Work Text:
Katsuki knew he had a soulmate. Knew it from as early as he could remember. It was easy for him to figure out.
His dad had explained it to him when he was little, and again when he was a little older, and again, and again. Dad was kind like that. No matter how many times Katsuki asked the same question, he always answered with the same patient tone.
He had a soulmate. Who had red eyes. And Katsuki would never be able to see the color red until they made eye contact for the first time. And at that point, Katsuki would be able to see the color red. Not until then. No loopholes to see the color. Katsuki had to wait until his stupid soulmate got off their ass and showed up.
Katsuki wanted to see what the color of his eyes looked like.
He didn't want a stupid soulmate. They would only drag him down, distract from his dream of being a hero.
They were probably a girl anyway.
Katsuki just spent his days, elementary, and junior high, not being able to see the color red. Couldn't see the red in All-Might's costumes, the red crayons, fire, blood or the teachers' corrections on his tests. All just a stupid, colorless color.
At least stupid Deku hadn't found his soulmate yet. Katsuki might actually have to kill him if he does. Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to see what color the blood was. Stupid soulmate with stupid red eyes.
Besides, Deku can't see two colors, blue and gray. Who can't see gray? Deku, that's who. At least Katsuki could see more colors than that Deku. He was only missing one.
That win felt hollow after the sludge villain.
Stupid Deku outdoing him. Stupid sludge villain thinking he was better than him. Stupid All-Might for having to save him.
Stupid Katsuki for being a weakling.
He spent morning, noon and night after that training. His parents questioned him about it, but Katsuki brushed them off every time. He would get into UA god damn, whether he could see red or not. Life wasn't like the movies, he wouldn't need to be able to tell the difference between a red and a green wire. Besides, he could see green. The red isn't a problem.
At least the entrance exam was going right. Katsuki was destroying one robot after another. 1 pointers, 2 pointers and 3 pointers. His arms hurt, but that didn't matter. He was going to win and he was going to be a hero.
Another 3 pointer charged at him. Katsuki braced his right arm with his left and prepared for another blast.
Only to be beaten to the punch.
A guy with jet black hair hanging down to his shoulders crashed through the robot. Literally. His skin looked solid, like rock, and he had the biggest grin on his face, showing off some (cool as fuck) shark teeth.
"What the fuck? That one was mine!" Katsuki shouted at him.
The guy turned, looking surprised, then smiled sheepishly, shaking out his hands. His eyes glittered with color. "Sorry bro, you get the next one," he grinned brightly again, and ran off.
"I'm not your bro," Katsuki grouched as he went in the opposite direction, ready to blast more bots.
It wasn't until he was in the car, heading home, that he noticed the change.
He was rubbing at a deeper scratch on his arm, and felt liquid. Damn it, he was bleeding, he must have scrubbed off the scab. Katsuki pulled his hand into his line of sight to check the damage.
Red.
The blood was red.
He saw the red, he knew it was red, the one color he'd never seen before.
"Dad!" Katsuki yelled, struggling to unbuckle his seatbelt, "stop the fucking car!"
Masaru pulled over quickly, and stopped, reaching out for Katsuki. "Kat, are you okay? Did you get hurt during the exam?"
Katsuki held up his hand, fingers stained with blood, "what color is this?"
"Kat, is that blood? Dear God, are you okay? Where are you bleeding-"
"What color is it?" Katsuki interrupted cruelly.
Masaru blinked a few times, confused, "it's red. Katsuki, are you sure you're feeling okay?"
Katsuki leaned back in his seat, staring at his hand, shocked, "holy shit," he whispered.
"Katsuki?" His dad asked gently, his hand feeling Katsuki's forehead.
"It's red."
"Yes Katsuki, it's blood, it's always been red."
"No, dad, it's red. I can see the red," Katsuki insisted.
Masaru froze, then moved his son's chin to face him. Eyes flickering between each other quickly, before Masaru broke into a smile. "Do you know who it was?"
"Of course not! I just noticed now!" Katsuki snapped, jerking away from his dad's hands.
"Okay, okay, I believe you," Masaru backed down, starting the car back up. He did reach over and ruffled Katsuki's hair before starting the drive though.
Katsuki thought back, running through the exam. What happened?
He was mad at Deku, furious that the little brat thought he was good enough to try the exam.
Then he was annoyed with Present Mic.
Then he felt good, the exam was a breeze.
And then.
Then there was the shark toothed boy. The boy with… with red eyes.
Red eyes.
So... Katsuki had a face. But he still had no clue who the boy was, or what his name was. He didn't even know if the boy passed the exam. (He didn't know if he passed the exam)
At least it wasn't a girl. Though he had long figured out his preference of boys over girls wasn't just fear of cooties anymore.
Mitsuki took it about as well as Katsuki expected her too. She shouted her congratulations, then demanded to know who "the sucker who was stuck with her brat of a son for the rest of their lives". It was said with affection, but Katsuki still shouted back at her.
The letter of acceptance was cool. Katsuki could actually see the red in All-Might's costume, it looks so much better with the red. And he got in. He was a student of UA; UA's hero course.
The first day was a nightmare. Seeing Deku walk into the classroom hurt his pride. Seeing that Deku's stupid fucking shoes were the ugliest shade of red imaginable hurt his eyes. Had he really been wearing those shoes since he was four? They were awful. Katsuki made sure to tell him so (a mistake on Katsuki's part, he'll admit)
Deku's eyes glittered and he practically threw himself at Katsuki, "you met your soulmate?" He squealed. (At least he was quiet enough that no one else heard)
Katsuki fought the urge to blast his face off. "How else would I be able to see your atrocious shoes? I almost wish I hadn't met them," he snarked. He had to fight to keep his eyes on Deku, and not the boy sitting a few seats away, with shark teeth, red eyes, and bright red hair. The boy who had been staring at him the entire time, red eyebrows scrunched in concentration.
Katsuki learned the boy's name was Kirishima Eijirou.
The pink girl called him Kiri; apparently they went to the same middle school. Katsuki did his best to try and pay attention to these facts instead of Deku's lying, cheating, no good flat ass, his stupid, overpowered quirk-
Back on track, Mina called Kirishima out as seeing red very fast. Stupid pink devil, two days into the school year and already digging up gossip. A few people asked Kirishima if he knew who his soulmate was. Kirishima never answered no, but he never said yes. And Katsuki had caught his eyes more than enough times for Katsuki to know he knew.
They never said anything about it. Not even when they became "proper friends" like Kaminari claimed.
Not during the USJ incident, where they fought together to defend their lives.
Not during the sports festival, where Kirishima was the one to pull the muzzle off of Katsuki.
Not after Kirishima picked Red Riot as his hero name.
Not after Katsuki learned Kirishima had dyed his hair a few days after the Entrance exam, in celebration of being able to see the color.
Not after the internships, when they sat away from everyone while Katsuki ranted about how awful Best Jeanist was, and Kirishima admitted he hated working with Testsutestu, felt like he was just a copy.
They both knew.
But they never said anything.
Then Katsuki was kidnapped.
It was the worst three days of Katsuki's life. Even when All-Might showed up, it only got worse. All-Might almost had him, but then he coughed up some slime, and for a moment he was back in the sludge villain, then he was somewhere else. With some potato-headed bastard, All-Might, and the League.
All-Might took on the faceless man in a suit, leaving Katsuki to deal with the others. It was a 6 against 1 fight, and things weren't looking good for Katsuki.
But he kept going, dodging and blasting the villains away. He was running out of steam though, and his hands hurt.
It was better than dying.
He had to get away so All-Might could fight for real.
Suddenly there was a huge iceberg to his left. Katsuki assumed it was one of the villains, but then he heard his name.
"Katsuki!"
Katsuki's head shot up, and he saw red. Eijiro's hand was reaching out for him, his red hair blowing in the wind, his red eyes glowing with desperation, a red leather jacket. (Who wears a red leather jacket?)
With a huge explosion, his hand was in Eijiro's, and Katsuki was grinning. "You fucking idiot."
Eijiro did nothing but laugh.
When they landed, Iida looked antsy and Deku looked like he was going to collapse, but Katsuki didn't care. He held Eijiro's hand tightly. They had danced around the subject for too long. It was now or never.
As soon as he knew the two's attention was off of them (probably worried about wherever icyhot and ponytail were) Katsuki brought Eijiro's hand up to his lips and planted a quick kiss on the back of his hand.
Eijiro's eyes, his red eyes, darted to Katsuki's, surprised. Katsuki held his gaze and watched as Eijiro's face lit up, his cheeks turning red, his red hair down, and his red eyes glittering. Red red red.
"Really?" Eijiro's voice was quiet, and so, so hopeful.
"Yeah," Katsuki responded.
"Yeah," Eijiro breathed, grinning like a maniac.
Deku interrupted them, pointing at the screens above. And suddenly Katsuki saw a different kind of red.
Blood.
All-Might was covered in blood, and fighting for his life. For all their lives. Covered in red.
When Kamino Ward was over, Katsuki was dragged away from Eijiro, and pulled into the arms of his mother. (He clung to the comfort she offered. Just because he was a teenager didn't mean her hugs wouldn't remind him of the safety of childhood)
Then the nightmares started. His parents never brought it up, but they looked as shaken as he did the morning after the first one. He had woken up screaming, explosions firing off. Always of Kamino, or the forest, and they were always missing the color red.
Katsuki dreaded the dorms. He didn't want any of his classmates to see his nightmares. Especially not Eijiro. Nightmares were weak, and he didn't need Eijiro seeing him as weak. Not so soon after he had agreed to try something out.
(When did Kirishima become Eijiro? Was it when he had called out to him? When they clasped hands? When Katsuki kissed his hand?)
(Did it really matter)
Move in day was hectic to say the least. Aizawa threatened to expel all of them except Katsuki, and singled out Eijiro. It sent a jolt of worry down Katsuki's spine. Please don't let him be expelled for my dumbass decisions and weakness.
They weren't expelled.
And then Eijiro offered to buy everyone lunch with the money Katsuki gave him. He was pulled from friend to friend, and never landed next to Katsuki, who was desperately trying to keep Deku, Iida and Kaminari off of him.
And then they went to sleep, all of them in separate rooms, but Katsuki's was still right next to Eijiro's.
A blessing really. As soon as the nightmares started and Katsuki woke up, there was a gentle knock on his door.
Worried it was Aizawa, Katsuki scrubbed his eyes and scrambled for the door. But when it was open, Katsuki was face to face with red.
"'Suki?" Eijiro whispered, obviously worried. He reached out, but Katsuki jerked back.
This was so much worse than Aizawa. Katsuki doesn't care if his teacher thought he was weak, but Eijiro?
"I'm fine, go back to sleep Shitty Hair," Bakugou growled, trying to pull himself away. But then Eijiro's frown deepened, and no that's not right.
"Katsuki, don't do that," Eijiro said softly, pushing himself inside the room, "don't distance yourself like that, don't call me Shitty Hair, please," he begged.
"Get out Eijiro," Katsuki said, his voice wavering. He was still shaking from the nightmare, and just wanted to try to go back to bed. "I need to sleep, and so do you."
"You were firing off your quirk and now you're pale and shaking. Katsuki, please let me stay and help," Eijiro said gently, pushing Katsuki back and onto the bed.And Katsuki let him. Let his knees give out and let Eijiro adjust him on the bed so they were sitting back to back; a position that offered the physical contact Eijiro and Katsuki wanted, but gave Katsuki enough privacy that he didn't feel pressured.
"Was it a nightmare?" Eijiro asked after a while.
Katsuki didn't respond, but hunched in on himself a bit. Eijiro didn't push, and they stayed quiet, together, for a long time. Eventually, the sun came up and they went to class.
The next night, Eijiro dragged Katsuki into his room. They settled under the blankets and watched movies on Katsuki's laptop until they both dozed. It wasn't a full night's sleep, but there weren't any nightmares.
They didn't stay in each other's rooms every night. It was common, but not always. And Eijiro wasn't a fix-all for nightmares either, but it was better to wake up to warm hands and red hair than sweaty blankets and dark corners.
The rest of the class began to catch on. Maybe it was the increase of red in both of their wardrobes. Maybe it was the sleeping together. Maybe it was the meals Katsuki refused to admit were actually for Eijiro (they were, and everyone knew it) maybe it was the time Eijiro and Katsuki didn't realize Hagakure was still in the gym and they started making out.
The licencing exam was… something. A pain in the ass really. Stupid fucking point system. Stupid fucking Deku for suddenly getting a cool quirk. At least Katsuki was pretty sure where he had gotten it from now.
Eijiro didn't try to talk Katsuki out of his anger. Katsuki was thankful for that. Sometimes he needed time to cool off before someone talked to him. He would talk to him later, and Eijirou deserved the congratulations.
But first, Katsuki had to beat the shit out of Deku and get some answers.
Okay… for the record, Katsuki did win the fight. And he did not cry. At least… not until he knocked on Eijiro's door.
"Kat?" Eijiro's voice was sleepy and confused, and it hit Katsuki hard. His shoulders trembled without permission and he bit his lip.
"Hey, Red."
"Oh, Katsuki," Eijiro's arms were around him and Katsuki was pressed against a warm, red shirt, "what happened?"
"Deku deserved it," was the only thing Katsuki could say. Eijiro sighed, but didn't push as he led Katsuki to bed. When they settled, Eijiro drew a line of kisses along Katsuki's hairline.
"My hair needs to be redyed," Eijiro mumbled against Katsuki's temple, "do you want to help?"
Katsuki thought about it. He had never dyed anything before. Sure, he had seen the hairdressers at his Mom's work do it plenty, but he had never attempted it by himself. And this was Eijiro's hair. If Katsuki fucked it up, he would have to go to a salon and get it fixed, or he would have to wait for his hair to grow out more.
But on the other hand, Katsuki never messes up. And… maybe the idea of painting Eijiro's hair red, their color made Katsuki feel warm, and wanted.
"Yeah, I can help," Katsuki decided, his voice and hands still shaky.
It was a mess. Really, Katsuki probably should have told Eijiro no. The dye didn't wash out if his skin for days, and the floor bathroom looked like a murder scene. But it was fun, and relaxing, and red.
Something changed with Eijiro though. He came back to the dorms shaking one night, pale and on edge. He talked about a fight, about quirk powering injections, and about bullets that could take away someone's quirk. And Katsuki couldn't do anything but hold Eijiro, and kiss his red hair.
Eijiro wasn't allowed to talk about what was happening at his internship anymore. Katsuki tried to help, but he had his own classes, and he didn't know what was going on. Only that Eijiro's eyes were bloodshot and he let his red hair fall in front of his face more.
Eijiro was called in the middle of the night. He rolled off of Katsuki, grumbling under his breath and picking up his phone, "what's going-" Eijiro's voice cut off with a strangled noise.
"What's up?" Katsuki asked, voice rough from sleep. The phone light made Eijiro's hair less red than it should be.
"I have to go," Eijiro was already out of bed, scrambling for a shirt, "god, I have to go."
"Red?" Katsuki sat up, trying to understand what was going on. Eijiro threw on a shirt (the red one Katsuki got him for his birthday, with Crimson Riot on the back)
"Internship," Eijiro said, reaching for the door, "I'll be back soon."
And with that, he was gone.
Ten hours later, Katsuki's phone rang. A phone call from "Red"; Eijiro.
"Eiji?"
"Hey, Kat," Eijiro sounded tired.
"What happened?"
"There was a Yakuza raid… the quirk removing drugs… there was a little girl too. I haven't seen her yet, but Midoriya says she's small, and scared of her own quirk. Her eyes are red."
"Where are you?"
"The hospital. I broke a bunch of ribs and my skin was all messed up… there was a guy who was really strong. Fatgum was almost dead, I had to help… I don't remember much after that."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm tired."
"Come back soon, okay? We can both sleep." "
Yeah, that… that sounds good, I'll be home soon Kat."
"See you soon, Red."