Work Text:
A man with chestnut brown hair, gold circle glasses, and muddy brown eyes walked around a semi-empty grocery store wearing black joggers, a tank top, and black tennis shoes. A black mask covered the lower half of his face, giving him an air of mystery but many patrons did the same. He wouldn't have stood out if not for his body that was chiseled to perfection and god-like appearance. His eyes were piercing behind the glasses and many wondered whether he was someone famous but no names came to mind.
The only flaw he had was the forest green crossbody bag that hung from his side.
To the untrained eye, it was just a green bag.
To a hero otaku, however, it was clearly a first-generation Deku crossbody bag! It could now earn one a small fortune.
It was clearly well-loved by the creases in the fabric as if the man used it wherever he went.
The man stood in line, waiting to buy two copies of the recent magazine with Pro Hero Deku posing on the cover wearing a forest green suit. He tapped his foot impatiently since he stood in the line for customers with 12 items or less and yet still had to wait fucking forever. He would have used self-checkout if there was an option, mind you.
"Hello! Were you able to find everything okay?" The cashier was a chipper woman who greeted him but the man just grunted in reply.
Yet the woman wasn't satisfied apparently as she rang him up. "Oh! Pro Hero Deku is featured in this one. But I'm more of a fan of Pro Hero Dynamight myself."
"Oh?" He asked since it was rare to hear praise most days.
"Yeah! He's just so cool. I love Deku too, of course, but if anything I like seeing the two of them fight together. They're not the Wonder Duo for nothing!"
He hummed, slightly pleased as he finally got the total and pulled out his green wallet that matched his crossbody bag, handing the cashier cash. The last thing he wanted was a trail of his purchases of Deku memorabilia that people could use against him. He asked for a paper bag and genuinely thanked her for her help.
Now all he had to do was get back to his apartment before anyone recognized him.
"Kacchan?"
Katsuki froze, grateful that the magazines were hidden from view behind the brown paper. He felt his soul leave his body as Izuku's eyes hovered over him, lingering on the green bag and matching wallet he hadn't put away yet. Of course, Izuku would recognize his own merchandise. But how the fuck did he recognize him even with his disguise?
Like him, Izuku was also donned in civilian clothing with a mask covering the bottom half of his face. He didn't go through the trouble of wearing a wig, though. Of course since unlike him, he had nothing to really hide.
Katsuki couldn't help but appreciate how Izuku's curls were a thing of the past with the undercut he happened to get the other day. It was so new that even the magazine in his arms didn't show him with the hairstyle.
The hero took a step closer, his head tilted to the side. Despite the mask, Katsuki would recognize a smiling Izuku anywhere. "I didn’t know that you shopped here! Wait, that must mean you live in the area, right? Wow, I haven't been to your apartment yet! I would love to see it sometime, Kacchan, if you'd let me."
Katsuki felt sick at the thought of Izuku seeing his apartment for the first time in years. "Deku..."
The other gazed at him, the tilt of his head showing more of his new hairstyle, the sight making his heart pound.
So Katsuki did the only thing he could in that situation.
He ran.
💥💚🥦
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Fuck!" Katsuki screamed the last fuck into his large 20,000 yen chibi Izuku that always sat on the couch. He had moved into the apartment only a few months prior, needing more space for his growing Izuku collection that was beginning to rival the idiot's collection for All Might.
After squishing plushie Deku's cheeks for a minimum of thirty seconds, he felt immediately better, huffing as he sat down to knead at the soft material to gather his racing thoughts.
Izuku of all people happened to find him. He made sure to move into a town outside of the idiot's jurisdiction just to avoid accidentally running into him. He even wore a disguise! How the fuck did Izuku show up when he wasn't supposed to be off work until late evening at the latest?
God only the idiot would have the ability to throw out all of his well-designed plans. He made sure to do everything perfectly so how did it all fuck up so spectacularly?
Sure, maybe he shouldn't have gone out wearing his favorite casual wear, but what was the point of owning expensive merchandise and not using it for its actual purpose?
Katsuki grumbled. He had made a breakthrough during therapy realizing that his usual inability to speak to Izuku was due to his… romantic feelings for the nerd. He hated how the sight of his green curls and freckles that resembled a starry sky always made him feel. It took a lot of hours to unpack everything over the years but now that he had come to terms with his feelings, he was straight up unintelligible. His face would flush and his palms would practically drip with sweat; a literal safety hazard. If he didn't get his emotions under control he could blow up an entire city block just looking at Izuku for more than five seconds.
His therapist had pitched starting with becoming familiar with Deku in places he was comfortable, which obviously meant his apartment where he kept three deadbolts on the door to keep the 'Bakusquad' out.
At first, he felt silly with pictures of him and Izuku around the apartment but they quickly grew on him. After the first hurdle, he started having nightmares that consisted of their past. It was him finally being able to process everything and it left him weak and trembling every night. The Izuku in his nightmares often consisted of him as a child but no matter how many times he tried to change his past self, things only worsened.
It started as a few pictures then added plushies to use to talk to and sleep. A source of comfort to help put his mind at ease. It worked wonderfully and those nightmares turned into dreams. He refused to get more so he instead invested in the large one that owns his sofa now.
Eventually, he found himself slipping. He became keenly aware of Izuku merchandise on the market and he could no longer resist buying them all. He had at least one of every item Izuku ever released, even the shitty ones from fast-food joints for literal children. And he loved it! Loved him. He could never show his true feelings to Izuku because he knew that he could never deserve a chance. There was no way he could ever return his feelings. Even if he did, the hero deserved more than his childhood bully.
Nowadays he even slept with a dakimakura of Izuku without a shirt on. He knows it's not real since the scars on his muscled body were all wrong. A fact that he appreciated and loathed to his core because it reminded him of how weird it all was. How creepy he was. He spent years calling Izuku creepy and a nerd yet now he owned the nerd's merch!
His obsession was too far gone, though, so Katsuki resorted to disguises and lies.
It has been going well for a few months but he just had to be caught by the man himself.
Katsuki was finally able to calm down after doing his usual breathing exercises. Even though Izuku was sure to have recognized his bag and wallet, he acted just as he always did. There was no laughter or disgust. Just plain old Izuku with his smile that melted his insides even with a stupid mask on.
The blond sighed as he noticed that the room was darker than he wanted. His curtains were closed except for a gap in between that let some light in. With his large Deku plush under his arm, he moved to his balcony, sliding the curtains open.
Just to come face to face with a wide-eyed Izuku who was leaning over the edge of his balcony, ready to use All for One to escape. The dumbass had the audacity to look embarrassed like he was caught stealing the last cookie and not being a fucking stalker.
"Deku," he growled and Izuku immediately fell to his knees, his forehead pressed against his floor.
"I'm sorry!"
Katsuki was seething but the sight of Izuku groveling did things to him so his anger dampened quickly. "Explain."
"W-Well, I wanted to apologize for giving away your disguise today. Did it occur to me that maybe you were undercover for a mission or something? I wasn’t sure so I asked Kirishima and he said that you were actually on leave for a bit but did ask Mina about where to get high-quality wigs and whatnot. Mina then said that you happened to live around the area and then Kaminari gave me your address! I-I figured I would drop by for a quick visit but d-didn't think the front desk would let me in."
He stared at him but in reality, in his mind, he was playing out different scenarios on how to get his revenge on a certain blond.
Izuku wheezed as he explained more: "Okay I figured that you wouldn't have buzzed me in and rooftop hopping is the fastest way…"
Katsuki snapped back to the conversation, trying to hide the wicked grin that threatened to form as he decided on a torture method. He huffed and crossed his arms, an eyebrow raised. "Well?"
"Well, what?" Izuku asked, twiddling his scarred fingers.
"Did you see it?"
"See what?"
"The inside of my apartment, dumbass!" He hissed.
"O-Oh," now Izuku flushed prettily, his eyes darting away which was a tell of his. "I didn't!"
"Don't fucking lie to me, Deku."
Izuku whined. "Okay, I did, but just a little!"
"What did you see?" said Katsuki as he felt a migraine coming on.
Izuku's blush deepened. "Y-Y-You squishing the limited edition chibi plushie of me."
Katsuki wanted to vomit. "What else?"
"T-That's it! I totally didn't see the walls with framed pictures of us and the green rug that matches my hero costume…"
"And?"
Izuku pursed his lips and Katsuki had to ignore the urge to pull him up for a kiss. He tilted his head. "And what?"
"What do you think?"
"Of?"
Katsuki could literally feel losing his brain cells. "What you saw, dumbass!"
"W-Well I mean I'm flattered."
"So… You're not creeped out at all?"
Izuku frowned. "Why would I find it creepy? I own more All Might merch than anyone I've ever met. I'm his number one fan, literally."
"All Might is different,” he reasoned.
"How so?"
"Because…” Katsuki trailed off, huffing as he gestured between them. “Because it's us!"
"I have a lot of merch of you too, though?"
"Really?" Katsuki asked, his cheeks and chest warm. "Wait, no, that's not the same!"
"What do you mean? I probably have way more merch than you do, Kacchan."
"That's not what I meant! I mean the fact that it's me with merch of you!"
"Well, I will admit that you're the last person I ever expected to see wearing my merch but it made me really happy."
"It did?"
"Yeah! If I knew Kacchan liked my merch then I would have given you first dibs!"
Katsuki sighed. "I feel like you're missing the point."
"Point?"
"I don't just own hero merch, Deku I own your merch. Don't you want to know why?"
Izuku blinked. "Because you think they're neat and like collecting things?"
"No, you idiot, it's because I like you!"
"You like me?" Izuku asked, his voice barely a whisper as he gazed at the plushie still held protectively in Katsuki's grasp.
Never in a million years did he plan to confess his feelings, especially not like this. Katsuki groaned as he plopped down cross-legged.
"Kacchan likes me?" Izuku asked, lifting his eyes to gaze across the balcony at him. There was a fondness there that he always seemed to never understand before which annoyed the shit out of him. Yet now with the plushie still intact between them, he could only hope.
"Yeah," he practically croaked, cursing his sudden inability to speak. He cleared his throat as he shielded his flushed face. "Your Kacchan likes you."
Izuku's entire face lit up just like they did at every festival he attended as a kid. Like he was given the secret to the universe and couldn't wait to share it with him. " My Kacchan likes me?"
"Ugh, yes, can you please just stop?"
"Kacchan said please?!"
"Deku!"
Izuku fell to the ground in a fit of giggles and Katsuki was glad that he cleaned the floor so well that he could practically eat off it if he wanted to. He rolled his eyes, a fond smile forming on his lips which made the other gasp.
“Pinch me, Kacchan.”
“Hah?”
Izuku closed his eyes, offering his muscular left arm for Katsuki to torture. “I feel like I’m dreaming so pinch me, please. Make it really hurt since I have a high pain tolerance and whatnot.”
Kastuki couldn’t believe it. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me, Deku.”
“Kacchan,” he whined.
“Baby.”
“Your baby,” Izuku grinned, opening one eye to peek at him.
Katsuki blushed, feeling delighted. He shook his head as Izuku closed his eyes again, asking for it to hurt probably meant that he expected him to use his quirk. Katsuki instead pulled roughly, earning a loud squeak from the hero as he fell right into his waiting arms, their lips crashing against each other. He hissed as he pulled back, his hands slipping to Izuku’s waist. “Your head is a fucking rock.”
Izuku gazed up at him, his eyes and mouth wide. It only took him a second to giggle. “I’m your rock.”
Katsuki groaned, resting his forehead on Izuku’s shoulder. “I hate you.”
Izuku giggled, slipping his arms around Katsuki’s waist as if he was never letting go. “Ehehe, you love me.”
“Cheeky lil shit,” he snorted, pulling Izuku closer against him. “But you’re not wrong.”
He hummed. “Oh, yeah, you’re never getting rid of me.”
“It was a lost cause from the start.”
After a few minutes of them just cuddling, Katsuki finally realized that he had forgotten his limited edition giant plushie and cursed. He almost stopped hugging Izuku to make sure little Deku wasn’t dirty.
“Can’t wait to see the rest of your collection, Kacchan.”
Katsuki froze, fear filling his veins. “Fuck, no.”
Before he could hold him back, Izuku was already zipping into the apartment, streaks of green in his wake.
“Deku, you lil shit! Don’t touch anything!”