Chapter Text
Start of 7th Grade:
Deku was hunched over his desk, scribbling in his notebook when Katsuki entered the classroom with two of his minions at his side. The nerd's hair was in bad need of a cut, unruly and falling into his face. He had had a growth spurt over the summer and now his pants were a few inches too short for him. He was all bony joints, bad posture, and old thrifted clothes.
Katsuki's lip curled, but mostly because he knew it was expected of him. He didn't really want to have a run in with the nerd today, on the first day of school. He wanted to just... exist in the same space, without a single soul calling attention to it. What he really wanted was to be a million miles away, but his mother had laughed at him when he suggested changing schools. She didn't understand what his problem was. Thought it was just middle school boy hormones and drama.
And wasn't it just?
Katsuki shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked toward the middle of the classroom. Nerdy Deku always sat right up front when he could, so Katsuki was hoping it would be a minute before he turned around and noticed that somehow he and Katsuki had the same homeroom. Again. It was like some kind of sick prank the administration at this disgrace of a school played on him.
No such luck though, one of his stupid lackeys laughed out loud and said, "Oh great! We have to share a classroom with the nerd, again! God."
Deku flinched and sat up. Turned around, green eyebrows pinched together in mild panic. His green eyes darted about, taking in the students who had just sauntered in. Then they landed on Katsuki. Something in Deku's expression changed from panicked to hopeful.
God damn it all.
"Hi, Kacchan!" Deku turned fully around in his seat, hope and determination clear on his face. "How was your summer?"
Katsuki twisted his own expression into a sneer and said, "Wouldn't you like to know, you litte nerdy stalker."
The other two boys with him laughed meanly, and Deku shrunk down a little bit but held his ground the dumb fucker, "Yeah, I would. That's why I asked."
The smart ass back talk made Katsuki furious. Why couldn't Deku just leave him alone? Why did he have to make all of this so difficult? Why couldn't he make new friends? Katsuki's sneer turned into a scowl, "Stay the fuck away from me, you obsessive little freak."
Deku sighed and turned back to his notebook, shoulders hunched back up to his ears.
Despite hating sitting in the back, Katsuki threw himself down into the the farthest desk he could get from Deku and squashed down the longing and self-loathing that ate away at his chest. Pretended that his disgust was at his ex-best friend until he could believe it was true.
---
Katsuki woke with a start, uncertain of where he was and with a pounding headache. He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking around. A thin line of sunlight was streaming through a crack in the curtains and Katsuki looked at the digital clock on the nightstand: 8 am. He had overslept.
He looked to the side and Deku was a heap of white hotel comforter fluff and pillows. All Katsuki could see was a little pouf of green where the top of Deku's head was visible. Katsuki threw one of his pillows over at the pouf and growled, "Hey, asshole! Wake up!"
Deku groaned and curled into a tighter ball. Katsuki stood up and yanked the covers off Deku. "Wake up! We overselpt! We're wasting daylight!"
Deku flinched inward, skinny frame curling even tighter in on himself, as he whined, "Noooooooo."
"Deku, we both just slept in too late, and now we are either going to have to stop before we reach New Mexico, or we are going to be driving past dinner time and I am not interested in either alternative. Get up. We are going to take care of these hangovers and make a new plan," Katsuki growled, throwing one of his own pillows at Deku's head and then making his way towards the bathroom.
When Katsuki came out of the shower fifteen minutes later, he was feeling marginally better. Deku was up and poking around at his laptop. He looked like shit, probably feeling just as hungover as Katsuki did. When he saw Katsuki exit the bathroom, Deku set his laptop aside and got up to head for the bathroom himself, rubbing his eyes and pouting.
Big baby.
Katsuki began to stuff his things back into his duffle bag while he waited for Deku to finish showering and getting ready. Once he was done, he was about to pull out his phone to look up a place to get breakfast when he noticed Deku's laptop still on, opened, and unlocked.
He peeked over at it to see what Deku had been doing. He was pleased to see that the nerd had been looking up their next route. He hoped they weren't going to lose money on hotel reservations or anything, but Deku had said that he only made some for the beginning of the trip, figuring that the second half would become more organic and spontaneous. At the time, Katsuki had hated that idea but now he realized it was pretty smart. It gave them a chance to explore a bit. Take their time. Do stupid things like sing karaoke after too many shots of tequila. The All Might memorial wasn't going to be until next Tuesday anyway - they almost had a full week to make it to California.
Katsuki was about to pull out his phone to look up a place they could get breakfast when a message popped up on Deku's computer. He knew he shouldn't look. He knew that. And he knew he would be beyond pissed if Deku did the same to him... but Katsuki couldn't help himself as he looked back at Deku's screen to see what the message was.
It was an email from one of the academic advisors at UA. The subject line said "Subject Major Change Inquiry." Katsuki quirked an eyebrow and reached for the computer, feeling like the nosiest piece of shit on the planet, when he heard the water in the shower stop and slammed the laptop closed instead.
The fuck was wrong with him anyway.
A few minutes later, Deku came out of the bathroom rubbing his damp curls with a white hotel towel. He was wearing a stupid ass shirt that said "insert funny saying here" and a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. Some of the water from his damp hair dripped down the side of his neck, sliding over the ridge of his collar bone. Katsuki didn't realize he was staring until Deku froze and asked, "Yes?"
"Nothing," Katsuki growled, looking back down at his phone quickly.
"... okay," Deku sat down on his bed and picked up his laptop, shoving it into his bag. "What's the plan?"
"I thought you were the man with the plan," Katsuki grumbled.
Deku sighed, "The plan didn't involve us getting hungover and sleeping past our alarms. So, I figured the plan needed a rewrite and I kind of thought you were working on it."
"Don't make stupid assumptions, nerd."
"Ok, well then..." Deku trailed off, quirking his lips into a frown. "Then the plan is McDonald's drivethru and seeing how far we can make it."
"Wrong. The plan is fried chicken breakfast and then driving to Arkansas." Katsuki said, standing up and shoving his phone in his pocket.
"So, it wasn't a stupid assumption," Deku beamed up at the blonde.
Katsuki picked up a pillow, threw it at Deku's head and growled, "Let's go, smartass."
Deku fell backwards when the pillow hit him, squealing with laughter that made Katsuki's stupid stomach flip and his stupid chest feel warm.
---
"So, fried chicken again, huh?" Izuku asked from across the table of the little diner Kacchan had found. The blonde had just ordered a spicy chicken biscuit and was currently drinking black coffee from an old brown mug.
"We are only in Nashville for less than twenty four hours. I have to eat as much of the good stuff as I can," Kacchan said. "Besides, greasy food helps with hangovers."
"Does it?"
"Of course it fuckin does!"
Izuku hummed and added cream and sugar to his own coffee until it was a light tan color. Kacchan snorted distainfully from across the table, but Izuku ignored it. "What's in Arkansas?"
"Hiking." Kacchan grunted.
Izuku looked up at Kacchan, annoyed, "What kind of hiking?"
"There's a national park there with some cool looking water falls and shit. We can make it by the afternoon and then explore."
"Sounds good to me. What do you want to do for the night?"
If Izuku didn't know better, he would say that Kacchan's cheeks turned a bit pink before he answered, "We could find a spot to camp. Or find a dumb motel or something nearby. I'm sure there are tons."
Izuku frowned, "I didn't bring any camping supplies."
"Could stop for some sleeping bags and just... sleep outside."
"What about food?"
Katsuki shrugged, "Can grab some stuff when we stop for the sleeping bags."
Izuku laughed, "Is it that easy? Everyone always makes camping out to be this big thing with like... a million accessories."
Kacchan shrugged again and said, "It's only for one night, it's not cold out, and we could just camp somewhere close to the car. We really only need one meal, some bug spray, and something to sleep on."
After stopping at a Walmart to grab camping supplies, they hit the road. Kacchan drove first while Izuku played passenger princess. It was a pleasant drive. Izuku stayed awake and talked Kacchan's ears off about other super heroes they were both into and other nerdy shit. He was quietly amazed that Kacchan never once snapped at him to shut up, but instead seemed... content to have the first conversation with him that they had in years.
Izuku wondered, again, what happened to them before to ever drive them apart.
They stopped for five minutes to get gas and go to the bathroom and then Izuku took the second shift. While Izuku was behind the wheel, Kacchan pulled out some of his text books and notebooks, put a pair of glasses on, and studied. Izuku glanced over at him, confused, "What are you doing? The semester is over?"
Kacchan looked over the rim of his glasses at Izuku, condescending, "Studying for the LSAT you dipshit. We have to take it at the end of this summer if we want any chance at getting into Law school next year."
Izuku swallowed, "Right."
Kacchan squinted at him, studying him closely. Izuku squirmed a bit and kept his eyes focused hard on the road. Finally, Kacchan asked, "You are taking it, right?"
"That was the plan," Izuku said.
"Was? Why do I feel like there's more to that statement?" Kacchan was way too perceptive when he wanted to be.
Izuku swallowed again. The past year had been... hard. He didn't have much of a life outside of school and working, and he knew going into it all that that would be the case but... It was different once he was in the thick of it. It was hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. For some reason, he was nervous about saying all of that to Kacchan though. Since forever, Kacchan had been driven, completely focused. Once he decided that he wanted something, he blasted through each obstacle, towards each goal, until he reached it. He didn't seem to care about much else, honestly. Which Izuku always found equal parts frustrating and inspiring. Izuku would never tell Kacchan, because he knew it would drive the blonde crazy, but Kacchan was part of the reason Izuku started pursuing law.
And he didn't want his inspiration to know how close he was to giving up. So he tried changing the subject instead: "Remember that trail by our houses when we were kids? The one that had the creek?"
"Of fucking course. It was the best." Izuku could here the smile in Kacchan's voice but he was afraid if he looked over it would disappear under his scrutiny.
"Yeah. It was. I am excited to camp out tonight... I think it'll feel a bit like that creek did."
Kacchan hummed and turned back to his notes and books.
It was early afternoon when they arrived at the national park. Izuku slowed down to follow winding roads through lush forest land. Kacchan had put away his notebooks in order to take over navigation, looking for something in particular, but he wouldn't tell Izuku what.
Kacchan directed Izuku to pull off to the side to a little gravel parking area. There were two other cars parked there as well. The boys hopped out of the car grabbing backpacks stuffed with subway sandwiches, water bottles, and bugspray. Kacchan looked around for a minute, checked his phone again, and then said, "It's this way. Come on." before striding towards a trail near the gravel lot.
Izuku had to jog a couple of steps in order to catch up with him and then strode alongside the blonde. Izuku put his hands into his pockets and looked around. Afternoon sunlight shone through the green leaves on the trees, full summer. It was hot out, and humid, which was taking away from the view a little bit. They had only been walking for ten minutes but already Izuku was covered in sweat and panting. He glanced over at Kacchan. The asshole seemed fine. Kacchan's cheeks and neck had turned a rosy hue from the exertion, but otherwise his crimson eyes were alight and his shoulders seemed relaxed for once. He was in his element.
They walked in silence for another twenty minutes, when Izuku heard water running nearby. He perked up a bit and looked over at Kacchan, "Are we almost there?"
Kacchan crooked a smile, "Sounds like it."
They came to a break in the trees and Izuku's breath caught. In front of them was a large creek with a beautiful set of low waterfalls. The water was shallow, and he could see a couple walking along the top of the falls carefully.
Kacchan lead the way all the way up to the edge of the creek, where there was a small beach of pebbles, and then tossed his backpack down. He sat down to take his shoes off. Izuku stared down at him and he scowled back up, "Come on."
"What are we doing?" Izuku asked.
Kacchan scoffed, "The fuck do you think? It's hot as shit out here. Gonna go explore the water."
"What about a change of clothes? I didn't wear a swim suit. I didn't expect us to be swimming!" Izuku set his backpack down too as he whined. Settling onto the rocks next to Kacchan.
"We have a car full of changes of clothes just twenty minutes from here. Come on. This is going to feel fantastic."
Izuku worked his shoes off while he watched Kacchan immediately wade into the water, sighing contentedly as he went. He bent over to feel it with his fingers, bright sunlight bleaching his hair almost white.
Izuku squinted, noticing that Kacchan wasn't playing with the water, but was instead digging around at the bottom of the creek. He stood up suddnely, holding something in his hand that Izuku couldn't make out. The blonde turned back towards Izuku, a wicked grin on his face. Pinched in his fingers was a large crawfish, it's claws and legs outstretched as it tried to reach back and grab at the person holding.
Izuku laughed on the bank. His laughter quickly turned into a squeel of fright as Kacchan ran towards him, crawfish held out in front of him, "Come on, Deku, I think he wants a kiss!"
"Get that thing away from me! Kacchan!" Izuku scrambled backwards on the bank of the creek, hands sliding through gritty and damp pepples. Kacchan was still running towards him so Izuku jumped up, dodged the evil blonde, and darted into the creek himself. The cool water felt amazing on his sweat soked legs as he waded as fast as he could further into the creek. When the water reached above his knees, he fell the rest of the way in. Water made his tshirt and shorts heavier. They floated around him as he spun onto his back to see where the blonde menace was at.
Kacchan was still a few feet away, laughing manically. He threw the poor crawfish at Izuku who yelped and flinched away from it. It landed a foot from his head and disappeared into the water, no doubt swimming as fast as it could for the safety of a new rock hideaway.
Kacchan continued to plow through the water towards Izuku. When he reached him, he tackled him, grabbing his shoulders and dunking him fully under the water. Izuku gasped as the cool water covered his head. His heart beat rapidly and the cool water felt incredible despite the surprise.
Kacchan didn't hold him down (not that Izuku thought he would it's just... it was Kacchan. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was playful and what was murderous), and after a second Izuku popped up spluttering out water and squealing, "Kacchan! What the hell!"
"Language, Deku!" Kacchan flopped back on his back and let his feet float up in the shallow water. "Or I'm going to have to dunk you again and hold you down for longer."
Izuku whined and leaned back into the water, mimicking the blonde's relaxed pose. The afternoon sun beat down on his face, warming it, while the cool water held him up. The floated slowly downstream in the gentle current for a minute or two before Kacchan suddenly stood up and declared, "Let's go check out the waterfall."
They waded through the stream, climbing over rocks and pushing against the current. It never got deeper than their waists. It only took them a couple minutes to reach the waterfall. It was small, only about four feet high, Kacchan swam under it and let the water beat down on his shoulders. He closed his eyes and smiled up into the flow, more relaxed and genuine than Izuku ever remembered seeing it since they were nine years old and spending one last summer together before middle school started and their friendship ended.
"The fuck are you staring at!" Kacchan barked, coming out from under the flow of water.
"You." Izuku said, smiling softly.
Kacchan's cheeks turned an adorable pink, "Oh yeah? Want to get a closer look?"
"Wha-what?" Izuku stuttered out, but suddenly Kacchan had tackled him again, pushing him down into the water, and then dragging him back out, strong arms wrapped around his waist. "Kacchan!"
"Saying embarrassing shit means you get water boarded as punishment." Kacchan dragged Izuku towards the waterfall.
Izuku struggled in his strong grip, "Kacchan! No!"
"It's either this or crawfish in your shorts, you little asshole," and with that, Kacchan pushed and shoved Izuku until he was under the waterfall. Izuku gasped as cold water showered on his head, beating down without too much force. Kacchan finally let go and Iuzku pushed him backwards, spluttering and laughing.
---
They spent the rest of the afternoon like that: alternating between exploring, laying back in the water relaxing, and rough housing. Katsuki felt lighter than he had in years. He hadn't really known what had come over him, what gave him so much playful energy like he hadn't felt since he was in elementary school. He always loved hiking and the outdoors. Hiking with Deku just brought all the way back to before. Before he was weighed down with responsibilities. Before he let his pride and anger get too big and out of control. Before he ruined everything.
When the sun started dipping closer to the horizon, they went back to the car to pull out their sleeping bags, lantern, and snacks and carried it all back to their space by the creek. They set up a little camp in a clearing where they could hear the water moving and see the stars when it got dark enough.
Katsuki stretched out on top of his sleeping bag, the dirt ground hard under his back. He didn't mind the feeling at all. Above him, the sky had gone fully dark and stars were plentiful in the sky. Deku lay only a couple feet away from him. They hadn't built a fire since they weren't sure if it would be allowed, and the night was warm anyways. Crickets chirped and cicadas screeched in the evening air.
"Thank you."
Katsuki turned his head to the side to look at Deku, who had spoken so softly it was only just above a whisper. Moonlight shone in his eyes and in the forest beyond him, Katsuki could see fireflies dancing about.
"For what?" Katsuki asked, his voice low and rough.
"For coming with me," Deku turned to look Katsuki in the eye. His gaze was soft but piercing. There was so much there. There was always so much in Deku's eyes; it hurt to look at him most of the time.
Katsuki grunted and turned to look back up at the sky. He didn't deserve Deku's gratitude. He didn't even deserve to be here with Deku at all, not after all the shit he pulled throughout middle and high school. Not after pushing his best friend away so aggressively for years. And for what? He couldn't understand what made Deku extend his hand yet again.
"Things have been... rough," Deku continued in a soft voice. "I'm just... I'm not sure if I'm cut out for law school."
Katsuki turned to look back at Deku sharply. There were tears on the edge of his green eyes (crybaby). They sparkled in the moonlight, and his lips wobbled. "The fuck are you talking about, Deku."
"I'm just so tired," Deku said softly. "I am so tired and I'm so afraid that I can't do it."
"What made you start in the first place?"
Deku shrugged his shoulders, "I wanted to make a difference. I figured... after everything my mom went through with the divorce. And then the past few years seeing the rich and powerful get away with so much... I wanted to be in the dicision rooms to stand up for the little guys."
"Ok, Atticus Finch." Katsuki grumbled.
"Don't make fun of me, Kacchan," Izuku rubbed at his eyes, more tears coming in earnest.
"Hey, I'm not making fun of you," Katsuki didn't know what possessed him, but he scooted his sleeping bag closer until it touched Deku's. Tentatively, he reached a hand out and put it on the other boy's shoulder. "I mean it. I'm not making fun of you. I asked why you started in the first place because you need to remember. You need to grab onto that feeling again."
Deku's shoulder shook a little as he tried to stifle his sobs.
"It's going to be hard. But if anyone can do it, Deku. You can. I know you can."
Deku turned his head, let his arm move just a fraction to look at Katsuki. His curls turned black in the dark. "Kacchan is so kind."
Katsuki pulled his hand away and grumbled, "I am not saying it to be nice. I am saying it because it's true."
Deku smiled, though tears still streamed down his cheeks.
They lay side by side, so close they could almost touch, and stared at the stars until their eye lids became too heavy and they drifted off to sleep.