The Story Of Forever (Todobaku)

A Confession to No One

"Are you mad at me?" Katsuki whispered.

Shouto scrunched his face. "No," he whispered back. "Why would I be?"

Katsuki let go of Shouto's shoulder. "You practically ran away from me when you saw me in the hallway."

"That had nothing to do with you," Shouto said, frowning. "I promise."

"Then why can't you tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

Even if Shouto wasn't the worst liar on the planet, Katsuki wasn't an idiot. Shouto wasn't himself, and hadn't been for a while. Now Katsuki knew how Shouto felt last year during his suicidal episode. It was the worst pain imaginable, watching a friend succumb to hurt and not knowing how to fix it.

He glanced toward the front. Hitoshi's desk was closest to the door yet instead of focusing on Miss Kayama, his eyes were on Shouto. Well, they were until Katsuki spotted him. The purple haired zombie (as Katsuki referred to him) snapped his head forward as his complexion deepened to a rosy hue.

Katsuki snorted. Freak deserved it for being nosy.

Still smiling, he addressed Shouto again. "Seems like your new friend's worried about you too."

"Huh?" Shouto subtly glanced over his shoulder at Hitoshi before looking back at Katsuki. "What are you talking about?"

"Well he was just looking over here. So either he's worried about you like I am, or he has a crush on you."

He meant it as a joke, but Shouto certainly wasn't laughing. No, his body stiffened, his lips pressing together in a tight seal.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Katsuki blinked twice. "Nothing," he said before laughing awkwardly. "I was just joking."

"Well it's not funny," Shouto said through his teeth, "so shut the fuck up."

Katsuki's jaw dropped. Shouto's did as well, though his was less drastic. Still, the regret in his face was evident from the moment the words left his mouth.

"Good afternoon everyone," Miss Kayama said from behind her desk. "Let's brush through attendance real fast."

Shouto, head down, swung toward the front, his back now to Katsuki. Katsuki slumped in his chair as Miss Kayama conducted roll call. Somehow, in a few short minutes, things went from bad to worse.

He could count on one hand the number of times he heard Shouto curse, and none of those times were ever with such hostility. Especially with Katsuki on the receiving end.

What was the big deal? Katsuki made a harmless joke about the weird kid that joined their school all of two weeks ago.

Wait, two weeks?

As Katsuki thought it over, a hypothesis unraveled. Shouto's change in demeanor started around the time Hitoshi transferred to UA. Why that was, he couldn't say. But the answer was there, Katsuki was sure of it.

Maybe Shouto's hallway antics weren't because Katsuki saw him, but because Katsuki saw him with Hitoshi. And just now, Shouto snapped at Katsuki for suggesting Hitoshi had a crush on him.

That couldn't have been a coincidence. But what was it about Hitoshi Shinsou that had Shouto so on edge? More importantly, what about it made Shouto feel like he couldn't tell Katsuki?

Was Hitoshi bullying him?

No, that didn't make sense. Shouto seemed happy when the two were talking on their way to class, at least before Katsuki caught them. In fact, the way Shouto smiled, there was an innocence to it. Not that Shouto wasn't already innocent, but something was different this time. If Katsuki had to compare it to anything, it'd be the way he used to smile around Camie when they first started hanging out since he was nervous and inexperienced.