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It’s no secret that society is prejudiced. They’ve long gotten over the whole ‘hierarchy’ bullshit with secondary genders, but relationships are still widely policed and it’s no secret that certain pairings are not acceptable. Alpha and omega belong together. Beta and beta belong together. Alpha and beta, omega and beta, acceptable. Alpha-alpha and omega-omega pairs? Vile. Alphas are less likely to be called on it as they’re seen as the strong ones. Omegas, however, are targeted. And that’s what makes it so dangerous for two widely known near-graduated omega heroes in training to be dating.
While their classmates are largely on board with it and they themselves feel ready to take on the world, Izuku and Katsuki have to keep their relationship under wraps while they’re still at UA. Something about PR bullshit. You’d think that, as a well-known hero academy, they’d be more willing to stand up for their students.
You’d be wrong.
Katsuki Bakugou has known for a long time that his family wouldn’t approve of his boyfriend. They’re big subscribers to the “every omega needs a big strong alpha” shit, and they expect him to find one they’ll approve of. But lately they’ve been… quieter. On that issue. They’ve been speaking with Katsuki as an adult and not like their unruly omega brat. Somehow, he expects tonight’s conversation to go well. He’ll tell them he’s dating Izuku. That he loves him. That they can’t change that. And they’ll accept it.
They don’t.
Izuku’s having a quiet evening at home with his mother when a familiar tone plays from beside him, indicating his boyfriend is calling him. He smiles apologetically at Inko, who had been telling a story, as he picks up.
“Hi, Kacchan!” His voice is cheery as he answers the ringing.
“Deku…” Comes a quiet whimper.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. Katsuki’s voice is quiet, choked. Izuku has only heard this voice once, and he never wanted to hear it again.
“Kacchan, hey, what’s wrong?” Inko looks up at the softened, concerned tone in her son’s voice.
“Can… can you come get me? I- I don’t… really know where I am.” That has Izuku off the couch and running to the door for his keys.
“I’m on my way. What’s around you?” It’s unusual for Katsuki to get lost, and from the sounds of it, he’d been crying. This couldn’t be good.
The subdued voice on the other line describes a pretty much ordinary street corner, save for one detail that gives Izuku an idea of where to look. He tells his beloved to stay put and he’ll be there soon.
A million possibilities run through Izuku’s mind as he drives through the city. He’s lucky he wanders it so often, or he wouldn’t have a single clue where to go. It would take hours. They’re lucky it doesn’t, because a light drizzle starts to bathe the city as the sun goes down.
A breath he wasn’t aware he was holding leaves Izuku as he pulls to a stop and his boyfriend opens the car door. The scent that comes in is pure distress and fear, and the tension in Katsuki’s movements is obvious. It’s clear on his face he doesn’t want to talk about it, and Izuku knows better than to push. So he starts driving. Where, he’s not sure yet. It’s mostly just mindless driving until he knows what he needs to do. When the sniffles die down and Katsuki looks less like an icicle from being out in the cold, Izuku takes the plunge.
“Kacchan… what happened?”
The blond takes a deep breath and tries to speak. “I- my parents. I told- fuck- I told them about us…”
“Oh, baby. They didn’t take it well…” Katsuki shakes his head.
“They- she- fuck…” Izuku can hear the sob in his throat before it’s reached his mouth. Katsuki breaks down, distressed hormones seeping into every part of the enclosed vehicle. Steering to the shoulder, Izuku parks and unbuckles both belts. He reaches across to the shaking omega and pulls him close, petting his hair and humming.
Burying his nose in Izuku’s shoulder, Katsuki takes a shuddering breath and melts. There’s nothing he wants more than to forget the day, forget life, just believe the only two people to exist were himself and his boyfriend. His perfect, amazing omega, whose scent floods his senses and makes him feel safe like nothing in the world can. Izuku is the only one ever allowed to see Katsuki like this- vulnerable, crumbling. Because Katsuki knows he’ll never judge, he’ll never take advantage, only hold him close and take the horrid world away.
The elder omega’s body shakes as he mumbles into Izuku’s shirt- “I- I thought… We’ve been so good lately… I thought they’d- they’d- get it , y’know?” Izuku stays silent as he just holds tight and focuses on calming Katsuki with his scent. “And- and of- of course they didn’t,” Katsuki manages between sniffles, “and they want to marry me off.” Anger fills his voice as he continues, “and when I- when I tried to go upstairs- she… she started to fucking alpha command me. The old man only barely stopped her. And, and so… I ran. And I ran until I couldn’t. And I-” Sobs wrack his body again, remembering the way he’d felt so so incredibly helpless.
“I can’t go back, Izuku. I- she said I’m not their son anymore. And, like, I haven’t been since I- since I presented. They’ve been disappointed in me since then. I just thought that maybe…”
“I know, Kacchan. They’ve never been fair to you.”
“I mean… I just thought maybe they were proud of me enough from my work- my progress- the way they always talk about my grades and my performance like it’s something they were satisfied with- fuck, Izuku, my shit. My work. All my stuff, they won’t, how am I gonna do anything without-”
Izuku cuts him off there.
“We’ll figure it out, Kacchan. We’ll take care of it. You don’t have to go back there, I’ve got you now. We’ll do this together, okay?”
And in the weakest, softest voice Izuku has ever heard from his omega, comes a simple “thank you…” and the sniffles quiet as Katsuki breathes his scent deep.
Izuku rubs his wrist on Katsuki’s neck, his wrists, every scent gland he can reach. They lay in silence, breathing together, for a while. When they both begin shivering from the cold seeping into the car, Izuku takes a deep breath. “Let’s go home, yeah?”
The trip to the Midoriya residence is silent. Traipsing inside, Izuku grabs his boyfriend a blanket and wraps him up on the couch.
“Can I tell her? It’ll be easier to explain if she knows the truth, you don’t have to though.”
“Go ahead. She’ll read me like a book and call us on the lie if you don’t.” Inko knows Katsuki well enough by now to know his every thought. He’s spent more time with the Midoriyas than his own family this year, she’s closer to a mother than he’s ever had.
Izuku disappears into his mother’s room for a bit, and when they emerge, Inko immediately goes to Katsuki and wraps him in a hug. She says nothing, but he feels everything. She finishes fixing dinner for the three of them and it feels like any other night Katsuki’s spent with them- peaceful. Relaxed. Safe.
Izuku turns to shoo Katsuki away as he usually does when the blond tries to help him with the dishes, but this time Kacchan doesn’t giggle and walk away like he usually does. “I need to feel useful,” he states, picking up a towel and beginning to dry and put away the clean plates. They work quietly, even the small tasks bringing a sense of partnership and showing off the way they work like a well-oiled machine. Inko chuckles to herself in the dining room, shaking her head. Some things are just meant to be, she thinks.
As they finish in the kitchen and move to the couch, Inko bids them goodnight. There’s an unspoken agreement- stay as long as you need - in the smile she gives Katsuki, and he knows he’s in good hands.
They put on a movie they’ve both seen a hundred times- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, to be exact- and curl up together. Izuku traces patterns over his omega’s shoulders and Katsuki sinks his fingers into Izuku’s hair. It’s clear Katsuki doesn’t want to talk about it much, so Izuku lets him guide the conversation.
“Thank you…” The blond’s voice is quiet.
“Always, Kacchan. Always. You know I love you, you know we love you.”
“Even if we’re both omegas?”
“ Kacchan. Don’t let them get in your head, baby. It’s stupid to say omegas can’t date each other. We’re proof.”
“Yeah…”
“Yeah.”
“I have to go home.” The fear is evident in Katsuki’s voice.
“No you don’t. Live with us.” The words come out of his mouth like they aren’t earth-shattering. Like they don’t hold the weight of the world. Like it’s…. natural.
“I- I can’t do that,” Katsuki murmurs, “I’m not family.”
“You might as well be, Kacchan. We already plan on mating and marrying, right?”
“Yeah… But…”
“Katsuki Bakugou, I will bite you right fucking now if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Katsuki chokes.
“I- no- I didn’t mean-” The blond splutters as his ears go red.
“Well, I’d like it to be a little more special than-”
“Of course, dumbass!” Katsuki pulls his hair and Izuku all but whines. “Oh, so it’s like that?”
It’s the younger boy’s turn to choke this time.
“Kacchan, you know what I mean, though.”
“I do.”
“So you’ll stay?”
“Yeah. I’ll stay.”
“We’ll get your stuff. We’ll talk to them.”
“I… thanks.”
“It’s gonna be alright, you know?”
Silence.
Izuku forces his boyfriend to look him in the eyes, leaning forward to plant a kiss on his lips.
“You’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.”