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Love is a complicated word.
Everyone says it, yet no one truly understands it. Bakugou Katsuki was one of those people. Ever since he was a child, he never got to experience what love felt like.
Not parental love, not friendly love. Real love.
Melting into someone’s touch, interlacing fingers under a table, both people smiling huge smiles into a kiss. Call him cliché, but it was something he’d always longed for.
Maybe it was because most people are afraid of Katsuki. He couldn’t blame them. His fierce, ‘kill or be killed’ attitude wasn’t exactly the nicest to be around. It drew most people away from him, if anything.
For a while, that gave him an extreme feeling of solace, and sometimes even gratitude towards those who feared him. It made him feel soothed under the hot fire of pressure that came with being a hero.
Until he came along.
Eijirou was the exact opposite of him. Kind, sincere, loving, bright. Oh so bright. His presence lit up rooms, his smile could cure fucking depression for all Katsuki cared. Eijirou had a strength to everyone of Katsuki’s weaknesses.
Eijirou taught Katsuki that there was more to being a hero than being the best one. That there was a happiness that came with saving, more than winning. He always shrugged it off, telling Eijirou that he was wrong and that he’d be the Number One hero anyways.
Then the Kamino incident happened.
He’d always hate being saved more than anything. Not being able to get himself out of mess, not being able to pull through. He couldn’t stand it.
But he felt different in that moment. When Eijirou called out to him. The way the wind flew through his hair.
The way his right hand began tingling when he thought about Eijirou.
He’d scolded Eijirou for months about the rescue. Eijirou passed it off as Katsuki being upset about the fact that he was saved, but.. that simply wasn’t it. He was scared.
Eijirou put himself in danger that night. He could’ve been killed, and the thought of losing Eijirou because of that incident made Katsuki sick.
The strange need for love only became more prominent after that. Every text, call or word that Eijirou sent his way was enough to make Katsuki’s head spin. Their bond became more apparent to everyone, most people going to call Eijirou and Katsuki each others, in Denki’s words, “back up generators”. It was dumb, but Katsuki’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him smile a little bit.
By the time they’d gotten to their third year, the whole squad had figured out about Katsuki’s crush. It wasn’t that Katsuki was trying to be particularly secretive about it, but he was more so trying to come to terms with things himself.
Which wasn’t very hard with Izuku on his tail about it everyday.
Him and Katsuki finally patched things up towards the middle of their second year. Katsuki was tired of fighting him, and Izuku meant a lot to him, whether he’d admit that or not. Izuku absolutely insisted on having “bonding time” every so often to make up for their lost time. Katsuki complied without much argument.
He didn’t sign up for all the pestering he’d have to endure though.
“Katsuki. You’ve got to tell him sooner or later.” Izuku stated, through a mouthful of food. Katsuki grimaced at him, disgusted yet so amazed by the amount of food the freckled boy had managed to spill on his shirt.
Izuku had convinced him to go to a dumb café every once in a while, just to catch up on things.
“Well, sooner or later you need to learn how to chew with your goddamn mouth closed,” Izuku rolled his eyes at that. “And second, no I actually don’t. I don’t do shit unless I want to.”
“But you do want to, and you have for two fucking years now. Are you seriously still trying to shove these feelings away?” Katsuki always hated how damn perceptive Izuku was.
“...how would you know?” Katsuki almost whispered, which was basically unheard of in this case. “Hello?! ‘How would I know?!’ Who is the person you come to when you need to complain about that tingly feeling in your palm whenever you think about Kirishima?! Spoiler alert: it’s me you idiot!” Izuku sputtered.
Katsuki already felt a blush creeping up his neck. “Shush you damn idiot! I thought we agreed not to speak on that!”
“Correction. You told me not to speak on that. I didn’t agree to anything.”
“What fucking ever! Why do you want me to confess so damn bad anyways?!” Katsuki had never seen him so passionate about anything, and that’s saying something.
“You deserve to be happy, that’s why. I can tell that it’s been hard for you, having to deal with these feelings and all. But you’re doing so well. You’ve changed and matured so much, and that’s really inspiring. You’re... amazing, and you deserve someone amazing like Kirishima too.”
Izuku had always been one to draw out conversations into overly sappy tearful rambles. Most of the time, Katsuki found himself heavily irritated by the tangents, even going as far as calling them “deku style SAW traps”.
This one though. Katsuki teared up. Just a little.
His face became wet rather quickly, as tears made their way down his cheeks. Izuku began panicking, grabbing tissue after tissue and wiping around Katsuki’s eyes as his best friend sniffled.
“W-why do you treat me so well?! After all I’ve put you through. I’ll never get it...” He always carried the burden of what he’d put Izuku through for all these years, even after they became close. Once Katsuki realized that he needed to stop letting his personal insecurities control the way he treated people, that’s when he finally let his friendship with Izuku rekindle.
Izuku smiled softly to himself. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the new Katsuki. “It isn’t about what you put me through. It’s about what we went through together. I wasn’t the only one suffering.” That only made Katsuki sob harder, and in the middle of a fucking coffee shop at that.
“You’re such an idiot Deku.”
“Love you too Kacchan.”
*****
After resistance training was over later that day, Katsuki headed up to his room to relax. As soon as he sat down on his phone, a caller ID illuminated his previously black screen. Katsuki’s heart skipped as he recognized Kirishima’s number, and the picture he may or may not have taken of the redhead while he wasn’t looking.
“Hello?”
“Hey ‘Tsuki! I’m on the way back from my internship, and I was wondering if you wanted to come get groceries with me,” Eijirou paused for a moment as if he was unsure of what to say. “If you want to of course! No pressure at all-“
“Of course I’m going.” The words were out of Katsuki’s mouth before he could even process them. “Great! I’ll see you when I get back! “ There was a brief pause before the line went silent. Katsuki calmly walked out into the hall and stood outside of Izuku’s door.
He gave himself three seconds to breathe, before promptly throwing himself into Izuku’s room.
“Jesus! You scared the living day lights out of me- okay you look scared. Are you okay?” Izuku said, worriedly.
“He invited me to go get groceries with him.” Izuku raised an eyebrow, as if he was waiting for some kind of punchline or continuation, but nothing came.
“So... what exactly is the big deal?” Katsuki was started to become embarrassed of how frequently he went to Izuku for his super gay problems, but that feeling was dying quickly.
“I don’t... I don’t know what to wear,” Izuku burst out laughing, and the rooms previous tension quickly dissipated. “You’re going to the grocery store! Why does it matter?!”
“I’m going ALONE! With EIJIROU! That’s why you dumbass! Now shut the fuck up and help me!” Katsuki felt his embarrassment return as soon as it had left.
Izuku began to think, and devilish grin appeared on his face. You could practically see the horns and red skin too. Katsuki began to get nervous at this. Whenever he asked Izuku for advice involving Eijirou, it always ended up in him giving Katsuki some off the wall crazy ideas.
“Let me go get something~“ his tone was singy-songy, meaning mischief was to come. Izuku rummaged through his closet, seemingly looking for some sort of outfit for Katsuki to wear.
A pair of pants were promptly thrown at his face, and Izuku insisted he try them on quickly. Katsuki figured they couldn’t be that bad, they were just a pair of sweatpants right?
Tight ass sweatpants at that.
”Izuku. Hell no.” The sweatpants that Katsuki thought he was receiving, were quickly discovered to be fucking leggings, and they were tight as fuck.
“Katsuki, you’re wearing them. You came to my room to get advice, therefore you’re gonna take what I give you. End of discussion,” Izuku casually flipped the page of his book, which told Katsuki that he was serious. “Oh yeah I almost forgot,” Izuku chucked an oversized t-shirt at Katsuki. “Wear that too.” Katsuki’s veins were practically popping out of his head, but he complied without an argument.
He examined himself in the mirror of Izuku’s room, his eyes almost popping out of the socket at his ass. Izuku chuckled behind his hand at the raging blonde. “What the hell kinda pants are these?!”
“They’re just leggings sir, calm down.”
“Then why does my ass look so... good?”
Izuku had to stifle a cackle. “Maybe you just have a nice ass? You do know that you can compliment your own body sometimes right?” Katsuki sighed and made his exit for the door, sending thanks to Izuku.
Katsuki sat down in the commons to wait for Eijirou to finish his shower. He seated himself next to Hanta, who unfortunately had caught a glimpse of his rather tight... attire.
“Well hello there leggings! You have a really nice ass dude.” Hanta muttered behind his hand, trying his best not to draw any unnecessary attention to Katsuki. He appreciated that. “Are you fucking kidding me? I look ridiculous in these things! I can’t believe Izuku managed to get me in these tight ass shits,” Hanta snickered lightly at that.
“Well, what’s the special occasion?” Katsuki eyed the rest of the room to make sure no one else was paying attention to them. “Me and Eijirou are going out to the store,” Hanta grinned widely and shook Katsuki’s shoulders with excitement. “Dude! This is totally a date!” Katsuki’s ears went red. “No the hell it ain’t!”
“He invited you to the store. ALONE. This is totally a date!” Katsuki found himself smiling a little. Hanta was always so supportive of him being gay, as was Katsuki with Hanta being a demiboy. He’d always trusted Hanta a bit more than the rest of the blabbermouths in the group.
“You ready?” Eijirou said, looking at Katsuki with eyes doughy enough to make croissants with. “When am I not?” He took the hand that Eijrou had offered and pulled himself off the couch. Katsuki followed behind Eijirou, but not before catching Denki, Hanta and Ashido all shooting kissy faces his way.
Dorks.
*****
Something felt off.
Katsuki had never seen Eijirou so fidgety before. His current form was rivaling Denki, and that guy has fucking ADHD. That’s a lot to live up to. He was dropping items, tripping over air, and stuttering when he was talking.
Up until this point, Katsuki had chalked it up to Eijirou just being tired from his shift, but it was never like this. He’d usually was brighter and more energetic than usual, even when it was a rough day.
But when Eijrou utterly refused to walk behind Katsuki, that was the last straw.
“The fuck is wrong with you?”
“Move in with me,” Katsuki choked on nothing, trying to figure out what had just been said. Was he hallucinating? Is this some kind of sick and twisted quirk that makes him believe things that didn’t happen?!
“L-like in a house..?” Eijirou nodded eagerly, as if he was in a rush. Katsuki was speechless. Eijirou Kirishima, Red Fucking Riot, wants to live with him.
His crush wants to live with him.
“Can I think about it..?” The light in Eijirou’s eyes was back, and Katsuki almost winced at the brightness of his smile. He hadn’t even said yes, why was this bastard so happy?
Eijirou was absolutely giddy the entire rest of the trip, grinning widely everytime he successfully found an item to put in the cart. The tingling began to start again, but Katsuki didn’t try to rub it away this time.
“Eiji, let me see your palm.” Eijirou looked at Katsuki in slight confusion, but the look was quickly replaced with surprise as Katsuki put their palms flat together and gripped his hand. Katsuki kept walking like nothing had happened, but Eijirou didn’t mind.
Their hands never left each other’s.
*****
Katsuki couldn’t believe this was real.
In just 3 short months, it was time for graduation. The ceremony was tearful, emotional, embarrassing, and many more emotions Katsuki couldn’t even think to process. Being at Yuuei was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. His limits were tested, he went through traumatic moment after traumatic moment, he lost friends, and gained new ones.
But it was all worth it.
He wasn’t just proud of himself, but of his friends as well. Watching his friends grow from the sidelines, and the way everyone changed and developed was enough to have Katsuki holding back tears.
He’d soared to new highs that he didn’t even think were there, and Katsuki really learned what it meant to be a real hero.
Katsuki, Eijirou, Ashido, Denki, and Hanta all vowed to keep in touch with each other no matter what. Katsuki threatened to beat all of their asses if they tried to forget about him. They all acted as if Denki wasn’t gonna be begging to meet every 5 seconds anyways.
Katsuki took Izuku to their middle school building and apologized for all the wrongs he’d done to him over the years, ending in Izuku sobbing into his shoulder. It was symbolism of them leaving their troubled past behind.
Katsuki also laid a bouquet of flowers on All Might’s grave. He hadn’t been able to find the strength to visit it since the funeral in his second year, but it was time.
Of course, Katsuki wrote Aizawa a hand-written letter. He was pretty proud of it, and Aizawa even gave him a copy back with a “great job kid <3” written sloppily on the corner. Katsuki pretended not to notice the tear stains that littered the page.
Moving in with Eijirou was the troubling part.
Katsuki’d briefly considered rejecting the offer, not because he didn’t love the idea of living with his long time crush and best friend, but because he genuinely didn’t know how to control himself in this kind of living condition.
And they still weren’t even dating. Not that Katsuki cared or anything.
The apartment was huge. Much bigger than Katsuki even expected that Eijirou could afford. He gripped the keys in his hand, like they were some kind of fragile treasure that he was scared of dropping.
“How the hell did you afford this place?! It’s fucking hugeee!” Katsuki was absolutely giddy, running his hands along the smooth, marble counters that the apartment acquired for itself.
Eijirou snickered at Katsuki’s excitement. “I’ve totally been saving up man! I worked overtime with Taishiro and Amajiki, and I even got a job at that dumb corner store Ashido was obsessed with for a while,” He paused for a moment, pondering his thoughts.
“It was all worth it though. I’d been planning to ask you for a long time, but I just... couldn’t find the courage I guess. This shit hurt my bank account for sure though.”
How did he always manage to leave Katsuki speechless? Katsuki still wasn’t used these weirdly intimate moments between the two of them.
He doesn’t think he’ll ever be.
“You’re such a hard working dork.” Katsuki flicked Eijirou’s forehead, as the redhead flushed a little. “How’re you gonna call me hard working and a dork in the same sentence?! Pick one jeez!” They both laughed in adoration of each other and finished unpacking.
*****
“Eijirou Fucking Kirishima.” Eijirou shivered a little as Ashido sat with her hands crossed over her face as movie-dramatically as she could manage. She’d called him to a restaurant for their routine meetups. It’d been a week since him and Katsuki had moved in together, and Ashido had been demanding details, but he was keeping quiet.
“There’s really nothing to say. We’ve just been getting settled in, that’s it I swear!” She quirked an eyebrow his way, not being convinced at all. “It’s you and Katsuki. The battle couple. The literal definition of the strangers to lovers troupe. Actual soulmates. Something always happens with y’all.”
“I don’t even know if he’s gay! I can’t just make a move on a straight dude!” Ashido deadpanned, tempted to burst into tears at Eijirou’s utter stupidity.
“Do you seriously think a straight man would design his hero costume?! What guy thinks ‘Oh let me have my bare tiddies stuffed into a leotard-like material that show my cleavages which rivals that of a women’s, AND this bright ass orange x shape right across my torso that just so happens to make my waist pop, which is by the way abnormally small for a male.’ That sounds like something straight out of a new age edition of Ouran Host Club!”
Ashido made a valid point, but Eijirou still wasn’t convinced. “Maybe he just wants to embrace his femininity?” It sounded like more of a question that Eijirou had hoped for.
“Just come out with it already. Why're you so scared to just ask him out?” Ashido whined.
“Think about it. If he doesn’t like me back, our whole relationship will be completely screwed! Things would get really uncomfortable between us, and it’d ruin our whole dynamic we have going. If I fuck things up now, I’ll never forgive myself.” Eijirou found himself becoming upset. He didn’t feel like he was even worthy of Katsuki’s friendship, let alone his love.
“That’s not fair,” his head perked up at Ashido’s words. “You’re gonna be more upset with yourself if you don’t tell him eventually. Think about Kamino. You thought, even if it was just for a split second, that hasn’t gonna make it. That he’d die alone, and without knowing how you felt.”
Eijirou’s chest tightened at the memory. He hated thinking about Kamino, even if it was crucial to the development of their relationship. Ashido was right though. He’d lost faith in Katsuki for the first time when he was away. He’d never doubted his skill per say, but instead his willpower.
He knew things about Katsuki that no one else did. He was terrified that night. The thought of Shigaraki, or any of those disgusting villains hurting him... it was gut wrenching.
“HEY! Don’t use that situation against me right now!” Ashido cackled at the redhead’s pouting. He waved the waiter over hurriedly.
“What’re you doing?”
“I’m getting a whole cheesecake. You made me upset.” Ashido and the waiter snickered happily, and Eijirou could feel the corners of his own mouth upturning.
“I’m homeee!” Eijirou shouted cheerfully, as he entered the apartment. Katsuki turned his head from where he was cleaning to face Eijirou. He couldn’t even try to hold the grin back.
He’s home.
“Why do you keep saying that? This isn’t even a real house you idiot.” Eijirou’s smile didn’t even falter the slightest bit. He placed himself on the couch and began stretching his limbs.
“Any place with you in it is home enough for me.” Eijirou began twirling around the living room, almost dancing to a song that wasn’t even playing. He looked beautiful, majestic even. Katsuki’s heart began pounding at a speed any doctor would call unhealthy.
“You’re so goddamn sappy, you know that?” Eijirou’s laugh filled the room like the smooth sounds of a symphony. Katsuki began moving closer. It almost felt accidental, like he wasn’t in control of his own body anymore.
He never felt like he was around Eijirou.
That stupid tingling was back. Bold, almost like a hot fire of emotions lighting his skin ablaze. He interlaced his fingers with Eijirou’s, his heart much too far ahead of his mind to even think about stopping.
“You’re perfect Kats.” They twirled around the room together. The room was pin dropping silent, yet the sounds of their heart beats together created a sound so loving.
“Stop flattering me so much, Red.” Eijirou’s heart fluttered at the nickname. He’d never thought him and Katsuki would get to this point. It was almost enough to make him emotional. “It isn’t flattery if it’s true you know.”
“Shut up you pretty bastard.” Eijirou began twirling them towards the kitchen, and softly placed Katsuki down in a seat. He placed the bag he’d brought back from the restaurant. “And that is?”
“It may or may not be a whole cheesecake. Who knows.”
“Eiji. You did not get an entire fucking cheesecake.” Eijirou’s scratched the back of his neck dumbly. “It was only 12 dollars! That’s a good investment and you can’t even discredit it because I know you love cheesecake.” Katsuki’s expression somehow softened more, if that was even possible.
“How do you even remember that?” Bakugou said, with an almost devilish grin on his face. The ladder looked so offended by the statement. “How do I not remember that?! It’s an important detail!”
“What the fuck is so important about me liking cheesecake to the point of you buying a whole one while you were out and doing god knows what?” There was no bite to Katsuki’s words, as they usually were around Eijirou.
“First of all I was out with Ashido, and she... convinced me,” the blonde’s face twisted up into an almost grimace. “Oh my god did you two fuck?”
“What?! No!” Katsuki exhaled in relief. As if Ashido would ever do that anyways.
“She just reminded me of something. Well... never mind.” Eijirou trailed off, too embarrassed to finish talking. “Bastard, you don’t get to stop talking all of a sudden,” Katsuki eyed Eijirou’s blushing face and held back a smile.
“You have a pretty face.” Red eyes caught Katsuki’s in a flash. Eijirou gulped as Katsuki continued to shower him with compliments. Katsuki didn’t even like compliments himself, but seeing his favorite redhead biting down squeals of happiness because of him, made Katsuki happier than it should.
The reminiscing would’ve been nicer if the blaring sirens weren’t so prominent in the background.
Katsuki was pissed. It was supposed to be a normal day. Him and Eijirou were supposed to go to work at Fatgum’s agency, come home, eat dinner, relax, do something fun, fucking anything other than this.
So why the hell were they in the back of a EMS truck?
And why was Eijirou barely hanging onto his life?
Frantic texts ran through his phone, but he couldn’t tell who they were from. Every word looked like a black ball formed into his screen. Nothing fucking mattered right now except the man that was losing his life.
The stretcher pushed through the hallway at a bruising pace, knocking over a few things in the process. Katsuki’s eyes never left Eijirou.
It’d always been like that, anyway.
The redhead’s eyes slowly cracked open, and he winced at the bright lights of the hospital hallway. Eijirou had never liked bright lights.
“K-kats..? Where... are we..?” Katsuki swears he was on the verge of losing his life just from those words. The bright, happy Eijirou he’d known sounded so wounded. His voice was much too quiet for Katsuki’s liking.
“It’s gonna be okay Red. I promise.”
The surgeons rolled him into the operating room and began the procedure. Katsuki sat in the waiting room, eyes completely blank. He had just lied to a dying Eijirou.
There was no way he was gonna make it.
Him and Katsuki were on a mission with Lemmillion, Suneater, Deku, and Ingenium. They were called to save some kids who had been injured in a villains attack. The kids ended up fine, but Eijirou had gotten impaled by a large piece of metal. He hadn’t reacted fast enough, therefore he was unable to turn his quirk on fast enough.
The wound was huge, and by the slim chance that Eijirou survived, he’d have to retire.
We just fucking graduated not even a year ago and Eijirou is already...
He didn’t let himself finish that thought.
Multiple hours passed of everyone from Class 1-A coming to the hospital, waiting for the result of Eijirou’s surgery. Katsuki knew he should’ve been offering comfort to his friends. He knew he should’ve been moving, crying, yelling, doing anything. He doesn’t even think he’s blinked since he watched his love get stabbed right in front of him.
It’d been 12 hours since the surgery started, and Katsuki had lost all sense of hope. It was useless. He... felt useless.
The doors to the operating room creaked open slowly. The waiter had a look of dread so intense it made Katsuki wanna vomit.
“He’s gone.”
Somehow, Katsuki felt himself break in ways he didn’t know were even possible. He just held his head down and let the tears slip out on their own.
Katsuki was surprised that after all these years, his friends’ grief-filled screams were finally louder than his.
*****
Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it was weak. Maybe Katsuki had actually turned soft after meeting Eijirou. Who’s guess was it at this point.
Two weeks without seeing those sharp teeth that were always so white. Two weeks without hearing that perfect voice, so gruff, yet so gorgeous. Two whole fucking weeks without seeing that not-so-shitty hair.
Well, outside of a casket, that is.
It didn’t look right. It was too dull. It didn’t have enough of him in it. That shitty hair that Katsuki had become so attached to, the shitty hair that had drawn Katsuki in before.
It had just become another piece of Eijirou’s lifeless corpse.
Katsuki spent every day living in a delusion, that somewhere, and somehow, that Eijirou was still around. The Eijirou that he’d only spent 4 years with before he got ripped away from him. The Eijirou that he never got to say he was dating.
The Eijirou that Katsuki almost wishes he never met.
It was pathetic and embarrassing, everyone watching him cling to false hope that would never be real, no matter how hard he wished it would be.
Life had become hard. Work had become hard. Though, he can’t even remember the last time he attended that shit show.
Katsuki had heard the whole shtick about how ignoring your problems only makes them worse. Sure, it was true, but why did it matter? He never got to say those three words he’d been trying to choke out for 3 years anyways.
He’d come so close so many times, but he always backed out. Everytime Eijirou smiled at him, held his hand, laughed aloud, teased him, cooked with him. It was always on the tip of Katsuki’s tongue. It’d always been.
For the first time since the incident, Katsuki figured it was time to speak. To the only person that mattered right now.
Katsuki picked up his phone and dialed Eijirou’s number. He had his contact saved, but this just felt right. The voicemail tone was deafening as Eijirou’s chipper voice barked out something about not being available right now.
Ouch.
“Hey love. It’s me. Katsuki, Kats, Explosion Boy, Blasty, Dynamight, and all of the other dumb nicknames you used to call me, that for some reason don’t feel so dumb anymore.”
“I wish you were here. It isn’t fair that you’re not. The shock is starting to wear off. I was riding it out like some kind of drug, and the reality of... whatever this is has finally started setting in. ‘Kinda depressing, I know.”
“You... you made me better. Well, you helped me be better. The old me would’ve never said that. Are you proud of me? Of the progress I’ve made? It was all because of you, you know.”
“I’m in your room of the apartment right now. Of our apartment. The one you basically begged me to move into with you. The one we just got. Not even a fucking year ago.”
“There’s so much I wanted to say to you. So much I wanted from you. So much I wanted to do with you. And I barely got any of it. It sounds selfish. I know that by now. I was always selfish when it came to you.”
“I held your hand. I traced that scar over your left eye. I cleaned your wounds. Too bad I couldn’t clean this one.”
”Eij... please. Somewhere, somehow, with someone... be alive. Even if you can’t be here physically. Just... be you. Don’t lose that part of yourself that everyone loves.”
“I’m sure you look fucking stunning as an angel.”
“I—I love you. So fucking much. Part of me thinks you loved me too. That part of me should’ve kissed you. It should’ve held you, caressed you,”
“Maybe even—one day— married you. I would’ve loved that.”
Katsuki’s sobs wracked his body, as he vision became blurry. He promptly shut his eyes, the sting having become too much to bear.
”I love you. ‘Think I always will. We were so close. We almost made it. Right person, wrong time I guess.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
”I love you Eijirou Kirishima.”
“Maybe in another timeline, we’re happy. I’d like that.”
“I refuse to say goodbye. That would mean something I don’t like, so—take care. Keep being you.”
“Thank you Eijirou.”
Once the line went blank, Katsuki lost it. His body shook with the anger and grief that he was left with. He basked in the scent of Eijirou’s sweatshirt. It was strong, manly, almost... pretty smelling. It put Katsuki at ease for a small moment.
Maybe Katsuki had turned soft. Maybe he’d lost a little bit of his sanity each day. Maybe this was weak.
But he’d never prepared himself to watch his favorite shade of red fade away.