Work Text:
“-nderstand each other.”
The words ring loudly in Izuku’s ears.
Almost as loudly as the explosion that had almost sent him stumbling.
Almost as loudly as the way his heart is pounding, thick and heavy, in his chest.
Almost.
“No,” Izuku finds his mouth moving on its own, the word coming out almost at a whisper.
It, the denial and all it stands for, tastes good on his tongue.
Bubbly and fresh and yet somehow also years in the making.
So Izuku does something he’s never allowed himself to do before.
He says it louder.
“No.”
“What?!” Kacchan turns back towards him, turns away from Todoroki, hands spread at his sides and aggression lining every inch of his body.
Like always.
Because that’s how it always is with Kacchan. The screaming, the aggression, the insults. The pop crackle pop of his quirk underlining everything he says and does.
“I said no,” Izuku repeats as he pushes himself up onto his feet, as he raises a hand up to wipe the grime and the sweat from his face.
“What the fuck are you on about now?” Kacchan barks out.
“We don’t understand each other,” Izuku tells him, hands coming up at his sides as he shrugs just a bit helplessly. “I understand you. But you? You’ve never understood me. Not really. And I … I don’t think you’ve ever actually tried, Kacchan.”
Izuku’s aware, in a distant sort of way, of how the gym has gone silent around them. How the rest of the class and likely All Might and Aizawa-sensei too are all listening.
But for the first time in his entire life, Izuku doesn’t care who hears him.
“Bullshit,” Kacchan seethes through gritted teeth. “I know you better than anyone.”
“No, you don’t,” Izuku denies easily, calmly. “And I just … I understand you but I can’t relate to you anymore, Kacchan. I’m … I think I’m finally done.”
Kacchan goes silent and if Izuku didn’t know better he’d think his expression was almost stricken.
But Izuku can’t stop. Not now. Not when he finally has the words.
“I’d never treat you this shitty,” Izuku tells him. “Not now, not then. Not if our roles had been reversed. Not ever.”
Izuku knows that Kacchan understands exactly what he’s talking about.
“You made me hate this city,” Izuku tells him, one hand moving to press against his own shoulder, a mirror of a day that Izuku has never been able to forget. “You made me hate school and koi ponds and log bridges and every single route back home. And I never said anything. Never told anyone. Even if I thought someone might actually believe me or care, I still never said anything. But you know what was worse than all of that? For the longest time you made me hate myself because that was always somehow easier than hating you. I’d have never done that to you.”
Izuku pauses, takes a deep shuddering breath, and then lets something heavy and invisible finally fall from his shoulders.
“All you’ve ever done is make me fucking sad,” Izuku huffs out. “So from now on just leave me alone.”