Deserving

by Esselle

Summary:

'Katsuki doesn't quite pull away this time, resting his forehead against Izuku's, not moving even as Izuku turns his head so that Katsuki's nose is buried in dark curls and he can just breathe. Shouto kisses Izuku next, softer and slower and less like the world is ending—more likes it's just ceasing to turn, instead, while Izuku's lips and tongue are warm on his own.

He opens his eyes and Izuku is smiling at him. And Katsuki's sharp gaze finds Shouto's from the soft mess of Izuku's hair and he runs a rough, callused hand up Shouto's arm, squeezing it like a thank you, as he tells Izuku,

"Happy birthday, nerd." '

--

Katsuki and Shouto plan a very good birthday.

Notes:

This started off as an idea from Val about the characters watching a scary movie together, and somehow it turned into an emotional birthday fic mess

THIS FIC IS VERY SOFT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

All in all, they've done a pretty good job.

All Might balloons—at least a hundred of them—are all inflated and floating throughout the Bakugou family home. There's streamers hung up everywhere, and they aren't even all that twisted, considering the pain in the ass they've been to stick across all the doorways. A huge happy birthday banner in red, blue, and yellow drapes across the genkan, visible as soon as the door opens. There's an All Might ice cream cake in the freezer, and they've gathered plenty of snacks in the living room, enough to keep them going for the entire day. Everything is ready to go, and it's not even two o'clock yet.

Shouto finishes filling up and releasing the last of the balloons and wipes his forehead, more winded than he is after one of Aizawa's training exercises. There's a delicious smell wafting from the kitchen, but he's starting to become a little concerned.

"Bakugou," he calls out. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to overspice it."

"You tryin' to tell me how to do my job?!" Katsuki shouts back, already offended.

"No," Shouto says, although he definitely is, "I'm just saying, we want Izuku to be able to actually eat the incredible meal you're making him for his birthday."

Silence. Shouto waits, hoping his flattery has paid off.

"I won't overdo it," Katsuki eventually says, sounding put out. "You gotta stop babying him, though, he'll never get any tougher otherwise."

Shouto shifts some of the balloons around to make sure they're all evenly spaced. Then he makes his way into the kitchen, where Katsuki is posted in front of the stove, stirring a huge pot of curry. His wild shock of hair is pushed off his forehead by a black bandana, and he's wearing one of his mother's aprons, dark blue and tied tight around his waist. Shouto wanders closer, hops up on the countertop next to the stove so he can look at all the simmering pots and pans covering it. It does smell amazing, but underneath the rich scent of the curry, he can definitely catch a sizzling bite of spice—Katsuki's specialty. And often, the downfall of many others, especially Shouto himself, who can't eat spicy food at all.

"What?" Katsuki asks, without looking at him, too focused on the meal being prepared. He swiftly chops up some vegetables and sets them grilling in a pan loaded with sauce and butter.

"I just don't think," Shouto says, and Katsuki sighs loudly, "that his taste buds need to be especially tough on a day when he's supposed to be enjoying himself, and not necessarily suffering through his tongue being burned off."

"I'm not gonna feed Deku bland fucking food on his eighteenth goddamn birthday," Katsuki says resolutely. "This katsudon is gonna be the best he's ever had, or I'm throwing it all in the garbage."

"You will not," Shouto says sternly, "because we don't waste food. But also because it will be the best katsudon he's ever had."

"Exactly, 'cuz I'm doin' it my way."

"You know if you make it too spicy he'll still eat it all. But he'll cry, and then you'll feel terrible."

"Like hell I will!" Katsuki says, stirring the curry furiously.

"You definitely will," Shouto says, "especially if it's today. Just for today, will you—mmph!"

He cuts off, startled, as Katsuki shoves a spoonful of curry directly in his mouth. Flavors burst across Shouto's tongue immediately, full, smoky, a little tangy, and most importantly…

"It's… it's fantastic," Shouto says. "And it's not too spicy at all." There's certainly a hint of spice, adding to the overall richness, but it's not overwhelming. Just a complement to the other flavors. "Even I could eat it."

"Of course you can," Katsuki snorts. He swipes his thumb over Shouto's bottom lip, catching some of the curry that didn't quite make it into Shouto's mouth in the sudden onslaught. Katsuki sticks his thumb into his own mouth to lick it clean, and then grins. "I made sure your weak ass could handle it, too."

A smile sneaks its way onto Shouto's face and Katsuki rolls his eyes. He must know he's been figured out—that Shouto has realized he's going out of his way to cater to not just one, but both of them. The blush starts at the tips of his ears, and Shouto, who's managed to get slightly above him by sitting on the counter, leans down. Despite looking like he would rather continue grumbling and stirring his food, Katsuki looks up to receive the kiss Shouto brushes over his lips. They both taste a little bit like curry. Shouto hopes (he knows) Izuku won't mind.

The doorbell rings. They pull apart, jumping into action again.

"You get it," Katsuki tells Shouto, "I just need a few more minutes in here—"

"On it," Shouto says.

"Tell him I'll be right there!"

"He'll know!" Shouto calls back, but it makes him smile, because of course Katsuki hates being left out for even the shortest amount of time.

He opens the front door and is greeted by the beaming faces of both Midoriyas, mother and son, standing on the doorstep. They went out for lunch with Toshinori to celebrate Izuku's birthday.

"Oh, Todoroki-kun!" Inko exclaims. "It's been so long, how are you—come here!"

It hasn't really been that long. Maybe just a little over a month since he's last seen her, but Shouto lets her pull him into a hug anyway. He towers over her at this point, now that he's in his last year of school, but the hugs she gives still feel just as secure as they did when he was fifteen.

"Thanks for letting us take him for the day," Shouto says, and hears Izuku's soft laugh. Their eyes meet over Inko's head and Izuku grins.

"He'll have much more fun with the two of you, I'm sure," Inko says.

"Mom!" Izuku protests. "Hanging out with you is fun!" He means it completely and it warms Shouto's heart.

"Ah, sorry, come in," Shouto says, realizing he's keeping the two of them standing in the doorway. He steps aside and they enter. Inko gasps.

"Oh, my goodness," she says, "did you boys do all of this?!"

She means the decorations, and Izuku's eyes, too, have gone wide. He lifts a hand to his mouth, gently shocked, like he can't believe anybody would ever do this for him.

"Happy birthday," Shouto says, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Before he quite gets there, there is a loud yell as Katsuki exits the kitchen, now apron free.

"Hey, hey!" he says. "What are you doin' kissing him before I get there?! You trying to leave me out of the first birthday kiss?"

"I didn't realize we had rules about it," Shouto says dryly as Katsuki stomps his way over.

"It's not a rule," Katsuki says, "it's just something you should know, because if we both don't—"

Whatever undoubtedly ridiculous thing he's about to say is cut off by Izuku kissing him to shut him up. Katsuki blinks at him when Izuku pulls back, then starts to puff up angrily.

"Deku, we have to do it at the same time or else it's not—"

Shouto kisses Katsuki next. Katsuki looks stunned that they would both dare to defy him in such a short span of time. Izuku takes advantage of the momentary peace to kiss Shouto as well.

"There we go!" Izuku says. "All kissed!"

Katsuki smacks his palms against Izuku's cheeks, squishing Izuku's face between his hands.

"What's the point," he growls, "of having two entire boyfriends if you don't wait for them both to kiss you on your stupid birthday?"

"I think," Izuku says, his voice muffled by all the cheek smushing, "that you are both going to kiss me a lot by the time my birthday is over."

"I meant simultaneously," Katsuki says irritably, but given he can't deny Izuku is correct, he concedes without much more protesting.

"Katsuki!" a sharp voice says, and they all turn to see Mitsuki descending the stairs. "Are you tormenting Izuku on his birthday?"

"I'm fine," Izuku says, at the same time Shouto says, "Yes."

Katsuki releases Izuku so he can try and jab Shouto in the stomach. Mitsuki swats him over the head as she walks over to Inko to give her a hug.

"Ready?" she asks.

"Yes," Inko says, though she now looks uncertain. "Are you sure I can't help with anything before we leave? You're being so kind to let Izuku have your place for his birthday, I could run out and get some more food, or let me know if you need anything else—"

"We're fine," Mitsuki says. "The boys are fine. Hell, this is great—Izuki and Shouto can watch Katsuki while me and Masaru are out!"

"They're not here to babysit me!" Katsuki snaps.

"Keep tellin' yourself that, kid," Mitsuki says. "We'll be back tomorrow night, more dazzling than that sparkly classmate of yours."

The two of them are taking an overnight trip to a fancy onsen where Mitsuki has booked them, from the sound of it, a pretty expensive spa package.

"Doubtful," Katsuki sneers at his mother, and then quickly adds, "but you'll look great, Inko-san."

Inko buries her face in her hands in embarrassment, and Shouto bites back a smile. He has literally never seen Katsuki be more charming with anyone—really, charming at all—than with Izuku's mother. Shouto senses it's an effort to make up for his childhood behavior somewhat, to both Midoriyas. There really is no better way to make amends with one of them than to make the other happy, after all.

They say goodbye to the two moms, and the door shuts, and the house is quiet for the moment. Izuku turns and holds up the plastic bag he's brought with him.

"I got the movies—"

It's not planned, and there's no unspoken signal—Shouto and Katsuki just move, same time, same idea. Really, what is the point of having two entire boyfriends, if not for this?

Katsuki yanks Izuku forward, startling him into dropping the bag of DVDs on the floor, where they clatter and spill from the bag, ignored. He grabs Izuku's face again, but this time is less teasing, and far more purposeful. Shouto steps behind Izuku to hold him around the waist, and Izuku's hands find his, fingers threading atop and through Shouto's, as Katsuki captures Izuku's mouth in a kiss that drags the breath out of Shouto's lungs like those lips are on his own. They might as well be. He knows the taste and texture of them so well.

Katsuki doesn't quite pull away this time, resting his forehead against Izuku's, not moving even as Izuku turns his head so that Katsuki's nose is buried in dark curls and he can just breathe. Shouto kisses Izuku next, softer and slower and less like the world is ending—more likes it's just ceasing to turn, instead, while Izuku's lips and tongue are warm on his own.

He opens his eyes and Izuku is smiling at him. And Katsuki's sharp gaze finds Shouto's from the soft mess of Izuku's hair and he runs a rough, callused hand up Shouto's arm, squeezing it like a thank you, as he tells Izuku,

"Happy birthday, nerd." Izuku giggles, and Katsuki kisses his ear and says, "Thanks for spending it with a guy who really doesn't fucking deserve you."

Shouto knows that's still a thing, the insecurity, like it always has been for Katsuki. The past few years have seen so many things being made up, and mended, but there is a lot to mend. None of them pretend there isn't, not even with Izuku being as good and unfailingly forgiving as he is.

But Shouto knows a second chance when he sees one. And he knows Katsuki wasn't the only one who tried to push Izuku away, at first. And if Izuku hadn't screamed at Shouto, hadn't stretched out his hands, hadn't broken bones to reach him (save him), again and again, Shouto doesn't know where he'd be now. Certainly not lucky enough to be standing wrapped up in the arms of two boys, almost men, that he loves more than anything in the world. That's all because of Izuku.

And for all that Shouto likes giving Katsuki a hard time, he also doesn't like to let him suffer alone, so he says,

"Make that two guys who really don't deserve you."

Izuku chokes, as the tears come, and he wraps an arm around Katsuki and clutches Shouto's hand in a death grip as he holds them both as close as he's able.

"What I don't deserve," he says, "is you two making me cry on my birthday!"

"Deku," Katsuki says, voice muffled in Izuku's hair. He sounds suspiciously hoarse. "You cry on your birthday every year."

Shouto laughs, because it's true. And he was the one trying to make Katsuki promise not to make Izuku cry not ten minutes ago. He should have known better.

"It really is too easy," he murmurs, kissing the back of Izuku's neck.

"Well, I know how you can make it up to me," Izuku says. Smiling again already, so that's good. "Movie time!"

And they go, the promising young heroes, the upstarts of class 1-A, like obedient little ducklings, following Izuku wherever he wants to lead them.

*

Today, Deku only leads them as far as the living room sofa. He holds his bag full of movies in his arms close to his chest, chattering happily as he discusses what they might want to watch first. Katsuki doesn't offer much by way of a response—Deku doesn't really need a response, when he really gets going—and just watches him instead. The brightness of his eyes, the softness of his smile. He's so excited and happy right now, Katsuki can tell just by looking at him.

He's so lucky, really, that he gets to see this.

Something about Deku right now reminds him of middle school. It's a weird thing to think of, but there's something about it that just causes a brief flash of recognition—it's the way he's holding the DVDs. Like he always used to clutch those notebooks, holding them so close and nervous and safe.

Katsuki isn't going to dwell on that today; he does that enough the rest of the time, and he's not going to make Shouto and especially not Deku talk him out of an insecurity spiral on Deku's damn birthday. Not for his own past shittiness.

As they start to get settled on the couch, Deku in between the two of them, Katsuki reaches over and pinches Deku's nose between the knuckles of his fingers to get him to stop rambling, and gestures to the bag.

"Alright, so, where are we starting?" he asks.

"Ah! Well!" Deku says, even more excited to be asked, to have Katsuki take an interest. "I thought I could let you guys decide after I tell you—"

"Deku, get serious," Katsuki says. Deku tilts his head at him like a confused puppy.

"You don't want to, um—"

"It's your birthday," Katsuki says. "You tell us what's gonna happen, and that's what we'll do." He scrubs a hand roughly in Deku's hair to show he means business. Deku grabs his hand, laughing.

"Really?" he asks. "Are you sure? I want you guys to have fun, too—"

"We'll have fun," Shouto says, nodding at Katsuki over Deku's head. "Tell us which one is your favorite."

Deku squints between them. "You're both just being nice 'cuz it's my birthday."

Katsuki rolls his eyes. "What tipped you off, genius? You've got about a thousand All Might balloons in here, like fifty fuckin' streamers—"

"Kacchan, I was joking," Deku says, "you guys are always nice to me."

Katsuki closes his mouth and scowls. He refuses to look in Shouto's direction, because he knows Shouto is smirking at him for falling victim to the age old trap of Deku being too good and cute for this world. Besides, Katsuki isn't exactly nice, no matter what Deku insists on saying (Deku would, and has, called him sweet before, which is something Katsuki both does not accept or recover well from). But he can do decent, now; at least he thinks so.

He slings an arm across the back of the couch behind Deku's shoulders. This has the added benefit of positioning his hand near the side of Shouto's face, so he can pinch Shouto's earlobe mercilessly. Shouto bats him away like an angry cat and Katsuki relents, settling for rubbing his thumb over Shouto's cheek and the outer shell of his ear instead. Shouto allows this, and maybe rubs his face into Katsuki's palm a bit, and Katsuki grins. What an easy sucker.

"We're being extra nice today, so don't joke about it," Katsuki tells Deku. "Got that, nerd?"

"Yep," Deku responds cheerfully. "Can we start with this one?"

Katsuki is fully expecting it to be the All Might special edition DVD box set (again), so when he glances at the cover and sees… not that, he's surprised, to say the least. He's even more surprised to see what it actually is.

It's a very dark cover depicting a bunch of weird, creepy images, with a girl dressed in white in the center, her face covered by long black hair. Katsuki and Shouto both stare at the box wordlessly. Katsuki has a lot of questions, and is not sure how to vocalize them.

"This… is your favorite movie," Shouto says, voice deadpan.

"Well, no, the All Might one is my favorite," Deku says. "But I thought it'd be fun to switch things up on my birthday! We can watch the All Might movie later."

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Katsuki says. "If that's really what you wanna do."

It is, and so Deku hums happily as he cracks open the DVD case and goes to set it up in the DVD player. Katsuki exchanges a glance with Shouto, who still looks as baffled as he feels.

"Did you know he was into scary movies?" Shouto whispers. Katsuki shakes his head. He thought he knew everything about Deku there was to know, but this is new.

"He loves special effects and shit," Katsuki reasons. "Besides, this doesn't look scary. I could lift that chick with one hand."

"I think she's a ghost, Katsuki," Shouto says apprehensively. Okay, Katsuki sees what's going on here. Shouto has barely seen any movies ever, to begin with, so he's probably scared of horror movies. And knowing Deku, he's going to be crying halfway through.

"Okay, pussies," Katsuki says, "if either of you gets too freaked out during the movie, my lap's open." He pats his legs to make his point.

"Ah, Kacchan!" Deku says gleefully. "Are you saying you'll protect us?" He snuggles up into Katsuki's side happily and Katsuki feels like he owns the whole damn world. Shouto leans against Deku's other side, hauling a blanket over his shoulders, all the way up to his chin.

"I will definitely protect you," Katsuki tells them, in a very brave and heroic fashion.

His plan backfires spectacularly when the movie proves to be fucking terrifying. The first appearance of the ghost girl makes him nearly jump off the couch, and it only gets worse from there.

"Fuck off!" Katsuki yelps reflexively, as another jump scare makes him unwittingly crackle a few small explosions off. Their spot on the couch keeps fluctuating between normal and frigid every time something scary happens, courtesy of Shouto. Katsuki wishes he would stop already, because cold is what happens when ghosts are nearby.

"Why are they investigating the house?" Shouto demands. He's clutching a pillow for dear life. "She's gonna get the detective, he's dead, he's so fucking dead, why is he going down there?"

A dark shape shuffles quickly past the camera and Katsuki clenches his teeth down around a whine. "I'd blow that bitch's ass right to fucking hell!"

"You can't explode a ghost," Shouto says.

"Shut up!" Katsuki says. His voice does not crack.

"You wouldn't be able to protect us at all."

Deku, who has apparently watched all the behind the scenes bullshit for these awful movies, and is mainly interested in the science behind the special effects, isn't scared in the slightest. He has an arm wrapped around each of them, hugging them tightly every time they nearly burst out of their skins at a scary moment.

"I didn't know you guys would be so—" He senses, apparently, that calling them "scared" would be too great a blow to both their egos, and changes tactics. "I thought you'd both probably seen this before, but if you're not enjoying it, we can watch something else!"

"No!" Katsuki and Shouto both say immediately.

"I'll never have closure if I don't see the end," Shouto says.

"I could just tell you the plot—"

"You wanted to watch it, so we're watchin' it," Katsuki insists. "End of story." He feels very secure in this pronouncement for all of seven seconds, before the camera suddenly zooms in on the ghost girl's horrible eyes as she crawls across the floor and frightens ten years off his lifespan.

Somehow they survive until dinner. Katsuki's legs feel like jelly when he stands up from the couch and tries to pretend like he was not, for one singular second, scared of some twelve year old in need of a haircut and a tan.

"That movie is so interesting as a classic testament to the power of practical effects!" Deku is already rambling, the instant the credits finish rolling. "It was a big part of the reason why many of the later All Might films were so successful! Like, it's hard to tell if you're not watching for it, but in the scene where the guy gets his chest opened up by the spider demon—"

Katsuki puts his hand over Deku's face. He can't relive that again. Not this soon.

"Who's hungry?" Shouto asks, like he's somehow immune to the nauseating (practical) effects of giant spiders laying eggs where they absolutely should never be laid.

"Oh, I'm starving!" Deku says. He turns hopeful eyes on them. "Do you think, tonight, we could get katsu—"

Katsuki snorts. "Way ahead of you." Like they'd forget Deku's favorite food on his birthday. Shouto hops up from the couch and pulls Deku to his feet. Deku lets out a little "oh" when Shouto covers his eyes.

"I'll fall!" Deku says, when Shouto pushes him forward. Katsuki rolls his eyes.

"You're not gonna fall," he says, grabbing Deku's hand.

With him pulling Deku forward, and Shouto guiding him from behind, hands over Deku's eyes, they make their way to the kitchen (without letting Deku bump into anything). He sits very dutifully at the table with Shouto still not letting him look at anything, as Bakugou fixes three plates of curry and rice, sneaking glances over at the two of them to watch Shouto say something in Deku's ear that makes Deku laugh.

Deku can't see it, but Katsuki bears full witness to that smile Shouto gets on his face whenever he's looking at Deku and Deku isn't looking back—incidentally, the same smile that first clued Katsuki in to the fact that he wasn't the only one head over fucking heels for the nerd. Back then, he'd thought he'd have to fight Shouto over it, at the same time he'd thought for sure Shouto and Deku were the ones who really deserved each other. Stupid.

He snorts at the memory and it draws Shouto's attention, and then Shouto is turning that smile on him as he carries their food over. Katsuki decides against looking straight at him, because that smile makes him start feeling all soft and shit, and it makes Shouto's dumb beautiful head inflate with the amount of power he has, which Katsuki is strictly against encouraging.

He sets the curry on the table and pulls out his own chair to sit down as Shouto finally removes his hands from Deku's eyes. Katsuki and Shouto both watch as they go wide when he sees all the food, particularly…

"I made katsudon," Katsuki tells him proudly, "with a twist."

"The twist is curry," Shouto says, giving it away immediately.

"Oy, let him find out for himself, half-and-half!"

"I said he should just make you regular katsudon, but he said that wouldn't cut it on your birthday—"

"Shouto—" Katsuki growls.

"This looks amazing!" Deku practically shouts, grabbing his chopsticks with the kind of manic energy he usually reserves for opening new hero merch. "Kacchan made all this?"

Katsuki leans back in his chair, satisfied. "I woke up early to start cooking, so you better eat it all." He shoots Shouto a sneer over Deku's head. Shouto grins back, clearly amused.

"I will!" Deku promises, and then shoots Katsuki a nervous glance and asks, "H-how spicy is it?"

Shouto starts laughing. Katsuki shoves a hand in Deku's hair and pushes his head towards the plate.

"Eat," he commands.

Deku dutifully shovels a sizable amount of curry, rice, and cutlet into his mouth—idiot, what if it had been spicy—and looks up at Katsuki, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk, his whole face glowing. He swallows in one far too large gulp to say,

"It's so good!"

"Told you," Katsuki says to Shouto, who puts up his hands in surrender.

"I said it was good, too!"

"Yeah, but you keep bein' a little shit about it," Katsuki points out. Shouto does not deny this. "Even if you did help me out, I guess."

"You both cooked for me?" Deku asks, looking like his wildest fantasies might be coming true in this moment. "Together?"

"Katsuki did most of the—" Shouto starts to say.

"Yeah, he helped," Katsuki grunts. He takes a big bite of curry and nods to himself. Yeah, that's fucking good.

Deku savors every bite of the curry like he'll never be able to taste it again in his life, eyes sliding shut and lips turning up into a smile after almost every bite. He's so weird, honestly, he's always been weird with how happy this shit makes him and how blatantly he shows it, and it makes Katsuki stop with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth on more than one occasion as he just… forgets to eat, because he's too busy watching Deku have little mouth orgasms eating the birthday dinner Katsuki made for him.

Shouto brings out the All Might cake, and they stick a bunch of candles in it (they accidentally end up with twenty because they're all rushing to be the one to put in the final, eighteenth candle), and Shouto lights them all in one go, and then has to light them all a second time because Katsuki blows them out right before Deku does so he can cackle over the look of betrayal on Deku's face. Then they realize they forgot to sing "Happy Birthday", which they do, as Deku's mouth becomes wobbly again.

"This is the best birthday ever," Deku says with feeling, as he tries to wipe his eyes and eat cake at the same time, and Katsuki and Shouto purposefully avoid making Significant Eye Contact with each other because it's not done yet—they've still got one last surprise up their sleeves.

"Wanna watch the All Might special now?" Shouto asks as they take all the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

"Oooh, yes!" Deku says excitedly. "I'll go put it on!" He scurries back out to the living room as they wash up.  

"How hard do you think he's gonna freak out when we give him our gift?" Katsuki asks Shouto in a low voice.

"He is going to lose his fucking mind," Shouto replies, "and I can't wait."

Katsuki grins. He can't wait, either. It's gonna be good.

*

Even if Izuku has seen the All Might anniversary special more times than he can keep track of, it's still awesome. The best part, unquestionably, is watching it with two of his favorite people on his birthday, after eating the best katsu curry ever, and knowing that they pretty much did it all for him.

He still doesn't know how he got so lucky twice in his life. The first stroke of luck was meeting All Might, of course; but the second was falling for not one, but two of his best friends, and by some miracle that all working out the way it had. He's not sure what he did to deserve it, but he's not going to complain, either (though he does question it, often).

It's getting late by the time the All Might special (the full extended edition cut plus all the behind the scenes features) is finished. Kacchan is still wide awake and has been paying rapt attention, but Shouto has dozed off with his head in Izuku's lap—he shares their love for All Might, but doesn't quite understand their fascination with movies made about All Might starring actors playing All Might (Toshinori, bless him, cannot act to save his life).

"That's such a good movie," Izuku says with a satisfied sigh.

"Best part," Kacchan says, like he says every time, "when he's surrounded by all those guys and he just—" He makes several soft exploding noises with his mouth.

Normally, they're accompanied by air punches, but he's currently brushing his hand through Shouto's hair in absentminded strokes. He's been doing that for the past hour, and Izuku suspects that Kacchan doesn't realize he's doing it, and that it's also the main reason why Shouto knocked out as fast as he did. Izuku doesn't want to draw attention to it, because if he does, it will probably stop, and his favorite thing ever is watching the two of them be soft with each other.

Reluctantly, he says, "We should probably start getting ready for bed."

"Yeah, guess so," Kacchan says. He gives Shouto's hair a last ruffle and then stretches, yawning widely. "You got him?"

Izuku nods. With some adjusting, he manages to pull Shouto up into his arms and stands, leaning Shouto's weight into his chest and cradling his butt with his hands to make sure he doesn't fall. Shouto grumbles something unintelligible, and Izuku grins—Kacchan is the grumpiest out of the three of them when his sleep is disturbed, but Shouto is by far the hardest to actually wake up.

No sooner has he thought this, than Kacchan reaches over to flick Shouto's nose. Shouto jolts awake, raising his head off of Izuku's shoulder groggily.

"Kacchan!" Izuku scolds. "You don't have to wake him up."

"I do, actually," Kacchan says. To Shouto, he says, "You still wanna give him the thing tonight, or what?"

"Oh," Shouto says, barely audible at first. "Yeah, can you…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Izuku asks. What thing?

"You'll see in a minute," Kacchan says. "Go wait in my room, I'll be right there."

Kacchan's room is on the second floor, so Izuku does as told, climbing the stairs with Shouto in his arms, despite Shouto's protests that he can walk.

"I know you can," Izuku says, laughing. "But you don't have to, because I'm here."

Shouto makes a pained noise at that, but he shoves his face against Izuku's cheek and kisses him, so it's probably a good kind of pain, Izuku thinks. He sets Shouto down on the bed as Kacchan comes back, a large and impressively wrapped box in his hands, which he hands to Izuku before taking a seat next to Shouto on the bed. Shouto leans against Kacchan's side sleepily.

"This is for me?" Izuku asks. Logically, he knows it is, but he can't believe that on top of everything else they've done for him today, they went and bought him a present, too. The whole day has been enough of a gift as it is.

"Open it," Kacchan insists.

Izuku pulls the wrapping off, careful to avoid tearing it as much as possible. It's some kind of garment box. He opens that up, too, and pulls out…

"Woah," he breathes, as he sees what it is. "Woah?! Oh, my god. Ohmygod, no way, no—how—did you two—"

It's a big hooded sweatshirt—black, with two familiar orange bands crisscrossing the front in a large X. The hood itself has a spiky, jagged orange pattern on it, that looks a lot like…

"Kacchan? Your hero outfit?" Izuku whispers. "Is this—"

"Turn it inside out," Kacchan tells him.

Hardly daring to believe what he'll find, Izuku reverses the sweatshirt. This turns it a deep, dark blue, with a white strap pattern on the shoulders that leads around to the back, where the familiar shape of Shouto's white combat vest has been printed on the sweatshirt.

"Am I…" Izuku asks, and he can barely get the words out because his throat feels so tight, "am I the first person… to own merchandise of you guys?"

"We got it commissioned," Shouto says. "By the company that does the All Might line."

Izuku knew that fabric felt familiar. He hugs the sweatshirt to his chest, as close to his heart as he can, before throwing himself at the two boys sitting on the bed, and they all go crashing backwards in a heap.

"I can't believe it," he sobs. "I can't believe you managed to make this! It's perfect, it's perfect—"

He can't really talk effectively after that, so he lets them attempt to stem the tide of tears before giving up entirely. He lies on his back, weeping up at Kacchan's ceiling, which is a tactic he's learned over the years to stop his nose from running too much whenever he gets like this. It's especially useful when he has Shouto on his right side and Kacchan on his left, both of them kissing his freckles through all the tears—at least this way, they don't have to worry about excessive amounts of snot.

"Made you cry twice," Shouto murmurs.

"Damn good birthday," Kacchan says, holding up his hand. Shouto high fives it.

Izuku is still sniffling by the time they finally settle into bed, teeth brushed, pajamas on. Kacchan gets oddly skittish once the lights go out, refusing to be on the end.

"I'm not sleeping on the outside, fuck you both," he mutters, "let the ghosts take Deku first since he likes them so much—"

"Katsuki, come here," Shouto says, patting the bed in between him and Izuku. "I'll keep your butt safe from ghosts." Katsuki swats at him as he climbs in the middle.

Izuku and Shouto both drape an arm over him, and Izuku kisses his forehead, which makes Kacchan crinkle up his brow like it's Izuku who's actually being ridiculous, and not him. Izuku doubles down, resting their foreheads together, reaching his hand a little further until he can brush his fingertips softly over Shouto's neck.

"You know," Izuku says, "I think if you both let me explain how the special effects actually work, you wouldn't be as…" Ah, can't say scared… "concerned about them."

"Fine, whatever," Kacchan says. Shouto scoots closer to him, spooning him tightly so he can make sure no ghosts sneak up on Kacchan from behind. Izuku can see him over Kacchan's shoulder, one bright blue eye and a fond sleepy smile.

"Well," he starts, "when they were first starting to figure out how to make the blood look realistic…"

Kacchan's eyes are closed and Shouto's begin to follow as Izuku talks, although they'll both keep listening until they fall asleep. So lucky, Izuku thinks again. Sometimes he can admit that maybe it's all of them who are lucky. In these rare moments, when they fit so well together that it makes all the insecurities background noise, just for a little while—it all comes into focus.

It's obvious, really, that they all deserve each other.

 

 

Notes:

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[I'm @esselley on Tumblr, @Esselle_hq on Twitter]