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In the almost two years they had been dating, Eijirou had learned a couple things about Izuku. The first thing was obvious; anyone who had spent any time at all with the small, green-haired powerhouse knew he would do anything within his power for his loved ones. While most people knew about the stubborn will and literal bone-breaking determination, Eijirou and Katsuki were the only ones who seemed to notice the smaller things. Izuku would ditch his own studies for later to help someone who was struggling. He learned various methods to help Denki when the blond had been diagnosed with ADHD and had sat for hours with Hanta when the dyslexia was discovered, finding a paper color that worked and verbally quizzing him to prepare him for exams. When they all found out about Tsu’s unfortunate habit of hibernating in the cold, he had spent his own internship money to get her heated blankets and would often send Shoto to her room when the snow started to make sure she was okay. He had even figured out Eijirou’s need for more calories (the hardened hero-in-training was almost positive he’d actually gone to Fat Gum for information and recipes) and had been almost obsessively watching his food intake and making sure he got enough.
Eijirou had also learned about Izuku’s almost crippling anxiety. Katsuki had pulled him aside shortly after they started dating to explain and he couldn’t deny the want to deck his best friend in the nose when he’d learned about the bullying that had only added to Izuku’s issues. But almost two years in, the redhead had learned quite a few calming techniques and knew when to intervene and when to just let his boyfriend work through things on his own.
What absolutely no one else but Katsuki knew was that Izuku was an amazing baker. He was a fair cook, but his baking skills were unmatched by anyone other than Sato. He was also a stress baker; he tended to turn his anxiety into sweet treats rather than outright panic attacks anymore unless something caught him off-guard. Katsuki didn’t indulge much, but Eijirou was more than happy to help Izuku hide the evidence and the two would often grin and giggle as they tucked away containers of treats, leaving just enough for the class to find to believe it was Sato doing the baking. He wasn’t completely certain why his smaller boyfriend hid it, but it didn’t hurt anything and it was kinda fun to have a silly, safe secret together.
What Eijirou forgot to consider was exam season. First and second year midterms and finals had passed by with little fanfare, and Eijirou didn’t realize exactly how much Izuku pushed himself to work on both his own studies and help his friends. Third year was already pushing at the stress levels of the entire class; less villain fights, thankfully, but the coursework and required internship hours were kicking everyone’s asses. Class 3-A’s midterms had been brutal. Anyone who didn’t pass would be removed from their internships and forced into remedial classes until they could pass. Aizawa had given them a wicked smirk, reminding them that internship hours were required, but could be made up over the summer if needed, delaying their careers as pros if they didn’t take their midterms and finals seriously.
Everyone had been on edge for almost the entire month. The only bonus was that internship hours counted for the physical exam. The whole class was grateful for that reprieve at least, but impromptu study sessions and large batches of coffee and energy drinks had become the new normal in their dorms. The entire class was more than a little stressed as they sat exam after exam during midterm week, and almost everyone was discussing plans to go out, or head home for the weekend as they made their way to their final written exam on Friday.
As soon as pencils were put down for that last exam, Eijirou, Denki, Hanta and Mina swarmed Katsuki’s desk. The air of relief had everyone a little giddy, and the Bakusquad were practically bouncing around in the thrill of finally being done with the hellish tests. Eijirou shot his boyfriend a quick smile, running fingers through his green hair as their friends pestered the resident bomb in front of them.
“Bakubro, we’re going to go get dinner and then we’re paintballin’! You have to come with us!! We’re paying!” Denki was bouncing on his heels, excitement lighting up his face like his quirk tended to light up the battlefield.
Mina laughed and leaned against Hanta’s shoulder, her bright grin baring her teeth and looking a little manic. “We need to thank you for all the study help! Please please please!”
Eijirou snorted a little at that; they had already pooled funds and bought Izuku a limited edition All Might jacket to thank him, but Katsuki had been stubborn about ‘never doing what he didn’t want to’ and ‘not needing to be thanked by a bunch of morons who couldn’t figure out how to study’. The blond’s love language was acts of service and it was painfully obvious to their entire group. But they were determined to find something they could pay him back with, and Izuku had come in clutch once again, pointing out that Katsuki loved to go paintballing.
A soft pop echoed from Katsuki’s hands, forcing them to back up a bit. “Fucking fine. Calm the hell down. If y’all want your asses beat that bad, then who am I to stop ya? But we better be going to the ramen place down the street.” He glowered a little, but they had been his friend too long to be intimidated. The squad yelped and jumped back, laughing but agreeing easily.
Eijirou leaned over Izuku’s desk, gently using his green hair to tilt his head up. “What about you, pebble? Wanna come paintball with us?” He knew it could go either way, and without looking, he could feel the rest of his group staring at them, waiting for the verdict.
“Ah ha ha, no thanks, Ei… guys. I appreciate it, but I promised Tenya and Shoto that I’d try to get some sleep…” Izuku glanced down sheepishly, twisting his fingers together. “They may have noticed and complained about my caffeine consumption this week…” Eijirou pulled his hands apart, slotting his own fingers between Izuku’s to keep him from pulling on the already damaged digits.
“Oi, shitnerd… you better actually sleep. No nerd notebooks.” Katsuki stuck his finger in Izuku’s face, making the shorter teen chuckle and shake his head.
“No promises, Kacchan,” he singsonged, leaning against Eijirou’s side for a minute before straightening. “I have insomnia, so the best I can do is say I’ll try.” The group chuckled at the sassy retort, as well as Katsuki’s grumblings. It was a far cry from first year and Eijirou was so proud of both of them for working through their issues and rebuilding their friendship, even if it did give the class whiplash sometimes.
Eijirou grabbed his boyfriend’s bag before he could, tossing it over his shoulder with a soft grunt as Katsuki continued to grumble expletives under his breath and Izuku stood up. Draping his arm over his shoulder, Eijirou kissed the top of green hair and huffed. He knew exactly what the tiny powerhouse was going to be doing, but hopefully it would wear him out enough to let him get some sleep. If not, well, it was the weekend, and Aizawa was a lot looser with the rules now that they were close to graduating. “C’mon, let’s go get changed and get ready to go.”
Dinner and paintball had been fun, but insane. Katsuki had made it his personal goal to take all of them out at least four times, and they were only able to retaliate when they all worked against him. It was late by the time they got back and the dorms were almost completely dark. The group tried their best to be quiet, giggling tiredly as they trudged up the steps and ribbed each other about bruises.
As they stepped inside, Denki blinked a little, head tilted. He held up a hand and training together had the group shutting up immediately as they tried to figure out what had caught his attention. Eijirou’s skin hardened slightly, and he could see Katsuki’s fingers curl into claws. Hanta and Mina each took a silent step back, preparing to back the group up from a distance… they may be just a little hyper vigilant. “Uh, guys… there’s someone in the kitchen…” The lightning user’s voice was soft, almost a whisper as he stepped forward, hands out slightly. No one but Eijirou had actually lit their quirks, but they were ready for anything.
As the group carefully made their way into the kitchen, soft gasps slipped from their lips. It looked like a bomb had gone off… Flour dusted the floor and counters, dried batter sat in small puddles and drips, and several baking dishes and cooling racks were filled with sweet treats. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, breads… the scent was delicious but almost overpowering.
A sniffle from the refrigerator had the group stepping forward quicker and Eijirou sighed as green, flour-dusted hair came into view. “Zuku?”
Slightly red-rimmed green eyes peered up from the large baking dish filled with what looked like apple-cinnamon rolls. “Ei? Shit, what time is it?” The words were muffled by the bite of roll still in his mouth; it looked like he was eating straight from the baking dish. Eijirou exchanged a quick glance with Katsuki before sighing almost silently; not only had the stress baking occurred, but Izuku had most definitely been crying. Not ideal, but they were home now and he could hopefully coax him into bed and make him talk about what was bothering him. Hopefully…
Mutters of surprise and concern rippled behind him as Eijirou moved towards the fridge, crouching down in front of his boyfriend and ruffling his hair. “It’s almost two in the morning. Baby, what happened?”
Katsuki huffed a little, shoving the rest of his friends out of the way to stalk over, leaning against the counter next to two on the floor. “This doesn’t look like sleeping, nerd…” His words were admonishing, but his tone was soft as ruby eyes surveyed the mess.
Izuku tilted his head into the touch on his hair, displacing some of the flour. His body leaned into Katsuki’s legs, sighing. “I was gonna clean it up… I, uh… lost track of time.” His voice, without the food to muffle it, was a bit hoarse and Eijirou let out a breath as he turned to look at the rest of the group. It wasn’t a bad secret, but the fact that this was how it got out… well, Izuku trusted their whole class, and Eijirou obviously trusted his three closest friends. He glanced up at Katsuki, then back to the group that was slowly shaking out their battle readiness.
“Zuku stress bakes… Feel free to grab some stuff, I can’t eat all of this and if the class sees this tomorrow, there’s gonna be questions.” He shifted to his butt on the side opposite of the blond, pulling his smaller lover gently against his side. “What set you off, pebble? You haven’t been this bad all week…” It was a gamble to ask him so openly, but his boyfriend was obviously exhausted and he’d grown closer and more open with the Bakusquad as his friendship with Katsuki had healed and his relationship with Eijirou had deepened.
As Mina snagged a cupcake, licking the frosting off, Denki and Hanta both grabbed cookies and flopped on the floor in front of them, grinning despite their soft, worried eyes. “You’ve been our morning treat dealer?” Hanta teased softly, nudging Izuku’s foot gently.
Izuku nodded and sighed, wiping the flour and tear tracks off his face a bit and setting the baking dish in his lap. “Exams… I get really… uh, bad? During exam season. And I tried to ask Mr. Aizawa about my grades, but he couldn’t tell me anything, or wouldn’t, or whatever, and I just…” He gestured at the mess. “I went upstairs to take a nap, then Tsu and Ochako came to talk about how they think they did and after they went to bed, I couldn’t, uh… I couldn’t sleep? Or relax. Or… well, I figured if I made some cookies I’d feel better, but it didn’t really…”
“Rambling, Deku,” Katsuki grumbled, ruffling his hair harshly. “You spiraled, huh?”
Izuku nodded, huffing a little, but not bothering to move that explosive hand from his head. “Yeah, Kacchan… I spiraled.”
Eijirou chuckled gently, amused by the faux defeated sound in Izuku’s voice. He always got so annoyed with himself after a stress bake, but the time with Eijirou had turned it into playful frustration rather than another reason to spiral. He kissed a batter-speckled cheek and looked out at the rest of the group. “You guys can head up… lemme grab some containers for you. I’ll help him clean up.” He made a note to figure out how to get the Dekusquad to just leave Izuku alone right after exams… the next day was fine, but apparently he couldn’t handle talking about results right after he’d finished.
Denki glared at the red-head, finishing his bite of cookie before pushing himself up. “Hell no! Zuks helped everyone with studying! And we got tasty food every morning that we didn’t have to cook, or pester our resident chef for! We can all pitch in, it won’t take long!”
Izuku held his hands up, looking alarmed. “No no no, you all can go to bed, I can clean it! I don’t-”
“Izuku, respectfully, shut the fuck up.” Hanta also stood, grabbing the baking dish so Eijirou could help Izuku off the floor. “We can help. And you will take the help.” He grinned as Mina pulled out the storage containers and Denki grabbed the rag from the sink. “You don’t get a choice in the matter.”
Mina giggled from the cabinet. “If it bothers you that much, Zuks, we’ll happily give you requests for breakfast treats.” She peered out from around the door, winking playfully.
With a flushed face and a wet chuckle, Izuku nodded. “Fine, fine, just… give me the requests tomorrow,” he laughed and turned to the sink to work on washing the dishes. Katsuki grabbed a dry towel and nudged his shoulder gently, grumbling quietly at him. Eijirou and Hanta got to work on putting away the containers of ingredients.
It only took them 20 minutes working together to get the kitchen back to Katsuki’s standards, laughing and teasing quietly so they wouldn’t wake up the rest of the dorm. Everyone grabbed a container of treats to hide in their rooms; even Katsuki grabbed a couple small things, muttering about ‘hiding the evidence’ when Mina teased him about having a secret sweet tooth.
Eijirou steered his boyfriend to his own room, wishing Katsuki a good night as they separated. “Now, we’re sleeping. And we’re not setting alarms.” Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut at the red-head’s firm look. “No morning training. You’re sleeping. Then tomorrow we’re going out for a date, and then we can train with Bakubro tomorrow night if you’re feeling restless, but you have been working too hard to not rest now that you can.” As he talked, he grabbed soft tanktops and sleep pants for both of them, tossing Izuku’s to him gently.
Izuku whined a bit, but capitulated, flopping onto Eijirou’s bed after changing and making grabby hands at him. “Fine, but I demand cuddles if you think I’m gonna be able to sleep.”
Eijirou chuckled at his little pout and scooped him up, setting him gently against his chest and pulling the blankets up. “As if I’d ever deny you cuddles, pebble.”