Izuku happily hummed as he tied his tie. His eye caught the posted note. Katsuki deserved an apology as he had ditched him the day before. Izuku took a moment to write down his apology then smiled. He soon frowned as he realized how much smiling he's done just by thinking of Katsuki. Was he that happy to be friends?

A knock was heard. He folded the note and hid it in his pocket. He opened the door and was surprised to see Shoto.

"Let's walk to homeroom together." said Shoto with a bright smile.

"Oh, I was going... Actually, yeah. Let's." said Izuku as he decided to give it to him in class.

Shoto held out his hand for him to take. It didn't click and Izuku ended up giving him a low five. Shoto blinked then realized he didn't understand.

"I was asking to hold hands." explained Shoto.

"Oh. Is that necessary?" asked Izuku as they took the stairs down.

"No, but I thought it'd be cute to do. You deserve to be pampered." said Shoto with a cute laugh.

"Stop... I feel embarrassed..." muttered Izuku as his cheeks gained color.

"I see you two lovebirds are at it again." teased Hanta.

"I bet they text each other 'I miss you' when they're sitting across from each other." joined in Mina.

"We aren't lovebirds! Shoto just loves teasing me." argued Izuku as a few others joined in teasing them.

"Shoto and Izuku are lovebirds huh?" Katsuki said from behind them. "Certainly none of us are surprised really."

Izuku watched him walk past and felt sullen. He thought Katsuki of all people wouldn't join in with it. He looked at Shoto then back at Katsuki's retreating figure. It didn't sit well with him. He pulled away from Shoto then hurried to catch up with Katsuki.

"Hey, are you on their side too?" Izuku asked as he caught up.

"Why not? You two would be cute together. It's the perfect pairing." said Katsuki, the words tasting horribly bitter. "Go cater to your boyfriend's needs."

Izuku wasn't sure how to feel about Katsuki's response. It hurt. Kind of. By the time he collected his thoughts, Katsuki had already entered the building. Shoto caught up to him then draped an arm over his shoulder.

"I'm going to eat with Kacchan today..." said Izuku as he moved Shoto's arm.

Shoto watched him walk off. Did he mess up? Did he not like being teased or was it something else?

˗ˏˋ❀ˋˏ ˏˋ❀ˋˏ˗

Izuku stared at the backside of Katsuki as Mr. Aizawa went on about their next training class. Would he accept his apology note? When would be an ideal time to give it to him? Katsuki turned around and noticed Izuku was staring. He waved his hand and received no reaction.

"Yo, Izuku. Papers." said Katsuki as he slapped them against his desk, bringing him back to reality.

"Oh, sorry. Wait, Kacchan..." said Izuku as he had started to turn around.

"What?" spat Katsuki.

"Here..." said Izuku as he handed him the folded note. "Sorry..."

Katsuki turned around without another word. Izuku handed the papers back then waited to see if there was a change in Katsuki. He didn't see any.

"Alright, get up and get changed into your costumes." said Mr. Aizawa in his usual monotone voice.

Katsuki had gotten up and Izuku could see the note sticking out of his notebook. Did he read it? Was he saving it for later? The feeling of not knowing was eating at him.

"Hey, come on. I heard class 1-B is after us." said Tenya as he ushered Izuku to get up.

˗ˏˋ❀ˋˏ ˏˋ❀ˋˏ˗

Izuku sat with his friends as Katsuki had sat back at his usual table with Denki and Eijiro. Did he offend him in some way without knowing? Was he upset that he hung out with Shoto instead?

"Hey, you look stressed..." Ochako said with worry.

"What's going on? Talk to us." said Tenya.

"I think I upset Kacchan but I don't know how..." replied Izuku as he pushed his food around.

Shoto sat next to Izuku with a smile.

"I thought you were eating with short fuse. Yet here you are." said Shoto as he started to eat.

"He has a name. Use it." snapped Izuku.

Shoto looked at him with surprise along with Ochako and Tenya. It was one of the few times he had gotten defensive about Katsuki. To Shoto that was a major red flag.

"I'm sorry. But, why aren't you with him? Did he cast you aside for his actual friends?" asked Shoto, hoping to sully what ever was left of Katsuki in Izuku's mind and heart.

"He can hang with others. We're just friends. It's not like we promised to eat together today..." muttered Izuku as he lost his appetite. "Here, you guys can share it. I'm heading to the restroom."

They watched as Izuku got up and made his way out of the cafeteria. Shoto left his spot as well and hurried after him. He wasn't going to let Izuku suffer anymore because of Katsuki's inconsistency. He sped walked then grabbed him by his wrist.

"Izuku, be honest with me. Exactly how do you feel about Katsuki?" Shoto asked as it was important to get an understanding of his feelings.

"Why are you asking me that? I thought you hated Kacchan." said Izuku as he pulled away from Shoto.

"Yeah, it has to do with him but, I'm asking about you and your feelings." explained Shoto as he followed him.

"I feel the same way about him that I feel for Tenya." replied Izuku as he pushed the door open.

"Well, if you say so. Do you mind saying it again?" Shoto asked then pressed record on his phone.

"Say what again? What I said before this?" asked Izuku.

"Yeah. How do you feel about Katsuki?" pressed Shoto.

"The same as Tenya. Now go. Let me use the restroom in peace." said Izuku as he pushed Shoto out.

Shoto laughed to himself as he listened to the footage he had just gotten. This would finally land the decisive blow.

˗ˏˋ❀ˋˏ ˏˋ❀ˋˏ˗

Katsuki waited outside of the school building for Shoto. Apparently he had something important to show him. He wished he wouldn't take his sweet time as he wanted to sleep.

"There you are. You're going to love it." said Shoto as he waved his phone.

"Make it quick." said Katsuki with folded arms.

Shoto pressed play and watched his face for the change. The video ended, but he didn't see any change.

"So this was it?" he asked impatiently.

"Yeah... It's nice to hear where you both stand isn't it?" asked Shoto, hoping to get a rise out of him.

"Yeah, it is." replied Katsuki before walking away.

Shoto sighed then followed. It was strange to get no kind of reaction from him. Did he finally figure something out? If he didn't care for Izuku like he expected, then he no longer had to be flirty with him. He decided to wait and see what happened at dinner.

˗ˏˋ❀ˋˏ ˏˋ❀ˋˏ˗

Eijiro knocked on his door for the fourth time. There was hardly any food left from dinner. He managed to save him some before the others ate it all.

"Katsuki, I'm going to leave it by the door. Make sure you eat." said Eijiro then looked back at Shoji. "I'm worried..."

"Me too. I haven't seen or heard from him since he came back." replied Shoji.

They had tried using his quirk, but he couldn't hear a thing from inside. It was almost like Katsuki wasn't in his room. They quietly walked away then ducked into Eijiro's room.

"What'll we do if he doesn't eat?" Shoji asked as he sat on the floor.

"We get Momo to make a key that fits into his door and break in. If worse comes to worst then we get Mr. Aizawa involved." explain Eijiro as he pressed his ear to the wall.

Two hours had passed and Eijiro had finally taken a look outside. The tray hadn't moved in the slightest. He waved Shoji down to watch the door as he went up to get Momo. On his way to the stairs, he ran into Izuku, Shoto and Momo.

"Oh, good timing! Momo, we need you!" said Eijiro as he pulled her down the stairs.

"What for?" she asked worriedly.

Eijiro stopped in front of Katsuki's door then exhaled.

"He hasn't come out at all since coming back. Two hours passed since I put the tray there. We want you to make a key that can unlock his door so we can force him to eat." explained Eijiro with a worry stricken face. "I'm worried about my best bud."

"I'll see what I can do." said Momo as she observed the keyhole.

Shoto looked at Izuku who stared at the three huddled by Katsuki's door. He couldn't hear what they were talking about.

"Hey, you're tired right? Let's head back to your room. Like we planned." said Shoto as he turned him around.

"Right..." mumbled Izuku as they walked back towards the stairs.

Izuku couldn't help his curiosity as it wasn't often people huddled by Katsuki's room. They arrived on the second floor and Shoto watched him off to his room.

"Sleep well." said Shoto as he watched him go in.

Izuku sighed heavily as he walked over to his desk. He looked up and the first thing to catch his eye was the note.

"I'm sorry about what I called your freckles, Deku."

He pulled it off his board. It started to annoy him. He crumpled it up and poised to toss it out but hesitated. Why did he feel so irritated? Why was he about to throw out something he cherished? He uncrumpled it and started trying to flatten it out back to its original state. Despite knowing it couldn't happen, he tried anyway.

He sat down in the chair and stared at the note. It resembled them in a way. Whatever they had changed to, they couldn't go back to their original state, no matter how hard they tried. It was then he remembered his own note. He never learned what became of it. Would Katsuki want to talk to him?

He climbed the stairs and found himself on the fourth floor again. He peeked down the hall and didn't see the trio. He stopped in front of his door and prepared to knock then noticed it was ajar. Izuku excused himself as he stepped into the dark room. The moonlight penetrated into his room, illuminating it slightly. A tray of food sat on his desk while a lump occupied his bed.

"Kacchan...?" he called out as he hovered by his bed. No response. "Are you asleep?"

He gently rolled his body over and saw his eyes were closed. He noticed the light coming from his phone. He left it unlocked. Izuku knew better than to snoop through someone's phone, but curiosity won him over. His phone was open to his conversation with Shoto.

"A video...?" mumbled Izuku as he pressed play. He heard his and Shoto's voices from earlier. "I don't get it... this is why he made me repeat it? Why would it matter to Kacchan..."

He backed out then noticed he could swipe up. Shoto had sent messages after the video.

Icyhot: there's the video. why do you want it? isn't it just going to hurt you?

Icyhot: well, whatever. Izuku only sees you as a friend. give up. I'll take good care of him.

Izuku rewatched the video. He reread the messages over. He looked at Katsuki who was fast asleep. He stormed out of his room and dashed upstairs to Shoto's.

Izuku knocked hard on his door then folded his arms. Shoto opened the door and was greeted by a very upset Izuku.

"Do you see me as some sort of tool that you can use whenever you please?" asked Izuku with ice cold eyes.

"What? No." said Shoto in confusion.

"'From Icyhot at 5:13pm: well, whatever. Izuku only sees you as a friend. give up. I'll take care of him.' Did you not say this to Kacchan?" Izuku pressed.

"How did you..." he asked in shock.

"Shoto, I've been really forgiving of your actions, but as of late it's been hard. This is the last straw. I don't want you anywhere near me until you straighten yourself out. I don't want explanations or excuses. You had the choice whether or not to say it and you did." said Izuku before walking away.

"Izu..." Shoto said exasperated.

Izuku stepped back into Katsuki's room then closed and locked the door. Katsuki had been crying in his room alone. He didn't completely understand everything, but he knew for certain his friend was hurting. He rolled Katsuki over then climbed into bed with him. He pulled him closer then gently stroked his hair. He ended up spending the night in Katsuki's room.