The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 9: Preparation

The loud screeching of hinges could be heard as the door to Katsuki Bakugo's dorm room slowly slid open. The darkroom was flooded with light from the hallway casting the shadow of the room's resident across the floor. The blond-haired boy stood in the doorway for a minute simply staring into his room, only half seeing it before finally stepping inside and sliding the door shut. The room was once again thrown into blackness as he did so leaving the only illumination coming from the crack under the door. That was enough for him. Katsuki dumped his belongings on the floor and laid down on his bed. He lay on his back with his eyes closed and as his thoughts from the previous week entered his mind again, a scowl found its way onto his face etching deep lines of frustration into his skin. Lately, he had been finding it difficult to keep these thoughts away for very long. And the more they came the angrier he got. The rest of class 3A had decided it best to give him some space; Katsuki hadn't decided whether he was grateful for that or not. He opened his eyes and glared up at the ceiling. 'Why?' he thought to himself. 'Why did he have to come to UA?'

When Izuku Midoriya had first shown up at UA, Katsuki was astonished and shocked. There was no way that the quirkless loser from his childhood had made it up to his level, no way at all. Unfortunately, that had been the case. Despite that though, Katsuki had been sure that Deku wouldn't be able to make it up here. He was certain that he would crack sooner or later and return to whatever B class hero course he had crawled out of. But as the days and weeks went by, he became less and less sure of that. Little by little, he saw that Deku was getting more and more comfortable with this environment. He saw the way he had a good connection with pink cheeks. That he was genuinely happy when he was talking to her and going to hero training; and as he saw these things, doubt began to lace his mind. Voices began to fill his thoughts. What if he wasn't special at all? He was supposed to be the best right? Then how come a quirkless loser was reaching his level?

Little by little these voices filled his head and he was finding it more difficult to focus in class. They whispered to him even now, saying that if he could make it up here without a quirk, how good really was he? Maybe Deku was actually better. 'NO! NO I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!' he screamed to himself and the voice went away again. But it would come back, he knew it would come back. He groaned in frustration. What was he supposed to do? He then made a decision. His eyes narrowed up at the ceiling in the darkness. He would end this, next time he had the chance, he would show everyone that he was the best; and remind Deku of his place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on Deku!" cried out the brunette. It was a bright Saturday afternoon at the mall. Countless people going in every direction laughing and talking. The air was filled with the buzz of conversation.

"I don't know, I've never really been the horror movie type."

"Are you saying that the great Izuku Midoriya, determined to become the number one hero is going to be defeated by some Hollywood special effects?"

The high school boy grumbled at this, "....fine," he said eventually. His brown-haired companion smiled at this.

"Yes!" she cried out in victory.

"Yeah, alright calm down," said Izuku. "The movie isn't for another hour or so anyway and I'm kind of hungry."

Uraraka nodded in agreement before setting out to find something to eat. They pushed through the crowd of people slowly making their way over to the food court. They finally emerged from the crowd after what felt like an eternity into the brightly lit food court. There were a lot of different options to chose from and after claiming a table the pair went to order their lunches. Several minutes later they returned, each carrying a tray with a burger and fries. They sat down across from each other before Izuku began to eat his meal.

He had taken a few bites from his burger before noticing that Uraraka hadn't touched her food at all. Instead, she was simply staring him in the eyes from across the table with a deep look on her face and her chin resting in one of her hands propped up on the table. The way she was looking at him caught him off guard and suddenly for a moment, he felt a strange fluttery sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" asked Izuku cautiously, wondering if something might be wrong.

"No reason, just watching you," she said simply.

Izuku was getting a little weirded out at this point. He was about to ask another question when the brunette spoke again.

"I can tell you're worried about something Deku," The words he had been about to say died in his throat and he looked away. He felt a hand slide on top of his and he looked back to see those deep brown eyes again, staring at him thoughtfully.

"Listen Deku," she said. "It's been nearly three weeks since you had that incident and you haven't had any sort of issues at school because of it. You're going to do fine in the practical exam tomorrow."

"Are you sure about that?" he said quietly.

"Yeah, I am. And I invited you to hang out at the mall today to try and get you to relax a bit, but You're just as tense as ever,"

"Yeah, well I don't think a horror movie is going to help with that," he said jokingly.

Uraraka gave him a playful glare, "Alright, you got me there. But still, you could try to loosen up a bit."

"I know, but I can't help it. I'm up against Katchan tomorrow."

"And you're going to do great!" The boy gave her a skeptical look with his emerald eyes.

"Fine be that way, but can you try to have a little fun?"

"Alright, I'll try,"