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“Kacchan, I had the most chaotic day today,” Izuku said, dropping down into the chair beside Katsuki.
“Mmm,” Katsuki hummed, not bothering to give more of a response. Izuku would just ramble anyway. Katsuki braced himself.
“It was crazy, I literally couldn’t take a breath! I ran into Shoto on the way to work, so I was a little late to start patrol, which meant I barely got a lunch break later, mainly because I felt so bad about being late,” Izuku said, continuing on. Katsuki rested his head in his hands, trying to rub away the headache that was settling behind his eyes. He could feel an unreachable itch beneath his skin, crawling up his spine. He resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. His body was tense and his jaw was clenched so tightly it was painful.
“Anyway, I had really good katsudon for lunch, but I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to because I inhaled it in like ten minutes. So that sucked. But I got all my end of patrol reports done, so I ended up getting to go home earlier than normal! But then I stopped at the store, and they were out of Katsu’s litter, so I-.” And Katsuki broke.
“God, can you please just shut the fuck up?” Katsuki snapped. Izuku’s eyes widened and he immediately went silent. Katsuki felt a sting of remorse, but resumed closing his eyes and praying the headache away. The pain medication hadn’t kicked in yet. He waited for Izuku to apologize feverishly, as he normally does, but nothing came. It was just absolute silence.
Katsuki heard the chair next to him slide back, and then he listened as Izuku’s footsteps receded into his room. The door clicked shut quietly. Katsuki lifted his head to see an empty kitchen, completely vacant of anyone but him.
His stomach dropped.
Katsuki stood up abruptly, meaning to follow Izuku into his room. Then he stopped, and he sat back down. His pride refused to let him cave immediately. He put his head in his hands again, closing his eyes. The room was eerily silent. Katsuki was so used to all the noise. Even if Izuku wasn’t talking, he was humming, or singing, or bumping into things and knocking them over. But now there was nothing. Katsuki felt bad. His stomach felt like it was being tied in knots that got pulled too tight. He’d snapped at Izuku before, but Izuku had never reacted like that . What made this time different?
He was used to Izuku being malleable, especially when they were kids. Izuku would go to lengths to accommodate Katsuki, bend head over heels to make sure that Katsuki was comfortable and accounted for. He could count on one hand the amount of times he did that for Izuku. The reality of it tasted sour, and Katsuki shook his head. The pounding in his temples worsened. As guilty as he felt, he basked in the silence a little longer. He could feel the tension in his jaw loosen.
He hated needing space from Izuku.
Izuku was a lot. He was noisy, cluttered, and chaotic. Most of the time, he could handle it. But when Katsuki got too overstimulated, it was too much. That was the one thing he’d yet to communicate, so now he just looked like an asshole. Katsuki knows he takes teasing too far sometimes, but that was just teasing. This was different, and real. He got really good at hiding the overwhelmed state he was constantly in, probably from the years of practice. Being angry and naturally brash made it easier to cope with. But recently, he’d been starting to break.
“Fuck,” Katsuki muttered. He got up and walked to Izuku’s door, knocking lightly. The door creaked open, revealing a teary-eyed Izuku. His eyes were swollen, his shirt was rumpled, and his naturally curly hair was even more of a tangled mess than usual.
Katsuki’s heart broke, but he tried to ignore that. He tried to ignore a lot of his feelings.
“Izu,” he said. Izuku didn’t respond, just turned away and made his way back to his bed. Katsuki followed silently. They both sat down, neither saying anything.
“I’m just being dramatic,” Izuku said, sniffling.
“No, you’re not.”
“I am.”
“You’re not, Izu.”
“That really hurt my feelings, you know.”
“I know.” Silence. Katsuki knew he needed to apologize. It felt like a million eyes were on him, watching, waiting. The anticipation was building just for two little words. His throat felt blocked off and his tongue felt heavy, as if speaking wasn’t an option.
“I’m…” he trailed off. They lapsed into silence again. He listened to Izuku’s occasional sniff, watching as he would move to wipe his nose every couple of seconds. It was gross, but slightly endearing. It made Katsuki want to move away, and at the same time wipe his face gently with a tissue.
“I was really fucking overwhelmed. I’m sorry.” He felt the tension in his shoulders release.
“I forgive you,” Izuku said, offering him a small smile. “Just, tell me that next time? Before we get upset?” Katsuki nodded. He couldn’t tell how he was feeling. On one hand, he felt a lot better after apologizing. They were back on good terms. That’s all he wanted. On the other hand, he felt like shit. He did something to Izuku that he needed to apologize for. As much as he enjoys being an asshole, it sometimes comes back to punch him in the gut. His aggressive persona didn’t always benefit him.
He felt pressure on his shoulder and he glanced over to see Izuku’s head resting there. Katsuki stiffened slightly, but when Izuku didn’t move, he forced himself to relax. His breathing had naturally quickened, but he focused on slow, deep breaths.
Izuku’s hand rested on top of Katsuki’s on the bed. Katsuki let his head fall against Izuku’s.
Neither of them spoke. They didn’t need to.