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The dorm had smelled like coffee, meaning Izuku was already awake. Katsuki walks into the kitchen, yawning softly but mostly awake. He grabs a few eggs out the fridge and starts to make himself a breakfast, the only noise in the dorm. Izuku comes into the kitchen, holding a small mug of coffee.
"Hey Kacchan.. Good morning." He says with slight awkwardness, as it was their first morning sharing a dorm together, even worse since it was after the war. Everyone was rebuilding, on edge, and trying to bring back their normal lives. Katsuki finishes cooking his eggs, grabbing a plate and sitting on the table, silently eating. Izuku sits across from him, staring at times then immediately looking away without Katsuki noticing.
After breakfast they sit on the couch, watching the news silently. Their hands occasionally brush together, immediately being pulled away by one of them.
The only things ever said between them was short casual sentences, never talking about the war or any obvious feelings between them two. After a few hours, they hear a knock on the door and Izuku goes to open it.
"Hi Midoriyaa!" Mina smiles, waving and holding Eijiro's hand who was right next to her. "Ah, hey guys." He lets them in, closing the door once they enter. "Ugh, shitty hair and raccoon eyes? It could've been anyone else.." Katsuki says with a groan, turning back to the tv. "Let's make lunchh!" Mina says, inviting herself to their dorm's small kitchen and looking through their stuff. Katsuki grumbles, letting her do whatnot. Eijiro sits next to him and Izuku goes to the kitchen with Mina.
Eijiro turns to Katsuki, talking so only he can hear in the living room. "Soo.. how have you and Mido-bro been as roommates?" "What? Normal, why would it be anything else." He mumbles, annoyed and closed off. Eijiro smirks at him, "Don't lie Baku-bro, I see the way you talk to him. It's the same way I talk to Mina. You like him, don't you? That's pretty manly!" Katsuki rolls his eyes, ignoring his comments. "Are you scared of telling him?" Eijiro asks. Katsuki scoffs, "I'm not scared of anything shitty hair. I can't mess this up though." He says, mumbling the last sentence. "Cmon Baku-bro, you know you won't mess it up."
In the kitchen, Izuku helps Mina cook lunch for all of them. "You like him, don't you Mido?" She says casually while cooking. "What-?" Izuku says with a slight stutter, shocked at the random question. "Don't lie to me Mido, you know you do!" Izuku considers it for a second before shaking his head. No, not him, Katsuki would never like someone like him. "He doesn't like me, and it's not like there's anything going on between us." "But do you like him, Mido?" "I don't know.. He's super strong.. and super smart too.." Izuku starts to ramble on about Katsuki's qualities, making Mina laugh softly. "You so like him Mido! You two would make a cute couple too!"
After a while, they finish making the food. Suddenly, another knock on the door. Katsuki opens the door, immediately groaning and going to the kitchen. Shoto and Hanta coming in. "It's icy-hot and soy sauce face." He sits at the table, scrolling on his phone. "Hey guys! We brought food too!" Hanta says cheerfully, holding up a bag of food. He sets it on the table and everyone sits, eating the food Mina and Izuku made as well as some of the food Hanta and Shoto brought. "Mm- How come you two came together?" Mina asks, pointing at Hanta and Shoto. "Ah, we were just hanging out." "Yes, hanging out." Shoto says casually, eating his food peacefully.
They all hangout for a while in Izuku and Katsuki's dorm, everyone trying to keep the mood cheerful, especially after the war. They sit on the couch, Katsuki scrolling on his phone and sitting next to Izuku. He shows him a few videos, making Izuku laughs softly. Katsuki eyes light up slightly, looking away everytime he laughs. Mina watches them from the other side of the room, occasionally whispering to Eijiro about them. Hanta occasionally flirts with Shoto, who was completely clueless to what he was talking about.
Hanta, Shoto, Mina, and Eijiro leave their dorm after a while. Izuku starts to clean up the kitchen, humming softly. Katsuki gets up, helping him without being asked. He wipes the counters, accidentally bumping shoulders with Izuku but not saying anything about it. After they finish cleaning, they both sit next to each other on the couch, only a bit of space between them. "You know they're right?" Izuku says, watching the tv. "About what?" "You're way nicer." Izuku smiles slightly. Katsuki scoffs, watching the tv and ignoring his words but silently thinking about he says. "It's not that serious." He says, grumbling slightly before getting up to go to his room.
Katsuki tries to go to bed for a while, staring at the ceiling in his room silently. He closes his eyes, dozing off for a while. He suddenly jolts up, panting. He clenches his chest, trying to catch his breath. He scoffs softly, his heart still pounding. "You're fine, it's over.." He mutters to himself silently, trying to get past the nightmare of the war. He sighs, lying back down and staring at the ceiling.
Izuku had gone to his room, sitting in bed and reanalyzing the fight with him and Shigaraki from just a few months ago. Without realizing, his body freezes up, his mind racing with thoughts of things he couldve done differently. His breathing becomes shallow and rapid, his eyes darting around his room and tapping his fingers on his knees. "It already happened Izuku." He mumbled, silently crying before lying down, taking a while to fall asleep.
In the morning, Katsuki wakes up and goes to the bathroom to wash his face, groaning since he had barely gotten any sleep because of his nightmare. He brushes his teeth, takes a shower, and puts on his uniform to go for a quick patrol. He leaves the dorm and starts to roam the city, watching where they're rebuilding and strolling around. After a while, he was going to head back to the dorms before he hears a commotion near him. He immediately goes towards it, his eyes widening when he sees what happened. Izuku stabbed in his side by a villain who was running. His judgement was clouded with anger, running towards the villain and taking him down with one big blast. Katsuki immediately lets him go as soon as he's unconscious, running towards Izuku. He calls an ambulance, holding Izuku up. "You idiot-! How could you get hurt.." He mumbles. He rides with him to the hospital, staying with him every second he could.
The entire time Katsuki was tense, pacing whenever he wasn't with Izuku and as soon as they stitched him up he entered the room. He sits there until Izuku starts to gain consciousness again. Katsuki watches him, his leg bouncing anxiously. Izuku blinks a few times, his eyes adjusting to the light. "Kacchan..?" Izuku mutters, slightly unsure of what was happening. "You fucking idiot.. How could you be so careless. You could've died.. again.." Katsuki stares at the floor to not cry in front of him. Izuku feels a lump in his throat, unable to comfort him, no matter how much he wanted to. Katsuki stiffens, pure silence in the hospital room as he thinks about all the years they had together, almost gone in an instant.
After a few days, Izuku gets discharged from the hospital and Katsuki helps him get back to the dorm. Once they get there, he helps him sit, "Just.. take it easy nerd." He mumbles to Izuku. Over the next few days, Katsuki barely speaks, almost no words. Izuku stays silent whenever they eat, mostly thinking about how to recover quickly to bounce back to hero patrols. He tries to talk to Katsuki at times but mostly gets ignored, but even he gets fed up with it.
"Dammit- Kacchan will you just talk to me! Stop ignoring me!!" "I haven't been ignoring you." Katsuki says quietly, staring at his barely eaten plate of food. "Don't do that. Don't act like you're giving me space to recover- It's not about that!" Izuku stares at him, his hand trembling. Katsuki tenses up, not making eye contact yet. "Drop it idiot. I'm not fucking ignoring you." "No! I'm not gonna drop it- I get hurt once after the war and you act like it's the end of the fucking world!"
And there it was. Izuku brought up the war, the one thing Katsuki was trying to forget, spending countless sleepless nights thinking, crying, and trying to ignore these stupid feelings. "Just.. what did i do wrong this time. I just want to talk to you Kacchan.." Izuku says, his voice cracking and eyes watering slightly. Katsuki looks up from his plate at him, tears falling. "That's the fucking problem, you didn't do shit wrong. You didn't, couldn't.." Izuku looks at him, stunned at the fact he's crying, but more at his words. "Then why do you look at me like I'm disgusting, like you can't stand the sight of me!" "Because every time i think about this shit, I can't fucking breathe, I can't sleep, it's constantly in my fucking mind Izuku!" Katsuki yells back, voice cracking and tears falling. Katsuki stands up, pacing around slightly, "You almost died because I wasn't strong enough, fast enough, TWICE! It's my fucking fault Izuku! I can't just sit there, pretending like every thing is okay, like you hurt doesn't kill me inside. And it's all my fault. Every fucking day i feel guilty, more than ever.." He yells with his voice cracking in between sentences.
"That's not how it works Kacchan.. We're heroes. It's our job to get hurt, so that others who can't defend themselves don't. We do it for them- You can't blame yourself for something that isn't your fault!" Izuku yells back, making Katsuki look at him. "It feels like I'm nothing, I hate thinking about the stupid war, I hate it!" "You're not nothing! You're.. fuck.. You're everything to me idiot!" Katsuki yells back, his fists clenched. "I can't.. I fucking hate seeing you hurt like this Izuku. I can't take it, not then and not now.." Katsuki says, his voice softening, still with a few voice cracks in it. "Stop acting like you don't care Kacchan.. I can't take it.." Izuku starts to cry too, wiping his tears. "I've never stopped caring idiot.." They sit on the couch, Izuku silently crying, and for once, Katsuki lets him. He doesn't try to fix it, knowing this is better than being rude or trying to make him be quiet.
"I haven't slept either." Katsuki mumbles to him, being vulnerable for once. The air feels lighter, both their eyes red from crying. Their shoulders brush slightly and for once they don't move away from each other. After crying for a while, Izuku mumbles to him, "I don't wanna sleep alone tonight." He rubs his eyes, rubbing his eyes. Katsuki scoffs softly, "Then don't." He stands up, rubbing his eyes slightly too. Izuku blinks, slightly caught off guard. "Really..?" Izuku asks. "Just.. Come on." He mutters, starting to walk to his room and avoiding eye contact.
They go to his room, lying down in Katsuki's bed. They awkwardly lay there for a while before the tension softening. Izuku accidentally moves closer to his chest, Katsuki not moving. Izuku listens to his heartbeat, making him feel at ease from the horrible memories from before. Katsuki gently runs his fingers in Izuku's curls, making Izuku shift closer. "Is this okay..?" He mumbles softly. "You're warm. Don't move." Katsuki whispers back. Katsuki looks down at him, his fingers still brushing against his hair. Izuku looks up from Katsuki's chest, his eyes soft, slightly nervous. "I really like you Izuku. I care for you- more than anyone." Katsuki mutters, slightly awkward but trying not to make his words harsh. They both accidentally lean in, their noses bumping into each other, making Izuku laugh softly. "Sorry- that was my bad.." "Dammit.. Izuku stop apologizing when I'm trying to give you a kiss." Katsuki grumbles, his cheek slightly flushed.
They both pause before finally leaning in, the kiss soft but clumsy. Their teeth bump against each other slightly, making Izuku laugh again out of slight embarrassment. "Sorry.." "You really need to learn how to stop apologizing all the time." Katsuki gently leans in again, slower, full of all the emotions he had been holding back for months. They both pull back, Izuku blushing more than ever. "Was that okay? It was my first kiss, hopefully i didn't mess it up.." Izuku mutters, nervous. Katsuki looks away, trying to calm himself down. "No idiot.. just give me a second." Katsuki whispers, "I like you Izuku. A lot." Izuku slightly short-circuits, blushing. "Don't say that if you don't mean it.." He hides his face in Katsuki's chest, trying to calm down. "I do mean it." He pulls the covers up, holding his hand, slightly hesitant. They both fall asleep, Izuku calming down by listening to Katsuki's heartbeat and Katsuki being content with being near Izuku, knowing he's safe.
In the morning, the sunlight beams into the room. Katsuki gently wakes up, yawning and blinking. He looks down, seeing Izuku asleep, his mouth slightly open and drooling on his shirt. He remembers how they cuddled, and kissed. He gently runs his fingers in his hair. He debates getting up but immediately brushes off that option, not wanting to disturb him. After a while, Izuku stirs slightly, yawning. "Is it morning already.." He mumbles, half asleep. "Yup." Katsuki responds, letting go of him so that he can stretch. Izuku notices, freezing slightly. "Ah.. Did that all happen last night..?" "You really think I'd let you drool on my shirt if it didn't happen?" Katsuki fiddles with his hair. "Oh my gosh.. kill me.." Izuku mumbles, burying his face into his chest. Katsuki lets out a slight laugh, "Not after you finally kissed me and confessed idiot.."
Nothing’s perfect yet, but the silence between them isn’t cold anymore—it’s warm, calm, shared. They’re not just surviving. They’re finally letting themselves and their feelings be known.