Chapter Text
The front door of Izuku's sixth floor apartment unlocks. The key code alarm system sets off a chime through the hallway, as the door closes with a muffled click.
The heavy thud of boots hitting the tile entryway is then followed by the soft padding sound of velvet slippers.
Izuku knows who just entered his apartment.
He knows because it's Saturday night, at exactly 6pm, and they have a ritual. Though, the complete lack of growled complaints is concerning.
Izuku pushes his chair away from the messy corner desk. The joints of his tired body cracking and twisting as he stands.The bedroom door shuts behind him, and the floorboards of the back hallway creak under his barefeet with each step.
As he gets closer, the rustling of paper grocery bags and the clinking of glass containers echo against the tall apartment walls.
"Hi Kacchan!" Izuku says as cheerfully as possible. Katsuki merely looks over his shoulder with a heated glare.
No swearing, grumbling, yelling, fighting, or tackling...
Kacchan is pissed.
"Congrats on being the first of our class to reach the top ten, Kacchan." Izuku steps around the kitchen island. "I can't wait to see the press interview recording. I bet you did amazing!" He praises.
With the strength and popularity of their graduating class, battling eachother in polls and rankings alone has been tougher than expected.
Everyone has been supportive of eachother with each new poll update. Izuku is currently ranked number eleven, with Shouto right behind him at number twelve. Katsuki reached tenth place almost a full week ago.
"There wasn't one." Katsuki almost growls.
"Oh man, they didn't record it? Then was it live?" Izuku asks, as he begins putting away items.
Once a week, they have dinner at alternating apartments. It's been that way since they went pro. A way for them to catch up with eachother outside of being hero partners. A moment in their hectic schedules to just be.......Deku and Kacchan.
"There wasn't a press conference." Katsuki says gruff, but quiet.
".......Why not?" Izuku asks, as anger begins to trickle down his spine. He is sick and tired of people brushing past Katsuki's hero work and immediately pinpointing his attitude as a weakness.
Just because Kacchan doesn't like people, doesn't mean he wouldn't save them.
"Didn't go." Katsuki answers vaguely again. "I'm making oyakodon." He gruffs, breezing past Izuku to grab the rice cooker.
"Kacchan, why didn't you go?" Izuku asks cautiously.
"No important reason. Are we watching your stupid quirk variety show again?" Katsuki grumbles without looking up.
"Don't change the subject." Izuku says as firmly as possible without using his hero voice. "Did something happen?"
Katsuki sighs, long and tired. "Dunno, Deku. You tell me."
Izuku's brows furrow, as he tries to understand. "I....if you're mad I couldn't be there, then I'm sorry. You know one of us had to be on patrol."
Katsuki grips the countertop to ground himself. "No. If it isn't important enough for you to tell me yourself, then it doesn't fucking matter."
"Import-" Izuku sputters and leans against the counter. "You're the one hiding why you didn't go to your press conference, Kacchan. You've been working towards this for years."
Katsuki turns to face Izuku head on. The smell of nitroglycerin swirls around the kitchen as white smoke escapes between the blonde's clenched fists.
"I'M the one hiding something? Me?" Katsuki seethes. He walks around the counter as well. "You've got one more chance not to bullshit me again, Deku."
Izuku sees red in those fiery eyes, and red in his own vision. "Kacchan, I'm not doing this with you today. We swore not to fight on Saturdays, remember?"
"Then why the fuck does that promise matter, and not any of the other ones?" Katsuki growls through a clenched jaw.
"Use your big ass nerd brain for five fucking seconds, and tell me what you think is more important to me than a top ten chart press conference, Deku. You say you know me the best, so go on. Take a wild fuckin' guess." The blonde crosses his arms with a glare of a thousand howitzer blasts.
Izuku blinks at him from across the small kitchen. His mouth drops open and closed several times. He knows what he wants to answer, but the words won't come out.
"Did that quirk mess with your head or some shit?' Katsuki steps a little closer. His expression softens, but for only a moment.
'Quirk.....?'
'Oh, shit.'
Izuku takes a breath, and runs a hand through his wild green curls. Katsuki's voice drops an octave, a tone that leaves no room for argument.
"Are you gonna tell me why our paired quirk activation scanners went off this morning right before my conference, and you never fucking bothered to let me know what happened?"
As hero partners, they each have chip implants between their shoulder blades that are connected to a device that alerts one another of an activated quirk.
If Katsuki gets hit with a quirk, Izuku is notified via transmission by a multipurpose device attached to his bracer.
If Izuku is successfully targeted by a quirk, Katsuki gets alerted the same way via a device sewn into the sleeve above his left gauntlet. A device hand crafted by Mei, as a gift for their official hero partnership.
It's come in handy many times, and even contains a tracking code that has helped them find eachother during catastrophic events, natural disasters, messy villian fights, battles in the darkness of night, and attempted kidnappings.
'Attempted', because neither one ever ends up missing for long, before the other shows up with the force of a thousand suns.
Izuku swallows around the lump in his throat. "I-I didn't want to interfere with your press conference."
Katsuki scoffs, and begins to angrily wash the rice.
"This was a big deal for you! I didn't want to show up or contact you in the middle of your conference and interupt your Top Ten moment!" Izuku reasons.
"So you were just going to ignore me until tonight?" Katsuki asks with annoyed frustration.
"Well......." Izuku rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"Jesus fuckin' christ, I canceled the conference." Katsuki dries his hands and starts the rice cooker.
"You cancelled it!" Izuku screeches.
"Because the hospital wouldn't tell me shit! We promised eachother to never lock our agency's medical accounts when we became partners, you asshole. I thought you were off dying from some whack-ass quirk alone!" The blonde shouts. He moves his hands away from the rice to blast small sparks underneath the running sink water. To lower his body's built up sweat from the spiked adrenaline.
"Then..... how did you-" Izuku begins.
"I spent two hours raising hell, until one of the receptionists finally told me you were already discharged. I spent two whole fucking hours at the hospital, waiting to hear if you were split in half, turned into a fuckin moose, de-aged again, or dead!" Katsuki shouts. His voice holding a slight tremble at the end.
Izuku feels tears prick at his eyes. "My phone got busted during the rescue, and I didn't want to interrupt your top ten press interview." He whispers. "I was going to tell you myself tonight, because I knew you'd check my account."
Katsuki's shoulders slump as his hands finally relax. "You better not leave out a single goddamn detail, Deku."
Izuku looks away, and nods.
Katsuki returns to making dinner with a slightly less angered posture.
The chicken breast gets washed, seasoned, and prepared. The vegetables are easily done. He mixes the eggs with scallions, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and a splash of chili sauce.
Izuku's mouth begins to water as the smell warms his stomach. "Smells good, Kacchan."
Katsuki grunts a sound of agreement. Izuku begins setting the small kitchen table. He pours glasses of iced barley tea and sets out the mahogany chopsticks that Katsuki likes.
Once they're at the table with steaming bowls of food and tense silence laid out between them, Katsuki kicks the leg of Izuku's chair with a gruff demand. "Talk."
Izuku swallows his first bite and tries to figure out where to begin. "Well..... there was this woman who was being exploited for her quirk. She worked for a marriage counselor and was paid very little. The company that she worked for was getting complaints about her and her quirk. The clients and patients were demanding their money back, because their partners weren't loyal or something. The couples that recieved this counseling, said that the woman's quirk had ruined their lives. The company let the backlash land in the poor woman's lap, and they didn't offer any kind of compensation! Well.........she thought that if she just didn't exist, then their marital problems would go away. It was a really sad situation. She was stuck at the job because of her contract. She only signed on because the company offered to pay off her college debt in exchange for cheap pay." Izuku takes another bite. Stuffing his cheeks with hot yolked rice.
"So-" Izuku swallows before continuing. "Someone saw her trying to climb the train tracks first thing this morning and called it in anonymously. She tried to..... take her own life by laying down on the tracks and waiting for the second scheduled bullet train of the day. I was the closest hero nearby." Izuku states calmly, but Katsuki can still see the hint of sadness in those green eyes.
Katsuki chews slowly as he follows the ramblings. "Then what?"
"Well once the train was stopped, I got the woman off the tracks. She was so shocked that she fainted for a moment. When she came to, she accidently used her quirk on me mid panic attack. She's at the hospital now getting treatment. She is still shook up, which is understandable, so questioning her has been kind of difficult." Izuku answers between big bites.
"You got the quirk removed at the hospital? They wouldn't have discharged you if it was detrimental to your health." Katsuki grumbles, then sips his tea.
"Nah. The quirk nullification treatments didn't work. It's a very specific type of sex quirk that connects to the body's soul. It requires someone with an emotional manipulation quirk on the deepest level to counter it. There isn't anyone on this side of the world with a quirk that specific, unfortunately. Though there is a person in France that has a genie quirk. They can grant three wishes per person! But the wishes have to be on a existential plane level, so I'm not sure if it would work in this situation." Izuku answers casually, then sips his own tea.
"You fuckin' dumbass!" Katsuki visibly tenses, and gets ready to bolt out the front door. "You got hit by a sex quirk? And you're just sitting here? Deku, what the fuck?......" Katsuki stands abruptly, the table getting shoved forward from the force. "I shouldn't be here."
Izuku frantically grabs the blonde's wrist. "It's not that kind of sex quirk, I promise! It's like a uh..... emotionally triggering? Type? I've just gotta practice abstinence for the rest of my life." He tugs on the blonde's arm to make him sit back down. "It's not like sex pollen or anything like that."
Katsuki yanks out of his grasp, and moves to stand in the kitchen. "The fuck you mean, you gotta practice abstinence?" He gruffs while eyeing Izuku suspiciously.
"Uh, well.... the woman's file says that....... um, her quirk can make people fall in love, if they-they make..... love." Izuku mumbles bashfully. "It's called Eros of Truth."
Red eyes blink incredulously. "Her quirk makes people fall in love by fuckin'?" The blonde asks, slightly amused.
Izuku winces while trying to find the most comfortable way to explain this. "Um...... so it's soul bonding, I think? Like when activated on a person, they can find a partner and ha-have uh...... emotionally validating and sensual intercourse-" Katsuki openly chuckles at the choice of words. "-then those two people fall in love, supposedly during the uh......love making. There really aren't any other details besides that." Izuku blushes heavily.
Katsuki leans against the counter and drags a hand down his face. "So I bail on my top ten hero chart press conference meeting, spend two hours at the hospital trying to get answers, spend half the day trying to call you, all because you took out a train and got hit with a quirk straight from a Shakespearean theatrical performance?"
".........pretty much?" Izuku winces again.
"I can not fucking believe this." Katsuki growls.
"Kacchan, I know you're mad at me-" Izuku begins slowly.
"Mad? Mad!? I'm fucking livid, Deku. We have pagers for a reason! We make promises, for a reason! This whole thing could've been avoided if you would have just used one of the work phones to call me! You could have sent a damn intern to at least tell me you weren't withering away!" Katsuki growls as he rubs the bridge of his nose.
"I'm...... I'm really sorry, Kacchan." Izuku ducks his head down shamefully. He really should've at least left a note on his desk or something that could've eased his worries.
Katsuki stays silent for a few minutes, then grunts. "I can't get too fuckin' pissed off, cause you're the dumbass havin' to deal with this quirk."
Izuku's cheeks burn with embarrassment.
"So you can't have sex, huh?" Katsuki teases lightly.
"Uh, the quirk detail files just say 'make love', and that is a very blurred line. It could be any kind of....intercourse between two people. It could simply just be making love, or something entirely different. " Izuku stands, and takes their empty bowls to the sink.
Katsuki purses his lips mockingly. "So it only works on two people? I guess that's one way to push the monogamous agenda."
"Oh that's actually a good point, because what if she activates her quirk on the same person and they make love with someone else? Does the previous emotional bond break? Does it just add a third person's love?" Izuku rambles while scrubbing a spatula.
"Could be why the patients said it was ruining their marriages." Katsuki shrugs.
Izuku tilts his head in thought. "Yeah, but when you love someone like that, you wouldn't willingly go out of your way to hurt them. Right? Like if you loved them, then you wouldn't have had an affair in the first place? Unless both parties develop the same feelings for someone else?" Izuku squints while thinking of the quirk's many unknown details. His not-so-silent ramblings serve as background noise over running sink water and the scrubbing of a soapy sponge.
Katsuki grows deathly quiet. He watches Izuku wash the dishes with unfocused eyes. The plates clatter and the chopsticks get carefully rinsed. Izuku spares a nervous glance over his shoulder, as the silence stretches on.
Katsuki clears his throat. "So are they gonna fly in that dude from France with the Aladdin quirk?" He asks half-mindedly.
Izuku rolls his eyes. "Genie quirk." He rinses a pan to place in the drying rack. "They're on an undercover mission and can't risk the exposure, so not anytime soon. Most likely never, since this isn't a life threatening quirk or something that interferes with hero work. The commission won't do anything about it even if I brought it up to the board." Izuku says with a slight pout.
Kacchan huffs under his breath. "Right, because Japan's Sweetheart can't have a regular sex life."
Izuku turns pink and kicks the blonde's shin. "It's not like I had one in the first place. I hate to admit it, but you're right. They'd likely argue back that it would be good for public relations."Rising Hero Deku practices abstinence, you can too!", or something like that." He chuckles lightly.
"I can see the headlines now." Katsuki scoffs. He sets his cup down for Izuku to wash. "We could call bitch-face. Doesn't his quirk tell him all the details of the quirks he copies?"
"Monoma? Yeah we considered it at the hospital, but he lives in the Philippines now and is assigned to a covert bodyguard operation. I tried calling around but he is completely off the radar, and will be for an undetermined amount of time." Izuku answers with a hint of disappointment. "I'll just wait for the psychological evaluations to be cleared with the hospital's psychiatrist before trying to get any more information from the victim. Worst case scenario, I stay celibate." He shrugs.
Izuku sighs through his nose. "I already checked her quirk file with the Civillian Quirk Registry Database. I know what to expect, for the most part."
Katsuki grunts under his breath. Izuku sets two mugs of ginger tea between them, and sits across the table.
Silence ticks on. Not uncomfortable, but still tense.
Katsuki's face remains expressionless. To anyone else it does anyways. Because to Izuku, he can plainly tell when Kacchan has something he wants to say, but hasn't found the words.
"Why did you actually lock your files?" Katsuki asks finally. His voice shockingly timid.
Izuku bites his cheek for a moment in thought, then confesses. "Because you would've seen the quirk incident details, and you wouldn't have came over tonight." He fiddles with the hem of his hoodie sleeve. "I also...... didn't want anyone else finding out. The systems could get hacked, a traitor could gain access to the files, or another hero could accidently find it and sell the information. The files aren't super incriminating, but they do include recent quirk incidents." He reasons.
Katsuki looks unconvinced, so Izuku finally delivers the last piece of hidden truth.
"Because..... I'm scared, Kacchan."
Katsuki leans forward, and props his arms onto the table with furrowed brows. "Scared?"
"This quirk....... if it's just activated by sexual relations of some kind, then what if I get hit by another type of sex quirk in the future and I jump the first person I see? What if a villian finds out and uses it to their advantage? What if I give a drunk blow job in five years, because I finally decided to start drinking again, and end up permanently tied to a stranger? What if I drunkenly make out with one of our friends and-and ruin any potential future romantic partnerships for them? What if....... what if I get knocked out during a battle and someone........" Izuku wrinkles up his nose to fight back the wetness building around his vision. He begins to anxiously pick at his cuticles.
Katsuki smacks his hands to make him stop, then crosses his own arms. "Like I'd let any of that shit happen."
Izuku huffs a wet laugh. "You don't know what might happen, Kacchan. You can't see that far into the future."
"Don't doubt me so much, you ass." The blonde growls again, and leans back in his chair.
Izuku feels tears spill over his bottom lashline. The events of the day and outcome of this twisted incident, finally breaking his mask of stoic heroism.
"De-......" Katsuki clenches his jaw and gazes out into the living room. "Izuku."
Izuku blinks away the tears blurring his vision and tilts his head enough that messy curls fall to the side.
"What am I to you?" Katsuki demands gently.
"Uh.....my hero partner?" He answers.
Katsuki nods, like he was expecting that. "What else?"
"M-My childhood best friend." Izuku cracks a smile.
Red eyes roll dramatically. "I better be your adult best friend too, asshole."
Izuku finally giggles. "You are." He wipes at his face with his hoodie sleeve.
Katsuki nods again. "And I don't say or do shit I don't mean, right?"
Izuku nods with slight confusion. Still happy with the impromptu reverse pep-talk, nonetheless.
Katsuki's jaw clenches and unclenches. Like he begins to say something, but takes it back each time. His fists stay tightly bunched up against his crossed arms.
"Kacchan?" Izuku almost whispers while leaning over the table. He wasn't expecting to get hit with a United States Smash to the heart.
"Do it with me." He says roughly. "Let's gently fuck, or whatever the damn quirk says." Grimacing as the words force themselves out from behind his teeth.
Izuku blinks back in shock. "Excuse me?"
"Don't make it weird." Katsuki points across the table.
"Too late." Izuku scowls. "You want to do it with me........because of the quirk?"
"Yes." Katsuki groans. "Wait, no. Damnit, that's not what I meant."
"Very funny, Kacchan." Izuku stands back up from the table, and calmly walks into the living room.
"Don't blow me off like that, bastard!" Katsuki moves to follow him. "You have a problem, and I can help you fix it. Pretty fuckin' simple."
Izuku levels the blond with another unamused glare. "Not a single part about what you just suggested, is simple."
"I'm gay, you're bi as fuck, we're both single." Katsuki begins. "Deku, listen-"
"No! I'm not letting you throw your love life away like that." Izuku says firmly as he starts folding clean towels from the laundry basket next to him.
"I'm not throwing it away! No one is twisting my arm or forcing me. At least fuckin' consider it!" The blonde growls back.
"No." Izuku replies plainly.
"Why not?" Katsuki asks. His voice gritty and worn with fraying anger.
"Because you're my best friend and I'm not losing that." Izuku says back with another glare.
"You wouldn't, idiot! We would just see eachother.... differently." Katsuki gestures between their bodies.
"We've seen eachother differently all of our lives, Kacchan!" Izuku begins to whisper shout.
"That's why I say we fuck and be something normal for once!" Katsuki shouts back.
Red blooms across Izuku's face and down his neck. "We are already complicated enough, and you want to carelessly throw love into that mix?" His throat begins to burn with a suppressed scream.
"This isn't some spur-of-the-fucking-moment idea!" Katsuki waves a hand around incredulously as he tries to keep his voice down.
"Really? Because I told you about this quirk incident tonight, then you asked me to sleep with you. So, forgive me for thinking otherwise." Izuku clicks his tongue angrily.
Izuku stands up and moves the laundry basket to the kitchen table so he can hang up the clean dish towels. His heart aches and his chest tightens with each breath. If he was to ever have Kacchan's heart, he wouldn't want it like this.
"Are you saying you'd rather be alone for the next however many years, than be with me?" Katsuki asks. His expression one of fire and scorching charcoal, but his voice softer than expected.
"I'm saying I'd rather spend the rest of my life without intimacy, than have your feelings for me warped into something they're not." Izuku replies while losing himself in the color of burning embers. Those red irises stare back, this time with fury.
"You don't know shit about how I feel." Katsuki points at his chest.
"You're right, I don't." Izuku steps closer. "It's your turn, Kacchan. What am I to you?"
Katsuki turns his head and looks off towards the front door. "You're Deku."
Nausea crawls through Izuku's head like a thorned centipede. Creeping through the broken pieces of his thoughts, his past, and his emotions.
Izuku nods his head. "I'm still just Deku, huh?"
Katsuki sighs through his nose. "No, you're not just Deku." He holds his head up. Blonde spikes hang just above his narrowed red eyes.
"You're....... my Deku." His tone is gruff, but the words are soft.
For a single moment, Izuku feels warmth wrap around his heart. A feeling of comfort, acceptance, and saftey. The warmth trickles through his veins, and reaches his mind. Where his brain kicks in again, reminding him of just how fucked up this is.
Izuku swallows around his flooding emotions, and leans over the table with a painfully deep breath. "Is this a guilt thing? Are you doing this as a way to.... make amends for our past?"
"This has nothing to do with that." The blonde speaks through a clenched jaw. "I don't do or say shit that I don't want. So let me be with you, damnit."
"You want us to fall in love through this quirk, so that we can be something normal?" Izuku asks breathily.
""I want to do this with you, so I can be something to you that I can't fuck up. If I'm in love with you, then I wouldn't hurt you." Katsuki whispers his answer. "You said it yourself, people who are in love wouldn't intentionally hurt eachother."
Izuku looks into those determined red eyes. Framed so elegantly in blonde lashes. "Making you fall in love with me through a quirk, would hurt more than anything you could ever do to me." Green eyes darken in a shade that Katsuki himself has only seen a few times in their shared lives. "The only thing worse, would be if I lost you, and I will not lose you."
He knows those words could be seen as a controlling threat. But to Katsuki, its a mutual feeling.
If the war years ago was to bring out anything positive, it was their mutual hatred of the world without one another in it.
It proved many things, including a life long promise of protection. A vow to always have eachother's backs. Even now, Izuku supposes. Perhaps that's why Kacchan is so persistent.
"Why would this be such a bad thing?" Katsuki seethes, taking a step back. "Does the idea of loving me disgust you that much?"
"Screw you!" Izuku yells, jabbing a a pointed finger at his chest. "I loved you before I could ride a bicycle! I adored you before I could even walk! My first word was Mom, my second was All-Might, and my third was Kacchan." Tears streak down his reddened cheeks for the umpteenth time.
"Then let me love you back, goddamnit!" Katsuki shouts in return.
Izuku shakes his head and looks away.
"I'm a fucked up person, Deku. I'm tired of being within arms reach of you, but still so fucking far away. I'm tired of not knowing where the boundaries are. I'm tired of hurting you, even when I try not to." Katsuki replies with a certain type of softness in his eyes, that is only ever reserved for Izuku on rare occasions. "This quirk could help us stay the same. No more bullshit. It would put a name to whatever the fuck we feel for eachother, and it wouldn't change."
The words "us" and "same" twist and melt together.
Making sense of so many buried and stored away emotions. Some of those emotions brand new and unboxed, seemingly kept away for special occasions.
Izuku's heartbeat pounds against his eardrums. His hands shake, and the taste of blood coats his tongue from biting his cheek. He looks up with tears clinging to the corners of his thick green lashes.
"What if it did change, Kacchan? The quirk says we would.....fall in love, but it doesn't say we would stay in love."
Katsuki grits his teeth, then swallows before speaking. "We would."
"How do you know?" Izuku whispers, almost in a plea.
His blonde lashes flutter closed for a moment. Izuku can see his broad chest expand with back to back deep breaths. "You trust me, right?"
Izuku nods deftly.
"Then trust that we would." Katsuki says again confidently.
Izuku pulls at the drawstring of his hoodie. The atmosphere making bile crawl up from the pit of his stomach.
"Kacchan..........you don't really want this." Izuku barely mumbles the words as his mouth runs dry.
Katsuki steps closer, and Izuku shoves weakly at his chest to keep distance between them.
Izuku Midoryia has a weakness, and that weakness is undeniably, undoubtedly, and unabashedly ......Katsuki Bakugo.
Heated hands reach for his hips, and Izuku almost caves. Instead of pushing him away again, he melts into the hold for only a moment. Breathing in the smoked caramel scent that clings to every article of clothing that touches that smooth light tan skin.
Izuku bites his lip harder, and digs his forehead into the blonde's shoulder.
"How can I prove to you that I do?" Katsuki asks under his breath.
Izuku's teeth grind, as he keeps his fists in the middle of the broad chest pressed against him.
"Do I need to beg?" Katsuki partially growls into green curls.
Izuku's breathing stutters harshly.
Katsuki Bakugo does not beg, for anyone or anything. The only person he has ever begged, was Izuku one time many years ago.
"You would do that?" Izuku shakily whispers.
Katsuki falls to his jean clad knees with a thud instantly. He lays his hands out across his thighs and looks up into those electric green eyes.
"Izuku." Katsuki's voice is warm, sure, and gentle. His blonde spikes fall foward as he leans into a bow. "Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved, please."
A ragged sob rushes out of Izuku's lungs as he bites his lip to keep from wailing.
Over a decades worth of masked feelings and buried emotions force their way into the open. Sitting on his tongue, just waiting to be spoken in the form of a grand finale.
He slides against the cabinets and onto his own knees across from the kneeling blonde with a muffled cry.
Years of miscommunication and arguments, endless interviews of uncomfortable relationship questions, hundreds of silently gifted trinkets from Izuku, and thousands of home cooked meals and hand made bentos from Katsuki.
Nights of barely there silent cuddles on their couches. Many mornings of waking up across from one another in the same bed. Sharing body heat underneath the same blanket, without crossing further into eachother's personal space.
How their fingers twitch to hold on for just a moment longer, after one of their combo moves.
How Katsuki always makes katsudon after one of Izuku's solo missions.
The way Izuku throws the blue and white cloud printed fleece blanket (that Katsuki won't admit he loves) in the dryer before he comes over during the winter, so it waits for him on the couch. Ready to warm his chilled pale skin.
The way their embraces of victory after ground shaking villian encounters, always seem to linger. As if letting go of eachother, was the most painful part of the whole battle.
Love?
Until now, it was such a vague word with so many different interpretations and meanings. Between family, friends, strangers, civillians, puppies in shop windows.....
But in this moment? If Izuku was asked what the word love meant, at least in it's rawest form, he would only be able to answer with a single name.
'Kacchan.'
Katsuki sits motionless, waiting to either be yelled at or kicked out. Izuku looks down at his hands and flexes them in his lap. He watches the scarred skin stretch over worn-out and healed bones.
"What would that make us?" Izuku finally asks hoarsely.
Katsuki looks up into his eyes silently.
Izuku chokes on the painful lump in his throat. "If someone asks what we are to eachother, what will you say?"
The blonde looks down at the floor for a moment, then shrugs. "I dunno, depends on if this quirk makes me a sappy bastard."
Izuku coughs wetly into his sleeve. "If it does?"
"Then probably....... lovers, I guess." Katsuki answers gruffly.
"So......" He wipes at his tear stained cheeks. "Would we be together, like dating?"
Katsuki grimaces at the word. The idea of not being a couple by tomorrow, making his skin itch. "We're supposed to be love-sick idiots after this, and I don't half-ass shit, so yeah. We'd be together." He says with another shrug. "If that's what you want. Say you don't want this, say you don't want to be with me, and I'll leave."
Izuku stays quiet, and let's this life-changing situation sink into his soul and work at the tensed muscles of his heart. He gives himself some time to just..... feel.
Wet droplets of salty tears splatter across the chest of his hoodie. Izuku's shoulders shake with his quietened sobs, and his hands tremble against the soft worn fabric of his gym shorts.
He has never been able to deny Kacchan of anything, so why start now?
Izuku imagines coming home with linked hands to spend warm winter nights tucked against eachother in their pajamas. Touches and embraces that no longer have to linger, or that hesitate before letting go. Shamelessly teasing touches of fingertips over spandex as they get ready for patrol. Blown kisses and flirty winks across the office space.
Morning kisses and hot coffee. Maybe a few dates? If those are negotiable? Perhaps their parents will force them to wear matching pajamas for their Christmas cards this year. He imagines spending their off days together doing........ things that couples do when they're alone.
Izuku bites down on his cheek again, willing away the sudden heat pooling in his stomach.
He isn't sure how much time passes, but it's long enough for Katsuki to stand with an unsteady exhale.
"I shouldn't have dumped all this on you tonight." He turns to the side, and keeps his eyes on the tile design beneath their feet. "If you change your mind, just....... call me."
Katsuki raises a hand, and barely ruffles green curls affectionately. "See ya, Deku."
Izuku reaches out and grasps the black long sleeve of Katsuki's shirt. "We always spend the night together on Saturdays." He mumbles.
"Yeah........ we do." Katsuki huffs back.
"Just like when we were kids, and just like when we would accidently fall asleep in eachother's dorms on the weekends our second and third years." Izuku adds softly.
The blonde chuckles, but just barely. "Guess some shit doesn't change, huh?"
"Kacchan?" He breathes the name, and pulls himself up to his feet. Green meeting red with sudden determination. Izuku can almost see the blonde flinch from the intensity.
"You want this? You really want this? Me?" He whispers the question. Despite how determined his gaze is, his voice says otherwise.
Izuku watches his throat constrict for a moment, then release as he speaks. "Yeah." Katsuki whispers back. "I do."
Izuku speaks as if he has repeated these words before in countless dreams.
"Then kiss me."
Which is all it took for a the last thread of their brightly colored metaphorical friendship bracelet to snap. Breaking into pieces, crumbling to dust, and mixing with the wind to be carried over the edge of a far away cliff.
Rough lips collide into his, almost like Katsuki was afraid he would take it back, tasting slightly of hot cinnamon. The same cinnamon spiced chapstick that Katsuki always wears and keeps in his utility belt for patrols.
Izuku has always wanted to sample that specific lip balm spread over pale pink lips.
Now that he has, he wants to taste it everyday. For the rest of his life.
Izuku pulls away first, and Katsuki lets him. He tugs on the black sleeve while leading their awkwardly stumbling bodies backwards. His red rimmed green eyes stay hidden behind unruly curls.
They step through the living room and past the study wordlessly, then stop in front of Izuku's bedroom door.
"I want to talk first." Izuku whispers, without meeting those passionate fire laced eyes.
"Okay." Katsuki whispers back.
Izuku steps into the bedroom and flicks on the bedside table lamp. Katsuki follows, but stays close to the door. Ready to leave immediately, if Izuku tells him to do so.
Izuku sits on the edge of the bed, and twists his fingers into the bottom hem of his hoodie. "Do you...... think I'm attractive?"
"Yes." Katsuki answers instantly, catching Izuku off guard.
"Will you stay the night, and not leave immediately after?" Izuku mumbles.
"Yes." He answers immediately again.
"Will you still come over every Saturday, as long as it doesn't mess with missions, and stay the night then too?" Izuku asks with squinted eyes. A single bubble of fearful doubt crawls up his chest.
Katsuki scoffs at the question. "You'll be seeing me outside of the agency a lot more than once a week, dumbass."
Izuku relaxes, but only by a few degrees. His anxiety still at a boiling temperature.
"Are you sure about this? About...... doing this with me?" Izuku asks, finally looking up into those determined campfire red irises.
"Wouldn't be standing here right now if I wasn't." Katsuki huffs.
Izuku bites his thumb nail. His face flushed bright pink underneath dark freckles. "You realize we don't know all the details, right? We will probably end up permanently, indefinitely, and emotionally bound together."
Katsuki shrugs. "Pretty sure we already are, just without the rom-com shit."
Izuku cracks a stressed smile. "I....... I don't want anyone to know." He swallows around his frantic heartbeat. "I don't want to tell anyone, at all, about this."
"About..... us?" The blonde asks, his face twisted into another scowl.
"No." Izuku shakes his head. "I mean......a-about the quirk. People could use it against us, or say one of us forced the other."
Katsuki's shoulders raise as he takes a deep breath. "Right, yeah."
"So, um..... rules?" Izuku becomes a little braver, and pats the spot across from him on the bed.
Katsuki closes the distance and sits across from him on the comforter. "Regular relationship shit." He says confidently, making Izuku stiffle a giggle.
"Like...... no cheating, no affairs, we talk things out, be honest with eachother? Stuff like that?" Izuku asks.
Katsuki nods once. "No hiding shit." He adds with a glare.
Izuku huffs, then scratches his cheek while thumbing through his thoughts. "I don't want our re-relationship....u-us..... to be like a secondary thing. Like I want it to be a priority. Outside of hero work though, of course."
Katsuki nods again.
"Anything else uh..... that you want t-to add?" Izuku asks, a bit shy.
"Dates and shit." The blonde gruffs, kicking his feet out in front of him to stretch. "If we are gonna be a goddamn thing, then we are gonna do the whole goddamn thing."
"Dates and shit, check." Izuku let's a giggle slip between his lips, which makes Katsuki smirk. "Next?"
"Do you want kids?" Katsuki asks gruffly.
"No." Izuku answers timidly. "At least not while being a pro-hero. I've considered adopting troubled teens after retirement though, so maybe?"
Katsuki nods with pursed lips. "That'd be pretty badass."
Izuku smiles. "Anything else?"
"You wanna get married?" Katsuki asks quickly.
Izuku sputters a cough. "Married? Kacchan that's a little.....uh, a bit fast? Don't you think?"
Katsuki shrugs again, then flops back onto the bed with a groan. "Twenty years ago you proposed to me on the playground with a soda can tab, and I'm the one moving fast?"
"Kaaaacchaaan...... I was like three!" Izuku squawks.
"Yeah, and now you're twenty-three. So yes or no?" Katsuki asks, staring a hole into the ceiling. "Just askin' to plan out our future relationship blueprints, nerd."
"You're the one being a nerd." Izuku tucks his face into his hands, and mumbles between his fingers. "Yes." He sighs his answer.
Katsuki nods. "Cool. You got anything else in that big broccoli headed brain of yours?"
"I don't wanna take your last name." Izuku answers confidently.
Has he drawn out hearts and doodles in his secret notebooks with Mr.Bakugo and Mr.Izuku Bakugo all over the pages? Yes, but that's how he knows for a fact that Mr.Katsuki Midoryia sounds way cooler.
Katsuki sputters a sound of disbelief. "What's wrong with my last name?"
"Say my name with your last name." Izuku crosses his arms, ready to prove his point.
The blonde visibly tenses. His lips spread then, as his lips form the name. "Izuku Bakugo."
Izuku nods. "Now say your name with my last name."
"Katsuki Midoryia." Katsuki says while looking at the ceiling.
Izuku nods again. "See."
"Oh shit." Katsuki chuckles. "Kinda pisses me off, but I see your point."
"Right? Katsuki Midoryia is also a lot easier to write out than Izuku Bakugo. And that would mean our friends couldn't call you Bakubro anymore. AND-" Izuku feels himself getting more hyped. "-when you first sign your initials after the marriage license, it would be KM. When someone asks what it starts for, you can say King Murder!" He smiles while holding out his hands excitedly.
Katsuki levels him with a suspicious glare. "How long you been fantasizing about us sharing the same last name, huh?"
Izuku coughs, loud and obnoxious. "So you're taking mine? Cool, sounds good."
Katsuki rolls his eyes. "My place or yours?"
"We......we are literally sitting on my bed?" Izuku asks, leaning over slightly.
The blonde reaches up and flicks his forehead. "No, idiot. Are you gonna move in with me or am I moving in with you?"
"Oh......" Izuku burns a bright red shade of embarrassment. "Um..... m-my apartment has the bigger kitchen?"
Katsuki nods, as if he had already considered that. "Yeah, but my bathtub is bigger."
"Why does that matter?" Izuku asks curiously. Bathtub sizes have never been an apartment shopping priority before?
"Fits two people." Katsuki answers casually. About as casual as someone can while sitting beside of someone else having a stroke.
"O-Oh......" Izuku shyly tucks loose strands of green curls behind his ears. "Um, but my apartment building allows cats, and you've always wanted a cat."
"Nah, changed my mind." Katsuki shakes his head. "I want a dog, but this building doesn't allow dogs over twenty pounds. Which is absolute horse shit."
Izuku giggles again. He tries to suppresse his bubbling laughter, but fails miserably. He chances a glance down, and catches the fondest expression he has ever seen casted over pale features.
Love......
He clears his throat, and tries to maintain some form of dignity. "What if we just got a new place together?" He leans back on his hands. "We can find one with a big bathroom and a nice kitchen. Maybe even near a dog park?"
Love.....
"We can start looking tomorrow then. We have off anyways." Katsuki concedes easily. "Anything else you wanna add to our growing list of rom-com standardized shitty soap opera pre-nup?"
"No." Izuku pouts. "Do you?" He leans over to look into those sharp red eyes again.
Katsuki shakes his head. "Don't think so."
Izuku takes a breath, and shakily exhales. "You won't regret this?" He asks, looking down through flared green lashes.
His answer, is a firm pair of lips pressed to his own again. Still tasting deliciously of cinnamon lip balm.