Chapter 12

Katsuki twirled the last piece of salmon around on his plate with one of his chopsticks, annoyed that his mother appears to be having an incredibly involved conversation with his boyfriend.

His suspicions were only proven correct when he heard his mother's incessant vociferous laughter in the other room.

What was so funny?

He was kind of jealous that Sho was talking to his mother enough to make her laugh.

He put his remaining piece of cold salmon in his mouth and chewed it slowly, like a cow chewing grass. The slow, repetitive movement helped him order his train of thought.

Swallowing rather harshly, he gathered his plates together and headed back. He didn't care if they weren't done talking, as he was getting rather irritated.

Walking (stomping) back into the kitchen, he ignored the two pairs of eyes watching him as he walked to the sink and washed his dishes.

When he finished, he sat down back next to Sho and rested his crossed arms on the counter.

"So, did you talk shit about me?" Katsuki asked in all seriousness, mainly glaring at his mother.

"Nope! Not at all." The Old Hag smiled at Katsuki warmly, "Actually, based on the way your boyfriend spoke about you, he really loves you. You've found a keeper, Katsuki, don't fuck it up." she said, ruffling Katsuki's hair, much to his chagrin.

Katsuki's entire understanding (assumption) of the conversation they had in his absence went down the drain at that statement. What had Sho said that convinced his mom so thoroughly? Seriously, where were these acting skills earlier?

He looked over to Sho, hoping for some wordless answers, but only saw Sho staring at his own lap with his signature poker face only slightly dusted in blush. Well he could try to decipher the cause of the blush all day, but he had a bigger issue.

"Shoto, sweetie, can I have the same conversation with my son as I had with you?" Oh, so she's using his first name now?

What conversation? Did she give him the sex talk? Dear Buddha, he hoped she hadn't asked any of those embarrassing questions. His already slim chances would become nonexistent.

He watched Sho nod in acknowledgement and make his way upstairs, supposedly into Katsuki's bedroom.

Katsuki gulped as his mom looked at him, "Okay, how in the HELL did you actually manage to snatch an angel from heaven AND make him date you?"

"Hah?" Was all he could manage in response.

"You heard me, did you put a spell on him? Blackmail him? Sell your soul to the devil so you don't die a virgin?" She asked, her chin rested on the back of her right hand and her elbow on the counter.

"None of the above, old hag." Katsuki sneered back. "Maybe, some people actually like me. Unlike you."

She sighed, "I know people like you and I know I haven't been the best with you, trust me I was just lectured about it, but I do love you. I love the most of anything, okay?"

Lectured by who? There was no way it was Sho, so who was it?

"Seriously though, Katsuki, that boy loves you to the ends of the Earth. I can't stress this enough, do not do anything to make him leave. Don't screw up like you did with Izuku."

Ah. She constantly scorns him about how his friendship with Deku went from unbreakable to broken seemingly overnight. He never plans to tell her how he treated Deku. He knows he fucked up big time. His entire Junior High career was one big fuck up, and he knew it well.

He hit the last nail in the friendship coffin when he told Deku to kill himself. He knew it was wrong to tell him that, he knew he would fall apart if something happened to Deku, but he said it anyway.

Truthfully, he felt threatened by Deku. He'd always been so happy and so determined and so STRONG. He had no reason to be so optimistic and yet he was. He threatened to cast an overbearing shadow on Katsuki.

And then he did. He got a quirk from All Might and suddenly he's the center of attention. His shadow grew so much larger over Katsuki as the podium Deku had been placed on rose well above his own.

Deku had one thing he didn't- charisma. The ability to attract everybody towards him like a moth to a flame. Deku was a sun that shown through all the clouds no matter the circumstance. Katsuki couldn't imagine ever achieving that goal.

It was his most prevalent flaw, the flaw he was constantly reminded of, the one flaw he couldn't fix.