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Quirk training was one of his favorite parts of his day for the simple fact that it allowed him to release some of the constant pressure he felt because of his quirk.
Katsuki had only ever admitted it to Izuku before but if he went for too long without expending some nitroglycerin, his entire skin felt like pins and needles. He also had a higher likelihood of accidentally releasing minor explosions due to built up sweat. So quirk training was great and allowed him that school sanctioned quirk use. It was like stretching your legs after a long car ride.
Katsuki was ahead of the pack in terms of quirk use as he had practiced hard with Izuku at his side since they were kids. The two of them had snuck away to abandoned buildings and parks so that he could master both the size and power behind his explosions. When he overworked and injured himself, his trusty healer was there to right him again.
It had been a surprise the first time his - now boyfriend - had used his quirk. Katsuki had fallen off a log bridge and knew he had hurt his ankle, and then Izuku was there tugging him up. Except when he did, a cooling sensation washed through him and the twinge in his ankle was gone. They had stared at each other for a long time before realizing what that meant.
One with the power to explode, one with the power to heal. What a combo they made.
The day they had both been accepted to UA - Katsuki to the hero course, and Izuku to the support course - Katsuki had finally asked him to be his boyfriend. In hindsight, they had probably appeared to be dating for a lot longer but neither of them had directly acknowledged the fact. The only real difference between them was that they now held hands and kissed sometimes. Which were welcome additions to their existing relationship. Katsuki certainly wasn't complaining.
Izuku was flourishing in the support course, and had quickly become one of Power Loader's favorites because he could heal up lab mishaps with such ease. Though he was also brilliant with some of the most ingenious creations Katsuki had ever seen.
Every day he found himself just thinking about his boyfriend with pride warming his belly. That was his boyfriend. That was his Zuku making his teacher and classmates proud with his inventions.
Though, as he did his best to not limp back from training, Katsuki couldn't help but think of how deep he was going to be on Izuku's shit list.
He had gotten careless during the exercise and felt a painful twist in his knee as a result. It wasn't more than a strain at the most but it was enough to ache. Then there were various scrapes and scratches from the combat itself - more usual and acceptable. Katsuki just knew his boyfriend would be fretting about all of it.
"How's your leg, Kats?"
He turned to find Hitoshi eyeing him with that typical 'I know something you don't' smirk on his face. Katsuki narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "How the fuck you think, eyebags? It hurts."
Hitoshi looked at him a bit closer then. "You gonna stop in to see RG for it?"
"Nah, I'll just deal. I did it to myself."
His friend scoffed. "You say that like Izuku is gonna let that happen. In your dreams, man. I swear Izu has a sixth sense for that kinda thing."
Oh yeah, he was so going to be on the shit list. Maybe he should go see Recovery Girl...
"Make sure to turn in damaged uniforms for repairs," Aizawa announced to the class, "I don't need the support kids breathing down my neck because someone was practicing in a outfit that was less than perfect."
Hitoshi broke into snickers at that. "Guarantee Izu was one of them. So testy about our costumes."
"Him and that techno-chick," Katsuki agreed.
"Hatsume?"
"Yup. A little weird but Zuku seems to get along with her." That was as good as receiving a divine blessing in his eyes. If you were welcomed into the Midoriya circle, you might as well have been crowned as royalty.
They meandered back to the locker room to change out of their costumes, Katsuki and a few others putting their briefcases into the chute that would send them to support. He just knew he’d catch a bit of flack for that too.
Whatever. He was learning how to manipulate his body while in costume. It was a work in progress. Sue him.
As they walked back to class, Katsuki noticed a distinctive lack of Hitoshi. His brow furrowed as he spun on heel to scan for the idiot.
“Don’t bother, Blasty,” Pinky told him with a little smile. “He’s flirting with our resident twin birds.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Fucking typical.”
”Aww c’mon man,” Red drawled, nudging his shoulder. “Let him live. You’ll get it once you get to that point of being interested in someone.”
He paused for a moment, trying not to feel too offended. “Who said I wasn’t bein’ understanding?”
Pinky and Red seemed surprised by his response.
”Oh my god, Jirou was right! Blasty does have a boyfriend!”
”Bakubro ahead of the game,” Red said, wiping away invisible tears.
”I’m right fuckin’ here,” he grumbled.
”Kat has been taken for longer than either he or his boyfriend would like to admit,” Hitoshi chimed in. “Because they’re both hopeless idiots.”
”Fuck off, eyebags.”
”At least you got you two got your shit together. I thought I was gonna have to intervene to keep myself from throwing up.” Hitoshi waggled his eyebrows. “Ain’t so fun coming from the other side, isn’t Boomboi?”
Katsuki wrinkled his nose. “I wanna remove my own fucking eyeballs, thanks.”
Hitoshi laughed at him. "No you don't, dramatic bitch. Then you wouldn't be able to make goo goo eyes at Izu."
He hated that his best friend was right. The asshole. He had grown up alongside them, Hitoshi had probably figured them out before they had. He flipped Hitoshi off and continued walking.
Practical training was the last class of the day. Which meant that wrapping up early led to a leisure stroll back to their classroom to gather their bags and such. It was one of the nice parts of their schedule. The walk was long enough to give them all time to decompress and lose the edge of adrenaline that came with intensive physical training. Just a nice little jaunt through UA's campus to chill out before the journey home.
He felt like he'd get ridiculed if he openly admitted that he enjoyed it. Even with a bum knee.
"Where is he?!"
Katsuki froze in spot, startled by the sudden outcry from a voice he knew better than his own.
"Whoa, who's that?" Red murmured.
"Isn't he from the support course?" Floaty asked.
He sent a disbelieving look to Hitoshi. "You fuckin' texted him?"
Hitoshi just smirked and flipped him off. "Good luck with that, lover boy."
Like a honey badger disturbed from the burrow, came roaring his boyfriend.
Viridian eyes locked onto his own with a glare. "Bakugou Katsuki! Get over here, right now!"
"Oh shit," someone mumbled from nearby.
"Dude, Blasty is gonna die," Pinky said with a nervous chuckle.
Katsuki sucked in a quick breath and approached, pushing down the dance of nerves in his stomach. At least he wasn't intentionally trying to hide injury this time. He had learned his lesson the last time. Even the memory of the scolding he had gotten that time sent a chill down his spine. Never again.
”Did you get injured anywhere?” Izuku asked, arms crossed over his chest.
Katsuki was distracted by the way his boyfriend’s goggles were cutely perched in his tousled hair, and the way there was a smudge or dirt on his cheek. He must have been working on one of his projects. “No.”
Some of the tension died from Izuku’s shoulders but he still seemed skeptical. “So if I activate my quirk, it’s not going to find anything?”
He bit the inside of his cheek, weighing his options. “Well… I didn’t say that.”
“Kacchan…”
Oh god, he recognized that tone. Katsuki sighed. No use fighting it anymore. "I think I sprained my knee, otherwise just run of the mill scrapes and scratches from training."
Izuku scrutinized him for a bit more and then nodded. "Good boy," he praised. Then he reached up and flicked him between the eyes.
Katsuki cringed at the hit. "Oi!"
It was far from the first time he had been flicked, or lightly smacked, to get healed. Izuku's quirk only required him to make a split second of physical contact with a person in order to heal them. When he was well and truly worried, Izuku was gentle about healing him. When he was annoyed or knew that Katsuki's own recklessness had led to an injury, he was snappy. A flick between his eyes, a pinch to his side, a light smack to his thigh. Once, he had even gotten a punch in the arm when he had been extra stupid about something. That had led to tearful cuddling and several apologies.
This was just another way that they communicated their affection to one another. Katsuki loved it. He loved how special it was between the both of them, how close it made him feel to Izuku. Even when he got a flick on the forehead or a pat on the leg for getting injured. He knew it was the way Izuku showed the immense worry he felt every time he sensed injury on Katsuki.
Izuku had once compared the feeling of his quirk to the sensation of a tidal wave crashing upon a beach during a storm. When it came to Katsuki, Izuku said, it was uncontrollable and overwhelming to the point that he didn't know what to do with himself until he ensured there was no lingering hurt. Almost as strong as a compulsion.
Katsuki might not understand it but he could see the way it consumed Izuku from the way he was super tactile after training days. Or kept touching him with that measured look in his eyes that spelled out he was using his quirk. He allowed it every time, knowing Izuku needed that as much as Katsuki needed to hold Izuku close after lab incidents.
It was just their mutual understanding.
His boyfriend's gaze was sharp as he tugged him down by the front of his shirt. "Don't try and hide things from me, I saw you trying not to limp, Kacchan." Izuku's grip loosened a bit as he pushed forward to press their lips together. "I love you, please keep yourself in one piece."
He hummed and kissed him again. "Mmm tryin', Zuku."
"I know.. thank you for that."
"You're welcome by the way, shorty," Hitoshi called from nearby.
Izuku turned on heel and threw a pocket sized screwdriver at him. "Fuck you for making me worry!"
"You said to report injuries! I did!"
"I didn't tell you to freak me out unnecessarily, you ass!"
Katsuki threw an arm over Izuku's shoulder and pulled him along. "C'mon babe, let's go get our bags."
Izuku tucked into his side, "But Kacchannn, I have a project to finish up."
"Not today nerd. Pick it up tomorrow."
"The idea won't be as fresh tomorrow!"
Katsuki pulled a small notebook out of his jacket. "Here, start writing then. I'm not letting you stay in the lab past class time again. Not on family dinner night."
Izuku huffed but pulled out a pen to start jotting down ideas. "Fine. Mom would have my head, you're right."
"Good boy," Katsuki said in a teasing tone.
His boyfriend stuck out his tongue. "The ambition of invention waits for no one. You know this, babe."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Tell that to our parents when they complain about your notebooks bein' on the table again."
"You're both nerds and I hate you both," Hitoshi said. "Izu, tell Auntie Inko to give me leftovers! Auntie Mits doesn't care about my begging for her cooking."
Izuku hummed in understanding, jotting down notes.
Katsuki snorted.
"He didn't hear a word of that, did he? Kats, look out for your best friend?"
He rolled his eyes. "I'll try and remember. No promises, eyebags."
"Yeah, fuck you too. See you losers later."
Katsuki ignored the outraged squawks of his classmates as he tugged Izuku along. He pressed a kiss to the side of his boyfriend's head. "C'mon Zuku. Let's go home."