Work Text:
It was a hot July evening. Izuku was on the road, coming home from a road trip with his bestfriend since high school, Ito Sazaki. The sun was almost about to set, as Sazaki drove down the highway. They were an hour from izuku's home.
It'd been a few hours since they'd eaten. They needed to get some real food in their stomachs, since the whole road trip they'd basically only been eating junk.
"Yo, 'zuku. Wanna grab some food? I know a really good place, not to far from the next exit," Sazuki smirked, looking away from the road for a second to look at Izuku.
"..Maybe? Why'd you say it like that? W-wait! Don't tell me you're gonna bring us to a strip club again?" Izuku looked worried. The last time Sazuki used that tone, Izuku was naive and agreed. Izuku didn't have an ID at that time and they almost got arrested for going into the club.
Sazuki combed his fingers through his shoulder length brown hair, still keeping one hand on the steering wheel. "Nah, I promise. Buuuttt... it isn't a normal bar. I promise you'll like it. The food will be on me, take it as a coming out gift," Sazuki replied, referring to how Izuku came out to him as bisexual, earlier that day.
-
Three Hours Earler
"Hey.. uhm.. Sazuki?" Izuku said quietly, fiddling with his fingers. Izuku's gaze was cast downward at the dash infront of them.
"Yeah? What's up?" Sazuki raised an eyebrow. He could tell something was up, so he didn't use his usual teasing tone.
".. I uhm.. I like guys. Probably. I mean-! I like girls! But then also, um.. additionally.. guys."
Sazuki chuckled.
"Okay, man. Cool."
-
Present Time
Izuku gulped. Was Sazuki going to bring him to a gay bar? Izuku wouldn't be surprised, as he had joked about bringing him to one almost right after Izuku's coming out.
"Right. Gotcha.. how far away is it though? Like 10 minutes orrrr like half an hour?" Izuku questioned, tapping his fingers together. He was hungry. So fucking hungry. He could start eating his own arm at this point and not care as long as he gets to eat something.
Sazuki chuckled. "Likeeee 5 minutes. This is the exit here," Sazuki lifted one of his fingers off the steering wheel to point to an exit that was on Izuku's side of the car.
"Great," Izuku said, almost sounding sarcastic.
"Was that sarcasm young man?" Sazuki retorted, in a joking manor as he he started driving the now, smaller road.
"No! I swear it wasn't. 'Just hungry. If you feed me, maybe I won't sound so sassy. So get us there faster so I can ingest some good fries," Izuku joked.
Sazuki laughed. "Ingest? Whats with the fancy words? Anyways, I can see the bar from here, so patience child."
Sazuki always referred to Izuku as 'child' or 'young man' even though Sazuki was only one year older. Infact they were even in the same grade, since Sazuki was put down a grade for being disrespectful to the teachers.. anddd since he got really bad grades, but that part didn't matter.
Izuku sighed. So it is a gay bar. The place was absolutely covered in pride flags, and Izuku didn't think a normal bar would be covered. Maybe one to show support, but not like 10 on one side.
Izuku didn't know if he was ready. There might be very attractive men trying to flirt with him there! Today was the first day he was officially out as bisexual so of course he was scared! Terrified, actually.
But hopefully he can just vibe in the space without anyone but his bestfriend bothering him. For the first time he's there atleast. Izuku really just hopes there's good food.
"Ready to go in orrr dooya need more time? Sorry, I should'a given you a bigger heads-up," Sazuki said, a dissapointed tone in his voice.
"N-no, it's fine.." Izuku inhaled a deep breath. "I'm ready, lets go in, yeah?"
Izuku said with a nervous voice,
Sazuki nodded, as he opened his car door. Quickly followed by Izuku opening his door too.
They walked up the sidewalk. The outside had beautiful flowers by the entrance, lit up by the lights by the path. The sun was nearly fully set by now. The ideal time to be going to a bar. The after-work rush would be coming in soon.
Sazuki opened the door for Izuku. They walked in. Izuku was baffled, it was so pretty. There were so many different themes and aesthetics scattered around. The bar area looked like it was straight (or gay) out of the 70's, a few of the booths looked like old-school diner seats. There was a wall full of beautiful tiles and other art, that looked like it was submitted by queer artists. Pride flags and fairy lights hung from the ceiling.
Izuku thought that it must be a pain in the ass to dust this place, but he pushed those thoughts in his brain away because it didn't matter.
"Do you want to find a booth or just sit at the bar? If we're eating, it'd probably be better have a table," Sazuki commented. He'd been here a couple of times so he probably knows best.
"Yeah, let's find a table. I think I see an open one over there by the art wall!" Izuku said enthusiastically, he wanted to look at the art up close.
Izuku loved art. His liking for drawing originated when he would put drawing of heroes in his notebooks. Now, he's majoring in art. Oh, how time flies.
They walked through the bar. Izuku bumped into one or two tables because he was busy looking at all the pride flags hanging from the ceiling, trying to guess which was which to see if he knew them all.
He saw the bisexual flag, he wanted to get one for his college dorm room. His roommate might not like it though so maybe not.
They sat down at the booth. "Are there any menus?" Izuku said, looking around the table.
"Nah, we have to wait for a waiter to bring us some. It won't take long, they have great service here," Sazuki said with a cheeky smile.
Izuku was really grateful for Sazuki. If not for him, Izuku might not be alive right now. Sazuki helped Izuku a lot with his depression. Infact, Izuku used to have a little crush on him. That's how he knew he was bisexual, because childhood crushes can sometimes be deceiving. So until Sazuki, he wasn't entirely sure.
Izuku didn't like him like that anymore, though. Sazuki was now, kinda like an older brother figure.
"Hey guys, can I get you some drinks or anything?" A kind looking waiter with bright yellow hair came up to them. They were wearing a non-binary pride pin.
"Can I get a coke? Or a Pepsi is fine too,"
Sazuki asked, looking up to the waiter with a smile.
"Yeah, sure. We have coke, what can I get you, babe?" The waiter said, smiling while looking at Izuku.
B-babe..?!? Izuku blushed. "U-uhm.. can I get aaa.. uhhh.. a root beer?"
The waiter nodded before walking away.
"Looks like somebody likes you," Sazuki whispered, with a a smirk on his face.
"Wha- no way! They were just being friendly dumbass.." Izuku said, his face still red.
"Uhm.." Izuku started talking again. "W-were they supposed to bring a menu or..?" Izuku said confused, Sazuki said a waiter would bring them menus. They probably just forgot and that's okay, but he was bored and wanted to know how this bar worked.
"Yeah, they'll bring it with, or after the drinks," Sazuki commented.
...
"Hey it's uhh.. kinda cold in here, don't'cha think?" Izuku commented out of boredom.
"Hey guys! Sorry your drinks took so long," the waiter walked towards them with two drinks and a menu in hand. "The maintenance workers were blocking the soda machine," They said, now at the table.
They handed a cup to Sazuki but took it back. "Shoot! I think this one is the root beer.. crap I forgot.."
Sazuki chuckled. "It's okay, we can figure out which is which. Thanks!" The waiter nodded and put both of the drinks down, and the menu which Izuku snatched right away.
"What do you usually get here? Oh it's an American food place!" Izuku said, while his eyes scanned the menu. There were so many choices.
"I usually just get a cheeseburger, but today I might get a French dip.." Sazaki said.
"Here, lemme come over to your side of the table so we can look at the menu at the same time," Sazaki said, standing up from his side of the booth and sitting down next to izuku.
"What are you gonna get?" Sazaki said, sounding impatient.
"Hold on! I'm still looking..." Izuku whisper-shouted, concentrated on the menu.
"I'm gonna get.. chicken tenders," Izuku said, finally.
Sazuki paused.
"Chicken tenders? There's so many better options on the menu!" Sazaki whisper-shouted.
"I just want chicken tenders! What's wrong with that? They come with fries!" Izuku playfully whisper-shouted back.
Sazaki started laughing. "Nothing wrong with it.. just surprised,"
Izuku chuckled.
They talked for a little while longer before the waiter came back and took their orders. Now all they needed to do was wait.
The door bell chimed when somebody opened the door. Izuku looked up at the door. It was a red haired man, who looked friendly, and behind him..
"Holy SHIT," Izuku almost yelled. He ducked half under the table, almost hitting his head.
"What? What's wrong?" Sazuki said with worry, now sitting back across from Izuku.
"T-that's the guy who bullied me in middlechool.." Izuku whispered.
Sazuki's orange eyes went wide. "What!? The red haired guy?" Sazuki whispered back.
Izuku shook his head the best he could with being slouched so much. "No, the blonde, mean looking one. He looks mean because he is mean," Izuku said with fear in his voice.
If he got caught by Kacchan while in a gay bar- wait. Why was Kacchan in a gay bar?
"Uugghhh why does he HAVE to be here today! And why is he even here at all!" Izuku mumbled,
Sazuki heard him. "Maybe because he's gay? Is he gay? I mean, he definitely looks fruity in my opinion," Sazuki commented, looking over his back in their direction.
"There's no way. He used to call me, uhh.. the f-slur, w-when we were in middleschool. He's really homophobic," Izuku whisper-shouted.
Sazuki rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Well he sure looks like he can say the word,"
Izuku came out from under the table a bit. "What do you even mean by 'he looks gay'? He doesn't look gay," Izuku said, furring his eyebrows.
"I'm saying that it looks like he's buying a MLM pride pin from the bar. Look," Sazuki said, smirking.
Izuku sat up completely into a normal sitting position, and peeked over to the bar. And sure enough, Katsuki was handing cash to the server and holding a MLM pride pin.
"W-what?.." Izuku said, almost horrified at the sight. Well, not horrified but definitely confused and surprised and.. scared? Izuku doesn't know much but he did know that he was feeling a whole jumble of emotions right now.
"That's- uhh.. probably just a gift for the guy he's with.. because there's actually no way he's gay. He's had like.. two entire girlfriends! That are girls!" Izuku said, still surprised.
"Okay, 'zuku. You can believe that, it doesn't even really matter anyway," Sazuki said, looking careless.
"Do you think he's gay? Like, really?" Izuku said, hope in his eyes.
Izuku hopes Katsuki is gay. That means all the harmful words he said to izuku in middleschool, calling him slurs, weren't.. real.Or maybe he didn't mean them. Or maybe, he was just an internally homophobic ass.
"Well, yeah. His red-haired friend is helping him put the pin on his bag right now, so I'd say that's his pin. Not that it matters all that much... does it matter if he's gay?" Sazuki said,
...
"Yeah. I think it does.. I think I liked him when we were kids. Like a real crush, not just like a little kid kind of crush. But thats really all behind us now because when I was diagnosed quirkless, he started to be a real asshole to me. Hence me introducing him as my middleschool bully," Izuku said shyly, speaking quietly even though there was no way Katsuki would overhear Izuku talking about him in the crowded bar.
...
"Wow man I didn't know you had a boy crush before me," Sazuki said, smirking in a jokingly way.
Izuku blushed. "O-oh shut up!" He covered his face.
Sazuki laughed, leading Izuku to let out a few laughs too.
They saw the waiter walking toward them with their food on trays. It was steaming hot, and smelled delicious. It helped Izuku take his mind off the whole Katsuki situation.
"Here you go, guys! Enjoy cutie," The waiter looked at izuku an winked. Izuku blushed, unable to get any words out.
"Thanks, Abel!" Sazuki said. Apparently he knew the waiter's name.
Abel waved and turned back away, their long neon yellow hair swishing in their ponytail.
...
Izuku and Sazuki sat in silence for a few seconds as their food cooled down.
"You should ask them out on a date." Sazuki said randomly.
"Wha- no! I uh-" Izuku scrambled to find the right words.
"What? Are you still too attached to your childhood crush to date somebody?" Sazuki said, teasing izuku for what he confessed earlier.
"No! I just uhm- It's not the right time! Plus I don't even know t-them," Izuku said shyly, sinking into his seat.
Sazuki chucked, leaning back in his seat. "Just kidding. I know you're not ready. But it has been quite a while since Asuka."
Right, Asuka. Izuku's first girlfriend. It was quite a traumatic experience finding her cheating on him with another woman after she was always so defensive about being called anything other than straight. Since then, Izuku hasn't accepted any offers or confessions from people from his college. Because Asuka was quite a popular girl who knew everyone, Izuku was too paranoid to accept any dates from anyone because they could just be a big set up to humiliate him further.
People spread rumors about him, saying that he was so bad at satisfying her that she cheated on him with a girl. And the worst part is, nobody ever talked shit about Asuka, even though it was her who cheated.
"Well I'm just not ready yet! It's not my fault Asuka was a shitty girlfriend!" Izuku said defensively, shouting possibly a bit too loud.
Sazuki shot up his hands in defense. "Woah man! I didn't mean to hit a nerve, sorry. Maybe two years is still too soon," Sazuki stole a fry off Izuku's plate and threw it in his mouth.
"Wha- hey! You have your own fries!" Izuku argued.
"I know! But yours are better," Sazuki said with a smirk.
"Whatever...w-wait! Crap- we lost sight of the guys we were watching!" Izuku said with panic in his voice. He wanted to make sure they didn't sit close to him and Sazuki or else Katsuki might recognize Izuku.
Izuku saw a head of blonde hair in the booth right infront of them. It looked like katsuki was standing up. Izuku heard a faint sentence from him in a voice that was deeper than he remembered it to be.
"I gotta go take a leak, Shitty Hair. If a waiter comes to the table, order me a coke. 'Kay?" Katsuki said.
Shit. Their table was right next to the bathroom entrance, if Izuku didn't duck now, there would be no way Katsuki wouldn't see him.
Izuku tried to duck in time but ended up bashing his head into the table on his way down. "FUUUuuuuu..." Izuku wheezed, trying not to curse.
Katsuki looked over. Izuku met eyes with Katsuki. Fuck. Not only was he in a gay bar but he was half ducked under a table looking ridiculous, this has got to be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to Izuku in his entire life.
Katsuki's eyes widened for a moment, before his face went red. He snapped his head back into the direction of the bathroom, and started walking away.
"..Huh. is that all? Like- was that it?" Sazuki said, trying to hold back a laugh.
Izuku covered his further reddening face, sitting back up normally. He looked like he was about to explode.
"..Holy fuck I can't believe that happened," Izuku squeaked out.
"I can't believe he just ignored you like that, TBH," (he actually said the abbreviation outloud, not the words. Wow.) Sazuki said, his expression blank.
...
"..Is he gay?" Izuku asked,
"..DUH! Bro- what are you even talking about?? What more evidence do I need to present to you-?? Dumbass! Oh my fu- you're so stupid!" Sazuki said, laughing.
"Stop being mean! I'm just asking.. like-.. do you think he'll make fun of me?.." Izuku said, mumbling the last part.
"..No. I don't think that a guy you haven't seen in years, will make fun of you for being queer, while you're both in a queer bar, and while he's queer too. So, no. I don't think he'll make fun of you," Sazuki said, his voice monotone.
"..I guess that was a dumb question,"
Izuku mumbled, resting his face in his arms, his forehead on the table.
"Eat your damn food! 'S on me, so I expect you to get your fill," Sazuki complained, beginning to chow down on his food,
"..yeah, yeah," Izuku mumbled, lifting his head and picking up a singular fry to eat.
"They have really good fries here.."
He mumbled,
"Stop your pouting. Eat,"
Sazuki complained.
---------------------------------------------------------
Katsuki POV.
Setting: at Katsuki's apartment
"Dude! Please! Come with me to this restaurant. It's super cool. I swear, you'll like it! It's relaxing, and they don't play annoying sports on the TV's at the bar, and there's no bright lights, and everyone there is super friendly, and-" Kirishima was cut off,
"SHUUUUUTTTTT the fuck up," Katsuki groaned, running his hand down his face.
"Y'know you're like, super annoying, right? Fine. As long as this place has good food, I don't care where we go. I'm just hungry as fuck. I had patrol last night, and so I didn't eat dinner, and I woke up at noon today, so I didn't eat breakfast, and then your annoying ass came over to hang out, so I didn't eat lunch, and now its fucking DINNER AGAIN, and I STILL haven't eaten! Give me food, damn it!" Katsuki rambled, shouting.
"Wha- well then why didn't you eat any of the snacks I brought?" Kirishima pouted,
"Well because you have shitty taste in snacks. Shitty just like your hair, Shitty Hair," Katsuki stated, standing up.
Without wondering if Kirishima was behind him, he walked over to the front door or the apartment, and slipped on his jacket. He crouched down to tie his shoes.
"YAY! I'll drive, I know the way," Kirishima cheered, having been able to convince Katsuki to go somewhere with him.
"Whatever..."
Katsuki mumbled, finished tying his shoes. He stood up and left the apartment.
"WAIT! DUDE! I- I HAVE TO GET MY CONVERSE ON! WAIT! IT TAKES SO LONG- BRO!" Kirishima shouted, panicking. He started to tie his shoes.
---------------------------------------------------------
By time Kirishima had gotten his converse tied and caught up to Katsuki, they were in the parking garage. Kirishima bent over slightly to catch his breath.
"Wheeze- bro.. you walked extra fast just so I would have to run, didn't you?.. huff.."
Kirishima complained, standing back up straight and walking over to the driver's door. He unlocked the car, letting both him and Katsuki in.
"Your fault for wearing shoes that take so long to put on," Katsuki snickered.
Once the doors were locked, which could only be unlocked from the driver's side, Kirishima pulled out of the parking spot and started driving.
Once they were on the freeway, Kirishima spoke.
"..Oh, yeah. And it's a queer bar."
...
"WHAT?!?"
---------------------------------------------------------
Katsuki grumbled as they walked inside.
"Still dunno why you brought me here.."
Katsuki mumbled, looking around.
He thought the place looked cool, but he would never tell Kirishima (or ANYONE) that.
"You don't know? Maybe.. just, maybe, It's because you're queer, and I'm queer too, and this is a nice place, and it has good food, and PRIDE MERCH!! YAY!" Kirishima cheered quietly, pointing over at the small merchandise counter that was connected to the bar, basically right Infront of where they were standing. It was the first thing to the left when you opened the door.
It had pins, small flags of many kinds, big pride flags too, but only the standard rainbow one.
It also had (what looked to be) hand-made bracelets, badges, stickers, headbands, a bunch of stuff. It all surprisingly looked high-quality.
...
Katsuki looked at the display. For a bit too long apparently, because Kirishima took note.
"Want me to buy something for you?" He offered, gesturing to the display.
"Tch. no.. don't need any more shit," Katsuki grumbled,
"No way, bro! Maximalism is the way to go, pick a.. how about you pick a pin? Not too cheap, not too expensive, a compromise," Kirishima offered.
Katsuki inched closer to the display, before saying "fuck it" and looking through the pins.
They had a lot of kinds. The aro-ace spec, the bisexual umbrella, lesbian, gay, abrosexual, Polyamorous, the trans umbrella, the classic pride pin, and some with cringey sayings on it, like "Hi! I'm Bi!" And stuff like that.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, trying to appear nonchalant, but his face turned a bit red as he grabbed just the classic, sea-foam color fades to blue MLM pride pin.
"Good choice, bro,"
Kirishima said encouragingly.
"Well, what did you think I was gonna grab? The lesbian pin?" Katsuki said, an eyebrow raised.
Kirishima chuckled,
"Well, I knew you had the hots for dudes, I just didn't know how so. Like, in a bisexual way, or a pansexual way, or a Omnisexual way, or a-" Kirishima was cut off again,
"Shut it, Shitty Hair. I already know all the labels. But, when have you ever seen me horny for a girl?" Katsuki rolled his eyes, starting to walk to a booth.
There was a sign that told them to seat themselves.
"W-well- you told me you had girlfriends back in junior high! I didn't know if that was pre- being out to yourself or after- being out to yourself," Kirishima rambled on,
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Doesn't matter. I'm a fag. Happy?" Katsuki said nonchalantly,
"Very."
...
"N-not in a-.. well- you know what I mean! I am happy, because I could always kinda tell, so I'm happy you're out now, b-but not happy that you're gay in that way-"
Katsuki clamped his hand over Kirishima's mouth before he could continue.
"..Shush."
He sat down in the booth.
This random brunette guy (that was sitting in the booth behind him,)'s hair was tickling his neck. Katsuki hates that.
---------------------------------------------------------
A few minutes later, Katsuki could feel that familiar pressure in his bladder. This is why he doesn't like to drink water. Having to piss multiple times a day was such a fucking drag.
"I gotta go take a leak, Shitty Hair. If a waiter comes to the table, order me a coke. 'Kay?" Katsuki said, standing up from the booth.
"Gotcha," Kirishima said plainly.
Katsuki stood up and started to walk to the bathroom. When he walked past one of the booths, he heard a loud thud, followed by a groan.
He looked over.
When he looked over, he saw familiar, unruly green hair. He saw freckles. 8 of them, to be exact. And he saw big green eyes.
..Deku.
Fucking Deku. Always had to follow him wherever he goes. fucking stalker!
Fucking stalker that looked a lot more mature than the last time he saw him. Fucking stalker that.. grew into his bug-eyes and.. fucking stalker that finally learned to style his hair.. fucking.. stalker..
...
Katsuki could feel his face heat up. He went back to walking to the bathroom.
What the fuck even was that? What was that? Why. What the fuck was that. Katsuki's never felt that stupid and weird and warm before.
What the fuck is happening? That was NOT normal. Why did he look like that? I mean- he didn't look that different but to Katsuki he seemed different.
Well, guessing by the fact that he was half-ducked under a table, trying to not be seen, looking.. adorablely clumsy and so-..
What the fuck. No. Nope. Nope. No. Fuck off! Seriously. Stop. Katsuki's own brain is playing a prank on him.
Katsuki managed to take a piss. He washed his hands.
Then he spent about 5 more minutes pacing back and forth in the bathroom trying to stop freaking the fuck out.
Why did he look like that? Again, he didn't.. physically look different, but.. Katsuki perceived him differently? Was that it? Was it a perception thing?
How was Katsuki perceiving him that he made Katsuki feel like.. that?
Katsuki hadn't seen the nerd in years. Not since Junior High. And yet... wow... wow.
How did things change so fast? Did he.. always feel this way about him?
Katsuki had a theory, but he didn't want to admit it to himself.
...
Maybe.. when they were in Junior High, the only thing stopping Katsuki from perceiving the nerd like he is now, was his internalized homophobia?
Katsuki dealt with that for a.. long time. Too long of a time. He had only admitted it to himself less than a year ago. But thats only because he surrounded himself with caring, kind, and accepting people.
He did NOT treat Izuku with kindness at all. He just projected all of his insecurities onto him. Calling him the f-slur was a big one that Katsuki is only realizing now. Another big one was the.. quirk thing.
Katsuki was a punk, he was insecure about his own quirk and strength, so he called Izuku weak and made fun of him for his quirk status. Another shitty move on Katsuki's part.
Or the.. swan dive thing, too.
Katsuki was at a rally low point at that part of his life. His parents were talking about getting a divorce. Katsuki's mental health was at an all-time low, so he just projected his suicidalness onto Izuku. It was a really shitty thing to do. Katsuki would have never forgiven himself if Izuku actually did something to himself. Luckily, he was strong, resilient, and determined to become a hero. So he didn't.
Even if he didn't get into the hero course.
---------------------------------------------------------
Katsuki walked out of the bathroom, trying his best to not look over at Izuku's booth.
...
Keyword, trying.
He was sitting with this rando. The one with the stupid hair that kept tickling his neck.
They looked.. close. Were they-... were they on a date? Was that a date? Did Katsuki just fuck up the Nerd's lovelife-? Fuck! He promised to himself to never hurt the Nerd again and he just.. ugh.. he can't stop fucking up every aspect of his life, apparently.
Katsuki groaned quietly. Damn it..
He sat back down in his booth, across from Kirishima. He was sulking. Damn it. Why did he feel so disappointed? What happened? Was this because Izuku was on a date?
Katsuki knows he should feel this way. For two different reasons. He shouldn't like the Nerd, he treated him like shit for many, many years. Basically their whole childhood,
And Katsuki knows, additionally, that he has no claim or right over Izuku. He's on a date, so what? What even ever..
But just because Katsuki knew that, doesn't mean he didn't feel jealous and possessive in the way back of his mind. Even if it was wrong.
"..Dude. stop sulking. This is depressing. What happened? I was watching you as you walked to the bathroom and it looked like you had seen a ghost," Kirishima commented, sipping on his drink.
He pushed the other glass over to Katsuki.
"I ordered you a coke," Kirishima stated simply.
"..Thanks," Katsuki mumbled,
He was sat, slouched over the table, his gaze downcast and sulky. He sipped his drink sadly.
"Hey.. dude? Why were you in the bathroom for so long? It took you like, 10 minutes! Did you have to take a crap or sum-"
Kirishima got interrupted,
"No! No- you fuckin' weirdo! One, it's nunya what I do in the bathroom, two, I was in there so long because I was freaking out. That-..." Katsuki changed his voice to a whisper, gesturing for Kirishima to lean in.
Kirishima got closer so he could hear,
"..That green haired guy in the booth behind you, I know that guy. I treated him really bad in Junior High. And-.. and elementary. And.. kindergarten. I- I just- I treated him really.. shitty. We were childhood friends, and then he was diagnosed as quirkless, and I didnt like that back then, and I was an insecure punk, and- just- long story short, I used to be an asshole bully," Katsuki rambled,
"Woah- dude, it's okay. I know you're not like that anymore. But why is it such a big deal you run into him? You said you treated him really bad in middle school.. I assume you haven't seen him since then?" Kirishima said, coming to the correct conclusion.
"..Yeah. but the big deal is that, well, you know that I used to be kinda homophobic, right? Like- before you met me, I wasn't just homophobic to myself, I was more homophobic to.. uh.. him," Katsuki stated quietly, his voice ashamed.
"..Hah?"
Kirishima made a confused noise,
"Look- I know it was shitty. I know. I've changed, but.. I don't know. I still feel really bad. Rightfully so. I just.. feel really bad, and- and I didn't even know he was queer, I just called him the slur for no reason! But- but now he is queer, and.. shit.. I might have done some actual damage to him, that I wasn't thinking or caring about at the time," Katsuki ran his hand down his face. His voice was ashamed and guilty.
"..Dude. well, he's here, maybe you can pull him aside and apologize?" Kirishima suggested, grabbing Katsuki's wrist and pulling his hand away from his face carefully.
"..That's another problem.," Katsuki whined. He sighed and leaned in.
"..He's really attractive," Katsuki whispered, his face heating up.
...
Kirishima burst out into laughter,
"Dude- what? 'Ahh I can't talk to him!! He's really hot!! Oh no!! I'm burning!!'" Kirishima mocked him,
Katsuki shot him a mean glare,
"You know what I mean, damn it! He- he's.. attractive. It's gonna be too hard to talk to him.." Katsuki mumbled,
"Well, something's gonna be 'too hard' to talk to him," Kirishima mumbled,
"HAH!? SHUDDUP!!" Katsuki yelled, standing up.
He could see Izuku when he stood up.
They made eye contact.
...
Katsuki's face went red again. He sank back down into his seat.
"..Shit," he whispered.
Kirishima couldn't stop laughing.
"Dude! You're so whipped! What even was that? You haven't seen him in years" Kirishima made fun of him, whisper-yelling whilst still leaned in, so they couldn't hear them.
"Shut it! I don't need to hear shit from you, asshole. You would be the same way," Katsuki huffed.
Katsuki saw Izuku get up from his seat. He walked over to their table.
"..Hi, Kacchan,"
He mumbled,
...
"Can we talk?.."
---------------------------------------------------------
Izuku POV:
Setting: booth
It had been like 10 whole minutes since Katsuki stormed off to the bathroom. Izuku has been eating his food ever since.
That saying, 'You're not you when you're hungry' is 100% true in Izuku's case. He was practically shoving his food in his face at this point.
"Woah.. man, you can chill out. Nobody's gonna take your food from you," Sazuki chuckled, slowly eating his fries,
Izuku slowed down his eating, he swallowed his food.
"..Sorry," he mumbled.
The bathroom door opened, Katsuki walked out. Izuku could tell that he was avoiding looking at them, but he peeked over and looked at him and Sazuki.
Though, he just went and sat at his table with the red-haired guy. Izuku felt bad he didn't know his name, but whatever.
"HAH?? SHUDDUP!" Katsuki yelled. Izuku got startled as he saw katsuki stand up from his seat. He could see him head on.
They made eye contact.
It seemed like everything paused for a moment. Like their eyes were stuck on eachother. Izuku couldn't move his gaze.
..Damn. his eyes are fucking beautiful..
What was Izuku thinking? Wait.. no. Don't think. Thinking isn't necessary.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Katsuki sat back down, breaking their eye contact. Time seemed to go back to normal.
...
"..Holy fuck," Izuku mumbled.
Sazuki stayed quiet, just looking at Izuku.
"I'm in love with him," Izuku stated clearly.
...
"WHAT?? Huh- damn it, Izuku! This isn't some storybook, or like a fairy tale, falling at first sight isn't real. I'll stand by that," Sazuki said, huffing.
"W-well it's not at first sight! I've known him for years!" Izuku defended himself,
"Yeah, and he was an ass to you all those years. I don't understand. How? How did this happen? I didn't see him; Is he like really hot or something up close?" Sazuki asked as a rhetorical question,
"..Yeah," Izuku swooned, resting his elbow on the table, his hand holding up his head.
"B-but thats not the point! I know what that was. I know what it feels like. I- I have to talk to him," Izuku said, his voice stern and determined.
He stood up.
"..Welp, okay, bye. Good luck I guess," Sazuki said, suddenly sounding very indifferent. He went back to eating his food.
Izuku walked up to Katsuki's table. He was feeling more and more shy by the second. Fuck. What if he regrets this?
"..Hi, Kacchan. Can we talk?"
His voice was a lot quieter than he meant it to be.
...
"Hah? You? Talk with me? What are you even-"
"Yes! He'll go talk with you. Won't you, Katsuki?" Kirishima interrupted him, answering for him.
He knew Katsuki was not good at communication when he's flustered. He usually comes off as rude or uncaring.
Kirishima gestured for Katsuki to go with Izuku.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, his cheeks still tinted pink. He scooched out of the booth and stood up.
"What do you want?" Katsuki asked, trying to be nonchalant,
"Uhmm.. I- I just wanted to talk with you. Maybe catch up. Uhm.. it's been a long while since we've seen eachother," Izuku said, trying to sound casual. But it was hard being casual when your face is bright red and your voice is weirdly squeaky.
"..So.. uhm.. You're gay-?" Katsuki said, trying to start a conversation. He did not do a very good job. That is a very weird way to start a conversation.
Izuku's face went even more red.
"well- uh.. bi. But- yeah. I'm queer. If you couldn't tell from me uh.. being.. in such an establishment as this one," Izuku said.
He winced and cringed at his own words. 'Erm.. acshully! I'm bi!'. Why the fuck did he have to say something so cheesy. Did it even matter? And 'establishment'? That's so cringy- don't mix modern words with fancy words, noted.
"..Right. uhm.. just so you know- I'm not one of those straight jackasses that think they can go into a gay bar just 'cuz they have a 'gay friend' or whatever. I'm gay, so is Ejirou. Or- or you don't know him, that's the guy I was sitting with," Katsuki stated plainly.
"..I know. Uhm- I mean, I- I saw you buy a pin at the merch stand up there," Izuku said, trying to not sound too 'stalker-y'. He gets called a stalker a lot but he's actually just really observant.
"..Yeah. so.. I did kinda want to talk to you to. Just to.. apologize. For being such a fucking punk back when we were brats. It wasn't okay, and I hope I didn't like.. damage you at all. Mentally. Or- or physically. Shit- I'm bad at apologies.."
Katsuki rambled, running a hand over his face and groaning,
"N-no! No- that was a great apology! I uh.. I forgive you. I-in a roundabout way I think you kinda helped me. Just- I dunno. I like how my life is now, and if you hadn't bullied me, it might be different. Maybe it would have been way worse for me. If it wasn't you picking on me, it probably would have been someone else, and it might have been worse. You were bad, but most of the time you just ignored me, and.. I appreciate that," Izuku rambled
...
"..Really?" Katsuki said quietly, his eyes widening.
"..Yeah. you still treated me like crap, but you bothered me a lot less than someone else would have. A lot less than your old friends, thats for sure, i'm not saying I wouldn't have rathered us being like, friends, but I don't remember it being too torturous," Izuku further explained,
"Damn.. I'm still so sorry. I could have been worse to you, but I also could have been a lot better than I was. I'm sorry," Katsuki apologized again,
"A lot of what I did to you was just projection, honestly. I'm sorry," He said quietly, his hands on Izuku's shoulders.
"..Kacchan, I already told you. I forgive you. It's okay."
...
"So.. who's the guy you're with? A friend, or a uh.. boyfriend?" Izuku asked, his face warming up.
"..Boyfriend? That moron? No way. He's.. not my type, anyway. Plus we've been friends since high school. Not interested. I should be asking you that. Who's that brunette twink you're with?" Katsuki asked nonchalantly, though he really needed to know if Izuku was single or not. He's so hot.
"Uhm.. no, Sazuki isn't my boyfriend. And he's not really a twink, either. I guess you haven't seen much of him, though. Uhm.. yeah, no, I'm not dating anyone right now.."
Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck, trying to nonchalantly drop a hint that he was single and ready to be asked out.
"Huh.. me neither," Katsuki said quietly.
...
There was a moment of awkward silence, before Katsuki spoke.
"So.. uh.. what'd you order?"
"I'm sick of not talking. I wanna talk to you. I wanna go out with you," Izuku blurted out, not wanting to bask in the awkward silence any longer.
...
"You-.. HAH?!?" Katsuki shouted, his face getting redder by the moment.
"I- what?? You- you're asking me out, Nerd!" Katsuki shouted,
"Yeah! I know! I'm asking you out!" Izuku replied, shouting.
"Why?!?"
"Because you've changed! You- you're mature! And you apologized! So easily, just like that. You apologized. The old you would have never done that. You're secure with yourself, and you can admit when you're wrong, and you're really tall! You're a whole snack!" Izuku yelled,
"What does that have to do with anything???" Katsuki replied, covering his red face with his hands,
"I really like tall guys! And you're so hot! Kacchan you're like- so hot. So I'm asking you out!" Izuku shouted back,
"F-fine! Whatever! I- give me your damn phone number!" Katsuki shouted, still flustered.
Izuku grabbed Katsuki's wrists, gently pulling his hands away to reveal his red face. Izuku got up on his tip-toes and kissed Katsuki on the cheek gently.
...
Katsuki's face went even more red. If that was even possible. He started stuttering, not knowing what he was even trying to say.
Izuku, still holding Katsuki's wrists, lead him to sit down at a two-person table in the middle of the restaurant. He pushed Katsuki down to sit in a chair, and then sat down across from him, having let go of his wrists. Izuku got his phone out, opened the 'new contact' function, put the name in as "Kacchan♡" and passed his phone over to the still-flustered Katsuki.
...
Katsuki picked up the phone, and put in his number. His hands were incredibly shaky though, so it was difficult.
"..Tch.. w-whatever.." Katsuki mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to sound indifferent.
He pulled out his phone and did the same, letting Izuku put his number in Katsuki's phone.
Izuku looked over at Sazuki, who was filming them while smirking. Izuku got slightly more flustered as he looked over at Katsuki, trying to ignore Sazuki.
"..Listen here, Nerd. We're boyfriends now. 'Kay? You don't get to say no. We're starting over. Clean slate, we're strangers now, okay? I'm a different guy. Definitely not Katsuki Bakugou of Aldera Junior high, instead I'm Katsuki Bakugou of.. uh.. of... your heart. Kay?" Katsuki said, his tone and face serious.
Izuku laughed,
"Katsuki Bakugou of My Heart, huh?" He made fun of him,
"Shuddup! You get my damn point. I'm a different man now. Wish I could beat up that other guy, but I'm pretty strong, and if I do, I might need to call an ambulance for myself," he joked, looking serious still.
"Okay, okay. I get your point, Mr. Katsuki Bakugou of my heart. Maybe I'll just stick to calling you Kacchan, though," Izuku chuckled,
"Tch. You can stick to calling me your boyfriend. We're boyfriends. We're gonna do all that gay shit, like holding hands and talking about feelings, and like, crying at sad romance movies, because we apply it to us and it makes us really sad. Okay? We're boyfriends," Katsuki repeated. He really wanted to reinforce that Izuku knew they were boyfriends. He didn't want Izuku to be like, 'waaahhh what are we???', he wanted to be clear.
"Got it. Boyfriends. We'll do all the cheesy stuff, like go out on dates, and hold hands, and cuddle, all that cutesy boyfriend stuff," Izuku listed leaning in slightly.
"..Exactly. boyfriends,"
Katsuki repeated.
They both leaned in and gave eachother a small peck on the lips. Izuku started laughing.
"Wha- am I that bad of a kisser??" Katsuki said, panicked.
"N-no- it's just- aha- you're so cheesy!" Izuku couldn't stop laughing.
"..Shuddup. I hate you,"
"Wha- no you don't!"