Chapter Text
Atlas clung to the wall on the edges of the arena, silently observing as the students began their first spar of the new school year. Things had been weird since the very first day they got back.
The entire class could tell there was something wrong with him. The little quips while they had conversations, the chiding about not eating enough, the nagging about keeping the common spaces clean. It was all gone. He didn't participate in movie or game nights, always ate meals by himself. Any attempt at conversation was met with a two word answer at most.
"I'm working."
And all of that would be well and good. Typical, even. The vigilante had had a tough season, with the uptick in crime during the summer months surely putting a lot more work than usual on his plate. Especially given that he was working with Aizawa, it was reasonable to assume that the boy was just tired and didn't have the energy for the hero class's usual shenanigans.
It was all normal.
Except that he wasn't talking to Bakugou.
It wasn't really noticeable at first. Typically his focus was on putting out fires and securing their perimeter before anything else. But over the first two weeks of school, it became abundantly clear that his usual partiality when it came to issues involving Bakugou was all but nonexistent. Even when the blonde tried to wind him up on purpose, Atlas would silently shake his head and point him back to his seat. It was so weird, watching Bakugou walk away from him like a kicked puppy.
And whatever was going on with the two of them, it was having a very clear effect on Bakugou.
His fiery and competitive nature had flared and his fuse seemed to be even shorter than their first year at UA. He was openly hostile to everyone, even his friends, a habit everyone thought he kicked especially after Atlas became a regular in their classroom. Atlas always anticipated when he was about to blow up and needed to cool off, or when he was getting upset over something small and pull him aside, and over time it had a sort of mellowing effect on their resident angry Pomeranian.
Evidently, when Atlas' attention went, so too did Bakugou's calmer attitude.
It wasn't like they didn't notice how this new arrangement affected Atlas, too. He looked exhausted, and always reeked of cigarettes, and whenever they looked at each other his eyes would soften until he seemed to remember where he was. Mina always caught him taking the moment to recalibrate, settling his expression back to careful neutrality.
And, most of all, he was laser focused.
"Kaminari! Penalty box!" He shouted, crossing the arena and quickly pulling the electric boy off of... Bakugou.
"S'fine, nerd-" Bakugou started, brushing the dirt off his uniform. Atlas held up a hand, making the blonde snarl. He smacked Atlas's hand out of his face.
"Would you quit fucking doing that?!" Bakugou yelled. Around them, several sparring pairs slowed upon hearing the commotion. Bakugou moved quickly, stomping through the space between them so he could stare Atlas in the face. His hands smoked, sizzling with the promise of violence. He seemed to shake with anger, but also with more than that.
"Stand down, problem child." Aizawa said, entering unseen through a side door. Atlas said nothing, eyes locked onto the seething blonde in front of him.
"Why won't you talk to me? Huh?" Katsuki continued. A muscle in Izuku's jaw began to twitch. The annoyance on his face only served to make Katsuki angrier. "The fuck did I do?" Still nothing. Katsuki was starting to seethe.
"Why are the fuck are you ignoring me?!"
Katsuki's voice broke. He saw the way it made Izuku's eyes widen, just fractionally. Felt the tears welling up in his.
Izuku took a breath, and for one sweet, miserable second, Katsuki thought that maybe he'd give him a real response.
"I'm working."
Between one second and the next he had launched himself at the prick, palms crackling to life as he threw a nasty right hook. Izuku dodged easily, weaving out of the way and sticking out his foot so Katsuki tripped and fell on his face. The blonde screamed, jumping for another blow.
Only this time he didn't get very far, on account of Aizawa's capture scarf winding itself around his wrist and restricting it to his side. The rest of the fabric worked in tandem, until eventually all he could do was writhe. He raged, biting at his bonds.
Katsuki could feel the fabric biting into his wrists. He didn't care. He thought that after everything he and Izuku had been through he'd at least have the decency to explain why he ghosted him, but the past few months had proven him very wrong. Every time he tried to talk to him, Izuku would ignore him. He never answered his door for him anymore, not that it mattered, since the damn nerd was never in his dorm anymore anyway. He'd tried to catch him on the roof, in the kitchen, between classes. It was impossible to get him alone.
Maybe that was why Katsuki was risking having a genuine bitch fit in front of the entire class for the chance at some damn answers. It had been driving him insane all summer. He got one visit after he got out of the hospital. One. And then nothing. Not a text, not a call, not a goddamn email, nothing. After a month, the nerd changed his phone number and never sent Katsuki his new one. After two he stopped replying to his stupid snapchats, and after Katsuki asked him if anything was wrong he stopped responding completely. Brain Fuck covered for him every time Katsuki showed up at his house. He even sent him a letter, which ended up back on his bed a month later with a bar of his favorite spicy chocolate and an 'I'm sorry' sticky note. A damn sticky note. Call him crazy, but he thought he deserved a hell of a lot more than that.
He just didn't know what to do anymore.
Izuku, damn savant that he was when it came to Katsuki's emotions, could see the impending meltdown on his face and subtly nudged his father. Aizawa let him go a few feet away, holding him in place until he stopped trying to lunge at Izuku.
"Bakugou, go cool down. You're done for today."
Katsuki huffed, eyes locked onto the mess of green in front of him. Aizawa sighed and grabbed his student by the arm, pulling him toward the door until he began walking on his own.
"Atlas is in charge until the end of class." He guided the boy into the hallway and pulled the door shut.
Atlas took a deep, careful breath, and turned to the remainder of the class.
"Back to work."
Aizawa looked at his student expectantly, arms crossed.
"Alright, look, whatever the hell it is that's happening with you two is none of my business, but if your little teenage melodrama interferes with class one more time I'll... have to..."
The lecture he was quickly winding up for came to a complete stop as Katsuki sniffled, hands shaking as they came to stubbornly wipe away tears. He stared down at his shoes, ears burning with shame.
Fuck, this kid had never cried in front of him before.
Shota floundered for the right response. Hizashi was usually better at this kind of thing with their own kids. Izuku was the only one who asked for Shota, and he never really needed comfort, just a pack of cigarettes.
He could handle this boy when he was in a blind rage. He could handle this boy when he was causing a ruckus.
But... crying?
From Bakugou Katsuki?
How the fuck was he meant to handle this?!
"I'm sorry." Bakugou said, bowing as best he could without collapsing in on himself. "I lost my temper, sensei. It won't happen again." The usual timber in his voice was gone, replaced by wavering uncertainty. Shota felt his stone heart soften at the sound of it, just a bit.
That weird, affectionate part of Shota that came with fatherhood ached to see any of his kids in pain, but it was another thing entirely for this specific kid to be in genuine tears. Just what the hell had Izuku done to this poor boy?
"Shit, kid..." Bakugou stepped back, shaking his head. He refused to look at Shota, eyes glued to the tile floor. He looked like he was about to implode.
"May I be excused?"
He didn't wait for a response.
Shota watched his quickly receding back and heaved a tired sigh.
He knew what Hizashi had told him when they finally addressed the issue.
Let it play out, he told him. Intervening will only make it worse. It was much more likely to drive them apart if either of their parents got involved.
But now it was starting to interrupt his teaching, and as a teacher, didn't he have the responsibility of ensuring the mental stability of his students?
Shota groaned, frustrated by that particular situation. Sure, over the years he'd had students go through nasty breakups. That was normal. They were in high school, after all. But he'd never seen aftermath like that.
It was always like pulling teeth with those two idiots, but he never thought it would be enough to cause one of his star pupils to have a meltdown in the middle of class.
He had to intervene somehow.
He sighed again and headed for the teachers lounge. Hizashi was gonna kill him.
So much for not getting in the middle.
Katsuki barely managed to make it to his dorm before he completely collapsed.
He slammed his door and promptly fell to his knees, letting the tears stream down his face. Too exhausted to hold them back anymore. The thought of it, of actually crying over that stupid fucking nerd, only served to stoke the fury burning inside him.
But he just didn't have any more fire left to give.
He fell onto his side and curled in on himself, trying to breathe through the sobs punching what little air he managed to get out of his lungs. His head spun with agonizing thoughts. What had he done wrong? He couldn't apologize if Izuku wouldn't tell him. Did he upset him? Was there someone else?
Was Katsuki just not good enough?
All he wanted was answers. Some kind of explanation for why, suddenly, he was no longer worthy of Izuku's attention. Katsuki knew it wasn't for just any reason. It couldn't be. Izuku wouldn't do that to him.
Or at least, he thought he wouldn't. Apparently there was a lot he didn't know about the nerd, though, given the completely fucked up course of action he decided would be the best to handle the situation they were in.
It would be one thing if he actually broke up with Katsuki to his face, but the way he was acting it was like he didn't even care. He showed up, he did his job, and then he fucked off to wherever he went when he was avoiding him. For fucks sake, he wouldn't even look him in the eye anymore. He was so cold, no bright sunny smiles or stupid little trinkets. No more 'hi Kacchan!' whenever he came within earshot. No more late night talks, or sneaking off to abandoned buildings, or bursting into his room demanding to be held and comforted after he had his stupid little nerd nightmares. The most important person in his life just wasn't there anymore, replaced by this masked stranger that wouldn't even give him the time of day.
A new, even more upsetting thought clouded his mind, bringing a new wave of tears with it. Katsuki's entire body trembled. His mind spun with a single question, burning through every other thought in his head. Consuming him, completely cutting off what little oxygen he'd been managing to choke down.
Did he ever even matter to Izuku?
He didn't bother getting off the floor. There was no point.
No better place to hit rock bottom, right?