Work Text:
To say that Eijirou and the rest of the Bakusquad were concerned for Katsuki was a bit of an understatement.
For the past month or so, he’d been constantly on edge. He checked his phone every chance he got, would hardly pay attention to anything other than his phone screen and their teachers, and he’s been stress-cooking a lot more than usual. Not that the last part is anything to complain about--everyone loved his cooking, after all, but when he was more stressed he tended to put more spice in the food.
Luckily, it seemed like his nerves were slightly soothed today. Though he checked his phone between every single class, the tension in his shoulders had loosened a bit, and he seemed more impatient than anything else. Eijirou could understand the impatience; after all, they were having a long weekend this week, and he intended to make all three days count! Lots of staying up late, playing video games, watching movies, and hanging out with his friends, then sleeping in late to make up for the hours lost to fun. He wanted to invite Katsuki to his room later to maybe drag him into movie night with the squad, but the moment the bell rang, signalling their day as over, the explosive blond was practically speed walking out of the building!
“Hey! Bakugou!” Katsuki looked up at the call of his name, stopping so Denki and Eijirou could catch up with him. “Hey, dude, where are you going? The dorms are in the opposite direction!”
“Well look at that, Dunce Face knows where the dorms are,” Katsuki growled, holding his book bag over his shoulder. “I know which direction the dorms are, idiots. I’m meeting someone at the gate.”
Eijirou gasped dramatically with Denki, hands over their chests. “Could it be?”
“He’s abandoning us!”
“He’s got other friends!”
“SHUT UP!!” Sparks flew from Katsuki’s open palms. “AS IF I’D WANT ANY FRIENDS TO BEGIN WITH!!!”
“So cruel!”
“Not manly, Bakubro…” Eijirou offered a small smile, hands on his hips and looking at the explosive blond curiously. “So who are you meeting at the front gate anyway?”
Katsuki was silent for a moment. He hesitated, looking to the side, cheeks ever so faintly flushed as he grumbled something under his breath. Eijirou and Denki stared at him expectantly, making him huff in annoyance. “My girlfriend , alright? You happy now? Geez, just--leave me alone.”
Denki gasped dramatically, hands on his cheeks. “Bakugou, you have a GIRLFRIEND ?! Oh my god! This is amazing--who is she? What’s her name? What does she look like? How did you meet?”
The many questions made Katsuki growl, lips peeling back in a snarl that didn’t even phase the other two students. “ Shut up , alright?! It’s not a big deal!”
“Yeah, dude. Keep telling yourself that. What brings her here anyway?” Eijirou elbowed Denki’s arm, looking pointedly at him. They needed to stop bombarding their friend with questions if they actually wanted answers. “This is the first we’ve heard of her, so we’re understandably kind of excited. You’re so private, my guy, we just want to know more about you.”
That last bit had the other’s shoulders sagging a little in defeat. He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Since UA had us move into the dorms, we haven’t been able to see each other as often,” He groused. “And she was just gone for a whole fucking month in America visiting her dad. We wanted to see each other as soon as possible, so… I asked Aizawa for permission to let her visit.”
Eijirou grinned toothily. “Aw man, that’s so cool! I’m happy for you, Bakugou! It’s always hard to be so far away from someone you care about.”
“She was gone for ever !” Katsuki complained, throwing his hands up in the air and turning away to start walking again. Denki and Eijirou followed, unwilling to let the conversation stop. “A month--a whole goddamn month without even a video call! It was all texting! And the time difference . I stayed up until midnight one night just so I could call her and it only lasted ten minutes! I should fucking strangle her dad for keeping her away from me!!” Eijirou glanced at Denki, sharing an amused look. This was turning into a very enlightening venting session from their friend. Not only did he have a girlfriend, but it seemed he was quite attached to her too. New layers of their friend were being revealed all of a sudden, and while it was very welcome--they loved knowing more about their loud, brash, very private friend--they were also very surprised. Bakugou Katsuki didn’t seem like the type of guy to have any interest in a romantic relationship, let alone being so incredibly clingy to the point of staying up way past his usual bedtime of 8:00 PM so he could call her while she’s out of the country. “And don't even get be started on her fucking school, I swear one day I’m going to burn that fucking place to the ground! Treating her like she’s lesser , as if she’s not the reason they get as much publicity as they do--”
“Kacchan!”
The call had Katsuki freezing, head snapping to the direction it had come from. “Kacchan?” Eijirou and Denki parroted, amused and confused. Before they could ask what that was all about, Katsuki took off at a sprint towards the front gates towards the person standing just in front of them waving her hand frantically above her head. He reached her and pulled the girl into his arms, giggles shrieking out of her as he spun around in place, her long legs kicking out of sheer delight. Eijirou and Denki struggled to keep up, panting as they finally reached the couple just as the girl’s feet touched back down on the cement. Though she was still giggling wildly, she and Katsuki clutched at each other tightly, his face tucked against her shoulder with his upper body wrapped around her, arms hugging around her slim waist. She had short, curly green hair, part of her bangs pinned back with two neon orange clips arranged in an X, and fat tears rolled down her plump, freckled cheeks.
This went on for a long moment before Denki cleared his throat into his fist, making it known that he and the redhead were still there, waiting for them to finish. That seemed to get the couple’s attention, though Katsuki was reluctant to pull away even a little bit from the shorter teen. Now that he wasn’t blocking most of her from view, they could see she was dressed casually, not in any school uniform. A pastel pink off-the-shoulder shirt with sleeves that ended just past her elbow, showing off the splattering of freckles over every available patch of skin, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, as well as a pair of black ankle boots with a chunky heel. She smiled brightly at them both, a smile that seemed to make the entire world just a little bit brighter. “Hi! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. You must be Kacchan’s friends!”
Katsuki huffed, but didn’t deny it. Eijirou nodded, rubbing the back of his head nervously despite the huge grin on his face. “Yeah! I’m Kirishima Eijirou, and it’s wonderful to meet you!”
“I’m Kaminari Denki, great to meet you--why are you dating Bakugou?”
“ Denki !” Eijirou elbowed him again, glaring at him. “You can’t just ask that!” Denki pouted, rubbing his arm indignantly. “Don’t be rude.”
The girl only laughed, waving her hand a little at the scolding. “Oh, no, it’s alright! My name is Midoriya Izumi, I’m so happy to meet you guys. I saw you both in the sports festival! You did lots better than last year, it was so amazing!” Katsuki frowned, glaring at her. Izumi rolled her eyes fondly, patting her hand over his upper arm. “Not as amazing as Kacchan, but still amazing nonetheless. Anyway, we should all head inside before we’re reported for loitering. Where are we--Kacchan, please, you don’t need to carry my bag, it’s alright!”
Katsuki snarled, growling and picking up the small suitcase in his free arm under his bookbag, one hand free so he could hold her hand. Denki dramatically slapped a hand over his chest, pretending to swoon, but was ignored. “If you think I’m going to let you lug this thing around all the way across campus after taking it with you on the train ride here, you’re dumber than I thought, shitty nerd!”
“Insulting your girlfriend isn’t very manly,” Eijirou said in a warning tone, looking pointedly at the blond.
Izumi shook her head, chuckling and waving her hand at him again. “Oh, no, he wasn’t insulting me! Kacchan is just trying to be sweet, don’t worry.”
...Sweet? What…
On the way to the dorms, Denki and Eijirou got to know Izumi a little better. She was a second year student at Ketsubutsu High School, one of the top students in their support division. She was friends with a few hero course students there, and was present at the provisional license exam, but wasn’t able to interact with the other students since she wasn’t there to be tested, instead assisting with analyzing their quirks to assist the judges. Eijirou couldn’t help but feel shy about it, hearing her gush about their class’s quirks. She sounded so awed, so inspired, but he couldn’t help but feel that he was not deserving of her many praises.
“So, Midoriya,” Denki started, smiling as he leaned over beside her to catch her gaze. She looked over to him with a curious smile, but Eijirou could see Bakugou’s hand tighten slightly around hers. So protective… The redhead thought. “You never answered my question! How did you and Bakugou start dating, huh? How did he manage to get a girl like you?” The electric blond looked her up and down, a sleazy smirk on his lips.
“ Watch it ,” Katsuki snarled, pulling the girl closer to his side. The move only made her smile, a laugh falling out of her. “Don’t ask pervy questions, Pikachu, that’s how you got slapped by Earbuds.”
The mention of The Incident™ made the other blond deflate a bit. Though he’d gotten better since Mineta had been expelled from UA, he still had a bad tendency to be kind of a pervert. “Not all of us manage to chug our Respect Women Juice every single morning, Kacchan ,” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“...Dude,” Katsuki scolded, nose wrinkled in disgust. “Women are people .”
Eijirou nodded sagely in agreement. Though he got a lot of flack for how brash and rough he was, Katsuki was one of the least misogynistic guys at UA. He treated everyone with the same harshness, no matter their gender, and if that’s not manly to treat everyone equally, he didn’t know what was! “How long are you staying, Midoriya?” He asked, offering the teen a small, friendly smile.
She grinned back at him, clearly excited. “I get to stay the whole weekend!” She exclaimed. “I had to talk my mom into it, but in the end I convinced her that I had to have a whole weekend at UA. I’ve been away from Kacchan for a whole month! The least I can do is give him three days.” She glanced sheepishly to the side. “Besides, I… kind of promised I would steal one of his recipes for her in exchange for letting me stay a whole weekend.”
“Brat. As if I’d let you steal my recipes.” Despite the harsh tone, Katsuki swung their hands between them as they walked, fingers interlaced together. “You’ll never get them.”
“That sounds like a challenge that I will gladly accept,” Izumi said with a toothy smirk. Eijirou shivered seeing that glint of mischief in her eyes. Okay, maybe he could see why they were together. If there was ever a match for Bakugou Katsuki, it would have to be someone just as stubborn and willing to fight as him, or at least able to hold their ground against him if not challenge him directly. The matching feral danger shining in the blond’s eyes only reminded him that perhaps he should keep his dorm room door locked, in case he got caught in the crossfire.
When they reached the dorms, Katsuki wasted no time in immediately pulling Izumi into the elevator, intent on showing her to her temporary dorm himself. Temporary dorm rooms were set up for guests, but Eijirou had a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn’t be spending much time in the temporary room. If he knew his best friend at all, he knew that Katsuki would insist on having her sleep in his bed while he either took the floor or slept in another room entirely, just so he knew she was safe. “Kacchan, I have something I’d like to talk to you about later,” Izumi said softly as they got onto the elevator, glancing at the other two teens with a nervous smile. “Privately.”
Katsuki’s nod was immediate, no hesitation. “Sure,” he agreed. “After dinner. Ugh, did your stupid dad even feed you over in America? I thought American food was supposed to make you fatter, not skinnier!”
Eijirou saw the shouting for what it was--he was trying to make her relax a little, deflecting from whatever was making her nervous. It worked too, which the redhead thought was very manly! Izumi’s shoulders lost some of their tension, and she smothered a laugh behind her hand. “Kacchan is so silly!” She chuckled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Izumi fit right in with their class. It was as if she was simply meant to be part of them, like it was fate for her to be there. As expected, everyone tried to bombard her with questions--so many questions, more than she could possibly answer--but she was very patient with everyone despite looking pale and slightly overwhelmed. It helped, Eijirou thought as he took more from the hotpot, that Katsuki was always there, holding her hand or with his arm wrapped around her waist or her shoulders, or sitting so close together that there was no space between them. Having him there seemed to be the only thing keeping her from being completely overtaken by emotion and anxiety.
“Bakugou, I can’t believe you didn’t tell us about her!” Ojirou nudged the explosive teen with his elbow, earning a deathly glare that had little effect. “You can’t keep such a ray of sunshine all to yourself.”
“A blazing light in a pool of darkness,” Fumikage murmured with a sagely nod. “A burning sun cutting through the rain clouds of a stormy day.”
Katsuki growled, baring his teeth. “She’s my girlfriend!” He shouted. “I shouldn’t have to share her! I should get to have her to myself! You bastards don’t deserve her!”
Izumi gave a startled laugh, cheeks flushed. “You guys are so sweet,” She complimented, holding a dumpling in her chopsticks. “I’m glad I get to spend a whole three days with you all. I can’t wait to get to know everyone!”
Eijirou offered a small smile. “Maybe you should join the girls for their girls night! I went once, it was a blast.”
“Waaaaaah, Ei!” Denki flailed his arms, crocodile tears gathering in his eyes. “You went to a girls night and you didn’t tell me?! How could you! I thought we were friends!”
“We asked him not to tell you because we knew you’d try to come too,” Mina said with a pout. “You might not have Mineta as an enabler anymore, but you’re still a delinquent!”
Izumi snorted, raising her hand to try and smother her amused smile. It didn’t work well, as she was holding her chopsticks, but the intent was there. She didn’t want to be rude. “I’d love to attend a girls night,” She accepted. “If you’ll have me.”
Momo nodded, smiling politely. “We would be glad to have you.”
“Yeah! Besides, you can tell us all of Bakugou’s dirty secrets!”
“SHUT UP, RACOON EYES! I DON’T HAVE DIRTY SECRETS!!”
“ Everyone has secrets,” Kyoka pointed out, a lazy smile on her lips. “You can’t hide everything for forever.”
The greenette shrugged, stirring her bowl thoughtfully. “Kacchan doesn’t really have any secrets, it’s true,” She defended. “Or at least, nothing major. The only one of interest would probably be that he asked his dad for advice on how to ask me out the first time.”
“Don’t just tell them that ,” the blond bit out, cheeks ablaze with a light blush while he looked incredulously at his girlfriend.
Izumi glanced at him for a moment, chewing her food, but smirked mischievously after she swallowed. “He asked me out during our very last year of middle school,” She started, reveling in the way her boyfriend looked at her, aghast. “I’d been having a rough day, the bullies were being particularly mean. He asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream with him, so I accepted. I just thought he wanted to cheer me up, but then he insisted on paying for the ice cream himself. I told him it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t like it was a date or anything. I had no idea until then that it was a date--I was so embarrassed! But then we went on a walk for a while, just talking about anything and everything.” She spared another glance over at the blond boy, smiling fondly at him as he shoveled food into his mouth to try and distract from the fact he was embarrassed. “He treated me like a lady, just like a gentleman.”
Their classmates were all silent for a moment, stunned. No one-- except me , Eijirou thought, no one except for me and the Bakusquad --had seen such a soft side of their classmate.
Then the room erupted into chaos.
“So cuuuuuute!”
“Wow, who knew Bakugou knew how to be romantic?”
“He’s hidden this side of him all this time, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“I’m impressed that he’s so chivalrous! No wonder he’s friends with Eijirou.”
“EVERYONE OF YOU NEEDS TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!! JUST DROP IT!!” Katsuki stood, taking Izumi’s bowl along with his own and stomping out of the room. “I’m done! I’m done with all you extras!”
“Awww Poor Kacchan , don’t be so mean~” Denki teased, earning laughter from everyone when Katsuki just screamed in the kitchen before an explosion shook the room. No one was phased, as if it were a normal, every day occurrence. Eijirou glanced at Izumi, unable to help the optimism that rose within him when he saw only loving fondness on her face despite how Katsuki was acting. “Since he’s in another room, will you finally answer my question?” Denki pressed, flopping down beside here where Katsuki had been sitting. She smiled at the electric teen curiously. “Why are you dating someone like him?”
Izumi laughed out loud, shaking her head in amusement. “Why? What a silly question!”
“Well, I think it’s a valid one,” Ochako commented, setting her empty bowl down onto the coffee table and looking at Izumi with a small, worried smile. “I mean, he’s so loud, and violent, and angry all the time! Aren’t you afraid of him?”
Again the greenette laughed, shaking her head. “I could never be afraid of him,” She said calmly, looking down at the coffee table as everyone started piling their bowls and plates there. “Kacchan is passionate, he’s kind… he’s always seen me for who I really am, instead of how everyone else sees me. No matter what, he’s always tried to protect me… even when I was diagnosed as quirkless. Sure, he showed it differently after that, but recently he’s been trying so hard to atone for his behavior back then.” She snorted, rubbing the back of her head with one hand as she flashed everyone a bright smile. “I’ve been in love with Kacchan for as long as I can remember, really! When we started dating and he made such a huge effort to prove himself worthy, it only reaffirmed what I’ve always known!” She turned her head to direct her grin at the explosive blond boy who was stomping back into the room. “Kacchan is amazing!”
“Here,” Katsuki shoved her bowl back into her hands, now full with more food. “Eat more. Next time my old hag has your bastard-dad on the phone, I’ll give him a piece of my mind! You’ve gotten so thin, dammit, you need to gain some weight or you’ll waste away to nothing!”
“Thank you for taking care of me, Kacchan,” Izumi said, leaning over to peck her lover on the cheek.
Katsuki’s entire face flushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “It’s nothing…”
“It’s official,” Eijirou joked, smirking toothily and leaning back against the couch cushions. “Midoriya’s magic! She tamed the untamable King Explosion Murder!” His joke got a chorus of laughter from his classmates, only serving to make Katsuki shout, sparkes popping in his open palms. That made Izumi laugh though, and Eijirou watched as Katsuki started playing it up just so he could hear her laugh more and more, over and over again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
In the end, Izumi only lasted a couple hours more before exhaustion started to get the better of her. She tried her best, Eijirou could see it, but by the time they’d all picked out a movie to watch together as a class and started it, she was slumped over against Katsuki on the couch, head tucked against his shoulder and her arms loosely wrapped around one of his own. Katsuki had a strange look on his face, one none of them had seen before. Eijirou could see everyone’s semi-subtle attempts to steal glances at their usually aggressive classmate as he quietly watched his girlfriend doze against him, doing nothing to stop her. He looked tired himself, and the redhead knew why too. After a whole month of worrying over her, constantly checking his phone for a chance to talk to her, check on her, make sure she was okay, he was sure it had taken a toll on him. It must be exhausting to be away from someone you clearly love with your whole heart… His expression said it all. Relief, ever lingering concern, tiredness… Adoration.
“Hey, Kat,” Eijirou murmured softly, nudging his friend gently with his elbow. Katsuki glanced at him, a halfhearted glare that he only met with a sympathetic smile. “Do you want help getting her to the guest dorm room? Looks like she’s out cold.”
For a split second, it looked like he might even consider the offer, but in the end, the blond shook his head, starting to shift so he could get a better hold of the girl. “No,” He said simply. “I can do it myself. She gets bitchy if she wakes up on the way to bed. Don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.”
...Well when he put it like that, it sounded almost sweet. Eijirou nodded, but still watched Katsuki ever so carefully pull Izumi into his arms bridal style, her head still resting on his shoulder. The movement looked practiced, like he’d carried her to bed hundreds of times, and honestly he probably had. Bakugou Katsuki didn’t do anything by halves, after all. No doubt one of the reasons for all his strength training was so he could carry his girlfriend with ease. “Very manly of you to carry her instead of waking her,” He complimented with a wink. “Are you going to bed after?”
The other teen grunted in confirmation. The rest of the class quietly complained. It was supposed to be class movie night, afterall, and that would mean the whole class had to join! Nevertheless, they knew better than to get between Katsuki and his bedtime routine. When Bakugou Katsuki wanted to go to bed, he went to bed . Nothing to do about it.
Perhaps that was why, a couple minutes later, everyone was so surprised to see the blond lingering by the doorway to the common room, dressed in his pyjama pants and a black tank top. “I thought you went to bed,” Shouto said in confusion. “What are you still doing up?”
Katsuki hesitated for a moment, shifting nervously and avoiding everyone’s eyes as they all stared at him. It took a few seconds, but he huffed, blushing darkly. “Son of a bitch--just--Listen, alright, ‘cause I’ll only say this once,” he started harshly, voice hushed. “Izumi was really nervous about meeting all of you, so… Thanks for… making her feel welcome.” Oh god, it looked like this was physically painful for him to say. Eijirou wondered just what Hound Dog was doing in those therapy sessions that was causing his friend to be able to even get this far. Whatever it is, maybe he should try it… “I know it… means a lot to her. Being here. Seeing you guys, getting… getting to know everyone. It--she used to want this more than anything, y’know?” A shadow passed over his expression, regret, pain, remorse. “So… I really--appreciate it--even if you’re all being super fucking annoying about it.” Before anyone could say anything, the blond turned, shoving his hands into his pyjama pants pockets. “Night.”
“Okay, so I think we can all agree,” Hanta said, voice wobbling as tears started streaming down everyone’s faces. “That was precious and we need to protect Midoriya at all costs!”
“Yes!”
“Agreed!”
“Oh god, my mascara is running, my poor makeup…!”
“Is anyone going to point out that he called her Izumi instead of Midoriya, or was I the only one that noticed? That’s so cute!”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Katsuki let out a long sigh as he carefully got into bed beside Izumi, curling around her beneath the All Might duvet on top of his bed. He’d laid her down in his dorm room, not wanting her to wake up in a completely unfamiliar place. At least in his room he had some of his old bedroom decor from his house, it was recognizable. He looked down at the girl in his arms, warmth blooming in his chest. She was finally home, finally in his arms. He could show her around UA tomorrow, show her how much he’d improved in training, introduce her to people… maybe All Might would be willing to even say hello? He hoped he’d have time to make that happen before she had to leave on Monday evening…
Another sigh escaped him, shorter this time, more just out of relief than exasperation as his lips pulled into a rare small smile. They didn’t get to have that private talk she wanted earlier, but he would make sure they got the chance later. Right now, all that mattered was that she was safe, she was here, and he could rest easy knowing that he could keep her safe from a world filled with unpredictable danger. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, reveling in the unintelligible murmur that fell from her lips as she curled closer to his chest. Katsuki closed his eyes.
With Izumi in his arms, he was finally home.