Chapter Text
Izuku watches with bated breath as the blind, yet incredibly dangerous creature that's been terrorizing the nearby town draws closer to the trap he set earlier that day with Ochako and Tenya. Silently, so as to not alert the creature's sensitive hearing to their presence, Ochako reaches out to tap Tenya's arm, using her powers to make him weightless as he prepares to use his own to rush forward and restrain the creature the moment that the trap is sprung.
Mere steps away from the trap, the creature freezes, head snapping up as it sniffs the air. The three friends hold deadly still, but it doesn't help, the creature suddenly bolts back the way it came from.
"Oh come on!" Ochako exclaims, "I really thought-"
"Ochako." Tenya cuts her off, his voice still quiet and cautious, "I don't think that thing was running from us."
Izuku nods in agreement. "That trap was near perfect, we were completely silent the whole time, and I know for a fact that we properly covered our scents. It should've had no clue we were here."
"Then what was it running from?" As she asks the question the trio suddenly pick up on the sound of wing beats overhead and Tenya's face pales.
"Oh no..."
"What is it?" Ochako whispers.
"Those are dragons. We must have accidentally crossed over into dragon rider territory…"
"Dragon riders?" Deku asks, perking up suddenly. "The barbarians?"
Tenya scans the sky as he answers, "Those would be the ones, yes."
"We're close to their territory?"
"Or in it!" Ochako exclaims.
"We need to leave immediately, grab on to me, I will attempt to get us to safety as quickly as possible!"
But the trio had hardly moved when two dragons slammed into the ground in front of them, one deep red with harsh looking scales, the other bright pink and far more sleek. Atop them sat two riders, the one on the pink dragon has blond hair with a dark streak through it, the other rider Izuku recognizes instantly, even after all of these years apart.
"Kacchan." He breathed.
The boy in question had looked like he was gearing up for some kind of speech or maybe a fight, but the attitude quickly vanished from him as he locked eyes with Izuku.
"Deku?"
Izuku grinned widely at him. "Gods, Kacchan, look at you! You're a genuine dragon rider! So cool! You must be really good with your powers by now too, huh? This is incredible! I can't believe I ran into you like this, I thought I'd never see you again!"
The other rider was glancing between Izuku and Kacchan, the two dragons seemed to do the same and Ochako and Tenya were stunned into silence. Kacchan only blinked for a moment before snapping out of his shocked expression and baring his teeth at Izuku.
"We don't need useless Deku's like you mucking up our lands. Get out. Now. This is your only warning."
Conversation clearly over in his mind, Kacchan ordered his dragon back up into the sky, the other rider watching him and seeming to share a look with his dragon before turning back to Izuku and them.
"Our territories recently expanded. It'd be best to stay west of the river from now on." He locks eyes with Izuku and rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "And sorry about him. I don't know how he was back when you knew him, but he's pretty much been a callous ass since the day I met him. He has talked about you though, which is usually a good sign that he still cares, at least a little bit."
A roar sounded from above and the boy shared another look with his dragon. "We gotta get going or explodo-boy up there is gonna get mad. Safe travels!"
As soon as the dragon launches itself into the sky Ochako whips around to face Izuku. "You know dragon riders?"
Izuku, who was still staring up into the sky after the departing dragons, snaps his gaze to Ochako. "I-"
"Questions and explanations can happen later, for now we really should be departing. You heard the blond haired boy, west of the river. Let us make our way now before Izuku's acquaintance loses his patience."
As soon as the trio were safely back in town, eating in a tavern, Izuku filled them in on the story of him and Kacchan.
"We grew up together," he told them. "Our mom's were best friends, so we were together all the time. We always wanted to go adventuring, our parents had an awful time trying to keep us from wandering too deep into the forest."
"Sounds like some things never change," Ochako jokes. "Your mom still tries to keep you from venturing too far into dangerous woods."
"Yeah, well, I guess some habits are hard to break."
"I am confused. If you grew up with this boy, why is he now with the barbarian tribes?" Tenya asks.
"Actually, he isn't just with the tribes, he's the heir to their leadership."
Tenya blanches. "You mean to tell me that that boy, your 'Kacchan', is Bakugou Katsuki? Chief Mirko's chosen successor?"
"The one and only."
"Wait a sec, doesn't that mean that he's, like, ridiculously powerful?"
"He's pretty incredible, yeah. Always has been too. When his power manifested we didn't know what it meant for a while. He stuck around the village for another few years, just training on his own. Of course, I never got magic, and for a while there he didn't seem to care. He'd go on about how I was gonna be his strategist and how I didn't need power for that so it'd be fine."
"Aw, he sounds cute," Ochako coos, "so what changed? He seemed so crass earlier."
"Oh, he was plenty crass when we were kids too. By the age of five he already had the mouth of a sailor, gets it from his mom. As for him being a jerk, that didn't start until people started recognizing his power for what it was. Word got around town and people started talking about him being the prophesied next heir to the barbarian tribes and of course he heard all of that and got a big head about it. Suddenly I was too useless for a King, he needed powerful allies, not 'useless Dekus'. We were around 10 years old when Chief Mirko herself came to visit, wanted to see his power with her own eyes to verify that he was the one. Then she talked with his parents and within a week the Bakugou family was packing up to go away with her."
"Yikes." Ochako says. "They left just like that? I thought your mom's were bffs?"
"Kacchan needed to go with Chief Mirko, and it's not like they were going to just send their son off on his own."
"Still…"
"Well his attitude is atrocious. He should greatly consider fixing that before this summer."
Izuku cocks his head to the side. "Why? What's happening this summer?"
"My brother informed me a few weeks ago that Bakugou is supposed to be making his first official appearance as Chief Mirko's heir at King Enji's summer equinox ball this year."
Izuku groans and slouches down in his chair. "Gods, I totally forgot about that."
Ochako grins. "Oh yeah, didn't Shouto invite you to that again this year?"
"Yes… and it'll be my first official public appearance since we broke up."
"I am sure it won't be that bad, Izuku," Tenya consoles him. "If it makes you feel any better, no one knew who you were before you dated Prince Shouto, and I doubt anyone will care now that you are broken up once more."
"Gee thanks, Tenya, that helps a ton."
"Oh, ignore him," Ochako says, batting Tenya on the arm. "Things aren't awkward between you and Shouto anymore, right?"
"No, they're not. He actually asked me the other day for 'advice on wooing a spy master's apprentice.' As if I'd have any idea on how to do that!"
"Well, you did manage to woo a prince." Tenya points out.
"Yeah, and I still have no idea how that happened!"
"That doesn't matter!" Ochako cuts in, batting both of them on the arm now. "My point is, if you and Shouto are okay, then who cares what anyone else thinks? Just do you, Izu, stop worrying about strangers and princes and old childhood crushes turned super powerful dragon riders."
Izuku feels his whole face flush red as his spine straightens in surprise. "Who said anything about a childhood crush? I didn't say anything about that! What made you think something as crazy as that? Oh gods, it wasn't obvious that I found him hot, was it?"
Ochako smirks at him. "Well, I didn't know anything for sure until just now."
Izuku's jaw drops open as he flails about for something to say in response, but Ochako just laughs.
"Izu, I know your type by now, and he was exactly up your alley. Throw in the way you were gushing over him when we ran into him and the whole 'childhood best friends' thing and it's basic math that you'd be into him."
Izuku, mortified, hides his face in his hands and sinks even further down into his seat. "It doesn't matter anyway. He's basically royalty now and I'm just some stupid Deku, so it's not like I'm ever going to see him again anyway."
"Except for at the summer equinox ball, you mean."
"Tenya!" Ochako chides, "You're not helping! And you!" She says, rounding back on Izuku, "That's enough self-deprecation out of you! You're not 'just some stupid Deku', you're an incredible Deku! In fact, I'm going to call you Deku from now until you finally recognize your own self worth!"
"If that's the deal then you'll be calling him that forever." A new voice drawls from beside the table.
The trio turns to find a familiar face. "Hitoshi!"
"Sup."
"What are you doing so far away from the capital?" Izuku asks, scooting over in the booth to give the newcomer room to sit down.
"Aizawa sent me on a spy mission south of here, but Momo asked that I stop by on my way and deliver a message to Tenya."
The boy in question turns serious at that. "What message?"
"There've been attacks in the capital lately, some lunatic going around claiming to be ridding the country of fake knights. Basically he's been murking any knight that he feels doesn't live up to your old teach, Izu."
"Master Toshinori? But, he's basically untouchable even now, there's no way even half of the country's current standing knights could live up to him!"
"That's exactly the problem."
"If it's so bad, then what are you doing down here?" Ochako asks, concern written across her face. "Wouldn't master Aizawa want you to help with the situation?"
Hitoshi scowls slightly. "Yeah, apparently that is what he wanted, but he got orders from above to send me away until the mess is cleared up."
"What?" Ochako looks shocked, but realization dawns on Izuku before Hitoshi can answer.
"Shouto…"
Hitoshi's scowl deepens. "That damned prince, sending me away at the first sign of trouble because apparently he doesn't trust me to take care of myself."
"That's not true and you know it!" Izuku exclaims.
"I am with Izuku on this one." Tenya adds before Hitoshi has a chance to butt in with more grumbling. "I understand that this solution is far from ideal for you, but I must encourage you to keep in mind Prince Shouto's own history. From his mother's poor mental health to his eldest brother's tragic demise, I am certain that he was merely concerned for your wellbeing."
"So what, I'm not a true knight? I mean, I'm no All Might, but I had hoped that my friends would have more faith in me than just assuming I'd be a target for this guy!"
"I don't think that that's the problem at all." Izuku cuts in. "It's not that he doubts that you're a true knight, it's that he's certain you are. Look, I know Shouto and I know he cares about you and I know that when he cares about someone, he pays attention to them. If you were still in the capital and got stuck with patrolling duty one night and happened to stumble across this guy killing another knight, you would intervene, right?"
"Of course I would, any good knight-"
"That's my point. Shouto knows you're a good knight, so he knows you would intervene and I have a feeling that this mass murderer wouldn't spare someone who intervened just because they meet his criteria. If you ask me, he was just scared of losing you."
Hitoshi holds Izukus gaze for a while, studying his face before sighing and leaning back in his seat. "Whatever. I'm still going to yell at him about it when I get back, he doesn't get to just send me away when he gets scared."
A few beats of silence pass before Tenya clears his throat. "Apologies, but I believe this conversation started with you saying Momo sent you to me specifically. How exactly does this serial murderer involve me?"
"Oh, right, she wants me to send you back to the capital. She wants to go out looking for this guy, but she needs permission from the head of the academy before she can and he won't give her permission unless she assembles a small crew, better to hunt in groups and all that. She's already called in Tsuyu, but she wanted one of us too. I've been banished from the city for the time being, Ochako only just left for the first time since graduation so she didn't want to drag you back so soon, and Izuku never attended the academy so he doesn't count. No offense."
"None taken."
"I see." Tenya rubs his chin for a moment before looking up at Izuku and Ochako. "The beast we've been tasked with hunting here, do you two believe that you can handle it on your own if I were to leave for the capital tomorrow morning?"
Izuku and Ochako share a look before nodding. "I might have to rework the original plan a bit," Izuku says, "but I'm sure we'll come up with something.
The next morning, Izuku and Ochako bid farewell to Tenya and Hitoshi, wishing them both well on their travels before making their own way back to the river.
"Without crossing the river we have limited options when it comes to taking care of this thing." Izuku thinks out loud as they walk. "And without Tenya's speed ensuring we pin it down quickly enough for it to not escape the trap, this will probably be a tricky problem."
"Yeah, but you're brilliant! I'm sure you'll come up with something in no time!"
Izuku smiles at her, always thankful for the confidence boost. "I actually think I may have come up with something last night that should work with just the two of us…"
"Why do I sense a 'but' in that sentence?"
"Because there is one. Everything I've thought of so far would only be possible if we had access to the forest."
"You mean the one that's apparently in Barbarian territory?"
"Yeah…"
Ochako chews on her bottom lip for a moment before getting a familiar stubborn gleam in her eyes. "Well then, to the forest we go!"
"What? Ochako, we-we can't! You heard them yesterday-"
"Exactly! They literally just warned us yesterday, they're not going to expect us to ignore them this quickly. Besides, if their patrols are consistent, then they won't be checking this area until a few hours from now at least, so if we're quick we should be fine!"
"I'm not sure I like those odds…"
"Well then it's a good thing that I'm with you, because I have enough confidence for both of us."
Alarmed, Izuku watches for a few seconds as his friend begins crossing the bridge before anxiously running after her, "Ochako!"
"Come on, Deku!" Izuku starts at the name, a little surprised that she kept her promise from the night before.
"Ochako, I'm serious, this doesn't seem like-"
She stops halfway across the bridge, crossing her arms in front of her chest and turning to Izuku with a serious look. "Here's how I see it, the likelihood of us getting caught is minimal enough as it is, but even ignoring that, in the event that we do get caught, it's not like we're doing anything bad. The Barbarian tribes are territorial, sure, but they don't exactly have a reputation for executing trespassers. At worst they'd get pissed, interrogate us, scare us out of ever crossing territory lines again, and then hand us over to King Enji for proper punishment, at which point Shouto will sneak us out of the dungeon and King Enji will be too self conscious to admit that his youngest child got away with something like that under his nose, so he'll claim he just let us off easy or something and just like that we'll be home free."
"I don't know about you, but all of that still sounds horribly nerve wracking to me."
"Since when are you short on hope?" Izuku pouts at her and she smiles back. "The people of that town are counting on us, Deku. They're not going to make it through winter if this thing keeps interrupting their hunts, so let's go do our job and then you never have to worry about running into your scary dragon rider crush ever again."
"I- That's not- That has nothing to do with-"
"Yeah, yeah, let's get going already."
The two continue making their way into the forest, picking a different spot than the day before, one that sits closer to the river, on Izuku's insistence, and with their spot picked out, they go to work setting up their trap.
"We can't make it any more complicated than the original one I designed," Izuku explains quietly as they work, "so we won't be able to rely on the trap to hold the creature for long, but I think that if we time it right, we might be able to float you up into the sky above it and drop you down on top as soon as the trap triggers."
"Ooh, and then I can hold it long enough for you to swing in with your big impressive sword and deal the killing blow!"
"Exactly!"
The word had hardly left his mouth when the ground suddenly rocked beneath them both in a now familiar sensation. The two turn around to find the red dragon from yesterday landed in the field behind them, Kacchan atop it like before.
Izuku's posture straightens in alarm as he whips around to face his friend. "Ochako!"
She smiles sheepishly at him. "Whoops. Guess my assumptions were a little off."
" A little? "
"Well how could I have known they'd be back so soon!"
"We're dead, we're so dead…"
"I can hear your muttering, you damn nerd!" Kacchan's voice makes Deku freeze again, mind racing over what to do, but before he can decide on anything Ochako grabs his arm and pulls him along behind her until they're out in the clearing.
"Hi there!" She says with a friendly, albeit sheepish smile. "I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding-"
"What is there to fucking misunderstand?" Kacchan cuts her off. "I told you yesterday to stay the fuck out of our lands, and I'm pretty sure I also told you it'd be your only warning."
"Right, about that-"
"I don't give a shit about your excuses."
"They're not excuses! Look, the town over there is being terrorized by a creature that lives on this side of the river. All we need is one day-"
"If the creature is in our lands, then we'll handle it. Now get the fuck out before I decide to stop being nice about it."
"We can help you with it then! It'll go a lot faster with four of us and we've been hunting this thing for weeks, so we definitely have some useful information-"
"We don't need some useless loser and his bimbo friend-"
"Deku isn't useless!"
Izuku watches as Kacchan's eyes flash with something at the name 'Deku' leaving Ochako's mouth and steps toward her. "Ochako, it's fine, let's just go."
"It's not fine! He's a jerk and I'm not going to let him push us around! Deku knows more about this creature than anyone even remotely nearby, he's an expert strategist even in groups that he isnt super familiar with, and he was trained to wield a sword by Master Yagi Toshinori himself! We're not novices, we're not here to trespass on your stupid land, we just want to help the people who need it, so let us help."
Izuku stares at her in wonder, suddenly reminded of why he dated her all those years ago as she stands, hands on her hips, looking ready to go to war with Kacchan for his sake. The thought makes his heart swell even as he feels the mild terror rising at the knowledge of angry Kacchan is going to be over the whole interaction. He finds his brain repeating the same sentiment as before, we're so dead !
Chancing a look at Kacchan, Izuku finds the other boy with a wild, unreadable expression on his face. Just as Izuku starts to open his mouth to beg Ochako to just drop it and leave with him, the dragon beneath Kacchan suddenly shakes a bit beneath the boy and the complicated expression on Kacchan's face turns to one of general irritation.
"What, Eiji?" He snaps, getting a huff in return and another shake, this one bigger.
A harsh growl rips out of Kacchan's throat before, in one smooth movement, he hops right off the dragon to land in the grass below. Izuku realizes what's going to happen a mere moment before the large red dragon before him shifts into the form of a young, humanoid man with spiky red hair.
"Come on, bro." The boy, or Eiji as Kacchan had called him, crosses his incredibly muscular arms over his equally muscular chest. Izuku feels a slight blush rising to his cheeks at the sheer amount of skin the dragon shifter is showing, everything important is covered, sure, but not much else.
"If you wanna say something then fucking spit it out already." Kacchan snaps, his own arms crossed and his teeth bared.
"There's no point in not letting them help. The chick's logic is pretty sound if you ask me-"
"Yeah, well no one did, hair-for-brains!"
"Look, bro, do you really wanna go back today and have to tell Mirko that instead of accepting help and solving a problem immediately we decided to do it on our own in who knows how long?"
"Fuck off, we can do it on our faster than we could with these losers, they'd just slow us down!"
"Actually, the creature has incredibly sensitive hearing and given how loud you two are, I'm not sure you'd have much luck catching the thing at all." The words are out of Izuku’s mouth before his brain has even processed whether or not it’s smart to say them.
Kacchan’s eyes snap to his, already blazing with fury. “The fuck did you just say to me?”
"N-no-nothing! Just ignore me, I was-"
But Izuku doesn't get to finish his stuttering excuses as the dragon shifter boy rolls his eyes at Kacchan and says, "Come on, Kats, you know he's right, don't be like that."
"I don't need him to fucking tell me shit! I know my own fucking limits and I can come up with my own fucking plans!"
"Well I say that we hear them out and I'm your ride home."
"I swear to the fucking gods, Shitty Hair-"
But the dragon shifter doesn't let him finish, instead he turns to Izuku, smiling widely and says, "My name's Eijirou Kirishima, I'm Katsuki's best friend and dragon, obviously. You're Izuku Midoriya, right? Mama Bakugou was more than happy to tell me all about you when Katsuki refused to." This statement gets some loud grumbles from Kacchan about 'damn that old hag', which Kirishima ignores as well as he turns to Ochako. "I have no clue who you are, but you seem super cool and manly!"
Ochako beams at the odd compliment and holds out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Ochako Uraraka! I'm Deku's bff!"
"Dope! So then, if we're hoping to take this thing down before sundown, mind at least telling us what we're working with here?"
Izuku just about squeaks as everyone turns to look at him, even Kacchan gives him a little side-eye glare. Still, he swallows hard and takes a deep breath as he pulls out his notebook, finding it easier to talk while looking through it than at his audience. "Okay, um… so I guess the first thing to note is that it's blind, so we don't have to worry about it seeing us or our trap. That being said, it has incredibly heightened senses of hearing and smell, so we'll need to be sure to cover our scents and stay completely silent if we don't want to alert it to our presence. We also should be sure not to disturb the forest too much around us, if it's obvious that something big or intelligent has come through the area, the creature itself is smart enough to steer clear. Its super fast, so if it finds an opportunity to run then its likely as good as gone, and its pretty brutal, so subduing it in some way before engaging with it would be preferable. "
"Okay then, so what's the plan?"
"Well…" Izuku thinks about the abilities at his disposal at the moment. Kacchan is brilliant and incredibly skilled, no doubt about it, but he's also innately incredibly loud and distinctly scented thanks to his special sweat, so any plan requiring him to stay silent and non-sweaty will automatically lessen his effectiveness. Kirishima's not much different, at least not in his dragon form. If he were in his human form he might have a better chance at sneaking around and hiding his scent, but that significantly lowers his effectiveness too, especially since his dragon form seems to have scales that are ridiculously hard and sharp. Uraraka can make any of them lighter, not to mention provide them with a way to get into the sky quieter than if they rode on Kirishima. Which leaves Izuku himself, who has the best shot at a clean killing blow out of all of them thanks to his sword.
"For fucks sake, nerd, you seriously never outgrew that annoying ass mumbling?" Kacchan's voice breaks Izuku out of his train of thought.
"I- uh- oh gosh, was I mumbling? I'm so sorry I didn't even notice-"
"I'll have you know," Ochako cuts him off, glaring daggers at Kacchan, "I find his mumbling super cute!"
Kacchan scoffs. "And who the fuck are you, his girlfriend ?"
Izuku already knows the smirk that's going to be on Ochako's face before it actually appears as she sneers back at Kacchan, " Ex -girlfriend, actually."
"Can we not talk about that right now?" Izuku pleads.
"Midoribro has a point." Kirishima says, turning towards Izuku who blinks at the nickname. "I didn't actually catch any of what you said earlier, but it sounded like you were on a roll."
"Tch." Kacchan bares his teeth. "He said that I'm awesome, but Im loud and smelly, you're loud, but strong, Round Cheeks over there can make things float, and he's got a sword."
"You actually caught all of that?" Ochako asks, looking surprised.
Kacchan scoffs. "Of course I did, fucking keep up next time!" Suddenly he whirls on Izuku, who finds himself involuntary flinching back. "Now tell us your stupid ass plan already, nerd!"
Izuku swallows hard. "Right, okay, yeah, here's what I'm thinking…"
Thirty minutes later, the plan is finally set and the four of them are in position, just playing the waiting game for the creature to come around and spring their trap. Izuku breathes evenly, grateful for his familiarity with Ochako's magic making the feeling of zero gravity easier on him as he focuses on the ground beneath him, eventually catching sight of their target, exactly where he thought it would be.
He knows the moment that Kacchan notices the creature too, because a sudden explosion rocks the forest floor, sending the creature careening in the opposite direction. Straight towards where Kirishima waits, still in human form until the creature gets close enough, at which point the boy shifts into his dragon form and makes good use of his size and nearly indestructible scales as he pins the startled creature beneath himself.
That's when Ochako let's her fingertips touch and Izuku starts hurtling back towards the ground, towards where the creature is now pinned by Kirishima. Izuku angles his sword as he falls until he's able to take the thing's head off in one clean fell swoop as he lands hard on the ground.
Ochako is on him in an instant, swinging him around while squealing in his ear. "We did it!"
Kirishima laughs loudly and Izuku feels a strong pair of arms wrap around both him and Ochako and lift them off the ground. "That was awesome! You guys are totally manly!"
Ochako puts on a half-fake flustered face as the shifter puts her down. "Aw shucks, you don't have to say all that!"
The boy cracks a big grin at her and plants a hand in her hair. "No seriously, that was some manly stuff, from you especially! You're one super manly chick!"
"Thanks bro, you're pretty manly yourself!"
"Yeah, yeah," Kacchan's voice interrupts, "You both did your fucking jobs, congratulations, can we go now?"
"Oh come on, bro!" Izuku stares in awe as Kirishima throws a casual arm around Kacchan's shoulders and doesn't get blasted in the face for it. "What's the rush? We don't have to be back for another few hours, why don't we get dinner with them or something?"
"And where the hell would we do that, dumbass? We've got no towns out this way and I get the feeling that shitty town they're protecting won't take too kindly to a couple of barbarians muddling their damn streets."
Izuku scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "He actually makes a pretty good point there."
"Yeah, no shit, Deku."
"Okay, so dinner's out, but I still want to hang out with them! They seem cool and Midoribro's one of your old childhood friends, so I'm sure he's got some fun stories to tell!"
"He abso-fucking-lutely does not."
"One friendly conversation won't kill you. I mean, who knows when we'll get to see them again!"
"Actually, we'll both be at King Enji's summer solstice celebration." Ochako pipes up, much to Izuku's horror.
Kacchan turns to look at them, blinking slowly. "You'll fucking what?"
"No way, seriously dudes?" Kirishima exclaims, beaming. "How did you guys manage that? No offense or anything, but I thought you guys were pretty low on the hierarchy over there?"
"She said the nerd trained with Yagi Toshinori, dumbass. He probably got in on clout and has her as his plus one."
Ochako crosses her arms across her chest. "Dead wrong on all accounts, actually."
Izuku can't bring himself to meet Kacchan's eyes as he explains, "Yeah, it's actually not common knowledge. The Master Toshinori thing, I mean. I don't need all that attention or anything and he doesn't really want it anymore either, so I don't bring it up much."
Kacchan let's out a soft, "Tch. That fucking explains why I never heard of that shit."
Izuku glances up to meet Kacchan's eyes and finds a complicated expression written across his face. There's definitely some anger, some confusion and frustration, but it's the slight betrayal and hurt that Izuku finds there that has his heart clenching in his chest and his mouth opening to explain more.
He doesn't get the chance though, as Ochako unknowingly cuts him off to inform them, "As it happens, I'm dating one of the sons of the noble Iida family, so I'll be his plus one. And Deku here, is actually very close to Prince Shouto and was given a personal invitation from him."
Izuku can barely find it in himself to feel a certain way about how she phrased his relationship with Shouto to them because Kacchan is still staring at him and he's finding it a little hard to breath and incredibly hard to stop himself for blurting out an explanation, his whole life story, anything to wipe that look off of Kacchan's face. He dully registers Kirishima and Ochako carrying on the conversation on their own, something about plans for the ball, who's going to be there, what food will be served, but he's too busy trying to find the words to say to Kacchan.
How do you begin to explain to your childhood best friend that the knight he had worshipped, who had long since retired and basically gone into hiding and utterly refused to take on an apprentice, had, in fact, hand picked Izuku to train after an insane stroke of luck had him witnessing one of the worst moments of Izuku's life? How is he supposed to explain that despite never having attended the knight academy himself, he still made friends with a number of incredibly influential knights, including the literal prince of his nation? And how could he even begin to explain that the things that drew him to Ochako were the parts of her that reminded him of Kacchan and that he's pretty sure it didn't work out with Shouto because the boy's calmness unnerved him when he expected and wanted a more explosive personality?
Heart nearly beating out of his chest, Izuku takes a step forward, hands starting to reach out, mouth opening to say, "Kacchan-"
But he doesn't get any further as the boy in question gnashes his teeth, grabs Kirishima by the back of his head and snaps, "That's enough! I'm fucking done with this shit, can we fucking go already?"
"Fine, fine, I know when to stop pushing my luck." Kirishima shakes his head until Kacchan lets go. "I guess we'll see you guys at the solstice?"
"Heck yeah! It's gonna be great!" Ochako exclaims, pumping a fist into the air.
"That's the spirit! See you two later then!"
And with that, the shifter boy transforms, Kacchan climbs onto his back, and without so much as another look in Izuku's direction, they're gone.