Chapter Text
Neither of them could really remember when it started.
It was just… something they’d done forever. The concept of not doing it hadn’t even crossed their minds.
Izuku’s first memory was of Kacchan. Holding his hand, hiding in a bush so their teacher wouldn’t find them. Even now, a decade later, he could still feel the soft hand clenching around his. Could still remember the smell of wet dirt and the leaves scratching his cheeks. Izuku would bet that Kacchan’s first memory was of him, too. No matter where they ended up, how they grew, they were always orbiting each other.
Since no one had ever been brave enough to ask Kacchan about it, no one knew the reason why . At this point, Izuku had certainly forgotten, and he would bet that Kacchan had, too.
Why, at the end of every day, they walked the same path home. They always walked in silence, without a glance at the other. No matter how bruised or burnt Izuku was, or how pissed off Kacchan was. They walked.
Why, when they reached the fork in the road, one side Kacchan and one Izuku , they would turn towards each other, still silent, and kiss. A mom kiss, a peck on the lips so quick it could hardly even be called a kiss , but still. They kissed.
Then they would go on their separate paths home.
Up until Izuku was about 9 years old, he’d never even realized that kissing your former best friend turned bully on the mouth was… strange, to say the least. Then Kacchan’s friends saw it and suddenly Izuku was aware . They’d been standing back and to the side, and Izuku came up from the kiss to see shocked, disturbed looks on their faces. Looks that vanished the moment Kacchan turned back to them, but Izuku had seen them. Suddenly, he was uncomfortably aware that this was weird, right? Most kids don’t kiss anyone on the mouth, especially not the person that bullies them.
More than weirded out, Izuku had been scared. Because as soon as Kacchan came to the same realization that Izuku had come to, he would be furious. Kacchan was the kind of person that was convinced everything he did was the right thing and nothing he did could ever be construed as cringy or weird and if he even got an inkling that something he was doing was strange… Izuku lost a lot of sleep that week, stricken with terror, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for one of his other friends to mention it. But as the weeks turned to months and months to years, Kacchan never said anything. Never hesitated to lean over and peck Izuku on the mouth, never looked even slightly embarrassed.
Izuku tripped over a rock, shaken from his reverie. He was trying to find a way to work All Might’s training around his daily ritual with Kacchan without revealing too much to All Might. Even though Kacchan didn’t realize that what they were doing was a bit abnormal, Izuku was still very much aware , especially since the older they got the more people could interpret their ritual in a… different way than is intended.
He could probably just tell All Might that he couldn’t come to the beach until half an hour after school, but then he might want to know why. Which then Izuku could say he had an errand to run but what kind of an errand do you have to run every day? Or he could just ask for privacy, but honestly Izuku didn’t know if he was bold enough to stand up to All Might like that. Plus, the Hero was giving him this awesome gift, so keeping secrets, as harmless as they might be, could indicate that he wasn’t the kind of Hero All Might was looking and he’d decide to not give Izuku One For All and–
“Shut the fuck up, Deku,” Kacchan’s brash voice busted through his mutterings.
“S-sorry, Kacchan!” Izuku squeaked, covering his mouth with his hands. He really needed to get that habit in check.
“We’re here,” Kacchan pointed to the fork in the road, voice clipped and angry. He’d been simultaneously angrier and more mellow since the sludge villain attack. Walking home had been filled with a tense atmosphere, but Kacchan had actually talked to him a few times. The new developments were surprising but not entirely unwelcome.
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Sorry, Kacchan, I was thinking about something–” He was cut off by Kacchan grabbing his shirt and pulling him forwards, pecking him quickly, then pushing him away. Kacchan was always the one to lean down and peck him. For one, Izuku was pretty short and standing on his tip toes would be pretty humiliating, and another was that Kacchan was competitive to a fault, and Izuku knew that if he made their ritual even slightly competitive, it would devolve into chaos.
“I got better things to do then hear about your nerd thoughts, Deku,” he growled, stomping up the Kacchan path.
Mouth feeling a little bruised, Izuku stammered out an awkward ‘goodbye’, waiting until Kacchan was out of sight before turning around and heading to Dagobah Beach. He knew All Might would understand he had a commitment. A Hero has duties to fulfill, after all. All Might would get it, even if Izuku didn’t tell him exactly what ‘it’ was. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.
Izuku stood in front of UA, trying his best to hold in his tears. Hands clasped around his backpack straps, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He’d never seen Kacchan this upset before. Izuku watched as he stomped away, scrubbing his face.
The mock battle was an eye opener for both Izuku and Kacchan. Izuku finally had a power of his own. For the first time in his life he was on an even playing field. He got to start fresh, since no one but Kacchan and All Might knew about his previous quirklessness, and so no one treated him as less than or something to be pitied. It was wonderful .
But ever since Izuku had gotten his acceptance letter, Kacchan hadn’t walked him home. Hadn’t stood at the fork or kissed him goodbye like they’d been doing all their lives and Izuku felt wrong . He went to bed feeling like there were ants under his skin and woke up feeling like someone had stirred up his insides with a blender. He’d never felt so out of sorts, not even when he broke nearly all of his limbs using One For All the first time.
So watching Kacchan walk away again, especially after they’d finally talked and listened to each other, felt awful .
Izuku felt tears start to drip down his face, hot and sticky. A sob was caught in his throat, threatening to come out. There was a pain in his chest and he felt physically sick. Was this it? Was their ritual over, after all this time? Would they never stand at the fork in the road, one side for Kacchan and the other for Izuku, ever again? The sob escaped, and Izuku hunched over, hand pressed to his mouth to muffle the sound.
“What the fuck are you crying for, shitty Deku. Hurry up.”
Izuku looked up, eyes wide. Kacchan was standing in front of him, face slightly blotchy but he was pretending like it wasn’t by scowling extra hard. But he was there .
“K-Kacchan–” Izuku choked out, feeling another round of tears coming on.
“Oh my fucking god, if you don’t stop crying I’m leaving without you,” Kacchan turned around, stuffing his fists in his pockets.
“C-coming! Wait!”
Their walk was silent, like usual, but the tension wasn’t there. It was almost peaceful . By the time they got to the fork, Izuku had almost managed to dry his tears, and Kacchan had taken his hands out of his pockets, posture relaxed and open.
Izuku wiped his eyes again, standing still, waiting for Kacchan to lean down and peck him like usual. He did, but not in his usual half a second “ basically punching my mouth with his ” peck. Instead, Kacchan tipped Izuku’s chin up, the kiss soft and about 2 whole seconds long.
Eyes wide in shock, all Izuku could do was watch and Kacchan stepped back, not sparing him a glance, and then walked up Kacchan path. His eyes followed the blond up the path, fingers grazing over his tingling lips.
As the first few weeks at UA passed, the more and more Kacchan kept giving him the nice, soft kisses, rather than the typical quick pecks. The sick feeling that had been sitting in Izuku’s chest had not only completely disappeared, but had been replaced by an ever present warmth. He felt borderline giddy at the end of the school day, and it was getting harder and harder to tone down his excitement. These new soft kisses were practically the best part of his day at this point.
That warmth in his chest was strengthened by the fact that Izuku had friends now. Uraraka and Iida and Tsuyu and even Todoroki sat with him at lunch and let him ramble and actually listened to his ramblings– needless to say, he was over the moon, even regarding the villain attack at USJ.
“So does that work for you, Deku?” Uraraka said, leaning towards him.
“Ah I’m sorry Uraraka, can you repeat that?” Izuku said, bashfully shoving some rice in his mouth.
“No worries, Deku! Iida was thinking that we need some extra studying for the exam, but my apartment’s too small to fit all of us and Iida’s brother is at home recovering, so do you mind if we use your place? If not, that's totally cool! We can come up wi–”
“No that’s totally fine I’dlovetohaveyouguysoveratmyhouse–” Izuku rushed out all in one breath. He hadn’t had friends over to his house since he was four and Kacchan came over for his birthday. He tried to calm the excitement rising, telling himself act cool don’t weird them out DON’T be weird–
“Um, ahem, I mean, yes! You can come over. Let me just text my mom real quick to let her know!” His friends ( squeeee! ) smiled at his antics, texting their respective parents as well, food forgotten.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to go,” Todoroki said quietly. “My dad wanted me home earlier today for training,” he said ‘training’ like one would say ‘being tortured’ or ‘stabbed’, “So you guys go ahead. Take some notes for me, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it, Todoroki!” Iida chopped the air passionately. “I will be sure to send you all the notes I take tonight at our study session!”
“Midoriya, kero, can you send the group chat your address so we can send it to our parents?”
As Izuku sent the necessary details, he felt so flustered and happy he didn’t even stop to think about one important aspect.
They were coming home with him. From school. Walking. To his house.
Lunch passed quickly, and before he knew it, school was over and Izuku was waiting outside the gates patiently waiting for everyone to show up.
“What the fuck you waiting for, nerd?” Turning to the owner of the gruff voice, suddenly Izuku was hit with a realization. Oh no .
“UH Kachhan! I was just waiting for, UHH, well you see I have, uh, a–”
“What the fuck did I say about your mumbling, shitty Deku!” A few explosions popped in the air as Kacchan lost his temper.
“Kacchan, wait I need to–”
“Deku is everything okay?” Izuku turned to see Iida, Tsuyu, and Uraraka standing by the gate, frowning at Kacchan.
“Everythings fine! I just forgot to tell Kacchan,” Izuku glanced at said angry boy, whose hands were popping threateningly, “about our study session!” Looking pleadingly at him, Izuku tried his best to convey “ I’m very sorry please don’t explode me.” Kacchan clicked his tongue, obviously pissed off, but nodded his head minutely. Sagging with relief, Izuku turned back to his friends.
“Alright let's get going!”
The walk to his house was awkward. Everytime Uraraka would try to talk to Kacchan, he’d just growl and turn away. Iida was doing his best to maintain a professional atmosphere by planning exactly what they’d be going over during the study session, and Tsuyu kept glancing between Izuku and Kacchan in a way that was making Izuku’s palms sweat.
His pulse quickened when he saw the fork in the horizon. Honestly, while he knew Kacchan was a bit oblivious to the whole kissing thing, to the point where Izuku didn’t even know if Kacchan knew what they were doing, but he had to realize that doing it in front of other hero students wasn’t a good idea, right? The fork got closer and closer and Izuku felt confident that Kacchan would just go down the Kacchan path without their kiss. While the thought of skipping it hurt, unsurprisingly he felt his eyes sting a little when reminded of The Dark Days of No Kacchan Kisses, it was for the greater good–that being both of their reputations and the sanity of his friends.
They reached the fork and, by habit, Izuku turned towards Kacchan, but he expected a scoff or maybe even a regular goodbye.
Of course, Kacchan is the smartest and stupidest person on the planet, so he leaned down, gave a harsher kiss than usual, then turned and stomped up Kacchan path.
Izuku felt his insides curl up and die.
He turned towards his friends. All of them had their jaws open in shock and Uraraka looked like she was about to pass out. Iida was the first to recover, sputtering and chopping his hand.
“That was an extremely inappropriate display of public affection! That is not the way in which hero students should conduct themselves–”
“I’m sorry, what the actual fuck was that–”
“That was somehow surprising and exactly what I was expecting, kero.”
Burying his hands in his face, Izuku let out a groan of embarrassment. Goddamnit, Kacchan .
School the next day was more stressful than any villain fight. His friends didn’t tell anyone, thankfully, but they kept giving him and Kacchan weird, knowing looks. He knew that they weren’t satisfied with his explanation last night, mostly because he didn’t really explain more so fluster around and mumble incoherently and be on the verge of tears until they agreed to let the subject go.
Kacchan was completely unaware of the commotion, which was totally unfair because this was entirely his fault.
Izuku felt like he was stewing in embarrassment all day long, and every time he made eye contact with Uraraka, Iida, or Tsuyu, it all came rushing back and he’d have to look away lest he start crying.
A part of it was that he didn’t know how to explain it. He knew what they were thinking, that he and Kacchan were in some tumultuous romantic relationship and were afraid to show it, but it wasn’t like that. They weren’t even “friends” in the strictest of terms. They were… they just were Kacchan and Izuku. And the ritual was just their thing . He felt like no one could understand their dynamic and it was impossible to explain and he didn’t want to explain because putting it into words was like describing a color or a feeling or language–it’s simple on the surface, i.e. Kacchan and Izuku are childhood friends, red is red and tree is tree, but once you try to dig deeper, ask why , it’s hard. Kacchan and Izuku are more than childhood friends. Sometimes Izuku feels like there isn’t a reality in which Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku do not Exist as One. It’s impossible to imagine, like a world where the sky is green and a tree is made of iron.
After school, Izuku waited outside UA, biting the skin on his thumb and digging his foot in the dirt. He didn’t think Kacchan had noticed the weird looks his friends were giving him, but he felt like he should explain anyway. He either noticed today or he would eventually. And, even though it made his hands clammy and his pulse quicken, Izuku felt like it was time. They needed to talk about the ritual.
“Your dumbass friends coming again?” Izuku looked at Kacchan, who was scanning their surroundings with a glare.
“Ah, no, Kacchan! I was just waiting for you!” Izuku tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace.
Kacchan clicked his tongue, turning towards the school. “I promised Shitty Hair I’d train with him today, so you can go fuck around with your stupid ass friends.”
Izuku froze, smile dying on his face. Oh.
Right.
Kacchan had friends now, too.
Izuku wasn’t exactly sure why a small spark of something ugly came to life in his chest, but he squashed it as quickly as it appeared. No, I will not be upset that Kacchan has friends. This is a good thing. And he knew that it was! Objectively.
He was brave enough to admit that he was a little jealous, though.
“O-oh, okay Kacchan! Guess I’ll just,” He awkwardly pointed a finger towards the road, “walk back by myself today, haha!” Oh my god I’m the worst person alive , he spun around on the balls of his feet, trying to pretend like he wasn’t acting like some jealous school girl with a crush.
“Oi, where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
Izuku looked to Kacchan and back towards the road. “Uhh, home? I still have to study for the exam…” He trailed off, confused. Did Kacchan want to train with him?
Huffing, Kacchan walked over, glaring down at him.
“Kacchan, are you okay? Do you want to talk about...” He searched for a tactful way to say “the Kiss” but couldn’t think of anything.
Kacchan rolled eyes, then leaned down and gingerly placed a kiss on his mouth. His lips were softer than usual, and he smelled like his usual burnt caramel and… was that…? Without thinking, he flicked his tongue and licked Kacchan’s mouth.
“Your lips taste like cherry today, Kacchan!”
They had parted but were still face to face, so Izuku could see the pure rage flow across Kacchan’s face.
“THE FUCK YOU SAY, SHITTY NERD? I’LL KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS!!”
Backing up frantically, he tried to salvage the situation, “NO Kacchan I, your, you-your lips were softer than usual and so I AHHHH I’M SORRRRYYYYYY!!”
Kacchan grabbed the front of Izuku’s uniform, swearing and threatening him with death. Oh I’m gonna die so bad.
Suddenly, Kacchan was ripped away from him, still screaming and ranting.
“Quiet down, I’m not paid to deal with this after school ends,” Aizawa drawled, his capture weapon holding Kacchan back from beating Izuku to death.
“I’m so sorry, Aizawa Sensei,” Izuku bowed, mostly so his burning face could be hidden, “I was just leaving and–”
“I don’t care, just stop screaming. It's 3 pm and I’m trying to sleep. Bakugou,” Aizawa held said angry demon boy closer to his face, ignoring the pissed off glare Kacchan gave him. “Stop yelling at Midoriya.”
Kacchan nodded once, not breaking his glare. Aizawa put him down, giving them one last glance, before letting Kacchan out of the capture weapon.
“I won’t tolerate unsupervised fighting, so whatever issues you have with each other should be settled without fists or I’ll expel you.”
Without thinking, Izuku leaped over to Kacchan and placed a hand over his mouth. “SENSEI WE WEREN’T DOING ANYTHING AND I’M GONNA LEAVE NOW AND KACCHAN I’M SORRY–”
“GET YOUR NERD ASS HANDS OFF ME SHITTY NERD!”
The capture weapon caught both of them this time, right as Kacchan lunged and wrapped his hands around Izuku’s neck.
“That’s it , problem students. I’m taking you to a teacher that can deal with this right now. You’re interrupting my sleep,” Aizawa said, eyebrows furrowed.
“It’s not my fault the shitty nerd doesn’t know how to do the kiss properly,” Kacchan huffed.
Aizawa’s eyes wided minisculely. Which for him, was basically like screaming in shock.
“The what ?”
“KACCHAN WAS JUST JOKING, HE’S SUCH A JOKER, HAHA KACCHAN YOU’RE SO FUNNY–”
“Midoriya, shut up,” Aizawa covered Izuku's mouth with his capture weapon, ”Bakugou, what do you mean when you say kiss ?”
Izuku was borderline hyperventilating, squirming around and staring Kacchan in the eyes, doing his best to convey “please stop talking” with his eyes.
Kacchan seemed to get the opposite message, though, and smirked, continuing the damning conversation.
“Our goodbye kiss. Damn Deku did it wrong today, fucking idiot that he is.”
Aizawa closed his eyes before letting out a long suffering sigh.
“I’m not paid enough to handle this conversation. Come with me,” he let them both down, ignoring the gasps of air from Izuku.
The walk to the teachers lounge felt like walking to the guillotine. Everytime Izuku would open his mouth, to escape or warn Kacchan or something , Aizawa would give him a look that screamed trouble and he’d shut his mouth for another couple minutes.
In the hallway to the teachers lounge, they came upon another surprise– Kirishima, in his workout clothes, obviously searching for Kacchan. He gave them a small wave, polite curiosity plastered on his face.
“What up Bakubro! You get in trouble with Aizawa sensei?”
“No, shitty hair, Deku was being a dumbass.”
Kirishima didn’t look convinced, but he just grinned and gave them a thumbs up. Aizawa looked between all three of them, seeing the relaxed attitude of Kacchan in contrast to Izuku, who was busy having a mini mental breakdown.
“Kirishima, come with us. I have a feeling you’re going to be able to explain this better than me.”
Ever the positive one, Kirishima trailed along like an adorable puppy, patting Izuku on the head in order to comfort him when he started hyperventilating again.
Aizawa slammed the door open to the teacher’s lounge, and all the Pro Heroes in the room stood at attention. Unfortunately, nearly all of Izuku’s teachers were there, including All Might. I’m so royally fucked.
“Which one of you teaches sex ed,” Aizawa said. Izuku felt his soul leave his body as Kirishima whipped around to look at him, and Kacchan’s grumpy face morphed into one of confusion.
“What’s wrong Eraserhead? Trouble in paradise?” Present Mic snickered, drawing the same conclusions that everyone else in the room came to. Where Present Mic looked like he was on the verge of bursting into laughter, all the teachers looked aghast. All Might’s coffee cup slipped out of his hand and shattered all over the floor.
Izuku furiously shook his head, because having all of his teachers and All Might think he was some sexual deviant was literally the worst thing that could happen to him, including death.
“Nononono you got it all wrong! It’s not- we’re not- STOP for a second –”
“Midoriya, my boy, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? You know I will fully support you, no matter who you love–”
“ Oh my god –” Izuku whimpered.
“And while I’m not happy that you were being irresponsible–”
“I’m literally begging you to stop. Do you want money?”
“I will continue being there for you, young Midoriya. Now, whichever of these young men is your boyfriend–”
“Cash? Do you want cash? I will run to the ATM right now, if you would please–”
“I’m sorry for embarrassing you, my boy, I just want to make sure they’re treating you right!”
Izuku buried his face in his hands, silently begging the universe to strike him dead and kill him as quickly as possible.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Kacchan’s voice boomed across the room, his eyes wide and, surprisingly, a light blush on his face.
“Bakugou, you told me you and Midoriya were kissing . You expect me to just ignore that and take you on your word that you’ll be safe and responsible?” Aizawa looked incredulously at Kacchan, ignoring the splutters of shock from the teachers in the room and Kirishima, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
“I’M NOT FUCKING DATING THIS SHITTY NERD! IT’S THE FUCKING– THE THING! THE KISS THING!” Kacchan looked flustered and pissed, tense and spitting like a wild dog. Izuku could do nothing but watch, as he was astral projecting into a realm where this wasn’t happening.
“Bro, you and Midoriya were what? ”
Kacchan grabbed Kirishima’s shirt, shaking him back and forth. “SHITTY HAIR, tell them it’s a fucking thing! The kiss thing!”
Kirishima looked even more flustered than Kacchan, and he gently placed his hands on Kacchan’s shoulders. “Dude, please explain what the ‘kiss thing’ is. I don’t think anyone in this room, besides Midoriya I guess, has any idea what you’re talking about.”
Kacchan scanned the room, taking in the shocked looking faces of his teachers and the pale, horrified face of Izuku.
“STOP FUCKING LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! It’s a thing! I’m not making shit up! I know people do it, I’ve seen people do it!”
“Bro, WHAT thing?!”
“THE FUCKING KISSING THING! ”
Everyone was silent for a moment. Aizawa scrubbed his face with his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Bakugou, do you know what kissing is? What people who kiss are called?”
Kacchan scowled and crossed his arms, “Of course, I’m not fucking dumb.”
“Okay then, run it by me. Answer the question.”
“Everyone kisses, I know that. Why is this important?”
“Okay, I can’t do this. Kirishima, can you please explain what I’m trying to say?”
Kirishima startled out of his gawking, coughing embarrassedly. “Okay, Bakubro, let me put it this way: who have you seen kissing?”
“My parents, I guess.”
“No one else? Movies, TV shows, people on the street?”
“I’m not watching fucking chick flicks in my free time, shitty hair. And I’m not a goddamn creep, why would I watch random people in public?”
“Ugh, why are you–” Kirishima ran a hand through his hair, breathing in through his nose and out his mouth. “Okay, I’m just gonna say it: the only people you’ve seen who kiss each other are your mom and dad. Your mom and dad are married. They are in a romantic relationship. Therefore…” He trailed off, expecting Kacchan to connect the dots.
“Shitty hair, you’re even stupider than I thought. Of fucking course I know my parents are married, you dunce. But I’ve seen my mom kiss Auntie Inko, and she sure as hell isn’t married to her.”
“I’m sorry, you’ve seen my mom do WHAT?!” Izuku’s soul had finally returned to his mortal coil and by god did he wish it hadn’t. Kirishima’s dumbfounded sputtering and the raised eyebrows of the teachers were not helping Izuku calm down at all.
“Yeah, when I was a brat. You don’t remember that Deku? At the park? Why the fuck do you think I started doing the kiss with you?”
Izuku stopped breathing. The kissing had an origin story?
He’d just always assumed that they’d just started doing it and never stopped. Not that it was some sort of copied behavior. But still, he’d never seen his mom kiss Auntie Mitski, especially not on the lips as some goodbye kiss.
“Fucking call your mom and ask her,” Kacchan commanded, still scowling.
Izuku dug through his pockets and took out his phone, dialing his mom’s number as fast as he could. The teachers, who were now thoroughly invested in this drama, watched with bated breath as the line rang.
“Izuku? What’s wrong? You never call me this early.”
“Mom, I’m sorry if this is a weird question or inappropriate but do you remember when I was a kid maybe three or four years old back when me and Kacchan first became friends and we were at a park or something and Kacchan says this happened but I don’t remember it and he might be remembering it wrong or maybe it was with someone else or something but basically what I’m saying is have you ever kissed Auntie Mitski?” Even though most of what Izuku said was an incomprehensible ramble, his mom had a lot of practice filtering through and getting the gist of what he was saying, so while everyone else was scratching their heads and piecing together his point, his mom let out a shocked laugh.
“ Kissed Mitski? I never–” Suddenly, she cut herself off with a soft gasp. “Wait! I have! Katsuki is right! It was about 11 years ago, right when you started playing with Katsuki. We took you kids to the park, and Mitski had been working herself too hard around that time and was dead on her feet by the end of the day. I came up behind her to ask if she wanted to go home early and she thought I was her husband! Planted one on me!” His mom laughed loudly, sounding fond at the memory.
“I didn’t make a big deal of it, I knew how exhausted she was. I don’t think she even noticed! Wow, I can’t believe I forgot about that.”
“Tha-thanks mom, I’ll call you, uh, later, byeloveyou!” Izuku hung up quickly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The room was silent, everyone uncomfortably aware of how embarrassing this situation was. Kacchan’s face was pale and drawn, his eyes wide in horrified realization.
“Bakubro, have you been kissing Midoriya all these years ‘cause you saw your mom do it once? ”
Kacchan didn’t seem to realize he was being spoken to.
“Ka-Kacchan? Are you–”
An explosion had Izuku flying off his feet and onto the ground, the windows rattling and papers sliding off desks.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Kacchan roared, leaping at Izuku. “YOU’VE BEEN FUCKING WITH ME ALL THESE YEARS, HAVEN’T YOU?? LAUGHING AT ME BEHIND MY BACK!!”
“No, Kacchan! I haven’t I swear I didn’t realize it was weird until a few years ago–”
“WEIRD?? I’ll show you weird you fucking–”
A putridly sweet smell filled his nose right as Kacchan threw the first punch, missing him by a centimeter. Izuku had two seconds to see the pitying faces of his teachers before he hit the floor, unconscious.
When Izuku woke up, he could feel the animosity in the air, palpable and overwhelming. His nose was still full of Midnight’s sickly-sweet Somnambulist, and while normally, everyone that had been affected by her quirk woke up around the same time, Kacchan was amazing. He’d probably been awake for at least half an hour longer than Izuku.
Not that he’d let Kacchan know he was awake, now. Izuku was trying to not be suicidal, thank you very much.
With his eyes still closed, he tried to make his breathing as even as possible, despite the fear and despair coursing through his body.
This was the end of the kisses. For real this time. No more walking to the fork in the road, no more gentle kisses, no more of Kacchan’s anything. He’d probably never even speak to him again. Izuku could hear Recovery Girl in the hallway, helping other students, but he paid her no mind. The only person that mattered right now was physically separated by a thin white sheet, but, in every other way, was basically across the universe.
The animosity coming off of Kacchan was like the waves of a furious ocean, and even though it reminded Izuku of the horrific years of bullying he’d been through, he’d take it. If that was the only thing he could get from Kacchan, it was better than nothing.
Even though he was relatively still, his eyes were filling with tears and he had to subtly bring a hand up to clamp around his mouth and nose, stifling the beings of a sob. He hates me, he hates me, he’ll never talk to me again, my Kacchan–
“Oi, nerd. The fuck you crying for?” Kacchan’s voice was dangerous, sharp and full of hate. Hate.
Izuku froze, still sniffling.
“I-I’m sorry, Kacchan. I never meant for this to happen, I-I-” a loud wail escaped him, and he couldn’t continue. All he could think, on a loop was, he’s never talking to me again, he hates me hates me hates me HATES ME–
Kacchan’s probably getting pissed at his crying. Curling up in a ball, his back to the curtain separating them, Izuku wrapped his arms around himself, trying to calm down. But nothing could stop this–the waves of grief, crashing into him over and over. It felt like his heart was breaking in two. His mind replayed each of the kisses, like a film reel, and while it had once brought him happiness, sometimes embarrassment, right now, it was a dagger to his already broken heart.
The kisses that were painful, punches between lips, were all he had known for all of middle school and even some of primary school. The kisses that predated those, even–innocent pecks between them, giggly and childish, before Izuku was declared quirkless and their friendship dissolved. And worst of all–the most recent kisses, the soft ones, sometimes even tender and sweet.
And Izuku felt horrible and evil, because those recent kisses had made him long for it to be real. For the kisses to not just be a ritual, apparently a copied botched goodbye from a decade ago, but to be genuine. For Kacchan to know what he was doing when they kissed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry–” Izuku whimpered, his breaths coming out stuttered and gasping. He was being annoying, he knew it. Blubbering and weeping after he had just humiliated Kacchan in front of his friends and teachers.
“I just wanted-I just needed you in my life, K-Kacchan. I needed you and I really liked our ritual, and-and I-” Izuku sucks in another breath, wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt, not caring that he was rubbing tears and snot all over his UA uniform.
“So you lied to me? So I would keep kissing you? You’re a fucking creep, Deku,” Kacchan spat out, voice still scarily calm.
“N-no, please, I didn’t-I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that other people didn’t do it, u-until about a year and a half ago,” Izuku tried to take another deep breath and failed. He buried his face in the med bay pillow.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you say anything?”
“You-you would’ve never talked to me a-again.”
“Well what the fuck do you think is gonna happen now, huh?”
At those words, the confirmation that everything really was over between them, Izuku stood up and ran. He caught a glimpse of Kacchan’s face, furious (and… sad?) but he couldn’t deal with that right now. All he could do was run, side stepping a startled Recovery Girl and a concerned older student. He ran as fast as he could away from the mess he’d made. Hates me hates me hates me he hates me…