Archive of Our Own ^beta

Katsuki wouldn’t use the word nosy to describe himself. 

He was a certain kind of nosy, that much he could admit, but he preferred to think of it as curiosity that happened to be particularly settled in on other people's business. So no, nosy wasn’t the word he would use. Curious was more like it. 

Besides, in his mind, curiosity and nosiness kind of went hand in hand, and he liked one of the terms much more than the other. In turn, he would obviously use that term if the implication of the other was already there. If it wasn’t then curious made him sound less like a…well, creep. 

So he wasn’t nosy.

If he happened to be going out of his way to try and get a peek at the little notes containing hints of this mysterious person that Todoroki admired and had left in his own notebooks, it was all because he was simply curious about it. He was trying to look out for him one way or the other.

Technically speaking it was also part of his business already, given he had gotten to borrow one of his notebooks and had simply spotted the little, really bad, doodle of something in one of the corners with a bunch of sappy things written around. 

It took him about five minutes to realize the thing he had drawn was not a pufferfish (which in itself had taken him ten minutes to even get to) and was in fact a human being that he seemed to know. Once he figured that out, the rest of the things- the sap- made more sense. 

Looked really good today.

Pretty hair.

Really nice eyes.

The list kind of went on like that. Hence the concern he had felt when he thought the thing he was talking about was a fish. Especially the hair part. He wasn’t sure what kind of freaky pufferfish the guy had seen in his lifetime but he sure as hell had never seen anything like that and the old hag had brought him to just about every aquarium in the country. 

In hindsight, it could have been some person with a pufferfish quirk. Hell, he had seen half-cat people and he personally knew two bird-like people,  why would pufferfish be any different? 

“I need to borrow your notes” he demanded, his investigation starting just like that.

It had technically started way before that but he didn’t really get anything trying to sneak glances over his shoulder. It was impossible to sneak up on the guy anyway. Or at least for Katsuki. It was like he had an alarm system set up for him and any time he got within two meters, his head would whip around and just stare at him. Sometimes almost expectantly. Like he wanted Katsuki to talk to him, which honestly wasn’t a new thing since he declared that they were best friends constantly. Somehow. Katsuki…-

-well, Katsuki didn’t actually mind and it didn’t take a genius to realize he sorta had a soft spot for the guy. He wouldn’t openly admit to it with… words but he had always been more of an action sort of guy anyway and his action gave him away easily. 

If the idiots (friends he adored) could catch up on it, he was pretty sure he was being as obvious as could be and it would only be a matter of time before others, closer to Todoroki and less threatened by him, would catch up too. If they knew, he would know, and he would be a complete menace about it. The best friend talk would double, or triple even. 

Still, maybe that also contributed to his curiosity. The guy was his friend and…he did want the best for his friends even if he wasn’t the best at saying it. Which led him to the question of, how could he know what was best for them if he didn’t know the whole story?

It was all justified and wasn’t snooping (to him anyway) so it wasn’t wrong.

There were three things he knew about his notebooks.

One: He kept a different one for each different subject, which was a pretty common and smart thing though it also happened to work against every little bit of Katsukis plan. In short, he would have to borrow all of them to really get to see his little doodles and notes. Also, there was the little side-quest of his to see just how long this little admiration of his had been going on. Maybe he’d find a name of the pufferfish if he went far enough back.

Two: Todoroki didn’t mind lending him the books thank god, but he was good at asking questions that Katsuki didn’t want to answer. Also, he was surrounded by people who liked to do the same thing too. He could already see the look on Izuku’s face, calculating all sorts of things he didn’t need to hear. 

Three: He had newer books in some subjects, especially those that required more note-taking, so he would have to find a way to subtly borrow all of them. What was the difference between this point and the first point? There wasn’t one, but he really needed to feel like he knew something so he split them up. 

“My notes?” the guy questioned, tilting his head a bit and there was the fucking cat in him again. “Sure” he then said, turning away and staring at the front of his notebook for about three seconds before he looked back at Katsuki. “Which notes?” he asked. 

“English,”

English happened to be the oldest of the notebooks. Or at least he thought it was. It looked the part anyway, so he figured that was a good place to start.

It didn’t make him obsessed. Just observant.

“I left them in the dorms,” Todoroki replied, a small grimace appearing on his face like he himself was annoyed by the fact that he had left them behind, and all for Katsuki's sake. It made him feel slightly special if he was being honest and it put him on some sort of high. “I can give them to you after school. If…you’re not doing anything?”

“You can borrow my notes if it’s urgent, Kacchan” 

“And read through twenty pages of things the teacher didn’t even say? I’ll pass, thanks” he replied. Even if it was any other time, he knew better than to borrow the notes from him. Sure they were informative and thorough was also another word, but it was less like reading notes and more like reading a textbook. Todoroki knew how to keep it simple, so other than getting to know who this pufferfish was, he also got the chance to revise a little. “I got sparring sessions with Kirishima today after school but I’ll drop by sometime after that” he declared. Todoroki only nodded, and if he squinted a bit, there was a small smile there too. 

Taking that as a victory, because it was considering he didn’t get bombed by questions or Izuku's giant notebooks, he said a quick bye before turning and heading back to his desk.

If he was being honest, it could have gone worse.

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

The sparring session could not have ended any earlier. 

It wasn’t that he didn't like sparring with the redhead but…sparring when he had a mission to get through, one that was life or death almost (it wasn’t) wasn’t a good combination. 

“You good, man?” the guy asked at some point when he had Katsuki pinned and he cursed himself for even making him wonder if he was alright or not. Kirishima did deserve a fair fight and if he had his head in the clouds, daydreaming about detectiving the hell out of who the stranger was, he wasn’t giving it his all. 

“Yeah, yeah- don’t take these victories for granted bastard. Come at me again” he declared and that was the end of that. 

Once it was over, he sprinted to the showers, quickly getting himself clean enough before rushing back out again. He answered about zero of the thousands of questions hurled his way by his training partner of the night. Eventually though, in a very Kirishima-like manner, he only laughed at his hurry and told him not to trip on his way out. 

He was gonna have to make him some sort of dinner for that and his patience for the night but he would have to let future him deal with that one as current him was a little too busy focusing on solving the mystery at hand. 

The door- Todorokis door - opened before he got to the second set of knocks.

It had been a while since they all moved into the same building, seeing each other for more hours than those in school and all of that, but Katsuki still never got used to how the guy looked in his casual clothes. 

They fit him well. 

Almost too well.

So well that his mom had even brought up maybe bringing him in to model some of the similar types of clothes for their own brands and had asked Katsuki to ask him for her. He hadn’t because he didn’t even know how to bring that up in a conversation, and instead told her to go ask him herself. 

“Ah- Bakugou” he greeted, his joggers matched with a plain t-shirt of merch for some cat youtube channel he recognized only because he got about ten videos sent to him per day. It all made him look like he was glowing somehow. It was weird. Like he had some sort of lame superpower (or third quirk) to just look good in anything he wore. It was…almost unfair. “Do you like my shirt?” he then asked and Katsuki must have been caught staring. 

“No,” he replied. Still, the stars Todoroki got in his eyes when he talked about the cats, or any cat really, stayed. He didn’t really want it to vanish, to be honest so he was inwardly very happy that it stayed. “Blue suits you better” he muttered instead even if the bright pink made him look nice too. He then paused as the conversation had not gone at all the way he thought it would have. “Why are we talking about this?” he then mumbled, shaking his head a bit to himself in disbelief that this was all happening.

“You were staring at my shirt” 

“I was not staring. I was just shocked that a pink cloud emerged in your place” he huffed back at him.

There was a bit of pride swelling in him when he saw how the other smiled at him again. Wider this time than in the classroom. At the same time, there was something off about him. Something in his chest felt like it was bubbling. It was the only way he could describe the feeling somewhat accurately. 

“They didn’t have blue in my size and this was a limited edition”

“I keep telling you, this is a crime against fashion, limited or not,” he said. He didn’t believe it of course but he wasn’t going to let Todoroki eat him alive either. The merch team had done a surprisingly good job. Everything from the quality to the eight cats that were displayed on it had nice details to them. “They should have sponsored you at this rate. No eyes would manage to miss it and if pretty boy wears it, it’ll be a trend by tomorrow morning” he mumbled, eyeing the shirt again. 

“You don’t have to keep looking at it, Bakugou”

“How can I not? It’s reflecting the fucking sun and shining hell right into my eyes”

“You don’t hate it though”

“‘ You don’t hate it though ’- just shut up and give me the notes”

Todoroki smiled at him again. The bubbling worsened and he forced himself to look away. It did help though now the memory was on loop in his head, and that he couldn’t really turn away from. 

Lucky for him though, Todoroki stepped away from the door, disappearing into his still very Japanese and organized room which gave him that to think about instead. He peeked inside, watching as the other flipped through a small stack of notebooks he had resting on the floor by his desk. Probably all the notes he had.

Katsuki would have to get his hands on those somehow. 

“How many classes were you looking for?” he heard from inside and he elbowed the door open a little more. 

“Uh- just…a couple. Wanna make sure I haven’t missed anything”

That seemed to be at least a decent excuse. 

“From the first class of the year?”

“Sure. If you got it”

This was working out better than he thought.

Todoroki came back with two books. One bright blue one and one smaller, mustard yellow one with a sticker on it. A cat sticker. One he probably got from Eri who got it from Mr.Aizawa.

“The smaller one has the grammatical rules written into them from class. So if anything is unclear you can just turn to them instead” he said, handing them over and completely clueless about Katsuki's true intentions. Still, if he compared their notes, his lie wouldn’t technically be a lie. “I’ve dated everything too so you shouldn’t have a problem finding it”

“Yeah. Thanks” he replied, resisting the urge to flip through and check the edges for more doodles. “I’ll get them back to you by tomorrow,” he said. 

“You can keep them until we have English again”

“I’m not that slow”

That smile. Again. Bubbles.

“No, I guess you’re not. But it's better to not rush. I don’t need them for now anyway”

“Maybe I’ll just keep them forever then since you’re so smart” he replied before rolling his eyes at him though felt the edge of his lips twitch upwards which was probably his cue to leave. His eyes went to the books again, deciding to focus on those before he took a step back. “See you tomorrow then,” he said, glancing at him before he turned to head for the elevator that was still on the floor.

Todoroki only hummed in response again. Then he added a little wave.

“See you”

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

Katsuki didn’t let a second go to waste once he was in the security of his own room. Not that anyone would question why he was going through someone else's notes, but he didn’t want to take any chances. 

First, he flicked through the pages doing so relatively quickly to just see if there was anything in there at all that would be of interest to him. He did tell himself before to not get his hopes up just in case, though when he found that the doodling had apparently not been a one-time thing, he felt a little bit relieved if anything. 

That being said, there weren’t as many doodles as he had hoped, but there were still enough for him to still be satisfied with his findings. They all looked vaguely the same though for most of them, the pufferfish did get human arms and legs and a neck. It looked like Tokoyami if he was a fish…instead of a bird. 

While the doodles still didn’t help him all that much, the little notes that Todoroki had left behind sure did. There were a lot more of those spread throughout the book though he quickly found out that not all of them had anything to do with the mysterious pufferfish. 

No, some of them were actual side notes to class. Little reminders of what went where and little rules that he probably wrote down for himself during one of Present Mics presentations where he went more freestyle and added information that he remembered on the spot. 

He did go through most of them so the revision was beyond set.

As he continued to flick through the pages, there were a few moments where he had to pause and simply stare at the notebook in slight awe.

Strong , Todoroki had written under another poorly illustrated drawing of the pufferfish person though next to them there was him. Again, very poorly illustrated but the half-and-half hair sort of gave it away. In this particular piece though, there were things scribbled out. 

Mainly the pufferfish's clothes. 

Or maybe the guy had gotten a little too excited and drawn something he shouldn’t have and in a moment of clarity had the decency to scribble it out. 

That thought was actually sort of funny to him. 

He smiled at me today. He has a pretty smile. 

That one also made him pause momentarily. Whoever this pufferfish guy was, seriously had him whipped if he was daydreaming in class enough to write something like that. Katsuki entertained the thought of maybe gifting the guy a whiteout pen instead so he didn’t have to keep scratching out things he wrote. 

It was…sort of cute. That and the doodles he did for this guy.

Again though, something felt off. This time it wasn’t the bubbling feeling, no. It was…it was something different settling in his chest. 

It wasn’t pain. He knew what that felt like and this was a dull ache at most. He didn’t like it much. Honestly, he preferred the bubbling in his chest instead, whatever that meant. At least then he didn’t feel sort of insane.

He decided to shove it off and refocused his mind on the notes and doodles and getting whatever information he needed to make an educated guess at whoever this guy was. 

All he got from it so far was that Todoroki thought he was pretty. And strong. And nice. 

And that just reset that ache again.

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

He did get through more notebooks eventually.

There was a pattern to them, he realized at some point. Todoroki would doodle more in the classes they had in the mornings than those in the afternoons which was honestly fair since Katsuki did occasionally feel like nodding off too. He never did but the thought had been there more than once. 

A month into it all, he had gotten through most of the subjects and had borrowed more notes than he had ever thought he would in his entire life. 

While Todoroki didn’t think much about it apparently, as he was always more than willing to share with him, certain other members of the class weren’t so forgiving. Certain other members being Izuku and Uraraka, both eyeing him with great care every time he handed one of the books back and would receive one in return. 

They never asked what he was doing or why he was so determined to get his hands on one of Todoroki's books, but the books gave more away than their words ever would. They were curious for one, amused, possibly disturbed. Still, they never asked him a single question.

He sort of wished the others who had found out would adopt the same sort of attitude. 

“Have you really missed that many classes?” Kaminari questioned, the grin wide on his face. 

“Hah?”

“I mean- you’re like constantly over there getting notes,” he said, gesturing to Todoroki's empty spot. They were probably out getting snacks or drinks from the vending machine or something. “Or-...are you maybe getting something else?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. He wasn’t even sure what he was referring to but…with that look, it couldn’t possibly be good. 

“Are you in trouble or something?” Kirishima added to the questions. He had the decency to at least look a little concerned. 

“No, I-...what sort of trouble would I be in with him?” he huffed at them, shaking his head again as his quick way of saying ‘change the topic before I throw you out the window’. “Some of us study. If I’m gonna be number one I gotta put work into it” he huffed next. 

“Hey- we try !” Mina whined at him. Actually whined. “It’s not our fault you’re a certified genius and tests hate us or something” she mumbled, pouting at him like she always did when they were trying to lure him into tutoring them. He always did of course but made sure the drinks he ordered at the cafes they went to were on them. 

“You’re just dumb” he replied, getting up from his seat. “And I’m also smart enough not to have this conversation again . Go get your drama elsewhere” he huffed at them, waving the whole thing off with his hand. 

“Where are you going, bro?” 

“Out”

“Out where?”

“Vending Machine”

“Oh get us something on your way back!” 

“No,” he said though, like every single other time, he would, already having their preferences memorized. It wasn’t really that hard. Mina wanted any iced coffee, Kaminari wanted some sort of energy drink, Sero would drink whatever, and Kiri would drink protein drinks. 

It didn’t take long for him to get there and as he previously had guessed, Todorokis' little group was surrounding the machine, chatting away and all he could do was get in line and wait.

He waited for a minute or two until eventually, he cleared his throat and the group turned to him. Their eyes were comically large before they each scattered so he had a clear way to the thing and he put his coins in without a word. 

Or he did until he turned a little to the side and noticed an empty-handed Todoroki. 

“Where’s your drink?” he asked the dual-haired male standing closest to it, ignoring the hushed whispers behind them. And then he ignored the steps that seemed to be slowly backing away. 

“Todoroki, we’ll wait for you in class!” Uraraka said, sounding beyond amused as pretty boy himself turned to look their way in slight confusion though nodded along anyway. 

“Alright,” he said before his attention was back on Katsuki. The bubbling happened again though by now he had learned how to ignore it if anything and he put his focus back on the machine in front of him and the drinks of choice. “I forgot my coins, '' he replied with a shrug. He was also eyeing the selection. 

Katsuki didn’t really need to hear anything else, quickly selecting C3 and watching as the strawberry milk that the guy was always sucking on, get picked out by the machine and delivered to the opening. 

“I didn’t know you liked it too,” the other said, just staring as the little door opened.

“I don’t. It’s for you”

“For me?” he asked and he sounded genuinely shocked about it. “You don’t have to get it for me, Midoriya offered and I refused”

“Yeah well too late. If you don’t take it, it’ll just be a waste” he said with a shrug, picking up the thing for him, that princess-like guy. “I don’t drink this stuff,” he said, putting in another set of coins once the drink was safely in Todoroki's hands.

“You really didn’t have to” he heard. 

“Now where are your manners? People usually say thank you, you know”

His eyes widened a bit before he just grinned.

“Right,” he said, then let out a breath that sounded like a soft laugh. “Right. Yes, thank you, Bakugou”

“There you go. You’re welcome”

The ice coffee he had selected was picked up by the machine next, dropping into the opening before the barrier retreated so he could get it. 

“I gotta talk to you,” he said, opening the can and motioning to the stairs. He sat down somewhere in the middle of it towards the side because he wasn’t a total asshole, and motioned for the still-standing Todoroki to sit there too. “Consider it the price for your drink”

“I thought it was a gift”

“I never said that,'' he replied and now they were just grinning at each other again. Todoroki did follow a few seconds later, sitting next to him. Few people would walk up and down these particular stairs anyway so he figured it was fine for the time being to have their base of operation there. 

“After I thanked you and everything”

“Manners would do you some good”

“That’s very concerning coming from the one whose whole segment with the news got censored and peeped out due to your vulgar language” 

“Don’t pretend like you’re a saint either, you piece of shit” he said, a horrifyingly embarrassing snort somehow making its way out of him as he shook his head. “You swear just as much if not more than I do,” he declared. “You just do it so quietly that no one picks up on it”

“That can’t be true if you did,” he said. Katsuki was majorly pleased that he sounded so… happy.

“Yeah well, I am a special case. Also, you’re not as good at whispering as you think you are. You might wanna fix that before you say something embarrassing” he said, with a playful roll of his eyes. 

“I’ll keep that in mind” Todoroki hummed and his voice got soft. So soft. It sort of made him want to listen to him talk more which was new.

Katsuki didn’t have anything against people who talked a lot. As long as they weren’t talking to him everything was fine for the most part. And if there was someone he wanted to listen to, it hadn’t ever been because of how they sounded. No, this was all too new. 

“Bakugou?” 

“Huh?”

Todoroki still looked amused but now had a hint of confusion to his expression as well.

“I said, what did you want to talk about?”

Had he really zoned out so easily?

“Uh-...pufferfish '' he said, brain too occupied with the whole business of zoning out to really think about his words. 

“....Pufferfish?”

“Who do you-...” he started, trying to save himself once he realized he sounded absolutely insane and realized that Todoroki was looking at him like he had just told him he was…a goat or something. “Who do you think…look like a pufferfish…the uh-...the most?” he asked. “Of people you have a personal connection to” he added quickly as from the evidence he had gathered, the pufferman was someone he knew well.

In all his life, no one had ever stared at him the way Todoroki had in such…concern. Again, it was fair. Had he been the one hearing about the puffer fish question, he would have stared too.

“Is…this some sort of personality question?” was the eventual response after a horrifyingly long and awful silence. 

“What? No” he replied quickly. “I was just wondering,” he said. “I saw a…video of a pufferfish once and it resembled someone I knew so- I was just wondering if…you-...”

“-...had a similar experience?” he completed for him and thank fuck he did. Katsuki was not a good liar. He had never needed to be as he more often than not relied on telling people the truth whether they liked it or not. 

“Yeah”

“Oh,” he said, then the concern was gone and his expression shifted into one of pure concentration. Admittedly he was a little concerned for him as he didn’t think anyone would ever fall for such a lie. Still, he did, and he thanked the universe for having made him so trusting.

He sat like that for a while, leaving Katsuki to do nothing but stare at how his eyes moved around. He hadn’t noticed before- or…maybe he had ignored it- but when the sun hit them just right, they looked more alive than ever. They were bright and pretty. It was like his fire quirk was dancing around in them and it drew him in more and more and he could just stare and stare. 

He turned away before he gave into the temptation of course. 

“You don’t have to answer now” he then said, not wanting his head to blow because he thought too hard. If that was even possible.

“No I’ve got it,” he said, looking at Katsuki again, making him see the fire in his eyes and feel the pull of it all over again. “Inasa'' he declared. “He sort of resembles one when he frowns. Or smiles” he said, eyes glancing off again as if he was still in thought. 

The dull ache in his chest started again. 

It was starting to get a little concerning. 

“Two minutes till class starts. Don’t be late” Aizawa said, appearing out of thin air behind them or something as he stomped down the stairs. He met his eyes for a second, and then a sudden wave of embarrassment hit him as the older man just grinned. 

Grinned .

Like he had just heard the whole conversation and-

…

-and of course, he had because their teacher would nap on the stairs . A fact he had forgotten in his eagerness to talk to Todoroki. 

The man obviously didn’t- couldn’t - know anything but still, there was some part of him that was embarrassed when he moved past them and just…just grinned his famous Aizawa grin. Like he knew more than he was letting on. That thought was truly horrifying.

“We should get going,” Todoroki said, rising from his spot and dusting himself off. “He seemed to be in a good mood but I still don’t want to test his patience” he hummed, grabbing the drink Katsuki had gotten for him and chugging the rest of it. 

“Yeah-” he said. 

If death approached him now, he may as well have embraced it. 

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

Aside from the problem that was the horror of the thought that Aizawa knew something he didn’t or knew everything he did, Katsuki had another problem.

He wasn’t sick. 

Now any other day and he may as well have taken that as a good thing but recently he wasn’t too sure. The dull ache would appear almost constantly whenever he thought about Todoroki. Stopping it was possibly relatively easy- he just…had to not think about him- which was, to his discomfort, a lot easier said than done. 

The mystery of the feeling as well as the end of the mystery of who the pufferfish man was, something he had been determined to get to the bottom of for the past month, would constantly bring him to mind and the feeling would settle for a while. 

He had gone to recovery girl twice. 

Once she had told him that he was completely fine and had done a few tests here and there. The second time he came around with the same symptoms, she ran a few more tests on him and while he was grateful for her effort, the fact that the results were the same didn’t bring him the ease he was hoping for.

Then, a few nights after his visit, he realized it may not have been something physical or something that would show up on her tests. Something her quirk couldn’t fix. 

When he went to her again, with that theory, she told him that maybe it had something to do with his feelings and asked him about any patterns. He didn’t want to disclose just what the patterns were, given it was just Todoroki and he knew how that looked, but he did say there were and the feeling usually would appear after he thought of a few things. After that, she honestly seemed a little relieved and said there was nothing wrong with his health. Then she said she could set up a session for him to talk to the counselor of the school if he’d like. 

He didn’t think that would actually help but promised to give it some thought anyway so she would let him go without the talk about how important feelings were. 

He was one step closer to figuring out why he was feeling the way he was feeling, he would give her that much, but on top of all that he was technically still answerless and also more desperate.

Or at least desperate enough to go to the one person that he could think of that wouldn’t make him want to jump off the building after the conversation was over.

The list wasn’t really long, to begin with, and quite frankly the elimination process was also relatively simple, though when he had dragged the screeching redhead from his room and into his own, he started second-guessing himself. 

Then he went over the reasons that Kirishima was the ideal guy here and felt a lot less bad.

If he had gone to Izuku, he would definitely know it was about Todoroki immediately. If he went to anyone else, they would ask too many questions and be entirely unbearable for a while. Not that the redhead wouldn’t be unbearable but there was something about him that made him want to strangle him less and he was undoubtedly the most helpful one of them all. Then there was the option of Todoroki. That name was scratched out almost at once. 

He didn’t think the guy would figure it out if he talked to him about it. Subtly of course. There was more of the issue of not wanting the feeling to be there while he was trying to understand what the hell it even was in the first place. 

“You haven’t like….murdered anyone or anything, right?” Kirishima asked about three minutes into his pacing, making him stop mid-way. Then he quickly raised his hands in defense and also maybe surrender as Katsuki shot him the sharpest glare he could muster up then and there.

“No, I haven’t murdered anyone!”

“I know! I know- just-...you’re like sort of uh-...pacing?” he said, gesturing to where he was standing, in contrast to where he himself was sitting, overly comfortable on the blonde's bed with his back against the wall and hands in his lap. “And you know-...you don’t usually- well you know-...do that so like, just wondering if you might have committed some sort of crime…” he declared. “Which I- I would be more than happy to help with, bro, but like you gotta tell me what's going on,” he said and he grinned a bit, easing the mood with some of what he would call humor.

It sort of helped.

Still, the bubbling didn’t appear when Kirishima grinned. Or even smiled. Or laughed. Or…existed.

“You can’t say a word. Don’t ask about anything either” he demanded of him quickly. The redhead never went easy on him with his mockery every now and then, so precautions seemed like a good thing to have. 

“Woah-...Are you…like actually in trouble?” he asked and again, he looked relatively concerned. 

“No! Well, not like that. Just fucking swear it”

“I swear man, no questions asked,” he said quickly, now raising his hand as if that would convince him more.

He stared at him for a while after that and Kirishima only smiled back. The silence stretched but eventually, he relented.

It had to be good enough. 

“I-...I have a problem”

“What kind of problem?”

“A big problem” he muttered, returning to his pacing. “I’m not sick”

It was Kirishima's turn to just stare. Then he grinned a bit again. 

"Damn-...sorry, man. That must be really rough” he said with a snort. One sentence in and he was already making fun of him. He hadn’t even gotten to the part he was worried about either.

“No-...You don’t-...Just shut up. I’m not sick- but I-....” he tried again, glaring at the wall for a second. It wasn’t its fault but he needed to get it out of his system. “I’m not sick. But I feel like shit. Not constantly but-” he mumbled. “I-...I found out that this guy likes someone- some ugly shit probably- and for some reason every time I think about it- I feel like crap” he declared. “And I went to recovery girl and she said that there was nothing wrong with me and that this could have something to do with my feelings- well, obviously I didn't tell her in detail- but that’s what she told me and you’re better at feelings and I’d rather talk to you than the school counselor so-” he said, trailing off as he gestured in front of him.

“Oh,” the redhead said, and then without a moment to spare he smiled at him again. “ Ohhhh ,” he said and Katsuki pretended like the way his grin widened wasn’t at all horrifying for his pride. “Okay, so I’m gonna go off on a little theory here, and I kinda need you to breathe, bro, alright?” he hummed, putting his hands together. Katsuki stopped in his tracks and just stared once more. 

“What?”

“Cool, okay so- uh.” the guy said, ignoring his confusion. “The thing is, and hear me out, you’re jealous that this person, who I’m guessing is Todoroki, likes someone. And I’m also gonna guess that this person he likes, the uh- I think how you described them was ‘the ugly shit’- isn’t you?” 

There were many things he had expected Kirishima to say. He had even expected a laugh if anything. But that? That hadn’t been one of them. No, he hadn’t expected that or that the guy could guess so much correctly. Usually, the redhead was relatively slow and not at all like how he was now, and Katsuki? Well, he couldn’t do anything but stare at him in awe, mouth slightly open as he tried to reassemble his beyond blown mind. 

“What the fuck? I said two things!”

“Yeah! But- but two very obvious things”

“ What the fuck!! ”

“I mean- you’re like all over him anyway so-”

“Oh my god, shut up!” he shrieked in horror. “I am not!” he huffed and Kirishima laughed again. Laughed at his expense. Some buddy he was.

“You kinda are. Like you get all his notes, you hang out all the time, you were basically holding hands at some point during training” he continued with a grin, it wide as he offered a quick shrug in response just as Katsuki was about to deny all of that. Especially the last point. It wasn't hand-holding, he just had to hold his hand to pin him down and the bastard had frozen them together. “I’m just saying. The crush you got on him is really obvious” he hummed, also softening his voice perhaps to soften the blow. 

“I-...I’m not jealous and it’s not a-” he started, though cut himself off as the memory of how he felt when Todoroki looked at him hit him like a wave of bricks hurled his way. Then he remembered how his eyes had been calling out to him and how he wouldn’t have minded just staring at how the light danced in them. Then how his voice made him feel like he was melting whenever he talked. Whenever his voice would soften, which was more often than not with Katsuki, and how he wanted to hear him talk more just for that feeling. The feeling of the bubbles in his chest. “I-...I didn’t borrow his notes because I like him” he mumbled after a second. “I was trying to figure out who the hell the pufferfish guy he likes was,” he confessed. He didn’t have to but not a lot of everything would make sense if he didn’t.

“Pufferfish guy?”

Needless to say, the story, which until the very moment he actually had to tell it seemed normal and entirely logical, got the redhead to fight back the laughter with his very life. His face, in his efforts, turned a shade darker than his dyed hair and Katsuki was concerned but the embarrassment he felt was overriding it enough for him to smack him instead of telling him to just let it out. 

The smack apparently told him for him though and a second later, Katsuki was getting laughed at.

The laughter was louder than Present Mic with his quirk activated which said enough in his opinion. 

“You-....” the redhead, who was nearly sobbing with laughter at this point, said. “Ow, my stomach!” he laughed. “You went through all that effort and you don’t think you like him?! Bakugou! Come on, man!” he laughed, falling to his side as his hands covered his stomach. Honestly, he could be in as much pain as humanly possible and Katsuki would not care. 

“Shut up!”

“This is a new level of denial, bro. Oh my god- are you even real?” he continued, shakily sitting himself up again with one arm and reaching the other one up to his face to dry the tears. “People- pfft-...People don’t do that if they’re not interested” he said. “Anyway if you didn’t like him then, you sure as hell do now” he snorted. 

“Shut. Up. I know! God!” he groaned. 

Admitting it didn’t seem to be the key to ending the laughter either and he could only watch on as the redhead folded in half again. 

Maybe just sitting there and waiting for him to get to the end of it was what he was supposed to do.

It…worked better and eventually Kirishima was down to quiet chuckles instead. 

“Okay so-...who’s the guy?” he asked, drying the last of his tears. 

“Inasa. The Shiketsu guy” he muttered and even to himself he sounded bitter. 

“Because of the pufferfish comparison?”

“Yeah, who else could it be?”

“I dunno man,” he replied in a way that made him sound like he knew he was wrong and Katsuki gave him another look.

“Jealous” he scoffed out as his mind echoed the word instead. The sudden understanding of the feelings wasn’t at all what he had expected it to be and honestly, now he wasn’t too sure if he would prefer not knowing. Some people would argue that knowing was always better than not, but honestly? He wouldn’t have minded living in complete ignorance of this. “Of the windbag-.....this is some sort of joke” he muttered bitterly again. 

“I’m… real sorry, man,” Kirishima said with an apologetic smile and patted his shoulder just as he sat down, leaning back against the wall next to him. “Honestly I thought he had a thing for you though” he mumbled with a grimace. 

“You’re just saying that”

“No, like all that stuff I said. That wasn’t just you” he said with another shrug. “Like a two-way sorta thing”

“Yeah well it’s not me so-” he said then gestured vaguely off to the air. “Whatever. I could still do it” he muttered.

“What? Win him over?”

“Yeah”

“Didn’t peg you for a romantic” he said then screamed as Katsuki elbowed him in the side. “I’m kidding!” he laughed and shook his head again before leaning against him. “You’ll definitely do it” he declared. 

Katsuki hoped he was right. 

Still, he felt sort of wrong.

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

The next time he saw Todoroki was the day following his conversation with Kirishima. The guy had materialized in front of his door. 

Or, he had walked up to it and just as he was about to knock, Katsuki had opened it, leaving them to just stare at each other for a good few seconds. 

Todoroki…well, he didn’t look like he usually did. Instead, there was a soft tint of pink brushed on his cheeks like he was embarrassed?

Flustered.

He was flustered, he realized as he stared at him waiting for any sort of greeting or general sign of life from the other. Todoroki only stared though and Katsuki regretted that he hadn’t been paying enough attention to him to not know what was going on in that head of his. Sure he was thinking but he couldn’t know just what it was. 

Other than that there was the bubbling again. At this point though he knew how to ignore it.

“Hey?” he said eventually, which seemed to snap him out of his trance. 

“Bakugou. Hi” he said quickly and he sort of sounded out of breath. Or like he had been holding his breath. “...I’m sorry, I was wondering if I could get my notebook back?” he asked. “I left some…personal notes in there about my schedule and I need it so I can put it in on my phone,” he said.

Katsuki had gone through the notebook from front to back several times. There was nothing about a schedule.

The thing was, he wasn’t a good liar but he was always good at spotting lies. Whatever reason Todoroki had just given could not more obviously have been one and he didn’t need to ever have read the notes to know that. 

“Sure,” he said simply, going back into his room. It laid open on his desk and he was quick to shut it so he wouldn’t see that he had it open on a particular doodle-filled page before giving it back to its owner. 

“Thank you. I’ll…give it back to you after school” he said, holding the book so tightly it looked like it was going to snap under his grip.

Calling him out on that or the lie wouldn’t do either of them any good.

“Speaking of school, shouldn’t you get ready?” he asked instead, only now realizing that he was still in his PJs and slippers. Todoroki looked down at himself and his outfit and Katsuki had to hold in a laugh at the expression that appeared on his face at the realization as he seemed to only notice it just then too. 

“Right. Yes. I should. Okay-” he said then looked back at the blonde again before taking a few steps back. Like a cat. Again. “Bye,” he then said before scurrying off. It was more a sigh really if he thought about it. Well, whatever it was, it was sort of cute. 

“I saw that” he heard from next to him and suddenly Kirishima was there giving him a few heart attacks. The smile on his face that he wasn’t even aware was there was wiped off almost at once and turned into a scowl. 

“You didn’t see shit”

“Oh, don’t be shy. I saw it” he replied with a grin then nodded a bit to the direction where the dual-haired male had rushed off to just a few seconds ago. “What did he want?” he asked, tone mischievous. 

“His notebook. Probably remembered his doodles and got embarrassed or something” he mumbled, glancing off in the same direction before closing his door. “Let's get to class. Or do you want detention again?”

“That was not my fault!”

When he did get the notebook back after school, he found out his suspicions were correct. The doodles and little notes that belonged to them were gone. Some were scribbled out if it looked natural enough while others were just soaked in white-out. 

Sometimes he must not have gotten patient enough and two pages would stick together.

Katsuki didn’t know whether to laugh or not. 

On one hand, the mess he had left behind in his own notes in an attempt to cover the scribbles and whatnot, made it seem far more distracting, and also anyone who looked at it would start questioning what it was. He was convinced that had the notebook arrived to him in this state, he would be killing himself trying to not scratch the white-out off to see just what he was covering up. 

It was sort of comedic that he thought it would help.

On the other hand, this probably meant the end of the note-sharing they had started doing. This also meant Katsuki didn’t really have an insight into how to defeat the crush the guy had on Inasa and instead turn that to him which was…sort of a shame. 

He had come out on top with worse odds though and anyway, he always found a way out one way or the other so…he could just look at it as an extra challenge. 

Weirdly enough though, for once he wasn’t too thrilled by that. 

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

Hand-to-hand combat was something Mr.Aizawa would often tell them was very important. Relying on their quirks too much would be bad for them if they ever happened to be without them and given their teacher's quirk, they all understood why. 

So, hand-to-hand combat was something they practiced pretty often. 

Whoever they partnered up with for the session was usually a self-pick sort of deal as long as they switched regularly. The reason for that was that getting too used to someone's moves wasn’t ever good and they could get too comfortable with their opponents. So far, Katsuki had bested most he had come up against. 

“I have the sheet of who you will be fighting here, so come take a look at it and knock yourselves out,” Mr.Aizawa said, tapping the clipboard he was holding before handing it to the student closest to him. Then he went to his usual spot, in the shade, and just stood there as he waited for them to start.

Katsuki grimaced a bit. He had his mind set on fighting Uraraka again for the day as she, out of everyone, had picked up the most when it came to any sort of close combat with her early days of working with Gunhead. Her skills had only evolved over the years and she was a nice challenge to face. She had both speed and strength, as well as strategy on her mind, and Katsuki honestly had to focus a little more on countering all three.

When she ran off to go fight Iida though he figured luck wasn’t on his side. 

He wasn’t really sure what the deal with the list was anyway, but maybe their teacher had just seen things and decided to set them up with people who had skills they all had to work on or something like that. He rarely explained himself so Katsuki could only guess. 

It took a minute before he had the clipboard in hand and skimmed through the list to find his name. Then he glanced to the side of it to see who his partner was and handed the clipboard to whoever was next. 

Todoroki, it had said. 

“Oi, you’re with me,” he said once he spotted the guy, further behind in the line. 

Todoroki in turn only looked up for a second before stepping out and towards him with a nod. He still looked sort of flustered whenever he was talking to him now which certainly was a change and Katsuki couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at it. Not because of anything he was doing but simply because he missed seeing him relaxed with him. Or smile at him without looking like he was going to go insane the next second. 

“Let's see what you got” he hummed, nodding towards an empty spot they could spar at. He even tried to grin at him like he usually did though the other only nodded quickly again and looked away. 

Whatever.

Focus on the task at hand, he told himself, feeling the dull ache return. Then he got annoyed that it was even there.

Honestly? He wasn’t sure how long he would last without snapping at this rate.

✧ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗ ⋄ ⋆ ⋅ ⋆ ⋄ ✧

Four rounds. 

The answer had been four rounds plus a moment when Todoroki had looked at him and smiled as he had before after Katsuki had thrown a comment or two about how he fought like a grandparent. Then that moment ended with him looking away again, acting like it was the most scandalous thing he had ever done in his life and Katsuki was done . 

“Is this whole act of yours because of the doodles in your notebook?” he questioned, fixing his stand to throw another punch at him which the other dodged easily. Well, he was more like demanding the answer really but it was also a question so screw you.

Todoroki, solely focused on the fight until now, nearly tripped over his own feet. Then it looked like he grimaced a bit to himself like he had been momentarily shocked but not about the fact that Katsuki knew. No. More about the fact that he even brought it up in the first place, if he could guess. 

“So you saw them?” he asked. 

The fight was still happening of course as Mr.Aizawa would be on their asses if they stopped though the pace had noticeably changed within the two seconds. 

“How could I not?” he replied and watched as his expression shifted again. It was only there for a few fractions of a second but…it seemed like dread. 

“Look, Bakugou, I can explain…” he mumbled quickly, nearly forgetting to dodge the kick thrown his way and Katsuki had to admit he changed the direction of it halfway through when he realized the other wouldn’t make it in time. 

“Pay attention. I don’t want you to half-ass this shit” he snapped at him before he took a step back while the other retaliated by sending a few punches. “You don’t have to explain anything. If you like the guy it’s cool” he then added quickly, continuing the slow-paced fight that gave them enough room to think but also to look busy. “You’re just gonna have to deal with piping hot udon for the rest of your life,” he added. If he really wanted to sabotage the whole thing, that seemed like a good place to start. 

Part of him still told him that it seemed wrong though. If he liked the guy then who the hell was he to get in the way? 

Technically the udon thing was true though and more a fact than attempted sabotage. 

“What?”

“Inasa? Baldy? He likes udon doesn’t he?”

“Ina-...How did you even know he likes udon?” the other then questioned, looking…far more confused than he should have and Katsuki realized he probably went at it the wrong way. Then there was also the question at hand which would force him to tell him that he had sort of been eavesdropping on them.

Well, technically it wasn’t eavesdropping because they were in a public place and the guy did talk incredibly loudly but having to explain that just sort of made it seem like he had been stalking them if anything. That didn’t seem like much fun.

“He just…he talks really loudly. And a lot” he explained. “But whatever. I’m not gonna give you shit for liking him if that’s what you think”

“I don’t-'' Todoroki started, brows furrowing ever so slightly, and continued to look at Katsuki like he was one of the universe's greater mysteries. “I don’t think that. And I like you not him ” he added.

Katsuki could only stare at him for a while. His brain wasn’t really working for a second if he was being honest. He did hear every word of what he said but at the same time, for some unknown reason, he didn’t understand. Like his words went against all logic.

“What?”

Todoroki grimaced further. 

“I don’t like Inasa” he repeated, quieter this time and Katsuki noticed that their movements had stopped entirely. “It’s…you. I like you” he said. 

Confessing was probably not on the guy's to-do list of the day but, credit where credit was due, he handled it pretty well. Or…better than Katsuki could. And he wasn’t even the one confessing. 

“But-... but the pufferfish?” his brain somehow managed to get out.

In hindsight, he should have just shut the fuck up maybe. Because honestly, what? Who even said that? Not a normal functioning fucking person, no. But then again Katsuki wasn’t really functioning though so he could cut himself some slack. Still, he didn’t really want to be not functioning. Generally, there was no winning for him.

“I’m…sorry?” he asked, and for a second it looked like he was leaning forward. He also looked generally confused which confused Katsuki even more as he didn’t really see what there was to be confused about. Or maybe he really had misinterpreted the drawing of…him apparently enough for it to be a pufferfish. 

He couldn’t really go back though. 

“The pufferfish! The- the thing you drew next to all your hundreds of compliments?” he said and when he looked even more confused, he grimaced again. “The-...the spiky pufferfish-man?” he said. 

“The-” Todoroki started, eyes jumping around as if he was trying to figure out what the hell Katsuki even was on before they widened and snapped to him again. “Those were supposed to be drawings of you!” 

“Of me?!”

“Yes!”

“Todoroki, Bakugou” Mr.Aizawa called out and he didn’t even need to look his way to know what they were doing wrong. So, he started the fight again. 

“In what world would I look like that?!” he asked as he threw a punch his way, ultimately ending up a little closer to him which would have been nice had it not been a fight. Two seconds later, he felt a hit on his stomach and he tumbled back. Todoroki gave him an apologetic look before he snapped back into the conversation. 

“They were obviously of you!” he replied, sounding more offended on the drawing’s part. 

“ Obviously ? No! No one would ever look at them and think, huh it's Bakugou!”

“Midoriya did when he reminded me of the notes I left in my books that were all with you, by the way, which is why I-...!”

That made him pause for a second again as he could only stare in awe and once more get kicked in the side as he barely managed to block. 

“Wait, hang on- so-....you’ve been weird with me this whole time because you thought I recognized the pufferfish thing to be me?” he asked. “The shit drawing?”

“It wasn’t a shit drawing”

“‘ Wasn’t a shit drawing’ - not even Picasso would look at that and think it was normal!”

“Not even-” Todoroki echoed, staring at him with his eyes wide and mouth open before he let out a loud snort. If he was honest, Katsuki had momentarily been scared shitless that the guy would start crying or something. “ Picasso -” he said and they stopped fighting again, standing there like two idiots instead and Mr.Aizawa be damned for now. Katsuki could only look on as the other brought a hand up to cover his mouth and stop the laughs that were bubbling out of him. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said with a smile, and hell if it wasn’t contagious. Katsuki was grinning too.

“Please, it was awful. I would never have figured it out” he said. 

“Is…is that why you asked me about the pufferfish?” he asked. “Is that why you thought I liked Inasa?”

“Well what else could it be?” he asked, fighting the urge to grin even wider. His face was hurting enough as it was. “It was spiky and round at the same time. And then when I asked about pufferfish you said him ”

“Well he does still remind me of one,” he said then his gaze flickered to Katsukis hair like it was his enemy or something. “Your hair is surprisingly difficult to get down right” he defended his drawings. Possibly also for nothing because Katsukis mind was already made up. Todoroki was no artist. “It was supposed to be you”

“You can keep saying it all you want, but other than one nerd who specializes in Todoroki, no one would know,” he replied again with a snicker. “It wasn’t just the hair by the way. What the hell were those hands huh?”

“Okay so I may not be the most artistic person”

“Yeah, no you’re not” he snorted, shaking his head at him again, and glanced off to the side where their teacher was arching a brow at them. Possibly because for the second time they had stopped, though to his surprise the man didn’t say anything. Just glanced off. “You know…maybe I should just take you on a date to a gallery or something. So you can see how to really draw” he hummed as he glanced back at Todoroki again.

“Oh please, so you can-” the other said, mid roll of his eyes before he cut himself off and his gaze snapped back at Katsuki again. He tried hard not to laugh at the sheer state of shock that he seemed to be in. “A date ?”

“Yeah. A date”

“A date”

“Yes, Todoroki, a date. When two people who like each other go on a romantic hang out?” he offered.

“So you like me too?”

“What’s not to like?” he asked in return and no matter how hard he fought, the smile he felt spreading on his face was unstoppable when the red slowly bloomed on Todorokis cheeks. There was so much about him he liked, he realized. There was not a doubt in his mind that his own face was probably a little red too but whatever. They liked each other.

“Oh,” he said, and his voice was back to being about as smooth as butter again. “Does this mean I get to take you on dates too?” he asked, and for a second he looked overly confident when Katsuki grinned and nodded his answer. “Perhaps we could go to an escape room then. So you can see how to really solve a puzzle”

“Oh you piece of shit,” he said, huffing a laugh as Todoroki grinned at him in pride.

 “Alright, you two go work with Kirishima and Midoriya, this clearly isn’t working,” Aizawa said as he approached them, a lot closer than he thought he had been and Katsuki made a mental note to never work with Todoroki because he would be far too distracted for anything. “Todoroki, you take Kirishima, Bakugou you take Midoriya,” he said, gesturing to the two in the distance busy throwing each other around. 

When they were on their way to break them up, Katsuki could swear he heard the older man mutter something along the lines of ‘you’re welcome, brats’ though by the time he turned to see if he had, he was already busy instructing others. 

When they did get to them, Katsuki grinned at Todoroki as they stood and waited for them to be done. Todoroki in turn grinned back. 

“I’m excited,” he said softly. 

“To fight Kirishima?” he asked even if he knew what he meant.

“To get a challenge” he replied like the smartass he was though the smile gave it away. Katsuki could play along though. 

“I’m gonna take you to the spiciest ramen shop I know of after the gallery. Then you’ll get a challenge” he scoffed, playfully rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, determined to keep his gaze away from him though he didn’t last long. Not when Todoroki laughed again. 

No, he didn’t want to miss a single bit of that. 

“I’ll look forward to it,” he hummed. 

Hell, Katsuki would too.