Chapter 22

                                    

                                          



"What did you want to talk about, Ka--" He cut himself off, "Bakugou."
Jeez, haven't said that in a while. No wonder it sounded weird.
Midoriya and Bakugou stood in the now empty classroom. The greenette would've been going to lunch or somewhere quiet, but Katsuki, his childhood friend, had kept him back. He had asked to 'talk', whatever that meant.
"Look, De-- Izuku." He began, "I--.. I feel bad about everything."
Izuku looked at him skeptically, "So, you're apologising?"
"Yes." He confirmed, averting his eyes, "I'm sorry."
"Okay. I don't forgive you."
He looked into Izuku's eyes desperately, "Izuku, I said I'm sorry!"
He looked at him distastefully, "Yeah. And I do not forgive you."
"Look, I know I did some.. bad stuff--"
"BAD STUFF?!" He scoffed, "You bullied me relentlessly for years, Katsuki. All because I was quirkless. If you think a stupid sorry is going to fix things, I'd advise you rewire that brain of yours, because it's obviously not doing its job."
He got up from where he leant against the window. He was about to walk past Katsuki, leave him behind, when a strong force pushed him back towards where he stood seconds ago.
Bakugou stood in front of him, eyes filled with a type of desperation Izuku hadn't seen before.
"Please, Izuku." He pleaded, voice shaky as he spoke, "I-I know I caused you some, no, a lot of pain, but please. Give me a second chance."
Midoriya rolled his eyes, "I gave you chance after chance, Katsuki. Every time you would push me down or degrade me, I always convinced myself you would.." His eyes began to water, but he held it back, "That you would change your ways and come back to me. But, you never changed, and you never will. So just, leave me alone!"
He pushed past the blonde, tears brimming in his eyes as he left the classroom.


"That idiot!" Midoriya kicked the tree once again. He'd been resting here since he'd left the classroom. Yet, instead of resting, he was cursing Katsuki with every fiber of his being, "He thought a stupid sorry would fix, what? Twelve years of bullying? What a joke."
He decided to leave the poor tree alone, instead sitting at the bottom of the trunk. He glared angrily at the grass as if it was their fault he was frustrated.
Izuku, I said I'm sorry!
Look, I know I did some.. bad stuff--
Please, Izuku. I-I know I caused you some, no, a lot of pain, but please. Give me a second chance.
If a sorry could fix everything, the world wouldn't have villains.
"Hey, dude." He looked up, seeing a boy he recognized from class, "You alright? I saw you kicking the tree for a bit before zoning out here."
He sat down beside the greenette, and Izuku could see that, in his eyes, he really was concerned. He smiled warmly at Midoriya as he awaited an answer.
"Why are you talking to me? Aren't I a 'villain'?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"Well," He began, "I believe that you're a good person. I know you didn't want to attack us."
How did he--
He sat upright, "How do you know that?"
"You seemed kind of anxious to meet us. I could tell when you were standing in front of the class." He started looking around in the field, "I don't think blood-thirsty villains would be anxious to meet people they consider 'inferior'."
He chuckled, "I-I guess."
The blonde boy finally feasted his eyes upon something in the field, immediately reaching out to collect it. It seemed to be a flower of some sort, petals layered on top of each other as the shade of purple became more vibrant.
"What's that?"
He fiddled with the flower, "A purple zinnia flower. Did you know they originally bloomed in Mexico?" He asked, eyes lighting up as he smiled brightly, "Crazy, right?" He played around with it a bit more until, "Aha!"
He raised the flower, placing it in Izuku's hair. The greenette's cheeks became hot as he stared at his classmate. Of course, he was oblivious to the fact that Izuku was indeed, flustered by the action.
"Are you okay?" He asked, "Your face is kind of red."
He nodded, "Um, what's your name? I didn't catch it in class."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Denki Kaminari!"





Midoriya and Aizawa trudged along the path, neither one realizing how long of a walk it actually was. See, Izuku had never really been allowed to go to their back-up base so he wasn't totally sure where it was, which meant he didn't know how long it'd take to get there either.
You see, what happened was, was that after he and Kaminari had 'talked', he had asked the underground hero if he was allowed to see Shigaraki. Shota had allowed it if he agreed to wear a tracker and have the pro-hero in tow.
So now, Izuku and his teacher had been walking along street after street for the past twenty minutes or so. They'd stopped counting after three-hundred seconds.
"Kid, are you sure you know where you're going?" The ravenette asked, craving a cup of coffee already.
Izuku shook his head slowly, "They never allowed me to go to their back-up base, so I don't entirely have an idea of where exactly it is, but I know an area All For One kept taking Tomu to."
Shota sighed. Though, he felt bad for the child. Just days ago, he'd found out he was merely used as a playing piece on a chess board by All For One. And now, he was trying to find the people he'd considered family with absolutely no sense of direction. He couldn't imagine what was going through his head.
"Eraser, Eraser!" He exclaimed, "I can see it!" He began to pick up the speed.
"Slow down, kid. What can you see?"
Shota could hear the pure joy in the greenette's voice, "I can see the area where the base might be! I can finally see Tomu and Kuro and Dabi and Himi again!" He skipped along happily, having picked up one of Toga's many habits.
Izuku ran across the road towards the building across the street. Shota ran after him, "Kid, hey! Slow down, you're going to trip over something!"
Midoriya reached the door, Aizawa not far behind. Soon, the tired pro hero caught up, resting his hand on the child's shoulder to keep him in one place. Honestly, did this kid have another quirk he wasn't aware of or was he just naturally fast?
Izuku smiled brightly before raising his hand towards the door.