Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Katsuki didn’t have anger issues, he was fine. Well, his mom would probably argue the opposite. And his childhood friend turned bullying victim turned best friend. And his therapist. Whatever, if he was angry it was for good reason.

He sure felt like he had a good reason right now, his whole body feeling warm all over as he shook with fury. He was dragging Deku by the wrist to the dorm room, despite the fact he was receiving directions from the freckled man. If anybody asked him what he was even angry about, he wouldn’t really be able to articulate it well. No, he’d probably just growl at them and foam at the mouth like some feral animal.

A nervous voice kept pleading for him to calm down, the urge to snap back being forcibly pushed down through years of effort working on rebuilding their friendship. Even when he was feeling irrationally angry, he wasn’t going to ruin all his hard work for some stupid reason.

Finally, they were both stood in front of the dorm room. He knocked harshly on the door, glaring at Deku’s knelt form at his side. He’d need to tell the nerd to spend more time on the treadmill instead of lifting weights and doing squats whenever they went to the gym together. Maybe he could slap a little sense into his friend after beating the shit out of the loser who dared talk about and objectify him.

Speaking of losers, the door was opening up in front of them. Katsuki’s mouth opened up to start screaming but no noises escaped him when he saw who was stood on the other side of the doorway.

He’d like to think that he kept himself in good shape, going on light runs in addition to his daily gym visits. In comparison to the man in front of him though, he looked like he would faint from the slightest breeze.

Okay, if he were being a little more honest with himself, defending Deku’s honour wasn’t his highest priority. Still pretty high, sure, but the nerd liked the idiot back so it’s not like he was seriously going to interfere.

It’s just that.. he’d never talked to anyone about being gay. Not like he was closeted, necessarily, hell- his hag of a mother had been the one to wrench the closet door open and tell him that he was gay. Deku knew too, it was sort of their big falling out in middle school- but they figured it out and. Ugh.

Katsuki never really allowed himself to feel attracted to guys, spending his high school years falling from grace and picking the pieces back up again. By the time he felt ready to consider his attraction to other guys, he was crossing the stage to pick up his high school diploma.

He had only started attending college classes a few months ago with Deku by his side, slowly unfurling the odd jumble in his chest while he watched his friend flourish in a new environment.

He wanted that. That freedom to experiment with others and have fun while doing it. But he was still fiercely holding onto something that didn’t let him do that, and he wondered if he ever could let go of it.

Looking at the man in front of him, he felt like a weight was pulled from his shoulders. It made him want to flail around, stumble all over himself, and figure out how to get this man to keep looking back at him.

“Uh, hey?” The Adonis said, not even aware of how his muscles rippled under his thin wifebeater shirt. He smiled wide, welcoming but slightly unnerved from confusion. “You need something?”

Katsuki’s mouth felt dry even though his palms were sweating bullets. Is this what it was like to be attracted to people? Holy fuck this sucks, his tongue felt heavy in his mouth.

“Your name,” his voice scratched out, coughing awkwardly. “And your number.”

Wet strands of red hair swayed as the man laughed, sounding all warm and happy like there was nothing wrong in the world. In fact, like there was something good in the world. Maybe this was that.

“Yeah, sure!” That toothy smile was blinding, some teeth oddly sharp looking. “Only if you give me yours?”

His mouth was agape, and he probably looked like a fool. That worked?

He must’ve taken too long, because Deku pressed into his side and introduced the both of them before reciting Katsuki’s number from memory. Fucking stalker.

Red eyes gleamed with humor, turning to look back at him with that same smile.

“That’s funny, my number is really similar to yours- just off by one digit. Crazy coincidence, huh?”

Yeah. Crazy coincidence.