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“Oddly enough, Kacchan never had a Valentine,” De—Izuku says and oddly enough, this wasn’t true. Katsuki used to always find something in his locker every year; it started in elementary school with small hero collectibles and continued during middle school. It stopped the year they got into UA, though. Katsuki sometimes wonders who it could have been.
“It’s probably because of his attitude,” Mina shrugs.
“Yeah,” Kaminari laughs as Katsuki rolls his eyes. “No girl would like to court a grumpy alpha for Valentine’s.”
“Utsushimi did say that Bakugo looked quite handsome when he’d shut up,” Todoroki remembers.
“I don’t care about girls,” Katsuki grumbles as everyone laughs. He glances at Deku. “I don’t care about extras anyway.”
However, Mina has already shifted her attention to someone else. “Who’s this Utsushimi girl, Todoroki?” she asks excitedly. “Is she an omega? Is she your lover? Do you—”
Katsuki doesn’t need to hear more of that bullshit; he gets up and leaves. He can almost feel Izuku’s eyes bore holes into his back and he turns his head around before crossing the door, but the nerd isn’t looking his way — he seems lost in his thoughts while smiling like an idiot.
Ah. Wishful thinking.
When the evening comes, Katsuki lies on his bed, petting the white rabbit on his chest.
He still hasn’t seen Izuku since the school day ended. Maybe the beta got a Valentine gift to make for tomorrow… “Uraraka perhaps?” he asks the animal. He heard from Mina that she was trying to set the two betas together.
The creature only seems to shrug at him. “Ya better not be calling me a loser, Koko,” Katsuki warns. “I can bring you back to that cardboard box whenever I want.”
The rabbit plops her head on his chest, without a care for the threat. “Only had you for a week and you’re already this cheeky?” he teases, petting the little shit’s head. He’s about to shut the lights and call it a night when Koko disappears under the covers as the door opens abruptly.
“Bakugo!” an alarmed voice calls. “Do you have the baking molds we bought yesterday?”
“Good evening to you too, Dunce Face.”
The omega only stares at him from the threshold.
“What?” He breaks the silence. “Don’t like my pajamas or something?”
“No— I mean no it’s nice, lots of tiny grenades— I mean I don’t really—” he pauses to exhale and Katsuki wonders why it’s always when his personal curfew hits that his idiot classmates come with their panicked scent, seeking for his help. “I’m baking chocolates for tomorrow and I can’t find the molds?”
“They’re in my locker, idiot,” Katsuki says as he gets up and puts his slippers back on. “I’ll go fetch them.”
“I can go myself,” Kaminari protests. “I just wanted to know where they were.”
He shakes his head. “Just go prepare what you need in the kitchen.”
The idiot caves in, thanking him profusely. Ten minutes later, he reaches the main building.
He spots movements inside. Is that a flashlight? he thinks. A thief? But there’s nothing valuable in those lockers. A prankster? Maybe that guy from 2-B, he heard he has already trapped Shitty Hair’s locker with glitters once. As he walks closer, he notices a hooded figure trying to break into his own. Ah.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” he sneaks behind the intruder.
“WHA— CHAN!” The flashlight falls on the floor.
“Huh?” Deku?
“Ka—Kacchan, hi!”
“This is my locker, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“That you were trying to break into.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Why? Is this a prank?” He looks down and notices a package has also fallen on the floor next to the torch. He picks it up, inspecting it.
“Kacchan, I can explain!” Izuku tries to fetch the object back, but Katsuki has already ripped the paper.
He stares at the orange blanket in his hands, wondering what role it has to play in Deku’s prank.
“You didn’t scent it,” he murmurs.
“What?”
“Usually people scent those items before they give them.”
“I’m a beta, I cannot do that.”
“Right.”
The silence is awkward and Izuku looks uncomfortable. He’s looking anywhere but him.
“Dek—” he starts, but Izuku ignores him and dashes outside, not sparing him a glance, the beam of the flashlight makes the corner of his eyes shine for an instant. Katsuki wants to run after him, but he has already disappeared into the night — or maybe it’s that strange feeling that makes him so hesitant to follow him.
“Ya think I should’ve run after him?”
The bunny huffs.
The next day, he’s the first one to arrive in class. This means he gets to see a very nervous Kaminari come early with a violet box in his hands. The omega sets it down carefully on its desk before sitting himself. Katsuki watches as he eyes the door apprehensively, almost jumping every time someone crosses the threshold. When Jirou appears and marches to her desk next to Kaminari’s, the omega stands up to offer his present. He seems more confident, but Katsuki can see the nervous stiffness in his movements. “This is for you,” he grins. “Wanna be my Valentine?”
Jirou’s eyes widen, the alpha seeming at a loss of words for an instant, but she quickly composes herself and smiles at the omega. Katsuki doesn’t hear her response, but he can see the way she blushes as Kaminari beams. Disgusting.
Later, after the school day is over, he’s walking back to the dorm when he catches sight of the mushroom omega girl handing a green box to her lizard girlfriend. “I really like you, Tokage-san,” he hears. “So I made this for you.” He sees the alpha accept the package and unwrap it to reveal an elegantly knitted blanket. The girl’s eyes shine when she inhales the scent her friend left on the gift. Katsuki watches as she envelops her friend in a hug before grinning.
“Just wait until White Day, I’ll court you back!” she promises.
Katsuki’s eyes widen. Court?
Back?
He opens the drawer where the blanket lies and takes it in his hands. Why would Deku hide a courting gift inside his locker? He sits on his bed, Koko escalating his thigh in order to diligently sniff the present. As he studies it, he can see it has intricate details and looks hand-made — has Izuku knitted it himself? Or maybe his mother helped? He brings it to his nose and inhales; almost stops breathing when he discerns Izuku’s faint scent there.
He never told Deku, but Katsuki catches a whim of the beta’s scent occasionally — when they’re a little bit too close — and its fragrance is engraved in his memory.
He shakes his head; Koko imitates him, shooting him a tired glare. Maybe there was a note? He goes back to the drawer where the wrap still lies. He freezes as he knows that color. Letting the blanket fall, he frantically grabs the paper, studying it from every angle. He hadn't noticed last night when they only had a flashlight on the floor to illuminate the school hall, but his hands are holding the same paper that used to wrap the gifts he received every year.
He turns to the white rabbit who has elected the blanket on the floor as her new nest, a disbelieving look in his eyes.
“It was Izuku all along?”
The following week is spent avoiding Deku and eyeing him curiously when he thinks he isn’t looking. There are three things not adding up to the original prank theory. Firstly, why would Deku prank him with gifts he might like? Secondly, why would he miss a year?
Why would he have scented it?
In conclusion, Deku has been giving him courting gifts for Valentine’s day since they were six years old.
But Deku is a boy — so is he — and a beta. He isn’t supposed to be doing that — is that why he did it in secrecy?
Izuku isn’t talking to him either. He doesn’t show up to his training sessions with All Might, and he has to reassure the old man that they weren’t fighting again. It kinda hurts, because sure, he is avoiding Deku but why would Izuku avoid him? The nerd is running away every time their paths cross and it is getting on his nerves.
So he does what he told All Might they wouldn’t; he takes him out. In a fight.
When he has Deku pinned under him, the same faint scent he smelt on the blanket the beta offered him reaching his nose, he smirks. “Still— a damn nerd,” he breathes. He stands up, holds his hand out. “Are you gonna talk to me now?”
Izuku takes his hand. “Kacchan’s right,” he lets out a shaky laugh. “We should move on!”
Their eyes meet and Katsuki’s heart almost stops when Izuku smiles brightly at him. When they walk back to the dorms together, all he can think about is Izuku’s words.
Move on, huh?
After the fight, everything goes back to normalcy. Izuku doesn’t say anything about the gifts, so Katsuki figures he is given free rein for White Day. He s̶p̶i̶e̶s̶ overhears Jirou talk about giving her boyfriend a collar to start her courting. Apparently, the lizard alpha will be doing the same. He wonders if Izuku would like to receive one. He feels like it’s too early — he’s not even sure if betas want those.
There’s only one week left before the big day when Katsuki decides to ask for help. He requests a meeting with All Might when Izuku visits his mom.
“What do betas like to receive on White Day?” he cuts to the point as he sits on his side of the couch.
In front of him, All Might immediately chokes on his drink. “What—”
“Deku told me he wanted us to move on to the next step, that’s what it means, right?” he searches for an ounce of reassurance on All Might’s face. “That’s what he wants, right?”
“Did he give you something for Valentine’s day?”
“A scented blanket,” Katsuki nods. “I think he made it himself.”
“Well,” All Might seems to think, “food is usually my way of showing my affection, but everyone is different!”
Katsuki hums; his mother used to cook him his favorite food as a way to apologize. Maybe he could do the same?
“What you need is to offer him your heart, I think you should think of something that reminds you of him and go for it! Plus ultra!”
Something that reminds me of him?
He thinks of the nerd, of the way he keeps muttering his thoughts away, how he never gave up, on anything, not even on him. He thinks of their training sessions with All Might, their discussions in the break room, he thinks of his hand in the river; he thinks of his freckles — the way he wants to draw constellations between them.
“He’s green,” he says.
Kinda like a rabbit.
The next day, Katsuki is a man on a mission when he goes to the mall. Koko’s on his shoulder, attentive to every item that goes into his hands. He visits every shop. Cushions, blankets, jewelry, posters, clothes… even hero merch. He needs the best courting gift he can find; the only aisles he doesn’t dare to approach are the ones with the courting collars, despite Koko’s evident interest in them.
He does find some things — a lot actually — only leaving the mall when it’s time for the shops to close for the night. He comes home late in the evening, with a bag full of courting gifts on his back and Koko still on his shoulder. Once in front of the dorm, he gets around the building to face his balcony. There, he propels himself and all the gifts to his room on the fourth floor, not taking the risk of meeting Izuku as he probably has returned from his mom’s.
“You okay?” he takes the bunny in his hands who looks at him with an offended face. “Sorry for the thrills.” Koko ignores him and hops from his arms to his desk, turning her back on him as a sign of displeasure. He sighs, taking a piece of salad from the little fridge he bought for the bunny’s food and places it on the desk. The rabbit turns around, slowly marching to the food before grabbing it with her mouth. “Not sulking anymore, huh?” he smirks.
He sits in front of her, watching as she devours her precious meal.
“All Might said I should offer him my heart,” Katsuki speaks. “He’ll probably love all the gifts I’ve taken, but I feel like it’s not enough.” He gently pokes her nose with his pen, making her stop chewing. She looks at him, her teeth still gripping the half-eaten leaf. When Katsuki doesn’t move, she resumes eating her dinner. “Koko,” the alpha chastises, “listen to me.” The animal ignores him. “Koko—”
Offer him your heart , All Might has said, and he spoke wisely. Katsuki watches as the bunny continues to eat her salad.
“This is as if fate made us meet,” he grins, “ Kokoro .”
Three days later, Izuku enters the common room and his eyes hover over the pile of wrapped gifts before landing on the sleeping bunny in his arms. “Kacchan?” his voice wobbles. “What is all of this?” he looks away as if searching for someone in the crowd of their classmates. “Who is it for?”
Katsuki furrows his brows in confusion. “What do you mean? You, who else?” he moves closer, presents the rabbit in the same gesture he heard people do in those old fairy tales. “Izuku,” he declares, “she’s the heart I offer to you.” He bows his head, trying to show his sincerity in his actions.
The bunny wakes when Katsuki sets her in Deku’s arms. When he raises his head, he sees the nerd awkwardly carrying her by her armpits, looking as embarrassed as when he caught him sneaking a Valentine's gift into his locker one month ago.
“You don’t like her?” he hates how his voice sounds so vulnerable.
Izuku stays unresponsive, only staring at the animal he is holding. Koko doesn’t seem to mind as she appears unbothered, curiously observing his new owner.
“I think you broke him,” Kirishima says.
“Definitely,” Mina comments. “Did he even give you something for Valentine’s Day?”
“Has been for ten years,” Katsuki answers. “It was time I returned the favor.”
“Ten years?” Kaminari’s eyes widen. “I thought you never received anything?”
“I never received chocolate , not courting gifts.”
“But Kacchan,” Izuku’s small voice reaches his ears. “You rejected my gifts.”
“When did I do that?” the alpha shrieks as everyone gasps in the room. “I still own all of them!”
“Still,” Izuku protests. “Why offer me something for White Day? It’s not like you return my feelings.”
Katsuki stops in his tracks. He never paused a single second to think about his feelings, but even to himself, he felt like he didn’t need to. “Izuku,” he stands his ground. “I love you!”
“Then why did you agree to move on?”
“Deku,” Katsuki is on the brink of punching the idiot at this point. “I agreed to move on to the next step !”
He doesn't even listen to everyone’s reactions around them anymore; why are they arguing? Shouldn’t they be holding hands right now or something? Instead, Izuku lifts the rabbit to inspect her.
“She’s cute,” he comments.
Katsuki already feels a bit lighter. “Her name’s Koko,” he says softly.
“Oh,” Deku hums. “That’s why you talked about offering your heart.”
Koko starts running her tiny legs in the air and Katsuki can see the nerd beginning to panic. “You should hold her against your chest,” he says as he grabs the bunny’s butt to steady her. “Like this.” His other hand seizes Deku’s arm to show him how to hold the animal.
He’s about to let go when Izuku raises his head. Their eyes meet and he feels the whole atmosphere freeze. He doesn’t dare to move — or breathe. He can only hold his gaze, cannot look away. The touch of their skins where his hand brushes Izuku’s arm makes his heart race more than it ever did; he feels his soul drowning in the green of Izuku’s eyes.
Koko clacks her teeth in a sign of contentment and Izuku is the one who breaks first to look down at the animal. “She’s happy,” Katsuki hums.
Izuku raises his head again, and there are tears in the beta’s eyes. “I’m happy too, Kacchan!” His voice is shaky, but the alpha knows it is because of his emotion.
Katsuki smiles.
I’m happy too, Izuku.
