Chapter Text
Katsuki ends the call with a groan. Strongly believing he is deserving of sympathy after such an annoying conversation, He looks pointedly towards his roommates,Tokoyami and Harada.
“Telling Kirishima ‘even that stuttering idiot had to have known it was a date' and that the object of his affections probably didn’t want to kiss him 'because spit is gross’ probably wasn’t the most supportive thing you could have said.” Tokoyami observes blandly.
“It's still an improvement from yesterday,” Harada loyally says in his defense. “At least Bakugoo actually tried to give some advice. When Midoriya called him yesterday all upset about his husband, Baku just insulted him and hung up.”
Tokoyami considers this thoughtfully, before shrugging and increasing the volume on the TV again. With a sigh Katsuki joins them on the sofa, physically shoving Harada closer to Tokoyami to make more space.
He’s been living with the two of them for the past year, the arrangement being entirely coincidental. Initially Katsuki had agreed to share with Tokoyami out of pure cconvenience. Fresh from school, with the meagre salary that almost all heroes were subject to before they established themselves, Katsuki quickly realised a roommate was a necessity if he wanted to live in something bigger than a studio and nicer than a halfway house.
With Kirishima doing a year abroad his first and only preference wasn't an option. He'd matched with other roommates before signed a lease with Tokoyami but for one reason or another they all fell through. Though at first Katsuki wasn't pleased about the prospect of sharing with Tokoyami, over time Katsuki discovered that he was actually a very good roommate. He was tidy, respectful and best of all quiet. When a villain attack rendered their apartment unfit for human occupation, Katsuki hadn't thought twice about continuing to live with Tokoyami.
After a frustrating search, they eventually found a gorgeous place only slightly out of their price range. Unwilling to let the apartment pass them by, Katsuki and Tokoyami decided to advertise for another roommate. Katsuki made sure to emphasise he was only agreeing to such on a temporary basis. In eighteen months, barring no unforeseen circumstances, they would be able to afford the place using only their combined salary. Hence the agreed upon plan was to have a third roommate until their scheduled pay rise.
That was when Harada moved in.
Apparently Harada also graduated from UA but unlike the two of them, she was on the General Studies track. While Tokoyami and Katsuki currently work as Pro Heroes, Harada is a biologist at a prominent lab specialising in Quirk evolution.
Initially Katsuki had been extremely sceptical that Harada would be a good fit for them, but it turned out her bubbly, silly personality balanced Tokoyami’s seriousness and his own volatility. It helps that she is also unbothered by Katsuki’s not-too-infrequent loud outbursts. Looking back Katsuki finds it amusing how wary he had been of her emotional manipulation quirk. He'd refused to believe Harada's quirk was as weak as she claimed and worried she'd be a threat to his general wellbeing. Turned out he was only half-right. Harada sees a certain irony in that she now rarely needs to extend an offer to use her quirk to help her highly strung de-stress because more often than not he seeks her out first.
Perhaps she needs to offer today though. The waves of annoyance coming from one side of the sofa is overwhelming. For those not as attuned to such subjective cues, the grinding of Katsuki's jaw serve as another indicator.
“Why do these idiots make relationships so damn complicated?” Katsuki complains.
“Not everyone can be as lucky as us,” Harada chirps.
“I meant romantic ones, Gumpda,” Katsuki retorts, rolling his eyes with a huff of frustration.
Tokoyami snickers. Harada scrunches up her nose, seemingly deep in thought. A moment later she pushes a few strands of straight, ginger hair behind her left ear. Prepared for some great insight, Katsuki is left seething when it appears all she had worked herself up to do was to continue grooming Tokoyami’s feathers. To Katsuki’s even greater annoyance he notices that though she doesn’t respond to his insult there is a self-satisfied something in her expression, as if she had been the one to one-up him.
Katsuki groans again and stands dramatically. With birdlike and grey eyes watching him, he stomps towards his bedroom. “And stop smiling like you know something I don’t!” He yells over his shoulder.
“Leave your door unlocked if you still want me to join you later Bakugoo,” Harada calls.
“Well I don’t want you to now!” He snipes, slamming the door behind him for good measure.
Katsuki leans back against his door. He doesn’t know why he is suddenly so frustrated. Shitty Hair often talks about his relationship woes and usually these conversations only leave him with a mild sense of annoyance. At least he lives with friends who don’t take his outbursts personally. He pauses then, a ghost of a smile on his lips, who’d have thought he’d become friends with Bird Brain and Gumpda? Certainly not him, but somehow the thought of either of them leaving his life has become indescribable.
Katsuki spends his evening alone but leaves his door unlocked that night.
When he wakes up in the middle of the night he is acutely aware of the soft mass pressed against him. It radiates a calm that penetrates his very being. To shake the numbness from his shoulder, Katsuki stretches out his arm. As he draws it back to his body he’s unsurprised to feel the tips of his fingers brush against soft feathers.
Katsuki smiles and goes back to sleep.