Chapter Text
For the record, it was not Katsuki’s intention to be studying with Todoroki, alone, in Kirishima’s room. Kirishima had originally been here too, studying, or ‘studying’ more often than not. But now he’s gone, off somewhere doing god knows what, who knows why. Kaminari had been here too, but he left with Kirishima. Katsuki curses to himself, they would never change, attention spans of goldfish. They need to get things done here if they're going to pass. He's been trying to get that into their thick heads. Idiots...
He could go back to his own room, he knows that. But gathering all of his stuff and then opening it back up again on his own desk would just be annoying. Besides, he thinks to himself, as annoying as this is, at least IcyHot is refreshingly quiet.
Katsuki writes out answers for a good fifteen minutes. Then groans as he realizes the ink in his pen is out.
“Oi, Candy Cane, give me an extra pen!” he snaps.
“I only have this one with me,” the other boy looks back at him, then holds up the pen in his hand, as if to display proof.
“Fine, give me yours,” Katsuki says, feeling the next line of his problem solution slipping away from him.
“Um,” Todoroki says.
Oh my god. In that moment Katsuki reaches out to grab for the pen in his hand, watches the other boy’s eyes widen as he dodges and pulls it back. Then that half and half bastard has the gall to look faintly triumphant. Oh fuck you. At that point, it’s no longer about the pen, now, it’s about winning.
He’s not sure which one of them pushes the other one to the floor as they wrestle over the pen. Katsuki isn’t keeping up with details like that, as Todoroki makes it harder and harder for him to grab at his arms, and legs, and by extension the pen. Hot and cold. Damn him. Katsuki does the same, trying to startle him with the smallest of explosions in his palm so that he might drop the damn thing. He doesn't though, stubborn asshole.
“Let go, you shithead!” Katsuki growls.
“You’re being,” Todoroki tosses the pen from his left hand and catches it deftly in his right, “unreasonable.”
This is a lot more physical contact than he’s ever had with Todoroki. Not that he's thought about physical contact and Todoroki. Or anything related to Todoroki except his strong and constant urge to show him up in everything they do. They’re fairly tangled up now, as Todoroki tries to push down and back various parts of Katsuki to try and prevent him from grabbing the pen. Katsuki rolls him onto his side and climbs onto his back to try and pin him down and grab it while he’s confined under him. It bothers Katsuki that Todoroki is taller. On some level, actually, it bothers Katsuki that Todoroki even exists. Quiet and 'passive' on the surface, innocent and 'pretty' (according to the girls ONLY), but so good at things and so much when he wants to be. No good can come of this, no good at all damn, fuck-
“You do know,” Todoroki notes dryly, “It’s just a pen.”
“Shut up! Shut up!”
All of a sudden Todoroki’s back (well, half of it) is too ice coated to lay on anymore and Katsuki's forced to withdraw. Todoroki takes that chance to flip them over so he’s pinning Katsuki down by the shoulders. A warm hand and a cold hand holds him firmly to the ground. Annoying, he’s heavier than he looks.
But there’s an expression in his mismatched eyes, Katsuki notices, a new one. His pupils are all dilated and his cheeks are flushed. His mouth is slightly agape and he seems flustered by Katsuki's sheer proximity. Why the fuck?
Another thought creeps into his mind too. I like to see him worked up like that. Over me. That one Katsuki shoves out as quickly as it came.
“What’s with that look?! Huh?” Katsuki asks, both curiosity and a taunt. "Are you enjoying this, half-and-half bastard?"
“It’s just what I look like when I’m about to beat you.”
Katsuki feels the fingers pressing down on him pull and push forward. A familiar cracking, building sound. In an instant, there’s ice forming around his wrists and fingers. It's so tight. Numbing his hands in a way that’s restrictive and frustrating. He can’t activate his quirk like this without causing some serious damage to the room, the furniture, the building. And after the last punishment Aizawa gave him for doing that. He can’t risk it again.
But there are still many, many ways out of this. And one of them, based on the way Todoroki is looking at him, the red in his face matching one side of his hair, will definitely be the most fun. He doesn't give himself the chance to second guess this. Because if he does, then he won't do it, and he'll never know how it might feel. And right now he has to know just as much as he has to win.
“Just so we’re clear, this never happened.” Katsuki snarls, a slightly manic gleam in his eye.
They’re chest-to-chest in a way that isn’t entirely uncomfortable. Faces just a few inches apart. So Katsuki leans up and kisses him.
He relishes the feeling as Todoroki gasps into his mouth in pleasure and surprise. Giving in to him readily, easily, in a way that's stupidly satisfying.
As predicted, the other boy relaxes his body too, almost immediately. He loosens his hold on Katsuki in all the right places. He even dissipates a little heat from his left, enough to loosen the ice around Katsuki’s right hand. Filled with perhaps the rush of victory, Katsuki allows the kiss to last a few seconds more than he really needs to. He hasn’t kissed anyone in a while, at least since high school started. He hates to admit that he's enjoying this, kissing this uptight idiot that annoys him with his multicolored hair and stupidly powerful quirk.
There’s something nice about the way Todoroki is awkwardly kissing him back too. Innocent and earnest. Not like how he thought Todoroki would kiss. It even starts to give Katsuki one of those warm feelings that he really hates.
...And that’s when he snaps out of it. Breaks the kiss, sits up (a bit abruptly) and snatches the pen out of Todoroki’s hand.
“An indisputable win,” he remarks, a little roughly, as Todoroki sits back up too, frozen and awe-stricken.
Katsuki wonders for the briefest moment, if this could have been that fucker’s first ever kiss then dismisses it. Not possible. And he doesn’t shouldn’t care, anyway.
Todoroki, for his part, just blinks at Katsuki, then nods and says, “Fine, okay.” He looks like he's been suddenly woken up from a dream.
He looks like he wants to go on, but it’s at that moment that Kirishima and Kaminari come back. They have a thing of cup noodles each. And are loud as all hell. They don’t notice anything, which is perfectly typical. Katsuki can still feel Todoroki's last icy breath as the broke apart. But they can't talk about this. They won't talk about this. Mixing talking and kissing is always a bad idea. Mixing talking, kissing and Todoroki seems like an even worse (and possibly dangerous) idea.
Katsuki imagines he and half-and-half will never bring this up again. Just another one of their many clashes. Which are obviously gonna happen, as they have so many of the same goals.
Fine by him.