Chapter Text
Izuku is squinting at his phone, studying the placement of both his keychain and his boyfriend. He wants to get a good picture of the two of them together, but is failing remarkably.
Despite how he’s steadfastly examining every pixel of the image, he’s missing the furrow of Katsuki’s brows as his boyfriend becomes steadily more impatient with the process. Izuku holds down on the shutter button and takes a flurry of images. None of them look perfect though.
Just as he’s wondering if he needs to leave this in the hands of a professional, Katsuki steals his phone from him.
Izuku weakly grabs at it but Katsuki pushes back at him as he goes through all of Izuku’s pictures, “This is what you’re wasting my time for? Why do you even need a picture of this crap?”
Izuku pouts, “Well, I have plenty of pictures of you and of my keychain, I just thought it would be nice to get both of you together. Maybe, can you try holding him next to your face?” he asks, pawing at Katsuki’s arm to try and get his phone back.
And maybe if he could return his Katsuki keychain, that would be nice too.
“Even my pictures are better than these,” Katsuki says.
Izuku thinks back on the blurry and out of focused pictures Katsuki’s been sending him of the Deku keychain Katsuki had made and highly doubts it, “Is that really so?” he asks.
Katsuki glares down at him, his usually angry look intensifying with his rise to action, “Hah, I’ll get you the perfect damn picture,” he says. And then he’s taking a step closer to Izuku and grabbing his face.
His hand is gentle though as he grabs him and there’s a small strip of cold metal from where the keychain is looped around one of his fingers. Izuku can barely think about anything else after that because Katsuki has pressed their mouths together.
Izuku’s heart is beating through his chest and he closes his eyes against the feeling. Katsuki’s lips are smooth against his own and the kiss is more perfect than he had ever imagined. It’s not too harsh or too soft.
The kiss is very ‘Katsuki’ in how it had nearly overwhelmed Izuku but wasn’t oppressive. Ever since Izuku was a child, Katsuki had been something he focused on. Especially when he entered U.A. and had disaster after disaster. Since Izuku returned to Japan, Katsuki rarely left his thoughts. He’s someone who understands Izuku on an impossible level considering how little time they’ve really spent together.
When Katsuki pulls away from the kiss, Izuku sneaks in one more before letting himself sink into the warmth of Katsuki’s hand. Despite how most people must see his hand as an incredible weapon, right now it’s become nothing less than the most tender pillow.
He smiles up at Katsuki and his boyfriend has a burning blush across his face. Izuku just thinks it was the perfect first kiss.
Later, when Katsuki’s hands have returned to his pockets and Izuku is going through his photos, he sees the pictures Katsuki took.
Both of their eyes are closed as they kiss and they’re both miraculously in frame. It’s incredibly romantic and sweet that he would capture this moment, but Izuku’s eyes are stuck on something just behind his face.
His Katsuki-keychain is hovering just below where their lips are connected and staring straight at the camera. It’s better than any picture Izuku has ever taken. Izuku decides he’ll get it printed out.
Izuku is laying in Katsuki’s arms on his very nice, very plush, and huge couch. They had an exhaustingly delightful day at the amusement park which Katsuki had shockingly asked to go to.
(Asked is saying a lot, he more shoved the tickets at Izuku and made him figure out what Katsuki wanted.)
It’s been a while since Izuku had been momentarily turned into a keychain – one which now was a permanent fixture on Katsuki’s keys – and they still haven’t had a proper conversation about it. The both of them were very busy after all.
A lot of Izuku’s time went to his lab and Katsuki was the Number One hero which entailed a lot of working and focus. While it was hard for them to hang out all the time, they still managed to a successful degree.
Today was a prime example. They managed to go through the amusement park with little trouble. And it’s true that a villain did crash their date, but it mostly gave Izuku the chance to take the best ever photos of his boyfriend.
“Kacchan, why did you want to go to the amusement park?” Izuku asks.
Katsuki had been watching the news as Izuku read, the two of them focused on their own tasks while staying together. The position they’re in means that Izuku can’t look back at Katsuki’s face. Katsuki’s arms are holding him firmly in place and it’s too comfortable to think about breaking that link.
“Are you aware how often villains attack amusement parks?” Katsuki asks instead.
“Like today? I suppose it must be rather frequent,” Izuku says, “I suppose it depends on their motives, if they just go out of control or they really hate amusement parks or…”
“It’s pretty fucking often,” Katsuki summarizes, “And so naturally heroes have to go deal with that. They’re tricky places to fight and crowded, but usually end up going pretty well.”
“Wouldn’t you want to avoid them then? It sounds troublesome.”
“That’s what I had always thought.”
Izuku thinks back to when he went to the amusement park alone. It had been fun, going on all the rides, seeing all the merch, taking photos of his keychain, and trying the themed food. But it had also been lonely and a bit painful.
As he walked around, he had been constantly reminded of how he felt like an outsider. He’d had no friends to invite, no date to go with, and only himself for company. He’d spent most of his time there checking out hero updates and listening to his own music.
Going with Katsuki had been different. They shared a crepe, held hands, and talked for forever. Izuku did most of the talking but he’d been able to get quite a few interesting anecdotes out of Katsuki.
“Did you… change your mind because of me?”
Katsuki shrugs beneath him, “Being your keychain wasn’t the worst.”
‘Wasn’t the worst,’ what was that supposed to mean?
“And what about being my boyfriend?” Izuku prompts, feeling a bit bolder than usual.
“You cheeky little fuck!” And with that Katsuki’s grip gets tighter and Izuku feels Katsuki’s warm breath against his neck as his only warning before Katsuki lightly bites the side of Izuku’s neck.
“Ouch!” Izuku cries out, trying to turn his head to look at Katsuki, or try to escape his grasp, “Katsuki, wait,” Katsuki leaves another bite on Izuku’s shoulder before flipping him around so he’s straddling Katsuki’s torso.
“Being your boyfriend is ten times better,” he says with a serious look on his face, “The only hard part is having to compete with myself all the damn time,” he says.
Feeling flustered but content with what Katsuki just told him, Izuku leans down just a little bit to press a kiss to Katsuki’s cheek, “And is there any way I can make it up to you?” he asks.
Katsuki grins, “I can think of a couple.”
Somehow, they both ended up at his childhood home again - it's half the hag's fault and half Izuku's. The last time he was here, he was stuck as a keychain and trying to figure out how the hell Izuku and his mom knew each other.
Today, his old man is here too. He greets Izuku with a gentle pat on the back and a ruffle of his hair. He smiles when Izuku doesn’t shoe him off like Katsuki is wont to do.
Izuku has brought a whole basket of fruit to show his regards and Katsuki’s dad whisks it off with haste to prepare it for them. The old hag leads Izuku to the couch once again and is being way too kind to Izuku.
She’s asking him all about school and his family and Katsuki may as well be invisible to her.
“Oi! We’re here to tell you something, not to get dragged away by this stupid stuff. We’ve got places to be,” Katsuki says.
It’s not totally true, but it’s not a lie. Katsuki promised to show Izuku around Musutafu – all the usual hangs and eats – as they made their way to U.A which Izuku desperately wanted to check out.
Katsuki could probably even get them inside if he pulled the right strings.
“I know!” she says, grabbing both of Izuku’s hands, “It’s because you’re dating my half-useless son, aren’t you? I’m so happy to welcome you into the family! Is he treating you okay?” she asks.
Katsuki is seriously regretting giving into Izuku’s demands to pay the Bakugou’s a visit to announce their relationship. They haven’t exactly been forward about it with the press, but they’ve been on enough public dates that people have started to pick it up.
“He’s my boyfriend, not your new son, shitty hag,” Katsuki says, pulling Izuku away from her grasp.
“I don’t feel like waiting,” Mitsuki says.
Katsuki just rolls his eyes.
“Katsuki’s been great! And I wanted to come since it’s really thanks to you that we got together!”
Katsuki’s life is falling apart. If the hag starts to believe that, she’ll hold it over him for forever, “Oi! I woulda found you no matter what, stupid nerd!”
“But Auntie is the one who gave me my Katsuki-keychain!”
“Still! You would have gotten your hands on one eventually,” Katsuki insists.
Izuku opens his mouth to say something back but they’re interrupted by his dad bringing in the fruit. Tucked under his arm is a small photo album and Katsuki dreads what could be inside.
“Oh, thank you Masaru for getting that for me. I was thinking Katsuki might not appreciate just how I helped them get together, so maybe he’ll start to appreciate my efforts after seeing this,” she says, her voice like iron – cold and unyielding.
“Keep dreaming,” Katsuki says, helping himself to some of the melon Izuku splurged on.
The hag ignores him in favor of showing the album to Izuku who plays along with her and tugs on Katsuki’s arm, “You have to see this, Kacchan,” Izuku insists.
He pulls him over until he’s looking at the photo album on Izuku’s lap. The first picture is of two squirmy looking babies. It’s unmistakably a photo of them. They’re not the cutest babies in the world (such a baby doesn’t exist) but Katsuki feels confident that they’re both at least ten times cuter than icy-hot was.
Izuku does a great job cooing in all the right places as the hag turns the pages in the photo album – showing off all the great moments of their childhood that Katsuki only remembers in the vaguest sense.
The last photo is of the two of them holding up two matching All Might trading cards, “I still keep that card with me! I keep it on my desk,” he says, “Kacchan, do you still have yours?”
But everything has gone a little bit staticky. It’s not that he suddenly remembers everything he forgot like they do in the dramas, but more like the memory that was hanging on by a spider’s thread is a little bit strengthened. He remembers the card and remembers being so excited to get it. And he even remembers Izuku.
The reason for it? That card is safely tucked away in his wallet even now.
“As if I’d lose something like that,” is all he says, unable to tear his eyes away from the picture, “What’s the next picture?” he asks, giving in. It feels a bit like losing, but he is curious to see what else he might be able to pull back up.
“Well, Izuku left a little bit after that. I think Inko has all the pictures after this one and we never printed them out. What we did print, however,” she says, flipping the pictures, “Is all the lovely pictures Izuku sent us!”
The first picture she flips too is of a younger Izuku. He’s still got some baby fat clinging to his skin and his old glasses looking relatively fresher than when Katsuki first saw them. He’s standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge holding the keychain Katsuki is all too familiar with.
“Auntie, no!” Izuku says in a panic. He makes an attempt for the photo album but has nothing on a pro-hero’s reflexes. Katsuki stands up and holds the photo album out of his reach but where he can still flip through it.
Each picture is more dorky than the last but he can’t stop from flipping through the pages.
Izuku is flushed through and looking through the cracks in his fingers, “That’s embarrassing,” he whines.
“Hag,” he says, looking over Izuku. She coughs and gives him a pointed look, “Fine, mom,” he says. He only ever called her that in high school when he was trying to get something from her and she knew it. “How about, you never bring up how you’re the ‘reason we got together’ and I make sure you get enough pictures to fill up another five photo albums?”
“Make it ten and we’ve got a deal.”
“Kacchan?!” Izuku squeals tugging on the edge of Katsuki’s shirt. Katsuki just grins down at his shocked boyfriend. Yeah, there’s no way he’s letting go of this one.
“Welcome to the Bakugou’s, Izukkun,” he dad chimes in.
(i dedicate this chapter to my bakugou keychain, who is the best writing buddy ever <3)