Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bakugou Katsuki is not the touchiest person in the world. Lord knows he hesitates when people are just passing him shit. It’s a quirk of sorts that’s mostly gone unnoticed for the past 16 years of his life. 

Which is fine - for him, at least. But it’s become an issue in recent years. Especially with that pain-in-his-ass nerd who won’t leave him the fuck alone about anything that he does. Brushing against him, patting him on the back, yanking at his arms. It’s distracting at the least, and disturbingly…enjoyable.  

The worst part of it all is Katsuki’s vicious liking for the mere shape of Iida himself - regardless of whether he’s touching him or not. 

-

Katsuki’s not completely starved, he knows he’s into Iida. He’d just much rather ignore it, let it fester, and then eventually die when he becomes the number 1 hero and Iida’s just some other hero from another town he coincidentally went to the same school as. 

That’s the plan for Katsuki, yes sir.

And he scribbles this thought into the margin of his note book, as he bites down hard on a carrot. Why he decided to pack a single carrot for lunch is beyond him at this point, but it’s better than starving and having to clean a rotten carrot out of his bag. 

And yes, he knows he looks like a fucking rabbit munching on a carrot and bobbing his leg furiously while he works, but who gives a shit what these extras think of him? Doesn’t matter to Katsuki Bakugou, no sir.

Iida walks in not nearly soon enough, and waltzes right up to Katsuki’s desk. Katsuki looks up at him, chewing slightly slower on his carrot.

“Need something, Four-eyes?” He asks. Iida opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates for a moment. “I’m all ears.” He smirks, and Iida scowls at him in a way that he’s never looked at Katsuki before. Yeah, the motherfucker gets annoyed at him and rags on him about punctuality, or his uniform, or his language, but Iida’s never - never - looked at Katsuki like that. He’s scowled at him, but never in that shocked and awed way that Iida just had. 

“Ururaka and Midoriya have said they can’t join me for my usual study group tonight,” he swallows as he continues. Like he’s nervous. Like Katsuki’s a threat of some kind. “I was wondering if you’d like to study with me?”

Okay, well, he certainly wasn’t expecting that. 

“What.” Katsuki gulps back the half-chewed chunks of carrot in his mouth. He heard Iida. He knows he heard him, and he knows he heard him fucking clearly. Katsuki’s mostly wondering what the fuck he smoked this morning that made him want Katsuki, of all people, to join him in studying. 

He doesn’t mind, of course. Any closer to Iida he can get is a win in his book, even if he understands he has no chance. And it’s just for the english internal, presumably, so it’s not like he really needs to study. Katsuki’s always gotten good grades when it came to writing and reading. He’s always been good at it, for some fucking reason. “Why.”

“Midoriya mentioned that you’ve already finished the reading responses, despite them not being due for another 2 months.” Iida says, fiddling with his fingers. “I thought that maybe, with your efficiency, you could help me for the next internal.”

“You’re gonna take Deku’s word for everything about me?” Katsuki asks. He wants to be mad about the fact that Deku’s talking about him, but he said something good about him, and he said it to Iida. So maybe the twerp isn’t entirely useless.

“He’s yet to be wrong so far, so, yes.” Iida shrugged. Katsuki bit into his carrot again. 

“Fine.”

“Pardon?”

“I said ‘fine.’ I’ll help you with your internal.” Katsuki scribbled more on the margin, trying to make it look like he had something better to do so the nerd would fuck off. Iida shifted beyond his peripheral, before finally wandering back to his own seat.

“Thank you.” Is where the conversation ends before the rest of the class starts to file in.

-

Iida’s rich, and Katsuki knew that, but who in their right mind needs a house as big as this.

It’s massive, and it's almost fitting considering Iida comes from a family of pro-heroes and old money. The architecture of it is, in his own terms, fucking beautiful. He can’t deny it’s quite elegant in its own way, despite the touch of modernity to it. 

But again, it’s fucking huge, and nobody needs a house this big. There’s literally four people in his goddamn family. Katsuki’s house feels big for his family and his house could probably fit in Iida’s driveway. 

He ignores this thought, though, as he walks up to the front door, and knocks lightly. He’d pound on the door, but if Iida’s not home alone, he’d rather not leave that kind of impression on Iida’s parents. Not that he cares if they like him or not, no sir.

When the door opens, he assumes it’s Iida’s brother. Still barely recovering from what happened with that hero killer son of a fuck by the looks of it, but at least he’s standing. The guy stares at Katsuki for a minute, squinting as if he’s trying to remember how he knows his face, before it hits him.

“You’re the kid who got caught by the sludge villain, aren’t you?” He says. His voice is raspy, and almost as deep as Iida’s. He’s obviously less uptight than Iida, given he smiles at Katsuki despite how he knows him. “Brave of you to keep going to U.A after something like that. You could’ve died.”

Katsuki bites back the urge to tell him Kamino was worse. It would help no one.

“Iida kept going to school after what happened to you.” Katsuki tilts his head. It came out more snappy than he wanted, so making a good impression on Iida’s family is out the fucking window. But the guy just smiles. Fondly. 

“I guess you’re right.” He steps back from the door, gesturing for Katsuki to come inside. He does, and kicks off his shoes by the door. “Tenya’s upstairs. Have you ever been here before?” 

Katsuki snaps his head to look at him, and he puts his hands up defensively. “Clearly not. I’ll get him.” And then he’s gone.

Katsuki’s trying to remember what the fuck his name is, but all that comes to mind is his hero name. Iida’s hero name. Ingenium. It’s a cool fucking name, Katsuki will give him that. Nerdy, and unoriginal, ‘cause he stole it from his brother, but it’s cool.

Katsuki looks around the room he’s in, which he could only assume is the living room. It’s huge. The couch in the centre of the room probably cost more than his mothers car, so Katsuki doesn’t even want to consider how much the T.V in there might’ve cost them. They live pretty comfortably for a pompous little family with a son who constantly has a giant pole stuck up his ass.

It’s a nice house. Katsuki’s almost jealous. 

“I didn’t think you’d come.” Iida calls from behind him, and Katsuki nearly jumps out of his fucking skin. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,”

“Yeah, well, you fucking did,” Katsuki turns to face him, straightening himself out. He notices Iida properly, then. “You look cozy.”

And he does. He’s wearing grey sweatpants, for starters, and Katsuki’s not an idiot, he’s heard what Mina says about that shit. And a slim fitting navy blue shirt. He looks good. 

Katsuki struggles down the urge to laugh at himself. The man looks gorgeous.

“Thank you.” Iida says, quietly, and Katsuki doesn’t really like that. “My room is this way.”

Oh, shit. Okay, I guess they’re studying in Iida’s room, then.

The room is about as cozy as Iida is relaxed. Not at all. 

His closet is slightly ajar, which helps Katsuki to see that his closet is so compact and organised, it is no goddamn wonder Iida can’t handle it when Katsuki wears the same shirt twice in one week. He has a strong desk in the corner near the door, and next to it: An entire shelf dedicated to his fucking glasses. 

All complete and wrapped up with a king sized bed in the opposite corner, and a ginormous bookshelf stocked neatly and meticulously with novels towering next to it against the wall. 

And holy shit, is that Jane Eyre?

Katsuki darts for the shelf before Iida’s even properly in the room with him. He plucks the book (carefully, he’s not a fucking barbarian) from its place on the shelf. It’s very well taken care of, maybe only read once or twice, given that the spine is in perfect condition. There’s no sign of dog-earring, creasing, or other misuses on it. It’s beautifully mint. 

Katsuki traces his hand over the cover. Iida’s either bought this second-hand, or he’s lost the dust cover, because it’s left to its barest cover. Purple, with gold font “Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë."

“Interested in it?” Iida startles him again as he comes up beside Katsuki. Katsuki forces his shock down. That fucker’s not gonna get him twice. 

“I’ve read it.” Katsuki spits, but the heat of his words dissipates before the sentence starts. “About a thousand times. It’s one of my favourites.”

Iida laughs at his side, and suddenly the embarrassment of being a stellar reader comes creeping back up Katsuki’s spine. He whips his head around to glare at Iida - warn him that Katsuki doesn’t take kindly to teasing - but Iida’s smiling so softly that his anger seeps out of his soles.

“Sorry,” Iida corrects himself when he sees Katsuki staring, “didn’t mean to laugh. I just think it’s interesting that someone as harsh as you likes something as soft and romantic as Jane Eyre.”

Katsuki’s offended by that. Not because Iida called him harsh, but because he just called Jane Fucking Eyre soft. 

“Fuck you, Jane literally spends an entire book telling men to fuck it or suck it, and you have the audacity to say the woman is soft?” Katsuki shakes his head, opening the book and planting himself on the edge of Iida’s bed. “No, no. You’re gonna listen to me read this, and I’m gonna tell you why this book is hard as fuck. Not soft. Badass.”

He looks up at Iida for any kind of retaliation, but he finds none. Iida simply brings his desk chair in front of where Katsuki is sitting on his bed. He nods at the book in Katsuki’s hands, smiling that same stupidly gentle way.

“Enlighten me.” 

-

Katsuki does. Within the next hour or so, he and Iida are sat cross legged next to each other on the floor, papers, notes, and the book, sprawled all over Iida’s bedroom floor. Iida notices that it isn’t just him who gestures a lot when he talks.

“Alright, motherfucker, now you listen here-” Katsuki grabs the shoulder of Iida’s shirt, pulling him towards himself. He bites down on the lid of one of Iida’s highlighters, tearing it off and spitting it out. 

Iida would usually reprimand someone for ever doing that to his property. But he lets Katsuki do it. He’s not sure why. And he’s afraid of the possibilities. “Jane steals Edward from Blanche Bitchface, and Bertha Fatfuck Mason, right? As she fucking should, by the way. So, riddle me this, cunthole, why would she ever consider fucking St. John Rivers? In what world would that make sense? She spent this whole time fawning over Rochester, taking up so much effort to be with him, and you think she should’ve fucked St. John?”

Iida’s not at all fond of what Katsuki is calling him right now, but it’s not as if Iida can really protest them. He’s got a point to prove.

“I don’t think I ever stated anything about them having-”

“Don't pull that shit, you know what I mean when I say ‘fucking.’” Katsuki scowls at him, running the highlighter against the page of writing he’d scribbled out moments before.

“Yes, I do think they should’ve gotten together.” Iida shrugs Katsuki’s hand from his shirt. “I believe that St. John cared about her to a deeper degree. That he valued her presence more than Rochester had. As well as the fact that he provided her with work, and a home, and a family-”

“See! There! Family!” Katsuki’s hand is back on his shoulder, then. Palm flushed with his shoulder rather than grabbing at his shirt like he had before. His eyes were wide, like a dog hearing the word ‘treat’ after doing a trick. “She considers him family. Her brother! God, I don’t get how you think St. John was ever worth her time. You know who really was?”

Iida smiles, deciding to indulge him. “Go on, then.”

“Helen Burns.” Katsuki smirks, like he’s the smartest person in the room. For a moment, Iida believes that. He hadn’t thought of Helen. Though, she makes much more sense than anyone else. Much less St John.

Katsuki’s about to continue, when there’s a knock at Iida’s door, and what Katsuki can only assume to be Iida’s mother sticks her head in. 

“Hi, boys. Working hard?” She asks. Her voice is smooth, calm, and quite deep. She looks so much like Iida that Katsuki nearly has to look beside him to make sure Iida wasn’t fucking with him and there were actually two different people in here right now.

She wears the same type of glasses as Iida, and her hair is the same colour, too. It frames her face, almost perfectly, and when she opens the door wider, Katsuki can see she’s about as tall as Iida.

“Yes! We’ve been very productive.” Iida grins at her. 

“Well, dinner should be ready soon. If you’d like to stay, we can set you up a plate, Bakugou?” She asks, shrugging off her jacket and hanging it over her arm.

“I think Bakugou and I have too much work to do.” Iida says, matter of factly. “I hardly think that Bakugou would want to join us for-”

“What’re you having?” Katsuki cuts him off, because fuck him if he thinks he’s gonna just decide what Katsuki will and will not do. 

“Pasta. Nothing special.” She shrugs. “Would you like us to save you a place at the table?”

Iida tries to interject again, and Katsuki shoves him over. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.” He grins, smug as he is.

-

For rich people that can afford their own chef if they wanted, they make damn good pasta.

Katsuki managed to chuck back two helpings before Iida urged him to come back upstairs so they could actually work on the english internal that Katsuki came there for. 

Katsuki groaned, because what else is he going to do, before waving Iida off and telling him he’ll meet him upstairs. Iida nods at him - his telltale sign that he trusts Katsuki - before Katsuki wanders to the kitchen to put his plate in the sink.

“Hey stranger.” Iida’s brother appears beside him, and it takes all of Katsuki’s strength not to let two of the fucking dicks in this family get the best of him. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Katsuki huffs, “you didn’t.” Because he’s stubborn like that.

“Sure.” The fucker offers his hand, as if Katsuki’s really going to take it. “Iida Tensei. Clearly we haven’t met.”

“Clearly.” Katsuki grits, but he’s not exactly sure why he’s angry about this situation. He takes his hand, though, and shakes it firmly. “Bakugou Katsuki.”

“Oh.” Iida’s brother tenses and Katsuki freaks out for a minute at the sudden recognition of his name. “Tenya talks about you.”

“What.”

“He talks about you. I expected you to be slightly taller, maybe a little less angry looking, but you’re just about what I expected in terms of personality.” He says, and Katsuki’s only really half listening. He wants to be somewhat offended that he’s not tall enough for Iida Tensei’s stupid fucking liking, but he can’t find it in himself to distract from the fact that Iida talks about him. Talks about him to his family. “But it’s odd that you’re here. Tenya said the two of you weren’t exactly friends. That you were more admired from afar.”

Admired. Katsuki shivered. 

“Iida talks about me?” Katsuki asks. He’s not really interested in that. He's beyond it at this point. But he wants to know what Iida says about him. What the fuck does admired mean?

“Yeah, almost all the time. If he’s not talking about that Midoriya kid, or the gravity girl, he’s rambling on about you.” Tensei waved his hand, as if he was talking about the weather. “You’re pretty strong, from what I’ve heard. Obviously, your quirk is powerful. You’re a bit self-centred, not that Tenya pays much attention to that, but I think it’s warranted with how extraordinary you are.” 

Katsuki wishes he couldn’t feel the blood rushing in his cheeks right now. He has to be blushing, Jesus Christ. 

“Anyway, you better head upstairs. Tenya’s impatient. He gets it from our father.” With that last sentiment, Tensei sticks his own plate in the sink and leaves without a word.

-

“What are you doing your internal on? What book?” Katsuki asks the minute he’s in Iida’s room again.

“Sorry? Oh!” Iida stands from where he was on his bed, looking around his bookcase for a second before carefully pulling a book from its slot. He hands it to Katsuki. 

Katsuki doesn’t know what he expected Iida to drop into his hands, but it wasn’t Stephen King’s Carrie. 

Katsuki reads the cover over carefully, hoping he misunderstood something, and Iida is not handing him one of the greatest horrors of all time. Hoping Iida even knows that he’s reading a horror novel. 

“Carrie?” Katsuki asks, looking up at Iida. “As in…the Carrie?”

“Yes!” Iida chirps, and Katsuki feels the heat return to his face. “I haven’t gotten too far into the book, but so far I’m quite enjoying it!”

“You know it’s a horror, right?” Katsuki smiles, still hoping he’s missed something. Iida nods, taking the book from his hands. 

“To my brief knowledge, yes, I am aware. Why do you ask?” Iida places the book back in its exact place on the shelf. 

Katsuki sits himself on the edge of Iida’s bed, dropping backward to flop against his mattress. “I’ve read it. Movie was better.” He grumbles, letting himself soak in the smell of Iida’s bedsheets. Eucalyptus. It’s fitting.

“Movie?” Iida says, beyond Katsuki’s vision, but he feels the bed dip dramatically beside him. “I wasn’t aware there was a film - perhaps I could do my report on that, then. It would certainly take less time.” 

Katsuki shifts slightly, turning his head to look at Iida. He stares for a moment, taking in the lines of concentration over his face as he weighs up his options. The setting sun outside glows against Iida’s face through his window. Deepening his features. Defining.

He looks…

Ah, fuck it, he looks so fucking pretty. 

“You stare.” Iida says, drawing Katsuki back out of his head. “Do you know that?”

Katsuki laughs, “You say that like I’ve done it before.”

“You have.” Iida reaches over, closing the curtains. The glow is gone, but Katsuki can still make out the details of his face in the dim of the room. “I don’t think you realise, but you stare often. Namely at Kirishima and Ururaka.”

As much as he wanted to blast Iida’s stupidly pretty face off for pointing out something Katsuki didn’t even know he did, he stayed put. 

“Didn’t even know that I did that.” He said, turning the stare up at the ceiling. 

“I assumed as much.” Iida said, and shifted again. “Do you admire Ururaka?”

“Admire? That’s a strong word.” Katsuki huffs. 

“You know what I mean.”

Katsuki did know what he meant. But if Iida thinks 'admired' means 'has a crush on,' Then Tensei...

“No.” Katsuki signs, and tucks his hands behind his head. “No, I don’t have a crush on Round-face.”

“Oh. Perhaps Kirishima then?” Katsuki tenses. “Not that there would be any true issue surrounding that. I’m very familiar with many men who enjoy the company of other men.”

“God,” Katsuki laughs this time, and it feels genuine in his chest. “You talk like Jigsaw. Did you know that?” He huffs out a hearty chuckle, and Iida shifts beyond where Katsuki can see him. “I don’t like Shitty-hair, either. I do enjoy the company of other men.” 

He mumbled the last part, hoping that maybe Iida would miss it. He didn’t.

“Interesting. I thought as much.” He said, and shifted again. This time, Katsuki could see it. Iida leaned over him, watching him. Looking. For what, Katsuki didn’t know, and he was certainly too afraid to ask. 

“Fuck's that supposed to mean?” He says, and he hopes that his voice came out more confident than he feels. Iida smiles over him, in some kind of way Katsuki’s too scared to read properly. 

“It means,” Iida leans further down. His face is almost flush with Katsuki’s. “That I always had a hunch. And I’m usually never wrong.” 

“Usually.” Katsuki finds the confidence to smirk at him, and Iida hums, before sitting back where he was. Katsuki forces down the sigh of disappointment rattling in his chest. “So, Carrie?”

“Yes, what you came here for.” Iida stood from his bed, and Katsuki stayed where he was until the light of Iida’s bedroom flickered on and Katsuki went temporarily blind. 

Katsuki sat up, rubbing his eyes. The bed dipped beside him again and he opened his eyes to see Iida tapping away at a laptop. ”Is the film on Netflix?”

-

About halfway into the movie, Katsuki gets the idea that Iida’s not an avid horror fan. Seemingly, that doesn’t surprise him at all. 

Katsuki loves horror, on the other hand, which deeply contrasts his love for the 1800’s romance he proclaims as his favourite piece of literature, and winds up being the one laughing at Iida when he jumps at the iconic scene that made Sissy Spacek’s career.

“Jesus, you’re a baby!” Katsuki almost giggles. He won’t give Iida that satisfaction. “It was just pig's blood. Not even real blood, they used corn syrup!”

Iida snaps his head to glare at him, “that doesn’t make it any less disgusting or frightening!”

“Oh, come on! Ignore the blood, then, focus on Spacek’s fucking performance!” Katsuki gestures dramatically at the screen. “God, she’s gorgeous. This movie is good shit.”

“Good shit.” Iida repeats, nodding. Katsuki pauses the movie right as Ms. Desjarden gets her abdomen pummelled. “What? Did I miss something?”

“Fucker, you swore!” Katsuki stared at him, incredulous. “You don’t swear - you never swear!” 

“As if you can talk. You swear like a sailor.”

“Oh, ha-ha, asshole, swearing’s my brand. Your brand is not swearing, and having a massive stick up your ass at all times.” Katsuki’s mouth spreads into a smug smile over his teeth, and Iida’s posture visibly stiffens. 

“It’s of no concern. It was only once, and I’ll make sure not to rectify the mistake if you’re going to make a big deal out of it.” Iida turned his face away, but Katsuki could see the way the tips of his ears blossomed pink. He hoped that meant something good. 

“No fucking way, I’ll spend all night here if it means I get to hear you say ‘fuck.’” Katsuki grins at him, and he knows he looks mad, but Iida’s face is so smoothed over in content surprise that he doesn’t find the will to care. 

“Would you like to spend the night? For work, of course.” Iida offers quickly, and he seems to cringe at his own desperation. Katsuki nods furiously. 

“Fuck yeah.” He says, sure.

“Fuck yes.” Iida repeats, very sure.

Chapter Text

Iida tried to make a firm point of going to bed early and having a full night’s rest, but that was clearly forgotten. Katsuki knew that it was late, but he’d rather lick the bottom of his own shoe than tell Iida that he wants to enforce some stupid rule he didn’t even agree on.

They’d made it as far as to build what Katsuki could only assume to be a nest of blankets and pillows, and essentially squeeze the two of them into it together. Katsuki had changed (not on his own accord, of course, it was Iida who offered) into one of Iida’s massive fucking sweaters, cuffed so Katsuki could at least see his hands, and a pair of lounge shorts that Katsuki is pretty sure belong to a woman. He’s sat flush up against Iida, the two of them resting Iida’s laptop on their touching legs, playing something Katsuki’s not quite paying attention to. 

Iida’s rambling on and on about something beyond what Katsuki’s willing to listen to, his words not quite reaching Katsuki’s ears, but the rumble in his voice certainly reverberating inside his skull. It makes him shiver, almost, how close they are right then. How passionately Iida’s talking beside him.

It’s funky. It’s a funky feeling. A feeling Katsuki’s never gotten with a crush before.

Maybe he’s sick.

But, oh, Iida sounded nice in his head. Echoing around his empty little skull like he was the closest thing to a brain Katsuki would ever get up there. It’s horrifically calming.

Katsuki’s still not listening to whatever it is Iida’s saying, he gave up on that the minute that Iida ditched the sweatpants in exchange for some bike shorts. Also, who sleeps in bike shorts? What kind of athlete sociopath do you have to be to torture yourself like that? 

Whatever insanity was in Iida’s head, it didn’t matter, because Katsuki had seen those thighs and he was pretty sure he was willing to die on those thighs.

“Bakugou?” Iida’s mention of his name finally gets him to listen properly. By the tone, he doesn’t think it’s the first time Iida’s called for him. “Distracted?”

Katsuki swallows. “What’s it to you?” 

Of course, take the high road of assholery, because that’s definitely the hill that Katsuki wants to die on. 

Iida doesn’t reprimand him, though, just smiles again. “You’re tired.” He says, and yes, Katsuki might be.

“Am not.” But he’s stubborn, you see.

“You are.” Iida closes the laptop, putting it aside and moving around Katsuki to set up their little nest to be comfortable to sleep in. “Lie down.”

Katsuki argues, but lays back anyway, grumbling as he does. He hears Iida chuckle, low and golden, but he can’t see him. His eyes are falling shut, and as much as he wills them to stay open, to let him see Iida, they shut. Heavy, and slightly overwhelmed, Katsuki drifts. 

-

When Katsuki wakes up, the nest is still surrounding him, and he’s almost glad to see he wasn’t dreaming about the night before.

Iida’s not in the room, but by the looks of the Iida-sized dip in the bed next to him, he supposes he at least was. The spot is warm, as if Iida had only just gotten up. Katsuki rolls over into it. It’s nice. Like a crevice just for him. 

There’s a knock at the door, however, and Katsuki remembers that Iida lives here and will very much find what Katsuki is doing weird and embarrassing. He springs up, scooting out of the cozy crevice just as the door opens. Tensei’s head pops in, covering his eyes with his hand.

“Are you decent? Our mom’s making breakfast and she wants to know if you want any.” He says, calling into the room as if he doesn’t know where Katsuki is. Katsuki huffs. An almost laugh. 

“I’ll have some.” Katsuki properly pushes the covers from around him, glad for Tensei’s care when he realises the lounge shorts he’s wearing have bunched up around his thighs to the point where you could see his boxers. “Where’s Iida?”

Tensei keeps his hand over his eyes, but leans further into the room. 

“Downstairs! He’s helping cook eggs.” Tensei has a similar smile to Iida. They really are related. “Scrambled or fried?”

Katsuki pulls at the shorts until they flatten out normally over his thighs again, before standing up and walking over to Tensei.

“I’ll tell ‘em myself.” He grumbles, pushing past. He half expects Tensei to get offended. He doesn’t, and instead follows slowly behind Katsuki as he walks through Iida’s house like he lives there. 

-

Katsuki hates that this family knows how to cook so well, he kind of wanted an excuse to never come here again. Now he’s got none.

Like last night, he scarfs down too much food for his own good, and Iida has to fully take away his plate before he can get his hands on more. He complains, but knows that it’s probably for the best.

Iida’s mother eats with them, which is nice. Katsuki hardly ever eats with his parents. Too much to argue about for a meal to taste good for very long. Iida’s mother is quiet, though - watching Katsuki out of the corner of his eye like she’s looking for something. It scares him, just a bit. He hopes she’s not assessing him or anything. 

Not that it matters. Nope. Katsuki doesn’t care.

She hugs him goodbye when Iida takes him home, which surprised him. He barely tunes in when she tells him to be safe, and to tell his parents that she says hi. 

She's nice. Katsuki thinks about her the whole walk home.

-

“Where were you? You’re late!” Kaminari rushes up behind him when he finally arrives at school on Monday. Katsuki didn’t mean to be late, but after staying up late at Iida’s and not being able to get a proper night’s sleep when he got home because he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Iida’s family fed, bathed, clothed, and essentially treated him like an obscure cousin while he was there, he found it kinda hard to knock himself out for long enough. So, he slept in, by about 3 hours, and his parents were long gone and off at work by the time he woke up, so he had to change in less than 5 minutes and then run to school while still buttoning up his shirt. Pardon him if he’s a little shabby, but Iida’s the one who’s really to blame here.

“Slept in.” He grunts.

“Nightmares again?” Kaminari asks. Quieter. As much as Katsuki wants to appreciate the care, he’s sleep deprived, angry and feels like the layers of thick skin he’s worn for the past 6 years have suddenly been stripped off his back. 

“Doesn’t matter,” He shoves past him, stomping off the way he always does. He obviously misses the door to his classroom, but it doesn’t matter. He’s put off.

-

Hiding himself in the bathroom and just waiting on lunch to roll around so he can go and actually eat something is probably not the greatest use of time, but it’s all Katsuki’s capable of doing. He’s not sure why. 

He was hunky-fucking-dory when he was at Iida’s. He was pleased as fucking punch when he was going home. The fuck’s wrong with him now? 

He leaned back against the stall door. The bathroom floor was fucking disgusting, but given that’s skipping class to feel sorry for himself, Katsuki supposes it’s what he deserves.

The door to the bathroom opens, and Katsuki stays quiet. No one needs to know he’s there. Whoever’s in there can piss and then piss off. He’ll be fine.

“Bakugou?” It’s Iida. Katsuki’s lungs deflate inside him. “Kaminari said you were upset? Did something happen?” 

Typical. Of course Kaminari would mouth off about Katsuki’s bad mood.

“I’m fine. Fuck off back to class, Glasses.” He groans, and he hopes that’ll work. But something slides under the door, and Katsuki feels inclined to look.

“I finished it last night - from where we left off. I figured you’d want it more than me.” It's Jane Eyre. Iida's copy. The purple-gold, well taken care of copy that he had stayed at Iida's side to scrutinise. 

Without thinking, he picks up the book, and opens the stall door. Iida's stood leaning against the sinks. Uniform shirt tucked in and proper, the way he keeps telling Katsuki to wear his.

"Kaminari asked if I slept in because of nightmares." He lowered his eyes, as far away from Iida as he could manage. It wasn't far. "I didn't have them all weekend. I forgot that I even got them."

"And the reminder made you anxious for them to come back?" Iida stepped closer. Fuck him for being so fucking smart. 

Katsuki nodded, and held the book so he could properly look at it. 

"Do you want me to walk you to the office? I'm sure they could contact your parents and you could go home, or at least back to the dorms?" Iida offered. Katsuki shook his head.

"I don't want to go back to the dorms. Or home." He held the book tighter, but loosened when Iida rested both his (larger) hands over Katsuki's. 

"I can come with you, if that helps." 

-

They didn't go to the office, and Katsuki was surprised to hear zero complaints from Iida when he waltzed out the front gates with no intention of warning anyone else where they were headed. 

Katsuki didn't live far from U.A, which was a curse at the worst of times, but he considered it a blessing for now.

-

Katsuki's house was smaller than Iida's, for obvious reasons. Iida noticed, though, it looked more well loved. More lived in. A true family home.

Katsuki didn't use the front door, but instead led Iida around the side of his house and began climbing a large tree up the side of his house.

"We're breaking into your own house?" Iida called out to him, still standing at the base of the tree. He watched every move that Katsuki made carefully. "Your parents aren't home, why not use the front door?"

Katsuki huffed, loud enough that Iida could hear it from below him. 

"I don't have my key, dumbass. But my window's open." He says, straddling a branch level with a window. 

Iida watches with a certain...awe, he supposes, as Katsuki hangs onto the branch with his legs and lifts opens his window the rest of the way. 

"You comin'? Or are you just gonna stand there like a dick all day?" Katsuki yells down to him before throwing himself inside. He doesn't look back out to check if Iida is following him - he knows he is. 

Katsuki takes the opportunity to realise that his room is in a fucking state and throws around dirty clothes from off his floor before Iida can come inside and see the pig sty that he lives in.

Iida climbs in the window with subtle difficulty, and Katsuki takes a small moment to feel victorious in his much smaller body. 

"Need some help there, Big guy?" He smirks after a beat of Iida's struggle. 

Iida's eyes blow wide at the remark, but he nods anyway. "That'd be nice, yes."

"Whatever." Katsuki rolls his eyes, but the smile stays. He reaches for Iida’s arms, helping him to clamber his way inside. He tries to ignore the way Iida’s hands are warm and gentle as they grapple onto his upper arms. He fails, however.

-

Settling into Katsuki house is easy. Surprisingly easy. 

Katsuki yanks at the bottom of his shirt, ignoring Iida’s sudden squawk from behind him when he starts to shed his clothing. He turns back to find Iida flushed, eyes covered as he waves a free hand around, mouthing off about ‘you should warn someone when you’re going to do something like that’ and ‘you changed in the bathroom when you stayed at mine, why can’t you kick me out when you’re going to do that!’

He something thankful of Iida’s brash awkwardness. He’d gotten so used to changing freely in his house, he hadn’t accounted for…himself. His guest. 

He bites his tongue before he thinks anything further. Iida lets himself out of the room promptly, still going on and fucking on about Katsuki being so forgetful. When the door closes, Katsuki finally sheds his layers. 

He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Would Iida even mind? Would he care? Would it matter to him? 

What if he cared? What if his parents cared? His mother? Tensei? 

Or his friends. Would he be embarrassed? He’d be embarrassed. His family is in the public eye - every head turned in his direction. Katsuki would be a sad mistake for their PR team to sweep under a rug. 

He threw his jacket over his mirror. He didn’t need to think about that now. He could wallow when Iida was gone.

He changed, removed the jacket for only a second to make sure nothing could be seen. Satisfied, he put the jacket back, and went to find where Iida had wandered off to.

“Oi, thief.” Katsuki sneers, and Iida stops his hand just before it grasps whatever it is he’s looking for in the kitchen pantry. Caught red-fucking-handed. “Stealing food from the poor? How savage, Iida.”

Iida turns to him suddenly - his spine is ramrod straight, face contorted in what Katsuki could only describe as offence. 

“I am not stealing anything! That’s absurd.” He crosses his arms over his chest. Katsuki swallows. 

“My food not good enough for you, pompous bastard?” Katsuki spits, but like every conversation with Iida in the past few days, the usual heat of his words is gone. Replaced with something kinder. Something Katsuki wants to punch out of himself.

“I didn’t say that!” Iida’s arms drop stiff at his sides. Good, he’s riled up. “I was just grabbing this—“ He plucked the boxed macaroni from the top shelf. The shelf Katsuki couldn’t reach. Damn nerd. “It’s a cheap brand, but my grandmother always bought this when I was a kid. It was the only food I would eat for a long time.”

Oh. It’s sweet. 

No, wait, no. Stop it. Punch yourself. 

“You want some?” Katsuki offers, surprising even himself. He’s opening the cupboards and pulling out the necessary utensils before Iida can even give an answer. 

“I’m—“ Iida sputters for a second, before letting out a frustrated, and somewhat pathetic, sigh. “I don’t know how to cook.”

He swears on his life he treats this normally. Katsuki does not gawk at Iida.

Except that yes, he does. Iida cannot cook. It is literally boxed macaroni, and he cannot cook it. Katsuki is going to lose his mind. 

“You can’t cook…boxed macaroni?” Katsuki can’t help the smile spreading over his teeth. He knows he looks like a dork - smiling like a freak at the knowledge that Iida fucking Tenya cannot cook simple macaroni that comes with instructions on the packet. 

“My parents cook everything!” Iida exclaims, chopping his hand. “I just…never learnt. I suppose that’s partly my own fault for not taking the initiative to ask, but—“ 

Katsuki dismisses him with a wave of his hand, moving past him to take a measuring cup from the drawer beside him and push it into Iida’s hands. He snatches the box away, looking up at Iida with a smile that Katsuki is begging for Iida to ignore. 

“Fill it to 100ml. Cold water. Grab the milk.” He points around the kitchen, not really caring whether Iida’s following or not, before turning back to the stove and tearing open the box. “Got that, Glasses?”

Iida stares - Katsuki doesn’t have to turn around to know that. But by the sounds of Iida’s rushed, stiff movements, shuffling around in his drawers and fridge behind him, he’s sure that Iida knows what he’s doing. 

If not, Katsuki’s a good teacher. 

-

It came out kind of shit, which was half expected considering Katsuki let Iida take over. The pasta wasn’t cooked properly, the cheese tasted fucking weird, and Iida had panicked slightly when Katsuki went to the bathroom for a brief minute. 

It tasted bad. They could both admit that. But that didn’t stop Katsuki from eating literally the whole pot - despite Iida telling him that if he wanted to just throw it away, he wouldn’t be offended. Katsuki would, though. 

Not because of Iida, no. Kids are starving in Africa. It’d be a waste. That’s why. 

Iida was determined to make it up to him - to try and make a better impression on Katsuki. Katsuki himself isn’t sure why it matters, he doesn’t have an issue with people not being able to cook. That just makes one more thing Katsuki’s just better at. Huge ego boost — not like he needs it, but still.

“Do you wanna change?” Katsuki offers once they’re settled in his room, because he realises Iida hasn’t abandoned his school uniform yet. “Not sure any of my shit will fit you, but I’ve got old varsity jackets or track hoodies you could try. They’re pretty big.”

Iida’s head perks up at that. He shifts slightly where he’s sitting at Katsuki’s desk. 

“Varsity jackets? Like those custom jerseys made for high school athletes?” He asks, tilting his head to the side. Katsuki shoves down the urge to pet him like a puppy. 

“Yeah. They’re my old hag’s, mostly — but some belong to old douchebag boyfriends that never stuck around, so.” Katsuki shrugs, settling back against his pillows. 

“Boyfriends of yours?” Iida asks, and he knows there’s something more to it that Iida can’t phrase. 

“Yeah.” Katsuki closes his eyes. “Like I said, never stuck around. And douchebags. It’s whatever.”

“You never mentioned—“ Iida stops himself. “Pardon me. I shouldn’t assume so much of our friendship that you’d tell me about your previous relationship experiences.” 

Friendship. That’s nice. For now.

“So, you want ‘em or not? You can’t hang around in your uniform all night.” Katsuki finally opens his eyes, looking over to Iida. Iida fiddles with a pen lying stray on his desk. 

Katsuki’s mind wanders with Iida, as he’s noticed. He looks him over, carefully. His brain considering every curve of his muscles under his uniform shirt. Perfectly tucked into his pants. God, Iida’s huge. Tensei is, too, and obviously his dad would be as well. 

Iida looks a lot like his mom. Katsuki wonders if his dad looks more like Tensei. Does he have those same freaky eyebrows as Iida? He’s probably just as broad. He has Iida’s quirk after all. His mother has a different one — ‘swift’ he thinks it’s called. She’s fast, but not by engine power. She can’t increase her stamina of her quirk, so she’s less powerful than Iida, or Tensei, or her husband. 

She’s a lot more lean than Iida. Katsuki remembers that. She was muscular, but not so wide. She had a swimmers body. Aerodynamic, but still strong. 

Katsuki shakes his head. He feels like fucking Deku. He’s never cared about the extent of a hero’s quirk like this. Never categorised it in his head before. Not really, not like this.

What makes Iida’s family so different? What makes Iida so different?

“—but I think there’s an issue regarding bottoms…” Iida’s voice drifts to Katsuki’s head, and Katsuki has to think over the sentence in his head a couple times. He wasn’t listening to anything Iida had just said. 

“What.” Katuski blinked. Iida tilted his head again, face puzzled, before bursting in offence.

“Were you not listening to anything I just said?” He exclaims, chopping both his hands wildly, the way he does when he acts up in class. 

“Sorry. Distracted.” Katsuki mutters. “What were you saying?”

Iida makes a face, something like concern, but Katsuki can’t be sure. 

“I was saying,” he continues anyway, “that depending on their size, I think I could be okay with the hoodies, but I hardly think you have any pants that would fit me, especially considering my engines.”

Ah, okay. “Bottoms.” That makes sense.

God, Katsuki’s stupid.

“Uh,” he pushed himself from his bed, moving swiftly to yank open his closet. He rifled through the copious articles of clothing, throwing anything inconvenient over his shoulder, much to Iida’s dismay. 

Katsuki ignored the yelp Iida gave out every time a stray pair of jeans or jacket nearly clocked him in the face. 

Then, he finds what he’s looking for, and turns back to face Iida the minute they’re in his hands. Iida sits with all of Katsuki’s neglected clothing hauled up in his arms. 

Ever the gentleman. 

“Drop those on the floor, I’ll clear ‘em later. Try these.” Katsuki throws the old sweatpants at Iida, trying desperately to ignore how easily he complied with what Katsuki had asked of him. “They’re fucking huge, so if they don’t fit, I’m just gonna kick you out.” 

He’s joking, of course. Surprisingly, Iida gets it, and he laughs. 

“They are huge.” Iida agrees, rolling the material of the pants in his fingers. “Where did they even come from?”

“Old friend. They wouldn’t mind.” He responds.

He neglects to mention that the “Old Friend” is actually a massive dickhead Katsuki used to date before U.A who would 100% be shitting-himself angry at the knowledge of Katsuki’s new crush wearing his clothes. 

But that is neither here nor there, so Katsuki doesn’t mention it. 

He leaves Iida to change in peace, telling him he’ll clear the dishes from earlier while he does. 

He rinses the pot out, debates for a small second whether to give in and bang it all in the dishwasher or hand wash it. He opts for hand washing, because he doesn’t trust the dishwasher as far as he can blast it out of his fucking house. And he’s damn well right to not trust it, given that every single time (without fucking fail) Katsuki goes to grab a “clean” knife from the dishwasher, it is never fucking clean. 

But this is called a digression - which is a distraction - and Katsuki does not get distracted.  

 He (accidentally, he swears) slams the drawers closed as he puts away the last of the cutlery they used, and the weight of the day finally seems to settle in his skull, making it heavy. And then that immeasurable exhaustion follows quickly.

Chapter Text

Katsuki’s made the unfortunate and embarrassing habit of taking naps after school. It’s been a fucking godsend because it’s literally the most relieving part of his day (apart from seeing Iida, but he won’t admit that). But on the other hand, he feels like a toddler needing to have a lie down when things don’t go his way. Which is disturbingly pathetic. 

He needs that nap, though. Especially today. After everything that’s happened? And all before 10am? Katsuki needs to hibernate. 

But, Iida’s here. He doesn’t want to have dragged him out of school, and all the way out to his house just for him to play babysitter while wearing his ex-boyfriend’s clothes. That’s sad. And weird. 

He’s so tired.

“Bakugou?” Iida calls from behind him, and Katsuki realises too late that he jumped at the suddenness of his entry. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you alright? You look so tired all of a sudden.”

God, was he that easy to read? 

No, he wasn’t. If he was, Iida would’ve known long ago.

“I, uh—“ He can trust Iida, can’t he? 

His half-delirious brain says yes, and so his mouth follows suit. “I usually take a nap. Not about this time, but I just— I’m tired, so.”

Iida perks up suddenly, as if relieved that had been all that was the matter.

“Ah, I see! Well, don’t let me keep you. I could use one myself, I don’t blame you at all.” Holy shit, that went better than Katsuki had ever expected.

He let himself be led back up to his own room, tucking himself into his covers and hearing  his door thunk closed. 

He closed his eyes, but opened them again and sighed angrily when he realised Iida hadn’t done what Katsuki had expected of him. He held the covers open, and Iida stood still for a moment in the centre of the room. Was he expecting to stand there the whole time Katsuki slept? That was bullshit.

“Get in.” Katsuki grunted. He couldn’t help being a tad harsh.

“Bakugou? But—“

“Get in the bed, Four Eyes. If I’m sleeping in my house, you’re sleeping in my house.” Katsuki pulled the covers back farther, letting his eyes fall shut under their own tired weight. 

Even in the dark of his own eyelids, Katsuki could feel Iida slide into the spot Katsuki had left for him in his bed, and Katsuki wrapped the blanket as far around him as he could manage with his eyes closed, limbs getting heavier as he started to drift. Iida’s hand touched his shoulder, hesitated, then pulled away.

“If you wanna spoon me, all you gotta do is ask.” Katsuki smirks, eyes still shut. He’s not sure how much of that was the half-asleep deliriousness, and how much was actually him, so he calls it about 50-50 and Iida makes a small noise before wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s shoulders. 

He lets his face be essentially smushed in between Iida’s pecs. (Tits, he doesn’t say. Not even quietly.) It’s cozy.

A little crevice just for him. Buried right where Iida’s heart thumps inside his ribcage. He holes himself there, aside Iida’s lungs, breathing him in. Whole, warm, and smelling more like Katsuki’s washing powder than the Eucalyptus he had smelled like nights before. 

Katsuki completely forgot whose hoodie Iida was wearing as he finally drifted to sleep. As far as Katuski was concerned, it was his smell that Iida was wearing, and that was enough. It would always be enough.

-

Katsuki never meant to make a silly little habit out of this. Trust him when he says this was never planned. But Katsuki wakes up a few hours after Iida puts his arms around his shoulders and Iida’s still there. Asleep next to him.

The next day, Katsuki spends the whole day at school, promptly ignoring anyone who asks where he went, and why Iida had disappeared, too. After school, Iida walks him home, and settles back into his own spot in Katsuki’s bed. This time, in his own clothes. 

The day after that, it happens again. And again. And again. 

It becomes routine. Unspoken, but sure. 

Iida walks Katsuki home, spends his designated “nap time” with him, and somehow manages to escape out of his window before his old hag gets home. 

About a week of this goes on, and then Iida invites Katsuki back to his house to continue working on the next few internals. Like before, they do not work on it at all, opting to watch stupid movies and let Katsuki lead them both further off track. 

Katsuki has dinner at Iida’s house again, though. They have roast, and it’s some of the best damn shit Katsuki’s ever eaten. Iida’s mother writes out the recipe for him to take home, tucking it in his shirt pocket for him, before sending him back up to Iida’s room like this is a normal occurrence.

The Sunday Katsuki’s meant to go home, he finally meets Iida’s dad.

And wow. 

He’s fucking huge. Bigger than Iida — which Katsuki expected, but still didn’t think was possible. Broad, and just— God, the ARMS. 

He looks near identical to Tensei, just bigger. Now, is Bakugou Katsuki slightly attracted to his crush’s dad? Maybe. But can you fucking blame him?

He was nice enough. Quiet - dangerously quiet - but kind. He comes into Iida’s room while they’re arguing about different film adaptations of Jane Eyre (the best one is the 1934, go fuck yourself), only saying hello to Katsuki and telling him to say hello to his parents for him. Despite having never met them. 

His voice is monotone, and never wavers or changes, but Katsuki can see that familiar sense of adoration in his eyes when he speaks to Iida’s mother on his way out. 

And so, it becomes their way of life. The next two months are Iida spending after school with Katsuki, napping, and Katsuki spending his weekends with Iida, “studying.” 

Then it starts to seep into school routine. 

Deku’s little gang of nerds doesn’t mingle with Bakusquad (as Kaminari had so lovingly put it) — that’s a fact. However, that unspoken rule starts to fall off the wall when Iida starts checking up on him during lunchtimes. 

It starts off small - purposely walking past his table to smile at him, or wave. Like the cutest fucking dork in the world. Katsuki doesn’t protest it. 

It progresses to him actually stopping to say hi, or to ask about something they had discussed the day before or during the weekend. 

Before long, Iida’s spending some lunch times with Katsuki and the group. And then Ururaka started joining him. And then Deku, and of course, Todoroki. Because where would Deku be without his little fiery purse poodle?

If any of the Dekusquad (he needed to stop listening to Kaminari) had an issue with the whole integration, they didn’t voice to Katsuki, or Iida wasn’t listening to them. Bakusquad, on the other hand, had many things to say.

“This is so unlike you!” Kaminari shouted, mouth still full of food. “I mean,” he swallows, thank god, “hanging out with Midoriya’s friends? With class prez? Is that where you’re going every weekend instead of hanging with us?”

It was one of those lunchtimes that Iida’s group hadn’t sat with them. Rare, but wholly possible.

“Hate to say it, but I agree with him.” Eijirou nudges Katsuki. “Iida’s stealing you from us! Not complaining, it’s cool that we hang with the Dekusquad now, but we miss party weekends!”

Katsuki shrugs, but doesn’t say anything. They’re not wrong, he has been spending all of his time with Iida. He’s not that fussed about it - Iida’s… Iida’s hot, and Katsuki’s hopeless. But he gets it. His friends miss him - however unbelievable that may be in Katsuki’s head.

“We can hang out this weekend, or something.” He offers, because he owes it to them. “Movie marathon or whatever.”

“OH FUCK YEAH!” Mina slams her hands on the table, startling both Katsuki and Kaminari. Sero and Ei are unfazed, which is not that surprising. “We have to watch the Harry Potter movies since both you and Sero haven’t!” 

The group collect the plans together, Mina pulling out an unused notebook to take down all the ideas. She compiles a list for snacks, drinks, games, and different gear to bring for the night-stay. Katsuki supposes he has no say in whether they stay or not - it’s already decided.

He’d have to tell Iida he can’t come over this weekend. He’ll wrangle his number out of Round-Face. That way, he’ll score even if he can’t see Iida.

Chapter Text

Iida:

Hello, I was informed you wanted my number, so I figured I could give it to you myself!

Is there a particular reason you wished to contact me?

You:

hey 

i can’t hang out today

plans with my dumb dumbs

that ok?

Iida:

Of course! 

I would never keep you from your friends! I’ll survive!

My mother will miss you, though. I’ll have to tell her not to cook as much for dinner tonight! 

Have fun with your “dumb-dumbs”! Tell them I said hi! :)

Tell them I said hi! :) Katsuki re-reads that too many times.

It’s typical. The guy’s a goof, of course he’ll use emoticons. But it’s for Katsuki. He sent that for Katuski. His tone is so excited, and he used a stupid little smiley face. God, Katsuki wants to kiss him.

Ugh, gross, he wants to kiss him. Iida does weird things to his head.

“Iida says hi, losers.” He sighs, throwing his phone down and turning his attention to where Mina’s selecting the movie.

“Ooh, Iida says hi…” Kaminari grins, as if he knows. Katsuki scoffs at him, because he knows he doesn’t. “Is he sad that we stole back his boyfriend?”

Iida’s boyfriend…That doesn’t sound half bad. He could get used to that. 

“I’m not his pet, Shockey.” Katsuki spits. “And no. He said his mom would miss me, or something.” He shrugs off the conversation, hoping that no one else would say anything.

“You’ve met his parents? Damn, don’t you think you guys are moving pretty fast?” Mina snickers from beside him. He glares daggers into the side of her head, but she selects the movie, and the topic dies just as fast as Lilly and James Potter.

-

You:

u ever seen harry potter

wouldn’t recommend 

its pretty shit

Iida:

The films? No. However, I have read two of the books.

I can say I had the same amount of disappointment with them as you do with the films.

Not great, unfortunately. And I had quite high hopes for them.

You:

oh wow

didn’t expect a reply

why’re u up so late

Iida:

Can’t sleep. 

Not that it matters, you have better things to be doing than talking to me.

You:

no i dont

what’s up

why can’t u sleep

Iida:

It’s quite pathetic.

You:

could not give less of a shit Iida

Iida:

I've

I’ve gotten so used to spending weekends with you, I guess my body doesn’t know how to handle alone.

I guess I miss you haha.

Iida: 

Bakugou?

Did you fall asleep?

You:

no

i miss you too

i guess

Iida:

Oh. I see.

That’s nice.

I guess there’s nothing to be done about that now, though.

You:

i could always ditch

flake out on these losers and come over

Iida: 

I would never ask you to abandon your friends for something so pitiful of me.

It’s a nice thought, though. Thank you, Bakugou.

You:

yeah whatever

did ur mom rlly miss me

Iida:

Sigh.

Yes. Unfortunately so did Tensei, and my father.

And myself, as I have already mentioned.

I think my mother’s exact words were: “I miss the mini chef. He’s so small I could put him in my pocket and not let him go home.”

She left dinner early because she felt like weekend roast was missing something now.

I thought it was funny.

You’ve made quite the impact.

You:

fr?

that’s cool.

n kinda cute i guess

ur brother missed me?

Iida:

Yes! He said you ‘brightened up my boring room.’ Which would be insulting if it weren’t true.

My father said I looked sad, which I’m not sure is related.

You: 

cute

Iida:

Me? Or my family missing you?

You: 

whichever makes you look less sad

Iida:

Oh.

Don’t you have movies to be watching?

You:

trying to get rid of me?

and no

mina and the rest of em clocked out hours ago

tv’s turned off but i cant sleep

hence why i texted

Iida:

You have nothing better to do?

You:

nothing’s better than talking to you

(Katsuki mentally punches himself for that one.)

Iida:

That’s

That’s nice. Thank you :)

How do you usually get to sleep?

You:

dunno

never had difficulty before

sometimes its hard getting back to sleep after nightmares but

aint had none of those for a while

Iida:

When Tensei has difficulty sleeping, he ‘facetimes’ his girlfriend. 

I do not have a girlfriend, though. Nor do I intend to get one. So, that’s a dead end.

You:

we could ft

not ur girlfriend but it might help

Iida:

Really? 

Okay! I will do that now!

-

Katsuki’s on the phone for…I’d say about 4 hours, consciously. The call lasts for about 10, though. And Iida has the unfortunate wake up, not to Katsuki’s face, but Mina and Kaminari’s as they steal Katsuki’s phone while he’s still sleeping, and bombard Iida with questions.

They’re stupid questions, and they know that, but Iida indulges them anyway. 

“Is your mom hot?” Kaminari asks, sticking his full face in front of the camera to the point where Iida can see up his nose. 

“I don’t think I’m the right person to be asking that?” Iida chuckles, “but I do think that my mother is a beautiful woman, yes.” 

“Aw, Iida, you’re so sweet.” Mina says, but Iida can’t see her past Kaminari. “Alright, fathead, get out of the way.”

Kaminari’s roughly pulled away, and Mina comes into view. She’s bright and peppy, despite Kaminari and Sero having shown to be looking exhausted from the night before.

“Your call has been going for ten hours, man!” Mina smiles. “I don’t even call my friends for that long, and you know how much of a mouth I’ve got.”

Iida does know. As class president, he’s taken the liberty of getting to know all of his fellow classmates. He’ll admit, some classmates piqued his interest more than others, so he’s got a bit of a bias when it comes to who he knows more about. 

“Well, Bakugou was kind enough to help me when I couldn’t sleep last night.” Iida recalls, almost fondly. “That’s all him. I’m very thankful, though. I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep if he hadn’t called.”

Mina opens her mouth to say something, but the phone is snatched from her hands, and Iida can see that Katsuki has finally woken up. 

“You fucking assholes need to keep your filthy hands off my shit.” Katsuki hisses at them, then looks down at the screen, where Iida smiles at him. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be! They were very entertaining.” Iida waves a hand.

“Ugh, don’t take their side, Iida.” Katsuki says, before he even really realises. “My phone’s about to die, I’ll text you later. Cool?”

“Y-yes! That’s fine. I’ll see you on Monday!” Iida grins, sort of wobbly. Katsuki ignores it, giving a small wave to the camera before hanging up the call.”

“Oh, fuck.” He whispers as he sees the time on the call. “Ten hours?”

Chapter Text

Katsuki didn’t finish watching the Harry Potter movies. Mina got a call asking her to come home, and the rest of the boys collectively decided they couldn’t finish watching without her, and everyone drifted home.

Katsuki, however, texted his mom that - and I quote - his friends had “pissed off” and that he was “going to Iida’s to trash his house.”

To which, his mother had responded “I’m not paying for damages. Go wild.”

Katsuki packed a bag, because yes, he planned on staying the night, and practically sprinted to Iida’s house.

His neighbourhood was far, and Katsuki was sweaty and tired when he arrived on Iida’s doorstep, but he swears it was worth it.

He knocks, quickly, and Iida’s mother opens the door, her hair tied back and in her swimsuit.

“Ah! Bakugou!” She smiles wide and flings her arms around his shoulders, squeezing. “It’s so good to see you! Tenya said you wouldn’t be coming this weekend and I was worried something had happened.” She pulls back. She keeps her hands firm and comforting on his shoulders. “We’re making use of the pool today, since Tensei got the all-clear to be able to swim a little. You want to join us?”

Katsuki couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t. He doesn’t know why he says yes.

He’d forgotten (purposely) to tell Iida that he was coming over, but it’s not like he was doing anything. The first time he sees him all weekend is in his swimsuit. 

He knew Iida was ripped, and he’s seen him in a swimsuit before, but god. The sight certainly never got old.

“Bakugou?” He asks, smiling when his mother leads Katsuki outside to the pool area. (Also, how fucking rich is Iida? Giant house, great furnishing, and a pool? Wow.) “I wasn’t aware you were coming over?”

“Nah, but. It’s whatever.” Katsuki shrugs. “I don’t have a swimsuit, though. I’ll kick my feet around.”

“We can find you one, if you want?” Iida’s mother asks, and Katsuki has no time to protest because she is gone. 

“I- Wait, I can’t—“ Yup, too late. Katsuki sighs, defeated. How the fuck is he gonna get out of this one.

“Do you…not want to swim?” Iida asks. Katsuki shakes his head.

“I would if I could but I-“ He sighs. “I just can’t.”

“I don’t mean to assume - this may not be the issue at all - but,” Iida puts a hand on his back, and Katsuki’s scared he’s about to get comforted. “Tensei has a binder, one made for swimming in, if that’ll help?”

How the fuck how the fuck how the fuck how the fuck how the fuck

“What?” Katsuki looks up at him, and he knows he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“Again, I don’t mean to assume.” Iida puts his hands up. “I have no idea if you’re transgender, but it’s just a suggestion in case-“

Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

Fuck it. 

“I am.” Katsuki pushes out, keeping his eyes on Iida. His ribs tighten around his lungs - crushing them into fucking oblivion. He can’t breathe. His entire respiratory system flailing and dying inside him as he struggles out the words. “I’ll take the binder. It’s- Yeah, I’ll fuckin’ take it.”

Katsuki can’t read his face. He can’t read any of it. What the fuck are you thinking? What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with any of this?

Iida nods, and then walks over to Tensei, kneeling to be eye level with where Tensei is (nearly) dog-paddling in the pool. It would be hilarious, if Katsuki wasn’t drowning on dry land as it is.

Tensei looks over at Katsuki. Quickly. Briefly. But still.

He paddles to the edge of the pool, and Katsuki watches as Iida helps him out of the water. 

Oh. OH.

It’s pretty expected for a pro-hero to have some scars here and there. Major and minor. That comes with the job. Tensei is scarred, as all heroes should be, but he has two distinct scars running under his pecs. 

They’re surgery scars. Top surgery scars. 

Katsuki couldn’t be more fucking relieved.

Tensei waves at Katsuki, slightly more friendly than every other time he has, as he walks past him back inside the house. Iida follows behind him, but stays at Katuski’s side instead of going in with Tensei.

“He’s gone to get it for you.” Iida smiles, sweet as ever. Jesus Christ, Mina might be right about this “fast” think, because Katsuki thinks he might be down on one knee already. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Thank me? Fuck you, oh my god, you’re the only one who’s ever reacted that well. Thank you, motherfucker.” Katsuki huffs, letting his shoulders sag for the first time since Iida’s mom mentioned the pool.

“The only one?” Iida asks. His face is suddenly very easy to understand. He’s worried. “What about your parents?”

“It took a while.” Katsuki shrugged.

“And Kirishima? Kaminari?” Iida presses further, stepping closer.

“They-“ Katuski breathes out, raspy and nearly painful. “They don’t know. I haven’t told them.”

“I see. I appreciate that you felt you could trust me with that. It means more to me than you know.” 

Goddamn him. Him and his pretty fucking face.

Tensei comes back with the binder and obviously the swim trunks Iida’s mom had gone to find. 

Well. Katsuki’s going swimming.

-

Their pool is nice and cool, and Katsuki has never felt less horrible having a visible binder before. 

It fit almost perfectly, just slightly loose. Which makes sense considering it used to be Iida Tensei’s. A man who is notoriously huge. 

“Do you want lemonade?” Iida swims up to where Katsuki’s sat on the edge of the pool. He folds his arms over the ledge, resting his head on them as he looks up at Katsuki. 

Despite having seen him without his glasses hundreds of times, Katsuki has to admit Iida looks disgustingly adorable right this second. 

“Organic?” Katsuki smirks, already knowing the answer. 

“Of course.” Iida smiles back.

“Sure.” Katsuki pulls his gaze away. He could feel the heat rising up his neck, and he’s not sure how blind Iida really is without his glasses. 

Iida hoists himself out of the water and over the ledge, and Tensei paddles over to take his place.

“Hey, stranger.” He grins like a dork. He’s made a weird inside joke out of calling Katsuki ‘stranger’ despite him practically living here at this point. “The binder fit okay?” He gestures, however vaguely, to Katsuki’s chest.

“A bit loose, but it’s all good.” Katsuki says, looking down at the material himself. Tensei nods along. “Thanks.”

“No worries. I really didn’t think I’d ever have to see it again.” He chirps. “You’ve pleasantly surprised me, stranger.”

Katsuki laughs, because yeah, he has. Maybe he has made an impact here. And maybe, he’s a little proud of that. Of himself.

Tensei’s cooler than Katsuki cares to admit. That may be a tad biased because, yes, Katsuki is aware they now share something in common that not only makes him feel 100% more comfortable, but also means that Iida sees no issue with it. 

The Iida's (Tensei, particularly) feel like a safe point. Like those typewriter safe rooms in those zombie games Katsuki’s mom plays too much. A checkpoint zombies can’t get into. Tensei’s almost like a brother for Katsuki.

Brother in law, maybe. But that’s purely wishful thinking at that point.

Now that he thinks about, Iida’s family is pretty much Katsuki’s, too. His mom misses him at family dinners, makes sure he has something to swim in, treats Katsuki like her own son when he’s there. Iida’s dad is the same - even noticing the changes in Iida when Katsuki’s not there when he usually is.

Did he seriously just force Iida’s poor family to adopt him? 

Iida has to meet Katsuki’s own parents soon. If they don’t embarrass him (which they likely will), Katsuki might be getting closer to something. Something deeper.

But again, wishful thinking.

Iida returns with Katsuki’s drink, handing it off to him and sitting at his side on the edge of pool. He has his own drink of orange juice in his hand. How fitting.

That’s another thing Iida’s family has forced Katsuki to start doing - keeping bulk packages of orange juice boxes. They take up shit-tons of room in his fridge and pantry, but he refuses to stop buying them. They’re always on the weekly shopping list. 

He’s fucking whipped.

But the lemonade tastes like heaven in a glass, and Iida’s sitting shirtless beside him, so who gives a shit?

“Good?” Iida muses when Katsuki puts down the empty glass not even a minute after Iida handed it to him. 

“Nah, it tasted like ass.” He replies, sarcastic, wiping whatever didn’t make it to his mouth off his chin. “It was fucking delicious.”

“Am I really the first person you’ve told?” Iida asks, quieter. He’s shifted closer, and you have no idea how bad Katsuki wants to close that gap. “From school, I mean.”

“Well, ‘told’? Yes.” Katsuki bites the inside of his cheek, taking the plunge and shuffling closer. “Deku knows, but only because we grew up together. He was there for the exact day I hacked all my hair off in the school bathroom, so. Hard to miss, I guess.”

Iida nods, Katsuki doesn’t know where Tensei went.

“I don’t think anyone else in our class knows. I definitely haven’t told them. Obviously Deku hasn’t either, thank god.” He scoffs, shaking his head. 

Iida shifts closer, taking a harder plunge and wrapping his arm around Katsuki’s shoulders. Warm, inviting, and short-circuiting Katsuki's brain like Kaminari overusing his quirk.

“I really do appreciate the trust you’ve put in me, Bakugou.” Iida says, leaning further into Katsuki with every word. “I promise you I won’t say anything if you wish that I don’t. It’s important to me that you understand how much I care that you’re safe, and not hurting yourself or something alike.”

Oh, okay, fuck. Just fuckin’ marry him, or whatever it is you’re trying to say. God, is Katsuki sweating? He must be sweating. He’s gonna blow Iida to bits if he’s not careful. But, oh, he’s so pretty. He’s pressed to Katsuki’s side and the beautiful burning sensation of Iida’s bare skin against him is flaying him open - making him easier to read. Vulnerable. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Katsuki says, and Iida’s arm tightens around his shoulders, eyes looking desperately over Katsuki’s face. “Yeah, I got it, Iida. I’m fine. Thanks.”

Iida doesn’t say anything more, just nods, cheeks dimpling with the sweet smile he cracks.

It all feels real. Oddly real. But at the same time, it feels impossibly safe. 

This is his safe point. Iida is his safe point.

Chapter Text

The sun started to set over the hills, and Iida’s parents and brother were long dried and changed by the time Katsuki and Iida finally called it a night. 

Iida helps Katsuki out of the water, throwing the softest towel around his shoulders. They stand face to face for a beat, the soft glow of the sunset tender against Iida’s skin. It briefly reminds him of something. Something distant, but heartedly important.

“Thank you. For today.” Katsuki whispers, drawing his eyes away. “It was nice. I had fun, I guess.”

Iida smiles - his eyes impossibly gentle as they watch Katsuki hug the towel tighter around his shoulders.

“My pleasure.” He says. “Are you wanting to shower? I can grab you a sweatshirt of mine to wear?”

Katsuki says yes, completely and utterly ignoring the fact that he brought his own clothes, and there’s no reason he can’t wear them except for being useless and gay. 

Katsuki watches his own reflection in the mirror after he finishes showering. He takes in the fine lines of his own face, tracing a light finger over his own mouth. It’s slightly chapped - cracked, even. 

What would his kiss be like? Scratchy? Unpleasant?

Would would Iida’s feel like? Probably soft. Gentle, like kissing a cloud. He wouldn’t know what to do with his hands. Hell, Katsuki wouldn’t know what to do with his hands. 

There’s so much of Iida, really, so what isn’t there to do with his hands. 

There’s so much to touch, to experience. And Katsuki wants to experience all of it.

His reflection stares back through him. Judgy bastard. 

He reaches up to the nape of his neck where his hair has started to lengthen. He thinks he should cut it, lest he winds up looking like Tape-face. 

His hand trails down his neck, grazing past his neck and down his waist to rest on the dip in his hip. Every curve of his form burns against his fingers. It’s a different sensation than he’s used to. He’s so used to the feeling of caving dread when he notices these things about him. When he sees how different he looks from his other male classmates, like Icyhot, or even fucking Deku. 

It’s different now. Somehow, he sees every curve, every crevice - each and every detail that reminds him of everything he’s been striving to erase, and he sees its own beauty. 

Is this Iida’s fault? Is it just him? Who knows. But it’s nice. 

It’s better in Iida’s sweater. It’s one of those ones that’s large even on Iida, so Katsuki’s practically swimming in it when he puts it on. He rolls the sleeves up, so he can see his hands as he slides on the boxer briefs Iida had lent to him.

They were Iida’s, so obviously had a bit too much room for Katsuki in any department. But it all smelt like Iida. His clothes, the shampoo Katsuki had used to cleans the chlorine from his hair, the body wash. All of it is Iida.

And it is mighty fucking glorious.

-

Katsuki spends around 10 minutes looking at himself in the mirror after putting on Iida’s clothes. Fiddling with the fabric, watching how it fits around his own body, something about it is so mesmerising.

But this is another distraction, so Katsuki bundles up everything he shed from before the shower, and chucks it into the laundry basket before leaving. Tensei’s waiting for him outside the door.

“Can’t believe you come over every weekend and I never noticed.” He says, leant against the wall lazily. “I guess the layers help.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” Katsuki scoffs. “If I didn’t want anybody to know, then no one would know. That’s how I work.”

Tensei chuckles, and Katsuki has no time to think before he’s hauled up into a hug from Iida Fucking Tensei. It’s firm, and slightly uncomfortable, but Katsuki just barely returns it, before he’s dropped flat back on his feet.

“You take good care of my brother, stranger. He trusts you and I know you trust him.” Tensei smiles, patting Katsuki’s shoulder. “You’re as much a brother to me as he is. So take care of yourself, too, Katsuki.” 

Katsuki could cry right then, right there, and he wouldn’t even flinch this time.

He manages to hold it in, nodding at Tensei as he turns to leave down the hallway. Katsuki goes to Iida’s room.

-

Iida’s not in there when he opens the door, and because he’s too tired to make the short travel of the stairs, he flops down on Iida’s nicely made bed instead of going to look for him. 

He’s been there enough times now to know that Iida trusts him. And with what Tensei said before really hitting home, he can assume he lives here too, now. Which makes Iida’s room his, too. Squatter’s rights.

He tucks himself under the eucalyptus covers of Iida’s bed, breathing in deeply. He wasn’t ‘fall dead asleep right now’ tired, but the smell of Iida literally covering him was acting like a really efficient NyQuil. 

He lets his eyes fall shut, not quite asleep, but not awake enough to register when Iida walks into the room, and slips into bed next to him.

Katsuki only lets his eyes flutter open when a large hand starts to stroke at the hair on his nape. The hair he’d been debating whether or not to cut. If Iida’s gonna keep on like this, Katsuki’s about to grow a fucking mullet.

“Cozy there, Big guy?” Katsuki muffles with a smirk half-pressed into the pillows. The hand pauses, but only briefly, and Bakugou can distantly hear Iida’s chuckle from behind him.

“Very.” He says, and the smile in his tone is evident. “You can go to sleep, don’t let me distract you.”

“You keep pettin’ me like some house cat, I might not wake up.” Katsuki grumbles, snuggling further into the covers. Iida’s hand stops completely, but stays where it is on Katsuki’s neck.

“Tensei said he called you ‘Katsuki’ before.” Iida said after a beat. “I was wondering- Maybe, but don’t feel pressured- If you’d be okay if I started addressing you that way, too?”

Katsuki groaned, before rolling over to face Iida, and his heart sank to his fucking ass.

Iida’s face was flushed and puffy, his eyes even more so, as if he’d been crying just before he stepped in the room. He sniffles quickly when Katsuki’s face drops, trying to regain his composure, but it’s too late, Katsuki’s already seen.

“You were crying.” He says, as if that’s not already the obvious fucking fact. Thank you so much, Katuski. Making real good fucking use of yourself, right now. “What happened?”

He tried to keep his tone as soft as possible, which isn’t that easy considering it’s Bakugou Katsuki. God, what is wrong with him? Couldn’t he be normal in a situation like this? Why did he have to be so fucking weird all the time?

Iida smiles, but it’s a pretty piss-poor excuse for feigned happiness. “I’m just fine, Bakugou. There’s no need for alarm.”

“Katsuki.” He corrects Iida. “You can call me Katsuki, Iida. Don’t know why you weren’t in the first place.”

Iida smiles wider. Real. Or at least, more convincing. But Katsuki’s pretty sure it’s real. He sniffles one last time.

“And you can call me Tenya, Katsuki.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki goes to school on Monday practically fucking BOUNCING. Wandering from one side of the footpath to the other, zigzagging, and hopping around cracks in the pavement.

He bounces with Iida- No! Tenya! He bounces with fucking Tenya to school, and he’s surprised that Tenya doesn’t tell him to calm the fuck down.

He can’t help it if he’s a little pumped - He gets to call him TENYA.

He is fucking livid.

-

When they get to school Katsuki fucking BOOKS it to class (but not without flustering out a ‘see you in class’ to Tenya) to see if they have physical training on the schedule and he loses it when he sees that they do. 

All if this energy’s about to blow a motherfucker sky high.

He changes into his sports uniform quickly, does his warm up just as fast, and physically jitters as he waits for everyone else to move it along so they can get started.

The training is physical combat from close range, essentially trying to find a close fighting style. Katsuki’s already beating the shit out of a punching bag when Aizawa finally lets him on the mat. He wishes he had his gauntlets.

Not a bother, because holy shit, he delivers a blow that could’ve murdered Ururaka if she wasn’t able to make herself float. She rises up just enough that Katsuki’s attack barely grazes her boots, and he’s told to sit out for a while.

He bobs his leg furiously as he sits and waits for his turn to go back into the fight, before Eijirou and Mina flop down on either side of him.

“Who poured ants down your pants, man? You look like you’re going through withdrawals.” Mina notes, cracking a grin as she puts a hand on his shaking leg. Katsuki stops it for now, but the minute she takes her hand away, he’s off again.

“Yeah, dude, you look like a rabid dog - scarier than usual. You doing okay?” Ei nudges him slightly. He’s smiling, but his tone sounds nervous, and Katsuki has to remind himself that he never texted them about what happened at Tenya’s. Or at all.

“‘m just excited. That’s all.” Katsuki shrugs, turning his attention back to whoever’s fighting. His eyes widen as Iida steps up to face off Ponytail, and he distantly hears Mineta call out about it ‘not being fair to hit a girl.’ Fuck that, but Katsuki’s gotta see this. 

He launches himself off the bench he’s sitting on, yanking Mina and Eijirou with him and he moves closer to the action.

“Face me. Bow.” Aizawa orders, and Tenya and Yaoyorozu comply from behind their respective lines. Karate. Classic fighting style. “Face each other. Bow.”

Tenya (Tenya!) wins the fight pretty easily, given that he has engines in his legs, which are the main component of karate, and Katsuki fucking screams cheers at him from the sideline. 

His entire friend group gives him a collective look of “why are you cheering on Iida” as he does, which is unsurprising. Katsuki doesn’t cheer for anybody but himself - not even Eijirou. 

Katsuki ignores them when Aizawa calls him on to face off with Kaminari, whose ass Katsuki is sure he’s gonna whoop.

-

Katsuki does whoop his ass - and he does it pretty fuckin’ efficiently, he might add. He slams the poor fucker into the mat, and Kaminari’s clocked the fuck out by 4 minutes in. Katsuki’s stomping off the mats in a sour victory. 

He changes back into his uniform quick, though, and slings his bag over his shoulder lazily as he makes his way out into the hall.

He bumps into Tenya when he leaves the changing room. 

“Hey.” He says, smitten like a fucking kitten. “You did good, for a 6 foot tall dude taking on a little girl.” Katsuki sneers, and Tenya quirks a funky brow at him, a cocky grin on his face.

“Bakugou Katsuki telling me to take it easy on a ‘frail girl’ after the stunt he pulled on Ururaka during the sports festival?” He grins, and Katsuki wants to die in that smile. “How brave of you.”

Brave. He knows Tenya’s being sarcastic, but sarcastic praise is still praise. Fuck, he’s losing it. 

“Whatever, Tenya.” Katsuki brushes past him, smug. “See you after school.”

“See you!” Tenya calls out to him just as he’s about to leave the hall for his next class, and he turns back briefly to see him waving Katsuki off. Whole arm above his head waving like Katsuki’s some maiden on a ship who won’t be able to see a small, friendly wave. He smiles, like the bitch he is, and waves back with the same unnecessary enthusiasm.

He briefly forgets that Kaminari and Eijirou have class with him next, and doesn’t realise the fucking questions he’s gonna get beat with.

-

“What is with you and Iida all of a sudden?” Eijirou whisper-shouts at him when they settle in study hall. Katsuki shrugs, ardent to ignore any and all of the questions he’s going to ask - no matter how badly he actually wants to answer.

“You guys went from ‘haha-funny-friends-maybe-dating’ to an old married couple!” Kaminari says, opening a beast of a book Katsuki’s sure he’s going to have to help him read through at some point. “I saw your little moment in the hall. Iida gave you a fair and sarcastic comment and then waved you off like he wasn’t going to see you for months.”

“And you’re literally going to see each other tonight!” Eijirou throws his hands up, earning a few looks from the tables around them. He drops them quickly when a nearby teacher pointedly clears her throat at them. “But for real, are you guys…together?”

Katsuki’s heart squeezes. Oh god, the way he acts around Tenya makes people think they’re dating. They’re not dating, are they? Katsuki’s not good at this, they could’ve been together this whole time and he would’ve never guessed. 

No, he’s not dating Tenya. Tenya would’ve told him. Would’ve asked. And also, Tenya just wouldn’t date him. Katsuki’s brash and annoying and loud and kind of a dick. He’s not boyfriend material. 

Tenya’s kind, and smart, and does things according to the rules because that’s what you’re supposed to do. He’s strong, with a powerful quirk, a loving family, and a brother that constantly strives to help him become a better hero. Tenya has everything he could ever want. He is everything Katsuki could ever want, and more. 

Why would Tenya ever want him?

“No.” He snaps, opening his textbook and ignoring the confused looks Kaminari and Eijirou give him at the sudden change of his mood. “Tenya doesn’t like me like that.”

Kaminari closes Katsuki’s book for him, already speaking before he can blow up at him.

“Do you like Iida like that?” He asks, tilting his head. 

Yes. Of fucking course he does. He fucking- He just-

God, he loves Tenya. He loves him and it burns like acid bubbling in his lungs and clawing its way up his throat. It’s raw and it’s painful and Katsuki can’t help but bathe in the way Tenya makes him feel.

No matter how much it hurts - no matter how many layers of thick skin have been scraped clean off his bones - he can’t help it. It’s all so overwhelming, but he can’t stop it. All of that burning, and Katsuki stills crawls into Tenya’s arms at the end of the day, letting the mix of pain and tender care cradle him into oblivion.

And yes, maybe he’s a tad bit fucking dramatic, but Tenya makes him feel like he’s never felt before. And he wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

He loves Tenya. Loves.

“Yeah.” He sighs, inevitably. “Yeah, I do.”

Chapter Text

Kaminari and Eijirou babble on and on and on about the whole Tenya thing. They talk his fucking ear off while walking with him to the front gates, where Tenya’s stood waiting for him, on his phone. 

Katsuki stops abruptly before Tenya can spot them, pulling out his phone quickly.

You:

hey sexy

Tenya (TENYA-):

PARDON ????????????

You:

HAHAHA

YOUR FUCKING FACE OH MY GOD

Tenya (TENYA-):

YOU CAN SEE ME??

Katsuki pockets his phone, ignoring the weird looks from his friends at his sides as he makes a dead sprint straight at Tenya, slamming into the side of his body and sending them both straight to the concrete.

Tenya’s eyes fly open wide after the impact, staring up at where Katsuki sits on top of him. His face is still red and flushed from the text, which is fucking hysterical. 

Oh god, Katsuki can see why people think they’re dating now. He’s literally straddling Tenya’s waist after calling him sexy over text. Well.

“Ah, I see.” Tenya says, adjusting his glasses, despite the predicament. “The text was a diversion to get the drop on me. Well, it certainly worked - great job.” Tenya crosses his arms over his chest, huffing in annoyance while still lying flat on the pavement.

Katsuki scoffs, standing up and offering his hand to help him up. Tenya takes it, but not without making a small protesting “hmph!” at him. 

“Ready to go?” Katsuki asks once Tenya (He will never get over this) is back on his feet, dusting himself off. “I’m pooped from training.”

Tenya nods, eagerly, and they’re about to go before Kaminari and Eijirou are sticking their fat noses where they don’t belong.

“Heya, Iida!” The two fo them chirp in unison like they’re the fuckin’ twins from The Shining. 

“Hi there?” Tenya responds, confused, and almost…agitated? Kaminari’s about to open his mouth again, when Tenya stops him. “I hate to be rude, Kaminari, but Katsuki and I have places to be,” he checks his watch to punctuate, “we have an extraordinarily busy schedule and simply cannot handle any distractions.”

Tenya grabs Katsuki’s hand, then, but Katsuki can’t feel it over the rush of adrenaline from hearing Tenya call him by his first name. It sounds like liquid gold coming from his mouth - dear GOD. 

“See you two tomorrow, bright and early for another day of learning!” Tenya waves back to them, bright smile on his face as he leads Katsuki wordlessly out of the gates and a little ways down the road. “You’re awfully quiet. Something the matter?”

“Your hand.” Katsuki mutters, like that’s an answer. “Is in mine. And hold.” 

Not coherent, but Tenya understands him anyway.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” he tries to pull his hand away, “would you like me to let go?” Katsuki grips his hand harder, wriggling so their fingers are intertwined instead. 

“Fuck no, stupid.” Katsuki grumbles, leading him faster down the street towards his house.

-

Katsuki freezes dead in his tracks when he sees his mother’s car already parked in the driveway. 

Tenya’s never officially met Katsuki’s parents. Just briefly known of their existence from Katsuki’s limited sharing of information about them. He’s spoken maybe 3 words to them in total, over the phone, which is fuck-all. 

That’s not to say Katsuki didn’t want Tenya to meet his parents, it’s just that, no, Katsuki doesn’t want Tenya to meet his parents. Especially not his mother. Especially not his mother alone. 

Katsuki tries to think of a clever way around this, like sneaking around the side of the house, but the minute that Katsuki sets foot on the property, Mitsuki is on the front step, waving them inside. Katsuki groans, from deep in his chest, and leads Tenya inside. 

“Hey, Hag.” Katsuki grits, grip subconsciously tightening on Tenya’s hand. 

“Good afternoon to you, too, Katsuki.” She snaps, but her face turns soft at Tenya. “Iida Tenya - heard a lot about you.” She holds out her hand, and Tenya drops Katsuki’s in exchange. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Bakugou.” He smiles, cute and polite. The way you should always great a new person. Katsuki prays for god to smite him. 

“Pleasure’s all mine.” She smiles wider, touching Tenya’s shoulder. “You two head upstairs and work on whatever it is you two work on, I’m heading back out and won’t be back till later.” She brushes past them, snagging her keys from the table by the front door. “You can cook for yourselves. Have a good nap time, toddlers!” And then the door swings open and shut in a flash - Bakugou Mitsuki disappears just as fast as she appeared.

Katsuki groans, loud and unpleasant, shuffling quickly to his own room and dragging Tenya with him by the front of his shirt.

“Your mother seems nice.” He notes as they begin to change. Katsuki doesn’t pause or flinch this time, and Tenya says nothing about Katsuki wanting to change in the same room. Progress, he supposes.

“Don’t get all buddy-buddy with my mom, Tenya.” Katsuki grumbles, crawling into his bed like it’s the last time he’ll ever sleep. “She’s a real piece of work.”

Tenya laughs as he tucks himself in beside Katsuki, burying his face in the crown of Katsuki’s hair. “She must be your mother, then.”

“Oh, ha-ha, asshole.” Katsuki growls, but he’s smiling from where his face is pressed into the pillows. Tenya presses his face further into Katsuki’s hair, breathing in deeply. Contemplative. “You feeling alright?”

Tenya goes stiff behind him. He’s about to lie. “I’m feeling just fine! Why do you ask?”

Katsuki rolls over, but doesn’t bring his eyes up to meet Tenya’s. He pushes himself into Tenya’s chest, breathing in the familiar smell of eucalyptus as Tenya wraps his arms around Katsuki the way he always does. 

“You’ve never talked to Pikachu or Shitty-hair like that before. You seemed angry with them.” Katsuki says. There. He’s driven face-first into oblivion. Tenya will surely fucking hate him now. “And you never told me why you were crying yesterday.” 

Tenya’s arms tighten around him, but relax with his defeated sigh.

"What are we?" Tenya asks, which is not what Katsuki was expecting.

"Say again?"

"We're together every day of the week, including the times when we're not required to be. I'm at your house every afternoon, you're at my house every weekend. You've met my family, they love you, you've told me intimate things you haven't even shared with Kirishima." He sighs, reaching a hesitant hand to pet at the back of Katsuki's hair. Katsuki's mind blanks as Tenya continues. "I can't sleep when you're not there. I lose my composure every time you say something brash - for example, the text from earlier. I thought something had progressed. That may just be wishful thinking on my behalf, I understand that I'm not fantastic when it comes to reading situations, but I really have to ask-"

Tenya pulls back, and Katsuki finally looks at him properly. Tenya's glasses are gone, but his eyes are clearly reading Katsuki's own face. Gaging any reaction he can find. How long has Tenya been thinking about this?

"What are we? Am I more than a friend to you? Because, you've been so much more than that to me for a long time." Tenya huffs a short laugh. A dry, painful, humourless laugh. Struggled out from the depths of his lungs. "I actually- and this is quite pathetic- I actually lied to you. The first time we hung out, Midoriya and Ururaka hadn't cancelled on me. I just wanted an excuse to spend time closer to you. I only told them I couldn't study with them after you had agreed, because I was afraid you'd say no."

Katsuki was completely blank. He couldn't even register what face he was making, or what Tenya's face looked like.

"I suppose what I'm trying to ask is," He continues, despite Katsuki's clear cardiac arrest, "are we something more? Or, at least, can we be?"

Katsuki's an english nut. The kind who reads far too much, and writes just as often. Fair to say he should be able to articulate an answer for Tenya right now. But he can't. 

Katsuki's only good with words when they aren't his. But actions have always been a strong suit. Now's as good a time as any to get bold, isn't it?

Katuski takes that dive anyway, throwing himself at Tenya face first. His mouth clashes with Tenya's uncomfortably, and he can feel the awful graze of teeth, but once Tenya registers what he's trying (and failing) to do, it gets easier.

Tenya's (Tenya's.) mouth is warm, inviting, and all of those good words to describe what it means to go home. Katsuki can feel its corners curl into a sweet tasting smile as their kiss melds properly. Lips nestling together the way they're supposed to, now that Tenya's taken the lead. 

There's no tongue, which is great because Katsuki thinks he might die if he has to try and figure that shit out right now. But Tenya is fucking amazing.

It's...fuzzy. Cozy and creamy. Smoothed over into a low buzz that sparks where Tenya's God-sculpted mouth meets Katsuki's trash hole and tingles down Katsuki's spine. It flows through his nerves, curling around every sensitive spot in Katsuki's body.

And FUCK Tenya's good at this. He should start charging Katsuki to do this, because he could make millions. 

When Tenya draws back, Katsuki leans to chase more, before taking the embarrassing back-up of shame. 

"So, that's a yes?" Tenya laughs, for real this time, and Katsuki feels the sound stab him in the left lung and knock the wind out of him. 

"Yes, you moron." He'll always been an asshole, no matter what. He presses himself back into Tenya's chest, his arms. His everything. Katsuki's everything. Yeah, that's good shit.

"Good." Tenya kisses the crown of his head, and it might as well be laced with cocaine because holy shit he needs more of that NOW. 

"Ugh, fuckin'- Do that again." Katsuki grumbles into his crevice. His crevice. He's going insane.

"Very well." And he does. Tenya presses a firmer, more tender kiss to his crown again. He pats a gentle hand over the spot, and Katsuki reaches just past Tenya to grab his phone from the desk.

Squeezing his hand in so he can see his phone without leaving Tenya's arms, he sends off a quick text to the Bakusquad, before tucking it under his pillow and stuffing himself back in between Tenya's tits. (See, he can say it now.)

Tenya chuckles, holding Katsuki as close as he can, before the two of them drift indefinitely, ignorant to the onslaught of messages buzzing Katsuki's phone.

 - (bonus!!)

Bakusquad!

You:

tenya's my bf now btw

suck it

Pinky:

WHAT ???>>”:”:???@@?

Spikey:

BIWBUEFBO

YAY??????????????

Shockey:

OH MY GOD YAYYYYYY

CONGRATS KACCHAN

I KNEW U COULD DO I T

Tapey:

HAHAHHAHAHAH I FUCKING KNEW IT

Dekusquad?

You:

I finally talked to Katsuki.

Broccoli bb:

oH yay!!

how did it go?

You:

We are cuddling. He is asleep.

So I think that all is well :))

...

And he kissed me.

Todo, uRavitY, Yaomomo, Broccoli bb, and Tsu <3, are typing...

You:

Oh my.