Chapter Text
During their years at UA, if you had asked the students of Class 1-A if they thought Katsuki and Izuku had feelings for each other, the answer would've been an almost unanimous "yes". It was just common sense, something anyone who spent enough time around the two could see. There was a betting pool for when, not if, they'd get together.
But now, over halfway through their second year as pro heroes? They must've misunderstood, must've not read their friends as well as they thought they had. Nothing had changed between the two in all this time. Even as they formed a hero partnership and moved into an apartment together a year after graduating, there hadn't been one solid hint of anything more than that childhood-friends-turned-rivals-who-sometimes-seem-like-they-hate-each-other-but-are-actually-best-friends thing they have. Sure, Izuku did still look at Katsuki like he was the most amazing thing the world had to offer. Sure, Katsuki did still have a surprisingly soft side that was reserved for Izuku alone. Not one of his other friends had ever experienced that gentle tone of voice directed towards them, no matter how much distress they were in. But... maybe those things were truly just platonic, as the two boys had always insisted whenever the topic was brought up.
Katsuki and Izuku weren't oblivious, they'd always been aware their friends expected a childhood-friends-to-rivals-to-lovers story worthy of its own movie adaptation to unfold in the UA dorms. Suggestive comments had been made when they announced their hero partnership and plans to live together, which they easily laughed off. Even though they were the only ones who seemed to understand that there was nothing more than friendship between them, they'd accepted what it looked like from the outside.
Okay, maybe they were a little oblivious.
It took 3 months of living and working together, spending far more time together than ever before, for Katsuki to realize that he didn't mind spending almost every waking moment with Izuku around. Sometimes by his side on patrol, sometimes across the table on nights out with friends, sometimes in his arms after a tough fight. Almost always in his peripheral vision, rarely farther than the other side of a battlefield.
Katsuki had always thought of himself as someone who highly valued time alone. At UA, in the evenings when most of his classmates were socializing, he usually retreated to his room to study in peace before heading to bed at least an hour earlier than any of his friends thought was a reasonable time for a high school student to sleep. He'd then wake up when the dorm was still dark and quiet to head to the gym, enjoying the silence before having to once again spend another day around the noise and annoyance and idiocy that was people. It usually wasn't until after he'd showered and was eating breakfast that he encountered another person, a classmate wandering into the kitchen with a yawn and their hair still tousled from sleep. Before long another classmate would appear, and another, and Katsuki would wordlessly wash his dishes and return to his room for another hour of solitude before classes started.
After graduating, he’d found an apartment with Eijirou, Hanta, and Denki. Things were a little different, living with only three other people and settling into working life, but he maintained his routine as best he could.
When he moved in with Izuku, he'd planned for his schedule to be much the same. Get home, eat dinner, spend the rest of the evening in his room, sleep early. Wake up, go to the gym, make breakfast before Izuku stumbled sleepily out of his room.
That is, until Izuku asked him to watch a movie together after dinner the first night in their new apartment. Katsuki stuck to his schedule that night, but in the following days, immediately after finishing dinner, Izuku would turn to look at him with those big green puppy dog eyes. No words were exchanged about this, but Katsuki knew exactly what it meant. He pretended to not notice for the first week, avoiding Izuku’s gaze and continuing with his evening routine as normal.
He should’ve known his partner, the stubborn, Kacchan-obsessed boy who'd been following him around since the day they met, wouldn’t give up that easily.
Finally, Katsuki was the one to give in.
“Yes, we can watch a damn movie,” he sighed out as he picked up their dishes to carry to the kitchen. “Tonight only. Don’t get any ideas about this becoming a regular thing.”
If his heart fluttered at the way Izuku’s face lit up in response, he wouldn’t admit it.
Also, it became a regular thing.
Sometimes instead of watching a movie or show, they would talk. Or sometimes they’d barely interact at all, just reading or browsing their phones in comfortable silence. What made this okay, Katsuki told himself, was that at least his sleep schedule wasn't interrupted. Once it reached time to sleep, he’d retire to his bedroom with a “Goodnight, Kacchan!” and a smile from Izuku. On days that work ran late, which was quite a common occurrence since villains aren't usually considerate of your scheduled working hours, Izuku didn’t protest when Katsuki went straight to bed after dinner.
At first, mornings did go according to plan. Katsuki wasn't sure exactly what Izuku got up to after he went to sleep, but he knew sometimes he went to the gym, and sometimes Katsuki would wake up to hero memes or news articles sent in the middle of the night.
Then one evening just before Katsuki was about to head to bed, Izuku announced he'd be joining him in the gym from now on.
"You do know I leave at 5:15, right?" Katsuki had questioned with unconcealed amusement.
"What, you don't think I can do it?"
“I think you’ll do it for a few days and then you’ll be back to sending me memes at 3am.”
“Well you’re wrong,” Izuku replied proudly. “As a pro hero it’s important to have a good sleep schedule!”
Katsuki huffed a laugh, deciding not to point out that obviously he knew that and had been telling Izuku for years already. “Whatever you say, nerd." Just before entering his room he turned back to add, "One word out of you about how early it is and I’m dropping a weight on your foot.”
As he lay in bed that night, he found himself looking forward to the morning.
It took 5 months of living and working together for Izuku to realize that when he thought of the future, it looked no different than his current life. Whether it was 1 year or 10 years in the future, all he saw was himself and Katsuki fighting villains, saving people, rising up the hero rankings. Maybe they'd be ranked number one and number two, maybe they'd be ranked farther apart, maybe they wouldn't have even broken the top 10 yet, but they’d still be fighting together.
When he thought of the future, he saw himself and Katsuki collapsing on the couch next to each other after a long day, Izuku pulling out his phone to order takeout so Katsuki wouldn't exhaust himself even more trying to make them both dinner. Probably, just like last night, one of them would fall asleep before making it to bed, waking up in the middle of the night to a blanket covering them that wasn't there a few hours before. Maybe they'd still be in this apartment, or maybe they would've moved to a bigger one where they wouldn't have to fight over the bathroom or how Izuku's extensive collection of hero merch was gradually taking over every inch of empty space (though Izuku knew Katsuki appreciated the All Might merch just as much as he did, and he'd caught him looking at the Red Riot poster in the kitchen with a fond expression more than once. Yes, there were posters in the kitchen, how else was Izuku supposed to fit his whole collection in this tiny apartment?).
Izuku had never been one to think much about romance and relationships, but there'd always been a part of the future that was a blank space waiting to be filled, a faceless stranger who he'd meet, marry, and spend the rest of his life with. Someone who he'd wake up to in the mornings and come home to at night. It was simply what happened for most people, so it had been included in his future plans since childhood without much thought.
At some point though, that faceless stranger had been replaced by Katsuki.
Mornings were spent together, evenings were spent together. Even the time inbetween, they were together. And... Izuku liked that. He didn't want that to change. The thought of someone new appearing in his life and taking over even half of that time didn't feel like it could be anything except disappointing. He tried to imagine himself 5 years from now, saying bye to Katsuki at work and heading home to spend the evening with the faceless stranger, the love of his life.
It felt empty. No matter how many attractive traits he tried to give the faceless person, adding them on like a Sims game, he couldn't make the situation appealing. What could they possibly provide that Katsuki didn't already? The only answer he could come up with was romance, which, sure, would be nice, but did he really need that to be happy in life? He was starting to think maybe not. As long as nothing changed between him and Katsuki, he'd be happy with life and the future seemed bright and exciting.
After coming to this conclusion, he was satisfied. Another part of his brain, however, decided to supply an additional option: what if Katsuki and romance weren't mutually exclusive?
Throughout high school their friends had always expected them to get together, saying numerous times how it was so obvious they liked each other and listing all the things they’d done that were “proof”. At first he’d vehemently denied it, but as time went on and the remarks continued, he grew less sure of how to respond. What are you supposed to do when everyone is telling you how you feel but you don’t feel that way?
“Watching you two is painful sometimes,” Ochako had lamented one time as she hung upside-down off his bed during a study session. “You’re more obsessed with each other than the actual couples in our class sometimes but refuse to even consider that maybe you like each other.” She reached out and touched a pencil, adding to the mass of study materials already floating in front of her.
Izuku surveyed the floating objects for his red pen and plucked it from the air, continuing to write in his notebook as he spoke. “I don’t know what to say that I haven’t already, Ocha. He’s my best friend and I’ve admired him since we were literal toddlers, am I not allowed to just really like him without it meaning anything more?”
Ochako frowned. "It's not that you're not allowed to, but it’s just… it's so obvious.”
Eventually their friends had eased up on it, only making the occasional joke here and there. Izuku wasn’t sure if they now believed him and Katsuki weren’t actually refusing to acknowledge their undying love for each other or if they’d just chosen to drop the subject, but either way he was glad the topic rarely got brought up anymore.
As he thought about it now, images popped into his head of Katsuki and him kissing, of them cuddling in bed, of them raising a mini Izuku or mini Katsuki. Everything he'd always assumed would happen with the faceless stranger. It was... weird. Not a bad weird, he wasn't sure he could ever not enjoy spending time with Katsuki. Just... weird, really weird. He wouldn’t deny Katsuki was good-looking, and, as he determined a few minutes ago, has everything Izuku would want in a significant other, but– that’s just not how they are. Izuku doesn’t even like guys that way, much less know if Katsuki does.
Yeah, okay, they were definitely more than a little oblivious.
It was around then that he started wondering what Katsuki saw when he thought of the future. Throughout all of their shared childhood and school life, and now as adults, he'd never expressed any interest in romance or marriage or even casual relationships. It was never something the two of them talked about, having much more interesting and relevant topics to discuss (such as becoming pro heroes, All Might, training, heroes, schoolwork, their friends, and, of course, heroes).
Last year, Mina had asked if Katsuki had his eye on anyone and his response was the same as when someone had asked the same sort of question back in their first year of UA.
"I'm going to be number one, I don't get distracted by dumb shit like dating."
Did that mean when Katsuki thought of the future, he also only saw Izuku? Or did he want to eventually branch off on his own, go solo and live alone so he can fully focus on being number one? They’d never really discussed if being a hero duo was something permanent or temporary. One day Katsuki had been complaining about working with incompetent extras and comparing them to times he and Izuku had fought together seamlessly, and Izuku had half-jokingly said it’d easier if they could just always fight together. Next thing he knew, Katsuki was quitting his agency and they were submitting the application to form a hero partnership.
Years ago, when they first started at UA, Katsuki had been adamant he'd never team up with anyone if it could be avoided. As far as he saw it, the only way to rise to the top was to be solo, to win all by himself. Eventually, throughout the many fights they’d experienced, both against real villains and practice, he’d realized the importance of teamwork. Yelling at anyone who tried to help him had turned into silent nods of acknowledgement, maybe even a short thank you - usually if it was Izuku.
Okay, so maybe Katsuki wasn’t going to go solo. But what if he met someone who changed his mind about relationships? What if Katsuki was the one heading home to the love of his life while Izuku went home to an empty apartment?
He'd probably have to get a cat. Name it Kacchan II. Yeah, that sounds good.
One evening, after mulling it over for about a week and becoming increasingly worried that Katsuki would someday leave him, Izuku finally brought it up. Well, first Katsuki got fed up with the miserable expression that had been on Izuku's face for the past few days and asked what the fuck was wrong with him.
The quiet muttering halted and wide green eyes looked at him.
“Oh it’s… kinda dumb.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Spit it out.”
“Well… I was just thinking…what do you think your life will be like in the future? Like in- in 5 years?” Before Katsuki could respond, Izuku continued, his voice wobbly. “Am I going to have to get a cat?”
“Haah? Why would you need a cat?”
“If you move out, like if you get married or something…"
"If you try to fucking replace me with a cat, I will personally tell All Might you cried for two hours straight when you accidentally broke his Silver Age figurine. Which you already own three other versions of."
Izuku nodded slowly, still looking miserable.
"Also, you'd definitely give it some shitty dumbass name like Kacchan II."
"But that's a good name," Izuku mumbled.
Katsuki said something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “dumbass nerd”, but out loud he said, "I'm not moving out."
Izuku's heart jumped at the words "I'm" and "moving out" coming from Katsuki's mouth, a familiar pressure building behind his eyes. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them tight. "How can you be su-sure?" Tears welled up, one slipping down his cheek. "You could go solo, or- or what if you want to get married-"
Through his blurry vision he didn't notice as Katsuki froze, eyes widening slightly at the realization of how serious he was.
"If you want to- to move out, it's oka-"
“What’s gotten into you?” Katsuki cut him off. "You've been moping around for a week now because you think I'm gonna move out and get married? What the hell put that in your head?" Though harsh, there was a gentle touch to his voice that went straight to Izuku’s heart.
Izuku sniffled and wiped away tears with the back of his hand. "Nothing put it in my head, I've just been thinking about the future…"
Katsuki didn't say anything, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Like... l-look at our friends, Mina and Kirishima are engaged already, Denki keeps talking about wanting to propose once he and Kyoka are older, Iida seems pretty serious with his girlfriend… we'll both probably find someone someday too, you know?"
"No,” Katsuki shook his head, “I don't know. You know I don't care about that stuff."
“But you might change your mind.” He paused, sniffling again. “There’s plenty of fans…g-girls who’d love to date you.”
“Izuku.”
“Mhm?”
Katsuki shifted slightly to look at his partner better. He suppressed a smile at a tuft of green hair sticking up at an odd angle, molded by the couch cushion Izuku had been leaning against until a few moments ago. They sat facing each other on the couch, their feet inches apart but never touching. Tonight was a night where they were doing their own thing, Katsuki scrolling his Twitter feed while trying to ignore the on and off muttering of Izuku talking to himself on the other side of the couch. The boy’s hands had long ago fallen loosely to his lap, fingers still curled around his phone as he stared blankly at the black screen.
Those green eyes, wet with tears, were now watching with rapt apprehension as Katsuki chose his next words.
"In five years, I'm gonna be number one. I'll still be with your nerdy ass, kicking villain ass and being the best damn hero duo the world has ever seen,” he said, firm and confident but full of affection. “I don’t want to move out unless it’s because we’re moving to a bigger place."
Izuku's lips twitched in a slight smile. "Y-yeah?"
“Yeah.” Katsuki smiled back. “I don’t care about any shitty extras fawning over me. You got that?”
Izuku’s tear-stained cheeks glinted in the light as he nodded, letting his smile stretch a bit wider.
“Besides, I’m not the only one with fans begging for a piece of this ass,” Katsuki said, smirking playfully. “Why’re you getting all worried about me dating and moving out and not yourself? With all the tweets I see about ‘Deku’s thick thighs’, I think I should be the one worried about you getting wooed by some extra.”
“Why are you reading thirst tweets about me, Kacchan?” Izuku giggled as he wiped away the last of his tears.
Katsuki shrugged. “Gotta keep up with what people are saying about my partner.”
“Yeah?” Izuku asked, teasing. “Should I be reading yours too?”
“If you want. They might convince you to fall for these pecs and biceps though.” He cringed inwardly as he flexed his arm, but it was worth it when Izuku giggled again.
“You do have nice arms.” He nodded thoughtfully, eyes lingering much longer than Katsuki expected.
He kicked Izuku in the leg.
“Hey! What was that for?!”
“Pervert nerd,” was all he said, uncomfortably aware of how fast his heart was beating.