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The back pieces of Dynamight's mask tilt this way and that like some kind of weather vane, as the wind picks up before the storm.
Red sky at morning. Hero's sure warning.
He looks... Well, he looks like Kacchan always does, just with dramatic lighting. Backlit by the red rising sun, he looks like a villain's sure warning, with his lips pulled down in a familiar frown and the knowledge Izuku has of just what he's capable of.
Kacchan's amazing.
... He doesn't do well in the rain though.
Kacchan is scowling at the clouds on the horizon like the weather is conspiring to personally offend him.
That's not very likely; Izuku has been dutifully checking the weather each time Dynamight and Deku are scheduled to patrol together, and learning a little about how weather forms while he's at it.
(If Kacchan's still going to call him a nerd, he might as well live up to it.)
High pressure systems, low pressure systems, convection currents, latitude, the jet stream, the water cycle, rain shadows-
Izuku could tell you all about the weather, but Kacchan would probably tell him to shut up and drag him away to do "more important things."
Patrol is very important, but somehow Izuku doesn't think that's what Kacchan means.
For example, if Izuku were to attempt to inform Kacchan all about the weather, he has the sneaking suspicion that Kacchan would just let him. Kacchan's eyes might glaze over and he might practically fall asleep on his feet, but he would grimly continue on in his Kacchan way, trying his best to give Izuku his full attention.
And then blow up someone else.
Kacchan's been like that since the war. Izuku can do almost whatever he wants, and Kacchan will pretend that it's fine.
It's not fine, though.
Izuku almost wishes sometimes that things would go back to the way they used to be, when Kacchan would blow up at him and assert his boundaries so that Izuku knew where not to step next time.
It had been awful, but by the end of middle school Kacchan had actually been a lot better than he had been at the beginning, the Incident notwithstanding. Or, rather, Izuku had gotten better at squishing himself into the little box that Kacchan demanded that he inhabit.
Izuku doesn't even want to tell Kacchan about the weather. He can tell Ochako, who will laugh at his enthusiasm, or Shouto, who will respond with a thumbs up and a smiley face emoji. That's his thing, lately.
But if Izuku wanted to tell Kacchan about the weather, then Kacchan would let him, even though he really did not give two shits and would probably rather do anything else than stand on a rooftop listening to Izuku ramble on about how in the southern hemisphere the winds are so strong that they call them-
Anyway. That's not the point.
The point is... The point is, Izuku can never really be sure if Kacchan actually wants to hear Izuku talk about things-that-are-not-the-weather, or if he's just humouring him because Kacchan's just weird like that now.
Like, yeah, Izuku and Kacchan are friends now, and that's amazing, Kacchan's amazing, but...
But. They are standing on a rooftop, taking a break, and Izuku has no idea what to say to him.
Hello? The weather looks crappy?
How are you? Do you think you'll be okay?
Are we okay? How do I talk to you? What do you like to talk about? Because you will not throw me off this building if I open my mouth, but that doesn't mean you care about what I have to say? I'm not fucking fragile? I won't cry if you tell me to shut up? Or at least pick another topic?
Izuku could explain Kacchan's own quirk back to him in a way that makes his eyes narrow in intrigue, but he cannot, for the life of him, tell what's going on in Kacchan's head.
He used to have a pretty good read on him. Izuku used to own the dictionary to Kacchanese, and every time Kacchan did something, Izuku would know why.
Izuku does not know why Kacchan is standing on a rooftop next to him, watching him out of the corner of his eye.
He's been doing that a lot lately, too. Looking at Izuku when he seems to think Izuku won't notice.
That's silly. Izuku always notices. It's Kacchan. If Kacchan's looking at him-
Then Izuku is looking right back.
Kacchan doesn't even startle when he realises Izuku has caught him in the act. The old Kacchan might have blustered something about Izuku being the one staring at him all the time, but new Kacchan...
New Kacchan just raises an eyebrow.
A challenge.
Izuku can do challenge.
He lets his lips pull up in the start of Deku's signature smile.
Dynamight grins right back.
And then they're off, and they're going to have to talk, one of these days, about how Izuku is supposed to talk to this new, quieter, overly permissive Kacchan and how all that crap in middle school doesn't mean that Kacchan isn't allowed to have boundaries now and how maybe they should both see a therapist like how Tsuyu told him last week, but for now, today, jumping off a skyscraper-
For now, Izuku has a race to win.
First one to the scene, first one home, first to reach number one- The rest of their lives, chasing each other, just like this.
Bring it on.