The war was over. Countless scars- physical and emotional- adorned heroes across Japan. Many made it home as shells of who they once were, husks ruined by the combat of a lifetime, many never made it home at all. The world was still ever so slowly building itself back up from the utter destruction caused by the LOV and AFO, with many areas of Musutafu being destroyed beyond recognition, but everyone was getting better ever so slowly. Moving forward from the chaos that plagued the lives of many.
One particular group of teenagers would never be the same again. Class 3A of the UA Hero Academy would never fully move on from that battlefield, never fully move on from those moments of action no matter how they tried. All still felt nauseous at the nightmares that they had lived through a mere year before, and many were never quite the same from the loss they inevitably faced. Tear streaked sobs echoed through the dorms in the night, empty stares lingered a little too long in each of the students' eyes, and yet two students stood out from the rest. So different from who they used to be it would scare anyone who hadn’t gotten used to it.
Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya were not who they used to be. The boys were tired. More tired than they should be after a year of rest since the battle had happened. The boys both stumbled around their lives, too worried with the horrors of the war to ever fully come back into themselves. They were undoubtedly Izuku and Katsuki, nobody would question it with the way they bickered with each other and acted, but they had been dulled by the fight. Too much had been pushed out of them on that battlefield, and they still didn’t seem quite the same.
Izuku couldn’t go long without Katsuki. He would worry himself absolutely sick about the boy more often than not, having seen his lifeless corpse on the battlefield left him with many apprehensions about letting the boy out of his sight. Katsuki was much the same, the blonde only seemed to perk up with any of his old explosive energy around Izuku. They kept their usual distance, but the class would be lying to say they weren’t aware of Izuku and Katsuki’s strange attachment to each other becoming even more intense after the war. Secret bumps against each other's hands, longing looks shot across the cafeteria, always so distant and nervous, yet definitely there.
All of their contact being distant and cool was suddenly broken one night with three quiet knocks on Izuku’s door.
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Izuku couldn’t sleep. He never could. He’d been going for months on three-to-four hours of sleep a night if he was lucky, and he just couldn’t take it anymore. The sleep he did get was never restful, plagued with visceral nightmares of ashen hands reaching towards him, cold red eyes glaring at him, All Might… He quickly swiped that thought from his brain as soon as it arrived, preferring not to explode with a dull ache he had felt for so long. His eyes ached, his body shook with chills, and his brain was so clouded he could barely read the board in class. He tossed and turned on his bed, staring in the dark at his ceiling, his hands, his alarm clock’s electronic glow. He counted sheep, quitting after six hundred. He tried to control his breathing, jolting up, sputtering with coughs when he forgot to inhale for around a minute.
This is hopeless… He thought bitterly. He looked over to his alarm clock, the sickly red glow beeping ‘3:22’. Izuku sighed deeply. He had to wake up in two hours. Three if he really wanted to push it… but he had enough late marks to warrant investigation… so he better not.
In his daze, he just barely heard a noise. It was so faint, Izuku could have played it off as some sleep deprived hallucination. Three knocks that came from just outside his door. Izuku didn’t move for a second, until curiosity wound around his guts. He softly sat up in his bed, swinging his legs over the side of his tousled sheets, landing his feet softly on the dark wooden floors. He quickly and quietly padded over to his door, inhaling with anticipation as he turned the door knob to look out into the dark halls. Izuku swung the door open, his heart pounding a little faster, and there he saw the very last person he expected. Kacchan.
Izuku’s eyes locked onto vermillion in the dark, Katsuki’s features nearly looking soft in the faint glow of the night. Izuku’s mouth hung open in surprise for a moment, before he quickly gathered his thoughts and closed his lips with a pop.
“Kacchan?” Katsuki stood there in night clothes, a simple loose fitting skull shirt and black sweatpants, with dishevelled hair and eye bags that almost beat Izuku’s. He looked pale, his face scar that swept across the right side of his face standing out against his glossy porcelain skin. He looks… awful.
Katsuki stood, looking at Izuku as though he didn’t expect him to open the door, eyes blown slightly wide, jaw clenched. Izuku looked right back, and in that moment, they had a split second of seemingly wordless communication. Izuku stepped to the side, holding the door open for Katsuki to his dark and warm room. Katsuki’s eyes darted between Izuku and his open doorway for a moment, before with an annoyed huff, he headed inside.
Katsuki’s quiet footsteps padded against the hardwood floors, his usually loud stomps being dulled to a mere mouse-like imitation of their former stride and weight. Izuku hunched in on himself, Katsuki had never gotten this close before, coming into his room with a gentle face. It irked Izuku… no… that wasn’t the right word for this slightly happier feeling. Katsuki’s gaze avoided Izuku’s following one, his eyes scanning the room in the low lighting. He met Izuku’s confused gaze for a moment before immediately pulling away.
“Why’re you up?” Said the blonde in a raspy voice, clearly having not spoken in a while due to the late hour.
“Couldn’t sleep.” Izuku answered simply, his eyes still trained on Katsuki’s form in the dark. “You?”
“Couldn’t sleep.” Katsuki locked eyes with Izuku. Those words could mean so much, they did mean so much to both of the boys. They carried too much weight. Tension filled the air, both boys unaware what to do with this newfound boundary they’d crossed. They were friends, undoubtedly, no matter if either denied it, yet they weren’t… like that. They had too much history, knew too much to ever be close like this. Like come into each other’s rooms at night to talk close. So they didn’t have to. Talk, that is.
Izuku slowly walked around Katsuki to his bed, pulling his eyes away from him as he scooched backwards to the part of his bed closest to the wall. Izuku laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling, and maybe it was his terribly tired brain, but he slowly moved his hand off of his stomach and gently patted the empty bed space beside him, signaling Katsuki to lay down with him. Both of the scarred boys vaguely knew that that was a signal to get animals to come up on the couch in any other context, but neither seemed to mind. The soft lull of a comfortable place to rest drew Katsuki in.
He silently walked over to the bed, propping his knee onto it to climb on. The mattress dipped under his weight, and with a huff, he plopped down onto his back next to Izuku. Neither boy dared move, staying completely stark still in the dark of the room, barely threatening to breathe. They both laid awake, hearts beating slowly in unison as they stared at the ceiling, watching the dark spots flurry in their vision, both unthinking, undreaming, just relishing in the vague warmth of each other laying centimeters away.
Suddenly, the dark seemed to cave in on both of them, their light breaths becoming more pronounced as they relaxed, their muscles unwinding to just nearly touch each other, so close, yet so far. The duo floated.
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Izuku awoke in a flurry of warmth, his normally cool and uncomfortable bed feeling as soft as a cloud and as comforting as a hug pressed to his side. The boy groggily opened his eyes, peering at the warm sunlight filtering in through his balcony screen door. He could almost hear birds chirping in the quiet morning, his ears and eyes adjusting slowly. Normally, he woke up in a cold sweat, jolting upwards to the harsh beeping of his alarm having just barely survived his nightmarish sleep. Something was different. Izuku’s eyebrows scrunched as something tickled his face. He looked down to see a spiky blonde tuft tucked under his chin, his arms wrapped around a solid source of warmth. His eyes widened, panic searing through his body. He was hugging Kacchan. He felt muscles tense against him, pulling his back inwards. Kacchan was hugging him back.
Izuku had watched this boy die in front of him time and time again, he knew everything there was to know about him, he had been there by his side through thick and thin, yet he could not have imagined a universe where he would wake up to the boy hugging him so tightly in his sleep. Izuku’s face burned.
His mind raced with a million thoughts of panic and comfort, mixing into a weird and foreign feeling in his chest that fluttered and called out to him, washing over him like ocean waves. Izuku felt Katsuki shift in his arms, and he reflexively lifted them off of the blonde boy’s back as he nuzzled closer. Izuku may die here. He sent a quick glance over to his alarm clock, it was far too bright outside for…
“Ten O’Clock???!” He whisper-yelled. Izuku ever so slowly unhooked Katsuki’s arms from behind his back, stepping over the boy and gently resting his hands down against each other in the warmth of where Izuku had slept. He crawled off of his bed, treading backwards like a caged animal, before seeing Katsuki’s back rise and fall with deep breaths of sleep. He let out a sigh of relief before swiftly jumping into action, quietly throwing on his uniform, fluffing up his hair, grabbing his backpack, and running out the door, closing it with a soft click. The dorms were dead quiet as class had been in session for hours at this point, so Izuku gunned it down the hall, heart still echoing in his ears as he ran from the warmth of his “childhood friend/ rival / friend again”’s arms.
What was that?!!!
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Izuku bursted into the classroom, heavily breathing from running across campus in a matter of seconds to get there. It was dead quiet as all eyes turned to him, an unimpressed Cementoss standing at the front of the class, impatiently watching a flushed and unkept Izuku walk over to his seat with his head down.
Class 3A had known Izuku to be late every so often, but no face remained stoic at the boy’s extremely late arrival. Whispers erupted across the classroom as Izuku, embarrassed beyond belief, took his seat. He let out a huff, taking out his books swiftly and quietly as Cementoss stared him down.
“Now as I was saying…” The class quieted down as the lesson began again.
Izuku tried to take notes, he really did, but his mind kept drifting back to tired red eyes, soft pale skin, and surprisingly soft blonde hair. He was in a half daze, responding to questions in class, taking notes when he could, yet he did not retain one piece of information from the whole lesson, his thoughts all leading back to warm arms and Kacchan’s face and Kacchan was in my bed and oh my god we cuddled and-
“Deku!” Izuku snapped his head up, coming face to face with a nervous Ochako. “You okay? You’ve been spacing for almost ten minutes.” Izuku looked down at his almost cold lunch. Oh, I’m in the cafeteria.
“I’m fine Ochako. Just a rough morning.” He picked up his chopsticks to begin eating.
“Yeah, I could tell! You were, like, three hours late. Did you have nightmares or something?” She co*cked her head in curiosity.
Izuku nearly choked on his food in surprise. Oh, no. Silly Ochako… you see I woke up in the arms of Kacchan! Yeah, that Kacchan. We had an awkward exchange at three in the morning before crawling into bed with each other and cuddling to sleep. Yeah, actually, it was the best sleep I’ve had in months! I’ve never felt so awesome. Isn’t that just awesome, Ochako?
Izuku swallowed his food. “Nah. Just slept pretty soundly this time.” He shifted his eyes awkwardly away from Ochako. Her face relaxed and looked almost dipped with happiness. Her eyes softened.
“Oh…” She smiled widely. “That’s great. I was hoping you’d get some good sleep sometime soon.” She immediately was embarrassed by the words. “Ah! Not that I mean you look tired or anything, I mean you do, but-”
“I think she’s trying to say we are glad you are well rested Midoriya!” Iida cut into the conversation, saving Ochako’s words with his swift chopping arm movements.
Izuku let out a shy chuckle at this. He understood Ochako’s worries, he would have had to have been an idiot to not notice his own tired slouch, deep eyebags, and pale complexion. He assumed everyone in the class knew both he and Katsuki weren’t sleeping, even though Katsuki hid his exhaustion a little better than Izuku.
“Thanks guys, I mean it.” He flashed an earnest smile. The group seemed a little stunned at this gracious smile crossing Izuku’s features, one this genuine was rare nowadays. The whole group burst into smiles all around, a new energy being invigorated into their conversation about this and that. Debuting heroes, new dramas on late night TV, food opinions, it flowed like it hadn’t in a long time, and Izuku’s heart swelled as he nodded and laughed along, enjoying his lunch in earnest.
Suddenly, Izuku felt a looming presence beside him, danger sense not going off but simply tapping him on the shoulder as a sly alert. Izuku calmly turned his head around to find the incoming ‘threat’, to catch Katsuki in his tracks as he stomped swiftly over to Izuku’s table.
Uh oh. Izuku had a 50/50 bet on him being beat up after the cuddling fiasco, he prayed Katsuki didn’t remember.
“Izuku.” Katsuki gritted out through a clenched jaw as he stopped at the table. “Walk and talk, nerd.” He lifted Izuku by his collar, dragging him away from his table of friends by the scruff of his uniform neck.
“Ah- Wai- Kacchan-” Katsuki stormed off with Izuku being dragged half heartedly behind, the bustling cafeteria students sending them sideways glances before returning to their food and conversation. “Let go! I’ll follow- Geez!” Izuku yanked his collar out of Katsuki’s grasp, his uniform now looking rustled and messy. “Is this about-” Katsuki sent Izuku a death glare so powerful it may have knocked a lesser man over. Message received.
Katsuki led him out of the bustling cafeteria and around the halls of the large institution to a seemingly empty hallway. He checked back and forth before immediately pinning Izuku to the wall.
“Who’d you tell?!” Years ago, this act of aggression would have scared Izuku senseless, but knowing Kacchan, he could see the boy wasn’t angry at all. A slightly panicked look in his eyes and the rather hushed way he spoke revealed he was… Nervous?
“Kacchan! I didn’t tell anyone about-” Izuku felt his cheeks go scarlet, he waved his hands in front of him in embarrassment. “I mean- it wasn’t even- we didn’t- look it’s not exactly something I want to advertise either..!” Izuku yelled in a hushed tone. “I mean it didn’t mean anything- so we’re… We’re cool.” Izuku made a motion like he was smoothing something out, his arms curving away from him like a gentle wave.
Katsuki nearly growled. “Damn right.” He huffed, stepping away from Izuku and shoving his hands roughly in his pockets. “We don’t say a word about this, we don’t acknowledge it,” He shoved his finger in Izuku’s face. “And we damn don’t f*cking question it.” Izuku nodded fervently. He didn’t want to do any of those things, especially not questioning why Katsuki’s hair was so soft, why his body was so warm in Izuku’s grasp, why it was the best sleep he’s had in ages and- Focus Izuku!
“Right on, Kacchan.” Izuku gave a weak thumbs up. Katsuki huffed.
“Kay’, see you tonight, dipsh*t.” With that, Katsuki ruffled Izuku’s hair roughly, causing the boy to wince, and walked off.
Izuku stood in stunned silence.
Excuse me??????
Hushed snickers came from Izuku’s group of friends later as he walked into class, a dazed pink look on his face with tousled hair and a messy shirt collar. After being dragged off by Katsuki of all people- he didn’t want to imagine what they must have thought of that.
Izuku couldn’t focus too much on that anyways, only one thing ringed in his mind.
“See you tonight”
Izuku took his seat with a slight sigh before his brain exploded.
What does he mean by ‘see you tonight’???!! Way to be cryptic, Kacchan! That could mean he’s gonna murder me or he’s gonna sleep with me! Izuku felt his face burn. Poor word choice.
I mean what do I even do?? Should I like… buy extra blankets??? I should maybe wash my sheets… they might be kind of gross. I wonder if my bed smells like Kacchan. Izuku thought of that for a moment.
Better not wash them.
Izuku was on top of the afternoon lessons, his nerdiness being a solid distraction from his racing embarrassing thoughts. He answered every question he could-which was most- he did his work with feverish speed, and his face remained a dazed pink throughout the lesson. He’s pretty sure he heard one of the boys call him “nerd-drunk” in the back of the class, but he couldn’t be too sure who.
He raced back to the dorms, head low and determined as he walked to his room, letting the door close behind him. He rushed to do his leftover homework from the hours of school he’d missed this morning, and desperately tried to put the idea of Katsuki gently knocking on his door again out of his mind.
When Izuku was finished with his homework, he cleaned. He cleaned and reorganized and cleaned again. Anything, anything to keep his prying mind away from the image of Katsuki’s soft embrace falling into his arms again. He shook his head, soft green curls bouncing as he knocked the thoughts out of his skull like water stuck in his ears.
Izuku went down to the common room to grab a quick dinner, rushing back up to his room and avoiding his friends suspicious looks as he glanced around - nervous and weary towards Katsuki’s inevitable eyes locking onto Izuku’s and making him feel all sorts of wrong things. He sat with his bowl of curry rice- quickly turning on something to watch to dull his nervous brain.
Pulling out his laptop- Izuku knew the perfect comfort show to watch: a silver age All Might anime that aired a little bit before Izuku was ever born. Izuku still remembered growing up watching it all the time, obsessing over little details, buying every action figure for it.
The ache of All Might being gone still left a gaping, unsteady hole in Izuku’s chest that made it hard to breathe. He often felt emotions well up inside him like they were about to overflow, touching every nerve ending in his entire body and squeezing his lungs flat at the thought of the kind man. He couldn’t help that with those feelings came an extremely comforting well of nostalgia; loss mixing with the intense feelings of love he had always expressed for the man. There wouldn’t be another hero in Izuku’s life like All Might, Izuku knew that, but he couldn’t bring himself to mind. He missed the man deeply, but sometimes these silly reminders of the man’s legacy from Izuku’s childhood warmed the deep cool sadness that pumped through his veins at the missing hole where the man once resided.
Izuku loaded up the show, anticipation humming through his veins. The old intro played and Izuku already felt his tensions about Katsuki leaving his body, the exciting childish jingle relighted something old and soft within him. Something akin to a safety blanket washed over his senses. He watched one episode, then a few more, then a few more. Now, hours later and maybe ten episodes deep, Izuku was laying on his bed as he laughed and cried along with the show that ached of his quirkless hope-ridden childhood.
Suddenly, a quiet part of the show played. Little animated All Might was fighting a villain, before he let out a small and honest laugh, a laugh Izuku hadn’t heard in so long. All Might quietly started to speak;
“Boys and girls of Japan, a quirk isn’t what makes a hero, but a hero’s effort to do good in the face of anything!” The moment felt strangely quiet, the music of the anime that normally blasted to keep children’s attention quieted, and the animation felt a lot more somber. Izuku’s heart was constricted in his throat.
I miss you.
Anime All Might wound up a powerful punch, popping a villain in the face as the music started back up again, and just like that, the moment was gone.
Izuku heard three quiet knocks at his door, and suddenly everything felt too real again. He wasn’t by his mentor's side, fighting villains anymore. He was facing a real challenge.
Confusing teenage feelings in the form of an explosive blonde.
Izuku jumped out of bed, wiping off some crusted tears that remained on his face from laughter, and jogged up to the door. He swiftly unlocked it and opened it up to the dark hallway. This time, Katsuki was illuminated by the light of Izuku’s warm room. Still covered in All Might paraphernalia, yet littered with photos of his friends, his life, his mom. It was undoubtedly nerdy, yet ringed comfort out like a signal in the night.
Katsuki’s features looked soft and tired again, Izuku had no idea what time it was at this point, but he was feeling the familiar pull of sleep tug at his eyes as well. The blonde looked Izuku up and down, co*cking an eyebrow.
“You’re still dressed?” He asked in an accusing tone. Izuku squeaked, his face turning scarlet. That sounded so wrong…. Katsuki didn’t even notice.
“A-ah sorry, Kacchan. I lost track of time. Hold on, I’ll go get ready for bed.” Izuku turned around to pick up PJs and his toothbrush to go bathe and get ready. He darted past Katsuki, his shoulders hunched in embarrassment at his unkempt appearance.
Katsuki walked into Izuku’s room, huffing at the nerd’s weird behaviour. He softly shut the door behind him, angrily kicking off his slippers and leaping backwards onto Izuku’s bed, making the springs crunch under his body weight.
Katsuki noticed the laptop open on Izuku’s bed, his nosiness overtaking him in an instant.
I swear if the nerd has something scarring on here, I’m gonna kill him.
Katsuki turned the laptop around to see a very familiar outro playing. He immediately let out a snort, a small smile playing on his face at the predictability of his childhood friend. Katsuki and Izuku grew up loving this All Might anime. Katsuki thought back to his fond childhood of collectable hero cards, festival candy apples, and playgrounds nestled between his neighbourhood and the small forested area surrounding it. Nostalgia swam in his head as the dumb outro blinked vaguely in his vision, credits flashing on the screen alongside the jingle.
The door whooshed open, a slightly out of breath Izuku standing in it in fluffy All Might PJ pants and an old white t shirt that read “dress shirt”.
Katsuki didn’t bat an eye, sitting comfortably on Izuku’s bed like he owned the place. He casually pointed at the computer screen, still playing the corny show.
“You still watch this sh*t?”
Izuku felt his face slightly redden. He felt playful defensiveness wind up in his stomach.
“Don’t act like you don’t watch old All Might stuff, you’re totally a nerd for him too!” Izuku burst back, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he walked to sit next to Katsuki.
Katsuki stared at him, wide eyed. He wondered when Izuku got so… sassy.
“Yeah, me the nerd. Have you seen how you dress?” Katsuki felt a smirk play on his lips as he spoke. Izuku plopped down next to Katsuki as the next episode intro began playing.
Izuku felt a smile build at his lips, pushing to test the waters of this newfound relationship with Katsuki.
“Oh, please Kacchan. Which one of us was it that had a lisp for a month when we got braces in middle school?” Izuku co*cked an eyebrow at Katsuki, continuing his barrage with his newfound confidence.
Katsuki popped up with a large shocked smile on his face, his eyebrows pulled in from being so utterly exposed.
“You piece of sh*t! f*ck off, those braces sucked ass, don’t even wanna remember them.” He laughed a little bit. “And at least I wasn’t a pissy little baby for my whole childhood! How many phobias did you have again?” Katsuki leaned in as he taunted.
“Like six- but that’s beside the point!” Izuku rolled his eyes in amusem*nt. “You’re a whipped All Might nerd. You love the guy! Love him! Don’t shame me for being open about it, Kacchan. You’re a closet case otaku.” Izuku’s eyes shone in amusem*nt at the taunts against the boy.
“You did NOT just call me a ‘closet case otaku.’” Katsuki’s eyes widened, surprised at this side of Izuku. It felt as through the boys were falling back into a place they hadn’t been in a long time. Childish taunts, giggling over stupid jokes while All Might anime played in the background, looking into each other's eyes without tension- good or bad. It felt… freeing.
Katsuki gripped one of Izuku’s pillows, quickly swinging his arm around and whacking Izuku straight across the face with it. A little “oof!” Resonated from Izuku as he was struck.
“Kacchan!” Izuku was laying on his bed as though he had been defeated.
“How’s that for a ‘closet case otaku’?! Die!” Katsuki went to swing the pillow again, lifting it over his head, when suddenly a pillow was thrown straight at him, knocking him backwards.
“Kacchans’ a nerd! A big nerd!” Izuku quickly picked up the pillow again, winding up for a second shot to Katsuki’s face.
“Oh you are gonna get f*cking slaughtered!”
Pillows flew across the room, little yelps and giggles filling the space as the two taunted each other during their great battle. The fluffy pillows were surprisingly dense, nearly knocking each other over a few times with the power of the two strong boy’s swings.
“Surrender, Kacchan! I’ve got you cornered.” Izuku was hurdling a barrage of assaults at Katsuki with his pillow, and he could only block.
“f*ck off!” The boy lashed out. Suddenly, Katsuki lunged through the attack, tackling Izuku down onto the bed. He held him in a choke hold, Izuku tapping rapidly on Katsuki’s arm, locking him in place.
“What’s the password?!” He yelled playfully.
“Ack! Kacchan! Hrk.” Izuku struggled, his head becoming light with the blood loss.
“Kacchan rules! Izuku drools! Say it!” Katsuki giggled down at the boy caught in his arms. Izuku wriggled, before suddenly going limp. Katsuki’s face dropped immediately, eyes widening at the action, immediately letting the boy go. “sh*t. Uhh, Izuku?” He turned the limp boy onto his back, tapping on his face. Suddenly, Izuku opened his bright eyes, swiftly grabbing a pillow with his hand and decking Katsuki in the face with it.
“HAHA! SURPRISE ATTACK BITCH!”
“f*ck, THAT WAS DIRTY, YOU CHEATER!” The boys fell silent for a moment at the outburst, before immediately falling into a fit of giggles. Kicking their feet and snorting on their backs, limp and shaking with laughter on Izuku’s tiny bed.
Izuku, still giggling while wiping a tear from his eye, glanced up at the alarm clock sitting on his bedside table.
‘1:53’
“Oh, man Kacchan. We gotta get to sleep. I think we have that dumb math quiz tomorrow.” Izuku stretched out his back, lifting his arms above his head.
Katsuki huffed, his smile slightly faltering on his face. “Yeah. Probably.” He shifted across the bed, the covers and mattress dipping under his weight while he moved. Every movement felt intentional and slow, as if he was suddenly scared he might break Izuku in half by simply getting any closer. Izuku quickly shut the light off before leaping into bed, using his senses to guide him as he laid down in the deep darkness of his room. He gently pressed himself into his bed, pulling the covers up to his neck while he hunkered down, turning onto his side.
Suddenly, as he shut his eyes, he felt a faint breeze across his face. He could vividly smell burnt caramel, taking him back to days long gone. Days before Izuku became any semblance of the young man he is today. He felt the breeze again, and again, and he quickly realized, he and Katsuki must be facing each other in this tiny bed. He tried to crack open his eyes to see the boy, aching to look at his face again, but was simply met with a faint outline from his tired eyes to Katsuki’s open ones.
“I missed this.” Izuku spoke in a hushed whisper, his eyes welling with tears from a foreign emotion tugging on his heart. “I missed you.”
“Don’t get too sappy on me, nerd.” Katsuki spoke, his voice coming from a lot closer than Izuku expected. His breath ghosted across Izuku’s features, making his heart flutter calmly in his chest. He lifted his hand up and lightly punched Katsuki in the shoulder.
They stayed in their silence for a while longer, breathing in each other’s air in a strange staring competition, desperately trying to figure out what the other was thinking. What the other was feeling. What they were feeling. Izuku huffed a laugh.
“What.” Katsuki spoke, his voice coming out in a flat whisper.
“It’s just… I’m thinking about when your braces used to whistle while you breathed.” Izuku felt Katsuki shift in the bed, before a louder voice came out.
“Woooow. Way to ruin the mood, nerd. You can f*ck right off then.” Katsuki turned in the other direction in mock anger, but Izuku could hear the smile playing on his lips as he spoke, twisting his words in a way that was pleasant to Izuku’s ears. “Also, that’s creepy as f*ck that you know that.” Izuku bursted out in giggles again.
“Goodnight, Kacchan.” Izuku set the alarm for the morning to come with a few beeps, and turned away from Katsuki again.
The last thing Izuku heard before drifting into a warm and restful sleep was a soft “night’” from the boy beside him. Maybe if he were awake any longer, he would have felt the soft press of a head to his back, nuzzling into his warmth minutes later.
.
.
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Izuku woke up to muscular arms wrapped around his torso and fluffy hair pressed into him again, shifting out of the warm grasp and getting ready a few minutes before his alarm. His body obviously wasn’t used to all of the hours of sound sleep he had been getting, so it woke him up a little earlier than he would have liked. Katsuki, on the other hand, was the type that needed at least eight hours a night to be even semi-present.
The freckles boy scrambled to get dressed again, casually sauntering down to the kitchen to grab breakfast.
Izuku grabbed some rice and cracked an egg on it, sitting down to enjoy his little meal. He watched birds fluttering outside the windows of the dorm, the cool foggy morning air rolling in waves across the landscape surrounding the dorms. The quiet of the morning left a vague ringing in his sleepy ears, yet he enjoyed the peace. Thinking back to last night, he felt excitement roll in his stomach like the fog outside.
Izuku ached to prod at this new part of his and Katsuki’s relationship. Psychoanalyze every word the boy had said last night, going over how his eyes looked in the dark, the soft rasp of his voice and the explosive happiness of his laughter. Yet, Izuku knew he couldn’t. He felt dread thinking about it too long. He didn’t want to question it, Kacchan himself had told him not to! He just wanted, for once, to let a good thing be. Not have to think about it. So, he shovelled his rice into his mouth like he meant it, and cleared his mind of anything but focusing on the notes he memorized for the math quiz.
After he saw a few of his classmates come down, all groggily grabbing assorted breakfasts out of the kitchen as they passed him with a simple “g’mornin’” under their breath, Izuku finished eating before a lot of his friends, and quickly went to clean up. In the kitchen, he caught a sight he never would have expected.
A groggy Katsuki stood, quietly transferring his leftover miso soup into his small bowl to reheat. His hair stuck up in even more places than normal, which Izuku didn’t think was possible, and his eyes were almost completely shut in a sleepy daze. His jaw was set tightly, his uniform messy, and his back relaxed. He moved as slow as a snail, and Izuku let out a little snort at his soft, sleepy, normally rigid friend.
Katsuki slowly turned to face Izuku as he put his dish in the sink, grumbling what Izuku could only imagine to be a struggling ‘good morning’ with a swear word thrown in it somewhere. Izuku giggled, his face lighting up as Katsuki let out a cute yawn.
“Morning Kacchan.” Izuku felt a swell of pride and love rush through his chest, leading him to reach up his hand to the top of Katsuki’s messy hair, and ruffle it lightly. Izuku felt his nervousness creep back, half expecting Katsuki to lash out at him like a wild animal, but as he pulled away, Katsuki’s head followed his hand like a cat asking to be pet. Izuku’s heart nearly burst, but he pulled his hand back anyways, holding it to his chest as though it was precious. “Sleep alright?” Izuku spoke in a gentle and hushed tone. Katsuki’s tired head wobbled a little bit, before he nodded and walked off to find a place to sit, completely forgetting to heat up his miso soup. Izuku didn’t stop him.
“Dude…” A voice piped up from behind where Izuku was still standing. “What… on Earth just happened?” Izuku turned around swiftly to see a flabbergasted Denki and Mina, staring at him like he had two heads.
“Uh. Morning?” Izuku waved his hand slightly, before dropping it back to his side during the prolonged stunned silence. Denki and Mina looked at each other. Back to Izuku. At each other again, and burst into a cacophony of hushed yelling, as to not alert their classmates.
“YOU- YOU JUST PET MORNING BAKUGO!” Mina piped up, her hands flailing around in surprise. “I mean to pet any Bakugo- laughable- but him in the morning?!? He’s like- volatile.”
“I think he tried to actually bite me one time on an early training day.” Denki piped in while Mina nodded along.
“How’d you do it, Midoriya? You got dirt on him? Please tell me you have dirt on him- I NEED you to have dirt on him.” Mina got up in Izuku’s face, her hands in a prayer pose as she begged for drama.
“I really don’t know what you guys are talking about. I think he was just tired enough to let me do that!” Izuku shook his head in denial, bending away from Mina encroaching on his personal space.
Denki walked up behind Mina, crossing his arms and shaking his head solemnly. “Nuh-uh. Don’t let that sleepy face and messy hair fool you. Bakugo is still very much Bakugo in the morning, even when he looks like a baby owl.” He looked Izuku in the eyes. “I nearly lost a finger from trying to make a pun in the morning. A pun. That’s- like- my whole thing? Did finger guns too close to sleepy Bakugo and nearly lost those finger… guns.” Denki let out a huff at the memory.
“I’m telling you Midoriya, however you got him to act like that- you’ve gotta tell. That was probably the most shocking thing I’ve seen this month.” Mina circled Izuku as she spoke, her finger tucked at her chin like a detective analyzing a case. Mina’s eyes widened.
Izuku stood, utterly confused at the exchange. Both were, once again, staring at him as though they were trying to read his thoughts. He half felt like they could.
“Denki… I think we’re asking the wrong person. Looking back… Didn’t it seem like Bakugo kind of… leaned into Midoriya?” Mina looked shocked at the revelation as she spoke, clearly still processing the event that had unfolded in pieces like a slowly buffering machine.
Denki replayed the memory in his head in a couple of moments. “Wait… You’re right.” Both were now doing the same detective pose, fingers tucked at their chin, looking up to the ceiling as though their answers were in a thought bubble suspended above their head. Izuku watched, utterly confused, as they locked eyes in a split second. Mina tilted her head toward the kitchen door. Denki shook his head in refusal. Mina tilted her head, twice this time and harder, pursing her lips in a stern line. Denki pointed at his finger, making a twisted nervous face. Mina rolled her eyes, and silently dragged Denki by the collar out of the kitchen.
She briefly popped her pink fluffy head back in to say “Thanks, Midoriya! See you in class!” And just like that, the two of them were gone, and Izuku was left standing in the middle of the kitchen in utter confusion. He sighed, turning back to rinse out his dish in the sink, when he heard a loud explosion sound from the other room, followed by a very familiar taunt.
“YOU WANNA DIE?!” All Izuku could hear after that was Denki begging to keep all of his fingers, and Mina making little scared noises. Izuku huffed a laugh.
Oh, Kacchan.
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The rest of the day went as normally as days go, with a lasting giddy feeling in his stomach, and a well rested mind, Izuku powered through the work. He was pretty sure he aced his math quiz, and he won every spar with each of his quirks that he participated in. His muscles felt nimble beneath his skin, and he couldn’t wait for the night to fall. He hung out with his friends in a study circle for a couple of hours in the common room until dusk had fallen, laughing and talking the night away. They traded snacks, quips, notes, and feelings all night, and as Ochako fell asleep while sitting upright, Izuku decided to call it a day. Now, he walked back to his dorm room with an overwhelmingly pleasant feeling in heart. Well worked, well fed, nice company, nice life.
“You’re late.”
Izuku looked up, locking eyes with Katsuki in the artificial lighting of the hallway. He stood, leaning against the outside of Izuku’s dorm, back slightly hunched in a casual display of comfort with his hands tucked in his pockets. Izuku swallowed the strange feeling that threatened to burst from his stomach, and unlocked the door so he and Katsuki could head inside the warm room.
“Sorry, Kacchan. I was studying in the common room.” Izuku smiled up at the spikey boy, who rolled his eyes with slight playfulness.
“Yeah, I could tell. For a group of nerds you guys are f*cking loud. I heard your ugly laugh resonate up through the vents.” Katsuki sat down on Izuku’s bed, the springs bouncing. “You laugh like a god damn hyena.”
“Kacchan! Mean!” Izuku felt a pout bloom across his lips at the relaxed taunt. He looked over at the clock, it was only ten, and he couldn’t bring himself to feel tired at all, jittering with energy from his friends that he wanted to smooth out so he could get extra sleep. He sat down next to Katsuki in the quiet of the room, staring off at the wall across from him. He could feel eyes tracking his face after a few moments of silence, and turned to meet them.
Izuku stared into the silent intense gaze of Katsuki, yet Katsuki flicked his eyes between Izuku, and the top of Izuku’s head, clearly playing over conflicting feelings behind his stoic face. Katsuki lifted his hand for a moment, stopping midway in his reach, before quickly shoving his hand into Izuku’s curls. Izuku winced, expecting him to start pulling on his hair like he tended to do when mad, but quickly relaxed when he felt no sharp tug at his scalp. Instead, slowly, Katsuki started ruffling Izuku’s hair, combing his fingers through it, and… petting him? This lasted for a couple of sweet seconds before Izuku’s brain caught up with the action.
“Wh..? K-Kacchan???” Katsuki snapped back into his brain, eyes widening and hand pulling out of thick, soft curls at the speed of light. He looked frozen and mortified, his face becoming stiff and embarrassed. The silence lasted for a few moments as both of the boys looked into each other's eyes, searching for answers as to what just happened.
“Did you just-”
“Shut the f*ck up!” Katsuki screeched while a smile erupted across Izuku’s face.
“You did you just-!”
“No shut up.”
“You totally want to touch my hair-!”
“Izuku.”
“Oooo Kacchan likes my hair-!” Izuku inched closer into Katsuki’s space, Katsuki shoved his hand against Izuku’s face, shoving him away.
“Will you shut the f*ck up!??!?” Katsuki looked absolutely pissed beyond belief, his face flushed and his eyebrows scrunching up his forehead with how hard he was furrowing them. Izuku laughed, face pushed up against Katsuki’s large palm, when suddenly a gross idea came to him. He childishly licked Katsuki’s hand.
Katsuki recoiled, “AGH! You’re so f*cking gross!” He angrily wiped his hand on his shirt while Izuku bursted out into a loud fit of giggles beside him. He doubled over, clutching his stomach with how hard he was laughing.
“You- hah! Taste like- SNORT like chemicals!” Izuku wheezed out as he tried to regain his breath from laughing so hard. Katsuki’s face had broken into a reluctant smile that his wobbling lips showed he was trying to avoid.
“That’s my quirk, dipsh*t! It’s not even that funny! Shut up!” Izuku kept laughing, only letting out ugly breathy wheezes after a while.
“Kacchan.” He spoke, heavily breathing in and out after laughing for so long. “If you want to touch my hair, you can just do it. I don’t mind.” Izuku looked over to Katsuki, wiping a stray tear from his eye as his smile made his cheeks ache. “It doesn’t feel half bad.” Izuku smiled up at him. Katsuki huffed.
“who wants to touch that f*cking mop?!” His face was still flushed, and he sat with his legs crossed on top of the bed, back towards Izuku’s pillows. Izuku had an idea. A very, very dangerous idea.
If I get blown up for this at least I will go out in style.
He slowly shifted on his bed, crawling over to Katsuki. He saw the blonde watching him from the corner of his eye as Izuku stalked up to him, slowly turning around from him. Izuku then sat facing away from Katsuki, before he laid backwards, softly resting his head in Katsuki’s lap.
Katsuki looked down at Izuku, a vague terror racing across his features mixed with an explosive anger. He had his hands awkwardly hovering away from his body like a bomb had just landed in his lap and he had no idea what to do. His eyes were blown wide, and his jaw was tense.
“What… the f*ck are you doing?” Katsuki blurted out. Izuku looked up at him, terror reading in his eyes, scared he would be a charred body in a few minutes.
“Just… Hangin’ out. You?” Izuku could feel himself starting to sweat bullets. The silence was deafening, the whole room seeming to go stark still as though the world had paused. Neither of the boys dared to breathe, locked onto each other’s shocked eyes in a tense confusion. They were Izuku and Kacchan. They did not lay in each other's laps and look into each other's eyes, and yet… Izuku cleared his throat, pointing at his hair as he looked away shyly.
“Easy petting access.” His heart hammered in his chest. Katsuki stayed still for a few more moments, his eyes still wide in confusion. At this point, it was a fifty-fifty to Izuku on whether he would be absolutely killed for this action. As the seconds that felt like hours passed, Izuku suddenly felt a strong hand combing through his hair. He darted his eyes up to look at Katsuki, surprised and confused at the action. The blonde was looking away from Izuku, staring at the All Might posters across his room as though they were the most interesting things he’d ever seen. Izuku snorted. Katsuki shot a look down at Izuku, his jaw tensing again.
“What.” Katsuki said, gruffly.
“You are so dang awkward.” Izuku smiled warmly up at Katsuki, trying to not let the exciting bubbly feeling in his chest overflow out of his mouth in giggles.
“I will literally burn your hair off your scalp right now. Swear to god.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Izuku pulled out his phone as the petting continued, hooking it up to a bluetooth speaker on the dresser across from his bed. He scrolled through his playlist, putting on some sappy indie rock song he had on one of his million playlists.
Katsuki listened for maybe ten seconds before adding his two cents.
“The f*ck is this?” He continued combing his fingers through Izuku’s hair, massaging into his scalp in a way that made Izuku’s body tingle with relaxation. He looked up at Katsuki.
“No good?” He pouted a bit.
“Nah. Very… you.” Katsuki looked down at Izuku, meeting his eyes awkwardly. “You can keep it on. I don’t give a sh*t.” Izuku smiled up at him. That was as close as he would get to approval for his music from Katsuki, and he would take it.
They sat like that for an unknowable amount of time. Katsuki’s hands working through Izuku’s hair and into Izuku’s scalp, Izuku slowly relaxing into Katsuki’s lap as he hummed along to the songs that played from his little speaker. The two didn’t look at each other. Didn’t talk to each other. All of the noise filling the room came from the speaker.
Suddenly, a song came on that Izuku couldn’t help but especially listen to. A love song. Izuku internally cringed, feeling like the song choice definitely made this moment a little too sensual for his liking. Strangely enough, he didn’t feel disgust or awkwardness curdle in his gut as Katsuki continued petting his hair to the slow and romantic music. Izuku stopped humming though, because what he did feel in his gut was an aching nervousness and happiness. He listened to every lyric of the song intensely, waiting for the moment Katsuki would feel too awkward to continue calmly running his fingers against Izuku’s scalp. He waited with baited breath as the song continued on. The main singer began singing about a blonde love interest with a strong heart and ‘sexy eyes’ and Why is this on my playlist oh my GOOOOD AGHHHH.
Izuku felt himself starting to heat up as the man explained his type in the song, the woman he was in love with, undoubtedly, and he thought back to Katsuki.
Izuku and Katsuki hadn’t been near close enough in their teen years to discuss things like love or types, but even if they were, Izuku couldn’t explain his type if he tried. Back in middle school, some boys would harp on him, shoving nude women magazines in his face to watch him turn bright red as they asked what his type was. Izuku liked the figures of the women, but Izuku had also always felt an extreme pull towards the figures of young and intense heroes that adorned magazines half clothed. Their rippling arms, their manly faces, Izuku knew he flushed at those too, so he figured he didn’t really have a type. He just thought too many things were too amazing about too many people, and left it at that. Sure, he’d done the online tests. Looked up ‘What does it mean when boys get crushes on boys explain.’ In his free time. He never cared quite enough to fully label it, so it remained a bit of a mystery to him.
The real mystery to Izuku, though, was Katsuki’s type. The man in the song that made his heart lurch from the sensual melody clearly had a type, and Izuku wondered just what kind of girls Katsuki was into anyways. He had never had a girlfriend, as far as Izuku knew, and he’d especially never expressed any interest in women as long as Izuku knew him. He would look at the nude magazines boys slobbered over in middle school with vague disinterest written over his features, and any time his friends would go off on rants about their new pro-hero crushes in the media, he stayed suspiciously quiet. Not that I was listening, of course.
Man, he must have a really high standard for girls. I mean, of course he does. He’s Kacchan.
Maybe it was Izuku’s half asleep mind, or it could have been the surprisingly soft hands raking through his hair that turned his brain to goo, but in a moment of pure unthinking stupidity, Izuku turned up to Katsuki and spoke his whole mind.
“What’s your type?”
The hands ruffling through Izuku’s hair stiffly paused, and Katsuki’s entire body tensed under the weight of Izuku’s head. Izuku watched Katsuki’s face morph into a twisted expression, his tired brain not catching up anytime soon. Katsuki looked away, embarrassment seeping into his features and lightly colouring his cheeks. Izuku simply watched through tired, lidded eyes.
“That’s a stupid f*cking question. Don’t ask it again. Why?” Katsuki’s hands started moving, shyly this time, against Izuku’s skull again.
“I dunno. I mean I never really figured out mine. Strong, I guess.” Izuku let a sigh escape his mouth. “I mean girls are pretty awesome. They smell nice and have cute faces, but I kind of always liked the other side of the spectrum too, so no type ever fit me! I mean I had a crush on Crimson Riot for, like, forever, which totally felt like a punch in the gut for my All Might love. Anyways I-”
“What?”
Izuku peaked his eyes open, looking up at Katsuki. Katsuki’s eyes were darting across Izuku’s face in a confused fashion, trying to figure something out just by looking at him. If he stared any harder he may have put a hole through Izuku’s skull with willpower alone. Izuku let out a yawn.
“Sorry, Kacchan. Was I rambling?” He blinked his eyes sleepily.
“I don’t give a sh*t about that, repeat back what you just said.” Katsuki said in an urgent voice, the words spilling out of his mouth hastily.
“Uhhh… My type is varied?” Izuku’s eyebrows creased in confusion.
“After that.”
“I think girls smell good…?”
“No- idiot- the Crimson Riot thing.” Katsuki stopped petting Izuku’s hair, opting to hold onto his scalp like a lifeline.
“Oh… My crush on him? Yeah, weird right? Cause I was such an All Might boy, you’d think it would have been him.” Izuku shrugged tiredly, closing his eyes again and waiting for Katsuki to start petting his hair again. He didn’t start moving again. The music quietly drifted through the room, yet it seemed almost deathly silent.
“He’s… A guy though.” Katsuki tensed under Izuku further, his words sounding blunt and confused.
“Yeah. I know?” Izuku opened his eyes to look up into Katsuki’s, who was still looking down at him, awfully confused. Suddenly, it clicked in Izuku’s mind that, normally, people inform others when they like people of the same sex. Izuku never saw the need, he didn’t think it was a big deal and assumed the same for others. Maybe it was different for Katsuki. “Sorry, did I shock you Kacchan?” Katsuki’s eyebrows furrowed.
“So, you like boys?” Something was swimming in Katsuki’s bright eyes as they looked down into Izuku’s, his face taking up Izuku’s entire vision.
“Mhm.” Katsuki stared down at Izuku for a second longer, before quickly looking away and starting to pet his hair again in silence. Izuku started drifting to sleep again, before he heard Katsuki say something. “Sorry, what?”
“For me it was Endeavour. When he wasn’t a damn geezer.” Katsuki huffed out. “But I have no f*cking idea what you’re talking about with girls. Not my thing.” Izuku stared up at Kacchan for a couple of seconds as the words rang through his head.
“Todoroki’s dad? Seriously? I mean the girl thing makes sense now that I think about it, you were totally stone faced when the boys would pass around nude magazines in middle school, but I wouldn’t have guessed Endeavour.” Izuku let out a little laugh.
“Oh my god shut the f*ck up! This was way before half-and-half plagued my life. Also why do you know what I looked like when I looked at nude magazines? You’re such a f*cking stalker.” Katsuki let out a huff, tension seeping out of his body as he spoke.
“Kacchan will definitely marry someone way better than Todoroki’s dad.” Izuku let a loud laugh escape him, causing him to shake against the bed. When he looked up to Katsuki’s face to find a matching smile, he only saw a slightly bitter look crossing his features.
“Yeah, no way I’d settle for a f*ckwad like him.” He huffed out, the humour not reaching his voice. Izuku frowned for a moment at the awkwardness on Katsuki’s face, worried he’d misstepped.
“Well, I still want to know your type now. I literally cannot imagine you liking anyone.” Izuku liked the song that auto played as he was talking, so he began to tap his finger lightly on his duvet.
“Didn’t I tell you not to ask again?” Katsuki questioned, his hands doing circles in Izuku’s hair in a way that made Izuku want to start purring like a cat.
“Yeah, well, I’m a bad listener.” Izuku retorted. Katsuki was silent for a few moments, mulling over his answer.
“I guess…” He scratched his neck, ruffling his hair a bit awkwardly. “I like 'em tough. Wimps piss me off.” Izuku giggled, and Katsuki turned ever so slightly red.
“That’s such a you thing to say!” He giggled more.
“Oh shut up! I mean, I like more than that! Obviously!” He started crushing Izuku’s head between his hands, as though he was trying to flatten it.
“Owowowow! OK OK I get it!” Izuku wrigled in Katsuki’s grasp. “Geez, I didn’t say it was a bad type!” Izuku nursed his sore head, jolting up from Katsuki’s lap. When he turned to look Katsuki in the eyes, he must have imagined the vague disappointment swirling in them. He looked surprised that Izuku moved, his hands still spread like Izuku would lay back down. Izuku yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head, shifting across his bed and laying down on his pillow next to where Katsuki was sitting.
“Good to know, Kacchan. Sweet dreams.” Izuku was out like a light before Katsuki could say anything back, but if Izuku had been awake any longer, he would have watched Katsuki go over the conversation in his head a million times, his face turning a deep scarlet while he thought of Izuku’s lax attitude towards liking men. Liking men how he liked men.
“sh*t.”
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Izuku woke up in Katsuki’s arms, sneakily sliding out of them to get dressed like the past mornings of that week. Something tugged at the back of his mind, his memories of that night foggy with sleep.
He spent the rest of his day pondering just what was bugging him, what crucial piece of last night he was forgetting due to his tired brain. He must have been zoning out for a while, because in class he felt a little notification come from his phone, the vibration ringing against his leg.
Izuku swiftly pulled out his phone, slyly keeping it under his desk. He really wasn’t supposed to have it, but it was a habit to always have something he could call his mom with on him. He sneakily glanced down at the message while Vlad King droned on at the board about hero statistics and probability in the field. Izuku knew this lesson, he could spare time to check.
Ochako: “Dekuuu I see you spacinggg!!! (ﾟωﾟ)”
Izuku chuckled, quickly silencing his laughter and checking to see if Vlad had caught him. The man continued droning on as he wrote on the board.
Izuku: “guilty LOL. I’m totally out of it today. I think I got too much sleep.(;_;)”
Ochako: “With those eye bags? Impossible.”
Izuku: “har har, very funny.”
Ochako: “So what got you passing out so quickly? Don’t tell me the tea at the study group was drugged…”
Izuku felt a smile creep up on his face.
Izuku: “You literally passed out while sitting up last night. If anyone would know if the tea was drugged it would be you. (ToT)”
Ochako: “Deku! Srsly, don’t bring up my sleepy girl energy, it’s immense after nine o’clock. The upcoming tests will send me into a coma, trust.(-_-)zzz”
Izuku had to stifle a laugh at that one. He knew the girl struggled with math, but it was too funny watching her completely wreck her brain trying to understand functions.
Izuku: “okay sleepy girl energy is off the table. I think I just passed out while listening to good music. I’ve been sleeping pretty well this week.”
Ochako: “That’s so good to hear!!!”
Well, I mean I did actually fall asleep while Kacchan was petting my hair like a dog. That pulled me to sleep after a while.
Suddenly, a memory hit him like a truck.
“So… you like boys.”
Izuku was hit with a wave of mortification.
Kacchan knows I like boys. Kacchan likes boys!!! WE TALKED ABOUT OUR TYPES.
Izuku looked straight up, the memories playing on loop in his head. He felt like his face was on fire, he was sweating yet his hands and feet were cold, and his heart was hammering in his chest. He thought of Katsuki’s bright eyes swirling with a foreign emotion as he looked down at Izuku.
Izuku promptly whacked his head off of his desk, a loud bang resonating from his skull around the room.
All eyes turned to him, surprised looks littering the faces of his classmates. The room went dead silent for a few seconds, as though the world had been hypnotized into an awkward silence trance.
“Ahem… Midoriya?” Vlad King spoke up, surprise and impatience lacing his tone. Izuku kept his head pressed firmly against the desk, his heart beating in his head.
“Sorry sir…” he murmured out, his burning face still pressed firmly downwards onto his desk.
Vlad King shot the boy a strange look, before sighing lightly and turning back to the board to finish the lesson. Many people finally took their eyes off of Izuku as he sat back up, a red mark being left on his forehead from the bang.
I can’t believe I did that.
Izuku didn’t know if he was talking about head butting his desk, or invading Katsuki’s personal business last night. Probably both.
Red eyes burned into the back of his head.
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.
.
Izuku sat with a sour look on his face at his lunch table, embarrassment welling up in his stomach. Ochako was still laughing at him. It had to have been minutes since he sat down at their table and the girl promptly bursted into a loud, wheezing laugh; yet she was still going.
She could barely get words out, and every time she looked at Izuku, she started bursting out laughing again. Iida was stifling his own giggles, half heartedly chastising the girl for her rude behaviour, while Todoroki slurped his soba with a smirk.
Izuku would kill these guys one day.
“I- I’m sorry! HA! The way your head banged- I CAN’T.” Ochako was still wheezing a bit. Izuku huffed, a smile playing on his own lips.
“It’s not that funny, Ochako.” Izuku looked away from the wheezing girl awkwardly. She laughed harder.
“Why’d you do that Midoriya? It looked like it hurt.” Todoroki spoke up with a smirk.
“I was… I-“ Izuku tried to think of a way he could say he ‘came out to the guy he’s been literally sleeping with and pressured him into talking about what kind of guys they like’ without sounding insane, or desperate.
Especially since that guy he was literally sleeping with was Katsuki.
“I maybe accidentally came out to someone. Maybe. And maybe it was totally fine and it’s freaking me out. Hypothetically.” Izuku felt his face flush deeply as he slowly transitioned into a nervous mutter. His friends’ faces all had dropped jaws, excitement swirling in their eyes.
“DEKU!!! What the heck! That’s awesome!”
“Nice job, Midoriya!”
Ochako had finally stopped laughing, a huge smile gracing her features.
“I mean the closet was glass anyways.” Todoroki added, slurping his noodles afterwards.
“Hey, you can’t talk. You wear turtlenecks.” Izuku snapped back playfully. His friends had known about his easy view on love since they’d met, with him fanboying over cool boys and girls alike. Ochako was the first person he kind of ‘officially’ came out to, putting a vague label on himself. A loose “kinda gay.”
“Who’d you tell???” Ochako piped in.
“Ah, I don’t think I can say that. It was pretty personal stuff.” Izuku smiled shyly, his face heating up again. All of his friends took a look at his face, then looked at each other, sharing a knowing look. Izuku was too lost in thoughts concerning Katsuki to even notice their ‘told you so’ expressions.
“Alright, well, proud of you anyways.” Ochako chirped back. The conversation flowed easily after that, moving on from Izuku’s good news. He felt happiness bubble in his stomach from his friends' attitudes towards him, his body feeling light, and his brain feeling fluffy.
How would I have lived without these guys…
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That night, while Izuku lounged in his dorm, he was greeted by the familiar and heartwarming three gentle knocks to his door. He raced over to the door, swinging it open with maybe too much excitement. He couldn’t help the nervous energy that thrummed in his veins after last night. He had no idea how Katsuki would react the night after an exchange that… Sentimental? Heartwarming? Personal?
“Hey Kaccha-” Izuku was stunned into silence by the look on Katsuki’s face. His eyebrows were scrunched ever so slightly in a way that made his face look just a little more bitter, colder, and upset. Maybe it would slip by a less observant friend, someone who hadn’t been to hell and back with Katsuki, but Izuku had.
“What’s wrong?” Izuku’s voice came out, small and soft. It grated on Katsuki’s ears.
“Nothing. f*ck off, don’t waste your pity.” Katsuki pushed past Izuku, causing him to slightly shift to the side. Izuku couldn’t be pushed around by Katsuki anymore, but he felt the intention behind the shove. The emotion. It was all too familiar.
Katsuki flopped himself down onto Izuku’s bed. It was barely nine thirty, yet he wouldn’t face Izuku. Wouldn’t talk to him. He curled up in the corner of the bed, throwing the blankets over him with a scoff. Izuku’s heart sank.
Does he feel weird about..? Izuku softly shut his door, padding over to Katsuki’s sleeping form and sitting down on the edge of his bed. Izuku saw from the boy’s heavy breaths, shuddering the blankets he was under; he was not ok.
“Kacchan? Is this about… y’know. Last night?” Izuku asked, nervously wringing his hands in his lap. He looked away from Katsuki awkwardly.
“Don’t worry about it.” Said the blonde, curling further in on himself. “Just… Do whatever you were doing before I came here. Don’t f*cking talk to me.” He spat out angrily, vitriol lacing his tone like poison. Izuku nearly recoiled. It had been so long since Katsuki was this… Vile. He was distancing himself like a dying animal, attempting to wither in peace. Izuku knew he could help the boy, but he wanted to respect his wishes and let him go through whatever he was going through for a little while longer. He wouldn’t be able to get through to Katsuki when his emotions were this bitter and stubborn.
The freckled boy sighed, picking up his school bag to pass the time by reviewing notes he had left from class. Ochako may be happy with barely passing math, but Izuku was not.
He turned on his music again, half expecting Katsuki to blow up at him for the tunes. He stayed silent, a brooding, dying star weighing down the corner of Izuku’s room. Izuku let him be, getting to work on his review.
Maybe an hour later, Izuku had finished preparing for a portion of the work that would be on his upcoming test. He figured he could do the rest tomorrow, and stretched out his back, lifting his arms above his head and letting out a little wince from sitting still for too long. He saw Katsuki shift in the corner of his eye, reinstating the curiosity boiling shallowly in his stomach at the boy’s attitude.
This reminded Izuku of Katsuki’s personality back in their first year. Filled with hatred for Izuku, yet longing to have him in his life to beat him all at once. Katsuki wanted Izuku to go away, yet he was sleeping in Izuku’s bed. Curled up in Izuku’s smell. He had come to Izuku. It always seemed like one of the boys was chasing the other, and this time, Izuku didn’t know who was following who.
Izuku got up from his spinny chair as quietly as possible, activating float to stay silent so as to not wake Katsuki. He shut off his desk lamp with a soft ‘click’, then floated over to his bed in the soft darkness of the room. The springs crunched gently under his body as he placed himself down next to Katsuki. He got under the covers while the blonde boy faced the wall away from him, curled in on himself and gently breathing. He faced Katsuki, watching the faint outline of his side rise and fall under the covers. Izuku listened in as closely as he could, hearing the boy sleep.
“Izuku…” Katsuki spoke up in a painfully hushed voice, his vocal chords scratching into a small rasp. He didn’t move.
“Yeah?” Izuku spoke back, hushed and gentle. A silent plea in his voice for Katsuki to talk to him.
“Do you…” He paused, the silence creeping into Izuku’s ears. “Ever get over the scars?”
Izuku was stunned by the question. The final battle with Shigaraki had left Katsuki with a scar adorning the side of his face, rippled and streaking across his eye and up into his hairline. Izuku didn’t know the boy even thought about his scar, Izuku certainly didn’t. It brought back painful memories, but the face behind the scar shone way brighter in Izuku’s eyes than the scar ever could. He cleared his throat awkwardly after the silence lasted a little too long.
“Yeah. I think so, in a way at least.” He looked down at his scarred hands in the darkness of the room. “I mean, you have no choice. Scars are a part of us now. They’re like growing old, you really can’t avoid it. They tell stories about our lives, they're proof of life. Like streams running through the woods, or old human artifacts buried in the sand. Scars are… important. They always have been and always will, and no two are the same. I think that’s pretty special.” Izuku paused to breathe.
“Scars don’t always hold good memories. Most of the time they don’t, actually.” Katsuki huffed a dry laugh at that, the sound being sad and deflated. “But… they aren’t proof of a bad memory. They’re proof we survived a bad memory. To walk around with a scar and not a gaping wound is a privilege. I’m thankful everyday my body healed over my wounds, gave me time to lick them clean. Not literally. Don’t lick your cuts, super unsanitary.” Izuku felt a small smile creep on his face at the dry joke. “My scars are countless, just like my bad memories.” He felt the textured cuts and scars up and down his own arm, letting his fingers run along their unfeeling surfaces. “But… I’m always thankful I have proof for myself that these scars were worth something. Kota, Eri…” Izuku looked up at Katsuki’s sleeping figure. “...You.” Katsuki shifted slightly in the silence.
“I would give myself a million more scars if it meant I could see a safer world after them.” Izuku said solemnly. A cricket chirped outside, ruining the quiet atmosphere the boys had between them. Katsuki turned over, facing Izuku. His glossy eyes shone in the dim glow coming from Izuku’s patio door, a million and one emotions and stories whirling through them like a snow storm. His face was scrunched, his mouth in a slight pout as he readjusted his jaw. Izuku was mere inches from his face, and he scanned Katsuki like he was looking at art. A soft adoration filled his features.
“I really, really hate you.” Katsuki choked out, his voice cracking ever so slightly. Izuku smiled gently up at the spiky haired boy, his eyes watering to match Katsuki’s. The cricket was still chirping. “You’re such a f*cking…” A sob escaped Katsuki as he stared into Izuku’s bright aquamarine eyes. “Stop being such a f*cking hero.” His voice was hushed and painful. Izuku kept smiling up at him softly.
“You’re beautiful, Kacchan.”
The words came out in a hushed whisper from Izuku’s soul, they bursted out of his mouth before his reason could drag them back down to the corner of his heart reserved for those kinds of thoughts and feelings towards his friend. Katsuki looked stunned, his eyes widening, and his eyebrows raising sadly. He blinked, trying to decipher what Izuku had just said, and Izuku simply looked back at him, relaxing into the side of his pillow. He looked at Katsuki’s scar. He didn’t see how that could take away from any part of Katsuki's glowing brilliance, memories attached or not.
Izuku brought his hand up from the covers, gently brushing over Katsuki’s scar. The boy narrowed his eyes, still locked onto Izuku. He seemed to almost melt into Izuku’s hands, reluctantly as his eyes fluttered down to look at Izuku’s lips, and back up at Izuku’s eyes. He swallowed.
Warning bells began to go off in the quiet serenity of Izuku’s mind. This was too close. He knew he would scare Katsuki off if he showed him the depths of his unadulterated… Something towards the blonde boy. He felt too intensely about everything he did, and he needed to tuck this side of him that pushed into Katsuki’s warmth and lock it back away. He flinched back from Katsuki, fear rushing across his features.
I can’t let him push me away again. He’s going to, I know it.
Katsuki’s eyes flicked back up to Izuku’s confusion spreading across his face. Izuku quietly shifted his hand back under the covers, resigning that side of himself back where it belongs. He had worked so hard to become Katsuki’s friend, he couldn’t push the boundaries of what they had. It was already too good to be true. Izuku looked away, embarrassed at his actions.
“Sorry.” He spoke quietly.
Katsuki didn’t speak. He could barely breathe. Izuku looked so… regretful. It pierced the blonde’s heart, making his guts pool with cool unease.
“f*ck off.” Katsuki inched slightly backwards, away from Izuku. He wiped his eyes. The silence suffocated the boys, until Katsuki decided to break it.
“So… Why’d you f*cking headbutt your desk in class today?”
Izuku looked back up at Katsuki, thankful he took the initiative to clear the awkward air.
“Oh my god, don’t remind me. That was so awkward.” Izuku let out a small giggle at the memory, cringing beneath his skin.
“Yeah, you were goddamn red.” Katsuki huffed.
“Yeah I was texting Ochako, and…” Izuku quickly realized the reason he had an outburst and turned bright red was memories with Katsuki came flooding back to him in the middle of class, making his heart leap into his throat.
I can’t tell Kacchan he’s the one who made me freak. That’s totally weird!
Izuku flushed deeply. “Ochako said something embarrassing, I guess I just kind of… Did that without thinking.” He let an awkward smile creep up onto his red face. Katsuki was eyeing him up, scanning his features like he was deciphering the world’s most intricate code.
“Wow. Pink cheeks must be seriously putting the moves on you to make you look like that.” Katsuki’s voice came out strangely flat, his face reading with slight curiosity as he stared straight into Izuku. Izuku stared at Katsuki for a moment, before bursting out into giggles.
“Kacchan, are you serious?” Izuku was still laughing, Katsuki looked both amused and confused at the freckled boy’s laughter.
“Yeah, deadly. Why?” He asked, a smile lighting up his words.
“Ochako is as straight as a circle!” Izuku snorted at Katsuki, watching the dumbfounded look cross his features.
“Wasn’t she, like, obsessed with you first year or some sh*t?” Katsuki asked, genuinely confused at this development. “And who else in this damn class is gay?! I thought there were, like, three of us.” Izuku laughed harder, a slight cackle erupting from his chest.
“I can’t believe you thought Ochako was hitting on me!” He continued giggling.
“Okay, okay. I get it. You can quit your f*cking witch cackle.” Katsuki started laughing alongside Izuku, until both boys were lightly giggling in the night. Their laughs rose up to the ceiling, filling the room with a light energy.
The boys looked into each other’s eyes, letting out little sudden laughs every so often, until they drifted, hands locked under the covers.
They both smiled in their sleep that night.
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“Movie night! Movie night! Movie Niiiiight!” Chanted Kirishima and Mina in unison, pumping their hands in an excited fashion as they trotted out of the elevator into the common room.
“Shut the f*ck up or you’ll blow my ear drums out!” Retorted Katsuki, his hands firmly in his pockets as he grouchily walked out behind them.
“Dude, don’t yuck their yum!” Added Sero, swiftly grabbing a chip out of the bowl Denki was carrying.
“MmmphMmhmph!” Added Denki, his mouth stuffed with gummies from a packet he had opened in his hand that wasn't holding the chip bowl.
“Piss off.” Katsuki scoffed and rolled his eyes, plopping down on one of the couches in the room surrounded by pillows, blankets, and bean bags.
Every Friday (excluding exam season) Class 3A would host a movie night, with each movie being chosen by a draw out of a hat. Everyone was tasked with bringing something, whether it was treats, face masks, pillows, drinks, or even 3D glasses when necessary. They would set up a giant pillow fort in the common room, turning the common area into a fluffy dream lined with all sorts of cozy places for everyone in the class to sit. Then, they would turn on their massive flat screen TV, hooking up some of Jirou’s speakers she had lying around her room, and watch a new movie each week to melt away the tensions of the week.
At first, only the girls got together to have movie nights, but soon a few boys joined, and eventually absolutely everyone had their Friday evenings marked off to have a movie night with their friends.
Some of the girls scurried around, hugging each other when each of them would exit the elevator and announce their entrance. As the founders of the movie night tradition, they tended to act like hosts, directing everyone in the best places to put their pillows, who should hold what snacks for optimal snack layout, and which beauty products to use at what time. They all, as tradition, dressed up for the movie night with lavish Party City pearls, feather boas, and big sunglasses to look like movie stars. It was an ongoing gag they had from the first time anyone had seen them take over the common room for this tradition.
More and more people funneled into the common room, all hooting, hollering, and chatting with each other in the dim light of the common room. Izuku caught Katsuki’s eyes as he ran out of the kitchen with a massive tray of cookies in his hands. They belonged to Satou, but he was always one to help out wherever he could, rushing around everywhere to support the girls’ movie night plans.
After the snack table was fully loaded, and the class was all comfortably situated in their seats adorned in their fluffy PJs, Ochako quickly stood to talk.
“Hey everyone, welcome to Class 3A movie night number twenty seven!” Whoops and cheers erupted from across the room, mixed with giggles at the round girl’s humorous appearance, covered in glitter and wearing a big feather boa like something out of an eighties drag show. “Now last week's draw winner was Hagakure, you go girl.” Little giggles came from across the class. “She chose something sweet n’ funny, an ever popular rom-com: Heartache!” The class whooped again, a little “yas Hagakure!” coming from Mina.
Ochako continued talking, listing off some of the rules of the movie night, basic movie etiquette, when Izuku finally plopped on a seat next to Ochako’s empty place, ready to start watching the movie. Before Ochako could sit back down, Izuku felt a weight dip down beside him. Confused, he turned to the source of the dip, meeting the side profile of Katsuki’s clear face. He looked slightly happier than usual, Izuku could tell that, despite his grumbling and shouting, he really liked these nights with his friends.
“Sup nerd?” He huffed under his breath.
“Not much. Absolutely destroying these peanut candy things though.” Izuku crunched down on some more as he lifted a handful out of the small bowl they were in into his mouth. “Seriously gotta thank Tsuyu for bringing these.” He said through the candy stuffing his cheeks. Katsuki let out a small exhale paired with a smirk.
“Don’t bitch to me when those f*ck up your stomach later.” Katsuki sat back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling while the lights dimmed around the class, giggles and small conversations halting around the boys while the movie began to play.
“Oh Bakugo you asshole you totally stole my spot!” Shouted Ochako playfully from her new seat, cuddled up with Mina on the floor in front of the couch adjacent to the one the boys were sitting on.
“Suck it up pink cheeks!” Katsuki yelled back with a smirk.
“Don’t be too sour Ochako, if Bakugo wants to sit with his boyfriend, he can.” Piped up Todoroki with a monotone voice. Izuku knew that sass anywhere. The class let out a little “ooooo..!” At the diss, before Katsuki yelled back.
“Just shut the f*ck up or we’ll miss the movie intro!” Izuku didn’t want to look at the blonde, his cheeks were undoubtedly tinged red from the comment.
Kacchan’s boyfriend… huh… He shook his head, trying to will the thoughts of how nice that would be to leave him alone. He looked back up to the screen, blankly watching the movie as he sipped on Gatorade and demolished a quarter of Satou’s cookies.
It was as typical as romcoms could possibly go, with the small town girl being an intern at a brand new fashion company with her sassy roommate and prince charming type love interest, but uh oh! Twist! She was just really good at makeup and super ugly without her beautifying quirk in action! What will she do if the one she loves finds out? Izuku could tell every single twist, turn, and hijinks the movie could throw at him, but he enjoyed it no less, laughing along at the slapstick comedy with a light feeling in his chest. Suddenly, while she gets stuck working on a farm and cleaning a pig stye instead of going on her fancy retreat as the low point of the movie, Katsuki slowly leaned over into Izuku’s space turning to whisper something in his ear.
“Do you remember when we were little brats and that pig at the petting zoo nearly mauled you to death?” He spoke, his breath ghosting over Izuku’s ears and causing shivers to roll up his spine in waves. As soon as the words computed, Izuku felt the memory replay in his mind.
Katsuki and him were at a petting zoo with their mothers as little kids, Izuku holding onto Kacchan’s hand as Kacchan was hooked up to his mother on a leash backpack. (Not his proudest moment.) As they neared the pig enclosure, Izuku had stars in his eyes, nervous, yet excited to see the cute animals. These pigs were big. Not the cute little pink things Izuku had expected, but large squealing beasts. He hid behind his mother, but Katsuki encouraged him to get closer to the pen, putting his hand up for the large warty pig to smell. Izuku flinched away, reluctantly holding his hand up, when suddenly, the gate on the pen opened. Izuku never knew who did it, but he did know in a few seconds flat he was running from a full grown adult hog, barreling at him while he yelled “It’s tryna kiss me! It’s tryna kiss me!”
Izuku snorted, doubling over as he suppressed laughter, his body shaking with the effort. He shot back up, turning to face Katsuki’s smiling face.
“Kacchan that was the scariest thing that could’ve possibly happened to me at four!” Izuku was still letting out little giggles as he whispered.
“You were yelling about how it was gonna kiss you! So f*cking lame!” Katsuki whisper-yelled, his voice being drowned out of other’s ears by the movie as he laughed with Izuku.
“ I still don’t like pigs. That might have actually contributed to why I like katsudon so much…” Izuku smiled sinisterly “I want them in my stomach, not chasing me.” Katsuki let out a loud snort, immediately covering his mouth with his hand to silence the sound that had already escaped. The two boys met eyes, and doubled over in silent laughter, wheezing as they gripped the sofa like their life depended on it.
The woman in the movie got tied up in ropes, and tripped onto the ground of the pig pen.
“Oh my god, I think I’m gonna die- HELP-” Izuku whisper-wheezed. Katsuki slapped him on the shoulder while he held his laughter in.
“Don’t die on me nerd, especially not at this lame ass movie night! I’ll f*cking kill you!” Katsuki whisper-yelled, his wheezes bursting from his lungs while he laughed. Tears streaked down the boys faces.
“O-or do you remember that time you came over to my house- and- and your mom had you on a no sugar diet- b-but my mom didn’t know- so” Izuku let out a loud wheeze. “So she gave you, like, hella candy, and you started twitching and biting me- and- she had to call your mom to w-wrestle you off of me?!” Izuku let out a louder laugh at that.
Katsuki hit him in the arm while he silently let out sob-like laughs. He couldn’t form words, simply cackling at their shared memories. “I was a leash kid! I don’t know why auntie Inko thought I could handle candy!” He laughed again, wiping tears from his eyes. “D- do you remember the handshake?” Katsuki looked earnestly up into Izuku’s eyes, a sort of sensitivity playing in them.
“Duh!” Izuku whispered back, excitedly. He shoved his hand out ready to try it.
They high fived three times, bumped elbows, pinkie promised with their thumbs kissing, pretended to fight, bowed, did finger guns, and some other awesome slipping sliding hand motions against each other for around a minute, true focus playing on their features.
“That was so gay.” Katsuki huffed out.
“HAH!” Izuku bursted out, loudly. He slapped his hand over his mouth, scanning the class to see if anyone had noticed. To his great discomfort, there weren’t a pair of eyes that weren’t on the two boys. Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin. The room felt all too quiet as Izuku embarrassedly smiled at the class, while Katsuki looked like he was ready to bolt.
“You two got… close.” Piped up an amused voice sounding from Sero. A few of the students giggled, and Izuku was pretty sure he heard Todoroki input something along the lines of “see? Boyfriends.”
Izuku’s face felt like it was on fire, forcing his vocal chords to croak out an answer“I- I mean-”
“Yeah, we’re best- f*cking- friends, assholes.” Katsuki smiled, rolling his eyes playfully as he pushed down the flush in his cheeks. The entire class looked extremely surprised at the normally explosive blonde’s casual and happy response. They figured the good mood the two of them were sharing in the corner of that couch must have been keeping Katsuki from blowing all of their heads off. People quickly went back to chatting, quiet laughs erupting from around the room as they watched the cheesy movie. Izuku had never felt so happy.
Kacchan just said we’re friends… No- best friends. I-
Izuku felt like he could die happy, scratch that, he would die happy. Right now. His eyes swirled with emotion, pushing back tears, and his heart ached happily in his chest. He wanted to burst out in giggles and cry at the same time, but instead, he settled to do something insane.
He slowly let his hand drift over to where Katsuki had his on his own lap, shuffling it sideways like a predator sneaking up on prey. He gently nudged Katsuki’s finger with his own. He looked straight ahead, acting as though his hand was simply doing this of its own accord. Katsuki flinched for a moment, before casually leaning his finger back into Izuku’s to test the waters. When neither moved away, Izuku flipped his hand, letting Katsuki crawl his fingers onto it and link them. Their hands were extremely warm together, both of their palms sweat making an uncomfortable mix. Neither of the boys cared, they were stark still as statues, breathing in shallow puffs from the contact. They had been closer than this before, but this was different. This was public. Their hearts beat in their ears, and if either of them were asked what had happened in the last twenty minutes of the movie, neither could say.
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Izuku and Katsuki awkwardly separated their hands at the end of the movie, unhooking their fingers during the loud conversation that sparked as the lights were flicked back on. Both boys were still, too calm, too collected, while their thoughts raged inside of their heads like ocean waves crashing into the shore, too aggressive and confused to make sense. Neither knew what they were thinking, nor what they were feeling. They drifted through the rest of the clean up of the common room, not sparing more than a few words with their friends as they asked about the movie.
“What’d you think of the love interest?”
“Fine.”
“The ending was good.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“That was hysterical!”
“Mhm.”
Izuku focused so intensely on cleaning out a used popcorn bowl within the sink that he rubbed out some of the colour from activating his quirk while scrubbing. Katsuki tripped over the corner of the couch, stumbling a bit. For all of the time the members of Class 3A had known Katsuki, they had never seen him stumble. Choked laughter sounded from his friends, yet Katsuki didn’t even turn to glare at them, staring straight through everything like he was in a dream. If anybody noticed the boys’ matching bright flushed cheeks and wide eyes that night, nobody said anything.
Izuku went back to his room first, Katsuki stalling so as to not seem suspicious. Izuku sat in the warm glow of his bedside lamp, his head in his hands, elbows rested on his thighs, leaning off the edge of the bed. His face had never felt so hot, replaying the soft press of Katsuki’s hand to his as he felt his fingers still tingling from the contact.
Kacchan… Held my hand. We held hands. I don’t- I mean- It was calloused and soft and so painfully him. What… Does this mean?
Izuku threw himself backwards onto his bed, the duvet puffing out around him with the weight put on it. He threw that thought out of his head with a groan, opting to stare up at his ceiling until he could see the little floaty things in his vision.
Kacchan said we don’t question it, I’m not questioning it.
After all, the well of emotions his heart held was so close to overflowing, and Izuku knew if that happened, whatever peaceful truce he and Katsuki shared currently would be over in a second. Izuku clutched at his chest as his heart throbbed painfully, spreading an ache out throughout his entire body.
Why is everything so difficult with him?
Izuku turned over onto his side, his legs still dangling off the side of his bed as he stared at his hands. He closed his eyes, the happy feeling still sending waves of shivers throughout his body, wracking each nerve with pure energy. His door opened, but he knew exactly who it was.
It was always him.
“You’re taking up the whole f*cking bed, you dumbf*ck. Scooch or I’ll make you sleep on the floor.” Katsuki threatened.
Izuku knew he wasn’t serious. They had both come to realize very quickly that they could only sleep intertwined with each other, heartbeats mere inches away. Otherwise, sleep was a restless and daunting chore for the both of them. That was the only reason Izuku wasn’t sleeping on the floor: A selfish need for rest. He let out an amused huff, a bitter feeling encompassing his previously warm chest.
“On it, Kacchan.” Izuku slurred sleepily, rolling over to his side of the bed like a sloth.
“Wow, you’re a lazy little sh*t.” Katsuki teased, sliding under the covers after relatively calmly kicking off his house slippers. “That candy f*ck up your stomach yet?”
Izuku chuckled a little bit.
“A little. I feel totally… blerghhh…” Izuku tried to express his feelings with a vague noise he felt come up from his stomach, but Katsuki simply co*cked an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, that garbage food will do that to you.” Katsuki grunted out.
“Don’t be bitter ‘cause you can’t handle sweets, let the rest of us enjoy heaven like normal people.” Izuku taunted, looking up at Katsuki from his deflated spot on the bed.
“Oh f*ck right off.” Izuku giggled at how easy it was to rile the blonde boy up. Katsuki murmured something about how he wants Izuku to ‘stay blergh you piece of sh*t,’ but Izuku was already slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.
Maybe that candy really did mess me up.
Izuku saw the light shut off behind his eyes, leading him further into the void of sleep as warm, sturdy arms wrapped around his waist and soft hair nuzzled into his chest. He couldn’t wait for the weekend to be over.
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Izuku had spent the Saturday morning after the movie night studying casually in his dorms, leaving UA Saturday night to visit his mother. He had caught a train over to his home, excitedly texting his mother to warn her of his arrival. They had hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in years when they met, though it had only been a week, and Inko fussed over Izuku as usual, examining his face and rushing home to feed him a good home-cooked meal.
Izuku was blessed with his mother’s katsudon, filling himself up greedily and shamelessly asking for seconds. They’d watched a rerun of his mother’s favourite cheesy bachelor show, both of them rooting for entirely different people yet sighing at the same romantic acts all together. They sat, curled up, sharing a blanket on their small couch. Their home was undoubtedly built for two people, a simple and cozy abode that suited both of them so perfectly, with memories bleeding through every part of the building. Izuku’s mom and him both stared at the confession scene on the tv, but as his mother looked over to Izuku’s face, she saw a twinge of something she had only seen on her son’s face very few times in his life.
“So…” She spoke up, excitement lacing her words.
“Who’s the lucky person?” She beamed at Izuku, a knowing, smug look adorning her features.
Izuku felt his face flush, his ears heating up almost as warm as the mug filled with tea in his hands was.
“Nobody…” Izuku turned away from her eyes, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible as he half-watched the screen with mild interest. His mom stared holes through the side of his face, her features all reading ‘I don’t believe you in the slightest.’
“Izuku, you are my one and only son. I know a love-smitten look when I see one, and you have it smack dab in the center of your face. Don’t lie to your mother.” She took a sly sip of her tea.
Izuku swallowed guiltily.
Izuku thought back to Katsuki, everything that had happened between them in a mere weeks time. Sleeping in the same bed, sharing their darkest secrets, touching so casually, loving so casually. He shifted on the couch, pulling his legs closer to himself in embarrassment.
I mean… We’re definitely… something else. But not at all like mom thinks. Man, I wonder what she’d even think of what we are now. God knows I can’t figure it out…
Izuku scratched his neck, hair ruffling lazily between his finger tips.
“I… I dunno.” He said, a soft feeling pressing on his heart, flattening his lungs. “I mean, even if it was love, which it’s not, nothing’s gonna come of it anyways. So… don’t be too excited.” Izuku said, a slight pout forming on his lips. His mother was silent for a few moments, before letting out a gentle sigh.
“Are they good to you?”
Izuku flicked his eyes over to his mother momentarily, seeing she had shifted her focus back to watching the dramatic show with him, the glow of the TV gently bouncing off of her features.
“The best anyone’s ever been.”
His mother pursed her lips before inhaling to speak, a silence filling the place where her words should have for a few moments.
“I think the act of loving is worth it then. All of the good and heart wrenching parts of it.” She smiled at a funny joke playing on the TV. Izuku’s eyes stung with tears that threatened to fall silently into his tea.
Love, huh.
“Also, if you don’t give me grandkids one way or another one day, I will hunt you down.” She spoke, a smile lighting up her words.
“Mom!” Izuku burst out in embarrassed giggles as he blinked his tears away, his mother joining in moments later. He leaned his head against her head, continuing to watch the show with mild interest. No matter how big Izuku got, how many villains he’d conquered by breaking himself, with his mother, he was still just little Izuku.
“Is it Katsuki?”
Izuku felt his heart drop into his stomach, his throat tightening, and his palms sweaty. He had gone cold, the mood suddenly feeling too real. His mother knew. Izuku couldn’t speak if he tried.
Inko took her son’s silence as answer enough.
“It was always him, wasn’t it?” She said softly. Izuku felt the block in his throat move enough for him to be able to speak, just barely.
“Mom. I don’t wanna ruin anything. I really, really don’t wanna mess up this time.” Izuku whined, his voice a mere whisper. He could feel his heart breaking in his chest. “He’s just… Why can’t I just take what he gives me?” Izuku felt salty tears start to stream down his face, cascading like gentle droplets of rain on a window. “I’m greedy, aren’t I?” He muttered, a bitter chuckle escaping from his throat. His mother reached up, and gently patted his hair. Neither looked away from the screen, playing an emotional moment that neither were truly thinking about.
“Oh, Izuku.” Inko sighed softly, her gentle hands soothing the crying boy. “Your heart's too big. That run’s in the family, sorry.” Inko smiled lightly as Izuku let out a wet chuckle. He knew it was true. His mother loved so deeply and heavily, it put a strain on her all too physically. He never wanted to see his mother hurt like that, but he knew that her sorrow was love mixed with every part of her that made her her. Izuku loved his mother’s emotions that coursed through him, loved that he looked like such an amazing woman, loved that he loved like her, yet he wished he had never adopted her grief. He knew of that all too well.
They stayed like that for the next thirty minutes of their program, watching with gentle sorrow in their stomachs and Inko’s warm, small hands patting Izuku’s curls.
Izuku just knew that if it was Katsuki softly petting his curls that night, he may have gotten any sleep at all.
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Izuku stumbled back into the dorms late Sunday afternoon, the sun casting a warm glow along the horizon that lit up the windows of the tall building. He could feel a dull headache pounding in his head, and he just wanted to curl up in Katsuki’s warm arms and sleep. He hadn’t gotten any sleep at his mother’s, and though he had an amazing time with her, he felt deep exhaustion settling in his bones.
He crashed his way up to his room, carefully avoiding each of his classmate’s concerned glances at the boy’s tired state. The worst part of this for Izuku was that, no matter how badly he wanted to lay down and fall into a deep slumber, he still had homework.
Opening his books on the table, and tripping down into his seat, Izuku desperately tried to focus on the fuzzy words of his Textbook, his brain processing mere gibberish. Questions that should have taken him two minutes took him twenty. Before he knew it, the sun had completely gone under, and the faint light of the desk lamp hovering over his work was the only source of light in his quiet room.
Izuku huffed a sigh, irritated at his slow brain, and gently put his head down on the table, his curls fanning out around his face like a halo. He breathed for a while, simply listening to the slight ringing in his ears from the dead quiet room. He must have stayed like that for a while, feeling the warmth seep out of the room and his body in the cool evening. Soon his door was opened slightly, and a faint glow from the hallways channeled into his room. He felt a reluctant smile light up his face, the sorrow from his talk with his mother still sitting heavily in his guts.
“Hi Kacchan.” He spoke gently, so quietly, yet his raspy voice pierced the silence of the room like a shot to the heart.
“Hi.” Katsuki spoke, surprisingly softly for the boy’s known abrasive volume. “What’s with the hunch? You tired nerd?” He spoke, leaving a soft feeling resonating through Izuku.
The freckled boy slowly picked his head up off of his desk, turning to look at Katsuki as he closed the door. His large frame stood in the low light room, eyes tired, and skin as pale as Izuku remembered it being when this all started. His heart ached.
“Bone-tired.” He smiled weakly. Katsuki huffed.
“Yeah, you look like sh*t.” The blonde spoke, but his words were tinted rosy with a light feeling, something Izuku couldn’t catch. “C’mon. Get in bed, you can finish the dumbass homework before class starts tomorrow.” He spoke, his volume increasing back to his normal decibel.
“Yes captain Kacchan.” Izuku chuckled, lifting himself out of his swivel chair and plopping backwards, starfishing across the bed. Katsuki scoffed at the boy’s obnoxious position.
“Move, or I’ll start biting.” Katsuki warned, standing over Izuku’s sprawled form. Izuku’s brain felt mushy and full of fluff from this new hit of Kacchan exposure, and hours of half asleep homework.
“WH-”
Izuku sat up swiftly, linking his arms behind Katsuki’s back, and pulled him down on top of himself, their bodies crashing together. Katsuki immediately tried to wriggle out of Izuku’s tight grasp, shouting profanities.
“Hahaha! Sneak attack!”
“I can’t f*cking breathe!” The blonde hollered.Izuku chuckled lightly, happy to tease the boy, loosening his grip. Katsuki didn’t budge, laying on top of him complacently. Izuku looked down, and saw Katsuki’s ears were entirely red, his face hidden in Izuku’s chest. Izuku felt his own face heat up at this, his stomach twisting in knots beneath his skin as he held onto Katsuki’s slim waist loosely, breathing in the other boy’s burnt smell, and felt his heart swell with happiness.
“Kacchan…” Izuku started.
No reply.
“You’re kind of crushing me.” He wheezed out, his big mouth ruining the moment entirely. Katsuki pushed into Izuku’s chest, getting up off of him without a word or glance towards him, and flopped off of him on the other side of the bed with a huff. Izuku crawled up beside him, the warmth radiating off of Katsuki’s body pulling him. He slowly snaked his arms around Katsuki again, hugging closer to the sleepy warmth his brain so desperately craved, and curled his body into the warmth.
“Goodnight, Kacchan.” Izuku spoke, his voice a small whisper.
“Goodnight.” Katsuki choked back, his throat sounding strained with a strong emotion Izuku couldn’t place.
The soft night drifted them both to sleep.
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.
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“DEKU.” Izuku was snapped out of his slightly sleepy morning trance as he did his unfinished homework down in the common room, the room dead silent and empty apart from him and the faint scratching of his pencil.
“Wh-Huh? Oh, What’s up Ochako?” Izuku looked up to see the brunette swiftly walking over to him, rage sweeping across her features. She hastily pulled up a seat across from Izuku at the dining room table he was sat at, and plopped down into it with a huff. She crossed her hands, and began to speak.
“I’m your best friend, right?” Izuku nodded slowly, confusion taking over his face. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Cause’ you’re totally my best friend, and as best friends, there’s certain best friend-ish best friend-ly things we do. You know this- and right now the best friendliness friendshippery is not friending.” Ochako said, a deathly serious look plastered on her features.
“I- Huh?” Izuku’s sleepy brain failed to keep up with anything the normally bubbly girl had just said.
“You totally hid something from me. Something totally super important.” Ochako leaned forward in her seat, death staring Izuku down for a few moments of awkward silence.
“Wh-”
“When were you going to tell me you and Bakugo are dating??!” She bursted forward, standing and slamming her hands on the table.
Izuku paled, his heart dully beating in his head. He felt his body go cold.
“I feel like, I don’t know, as your best friend I shouldn’t have found out through a school gossip sight! But alas! Here we are! I mean you know you can talk to me about anything, and-”
“What?” Izuku’s single word response rang out, spoken so quietly and sadly Ochako stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn’t heard the boy sound like that in a long time.
“What?” She responded back, confusion lacing her tone.
“O-Ochako… Kacchan and I aren’t…” Izuku looked up into the girl’s big, brown eyes, terror seeping through his features. He looked desperate, his brain lagging to process all of the information thrown at him. His hands were moving around, trying to convey something his slow mouth could not.
Ochako paled.
“Bu- Wait, no, there’s a photo of Bakugo heading into your dorms after hours..?” She thought it over in her brain for a moment, dread pooling in her features.
“Oh, Deku, if you're telling the truth this is really bad. Like super mega bad bad. It’s totally viral.” Ochako held up her phone, a post lit up the screen of Katsuki sneaking into his dorm, holding his hand on the couch, and a few other things Izuku didn’t know anyone had seen. There were thousands of likes on the post. He wanted to vomit.
“No. Nononononono- Ochako. I’m so serious, we’re not dating! This is so bad, oh my god.,! I mean yes we were sleeping together but-”
“What?!”
“Not like that!” Izuku stood panting, his brain fogged with panic. “Oh, god. Kacchan must have found out. He’s never gonna wanna see me, talk to me again. Ochako what do I do? What do I do?!” The freckled boy was hyperventilating at this point, his breaths raggedy and uneven.
“I- I don’t- Deku breathe with me!” Ochako said, panic shooting through her as well. “I’m sure this will be fine! I’m sorry I yelled- and- and Bakugo will be… Fine…” It sounded like a lie even to her own ears.
“Oh f*ck- this is bad.” Izuku looked into her eyes, getting his breathing under control quickly. “What do I do?” He rasped out, tears pricking his eyes and constricting his throat. His eyes watered and spilled over, sweeping down his face as he sobbed. “He’s gonna- He’s gonna hate me again!” He sobbed in the girl’s arms. “E-everyone is gonna think we’re something when I know we aren’t! We can’t!” He hiccuped, the sobs rolling out of him as Ochako hugged him closely.
“Deku, please don’t cry. C’mon, he won’t hate you. He can’t. You’ve both been through so much together! So much.” She rubbed soothing circles into his back. He hugged her closely, hiccupping sobs into her shoulder.
He wanted that to be true so badly, it ached, making his heart light up with sorrow in his chest.
They stayed behind at the dorms for a while, Ochako sending a message to the class group chat that Izuku and Katsuki were truly and honestly NOT a thing. Disappointed but understanding messages flowed through, and everyone stayed away from the awfully depressed Izuku.
When they did stroll into class on time later, all eyes landed on Izuku as he padded solemnly over to sit down behind Katsuki. Neither of the boys looked at each other, and Izuku felt his heart be stabbed a million times over. Neither could focus in class.
Lunch time was filled with stares from the entire cafeteria, noticing the boy’s disheartened and grumpy demeanours. It was noted by almost everybody that they looked like they wanted to snap any time someone would bring the two of them up in congratulations, so word got around pretty quickly that their relationship was rocky at best.
Not like we had a relationship in the first place.
Izuku bitterly picked at his food, not paying attention at lunch, any of his late classes, and especially not in hero training, when he got decked in the face and ended his day with a trip to recovery girl’s office for a gnarly bruise.
As he got back to the dorms that night, he blankly walked upstairs, not sparing a word to any of his classmates as he closed the door to his room, sealing himself away from the rest of the world as depressing thoughts enveloped his brain. All he could focus on was how much through all of this he ached for Katsuki.
He wanted to catch the boy’s eyes, but couldn’t bear to look up to find them in his shame. He wanted to hold the boy’s hand, scream and shout in the cafeteria how all of it was true, how they were everything everyone wanted them to be.
But he couldn’t.
He really, truly, couldn’t.
Izuku raked his hands through his hair, letting out a choked and sad sigh as he sat down on his bed.
It’s… over. Everything I tried so hard to build up. He’s never gonna want to talk to me again- not even look at me again. I’ll go back to not sleeping, we’ll go back to nothing. Nothing at all.
He felt his heart aching to explode within the confines of his ribcage.
When did it become like this? I was always chasing him, but this is new. This stagnant nothingness between us. There’s no hatred. No shouting remarks. It’s so cold and empty. I just… I…
I wanted his love so badly. Even if it was never there.
Izuku suddenly heard a noise he never thought he’d be so lucky to ever hear again.
Three soft knocks resonated at his door.
He bursted out of his seat on the side of his bed, tripping and stumbling as he sprinted to the door, praying his mind hadn’t played a trick on him. As viridian met vermillion, Izuku felt his heart rise to his throat. He felt like he was falling to his death as he looked into those eyes, emotion tumbling through them.
“Izuku. We need to talk.” A long and sad silence lingered between the two of them, their faces awkward and bitter. Izuku looked down, breaking the stare.
“Yeah.”
Izuku let Katsuki pass him as he walked into the room, shutting the door silently behind them. The soft click felt like the seal on his fate, only left with the stretch of silence between them.
Izuku looked up at Katsuki, meeting his unsteady gaze and rigid back. He didn’t know when it had happened, but his room was dark, only a faint glow shone in through his window during the very last peak of the sun over the horizon. Katsuki swallowed. Izuku thought of how beautiful he was, even with the unhappy look warping his face.
“I’m… I-” Ktasuki struggled, choking on his words to break the silence. His face was cold and closed off, eyebrows and nose scrunched like his eyes burned with tears. Izuku cut in, wanting to blurt out everything he had been building up all day in the deep unease in his heart.
“I’m so sorry Kacchan!” He pleaded, the words erupting from his chest. “If- If I had known that people would find out, I wouldn’t have… We shouldn’t have…” Izuku struggled, his eyes scanning Katsuki’s face, leaning his weight away from him. He was awfully scared of what a glance from those eyes could do to him. He knew their destructive power.
“We should have never done this. I’m so, so sorry it turned out like this. I never wanted… any of this to happen to you.” Izuku balled his fists, emotions singed his heart, burning his insides with their intensity. Only Katsuki could make feeling something that bad feel so worth it to Izuku. “We- we can stop it. Stop the rumours. It might take a while- b-but you don’t have to talk to me ever again. I swear.” Izuku looked up into Katsuki’s eyes, recoiling a bit at the fury that burned blisteringly bright inside of them. Confusion pooled in his lungs, sweeping the air out of them at how infuriated Katsuki looked.
“You dumb piece of sh*t. God, this is so f*cking unfair!” Katsuki shouted, eyes still locked onto Izuku’s teary ones. “They can’t force us to deal with this sh*t! This was- We didn’t have to think about it. I never wanted to f*cking- GOD!” Katsuki slammed his hand down on Izuku’s desk, rattling a few All Might figures resting on top of it. The outburst caused Izuku to take a step backwards. He hadn’t seen Katsuki this destructive in over a year. “I was so pissed off at that f*cking Gossip page, I wanted to burn the f*ckers who run it alive. I hate this. I never wanted you to question it- because- because-” Katsuki’s words burned like blazing fire, the warmth licked at Izuku’s skin and melted his hurt into his skin, searing him for life. Katsuki bit his lip, nearly drawing blood, looking away from Izuku scornfully.
“Kacchan, I-I’m not mad!” Izuku clarified, his voice rising into a sad shout. “I’m not mad at all! I-I thought you would be upset-so- I mean we can stop it all if you want!” Izuku’s eyes filled with tears.”This- This all helped so much. I felt euphoric with every second I spent as your equal these past few days. I wanted to hold onto you and never let go- but- It’s… It’s not my place, is it?” He let out a quivering sigh. “I was just so happy to be your friend. E-Even for a couple of nights.” Izuku’s voice cracked and crumbled, leaving a furious silence in the room. Izuku knew the moment the word ‘friend’ had left his mouth with a sour taste, his heart may die in his chest.
“Friend?” Katsuki’s broken voice filled the silence, bouncing off the walls in the room and dropping Izuku’s heart to the floor. “Friends?!” He yelled. “That’s your f*cking idea of friendship?!” Izuku’s stomach twisted bitterly. He knew it was too good to be true.
“What- you go around cuddling with your friends every night?! f*cking sharing the weakest parts of you?! Holding onto each other like goddamn lifelines because you know the nightmares only stop with them?! Holding each other like- like it means everything?! God you are so f*cking heroic and so f*cking STUPID!” Katsuki screamed, his voice breaking under the weight of his emotion. He stomped up to Izuku, grabbing him intensely by the shoulders.
Suddenly, in a flurry of emotion, Izuku felt a hard, warm press against his lips. His heart fluttered in his chest, and butterflies exploded in his stomach. Katsuki pressed his lips into Izuku’s, years of longing pushed between them like the ocean crashing onto the shore, and neither could move during the serene moment in the chaos. Izuku pushed back into Katsuki, chasing his lips as Katsuki pulled away. His eyes fluttered open, his cheeks pink and brain dazed. Not a single thought flowed in or out of his fluffy head.
“You’re not some f*cking friend to me. No way.” Katsuki stared into Izuku’s wide eyes, swirling with emotions neither could quite decipher. The stunned silence filled the room once again, and Izuku dreamily watched Katsuki’s face crumble, tears filling his normally stone cold eyes. “I guess it ends here. Don’t f*cking talk to me again.” He pushed past Izuku, storming out into the halls, bumping his shoulder as he passed.
“Wh- .” Izuku’s brain caught up quickly, desperate to cling onto Katsuki. Izuku pushed out into the halls, running after Katsuki. “Kacchan! No- stop- Wait!” He pushed everything he had into running after Katsuki, both of the boys now sprinting as their feet pounded against the carpeted floors of the dorm halls.
“Stop f*cking following me! Go away!” Katsuki yelled as he sprinted down the stairs in the dim light of the night, running like his life depended on it.
“Kacchan! Please! Listen!” Izuku gave chase, jumping four steps at a time to catch up to the intense boy.
“Nothing you could say would save this! I get it! I f*cking understand, Okay?! It ends here! All of it!” Katsuki pushed through the front doors and out into the night air, sprinting down the main road and out into the darkened woods surrounding the school. The cool night air whipped around the boys, bitterly biting into their skin with it’s intensity. Their feet pounded against the earth, indoor shoes absolutely ruined.
“Kacchan would you stop running from me for one f*cking day of our lives?!” Izuku yelled after him, weaving through the thick shrubbery along the forest path.
“What? What could you possibly say to me now you couldn’t have said when I laid it all out for you?! When I f*cking showed you the worst- most evil part of me?!” He ducked his head as he ran, pushing forward as his lungs began to ache. Izuku activated OFA, catching up to Katsuki in no time and barrelling into him, knocking him over onto the gravelly ground beneath them. The wind was knocked out of both of them as Izuku layed on top of Katsuki, panting and sweating from exhaustion.
“I- I think I’m in love with you!” Izuku screamed down into Katsuki’s face, straddling him on the ground.
Katsuki stared back at Izuku’s face, the night only leaving a faint outline of him from the darkness. Katsuki could still see the boy’s tears gathering in his shimmering eyes, cheeks wet and flushed, lips wobbling in a joyous smile.
“I’ve never loved anyone more.”
The silence of the night surrounded them, the boy’s symphony of heartache being the only sound resonating through their ears. Neither could feel the bite of the cool air, their breath forming in puffs of vapour around them.
Izuku pulled Katsuki into a hug, both boys still sitting on the uncomfortable ground, covered in dust and scrapes. They felt each other’s heartbeats pounding into each other, the cool night breeze having no match for their warm, breathless bodies.
Izuku pressed a kiss into Katsuki, their lips meeting in a much gentler and more heartfelt fashion this time. The kiss was sweet, flurries of emotions winding up in both of the boy’s chests as it lasted, their lips moving against each other in an inexperienced desperate way that made both of their chests want to explode.
They pulled apart, staring into each other’s eyes. The night seemed so much brighter now.
“Well why didn’t you say so sooner?” Katsuki broke out into a smile of pure victory, passion burning in his eyes, mixing with light, salty tears. Izuku’s cheeks burned with the force of his smile, tears streaming down his face in cascading waterfalls.
“I don’t want to chase you ever again, Kacchan.”
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.
.
That night, the boys fell asleep in each other’s arms, hearts beating in unison as they did so many nights ago. Light puffs of breath bounced off each other’s faces, and their warm bed felt like the entire world to them.
In each other’s arms, they were finally rested.
