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Smoke hung heavy in the air, clinging to the surrounding cement like dew and confusing the dozens of villains that had made it through the new big hole in their former mess hall. Most had been contained in the prison but the charges that had gone off a little over ten minutes ago had left a large hole in the two perimeter walls and jiggled the foundation enough to have the whole prison swaying.
They hadn’t had a prison break near this scale since Tartarus but none of the heroes here now had been old enough to be deployed all those years ago. Perdition Penitentiary also was not Tartarus; there would be no high-risk villains escaping this time but the possibility of dozens of murders and violent criminals forcefully reentering society had everyone working overtime to keep things contained.
Katsuki had to stay away from the building, he’d already gotten too close when some asshole with a gravity quirk sent him spiraling out of control but he’d put her in the ground, literally, and Sero was already cocooning her up nice and tight.
Everything was absolute chaos and it was sending electricity through his veins. Katsuki knew it was a serious situation but he still relished the opportunity to let loose. He felt a bit like a kid in a candy story with so many open targets for him to choose from.
He almost felt like he was on a dance floor at one of those shitty clubs the fucks like to go to sometimes. Everyone is moving, dancing to this beat that only they can feel- except he never has this much fun at those over-saturated wannabe orgies. Katsuki can feel the demonic grin on his face as his blood pumps to the same rhythm that he sets explosions off. A bum bum bum bum directly into the sternum of the creep with knives for fingers who was trying to sneak up on Round Face while she and fucking Monoma used her quirk to keep the building from collapsing.
His feet were tingling, the back of his neck, too, his instincts pulling him. It wasn’t an imminent danger, that was more of a burn he always felt in his chest and in the scars along his torso, this was something just as familiar that he had spent years trying and failing to ignore.
Katsuki gave in reluctantly, dancing over between kicks and poorly aimed punches that he blocked and put in their place. The smoke was getting thicker the closer he got, the smell of ozone and rain worming into his brain past all the sweat and dust.
He hit a crowd, a glorified moshpit of criminals trying to gang up on Tails and some tiny horned girl he thought he could remember from UA. Despite his reluctance to even be going where he’s being pulled by some imaginary fucking string, Katsuki was beyond annoyed by the obstacle.
Didn’t they know he had to get to Deku?
Without hesitating Katsuki shot himself into the air shouting “Oi!” loud enough for him to be heard over all the mess. A few heads turned his way whether because of the explosions or his shout but he only cared about one. Tails got the message. He grabbed the little goat chick and threw himself to the side giving Katsuki plenty of space to work.
He aimed for the densest bit of the mob and pressed a button on his wrist that would mix phosphorus with his stun explosion. The resulting flashbang landed with a deafening POP and blinding white light. When Katsuki looked back down, half of the criminals were on their asses while the other half stumbled around half blind. Tails could handle things from here.
Katsuki stayed in the air, easily delivering sniper shots to those fighting the other heroes. Frogger was hopping around with a man made of some pink stone wrapped in her tongue dragging behind her like a wrecking ball. With everyone moving so much, he couldn’t risk releasing anything bigger than his precision shots.
Up in the air there was a lot less traffic but so many annoying obstacles with so many degenerates throwing their quirks around. Even as he dodged some chick's freaky tentacle hair and what looked like a cloud of glitter he did not trust, Katsuki couldn’t keep his eyes from following the smoke to where it thickened between the two exterior walls.
He couldn’t see him through the smoke screen, and Windbag acting as the final line of defense kept the smoke high and constantly moving. But the flash of green lightning gave Katsuki such a powerful jolt he would have thought Sparky had zapped him if it wasn’t such a pleasant, familiar sensation.
Some fuck chose that moment to engage a gigantification quirk. The dude wasn’t as big as Mount Lady but he seemed to be growing like a pufferfish. It would be hilarious tomorrow but right now, Katsuki had to think about the implications. Pufferfish could be poisonous and it looked like spikes were erecting from the man’s back. Could Deku see him? How many people was he facing in that smoke screen?
Pufferfuck waddled his way over to the obvious opening, twice the size of anyone around him, and swatted away the handful of people who got in his way. So he was strong, but probably unstable given the fact he was a bouncy ball with legs.
Green light pulsed through the smoke and a second later, Windbag must have changed the direction of his gusts because all the smoke rose higher and debris went flying in all directions.
Without much more consideration, Katsuki shot himself higher into the air, getting the perfect angle before cutting off his explosions and making himself an arrow. Wind whipped at his face and added to the thrill building in his veins. It was stupid but it really felt like the closer he got to his goal, the faster his heart pumped, the more alive he felt.
It was addicting.
Katsuki pressed both of his fists together and lifted them over his head, using his momentum to power the slamming blow he landed between the Pufferfucks shoulders. The dude let out a high-pitched screech but he was successfully embedded in the asphalt, his dinky little legs doing nothing to hold up the overwhelming size of his body on top of such a heavy attack.
It seems like he couldn’t deflate at will either, so just like that, the criminal's escape route was cut in half.
Katsuki landed between the border walls, the smoke immediately thick and his senses going into overdrive to try and compensate. He felt like he was playing laser tag in a war trench. Some poor schmuck almost ran directly into him, shirtless and crying strange anti-gravity tears. The man seemed frantic but it only made Katsuki strangely proud of Deku’s disorienting plan working so well.
The guy was easy enough to restrain and almost welcomed Katsuki finally ending his misery. Katsuki took his capture tape and started piling criminals up at the base of Pufferfuck Mountain. The guy was proving to be surprisingly useful. He found a handful of people already hogtied near the wall and realized there couldn’t be too many more criminals stumbling around in this smoke maze.
He crept carefully, staying low to the ground with his hands ready to take off. It was too quiet for there to be any immediate fighting but the smoke still stayed which could only mean one thing. Izuku was hunting.
A shiver ran down Katsuki’s spine at the thought and mental images that accompanied. Immediately followed by annoyance at his own fucking reactions. If Izuku ever realized the fucking choke hold he had on Katsuki he’d have no choice but to launch him to the moon. Then follow immediately after like the good simp he was.
Rapid footsteps broke out to his left and Katsuki sprinted after them, keeping low to the ground and thankful for his rubber-soled shoes that kept his steps quiet. The steps got a little louder but he couldn’t see anyone. He was about to shout at Deku to drop the smoke when he noticed small swirls appearing seemingly out of nowhere a few feet in front of him where he thought the sound of running was coming from.
Some invisible fuck thought they were slick.
The smoke stilled around him in a way it did right as Windbag was changing direction again so Katsuki took the chance he had before the invisible person could slink back into the cover. He pointed a palm forward and released a blast powerful enough to completely wipe out the smoke around him for a few seconds.
He heard something thud to the ground as the smoke settled back around him before starting to retreat all together. His explosion must have announced his presence to everyone still left in the maze, Izuku included, and he knew the nerd would rather go head-to-head with the whole prison if they could do it together.
Sweet butterflies fluttered in Katsuki's rib cage at the prospect of fighting alongside his future hero partner. Because of course, they would be partners… Once he actually told Izuku… It was a no-brainer.
Katsuki used the retreating smoke to watch out for the invisible person now lying on the ground. After years at school with the constantly naked invisible chick, he at least knew what to look out for and what to expect.
Touching the person as little as possible Katsuki wrapped most of their body in the capture tape and thought that the pain of having to remove it later might make them behave better in the future.
Within seconds, the smoke was thin enough for him to finally see both of the surrounding border walls and a few more seconds revealed Izuku standing in the middle of a gaggle of criminals who were obviously looking for him, too.
The second their eyes met over the mostly clear asphalt, they both grinned. The closest thing to pure joy Katsuki could remember feeling burst through his entire body and had him propelling himself forward to fit into his place next to Deku. Without so much as having to look at each other again, they fell into step. Katsuki shot high while Izuku aimed low and landed two criminals on their asses before Katsuki’s feet even touched the ground.
Less than a foot away, the hairs on Katsuki’s arm stood on end as Izuku’s power surged. Covering each other’s backs, the duo released shot after shot of precision shots landing the final dozen criminals on their asses without ever having to leave the others side.
Katsuki was breathing heavily as he watched other heroes and sidekicks move into the space now that the smoke was down, wrapping and handcuffing the criminals that were scattered on the ground like confetti.
Finally, Katsuki gave into his guiltiest pleasure.
Just turning his head was enough. His eyes found Izuku’s, already looking at him, and he thought he might combust from how the lightning-filled gaze made him feel. Content yet needing to compete, hot and heavy while delivering the cool breeze before a storm, so in love yet aching with the need to hide his feelings for everyone’s sake.
Suddenly, he was overpowered with a new but very familiar feeling. A tidal wave of annoyance washed over him and he felt his winning grin turn into an ugly scowl. What the actual fuck. They weren’t kids anymore. Deku was his rival, his friend, his unofficial hero partner, his only real love interest. Why the fuck was he playing this game?
Was his image of the unloving, uncaring, no-nonsense hero worth all this aching and pining? Since when did he deny himself anything that would only be good for him? Maybe when they were younger Katuski had needed to protect his heart from the reckless asshole next to him but they had both grown so much.
Izuku understood him in a way no one else would and Katsuki understood Deku in a way no one else could.
It was so stupidly simple that Katsuki wanted to bang his head against something for waiting so long. Their friendship had weathered countless petty fights, misunderstandings, outside interference, politics, and an actual war. If Izuku doesn’t feel the same, they could get past this, too.
The few inches between them was nothing. Izuku was sweating, his freckles smudged with dirt and hair sticking to his forehead in such a beautiful way. Katsuki wanted to take up painting just to try and recreate the work of art in front of him. Izuku’s victorious, infectious, glorious smile was still firmly in place but his eyebrows had dipped ever so slightly as he took in Katsuki’s scowl.
Trying to read him just like Katsuki was trying to do to him.
Before the nerd could voice his concerns Katsuki gripped him by the collar of his uniform, just under the respirator the fucker should really use more, and Izuku let him. His eyes went wide and dazzled in their confusion and the bright, consuming green was the last thing Katsuki saw before he hauled Izuku to his chest.
Their lips met in a fight of their own; Katsuki thrusting his every feeling into the simple action of pressing his lips to the ones that he’d dreamed about while Izuku seemed to drown in shock and confusion before very noticeably relaxing. The fight in both of them transformed into something hungry and devastating. Katuski’s heart fucking sang as Izuku pushed his tongue into his mouth, his hand gripping desperately at Katsuki’s jaw like he could go deeper if he just found the right angle.
Katsuki would happily choke on that tongue.
Instead, he sucked, nails dragging through Izuku’s hair as he gripped it hard and held onto the nerd as tight as he could. Izuku groaned. The sound was like heroin and Katsuki instantly needed another fix. Fuck he was already addicted.
Their hips pressed together tight, held by the clamp of Katsuki’s other arm, and he had to stop himself from grinding into that pressure when Izuku drew his bottom lip into his mouth and bit. Nails on his shoulder had him ready to claim everything Izuku was giving him.
His hands itched to roam, discover every little bump, memorize the feeling of all those scars, and finally, finally, give this wonderful body everything it deserved. He needed to sink his teeth into the strong thighs that had saved his life more than once. Lick the constellations across Izuku’s navel that drove him fucking crazy.
Izuku seemed ready to dedicate the rest of his life to standing here and kissing the ever loving fuck out of Katsuki.
“Deku,” Katsuki rasped against Izuku’s open mouth.
“Kacchan,” Izuku groaned back.
They separated maybe an inch. Both panting and clinging onto each other like the last lifevest on a sinking ship. Katsuki dropped his hand to Izuku’s neck, thumb brushing over the freckles on the side of his face where they disappeared into a scar below his ear.
“Ok, I can go back to hating you now,” Katsuki said, his voice husky and his still tight grip around Izuku’s waist proving him a liar.
Izuku laughed, the sound making Katsuki feel so fucking light and happy he felt like he needed to check that they weren’t actually floating away.
“No you can’t,” Izuku brushed their noses together, either confident in himself or in Katsuki and both were beautiful.
“No, I can’t,” Katsuki confirmed, nipping at the nerd’s jaw and reveling in the disgusting state of their shared sweat.
“Kacchan,” Izuku said, almost like a question but leaving it open for Katsuki to interpret. He could brush it off, they were still at a crime scene after all and reality was demanding their attention, but this was too important. Suddenly, this was the most important.
“I love you,” Katsuki said. No mincing words, no more avoiding and aching and wondering. He was done with all of that and his own past was proof that they both needed to be as up-front and honest with each other as possible. Might as well start how he was planning on continuing. “I fucking love you, you stupid fucking nerd and I just got so fucking fed up with dancing around it. We can sort out the details later, not here, but… but I want to be with you. I always want to be with you.”
Izuku had gone very still in his arms like he was holding his breath and maybe even his pulse somehow. His eyes were wide even if his pupils were still dominating, showing Katsuki exactly how affected he was better than anything the nerd might try to say. His hand came to skate over Katsuki’s collar sending a shiver over his skin by how gentle he could be even with his dumb gloves on.
Izuku took in a shuddering breath before that smile twitched at his pretty, kiss-swollen lips again.
“Finally,” Izuku whispered, reverently enough it was like his every wish had just come true. He threw his arms around Katsuki’s neck and kissed him breathless all over again.