Chapter Text
Staring up at the night sky, the big, bright moon his only source of light, Izuku drifts aimlessly amongst his thoughts as he sits on his back porch. ‘Tomorrow I really need to eat that beef. It's gonna go bad soon. And I need to finish the draft for the magazine… I don’t want Todoroki to yell at me again,’ he thinks as a chill breeze sweeps through his backyard. He would pull his cardigan tighter but… he finds his arms are too heavy, and his hands are locked securely around the mug of tea he’d brought out with him. He settles on a shiver instead, the only movement to be seen since he’d sat down… how long has he been sitting out here?
A thump snaps him out of his daze, his eyes shooting over to his back fencing. It was a nice fence, made of solid wooden planks and tall enough that he could just see over into his neighbor's yard if he were on his tip-toes. And now from his neighbor’s yard, a man is swinging over the top of his fence and into his backyard.
‘What the fuck?’
The man stands from his crouched position, quickly brushing his hands against his ripped black jeans to get whatever dirt was on them off as he pants heavily. He looks up, finally, and his eyes widen comically as he now sees Izuku, who had, just moments ago, been casually enjoying a clear night on his back porch.
“What the fuck?” The man says.
Now that he was standing tall, Izuku could see his nose was bleeding, blood shining in the moonlight, and his left eye was starting to swell. As he looked on from the man’s face, Izuku could just notice little cuts appearing from under the black tank the man was wearing.
“Do you… uh… need some help?” Izuku asks, eyes flicking back up to meet the other’s dark red ones. The man stares for a moment more, the awkward air between them bearing down even worse than when the two had first locked eyes.
“Uh, no.” The man says, everything about him screaming out that he wants to be anywhere but here. He turns quickly, seeming to plan on jumping back over the fence he’d just come in from, but a shocked hiss of pain escapes him before he can make his leave.
And at that, Izuku can no longer hold in his laughter. The man jumps like he’s been electrocuted, whipping back around with a snarl on his face.
“This is so fucking stupid,” Izuku laughs, wipping a tear from his eye as the man freezes at his words. He stands, pulling his cardigan a little tighter around himself as he smiles at the other, who looks back with confusion. Izuku tilts his head towards his house. “Come on, I’ll fix you up before you go,” he says as he turns and walks into his home, leaving the back door open for the man.
As he’s placing his mug cold tea on the kitchen counter, he hears the sliding back door open a little more. He turns, seeing the man standing awkwardly in the doorway as he looks about the small kitchen slash dining room. “You know its stupid as fuck to invite a fucking stranger into your house, right?” He says as Izuku motions to a chair at the table.
Izuku chuckles. “It’s fine.”
The man gives him a weird look, head tilted and nose scrunched up before walking over to the chair, pulling it out and falling gracelessly into it. Izuku rolls his eyes as he closes the back door, a small smile on his face. “I’ll be right back,” he says, before disappearing deeper into the house.
The man stares, bewildered, at where Izuku had just been moments before he disappeared off deeper into the house. ‘Did he just leave a fucking stranger in his kitchen alone? What if I fucking robbed the place?’ He thinks as his eyes dart around. ‘Is this some kind of fucking bullshit joke.’ But… no, because as he looks around the kitchen, really looks, he can see nick-nacks tucked up on the shelves like little hidden treasures, and all the towels displayed have those horrible cheesy puns on them. The table he sits at has a small vase with flowers in it, all looking to be fresh with bright colors. ‘This is way to fucking home-y,’ he thinks as Izuku walks back in, a first-aid kit in his hands.
He places the kit on the table, flipping it open before leaning down to see the man’s face better.
‘Oh, he’s got surprisingly clear skin,’ he can’t help but think, before his eyes trail elsewhere. His eye will need a cold compress, and luckily it looks like his nose isn’t broken. After getting him an ice pack and a napkin to wipe away the blood, Izuku gets to work on the man’s arms and hands, which have more scrapes than anywhere else Izuku can currently see. Bandage packs being ripped open become the only sound to fill the spaces between them for a few moments before Izuku can no longer take it.
“So… how’d you get like this?” He asks, looking up at the man as he slaps another bandage on his forearm.
The man quickly looks away from Izuku, having been watching him work, and bits his upper lip slightly. “I was at a house party with some friends when this fucking bastard decided to pick a fucking fight by being an ass. But then the cops showed so I booked it,” he says, shrugging his shoulders a little. “Hope the jackass got caught.”
Izuku hums, reaching once again for the antiseptic. “And what, exactly, was he doing to pick a fight?”
At that the man sits a little straighter. “He was hitting on Jirou when she’d clearly told him to fuck off. He was being a fucking creep!” He grumbles, and Izuku has to really work to hold back his laughter, figuring the other wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Well, that was really nice of you, to defend your friend like that,” Izuku says as he begins to put his supplies away. The man grunts in response, handing back the ice pack. His eye was already looking much better.
“Well you’re patched up to the best of my abilities. Do you need to spend the night?” Izuku asks as he closes the first-aid kit, wondering how far the man had run. There was a college close by, but it was a 15 minute drive from Izuku’s house.
“No, I’ll be fine. I parked close by,” the man says as he stands. Izuku nods, deciding not to check out the validity of that statement. He may be fine with being murdered in his own home (though at this point he knew the man before he was no murderer… at least he’s pretty sure), but being murdered on the streets did not sound like a fun time.
Izuku leads the other through his house (‘Oh and now he’s just showing me how I could litterally rob this place fucking blind. That’s just perfect. Just fucking dandy. How the fuck has this idiot stayed alive this lone), and opens the front door for him, turning back with a smile.
“Have a good night.”
And the man nods like he wasn’t thinking about what a dumbass the man before him is (a really, really nice dumbass), and steps out into the chill night air.
---
As Katsuki walks back to his car, this time using the sidewalks, he glances at his watch.
‘Why the fuck was that idiot awake at 4 fucking AM?’
---
The next time it’s 2 in the afternoon, one could argue a more appropriate time to have guests, when Izuku hears a knock at his door.
‘Weird, I don’t think anyone was supposed to come over today,’ he thinks as he pushes his laptop off to the side. He stands from the couch, slowly moving towards the door. Peaking through the peephole, Izuku can’t stop the small smile from forming on his face. He opens the door, finding the beat-up stranger once again beat-up, but this time on his front pouch instead of in his backyard.
The man rubs the back of his neck nervously as he looks at anywhere but Izuku’s face. Today, he’s wearing a band shirt, the band of which Izuku did not know of, under a black leather jacket, and black ripped jeans. Very in character for him, from what Izuku could tell.
“Hello.”
“Hey…”
Izuku leans against his door frame, wrapping his cardigan around himself as his eyes twinkle with mischief. The big bad delinquent was acting so nervous, how could Izuku not tease him just a little. “What are you doing here?” He asks.
“I was wondering if…” the man takes in a deep breath, cursing lightly under his breath, “you could patch me up again? I don’t have a first aid kit at my place…”
Izuku looks him up and down, seeming to seriously think about whether or not he was going to let the man inside. He squirms under Izuku’s gaze, and after a moment Izuku can’t help but take pity on him. Chuckling, he steps back to let the man in. “Yeah sure. Come on in,” he says.
The man quickly steps inside, heading straight through the living room and into the kitchen, right into the chair he’d sat in last time as Izuku closes the door behind him. Seeing that the man was seated, he heads to the bathroom to grab the kit.
As Izuku walks back into the kitchen, he thinks about how long ago that weird night had been--it must have been at least a couple of weeks ago.
“I didn’t ever think I’d see you again,” Izuku says as he sets the kit down and pops open the lid.
“I didn’t either,” the man mumbles, scratching at his cheek. Izuku’s eyebrows raise--both at the comment and the bloody knuckles.
“Oh? Why did you come to my house then?”
The man says something under his breath, ears turning just the lightest shade of pink. ‘He’s so cute.’
“What was that?” Izuku asks, shoving that thought away as quickly as possible. The man sighs loudly before looking out the back door.
“I didn’t really think you’d be fucking home,” he grumbles out. Izuku looks over at the stove clock, noting that it was, indeed, the middle of the day.
“Oh! I guess most people would be out at their jobs right now, huh?” He says as he holds out his hand. The other man looks at the outstretched palm with confusion for a second, before finally connecting the dots. Slowly, as though he thought Izuku might bite him, the man places one of his injured hands in Izuku’s. Grabbing him softly before he could pull away, Izuku snatches the antiseptic and begins spraying it on the wounds.
The man winces at the stinging, but settles after a moment, watching as Izuku sets to work. After getting a good start, Izuku looks up at him and smiles.
“I’m a writer.”
“Didn’t fucking ask,” the man quickly snaps back, but Izuku just laughs it off.
“But it looked like you wanted to,” he teases, causing the man to once more look out the back door. Izuku laughs again, a smile quickly forming on his face.
“What about you? What do you do when you're not getting into fights?” Izuku asks as he lets go of the man’s right hand.
“Oy! I never fucking start them!” He quickly defends, turning back to Izuku with a snarl as he holds out his left hand.
“I never said you started them,” Izuku amends, his smile only growing. He really needed to stop teasing the poor kid, but it was just so fun. The man winces once again as the antiseptic does its job, and Izuku whispers out a small sorry. Luckily, his left hand wasn’t as bad as his right.
The man pouts for a moment--so cute--before letting out a little sigh. “I work part time at the mechanics shop on 56th,” he says.
“And…?” Izuku pushes.
“And fucking what?”
“Part-time implies you do something else,” Izuku says as he looks up from his work, “so, what else?”
The man rolls his eyes, mumbling something under his breath before stating, “I'm a student at Yuei University.”
“Oh! I have a few friends who go there!” Izuku beams. He’d heard a lot of good things about that school--and that it was really hard to get into. ‘A nerdy delinquent--who’d’ve thought.’
“What's your major?” Izuku asks as he finishes up bandaging his left hand.
“Chemistry,” the man grunts out.
‘Oh my! A super nerdy delinquent,’ Izuku couldn’t help but think, though somehow, it seemed to fit the man before him perfectly.
Letting go of his hand, Izuku is quick to offer the man a drink, though gets declined. Knowing he could keep the stranger no longer, Izuku walks him back to his front door, just as he had the last time.
“Well, if you ever need me to patch you up again, you’re welcome to come by…” Izuku pauses, biting his lower lip, “what’s your name?” He asks with a chuckle, only now having realized the two had never actually introduced each other--though under the circumstances that they’d meet that kind of made sense.
“Katsuki Bakugou,” the man--Katsuki--says as he shoves his newly bandaged hands into his coat pockets.
Izuku smiles. “Izuku Midoriya--and you're welcome to come by again anytime, Katsuki.”
The man nods, the tips of his ears turning red once again before he’s spinning on his heels and marching off down the street. Izuku can’t help but grin at the display, shutting the door slowly and heading back over to his couch. He collapses down onto the cushions, pulling his laptop back onto his lap and positioning his fingers over the keys before he freezes. He sits there for a moment, staring at his reflection in the black screen. The doppy little grin, that he had not realized he’d been wearing, disappears as his cheeks blaze red.
Izuku suddenly groans loudly, hands coming up to cover his face.
“This is so not good.”