Chapter Text
Easy and fast. Two words that were supposed to describe Katsuki and Izuku’s mission.
They were finishing out their last year at UA, and were sent on a job together to stop an infamous smuggling ring. The pro heroes deemed it a hard enough job for them since it involved a lot of team work, which for them was usually a challenge. While they had definitely improved their cooperation skills after the war, Bakugo still had a long way to go.
They both arrived at the abandoned warehouse where the trade-off would take place.
“Alright Kacchan, the email said to split up and have one of us go around the building and sneak in from the back, and for the other to disguise as a random worker and go inside.” Deku explained.
“I’ll go around the back, you put on a disguise and head inside.” Bakugo replied.
Deku nodded, and they both went to their respective roles. The job went mostly well. They stopped the smuggling ring and got all the criminals in cuffs. Here’s where things go wrong. You see, the main thing that made this mission a challenge was that they weren’t aware of the quirks of a few of the members involved in the ring. Knowing this, hero Deku and Dynamight worked with extra caution.
As with all things, this didn’t go as well as they wished. While fighting a high-ranking official in the ring, the two of them were hit with a quirk. They didn’t quite know what it did, as it didn’t come from the man they were fighting, since he had a quirk that let him shoot small rockets out of his palms. After they finished up the job, a few medics came by along with the police officers to ask if the heroes were okay. Since they didn’t feel any immediate effects of the quirk that hit them, the two of them claimed that they were fine. And thus, the chaos ensues.
**********
Back at the dorms, Izuku decided to meet up with Ochako, Tsu, and Iida to study for an upcoming exam. They all agreed to study in Iida’s room; his being the cleanest. They all laid on the floor, with their books sprawled out in front of them.
“So Deku,” Ochako started, “how did your mission with Bakugo go?”
“It went really well! Me and Kacchan’s teamwork skills have improved so much. Although…if I’m being honest, we may have been hit with a quirk while fighting someone. I’m not sure what it does, but as far as I know neither me or Kacchan have felt any noticeable side effects." Izuku explained as he flipped through his textbook.
“You should report that to Mr. Aizawa immediately.” Iida states. “A quirk with an unknown side effect could potentially be dangerous.”
“He’s right.” Tsu agrees. “You and Bakugo might be in some real trouble if you hide something. Especially if something bad happens because of it.”
“Yeah you guys are probably right. I’ll speak to Mr. Aizawa tomorrow.” Deku concludes.
“Have you spoken to Bakugo about it at all? Maybe he has some kind of idea on what might’ve happened.” Ochako asks.
Izuku has not spoken to him about it at all. They both acknowledged that something went wrong, but never opted to actually discuss it. Conversations with Kacchan had been especially challenging recently due to… reasons. Listen, to say that he’d been crushing on Kacchan since their first year at UA would be an understatement. And it hasn’t helped that Kacchan had gotten way more attractive throughout their years here. Recently, though, his feelings have gotten stronger. He can barely hold a conversation with him without getting flustered. He’s getting off track; all you need to know is that Deku has his feelings all under control… definitely.
“Well… not necessarily.” Deku admitted.
“Listen, loverboy, you have to speak to him about this! What if something has already happened to him!” Ochako is NOT helping. Izuku knows that she’s intentionally exaggerating just to get under his skin.
“If nothing has happened to me, surely nothing is going on with him. Not yet at least. And stop calling me that!” Izuku hides his face behind his book to cover up the layer of flush spreading across his cheeks.
“I mean she’s not wrong Midoriya. You should go talk to him.” Tsu thankfully gets the conversation back on track.
“Midoriya, we can call it a wrap for studying tonight. You should go speak to Bakugo and ensure that he is alright.” Iida dictates.
Izuku reluctantly agrees and lazily gets off the floor. He says his goodbyes to his friends. He also conveniently ignores the wink Ochako gives him. So far, she’s the only one who knows about his brutal crush on Kacchan. At some point in their first year at UA, she had liked him romantically. That is, until she met Toga and realized that she was a lesbian. And now they’re even better friends since they can rant to each other about their crushes.
Izuku made it to Bakugo’s dorm and halted at the door. Just be casual about it, he assured himself. He knocked at the door and waited for some kind of response.
The door opened and he was met with a very tired looking Kacchan.
“Did I…come at a bad time..?” Izuku asked hesitantly.
Bakugo glared at him for a couple seconds before answering. “You’re fine, nerd. What do you want?”
Was it just him, or was Kacchan acting way more tame than usual. Bakugo opened the door more so that Izuku could come inside.
“I think we need to talk about what happened earlier.” Izuku started.
“Why? Nothin’ happened so we’re probably fine.” He plainly responded as he closed the door behind him. Katsuki sat on his bed, while Izuku opted to sit at the desk.
“Are you sure? I’ve been kind of tired recently, what if that’s the quirk??? What if I fall asleep forever??!!!” Izuku was starting to get delusional.
“Calm down, Izuku. We’re gonna be fine.” Katsuki knew how Izuku got if he overthought things too much. “I’m sure if anything was going to happen it would’ve happened by now.”
Katsuki’s face softened. “Go to bed, Nerd. Save your worries for the morning.”
Kacchan gets really soft when he’s tired. At least for Izuku he does. He usually gets mean to the others in the dorms, but Izuku chalked that up to the fact that he’s known him for longer.
Izuku smiled. “You’re right. Thanks Kacchan, it means a lot.” He was trying so desperately to not look flustered but it was probably too late. How was he supposed to keep his chill when Kacchan, his Kacchan, was looking at him like that???
They said their goodbyes, and Izuku went back to his dorm. Everything would be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen…
Oh how cruel fate would be.
**********
Katsuki knew something was wrong the moment he gained consciousness that morning.
After his late-night conversation with Deku, he found that sleeping was way harder. How was he meant to sleep after seeing Deku all worried and tired??? Listen, Katsuki knew he was painfully gay for that boy and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. He’ll never say anything about it, though, since he was about 99% sure him and Round Face were dating.
He glanced over at his alarm clock and realized that he had overslept by 2 hours. Why was he so tired this morning? He could typically wake up and feel just fine, but today he felt a little… different. He slowly leaned up in his bed, feeling way more grouchy than usual. And it didn’t help that now he missed his morning workout. Could this be an effect of the quirk? As he sat up, Katsuki also realized that something was wrong with his head. Surely he was fine…right?
**********
Izuku was NOT fine the next morning. He woke up at 4am, like usual, and planned to go out to the training ground to meet Kacchan. That is, until he saw them. He didn’t notice them at first, since he was getting ready in a bit of a rush. Izuku felt like he was on cloud nine! Why was he so energetic today? After he got prepared, Izuku glanced at himself in the mirror. That’s when he saw it. Or should I say, them.
Two dog-looking ears sat atop his head. They resembled those of a German shepherd. After staring for a while, Izuku finally remembered that breathing was a thing, and that he hadn’t been doing it for the past few minutes. This is fine. Totally fine…
Izuku could hide this.
Totally.
It only made it difficult that he had class training today.
And everyone would be there.
This is fine. (No it isn’t.)
His first order of business though was figuring out how to cover this up. One thing at a time.
After scouring through his drawers for a bit, Izuku managed to find a black beanie. This will do.
He only got a few odd looks from his classmates, and when questions were asked he told them that he had really bad bed-head. Kacchan was nowhere to be seen.
Later at training, Mr. Aizawa pulled Izuku aside. “Why are you wearing that beanie, problem child?” He asked.
“Well you see I had really bad bed-head this morning and it’s kinda embarrassing so I thought that this was a good way to cover it up and I hope it doesn’t interfere with my hero outfit or how well I do today please let me keep it on-“
“Midoriya, I don’t care if you keep it on, just don’t let it be a distraction.” Aizawa sighed. “Also, have you seen Bakugo? He hasn’t been spotted all day and we need him for training today.”
Izuku scratched the back of his head. “Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seen him at all today. Do you want me to go look for him?”
“You may. Just be quick please.” Aizawa answered tiredly.
“Yes sir!” And so, Deku made his way back to the dorms and up the stairs all the way to Bakugo’s room.
Izuku knocked on Bakugo’s door. No response.
“Hey Kacchan… you there?”
…silence.
“Kacchan im coming in. You better be decent…” He murmured at the end. Listen, as much as a simp as he was, he still had the decency to make sure Kacchan was properly dressed before he barged in.
Before he could kick the door in, he’s heard the lock click. He took this as an invitation to just walk in. Izuku walked in and…couldn’t see Kacchan. He was hidden under a blanket on the corner of his bed.
“Uhhh Kacchan… are you okay?” He asked cautiously.
“What the hell do you want, Nerd?” Izuku heard Kacchan’s usual impatient tone coming from the bed. Deku closed the door and locked it behind him. It would probably be best if no one accidentally walked in if they were both dealing with the same issue.
“I have the feeling that you might be dealing with the same… problem as me.” He started.
Katsuki pulled the blanket off of his head, revealing something that Izuku was NOT expecting.
You see, Izuku was expecting dog ears similar to his, but instead he was met with two cat ears gracing the top of Kacchan’s head. They were almost the same shade as Katsuki’s hair, except they were slightly darker.
Katsuki gave Izuku a look that impelled him to take the beanie off of his head, revealing his own ears.
They both just…stared at eachother for a few seconds.
“What the hell are we supposed to do?!?! I can’t go around those extras looking like a damn cat!” Katsuki crossed his arms.
“Is that what you’ve been doing in here all day? Sulking… That’s kinda sad, Kacchan.” Izuku laughed lightheartedly.
Katsuki looked away, perhaps embarrassed. “Not quite, Nerd. I uh… you see… the sun was um, shining through the window and l… ya know.” Kacchan’s face was getting hot. This is what that damn nerd did to him.
“You… laid in the sun, Kacchan?” Izuku had a growing smile blooming on his face.
“Shut the hell up, Freckles. I know shit’s been up with you too so don’t be judging’ me!” Katsuki shot back.
“Yeah you’re right,” Izuku giggled, “I’ve been feeling a bit more energetic recently. It might have something to do with the uhhh…” he left the rest in the air and gestured up to his newfound ears.
Katsuki looked visibly distressed. Damn this was really getting to him, Izuku thought. He moved to sit next to Katsuki on the bed. They were close, really close. For some reason Izuku felt compelled to rest his head on Katsuki’s shoulder. Since when was he this bold? He’ll blame this on the quirk.
“Listen, Kacchan, there’s not really much we can do now. So, let’s just tough it out, okay?” He tried to be as comforting as he could, while also trying not show how nervous he was to be this close to his Kacchan.
Katsuki sighed. “I guess you’re right. Do you uh… have another one of those beanies?”
And so, they both returned to training; Izuku with his black beanie, and Katsuki with his orange one. When the rest of their class asked why Kacchan was wearing one, he simply flipped them off.
This was going to be fine. Surely the ears and odd instincts would go away…right?