Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was the start of a new semester, and he’s already running late.

The Starbucks pitstop wasn’t necessary on his run to his general-ed art class, but it was an eightAM class, and he didnt want to fall asleep in the middle of watercolor practice— or whatever it was that general-ed art class students did. 

To be fair, it was only his second semester in college; he could make an excuse about getting lost on the way, right? Right.

That’s what he told himself as his heart jackhammered in his chest while he ran up the stairs to the art building. Fuck having asthma, but he could wait until he was sat down in class to take a hit of his inhaler.

Just a couple more steps, and…

Ah, there. There was his art classroom, and gosh, was it a huge room. There weren’t too many students in the classroom, like the class details had mentioned when he was signing up, so the majority of the class space came from what the seating arrangement looked like. Everyone had their own easel facing inwards, forming a large circle with quite a bit of room in the middle. 

That was as much observing as he allowed himself to do, running over to one of the two free seats remaining and placing his tote bag beside him. He shuffled around the contents to pull out an inhaler, pressing the can and taking a shaky breath of the gas. 

The noise in the classroom finally filtered in through his ears, now that he felt like his lungs weren’t about to combust with how they had to work overtime. 

Lesson learned— be sure to wake up early enough to stop for Starbucks on the way to an eight AM class. 

Thankfully no one looked towards him while he was getting himself situated, which was an odd paranoia of his. Like, no one cared enough about him to actively stare at what he was doing— not here, anyway. In high school? Yeah, he was that ostracized kid who everyone looked at for one thing or another.

Usually bad things, but who would’ve thought that his nerdy plaid cardigans and khaki pants were actually a trendy thing in college? He didnt, but a quick look at that one blonde’s tiktok page assured him that his fit was cute. 

Well, that just meant that other people weren’t making fun of him for dressing like an old man. It didnt mean that he was cute enough for other people to stare at— not that he wanted this, anyway. No sir. He did not want anyone to look at him. Their eyes? Should not perceive him. Because if they did perceive him, then it meant he’d have to be a part of things and being a part of things meant going outside! He doesn’t want to go outside, he wants to stay in the comfort of his bedroom like the introvert he is and—

“Can the young man in the khakis please stop talking to himself, thanks,” a bored voice said in front of him. 

The bored voice belonged to his…

Oh, God fucking shit.

“Sorry, professor,” he smiled apologetically. “It’s a, uh, habit thing.”

“Yeah, okay. Just try to keep your thoughts in your head,” he said, turning around to go back to his desk. “We have one student missing, but since ten minutes have already passed, I will begin with the class. So—“

“Who’s missing?” Someone barked from the door. 

Izuku’s eyes lifted from his easel to look at the newcomer. He was easily distracted, okay? And it’s not like the white blankness of the easel was particularly interesting to stare at.

But you know what was interesting to stare at? The man standing in the doorway with a glare on his face. Izuku thought he looked familiar, but not in the we share three classes together type of familiar. No, it was more like the… I’ve heard of you around the campus and vaguely know what you look like type of familiar, you know? Yeah, yeah. The spiky blonde hair and carmine red eyes that everyone mentioned off handedly, sometimes accompanied with a swoon, sometimes with disdain. 

Izuku could understand why, now.

He had the type of face that would make girls in his high school wear heart eyes and shove love notes in his locker. Hell, if Izuku was openly gay he’d do that too.

But he was not openly gay.

And he had no time to ogle pretty boys who wouldn’t care to give him the time of day in return. There’s just so much more he could be doing with his time, like reading comic books or catching up on his favorite BL because yeah he may be lonely but he’d rather read about some fictional relationship than pursue his own in real-life. 

Did he have a bad experience with pursuing said relationships in the past?? Maybe, but that’s none of your business. 

“Yo, can you quit fucking talking to yourself? It’s annoying.”

A few people in the class snickered. Izuku whipped his head to his right side, to where the only other empty seat was. Now occupied by the man who was just standing at the front. How long had Izuku been thinking— talking— to himself for? Enough time for this man to settle down on his stool. 

Izuku didnt even have much of an expression on his face to begin with, but whatever he did have simply fell at the sound of their laughter.

“Hm, yes, he has a habit of doing that,” the professor said from his desk. “But,” the professor narrowed his eyes on the blonde student, before sweeping them across everyone else in the room, “that doesn’t mean you have to be so rude about it. Please, try to be respectful to your peers, or else you can pack your things and get out.”

The ones who laughed gave quiet apologies, and Izuku thought this was already an… unpleasant welcome to the class, and a sad way for his day to start. He hoped they wouldn’t think of him as the guy with khakis who was always talking to himself, since he got called out on it by two people . Granted, his professor was not as rude as the boy sitting beside him.

And, you know what? Izuku decided that he did not like this person. He was rude! And he— he called upon all of this attention of Izuku, and he had a feeling that sitting beside this person would only draw more attention to him…

“Psst, hey, green-haired dude,” the person to his left whispered. He tilted his head at them, silently asking what they could want. “Would you mind switching seats? So, y’know, you don’t annoy Bakugo if you talk to yourself again.”

“Uhh…”

“If you’re talking about swapping seats over there, then don’t even think about it,” the professor warned. “If I allow it to happen today then it’ll keep happening.”

“Aww, come on,” the girl who asked him whined. “It would be better for everyone! Bakugo would only disrupt the class more if he has to tell greenie to stop talking every five minutes.”

“Says fucking who?” Bakugo scowled at her, and Izuku just wanted to disappear. He was in the middle of… whatever this was. “You act like you know me, bushy brows. Yeah the mumbling may be annoying but I’d rather sit next to him than you.”

“You don’t mean that,” she pouted.

“What the fuck is going on,” the professor sighed. “I cannot deal with this. I’m leaving the class for today and sending emails out for what your homework will be.”

“What? Can he really just do that,” Izuku mumbled as he watched the professor leave the room.

“Who cares? Now, can we swap seats?” The girl asked him again, sounding more exasperated. 

“Don't even think about saying yes, freckles,” the blonde— Bakugo— clicked his teeth. “Is the mumbling really something you can’t control?”

“Umm,” Izuku nervously glanced at his easel, unable to look directly into Bakugo’s eyes. “Yes, I can’t really control the mumbling…”

“What's with the shy act? Do you like Bakugo?” She narrowed her eyes. Izuku squeaked. What the fuck was going on?!

“What?! No!”

“Yeah, right,” she huffed, standing up from her seat. “Well, whatever. I don’t want to sit next to someone whos rude anyway, even if you are hot.”

“You’re really fucking weird,” Bakugo made a face at her, receiving a middle finger in return. 

Izuku needed a breather. How many pumps were left in his inhaler? Is this how all of Bakugo’s interactions went with people? If so, then why did everyone always talk about him like he was some type of God who could do no wrong? Maybe that was before they really got to know him?

Agh, he had a headache . He took a vigorous sip of his Starbucks coffee which was essentially useless now. 

“You a Starbucks person?” Bakugo asked, apropos to nothing. Izuku’s brows raised.

“Yes? I guess?”

“Hm,” he picked up his bag. “Sorry for, uh, making everyone laugh at you and shit. Maybe I can compensate by buying you a pastry from Starbucks?”

What?

“What?” Izuku blinked, before laughing. “No, it's fine. You don’t have to do that.”

Okay, he takes his previous statement back. Bakugo was sort of okay— when he wasn’t making rude remarks about him and calling his uncontrollable habit annoying. He was a little odd, though. Why only decide to compensate him— which is totally not needed, by the way— and not the girl he just angered? 

Bakugo stood there as Izuku got himself up and brushed off his pants. It was awkward for a few seconds, which shouldn’t have been the case…

Except that Bakugo was still just standing there, facing Izuku liked he owed the blonde some money. He didn't know what else to do, so he hiked his tote bag further up on his shoulder before giving the blonde a small wave.

“Um, I’ll see you next class, then.”

“…Yeah, sure,” Bakugo nodded.

And then he did the strangest thing and briskly walked past Izuku, speed walking to the door. A few people stared, a few of them swooned and said “wow, his back muscles are so hot in that black tank top”, and then someone else responded with “his back muscles are always hot, girl”. So, they don’t care that he’s basically a rude jerk to people who act like they know him…

His attitude was sort of valid, Izuku thought. The girl was being pretty annoying, and even though they did get off on a slightly wrong foot, Bakugo wasn’t… a bad person, he supposed.

A little gruff, but that was fine. Izuku wouldn’t mind sitting next to him for the rest of the semester. 

—

“Hey Freckles,” Bakugo greeted him the moment he was within hearing distance. Izuku paused in his steps, making the person walking behind him accidentally bump into his back. 

“Hey, watch it,” she huffed, and ah, Izuku knew that voice. Girl from two days ago. 

“Sorry,” he moved out of her way, taking a seat at his stool and dropping his tote bag beside him. 

“What? Not gonna greet me back?” Bakugo grunted. Izuku hummed, taking a sip of his Starbucks drink. 

“Last I checked, Freckles isn’t my name,” his mouth quirked up in a teasing smile. Bakugo scoffed, attempting to hide his own smile.

“Don't get cheeky with me, you know what I mean.”

“Mhm,” Izuku nodded. “Hello to you too, Bakugo.”

He received a huff in response and nothing else, but he was sort of glad for that. He needed a bit of time to catch his breath before class truly began, and it looked like his professor— Aizawa, as he checked after class— was going to be late today. He didn't want to pull out his inhaler, so he took a few steady breaths with his hand on his chest. 

Apparently, that was enough to draw over Bakugo’s attention again. 

“You okay?” He asked, glancing at Izuku from the corner of his eye. The greenette nodded, offering a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, just have to mind my breathing. Asthma and all,” he added unnecessarily.

Oh, well, was that unnecessary? He thought it would be okay to throw in, but perhaps it was too much information to be telling a stranger, and— 

“Oh,” Bakugo said simply. “That fucking sucks. Imagine not being able to breathe the way you want to.”

And weirdly enough, after Bakugo said this, it looked like he wanted to… strangle himself? That was the image Izuku was getting, and it was easy to tell because he looked at himself like that all of the time. But he didnt understand why Bakugo would feel bad about the comment— it was funny. He made that much known by laughing lightly. 

“Yeah, it does. Wish my lungs didnt burn every time I run for more than two minutes at a time.”

“Seriously? Guess track wasn’t an option for you then.”

“Most cardio intense sports weren’t,” Izuku shrugged. “But its fine. I prefer more solitary activities.”

Bakugo smiled at the information, and, hey, it’s the first time that Izuku has ever felt like he wasn’t talking too much or boring the other person. Maybe he should talk to people more often.

Maybe. That’s a thought for later. A thought for right now? Wow, Bakugo looks so nice with a smile on his face. Much better than the scowl he wore two days ago. 

“Yeah? Like what?” The blonde asked. Izuku pursed his lips in thought, figuring out the best way to answer without saying well, I love reading hot steamy sex between two fictional men in my spare time . Yeah, there were multiple other ways to mention this, but his brain-to-mouth filter didnt work most times, so he had to be really careful about how he chose to word stuff. As he was about to answer, the door to the classroom slammed open.

Literally, it slammed open.

He thinks there may be a dent in the wall now. Not to mention how intense his professor's stare was as he pinned down every single student with his menacing black pupils. 

“Holy shit,” someone whispered under their breath. 

“Okay you menaces to society. You caught me lacking on Tuesday but I assure you I am ready to mold you all like clay. From here on out anyone who speaks will get booted out the door and get an F as their final grade. Okay? Okay,” he said as he walked to his desk, finishing his speech with his palms slamming his desk. 

Ouch. He didn't know what hurt more— the desk, or his professor's palms.

Or the wall. Or the door. 

And Tuesday was an off day?! Is this a good day for him, then? It was like looking at Bakugo from their previous interaction, only a hundred times scarier. 

“No more gossip girl time in this class. We’re gonna start off with something simple to get the morning tiredness out of your hormonal bodies.”

A student raised their hand. The professor looked at them, bored, but sighed and called upon them.

“Yes, what is it.”

“What if we’re asexual?” They asked. 

Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed. Were they just okay with mentioning their sexualities aloud like that, or was it simply a hypothetical? For any asexuals in the class?

…Were they making fun of asexuals?

 No, no. Izuku may be closeted, but not everyone in his college was… you know. And he’s yet to meet anyone like that! So he shouldn’t judge. His hands shouldn’t get clammy just thinking about it, so he needed to cool down .

A tap on his thigh startled him. He blinked at Bakugo, wondering what the touch was for.

“Whats wrong?” He mouthed. And then as if an idea struck him, he picked up a thin paintbrush and dipped it into the water cup on his easel, dabbing some black ink on it after. Izuku had to hold back a whole fucking laugh, puffing up his cheeks and pressing a hand to his mouth. He watched as Bakugo actually wrote on the canvas;

Are you having trouble breathing? 

Oh dear.

Instead of a full blown laugh, Izuku huffed something similar to it through his nose, even though his cheeks felt like they were going to fall off. Bakugo was so fucking stupid it hurt, but it was so endearing at the same time. 

He did the same thing to his own brush and drew on his canvas;

No I’m fine, don’t worry my lungs are good!

Bakugo wrote back;

Good. If they weren’t I would have to carry you to a nurse

Izuku rolled his eyes, smile still on his face as he pulled out his inhaler from his bag, shaking it a little and making the metal clink. Bakugo’s mouth formed a tiny ‘O’ before his cheeks got a tiny bit of a flush to them. 

Okay, yeah, that makes more sense , he wrote on his canvas. It was nearly covered already… and they hadn’t even started what they were supposed to!

Wait, what were they supposed to even do?

“Mister Midoriya and Mister Bakugo,” Aizawa’s stern voice cut through their written conversation. Bakugo’s back went rigid and his grip on his paintbrush tightened. Izuku slowly turned his head back to look at his professor, a nervous grin on his face.

Goodness, two altercations with the same professor within a week . A new record. Previous professors and teachers hadn’t bothered to point out his little mumbling habit after the first day, and this had nothing to do with his mumbling. 

“I don’t remember silent conversations being part of our syllabus,” he said, taking in the messes on their canvases. Izuku grimaced. The writing was legible enough, but it was scattered everywhere since their brushmenship wasn’t the very best— it was different from writing with a pencil, alright? And watercolor was messy. Aizawa just shook his head and ripped the ruined pages off of the easel, bringing up a fresh page with a clean canvas. “No more of these from you two. I mean it .”

He didn't wait for their acknowledgment before heading back to his desk, resuming his explanation of their assignment.

Izuku took a deep breath.

He had to get a hold of himself! It was fun talking to Bakugo like this, but he didn't want to keep getting in trouble for just talking to him…

Though, it's not like Bakugo would want to talk to him outside of the classroom, would he? He was most likely just bored, and now he knew that he wouldn’t be able to talk to Izuku at all. He’d have to focus on classwork and then he would pick up his bag and give Izuku a nod with his head before leaving the room. 

He wasn’t upset . No, he wasn’t. He’s gone many, many years in his life without having such effortless conversation with someone, and he could continue with that routine. 

Or, he would have… if Bakugo didn't slip him a note when Aizawa wasn’t facing them. Izuku glanced down at it, eyes widening at the contents.

Want to work on the assignment together after class? Or you know, at any time I don’t care.

Bakugo’s writing was really neat when he wasn’t using a paintbrush and watercolor. Izuku quickly hid the note when Aizawa faced them again, before giving Bakugo a discreet nod. 

The barest hint of a smile was on both of their faces.

—

They slid into their seats at— you guessed it— Starbucks, laying their bags flat on the table. A small stop at a nearby Target had to be made, which thankfully was only a fifteen minute walk from their campus. 

They realized that they didnt even have a simple sketchbook, or sketching pencils, for that matter. Very different from your standard No.2 lead pencil. 

So when they were equipped with this materials, they went down to Starbucks and Izuku was finally able to answer that question about his solitary activities. He realized it could have a double meaning. He hoped that Bakugo didnt think of it that way. 

Though he did learn something neat about the blonde during their Target trip; he loved to go on morning runs! Who would’ve thought the blonde was a running through the dewy morning air type of guy— he certainly didnt, but he was glad that he learned. It was a particularly enchanting image to think about. The light of the sun gently peaking through the cracks of the tree branches as it rose up in the sky, its golden rays landing upon green leaves and some flowers, and then glistening on the defined muscles of Bakugo’s arms. 

As a not openly gay man, he could appreciate that too, right? It wouldn’t be weird of him to look at that? People wouldn’t call him weird for looking at Bakugo’s arms?

They all did it anyway, they had no right to judge him. If he ever came face to face with the sight of the sun glistening on Bakugo’s arms, then he was going to look . 

Thats what he told himself, anyway. That day would most likely never come. A) they would never be in any scenario where Izuku would be up at the ass crack of dawn to watch the blonde go on his morning run, and B) even if he did get up at the ass crack of dawn, he wouldn’t be able to keep up. 

Agh, asthma. 

Back to the present— Starbucks.

“So, your solitary activities,” Bakugo brought up again. “You mentioned comic books. Thats kinda fucking vague though.”

“Is it?” Izuku blinked innocently. “Well, in that case, I like to read superhero comics.”

“Still pretty vague, Freckles.”

Izuku pouted.

“It’s lame , though.”

“Just the basic fact that you read comic books would be lame in this day and age, to be fair.”

He has a point.

“So I would’ve said that. But I obviously didn’t, so,” he shrugged, and Izuku had to relent. 

“Okay, okay. I actually read…”

“Huh?”

“I said that I read…”

“Deku, you’re gonna have to speak up,” Bakugo said blankly. Izuku paused for a few seconds.

“…Deku?! Where’d you get that from?”

Okay, he wasn’t an idiot— he knows where Bakugo got that from. The spelling of his name could be read as either Izuku or as Deku, and he’d gotten teased about his name all through out middle school to high school. 

But somehow, the way Bakugo said it didnt sound taunting. Yeah, it was a little teasing, but that was the only vibe Izuku got from it. Still, his cheeks puffed up in a petulant pout. Bakugo snickered.

“The spelling of your name, you idiot,” he said what Izuku already knew.

“Ugh, so you do know my name,” he narrowed his eyes.

“To be honest, I didnt know it til now. You wrote it on your sketchbook,” he nodded his head to where Izuku’s messy signature was on the cover. 

“Ahh,” he laughed, feeling a little stupid. 

“You… don’t know my name, do you?” Bakugo asked genuinely. He looked a little hesitant as he asked this, and maybe it was because of Izuku’s (mostly) nonchalant attitude about the blonde’s entire presence. In fact, any instances of Izuku’s nervousness could be chalked up to the fact that; that was just how his personality was.

He wasn’t particularly… affected by Bakugo’s social status? He’d never even met the blonde before Tuesday, and he was anxious of (mostly) everyone, Bakugo had such a silly and soft air about him that made Izuku relax. It was so different, though, from all the things he’s heard around the grapevine. Could people have judged him too fast without really getting to know him?

“Trust me, they know enough about me to say the shit they’ve been saying,” he snorted. 

“Oh, oops,” Izuku smiled in apology. “Didn’t mean to do that— again.”

“Nah it’s fine,” Bakugo assured. “It’s kind of…”

“Hm?” Izuku tilted his head at the red tinting Bakugo’s ears. 

The blonde shook his head, getting up at the call of their names from the barista. Izuku took some time to review their assignment for the class and opened up his sketchbook while Bakugo brought over their orders. 

“I’ll acquiesce from asking you about which comics you read—“

“Woo,” Izuku did a tiny cheer with a fist raised beside his head. Bakugo shook his head, smiling slightly and placing Izuku’s refresher in front of him. 

“For now, I meant. And if you want to know my name…”

“Of course,” Izuku gave a nod, “and, uh, don’t worry about me getting any ideas about you. You probably know that I’ve heard stuff, but I dunno, I don’t usually have this much,” Izuku hesitated, unsure if he should admit this, but ultimately deciding that it was fine to, “ ease talking to people. So… I guess if you really are as rude and asshole-ish as people claim you are, then that’s on me,” he finished with a shrug.

Bakugo raised an eyebrow before sighing.

“First off, that’s not on you, it would be on me. Something ever happen to you and make you think it was your fault?”

“Maybe,” Izuku shrugged. “But that’s neither here nor there.”

“Right,” Bakugo said, disbelieving. “Regardless, it would be on me if something like that happened— which, won’t, by the way. Just so we’re fuckin clear.”

Izuku hummed, drumming the table.

“Not to be a pessimist, but something like that can’t really be assured, can it?”

“Hah? You sayin’ I can’t be nice to you?”

“You have been nice to me,” Izuku laughed. “Im just kidding, anyway. I guess I can trust you to continue being nice and stuff.”

“Of course you can,” Bakugo huffed. “Anyway, this assignment aint gonna finish itself. What does the sheet say?”

“Ah, well…”

—

Confession time? Okay, confession time.

Izuku… hadn’t come out to anyone in a long, long time. Aside from his mothers acceptance of his sexuality, there wasn’t really anyone else in the small town he was raised in that tolerated him. He had friends. He had a best friend, Kai, that he grew up with. Kai actually gave him the nickname Deku— it was cute at first. Not said in a taunting manner, it was just something that the other boy had pointed out and toddler Izuku was okay with it after a bit of whining.

They were the best of friends for a while, at least, until middle school.

Kai had other close friends in his little group. Izuku didnt have that many. Kai said Izuku didnt need anyone else, and he was so awkward and clumsy that it would be hard for him to make friends, anyway. 

So Izuku, dumbly, stupidly, thought that since Kai would always be there for him, it would be alright to tell him the truth about his sexuality, right? It was something that he’d been really thinking about for a while. And he— his crush… was on Kai. But his best friend didnt have to know that part of his confession! He just wanted someone else, other than his mom, to know about this part of him. So he gave himself a pep talk and left his house that day, ready to tell Kai.

He told Kai.

It did not turn out well.

Well, that’s an understatement. Not only did Kai make a face of disgust as him the moment the word I’m gay came out of his mouth, he also went out of his way to make sure everyone knew about it. He didnt know what hurt more; the fact that he didnt get to come out at his own pace, or that Kai basically threw the information out there.

Because Izuku couldn’t make that many friends due to Kai’s odd possessiveness and his awkward personality, he… didnt have many people to support him. No one came to his aid when he was being mocked or jeered, and in a small town like that? Obviously the majority of people would keep their supportive words to themselves, in fear of getting mocked as well. 

But that— something like that leaves a scar on you. It left a scar so deep in his skin that he couldn’t bring himself to talk to anyone else while he was in his hometown.

He thought some people may have wanted to ask him how he was, but the fear of getting too close to someone only to be hurt or bullied by them—

He just didnt want to go through that again.

So the words excuse me and I’m sorry came out of his mouth more times than he could count. He walked by people without a second glance, and a few attempts at friendliness weren’t enough to dull out the many gazes of pity and disgust. 

And while the behavior of his classmates was hurtful, he supposed the reaction of his teachers caused the most damage. They had the chance to step in, too, and they wouldn’t receive any sort of retaliation for it. But they didnt. They just kept to themselves and looked at Izuku with those sympathetic glances that kept him up at night.

At a certain point he stopped crying.

He wondered if he would be able to talk to people again. 

Maybe at some point, but the start of his freshmen semester in college felt too soon. He still hadn’t healed, and he didnt have enough information on everyone to decide if he could open up. He wanted to— for sure, he did. But his comic books and solitary activities provided a solace to him for all those years that he wasn’t sure if he really needed to talk to people. He could do just fine by himself. 

Then of course, Katsuki Bakugo happened. 

—

He’s at the campus bookstore two weeks later.

Honestly, he shouldn’t have waited so long to purchase his books, but the online versions had been working so far. Then of course he’d need to purchase the actual textbook so he could do the online homework assignments.

Ugh, college.

Anyway, he’s at the bookstore when he sees Katsuki Bakugo walk inside with a steaming hot cup of coffee in his hand. Izuku quickly picked out the book that he needed from the shelf he was in front of and all but rushed over to greet Katsuki.

“Kacchan!” He beamed, totally shamelessly, “what are you doing here?”

It was a dumb question, but he liked talking to his friend, okay? It was fun talking to his friend— and he swore by this, once he was… comfortable enough, he would try to engage with more people. But Kacchan? He was alright for now. 

(Izuku just had to make sure he wouldn’t make the same mistake from the past). 

Katsuki— or Kacchan, as he did say— raised an eyebrow and gestured at the many, many shelves of textbooks and school supplies. Some knick-knacks and doo-dads, even. College bookstores were filled with lots of things, almost like a Target. You come in for one thing and if you have enough money to spend you leave with a pack of seventeen highlighter pens you definitely do not need. 

Izuku had the money. The highlighter pens were in his little carry-on shopping cart. 

“I dunno, Freckles. What does one college student do when theyre in a bookstore, hm?”

“Fair point,” Izuku shrugged. “But it is sort of funny we’re both here on the same day! Very procrastinator of us, huh?

“Nah, I actually bought my books on the second day of classes.”

They stepped aside to let someone exit the store and Izuku tilted his head in question. 

“Huh? Then what are you…”

“I saw your dumb green head from the window and thought I’d say hi,” he answered with a snort.

Izuku gawked at him.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Katsuki let out an airy laugh that made Izuku pause. It sounded so nice . Though it was far from the first time Katsuki had laughed like that, it sounded so new every time. Izuku liked to think this was a part of Katsuki that he knew, that nobody else did. Was that stupid of him? Perhaps!

But could you really blame him when Katsuki was known for his brash personality for the two years he’d been at the college so far? Well, brash personality and good looks, and the fact that despite his personality he’s still able to make all genders put their hands on their chest and wonder why their heart is going doki doki. 

Like that girl from his art class—

Gave her a week and she was bounding back to Katsuki with a flush on her cheeks and the beginnings of what sounded like an apology on her lips, before Katsuki quite literally told her to fuck off. Izuku had to stifle a giggle in the sleeve of his cardigan. 

While he was reminiscing, Katsuki took the opportunity to look inside of his basket at the books he picked out. And then Izuku realized that despite all of the conversations they’ve had, in real life or through text, they’d never told each other their majors. 

“These all literature books?” The blonde asked, tapping the basket. Izuku hummed in confirmation.

“Yes, they are. Since I completed most of my gen-ed reqs in high school I can start taking classes for my actual degree.”

“Except for the art class?”

“Yup,” he nodded, “that, I didnt know was even a requirement, but here we are.”

“…Kinda glad for that, then,” Katsuki mumbled. Izuku tilted his head, causing the blonde to shake his head in response. Suddenly the hot cup of coffee— ah, it was warm, now— was thrust upon him. He yelped, rushing to bring one hand up so he could hold onto the cup. He was too busy trying to comprehend the fact that he was up one cup of coffee that he didnt particularly need that he didnt hear what Katsuki said.

“Huh?” He asked in a daze, blinking himself out of it. “What did you say?”

“I said ,” he huffed, “that I saw your dumb head and thought I’d give you this coffee.”

“Oh, I don’t really need—“

“ Take it , nerd. Who knows, you might end up needing it,” Katsuki insisted.

“Ahh,” Izuku hid a smile behind the cup. He thought Katsuki was so sweet for bringing him a cup of coffee like this. “Thank you, Kacchan. I will be sure to enjoy this coffee then.”

Katsuki snorted.

“You better, nerd,” he brought a hand up to flick Izuku’s forehead. The greenette made a noise of protest that didnt sound believable to either of them. Katsuki laughed again, and through out their entire conversation Izuku did wonder why no one said anything to them about blocking the entryway. Well, he supposed that was a good thing. He didnt want to get embarrassed about having a conversation with his new friend in an inconvenient location—

“Can the young couple blocking the entryway please move their conversation elsewhere, thanks.”

That monotone voiced motherfucker.

“Professor Aizawa!” Izuku yelped in lieu of saying what was actually on his mind. His professor eyes him and Katsuki up and down before glancing at the door. Izuku hastened to apologize, moving out of the way. They both watched as their professor left the store, the little bell atop the door jingling at his departure. 

“I know you were cursing him out in your head, shitty nerd,” Katsuki said after a moment of staring at Aizawa’s retreating figure from the store window. Izuku scoffed.

“No proof.”

“Heh. True.”

—

Things don’t take long to get busy.

Not for lack of… attempting to coordinate their schedules on both of their ends, but it was simply because it was getting increasingly impossible. The first two or three weeks of college may seem like a breeze— and Izuku could only say that for his area of study; literature. But perhaps Kacchan had been busy from the start, given that Izuku just recently learned that the mad lad was studying chemistry . Absolutely bonkers, but its totally something he’d do.

Of course Katsuki reassured him that things didnt really start up til recently, too, and you know what? Izuku was going to believe that, because he didnt want to ruminate in the guilt that he was taking precious study time out of Katsuki’s day.

Besides that though, Izuku was also beginning to fall under the pressure of all these writing and research assignments. 

(And if he thought that maybe he could call up Kacchan so they could work on an assignment together, then that was his business). Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), he didnt do that— he knew that if they were together in the same room, they would do quite literally everything except for their art assignment. It’s why the prospect of studying together had never come up between them.

Maybe, if he could ensure that they both wouldn’t get distracted, then it could be a possibility, but for right now it was totally off the table.

He groaned.

Studying alone was so boring though. He hadn’t even thought this last semester! Or for his high school years, for that matter. While he wasn’t mad at Kacchan for bringing about this change in him, he did have to admit that he felt lonelier than he’d been used to in a long, long time. 

Forgive him for having a tragic backstory but it is what it is.

He groaned for the umpteenth time and was about to sit up to make himself a… something (he would figure it out when he goes to the kitchen), when there was a knock on his apartment door.

Perhaps there is something to be said about how his initial response to unknown door knocks is to grab a cleaver but that was to be unpacked on a later date. For now he just picked one up from a kitchen drawer— ah, there were some cup noodles there! Nice— and slowly creeped to his front door. The knocking continued and he boosted himself up via his tip toes to check who it was through the peephole

Oh!

“Kacchan?” He asked to himself as he opened the door. 

The Kacchan in question gave him a head nod in lieu of a verbal greeting, and he was holding a… grocery bag in his hand? Katsuki shook the bag a bit, as if he needed to put more attention on its presence. 

Honestly, Izuku was still stuck on the fact that Kacchan was here , in front of his apartment, dressed in a tight grey shirt that put all of his arm muscles on display and if Izuku was any less used to hiding his blatant attraction, he would have totally stared at Katsuki’s pecs. But he didnt, because he was a master at the art of conceal, don’t feel . 

If he were any less paranoid, he would allow himself to stare— because, c’mon, there’s nothing wrong with staring at your friends if theyre hot! He knew this, and there were so, so many people who were okay with it. But still, the paranoia that Katsuki might be disgusted with him and shut him out is still there, and its not leaving any time soon.

At least until…

Nope! Better to not get his hopes up, yeah? There shouldn’t even be any hoping to begin with! What is he, a loser? That he starts to have non-platonic feelings toward the first friend he makes in fucking forever ? No, no, he had to shut that down now—

“Oiy, nerd,” Katsuki huffed, “the hell are you mumbling to yourself about? Get in here so you can help me make dinner.”

“You— where’d you go?” He did a 180 and lo and behold Kacchan was already making himself comfortable in Izuku’s kitchen. He sputtered, shutting the door behind him before he was reminded of the fact that he was holding a large ass knife in his hand. 

“Cute cleaver, by the way,” Kacchan commented on it with a snort. 

“Thanks,” Izuku laughed nervously, putting the cleaver away. “Why are you here? Not that I don’t appreciate your company at any time of the day, to be quite honest, but we didnt make prior plans and this is the first time youre over— are you making katsudon?” He gasped. 

“ We’re making katsudon,” Kacchan corrected. “I’m not gonna be the only one cooking for us.”

Izuku pouted but relented to the fact that he was going to have to help. 

“You invited yourself in,” he mumbled without any real complaint, of course. “Were you as bored as I was?”

He ruffled through the bag to get out the rest of the ingredients, though he knew that it was katsudon already upon sight of the bread crumbs and pork.

“Honestly? Yeah,” Katsuki nodded. “My brain was getting fried from all the chemistry reading so I thought I’d come hang out with you.”

“And get your brain fried even more?” Izuku joked. He pulled out a couple of spices and vegetables before raising an eyebrow. “How did you know I didnt have any of this?”

“We’ve video called enough for me to know the only thing you have in your kitchen is cup ramen.”

“I have spoons, too.”

“Edible?”

“…No.”

Katsuki snorts again and Izuku thwacks him with a wooden spoon.

They continue on to make the katsudon in… relative peace and quiet. Look, its them , okay? It may have been only a month since they’ve met, but when theyre together like this Izuku feels like they’ve known each other forever. Like Kacchan was the one that Izuku grew up with, and not Kai. Like Kacchan was there with him every step of the way, even when he came out in middle school. 

Something tells him Kacchan would have been supportive, but that bit of thought was still fuzzy. He knew enough about Katsuki… but he didnt know everything.

He didnt— couldn’t — make any rash decisions. Especially not now that Kacchan had started plating him a serving of the heavenly smelling katsudon. 

“Even though you almost started a fire three times, I think it turned out pretty good,” Katsuki commented, a bit impressed.

“Yes, that is saying a lot for someone who only has experience making instant ramen,” Izuku agreed with a laugh. He said a thank you when Katsuki passed him a fork and a spoon and dug in as soon as he was done blowing his first spoonful of food. It wasn’t completely cooled yet, so as he moaned about how great it tasted, it sounded more like “hashfhahhasfff”.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying, but I’m going to guess its a good thing,” Katsuki laughed, taking his own bite after properly cooling it. He hummed, “it does taste pretty good. Although it is pretty hard to fuck up a katsudon.”

“I’d love to cook more with you!” Izuku said without missing a beat. 

The experience may have been taxing, and Katsuki did have a tendency to point out Izuku’s mistakes a lot, but it was a learning process and he could say that it was a fun activity to do with a friend. Katsuki appeared taken aback by the loud suggestion, eyes wide and cheeks slightly flushed. Izuku wondered why that was— Kacchan wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that Izuku wanted to do more cooking together, was he? It was so fun, though! The blonde couldn’t have possibly expected this to be a one time thing.

Or maybe it was the fact that Izuku seemed too excited about it…

“Ah, not that I’m forcing you to do that with me or anything,” he quickly threw in. “I just mean that it would be fun to cook more with Kacchan.”

Katsuki cleared his throat, taking another bite of his food before huffing. 

“Yeah— yeah, of course it would. I am the best at cooking after all. You just caught me off guard.”

“Of course, sorry,” he smiled apologetically. “Didnt mean to sound so excited.”

“Nah, I mean,” he sighed, “I did yell at you a bunch, and that was what threw my friends off after their first cooking experience with me, so I didnt expect you to want to do it again. ”

“But that’s just part of the learning experience!” Izuku exclaimed. His food was totally forgotten about as he leapt to defend Katsuki’s honor. “You’re a great teacher, Kacchan. I think your friends might just want free food from you,” he laughed. Katsuki scoffed.

“No shit they do. I don’t give hand outs though— only cook on occasions, like their birthdays.”

“Aww, how sweet of you Kacchan. You’re such a good friend.”

“Hey, you fucking mocking me, nerd?”

“‘Course not,” he smiled softly. “You really are a good friend. I know its only been a month since we’ve met, but I’m glad you’re the first person I’ve let in after a long while. So… thank you, for being so kind to me.”

Katsuki clicked his tongue at the impromptu confession, placing a piece of his fried pork onto Izuku’s plate. Thats when he was reminded that, oh, there was food sitting in front of him, and he just had to get all mushy and sappy on Kacchan when they were supposed to be eating.

“Quit thanking me for something I’m supposed to be doing as your friend. And eat up, nerd. Your foods’ gonna get cold,” he grumbled at the end. Izuku giggled.

“Yessir!”

—

So it’s a month later that Izuku really starts thinking .

No, he wasn’t thinking about the fact that Katsuki was basically parading himself around like the whore he was in a tank top in January weather. Quite literally, the first day of classes? Thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and Izuku was lucky he worked up enough of a sweat in the morning to not freeze to death. Hell, most of the students in the class had coats with them. He forgot to grab his because, obviously, he was late.

But Katsuki ? The man did not have a coat on him. It was absurd.

Again, Izuku wasn’t really thinking about that. What he was thinking about, though— he didnt know if it would be easy to accomplish, or if he was ready to take that leap. But it’d been long enough and at this point he was just beating around the bush! He and Kacchan connected well enough, and as scary as it is to him to realize that they may be skirting around best friend territory, more than anything he felt… safe. Kacchan was nothing like Kai, and he needed to stop having his doubts. That also meant he needed to stop having his doubts about talking to new people.

He’s still an awkward nerd. Theres no growing out of that. This is college, though, in a big city, and not in some small town like where he grew up. There were tons more awkward nerds— it would just be hard to sort them out because tons of people wore cardigans and khakis as a fashion statement. Or they were into wearing band T-shirts, and generally things that got him mocked in high school, but for some reason it was seen as cool and trendy everywhere else.

For Gods sake, there were even people who wore those outfits to impress their crush! It was absurd to him at first, especially because, well, he’d grown up in his small town of one thousand people for eighteen whole years, surrounded by people with a narrow mindset. Sure, it was probably his fault towards the end for not interacting with the people who tried to talk to him, but he was still trying to get over the hurt that came with Kai discarding their friendship like it was nothing.

However! He was ready now, sort of. And, well, he knew that it wouldn’t be easy just picking out people to possibly befriend. So when he and Kacchan were studying together in the library (a relatively good environment where they wouldn’t distract each other… too much), he decided to bring up his predicament. It probably wouldn’t be the best idea, but it sounded like Kacchan had good friends, right? Maybe— maybe he could try to get along with them, as well?

The idea had many faults, he was sure of that, but he couldn’t think of anything else that wouldn’t have him a stuttering mess trying to figure out which conversation topics were safe to bring up. 

Okay, okay, it was time.

“So, Kacchan, I was thinking…”

“Whats new,” he said without looking up from his chemistry textbook

“Shut up and let me finish,” Izuku huffed. He could sense Kacchan rolling his eyes but the blonde thankfully stayed quiet. “I was thinking that, maybe I could try making some more friends?”

At that, Kacchan lifted his head and blinked at Izuku. Not even a second later he smirked and nodded.

Izuku didnt know what to make of that response until Kacchan added,

“About fucking time, ya damn nerd. My friends were on my ass about who I’m ditching them for but I didnt want to introduce you til you were ready.”

“ Kacchan ,” Izuku sniffled, feeling so touched. “They really asked about me?”

“I didnt tell you? Yeah. Especially that dope, Kaminari. Told him that you were the kinda clothes he’s always raving about. You might get along well with him. Then there’s his boyfriend— oh, you might get along with him better? He’s sorta introverted; more tolerable than the rest.”

Izuku nodded along with what Kacchan was saying about his friends. He went into more detail about what each one was like.

Mina was outgoing and energetic. She liked to talk a lot and poke her head into peoples business, but she always means well. There’s not a single evil bone in her body.

Kirishima is a “bro” kinda dude, but he’s the friendliest person you’ll ever meet and gets along with everyone as long as theyre not an asshole. 

Shinso is the quiet one— mainly, he’s part of the group because he’s dating Kaminari, but his presence wasn’t imposing and he was chill. Sleep deprived. Loves starbucks— yeah, Izuku would definitely get along with him. 

Kaminari, the man, the myth, the legend, used to be the resident campus slut before Shinso cuffed him. He’s the tiktok influencer that talks about all the recent gossip along with Mina, but mainly he does outfit videos and makeup tutorials. 

Todoroki was similar to Shinso in that they both talked little but had the same sarcastic humor. Todoroki was more of a little shit than Shinso, though, but that was only because he always tied with Katsuki in terms of class rankings. 

Uraraka and Toga are a package deal. You’ll rarely see Uraraka without Toga and vice versa. It used to just be Uraraka in the group since she was more of a goody-two-shoes and could do no harm, but after she met Toga she became more laid back and sorta scary. Still a great person though.

Toga. An absolute psychopath, but she kept to her own and didnt creep off the group too much . She’d probably get attached to Izuku though since he was so cute.

Izuku flushed at the last piece of information that Katsuki threw out. 

It probably shouldn’t have captured as much of his attention as it did, but…

“You think I’m cute?” He blurted out the question, catching Katsuki off guard. The blonde blinked at him, eyes widening and face flushing, as if his words had just caught up with him.

“I, um,” Katsuki floundered for a couple of seconds, looking anywhere but at Izuku, before an embarrassed scowl formed on his face. “What if I did? That can’t be the first time anyones called you cute. Don’t make it a big deal, you shitty nerd.”

Izuku tilted his head.

Okay, he wouldn’t make it a big deal if Katsuki didnt want it to be—

Friends complimented each other like that often, right? He shouldn’t make Katsuki feel uncomfortable with dishing out compliments! Even though he didnt seem like the type of person to do it so freely, if that was how comfortable he felt around Izuku, then he should just let it stay that way.

However.

“It is, though? Well, aside from my mom, no one has, ya know, called me cute.”

Katsuki’s scowl disappeared quickly, brows furrowing. 

“You serious? Hows that even— you know what? Nah, we have to prepare you to meet my friends. I can already tell theyre gonna be all fucking over you,” Katsuki snorted. Izuku paled at the insinuation.

He was— he was… going to have to be complimented more?! Oh woes him. How ever would he handle being complimented by a hot boy.

Izuku yelped at the loud noise that accompanied Katsuki slamming his head on the library table. He looked around them, casting nervous smiles at the eyes staring at the pair. Some of them looked inquisitive. Others looked annoyed. There was someone glaring at him instead of at Katsuki, and Izuku had a pretty good idea of why.

Even though it was nothing like that. They were just two friends (maybe even BEST friends) studying in the library whilst one complimented the other. No biggie.

Okay, how was he supposed to know if it was a biggie? Katsuki quite literally told him to not make it a big deal, and he’s not had much experience with friends outside of Kai, who never really dished out compliments much. He called Izuku a socially awkward nerd, but that’s not really a nice thing, is it? In fact, it sounded much more fond when Katsuki called him that.

So he— he didnt know. Was this something he should pay more attention to? Or should he just leave it be?

More than anything, he wished he could understand . But the biggest concern right now was how red Katsuki’s forehead was from slamming it on the table. 

“What’d you do that for?” Izuku asked, concern overtaking his features. It certainly was out of nowhere, but first and foremost he was worried for his friend. Katsuki took a deep breath and just shook his head in response.

“Dont worry about it. That, uh, happens sometimes,” he answered, clearing his throat. 

“Really? Its the first time I’ve seen it, though…”

“Oh my God, quit with the questions and get back to studying you stupid nerd,” he huffed. His eyes were wholly focused on his textbook just like at the beginning of their conversation. Izuku’s lips couldn’t help but quirk up in a small smile.

Yup, it definitely sounded much more fond when Katsuki called him a stupid nerd.

—

Katsuki whistled lowly, his eyes roaming in appreciation. He had a captivated look on his face as he just… observed. He made no more comments, and Izuku was beginning to feel a little bit flustered. He knew he was supposed to be getting used to Kacchan’s compliments, but did it have to be like this ? While Katsuki wasn’t that open about his appreciation of things (usually, he just boosts his own ego, and perhaps Izuku was all too willing to feed into that), he did say things offhandedly.

Never had anything like this happened before. Izuku was at a loss of what to say, so he just squirmed and hoped Kacchan would elaborate a bit more. But no. The blonde just nodded, mouth lifting up in a smirk.

“Lookin’ good, nerd.”

Izuku let out a breath, smiling at Kacchan before returning his focus to his painting. It was a sunflower. A poorly painted sunflower, but hey, Kacchan did say he was gonna compliment the fuck out of him, and that didnt really account for honesty.

“Are you kidding?” The girl beside him said, scrunching her nose in distaste. “I don’t know how you made the flower look like its inbred.”

“ You’re inbred,” Katsuki snapped. She smirked.

“If you want me to be.”

What.

“Thats just disgusting, Kendo,” the student next to her gagged. Izuku’s eyes shifted to them— it was another blonde, but this one had blue eyes. What was his name… oh, Monoma. Yeah, he’s right, that was pretty disgusting. Kendo shrugged.

“Just letting him know I’m available.”

“Yeah no thanks,” Katsuki scoffed. Aizawa slammed his hand on his desk.

“Shut up, all four of you.”

“It’s always them professor,” some other student said from across the room. “Shouldn’t you dish out some type of punishment?”

Aizawa raised his eyebrow at them, like he was saying ‘yeah, no. I don’t care enough to do that, to be quite honest’. Izuku was thankful that his teacher was a bit too sleep deprived to actually do anything to do them. And its not like they were being overly disrespectful! This is like the first time in… a whole week that they’ve been distracting. 

“Hey, fuck you too, dipshit,” Katsuki seethed. 

“Ahh, its a wonder how someone as sweet and quiet as Midoriya is friends with you,” a student sighed wonderingly. Izuku really needed to learn everyones names! Then again he didnt care enough about everyone to actually learn who they were, he just needed to know what they were like. 

“Right?” Someone else agreed. “Like Midoriya is way too good for him! And I say this as someone whose loved Bakugo since the moment he stepped foot on campus,” they said, looking all dreamy now. Katsuki’s nose scrunched, disgusted.

“You people are weird,” he grumbled.

“No, you’re just really hot!” Kendo giggled.

“What the fuck is going on,” Aizawa sighed to himself. What the fuck indeed. It was at times like these that Izuku remembered no matter how laid back and fun Katsuki was in private, he was a walking attraction to everyone who didnt know him. Perhaps it was the mystery? It very well could be the rugged asshole persona, but its obvious to Izuku that Katsuki wasn’t at all an asshole. 

He was confuzzled, to say the least. 

About both Katsuki and the situation at hand. Kendo wasn’t wrong though, Katsuki was absolutely. Hot. Stunning. Wow. Sugoi. As a not openly gay man he could say that much! And he needed to stop saying that to himself; there was nothing shameful about—

From the corner of his eye he saw Katsuki slam his face onto his canvas. Izuku gaped at the blonde. That was the second fucking time this week. What was going on with him? Perhaps this really was a condition that he had, and Izuku had totally just downplayed it! Oh dear, oh dear.

“Kacchan!” He floundered, getting up from his stool to check on his best friend. “Are you okay? Do you need a nurse? Oh, you’ve got some red paint on your forehead, haha.”

“Shit,” Katsuki cursed, touching his forehead and finding that yup, there was absolutely red paint covering it. It almost resembled the red splotch from the library incident! Izuku still gingerly placed his hand on Katsuki’s bicep—

Ahh, his well-defined bicep. Come to think of it… this is most definitely the first time Izuku’s touched it. He felt that it should be under a more interesting circumstance, and not in the middle of their art classroom on display for a number of other students, and their professor. But he had a Kacchan to tend to! Couldn’t get embarrassed now. Kacchan was being so kind to him by assisting him with his issues, the least that Izuku could do was accompany him to the infirmary. 

“Come on, Kacchan. Lets get you to the nurse,” he said gently. 

“I don’t need to go to the fuckin’ nurse, you dork,” Katsuki’s cheeks puffed out. Izuku rolled his eyes.

“Okay then, mister suddenly smacks his forehead onto every surface. Do you have medicine for it?”

“…No.”

“Oh, then how did you control it before?”

“Well a certain someone hadn’t mumbled about how hot I was before,” Katsuki muttered. Izuku’s brain short-circuited. He faintly heard Kendo gasp and Monoma say good heavens how shameless . 

“Wh-what?” He squeaked, trying to make certain if he really heard what Katsuki just said. B-because if that was the case then— Kacchan had heard the times Izuku called him hot! Why didnt he say anything the first time?! Did he slam his head because it was embarrassing and mortifying and he didn’t want to make Izuku feel bad?! He was going to melt into an embarrassed puddle. 

“Hey, nerd, calm down,” Kacchan’s hands on his shoulders grounded him. But he still horrifically red in the face.

Actually, they both were. Izuku felt bad that he made Kacchan uncomfortable…

“I’m sorry, Kacchan,” he sniffled, trying to hide his face in his turtleneck. “I-I didnt mean to make you feel uncomfortable…”

“Mother of God I am quitting my god damn job. The rest of you are dismissed, watching this is taking years off my life span,” Aizawa grumbled, and everyone scrambled to get up from their seats and out of the classroom door.

None of that was audible to Izuku and Katsuki, though. Kacchan clicked his tongue and lightly flicked Izuku’s nose.

“Who said you made me uncomfortable, hah? It was just… sudden, hearing it from you those times. I’m used to compliments from everyone since I’m the fuckin best—“

Izuku snorted. 

“—But its just different coming from you. It feels more genuine, and I’m scared of fucking up something in front of you.”

“Why?” Izuku tilted his head. “You don’t have to be scared of that at all, Kacchan. I’ll always think you’re amazing.”

Katsuki squeezed his shoulders, huffing again as his lips quirked up in a less-than-confident smile. It didnt look right on Kacchan’s face— Kacchan was always sure of things, so Izuku wanted to do whatever he could to make sure Kacchan knew he would never leave. 

“I’m not going anywhere, Kacchan. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not,” he annunciated slowly and bonked their foreheads together. “See? I have a brand of red paint on my forehead to match yours! Physical proof.”

“You’re suck a fucking dork,” Katsuki let out another one of his wonderful, genuine, and beautiful airy laughs. 

Izuku’s heart stuttered in his chest. His breath hitched, and he knew that he’d fucked up. 

“Okay, nerd, we’re stuck together for who knows how long. No take backs, or I’ll kill you."

Izuku laughed, willing himself not to sound nervous. Kacchan’s expression didnt change, though— he looked happy, like a weight was just lifted off of his shoulders. For Izuku, it felt like something had just been placed over his heart. He… he promised Kacchan, so he couldn’t just walk away, even though such a huge part of him wanted to. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to start liking Kacchan .

—

He felt like such a coward.

It’d only been a few days, but Izuku felt like he was having Kacchan withdrawal. His phone would light up once every hour with a message from his blonde best friend, but whenever he wanted to check, his hands would shake and he would immediately pull them back by his side.

He couldn’t do it.

Katsuki didnt know about him— he didnt know that Izuku was disgusting . Other people could have their happiness, they could love whoever they wanted to love. But Izuku didnt deserve that. He deserved to hide that part of himself away, because…

If he just hadn’t told Kai, then they would still be friends, possibly.

Kai was rude. He could be an asshole, a jerk, and all of those bad adjectives. It wasn’t in the same way that Kacchan could be rude— but still, there was a reason that Izuku had been friends with him for so long.

Imagine, the boy you’d grown up with from age three to fourteen, just leaving you the moment you confess who you really are. The boy who’d called you a disgusting freak; had multiple people call you those words, hurling other insults, yelling that he was a faggot, a socially awkward nuisance, and his mother was just as fucked as him if she accepted him for who he was. 

There were days and nights where the words would mean nothing.

There were afternoons and evenings where the words would mean everything.

In his mind, there was no way to erase a decade of friendship and torment. He was ready to fight for a sense of normalcy in his life, because he was so sure that something like the past would never happen again, if he had anything to say about it. 

But then Kacchan happened.

Kacchan helped him, was so kind to him, and he was even happy to introduce Izuku to his friends even though he complained about how loud they were sometimes. He was always looking out for Izuku, and what did Izuku do in return? He got a crush on him, that’s what. Gods, if Kacchan knew… he would probably be weirded out and begin to distance himself. Izuku couldn’t have that happening.

He knew that he told Kacchan he wouldn’t be going anywhere, but he just needed a few days to get over himself. The crush would not go away, that much Izuku knew.

You didnt just stop liking Kacchan. He understood those people on a deep, deep level now. 

Well, maybe not on a deep level, since they seemed to like the blonde for superficial reasons, but his heart was captivated, and it’d most likely stay that way for a while. 

“Fuck,” he groaned to himself, knocking his forehead against his knee where he was curled up on his couch. “Fuck me. Why did this happen?”

His phone pinged again for the fourth time that hour, most likely with a message from Katsuki.

Who was he kidding; it was definitely a message from Katsuki. It’s not he talked to anyone else. Maybe it was Aizawa, if he really wanted to entertain himself, asking if Izuku completed his art assignment yet. He smiled to himself at the thought.

He needed a distraction. From Katsuki, from the self-deprecating thoughts. It’d been a while since he cracked open one of his comic books. He had been so focused on classes and hanging out with Katsuki— while trying to hide his silly little comic book obsession from Katsuki— that they slipped his mind. It was odd, spending nearly all of your time with someone that you forgot much else existed. He didnt feel that way with Kai. Kai made him feel like he always needed a distraction. Sometimes he felt like the other wasn’t really listening to him. His All Might comics and action figures couldn’t really listen to him either, but at least they made his heart feel lighter. He could pretend that he was in that universe, living his life as a superhero who saved people with a smile. He’d win to save, and save to win. Perhaps with someone by his side.

Someone like Kacchan.

That’s what he’s always imagined. But such a dream… it was unobtainable. And really hecking corny. He couldn’t imagine attempting to tell other people that— even Kacchan. Not for the fear that the blonde might laugh at him, but it was just that being a superhero in that world; could someone as plain and unassuming as him become one? With his social anxiety, and general attitude?

So badly, he wanted it. But maybe even in that universe he would be mocked and laughed at. Maybe he would be quirkless, truly unable to be a hero. 

He took down one of the volumes from his shelf. It wasn’t totally a random selection, since he could tell which volume it was just from the details on the spine. He knew what would be on each page, what the dialogue was, which characters would appear. 

He’s spent a lot of time reading All Might. Had all of the collectibles, DVD’s, soundtracks— you name it, he’s got it. His mom had a good-paying job as a nurse at his hospital, and he had enough money in the trust fund left by his father, along with the life-insurance from his dads death, which remained untouched. He hadn’t met him. Or rather, he couldn’t remember meeting him. His mother told him that his father died early, in a car crash on his way back from work.

Izuku was surprised that she hadn’t let the death of his father depress her for too long. She had a little boy to take care of, after all.

His mother was the light of his life. 

They talked often through call or text— nothing too important shared, just questions about each others day or week. Izuku mentioned Kacchan to her. She was ecstatic that he’d finally made a friend again. 

A few pages within the book, and he began to chew his lips, feeling restless. This wasn’t working. Maybe he needed to go outside.

It was an odd solution coming from him, but he couldn’t stay inside of his apartment forever, even though he’d like to. It was starting to feel a bit cramped. Suffocating. He pulled on a sunflower yellow cashmere sweater and his usual chunky red shoes before leaving his apartment…

…And promptly being smacked in the face with a fuming Katsuki. Metaphorically, of course. Kacchan would never lay a hand on him violently. 

Or maybe he would, because currently he was looking very, very angry. And rightfully so! After the promise Izuku had made, why wouldn’t Katsuki be mad that he was being so avoidant? He had every right to be mad at Izuku for lying to him. 

“Kacchan,” he tried to sound casual— like he hadn’t been avoiding the blonde for three whole days— but he sounded like a chipmunk as he squeaked Kacchan’s name. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here, you asshole?” Kacchan growled, crossing his arms over his chest. Izuku was about to do the same in an attempt to defend himself— this was his apartment, dammit, where else would he be— before Kacchan added, “you didnt even go to class yesterday. That orange haired bitch with the big hands was worried about you, too.”

Izuku blinked.

“Really?”

“No, she annoyed the fuck out of me. She stayed in her own seat but I don’t want to endure that class without you,” he said, almost sounding like he was whining. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“Whaaat?”

Why was he doing this.

“Pfft, I haven’t— I haven’t been avoiding you. Wh-why would you say that?” He giggled nervously chewing on his bottom lip. 

Oh wow, now look what’s happened. His delusional love-struck mind is tricking him into thinking that Katsuki’s staring at his lips! He’s hit the lowest of lows. This low was not even hit when he had a crush on Kai, because his twelve year old mind paid no concern to kissing. He only thought that his best friend was good-looking and kind for hanging out with him.

The bar was low, but not its gone up too high, and he’s not sure if he could ever like another person the same way. His eyes would forever be on Katsuki.

He made sure that he was still biting down on his lip to prevent himself from muttering all of that out loud. Didn’t need Katsuki to smash his head somewhere else from second-hand embarrassment. 

Look at my friend, he’s always mumbling about how hot I am and it makes me so uncomfortable I smash my head onto things so he’ll shut up. Haha. 

“… Oi, Deku. Fucking hell nerd, you okay?”

He looked up, seeing that Katsuki’s scowl had long disappeared. In its place was concern, brows furrowed and lips tilted down in a small frown. His eyes were filled with worry— for him. Izuku couldn’t help but get giddy at the prospect that someone as amazing as Katsuki was worried about him! Something so simple; something that’s happened many times before that Izuku didnt think much of, was making him a blushing mess right now. 

Although he couldn’t really say he didnt think much of it… each time, he did happen to feel his heart flutter just a tiny bit. He just foolishly chalked it up to the excitement of having such a sweet friend. 

“I-I’m fine,” he said quite unconvincingly. Katsuki clicked his tongue and plucked Izuku’s keys right out of his hand, ushering him back inside. “Kacchan! I was going to go outside,” he whined, flailing his arms about. 

“No you ain’t. Your ass is staying in your damn bed while I make you something to feel better. Your face is all red. Think you might be getting sick,” Katsuki muttered to himself as he guided Izuku to his bedroom. The smaller boy tensed.

This would be the first time that Katsuki saw his room. They didnt hang out at his apartment often, but if they did, they always stuck to the kitchen and living room. Katsuki knew that Izuku’s room was off limits and he respected that.

Swoon .

But now he had to put Izuku in bed. Which meant that he’d see Izuku’s room. Which meant that he would see the All Might comic book that was still casually resting on his bed!

“Eep!” He squeaked when Katsuki’s hand reached out to turn the knob on his bedroom door. “I can tuck myself in just fine! You don’t have to watch me get in bed, haha.”

“What, are you hiding explosives in your room?” Katsuki scoffed, turning the knob anyway. Izuku shut his eyes tightly as the lights were turned on.

It was far too quiet for far too long.

Katsuki wasn’t even pushing him to his bed anymore. See, his All Might comics might just be as bad as a whole arsenal of explosives! He quietly sniffled, awaiting the comments about how lame he was for still keeping children’s comic books. 

But that never came.

Instead, Katsuki just snorted and carried on with pushing Izuku to his bed. He lifted the volume that was laying on the covers, looking at it a bit reverently— like a childhood memory has just been unlocked. Just like that, all of the tension in Izuku’s body dissipated.

He had been so worried… for literally nothing. Hah. Of course ! He felt like tearing up from joy. The paranoia had been so uncalled for, but now that he knew it wasn’t true—! A choked sob escaped his lips before he could even stop it. 

How long had it been since he last cried from this emotion? He couldn’t remember ever feeling such immense relief. His body was pliant as Katsuki pulled him in for a hug, ever so gently cradling the back of his neck while holding a sturdy arm around him. It kept him grounded enough to return the hug; to know that this wasn’t just a dream. 

“Kacchan,” he whimpered after a few minutes of sobbing into the taller man’s chest. He was almost embarrassed now, and a bit nervous about the fact that his face is right on top of Kacchan’s chest. He bit down on his lower lip as he thought, gosh the absolute firmness of his pecs. They felt like they had some softness too.

Horny thoughts straight after crying. Such an Izuku thing to do. 

But because of his embarrassment he kept his face hidden from Kacchan, rubbing the rest of his tears away with the back of his hand. He felt a warm hand stroke down the length of his spine and shivered involuntarily, prompting the motion to stop for just a second; a second in which he thought he fucked up by reacting strangely. He didn't get to think that for long though, as it started up again and Katsuki cleared his throat. 

“Hey, I uh— I’ve been wondering for a while, but you don’t gotta tell me anything if you don’t want to, obviously, but I mean,” he huffed, and Izuku really had to try hard to hold in a reaction to that, feeling Katsuki’s breath hit the sensitive curve of his neck. He did keep his ears on alert though, wanting to know what Katsuki had to say. “I just want to know more about you. Why you hide away all of your comics, don’t really talk about your interests, and all that stuff you mentioned at Starbucks.”

“On the first day?” Izuku asked, still not moving his face away from Katsuki’s chest. The hand wrapped around his torso tightened for a fraction of a second— too quick for him to process if it’d actually happened. Internally he swooned, glad that he knew what it was like to be held by Katsuki in this lifetime. It was such a warm experience, he never wanted it to end. But if he was going to answer Kacchan’s questions, then… he’d have to look him in the eye.

No more hiding. No more secrets. And no more avoiding Kacchan. 

All the goodness in the world was placed in his best friend. He wouldn’t have to mention anything about having a crush on the blonde. He could just confess that he was gay! No harm would be done to their friendship there, and perhaps he shouldn’t have jumped the gone and told Kai that he liked him during his confession. 

No dwelling on that now though. This time would be different. This time, he could keep his feelings under lock and key. Katsuki deserved to know this about him, but he could still preserve their friendship by concealing his love for the blonde. Yeah yeah. He could do this!

So he pulled away, already missing the feeling of those strong bulked-up arms holding him so gently, his mind once again making him believe that Katsuki was reluctant to let him go, too. If he was lucky, they could do more of that… soon. As friends. 

“We should take a seat for this,” Izuku nodded to his bed. “It’s a long story…”

Katsuki said no more as he sat down. Izuku made himself comfortable before he began, recounting everything from his past. The story came out jumbled, and some events overlapped with others, he went off on a couple of tangents, and even talked about how a schoolmate left moldy cheese in his locker when he was fifteen—

Point being, there were a lot of details. A lot of details that he threw in during his storytelling. He did manage to check off the big points though; amazing accepting mother, Kai’s influence, his ongoing social anxiety, the annoyance from other people, and then the slurs and bullying. Of course, the words I’m gay came up in there— at some point. He can’t remember exactly when he mentioned it, but it was out in the open!

Congrats to him.

Throughout it all Kacchan was quiet. He kept his gaze on Izuku, the usual angular eyes diffused into something softer, more neutral. Izuku tried not to squirm when his story came to an end. Now that his mind wasn’t so focused on articulating his thoughts… he only had to wait for Katsuki’s response to everything. And trust him, there were a lot of things out in the open now.

Quite the trauma dump! Yet Katsuki didn't look too surprised.

“Thanks for telling me,” Katsuki gave a nod. “Do you have any of that piss-faced bitch contact info? So I can kill him.”

“Piss-faced bitch?” Izuku blinked before cackling. That response was just so Katsuki . He honestly should have expected it before. He even looked stone-cold serious as he said it, making Izuku laugh even harder. He doubled over himself, nearly about to fall off of his bed.

Oh, Katsuki. Light of his life. The reason he might die of cardiac arrest, and good gracious—

“Inhaler, oh my god, please,” he coughed, slamming his hand on the carpeted floor. He pointed at the can standing on his desk and made use of it as soon as Katsuki tossed it to him. He was graciously helped up off the floor, breath slowly flowing into his lungs. 

“I said I wanted to kill him , not you, you stupid nerd,” Katsuki grumbled, patting Izuku on his back. “And quit laughing! I don’t want your lung to collapse, god damn.”

“Sorry, sorry Kacchan,” Izuku said, taking a lungful of air and holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. It helped to calm him down so he could give his best friend a proper response. “You know, when I was thinking about telling you everything, I didn't know how you would react,” he admitted. “But your insult… somehow, I should have known it would be something along those lines. Kai really is a piss-faced bitch.”

“Glad we got that out of the way. Now, his address?” Kacchan requested again. Izuku huffed at him.

“I’m not giving you Kai’s address! It’s better to not interact with him at all.” He paused, pursing his lips as his biggest concern came to the forefront of his mind. “So you… since I told you that I’m gay and all. Is that okay?”

His brows furrowed when Katsuki closed his eyes, lifting his head to face the ceiling. He tried not to pay too much attention to the movement of Katsuki’s adam's apple as it bobbed up and down. But goodness, was it so entrancing. Just… everything about Katsuki was entrancing. How did it take him so long to realize these feelings?

Well, denial was a thing. 

“That’s it,” Katsuki’s words brought him out of his stupor. The blonde was pinning him with the fieriest red gaze he’d ever seen. “I’m really going to kill that fucker. How could he make you think that it was wrong! And he’s such a fucking asshole I—“

“I know, I know,” Izuku hushed, instinctively reaching his hand up to stroke along Katsuki’s arm, starting from his shoulder and stopping at his elbow. 

Hehe.

“It’s a lot, yeah. I know the things he instilled in my mind are wrong, but I felt like I should mention everything to you. The reason that I’ve been avoiding you is that… I just started to feel disgusted with myself, is all.”

“I get it,” Katsuki nodded, though he paused just slightly to purse his lips. “Actually, I don’t,” he admitted with a sigh. Izuku tilted his head, already having assumed that Katsuki probably didn't have to deal with something like that. He wasn’t gay, after all. “I didn't do a huge confession with my friends back in high school, but no one reacted like that.”

Oh? Oh… oh! Well then. What an interesting development. Izuku gulped, curling his fingers away from Katsuki’s arm, where he’d been comforting the blonde for just a tad too long. The new piece of information was making him— feel things. Now that he knew, it was like a damn was about to break, and he couldn’t have that happening. Even if he wanted to make a move on Katsuki, who’s to say that the other even thought of him like that ? Surely, Kacchan wouldn’t be interested in someone like him, when he had so many better options. Hell, he had a large friend group with tons of single people in it. 

He had no chance. 

But he did his best to smile gratefully at Kacchan. He hadn’t expected to open up about such a painful thing today, but he was glad that he did. 

He received a small, soft smile in return, and… and felt Katsuki’s hand take a hold of his, slowly weaving their fingers together. His eyes widened, staring down at their connected hands as Kacchan squeezed tightly. He didn't know why, there were tears forming in the corner of his eyes once again. His cheeks were flushed, he knew that much— but why was he crying ?

“Kacchan,” he croaked, not knowing how to explain what he was feeling. The gesture was messing with his head; with his heart. He wanted to say something, anything , to the blonde about the love that he harbored, but he couldn’t! He didn't want to ruin anything, so for now he just shut his eyes tightly, his heart feeling heavier when Kacchan ruffled his hair. 

“I’m here for you, you stupid nerd,” he whispered. And Izuku sobbed all over again.

—

“Hmm, Kacchan, beans or greens?” Izuku asked, holding up a bag of beans and a bag of pre-cut lettuce and other sorts of green leaves. He laughed at the absolute disgust on Katsuki’s face.

“I don’t even know where to begin with that. Is that bag of beans? And why the hell would you use pre-cut greens when you can chop them yourself?” He asked, putting back both items. Izuku puffed up his cheeks in a petulant pout, not really upset about having his beans and greens put back on the shelf. It was just funny to see how Katsuki reacted to certain grocery items. 

He threw a fit once, in fact, when someone placed a random tub of ice cream in the fruits and vegetable aisle. Izuku was appalled as well. The ice cream had obviously melted by then, and Katsuki cursed that person to hell fire. It was a bit extreme, but Izuku loved him for that.

Katsuki simply snorted at his pout and flicked his forehead. 

“Dont make that face. Be grateful you're the only one of my friends I actually cook for,” he said. 

“Much to the displeasure of your other friends,” Izuku sang. “C’mon, you could stand to cook for them more often.”

“Fuck no. If I did that, they’d always ask for my services. Besides,” Katsuki huffed, glancing away for just a second before making eye contact with Izuku again.

He felt like he was being chased by a predator under that gaze— he didn't know how to explain it, but Katsuki had been looking at him that way more often lately. Each time, his body felt so hot, and he had the urge to run away. Usually because Katsuki was about to say something so embarrassing that it made his heart beat like crazy. The blonde had to be doing this on purpose! But what could be his motive? Izuku had no clue. So he just had to… stand there, like right now, as Katsuki’s mouth curled up in a smirk, his body hunched over and arms leaned against the shopping cart in a way that makes his biceps flex, and said,

“I’d much prefer to cook for you, nerd. ’S cute seeing all your reactions to eating food that I made.”

Aaand there it is. Can you believe that? Cute. Katsuki called him cute . Him! Not to mention, it’s like Katsuki is staking a claim on him with the last thing he said. Izuku didn't know what else to do, what else to react with, except for covering his flaming red face with both of his hands and trying not to whine at Katsuki’s sniggering. 

Why was he messing with him like this?! Gosh, this was all so confusing.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you about me being gay,” he mumbled, puffing up his cheeks for real. 

Katsuki’s laughter had suddenly ceased. 

Before he even knew it, he was being spun ninety degrees to face Katsuki’s body— oh wow, he was always so fascinated by the fact that he was at perfect chest/pec height, where if he leaned just a bit forward he could have his face smooshed between double D titties— and his chin was being clasped by Katsuki thumb and index finger. He gasped audibly as his face was lifted, their eyes locking and the same sensation of being under the gaze of a predator went up his spine. He involuntarily shivered, something which Kacchan had the gall to smirk at. Why, if he wasn’t so hot, he’d—

“If I wasn’t so hot, then what, Freckles?” 

Oh dear oh God! He’s surprised his mouth hadn’t landed him in a ditch yet. 

“Don’t embarrass me like that,” he whined. “It’s not wrong that you’re hot, anyway. Plenty of people call you that!”

“Mm, yeah, but plenty of people aren’t you .”

This was way too homoerotic for a grocery shop. To still his frantically beating heart he batted Katsuki’s hand away and stuck his tongue out at the taller boy, which he must have found sooo amusing since it resulted in a snort. 

“You’re cute,” he said, flicking his forehead once again. Oh my God. He had to stop. He simply had to or else Izuku would combust from all the blood flow to his cheeks. Also, was it safe for an asthmatic to have their heart beat so much? Katsuki was quite literally bad for his health! 

“Not cute,” he mumbled, before skipping away from the blonde menace hell-bent on making him look like a walking, talking strawberry. Katsuki laughed behind him, and they both carried on with grocery shopping.

Despite what Katsuki said about not wanting to feed his friends, they were actually preparing for a get-together in Izuku’s apartment. They all thought that he would be more comfortable in one of his spaces, so it was unanimously decided that Katsuki would cook and they’d all watch a superhero movie. 

Izuku felt so, so bad about not going through with his promise to meet them sooner, but he did find that joining a group chat with everyone first helped to warm him up. He enjoyed getting to see their personalities through text— and it seemed like they all had a lot of personality through text. He wondered what they would be like in real life…

Not much relevant conversation later, and they were back at Izuku’s apartment!

“I’m so fucking tired,” Izuku groaned, throwing himself onto his comfy grey couch. One of his arms flopped over the side of the couch whilst the other was bent at an uncomfortable angle over the armrest. It didn't hurt much now, but he’s sure it would be a pain in the ass later. Mm, a nap was sounding just about great right now—

“Don't even think about falling asleep you little shit,” Katsuki huffed. Izuku blearily noticed that all the groceries had been safely placed on his kitchen counters. Katsuki stood in front of his with his hands on his hips, glaring down at Izuku. 

Hmm, even like that, Kacchan still looked like an angel. Or a… God? He looked like some sort of deity, Izuku thought. And that supreme deity was blessing him with his presence. Him, Izuku Midoriya, who was trying his best to come out of his shell. Who was really bad at taking care of himself and so Kacchan went out of his way to make sure he was fed. Who happened to love Kacchan because he was sooo amazing.

“Kacchan…” He heard himself mumble.

He’s not sure what else he said, to be quite honest. But he wished he knew what made Kacchan’s face redden so beautifully in that moment. So he could say it again. And again, and again. Ha. He’d give Kacchan a taste of his own medicine. See if that makes him tease Izuku from now on. 

“Izuku, you dumbass,” Kacchan sighed. “I… later, I’ll tell you later.”

Later? What later?

He couldn’t just leave him on a cliffhanger like—!

—

The first time Katsuki saw that cute little nerd Izuku/Deku/Freckles, the two of them happened to be in the same general… area.

Let him explain. 

So there he is, first day of his third year as a fucking college student, and he’s in a Target trying to figure out if he wants the ten pack or twelve pack of colored high lighters. He’s an adult now, he can decide for himself without the help of his overbearing mother and pushover father. He put back the ten-pack and tossed the twelve-pack into his shopping basket.

Next.

He needed just one more binder for keeping his notes tidy. But all of the options just weren’t catching his eye , you know? Call it a byproduct of having a model for a mother and a fashion designer as a father, but these colors were just stressing him out! There were too many neons and glitters and flowers— why couldn’t he just find a plain black binder? Or a dark red one? Or, fuck, even green?!

Wait, green . He wasn’t talking about a green binder; no, he quite literally meant… green. There, standing just five feet away from him, was the greenest most fae-like creature Katsuki had ever laid eyes on. He had the prettiest green curls that Katsuki wanted to aggressively run his fingers through. The chubbiest cheeks dusted with a constellation of light and dark brown freckles that he wanted to kiss. The plumpest of pink lips just begging to nibbled on. And eyes . Those eyes were just the loveliest shade of green, like emeralds. 

He was ready to propose right then and there, to be honest.

And he would have! He truly would have gotten down on one knee and pulled out a, uh, binder ring to adorn the beautiful boys’ finger with. Unfortunately his idiot brigade chose that specific moment to come bumbling into the binder aisle like they weren’t in a public area.

“Denki, babe! You need to pay for that crop top before you can wear it!”

“I’m an influencer, I don’t have to pay for things!”

“Dunce face you idiot that’s not how it works,” Katsuki picked up a random binder to smack the back of Kaminari’s head. Shinso shot him a grateful glance and went to pull the crop top off of his idiot boyfriend. Katsuki took that time to glance around for the beautiful boy who captured his heart and made him feel like a dragon that just needed to hoard him, so he could place him as a centerpiece on his mountain of crowns and jewels. 

He had to find him.  

But first he had to beat up his friend, because even at that time, Katsuki was certain that they’d scared him away. He looked like the type to be frazzled by a large group of people— or maybe even a small group of people— but that was fine! Katsuki would just have to catch him one on one.

And catch him he did. 

He might as well have gone through the first semester of his third year in a daze, looking for the emerald-eyed boy in every corner of the campus. It was impossibly difficult, though. He deduced that they were in different majors, and the boy might have been a few years younger than him. He wouldn’t be in any specialized classes… so maybe he was still taking a few gen-ed courses?

Well. Katsuki was missing a few credits in a gen-ed art class, so perhaps signing up for one next semester could yield positive results? 

It did yield the most positive of results . The boy— Izuku Midoriya, he’d learned— was right there, sitting beside an empty seat. And alright, he may have gotten lucky with that seating setup, but good luck was just in his genes. He was blessed with good looks, money, decent friends, and the brains to keep up with difficult chem classes.

However he certainly had a weak point; and that was his… way with words. Look, he needed some way to engage with Izuku. And if pointing out the fact that he mumbled a lot was necessary then so be it. It worked, anyway. After a bit of time. He didn't expect it to charm Izuku right away, because, let's be honest, was anyone really charmed by the shit that came out of his mouth?

Okay maybe that weird bitch Kendo was, and a majority of other people at their college, but he wasn’t really aiming for that— it just. Sort of. Happened. Maybe it has to do with his ruggish bad boy looks and asshole demeanor but all he has to say to that is, it’s not a demeanor okay? Fuck you. He genuinely hates people.

He doesn’t hate Izuku though. No, he loves that boy, he’s sure of it. He became even more sure of it when Izuku laughed. Oh the Gods doth blessed his ears that day or whatever Shakespeare would say. And so Katsuki made it his mission to make Izuku laugh as much as possible. And smile as much as possible. Laugh, cry tears of happiness, tell him all of his deepest darkest secrets because fuck, Katsuki was in deep and he would give out anything Izuku asked for. 

Anything. 

But this fucker didn’t ask for much. He just smiled and joked and looked all pretty all the fucking time . It was absurd. How was he even cute while crying during sappy movies? He got snot all over his face and his eyes went all wide with tears falling down his cheeks. Katsuki thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Until… Izuku mentioned that . Yes, he was talking about THAT very incident. The one where Izuku cried, his wet face pressed against his chest, and Katsuki holding onto him. Grounding him.

But internally he was fucking dying. Because the object of his unholy thoughts and affections was hugging him. And confessing that he was into guys! This was a shot that Katsuki absolutely could not miss.

Sure it did not guarantee that Izuku felt something for him. No, he couldn’t assume that. However, that could change. Katsuki could openly flirt now; see what got Izuku going. Now that he knew… well, the signs were just easier to see. He knew. He fucking knew. All there was left to do was the actual confession. He had a plan for that! A plan that was going to be all intricate and sweet because Izuku deserved the fucking best.

But that damn Izuku. The shitty fucking nerd beat him to it . How DARE he lay on his couch, look up at him with those sleepy eyes and delirious smile, and say that he loves him?! It completely threw Katsuki off guard. He was supposed to control the flow of the confession, damn it. It was gonna be all cute and stuff but…

Now. Now he had to make up his mind. Perhaps he was just stalling; perhaps he just needed confirmation that Izuku really did like him. And now that the confirmation was here, what reasons did he have to stall? None. So he waited in Izuku’s kitchen, sending a text to the group chat that their hang-out would have to wait.

Agh, he could only imagine how much his friends would bombard them once the news came out. That was fine, though. He’d take all sorts of questioning if that meant he could have Izuku sitting on his lap. Heh. 

Man don’t judge him. You’d be the same way if you saw Izuku’s thighs and ass. Every man's wet dream, he’s sure that wars could start and end with those thighs. Izuku could fully incapacitate someone with just a flirty bat of his lashes, or a coy smile. God knows how many dreams Katsuki had involving one of those coy smiles, but he was getting severely off track—

So he messaged the idiots and shut off his phone to avoid their barrage of replies. He’s sure they’re all concerned, but they need not be. He just had to expend his energy somehow while waiting for Izuku to get up—

Oh . Oh fuck. Okay, a genius idea just hit him. His heart was pumping a mile a minute and there was too much adrenaline in his body, so he was just a bit too shaken up to think of this before. But! Katsuki could cook Izuku a nice dinner. Like he’d mentioned at the grocery shop, he much preferred to cook for the little nerd. The sweet little expressions that he made as he absolutely ravaged the food Katsuki made for him…

Beautiful, he was beautiful. And Katsuki would have the pleasure of seeing it tonight and for the rest of his life. Alright, so first he had to take out the pans and cooking utensils.

—

He got lost in the motions of cooking. A surprisingly calming activity for him. It might even be in the midst of calamity. But he wasn’t in any sort of calamity right now. No, he was… at peace. He knew there was a small smile on his face, though he was concentrated on making sure the food turned out perfect. It simply had to be perfect. He never considered himself an unsure man, but that’s just how things were when you had someone you love. When you have someone you want to impress.

And impress he did.

“Kacchan…?”

Bleary eyes stared at him from across the kitchen, still a little disoriented from sleep. The corner of his mouth had just a bit of drool stained on it, his lips appeared so plump and sleep-soft, and his hair was all over the place.

Gorgeous.

“Hello to you too sleeping beauty,” he greeted. Corny, but it had the desired effect on Izuku. The shorter male looked more awake with a healthy flush coating his freckled cheeks.

“Wha— how long have I been asleep for?” Izuku responded, wiping the rest of the sleep away from his eyes. It was a good diversion, Katsuki will give him that.

“‘Bout two hours. Foods almost done cooking, I just need to garnish it.”

“The food,” Izuku mumbled before his eyes widened drastically. “Shit! Your friends, are they coming soon? Gosh, I look so messy right now.”

“Shut up, no you don’t. And I canceled on them.”

“What?!” If it was possible, his eyes got even wider. His pupils expanded, showing more green, and Katsuki had to remind himself to hold the knife properly lest he chops off his index finger while appreciating the beauty of Izuku’s eyes. “Why would you do that!”

“You were taking a big fat nap. Would be rude of me to let them come in while you’re resting,” he shrugged. There was a bit of redness coating his cheekbones, he could tell, but there was no use in hiding it. “And I need to tell you… something.”

“Something?” Izuku blinked, walking around the kitchen island to stand just a few feet away from him. The garnish that Katsuki had been chopping was all finished, so he set that to the side and turned off the heat on the stove. Izuku made a move to help him set the table, but he bat his hand away, casting him a glare. “Kacchan?”

“You sit your ass down at the table. You’re not gonna ruin this too, ya hear me?” He huffed.

“What? What did I ruin?” His brows furrowed. “You’re not making any sense, Kacchan.”

“Just sit down, Freckles.”

Izuku pouted, though he listened to Katsuki and took a seat. He smirked and put that as a win in his book. It didn’t really matter if Izuku helped him out or not; he just wanted the dinner to be nice for the greenette. And that meant he’d have to keep his pretty little hands to himself and pout at the table while Katsuki slaved away for him like the good little househusband he was.

He may be getting a degree in chemistry but if Izuku told him to wear an apron and clean their house, he’d do it. He would drop to his knees and put his head on Izuku’s lap, let the greenette know just how much Katsuki wanted him and—

“Ow! Shit, fuck!”

“Kacchan?!”

Maybe lusting over his crush was not the best thing to be doing whilst touching a hot pan. Thankfully Izuku didn't come running toward him at the sound of his curses, so he successfully plated and served their dishes. He quickly ran back to the sink to cool his thumb off with some water before sitting his ass at the table.

He was just a little frazzled. No big deal. He’s still got this.

“Ahem,” he nodded at their steaming hot food. “Shall we?”

“Kacchan…”

“Eat the fucking food!”

“Oh my God, you are extra bossy today,” Izuku grumbled. He twirled some of the pasta using his fork and chewed on it forcefully. Katsuki tried not to cringe at how much pain Izuku’s mouth must be in, considering the food was still hot. But Izuku still swallowed it down like a champ and pinned a glare onto Katsuki. “I ate the fucking food. Now, why are you acting so weird?”

Katsuki glared right back.

“Didn’t you like the food?”

“Don’t be stupid, Kacchan. Of course I did. Your meals never miss,” Izuku answered, and Katsuki knew he was being truthful because of that adorably soft smile on his face. “But I just wanna know what’s up with you.”

“For starters, I wanted to, uh,” he glanced away for a second, wondering where all of his confidence went. It was right there a few minutes ago! He could do this. “I wanted to tell you that… I…”

“…Oh,” Izuku whispered. Katsuki’s eyes flickered back to his. And his blood went cold upon seeing Izuku deflated, slumped down in his chair with unblinking eyes staring down at his food. “You heard, didn't you?”

Katsuki snapped out of his terrified stupor, blinking the concern away. What had Izuku so shaken up— why did he look like that? 

“I did,” he said slowly. “I did and I just wanted to—“

“You made me this nice of a meal, Kacchan,” Izuku smiled wryly, “you didn't have to do all that. You could have just said it. I wouldn’t be sad.”

“Sad?” 

Ooohhhh. That made a lot more sense.

“I think you’re getting the wrong idea you idiot,” Katsuki interjected before Izuku could make any more assumptions. Said idiot narrowed his eyes.

“It’s not an assumption if it’s true.”

“Don’t give me that either,” he rolled his eyes, sighing. “Look, this is kind of hard, even though I had myself all hyped up before this. I thought I’d cook you a nice dinner with rose pasta and garnish it all nicely, I even bought some champagne we could pop open if things went well, but fuck, it’s harder than it looks,” he grumbled. Izuku just stared at him, looking more confused than ever. But the answers were slowly coming to him as his emerald eyes slowly widened, blinking as if to ask, wait, seriously ? Hell yeah Katsuki was fucking serious. 

“You…” Izuku trailed off, glancing back and forth between Katsuki and the pasta sitting in front of him. “Made all of this so that you could… confess to me?!”

“What the fuck do you sound so surprised for!” Katsuki yelled, unable to contain his own glee and mild concern about why Izuku was still so freaked out.

“Why would you confess to me?!”

“Why not ?”

“Because!” Izuku shrieked. “You’re hot a-and you’re a smart chemistry major and you have all these cool friends, and,” he took a deep breath, “the entire campus would throw themselves in front of you if you had to step over a puddle. Like mm yes Katsuki please use me as a bridge.”

“Not one of my kinks.”

“Shut up ,” Izuku huffed, and Katsuki had to snort. His nerd was just so adorable, it hurt.

“Yeah, well, the rest of this godforsaken college doesn’t know me. And trust me nerd, I’m not as big of a deal as you think I am,” he shrugged. “You probably have selective hearing.”

“What do you mean you’re not a big deal?” Izuku tilted his head. “I watch Kaminari’s vlogs and TikTok videos all the time. The videos you’re in have like significantly more views and comments about how sugoi you are.”

“I don’t care if everyone else thinks I’m sugoi. I only care about what you think of me,” he grumbled shyly. Izuku let out a breathless giggle and bit down on his lower lip. Fuck , he wanted to be the one to do that, so badly. 

“You already know that I think that,” Izuku said oh so quietly. “But it’s only fair if you say the words to me! I said it to you , so.”

“While you were half unconscious.”

“It still counts,” he puffed out his cheeks. “Also, the food might actually be getting cold, so you better say it to me quick, Kacchan.”

“Okay, fine , God,” he took a deep breath. Several seconds passed. He could hear the grandfather clock in his head ticking while Izuku looked at him expectantly. Jesus fuck— “I looo-vvveee youuu. I. Love you,” he cleared his throat. “I, uh, love you, De—Izuku.”

“You sure about that?” The greenette had the gall to tease. Not even a second later he reached his hand out to place over Katsuki’s. “I love you too, Kacchan.”

“How is it so easy for you to say?”

“Seeing you almost piss yourself, I guess.”

Katsuki groaned, knowing he’d take this lame-ass confession to the grave. He was more of a man of action, but if Izuku preferred words then, he’d have to get better at that. But, but , holy shit they both confessed to each other?!

“So,” Izuku squirmed just a tad in his seat.

Unholy thoughts don’t bombard him now. 

“Does that mean we are dating?”

Katsuki smirked, “I dunno Deku, are we?”

He was caught off guard once again as Izuku got up from his seat, pinned Katsuki with what could only be described as a flirtatious smile, and plopped right down on his lap, wrapping his nimble around Katsuki’s neck. The blonde quickly wrapped his arms around Izuku’s waist to keep him in place, his heart thundering a mile a minute in his chest—

He’d no clue what was going on anymore. Who was in control of this situation? He thought he would have Izuku a floundering mess, but of course the nerd would find some way to turn this on him. His breath hitched when Izuku leaned in further. Their chests were nearly touching, and Izuku’s lashes lowered in such an illegal way. He shouldn’t be allowed to use those eyes on anyone.

Okay maybe he could use them once in a while around Katsuki. Once in a while , because any more would definitely kill him. 

But it didn't stop there. Then the little vixen’s tongue peaked out between his lips, slowly sweeping them over the appendage. He couldn’t contain his response anymore.

“Fuck, Izuku,” he groaned. “You’re such a fucking tease.”

Izuku hummed.

“Payback for getting me all flustered this week, don’t you think?”

And because he could, Katsuki’s hand swooped down just a little bit to pinch Izuku’s ass. The greenette yelped but made no move to pull away.

“I hope you’re doing that as my boyfriend , Kacchan,” he clicked his tongue. “Otherwise it’d be very inappropriate.”

“Of course I’m doing it as your boyfriend, you shithead. And I’m the only one who can do it,” he emphasized by lightly pecking the corner of Izuku’s mouth. “Oh fuck,” he whispered, knowing that he’d be quickly addicted to the taste of Izuku’s lips. The smaller boy looked dazed as well.

“Mm, again, Kacchan,” he mumbled. His lips were pouted just enough for Katsuki to easily lean in and press them together. Little pecks; once, twice, as a warm-up, before their lips really clashed together, slotting in place like they belonged there. It was absurd that Katsuki even used his lips for anything other than kissing Izuku. It was a sin that he would have to repent for, by kissing Izuku over and over until their dying breaths. 

The younger male whimpered softly as the kiss progressed and became more heated. Their tongues just barely prodded against each other, before melding together with ease. There was no battle for dominance— it was just the urge to get as close as possible that drove them. Katsuki squeezed his arms around Izuku; Izuku brought himself impossibly closer. Their chests were flush together as their kisses continued for actual minutes . 

“Kacchan,” Izuku sighed when they finally pulled away to breathe. 

If he had a say in it their lips would stay locked for eternity. But his boyfriend did have asthma, so… he had to be considerate. 

“Felt good, nerd?” He smirked, as if he didn't just have the most enlightening make-out session ever. Izuku pressed his forehead against Katsuki’s shoulder and gave a small nod.

“Mmhm,” he admitted shyly. Katsuki laughed and kissed the side of Izuku’s head. 

“Wonder where all that confidence went.”

“Shut it, please,” Izuku whined. “It’s just catching up to me now. I can’t believe…”

“Well, believe it, Freckles,” he found another sweet place to kiss— Izuku’s shoulder. His cardigan had slipped off of his shoulder just enough to expose the freckled skin. It was a lovely spot to press his lips against, with the payoff being a full body shudder from Izuku. 

His boyfriend was so fucking cute, God . He wanted to devour him in any way possible. 

“We’re stuck together whether you like it or not,” he repeated what Izuku told him in their art class. It prompted a giggle from his boyfriend . 

“Yeah… I’d like that,” he confirmed with a content sigh. 

Katsuki pressed another kiss to his shoulder, and that was that.

–

“I can’t believe Kacchan never told me that he owned a whole ass beach island,” Izuku repeated to himself for the fourth time. Kaminari giggled beside him.

“Well, believe it, babes. Now that you know you should milk him for every cent,” he threw a smirk at Katsuki. The blonde scoffed.

“Please. Izuku would never do that to me, would you babe?”

The greenette smiled sheepishly.

“I dunno… I was thinking about getting a BMW.”

“But you don’t have a license?”

“For the car pics,” he shrugged, leaning back on his beach chair. He stretched himself out by throwing his arms above his head and arching his back, groaning at just how good it felt to be taking such a nice vacation. The beach air was just breezy enough to keep them cool and he could smell the ocean from everywhere.

It was a great place to be spending his summer vacation.

Katsuki and Kirishima were by the grill cooking everyone up some burgers. While Kirishima was trash at making anything in the kitchen, he was actually pretty decent with a grill— Katsuki’s words, by the way. Izuku and Kaminari were relaxing on the beach chairs while everyone else was in the midst of an intense volleyball game. The Izuku from high school would’ve never believed that he’d become so comfortable around a large, rowdy group of people. His energy matched theirs and they knew when to let him rest— he always came back ready to throw down with them over a game of Uno.

And over the past few months leading up to their summer vacation, he and Katsuki… well. Anyone could tell from the lustful looks that Katsuki kept tossing him, that they were more than comfortable with each other. Their relationship didn't take a drastic change after becoming boyfriends. They already spent a shit ton of time together in Izuku’s apartment or the library, or any other spot around their college campus. There were even plans of moving in together— or more like, Katsuki would officially move in with Izuku at some point. It was a change that Izuku couldn’t wait for. 

Even though they might be getting busier once vacation was over, Katsuki and Izuku would still find a way to do everything with each other. They were stuck together after all, whether anyone liked it or not.

“ Blegh . Bakubro, could you please stop sending poor little Izu those bedroom eyes? You’re making it hard to peacefully flip my burgers.”

“Stop being dumb and continue flipping. I’m fucking him after dinner.”

“ Kacchan?! ”

“Heh.”