The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

8

The last cookie is placed on the baking sheet and Katsu places them in the oven to bake. He stands up and dusts his hands off. "Thanks. It's something I picked up in high school. I'd always been pretty good with cooking, but baking was something I learned to enjoy. I had this one classmate who was always baking and sharing the things he made with our class. He had this one recipe, a chiffon cake, I think," he explains. He has this look in his eyes, something soft and complacent. Izuku likes it. "He made it the night we all moved into our dorms. I went to bed pretty early that night, but he made sure to bring me a slice the next day. It was pretty damn good. So good in fact, I asked him to show me how to make it. Baking with him was a lot of fun."

"So, how did you learn everything else?" Izuku asks.

"Well, every once and a while I'd go back to my classmate for a new recipe, but eventually I decided to try something on my own. I used to be more of a hothead than I am now, but baking was something that felt so easy. It didn't require concentration, as long as I did what I was supposed to do, I could make anything. So, every time I'd start to get worked up, I'd just... bake."

Izuku can't help but find it especially sweet that Katsu picked this up from a classmate of his and he just let it stick. He wishes he'd known him during high school, maybe if he had things would be different now. He likes to think they would've been good friends. He wonders if they would've walked to class together or studied at home together after school. He considers what lunch would've been like with Katsu or how their class trip would've gone. He hates considering all of it, because he knows things would've been different, but there's nothing he can do to fix that now. "So, what about your classmate? Do you two still talk? Is he still baking?" Izuku asks, trying to take his mind off of the possibilities of what could have been.

"I'm pretty sure he got a job in Mito. We don't talk as much as we used to, we both just got busy, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's still baking," he chuckles. "What about you? Any weird hobbies or fun high school memories?"

He hates that question. He's not sure how to go about answering it. He believes he might've had a hobby a few years back, but he can't quite recall what it might've been. As for high school, the whole thing was a blur he'd rather neglect to ignore. He shakes his head, "Not really. I used to keep journals but stopped a while ago, and high school wasn't all too magical for me either."

"Journals? What kind of journals?" Katsu asks.

"Nothing major. I used to study heroes a lot," he says quietly. "I'd just write down things I'd learn about their quirks or fighting styles. It was a little stupid, now that I think of it." The sentence leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Truth be told, he kind of misses it, because it was something he enjoyed doing. He had to give up his hopes of being a hero, but the journals always helped him feel like he could still help others. Masashi on the other hand didn't care much for the journals. When they moved, he told Izuku to leave them with Inko. And, having dropped out of college to move here, he didn't see the point in starting a new one when they got here. Matter of fact, he'd almost let himself forget heroes existed, that part of himself felt so foreign these days.

Katsu smiles, "That actually sounds pretty cool. Nerdy, but cool too. What were they for?"

Izuku can't stop himself from smiling, although he tries. It just feels nice to have someone finally express genuine interest in those things, although they've been long abandoned. He looks away, trying to hide the happiness that must be oozing out of him. "Well, when I realized I couldn't be a hero, I decided I wanted to try and help heroes however I could. So, I'd take notes and examine them as they fought to create ideas and plans for them to better ensure victory. It's a little silly, but I wanted to be a quirk tactics consultant, a person that heroes would seek out for advice on how to enhance their abilities. Granted, I'm sure most heroes are already well aware of their abilities, so I'm sure it doesn't matter." At least, that's what Masashi had said.