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Izuku was stuck.
After coming to the conclusion that he was, in fact, crushing very hard on Kacchan and some convincing from his friends (read: lots of encouragement and borderline peer pressure), Izuku decided that he would… try to show Kacchan that he liked him. Because, if there was even a small chance that Kacchan might actually like Izuku back, Izuku wanted to try to take that chance, to see if a relationship with Kacchan could work. But that led back to the problem at hand: how did Izuku show Kacchan that he liked him?
Currently, Izuku was meeting with his friends, once again hanging out in Shouto’s room. Izuku was hugging a soft pillow that had been thrown at Izuku the moment he entered the room. The pillow was black with an orange “x” on either side, and Izuku had flushed when he realized
Ochako and Tsuyu had suggested that Izuku try to flirt with Kacchan, something that Izuku immediately vetoed. Izuku could hardly look Kacchan in the eye right now, how would he be able to flirt with him? Tenya thought that Izuku should just openly confess to the blond, which, again, Izuku could hardly look Kacchan in the eye, how could he even confess to the blond? Shouto’s advice, though, was a little simpler.
“Smile at him,” Shouto said, nodding to himself. Izuku tilted his head.
“‘Smile’ at him?” Izuku asked. “But I already smile at Kacchan, how would that be any different?”
“You haven’t noticed,” Shouto said, a spark of realization flashing through his eyes.
“What haven’t I noticed, Shouto?” Izuku asked, leaning forward.
“He likes it when you smile,” Shouto said. “You haven’t noticed, because it wasn’t something you had to look for. But every time you smile at him, Katsuki stares at you. It’s subtle, and most miss it because he doesn’t outwardly show it.”
“Kacchan…likes my smile?” Izuku asked, feeling his cheeks burn. Ochako “awwed” at this.
“That’s actually super sweet! But I’m not surprised, our Izuku-kun has the best smile!” Ochako said, and Izuku shook his head furiously.
“I really don’t,” Izuku denied. “I’m just plain old me, you know? Nothing particularly special.”
“Do not talk about yourself that way, Izuku-kun!” Tenya cried, his arms moving rapidly as if to back up his claim. “You are a wonderful person, and you have a most wondrous smile! In fact, we have had to chase away—”
“Tenya-kun!” Ochako cut Tenya off, but Izuku narrowed his eyes.
“‘Chase away’ who?” Izuku asked, and Ochako sighed.
“Well…” She began, but Tsuyu cut her off.
“Izu-chan, you’re very smart, kero, but you’re incredibly dense when it comes to people hitting on you.” Tsuyu said, and Izuku sputtered.
“Surely not?” Izuku asked incredulously, and even Shouto shook his head.
“I’ve scared away at least five people in the last month,” Shouto said, and Izuku balked.
“ No way! ” Izuku cried, and his friends all laughed as they began telling Izuku stories of how all of 2-A, and even Shouta-sensei , chased off random people hitting on Izuku.
It didn’t really help Izuku in the long run, but he didn’t mind; getting this with his friends was better than anything.
0o0-0o0-0o0
Eventually, their conversation came back to how Izuku could try to show Kacchan he liked him. It was decided that Izuku would smile directly at him more, and try to interact with Kacchan even more than he usually did. It didn’t seem to do much, as the blond just briefly glanced at Izuku whenever Izuku would smile at him. The blond wasn’t acting any different than usual, and Izuku began thinking that his efforts weren’t doing anything. It wasn’t until the end of their Maths class that Izuku (accidentally) got a reaction out of Kacchan.
Izuku had, once again, run out of pencils. It wasn’t something he did on purpose, really! He just liked to take a lot of notes in class, and sometimes, what they were learning in class would spark an idea for something else, and Izuku would write it down in his spare notebook so that he could remember it for later. But by the time it came for their later classes, Izuku’s pencils would be used up, and he’d have to ask Kacchan for one to borrow.
Only, Izuku never really gave them back. He meant to, really, he did! But at some point, Kacchan started lending Izuku these awesome All Might pencils. Even though Izuku was literally the man’s protégé, Izuku was still a huge All Might fanboy, and the pencils that Kacchan had were all All Might themed! Izuku couldn’t help but want to continue using them, even though he knew he should really return them to Kacchan.
Today wasn’t any different. Izuku had borrowed a pencil from Kacchan again, and Kacchan had lent Izuku this awesome pencil with little All Might heads on it. It was super cute, and Izuku wanted to keep it; at the very least, he could carefully get pencil shavings with All Might’s face on it and store it somewhere—Izuku shook his head, he was getting distracted. He couldn’t keep this pencil, because today, he was determined to give this pencil back to Kacchan. And maybe, if he gave it back, Kacchan would actually be happy and smile at Izuku.
“Ne, Kacchan,” Izuku said after Ecto-sensei had dismissed them for the day. Kacchan paused from packing his bag to look up at Izuku, his eyebrow slightly raised.
“What?” Kacchan asked, and Izuku held out the borrowed pencil.
“Here!” Izuku said. Kacchan stared at the pencil for a moment, and then at Izuku.
“Haah?” Katsuki questioned, his eyebrows furrowing. “Why’re you giving me the pencil back, nerd?”
“Well, normally I forget to give them back to you,” Izuku started. “They’re All Might themed and really cool! So I forget to give them back to you because I want to look at them later. But then I end up using them to write more notes down later on, and by the time I remember that the pencils are yours and not mine, most of them are almost completely used up, and I feel really bad about it. Because you’re always kind enough to let me use them, and I’m sure it must be annoying—”
“Get to the point already,” Kacchan snapped, and Izuku stopped rambling long enough to take in a deep breath and refocus himself. He couldn’t help but ramble when he was nervous, and now that he’d realized that he liked Kacchan, Izuku was becoming nervous around the blond all the time.
“But, um, yeah, today I wanted to try and make sure that I returned it this time!” Izuku finished, trying not to cringe at how awkward he sounded.
Kacchan didn’t say anything for a moment, nor did he take the pencil back. Izuku’s hand was awkwardly holding the pencil in the air, and he wasn’t sure whether or not to push it towards the explosive blond or to lower it back to his side.
“Kacchan…?” Izuku asked, and the blond frowned.
“You don’t like the pencils?” Kacchan asked, and Izuku’s eyes widened.
“No, no, I love them Kacchan!” Izuku denied, shaking his hand and waving his arms around. “The pencils are super cool! They have All Might on them, and he’s the best! Plus, they’re from Kacchan, and Kacchan always has good taste in pencils and stuff, even if you’re wasting them on me—”
“It’s not a waste,” Kacchan said, a little quieter than usual. He was looking right at Izuku, and Izuku’s heart skipped a beat.
“But Kacchan,” Izuku said, his arm falling to his side.
“You like them, right?” Kacchan asked, and Izuku nodded. “Then it’s fine. Do whatever you want with them.”
Izuku couldn’t help the wide, beaming smile that wormed its way onto his face.
“Kacchan’s the best!” Izuku said. Impulsively, he gave Kacchan a tight, quick hug before letting go. He immediately grabbed his bag and turned around to hide the furious blush that wanted to paint his face.
“Thanks, Kacchan!” Izuku called over his shoulder before walking away from Katsuki. From the back of the classroom, he saw Shouto give him a short nod and a quiet thumbs up, letting Izuku know that he had finally done something that made Kacchan blush. It might not have been intentional, but Izuku had flirted, just a little, and had produced good results.
Now if only he could flirt without looking like a strawberry every time.
0o0-0o0-0o0
Katsuki wasn’t one to freeze up.
He was confident in himself, and always knew what his next actions were going to be, whether that was returning to the dorms or sparring with the nerd. However, Katsuki wasn’t even remotely prepared for the Izuku that appeared before him today.
The nerd had been smiling at him all day and it was taking Katsuki all he had to not react to the nerd. Katsuki would admit, in the privacy of his own mind, that Izuku’s smile was his favorite thing about the green-haired teen. Izuku’s smiles were sunlight, bright and beautiful, and they never failed to send tendrils of content through Katsuki’s heart. If Izuku was smiling, Izuku was happy, and more than anything these days, Katsuki wanted to see Izuku happy.
Of course, that wasn’t to say that Katsuki didn’t like Izuku’s other expressions. The nerd was ridiculously expressive, and it somehow always made Katsuki’s day a little better to see the green-haired teen’s face overly animated. Whether the nerd was focused with his tongue peeping from his lips as he wrote notes or beaming like a miniature sun as his hands waved this way and that, animated and invested in whatever topic he was currently talking about. (Katsuki always enjoyed watching Izuku, regardless of what he was doing.)
But today, it seemed that all of his expressions were focused on making Katsuki suffer . Everytime Izuku looked at Katsuki, it was “Kacchan, look!” this or “Ne, ne, Kacchan!” that, and it was always accompanied by that goddamn beautiful smile of his, and Katsuki couldn’t handle it. It was bad enough that Katsuki had to watch the nerd be his usual self, annoying and rambling and gorgeous, and not do anything but love the dork from a distance. But now, with Izuku smiling all the time, and smiling at Katsuki , the blond was struggling to maintain his composure. It didn’t help that his goddamn peanut gallery was egging him on, convinced that the nerd was trying to get Katsuki’s attention. As much as Katsuki would like that, he knew that, while the nerd had noticed him, he wasn’t anywhere near to actually liking Katsuki, let alone admitting it.
Of course, that’s when the damn nerd brought up the pencils.
Ectoplasm-sensei’s class had just finished, and Katsuki was packing up for the day. It was Tuesday, and it was the day he and his peanut gallery went to the library to study. As much as Katsuki would rather go lie down and contemplate his existence and the way Izuku kept smiling at him, his dumbasses would fail without his help, and as loathe as he was to admit it out loud, Katsuki didn’t want to see any of them actually get kicked out.
“Ne, Kacchan,” Izuku called, and Katsuki paused in packing his bag to look up at the nerd. Izuku looked a little nervous, and Katsuki raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with him?
“What?” Katsuki asked, and Izuku held the pencil he’d borrowed from Katsuki today.
“Here!” Izuku said, thrusting the pencil so that it was in front of Katsuki. Katsuki stared uncomprehendingly at it.
“Haah?” Katsuki questioned, feeling his brows furrow in confusion. “Why’re you giving me the pencil back, nerd?”
“Well, normally I forget to give them back to you,” Izuku said. “They’re All Might themed and really cool! So I forget to give them back to you because I want to look at them later. But then I end up using them to write more notes down later on, and by the time I remember that the pencils are yours and not mine, most of them are almost completely used up, and I feel really bad about it. Because you’re always kind enough to let me use them, and I’m sure it must be annoying—”
“Get to the point already,” Katsuki snapped, though not as rough as he was with others. His interruption worked, though, because the nerd stopped rambling long enough to actually breathe. Why was he rambling anyway? He normally did that when he was nervous, and Katsuki thought the nerd had long since stopped being nervous around Katsuki. What had changed in the last few days?
“But, um, yeah, today I wanted to try and make sure that I returned it this time!” Izuku said, stuttering.
Katsuki didn’t say anything. The nerd wanted to give the pencil back? Why? Normally he would use the pencil until the nub, and did that dumb little thing where he kept part of the pencil shavings for one of his little nerd collection books. Did…did the nerd not like them anymore? Katsuki didn’t like the way his gut churned at the thought. The pencils were a way Katsuki could quietly spoil Izuku without him noticing. But if he didn’t like them anymore…
“Kacchan…?” Izuku asked, still holding the pencil in the air like the awkward ass he was.
“You don’t like the pencils?” Katsuki asked, and he watched as Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No, no, I love them Kacchan!” Izuku shot back immediately, and Katsuki felt a swirl of relief flow through him as the nerd shook his head and arms around, as if physically saying no to Katsuki’s question would make it that much stronger of a response.
“The pencils are super cool! They have All Might on them, and he’s the best! Plus, they’re from Kacchan, and Kacchan always has good taste in pencils and stuff, even if you’re wasting them on me—”
“It’s not a waste,” Katsuki replied, quietly, but very much relieved. He hoped his face was neutral, because his heart was those dumb little flip-flops it did whenever Izuku complimented Katsuki. Katsuki looked at Izuku, staring him straight in the eye, to see if the nerd was telling the truth or just saying that for Katsuki’s benefit. To his quiet delight, Izuku’s face flushed a little.
“But Kacchan,” Izuku began to protest, his arm dropping to the side.
“You like them, right?” Katsuki asked, and Izuku nodded. “Then it’s fine. Do whatever you want with them.”
It didn’t matter to Katsuki that the nerd used the pencil to its nub, or that he just had to have the pencil shavings for each and every All Might themed pencil. All that mattered was that Izuku liked something that Katsuki gave him, that Katsuki could make Izuku happy by doing something for him, even if it was a small, simple thing like supplying the nerd with All Might pencils.
Katsuki felt his heart stutter as Izuku beamed at him, sunlight and joy wrapped up in the small constellation of freckles that littered his face.
“Kacchan’s the best!” Izuku cheered, and Katsuki froze as Izuku reached over to hug him. The nerd smelled like green tea and coconut and jasmine, a unique smell that came from his favorite teas and the shampoo and conditioner Katsuki knew Auntie sent to the dorms with Izuku. For a moment, Katsuki was able to relish in the feeling of Izuku’s arms around him, strong and tight and warm, wrapped around Katsuki’s chest with a strength most would assume Izuku didn’t have. It was everything Katsuki could have asked for, and Katsuki wanted more .
But just as Izuku put his arms around Katsuki, he let him go, turning around immediately to pack up his bag.
“Thanks, Kacchan!” Izuku called over his shoulder, eyes crinkled shut in another beautiful smile. The nerd quickly turned away, heading towards the back of the classroom where Half ‘n Half was giving Izuku a thumbs up.
Katsuki remained frozen, though. The nerd had hugged him, and he had been blushing. Did that mean…?
“Yo, Kats!” Shitty Hair came over, a massive grin on his face. Katsuki glanced over to the redhead, and the teen’s eyes were excited and hopeful, as if he knew exactly what Katsuki was thinking.
“...Maybe,” Katsuki replied, and the redhead gave a short, quiet fist bump.
“All right! Operation Broccoli is a-go!” Shitty Hair cried softly. Katsuki balked even as the rest of his peanut gallery rushed over excitedly, having heard Eiji’s quiet cry.
“Haaah? The fuck do you mean by that?” Katsuki asked. Shitty hair slung an arm over Katsuki’s shoulder to pull him out of the classroom as Soy Sauce grabbed Katsuki’s bags.
“Now that he’s shown interest, we gotta up the ante, bro!” Shitty Hair said, and Katsuki felt his eye twitch.
“Like fuck we will!” Katsuki bitched, trying unsuccessfully to shake the redhead off. “And what do you mean “we”? You nosy fuckers need to mind your own damn business.”
“Nuh-uh Katsu-babe!” Raccoon Eyes sang. “The Bakusquad sticks together for everything!”
“The fuck? ‘The Bakusquad’? What are you on?” Katsuki demanded as they headed to the library. They continued nattering on, shooting out dumb ideas, ignoring Katsuki’s constant complaints and demands for them to shut up.
Katsuki made sure to hide his smile whenever they came up with a decent idea. It wouldn’t do for them to think he liked them, after all.
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