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It was twelve in the morning on a Friday night. Izuku’s lights were all turned off and his blinds were kept open, painting the room in a soft moonlight glow.
Izuku loved the quiet hours of the night. He adored the soft light of the moon, the look of the deep, starry sky through his window, and most of all, the quiet and privacy that the atmosphere provided without fail.
His next-door neighbors were always silent at night. Izuku couldn’t be sure if they went to sleep early or stayed awake late like he did, but he really didn’t care as long as they didn’t interrupt the tranquility of his favorite hours of the day.
Friday nights were especially perfect to Izuku.
On most nights, he tried to be out by eleven in order to maintain a steady seven hours of sleep at least. This gave him a couple of hours after homework to just enjoy the peace of the night that was like a healing medicine to his body and mind.
But on Friday nights, he had no self-imposed curfew to follow.
There was no guilt when a glance at the clock told him it was fourteen minutes past the time that he said he was going to go to sleep forreal this time.
He could stay up until one, two, or even three o’clock.
A snack at his side table, a water bottle on his right, laying on his back, the occasional glance at the gorgeous moon, while he wrote fanfiction in peace.
That’s right. Fanfiction.
You didn’t think Izuku just sat there and stared at the sky for hours, did you?
While he could probably do that and not get bored, he only spent a fraction of his peaceful time at night doing things like yoga stretches on the quiet balcony and staring at the night sky.
The rest of that time was devoted to writing fanfiction on his Ao3 account.
After all, he had quite a following. He couldn’t disappoint his Ao3 subscribers, who have followed him since he was in middle school, just because he was doing hero training.
And it wasn’t like he didn’t love writing! He would always look forward to getting positive comments from strangers online, or even friends he made online.
And if it was a little bit awkward to actually end up working with the man he’d been writing fanfiction about for years, he’d just do what he’s always done and ignore that that was even a thing.
He couldn’t take back his multiple All Might x reader fanfics that amassed tens of thousands of hits, anyway. There was no going back.
And besides, his mentor finding out about the fanfiction Izuku wrote about him is the least of his concerns right now.
Izuku huffed out a laugh at the thought of All Might finding out that there was fanfiction written about him, let alone knowing that Izuku himself was the culprit of some of them.
Did he even know what fanfiction was? What would he say?
Izuku giggled harder. He had the power to find All Might right now and explain to him the concept of enemies-to-lovers slow burn. He could look All Might in the eyes if he wanted and tell him that there were people out there reading about getting his phone number at a coffee shop.
Wait… he’d have to explain the self insert “y/n” thing too, wouldn’t he?
Izuku put a hand over his mouth to muffle the sounds of laughter and tried to regulate his breathing.
It took absolutely nothing to get Izuku laughing hard at this time of night when he knew he couldn’t be loud.
Speaking of, what time even was it?
He turned his head from his computer to check his bedside table, and… Yikes!
3:43 already? That’s waaay later than usual. Tomorrow is not gonna be fun.
As late as Izuku could stay up, it didn’t mean he wanted to sleep in too late the next day. Unless you’d call 10:30am late. He knew Kacchan definitely would.
Speaking of Kacchan…
Izuku smiled, closing his laptop and his eyes.
That was one thing he could think about to go to sleep.
He used to imagine himself in scenarios much like the fanfictions he wrote, but those scenarios were wildly outdated.
His middle school infatuation-turned-crush on his favorite hero died fast, especially once he had met the man.
Was he infatuated still? Obviously.
But the crush only lasted about a year.
(Call him crazy if you want, but his mentor was good looking when he debuted, and Izuku always aged him way down in the fics anyway.)
Yes, he still wrote fanfiction about the man, but it evolved into non-romantic, plot-centric stories.
His writing evolved from: “High School AU where you go to school with Yagi Toshinori and he sees something in you that no one else does,”
To: “You’re working closely with All Might and the nations top heroes to solve the biggest quirk-related crime mystery Japan has ever seen.”
And yes, he realized that he saw enough of this crap in his real life, but being able to control the beginning, middle, and end of these scenarios for once was extremely nice.
If there was one thing that he greatly missed though, it was the presence of his beta reader.
Kacchan stopped beta reading his fanfics when the bullying got bad, and he didn't know if the bullying or absence of his writing partner-slash-best friend was worse.
Oh god, that sentence was embarrassing as hell when he put it like that.
It was currently their third year, and he and Kacchan had gotten so much closer than they were when they first entered UA.
Hell, he’d feel comfortable enough now asking Kacchan to read his fanfiction, and he knows the guy wouldn’t seriously make fun of him for it.
And damn it, he was tired of sitting here missing Kacchan’s contribution to one of their childhood hobbies. He would ask him tomorrow to read through his most recent fic.
Izuku thought there was a pretty good chance of him saying yes.
\|v|/
It was a lazy Saturday, as usual, and Izuku had woken up at eleven.
He shrieked when he looked at the clock, and bolted to get ready for the day.
Once he had showered and gone downstairs to make himself food, it was twelve o’clock.
He knew Kacchan was probably in his room reading manga right now, so he deemed it an appropriate hour to go pose his question to him.
Izuku happily strode up to Kacchan’s door and knocked twice. He knew it wasn’t a very funny situation, but he couldn’t help but giggle a little bit at the thought of what Kacchan’s reaction might be.
The door opened, and Kacchan was in low hanging sweatpants and a tight black tank top—his post-workout Saturday lounging outfit.
Izuku couldn’t keep the swoon out of his voice, but he did try his best not to check him out.
“Kacchan!” He beamed up at him.
Katsuki groaned and rubbed a hand down his face in annoyance, “What do you want, shithead.”
“Sorry to bother you! Did I interrupt your reading? I assumed that was what you were doing, but I have a question for you and I couldn’t wait any longer to come and—“
“Cut it out, Deku. Yes, I was reading. I’m gonna be nice and listen to your question right now because I know you’ll annoy the fuck out of me if I don’t, so spit it out,”
Katsuki leaned his hip against the side of the door, and Izuku couldn’t help the way his eyes flicked down to the sliver of exposed skin that came from his shirt riding up.
“Um…” Izuku mumbled in a daze, trying to reboot his brain and pick his train of thought back up, “Oh, yeah.”
Katsuki crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“I was just thinking… I know this might be kind of weird for me to ask, but…”
As Izuku mumbled, he didn’t notice Katsuki start to zone out and let his eyes roam Izuku’s figure. He totally noticed the nerd checking him out, and he was very appreciative of that new information to say the least.
“…might be fun if we do that again, you know, like old times!”
Katsuki’s eyes refocused, and it took him a second too long to realize that Izuku had stopped talking and was… waiting for an answer?
“Shit… ‘m not gonna lie, I didn’t hear a single fucking word that came out of your mouth,”
Izuku gaped at him, offended.
“Kacchan, are you serious right now?! I was talking directly to you! I—“ He cut himself off with a sharp sigh.
Katsuki smirked at him, unashamed.
“Just get to the point. You said you had a question. Ask.”
He peered down lazily at Izuku, and the green-haired boy blushed, just now noticing the attention.
“I… well, uh,” He swallowed nervously.
Katsuki leaned down at him, teasingly.
“What's wrong, Deku? Can’t get the words out anymore?” His voice was just above a whisper, and he had to lean in closer for Izuku to hear it.
Izuku was blushing like crazy, but he met his challenging stare, and leaned in a little closer so that their noses were nearly brushing.
“You’re gonna laugh, Kacchan,” He sighed, his voice feeling far away.
“Mm… probably,”
Izuku huffed and pushed him away playfully with a hand to his firm chest.
“Kacchan.” He straightened himself out.
Katsuki stood straight in a mocking way, and in fake, exaggerated seriousness, he said, “Yes, Deku.”
Izuku laughed, “Shut up!”
Katsuki smirked.
“All I came here to ask was if you wanted to…”
Izuku trained off, looking at the ground self consciously.
This had seemed like a good idea earlier, but now that he actually had to saying the words out loud, they sounded a lot more stupid than they did before.
Katsuki was clearly starting to get a little annoyed, so he made a huge show of checking the non-existent watch on his arm, and he raised his eyebrows.
Izuku let out an exasperated sigh.
“Kacchan! You were literally just reading. I think you can spare a couple minutes at the door to talk to me.”
Katsuki looked affronted, but impressed.
“You’re a sassy little shit, aren’t you?”
Izuku dragged a hand through his hair, and prepared himself.
“Okay, okay, fine. Kacchan. Do you want to…”
Izuku took a deep breath.
Kacchan rolled his eyes.
“…beta read my All Might fanfiction like when we were kids?”
Katsuki opened his mouth like he was about to respond, but froze when he actually registered the full question.
He stood there for a second, frozen, his eyes wide and almost unexpressive.
“I—you—wh …?” Katsuki stuttered.
Izuku sealed his lips shut tight to not let any giggles escape at the expression.
He had literally stunned Kacchan into silence. It was hilarious.
After about ten seconds of that, Katsuki finally reacted.
He burst into loud, raucous laughter in the middle of the doorway.
Izuku wasn’t really expecting anything but a little chuckle and maybe to be called a loser, so he stood there having no idea how to react, and just watched him with wide eyes.
At this point, Katsuki was bent over at a ninety degree angle, and when he looked up at Izuku, he had tears literally rolling down his cheeks.
He was still shrieking with laughter, and Izuku had had enough.
“Kacchan!” He giggled, finally settling on a reaction, unable to stop himself from finding Katsuki’s shrieks and snorts hilarious.
“This is a very serious question, I’m literally not joking,” Izuku wheezed.
Katsuki stumbled forward with another wave of laughter and grabbed Izuku’s shoulders to steady himself.
Izuku doubled over as well, and they stood there for a couple minutes just laughing and trying and failing to heave in breaths.
Once Katsuki and Izuku finally calmed down, Katsuki took an arm and locked it around Deku’s neck to noogie him.
“You’re such a fucking idiot! You’re telling me you still write fanfiction. Fuckin’ All Might fanfiction? When you’re his goddamn,” Wheeze, “successor?”
Izuku’s voice came out muffled from being smooshed into Katsuki’s chest, “Kacchan, shhh! That’s private information!”
“I need to make sure I heard you right, loser. Answer the fucking question.” He grinned like a madman.
Katsuki released him, and Deku started smoothing his hair out.
“Yes! Like I said, I’m completely serious. And you are going to proofread these fanfictions, so I wouldn’t make fun of me if I were you.”
Katsuki crossed his arms, “Oh, so I’m going to? What happened to asking, Deku?”
Izuku smirked.
“You’ll say yes,”
And with that, he turned on his heel and moved to walk away.
“Oi!” Katsuki grabbed his wrist before he could go and spun him around.
Izuku stumbled forwards right into Katsuki’s chest and blushed up to his ears.
Being in Katsuki’s arms hadn’t been as daunting when he was laughing his ass off, but now that he’d sobered up, he realized he needed to book it out of there fast before he could lose the confidence that a smiling and laughing Kacchan had given him.
Katsuki brought a hand to Izuku’s chin and lifted his face up so that he was looking him in the eyes.
“If you insist,” He mumbled, a soft, happy look in his eyes that was grossly uncharacteristic of the blonde.
Izuku smiled brightly and he was sure Kacchan could hear how fast his heart was beating.
Izuku’s hands were on Katsuki’s waist where he had caught himself from falling, and Katsuki was slipping his hand into Izuku's hair and pulling at the strands.
Izuku sighed contentedly, and couldn't tear his eyes from the soft, contemplative look on Kacchan’s face.
The energy in the doorway was warm and light before, but it had suddenly turned heavy and almost romantic.
Izuku embraced the atmosphere and let Kacchan play with his hair. He’d take everything Katsuki would give, but he never wanted to push too far and scare the boy off.
He did want it to be clear how he felt, though, so he leaned in imperceptibly closer, and rubbed slow circles on Katsuki’s waist with his thumbs.
He wouldn’t make any bold moves, but he was tired of hiding his intentions and his feelings from Kacchan.
Then, Katsuki slowly leaned all the way forward and knocked their foreheads together.
Izuku’s breath hitched, and he tightened his hold on Katsuki’s waist.
“Tell me to stop,” Katsuki murmured.
Izuku’s stomach erupted with butterflies, and his knees were dangerously close to buckling.
With a single shake of his head in response, Katsuki leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him for the first time, slow and firm.
Izuku's arms trembled as they moved up Katsuki’s body from his waist to circle around his neck and pull him in close.
His body went lax out of sheer relief in Katsuki’s arms. Knowing that Kacchan felt the same way he did felt amazing like nothing else ever had before.
One of Katsuki’s hands carded softly through Izuku’s hair, and the other was clasped firmly behind his back to hold the boy close.
Izuku gave as good as he got, and he responded to the kisses with equal fervor and sensuality.
Their movements weren’t hurried. Izuku was melting into the slow, melodic movement of their mouths and hands exploring each other.
Katsuki smelled, tasted, and felt divine, and Izuku quickly decided that being this close to the boy was his favorite thing in the world. His head spun, and all of his senses were filled with Katsuki.
When they finally broke apart, Izuku looked up to find Katsuki smiling softly down at him.
He could feel that his cheeks were on fire, and he may even have unshed tears in his eyes, but Kacchan didn’t seem to mind.
Katsuki leaned in and kissed him one more time before letting go of him completely.
Izuku was too dazed to complain at the loss of touch, and simply stared at him dumbly. He let out a strange noise sounding almost like, “guh,”
Katsuki laughed and gently pushed Izuku back a little bit by the shoulders.
“Come to my room tonight at seven with your stupid All Might fanfiction. I’ll see what I can do.”
Before Izuku could respond, he shut the door.
Izuku stood there way too long waiting for his motor functions to return.
Once he could feel his legs again, he mechanically walked back to his own room.
As soon as the door shut, he walked over to his bed and fell down face-first.
He and Katsuki had been teasing each other since their relationship improved, and that teasing had grown closer and closer to flirting and Izuku previously had no idea what to do about it—it seemed like neither of them had any sort of idea how to address it before today.
Maybe it was the laughing together?
Laughing definitely releases endorphins and makes you feel closer to the person you're laughing with, but it couldn’t have been just that that caused the… the kiss.
Maybe it was the reminder of a fond childhood memory when they were both so used to looking back on those times with regret.
Maybe it was the way Izuku had thrown all of his inhibitions out the window and just stared at Katsuki the way he wanted to.
Izuku couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that made Katsuki kiss him, but he wasn’t going to question it.
In that moment on his bed, he thanked fanfiction, All Might, and even “y/n” just for the hell of it.
He never thought fanfiction would lead him to any sort of progress with his real love life, but he never thought All Might would give him his quirk either.
Izuku’s life was anything but predictable at this point.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.