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"I don't get it, if you hate the series so much, then why'd you come?" Kirishima asks, glancing at Katsuki. Before he can retort, Kaminari butts in, elbowing Shitty Hair in the side.
"Because he cares about us, bro," he coos, pretending to wipe away a tear.
"Shut the hell up," Katsuki says, shoving the other blond.
"Aw," Kirishima says, clapping a hand against his shoulder, "That's manly of you."
"Ugh," Katsuki crosses his arms, but doesn't deny the claim. Besides, it isn't like he actually hates the comic his friends love. It just brings back...painful memories.
'Deku' is the sleeper-hit comic that came out two years ago. Becoming massively popular in a short amount of time, it focuses on a superhero duo. That's all Katsuki cared to research into it, though the mystery of the author is impossible to ignore.
No one knows their name, gender, appearance, or age. They go under the pretentious as fuck name 'Rabbit’' and today is their first public appearance.
Katsuki would admit that the guy had one hell of a marketing scheme, if it didn't mean that his two dumbass best friends would be dragging him to the first, incredibly crowded, book signing.
"I still don't get why you won't even try it," Kirishima says, waving his copy of the first book in front of the blond's face. Katsuki swats it away, annoyance rising.
"Yeah!" Kaminari chimes in, "There's even a character that reminds me of you."
Katsuki rolls his eyes, "So you've said."
"Ugh. Your loss, dude."
His friends probably think that he has some weird hipster shit about reading something popular. They couldn't be farther than the truth, but Katsuki isn't going to tell them the real reason. Even though it grinds every one of his gears to go with that lie, the reality, said out loud, is stupid.
The name Deku belonged to his childhood friend. They did everything together, even though Katsuki was a bit of a bastard as a child, Deku had followed him regardless.
Then, at twelve years old, Deku had gotten sick. Really sick. Been hospitalized. Two months into his hospitalization, Katsuki's mom had gotten a new job offer hundreds of miles away. No matter how much of a tantrum he'd thrown it hadn't made a difference.
Katsuki had moved away and the two of them had lost contact. He hadn't even been able to find out if Deku had survived his illness.
So, maybe his reasoning for ignoring the 'Deku' series was dumb and childish. Maybe he was a fucking idiot for being hung up on the boy twelve years later.
It didn't matter.
There was a loud chatter suddenly at the front of the room. Over the heads of so many people it was impossible to see what was happening, but there was only one thing that could cause that much commotion.
"Ah, shit! They must be here!" Kaminari says, rising to his tiptoes to try to peer over the crowd.
"Yeah, yeah," Katsuki sighs, "We'll get there eventually, Pikachu."
Kaminari blows a raspberry in response and Katsuki wacks him on the head.
The line crawls as people meet the mysterious author, but eventually the three make their way near the front.
The view of the table stops Katsuki short. His mouth dries, palms sweating. The author has green curly hair, but he's bent over.
The familiarity makes him want to rush over, yank their head up, know if what he's seeing is real.
He doesn't have to.
The author looks up and that face, it's older, sharper, but still the same face in his carefully stowed away pictures.
Deku.
Katsuki's fingers feel numb.
He steps forward unconsciously. Deku must see the movement out of the corner of his eye and he glances over.
The double-take he does would be almost funny if Katsuki didn't feel the exact same way. Deku stands, hands planted on the table, a brilliant grin stretching across his face.
"Kacchan!"
He waves and a fierce murmuring starts in the crowd around him. He can hear Kirishima saying something but it doesn't register at all.
The crowd inexplicably parts for him as Deku lunges over the table. He grabs Katsuki’s wrist, his hand warm and real, dragging him behind a bookshelf, out of view of the crowd and the smattering of reporters by the table.
"Kacchan," he breathes, looking up at Katsuki in disbelief.
Katsuki isn't much better, staring into deep green eyes, long thought lost.
"Deku, I thought-"
"Crap!" Deku interrupts, "I have- the rest of this signing- uh-"
He twists Katsuki's wrist and yanks the pen from where it is hanging off of his shirt. Uncapping it with his teeth, Deku scrawls a number on the inside of Katsuki's arm.
"I'll text you when I'm done, okay? It should be after five-ish? We can maybe catch up then?" His wide eyes are pleading and the grip on Katsuki's wrist is tight.
"Duh, idiot. I wouldn't miss it," he says, more softly than his friends would probably believe. Deku gives his wrist one final squeeze.
"You should- uh, probably go out the back," he blushes and nods toward the back entrance of the shop. They stare at each other a moment, each unwilling to take the first step away.
"Izuku! Are you okay back there?" A woman's voice comes from around the bookshelf and Deku jumps.
"Sorry, I've got to-"
"It's okay."
Katsuki would rather say it isn't okay, but there isn't much he can do about it. The numbers written on his arm tether him to reality though, and he backs away.
"I'll see you later, Deku."
Deku gives a wobbly smile in return.
"Of course, Kacchan."
Katsuki leans against the back wall of the brick bookshop. His phone is tightly held in his hand.
"Bro! You didn't tell us that you were Kacchan!"
"What!?" He snaps, turning to see Kaminari and Kirishima, both grinning.
"Glad Midoriya told us you'd be out here," Kirishima laughs, "I didn't know you guys were friends. I guess it would be awkward reading about yourself."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Kaminari opens his comic, thumbing through the pages carefully.
"Here!"
The character on the page looks incredibly like him, with blond, spiky hair and glowering red eyes. And...sure enough, he's being called 'Kacchan' by a short green-haired hero with freckles.
Katsuki resists the urge to put his face through the brick wall.
"Sooo...how do you know each other?" Kaminari asks, tucking the book under his elbow.
"We were...childhood friends." Katsuki says, hand clenching even harder around his phone.
"Hmm," Kirshima nods, "You going to meet up after this?"
"Yeah." It comes out rawer than intended.
"We'll leave you to it then. Good luck!"
Kaminari throws back a wave, following Kirishima out from behind the building.
Katsuki leans against the wall again, letting his head thump against the bricks. Two years. Two years of that dumb comic being around and Katsuki had missed it. Two years of not seeing Deku when he could've.
There's no taking that back, only looking forward to the present. He can't help but to check his phone again, even though the time is still 4:10 p.m.
He's waited this long. An hour is nothing.
Three pages into another detailed summary about the comic 'Deku' and a message pops up.
[im done!! tell me where u want to go and i'll swing by!]
Katsuki smirks,typing a reply.
[No need. I'm still here.]
[what??????]
The bookshop's door opens and Deku's incredulous face peeks out.
"You waited, Kacchan?!"
He shrugs, pleased at the wide smile forming on Deku's face.
"It wasn't that long."
"Let me check with Ochako, she’s my manager! It’ll be real quick and then we can go!" The door slams shut again and Katsuki tucks his phone into his pocket. A few minutes pass before Deku comes back out.
"So!" He says, rubbing his hands together awkwardly, "Um. Is there anywhere in particular you want to go? I'm not really familiar with this area, Ochako is the one who decided on this booking and I didn't really have time to look into anything around and I guess I didn't expect to see you here? I've never seen you before so I thought maybe you forgot about me and oh! I'm sorry I don't want to put you on the spot like that-"
"Deku," Katsuki interrupts, though he's fighting to hide his grin, "You still do that shitty mumbling thing?"
Deku's hands are clasped over his mouth, eyes wide. He gives a nervous chuckle and scratches the back of his head.
"Uh, yeah. I mostly just do it when I'm nervous."
"Heh. I'm glad to see you haven't changed too much."
Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki catches Deku blushing. Something warm swells in him at the sight.
"We can go down the street here. There's a good coffee shop."
Katsuki leads the way. The silence between the two hovers between comfortable and not, too many years adding to the tension. When they get to the shop, Katsuki holds the door open, amused to see Deku is still so goddamn short. The other didn't even have to duck under his arm.
"What do you want?"
"Huh?"
"I asked what do you want, nerd?"
Deku pouts. It really shouldn't be as cute as it is.
"Why are you still calling me a nerd?"
The blond rolls his eyes at the question.
"You literally made a comic book about our childhood adventures. That doesn't scream nerd to you?"
This causes another flush to fill Deku's face.
"That's...fair, I guess."
Katsuki can't help but snort.
"What did you want?"
"I can get my own drink, it's fine."
"Nah, I heard that shit you were mumbling earlier. The least I can do is buy you a drink."
"Oh," Deku says quietly, "Okay."
They head up to the counter and Deku ends up listing some sugary abomination, proving he really hasn't changed that much since they were twelve. Thankfully, there's a corner booth open and they slide into it, face to face.
Deku fiddles with his shitty dessert drink, staring hard at the counter.
It looks like it's up to Katsuki to start, even though he knows he hasn't gotten any less awful with words.
"I never actually read your comic. I didn't know it was by you and the name...threw me off. I guess I didn't want to get my hopes up, especially how things were left."
Deku's mouth parts in surprise.
"Ah. That makes...that makes a lot of sense," he says, slow and careful, "I guess...I never thought of it that way. I didn't really create the series to find you, but once it started selling...I started to get my hopes up."
He takes a slow drink.
"It worked anyway, didn't it?" Katsuki says, eyes intent on Deku.
The other smiles, "Yeah, I guess it did."
They sit in silence for a bit, sipping on their drinks. It's more comfortable now.
"What happened to you? At the hospital and after?"
"Ah...it took a while to recover. Almost three years on and off."
"Fuck, I'm sorry."
Deku smiles, "Nah, it's okay. I'm good now. I did meet someone there though. Yagi Toshinori, the creator of All Might."
Katsuki blinks hard.
"Holy shit. Really?"
"Yep!" Deku nods, looking fond, "He helped me out when things were really rough. Showed me how to format and draw, basically took me under his wing. Since he was in and out all the time too, I think he was just lonely. But that's where the idea of Deku came from. He also suggested the pseudonym for the first few years."
"I'm glad you had that. I'm...sorry I couldn't be there."
Deku reaches across the table, grabbing Katsuki's hand.
"No! I understand, it was your parent's new job, I get it!"
Katsuki pointedly doesn't think about how nice Deku's hand feels on top of his. His fingers have an interesting pattern of calluses, probably from drawing.
"Still. I could've remembered your name at least. Could've looked you up on social media, instead of being a dumb-ass."
"It's okay, I uh...couldn't remember yours either?" Deku gives a nervous chuckle, seemingly not noticing the hand he still has on Katsuki's.
"Guess we're just a couple of idiots, huh?"
Unfortunately, this is when Deku notices where his hand is and snatches it back, blushing.
"Ah, so- what have you been doing these past years?" He asks, face turned slightly away.
Katsuki actually has to fight a pout, dammit.
"Fashion design, like my parents. I'm starting a label under theirs, so hopefully I can get on my own feet later."
Deku whips around, grinning once more.
"That's great Kacchan! I'd love to see it!"
They fall into silence again, but this time it's fully comfortable. Katsuki can't miss his chance here.
"We should meet up again," he says, leaning against the back of the booth.
"Oh, yeah! Definitely!"
"Same time next week?"
The smile on Deku's face is softer, shyer.
“I wouldn't miss it."