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The cave is dark and damp, echoing the sound of the rain from outside to sound much more ominous than it really is. Izuku nearly collapses from relief to finally be out of the heavy rainstorm, but the weight against his back keeps him standing up.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Katsuki grumbles, pulling him along as he tosses their bags to the cave floor. “First I run into your stupid ass, then a witch shows up—”
“—Which I’ve apologized for that several times,” Izuku groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he’s dragged around a little more.
“Shut your fucking face,” Katsuki snaps, glaring at him over his shoulder, “I don’t wanna hear about how you lead a stupid witch to me!”
Izuku heaves a sigh and gives him a narrow eyed look. “I didn’t lead her to you! I genuinely thought I’d lost her, and it wasn’t like I had been looking for you!”
Katsuki scowls, kneeling down and dragging Izuku with him as he rearranges some rocks in a circle. “Whatever, you always followed me around - what the fuck would stop you from following me this time?”
“Try the fact that I didn’t even know you were in those woods?” Izuku snaps, throwing his arms up in disbelief. “Kacchan! It’s been months since we last crossed paths! I’ve been in the Frozen North this whole time, why would I—”
“Well so was I!” Katsuki shouts, standing and trying to face Izuku a little more. “I went there first, why the fuck did you follow me—”
“I can’t fucking stand you!” Izuku curses, a fire in his eyes that has Katsuki stopping short. “I promise you, Kacchan, I haven’t been following you, but you know what? If I had known she was still coming after me, and I did know you were in those woods, I probably would have looked for you to get her to go after you instead!” Izuku crosses his arms and looks away, the wetness of his shirt bunching uncomfortably against his forearms. “Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with this…”
Katsuki is quiet for once. For a moment, Izuku worries he’s hurt the Dragonborn with his lie.
He doesn’t hate Katsuki. He could never hate Katsuki.
Just… sometimes Katsuki makes it difficult to be near him - he’s always so argumentative, very “in your face” with his opposing opinions, and sometimes seems to disagree with people just to fight with them. It’s a wonder how his band of misfits gets along so well with him, considering they are all so nice and high spirited while Katsuki himself…
Well, he’s just an asshole.
But Izuku has always known him - the Dragonborn first showed up in his village years ago, and Izuku can barely recall what life had been like before then. They were young, full of life and so much hope for the future - dreams of heroism and great power - and all of it circled around one simple fact:
They would always be together, no matter what.
Katsuki crouches down to finish his ring of stones and Izuku leans with him, heart sinking as he remembers those childish beliefs all coming to an end when Katsuki left him behind in search of his destiny.
Izuku had chased after him not too long after, but finding Katsuki had taken months, and by that point they were on different paths towards fate. His heart sunk further when Katsuki looked at him with a sneer, eyes cold as he turned away from his old friend.
New friends, a longer journey, and so much to learn. Izuku had tried not to let it bother him.
Katsuki was just his first love, no big deal.
“Deku,” Katsuki grunts, bringing Izuku back to their current predicament. “Go get some wood.”
Izuku slowly turns to him, wondering if the witch zapped him stupid with all the spells she shot at them. “Right, and you’re just gonna stay here?”
Katsuki blinks, looking back at him from his circle of rocks. They stare at one another until Katsuki scowls. “Shut up, I’m not used to being stuck to someone!”
Izuku gestures down to where his shirt is riding up, exposing part of his skin near the top of his hip. The skin is pressed close to Katsuki’s own hip, and upon further inspection, it becomes clear that their skin is molding together bit by bit.
“I dunno how you could have forgotten,” Izuku huffs, “it only just happened!”
Katsuki glares at the mess of skin there, reaching for the sword on his hip. “I could just cut it—”
“I said no!” Izuku shouts, pushing at him only to flail as he was pulled along. They crash into the ground, and Izuku groans when Katsuki’s elbow digs into his side. He tries to roll, uncomfortably pressed against Katsuki as he coughs.
“I hate you,” Katsuki grunts, “I really, really hate you…”
Izuku’s jaw shifts, and his eyes sting at the statement as they lie on the floor of the cave. He’d said it too, technically, but Izuku at least knows that he hadn’t meant it - who knows whether or not Katsuki is telling the truth now.
Izuku doesn’t want to find out.
“Look, I have a spell book,” Izuku sighs, trying to sit up and failing until Katsuki finally cooperates and pushes himself up as well. “I can look through it and see if there’s a way to break it.”
“Since when did you start learning magic?” Katsuki snorts, “thought you were just some peasant boy.”
Izuku clenches his jaw as he leans over, trying to grab his bag without having to get up. There’s a pull at the skin melding with Katsuki’s hip, but nothing happened the first time they had tried to rip apart from one another aside from a lot of pain and a little crying on Izuku’s part. He finally manages to grab the strap of his bag, pulling it closer and flipping it open.
“I don’t actually use magic,” Izuku says, digging through the small sack he’d been carrying, looking for where he’s kept his books - thankfully, Ochako had placed a spell on it to enlarge the inside for all his possessions to fit and still be light as a feather. “I just study it - I mean, I can use it if I have a conduit or something, but mostly I’m just learning a little in case of situations like—”
“Oh, Gods, shut up,” Katsuki groans, smacking his forehead, “I don’t actually care, just find your stupid book of spells. Like I was saying, it was bad enough that I ran into you and you brought the witch, but when it started to fucking rain?” He scoffs, ruffling his wet hair. “That had just been one giant ‘fuck you’ from the Gods, honestly!”
Izuku rolls his eyes. “The rain isn’t that bad! I actually like the rain, and besides, if either of us has a reason to complain right now, it’s me seeing as I actually wear clothes!”
Katsuki narrows his eyes to glare at him again. “News flash, dumbass, I have it worse because your ass smells like a wet dog right now!”
Izuku feels his face burn as he returns the glare. “Excuse me?! You smell like you haven’t bathed in weeks!”
Not that Izuku is actually complaining - Katsuki has a perfectly pleasant natural scent, and him not bathing for weeks is probably better than any of the flowery oils Shouto brings with him from the castle.
Unfortunately, Katsuki knows he smells good, especially since Izuku used to rave about it all the time when they were young. He grins - or rather, smirks devilishly - leaning towards Izuku and making him lean back a little. “That so, Deku? Remind me who it was that buried his nose in my chest when I’d gotten out of having to take a bath for a week when we were kids?”
Izuku shivers, glancing down to Katsuki’s bare chest. It’s much larger now, thick with muscles and glistening from the rain. He swallows, turning back to his bag and trying not to think about how he wouldn’t mind doing it again now.
Instead of actually responding, Izuku pulls out a log from his bag - “emergency firewood” is what Tenya had called the pieces when he was stowing a few extra logs away, and Ochako had laughed. “Light this,” Izuku quietly says, passing it to Katsuki and fishing for a second one. “Might as well try to get dry since we probably won’t be going anywhere in this storm…”
Katsuki glances back to the mouth of the cave, the heavy rain still echoing rhythmically against the stone walls. He sighs, turning to the circle he’d made before and moving closer to it, pulling Izuku along by their skin joint.
It takes a moment for his magic to work, but Katsuki manages to light the logs with small sparks of explosions, careful to keep it from destroying everything. Izuku watches him shift the wood for a moment, allowing the flame to grow and breathe. Once it is large enough, he sits back, watching the flames as they flicker.
The fire is warm, and Izuku feels himself relaxing when the heat dances across his face. Katsuki’s skin is just as warm as the flame, but Izuku doesn’t allow himself to react to that fact. When he first noticed it, he’d wanted to, of course… Katsuki is still the most beautiful man he’s ever seen.
Coughing, Izuku returns to his bag and finally finds the inner pocket, pulling out the first book he can find. It isn’t anything useful right now - something to do with creatures of magic - and he carefully places it in a separate pile from his other books. Returning to the first stack, he pulls out the next in line - potions - which is closer, but still not helpful.
“How many books do you have in there?” Katsuki mutters, raising a brow. “Actually… how do you fit all of this in there?”
Izuku smiles at him. “Just ‘cause I don’t use magic doesn’t mean my friend doesn’t either!”
Katsuki clicks his tongue. “The little witch girl, Round Face… What’s with you and witches, anyway?”
Izuku shrugs, pulling out the next book - this one is about Dragonborns, and he quickly shoves it back in before Katsuki can see. “I dunno, I mean, not all witches are evil. Ochako isn’t, after all.”
“Oh please, Round Face is the worst of them all,” Katsuki scoffs, leaning over to look into the bag. “Seriously, how many books do you have in there?”
Izuku’s fingers run over something burnt and he doesn’t let himself linger; it’s just a notebook, anyway, and pulling it out in front of Katsuki - the one responsible for the damage - would be awkward. “I lost count around eight…?” Izuku hums thoughtfully, “probably fifteen by now…”
“Fifteen?” Katsuki shakes his head. “Gods, you’re a nerd.”
“I like to learn.”
“Nerds like to learn.”
Izuku levels him with a glare. “You liked to learn once upon a time, too, ya know…”
Katsuki sneers, getting in close. “Yeah? Guess what.” His voice drops and Izuku fights a shiver in response to the gravelly whisper, “I got nothing else to learn.”
Izuku holds his gaze, looking between his intense, red eyes. “Right, of course - that’s why you haven’t done something about being stuck to me, right? You know everything, so why bother getting us unstuck when you can let me try?”
Katsuki pulls back, the intensity gone as he lets Izuku’s words sink in. “... right. That way, I can make fun of you when you fail.” He grins, but Izuku just stares at him with little amusement.
“Uh-huh,” Izuku pulls out the next book, “whatever helps you sleep, Kacchan.”
The book he’s pulled out this time is the exact one he’d been looking for, so he sets his bag aside and opens it in favor of giving Katsuki any more attention when he starts to growl in anger.
“Alright, what kind of spell are you,” Izuku murmurs under his breath, glancing to their skin joint and considering what it was meant for. “Stuck? Sewn? It’s not just glue or thread tying us together, it’s our actual skin, so… something skin related?” Izuku starts turning the pages of the book, looking for anything that had to do with the human body.
It takes a while. The crackling of the fire and echo of the rain pouring outside are the only sounds which accompany Izuku’s muttering as he searches through the book. He’s almost willing to give up after Katsuki drags them over to the wall, adding a new sound to the cave when he begins throwing pebbles aimlessly and letting them clatter to the ground to echo into the depths of the dark cavern.
Izuku rubs at his eyes, turning the page and reading the next spell’s description.
Binding Skin
“Forsal dein kar letf hiv al
Lak enin ejimal timm def”
To bind together two enemies, forcing them to act as one. To break the spell, recall the incantation backwards, or those affected may reveal their deepest secrets they do not share to break it themselves.
Izuku stares at the description and glances back to their skin patch. He looks back at the book and blinks, the crude drawing underneath looking similar to the fusion of skin happening on their hips.
“Kacchan, I think I found it!” Izuku grins, turning the book towards him. “It’s called Binding Skin!”
Katsuki’s brows raise and he nods slowly. “Great, what do you want me to do? Pat you on the head?” He huffs, sitting up a little more from where he’d begun to sag to the floor. “Tell me how to break it.”
Izuku licks his lips, fighting the urge to retort from his sarcasm. “Well, it says we can either say the spell backwards, or we can reveal our deepest secrets to break it.”
“Do you need magic to say it backwards or something?” Katsuki crosses his arms, the ever present scowl on his face as he looks down at the book himself. “Fuckin’ say it and lets get this over with!”
Izuku chews his bottom lip and looks at the spell. “Well, I… I don’t know how to say these words, let alone say them backwards…”
Katsuki sighs. “I’m not telling you my deepest secret, Deku.”
“It’s the only way!” Izuku gestures to the book. “You can read it for yourself!”
“Nope, no way,” Katsuki shakes his head, quickly pulling away as though he hadn’t already been reading it. “I’m not saying it.”
“Kacchan!”
“Deku!”
They stare at each other, neither moving or even blinking, an unspoken staring - or rather, glaring - match seems to have begun. Izuku focuses on Katsuki’s red eyes, the light of the fire making his irises reminiscent of the dancing flames - flickering warm hues that shift between bright orange and deep crimson. Izuku can feel his face start to go slack the longer he stares, and the heat of Katsuki’s breath is beginning to brush against Izuku’s lips as he leans a little closer.
“I fell onto a rock in a river and cut my side when I was a kid,” Katsuki suddenly says, making Izuku blink and pull back slightly.
“Huh?”
Katsuki leans back as well, raising his arm to show Izuku a nasty scar on his ribs. “I tell everyone I got it from fighting a dragon, but I actually got it—”
“When you slipped into the river,” Izuku murmurs, staring at the scar a few inches above their skin joint. He can still recall the blood that had colored the water a murky red, and Katsuki’s insistent cries that it hadn’t hurt. “I remember; I was there.”
Katsuki huffs, crossing his arms and falling back against the wall. “Then I got nothin’!”
Izuku chews his bottom lip, revisiting their earlier conversation. Maybe Katsuki really didn't care about him—he’s so easily forgotten Izuku's presence in the memory, after all. Then again, now that he’s trying to think of his own confession, all his secrets seem to be ones that involve Katsuki. He tries to think of anything Katsuki might not know about him, and suddenly recalls a memory he’d left buried for a reason.
“Um,” he coughs, cringing to himself, “I, uh… I heard my parents having s-sex once…”
Katsuki snorts, “seriously? That’s happened to so many people, how the fuck is that a secret?”
Izuku frowns, facing him again. “What do you mean? Have you heard your parents…?” His face is burning, unable to finish the sentence just thinking of Masaru and Mitsuki in such a way.
“Duh,” Katsuki rolls his eyes, “my mother is a terrible and powerful woman, Deku, our neighbors have heard those two goin’ at it. No big deal, it’s the reason I’m here and your parents fucking is the reason you’re here.”
Izuku slowly turns back to the fire and stares into its depths, nothing else coming to mind. That was his one trauma in childhood, and Katsuki scoffed at it being considered a secret…
So much for that.
“So,” Katsuki murmurs, “your mom a screamer?”
Izuku elbows him in his stupid scar, swinging his other hand around to smack him when Katsuki begins to cackle. “Don’t talk about my mom like that!”
“Fuck, I was kidding, stop hitting me!” Katsuki chuckles, grabbing Izuku’s wrist to stop him. They settle again, Izuku trying to move further away and immediately being stopped by the skin that binds them together.
Katsuki throws another rock into the depths of the cave. “I,” he stops, jaw shifting as he considers his next sentence, “I have…”
Izuku holds his breath, trying to think of anything Katsuki could have. A lover? A child? A deep, intense, unabashed love for the childhood friend he pretends to hate?
Izuku fuckin’ wished.
Katsuki heaves a sigh. “I have what stupid Soy Sauce Face calls an unreasonable fear of horses.”
Izuku blinks, the knot in his stomach untying itself at the unexpected confession. He’s not even really sure what to say to that.
The rain seems to have seeped into the cave because the loud echo of water dripping further into the darkness seems to blare in Izuku’s ears, filling the awkward silence. Neither of them move, and the skin joint remains.
Katsuki scowls, and Izuku pointedly looks away when Katsuki turns a glare on him. “How the fuck would you know that?!”
Izuku slowly shrugs. “I… guess it’s because you have no problem riding on a dragon, but the second Shouto offered you to ride his horse, you moved as far away from us as possible and called Kōri a “monster” that you wouldn’t be caught dead near…?”
Katsuki groans, pulling at his unruly hair. “Fuckin’ seriously?! What the fuck is considered a secret?!”
Izuku pulls the book back into his lap and finds the spell again, reading over the description again. “I guess just anything the other person doesn’t know…?”
There’s one thing Izuku knows for a fact Katsuki doesn’t know about him, but he would rather be facing off against the dark mage Shigaraki and knocking on death’s door before admitting his real feelings.
He closes the book and shifts in his spot against the wall, his butt beginning to fall asleep. Izuku freezes, his cheeks burning again when he thinks of something only Ochako knows.
“Um…”
“If you’ve got anything, just fuckin’ say it so we can leave,” Katsuki grumbles, face in his hands and muffling his words.
Izuku takes a deep breath. “I… have a tattoo…”
Katsuki doesn’t move. “I know.”
Izuku glances at the hint of the cyan lines that curl around his bicep, tracing up to his shoulder under his shirt - he’d gotten it two summers ago, in honor of the power Toshinori passed onto him. “I’m not talking about the one on my arm…”
Katsuki drops his hands and looks at him with a raised brow.
Before he can ask, Izuku turns his gaze down to his hip. “It’s… on my butt,” his voice gets softer as he says this, nearly a whisper when he finishes. His eyes have squeezed shut, and he’s holding his breath.
Silence. The rain isn’t as heavy, but it’s still fairly loud. The fire crackles.
“Deku,” Katsuki starts, and Izuku slowly opens one eye to peek at him. “I know.”
Izuku immediately sits up straight. “What?!”
Katsuki rolls his eyes. “You and Round Face got so drunk you went and got matching unicorn tattoos - hers is on her lower back and you stupidly got it on your fuckin’ ass, so when we ran into you two at the inn that night, you were laying on the table.” He grins wickedly, and in a mocking tone, he says, “Kacchan, my butt’s got a unicorn, wanna see?”
Izuku’s eyes widen and his jaw drops. His face is definitely burning now. Forget the fire Katsuki made; his face is hot enough to be its own flame. He doesn’t remember this - he barely remembers getting back to the inn that night. Katsuki’s mocking voice is jostling his memory however, and he can just barely recall having said something about showing his ass that night to someone.
At least, Izuku remembers telling Ochako there was only one person he wanted to show his ass to, and “Kacchan will just have to deal with our unicorn best friendness” when he showed him.
“Oh Gods,” Izuku whines, pulling himself into the fetal position and yanking at the skin joint between them.
Katsuki is laughing. “Don’t be like that, nerd! You didn’t show me anything.”
That makes him feel a little better.
“But that’s just ‘cause I stopped you from pullin’ your pants down in the middle of the room.”
Izuku wishes he could shrink further in on himself, maybe even disappear altogether.
Katsuki’s still snickering to himself, but it sounds like he’s actually trying to stop himself from laughing any more than he has. Izuku’s eyes are burning with his mortification, and he’s not sure how much more humiliation he can take.
Clearing his throat, Katsuki shifts beside him and pokes Izuku. “Stop worrying about it, Deku - it was a long time ago, and I’m sure you’ve never shown anyone your stupid unicorn…”
Is it bad if he still wants to show Katsuki his… unicorn? Probably.
Either way, he doesn’t respond and instead just curls tighter into his own hold.
Katsuki sighs. “Look, Deku,” he hesitates, and Izuku wonders what kind of embarrassing secret Katsuki will tell him to make him feel better - assuming this is what he’s trying for.
For all Izuku knows, he’s just going to make fun of him again.
“I don’t actually steal from the markets like everyone thinks,” he finally says, and Izuku slowly lifts his head. “I pay them back usually, or it’s just a bunch of little old hags trying to give me free food or homemade necklaces they enchanted to help me on my journies or whatever.” Katsuki rubs at the back of his neck and Izuku stares.
How is that embarrassing? If anything, it’s sweet and endearing and yet another reason Izuku loves him.
Plus - “Kacchan, I know that.” Katsuki immediately rounds on him, scowling. “I’ve seen the exchanges between you and those people, I dunno why you claim it’s stealing…”
Katsuki growls, slamming his head back onto the stone wall. Thankfully, he doesn’t crack his head open. “Then what the fuck don’t we know about each other?!”
Izuku rests his chin on his knees and focuses on the fire again. Individually, they know a lot about the other and the things they’ve done, but those are personal secrets. What if he focuses on the secrets of his friends, ones he shares with them as a whole?
“One time,” Izuku starts, and he can feel Katsuki’s gaze on his back, “Tenya, Shouto, and I went on a quest to save this village from a snow creature up on the mountain near their home while Ochako and Hitoshi stayed back to protect the villagers. When we found the creature, we were able to take it down pretty quickly and were heading back within the same day, but…” Izuku fidgets, chewing his bottom lip, “well… I kinda, sorta, maybe… caused an avalanche racing them down the slope, and it cut off the village from the rest of the world for a month. By the time we were able to free the village and get back to Ochako and Hitoshi, they’d all been convinced it was ‘cause of the creature, and we kinda… sorta… maybe let them all think it.”
Katsuki shifts, but Izuku doesn’t look to see what he’s doing. He only feels the pull of their conjoined skin being tugged on, and he’s honestly too frightened to look over at him. Isn’t Izuku the one between them always talking about honesty?
Actually, if he really thinks about it, Katsuki has always valued honesty, so maybe this isn’t so unusual for Izuku. If anything, it’s unusual that Tenya had been the one to initially agree with the villagers and let them believe it wasn’t their fault.
Sitting back up to look at Katsuki for his reaction, Izuku takes note that the threading of skin between them is still there. He frowns and Katsuki sighs.
“That stupid Half-and-Half told me,” he rolls his eyes. “Actually, he told Shitty Hair who told the rest of us, but,” Katsuki shrugs one shoulder and meets Izuku’s eyes, “still a secret that I knew.”
Izuku heaves a sigh of his own. “What are we gonna do, Kacchan?”
“Fuck if I know,” he scoffs. “There has to be something one of us doesn’t know!”
Izuku picks at his nails, scanning the walls of the cave. Does he really have to say it? Now? When they’re stuck together like this?
What if Katsuki just laughs at him? If it works, Izuku could make a run for it and never have to see Katsuki’s face again. He could live in the Dark Lands for the rest of eternity; he’s done it before. Okay, so it was only for three weeks that time, but still!
What if it doesn’t work though? Maybe Katsuki already knows and he’s never acknowledged it because he doesn’t feel the same? Izuku isn’t sure his heart could take that sort of flat rejection.
He’s not sure he can take any kind of rejection.
Izuku looks back out of the corner of his eye, and Katsuki is tossing little pebbles around again, this time aiming for the fire. The logs shift and break when he hits one, the burnt sections having cut clean through the wood.
His stomach is in knots and there’s nothing more that can be done. Izuku has run out of secrets, and Katsuki doesn’t seem to have another to share either. They can’t be stuck together forever - as much as he would love it, Izuku is certain Katsuki hates the idea.
Shaking, Izuku takes a deep, quiet breath. The worst that can happen is that Katsuki rejects him.
That’s exactly what makes this so hard.
Steeling himself, Izuku sits a little straighter and turns to Katsuki.
“Deku, I—“
“I’m in love with you,” Izuku blurts before can stop himself, and as he says it, he watches Katsuki’s red eyes widen and meet his gaze. His jaw hangs, surprised he said it at all. “I… I’m in love with you,” he repeats slowly, certain he said it too quickly before.
That’s when he notices Katsuki’s hand, raised and holding something he offers to Izuku. Blinking, he extends his own hand and lets Katsuki drop the object into his palm.
It’s a rock. It’s heavy and smooth along the edges. It’s familiar, but Izuku is suddenly too aware of the skin still binding them together.
“I,” Katsuki clears his throat, “I still have it…”
His voice is awkward, clearly because he already knew Izuku’s secret. It’s just as Izuku feared, and all he can do now is sit in self loathing as he realizes that Katsuki has known about his feelings this entire time and never did anything most likely because he doesn’t feel the same and—
“Did you hear me?” Katsuki snaps, taking the rock and flipping it over in Izuku’s palm. “I still have it!”
Izuku blinks away the stinging in his eyes and feels the tears that roll down his cheeks, trying to look at the rock Katsuki handed to him.
It’s not a rock.
It’s a geode, citrine gems glistening within the stone where it had been split in half.
The one they’d found as kids.
Izuku can practically feel the facts clicking together in his mind as he reaches up and pulls the citrine gemstone hanging around his neck up from under his shirt.
The same sunshine yellow as the geode Katsuki handed to him.
He feels a tingle in his hip and the sudden cold against his skin as the joint disperses into nothingness, as though it had never been there.
A secret Izuku didn’t know - Katsuki kept their shared geode this whole time.
Slowly, Izuku turns his gaze from their separated bodies to look back up at Katsuki. Katsuki is staring right back, and there’s something in the way he looks at Izuku that makes his heart feel heavy.
He told Katsuki his feelings, and Katsuki responded with a rock. A meaningful rock, one filled with promises of a future together and a precious gemstone that Izuku had later fashioned into a necklace himself.
Katsuki kept their promise stone after all these years.
Izuku thinks he should be happy - in fact, he’s pretty sure he’s happy to know this - but it’s dulled by the rejection Katsuki presents to him now, with having known Izuku’s feelings.
“Izuku, I,” Katsuki hesitates, eyes flicking to his lips, to his chest, down to Izuku’s hand where his geode sits. “I don’t… why didn’t the skin break?”
Izuku frowns. “It did…?”
Katsuki shakes his head. “No, I meant,” he scowls, taking the geode back roughly and pushing himself up to his feet. “Whatever, I just—”
“Kacchan.”
Katsuki stops before he can stomp the fire out. His back is to Izuku, and his shoulders are hunched. There’s tension in his back, and Izuku wishes he could relieve it for him.
“Kacchan, please, just… just say it,” Izuku whispers, the rain nothing more than a sprinkle outside now.
He can hear birds far off out in the field the cave opens to. There’s a light pooling in as well, suggesting the clouds are breaking to allow the sunlight to shine on the earth again.
It’s becoming beautiful outside, but Izuku can’t bring himself to look away from his childhood love.
“Just say it,” he repeats, a little louder this time, “tell me you knew and never felt the same.”
Katsuki turns back, a brief look of horror on his face before it twists to his usual rage. “Never felt the same? Are you a fucking moron?!” He rushes forward, crowding into Izuku’s space and kicking his leg up to cage Izuku against the wall, his heavy boot inches from Izuku’s head. “You’re the one who read the fuckin’ spell, you idiot! It said the secret could not be shared!” Katsuki scowls, narrowing his eyes. “I didn’t fuckin’ know how you felt, and it didn’t break the spell ‘cause we share that secret!”
Izuku gapes up at him, his mind swimming with confusion. Shared secret. Katsuki didn’t know Izuku loves him. It didn’t break because…
“Mutual,” Izuku breathes, clambering to stand as well. Katsuki doesn’t lower his leg, doesn’t move away to give Izuku space. “The spell doesn’t break with mutual love!” He shouts, gesturing to Katsuki, who’s glare has turned into a nasty grin Izuku hates to love. “Y-you - I… we…!”
“You’re so stupid,” Katsuki snorts and his face softens to amusement. His boot slides off the stone as he leans in and kisses Izuku sweetly.