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The first time it happened, it was a Sunday.
The morning sun was still rising, the first rays passing through the curtains of the common room. A usual, normal day of their last year at UA - well, it would have been a usual, normal day if not for the fact that Ochako was already awake. Bad dreams, she had said, which was not unheard of for any of them. Definitely not unheard of for Izuku, who woke up with Kacchan's bloodied lifeless body behind his eyes more time than not. No, the unusual side of things lied in Ochako's surprised expression, the way she was peeking over her cup of tea at him, a glint of suspicion in her eyes.
"Deku," she called him. She was perched up on one of the kitchen's stools, knees on the counter. Izuku was reading some of his notes on the use of quirks for safety evacuations in case of fire, munching on the melon bread Sato had made the day before.
"You're okay, Uraraka?" Izuku wondered, looking up at her, mind immediately rushing to what he could do to help her, conscious of the fact that she usually liked to sleep in in the weekends. Nightmares were not good, but always Izuku found some comfort in talking about them, so he could at least offer that to Ochako, afterall they all needed as much sleep as possible, especially because exams were right around the corner -
"Yeah, of course, I am fine," she quickly hurried out, putting her cup down on the counter. "Just- I was wondering, what are you doing?"
Izuku let out a questioning hum, looking down at his notes. "Studying a bit before breakfast," he smiled, raising his notebook to show her the scribblings and the schematics of their Ground Zeta building. He had made sure to copy the map by hand, as it was the easiest way for him to memorize information.
Ochako pushed her lips together, not even flancing at the notes. "I meant your other hand," she clarified, and raised her own left hand, "this movement you are doing." She started pushing it forward, fingers distending, before her wrist slowly raised up and her hand half closed.
Izuku frowned and his left hand - stopped.
Oh.
The absence of the motion was enough to make him realize that the small movement of air around his hand had faded away, that he had been moving it. There was a soft warm hum spreading through his left arm's muscles, his fingers.
Fa jin, he recognized.
A cold shiver ran throught his back. He was not a stranger to his quirk acting out, to this power bursting without control, this was not his first rodeo. He just needed to stay calm and think. Izuku slowly breathed out, a heavy weight settling in his chest, trying to catalogue his own body. Everything seemed normal, nothing hurt. He looked around the kitchen, at the clean counters, the pots all piled together. The ingredients that Kacchan had purchased the day before were neatly positioned on one of the stools, attached to the plastic bag there was a note that threatened anyone who touched them.
"Everything is okay, Deku," Ochako piped up, a smile on her face. "Maybe your wrist was a bit stiff?"
"I was - storing. Storing energy," Izuku whispered out, a betrayed look back at his hand.
"Oh! For kneading?"
Kneading? He moved his hand again, trying to remember what he had been doing. Almost copying the gesture Ochako had shown him, Izuku allowed his hand to move forward once more, wrist bending. He could feel the energy humming under his skin, electricity stored in his fingers. He had been kneading.
"You are right," Izuku realized, "I have been - I have to cook with Kacchan."
He had been using Fa Jin... to prepare himself for kneading dango? The thought seemed absolutely ridiculous, but Izuku could not help but sag in his own chair, relief finally allowing his shoulders to relax.
"Oh! I forgot! That is why you were awake so early? You are making dango with Bakugou, right? For Todoroki's birthday?"
"Ah - yeah, a lot of dango, for everyone and class B, so I guess - just cheating a bit with my quirk. Kacchan taught me how to knead correctly, because he said how I did it last time was an insult to the whole studenthood of UA, and half-assed dango created by my awful tecnique would probably be shameful enough to get us all expelled."
Ochako winced in sympathy, and Izuku let out a small laugh. Having Kacchan showing him how to correctly knead had been the highlight of his week, if he had to be honest. The whole ordeal had both been amazing and quite embarrassing, given he had almost chocked on his own breath when Kacchan had taken his hand into his to better teach him.
"You really like cooking together, uh? You do that a lot," she commented, a calm fondness in her voice, and Izuku nodded. His head bowed down back on his notebook, because he was a bit afraid the rising sun would make his blush a bit too noticable. "I am sure he will be impressed by your tecnique! Don't be nervous, Deku! I can't wait to eat your dango!"
Izuku bobbed his head in a more powerful nod. Yes. He was going to make the best dango ever.
After the dango Fa Jin accident, Izuku's quirk had returned to normal. Maybe he had simply been a bit sleep deprived, and nervous about impressing Kacchan, nothing to worry about. If he had to be honest, using Fa Jin had kind of worked, given he had kneaded the dought with such speed and precision that Kacchan had squinted his eyes in suspicion, asking him if he had researched dango-making. Izuku had mumbled a yes, and tried to keep his Fa Jin release away from his childhood friend's prying eyes. He still was not sure why Kacchan had sounded impressed, but he had also looked at him with a strange pensive sigh, a tilt of his head that had made him seem – concerned? disappointed? Izuku could not allow him to know that Fa Jin was acting up, or that he was using his quirk for such futile things.
Just because One for All had been born to face All for One, it did not mean his quirk had lost purpose now that the Demon Lord had been defeated. One for All was still his, part of him, part of his dream. Their dream. Izuku just needed to sleep a bit more, be more alert. One for All could be dangerous, for both himself and others. The last time he had lost control had been when - when Kacchan had - when he had seen the blood -
Izuku pressed both of his hands against his cheeks, squeezing them until he could feel his jaw hurt a bit. He could not think of that. He just needed to focus on the present.
Shower. He was going to have a shower, because he still smelled like sweat and smoke, after Kacchan had dragged him and Shouto to train.
A shower, then sleep, then the next day they had a small test, and after he had tea with All Might, so he could relax. No need to think about - anything.
"Come on, Izuku," he whispered, grabbing his towel and a change of clothes. He could also clean his room a bit tonight, so he had plenty to do, not time to think. Yes.
He was already grabbing the handle of his door, when someone knocked at it.
Without thinking, Izuku opened it, just to find himself staring at a naked chest.
"You were waiting by the door or something, Deku?"
Kacchan.
Half naked Kacchan, his mind quickly corrected him, while his eyes widened. Pecs. Oh no. He had sweatpants on, why were they so low? His eyes jumped up to stare at Kacchan's face, with the intensity of a starving man who had just been offered a poisoned cake. "Hi, Kacchan. Yes. Just. Shower soon. I mean, now."
"Oi, I got to ask you an English question first," Katsuki replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest, which really did nothing to hide - anything. He had beautiful arms, Izuku noticed, for the sixth time this week. Really nice shoulders, they were wider than his hips, good for aereal combat, and Izuku had touched them in training enough times to remember the feel of Kacchan’s muscles. Wait -
"Where is your English notebook?" he wondered, "And why are you n-not wearing a shirt?"
That seemed enough to enrage Katsuki, his face immediately turning red: "I am the one asking the questions here!"
There was a snickering, a small laugh and Izuku frowned, poking his head outside his door. The corridor would have been empty, if not for Kaminari and Sero, peeking out from the elevator. Sero had one hand on the sensor, the doors stuck open, and Kaminari was giving them - Kacchan? - a thumb up.
A thumb up? Was he oogling Kacchan? Giving him a thumb up like he was some kind of - some kind of sex symbol to be judged and looked at? Izuku had not even known Kaminari liked guys, he had been sure he was really into girls. But then, Izuku liked both girls and guys, so there was no point in judging, especially when the problem was that Kacchan was being oogled and looked at in the middle of the corridor -
There was a stomp, and a small pop, before Katsuki's voice yelled: "Oi, the fuck? Deku?"
That was when Izuku realized his doorway was filled with purple smoke. He could still see the blond's furrowed eyebrows, his spiky hair, but his body, the room, the corridor, were all swirling in slow familiar violet smoke.
"Do you want to fight, uh?! I am ready! Get ready, Deku!"
It had happened again. He had lost control of Smokescreen, covering the whole place in it without even realizing he had been doing anything!
"No, sorry! Just, I sneezed and this happened - I really need that shower, Kacchan! Maybe you should ask – wait, maybe you should ask Todoroki, he is great at English!"
"What - no, I mean, it's math! Not English. Hey, where are you going?"
Izuku ran. It was not his best moment, but Smokescreen was pretty harmless, and the corridor's window was already open, so he had been more concerned with saving his own face and escaping Kacchan. He also really needed to get a grip on this thing. This time he had been well rested, but clearly distracted enough that he had accidentally released one of his quirks again. This was bad. This was terrible, because he tended to get distracted a lot. Watching movies, studying, training, sometimes his mind just wandered, and if he could not even keep track of his quirks, what kind of hero was he going to be?
All Might. Maybe this had happened to him too, of course not with all these new quirks, but his main one, maybe he knew what was going on.
"Ah, I would say it is nothing to worry about, Young Midoriya. It only happened three times, right?"
"Two," Izuku corrected, rotating the warm cup of tea between his fingers.
All Might chuckled gently, standing up to refill Izuku's cup. "It happens to the best of us. I have heard your friend Mina had melted a hole through her desk once, because of a sneeze. It is why you are here to train, and not already out there."
"But we are in our last year, I am supposed to be - this is supposed to be my quirk."
"It is. Young heroes make mistakes, older heroes too. And don't forget that you already have experience, Midoriya. Much more than any other hero I have met. You have an excellent control of your quirks, all of them."
Izuku hummed, lips pressing together in disappointment. He supposed this could be a fluke, small accidents he had worried too much about. It had only happened twice, and after all most of his quirks were tactically oriented, more than offense. There was no way for him to use Gearshift, anymore, so the only one he might have to worry about was Black Whip. And -
A sharp cold ringing burst into his head. It was brief, but so familiar that it was impossible to misinterpret, even if he had not felt it in months.
Izuku straightened up, turning to look at the door of All Might's office.
"What is it?"
"I think... Nothing, sorry, I have to go. All Might! Thank you for the tea!" Izuku carefully put the cup back onto the table, trying to wave while hurrying out of the door. "Thanks for the advice!" he added, running into the corridor.
Danger sense was still ringing, unhelpfully letting him know that there was something wrong.
Kacchan - it had to be Kacchan, he could feel it, he could -
Izuku turned the corner, almost crashing into Iida, who had been on his way to class.
"Midoriya, please, do not run in the corridor. You are going to give a bad example to the first year students."
"Sorry," Izuku mumbled out, eyes scanning the doors in front of them, the windows, the entry to their class. Everyone seemed calm, his friends were laughing, keeping their voices hushed and low. Shouto was leaning against the doorway of class 3A, clearly waiting for Katsuki to follow him inside.
Katsuki was unharmed, standing tall, an annoyed frown on his face while he listened to a girl. Izuku had no idea who she was, maybe a second year, or maybe someone from the general studies. She was smiling, eyes jumping up to look at Kacchan's face, before falling down again. Her long dark hair hid most of her face, but she seemed nervous, fidgeting on the spot, holding a package wrapped in red tight against her chest.
Danger sense spiked up again, and Izuku wondered if maybe that small box was a bomb? Was she giving a bomb to Kacchan?
"I would have never expected Bakugou to actually get a Valentine chocolate," Jirou commented, and Izuku flinched, not having realized she had joined them. "Didn't you say he never really got any chocolate before, Midoriya?"
"Yeah, he never did," Izuku agreed. He had forgotten it was the 14th already. He supposed he could look forward to the girls sharing some cake with them that night, but why had Danger sense activated? It was still there, a low hum now, but he could feel it fading away at every new wrinkle that appeared on Kacchan's annoyed face. Not even the scarring on his right side could hide the angrier tilt of his eyebrows.
"Oi, get to the point," Kacchan barked, and the girl shoved her red box against his chest.
"I think you were amazing at the last Sport Festival!" she yelled, almost bowing, eyes squeezed shut.
Izuku squeaked, a small panicked sound, when he felt the sliding familiar warm feeling of Black Whip coming out of his wrist. He quickly crossed his arms, pressing his hands against his ribs, teeth gritting. No, no, no, not now.
"Uh? So you want to train, or something? Is this some kind of bribe?" Katsuki replied, looking down at the box, before grabbing it and shaking it in his hands. There was a small rattling sound.
"N-no!"
Izuku felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl. Being subjected to Kacchan's convoluted reasonings could be daunting. Not everyone spoke “Kacchan” language.
"You think you can bribe me?!"
"What? It's not a bribe!"
Katsuki moved the chocolate right back into the girl's chest. "I will train with you only if you actually get to defeat Sero in a one vs one. Then we'll talk!" And with that he turned around and stomped back to class.
Shouto, who was still at the door, smiled at the girl. "I can help you train too, if you want. I am actually meeting with Sero this afternoon, his quirk is tape. Are you a first year?"
"What does training have to do with this!"
Shouto cocked his head on the side, confused, as the girl stormed away.
"Well, that was unfortunate, but I am not surprised. After all, we all know-" Iida stopped, mid-sentence, his hand moving to craddle his chin. Izuku looked up at him, waiting for him to continue, but his friend just stared at him.
"What?"
"Nothing, Midoriya, nothing. We should get to class, it is always best to be already situated in our seats before the teacher comes in, to better be prepared to start the day!"
Izuku might have been blindsided by the way his quirks had decided to act on their own accord, but he was nothing if not meticulous in his analysis. It did not take him long to realize that it was always about Kacchan.
Nothing really had changed, hadn’t it?
More importantly, it was about his own feelings for Kacchan. Fa Jin, all to impress him, Smokescreen because he had thought someone else was looking at a half naked Kacchan (which was ridiculous! They all changed together after every training!), Danger sense had probably been his most embarrassing moment yet. The idea that it could have spiked up because of some Valentine chocolate was mortifying. And just the day before, Izuku had accidentally activated Float when he had seen Kacchan returning from his morning run. Kacchan had walked into the common room, clearly directed upstairs, but had stopped as soon as he had spotted him, changing his trajectory almost immediately to come and greet him.
Izuku was absolutely ecstatic that their relationship had grown to that point, but why had Kacchan needed to pour the whole of his water bottle on his own head? Izuku had gawked, speechless, as the other had simply said "Why are you eating that shit? Pancakes are not good for you," and then had thrown the water on himself, barely breaking eye contact. Maybe that had been some kind of threat, but Izuku's brain had simply zoned in the wet hair, the way his shirt had stuck to his skin, and before he had even realized it, he had been floating to the ceiling, and had almost electrocuted himself on the room’s lamp.
He had spent the rest of the day avoiding Kacchan, hiding in his room, waiting to go to sleep and forget the whole ordeal.
And now that he could finally close his eyes and dream, he was falling into the smoke, into the warmth familiarity of the throne room. Deep in sleep, he realized with a pang of nostalgy that now that All for One was defeated, he rarely spoke and encountered the previous users.
"You sly dog, I saw Black Whip starting to act!" Banjo laughed, slapping Izuku's back with far too much force.
"He has always been a very strong trigger for you," Nana reminded him. "He was the reason Black Whip unlocked first. All those times you had lost control of your quirks, he had been in danger."
"What I feel for Kacchan is not new," Izuku admitted, sitting on the ground, cross legged. It still felt strange to be able to move so freely in that realm, like an old memory. "It has always been with me, and it had always seemed impossible to define, because Kacchan is Kacchan. He is just - he is. He is there, and he is mine. Not in a bad way," he quickly added, shaking his head when Third User raised an eyebrow at his phrasing. "In a - just how it is. He is a part of me. He could decide to marry Kirishima, and he would always be a part of me. It hurts."
Hikage sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I can't help you with such a problem, but I can tell you that hiding your feelings won't help either. Accept them, accept your fears, that is where real control lies in."
Izuku looked down at his hands. He knew that. Of course he did. He had run from his fear for so long, since he had seen Dabi close his hand around Kacchan's neck, since the blood - since he had seen kacchan's body - "I can't lose him."
En raised an eyebow, while Nana nodded. "You don't want to lose him, it is only natural."
"No. I can't."
Izuku squared his shoulders, ready to defend his point, but none of the vestiges spoke. Yoichi turned to look at the Second User, his eyebrows raised. Maybe a question, maybe a demand, Izuku was not sure, but the other simply snorted, staring into the distance.
“I just need to have better control.”
Nana shook her head. "I know you are scared, but accepting him as your weakness is not a bad thing. What I did, when I left my family, I did it out of love. You are thinking the same, you have done the same, trying to distance yourself from your own feelings, hoping they will disappear, and that you will be able to have no weaknesses. Sadly, life does not work as such. But just know that what you sacrificed, the pain you went through, was also to create a world where you could breath more freely."
Izuku pressed his face between his own hands. It was in times like this that his mind liked to play tricks on him, blood running red on the ground, Kacchan’s eyes still open. He had been his weakness already, and look at what had happened. And at the same time, his chest hurt so much that he could barely breath, like some spark was trying to explode in him. He needed to contain it, because if he did not, then he would roll into a descent of hopes. The hope that he could get even closer to Kacchan. All for One was defeated, Kacchan was capable, he trusted Kacchan, they could keep each other safe -
"What if he hates me? If I tell him this, what if I disgust him. He needs me as much as I need him, I think. We are better together. We are stronger together."
Banjo snorted, a hand hitting the arm of his chair. "As if, are we pretending we did not-"
Hikage turned to slap him in the head.
"What he is trying to say," Yoichi interveened. "Is that we cannot pretend to know how to run your life. But we also believe the bond between you two is strong."
Banjo scoffed. "Should have said something first time Black Whip jumped out," he mumbled, with a sullen look on his face.
Izuku had never had an easy time dealing with his feelings about Bakugou Katsuki. Kacchan had been such a constant in his life, even during the worst time of their relationship, that when it came to analyzing what he felt, everything was tangled together, memories, regret, longing. He was not an idiot, he knew he was in love, he also knew it was something solid, rooted deep down into his heart, not a flimsy passing of a crush. The real problem was accepting that there was the possibility that he could lose Kacchan.
He loved him, and Kacchan was human. Kacchan could die, or be targeted, or they could drift apart. The thought was unbearable, it made him want to curl up in a ball, hide under the blankets. It seemed such an unreal possibility. And what did it even mean “accept your feelings”? Just think about them? Like this? While drinking Momo’s ginger tea to not feel nauseous?
He had tried accepting his feelings all week. He had sat behind Kacchan in class, imagining how it could feel to never see him again. He had eaten at lunch with his friends and when Kacchan had decided to sit right beside him, accidentally pressed against him because of the crowded cafeteria, Izuku had tried to picture giving him one last hug.
He did not even know if this was the correct way to go about this, but he supposed he had accomplished one small thing. Since meeting with the Vestiges he had also started to try and express his feelings aloud, just to himself.
Even that morning, before getting dressed for his Saturday training session, he walked in front of his mirror, stared at his own reflection, squared his shoulders and declared: “I am in love Kacchan.” He had never really said it out loud, only in his dreams. A shiver run through him. It did not feel monumental, but all the self help websites he had browsed last night said it would help.
“I am in love with Kacchan, and it’s okay. We are both humans, things can go wrong, I can’t control everything,” he repeated, sitting on his bed, feet shuffling on the floor against his carpet. He was ready for training, but Kacchan was a bit late.
Oh well, Izuku knew where the gym was.
“What the hell are you doing here? You are benched, Deku! I told you to go to sleep!”
“You told me to ‘close my eyes or die’, Kacchan!” Izuku protested. He had walked up to their booked gym, surprised to find his friend and Todoroki already in the middle of sparring. No quirks, and apparently they had been at it for at least a few minutes, enough that Shouto had already taken off his gym suit’s jacket, and Kacchan’s hair was slicked to his forehead.
“Yes, exactly!” Katsuki growled at him, pointing an accusing finger. “Go to sleep!”
“What! Why?” Izuku blurted out, pressing his gym bag against the chest, as if afraid Kacchan was going to steal it and throw it out of the gym.
Shouto walked up to him, “Recovery Girl said she healed your fracture from this morning’s patrol. Is your ankle okay?”
“I am okay! I can train! I already took a nap, I don’t feel that tired.”
Katsuki grumbled something between his teeth, shoulders hunched, his gym uniform thigh between them –
“Oh, Kacchan, you are wearing the school gym clothes now,” Izuku noticed. “I thought you said they felt too constricting.” Kacchan had the tendency to go Plus Ultra with absolutely everything, so even during their extra training he had started wearing the thigh black shirt of his costume, this way he could also train his mind to the feel of it, given it was, well, his costume.
Shouto raised an eyebrow, turning to look at their friend. “Well, his hero costume is flattering, but you were not here, Izuku, so I don’t think he packed it. Do you want to change, Bakugou?”
Izuku laughed weakly, slowly unzipping his bag. He was not sure if Shouto meant to tease him for a crush that surely was way too obvious or if he had wanted to compliment their friend. The latter tasted bitter, but warm at the same time, a reassurance that if something happened and Kacchan really ended up leaving him behind, then Izuku could find comfort in the idea that he was surrounded by good people, people who cared about him.
“You better sit down, Deku,” Kacchan barked. He was now just a couple of steps away from him, and Izuku pressed his lips together, with an annoyed frown plastered on his face. “Don’t pout at me, you pea sized brained rabbit. Sit down.”
“You could take notes, help us with our tecnique. I heard Bakugou really want to learn about tecniques. Many tecniques that involve you, or so Kaminari had said.”
That was enough to make Kacchan grab one of the discarded 2kg weights and throw it at Shouto.
Izuku sullenly looked at his bottle of water and wrist weights, peeking out of the bag. Taking notes would not be too bad. And he did feel tired, his ankle was still a bit stiff. Even if his broken bone had been healed quite easily, the muscle around it ached with use. He also did not want to slow down Kacchan and Shouto, mess up their training too.
“But I am training tomorrow,” Izuku declared, grabbing his notebook and a pen instead of his headband. That was enough to satisfy Katsuki, who snorted with the sure confidence of someone who always won.
“Eyes on me, Deku,” Katsuki reminded him, returning to the center of the training mat.
Right. At least he could study their forms, add some tips, maybe even get ready for their next training together.
When Todoroki and Katsuki started circling around each other, clearly intent on a simple wrestling match, Izuku begun to annotate. It was a familiar feeling, being able to look at Katsuki Bakugou moving and fighting like he was born for it. Izuku knew that the same thought must have crossed many of his adversaries, over the years at AU. Katsuki Bakugou was made to fight. And yet, Izuku had seen him cook and laugh, and cry - he wondered if other people realized how much Kacchan had in him.
The next time Izuku looked up from his notes, he immediately noticed that Kacchan had donned his gym jacket, and was now just wearing just a plain black t-shirt.
Oh god. Izuku was a horrible person. Here was Kacchan trying to become the best possible hero he could, and instead Izuku was getting distracted by his arms. What kind of person got distracted by arms? Was that some kind of unhealthy kink?
“Taking notes, Kacchan, I promise,” he squeaked out, head falling once more, eyes fixed on his half empty page. He needed to get it together.
Think about something bad – Mineta’s arms!
Oh no, now he felt guilty for having insulted his friend!
With a groan, Izuku started writing furiously. Tecniques. More tecniques. Kacchan’s quirk always required a longer time to activate, so he would benefit from covering up more. Yes. And holds – holds that could stop his opponents, get them close so smaller explosions could do their job, when there was no time to build up enough sweat from something bigger.
Pen scratching on pages and pages, Izuku felt himself finally relax, mind successfully reigned in together with his favourite topic. Todoroki’s quirk did not require activation, but he worked best when he managed to keep his distance. He was not as fast as others, but he was a powerful combatant.
He was in the middle of writing down possible choking tecniques, when he noticed that the gym had fell into silence if not for some hushed hurried whispers. The sounds of the bodies slamming onto the mat had quieted down, and Izuku looked up from his notes.
Katsuki and Todoroki were almost chest to chest, the blond poking his finger against the other’s sternum, angry hushed words difficult to distinguish between the gritting of his teeth.
“Do it.” Izuku could hear. And something that sounded like “now” or “slow”.
“What? Isn’t he – “
Izuku fidgeted, a bit uncomfortable at the sight of Katsuki grabbing Todoroki’s shirt and shaking him around.
“Okay, okay,” Shouto nodded, and Izuku gaped at the way he grabbed Kacchan’s shirt back, made the weakest attempt he had ever seen at throwing their friend onto the ground, and then pulled the cloth, while activating his quirk. The sound of ice crackling between the two made Izuku jump up, but apparently Todoroki had only managed to ice the front of Kacchan’s clothing.
Shouto looked down at the now half solidified black shirt: “Oh no.” His voice sounded so flat that Izuku had to actually look around to check that Shinsou had not somehow brainwashed him from some hiding place behind the weights. “I am so sorry, Bakugou. I froze off your shirt, you caught me off guard during our training. What will you do now?”
“Shut up, I swear to god, shut the fuck up!” The insults were almost whispered, but Shouto faced no dire consequences, as Katsuki turned around and, instead, walked towards Izuku. “Oi, give me one of your shirts.”
Izuku froze. Kacchan was already discarding the half frozen garment, while advancing. To get Izuku’s shirt. To wear.
He wanted his shirt.
Sure, Kacchan, Izuku opened his mouth to say, but his words died in his chest when black tendrils shot forward, quickly closing the distance between them. They wrapped around the other’s waist, one of them coming up to swirl behind his back, cradling one of his shoulders.
“I-“ Izuku started, and then watched in horror as Black Whip started pulling Kacchan towards him like he was horniest magnet on Earth.
It was only when Kacchan digged his heels into the ground, a look of surprise and alarm at begging dragged forward with far too much speed, that Izuku covered his face with his hands, trying to will his quirk to stop.
He could hear the scuffle of someone being dragged, and then almost falling, Kacchan’s breath now far too close.
“Uh,” Izuku gasped, voice chocked and squeaky with alarm, slowly peeking through his fingers, up at a bewildered Kacchan, just a few inches away from him.
“Ah?!”
“Oh,” Shouto whispered.
Deku had run. Abandoning notebook and bag, he had stumbled off the bench, unable to look away from Kacchan’s wideneded eyes.
What if he had scared him – the thought was too monumental to even consider. He could lie to himself and decide that Kacchan was scared of nothing, but he knew that if there was someone in the world who had to act carefully, who knew how fragile Kacchan’s fear could be, it was him.
“Sorry,” he had whispered, running away, doors of the gym slamming behind him. He had moved to turn to the dormitories, but not been ready to face anyone, he instead had made his way to the running track. Finding refuge behind the trees, he had then heavily sat on the dusty ground, back against the water fountains.
What was the worst case scenario here? That Kacchan could find out about his feelings? That Kacchan could think there was something going on with One for All?
The first. Yes, definitely the first.
Izuku needed to get a grip on this quirk of his, but apparently his daily mirror-truth reveals had not been enough. Maybe it was time for him to come clean, accept defeat, gracefully step aside instead of letting any form of hope ruin things even further.
Maybe –
There was a crack. The sound of a tree’s branch breaking at the thunder of an explosion was all the warning Izuku got before Katsuki heavily landed in front of him. He had leaves in his hair, eyebrows furrowed in a furious expression. One of his hands was still popping, but as a small mercy he had decided to wear his gym jacket once more.
“You.”
Izuku scrambled up, hands raising in front of him. “Kacchan, I can explain. And you might be angry, at least a little bit, but our friendship had gone through so much that I t-think we can whistand even this.” Izuku gasped in a quick breath, realizing he had forgotten to pause between words. “Just allow me to – to explain –”
“This is fucking stupid! It is all Dunce Face’s fault!”
“Uh, what?”
“I am done. That’s it. You’re done. You better prepare yourself, Deku.”
“I am – prepared?”
Katsuki straightened, boots digging into the dirt when he curled over, legs already positioning in a fighting stance. “Good. Because I am done with this half ass wishy washy shit. This is between you and me, so enough with these dumb ideas.”
Izuku cleared his throat, wondering if he should start activating One for All or wait till Kacchan’s monologue was over. The other seemed mad, his face completely red, but his eyebrows were not as furrowed as usual, his shoulders not relaxed into combat, but tightened up in a protective manner.
“I am seducing you.”
Izuku blinked. Once, twice, eyes fixed on Katsuki’s reddening face. There was no sudden laugh, no clown jumping out of the bushes, no sudden correction, not even a movement. Katsuki had spoken the words and then had stopped, all but determination settled in his stance.
“You are seducing me,” Izuku repeated, carefully enunciating the words as if they had never encountered them before. “You are seducing me – wait, is that why you kept knocing at my door without a shirt on?”
“Ha! You caught up on that, uh, Deku?”
He really had not caught up on that, to be fair, but Izuku decided to wisely not comment on it.
“It is just the start, Deku! This is just the beginning. You won’t know what hit you!”
“But there is no need, I do. I want – I like you too!”
“You ungrateful little nerd, do you think I don’t see right through you? You think I can’t do better than this?” And with that, Katsuki’s hands immediately moved to the zipper of his gym jacket. Izuku had thought the other had actually found a clean shirt, but the more the zipper revealed, the more he noticed that Kacchan was still shirtless.
He quiclly grabbed the zip, wrestling it out of Katsuki’s hand, to stop it from uncovering even more. “No no, I feel seduced!”
“Liar!”
“I am seduced. You seduced me! You did it, Kacchan!”
Katsuki’s eyes squinting in suspicion, and he looked so absolutely ridiculously beautiful that Izuku could feel a laugh starting to bubble in his chest, out of relief, or maybe disbelief. The small giggle that escaped him was enough to make Katsuki freeze up, and Izuku gasped, quickly breathing in any sudden humor. This was important, this was something fragile. He could see it in the way Kacchan’s face was closing off, the jumping movement of his clentched jaw. Izuku had to be careful, and he could. If it meant he could hold Kacchan close for his whole life, he could be gentle and careful.
“You did it, but you didn’t need to, Kacchan. I liked you way before you liked me, I think.”
“Don’t mock me,” Katsuki warned him.
“I am not. And I didn’t lie, I did feel very seduced, I was just worried that I was – objectifying you, and you would notice, and hate me, but you don’t need to seduce me at all. I have been – can I stop using that word? I love you. I have been in love with you for so long.”
Izuku had repeated those very words in front of his mirror, looking at his own hesitant resigned face, and he had not been ready to meet disbelief, surprise. But that was he could read on Katsuki’s mouth, the lips half parted, the hesitation.
“I have been terrified about the chance that I could drive you away. Please, never leave me, Kacchan,” Izuku added, taking a step forward.
“Who said I would leave, uh? You think you can make me leave? You don’t leave, then, De- Izuku.”
"Oh, okay, I won't!" Izuku smiled, "I won't leave you!"
As expected, Katsuki stomped one of his foot, a growl escaping him. "No, I won't leave you!" he declared, and the predictability of his reaction was enough to make Izuku's eyes tear up. This was still Kacchan, he was okay. They probably both were.
"Why are you crying?" Katsuki wondered, after a small pause, voice calmer than it had been the whole day.
Izuku pressed a sleeve against his face, trying to stop the tears, or maybe just hide a little while his mind caught up with what had happened. "I am happy. I am so relieved. I am happy, Kacchan. And you can wear my shirt, all my shirts." They were going to stay together - they were together, weren't they? This was really happening. They could talk about quirks, and movies, and train, and kiss. "I am going to kiss you, Kacchan."
Before Katsuki could answer, Izuku jumped forward, both arms wrapping around the other's waist, pulling him up, squeezing him in a clumsy, awkward hug. "Oi, put me down! This doesn't look like a kiss to me!"