Archive of Our Own ^beta

There was always something slightly off kilter about entering a 24/7 convenience store at 4am, especially if one was to enter with a torn hero costume and the expression of someone who didn’t know what sleep was.

When Izuku, Kacchan, Todoroki and Yayorozou stumbled bleary-eyed into the first convenience store they found, the acne prone storekeeper straightened his back immediately at the sight of Musutafu’s latest up-and-coming heroes. He buried his chemistry textbook under the counter and watched with bated breath as none other than U.A’s Big Four browsed the food aisles. Not that it mattered anyway - none of them were paying any attention to him.

Izuku stopped in front of the ramen section, dropping into a crouch to scan the cheaper items below. God, he was so tired. He knew, they all knew, that their work would initially involve a lot of grunt work, stress and sleepless nights. But knowing about something beforehand was still very different from experiencing it.

He sighed. You’d think that after almost half a year of being freshly graduated U.A students, it would get easier to handle.

When Kacchan crouched down next to him, Izuku wordlessly passed him the instant ramen cup with the most synonyms for ‘spicy’ displayed on the cover and gathered three other cups in his hand. Todoroki and Yaoyorozou had unsurprisingly taken to instant noodles pretty easily this year, considering the lack of time to cook anything else now. 

“Oi shithead, get that natto thing. I want to throw it at Raccoon Eyes while she’s still on patrol and watch her scramble to eat them off the ground like a bird.”

Izuku would have laughed at the aggressive show of sentiment if his brain didn’t feel like it was stuffed with cotton. Instead, he just let out an amused huff and passed the natto over. “Sure, Kacchan. I’ll buy them since you’re so concerned about your friends’ wellbeing.”

“I ain’t fucking - wait, isn’t that Ears and Dunce Face?”

He followed Kacchan’s line of sight to the small television attached to the wall opposite them. Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise when he, indeed, saw Jirou and Kaminari on TV. They were sitting on plush armchairs as the show’s host prattled on about something along the lines of the importance of hero work from the desk opposite them. 

“That’s -” Izuku started, the excitement already swelling up inside him. “Isn’t that Heroes Rising? The talk slash game show hosted by the legendary Lady Hanazawa! How did they manage to get an interview there?! That’s so cool! Did any of you guys know about this?”

Todoroki materialised in their aisle with his own basket of snacks as Yaoyorozou trailed right behind him.

“Kyouka mentioned that she was going on air with Kaminari some time ago,” she said, eyes falling back to Izuku when the commercials started. “It has something to do with Kaminari wanting to increase his popularity rankings. Apparently he’s dragging her along because Kirishima couldn’t make it and he didn’t want to be lonely.”

Kacchan scoffed. “Right, like showing your face on TV is suddenly going to boost you up the hero ranks.”

“It does help though,” Todoroki interjected, shrugging. “You can’t exactly rise to the top of the ladder if you’re not viewed favourably by the citizens you’ve sworn to protect.”

“Spare me the lecture, Icyhot.” Kacchan stood up, grabbing the ramen and cradling the natto in the crook of his elbow. “Not my fault you extras need to jump at whatever shitty opportunity you can get just to get to my level.”

“Stop calling us extras,” the three of them sighed. 

Todoroki placed the items from Yayorozou’s hands into his basket. “Besides, Bakugou, last time I checked you were barely scraping the top 50.”

Izuku snorted into his hand. He looked up at Kacchan, expecting to see some sort of explosion or outburst, but was greeted instead with a hard scowl.

“Fuck you,” he said without any real bite. “Can’t really fucking do much when you’ve only been up against D list villains.”

“Whatever,” Todoroki replied easily, moving past them to get to the counter. “A boost in your rankings wouldn’t hurt though. Especially for someone as feral as yourself.”

“Hah?!”

“What? Just last week the media falsely identified you as the villain during your fight against the guy with a literal lava quirk,” Todoroki retorted, trying (and failing) not to smile.

“That’s probably because he kept yelling ‘Die scum!’” Izuku added helpfully. 

“Oh, and!” Yaoyorozu contributed, “remember when last month that young girl needed help finding her dog and cried when you said you’d help her? Because she thought you were scary? It’s a shame someone had to upload that to the internet.” She laughed, one hand pressing against her chest at the memory. “Ah… sorry for laughing, Bakugou, how impolite of me. It was just so funny.”

“Don’t preach about politeness and turn around and keep laughing. Damn hypocrite.” Then Kacchan looked down at Izuku, who had since resorted to just sitting on the floor. “And don’t you dare fucking laugh, Deku.”

He was already in the beginnings of a laugh, though, and couldn’t bring himself to stop. “Aw, don’t be like that Kacchan,” he said, standing up even though his body very much wanted him to lie face down on the ground. “It was kinda funny. Nobody could ever say stuff like that about you in middle school.”

He stared at Izuku for a second but didn’t respond. His eyebrows were knitted together, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he just muttered a “Tch,” and moved towards the counter where Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were already leaving after buying their snacks.

After Kacchan and Izuku paid for their things together, (read: Izuku paying for their things because Kacchan paid last time and he needed to make things even) Kacchan took one quick look at the change in his palm and scowled.

“Wrong change, dumbass” he snapped. The cashier tried to stutter out an apology but wasn’t given the chance to. “Didn’t they fucking teach you how to-”

“Kacchan.” Izuku placed a placating hand on his shoulder, his eyes set into disapproval so stern and intense that Kacchan made no move to argue. The gesture did seem to leave him silently fuming though. When Izuku turned to look at the cashier, the look was instantly replaced with a bubbly smile. “Keep the change, it’s hardly anything anyway. Thank you for your service!”

The cashier swallowed tightly, looking as if he very much wanted to say something. Izuku picked up on it pretty easily.

“Um.. did you want us to sign something for you?” More nodding. A well-worn textbook materialised instantly from under the counter and was slid towards the two of them with a pen.

“C-Could you address it to Aiko?” the kid squeaked, eyes flitting between the two of them. “She’s my younger sister. She’s been totally obsessed with you ever since you assisted Suneater in that fight last month.”

Ah, the incident that he and Kacchan had fought together in! Izuku blushed but muttered his appreciation, flipping over the cover to scrawl a note on the first page. 

But when Kacchan moved to take the pen from Izuku, the cashier surged forward and snatched the book and the pen away, very pointedly not looking at the explosive hero. Kacchan’s hand still hovered in the space above the counter.

And then, to Izuku’s surprise, the boy bowed dramatically. “T-Thank you hero Deku! Keep us safe!” The boy just as quickly away ducked down and busied himself with something underneath the counter.

Izuku honestly expected Kacchan to explode at the kid, but when he looked back at him, Kacchan’s eyebrows were furrowed more out of confusion than anything else. The two of them followed Todoroki and Yayorozou out of the store with bags in their hands, feeling a little perplexed at the entire interaction.

“I think he finds you intimidating,” Izuku said tentatively when they stepped outside. Yayorozou looked behind them to watch the cashier through the glass door.

“Well Ground Zero in costume isn’t the most comforting sight,” she said with a one shoulder shrug. “Not to mention he’s always so crass.”

“He definitely needs to go on that show,” Todoroki agreed. He pulled his phone out to check the time and sighed. “Two more hours until our shift ends. I suppose we have to return to our positions now.” There was a half hearted grumble of complaining - they did love being heroes after all - before they said their goodbyes and made their way back to their positions.

Izuku walked with Kacchan since they were somewhat stationed close to each other. He glanced at the blond now, noting his unusual silence. He hadn’t even shouted back a retort when Todoroki and Yayorozou were teasing him.

“You good?” he asked, leaning a bit forward to catch his eye.

Kacchan glanced at him and frowned. “Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?”

“Something’s bothering you,” he said simply, not wanting to press but still wanting to get him to spill.

There was the slightest, most insignificant hesitation in Kacchan’s eyes that would’ve gone unnoticed to anyone who wasn’t Izuku. “Nothing is fucking bothering me,” he grumbled. And then his bottom lip jutted out stubbornly, as if his lie hadn’t already been obvious enough.

“Something’s definitely bothering you,” he sighed. When Kacchan didn’t say anything immediately, Izuku smiled at him. “Hey, I thought you didn’t care about what civilians thought of you?”

“I don’t,” he snapped. He stopped walking, keeping his hands in his pocket as he scowled at Izuku.

“Then-”

“That dumbass kid,” Kacchan grit out, as if he couldn’t stop himself from talking about it, “didn’t even fucking say anything to me. And he looked-” he stopped himself, hesitant to continue. “I mean, it looked like-”

It looked like me when I was once scared of you, Izuku completed in his head, chest squeezing. “Stop thinking about the pas-”

“Shut up Deku, I seriously don’t give a fuck about what others think about me.” He paused, eyes flicking up to the dark sky and back down to Izuku. “But it fucking pisses me off when people treat me like some kind of villain.”

Izuku’s heart broke a little at the words. Kacchan was far from an angel and he could be downright callous sometimes, but there was pure heroism within him that burned so much brighter than everything else. And Izuku had admired this in him for as long as he could remember. And he knew, knew it like it was simply another fact of the world, that there was seriously no chance in hell Kacchan could ever become a villain.

That was one criticism Kacchan had never deserved.

“Seriously, shut up,” Kacchan interrupted with an eye roll, sensing Izuku’s thoughts without him having to voice anything out loud. “I know, okay? I know. Now can we stop talking about it? It’s fucking nothing anyway.”

“It’s not nothing,” Izuku grumbled, folding his arms against his chest as a frown etched itself on to his face. “You don’t deserve to be seen like that. Not after everything you’ve been through.”

“Fuck, I said I know that already. I could practically hear the speech in your head just now.”

Izuku managed to crack a small smile at this. “You know, there’s a game they sometimes play on Heroes Rising called ‘Do You Really Know Me?’”

Kacchan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “And?”

“And, I think we would be so good at it!” He smiled even wider as he began to imagine the two of them sitting side by side on those armchairs and on those electronic podiums for the game. “We haven’t had the best track record in the past, but we really worked to get to where we are now, didn’t we?”

“If this is your way of dragging me onto that shitty show to boost either one of our rankings then count me out. I hate the media and I got nothing to show them. Damn vultures.”

Izuku pouted. “I don’t think you of all people need to feature on live television to become a great hero. You’re amazing enough to do without that and you’re strong enough to never need anyone’s approval at all. Besides, you’re perfect as you are right now and I wouldn’t want anything about you to change. I just-” He paused, trying to gather his words. 

If he had looked at Kacchan now, he would have seen the stunned expression at his words. But Izuku had looked down at his hands instead. “It would be really cool to see us do things like that on TV. You know, as hero partners.”

He really did want to go on that show, if only because he had loved it so much growing up and fantasised about one day being on it as a pro hero. And it’s not like it would be bad for Kacchan either! If the people could see him as just some regular guy with a bit of a rough personality, and not some hero with an evil streak, it could do wonders to his ratings! 

He looked at Kacchan as a lightbulb flashed excitedly above his head. “I heard the record for that game is 6 questions correct out of 10.”

A beat passed as Kacchan gave him a complicated look. “So?”

“Well, I think we can get 10 questions correct out of 10.”

Another, longer pause.

“Wouldn’t it be really fun, Kacchan?”

The taller hero just stared back at him, eyes squinting from the obvious bait set up for him but somehow still unwilling to outright refuse. His eyes roamed Izuku’s face, painted purple and pink under the neon lights they were stopped under. His freckles stood out here, his cheeks a little pinker, his smile soft and inviting. 

(He had meant to say no, actually. He had meant to scoff and shove Deku’s head to the side with an “In your dreams, nerd.” But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Deku’s stupid smile and his wide imploring eyes and that stupid tear in his outfit’s shoulder, revealing just the slightest sliver of pale pink skin).

So he said, “We could definitely fucking ace that game.”

All Might was, unsurprisingly, on board with it.

“Young Midoriya, that is a fantastic idea.”

“You really think so?” Izuku put his knife down on the cutting board to hold the phone tucked into his shoulder. “I was just thinking it’d be nice to show my face to the world, you know? The new Symbol of Hope and all that. And you do have some pretty big shoes to fill…” 

There was some rustling on the other end of the phone. “Well, you are still quite new to this, my boy,” All Might said. “And in all honesty, media attention might not be so wise when you are just starting out - expectations and all that. There’s no hurry to do anything when you’re so new.”

Izuku fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “But?”

All Might chuckled at this. “But I think that being known by the public isn’t going to change the fact that there are still going to be expectations for the type of hero you want to become. Who knows, it might give you even more reason to protect the people of this city. Besides, I think the public would love to see you all the same and come to know and trust you. You have the most charming aura, my boy, I’m sure you would gain quite the following.”

His cheeks instantly warmed at the praise, still not used to his idol’s affection. “Jirou and Kaminari were on the show recently,” he deflected.

“I saw. You know, as I was watching them I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if you participated in the show with Bakugou shounen.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up at this, absentmindedly reaching out towards the diced tomatoes before popping some of them into his mouth. “Right?! I was watching some old episodes of the show last night and I was just thinking about how if I had been there with Kacchan I would’ve known the answer to every single one of them! And the record is 6 questions correct out of 10, you know, so when I brought it up with Kacchan he was actually considering it! He’s so competitive. It’s like… after everything we’ve been through - the fighting and the miscommunication - I feel like we’re in a good place right now.” He took in a deep breath. “I feel like I … understand him now.”

There was silence on the other end for a while as All Might let this sink in. “My my,” he said eventually, his voice soft. “Look at how far you two have come.”

It was the awed, reverent way he said it that made Izuku want to cry. “I - yeah. I-I’m really glad...”

“You know what, I’ll see if I can pull some strings and get the pair of you on the show. If Bakugou is on board too, that is.”

Izuku’s spine straightened instantly. “Are you serious? Really, you can do that? That would be amazing! And don’t worry about Kacchan, I’m sure he would agree. He’s been doing this thing recently where he doesn’t really argue back anymore.” Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. It was true though. Nowadays, he couldn’t help but notice the easy way Kacchan would just grunt his approval whenever Izuku asked him to do something.

“Well, these are just plans for now,” All Might warned. “I can’t confirm that I can get you a spot on the show but, well. If I can’t recommend you guys to go on it, I’m not sure who else can.”

“Thank you, All Might! I won’t let you down!”

All Might laughed heartily. “‘Let me down’? Son, there’s no way you can do that. Especially not for a game show! That’s-” There was the quiet sound of a doorbell followed by a faint ‘ Toshi? ’. “Ah, that must be Inko,” he said, a little awkwardly. “Um, would you like to say hi to her…?”

Izuku snorted. There was no need for All Might to be so awkward about dating his mother, but he didn’t press it. “No, it’s okay. I talked to her yesterday anyway.”

“Of course,” All Might said, sounding happier now that he had opened the front door. “Goodbye, Izuku.”

“Oh, is that my baby on the phon-” Inko’s voice cut out as All Might ended the call. Izuku smiled, allowed himself a second to look at his phone and feel happy for his mother and All Might’s new relationship, and steeled himself to go back to making lunch.

He sighed over his half-chopped, half-eaten tomatoes. I can take down a villain in a heartbeat but can’t chop tomatoes into cubes. Perfect.

If Kacchan was here, he would’ve chopped it into perfect cubes with his eyes closed. He tried to imagine Kacchan in his kitchen, telling him what to do. And it helped sometimes, except now Imaginary Kacchan was wrapping one arm around Izuku’s waist and guiding his hand with the other, and Izuku’s eyes were closing as he caught the phantom caramel scent of nitroglycerin and felt Kacchan’s hand over his own, his gruff voice in his ear, telling him to move the knife just so-

The knife clattered against the cutting board as his cheeks burned. God, he really needed to get these thoughts out of his head. He was supposed to be Kacchan’s friend , and there’s no way he was going to ruin that with these feelings getting in the way.

He couldn’t tell when it had started. One day the both of them had been perched on a rooftop, scanning the city below with keen eyes. Izuku had turned to look at him, something conversational on his lips, before the words caught in his throat as he merely stared at Kacchan’s still and alert expression. 

He is so beautiful in the sunset, he had thought, his heart going a million miles per hour. It took all his strength to keep his hand by his knee even though it yearned to thread itself through Kacchan’s hair. Things weren’t the same after that.

But if he really thought about it, if he really dug deep, he would find that this infatuation … it wasn’t new. In fact, it was so familiar and so rooted in his being that his affection was practically muscle memory at this point. It was a wonder that he had only realised it so late. No matter how naturally the feelings had come to him , though, it didn’t change the fact that Kacchan only thought of them as friends at best. 

He began chopping up the tomatoes with such a frenzied frustration that Kacchan would’ve actually praised him for the speed.

That night, Izuku laid awake in bed, mentally going through his To-Do List. Okay, tomorrow I need to text Uraraka about how things are going with Tsuyu, I need to also get my laundry in order when I get back, I should probably start thinking about a present for Eri’s birthday-

A buzz from his bedside table startled him out of his thoughts and he reached for his phone in the darkness.

A text from … Kacchan?

He checked the time, bewildered. It was only 9pm, so not too late for Kacchan either then. Izuku let himself smile like a teenager with a crush and unlocked his phone. What was Kacchan going to say? 

From: Kacchan sugoi!! <3

dajfhuewi

Izuku blinked at his screen.

From: Kacchan sugoi!! <3

fuck

ignore that

From: Izuku

Ahaha, it’s not like you to make typos Kacchan

What are you up to? :)

From: Kacchan sugoi!! <3

didn’t i just tell u to ignore that

go to sleep deku

From: Izuku

I can’t :c

You know I nearly cut my finger off today!!

From: Kacchan sugoi!! <3

u were trying to cut tomatoes weren’t u?

u know that you can just cut the shit into slices and THEN into strips?? how has ur nerd brain not thought of that? smh

From: Izuku

Jeez, how did you even know it was the tomatoes? Ah I don’t know why I even ask anymore. It’s so cool that you just knew that though (＠＾◡＾)

The three grey dots in the corner kept appearing and disappearing for a while. Maybe he needed to say something else? Gah, he was just going to thank him for the cooking advice-

“Oh my god,” Izuku gasped as his phone began ringing. He stared at Kacchan’s contact picture in disbelief - one of the two of them grinning into a camera, half tipsy at their graduation party.

Kacchan didn’t really call him this late at night, so he answered it with more eagerness than what was required for answering a call.

“Hey Kacchan!” he greeted instantly, not bothering to disguise his excitement.

“Uhh..” Kacchan’s voice sounded kind of rough, as if he had just woken up. “‘Sup, nerd.”

Izuku tilted his head at the way he sounded awkward, hesitant. He was probably just sleepy.

“Someone sounds sleepy,” he smiled. “How come you’re still up?”

“It’s not that late, asshole.” Izuku could practically see him rolling his eyes. At least he sounded more awake now.

“It is for you,” he retorted. “But I guess even you could have trouble sleeping at night. Have you tried watching a really boring video to make yourself feel sleepy? I heard that works. I mean, I tried doing it once but it didn’t really work. I was watching a video about the aging process of orangutans and it actually made me feel more awake. On a side note, I can’t believe the palm oil industry is single handedly destroying the orangutan population-”

“Oi. Listening to your stupid nerd voice is making me fall asleep.”

Izuku’s cracked a grin. “Oh? Should I read you a bedtime story then?” he said, voice teasing. He placed his phone down on the pillow next to him and laid down next to it, smiling at it as if it was really Kacchan next to him and not just his disembodied voice speaking out of a piece of plastic and glass. It was kind of sad really. Izuku batted the thought away.

There was a short, muffled laugh on the other end and Izuku’s heart was basically on cloud nine right then. “When’d you get so fuckin’ cocky, Deku?”

He didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds - not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he was listening to the faintest of sounds in the background. Then, “You’re watching Heroes Rising, aren’t you?”

There was some rustling. “Okay, that's fucking creepy-” 

He settled himself more comfortably into his pillows with a satisfied smirk. “I recognised the host’s voice. Lady Hanazawa is pretty hard to ignore... But hey, you’re actually watching it! Did you watch the episode with Kaminari and Jirou? Doesn’t the hero-duo game look like so much fun?”

“It’s not bad,” Kacchan admitted, apparently pausing the video since the background noises stopped. “And yeah I watched theirs before. Fuckin’ losers only got 4 questions correct.”

Izuku laughed. “Well, to be fair, you need to answer the question for not only yourself, but for your partner too. So I guess they have the disadvantage of not being childhood friends! It’s probably to be expected that they got so many questions wrong.”

“We wouldn’t do that.” Kacchan sounded kind of serious now, his voice solid and completely certain. Izuku felt a blush coming on and pressed a hand to his cheek.

“Erm - hmm. No,” he said, clearing his throat, “I know we wouldn’t.”

There was a heavy pause between them, and Izuku found himself enjoying the intimacy of it. If his mobile phone had one of those cords on old landlines, Izuku knew he would be twirling it in his fingers right now.

“I talked to All Might today,” he said eventually. “He said he could try to get us on the show. That is, if you actually want to?” 

“Whatever,” Kacchan grumbled. “Could be interesting, I guess. Watching these losers get questions wrong is just making me want to show everyone how it’s done.”

“So competitive, Kacchan.” Izuku quietly laughed. “Who knows, you might even gain quite a following! I’ve heard that you’re quite popular with high school girls.”

The blond snorted. “Yeah, no. They’d be wasting their time on someone who’s gay.”

Izuku froze instinctively.

After an awkward pause, a voice said: “Deku?”

“O-Oh, uh. I mean - uh, I’m... Same here. Kind of. Um, yeah. I’m - the same. Sorry, I was just kind of surprised.”

“Oh.” 

Izuku chewed on his lip. “Yeah.”

“Uh… that’s cool, I guess.”

“I - does anybody else know?”

This time, the silence stretched for so long that he thought that Kacchan had hung up on him. “Um, hello?-”

“No. Nobody else knows. Not like it’s anyone’s business anyway.”

“Fair enough, Kacchan,” he said simply, letting his smile bleed into his words, hoping it would be of some comfort to his friend. “Hey, why were you watching Heroes Rising anyway?”

Kacchan’s relief at the subject change was palpable through the phone. “Dunno, I was just thinking of-” he stopped. “Thinking about the whole popularity thing. I mean it wouldn’t hurt, I guess. And I wanted to see what kind of lame games they play on it, so.”

Izuku yawned and nodded, still knowing full well that Kacchan couldn’t see him. “Kacchan doesn’t need to appear on a show to be popular.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Kacchan said, almost a little fondly. “Is my voice boring you, Deku?”

“Mmmm,” Izuku’s eyes closed shut briefly. “‘Course not. I could listen to your voice all night.”

If Izuku wasn’t feeling so sleepy, those words would’ve mortified him. But Kacchan’s deep voice was soothing, even if it was peppered with swear words every now and then, and he found himself growing tired.

(If Izuku was in the same room as him, he would’ve seen the way Kacchan’s hands flew to his face to smother the unwanted blush that was spreading there).

“Go to sleep,” he said roughly.

“‘Kay, g’night Kacchan. Nice talking to you.”

“...Yeah. Night.” 

Izuku fell asleep with his phone still lying underneath his palm.

All Might was right when he said that if he couldn’t get them on the show, then nobody else could. 

It had been approximately a month after All Might had apparently ‘pulled his strings,’ and Izuku had just gotten a call from Hanazawa’s manager informing him that he and Kacchan were appointed to appear on the show in just over three weeks. An email detailing the rules of the various games played, as well as rules for other interview etiquette and tips, popped up on his phone now - just like how the manager said it would.

Izuku didn’t bother opening it up yet.

“Kacchan!” he yelled from across the gym. The other gym stragglers paid no attention to Izuku shouting at the ungodly hour of 5am, since they were more or less accustomed to his presence in their agency’s gym now.

The man in question was currently doing his daily pull up routine on the other end of the room. He didn’t bother grunting out a reply or even stopping, which meant he was pissed off at Izuku for talking to him while he was exercising. From behind him, the earliest signs of a rising sun welcomed them through wall-length windows. 

Izuku bounded towards the pull up equipment and skidded to a stop in front of a very sweaty, very engrossed Kacchan. “Guess who scored a spot on Heroes Rising?!”

Kacchan spared a look down at him from above the pull up bar, pausing in the air casually as if it was nothing. His eyes scanned Izuku’s face before his eyebrows raised slightly. “Shit,” he muttered. He dropped to the ground and cracked a grin. “Already? Damn, alright then. When are we on?”

Izuku’s grin only grew wider when he saw that Kacchan was just as excited as he was. “Three weeks!”

“Oh. That’s not too far away. Shouldn’t-”

“Our schedules are already cleared for the night Kacchan, the show gets in touch with our agencies to shift things around, so…”

“Oi, no freaking mind reading before the show.”

But Izuku’s eyes had become unfocused and he was no longer listening. “Ah, I don’t really have anything nice to wear. I mean I have that black suit from graduation but I’ve gained a little bit more muscle mass now and I’m not sure if it’ll fit. Oh, it might actually. I’ll have to try it out. But what if it doesn’t? I can’t believe I haven’t had the need to wear a suit this whole year.” When his eyes flicked back to Kacchan, he almost wished that they hadn’t.

Kacchan was wiping the sweat from his face with a white towel before he hung it around his neck and stared right back at him. Izuku’s mouth went a little dry with the effort of not letting his gaze linger on the shiny glaze of his skin right under Kacchan’s collarbone.

“Uhh...” he said, intelligently.

“We can just go looking for a suit if you’re that worried,” Kacchan said with a roll of his eyes. He swiped at the water bottle from the ground and took a long swig, unaware of Izuku’s eye transfixed on his bobbing Adam’s apple. His eyes narrowed as he lowered the bottle. “The hell are you staring at?”

When Izuku’s eyes snapped back to his red ones, he realised that he had, somehow, been staring at Kacchan’s chest. The blond looked down at his chest as if to find anything out of the ordinary and Izuku was struck by the sudden desire to get on the nearest flight out of Japan. Then: “Damn, how did you notice that?” 

Kacchan flicked off a tiny bug that had settled on his tank top, nearly camouflaged amongst the black. Izuku exhaled and sent a prayer to the heavens thanking them for the creation of tiny, sweat-attracted insects.

“Um, anyway,” Izuku forced out, praying to the same heaven that he wasn’t blushing like mad. “We should-” He stopped. “Wait.‘We’ ?”

“Huh?”

“You said we should look for a suit for me.” Izuku tilted his head to the side. “Isn’t this something I would normally just do by myself?”

Izuku didn’t miss the way the bottom of Kacchan’s neck bloomed a sudden red and he snorted without volition, even though he knew it would just serve piss Kacchan off.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

“Kacchan wants to hang out with me!” he sing-songed, laughing gleefully.

“No, I fucking don’t,” he snapped, clearly embarrassed about something. “Forget I even said anything-”

“No!” Izuku clapped a hand over his own mouth when it came out louder than expected. He glanced around the gym, which was slowly growing in size. Nobody, as usual, paid him any attention. “I-I mean no ,” he said, leaning in closer and whispering the last word. “You should definitely come with me! It’ll be fun. Ah, I dunno why I whispered before. Oh look!” Izuku’s eyes squinted slightly as the room was slowly flooded with warm sunlight, dousing his face with a soft golden hue. “Sun’s rising.” 

Kacchan hadn’t said anything to interrupt whatever the hell that disjointed speech was. In fact, he was totally silent as he watched Izuku look out at the cityscape horizon with a smile that could outshine the sunrise itself. 

“Fine,” he gritted out, acquiescing to a request that he had offered in the first place. “I’ll go with you. Only because you have no fucking style and you need someone to save you from yourself.” 

“My hero!” Izuku laughed, hoping that the exercise elevated Kacchan’s mood at least a little bit so he wouldn’t get attacked for a little teasing. 

“Seriously, Deku. It’s like you want me to rip every bone from your body and hurl them to fucking Norway.”

Ah, so the exercise did work! 

--

The fact that they were only given two backstage passess for friends or family made things difficult. 

Well, difficult for him anyway. When he had asked Kacchan who he was going to bring he was met with a: “Huh? We can bring two people? I guess Kirishima and Pinky can tag along.”

Needless to say, he was quite annoyed and more than a little envious that he was able to pick so easily.

As Izuku climbed into the passenger seat of his mother’s car, he tried not to feel guilty about picking his mom and Uraraka as his two guests. 

He didn’t feel so guilty about picking Inko because, well, he loved her to bits and she was probably the one who deserved all of the special treatment he could give her. On the other hand, picking a friend had been hard. In the end, Izuku just sent a link to a random name generator to the group chat and let his friends have at it.

Uraraka’s name came out on top, which is why she was currently gripping the roof handle in the backseat of Inko’s car, her face green with worry at the way Inko was racing through the streets.

“Deku-kun!” she pleaded, her voice muffled from the hand pressed against her mouth. “I’m happy for you and everything but - OH MY GOD MS. MIDORIYA-SAN PLEASE SLOW DOWN - I very nearly almost died on the way to your house because your mother drives like a maniac! Do you have a - AAAHH I’M GOING TO DIE! YOU ALMOST RAN OVER THAT CAT - do you have a paper bag in here?”

Inko was smiling serenely from the driver’s seat. Izuku marvelled briefly at the elevation of her seat and how she was nearly pressing into the steering wheel. “Ah, sorry to startle you Uraraka-kun! Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure how to drive any slower than this!” 

The car jostled as Inko drifted at nearly a right angle, narrowly missing a red light as she took a left turn. Izuku and Uraraka held on to the roof handles for dear life, even though Izuku was smiling without a care in the world. He turned around in his seat to beam at his friend.

“Hello to you too, Uraraka! You clean up pretty nice!” She did look nice too, in her pastel pink blouse and baby blue jeans. Gaping at his nonchalance, she just gave him an incredulous look in return. 

“You’re scaring me Deku. How you survived getting to and from places with your mom is beyond me. Ms. Midoriya-san, you’re going to hit the curb if you turn now!”

Miraculously, she did not hit the curb. Even more miraculously, they had hit a slow spot in traffic and the car gradually became idle. Uraraka mumbled something about not having felt this woozy even after overusing her quirk.

“Oh Izu!” Inko exclaimed suddenly, turning to look at her son with shiny eyes. “My baby is going to be on live television! And with Katsuki-kun of all people! I can’t believe this. And just look at how much you’ve grown! Gosh honey, I have never been prouder of you in my life!”

Izuku grinned and leant forward to give his mother a peck on the cheek. “That’s what you said at my graduation. Also, I saw you three weeks ago, how much taller could I have gotten?”

“Not a lot,” she admitted as they began to crawl forward again. “I just like to say it because it makes you smile. You nervous, honey?”

Uraraka, looking far more relaxed now, let out a shaky laugh. “Oh, he totally is. I wouldn’t put it past you to be scared of a game show and feel absolutely nothing when taking down a villain, Deku.”

With a sigh, he slid down the seat and tried to quell the butterflies in his stomach. “Ugh, if you put it like that then I feel stupid.”

“Hey, think about it like this,” Inko said gently. Uraraka’s grip tightened on the handle again as the car began to pick up speed. “What would Katsuki-kun be feeling now?”

He’d be fine, he thought. He took a deep breath in. So I’m going to be fine, too.

“The girl with the blue hair will be the ones giving you your cues,” Kaji explained, pointing to a woman crouched beside the cameras, fiddling with a couple of whiteboards. “Obviously not telling you what to say because this show is about you guys showing off your personalities and all that - but more about what to do next, suggestions, et cetera. You guys read the email, right?”

Only about a million times, Izuku thought. He looked towards Kacchan, who was too busy crossing his arms over his chest and looking angry. 

The two of them were fresh out of the hair and makeup departments and were currently standing in front of the famous plush armchairs of Lady Hanazawa’s studio. Hanazawa’s manager, a short dark-haired man named Kaji, sat casually on the desk opposite them with a clipboard resting in the crook of his elbow.

“Fuckin’ duh,” Kacchan said. “Just tell us in three sentences or less what we gotta do.”

The manager rolled his eyes, not intimidated by the hero’s glare in the slightest. “How charming,” he drawled sarcastically. “I can tell the audience is just gonna eat you up.”

Kacchan bristled visibly at this. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Kaji hopped off the table and raised both hands in a placating gesture. “Nothing. I’m just expecting viewership of this show to go up, I guess. People like hot headed bastards like yourself. Just be yourself tonight, Ground Zero, you’re gonna really ace this shit.”

To Izuku’s surprise, there was no biting retort - even though he was called a hot headed bastard by a stranger straight to his face. 

“Hah.” He smirked. “Hell yeah, I am.”

With that, Kaji ran through everything else that was expected of them on the show - most of which were rules that Izuku had already pored over from the email. The manager left soon enough with a muttered “Where the fuck is Kito right now ?” leaving the two of them relatively alone again.

Izuku glanced at the watch on his wrist. “One hour till we start,” he said with an audible gulp.

“Deku.” Izuku’s eyes flicked up to see Kacchan frowning at him. “Relax. Jesus Christ.”

He sighed, a smile returning to him. “I’m more excited than anything, trust me. I just - I can’t believe we’re actually here. It feels really surreal. We’re even wearing the matching shirts!”

While they weren’t technically matching, Kacchan’s burnt orange button down was similar to Izuku’s bottle green one. They had both rolled the sleeves to the elbows and had tucked it into their black pants too, so they definitely at least resembled a pair.

Katsuki looked down as if he had forgotten about that. “Feels weird to not have my hero outfit on in front of these cameras.” 

Izuku opened his mouth to reply but found nothing came out. Kacchan had looked so good when he had run into him in the lobby today, but he looked downright sinful now after the makeup artists worked their magic on him. The small smudge of eyeliner, a far cry from what was usually present under his mask, made his eyes even more alluring. They had even managed to make his skin look more perfect than it already was with a small dash of powder, leaving a seemingly drawn evenness.  

It was making him a little dizzy to be honest. “Kacchan?” he questioned softly.

Red eyes snapped back to him and held his gaze. “What?”

His mind spun. What, indeed. He needed to calm his heart down. “You … look good.” 

“I know.” Then, giving Izuku a very brief once over, said, “You, uh, look good too.” 

There was an awkward silence as Izuku’s mind blanked out.

“Hello boys,” a silky voice spoke up from the desk.

Jumping slightly, both of them turned immediately away from each other to face Lady Hanazawa.

Lady Hanazawa was somewhere in her forties, but she had the mischievous expression of someone well into their rebellious teen years. Her long silver hair was plaited into a French braid that rested by her hip, where a perfectly manicured hand was resting. She tilted her head to regard this week’s heroes, her eyes flashing with amusement.

She had risen quickly up the hero ranks back when she was at her peak, making a name for herself as one of the most efficient heroes to have ever existed. In fact, she still held the record for the fastest take down of a villain in less than a second. Impressive as this was, Izuku was most enraptured by her Quirk, the one that appropriately inspired her hero name: Freeze Frame.

Lady Hanazawa could stop time for seconds or even for minutes at a time, allowing her to seemingly glitch in and out of positions. It was hypnotising to watch in action - one second she would be leaping off a building and the next she’s got a thief slung over her shoulder on the street across. It helped too that Hanazawa was a seriously fast runner. 

Izuku could practically visualise the feverish notes he had taken of her from his middle school days. It took everything in him not to scream like a child. Instead, he tried to school his expression into something more professional. 

It lasted for a magical second before his resolve crumbled.

“L-Lady Hanazawa!” he shrieked, instantly bowing deeply. “It’s such an honour to meet you!”

The former Pro Hero let out a laugh that was extremely similar to bells or a bird’s trill. She placed a slender hand to her chest. “Oh no, you’re cute! No need for the formalities son, we’re here to loosen up! And good evening to you Bakugou-san,” she dipped her head courteously at the blond, who had said nothing upon her arrival.

When Izuku straightened to look at him, he had to hide a smile. Kacchan’s arms were folded over his chest, but Izuku could see how entirely put on that act was. He was nervous. A finger tapped rapidly against his ribs as he met Hanazawa’s knowing smile head on.

“Freeze Frame,” he greeted. Then, in the brief silence that followed, he apparently felt that more needed to be said. “Uh.. thanks for having us.”

“No need to refer to me by my hero name,” Hanazawa smiled. “Just ‘Lady’ will do. How are ya boys feeling? Your other buddies - y’know, the ones fresh out of U.A? -  were looking a lot more nervous than you two.”

“We’re not nervous.”

Izuku took a second to realise that their voices had intermingled as they spoke in unison.

Hanazawa raised a perfectly sculpted silver brow at them, her back straightening. “Well,” she said. “This will be interesting.”

As the audience filled up the seats and the room with quiet chatter, the Wonder Duo stood somewhat awkwardly behind heavy red curtains. From somewhere by her desk out front, Hanazawa was whistling casually.

Izuku was practically vibrating with excitement. And nerves. He couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

“We are going live in 10 seconds,” a voice from the front of the stage indicated - Izuku couldn’t see him very clearly because of all the lights hanging above him. He took in a deep breath through the nose, out through the mouth, and made eye contact with Ashido from the front row of the audience. She was sitting next to Kirishima, Uraraka and his mother, who was giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“...5, 4, 3..”

He shot his own thumbs up at them and turned to Kacchan standing beside him, who immediately caught his gaze. Izuku beamed up at him, teeth flashing as he practically vibrated on the spot. Kacchan just rolled his eyes and drew the curtain closed.

“...2, 1. And, rolling.”

From centre stage, Hanazawa snapped immediately into her television persona, her face splitting into a grin. “Hello everybody, and welcome back to this week’s episode of ‘Heroes Rising’! How are we all feeling tonight?!”

There was some cheering from the crowd as Hanazawa began to warm them up.

“It’s always so exciting to see our favourite heroes - with some squeaky clean new faces! - on the show with us. And let’s be honest, I know half of you watch this show to see our apparently unstoppable heroes struggle with the challenging games on this show.” 

Kacchan scoffed. “That’s ‘cause everyone else is a moron,” he whispered, quiet enough that Izuku could only understand what he said from reading his lips.

“It’s a guilty pleasure, I know,” Hanazawa continued. “Anyway, we’ve got a special lineup for you guys tonight, the likes of which include Pro Heroes Mount Lady and Fat Gum! Firstly, however, we will be introducing two heroes who - at this point in their careers - should by all means be largely unknown by the general public. Yet these individuals have such a phenomenal track record that it’s no wonder that they’ve already been making waves in the industry! Known for their powerful presence and their superior intellect in battle, please give a warm welcome to the rising hero partners Deku and Ground Zero, even though I’m sure everyone has heard of them by now!”

The pair of them waited as the curtains were drawn back before moving forward. Izuku couldn’t contain his wide grin as the crowd applauded the two of them, even though his legs felt like jelly and he had to swallow subtly several times to get his nerves in check.

By the time they sat themselves down in the armchairs, Izuku’s mind was already going into overdrive. He crossed his legs, thought better of it, and placed his feet flat on the floor. Should he smile? Say hi? Was he supposed to be prompted to say hello?

“Welcome guys!” Hanazawa smiled at them, stretching long and elegant arms across the desk. Why was the light so bright here? Was it always this bright? “Midoriya Izuku. Bakugou Katsuki,” she said, inclining her head to each of them in turn. “Both of you have gained incredible traction over the past year, especially considering just how fresh out of U.A you both are. Of course, many of our viewers will recognise you both from that iconic Sports Festival so it’s no wonder that the two of you have gotten so much attention recently. Tell me, how does it feel to be rising so quickly up the ranks?”

Ignore the light, he told himself. Be yourself! Wait, that’s terrible advice. Be literally anyone else! Be like Kacchan! No, Izuku that’s worse, you’re giving yourself worse advice-

Izuku steadied himself, summoned the All Might within him, and allowed his face to take on the elastic and amiable smile of his mentor. “It’s really very exciting, Lady!  Kacch- Ah, I mean, Ground Zero and I have worked very hard alongside all of our fellow heroes in training - so every day of our work is rewarding.” He paused to beam at Kacchan, who looked like he was struggling not to scowl. (He was failing). “And can I just say, it is an honour to be here on the show! Thank you all for having us; we are thrilled at the opportunity to get to know everyone!” He directed this last sentence at the crowd as he bowed his head.

The audience instantly let out a collective awww, which in turn led to clapping. Izuku saw Kacchan rolling his eyes into his skull in his peripheral, but Izuku blushed at the attention all the same. 

“Why, aren’t you a charmer?” Hanazawa cooed, leaning back into her seat with a smirk. “But correct me if I’m wrong, is it true that you call Bakugou-san over here ‘Kacchan’? Where did that come from?”

He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off with a gruff: “It’s his dumb kiddy nickname for me.” Kacchan paused for a second, glancing briefly over at Izuku before flicking his gaze back to Hanazawa. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Amongst yet another chorus of endearment, a loud ‘Oh, that’s cute,’ rose above the noise, making the crowd laugh again.

“That’s adorable! You got any cute nicknames for Midoriya then?”

A pause. “...Deku.”

Hanazawa tilted her head at the blond. “You call him by his hero-?”

“No uh,” Izuku interrupted, sheepish. “My hero name was, ah… inspired by that. It kind of sounds like you can do anything!” It wasn’t the full story, of course. The full story was long, tumultuous, complicated and painful . It had taken the two of them so long to reach a tentative alliance, let alone the friendship they have now. 

“Well, you two certainly are close. Would that be why you wanted to participate in this show as a duo?”

“Well, partly,” Izuku admitted, laughing a little. Hanazawa was giving him a smile that made him feel more at ease, and he could feel his muscles loosen up a bit. “We both really enjoy the show, you see, so we kind of thought it would be fun to put ourselves out there. Kacchan is also, um, kind of competitive so- He wanted to show everyone ‘how it’s done.’” He paused. “His words, not mine.”

“Hah. As if you aren’t competitive either, shitty nerd.”

“I never said I wasn’t! Besides, I’m not the one who tried to win a contest in blinking - ”

“Tried to win is a bit of a stretch, Deku. You’re just mad because I’m better than you at everything. Including blinking.”

“Well, I’m better than you at emotional intelligence. How about that?”

“Your free ride to Norway is looking real tempting right now-”

Hanazawa and the crowd laughed at that, and Izuku snapped back to reality. He should probably stay on track. For a split second there, he’d forgotten about the crowd entirely. Looking back at Kacchan, it was obvious that he felt the same.

“Oh this banter is fun!” Hanazawa snickered. “You must be excited to show the world what you guys got, huh? Let’s say we get started with the games already!”

“Fuckin finally,” Kacchan said, before suddenly realising himself and grumbling an uncharacteristic, “Oops...”

Leaning in and pretending to whisper to Izuku, Hanazawa said, “Does he kiss his mother with that mouth?”

Izuku let out a fond smile. “That’s just how he is. I think it makes his personality all the more endearing, especially when you find out that he’s not as harsh or cruel as he’s sometimes made out to be. Kacchan really is an amazing person.”

As Izuku’s words caught up to him, he noticed his friend staring openly at him. He blushed, suddenly feeling the need to say something else, to clarify, but his words were taken with a pinch of salt by their host.

“A hard boiled egg, eh? That’s so cute! I could really eat you guys up right now, but I do still need two victims for our upcoming game. You ready?”

Giving their approval, Hanazawa smirked and stood up. The two of them followed her as she led them to a levelled stage sitting on the other side of the studio. Izuku recognised it immediately as where the games were hosted, and could barely contain his excitement at the fact that he was here! The same place where All Might and Endeavour sat all those years ago, playing darts blindfolded!

This section was more minimal than the warmer atmosphere of the talk show, sporting a white wall background and a white tiled floor. A digital clock hung on the wall, the timer set at 30 seconds.

Two podiums were erected on opposite ends of the stage, their screens lighting up as their power turned on. An electronic pen rested in a groove by the writing board on top of each podium. 

As the boys stood in front of their podiums so that they were looking directly at each other, Hanazawa took her spot in between them. “So, fans of this show will know exactly what game this is-”

“Do You Really Know Me?!” the crowd yelled.

“YES! Yeesh, y’all are enthusiastic today. This game is called Do You Really Know Me?  which is reserved especially for hero duos! Just as the name suggests, our hero partners today will have to answer 10 questions about their partner. You will have 30 seconds to write down your answer or it will not count . To make the game more challenging, you will write your own answer to the question at the bottom of the screen so we know that neither party is colluding. An answer is correct if both of your responses match! If even one answer is wrong, no point is awarded.

“If you manage to beat our record of 6 out of 10 questions correct, there is a mystery prize of whatever gifts our fans have sent us for the purposes of this game. It could range from a silly rubber duck to some expensive headphones if our fan is particularly generous. However, if you both manage to score a perfect 10, then we will reward you both with ¥8,000,000 each!”

The crowd murmured in anticipation. Eight million yen! Imagine all the merch he could get with that...

“And, as always, no cheating. That means no nodding, hand gestures or signals, subtle drawings or anything of the kind. I mean, try not to even look at each other. Remember, I’m a retired hero with the eyes of a hawk so nothing will go unnoticed. But without further ado, are we both ready to get started?”

The Wonder Duo nodded, eyes set with determination as they picked up the pens by their electronic board as if preparing for an exam to begin. Hanazawa smiled at the action, amused by their seriousness.

“Let’s start with the easy stuff,” she said, eyes skimming over the clipboard in her hands. “What is your partner’s favourite food?”

There’s such a thing as too easy, ma’am, Izuku thought, but brushed his smugness away for a second. Neither of them had to even look at each other as they scribbled down their answers in the first five seconds and buzzed in their answers.

Both of their screens lit up, revealing their answers. Katsudon was written in all caps with a smaller Spicy curry at the bottom on Kacchan’s, while Spicy curry! was written in Izuku’s neat cursive with a smaller Katsudon underneath it. 

Hanazawa glanced between the two, checking their answers. “Oh. That’s entirely word for word too! A good start to the game. Is there a story behind either of these?”

“Kacchan makes the best katsudon!” Izuku interrupted before she had even fully finished speaking. “He’s an amazing chef, like he could definitely go pro!”

“You always say that,” Kacchan said, crossing his arms even though he was clearly preening from the praise.

“It would help if you turned the spice down though.” Izuku shrugged.

“It would help if you weren’t such a weak piece of-”

Hanazawa stepped in with her signature host smile. “Why am I not surprised that he loves spicy food? Anyway, moving on to the next question! What is your partner’s favourite thing to do for fun?”

Izuku gave himself time to think. Not about Kacchan, of course, but of what Kacchan would think his favourite thing to do was. Unbidden, his voice entered his head as if yelling his answer at him. 

He tried not to smile as he scribbled Hiking for Kacchan and analysing hero quirks! at the bottom for himself. For extra credit, Izuku drew a couple of smiley faces.

When he noticed Kacchan had already finished, Izuku knew instinctively that his friend was treating this like a competition. 

Kacchan grinned as their screens lit up. Izuku dropped his gaze from Kacchan’s face to the screen on his podium. There was a smiley face, albeit a little scary looking, next to his watching nerdy hero analysis videos . Underneath that, he wrote simply ‘ Hiking. ’

Izuku brought a hand to his cheek as he laughed with the crowd. “Kacchan you don’t know how to draw smiley faces! That looks awful.”

The camera zoomed in on the evil grin of Kacchan’s scribble as he retorted with a “Hah?! Mine looks fucking awesome. I bet it could beat all of your ones in a fight.”

“I dunno,” Izuku grinned. “I think teamwork is crucial for hero work, and that fights should always be won with a smile!”

As he expected, the crowd let out another aww! at the reference to All Might and Izuku triumphantly stuck his tongue out at Katsuki.

“Goddamn manipulative,” Kacchan muttered.

Hanazawa snickered. “Is it possible to give bonus points in this game? Man, where’d you even find this kid?” she asked Kacchan, who nearly startled out of his seat from the way she flashed forward from her seat to stand over him. Izuku hid a laugh behind his hand as Katsuki’s cheeks gave an embarrassed flush. “Anyway, moving on to the third question. If your partner was not a hero, what would their job be?”

At this, both of them turned to look at her with an incredulous expression. Wanting to be something other than a hero? That was … completely unthinkable.

Noticing their open stares, Hanazawa smiled softly. “I know, I know. This is the only thing you’ve ever wanted to do, et cetera et cetera. Just - imagine a world where you had no intention of becoming a hero at all. What would your partner do?”

Izuku bit his lip, thinking. He glanced over at the blond across from him, and saw his answer written in his expression. Red eyes stared off into space before sparking, a sharp grin etching itself over his face. Okay, Izuku thought, that’s his Fantasising-About-How-Cool-I-Am look, so he’s definitely thinking about being famous of some sort. I wonder.. Perhaps a model? His parents are fashion designers after all. No, he’s not the type to want to get famous on just looks alone. Or maybe…

Ah.

He scribbled ‘Drummer’ down quickly, hoping he hadn’t broken the streak so early in the game. Below that he wrote Mechanical engineer.  

He stared at the answer for himself for a second. He was fairly certain Kacchan would know this one, but he couldn’t be completely certain. What if he wrote down something like ‘he’d still be a loser’ or ‘a clown’ or-

“Time’s up!”

As their screens flashed, Izuku peered over his podium to look at Kacchan’s screen. He let out a small smile of relief. So he was right about the drumming. What was better though, was Kacchan’s very confident ‘engineer probably’ at the top.

“Do you play drums, Bakugou?” Hanazawa tilted her head.

Before he could even reply, Izuku piped up excitedly. “Oh, you bet he can! He’s awesome at it too! He used to take music lessons when we were kids and I used to think it was the coolest thing in the world! He even played for our cultural festival in first year, and he was really-”

“I think they get it, Deku,” Kacchan grunted. “Yes, I like playing drums. The nerd likes to solve problems and fix things and change the world or whatever, so of course he would do something like engineering. We moving on now?”

“Woah, what’s the hurry?” she laughed.

“Kacchan wants to beat the record as quickly as he can,” Izuku supplied.

Hanazawa just laughed again. “Of course he is, he definitely seems the type to be obsessed with winning.” She skilfully ignored his angry “I am” as she continued, “Anyhow, that’s a 3 in a row streak! Shall we move on before your luck starts to run out?”

“It ain’t luck,” Kacchan said, back straightening as if he’d just been challenged.

“Maybe not for now, young hero,” Hanazawa intercepted smoothly, “but don’t underestimate the game. Guessing the answer for not only your partner but for how your partner perceives yourself is no easy task. With that, let’s move on to question number four. What is your partner’s go-to drink at the bar?”

Izuku would have laughed if it wasn’t considered to be rude. Neither of them were very much into drinking - not that they really had the time for it anyway - but the few times they had gone out together with other members of their class made for … memorable times. Needless to say, it became obvious that Kacchan’s first love was the fireball. 

It was ordered as a joke, initially, by Kaminari. Kacchan had gone with it because he didn’t really care what he was drinking, as long as it “did the job.” That was, in retrospect, a rookie mistake for someone who hadn’t actually been much of a drinker before. A quiet laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

“Shut up Deku, I’ll kill you,” Kacchan grumbled from the other side, the tips of his ears turning red as he recalled that night as well.

“Sorry Kacchan, I couldn’t help it…” Izuku quickly wrote down Fireball (obviously! ) and then a smaller apple martini at the bottom for himself. It wasn’t really his favourite, per se, he just … hadn’t tried anything else? He hadn’t had the best experience with beer after realising he couldn’t really hold his alcohol well at all. 

Come to think of it though, was Kacchan sober enough to recall what drinks Izuku nursed at the table as he was forced to watch the rest of his class get drunk off their faces?

When time was up and their screens lit up, Izuku’s heart flipped in his chest as he read the words “that gross apple cocktail shit” scrawled messily on top of Kacchan’s screen. So he had noticed.

Izuku relaxed. Of course, Kacchan had always been observant. He was the one to figure out his secret about OFA just from picking up on little clues after all, so knowing about Izuku’s drinking habits wasn’t exactly an encrypted code in comparison. It was still nice to feel noticed, though.

Kacchan wasn’t looking at him though. He was scowling at Izuku’s board in an obvious attempt to not make eye contact.

“I’m sensing a story behind this,” Hanazawa prodded, grinning right at Kacchan. “How did Fireball whiskey ruin your life this time?”

Izuku made brief eye contact with Kacchan, the memory passing between them lightning fast.

Kacchan had gotten very drunk that night. The graduated members of Class 3-A had managed to book a private room at a local bar as they celebrated their last week before their hero duties began, and drinks were downed pretty easily the longer the night had progressed. He remembered glancing over at Kacchan a lot - the blond in question wedged in between Ashido and Kaminari from opposite him - trying to see what kind of a drunk he would be. 

So maybe he’s always been a little infatuated with Kacchan and wanted to know everything about him, what about it?

Being the most sober person in the room, Izuku had tried to keep tabs on everyone else too. He really did. His eyes, however, kept straying towards the blond sitting on the other side of the table, his legs folded underneath him and his expression smoothed into something expressionless. Izuku found out that day that Kacchan was a quiet drunk. Quiet, until those loose lips started forming words.

“Deku!” Kacchan had slurred as their class was very drunkenly standing up to gather their things and head home. He hadn’t said much before, having resigned himself to silently brooding into his shot glasses with a confused furrow in his brow, so the sound of his voice had startled Izuku slightly. “ Did you know ya got freckles? Like ... so many of ‘em. They’re everywhere . All over your face. You ever tried to just… rub ‘em off?”

“No, I’ve never tried that Kacchan. I’m just gonna help you walk for a bit, okay? ”

“So many! They look real nice, y’know? So don’t rub ‘em off. But sshh, don’t tell Deku I said that. ”

And that was when he threw up his dinner over the curbside.

He both suppressed a laugh and blushed at the memory. From across him, Kacchan was still avoiding his eyes and looking so obviously irritated that Izuku decided to speak up, turning to face Hanazawa.

“Oh, it’s…” he trailed off, rearranging the words in his head as he tried to come up with something that wouldn’t be so embarrassing for him, “Kacchan just ... smiles a lot. When he’s drunk. And he, uh, doesn’t like doing that… usually…” There, at least that’s kind of endearing, right?

The crowd at least seemed to think so, judging from their laughter. Hanazawa threw a wink at him. “Ohh, I see. He’s the really edgy, bad-boy, you’ll-catch-me-smiling-when-I’m-dead type of guy then? I like that!”

Izuku faked a laugh, scratching the back of his neck. He could feel Kacchan’s eyes on him but was too chicken to meet them, knowing exactly what he would see there. He knew Kacchan was surprised that Izuku had lied for him. “Haha, I guess…” Gah, he hated lying.

Hanazawa’s excitement began bleeding out now, reducing her to something resembling a teenager. “Okay, well we’ve never had a four question streak on the show before! This is really impressive guys, can we get a good cheer from the crowd to keep our Wonder Duo going?!”

Izuku managed to give Kacchan a smile that he hoped was reassuring as the crowd began cheering and clapping for them. Kacchan just rolled his shoulders back and slumped into his chair, looking suddenly like he regretted coming on here. 

Right. Izuku had been so swept up in the idea of the two of them showing the world just how smoothly they worked together that he had forgotten how revealing being on TV would be. Just the thought of having a drunk escapade being broadcasted to all of Japan made Izuku’s stomach curdle. Even if the escapade itself was relatively innocuous.

“Moving on to question five, then! Here’s where the challenging questions really start kicking in. What does your partner … think your best physical trait is?”

Izuku looked up from his screen, which his electronic pen had been hovering over. “Trait?”

“Yeah! Like, something about yourselves.”

What a convenient question. Izuku didn’t look at him at all as he wrote down My freckles at the top and-

He stopped. What was Kacchan’s best trait? 

All of them, he thought. But he couldn’t say that because there was no way Kacchan would write that as his answer so he’d actually have to think about something specific now.

Kacchan already knows that Izuku admires him as a hero , as someone who embodies the meaning of victory. But those weren’t physical traits. Had he ever complimented Kacchan on anything other than that? He glanced up at the blond, only to find him looking right at him, his head tilted to the side in contemplation. Izuku startled but didn’t look away, regarding him with an equally dissecting look. Izuku was aware that there was a 30 second time limit, but the world seemed to slow down as they tried to puzzle each other out without the use of words or gestures. 

His best trait ....

Red eyes glinted at him, telling him something, and Izuku’s brain short circuited. And he knew, in that instance, what both of them were thinking. Smiling, he looked down to write Kacchan’s eyes at the bottom with pure confidence.

When their screens illuminated not shortly after, Kacchan smirked and leaned back in his seat, pleased with his telepathic skills. 

Hanazawa quirked an eyebrow. “You’re sure neither of you have a telepathy quirk? That look you gave each other was kind of suspicious.”

Kacchan’s scowl returned as he glared up at the former hero. “As if we’d ever be pathetic enough to cheat at something as stupid as a shitty game show.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku said indignantly. “Lady was just joking!”

“Well, to be fair,” Hanazawa said, tilting her head to the side, “I was only half-joking. From what I can tell, you guys have some intense chemistry that’s not actually quirk induced, but I am still kind of tempted to have you both face away from each other, just in case.” When the crowd murmured their disapproval though, she shook her head with a small smile. “But hey, who am I kidding? If you can figure each other out with just a look then maybe you really do deserve to be featured on the show! Moving on, then...”

Did she really have to use the word chemistry? This wasn’t good for Izuku’s heart, which had started pumping blood into his face like the traitorous organ that she was. 

“Question number six: what is your partner’s strangest fear?”

The word came to him instantly- jellyfish. He almost said it out loud, actually, but managed to shut his lips tight at the last second as he scribbled the answer down. At the bottom of the screen, he wrote Peonies :( for himself and drew a sad looking flower next to it.

As soon as the answers revealed themselves on the screen, the audience began to murmur in anticipation.

“Six questions correct in a row!” Hanazawa exclaimed. “How are you guys doing this? You’re making us look bad.”

“Didn’t I fucking say we were gonna ace this game?” Kacchan growled. “That means ten out of fucking ten. Next question.”

Izuku covered his mouth with his hand at how Kacchan looked absolutely menacing with his trademark glare - he was not looking camera friendly at all! - which was doing absolutely nothing to affect their host who simply laughed.

“You did say that, Bakugou! Now, what’s wrong with peonies, Midoriya? I would’ve thought a sweetheart like you would love flowers!”

“The nerd once got stung by a bee when he put a peony in his hair,” Kacchan filled in, crossing his arms over his chest and looking smug. “Went home crying like a baby and hasn’t looked at that flower the same way since. He still likes flowers and all that shit though because he’s a fuckin’ sap .”

Izuku frowned at him. “Children cry when they are stung by bees. And don’t think we’re ignoring the fact that you got stung by those tiny jellyfish on the shore when we went to the beach! I think I distinctly remember you crying about that too. Auntie Mitsuki was going to make you-”

“Alright! I get it, shut your damn mouth!”

“I’m assuming these both happened when you were children?” Hanazawa said, head tipping forward. 

“Four years old, if we’re being specific,” Kacchan said, voice oddly tight. The crowd let out an oooo! sound at this, apparently impressed that Kacchan knew this. Izuku tried not to squirm under Kacchan’s gaze. Most of their memories in which the two of them were actually close was from the age of four. Before Kacchan got his quirk and everything changed between them.

But look at us now, Izuku thought, feeling that warmth stir in him again. There was no room for bittersweet nostalgia here. When he looked up to meet his eyes, he knew instinctively that Kacchan understood what he was thinking. The very fact that he knew this, deep down in his heart, made him smile even wider. 

It was a little scary, actually, to be read so easily by someone. Izuku was sure Kacchan felt the same way, as they broke eye contact at the same time.

“Ah, the intimacy of being childhood friends! Alright then, question number seven - ooh this is a good one - if your partner had to permanently swap quirks with another hero, who would it be?”

Oh, that is a good question. Izuku bit the end of his pen and tried to think about it objectively. Kacchan would want an impossibly powerful quirk not only because he likes the power it gives him, but because he needs it to prove to himself and everyone else that he can harness any quirk and make it his own, no matter how difficult it would be to use it. And he would definitely want something more on the offensive than defensive because he’s all action and instigation through and through. And on top of that, he’d want something flashy as hell, because this is Kacchan we’re talking about, and what is Kacchan if not a proud, egotistical prodigy?

He wrote down Hero Shouto’s quirk at the bottom pretty quickly, before pausing for himself. He sighed, knowing very well that before he got his quirk he would’ve easily answered with All Might’s quirk. Now though, the answer was obvious to him - but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing. Drawing in a deep breath, he wrote Kacchan’s quirk and tried not to feel too embarrassed by it. 

Izuku knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the explosion quirk as effortlessly as Kacchan could, but there was something thrilling about the chance to watch the nitroglycerin crackle in his own palms and actually put his years of research and observation of his childhood friend into practise. 

The timer beeped twice as time ran out, and Izuku couldn’t help the surprise on his face as he noticed Kacchan hadn’t actually answered early this time. Kacchan put his pen down slowly, looking almost doubtful. Izuku swallowed. That wasn’t a very encouraging look.

“Cameras, please do zoom in to the answers on the screen!”

When their answers flashed, Izuku’s shoulders slumped in relief. Kacchan’s board simply had ‘IcyHot, unfortunately ’ at the top and ‘Me?’ at the bottom. Izuku let a small smile escape. Why did Kacchan have doubts about that? He had only ever praised his quirk since the beginning of time. 

Hanazawa was silent, her eyes wide as saucers. When she looked to the camera with that expression, the crowd laughed.

“Guys!” she squealed, clapping her hands together. “From the way this is going, you’re going to not only break the record but get a perfect score! Oh this is getting my blood pumping! We will be taking a short break right now, but stay tuned everyone. Not that I need to encourage you to do that, of course, I’m sure everyone is on the edge of their seats right now!”

Izuku waved at the camera before the sounds of the studio came rushing back in at them. Izuku exhaled loudly and slouched as the cameras went off.

Hanazawa flashed towards Izuku at that very instant, spiking his heart rate as he nearly jumped out of his skin when her face appeared in front of him. 

“You boys,” she said slowly, mouth stretching open into a wide grin, “are killing this! Did you practise beforehand? Are you really this close just from being childhood friends? I heard that you two weren’t all that close during high school-”

“Let the idiot breathe. Don’t you have any concept of personal fucking space?” Kacchan’s voice came from directly above him, and he looked up to see him standing in front of him, glaring daggers at the host. 

Hanazawa laughed again, the sound so oddly airy that Izuku wasn’t sure if it was actually coming from her. “Oh, I like you Kacchan. I didn’t mean to frighten your precious friend, I’m just really excited right now. My sweet Kaji just told me that viewership of tonight’s episode is the highest it’s ever been - er, not including the episode where All Might and Endeavour played darts blindfolded of course - so I’m expecting great things from you two.”

When Hanazawa moved to track down Kaji to no doubt harass him with her boundless energy, Izuku beamed up at Kacchan. “We’re actually doing pretty good!” he said, standing up so he can stretch his muscles a little.

“Fuckin’ obviously. That’s kind of the whole-”

“Deku-kun!”

Izuku whipped his head around to see Uraraka, his mother, Kirishima and Ashido waving them over from the front row of the audience stands. Kacchan grumbled some obscenities at Uraraka for interrupting - which Izuku countered with an unimpressed look - before bounding up to them with a wide smile on his face.

From her elevated position, Inko towered over her son with glossy eyes. She clasped one of Izuku’s hands while Uraraka grabbed another, and shot a watery smile down at him. “Izu, you have no idea how proud I am of you right now! It’s so wonderful to see the two of you get along so well. Oh, my baby is actually on television!”

“Yeah dude, this is manly as hell!” Kirishima said, flashing him a thumbs up. Ashido, who was standing next to him, flung herself forward at Kacchan to hug him by the shoulders. Kacchan swore, having to practically hold Ashido up as she threw all of her weight at him.

“Bakuhoe, you’re doing amazing sweetie!” she laughed as she leant down to practically strangle the blond. “Would you be able to answer questions about me? Hey, what do you think my strangest fear is?”

“Get off me Pinky,” he snarled, trying to loosen her ironclad grip on his neck.

“Answer meee!”

“I’m going to be your biggest fucking nightmare if you don’t let up right now, I swear to god-”

Ashido just laughed again, breaking free from Kacchan only to latch onto Kirishima’s arm. “The answer was straight people, Baku. Gah, he’s so edgy. It’s kind of cute though, isn’t it?” Kirishima snickered, before glancing at Kacchan’s murderous eyes. He not so subtly placed his hands on his girlfriend’s shoulders before moving her in front of him as a precautionary wall of defence.

Izuku snorted. “Yeah, he is,” he agreed absentmindedly, lips twitching upwards into a soft smile. For a brief second, he tilted his head in confusion as all pairs of eyes latched on to him before realising what he had just said. 

“What?” Kacchan asked, sounding just as confused. Izuku didn’t even dare to look at him, his eyes darting towards everything in the room except for him. 

(Inko’s cheeks bloomed into a soft pink when she noticed the look on her son’s face. And oh, she thought, why am I not surprised?)

“Uh-” Izuku stuttered out, “I just meant-”

“Deku,” Uraraka stepped in, eyes locked on to something on stage, “I think you both need to head back now...” Izuku followed her gaze to the front, where Hanazawa was just finishing up with her hair stylist as the camera crew reorganised themselves into position again.

He shot her a grateful smile and squeezed her hand before pulling away to face Kacchan.

“Let’s get this over with then,” Kacchan grunted. Then, before he could think too much about it, Kacchan extended his hand towards Izuku and curled it into a fist.

Izuku stared at it for a second with wide eyes before dissolving into a smile as he fist bumped him. “Here’s to ten out of ten,” he said.

Once they were seated and had a five second touch up by their respective stylists again, Izuku drew in a deep inhale to gather himself as the cameras began rolling again. 

“Welcome back to Heroes Rising! Currently on stage with us are the rising pro heroes Deku and Ground Zero who have not only smashed their way through the rankings this year, but are apparently also on course to beating the show’s record for the game Do You Really Know Me? on their very first go! We’re in the homestretch now, boys. Are we ready for the eighth question?”

Kacchan grunted in lieu of an actual response as Izuku beamed up at Hanazawa. “Totally!” he exclaimed. “This is super exciting, isn’t it Kacchan?”

“It’ll be more exciting once we win,” he retorted, twirling his pen in his fingers impatiently.

“Kacchan is so enthusiastic,” Izuku muttered quietly. At least the crowd seemed to be eating up their dynamic, though.

“Alright heroes, on to question number eight. What does your partner think is your least flattering colour to wear?”

Izuku grimaced at Kacchan’s very unappealing scowl. He didn’t look camera friendly at all. Again. Not that Izuku had ever expected him to. “What kind of a dumb question is that? Does this look like a fashion runway show?”

“I think it’s interesting,” Izuku interjected. “And I know the answer to it too, so I like it even more because of that.”

The blond glared at him silently before resigning himself to just writing down his answer, mumbling “Nobody asked for your dumb opinion,” as he did so.

Izuku laughed to himself, because he knew that Kacchan’s irritation was going to bleed into his answer, which meant his answer was definitely going to be a dig at him. When time was up, the cameras zoomed onto Izuku’s screen first.

‘Kacchan doesn’t like to wear yellow because he thinks it clashes with his hair,' was written at the top, and a ‘Kacchan thinks every colour is unflattering on me.'

Kacchan’s board sported a very curt ‘yellow’ at the bottom and a ‘bold of anyone to assume Deku can wear flattering colours’ was scribbled quickly at the top, as if he had been running out of time to get it down.

Hanazawa was laughing even as she said, “That’s mean, Bakugou!” Turning to Izuku, her eyebrows rose to her hairline at what was written on his board. “Oh, so Bakugou cares about his appearance, then?”

Izuku snorted. “Umm, it’s more like his parents are both fashion designers, so I guess he always had an eye for this kind of stuff?”

“Oh!” Hanazawa exclaimed, turning to face Kacchan who was staring at Deku with a betrayed expression. “You know, you could’ve made a total fortune out of being a model working for your parents! At least you know what to do if heroing doesn’t work out for you-”

“HAH?!-”

“She’s joking, Kacchan, everyone knows that you’re destined to be a hero!”

Kacchan sat back down, since he had apparently almost risen out of his seat, grumbling something about damn right he was and who does this lady think she is to even suggest something so stupid.  

Unfazed by the near-outburst, the airy host continued without a hitch.

“Okay let’s see,” Hanazawa pretended to skim the page as Kaji’s voice filtered into her ear. She and Kaji had agreed during the break that the questions on the page were apparently easy for this freak duo, and that they needed to spice things up a little so that the audience didn’t think it was all staged. But at the same time, they shouldn’t be hard enough that the pair of them broke the streak, either. Imagine a full, perfect score on Heroes Rising! It’s never been done before, so ratings would absolutely go through the roof.

“I’m literally on Google right now,” Kaji began, and Hanazawa suppressed the need to yell at him, “but hey this looks good - wait no, this one. Not too hard, not too easy. Ask them about the one secret they know about each other which nobody else knows. They’re childhood friends, they’ll figure it out.”

It’s a good thing Kaji talked like an auctioneer on crack because Hanazawa would’ve killed anyone else who took so long to give her directions.

“Question number nine: what is one secret that your partner has personally told you that nobody else knows?”

Kacchan and Izuku exchanged a glance.

One For All, Izuku thought instantly. Then - no, All Might knew about that. As did Recovery Girl, and all the others too. Besides, Kacchan had figured that out all on his own. Izuku allowed himself a second to admire Kacchan’s observational skills before getting back to the task at hand.

Childhood memories didn’t really count either, right? Knowing that Kacchan usually woke up in the night to pee wasn’t a secret that he had personally told him, it was just a fact that he had come to know.

Three memories flickered into his mind at the speed of light. (Any and all memories involving Kacchan always sat, somehow, at the forefront of his mind for easy access). 

One: “Why was I the one who ended All Might?”

Izuku shivered, pushing that memory aside. Nobody apart from him needed to know about that. 

The second: “I’m gay.”  

He had to fight the rising blush to his cheeks. When he made eye contact with Kacchan, and noticed the red tips of his ears, they both looked hastily away as they realised what the other was thinking.

The third one was, luckily, so much more innocent. Endearing, even, or maybe Izuku’s thoughts were an unreliable narrator because he happened to find just about anything that Kacchan did as endearing.

Kacchan was tapping his finger on the coffee table in the common room, a whirlwind of books and papers scattered around them.

“Look, I’m not … the best at history, alright? Like, who gives a fuck about some old man who kicked the bucket hundreds of years ago? Just- help me out with this shit.”

“You’re asking me to help you? Kacchan, are you ill?”

“Shut the fuck up before I change my mind. If I tell anyone else about this they wouldn’t let me live it down.”

‘Bad at history,’ Izuku wrote at the top now, smiling as he did so. Now for the hard part.

The things that Izuku had told Kacchan personally were much too serious to be discussed on live television. Izuku’s secrets were dark and dangerous things, bigger than the both of them and just barely deep enough to wade through. And though Kacchan knew more about him than anyone else did, that was mainly because Kacchan could read him like a book in the same way Izuku could read him. There wasn’t really a need to confide in him with words when he already knew-

Oh. There was one thing that Izuku had told him.

Izuku could feel the tips of his ears burning as he sneaked a quick glance at Kacchan, who was leaning back in his seat as he looked back smugly. Ugh, of course he would. Of course Izuku would take care to make sure Kacchan’s reputation was intact, but the blond would want to do exactly the opposite of that. Frowning, Izuku scribbled down his answer at the bottom quickly, conscious of the time he wasted in thought.

Hanazawa signalled that time was up just as Izuku squeezed in the last word. When time was up, Izuku tried to hide behind his fingers as their answers revealed themselves on the screen.

“Deku! You sleep with a giant All Might plushie? To be expected from the self-proclaimed fanboy!” The crowd went a little wild at that, bursting into their signature sounds of endearment. One audience member shouted ‘Detroit Smash!’ which led to a round of cheers and more laughter. It seemed that the All Might obsession never really wore down with the people of Musutafu, even after his retirement.

I hate you Kacchan, Izuku thought bitterly. When he brought his hands down to expose his face, he scowled at the blond sitting across from him. Kacchan’s screen read ‘he sleeps with a giant All Might plushie ’ followed by ‘I hate history more than I hate Deku’s face .’ 

“I just really admire him,” Izuku said, trying not to pout. He wasn’t sure what it said about him as the future Symbol of Peace when he still slept with a giant toy, but he had a feeling it wasn’t a good one.

Even though Kacchan had exposed him to the world, Izuku didn’t have much time to feel mad about it. They were on the last question now. The moment they’ve been waiting for.

“Are we all ready for the last question? We have never gotten a full score for this game before, but our first time rookies might just put every other hero duo in their place! We will be increasing the time for this question to 45 seconds, just because this is the first time this has ever happened and we think you’ve both earned it. Can we get one final cheer for heroes Ground Zero and Deku, who have played phenomenally this entire time?”

Izuku drowned out the cheers as he smiled confidently at Kacchan. They managed to get this far, and he was feeling much more excited than he was nervous for once.

They were going to get 8 million yen!

“Okay, then, here we go.” Hanazawa paused for a dramatic effect as the lights dimmed and spotlights overhead honed in on their podiums. Izuku was surprised to find that the pressure of the spotlights didn’t actually bother him now. 

“What is … your hero partner’s type?”

A brief silence.

“‘Type?’” Izuku questioned at the same time as Kacchan. Hanazawa smiled at their synchrony, waving her hands at the camera as if to say Are y’all seeing this too?

“Yes, type,” she laughed. “Like, who would they date? What are they into?”

For a second, all he heard was the hum of the air conditioner in the distance. Then, the blood drained from Izuku’s face and he shot a panicked look at Kacchan. The blond didn’t seem to be faring any better, his gaze zeroed in on Hanazawa as if he could will her to change the question to something else. 

I … I don’t know the answer to this. I don’t know the answer! Oh god, I don’t know the-

“Time starts now. Good luck!”

Izuku gulped thickly, but his throat was tight and the action was more painful than anything. The blank screen staring up at him was an exact reflection of the static in his head. Kacchan’s type? That was something Izuku didn’t ever think of. It’s not something he had ever wanted to think about. Izuku knows he gets jealous easily, especially when it comes to him.

Think Izuku! Think! Okay, he told you he was gay. And Kacchan … he’s focused on being the best, which means that he wants someone who can be on his level - oh right haha no, nope, not going there. This is no time for self-indulgent fantasies.

Ah! He likes … manly people? People who are strong, someone who can take a villain down in one swoop. 

Izuku’s eyes flicked to the dark audience. Kirishima is taken though. Unless … it’s unrequited? No, wait, it can be literally anyone from U.A. Wait! This is about his type, not who he likes. Ugh, I hate this question so much. But - maybe it’s a trick question? Maybe Kacchan just doesn’t have types at all! Izuku smiled gleefully to himself at the thought. Yeah, that makes sense, he’s never expressed interest in anyone before.

Wait. There had been a party in second year once. Izuku distinctly remembered Ashido joking about if Kacchan would ever ‘tap that,’ and Kacchan had said ‘Are you thick? Of course I would.’ Does that count? Who were we even talking about? What is a type? Is his type - I don’t want to think about this. I don’t want to think-

“Time’s up!”

Oh god. Izuku fucked up. He fucked up. He didn’t even think about his own type which- huh. Did he have one? It was a little difficult to identify what Izuku’s type was when nobody could ever hold a candle to Kacchan, to his spiky hair that was actually soft to the touch, and his toned, sculpted biceps, and how his cupid bow lips were always tucked into a frown even when he was happy because god forbid anyone see him smile-

Oh god. He fucked up!

Izuku’s podium buzzed pathetically from the lack of response. Blood roared in Izuku’s ears from both the embarrassment and the flood of his thoughts.

The crowd was silent for once.

Just look at Kacchan’s screen, Izuku pleaded with himself. His eyes remained glued to his own blank screen. Just do it. Look, Izuku! He knows you better than you know yourself, right? Obviously, he would have guessed-

His eyes flicked upwards. Kacchan was avoiding his eyes too, face uncharacteristically blank with shock. Izuku’s eyes fell to the screen.

‘Brown hair?’ 

There was nothing written at the bottom.

Izuku’s heart stopped beating, and then it took a dive into his gut. ‘Brown hair ?’ Where did Kacchan get that from? Finally, their eyes met. And for the first time that night, neither one of them had any idea what the other was thinking, or what they were trying to communicate to each other.

To be fair, Izuku wasn’t sure what he was trying to say either. Sorry I don’t think about what your type is because it makes my heart ache? Sorry that my sexuality is apparently Kacchan-sexual? Yikes. At least Kacchan had got it wrong too, though. That was a small comfort.

(Inwardly, Hanazawa cursed. She cursed Kaji most of all for thinking this question would be easy. ‘C’mon, what kind of best buddies don’t talk about their crushes? Tell me you’ve never done that in a sleepover. Now look at them and tell me they’ve never had a sleepover. It’s a good one, trust me. When have I ever failed you?’ To think they could’ve gotten so many views on YouTube for this! Should she fire him? Okay, too far maybe. She’s definitely not paying for drinks tonight though).

“Aww,” Hanazawa said finally, the disappointment evident in her voice even as she smiled reassuringly. “Well, that’s a shame, guys! And I thought you two would have this in the bag.” 

Neither of her contestants responded to her. 

She wondered briefly if she should push it, maybe ask them what their types actually are - the audience would eat that up like animals - but the looks on their faces rendered her merciful. Ah, young love. “C’mon heroes, nine out of ten is still a record breaker, no need to look so glum! You both have effectively won the game, which means you win those surprise gifts from the audience!”

Instantly, the studio flights flooded the room once more and confetti fell ceremoniously from above. Izuku didn’t really hear the applause or whatever Hanazawa was saying next. He couldn’t really quell the trembling in his fingers either.

Kacchan’s type.  

Out of all the questions. 

Izuku blinked as a box as tall as himself was shoved into his arms and as a small one was placed into Kacchan’s hands by two staff members. He registered Hanazawa’s instruction to tear open the wrapping and show the camera, which he did so robotically.

Huh. He got a coat hanger stand. This would be good for his mother.

Kacchan was staring unimpressed at the mini electrical muscle-massager in his box. Hanazawa was joking about how he could use it to ease up the tense muscles in his face, and Izuku saw the way Kacchan barely managed to restrain himself from blowing it up entirely at the comment.

Forcing his All Might smile on his face one last time, he thanked Hanazawa for the prizes and waved goodbye at the crowd and the cameras. 

When the cameras stopped rolling, the studio quietly settled down as the crew readied themselves for the upcoming interviews.

“I know you boys must be disappointed,” Hanazawa said, flopping down on the armchair tiredly in the other part of the studio. Her makeup artist knelt beside her chair, dabbing at her cheeks hurriedly for the next segment of the show. “But you still broke our record. This game isn’t easy, you know. There’s a reason the record is six.”

“Whatever,” Kacchan grumbled. He exchanged a look at Izuku. “It’s just a stupid game, anyway.”

Izuku looked away immediately. 

Right. 

It’s just a stupid game.

By the time the group exited the building, it was already dusk. They didn’t bother sticking around for the rest of the show, mostly because the mood was a little too forlorn for anyone’s liking, but also partly because Uraraka and Ashido were running late for Hagakure’s late birthday party and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Uraraka wrapped her hands around Izuku’s neck after they descended into the car park, squeezing him tightly. Izuku knew she was feeling a little sorry for him, even if she was confused as to why Kacchan and him were acting so gloomy about the outcome of a game. He couldn’t really give her an answer as to why, either.

“Don’t forget to call Tsu later, alright?” Uraraka said, pulling back and giving Izuku’s shoulders a squeeze. “You’re the only one she can talk to about that new amphibian hero. The way she gushes about him reminds me too much of you- I just can’t keep track of anything she’s saying.”

Izuku smiled. “Sure thing, Uraraka.”

“Okay, we’ll talk later then! Bye, Ms. Midoriya-san, thanks for the ride today!”

She smiled at Inko, saluted at Kacchan who was watching her warily the whole time, and bounded after Ashido and Kirishima, who were rummaging through some bags in their car’s trunk- probably checking to see if everything was there for Hagakure’s gathering. 

Kirishima was grumbling a little about how he felt left out in just dropping the two over before going back to his apartment alone, but Ashido distracted him with a smattering of kisses all over his face. He pulled away looking positively giddy, all pouty-ness forgotten as he waved goodbye to Izuku, Kacchan and Inko and pulled out of the car park. Izuku thought he heard Kacchan whisper ‘whipped’ under his breath.

“Katsuki-kun?” They both turned towards Inko, who was standing quietly next to Izuku with the box with the coat hanger clutched awkwardly in her hands since the box was towering over her. “Would you like a ride home, since yours just left?”

Honestly, Izuku thought he could never get tired of the way Kacchan acted so awkwardly around his mother. Izuku had told Inko all about their renewed friendship, and of course, Inko had understood and forgiven him, but it was always apparent that Kacchan had probably never expected her forgiveness. 

Sometimes, Izuku thought that Kacchan felt like he didn’t deserve to be forgiven at all.

“Um,” Kacchan scratched the back of his neck. “No thank you Auntie… I was actually thinking of going to eat some ramen or something and just ... go home after that.”

“Oh!” Inko seemed to positively light up at this, hands threading together. “In that case, the two of you should come over! It’s been so long since we’ve all had a meal together. I’ll make you a nice-” Inko stopped abruptly, a flash of something flickering across her face.

Izuku furrowed his brows. “You’ll-?”

Inko’s eyes flicked between the two of them before something finally dawned on her face. “Ah, silly me.” Her hands moved slowly down to her hips, and a soft smile drew her lips up. “I’m … actually meeting with, uh, Mitsuki ... today. Wow, I completely forgot. Whoops. Old age, you know? Anyway! I’ll be heading off then, but you two can go eat dinner together, alright?”

Kacchan’s nose scrunched up while Inko was talking, and Izuku appreciated that he was looking like his regular self again. “You’re meeting with the hag?” he said distastefully.

“She’s the most wonderful hag I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting,” Inko replied easily. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Inko launched herself at her son, holding him tightly with her face pressed into his chest.

Izuku startled a little, but quickly enveloped her in a warm hug. He pressed his face into his mother’s hair, closing his eyes briefly at her comforting touch. She was always so-

Why was she crying?

Izuku pulled back to ask if something was wrong, but Inko had extracted herself from Izuku’s grip in favour of launching herself at Kacchan. The blond was not so quick to return the favour. He shot a look at Izuku over Inko’s head, the question obvious in his eyes.

Why is she fucking hugging me? Deku, get her off me-

He just shrugged in response, just as lost. Inko was hugging Kacchan for much longer than what was usual . When she pulled back, she dabbed at her eyes quickly. “Ah, they grow up so fast,” she mumbled. Kacchan had never looked more confused.

“Auntie...?”

Inko looked up at him with a watery smile, before placing an arm on his shoulder. “You take good care of my Izu, alright?”

“Uhh…” His eyes flicked over to Izuku’s. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s just ramen.”

Inko snorted. “Yes, it’s just ramen,” she repeated, a little cryptic. Then, taking Izuku’s right hand and Kacchan’s left, Inko squeezed their palms. “After everything you two have been through together … I’m so very proud of the both of you and I will support you no matter what. I hope you know that.”

When his mother’s tiny car skidded speedily out of the parking lot - Inko was not a slow driver, so to speak - the two of them watched her go in a bemused daze. “Some mother you got there, Deku.” 

He huffed out a laugh. “That’s probably why she gets along so well with yours.”

Kacchan smirked. “...Like mother, like son.”

Startled, Izuku’s eyes darted up to look at Kacchan. The blond was looking right back, the smirk still in place.

When did this parking lot get so warm?

A few months ago, Kacchan and he had discovered a small roadside ramen shop situated at the back of Kacchan’s apartment block. The food was killer, but it was more importantly secluded and hidden away in a nondescript alley, safe from civilian eyes. It also offered a sort of shortcut into a park leading towards Kacchan’s house, so at least it was in walking distance and they didn’t have to use their quirks to jump over roofs just to get home.

As the sun finally sank into the horizon, the two of them sat side by side on the bar stools in front of the nearly empty kitchen, bowls of steaming ramen half eaten before them. The place was practically deserted apart from the two heroes and the young woman busying herself by preparing the kitchen for the next day. 

“Yeah, apparently jellyfish only live for one year,” Izuku was saying, one chopstick poking at his cheek. “I don’t know why I thought it would be for longer than that, but I guess it makes sense if you think about it.”

Shoving another mouthful of noodles in his mouth, Kacchan pulled a face. “It should be zero years.”

“Kacchan, you really need to get over that day on the beach.”

“The fuck? Maybe you should get over your fear of freaking flowers, damn hypocrite. Jellyfish are so much deadlier than a damn leaf. And the creepy fuckers don’t even have brains.”

Izuku hummed, amused. “Fair enough.”

A silence fell on them as they ate, and suddenly it was becoming apparent that they were both avoiding the elephant in the room. They simultaneously put their chopsticks down and turned to each other, the words already on their lips.

“So, what exactly-”

“Deku, what is-”

They stopped, blinked, looked away. Kacchan craned his neck up to stare at the ceiling.

“Christ, Deku. Have we always been like this?”

“What do you mean?”

The blond turned to look at him, waving a hand incredulously between them. “Like this. Talking at the same time like a couple of freaky fucking twins. It’s so annoying.”

Izuku thought about it for a second, before shrugging and absently picking at his food again. “Dunno. Nothing really feels any different, so maybe it’s just that we notice it more now because of the show?”

Kacchan grunted. “Right. About that. What is your type?”

(Neither of them noticed the way the woman in the kitchen paused mid-bend as she picked up a box of green onions to listen in. Could you really blame her? Practically everyone in Musutafu had been watching Heroes Rising tonight).

Izuku’s ears burned at the bluntness of his friend’s words. “I - um, ah…” I like people who … are named Kacchan? Or Bakugou Katsuki, actually. Just give me a mean, spiky haired childhood friend who can practically be an extension of me in battle. It’s not a hard requirement to meet! “Well, why don’t you try to guess?”

Kacchan snorted, eyes concentrated as he balanced pieces of chilli on his noodles before eating them. “Right. Because apparently I’d know the answer to that.” Wordlessly, Izuku dropped the pieces of chill from his own bowl into Kacchan’s, to which the blond grunted a ‘thanks’ at.

“Ah well, try to guess something other than brown hair, then? Speaking of, why did you even-”

“Didn’t you have a thing for Round Face in high school?”

Izuku’s cheeks flamed. “K-Kacchan! That was literally in first year! And wow that feels so long ago, I can’t believe you even remembered that… but anyway, super outdated!”

“So - what?” Kacchan talked from around his food, which he knew would annoy Izuku, “You got a thing for happy go-lucky balls of sunshine or something?”

Every fibre of Izuku’s being fought not to laugh at that. “Not really,” he said, the smile escaping him anyway. 

“You like ‘em quiet and boring then?”

What on earth was Kacchan- oh. “You’re talking about Todoroki-kun, aren’t you?”

Kacchan scowled, stabbing his ramen as he grumbled, “Duh. Nobody more boring than that half-and-half motherfucker.” Still scowling, Kacchan’s voice got quieter and quieter the more he grumbled. “I bet he eats quadratic formulas for dinner and then proceeds to watch lame, boring-ass videos of… fucking… how to make a doorknob or something.”

“I think How It’s Made episodes are interesting, actually.”

“Okay.” He chewed thoughtfully. “So you do like boring ass-”

Izuku rolled his eyes and poked Kacchan in the shoulder with a chopstick. “Stop calling him that, I know you’re his friend. And no, I’m not into him like that.” He paused, contemplating the thought. “He is very pretty though.”

Izuku was already reaching for another chopstick from the tray in front of them as the one in Kacchan’s chopstick snapped in half. “Geez Kacchan, you’re so wound up today. Also, uh, sorry to make you guess like that. I guess the real answer is that I don’t really have a type? Or, I don’t know. It’s not something I’ve ever really thought about.”

It’s not something I’ve ever had the need to think about.

“Figures,” Kacchan said, a little vaguely. “Anyway, guess my type then.”

Izuku’s mood dampened at this, even though he should’ve expected it from asking Kacchan in the first place. He really didn’t want to do this. But of course, Kacchan was fixing him with one of his signature Intense Stares, so Izuku couldn’t really squirm his way out of it.

“Um.. You like strong guys?”

“The fuck Deku? Obviously. That’s low hanging fruit.”

“Excuse me,” Izuku frowned. “That’s so much better than just brown hair and someone who’s boring. At least mine makes sense and relates to your character!”

Sensing the threat of defeat, Kacchan shrugged it off. “Whatever. Just keep going.”

“Okay.” Izuku breathed in, ate a bit more, and swallowed thoughtfully. “You’d like someone who’s got a really badass quirk, or something. Maybe they were prodigies when they were children too, just like you. And they honed their power over the years so they could be the greatest hero. It could be anyone from U.A, actually, since you’d only go for the best of the best. And I guess they won’t be annoying? I know you hate how annoying I am, so they’d have to be more than just tolerable. Not that anyone in particular comes to mind since everyone seems to annoy you...”

Kacchan said nothing for a while, having taken a great interest in the egg floating in his broth. Izuku internally gave himself a moment to laugh at the way Kacchan always saved the egg for last, before he nervously looked back at his face.

“Was I …. uh, close?”

The egg disappeared inside Kacchan’s mouth. “Not really,” he said, muffled from around the food. Kacchan was still avoiding his eyes, it seemed.

Izuku blinked. “Oh.” Huh, he really thought he had hit it on the nail there. 

Looking up at the clock, Izuku hummed when he realised it was nearly 10pm. It was a wonder, really, how Kacchan was managing to stay awake at this time for non-hero work related purposes. “Anyway, we should probably leave soon. We don’t want to make this nice lady work overtime for our sake.”

Kacchan grunted a ‘yeah’ and then the two of them were scraping their chairs back as they stood up. Izuku bowed and quickly thanked the woman in the kitchen, who had paused her work to bid the heroes goodbye, and then they were stepping out into the night.

As they stopped by the street, Izuku hesitated by the mouth of the alleyway. “Ah.. are you headed home now, Kacchan?”

“Yep.”

They just stood there awkwardly for some seconds too long. Izuku really didn’t want to say goodbye so early. He really, really wanted to just stay by Kacchan’s side for a while longer. The latter seemed to be having the same thought as he hadn’t ditched Izuku to leave. In fact, he was just bouncing side-to-side on his heels.

“Well, see ya later then, Deku.”

“...Yeah,” Izuku sighed, deflating. “Later, Kacchan.” Smiling at his friend one last time, Izuku turned on his heel and began to walk in the other direction.

Just as he was beginning to activate his quirk so he could leap over the buildings, Kacchan swore quietly behind him. “Deku, wait.”

Izuku, ever so honed into Kacchan’s every move, paused immediately to turn around. The green electricity emanating from his body dissipated immediately. “Yes, Kacchan?”

With one hand stuffed into his pocket, and the other gripping his neck, Kacchan didn’t meet his eye when he said, “Did you want to, uh, hang out? At my place?” 

“YES!” Izuku beamed, bounding up to Kacchan immediately. Upon seeing the blond raise an eyebrow at the excitement, Izuku sheepishly tried to dial down his wild expression. Yikes, talk about looking desperate. “I mean - uh, yeah. We can watch that Ms. Joke sitcom together, if you want? Apparently they released a special episode last week but I was so swamped with work that it completely slipped my mind and I still haven’t gotten the chance to see it...”

Izuku rambled on like that as they crossed the street and made their way into the empty park, which was the shortest route to Kacchan’s apartment district. The trail they were walking down was surprisingly well lit, considering the budget for this part of town.

When mosquitoes started nipping at Kacchan’s neck, the scent of nitroglycerin permeated the air as Kacchan launched into several variations of DIE and EAT SHIT, YOU INSECT BASTARDS as he blasted with scary accuracy at barely-visible flying insects. Just the sight of it was enough to send Izuku into a laughing fit, doubling over instantly as the giggles took hold of him.

When he looked back up, wiping at his eyes, Kacchan had lowered his arms and was looking at him with a strange expression.

It came out as a sigh. “Deku.”

“Hmm?”

“I actually do have a type.”

Izuku stopped walking, heart dropping into his stomach. His friend followed suit, hands burrowing themselves in his pockets again. 

“You do?” 

He nodded, looking a little out of his depth. Izuku could tell because his jaw was tight, his shoulders angled away from him, his eyes trained downwards. To the reasonable observer, Kacchan would’ve looked bored, aloof, a little contemplative. But Izuku could see right through it.

“Yeah.” Kacchan was sounding less sure of himself now. Despite the uncertainty, he pressed on. “I do like strong guys, you were right about that. Strong enough that it scares me a little, makes me realise that maybe I’m not... that I’ve still got a lot left to prove. But it’s fine because it keeps me on my toes.” He breathed in deeply, tilting his head to the side. “It’s fine because I know that no matter what happens, they’ll always be by my side, even when I’m fucking everything up. Because-” he swallowed tightly. 

“Because they’ve seen all the worst parts of me, and they’re still there. They’re still fucking there. Despite everything, they’ve made it clear that they’re never even going to leave now that they’ve gotten so far. I think my type is someone who’s so goddamn self sacrificial and forgiving that it grates on my fucking nerves. Someone who sprinted at me because they saw me in danger even though they were fucking quirkless and I was nothing but an exceptional asshole to them the entire time. Someone who always looks at me like I hung the stars for them, even before things got better between us because he’s apparently a masochistic little shit.” Kacchan took in a shaky breath, finally risking a glance over at Izuku.

Izuku, who had said nothing, whose face was betraying nothing. Under the streetlight, Izuku looked utterly expressionless, apart from his widened transfixed eyes. For what felt like eternity, they remained locked in each other’s stare.

Until finally, the silence became unbearable. “...Deku?”

Izuku opened his mouth but found no words. “I-” The rest of the thoughts lodged themselves painfully in his throat. He could barely hear anything past the ringing in his ears.

Kacchan recoiled as if he’d been struck, whipping backwards as rejection painted itself all over his face. “Right, well, I’m s-”

And then the world came suddenly rushing back in, the crisp autumn air clearing the clutter in his head. “Um, I have a type too.” Izuku didn’t look at him.

Silence.

“Okay.” Kacchan rolled his shoulders back, that dejected expression never leaving. “What is it?” 

“Uh.” Izuku raised his arms, trying to articulate with the help of his very coherent hand gestures. “Temperamental, apparently. And a little emotionally constipated, but it’s okay because that’s just who they are and it’s definitely not as bad as it used to be. Um, I’ve always been used to it too, so it’s not something I couldn’t handle anyway. And - heh. I guess I like them strong too? A true hero who can win to save, and always have my back in battle, and keep me grounded when I’m panicking, and give me those little private smiles that are so rare but they’re so special to me, and um-” Izuku cut himself off at the absolutely floored expression Kacchan was giving him, those red eyes round with surprise. Should - should he make it clearer? “Um. You - they know me really well? Childhood friends? Red eyes? Last name Bakugou, first name - ah, you know I can’t say it. Kacchan, d-do you get what I’m trying to-”

Kacchan held Deku’s chin with his thumb and forefinger, looming over him. “Deku,” he said roughly, eyes dropping to Izuku’s lips. “Let’s stop beating around the bush.”

Heat rushed to Izuku’s face as he nodded vigorously. The streetlight above them was haloing Kacchan in a golden light, and Izuku thought that maybe the roof had collapsed over Hanazawa’s studio and he had died and was now living his best life in heaven, because there’s no way Kacchan could ever be looking at him like that. But then he was moving forward and Kacchan was leaning in, and when their lips met in the middle Izuku was certain that he’d never felt anything more real. 

He took Kacchan’s face in his hands, reveling in the softness of his skin and the realisation that he’s known him all his life but has never known just how tender Kacchan’s lips could be. He shuddered at the thought that he still had so much left to learn about him. That there was still so much left to explore. Izuku became weightless and untethered, Kacchan holding him down like a lifeline, those warm hands pressed insistently against Izuku’s back, pulling him in impossibly closer.

It’s only when Kacchan began sliding his tongue in between Izuku’s lips to kiss him more deeply that Izuku pulled away, breathless. Crimson eyes stared back at him, but the sheer lack of distance between their faces was making Izuku cross-eyed.

“W-wait. Kacchan?” he asked, cringing at the way his voice sounded absolutely ragged.

Kacchan took a second to just look at him, probably admiring his handwork. He kissed the corner of Izuku’s lips as if he couldn’t really help himself. “What?” Izuku was comforted to hear that Kacchan sounded just as wrecked.

“Does this mean you like me?”

“Oh my fucking god.” Kacchan pulled back, his expression melting into annoyance again. “You are the dumbest motherfucker to ever walk this earth, I swear to god, Deku.”

Izuku blinked. “Saying things like that is not really helping your case, Kacchan.”

Kacchan just shut his eyes for a quick second at this, mouth twisting briefly into one of his rare smiles, his expression uncharacteristically fond. “Look. I don’t go around confessing my feelings and kissing people in a park like some fucking sap to just anyone.” Then, brushing a stray curl away from Izuku’s forehead, he tacked on a truly affectionate: “Dumbass.”

The words made Izuku feel instantly giddy, and the goofy smile on his face did absolutely nothing to hide it. “I’d really hope not,” he whispered, going on his tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek. “I would have some choice words for them.”

“Jealous much?” And then he was pulling him in again, drinking Izuku in like he couldn’t get enough. “Oi,” he said in-between kisses, his voice octaves lower than normal, “you’d better not still be thinking of watching that lame TV show when we get back to my place.”

“K-Kacchan!” Izuku didn’t know what he looked like, but judging from how unbearably hot his face was he knew he looked positively crimson. “Eager much?”

“Shuddup, I’ve wanted this for so long.” He finally broke away, stepping back slightly. “Unless, uh, you don’t want to-”

“No!” Izuku immediately grabbed onto Kacchan’s hand, interlacing their fingers and giving him a reassuring squeeze. The warmth of his hand sent tingles down Izuku’s spine, which in turn only made him smile wider. “I mean- I do. Want to. But um, I’m just saying that we could, y’know… multitask too?”

When it clicked in Kacchan’s head, he groaned and buried his face in his free hand. “I’m not having sex with you with a fucking Ms. Joke show playing in the background, what the fuck? Why am I so attracted to you? I want a refund.”

Laughing, Izuku practically skipped all the way to Kacchan’s house. “I’m just joking, Kacchan geez!” Half-joking, but he doesn’t need to know that.  

They might not have won the game show, but by the end of the night they had bared themselves so openly to one another that there were finally, finally no more secrets left between them.