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midoriya has spent the majority of his young life studying the heroes that surround him. he’s taken ink to paper and scribed every way they move, every new installation of skill into their quirks, every addition or subtraction they make to their hero costumes or weapons. he’s got a pocket full of knowledge that has driven his own dreams and ambitions to become the world’s next number one hero, and one thing he knows for certain, is that he’s got quite the rival to beat out for the top spot.
the rival with a bite that’s much scarier than his bark.
the rival with a great sense of ambition, who has never allowed anything to step in the way of achieving his goals.
the rival who was the first person of his age group that midoriya looked upon and thought ⎯⎯ now he’s going to be a hero who wins. midoriya’s got a handful of notes about him to prove how much he believes that.
his mind wanders with the saturday morning breeze that filters in through the cracked window of his dorm, waning as soon as it reaches the two bodies sharing the extra large twin bed. a smile blooms along midoriya’s lips, ever as delicate as the draft, as emerald gaze watches the rising sunlight capture a piece of katsuki’s shoulder. the skin under the sun’s attention glows as though made from the illumination itself, and midoriya doesn’t manage to catch himself before the apexes of his fingers discover themselves in contact with where the sun touches.
bakugo doesn’t shift, but he sighs softly through his nostrils and remains in slumber, unbothered by the caress simply because even in his dreams, he recognizes who those fingers belong to.
his boyfriend’s skin has always been of great interest to midoriya and sometimes he catches himself wondering if that fact could come off as creepy. it’s directly related to the blond’s quirk ( is what he and every other person who makes a big deal out of bakugo’s skin tells themselves ) and somehow, that makes it feel a little more okay, but then you reach into the category of research and studying, and the ofa user draws back again because they’re intimate now. he’s not as keen on using his boyfriend as an intellectual expedition for a better understanding of his quirk.
he’d get an earful from bakugo for sure, like he has in the past.
right now, however, with the freedom of the beginning of the weekend giving way to allow the students some idea of rest, bakugo is taking the opportunity to sleep in and midoriya is taking advantage of that. his fingers travel the broadness of his shoulder, sweeping along the pronounced collar bone until he finally feels a stir from the fellow student. he mimics the action and bakugo’s body responds again. amusement builds within the hollow of his stomach, bubbling like a bath, and his fingers bring attention elsewhere.
down the middle of his chest, he compares the skin of his fingers to the skin underneath them. both scarred, in some ways that are different and other ways that are similar. the stark contrast is bakugo’s inherent softness as a result of half of his quirk coming from his mother. glycerin is such an interesting substance ⎯⎯ bakugo’s scars heal faster and better, he’s never had acne for more than a day or a two, and there’s always a subtle, lingering sweetness in his scent. hell, midoriya’s even tasted it in their kisses. in his mind, it’s another aspect that keeps bakugo ahead of the game in their generation.
“nh ⎯⎯.. i oughta beat yer’ ass…”
midoriya’s still getting used to the way his heart races a mile a minute when he’s blessed with bakugo’s morning voice. it’s gruff and raspy, but the grogginess of it makes him sound subdued, tame.
“for?”
“wakin’ me up this fuckin’.. early on a goddamn saturday, nerd…”
“oh⎯⎯” he realizes the touches may have altered from soothing into more ticklish territory, but honestly, that only refreshes the smile upon midoriya’s features, “heh… my bad, kacchan. i wasn’t trying to wake you up, i got distracted by…” he goes silent for a second, debates on what words to use, “.. how cool your quirk is.”
sleepily, bakugo raises an eyebrow at him, and midoriya can tell how confused he is even when half of his face is concealed by the pillows he’s buried himself in.
“the hell are you talkin’ about, huh..?”
“your quirk..! like, um.. well, for example, these scars you got from training last week are already healed.”
midoriya’s index and middle finger trace the jagged, slight discoloration of the aforementioned scar, right next to the front of his ribs. his eyes widen when bakugo’s stomach sucks in and he shoves his face further into the pillow to refrain the puff of laughter on the edge of his tongue from escaping. when he glances up again, midoriya’s entire visage is alight with mild glee and bakugo finds it rather disconcerting.
“or ⎯⎯” his boyfriend continues on, moving that hand to lay all five fingers against his sides, “the fact that you’re really soft when you compare my skin to yours. i can guess that that’s because glycerin is a natural moisturizer and since you make it naturally, of course it stands to reason that you’d have smoother skin.” before bakugo has a chance to make a rebuttal, midoriya starts to squeeze at his sides, slowly sliding up and down the length of him.
“ah..! hey! w-wahait! wait a dahahamn sehehecond⎯!” tiredness has sapped his self control, leaving bakugo a victim to his gentle giggles. he squirms against midoriya’s touch, trying to push himself away from the assaulter’s body, only to be dismally reminded that he slept against the wall.
“but you’re so adorable right now! i missed this smile!” the shorter protests, placing his other hand in the action and using it to scribble along bakugo’s ribs. he keeps the sensations light though, never applying much more pressure than soft spidering, squeezing, or poking, and already, bakugo’s been reduced to a wiggle worm drowning in pitchy cackles.
“st⎯stahahap! dohohon’t, don’t , nohoho..!”
“y’know, i think you’re even more ticklish than you were when you were a child.. i wonder if it’s because of you developing your quirk and using it so much that the glycerin is put to work more than before..”
“stAHap deheku! stahahap ohover-ahahanalyzihihing my⎯⎯! m-myhy quIHIrk, baHAHastard!”
midoriya pretends to become cross, brows furrowing over eyelids and a faux frown at the corners of his lips.
“ deku ? what happened to izuku ? have i been demoted again? that’s not very plus ultra of you, kacchan!” bastard is a regular occurrence, at this point it may as well be considered a mild moniker when coming out of bakugo’s mouth. but he’s cemented on teasing the blond about using deku on him again outside of the field, especially with the way their journey has led them beyond mending their friendship.
“fu⎯! FUHUhuck yohohou..!” he manages to cry out between his laughter, but there isn’t a shred of malice to insult, and how could midoriya take him seriously with a grin that wide splitting his face in half?
“tsk, tsk. that’s tough talk for someone as ticklish as you , katsuki .” rarely does midoriya ever use bakugo’s first name over his aged nickname, unless he wants to incite another rarity ⎯⎯ that being the blossoming of red across his cheeks, nearly the same striking shade as his eyes.
until the day bakugo dies, he refuses to acknowledge his fluster when midoriya makes use of his first name. midoriya hasn’t given up reaching the answer as to why, but in the meantime, he’ll take the opportunity to weaponize that fact against his boyfriend whenever he deems fitting.
and, as if to prove his point, digits scribble up bakugo’s ribs to settle right on top of the area where his top rib and armpit meet. bakugo’s laughter grows shaky and his eyes widen, recognizing the spot where his boyfriend’s got his fingers stationed, like a spider’s fangs ready to strike on its prey. he’s halted his tickling for now, and allowed the explosion user a bit of respite, but his body is still vibrating with the sensations of thirty seconds ago, which is still keeping his giggles flowing, quieter and calmer than they were prior.
“de⎯⎯ izuku , stohop.. cut me some slahack, it’s too muhuhuch, too ehearly..” bakugo’s realized that yelling expletives while being tickled does nothing but amuse his boyfriend and all but eliminates the chance of him stopping, so, he’ll play this card instead. unfortunately for him, when midoriya woke up, he apparently decided to choose chaos.
“too much? aw, kacchan, is the tickling too much for you?” midoriya coos, and to his obvious delight, he observes bakugo’s blush darken in hue.
“i⎯⎯! shut⎯⎯shut up idiot, that’s not what i meANT, NOHO⎯!” the latter of his words evolved into a small shriek when midoriya drilled his fingers into the spot they’d been sitting at, but only for a moment until he stopped his actions once more.
bakugo’s entire body buzzed like he’d just touched an electric prank toy. he has no clue what midoriya’s playing at, stopping the attack almost as soon as it had commenced. crimson gazes watches him, attempting to see past that innocent grin he wears, but midoriya leaves no room for guessing games when his fingers animate again and glide all too softly over his ribs and down to his stomach.
“whahat are yohohou doihihing..?! just gehehet on wihith it ahalrehehehady!”
“just get on with it? oh, you want me to tickle you more , kacchan? is that it? i bet even this tickles pretty bad , huh?”
“fuhuck⎯⎯ dahahamnmit, izuku! qUIHIT teheheasin’ mehehe!”
“but when i tease you, i get to see more of that blush i love so much. how can i not want to talk about how ticklish you are? or how cute your sleepy laughter is? that’s like asking me not to take hero notes, kacchan!”
and as if on cue, the flush on bakugo’s cheeks seems to grow, spreading now to his ears and nearly to his neck, much to midoriya’s utter joy. midoriya’s hands find themselves skirting down to bakugo’s lower waist, tracing shapes and aimless patterns into the skin, which in turn elicit a bigger reaction from his boyfriend. he’s still trapped against the wall, much to his dismay, so despite the now louder laughter and heightened wiggling, bakugo still has very little means of escape.
in all of this motion, his pajama bottoms have wriggled just a small bit off of his hips, and midoriya, curious as ever, sneaks over to the area, wraps his fingers over just above where the waist and hips meet and delivers a few consecutive squeezes.
the way bakugo bucks so hard he nearly shoves midoriya off of the bed that’s truly too small for two guys with their body types to share, has midoriya momentarily stunned. albeit, not shocked enough to miss the squeal that tore from bakugo’s lips ( and may get them in some trouble later by their peers ). once midoriya gathers his bearings, he glues his fingers to that newly discovered gold mine of a spot, an eyebrow risen and his grin a little sharp.
“ oh? don’t tell me i found another tickle spot? and such a reactive one! death spot number 2, huh kacchan?”
“don’t you even fuckin’⎯⎯!!”
but it was much too late. midoriya realizes that if he doesn’t take the chance now, it would be a fight to have it again later. immediately, he digs into that same area, squeezing or rubbing nonsense into the sensitive flesh and bakugo melts into howling laughter, with little to no safeguard except his own limbs. he kicks against the bed, completely dishelving the blankets and even the sheets, which bunch up and wrinkle underneath them.
as much as midoriya would love to continue reducing his usually antagonistic and abrasive boyfriend into a flustered, squirmy, belly - laughing puddle of jello, bakugo’s been loud for awhile now and has probably woken up most, if not all of the other students on the same floor, and he’s certain that they’re going to be receiving some noise complaints. so, he slows his fingers down to their final complete stop and instead opts to smooth his hand up bakugo’s chest to soothe him down. he’s so much warmer than he was before, even with the cracked window inviting in more cool morning air.
“you’re… so fuckin’ lucky that i’m still tired.. cheeky lil’ shit..” he warns between soft pants, his lips still quirking on a wobbly smile as midoriya scoots closer to him again to snuggle up into his tickle - induced warmth.
“we can’t stay in bed all day, kacchan.. remember that we have things to do later..” his words end on a yawn, seems his body enjoys the notion of sleeping in a little longer too.
“shut up nerd, i remember.. you just better wake up before me, or i’ll be gettin’ my revenge.. a lot sooner than ya’ think..” he can feel bakugo’s chest begin to rise and fall with the sound of his breathing, and eventually the mellow, almost inaudible snores follow right behind.
they both know that his words are as much a promise as they are a threat; a promise that he has every intent on keeping, even if he doesn’t wake up before his boyfriend. with that piece of excitement in mind, midoriya lays his head against bakugo’s chest, right above where the rhythm of his heartbeat helps him drift off too.