Beginning of Term

After school he finds himself in front of the Midoriyas' apartment door. 

In the past year, he has stayed friends with Izuku, but an invisible wall has been driven between them. Katsuki wonders if it's his fault (it probably is). Izuku has never spoken about the day when the sludge villain appeared, and so Katsuki silently watched the scars on his right arm heal, trying not to think too hard about what caused them. (He knows what burns look like. He knows what his explosions leave behind in their wake.) 

The door opens before Katsuki has a chance to knock.

It's Izuku, standing in a very familiar gray and dark teal uniform. Katsuki takes about three seconds to register this information, before—

"Deku, you piece of shit! Why didn't you tell me you were going to UA?"

Izuku has his hands up in defense, a nervous smile on his face. "I didn't know how to tell you. I mean, I'm just in the general department, so…"

Katsuki has the sudden urge to slam his face into the wall, which he just barely resists. If Izuku is at UA, what does that mean? Does he have a quirk or is he only there for—for what? He tries to clear his head. It's no use wondering. He needs to figure out whether Izuku has the quirk or not, for Izuku's sake. For all their sakes. The fate of One for All is basically the fate of the world.

"You are a shitty friend," he mutters.

"We can walk to school together tomorrow," Izuku offers.

Katsuki pokes Izuku in the cheek. "Shitty friend." He accentuates each syllable with a poke. 

They spend the rest of the evening together. Katsuki struggles more than usual to stay on task. He has too many questions floating through his mind. Maybe he needs to talk to All Might. But before he fully considers that possibility, Katsuki reminds himself that it's too dangerous to speak about his circumstances. He retires early, exhausted by the first day of high school and finding out that Izuku is, in fact, attending UA. He leaves with a quick promise of meeting Izuku at the bottom of the stairs so they can walk together in the morning.

Katsuki lies in bed for hours. He is tired, that's not the problem, but he has too many questions that he needs to answer. It's clear that the story he's a part of now is entirely different from what was happening before, and he doesn't know how to protect Izuku from it. If his best friend does indeed have All Might's quirk, the villains will be showing up soon. Even if Izuku is wholly quirkless, the villains pose a threat to everyone. Somewhere around 3 a.m., Katsuki falls into an uneasy sleep.

Izuku meets him 20 minutes before school starts. He looks way too happy to be going to school. Katsuki tries to steady his heartbeat after Izuku gives him a half smile and a "let's go." Walking to school is a quiet affair, and Katsuki almost forgets things aren't like they were the first time around. That is, until Izuku waves goodbye at the bottom of the staircase, and heads in another direction. 

As he watches a head of green hair disappear into the masses, Katsuki realizes he's never been to the other classrooms. What does the general department do? Without hero classes, their afternoons must be filled with other things. He makes a note to ask Izuku about it later.

In the afternoon, they have their first challenge. Their hero costumes present no excitement to Katsuki. The design of his hero costume has remained the same, save for a few minor changes. His mask extends over more of his face, ending just above his jaw. The bottom is painted white to suggest fangs. 

He's assigned to a team with Iida and chosen to protect the bomb. They're up against Uraraka and Asui. Katsuki doesn't lose this time. It's a lifetime away, but he remembers how it feels to fight for his life. A class exercise like this is nothing.

At the end of the day, he meets Izuku at the school gates. When they meet, he sees that Izuku has a noticeable bruise peeking out from under his left sleeve. Whether it's on purpose or not, Izuku shifts his hand so the bruise disappears, and Katsuki can't think of a good way to ask about it. Instead, he asks what the general department classes are like, and listens as Izuku starts detailing the quirks of everyone in 1-C.