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It’s nearly 3 in the morning when Izuku returns back to his apartment after a particularly long shift. He’s a little delirious from the lack of sleep he’s gotten all week, and he groans internally because he’s still gotta be up tomorrow at 7 to get to school.
After a couple years out of commission, Izuku’s been taking a lot of the shifts that are relegated to the sidekicks fresh out of school.
He doesn’t mind; he’s not available during the day anyways since he’s still teaching at U.A. full time for the rest of the school year. He’s been easing himself back into hero work since he first got the suit four months ago, but the last month he’s been picking up a few more shifts to get himself ready to take this job on full time.
As much of a physical toll it is taking on two jobs, Izuku’s never felt happier in his life. It’s all worth it, getting to live his dream again, especially because at the end of a long day he now gets to come back home to his favorite person.
The mechanics of the suit were a little complicated at first, but he’s had months of practice getting in and out of it now, and it’s not long before he’s changed into his pajamas and is slipping into bed quietly.
Kacchan is out like a log; he’d had a particularly long day today, starting so early that Izuku didn’t even get to see him in the morning before he woke up.
It’s been four months since he and Kacchan had first confessed, 2 since they officially moved in together, and 1 since Izuku’s been planning a proposal worthy of Kacchan.
He presses him close to Kacchan’s body to absorb the heat that radiates off of him. Luckily he doesn’t awaken, just subconsciously nuzzles himself into Izuku.
As prickly as Kacchan is with everyone else who tries to touch him, he’s extremely tactile with Izuku, even more so now that he doesn’t need an excuse to do so. It gives Izuku a deep thrill that he’s the only one who gets to experience this soft, cuddly version of him.
He really should go to sleep since he has to be up in a few hours, but he really relishes the quiet moments he gets with Kacchan when he’s like this, still and peaceful.
He loves the way Kacchan always burns so bright; it’s what kept him drawn to the boy even when they weren’t close. But there’s something special about him when he’s like this too, in the dead of night, vulnerable, and at peace.
He wishes Kacchan could understand a fraction of the intensity with which Izuku’s heart beats for him. Despite everything they’ve been through, he knows the other man is still insecure, unsure of his worthiness to stand by Izuku’s side.
If only he knew. It doesn’t matter how often Izuku says it though. Kacchan’s always been a man of action. It’s why Izuku has to show him.
It’s only fair after Kacchan made the most romantic gesture of all time and managed to get all of Izuku’s friends involved without him finding out for years. There’s no way for Izuku to top that but he’ll settle for the next best thing.
He’s been working with the best jeweler (by recommendation of Yaomomo of course), and just yesterday he finally secured the two thin gold bands, one lined with emeralds and the other with orange sapphires.
Kacchan has been wearing a bit of Izuku’s colors officially in his hero costume since he debuted after graduation, and he likes the idea of both of them being able to wear each other’s colors permanently.
The rings are currently safely hidden at Todoroki’s apartment, but he’ll get them back once everything’s in place. He’d questioned briefly if he was moving too quickly, but Kacchan had made it clear that he was just as serious about this.
Uraraka had laughed when he’d voiced the concern and simply said that if the two of them had moved any slower she was officially going to go mentally insane. (Her and Kirishima because they’d been most victim to the silent pining of their friends.)
“Iz-Izuku…” Kacchan mutters, curling his back further into Izuku, who throws his arm around his torso.
For all his teasing that Izuku can never stop muttering, Kacchan is the one who talks in his sleep. Izuku has caught him multiple times saying soft endearments like “nerd” or “love you stupid idiot”.
He’s never voiced this to Kacchan because he knows the other boy would be embarrassed, and he likes having this little secret piece of Kacchan to himself. The knowledge that he’s even permeated Kacchan’s subconscious.
He wonders if this is a new thing since they’ve been together or if Kacchan has always talked about him in his sleep, when the only place he thought he could have Izuku was in his dreams.
Kacchan is his, and he is Kacchan’s in every way, but he can’t wait to make that official. He needs Kacchan to know with every fiber of his being that he is unequivocally the best thing in Izuku’s life.
Planning an elaborate surprise right under Kacchan’s nose, while balancing school and Pro-Hero work is certainly a challenge and gives him even more gratitude for the man next to him when he thinks about how Kacchan pulled this off on a much grander scale.
“Zu…love you Zu.” He mutters again, still fully asleep.
Izuku feels a rush of blood to the head and is overwhelmed with the urge to break into Todoroki’s apartment right now, take the rings back and slip them onto their fingers right now, but he squeezes his lover tightly instead and reminds himself that patience is a virtue.
He knows despite his jokes, Kacchan would be happy with any proposal, but he needs the other boy to know the way Kacchan has reached the very depths of his soul. He needs the man to never doubt again that Izuku would ever for a second consider him unworthy.
He needs to show Kacchan the way he’s shown Izuku.
Soon.
He tells himself.
Soon he’ll know.