Work Text:
You burn inside my memory so well
You caramel
You're caramel
Izuku was tired, okay?
He didn’t notice the class in the common room. He didn’t notice the fact that their eyes were on him after missing movie night. He didn’t notice that Kacchan was in the kitchen, cooking his emotions away.
All he noticed was the thick smell of caramel that had filled his life for so long. The distinctive smell of Kacchan. He had first fallen in love with the smell when the blasts were small pops from a four year old in the woods who was delighted to share this life changing quirk with his best friend. He had winced at the smell of burnt sugar on his notebooks in middle school and the lingering aroma in the fabric of his uniform. Everything had changed at UA, from avoiding everything caramel and sweet to seeking the touch of his calloused palms.
The smell was so inherently Kacchan, that when Izuku had fallen in love with the smell, he couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Thank god that after the war Izuku had spilled everything to him. Kacchan had taken his time accepting Izuku’s feelings, though that's not to say that he didn't love Izuku as much, he just was coming to terms accepting that he was enough for Izuku.
That had made Izuku pause because. What.
They never outwardly said that they were dating, Izuku had kind of expected them to just pick up that something had changed between the two of them, the class being hero students and what not.
Anyway all this aside, the smell of caramel had overwhelmed Izuku’s exhausted mind and he simply walked up behind Kacchan who was focused entirely on the vegetables he was cutting in front of him. He wrapped his arms around Kacchan’s waist, burying his face into the crook of his neck. Kacchan tensed up underneath his arms slightly, but relaxed quickly when he realised it was just Izuku.
“Oi, ‘Zuku you okay?” Kacchan asked softly, his eyes trained on the cutting board in front of him.
“Mm. Tired.”
“Yeah, Hobo-sensei really ran us through our paces today didn’t he?” Kacchan said, dropping his knife and turning around in Izuku’s embrace. His hands found Izuku’s curls just as they usually do while they cuddled, his fingers quickly working their way through the knots in his hair. Izuku hummed in satisfaction as he pushed his head against his hands. Izuku loved this. Kacchan’s hands and eyes on him, watching him and treasuring him like he's something precious.
“You smell good ‘acchan” Izuku mumbled, kissing the inside of Kacchan’s neck.
“Do I now?” Kacchan smirked down at Izuku, his hands moving from his scalp to his waist. He was now rubbing circles into Izuku’s waist. Izuku couldn’t help but melt against his boyfriend, a soft smile blooming on his face.
“Mm yeah, like caramel” Izuku said, pulling his head back slightly, to look Kacchan in the eye, “It’s the nitroglycerin in your sweat. The smell creates this burnt sugar smell that permeates the room you’re–”
“Alright nerd, quit it with the rambles. I need to finish dinner so if you’re finished being clingy, I’ll get back to it” Kacchan smirked down at him, and all he could do was pout. He pulled back even further grumbling. He turned to walk out of the room and came face to face with his classmates staring at them from the doorway.
“WHAT THE FUCK-”
“Holy shit-”
“Are you guys together???”
“How long was this going on?”
“Oh my god”
Izuku froze in his place and confusion washed over him. He turned back to where Kacchan had put his knife down (yet again to Katsuki’s dismay) and had a frown pulling at his features. He locked eyes with Izuku, the question clear.
They didn’t know???
“Uh… we thought you guys knew?” Izuku said, smiling sheepishly. He looked at the gobsmacked faces of his classmates and sighed internally. He knew that this was going to be a long night of questions about their relationship. He looked at Kacchan again, red locking with green as they decided to get the questions over with now and deal with everything else later.
“WHAT”
“How could we know? All you guys do is fight!”
————
Katsuki knew immediately that the purple fuck was screwed, when Izuku got that glint in his eye.
“Excuse me?” Izuku said coldly. Katsuki slowly moved behind Izuku, his hand finding his waist quickly.
“All you do is fight! And you have so many babes after you, why would you choose a guy to begin with?” Mineta ranted clearly not noticing how the rest of the extras moved away from him, or how Izuku’s fists were clenching by his sides.
“I mean why would you pick him, when you have so many hotter choices around you” Mineta continued, oblivious to the horrific and disgusted faces of the extras.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Katsuki couldn’t help how his head whipped to Izuku’s, who didn’t even look at him. Instead he was staring down the grape fuck with a gleam in his eyes. Katsuki knew what that meant. Izuku had a plan, plan to do what? Katsuki doesn’t know.
“Hey dude, no need to get angry at me! I’m just telling you the facts!” Mineta continued, digging the hole deeper and deeper.
What happened next was so fast that Katsuki had no idea what happened initially. Izuku moved quickly, grabbing Mineta by the collar and yanking him into his eyeline.
“Don’t you dare talk about my boyfriend, or my classmates in that disgusting way ever again. If I hear anything come out of your mouth that is an insult, I will personally see to your expulsion.” Izuku said lowly, green eyes glaring into Mineta’s.
“Wh- What the fuck is wrong with you?” Mineta cried, hands shaking as he tried to pry Izuku’s hands off of his shirt, “You can’t do that!”
“He can actually. When he talks to me of course”
All heads turned, to see Aizawa-sensei standing in the doorway. He had his capture weapon at the ready and his quirk was in use.
“Mineta. Come with me.”
Grape fuck scrambled out of Izuku’s grip and followed after Aizawa-sensei. He kept glancing back at the class as if he were expecting one of them to step in and stop Aizawa. Katsuki couldn’t help but grin when the purple bastard and Aizawa exited the building.
Izuku walked back to Katsuki and leaned into his side. Unconsciously, Katsuki wrapped his arms around his waist and began to calm Izuku down. He looked away from Izuku and met the concerned gaze of Eijirou. He knew that Eijirou had heard all of his pining and feelings, so he guessed that Eijirou would’ve known when they got together but it must have split both their minds, what with the war going on.
Katsuki stepped forward bringing Izuku with him.
“Look ask your questions now so we can fuck off” He said gruffly, bringing Izuku to the couch. The extras followed behind questions, obviously taking priority over questioning what the fuck had just happened.
“How long have you been together?” Mina asked, holding back her squeal, a giddy smile blooming on her face.
“Since the end of the war. I kinda spilled everything in the hospital when Kacchan came in and we talked” Izuku said, smiling sheepishly. He looked at Katsuki with this look that was so overwhelmingly fond, Katsuki wanted to kiss him senseless right there in the common room.
“So you were dating that entire time!? How did we not notice?” Eijirou muttered the last bit under his breath.
“Look we don’t exactly like pda” Katsuki grunted “The nerd was just tired and forgot that we were in the shared kitchen”
“I’m sorry Kacchan” Izuku said grinning mischievously up at him with those wide ass eyes and those fucking freckles.
“No you're not,” Katsuki grumbled, pulling Izuku closer. Izuku just chuckled and leant against him.
The extras stared with their mouths agape at them.
“What in the fresh fuck just happened?” Hanta asked, looking at Denki and Mina. Denki shrugged and turned to them, a glint in his eyes that spelled mischief.
“Sooooo Izuku, what were you muttering about when you entered the room?” Denki asked, a smirk growing on his face.
“What?” Katsuki frowned, turning to Izuku. What was Pikachu talking about? He watched as Izuku grew redder as the seconds tick by.
“Uh- uhm Kacchan… smells like caramel. C- cause of his quirk! And um- I… like it?” Izuku waved his hands around as he stuttered. Katsuki couldn’t help but chuckle and kiss his cheek. He always found it so cute when Izuku got flustered. At that it's like Izuku got even more red, which Katsuki wouldn’t have thought were possible if he hadn’t already been dating Izuku for 6 months.
“Oh yeah he does smell sweet doesn’t he?” Uraraka pointed out, “I thought that was just me though”
“Shut up Round Face! I don’t smell sweet!” Katsuki yelled. Izuku just smiled and patted his hand.
“You do Kacchan but it’s okay” Izuku placated, “But we should probably eat dinner and go to bed, we have a test tomorrow”
————————
Izuku was tired. He had answered all of the questions that their classmates had for them, he had eaten dinner and he had collapsed onto Kacchan’s bed after finishing his homework and study.
It smelled of Kacchan, the sickly sweet smell of caramel filled his senses. He loved caramel all he could think of when he smelt it and tasted it was Kacchan.
“Zuku move over.” Kacchan meandered over, towel drying his hair as he spoke. Izuku turned over slightly, welcoming Kacchan into the bed. Kacchan laid down and wrapped his arms around Izuku. Izuku rested his head onto Kacchan’s chest, reassuring himself that his heart was beating and that Kacchan was his.
“Goodnight ‘Zuku”
“Goodnight Kacchan”
I want you back now
Come over to my house
There's space on my couch
Yeah, you burn inside my memory so well
You caramel
You're caramel