A State of Decay

Chapter 38

"You're going to explain why they have a picture of you kissing that mass murderer. You're going to explain it to me, and you better not fucking lie to me."

Izuku's heart pounds in his chest as his mind runs, thinking about everything that just happened. he had just been outed to the entire nation on live television. They all knew he was dating Tomura now. With the pictures that they had, there was no way to deny it. Somehow, that wasn't even the worst of it in his mind; no--it was the person standing in front of him with an abysmally angry look on his face, demanding answers that Izuku wasn't sure how to give. 

He doesn't know what to do. 

"Deku, look at me," Katsuki said, grabbing his chin. He yanks his chin so that they're facing each other. "Start talking. Now." 

"I- it's true," Izuku says quietly. He's trying so hard not to cry and let everything overwhelm him, but it's difficult when Katsuki looks at him like that--his crimson eyes tearing a hole in him, cutting him right down to the bone. "Tomura's my boyfriend. He has been for a while now."

"First name basis with a fucking villain? Really?" Katsuki scoffs and turns around with his hands on top of his head. "And that's not just any villain, Deku. You know that. How could you? How could you possibly think that dating someone like him is okay?" 

Izuku doesn't know what to say. He'd had this conversation with Katsuki so many times in his head, and in none of them did he picture it going this terribly. He was at a loss for words and wasn't sure how to explain any of this to Katsuki. 

"He's changed," Izuku says, his voice barely a whisper. He's unsure how else to explain it- not when Katsuki's angry about it. 

"Changed how? He killed so many people. He killed our friends. Hell, he almost got away with killing me! How can you justify something like that?" 

"I was able to explain this to our other friends, and they didn't take it like this." Izuku hugs his chest. Katsuki swivels back around. 

"You told everyone else?" he seethes. "You told others, but you didn't tell me?"

"It's because I knew you'd react like this," Izuku laments. "I didn't know how to tell you." He could no longer stop the tears in his eyes from welling up and slipping down his cheeks. It felt as if everything was crashing down around him all at once, and there was no stopping it. 

"Of course, I'd react like this! I'd be stupid not to!" he shouts. 

Suddenly, a swarm of reporters is coming down the other side of the alleyway. 

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, but we'll have to talk about it later." Katsuki grabs Izuku again and heads toward the other end of the alley, trying to escape the cameras and reporters. "Let's just get out of here." 

* * * 

An hour later, they were in the privacy of Katsuki's apartment. The agency had called and given them both the rest of the day off while their PR teams attempted to reign in the damage done by the live interview; Izuku knew it was futile. There was no way around the pictures. It wasn't just a passing statement. There was physical proof. 

What bothered him even more was that he didn't know people were following him when those pictures were taken. He thought he'd been careful around the press, but apparently, it wasn't enough. 

They'd heard from Hawks, and neither the agency nor The Commission were happy with the interview. Hawks understood that it was Izuku's business. Still, he'd stated that there were most likely going to be repercussions from The Safety Commission because of who it was--even though Tomura and the rest of the league were reformed citizens. Regardless of what they'd done to better themselves since the war, having a hero dating a former villain was still a bad look.