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The opening theme of the All-Mighty Adventures animated tv show, was Katsuki's favorite song as a kid. Even as an adult, it still ranks high up on his list.
It could be for nostalgia reasons. Related to airy giggles, freckled smiles, and memories that both warms and aches his heart with every lyric and rhythmic drum beat. The theme song's pace would change with each season, but the lyrics never did. Neither did the way they sang the theme at the top of their lungs while jumping over couches and coffee tables with their mothers taking pictures of them and laughing from the kitchen.
One of those pictures from twelve even years ago, sits in a plastic frame next to the cookie jar on his kitchen counter(the jar holds protein bars, not cookies). It's the only one he has, as the others are already framed and hung up on the walls of his parents' place. Katsuki hasn't swallowed his pride down enough to ask for any more, so he just treasures the one he managed to sneak out of a broken frame years ago.
When his folks visit, they never question why it's the only one he has, and he's grateful for that. The quiet acceptance that is his silent longing and regret.
the theme was written by an alternative rock band from decades ago who wrote the song specifically for the show. Though the group has long since disbanded, their music is still popular enough for cover bands to play half of their albums for a show.
So when an out of town rock band was booked to perform at one of the many basement bar venues in his city, with their set list including that very song, and on his birthday of all days, his idiots all chipped in to buy him a floor ticket. They bought themselves tickets too, but gave him the space they knew he'd want, and got theirs for the seats a few rows back from the floor instead.
And if he had of known the cover band was this popular, he probably would have preferred tickets away from the goddamn mosh pit he was thrusted into at the first strum of guitar strings.
They played the cartoon theme for their third set (though a little more aggressively than he would've liked), followed by the same band's most popular songs, and are now moving onto sets that are far more violent than what the crowded floor should handle.
At this point, he's reached his limit of girls bouncing themselves against his sweaty body, and of guys just throwing hands for the sake of saying they partook in a classic mosh pit throwdown.
Katsuki starts to head through the back of the crowd, when his personally tuned "oh, fuck no" meter starts going off. Like a spidey-sense of douchebaggery.
That's when a Skittle sized brunette turns into the Hulk five feet away from where he stands.
"DID YOU JUST GRAB MY TIT? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" She screams like a banshee in the night. The dickwad behind her throws his hands up with a laugh like, "oops, didn't see your melon sized knockers there."
The brunette dressed in jean shorts, a chain decorated crop top, and hot pink converse, glares at the idiot with malicious intent. The guy shrugs again, half turning away to fist pump the air and jump along with the music.
Katsuki takes two steps forward when the fucker's hand clearly and intentionally brushes against her ass.
Then he almost trips clean over the guy.
Because now he's flat on the floor between them.
"DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU WISDOM TOOTH BUILT BASTARD," she yells.
How she manged to do that without spilling her beer, Katsuki would very much like to know.
"I WAS JUST PLAYING AROUND! LEARN TO TAKE A JOKE, BITCH!" The ugly fuck yells back while trying to get off the floor before he gets trampled.
She holds up her beer bottle, chugging what's left. It gets flipped by the handle in her grasp.
"And for my next trick, I'll be turning this glass bottle into an assault charge!"
New best friend aquired, goddamn.
The fucker scrambles behind a row of people, disappearing into the crowd without a single glance back. Katsuki could almost smell the fear and shit in those cheap ass leather pants.
"FUCK YEAH, ROUND FACE! THAT'S WHAT'S UP!" He cheers her on, not that she really needs it.
"Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry!" She flails a bit, dropping her raised arm. "I didn't hit you when I threw him, did I?"
"Hell no!" He yells back over the crowd's roar and the guitar solo. "That was fucking badass!"
She stares at him, up and down before nodding with pursed lips. "You're gay, aren't you?"
"Hah?"
"I can feel a gay friendship forming. Also, your wearing all black, cargo pants, a tank top, and black combat boots with rainbow shoe laces." She raises on her toes to speak loud enough for him to hear.
"Ah.....fuck, you got me. I like dick." He shrugs with an amused laugh.
She makes a face of disgust. "Can't relate."
Katsuki laughs again.
"I know you were gonna step in if that walking asshole didn't back off, so thanks!"
"It's whatever, you handled it yourself." He shrugs.
"I......." She hesitates, staring at him in a weird look of confusion. "I'm so sorry, but have we met before? You just seem super familiar for some reason!"
"Uh.......no?" The strobe lights stay solid enough for him to see the brown in her eyes and the rows of piercings on her ears.
Her eyes sink into his, widening in some kind of pure awe. Her gaze seems to piece together his entire face, like some kind of puzzle. Fleeting from his blonde hair, red eyes, semi-scowling face, and landing on the horse shoe shaped two decade old scar on his exposed shoulder.
"Oh my god." She plants a palm over her mouth, gasping out. "Ka.......Kacchan?"
Every dormant shard of rage that had been stamped and ground down to dust from endless therapy sessions, now roars to life with flames of......something. it's not quite jealousy, but it tastes so similar. Protective. Territorial over the name that only one person has to the right to call him. One person, out of the billions that walk this planet.
"Do not call me that." Katsuki growls out, raising a finger at her in warning. "That name is not for you to use."
"NO! No, I..." She steps closer with a complacent hand raised between them. "I've heard so much about you.....from.....from Izuku."
Izuku.
Katsuki's world flips. Hearing that name has his heart skipping every other beat.
"W-What?"
"Izuku! Izuku Midoriya!" She yells, grabbing ahold of his arm. "Do you know him? You're Kacchan, right?"
He does. He knows Izuku from the past, from pictures and dreams, from parks of green fields, and specks of cocoa powder that sticks to the sides of cupcake batter filled bowls.
"Is he here?" Is his answer instead.
She jumps, still holding his arm in a prison tight grip. "Don't move."
He won't. He couldn't even if he tried. His feet are glued to the floor, boots melted in the strangest fever dream he's ever had.
Two fingers raise to her lips. A whistle rings out in the crowd. A high pitch tone that makes his ears ache.
Katsuki stays close, turning to scan the crowd like a lighthouse looking for a boat lost at sea.
Someone materializes at her side. A blonde girl with sharp canines and narrowed eyes. She tilts her head at Katsuki in such a violent manner that he'd probably respect if he wasn't sure this was a dream. Or maybe a drunken hallucination.
"Chako'chip, who is this?"
"It's Kacchan!" She shouts back, taking the blonde girl's hand in hers.
"Oh....my god. No freaking way!" The previous violence melts away, replaced with determination.
"What the fuck is going on? Why did you call for time out?" A tall, lean, tattooed from hell and back, white haired dude towers over the shorter girl's in front of him. "Is this guy bothering you?"
"No! Where is Izuku?" The brunette shouts.
"How should I fuckin' know?" The guy shrugs.
This dude is the opposite of his type, and a little too much like himself for comfort.
Another head pops around the leather wearing six foot tall q-tip.
"Are you guys okay?"
Okay, this one is a little more his type. Cute, a little dopey, but with two toned eyes and missing the green hair and freckles he needs to get his hands on. This dude almost looks like all the femboys got together and voted him as their representative.
"Shochan! Do you know where Izuku is?" The blonde girl asks immediately.
Princess Peppermint just shakes his head, then looks Katsuki up and down with a similar jaw-dropped stare as the brunette had.
"Um, are you......Kacchan?"
"I need to see Izuku. Please, I-I have to-"
Apologize? Beg for forgiveness? Sob and kiss the nerd's ugly ass red shoes? What, Katsuki?
"Brother." The candy cane headed one turns around, and T-poses exactly like someone who was friends with Izuku would. "Simba me."
The tallest of the four of them jams his hands under extended arms, and lifts the femboy in the air like an offering to the gayest of gods.
Respect.
"Turn, Touya!"
"I am!"
Touya, Shochan, Round Face, and Blondie-....... an interesting group.
"You see him?" Touya grunts, still holding Candy Cane in the air.
"No."
"I'll try to call him." Round Face digs out her phone, swiping the screen quickly. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"
"What? What's wrong?" Katsuki thought he was sweaty before, but now he could probably fill up a few mop buckets of musky liquid stress.
"He texted the group chat that he was leaving like....ten minutes ago!" She growls out in frustration.
The blonde one grabs his arm. "We can step outside and call him!"
And suddenly, he's being dragged through the crowd like a toddler's favorite toy teddy bear. The used q-tip dude behind him, princess Peppermint at his side, Round Face leading Blondie, and Blondie leading him.
They take the stairs past screaming and dancing groups of people. The separate floor holds the bar, where he catches Eijirou and Mina taking a row of shots. They see him too, the sweat on his skin, the wideness of his eyes, the shallow nervous pumping of his chest.
"Hey!" Eijirou shouts after him, gunning it between tables with Mina behind him.
"Where the hell are you taking our friend?" Mina yells with her whole abdomen.
Round Face stops dead in her tracks, which makes their ridiculous conga line ram into eachother like a sitcom trope. Blondie yanks on his arm when Eijirou reaches to snatch him away with worry on his face.
"No, Ei-" Katsuki says, breathlessly. "It's....It's Deku. He....he was here."
"Deku?" Eijirou echos. "HERE?"
Mina's eyes widen to space ships. "Oh, oh my god."
"He was here." He says again, mouth dry.
"We are going outside to call him!" Round Face announces, freely reaching to grab Mina by the elbow as if they've known eachother for ages. "Come with us!"
"I'll find the others, go!" Eijirou pushes Mina forward gently. He whips around and dissappears into the crowded sea of people within seconds.
This is.....weird.
It's a dream. It has to be.
He probably drank himself into a coma, and is passed out on his couch at home. Eijirou asleep on the floor. Denki passed out belly down over the coffee table again. Kyoka in the actual bedroom. Hitoshi on the bathroom floor and Mina in the bathtub because neither of them can handle tequila, but always end up drinking it anyways.
That's the only explanation.
He gets dragged through the bar, passing people, staff, and bouncers. The first breath of fresh evening air, is all it takes for reality to set in.
Izuku. He's going to get to see Izuku again. After days, weeks, months, and years of guilt and regret. The pained face that stared back at him almost a decade ago, streaked in tears and red blotchy irritated skin hiding dewy freckles. The memory has haunted him every night. Not a day has gone by where Katsuki didn't think of Izuku at least once at thr forefront of his mind. Passing cute cafes he knows Izuku would have liked, seeing spring's first defrosted fields of green, nostalgic television shows and thrift store shelves of vintage merchandise and collectibles.
Izuku never truly left him, not really.
"I'm calling him now!" The brunette has her phone held out between them on speaker. The volume turned up as high as it'll go.
The rings are a few beats slower than his nearly vibrating heart. The call connects, and only silence spreads around them.
"Hello? Ochako?"
Katsuki gets chills from the voice alone.
"Izuku! Listen, you have to come back to the bar right now." She says into the reciever harshly.
"What, why? Did something happen? Are you okay? Did Himi bite someone again?"
"THAT LAST ONE LOOKED AT SHOCHAN FUNNY!" Blondie defends herself, sharp teeth edged over her bottom lip.
"I wasn't there for that one, but I agree with her reasoning." Touya nods with a look of approval. First Lady of the Femboys just rolls his two toned eyes at them.
Ochako groans. "No! Look, please just come back? You won't regret it."
"I don't know, 'Chako. I can already see the metro station. Whatever this is about-"
"Izuku Elizabeth Midoriya." Ochako scolds. Katsuki snorts because that is not Izuku's middle name, but five stars for dramatics. "There is an Adonis built man standing next to me, with blonde spiky hair and dreamy red eyes, who answers to the name of Kacchan. Ring a bell?"
Katsuki bites his tongue so hard he tastes metal.
"........'Chako, this had better not be a prank or so help me god. I will run down there right now-"
"Don't run, dumbass! You have asthma!" Katsuki barks out before he can stop himself. The last thing they need is to spend the night in an emergency room because Izuku ends up having an asthma attack as soon as they see eachother again.
There is nothing but rustling fabric, wind, and panting breaths through the speaker now.
"He's running." The Peppermint headed one supplies.
"Fuck!" Katsuki snaps, grabbing the phone to growl into it. "I said don't run! You're gonna throw yourself into an asthma attack!"
"IT'S GOTTEN BETTER OVER THE YEARS, I SWEAR! Stay right there! I'm on my way!" Izuku pleads, breathless. "Please, Kacchan....wait for me."
Then the line goes dead.
"Goddamnit!" Katsuki roars, shoving the phone back into Round Face's hands. "What station!" He yells out, sidestepping out of their small gathered crowd.
"Victory Steet! Off of 22nd Avenue!" Someone yells back, and Katsuki doesn't stop to thank them.
He just runs.
Halfway down the street, he barely hears Eijirou shout. "Why are we running?"
"Doesn't matter! Come on!" Someone else yells again.
Katsuki skids to a slower jog around the corner, narrowly avoiding a stoplight pole. A crowd of bar hoppers walk in the opposite direction as him, so he screams for them to move out of his way or risk getting steamrolled to the sidewalk.
A dozen pair of feet follow after him, yelling at eachother and laughing into the wind. The crosswalk changes just in time for Katsuki not to get hit by any cars. He runs as fast as he can, dodging trash cans, people, streetsigns, and lampposts.
"Izuku might take the alley shortcut, so turn left up here!" Round Face yells out to him.
Katsuki nearly trips on his own scrambling feet, sprinting down a well lit alleyway. A recycling dumpster for cardboard, a few backdoor potted plants, and random mops and brooms that belong to one of the already closed restaurants sit on the left. The wind hits a little harsher through the tunnel-like walls.
"Go right, then it's a straight shot!" Blondie shouts behind him. One of the dumbasses of the group that trails after him smacks right into the cardboard dumpster. He would laugh his ass off at Eijirou's wheezed yelp if he had the time.
Fifty yards up the block, lit by every other flickering streetlight, someone else runs. There's a jingling sound of keys and tacky keychains.
Katsuki slows to a stop and curses his very un-superhero eyesight. Just barely, there's a bright blur of rainbow flashes with every stride of their thick legs.
He'd bet gold that those are stupid light up sketchers, with velcro straps and matching tacky socks.
"DEKU!"
"KACCHAN!" Izuku throws one arm up in the air, waving it as if Katsuki couldn't see his dumb shoes.
He runs again, long strides with purpose and a destination. The gaggle of morons behind him fall against eachother as some slow down and others keep running.
"Deku!" Katsuki yells again, from his soul.
"Kacchan!" Izuku answers back, from the heart.
He shoulder checks a light pole, wincing at the throb pain that radiates down his arm. Katsuki runs, closing the distance and never looking away.
If he even blinks, the dream might get snatched from his grasp.
Warmth seeps into his chest. The kind that can't be mimicked or replicated. It settles deep in his chest, as another's beating heart crushes against his.
Arms fling out around his shoulders, legs wrap firm around his waist, and a relieved breath against his nape sends chills down his spine.
Deku....Izuku, is in his arms again. All warm skin, coconut oil scented hair, and tacky clothes, after all these years.
Katsuki squeezes his eyes shut as one hand tangles into wild green curls. Though they're longer than the last time he saw them, bouncing underneath the evening sun so many sunsets ago.
His arm curls around a sweat damp sweater. The strength that with which he holds him, might even dislocate his own arms.
"Kacchan. Kacchan." Izuku sobs and wheezes into his neck.
Katsuki let's his knees hit the sidewalk. He leans forward, shoving a hand between them to push Izuku gently to the ground. A turquoise sequined belt bag sits askew over Izuku's hip. Katsuki presses a hand to it, confirming where he knew to look was right.
The zipper gets yanked open. He rummages through the bag briefly, past lipgloss, hair ties, and a random tube of super glue. Katsuki pulls an inhaler out, shaking it in his hand a few times before popping off the mouth piece cap.
"Here." He shoves the dispenser forward, index finger laid atop of release button. "Breathe, idiot."
Izuku sucks in a breath through the mouth piece as the button is pressed. He holds it for a solid six seconds, before forcing out a rapid exhale.
"Another?" Katsuki shakes the inhaler again.
Izuku shakes his head. His breathes still wheezed slightly, though more controlled.
Katsuki nods once, caping the dispenser and zipping it back up in the belt bag.
"You're.....here, Kacchan." Izuku says, shakily. "You're really here."
"Yeah.....I am." He sighs, raising a slow hand to push sweaty curls from a damp forehead. "I'm here, and I'm so fucking sorry." Katsuki rushes out. The relief of the words don't ease the decade long guilt on his soul, but they still fall from his lips like a player. "I'm so, so goddamn sorry, Deku."
"Wh.....What?" Izuku blinks at him, clearly confused.
"I shouldn't have said what I did.....when we last saw eachother. I should've just gotten your new address, and wished you luck. I should've said that I loved you too, and I should have helped you pack, but......I didn't. I said some fucked up shit, hurt you, and never heard from you again."
Those galaxy green eyes soften, lashes dancing over flushed freckled skin with every blink.
"I'm sorry, too."
Katsuki scoffs, "the fuck're you sorry for? You didn't do a goddamn thing wrong."
"But I did." Izuku almost whispers. He pushes himself up to his elbows and sits halfway between Katsuki's kneeling knees. "I chose to move away. To leave the country and live with my dad, without considering just how much that meant leaving behind." A hand wraps around his, soft and firm. "It meant leaving you......and I'm sorry."
Katsuki shakes his head again. "Don't be. You were doing what you needed to, for the sake of your ma' and shit. We were fifteen, Deku. I saw you everyday for fifteen damn years, and then.....you were gone. There wasn't a day when we were growing up that you didn't smile at me, and I took advantage of that. I was so mad, I told you to......I-I said...."
A calloused hand lays gently over his cheek. Fingertips swipe away the tears he didn't even know were there.
"I know what you said, Kacchan. I was there, remember?" Izuku laughs softly. "I forgave you already. I forgave you the moment you slammed the door in my face, the moment I walked back down the street to my empty house and the moving truck that was waiting for me."
Katsuki turns his head, gritting his teeth. "You shouldn't."
"Well I did, so." Izuku laughs again. "I hope you can forgive me too. I took our friendship and threw it away for a senseless dream. I followed after my dad, without knowing who it was that I really wanted to follow. It was you, Kacchan. I should've stayed. I should have told my dad to screw off when he told mom and I to start packing. I should've said I didn't want to go when mom asked me if it was really what I wanted, because it wasn't."
With a harsh swallow, Katsuki forces himself to ask the question that's been hanging over his head for more than a quarter of his life.
"What happened, Deku?" The words leave his throat raw.
Izuku sighs, placing his hands carefully over Katsuki's shoulders.
"I was sent to a boarding school as soon as we arrived. Letters were only sent out to approved addresses through your parents, and Dad wouldn't let me send any to you. He said that my life here, in Japan, was over, and to leave it all behind me. He said you moved away, too. Mom and I didn't have any of your phone numbers either."
Katsuki laughs this time, under his breath. "Because when we wanted to talk or needed something, we'd just walk down the street."
Izuku nods tearfully. "I came back when I was eighteen. Mom only went to mend their marriage, but it was too far gone. They divorced, and mom helped me get settled in Japan again. I got to go to the college I wanted, became a writer, and....kept looking for you. When I went to your old house, the neighbors said you moved to-"
"Peru." Katsuki finishes for him. "My....my folks moved to Peru, but I stayed here."
"I'm sorry, Kacchan. I'm sorry for leaving you, for not upturning the world to find you, and for not following you like I always said I would."
"I don't give a fuck. You're here now, and I'm not letting you go this time." Katsuki says it as a promise, but also as a threat. From now on, wherever Izuku goes, he goes too.
"D-Do you.....forgive me?"
"Yeah." Katsuki sniffles weakly.
"I forgive you, too." Izuku whispers, leaning forward to snare his arms around Katsuki's torso.
"........Kacchan?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you still draw?"
Katsuki chuckles, sore and deep. "Hell yeah, I do. It's more a hobby, though. I do graphic design now."
Izuku smiles at him, full of teeth. "Well....I'm a writer in need of an illustrator?"
"You bein' serious?" He half gawks as Izuku nods. "Well, shit......I guess I'm an illustrator in need of a writer to draw for."
"Really?!"
"Yeah......fuck it. Why not?" Katsuki shrugs, hands still around Izuku's waist.
"Thank you, Kacchan! You won't regret this, I promise!"
"Fuck.....give me your phone." Katsuki grumbles, violently shoving down all the intrusive urges that bubble up his chest.
Izuku wiggles around to dig his phone from his pocket. Katsuki takes it, types in the pass code with one guess, (All-Might canon debut date), and adds himself as a contact.
He doesn't miss the sparkle that shines at the center of Izuku's stupidly pretty eyes.
"Uh.....do.....were you at the uh, show with anyone?" Izuku asks timidly, fiddling with his nails.
"My dumbass friends, why?"
"Oh, cool. Just....uh, just asking."
Katsuki purses his lips. "Were you? With anyone, I mean."
Izuku giggles, leaning over Katsuki's shoulder to look at their bystanding audience of mismatched fools. "You already met who I was with, it seems."
"So......are you still......do you-" Katsuki swallows, clearing his throat. "I mean, I know it's been like...a long ass time, and we've been through some shit, so if you don't feel the same way that you used to I'd totally get that, but when we....when I last saw you, and when I fucked everything up, you said...uh..."
"That I loved you?" Izuku asks for him, tilting his head down with a coy smile.
Katsuki exhales sharply. "Yeah......that."
"You're asking if I still love you?"
A heavy pause.
"You're right, that's a dumb thing to ask. Forget it. It's been a decade, and we were kids, so-"
"I do," Izuku says quietly.
"Oh.........cool."
Izuku laughs with his head tilted back and curls falling over his ears. "Cool?"
"Yeah- I mean, that's....." Katsuki stutters, skin burning hot against the cool night air. "Uh, date?"
"Date?" One fluffy combed green brow raises. Two little dots sit over the tappered end. A piercing, Katsuki realizes.
"Yeah, date. Me, I mean." He coughs, looking at the sidewalk pavement between his knees. "Go on a date with me?"
"I'd love to, but......I just found you. I'm not really ready to um, head home just yet."
'I don't want to leave you, when I've only just found you again-'
"Come home with me?" Katsuki asks way too quickly. "We can pick up some cheap beer and dinner on the way?"
Izuku smiles at him, bashful and sweet. "Will this be our first date then?"
"If.....If you want, then sure."
"Can we watch All-Mighty Adventures?"
"Fuck yeah. I've got them all on DVD." Katsuki smiles back.
Izuku giggles again behind his hand, leaning closer with bright pink cheeks. "Um, Kacchan?"
"Yeah?" He couldn't stop himself if he tried, tilting down slightly. Warm breath fades over his lips.
A single, feather soft kiss is pressed to the corner of his mouth. So gentle, that Katsuki could almost mistake it as a warm breeze.
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks, nerd." He says just centimeters away from pouty pink lips. "Best birthday of my whole goddamn life."
Izuku giggles again. "You say that now, but I'll make your next one even better!"
"You gonna give me another kiss for my birthday next year then? Cause that's probably the only way to top this one."
"You'll get a real kiss when you walk me home later tonight." Izuku teases, leaning forward with one hand on Katsuki's chest.
"What makes you think I'm gonna let you go home, hah? I'm not letting you out of my sight again, nerd." He teases right back.
"Kacchan!" Izuku's hands fly up to cover his face. Giggles and wheezes are muffled into his palms as he leans sideways and bumps into Katsuki's bent knee. Sweet, adorable, pretty, giggling, precious dork.
Katsuki positively eats it up.
"If we're done here, my nipple rings are gonna freeze my tits off." Touya grumbles loudly.
Denki gasps. "You have pierced nipples?"
"Yeah, you wanna see?"
"YES." Mina shoves Eijirou against the peppermint headed one, out of her way. "I've been dying to get mine done!"
"Oh? Come by my shop then. I'll give you a discount. I did all my piercings myself." Touya laughs, then screeches when Mina's cold hands touch the bare sliver of his stomach.
"Sorry, babe....bro......dude?" Eijirou grimaces to himself, gently fixing the ruffled fabric of Shouto's shirt. "You....I can't really tell, cause you're like.....pretty? Like in both ways, all the ways. I'm gonna shut up now."
Shouto laughs, patting the red head's bicep and shamelessly coping a feel. "You can call me babe, I don't mind."
"Oh, jesus." Eijirou sweats, subtly flexing as the hand that grabs at his arm moves up.
"Congrats to the new couple! I'm hungry, feed me." Himiko demands with her hands on her hips.
"My girlfriend needs to be fed! Get out of my way, peasants!" Ochako takes her hand, leading their whack ass caravan down the sidewalk. "What would you like, baby? Soba? Street tacos? Kombini food?"
"Hmmmmm, pizza!"
"Pizza it is!"
"I'd prefer soba." Shouto sighs, walking past where Izuku and Katsuki now stand on the sidewalk and tucked into eachother's sides.
"There's a soba place across the street from the pizza joint down the road?" Eijirou offers.
"Oh?" Shouto turns, sliding a hand around the red head's bicep again. "Are you paying?"
"For you? Yes, absolutely."
"Oi! That's my little brother!" Touya shouts ahead.
"And that's my best friend." Mina walks beside him. "Trust me, he's a good one. Been my bestie for yeeeaars. The pizza place sells beer. Let me buy you a drink?"
"Goddamn, say less." Touya drops an arm over her bare shoulders. "You're on your own, little bro!"
Shouto flips him off behind Eijirou's back.
"Fuck, you're cold. Hang on." He shimmies off his leather jacket. Dropping it around her shoulders, before throwing his arm back around her. "There."
"Weren't you just complaining about freezing your tits off?" Izuku laughs behind them with Katsuki's hand in his own.
"Fuck off, it's called chivalry!"
"God, I'm so single it hurts." Denki wails.
Hitoshi scoffs, sputters, and stomps his foot. "I'm right here!"
Denki blinks at him. "You're right, 'Toshi. Sorry." He threads an arm around his, dragging him along. "We can be single gay boys together."
"I give up." Hitoshi sighs.
Katsuki barks a laugh. "No you don't!"
"Shut up, I know!"
As their friends lead the way, Izuku swings his and Katsuki's hands together, bumping shoulders and laughing to themselves. With every step taken together towards their future, embers of reunion spark between their hearts.
"So we grab a pizza and head to my place?"
Izuku nods, smiling brighter than the stars. "Sounds like a date, Kacchan."