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This is the story of how Izuku began preparing for his its-only-a-matter-of-time job as best man at Kacchan and Shouto’s wedding.
It’s a rare long and quiet weekend in Musutafu (Kacchan is spending it with Kirishima’s family in Chiba) and Izuku is enjoying every serving of peace and pampering his mother is willing to provide.
Which is a lot. But Izuku can get pretty greedy, especially when he leaves himself on empty most days. It’s really only here that he feels safe and entitled enough to fill his cup until it spills over, brimming with homemade katsudon, All Might movie marathons, delivery matcha boba, and on-demand mom hugs.
Oh and how could he forget the best part? The tea. And no, Izuku isn’t talking about Yaoyorozu’s fancy lady loose-leaf kind of tea.
After Izuku spills the first drop on their well-worn dining room table, Midoriya Inko is instantly as invested in Kacchan’s budding romance with Todoroki Shouto as Izuku is. Well, almost because Izuku doubts there is anyone as all in as he is in this. The timing of her getting on board is good too because Izuku is sure Ochaco is tired of hearing him prattle on and on about how cute Kacchan and Shouto are together.
It might be weird to call two very handsome boys “cute,” but their relationship has got a mess of heart-fluttering, gut-twisting butterflies all up inside Izuku that he needs to let it out! Multiple times a week!
And just like he hoped (but really, how could she not?), his mom is here for all of it.
It starts that very Friday he arrives. A pot of steaming sukiyaki is waiting on the stove and his stomach practically roars as he steps through their door.
Once he gets the hugs, kisses, and baggage deposit out of the way, he runs back to the kitchen and tosses his phone onto the table so it clattered loudly enough to make his mom jump.
“Goodness Izuku, what’s the matter?”
“Mom,” he intones with as much gravitas as he could muster. “Look.”
She peers at the table where his phone lay face up on a picture. The picture. The secret one Izuku took of Kacchan and Shouto sitting by the window of a conbini and Kacchan wiping something off Shouto’s cheek.
She gasps, hands clasped in prayer in front of her mouth. Izuku can see the telltale signs of tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. “Oh my word, this is the sweetest thing! Look at Katsuki! I never thought I’d see the day!”
She looks up to Izuku who is practically mirroring her expression. Seeing the photo still gets him every time, even if he’s seen it multiple times by now.
“I know right?!” He nods excitedly. “I wanted to send it to you when I took it a couple of weeks ago but I really wanted to see your reaction when you saw it!”
“Mitsuki and Masaru will just melt when they see this—”
“No!” Izuku grabs the phone and holds it protectively around his chest. His mom flinches back at his vehemence, bewildered.
Immediately, Izuku feels bad for overreacting, but like, no one can see this. He didn’t even send it to Shouto. Because he has a plan.
He grins to set her at ease and explains, “Mom, you know Kacchan will actually kill me if his parents saw this picture right now.”
She relaxes, nodding in understanding. “That’s true. Oh, but it is just such a sweet photo…”
“Oh don’t worry, they’ll get to see it eventually.” He leans in conspiratorially, eyes twinkling. “I’m gonna save it for the slideshow that’s gonna play at their wedding!”
Inko giggles and Izuku knows she approves of his plan. But of course, she had to be the voice of reason. “But hold on, didn’t you just say you got together recently? I know Katsuki knows what he wants but they’re a bit young to be engaged, no? And so soon?”
Izuku dismisses her concern with a wave of his hand. “Well they’re not engaged yet Mom, obviously, but they will be at some point and I just wanna be ready!”
Inko makes a noise of understanding and turns toward the stove to give the sukiyaki pot an assessing look. “Set the table, will you honey? I’m sure you’re starving.”
Izuku pockets the phone he was cradling and jumps into action. He’s setting the bowls on the table when his mom asks the question that sets his years-long project into motion: “What makes you so sure they’re going to get married, honey? Life is long Izuku, and people change—”
Oh no. No no no, there is no doubting this, Mom!
“Mom, no.” He says with so much conviction that his mom briefly stops on her way to the table (heavy pot and all!) to give him a look.
He continues: “Kaccan and Shouto are it for each other Mom, I can just tell.” Izuku looks off to the side and concedes, “Okay I don’t know how or why exactly, but I just… it feels so right! And the way Kacchan has become quite an affectionate boyfriend—”
The goofy way his mom tries to not look so skeptical as she scoops the steaming liquid into their bowls makes Izuku laugh because, yeah, fair.
“Well, affectionate in his own unique Kacchan way,” he amends, and Inko releases into a knowing grin.
But Izuku doesn’t think she’s convinced so he spends the rest of dinner regaling her with little observations he’s made of their interactions since the pair became official. Peeks into ways his two favorite people (who happen to be touch-averse for different reasons) show how they care for each other and how—difficult or awkward it might be—they receive that care from each other.
Oh, oh, but before all of that! He has to tell her of the delightful mix of elation and embarrassment on Shouto’s beautiful face when Izuku confronted him and asked point blank if he and Kacchan were dating. How Shouto admitted that they were in fact together but asked Izuku to keep it secret because Katsuki wasn’t ready to go public just yet.
But then! It wasn’t even a month later when Kacchan, almost vindictive in his blatancy, sat next to Shouto on the couch one weeknight evening while the whole class relaxed around the common room. He plopped heavily down on the couch, loud enough to draw attention to himself. A few folks looked up at him.
“Oi, dumbasses,” he growled to round up the rest of their eyes. When he was sure he had everyone’s attention, Kacchan put an arm possessively around the dual haired boy. Shouto blinked at the hand around his shoulder for a few seconds, then towards Kacchan, who was eyeing everyone as though daring them to say something.
“Shouto is my boyfriend, so if any of you losers were harboring any fantasies about nabbing this pretty boy,” the grim set to his mouth turned smug. “Sucks for you. Go die in a ditch with that shitty dead dream and leave us the fuck alone.”
Lightning fast, Ashido clapped her hands over Kaminari’s scream but Shoji didn’t know he could have also helped by using his Quirk to prevent the shrieks from Hakagure, Aoyama, and (adorably) Koda as well as the whoop from Sero and the expected “that's so manly, bro!” from Kirishima. The rest of the class, unexpected as the announcement was, was not really surprised given how close the two had gotten and gave only muted reactions of acknowledgement. They had learned to temper their reactions so as not exacerbate any heightened feelings Kacchan might be experiencing at the moment.
Izuku (not even a squeak!) and Ochaco exchanged glances over everyone’s heads and Izuku allowed himself to mouth a self-satisfied “I told you so,” which the anti-gravity hero only shook her head at in surrender.
From there, Izuku launches into a number of observations he’d made about how easy it was to see Kacchan’s penchant for fleeting touches, whether it was his hand resting on Shouto’s back for a millisecond as he passed him by, in the classroom, in the dorm kitchen or common room, or the agency.
How Kacchan never failed to throw a possessive arm around Shouto when they were sitting next to each other whenever they were around people they trusted. Just last weekend, Tenya, Izuku, Kacchan, and Shouto were playing a board game at the kitchen table. Kacchan was sitting so slouched over that his body practically formed a C, and yet his right arm was still able to reach around the back of Shouto’s chair and stay there for most of the evening.
How the time between Shouto deciding to, and actually taking Bakugou’s hand while they walked, got shorter and shorter over time.
Little observations like that.
By the time they migrated over to the couch to watch one of his mom’s J-dramas before Izuku took over for a two-part All Might documentary, he had converted Inko into a true believer.
“Izuku, these stories, they are so precious! I wonder if Katsuki and Todoroki are even aware of how wonderful what they have with each other is.”
“Probably not,” Izuku shakes his head thoughtfully, legs folded underneath him. His hands are warming around a mug of some hot chocolate. “That’s why I’m gonna save their pictures to share with their wedding coordinator, so they can see it for themselves! Well, and Aunt Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru and everyone else too!”
Inko smiles her pleased, proud smile that’s reserved for when Izuku does something that touches her heart. “That’s a wonderful idea, Izuku! It is so rare you see love from another person’s point of view. It would be a very sweet wedding present. And!” She stops as if she just thought of something. “If you’re their best man, you’ll have all these stories to share during your speech but oh, how could you possibly remember all of these lovely little tales?”
The gears in Izuku’s mind grind to halt. His mom isn’t known to be particularly clever or cunning but she is her own kind of genius. Izuku had to get his smarts from somewhere after all.
Obviously, he will be their best man. There’s no other choice… well, except maybe Kirishima but Izuku has the advantage of having a high ranking in both boys' esteem. Not that Shouto dislikes Kirishima, quite the contrary. Shouto finds Kirishima’s positivity and easy grin pleasing and reassuring and has said so multiple times. But. Izuku has history with Kacchan! That has to count for something right? Or maybe not, actually.
Whatever; they can both be best men. The point is, Izuku is 100% sure Kacchan and Shouto would be getting married at some point in their future and he is about 95.6% sure he will be “a” or “the” best man. Which means, one measly photo or a few half-remembered anecdotes will not be enough. He has SO much more to do to prepare for this very important role.
He needs to start right the fuck now.
He jumps up from the couch, spilling a bit of hot chocolate on his shirt.
“Izuku!” His mom exclaims, scolding. She immediately reaches over to begin dabbing the spot with a napkin that appears in her hand (mom magic). “What’s gotten into you?”
He leans over her and drops a big wet smack on top of her forehead. “Mom. Oh my god. You’re absolutely right.”
Without another word, Izuku runs up to his room to pull out a brand new notebook from which to begin. All Might documentary forgotten, he gets to work.
A few months before their wedding, Izuku collects all his photos and notebooks to start plotting his speech. He sees notebook #1 and shakes his head. He'd been doing this for so long at this point, he nearly forgot who got him started in the first place. He makes a note to include an effusive acknowledgement of his mom’s role as catalyst of this entire project.
Without her, Izuku may not have embarked on one of the most meaningful journeys of his life outside being a hero: documenting for posterity the soft, tender, moving moments of Kacchan and Shouto’s relationship that he has had the honor of witnessing over the years.
Embarrassment be damned.
Izuku doesn’t really care if Kacchan blows something up. He and Shouto made sure to get collateral damage insurance for the venue; one that specifically covers A/V equipment.