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For Izuku, There was nothing quite like waking up to an argument between his partners.
"Katsuki, you were the last one to go in-"
"What, so now I broke the fucking thing?"
"That's not what I was going to say-"
"No, but it's what you were implying so fuck you anyway!"
Arguments between Shouto and Kacchan were a common occurrence, and by now Izuku had a bit of a game plan when they happened. It only worked about half the time, but it was better than nothing.
So before Izuku attempted to intervene, step one was simple: eavesdrop.
"You know, I don't even know why I fucking told you-"
"Well, maybe it's because-"
"STOP CUTTING ME OFF, ICYHOT!"
"But that's what you JUST did to me a minute ago!"
Okay, screw the game plan; Shouto raising his voice was never a good sign, and the argument would only escalate. So Izuku did what he was known for, and ran into the situation headfirst: distraction first, questions later.
Slipping out of bed, he padded over to the door. He considered trying to enter the situation quietly, but the voices were rising by the second and he ditched that thought. The door creaked as it always did when it was opened a bit too quickly, and soon Izuku was setting out to find the source of the commotion. It seemed to be coming from... the bathroom?
Distraction first, questions later.
"... how did the toilet seat crack?"
Well, Izuku never was good at following the plan.
Shouto turned his head towards him and sighed. "Did we wake you up? I'm sorry, it's just that Katsuki broke-"
"For the last time, I. Did. Not. Break the Fucking. Seat!"
With that, the two started arguing again as Izuku tried to decide whether to laugh or groan. That was it? That was why these two were arguing? This is what he'd been worried about?
He heard a mini explosion and jumped a bit.
When Izuku found himself shoved away from the door and into Shouto as their explosive boyfriend stomped out of the bathroom- maybe he'd been right to be a bit worried.
--------
For Shouto, there was nothing quite like the atmosphere this cramped, run down apartment provided. For most of his life, he'd never known that this feeling of peace, of joy, of having to force himself to not smile like a loon all the time instead of having to construct a poorly made "I'm Alright" face to show to the world, could even exist. Yet, here he was; he smiled with every kiss, every touch, every night he went to sleep and every morning he woke up to with the two halves of his world in his arms.
, and perhaps that in itself was a miracle all on its own.
Now, he smiled as his explosive boyfriend stomped around the kitchen. On their days off, the rule was that lunch would be made by Katsuki, and only Katsuki - no exceptions. Breakfast was whatever they got their hands on and dinner was made by all of them together. It was a strange routine, one of those things that he never remembered how it started.
Arms wrapped around his neck from behind as a kiss was pressed to his cheek, bringing Shouto out of his thoughts. He turned his head to return the favor.
"Mm." Shouto sighed in contentment, basking in the attention Izuku gave him. Half of his world held him in his arms willingly, and that still sometimes surprised him. "I don't deserve this," he whispered, an afterthought.
He immediately regretted the words after feeling Izuku freeze, making Shouto freeze as well- literally.
"Sorry, sorry, oh my God-" the ice was melted, but his face burned with embarrassment. He thought these slip ups wouldn't happen anymore, but here he was messing up again
Hands framed his face, and his mental panic ceased. But he couldn't look anywhere but down, because God this was so embarrassing and
"Shouto," Izuku whispered, "Shouto, Shoucchan, look at me. Please?"
How could he refuse that?
Heterochromic eyes slowly raised to meet green.
"I love you", Izuku said, the conviction in his voice startling Shouto.
"I-"
"No, listen". Izuku brought his face closer, their foreheads touching. "I love you," he repeated, still looking Shouto straight in the eye, "Kacchan and I both love you, and we always will".
Shouto's eyes closed, and his face was stretching an awful lot, his smile was probably terrifying. The words were simple, but they meant the world to him. He hadn't needed a "you deserve everything", nor had he wanted it. Of course, Izuku had known.
"Hey idiots, stop flirting over there! If the food gets cold before we eat I'll kick both your asses!"
"Ah, sorry Kacchan!" Moment now dispelled, Izuku took his seat at the table as Katsuki brought over the food.
A peaceful silence ensued as they ate, the delicious scent of food replacing the tension from moments before.
-------
For Katsuki, there was nothing quite like the nights he shared with his partners.
Deku and Shouto used to try staying up with him, but that stopped when they both stumbled into work looking like zombies one morning and were chewed out by their boss when Katsuki stayed up binge watching the latest season for Game of Thrones. He'd almost managed not to laugh his ass off when Shitty Hair texted him about it on his break. Almost.
He huffed out a laugh now, remembering his own amusement when he'd mentioned the situation off hand. Then stopped, remembering the fight that had come after.
But that was the past, and now Katsuki’s nights weren't so restless anymore; even if they were, he found that he liked being in bed with his two sleeping idiots. He'd learned that Shouto snored in his sleep, and Deku constantly mumbled. Katsuki once heard him say “I broke my desk again, I can't afford a new one”, and he might've died that night.
Katsuki peeked over at the clock on the nightstand. 1:45 AM; he exhaled loudly. It was going to be one of those nights. He threw his arm over his two idiots and stuck his face in the crook of Shouto’s neck. These two were dead to the world when they slept; a hurricane wouldn't wake them up.
Which was why he was surprised when Shouto suddenly rolled over to face him, eyes wide open, and definitely not why Katsuki almost fell over the side of the bed.
After he graciously allowed Shouto to finish laughing at him, he asked, “why’re you up?”
A pause, then a mumbled reply, “Can't sleep”.
“Can't sleep,” Katsuki echoed, raising a brow. “Shouto” and “sleep” were almost synonymous.
There was a silence as Katsuki waited for his partner to talk. Patience; that was one of the things he was slowly learning in this relationship.
“...I'm sorry.”
“For what?” He knew, of course; but he also knew that Shouto was too sensitive for his own damned good and this probably was eating at him the whole day. While they were both improving, Katsuki and Shoto still had a long way to go before communication wasn't an issue anymore. But that didn't mean that he couldn't meet his partner halfway.
“... the toilet seat. It wasn't your fault, and I kept telling you it was even after I saw how angry it made you-”
“Well,” Katsuki interjected, “You weren't so peachy yourself, with me waking you up about the situation.”
He could feel his boyfriend's confusion. “What-?”
“So it-it doesn't fucking matter anymore. I'm not… angry.” At this point, Katsuki was almost digging a hole into his pillow, face burning.
But it seemed to be enough for Shouto, who was quiet for a second, then tugged Katsuki even closer, whispering an “okay”.
He closed his eyes and was snoring again in a matter of seconds, which made Katsuki wonder how he hadn't noticed the absence of it for the time his partner wasn't sleeping. He peeked over on Deku's side of the bed- in case he also had a case of “can't sleep”- but the nerd seemed to be sound asleep from what he could see.
The sound of wind caught his attention, and Katsuki suddenly remembered that there was supposed to be some sort of storm tonight. The weather was supposed to be abysmal, temperatures dropping to almost freezing.
And that was when he realized: He was warm, warmer than he usually was. There was no chance of cold invading their safe cocoon of blankets and tangled limbs, and it made Katsuki think back to previous years of restless nights. He'd always been annoyed or frustrated. Most important of all, he'd been alone. It wasn't until his two idiots wormed their way into living in his crappy apartment did he know what it was like to share these nights with someone else.
And he was eager to share his mornings and afternoons with them too, whether it was through physical contact or a simple back and forth text conversation.
Katsuki’s eyes closed on their own now; he had things to look forward to tomorrow.
------
The sound of an alarm ringing in his ear was what woke Izuku up.
He screwed his eyes shut for a minute or so, willing himself to wake up a bit;
“Turn off the fucking alarm!”
Kacchan had woken up to the sound too. Izuku blindly grabbed at the side of his pillow for his phone and his fingers fumbled to swipe his work alarm off. He sat up then, yawning loudly as he stretched. Bones cracked and popped as he let out a sigh mixed with exhaustion and satisfaction.
At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself when he stayed in his spot. He felt himself slowly slipping down next to Shouto’s sleeping form again and this was it, he wasn’t going into work today-
The smack of a pillow caught him by surprise.
“Get your lazy ass up, you’re the idiot who thought it’d be the best fucking idea to take the early shift!”
Izuku huffed, but still rolled off his side of the bed- only to lose his balance and land on his butt with a bump. He heard laughter and glared halfheartedly over the bedside. “That wasn’t funny.”
“The fuck are you talking about, that was fucking hilarious!”
Izuku pouted, concentrating on not letting his lips turn upward. “What if I really got hurt?”
“...I don’t have to think about it, since I’d never let that happen.”
A double take confirmed that Kacchan was looking away, his neck and ears flushed. A silence hung in the air, but Izuku didn’t find it uncomfortable. He smiled then; his prickly partner surprised him every day with roses in the midst of the thorns.
The sun rose as it always did, its light casting warmth on the trio. The dawn was only the beginning of another blessed day.