Chapter Text
Izuku watched Katsuki walk inside. The moment the door shut, Izuku rushed up to his window. He climbed inside and quickly ripped off his mask and other gear. He left the bodysuit on—he didn’t have the time, plus he never knew when he might need it. It had become more of a habit to always keep it on. He shoved his bulkier gear in his drawer and exchanged it for casual clothing.
He hesitated on his choice of clothes when he thought about what Kacchan would like. Okay, black hoodie and jeans seems realistic. No, it was night—he would be in pajamas. But his sleep shirt was so plain. Okay then, black hoodie and sweatpants it is.
He looked at the mask on the ground. What was the use of the suit without keeping his mask too? He shoved it in his pocket. He would have to be sure not to let it slip out.
Izuku wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to erase all signs of… well… being Spider-Man. He rubbed a towel aggressively over his messy hair, trying to dry it. Finally, some cologne, and he was ready. He put his homework out to make it look like that’s what he was doing.
Then he waited.
Five minutes passed by. Then ten. Then twenty.
What was taking him so long?
Izuku was bouncing his leg under his desk. He couldn’t text him now—it was too obvious.
Thirty minutes passed by and still no sign. Maybe he could step outside and happen to run into him, if he was even there.
Forty minutes, and Izuku couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his keys and shoes and walked downstairs slowly, in case Kacchan was already inside. He couldn’t seem like he was expecting him or anything—it was too suspicious. Kacchan was smart. He was bound to figure it out if Izuku wasn’t careful. Izuku left through the main door of the dorm. He looked around. Nobody was there. He walked around the building for a bit. There was nobody around.
Izuku felt his chest start to hurt. He retreated to his room. The idea of Kacchan being right there but leaving hurt. Maybe he shouldn’t have even known that Kacchan was there in the first place. If he wasn’t Spider-Man, he would have never known. He would’ve been sleeping peacefully, not thinking about Kacchan. Actually, why was he thinking about him so much anyway? Was he seriously obsessing over a man?
He thought about the kiss he had with Uraraka—how it made him feel. He didn’t actually let himself enjoy the kiss. He was too busy overthinking… um… Kacchan. Maybe he was gay. Maybe there was no beating this feeling as long as Kacchan was around. He was always searching for him, hoping he was just around the corner.
He really should stop this. He needed to stop seeing Kacchan entirely. It was encouraging the feeling too much.
Every time he was with him, the feeling grew. Even when they were fighting, he seemed to want him more and more. Like an addiction, Izuku only craved his presence more. But he wanted more from him every time. He couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. It was like a drug. He wanted more than a kiss—he wanted it to last so much longer. He wanted—
It didn’t matter. It was bad for him. He needed to quit this. He needed a distraction. He looked around his empty room and checked his phone for any messages. Nothing. He was alone again.
Maybe he would go out as Spider-Man.
He thought about it for a moment.
No.
He was too tempted to “run into” Kacchan when he was Spider-Man. He always got too close.
Izuku looked at his contacts. His mom was at the top since she was his emergency contact. Who else did he have right now?
He grabbed his shoes again, wallet, keys, and phone, shoved them in his pocket, and started walking. It was a bit of a walk. If this were a year ago he would’ve deemed it too dangerous, but now he was Spider-Man. He didn’t really have much to be afraid of. It was still raining. He almost forgot about it because he was thinking so much. What would he even say to his mom? He could hear her voice in his head.
“Why are you here?”
“You’re drenched—what are you doing in the rain?”
“It’s so late, Izuku.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Izuku, come inside.”
Seriously, what was he supposed to say?
“So hey Mom, I’m gay and I need help with this boy.”
Yeah, no.
Before he knew it, he was home. Maybe he could get away with it and just go straight to his room. What was the point? He came here to talk to his mom so he wouldn’t be alone.
Whatever. He would worry about that later.
He knocked on the door. Inko had a bored expression on her face, wearing her frumpy pajamas and fuzzy house slippers. Izuku must have woken her. The bored expression quickly turned into one of fear.
“Izuku? What are you doing here? It’s so late. You’re soaked—did you walk here, Izuku?”
Izuku looked down. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t look her in the eyes.
“Izuku? Come inside. What’s with you?”
Izuku stayed there. She grabbed him by the arm, pulled him inside, and shut the door.
“Izuku, answer me.”
The boy looked up. His mom’s face made him regret doing this. He felt so guilty—for everything. Lying about everything, not visiting her as much. What would she think of her son? Going out at night, risking his safety, fighting with his friends. He couldn’t take it anymore. He just wanted to tell her everything. He pulled her into a hug. She held him tight, scared, but she seemed to know what he needed now.
“Mom, please… can I stay here tonight?”
“Izuku, yes, of course. Just go sit on the couch. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
Izuku slipped off his shoes and hung his jacket up. He went over to the couch and slumped down.
Inko went to the kitchen for a minute. She came back with two cups of oolong tea. She sat next to her son and handed him the cup.
Izuku took a long sip. He looked up at his mother, who was staring intently at him.
“Start from the beginning, Izuku. Is this about a friend? Or maybe a girl?”
The words sank deep into Izuku.
“Both, I guess.” It was technically true.
“Explain, Izuku.”
He took a deep breath and looked at his mom again.
“I—I don’t know how to start this.”
“I already said from the beginning, Izuku. Just say it.”
“I know, Mom. I just don’t know where that is. I—I don’t know—”
“Zuku, it’s okay. Just take a deep breath.”
He did as he was told.
“You know that girl Ochako? I told you about her once.”
Inko nodded.
“Well, I guess we went on a date. We went shopping and stuff, and we kissed, but it got interrupted by—by this other person. And I think I might like them more because we kissed right after, and I knew it was wrong—really wrong. But I think I definitely enjoyed it more, and I don’t really know how to tell Ochako, and—”
“Zuku, slow down. What did you say the other girl’s name is?”
“Um… their—her name is… it’s not important right now.”
Inko gave her son a strange expression but nodded for him to continue.
“Anyway, this new girl—we were kissing, and I think someone saw. I started to feel so guilty I ran off. She followed me and asked why. Asked if I was ashamed of her. I didn’t know what to say. I told her it was wrong, that we shouldn’t be together, that we can’t ever be together. She got mad at me and left.”
“Why can’t you ever be together? That seems a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know, Mom. We just can’t. We met when I was still showing interest in Ochako. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
“You two weren’t official, right?”
“No…”
“Then it’s really not that big of a deal. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“Well, maybe. But I still shouldn’t.”
“I think you should go after this new girl. You obviously like her a lot. Go be with her—it’s obvious.”
The fact that his mom was encouraging him to be with a boy—Kacchan—without even knowing was strange to Izuku. If she knew, she would change her mind. He was sure.
“I just don’t think you would approve of me dating that type of girl.”
“Izuku, what is it? You know better than to date some skanky girl—”
“No, Mom, that’s not it. It’s just… well, she’s a bit of a tomboy, and I don’t think you like that type of girl.”
“Izuku, I don’t care that much about that. I care that my Izuku finally found someone he likes.”
“Well… I know you wouldn’t like it.”
“I just told you it was fine. I’d love to have this girl over for dinner sometime. I’d love to meet her.”
“You can’t ever meet her, Mom.”
“Izuku, why are you so worried about this? It’s not a big deal, I promise.”
“Well, this is a big deal, Mom.”
“Why?! Izuku, just tell me.”
“Because!—Because, Mom… she—she isn’t… she isn’t what you want for me, because she isn’t a girl.”
The words came out too fast. He shouldn’t have said that. He felt a sinking pit in his stomach.
Izuku stood up and headed toward the door.
“Izuku, stop! Sit back down.”
Izuku looked only at his feet, waiting for what felt like forever for his mom to speak.
Inko finally broke the silence.
“Izuku… I—hm… so you are saying it’s a boy you are talking about? How… how did this happen?”
“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened. I won’t let it continue.”
“No, Izuku, that’s not what I meant. I just meant to say—how did you meet? How did you realize you liked this… this boy? Who is he?”
Izuku still couldn’t say that part.
But he let the name escape his lips anyway, breathless.
“Kacchan.”
Inko was silent again.
“Izuku, look at me.”
Izuku raised his head like he was accepting a sentence.
Inko was smiling brightly, a few tears at the corners of her eyes, waiting to fall.
“Izuku, why do you seem so scared? I’ve always liked Katsuki. He’s a good boy. You’ve always admired him. I probably should’ve known sooner. You never liked any girls in your classes. I mean, it was so obvious, wasn’t it, Izuku?”
Izuku still felt scared, a little offended by his mom saying he’d always been like this. But that didn’t matter much.
She didn’t seem mad. She looked happy—shocked, but not for the reason he thought.
Izuku felt relief wash over him like warm rain. Tears started to well in his own eyes.
“So… you aren’t mad at me?”
“Mad? No, Izuku. Did you think I would be? God, no. Of course not. A little shocked, I guess, but not mad. I just want you to be happy, Izuku. If Katsuki makes you happy, then… I guess we should have him and his mom over, huh? Or wait—maybe she doesn’t know?”
“Kacchan isn’t that quiet about it. I’m sure she must have at least an idea.”
“Well, I’ll invite her over. I could use some girl talk with her now.”
Izuku felt bad again. What for? Was it for support with having a gay kid or something? Were they going to form some kind of emotional support group?
The idea made Izuku feel sick.
“I love you, Izuku. Thank you for telling me this.”
“I love you t—”
Izuku suddenly felt something was wrong.
It was his spider sense.
He looked out the window, searching for something.
“Izuku, what is it? Is something there?”
A few seconds later, several ambulances and cop cars sped by with their alarms blaring.
“Oh wow. I guess your hearing is better than mine, Izuku. God, that seems bad. I wonder what happened.”
Izuku still felt like something was really wrong. He had to go out there. Where were they going?
“Oh, Izuku, look—I just got an alert on my phone. Oh no, Izuku, it’s going to your school. I guess it’s a fire or something? Oh, that looks bad.”
Inko showed a video on her phone to Izuku. Smoke was billowing out of a large chunk of the building, but it looked like it had been blown out, not burned. That was weird. Izuku looked for signs of what building it was. It was definitely a dorm building. He looked at the bottom corner where he could see a large brass letter A.
Shit.
Izuku grabbed his coat and shoes without hesitation. He needed to leave now. Thank God his suit was already on.
“Izuku, stop! Where are you going?!”
Izuku looked at his mom. She looked scared. He thought maybe he should tell her everything.
“Mom, there’s something else I have to tell you. I—”
He saw her fearful eyes. She looked so frail, as if any more news would give her a stroke.
“I have a cat in the dorms. I have to make sure she’s okay. The fire department doesn’t know she’s there, but I’ll stay safe, I promise.”
“Izuku, why did you do that? Oh fine, go—but don’t get too close to the building, okay?”
“Okay, Mom. I promise.”