Izuku laid on his couch staring blankly at an outlet in the wall on the other side of the room. It had only been a day since that happened, but to him it felt like a month had passed by. The air in the room was stale and suffocating.
"I guess I should let some air in huh, Kenzo?"
It's not that Izuku forgot that Kenzo was dead. He just didn't want to bury her body yet. Izuku got up and opened a window and breathed the fresh crisp air of Chiba. It smelled nice, it was nearing spring time after all.
"Must be cherry blossom season…"
The sound of a ringtone invaded Izuku's mind. He picked up the phone to see who was calling. It was his mom.
"Hey mom." "Hi, Izuku! My baby, I miss you so much! How have you been doing?"
Izuku stood as still as a crumbling statue. He was always able to answer this question with 'Good' or 'Fine' or if he was sick 'could be better' almost immediately. The question ate every drop of confidence he had. He couldn't bear to tell his mother what had happened just the day before! It would break her heart into pieces!
"I-I'm doing ok mom…"
Izuku could hear his mom's suspicion over the phone as he said that. You really can't hide anything from a mother.
"Ok, Izuku. I just wanted to make sure you were doing ok, moving in so far away from home can be so hard sometimes. Especially now, damned break-in rapist making everyone paranoid! At least they have a description of him now. Apparently last night a man was raped by him in chiba. That's where you live isn't it?"
Izuku froze. He didn't expect the police to tell the media about the call. He didn't even expect the description to go public. Even though it was for the better, it still hurt too much to hear considering it happened just the night before.
"Yeah, that's where I live…" "Izuku, honey. Are you okay? You were silent for a while before you answered my question. Is something wrong?"
Izuku knew he was being obvious, he knew he was spacing out. Izuku didn't want to tell his mom what happened. He couldn't.
"Izuku, why are you crying dear?"
Sure enough, Izuku's face was wet with tears. He didn't even know he started crying. Holding in his feelings made him feel like he was a ticking time bomb, bound to blow eventually.
"Izuku, honey are you still there?" "Sorry mom. I was just really busy." "That still doesn't explain why you're crying sweetie…"
Izuku wiped his tears and sighed heavily.
"It's a lot to explain, I gotta go mom." "Ok Izuku. I just want you to know that you can tell me if something is going on ok?" "Ok mom."
Izuku hung up the phone and laid back on the couch. He looked at the cage and Kenzo's body. It may have been unpleasant, but he had to or else the corpse would rot inside the house. He went down into the garage and grabbed the shovel and Kenzo's blanket that she's had since she was a kitten. It hurt. It hurt to see himself carry both objects at the same time this early. He only had her for a year. Izuku walked back to Kenzo's body and wrapped her in the blanket, then he carried it outside into the backyard with his shovel in hand.
\
Izuku had built a makeshift cross for Kenzo's grave, painted it white, and put it where Kenzo's body was laid to rest. Just then another call came in and Izuku immediately answered.
"Hello?" "DEKU!!! How's it going nerd?"
It was Katsuki bakugo, his childhood best friend and part-time bully. During middle school bakugo had bullied him but throughout high school he matured and apologized for it. They were best friends now, despite bakugo being a big shot actor and Izuku sticking with a subtle office job for the time being.
"Hi kacchan." "No roasting today? Deku you wound me~" "I'm just not in the best mood today..."
Izuku could hear Katsuki's tone change to a more serious one over the phone. Sure Katsuki loved to joke but when the time calls for it he can be extremely serious.
"What happened Izuku?" "It's Kenzo…she died…"
Katsuki gasped loudly, then in the background he heard Katsuki telling someone to shut up as he rushed out of the building.
"How did she die?"
Immediately Izuku rushed behind the staircase leading from the backyard to his house and threw up. It didn't occur to Izuku that Katsuki would ask that question. He didn't want to tell Katsuki, but he deserved to know the truth.
"S-She died of natural causes…" "Bullshit."
Izuku was shocked. He told bakugo that she died of natural causes, so why didn't Katsuki believe him?
"You just got that cat last year. She was a kitten when you got her and I went with you to her appointment last week. She was fine. Stop lying and tell me how Kenzo really died, Izuku or I swear to god I will come down there and find out myself."
Izuku immediately hung up the phone and rushed back inside. He felt sick to his stomach, it's not like he didn't want to tell bakugo how Kenzo really died. But would Katsuki really believe him if he told him what happened?
'One day later'
Izuku was watching the newest episode of his favorite show when he heard the doorbell. He got up and almost answered the door but he stopped just before he unlocked the door. He didn't know who was on the other side, it could have been his mom, it could have been Katsuki, it could even be someone from work, but that's not the first thought that rushed through Izuku's mind. He thought:
'What if it's HIM? What if he came back to kill me because I ratted him out to the police? I don't know how many people he goes after in a night, what if I was the only one?'
Izuku's thoughts scared him. Slowly, memories from the other night came flooding back like a raging river, each memory making him even more and more sick to his stomach, every thought of that man made him feel disgusting inside. The doorbell rang again, but instead of opening the door Izuku shouted:
"Who is it?"
The person on the other side chuckled and then knocked instead of ringing the bell. Izuku was confused at first but soon he snickered at the realization.
"Who's there?" "Can~"
The more confused Izuku got, the more he was sure of who it was. Kaminari.
"Can who?" "Can Kaminari come inside?" "Yes Kaminari."
Izuku opened the door to see his co-worker and friend Kaminari, who he didn't expect to see there also was Shoto Todoroki, renowned model and worldwide heart throb. Izuku hadn't seen him since graduation. But there were rumors that Kaminari kept in contact with him afterwards.
"Hello Midoriya. How have you been doing?"
Oh, that question. If only Izuku had the strength to tell them he was slowly being eaten away from the inside, that what happened the other night scarred him so badly he may never recover from that amount of trauma.
"Midoriya?" "Oh! Sorry Todoroki, I'm doing fine."
Izuku let both of them inside and led them to the living room, he felt a bit awkward having them in there after what happened, he wanted to get out of there.
"Did you two want anything to drink?"
Kaminari gasped loudly and asked:
"Do you have orange juice!?"
Izuku nodded and Kaminari jumped around with excitement. Izuku then turned his head to Todoroki.
"Do you want anything to drink Todoroki?" "Just water, thank you."
Izuku nodded and walked into the kitchen, grabbed 2 cups, and looked into the fridge. He grabbed a water bottle and the orange juice. As Izuku was pouring the juice Kaminari shouted from the living room:
"Hey! Midoriya I've got a question." "Yes, Kaminari?" "What's got you walking funny man?"
Izuku stopped pouring the juice for a minute and walked over to the living room with a knot forming in his stomach.
"What do you mean Kaminari?" "Yea man, you've been walking like you got a limp the entire time! Also, Are those marks on your neck?"
Izuku swatted his neck so quickly you'd think he was trying to hit a mosquito. Todoroki jabbed Kaminari in his arm and stared at him sternly while Kaminari was still trying to find out what he did wrong. Izuku excused himself and ran to the bathroom and looked at his neck in the mirror. Sure enough, there were a few red-ish marks covering his neck. He felt humiliated, he felt upset. He wanted the marks to go away, he wanted the pain to go away, he wished that what happened the other night never happened at all. Izuku splashed his face with water to stop himself from crying and covered up the marks with band-aids, then he went back downstairs. Just as he walked back in the kitchen he heard Shoto and Kaminari talking, so before making himself known he listened in.
"Kaminari, why did you say that!?" "I don't get why I shouldn't have? Wasn't he walking funny?" "Yes, but you're not supposed to say that out loud! It's embarrassing for someone when their sex life gets exposed, even if it's just us in the house. You don't say that!" "Okay, okay! I'll apologize when he comes back. But, didn't those marks look like bruises almost?" "...A little bit, yes. I'm worried for Midoriya, I heard that the break-in rapist raped a man in chiba last night. I can't help but worry if it was Midoriya that got raped. I planned to ask him but-"
The sound of glass breaking made the conversation stop immediately. Izuku was stunned, not even. He was shocked. Shocked and dejected. How could Todoroki even tell? Izuku felt the horrible feeling that could only be described as sorrow from Todoroki and Kaminari. Shoto stood up slowly, as if he was still processing the current situation, then he swiftly walked towards Izuku and embraced him as Izuku started crying. He didn't know why, but it felt so nice to cry out his feelings rather than say them out loud. After Izuku stopped crying Todoroki whispered into Izuku's ear:
"Do you mind if we talk?"