To Love, To Lose, To Leave

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Izuku's Bedroom

Izuku's room is bare. That doesn't surprise Katsuki much, seeing as the nerd basically took his entire All Might collection with him to the dorms. The only main difference is the lack of mess at his desk—Izuku was never able to keep the damn thing organized.

Now, though, Katsuki stares down at Izuku's desk, blinking twice.

He takes a deep breath in, holding it and closing his eyes, before slowly letting it out, opening his eyes again.

The envelope is still there, staring back up at Katsuki. Next to the letter sits a holographic video message disc, colored red.

Unopened.

Pointedly ignoring the way that his hands shake, Katsuki grabs Izuku's desk chair, slowly sitting, eyes never glancing away from either item.

On the envelope, Izuku's classic hurried yet somehow neat handwriting catches Katsuki's eye.

Watch the recording first!!

Katsuki's finger slowly comes up, barely brushing against the letter as he faintly traces over the strokes of each word. He glances at the disc, then slowly picks it up, twisting it in his fingers.

It's okay.

He takes a deep breath, setting the disc right-side up on the desk.

I can do this.

He gently presses a finger onto the center of the disc. The red glows, and then a glowing rectangle appears in the air, illuminating the room and—

Green.

Wild, unruly hair, fluffy and soft to the touch—

Cream.

Pale skin, naturally tinted a faint pink, freckles splattered all over—

Katsuki's eyes widen.

Izuku seems to be focused on something in the distance, his face close to the camera, the video violently shaking a couple of times before settling into a fixed angle—now, Izuku is the one moving, out of the two. He leans back, sitting down in his desk chair and—

Katsuki flicks his hand right above the disc, vision instantly blurring as he brings his hands up to rub at his eyes, pressing the tears back down in his throat. He takes another deep breath, shuddering as he starts the video again.

Izuku smiles at the camera—it's a bright smile, yet so terribly hollow.

"Hey Kacchan," he says. His voice sounds rough—jagged, like he'd just finished having a good cry. "If you're watching this video, then I'm...no longer here. I'm not too sure whether my mom will find this before or after my funeral, but it's okay. She'll find it sooner or later, right?" Izuku forces out a chuckle, then lifts up a sheet of paper—thin, neat lines of writing fill it. "I wrote out everything I wanna talk about, so I don't leave anything out. Just wanted you to know in case you wonder why I keep looking down."

Katsuki chokes on a wet laugh. "Nerd. Of course you wrote it all down."

Izuku places the paper down, out of sight, before clapping his hands twice. "First thing's first—I'm really, sorry that I broke up with you, Kacchan. It's only been—" Izuku blinks twice, pausing to pick up his phone, tapping at the screen. "Two hours, and I've been wanting to call you back so badly and tell you that I lied, when I said I didn't love you anymore. It's—I can't even begin to imagine it!"

Izuku's eyes fill with something heart-wrenchingly sorrowful as he gives another smile—small and weak, but genuine. "I love you so much, Kacchan—the greatest parts of me always will. I don't think I could stop loving, even if I wanted to. I almost did call, but..." Izuku's voice trails off, before he clears his throat. "This is for the best."