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“Are you ready?”
May Hatsuharu, host of the podcast “Call a Meeting!”, asks as she leans back in her seat. Katsuki nods from where he sits across from her, adjusting his microphone so it sits more centered in front of him.
“Let’s do it.”
May claps her hands, an excited squeal leaving her before she says, “You don’t know how excited I am to have you here. You’re hard to get a hold of! You don’t do many interviews?”
Katsuki clears his throat, “No, not really. Usually they don’t ask anything worthwhile, so why bother?”
“Oh? Can I ask why you agreed to come on then?”
Katsuki shrugs one shoulder, “I’m turning a new leaf.”
May smiles, “Then I’m glad you decided to join us! First I have to say: Congrats on the new ranking, number three hero.”
Katsuki smirks, “Thanks. Should be higher but that’s fine. I’ll get there.”
“I have no doubt whatsoever. Now tell me- as a hero your entire job centers on you being brave for those of us who can’t. But! Everyone’s afraid of something, so what’s your biggest fear?”
Katsuki shakes his head with a laugh, “Starting off strong, huh? Uh…” He trails off, squinting into the distance for a moment. “Hm- I guess it’s vague but vulnerability is sort of my biggest thing. In every sense of the word.”
May nods, balancing a stack of cue cards on her knee. “I hear that. Forgive me if I’m wrong but would it be a stretch to say that is one of the main reasons for your public persona?”
Katsuki’s cheeks begin to turn red. “Not a stretch, but the way I present is also me. Just toned up a lot for the public, but I’ve never pretended to be someone I’m not.”
May smiles, tilting her head to the side. “You came out as transgender recently, is that right?”
“I did.” Katsuki’s posture stiffens noticeably.
May nods, looking down at the cards in her hands. “Could you tell me about that?”
Katsuki doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, he brings his legs up and tucks himself even further into his chair.
“Kids come up to me all the time and tell me how much they love me, that I’m their favorite hero, or that they want to be like me when they grow up. I wouldn’t say I felt like I owed it to them, more just that it felt like…. Maybe there’s some trans kid out there who wants to know they can make it too. That they’ll be alright.”
May nods. “That’s really sweet, to think of the kids who look up to you. What about in your personal life though, has there been anything recent that contributed to why you decided to come out?”
Katsuki inhales deeply, eyes focused on nothing as he thinks through his response. May doesn’t rush him, and the silence between them doesn’t feel awkward.
“Well,” Katsuki starts, “I feel like my entire life has been a sequence of wars with myself. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I think now I’m getting to a place where all of those struggles feel like they are, for the most part, behind me. And that’s an accomplishment, and I want to feel proud of myself and celebrate that. Being able to be open about something that has been a struggle within myself since the moment I could form thoughts feels like making progress, and I want to highlight that. And again, so kids who were in the same place that I was can see that there’s a future for them, too.”
“That’s so powerful. Letting yourself be a sort of beacon of hope for younger trans kids is really beautiful.” May nods, slapping her leg. “Okay. Intimacy.”
Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “Mhm.”
“What are some things you approach differently now that you’re older, and as you continue to grow?”
Katsuki blows out a breath. “Uhh, fucking everything?” He laughs. May smiles as he continues. “I used to be perpetually uncomfortable with my body. Part of it was dysphoria of course but also a lot of it was just- my body has been a tool for as long as I can remember. I work out, I watch what I eat, I train my quirk. It was hard to remember that there are other things to do with yourself besides fight villains. Being open with another person like that didn’t come naturally to me at all.”
May nods, “I can imagine that letting yourself be vulnerable around someone when you feel that way can be difficult.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki sighs, shifting in his chair, “I think it helps when you’re with someone you trust. Someone who makes you feel safe, and like you don’t need to pretend.”
“I hear that.” May nods “How important to you is it to be with someone you trust when it comes to sex?”
“I mean- for me, it’s everything. I’m not someone who can easily unwind. It takes a lot for me to come to genuinely trust someone, so for me, my limit is one and I’ve hit it. There’s nowhere else. I’ve found my special person.”
“That’s incredibly sweet… speaking of someone special,” May’s smile slowly creeps over her face, “Can we talk about it?”
Katsuki sighs loudly, but he’s got a genuine smile on his face now. “I mean, I guess.”
“You recently got engaged.”
Katsuki’s smile is so fond when he replies, “Yep.”
“Let’s see the ring!”
Katsuki holds his left hand for May to see, and she gasps when she gets a good look of the gold band with embedded diamonds on his ring finger.
“Oh it’s gorgeous!”
“You know what’s so funny about that, is that my partner and I did go ring shopping together, and I ended up getting so frustrated I couldn’t find something I like that my man had to drive us home.” Katsuki says with a smile, staring down at the ring on his finger.
“Wait, so you didn’t pick this out?”
“No, my partner did. And I’m so upset that it’s more beautiful than anything I could find but also impressed he managed to find something I liked. Sometimes he’s so perfect that I wanna get irritated by it, but then I can’t because he’s perfect.”
“No, I get exactly what you mean. Sometimes when I’m throwing a bit of a tantrum with my husband, he’s so good about it that I can’t even stay mad.”
Katsuki openly cackles at this, “Yeah, Deku’s the same way.”
“Deku?” May asks with raised eyebrows. Katsuki pauses, as if realizing he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
“Uh- my partner. That’s his…nickname.”
“Useless is an interesting nickname.”
“It’s an inside joke. From when we were kids.”
May pauses then, blinking rapidly before shifting gears completely. “From when you were kids? How long have you known each other?”
Katsuki laughs, “Oh, a long time. I think we met when we were about four?”
“What? How did you meet?!”
Katsuki scratches his eyebrow with a thumb, “I don’t remember, honestly. My first memory of us together, we were out ‘adventuring’ in the woods with a few other kids. I fell off this log into the small stream below it, and Deku came running after me. Trying to make sure I was okay.” Katsuki snorts, but he has a sweet look in his eyes.
“Oh my gosh, so you two were childhood sweethearts?” May coos.
“Oh no. No, I was a dick to him for a long time, and he was way too nice for me. But eventually we kind of- met in the middle.”
May is almost on the edge of her seat with how far forward she’s leaning, “So when did you two start dating? Who confessed to who? Wait- can I guess?”
Katsuki laughs at May’s enthusiasm. “Sure.”
“Was it him?”
Katsuki scoffs and scrunches his eyebrows, “No. One night he was hanging out at my place- I think we were right about to graduate high school- and we were just laying on my bed and talking. Honestly, I still don’t know why I did this but I got really in his face so we were like, going crosseyed looking at each other and I was just like ‘I feel like you should kiss me’ and he got all flustered and shit but. He did it. We broke my shitty twin sized bed. And now we’re here.”
“Wow. And you’ve never been with anyone else? Just your fiancé?”
Katsuki nods. “Yeah. That might be the thing that most people get surprised about when they meet me, that I do really believe in soulmates and shit like that. As sappy as it sounds, Deku really is the one true love of my life. It’s him or nobody.”
“That’s really sweet. Why do you think people are surprised by that?”
Katsuki pauses as if he hasn’t thought of the question before. “I don’t know. I guess- because my public persona is so brash and rowdy, people just don’t like- conceive this part of me? The part that’s in love and has been since I was a teenager. The part of me that craves affection and romance like any other person.”
“Well I know saying it doesn’t go far, given that we've never known another version of you, but I’d like to say that being in love looks good on you, Dynamight. I’m very happy for you.”
Katsuki looks genuinely touched by this. “Thank you,” He replies quietly.
“Now,” May says, sitting up and holding her cards out in front of her. “Time for some rapid fire questions. Ready?”
“I stay ready. It’s my job.”
“So true! Dynamight, Hero Shouto called you in a recent streetside interview his quote unquote ‘best friend’. What do you have to say about that?”
“He’s a liar, I barely know him. Next.”
“What’s a song you can’t get enough of?”
“Uhhh. Hm. Tear You Apart by She Wants Revenge.”
“I’ll have to listen to that one. And finally, to end us off, please tell us your juiciest sex story.”
“Wha-” Katsuki looks around, presumably at the crew behind the cameras, “Did my agent approve this? …She did? Well fuck.” Katsuki sits back in his chair.
“You don’t have to answer, we can just cut this-”
“No, I’ll answer.” Katsuki is slumped in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes are narrowed as he thinks.
“Okay, one time- God what if my Mom watches this? You know what? Too late.” Katsuki laughs, wiping a hand across his mouth. “One time Deku and I were… trying a new position. And in doing so, Deku lost his grip and I fell, but on the way down I lost control of my quirk slightly while also trying to hold onto something. Long story short, Deku ended up in the hospital for a burnt dick because I accidently yanked on it while trying not to fall.”
May sits across from Katsuki with her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Wow. When I said juicy this isn’t really what I meant. Was he okay?” May laughs. Katsuki’s face heats even more than it already was.
“He was fine. And I mean we have great sex all the time, what’s so special about that?”
“I guess that’s fair enough. Thank you so much for joining me today, Dynamight. It’s been a pleasure.”
“This was fun.”