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“Oof Izu, seriously you need some variety. I mean look at this! All Might, All Might, All Might, Wings, All Might, English. There isn’t a single dress shirt in sight! What are you going to do when you have to accept awards? Or do interviews?” Mina was pulling shirts out and throwing them behind her shoulder, Izuku desperately trying to catch them. “Wear my hero costume?” Mina glanced at him briefly then turned back to his closet. “Yeah you got me there, didn’t really think that through.” It was the day of his first date (a date! A real date!) with Katsuki and some of the girls in 1-A had come over to his house to… help him choose an outfit. So far all they had really done was insult his fashion sense.
Ochako picked up a mishandled All Might tank top and handed it back to a grateful Izuku. “We should broaden your wardrobe though if we’re being serious for a moment. It’s important to have a full wardrobe for all occasions just in case.” She giggled, pressing her fingertips together, a tick Izuku noticed she did a lot even outside of activating her quirk. It was rather adorable honestly and gave a sense of innocence to her that complimented her very round face. “I thought we were here to help not bash his confidence into the ground.” Tsuyu moved to stand next to Mina, tapping her lip thoughtfully with one large finger. “Here, this shirt is fine.” She pulled out a plain yellow shirt with “Shirt” written in kanji across the front.(1) “Whaaat? But it’s boring!” Mina whined, trying to swipe the shirt from Tsuyu’s grip, but the other hastily pulled it away. “We have no idea where Bakugou is taking them for this date, but we can guess it’s somewhere active. He needs to be dressed simple and comfortable with the ability to maneuver around if needed. Can you imagine if we put him in a dress shirt and they go somewhere like rock climbing? Bakugou will throw him over the wall.” Izuku took the proffered cloth thankfully and nodded. “I doubt Kacchan is going to take us somewhere fancy or over the top. Most likely it’s something like paintball or I don’t know, a villain simulator. Or something along those lines.”
In all honesty, Izuku was nervous as hell. There was absolutely no telling what Katsuki had planned and he was feeling somewhat nauseous. He didn’t really handle unknowns very well, especially when it was in regards to Katsuki. But right next to that anxiety was the flutter of anticipation and excitement. He had wanted this for so long but never allowed himself to actually believe it could happen, because let’s be honest here. Him with Kacchan after everything that had happened in their past? It was almost laughable but here they were, going on an honest to God date. Izuku zoned back into his surroundings to Mina waving a pair of black shorts in his face. “Hellooo? Earth to Izuku?” Izuku smiled sheepishly and took the shorts, turning to the bathroom to change as the girls sat in his room waiting for him to return with the verdict. When he did come back Mina and Ochako turned their heads to the right simultaneously while Tsuyu gave two thumbs up. “Yep, looks good.” Ochako pressed her fingertips together again and Mina gave a boisterous laugh and threw herself backwards on Izuku’s bed. “We’re awesome!” She exclaimed loudly and Izuku had to hold in a laugh himself.
A soft knock on Izuku’s door had them turning to see Inko poking her head in hesitantly. Izuku, honey it’s almost 10. Weren’t you supposed to meet Katsuki at the bus stop by 10:30?” Izuku yelped and dashed around the room, collecting his house keys, wallet, and cell phone. He squawked out a thank you interspersed with a goodbye, kissed his mom on the cheek and practically exploded out his front door in an anxious bid to make it to the bus stop on time. He would need to sprint quite a bit of the way to make it. Why didn’t he set an alarm like his gut told him to? He knew how bad at time management he was, why did he trust himself to keep up with the time?!
As he came to the top of the hill the bus stop was on, he could see Katsuki just ahead, standing in his normal slouched position with his hands in his pockets. He was dressed in casual clothes as well, a black v-neck with a blue jean jacket over it, jeans and black converse with red laces. To Izuku however, he looked especially sharp. Maybe it was the circumstances making him view things in a different way, but he could have sorn Katsuki’s clothes were a little more ironed out, his hair a little more styled. Izuku could honestly say he felt a little underdressed even though he knew intellectually that they were wearing the same quality of clothing. Hearing his footsteps approaching, Katsuki turned towards him and looked him up and down. He nodded a bit as if approving of something as Izuku bent over with his hands on his knees, gulping for air.
“Cutting it a little close aren’t you?” Katsuki mumbled and Izuku felt his face heat with a light blush. “A little.” He admitted sheepishly just as the bus turned the corner to their stop. They didn’t say anything as the bus pulled up, nor when they were depositing their change to get on, or a few minutes after sitting down in the middle of the bus. There were a few others aboard the bus. A man who had some sort of animal quirk (though no animal Izuku recognized off the top of his head) an elderly man with a briefcase next to him, and a woman with a toddler a few seats ahead of them. The toddler was sitting backwards, facing towards the teen boys, his eyes reminiscent of a snake blinking at them. Katsuki glanced over at Izuku who was rubbing his hands nervously on his jeans. “Don’t you want to know where we’re going?” Izuku’s face was halting, but he nodded anyway. “...the Hero Park.” Izuku’s mouth dropped open and his entire face lit up. The Hero Park was a fairly new amusement park that just opened a few towns over. Everything from the rides, the food, the games all of it was Hero themed with random hero trivia cut outs in all the waiting lines. Izuku had been wanting to visit for a while, but it was pricey and a Izuku was pretty tight with his spendings.
“Kacchan…”
The wonder in Izuku’s voice made Katsuki’s hands start smoking a bit, his face heating. “Don’t overthink it Deku I wanted to go for a long time-.”
“Deku!”
Both boys snapped forward towards the toddler now beaming in their direction, finger pointing at Izuku. Then he pointed at Bakugou and lifted his hands. He screamed “DIE!” Before making explosion noises, shaking his palms. Izuku his face behind his hands, trying to control his laughter as the toddler continued his very accurate imitation of Katsuki. The toddlers mother seemed startled and shushed him, turning sheepishly. “Sorry, he loves watching the UA showcase.” She said as way of an explanation. Katsuki just waved his hand, face hidden behind the seat he was partially ducking behind. Izuku couldn’t help thinking Katsuki’s embarrassed face was pretty cute.
The mother and toddler got off on the next stop and the rest of their ride was uneventful, both boys too nervous to hold much of a conversation and the rest of the patrons uninterested in them. Izuku watched the scenery pass by him through the window as the trees became sparse and more concrete and steel replaced it as they headed into a more urban area. He didn’t notice Katsuki watching him in turn.
Once off the bus both just stood and stared in awe for a minute. The park was massive with a wide variety of rides and carnival games, the smell of fried foods wafting toward them on the wind, setting Izuku’s mouth to watering. He had never been to such a large carnival and the amount of people and activities to do was a bit daunting but he felt energized. “Let’s go Kacchan!” He laughed and took off at a sprint towards the front gate, Katsuki following with a sputtered exclamation behind him. Izuku reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet but Katsuki stopped him before he could get his money out. “I invited you on a date Deku, I’m paying the entry fee.” He grumbled before slapping the money down for the gate attendant. Izuku frowned but relented with a, “I’m buying us lunch though, okay?” Katsuki shrugged in acquiesce and they stepped through the rotating bar into the park.
Katsuki went to one of the big roller coasters first, Izuku following eagerly. It was the type that had a seated harness so their legs dangled below them as they hopped on in the front row. Izuku squealed and screamed in time with Katsuki’s bellowing laughs, the adrenaline rush bolstering both boys. They went from ride to ride and before they knew it, they had been there for almost three hours. As promised, Izuku bought both of them lunch at one of the food stands. He got a spicy bento for Katsuki that was based off the hero Backdraft, with a variety of different pepper foods that went up in intensity with each food section. For himself he got the All Might bento of course. It was a large, hearty helping of various energy and fatty foods meant for body builders or others with a build similar to the hero, but with his quirk it was the perfect amount of food for Izuku. They ate while reading the random hero facts scattered around them, which transitioned to them talking about class and other topics. It was comfortable.
To be honest, it didn’t feel like much of a date to Izuku. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On one hand, he was ecstatic to be able to talk to Katsuki in such an informal way again. On the other it felt too much like a couple of friends having daay out at an amusement park. There wasn’t anything really romantic or couple oriented about their interactions. Izuku was at a balloon stand currently, trying to win the massive All Might plushie. Katsuki was attempting to win his own prize at a block throw, his cries of ‘DIE’ fading out with the sound of violently crashing blocks and the squeal of the poor carnival worker in the line of fire. After finally managing to win on his third try Izuku gave his name and arranged to pick the toy up at the gate at the end of the date Izuku turned and saw Katsuki with two double dip ice creams. They were cute things, one ice cream a blueberry and the other lemon to match the All Might theme with two small white chocolate hair antennas on top as well as a whip cream smile. He passed one to a grateful Izuku and they started to make their way to the hero museum for a bit of a break.
Izuku felt something touching his empty palm and glanced down. Katsuki was hesitant reaching for him, his fingers palming his hand almost questioningly. Izuku peeked at Katsuki’s face to find it beet red and decidedly avoiding eye contact. Izuku beamed before gently entangling his fingers with the offered hand, squeezing a tiny bit. They stayed that way for the rest of their date, only parting when they were on another ride, Katsuki always being the one to offer his hand first and Izuku never pausing to take it. At the end of the night when they climbed back on the bus (with the All Might plush taking the window seat) Izuku settled their joint hands on his knee and then leaned his head on Katsuki’s shoulder. He rubbed his thumb across the back of Katsuki’s hand as the other boy placed his chin on top of Izuku’s curls, sighing contently. It was quite possibly the calmest Izuku had ever seen the boy since they were children.
Since they had school the next day they rode the bus back to UA rather than their home street. Izuku carried the plushie with one hand and the other was still interlocked with Katsuki’s by the time they reached their dorm and entered. As they walked into the foyer it seemed their entire class was waiting. Some of them appeared to have just come back from training, they were sweating and huffing so much. “Heeey guys! How did it go?” Ochako managed to choke out between her gasping breaths. “It looks like a successful date from here!” Kirishima was lounged out across one of the couches, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“It was...perfect.” Izuku breathed and Katsuki smirked at the acknowledgement. “But I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to turn in early.”
“Yeah, it’s time for me to sleep too. Having an adrenaline rush about 30 times in a row from roller coasters is fucking insane. Come on Deku, I’ll help you put that thing up somewhere in that fanboy room of yours.” Katsuki snorted and started leading Izuku to the rooms.
Once out of sight some of the teens collapsed fully, and Tsu eyed them wearily. “It’s almost impressive the lengths you guys will go to spy on them ribbit.” Her voice was slightly admonishing. “Tell me about it! We barely made it back before them.” Denki whined dramatically. His fellow perpetrators nodded and mumbled in agreement as Tsu shook her head. “This is going to backfire on you ribbit. I hope you realize that.” There was a general air of discomfort for a minute before Todoroki spoke up. “If it happens, we’ll deal with it then. Until that day though, I’m going to keep an eye on Bakugou until I’m sure we can trust him.” He stood from his seat and headed to his room for the night. Slowly the other students drifted away until it was just Tsu and Momo quietly commiserating with Izuku and Bakugou when they discovered what their friends had done.