Chapter Text
All those involved in the war were discharged, after Recovery Girl had given the approval for them to be able to go to their respective temporary homes without any problem. She gave them a clear warning about rest, that it was important to avoid doing activities that could affect their recovery; these words were directed especially at Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki, who were known for being somewhat impulsive and were more prone to disobeying her.
Aizawa, as their homeroom teacher, was aware that that pair was quite peculiar; it was not the first time and he was sure it would not be the last time that he would have to have them called out, especially because of the scolding and punishment he had to give them during that fight they had last semester at Ground Beta. Even though their relationship could be noticed to have improved significantly since that incident, Aizawa did not agree that the best way to make each other’s feelings known was to confront each other in that way. At the very least, he prayed that something like that would not happen again, both for his students’ sake and for the interruption of his own activities. That is why he committed himself to warning them, to repeating Recovery Girl’s words so that it would be very clear to them that he was not going to tolerate that kind of behavior.
Izuku listened to the scolding with his head slightly lowered and a worried smile, but he indicated that he would obey. At that moment he could not see the face of his childhood friend, but he did not have to see it to know that he was surely trying to avert his gaze and that his posture was more one of disinterest than Izuku’s.
Already in the classroom, a clear but small sneeze could be heard, while Professor Present Mic was explaining the grammar of a sentence with great enthusiasm.
Izuku could not help thinking that it was a peculiarly cute sneeze, but he did not know if it was right to think that because of who had made that sound.
The person Izuku had heard sneeze was none other than Kacchan.
“Are you okay?” he asked more out of impulse than anything else, leaning his body forward from his desk so that the whisper he was trying to make could be heard.
Izuku understood at that instant that he was going to be reprimanded, surely by some shout that would come from Kacchan for asking so deliberately if he was okay. Izuku was sure he could already hear that “Mind your own business, nerd” coming while he seemed noticeably angry with him. Izuku already expected that the teacher would scold them for interrupting the class.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the reaction, avoiding seeing that back that was right in front of his nose.
But that shout never came.
“Yes.”
It was quite a simple answer, but no less impressive to Izuku. His mind could not help wandering immediately. While it was true that his relationship with Kacchan was not the most common, Izuku was aware that if he had to classify, among all the people he knew, the one closest to him, without hesitation he would name him, but that was not the point he wanted to get to. Since the time he withdrew from U.A. for approximately a month, he had not spoken properly with Kacchan. He heard his apologies and the words of the others, returned to U.A., but afterward they were so busy with everything involved with the war that he did not have time to think about himself and, especially, about the person in front of him, who still had a bandage around his arm and wore the blazer over his shoulders, with a relaxed pose while paying attention to class. Izuku remembered that he had barely started physical therapy to be able to move his hand better; maybe it was not entirely appropriate to take notes for him and maybe Kirishima or some friend of Kacchan would help him with that, but he could not help wanting to help him as well. Maybe he would not accept them and would just ignore him, but at least he wanted to try. After all, he already had some notes made from past classes.
Once again going back to the point he was thinking about, maybe they did have many things to talk about or, at the very least, Izuku really wanted to ask a couple of things or at least start more conversation with him. What happened at the hospital was quite impressive; seeing Kacchan cry for him had left him speechless, and although classes were carried out as normally as possible, he tried to avoid thinking about that because he knew it might be useless to do so, since he still had certain doubts about whether expressing his insecurities to Kacchan would make the other want to talk to him.
Izuku still felt a little shy about asking him if he was prone to crying, due to all the times he had seen him cry so far.
He also had that other topic… but that was not a topic he wanted to bring up for now.
With a quick and precise gesture, some fingers came close to his forehead to give him a small flick, making Izuku let out a small “Ow” from his lips and look at the fingers that were still in front of him.
“Shut up, nerd,” Kacchan warned him, who still had bandages on his right arm.
He had not noticed that he had started to drift off again; he reflexively covered his mouth and looked around. His friends were looking at him with slight smiles, already somewhat used to his bad habit. The bad thing was that the whole classroom fell silent and that interrupted the class, therefore he was scolded.
After the morning classes, it was time to take charge of helping with the reconstruction of the city. Normally, classes started from 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.; however, by order of the principal, it was assigned that the hours starting at 12:00 p.m. would be dedicated to helping the Heroics Department of 2nd and 3rd year respectively, including their homeroom teachers in order to supervise their work. Mawata Fuwa was in charge of notifying and supervising along with other members of 3-A. Thus, everyone equipped their suits and headed to the locker rooms.
Izuku, already with his briefcase in hand, kept a vacant gaze directed at the large and tall classroom door. He felt a knot in his chest when thinking about everything that had happened in the war, a knot that he could not exactly explain what made him feel that way. He had to go through many things in the days afterward; at least it was somewhat comforting that he was sharing a hospital room with All Might and that from time to time, while he was somewhat drowsy, he could make out Kacchan’s silhouette next to his stretcher. He felt quite happy that his relationship with Kacchan felt a bit closer, and he could not help noticing that during his stay in the hospital he deliberately tried to look for him to start or do any activity with him, whether they talked for a while or, once he had his arm cast removed, he brought him a magazine to read. His mother was very attentive to his needs and made sure to give him enough company all that time; maybe thanks to all of that he was able to focus only on recovering. Maybe that was why now that they had to face the consequences of everything he was starting to feel that sensation in his chest; maybe that was why his mind started to drift away a little now that everything was over and he had to face reality.
Iida approached to tell him not to lag behind, so he apologized with a smile and continued on his way to the locker room.
He felt a sudden bump of shoulders; it was Kacchan.
“Oi,” he said, calling his attention.
“Yes, Kacchan?”
“All Might asked me to tell you that he wants to see you afterward.”
“Oh, I understand. Thanks for letting me know, Kacchan.” He gave a smile.
Those carmine eyes looked at him for a few seconds before turning around and going in the opposite direction. Kacchan had been told that he had to rest because of his hand, so he would wait in the dorms or go to the hospital to continue with physical therapy until his rest yielded better results. He grumbled a lot because of that, but Aizawa-sensei somehow managed to make him accept it.
Izuku unconsciously put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
Izuku started to break out in a cold sweat, since he did not quite understand his own behavior and what he wanted to achieve by stopping him. The tension in his body increased when he saw Kacchan’s eyebrows slowly furrow. It seemed that his patience was spilling a bit. He used the first excuse that came to his mind.
“I made notes…” he whispered more to himself than to Kacchan, still with his hand on his shoulder. Izuku did not intend to reveal it yet, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.
“Huh?”
Kacchan turned again toward Izuku, taking the hand that was on his shoulder to remove it. It was an unexpectedly calm gesture. Izuku felt the warmth of that hand for an instant.
“I made notes for you,” he began to explain, nervous. “I know you just started physical therapy and I wanted to help you a bit…”
Izuku did not want to make eye contact; one of his fingers was touching his cheek.
“Mind your busi—”
He stopped as if he had remembered something at the last minute. Izuku heard a long sigh and waited for the other to answer, since it seemed he was thinking something due to the silence that settled in.
“I still can’t write well, but I’ve been practicing so I can write with my left hand.”
Izuku relaxed his body and straightened up little by little, looking at his childhood friend.
“I’ll use your pathetic notes to practice,” he snapped. “When you come back to the dorms, give them to me. Also, today they were going to do that farewell party or whatever. Ears has been insisting because you guys were going to be busy with the reconstruction, so I’ll take care of some things.”
And without letting Izuku respond to anything, he turned and continued on his way.
That day they were going to hold Aoyama’s farewell party—which they also wanted to consider as a welcome party for Shinzou. It was delayed a bit due to how busy everyone was, and it was essential that everyone could attend. Izuku, having woken up early due to a bit of insomnia he was suffering from, ended up helping get the room where the party would be held ready. Some of his friends such as Yaomomo, Tsuyu, Iida, Todoroki, Ojiro, Sato, Koda, and Jirou had coordinated to wake up early to get everything prepared. Everyone seemed quite enthusiastic; they had even invited Eri to be part of the party, so everyone felt motivated to make it excellent.
He respected Aoyama’s decision; as his friend he wanted to support him as best as possible, so he focused especially on helping and making the party something memorable.
Once they returned to the residence in the afternoon, they were surprised by a delicious aroma coming from inside. Everyone seemed curious and did not hesitate to go in, being greeted by a rich aroma that enveloped the kitchen, where it seemed that there were different dishes prepared and some desserts.
“Is this the food that Lunch Rush helped us with?” Yaomomo asked, delighted with the dishes and placing her hand on her cheek.
“Yes,” said that blond with carmine eyes, making a grimace while carrying two plates that seemed to be cookies and starting to place them in the dining area.
“Hey, Bakugou,” Denki approached to admire and try to steal a cookie, clearly hungry. His hand was stopped by a quick slap; Denki immediately pouted, rubbing his hand. “Is there also food made by you on these plates?”
“Does that even matter, idiot?”
“I’ll take that as a yes!”
“Think whatever you want.” He headed back to the counter while rolling his eyes, taking more plates.
“So grumpy, Kacchan,” Denki teased, finally stealing a cookie.
Everyone quickly changed so they could start the party. Aoyama was with Hagakure and Mina, who were in charge of accompanying him until everything was ready. Aizawa-sensei would be in charge of bringing Eri to the residence.
They finished placing the remaining decorations, put on the music, and set the table. Some gifts for Aoyama from everyone had been organized and were placed on top of the small table in the living room. They messaged Hagakure to let her know that everything was ready, and it did not take long for them to arrive. It was quite satisfying to see Aoyama’s smile when he entered and saw the simple but pleasant decoration that had been set up. It did not take long for them to start eating, since everyone was already quite hungry due to the reconstruction work they had done.
Izuku took the glass of apple soda that was offered to him and approached the table to take a snack. There was a lot of variety on the table: toast, cookies, snacks, fruit salad, gelatin, appetizers, etc. But something caught Izuku’s attention more; they were some round cookies, which he could not help but take and bite into, feeling a light touch of lemon, but still tasting that sweet flavor.
“I feel like I’ve tried these before…” he thought.
He began to remember where he knew the flavor from, and a small fragment came to his memory. It was him eating a cookie that his mom had put in his mouth at the hospital, a few days before he was discharged. They had told him that together with his aunt—that is, with Kacchan’s mom—they made those cookies. It was the aunt’s recipe, and to distract themselves a bit from everything, they had started getting together to cook small things; that’s where the cookies came from.
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
“I’m surprised that Bakugou is helping with the party,” said Shinzou, approaching Izuku.
“I understand why you’d think that, but the more you get to know him, the more you’ll realize Kacchan’s personality,” Izuku smiled at him.
Izuku’s gaze drifted, searching for those carmine-colored eyes. When he found them, the scene was somewhat comical, or at least very typical of him. Kacchan was scolding Denki for his desperate way of eating.
“Everething is deleciuus (Everything is delicious),” Denki said happily, receiving nods from Kirishima and Tokoyami, who were sitting across from him eating.
“Stop talking with your mouth full, dumb face.” He smacked him on the head, making Denki choke.
Iida quickly noticed and offered him a glass of soda, which he drank immediately. Afterward, he began to scold Kacchan for being rough with his friend.
He could also see how Mina started dancing to the rhythm of the music and how Tsuyu and Uraraka tried to follow her lead. Yaomomo was teaching Hagakure about the tea she was drinking, saying that it was a perfect accompaniment for those snacks and happily exclaiming that she hoped to have time later to have a tea party. Sato was explaining to Koda how good the sweets were and how he believed all the sweet snacks were prepared. Todoroki was sitting in the living room drinking his soda with Sero, striking up a conversation. Shoujo, Aoyama, and Mineta were tasting the food.
Izuku could not help smiling at everyone’s interactions.
After a while, Eri arrived at the residence, happily greeting everyone. Everyone got excited upon seeing her and showered her with compliments.
“Deku!” she shouted excitedly, approaching Izuku.
“Eri-chan, it’s so good to see you here!” he exclaimed, also excited.
Aizawa-sensei indicated when he would come to pick her up and told them to be careful not to give her too many sweets, then said goodbye, leaving them. Eri said goodbye to him and was then called by Tsuyu, who took her by the hand to accompany her to eat something. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the cookies on the table.
“You know, today I’m going to sing,” Eri said excitedly, drinking orange juice.
“How cute!”
“Really? That’s so exciting!”
“We can’t wait to hear you sing, Eri-chan.”
They did not stop praising the little girl, who only smiled shyly at receiving so many compliments. She told the class that her dream was to be a singer and that she was willing to fulfill it. Everyone encouraged her, saying they would support her; others joked with her, asking her to sign their notebooks to be her first fans.
Jirou appeared with a guitar, calling everyone’s attention.
“Are you ready, Eri-chan?” she asked the little girl, who nodded very excitedly and quickly went over to her.
Everyone gathered in the living room and listened to Eri’s performance, who seemed extremely happy to be able to sing for them. It was quite a fun moment.
After the food was finished, they began to dedicate a few words to Aoyama. Not everyone did so to avoid making it too long, so in total there were four people who said a few words to him, including Izuku, while they gave him the gifts they had all made together. Aoyama could not help shedding a tear or two and confessed that he was very happy to have friends like them. Suddenly, they wanted to shout for themselves and exclaimed:
“Long live 2-A!”
“Long live 1-A!”
Everyone fell silent.
While it was true that they had not agreed on it, it was unexpected that half of the people shouted one thing and the other half shouted the other. They looked at each other, shrugged, and laughed.
And thus, the party ended.
They started cleaning everything up once Aizawa-sensei arrived to take Eri. They helped pick up the trash, take down the decorations, wash the dishes, and sweep to leave everything clean. They finished quite quickly, and each one headed to their room, not before exclaiming that it had been a very fun party and that they liked it a lot.
Izuku was already in his room; he lay face down on his bed for a while and stared at his desk, which had All Might figures on it. The notes he had to give Kacchan were also there. He buried his face in the pillow, inhaled deeply, and got up, taking the two notebooks and heading to the 4th floor.
He was aware that his childhood friend had an internal clock that he followed seriously and was known for going to bed early; therefore, if he hesitated, he would only find him asleep and would lose the opportunity to give him the notes. Already in front of the door, he knocked twice.
The door opened slowly. Katsuki looked somewhat drowsy and looked at Izuku; his eyes traveled from his face, trying to find a reason why he was standing there, down to his hands, where he remembered the reason.
“Sorry, Kacchan, I thought you were still awake,” he apologized, quickly extending the notes toward him. “These are the notes I told you about.”
“I wasn’t asleep yet,” he replied, opening the door wider and heading back inside.
Izuku interpreted that gesture as an invitation to enter, so he did not hesitate to step inside and close the door.
“Leave them on the desk, nerd.”
He complied and left both notebooks on the desk. He started to look around, somewhat curious. He almost never had the chance to enter Kacchan’s room, so it felt strange. He had a shelf with several books; there were no plants, the colors were not particularly striking, but there were certain things Izuku could recognize. Like the rug at Katsuki’s feet or the towel hanging there that he had seen a few times when training with him. He was not messy, Izuku knew that, but he was not the type of person who significantly decorated his room either.
What caught his attention was a notebook that was open on the desk, with a pen on top. Izuku could easily tell it was Katsuki’s handwriting, but it looked a bit messier. He assumed they were the notes he was practicing with his left hand.
“How’s your physical therapy going?” he asked, still looking at the notebook.
Katsuki was sitting on the edge of the bed and looked somewhat tired.
“What do you think?” he asked, but his voice had a mix of grumpiness and sleepiness.
“From what I can see, it looks like you’re on the right track,” he replied, turning to look at the blond’s hand.
“Your sight isn’t wrong,” he snorted. “Some damn physical therapy isn’t going to immobilize me for that long.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” Izuku assured him. His mind suddenly remembered those cookies. “The lemon cookies I tried at the party… They were made by Kacchan, right?”
One of Katsuki’s eyebrows lifted, intrigued.
“How do you know that?”
“My mom gave me some to try before and told me they were the aunt’s recipe,” he replied honestly.
Izuku took the desk chair and moved it to sit in front of Katsuki.
“The old witch taught me how to make them,” he said disinterestedly, blinking a couple of times as he watched Izuku settle into the chair. It seemed like he wanted to talk more. “They were extremely delicious, right? Obviously, since I was the one who made them.”
Katsuki stood up from the bed and approached Izuku, with both hands on his hips, looking at him.
“And do you think we’re going to talk for a damn hour or what?” he pointed at him accusingly. Izuku looked away and started to stand, heading toward the door. “Haven’t you seen what time it is? Get the hell out already.”
“Well, maybe I did want to talk a bit more,” he admitted in a murmur, still looking away with his hands in front of him, noticing how Katsuki’s face looked increasingly grumpy and how he was getting closer.
“Get out, nerd!” he spat those words very close to Izuku.
“What’s wrong with talking a little? We’re childhood friends,” he raised his voice a bit, complaining.
“And what about it? Don’t make me repeat myself, look at the damn clock.”
“Going to sleep a few minutes after your normal time isn’t going to kill you,” Izuku defended himself, starting to argue.
“Oh yeah? Well, more than that, I just don’t want your presence here, damn nerd.”
“You’re so unfair, Kacchan.”
“And you’re too stubborn.”
They both looked at each other angrily, and Katsuki, more out of impulse than anything else, had already grabbed Izuku’s cheeks with his left hand, squeezing them a bit. Izuku did not resist, but he kept looking at him with determination.
Suddenly, Izuku noticed that Katsuki’s gaze seemed more focused on some part of his face. He was released a few seconds later, and Izuku touched his own face, rubbing one cheek.
“Do I have something on my face?”
“Huh?”
Katsuki looked at him annoyed, raising an eyebrow. Izuku looked to the sides, hesitating a bit about speaking, but he gave in anyway.
“Since the hospital…” he began to explain, pointing at his face. “I’ve noticed that Kacchan sometimes stares at me for a few seconds.”
“And what’s weird about that?” he asked, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
“That’s not something you usually do, Kacchan!” he defended.
“And since when are you aware of all my damn habits? There’s nothing weird about it, stop messing around.”
Izuku took a deep breath and sighed, feeling that it was not a good idea to start another fight. He thought about it for a moment and decided to give up. There was the possibility that they would be called out for arguing at the door, and it was already night; afterward, his discussion could bother a classmate.
“Forget it, Kacchan,” he murmured, somewhat tired.
“You should stop analyzing me and think a little about yourself,” he accused. “You’re always sticking your ass into everything.”
Katsuki opened his bedroom door and pointed for him to leave.
“And I wasn’t staring at you at all! Got it, nerd?”
“Yes, yes.” Izuku crossed the threshold and turned toward Katsuki. “Good night, Kacchan.”
He could not help thinking that maybe everything they had gone through was not enough to get along better, that maybe Kacchan still hated him or something like that. Maybe Izuku’s presence was annoying to Katsuki. He could not help feeling a bit confused because Katsuki had shown him the opposite at the hospital, so it was a bit disappointing. Izuku did not expect him to respond, so he turned to go back to his room, but the sound of Katsuki’s voice stopped him.
“Good night, Izuku…”
And the door closed, leaving a confused Izuku in the hallway.