Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hey, Katsuki. Welcome home. You got some mail today.” 

Katsuki raised an eyebrow in surprise as he made his way to the kitchen, where his mother was cooking katsu curry. Watching as she added a generous amount of chili powder, he sat down on one of the barstools placed alongside the kitchen island and noted to himself that he should remember to take the curry with some hot sauce as he was certain that it still would not be spicy enough for his taste. “I have mail?”

Mitsuki tossed a letter with an official-looking insignia embossed on the back in his direction. “Yeah. I haven't opened it yet, though. I was too busy cooking since your father's working on a new collection of ours.”

"You better not have opened it yet, you fucking old hag!” He practically ripped the envelope in his anger and his impatience to get to its contents.

This earned him a half-hearted whack to the side of his head from Mitsuki’s spatula. “What did I tell you about cussing in my house!”

“I don’t fucking care!”

Inside the envelope were two tickets and a letter that made Katsuki’s blood boil even more.

I-Island will be holding its annual exhibition, I-Expo, this weekend to showcase the latest discoveries in quirk and technological research. We cordially invite you, Katsuki Bakugou, to attend the exhibition as a way to congratulate you for placing first among the first years at U.A.’s Sports Festival this year. Travel and accommodations will be provided for, and you are welcome to bring a guest.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at the address, e-mail, or phone number below. We look forward to having one of U.A.’s most promising students attend.

Is this some kind of twisted punishment? 

Katsuki crumpled up the letter as unbidden memories of his undeserved win at the rancid sports festival win came back to him. He could still clearly recall the way he had yelled at Todoroki to use his left side, the deafening roar of the crowds from the stands, the dull, cold sting of his metal restraints which barred his mouth and pinned his arms down, the anger he had felt as the gold medal was forced upon him on live television. It was a humiliating memory, one that planted a cavity in his throat and congested his veins with disdain and a burning, taunting shame.

The sports festival was coming back to haunt him. Of course it would come back to haunt him.

He was going to kill the IcyHot bastard. 

He was not stupid. He knew it was a generous offer: an all-expenses-paid invite to I-Island, a luxurious technological hub and artificial paradise adorned with natural foliage and incredible venues. It was a place buzzing with life and technology, absolutely lovely in its beautiful beaches, lakes, and four advanced and divided mega-cities, each of which had its own unique features to explore. As for the I-Expo itself, it was the island’s annual showcase and was used to proudly display the best of recent quirk research and development, as well as the island’s vast and impressive array of technological advancements. Several pro heroes attended the gathering every year, along with over ten thousand of the world’s most brilliant and capable minds. In short, it was a must-see for science enthusiasts, tourists, and aspiring heroes alike, making the already desirable location even more perfect for someone ambitious like him.

He knew that most of his classmates would be frothing at the mouth at the offer. He knew that he should consider himself fortunate for being extended the invitation. He knew that it would be insane to reject such an opportunity. It was still a reward for something he did not consider rightfully earned, though. It was a personalized fuck you, a sign from the universe that it hated him.

He threw the wadded paper and the envelope to his mother so that she could see why someone had bothered to mail him something. “I’m not going to the expo!” 

Mitsuki uncrumpled the paper and let out a gasp as she read the invitation. “The I-Expo? Oh, I'm so proud of you, you little brat! That will be such a great opportunity for you! You should be glad that they even invited you after your behavior during the festival.”

Katsuki angrily pouted at his mother's words, but he was secretly pleased by the thinly-veiled praise. Still, although his mother was right (even Katsuki had to admit that), like hell was he about to encourage those at I-Island by accepting their invitation. “Too bad. You know I didn’t deserve that win, and I’m not going. And it’s not my fault they chained me up! I wasn’t going to kill IcyHot, was I?”

His mother frowned and hit him with the spatula again. Fucking hag. “Katsuki! As your mother, I will drag you to the expo if need be. I won’t let you reject such an offer simply because you want to be all whiny about how you didn’t deserve the win.”

“I said I’m not going,” Katsuki barked back.

“What’s all the yelling about?” Masaru asked hesitantly as he entered the kitchen.

Katsuki groaned. Knowing his parents, there was only one thing that could possibly come out of this. Here we go. Fuck my life.

Mitsuki ruffled Katsuki’s ash-blond hair and waved the invitation in the air. “Our brat’s been invited to the I-Expo!”

Masaru’s gaze went from his wife to his son. “Oh, that’s great! It’ll be good for Katsuki to attend, seeing that he’s working so hard to become the top hero. What’s the problem, then?”

The problem... Katsuki exhaled angrily. “I don’t wanna go! They invited me because I won during the sports festival, except I didn’t actually win!”

His father nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “But Katsuki, this’ll be good for you. It doesn’t matter why you got invited as much as the fact that you got invited, right? It's an important event for you to attend, so passing it up sounds fairly silly.”

And here it was. There was no way Katsuki could argue with his father and intimidate him into agreeing with him. The old man was much too meek and mild-mannered for Katsuki to do such a thing in good conscience, and Masaru (rightfully so) was bound to still agree with Mitsuki in this case, anyway. 

The world most definitely hated him.

Fuck my life! “Fine, I’ll go,” Katsuki grumbled, snatching the envelope and invitation back from Mitsuki.

“You better,” Mitsuki told him warningly. But then something seemed to process in her mind, and her tone changed somewhat. “Who's going as your plus one?”

“Fuckin’ nobody.” Katsuki clicked his tongue in irritation as he took out the two tickets inside the envelope. There was somebody he would want to take with him to I-Island if it came down to it, but inviting someone to spend an entire weekend together at what could be considered a hero-themed amusement park sounded much too intimate for his liking. It was not like he had to take someone, anyway. Fuck plus ones. I can go there by myself.

“Oh, please. You’re inviting someone to go with you, you brat. There’s no way you’ll enjoy yourself there without a friend.”

Katsuki groaned. “I don’t need anyone to go with me.”

To his great annoyance, his mother then smiled. “Hold on! How about the cute redhead, huh? Kirishima? I’m sure you two will have fun together if you tell him to go with you!”

What the hell is she trying to suggest? What happened to “friend”?

“Oh, come on!” Katsuki exploded. “Just because I told you I’m gay doesn’t mean that you can randomly say shit like that!”

“Hey! He’s the only person you invite over from your class, so you obviously enjoy his company. And he’s nice! Sue me for thinking that you’d at least want him to be your plus one.”

Fuck the expo! Fuck taking Kirishima to the expo! Fuck the old hag for knowing that there isn't anyone else I’d rather take! “Except I already said that don’t want to go with anyone!”

Mitsuki let out a little growl in frustration. “Why not? How about you take someone else, then? I don’t want to force you to take a plus one, but it'd be nice!”

“Katsuki, I think it’d be good for you to take someone with you,” Masaru interjected, trying to mediate the argument. 

“See, listen to your father! You’re going to at least ask him if he wants to go with you.”

And the deal was settled. Katsuki was going to the I-Expo, and he was going to ask Kirishima if he wanted to be his plus one. 

“Why?” he groaned, taking the tickets and angrily walking back to his room. Fuck you, Kirishima. Fuck you, old hag, for getting me to take him along. If the redhead agreed to be his plus one, then Katsuki was going to have to spend all weekend with sunshine incarnate on what was essentially a date, no matter how he looked at it. 

A date. 

He plopped down on the bed and sighed at the rather unpleasant face of his fate. Or...Did it have to be so unpleasant? Did he want it to be unpleasant?

He hated how unsure he suddenly was about all of this plus one business now that he was expected to invite Kirishima.

LordExplosionMurder: Shitty Hair, come over to my place at six.

RedRiot: is there a reason for ur invite? is something wrong? 

RedRiot: and how bout a hello? u hate small talk, huh?

LordExplosionMurder: Just come over, idiot.

RedRiot: 6 is ok. cya then ^.^

After beating Kirishima at Mario Kart for what seemed like the hundredth time and after the plate of freshly baked cookies Masaru had given them to fuel their video game extravaganza had been finished, Katsuki finally decided that it was time to bring up the exposition.

“I was invited to attend the I-Expo this weekend,” he explained rather bluntly as they began to work their way through the sour candy Kirishima had brought along with him. 

“Mph, tfts great!” Kirishima managed to get out through the massive amount of food in his mouth. 

Katsuki was not pleased by this, although he did think the way Kirishima liked to eagerly stuff his face whenever he felt really hungry was rather...cute. Not like he would ever admit that out loud, though. “Fucking disgusting! Eat first and then talk, idiot!”

Kirishima put down the bag of sour candy and chewed and chewed and chewed, finally swallowing several awkward moments later. “Sorry! I went to the gym before coming here so I’m starving. I was saying, ‘Wow, that’s great!’”

Ugh, right. It’s such a “great” honor to be able to attend I-Expo. I get it. “Thing is, I can take a plus one, and my old hag wants me to. It’s awful, having to spend an entire weekend at the expo with someone, but I have no choice.”

Kirishima offered one of his diffident, sunshine-like smiles, the kind of radiant smile that always made Katsuki want to tear his gaze away in embarrassment disgust. But he did not, because that would feel like he was letting the redhead win, in a weird kind of way.

It was just like all of the times Kirishima stole the last bite of food off of his plate, or lightly goaded him into doing the most random things, or charged into battle next to him while adorably grinning like the ray of sunshine he was. Perhaps Katsuki only thought of these things as challenges because he hated how Kirishima made him feel, but still. 

He’s not cute, you don’t love him, and spending a weekend together at the expo does not count as a date, okay? Okay.

No, it’s definitely a sort of date. Fuck this. 

He was so focused on his thoughts and the damn smile that he almost missed what Kirishima was saying. “Oh, that sucks, man. I’m sure you’ll still have a great time, though. Someone like you can really take advantage of the opportunity to network and learn.”

What? Does he honestly not understand what I’m getting at? He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before cutting to the chase. “Be my plus one.”

“WHAT?”

On the plane ride to I-Island, Katsuki started feeling a bit better about this whole expo situation. He was headed to the I-Expo for crying out loud. Even though had not deserved the win at the sports festival, it was still true that he had been invited to the world-renowned exhibition for hero gear and quirk-related research and development.

Faced with the incredible opportunity he had been given, a weekend with Kirishima was not that big of a deal. As long as the redhead did not think of it as a date, it did not even have to be. This was good, because he definitely did not want the redhead to think of it as a date.

(He sort of did deep inside his heart, but the feeling was, unfortunately, to be ignored. It was not like he even thought of Kirishima that way, right? Was not Kirishima nothing more than a friend?)

But this bubble burst as quickly as it had formed. As soon as Katsuki took a look at the room he and Kirishima were supposed to be sharing, he immediately regretted ever listening to his parents. God, he should have fought, should have insisted that bringing Kirishima would be a huge mistake.

The suite was utterly pink.

The bed had hearts decorating the headboard.

There was only one bed.

What romantic comedy trope shit is this? “FUCK THIS!” Katsuki barked before picking up his duffel and heading back out of the room. Kirishima, who had been a few steps behind him, paused and watched him stalk out of the suite.

“What’s wro...Woah! This place is amazing!” From his spot not-so-far down the hallway, he could make out Kirishima’s smile and the way his eyes were almost threatening to leave his face.

Katsuki practically bolted to the redhead’s side, wondering if the suite had undergone some sort of dramatic change in the minute or so since he had last seen it. Unfortunately, it had not. It was still the same hideously pink room he remembered it to be. The hearts were still there, the bed had not magically duplicated itself, and his black-and-skull aesthetic had not infected the suite and made it more his style.

Oh, but of course Kirishima liked the place, being the ray of sunshine he was. Of fucking course.

“Wait...there’s only one bed, though.” Just like that, Kirishima seemed to deflate. Whether it was from embarrassment or disappointment, Katsuki could not tell, but the redhead's voice certainly fell a little flat. “One bed.”

And that was the crux of the matter.

One bed.

But hearing Kirishima’s surprise at the lack of a second bed made the blond rethink his feelings towards the room. Katsuki now took the whole damn situation as a sort of personal challenge. If Fate wanted to test how far he would go to honor his prior commitments, then he was not about to back down.

“Guess we’ll just have to make the most of it.” Katsuki, feeling oddly determined, walked in and threw his duffel onto the bed before beginning to unpack.

It was not until he looked back at the door did he realize that Kirishima was still standing there, looking rather dumbstruck. "Bro, uh..."

Oh. Was I being a bit too forward in the way I acted as if it was no big deal? Not about to show any sign of hesitation, Katsuki raised an eyebrow in faux annoyance. “What, Shitty Hair? You wanna back down and head back home? Suit yourself. I actually want to see the stuff they have on display in the expo, now that I’m here.”

“No, I just...I’m so glad that we get to share this suite!” The redhead’s eyes grew wide in excitement, sparkles dancing around him as he walked up to Katsuki and began unpacking his own duffel. 

Oh my god. He literally is sunshine incarnate. He’s doing this on purpose, isn’t he? 

Somehow, the redhead’s excitement was both irritating and endearing at the same time. Katsuki rolled his eyes affectionately in annoyance, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched Kirishima eagerly pull his pajamas and toiletries out of his Crimson-Riot-themed bag. “Moron. Quickly unpack your stuff so we can go check out what they have for us to do here. Remember that we still need to change into our hero costumes.”

He turned away from the redhead so he did not have to see the stupid smile he knew would be plastered on the other’s face. Still smiling despite himself, Kastuki let out a little tch as he pulled out the last item in his duffel — a toothbrush — and placed it next to the bathroom sink.

Kirishima had also finished unpacking by then, and he turned around to address Katsuki as the blond walked back to the bed. “Bakugou?” 

“Yeah?” Katsuki plopped down on the bed. It was as soft as it looked, the foam mattress sinking rather satisfyingly under his weight. Damn pink bed being comfortable.

“Thanks for inviting me! It was really manly of you! This is going to be so much fun!” Kirishima’s smile was effervescent, brighter than the sunlight filtering in through the damn pink curtains covering the windows. Seeing him happy brought a certain pang to Katsuki’s heart, and a dull but somehow pleasant pain began spreading across his chest. Is this because all the pink around us makes his smiles more painful to see? Better wear sunglasses or something.

However, a small part of him knew that the feeling was neither unfamiliar nor the room’s fault. He had always been a little weak for the redhead’s smiles, though it seemed that the prospect of having Kirishima all to himself the entire weekend had exacerbated the feeling.

(Okay, that’s it! He’s my friend, nothing else! I don’t love him, so shut up you sorry excuse for a writer! You’re nothing but an extra!)

Still, it was easier to convince himself that it was entirely the room's fault, so this was the theory he was selling himself to explain away all the mind-numbingly confusing emotions Kirishima managed to set off within him and the somehow pleasant discomfort that came with the thought of spending time together with the redhead.

(Die, writer!)

Katsuki turned away from Kirishima. This was going to be a long weekend, for better or for worse. “Tch, whatever.”

The I-Expo was just as wonderful as it was advertised to be, and Katsuki found himself eagerly looking at the technology they had on display, taking note of anything that might help him improve his hero costume. He was currently looking for something for his gauntlets, but so far he had not found anything suitable. As the hours passed by, Katsuki found himself losing interest again and wondering when he could go back to the suite and order some food using room service. Wonder if the food's as good as all the rumors say. 

Kirishima, meanwhile, was having the time of his life, practically leaping as they walked through the expo. Katsuki was not sure exactly when (or even how) his hand had grabbed Kirishima’s, but they were now holding hands. Even though the redhead’s hand was rather dry (which was only to be expected for a person with a hardening quirk), Katsuki found it rather comforting to hold and decided against mentioning anything to Kirishima.

That still did not explain why they were holding hands in the first place, though, and the blond had no clue as to how he felt about that particular detail. He put it off as a way for the two of them to stick together in the bustling crowd walking around the expo. The last thing he wanted was to lose the redhead in such an unfamiliar place, right?

Right.

(Another lie.)

Suddenly, Kirishima stopped and pulled them to a halt. “Hey, Bakugou!”

Katsuki huffed irritably. Is letting me see the stuff on display in peace too much to ask? For some reason, however, he could not get himself to tell Kirishima to shut up. He tried, yes, but the words failed to leave his mouth. “What is it now, Shitty Hair?”

“It’s Kirishima!” the redhead responded indignantly before his tone returned to its former level of excitement. He pointed at a picture on the brochure Katsuki had been given by the people guarding the entrance. It had a list of all the activities available at the expo, and the blond had handed it to Kirishima after he got tired of holding the stupid piece of paper.

What's the point of playing around when we have the opportunity to learn from pro heroes and the new research on display? The expo's just one weekend long and happens only once a year. Fooling around is a waste of damn time.

“There’s a cool-looking challenge close to where we are! According to the rules, you have to defeat all the robots guarding a mountain using your quirk. The one who finishes the quickest is the winner!”

Challenge. Katsuki immediately perked up. A fun challenge was something he could get into. He would show the extras walking around that he was the boss.

Perhaps a few of the activities the expo had were not a waste of time, after all.

He gave Kirishima his characteristic I'm-chaotic-and-evil smirk. “Now that’s what I’m talkin' about! You up for some competition, Kirishima?” He was not sure why he used the redhead’s actual name, especially after Kirishima’s little comment about his name not being Shitty Hair, but he did and it felt sort of...nice. Saying “Kirishima” always felt nice, somehow. 

Not that he would ever admit it.

Kirishima pumped a fist in the air in excitement, and Katsuki felt his heart ache again. So. Fucking. Stupid. This is why I don’t call him by his name that often.

I can’t explain why I call him Kirishima at all, though.

“Hell yeah! A manly battle!”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow, and his smirk grew even wider. “What battle? You're gonna lose and you fucking know it.”

“Don’t be rude, Bakugou!” the redhead whined. “You're so mean!”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but his smirk unconsciously softened into a gentle smile. “C’mon. Let’s go beat some lame extra asses.”

Kirishima’s eyes sparkled again, and the blond internally groaned. Stupid. Why’d you have to smile like that? Now he’s all...ugh... “Okay!”

To his great horror, the game was quickly infiltrated by other students from U.A. He was even more horrified and annoyed when the IcyHot bastard managed to beat his score by freezing over the entire mountain in fourteen seconds. This was supposed to be his weekend (and Kirishima’s, but try getting him to add that part) and the damn extras were not supposed to be a part of it!

Kirishima grabbed him by the waist and held him back while Iida yelled something about decorum and representing U.A. properly. Todoroki, half-annoyed and half-done with Katsuki’s shit, decided that it was best to not take further part in the conflict and instead found a more calm corner of the arena to chat with Midoriya about god-knew-what once the green-haired hero had managed to emerge unscathed from the chaos. 

Katsuki and Kirishima were walking away from the game when the blond blew up again. “THAT WAS FUCKIN’ BULLSHIT! WHY THE FUCK ARE ALL THOSE FUCKERS HERE?” 

Kirishima tried to answer, looking not entirely sure as to what to make of Katsuki’s reaction. “Eh, it makes sense that some of our classmates are here since U.A. is the best hero academy in Japan and —"

As if I didn’t already know that. Katsuki cut him off. “So? What the hell! I guess it didn’t matter to the Icy Hot bastard whether he won or not because he’d get to come here anyway. That's so stupid! I thought this expo was gonna be more special, something I could have after all that had happened during the fucking sports festival.”

Kirishima frowned, his red eyebrows (Katsuki found it ridiculous that the idiot actually took the time to dye his eyebrows) creasing to form a “v” on his forehead. “Hey don’t think like that. He’s here because of Endeavor, and the others are with Yaoyorozu.”

But a certain piece of fucking broccoli isn't. Katsuki sighed. “Well, why's Deku here?”

Kirishima’s frown deepened as he shrugged. “How should I know? Maybe he is someone else’s plus one?”

“That doesn’t mean he should be here, though!” Kirishima grimaced and Katsuki caught it. Oh shit. “You’re supposed to be here, idiot. You gave me a good fight at the sports festival. Plus, you’re not a piece of shit.”

Kirishima laughed, brightening again. “Thanks, but no one's a piece of shit.” The redhead then let out a little sigh, and Katsuki wondered, for one of the exceptionally rare moments in his life, if perhaps he had taken it a bit too far. “Just calm down, maybe, and forget about this for now? It’s not a big deal. We can still do whatever we want! It's cool as hell to be here!”

Katsuki was not satisfied, but he dropped the subject for the redhead’s sake. It’s cool as hell to be here with you. Alone. I mean...It’s cool as hell to be here without having to deal with a bunch of extras. “Whatever. Let’s just go back to our room.”

After Katsuki had finished showering once they had returned to their room, Kirishima, for some unearthly reason, told him that wanted to go to the banquet.

“Why the hell would I want to go to a party?” Katsuki crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “It’ll just be a bunch of old geezers I don’t know makin’ boring speeches the whole time. Sounds like a lame night to me.”

“We can eat as much gourmet food as we want.” He could hear Kirishima fiddling with something in the closet, though he could not tell from his position what the redhead was doing. 

Does he believe food is the way to my heart or something? Katsuki internally groaned as he searched for an acceptable excuse to not go to said banquet. “Well, it’s not like I brought any fancy clothes anyway.”

“I figured you wouldn’t,” Kirishima told him, pulling out something from the closet. Somehow, Katsuki could feel the smirk in the redhead’s tone. What the hell is he up to? “So...” Katsuki turned his head to find the redhead holding out not one but two fresh and cleanly pressed suits, still on their hangers. “I brought some for you!”

What the hell!?! Katsuki bolted out of his relaxed position. “You’ve gotta be kidding, you spiky-haired idiot —”

He froze when he took a closer look at the suits. One was simple, with an attractive grey and red scheme. The other was more elaborate, the top made up of a navy vest embroidered with white roses — White roses? Why, for fuck’s sake, did the redhead get that particular vest? — and a red dress shirt that matched the other suit’s tie, Kirsihima’s hair, and Katsuki’s eyes. 

Paired with the brilliant grin on Kirishima’s face, the whole thing was almost too much. “WHY THE HELL DID YOU GET ME A SUIT?”

Kirishima put on a face of pure innocence, acting as if he had not just done something that could be considered conniving. “Because I'm nice! They’re custom, do ya like them?”

Custom? These suits are custom-made? The blond was more than a little livid about this whole situation. “CUSTOM-MADE?”

Kirishima ignored his outburst and tossed one of the suits onto the bed, right next to where Katsuki was sitting. “This should be a perfect fit. Why don’t you try it on?”

Katsuki gingerly took a look at the suit he had been offered. It was the one with the embroidered vest, because of course it was. Why would the redhead get himself a bright, floral suit when he could get Katsuki to wear one instead?

Instead, Kirishima would be going in a simple suit that matched in terms of color scheme. Matched. MATCHED! The suits are matching! 

But when it came to telling Kirishima that he was not going to wear the damn suit that the redhead had undoubtedly taken a lot of effort to sneak to I-Island, Katsuki struggled to get the words out. Actually, he was not sure he even knew how to say no to Kirishima. It was still something he was trying to teach himself, something he needed to someday learn to keep from getting roped into basically anything the bastard tries to talk him into, but for right now, Katsuki just exhaled deeply through his nose.

“Fine,” he relented, his shoulders deflating as he let out a groan. “Fucking insufferable.” 

Kirishima grinned. “Yay! Okay, now change so we can go to the banquet.”

He grumbled angrily to himself as he walked to the bathroom, suit in tow, to change. Putting on the suit, he had to admit that the stitching was exceptional — Kirishima must have spent a fortune on it — and that the floral pattern did not look that garish once the suit was on his body. The way it hugged his body was perfect, making him wonder how the redhead had managed to get his exact measurements. I’ll bet the old hag would know a thing or two about how he got my measurements, though. I’ll kill her once I get home. But the suit itself is actually...nice.

Damn it, he actually liked the suit. 

Once he headed out of the bathroom, he found that Kirishima had changed, too. The fitting of Kirishima’s suit was just as perfect as Katsuki’s, and the blond found himself admiring the way the redhead looked in the suit. 

Damn it, he liked Kirishima in a suit even better than he liked his own suit.

“Wow! You look great, Bakugou! Very manly!”

Manly, huh? How exactly is this suit manly? “The vest has a floral pattern on it, so shut the hell up!” Katsuki walked to the door, indicating to Kirishima that he was not about to loiter around and that he really wanted to just get the banquet over with.

“Still very manly,” the redhead teased as they headed out of the suite.

In his haste to go to the banquet, Katsuki had not realized that both he and Kirishima had left their phones in their room.

“Moron, you’re absolutely positive we’re going in the right direction?”

Thinking about it, he really should have questioned Kirishima several floors ago. Instead, they were in an empty hallway on the twelfth floor while the banquet was most likely on the first floor. Fucking hell. I’m an idiot for following him all the way up here.

“Yeah, I mean I’m pretty sure we are...” Kirishima sounded much too nervous for Katsuki's liking. 

“You’re pretty sure?"

Kirishima laughed rather anxiously, which did not make Katsuki feel any better about the situation. “Ahaha. Well, I left my phone back in the room, so we’re going on instinct here!”

INSTINCT!?! What does this crap-haired moron think he’s doing? The banquet's obviously not going to be anywhere near here.

Still, he continued following Kirishima, his heart pounding in his chest as they walked. They must have been on the twentieth floor when Kirishima spoke again. “Hey, Bakugou?” 

He considered ignoring Kirishima — certainly, the idiot deserved it after all the trouble he was putting both of them through — but he could not get himself to. “What?”

“Do you think we'd make a good hero team?”

Katsuki stopped walking in surprise, and Kirishima noticed and paused as well. What type of question is that? A hero...team? Is he insinuating what I think he’s insinuating?

Shrugging in an attempt to seem nonchalant, he finally answered, “I guess. We work well together, and your quirk means that you won’t get in the way of my explosions.”

Kirishima gave a little jump in celebration. “So manly, bro! We’d be so powerful together!” He rambled on and on, and Katsuki almost did not want to stop him. Almost.

So powerful together... “Oi, Hair-for-brains.”

“What’s up?” Kirishima asked, turning his head and blinking up at him through dark, fanned-out lashes. Why the hell do I find that attractive? These damn suits are so bothersome. “You know, let’s work on your nickname game. Instead of Hair-for-brains, how about, say, brawn-for-brains? What do you think?” The smile on his face was enough to send Katsuki’s every nerve on fire.

“Tch,” Katsuki clucked, forgetting what he had wanted to say. “Your jokes are lame as shit.”

“I think they're exceptional,” Kirishima countered in a half-whine. Apparently, the redhead was in the mood to intentionally annoy Katsuki. "I'm cool!"

“Cool? Is that what you tell yourself after you dye your shitty hair?” Katsuki shot back, arching an eyebrow. If Kirishima wanted to verbally spar, then there was no way the blond was going to deny him the opportunity. 

Kirishima put a hand to his chest in faux offense. “Excuse you, bro. I think my hair’s exceptional, just like my jokes.”

Jokes, okay. Hair, meh. Would rather have him be himself. “Fuckin’ figures. You're cool, but annoying,” Katsuki muttered, his lips drawn rigid. There was a balmy heat in his chest, and he wanted to kill it with fire, but he instead tore his gaze away from Eijirou and his “styled” wine-red hair and wide crimson eyes.

Kirishima hummed thoughtfully. "But I’m here to annoy you, right?” Katsuki really wanted to punch the somewhat smug expression off of the redhead's face. “Isn’t that why I was chosen as your plus one?”

Is he actually serious? I’ll kill him! “Die,” the blond retorted. The threat was simple and straight to the point, really. It never failed him. 

Kirishima let out an honest-to-god laugh at that, and it was insanely warm, settling in Katsuki’s stomach like a warm apple cobbler. “Nah. You and the others would miss me way too much. It's not manly for me to leave all of you guys like that!” 

I wonder where his confidence is coming from. “Doing us all a favor, are you?” Katsuki snorted. “How goddamn generous.”

“Speaking of favors, I need you to fix your tie.”

Katsuki had not even realized that he had been fiddling with the tie the whole time they had been wandering around the building, but when he looked down he found his fingers playing with the fabric. It was currently completely undone, each end of the tie lying limp on its respective side of his blue vest. “Shit.” In one swift move, he pulled the tie off. “There. It was annoying, anyway.”

Kirishima pouted, looking like a puppy begging for a treat. “Wear the tie for me, man."

"No."

"Please, Bakugou? It looks so manly!”

Fucking hell. And there was one of his greatest weaknesses. Again, he could not possibly find the words to say no to the redhead. Not for something silly as a goddamn tie. 

“Fine, you moron.”

Kirishima smiled in sheer joy. “Hell yeah, dude.” 

“You’re on thin ice,” the blond muttered half-angrily.

"I know." Kirishima leaned into him, grabbing his tie and deliberately getting all up in his face. At the smile on the redhead’s face, it dawned on Katsuki that it seemed as if Kirishima had the whole suit business planned from the moment he learned that he was to be Katsuki’s plus one. There was no other explanation for the redhead’s unbearable confidence. “But you look so nice in that suit.”

I’ll kill this bastard. Katsuki could see every detail, every fleck of color in Kirishima’s crimson eyes at this proximity. He could identify each individual eyelash, each barely-visible freckle, each darkly-colored root that needed redyeing. But it was the little scar atop Kirishima’s right eyelid that captured his attention the most. It was a little discolored, a little captivating, and (he hated to admit this) a little cute.

Katsuki chewed on his bottom lip as the redhead’s fingers deftly worked on his tie. His nerves were going haywire and his stomach was lurching, making him feel like hand grenade that would go off at the slightest touch. He wanted to say something snarky to show that he was not about to be bested by a bastard with hair for brains, but he could not get the words out, so he elbowed Kirishima instead.

It was a defense mechanism of sorts, or perhaps it was something else less self-aware he refused to name. 

Kirishima, still holding Katsuki's tie with one hand, easily elbowed him back. “No, really. You look nice, Bakugou. The outfit...suits you.”

“Is that a pun, you moron?” For whatever strange reason, his voice was uncharacteristically a whisper, the words hardly audible. In fact, if the hallway they were in had not been not so quiet and empty, Katsuki was sure that the redhead would not have been able to hear a bit of what he had said.

“Yeah! You like puns, right?” He finally released his hold on the tie, and Katsuki noticed that it was now neatly knotted again.

He supposed he did like puns (he did not know how the redhead knew that), but that was beside the point. “Quit messin' around." He was still whispering, and he was still not sure why his voice refused to be any louder. "If you can’t find the party then let’s get back to the room.”

He was definitely sure, though, that this whole thing was no longer about finding where the banquet was being held. In fact, it seemed that it had not been for a long while, even though the point of them wearing the damn suits and leaving the suite had been for them to go to attend. So why was he going up countless floors in a fake search for the party? 

Suddenly, Kirishima leaving his phone in their room did not seem so accidental anymore.

“Do you want to go to the banquet?” the redhead asked in surprise, his face still only inches away from Katsuki’s. "I didn't expect you'd be eager to attend."

Words refused to leave his mouth once more, and he angrily looked away from Kirishima. "No," Katsuki responded when his tongue finally decided to unstick from the roof of his mouth. 

When Kirishima spoke again, his voice was gentle and no longer teasing. A hand went on Katsuki's shoulder. “Hey, man, look at me. If you actually want to go now that I’ve made you change into that suit, we can. I just wanted to...I purposely got us lost because you didn’t seem to want to go to the party earlier.”

The idiot...He did this for me? Katsuki’s lip gave a little quiver as he met Kirishima's eyes, and he hoped the little gesture would go unnoticed. The redhead was looking at him earnestly, and Katsuki almost turned his face away again. “You got us lost because you thought I'd like it better that way?”

Kirishima sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh, I did it for you.”

“Moron.” 

Kirishima laughed, and Katsuki could feel the air from each ha, the redhead's warm breath like a gentle caress on his face. Should I feel insulted or something? Why do I care about him so fucking much? Still, all this isn't exactly...unpleasant.

"You idiot,” he told Katsuki, nothing short of genuine fondness in his words.

And then he pulled him closer.

Katsuki's body froze as their lips met. The slight warmth and pressure of Kirishima’s mouth on his instantly became the only thing he could feel, because holy shit the redhead was kissing him and god it felt like nothing he thought it would feel like. His mind was screaming vaguely at him to do something, but he could not even begin to process whatever the hell was currently happening, let alone what his brain thought was appropriate to think about at such a time. He simply stood there, unmoving, as if he had suddenly turned into a statue.

Kirishima gradually pulled away, all of the confidence from earlier slowly fading away. “Uh, sorry. I just really wanted to kiss you. You see, I’ve been hoping that I'd get the chance during I-Expo to finally tell you that I...”

Katsuki grabbed Kirishima’s tie and pulled him back. “Don’t apologize,” he murmured before kissing Kirishima again. This time, fireworks seemed to go off around the two as they wrapped their arms around each other in a bid to pull the other closer. Kirishima’s touch practically burned Katsuki's skin as his hands traveled aimlessly around his back, and Katsuki felt his knees grow weak as the various sensations overwhelmed his body. He found himself placing his arms around Kirishima’s neck, making it easier for him to use the redhead for support and to deepen the kiss.

The kiss itself was slow and unhurried, both of them feeling as if they had all the time in the world. He wanted them to have all the time in the world.

He was thus not sure how long they ended up kissing for, but it must have been at least ten minutes before they finally parted for breath, both of them gasping slightly in their hunt for air. Or maybe it just felt as if that much time had passed.

(It had only been four minutes. Katsuki had lost his sense of time during the two's flurry of passion, and they had yet to master the art of breathing properly while kissing.)

“So, uh, yeah...I love you, Katsuki. I know I'm skipping ahead a whole lot, but...” 

He used my first name. “Tch,” the blond huffed, turning his gaze towards the ground as a tiny, warm smile crept up his face. "Aren't you worried that all I'm gonna end up doing is hurting you?"

"Not at all! You're an emotional person who's hard on himself and has a hard time communicating with others and letting all those emotions out in a healthy way. None of that really make you unlovable. Not to me!"

Kirishima actually loved him. He could not help but wonder how someone as energetic and kind as the redhead could possibly find it in his heart to care about someone like him, but he wanted it to be true. He wanted Kirishima to love him so that they could share more moments like this. 

Perhaps this giddiness came from the fact that he secretly adored romance (however determined he was to protect his collection of shoujo manga from his classmate’s prying eyes), or perhaps it came from the way the evening thus far had completely messed up his emotions. Whatever the reason, he found himself unable to keep pretending. It was ridiculous, but he liked kissing him, and he liked the feeling Kirishima gave him. Love.

Therefore — for the very first time in his life — Katsuki finally let himself be loved by someone, let himself admit how much Kirishima meant to him. Love.

Deep down he knew he was still feeling fairly vexed about Kirishima, and maybe he was already beginning to feel rather scared that Kirishima would one day decide that being with him was no longer worth it and would eventually start looking down on him, but perhaps it was that fear itself that had surreptitiously been holding him back this whole time. Maybe that was why he had been acting the way he had been ever since Mitsuki had forced him to take Eijirou as his plus one.

After that moment of startling clarity (undeniably part of whatever insane spell Kirishima had cast over him by kissing him), he felt unexpectedly determined to be genuinely happy for once and not act too impulsively based on his fears like he had so many times in the past. He was not sure how long it would work, but perhaps he could try. For Kirishima.

"Katsuki?"

God, he felt so elated and sappy once he let himself truly feel instead of pretending his feelings for Kirishima away. Love.

Scarlet met crimson as Katsuki finally met the other's eyes again. "You're a dummy, Eijirou. I don’t deserve you, and you’ve skipped so many steps that I don’t know what to do with you, but somehow I love you, too."

He would forever treasure the overjoyed, sweet smile Kirishima — Eijirou — gave at his confession. "Of course you deserve me!"

"Whatever, you corny piece of shit."

If he had not been grinning before, he certainly was now.

(Don't smirk like that, you shitty writer. So what if I had a change of heart?)

They got all the way up to the eighteenth floor, where a large garden surrounded them. It was peaceful, and Katsuki found himself enjoying the sight of the greenery around them. This is actually nice. Fuck, the old hag's gonna go crazy when I tell her.

The peace, unfortunately, lasted about as long as one would expect it to when dealing with someone like Katsuki Bakugou.

A rather seedy-looking man, standing next to yet another suspicious-looking man, suddenly yelled at him, abruptly bringing Katsuki out of his internal reverie. “What’d you say, you bastard?” 

The man who had spoken earlier looked furious. “What’re you two doing here?” 

Excuse me? What are these idiots doing here? Side-eyeing Eijirou, Katsuki responded with, “Huh. That’s what I want to know, too.” 

Eijirou nervously put a hand on Katsuki's chest in an attempt to calm him down and received a glare in return. “Hey man, just leave this to me, okay?”

Katsuki relented, letting out a barely audible huff to let the redhead know that he had decided to listen.

Smiling widely, the redhead turned to the two men in front of them. “Um, we kind of got lost looking for this party? Can you point us in the right direction?”

“Don’t lie to me or you’ll regret it!” the man, now most obviously a villain — Katsuki never thought he would ever curse himself for being right and yet here he was — spat as he flung a wave of his matter displacement quirk at him. 

No! “Hey! Watch out!” Katsuki’s heart raced as he attempted to run toward Eijirou, but he knew he would not reach him in time. His heart dropped into his stomach as he prepared to watch a horrific scene unfurl. 

How is this even fair? Does every trip have to involve some sort of villain attack eventually or what?

But the nightmare never played out. A wall of ice suddenly flew between them and the villain, blocking the attack and saving Eijirou. Katsuki internally sighed in relief as conflicting feelings churned tumultuously inside of him. On one hand, he was exceptionally grateful that Eijirou was okay. On the other, it annoyed him to no end that it was Todoroki who had saved them. Fucking Baked Alaska with his stupid giant ice wall all the damn time.

A few minutes later, in classic 1-A fashion, the teenagers were all embroiled in a full on-fight against the two villains (it turned out that even more of his classmates had come to the expo than the ones he had seen earlier, though Todoroki had sent them all away using a pillar of ice). In all honesty, Katsuki was wondering how they had not stumbled into a villain attack sooner. It only figured that he could not have a weekend-long trip without one somehow fit in.

At least the students' luck in regard to such attacks meant they had quite a lot of experience in the area. For first-year high school students, that was. In fact, the fight had been going well — really — until Katsuki had stupidly ended up with his back turned to one of the villains. Katsuki felt his stomach lurch as Eijirou pushed him away in an attempt to save him. The villain then easily overpowered Eijirou, and Katsuki watched helplessly as the redhead slid across the room, crashed through a huge chunk of Todoroki’s ice, and smashed into the wall.

He had screamed, his voice riddled with desperation he had not even known he could muster. Please tell me he’s not hurt. If he seriously injured himself while trying to save me...

But there was no time to check on Eijirou, and Katsuki found himself feeling more than a little annoyed as the fight continued. Stupid villains. It was only Todoroki and himself left now, but they finally managed to garner a victory.

As soon as he was no longer occupied, he ran to where Eijirou had crashed into the wall.  “Kirishima! Are you okay?”

Thankfully, while Eijirou was inside a Red-Riot-shaped dent in the wall, he seemed uninjured. This guy's a beast. At Katsuki's question, the redhead tried to move to free himself but found himself unable to do so. “Um, I can’t move. Can you get me out of here?”

The thing was, it was painfully obvious that the idiot was stuck in the wall only because of his hardening quirk. Katsuki felt himself on the verge of tears, laughter, and rage.

God, he’s stupid. He’s so, so stupid. I’m just glad that he isn’t hurt. 

Eijirou tried moving again, and the blond really, really wanted to roll his eyes at the other’s stupidity, but instead, he shut them in relief irritation and replied, “Are you that stupid? Just turn your quirk off, you damn idiot.” 

Eijirou did as he had been told and immediately set himself free. The redhead then stared at his arms, as if surprised by how easy the effort had been. “Oh, right. Guess I should have thought of that.” Moron.

“I’m just glad to see you’re not injured,” chimed in Todoroki. Could you just leave already?

“Yeah. Same to you guys.” Eijirou responded, eliciting a grunt from Katsuki. 

And suddenly, he was reliving how Eijirou had thrown himself in front of the villain for him. For the second time since they had met, Eijirou had sacrificed himself for him in battle, and Katsuki could not stop thinking about it, no matter how desperately he tried. Why would he ever do such a thing for me?

It — all of it — was enough to make him actually want to cry. 

Not wanting to show this moment of vulnerability to anyone, especially not to the likes of Todoroki, he turned to walk away. “Thank you.” 

The gratitude was enthusiastically accepted. “Woah! Where’d that come from? Were you worried?” the redhead teased, sounding much too happy about it for Katsuki’s liking.

What!?! Being on a hair-trigger due to his general distaste towards emotional vulnerability and because of Todoroki’s mere existence, he angrily barked back, “I wasn’t worried!” 

Todoroki’s heterochromatic eyes flickered between the two of them as this occurred, as if he were hesitant to get caught in whatever this was. “Right, let’s catch up to the others.” 

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when this sorry excuse for a Canadian flag tells me what to do. Still on the defensive and a little more irked now with Todoroki, Katsuki snipped, “Don’t order me around.” 

The IcyHot bastard ignored him, to his great annoyance, and the three ran for the exit. As Eijirou was asking for more details on the incursion, robots jumped from over the railings to attack. Katsuki let out a half-groan before gritting his teeth and facing the robots, ready for some more fighting.

Back in the suite, Eijirou was much too quiet for Katsuki’s liking. 

What could possibly be bothering him right now?

Katsuki's body was painfully sore — his arms, especially — and his lovely suit was ruined, but he could at least muster some concern for the redhead.

(He was whipped, for sure, though he would never say it out loud.)

“Hell’s wrong with you?” Katsuki managed to sound somewhere in between extending a passing interest and being effectively unbothered as he plopped down on the bed. The attitude was still half defense and half avoidance, but it worked like a charm.

For a moment, Eijirou just stared at him, as if he has genuinely been caught off guard by the question and Katsuki’s behavior. The redhead shook it off relatively quickly, however, a smile forming on his lips. “Bro, are you worried about me? That’s actually cute as hell, man. Gotta say that I’m impressed.”

Katsuki swore that he was going to snap and kill him one of these days. “The fuck’s wrong with you, though?”

Eijirou sighed and then averted his gaze to the floor, as if the patterning of the carpet (pink, who figured?) was fascinating. “It’s just...I felt so useless during the fight. All I did when we were in that garden was smash into a wall. I wasn't able to help you and Todoroki out much, and I definitely wasn't able to keep up with you guys.”

Huh? Katsuki turned to face him, “You wanted to help us more? What are you talking about? You literally sacrificed yourself for me. If anything, I'm to blame for getting distracted and allowing one of the villains to almost get me. Idiot, I...I was so scared when you...” His vision clouded, and he fought back tears because dammit, no way was he about to cry right now.

“Oh.” He could tell Eijirou was now flustered and pink, even though he could not clearly see the redhead’s face.

"Oh? That's it?"

When Eijirou finally managed to compose himself and talk again, he sounded surprised. “I just reacted because I was scared, bro.” He gently caressed Katsuki’s cheek, wiping away tears Katsuki did not even realize had fallen. “I’m sorry if I worried you back there.”

Katsuki was becoming a little annoyed in the face of Eijirou’s exceptional modesty. Pushing Eijirou’s hand away, he wiped the remaining tears and scowled. “It’s okay, but don’t underestimate your importance. Sacrificing yourself isn't nothing. You and your stupid hardening quirk aren't nothing. I'll kill whatever shitty fucker says otherwise.”

Katsuki felt the mattress shift as Eijirou sat next to him. “Aww, you mean it?” The redhead's voice was buoyant, lifted by an abundance of joy. 

“Fuck you,” he told Eijirou before turning away from him. "Why do you think so little of yourself and your quirk anyway?"

He heard Eijirou chuckle. "Well, it's kinda a long story."

Great. I absolutely adore long stories. He picked at the duvet cover underneath him as he considered his options. Or he pretended to, at least. He did have the option of either indulging Eijioru and "suffering" through the story, or he could just ignore everything and spare himself, but this was Eijirou Kirishima he was talking about. There was no way that he could ever pick the second choice without facing some serious mental whiplash.

"Well, I have time to listen to it right now, so tell me."

"You really want to hear it?" The mattress shifted again as Eijirou moved into what must have been a more comfortable position. 

Can't he just tell me? It's not something that bad, is it? "Just tell me," Katsuki responded in a half-bark.

Eijirou let out a little wolf-whistle, as if genuinely "impressed." "Damn, man. Okay, I'll tell you. You know how quirks usually manifest at the age of four?"

Of course Katsuki did. Who with a quirk did not? The real question was how it was going to fit into the redhead's tale. His interest piqued, he turned around to face Eijirou. "Yeah."

"Well, I was rubbing my eye when my quirk first manifested, and I accidentally cut myself. That's how I got this," Eijirou explained as he pointed to the tiny scar on his right eyelid. "I didn't like my quirk much after that, though I did learn to control my hardening. I still wish I had a flashier quirk and was stronger, though." The redhead rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepishly at Katsuki. "Sometimes I freeze in the midst of danger, which isn't manly at all. When I was in middle school, I saw a villain attacking some girls from my school while I was heading back home, but I couldn't get myself to move and..."

Stronger? "Eijirou, you are strong. You’re so strong, and I like your scar. Fuck everyone else, I respect you and your quirk.” Katsuki’s fingers ghosted over the scar as he frowned for emphasis. “Look, everyone makes mistakes when their quirk first manifests. And everyone is terrified the first few times they are faced with danger. I was literally in the fucking news for being in a villain attack when I was in middle school, remember? What matters is what you eventually make of that quirk and where your heart and convictions lie, got it? Don't go yappin’ about how you're weak. Also, how was that a long story?"

To his surprise, Eijirou did not say anything in response. Instead, all the redhead did was stare at him as if he were seeing an apparition in Katsuki's place or as if the blond had turned into some godlike figure (or perhaps a saintly demon would be more appropriate). "I—"

"Don't fucking say anything," Katsuki grumbled as he buried his face in one of the pillows. Did he truly understand what I was saying? I hope so, because I can't stand it when he speaks of himself like that. Reminds me of my own damn mind.

Katsuki was not destined to find out the answer to his question just yet, because it was at that moment that Eijirou decided to change the subject. “Hey, do you want to sleep? You must be all sore and tired from all that fighting.” Eijirou’s tone was soft, and Katsuki felt a hand move and gently rest on his body. "Isn't this bed super comfy?"

Katsuki swallowed hard. He could not tell what had derailed him, whether it was the (imagined) suggestive hint to Eijirou’s voice or the gentleness in the way he was treating him. Fuck. "Hah?"

Eijirou laughed some more. "I'm asking you if you want to sleep now. You're tired, right?"

He waved an arm absentmindedly at Eijirou. "I'm tired, but I don't wanna sleep yet. We should get some food using room service, seeing that we didn't end up attending the banquet."

"Yeah, I could use some food!" Eijirou was smiling at him, and damn it, Katsuki was smiling, too. He did not know why, but the smile was automatic, unaccounted for. Just like it had before, it snuck up on him like the white rabbit on Alice. It was something he wanted to chase after, follow down the rabbit hole to god-knows-where, falling to his own death for all he knew. Why do his smiles always affect me so much?

But then Eijirou’s smile broke into an airy, indulgent chuckle for no particular reason. Before he could stop himself, Katsuki let out an errant, snorting, hideous bout of laughter in response.

Laughter’s contagious, right?

Right.

“You wanna know what you sound like when you laugh?” Eijriou asked, laughing even harder now.

“Eat shit, Eijirou.” The words were not threatening whatsoever, sandwiched in between Katsuki's laughs.

“A hyena,” Eijirou continued simply.

A HYENA!?! "I hate you so goddamn much."

The redhead stopped laughing and was instead smiling endearingly, and the hotel room managed to size down to the shape of Eijirou’s stupid, shark-like teeth and the way his crimson eyes crinkled and —

Katsuki really wanted to murder him.

Instead, he decided on a different route. He pulled Eijirou down onto his body, his arms wrapping around the other’s waist. The redhead was warm, his comforting heat and weight feeling rather soothing on Katsuki’s sore body. “I should have half the mind to kill you right now.”

“Don’t, man!” Eijirou giggled, his head resting on Katsuki’s chest. He wondered if Eijirou could feel the way his heart was beating erratically in his chest. “Didn’t you say that you loved me?”

“Tch. As if,” the blond countered, rolling his eyes and feigning disgust. He freed one arm and half-heartedly attempted to push Eijirou off of him, but he also made sure to keep a firm grip on his waist with the other arm so that the redhead did not actually move off his body and onto the bed. 

“Hey! You love me and you know it!”

Katsuki smiled softly as the redhead continued giggling. He’s already acting so familiar with me. It’s...sweet. “You can’t act this stupidly in love with me the day you confess to me. How’s that fucking possible?” 

Eijirou lifted his head off of Katsuki’s chest and pressed his lips against Katsuki’s. The blond froze awkwardly before he finally got his body to move and reciprocate. Yup, this was going to take some getting used to. “Dude, I’ve been stupidly in love with you for a long time now. Haven’t you realized? I thought that after I confessed you'd understand how long I've been waiting.”

Wait, what? God, I...Why am I freaking out about this now?

Katsuki bit his lower lip. “Shit. For how long?”

“Since a little after the sports festival, bro! I had a crush on you way before then, but I’ve fallen for you as I’ve gotten to know you better.” The redhead’s smile was blinding in its radiance.

Wow. Feeling both embarrassed and annoyed, Katsuki pushed Eijirou off of him and onto the bed. “DON’T FUCKIN' CALL ME BRO AFTER FUCKING KISSING ME AND ADMITTING THAT YOU'VE FUCKING LIKED ME FOR THAT LONG, YOU FUCKIN' FUCK!”

Eijioru laughed. “I loveeee you. And you must do, too, because you were acting sweet for once in your life.”

Shit. 

“Die!”

The weekend passed by much too quickly for either Katsuki's or Eijirou's liking, and Katsuki found himself (secretly) mourning the end of the expo and missing the stupidly pink suite. It seemed impossible, but he had really warmed up to the room, hearts and all.

But the two's adventures at I-Expo did not end that weekend, much to Katsuki's pleasant surprise. He was invited year after year, and each time he invited Eijirou along as his plus one. There was nobody else he would rather invite to come along with him, after all. He always made sure to request the same room, and they would always trek to the garden on the eightieth floor before attending the banquet. Spending time at the I-Expo became a sort of tradition for them, one that both Katsuki and Eijirou treasured deep in their hearts.

Therefore, it was only fitting that it was exactly seven years after that faithful evening, while they were walking around the garden and "coincidentally" wearing exact replicas of the suits they had worn during their first I-Expo together, when Katsuki got down on one knee and asked one simple, life-changing question:

"Will you marry me?"

(Katsuki definitely did not cry when Eijirou pulled out a ring of his own. Nope.)