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Izuku’s hair was dark green and curly. It was often likened to broccoli and honestly, he could see that. It wasn’t like he wanted to escape his unwitting vegetable similarity, he just thought it’d be fun to explore a bit with how he looked. So, since dying his hair was out of the option list else his mom got a stroke, he decided to grow it out. It took a bit of time dealing with wayward bangs and the nape of his neck getting hot easily when he exercised, but soon enough he could use hair pins and ties to style his hair in a number of ways.
His favourite was a high knot, very manly if one believed Kirishima’s words. It wasn’t a big man bun, but it was frizzy and coiled around itself as soon as he put the hair up in a ponytail. All he had to do was to secure it and some stray wisps too get a neat and put together look.
People complemented him, even if some asked why he didn’t go for an allegedly fashionable undercut. An undercut was one hairstyle though, with some longer hair Izuku could experiment more, or let his female classmates do that during parties. It also had one certain secret plus that the undercut didn’t have, but which Izuku thought was the most important reason to keep his hair longer.
One Bakugo Katsuki seemed to like it. A lot, if one went by the amount of time the blonde spent tangling his fingers in Izuku’s tresses. Seriously, ringlets seemed to be some kind of Bakugo magnet, the explosive blonde played with them so much in private. And even if there were people around he often ruffled Izuku’s hair or tug at it playfully.
Izuku was just a man.
Which meant that the hair couldn’t get shorter. He was determined to wake up from a cuddle nap with tiny braids if it meant his pillow was Bakugo. All the extra work on his hair was nothing compared to Kac-chan’s attention and affection.
He knew it was selfish, but he was working on accepting that being selfish sometimes was perfectly fine. He could crave this. It was not a terrible sin against any heroic code or value. He was a young man and was allowed to have a crush. And fancy hair accessories that kept the attention of said crush on him.
Hence, a change in his look. Sure, during training or patrol he had to stay practical and there was a code of dress during class
pertaining to what could get in the students’ hair, but during his free time all bets were off. He wore neon colored hair ties, hair pins adorned with little decorations, even hair bands. His favorite one had bunny ears and was a gift from a certain gravity manipulating friend.
When he felt extra fancy he wore kanzashi slipped in the coil of his top knot, nothing too gaudy or flashy, he had a few tasteful pieces like the one Momo had shown him during a class outing to the mall. Some of his accessories were hero themed, because of course they were. Many were gifts from his friends, like that black one with orange dumbbells hanging on metallic looking strings. Or that one a bit crooked hair stick adorned with little colorful candy apples made from painted wooden beads that Eri had given him during one of her visits to the dorm. He’d cried - because of course he did - and immediately bent down asking her to put it in his hairdo, a simple ponytail since he’d been preparing to go out running.
No one in the class paid much attention to his hair ornaments anymore, after the first week or so of goodhearted teasing. Actually, he seemed to start a trend because more of the boys decided to experiment with stuff. Like, Kirishima now often sported manly headbands and Shouji often wore bandanas. Koda’s array of animal themed headbands was nothing to sneeze at and Tokoyami adorned silver clips with mysterious symbols in his feathers, rocking the enigmatic carrion bird look.
Of course the girls were a part of this, too, finding amusement in helping the boys accessorize and see what works for their styles. They, headed by Mina, happily experimented with their own hair as well, Ida more than once praised Izuku for starting this hair decorating trend in the class, seeing it as a bonding and teenage experience for the hero hopefuls. So, it was no surprise to see his classmates during a lazy downtime doing each other's hair or exchanging ornaments. Stuff was gifted to friends and Izuku loved all the pins and clips he got from his classmates. It definitely seemed to help morale. Izuku always felt embarrassed when his bespeckled friend started praising his ‘cunning plan’ because in all honesty all that was just a happy side effect of him wanting to get Kac-chan to play with his hair for hours while he dozed off on his pillowy pecs.
Of all the hair decorations he’d gotten from his friends, one held a special spot in his heart, because it was a gift from a very special person.
.
Izuku sat in his dorm room, battling the most terrible of foes - homework. He had been at it for a while now and the end was near, but he was hard pressed not to give into the temptation of a nap on his alluring bed just next to his desk. He resolved to stay strong, the faster he finished the earlier he could go out and totally not look for a certain explosive blonde.
Today marked the third month anniversary of them starting dating and he had a flock of butterflies rioting in his stomach at the thought of spending the rest of the day with his boyfriend. What were they going to do? Spar? Run a lapse around the whole campus? Go to an arcade and compete in all the games until their names were on top of all winner lists? Go to Rasengan Ramen to try out one of their weekly specials? Or, or - his heart skipped a beat and his cheeks flushed - maybe they would stay in and cuddle on the bed while watching a marathon of old AllMight movies and quoting each line in ridiculous voices to make the other laugh? Katsuki had such a lovely laugh.
He scowled at his notebook where three last English sentences needed to be translated. With a sigh he lifted his pencil, about to start focusing on his task, but he was rudely interrupted.
His doors opened with a bang and he jumped in his chair, startled, but not scared, since Danger Sense didn’t go off. He turned around and gasped, because there, in the doorway, stood his Prince Charming.
“Here,” he sneered, tossing something at Izuku’s face. “Wear this shitty thing. Or not, I don’t care, you can stab Mineta in the eye with it.”
After this he crossed his arms in front of his chest, almost causing Izuku to drool onto the thing he’d caught before it had been able to hit his nose. He hurriedly tore his eyes from the biceps and focused on what he was holding.
It was a kanzashi. A glossy black stick with black, orange, and green
kumihimo cord tassel adorned with yellow flowers - Izuku suspected dandelions, but he had no clue about flowers, really - made from some gauzy fabric that shimmered with delicate golden thread and a dusting of glitter. The three flowers looked like small explosions, eye-catching and perfect.
He lifted the adoring eyes at his boyfriend, who stomped inside his room like he wanted to trash the place, red eyes not meeting his own, cheeks dusted with pink.
“Thank you, Kac-chan,” Izuku managed to breathe out while his hands, of their own accord, lifted to his knotted hair to slip the elegant kanzashi in there. His eyes never left his boyfriend's face, so he was privy to see the rare smile spreading over his lips when he took note of the dandelions dangling near Izuku's ear. For a magical moment they stared at each other and Izuku felt flushed and excited, hoping to get a kiss with that hair stick. Bakugo looked like he was about to lay one on him, he just had to stay still and not break the moment.
Sadly, Katsuki’s gaze slipped to the side, to the notebook on his desk and the unfinished homework. He frowned.
“What the hell, you ain’t done yet?” he demanded,
Red eyes flashing as he lifted them back up to Izuku’s face. Midoriya was no longer spellbound, no, he was slowly inching away with his chair, executing a tactical retreat in case there was a sudden need to be out of his room and speeding away. “Deku…”
“I was about to finish it, I promise,” Izuku promised earnestly, wondering if he could get to the door before the other boy caught him. “I knew you were going to come over after your training with Kirishima and I worked hard to be done with it before that.”
That accursed English homework robbed him of a perfect kiss. He wouldn’t let it take his quality Kac-chan time too. Not when the mere presence of the other boy made his heart beat so fast and his skin tingle as if his quirk was active. Bakugo reached towards his head.
“You’re not getting that before you finish that work,” Katsuki proclaimed, about to grab at the hair stick and pull it out of the green coils.
Oh no, the evil homework from hell was about to steal his boyfriend's gift. Izuku wasn’t going to let that happen. In a flash of sparks he vacated his chair and dashed past his beautiful volatile man.
“I can finish that later,” he called back towards the already turning blonde, lingering in the doorway only for long enough to flash him a big grin and wink before he raced down the corridor. Bakugo roared his chase call and with that Izuku snickered, disappearing into the stairwell, elated that they were going to spend time together, Katsuki’s full attention on him and him alone. The dandelions bouncing near his ear with every step made him giggle in elation and pick up speed, because Bakugo was already gaining on him and this chase shouldn’t end too quickly if Izuku didn’t want to be dragged back to where his homework remained in his room.
On his way from the staircase to the convenient shortcut of an opened common room window Izuku waved at his friends, gathered around a table and a board game.
“Nice hair stick!” Uraraka called with a giggle.
“Thanks,it's from Kac-chan!” he replied while leaping on the sill. Ida’s demand that he use doors like normal people was lost in the explosion of noise that was Bakugo almost tearing the doors of the stairwell open. Izuku ran across the lawn, perfectly sure his bespeckled friend tried to scold his boyfriend next, but probably wouldn't be able to hold him back for long.
He managed to run a good kilometer down one of their favorite running paths across the wooded area of the campus before his boyfriend caught up to him and tackled him to the grassy ground, grinning in victory and panting from exertion. Izuku giggled, tilting his head as if to make sure they wouldn’t squash the new addition to his hair ornament collection when those hot, hot lips stole the giggles from his lips and made his entire body drown in affection as warm as the afternoon sunlight that draped over them, golden on green like the dandelions caught in the wiley curls that had slipped from his ponytail.