XXII

                                    

                                          
"... Hello?" A voice projected from the other side of the call, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"Tesaki?" Katsuki questioned, his heart heavy even as he recognized the voice of one of his friends from his previous school. 
"Katsuki?" Tesaki asked, his voice raising slightly as he smiled. "Man, it's been a while."
"Yeah..."
"... Are you okay?" 
Katsuki sighed. "Listen, I... I already tried to talk to Kemuri, but he's not answering his phone."
Tesaki was silent for a moment. "That's not out of the ordinary for him."
"Yeah, but... this is important."
"... What happened?"
Katsuki hesitated, looking over at Izuku. The other gave him a reassuring smile from his desk chair. Katsuki shifted as he sat on his bed, taking in a deep breath.
"It's about Tsubasa."
"Is... he okay?" Tesaki questioned. "I hope he's doing well."
"... He's dead."
There was silence.
"What?" Tesaki asked in a whisper. "But didn't he just transfer to another school?"
"I thought that too but... B-but..." Katsuki's voice shook. "For the past year and a half we've been fucking stupid!"
"How..." Tesaki's voice was quiet, almost breathless. "I-I just thought he got too busy to text or call..."
"I don't know," Katsuki forced out, his voice cracking as he teared up. "But he's a fucking nomu now. I don't even know which one! He's just... A brainless fucking..." He stopped himself, bringing a hand up to his face as he tried to compose himself. 
Neither of the two spoke for a moment. Izuku stood from the desk and moved over to the bed, silently sitting on the edge and meeting Katsuki's gaze. 
"... Tesaki," the blonde started after a moment.
"Yeah?" Tesaki's voice was still quiet. He tried to hide the tears but he couldn't, sniffling into the phone. 
"We should meet up... Us and Kemuri," he suggested. 
"... I agree," he replied. "But I haven't had contact with Kemuri for a week or so..."
Katsuki was taken aback, his eyes widening in worry.
"Kacchan, what if he..." Tesaki started, trailing off before he covered his mouth and let out a shaky breath.
"No," the blond replied, his voice rising. "You can't think like that!"
He looked up at Izuku when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The shorter looked at him, his eyes soft. 
"Kacchan, it'll be okay," he whispered. "I'm right here."
Some sadness within Katsuki melted away at the words, although he was still more upset than he'd let on. Tsubasa was a great friend. He was a good person. He didn't deserve this. Katsuki just stared at Izuku for a moment before sighing and glancing down.
"So we'll meet up soon," Katsuki said softly, calmer than before. "And we can talk about him."
"Yeah," Tesaki agreed. "I'll try to get Kemuri to answer his phone."
"Me too."
"Then I guess we'll see you soon, Kacchan."
"... Yeah. See you then, Tesaki."