9

 shoulders in an attempt to make himself a smaller target. As he predicted, the news that he got into UA had spread like wildfire since yesterday, though Izuku didn't know if that was Katsuki's fault or the principal's. The moment he'd arrived, Izuku had felt dozens of eyes on him and even now after half a day, his classmates just wouldn't stop staring. Some seemed angry, like Katsuki, but most simply thought he was lying for attention. 

"Worthless Deku. He's just gonna drag UA down."

"Do you actually think he got in? Someone in my science class said it'd be possible to forge an acceptance letter if you were stupid enough to try."

"Even if he did get in, it's not like he's gonna stay there, right? UA is for the best and the brightest, so I bet they'll expel Deku on the first day."

Izuku actually kind of wished they'd actually say what they wanted to his face instead of whispering it as he walked by. It wasn't like they didn't know he could hear him, so really, it'd just be easier if they were upfront about it, if only so Izuku didn't have to feign ignorance. Maybe part of the reason Mei was so easy to be friends with was because she was so upfront about things. She might have a weird way of saying things, but Izuku was almost certain that she'd never lie to him, even to spare his feelings. If he asked her, she'd most likely say something about incorrect data making for bad inventions, but at least Izuku could trust her. Probably. 

Izuku sighed in relief as he walked out the front doors, grateful to finally be away from his classmates. It was only a couple more days until the end of the school year, and then he'd start UA with Mei, so he could handle it until then. He could handle it. He'd already gone through so much worse. 

He didn't run into any hero fights on his way home, so maybe he wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been and it came as a surprise to him when he turned a corner only to see Katsuki leaning against the wall, backed by two of his cronies. When Katsuki saw him, his eyes narrowed, but he didn't explode. Izuku froze momentarily before forcing himself to relax. It wasn't his fault that Katsuki was mean, he just had to keep reminding himself of that. 

Katsuki pushed himself off the wall and glowered at Izuku, "Where the fuck did you go yesterday, you damn nerd?"

Izuku did his best to channel his inner Mei as he responded, "I went home, Katsuki. That tends to happen after one gets cornered behind the school, but of course, you wouldn't know a thing about that, would you?"

He was prepared to dart away the moment Katsuki's cronies gave him an opening, but they were flanking him on either side and Katsuki himself was blocking his way forward. Izuku had been expecting him to explode at his last comment, but to his surprise, Katuski was quiet. It was terrifying. Izuku knew how to deal with a screaming Katuski, he even knew how to deal with an exploding Katsuki, even if that almost always ended up with him getting hurt, but this? This was new. 

It wasn't that Katsuki wasn't angry, but that anger was simmering beneath the surface in a type of cold rage and some other emotion Izuku couldn't place. Maybe confusion? Was Katsuki confused about Izuku talking back to him? Or maybe he didn't understand why he'd gone home yesterday? There wasn't much point in thinking about it right now, because ultimately, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Izuku got away from here before he got hurt again. 

"Well," Izuku forced a wobbly smile onto his face, trying his best to imitate Mei's confidence, "um, if that's all you wanted to ask me, then we should all probably be getting home."

Katsuki looked at him intensely for a moment before scoffing, "So, are you some sort of shitty inventor now or something?"

It took Izuku a moment to realize that Katsuki was talking about the support course. Of course, he'd made the same assumption that Izuku had at first, but he didn't really know if it was smart to let Katsuki know anything more than he had to about his new dream, "What's it to you? You're going to be a hero, Katsuki, I'm not. Isn't that good enough for you?"

"I told you not to apply!" Katsuki growled. 

Izuku felt a swell of anger and recognized the feeling from his phone call with Mei yesterday. It wasn't his fault that Katsuki was a jerk, so it wasn't his responsibility to avoid setting him off, "I'm not one of your cronies, Katsuki. You don't control me."

A few small explosions popped in Katsuki's hand, but instead of being afraid, all Izuku could think about was the fact that Mei had apparently accidentally blown up her phone at least once. Hope mingled itself with the anger. Maybe if he hung around her enough, explosions would take on a different meaning. Maybe eventually, he'd come to associate them with friendship and acceptance, rather than disappointment and pain. 

Izuku squared his shoulders, "Katsuki…"

"What the fuck is up with that, Deku?" Katsuki inturrupted. "Why the hell are you calling me Katsuki all of a sudden? I thought you were still using that stupid nickname."

Izuku took a step back. For some reason, he hadn't realized that Katsuki would even notice the change. He was just a pebble on the side of Katsuki's road to greatness, so what did it even matter what Izuku called him? But apparently, nothing that Katuski did made sense. He was angry when Izuku called him Kacchan, and he was angry when he didn't. There was no way for Izuku to win, and honestly, he was sick of trying. 

"People have nicknames for their friends, Katsuki." Izuku said lowly. "And we're not friends anymore."

Katsuki glared at him, but Izuku held his ground. He wasn't going to look away first. He wasn't going to let Katsuki win this one. Eventually, Katsuki scoffed and stepped aside, "Whatever, Deku. Like I care what you do."

Izuku gripped the straps of his backpack and walked past him, tense as he anticipated an attack from behind. Katsuki, however, seemed just as tense. He might be pretending like he didn't care and that was why he was letting this go, but Izuku knew the truth. He had won. It filled him with an unfamiliar sense of victory and accomplishment that he'd only ever experienced when analyzing or hacking. It gave him the confidence to stop walking a few steps past Katsuki and turn around. Maybe it was petty and more than a little stupid, but Izuku wanted the last word. 

"Oh, and Katsuki?" Izuku smiled slightly as they made direct eye contact. "I'm not going to be a shitty inventor. I'm going to be a shitty analyst. Turns out, some people actually like my creepy stalker notebooks." He turned and started walking away, promising himself that he'd have a panic attack when he got home, "See you at UA, Katsuki!"

Katsuki didn't follow him.