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Rumors.
Rumors are a huge thing when you’re the number one hero. And they get exhausting.
Even if they’re true, it doesn’t matter. Izuku just doesn’t understand why he can’t just love who he wants to love without everybody having something to say about it. So what if he was seen holding hands with his boyfriend? It’s none of their business.
Izuku and Katsuki have been good at staying private. Keeping what they have just theirs, nobody else’s. Nobody else ever needed to know and they didn’t want a million rumors surrounding their relationship. It's been 4 years and they managed to keep it private.
However, of course, it’s not possible to keep anything to yourself when everybody wants to know every single detail about your life. The stupid picture of them holding hands and looking way too close to kissing got uploaded to the internet and, thus, their relationship was the biggest assumption to come out of it. Sure, they aren't wrong, but it's still stupid that so many people are talking about it.
Izuku tries his best to ignore all the rumors. When his friends text him, asking them if he’s seen something, he always tries to keep that conversation to a minimum. He doesn’t really care about what people think of him or his life and he doesn’t want to know.
He’s had enough of caring about what others think of him. He used to care way too much back when he was in school. He’s opted to keep whatever sanity he has left by just ignoring what people have to say. What they assume isn’t necessarily something he cares about and he likes that that’s his thought process now.
But this picture.
God, this picture of him and Katsuki, it’s the simplest thing ever. They’re just holding hands, for christ’s sake. Yet, somehow, everybody has something to say about it.
Izuku numbly scrolls through Twitter, looking at everything being said. Things from, ”omg I totally knew that they had a thing going on” to things like, ”ew there’s no way that they’re actually together” and there are just so many diverse opinions about it.
They’ve been out as bisexual and gay for years, with Izuku coming out about a year before Katsuki but still, it’s been a while. It’s not new news, yet so many people seem appalled that they’re actually in a relationship with another man.
There are people trying to analyze their every move just to see if they can piece together how long they’ve been dating for. There are people looking for any hints given by the two (there are none). There are people saying that they should break up. There are people saying that they never should’ve gotten together in the first place. There are people overanalyzing every single move made by each one of them to convince others that they’re bad for each other.
There are people saying that Izuku doesn’t deserve Katsuki. That Katsuki is so much better than Izuku.
There are people saying that Katsuki doesn’t deserve Izuku. That Izuku is too good for Katsuki.
Katsuki walks into the living room and behind the couch, resting his hands on Izuku’s shoulders, giving him a light massage, “What’re you lookin’ at?”
Izuku winces, knowing that Katsuki hates shit like this even more than he does. He gulps and shuts his phone off, setting it down beside him as he leans back into the couch and, moreso, into the massage. He looks up so that he can see Katsuki, “I was looking at the things people are saying about us.”
Katsuki sighs, leaning down to place a kiss on Izuku’s forehead before stopping the massage and jumping over the back of the couch to sit next to him, “What’ve I told you about that shit? They’re just losers who wanna make themselves feel better by trying to talk shit about us. Don’t let it get to you.”
“You’re right,” Izuku mumbles, “I just can’t help it, I guess. They’re saying that I’m too good for you, Kacchan. It’s so stupid.”
Katsuki chuckles, leaning into his boyfriend of 4 years (they’re both surprised they made it this long without accidentally spilling the beans), “Of fuckin’ course you’re more worried about what they’re saying about me.”
“Well yeah!” Izuku adjusts himself to sit up straighter and angle himself so he can see Katsuki better, “They’re wrong. They all think they know what they’re talking about and they don’t. They’re saying that I deserve someone who will treat me better just based on the things they’ve seen in interviews together. They don’t know us, though.”
“Exactly,” Katsuki interrupts him before he can say anything else, “they don’t fuckin’ know us or our relationship. We’ve stayed private for a reason and I’d like to keep it that way. We don’t have to say shit to them. No confirmation or denial. Just let em think whatever the fuck they wanna, Izu. We can go…” He pauses, trying to think of something, “take a vacation. Move past it, rise above it, leave it the fuck alone.”
“Yeah?” Izuku asks, biting on the inside of his cheek nervously.
“Yeah.” Katuski confirmed confidently, “go somewhere with a nice view, some drinks, and just ignore all of this for a week.”
He’d really like that. To not have to look at the talk shows talking about the picture and all the assumptions. He’d like to not see everything on Twitter. He usually doesn’t let this kind of stuff affect him so the fact that it is is kind of messing with him. He tries to ignore it all but he can’t do that this time because they’re trying to say bad things about the man he’s in love with.
The man he’s so in love with that sometimes he’s not sure if he can ever fully express how in love he actually is. The man he’s so in love with that sometimes he’s pretty sure it hurts to think about it. The man he’s so in love with that he can barely breathe sometimes. The man he’s so in love with that he couldn’t imagine ever not being in love with him.
Izuku leans into Katsuki’s side, letting the older man wrap his arms around him and pull him in closer.
“I love you,” Izuku mumbles into his boyfriend’s side, “so fuckin’ much.”
Katsuki laughs, “so fuckin’ much?”
“Mhm,” Izuku nods into Katsuki’s shirt, “I really do.”
***
And so, that same exact night, they booked a flight out of Japan to somewhere different. Somewhere where they didn’t have to watch the news talk about them. Somewhere where they could just sit together quietly, keeping to themselves, staying private. Somewhere where they weren’t going to be noticed and photographed at every turn.
They were somewhere where they could just breathe and not think about anything else. This love is theirs and anything anybody else has to say about it doesn’t matter because they love each other. They’re in love with each other and that is all that matters to them as they’re sitting in the hotel room, staring up at the ceiling, glasses of champagne on their nightstand.
They have hushed conversations about their favorite songs and their favorite TV shows and, while they’re sure they could keep the conversation going on forever about a million different topics and when they get tired of talking, they lay there quietly, hand in hand. Sometimes they look over at each other and exchange a smile or a kiss, then they look right back up at the ceiling, knowing that they at least have each other and they don’t need to worry about what others are saying.
This is theirs. Just theirs.