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Izuku lifted the camera that was hanging around his neck, bringing it to his eye. He centered the view on the group of friends in front of him as they jostled each other, laughing and complaining.
“Everyone say PARTY!” he called, and they all responded with an enthusiasm that would rival a small child at Disney Land. He fired off a few shots, then stood back to watch the group disperse, some stumbling, others holding the stumblers, some yelling out to yet more people who were milling around.
It was a year since the whole of class 1-A had last been together for a celebration. The last time was when Todoroki had taken the #2 place in the Hero Rankings. This time was just an all-out party of madness, celebrating the fact that they could all get time off work to be together and let loose. A few were drinking, having finished work for the day, but most stayed sober as they were on call or heading into an early morning shift. The atmosphere was getting more and more raucous from the sheer energy radiating off everyone.
Izuku had taken most of the photos at the start of the evening, before the party got out of hand and some friends couldn’t follow instructions for the group shots. He had wandered through the crowd, chatting and catching up with everyone, and taking candid photos of the big smiles on most faces. There were a few friends who were less inclined to smile - Tokoyami had his usual expression plastered on, and Bakugo was wearing his usual scowl. That was fine, they still got captured in the photos anyway. He’d drop the best ones into the group chat next week sometime.
Scanning the room, Izuku’s eyes found Bakugo slouched on the couch, wedged between Kirishima and Sero who were talking across him, and looking highly unimpressed. Turning further, he spotted Uraraka deep in conversation with Asui. Izuku’s mind wandered back to a year ago, when he and Uraraka had decided they wanted to spend more time together. It was nice. But that’s where it ended, as friends. There was no romantic interest from Izuku, as much as he tried to find a spark, there was nothing. Uraraka was disappointed, she had admitted having a crush on him all throughout their time at UA and even afterwards, but he couldn’t force a relationship and have it ruin their friendship.
Uraraka took it upon herself to set Izuku up on a dating app and even arrange a couple of dates for him with guys, but they didn’t go anywhere either. The guys were lovely, but they weren’t what he was looking for. Izuku’s eyes trailed back to Bakugo who was still scowling from his spot on the couch and their eyes met across the room. Izuku couldn’t help but smile, and raised his hand in a little wave. Bakugo cocked an eyebrow and looked away. That was fine. Izuku knew what he was like.
“Midoriya!” Yaoyorozu entered his field of vision. She wanted his opinion on a new support venture she was thinking of organizing. Izuku lifted the camera strap off his neck and placed the camera on the table so it wasn’t in the way of his wildly gesticulating hands as he spoke enthusiastically.
A few hours later, Izuku yawned and looked at his watch. It was nearly 1am. The party had wound down, those with early shifts having left already to get some sleep, and a few others had been called out on urgent jobs. He helped clean up and came across his camera, having forgotten even putting it down, and tucked it into his backpack before slinging the bag over his shoulder. Moving to the front door, he saw Kirishima and Sero manhandling Bakugo, dragging him into a taxi. Apparently they were going to hit up some clubs.
“Midoriya! Wanna come with us? We’re gonna keep partying!” Kaminari yelled a little too close to his ear.
“Oh, gosh, no thanks, Kaminari. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow - well, today - you know, grading papers and such…”
“Aww, teach!” Kaminari pouted. “You’re too innocent. We’re gonna make Bakubro dance, man!”
Shouts of protest could be heard from inside the taxi along with raucous laughter. Kaminari ran to wedge himself into the taxi and Izuku watched it drive off down the road. He decided to walk back to his apartment. It would take about half an hour, but the night was mild and calm, and he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep straight away.
The walk was uneventful and relaxing. Back in his quiet apartment, Izuku dumped his clothes in the laundry hamper and took a shower before deciding to have a quick look at the evening’s photos. He downloaded them onto his laptop and settled on the couch with a mug of tea. The photos came out really good, everyone looked so happy and carefree. Flicking through, he expected the images to end after the last round of group photos he took, because then he had set the camera down to talk to Yaoyorozu and forgotten to pick it back up. But they didn’t end. Someone else had picked up his camera, because there were photos of himself. The first few were innocent enough, he was engrossed in conversations with various friends. Then he was looking distracted, with a small smile on his face.
Clicking to the next photo, his heart dropped. The angle of the photos had changed, and it clearly showed who he was looking at. Bakugo. Izuku was smiling distractedly at Bakugo. The adoration was plastered all over his face. Shit. He might as well have had cartoon hearts popping out of his eyes. There were a few photos like that, then the view changed again. This time, Bakugo was the focus.
Signature scowl, but his eyes were clearly roaming the room. Then the expression on Bakugo’s face changed - not a lot, but it definitely softened, bordering on a smile. The angle went wide again, and it was obvious he was watching Izuku who was engrossed in another conversation.
Shit shit shit. Who had the camera? Whoever it was, they knew exactly what they were looking at. Izuku and Bakugo hadn’t even interacted with each other outside of polite greetings and instructions for the group photos, but apparently they didn’t need to. These photos were evidence enough.
***
8 months earlier
Izuku was convinced that the lunch date he’d been on earlier that day was just a fan looking for a chance to say he’d been out with Hero Deku. He felt like it was going to be impossible to find someone who actually wanted him for who he was now, not who he was in the past.
The party that night was mostly classmates from UA, along with a few other trusted friends. Izuku couldn’t even remember what they were celebrating. He did, however, know that he had no plans the next day and that meant he could let loose and have some drinks.
Stumbling along the hallway, he found the bathroom door closed and locked. He leant back on the door, willing it to be open before he pissed his pants. That was clearly the wrong thing to do though, because as soon as the occupant of the bathroom turned the handle, he fell backwards, expecting to knock himself out on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor.
The cold tiles never came. Izuku opened his eyes and found himself wrapped in someone’s arms, the saviour’s face a little too close to focus on. He blinked a few times and realized he was gazing into Katsuki’s eyes.
“Kacchan!” Izuku exclaimed happily. “My hero!”
He wrapped his arms around his hero’s neck, then pulled him in close and kissed him. Apparently all his inhibitions had gone out the window. Izuku didn’t notice that the lips he was pressed against were not kissing him back, but for the fact that he had not been dropped to the cold tiles, or exploded out of existence, he still had confidence in himself.
Izuku trailed kisses across Katsuki’s jaw before snuggling into the crook of his neck. Katsuki still hadn’t moved.
“Kacchan, you don’know how long I’fe wan-ned to do this,” he mumbled.
Katsuki was still for a few more moments, before detangling Izuku’s arms from around his neck.
“You, ahh, you should sit down. To pee. Sit on the toilet so you don’t fall over, nerd.”
“Oh, yeahhhh I should, mmhmm.” Izuku nodded as he was guided to stand in front of the toilet, where he started undoing his belt. He heard the door click shut behind him as he managed to get his pants and boxers down and turn around to drop heavily onto the toilet seat. Propping his elbows on his knees, Izuku let his face fall into his hands, not trying to stop the tears from falling. The realization of what he had just done had caught up to his inebriated brain.
“I’m a fuckin’ idiot,” he mumbled to himself. “I’fe ruined it. Kacchan gonna hate me now.”
Izuku sniffled and rubbed his face, looking up to spot a figure leaning against the bathroom door.
“Oh, shit. Are you here, Kacchan? You watchin’ me piss?”
Katsuki snorted. “I’m making sure you don’t fall over and give yourself a concussion.”
“Kacchan’s the best.” Izuku struggled to his feet, pulling up his boxers as quickly as he could to try and preserve his last shred of dignity. As he shuffled around to flush the toilet, his pants bunched around his ankles, so as he tried to turn back around and bend over to pull them up, he only succeeded in toppling over. For the second time, Izuku expected to knock himself out on the cold tiles on the floor. For the second time, he did not meet the cold tiles on the floor.
Katsuki had caught him, again. “Kacchan! My hero!”
“How much have you had to drink?”
While Izuku considered the question, Katsuki managed to sit him down on the cold floor, leaning against the door, pants around his ankles still.
“Too much drinks.”
Katsuki snorted again. “I can tell.”
Izuku started crying again. “I’m an idiot. You hate me?”
“No, dork, I don’t hate you. But we do need to talk when you’re sober.”
Izuku didn’t remember much after that. He was in a car at some stage, he puked in a toilet some time after that, then he woke up in his bed. He rolled over, groaning at the thudding headache that was pounding his brain, squeezing his eyes shut as someone pulled back the curtains and sunlight hit his face.
Someone opened the curtains?
“Finally. You’ve wasted half the day.”
Izuku blinked, willing his eyes to focus. There was Katsuki, arms crossed over his chest, frowning down at him from beside the bed.
“Oh… Kacchan? Why are you in my apartment?”
“Making sure you don’t asphyxiate in your sleep. We still need to have that talk. Get in the shower, I’m putting coffee on.”
Izuku did as he was told, trying his best to ignore the self-inflicted pain in his head. As promised, he could smell coffee when he stepped out of the bathroom. Now dressed appropriately (he had found himself stripped down to his boxers when he rolled out of bed), he cautiously stepped into the open plan living area, finding Katsuki on the couch with two cups of coffee waiting on the coffee table.
“Kacchan?” Izuku was nervous. He remembered what he did last night.
“Yeah, come on. I got you some painkillers.”
Izuku sat down cautiously, all too aware that Katsuki was watching him.
“No point in being all nervous now, nerd, you certainly weren’t last night.”
“Ohhh, my god, Kacchan I am so so sorry-”
“Shut up.”
Izuku shut up. Why was Katsuki here and why hadn’t he blown Izuku up yet?
“Did you mean it?” Katsuki was looking straight at him, red eyes boring into green eyes. Izuku wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. He was so embarrassed.
“Umm. Yes… Oh my god I’m sorry Kacchan, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that, I had way too much to drink-”
“But you wanted to, right? That’s what you said last night.”
“Well, yes-”
“Then you won’t mind if I do this.” Katsuki leaned toward Izuku, gently cupping the back of his head. He pulled them together, and Katsuki kissed Izuku. Izuku’s brain short circuited, going offline momentarily, before he realized he could kiss back. It was soft, gentle, exploratory, nothing like Katsuki’s explosive personality. The pair pulled apart and studied each other.
“What- why?” Izuku didn’t quite know what he was trying to say.
“That’s what people do when they like each other, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah… Do- do you like me?”
“Duh. Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
Izuku couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Katsuki did most of the talking, explaining how he thought Izuku and Uraraka were an item, then suddenly finding out they weren’t and that Izuku and Katsuki apparently were on the same team. Izuku never realized how disappointed Katsuki had been when he turned down the offer to join Katsuki’s agency with his new hero suit.
“I want you to be happy, nerd. I was an asshole to you when we were kids, and I regret it, everything I did to you.”
“Kacchan - I already forgave you for that. Years ago. We’ve grown up and moved on.”
“We have grown up, and I’m glad, because now I can see why I pushed you away for so long. I’ve liked you for a long, long time, Zuku.”
Izuku was crying, and Katsuki had tears in his eyes. It was an extremely cathartic conversation, and by the end of it they were both on the same page - they wanted to try a relationship, together. It wasn’t something for everyone to know about yet though, they needed time to work out how their lives would fit together. And that’s why they didn’t interact with each other at the party, 8 months later.
***
Present day
A thud outside his apartment door brought Izuku back to his senses, and he heard the sound of a key in the lock. He leaned back against the couch and watched Katsuki come in the door and lock it behind himself.
“Hi, Kacchan,” Izuku called quietly. Katsuki seemed surprised to see him.
“Why are you still up?” he asked, dropping to the couch and planting a kiss on Izuku’s temple.
“I wanted to have a quick look at the photos I took at the party. You should see them, uhh, there’s some I didn’t take.”
“Did someone steal your camera?”
“Well, I put it down, and someone picked it up. That’s OK, but it’s what they photographed…”
Katsuki pulled a face. “I don’t want to see some fuckin’ rude shit from those kinky bastards.”
“It’s not! It’s… here. Take a look.” Izuku put his laptop on Katsuki’s lap, starting with the first photo taken of Izuku.
“It’s you?” Katsuki didn’t see the problem.
“Yeah, but keep going.”
Katsuki clicked through, silently. He saw the photos of Izuku staring at Katsuki with lovey-dovey eyes, then the photos of himself looking at Izuku so softly.
“What the fuck? Who had your camera?”
“I don’t know! They clearly saw something going on between us!”
The pair were silent for a few moments before Katsuki reached out to the chain that was around Izuku’s neck, fiddling with the ring attached to it.
“Maybe it’s time?”
Izuku stuck his hand inside Katsuki’s shirt, pulling out an identical chain with an almost identical ring attached to it. Izuku’s had red garnets inlaid around his, whereas Katsuki’s had green emeralds.
Just two months ago, Katsuki had proposed. To say Izuku was surprised is an understatement. He never thought he’d see the day where Katsuki fucking Bakugo was ready to settle down, but here they were, engaged to be married, with matching tungsten rings. And still nobody knew of their relationship other than Izuku’s mom and Katsuki’s parents.
“It looks like it might be time to tell the world that Japan’s most eligible bachelor is actually not available,” smiled Izuku.
“Tch. I haven’t been available for 8 months!”
They both laughed. It was amazing they had managed to keep it secret.
“We should probably tell our friends first - they might get a bit angry if they find out through a press release.”
“Nah, fuck ‘em.” There was no heat behind Katsuki’s words. Instead, he unclasped the chain around Izuku’s neck and slid the ring onto his finger, then did the same with his own. “Take a photo,” he said, intertwining their fingers together so both rings were visible.
Izuku lifted his phone and captured a photo of their hands. “What should I say?”
“Write you guys are blind fucking idiots.”
“I’m not saying that!”
“You figure it out then. You’re the teacher, always doing shit with words.”
Izuku thought, typing, erasing, and retyping, before showing it to Katsuki.
‘Not sorry for hiding it. Together 8 months, engaged for 2. The press will be all over it tomorrow.’ He ended it with a selection of love heart emoji’s, and tagged Katsuki.
Katsuki shrugged. “That will do. I better send my PR guy an email so he can sort the press release.”
Izuku held his phone up in selfie mode. “Smile!”
Katsuki scowled at the camera until Izuku turned and planted a kiss on his cheek, and the scowl immediately melted away into a soft smile.
“Hey!” he protested, “you cheated!”
Izuku laughed. “I did not! I’m showing our friends there is a softer side to the abrasive, explosive, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight.”
“Tch. Whatever. Send me that photo.”
Izuku did as he was asked, sending Katsuki the selfie and the photo of their hands, before adding the selfie to the message he was about to drop in the group chat.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Do it.”