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Katsuki doesn’t keep his phone locked and password-protected.
As a normal person, Izuku thinks that’s fucking weird, but then again, Katsuki hasn’t ever really been a normal person.
He supposes it’s the fact that he’s ‘Bakugou fucking Katsuki’, part of the Big Three of UA High, voted ‘Most Intimidating’ three years in a row. Sure, he’s mellowed out over the years — Izuku’s seen to that — but still, no one in their right mind would actually try to snoop around in his phone, for fear of getting their asses exploded to high heaven.
But then again, Kaminari Denki and Ashido Mina definitely have one or two screws loose.
They decide one day — God knows why — that it’s a fantastic idea to steal Katsuki’s phone and scroll through his gallery while everyone else is occupied with the movie they’re watching.
As expected, it doesn’t go so well for them.
After all, it is the Bakugou Katsuki they’re dealing with. The man has a sixth sense for bullshit and shenanigans, particularly when it’s Bakusquad bullshit and shenanigans.
(Plus, it’s not really hard to notice something’s wrong when the two token troublemakers are behaving like someone gave them a healthy dose of laughing gas while they flick through a phone that very clearly doesn’t have a phone case — another weird as fuck thing about Katsuki, and another obvious indicator that they’re up to no good.)
“May they rest in peace,” Todoroki says from the couch as a fuming Katsuki drags both of them, kicking and pleading, out of the common room.
Sero nods. “They were so young.”
From outside, they hear a high-pitched shriek - Mina - and an even higher screech - Kaminari.
Besides him, Kirishima sighs. “Sometimes I think I can still hear their voices.”
Izuku just grins and shakes his head, straightening up to try and catch a glimpse of what Katsuki‘s subjecting them to from his spot on the floor, before giving up and turning back to Spirited Away.
And that’s that.
Ashido and Kaminari come in after five minutes, faces red from exertion and clothes dirty from soot and smoke. Kaminari’s right cheek is bruised and the hem of Mina’s tee is ripped.
Shinsou, who’s just woken up, takes one long look at his dusty, blackened boyfriend, and just sighs and turns away pointedly, which draws out a pout and a protest from Kaminari.
Ochako, on the other hand, tells Izuku sternly, with a deadly look in her eyes, Kansai accent seeping through, that his punk ass boyfriend better watch himself, to which Mina groans her agreement and buries her face in her girlfriend’s shirt. Izuku just nods and smiles nervously, hoping that’ll placate her. (It does.)
One thing Izuku notices after they return — they keep looking at him with a strange look on their faces, like a mix between horror and mirth. He doesn’t know why, and he asks them a few times if he has something on his face, but both times they just give him a grimace and shake their head.
Izuku eventually gives up and lets them stare. He needs to know how Chihiro is going to survive in this hellhole of a bathhouse, and two pairs of eyes on him for no apparent reason aren’t going to stop him from enjoying the movie.
Katsuki comes in a while later, sweaty and scowling, and demands Izuku to run his fingers through his hair — “You know, do that fucking thing with your fingers that makes it all tingly and shit,” — which Izuku obliges wholeheartedly.
(Izuku notices that Ashido and Kaminari both immediately pale and look away — not upon seeing Katsuki, but upon seeing Katsuki lie down in his lap. Strange, considering those two will take any opportunity they get to tease them about ‘Bakudeku’, or so they call it. Izuku mentally files this moment away for future contemplation.)
He guesses that Katsuki’s trying to calm down from his unplanned workout, and he’s proven right when Izuku pushes his fingers into the spiky blonde bush that’s only gotten spikier and bushier over the years, and Katsuki’s eyes slide shut.
His scalp smells like mango shampoo and burnt caramel, and the scent lingers on Izuku’s hands even after he pulls them away.
His hair is softer and fluffier than it looks, and Izuku practically basks in the knowledge that Kacchan doesn’t let anyone else but him touch his hair like this.
That’s boyfriend privileges for you, he supposes.
They stay like that, both of them on the floor, Katsuki’s head in Izuku’s lap as Izuku slowly strokes through blonde strands, Katsuki’s eyes closed and his face creaseless.
Katsuki looks like an angel.
Well, he always does, just in a different way. The Kacchan he’s known his entire life is a seraph of destruction and power; buildings crumble with a flick of his wrist and a twitch of his fingers.
But this Kacchan is like a tiny slumbering angel that’ll break if Izuku holds him too tight, that’ll crumble if Izuku touches him. His face is clear and open, and he looks way younger. His body is completely relaxed and he looks — soft.
His heart clenches, and he’s pretty sure his face is all scrunched up too because … cute!
The moment is sweeter on his tongue than the mochi Ochako can’t seem to stop buying, and Izuku wishes it could last forever.
The movie ends eventually though, and they have to get back to their dorm rooms, so Izuku gently coaxes Kacchan off his lap, and they head back upstairs, parting with a goodnight kiss that still leaves Izuku’s cheeks flushing red even after months.
He washes up and slips into bed, sighing in contentment. His limbs are heavy, but it’s a nice weight, the kind you get after a long, enjoyable day with friends.
It doesn’t take long for his eyes to close and his mind to drift.
The thought of Mina and Kaminari’s strange behaviour swims to the front of his mind, but he pushes it back. He still doesn’t understand why they were acting so weird, but he decides it doesn’t really matter right now. He doesn’t dwell on it.
Izuku falls asleep dreaming of mangoes and caramel-flavoured candy.
He’s woken by a familiar noise — the distant pop and resounding ‘BOOM’ of his boyfriend’s quirk activating, and vague, incoherent chatter coming from downstairs.
Closing his eyes, Izuku mentally prepares himself for whatever the hell the Bakusquad has done now, counts to ten, and opens them again. He slips on a pair of fuzzy slippers with bunny ears attached that Ochako got him for his birthday, and heads down to the common room.
He’s greeted with a familiar sight — Katsuki in the middle of the space, with his hand gripping the back of Kaminari’s shirt collar, already in full rage mode, veins popping and everything as he snarls something in Kaminari’s ear, who was assumedly in the process of escaping to his dorm room before Bakugou caught up to him. He looks like he’s about to pee his pants.
Izuku takes a while to assess the situation.
The rest of the ‘gang of morons’, as Katsuki affectionately calls them, are spread out around the common room — Sero’s in the kitchen, making a sandwich while enjoying the show, Ashido’s sitting at the tables, head propped up on one arm and eyes fixed on the two blondes as she’s trying to stifle her soft giggles, and Kirishima’s on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through a manga and glancing over occasionally.
It’s too early for this.
Kaminari catches Izuku’s eye and stares at him, silently imploring him to help, desperation fresh in his irises.
Izuku sighs, and lets out a chiding ‘Kacchan that makes Katsuki perk up and lets his gaze settle on Deku.
After a few seconds of intense eye contact, Bakugou concedes, begrudgingly letting Kaminari go, to the relief of the other blonde, but not before snarling one last warning that makes him blanch.
Kaminari slinks away, probably to wake up Shinsou, and Katsuki gives Izuku a look that says “give me a minute” and stalks off to where Mina’s sitting, who startles, squeaking.
Izuku nods, smiling, and makes his way to the kitchen to where Sero‘s still standing.
“Good morning,” He greets when he reaches. “What happened with the two of them? Why is Katsuki so mad?”
Sero snorts and takes a bite of his sandwich, leaning against the sink. “When isn’t he mad at Denki?”
Izuku blinks, then grins. “Fair point.”
He pauses to chew, then shrugs. “I think it’s got something to do with the stunt that the two of them pulled last night, though.”
“Oh.” Izuku thinks back to their strange behaviour the previous night. “Right. Thanks.”
“No problem, Midoriya.”
Izuku turns to set his gaze on Katsuki. He has his back to him, but he can see him gesturing and Mina’s expression from here, which is a mix of vague fear, and what seems to be constipation.
Hm.
Kaminari and Ashido have been avoiding him. Katsuki knows why but he won’t tell him, and Izuku is left to grapple around blindly in the dark without a solid piece of evidence to come to a conclusion with.
Izuku knows Katsuki knows — he can see it in the way he hesitates when he asks — it’s slight, but it’s there. Katsuki would be stupid if he thinks Izuku wouldn’t notice it.
And Katsuki’s not stupid, so he definitely knows that Izuku knows he knows, but still he remains steadfastly immovable. He doesn’t budge at the green-haired teenager’s pestering or empty threats of no kisses for a week if he doesn’t tell him (they’re empty because there’s no way in hell Izuku could hold off of kissing Kacchan for a week -- a whole seven days.).
Izuku tries asking around if anyone’s heard anything, but no one seems to know what’s up. Both Uraraka and Shinsou remain suspiciously tightlipped and give similar, vague answers to his questions before trying to sneak away.
He lets them go without further interrogation, but only because he’s starting to kind of get a sense of what’s going on.
If he’s right in his assumptions —
Ashido and Kaminari did something on and/or to Katsuki’s phone, and now Katsuki’s mad about it and is threatening them with violence if they don’t keep quiet about it.
Oh, and it has something to do with Izuku, because Katsuki is specifically trying to keep this a secret from him.
But why?
How would anything on Katsuki‘s phone affect him?
He racks his brain, trying his best to think about what exactly could’ve caused this, and an idea trickles down slowly from the top of his head to the forefront of his mind.
A feeling of eureka! fills him, and he gasps and clasps his hands together.
Of course, how could he have forgotten?
Kacchan’s baby photos.
The two of them must’ve seen his childhood photos. The only reason he has them is because his mum sends them to him regularly (especially because she knows Izuku loves them and Katsuki hates it) and Katsuki doesn’t know how to turn off the autosave image to gallery option — honestly, Katsuki can be such a grandpa sometimes — and whenever he deletes them, Izuku goes into his recently deleted album to recover them.
Although he’d rather die than admit it, he’s really embarrassed about his baby pictures and he hasn’t let anyone else but Izuku see them, and even then he’s still a bit… touchy about it.
Honestly, it doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. Katsuki’s blown up over smaller things.
Plus, it has to do with him because he’s sure Katsuki knows very well that if Izuku finds out Kaminari and Ashido have seen the pictures, he’ll never stop gushing with them about how absolutely adorable he is.
Katsuki definitely isn’t wrong in assuming that. Truly, he knows him so well.
It all fits. Izuku is ninety percent sure that he’s right, and in his opinion, that’s enough to confront them directly about it.
He decides to talk to all three of them, hopefully at the same time, sometime within this week. On the agenda are two simple items: confirming if his theory is correct, and assuring Katsuki that he has no reason to hide it from Izuku. If he doesn’t want him to talk about his baby pictures with other people who’ve seen it, he won’t.
(Though he would have to physically restrain himself from gushing about how adorable baby Katsuki is, but, uh, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for Kacchan.)
The plan is to play it cool and then casually slip in the fact that he Knows.
What could go wrong?
Honestly, it goes pretty well until Izuku realises exactly how wrong he was in making assumptions like that.
It’s two days after he makes his revelation, and Izuku corners the three of them in the common area after school.
Kacchan’s reading at the table, while Ashido and Kaminari are spread across the sofas and chatting idly.
Ashido spots him first and turns to whisper something to Kaminari, and they both make to stand up and leave, but Izuku activates One For All: Full Cowling just to zip in front of the two of them, gives them his most disarming yet authoritative smile, and speaks the four of the most dreaded words anyone could possibly say:
“We need to talk.”
Kaminari swallows. Ashido chances a glance at Katsuki, who seems to be absorbed in his book.
But Izuku knows better. Kacchan is very clearly listening in on them — has been ever since he first spoke.
There’s a beat of silence where Izuku stares them down, charming smile still on his face as the two of them get visibly more uncomfortable.
They glance at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation with their eyes, before Ashido shrugs and they sit back down, giving Katsuki cautious glances when they think Izuku isn’t looking.
“What is it, Midoriya?” Kaminari asks, voice low and tone urgent.
Izuku’s grin turns sheepish. “I know about what you saw on Kacchan’s phone.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Katsuki’s head snap up like clockwork. Izuku feels the heaviness of his stare on him like weights attached to his back.
Ashido pales and Kaminari’s mouth drops open, and he tries to speak, but he chokes and has to clear his throat before trying again. “You — uh, you do?”
Huh. Seems like a bit of an overreaction for just baby pictures of Katsuki, but okay? He shakes this off and grins wider.
“Yep,” He pops the ‘p’.
There’s a brief lag in the conversation, which is when Ashido’s complexion starts looking less baby pink and more vaguely-pinkish white and Kaminari seems to have forgotten how to formulate sentences.
Izuku’s still kind of confused. It’s literally just baby pictures?
Sensing Katsuki glowering from where he is, he lowers his voice exaggeratedly like he’s sharing a secret he probably shouldn’t be talking about. “Listen,’ he whispers, “I don’t really know why it’s such a big deal.”
At this, Ashido looks just about ready to faint.
“I have some pictures on my phone too.”
Kaminari swallows and darts his gaze over to Katsuki, where he no doubt is fuming.
“And if you want,” Izuku continues, looking expectantly at the two of them — they’re still really flustered for some reason? — “I can send some to you guys?”
Both pairs of eyes on him widen comically to the size of saucers, and Ashido lets out a pterodactyl screech, eyes unfocused. Kaminari looks like he’s short-circuited, letting out a soft ‘whey’ as Izuku’s gaze shifts to him.
“Uh... Is there something wrong?” Izuku eventually ventures after an awkward pause.
Ashido focuses on Izuku like she’s never seen him before, and she stutters and fumbles before blurting out in a shriek that makes Izuku wince, “I can’t believe you two are this fucking kinky!”
Izuku almost laughs.
Then her words process.
Wait, what?
Ashido continues on like a trainwreck that hasn’t stopped moving yet. “I mean, like, I can’t say I didn’t really see this coming, because — well, you know what they say about the innocent-looking ones, plus Katsuki looks like he’d either be super kinky or really fucking vanilla — but still! Like, I love the two of you and all, but I really don’t want to be a part of your weird exhibitionist tendencies!”
Okay, what the fuck?
Ashido pauses to take a breath, and as an afterthought, adds, “And neither does Denki!”
Beside her, the blonde in question nods.
This entire interaction so far leaves Izuku thoroughly confused, and it’s at this moment that Katsuki finally chooses to come swaggering over, slinging an arm around Izuku easily and squinting at Ashido and Kaminari.
“The fuck’d you say to them?”
Izuku raises an eyebrow. “Please. As if you weren’t listening.”
Bakugou plants a kiss on his cheek and looks pointedly away. “Tch. Maybe.”
Izuku waits to see if Katsuki will provide elaboration on what he knows, but when he’s only met with silence, he sighs and asks him plainly what he’s missing.
Katsuki just grins, and damn, if that sight doesn’t make his heart sing a little.
“They saw our video, Deku. The one we made last Tuesday.”
Oh.
Oh.
His cheeks flush as he processes the information and the realisation hits him like a block of cement to the face.
He means their sex tape. Sex video. Homemade porno. Whatever.
Katsuki watches him, amused smirk playing on his lips as he sees Izuku mentally replay the conversation that just took place, but only now with the new implication his words had.
So that’s why Kaminari and Ashido looked so uncomfortable.
And why they were avoiding him.
And why Ashido said all that.
“This makes a lot more sense now,” Izuku says.
Katsuki snorts. “I’d be concerned if it didn’t.”
Meanwhile, the other two are watching the two of them talk with what Katsuki calls the ‘dumbass bitch energy’ expression plastered onto his faces, gazes bouncing from one boy to the other.
Ashido snaps out of it first. “Wait, so you didn’t actually know what we saw?”
Izuku shakes his head, guilty smile gracing his face. “Nope. I jumped to conclusions based on barely-there evidence. It’s my bad, really.”
“So what did you think we saw?” She queries, eyes big and curious.
Katsuki’s gaze settles on Izuku. He’s interested too.
“Well —”
“Wait, never mind.” Ashido wrinkles her nose and makes a face. “If it’s something gross and/or related to you two having sex, I don’t want to know.”
Izuku giggles. “I promise you, it’s not.”
Ashido narrows her eyes at him. “Really?”
He giggles harder. “Really.”
“Okay then.” Ashido gestures for him to start talking. “By all means.”
“I thought,” Izuku says, sneaking a glance at his boyfriend, whose gaze has turned suspicious — damn, Kacchan’s really going to kill him for this, huh? — and looking back at Mina, “that it was about his baby photos.”
Ashido lights up like someone plugged her into a socket and just remembered to flip the switch on. “Baby photos?”
Beside him, Bakugou ignites like a stack of paper someone dropped a lit match on, his brow furrowing and the tips of his ears turning red, and begins struggling, trying to grab his hand as Midoriya slowly (because he can) fishes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his own gallery to give Ashido a glimpse of little toddler Katsuki.
Izuku easily holds off Katsuki with one hand, the other showing his phone to Ashido as she oohs and aahs over how small Kacchan used to be. The green-haired boy agrees with her cheerfully on every comment she makes, which only serves to make Katsuki more red.
That, in turn, just makes Izuku more determined to agree with everything she says.
The moment ends when Izuku finally lets Katsuki take his phone, and Ashido declares she’s going to get Shinsou to fix Kaminari.
As they’re walking to the elevator together and Katsuki is scrolling through Izuku’s messages to make sure he didn’t send any of his pictures to anyone, Izuku bumps his shoulder gently.
“Hey,” he says. “I love you.”
Katsuki turns red and he fumbles slightly before sneering weakly. “I fucking hate you, Deku.”
Izuku beams at Katsuki. “Sure you do, Kacchan.”
Katsuki grumbles something incoherent and turns away, but Izuku doesn’t miss the upwards turn of his lips.