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Katsuki Bakugo was not a liar but he wasn’t very good at admitting things either. Which was why he would never admit that he had been briefly distracted because he’d been staring at Izuku--Deku, of all people. He hadn’t been staring, either. He had simply wondered if the stupid walking thermostat had finally decided to use his fire during their training session. He had been curious to know if part of the reason Deku had faltered was because he was thinking too damn much and hadn’t remembered where to put his stupid feet when he landed.
Not that he was curious about anything Deku did.
Although he would admit that he was mildly surprised when he saw Deku not just stumble but take a block of ice to the chest and be thrown across the training ring.
His surprise was quickly replaced by annoyance when Kirishima managed to slam a lucky punch against his stomach.
Katsuki grunted, pushed back a couple steps.
Across from him, Kirishima was beaming.
“That must be a first, eh?” Kirishima wheedled, eyebrows lifting. Something must’ve been in Katsuki’s expression because Kirishima’s joy shifted into concern. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Get back into the fight,” Katsuki growled.
But neither of them could.
Aizawa was calling the training fight between Todoroki and Deku to a halt. It seemed Deku was being a little too slow to climb out of the small crater he’d made. Now it was Kirishima’s turn to be distracted. Unlike Katsuki, he could easily admit things. He could also admit when he was worried.
“What do you think is wrong?”
“What does it matter?” Katsuki retorted.
Kirishima shot him a quick look. It made Katsuki ruffle, some of the concern that had crossed his mind must’ve crossed his face. Not that he was concerned. He’d seen Deku get thrown through a metal wall before. A couple ice cubes wouldn’t slow him down.
In fact, Deku was already waving both Aizawa and Todoroki off. He had a rather wobbly smile on his face--it seemed off to Katsuki. He straightened on shaky legs but managed to convince their teacher that he was fine and the training could continue. Katsuki couldn’t see how anyone bought it.
“He doesn’t look too good,” Kirishima murmured.
Apparently, it was so obvious that even Kirishima noticed.
If Katsuki was at all honest, he would be able to say exactly why he and Kirishima both were so hyper-aware of Deku.
A little less than two weeks ago, Kirishima had cornered him in his dormroom and dropped a weight on his chest that he hadn’t been able to shake off. What was worse was that he couldn’t lie about it even if he tried.
“You like Midoriya, don’t you?” Kirishima had asked, eyes wide and over-bright. There was no anger behind his words, instead there was a deep interest that was hinting at a specific point that he had to push Katsuki toward.
Katsuki had spluttered and raged almost instantly. He was sure that Kirishima was about to accuse him of having impure thoughts or being willing to cheat on their relationship.
It had taken them their entire first year of UA and two months into the second to admit that they liked each other as more than friends. Katsuki had been damn determined to prove that he could support and care for Kirishima better than anyone else. A missing piece had clicked together inside of his chest but there was still something missing--something he didn’t want to acknowledge or even peek at. Lest he hurt Kirishima and himself in the process.
But that hadn’t been Kirishima’s goal at all. Far from it, actually.
“I… sort of like him too,” Kirishima had muttered, effectively cutting off Katsuki’s blurted curses. “I’ve been… God, I’ve been thinking about it for, like, months and I had no idea how to tell you. And what kind of a man in an awesome relationship would even consider someone else?”
Katsuki clammed up, crossed his arms over his chest and attempted to shove himself as far into his pillows as it was possible to be. He had, once, thought about the possibility of dating Deku and he had deeply hated himself for it.
There was only minor relief that Kirishima had thought it too.
“So I figured, I’d just not talk about it? Cause I didn’t want to be a dick. Like, everyone has thoughts, right?” Kirishima bowled forward, either not noticing or choosing to ignore Katsuki’s emotional battle. “Then I noticed that you’ve been staring at him a lot lately--and like, that’s not weird either you guys have known each other forever--but it’s more than your normal staring. You’re not even glaring anymore.”
Katsuki knew that if he let Kirishima continue he’d wind himself into circles until he was too dizzy to go forward. The words and half-assed confession were kind of a garbled mess anyway. He let out an explosive sigh.
“Okay, I guess, whatever,” he grumbled to his chest, chin tucked down and glaring at his own knees. “A little.”
Kirishima perked up in seconds. “So we both like him,” he confirmed.
The hard jerk of Katsuki’s head was counted as a yes and Kirishima launched into the heavy conversation of including a third person in their relationship.
Katsuki was incredibly surprised to learn that Kirishima had done a ton of research into the topic already. He had visited countless websites and even checked out a couple books from a nearby library (since he didn’t want to embarass himself by getting anything from the school). He was insistent that Katsuki be open and honest--eventually hitting Katsuki over the head with a pillow when Katsuki only grunted at him.
“Communication is important in all relationships,” Kirishima had shouted,
whacking the bed with Katsuki’s pillow. “You and Midoriya have a huge problem with keeping everything bottled up. How am I supposed to know if someone is unhappy with something if ya don’t say it!”
“Learn to mind read,” Katsuki muttered. It earned him a pillow to the face.
Only once Kirishima was satisfied that Katsuki had ‘communication’ drilled into his head
did he move on. Obviously, it all hinged on whether or not Deku even liked either of them back. And that was the sticking point. Neither of them knew whether or not they should just ask.
Kirishima had suggested talking to Iida, Uraraka or even Todoroki, once.
Once.
After that, they had stewed and debated courting tactics. Katsuki knew the fastest way to Deku’s heart was hero merch and knowledge but Kirishima was thinking more romantic. Coffee dates, flowers, chocolates. Katsuki had scoffed but then he pictured Deku’s face going bright red and him tumbling over his words in thanks and he had to admit that it was a pretty cute image.
The only person he admitted it to was Kirishima, who was beyond delighted.
Since that conversation and a couple, less dramatic ones after that, they had only been left to their thoughts. They couldn’t proceed and it was making Katsuki intensely aware of the attraction he had been vehemently denying for years. Which was only making him grumpy--well, grumpi-er.
Now, during training, Katsuki’s heart gave a funny little squeeze when he saw Deku take a step forward and stop with a brief shake. Beside him, Kirishima made an aborted movement as if reaching out toward Deku.
“He looks like shit,” Katsuki finally agreed.
Training passed fairly quickly after that. Deku and Todoroki moved on to a sort of hide-and-seek race instead--seemingly at Todoroki’s suggestion. A couple other students were pulled into it too. Kirishima and Katsuki joined, if only to keep an eye on Deku.
Katsuki caught up to Deku while he was ‘it’. Up close, he could see that Deku was pale under his freckles and sweaty. He clicked his tongue and tapped Deku’s shoulder.
“Ah, Kacchan! You caught me so quickly,” Deku gasped, dropping his hands to his knees to take a steadying breath.
“No, you’re just slow as fuck today,” Katsuki grumbled.
Deku laughed, sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his head. “Probably jogged too long this morning,” he muttered, half-hearted.
Before Katsuki could question him, Aizawa ended the class. They were released to the locker rooms. With just enough time to shower, the students cleaned up and returned to their classroom to Mic’s English lesson.
Katsuki felt like his ears were burning with how hard he was trying to listen to Deku behind him. There was no incessant mumbling, no attempts at answering any of Mic’s questions and the normal rapid scratching of Deku’s pen was slowed and paused often. He was so sure something was wrong--stress, maybe a cold? There was an endless list of things that could send Deku off his groove.
It was getting on Katsuki’s nerves trying to guess.
During lunch, Kirishima settled next to Katsuki, frowning down the table Deku.
“He’s barely eating,” he whispered.
“Probably not hungry,” Katsuki repeated, quietly.
Kaminari leaned forward across the table. “What secrets are we sharing today, lovebirds?” He stage-whispered behind his hand.
The noise instantly caught Mina and Sero’s attention.
For the rest of lunch, Katsuki and Kirishima had to defend themselves from the rest of the group’s attention and couldn’t check on Deku once. Katsuki was sure that he heard Uraraka needle Deku about his lack of eating but couldn’t confirm it.
The rest of the day passed in a haze. By the time they were released and were trudging back to the dorms, Katsuki was practically vibrating with irritation and curiousity. He didn’t even get the chance to question Deku since the nerd disappeared to his room the second he reached the dorm building. For the rest of the night, he didn’t come down, not even for dinner.
Iida, Uraraka, Tsuyu and Todoroki all sequestered themselves in the common room, looking worried and discussing the best way to see what was wrong with their mutual friend.
“--sick?” Iida’s voice caught Katsuki’s attention.
“Did he say that?” Uraraka asked, concern wrinkling her brow.
“He did look pale,” Todoroki pointed out.
Katsuki shifted in his seat. He was stuck watching Kaminari and Sero battle it out in some racing video game. He hadn’t been paying attention and wasn’t about to start. Beside him, Kirishima was squinting at the television screen--having some kind of internal dehlema.
Finally, fed up, Katsuki pushed off the couch. He grabbed Kirishima’s wrist and yanked him with, all but stalking to the stairs.
‘Ooh’s and cat-calls followed them.
“Don’t be too loud! I might have to send a complaint to the class president,” Kaminari taunted.
“No untoward behavior in the dorms!” Iida squawked, not wanting any kind of complaint sent his way.
Katsuki ignored them, taking the stairs two at a time, heedless of Kirishima scrambling behind him.
“Dude? Bro, where are we going?”
“Deku’s,” Katsuki clipped.
Kirishima’s eyes widened. Determination cut across his features a second later. He shifted his wrist in Katsuki’s hand so he could thread their fingers together instead.
Confronted with Deku’s door on the second floor, Katsuki hesitated. He could’ve been over-thinking it. Could’ve let himself be swept up in stupid thoughts. That just irritated him. He had better things to think about.
Except, he really didn’t.
In the space of a couple days, he and Kirishima had admitted a mutual interest in Deku, he had admitted to himself that he actually gave a shit and now he was worried about Deku’s health. At the very least, Deku couldn’t work on being a proper hero if he wasn’t taking care of himself.
Leave it to Deku to ignore the flu to keep jogging during the winter time.
Kirishima covered Katsuki’s hesitation by reaching up and knocking on Deku’s door.
There was a long stretch of silence, then a soft shuffling came from the otherside.
“Hang on,” Deku called, muffled.
When the silence returned and threatened to continue, Katsuki glared. He lifted his free hand and slammed his palm against the wood.
“Goodness, hold on!” Deku called again.
The door was pulled open and it was all Katsuki could do to not pull back. Deku’s cheeks were splotched red but the rest of him was impossibly pale. He was sweating and seemed to teetering slightly to the left.
“Kacchan? Kirishima?” Deku blinked at them, bewildered. “What is it?”
Kirishima spluttered and floundered. Once he found his voice he asked, “are you sick?”
Deku’s eyes widened. Guilt passed over his face but was quickly squashed behind a sheepish sort of nonchalance.
“What? Me? No, I’m fine,” Deku replied. “I just… got done exercising.”
“It’s almost nine at night,” Kirishima said.
“Ah, well, it’s supposed to be cold tomorrow so I didn’t want to jog in the morning,” Deku attempted.
“It was colder this morning, but I still saw you on the track,” Katsuki stated. He was glaring and didn’t make any attempt to stop.
Deku’s jaw clicked with how quickly he closed his mouth.
“Dude… Seriously, you don’t look good,” Kirishima said, voice soft, almost cajoling.
“I’m fine,” Deku insisted. “I--I have a lot of homework. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Katsuki’s hand shot out, stopping the door from closing on them. He pushed forward, ignoring Deku’s squeak of protest. He glanced at the desk, Deku’s pile of homework was neatly stacked and put away for the night.
“Sit on your bed,” he ordered.
“Kacchan, I’m--”
Deku quelled under the weight of Katsuki’s stare. He glanced between them and shuffled over to sit.
“Go get the med kit from my room,” Katsuki told Kirishima.
Kirishima didn’t need to be told twice. Deku’s protests followed him out the door.
“Kacchan, I’m really okay,” Deku attempted.
Katsuki didn’t say anything as he moved to turn the heat up. He found one of Deku’s
water bottles tucked into his backpack and went to fill it up in the small bathroom. The more he did, the more flustered Deku became. Thankfully, he didn’t try speaking again until Katsuki threw a thick sweater at his head.
“What are you doing here?” Deku asked through the fabric.
“Because you look like shit.”
Deku’s eyes peeked over the sweater, glaring. “I keep hearing that,” he grumbled.
Katsuki frowned at the ceiling. The urging to be open and honest nagged at the back of his brain. He dropped his gaze back to Deku. What the fuck could he possibly say that didn’t make him sound like a total loser. He didn’t realize he was glaring darkly until Deku dropped his eyes and quickly pulled on the sweater.
“Kirishima was worried about you,” Katsuki attempted.
Somehow, when Deku’s head popped through the sweater’s neckhoke, his hair was even messier than before. He was frowning slightly, but in a nervous-guilty sort of way.
“Worried about me?” Deku repeated, casting his eyes to the door.
Katsuki jerked his head in a nod. He shoved the water bottle into Deku’s hands.
“...too,” he mumbled through the first word.
Deku’s eyes went impossibly wide. If they were watery, he could blame it on the cold. His lower lip wobbling slightly could not be.
“You too?” Deku breathed, hardly daring to believe it.
Katsuki clicked his tongue. He forcibly pushed Deku’s legs under the blankets and tugged them up to his chest.
“Just sit there,” Katsuki said. He turned to the door just as it opened.
Kirishima must’ve raided Katsuki’s entire room for supplies. He was overloaded with cold medicine, pills, cold compresses and hot patches. He’d even dragged a hot water bottle from somewhere. He had a thermometer trapped between his teeth.
“Damn, you didn’t have to bring the entire pharmacy!” Katsuki complained. He
held out his hand, palm up.
Kirishima dropped the thermometer into his hand.
“I didn’t know what to bring! I haven’t been sick since middle school,” Kirishima
explained, dumping the load on Deku’s desk.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, “whatever. Check his temperature. I’m gonna go downstairs.”
“Wait, why?” Deku asked, obviously horrified that Katsuki might be going to drag
more people into the situation.
“Tea and some soup,” Katsuki said shortly. He closed the door behind him with a
click.
In what must’ve been record time, he had a thermos of tea and a bowl of soup made. He covered the bowl with a plate to ensure it didn’t spill too much.
“Ooh, who is dinner for?” Mina asked, her bubble gum pink head popping up from
the couch. Like a series of groundhogs, a couple other students popped as well.
“Shove off,” Katsuki replied.
“Feeding your boyfriend?” Kaminari pressed, drawing the last word out in a
sing-song sort of way.
Katsuki shot a glare at them, continuing his path to the stairs.
“Is that… for Deku-kun?” Uraraka voiced, hesitant.
For a second, Katsuki paused. The rest of the common room went silent, staring at his back with such intensity that Katsuki was sure his shirt would catch fire. He growled under his breath.
“Yes,” he grit out.
There was an instant uproar. Uraraka and Iida asked if he was sick. Mina declared that she was going to text Kirishima and Kaminari said he was squaring up to defend his bro’s honor. Sero was holding both of them by the collar of their shirts, stopping them from launching off the couch.
Katsuki power walked to the stairs and disappeared up them. A whole new mess would greet him if he ever left Deku’s room. Permanently barricading him in the nerd’s room didn’t sound too bad. He slipped through Deku’s door and firmly locked the door behind him.
In the time that he been had gone, Kirishima had managed to slap a cold compress onto Deku’s forehead, convinced him to finish half the water bottle and had shoved the thermometer into his mouth.
“Ah, dude, that smells good,” Kirishima said, whisking the bowl away to carefully balance it over Deku’s knees.
Deku attempted to speak but Kirishima stopped him.
“Don’t talk while that’s in your mouth,” he said, with the clipped severity of a tired parent.
The concern was almost endearing and made Katsuki’s stomach flutter. He chose to set the thermos on Deku’s nightstand instead of address the feeling.
The second the thermometer beeped, Kirishima whipped it out of Deku’s mouth. His brows furrowed and his mouth curved downward dramatically.
“Dude,” Kirishima sighed. He held the thermometer out to Katsuki.
Katsuki cursed.
“Deku,” he hissed.
Deku quailed and ducked his head, hands curling around the soup bowl.
“You’re almost seven degrees above what you’re supposed to be. That’s a fever,” Katsuki got out. “How did you let it get this bad?”
“I--” Deku attempted.
“I’m surprised you haven’t fainted, you idiot!” Katsuki chided, his angry concern at Deku being so sick building up so fast it was almost blinding.
Kirishima dropped a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder.
“Midoriya,” Kirishima started, quiet and gentle in counterpart to Katsuki’s fury.
A shudder rocked through Deku’s shoulders.
“Midoriya, I’ve never seen you get this sick. What’s happening? Is everything okay?”
The last question seemed to break whatever was left of Deku’s resolve. He hiccupped, shoulders quivering. When he spoke, his voice was watery and neither of them needed to see his face to know that it was tear-streaked.
“I have to keep working! I can’t afford to be sick! My internship--I want to do so much and I can’t let the pro heroes down since it’s such a small agency so I’ve taken a ton of extra shifts. And with exams coming up, I have to study. All the recent school work has been crazy hard! I don’t know how I’m going to pass.
“And All Might said that--All Might told me--”
Deku cut himself off. The ringing silence after his sudden deluge was almost painful. It was only broken when Deku pulled in a shuddering breath.
“I’m not where I’m supposed to be,” he finished in such a tiny voice that Katsuki and Kirishima had to lean forward slightly to hear.
Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek.
The rest of it he knew Deku could power through but the moment All Might suggested that Deku should train more, he knew Deku would drive himself into the ground to appease their idol and mentor. He realized at that moment that he had seen Deku awake before him multiple times that week alone, jogging the grounds. He had even overheard him tell multiple training partners to ‘not hold back’ but framed it as practice for the partner, not himself.
“Deku…” Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I didn’t think I was that bad,” Deku added in a rush.
Kirishima shot Katsuki a look. He took a step forward, then another and sat on the edge of Deku’s bed. He moved his hand to rest on Deku’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, dude,” Kirishima said with just a dash of brightness.
Deku pulled his head up, confused. His face was incredibly red and huge, fat, tears were still leaking from his eyes. He looked utterly miserable.
“What?”
“Look, no one can stop you, ever,” Kirishima explained. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to take care of you.”
“You don’t--”
“I know we don’t have to,” Kirishima interrupted. “We want to.”
Deku sniffled, looking between them. “Why?” He croaked.
“Well, because, well…” Kirishima tilted his head to meet Katsuki’s eyes, teetering on a edge neither of them could come back from if they tried.
“Because we like you,” Katsuki stated. He crossed his arms over his chest and practically glowered at Deku--almost demanding that Deku understand the heaviness behind his words. He expected a rejection or even for Deku to play dumb and assume it was just friendship.
After all, friends cared for each other all the time. But Katsuki needed Deku to know that it wasn’t friendship that he and Kirishima were talking about.
What he didn’t expect was for Deku to break into sobs.
Kirishima looked horrified. He moved his hands, caught between touching Deku and giving him space. He opted to take the bowl out of Deku’s lap to join the tea on the nightstand.
“Why do you have to say that?” Deku wailed.
“Wha-what do you mean?” Kirishima squeaked.
Deku buried his face in his hands, the sleeves of his sweater quickly becoming soaked with tears and snot.
“You two are together already! I c-can’t ruin that! I d-don’t want to break you up! You two are so good together and so h-happy.”
“Why would we break up?” Katsuki questioned.
“B-because! I can’t date both of you at the same time!” Came Deku’s tearful reply.
How Kirishima managed to smile right at that moment was beyond Katsuki. He was full on grinning.
“Why not?” Kirishima asked, amusement behind his words.
“Don’t laugh,” Deku sniffed. “Three people can’t date. It’s cheating.”
“What if we both want to date you?”
“That--it--” Deku sputtered to a stop. If Katsuki didn’t know any better, he would swear that he was attempting to smother himself in his sleeves.
Kirishima shifted his weight and slid his arm over Deku’s shoulder. He pulled him close to his side, his smile only growing when Deku willingly went with the action, almost curling closer to him.
“Look, this way isn’t the right time to say it but… Katsuki and I both like you,” Deku hiccupped but Kirishima went on, “and we both like each other too. It isn’t cheating. We’ve already talked about it.”
Unbearably slow, Deku lifted his face. If he wasn’t red before, he was practically a tomato now.
“You have?”
Kirishima nodded, “we have. We… wanted to talk to you but couldn’t figure out how.”
“And you’re picking now?” Deku squeaked furiously. “I look terrible!”
Kirishima laughed.
The warm bright sound and Deku’s words yanked a smile out of Katsuki. He remained still, letting Kirishima speak. It was easier that way.
“I wanted to take you to the beach. Katsuki wanted to buy you an All Might hoodie.”
Deku goggled at him and Katsuki stiffened. He pursed his lips and glared at Deku’s wall.
“I-I’d like either of those,” Deku whispered.
“Then! When you’re all better, Katsuki and I will treat you to the best first date ever!”
“Until then, you’re staying in that bed,” Katsuki snapped, bringing his eyes back to Deku. “I don’t want to spend the next class listening to you snurf all day.”
Deku tilted his head to look around Kirishima at the bowl of soup. He held his hands out for it and Kirishima handed it over.
“So… It’s not bad that I like both of you?” Deku voiced, just enough wobble in his tone that it was clear he had been agonizing about that thought for an impossibly long time. “That I wanna… date both of you.”
“No, it’s not bad,” Katsuki said, uncrossing his arms and taking a seat by Deku’s feet.
“It’s super great, actually,” Kirishima added.
A massive, relieved sigh left Deku. His shoulders sagged with the weight being lifted off of them.
“I feel better already,” Deku announced, one of his star-bright smiles taking hold of his face.