Realization

(Izumi POV)

Looking at the title of the notebook I've taken out of my brother's hand, I scowl. After not seeing them for a while, I at least thought that I'd gotten him to stop writing them. Turns out that he's just gotten good at hiding them from me. Moving it in front of Katsuki, he gives a cruel smirk and uses an explosion on it, charring it.

That surprises me. Normally his explosion would have completely demolished a plain old notebook, but I shrug it off with a light dismissal. 'He probably held back a bit. Oh well, it's not like it matters much.' Releasing it from my quirk, I watch as Katsuki grabs it and flings the burned notebook out the window. Much to my twin's obvious horror.

It sends a pang of guilt through my heart, but we've been bullying him for so long now that it's just a small addition to my long list of regrets. 'He can't become a hero. Once he understands that, we'll stop. That's all it will take! JUST SAY THAT YOU WON'T TRY TO BECOME A HERO DAMN IT!'

I take a calming breath, letting it out quietly. I missed a bit of the conversation, but knowing Bakugou, it was just him mocking him, and I watch impassively as he puts a hand on Izuku's shoulder, smoke rising as he smiles at him. "Don't even bother applying to UA. Or else."

A thought seems to strike him and he smirks, sending me a look. One that I've long become accustomed to. He wants me to do something more than usual. Sometimes I go along with whatever idea he has, sometimes I don't. Despite what it seems like, I do try to make sure I don't hurt him too much. Nothing permanent, as far as I know.

It's too bad that a middle schooler doesn't have a good grasp of what can cause permanent damage.

"Hey, Izumi. Since the nerd's notebook is so important to him, why don't you send him out with it?"

I pause with a look of consideration. To Izuku, I'm sure that it looks fake, but I'm actually trying to figure out how badly it would hurt him. Coming to a decision, I grab him with my quirk, along with his bag, and float them out the window, above the fish pond behind the school. Even if I were to drop him from this height, he shouldn't break anything as long as he lands in the water.

Releasing… most of my hold on my twin, I let him fall into the water, but cushion him a bit just to make sure nothing breaks. Hearing the splash, Katsuki and I go to the window and look down at him, Bakugou laughing as a fish flaps around on his head. I simply smile at the sight, my enjoyment greatly lessened by the fact that I'm the one who put him into that situation.

"You know Deku, if you want to be a hero that badly there's a quick way to do it." A pit settles into my stomach, some kind of sense that I'm not going to like what he says next. "Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray for a quirk in your next life!"

Izuku looks up at us with the most pained look I have ever seen on him before. Worse than after anytime we've hurt him. But neither of us are looking down at him now. Katsuki turned away right after he said it and walked away. After a shocked moment of looking at his back, I come to my senses and rush at him. I grab him by his shoulders and turn him around, slamming him into the closed door of the classroom.

At his irritated and confused look, my anger flares. "What the hell was that!? Telling him to kill himself? What if he actually does it!?"

He scoffs, slapping my hands away from him. "Relax, the nerd is too stubborn to jump. If it was that easy then he would have given up on being a hero a long time ago."

'He's not wrong about him being stubborn. But still…'

"You went too far. You need to apologize the next time you see him."

He scowls at me. "Huh!? Why the hell should I do that!? It's not like that Deku deserves better!"

Hearing his words, a shiver goes down my spine. "Katsuki… did you forget why we're bullying him?"

He scowls, looking away. I wait for a moment, already knowing the truth. But still wanting to hear him answer. "Course I do. If he becomes a hero, he'll die. So we're trying to show him that he can't stand up to them.

But I know that's a lie. Whatever Katsuki's reasons, I know that he's not bullying Izuku for the same reason as me anymore. He's changed, and not for the better. But I guess the same can be said for me as well. And that's what firms the resolve I've been building up for the past year.

"I'm done." Katsuki looks back at me, the lack of understanding clear in his eyes. "I'm done bullying him. You're the one who convinced me that this would keep him safe, but it hasn't worked, and it's ruined our relationship with him."

The anger in my eyes causes Katsuki to flinch slightly, but it goes unnoticed by me as I vent my guilt. "We've spent the better part of ten years trying to hurt Izuku, whether emotionally or physically. Ten years where I haven't been there for him, instead being the one who pushes him down. The one who hurts him when I should be the one protecting him."

My fists clench. "All because you said that this would be the best way to keep him safe." I cover my face with my hands and turn my face up to the ceiling. "Gods, I was so stupid."

Katsuki looks like he wants to say something, but I don't want to listen. He doesn't care about what the two of us have put Izuku through, the things I've done to 'protect' him. The very thought of it is laughable to me now. Hell, it's been laughable ever since Izuku became friends with Shoko! She's the one who's been protecting him, the one who's been by his side. I may be an idiot for going along with Katsuki's idea when we were little, but that doesn't mean that I'm not jealous of the connection she has with my brother. But I stuck with this idiotic plan because I thought that Bakugou and I were in it together.

But we weren't. It turns out that he was only in it for himself.

I can feel myself crying as I make my way to the back of the school building, hoping that my twin is still there. Hoping that I can apologize. I know that things can never go back to how they were between us, not after everything I've done to him. But maybe, just maybe, I can show him that I'll be better. That I'm willing to work hard to earn his forgiveness.

But by the time I get there, he's already gone. Sighing, I leave, heading home. I don't know where he might have gone, the only thing I can do is head home and hope that he'll let me apologize.

Little did I know that this would be the last time I would ever see Izuku Yagi again..

`~`

"Hold on, we've seen Bakubro's explosions tear through cement walls, how is Midoribro's notebook still intact?"

He scoffs. "Obviously I held back at the time. You don't mess with his notebooks. Not Midoriya's anyways. There's only one time someone messed with them." He shivers. "That was enough for everyone."

There's a moment of silence before someone asks the question on all of their minds. "What happened to them?" To everyone's surprise, it's Tomura who asks.

It doesn't matter to Bakugou, though. "Last we heard he was in therapy. But by the time I got into UA, no one had heard from him since the incident." He sighs.

"A few of his friends went to his house to check on him, but his house was empty. No one knows why, but the rumors definitely got that rule in place."

The only sound in the theater as they watch Izumi drop Midori out their school's window is silence. It's not until he splashes down relatively safely that Nezu breaks it.

"It appears that we might need to outsource a therapist for Young Midoriya. I fear that Hound Dog won't be up to the task."

The only response is Bakugou gulping as he watches his counterpart's expression. He hunches down in his seat as he prepares for his biggest regret to be revealed to everyone around him. To All Might. To Auntie Inko.

-"You know Deku, if you want to be a hero that badly there's a quick way to do it."

Tension grips everyone, and Nezu tightens his own grip on his tea, prepared to do something he never has before.

-"Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray for a quirk in your next life!"-

Bakugou yells in surprise and pain as a teacup bounces off his head and spills its hot contents all over him. Ignoring his screams of pain, Nezu addresses Aizawa.

"I believe that Young Midoriya is likely able to write his own book based on his mental issues. We'll get the three best counselors nationwide just for him. As for you…"

His glare causes the horrible person mentioned to shiver. "We shall be going back over your permanent records, and should I find anything hidden by your past teachers. Know that we will be forced to consider more drastic punishments."

He simply nods, the fight having gone out of him.

Mina's hand shoots into the air. "I vote we put on-screen Bakugou's name as Bakubitch!"

A chorus of ayes fill the air as he scowls halfheartedly at them.

-"Gods, I was stupid."-

Hearing these words, the class erupts into cheers at Izumi deciding to change her ways.

Only to fall silent as dark letters dripping blood pop up.

-Little did I know that this would be the last time I would ever see Izuku Yagi again.-