Chapter Text
“Hey, Deku!”
Izuku freezes at the sound. His head whips over to look at Kacchan, who looks just as taken aback as Izuku feels. Of course he does. There’s not a lot of people who’ve ever called him that outside of hero training. It’s only ever been Kacchan, Ochako, and a few of Kacchan’s “friends” from middle school.
Kacchan and Ochako both came to the mall with him.
Oh, no.
Izuku’s stomach clenches at the realization of who this actually is. He hasn’t seen anyone from middle school aside from Kacchan since they graduated. He turns around and can barely hold back the nausea building in his stomach.
Kariage looks almost the same as ever. Izuku doesn’t really recognize the school uniform he’s wearing, though. Did he ever know what school Kariage got into? Did Kacchan?
Probably not, actually.
Izuku just watches as Kariage approaches, a mean glint in his eye and an unkind smile on his face. His stomach feels like it’s tied itself in knots, something in his brain sending a panic response, and he glances over at Kacchan instinctively. He’s suddenly a lot closer to Izuku than he remembers him being a second ago, and Kirishima is looking confusedly down at the hand Kacchan dropped, then up between Kacchan, Izuku, and Kariage. The lines of Kacchan’s shoulders are tense, almost defensive, teeth bared.
Kariage stops just in front of Izuku. “Hey, Deku, hey, Katsuki. I haven’t seen you two in so long,” he says, eyes flicking over to Kirishima and Ochako for a moment. “These must be your classmates, then? I’m Kariage Asugi, I went to middle school with these two.”
Ochako smiles brightly, reaching out her hand to shake his. “I’m Uraraka Ochako, Deku’s girlfriend!” she says. “And this is Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou’s b—”
Kacchan coughs and opens his mouth.
Oh no.
Izuku really doesn’t want to know what Kacchan is going to say. Knowing Kacchan, it’s either a denial of his relationship—because Kacchan hadn’t been publicly out back in middle school (Izuku remembers that Kacchan never participated in the conversations about girls back then. He would just say that the number one hero didn’t have time for romance. Oh, how the tables turned, Kacchan.)—or some snarky comment confirming his relationship. As happy as Izuku is that Kacchan is happy enough with himself to be openly gay, he really doesn’t need to relive the mortification of overhearing Kacchan come out to their entire class.
“Best friend!” Kirishima interrupts suddenly, sending Ochako a pointed look as he steps forward. He grins, reaching up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. “Nice to meet you, man. Heard a lot about you!”
Ochako’s eyes widen in surprise and she nods, her smile not wavering for a single second as she turns back to Kariage. “Ah, yeah, his best friend!”
Oh, no. That’s really obvious, isn’t it? Stealth is not one of Ochako’s strong suits. Oh, no, no. Kacchan didn’t want Kariage to know did he? That’s why he was coughing, wasn’t he?
Kariage just looks over at Kacchan, eyebrows raised. “I didn’t know you were into boys, Bakugou. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering everything.”
Considering everything.
That probably includes the conversations about girls. Or the times girls confessed to him only to be very rudely rejected and dismissed. Or the times—
Anyway. Off topic.
Izuku swallows the lump in his throat, glancing back at Kacchan worriedly. Kacchan has grown up a lot, but Izuku’s not really sure if it’s enough for him not to start a fight in a public space. Kacchan is still Kacchan after all. Especially not with Kariage acting like this. He hasn’t grown up at all, has he? He remembers Kariage being just as mean to him as Kacchan had been, but—well, Kacchan grew up. Has Kariage really stayed the same kid he was in middle school?
“Did you fuckin’ want something?” Kacchan asks, instead of rising to Kariage’s obvious bait. Izuku can’t help but smile.
“No, not really, I just saw you two here and wanted to stop by and say hello,” Kariage says, sleazy smile growing as he turns his attention to Izuku.
Wait! He’s going to say something awful, isn’t he? He’s going to bring up something from kindergarten or middle school or something and embarrass him in front of Ochako and Kirishima. Well, knowing Kacchan—Kirishima might already know about some of those embarrassing moments.
But still!
“Quirk came in real late for you, huh, Deku? Were you just lying to everyone for all of school, then?”
Oh. It’s worse than he thought it could be.
What the hell does he say? Oh, shit, what does he say? Kariage won’t believe the “it was too dangerous to use my quirk” excuse, will he? Kacchan didn’t, in the beginning. He thought Izuku was lying to him. Which he was, kind of, at the time, but—Kariage is a whole different story.
“Oi, shut the fuck up, dipshit. You saw the fuckin’ sports festival, the idiot just couldn’t use his quirk or he’d kill himself,” Kacchan snaps at Kariage before turning to Izuku, flicking him in the forehead to draw his attention. He rolls his eyes at Izuku’s quiet protest of his name, crossing his arms. “And you, take a fuckin’ breath, dumbass, you tryin’ to suffocate?”
Izuku listens to Kacchan’s instructions, gulping in a lungful of air. He nods when he notices the look in Kacchan’s eyes, something Izuku wants to call concerned, but Kacchan’s eyes are too sharp and cold for that to be a good description. Izuku recognizes the look in Kacchan’s eyes as Kacchan putting himself in defensive mode. Something has Kacchan anxious and worried. Probably Kariage’s presence.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good, Kacchan,” Izuku says, still nodding. Kacchan watches him for a moment before letting out a noise that’s somehow a cross between a grunt and a hum, turning away from him.
Kariage raises an eyebrow, smirk growing on his face. “You two seem to be getting along really well,” he says, eyes moving over to Kacchan. “You guys get over that whole suicide-baiting thing, then? ‘Cause honestly, Katsuki, that was a little too far, don’t you think?”
Kacchan manages to suppress the flinch as he locks his jaw in place to stare directly back at Kariage, but Izuku notices it. Of course he notices it. He’s spent too much of his life admiring Kacchan for him to not see it.
“What?” Ochako asks, voice wavering, as she whips her head around to stare at Kacchan.
Oh, God, no.
“Oh? Did your boyfriend not tell you?” Kariage asks, and Izuku’s not sure if he’s talking to Ochako or Kirishima. He makes an over-exaggerated “oh, I messed up” expression, raising both hands in surrender. “Ah, sorry guys, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
What a filthy liar!
Kacchan isn’t saying anything, still glaring at Kariage. If looks could kill… Well, Izuku would be dead several times over by now and Kariage would be buried right next to him. Kacchan’s somehow even more tense than he was a few minutes ago, fists clenched.
Izuku’s chest aches, lungs refusing to work. Why did Kariage do this? Out of everything, why did he have to bring this up? Sure, it was the worst thing Kacchan ever did back then, but—Izuku just wanted to move on! He and Kacchan already have!
Kariage glances down at his watch, for so few seconds that Izuku knows it’s all for show, an exaggerated wince crossing his face. “Ah, shit, I’m running late. Sorry to just say hi and run! Nice meeting you two! Bye, Katsuki, bye Deku!” he says, that same mean smile on his face as he turns and leaves, an overconfident swagger in his steps.
“Kacchan,” Izuku breathes as soon as Kariage is out of earshot, turning to look at his oldest friend.
Kacchan stays silent, staring back at him, both of his hands still curled into fists, smoke furling out. He’s clearly trying a breathing exercise, his chest expanding with every breath, but Izuku isn’t sure it’s working.
See? This is just more proof that Kacchan’s changed! Before first year, he never would’ve tried to calm himself down. Izuku can’t help the pride swelling in his chest at the realization.
He cautiously takes a step forward, keeping a good amount of distance between them just in case. “Hey, Kacchan?”
Kacchan looks awful—paler than Izuku’s ever seen him, even after he spent that entire winter with his cousins in Russia when they were really little, fingernails dug so deep into his palms that blood is dripping from his hands, body almost vibrating in restrained anger. He hasn’t seen Kacchan looking this mad in so long, and the last time he did, they’d almost destroyed Ground Beta. This is a really dangerous anger. It’s not Kacchan being annoyed or frustrated, it’s Kacchan letting himself be completely consumed by the hate he has for himself.
Learning that Kacchan felt that way about himself had been difficult for Izuku. For years, Izuku had seen Kacchan in one specific way: confident to a fault, always the most talented person in the room, the hardest worker in any random group of people, had the skills to back up the attitude. Kacchan was so amazing, and Izuku had always seen him that way. Making that image coexist with what he learned had taken a long time.
But he really shouldn’t be surprised. Kacchan was always so critical of every little thing in his life. The curry Uncle Masaru made him wasn’t spicy enough. A teacher at their middle school had an annoying voice. The air conditioner was too loud. The schoolwork wasn’t hard enough. Nothing was ever good enough for Kacchan, including himself.
How did Izuku just…not see that Kacchan’s need to find flaws in everything extend to himself? Izuku doesn’t know the full extent of how Kacchan actually treats himself, but what he has seen makes him sick to his stomach. He’s seen Kacchan purposely take a hit Izuku knows he could’ve dodged, breaking his cheekbone, all because Kacchan had gotten a ninety-seven on a test. He’s seen Kacchan push himself so hard at hero training that he starts violently throwing up in the corner. He’s seen Kacchan faint in the middle of class because he stayed up for days cramming for a test.
Kacchan’s self-harm is almost impossible to prove. Izuku’s tried so many times over the years, and nothing had happened until U.A.. He’d gone to Aizawa-sensei multiple times with his concerns, and while he didn’t know exactly what happened when Kacchan went into their teacher’s office that first time, he knew Kacchan was not happy by the way he had stormed up to Izuku in the common room and thrown him against the wall, screaming that Izuku needed to mind his business and to leave him alone and never talk to him again. Kirishima had dragged him away, but not before Izuku and everyone else had seen the tears in Kacchan’s eyes.
Apparently, Aizawa-sensei had banned Kacchan from training for an entire week and had threatened to remove him from training altogether if he didn’t scale his training back at least a little bit. Kacchan had been a lot moodier and a lot more volatile during that week, and he hadn’t even looked at Izuku until the week was over.
“We talked about this, yeah? It’s okay, Kacchan,” Izuku says quietly, glancing over at Kirishima and silently pleading for him to intervene.
He’s not an idiot. Sometimes he can help calm Kacchan down when he gets angry, but in a moment like this? When Izuku’s too close to the center of the thing that has Kacchan this upset? Yeah, he’s not going to be any help.
He’s jealous of Kirishima sometimes, the way he can easily handle Kacchan when he’s like this, the way that he can help Kacchan calm down no matter what the problem is. Not in a weird way or a romantic way; Izuku doesn’t have any romantic feelings for Kacchan, but—Kacchan trusts Kirishima so much, to the point that Kirishima had already known some of the details of middle school, and Izuku’s so happy Kacchan has someone like that, really, but... He still wants to be someone like that for Kacchan. But while Kacchan has fully recognized that Izuku never looked down on him, his head still makes it hard to accept it sometimes.
It’s okay, though, because Kacchan is trying.
Kirishima makes eye contact with Izuku and nods, draping an arm over Kacchan’s shoulders and placing a kiss on his temple. “Hey, ‘Tsuki, come on, let’s go, baby, we’re both a little keyed up, yeah? Let’s go calm down,” he says softly in Kacchan’s ear. Kacchan takes another deep breath and looks at Izuku for a long moment, like he’s looking for something, and then nods, letting Kirishima lead him away from Izuku and Ochako, leaving the food court.
“Is it true?” Ochako asks, turning to stare at Izuku. “He—he really said that to you? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Izuku sighs, watching Kirishima and Kacchan disappear into the crowd for a moment. “It’s been so long, Ochako. It happened in middle school, you know? I don’t really want to talk about it,” he says honestly. He and Kacchan talked about it already.
Actually talked, too. There was no fighting and no yelling, just the two of them alone in an empty classroom. It had taken so many tries for the two of them to even have the conversation, because Izuku wasn’t patient enough to give Kacchan enough time to figure out how to explain and Kacchan didn’t know how to express himself properly. There were a lot of stops and starts, when they sat down to try to work it out but instead Kacchan started yelling when Izuku pushed too hard, or Izuku got so frustrated with Kacchan’s inability to communicate that he walked away.
But eventually they’d evened out and had been able to sit down to talk. They’d spent three hours in that classroom, and Izuku left feeling scrubbed raw and flayed open, with teary, tired eyes and a new understanding of his oldest friend. Kacchan hadn’t even wanted to look at him for a few days after that. Izuku could understand the feeling.
Recently they’d even gotten to the point where they were able to talk about it privately, though in the vaguest of terms, without needing to take breaks or either of them getting upset.
“It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, that was a horrible thing to say!” Ochako says, shaking her head.
“Ochako, I know. I know that, I promise,” Izuku says tiredly. He doesn’t want to talk about this. “Kacchan and I already talked about it.”
Ochako looks at him searchingly. “Izuku...”
Izuku nods seriously. “Ochako, trust me, everything is fine. We’re all fine.”
She frowns at him, looping her arm in his as she glances in the direction that Kirishima and Kacchan went. “If you’re sure…”
“I am, Ochako,” he says. “I told you that what Kacchan and I have is really complicated, you know? That whole thing—middle school was part of it, and we worked through it already.”
“Okay,” Ochako responds, frowning. Izuku ignores the hesitation in her voice.
/
Kacchan and Kirishima are already awake, both of them in their workout clothes. They must’ve just gotten back from their morning run. Kirishima is leaning back against the counter, Kacchan leaning back on him. He’s got one arm wrapped around Kacchan’s waist, holding him there, pressing kisses against his cheek.
“Cut it out, Ei,” Kacchan says, hiking his shoulder up to block Kirishima, but Kirishima just uses his free hand to tilt Kacchan’s head back and place a kiss on his lips.
“Morning, Kacchan, morning, Kirishima!” Izuku greets once they pull away from their kiss, though Kacchan stays wrapped in his boyfriend’s arms.
“Morning, Midoriya!” Kirishima greets, grinning brightly, then pointedly taps Kacchan’s thigh. Kacchan just looks at Izuku and grunts, but it’s progress.
Izuku grins anyway, heading over to the coffee maker. “You two are so cute this morning,” he comments, turning the machine on to make a pot before turning back to them.
Kirishima has a hand running through Kacchan’s hair, mumbling something in his ear, a smile crossing his face while Kacchan’s cheeks flush in what must be embarrassment.
“Fuckin’ course, Deku, we’re always cute,” Kacchan says after a minute, jerking his elbow backwards into Kirishima’s stomach. Kirishima just giggles as Kacchan starts grumbling under his breath, rubbing his elbow.
Izuku lets out a chuckle, then frowns at the memory of the mall yesterday. “Hey, Kacchan? We’re okay, right?” he asks carefully, meeting his friend’s eyes. Kacchan can be really sensitive sometimes, even if he pretends like he isn’t, and Izuku’s worried about him. The last he’d seen Kacchan had been just before Kirishima swept him away to calm down. Kirishima had sent a text ten minutes later saying that they were headed back to the dorms because Kacchan didn’t feel well. And when Izuku got back to the dorms, he didn’t get a chance to check on Kacchan, both because Jirou had told him that he and Kirishima had locked themselves into one of their rooms and refused to come out and Ochako asked him to join Hagakure and Ojiro’s impromptu movie night.
Kacchan stares back at him for a minute, pressing more of his weight onto Kirishima, and sighs. “Yeah, idiot, we’re fine,” he says eventually, and it’s quieter than Izuku expected. Softer, almost. Izuku hates assuming things about Kacchan, especially now that he knows he’s been misinterpreting almost everything about Kacchan over the years, but he thinks Kacchan is still upset.
“Okay,” he says, nodding to himself. He’s quiet for a few moments, glancing down at the floor before he remembers. “Um, I don’t know if this is something you’d want, Kacchan, but Mom wanted to have you over for dinner this weekend. If you want to, that is. You don’t have to.”
Kirishima blankly taps out a rhythm on Kacchan’s thigh as he glances between them, just watching. Not encouraging or discouraging, just a solid figure letting Kacchan choose. There’s a reason they call him the Sturdy Hero, after all.
It’s been a long time since Kacchan came over for dinner without Mitsuki-san and Uncle Masaru dragging him there. The would be a huge step forward for Kacchan and him. It might be too soon and Izuku probably shouldn’t have asked, especially considering how quiet Kacchan is being—
“Okay,” he says, refusing to meet Izuku’s eyes. Instead, he stares over Izuku’s shoulder at the coffee machine, cheeks darkening.
Izuku bursts into a grin. “Really? That's great, Kacchan! I’ll go let her know right now!”
Kacchan scoffs but doesn’t say anything else, digging his hands awkwardly into the pockets of his sweats, ignoring the fact that Kirishima still has an arm wrapped around his waist. Kirishima leans over and whispers something in his ear, making Kacchan shove his head away from him while Kirishima laughs.
Izuku smiles at them, turning to leave the kitchen. He’d left his phone in his room, not intending to stay in the kitchen for long. He’d just wanted a cup of coffee before he got back to his homework. The coffee’s gonna take a while to brew, anyways. He’ll just run upstairs and send his mom a text and come back down.
It makes sense that everything goes to hell in the ten minutes he’s upstairs.
Izuku knows something’s wrong the second he steps back into the common area for breakfast. There’s a standoff in the kitchen—Kacchan and Kirishima on one side, and Tsu and Ochako on the other. Satou is clearly trying to ignore whatever is happening as he cooks himself breakfast, but he keeps glancing over to the package of store-bought cupcakes on the counter. Ashido just looks confused, head moving between them like she’s watching a tennis match, perched on a stool at the island. Ochako has her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Kacchan and it’s not totally intimidating, with the way her cheeks are puffed out, but Izuku knows Kacchan will see this as a challenge. Tsu seems relatively unaffected by this, standing next to Ochako with a hand on her shoulder, passively staring at Kirishima and Kacchan. Kirishima is holding Kacchan against him, his arms hardened with his quirk where they rest around Kacchan’s waist. Kacchan himself is holding so tightly onto Kirishima’s wrists that his knuckles are white, his palms smoking as he sneers across the room at Tsu.
Kirishima looks—he looks angrier than Kacchan does. Izuku has never seen Kirishima angry before. Annoyed, yes, but angry? Never. He’s glaring so hard at Ochako that Izuku almost winces. Seeing someone like him, someone who’s usually so positive and cheerful, that upset...
Something is really wrong.
Hardening is rippling across his face like he can’t fully control his quirk in his anger, and Kacchan’s back is pressed against Kirishima’s chest, his arms locking Kacchan in place and Izuku knows Kacchan won’t be able to escape without a hell of a lot of effort. Kacchan’s face is bright red in his anger and he’s taking deep breaths, but Kirishima? Kirishima is the one shaking with barely-suppressed rage, sharp teeth bared in Ochako’s direction. For the first time, Izuku actually understands why people find him intimidating.
Izuku’s not sure if Kirishima is holding Kacchan back or using Kacchan to hold himself back, and he doesn’t know which is better.
Ochako looks both freaked out and confused, but she’s clearly standing her ground against him, her arms crossed over her chest and her head held high. “Don’t talk to me like that. I didn’t do anything—“
“Shut the fuck up,” Kirishima snaps at her, startling everyone in the room. “You had no fucking right to go around telling anyone about this. I know Midoriya told you to keep out of it.”
Izuku can’t breathe. Kirishima does curse sometimes, usually when Kacchan is, well, “being a bitch,” in his words, but Izuku has never once heard Kirishima sound like that. Something’s so wrong.
“Kirishima!” Iida scolds as he enters the kitchen, clearly just as confused as Izuku feels. He steps forward, between Kirishima and Ochako, glancing at Kacchan, who’s been silent through this whole thing. “What on earth—?”
Kirishima tightens his arms around Kacchan, closing his eyes and pressing a lingering kiss to his hair as he clearly counts in his head, trying to calm himself down. Kacchan doesn’t seem to be calming down, his palms still smoking where he’s clutching onto Kirishima’s arms, that same glare Izuku’s always been the victim of digging into Tsu. He is quiet, though, which is just another alarm bell going off in Izuku’s head.
Kacchan hasn’t spoken this whole time. If Kacchan isn’t yelling—oh. Oh, no. Kacchan isn’t angry, he’s hurt. Whatever this is really upset him and he’s trying to hide it behind a mockery of his usual bluster. Izuku knew Kirishima was protective of Kacchan, but for him to be this angered by something—just what the hell is going on? If whatever this is has Kirishima this mad, and has Kacchan so upset, and has something to do with Izuku…
His stomach tightens, face falling as he realizes what this must be about.
Oh, no.
No!
“Are you defending him, kero?” Tsu asks, glaring at Kacchan. “How could you of all people date someone who told another person to kill themselves?”
Izuku chokes, but the entire room’s attention is focused on Kacchan. No, no no! No one was supposed to find out about this! Kirishima was an exception! He and Kacchan agreed!
Kirishima had been the reason he and Kacchan had even been able to talk about middle school at all! Because Kacchan told him the very basic details but none of the specifics, and Kirishima… Kirishima had been so sweet and nonjudgmental about everything. So patient and understanding. He’d even let Kacchan practice The Conversation with him. If Kacchan hadn’t had that practice… Well, Izuku was sure that they wouldn’t be here. And Kirishima—he’d even sought Izuku out after The Conversation, trying to get his perspective on everything.
He’d told Izuku the truth. That sometimes Kacchan tries to pick fights to make Kirishima leave him, and one of those fights was started by Kacchan telling him about middle school. Kirishima let Izuku talk—ramble, more like—for as long as he needed to, only occasionally interrupting with a question. And he listened. To everything. To the ugly details and to the occasional bright spots and to the parts Izuku probably shouldn’t have told him, but it was the first time Izuku had ever had anyone willing to listen to him about what happened.
He’s so happy Kacchan has him. Kacchan deserves someone who knows how bad he used to be and still loves him. Kirishima is so good for him. He loves Kacchan for everything he is, but doesn’t let him walk all over him. Kacchan needs someone like that. He’s gotten so much better since he met Kirishima, more evened out.
It’s nice, knowing that Kirishima loves Kacchan as unconditionally as Izuku does. That Kirishima is aware of all of Kacchan’s flaws and still loves and supports him. That Kirishima doesn’t try to change Kacchan at all, and Kacchan—well, Izuku thinks Kacchan wants to change for Kirishima. But also, Kirishima knows the facts about what happened and he understands them, and he knows how Izuku feels.
If Kirishima ever did anything to hurt him—ahem. Death threats are more of Kacchan’s thing than Izuku’s but he can make an exception. If Kirishima ever hurt Kacchan, well…Izuku would be thrilled to drag him out to Ground Beta to see just how sturdy Unbreakable really is. Call it research.
“Tsu,” Izuku bursts out before he can stop himself, forcing everyone’s attention to himself. “That’s not anyone’s business!”
Tsu turns to look at him, cocking her head to the side in confusion. “Why are you of all people defending him? He said that to you.”
“What?” Ashido bursts out, head whipping around to stare at Izuku. Oh, no, no, shit, no! How does this keep getting worse?
Izuku ignores her, focusing his attention on Tsu. “I know that, but—like I said, that’s not your business, and Kirishima’s right, you don’t have a right to go around talking about that. I don’t even know how you knew about it.”
“Your fucking girlfriend,” Kirishima says, voice evened out but clearly, he’s still angry, turning his glare over to Izuku himself. “You promised him.”
“I know,” Izuku whispers, reaching up to wipe at his eyes. He can feel the sting of tears and he’s not sure if it’s the stress of the situation or if it’s because he broke his promise to Kacchan. Maybe both? Probably both.
Most likely both.
“Ei, fucking quit it.”
Izuku startles at the sound of Kacchan’s voice, whirling around to face his oldest friend. “Kacchan, I…”
He just stares at Kacchan for a long moment. He has no idea how to make this better. Because Kacchan doesn’t deserve this. He’s worked so hard and he apologized and is still working hard to become a better person and he doesn’t deserve people who weren’t there getting mad at him for something that happened years ago. None of them were there! They don’t know!
“It’s fucking fine, dumbass,” Kacchan says eventually, making pointed eye contact with Izuku for a while, clearly trying to communicate without words. Izuku’s not sure he gets whatever Kacchan is trying to say, because most of their attempts at nonverbal communication that aren’t in training or in a fight go incredibly poorly, but before he can really start to analyze Kacchan’s face for any context clues as to what he’s trying to say, Kacchan starts pushing at Kirishima’s hardened arms. “Ei, I’m not fucking staying here, let me the fuck go.”
Kirishima looks a little conflicted, glancing down at him. “Katsuki—“
“I’m not staying here so these fucking losers can judge me for something they don’t know shit about. I’m going back to fucking bed,” Kacchan tells him, leaning his head back onto Kirishima’s shoulder.
Kirishima stares at him for a few seconds, then sighs, awkwardly stretching his neck to press a kiss to Kacchan’s lips before letting him go. “Okay. I’ll be up in a bit, then, babe.”
Izuku stays quiet, watching Kacchan storm out of the kitchen. He hates this. Kacchan wasn’t—this wasn’t what was supposed to happen! No one was supposed to know! This was supposed to be their secret because no one will understand! Because what he and Kacchan have is complicated and there’s a lot of hurt and misunderstandings and no one else is going to get it.
The door to the stairwell doesn’t even slam shut.
Oh, Kacchan.
“Is he—?” Izuku asks, glancing over at Kirishima and gesturing vaguely instead of completing his sentence. No one else needs to know what his questions are, just Kirishima. “Are you going to…?”
Kirishima just looks plainly at Izuku.
Izuku thinks he understands.
Kirishima is staying behind to defend Kacchan. Kacchan doesn’t have a lot of people he’d call friends—though a lot of their classmates would consider him a friend—and there’s only so many people who would take his side here.
“I’m just worried about you, Kirishima. I don’t think Bakugou is a very good partner for you, kero,” Tsu starts, rocking back on her heels as she looks at Kirishima.
Kirishima leans back against the kitchen counter, hardened arms folded across his chest and a flash of anger in his eyes. “I consider you a friend, Tsu, but we are nowhere near close enough for you to have any say in any part of my life, especially not who I date. What I do or don’t do isn’t your business.”
Tsu stares back at him in shock, then glares back at him. “I care about you. I don’t want you dating someone who might be abusive, you know?”
“Don’t you dare. Kacchan would never,” Izuku says, his quirk acting up involuntarily as green lightning flickers across his skin.
How dare she? It’s like she’s never met Kacchan! Kacchan isn’t like that! He wouldn’t do that to anyone. Izuku is the only person Kacchan has ever treated like that, and the only reason he did was because of misunderstandings and the enabling from their previous teachers and classmates. Izuku’s not trying to excuse it or anything but he understands how Kacchan got to that point and he knows Kacchan is never going to get there ever again. Never. Not with Kirishima at his side, not with his friends, not when Izuku can finally fight back.
Tsu turns to stare at Izuku. “It’s a valid concern.”
“No, it isn’t,” Kirishima hisses, pushing off the counter to step closer to her, getting in her face. “Don’t you ever say something like that about him again.”
Satou steps up, placing a hand on Kirishima’s chest, drawing the guy’s attention and holding steady eye contact, his other hand holding a cupcake, clearly making a statement. “Hey, I know you’re upset and I get it, but let’s keep our hands to ourselves, yeah? No fights in the dorms.”
Kirishima stares at him for a long moment before he heaves out a breath and nods, taking a few steps backwards as he reaches up to run both of his hands through his hair. “Katsuki would never do anything like that and you all fucking know it. What Katsuki did in middle school has nothing to do with who he is now. None of you get to vilify him for something he regrets.”
“You two fight all the time!” Tsu replies, shaking her head. “You can’t tell me that there isn’t something wrong there!”
“I know Kacchan and Kirishima wrestle a lot, but those are all play fights. It’s not abuse. They’re not real! Besides, Kirishima’s always the one who starts them, Tsu!” Izuku states. It’s just how those two are. It’s not uncommon to find them rolling around the floor and swatting at each other, with Kacchan occasionally letting out a small explosion that lands on already-hardened skin, Kirishima giggling like mad and Kacchan trying and failing to hide his smile. The matches always end up with them lying on the ground tangled in each other, Kacchan burying his face in Kirishima’s neck to keep people from seeing how happy he was and Kirishima gasping for breath around hysterical laughter.
It’s actually really cute.
“You’re not even angry at him?” Ochako demands suddenly, staring at Kirishima and shaking her head. “You find out that your boyfriend’s a piece of shit bully and you’re just okay with it? I thought you were—”
“I knew,” Kirishima says tersely, cutting her off with a pointed glare. “I’ve talked to Katsuki and Midoriya about it privately already and they both asked me to stay out of their issues and let them deal with them on their own. I respected both of them enough to keep my nose put of their business.”
“I just wanted to vent because apparently my boyfriend doesn’t fucking trust me with something like this! Don’t you act like I’m the one in the wrong here!” Ochako responds.
“Clearly Midoriya was right not to trust you if you choose to vent to someone you fucking knew didn’t like Katsuki! Tsu has no fucking filter or tact!” Kirishima responds, gesturing towards Tsu. “It’s not like it’s a fucking secret or anything. Tsu has been very clear about what she thinks of him.”
Ochako glares at him. “What? So now I can’t talk to my friends about something that’s bothering me?”
“Did you even talk to your boyfriend about it?” Kirishima demands. “Because I guaran-fucking-tee he would’ve told you to mind your own business.”
“Don’t talk for him!”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
Izuku’s getting a headache. It feels like no one’s listening to him and this whole thing is happening because of something that involves him. The only other person who knows anything about anything that happened is being completely ignored and every time he speaks they just move on like he hadn’t said anything!
“That’s enough!” Iida interrupts loudly, coughing pointedly as he steps between the two of them. “I think that everyone is a little too emotional for any kind of productive conversation about this topic. It’s far too early in the morning for an argument.”
“No!” Ochako says, placing her hands on her hip and looking at Iida seriously. “I want to know your opinion on this.”
Iida glances between Izuku and Kirishima for a few moments before sighing and turning back to her. “Midoriya has been very clear that he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Kirishima snorts, crossing his arms and turning his head to stare out towards the common room as he leans back against a fridge. “How does he have more respect for your boyfriend than you do?” he says under his breath, but clearly loud enough for Ochako to hear.
Maybe Izuku can ask to borrow some of Kacchan’s migraine pills after this. Kirishima’s personality might be rubbing off on Kacchan, but apparently Kacchan’s personality is rubbing off on him, too.
Ochako glares at him but doesn’t respond, turning back to Iida. “Come on, you have to have an opinion.”
“I think...we have all known since we met him that Bakugou is very impulsive and has, ah, issues with regulating his emotions,” Iida starts carefully, glancing over at Kirishima out of the side of his eye, not bothering to pretend to hide his relieved sigh when the redhead doesn’t move, “and that doesn’t justify what he did, however... Midoriya’s the only person who was directly affected by this and his perspective is the only one that matters here. He says he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I think we should respect that. I also feel as though we can’t discount the progress Bakugou has made since we met him in first year.”
“Yeah, man. Bakugou isn’t the same person he was when we started here,” Satou says, putting the cake down. “He calls me by my name now.”
“The bar is so low,” Tsu says, rolling her eyes.
“Shut up.” Kirishima reaches up to tug at his own hair. “I am so tired of you acting like Katsuki hasn’t gotten better. I know he can be mean and bitchy sometimes but he’s trying. Doing shit like this? Pretending people can’t grow and change? This is bullshit, and you all know it.”
Izuku takes a breath. “None of you have any context,” he says loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. “The only person who knows anything about this is Kirishima. Kacchan and I have already talked about this. He apologized and I forgave him. It’s over and done with. No one needs to worry about it.”
Iida nods. “So this is settled, then.”
Ochako grumbles quietly but doesn’t say anything else. Kirishima just grabs his water bottle, glancing at Izuku for a moment before leaving the kitchen.
The door to the stairwell slams behind him.
Izuku’s just really glad this whole thing is done.