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It started, as if often did, with a third party intervention.
“Can you two stop flirting over there and get these bags inside already?” Ochako said from the front door of the beach house, a giant duffle bag lugged effortlessly over her shoulder.
Izuku turned away from Katsuki with the sudden realization of where he was, his hand dropping from Katsuki’s shoulder.
Multiple cars were lined up on the narrow street outside Momo’s beach house, with most of the Class A alumni stepping out of their vehicles and making their way to the vacation home with their luggage in hand. Izuku didn’t pay them any mind though, his focus drifting from Kacchan’s half-grin to the voice who called them out.
Flirting?! He and Kacchan were not flirting. Where the heck did Ochako get that idea from?
Izuku looked toward Katsuki again, only to find him looking back at him with no trace of his previous laughter. He wore an expression of contemplation, almost curious. Izuku felt his insides burning, the heat of the day doing nothing to cool him down.
With nowhere to hide, Izuku attempted to obscure his face by fiddling with the brim of his cap, adjusting it obsessively over and around his head.
Was Kacchan upset at the suggestion that they were flirting? Is that why he stopped smiling?
“Pfft,” Izuku said finally, when Katsuki refused to look away and Izuku could no longer get away with messing around with his cap for so long, “She’s just joking.”
“Hm.” Katsuki cocked his head and regarded Izuku’s face for another moment. “Was she?”
Izuku blinked stupidly at him, his mind going absolutely and completely blank. Did–did he hear that right? “Uhhh… what?”
A corner of Katsuki’s lips twitched up. Before Izuku could do anything else, Katsuki gripped one of Izuku’s cheeks between his fingers and pulled at it, making Izuku squawk at the abruptness of it. Before he could even protest, Katsuki leaned down and nipped gently at the skin, before licking a long stripe of saliva over the bite.
“What-the-hell-Kacchan?!” Izuku spluttered out rapidly, pushing Kacchan off him with one hand while the other flew to his face. “What’d you do that for?!”
“There was something on your face, nerd.” Katsuki said nonchalantly, shoving his hands into his pockets as a wicked grin took over his face.
“Something on my–?” Izuku rubbed at his cheek furiously, something like embarrassment and excitement flaring up inside of him all at once. “So your solution was to bite me?”
“Oops.” Katsuki loomed over him until their faces were only a few inches apart. “You gonna do anything about it, nerd?”
And Izuku, with nothing better or cooler to say, blurted out, “I’ll bite you back.”
Katsuki barked out a short “Ha!” at that, which seemingly surprised both of them. He shoved a hand into Izuku’s hair and pushed him backwards. “I’d like to see you fuckin’ try.”
From inside the beach house, Momo pushed apart the thin curtains over the window facing the beach to let the sunshine in. Just as she was about to turn away, though, she noticed something.
“Kyo, honey,” she called out without looking away. “Why is Midoriya snapping his teeth and running after Bakugou?”
From the kitchen, Kyouka just chuckled drily. “Babe, when it comes to those two, it’s better not to question it.”
Izuku seriously wished that what Ochako said was just a one-off thing, but man, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. In fact, every interaction with Kacchan was now coloured with something new and extra, something… fundamentally different.
Kacchan had been acting weird ever since Ochako made that comment. He was… well, he was a lot more touchy.
Everyone had settled into the summer home by now. It was dusk, but the weather was pleasant enough for them all to take an evening trip to the beach. As the group made their way onto the sand, chatting excitedly amongst one another, Izuku winced when he couldn’t shake off the annoying pebble that had gotten caught in his sandal.
He hobbled over to an unoccupied beach swing seat and sat on the plush cushions to get his shoe off, when suddenly a heavy weight dipped the swing further down. Izuku gave Katsuki a quizzical look as the man sat down right next to him, a matcha flavored ice cream cone in hand. Before Izuku could speak, or even move to get the pebble out, Katsuki threw his arm out behind the seat and, without breaking eye contact, licked it from bottom to top.
Izuku was very warm suddenly.
Izuku swallowed painfully, his gaze tracking the movement with eagle eye precision. Kacchan gave him a smug closed-mouth smile in return, the green ice cream painted on the corners of his lips. He leaned in close, and Izuku, utterly paralyzed, could do nothing as Kacchan very slowly brushed his mouth on the outskirts of Izuku’s lips, smearing it with green.
He couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped him when their skin touched, his heart going a mile a minute and his eyes fluttering briefly. Katsuki leaned back so that they were only centimeters apart. For a second, they simply stared at each other, unblinking. Izuku knew his blush must have looked something furious from the way his face was burning.
The tips of their noses skimmed in a vivid, electric second. Kacchan looked pinker, too, perhaps tinted by the fading sky. His eyes flicked down to Izuku’s lips, and, for a while, they lingered there. Kacchan’s breathing seemed heavier; his face morphing into something more serious. Feeling suddenly compelled to tip the scales, Izuku wetted his lips and started to lean just a little bit further–
Katsuki moved back abruptly, scowling as a bit of his melting ice cream dropped onto his shorts. He turned to Izuku, barked out, “You’ve got green shit on your face,” and stomped back out onto the beach to join the rest of their friends by the ocean.
As he watched Katsuki’s back retreat away, Izuku could finally hear the impressive speed his heart had taken to.
Well, two could play at that game. If Kacchan thought he was going to get the better of him, then he was very wrong. Izuku could play whatever this is, too! And he’d do it better.
He couldn’t ignore his overwhelming satisfaction as Kacchan stepped out into the hallway from the guest bedroom the next morning and froze in his tracks when he saw Izuku. Izuku simply strolled past him with a friendly smile, heading down from the bathroom to the kitchen.
Clad in Kacchan’s Pro Hero merch from head to toe, he couldn’t have felt more powerful if he tried.
He felt eyes on him as he ate breakfast at the table. Many of them were from his friends, but one pair burned into his skin more than the others.
Since they’d planned to go to the local pool for the afternoon, Izuku feigned that he’d left his swim shorts upstairs and jogged upstairs to their shared bedroom. He’d just made it to Tenya’s and Shouto’s bunk when a furious set of steps followed him into the room.
Izuku turned with a blank look as Katsuki glared at him.
“What the hell d’you think you’re doing wearing my shit?” Katsuki spat at him, warily eyeing his exclusive black Dynamight shirt and the way it hung just a little loosely on Izuku’s body. “Where did you even get that?”
Izuku had many ways to respond to this, but he simply said, “If you hate it so much, Kacchan, maybe you should just take it off me.”
Really, it was the oldest trick in the book, but oh, he’d never seen Kacchan’s face turn that shade of pink in his life. Mouth agape, the frustration at not being able to reply was so satisfyingly obvious on his face. Izuku understood now why Kacchan always had that irritating smirk whenever he thought he was winning their charade.
Izuku waited, tilted his head, and then shrugged when he got no response. “That’s okay.” He slung the bag with his swimwear over his shoulders, and looked back as he said, “You’ll get to see me take it off once we’re at the pool.”
“Why the hell would I look at your nerdy– fucking–” Kacchan said abruptly, but the words were stuttered, a clear late reaction.
Unbothered, Izuku trailed a finger down Katsuki’s neck before smiling at him. “You’ve got a bit of pink on your face, Kacchan.”
“–even listening to me.”
Izuku startled at the voice, turning to blink owlishly at Shouto staring back at him. They’re standing side by side in Momo’s backyard, watching as the rest of their friends pack up the outdoor dining table and move the equipment back inside. Izuku cradled a stack of used ceramic plates in his hands while Shouto balanced his tray of cups with bizarre elegance.
“Sorry,” Izuku said instinctively, his movements slowed with mild exhaustion from their swimming session a few hours prior.
He knew where his eyes had wandered, and it was to where Kacchan was attempting to fix a chair that Kaminari somehow managed to break this evening.
As if sensing his gaze, Katsuki looked up from where he was sitting on the grass to meet his eyes. When Izuku didn’t (read: couldn’t) look away, Kacchan just smirked, shaking his head slightly as he went back to work.
Shouto sighed at the same time Izuku did, though it was notably missing Izuku’s dreamlike quality. “I can take the plates, Izuku. You should go talk to him. You two were… weird with each other at the pool today. I didn’t even get to use the pool noodle, because you kept–”
In the light of the setting sun, Katsuki’s face was lit up in red and gold, and Izuku dumped the plates into Shouto’s arms without a second glance back. “You’re the best, Sho.”
Katsuki was already resting his forearm on his knee and watching him when Izuku plopped down next to him. For a second, they didn't say anything – Izuku just looked at him, and Katsuki looked back. Before Izuku could do something witty and cool, Kacchan beat him to it.
“We’re ditching these guys tonight.”
Nonchalant. Casual. That’s what Kacchan looked like at the moment, all while excitement flooded Izuku’s nervous system.
“Okay,” Izuku said, nonchalantly, casually. “Where are you thinking of going?”
They slipped out of the house with the excuse of visiting the vintage All Might gift store by the beach, but Izuku knew Kacchan wouldn’t take them there. Even still, he smiled privately to himself when they drove straight past the gift shop.
The car ride was quiet. The windows were down, letting the warm wind through. Izuku didn’t mind the silence — preferred it, even. He didn’t want to ask Kacchan where they were going. There was something thrilling in the way something unspoken laid in between them, breathing steadily, still in slumber.
One of Katsuki’s hands moved off the steering wheel and turned face up onto the cup holder in between them. Heart beating in his ears, one of Izuku’s hands shakily rose up to thread their fingers together. He chanced a quick glance at Kacchan, managing to catch the small smile on his face before he turned his head away.
It was dark by the time Katsuki eventually parked in an open grassy field. Izuku stepped out wordlessly, following him to the back of the car, where he popped the trunk open and patted down the blanket he’d smuggled from their bedroom.
Izuku went eagerly, pressing as close to Kacchan’s side as he dared. The only reason he wasn’t screaming right now was because Kacchan seemed tense himself, if the fingers drumming against his thigh was any indication.
“L-Lovely night,” Izuku said eventually. They’re sitting shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the stars above them.
Katsuki snorted. “No need to get fuckin’ awkward about it now.” Izuku squawked when Kacchan (very aggressively, he might add!) grabbed Izuku’s hand and squeezed it.
“What?” Izuku countered immediately. “I’m not awkward. You’re awkward! Kacchan, your hand is literally shaking.”
“That ain’t me!” Katsuki snapped, squeezing tighter like it would somehow mask who the culprit was, but Izuku could see that his ears were red.
They sat together in silence again, except this time Izuku felt emboldened to snuggle closer into Kacchan’s shoulder. A breath escaped his lungs as he gazed up at the constellations — namely at the Draco, the Ursa Major, and the Lynx.
“Do you have a favorite constellation—?” Izuku turned so that his cheek was pressed into Kacchan’s shoulder, only to find Kacchan smiling at him.
“Yeah.” Using his other hand to stab a finger into Izuku’s cheek four times, Katsuki continued, “It’s called ‘the Square.’”
A heated blush rose to his face when he realized Kacchan was talking about his freckles. “Uh—”
Kacchan repeated the motion on Izuku’s other cheek as well, the smirk on his face gaining confidence. “I like ‘the Diamond,’ too. Though sometimes it gets mixed with too much red, and it becomes ‘the Triangle,’ ‘cause one of ‘em disappears—”
“No fair, Kacchan, you’re flirting,” Izuku groaned, sliding his hand out of Kacchan’s grip so he could press both of his forearms over his face.
Kacchan pried the arms away from his face easily but didn’t make another move toward him. His face was steady when he said, “You like it.”
It wasn’t a question, but Izuku knew it was meant to be read as one. It seemed that Kacchan wasn’t the only one who was waiting for an answer for… whatever this was.
Izuku didn’t answer. At least, not verbally. It was written on his face, and he knew Kacchan would understand just how much Izuku liked it.
He didn’t know who moved first, but they met together instantaneously, lips crashing on lips, hands sliding over shoulders and ribs and torsos, the sound of pent-up tension manifesting itself into short gasps and harsh breaths in.
Izuku didn’t have to think when he crawled forward and sank into Kacchan’s lap, winding his arms around Kacchan’s neck and kissing him desperately. Kacchan’s arms wrapped around his waist and tugged him closer, closer, closer.
“Kacchan,” Izuku panted when Kacchan bit gently into Izuku’s bottom lip and pulled it. His fingers dug tightly into Kacchan’s shoulders before he slammed Kacchan onto his back.
“Fucking ow–” Kacchan complained, but one hand grabbed the back of Izuku’s head and tugged him down just as forcefully. Izuku’s grin grew wider when he realized that Kacchan was smiling into his lips too.
“Stupid–” Kacchan tightened one of his arms over Izuku’s torso and rolled them over so that Izuku was the one on his back now, “–Deku.” His expression was so freaking smug, but Izuku couldn’t find it in himself to care at all.
“Your Deku!” Izuku said with a grin, still kiss-drunk and itching for another taste of Kacchan’s warm mouth.
Kacchan stared at him for a moment too long, before getting up from his elbows and leaning down to leave a trail of kisses down Izuku’s throat.
“Mine,” he echoed. “I’m keeping you for the whole damn summer, nerd.”
Keep me forever, he wanted to reply, but he couldn’t. The summer this year felt infected with magic, and Izuku wanted to ride the high for as long as he could. So instead, his grin simmered into a small smile, and he said:
“Kacchan is so dramatic. Just stick to kissing me.”
The lights were out in the house as they stepped through the threshold. Izuku laughed softly when Kacchan leant down to leave a kiss on his nose in the open doorway, sticking one of his hands in the back pocket of Kacchan’s sweatpants, and—
“I KNEW IT!”
The lights were on in an instant, and the entire former class of U.A’s best stared at the sight before them.
“The FUCK?” Kacchan startled violently, jumping some ways into the air before latching onto Izuku in a koala hug. “You tryna wake the neighbors, you pink cheeked freak?”
Izuku shuffled Kacchan around his body so that he was essentially piggybacking him before smiling sheepishly. “Ahaha… surprise?”
“It wasn’t,” they all said in unison. “It really wasn’t.”