To Love, To Lose, To Leave

Chapter Thirteen

Thursday (The Woods)

"I'm so, so sorry, Midoriya," Kyoka continues, "I know I should've stopped listening, but part of me couldn't bring myself to stop. I know what I did was a huge invasion of privacy for you and Todoroki—it's just, Bakugo's my friend, too, and seeing him so upset about this made me feel bad about saying no, and—"

Kyoka's cut off by Midoriya suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders, his grip tight enough to almost—but not quite—border on painful.

If the circumstances were different, Kyoka would've laughed.

Deja vu, much?

In these circumstances, though, Kyoka simply waits for Midoriya to speak up, the silence slowly being broken by the ringing in her ears.

"Did you tell Kacchan?" Midoriya finally asks, voice small; quiet and quivering, panic slowly rising as he spoke.

He was shaking.

Kyoka is quick to shake her head. "No, I didn't. After I heard you, I...didn't handle it well, to say the least. But I didn't see Bakugo for the rest of the night. I went straight to my room, and I haven't seen him since."

At that, Midoriya lets out a sigh of relief, shoulders seeming to sag from the tension oozing out of them. He doesn't let go of Kyoka yet, meeting her gaze. His eyes are similar to how Bakugo's were last night—desperately pleading, but with a different undertone that Kyoka couldn't quite place.

"Jirou-san."

Kyoka almost physically recoils at that.

Wow.

Nobody from their class has used honorifics with her in a while.

"When Kacchan asks you about what Todoroki and I talked about, please lie to him," Midoriya pleads. "I—I know, we're not the closest of friends. You have absolutely no incentive to help me over Kacchan, and I know you're good friends with him, but please. Don't tell him the truth."

Kyoka bites her lip. Personally, she'd agreed with Todoroki's argument from the night before. If Midoriya was going to...

Kyoka mentally shakes the thought away. If she thinks about it too hard, she might start crying again, but—

If Midoriya's on limited time, he should spend as much of it as he can with Bakugo, instead of breaking up with him.

On the other hand, though, she gets where Midoriya is coming from.

Their class formed a bond unlike any other—they were all practically family, and losing one of them would probably feel like losing family.

If Midoriya were to have told them all, even she would've been miserable about it, and she's not even one of the closest people to him. She couldn't begin to imagine how devastated his friends would be if they found out.

Midoriya's done so much for all of us. He's fought tooth and nail to keep us safe, without ever asking for anything in return.

Despite the dull ache filling her chest, Kyoka lets out a sigh.

This is the least I could do in return.

"Alright," Kyoka says, "I won't."

Midoriya lets out another sigh of relief, finally releasing Kyoka's shoulders. "Thank you, Jirou. Thank you so much."

"But what do you want me to tell Bakugo? Because he will ask."

Midoriya's face seems to blank for a moment, before morphing into an expression of quiet contemplation. One of his hands comes up to his face, seeming to idly tap against his chin. His eyes light up for a moment, before dulling slightly as he gives Kyoka an apologetic smile.

"I know this might seem mean, or cruel of me, but...could you tell him Todoroki and I were talking about going on a date?" Midoriya's voice is filled with sad defeat, his smile turning melancholic.

Kyoka's heart aches in her chest.

God.

Bakugo's gonna be devastated when he hears that.

But...

Midoriya knows Bakugo. He knows him better than any of them do, even Kirishima. If he thinks doing this is the best way to help Bakugo move on with his eventual grief, then Kyoka will trust him.

"Okay, I will."

Midoriya's face fills with relief, but even Kyoka can tell that it's hollow.

This is taking a toll on him, too. He probably hasn't been on this bad of terms with Bakugo since they were kids.

Kyoka breaks the short-lived silence.

"Do you want to walk the rest of the way to school together? I tend to get lost in the woods," she lies.

Midoriya stares at Kyoka for a moment. He probably knows that she's lying, yet his expression turns softly grateful, another sad smile making its way to his face.

"Sure, Jirou. I'd like that."