.” 

“Oh dear! How long have you been awake, sweetheart?” His mom appeared over him and started fretting with the bandage over his eyes — eye, no, ear — with dried tears and a worried expression. “Kayako-san told me you came in all bruised up and running away from someone before you collapsed. She said she tried keeping you awake but asked you for my number. I came as soon as you — she? — called but you were already asleep at that point. She told me I’m supposed to wake you every few hours just to keep you safe but, oh, you looked so hurt I just— I couldn’t wake you up so soon.” 

Izuku managed to shift over enough that his mom could sit beside him, and tried to push down the smile that threatened every time she ran a hand through his hair. He was a teenager! He wasn’t supposed to still like his mom doing that! 

“I’m sorry, but I think I fell asleep too. How long have you been awake?” 

He closed his eyes as she kept tugging softly on his curls. “Just a few minutes. Someone was singing I think.” 

“Oh, that’s nice. Kayako-san told me there’s a music room next door and that they have a few students that come in and out. I’m sorry I missed it.”

“It’s fine! I think he was a little embarrassed when I said I liked his voice.” 

She giggled. “Did you give him an analysis of his singing?” 

“Maybe.” His face heated up but he refused to stick to the conversation. “What time is it?” 

“A little after seven.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Her hand paused. “Why would you be sorry?” 

“You don’t get off work until eight or ten most days and you just got your job! I’m sorry you had to leave early for me.” 

“Aw, Izuku dear, I don’t mind at all! I’m really just shuffling papers around so it’s really no problem. I’d much rather spend time with you.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Izuku couldn’t help but feel better at that. “Now, I have one really important question for you.” 

His stomach dropped. “Yeah?” 

“Was… Who was chasing you today?” 

“Oh, just some—” kids at school. He sighed. Kayako-san — he was guessing that was the cool librarian receptionist lady — wasn’t around so he could probably lie if he wanted to. He always did. So why did he suddenly not want to? “Promise you won’t be mad?” 

His mom’s eyebrows lowered, but she nodded. 

“Kacchan’s been… He hits me sometimes. I think today was a bad day for him.” 

Her hand froze and Izuku wished he could melt into the couch and blankets beneath him. 

“Bakugou. Katsuki?” Her voice was oddly strained, which really just made the sinking feeling in him worse. 

“…yeah?” 

His mom smiled sweetly. “I know his parents. This should be fixed really soon, ‘kay Izu?” 

He nodded. What the heck. Why are my ‘panic’ senses going off? She’s perfectly safe?!?!  

“And one more thing, Izu?” She leaned down and gave him another peck before whispering venomously, “Next time, punch him in the nuts.”  

“What the heck Mom!” 

Chapter Text

Kacchan had been staring at him all day. Before class, in between periods, at lunch, during class, after school on their way home…! Izuku thought his mom promised it would get better! This was not better! Waiting for Kacchan to come beat him up some days was the worst part of the school day, but this! This was worse. 

Anyways that’s why he decided to go back to the community center instead of going home. The absolute worst place he could think of getting beaten up was on the way home! And he didn’t want that so he went to the last place that actually offered him protection — the community center. The lady had been really helpful when he’d fallen unconscious last week. 

A smaller part of his mind told him it couldn’t last but he ignored it.

Ah, sorry, we didn’t— we didn’t know you were, y’know… 

Oh, you’re still… here? Right, let me… let me get your order for you…

Quirkless??? That’s real? Oh my god, are you contagious?!

The librarian receptionist lady was there when he arrived and she even paused her game for him. Izuku beamed. 

“Ahh, greenie.”

His smile faltered. “Huh?” 

“I didn’t get your name last time so I’ve been calling you Greenie. Sorry.” He blinked at her as she stood and walked around her desk to lock the door. She noticed his quizzical look. “Right, sorry, you’re new here. I lock the front door if no one’s there to watch it. There are… some runaways here, and I like making it harder for their stalkers to find them.” That wasn’t comforting. “There’s a couple exits through the gym and the medical area, and I’m pretty sure most of the other rooms have thin enough windows to break through if you need a quick escape.” 

“Does that happen often?!” Izuku squeaked. 

She grimaced. “Mayb— Yes. A lot. Anyways, let me give you a tour real quick. This way, Greenie.” 

“Yes, because following an adult I barely know is safe.” Izuku nodded as he followed her further into the community center. “Perfectly rational.” 

She groaned. 

As she showed him around, she introduced herself as Kayako Seiko, one of the cofounders of the Musutafu Community Center. She said she used to work in some kind of public service organization for the government but that she left when she heard about some secret underground project she didn’t agree with. She and her wife — Izuku had never actually met someone that was out like that! — wanted to do more to help the community so they moved back home and opened the center for anyone to use. There was a library with computers, a pool that was closed for the season, an indoor basketball court with a bunch of tables and chairs out for an Uno tournament, and an extra meeting room that was often split into a bunch of smaller rooms for studying or instrument practice or — as Izuku was apparently being teased for — as rooms for people to collapse in when they had a serious medical issues they didn’t want to go to the hospital for. 

“It was just a concussion! My mom checked me out and everything so I’m fine!”

“Mhmm,” was all Kayako-san said.

They ended up in a study room with a couple other kids all in different school uniforms. Izuku was pleased to note that there also appeared to be a tutor who was walking around in case anyone needed help. 

“Hey Greenie?” Kayako-san ruffled his hair to get his attention again. “I want you to come find me if you need anything, okay? You’re safe here and if anyone gives you trouble I’ll do my best to help.” 

Izuku found himself believing her. She had helped him and his mom after all, what else did she need to do to earn his trust. 

“Thank you, Kayako-san.”

She nodded and left him to his own devices. Izuku quickly found a half-empty table in the corner of the room where he pulled out his homework and hero notes. 

On second thought, he’d leave his hero notes put away. Wouldn’t want to be seen as creepy. They’ll all think I am though, it just takes time. 

About halfway through re-copying his literature notes (he always made extras in case Kacchan blew them up), he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He immediately sat up straight, just to catch someone with dark eyes staring at him from across the room.

Now normally Izuku would be laughed at and the conversation would move on around him. He just would look away — or run away, depending on who was staring at him — and try to ignore what was going on around him, but this guy didn’t do any of that. He just stared back with a familiar look of weary fear. It was kinda uncomfy. 

They broke eye contact at the same time and went back to their homework. It was harder to focus this time, but eventually Izuku was able to get back into the pattern of the scritch scratches as he rewrote his essay. 

Izuku glanced at the guy a few more times — wow, was he trying to be purple coordinated? — and pretended he didn’t see the other guy doing the same thing when he wasn’t looking. What was his deal?

“Hey, is that precalculus?” 

Izuku flinched as he realized he’d left his math homework out. He reached out to snatch it back up but forced himself to freeze when he saw his table mate had already taken it. The table mate had a tail mutation quirk, but at least Izuku didn’t recognize his uniform. He probably didn’t know Izuku. 

“Have you done the rotary graphs or whatever they’re called?” 

Izuku hesitated. “Uhm, p-polar coordinates?” 

“Yeah, those. Do you think you could help me?” 

Izuku nodded again. “S-Sure. What’s confusing you right now?” 

“Everything,” Tail Guy deadpanned. “I thought I’d only have to deal with the rectangle graphs this year, what the fuck is this?” 

Izuku giggled. “Just wait ‘til you see the parametrics!” 

“God no, I don’t even know what that is.” Tail Guy grimaced. “Just help me with this one please. You’d be my savior.” 

Izuku laughed a little more. “Sure! Let’s see, do you understand how…” 

Purple Guy kept glancing at Izuku throughout the study time and he determinedly ignored it. Other than having to ask the tutor a question neither of them could understand, the rest of the study session went pretty well. It was dark by the time Izuku left with — get this — Ojirou’s number in his phone. Izuku made sure to get his mom and himself some from dinner on the way home but — holy shit! Izuku might have made a friend! That was his age too! 

— 

He woke up screaming. He didn’t know what he was saying or where he was but all he knew was that he couldn’t stop screaming. 

I’m sorry! He wanted to say. I’m sorry! But the screaming was all that came out. Don’t hurt me!

“Someone shut him up!” A voice hissed. “We’re gonna get another sound complaint!” 

His mind was still stuck somewhere dark and loud and painful—

Somebody put a hand on his shoulder — he screamed louder — and forced him to put his head between his knees. It was harder to breathe that way but… The screaming couldn’t keep going when he was forced to focus on his breathing like that. He was only panting now, don’t mind the tears, and maybe he could see some shapes in the darkness. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re at the community center.” 

He nodded from where he was between his knees. His breath was still shaky. 

“Do you know where you are?” The hand on his shoulder had started rubbing circles across his back, and Izuku found himself relaxing into the motion. He shook his head. “You’re at the Musutafu Community Center.” 

Right. His mom was still at work and he didn’t want to be at home. He must have stayed late again, except this time Kayako-san had pulled out blankets and a pillow for him before showing him to the re-purposes meeting room where a dozen or so other people were crashing for the night. He’d been put in the group with middle and high schoolers. 

“What time is it?” He whispered. 

“It’s nearly ten,” the voice said. Izuku thought it sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it. “Kayako-san said your mom was working late, remember?” 

“R-Right. Sh-She got a new job.” 

“That’s nice. Where does she work?” 

“Musutafu General Hospital. I think she said she was the receptionist.” 

“Cool.” The voice suggested it didn’t care at all. Maybe they were just trying to get Izuku’s mind out of its panic. “Are you okay to try sleeping again?” 

Izuku took a deep breath. He was surprised to feel it come pretty steadily even though he felt like he’d been running for hours. Could he sleep even with his heart still hammering in his chest? “No.” 

“That’s okay.” The voice was quiet for a moment. “When does your mom get off?” 

“Sometime between eight and ten. It changes a lot. She’ll be here before eleven at least.” 

“Okay. Do you want to go sit outside and let the others sleep?” 

Izuku nodded. Right, he kept forgetting that there were others here. He’d actually forgotten where he was. That… That had been terrifying to wake up to. 

Oh god, that was embarrassing. How many people had he woken up?

“Do you need help standing up?” 

Izuku shook his head. He could do this, all he had to do was unclench his muscles. It took a lot more effort than it should have. 

Somehow he managed to get himself to crawl to a standing point and remember how to walk again. The person — he still couldn’t see them that well, but they had a serious case of bedhead — helped him gather his stuff up and together they made their way out of the repurposed meeting room. 

It felt like the world had shifted outside in the yellow light of the hall. What were they called, liminal spaces? Either way, he felt a lot lighter. Less stuffy. 

The person that had helped him earlier cleared their throat. “Uh, Midoriya, right?”

Oh, they were that person that had been staring at him all week. Dark purple eyes, darker eyebags, and hair that couldn’t decide if it wanted to die from hair dye (ha-ha, get it) or look like the softest thing on Earth. The person couldn’t be more than a year older than Izuku. Maybe a year younger? The light was playing tricks on his brain. He rubbed at his eyes. 

“Um, y-yeah, that’s me.”

“Shinsou Hitoshi.” Huh. “Are you alright? Did you… Did you want to talk about your nightmare?”

Oh. They were asking if Izuku was… okay? 

“‘M fine,” Izuku hummed as he kept rubbing his eyes. The light was really weird. To be honest, he couldn’t even remember the nightmare anymore. He just woke up screaming. 

The purple person gave him an assessing look. “You sure? I haven’t got anything else to do.”

“M-Mom will be here soon. I’ll wait for her in the lobby.”

“I’ll walk with you.” 

“You really don’t have to—”

“Shut up, I’m coming with you.” Izuku flinched and Shinsou amended his statement. “I’ve got insomnia. I won’t be going back to sleep anytime soon anyways.”

“Okay…”

Izuku let them lead the way. He was too tired to really consider what was going on anyways. Maybe he should have grabbed the blankets from before, it was kind of cold. Where’d he put his stuff again? Oh, right, Kayako-san had put it behind her desk for him to get when he left. 

Eventually he and Shinsou were sitting on some benches in the front room of the community center with a pretty clear view of the reception area. Kayako-san (the wife this time) had some kind of art tablet hooked up to the computer and had some music playing softly. 

Shinsou was humming the song under his breath and his… His voice was really deep. Like, Izuku kept thinking it was machinery, kind of deep. He was almost jealous. His own voice tended to crack every time he opened his mouth. 

Here was a prime example: “What’RE you humming?” Aw shoot. That was embarrassing. Not enough to wake him all the way up, but enough that he could feel his face heating up. 

Shinsou paused. Izuku couldn’t tell what emotion was on his face though. Hopefully he wasn’t laughing at Izuku. 

“…Cavetown.”

“Mm.” Izuku slumped back on the bench. “Gay.”

“Hey—”

“Shh, me too,” Izuku muttered through the haze of his mind. Wow, maybe Shinsou had some kind of sleep quirk. They must have one if Izuku was already halfway to falling asleep again. “Keep humming?” 

And then he slumped into Shinsou’s side, too tired to think about how awkward the position was when he was just a little too cold to be comfortable. He also liked the song, so he could probably make up some kind of excuse if he ever woke up from his likely death from embarrassment. 

So Lemon Boy and me, we just gotta get along together
I helped him plant his seeds
And we'll mow the lawn in bad weather
It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him
So, I got myself a citrus friend…

His mom came at some point later in the night to pick him up. He didn’t remember much more than giving Shinsou a really weak side hug before his mom was suddenly bustling him up the rickety staircase of their apartment building and into his bed. He’d fallen asleep in the car, hadn’t he?

But what if I run out of fertilizer?
What if the clouds run out of rain?
What if Lemon Boy won't grow no longer?

“Is Kacchan a Lemon Boy?” 

His mom giggled as she finished tucking him into bed. He felt so small. Safe, but small. “He is pretty bitter. Is there another meaning for the word that I don’t know?” 

Izuku shrugged and turned in his bed. “I dunno. It’s a funny thought though.” 

She pressed a kiss to his temple and he fell back asleep. 

—

“Deku.” 

Izuku froze halfway through packing away his notebooks. The rest of the class was still heading out but all the help he got were pitying looks. He distantly heard himself whimper. 

The class was gone for a while before either of them moved again. Izuku kept glancing at the clock. Tick, tick, tick…

Kacchan picked up one of the notebooks that was left on his desk and started leafing through it. It was probably the loudest sound Izuku had ever heard, but Izuku didn’t even try to protest. His entire body was still frozen in fear of what might happen. 

“These drawings suck.” 

Izuku squeaked. “Wh-What?” 

“These suck.” Kacchan threw his hero notes journal back down on the desk, without scorch marks for once. “Your proportions are off.” 

“Oh! W-Well, uhm, I really just traced a base from the internet—” 

“Do better.” 

“O-Okay.” 

Kacchan kept staring him down. Izuku kept trying not to shrink away. He took back everything he said about having to wait for the beat up to happen — this was way worse, whatever it was. 

Kacchan looked away first. “Ma wants you guys over for dinner Friday.” 

Izuku just blinked. What. 

“It’s—It’s fine if you don’t wanna come though,” Kacchan continued while staring down at his shoes. “She said— Well, she didn’t have to tell me anything because I already know I fucked up. A lot.” 

Yeah you did, Izuku doesn’t say because he’s still terrified out of his mind and this was not a Kacchan he understood nor recognized. 

Kacchan kicked his desk leg really, really lightly, almost like he was awkward. “I… Yeah.” 

“Okay.” 

Kacchan kept staring at the floor. After another moment he finally stood up straight again. “I’m not gonna apologize.” 

“I wasn’t expecting you to.” 

Kacchan flinched. “Well, that ain’t… That ain’t what I meant. I’m not gonna apologize ‘til I think I mean it.” 

Izuku stared at him for a second, still wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. When he realized it wasn’t… He didn’t know what to think. Kacchan just gave him an awkward nod before he went back to his desk to grab his bag. He hesitated at the door. 

“Are ya comin’ to dinner?” 

Izuku vaguely shrugged. “I’ll… I’ll tell Mom.” 

“‘Kay.” Kacchan hesitated a little longer and then he was gone.