Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 9 - Trigger Talks

"Yes Kacchan!" Izuku reacted, more on reflex than anything else, kicking Itsuka away. She went flying out of bounds, even if his kick wasn't boosted by One For All, and oh, maybe he'd gained more muscle than he thought he did over the years..?

"Crap," Monoma muttered, panicking a little as Katsuki put on his feral grin. It didn't take long for him to be eliminated after that.

"You're gonna need to do better than that if you wanna beat us, you fuckers!" Katsuki exclaimed when they emerged victorious. Izuku didn't feel like he did a whole lot during that fight, even if he did eliminate one of their opponents. And let's be honest, Kacchan was a combat tank with or without his quirk. He could've taken on both of them on his own easily.

"Geez... Class A students really are monsters," someone mumbled in the background, but Izuku had caught it anyway. They weren't class A students anymore, though. They were practically all pro heroes, too, so the term students in and of itself was outdated. Still, that wasn't the part his brain latched onto. No, the fact someone had called them monsters, even if this was supposed to be some kind of praise, an exaggeration of their abilities- The term monsters echoed through his mind and his body ceased to function all together, simply freezing up as he was leaving the battleground to make room for the next sparring match.

"...Izuku?" Katsuki called out, reaching out to take his hand, only for Izuku to flinch away at the lightest touch. His breathing hitched, his eyes wide in panic. Oh no. No, this wasn't good. Not at all. Kacchan looked so hurt, too, and that only made everything worse, didn't it? Izuku didn't want to be here, wanted to run, to hide- You're hiding. He could hear Second's voice as if he was still inside that dream, as if he never woke up in the first place. You're trying to run away from who you are, who you were. And really, was that truly so bad? "Izuku."

Izuku was pulled out of his trance again, still panicked, still a mess, but more aware now. Kacchan was still looking at him, so was the rest of the class, and he was still standing there, at the edge of the battlefield.

"It's okay," Katsuki whispered. "We're safe. You're safe. Breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?"

He nodded, hating the fact he needed to be treated this way. That Kacchan, of all people, had to calm him down. A boy who had just as much trauma as he had, if not even more. And he hated the fact that everyone was here, watching, gaping at him like he was some kind of exotic animal in the zoo. There was nothing he could do about it, though. He just had to endure it, get through this and hope nobody brought it up again. Though, with his luck, this would be all the class talked about for the rest of the week.

"I'm fine," Izuku breathed, still a little shaky. "Just, uh, panicked over nothing. It's not a big deal."

Katsuki frowned, clearly about to argue with him, only to be interrupted by one of their classmates.

"Phew, you really gave us a scare there, Midroiya!" Testutetsu exclaimed with a beaming smile, patting him on the back as he stepped down from the platform. "But hey, you sure showed those guys, am I right? That kick was awesome!"

"Y-yeah, thanks!" Izuku smiled, happy to change the topic even though he could still feel Kacchan's eyes on him. Everything returned to normal soon enough as the next pairs walked on the battlefield and one of their classmates counted them down. With another match in process, people's attention was quickly dispersed and Izuku was once again far away from prying eyes.

"You okay?" Katsuki whispered while everyone else was distracted.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, I promise," Izuku said. "Just...heard something that, uh, triggered me a little. It's really nothing to worry about, I was overreacting."

"You know I'm not buying that, right?" Katsuki asked. "Come on, tell me what triggered you at least. I'll make sure these extras know their place."

"It's not a big deal, Kacchan," Izuku sighed, only to have the ash blonde give him this deadpan look of disbelief. "Someone said we were real monsters- They meant it like a compliment, you know, like, we're super strong and stuff... I just... The term set me off, I guess."

"Tch, they should watch their mouths," Katsuki grumbled, throwing an arm around Izuku's shoulder in order to pull him in close. "Stupid, useless extras."

Izuku hummed, trying to focus on the quirkless fight in front of him, but without much success. Why did he have to be so weak..? Why couldn't he just act normal- be normal. His whole life he'd been an exception, something odd. First he was quirkless, then he was a late bloomer and after that he was All Might's successor, the one who held one of the most unique quirks in the world. He'd always been a crybaby, too. Always been weirdly obsessed with analysis and statistics and reports- Stuff normal people found boring. Izuku was a plain boy in an extraordinary world, and he was sticking out like a sore thumb.

And now... Now he was here, in this new class, surrounded by people he knew, sure, but he was still different. Even Kacchan, who was most like him, was more normal than he was. Because Kacchan didn't get triggered as easily, didn't let the trauma they went through get to him. He'd even tried to hide a part of it from Izuku, just so the green head wouldn't worry, and wasn't that thoughtful? Wasn't that just evidence enough that Izuku can't actually handle life alone? That he's weird and odd and that he didn't belong-

"You're overthinking, nerd," Katsuki muttered. "I can basically hear your brain working overtime. Come on, spit it out."

"...Kacchan's so strong," Izuku sighed. "Doesn't get triggered by stupid things like a single fucking word. So stupid. I'm so stupid, I-"

"Hey," Katsuki called out, tilting Izuku's head with his free hand so he was forced to look at him. "I never really cared about what random extras have to say about me, and apparently this isn't any different. Which is great, for me, but I get where you're coming from, Izuku. And I've got triggers too. Different ones. Just cause you don't see them, doesn't mean they're not there."

"...What are Kacchan's triggers?" Izuku asked quietly. Maybe if he could relate- Maybe if they were somehow still alike, it would ease this growing sense of unease within him.

"Separation," Katsuki told him. "Isolation. To be restrained, confined, away from you."

Oh... Oh. That made sense, didn't it? It made sense in an awfully painful way, and Izuku kinda wished he never asked.

"It doesn't matter," Katsuki shrugged, squeezing his shoulder a little tighter, pulling Izuku just a little closer. "We'll get through it, like we always do."

"Yeah," Izuku softly agreed. It was the only thing they could do right now.