Chapter Text
“S-so, I, I’ve never done this before,” Izuku stammered, his wobbly smile making his cheeks hurt, “b-but, I-I’d really, I’m excited to try it with you, Kacchan!” His chest hurt from how hard his heart was pounding, because this was their first official date! They’d never gone on a date before, and this was also Izuku’s first date ever, so he was pretty nervous. He’d spent an embarrassingly long amount of time researching places to take his boyfriend, even before he came to visit, compiling a list with notes on each location, trying to make sure he had plenty of options for him to choose from, agonizing over what the other man might like. He took into account what food his boyfriend liked, what activities he enjoyed, and different types of restaurants so they’d have plenty of options. They’d chosen an American style restaurant for today.
“You’re lucky I happened to pack some nice clothes,” Kacchan scoffed, though he had a small smile on his face.
“Mm, that is lucky,” he agreed. “But, it’s also great that you look good in everything. It’s really unfair,” Izuku teased as they found a small table for two.
“I gotta be honest, I was like, 99% sure you were gonna take me to some sort of anime cafe,” Kacchan admitted as Izuku pulled out the chair for him.
“It, it did cross my mind,” Izuku revealed, making the ash blond let out a bark of a laugh as he sat down. “B-but I thought about it, and I didn’t want any of that attention on me. It’s just too much pressure.”
“Yeah,” Kacchan agreed as Izuku took his own seat, picking up the menu. “I always get second hand embarrassment seein’ those videos of cafe workers doing the special words or whatever. I mean, more power to’em I guess, but fuck, it couldn’t be me.”
“I think they’re really brave! I wish I was like that,” Izuku laughed as they both began looking over the foods on offer. “I mean, to have that amount of confidence? It’s pretty amazing if you think about it. Oooo! The burgers look good! And they come with cute little flag picks! How adorable,” he giggled.
“They don’t have a lot of spicy options,” Kacchan commented under his breath, furrowing his brows at the menu.
“O-oh, I’m sorry, Kacchan, I forgot to check for that,” Izuku apologized, resisting the urge to bite and worry his lip. He’d spent so long picking this place out, but even knowing Kacchan liked spicy food, he didn’t take that into account for their date. His boyfriend reached over and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Don’t worry, babe. I just wanna have a good time with my boyfriend an’ tease'im, spoil’im, all that shit. I don’t care ‘bout what we eat,” Kacchan told him, making Izuku blush and hide his face behind the menu.
“I’m supposed t-to be treating you,” Izuku protested, fighting to suppress his smile.
“Mm, good luck with that,” Kacchan snorted. “It’s gonna be a fight every time.”
“Well, I’m paying this time, so don’t even think about pulling out your wallet,” Izuku challenged.
“You sure you even have yours on you?”
“Of course I do!” Izuku insisted, though he did pat his pocket to double check it was there. Kacchan noticed, and gave him a smug grin. “D-don’t try and psych me out!” he chastised, wagging his finger at his boyfriend.
“Not my fault you make it so easy,” the other laughed before going back to looking at the menu. “What’re you thinkin’ of getting, baby?”
“Oh, I-I dunno,” he stammered, feeling himself get flustered by the pet name as he squirmed in his seat. “I-I was just thinking a-a burger, maybe? W-we could share fries?”
“Mmm, sounds good to me, cutie,” Kacchan teased again, his sharp grin too attractive for Izuku to bear. He resolutely hid his face in his menu again, trying his best to ignore his boyfriend attempting to play footsie with him. He failed miserably.
They had to stop their footsie turned kicking game when their waiter came around, they quickly ordered drinks, and were left alone again.
“So, Kacchan, I’ve been wondering,” Izuku piped up, wondering how he should phrase the question. He and Kacchan knew quite a bit about each other, but there were still things they hadn’t brought up. “I know, well, you know that I’ve never been with anyone, but, what about you? Have you ever dated anyone?”
“I mean,” he sighed, scowling in thought. “It wasn’t, I wouldn’t call it a real relationship. We kissed and held hands, went on a couple dates. But, we were in middle school, and it was before I knew I was gay, so she and I didn’t last long.”
“You’re still more experienced than I am, then,” he joked, using his foot to playfully kick at Kacchan. “My only experience with romance was all the fanfiction I read.”
“Ew,” his boyfriend said as a knee jerk reaction, startling them both into laughter.
“Kacchan! You’re so mean,” he laughed, the two kicking at each other under the table once again.
“I bet you wrote cringy fanfics yourself, huh?” Kacchan teased, leaning closer to the shorter male.
“And I bet you had an “I’m 14 and this is deep” phase,” Izuku accused, echoing his partner’s movements. “Talk about ew.”
“Hey, at least I have good taste in music,” he defended himself, almost boastfully.
“All you listen to is American emo bands!”
“Yeah! And they fuckin’ rock, don’t even pretend like you don’t sing along to Evanescense all the time in the shower.”
“Wha– are you watching me shower?!”
“No, you idiot! But I can hear your nasally ass singing through the bathroom door.”
“Pfft, says the one who’s tone-deaf,” Izuku grinned into his drink.
“Now who’s being mean?” Kacchan accused, crossing his arms, affronted.
“It’s okay, Kacchan, you can just join a scream-o band!” Izuku suggested.
“I’d fuckin’ kill in a heavy metal band,” he agreed smugly, puffing his chest out in response.
“Oooooh, then I’d get to date a hot guy in a band,” Izuku gushed with a snicker.
“That an AU you liked to write about?” his boyfriend asked, making the green haired man let out a bark of a laugh. “Oh my god, you totally have!”
“No! I only read about it,” Izuku assured him, his voice a little more defensive than he meant it to be.
“Yikes, that might be a dealbreaker for me.”
“Well, we had a good run,” Izuku shrugged as he redirected his attention back to the menu. “C’mon, we gotta order before we get kicked out.”
“Fine, fine,” Kacchan relented.
The two eventually ordered their food, and spent the entire time waiting, jabbing at and teasing each other. Izuku was a little worried they were going to get spoken to by the management for being too loud or obnoxious, but no one came up to them. By the time their food came out, the two were giggly and starving.
“Wow, look at how long this fry is!” Izuku commented in awe, holding it up to show his boyfriend. “Hey, we should Lady and the Tramp it,” he giggled, holding one end up to his lips. Kacchan let out a short snicker before pulling out his phone and blatantly snapping a photo of him.
“That better not go up online,” Izuku threatened, shoving the fry into his mouth before reaching for the ketchup bottle.
“If you cover those fries in ketchup, I’m breaking up with you,” Kacchan threatened, making Izuku balk.
“But then you get a light drizzle on all of them!” Izuku argued, but he restrained himself from doing so, handing the bottle to his partner. “I don’t want to just pile it all in one corner, I end up using too much ketchup then.”
“Oh my goooood,” he groaned, dramatically running a hand down his face. “Are you a fucking child?”
“I don’t wanna share these fries anymore,” Izuku pouted, pulling the tray closer to himself. “Y’know, Hanta was telling me that, in Europe, they actually dip their fries in mayonnaise! That might be yummy to try. Do you think we’d be able to make our own homemade fries and mayo? Oh, that’d be so fun!”
“As long as you let me do most of the work,” he bargained, cocking a brow at him. “Don’t want you making a mess of the kitchen again.”
“Um, it’s my kitchen,” Izuku reminded him flatly.
“You always make a mess the first time you try something,” Kacchan argued, picking up his utensils. “Then you whine for me to come help you. All like, ‘Kacchaaaan! Kacchan! I need heeeeelp! I’m totally useless, please save me!’” he mimicked Izuku, making the smaller male huff and cross his arms.
“I do not sound like that. And how exactly am I supposed to get better if I don’t practice? What’re you– You don’t cut your burger!” Izuku exclaimed, his body jerking as he nearly leapt forward, offended to his very core at what he was seeing. “What is wrong with you!?”
“I’m not gonna spend the whole date awkwardly trying to fumble with this big ass burger,” Kacchan scoffed angrily, finishing cutting his burger into fourths. “I like this outfit, I don’t wanna ruin it. Plus, I plan on leavin’ here with my dignity intact.”
“You gonna stick a napkin down the front of your shirt too, fancypants?” Izuku sassed, offering his boyfriend one as he spoke, waving it condescendingly in his face.
“And you wonder why you don’t have any nice clothes,” Kacchan said with a roll of his eyes, swatting the napkin away.
“I have nice clothes!” Izuku protested, earning a prolonged, scathing look of judgement from the man across from him.
“No, you don’t,” the other scoffed. “You have a ton of crappy t-shirts with text on them.”
“They’re funny!” he said as he took a bite of his burger.
“They most certainly are not,” he snorted with a shake of his head.
“Mmm! This’s really good,” Izuku said as he chewed, going in for another bite. Kacchan was right, the burgers were so big that they were hard to bite into without unhinging your jaw, but he wasn’t going to stoop down and debase himself by cutting it into pieces. He had standards. And pride.
“Your face is a mess,” Kacchan reprimanded fondly, using a napkin to wipe off grease from around Izuku’s mouth, a small smile on his face. “Y’see why I cut my burgers, now?”
“I’s part’a the experience,” Izuku argued, swallowing his food. “I gotta say, these are pretty good! Not as good as the ones in America, but still good!”
“You’ve been to America?”
“What? Yeah, I thought I told you,” Izuku said, cocking his head at him. “I lived there for like, five years.”
“Huh,” Kacchan hummed, making a slight face, before grinning at Izuku. “You’d think your English would be better.”
“Oof, that one hurts,” Izuku laughed as he visibly winced. “But, you’re right. It’s only because I don’t use it often enough anymore, except for when I’m online. I can still write okay, and I understand it when I hear it, unless the person is talking really fast. Do you speak any other languages, Kacchan?”
“Aside from English? Uh, I know a little Russian,” he revealed, making Izuku perk up. “And I know some pleasantries in a few languages. I traveled a lot with my parents when I was younger, and they’d take me to work with them. We went to a lot of international shoots, so I was introduced to a lot of different cultures.”
“Wow, you really are rich,” Izuku commented, earning a light kick under the table. “Hey, it’s not a bad thing!”
“Yeah, but the way you said it was an insult,” Kacchan waved off before popping another fry into his mouth. Izuku was overcome with the sudden desire to kiss his boyfriend stupid. He was able to restrain himself, however, and the conversation subsided as they focused on their food.
He hadn’t realized how happy something like a date could make him. Sure, he’d been nervous beforehand, but it really was just the same as usual between them. Maybe it was because they’d known each other for a couple years by this point, and while the ash blond still made his heart race, there was no one else Izuku was more comfortable with. Maybe it was just the unknown of going on a proper date that made him so anxious? There was also a part of him that wanted to look good for his boyfriend, but at the end of the day, he was still Izuku, and Kacchan was still Kacchan; it felt a little late to try and be cool.
Well, with how Kacchan was smiling at him, he didn’t really have anything to complain about.
Later, when Izuku saw the bill, he internally grimaced. It was more expensive than he thought it was going to be, so they definitely wouldn’t be able to go out together very often like this. Of course, he was still going to pay, it was his treat, but he’d have to look for more places they could go on dates without having to spend quite as much money. He knew there were some nice parks near his apartment, and window shopping was fun, he’d find things to do.
“You’ve got a shit pokerface, y’know that?” Kacchan drawled, poking Izuku’s cheek as they left the restaurant.
“E-eh? What does that mean?” Izuku asked.
“It means I’m payin’ for the next date,” the ash blond insisted.
“N-no, let me pay! I want to!” Izuku argued.
“I saw your expression, idiot, don’t even try to hide it.”
“That’s besides the point! I’m happy to pay for you, as long as we’re together,” Izuku said, smiling up at his boyfriend as they walked back to the station. “Did you enjoy yourself, Kacchan?”
“I always enjoy myself when I’m with you,” he replied honestly, taking Izuku’s hand in his. The way he said it made Izuku’s cheeks turn pink and his stomach warm. Despite how prickly his boyfriend could be, he could also be extremely sweet, even when he wasn’t trying to be. If he said anything, Katsuki would vehemently deny it, but Izuku knew the truth.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he decided to reply, giving him a pleased smile. “I enjoy my time with you, too. I gotta admit, ever since we started dating, I’d fantasize about what kind of dates we’d go on. So, I’m really really happy to make them a reality.”
“You’re such a nerd,” Kacchan told him with a glare, but his tone and, somehow, his expression were full of fondness and adoration. “You gotta list? We should start checking some boxes.”
“Of course I have a list,” Izuku grinned, already seeing that Katsuki was going to tease him, so he steamrolled through it, “and we can choose what to do next from that. But, i-if there’s anything you wanna add, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“Course,” Katsuki agreed, swooping down to press a kiss to the crown of his head. At that point, Izuku was grinning like a fool, but he didn’t care at all.