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Katsuki Bakugou is many things, a war hero, a former bully, a friend to a select few, but he isn’t a coward. Which is why even though he spent the last weekend on his couch wallowing in his misery due to his recent rejection, he still dragged his ass to work and forced himself to make it through the day so he can handle his brand-new agency. Which is also why he now has a certain red-haired idiot standing in the doorway of his office. He regrets giving the squad card access to the building more every day since they’ve all taken to dropping in unannounced for the most random shit.
“Dude, are you like, okay?” The aforementioned red-haired idiot asks while standing on the other side of his desk, “You look like you haven’t slept for a while.” What can he say, he really didn’t sleep; every time he tries his stupid brain keeps replaying the image of Izuku jogging away to catch up with Round Cheeks after he took Katsuki’s advice to mean he should hook up with her, instead of the confession it was obviously supposed to be!
“I’m fine Shitty Hair; can I not have the occasional rough fucking morning?” He pleads, hoping that it would get Kirishima off his back until he at least has caffeine in his system. He normally enjoys Eijiro’s company, even if he rarely says it aloud, but he’s just too drained for it today. Kirishima gives him this sappy sad look before stepping fully into his office and closing the door behind him.
“Listen man, it’s okay if you’re not okay. We all get that you’re probably a little down in the dumps right now about the whole Midoriya situation- “
“There’s no situation Kiri! I asked him to join the agency and be my hero partner, and he said no and chose being a teacher over the dream we’ve had since we were literal toddlers; so, there’s no situation, it’s over and done with!” Katsuki yells, wanting this conversation to be over already so he can go back to pretending to read this insurance paperwork he needs to send over.
“I mean I think maybe you just need to talk to him again man. I don’t know if Midoriya really understood what you were trying to say there!” He pleads.
“Absolutely fucking not! There’s no way in hell that I am going to ask him again right now; I’d make an even bigger fool out of myself than I have already! Plus, he obviously doesn’t want to be spending his time with me right now…” Kirishima goes still as he trails off at the end. Katsuki moves his eyes off the desk and sees that Kirishima is looking at him with a resigned look on his face. They stay in silence for a moment before the red head pulls out his phone.
“Alright fine, I can see you’re not in the mood for it right now, so I’ll drop it for now and am ordering you a coffee. Your grumpy ass needs it this morning” he says, which causes Katsuki to outwardly scoff, even though appreciates the coffee. He hasn’t even had the chance to buy a coffee maker yet for the new building. “But once you’re feeling less…close to the issue, please promise me you’ll at least think of talking to Midoriya again about it. I’m sure that if you explained everything, using full sentences this time, that he’d at least hear you out.”
“Fine, I’ll think about it.’’ He sighs out. Although he highly doubts he’ll decide to, since he can’t imagine how it would go any better a second time. Who knows, maybe my second confession would somehow spur the green idiot to confess to IcyHot as well! That’d be my luck right about now, he thinks.
“And thanks, for the coffee,” he says after a moment; wanting to at least be somewhat kind to his best friend who, admittedly, always handles his bad moods in stride.
The red head perks up a bit, “You’re welcome, man! Let me know if you need anything!” He starts to walk out of the room when he suddenly stops, “Oh and just so you know, it looks like Hero Deku is going to be out on patrol this afternoon. Saw him assigned to a route in Hero Network, thought you’d want to know”.
“Thanks, Eijiro,” Katsuki says in earnest before Kirishima nods and leaves the room.
Katsuki did manage to at least get some work done after his coffee was delivered. He had thought that he would have Izuku here to help with all the stupid administrative work needed when starting up a new agency, but he doesn’t, so now it all falls on him. He thought he would have Izuku here for lots of things. Where did I go wrong? He thinks to himself. Oh right, the years of bullying and then subsequent time being an asshole, how could I forget? Or maybe it was the 8 years that I knew I loved him but didn’t say anything. Well, it’s too late now, he’s with Round Cheeks now and will probably be happier with her than he could’ve been with me. I’ll just do my best to distance myself a bit and push the feelings away and they’ll eventually fade and then I can go back to focusing solely on being the number one hero. Maybe I can still be Izuku’s friend? That can be enough. Right? He doesn’t let himself go down that train of thought for much longer, it hurt too much to focus on for too long. Instead, he focuses on what he likes to think he’s good at, being a hero.
He groans to himself and is cursing the existence of zoning laws when he hears the Hero Network alert go off on his phone. Oh, thank fuck! He thinks. He’s aware that he probably shouldn’t be excited about a villain attack, but c’mon he needed something to get his mind off everything and beating the fuck out of a villain sounds like just that. He quickly opens the app and sees that there is a villain attacking a nearby office building and grabs his gauntlets, rushing to the roof to start flying that way.
He makes it to the scene of the attack in nearly record time and quickly assesses the situation as his explosions lower him slowly onto the pavement. He sees what he hopes are unconscious bodies littering the road and sidewalks leading up to the multi-story office building. He briefly stops, kneeling above an unconscious father and child and checking for a pulse. Good, they’re alive. He thinks briefly before continuing along to the office building. Since he isn’t sure exactly where the villain is, and whatever they’re doing seems to not be a flashy quirk, he’ll have to approach this carefully. If he draws too much attention to himself at first the villain may get the jump on him before he even realizes.
As he enters the sleek reception area of the office, he finds more unconscious civilians strewn about, seemingly lying asleep right where they were before the incident took place. He finds a stairwell behind the elevators and blasts himself as quietly as possible up a few floors, where he checks and finds more sleeping people. He repeats the process until he finally finds a floor with conscious workers. He makes eye contact with an older woman huddling under a desk, tears in her eyes and hand over her mouth trying to stay quiet. She looks away for a moment before meeting his eyes and nodding his way. He slinks into the office as she points to his right where a hallway sits, seeming to lead to the other half of the building. Katsuki meets her eyes and silently motions to the stairwell, putting his finger to his mouth to try and remind her to stay quiet. In a slight crouch, he makes his way down the hallway towards another cubical block. As he enters the new area he starts hearing loud screaming, seemingly coming from the back corner office. Katsuki kicks up his pace and opens the office door, his hand extended and ready to fire should he need to. Inside he sees a light blue-haired middle-aged woman clutching onto the shirt front of a terrified younger businessman as he tries to back away. She’s in business attire, her hair pulled high in a ponytail, appearing like she’s an employee.
“Dynamight! Please help me!” The man pleads as he locks eyes with Katsuki. The woman yanks the businessman closer, releasing a gas from her hands into his face before pulling him to the front to act as her shield. The man’s eyes had rolled back by the time he became her meat shield, and she pushed them both forward, holding him up as she went with surprising strength.
“Just shut up already Minato!” She yells as she angles the man to shield more of her body, “Don’t shoot Dynamight, wouldn’t want to accidentally hit a civilian, would you?”
Katsuki backs out of the office slowly, hoping that once she gets through the doorway, he can get behind her. As she steps out of the room, he sees purple smoke following her out. Rising as it enters the new space. Please don’t be flammable or toxic. Katsuki thinks as he buries his face as far as he can in the fabric of his costumes cowl. As soon as the woman walks out of the office he moves, but it seems she had the same idea. The woman launches the lifeless body of the man right into Katsuki as he attempts to round on her. He catches the man on instinct and has to try and hold his breath as the woman follows up with a handful of purple gas to his face. He isn’t sure if it was the ambient gas from before or if he just didn’t catch it in time, but he can instantly feel his senses dull and black spots dance across his vision as he does his best to focus after the assault.
The woman starts sprinting away, back down the hallway Katsuki had come through, presumably heading for the stairwell. Katsuki slides the man to the ground quickly and launches himself in pursuit of the woman. He can feel himself slowing. He doesn’t know what the quirk does exactly, so he needs to try and end this fast before it can fully take effect. Every explosion seems to take him closer to the encroaching dark. He feels himself make contact with the woman but doesn’t have the body control to stop so they tumble to the ground roughly and roll. Katsuki feels himself lose consciousness in quick bursts as his body twisted over itself and they come to a stop. The woman seems dazed but was slowly regaining her bearings and getting up. He forces the darkness back as much as he can and stands, managing to grab the woman's arm as she stumbles towards the door and locks one of the quirk suppressant cuffs onto it. He pulls, yanking the woman back a bit before slapping the other side of the cuffs on. He thinks he hears the woman start crying, but everything is starting to go fuzzy and the sounds around him come through like he’s underwater. Mutedly, he felt his knees make contact with the carpeted ground just as he sees something burst through the door.
Huh when did I end up on the ground? He thinks as he comes to again. He can feel that same rough carpeted floor on his face now as his vision becomes clouded over with color. Yellow, red, and green, so much green. He instantly calms a bit. Even if his slow-to-process brain can’t place a name right this moment, his body seems to just know that it can let go a bit now that Izuku is here. A hand seems to slip into his, but it is getting harder to feel anything so he can’t be sure. The darkness is coming back now, and Katsuki has a feeling this would be the last time, hopefully for just a bit, but Katsuki can’t complain too much if he gets to go out with Izuku there to hold his hand this time.
Katsuki is rather well acquainted with death all things considered, he knew what it should feel like, so he immediately knew that he hasn’t departed their dear worldly plane quite yet. He’s freezing for one and is feeling way too much pressure on his chest for two. He slowly tries to force his eyes open and is met with the sight of a bright white hospital room, the lights dimmed and curtains drawn. When he angles his head down to the best of his ability he sees green hair spread across his chest.
At the slight movement Izuku’s head jerks up and Katsuki is met with bright green eyes for a moment before he is suddenly being crushed in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re awake!” Izuku says as he draws back from the hug. “The doctor wasn’t sure how long it would take for the quirk to wear off.”
Katsuki takes stock of his body and notices that, other than being stiff and a bit sore from the hospital bed, he seems to be in perfect condition. He looks to Izuki before asking “What did the quirk do?”.
“Oh of course! It was a type of sleep quirk! The woman you fought can secrete a gas from her pores that, depending on the dose, can do anything from acting essentially the same as melatonin all the way up to anesthesia. It’s actually really interesting, apparently it can cause very vivid and lifelike nightmares, and its lethality is based on the dose-”
Katsuki feels himself still at the mention of nightmares, not remembering anything like that happening. Maybe I didn’t get a high enough dose for that? He thinks as Izuku continues his quirk-fact induced ramblings.
“So yeah, because of that you’ve been asleep for the past 3 days and have been in the hospital since for observation. The doctors weren’t sure how much of the gas you were exposed to so they were being extra careful, but they said so long as you wake up feeling fine you can go straight home! I’ll go get your doctor.” He says cheerily.
He sits, looking around the flower-decorated room, while he waits for the doctor. Seems like some of my idiots came by, he thinks as he looks at the varying bundles of flowers arranged around the room. Izuku returns shortly, thankfully being followed by the same doctor that has taken care of him since the war.
“Dynamight, glad to see that you’re awake. How do you feel?” The doctor asks as he takes out a pen to write on his paperwork.
“Fine I think, nothing seems to hurt or be acting weird.” He states, paying attention to the heartbeat sounding through the monitor to his right.
“Great, then I think it’s safe to send you home. I recommend taking a couple of days off to ensure no further complications. I’ll assume Hero Deku here will be the one to take you home?”
“N-” He starts to deny, wanting nothing less than to be forced into another emotionally charged car ride with Izuku before the green haired man interrupts him.
“Of course!” He hastily agrees, grabbing and signing the paperwork the doctor hands him. “C’mon Kacchan, let’s go home.”
He seems oddly chipper about driving me back to my apartment. Usually, he’s not this excited to deal with my grumpy ass after a hospital stay. Plus, this car ride is going to be awkward as fuck. He starts packing the few belongings that were brought to the hospital for him, luckily already dressed in sweats and one of his softer T-shirts. Katsuki looks for his car keys in his gear, confusion growing when he can’t find them.
“Nerd, have you seen my keys?” He asks as he flips the pockets of his hero costume inside out
Izuku laughs a bit before responding, “What do you mean Kacchan? I’ve got them right here.” Izuku spins his finger and Katsuki watches as the key ring twirls, along with an All Might keychain that he knows, for sure, he didn’t have before.
“Did you get me that key chain?” He asks curious why it would suddenly be on his, typically devoid of decoration, key ring.
Izuku looks at the keys before meeting his eyes again, an odd look in them. “Well yeah, I got it at a gift shop since it’s his chibi in his Silver Age Costume, which I know is your favorite! Personally though, I’ll never think anything can beat his Golden Age costume, it’s just leagues better tha-”
Katsuki looks again at the keychain, weirdly soft at the fact that Izuku had gotten him a gift while he was out. Ugh! Get it together Katsuki! He didn’t mean it in that way, obviously! When he tuned back in, they were nearing his car which had been brought to the hospital, he’s assuming by Izuku. He internally cringes at the thought that Izuku had driven it, knowing the man’s inability to operate anything on wheels, but he is thankful to not have to ride the train right now, so he decides to stay quiet about it. When he enters the car, he instantly notices that it smells different. Oddly minty. He looks forward and notics the air freshener hanging around the rearview mirror.
“Did you also get me an air freshener? I know my car needs detailed but c’mon Deku it wasn’t that bad.” He groans as he takes a closer look at it. Izuku gives him a bit of a confused look at the statement.
“I thought that it was your favorite scent? It’s Eucalyptus Mint.” He seems to question with his head cocked to the side a bit. “I just grabbed it while I was at the store really quick.”
I didn’t realize Izuku knew that was my favorite scent… He thinks before responding, “Right, yeah it is, guess I just didn’t realize you knew that.” Izuku hesitates after hearing the statement, looking at Katsuki’s face again for a moment with a scrunched, confused expression before pressing the ignition button and putting his car into drive. They leave the parking lot in silence as Katsuki looks out the window.
It is a surprisingly calm car ride back to Katsuki’s apartment; Izuku keeps mostly quiet and Katsuki chooses to watch traffic through the window to avoid sparking conversation, not wanting to put his foot in his mouth. He notices Izuku sneaking glances at him when he thinks Katsuki isn’t paying attention but didn’t bring attention to that fact. He just wanted this to be over so he could wallow in his apartment, alone. Izuku pulls the car into the underground garage of his apartment complex and finds his usual spot, throwing the car into park before hopping out. As Katsuki gets out himself, he sees that Izuku has already grabbed the overnight bags out of his trunk and is heading towards the elevators.
“Don’t you want to go home Nerd?” He asks as he catches up, “I can carry my own bags.”
Izuku’s eyes meet his own for a moment before he looks towards the elevators and back, “I mean yeah? I am going home Kacchan, but I’m not going to make you carry the bags when you were just in the hospital.” He steps into the elevator a moment later, quickly hitting the button for Katsuki’s floor as he enters. Katsuki huffs at that, frustrated by the fact that Izuku was just too damn nice. It made his heart do funny things that neither of them needed right now. They make it to his door and Izuku uses his keys to silently open it, walking inside. Katsuki follows closely behind, taking his shoes off at the genkan before stretching and walking down the small hallway into his apartment, heading towards the kitchen; turns out, going 3 days in a light coma without eating will work up quite an appetite.
Against his better judgement, he finds himself starting to ask, “do you want me to make something for lunch before you have to head ou-” before abruptly stopping as he enters his living and kitchen area.
What the fuck? He thinks as he glances across the sleek open concept apartment. Typically, Katsuki prides himself on the cleanliness and organization of his apartment. Everything was tastefully chosen in varying shades of red, burnt orange, gray and black, and everything had a place. He had a few decorations but typically liked to keep his space minimalistic as it helped him calm down after the hectic days of hero work. So, color him surprised when he sees his apartment now has hero memorabilia tastefully scattered throughout. There’s a fuzzy green blanket spread over the back of his leather couch and a bookshelf, that definitely wasn’t there before, stood next to his entertainment center. He quickly turns towards the kitchen, where Izuku now stands washing his hands. He notices on the wall behind Izuku, on the opposite side of the kitchen, the start of a small hallway that leads towards the main bedroom. Where there now hangs multiple picture frames arranged into a gallery wall.
“I figured I’d cook this time Kacchan, you need to rest. Go sit down and I’ll let you know when food is ready!” He says as Katsuki rushes over to the framed photos. Katsuki barely registers what Izuku says as he zeros in on the pictures. Every single one of them are photos of him and Izuku at various different times of their lives and at different events. There is one of them at graduation, smiling and holding each other’s waists as they hold their diplomas for the camera. Another shows them at the summit of Katsuki’s favorite hiking spot, smiling together with red faces and sweat on their brows. He skips down a few, seeing a photo of him and Izuku in front of his new office building, smiling proudly while holding the keys.
He feels himself starting to panic as he comes to the last photo, a picture of Izuku on one knee in front of Katsuki, small ring box in his hands and staring lovingly up into his face in what seemed to be the park inside Ground Beta. Katsuki backs up from the wall, suddenly feeling the kitchen island press into his lower back. His breathing was picking up, and he noticed he was shaking slightly. I don’t understand. None of this happened. He suddenly feels pressure on his shoulder and looks over to his right. Izuku is angling him to look into his eyes, seeming to scan his face and body.
“Katsuki what’s wrong? Are you okay? You look like you’re about to have a panic attack. Does anything hurt?” Izuku quickly rambles as he continues to look Katsuki over. Katsuki attempts to back away, but feels his hip hit the corner of the counter, making him stumble. Izuku immediately steadies him, locking his viridian eyes onto his face. “I need you to talk to me Katsuki, I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“None of this makes sense, we aren’t together! We don’t live together! You’re supposed to be with Uraraka!” He says, panicking as he attempts to back away again, but Izuku holds him firm in his place.
A hurt look flashes briefly across Izuku’s face before it settles into relief and he smacks his forehead, “Oh of course, the doctor said this might happen! Kacchan, you’re just confused, you were probably having very vivid dreams and nightmares when you were asleep from that quirk. According to the other victims it felt like real life, so the doctor said you may be confused at first, but that it’s normal and you’ll start to feel better in a few days!” He starts rubbing his hands back and forth over Katsuki’s shoulders before moving one hand to the side of Katsuki’s face and brushing his thumb over his cheek. “I promise Kacchan, everything is fine. Go lay down on the couch, and I’ll bring lunch over to you” Izuku says. He briefly kisses Katsuki’s cheek before moving to start cooking again. Katsuki feels electricity zap through him at the brief contact and lifts his right hand to cradle his face as he stumbles towards the couch. He’s feeling every emotion, some he didn’t even realize he had, rushing through him. Part of him immediately wants to just accept what he’s been told and believe Izuku. After all, it seems he has everything he’s ever wanted, but another part of him feels it’s too good to be true.
I can’t remember any of those photos. I can’t remember Izuku proposing! I wouldn’t forget that! Katsuki moves his gaze over to Izuku as he bustles around the kitchen, paying close attention to his hands. There he catches sight of a ring, sparkling gold with small embedded red gems. Katsuki, if asked, would never admit that he had thought multiple times about what type of ring he would get Izuku if he ever got the chance, but he knew that the ring was exactly what he has secretly always envisioned; gold, nearly the same shade that occasionally glitters in his explosions, and the same red as his eyes for the tiny row of gems adorning the front. A solid and obvious claim over his person, and he’d bet there’s an inscription on the inside of the band if he got a chance to see it up close. He looks back to his left hand and sees an indent from a missing ring; he assumes the matching one to Izuku’s.
“Where’s my ring?” He asks quietly.
Izuku looks up from the pan he’s stirring, “Oh! It’s in your bag, let me grab it for you! I had to take it off so they could run tests at the hospital, and I guess with everything I just didn’t think to give it back.” Izuku disappears for a moment into the bedroom before returning with his hand closed in a fist. He kneels in front of Katsuki’s sitting form and gestures for his hand. Katsuki slowly reaches out and watches, breath held as Izuku slides the ring onto his left ring finger. His green eyes are misty as he looks back up at Katsuki’s face and says, “I’m sorry you are having trouble remembering everything, but I promise I’ll be right here by your side the whole time and we’ll figure it out”. He says it so earnestly and so full of love that it breaks something down in Katsuki, like a dam under too much pressure; he’s suddenly hugging Izuku with tears streaming down his face, clutching onto him like he might disappear at any moment.
I don’t know if this is real or not, but God, I hope it is. He thinks as he nuzzles into Izuku’s neck, picking up the smell of the Eucalyptus shampoo Izuku uses. Izuku places his hands on either side of Katsuki’s face and looks at him for a moment before pulling him into a kiss. Katsuki immediately melts into it; it’s everything he’s ever wanted. Izuku’s lips are soft and he can taste the spearmint of Izuku’s toothpaste as the kiss deepens. It feels like there’s fire coursing through him and the sound Izuku makes as he brings his hands into his curls and tugs is something that will be engraved in his brain until he dies. He’s moving his hands down to Izuku’s waist and pulling him closer and into his lap when Izuku suddenly pulls away lightning quick.
“The food!” He screeches before sprinting back into the kitchen, leaving Katsuki alone and wanting for the warmth that was suddenly gone. He looks down at the ring now resting on his left hand, a similar one to Izuku’s. His is silver with an embedded row of small green gems running across the front. When he slips the ring off to look at the inside he sees another embedded gem, this one red, with the inscription “Stronger together, forever.” He feels his eyes go misty as he slips the ring back on, shifting his gaze back to Izuku who is rushing around the kitchen trying to salvage their lunch. Maybe he’s right, maybe everything else was just some fucked up nightmare… He thinks as he settles his head into his hands, leaning over his knees as he takes it all in.
His introspection is interrupted when he sees Izuku’s bunny house slippers enter his field of vision from between his hands. He hears the weighty thunk of something being set down on the wooden coffee table and looks up to see a steaming bowl of Mapo Tofu and rice in front of him. “Figured I’d make your favorite since we had the ingredients, if it upsets your stomach though let me know! I know you haven’t actually eaten food in a few days so I hope the spice isn’t too much, maybe I should have made something el-” Izuku anxiously rambles as Katsuki leans down to take a giant bite.
He feels a, quite frankly sinful, moan leave him as the first bite hits his tongue and he starts to devour the bowl. “When’d you learn to cook Nerd! This is amazing!” he says in between mouthfuls.
Izuku chuckles and smiles warmly at him, “Well I did learn from the best!” he says as he nudges Katsuki, “but the recipe is the one you got from Fuyumi! You started teaching me to cook once we moved out of the dorms. You said that ‘I was too old not to know how to cook’ and that ‘Auntie isn’t going to keep cooking for your ass forever so you should know how’’’ Izuku quotes in his fake gruff Kacchan voice, “Although I’m still not convinced it wasn’t an excuse to barge into my kitchen and flirt with me” He says as he laughs harder.
Katsuki stills slightly before turning to Izuku fully, “So um, I’m sorry that I don’t remember, but when did we like get…together?” He feels his heartbeat kick back up, feeling a bit nervous to hear Izuku’s answer for some reason.
“Oh right, well I guess, if in the dream we weren’t together, the details may be a bit fuzzy,” Izuku says reassuringly as he sets his bowl down on the coffee table. “Well, you asked me to be your hero partner first, that came in third year at UA. You had Auntie and Uncle make this prototype jersey shirt that said ‘Wonder Duo’ on the front with your sparks and my lightning and then it said ‘Izuku’ on the back. It was super cool! I still have it in our bedroom!” Katsuki gives Izuku a head nod, silently motioning to continue. “But uh, you asked me out about 2 years after graduation. We were patrolling one evening and you got this alert on your phone, you said there was ‘something important happening near home’, so we rushed towards our old neighborhood. We ended up landing on a rooftop that looked over Takobah Beach and there were all these picnic supplies set up, candles lit and everything! And when we got there,” Izuku started to chuckle lightly before continuing, “I was confused and you said, ‘well there’s nothing more important than our first date’! It was very sweet, and very cocky and I loved it!” he said, smiling softly at Katsuki. “Although, I had a feeling something was going to happen soon, since like I mentioned with the cooking, you were pretty flirty after UA”
“I moved into your place a year after that and then proposed to you another year after that, shortly after we opened our agency together!” Izuku continued, “Ugh, I really hope you remember my proposal soon! I worked hard to make it perfect!” He whines slightly, face drooping a bit.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll love it again if you tell me,” Katsuki responds, grabbing hold of Izuku’s hand that rests on the couch next to him.
Izuku beams a bright smile at him before continuing, “It was perfect Kacchan, we had a nice dinner at that fancy seafood place you like and then afterwards I challenged you to a race and you said ‘Oh yeah nerd? Where to? I’ll win even if I’m wearing these fancy ass clothes!’ so I told you the finish line was the park in Ground Beta and we took off. You did manage to beat me there, but I had Kirishima set up a blanket and candles and everything in the park before dinner and he hid in a bush to take pictures. You had this adorable look on your face, all red and flustered after you realized what was happening. So, I led you over and got down on my knee and asked if you’d marry me, and you didn’t actually say yes now that I think about it! You started crying and nodding and then you tackled me in a giant hug, so I’m really hoping that means yes!” Izuku laughed brightly.
“Knowing myself I’d say that’s a definite yes Izuku, I don’t cry in front of just anyone,” he grumbled.
Sounds like I did everything I was always too scared to do in the- dream? Real life? He wasn’t sure at this point. He wanted so badly for this to be real, not just because it’s everything he’s ever wanted, but because Izuku looks so happy. His happiness was everywhere, in his eyes, his body language, across their apartment where he could see loving touches of his nerd scattered everywhere. The other apartment feels so lifeless now, he thinks as he looks at the framed vintage posters adorning his walls, the shelf of handwritten notebooks in the bookshelf, the Golden Age All Might mug proudly displayed on the kitchen counter next to his Silver Age one. It makes him so incredibly happy that Izuku seems to really love being with him and their life together and he so badly wishes that this is real. He hasn’t seen him smile like this in so long, light practically glittering out of his eyes. Usually when he smiles nowadays it doesn’t really reach his eyes, it’s the same smile he used to put on when he was fighting; there, but in spite of how he feels, not because of it. The last time he had seen a smile that bright was when he gave him the damn suit, but he’s hardly even used it so far, and the light had dimmed back down a bit since then. Katsuki wanted nothing more than that to be a nightmare that he could push to the back of his mind and bask in the light that Izuku’s happiness emanated, but there was something that Izuku said that tickles the back of his brain, something that didn’t make sense.
“You said we were patrolling before I asked you out…” He starts slowly, watching as Izuku nods curiously his way, “so did I finish the suit quicker?” he asks.
“Suit? What suit Kacchan?” Izuku asks, confusion once again running through his eyes.
Katsuki feels himself still, looking at Izuku with a new intensity, “The suit that I spent years working on with Hatsume and Melissa Shield to replicate One for All?”
“Why would I need you to replicate One for All? It works fine…” He says slowly, lighting up his arm in the tell-tale green lightning of One for All before releasing it again.
Katsuki feels his brain short circuit. There’s no fucking way, he thinks, there’s no way that he still has that. What would that even mean in terms of, well everything! Are All for One and Shigaraki still alive?! His breathing is picking up again and his heart is racing. He sees Izuku moving closer towards him on the couch.
“In the…dream. You lost One for All fighting Shigaraki, you used it to break through to him and break All for One’s influence” He says quietly as he leans away a bit, “I don’t understand, did we not beat All for One? What happened?” He asks, voice filling with panic.
Izuku holds his hands up briefly, motioning at Katsuki to calm down as he reaches out to rest his hands on Katsuki’s thighs. “Kacchan, I think this is just the quirk again. All for One was defeated by All Might at Kamino after your kidnapping. You and I defeated Shigaraki together at the end of our first year…”
The world slows after he hears those words. He couldn’t hear Izuku’s concerned questions over the deafening beating of his heart as he quickly stands and practically sprints into the bedroom, going straight for the large bathroom inside and slamming the door. Locking it quickly before Izuku can make it inside. He scrambles to flip on the light and violently tears off his shirt. He turns as soon as it’s gone and takes in the sight of his body, his largely unblemished body. The scars from where he was skewered by Shigaraki remain but his chest…Where before it was almost entirely taken up by textured near-purple scar tissue, is now smooth. Upon closer inspection he notices his face and arm are also scar free.
What the fuck… He thinks as he takes himself in. His heart is still beating frantically and seeming to get faster every second. He moves closer to the mirror and grabs his chest, running his palms over the smooth skin.
“Katsuki! What’s wrong?! Are you okay??” Izuku yells through the door. He thinks he hears Izuku banging on the door, but he isn’t sure because all he can hear clearly is his frantic heartbeat, booming like a kickdrum in his ears.
He stumbles back, coming up against the bathroom wall and sliding down to the tile floor. There’s no way this is real…this literally can’t be real. He doesn’t like to think back on the moment of getting his chest caved in, but he can vividly remember every detail of the encounter; the fleeting thought of hoping his sacrifice was enough for Izuku to win, the snap of his bones breaking, the fire that seemed to instantly spread through his body, and then the still nothingness that had followed immediately afterwards, before he had even made contact with the ground. It was an objectively terrible memory, one that he had spent countless hours in therapy trying to process but it was something that happened. Something that he, even in his worst nightmares, doesn’t think his brain could come up with on its own. Afterall, you can’t really know how it feels to have your heart eviscerated without having firsthand experience, and he really knew how it felt. He was starting to get black spots in his vision as his breathing continued to pick up speed and his heart tried to force its way out of his chest. Distantly, he can hear Izuku practically breaking down the door and knew he likely didn’t have much more time until he did just that. The darkness moved further across his vision, his head spun, his chest felt like someone had shoved their fist inside and was squeezing his heart for all its worth in an unsteady rhythm. A small part of brain realizes he is probably starting to palpitate. That fact just made him panic more though; since he shouldn’t be having an episode if his heart was completely fine, like it seemingly should have been according to his reflection.
He notices he’s now fully lying on the ground; face pressed to the cold tile when a glowing Izuku literally breaks down the bathroom door using One for All. He is starting to slip into unconsciousness, searing pain ripping through his chest, as Izuku kneels and cradles him. He feels something wet hit his cheek. Fuck, how many times am I going to pass out in his arms? he thinks distantly as he finally fades the rest of the way into darkness.
Katsuki, for the second time in much too short a timeframe, becomes aware of his body lying in what he can only assume is a hospital bed. He feels the scratchy sheets under his hands, the telltale chill of a hospital room, and oddly enough a weight resting on his chest once more. He’s almost too scared to open his eyes, afraid to know for sure which version of the world he’d be opening them to, but Katsuki Bakugou was no coward, so he slowly opens his eyes and takes in the room. He’s once again in a private hospital room; except this time, it is obviously night. He glances down at his chest and sees that just like last time, there is a mop of green hair splayed across his chest. He watches Izuku, who seems to be asleep, rise and fall a bit with each breath that Katsuki takes. He can’t find it in himself to stop before he pushes his fingers into the soft curls on top of Izuku’s head. He hears a quiet whine escape Izuku before he sleepily rolls his head to the side and locks eyes with Katsuki.
“Kacchan!” He yells as he pushes himself off Katsuki’s stomach, making him lurch forward. “Ah sorry! Did I hurt you? I’m sorry!” he says as he flails. After getting his bearings, Katsuki is able to notice that Izuku was in his suit, the suit. He releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding at the realization that whatever happened seemed to be over.
“What happened?” He asks as he grabs Izuku’s shoulders to still the panicking man, noticing the IV stuck into his elbow at the motion.
“Ah yeah, sorry I should’ve led with that.” Izuku says while scratching the back of his head, “You were hit with a quirk. The woman you fought can secrete a gas from her pores that, depending on the dose, can do anything from acting essentially the same as melatonin all the way up to anesthesia. It’s interesting, apparently it can cause very vivid and lifelike dreams based on the person’s desires! I guess she was upset at her new boss firing her suddenly and refusing her pension, so she decided to try and trap him in a nightmare.”
“God I’m getting fucking de ja vu,” he says as Izuku spouts an oddly similar explanation to his dream. At the interruption, Izuku stills.
“I’m so sorry Kacchan, I got there after the fight had finished and couldn’t do anything to help you!” Izuku says as tears start to well up in his eyes, “There was a moment right when I got there where I saw you pass out. I thought I was too late again…and then after I realized what might have been going on and brought you to the hospital, I thought it might be okay, but then your heart started having issues and there was nothing I could do but just sit here and watch! And all I could think about was how I never got to tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and how much you mean to me and-”
Katsuki watches Izuku, giant tears flowing from his gemlike eyes, digging tracks across his freckle constellation-dotted face. He moves his hands from Izuku’s shoulders up to cradle his face.
His body starts to move before he really processes what he’s doing. Just like everything that involves Izuku, he just moves.
His lips are already brushing Izuku’s when his brain catches up. He hesitates for less than a second; all the scenarios of how this could ruin their friendship, ruin all the work he’s done to try and make up for the past, before thinking- you know what, fuck it and crashing into Izuku. If there was one thing being in that dream had taught him, it’s that he’d never even have the chance to experience it again if he didn’t stop being a goddamn coward when it came to Izuku.
There’s a brief second where they’re motionless, where he is terrified that he just majorly fucked up, but then Izuku is moving. Moving his hands and threading them through the back of Katsuki’s hair, moving them both and pushing Katsuki back into his hospital bed to lean over him. He’s kissing Katsuki like he’s a fucking oasis in the desert and it’s the best feeling he’s ever experienced, even better than the dream version. The dream was everything he thought kissing Izuku would be like, but this…this is everything kissing Izuku actually was. There was the intensity from years of unspoken want between them, and he could tell, through the way Izuku was now gripping onto his waist and pulling him closer, that Izuku had just as many pent-up feelings as him. He could taste a bit of salt from the now drying tears on Izuku’s face and he could smell a light lingering of cigarette smoke, no doubt clinging to him from the smoking habit Izuku indulges in when stressed. He could feel Izuku’s fingers dig into his hip bone, and he hopes that there isn’t anyone in the room over, because he lets out a moan that definitely would give them a good idea of what’s going on in here.
As much as he doesn’t want to, he breaks off the kiss shortly after that, breathing hard. Izuku backs up a bit and sits fully on the bed, looking into his eyes as he wipes off his spit slick lips with his thumb. “So, I take it you and Round Cheeks aren’t together then?” Katsuki asks after a beat.
Izuku pauses briefly before throwing his head back and laughing, a bright tinkling sound that Katsuki hasn’t heard in too long, “No Kacchan! Uraraka and I are not together, why would you even think that??”
Katsuki immediately feels his face heat, “Well I gave you the whole speech about treating everyone like they’re special and you immediately proceeded to run after her like a lovesick puppy! What was I supposed to think??”
Izuku chuckles and grabs onto Katsuki’s hand, “Kacchan, I ran after Uraraka because I wanted to ask her advice on some stuff, not because I want to date her. We tried that second year and quickly realized neither of us were really…into the other.”
“What?! How did I not know that Izuku? And what on earth could you have been asking her advice for with that timing?!” he half yells, truly baffled.
“I mean we weren’t subtle Kacchan, but I guess with all the pain meds you were on at the time it would make sense that you might not have picked up on it. And well, I was asking her advice…about you.” Izuku trails off at the end, breaking eye contact for a moment to look down. “I wanted to ask her help getting back into shape so I could make my official re-debut and I also…asked her for advice on how to ask you out on a date…”
Katsuki feels like his jaw is probably touching the floor with this revelation. “So, if you had already planned to re-debut and you wanted to ask me out, what the hell was with the car ride last week?!” He yells as he lightly slaps Izuku on the arms, “Why’d you turn me down?!”
“Ah Kacchan! Stop!” He says, shoving his hands away and laughing again. Izuku looks away for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking back towards him hesitantly, “Well I turned you down for a couple of reasons…I didn’t know the whole “Special” speech was supposed to be a love confession for one! And…I’ve been away from being a hero longer than I was one at this point. I didn’t want to feel like I was slowing you down! I had planned to get back in shape and get some solo experience under my belt before I tried to join your agency. Plus, I don’t want to be a sidekick, Katsuki! If I’m going to join your agency, I want to be a standalone hero!” He finishes with a slight huff.
Katsuki feels a soft laugh leave his lips before cradling Izuku’s face between his hands, “God why are we both such idiots Izuku?” he says squishing the man’s freckled cheeks. “I wasn’t asking you to be a sidekick stupid! I didn’t even want you to be just a normal hero under my agency! I wanted it to be OUR agency! I wanted you to be my hero partner.” Izuku eyes begin to well with tears at the declaration. Katsuki brushes aside a stray one running down Izuku’s cheek before continuing, “And you’ve always been a hero Izuku, even back when we were snotty toddlers you were always a hero! You’ve always put your whole heart into people and trying to help. It doesn’t matter that you haven’t been doing full time hero work since graduating! You’re the best hero I’ve ever seen, including All Might for fucks sake!” Katsuki watches as the statement opens the floodgates and Izuku starts sobbing, giant wet tears running down his face. “There’s nobody else that I want by my side day-in and day-out Izuku, just you, in whatever way you’ll have me.”
Izuku takes a few large, stabilizing breaths before placing his hands over Katsuki’s. “Wow Kacchan, we really are kind of idiots, aren’t we?” He laughs out, rubbing his eyes. “How can I possibly say no when you put it that way? Of course I’ll be your hero partner!” Katsuki feels his face light up. “But!” Izuku abruptly says, “I still want to get back in shape with Uraraka before I officially join and I’ll probably still stay on as a part time teacher at UA!”
“Ugh c’mon nerd! I helped you get in shape for the first time! Why can’t I help you again?” Katsuki pleads.
“Because! I don’t want to worry about disappointing you! And if I’m being totally honest, Uraraka is a way nicer coach!” Katsuki watches Izuku trail off into laughs as he attempts to avoid the light pinches Katsuki is aiming for his stomach, even though Katsuki is aware that the statement is true.
Katsuki shifts to envelop Izuku in his arms, “I’ll wait as long as you need Izuku. Like I said, there’s no one else I want by my side but you…and you can do whatever makes you happy, if continuing to teach does that, then I’m happy. Although, I can’t say that I’m not excited to see you back out there.” Izuku's face lights up and that glittering smile that he missed was back and even better since he knew this one was real. Katsuki nudges him slightly with his elbow before continuing, “So…you were going to ask me out??”
Izuku’s face lights up neon red, blush seemingly spreading down his neck. “Well yes, Uraraka and I talked about ways to ‘woo’ you, as she put it. But it seems like that maybe won’t be…necessary now” he says with a hopeful lilt to his voice as he looks at Katsuki from under his lashes.
“Izuku, I’ve loved you for 8 years, probably even longer than that if I’m being honest, you don’t need to ‘woo’ me.” he says, “Although, can’t say that I wouldn’t enjoy watching you sweep me off my feet nerd, so maybe you’ll have to try at least a few of those ideas”. He feels a sharp smile splitting his face as the picture of Izuku romancing him overtakes his thoughts.
“You’d better be prepared Kacchan, I’m going to romance the fuck out of you. You’ll never want to leave by the time I’m done.” He declares, eyes sparkling with challenge.
Katsuki finds himself breaking into a laugh at Izuku’s inspired word choice. His eyes refocus into Izuku’s before responding, “I wouldn’t dream of it any differently”. And he means it, because out of the many things Katuski Bakugou is, being Izuku’s is his favorite.