C'mon...Deku.

by fairykats

Summary:

Izuku looks at the clock on the wall. He still has half an hour left of his lunch break. Usually, he’s joined by one of his coworkers, but they're apparently busy today, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He pulls out his phone, because he’s not about to break down in the middle of the school day. He opens YouTube and starts up what might possibly be his favorite non-quirk analysis video on the internet: “60 minutes of Pro Hero Dynamight Yelling at randoms, pt. 6."

Or: the fix-it fic you didn't know you needed after MHA's final chapter.

Chapter 1: If you can't do, teach?

“I don’t know if you know this, but I actually defeated All For One,” Izuku proclaims to his student. “Back in the day, me and my friends–”

“PLEASE, Deku Sensei,” Kota groans. “I’m begging you, please just regrade my essay. Even if I hadn’t seen the footage, if I hadn’t BEEN THERE, this is the twelfth time you’re telling me today. PLEASE.”

Izuku laughs, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Polite as always, Kota. It’s already done. I’m just teasing you, as punishment for interrupting my lunch break.” He hands him the paper, chuckling as the boy’s irritation melts into pleasure at the sight of his improved score.

“Now let me eat!” Izuku gently pushes his longtime fan towards the door, his smile staying in place as it closes.

It’s these little moments that give him confidence in his decision to become a teacher at U.A. After graduating, he had considered going into hero work with the slowly fading embers of One For All but decided against that plan in favor of going abroad for a four-year intensive quirk analysis course. Before his return to Japan, Nezu and Aizawa had offered him a position at his old high school, along with a respectable salary and funding for additional quirk research.

Although he’s happy with his new job (and his mom is glad that he’s back home and working in a relatively hazard-free career), he can’t deny the occasional pangs of pain he feels seeing posters of his former classmates on his walks home, watching the clips Aizawa occasionally shows him, watching the clips he seeks out himself, hearing about their incredible achievements on the news, hearing the easy camaraderie he’s now left out of on the rare occasions they all manage to get together. He’s happy for them, he really is. But who wouldn’t feel useless seeing someone else living the life they’ve dreamed of since they were able to form coherent thoughts?

Izuku sighs, dropping his head against his desk. He knows these thoughts are wasteful and needlessly upsetting. He’s replayed everything thousands of times in his head, finally coming to peace with the fact that he has essentially peaked in high school. He makes a joke of it, makes a joke of himself, so no one else will. He’ll bring up his high school exploits himself, as often and as flippantly as possible because he’s afraid he’ll cry if his students do it first, whether with admiration or scorn or pity.

He does love teaching though. He’d probably still be a teacher even if he was an active Hero. Shaping the next generation of Pro Heroes isn’t easy, especially with these new batches of troublemakers (Kota first among them). He is unfortunately a complete pushover, and although he brings up the fight with AFO as a joke, the kids never miss a chance to manipulate him into telling them some sincere, long-winded story and wasting 30 minutes of precious class time. Once he got started with his muttering, it would take a solid smack over the head from Aizawa to bring him back to conscience.

Izuku looks at the clock on the wall. He still has half an hour left of his lunch break. Usually, he’s joined by one of his coworkers, but they're apparently busy today, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He pulls out his phone, because he’s not about to break down in the middle of the school day. He opens YouTube and starts up what might possibly be his favorite non-quirk analysis video on the internet: “60 minutes of Pro Hero Dynamight Yelling at randoms, pt. 6.”

 

Aizawa walks into the room five minutes before the break ends, peeking over his shoulder and snickering at the video title.

“They’re dropping a new video every day. Honestly, it’s a miracle that this childhood friend of yours is still in the top 25. The word ‘PR’ is scared of the Bakugo Hero Agency.” His eyes shift towards Izuku’s face. “I can understand why you’d like this video in particular though.”

The younger teacher blushes and fumbles to turn his phone off. Yes, this compilation includes the clip where Kacchan tells another pro hero that “Deku would have been able to catch that villain quirkless, dammit!!” Yes, he watches it as obsessively as he used to watch All Might’s debut video when he was younger.

There's just something about it. Something about the person who had first made fun of him for being quirkless. Something about the man he had been in love with since he could name the feeling, the boy he had admired all his life, publicly praising him not for his borrowed power, but for who he had always been. Whenever Izuku feels inadequate, feels like his dream ended before he could blink, he opens up this video.

The support from All Might, U.A., and Aizawa means the world to Izuku, of course. But when he had first come back to Japan, it had been Kacchan who pulled him out of his depression and made him feel just a little less lonely. Izuku had dropped off the map after high school, traveling halfway across the world to do research, and as a result, he had lost touch with most of his former classmates. Daily phone calls turned to weekly texts to nothing at all. Even Kacchan, as much as he tried to reach out to Izuku, simply did not have the time or the power to free Izuku from the darkness of his own mind and his desire to avoid them.

He had thought, when he came home, that everyone would have forgotten him. And yet when he walked out of the airport his entire class had been there to greet him, with Kacchan and All Might at the front with flowers. Since then, he meets up with them on occasion, and Kacchan drops by U.A. to guest teach or bring him lunch.

“By the way,” Aizawa points at him. “I ran into Kota. You can’t just let your students bulldoze over you the way they do. Don’t think that being lenient makes you the ‘cool teacher,’ you’re just easily manipulated by children.”

Izuku’s face drops. “I’m not…cool?”

Aizawa just stares at him, at a loss for words. He shakes his head and goes into the corner, zipping up his classic yellow sleeping bag until all that’s visible are his closed eyelids.

 

Despite his angst-filled lunch break (and Aizawa’s roasts), Izuku is very excited for today’s Hero Studies class. Class 1-A has been working on quirk development, and he’s filled maybe fifty notebooks thinking up ideas for them. With every new generation, quirks evolve and strengthen, leading to an absolute treasure trove of potential tactics and strategies. As much as the kids try to manipulate their kind-hearted Deku Sensei, when it comes down to it, they know how blessed they are to have an internationally renown quirk specialist as a Hero Studies teacher.

“Let’s see…” Izuku mutters to himself as he walks out towards Gym Gamma. “So I can try pairing them with a mismatched opponent, like Kota and Keiji…”

Notes:

I really did not want to include original characters, but it's almost impossible to avoid with the length of the timeskip and their jobs. Sorry...

Chapter 2: GEMG Dynamight makes dinner...

Summary:

katsuki being whipped as hell i guess!!

“YOU FUCKING DUMBASSES. THIS IS ROOKIE SHIT. FUCKING DEKU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER THAN YOU ALL QUIRKLESS AND ASLEEP. HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN LICENSED. ”

Katsuki’s sidekicks are lined up in front of him, by now used to this sort of lecture/tirade. It’s an almost daily ritual, part and parcel of working for the explosive, perfectionist #23 hero, Dynamight. There may be a slight variety in the nature of his expletives or his reason for anger, but at this point, all three of them could write his scripts in their sleep. One of them even yawns, avoiding the Pro Hero’s eyes.

“ESPECIALLY YOU. DUMBFUCK. SHIT FOR BRAINS. SLACKER. DON’T THINK I’M AFRAID TO GIVE YOU A PAYCUT!”

The offender flinches instinctively, then a sheepish smile takes over his face. “Sorry, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, it’s just– you’ve used that threat on us nearly every day for the past four years? But we actually got a pay raise last month, so you see why it wouldn’t be effective…”

They could actually see fumes coming out of the man’s ears, sparks popping on his fingers. “TALKING BACK, YOU FUCKING SLOWPOKE?? DO YOU WANT TO DIE TODAY? DID YOU REPLACE YOUR BRAINCELLS WITH GUNPOWDER?? YOU LITTLE-”

The sidekick, clearly holding back a laugh, shakes his head. “We’re sorry, Dynamight. We should have looked ahead and let you know that there was an event happening there. But, regardless.. Don’t you usually save this lecture for the end of our shift? It’s only 4 PM, so why are we back at the agency? Isn’t it a little early today?”

Katsuki is still glaring at him, but the fumes have receded and his palms are no longer sparking with mini-explosions. “I’m off early today, and you would know that if you kept up with the calendar, dumbass. I have something to do, so you can all take the day off too. Thought I would give you all some much needed constructive criticism before I left, but I can see that nothing gets through your thick skulls…” his angry muttering fades away as he leaves the office, ripping off his gauntlets.

“Ahhhh…” one of the sidekicks groans, rolling her shoulders. “He’s impossible to please. We could have told him in advance about the party if he wasn’t always a block ahead of us…”

“And it’s always Deku this, Deku that.. He isn’t even an active hero,” another complains. “Why do we have to compare to his fucking high school crush?”

The first quickly shushes her with a giggle, checking to make sure their boss hasn’t overheard. They had learned the hard way that this was the one joke that would legitimately send him over the edge. It’s obvious to anyone who hears him wax poetic about the U.A. teacher that he feels something a little beyond professional admiration for the man, and watching any of their high school tapes makes it even clearer. Nevertheless, acknowledgment of his affection for Midoriya Izuku, much less any perceived insult towards his former classmate, is a major no-no at the Bakugo Hero Agency.

 

In the locker rooms, Katsuki is still muttering to himself while changing into his civilian clothing. He knows, intellectually, that there had been no way for his sidekicks to predict that there would be an area chock-full of civilians right where he had directed the villain he was fighting. Honestly, it had been harder on them than it was on him. His attack repertoire is much expanded since his younger days, and close-quarter battles are no longer a concern for him. He had been more concerned for Firework and Minesweeper, whose attacks are more destructive by nature. Suddenly thrown onto a battleground where their typical strategy was limited, Katsuki had feared they might be hurt.

That was why he had brought on his third sidekick, Diffuser, in the first place. Although he had originally planned to fill his agency with similarly-quirked heroes, the suggestion from Izuku had proved genius and likely contributed to a modest rise in the rankings for Dynamight. Her ability to quickly mitigate their explosions was extremely irritating, but also essential and occasionally life-saving.

Speaking of Izuku, he’s planning on surprising him today. As a teacher, his green-haired childhood friend-turned-victim-turned-rival-turned-closest person to him has a more consistent schedule than the Pro Heroes do. Nevertheless, their days off barely coincide, and their tendency towards workaholicism doesn’t help.

Even after finishing his studies abroad, Izuku still spends a significant amount of time on his quirk research. Katsuki, on the other hand, is focused on becoming the number one hero within the next few years, and he is well on his way to that position, although often neck-and-neck with his former UA classmates. Currently, he is the third highest of his class, two spots behind Uraraka and one spot behind Todoroki. The girl, he could respect, but that half-and-half bastard had only gotten ahead of him because of his looks (Author’s note: Todoroki is ahead of him because of multiple, hour-long “Pro Hero Dynamight yelling at people” compilations. This man is allergic to having a positive public image). Katsuki punches his locker, infuriated again.

Being the #23 hero isn’t all bad though. The higher he is, the more money he earns, and that means that he can afford to pay his sidekicks more and have something besides ice soup for dinner. He hadn’t expected his adult life to involve so many BILLS–he had moved out a year ago, and now there's rent to pay, and insurance, and so many other things he doesn’t particularly want to think about.

Admittedly, he is living a much scrimpier life than most of his other Pro Hero acquaintances. Whatever money he isn’t putting towards his bills or his agency goes directly to his special project, and he makes sure to collect 10-20% of his former 1-A classmates’ salaries to contribute towards it as well. He can only hope his bills will be less of a concern once it’s complete, but who knows how many bands he’ll have to drop on maintenance and whatnot.

Katsuki shakes his head, clearing the images of yen bills from his thoughts. Izuku still lives with his mom in their old neighborhood, and he usually leaves U.A. around 5, so he has one hour to prepare for dinner and then get his ass over to the other side of town. Maybe he should have picked an apartment closer to home, but he didn’t want his parental units constantly hovering over him.

 

“Boo.”

Katsuki leaps away from the pole he was leaning on and lets out an extremely unheroic screech, the likes of which would drop him at least two spots in the rankings. “Fucking– IZUKU???”

Izuku smiles and pokes out his tongue teasingly, and Katsuki just barely stops himself from screeching again over his sheer cuteness. Everyone, especially Izuku himself, had expected the boy to lose his childishly round face as he grew, but here he was at 24 with those same scarred, round, freckled cheeks begging to be squeezed. Apparently, Izuku had taken the scenic route and surprised Katsuki from behind. Even after all this time, he was so incredibly…

“Are you here to visit Auntie and Uncle?” Izuku interrupts Katsuki’s increasingly down bad thoughts. “Your house is the next street over though, and you should still be on patrol…”

Katsuki scoffs and starts walking in the direction of the train station. “The old hag? As if. I’m here to pick you up.”

Izuku tilts his head, unmoving. Katsuki stops, realizing that he is not being followed.

“Fucking nerd. Is sharing a planning room with Present Mic damaging your hearing? I said I’m here to pick you up.”

Izuku looks around, and then back at Katsuki. “Um, Kacchan…how are you picking me up without a car or a license?”

The green-haired man is clearly expecting him to blow a gasket, but at 25, Katsiki knows when he’s being deliberately provoked. Instead of rising to the bait, he teases back: “Midoriya sensei~”

The two words are sufficient for an immediate blush to rise to Izuku’s round face.

“Exercise is essential for a studious mind~” Katsuki sings. “Do you not encourage your students to be active?”

“Shut upppp,” Izuku groans, and Katsuki continues to tease him until they reach the door of his third-floor apartment. Dozens of “Pro Hero Dynamight yelling” compilations are evidence that Katsuki’s volatile personality hasn’t changed much since high school, but if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s that sassiness is far better at reddening Izuku’s cheeks than exaggerated rage, and goddammit if that flushed face isn’t his favorite thing in the world.

 

His childhood friend has only visited his apartment once before, since Katsuki prefers to take him out to restaurants rather than confining him in the cramped space. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Izuku’s nosy ass pokes around the kitchen, opening cabinets and looking in places he definitely has no business looking. After a thorough search, he turns to face his host.

“Kacchan. Are these the ingredients for two servings of katsudon?”

“...Yes…?”

“Kacchan. Why is there nothing in your kitchen besides the ingredients for two servings of katsudon?”

“Uhhhh…” Katsuki laughs nervously. Izuku is exaggerating, but payday is a week away and the part of his budget he usually reserves for groceries has been sent to the U.S. to smooth over an unexpected hitch in the project. “You know, the Pro Hero life… I usually eat out, or at the office, and all that… ”

He doesn’t miss the flicker in Izuku’s eyes at the words “Pro Hero life.” His self-deprecating laugh shatters Katsuki’s heart into little pieces.

“Ah, of course. Of course, I didn’t even realize, but of course that’s how it is, that makes sense. I’ll leave you to it then!! I’m going go pick out a movie!!”

Katsuki stares after him as he makes his way to the couch. His chest hurts. He knows Izuku’s reaction is due to embarrassment rather than envy, but that just makes it all the more difficult to resolve. For some goddamn reason, the nerd feels a sense of inadequacy around him, as if he hasn’t always been the one ahead. For fuck’s sake, modern hero society wouldn’t even exist without this dumbass. But every time Katsuki tries to broach the subject, his friend brushes him off or changes topics.

Goddamnit. He’s not pitying him, he’s trying to beat some sense into him. Stupid fucking nerd.

Katsuki comes out of the kitchen fifteen minutes later with two bowls in hand. His “couch,” really a glorified love seat, is so small that their knees touch even when sitting at absolute opposite edges.

“Todoroki has a penthouse, y’know,” Izuku teases, apparently noticing their lack of distance as well. “You should be earning more than him, so why are you still calling this cardboard box a home?”

“Shaddup,” Katsuki grumbles. “That shit doesn’t matter. What, all you care about is a man’s wallet?”

Izuku hums. “Ehhh… Well, that and his cooking… but I’m sure Todoroki could learn how to make katsudon too.”

“That man couldn’t use a stove to save his life. He uses his fucking FIRE HAND to cook shit, I’ve seen it. Unsanitary as fuck, you’d probably get sick. But if you want burnt, germ-infested food, that’s up to you!!” Katsuki fumes, inexplicably pissed. It’s enough that he’s competing with Mr. Daddy Issues on the charts, he doesn’t need him as a romantic rival too.

“Hahhh, don’t worry, Kacchan,” Izuku beams. “I’ve gotten used to eating your recipe! I don’t think I could like any katsudon that wasn’t as spicy as you make it, anymore.”

And just like that, Katsuki is reduced to a flustered mess. “Whatever…are we watching that stupid All Might movie for the tenth time?”

“It’s actually the seventh time, Kacchan,” Izuku corrects sternly, a glimpse of Midoriya Sensei rearing its head. “I’m disappointed that you would forget.”

Katsuki will deny it vehemently, but that voice, that tone, so much deeper than it was eight years ago…it does something to him. Izuku is sickenly cute most of the time, but TEACHER Izuku is just…unbearably…sexy…

He turns his face away to hide his flush. To be honest, he didn’t want to watch a movie tonight. He feels like he hasn’t had a real conversation with Izuku in years. They hadn’t even talked, really talked, after the end of the war. There’s so much unresolved between them, and he doesn’t want to say something idiotic and scare Izuku away before he’s ready. But dammit if he isn’t getting impatient!

He’ll wait as long as it takes, though. He’s waited eight years already. If it takes eight more, even if it takes eighty, he’ll wait.

It seems like Izuku had a rough day at work because he conks out halfway through the movie. He has an amusing habit of mouthing along to his favorite quotes, and Katsuki has to hold back a laugh when the exhausted greenette’s mouth stops mid-sentence and his head drops onto his shoulder, long eyelashes resting on puffy cheeks. Out of habit, Katsuki counts his freckles, making sure all seventeen are present and accounted for.

Chapter 3: GEMG Dynamight...denial is not just a river in Egypt...

A text message tone brings Izuku to consciousness. He opens his eyes blearily, momentarily confused about where he is and why the hell he’s still wearing his dress shirt. Sure, there had been days when he first started at U.A., when he was so tired after eight hours of wrangling a bunch of hyperactive teenagers that he came home and threw himself on the bed, dress shoes and all. But he’s way better at handling things now, or so he had thought…

Still dazed, he reaches for the offending phone and taps on the message. Oddly enough, the device is already unlocked. And has a different lockscreen image. And. Oh. This isn’t his phone. He goes to quickly hit the off button, concerned about invading Kacchan’s privacy, but his eyes are faster than his brain.

Wait.

It’s a message from Kaminari Denki.

And it’s… a picture of Izuku on the way to work? With the caption “A wild Deku Sensei spotted!!! How cute!!! Heroes really have a lot to protect!!!”

Izuku knows it’s wrong, that he should just turn the phone off and pretend he never saw anything. But his curiosity takes hold of him, and he scrolls up, slowly realizing that it’s a Class A groupchat… without him. But it’s named “Midoriya Izuku fanclub”? And it seems that all they talk about is him. Or more accurately, all they do is send pictures of him, some selfies, some candid, some official U.A. press photos. Kacchan doesn’t send pictures, but he does heart them all. And he’s also… Requesting money from them?

This is all so strange. If it was any other group, he would assume they were mocking him, but some of his closest friends are in this chat. And what’s up with…

Oh no. Kacchan is having money troubles!

Izuku can’t believe it took him so long to realize. The empty kitchen, the tiny apartment… for God’s sake, the poor dude’s lack of personal transportation. He would have never pegged Kacchan as someone who would ever be “broke,” especially not with his #23 hero salary. Perhaps he’s been scammed and is now in severe debt. Most people don’t realize it, but, despite his intelligence, Kacchan is quite gullible. He’s definitely the type to fall for pyramid schemes and the like. And after all, it's quite expensive to live alone these days.

Izuku looks down pityingly. Distracted by the phone, he hadn’t taken notice of the odd position they were in. He had felt himself falling onto Kacchan’s shoulder last night, but their positions were now switched, with Kacchan’s soft head resting in his lap. Izuku closes the messages app, turns the phone off, and carefully puts it back in place. He checks his own device, seeing that (depressingly) the only message he has is from his mom telling him to come home safely. It’s also 9 AM, and even though it's a weekend and Izuku is off, Kacchan probably has a shift at this time.

He shakes the blond’s shoulder gently, laughing as his friend groans sleepily and snuggles his head deeper into Izuku’s stomach. It can’t be very comfortable–even though Izuku hasn’t done hero work in a while, he still works out quite regularly and has the washboard abs to show for it.

His muted laugh turns full when Kacchan realizes the position he’s in and nearly blasts himself across the room, the flush on his cheeks matching the red of his eyes. He puts on a tough guy persona, but he’s so easy to tease after all!

“Kacchan,” Izuku croons. “You were sleeping so sweetly on my chest, I was starting to worry that you’re not used to anything softer. I’ll buy you some new pillows, so I can make sure none of our best heroes are losing out on their proper beauty sleep.”

Kacchan is so flustered it takes him a full minute to form complete sentences. “First of all, I’m not ONE OF the best heroes. I’m THE BEST HERO.” He points threateningly at Izuku. “And I get PLENTY of sleep and my pillows are the exact best amount of soft and its none of your business what I do with my bed anyway.”

Izuku leans back into the couch, pleased with the momentary power he holds over his childhood friend. “It is my business, when you’re using me as your bed.”

“FUCK YOU.”

“Language,” Izuku admonishes out of habit. He doesn’t miss Kacchan’s flush deepening at his inadvertent use of his Deku Sensei voice. “Anyway, if you have time before work, there’s something I want to ask you about.”

Kacchan shrugs, calming a bit. “I’m off work today too, so we can talk all we want.”

“Um… I know this is kind of a breach of privacy, and I swear it wasn’t intentional, I just picked up your phone by mistake–” Kacchan freezes at that. “But why are you and everyone else from Class A in a groupchat without me, and why is it called ‘Midoriya Izuku Fanclub?”

“How far up did you scroll.” Kacchan’s voice is hoarse. Oops– he really should not have looked at that chat. At least he’s not angry.

“I only saw the one picture Kaminari sent of me this morning,” Izuku lies easily. Kacchan is clearly okay with asking the others for money, but if he hasn’t told him yet, there’s probably a reason. He hates relying on others or seeming weak, and the last thing Izuku wants is to embarrass him.

“Ah,” Kacchan relaxes. “I made it to plan our airport meeting and stuff, and they just kinda…kept up with it, after Four-Eyes and Round Cheeks started sending selfies with you. To be honest, the Fanclub part isn’t much of an exaggeration…”

Seeing Izuku smile, he quickly adds: “Obviously, I don’t participate in that bullshit. You haven’t beaten me yet or anything, so don’t think I’m looking up at you! Nerd!”

Izuku almost responds, almost snaps that they’re not competing anymore so there’s no need to act like they’re somehow still on even ground. But the morning is too precious to ruin with this kind of pointless argument, so he keeps his thoughts to himself and merely smiles wryly.

Kacchan looks at him as if he can see through him. If Izuku didn’t know better, he might say that the other man’s eyes look very, very, sad. He doesn’t mention the elephant in the room, though, electing to bring up a new subject.

“We’re going to the amusement park today, Izuku.”

Even this many years later, hearing his real name from Kacchan still sends a little jolt through him.

But.

“The amusement park… like, a date, where we eat crepes and stuff?”

Izuku’s mission to get Kacchan as flustered as possible is increasingly successful. It’s no longer just a reddened face– seemingly without him noticing it, little sparks are popping on the other man’s hands.

“NO?! Since when is it gay to hang out with your buddy at the amusement park?! I can’t share a crepe with my best friend without an ulterior motive?!”

(Kacchan definitely has an ulterior motive.)

Izuku is pleased to have gotten a reaction out of Kacchan, but he’s even more pleased that he gets to spend the whole day having fun with his “friend”. So, he drops the teasing questions and goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth with the spare toothbrush that Kacchan keeps specially for him.

 

Despite insisting so vehemently that their outing is not a date, Kacchan is certainly acting like they are on one. He insists on paying for everything, from Izuku’s tickets to their crepe (Author's Note: just one crepe. wink wink nudge nudge.) Amused, Izuku lets him take the lead, even allowing the other to win him a limited edition Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight plushie.

“You know, this was the only one of the series I didn’t have,” he comments casually as they sit together hours later, having exhausted themselves on every ride and attraction. “I keep the others on my bed. The Shoto one is the biggest, so that’s the one I hug at night.”

“You’re fucking with me.”

Izuku laughs. “I’m not! Yours is about the same size though. Maybe a few centimeters smaller.”

“MINE IS NOT SMALLER!! Mine is AT LEAST a full square meter bigger!!! Way better for you to sleep with!!”

Izuku squints. Are they still talking about plushies? But a square meter is a bit….

Although he enjoys the teasing, he doesn’t want to go too far. He’s pretty dense when it comes to romance, but thankfully Lord Explosion Murder over here is not exactly subtle, so Izuku knows by now that he has some non-platonic feelings for him. Which is a relief–unrequited love seems like a major pain. But he’s not sure he wants to push this just yet.

After seeing Kacchan lying dead on that battleground, Izuku had resolved to confess to him as soon as possible. They were not as invincible as they had thought themselves as children, fighting each other with sticks and declaring themselves the greatest future heroes. But as they got caught up in the aftermath, he had had time to reconsider and eventually decided against a confession.

He had felt the embers of One For All fading at that point, felt himself letting go. Along with his power, he also let go of Kacchan, in a sense. His childhood friend was on track to becoming one of the top heroes, while Izuku’s own journey was over. He didn’t want to hold the other back, didn’t want the pity that would naturally fall on a top hero’s quirkless boyfriend.

Not that people disrespect Izuku like that–quirkless or not, he IS one of the greatest heroes of this generation, possibly ever. He had mastered eight borrowed quirks and used them to defeat the biggest evil of modern society with the help of his friends. He had changed society, made it so that people didn’t think they could just rely on heroes to save them and not help each other. Midoriya Izuku is a living legend to many, and perfectly aware of it.

He’s also aware that his best days are past, and he has no reason to burden others with himself unnecessarily. Kacchan may think he is in love with Izuku, and he will certainly take every chance to enjoy the man’s company and take deep pleasure in teasing him into that tomato-red flush, but dating is different. He can’t make Kacchan commit to him.

So for now, he just pats his friend’s shoulder. “Oh, I’m sure. I’ll replace him with you, if that makes you feel better.”

“IM NOT A REPLACEMENT, THE FUCK?! WHY DID YOU EVEN HAVE HIS AND NOT MINE?!”

Izuku ponders for a second. “Well, nowadays, I don’t really buy much merch… which is a shame, because I have, like, a real salary now. So, most of my items were given to me directly. Todoroki gave me his when he saw my collection the last time he was over…”

“He was IN YOUR ROOM?? YOU LET A MAN IN YOUR ROOM??”

“Kacchan… he wasn’t, it was the collection I keep in the living room…but regardless, I’m… also a man…”

“You know what, keep the plushie. You’ll need a reminder of him once he’s gone.” The murderous intent in Kacchan’s eyes is absolutely adorable.

Izuku pats him on the arm and grins. “If Kacchan wants to be in my room, he only has to ask.”

Notes:

Izuku needs to hug a plushie while he’s sleeping because he’s chronically touch-deprived.

Chapter 4: GEMG Dynamight has been to therapy?!?

Notes:

omg!!! you guys really wanted this!! i appreciate all the support :) now enjoy the angst hehe

The amusement park date (it was definitely a date) has been haunting Katsuki for weeks. What the hell did Izuku mean with that comment about being in his room? Was he still sleeping with the damn Shoto plushie? And, most importantly, did that nerd…enjoy their outing? When Katsuki had been thinking of dat–uhh… excursions Izuku might enjoy, this had been the first one that occurred to him. But maybe his tastes had changed since high school.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t seen Izuku since that evening, too busy investigating a particularly tricky case relating to the aftermath of the Cyber War. These online crimes are so fucking hard to trace–heroes have no damn business needing to use computers, although of course, Katsuki is as good at hacking as he is at everything else he attempts. Regardless of his skill, he’s been doing overtime, occasionally sleeping at the office after sending his sidekicks and new interns home, barely having time for meals. For someone who's typically an early sleeper, it's catastrophic. He's honestly proud that the sleep deprivation hasn't led to him blowing someone's head off.

He didn't even get much of a chance to talk with the interns, since the case popped up the day they started their work-study. He’ll probably take them to dinner or something at the end of the week. Hopefully, it won’t be a repeat of his disastrous dinner with the Todoroki family during his own work-study. Even this many years later, it still makes him cringe to remember how everything went down. He doesn’t have the best filter, but if there’s one thing he won’t do in front of fucking high schoolers, it’s hash out some random-ass family dysfunction.

 

After ten days of grueling work, they finally find the underground villains at the center of the crimes, and Katsuki gets home at a normal time for the first time in what feels like forever. He’s ready to throw himself into bed and sleep for two days. As he stumbles towards the door, barely able to see in front of himself, he crashes directly into a warm body.

“Whoa there,” Izuku stabilizes him with an arm around his back, and Katsuki feels something heavy hit his ass. A bag. “You must be REALLY tired, huh. ”

He blinks a few times to make sure he’s not hallucinating his childhood friend standing in front of his apartment with two bags of groceries. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to make you dinner. I’ve been keeping up with your cases,” here Izuku puts his hand in Katsuki’s left pocket and pulls out his keys, unlocking the door and making Katsuki feel very awake all of a sudden. “And I know how you are with work. I figured you’d put your all into this thing and crash when it was over. Seeing how empty your fridge was last time, I decided to come over and make you something. I hope it’s okay!”

It is definitely okay. It is more than okay. Actually, the hardworking GEMG Dynamight’s fridge is not that empty now, since that other day was a rare exception and he was 100% lying to Izuku about eating most of his meals out. But the idea of being cared for by this beautiful man is extremely appealing. Maybe he should overwork himself more often since this is the reward.

“Don’t you dare think you can keep overworking yourself and getting rewarded with food,” Midoriya Sensei might as well be reading his mind. “This is a one-time thing. If I hear that you’ve been sleeping at the office and skipping meals again, I don’t care how important your business is, I’m having you removed from the field somehow. Don’t you dare set a bad example for my students.”

Katsuki’s brain cells aren’t fully there, but he has enough presence of mind to realize what Izuku is saying. “Your…students?” he asks slowly.

“The interns, silly,” Izuku responds, pushing him into the room and leading him to the couch/loveseat. “They’re both from my class. They said after listening to the lessons I gave about you, they knew they couldn’t go to anyone else for their work-study. You’re quite popular with the lot of them!”

Katsuki doesn’t respond, taking a few minutes to process all those sentences with his sleep-addled mind. In the meantime, Izuku bustles to the kitchen and begins cooking. From the couch, he can smell the strong aroma of habanero. His personal chef knows his tastes very well, apparently.

Izuku comes out about twenty minutes later with some creation in his hands. It’s unclear what it is, but after a few pokes and a careful first taste, Katsuki is suitably impressed. He devours the entire pot and stares at it when it's finished, feeling a little sad. Izuku sits next to him, watching with a pleased smile.

The exhausted hero groans and leans into his friend, feeling his eyes droop. “I don’t even know why you teach them about me,” he slurs. “Not even top ten hero yet. Not even better than you.”

Izuku frowns. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask about that. You’re strong, stronger than most, and you beat lots of villains, and you’ve been well known since grade school days. To be honest, you have a lot more self-control than you display in those clips that are constantly going viral. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were self-sabotaging.”

Katsuki nuzzles into the other man’s shoulder. “Don't want to be at the top without you. Don’t care about rankings right now,” he mutters. “Wish you would have some confidence in yourself and just start doing hero work with me.”

He’s suddenly deprived of the warmth he had been enjoying as Izuku rises angrily, shoving him away. “I know you’re half asleep right now. But I do not want to hear that from you.”

He’s a little more awake now, infuriated and sitting up straight. “Why?!” he demands. “The shit that these other heroes do, you could do quirkless. You’ve done quirkless, for God’s sake. I haven’t forgotten your first sports festival.”

“The sports festival where I injured myself so badly I was in a cast for days? That one? It’s too dangerous, Kacchan.”

“But you were NEVER a Pro Hero! Even though you still had the embers for years after! Why didn’t you use them? We could have been heroes togerther. At least for a few years.” Katsuki is near tears. He really, really, does not want to have this conversation. This is not the way he thought it would go.

“BECAUSE I HAVE SOME SELF-RESPECT. You think I don’t want to be a hero? It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted since I knew it was possible. Seeing you all out there, it HURTS. It HURTS knowing I can never live my dream. But I have enough respect for myself not to turn into some loser who crashes out a month after my debut, or who spends my time at the bottom of the charts because I’m that damn useless. I’m not going to have ‘Deku’ go back to its original meaning.”

Ah. Here come the tears. Katsuki desperately wipes his face, ashamed at himself for being so emotional, ashamed at himself for upsetting Izuku this much. He knows he’s being unreasonable, knowing he’s causing a problem over something he had promised himself not to bring up. Fuck. After he had taken the time to come over and take care of him on a work night.

Izuku stares at him for a few seconds more, waiting for a response that never comes. Finally, he turns around and leaves, dropping a tense “good night” before the door slams behind him.

Katsuki is left alone, feeling as though he’s just blown up something irreparable.

 

When he wakes up the next day on the couch, still in his outside clothes, he feels like absolute shit. He didn’t even brush his teeth last night, so his mouth is dry and he’s pissed as fuck. He just fucked things up majorly with Izuku, all because that asshole had the nerve to ask him that stupid fucking question while he was basically unconscious.

He is not self-sabotaging, seriously. He just does not give enough fucks to watch his mouth while in the field. Heroes have a lot to protect, but for now, that does not include his reputation. Once his plans come to fruition and Izuku joins him as a hero partner, that will probably change. He wouldn’t bring his partner down with him. They would rise to the top together, and Katsuki would make a sincere effort to stop cursing out old ladies filming him in the street.

He just has to convince him first. He had been planning to wait until his secret project was complete, but that plan has been shattered to pieces. He’ll have to find a new route. Fortunately, he’s always been very creative, and he has quite a few ideas already.

But first, he has to clean up the mess he created last night. He picks up his phone to see a message from Round Cheeks asking why Izuku called her to rant about men being shit, and pointedly ignores it, instead opening his notes app to draft an apology text.

39 revisions later, he finally perfects his message. He starts with a sincere apology, telling Izuku that his comments the night before were completely inappropriate and uncalled for. He adds that his exhaustion had lowered his already weak speech filters, and although he sincerely wishes his best friend was on the field with him, and truly believes in his abilities, it isn’t up to him to make that decision. He ends the text by asking if Izuku wants to join him and his interns for dinner that weekend–on Katsuki’s tab, of course.

To his surprise, the response comes quickly. Izuku thanks him for the apology and adds an apology of his own for “putting Kacchan in a difficult position when he wasn’t even awake.” He accepts the invitation too, with about ten thousand exclamation marks and cheering emojis.

Katsuki smiles stupidly at the device. Who knew learning basic communication skills would be this useful?

Notes:

i refuse to write drunk scenes so all their not-fully-conscious moments will just be them sleepy LOL. hope you all liked this!! i made sure to resolve the angst ASAP so no one would be (too) sad :p

Chapter 5: Deku Sensei is grateful for the “Teaching For Dummies” book he borrowed from All Might

Notes:

For plot reasons, Izuku goes between classes & grades in this fic. Just.. go with it. He’s with first years here.

“No, ALPHA SIGMA is not an acceptable hero name. I don’t CARE if it represents your unbreakable spirit.”

“You’re dating someone called ‘Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight’,” the student grumbles.

Izuku’s forehead pulses with irritation. Here that damn explosion man goes, setting a bad example for his students. “That’s. Different. It makes sense for him. You have a telekinesis quirk. That has nothing to do with this Alpha Sigma business. Maybe if you were some sort of wolf mutant, but that wouldn’t even be accurate.

“AND–” he points threateningly at the offending student. “You need to stop spreading rumors about your teachers’ personal lives. Pro Hero Dynamight and I are good friends.”

“Good friends who hold hands and feed each other crepes,” the kid mutters under her breath.

“What was that?” Izuku drops his voice a little bit, something he’s discovered has a miraculous disciplinary effect.

“Nothing!” she yelps, making a quick escape.

Izuku sighs. He’s been dealing with this nonsense for weeks, ever since their last outing. He knew about paparazzi and disrespectful fans, but he had never been “caught” during his semi-frequent dinners with Kacchan, so he had put them out of his mind. This didn’t even happen when he hung out with Uraraka, and she has publicly admitted to crushing on him during their first year! On camera! But somehow, it was Izuku and Kacchan who had been pictured both holding hands and feeding each other at the park, along with a few other incriminating positions.

He isn’t sure if Kacchan is aware of the virtual storm that had followed the release of those images. The other man doesn’t use any social media, having deleted all the apps after one of his comments was censored for “violating community guidelines.” According to him, “If telling people that they’re stupider than a bag of rocks is against the guidelines, I want nothing to do with this community!!!”

Izuku has about ten fan accounts in addition to his official accounts. He is also surrounded by a bunch of chronically online children. He cannot escape.

He isn’t bothered by it, per se. It’s just getting really, really annoying. For the sake of world peace, he hopes that Kacchan has not found out about the pictures. He had even taken the extra step of cornering the second-year students interning with him, sternly ordering them not to bring up anything indiscreet. Media frenzies typically die down after a few weeks, and this one is already fading. There is no reason to risk GEMG Dynamight’s inevitable blowup.

Since he hasn’t seen anything concerning on the news or online, he assumes it’s safe. He will probably never be free from his students’ teasing, but he can handle it. There’s a certain amount of mockery that should be allowed to children. The closer they feel to him, ironically, the more they respect him.

That doesn’t mean they’ll take their hero name assignment seriously. Izuku has already rejected about 20 “brainrot” names, and he’s tired of it. He hasn’t spent that much time with this first-year class, so maybe they need to have consequences emphasized with them. He lifts a hand and clears his throat, and the room immediately falls silent.

“If you all are struggling this hard to think of names, it’s all right. I’ll leave for today, and we can save the practice sparring for next week.”

The class immediately descends into chaos, with shouts of “NO!!!” being the most audible.

Izuku laughs. “Alright. I guess we’re ready to take this thing seriously. Let’s go one by one. If you can’t think of anything, just say so, and I’ll help you. Any absurd answers mean you get to sit next to me and watch the rest of your classmates spar without you. Okay, let’s see…”

He looks around the room and points at the kid sitting in the front corner farthest from the door. His red eyes and light hair remind Izuku of someone, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.

“You, there. What’s your name?”

He mutters something, and Izuku barely catches the last part.

“What was that? …Katsuya?”

The kid finally looks up, glaring directly into his teacher’s eyes. “I ALREADY SAID IT ONCE, DIDN’T I?”

Ah. That’s it. Izuku can’t help the laugh of sheer delight that leaves his mouth. He’s been blessed (or maybe cursed?) with a mini Kacchan. This should be fun.

“Alright…Katsuya. What’s your hero name?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Well, you can start by thinking of something relating to your quirk. What’s yours?”

Those angry eyes remind him of so many scenes from his past… He almost feels like he’s back in middle school, facing down that little boy, who was filled with so much hatred and insecurity.

“Don’t have one.”

Oh.

Oh.

Oh. Maybe this is a curse. Izuku tries to control his facial expression, but the kid isn’t stupid. He’s clearly used to being looked down on, pitied, disrespected. These looks aren’t new to him. Izuku would know.

He stands up and flips his desk, furious. The class watches in shocked silence. “DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT,” the boy rages. He kicks the desk out of his way and puts his fists up, seemingly getting ready to fight anyone and everyone around him before Izuku zips across the room to physically restrain him.

“Calm down.”

The boy struggles, attempting to push him away before realizing he’s no match for a war veteran with a decade of training on him. He goes limp, still glaring.

The teacher hesitates for a moment, but he has to know. He had watched most of the entrance exam tapes but hadn’t seen him in any. Aizawa hadn’t mentioned anything either. “How did you get into U.A.?”

“Well, I didn’t need some idiotic borrowed power to do it,” the boy sneers. “A quirkless guy like me still made it to the top five.”

“But. How did you get in?” He releases Katsuya, ignoring the personal dig and keeping his hands on his shoulders in case he starts throwing punches.

The boy shrugs off his teacher’s hands and crosses his arms. “I disabled robots. Just like everyone else. And I didn’t need a fucking quirk to do it.”

There are so many emotions roiling through Izuku, but this is neither the time nor the place to start exploring them. He can’t seem flustered or defeated in front of these students–like sharks, they strike at any hint of blood. So he clears his throat and moves on.

“If it’s not your quirk, it can be a reference to something that’s meaningful to you, like a hero you admire. Red Riot, Dynamight, and Ingenium are all great examples.”

“What does yours mean, Deku Sensei?” a girl pipes up.

“It’s his quirk. Useless,” Katsuya snarls.

Izuku gives the boy a sharp glance, then softens to a smile. He knows how to deal with this now.

“That’s right. Some people think being quirkless makes you useless, so when I was younger, someone started calling me that. But this ‘Deku’ saved the world and became the greatest hero, along with everyone else. And I think that showed everyone that what seems useless at first can actually be what gives you the power to become stronger.”

He turns to Katsuya and speaks to him directly. “You’ve already proved yourself by landing in the top five. Now it’s up to you to go beyond that by working with your classmates.”

He finds himself repeating something he had heard years ago. “Have you heard anyone here making fun of the quirkless? Your classmates aren’t like that, and your teachers aren’t either.”

Izuku looks the kid up and down and comes to a decision. “We’re not sparring today. No–” he’s interrupted by groans and angry complaints from all corners. “Shush, all of you. Katsuya, pick up your desk–I’m letting you off lightly this time because I understand how you feel, but it’s disrespectful to the students who used it before you. I want you to apologize to your classmates too. You’ve disrupted their learning and delayed their training.”

Despite his earlier bravado, Katsuya looks suitably regretful. There are even tears welling up in the corner of his eyes, reminding Izuku yet again of a younger Kacchan. The boy mumbles something that may or may not be an apology, and Izuku decides not to push it. With sensitive personalities like this, perceived humiliation backfires majorly.

He turns to the rest of the class. “I know you’re all upset about the change in plans. But your classmate just gave me an even better idea, something I think you all will appreciate. Since most of you haven’t decided on a name anyway, take the weekend to think over ideas. When you come back on Monday, we’re going to have a very special lesson.”

With that, he walks out, bumping into Aizawa outside the door.

“Sensei.” He grips the senior teacher’s wrist. “Why didn’t you tell me there’s a mini quirkless Kacchan in this class.”

Aizawa snickers, immediately understanding. “Thought it would be funnier. And–” he spots the disarray Izuku has left behind him. “It was.”

The younger teacher shakes his head, at a loss for words. Thank God this is his last class of the week because he needs a few days to think over everything that has happened.

Before he can ponder, though, he has to get ready for his dinner date tomorrow.

 

Izuku is late to dinner because he… kind of… forgot to prep his clothes the day before and took about an hour trying to pick out the right outfit. He had intended to prepare last night but had instead fallen asleep at his desk after spending three hours scribbling furiously about a new hero he had seen on the news on the way home. Her quirk is fascinating, aligns perfectly with the research he’s currently doing, and he wanted to figure out if he couldn’t get an interview with her somehow.

But first, he has to see Kacchan. The sourness of their recent argument hasn’t faded yet, but the fact that his short-tempered friend has grown enough to apologize so sincerely warms his heart. He knows he was wrong too. He shouldn’t have reacted like that, shouldn’t have baited Kacchan into that conversation. Sometimes it's better in a relationship for things to be left unsaid.

He walks into the upscale restaurant, immediately spotting Kacchan sitting with his two interns in a booth near the back. The Pro Hero is speaking passionately to the pink-haired boy, while the ginger girl next to him nods along. These are two of Izuku’s best students–the first has a standard power-scaling quirk, somewhat similar to Fa Jin, and with training, he’s come close to Izuku’s power levels at the same age. The girl, on the other hand, can manipulate objects she touches after they leave her hands. Both are incredible assets to the Bakugou Hero Agency.

Izuku approaches the table and is greeted with a wide grin when the blond turns to make eye contact with him. It nearly stops him in his tracks–Kacchan is so beautiful when he smiles. He grins back and slides in next to his friend, bumping into his shoulder teasingly. He nods at the interns, greeting them by name.

The ginger watches him, visibly holding back words. Unfortunately, as Izuku found out early during her first year, the girl suffers from a severe lack of self-control.

“Are you guys really a couple?” she blurts.

Izuku drops his head into his hands and groans. “Child…what happened to asking ‘how are you’?”

He knows this girl well, knew she couldn’t possibly keep her promise to avoid mentioning the rumors for the full length of the internship. This was inevitable–he’s glad he’s able to run interference at least. Kacchan is flabbergasted, though. His mouth drops open, and Izuku can tell he’s flipping through anger and confusion.

“A–huh? Me and Izuku?? Why would you think that?”

“You just called him by his given name,” she points out. The other intern nods in agreement.

This is where Izuku steps in. “Kacchan and I are childhood friends, so it’s pretty natural,” he tries to put some conviction in his tone. “Just because people try to spin our relationship a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the full truth! Photos are taken out of context for more drama, and things get presented inaccurately sometimes.”

This just sets Kacchan off. “PICTURES?? WHAT IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT.”

The girl pays him no mind, continuing her conversation with Izuku. “You call him Kacchan.”

“A childhood nickname.”

“You are both full-grown men.”

Kacchan butts in, annoyed at being ignored. “It’s illegal for full-grown men to have nicknames now? You turn eighteen and your nickname rights are stripped away!? How the hell do you even know any of this?!? Are you some sort of secret agent sent to undermine my agency?!?!”

Well. It could have only been avoided for so long. Izuku wordlessly pulls out his phone and shows the infuriated hero the first article that pops up when he searches “Dynamight and Deku.”

As expected, Kacchan explodes.

“THEY??? FUCKING??? PAPPED US?? AND SAID IT WAS A DATE???”

“Sit down, Kacchan. We’re going to get kicked out.”

He sits, chastised but still enraged. “You’re a fucking civilian. They can’t–they can’t fucking spread rumors about you like this. It would be wrong even if you were active. This is fucking libel, I’m going to contact my lawyers–”

Izuku puts a calming hand on his friend’s arm. “Kacchan, it’s no big deal. It’s not worth the fight. And you don't even have lawyers, so don't be dramatic.”

“It actually brought you up in ranking predictions,” the pink-haired intern adds.

“Right! They’ve done you a favor. It hasn’t affected me, and you didn’t even find out until we told you. Stuff like this dies down fast. If you pursue it, they’ll think there’s something there.”

“I don’t care about the rankings,” Kacchan snaps. “You’re being talked about online because of me.”

“They’re not insulting me,” Izuku counters gently. “I can handle it. If you don’t react, everyone will forget by the end of the month.”

Mollified, Kacchan goes quiet. “You’re not upset by it?”

“No.”

“You don’t want me to do anything?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

The poor interns have been watching the exchange as if it’s some crappy soap opera, eyes flipping back and forth between the two older men. They have witnessed, in real-time, Pro Hero Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight being soothed by their very own Deku Sensei. There is only one conclusion they can come to.

“So…you guys are dating.”

“Not yet,” Izuku answers with a smile. Before Kacchan’s shocked splutters can coalesce into real words, he continues. “You’re off Monday, right?”

Swallowing, the blond man nods.

“Can you stop by U.A. around last period? I need your help for a lesson.”

Kacchan nods again without question, and Izuku turns to strike up a new conversation with his students. Whatever is going on between them, they will resolve eventually. Just not now.

Notes:

Guys I am trying to finish this fic before I go off to uni but my life is increasingly crazy!! khaeli estress darum in my life...

Anyway, a few more notes:

Izuku is saying the alpha sigma thing wouldn’t be accurate for a wolf quirk because his nerd ass knows about the disproven study.

Katsuki’s reason for leaving social media is actually my story… please let me call people idiots online… go follow my edit account tho

Lastly...I’m already mad I have to come up with OCs so don’t expect me to come up with full/original names for them!! LOL. for Katsuya, I just thought the concept of someone with Katsuki’s temperament but Izuku’s quirklessness would be sooo cool so here it is hehe ^^. Also gives Izuku some much-needed development/resolution. Name from this incredible artwork.

Chapter 6: Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 3

Notes:

I wrote this while stressed and tired out of my mind so it’s kind of a silly crack chapter… goofy dkbk is my stress relief idk what to say…sorry it took so long!! uni is busy!!!

Katsuki stands outside the gates of U.A., wondering why he hadn’t asked Izuku what the plan for today was. He’s been to U.A. as a guest lecturer a few times, especially after Izuku joined the staff, but he doesn’t have anything prepared for today. Not that he isn’t an excellent extemporaneous speaker! He’ll definitely ace whatever assignment Midoriya Sensei gives him.

He swipes his alumni card to get in through the gate and sends a quick text to Izuku, letting him know that he’s ready for whatever. He walks into the building, heading straight for the teacher’s lounge and plopping down in the chair closest to the door.

He pulls out his phone and starts idly scrolling through his messages, not realizing that he’s not alone in the room.

“I figured you’d be here.”

The monotone startles Katsuki so much that he instinctively jumps up and throws the nearest thing –his phone– at the intruder. Or rather–his former homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Oops. The older man catches the device smoothly and looks down at the screen.

“Midoriya Izuku fanclub?”

Katsuki blushes furiously, too flustered to even feign anger. Gasping, he tries to explain: “That’s um. It’s a joke? I mean–it’s not a joke! I’m not part of that shit!”

“You just heart all the messages in a groupchat you’re not a part of?”

“Out of politeness!!”

Aizawa laughs and shakes his head. “I think you forgot that I was your teacher for three years. I know damn well if there’s a fanclub for Midoriya Izuku, you’re the president. I’d suggest you claim that title–there’s plenty of others aiming to unseat you.”

The younger man doesn’t respond, irritated by the words.

“Anyway. The class hasn’t started yet, but Midoriya told me to ask you if you’re ready.”

“...for…?”

“Sparring.”

“He wants me to spar with the children?”

Aizawa tilts his head. “Midoriya? No, he wants you to spar with HIM.”

“WITH WHO???”

“Oh.” Aizawa starts laughing, the sociopath. “This is going to be a lot funnier than I thought it would be. I think I’m going to invite all the other classes to watch.”

“No wait. Wait. How is he going to spar me?? WHY??”

Aizawa’s smile drops, and he takes on a serious expression. “Listen. I know what you’re trying to do for Midoryia, and I think it’s noble and I’m proud of you, but you’re forgetting something very important.”

Katsuki’s mouth opens and closes, and nothing comes out for a moment as he struggles to make sense of what’s happening. “I forgot something…about Izuku…?”

“His pride,” Aizawa responds. “You might not realize it, but he is just as much of a prideful person as you are. I know you’re trying to help, but if he thinks he’s being handed something on a silver platter without earning or deserving it, he’s not going to accept it. If he thinks you’re looking down on him, that you consider him weak and incapable, he’s not going to accepted. And considering how much you’ve invested, that would certainly be a waste.”

“But he IS strong! And he DOES deserve it!” Katsuki argues. “Out of everyone in the world, he’s worked the hardest for it.”

“I know that. You know that. But to him, his power has always been something he borrowed, some sort of fleeting dream. And if you hand him another power in the same way, it will just be a repeat of everything that he went through mentally eight years ago. That’s why you have to spar him.”

The Pro Hero frowns. “But he hasn’t been active for years. Obviously I know he’s not weak, I can see that he’s still fit even, but I don’t want to hurt him by accident.”

“That’s where I come in. Uraraka and I have been training with him ever since he came back, practicing more hand-to-hand techniques and strategies for those with weaker or less physical quirks. But our plan to get you here came together after we saw the exam tapes for this year’s first-year class.”

Katsuki still looks confused, but he nods along, listening.

“Nezu and I want to help him too. There’s something about that boy that just…inspires people to help him. Nezu engineered a scheme to bring about this scenario, but I wanted you to understand what we’re asking you to do. Don’t go easy. Don’t pull your punches. Let him prove that he can beat you quirkless, or at least stand on your level. Trust me, he can take it.”

Katsuki sneers, finally on board. “Go easy on him? I’ve been wanting to beat his ass since he decided to up and go to I-Island without so much as a goodbye. I guess I should say thank you. That fucking nerd better be able to keep up with me–if he can’t, I don’t mind taking another 8 years to get him back into shape. Where is he?”

As if on cue, chimes sound over the PA system, signally the end of the period. Heavy steps sound in the hallway, and moments later Izuku bursts through the door. He leans on the frame, breathing heavily. A huge grin breaks across his face as soon as his eyes meet Katsuki’s.

“Kacchan! You came!”

Katsuki grins back, unable to stop himself. “You asked me to.”

“Okay. Alright. Can you quickly get to Ground Beta? Oh–you know what we’re doing, right?”

“Not that you bothered to tell me, but yes. I won’t go easy on you.”

Izuku’s smile grows wider. “I would never expect you to.”

With that, he rushes back out, presumably to prep his class. Katsuki shakes his head fondly, waving at Aizawa before heading off to Ground Beta. Approaching the training grounds, he feels a strange sense of déjà vu. They fought here before, many years ago. Back then, there had been so much tension between them, so much left unsaid, so much that was too hard to say. Of course, Katsuki’s immaturity and insecurity had played the largest part in their disharmony.

Now they're meeting again on that same field. It’s been remodeled and redone dozens of times, but it doesn’t look very different. Katsuki doesn’t have much time to contemplate the progression of time before he hears a jumble of youthful voices approaching from behind.

“D’ya think we’re going to get to spar right away??” asks one over-excited student.

“No, dumbass. Deku Sensei said we’re doing something else.”

“You shut up! It’s your fault we don’t get to spar in the first place, you hooligan.”

Izuku’s voice breaks through the arguing, using that tone that would have awed Katsuki when he was that age. (Who is he kidding? It awes him now.) “Quiet down, everyone. Let’s show some respect to our guest.”

They round the corner, and Katsuki turns to see about 20 children gaping at him in amazement. There’s a brief period of silence as they take him in, and then the burst into a chorus of excited shouts.

“GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GOD DYNAMIGHT!!”

“DynaDeku is REAL??”

“Deku Sensei!! Are you really together?? Is this your reveal??”

“Dynamight-sama!!! Please take care of our teacher!!”

“Do we get to spar Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight?”

Izuku sends a sharp look towards the first few hecklers but does not deign to respond verbally. Instead, he looks towards the boy who asked the last question, a kid with light hair and red eyes.

“No. I’m going to spar with Kacchan.”

The class breaks out into excited chatter yet again, save for one girl who hesitantly raises her hand. Izuku nods at her, bidding her to speak.

“Um? Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight?”

Oh! A question for him!

“Yes?” he answers gruffly, unused to this sort of direct contact with the youth.

“Why does Deku Sensei call you Kacchan?”

“AYA,” Izuku is horrified. “How many times do I have to tell you all to stay out of your teachers' personal lives??”

Katsuki is still a little irked about the surprise lesson plan, though, so he responds. “Aya, is it? Well, nicknames are something you use when you love someone very much, and you want to show them. You seem like a smart girl, I’m sure you can connect the dots.”

She and Izuku drop their mouths open simultaneously. For once, Izuku is the one flustered by their flirtation. Katsuki grins in satisfaction and claps his hands once to get the class’ attention. They gradually fall silent, although the excitement is still visible in their faces.

“ALRIGHT!! You steaming piles of excrement! Start shutting up!” He looks around at his already voiceless audience. “You all are damn lucky you have Iz–um, Deku, as your teacher, because you’re about to experience something that will make everyone else at this school and probably some outside drool with jealousy. Not only do you get to see THE Deku fighting…you get to watch Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight live and in the flesh. People would kill for this opportunity, so I expect a suitable amount of awe from you lot.”

As requested, a blanket of awe falls over the group. They stare at their guest teacher with stars in their eyes, and one kid literally starts floating. Katsuki smirks in satisfaction and is about to continue before the kid with the red eyes speaks up.

“The fuck do you know about us to be calling us shit? You’re twenty-third among your peers, and I’m fifth among mine. Shouldn’t you improve before talking to us like that?”

“You MOTHERFUCKER, Hero Rankings are not as fucking simple as hitting a bunch of unsentient robots–”

“Ahem.” Izuku clears his throat, bringing them both to attention. “Q&A session over. Katsuya, save that arrogance for later. I’m sure you know what this demonstration is for, so there’s no need to be defensive. Observe. Learn. Take notes if you want. This is important.”

He turns to his friend, shrugging off his suit, shirt, pants, and tie to reveal a skintight bodysuit that wraps around his arms and thighs in a way that makes Katsuki…hungry. Who knew he was hiding all that under the nerdy teacher fit…

“Kacchan…are you ready?”

Without a word, the other man bares his teeth and sets his hands sparking.

They leap at each other, years of tension and unspoken words behind their movement. Katsuki starts with an explosion-backed right hook, which Izuku easily dodges as he lands a roundhouse kick to his left side. Even without One for All, Izuku’s legs are incredibly powerful, and his opponent groans on impact. They go back and forth for a while, not talking, Izuku dodging Katsuki’s blows while aiming kicks and punches at his torso.

Finally, Izuku has enough. He pushes the blonde back with a kick to the solar plexus and shouts at him. “Damn you–COME AT ME! I’ve seen you fight grandmas with more power. What, you think I can’t handle it? You want to look down at me in front of my students?”

Katsuki responds with another blast at the green-haired man, this time singing his shoulder. He’s still not at full power, but the other’s shouting has fired him up. Although Izuku flinches at the burn, whatever material he’s wearing doesn’t melt.

“I’m not looking down on you, Izuku. We’re just getting warmed up. Regardless, I’m not going to fire a fucking Howitzer at you, so don’t go expecting that.”

From there, their fight becomes more intense. Izuku’s blows have far more impact than Katsuki expected, but the effort from dodging Katsuki’s rapid-fire shots has him breathing heavier and moving slower. The kids are watching with bated breath, but he’s too focused on the nerd in front of him to pay much attention to the brats. Freckles has certainly proven that he can keep up with him, though, and so Katsuki feels no remorse as he blasts himself up high, ready to end their fight with one final move.

He’s quite shocked when he’s wrapped up in some tape-like material mid-air and brought to the ground with a thud, where Izuku places a firm foot on his chest and smirks down at him.

He’s still panting as he delivers the final verbal blow. “Maybe…you should have tried…the Howitzer…”

Struggle as he might, Katsuki can’t free himself from his bondage, and can only lie there reflecting as Izuku goes off to ramble to the students about strategy and using resources and being able to work around weaknesses. The red-eyed brat is surprisingly quiet, a small smile on his face as he listens to his impassioned teacher. Damn. The fucking quirkless nerd fucking beat him, in every way. It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected him to be strong, but…in all their time together, he couldn’t remember a single time his childhood friend had won any competition between the two of them.

Funny how it was only after he lost his borrowed power that he managed to do it. How appropriate. Aizawa had said something about him and Ochako training with Izuku, but for some reason, he hadn’t considered that he would use a support item like that one. Experiencing it personally certainly gives him some notes to pass on to Hatsume, though.

Finished with his job, Izuku dismisses the students and wanders over to where the blond is lying prone. “Oh! Kacchan! Sorry, I forgot to let you out. This stuff gets pretty sticky…I’m thinking of calling it Whitewhip, instead of Blackwhip, since it’s white, but I don’t know…it sounds pretty dumb. I could call this move Whitechain? I’m also thinking about making it longer, or maybe attaching it to a rope…”

Izuku’s yap session continues from Ground Beta, back to the teacher’s lounge, and onto the road to his house. Finally, he gets tired of flapping his mouth and turns to ask Katsuki a question. “Kacchan!! I’ve been talking for so long, I didn’t even ask what you thought about my students!”

“They’re annoying as fuck,” he grumbles.

“Oh, they were so embarrassing when they saw you, Kacchan…I’m sorry!! They just get really excited, please forgive them!!”

“That red-eyed kid…I really don’t fuck with him. Disrespectful as shit,” Katsuki grumbles.

Izuku looks at him, amused. “I can’t say I’m surprised you feel that way, considering how similar he is to you when you were in high school. If he were 10 years younger, I’d ask if he was your love child.”

“I can’t get pregnant…” Katsuki mutters before he fully processes his friend’s words. “NO HE’S NOT?? I was not that much of a little shit!”

“Kacchan…”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. The fuck does that brat think he’s doing stealing my whole flow.”

Izuku laughs. “I like him a lot. It’s like being in high school with you again, but I can talk to you without getting my head blown off. And with all the experience I got from you, he’s not that hard to deal with. And deep down, just like you, the thing he wants most is to be a hero.”

At those words, Katsuki grows serious. “Izuku? I know I’ve pushed you already on this, but I need to ask you again. I saw how you fought. YOU BEAT ME. You’re training, getting stronger, developing your techniques. Dammit, you have new moves and everything. I’m asking you, but I think I already know. After all this time, I’m not the only one of us who wants to be a hero, right?”

There’s a long pause before the other man replies, voice breaking slightly. “No. No, I–no, Kacchan, I will never stop wanting to be a hero. Of course not. I just–”

He pauses for a long time. “You know, I always wanted to be like All Might. And I always wanted to be like you too. I never told you this, but whenever I start fighting, I mean REALLY fighting, whenever I want to win, I start thinking about you. I start sounding like you, even. There’s– there’s a lot of things that make me want to be a hero. But you, you are first among them. And to be fully honest, even though I planned it out, and studied your moves, I didn’t think I could beat you today.”

He sniffles and wipes his now-teary face. “But I did. I did. And I guess– I don’t know, Kacchan. I want to be a hero. I want to be a hero. I want to be a hero!!”

“Okay! Good! Because I kind of forgot my gauntlets in your office and there’s a guy trying to infest that bank with a swarm of termites.”

Katsuki didn’t actually forget. He left them there on purpose, at Aizawa’s suggestion. And he walked this way on purpose, having gotten a notice about the incident and the lack of heroes in the area. The green-haired man had beaten him today, quirkless and virtually gearless, but that’s not enough. Heroes prove their mettle on the field, and Izuku won’t accept what he plans on offering him without feeling like he’s battle-worthy.

Just as he predicts, Izuku settles the matter in minutes with minimal damage to people or property. And Katsuki is finally ready to initiate the last stage of his special project.

Notes:

I lowkey forgot abt I-Island so I’m retconning “study abroad” to be I-Island and no don’t tell me I-Islanders aren’t allowed to leave!! Izuku is special Okay.

Katsuki's teaching style when it comes to high schoolers is…Gang Orca…who else laughed.

Chapter 7: Heroism is in the heart, not the body.

Notes:

I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG!! i hope its worth it!! i have been so stressed bc of uni... these days i have constant tension headaches and my eye keeps twitching involuntarily... who knows why..

After their sparring match, Izuku and Kacchan fall into a new rhythm. He has been training with Uraraka and Aizawa for a while, but training with the explosive hero is a different experience. A lot more yelling, certainly, but also a lot more care, a lot more understanding. Kacchan knows him the way no one else does, and wants him to improve more than anyone else does.

He still doesn’t know what the end goal is, though. Yes, he’s admitted that he still wants to be a hero, agreed to train, but to what end? Izuku is still weak. And being a weak hero puts people in danger. Technically, he passed a retest for his license post-quirk loss and had all holds removed, but that doesn’t mean much.

He’s also not sure what’s going on between him Kacchan. Outside of the training, it’s been…good? Incredible, really. To the point that his mother has commented on how often he spends time his childhood friend’s place. He’s taken to leaving some of his work clothes there in case he has to rush to work after one of their little sleepovers.

Today is one of those days. Izuku wakes up and yawns, only to find his mouth filled with hair. As is his habit, Kacchan has shifted in the middle of the night and is now stretched across the bed, head on Izuku’s chest. The only thing keeping him from falling off is the firm grip Kacchan has on his body. As gently as he can, Izuku shakes the other man awake.

“Kacchan, do you mind moving a little? I have to go to work.”

“Mmmmf,” he groans, squeezing tighter.

“Kacchan, please… I can’t be late.”

“Oh yeah,” he mumbles. “Then why’d my heart explode that one time?”

It takes Izuku a second to connect the dots.

“Kacchan, WHAT?? This again??”

“Yeah.. cuz you wanna leave me… again…”

Ah, right. This is what he’s like sleep-addled. Izuku unceremoniously shoves his bedmate off of his chest, rolls off the bed, and heads to the bathroom to start his morning routine. He’s taken to using some of Kacchan’s skincare products, although he isn’t quite sure what “moisturizer” and “toner” are. They definitely make Kacchan look good, so they must be of some use.

By the time he’s done with the bathroom and hopping into his suit, Kacchan is sitting up and blearily rubbing his eyes.

“What’m you doin,” he slurs. “Get back in bed.”

“Kacchan, you’re so shameless,” Izuku lectures. “I have work in an thirty minutes and they’re expecting you on patrol at ten, which means you should start getting ready now too.”

“‘M sleepy.”

“You got TEN HOURS of sleep.”

“Twelve better.”

Izuku rolls his eyes and walks over to give his friend a goodbye kiss on the forehead. Kacchan takes it unquestioningly, looking up at him with sweet, sleepy eyes.

So. They’re not together, together. They’re sleeping together. Like on the same bed, although judging from the side-eyes the neighbor has been giving him, she thinks it’s something else. Sometimes Kacchan kisses his cheek or blows an eyelash off his face. Sometimes he does the same. They don’t hold hands outside, because of the media, but they do walk very close to each other.

It’s nice!! To be honest, their relationship is so complicated that putting a label on it feels limiting. At this point, they’ve known each other for over twenty years. They are everything to each other.

Izuku mulls over this thought as he walks to the station. He checks the time–he still has a bit before class starts, and he finished planning yesterday. He decides to take a quick detour, to the place he always goes when he’s feeling thoughtful and nostalgic. He passes by all his old classmates’ posters, hears children cheering on Red Riot and Uraravity, and smiles.

As he fondly watches the children playing heroes, he notices one of them put his foot down wrong and trip over a crack in the sidewalk. Automatically, he leaps to catch him, carefully cradling the child’s knees before they hit the ground. As he sets him on his feet and brushes off the kid’s exuberant gratitude, he notices… two plates? On the ground? And what looks like a middle schooler splayed out on his stomach behind them, apparently having attempted to make the catch too.

As he looks back and forth between the two kids, he makes eye contact with the one on the ground and sees recognition flash across his face. He immediately scrambles up and runs at him, letting out a stream of words that even Izuku, expert mumbler, can’t decipher.

“Slow down,” he laughs, catching him by the shoulders and handing him a handkerchief. “Are you okay?”

“Deku?? Izuku?? Midoriya?? In the flesh?? You’re a real person?? Or wait.. A cosplayer??” He grabs Izuku’s hands to check. “AAAH!! You’re totally really Deku!”

Izuku chuckles awkwardly and sets to chatting with him. He finds out that the boy–Dai–is planning on taking the entrance exams this year. He’s worried that his quirk isn’t strong enough to compete tin the current competitive environment and came to the All Might statue to ask for advice. The conversation is uncomfortably familiar–Izuku is getting flashbacks to a rooftop eight years ago when he came to his hero with the same questions in his heart.

Having poured his heart out, the boy looks up at him desperately. “So.. can I become a hero..? Just like the two of you?”

Izuku hesitates before giving him a straight answer, not wanting to give him false hope. He ponders the question, muttering to himself about the possible uses of the boy’s unique quirk. This seems to be more scary than encouraging, however, so he stops mid-sentence and simply smiles.

“Don’t worry,” he says, taking his hand. “Just now, your body moved to catch that kid, right? You spirit is in the right place. Yes, you can become a hero.”

He lets the boy cry in his arms for a few minutes before he realizes that he has fifteen minutes to get to U.A. With some last encouraging words, he runs off to the train station, with many considerations running through his mind.

.

That night, he picks up his phone and calls Uraraka. They had grown even closer in their last two years of high school, but to his shame, he hasn’t been spending as much time with her lately. Especially now that he’s mainly training with Kacchan, their time together has lessened. It’s mostly work and other distractions, but that’s no reason to neglect one of his closest friends.

“Deku!” Despite his guilt about their recent distance, her voice is free of ire. “I missed you! Is something wrong?”

Izuku feels even guiltier. She thinks his calling means that something is wrong? He resolves to be better at keeping in touch with his friends from high school. Maybe a dinner when a few of them are free.

“Not at all! I missed you too, Uraraka. Sorry for not calling more. How are you?”

She sighs. “It’s okay, Deku. I’ve been so busy, and to be honest, this time of year is always difficult for me. You know how it is, I’m sure.”

Oh, right. Maybe that explains all these dark feelings that have been welling up in his chest this past week. The body keeps the score, after all.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Uraraka. I do know. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Hmm,” she hums. “It’s okay. There was–” her voice breaks a little. “There was a little girl I met in the program today. She had–she had something similar. A similar quirk. Her parents sent a note along with her, they though it was some sort of, some sort of, quirk conversion therapy.”

The fury in her voice is quite uncharacteristic, but they’ve been over this topic enough that Izuku is used to the strong feelings it brings out. He hums to show that he’s listening to her as she rants.

“I just. I know I’ve said this so many times, but as much as society has changed, I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of families like this, you know? Of people who treat their children like, like objects. Like THINGS to control, that if they’re not perfect and exactly who they planned them to be, they’re not worth loving or respecting.”

Izuku nods and murmurs his agreement. “So what did you do with the girl?”

“I told her that it wasn’t true what they were telling her, obviously. I told her that I love her, and that the way we love is just as natural as anyone else’s. I think it helped, a little. She had such a beautiful smile.”

Izuku pretends not to hear her sniffle and hums again. She’s stopped crying over every reminder of Toga Himiko, but grief truly never ends. Even now, he still sees Tenko’s ghost on bad days, and still feels the guilt pulling him down. But they can’t rewind time, they can only make sure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated. For Izuku, it’s building a society where people know that heroes need help too, and everyone has a responsibility to save. For Uraraka, it’s making sure no child is hurt because of the way they were born.

“Anyway,” Uraraka sighs. “What’s going on with you? I keep seeing you in the papers with you old childhood friend. You wanna tell me what that’s about?”

Izuku groans at the teasing. “It’s nothing. We’ve been spending time together, training and whatnot. We have to do it later in the day, y’know, so I’ll sleep over at his place sometimes, but that’s it.”

“Sleep over or sleep over, eh?”

“STOP, no,” he laughs. “Uraraka, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

He bites his lip, debating. It’s a bit silly, but…if he needs anyone’s approval, it’s her. “Do you think…I can be a hero…too? Still?”

She bursts out laughing, not even pretending to humor his insecurity. “You are an absurd man. If Midoriya Izuku, if DEKU, can’t be a hero, then no one can. I thought we went over this years ago.”

He smiles softly, feeling an unknown weight leave his chest. “Yeah. Yeah, we did.”

.

It’s been months since Izuku’s seen his hero. All Might has been traveling abroad, visiting his old friends in America and leaving his protégée all by himself.

Okay, Izuku’s being a little dramatic. But the last time a father figure of his went overseas, he never came back…and he’s gotten used to spending time with Yagi at work and having him over for frequent dinners. Even Inko misses the 7-foot former hero, despite her joking complaints that he eats up three days worth of their food every time he comes over (Objectively not true. He can barely finish half a plate due to his lack of a stomach. But she needs something to tease him about regardless).

He hadn’t even told anyone when he was coming back. So suffice it to say that Izuku is a little surprised at the text he gets telling him to meet up in front of his workplace in half an hour. He has a packed schedule today, behind on grading and lesson planning and research. But there’s no way he won’t be there to welcome All Might back to Japan–in style–, so he drops everything and quickly puts on one of his brighter suits.

Toshinori is waiting for him in front of UA with a huge grin on his face. He spares the greetings, grabbing Izuku by his shoulders and shaking him.

“You’re late, kid!”

“Ah!” Izuku is sheepish. “I would have met you at the airport if I’d known!”

Toshinori waves away his concerns. “No matter. I have a surprise gift for you!”

“Is it a wall-scroll?? A figurine??? Did you… did you find THAT Young Age figurine..?” The younger man has to contain his excitement. Gifts from All Might are not infrequent–he’s probably the biggest enabler of Izuku’s fanboy lifestyle, supplying him with a regular stream of hero merch, both his own and others. Combined with Izuku’s full-time income, its led to an entire room in his house being filled with hero paraphernalia. His mother is NOT happy.

“Weeell, yes! I looked everywhere for it, actually! Would you believe David had about five of them hidden away in his family’s house? I offered to buy it, but they–”

“NO, fucking dumbass.”

All Might jumps at the voice, looking unusually guilty. Kacchan moves away from the wall he had been leaning against, glowering at both of them. How long he had been standing there, no one could tell.

“He did NOT spend five months in America trying to find you a FUCKING FIGURINE. And I didn’t spend eight years on that shit for you to sideline it, All Might!!”

“WE didn’t spend eight years on it,” another voice chides. Iida! Izuku finally looks around, taking in his surroundings. Somehow he didn’t realize, but for the first time in graduation, he’s surrounded by his old Class A. The whole gang is there, all the best heroes of Japan, from Earphone Jack to Shouto to Creati. Izuku feels himself tearing up a little, although it’s still unclear what the occasion is.

“Ah..” All Might nods at the crowd and turns to the shorter man next to him. “Right. I’ll give you the figurine later, but that’s not the surprise.” He lifts up the briefcase he had been holding. On inspection, it appeared suspiciously familiar to Izuku. It was even labeled with the number “18,” just like the briefcase he used during his high school internships. Huh.

“What’s that?? A wall-scroll??”

“DUMBASS–” Kacchan has teleported to his other side.

Yagi interrupts the ill-mannered blonde. “The data they got from my battle with All For One eight years ago opened up a lot of exciting new possibilities, apparently. Just like quirks grow and develop, so does technology.”

Izuku’s mouth gapes open, unwilling to believe the implications. There’s no way. There’s no way he’s offering what he thinks he’s offering. He turns to look at Kacchan, but the blond only smirks and nods towards the briefcase.

Now All Might is trying to hand it directly to him. “You mastered multiple quirks at once, so we want you out there giving us more data!”

“That–that must have cost a fortune. I can’t–”

He can FEEL Kacchan rolling his eyes from right beside him. All Might laughs and slaps his shoulder.

“Young Midoriya! Don’t worry about that! My overseas friend and Young Hatsume came together to work on this, and the project was funded by your old buddies from Class A, with Young Bakugou at the heart of it. Don’t try to hide it. Your body still moves without thinking, right?”

Izuku nods desperately. Yes! Yes! He still wants to save!

Toshinori grins at him widely. “Then take this to heart, kid! You’ve also earned this power fair and square!”

Izuku’s mouth opens and closes for a few moments, unable to say anything. “All…Might…. Thank you.”

The old man laughs. “Kid, nothing to thank me for. It was everyone here who brought it together, and it was you who worked so hard to get to this point.”

He nods and turns to his class, wiping his eyes. “Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you for thinking of me.”

Kirishima snorts and speaks for the group. “As if we would ever forget someone as manly as you, man!”

Izuku nods tearfully and finally turns to his old friend, sniffling. “And you..? You did it for me? The whole class…but especially you? You waited eight years for me.”

Kacchan merely smiles and looks away. But then. But then he turns back and reaches out a hand. “C’mon…Deku.”

Notes:

i wish i had included her in more chapters, but, well. justifying that ochaco character tag here LOL. what do we think abt a togachako fic next… 👀

1 more epilogue chapter!! please look forward to it!!

Chapter 8: Epilogue

Summary:

The story of Izuku and Kacchan concludes. Maybe?

Notes:

this is pretty short, but I wanted to tie up some loose ends! enjoy! and please leave comments, i want to know what everybody thinks!!

“So.” They’re lying in bed, Katsuki with his head on Izuku’s chest as he strokes his fingers through his spiky locks. “Let me ask you again. How’d Hatsume get my measurements?”

“Don’t mention another woman in bed,” Katsuki grumbles. “It’s rude.”

Izuku stops his ministrations to deliver a light smack to the head. “I’m serious! I can’t believe how much work, how much time you put into this. I want to know everything. So I can properly thank you.”

Katsuki snorts. The truth is that it was a combination of detective work (asking Inko and his tailor), personal investigation (cuddles), and some freaky internet stalker he came across a while back–they were actually quite accurate in their estimates. But he can’t admit to that. He may have spent eight years trying to make this man’s dreams come true, but he ain’t a SAP.

“I, uh. Guessed.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku hits him harder. “Well, you guessed too small. It’s way too tight in the chest, have I told you that?”

“Mmm…I asked her to do that, actually. But the other day when you were teaming up out of town I saw that one girl from Ketsubutsu, whashername, staring at your tits, so maybe we should get that changed next touch-up. The broadcast cut out right after that, so I damn well hope she didn’t say anything to you!”

“Jealous?” Izuku teases. “She asked for my number, but I made sure to tell her it was for work only. So don’t worry!”

Katsuki’s head jerks up. “You HAVE to be kidding me!! Like that’s going to stop these freaks!! First they text you to ask about work, then they’re asking to get drinks, then they’re trying to feel you up outside a bar and who knows–”

He flops back down onto his lover, abruptly ending his suspiciously specific rant. “But, well. You’re strong, Izuku. I trust you. You can handle all the weirdos. And if you need me to step in, I will.” So said, he snuggles even closer and closes his eyes, breathing in the scent of his laundry detergent mixed with Izuku’s shampoo.

What are they now? Rivals, still. Roommates, recently. And intertwined, of course, forever. The media, their colleagues, hell, even their friends can't figure out what the hell they had going on. But it works.

After the undeniable confession of devotion that was the hero suit, Katsuki had figured there was nothing else to hide. He had wanted to move in together, but that had been a whole argument–Izuku hadn’t wanted to leave his mom, which was reasonable but annoying. So Katsuki had moved them into another apartment in their building. It was quite nice, smaller than the previous unit, but all the better for having Izuku in it.

As for their parents, well. They were, suffice it to say, not surprised. Inko loved swapping recipes with him, and his progenitors had been overjoyed to have him living nearby, and he was getting used to being back in the old stomping grounds.

Izuku and him had talked. A lot. About little things and big things and scary things. They had gone back to the damn river, held hands enough to erase all the associated bad feelings and trauma. They’d woken up to nightmares together, breathing heavy, screaming, crying. Sometimes Izuku would press his ears to Katsuki’s heart to make sure it was still beating. Sometimes Katsuki would do the same to him. It works.

Like any war veterans, they are traumatized for life. But their day-to-days are not nearly so bleak-Katsuki had never expected to be so happy, but he wakes up every day in the arms of the most beautiful man in the world. He has a partner in every sense of the word. He’s loved and understood far more than he thinks he deserves.

“I love you, ‘zuku,” he mutters as he falls into a restful sleep. He catches a response just before he loses consciousness.

 

The next day, he wakes up to an empty bed. Hmm, perhaps the bit about waking up in Izuku’s arms may have been something of a lie. Now that the nerd is ridiculously overemployed as both a full time teach and a pro-hero, he’s often out of the house before Katsuki or back way later. He’s still doing quirk research, too, which takes him out of town semi-frequently. Frustrating, but Katsuki is so happy and proud for him.

Katsuku pushes off the covers with a yawn and leans over to the nightstand to check his phone. There’s a few messages from Midoriya Izuku Fanclub and a missed call from Kirishima from about an hour ago. He’s off work until this evening, so he shrugs and presses video call as he heads to the bathroom for his toothbrush.

“Yo, bro!” the fake redhead’s voice is staticky, and Katsuki glances at the screen to see that his friend is outside. Huh. “Where you at, man, I haven’t seen you in ages! You gotta catch me up! How's it like now that you moved in with Midobro?? Got kids yet?? Yo, is he there? Can I talk to him??”

“Hey, hey, slow down,” Katsuki laughs. “It's going great, better than I could have imagined. No kids, we’re not doing that. And he’s not here, he’s at work.”

“HELL YEAH!!” Kirishima cheers. He pauses for a second, pondering as the blond furiously attacks his pearly whites. “Yo, bro…you’re telling me it’s like a sleepover every day then? That’s so manly, bro! I wish I could sleepover with my bros that often.”

“Heheh,” Katsuki spits into the sink. “Yeah. Let’s just say… I’m getting exactly what I wanted, every night.”

There's another pause as Kirishima processes, then he gasps in awe. “SEX???”

“Gah??” Ever a prude, Katsuki sputters in flustered surprise. “I meant–all I wanted was IZUKU! Why would I talk to you about something like that, weirdo!!”

“You can talk to me about anything, bro!”

“Alright.” Grumbling, Katsuki takes his phone to the kitchen and listens to his good friend chatter, occasionally chiming in with jokes and advice of his own. Man, his life sure is good.

 

That night, snuggled up with Izuku, he makes sure to tell him how happy he is, how grateful that they made it. The green-haired man smiles and kisses his cheek.

“Me too, Kacchan! And what makes me happiest–” here he hugs him tighter. “Is after so many months of cuddling with your plushie, I finally have the real Kacchan in my arms. It's even better than I dreamed.”

Notes:

last chapter is just a preview of next fic!!

Chapter 9: She's baaaaaack...

“Deku. Deku, please,” the voice on the phone is so raw that he can’t identify it at first. Who on earth would call this late? Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he slips out of bed and moves the phone away from his ear to look at the caller ID.
“Uraraka??”

“Midoriya. I think, I think,” her voice breaks. Quietly, Izuku pads into the living room. “I don’t–I’m not sure, there’s no way to be sure, but there’s no way it could be anything else. Midoriya, you have to believe me.”

“Of course I will, Uraraka! Believe…what?”

Her voice drops to an anxious whisper.

“Deku…she’s back.”

Notes:

LOOK OUT FOR MY TOGACHAKO FIC!!! COMING SOON!!! MAYBE!!!!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of bnha fix-it