Chapter Text
100 Pictures Before I Marry You
Chapter 1: Picture #1
The ring was perfect.
Katsuki stared down at the small velvet box in his palm, his heart doing something stupid and uncomfortable in his chest. The band was white gold- practical, durable, wouldn't tarnish on patrol- with a subtle inscription inside that read "Forever, Kacchan." The design incorporated both their colors: emerald green stones catching the light alongside brilliant oranges and reds, swirled together in a way that reminded him of their quirks intertwining.
It had cost a fortune. Worth every fucking yen.
"Mr. Bakugou?" The jeweler smiled at him from behind the counter. "Are you satisfied with the adjustments?"
"Yeah." Katsuki's voice came out rougher than intended. He cleared his throat. "It's good. Perfect."
The elderly man's eyes crinkled with warmth. "She's a very lucky woman."
"He." Katsuki corrected automatically, then felt his ears heat. "And I'm the lucky one. Idiot doesn't even realize it yet."
He paid, tucked the box into his jacket pocket, and stepped out into the cool Tokyo evening. Spring had just begun to creep into the city- cherry blossoms wouldn't bloom for another few weeks, but he could smell the change in the air. New beginnings and all that sappy shit.
His phone buzzed.
Deku ❤️: Finished patrol early! Picking up katsudon on the way home. Want extra spicy?
Katsuki: Obviously. Get extra.
Deku ❤️: Already ordered it 😊 Love you, Kacchan
Katsuki stared at those last two words, chest tightening again. Four years. They'd been together for four fucking years since they'd finally- finally- gotten their heads out of their asses after graduation. And every day, Izuku told him he loved him like it was the easiest thing in the world.
Katsuki had gotten better at saying it back. But this... this was different.
He wanted to marry Deku. Wanted to wake up every morning for the rest of his life and see that ridiculous green hair on the pillow next to his. Wanted their names linked in every database, every emergency contact form, every legal document that mattered. Wanted the whole goddamn world to know that Izuku Midoriya was his.
But how the hell did you propose to someone like Deku? Someone who'd stood by him since they were kids, who'd seen him at his absolute worst and still chose him every single day. Someone who deserved the world but would probably cry and say yes even if Katsuki proposed in their shitty apartment wearing nothing but boxers and bedhead.
No. Deku deserved something special. Something meaningful. Something that captured everything they were together.
Katsuki had been planning this for months, ever since the idea struck him during a particularly boring stakeout. He'd been scrolling through his phone, looking at candid photos of Izuku—laughing at something Kirishima said, sleeping on the couch with his mouth open, concentrated on paperwork with his tongue poking out—and thought: I want this forever.
That's when the concept crystallized. One hundred pictures. One hundred moments of their life together, each one featuring the engagement ring hidden somewhere in frame. Izuku would never notice—the nerd was observant about villain patterns and fighting strategies, but he missed obvious shit right in front of his face constantly. After the proposal, Katsuki would give him an album of all the photos: proof of how long Katsuki had been ready, how many moments he'd wanted to ask, how thoroughly Izuku's presence saturated every corner of his life.
Dramatic? Maybe. But Deku brought out his dramatic side. Always had.
Katsuki pulled out his phone as he walked, opening the camera app. The evening light was soft, golden. He could take the first picture tonight.
By the time Katsuki got home, Izuku was already there.
"Kacchan!" Deku's face lit up the moment the door opened, and Katsuki's heart did that stupid thing again. "Welcome home!"
Their apartment wasn't much- a two- bedroom in a decent neighborhood, close enough to their agency for quick response times. They used the second bedroom as a shared office, though mostly it was covered in Izuku's hero analysis notebooks and Katsuki's equipment maintenance tools. The living space was small but comfortable: a couch they'd bought together, a TV that had been a housewarming gift from his parents, photographs and hero merchandise cluttering every surface.
Home. Undeniably, completely home.
Izuku stood in their tiny kitchen wearing one of Katsuki's hoodies- the black one with the orange X across the chest- and a pair of those ridiculous All Might pajama pants. His hair was damp from a shower, curling wildly around his face. No scent blockers; the apartment smelled like caramel and forest rain, their scents mixing in that way that always made Katsuki's alpha instincts purr with satisfaction.
Mine, something primal in him whispered. Mate. Keep. Protect.
"Katsudon's still hot," Izuku continued, already pulling out plates. "Oh, and Shouto texted- apparently there's a villain group targeting omega heroes specifically? He wants to coordinate patrols this week."
"Yeah, I saw the report." Katsuki toed off his boots, hung up his jacket- careful with the pocket containing the ring. "We'll handle it."
"You say that like it's easy." But Izuku was smiling, fond and exasperated. "At least promise me you won't explode anyone before we get information?"
"Tch. I make no promises."
Dinner was comfortable, familiar. They talked about their patrols- Izuku had stopped a convenience store robbery, Katsuki had handled a structural fire in a downtown office building. Normal pro hero shit. Between bites of katsudon, Izuku gestured animatedly, explaining some new combat theory he'd been developing.
Katsuki loved watching him like this. Passionate, brilliant, completely unselfconscious.
After dinner, Izuku insisted on washing dishes despite Katsuki's protests that it was his turn. "You cooked last night," Izuku argued. "Fair is fair, Kacchan."
"I made rice and reheated curry. That doesn't count as cooking."
"Still counts!"
While they bickered- playfully, always playfully now- Katsuki retreated to their bedroom. He needed to take the first picture before he lost his nerve.
The bedroom was small, dominated by their queen-sized bed with its dark red sheets. Izuku's side of the nightstand was cluttered: a stack of notebooks, charging cables, a framed photo of them at their hero license ceremony, a little All Might figure. Katsuki's side was neater: a lamp, his phone charger, a book he'd been pretending to read for three months.
Carefully, Katsuki pulled the ring box from his jacket. His hands were steady- years of hero work had trained that into him—but his heart hammered against his ribs.
He opened the box. The ring gleamed under the bedroom light.
For a moment, he just stared at it. This small circle of metal and stones that represented everything he wanted. Everything he was promising.
Don't fuck this up, he told himself.
From the kitchen, he heard Izuku humming- some cheerful pop song that had been stuck on the radio lately. The domesticity of it made his chest ache.
Katsuki placed the ring box on Izuku's nightstand, positioning it carefully next to the All Might figure. Then he pulled out his phone and adjusted the angle, making sure he could see the ring clearly in frame while also capturing the personal items that so perfectly represented his boyfriend.
The bedroom door was cracked open. Through it, he could just see Izuku in the kitchen, still washing dishes, completely oblivious.
Katsuki took the first picture.
The photo was perfect in its simplicity: the ring box open, the ring catching light, surrounded by Izuku's scattered belongings. Proof that Katsuki had been here, ready to ask, while Izuku continued living his life completely unaware.
One down. Ninety-nine to go.
He quickly pocketed the ring and deleted the photo from his main gallery, transferring it to a hidden album he'd created weeks ago titled "Hero Reports"- boring enough that Izuku would never look.
"Kacchan?" Izuku's voice called from the hallway. "You okay in there?"
Shit. Katsuki scrambled to look natural, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, fine. Just changing."
Izuku poked his head in, eyebrows raised. "You're still fully dressed."
"Was about to change. Privacy, asshole."
"We literally share this room." But Izuku was grinning, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "Besides, nothing I haven't seen before."
The teasing tone made Katsuki's face heat. "Shut up."
Izuku laughed, that bright sound that never failed to make Katsuki's stomach flip. He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Katsuki's shoulders from behind, chin resting on his head. "Missed you today."
"Saw me this morning."
"Still missed you." Izuku pressed a kiss to his hair. "Is that allowed?"
Katsuki reached up, threading his fingers through Izuku's. The omega's hands were scarred- they both were, proof of their profession- but warm and strong. "Yeah," he said quietly. "It's allowed."
They stayed like that for a moment, wrapped up in each other. Katsuki could feel Izuku's heartbeat against his back, steady and sure.
I'm going to marry you, Katsuki thought. i'm going to ask you to spend forever with me, and you better fucking say yes, nerd.
"Bed?" Izuku asked eventually.
"Yeah. Bed."
They went through their nighttime routine- brushing teeth, changing clothes, Izuku taking his suppressants while Katsuki applied the scent-neutralizing lotion they both used to avoid triggering each other's instincts accidentally during sleep. It was practiced, automatic, built from four years of cohabitation.
When they finally collapsed into bed, Izuku immediately curled into Katsuki's side like he always did. His head tucked under Katsuki's chin, one leg thrown over Katsuki's, arm across his chest. A full-body cling that would be suffocating if it were anyone else.
But it was Deku, so it was perfect.
"Love you, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled, already half-asleep.
Katsuki pressed a kiss to the top of his head, breathing in that rain-and-earth scent that meant home. "Love you too, Deku." Within minutes, Izuku's breathing evened out into sleep. Katsuki lay awake longer, staring at the ceiling, hyperaware of the ring hidden in his jacket across the room.
This was going to be harder than he thought. Not the proposal itself- he'd fight a hundred villains before backing down from something he wanted. But keeping it secret from someone who knew him better than anyone, who noticed every tiny shift in his mood, who could read him like one of those damn hero analysis notebooks...
Yeah. This was going to be a challenge. But Katsuki never backed down from a challenge. He pulled out his phone one more time, opening the hidden album to look at the first picture. The ring, waiting. Ready.
Soon, he promised himself. Soon he'd take picture number one hundred, and that ring would finally be on Izuku's finger where it belonged.
But for now, he had ninety-nine more moments to capture.
Katsuki set his phone aside and pulled Izuku closer, feeling the omega sigh contentedly in his sleep. Outside, the city hummed with late-night activity- sirens in the distance, the rumble of trains, the endless pulse of Tokyo.
Inside their small bedroom, wrapped around each other in the dark, the future felt close enough to touch.
Picture #1: complete. Ninety-nine to go.