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_____________r/friendship · New Post · @youcantakesoba2go · 3 days ago
How do you get closer to someone you have known for a very long time?
I (24M) have known someone (24M) for a very long time, and we have always been friendly with each other. Recently, I think I have started to feel like I want to get closer to him. How do you do that? How do you turn an existing relationship into something more?
Replies
@EATTHIS · 3 Days Ago
Hi! It sounds really sweet that you’re trying to get closer to him. I suppose I have a few questions before I can advice:
Thanks! And best of luck!
@youcantakesoba2go · 2 Days Ago
Hi. Thanks for the detailed questioning. You remind me of someone I know.
We’ve known each other for ten years. We went to school together.
We are friends. I have always said that, though he disagrees. I think that’s his humor, though. We also collaborate sometimes because of our jobs, but not very often.
No, we have always gotten along. He is a wonderful and straightforward person who says what he wants to say. I really like that about him.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, we did get into one difficult fight during our first year of knowing each other. We beat each other up pretty harshly due to the nature of our quirks, and he wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of our fight, even though he won. I thought it was alright, though. I had certain things to manage at the time, and couldn’t care for his feelings. That’s changed now.
He was quite angry about it, however. I wonder if he still is. I will ask him.
EDIT #2: He said he is and asked me for a rematch this weekend. Thank you, @EATTHIS, I believe this may be our first hangout together in a while. I’ll be sure to give it my all this time.
We have a lot of close, mutual friends since we all are friends from high school. We also occasionally collaborate for work, as I mentioned. I don’t want to reveal the nature of my job, but we work in a high-stakes environment and usually put in long hours for the day.
I don’t know if we will have the time to go out of our way to make it work for this friendship, but I want to try.
I don’t know. Lately, I find myself wanting more. I’m uncomfortable with that feeling, because it is foreign to me, but I want it anyway. I want to spend more time with him.
@EATTHIS · 2 Days Ago
Wow! Thanks OP! Super detailed. You also remind me of someone I know, so does your (soon-to-be) friend. Ha.
Since you both are pretty busy at work, I recommend finding things to do around it - maybe seeing him for his lunch break, offering to do laundry together or go on a short walk around the neighbourhood (if you live close-by). Maybe seeing if there’s one evening available over the weekend that you could get together, or having your weeknight dinners together.
I usually keep a list of information about my friends - it’s kind of like my hobby. I write down their strengths, their thought processes, their likes and dislikes. It helps me plan how to work with them in the future, and it’s a little thing I like to do to pass the time. Maybe that could be something you could try.
This guy sounds very interesting, but a type that I am familiar with. Maybe suggest going to the gym together, or joining a class, or sparring.
(Be careful, please! We don’t want you getting hurt in the pursuit of friendship & love!)
@youcantakesoba2go · 1 Day Ago
Thanks, @EATTHIS.
I’ll try to catch him at work, or in his breaks in the middle. I work pretty close-by, so it might be possible.
One question - you mentioned love?
@EATTHIS · 1 Day Ago
Oh, that was just something I typed. Didn’t think about it too much!
Now that I think about it, though, I guess I mentioned ‘love’ because of your wish to spend more time with him, specifically. It definitely struck me as interesting. You said that back when you were kids, you weren’t able to care for his feelings, but now you can.
I suppose that made me think that there’s something deeper here that you want than just his friendship.
Anyway, don’t pay that much mind. Keep doing what you’re doing - starting with that sparring match!
Best of luck, OP! Keep us posted, and don’t give up!
@youcantakesoba2go · Today
Thanks, @EATTHIS.
________________WIKI-HOW: How to Become Good Friends with Someone
- The 11-3-6 Rule
It is theorized by social and relationship scientists that evolving a relationship from an acquantaince-ship to a friendship requires a methodological process: one must aim to encounter their person of objective at least eleven times, for a planned meeting for at least three hours, over the course of six months. That accounts for at least a planned day spent between you and your person once every two weeks, preferably where you spend quality time doing leisure or adventurous activities, discussing social and personal topics, and furthering your understanding of one another.
Gone are the days of idle weather chatter and small talk. To deepen your relationship with someone, WikiHow recommends asking them more personal questions, and attentively listening to what they have to say.
Out of ideas on what to discuss with them? Here’s our personalized list of questions, acquired by interviewing over fifty people who describe themselves as socialites and extroverts:
Do you have any pets? If yes, can I see a photo of them?
What do you like to do in your free time? [Note: it is essential to follow up with a leading question to inquire more about their hobby of choice.]
If you were a pro hero, what would you choose as your hero….
(Click to Read More)
_______________________It all starts with his lunch break.
Katsuki had just got rid of the nerd, who was babbling on and on about something he saw on the internet about some new immersive heroes’ exhibit that was opening in Kanagawa next month that he had already bought two tickets for.
Honestly, sometimes, Katsuki can barely believe the way he thinks. The nerve to simply check Katsuki’s calendar, move a couple of meetings around on his own, and book them tickets to an entirely different city without even telling him. It’s like Izuku has a death wish.
Katsuki will absolutely be going to the exhibit, though. Life-sized replicas of All Might’s old hero personas, even some of Best Jeanist and Edgeshot? He’s sold with one foot already on the train heading westward.
He’ll go to hell before he ever tells Izuku that, though.
So how he escapes his rambling, with the promises of a quiet lunch break and nothing but his own mind to keep him company - just like he prefers. He’d packed a nice lunch today - some chicken karaage from his dinner last night, three onigiri balls topped with his homemade furikake, and of course, his latest obsession - Eijirou’s recommended low-sugar peach drink.
So Katsuki heads down to the cafeteria on the ground floor of their agency, grabs his usual table - far left corner, right next to the windows, and sits down to a well-deserved, quiet lunch.
“Hey, Bakugou,” comes a voice after only a few minutes in, one that he is not expecting to hear.
To be fair, he is really not in the mood to hear any voices at all.
Katsuki looks up to meet Todoroki’s eyes, his half eaten onigiri still frozen in his hand. Katsuki raises an eyebrow in question, asking him why. Todoroki’s agency is on the other side of the city - they’d divided it up that way, avoiding the risk of too many high-ranking heroes crowding up a single district, leaving others to ruin. However, Katsuki distinctly remembers telling him to leave the city entirely and go set up shop somewhere else.
“Todoroki,” Katsuki says in acknowledgment, still waiting for a response to his silent question. Todoroki’s still in his hero costume, with a light jacket thrown on top (for the look more than anything, Katsuki’s sure. It’s not like Todoroki needs help with temperature control). Maybe he’s visiting Izuku, then - not like the nerd mentioned anything to Katsuki, though.
Maybe he’s here because of some villain attack nearby, or maybe he wandered off on patrol. Neither of those things seem sound, though, because Katsuki would’ve been alerted.
“Can I sit with you?” Todoroki asks, breaking him out of his thoughts.
And now, Katsuki’s really confused. “Izuku isn’t coming,” he supplies, hoping the other man takes the hint and goes away.
“Oh, okay,” Todoroki replies, pulling out the chair in front of him and sitting down. What?
“Oi, idiot, I just told you Deku’s not coming,” Katsuki insists, letting some annoyance slip in. What the hell is he doing?
“I know, I heard you,” Todoroki says, simply offering him a smile. Katsuki thanks the gods above that he isn’t a part of Todoroki’s never-ending fan-army, because he’s sure that if he was, which he isn’t, he’d be passed out flat on the floor right about now. It does them no favors the way Todoroki’s hero costume seems to insist on hugging his broad arms, highlighting every curve of muscle as they flex when he roots his elbows onto the table between them.
Show off.
“I came to eat with you,” Todoroki tells him.
Katsuki has half a mind to stop the involuntary explosions that almost break out of his palms. “Why?”
Katsuki can’t remember the last time the two of them had a meal together - just the two of them. Maybe sometime in high school, definitely. Things got a lot busier after graduation, and meeting up became a thing of reunions, or the class celebrating achievements - not of day-to-day bonding. He can’t remember the last time Todoroki even asked him to eat with him, to stay.
“Because you’re my friend,” Todoroki says, seemingly unaffected by the expression Katsuki ensures he’s making. “And I wanted to eat with you.”
“So you came all this way from your agency?” Katsuki asks, raising an eyebrow. That’s a whole lot of effort for not a lot of reward - lunch break’s over in about an hour, anyway.
Todoroki looks up from the table, where he’s already laid out his lunch. Some cheese sticks, some egg fried rice and a thermos of soup. Ha, Katsuki thinks to himself, I win at the best lunch. If Katsuki remembers anything about Todoroki’s cooking skills, it’s barely a competition, anyway.
“Yeah, I came here because I assumed you’d be here. Also, Izuku told me,” Todoroki says matter-of-factly. Katsuki’s getting beyond annoyed by the two of them, and it’s only been a few minutes. He controls himself, though - only because he would really like to survive until the next month to see the exhibit without going to jail for hero killing.
So he swallows down his anger, and says, “Whatever. Is that what you’re eating?”
Todoroki looks up at him in surprise, a slight blink of eyes. He’s so aggravating. “Yes? What’s wrong with my food?” He looks down at Katsuki’s bento, scrutinizing for a moment. “Did you cook that yourself?”
Katsuki grins, triumphant. Todoroki knows he’s a better cook than him, and that’s saying nothing. “Of course I cooked it myself, Icy Hot. And what’s wrong with your food is that you apparently don’t know the directions to the seasoning aisle.”
“Hmm,” Todoroki hums, annoying Katsuki further as he refuses to take the bait, and takes a bite of his own food. “Maybe it is a little bland. Would you like to taste it and confirm?”
And then Todoroki does something that makes the wiring in Katsuki’s brain short-circuit, that makes him spin a little in his seat. He grabs a handful of rice between his chopsticks, and brings them up to Katsuki’s lips.
“Go on, try it. I promise it’s alright.”
Katsuki’s so absurdly confused by this entire situation, that there’s nothing to do, except to open his mouth and let Todoroki feed him.
To his benefit, it tastes exactly as bland as Katsuki claimed it would.
Todoroki’s hands still hang mid-air, watching as Katsuki chews on his food. His eyes follow the movements of his jaw, his lips, the way Katsuki continues to stare at Todoroki, only breaking the contact once Todoroki stares back, unmoving.
Katsuki makes a choked sound, perplexed, beating his chest to let the air in. “S’bad,” he tells him, looking away as he takes in a gulp of his drink. “D’you even know what chili oil is?”
At that, Todoroki chuckles. It’s that breathy kind of thing that escapes him, and Katsuki’s immediately reminded of him and all of them in UA common rooms, the first night Denki had introduced Todoroki to the world of video games, and they’d all found out that he was, unsurprisingly, naturally good at them. Katsuki had spent the entire night going up against him in 1v1 matches, only to come out with a neck-to-neck score and pained wrists.
“You’re a good cook, aren’t you?” Todoroki asks him, smiling at him. Katsuki hates the way the media has hyped up his smile and labelled him Mr Prince Charming, because when he looks at him, that’s all he sees.
“The fuckin’ best,” Katsuki replies, jutting out his chin in challenge. As if Mr-No-Seasoning can say anything about his cooking skills. He can certainly try. Katsuki thinks he still has Fuyumi’s number from way back when, and he won’t hesitate to call her if her little brother thinks he can overextend himself.
“Could you teach me?” comes Todoroki’s question, instead.
Katsuki stares at him like he’s grown two heads, because perhaps, he has.
And stares, and stares, and stares.
“What is the deal with you today?” Katsuki finally asks, exasperated. Todoroki Shouto coming to him to get cooking lessons? After years of simple group hangouts, of barely seeing each other outside of work or class reunions?
What’s the catch?
“There’s no deal,” Todoroki shakes his head, waving his hand in a casual manner. “I just want to learn to cook better. And you’re a good cook. So will you teach me?”
“I’ll consider it,” Katsuki replies, even though he wanted to say a clear no. Damn him.
Todoroki smiles again - since when had he started doing that so much? Is he getting paid? - and nods at Katsuki, happy with his non-committal response.
Damn him.
It becomes a routine of sorts.
Todoroki goes out of his way every other day to turn up at Katsuki and Izuku’s agency, a lunch bag and no excuses in tow. He sits on Katsuki’s usual table - which is their usual, Katsuki supposes, damn him - and waits for as long as Katsuki takes in coming down the elevator.
If Katsuki somehow manages to keep his informal lunch hour clear of any meetings everyday, nobody has to know but him and his assistant.
Todoroki’s got some handbook or something about how to make conversation - is what Katsuki’s guessing, because he’s always asking him questions about one thing or another. He asks Katsuki about pets, to which he rolls his eyes, and tells him that he used to have a dog when he was a child, named Boom. Todoroki laughs at that, and Katsuki almost flings a fork straight into his eye.
Todoroki asks him to describe his ideal day, and at that, Katsuki actually laughs, because he’s sure he’s had that exact question asked in some interview before. He tells Todoroki as much, who simply smiles and waits for his genuine response.
Katsuki learns that Todoroki loves sesame, and anything cooked in it - the first time he tries his sweet sesame pork with rice. From then on, if Katsuki’s found buying extra and bringing sesame seeds even when his food doesn’t need it - that’s his business, and his business alone.
He doesn’t know why he does it - it’s not like Todoroki’s his close friend or anything. Katsuki would barely classify them as anything but co-workers anymore. But it’s something about their shared history, about them being used to spending so much time together back in school, and Todoroki putting in some kind of new-found effort to find his way back to Katsuki now, after all these years. It’s not something that moves him, because Katsuki doesn’t care, but it’s still something he notices.
And some extra sesame is hardly a price to pay for that.
They talk about their neighborhoods, how Katsuki likes to go biking on his off days, how he usually cycles up to the nearest movie theatre to catch a Saturday evening show. The house next door is vacating, he tells Todoroki, so he likes to escape the sounds of annoying neighbors making a ruckus on the front lawn or god forbid, looking for his help.
If you’re going to move out of a whole damn house, do it yourself, Katsuki posits.
Surprisingly, Todoroki agrees.
At that moment, Katsuki finds that he doesn’t mind these lunches as much as he’d like to.
At one point, Todoroki even asks Katsuki what his hero name would be, if he was a hero - at which, Katsuki simply has to stare very long, and very hard at the man in front of him. So long, so that anyone passing by might think of him as a statue.
“You did not just ask me that,” Katsuki finally says. “What the hell are ya tryna say, Icy Hot? I’m not a hero?”
Katsuki knows that’s not what he means - day by day, he’s genuinely starting to believe that Todoroki’s found some children's list of small talk questions, but he cannot believe his stupidity. Sometimes, he understands why he and Hanta are such good friends.
“Oh, my god,” Todoroki says, finally realising as he buries his face in his hands. “I was just so caught up in asking you questions that I didn’t even think-”
At that, Katsuki laughs. Uncrossing his arms from in front of him, he laughs, full-bodied. Something about the Great Mr Prince Charming Todoroki Shouto deviating off the script, losing his cool to go red in the face at his stupid mistake, does it for Katsuki.
“Number 2 and Number 4 Heroes, huh?” Katsuki says in a teasing tone. He’s going to milk this for as long as he can. “Let me think of a hero name, how’s-”
“Shut up, you idiot,” Todoroki replies between laughs, shaking his head. “It was a slip-”
“Uhuh, I’m sure it was, Pro Hero Shouto,” Katsuki grins at him, dodging as Todoroki threatens to throw Katsuki’s drink all over him.
It’s easy, Katsuki realises. It’s easy to talk to Todoroki, unlike what he would’ve thought in the past.
It’s easy, not like he’s getting to know someone new, but like he’s remembering from a time before.
For some reason, Katsuki doesn’t mind the company all that much - Todoroki talks sometimes, opts to stay quiet the others. Sometimes, Izuku would join them, or they’d spend the whole time discussing old movies or new recipes that Katsuki’s been meaning to try.
They don’t talk much outside of these lunches - not ones to message or go beyond their way to meet each other, but that’s alright. This is already beyond anything Katsuki wanted, or saw coming on a random Tuesday.
All in all, it’s easy.
Somehow, that one spontaneous lunch turns into a well-formed routine, and Katsuki finds himself cooking for two every other morning, some extra sesame seeds packed separately.
____________________
WIKI-HOW: How to Become Good Friends with Someone
The 11-3-6 Rule
Share in Their Interests
And then, it happens at movie theatres.
Katsuki’s one weekly relaxation ritual gets interrupted by Todoroki Shouto.
See, Katsuki’s always loved movies. Action, superheroes, thrillers - he’s seen them all. Hell, his parents would put on old black-and-white romances on the television practically every night after dinner, and if anyone finds out about Katsuki’s secret list of romantic movie recommendations, he will personally end them without leaving a trace.
Still, doesn’t change the fact that he’s grown into a bit of a movie buff. Someone who religiously maintains a list of all the movies he’s seen, who spends a good chunk of his time at the agency discussing plot holes with Izuku, who practically dictates what movies he and his idiots are going to watch for their monthly meetups.
And of course, after a long week of villain fighting and tedious paperwork and cumbersome media, he finds no escape better than spending his Saturday evening in a darkened movie theatre, watching the latest release, and turning his brain off for a few hours.
This week, however, it seems like luck’s not on his side.
Because Todoroki Shouto shows up at his door, sharp at five pm (since when did he know Katsuki’s schedule?) with two tickets to the movie Katsuki had been meaning to see that day.
“Hi,” Todoroki greets him, a hand in his pocket like it’s all extremely normal. “I got the tickets.”
Katsuki’s still standing at the door, half a shoe worn in the process of heading out. “Tickets? And who invited you, Halfie?”
Todoroki just shrugs, like Katsuki’s purposefully rude tone doesn’t bother him in the slightest - which only infuriates Katsuki even further. “Nobody. I’m inviting you.”
“You are, are you?” Katsuki huffs, putting on his shoes and locking the door behind him, snatching the tickets out of Todoroki’s hands. If he wants to burn his money, Katsuki’s not going to stop him. “And why is that?”
“I wanted to watch the movie with you,” Todoroki states simply, keeping up with Katsuki’s pace with annoying ease. The nerve. Their hands brush a couple times as they walk, and Katsuki’s almost sure Todoroki’s doing it on purpose to rattle him, to throw him off his trail. “Do I need any more reason?”
Todoroki’s annoying as hell, clearly doesn’t understand boundaries, and with the way he’s acting lately - he might be a villain in disguise to come and kidnap Katsuki. Again.
But Katsuki looks over at him then, meeting his eyes. Todoroki’s already looking back at him, and the lack of ulterior motives behind them, the bare determination in them is what makes Katsuki actually stop and consider it.
He seems sincere in the simplest of ways, uncomplicated and honest despite his confusing words.
And it’s not like Todoroki is bad company. On a good day, Katsuki might even call him tolerable. Funny, in that stoically unaware kind of way.
“Not sure you’ll even understand the movie, you idiot,” Katsuki sneers, but hands him back one ticket. “It’s pretty complicated.”
“Then, we’ll go for dinner, and I’ll have you explain it to me,” Todoroki states, nodding and smiling softly. His words hit Katsuki in a way that he can’t explain, his smile making Katsuki’s stomach flip in a way that he will only describe as nauseous. “I know you enjoy talking about the movies after. I’ve watched you and Izuku do it for years.”
Todoroki looks back at him then, a question in his eyes, along with a little hope. It makes Katsuki’s head spin. “Is that alright?”
“Yeah,” Katsuki finds himself saying, unable to stop. “”S whatever.”
What the fuck?
But then, Todoroki beams, a grin stretching across his face in a way that makes the ground shake a little underneath Katsuki’s feet. Without meaning to, Katsuki finds himself blushing, finds his face turning hot for no reason.
“Don’t go smiling like that,” Katsuki says, rolling his eyes and facing the other way, trying to hide the blush away. “Fuckin’ annoying.”
“I’m happy, though,” Todoroki says, “I’m happy that we can spend time together.”
Katsuki doesn’t say anything to that, because he wouldn’t know how to word it anyway.
He doesn’t like that internally, he finds himself agreeing to the feeling.
Things devolve from there. Todoroki’s at his doorstep every Saturday, like clockwork - and Katsuki finds himself offering less and less pushback each time. Todoroki buys the tickets, Katsuki buys the snacks, they go and select the seats together. Always the last row, always centre aligned. It’s something they both agreed on instantly. They go to dinner after, sometimes ice cream, and talk about the movies and its plot holes and its upcoming sequels. Todoroki tells Katsuki what he thought, and Katsuki tries to berate him for it - but he finds that the man has a keen eye for observation, picking up subtexts and clues, often figuring out the movie’s hidden plot or the culprits long before they’re revealed.
Katsuki begrudgingly finds himself impressed by it all. By the person in front of them, the guy who didn’t know the basics of conversation and his sarcasm back in school, now sitting and making Katsuki laugh despite his protests.
It makes Katsuki happy too, in a way that it probably shouldn’t. To see Todoroki settle into himself in a way that they could only dream about back in school. To see him happy.
Beside himself, Katsuki finds he weirdly looks forward to it each time.
____________________
r/friendship · @youcantakesoba2go · 3 months ago
How do you get closer to someone you have known for a very long time?
@youcantakesoba2go · Today
Hi, @EATTHIS. Just wanted to give you an update.
The sparring went well, and he even let me eat lunch with him the other day. I really enjoyed it. We’ve been having lunch together every other day since then. He gets me extra sesame seeds each time. We also went to the movies together, and now we go every Saturday.
I think I’ll buy the house next to his. He mentioned that it was recently vacated.
@EATTHIS · Today
Wow, that’s awesome!! Sounds like things are going well.
That’s a great idea - because you’ll be able to commute or do groceries together. Have fun!
@youcantakesoba2go · Today
That's the plan. :)
__________________
six months later
WIKI-HOW: How to Become Good Friends with Someone
The 11-3-6 Rule
Share in Their Interests
Share Your Feelings with Them - Friendships are Not One-sided!
Katsuki’s lounging on Shouto’s sofa, his cat sprawled across Katsuki’s chest and the smell of Shouto’s famous melon sweet buns baking in the oven wafting through the house. All in all, Katsuki’s extremely comfortable.
He moves to grab Shouto’s phone - the bastard had started buying tickets to their weekly movies without telling Katsuki which one. “Shou, I’m checking the tickets, okay?” Katsuki calls out, unlocking the phone and scrolling through the apps.
“Can you let anything stay a mystery?” Shouto fires back, a twinge of a smile in his voice which Katsuki ignores. After a moment of wait - there it comes; because by this point, Shouto is predictable to Katsuki in the best way. “It’s in my photos.”
So Katsuki opens his photos app, scrolling past the photos of the ramen they got with Fuyumi and Natsuo, and finds something weird.
“Do you want to tell me what this is?”
“What?" Shouto asks, smiling as he turns to face him. Katsuki hates the way his heart lurches at the sight. "Huh? Oh-"
"Yeah, fucking 'oh'," Katsuki bites back, because after everything, after all these years - somewhere deep down, he's still that stupid, seventeen year old kid left on the porch with too much to say and no one to hear. "What the fuck-"
"Listen, I can explain,” Shouto tries. And that's the thing - all he does is fucking try. This entire year, all he's done is try, and try, and try to make up for lost time. "It's nothing weird."
All because some stupid book on the internet told him to.
“I am listening," Katsuki replies, as steadily as he can. Shouto doesn't enjoy loud voices, doesn't enjoy angry words being thrown without care in the comfort of his house. "You’re doing some kind of research on me?”
“No!” He exclaims immediately, and the way his eyes widen, the way his expression finally breaks to show his shock does something to ease the coil wounding within Katsuki's heart. “I just-"
"Yes?"
"I just needed to know how to befriend someone. Someone like you.”
And that's what really hits him. Because after all this time, after all the work he's done - that's who Katsuki is. Someone like him. Someone otherworldly - not because he's the smartest, or the strongest, or the most talented - but because he's the hardest to deal with.
And so, the consequences of that are something he has to face regularly. In press interviews, in the faces of civilians hesitating before choosing to be saved by him. In this - screenshots of Reddit threads and WikiHow articles in Shouto's phone about how to befriend someone like him.
“Like me?” Katsuki finds himself repeating, despite his better judgement. He should let it go, choose to believe that Shouto didn't mean anything but well by what he said. Shouto's always had some trouble connecting with people - Katsuki knows this. He's always known this. When you grow up in a home like the Todoroki's, it's no wonder you carry some issues with you long after it all ends.
Still, somewhere deep down, Katsuki fears he is exactly what people still believe him to be.
All this does is prove it.
So, he retreats. Chooses to wallow in it before he gets hurt by something far grander. "You needed a guide to be friends with me?" Katsuki grits out, pain and shock littering every syllable out his mouth. "What the fuck, Shou," he continues, cursing himself for not catching the nickname as he reads further down the article. "This literally has those questions you were asking me on our first lunch! What pets do you have, what do you do in your free time, what kind of hero name would you pick-” Katsuki finds his voice rising, something old in him awakening, something twisted. “What the fuck is this? You- you- what?”
“I needed to know how to get close to you. We fell apart after UA, Kats,” and Shouto’s voice is agitated too. He hates seeing him like this. The Shouto he's gotten to know again has only been kind, has only learnt how to smile more in the time they've been apart. The anger he carried like a badge of honor way back when had subsided deep within Shouto's bones - or so Katsuki thought - but it's rearing its head now. Digging itself out the ground like a body that never forgot its soul. “You wouldn’t even call me by my name anymore!”
“Yes, cause I liked you!” Katsuki shrieks out, and he's not even in his senses enough to hate himself for it. It's the truth, one he's carried for years, and it's out for all to see. Out to show it's ugly truth. “I liked you, and you barely spoke to me after school. No matter how much I tried."
Shouto stares at him in disbelief, and Katsuki can't blame him. It's not like he made his feelings well-known. Nobody apart from Izuku even knew about his old crush, and it's not like Izuku's stupid enough to bring it up again, or to go blabbering on to Shouto about it.
So yeah, Shouto's shocked. Astounded, even. A loss for words - but that's not a problem, not in this moment, as the words keep pouring out of Katsuki for every year he spent in solitude looking for answers that were never coming.
"I know it was hard for you, Shou, it was so fucking hard. And I tried to be there for you, and I wasn't one of the people you let in. So, I got the hint.”
Shouto stills like a statue at that. Katsuki supposes he shouldn't be surprised. He didn't think Shouto knew about his feelings back then, and he's not surprised to get that confirmation now. He'd built it all up in his head back then, and here he was, seven odd years later, doing the exact same thing.
Always built to fucking fall.
"And then you came back this year, back into my life, bringing up all that old shit in my head that I pushed down. You brought me back there," Katsuki tells him, because it's true. He'd pushed his way into Katsuki's life, into his boring and bland and blissfully Shouto-less life, one promise of lunch and a movie at a time.
Since then, Katsuki found himself staying over more night at Shouto's than his own - and then he found Shouto moving into the place next to his. He found his skin tingling each time Shouto accidentally brushed their arms together, each time he mindlessly grabbed onto his waist to make his way around the kitchen. There were inside jokes. There were things they liked to do, but only with each other. There was a level of physical intimacy that only came with time, with trust, with belief that this person was here to stay.
There was the night it was raining hard outside, and even though Katsuki lived two minutes away from him, Shouto hadn't let him leave. Wrapped in his arms, wearing one of his favorite, oversized hoodies to sleep - everything platonic, of course - and Katsuki realised didn't want to leave, either.
"I didn't know," Shouto admits, like Katsuki didn't realise. Still, it hurts more than it should. It's been close to a decade, damn it, and it still comes running back like a moth to a flame.
"Of course, you didn't. I made sure."
"Why?"
And Katsuki doesn't have an answer to that. Scratch that, he has many answers - but none he could give Shouto. The war, his family, Katsuki's changing personality and the way he got scared by how much he loved being able to call Shouto Todoroki his close friend. It was all too much for him, too much for any teenager to bear. To know what to do with. "I didn't want it to become a thing," Katsuki replies instead, because it's true. It's a half-truth, it's the surface of everything that had lied dormant underneath for far too long, but it's still the truth.
"It's a thing now, though," Shouto replies, and Katsuki hates him for it. "But, Kats, I-"
"Save it," Katsuki starts, because he's imagined it all before. What Shouto would possibly say if he ever told him, what Katsuki could've had. What Katsuki could've been to him, if only given the chance. "It's old news."
"It's not," Shouto replies, and there's a firmness in his voice that brings Katsuki right back into reality. "It might be old news to you, but I've been thinking about you. A lot," Shouto stares at Katsuki - those eys of his that can't hide the truth for a day in his life, that only reflect his true feelings no matter what the rest of him is saying. And for once, his eyes are vulnerable, surrendering in a way that Katsuki hadn't seen them before. Despite his innate nature, Katsuki finds himself wanting to stay silent, and for Shouto to continue.
"I've got more stability in my life now that I ever did in the past," Shouto starts. It's been a tumultuous road - one that Katsuki wasn't even there for, most of the time - but Shouto's made his way, and he's here now. "And now that I have it, now that I can actually sit down and think and decide for myself - what is it that I want, that I crave, Kats," and Shouto breathes in a deep breathe, Katsuki standing still as a statue under the dim lights of his kitchen table," it's you. All I keep coming back to is you."
"You-"
"Do you get what I'm saying to you?" Shouto cuts him off, and in other circumstance, Katsuki would've been offended for it. "I wanted to be close to you. I needed to know you again, and nobody else. Ever since I knew I could sustain it, a relationship, I've wanted you."
"I didn't know how to do it. How could I get back to you after letting it go?" Shouto continues. "I just didn't know. So I did whatever I could. That's all you're seeing there - the screenshots, the stupid articles I've read over and over. I couldn't think of anything else."
"You could've talked to me," Katsuki replies, and it's hoarse, and it's barely a whisper. That's all he can manage to get out of him, all he can manage to say without storming out and completely fucking things up. "You could've just come to me."
"Yeah?" He asks, and Katsuki hates that he doesn't know the answer. "Would you have let me in if I did? Would you have been sitting on my couch, like you were ten minutes ago? Letting me talk to you, touch you, laugh with you the way we do now? Even after everything I did?"
"You didn't know," Katsuki replies, because it's the truth. "You didn't do anything. It's my problem, I'll deal with it."
"Don't fucking do that," Shouto bites back at that, rubbing his fingers over his temples. "You always do that."
Katsuki raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms in front of him in form of defence. His nerves burn with the urge to bite, with the urge to let the floodgates open and let his anger come pouring out. He's learnt, so he stops it, but it roars within him from its resting place.
"And you don't get to make amends by reading some stupid online guide about me."
"Are you really that stupid, Kats?" Shouto finally breaks, chuckling as he crosses the distance between them in one stride. Damn him. Damn him. Damn hi-
"I know you're not. But I am. I was. I was too caught up in my own shit to see you," Shouto continues, taking a deep breath and doing that thing he does when he's stressed, taking in once and then exhaling thrice. Katsuki hates that he still finds it endearing, even right in the middle of all this mess.
"But, I see you now," he says, lifting his eyes up to meet Katsuki's. "I wasn't sure if I was allowed to, before all this. But I do now."
All the fight in him threatens to leave Katsuki's body. He can't do this - stand so close to Shouto, in his damned living room that he helped decorate, and not touch him. Not be with him. Not tell him that he's a fucking idiot but old habits die hard, and Katsuki’s always been more stubborn than most.
He may have liked Shouto back in school - but now, here, as adults who've seen more than anyone should, than most do - that old feeling pales in comparison to how his heart roars within him now.
So Katsuki does what he knows best, and moves toward the man in one swift stride - graceful and quick even in this. He grabs him by the shoulder, ignoring the way Shouto's eyes widen, the way he doesn't know if he's seconds away from being attacked. Katsuki grabs his face in his palms, and his skin is warm, only slightly less than the home that takes root in his eyes. "You're fucking stupid," Katsuki breathes against him, contemplating once, before surging in and crashing their lips together.
For a moment, nobody moves. The apartment is eerily silent, save for their hard breathing, and nothing seems to remember how to fucking move.
Then, Shouto's grabbing a fistful of Katsuki's shirt, bunching it into his hand to drive him that much closer into his body. Katsuki's lips move against him, who seems to be lagging, but catches up soon enough to follow his rhythm. Shouto tries to smile into the kiss, his eyes fluttering close and his grip tightening - and Katsuki's pretty sure he can't really call this a make out session if their mouths are too busy grinning against each other to do much of anything else.
Still, he doesn't care. He doesn't give a single damn, because even though Shouto's stupid and unhinged and downright weird in how he's approached this entire affair - it's not Katsuki's any better. It's not like it didn’t work like a fucking charm.
They remain entangled in each other for a while, signing into each other's hold. Shouto's a little taller than him - and he takes full advantage of it as he wraps his arms around Katsuki's waist to encage him. Katsuki threads his fingers through Shouto's hair, giving them a test pull, and his knees buckle with the way Shouto moans through it.
"So fuckin' stupid," Katsuki breathes against his mouth, moving to pepper kisses along Shouto's jaw, his throat, the collar of his shirt. He can feel his heartbeat under his palm, and the pace at which it's beating fills Katsuki with glee.
"Uh," Shouto starts, and Katsuki grins at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "I've read some articles that tell me I'm supposed to say something like, "Yeah, I'm stupid for you. Crazy stupid." Would you like something like that?"
Katsuki resists the urge to whack him, resists the grin growing on his face, the full-bodied annoyance and downright adoration that flows through him at those words. Shouto looks so damned sincere when he says that - like that's something perfectly normal, and it breaches through Katsuki's defenses entirely. Despite the reputation he's got to uphold, Katsuki allows himself anyway, whacking Shouto playfully across his shoulder and grabbing his nape to smother him with a kiss, all in one go.
Shouto seems to forget about everything else, more than happy in losing himself in the kiss. "Just shut up," Katsuki whispers against his mouth, and Shouto nods slowly, never opting to move a second away from him. Katsuki rolls his eyes at the sight, threading his fingers through Shouto's own. "Come on, Halfie, we need to finish dinner. You owe me one for making me wait all this time for your stupid kiss."
"You're saying it's worth it, right?" Shouto grins at him, holding him in the dim lights of his kitchen, just content with capturing the memory.
Katsuki pretends to think about it for a second, then nods. "I fuckin' guess it is. I'm here, aren't I?"
Katsuki doesn't miss the way his heart moves when Shouto grins at him. He doesn't miss the way something quietens down in his bones - something old, a ghost he thought he had freed himself of - when Shouto shuffles closer to his body, and presses a chaste kiss to his lips.
In the dim light of the kitchen, with the wafting smell of Shouto's favorite dinner and Katsuki's favorite drinks, in the quiet night of a shared bed - Katsuki finds a long-overdue home.
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r/friendship · @youcantakesoba2go · 7 months ago
How do you get closer to someone you have known for a very long time?
@youcantakesoba2go · 2 days ago
Hey, @EATTHIS. Wanted to give you an update because I think I owe you one.
You ended up being right. I think I was in love with him all this time. I just didn’t realise it’s what it was when I wanted to get closer to him.
Thankfully, he loves me back. In his words, we finally “got our shit together” and are happy with each other now.
Thanks, @EATTHIS. Wouldn’t have been able to do this without your help. Best of luck.
@EATTHIS · Today
Hey, that’s awesome! I’m so happy you guys are together now!!
Also, you’re late for our meeting. I was supposed to see you two in the board room 15 minutes ago.
But I’m glad you were able to figure this out. Even though I had to do e-espionage to get it done. It’s been hell watching you two dance around for years.
See you now, or I’m going to [redacted] your house(s). :)
@FUCK4FFKING · Today
YOU WERE TAKING ADVICE FROM THE DAMNED NERD ALL THIS TIME?? FUCK YOU IM ENDING THIS
@EATTHIS · Today
You’re welcome!