Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku’s day could not get any worse. 

Actually, every day was always worse than the previous one, so perhaps that wasn’t worth mentioning. Saying that was a way to forget yesterday was bad to begin with. A poor attempt to convince mock his brain for thinking a day was the worst one of his life, because tomorrow would always come with a new disaster.

Truth be told, today was actually going well, minus the fact that Izuku tripped on his own feet on his way to the third lecture of literally the first week of the semester. The fall kicked his heart out of his cage as well as caused his phone to slip off his fingers. His fault for double checking if he’s going the right way and walking. His fault for having water for limbs. And yes, the screen broke. 

Alright, so today wasn’t going well. Average was more accurate. No, Izuku didn’t break his phone’s screen on average. He broke other things too, like his arm last year because he fell off the stairs.

Izuku liked to look on the bright side and convince himself that at least his phone still worked. He just needed to repair the screen, which probably cost an arm and a leg. 

Bright side. 

Gathering his stuff and shoving them inside his backpack, Izuku heaved a sigh and slipped his arm through one strap of the bag. His eyes roamed through the students scattered in the classroom until they landed on the target three rows away. A brunette with short hair. She chuckled at something another girl was saying as she organized her things inside her bag. Her laughter mingled with the murmur of the rest as they talked about their plans for the day or discussed today’s lecture.

Izuku hoisted his yellow bag over his back and walked away and onto the steps leading down the classroom. He approached the two girls like he approached all people, shoulders hunched, deathly grips over the straps of his bag, lips pressed in a thin line. 

His presence pulled the attention of the girl with long hair first since she stood in his way. Her feet stirred for a second in an attempt to step away, but stilled when she noticed that Izuku halted instead of trying to pass by. Her friend’s eyes found Izuku’s after mere seconds. So he deemed it his due to greet them and state his business. Aka, stuttered over the simplest word consisting of two letters, before his mind drew a complete blank of what should come next or why he approached them to begin with.

“H-Hi.” 

Izuku gulped once, but sand scrubbed his throat instead. His knuckles turned whiter. The brunette’s brows rose for a second before a grin took over her features. 

“Hey!” 

Izuku met her chirp with a small smile, which he made sure to send her friend’s way when she also greeted him. 

He didn’t fall under the anti-social category, but that didn’t mean Izuku was a social butterfly. It was his second year at university, with a major that involved communicating with people, whether now or in the future, yet he struggled to form a stable relationship with his classmates, much less gain a friend. It’s more the other way around, with people initiating a conversation that may or may not bloom into something later on rather than Izuku starting it. That’s how it was last year.

Again, it didn’t mean Izuku hated to talk with others. He simply sucked at it. He wanted to get better of course, always trying to start small talk with whoever sat next to him in class. Izuku wished his life as a university student would shine brighter than his as a middle and high schooler, which never had an ounce of light. 

It’s just his great(?) luck that their professor decided on a project for groups of four, and the two girls standing before him now were the lucky winners to work with the stuttering awkward guy that he was. The fourth member literally dashed outside as soon as their professor allowed them to leave. Was he that terrified knowing that he was going to work with—alright, focus, brain, this wasn’t the time to mull over irrational assumptions just because anxiety invited itself in like usual. 

“Uhh,” She scratched her cheek with a tilt. “I’m assuming you’re with us for the project, umm—“

Realization struck his brows and they shot up. Izuku shifted his weight to the other side and managed another smile. 

“Y-Yes! I’m Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku.” 

She nodded. “Uraraka Ochako.” She stepped away from the desk and onto the narrow path they stood on. Her hand pointed towards her friend. “Oh, and this is Asui Tsuyu.” 

The two seemed to fit in the I-could-handle-with-minimum-emotional-damage genre of people. They wore kind smiles. Their presence rained relief on his shoulders, making Izuku straighten his back. His grip wasn’t deathly, though his fingers stayed curled around the straps because he liked to have something to seep his unease into in case it overflowed. 

So minus the mysterious fourth member Izuku wasn’t sure to which genre he belonged, this group wasn’t bad. Well, it had a stable start, unlike last semester when Izuku had to work with delinquents who god knew why they even bothered with university. Uraraka and Asui were either already friends or friendly enough to pull it off as besties. Perhaps that was what Izuku gnawed at his lower lip over, as Uraraka complained about the project. Getting along with people who were already close challenged his resolve all the time. 

Again, Izuku liked to look at the bright side. He ignored the pile of assumptions regarding their fourth member. 

“Oh!” Uraraka’s exclamation pulled him back to earth. It echoed higher with the class getting emptier. “Tenya had something urgent so he couldn’t stay, but he insisted we exchange numbers today and discuss the project later.” 

Well, scratch that. Izuku was the lucky one to be in a group of three friends. He wasn’t blind, thank you very much, nor was he dumb. He could distinguish friends from classmates and acquaintances. The way Uraraka and Asui spoke suggested they were friends, or at least, eliminated the possibility that they had met for the first time, unlike Izuku. He dreaded the fact that he had to start from zero when the two were already a yard away, hoped the fourth member was also standing on the starting line beside him. But alas, the guy turned out to be way ahead, and that meant Izuku must cross the distance alone until he established some kind of connection. 

“R-Right, uhh—no problem, we could talk tomorrow I guess.” 

Uraraka nodded with a grin. 

“Or through the phone.” Asui said, sticking a finger to her chin as she looked over at Uraraka. 

Uraraka clapped her hands together. The action made Izuku flinch. 

“I could add you to our group!” 

The girl flipped her bag around and her hands dove inside until she found her phone, but soon she let go of an oh before a giggle bubbled out. She put it back inside and started to rub her neck. 

“Ah, my phone’s battery died.” 

Uraraka threw her bag behind her back again and extended an arm towards him. 

“Could you give me your phone? I’ll type my number for now and add you to the group later.” 

Nodding, Izuku fished his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. His fingers grazed across a cracked screen. A grimace assaulted his expression. He spared Uraraka a hesitant glance, to which she tilted her head. His hand shook on its way to her outstretched hand. 

Uraraka frowned at the screen, but started typing her number anyway. 

“This is a big crack…” 

The crack started from a point on the bottom left, but the split stretched all the way to the top. It was possible to read whatever as long as it’s on the top half of the screen, which meant typing was kind of a challenge. 

Izuku released a weak chuckle, accepting the phone back from Uraraka and handing it to Asui. “It fell on my way here. I’ll have it fixed this weekend.” Izuku shrugged. 

At least it wasn’t his leg or something, not that he was eager for that to happen god forbid. It was just his brain preparing him for the worst because the worst always occurred and Izuku was sick of getting shocked over it every time.

“I hope it doesn’t cost much.” Asui returned his phone to him. 

“Everything costs a lot, Tsuyu.” 

It was a nice gesture, at least. 

Hope, huh. 

The three of them made their way outside the classroom. They had to go on separate ways from here as Izuku wanted to leave and the girls had another lecture. 

But Uraraka stopped Izuku a minute after they said goodbye so he turned around. His hands grasping the straps harder as a reflex. 

“Please send us a message so we can save your number.” 

So Izuku did just that. He pulled out his phone in the middle of the hall and typed a quick hey, it’s Izuku and sent it to both girls before he shoved the phone back and ambled out of the building. 

Warmth snuck into his shivering muscles from the picture of a hot bath which popped in his head. Thursday was already his favorite day of the week, one, for being one day away from the weekend, and two, for having only two lectures. He couldn’t wait to soak in warm water that would both absorb the cold and exhaustion. 

Izuku didn’t even want to recall how the lectures went. Not now when he’s free from the stress accompanying the life of a broke university student who couldn’t for the life of him walk a mile without tripping, or talk through half a conversation without eating letters for an early lunch, or mistake a classroom for another and spending ten minutes scowling over the subject the professor was discussing that wasn’t part of his schedule this semester. 

Back at the apartment, Izuku could give himself a break. He could urge his brain cells to turn on sleep mode so he didn’t think of anything besides relaxing.

The plan was to warm up from a bubble bath, have dinner and watch the latest episode of his favorite series, analyze whatever new information it provided and write them down, video call his mother since she insisted he did every week before finally preparing for tomorrow and heading to bed. 

Emphasis on was. That was the plan until the moment Uraraka texted him, and that was five minutes after he arrived at the apartment. 

Izuku: Hey, it’s Izuku.

Ochako Uraraka: The fuck? 

Now, mind you, Izuku wasn’t a bad judge of people. He thought. For what it's worth, he was sure the sweet girl he met today wasn’t the cursing type. It’s a bit of a stretch to think she flipped for some mysterious reason and decided to be rude. Maybe it was a slip. Uraraka wanted to message a friend and accidentally texted Izuku instead, also accidentally showing a side of her he didn’t think existed, if it really existed.

Izuku shrugged his bag off his shoulder and placed it on the desk at the end of his bed. With pursed lips, he thought of what he could type as a reply. Complete failure might he add. How did you reply to ‘the fuck?’ anyway? What did that text even mean? 

But Uraraka spared him the headache and bestowed him with a migraine instead, sending a follow up. 

Ochako Uraraka: Who the fuck are you? 

Well then, the bright side, remember? At least Izuku assured himself this wasn’t the bubbly girl that was his classmate and project partner. Uraraka simply mistyped her number, not that Izuku wanted to toss the blame at her for putting him in such an awkward situation with a complete rude stranger. 

This wasn’t so bad anyway. Izuku would apologize, perhaps explain himself then ask Asui for Uraraka’s number. The thought enlarged his eyes, and for a second, he feared that Uraraka wasn’t the only one who typed her number incorrectly. Though there was no way Izuku could tell if that was the case or if his brain cells were overheated that they assumed baseless assumptions, what with the fact that Asui didn’t reply yet. They did say they had a lecture, so it made sense she didn’t text him back yet. It also further proved this wasn’t Uraraka, since her phone was dead.

His phone vibrated in his hands. Izuku jolted, and the motion caused his finger to grip his phone harder. It wasn’t a smart move, especially if you had a broken screen. His thumb stung. When he squeezed it with his forefinger, blood rushed to the front, eager to spill over. Izuku heaved a sigh. 

But then the phone binged again, informing him of another incoming text. 

(???): I don’t remember giving my number to fucking flirts.

(???): Fucking fantastic, just what I needed after a long ass day. 

Apart from apologizing and explaining himself, there was also the option of ignoring. You see, phones had this awesome feature that allowed people to block numbers. All it took was a few hits and you’d be spared of whoever decided to ruin your day. Besides, did this person deserve an apology with how rude he’s being? 

No. 

People liked to come up with excuses whenever they did something. Skipping work even though you just sneezed three times in a row? Like, what if I had a new virus that could spread like fire in a single day? Breaking your mom’s favorite dish? The damn dish already had a crack in it. Coming late to class? It’s the school’s fault for having such misleading halls.  

No matter how silly or unreasonable, your ego swelled with pride as long as you had a retort to offer after someone pointed out your mistake. 

As much as it was easier to block this person, or apologize then block for politeness sake, Izuku didn’t fancy that option much. His heart throbbed against his chest. Piled up annoyance from the long day broke its prison cell and took over his feelings. He worked hard to keep the pile locked. Going home and doing the little activities he loved always cleared his head that the pile eventually melted into nothing. 

But not today, because for the first time, Izuku couldn’t trap the frustration. It littered his heart, which demanded he let it out in a different way, rather than watching anime or writing or having a bath. Those wouldn’t help, not with the way his heart screamed for relief. Not with how he tasted acid on his tongue.

There was more than one excuse that justified why Izuku wanted to reply with anything but an apology. He had a long ass day too, made a fool of himself in front of his new classmates, attended a class that wasn’t his because he got the room numbers mixed, tripped over his feet and broke his phone’s screen, hurt his thumb from said screen because damn reflexes. 

His phone rang with a new text, cutting his string of excuses short.

(???): What kind of name is fucking Deku anyway? 

Izuku added a new excuse to the list: having to deal with an ill-mannered asshole. 

He plopped on his bed. His fingers started to drum on the screen. 

Izuku: You’re not the only one who had a long day 

Izuku: It isn’t my fault my classmate typed her number wrong. 

Izuku pursed his lips, eyes watching the tiny bubble with three dots indicating that the guy was typing. He reread his last text and immediately sent in another message. 

Izuku: Also, it’s Izuku, not Deku.

He didn’t wait long before a message followed his. 

(???): No one fucking asked if you had a long day or not

The rude stranger stopped typing after sending that, but then a new text popped on the screen.

(???): Deku

The implication behind that one word was clear as day, and it made something snap in Izuku. His body surged up and he started roaming around the small apartment. He couldn’t type while sitting. Something kept buzzing his nerves that he had to run a mini marathon. His fingers didn’t stop texting and the two dove into a heated back and forth argument. 

Izuku: Wow, how can you be so crude? 

(???): I can be whatever the fuck I want dipshit 

(???): You fucking started it anyway 

He scowled and halted in the middle of the living area. 

Izuku: What do you mean? 

(???): You message a complete stranger and don’t even apologize 

Izuku snorted a laugh, continuing his mini run. 

Izuku: Why excuse me your highness, I didn’t mean to interrupt your important day 

What did Izuku even say to offend the guy to begin with? All he did was send a greeting. Normal people would say something like Oh, I think you got the wrong number, but this person assumed Izuku was trying to what, flirt? What kind of mentality was that?

(???): You fucking piece of sass! 

(???): Is that how you fucking apologize?

(???): Useless like your name implies

A gasp rattled his throat. His hands shook as he typed a reply.

Izuku: Such an impolite person like yourself doesn’t deserve an apology 

Izuku: Was it even necessary to lash out at me over a stupid misunderstanding? 

Izuku: Normally you’d be polite, especially with a total stranger

Who did absolutely nothing to offend you. Izuku wanted to add, but thought that was self-implicated. Unless this guy was as dumb as he was rude.

(???): Well aren’t you doing a great fucking job at that right now

Izuku: Like what if we end up being in the same school or workplace? 

It was a far-stretched idea that Izuku witnessed in movies. How two people had a bad first-impression only to realize later that they were classmates or lived in the same building or whatever. Like fate decided to play around and put them in the worst situation then enjoyed how they lost their mind over it. 

Again, it was Izuku’s way of preparing himself for the worst because anything could happen in his unlucky life. 

(???): I sure hope that would be the case so I could blast you off the universe you fucking ass

Block, Izuku, freaking block. 

Izuku: I feel like I’m talking to a brat

(???): I could fucking say the same  

Izuku: If you’re any older I’d pity the sorry state you’re in

(???): Like you’re one to fucking talk! 

Izuku: I’m twenty and know when not to pick a fight with a stranger who did absolutely nothing to upset you

(???): You’re twenty and an absolute fucking DEKU 

Izuku hurt his other thumb from pressing too hard again. He hissed and ended up dropping his phone to the floor. The sound of shatter echoed alongside his whine from the pain of getting pricked with a piece of glass. He plucked it out, and the blood slowly seeped out. Izuku walked to the sink in the small kitchen area, threw the piece and let his finger soak with water. 

He bandaged his fingers, thankfully both wounds weren’t much. Though they stung when he cleaned them. Izuku ambled to the living area again to pick up his abandoned phone by the couch. 

His eyes met a black screen, and it stayed black for the rest of the day. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku spent the following week without a phone. 

He did go to the nearest store to get it fixed. Not only did the screen have another crack but the device wasn’t working at all. It usually didn’t take long to fix a phone, but his was an old model that finding a new screen took longer. 

Izuku had to spend seven days without a phone to distract himself during breaks between lectures. He had to use a public phone to contact his mother because sending an email was meaningless since she didn’t bother checking it, and he was too shy to borrow Uraraka or Asuis’ phones. He could have gone a week without messaging his mother but knowing the woman, Izuku would end up getting a sudden visit from her for not keeping in touch for a week.

Some students gave him the look when he told them his phone was broken so he couldn’t give them his number because he was smart enough not to memorize it. He even had the nerve to question why Uraraka mistyped hers. 

Karma, huh. 

Uraraka apologized twice for giving him the wrong number. He didn’t tell her about whom that number belonged to and the kind of conversation Izuku had to go through, if you could call it that, conversation. 

But the hell was going to end today, or more accurately, in ten minutes because that’s how far he was from the store that promised to fix his phone. It was Friday too, so at least he didn’t have to spend the weekend without his phone. 

As expected, it cost an arm and a leg. Ironical because didn’t older versions cost less to fix? Izuku needed to work extra days instead of only twice a week just to cover up for the loss. He had a rent to pay and other things to worry about after all. Food wasn’t going to be an issue, considering he always ate instant noodles and snacks. His mother would never know. 

The first thing Izuku did as soon as he found an empty seat in the bus taking him back was texting his mother that he got his phone fixed. 

The bus wasn’t packed with people. Apart from him, there was a woman with a child on the other side of where he sat, and two men behind them. A quiet chatter from girls resounded behind Izuku. The sun sent her final beams for the day through the window on his left. Izuku let himself sag in his jacket, dragging his attention back to his phone with its new screen that he vowed never to break. Or try not to.

Izuku sent a message to the group Uraraka added him to. Iida turned out to be an easy person to hang out with, if you ignore how much he nagged the three of them not to slack off and finish everything needed for their project as soon as possible. 

The group chat flooded with messages of congrats and yays and good for you Midoriya. Joy flowed through him. A smile stroked his lips. Despite that Izuku knew them for two weeks, it felt longer, just how the three of them knew one another since high school. 

For once ever since the semester started, his weekend was off to a good start. He got his phone fixed, received welcoming texts from his new friends, and had tomorrow off because someone else took over his shift since he did the same for them last week. 

But then Izuku made the mistake of closing off the group’s chat and seeing those +26 new messages under the name Uraraka. It reminded him that he didn’t save the girl’s actual number. Izuku also remembered that he never blocked that guy’s number either. He threw the blame on him for dropping his phone a second time and causing it to shut down completely. 

If it was possible, Izuku would have stomped over that bud of curiosity growing inside him. Those 26 messages were definitely more curses than actual meaningful words. Regardless, Izuku wanted to know what the guy sent. In a blink, the bud sprouted into a tree, and he had no choice but to nurture it until it was satisfied. 

Thus, and right after adding Uraraka’s number and renaming the guy’s number to ‘very rude stranger', Izuku opened the chat. 

Going through all that he missed, Izuku confirmed his earlier claim, as 21 out of the total were multiple versions of the same curse. It’s like buying 20 colors of the same shirt, with each color being more vibrant than the last. 

Izuku snorted at the last text the guy sent. He spared his right side a glance. The child’s attention was on him. The girl tilted her head, her high pigtails going along the movement. Her blues wide and curious as to why Izuku snorted out loud. He offered a weak smile her way, but grimaced at the way her features crinkled. His fault for forcing a smile that ended up completely off and stupid. 

Izuku looked back to his phone and took his frustration out in the form of a single text. He hit send before his brain managed to convince him not to because it wasn’t worth it.

Very rude stranger: Fucking asshole decides to ruin my day then block my number 

Izuku: Trust me, I regret not doing that right when I realized it’s a waste of time to argue with you

Again, Izuku should have just blocked him and moved on. The guy believed that was the case considering Izuku didn’t read nor reply to his messages for a week. But bitterness assaulted his taste buds. His whole body shivered at the thought of blocking and moving on. He didn’t want that. 

It wasn’t satisfying. The piled up frustration from before only froze when he couldn’t text the stranger anymore, but now that he could, the ice melted and it burnt Izuku inside. 

Funny how Izuku stated that it was a waste of time to argue, yet argued anyway. 

The stranger, luckily(?), didn’t reply, which allowed Izuku to spend the rest of the ride in peace. He was pissed, and he did reread the guy’s messages twice, but when ten minutes passed without him even reading his reply, Izuku thought better and busied himself looking out the window.

His phone vibrated inside his pocket when he fumbled with his keys to unlock the door to the apartment. Izuku rushed inside, threw his bag on the side of the entryway and fished his phone out. His heart beat faster than normal. 

It was his mother replying to his text regarding his phone. 

Izuku’s shoulders drooped. His grip on the phone relaxed. A question of why he got excited over a reply from a stranger whizzed in his ears. He heaved a long sigh and shook his head. 

It was dumb to expect a reply. The guy probably blocked him in return. Why bother keeping a number that belonged to someone who ignored him anyway. 

Izuku threw his phone on the couch, along with remnants of irritation that unfolded after reading 20 varieties of the same curse and six sentences that stated how much of a useless human being he was. 

Today marked the start of the weekend. It’s completely foolish to let such an occurrence ruin this opportunity for him. Izuku had two new episodes to binge watch then write about in his notebook too. He’s going to make what was left of today and tomorrow count for once. 

So Izuku took a quick shower, prepared instant noodles for dinner and finally plopped on the couch with his laptop sitting on the coffee table. It was all set perfectly. 40 minutes for watching, another for a rewatch, then half an hour to write. Izuku thought of finishing the lone homework he didn’t manage to finish during his break between lectures but thought against it, as he did have two days to work on. 

Halfway through the first episode, his phone binged. The sound jolted Izuku and the noodle cup almost slid off his fingers. He glanced to the side, where the device settled close to the couch’s arm and far to the right. 

A shout from the screen in front of him hauled his attention back, so the boy slurped on the noodles and eyed the scene with 100% focus. 

Until another ding dragged his stare back to the phone. Izuku groaned, pausing the episode and putting down the cup next to the laptop. He stretched over the couch to retrieve his phone. Whoever texted him better had a life or death situation. 

The screen came to life, and with it, Izuku’s irritation. 

Very rude stranger: Oh so now you fucking reply 

Very rude stranger: Yet again ruining another day of my fucking life 

Izuku furrowed his brow. 

Apart from the fact that he was rude, this guy was dramatic. Exactly how did Izuku’s messages ruin his day when he was the one getting all the insults? Izuku was the peaceful type. He avoided trouble by staying away from anyone that ruffled his red flags and acting polite and kind to everyone he met on a daily basis. In fact, he longed to help others. It was why he chose the life of a nurse and did his best to change so he could talk with people better. 

Then this absolute jerk came and claimed that Izuku ruined his day. Perhaps this was exactly why Izuku thought blocking the number wasn’t gonna cut it. 

Episode forgotten, Izuku started typing back. 

Izuku: You’re being dramatic

Izuku: If anyone got their day ruined, it’s me 

Very rude stranger: Good 

Very rude stranger: I come back after a tiring day and am about to sleep the exhaustion off when I realize you decided to text me back after a whole fucking week 

Izuku scrunched his nose. His eyes flicked up to check the time. 8 PM. 

Very rude stranger: Fucking should have blocked you from the start 

A snort bubbled out Izuku’s throat. He shifted over the couch and leant his back against its arm, legs laid across from him. 

Izuku: Why, pray tell, did you not block me? 

Izuku: Fyi, I didn’t. I had to get my phone fixed

It was interesting to say the least. Izuku wasn’t expecting a reply when he texted the guy. Even if he didn’t block him, Izuku thought he’d ignore the text, or block right when he received it. But no, he texted him back. 

Actually, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he did, if Izuku thought about it. The guy was rude right from the start for no reason whatsoever. It was no wonder he kept Izuku’s number until he got a reply just for the sake of arguing with him. If he didn’t think Izuku blocked him and instead was ignoring him, then it must have pissed him off to the point that he refused to block the number. The fact that he sent over 20 messages on different days throughout last week was proof enough he wasn’t happy with his messages left unread. 

The vibration in his hands caused Izuku to blink, focusing on the new messages. 

Very rude stranger: Hah 

Very rude stranger: So you ARE a Deku 

Very rude stranger: I bet the phone fucking slipped off your damn fingers

Irritation transformed into anger. Izuku straightened his back only to hunch it over after sitting cross-legged. His fingers tapped faster than his brain’s ability to filter the words. 

Izuku: It was an accident! 

Very rude stranger: Sure thing, Deku

Izuku: Stop calling me that

Izuku: It’s rude 

Very rude stranger: Like I fucking care

Very rude stranger: And I ain’t blocking your ass until you fucking apologize

Izuku gasped under his breath. His legs uncrossed and he let one dangle over the edge. 

Izuku: What did I even DO to apologize?! 

Izuku: You’re the one being a jerk 

Izuku: Just how old are you!?

His lips curled for a second, eyes crinkling in thought. Then he typed one more message. 

Izuku: It’s partly your fault I broke it

Very rude stranger: HAH?!

Very rude stranger: THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN IT’S PARTLY MY FAULT DIPSHIT?

A smirk rolled over Izuku’s lips. All those caps filled him with content. 

Izuku: You were being a jerk and it pissed me off so much I unconsciously grabbed my phone harder despite having a cracked screen and then a piece of glass pricked me so I let go of my phone as a reflex and later realized it’s not working anymore because the fall caused the crack to grow bigger that it messed up my phone

Izuku didn’t know when he stood and started to run around the couch until his legs brushed against the corner of the coffee table. His eyes studied its surface, with the cold noodles and his laptop in sleep mode. 

He blinked twice. Checking the time suggested that he actually wasted around 20 minutes arguing when he could have finished an episode and his long forgotten dinner.

Was he really going to spend the night in a loop of unnecessary arguments with an ill-mannered stranger? Instead of doing things that cheered him up and prepared him for the long week coming ahead, filled him with energy for the upcoming presentation he had to give alongside Uraraka and the others?

Very rude stranger: You’re a fucking piece of work 

Very rude stranger: Not only do you blame ME for your clumsy-ass fingers but ALSO blabber nonstop

The answer was: Yes. 

Chapter Text

“Your total is 343 yen.” 

Izuku chirped with his best smile. His hands held the small tray on the counter to move it closer so the customer could place his money. But before Izuku’s hands moved an inch, the guy threw the coins on the counter. They scattered over its surface with loud jingles. Izuku eyed the pieces as they slowly came to a stop.

The corners of his lips jerked for a second. His hands grasped the tray harder. A click of tongue dragged Izuku’s attention off the coins and to the guy again. He towered over him, making Izuku lift his chin. One would think the guy hated the gum he was chewing, what with the disgusted look his face adopted. His eyes slit to reflect disdain. 

Izuku kept his smile, gathering the coins and placing them in the cash register, before extending his arm to hand over the change. The guy didn't take it until he clicked his tongue again. 

The strained smile fell off his face once the customer left. He exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. His head hurt from trying to decipher the guy’s uncalled for attitude. Mind you, Izuku did nothing to offend him. 

His heart, being the kindest and dumbest, defended the guy with excuses. Maybe he fought with a friend and felt sour about it, failed a test at school, lost a precious pet. Whatever it was, the guy needed to vent out. What’s wrong about letting it out on the poor clerk of a convenience store who only wished his last day of the weekend to pass by peacefully? 

Nothing apparently. 

At least that was the only customer. A mini break to recover before the next came was much appreciated. 

The store embraced silence. Izuku studied what was visible of the busy street outside with a bored expression. It was around 4 pm, meaning only one hour of his shift passed. A great start might he add. 

His customers weren’t always rude. They mostly wore blank expressions when they checked out. Izuku greeted them with a smile regardless of their mood, unless he wanted to get fired. Then again, that’s not why he beamed at them every time. That’s just how he was, and how he wanted to be like. 

His timid side wore him out that Izuku barely functioned like normal around others. Working at a convenience store was one way to fix that, apart from the fact that this job was the easiest to get. More contact with people outside of university equaled more social practicing. Dealing with angry or rude customers was exhausting, but also helped him grow thicker skin. 

The previous customer wasn’t the worst Izuku had to handle. It could have gone worse. The guy didn’t insult him and mock his average look or said he sucked at doing his job. Though he did leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

To get rid of negative emotions some of his customers liked to reward him with, Izuku usually distracted himself with homework. If the negativity exceeded his limits, he did something fun instead, like browsing fan sites of his favorite series or writing in one of his notebooks.

After an interesting encounter with a certain rude stranger though, Izuku added one more thing to the list of things-to-do-when-feeling-down. He pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his pants. The new name he associated the stranger’s number with revived his withered delight. It raised the corner of his mouth. He didn’t even message the guy yet already felt better.

Izuku: When a customer ruins the first hour of your shift

It only took five minutes for the guy to reply.

Stranger who breathes curses: And you’re telling me that because?

Izuku peeked at the glass doors, making sure no one was coming in. He laid his elbows on the counter and started typing. 

Izuku: The guy reminded me of you 

Stranger who breathes curses: Fucking why

Izuku: He was rude

Izuku: duh

Izuku spared the street a glance again, watching people as they passed by. The sky slowly turned colors in the horizon, indicating a change in temperature soon.

It was a bummer, having the evening shift, as Izuku left one hour before midnight. His limbs completely froze by the time he got back, since the store was 25 minutes away. But apart from leaving work late and dealing with the cold weather, the evening shift had other perks. He had to wake up early for his lectures all week, so it was nice to sleep in on the weekend.

He only worked on Saturdays and Sundays, but now that he had to save up more, Izuku’s shift increased from 16 hrs a week to 32. There wasn’t much homework or studying, but Izuku knew halfway through the term, his job and university would drain him out completely. 

The phone buzzed, informing him of a new text. Blinking the blur away, Izuku eyed the screen again. 

Stranger who breathes curses: says you 

Izuku scoffed. His fingers hovered over the keyboard to type a retort.

Izuku: For a second there, I contemplated whether he was you actually

Stranger who breathes curses: Was he handsome? 

Lips pursed, his mind redrew the image from the back of his head. Long black hair peeking from under a black hoodie, piercing monolid blues, fair skin that contrasted black set of clothes. He was average looking. Glare or not, it didn’t really perk Izuku’s attention. He was more aware of the intensity the customer’s presence brought than his appearance.

Izuku: Not really 

Izuku furrowed his brow. 

Izuku: Why? 

Stranger who breathes curses: Then it’s not me

Izuku rolled his eyes he almost saw his brain. The text did infect his lips and they curled in a smile though. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Vulgar stranger: Oi dumbass

Izuku: Yk people say hi first

Vulgar stranger: Fuck that

Vulgar stranger: Just how many copies have you spread around the world?

Izuku: Copies?

Vulgar stranger: The fuck do I have to deal with a timid ass like yourself as a project partner

Izuku: Oof

Izuku: RIP that person, whoever they are. Send them my regards

Vulgar stranger: This isn’t about him!

Izuku: Do you really think partnering with a copy of yourself will be good for the world?

Vulgar stranger: I. Don’t. Do. Partners. 

Izuku: Why thank you for sparing everyone the headache

Vulgar stranger: Since when are you fucking sassy

Izuku: Wanna guess?

Vulgar stranger: Fuck u

Izuku: :)

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku Midoriya was going to die. 

No, really, this wasn’t him being dramatic. 

Today’s shift was going well, and that’s saying something because upgrading from plain to well twice a month was a blessing. He even checked the sky yesterday after such a good day at university just to see if it was falling. 

Half an hour was left before Izuku could leave. He would definitely pass out the second his feet touch the entryway of his apartment. It was Wednesday. In other words, hell day. 

But then a giant decided to shop where Izuku worked. 

The glass door chimed with a ding that welcomed a new customer. Izuku unfortunately paused wiping the counter to glance its way and chirp hello in the best tone he could muster this late at day, but the word clogged his throat. He barely managed not to make a choking sound.

A built-up guy with an abundance of muscles locked eyes with him for a mere second before ambling between the different aisles. The guy was massive. His winter attire didn’t help either. Izuku would look like an ant if he stood next to him. Emphasis on if. 

With noodle for arms, Izuku scrambled to finish cleaning the counter. Like what if the guy was a neat-freak or something? He didn’t want to die because he did a poor job at wiping. You could never please customers. Anything triggered them. Izuku learnt that the hard way. 

He spared the guy quick glances whenever he appeared in his point of view. Sometimes he curled his lips as he regarded a shelf, and boy did it concuss Izuku’s heart. A customer shouted at him once because what they wanted was out of stock. They even claimed Izuku was a slack-off who didn’t fill up the shelves more regularly. What if he was thinking the same thing?

Izuku hoped he’d self-checkout, but he knew he jinxed it the moment he hoped for it. Sure thing, ten more minutes passed before the guy made his way to the counter. Worst of all, he had a basket full of items. Izuku had to stand for five minutes or so with only 20 inches of space between them. 

Great.

Never judge a book by its cover. His brain provided as Izuku picked an item from the basket. If he scanned everything fast enough, the nightmare would end sooner rather than later. You never know, the guy could be in a hurry. An excuse like sorry this took me forever because my hands malfunctioned due to being nervous wasn’t professional. And he wouldn’t reply with a smile and no worries man, I still have time to kill the bastard that pissed me off today. 

He gulped. Izuku focused on his job, his eyes digging holes in every bag of chips and sodas and chocolate bars and beers and oh my lord was that a devil tattoo peeking from under the guy’s sweater with horns sneaking all the way to his neck?! 

Izuku shifted his weight from one foot to the other, chanting over and over that everything was going to be okay so long he kept his eyes to himself until—His hand hit the bottom of the basket. Izuku took a glimpse of it. 

Yup. It was empty. 

Okay, Izuku, you know the drill. You worked at this job for two months. You got this! 

Gaze stuck to the guy’s bulked chest, not in an inappropriate way because this was a form of self-defense, Izuku’s lips parted to tell him the amount displayed on the screen on his right.

“Y-Your t—” Izuku grimaced. Sometimes his vocal cords needed a refresher. No big deal. He cleared his throat and repeated, eyes studying the guy’s pursed lips now. Again, not in an inappropriate way since Izuku couldn’t lift his chin at the moment. Just what did the guy drink in his childhood to grow this tall? 

“Your total is–uhh–1087 yen.” 

Izuku managed a small smile as shuffles of clothes reached his ears. Then he gasped under his breath. His hands flew to the small tray that he forgot to put back after wiping the counter, and pushed it towards the guy. Please forgive me for wasting a second of your life! He eyed the empty tray until a completely tattooed hand dropped a 2000 yen on it. 

“Keep the change.” 

Izuku squeaked. 

He. Squeaked. 

His throat dried in a blink. His smile lingered despite the turmoil running havoc inside his chest. With water for hands, he dragged the tray back.

The bags rustled as the customer grabbed them. Izuku held his breath and opened the cash register. However, the second a familiar ding crossed through silence, he let go of a loud sigh and his knees bent. 

He took this job specifically to level up his social skills, and grow thicker skin, and because he couldn’t work at a cafe or a restaurant since he already walked a lot in university and didn’t need the extra burden. But still. Still. What did he ever do to deal with customers like, like, like that.

Izuku fished his phone out. He didn’t care that it was almost 11 PM. So much disturbance rocked his heart that he needed to calm it. 

You’d think he’d message a close friend or a family member. 

But no. 

Izuku: Oh

Izuku: My

Izuku: God

Izuku: I almost died!

It was peculiar, how he kept in touch with someone Izuku didn’t know the name of yet because they argued more than converse like regular people. They never messaged each other to say hi or check on things. On the contrary, Izuku texted whenever he met a person who reminded him of the guy, namely, rude people. 

It escalated at some point. Izuku didn’t only text just because he encountered a copy of the guy, but also ranted about school and work. Like he was a friend he found solace in.

Except he wasn’t. A friend. 

It was hard to determine what kind of relationship the two developed. But explaining how it made Izuku feel was easier. 

He messaged the guy whenever something or someone flustered his emotions. Instead of being upset over a rude customer, Izuku ended up getting upset over the stranger’s brash personality. Only difference was that that new irritation dissolved into nothing at the end of their conversation. 

The guy irked his emotions. He redirected agitation towards whoever or whatever to him instead. Only for that to disappear like it never nestled in Izuku’s heart. 

A friend would cheer you up, tell you not to let it bother you and give you a tight hug until they sucked all your worries. The guy reached that result but in his own way. 

It was a weird type of relationship. Like the two rivaled each other in who could piss the other off more that they ended up feeling better afterwards. Cure a poison with another, they say.

His phone came to life with a ding five minutes after he sent his message, answering Izuku’s hope for a reply. He expected the guy wouldn’t since he slept early. Too early actually.

Cocky stranger: Too bad you didn’t

Offended, Izuku bit the inside of his cheeks, typing quick, or as quick as his shaky hands could.

Izuku: Did you just wish I died?! 

Cocky stranger: You can’t read or something dipshit? 

Cocky stranger: Do you even have fucking functional eyes?! 

Cocky stranger: It’s almost midnight you ass! 

See, this was exactly why texting him became a habit. The guy was so uncivil it made Izuku forget what made him so upset to begin with.

Izuku: I hate u

Cocky stranger level 100: Likewise 

Cocky stranger level 100: Now can you leave me the fuck alone? 

Izuku: No

Cocky stranger level 100: Clingy fuck 

Izuku: You’re supposed to ask what made me almost die

Cocky stranger level 100: Do I look like I care? 

Izuku: Do I look like I care about what you care about? 

Cocky stranger level 100: Man do I wish to kill u myself

Cocky stranger level 100: Whoever fuckface tried to and failed wasted a chance of a lifetime

Izuku: He was so scary and big and breathed venom

Izuku: His bill was 1087 but he gave me a 2000 and said to keep the change

A gasp rattled his throat. His fingers shivered as he typed. 

Izuku: Do you think he was so pissed at me for not looking him right in the eye that he didn’t want to wait until I handed him the change?!

Izuku: Oh my god my name badge! He definitely read it!

Izuku: He’s gonna kill me!

Izuku: Wait no 

Izuku: He doesn’t know where I live

Cocky stranger level 100: Where do you live? 

Izuku blinked once. He blinked again, then squinted and shoved his face close to the screen. 

Izuku: Uhh

Izuku: Why? 

Cocky stranger level 100: To kill you myself

Izuku released a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. His hand clutched where his heart resided, as it thrashed in his cage. 

It was as if someone splashed his face with cold water in the middle of a heated argument. Not only did it surprise him but also put out the fire sizzling in his heart.

The two never mentioned any personal info. Izuku didn’t even know the guy’s name, let alone where he lived. Their relationship didn’t have a title, and it sure wasn’t a lasting one. At some point, they would get tired of each other, or get so busy that they’d completely forget they ever texted. That was what Izuku believed. 

But that question caught him off-guard, tricky enough to make Izuku assume the guy reeled the conversation to where he wanted. Like he finally got that chance to get to know more about Izuku but also made it seem casual.

It ruffled his heart, not out of fear or concern, but excitement. Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, watching the three dots jumping momentarily on screen. Did he really want to label this ‘nameless’ relationship with a title? Did he hope to secure it that it never died? 

Cocky stranger level 100: So you wake me up then vanish

Cocky stranger level 100: And you call ME rude 

Cocky stranger level 100: Deku I swear to god if you text me near midnight again

Near midnight. 

He didn’t say if you text me ever again, but specified a time he didn’t want to be messaged at. The guy didn’t mind as long as Izuku texted him at reasonable hours.

Izuku shook his head, kicking out thoughts that only agitated his heart further. What was he even thinking? Why did he get excited? This unknown relationship they had was temporary.

Right?

A jingle attracted his attention to the door. He met his coworker with a smile. She smiled back, thanking him for the good work he did today and telling him he could leave. 

Izuku: Sorry gotta go, my shift ended 

Izuku: Thank u for your services :D 

Cocky stranger level 100: DIE

Izuku felt better. He forgot all about the scary encounter with that customer at least. In its place, something else bloomed. Though it was an enigma Izuku couldn’t decode yet.

Chapter Text

One Thursday night, Izuku lay on his bed. His gaze filled with haze as it glued to the ceiling. He tossed left and right, shifted the position of his legs, snuggled under the blanket, counted sheep. Around half an hour later, he gave up on sleep and flipped on his back. 

It was too early, but Izuku couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He couldn’t do any of the things he usually amused himself with after university. So he called it a night. Dreamland was quieter at least. That, or he ended up in nightmare land instead, which wasn’t far off.

Izuku stayed still for god knew how long, mind crammed with too many thoughts, which all centered around one thing. 

Dejected, Izuku heaved a sigh. He brooded again, and gave himself another ten minutes. Either sleep spared him and snatched his consciousness away or he accepted his heart’s current desire. 

A desire that pestered him for a week since the big guy’s encounter at the store.

Another sigh was released before Izuku flipped on his side and faced the bedside table. He picked his phone and opened the contact list. Skimming through the list, his finger paused over a certain name.

Unknown

Izuku usually changed the name for fun, choosing ones that fit the guy’s behavior. The current name didn’t reflect that though. It was simple, but not. He was unknown, that much was true, but so was their relationship. 

For now, and to avoid a migraine from overthinking which led to nothing, Izuku desired one thing. 

Baby steps, right? 

He spared the time a glance before he sent a message. 

Izuku: I’m wondering

Thankfully, it didn’t take five minutes before he texted back. His sleep schedule was strict, so Izuku tried not to message him after 9 or 10 PM. 

Keyword: tried. 

Because Izuku had an evening shift four times a week and always felt the need to rant near the end of it. You could guess that need won over him most of the time.

Unknown: Spare me

Izuku: How come you never told me your name?

Izuku curled his lips to ponder. He knew his name right from the start. Sure, Izuku’s text was sent to the wrong number, but still. For how long was Izuku supposed to refer to him by various nicknames? 

Izuku: Isn’t it etiquette to introduce yourself anyway? 

Unknown: That’s a big word for you, Deku 

Izuku: It’s unfair you know mine but I don’t 

“You don’t even say it right.” Izuku said, corners of his lips tugged downwards. 

Unknown: Maybe I like being a step ahead 

Izuku’s eyes grew the size of a saucer, but then he dissolved into laughter. 

Izuku: I didn’t know we competed in THAT 

Unknown: Life is one big competition, nerd 

Izuku: Seriously, what’s your name? 

Izuku pushed himself up to sit cross-legged on the bed. He typed and sent a message before the other replied. 

Izuku: Or am I supposed to keep coming up with nicknames for you? 

Unknown: What fucking nicknames

He took a screenshot of the chat and sent the image. 

Izuku: 4956934.IMG

Izuku: This’s your current name. Previous ones were ‘very rude stranger’, ‘stranger who breathes curses’, ‘vulgar stranger’, ‘cocky stranger’, ‘cocky stranger level 100’

Unknown: What kind of bullshittery is that

Izuku: I have a list of other names in my notebook

Izuku: Wanna see?

Unknown: Fuck no 

Izuku beamed, revealing white pearls. He shuffled around until he leant against the back of the bed. 

Izuku: So?

His heart danced to the eagerness brimming inside its ribcage. His smile widened into a grin. With a name, this wouldn’t be just a passing relationship. Maybe with enough time, it would be an anchor that steadied him, pushed his limits to achieve the best in life, anything that brought him joy. 

Something special. One he treasured.

He was simply curious, but also cared enough to get to know him more. So learning his name was the first step. Izuku refused to sleep tonight without stepping over it. 

Funny, how he only kept in touch to rant away his worries or mess around with him. It never crossed his mind that texting him was going to become a part of his routine.

His phone vibrated. One blink cleared the fog splotching his vision. 

Unknown: Katsuki 

“Katsuki.” Izuku read it out loud. He played around with the name more than once. 

Grinning, Izuku closed off the messages app to rename the number under Katsuki. He sucked his lips in, eyeing it for a while.

Giddiness spread like butterflies in his stomach when an idea sparked in his head. Izuku hit edit again. Satisfied with the new name, or nickname, he reopened the messages app to take a screenshot of the chat again. 

A minute later, Katsuki replied. 

Kacchan: THE FUCK IS KACCHAN YOU DUMBFUCK

Izuku swam in content, giggling to himself. He slept like a baby that night.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku: Kacchaaaaaaaaaan

Kacchan: Deku it’s fucking 4 PM I have shit to do

Izuku: But I need you

Izuku: I’m dying 

Kacchan: Dying my ass 

Kacchan: You’re whining 

Izuku: >:(

Kacchan: 10 mins then you shut the fuck up 

His mouth twisted with joy as his eyes twinkled. 

The routine of a university student differed from one person to another. There were factors that either made the person’s life easier or harder. Like having rent to pay, which almost all students dealt with. This factor led to another, finding a job. 

They all connected, making a whole web the poor student found themself in the middle of. Those factors should be maintained too. If you’re studying but needed to work then obviously you’d try to balance between the two. A good balance meant a secure web, which also meant a stable life.

That’s all ideal of course. Reality was never that simple. Everyone reached a moment in their life in which they could no longer preserve that balance because their brain got stuck in overdrive.

Izuku’s current web was crumpling. It was inevitable. He prepared himself for when everything became too much for one person to handle. Prepared as in mentally, like telling yourself this was going to happen and you would not be able to deal with it. 

In other words, depressing yourself even before anything got worse. People would say something like they’d cross that bridge when they get there. Izuku, on the other hand, kept thinking about the damn bridge.

Izuku pictured a perfect routine before the semester. He woke up around 7 AM, got ready, ate a quick breakfast then left for university. On the weekend, he had an evening shift from 3 PM to 11 PM.

Not bad, right? The week was for his studies, and the weekend was divided between work and fun.

But then his phone broke, in the first week of the semester no less. Things got worse from there. He had to work twice during the week, apart from Saturdays and Sundays. Still, Izuku managed to balance everything, even giving himself a little time to catch up with the things he liked. 

Then the exam period snuck in, and hell broke loose. 

Izuku fought against all odds. He didn’t give up on his job, nor did he neglect his studies. But one could guess where that led him. 

It was only the week before the exams, yet something burst in him. Not a single day passed without Izuku complaining about it. 

And who was his favorite person to bug? 

Izuku: Sometimes I wonder why I chose this major

Kacchan: Am I supposed to wonder with you or some shit? 

Izuku: Like yeah I wanna help people and stuff 

Izuku: And being a nurse is all about that, right? 

Kacchan: Did you just ignore me? 

Izuku: I knew it was gonna be hard

Izuku: But I thought it was worth it , yk?

Kacchan: The fuck are you ted-talking me for, Deku? 

Izuku: Oh you watch ted talks too, Kacchan? 

Kacchan: THAT WAS NOT THE FUCKING POINT

Izuku: Anyways

Kacchan: DON’T YOU ANYWAYS ME ASSHOLE

Tension seeped off his shoulders, before a laughter shook them. 

This was Izuku’s painkiller, his temporary escape from life, his method of gathering more resolve to move on, his source of strength. 

Teasing Kacchan was fun, but talking with him was Izuku’s best cure.

Izuku: Say Kacchan, what’s your major?

Kacchan: Fuck u

Izuku: Should I guess? 

Kacchan: No

Izuku: Maybe chemistry? 

Izuku: Cuz you always threaten to blow things up :)

Kacchan: I definitely want to blow you up rn

Izuku: Did I get it right?

Kacchan: No

Izuku stood from his desk and threw himself stomach first on the bed. A mini break from his assignments wouldn’t hurt. This was essential if he wanted to finish them.

Izuku: Uhh something to do with martial arts then?

Kacchan: No 

Izuku: But why?

Kacchan: what do you mean why it’s not that

Izuku: I mean you’re so vulgar so it fits

Kacchan: One day I’ll fucking kick your ass Deku

Izuku: See?

Kacchan: DIE

Izuku was about to type a retort but his fingers paused mid sentence. The three dots continued to jump on screen as he bit on his bottom lip.

He doesn’t want to tell you.

Izuku’s grip on his phone tightened. 

He considered Kacchan a friend, despite how they met. Their texting went from once a week to every other day, but if Izuku shed some light on the darkened corners of his memory, he would realize that almost all the conversations they had were ones he initiated. 

Kacchan never ignored him, but his replies were short and simple. Izuku figured that’s the way he was. Kacchan wasn’t much of a talker. Mind you, that’s Izuku’s assumption from the messaging, and not something Katsuki revealed about himself directly.

But what if that wasn’t the case? What if Kacchan didn’t think much of this peculiar relationship they had and wasn’t really interested in strengthening it? Apart from knowing each other's names and Izuku’s major and his job, they were strangers. 

Kacchan was a complete mystery to him. Even his name Izuku had to ask about it. 

A frown assaulted his features. Izuku pushed himself in a sitting position. His gaze glued to the desk with the open books and notebooks, the pens scattered over some, and an empty cup. 

If Kacchan wasn’t interested, why would he keep this up? No way it was for politeness sake. That didn’t define him at all. If Kacchan didn’t want to stay in touch, he’d straight up block Izuku. 

Izuku inhaled deeply, then released a long sigh along with part of his worries. His mind came to the conclusion that for now, he shouldn’t nag Kacchan about anything personal, in case he didn’t like it. He hoped Kacchan was just being cautious and was taking it slower than Izuku’s progress of exploring the nature of their relationship. 

Thus, Izuku hopped off the bed and dove back into his studies. For the first twenty minutes, he kept sending glances to the chat. Kacchan didn’t follow up with anything after his last message, and Izuku didn’t have enough resolve to text him after his pause to ponder over things he never considered. Besides, Kacchan did say he had things to do. 

So Izuku didn’t message him, choosing to also get things done for university because he had enough piled up as it was.

Chapter Text

The two didn’t text each other for a month. 

No, it wasn’t because of anything serious. It’s not like Izuku’s doubts slipped into reality. Though they haunted his mind whenever he opened Kacchan’s chat on impulse when in actuality he wanted to message his friends. 

The blame fell on students’ truest enemy. 

Exams. 

Izuku barely had time for anything besides work and school. It escalated at some point and he didn’t even have time to eat a proper meal, opting to eat on his way to the bus stop or while studying. By eating he meant snacks and twenty cups of coffee to keep himself awake and well, alive. If you consider his current style ‘living’.

He wasn’t the only zombie walking on campus. Everyone had the same darkened faces and gloomy clouds floating over their heads, raining bits of every subject and project and presentation they had for the week. Look one in the eye for more than one second and they would hiss at you. They’re like cats protecting their kitties.

The itch to message Kacchan worsened with every passing day. Overlooking it was harder than studying, and that in itself said a lot because Izuku’s major wasn’t a walk in the park. Mind you, Izuku did have a couple minutes to spare to send a message or two, but whenever he had those, he chickened out.

Izuku figured Kacchan didn’t text him for the same reason. Exams. Not because of stupid assumptions like Katsuki hated him or something. Regardless, he couldn’t evade the wave of disappointment when two weeks passed without a single message from him. It drowned Izuku, and with it, the speculations increased. 

Kacchan doesn’t consider me a friend, Kacchan got tired of me, Kacchan thinks I’m boring, Kacchan hates my guts, Kacchan doesn’t want to talk anymore, Kacchan doesn’t want to talk anymore, Kacchan doesn’t want to talk anymore, Kacchan doesn’t want to talk anymore.

The pen slipped through his fingers and fell on the open book with a thud, leaving behind a black mark. Black like the eye bags under his eyes that lost their shiny hue of green. 

Izuku blinked, but it wasn’t enough to clean his vision off those pesky tiny spots that made it harder to recognize his surroundings. He blinked again. Nope. 

Izuku sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. His fingers massaged his temples as his back hunched over the round table he sat at. He wasn’t the only one who thought studying where he could have access to caffeine would be a good idea. Students strewn at different tables, but some stayed empty as the majority camped in the library. 

His void for a mind prevented him from figuring out why he was here, sitting at a table with two empty cups of coffee, a stray pen on an open book next to a stack of books and files and handouts. His yellow bag sat on the opposite chair. He spared the open book a glance before a groan escaped his throat. 

Right. Izuku had a stupid assignment from a professor that thought giving his students homework during exam period was a great idea for their mental health. The best part being the difficulty of those assignments. He was stuck on this one and ended up zoning out. 

Why didn’t he just fall asleep instead of pondering over his online friend(?)? 

“I can’t do this.” 

Izuku’s hands shuffled around the table, moving things around until he found his phone hidden under a notebook. He slid it there because his stupid hands didn’t stop reaching out to check on new messages. He received none by the way, so constantly checking was a waste of time he didn’t fucking have. 

“...Gotta call Iida.” The words came out slurred and weak. His vision kept growing dim with every blink. God he was exhausted, with only three hours worth of sleep last night. He even had to take yesterday off work to dedicate himself to studying. Good thing he only had two exams left this week. 

With shaky hands, eyes barely processing what’s on the screen, Izuku finally managed to call Iida. He glued the phone to his ears and bent over the table again, rereading the page before his friend answered. 

The moment the ringing stopped with a click, indicating that Iida had picked up, Izuku vomited a series of words. 

“H-Hey! I need your help. I just can’t figure out today's assignment. I reread the page over five times yet none of the words stuck in my head let alone understood them. It’s probably because I only slept for three hours yesterday and drank two cups of coffee today, which I know isn’t good for my health but I can’t help it.” 

Izuku paused to take a breath. A chuckle shook his shoulders, forefinger scratching his cheek. “Sorry, I rambled.” 

“So you mumble in real life too.” 

Izuku’s finger paused against his cheek. His whole body stiffened because who was this? One of his classmates? But This voice was unfamiliar. Before he moved an inch, a snort rang in his ear. 

“Fucking nerd.” 

No. No. No. No. Nope.

Izuku pulled the phone away to see the screen. It came to life in a blink, before the name ‘Kacchan’ shone before his eyes. 

Izuku ended the call faster than his jaw’s movement to fall, though his heart fell faster than the two of them.

Did he just hang up on Kacchan when he literally was the one who called him? By accident? 

If his body wasn’t shivering from the excessive caffeine and lack of sleep before, it totally was now. What was he trying to do again, finish the assignment? Why, that task became 100 times harder. 

He called Kacchan. 

He called Kacchan. 

He called Kacchan. 

The phone fell on the book as Izuku cupped his cheeks. How in the world did he mix his name with Iida? Was his condition that bad? 

He eyed the mess that was in front of him, before he bit his bottom lip. This answered that question at least. Or it’s his heart dying for its owner to reach out to Kacchan that it hypnotized him and forced his fingers to move as it liked. 

Buzzing from over the book shot Izuku’s soul out of his mouth as his body jolted. His phone was ringing upside down. The caller was no brainer. 

Yet his mind started to soothe the boy’s anxiety with fake hope. Maybe it was Iida calling to check up on him like he usually did, or Uraraka to rant about the exams, or Asui to ask him about something, or his mother to make sure her only son was still alive and kicking. 

Izuku clenched his hands, regarding his phone like it might explode. His shoulders relaxed when it quieted down. He gulped to water the desert that was his throat to no avail. 

Then his phone dinged once.

Twice. 

Izuku’s heart plummeted to his feet. 

You can’t just ignore him. 

His brain reasoned with him. The traitor. But he did agree, especially since Izuku was the one who called. 

Alright. 

Izuku slapped his cheeks to give himself a boost of courage. Funny how a minute ago he was a second away from collapsing, but now brimmed with so much energy that it overflowed. 

His hand quavered on its way to grab his phone. It took him a minute to flip it before his face and open the messages app. 

Kacchan: ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME DEKU?! 

Kacchan: YOU DARE HANG UP ON ME YOU FUCKFACE

A grimace brushed over his lips. 

Kacchan chose that moment to call again. For the second time today, Izuku’s soul left his body. The phone flew in air from jumping in his chair so he flailed his fingers to catch it properly lest it fell and the screen broke again.

Oh, that would be an interesting excuse. Hey Kacchan, your call freaked me out that my phone fell and broke.

A shudder slid down his spine. If he ignored the second call, God knew what Kacchan was going to do. 

Well, technically, Kacchan couldn’t do anything apart from sending threats. He didn’t know where Izuku lived or which university he attended. 

Still.

A tiny part of Izuku didn’t want to miss this call, not because he wasn’t rude, but because he wanted to hear Kacchan again. That silvery voice that he couldn’t attach to his brash personality. He wondered if Kacchan’s voice got louder most of the time because of his short temper. He wondered what his laugh sounded like. His little snort wasn’t enough. What about curses? Did he curse as much in phone calls as in texts? 

Izuku yelped, stopping himself from delving too deep in his pondering and hitting answer before the call ended. Then his brain cells processed what he did and his muscles lost all strength that he completely froze. The device stayed an arm length away as its black screen glared at him.

A muffled sound came from the phone. A series of them actually. Izuku sucked his lips in, as his deathly grip tightened. 

He got this. It was just a phone call. A phone call with Kacchan, whom Izuku missed so much and thought about the entirety of the past days, whom he also hung up on because he freaked out. Kacchan was probably fuming right now.

Izuku inhaled deeply, before nodding to himself. Finally, he brought the device to his ear. 

It was quiet on the other end. Izuku considered checking if the call was on, but neither hand moved. His lips parted three times before a single word got out. 

“H-Hi.” He stuttered. 

It’s alright, he got this. No big deal. A lot of people stutter anyway. 

“Hi my butt!” The shout sent him flinching and bending to the side to put distance between him and the phone before his ears exploded. 

He did not got this. 

“The fuck is wrong with you Deku?” Kacchan sounded upset still, but at least he didn’t shout the second time. 

Izuku gulped a lump. “S-Sorry. Uhh-I-” He ran his free hand over his jeans. 

His eyes fell on a guy sitting one table away in front of him. His expression crinkled in confusion. A girl on a table to their right fixed him with a pierce look. Her laptop sat before her, with two knocked out empty cups. A full one was clutched in her hand. Her hair was pulled in a high bun, but lots of strands ran free that he wondered if she even needed to pull it up.

“You’re fucking what?” 

Izuku blinked. He lowered his gaze to the mess on the table. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember what he wanted to say before he noticed his display from earlier caught the attention of students around. 

Taking a deep breath, Izuku spoke in a hushed voice. 

“I-I didn’t mean to call you.” 

Kacchan snorted, to which Izuku’s eyes grew an inch. A shiver ran up his spine. I’m talking with Kacchan! His limps trembled from the joy gushing through him. His stomach flipped.

“I already know that, nerd.” 

Izuku didn’t say anything. He pressed his lips in a thin line, relishing in Kacchan's voice, committing it to his memory storage and securing it with ten locks.

“What, so you don’t wanna talk?”

“No!” 

That damn mouth. 

Izuku yapped, slapping his hand over his lips. It was too late. He displayed his desire to talk more with him on a silver plate, exposing the giddiness this phone call bestowed him with. 

Kacchan barked a laugh, and Izuku’s heart throbbed faster. 

Alright, maybe that slip of a tongue was worth it after all.

“No?” He dared Izuku to explain like it wasn’t obvious what he meant. 

Izuku cleared his throat. 

“I-I don’t mind. Talking.” 

Before Kacchan said a word, Izuku followed with haste. “If you don’t mind of course! You’re probably busy with exams and all, I mean I am too so it’s—I understand! Not that I’m saying I can’t talk to you right now because I’m busy, I mean I am busy but it’s totally okay! I’d–I’d love to talk! We-Uhhh-We haven’t talked for so long and I-I–”

“God your mutters are something else.” 

Tension seeped into his shoulders. Izuku zipped his mouth shut. He clenched his hand.

He didn’t say anything for five minutes, no, perhaps it was half a minute but Izuku’s sense of time got messed up from the uneasiness ruling over his nerve system. The words in the book before him swam and mingled together.

Damn dude, you mutter too much.

Midoriya, slow down, I can’t catch up. 

What a freak.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and hunched forward.

Kacchan sighed. “Relax nerd, I’m joking.”

Right. 

Relax. 

Relaxing was good, lest his head exploded. 

The call went quiet again. Kacchan either wanted to give Izuku some time to calm down or didn’t know what to say. On the other hand, so much was running havoc in Izuku’s head that his ears couldn’t stop ringing. 

He tried to organize his thoughts one by one. He called Kacchan. He was currently speaking to Kacchan, who had such an attractive voice that Izuku couldn’t stop himself from imagining what he looked like, ending up with hundreds of unfamiliar faces that took over his vision. 

Nope, organizing thoughts wasn’t working, though it did evict memories from school days back to their cell. How about killing the silence between them and opening up a random subject in order to lessen the tension in the air?

Yes, that might ease his mind. He could talk about exams. They were both dealing with them right?

“Y-You sound nice.” 

Too bad Izuku forgot to turn on his brain to mouth filter and blurted out the one thing he was struggling to hide. Now, where could he find a hole to die in? 

The sound of a choke reached him. Did Kacchan choke? Why? Was he okay?

“So you finally lost your mind, huh?” He said after clearing his throat.

Yes. 

“S-Sorry, Kacchan! I-I didn’t–” 

“When is your next class?” he interrupted. 

The question caught Izuku off guard that he blinked twice to reboot his brain. He drew the phone away to check the time. 

“Uhh, in an hour.” 

“Alright, spit it out.” 

“Eh?” 

Kacchan growled. But he didn’t say anything for a long while. Izuku thought the call ended and had to check on his phone screen. 

A low mutter of ‘fucking nerd’ reached his ear when he put the device next to it again. 

“Why are you acting weird?”

Izuku furrowed his brow. Wasn’t it obvious how much this single phone call affected him?

“Uhh–I, Kacchan, I’m not–I’m not good at phone calls and this is our first-”

“Not that, dipshit.” 

So Kacchan cursed in real life just as much as he did in texts. Not that that was surprising anyway but it made him bite his bottom lip.

Focus Izuku.

“You never messaged me after that last time.” 

“Last time?” 

Kacchan clicked his tongue. “When you asked about my major. You just stopped babbling after that.”

“Oh.” 

Izuku leant back against the chair. He did stop, mainly because he felt self-conscious. But then exams started and there was so much to do besides that. If Izuku was being honest, he just felt unsure of this whole thing going on between them. He couldn’t figure out where it was going or if Kacchan wanted it to progress anywhere to begin with. 

Then exams came and he found the best excuse to trick his brain with.

Wait. Why did Kacchan think he was acting weird? 

“I felt bad for asking.” 

With his finger, Izuku started to draw random shapes on the table. Kacchan’s voice came, except he spoke in parts, confusion dripping off each word. 

“About…my major?” 

Izuku hummed, rubbing the nape of his neck. “I thought you didn’t like it.” 

Kacchan grew quiet, and Izuku figured he was trying to process that. 

“I mean,” Izuku rushed, shifting on the chair for a moment. His voice became wobbly and almost unheard. “You never talk about yourself unless I ask, so I just thought you didn’t like talking about anything personal. I-” 

Izuku gulped a persistent lump, partly to prevent it from swelling, and partly because he needed a mini break. 

“I understand of course. We only met by accident and could stop talking at any time. So telling a stranger too much isn’t—”

“Are you?” 

Izuku blinked, brows rising. “What?” 

“Are you a stranger, Deku?” 

His heart skipped a beat. Am I? 

He tittered, fixing his position for the umpteenth time today. “I-don’t–”

Kacchan’s exhale of breath cut him out. 

“You’re a dumbfuck, you know that?” 

“Huh?” 

“Business.” 

Izuku frowned. His head tilted to the side, not understanding where that word came from or why Kacchan said it out of nowhere. Weren’t the two having a very honest and sensitive conversation about the nature of whatever was going on between them? 

“I don’t understand. Business?” 

“My fucking major.” 

Blinking twice, Izuku’s eyes widened. “O-Oh.” 

Then his brain thought it was the perfect timing to bring back those hundreds of unfamiliar faces of men but they were wearing fancy suits this time and shouting bullets of curses.

It took five seconds before Izuku snickered. A second later, he gave in and released a laugh which convulsed him entirely. The students around surely made up their mind about killing him now. This wasn’t a library, no one could kick him out for shrieking one moment then cackling the next. Still, he shattered the bubble of silence and they didn’t appreciate that. They were trying to study, unlike a certain someone. 

“The fuck are you laughing at, dipshit?!” Kacchan’s furious tone only made it harder to stop laughing. 

Izuku started speaking in between giggles. “Sorry—Kacchan, but– I can’t picture you working in—a company.” 

“Hah?! Are you insulting me, nerd?! I can be the best— no, I’ll own a damn company, you fucking hear me?!” 

The girl with the laptop didn’t stop sending daggers at him, so Izuku started packing his things with one hand. The laughter almost went away, but stray giggles lagged behind. 

“Of course, Kacchan.” He snorted, standing to grab his bag after stacking up everything on the table. “You’ll rule the business world in no time. Everyone succumbs to you for being the most fearful of all.” 

“Fuck you, Deku.” 

It lacked menace. In fact, It seemed more like Kacchan was sulking on the other end rather than feeling offended. It brought a smile to Izuku’s face. 

“Look,” Kacchan said when Izuku hoisted his bag over his shoulder and ambled to the exit. “I don’t do.. talks. I’m not you, nerd.” 

Izuku chuckled. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine someone like Kacchan starting to chat about his life, despite what kind of relationship he had with whom he talked with. He did rant about some of the students he partnered with for projects, calling them extras and whatnot. But that was because they pissed him off and reminded him of Izuku, for some reason. Almost whoever pissed Kacchan off reminded him of Izuku. 

“I don’t give a shit whether you know personal stuff or not. Besides, knowing my major isn’t fucking personal.” 

Izuku walked out of the building. He hid his hand inside the pocket of his jacket, shivering from the cold. He already missed the warm café, but had to go to his next class. 

“So I can ask whatever?” 

“Told you I don’t care.” 

Izuku hummed, beaming with joy. 

“Why do you wanna know more about me anyway?” 

He snorted. “Kacchan, you should look up the word friend sometimes, it’s an interesting term.” 

“You mean stalker.” 

Izuku fake gasped. “Why do you twist the truth like that?”

“I don’t twist shit. It is the truth.” 

When Izuku reached the building in which his lecture was held, he walked closer to the main entrance but leant against the wall beside it. 

It was cold, yet warmth enveloped him. He didn’t regret calling Kacchan by mistake one bit. Talking with him was the best thing that could ever happen to Izuku. The fact that he brought up the word friend and Kacchan didn’t comment on it suggested he considered Izuku one too.

No matter how many times they bickered, or how much Kacchan complained, the two were closer than just strangers or acquaintances met by accident. 

“Do you have a lecture soon?” 

“Nope.” 

“Aww lucky. I gotta suffer for three more hours.” 

“Don’t fucking jinx my day.”

Izuku chuckled, pushing himself off the wall.

“I’ll umm– talk to you later.. maybe?” 

“Whatever.” 

Which meant yes. Izuku should learn more of the Kacchan language if he didn’t want to assume things again in the future.

“It’s… nice.” He swallowed. His other hand messed with the back of his head. “Talking to you on the phone.” 

Kacchan didn’t reply and simply grunted, but Izuku figured he felt the same way. 

“Maybe..Uhh, maybe we could call each other too, instead of just texting?” 

Izuku entered the building and wove through the students walking back and forth. The other end went silent for a while, long enough for Izuku to reach the stairs and start climbing to the next floor. 

“Maybe. Whatever nerd, I don’t care.” 

Izuku’s face broke into a wide grin. 

“Okay.” 

Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. Kacchan wants to talk. 

Izuku hurried through the hall, a poor attempt to stop the butterflies from littering his stomach. 

“B-Bye Kacchan.” 

He grunted. “Later.” 

Izuku gave himself around twenty minutes before he entered the class. It wasn’t enough to calm his heartbeat, but at least he was completely awake for the lecture.

During mid-lecture, Izuku’s phone vibrated on the table. He spared it a glance to check on the newest notification without picking the phone. 

It was a mistake, because Izuku couldn’t comprehend the second half of the lecture thanks to the army of butterflies running through his veins after bursting out of his stomach.

Kacchan: You sound nice too

Kacchan: For a damn nerd

Chapter Text

When Izuku was under pressure, he did stupid things. If he was nervous, he would vomit a series of mutters about multiple subjects all at once. In the first week of school, he was overwhelmed that he dropped his phone and it broke. Before the exam period, he called Kacchan by mistake. 

But Izuku’s stupid things were fixable or rarely led to good things. His phone was fixed, his relationship with Kacchan didn’t end, the side effects of muttering, aka feeling embarrassed, needed a day at most to wear off. 

Uraraka told him there was a party. The word alone caused a shiver to run up his spine, but Izuku said he’s in. He desired change for the future. He wanted to improve his social skills and expand his circle of acquaintances. More than that, he hoped for a fun and exciting college life. One so dazzling and bright that he could compare to his previous school years for pride to seep in and fill him with joy.

Everyone wanted to charge themselves after eating books for lunch for weeks. They wanted to celebrate the simple fact that they were alive and kicking, that they did not die from stress. What’s better than getting wasted and dancing until dawn then suffering a migraine for the rest of the next day? Nothing.

So yes, Izuku said he’d go. It was for noble reasons, like trying to fit in and do what a normal person his age did. 

Well, now he was trying to figure out if his decision was a stupid one that would lead to good things or purely stupid. Only time could tell. But if someone came up at this moment and asked him about it, Izuku’s answer would be immediate. 

It would be fun, they said. 

Look at him now, completely wasted and crouching in the backyard of some guy’s house where the party was being held. His body burnt from the inside. His limbs tingled from dancing for hours, like there were so many bubbles popping underneath his skin. He squinted from where he sat near the door leading back inside to capture his surroundings in better quality. It made him want to vomit. Why was everything made of jelly? Whoever lived in this house had a weird taste. 

Izuku threw his head back and rested it against the wall. 

Shuffling of clothes and stray giggles that kept being interrupted by other sounds Izuku didn’t want to define right now lest he gagged reached him from somewhere. He spared his left a glance and squinted. He couldn’t see who was there since they hid inside an opening at the end of the wall but he really wished they picked a room inside instead of here. 

Why did he think coming to a party was a good idea when he had work tomorrow? His body would hate him all day that it didn’t matter if it was an evening shift or not. Should he just leave? 

Izuku heaved a sigh, resting his forehead over his bent knees. 

He didn’t want to waste money on a taxi, and Iida did offer to drop everyone off. Besides, he didn’t want to give anyone gossip material and hear something like ‘oh my god did you know Midoriya left early last night because he was so drunk and dead? So lame.’ Then again, he escaped for fresh air, but anyone might make up a different reason for his action. 

Shaking his head twice, the negative thoughts fled back to their nest. Now was not the time to overthink or assume stuff.

Izuku stood on watery feet and walked to the right side of the house. He stumbled twice before he made it to the fence, which he crouched against. If he heard more of those sucking sounds he would seriously vomit. Izuku fished his phone out, eyes fluttering from the bright screen for a few seconds. His hands moved on instinct, opening the messages app to type Kacchan a message. 

That was utter failure, might he add.

Izuku couldn’t even see the keyboard as the letters blended together, let alone type. Thus, the great voice of reason that was his combusted brain offered a solution. Izuku didn’t waste a second, going along with that. Why would you oppose your brain? Or was it his heart that was taking control right now? 

Well, it didn’t matter, because Izuku had his phone against his ear, listening to the ringing. It stretched for long, so long that his mind drifted to the oh-no territory. Kacchan always picked up when he called. Why was he not answering now? Maybe he wasn’t comfortable with phone calls after all. No, if he was, Kacchan would straight up tell him so. Oh, maybe he was upset? But what could ups—The line connected with a click and silenced the thoughts. His face broke into a wide smile upon the sound.

“Kacchan.” Izuku mumbled, his head resting against the fence. Rustles traveled through the phone, followed by a loud groan of distress. It pinched Izuku’s brows. 

“Fucking—” 

Oh, Kacchan’s voice sounded hoarse. It sounded nice, an arrow aimed right to the heart. Izuku chuckled. More rustling came. 

“Deku.” It was laced with menace. Again, Izuku frowned. Kacchan was always mad, but why was he extra mad right now? Like he wanted to kill him? Another laugh rushed out. Silly Izuku, why would Kacchan want that?

“Did you seriously call me at fucking 2 in the morning?”

Oh. That answered his question. 

He chuckled, which was a wrong move but that didn’t matter since he couldn’t restrain his emotions right now.

“YOU FUCKING ASS!” 

Izuku pulled the phone away. His lips pursed, but then he jutted his lower lip. 

“Why are you shouting?” Izuku stretched his legs before him. He mumbled the next words under his breath. “You–” A hiccup cut him off, but he continued in the same tone. “You–You–meanie.” 

Kacchan growled, perhaps dragging a hand across his face and shuffling under the blanket to change his position because there were more rustles. 

“You’re fucking drunk.”

“I’m not drunk.” Izuku immediately retorted, frowning. 

“Then I’ll fucking murder you for waking me up despite not being drunk.”

A snort rattled his throat. “You will murder me either way, Kacchan.” 

“Damn fucking right.” 

Izuku released an airy laugh, warmth flooding within him, and it’s definitely not from the alcohol. Hanging out with his friends and classmates at the party for hours was nice, but nothing compared to what embraced him from being with Kacchan. 

“What other reason do you fucking have for waking me up besides your drunk ass?”

With a finger stuck to his chin, Izuku hummed and tilted his head to the side. His brows knit as he pondered. “I missed you?” 

“We fucking talk every damn day.” 

Izuku huffed, eyebrows furrowed. “Perhaps it’s not enough.” 

They texted every day, and talked on the phone whenever both of them had free time, since their phone calls lasted for more than half an hour. Still, Izuku’s greed had no limits, and it wanted to devour more. Perhaps the alcohol was to blame for feeling this way right now, but that didn’t mean Izuku hated the idea of spending more time with Kacchan.

“You’re absolutely wasted.” 

“I told you I’m—.” 

Two figures moved from behind the other side of the house, pulling his attention. Hand in hand, they emerged from the shadows and into the light of the outdoor lamps strewn on the path leading to the backdoor of the house. Their faces blurred in his eyes, but Izuku followed the couple regardless, half glaring and half dazed. They entered through the door, leaving behind remnants of laughter and murmurs his brain couldn’t catch.

“I don’t give a flying fuck asshole! Go back to sleep or die!” Kacchan said, grabbing Izuku’s attention with a frown.

It wasn’t directed at him, but someone else. 

Kacchan was with someone else.

At 2 in the morning. 

His throat closed up. 

Izuku steered his gaze to the space between his legs, wondering why he called. Was it really a drunk mistake? He sucked his lips in and scowled. Maybe, but that wasn’t everything.

“I wanna talk.” 

Izuku was at a party with his closest friends. Still, it didn’t change the fact that the three of them knew each other beforehand. Whenever they emerged in stories from high school days, Izuku lost focus and his mind drew a blank. They redrew an old image from the past that he wasn’t part of. He brightened whenever they tried to shift the subject to something of the present so he could join them. 

Kacchan did have friends from high school too. Well, he assumed they were friends, if you call your friends extras? And this phone call brought to his attention that maybe one of those extras was special and—

Izuku shook his head until he felt the parts of his brain switching around.

The point was that Izuku didn’t meet any of them, and he wasn’t a part of that group.

It was different, his relationship with Kacchan was fresh and new. None of his friends knew about it. It was theirs alone, thus Izuku didn’t feel like intruding. 

“You’re at a fucking party, nerd, there are so many extras for you to pick and fucking talk with.” 

Izuku gaped. “Kacchan’s amazing!” He whispered, hugging his knees. “How did you know I’m at a party?” 

A click of tongue reached him. “You fucking whined about going today! If you hate it that bad, fucking go home.”

Oh, I did? 

“Fucking drunk asshole.” 

“I told you I’m not drunk, just—” He brought his forefinger and thumb and drew them closer until a millimeter separated them. “A little bit drunk.” He stretched ‘little’ for emphasis.

“Deku, fucking go home. I’m hanging up.” 

“I can’t go home.” 

“I don’t give a fuck!” 

“I have to wait until my friends want to leave.” 

“I said—”

“So just until then, please stay?” 

Kacchan stayed silent, not even a single rustle or movement resounded. But it didn’t take him long to shatter the silence with a tut. 

“Fuck you.”

Izuku beamed. His body fell to the side to lie on the grass, uncaring whether that would ruin his clothes or not. They reeked of alcohol anyway.

The emotion blooming in his heart transformed into words and they traveled all the way to his throat and left before Izuku attempted to comprehend their meaning. 

“Kacchan’s amazing.” 

He didn’t care whether they made sense or not, whether they were random or not. His heart throbbed harder after each word it had produced escaped. Satisfaction slowly but surely filled it up, which in return made Izuku lighter, like he was sitting on a fluffy cloud. 

Besides, a tiny green monster was born earlier. It definitely sobered him up in a blink too. If Izuku wanted that monster dead, or well, locked somewhere, he needed a distraction.

He needed to talk and talk and talk.

That’s what he wanted from Kacchan and asked for, right?

Kacchan snorted at what he said, making Izuku blink with wide eyes. “Tell me something I don’t know.” 

He flipped on his back. The sky flashed its black dress before his eyes. More words popped in his head, so Izuku let them free without questioning anything.

“I’ve never met someone as vulgar as you.” 

“Hah?!” 

“You’re so rude and loud and ill-mannered.” 

“You’re trying to piss me off, dipshit?” 

“You’re kind and caring though.” 

Izuku paused, smiling when Kacchan fell silent. 

“Well, in your own weird way.” 

“You suck at complimenting, nerd.”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I like you.” 

That didn’t earn any retort. But Izuku didn’t mind. He didn’t mind so long Kacchan was there, listening.

“I’m happy we met.”

It’s not that Izuku wasn’t an honest person by nature, that he needed a push like a few cans of beer to force the hidden emotions out. He wasn’t drunk either. He thought. 

The point wasn’t that. For once in his life, he found someone he considered special. A real friend. A close friend. Perhaps more than just that. 

Funny, because all the two did the first few weeks was bicker or tease one another. When did it escalate and how, one would wonder, but that didn’t grab Izuku’s attention for too long. 

Instead he focused on the feeling this connection he had with Kacchan bestowed his heart with. He liked it. He nurtured it, kept watering it and treasured it. 

He really liked Kacchan.

Perhaps that was why he never mentioned Kacchan to any of his friends. Perhaps that little green monster was always there, hiding in a small corner and influencing him.

A little tut pulled him out of the thoughts dungeon he was lost in. More time flew by without anything from the other end. Izuku pushed his weight off the ground and spared the backdoor a glance. He couldn’t see what everyone was doing from here, but remnants of music as well as laughter reached him. 

Izuku brought the phone before his face to check on the time. Almost 3 in the morning. It dawned on him now that not only did he wake Kacchan up, but kept him awake. Was the alcohol leaking off his system? Definitely. And in its place, anxiety tucked itself. 

“K-Ka—” His voice broke, so Izuku cleared his throat to try again. But before he could say anything, he heard his name being called up ahead. 

“There you are!” Uraraka came outside through the door with Asui and Iida behind. “We’re leaving, Izuku.” 

A click of tongue followed from the other end, to which Izuku jolted. 

“Go home nerd, let’s talk later.” 

The call ended before Izuku attempted to open his mouth. No one was giving him time to react to anything, as his friends walked back inside, with Uraraka telling him to meet them at the car. 

Here he was, sitting cross-legged by the fence of some guy’s house, a little bit drunk and a complete mess of a human. 

His phone buzzed in his hands that he placed in his lap, shooting his heart out of its home. 

Kacchan: Fuck u nerd 

The three dots jumped on screen a minute later, during which Izuku blinked more than once and rocked his brain for a way to comprehend why Kacchan was insulting him out of nowhere. 

Kacchan: If you wake me up in the middle of the night again

Oh. 

Izuku brought his fingers over the keyboard to type what he wanted to say earlier if not for his throat’s betrayal. The letters didn't dance around or mingle into a jumble like before.

Izuku: Sorry Kacchan! I won’t, promise

Kacchan didn’t reply back. Izuku waited five minutes just in case, but there were no more jumping dots. He heaved a sigh, and pushed himself off the grass. 

He entered the house again and wove his way through drunk students standing on either side. He passed by the living area where a group was still dancing to the loud music with beers clutched in their hands. Some fell victim to the alcohol and lay dead on couches or flat on the floor. Izuku wrinkled his nose at the scene as he halted in the hallway. He sent a silent prayer to whoever was going to clean up tomorrow. A student bumping into him as they tried to leave the living room snapped Izuku back to his senses. He steadied his wobbly legs then continued down the hall lest he made his friends wait longer.

A step away from Iida's car which was parked by the sidewalk, vibration in the back pocket of his jeans made him halt. Izuku fished his phone out to check on the new notification, but upon the wrinkled expression on Uraraka's, he rushed to open the door and get in.

Izuku smiled at Asui when she asked if he was okay, to which he nodded. 

With pressed lips and hunched shoulders, Izuku opened his messages app. 

Kacchan: Whatever

Kacchan: Fucking happy we met too

Kacchan: I’m going to bed so u better keep your fucking drunk hands off the damn phone until tomorrow

“Someone sure is a giggling mess.” 

The comment snatched Izuku’s eyes off the screen and they locked with an amused set of brown. His lips part as he blinked. Did he giggle? When?

“You shouldn’t have drunk at all, Midoriya.” Iida's scolding tone hauled Uraraka’s smirk away and she shoved the guy’s shoulder playfully before settling in her seat. 

“I-I didn’t drink that much!” He retorted.

Uraraka waved Iida’s statement off.

“You’re not as boring as a certain guy who refused to drink more than one can.” 

“Tomorrow is—” 

“The weekend.” Uraraka cut in. 

“Exactly. He has work.” 

Uraraka snorted. “He’ll be fine. Besides,” She switched to look back again. “Izuku looks more alive than ever.” 

Said boy’s rapid blinking continued until a grin brushed over Uraraka’s lips, but it soon died when Iida asked her to sit properly. He started a lecture about safety but it reached him muffled.

“Ochako’s right.” Izuku turned and met Asui’s gaze. “You’ve been a mess even before exams started.” 

"Right?" Uraraka cut whatever Iida was saying to chirp, happy someone agreed with her. "Coming here was nice for a change."

His friends assumed the blame fell entirely on that. Exams. 

Well, they weren’t wrong, but Izuku was also let down by the fact that he and Kacchan didn’t text like usual. Going from texting every other day to not texting at all for a whole month plucked the pathetic bud of will power that he nursed for the exam period. Worse was the fact that guilt seeped in, making Izuku hyper aware that Kacchan didn’t want to text because he shoved his nose where it didn’t belong.

Kacchan proved it to be baseless and wrong of course.

Izuku slumped against the back seat, gaze stuck to the screen, rereading Kacchan’s last messages. He didn’t want to follow up with more than one message in case he woke him up again. Blinking a few times to better register the keyboard, Izuku replied with a small smile grazed over his lips. 

Izuku: Thanks Kacchan <3

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku: Kacchan

Kacchan: What

Izuku: I think my phone is broken 

Kacchan: You clumsy ass

Kacchan: What did you do 

Izuku: I didn’t do anything

Izuku: It’s just

Izuku: It says I called you yesterday at 2:14 am

Kacchan: Which happened dumbfuck

Izuku: Haha

Izuku: Very funny Kacchan

Kacchan: Do I look like I’m joking?

The device dropped into the spot between his crossed legs. The sun snuck its light through the small opening between the half closed curtains and lightened the cast aside blanket. His hands stayed in the same position, hung in mid air as if holding something. 

Izuku blinked twice.

Huh. 

Lowering his chin, Izuku glanced over the clothes he clad in. Skipping the olive sweater with the white dress shirt underneath, his nose scrunched at his jeans. This wasn’t a matter of why he slept in jeans. It was a matter of what the whole thing implied. 

The film strip that contained evidence of what an embarrassment Izuku was yesterday zipping before his eyes earlier wasn’t a trick of his mind then. No, on the contrary, his oh so magnificent voice of reason had stored it safely just for this moment of absolute awareness. 

He was drunk. 

So very drunk he didn’t even change before he crashed last night.

Vibration shooting through his legs made him jump, arms jolted with the motion. He fished out his phone and the screen blared at him.

Kacchan: Not only did you wake me up in the middle of the night but also forget all about it

Izuku hid his lips behind the tip of his fingers, eyes expanding. Oh, Kacchan. If only that was the case. Every single detail of yesterday was as clear as diamonds.

He should have turned his damn phone off last night. It might not stop his clingy hands and there was a big chance he’d fumble with it until it was turned on because he was that obsessed with Kac—

Who was he kidding? He didn’t stop thinking about Kacchan while being sober, let alone drunk. Did you even think when drunk?

Izuku: Plz kill me…

Kacchan: With fucking pleasure

Izuku slapped his forehead, before his hand dragged across his face until he settled his palm over his mouth and regarded the small screen with squinted eyes. 

He relieved himself of air. Biting on his lower lip, Izuku fiddled with the new retort he established in his head. 

Alright, might as well go for it.

Izuku: I didn’t forget

Izuku: I told you I wasn’t drunk 

Kacchan: No shit

Izuku snorted, more at himself than at Kacchan’s disbelief. Of course it wouldn’t get to him. He was a business major for fuck sake. He wasn’t dumb.

Izuku: I just wished it was all a dream

Kacchan: Well flash news nerd

Kacchan: It wasn’t 

Izuku: I’m sorry 

Izuku: >:(

Kacchan: Whatever nerd 

Izuku: I really wasn’t drunk tho

No one besides him and his friends knew he was drunk. He didn’t seem that—Ok, the point was that Kacchan hadn’t seen him. 

Eyes widening upon a thought, Izuku’s fingers started drumming over the keyboard.

Izuku: I was half drunk!

Kacchan: Right

Izuku: Getting out in the backyard and inhaling fresh air helped me sober up, not that I was completely drunk yk? It was so suffocating inside so that was the best thing I did tho I didn’t entirely leave just to get fresh air but also because I kinda felt lonely, which is weird right? Because I was at a party and all, so I ended up calling you. 

Kacchan: STOP FUCKING SENDING PARAGRAPHS 

His grip tightened on the device. Blur corrupted Kacchan’s reply as his mind churned with thoughts. Instead of escaping, Izuku delved further into the oh-no territory. Whatever surfaced from the bottom was immediately materialized as words his fingers eagerly typed.

Izuku: I don’t know why I feel disconnected from my friends sometimes. They’re the sweetest and kindest people ever. Maybe it’s because they already know each other before even meeting me so I can’t help but feel like I’m different, which is dumb and I’m sure they don’t really care about that but… I’m weird right?

Kacchan: Absolutely

A small smile curled the corner of his lips, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

Uraraka and the others treated him as if he was always a part of their group, as if he was never someone they met in university, but one whom they befriended way before. It came to his attention that perhaps Uraraka invited him to the party not only because she thought it would be nice for a change, but also because she figured Izuku needed some kind of a break.

Wouldn’t it be rude to continue feeling as if he was a puzzle piece that didn’t fit? Perhaps with enough time, such negativity would dither to nothing. No, he shouldn’t make it a wall that separated him from his friends anymore. 

Apart from that, there was a thing he must admit, now that he thought about yesterday again. Izuku shifted and let his legs dangle from over the edge of the bed. The movement irked his nose when the smell of alcohol assaulted it. It also derived a groan. His head pulsed like it was a second away from bursting. God did he need something for that and a shower. 

But first.

Izuku: Yk what I take back what I said about wishing yesterday’s call was a dream

Kacchan: You’re really pissing me off rn Deku

Izuku: Really? 

Kacchan: FUCK U

His features broke into a smile, before a chuckle escaped. Regret seeped in when his head throbbed. The pain didn’t stop his fingers from typing though.

Izuku: Kacchan

Kacchan: Fucking what 

Izuku: I really meant what I said

Izuku: I’m really glad we met 

He fell to the side as his hands clutched onto the device. Eyes regarded the screen, waiting for the jumping dots. This was only part of what he wanted to say, but Izuku preferred to wait for a reply from Kacchan on each part separately. He sucked his lips in when a full minute passed without their appearance. 

Then the minute stretched to two, three, four, five—

Izuku flipped on his back. His hands rested over his chest. The white ceiling became hazy before his eyes. He exhaled a sigh, eyes fluttering closed. 

He meant what he said. Meeting Kacchan was his light at the end of the tunnel, his firefly that led him to utopia. The trigger to blurt that truth to Kacchan was… beer. 

Still! 

Even if yesterday never happened, Izuku would eventually admit it anyway. It was something that was hard to contain. Its escape was simply a matter of time. Being drunk only sped the process.

Eyebrows wrinkling, Izuku raised his phone again and clicked it open. No jumping dots. No reply. His heart skipped a beat, fingers curling around the phone. 

Izuku: Kacchan?

He bit on his bottom lip. A silent prayer nestled in his head. Alright, maybe he should have kept his emotions contained a little bit longer. 

Izuku shook his head. No, Kacchan was busy. Probably. 

His heart throbbed upon a certain piece of information that popped in his head. The second head shake failed to send the memory away. 

He was busy. With someone. Was it the one from yesterday?

His phone dinged, earning a squeak from his throat.

Kacchan: What

His heart took the next step into driving its owner into a corner and started to pound against its cage.

Izuku: Oh, you’re still here

Kacchan: Where would I fucking go

Izuku: You didn’t say anything for 20 minutes I thought you got busy or something

Kacchan: I reply whenever the hell I want nerd

Yes, Kacchan got busy. That explained the delay. No one(?) caused it. Izuku satisfied himself with that, and managed to tame the damn green monster before he tucked it inside its cage. He pushed himself up to sit cross-legged. His head protested from both the jumble of thoughts and the hungover, but he ignored it for now.

Izuku: Well anyways 

Kacchan: I SAID DON’T YOU FUCKING ANYWAYS ME

Izuku: I meant every word I said

Izuku: That I’m happy we met

Izuku: That I like you

And there it happened again, no jumping dots for another 20—no, 25 minutes. Did he spend 25 minutes in bed waiting for a reply?

Yes, he did. 

Phone slipping through his fingers, Izuku groaned in his palms. He couldn’t determine whether he was upset at Kacchan for keeping him on hold or at himself for having a confession session while his heart was hammering his damn chest. His head wasn’t in any better condition either.

Izuku drew his hands away, albeit slow. His eyes grew in size. 

Wait a minute. 

Wait a hot damn minute.

He picked his discarded phone and started to type with haste.

Izuku: Kacchan? 

Kacchan: WHAT

He lifted a brow at that.

No way.

Chewing on the inside of his cheeks, his fingers tapped over the screen.

Izuku: Are you busy?

Kacchan: NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS 

A snort rushed out, but Izuku hid his mouth. Soon his hand slipped up to cover his eyes as he threw his head backwards. 

Kacchan was going to be the death of him, really. How was Izuku supposed to restrain his emotions when he acted like this?

Giddiness ushered him to roam in his small apartment. Relief flowed through his veins even though he shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. But why else Kacchan wasn’t replying on time? Why else would he suddenly write in caps? If he was really busy, he wouldn't reply at all.

Izuku: Kacchan 

Kacchan: SHUT UP

Izuku: Are you by any chance getting awkward cuz of what I said?

Kacchan: HAH?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AWKWARD FUCKFACE?

How Izuku managed to stay standing was beyond his comprehension. One thing was for sure, that his heart had long fled its cage. He buzzed with energy. Adrenaline numbed the ache in his head.

Izuku: Omg you are

Kacchan: I AM BLOCKING YOUR ASS

Izuku: Kacchan

Kacchan: SHUT THE FUCK UP

Izuku: I didn’t know you have a cute side too

Kacchan: I AM NOT FEELING FUCKING AWKWARD

Izuku: Mhmm of course Kacchan

Kacchan: ALRIGHT ASSHAT I’M BLOCKING U

It went without saying that Izuku spent ten minutes screaming against his pillow as his legs banged the mattress. 

Chapter Text

They said university life didn’t compare to school life. As a kid, you followed a certain and straight path that didn’t fork to either side until you reached the end of it. Once you did, you put on new clothes and started a different life. Whatever choices you made after that fork you turned shape your future. At that point, each went their own way to snatch a new opportunity.

Being a university student, apart from studying, was all about having fun too. It was exciting and refreshing, being on your own and away from adults nagging you to be a good kid and study like there was no tomorrow. True, you would be stuck with lectures and assignments and shitty partners or professors, depending on your luck. Regardless, no one but you were in control and that in itself was something.

Well, what utter bullshit that was, the exciting and refreshing part. University was as boring as school. On the contrary, it pissed Katsuki off more than ever. Professors never shut the fuck up. Half of the lecture was wasted on boosting their damn ego, blabbering about their achievements and experiences. 

His routine didn’t change much, except for the fact that he’d sit his ass on a chair for two to three hours twice or thrice a day, before returning home and drowning in assignments and projects.

Sure, living on his own and away from the old hag’s constant nagging was nice, if you omit the tiny fact that he had a damn roommate. 

“Bro! For real now, help me.” 

Sparing the left side of the room a glance, Katsuki caught a pair of pleading eyes and curled lips. Kirishima sat cross-legged on the bed. He hung the paper he was looking at previously in mid-air and pointed at it with a finger. 

“I need your smart brain for this.” 

“No.” 

Ignoring the groan echoing across the room, Katsuki steered his attention back to the book in his hands. His back leant against the wall at the head of the bed as his legs spread before him. If not for the damn bastard, he could finish this book faster and work on something else.

“Come on man. I want to finish it so I can practice for the gig later.” 

“Don’t fucking care.” 

Truth be told, Katsuki did hope that starting university would change everything, that it would shoo the boredom away and make his life more vibrant. 

The first year went by yet nothing differed from before. If anything, boredom expanded its territory. His hunch about university being the same as school was right. So really, apart from focusing on a certain field and living away from his parents, everything stayed the same. Not that he believed what the extras said back in high school about university being fun. 

Fun my ass.

A ding hauled his attention away from the book. Katsuki’s gaze fell on the source, which sat on the bedside table next to him. 

“Gee man, it’s just this and I’ll never bug you again.” 

Katsuki snorted at that. The book closed with a thud. “Bullshit. You always crawl your lazy ass back to me.” 

“I can’t help it if all they give us are complicated assignments!” He took his frustration on his hair as a grumble rushed out. The paper crinkled since he didn’t let go of it. 

Placing the book on the table, Katsuki picked up his phone and settled against the wall again. He didn’t even bother guessing who messaged him because there was only one person who did. A person who never cared whether it was 3 in the damn morning or 10 am. 

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan

Katsuki figured the second year would be the same, until the second semester started and a certain nerd barged into his life and flipped it upside down.

Katsuki: What

Shitty Nerd: I think my phone is broken 

A snicker rattled his throat. Deku was such an interesting doofus, who Katsuki actually liked to have around, surprisingly. Shitty hair and the others weren’t bad to hang out with, but the nerd wasn’t anything like them. In fact, Katsuki didn’t even think they would ever get along, considering their personalities. Against all odds, here they were, as close as Katsuki was with Kirishima.

Katsuki: You clumsy ass

Katsuki: What did you do 

When a stretched exhale reached his ears, Katsuki glanced to the left, only to catch Shitty Hair dragging a hand across his face.

“Here you go again.” 

It irked a blond eyebrow and it shot up. “What in the ever loving fuck do you mean?” 

Kirishima thrust the paper once more and Katsuki followed the motion, eyebrows wrinkling.

“At least help me with this first?” 

He pointed at the device clutched in his hands. “Once that thing dings you’re out of this world.” 

And sure thing, his phone vibrated, pulling his attention again and proving Kirishima’s point. 

Shitty Nerd: I didn’t do anything

Shitty Nerd: It’s just

Shitty Nerd: It says I called you yesterday at 2:14 am

With a flick of his hand towards his friend as a sign of ending this conversation, he started to message the nerd back. Kirishima’s protests followed, before he finally exhaled and went quiet. 

If there was one thing that had changed in his life, it was meeting Deku. The guy was a damn nerd who liked fucking All-Might, who was the biggest clumsy idiot, who shared nothing in common with him. Well, Katsuki didn’t mind that stupid anime, so perhaps that was something they both liked, though he wasn’t as big of a fan as the shitty nerd. 

So really, it was peculiar, how they clicked together despite the differences and the fact that they never met in person. 

Katsuki never believed their connection would last. On the day he received Deku’s first text, he was utterly pissed after a long ass day of dealing with good for nothing extras and snob professors. Not to mention almost dying from boredom. Getting a random text was the last straw. 

To think snapping at the nerd started a new relationship(?). Sure, texting Deku the first few weeks was merely to take his frustration out on someone. Except Deku wasn’t any one. He was sassy enough not to let Katsuki’s brash attitude get to him. But then texting the nerd became an excuse to escape boredom, to mute his world and dive into a new one where he couldn’t guess what might happen next. 

Talking with Deku warmed him the way a hot bath did after spending half the day out in the cold. It refreshed his throat the way water did after running for two hours.

When the nerd went quiet during exam period, Katsuki figured that was the end of whatever the fuck they had. If not for absorbing himself in books, he would have given in to his heart’s desire of texting Deku and figuring why the heck he stopped messaging him. 

Well, he did attempt to text Deku, but always found himself erasing whatever he typed. A part of him wanted to reach out, but the bigger part influenced Katsuki to keep it to himself. 

Then the dumb nerd called him by accident, and the moment that voice registered in his head, Katsuki crossed the point of no return. It urged him to hold on to what they had and figure out what drew Deku away. To think it was some dumb excuse like ‘I thought you didn’t like it when I asked about personal stuff.” 

What utter bullshit that was. 

Shitty Nerd: I really meant what I said

Shitty Nerd: I’m really glad we met 

“I’m happy we met.”

Deku’s words from yesterday echoed through his ears upon reading his latest texts. Katsuki straightened his back before it hunched over the phone. His eyes narrowed as he regarded the small screen. They dug holes in the words like that would erase them. 

What the fu–why the fuck did his heart skip a beat? That damn bastard, ushering him to explore the damn emotions he locked in a cell since yesterday’s call with the drunk nerd. 

It’s not that he refused to acknowledge them. They were growing steadily for a long while now. It’s the fact that he had to deal with them this soon that irked him. Besides, didn’t he clearly say he was not a feelings type of guy? 

That dumb nerd. 

“Bakugo.” 

Said boy blinked. His vision slowly regained its clarity. He looked at Kirishima, whose features were crinkled. 

“You good?” 

Katsuki lifted a brow at that, to which shitty hair tipped the phone with his head. “You’ve been staring at it like a statue for over ten minutes.” 

Huh. 

Sparing his phone a glance, Katsuki widened his eyes upon checking when Deku sent his last text. Almost 20 minutes passed without him texting the guy back. 

Hold a damn fucking minute. 

Did Katsuki waste 20 minutes staring at a screen? 

A snort pulled his attention to Kirishima again. He wasn’t sitting on the bed anymore, but settled on the desk and was working on his stupid assignment. Kirishima’s body half turned on the chair. He rested his chin in his palm as his elbow kept his arm steady. A shit-eating grin flashed sharp teeth at Katsuki. 

“You know, I always wondered who got you so wrapped up like that.”

Katsuki hmphed and settled against the wall again. “None of your damn business, Shitty Hair.” 

“Aww c’mon bro! Aren’t we best buddies?”

“Not if you’re being a nosy ass.” Katsuki said as he typed Deku a reply. 

Kirishima faked having a heart attack, but soon chuckled and sat straight again to continue working on his paper. 

Shitty Nerd: Well anyways 

Katsuki tutted, fingers drumming over the keyboard in a haste as he pulled one leg towards him. 

Katsuki: I SAID DON’T YOU FUCKING ANYWAYS ME

Shitty Nerd: I meant every word I said

Shitty Nerd: That I’m happy we met

Shitty Nerd: That I like you

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I like you.” 

At the second stolen heart beat, Katsuki blinked twice. This time, his traitorous damn brain repeated Deku’s words from yesterday in a mantra. 

Fluster was foreign to him. No, people never even fucking dared to make him feel this way, or put him in a situation that raised his damn heart beat. Whenever fucking Pikachu teased him, because he was a suicidal dumbfuck, Katsuki would shut him up personally. 

With Deku, it’s impossible. The damn bastard lived fuck knew where and there was no way he could beat his ass right now. 

Hold on, Katsuki wasn’t even sure why he wanted to beat the nerd’s ass to begin with. This heat enveloping his neck and spreading all the way to the top of his head prevented him from thinking straight. His fucking heart might as well burst out and fucking cause an earthquake from how much it pounded against his chest. 

A groan slammed Katsuki’s surroundings back in focus as his body went still.

“Dude! Stop roaming around the room like a bee.” 

Turning around, Katsuki locked eyes with Kirishima, who had to change his position to face him, his side leant against the back of the chair as his legs weren’t hiding under the desk. Katsuki looked at the left side of the room, where his bed stayed empty. His phone was face down in the middle of it. He turned around and found himself a step in front of the room’s door.

What the fuck. 

Gaze falling on Shitty Hair again, Katsuki blinked. It made Kirishima tilt his head in bewilderment, one eyebrow lifted. 

Katsuki grumbled under his breath. He strode to his bed and picked up the device. 

Shitty Nerd: That I like you

That was sent 25 minutes ago. Did Katsuki waste 25 minutes of his life marathoning the lame excuse of a room he had? 

His whole body jolted when the phone vibrated and he swore out loud. 

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan? 

That fucking bastard. 

Katsuki plopped on the bed and immediately typed a reply. If only his heart could calm the fuck down so he could think straight.

Katsuki: WHAT

Scratch that, because fuck thinking . Whatever littered his heart to the point of making it this jittery had to be released in the open. Too bad irritation was in control, but Deku was to blame for that.

Shitty Nerd: Are you busy?

Katsuki: NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS 

“Man, are you really okay?” Shitty Hair jerked his head backward the moment his eyes locked with a glare. His frown deepened into a scowl. “Ok, point taken.” His gaze found the paper again.

Katsuki swore under his breath and spared the stupid jumping dots a glance. 

Shitty Nerd: Are you by any chance getting awkward cuz of what I said?

“THAT FUCKING—“ The shout pushed Kirishima to squeak as the desk creaked from jolting. 

“Oh my god I stained the paper!” He said in panic. 

Alright, next goal on the list, track Deku down and send his ass to oblivion.

Katsuki: HAH?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AWKWARD FUCKFACE?

Shitty Nerd: Omg you are

Katsuki: I AM BLOCKING YOUR ASS

If the phone screen cracked at any second now, no one would be surprised, since Katsuki was literally hammering it with his fingers. 

Like? Sure, he liked the dumb fucker. But he couldn’t type that out, not after Deku let Katsuki's inner demons out in the open with his teasing. 

What, awkward? Him ?

Katsuki: I AM NOT FEELING FUCKING AWKWARD

Shitty Nerd: Mhmm of course Kacchan

A yelp resounded across the room when Katsuki stood abruptly and swore loud enough for the whole dorm to hear. 

Katsuki: ALRIGHT ASSHAT I’M BLOCKING U

“Shitty Hair!” He shouted as soon as he sent that to Deku and flung the phone on the bed. Another yelp was Kirishima’s response. 

Katsuki walked over to him and plucked the paper from under his hands. 

“Wha–”

“Shut the fuck up! Didn’t you fucking want my help?” 

And that’s how Kirishima spent the most agonizing hour of his life, all because Katsuki needed a distraction, an outlet to pour his anger into. It went without saying that it took Kirishima a long while before he asked Katsuki for help again. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Katsuki: Hey asshole

It only took Katsuki a minute of adjusting on the bed, back leaning against the wall with the blanket covering him, for a reply to arrive.

Shitty Nerd: Is that how you say hi to someone you like?  

He snorted. Warmth washed over him, prompting his lips to shift into a small smile. 

Katsuki: Deal with it 

Shitty Nerd: Rude 

Shitty Nerd: >:(

Shitty Nerd: Why are you up? It’s 9 

Katsuki grunted. He dragged his legs towards him while keeping the blanket draped over his knees. 

While Katsuki followed a strict schedule, always making sure he slept early so he woke up at 5 for his morning run, today was an exception. 

Because his brain was operating at 100%, filling itself with but one person. How was he supposed to grab some shut-eye with the damn thing in full awareness? Not to mention he couldn’t text Deku all day since he had a lot to finish before the weekend ended. 

Only when he was done did he realize it was past seven pm. So he decided to prepare his things for tomorrow and call it a night. The nerd was at work anyway.

But here he was, the clock hit 9:20 pm and his brain refused to fucking shut down. 

Katsuki: Like it matters to you

Katsuki: Mr I call at ass o’clock in the morning

No way in hell was he going to admit that he couldn’t sleep until he chatted with the damn nerd to any soul, let alone Deku himself.

Shitty Nerd: Hey! That was one time!

Shitty Nerd: And I wasn’t… aware of the time

His shoulders shook as a grin planted on his face.

Katsuki: Cuz you were fucking drunk

If there was one thing the nerd excelled at, it was whining. Not that Katsuki disliked Deku for that. On the contrary, and dare he admit, he found it endearing in a way. He wasn’t sure if Deku whined as much to his friends, but he figured he didn’t, what with the way the nerd always worried about every single shit he did around them. 

It crossed his mind that maybe Deku found solace in him, or at least he hoped that was the case. Who acted the way the nerd did around a stranger anyway? Someone who they knew nothing about nor had a great start with. 

Drunk calling Katsuki at 2 in the damn morning niggled him, but then he looked at it from a different angle, the fact that no one else but him was on Deku’s unaware mind, that that pushed the nerd to reach out to him first instead of hanging out with his friends. That tugged at Katsuki’s heartstrings. 

He spared the small screen a glance and noticed that Deku didn’t follow after his text for ten minutes. The perks of working at a convenience store, huh. 

His fingers hovered over the keyboard to tell the nerd they should talk tomorrow, but halfway through typing that out, his phone vibrated with a new text. 

Shitty Nerd: Sorry Kacchan!

Dots continued to jump in a sequence afterwards, so Katsuki erased what he typed earlier and waited for the next message. 

Shitty Nerd: There were lots of customers so I had to put my phone away. Do you mind if we switch to a call instead of texting? This way I could talk even if anyone comes in

A smile grazed his lips as he exhaled in content. 

Katsuki: Are you supposed to talk while working?

Shitty Nerd: Shhh no one will know as long as you don’t say, Kacchan :) 

“Little shit.” Katsuki tried to stifle his laugh but it ran free. Whatever, he was alone anyway, so calling wouldn’t be a problem. Not that he fucking cared.

Deku sent a text before he attempted to type a reply. 

Shitty Nerd: Or do you wanna call it a night? I don’t mind at all Kacchan! We can talk tomorrow or whenever is possible for both of us of course, I mean I’d love to talk with you now since we haven’t today but I know it’s late and you like to sleep early even though for some reason you’re up despite it being almost 10 pm, which you still haven’t told me why you’re up by the way

Even while reading the fucking essay Deku sent, another was being typed as the dots showed up right after Katsuki received the text. 

With a tut, Katsuki closed off the messages app in favor of calling the nerd before he sent another. 

Stretching his legs over the mattress again, Katsuki brought the device to his ears. The line connected as soon as he heard the first ring. The act both amused his lips, shifting them in a smirk, as well as stole a beat from his heart. 

“Kacchan.” The softly spoken voice pushed him to shift around in bed.

Little shit.  

“Hey slacker.” 

The other end adopted silence except for Deku’s giggle. That wave of customers must have been a one time thing since the store seemed empty. Hope of it staying like that for the two to chat lingered as Katsuki awaited the small voice he liked to ring in his ears again.

“Hold on, lemme wear my earphones.”

A few rustles reached him, before Deku’s voice came again.

“You’re the one who texted me, Kacchan. Or was I supposed to ignore you?”

“Hah, like you can do that.” Katsuki hauled one leg closer and laid his arm over his bent knee. “Your whiny ass never lasts a shift without texting me.” 

Deku scoffed. “It’s not my fault you’re a good emotional outlet.” 

“Emo—” Katsuki choking in disbelief extracted another giggle from the other end. “You fucker.” 

“So why are you still up, grandpa?” 

Katsuki tsked. “I sleep whenever the fuck I want.” 

Deku and his damn little giggles that injected his heart with too much juice. 

“Hmm.” A rustle followed, then a pause that only lasted less than a minute. “Oh, I see, Kacchan.” Deku singsonged, which irked his eyebrow. 

“What the fuck do you mean, nerd?” 

“I mean, we talk everyday so I understand if—” A jingle chimed in the background, cutting the nerd. “Welcome!”

The way Deku chirped happily made his heart skip a beat. A picture of a grinning nerd barged into his head.

Katsuki swallowed, then licked his lips. 

“If fucking what?” Patience was foreign to him, so he urged the nerd to speak up after a good minute passed of complete silence. It was totally not because a fucking bastard distracted the nerd.

God forbid.

“O-Oh.” Izuku paused again, probably checking where the customer was before he spoke in a hush. “If you couldn’t sleep without texting first.” 

That sassy fucker…

“You fucking wish.” Katsuki said as he stretched his leg and straightened his back. A stifled giggle reached him the moment he shouted, which made him grunt, expression wrinkling. 

Deku awed. “Didn’t you miss me, Kacchan?” He hummed encouragingly. More teasing. If there was anything Deku loved to do, it was that bullshit.

Katsuki bit his bottom lip, but still failed to stop the smirk from affecting it upon an idea that just sparked in his head. Two could play this game. 

“Alright nerd, you got me, I missed your ass so I texted.” 

Immediately, a choke reached him, and thus his smirk widened into a shit-eating grin. Of course the nerd said that while thinking Katsuki wouldn’t straight up admit it and snap at him instead.

But no.

Funny, because under normal circumstances, he would never blurt such a thing so easily. The words only formed because of his desire to tease the nerd, knowing there was a customer who would come to check out any minute now. 

He snickered when Deku cleared his throat. Each rustle that came was followed by a scanner beep. An image of a flustered figure as his blood rushed to the top of his head popped into Katsuki's mind. Oh, he wondered if the shitty nerd was taller than him, now that he thought about it. Perhaps he could ask, but—

Katsuki blinked, then he shook his head. Fuck. He was supposed to fluster the nerd, not himself.

“——which number would you like?” 

Katsuki missed what the customer said for Deku to ask them that, but figured they wanted a cigarette. 

“51, Okay. Please confirm your age on the screen.” Another scanner beep.

“Your total is 2100 yen.”

The sound of metal clanking against a surface came, then the opening of the cash register.

Deku chirped a thank you as a rustle of plastic resounded. 

Just when a distant jingle echoed, a groan rattled Deku’s throat. Katsuki snorted as he pictured the nerd dragging a hand across his face. 

“Kacchan, you did that on purpose.” 

“Pfft.” Settling against the wall again, a sinister smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Deku.” 

“That man was looking at me in a funny way.” He grumbled under his breath. 

“Why are you fucking surprised he did?” 

Silence. Then a rustle of clothes. “...Dummy.” Deku muttered. 

Katsuki bit his lower lip. His hand brushing over the blanket on his right side in a circular motion. 

Then something clicked in place and he wrinkled his brows. It was silly, but the idea irritated him anyway. 

A total stranger got to see a flustered Deku while Katsuki couldn’t. How fucking great that was huh. Every dumb extra entering the damn convenience store should consider themselves lucky, because here Katsuki was, so far from reach and unable to witness what his teasing did to the nerd and how it altered his features. 

Was he jealous of random extras for interacting with Deku for not more than five minutes four times a week? 

A grumble was the answer to that. 

A sigh reached him from the other end, putting his inner turmoil on pause. “I can’t wait for my shift to end already.” Deku said.

“Tired?”

Deku let go of a stretched hum. “I didn’t sleep enough yesterday, and had to study all day today.” He exhaled. “The exam period is over yet I always end up with so much to do.”

A grunt was Katsuki's response. 

“How was your weekend, Kacchan?” 

“Boring.” The answer rushed out without a second thought. It earned him a chuckle from the other line. 

“You didn’t go out or anything?” 

“Nope. I had a lot of shit to tackle.” 

“Mhmm. So that’s why you didn’t—” A familiar chime rang. “Wel—” 

Katsuki lifted an eyebrow when Deku paused mid-word. What kind of customer entered and managed to shut the nerd up like that exactly? It’s not as if Deku couldn’t talk while working because he did just that when the previous customer came. 

A strained intake of breath came then, pushing him to sit cross-legged on the bed. His frown deepened into a scowl.

“Deku?” 

It took the nerd a full ass minute, no perhaps two, before he inhaled a gulp of air again.

Heart pounding, Katsuki tightened his grip on his phone. Ruby eyes flitting to either side as he helplessly waited for a response. 

Finally, a small voice came. A mere whisper which Katsuki had to suck his lips in and strain his ears to hear. 

“S-Sorry, it’s nothing.” 

His eyebrows crinkled. Bullshit . “You sure?” 

Another breath taken. “Mhmm.” And that was all Deku said before another voice reached Katsuki. 

“ — riya?”

It belonged to a guy, that much was clear, and judging by the volume, he was standing far away. A few seconds passed, with tip-taps growing closer. Something clanked on a surface, a bottle maybe, then the guy spoke again. 

“Midoriya! Dude, it’s been a while.” 

Deku released a weak chuckle, and Katsuki found out that he hated the sound of it. Whoever that guy was, he wasn’t welcomed.

Yet being the kind idiot he was, the nerd must have plastered a fake-ass smile on his face and acted polite. 

“Y-Yeah.” 

“So you live around here now?” The guy asked. 

“Uhh, not really. I—” But whatever Deku wanted to say died on his tongue as the asshole interrupted with a low fucking whistle.

“Man, how come you’re working here?” The guy snorted. “I mean, no offense but, you know.” 

He didn’t follow up on that, and since Katsuki wasn’t there to witness it, he couldn’t tell if the guy did some kind of gesture to further emphasize on the ‘you know’ part. His hunch told him he did.

Katsuki clutched onto the device too hard. A fist formed by his side. 

“R-Right.” Deku’s response only proved Katsuki’s point. 

A scanner beep echoed, followed by a loud laugh that boiled his blood to the point that he had to kick the blanket off his legs.

“What a funny coincidence this is though.” 

There were no beeps except for that single one. The damn bastard wanted to buy one thing, but decided to have a chat Deku clearly didn’t wish to have. 

“Is your phone number still the same?” 

A rustle came as the guy asked, before Deku answered. “Yeah.” He paused for a second, then cleared his throat. “Your total is 500 yen.” 

“Cool man. Maybe we can hang out then.” There was a clank, the sound of a coin.

“Thank you.” Deku said, and Katsuki knew that was said right after he handed the guy whatever the fuck he bought. It wasn’t an answer to his invitation like the nerd appreciated it, but his regular response after customers paid and got their shit. 

The moment a long exhale reached him, Katsuki breathed out silently, tension seeped off his shoulders. 

Deku sighed a second time. A chuckle followed the heave of air. 

“Sorry, Kacchan.” 

“Who the fuck was that?” Cutting to the chase was the right choice. Katsuki didn’t want to waste a single second. He barely resisted not to snap and stayed quiet while jerkface was talking. 

Deku didn’t say anything, choosing to allow silence to rule over. Katsuki’s lips parted, but an exhale stopped him. 

“No one important.” 

He snorted. “I figured that much nerd.” 

“He was my roommate last year.”

“What a great roommate you fucking had.” 

When a chortle was Deku’s response, Katsuki allowed himself to unfist his hand. 

“I can’t believe my luck. Of all the stores, he had to come to this one.” 

Katsuki hummed. He lied on his back as he draped the blanket over his body until its tip reached his chest.

“I seriously can’t wait to go home.”

At that, Katsuki drew his phone away to check on the time. There was still 40 minutes until the nerd was free.

“I’m more exhausted than ever now.”

That earned a small smile from Katsuki. He extended his arm to turn off the bedside lamp.

“When is your first class tomorrow?”

And just like that, the conversation regained its spirit again, and Deku started complaining about tomorrow’s lectures and what he had to go through. 

Truth be told, Katsuki wanted to steer the conversation back to the dumb roommate, to know more about Deku’s first year. The nerd vaguely mentioned how it wasn’t a great one by always saying this semester was better, what with the fact that he made new friends, including Katsuki. 

Whenever the nerd brought the topic up, Katsuki held onto the urge to ask. It’s not that he couldn’t for dumb reasons like worrying Deku wouldn’t like it. The nerd would probably tell him if Katsuki asked.

That was basically why he resisted. He didn’t want to put the shitty nerd in a tough situation, forcing him to talk about something that clearly left a mark bigger than whatever else Deku always whined about.

Besides, they called to catch up like usual, to relish in joy from being in touch with each other, and Katsuki wasn’t about to ruin that by letting the nerd talk about a dumbfuck he wasn’t a fan of.

So unless Deku mentioned it, Katsuki was okay with sweeping the subject under the rug.

“Oh my god, Kacchan.” 

Said boy turned on his side, the phone settled over his ear as his eyes drifted closed. 

“I kept you up for so long. It’s almost 11 now.”

Katsuki yawned. “Whatever nerd.”

He said that, but his eyes said otherwise as they refused to stay open. 

“Thanks for keeping my company, Kacchan, and—.” Deku said after a long pause. Katsuki furrowed his brow but preferred to wait for him to continue. 

But he didn’t. Instead, Deku chuckled softly. The sound played as a lullaby that Katsuki failed not to succumb to. 

“Talk to you tomorrow?” Why the fuck that question always dripped with hesitance was beyond Katsuki, but it planted a smile on his lips regardless.

Katsuki hummed. “Text me when you get home.”

Another quiet chortle. “Even though you’d be dead asleep?”

Katsuki grunted and flipped on his back. “I’d still read it in the morning like always, doofus.” 

“Yes, alright, your highness.” 

He snorted. “Little shit.” That came muffled as his eyelids fluttered closed. 

“Goodnight, Kacchan.”

“Night, nerd.”

But the moment his arm raised to pick his phone and put it away, Deku exclaimed with a quick oh.

“I missed you too, Kacchan.” He whispered the words.

It made Katsuki blink three damn times, sleep tossed out the window as he grumbled.

“Shut up, asshole.”

Deku’s low and soft chuckle was the last thing his ears registered before the line went dead.

Seriously, little sassy shit.

Chapter Text

“Do you really think it’s okay for me to come too?” 

The brunette groaned as the group got off the train in a line. 

The station brimmed with life. People of different ages passed them by, getting into the train they just left for the next trip. Uraraka walked next to Izuku, with Iida and Asui walking ahead of them by a step. 

“I know you only met him once but seriously, it’s totally fine.”

Izuku rubbed the back of his head. “I just kinda feel out of place.”

The four of them were on their way to visit Todoroki, another friend of Izuku’s group from high school. He’s the only one studying in a different university in a city that’s two hours away from where the rest lived. Izuku met him once when he came over one weekend before the exams. 

One meeting wasn’t enough to determine what kind of guy Todoroki was, or anyone for that matter. But if Izuku wanted to describe his first impression of him, well it was pretty straightforward. 

Todoroki coated his persona with a veil. He didn’t talk much during the time the group spent in the new restaurant Asui suggested they go to. It foiled Izuku’s attempt to get to know him. Considering what Uraraka said, Todoroki wasn’t the type to display his emotions, though he was sweet and kind. 

So not knowing a lot about Todoroki yet accepting Uraraka’s invite to tag along for a fun weekend with their friend left Izuku buzzing with anxiety. His heart throbbed, leaking emotions all over his chest and keeping him on alert for the upcoming event of today.

“Nonsense!” Uraraka shoved his shoulder with mirth ruling over her expression. “You’re part of the gang. Todoroki might seem blunt but he’d be happy to have you there as well.” 

They finally emerged from the station and onto a wide sidewalk. The chilly air welcomed them with its lips, forcing Izuku to rub his palms over his arms. It’s like the jacket he’s wearing was for show. Izuku couldn’t wait to get somewhere warm, perhaps drink hot cocoa. He banned himself from coffee unless it’s completely necessary to survive the hell that was university. 

The group didn’t plan much for today. The girls wanted to go for a shopping spree after breakfast. It's Tokyo, Izuku! , Uraraka exclaimed like it was a sin to think shopping back in Nagoya would even compare to it. Iida said he’d want to meet up with a friend so only the four of them were going to the mall. They would have lunch afterwards, then chill at the dorms until evening when they had to take the train back home.

They arrived at the dormitory where Todoroki lived. Since it was the weekend, not a lot of students lingered around, choosing to spend those two precious days of their week away from campus. They found Todoroki waiting by the main entrance of one of the apartment buildings along the street that’s lined up with trees.

As expected, greeting Todoroki further worsened Izuku’s nerves; he could feel them popping under his skin. He wasn’t even sure if Todoroki felt the same or was neutral about it because of the poker mask he wore. The ride to the restaurant Todoroki liked to eat at went smoothly with Uraraka involving everyone in random conversations. 

Having everyone around made it easier for Izuku to blend in, forgetting that he was spending the day with a new face he only saw once in his life. He even chatted with Todoroki separately whenever the others got into a conversation of their own. Izuku didn’t stutter or make a fool of himself either.

“That was so good!” Uraraka chirped as the group got out in the street again. She walked next to Asui with one arm looped around her friend’s arm.

Asui hummed, pleased. 

“And very nutritious, good choice for a restaurant, Todoroki.” Iida said. He walked next to Izuku’s right side. On his left, Todoroki’s gaze locked on him, eyes shooting the silent question. 

“Definitely agree!” Izuku ignored the way Uraraka snickered behind the tips of her fingers, relishing in the way he wasn’t used to Todoroki’s piercing look. 

“Glad to know.” Izuku allowed a small smile to brush over his lips at that. He really couldn’t read his face at all, but if he had to assume from the relieved tone of his voice, Todoroki was quite satisfied right now. 

Uraraka giggled out loud as mirth gushed out of her. 

“I think you’re scaring Izuku with that calculating gaze of yours.” 

Izuku almost choked on his spit when he opened his mouth a little too fast for his own good. “U-Uraraka!” 

Todoroki fixed him with another piercing look, but blinking twice showed Izuku that he was taken back by the comment. 

“Sorry, Midoriya, I didn’t mean—” 

“No!” Izuku waved the rest of the statement off with both of his hands, before he fixed Uraraka with a pout. 

“Uraraka is just exaggerating, don’t mind her.”

Said girl snorted. “Exaggerating, huh?” She even waggled her brows at him. 

“Uraraka.” 

Warning well received, Uraraka chuckled, then she asked Todoroki to drive them to the mall next. They only dropped Iida off where he was supposed to meet his friend before marching to their destination. 

Restraining oneself from buying things that attracted them was something Izuku wished he could be rewarded for. He didn’t even know it was possible to strict himself to eye shopping in a damn All-Might merch store. His eyes spilled glitter and drops of tears whenever he examined a figure or a bunch of keychains and mugs and lots of other things he couldn’t get. 

Todoroki at one point even offered to pay, saying that he liked to spend what his dad sent him every month as allowance on anything but himself. A poker face was plastered on him at all times that Izuku thought he was incapable of shifting it into anything else. Well, apparently he could if the topic they discussed was his father. 

Of course, it went without saying that Izuku politely told him he was satisfied just looking around, and Todoroki didn’t push the subject any further. 

In the end, Izuku successfully made it back to Todoroki’s dorm without spending much except for a drink they bought from a café on their way back. Izuku was proud he didn’t touch his savings. He worked hard to have enough for the time ahead, since surely at some point he’d have to work less in order to focus on his studies. 

The five of them spent their time at the dorm talking about nothing in particular. Sometimes they complained about the exam period, other times about certain professors and their lectures, before dropping the topic altogether since it was the weekend and they were supposed to talk about anything but university. Thus their conversation shifted to random topics related to what they liked or planned to do tomorrow. 

Todoroki was a business major, like Kacchan. It was surprising, though Izuku pictured him owning a company instead of just being a regular employee. He resisted the urge to tease Kacchan about it right away. He could on their way back, since the trip was two hours long. 

Before long, and not wanting to miss the train, they said their goodbyes and promised to meet again whenever the chance presented itself. Taking the day off work was worth it after all. While the party they went to after exams was fun, Izuku preferred to spend his day like today, chilling in a comfortable place with his friends, walking around interesting stores, and having meals that not only filled his hunger bar but also warmed him up because of the company.

Around 15 minutes before the arrival of the train they were waiting by its rails, Uraraka’s phone rang. She picked it up after announcing it was Todoroki. The call did alter her expression into a frown, since they only left ten minutes ago. 

“Hey! What’s up?” 

Izuku caught the brunette widening her eyes at him half a minute later, which prompted him to tilt his head in confusion. 

“Alright, I’ll tell him. Mhmm, thanks!” 

“Is something the matter?” Asui asked, finger stuck to her chin. 

Uraraka put her phone back in her purse and locked eyes with Izuku. Even before she said anything, he knew this was about him, and immediately rocked his brain for whatever that he did wrong to no avail. And yes, Izuku thought of that first instead of simply assuming it was something casual. If that was the case, why would Todoroki call Uraraka and not Izuku directly, considering the two had each other's numbers.

Oh, that’s weird. Perhaps it isn’t about him if Uraraka was the one Todoroki called.

“Todoroki said you forgot your phone in his room.” 

Never mind. 

Izuku blinked once. He started to pat his back pockets, then the front ones like what Uraraka said was impossible. He rummaged in the pockets of his jacket, which prompted the brunette to chuckle. His phone had to be in its usual place.

But nope. It wasn’t. 

He facepalmed, muttering ‘ Oh my god ’ under his breath. Uraraka reassured him with a smile. She stepped closer and patted his right shoulder twice. 

“Don’t worry about it! The dorms aren’t far from the station so Todoroki said he’s on his way to deliver it.” 

Great, he was already making a great example of himself, forcing Todoroki to go out of his way to deliver something Izuku couldn’t fathom how in the world he forgot in the first place. 

Mistakes happened for a reason. Well, mainly because someone was either dumb or life hated them. The point wasn’t the mistake itself, but how it taught you a valuable lesson. Making a mistake was like a chance to both learn and never do it again. Its consequences might linger for a long while, constantly reminding you of what you did. If it ignited your guilt so much that you made sure never to do the same thing again, then it meant you learnt. 

When Izuku mixed up the classroom numbers, he made sure to check his schedule before entering. He also made sure not to text and walk at the same time. Izuku tried to double check whenever he wanted to call someone too. Such mistakes were fixable. Sure, he’d beat himself over it for a while, but wouldn’t repeat them since the embarrassment they filled him with always stuck out like a sore thumb. 

This one though, forgetting his damn phone of all things, was something Izuku might berate himself over for weeks ahead. 

He contemplated what he would say to Todoroki as he walked left and right in front of the station’s entrance. Coming up with an excuse was impossible considering he didn’t even know how that happened. Was it when he was checking on the new notification he got from Kacchan? Or maybe it was because he dropped the device next to him when Uraraka steered his attention away from it?

Izuku couldn’t help it though, couldn’t stop himself from texting Kacchan back when he sent him a casual what's up, Deku, which rarely happened since Izuku took on the role of starting a conversation. Kacchan even asked if he could call him, something that he never imagined would occur. Too bad he couldn’t reply right after since he felt bad for messing around with his phone instead of hanging out with his friends. 

Still! 

Izuku halted in his mini marathon, eyes widening but glued to the pavement. He clapped his cheeks, hunching forward. Todoroki would show up anytime now yet his mind refused to think of an excuse.

People passed him by in a hurry, eager to relax at home. Though with his brain completely occupied with Todoroki's arrival soon, his eyes could only register blurry figures. 

Izuku took a deep breath. He straightened his back and glanced down the direction they took on their way to the station. He assured himself that his new friend wouldn’t dislike him over a small mishap on his part. Todoroki wasn’t that kind of person. 

With that in mind, he focused on looking out for when he showed up. 

Izuku stood in the middle of the sidewalk. He wasn’t particularly in anyone’s way. People chose to pass him by anyway. The road wasn’t narrow either. Yet this random person decided it was fine to stand in front of Izuku and shoot daggers at him. 

Despite that his uncalled for behavior irked Izuku's brow and the urge to point out that the street was wide enough for the guy to pass by, Izuku chose to step aside himself. His awkward side always won the battle.

He ignored the click of tongue that reached him, looking ahead for any signs of Todoroki walking from afar. Izuku wasn’t surprised or shaken, having met all kinds of rude people at work, and he certainly didn’t want such a stupid thing to mess up with his already unstable emotions that he was struggling to control. Though he couldn’t wait to complain about that rude guy to Kacchan, or tease him by saying it reminded Izuku of him. 

“Deku.”

The call was clear as day, regardless of the bustle of the street. No, their surroundings muted the moment it resounded. The name was spelt in a rough voice that steered Izuku’s attention to the left, only to find the guy from earlier still standing exactly where he was a few seconds ago. 

His features wrinkled in a second. Did he hear him right? Did this person, whom Izuku never met in his life, say ‘Deku’? It took a second after Izuku locked eyes with crimson for a smirk to roll over his lips. 

“Clumsy as ever, huh nerd?” 

If the random insult that was Deku confused him, this statement completely blew Izuku’s mind that his brows shot up his forehead. Did he also mention how this stranger sounded familiar? 

No, no, no. 

A lot of people had similar voices. It was dumb of his brain to come with… that kind of assumption after hearing a few words and a nickname only one person called Izuku by. Besides, how would he know what Izuku looked like?

“Uhh, I-I’m sorry?” Izuku turned to face him again. It was then that he took his appearance in. He was wearing black jeans, a sweater that matched them in color peeked from under an orange jacket, with its hoodie covering half of spiky hair. He was also taking Izuku in, giving him a complete once over from top to bottom. It made Izuku clench his fists. The two of them were confined in a bubble that no other sounds punctured.

The guy fished something out of the back pocket of his jeans, before he walked towards him. Izuku took half a step back when he broke into his personal bubble to shove something against his chest. Izuku scrambled to hold it, and the blond backed a step when he made sure Izuku’s fingers secured the object.

The object that was Izuku’s phone.

Interesting. Now to figure out why this guy had it when it was Todoroki who was supposed to deliver it. Life took pity on him at that moment, because his phone buzzed in his hands to inform Izuku of an incoming call. 

He picked up, seeing that it was from Todoroki, though it did take him around a minute of switching his gaze between the screen and the blond. Izuku only answered when he nodded with his chin, prompting him to accept the call. 

“H-Hey, Todoroki.” Izuku suppressed the urge of looking anywhere but at the ground. Tip tapping drummed around as his surroundings slammed back in focus.

“Hey. So you got your phone from Bakugou.” 

Upon the name, Izuku lifted his chin to face said person. His ruby eyes darted to the side the moment they were locked with emeralds. But a moment later, they hunted them again, and this time, they stayed on their target until Izuku’s heart raised a white flag. To spare himself a heart attack, he broke eye contact.

“Uhh, yes, I–” Izuku found the ground interesting. “I did.” 

“He’s my roommate. I actually wanted to come myself, but he insisted he’d give you himself. I didn’t know you knew each other though.”

Huh. 

Izuku gulped a lump, but his throat remained dry. His vision blurred as he lost focus. The tip taps over the pavement morphed to static noise. He managed to chuckle lightly. The crazy assumption his brain cells formed was growing stronger with every passing second. 

“Well, we can talk later. Glad you got your phone, Midoriya.” 

Of course Todoroki would end the call soon. He wasn’t the type of person to be persistent about something. Perhaps Bakugou already explained why they knew each other. 

Bakugou. 

Katsuki Bakugou. 

Kacchan. 

Thank you, brain, for the clarification.

Izuku gripped the phone tighter. He thanked Todoroki, then clicked his phone off and let his hand hang by the side. 

The moment their eyes locked, his surroundings turned white and muted. There was no static noise, no passersby, no bustle, no nothing. It was just Izuku and Katsuki, standing face to face with nothing to say.

The one person he always hoped to meet was standing right in front of him and Izuku was making a great first impression so far, with his gaping mouth like a dying goldfish and eyes the size of a saucer. Kacchan, on the other hand, plastered a scowl on his face. Perhaps that’s why Izuku lost the ability to speak, apart from the fact that Kacchan was fucking here, in the flesh. 

Wait. 

Why was Kacchan here?! 

It totally slipped Izuku’s mind that this was a crazy coincidence that he only saw in movies as the clichést thing ever. 

“Don’t you have a train to catch?” Kacchan asked, the scowl slowly melting off his features.

When he grunted, pinching his brows and basically glaring at him, it came to Izuku’s mind that he still didn’t reply. 

“O-Oh! Uhh yes, I-I do.” 

Kacchan’s gaze flickered to somewhere behind Izuku, before it fell on him again. He shrugged one shoulder. 

“Well, you should go.” 

And Katsuki simply turned around and started walking back the way he came from. 

What in the—

What in the fresh hell?!

Here they were, finally together due to some kind of miracle that had no definition or explanation, and Kacchan decided to bolt because what, Izuku had a train to catch? Not even a nice to officially meet you or I’m happy to see you? Not even a bye or see you later? 

Emeralds glued to the retreating back of Kacchan, the one person he resisted not to text today to hang out with his friends. It was a matter of time before the crowd ahead swallowed Kacchan as he wove through them. The scene played in slow motion. It pumped his muscles and caused them to overheat.

Before he knew it, Izuku reduced the growing distance to nothing and grabbed onto his wrist. Kacchan stumbled from the pull. A curse flew out of his mouth and he turned with a death stare fixated at Izuku. 

Upon the proximity between them, Izuku lowered his gaze, grasping Kacchan harder, but not in a way that could hurt him. 

Why did he stop him again? For what seemed like hours but in reality was a mere minute, Izuku couldn’t figure out why, let alone form words to speak. 

“Wh-What?” 

Izuku pinched his brows. If his ears were working fine, and ignoring his heart as it hammered in his chest, he swore that there was hesitation in Kacchan’s voice, and he definitely broke the word in half. 

Oh.

Was that why Kacchan left abruptly, apart from the fact that Izuku had a train to catch? Maybe, just maybe his heart throbbed as fast as Izuku’s. Maybe this was as overwhelming to Katsuki as it was to him.

The butterflies nestling in their chrysalis hatched and fluttered all over his stomach, making him tighten his grip. But the touch caused his eyes to enlarge. 

He was touching Kacchan. 

He was with Kacchan.

“Alright nerd, not that you’re grinding my hand or anything because that barely hurts but–” 

Izuku lifted his chin, eyes wide. He at once let go of Kacchan’s hand. His feet staggered a few steps back. 

Kacchan scrutinized him for a bit. He cleared his throat in a demanding kind of way, and the action gave Izuku the push he needed to speak. 

“Uhh, are—,” 

Kacchan furrowed his brow. He looked perplexed, though he didn’t urge Izuku to speak faster, which he appreciated because there was no way he could with the lump slowly swelling in his throat. 

Izuku chewed on the inside of his cheeks. Eyes drowned in the other’s. When his gaze fell off Izuku a few times, he sucked his lips in.

Hands forming fists, Izuku blurted a question. “A-Are you... K-Kacchan?” 

Because that was a very important question and Izuku surely didn’t want to be speaking with a complete stranger. Thus, he buried all evidence of this guy being Kacchan, along with Izuku’s intellect apparently, and decided to ask for a verbal confirmation. 

Alright, scratch that. Izuku simply had nothing to talk about at the moment. He blamed the butterflies assaulting his stomach, his heart for slamming against his ribcage, his brain for shutting down, his limbs for being noodles. Kacchan for being insanely handsome. 

Oh no, that right there was not needed on top of everything else going on in Izuku’s head.

Kacchan’s eyes grew in size. His lips parted. He raised one hand and Izuku followed it until he pointed at himself. When he nodded at the silent gesture, Kacchan snickered.

Izuku didn’t feel like laughing. His body stiffened that if anyone touched him they’d think he’s a perfect wax statue.

“Do you have other people who call you fucking Deku too?” Kacchan emphasized the nickname, a smirk tugging one corner of his mouth. 

He parted his lips to speak, but his body failed him. His vocal cords weren’t operating at 100%. So Izuku resolved to shake his head to either side. Green curls ruffled from the intense motion.

“Then who else am I supposed to be?” 

An imposter who looked into my phone and pretended to be Kacchan for god knew why? 

Kacchan shook his head in disbelief. A small smile that did funny things to Izuku’s chest replaced the smirk from earlier. In the next moment, he stepped forward. His hand rose towards Izuku but it stopped two inches away from his forehead. Kacchan biting his lower lip captured his attention. 

Decision made, his hand started to ruffle green curls. If the smile did funny things, the touch absolutely wrecked his soul that it zipped out of his body. 

“Dumb nerd.” 

At that moment, with Kacchan’s fingers threading his hair, lips beaming at him, eyes shooting affection his way, acceptance of who he really was settled over Izuku’s shoulders. His hands relaxed by his sides as his jaw fell. 

This right here was Kacchan. 

The rude stranger who pissed Izuku off at first, then became one of the closest people to him. The guy who barged into his life by accident but soon filled it with nothing but affection and delight. The person he liked and talked with more than once a day.

“Hey,” Kacchan drew his hand away as his nose scrunched. “Wh-Why— the fuck are you crying?” 

Izuku’s hand shook on its way to his right cheek. Fingers brushed across wet skin, which made a gasp rattle his throat. 

But before even half a word came out of lips that kept parting for a few moments as Kacchan fixed him with a concerned stare, something vibrated in his jeans. It ran a shiver up his spine. The gasp this time wasn’t voiceless. 

Izuku took out his phone as his other hand rubbed his eyes to erase any evidence of a breakdown. He answered Uraraka’s call immediately. 

“H-Hey.”

“Izuku! What’s taking you so long if you already got your phone? The train is arriving in five minutes!”

His eyes widened in a flash. They locked with Kacchan's as they squinted. Izuku half turned and faced the other side.

“Sorry! I-I’ll be there in a bit!” He blurted out, and as soon as Uraraka sighed in relief and told him to hurry up, Izuku ended the call. He shoved the phone back in his pockets. 

When he turned again to meet Kacchan, he didn’t give him a second to speak. 

“Deku, fucking go before you miss the train. I’ll text you.” 

If there was one thing Izuku wanted an explanation for, it’s Kacchan’s reaction to their obscure meeting. Surprise didn’t assault his expression the way it did to Izuku’s. Was it simply because he figured out who Todoroki’s friend was before he came here? That he knew who he was meeting from the phone Izuku left behind? 

Still. 

Why was Kacchan so nonchalant about them parting ways this easily without even—Okay, Izuku was in a hurry, but he still had time to catch another train later. It wasn’t the end of the world if he skipped this damn trip. 

Instead of shock, Izuku’s emotions took a complete 180, causing a pout to drag the corners of his lips with it. Kacchan, upon the display of discontent, frowned. Though before he attempted to say anything, Izuku spoke. 

“Fine.” Wow, leave it to frustration to make it possible to produce such a clear and sharp tone. It pushed Kacchan’s brows to shoot up his forehead. 

Alright, he had a stupid train to catch, and that was arriving in five minutes. Four with the way he stilled to compete in a staring contest with Kacchan. So basically he had four minutes left. The trip back to where his friends were waiting shouldn’t take longer than that if he sprinted like a war was announced. 

He could sacrifice ten seconds and still have enough time. Or twenty. It…depended. 

So, and to not waste any precious time, Izuku erased the distance between them in a second. His arms snaked around Kacchan’s waist and flushed their bodies together. The contact made Katsuki flinch. His hoodie dropped over his back upon contact. Izuku tightened his grip further, squeezing him like this was the first and last time they would meet. 

Except it wouldn’t. Not on his damn dead body. 

Kacchan’s body cocooned Izuku in a small space of nothing but heat and comfort, like the season shifted to summer the moment their bodies touched, despite that his back stayed unshielded and bare. He didn’t mind the one-sided hug, and relished in it for merely ten seconds, cheek resting against Kacchan’s chest. His heart’s beats amused Izuku’s lips. A gentle music to his ears, so he recorded and stored it for later. 

Ten seconds weren’t enough, so Izuku allowed himself another ten and inhaled more of the caramel scent Katsuki was engulfed in. Was that the shampoo he used? His perfume maybe? It brightened his face.

Begrudgingly, Izuku pulled back, a pout replaced his smile. Before Kacchan’s expression changed in any way than it was right now, flustered and surprised, Izuku rushed back to the station. 

Chapter Text

Amidst the passersby stood a blond with parted lips. His ruby eyes followed the retreating back of Izuku until he disappeared into the station ahead. Remnants of vanilla stuck to him, as the heat Deku enveloped him with fought against the cold. 

That was Deku. 

Katsuki had just met the little sassy shit. 

The thought pushed him to cover his mouth with his palm. The other hand stuffed inside the pocket of his jeans. His glare caught the attention of people who locked eyes with him as they walked by.

That was the most bizarre ten minutes of his life, and don’t get him started on the hug. That fucker. Tucking himself in his space and taking his breath away then escaping far from reach. Katsuki grumbled as his chin lowered so his gaze met the ground.

Today was as boring as ever. Katsuki crammed his ass at the lounge in the dorms before he got a text from Icyhot informing him that his dumb friends left. It’s not like he was hiding from them god forbid. Katsuki simply was not in the damn mood for useless interactions. Besides, studying in his room would be impossible with the extras there.

He got back to change for the stupid gig his friends had tonight, but hoped to have a quick chat with the nerd before leaving. He would still have some time to spare before the performance started and he wasn’t wasting that chattering with his friends back at the venue they were supposed to perform at.

As soon as he was done changing, he called the nerd. Whether he was at work or not, Deku always answered. But Lo and behold, there was a phone ringing in the damn room while he was making the call. It was over one of the cushions on the ground that belonged to half and half. 

At first, it only pushed him to frown. It wasn’t half and half’s, considering that his phone sat on the bedside table next to his bed. Perhaps it belonged to one of his dumb friends. Hence why it didn’t hold Katsuki’s attention for more than five seconds. Who fucking forget their phone in this damn century?

But after calling Deku again as the first call went unanswered, the same phone rang again.

Calling a third time, the frown came back. Katsuki pushed himself off the bed and stepped closer to the device. His eyes reflected the name ‘Kacchan’, and his frown turned into a scowl.

When his shitty roommate emerged from the toilet, he noticed the phone, face as dead as ever. But upon declaring that the foreign device was Midoriya’s, it all clicked in place. It fucking made sense. This was in no way a crazy coincidence, but intriguing nonetheless. 

It still made his heart skip a beat. To think that Deku of all people was in his room, that Katsuki missed a golden chance of meeting the guy because he preferred to study somewhere else, that fucking Icyhot got to see and hang out with Deku when Katsuki fucking couldn’t. 

The whole thing boiled his blood, specifically the last part.

Telling Icyhot that he was going to deliver the phone himself was no big deal, but asking him what Deku looked like forced Katsuki to explain shit. It was his luck that the Half and Half bastard didn’t bother asking for more details after Katsuki told him they had never met in person.

Vibration brought him back to reality, to the busy street where he met the nerd a minute ago. Katsuki fished his phone out. The name on the screen and the time on top made him click his tongue. He turned on his heel and walked away as he answered. 

“What?” 

The caller paused upon hearing Katsuki’s fed-up tone, before he spoke. “Bro! What do you mean what? We’re starting soon. When are you coming?” 

“Hurry your ass here, Blasty!” A distant chirp reached him from the other side, to which he grunted. 

“I’m on my fucking way, shut your nagging asses.” 

He ended the call and shoved his phone back in the pocket of his jeans. The extras and their dumb fucking performance. If not for that, he would have asked the shitty nerd to skip his ride and stay. Hell, he could have taken Deku to the damn gig and made the last day of his weekend worth something.

Stuffing his hands inside his pockets, Katsuki picked up speed across the street. He was not about to let the extras annoy the shit out of him because he missed their performance. It would be a good distraction anyway. A break so his heart calmed the fuck down.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

What a lousy ass distraction that was. Yeah, he listened to and enjoyed the fucking music his friends worked so hard on, but a persistent image of a freckled nerd infected his vision the whole time.

Before he knew it, the show ended, but the image became animated in his head and gained a damn voice. That cu–He groaned before the thought completed itself, hiding his face in his palms.

“Someone sure is grumpy.” 

A loud chuckle followed. “It’s long past his bedtime. Can you blame him?” That was Dunce Face.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy our performance, Blasty.”

Katsuki lifted his chin from where he sat on the couch in one of the backrooms of the venue as the extras packed their instruments.

Across him, Raccoon Eyes had a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. To her left on the ground, Pikachu was zipping his guitar case.

The couch dipped on his side, before an arm snaked across his shoulders. Katsuki half turned his head and locked eyes with Shitty Hair as he smiled. 

“No way, man. We did great, right?” 

With pursed lips, Katsuki shook Shitty Hair off him and stood. “Yeah, yeah.” He looked Denki's way as he and Raccoon Eyes walked towards Katsuki. A smirk rolled over his lips. 

“Except Dunce Face,” Katsuki said as he walked to the door and pushed it open.

“Hey what gives!”

A snort resounded. “You did mess up that one part of the song like usual.” 

Dunce Face gasped in utmost shock at what Raccoon Eyes said. “I did no such thing!” 

As the group made their way out the building, Katsuki fished his phone out and opened the messages app.

Shitty Nerd: Alright

Shitty Nerd: Explain

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan?

The first two texts were sent an hour ago, while the last one followed the two 20 minutes later. While Katsuki did read Deku’s texts the moment he received them, he opted not to reply until the show was over. 

So once he settled on the backseat of Shitty Hair’s car, with the guy and Pinky in the front, and Dunce Face to his right, Katsuki finally typed the nerd a message.

Katsuki: What

“We kicked ass tonight.” Pinky said as she turned around in her seat to meet the two blonds. She let go of a snicker upon locking eyes with Dunce Face. 

“Regardless of Denki’s mishap.” 

A groan rattled said boy’s throat. He flicked his hand in the air as if to prove a point. “There was no fucking mishap!”

His phone vibrated in his hands soon after Raccoon Eyes laughed. The rest of their conversation played as background music as Katsuki focused on the small screen.

Shitty Nerd: Finally!!

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan, I am very confused right now and luckily, or unluckily, have one more hour before I could be somewhere I can scream against a pillow in, so explain

He scoffed. His fingers worked on a retort right away.

Katsuki: Don’t fucking tell me what to do

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan 

Shitty Nerd: Ik where you live now

That perked his eyebrow. 

“Ugh don’t remind me of that, Mina.”

Said girl snorted. “It’s your fault for not doing it before the gig.”

Whatever the fuck they were talking about held no importance to him. His fingers typed more aggressively than before.

Katsuki: HAH?!

Katsuki: The fuck is that supposed to mean?!

Shitty Nerd: How did you know that phone was mine?

Katsuki clicked his tongue. 

“No way dude. Do it yourself.” Shitty Hair said.

He glanced up and found Dunce Face grabbing onto the passenger seat. His gaze stuck to Shitty Hair.

He lowered his chin again to type.

Katsuki: What kind of dumb question is that?

Shitty Nerd: Fine, I’ll text Todoroki 

Shitty Nerd: I wanted to text him forever ago, but thought I’d wait until you told me. But no, you’re no help

There was a thud sound on his right, followed by a shuffle of clothes. Dunce Face’s whine made his hand twitch. It was a second away from flying to the side to land a critical hit. He was talking to Katsuki now, but it went ignored as he typed a reply.

No way in fucking hell was he going to let Icyhot explain shit.

Katsuki: God you’re so damn annoying

Katsuki: I came back to the fucking dorm a bit after you extras left, called you since you didn’t text me back, and there was a phone ringing in the damn room with that stupid nickname you call me by 

Katsuki: Happy?

Shitty Nerd: No

Katsuki: Fuck you then

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan isn’t a stupid nickname

Shitty Nerd: It’s cute

His eyes widened at the word; cheeks growing hotter as an outcome. Katsuki hunched over the phone.

Katsuki: You dare give me a cute dumb name

Shitty Nerd: Uh-huh

Shitty Nerd: Cuz Kacchan is cute. I’ve seen you today so I mean it

“That fucker!” That made Dunce Face yelp. Raccoon Eyes shifted in her seat and looked at him with enlarged eyes.

“What the hell man!” Dunce Face cried.

He flipped him off before his eyes fell on the phone again.

Katsuki: THE FUCK YOU CALLING CUTE DIPSHIT

Cute? The fuck was wrong with the damn nerd? 

His phone dinged as a series of texts arrived one after the other.

Shitty Nerd: Still, doesn’t explain why you were so indifferent about this meeting

Shitty Nerd: I mean

Shitty Nerd: Isn’t it crazy that you turned out to be Todoroki’s roommate? 

Katsuki hmphed. Crazy my ass. On the contrary, he should have figured as much.

Brows wrinkling, Katsuki tutted. Did the bastard just ignore him?

Katsuki: Not really

Shitty Nerd: What?

Katsuki: You said your dumb friend mistyped her number

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan don’t be rude 

He rolled his eyes and almost saw his brain. Katsuki sagged against the back of the seat.

Katsuki: Like I give a fuck. Yes or no nerd

Shitty Nerd: Yes

Katsuki: Lemme guess, that friend is round face

Shitty Nerd: Who? 

Katsuki: Fucking Uraraka 

Shitty Nerd: Did I ever tell you that?

Katsuki: No dipshit

Katsuki: Ik her, and the rest of your dumb friends

Shitty Nerd: How?

Katsuki: We went to the same high school

Shitty Nerd: No way…

Shitty Nerd: Why did you assume it was Uraraka?

Katsuki: Cuz she’s an annoying bitch

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan

Shitty Nerd: That does not explain anything

Katsuki: Our damn numbers are similar except for one digit

Technically, that was not why he assumed it was Round Face. When she realized their numbers were similar, the girl decided it was her job to push his buttons. Payback for Katsuki’s uncalled for brash attitude, she said. Fucking stupid. 

In his first year of university, he kept receiving texts from anonymous people. Namely, flirts who thought they got the brunette’s number, when in reality, it was Katsuki’s because the bitch thought it was funny. The fact that their numbers were similar except for one digit made it easier to pretend she simply fat-fingered the number. 

The damn nerd wasn’t the first guy messaging him thinking it was Round Face.

But he was the first whom Katsuki didn’t block right on the spot.

Shitty Nerd: Oh

Shitty Nerd: So this really wasn’t a crazy coincidence

Katsuki: Fucking no

Katsuki: Besides, you being their friend, it was a matter of time before we met since half and half is my roommate

Giving his number to Deku definitely wasn’t Round Face’s intention because obviously the nerd wasn’t a flirt. That was a mistake on her part that she didn’t mean to make, but surely one Katsuki didn’t… dislike.

Truth be told, and as much as it was annoying that the brunette gave his number to whoever the fuck pissed her off, it was also thanks to her that he got to know Deku.

Regardless, they were bound to meet. If Round Face didn’t fat-finger her number, they would have met either way since Deku was the extras’ friend.

Fate, huh.

“Who are you texting?” 

That pulled him back to reality. He met Raccoon Eyes’ questioning stare. The car was stopped at a red traffic light. He caught Shitty Hair’s crinkled eyes through the rearview mirror. He was totally smirking.

The fucker.

Scoffing, Katsuki regarded his phone again.

“Keep your nosy ass off my business.”

“Ooooooh.” Came the stretched exclamation from Dunce Face as the tips of his fingers hovered over his toothy smile. “Keeping secrets, huh?”

The car moved again after the traffic light turned green. The same time a fucking paragraph appeared before his eyes. Fucking Pikachu should consider himself lucky, since that took priority over punching his dumb face.

Shitty Nerd: Kinda wish it was a crazy coincidence. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Touching? Like imagine this, two strangers meet due to a mistake, hate each other at first but then become closer as time passes by, before they finally meet unintentionally because it was their fate? 

Katsuki: You watch too many movies Deku

“You know something, don’t you, Ei?”

A giggle. “Do I?”

Shitty Nerd: Not that I hated you or anything, okay maybe a tiny bit because you were rude but that isn’t the case anymore of course because I like you Kacchan

His stomach flipped. Blood rushed to the top of his head, staining his ears and face red. Shifting over the seat again, Katsuki immediately typed a reply. His teeth bit his bottom lip.

That damn asshole.

Katsuki: Okay nerd, I fucking get it

Katsuki: Shut the fuck up

Shitty Nerd: OMG

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan!!!!

His eyebrows shot up his forehead. The dots jumped for two seconds before another text arrived.

Shitty Nerd: You’re Bakugou!!!

Did Deku finally lose his mind?

Katsuki: And you’re a dumbfuck

Shitty Nerd: No no! I mean you are THAT Bakugou!

Shitty Nerd: I can’t believe I never realized! Well, I couldn’t anyway since I didn’t know your family name

Katsuki: What in the ever loving fuck are you talking about?

“I told you, once that thing dings, he’s out of this world.” 

“Are you for real? Who the heck is he chatting with?” 

“Yeah bro! Spill the beans! You totally know something.”

Despite his friends talking about him, Katsuki was too wrapped up to notice. Bits of their conversation reached his ears. Hence why they held no meaning at all. Mere words that bounced off his head. While this peculiar state wasn’t new to Kirishima, it sure was to the other two.

Shitty Nerd: Uraraka mentioned some of her friends from high school. She mentioned you a few times! I just can’t believe the guy I thought reminded me a lot of you turned out to be really you!

Katsuki: What did round face say about me?

“Dude, I gotta know who this mysterious person is,” Kaminari said. 

There was a shuffle of clothes.

“I advise you not to.” 

Shitty Nerd: Oh yk nothing that I don’t already know about u, you were rude and loud and hot headed and never bothered to call everyone by their name 

Katsuki scoffed, then he grumbled. His fingers drummed on the keyboard.

Katsuki: Fucking bitch talking behind my back

Shitty Nerd: Aw she did say under all that roughness you’re not a bad guy 

Katsuki: Whatever

Shitty Nerd: I really can’t believe we met

Katsuki: We did

Shitty Nerd: Can we meet again?

His heart started to hammer against his ribcage upon reading that. Katsuki chewed the insides of his cheeks. 

He imagined the nerd standing before him again, with his little stars on either cheek, green curls that Katsuki could thread his fingers through, eyes with emerald hues that glinted and crinkled upon the nerd’s face brightening. 

His mind drifted to what the two could do when meeting again. They could chill somewhere quiet so no one fucking interfered, or maybe pick a café where they could catch up on things. Perhaps they could—

His eyes enlarged as the thoughts dissipated. What in the fresh hell was wrong with his brain? Now was not the time to indulge in daydreams.

Gaze sticking to the screen again, he noticed that Deku sent another text before he even attempted to think of what to type back.

Shitty Nerd: Yk, I was really upset, I thought you didn’t want to talk or wasn’t as excited cuz you kept urging me to go

Rolling his eyes, Katsuki started to type a retort.

“Oh my gosh, he’s so fucking absorbed in that shit it’s hilarious.”

Katsuki: You had no time to fucking talk

Shitty Nerd: I could have got on the next train

Katsuki: I was supposed to be somewhere 

Shitty Nerd: Fine

Shitty Nerd: Next time then

Katsuki: Whatever

“Pfft, look, even doing this doesn’t grab his attention at all.” 

“Dude, seriously, stop before hell breaks loose.”

Shitty Nerd: I’m really happy we met irl

Shitty Nerd: I wanna see you again

Heat burnt the tips of his ears. One hand unclutched the device in favor of covering his mouth. 

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan?

Why must the dumb nerd be this fucking cheesy. 

“Oh this picture came out perfectly. He’s so damn red in it.” 

His phone vibrated in his hand.

Shitty Nerd: You’re being shy again

Katsuki: FUCK U

Shitty Nerd: <3<3<3

Katsuki: Stop it with the damn hearts

Katsuki: So fucking stupid

Shitty Nerd: Oh, okay then I’ll type their meaning instead

Shitty Nerd: I really love you Kacchan

“Omg get this! He—-“

Shitty Nerd: Oh man, I broke you again

Katsuki: I’M BLOCKING YOUR ASS

Shitty Nerd: <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

A mixture of laughter registered in his ears then, and that finally slammed him back into the real world. 

Raccoon Eyes was laughing on her seat, arms clutching her stomach. Dunce Face was in a similar position. Through the rearview mirror, he caught a shit-eating grin on the redhead. 

“Welcome back, bro,” he said. 

The engine was turned off since the car was parked near the dorms. When the fuck—

Katsuki blinked once. 

Twice. 

His mouth gaped. 

“Care to tell us who this nerd is, Kacchan?” Eyebrows twitched upon the emphasized name coming from Dunce Face’s damn mouth. 

Clicking his phone off, Katsuki shifted around. His eyes narrowed into slits. 

“The fuck did you call me?” 

“I warned you, bro.”

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Be careful what you wish for. 

A famous saying people said to point out that wishes weren’t always ideal. What you wanted at some point might end up being something you didn’t really desire. Of course, there was no way to know if that would be the case at the time your wish was born.

Our hearts spoke for us on a whim. There was no emotion filtering since you simply wanted those emotions free. Regardless of how long it might take for a wish to come true, it wasn’t going to occur right after expressing it. 

Thus people chose to state them out loud or acknowledge them in secret. It was harmless wishing. Right?

Wrong.

Katsuki didn’t put in mind that the damn nerd was an inpatient bastard. That lame excuse of a meeting they had today wasn’t fulfilling. Hell, Deku spent half of it staring dumbfounded then proceeding to ask if Katsuki was fucking Kacchan, like that wasn’t obvious from the nickname or the fact that he had the nerd’s phone.

So yes, Katsuki did not regret wishing he could see Deku sooner rather than later after getting back to the dorms. He did not regret lying on his bed and stuffing his head with images of Deku as his features brightened upon seeing Katsuki. 

His phone dinged three times during a crucial imagining session. It derived a click of a tongue, before he flipped on his side to face the bedside table. 

Sitting on the desk across his bed was Icyhot, mismatched eyes drawn to the laptop as his fingers were typing. 

Katsuki picked up his phone and laid on his back again. His eyes fluttered closed for a second when light assaulted them.

Shitty Nerd: Hey

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan

Shitty Nerd: You up?

Rolling his eyes, his fingers started drumming over the keyboard, eager to reprimand Deku for messaging him at fucking 11 PM. 

Katsuki: How am I supposed to sleep when you text whenever the fuck you want?

Keys clicking from the other side resounded. Katsuki spared his roommate another glance.

The room was shrouded in darkness except for the night lamp next to Half and Half’s laptop. An open book sat on the other side of the device, as the guy kept pausing on typing to check its content. 

Vibration in his hands steered his attention back to the chat. 

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan

Shitty Nerd: You literally replied a minute after I sent it

Shitty Nerd: There's no way you were asleep

“Little shit.” He muttered under his breath. 

Katsuki: What do you want

Dots jumped on the screen for a full ass minute. Another minute before they showed up again as if to taunt him longer. This went on for over five minutes until he felt multiple veins bursting.

With a tut, Katsuki started to type again. 

Katsuki: Stop fucking stalling shitty nerd

“Bakugou.” 

Said guy turned his head, grunting for a reply. Half and Half didn’t bother facing him, choosing to let his gaze stick to the laptop. Its brightness illuminated his profile.

“Our first lecture tomorrow morning was rescheduled to 11 instead of 9, right?”

The fucking dots dancing on the screen deepened his frown into a scowl. Deku seriously tested his patience, which he fucking didn’t have much of—didn’t have at all.  

“Bakugou?”

“Fuck you Half and Half yes now Shut. Up.” He hissed the final two words.

An exhale reached him. He could hear the bicolored bastard shaking his head but didn’t give a fuck about the gesture either way.

A notification popped up. 

Shitty Nerd: Okay uhh okay Kacchan you can totally say no if you didn’t feel like it or thought it was too soon or something I mean I guess it’s a bit silly of me to think it was, yk, too soon, since we met today and all and that we also promised to meet as soon as we can later but yk that might take us a while considering our busy schedules, not that Ik your schedule to assume it’s a busy one but in my case it kinda is and I have my part-time job too so yeah I guess it might be weeks before we could see each other again and well I mean yk we could like idk

His jaw fell, eyes widening at the full ass essay he got for a damn text. 

Was Deku out of his—Was fucking Deku out of his fucking mind? The dumb app should limit users lest the nerd send a 1000 words text next. 

“Little shit.” It wasn’t a mutter this time as realization struck him. Deku didn’t even type what he wanted.

Katsuki: Are you fucking with me Deku? 

Katsuki: FUCKING SAY WHAT YOU WANT DAMMIT

Another tongue click, more click-clacking from Icyhot’s laptop. Katsuki was a second away from flipping the bastard's desk along with his noisy device. But then a text arrived.

Shitty Nerd: Can we video call?

His heart rate skyrocketed. His eyes shifted between shutting and opening, during which two texts followed Deku’s previous one. 

Shitty Nerd: I just

Shitty Nerd: I want to see you

Be careful what you wish for. 

Now he understood why that was a fucking thing. 

Okay. 

This wasn’t practically a bad idea. Didn’t he want to see the nerd? A video call would at least temporarily fill his greed until they could meet. Officially and for longer than lousy ten minutes. 

Besides, and dare he admit, he really wanted another chance to see the nerd, to capture his features properly, to gaze at the little stars on his cheeks, to make him smile or laugh so he would witness them rising along with the corners of his lips as his eyes crinkled from the motion, to let the emeralds suck him into a whole different world.

Vibration made him jolt. Katsuki blinked the blur away.

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan?

He pushed himself up until his back hit the wall. The blanket reached his stomach, but a shiver running up his spine made him draw his legs to himself. 

Katsuki: Okay

More mechanical clicking, a page being turned. Katsuki faced the bedside table and extended his hand to turn on his night lamp. Seconds dragged on afterwards, turning into minutes. The wait made him bite his bottom lip. What the fuck was Deku waiting for? 

Hold on.

A frown tickled his eyebrows as he placed the phone against his thighs. Why the heck was Katsuki waiting when he could have called himself? 

He was no wimp. 

The mere thought morphed the frown into a scowl. Clicking his tongue, Katsuki closed off the messaging app. He was about to open his contacts list when the device started to ring. 

Shitty Nerd is calling…

Swallowing a lump he didn’t know nestled in his throat, Katsuki hit accept. Then he remembered fucking Half and Half was in the room and clicked his tongue. He should have fucking put his earphones on. 

The blackness shifted in a blink and Deku showed up. They locked eyes. One second, his jaw fell. In the next, his eyes grew in size.

Then he was gone. 

Call ended.

What.

Katsuki blinked at the black screen. 

Another blink, but time didn’t rewind for him to process what had just happened. 

Okay, he could swear that the call connected because he fucking saw Deku with his dumb goldfish stare. He saw how the nerd’s free hand moved closer to the screen two seconds after the line connected before his picture disappeared.

Thus, and putting all that in considerati—FUCK THAT.

“THAT ASSHOLE!” 

The mechanical clicking stopped. 

“Baku—”

“Shut the FUCK. UP.” The interruption was immediate. Katsuki sat cross-legged and hunched his back over the device in his hands, which were shaking from the excessive adrenaline. It led him to tighten his grip on the phone. 

But just when he wanted to call the nerd again, a notification popped from the top. 

Shitty Nerd: Omg 

Shitty Nerd: Kacchan I’m sorry

“Sorry my fucking butt!” Katsuki shouted as his fingers drummed on the screen. 

A sigh echoed soon after his cry.

Katsuki: Give me ONE good reason why you fucking ended the damn call

“I’m not dealing with everyone’s complaints in the morning again.” Katsuki turned his head with a loud hah?!, but the tone he used was pointless since the bicolored bastard simply stared at the book and flipped a page.

“Just saying.”

“Fuck you.” 

A ding brought his gaze back to the phone. 

Shitty Nerd: I… didn’t think you’d really accept the call? 

What in the fresh hell? 

The blanket rustled as Katsuki readjusted against the wall again. Curse bullets shot out of his mouth in a low mumble. 

Katsuki: Try again

Shitty Nerd: I’m sorry it’s just I panicked okay? 

Katsuki: Tf you mean panicked nerd we fucking MET today!

Shitty Nerd: That was unintentional!

Katsuki: Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!

Shitty Nerd: Yk what I guess I could wait until we meet it’s all good  

Shitty Nerd: Besides it’s already late and your lights were off I bet Todoroki is asleep too

Oh fuck that. 

Grumbling under his breath, Katsuki closed the app and at once opened his contacts list to call Deku himself. He should have fucking done that from the start. 

The longer the call went on without being answered, the more his blood boiled. His fingers unconsciously clutched the device tighter. If Deku fucking did not answer, he would seriously—The line connected near the final ring, cutting his mental threat short. 

The moment Deku appeared on screen again, the words toppled off his tongue. 

“DEKU YOU BASTARD.” 

That was the first thing Katsuki said, (read: shouted), on their first video call. 

On screen, Deku yelped then choked on his spit. His eyes grew ten times bigger as his brows shot up his forehead. Then he was gone and in his place a white ceiling showed up. That all happened in the span of two seconds.

There was a gasp. The picture distorted from one frame to another as Deku picked up the device again. While Katsuki would snort at the clumsiness, he was barely holding his nerves back from snapping out of their place. 

Deku appeared again, clad in a hoodie that matched his dumb soft curls and those shiny black spots on each cheek and his stupid little smile tugging the corners of his lips. 

“K-K-Kacchan I–”

“Shut up.” 

That he did. Five blinks later, his chin ducked as a giggle ran free. 

Fucking little shit. 

“Is that Midoriya?” 

The question was like a whiplash of cold water. Again, Katsuki was reminded who he was with, and tutted.

Katsuki spared the other side a glance, and caught Half and Half’s dead eyes. 

“O-Oh, Todoroki is awake?” 

Katsuki steered his gaze back to the screen. On it, Deku spared him a surprised look, eyes wide and lips parted in a small o. 

“Mind your fucking business, Half and Half.” 

The warning fell on deaf ears. The chair creaked as Todoroki pushed it back, before he dared cross the distance between them and block Katsuki’s vision to look at the screen by tilting his head. 

“O-Oh,” Deku said. 

“Hey, Midoriya.” 

“H-Hi.”

Katsuki was currently processing the simple fact that Icyhot was blocking Deku from him. The process continued to crash as they resumed their talk.

“I’m sorry, did we wake you up?” 

“No. I was working on an assignment.”

“I-I see.” 

“So you and Bakugou, huh?” Turning his head, he locked eyes with squinted crimson. 

“Uhh–” Deku chuckled. “Y-Yeah. We-I–”

“How did you two meet?”

“Well…it’s kind of a long story.” 

“I don’t mind long stories.”

Process reached 50%. 

“It was thanks to Uraraka actually.”

“Yeah?”

An affirmative hum. “She mistyped her number, which turned out to be Kacchan’s. From there, we just kept… texting.” 

Process reached 80%.

“Kacchan?” 

“O-O-Oh, Umm—”

Fuck this bullshit. 

“Okay get the fuck outta my damn face!” Katsuki pushed Todoroki away, making Deku finally appear before his eyes again.

“K-Kacchan!” the nerd exclaimed loudly. 

The motion didn’t offend Todoroki one bit. The same fucking dead look still plastered on his face.

“And you call him Deku?” 

“I said get the fuck outta my face!” Picking up his earphones from the side, Katsuki started to put them on. He grumbled when one fell off his ear since he placed it in a haste.

Deku had the audacity to facepalm on camera. 

“Kacchan you can’t ser—“ his voice disappeared as Katsuki plugged in the end of his earphones. 

“—do that. I was talking to—“

Katsuki cut him off with a tsk. “Shut up. You wanted to call me, nerd.”

A sigh resounded in his ears. Deku hunched his shoulders, but a smile curled the corners of his lips.

“Well, can you tell Todoroki that I’ll talk to him la—“

“Fuck no.” 

Another release of air. A pout replaced the smile from earlier. “Kacchan.” 

“Midoriya, I’ll message you.” His brows irked when Todoroki fucking blocked the screen again to wave at the nerd. 

“O-Okay,” Deku said. Then his eyes widened as a realization hit him. He raised his hand and gestured okay using his thumb and forefinger. A shy smile brightened his expression.

But before Katsuki got a chance to push the guy again, because how dare he, Half and Half stepped away and walked back to his desk. 

Damn fucker.

His eyes followed Todoroki as his ass plopped on the chair and he started to drag it back to the desk. 

And while Katsuki was eager to shoot a curse or too and teach the bastard a lesson, a chortle attracted him. He turned his head, and found Deku grinning. His eyes crinkled at the corners.

“What’s fucking funny?”

The angle changed while Deku was trying to reposition himself so his back leant against the headboard of the bed. The room was fully lit. Dumb nerd and his dumb messed up sleeping schedule.

“Nothing, Kacchan.”

He clicked his tongue. Imitating Deku, he also settled against the wall. His phone hid behind his knees as he hauled his legs up and bent them.

Then silence invited itself. Neither guy spoke for what seemed like hours, but in reality was mere five minutes. Deku’s eyes kept flitting to either side. He even bit his bottom lip, and the action pushed Katsuki to shuffle around for some damn reason.

It was only now that his brain processed the fact that this was a video call, that Deku was on the small screen, trying but failing to find anything to say.

Which Katsuki was guilty of too.

It came to his attention now that he finally saw the damn nerd today, even if it was for ten minutes. Katsuki was currently looking at his dumb face as a blush splotched his cheeks, making the stars on either one glint.

His heart skipped a beat. He tightened his grip on the phone. 

Fuck.

“I’m going to bed, Bakugou.”

Katsuki snapped his head to the side too fast; there was no way his neck didn’t strain, but that didn’t stop him from speaking his mind up. 

“Who the fuck cares?!”

Todoroki flipped on his side, giving his back to him. The only light illuminating the room was Katsuki’s. 

“Try to be quiet.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Goodnight.”

“Die!”

A snort rang in his ears. Facing the screen again, he caught the moment Deku hunched over and started to laugh. 

While the urge to blurt out a the fuck you laughing at was tempting, Katsuki’s entire body froze. His eyes squinted as he watched the nerd throwing his head until it rested against the headboard again. White pearls shone from behind parted lips. 

Katsuki swallowed once. 

On the other end, Deku’s laugh morphed to a series of giggles. Upon locking contact with Katsuki, they quieted down until he zipped his lips shut.

But soon a smile rolled over his lips.

“Sorry.” 

Katsuki lifted a brow. “For laughing your ass out?”

A snort rattled his throat. “No silly.” Scratching his cheek, Deku glanced to the side. “For hanging up on you earlier.”

A hmph. “You should be. Fucking bastard.”

“I was just… surprised.” 

“What exactly was I supposed to do then, ignore your call?”

“I pretty much expected that?” Deku said, pausing in between each word.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

His eyes widened, but then he waved his free hand on screen “Nothing, nothing, Kacchan.”

He squinted in suspicion. Deku cleared his throat. The angle shifted for a second when he shuffled on the bed. 

“So, uhh—crazy day, huh?”

Katsuki grunted. He let his head rest against the wall. 

Deku’s gaze stayed on him for a moment, studying his features. He looked away to stare at his lap, before his gaze found Katsuki again. His lips parted, but nothing came out so he shut them and eyed his lap once more. 

“What?” Katsuki scowled.

“You’re—“ Whatever the remainder of that statement was, it was swallowed back as Deku raised the phone. The screen was parallel to his face. Katsuki figured he rested the hand holding the device on a bent knee.

“You’re not how I pictured you in my head.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Katsuki tilted his head. His eyes communicated the silent question he had.

“You turned out to be less… intense, and much, uhh—“ He cut himself at once and cleared his throat, shifting his position.

A smirk tugged one corner of Katsuki’s mouth upon a thought.

“Like what you’re seeing?”

Deku's brows shot up but soon he choked and steered his gaze away. 

Fucker. 

“A-Anyways, how was y-your day?” 

Really now? 

One moment the nerd was checking him out, the next he shoved the subject aside to ask about Katsuki’s fucking day ? Who the fuck cared about that?

Cute. 

The thought barged itself inside without his consent, but nothing in him drove it away nor fought it. On the contrary, Katsuki welcomed it. 

Because yes, the dumb nerd was cute.

A gasp reached him from the other end the same time the image on screen shifted in a quick motion until the white ceiling was back. Deku yelped, but he didn’t pick up his phone.

Katsuki furrowed his brows. The frown morphed into shock as it hit him.

That fucking mouth of his.

Katsuki immediately cleared his throat. On second thought, talking about his day wasn’t a bad idea.

“It was whatever.”

That was a lie. His day was as boring as ever. Well, except for the extras’ performance. That shit wasn’t bad. 

However, merely seeing the nerd and now talking with him made his day. 

No, he wasn’t going to admit that. 

He showed up on screen again, now holding the device with both hands. It definitely settled on the top of his bent knees. The blush expanded its territory and coated his whole face.

Perhaps blurting out cute was worth it.

“M-Mine was great!” he nearly shouted. It derived a snort from Katsuki. 

“No shit.” 

“Y-Yeah. We had breakfast soon after meeting Todoroki, then went shopping—oh!” Pausing, Deku’s face inched closer to the camera as he hunched his back. 

“Kacchan, you don’t know how difficult it was to resist not spending everything I had on All-Might merch today. They had some I’ve never seen here before!” 

“You big nerd.”

Deku released a long sigh. 

“But overall it was a fun day.” He regarded Katsuki for a moment. His gaze lingered, as he pressed his lips in a thin line. The fact that Deku maintained eye contact increased the size of Katsuki’s eyes.

“I-I got to meet you—too.” At the final word, his resolve faltered and Deku looked at his lap.

The only kind of response Katsuki managed to give was a grunt.

“Wh-When do you think we can meet again?”

Curling his lips, Katsuki let his legs stretch over the bed. The blanket rustled from the movement. 

“We’ll figure something out.” 

Deku hummed in approval. A small smile altered his lips.

“Okay.” A pregnant pause. “I can’t wait.”

His stomach flipped soon after that smile grew in size. Katsuki simply grunted, gaze stuck to the wall on his right.

On screen, a yawn shooed the smile away. Deku scrambled to cover his mouth, shaking the camera for a bit. 

“Sorry.” His hand slowly descended and Katsuki caught his smile again. 

His gaze shifted somewhere on top of the screen before it was hooked to Katsuki again. “It’s already midnight.”

“Of course it is. You never call or text at reasonable hours.” 

Deku rolled his eyes. “I meant to say time passed by fast.” 

The little shit wouldn’t even comment on what Katsuki said. 

“Whenever we text or call. I–” Deku halted. He drew the phone close enough that Katsuki could barely see the wall. “I guess I have so much fun with you that time flies without me realizing.” 

The fact that Katsuki simply regarded Deku without his lips parting to say what swelled in his chest astounded him. 

Time did fly when they talked or texted. One second it was only 11. A blink later and the clock hit midnight. Last semester and year dragged on like a sloth that Katsuki couldn’t withstand. Time passed slowly due to the fact that nothing pulled at his heart strings. Everything felt like a task which he had to accomplish. Hence why boredom infected his life. 

Meeting Izuku brought a meaning to his life. Interesting, how he found that in someone, instead of a hobby or a job or whatever. 

“—a night?” 

Katsuki blinked. He caught the head tilt. Deku’s eyebrows crinkled together. His heart skipped a beat when a thought occurred to him. How he wanted to caress the crinkle away. 

“Kacchan?” 

That earned him a grunt. The wrinkle increased for a moment, but soon Izuku chuckled. 

“Okay, let’s call it a night. Now I know why you crash at 8 pm.” 

It wasn’t the statement that irked his brow, but the damn smirk tugging one corner of the nerd’s mouth. 

“Says the guy who just fucking yawned.” 

Another chuckle resounded.

Katsuki pulled one earphone so he could lie on his side. One hand clutched the phone as the other grabbed the blanket. 

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Kacchan.” The camera shifted as Izuku pushed himself off the bed and started to walk away. 

Katsuki gave an affirmative hum. 

Deku stopped somewhere. A glimpse of the bed appeared on the right of the screen. He said nothing, choosing to eye Katsuki with parted lips. Whatever he wanted to say lingered on the tip of his tongue. 

It was as if the moment he made up his mind to speak, his throat closed off so he ended up looking away. Of course, Katsuki wasn’t a patient person. So obviously, he opened his mouth to say something along the lines of just spit it out nerd, but Deku beat him to it. 

“G-G-Goodnight.” 

Katsuki lifted an eyebrow, because no way that was what the nerd spent a full ass minute contemplating on. 

“...Night,” he said either way. 

The last thing he saw was Izuku’s small smile before the screen went black. 

Exhaling, Katsuki pulled his other earphone. He turned off the light after placing his phone on the bedside table. 

Flipping on his back, Katsuki dragged the blanket over his chest. Right after shutting his eyes, a ding made them fly open. 

Of course. 

Of fucking—

Clicking his tongue, he plucked his phone without flipping over. 

Shitty Nerd: Love u Kacchan <3

That little—

He yanked the blanket off. The screen radiated his scowl. Fingers hovered over the keyboard to type a response that sheltered the bashfulness overwhelming his chest. Except another notification buzzed the phone in his hands and made them halt.

Shitty Nerd: You’re the best

Dragging a hand across his face, Katsuki sighed. Then his lips stirred to reflect the brewing affection he harbored for Deku. 

Katsuki: Love u too idiot

Chapter Text

“Izuku!” 

Said boy lifted his chin from the book that was one second away from snapping his brain in half. His eyes fell on the entrance of the classroom where the brunette was waving at him. Smiling, Izuku imitated her gesture.

Uraraka wove her way up the stairs and through a few students until she halted where he sat. She regarded him with wrinkled brows for a while, during which Izuku wanted to facepalm because what did he do now? 

Today went moderately well. He only had one lecture left before he was free for the weekend except for work. 

His eyes fell on the desk. A book with a notebook were next to each other. His phone settled on the left corner face down. So that wasn’t lost somewhere. 

His bag hid under the desk, and he contemplated if he should check his stuff. Maybe he forgot a book or something in their previous classroom. 

“Since when do you know Bakugou?” 

Blinking once, Izuku steered his attention back to the brunette. She was frowning now, arms crossed. 

He blinked again. That question came out of nowhere. Did Kacchan—no, the guy wasn’t a chatty type. He wouldn’t randomly tell Uraraka he knew Izuku. Uraraka was closer to Asui, Iida and Todoroki than the rest of her classmates from high school. Oh, perhaps Todoroki told her?

“I–since the beginning of.. the semester?” Izuku said with pauses in between as he scratched his cheek. 

Uraraka’s eyes widened. “Wow, really? How did that happen? He doesn’t go here.” 

“Well–” Izuku glanced at the book, biting his lower lip.

Seriously, couldn’t Uraraka pick a better time? The next lecture was starting in ten minutes. All he wanted was to finish the dumb assignment from their previous lecture so he didn’t have anything when the day ended. 

If the professor for the next lecture also gave them something to work on, which was definitely happening since they loved giving assignments with the excuse of ‘you all bunch have the weekend to work on’, then he’d have to spend the remainder of Friday studying. 

He didn’t want that.

“Wait, you could tell me later, since the class is starting in–” She paused to take a glimpse of her wristwatch, “8 minutes.” 

Relief relaxed his shoulders. Eight minutes wasn’t exactly enough to finish an assignment, but perhaps Izuku could finish half of it.

God knew what kind of assignment the next professor was giving them. Last time it took him the whole damn weekend. They hated how students had two days off school, and vowed not to make them go to waste. 

“And because Bakugou is waiting for you outside.” 

Thud. 

There went his pen rolling over the book all the way to the edge of the desk and off to the ground with a clank.

Did he mishear Uraraka? 

Izuku fixed her with a questioning look, a come-again kind of look. She bent to pick up the pen before meeting him with a smile and putting the pen on the book.

“Kacchan is outside?” He asked, to which Uraraka creased her brows. 

"Ka—cchan?” She blinked. “You call him that?” 

His stomach did a somersault. Wait. He really was outside?

Her hands fell on his shoulders with a loud thud that Izuku jolted in place. “Oh my gosh, you call him such a cute name and he’s fine with it?”

It’s only now that he realized he was on his feet. When did he even stand? The murmurs around them slowly faded to nothing as his heart-rate increased.

The girl gasped. “Wait!” She let go of Izuku’s shoulders to cover her parted lips with the tips of her fingers. “You got his number from me , didn’t you?!” 

“Uhh—“ His gaze shifted to the door of the class. Few students were entering, but the majority settled at random desks and started to take out their books. “Y-Yeah.” 

Uraraka’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh.”

Izuku attempted to gulp the lump swelling in his throat to no avail. One thought infected his head that nothing else managed to slip in.

Kacchan was outside. Kacchan was outside. Kacchan was outside. Kacchan was outside. Kacchan was—

The brunette’s giggle followed soon after, cutting his mantra short.

“When dumb flirts ask for my number, I pretend to mistype it and give Bakugou’s instead, since our numbers are similar.”

She crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. A scowl planted on her face. 

“Some guys are so annoying you know?” The scowl turned into a cheeky smile. “So I kill two birds with one stone, if you know what I mean.” 

Well, it wasn’t a complicated implication to figure out. And while it was surprising to know there was a story behind the main reason why he and Kacchan got to know each other, Izuku's main focus was currently on but one thing.

One person, to be precise. 

Who was waiting outside.

Sucking his lips in, Izuku’s eyes found the entrance interesting. 

“But mistyping it when I wanted to give it to you was totally genuine. I didn’t even realize until you told me.”

Perhaps his jittery posture was the reason why a smirk tugged at the corner of Uraraka’s mouth.

“Okay. You should go see him.” She stepped aside. I know Bakugou hates waiting for too—Ah Izuku!” 

Said boy was dashing down the stairs before Uraraka continued whatever she wanted to say, tripping off one on his way outside. One student moved out of his way when they saw him. Another blurted a frustrated hey when Izuku bumped their shoulder. 

Izuku skimmed the right side of the hallway as soon as he stood past the door, before he glanced to the left side.

There, a very familiar blond leant against the wall, clad in jeans and a black turtleneck sweater, arms crossed with a scowl assaulting his features. A black backpack settled on the floor next to his feet.

What was Izuku’s heart doing on the floor you’re wondering? And gosh his hands didn’t stop jiggling that he fisted both instead of picking the damn thing and shoving it back in its place.

“K-Kacchan.” A mere whisper that only his ears registered.

It took a minute or two of staring dumbfounded for Katsuki to switch his attention from the floor to his left side. 

Their eyes locked, and Izuku’s heart skipped a beat. 

Kacchan pushed himself off the wall, the scowl dissipating. He lowered his body to pick up his bag, letting it dangle from over one shoulder. 

But before he moved more than one step, Izuku’s feet had their own mind, pushing him in a sprint until his body crashed into Kacchan, whose eyes widened for a mere second before he opened his arms to catch Izuku. The latter’s arms crossed behind Katsuki's neck. He stood on his toes to settle his chin over his shoulder.

“What—What the fuck nerd?!” the warning rang louder in his ears, except Izuku didn’t flinch but on the contrary, it made his heart skip another beat. 

Kacchan was here .

He squeezed Kacchan closer, snuggling against him. The action received a grunt in return. But then Kacchan snorted a laugh, enclosing Izuku with both arms over his back. 

A quiet shitty Deku escaped his throat, bringing a smile to Izuku’s lips. He gave himself a moment to breathe in the caramel smell, to melt from the warmth Kacchan bestowed him with.

Their first meeting was last weekend. Izuku doubted their second would be anytime soon. His great voice of reason was generous enough to provide a bunch of reasons why, but only one stood out the most.

Maybe Kacchan didn’t want to rush things out, considering how the two didn’t mention the second meeting, let alone plan it out. The first occurred unintentionally anyway.

He gave Kacchan a final squeeze, then drew himself away. His arms untangled from behind Katsuki’s neck, but Izuku kept his hands on his shoulders. 

Kacchan fixed him with a perplexed glance. His arms slid until they settled on either side of Izuku’s waist. 

In the corners of his eyes, students walked by, and Izuku was certain their eyes lingered on the two with questioning stares. Upon noticing Kacchan’s ears stained with red, heat tickled his, so Izuku pulled his arms away and stepped out of Kacchan’s personal bubble. 

A subject. He needed one to give both of them a moment to recover from.. this . 

Izuku cleared his throat, eyes couldn’t linger on him for more than one second. But he doubted Kacchan disliked that because he was in a similar condition.

He got this. What was difficult about finding a distraction anyway?

“I-I missed you.”

And that’s how Izuku Midoriya gave himself a heart attack.

Perhaps Kacchan too.

Kacchan widened his eyes, mouth agape. He wanted to blurt something out but the word must have clogged his throat since he choked.

Izuku’s arms flew as he stepped closer. But he froze in place, which made him look like he was hugging thin air.

Well then. 

He said that. 

I missed you.

To someone who he talked with more than once a day.

He should have been more accurate.

“I mean! I-I missed seeing you!”

His brain completely combusted, exploded then dithered to dust. 

Izuku had a new rule in life, never, never , open subjects as distractions ever again, especially when his heart throbbed like a ticking bomb.

Kacchan cleared his throat once. He straightened his back and half turned. His glare fell on a poor student whose only mistake was walking by. He followed him as the student picked up speed down the hall, wondering why this random guy dug holes in him.

The scene caused Izuku to snicker. Kacchan spared him a glance and lifted his eyebrow.

“The fuck is funny, dipshit?”

Izuku waved his hand as he chuckled. Leave it to Kacchan to calm him down in a blink by just being himself.

His very loud yet beautiful self. Izuku’s grin made Kacchan look away. 

“Why are you here?” 

Kacchan scoffed and crossed his arms.

“Didn’t you want us to meet?” 

Izuku blinked, eyes grew in size. “W-Well, yes but I thought–” His brows wrinkled. He continued as he waved a hand like he wanted to grab some words out of thin air. “I thought we would, you know, plan things out together ?” 

Kacchan flicked the statement off with his hand. “I don’t do together .” He spelt the last word like it left a bad taste on his mouth. 

But Izuku knew that was just an act to hide the real intention. His face beamed with life. His grin widened as he awed. 

“Thank you for the nice surprise, Kacchan.” 

Said boy looked offended, scoffing and looking away. “Zip it, nerd.”

Izuku gasped in the next moment. His shout caused the poor girl who was walking by to squeak. He rubbed his neck, bowing her way apologetically. His gaze found Kacchan again. 

“I have a lecture in like five minutes.” He held a palm up for emphasis.

Kacchan shrugged. “So? I’ll wait for you at a café or something.” 

“Oh! There is one on the ground floor. But is that okay? You’ll have to wait for three hours.” Izuku gripped his chin with two fingers as his gaze fell to the ground. “Ah– This is why I wanted to plan things out first, not that I’m not happy or anything god forbid! I mean this surprise really did make my day, Kacchan, but I’ll feel bad for making you wait. Maybe I can skip the class? No, no, I really can’t but gosh what do we do about—” 

“Deku!” 

Said boy let go of a yelp when two firm hands grasped his shoulders. 

“Stop stressing over shit! I don’t mind waiting. I already knew you had a lecture since I asked Round Face. Do you think I’d come without a damn plan, shitty nerd?” 

His eyes grew the size of an egg. “You… asked Uraraka?”

It was then that Kacchan retreated a step, pulling his hands away like the touch burnt them. 

“Whatever, fucking go to your stupid class.” 

Another heart skip. No, this time, his heart hammered in its little home that Izuku zipped his mouth before the damn thing grew wings and escaped. 

Kacchan really did want to surprise him. It made Izuku wonder if he deserved such kindness. He didn’t do much for him at all, yet Kacchan kept catching him off-guard.

Without questioning the new emotion brewing in him or locking it, Izuku allowed it to take over his arms, and soon they circled around Katsuki’s middle in another hug.

“Kacchan’s amazing.” Izuku whispered after he laid his cheek against his chest, to which Kacchan grunted. His hand left a warm print on Izuku’s back when he patted him.

“Alright, I’ll see you in three hours?” Izuku asked as soon as he drew away. Hesitance rubbed each word. 

Kacchan exhaled, shaking his head. A small smile shifted the corners of his lips. His hand ruffled Izuku’s messy bangs a bit aggressively for two seconds. “You doofus, I’m not disappearing on you.” 

A grin flowered on Izuku’s face. Kacchan’s hand fell off green curls. It descended until the tips of his fingers brushed against Izuku’s cheek. They stayed there for half a second before he drew his hand away. A slight frown settled on Katsuki’s brows, like he wanted it to be more than just a touch. 

Like he wanted to cradle his cheek. 

Izuku nibbled on his lips, gazing at Katsuki. If they weren’t attracting students’ attention before, they definitely did now.

Kacchan broke eye contact for a second to look somewhere behind Izuku, but soon his eyes sought him again. 

“Better move your ass to that class nerd. I just saw a geezer entering.” 

Their professor hated students entering five minutes after he entered. But what he wanted to do merely needed a second. 

Alright then.

Izuku stood on his tiptoes and pecked Kacchan’s right cheek as his hand cupped the other. The latter’s eyes were slowly gaining size. Izuku released a breathy chuckle before he stepped away. 

“L-Later, Kacchan.”

Izuku dragged himself back to the class. He didn’t turn to examine the look on Kacchan. Not with the way his heart demanded a break lest it really burst.

If Izuku thought sitting his ass on a chair and attending a lecture was good as a distraction to recover from the stunt he did earlier, god knew how he even managed , he had another thought coming.

After three hours of failing to follow the lecture, squirming on the chair until Uraraka nudged his side with a what-gives kind of nod, doodling random shapes on the margins of his notebook instead of writing notes, switching between daydreaming about what they could do later and panicking that Kacchan might have got bored of waiting and left, Izuku finally, finally , made his way to the café. 

To his utter relief, Kacchan didn’t disappear on him, exactly like he promised. How did his anxiety even trick him to believe such obscurity anyway? 

Kacchan must not know that Izuku freaked out about the possibility throughout the lecture or dragged behind a string of stupid assumptions on his way to the café.

“Hey.” Izuku said when he was within hearing range. Kacchan glanced his way and a smirk rolled over his lips.

“Hey, nerd.” Kacchan pushed himself up as he shoved his phone inside his back pocket.

Izuku wore an apologetic look while Kacchan was slinging one strap of his backpack over his shoulder. The two ambled to the exit side by side. Their eyes locked to each other. 

“Sorry for making you wait. I probably should have skipped anyway.” 

Kacchan raised a brow. “Didn’t take you for the irresponsible type.” 

“I’m not, but–” He regarded Kacchan for a while as they made their way out of the building. He failed to maintain eye contact upon realizing what his mind gathered for him to say.

“I shouldn't have kept you waiting.” There was absolutely no way Izuku was blurting out how Kacchan filled his head throughout the entire lecture that he couldn’t focus. That was basically feeding his ego to the brim and then facing the consequences for days . 

Kacchan tutted then. He slid his hand into Izuku’s and squeezed once, catching him off-guard and snatching his heart away. “Told you it’s fine, idiot.” 

Izuku beamed at the sincerity in those red eyes he couldn’t stop staring at. His hand shifted so they interlocked fingers. Kacchan’s hand shared its warmth with his.

“How long are you staying?” 

“I can stay until Sunday morning.”

“That’s awesome!” As fast as the excitement bubbled out, Izuku shrank as realization struck him. “Ah! But I have a shift tomorrow. Should I take the day off? Oh no, I really can’t afford to do–”

“Jesus fucking— Deku ! Why are you so fucking jittery?” Izuku blinked at the high pitched tone. Both boys halted when they neared the bus stop which Izuku guided them to. 

“I know you have a shift, and I don’t give a fuck. We can hang out before you go to work tomorrow, and we still have time now.” 

Right. 

Why was Izuku making such a big deal out of things? The moment that question echoed in his head, an answer was born just to spite him. 

It’s because Kacchan was with him. He wasn’t simply texting him. The guy was standing here, shoulder a millimeter away from Izuku’s as Kacchan looked out for the bus, hand holding Izuku’s and keeping it warm. 

Texting wasn’t challenging. Izuku could toss his phone aside if the conversation washed over him that he couldn’t control the butterflies. Besides that, he enjoyed teasing Kacchan. 

But with him this close, he couldn’t do that. Kacchan came all the way from Tokyo to hang out with him. His nerves burnt the same way they did when he and his friends hung out with Todoroki, except this time he was alone and it wasn’t Todoroki who set them on fire.

But Kacchan. 

Who flicked him right in the forehead and made Izuku stumble to the side with a squeak. 

“I can fucking hear the gears rotating with loud creaks inside that head of yours.” Kacchan jabbed a finger that almost touched his nose. “Last warning, nerd. Relax .” 

A click of tongue shooed the blur away from his eyes. 

Kacchan looked away, lips curled. The tips of his ears reddened. His eyes sought Izuku again, only for them to shift somewhere else in a blink. Katsuki tightened his grasp. 

Oh. Okay. Izuku wasn’t the only one panicking right now. He wasn’t the only one drowning in a heap of butterflies nor was the only one with a heart that threatened to burst. 

A smile altered his lips as his gaze fell on the ground. 

“So what now?” He asked.

Izuku shouldn’t make things weird. He repeated that a few times, hand tightening on Kacchan’s. 

“Uhh, well,” his eyes shifted between the street and Kacchan until a vein popped. Or two. 

“I really wanted to watch some episodes I missed weeks ago.”

Kacchan simply hummed, looking towards the street again. It took a second for a smirk to tickle the corner of his lips. “Once a nerd, always a nerd.” 

If Izuku wasn’t distracted by Kacchan’s pretty profile, he would have puffed his cheeks and complained like usual. He always teased him for being such a hardcore All-Might fan. 

The idea immediately assaulted his nose and it scrunched. 

“Hey! You like the series too.” Izuku said in a hurry as he and Kacchan made their way to the bus, hands still locked.

“I’m not as crazy as you.” 

“I’m not—“ but before the reminder of his retort followed, Kacchan fixed him with a knowing look after he sat on the first empty seat his eyes fell on, which was next to the third window on the left side of the bus.

Izuku huffed. He plopped on the seat next to him and at once crossed his arms. “Dumb Kacchan.” 

The mutter derived a snort from said boy.

This was normal. This was them . Kacchan didn’t want that to change just because they’re face to face instead of hiding behind small screens. Yes, this further built more of their relationship, but that was basically it. It wasn’t supposed to make it awkward, or cause it to slowly decay over time until it crumpled to nothing. 

On the contrary, it should coat it with an extra layer, making it sturdier.

The trip back to Izuku’s apartment went smoothly. Kacchan ranted about a class that made his skin crawl from how much he wanted to punch everyone to infinity, including the professor. Izuku vented about the assignment and a half he had to work on because being a university student meant just that, burying oneself in homework and projects and exams.

It was like the two competed to prove their school life was harder than the other.

“How come, Kacchan? It’s awesome that your roommate’s major is the same as yours.” Izuku pushed the door of his apartment open and entered, Kacchan right behind.

“I mean, it makes everything easier!” 

Kacchan’s complaints shifted from classes to his roommate when they reached Izuku’s apartment building. Todoroki pissed Kacchan off for simply existing in the same space as him, which was unbelievable. Todoroki didn’t seem like a bad roommate at all.

“Like I need Icy fucking hot’s help.” 

Izuku placed a pair of slippers in front of Kacchan before he slipped his feet into his that settled on the side of the entryway. The new nickname created an image of Todoroki’s bicolored hair. He chuckled, walking ahead of Kacchan then turning on his heel to maintain eye contact.

“Come to think of it, I’m actually surprised you’re staying at the dorms instead of having your own place.” 

Kacchan was the independent type. He had his own rules of life that he followed to a tee, like always eating food he cooked himself, sleeping early whether it’s the middle or the end of the week, keeping everything clean and shiny. 

Having a roommate may or may not ruin that strict routine, unless you ended up with someone similar, which was nearly impossible. Your fingerprints weren’t identical, so were people. Besides, even if that was the case, and he ended up rooming with someone like him, they would still irk Kacchan one way or another. He was a hothead after all.

Kacchan released a scoff, shoving his hands in his pockets. “And live a life similar to yours, working and studying? No thanks. I have a gpa to fucking maintain.”

It brought a grimace to Izuku’s face. Well, his life was messy, and money was always an issue. But he really liked having an apartment to himself. It gave him a space to breathe in, be himself and not switch it off so his roommate didn’t think he was weird or well, any other assumption that Izuku’s brain decided to fill itself with.

A whole year of being in a sharehouse taught him that nothing beat living somewhere that was solely his and his alone. Even if that place was a small one room apartment.

It wasn’t that bad for a student anyway. A step after the entryway was the toilet and bathroom on the left side, with the kitchen area on the right side. Then came the small living area slash room with the couch in the middle and the bed on the far right corner. His desk settled at the end of the bed. Getting a small tv would have been nice, but Izuku figured his laptop would do for the time being.

The posters hung on each wall over his bed and the mini All-Might figurine collection on top of Izuku’s three shelves bookcase that settled across the bed were critical touches to make this dull apartment his comfort zone. 

“What do you want for dinner, Kacchan?” Izuku asked when the two of them settled on the couch. 

Kacchan looked his way, blinking once. Izuku cocked his head with a raised brow. 

“You’re not gonna like… prepare instant noodles or some shit?” 

Izuku rapidly blinked. “I-I mean if you want that—“ he gulped down the rest of the statement when Katsuki squinted at him in a deadpan. 

His hand rubbed the side of his neck. “Right—I meant, like, what do you wanna order for dinner?”

“Deku. I’m not putting junk food in my damn stomach.”

Izuku furrowed his brow. Well, he could like, cook? What was hard about preparing a meal anyway? Cooking was a piece of cake nowadays, with millions of tutorials littering the internet. He could also call his mom so she guided him. He just needed to head to the nearest convenience store and pick up the ingredients of whatever Kacchan wanted for dinner. 

He was his guest. His very precious guest that came all the way from a city two hours away. So yes, Izuku got this. 

He needed to make sure not to accidentally burn the kitchen and the whole building with it like that one time he decided to be healthier because a) he got sick of instant noodles, and b) he got sick. Literally.

“What the fuck?!” 

Izuku stood abruptly and found Kacchan facing the fridge. He flung its door closed before turning to lock eyes with him. 

“Did you move in just yesterday? The fuck is everywhere empty?”

Izuku bit his lower lip. “Well, I—I don’t have time to cook?”

Kacchan crossed his arms and leant on one side. Another deadpan look.

“Fine. I can’t cook.” Izuku looked away and muttered under his breath, “Unless I wanna be kicked out for starting a fire.”

“Let's go.” 

“Eh?” His feet had their own mind, urging him to join Kacchan in the entryway. “Where to?” 

“Convenience store.” 

As soon as he slipped both feet in his sneakers, Kacchan turned around, a sinister smile settled on the corner of his lips. “Cuz a certain nerd is so useless he kept his damn kitchen empty to prevent himself from cooking and starting a damn fire.”

Izuku choked on his own spit. “Th-That was one time!”

That mutter was supposed to be private. 

How rude.

Yes he punched Kacchan’s arm with jutted lips. And yes he trapped Izuku in a headlock and tousled his curls.

Dumb Kacchan.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Izuku hummed in amusement. On the small screen of his phone, which he held vertically, was Kacchan. His eyebrow was lifted, reflecting confusion. One hand held a basket as the other clutched a meat pack.

Izuku grinned widely behind the phone. “Filming you, Kacchan.”

A tongue click resounded. Kacchan placed the meat pack into the basket. A middle-aged woman passed them and stopped on the other side of Kacchan.

“I’m not fucking blind, nerd.”

Izuku snickered. “Smile at the camera.” He chirped, head tilted to the side so their eyes met. The scowl lingered for over a minute, like Kacchan was contemplating whether he should ignore him or do what Izuku asked him to do. 

He did neither, choosing to flip the camera off with his middle finger. Izuku choked on his spit and at once lowered his phone. “Kacchan!” 

Katsuki snickered, stepping away from the meat section.

A pout dragged Izuku’s lips for a bit. The woman who stood behind Kacchan glanced his way with a perked eyebrow, but soon regarded the items before her.

When Izuku caught up with him, he mumbled a meanie under his breath, to which Kacchan glanced his way to shoot him a cheeky smile.

Izuku continued to follow him around the convenience store with his phone. He made sure to capture every little movement and reaction for memory. It’s not like he had anything else to do besides tailing Kacchan anyway. 

“I want every moment of us recorded,” Izuku started as Kacchan was looking over a spice rack. “So I could watch the videos whenever I mis—“

His throat closed off as his eyes blinked twice. Hands kept the phone hovered in front of his face, whose temperature peaked after a third blink. 

While Izuku thought it was a nice safe when he gulped down the reminder of what he wanted to say, that in itself pulled Kacchan’s attention away from the spice rack.

He caught the shift of features on screen. The frown lingered for five seconds in response to the gears turning in his head. Then the camera captured a smirk ruling over his features. 

Katsuki added a few spice packages to the basket. A look of someone who had just won some bet planted on his face. 

Perhaps all that teasing was finally kicking Izuku’s ass. Sure, Kacchan did lose his cool whenever Izuku blurted whatever his heart nurtured, but that’s not always the case. It’s like the more they spent time together, the more it was easier for Katsuki to build a resistance. 

Scratch that, it’s definitely because Izuku showed signs of embarrassment whenever he blurted out something. Katsuki used that to his advantage. A good distraction so that Izuku never suspected that an ounce of bashfulness took over Kacchan’s features.

When the two made it to the register, Izuku stopped recording and inserted his phone back into his jeans. As soon as the girl behind the counter told them the total, he attempted to take his wallet out. 

Keyword here: attempted. 

“W-Wait Kacchan,” Izuku blurted out the moment he saw Kacchan holding his wallet. When did he even take it out?

“I can’t let you pay. You’re my guest!”

“Shut up, Freckles.” He glanced at Izuku. “I got this.” 

Then he simply placed the bills on the little blue plate on the counter for the girl to take. He didn’t catch the astonishment as it bloomed on Izuku’s face. How his lips slowly parted and his hands fell to either side.

Alright, mind you, Izuku was not imagining things. Kacchan definitely said—what?

“Thank you.” The girl handed Kacchan the change. He picked up the grocery bags off the table and turned around to leave, but that failed due to the dumbfounded human being that was Izuku Midoriya. 

Kacchan raised a brow, not understanding why Izuku was giving him the goldfish stare.

But then it must have clicked, because Kacchan grumbled under his breath and bypassed him to leave the store. Izuku simply turned around and haunted Katsuki's retreating back. 

Only when a quiet chuckle reached him did Izuku blinked. He caught the girl’s smile, which she tried to hide behind her fingers. 

“You’re a cute pair.”

It went without saying that Izuku spent a minute trying to process that, during which the cashier chuckled again. Her giggle struck him back to reality, as he bowed and thanked her then at once bolted out of the store.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“Isn’t All-Might amazing?” 

“Deku, you said that 23 times throughout fucking one episode.” Kacchan nudged him in the side with his elbow. “I think I fucking get it now.” 

They sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch, Izuku’s laptop before them on the coffee table. A blanket covered their lower half. 

They had Katsudon for dinner, which Izuku deemed to be the tastiest Katsudon he had ever had after his mom’s of course. That last part made him grunt in dissatisfaction, though it didn’t last long with the constant compliments Izuku fed his ego with. 

No, these compliments didn’t take the form of mere words. Not that Izuku hated giving him cuddles anyway.

“Well, maybe I’ve been repeating myself because you never agreed?” Izuku nudged him back with a grin. 

“I’m not gonna fucking fanboy and squeal the way you do, Deku.” 

“I didn’t ask for that.” He steered his attention back to the running episode, pulled his legs over the couch and hugged them. “Though that would be funny to see.” Izuku mumbled after he rested his chin over his knees.

“I fucking heard that.” 

A giggle rushed out, but it came muffled against the blanket Izuku grasped over his bent knees. 

“Say, Kacchan.” He said as a hero on screen shot flames from his hands that surrounded the villain he was battling against with a bunch of other heroes. 

“What kind of quirk would you want if people were born with one?”

He turned his head Kacchan's way, laying his cheek on one knee.

Light from the screen flickered in his eyes as they brooded. Kacchan’s lips were pressed in a thin line.

His heartbeat accelerated, which brightened his face with a smile. Izuku tightened his grip around his legs. The sole desire to let his hand reach Katsuki made him bite his bottom lip. 

Kacchan is here. He calmed himself with that.

“Making explosions.” A shit-eating grin plastered on his face as Kacchan locked eyes with Izuku. He raised one hand as if he was holding something in it. “So I could blast the enemy and get things done faster.” 

Izuku couldn’t prevent the snort from rattling its way out. 

“That fits.” 

Kacchan lifted a brow, the grin melted off his lips just as fast as it came. “Somehow I don’t feel like that’s a compliment.” 

“You’re so loud and vulgar that such a quirk would be perfect.” 

Izuku straightened his back. A mix of shouts and noise coming from the laptop mingled in with what he said next. 

“Your hero name will be extreme and over the top, something like–” Izuku untangled his arms and brought a finger to his chin. His head cocked, humming over the sounds from the episode. 

He exclaimed a moment later, meeting Kacchan’s scowl that didn’t scare him away from blurting out what might send him to oblivion. 

“King Explosion Murder!”

The face Kacchan pulled upon hearing the name sent Izuku into a laughing fit. His back hit the back of the couch as both of his arms clutched his stomach under the blanket.

“I’ll show you what a king fucking explosion murder can do.” 

The blanket rustled from movement underneath. Just when Izuku attempted to process what Kacchan said, something brushed his side, before Katsuki started to assault his stomach. 

Izuku squealed and fell on his side to put some distance between them. Kacchan dragged one leg and bent his knee beside Izuku’s stomach after he flipped on his back. His other leg dangled from over the edge.

Izuku writhed, both hands creeped to grasp Kacchan’s in a poor attempt to drag them away, but most of his energy was being spent on laughing that he had no strength at all.

“K-Kacchan, S-Stop, I’ll d-die—”

That, much to his surprise, he did, but only after ten seconds of more tickling that knocked the rest of air out of his chest. He wheezed as Kacchan kept him trapped under him, with his knees settled astride Izuku’s middle.

“Dumb nerd.” Kacchan tousled his curls a bit too forcefully. Izuku whined and swatted his hand away. Finally, he pushed himself off him and settled back on the couch. 

“What about you, Freckles?” 

Now his heart was pounding for a whole different reason. Izuku sucked his lips in. The new name Kacchan picked up prevented him from understanding the question. 

“Huh?” 

Izuku couldn’t bring himself to sit, content on lying on the couch as one leg dangled from over its tip. The episode’s sounds reached his ears, and he was thankful they covered the beats of his heart. 

“What stupid quirk would you want?” 

Oh. Right, they were talking about that, which deemed itself fit as a good distraction. Talking about heroes and quirks and superpowers would definitely allow his heart to calm down. 

Izuku hummed, pondering over it for a while. Fingers twiddled with the blanket half lain over him. 

“Probably a strength related quirk?”

He dragged himself up to lock eyes with Kacchan, grinning. “Like All-Might!” 

Kacchan snorted as his head swayed left and right. “Of fucking course.” 

“Wouldn’t we make a great team together?” 

“I told you I don’t do together, Greenie.” 

Damn it, there went his heart beating faster than before. The fact that Kacchan started to call Izuku names associated with his looks caught him off-guard. 

Izuku released a breathy laugh. This time, their shoulders didn’t glue to each other, as his arms snaked around his bent knees again.

“We’re always together though, dummy.” 

That earned him a grunt. The couch dipped for a second as Kacchan readjusted over it. The motion steered Izuku’s attention to the laptop. He tucked his chin over his knees. 

“Little shit.” The mumble caused a giggle to run free. Izuku didn’t have to turn his head to witness what he said had done to Katsuki’s features. 

Izuku tried to focus on what’s happening on the screen, but the images kept blurring. He blinked for the haze to fade, but it came back a moment later. 

His chest tingled with feelings he couldn’t control. It plastered a wide smile on his lips. Then the smile shifted to a smirk. 

If there was anything that could calm him down, it’s teasing Kacchan. That was essentially why Izuku kept in touch with Kacchan after they texted the very first time anyway. That wasn’t going to change because they were in the same space instead of being far away from each other.

His great voice of reason did advise him not to, but giddiness blinded him. This was going to be payback for what happened at the convenience store.

Izuku picked up his phone, which settled next to his laptop, ignoring the episode. It was almost over anyway, and he could always rewatch.

He fumbled with the device for a minute. Right after sending two messages, he felt movement on the couch.

Kacchan hunched over his phone which was on the table as its screen came to life. He gave him a questioning look, but Izuku nodded its way urgently. Kacchan rolled his eyes but picked up the phone anyway.

Izuku: 64678886.IMG

Izuku: <3

Kacchan’s face went through three changes in less than ten seconds. His lips were curled in a frown, then his eyes widened as his brows shot up his forehead, before he scowled and fixed Izuku with a glare.

“You named me that shitty excuse of a hero name?” The question escaped through gritted teeth. He was practically giving Izuku a chance to rechange the new contact name and avoid the wrath of not doing that.

Izuku’s lips trembled in a poor attempt to prevent a snort from running free. 

“What?” The snort won its freedom. “It’s just as disastrous as you, Kacchan.” 

He placed the phone down again. Then Kacchan bent one leg over the couch to face Izuku. 

“Allow me to define disastrous then.”

Izuku had one second to bolt out from over the couch and away from those treacherous fingers. 

He gladly took it, but still failed to stop Kacchan from deriving another laughing fit from him on the floor. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku: What are you doing?

King Explosion Murder: Homework

Izuku: Such a good boy

King Explosion Murder: Want me to pummel your fucking ass to next week?

Izuku: No thanks, I’m still not ready for the upcoming presentation

King Explosion Murder: Fuck u nerd 

King Explosion Murder: Focus on your damn job and lemme finish my shit in peace

Izuku: But Kacchan! 

Izuku: Today’s so dead, hardly got any customers

Izuku: I’m bored

King Explosion Murder: Not my damn problem

Izuku: It is now 

Izuku: We share each other’s burdens :)

King Explosion Murder: Burden my ass

King Explosion Murder: You’re so fucking dramatic

Izuku: That’s hardly the case 

Izuku: Dramatic is me telling u how much I already miss you 

Izuku: 38373883.IMG

Izuku: I’ll just satisfy myself with that for now

Izuku : You really should have smiled in the selfie

Izuku: Kacchan?

King Explosion Murder: Shut up

Izuku: You’re really cute when you combust 

King Explosion Murder: Just wait until you get back you shitty fucking sassy bitch

Izuku: I can’t wait!

Izuku: Kacchan? 

Izuku: Plz don’t die of awkwardness in my apartment?

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“How could you block me?!” 

Was the first thing Izuku blurted out right after entering his apartment. 

Kacchan was lying on the couch messing with his phone. Izuku could only see the back of his head. 

“That’s what you get for being a sassy fuck.” 

Shoes knocked out on the entryway in a hurry, he made a beeline to the living area. 

Izuku plucked the phone out of his fingers. Half a curse made its way out of Kacchan’s throat. The other half traveled down again as his eyes widened upon Izuku looking over him from the side of the couch. 

“You’re so mean! I was just teasing you, Kacchan.” His cheeks filled with air as he drew his face closer to Katsuki. 

Despite choking for a second, and scoffing right after, Kacchan seemed to collect himself. Remaining in the same position, he raised an arm to pinch one puffed cheek. He dragged it as far as he could. Izuku released a string of ows with the motion. 

“You’re so fucking dramatic. I unblocked your ass after I finished my homework.”

“Which took you a whole hour !” Izuku complained. He slapped Kacchan’s hand away and started to rub his reddened cheek. 

“Drama queen.”

“Meanie.” 

Izuku plopped on the floor, back leant against the couch near Kacchan’s chest. He threw his head back, releasing a loud groan. 

“What? Had shitty customers?” 

A shuffle resounded behind Izuku, before slender fingers started to sneak their way through his hair. The sensation stole whatever complaint that was boiling in his chest. His heart fluttered as his shoulders relaxed against the couch. 

He hummed in content. 

“No, thankfully. I guess it wasn’t that bad.” 

A snort. “You just whine too much.”

Izuku was too relaxed to turn around and punch Kacchan’s shoulder or something as a way of protest. So he raised an arm and started flicking it behind him, trying to hit whatever part of Kacchan it managed to reach. Katsuki grasped his hand, foiling that plan though. 

They stayed like that. Izuku’s eyes fluttered closed as his mind drifted under the soft touches to his head. A smile brightened his features. Kacchan squeezed his hand before he let go. It settled on Izuku’s lap along with the other.

Kacchan was leaving after breakfast tomorrow. So really, they didn’t have any more time to hang out since it’s almost midnight, not that they didn’t before Izuku left for work. Still, how come time passed by in a blink when you’re having fun, but dragged when you weren’t? 

Despite everything, this weekend was the best one Izuku had so far. Greed creeped into his chest, asking for more, but regardless, he was happy. 

“What are you gonna do after finishing university, Kacchan?” 

“What kind of dumb question is that?” 

Izuku flipped around, crossed his arms over the edge of the couch and settled his chin over them. “Like, do you wanna find work in Tokyo?” 

Kacchan was lying on his side to face Izuku, leaning on his elbow and resting his cheek in his palm. “Depends on where the best opportunity shows up.” 

He laid his cheek over his arm. “I bet we’ll get busier when that time comes.” 

Kacchan hummed loudly. His other hand found its way to Izuku’s face and he poked his nose with his forefinger. 

The action caused a smile to bloom on Izuku’s lips. His chin rested over his arm in favor of locking eyes with Kacchan again. 

“But we’ll be in touch.” Izuku bit his lower lip as the two of them observed one another. “Right?” 

More than once did the two barely talk due to piled up assignments or exams, work in Izuku’s case. But they always found time to text or call. So getting a full-time job wasn’t going to change anything. Still, Izuku couldn’t help but worry.

Kacchan became a part of his life that it was hard to imagine his days going without at least saying hey or teasing him about whatever. It was something Izuku devoured before starting the long day ahead. 

He tapped his nose again, blocking the flow of worries. His eyes regained focus.

“So that’s what you’re worrying about now.”

Izuku lifted his head abruptly. “N-No!” 

Kacchan squinted suspiciously at him, regarding his face for any mishap that revealed more of what’s hidden. 

Soon though, he exhaled. His hand dropped on Izuku’s head. The latter shut his eyes for a second as a reflex, waiting for the tousle that didn’t come. Instead, Kacchan brushed his curls in such a delicate move that Izuku widened his eyes at the gesture. Katsuki’s hand kept pushing his bangs to the back and exposing his forehead before letting them reclaim their position. He repeated the action more than once.

“Stop worrying too much, Freckles.” 

Izuku sucked a breath in at the affectionate gaze Kacchan sent his way.

His body moved on its own, arms crawling to reach behind Katsuki’s nape and they folded there. Izuku buried his face in Kacchan’s neck, breathed in once before he tightened the embrace. 

He had no clue what came over him. Texting Kacchan puffed him with so much energy that he could forget all his worries, but ever since they met, Izuku couldn’t get enough at all.

This addiction to touch overwhelmed him, his body always moved like it had its own mind to seek the other like the lack of contact equaled its doom. His heart pounded against Kacchan’s chest there was no way the other didn’t feel it.

Was it because Kacchan was leaving tomorrow? 

Kacchan’s arms circled around his back and hauled him over so that every part of them touched. He cocooned him in a cuddle, which Izuku wanted to last for eternity.

“Crybaby. Worrying over useless shit.” Kacchan whispered after a snort. Hot breath whisked his ear and colored it red. Then there was the touch of lips on the top of his head.

It was then that Izuku noticed how cold and damp Kacchan’s skin was from the stream that flooded as his face hid under the blond’s chin.

It was definitely because Kacchan was leaving tomorrow. 

This warmth he confined in was addicting. No matter how much he thought it over, Izuku didn’t believe texting was enough anymore. For now though, the two had no choice but to connect through it. 

Until the day came when they didn’t need phones to stay in touch, not with both of them in the same space. 

Together. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Amongst the crowd stood the two hand in hand, waiting for a train that was going to snatch one of them away. 

The thought made Izuku tighten his grip. His gaze stuck to his feet. The hand he held squeezed his back.

“The weekend flew by, huh?” He said. Whether Kacchan kept his gaze ahead or glanced Izuku’s way, he wouldn’t know, not with the way he continued to drill holes in the floor. 

Commuters around them stayed in their own bubbles, some were checking their phones, others daydreaming as their eyes locked to the rails. Vibrations traveled through the tracks ahead. It was only a matter of time before his hand lost its current warmth.

Or now, since Kacchan’s hand slipped away, to which Izuku frowned and wanted to look up. But Katsuki beat him when his arm slunk across Izuku’s shoulders and pulled him for a side hug. 

Humming after their eyes locked, Kacchan spoke. “Are you gonna sleep when you get back?” 

Blinking twice, Izuku looked at the tracks. He shrugged, Kacchan’s arm dangled over his shoulder. “Yeah I guess, I didn’t sleep much last night.” 

He snorted. “Cuz a certain nerd didn’t want the day to end and kept us up until 2 in the morning.”

“Yet here we are.” 

Damn it Izuku, you’re good at summoning those gloomy clouds. 

Time really liked to zoom by when everything was going great, huh?

An automated message started to play then, informing people of the approaching train and asking them to keep away from the platform edge. Oh what to give just to stop time.

Amongst the crowd stood the two of them, side flushed against each other, waiting for the moment to part ways for now

“Zuku.” 

The whisper zipped through his ears. It caused his heart to skip a beat. When he turned his head, another skip was stolen as their eyes locked. Hands unconsciously grabbed a handful of his jacket. His lips pressed together. His expression pleased Kacchan, if the small smile was anything to go by.

“Let’s meet over the next break.” 

In the peripheral of his eyes, something rose, before Kacchan brushed a finger against Izuku’s nose. His smile grew into a grin. “Cool?” 

Never in his life did Izuku imagine his spirits would rise from the dead and gleam with energy from a simple nickname, a half second long touch, and Katsuki's eyes drowning him in affection.

Katsuki chose that moment to place a kiss on his forehead. 

Well there went his spirits back to the depths. How was he supposed to last until the next time they met with Kacchan acting like this?

Dumb Kacchan.

“Okay.”

Amongst the moving crowd from and to the train stood the two side by side, until one of them turned to face the other. He pulled him into a hug that caused the other’s skin to tingle with joy. When Kacchan drew away, hands clutching his shoulders, Izuku’s expression broke into a small smile.

One more kiss, before the train snatched him away.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

King Explosion Murder: I’m home.

Izuku: Glad you got back safely, Kacchan!

King Explosion Murder: Stop eating instant noodles

Izuku: But I can’t cook

King Explosion Murder: Learn

Izuku: They’re cheaper too

King Explosion Murder: Your ass wants to spend the remainder of your pathetic life in a hospital then?

Izuku: Noooo

King Explosion Murder: Then fucking eat real food

Izuku: >:( 

Izuku: I’ll try

King Explosion Murder: I’ll expect three photos of each meal every day

Izuku: yk what

Izuku: I’ll just move in with you so you could cook for me :) 

King Explosion Murder: I’m not your fucking personal chef 

Izuku: Congratulations! You just got the job

King Explosion Murder: I decline

Izuku: >:( 

Izuku: Yk a nurse’s schedule isn’t a joke

King Explosion Murder: Neither is your fucking health

King Explosion Murder: And you dare call yourself a nurse

Izuku: Kacchan

King Explosion Murder: No

Izuku: You really are the sweetest 

King Explosion Murder: Shut up 

Izuku: Caring for my well being and all <3

King Explosion Murder: How come you’re such a sassy fucker in texts but a clingy mess irl? 

Izuku: I’m not a mess!

King Explosion Murder: At least you don’t deny the clingy part

King Explosion Murder: Oh so now you disappear on me

King Explosion Murder: Fucking nerd 

Izuku: You’re lucky Ily, you meanie

King Explosion Murder: YOU are lucky Ily freckles 

King Explosion Murder: Huh 

King Explosion Murder: So you are a mess in texts too 

King Explosion Murder: Nerd

Izuku: <3

Chapter Text

Life either hated Izuku or despised him.

No, there was a difference. The latter applied more too. 

Everything was actually going great. For once. He and Kacchan continued to chat on a daily basis. They altered between texting and audio or video calls, but texting was the easiest considering their school life.

They also planned to meet again during the upcoming break, with Izuku going to Tokyo this time. He already told his manager and got a couple days off. The plan was to spend the first half of the break with his mother, and the other with Kacchan. 

Again, that was all ideal, but fate decided to play its game and mess everything up. 

Right before the start of the break, Izuku got a phone call from an unknown number. It caused a frown, but he answered anyway, thinking nothing much of it.

That was his mistake, not thinking much of it.

It was someone from a hospital informing him that his mother collapsed. 

So Izuku found himself unable to focus on the remaining days before the start of the break even though he did talk with his mother and she assured him that she’s resting well and was going to be fine. 

The guilt of knowing that her health worsened from overwork to save enough for her son’s tuition prevented Izuku from embracing that assurance though.

He couldn’t wait to travel back home, because a simple call wouldn’t cut it. Izuku wanted to see his mother and make sure she was alright. He was the type of person who brushed off his well being if it meant avoiding to cause others worry. That trait was one he got from no other than his own mother.

Their reunion was a complete mess. The moment their eyes met, all the bottled up sobs gushed out of his chest, and upon seeing the state of her son, crouching by the doorframe of her hospital room, hugging his knees and burying his face to keep the sobs muffled, Inko rushed off the bed and took him in her arms. 

Man, Izuku was such a bad son, so bad he forced the woman to jump out of her bed and join the waterworks when she was supposed to be resting.

Like she told him over the phone, Inko was doing well, the doctor informed Izuku himself. His mother did chuckle at the way he insisted they talk with the doctor just in case.

Despite his attempts, the first thing Inko did upon the two reaching the apartment was preparing katsudon. Izuku managed to lock his tear ducts up till the first bite of his dinner before the lock burst. 

Being home, eating his mother’s katsudon, knowing that she was struggling alone, getting a call from the hospital, not being able to speak to Kacchan for one week. It all took a toll on his emotions that any little thing would rile them up.

That same night they got back from the hospital, and after a long discussion with his mother, who assured her son that she wouldn't overwork again because she already had enough as of now, Izuku went back to his room to rest. 

And by rest, it didn’t mean actual resting on his bed. No, it meant texting the one person who could help him relieve the excessive stress running through his veins.

Izuku opened the messages app. He reread the texts he sent a week prior. 

Izuku: Sorry Kacchan, I won’t be able to talk for a while. 

Kacchan: U okay? 

Izuku: Dw about me

Izuku: I’ll explain everything asap

Izuku: Sorry

Kacchan: Ok nerd, be safe

He was a copy of his mother, preferring not to worry Kacchan despite the fact that he needed someone to talk with. Instead he closed on himself. Even Uraraka couldn’t pry anything from him as he continued to plaster a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and tell her he was just stressed from school and work.

Izuku chuckled when he went over the texts again. His message probably freaked Kacchan so much he didn’t even send a single curse word. Perhaps it was unnecessary to withdraw himself after getting the news, but he knew he’d break down if he talked about it. Who wanted that on top of having school and work?

Leaning against the headboard, legs spread before him, Izuku started typing. It wasn’t actually that late, just past 10 pm, but to Kacchan, that might as well be 3 in the morning. 

Too bad Izuku needed a dose of his painkiller. 

Izuku: Hey

Almost ten minutes later, he heaved a sigh. His body sagged until he was lying in a way that would make his neck hate him the next day.

Izuku: Sorry for not texting this long, Kacchan. A lot happened and I was just overwhelmed and worried and idk. I guess you’re sleeping so I’ll wait until you message me tomorrow

Izuku gnawed on his lips as he settled flat on his back. His fingers started typing again. 

Izuku: Miss u

His phone made a clicking sound indicating it was turned off. Izuku let it slip off his fingers and onto the mattress before he flipped on the side, with the device behind his back. 

Maybe he should call it a night too. He didn’t do much today but his muscles burnt like he just came from a marathon. All the crying drained his energy, yet his eyes threatened to spill more. He neither had university nor work to worry about for a while, so the least he could do was give himself a chance to recover. 

Besides, Kacchan wasn’t going to dissolve into nothing if he simply waited until tomorrow to vent out feelings that were currently suffocating him. 

No big deal, Izuku, sleep it off. He muttered to himself, hunching over and curling his body. You could spend one more night without messaging Kacchan, like you did last week.

He took a deep breath, hoping to exhale some of the anxiety along with it. What came out was a muffled sob that refused to be trapped anymore. Izuku zipped his mouth shut. He sucked his lips in and squeezed his eyes shut. No way was he going to let the rest free. 

Sleep. Sleep it off. 

The mattress vibrated underneath him. Lids flew open in a blink. His brain cells worked to brush it off. Perhaps it’s a stupid ad from a store that wanted to rib him off, or his friends chatting in the group. 

The vibration zipped through his skin again. He might as well message his friends, right? That was a good distraction, better than sleeping and locking himself in a nightmare about his mother dying and—

Izuku flipped on his other side. He was not going there. He regarded the device, which its screen faced the bed, before he picked it up. 

His heart skipped a beat the moment the screen brightened.

Kacchan: You really love waking me up

As much as he felt bad for that, the smile slowly glowing on his face fought the guilt. Izuku pushed himself against the headboard again. 

Izuku: Sorry :(? 

Kacchan: Dumb nerd

Kacchan: You don’t even mean it

Izuku: Hey! That’s not true

Kacchan: No shit

Izuku: Ok fine

Izuku: I half mean it

Kacchan: Half is a big percentage 

Kacchan: less than 5 percent is more like it

Izuku snorted a laugh. Gosh did he miss his very loud and vulgar precious person. 

Who was currently calling him. 

His eyes enlarged as he straightened his back and crossed his legs. He cleared his throat once, twice, said a few words like hey and Kacchan to test his voice. It made him scrunch his nose, but not taking the call would worry Kacchan more than the tone of his voice. 

So he took a risk and hit the answer button, bringing the device to his ear. 

“Hey, Ka-Kacchan.” A smile planted itself on his lips. Good thing there was no mirror facing him right now because he would have cringed at the way he looked. Also good that this wasn’t a video call.

“Hey yourself.” 

Another heart skip. Izuku bit his lower lip, hoping that the next time he opened his mouth, those brewing emotions clammed in his throat wouldn’t rush out. Kacchan’s voice came croaky from sleep, and Izuku realized he loved it.

Focus on that voice, Izuku, focus on it.

“So.” Kacchan said. A pregnant pause before he continued with a tone Izuku never thought Katsuki was able to use. “A lot…happened.” 

Oh. 

Right. He had shit to explain. This wasn’t the time to admire his voice and add more to the list of things-I-like-about-Kacchan-:) .

Cool. 

Izuku gulped down the lump. Good try, but no. His heart wanted those piled up emotions out, whether he liked it or not. In fact, his heart did him a favor and nestled in his throat. 

But Izuku was stubborn. He wanted to catch up with Kacchan during the first few minutes of this phone call, to tell him how much he missed him. It was a mere week, but to him, that felt like a whole year and he hated it. Thus, he sucked in a breath, ready to heave it out and start talking. Taking a deep breath then releasing it was good to calm yourself down. 

Wrong move when your heart was vomiting emotions everywhere. 

“Hey.” Kacchan said as soon as the choked sob reached his end. “Shit.” He muttered. Katsuki inhaled before speaking again, except it wasn’t hidden under his breath this time. “Fuck, look nerd, you don’t have to talk about it. I’m not gonna blast you off the universe or anything.” 

When Izuku let out a wet giggle, Kacchan followed. “Well, I will because you woke me up, but not now, cuz I’m fucking nice.” 

“Wow, jeez–” His hand brushed his right cheek to get rid of the lone tear that managed to sneak through his half broken ducts. “Thanks.” 

Kacchan snorted then, but he didn’t say anything. Perhaps he believed Izuku needed a moment, like he looked into his heart and noticed it was a beat away from melting entirely under those pesky feelings Izuku couldn’t control. 

Izuku only spoke once doubt of his eyes' betrayal faded. 

“I-I can talk.” His grip on the blanket tightened. “I mean- I want to.”

“I’m listening, Freckles.” 

Izuku nibbled on his lip and lowered his gaze to his lap. The hand holding the blanket crept and hid between his thighs. 

“It’s just, my mom.”

“...Is she o–kay?” 

A chuckle. “Oh yes. She is. It’s just–” 

“Fuck.” Kacchan interrupted. “Don’t pause after saying that .” 

A muttered shit reached him but it was a bit distant, like Kacchan pulled the device away just to let it out. 

“Sorry.” Izuku smiled. Tension slowly leaked off his shoulders all the way to his fingers. He didn’t even talk much yet already felt better. His throat felt lighter, and the shivers started to vanish. 

“She–I… I got a call from the hospital telling me that my mother collapsed. She’s okay now though. It just freaked me out.” 

“What caused it?” 

“Overwork.” Izuku released a sigh. “While I save enough to take care of rent and food and any other things, my mother paid off my tuition.” 

His hand escaped from his lap and he started drawing circles on the blanket. 

“I just never knew that it affected her this much that she—” He gulped down the rest. 

Another release of air. 

The bed rustled underneath him as he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. “She never told me it was getting too much.” 

“Sounds like a dumb nerd I know.” 

He furrowed an eyebrow. “What?” 

Kacchan snorted. “I bet you didn’t say anything because you didn’t want me to worry about your ass.” 

Izuku bit his lower lip. He had no retort for that. 

“Well?” 

Izuku hummed at him. 

“You’re not… dropping out of university, are you?” 

Izuku blinked twice. “Oh. No, no. I said I could always work extra shifts just in case but my mom said there was no need for that and I should focus on my studies since she got everything covered. I made her promise not to overwork herself again, that we should figure things out together instead of—well, you know.” 

It was ironic of him to say that, considering he was guilty of the same thing. But no way was he getting another call from the hospital telling him his damn mother collapsed. 

“Are you okay?” 

No.  

He chewed on the inside of his cheeks for a bit. “Y-Yeah.” 

Kacchan exhaled a small sigh. “Zuku, you dumb idiot.” 

Said boy’s eyes grew the size of an egg. 

“Bold of you to make your mom promise not to keep everything to herself when you’re still fucking keeping everything bottled up.” 

“I-I’m not…” 

“Don’t you dare say it.” 

Somehow, that increased the fire brewing his emotions. Izuku used his free arm to hide his eyes. 

“Well nerd?” 

Well fuck it. “I’m not.” 

“You’re not what?”

“I’m not okay.” The words ran despite his clenched jaw. He tasted acid on his tongue. His cheeks dampened, but he didn’t want to move his arm, like it being over his eyes prevented the stream from overflowing.

Except it didn’t. 

“I was really scared, Kacchan. That phone call really shook me. I barely focused on the remaining lectures I had. Only when I saw my mother in the hospital and after talking with the doctor did I believe it was going to be okay. But it was just luck. She told me her coworker was with her and she was just lucky they brought her to the hospital right away, b-but Kacchan, wh-what if they were la-late and she—”

“Breathe, Zuku.” 

Another ugly sob escaped. It rang louder than the muffled ones that kept interrupting him while he was talking. 

“Your mom is okay.” 

Izuku whimpered, gasping for air for a second before his lips parted to speak. “I-I know b–”

“No fucking buts. You talked with the doctor, and they said she was going to be fucking fine. Yes or no?”

Izuku hiccupped. He really tried to answer but his mouth was only leaking sobs right now. Heart’s orders. 

“Fuck nerd, if you were here with me I’d kick your ass right now.” 

At least that managed to derive a snort in between sobs. 

“You mean hug me, idiot.” 

“No. I’d kick your ass for being this far away first, then hug you.” 

Laughter bubbled out then. Izuku started to rub his eyes. He kept his mouth shut, but the small smile curling its corner showed how much talking to Kacchan worked wonders on him.

He really needed those emotions out after all, if feeling like he was floating right now was any indication to go by.

“Are you spending the break with your mom?” 

Izuku rested his arm over his forehead. He blinked at the sudden question. 

Oh. This was how one was supposed to open subjects for distraction. 

“I-I guess, yeah.” A sniffle cut him. “I mean I wanna make sure she’s okay and all.” 

Kacchan hummed in acceptance. 

It was only then that realization hit him. Izuku dragged himself up to sit cross-legged. His hand started to rub his eyes and cheeks in a haste to get rid of remnants of tears. He sniffled. 

“I’m sorry Kacchan. I completely forgot about our plan to meet.”

“Whatever nerd, it’s no big deal.” 

“But—” 

“Not a damn word. It's fine.” 

Izuku chewed on his lower lip. 

“Just gotta take care of your mom.” 

A smile brushed over his lips then. “Mhm, I will.” 

He lowered his gaze to his lap and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. 

“Thanks. For–” Izuku sighed, except it wasn’t out of anxiety or stress this time, but content and appreciation. “For everything, Kacchan.” 

“Sure greenie.” 

Izuku deemed it his due to end the call. He woke Kacchan up after all and he felt bad for that. He had to deal with his breakdown as well. The least he could do was to let him go back to sleep. 

“Fuck it.” 

Izuku blinked at the muttered words that he barely picked this time. 

“Ka–”

“I… miss you too.” The words came as a whisper. Izuku’s heart dropped for a second as his eyes widened. “Shitty Deku.” 

Izuku sniffled once. His jaw dropped as the whispered words started to buzz in his head. 

“C-Can you say that again?” 

“Hah?!” 

Izuku gripped the phone closer, lowering his chin. His other hand covered his mouth, except a smile peeked from between his fingers. 

“I didn’t hear you, Kacchan. Please?” 

He heard him of course. But Izuku wanted to hear it again. It wasn’t going to do his heart any favors though because it pounded against his chest so loud Izuku thought the beats might reach the other end of the call. 

Kacchan muttered something under his breath, fucking idiot or something similar. 

Then he cleared his throat. Izuku strengthened his grip on the phone, like if he didn’t he might miss out.

“I fucking miss you too, dipshit!” 

He couldn’t help it. Despite the words being shouted at him this time, he beamed. His hand traveled up to cover his eyes. 

Kacchan was going to be the death of him.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“How’s school, Izuku?” Inko asked as the two finished setting the table and sat to have their dinner. 

“It’s good.” He picked up his chopsticks. “Exhausting, but overall, good.” 

Inko chuckled, picking her chopsticks as well. “My baby is so smart. I’m sure you can handle anything.” 

“Of course!” He chirped. 

His mother looked better, alive . It almost caused Izuku to choke on a sob but he fisted his hand over the table. Everything was going to be fine. He shouldn’t overthink things, most of all he shouldn’t cause the woman any more worry she didn’t need. 

“When are you leaving?” 

Izuku furrowed his brow at that, so Inko giggled. “I mean, I’m sure you want to spend half of the break with your friends.” 

He hummed. Picking the rice bowl, he shrugged one shoulder. “I wanna spend it with you, mom.” 

Inko’s eyes widened. Then her shoulders sagged as her expression brightened. 

“Izuku, baby, I told you I’m fine.”

“I know, I know.” A chuckle rushed out. He put the bowl down. “I just don’t mind staying here for the whole break.” 

And he really meant that. Like Kacchan told him yesterday, the two could meet later. It’s not the end of the world if they didn’t. 

“Don’t you want to meet Kacchan?” 

Izuku choked. On food. He started coughing and his mother gasped and stood to pat his back before she urged him to drink water. 

“M-Mom h-how?” 

Only when she was sure her son wasn’t dying of food traveling down the wrong canal did Inko sit on the chair opposite of him again. 

“I heard you speaking on the phone yesterday when I came to check on you.”

Oh. 

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, only heard that you two planned to meet?” She tilted her head to the side as she cupped one cheek. 

Izuku rubbed the back of his head. 

“Izuku, baby.” 

The tone his mother used pulled his attention away from the table and back to her. She had a sweet smile on her lips that reached her eyes and made them crinkle. 

“I’m really okay. I don’t want you to waste your break hanging with dear old me.” 

Izuku shook his head, her smile infecting his lips in a blink. “Mom.” 

She laughed whole-heartedly. “I mean it young man.” 

When he nodded hesitantly, Inko’s smile widened and she urged him to continue eating. 

“So, Kacchan is a new name.” 

Izuku beamed at that, and told her everything, Uraraka mistyping her number, which turned out to belong to Kacchan, Katsuki, how the two started off badly at first but became closer later until not a single day passed without them talking, about last night and how Kacchan dealt with Izuku’s breakdown and made him feel one hundred times better. 

Inko awed when Izuku brought that up, saying baby again, which almost made him tear up. 

“Kacchan is amazing.” Izuku said. 

He locked eyes with Inko as she smiled at him, before she stood and started to stack the dishes.

“I really like him.” 

Inko chuckled at that. She walked to the kitchen with the stack held in both hands. 

“Which is why you should meet up, sweetie.”

They should, huh.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku spent another two days with his mother, catching up with everything and enjoying his time. Apart from shopping, since Inko insisted she get Izuku new clothes, they watched a few episodes of the All-Might series. It brought back memories from when his mother joined him and listened to Izuku fanboy over his all-time favorite hero. He also texted Kacchan during these two days. Only thing was that he didn’t mention anything about coming to his dorm. 

And here Izuku was, standing in front of a door that may or may not be Kacchan and Todorokis’ room.

Alright, it was.

The only thing standing between him and Kacchan was the door. All he had to do was knock and that was it. No more obstacles in the way. 

Izuku was a little bit nerv—alright, Izuku was currently drowning in a heap of butterflies that his hands were glued to his sides. 

Todoroki was visiting his family for the break. That much Izuku knew from the group chat when Uraraka was trying to plan a hangout.

In other words, being alone with Kacchan further agitated the butterflies, much like when he stayed with Izuku last time.

This was their original plan for the break though. It explained why Kacchan stayed in the dorms. So technically Izuku coming here wasn’t entirely uncalled for.

Surprising though? Definitely. It was exactly why he didn’t tell Kacchan. He wanted to surprise him. Hence why emotions leaked out as his gaze stuck to the door handle.

How would Kacchan react? Would he be happy to see Izuku after thinking they wouldn’t meet as planned? What were the two going to do during the break now that Izuku was here?

They didn’t plan for anything thinking it’s better to do that after they met. There was so much they could do, so much to talk about, but more than anything, just existing in the same space brightened Izuku that he wouldn’t mind if all they did was stay in the dorms.

Izuku inhaled a huge gulp of air, before he nodded to himself. 

If there was one thing in the world that he really needed more than anything else right now, it was to see his very loud and precious person.

Switching his bag from one hand to the other, Izuku shattered the silence of the narrow hallway with a knock. It wasn’t late, but quite the opposite actually, with the clock pointing to 9 in the morning.

So he wasn’t waking Kacchan from his sleep like he always did. 

He only waited for two minutes, before a muffled fucking assholes reached him from the other side of the door. Izuku stifled a chuckle and held his breath. 

The door flung open. 

“You fucking—“ their eyes locked, cutting the complaint short. Kacchan’s eyes widened. His jaw fell.

“What the fuck—“ his hand opened the door wider. “Izuku?”

The bag fell with a thud, before Izuku crashed into Kacchan and knocked the air out of him. It may or may not have caused the two to fall flat on the floor, but that was the last thing Izuku cared about right now.

“Fuck.” Kacchan groaned loudly. 

Well, he kind of felt bad for hurting Kacchan with his attac—hug . But could anyone blame him right now? He was with Kacchan. His body had its own mind, answering his heart’s wish.

Izuku squeezed him so hard it extracted another groan, to which he giggled. Their clothes rustled as Izuku nuzzled the blond’s neck, curls assaulting Kacchan’s skin.

“N-Nerd— what the fuck ?”

Said boy laughed, giving Kacchan one final squeeze before he placed his palms on either side of Katsuki’s head to push himself up. 

A cheeky smile planted itself on his lips. 

“Surprise!” He chirped. 

Kacchan blinked at him. His palms were placed on either side of his waist. However, he soon snorted. 

“The fuck is this payback or some shit?”

He grinned at Izuku, who giggled. He pulled himself away so the two settled on the floor. As soon as Kacchan raised his body to sit facing him, Izuku’s arms crept forward until they were folded behind Katsuki's neck.

Another pair of arms settled over his back half a minute later and hauled him closer until not an inch separated their bodies.

Right now, here, in Kacchan’s arms, safe and secured and warm, did Izuku finally heave a sigh of relief and believe everything was okay.

“I love you so much.” The whispered words came out croaked and strangled. Izuku tightened his grip on him as if to prevent Kacchan from slipping away. 

Kacchan huffed a little laugh. The breath of air caused the hair on his skin to rise. Izuku’s heart skipped multiple beats.

He brought Izuku closer, like they weren’t already flushed against each other in the middle of the room with its door wide open. 

“I love you too, crybaby.” The whisper extracted a gasp from Izuku, and he tightened his grip. Slender fingers found their way through green curls as Kacchan’s other hand brushed his back. 

And while Izuku wanted to indulge in this moment longer, to nudge his cheek against Kacchan’s neck and tighten his grip on him, a sound from behind grabbed his attention. 

A click, to be exact. 

He pulled away and at once rubbed his eyes. Kacchan spared him a quick glance. Then his eyes shifted to somewhere behind Izuku’s shoulder, and confusion morphed into a scowl. 

“You fucker.” He snapped and stood abruptly, making Izuku blink at him and lift his chin. 

“Busted.” Someone said. A feminine snicker followed the foreign voice. 

Tip-taps drummed on the wooden floor. Izuku pushed himself off the ground and turned on his heel, eyes the size of an egg. 

His gaze met a group of three. A redhead guy clad in white jeans and a red hoodie stood next to a girl with short pink hair. Before them was a blond, a grin plastered on his face. He stuffed the phone he was holding inside the pocket of his leather jacket in a quick motion before the tips of his fingers covered his widening grin. 

“So this is the culprit who got Kacchan wrapped around his little finger.” The girl snorted at what the blond said. Izuku’s mouth gaped. He caught the red-haired guy shaking his head after he chuckled. 

The girl crossed the short distance separating her from Izuku and gave him a once-over. Then she locked contact with Kacchan standing next to him. A cheeky smile brightened her expression.

She skipped to Kacchan’s other side, cupped her mouth and drew herself close to his ear. Upon the whisper she said, Kacchan’s eyebrow twitched. 

“Fuck. Off.” He gritted the words. One would jolt under the menacing stare, but the girl simply giggled.

Kacchan’s piercing glare found the other blond next. “Oi Dunce Face, you better delete that shit before I erase you from existence.” 

Said boy only tilted his head. He raised both hands in the air as his shoulders shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

With a fist hovered in the air, Kacchan stepped closer to him. “Let me jog your memory then, asshole.” 

But before another step was taken, the guy with spiky red hair gathered in a low pony-tail moved in between the two. 

“Easy man.” His palms gently pushed Katsuki’s chest, who grunted and swat his hands away. The guy continued speaking despite the distaste his friend was showing.

“Aren’t you gonna introduce us?” He said as he nodded Izuku’s way.

“Yeah.” The girl chirped as she slipped beside the redhead. Her gaze fell on Izuku, who stood still behind Katsuki with parted lips. When she flashed a toothy smile at him, Izuku zipped his mouth and gulped a lump. 

Okay. Relax, Izuku. 

These three were definitely the extras (read: friends in Bakugou language) who Kacchan mentioned a few times. So Izuku was going to introduce himself very smoothly and make a great impression. Easy. 

He just needed to ignore the tiny fact that they witnessed him kneeling on the floor between Kacchan’s legs as his arms encircled him in a hug, murmuring whispers of love—

No big deal. 

“The fuck are you here for?”

Well, there went his chance of introducing himself. Whether that was a relief or not was something Izuku couldn’t know.

“Dude, didn’t we say we’re coming to get you for breakfast?” The redhead said, lips tugged down in a pout

Kacchan tutted and crossed his arms. “I clearly said I ain’t fucking going.” 

The other blond strode to Izuku and pulled him for a side hug. His arm stretched across his shoulders. A toothy smile planted on his face as it drew closer to Izuku’s. “It’s cool, cuz we got someone else to take with us now.”

“Eh?” Izuku blinked rapidly at the way this guy casually broke his personal bubble. It wasn’t unwelcomed, nor made him comfortable. On the contrary, the guy’s presence didn’t overwhelm him.

A tsk broke free, before a hand clutched Izuku’s wrist and hauled him away and into Katsuki’s space. The motion made him stumble but Kacchan kept him steady against his chest by placing his other hand on the small of his back.

“You fucking wish.”

If this was a suitable time, he would have totally relished in Kacchan’s warmth and snuggled against his chest as his arms looped around his middle. The way he dragged him away from the other blond stole his breath away. 

But it wasn’t, so Izuku shuffled to stand beside Kacchan. 

Upon making eye contact with a set of bemused rubies, Kacchan exhaled as if he finally accepted the reality he was facing. 

“That’s Shitty Hair.” Said guy blinked twice, but Kacchan paid the look no mind and pointed at the girl next, followed lastly by the blond. “Raccoon Eyes and fucking Dunce Face.” 

And just like that, Kacchan folded his arms and looked at Izuku. 

Blinking rapidly didn’t make anything click in Katsuki’s head. In fact, he lifted a brow at Izuku’s confusion like he did nothing out of the ordinary. Like he didn’t just introduce his friends using… nicknames. Like he expected Izuku to address the three the same way Kacchan did.

A snort rushed free, pulling his attention to the girl, aka Raccoon Eyes, according to Kacchan. Izuku was only calling her that in his head until they pitied him and introduced themselves. Obviously Kacchan didn’t fancy the option much, so relying on him wasn’t going to do Izuku any good.

Her snort developed into a laugh, arms clutching her stomach as she bent her back. Words escaped in between each huff of laughter. 

“You… aren’t… fucking serious.”

The blond, Dunce Face(?), had long joined the girl in her laughing fit. Izuku caught the redhead facepalming.

Shifting his attention to Katsuki, Izuku raised a brow and fixed him with a deadpan. 

Kacchan hmphed a what , then turned his face away with a tut. 

Wonderful. 

He totally did that on purpose.

Izuku let go of a sigh, but masked his awkwardness with a smile and faced the three. 

“I’m I-Izuku Midoriya.” 

He maintained eye contact with the red-haired guy. The other two were still recovering from Kacchan’s… peculiar introduction.

With his hand hung in the space between them, the redhead grinned widely. “Eijiro Kirishima. Nice to officially meet you, Midoriya!”

It took him a moment to process that, eyes enlarged. Was it the implication behind his statement or the nickname that caused confusion? Perhaps both were valid. But then Izuku’s eyes fell on the offered hand and he exclaimed with a stuttered oh and shook hands with Kirishima.

The pink-haired girl wiped her eyes once before stepping closer to Kacchan. “Not fair blasty, Ei knew about Midoriya.”

A scoff. “Unlike you two idiots, he knows when not to piss me off.”

Kirishima chuckled. He let go of Izuku’s hand to pat the girl’s back when her bottom lip jutted out. His gaze stuck to Izuku.

“This is Mina Ashido.” Kirishima regarded the other blond for a second to introduce him, but the guy sent a salute to Izuku and beat him to it. 

“Denki Kaminari.”

Izuku met his cheeky smile with a small one, before his attention was directed to the other two.

“N-Nice to meet you all.”

The next thing they knew, Kacchan unfolded his arms and clapped his hands together. “Now that this shitshow is over,” He paused to point at the open door. “Get lost.”

“K-Kacchan!” 

Kaminari snorted, perhaps at the nickname. No, definitely at the way Izuku regarded Kacchan with a scolding look and said his nickname. If his glare was anything to go by.

“Midoriya, have you had breakfast yet?” 

Izuku released a quick oh as he locked eyes with Kirishima, then shook his head.

Ashido clapped her hands together. Delight brightened her features. “Alright let’s go. I’m starving!”

“Did you just fucking ignore me?”

Kaminari snaked his arm across Izuku’s shoulders and started to lead him outside. “What do you wanna eat, Midoriya?”

“Oh—uhh,” 

His eyes met Kacchan’s for a second, who currently had his veins popping from underneath his skin as his hands fisted. Katsuki remained behind as Ashido and Kirishima followed Izuku and Kaminari.

Izuku steered his gaze to Kaminari as they stepped out in the hallway. “I-I don’t mind anything, really.”

“Awesome!” Ashido chirped, slipping to his free side and looping her arm around his. “We’ll take you to our favorite restaurant. The food is delicious there!”

“You fucking—“

“Let’s go man!” Kirishima interrupted the wrath before it unfolded behind them.

Chapter Text

Kacchan’s friends were as… interesting as him. 

While being in the presence of Todoroki had him sweat buckets, these three didn’t give him time to process what was happening, let alone panic.

If anything, they created a space for him that didn’t enclose on Izuku with every passing second. The way they always caught him off guard, swept him off his feet and kept different subjects coming stopped Izuku from drifting away.

He barely had time to keep up with the three, much less stress over the situation and the fact that he was hanging out with new faces.

It was heartwarming. New and different, but nevertheless comforting.

“How long are you staying?” Ashido asked as soon as silence presented itself for not even half a second. 

The round table they were currently sitting at had half full plates and bowls. The restaurant bustled with families and friends alike, but it wasn’t too noisy or crowded to ruin the meal. 

The redhead sitting next to Ashido had his eyes on Izuku. Kaminari, who settled beside Kirishima, flitted his attention between him and the rice bowl he was eating from.

Kacchan occupied the chair next to his and across from the three. Izuku spared him a hesitant glance. They met eyes, and Izuku bit his lip. His gaze shifted between him and Ashido. 

“Well, we—I originally planned to stay half the break with Kacchan.”

Ashido lifted an eyebrow, putting down her chopsticks. “What do you mean, originally ?”

A tut followed. Kacchan picked a piece of omelet from a plate to his right side. “So damn nosy.”

“Oh, hush you.”

Izuku chuckled. His hand slipped under the table and grabbed Kacchan’s hand, which settled over his thigh. 

“I wanted to stay with my mother to make sure she was okay so—“

“Did something happen?” Kirishima interrupted immediately, eyes enlarging. All three of them tensed up and regarded Izuku with concern. Even Kaminari stopped eating his food.

Izuku let go of Kacchan’s hand and waved at them with a smile. “Oh nothing serious! She got sick from overwork but she’s okay now.” 

Directing his gaze to Kacchan, who locked eyes with him at that moment, Izuku’s eyes crinkled. “She overheard us talking on the day I arrived home.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

Izuku looked ahead again to face Kacchan’s friends.

“When I told her our plans for the break, she insisted I stick with them.” One finger scratched his cheek as a chuckle ran free. “So here I am.”

“Glad your mom is okay, Midoriya.”

Kirishima’s toothy smile infected his lips when he locked eyes with him.

A clap to the guy’s right brought both of their attention to Ashido. 

“Oh, our gig!”

At the mention of this gig , Kaminari put down his chopsticks and exclaimed in excitement. “That’s right! You should totally come and see us rocking it, man!”

“You play music?” 

Kirishima nodded. “It’s something we do on the side. We perform at a venue from time to time.”

Izuku blinked. He regarded Kacchan, who busied himself eating.

“If you’re wondering whether Katsuki does too, then nope.” Kirishima said. Each arm stretched across the two he sat in between and he brought them for a side hug. A cheeky smile planted on his face. “Just us.”

The blond to his left raised a fist in the air, a row of shiny teeth glinting behind his lips. Ashido had a similar expression except her hand remained on the table.

“Idiots.”

“Blasty here is too boring to join the fun.”

“Cuz he has a gpa to maintain.” Kaminari cupped his cheeks as his elbows rested on the table. Eyes stuck to the blond in front of him. “Right, Kacchan ?”

“That’s it.” The chair scraped across the floor when he stood. “I’m sending your ass to oblivion.”

Izuku clutched his forearm with both hands. “K-Kacchan, wha—“

“Shut the fuck up, nerd.” His finger pointed at Kaminari’s grinning face. “I’m gonna kill that fucker.”

“So Midoriya,”

Izuku kept his grip on Kacchan to prevent him from jumping onto the table and killing his new friend(?). Once his attention shifted to Ashido, the girl continued. 

“What’s your major?”

“Oh. Nursing.”

Ashido awed. Her smile widened. “That fits.” 

Izuku blinked twice at that. Kacchan finally settled on his chair again, but he crossed his arms and leant against the back of it, grumbling curses under his breath.

“I agree.” Kirishima said with a toothy smile. He picked up his rice bowl.

“Eh? Wh-What do you mean?”

“C’mon Midori, you’re so sweet. I could totally see you as a nurse.” 

Blood rushed to the top of his head. Izuku chuckled as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Isn’t it perfect too?” Kaminari started. A smirk rolled over his lips as he directed it to Kacchan. “I mean, how nice would it be to have someone nurse you back to health if you get sick.”

The chair flew backwards with a screech. 

“You’re fucking dead!”

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku Midoriya had never been to a gig. 

Starting university was the changing point in his life. He desired a difference, a new lifestyle that was vibrant yet didn’t prevent him from being himself. 

Obviously such a challenge required sacrifice and going through failures. Regardless, it never brought his spirits down. 

Besides, he went to parties before. What made a musical gig any different?

So here he was, standing in the middle of a young adult crowd and waiting for the third performance of tonight. Everyone murmured about the two bands which performed first. Others anticipated the final one, aka Kirishima’s band. 

Darkness veiled the whole place, but lights from different areas on either side illuminated the small hall in which the performance was being held. The venue was medium-sized and could hold up to 200 people, but around 70 were present tonight.

“You good?” 

The whisper sent a shiver up his spine. Glancing to the side, Izuku caught Kacchan’s perplexed look. 

Izuku and Kacchan stood two rows away from the stage. The crew were running about and preparing for the next gig, making sure everything was in place and ready for a neat performance that would impress the audience. 

“Y-Yeah.” He locked eyes with Katsuki again. He tilted his head. “What makes you think I’m not?”

He calculated his expression for half a minute, during which Izuku smiled. Satisfied, Kacchan shrugged his shoulders and looked ahead. “Nothing.” 

Humming, Izuku shuffled closer until their shoulders were glued. People were flushed together that he had no choice but to be pressed against those around him. It was hard to secure one’s own personal bubble.

So Izuku preferred to stay in Kacchan’s space. Having to go through a new experience was nerve-wracking, but being with Katsuki made the whole ordeal much smoother. Thus Izuku tucked himself near who he found solace in.

“It’s finally Kirishima and the others’ turn. The previous bands were good, but—” His brows crinkled as he stared ahead. “Heavy metal is quite…uhh–loud. They all looked intense.” 

Kacchan snorted. “Not a fan?” 

“N-Not really?”

A stretched hum was the blond’s answer. Kacchan spared him a quick glance. Then his eyes found the stage, so Izuku followed suit. The stage crew was leaving, and that buzzed him with excitement. 

Kirishima and the others performed without a main singer. Yet they had established a reasonable fan-base since last year. The redhead did say they were trying to find a lead singer but had no luck so far. Though that didn’t stop them from continuing to perform whenever they had time and came up with new music to share with fans.

A tremendous cheer welcomed Kacchan’s friends as they got onto the stage. The whole place erupted with hoots that livened up the ambience further. One thing was for sure, that the mood morphed into one suggesting Kirishima’s rock band outmatched any other bands before them.

And that was proven right moments after the band began playing. The music enlightened Izuku’s face, pushing his hands to form fists and rise in the air to join the rest of the audience as they cheered. His heart pounded as the upbeat amused his eardrums. It wasn’t aggressive or intense, but nonetheless breath-taking. Despite lacking a singer, the three engaged the crowd.

Mirth rolled over the two guitarists as their fingers created a rhythm the audience relished in. The redhead in the back kept the show livelier, a cheeky smile planted on his face, hands drumming in virtuosic moves.

Halfway through the performance, something brushed the small of Izuku’s back, jolting him, before a hand captured his side and hauled him against the body standing next to him. Kacchan’s black leather jacket rustled from the motion. Izuku was about to turn his head when hot breath passed through his ear. 

“Enjoying yourself, Freckles?” 

Izuku tightened his grip on the hem of his sweater, heart bursting out of its cage. His gaze stuck to Ashido as the girl played around with her guitar. Heads in front of him kept shaking and dancing to the rock music, while people on his free side brushed his arm as they cheered. 

Despite the zero inches separating their bodies, Kacchan chose to haul him even closer as he squeezed Izuku’s side. It’s as if he wanted no one to tear Izuku’s personal bubble.

When Izuku turned his head, a smirk flashed at him. 

Swallowing the lump he never knew when exactly did it pop in his throat, Izuku nodded. He pressed his lips thin. The smirk shrank to a genuine smile. 

Izuku swallowed again as Katsuki gazed upon him. 

Beautiful.  

He blinked upon the thought.

The simple fact that Kacchan was looking out for him, making sure that stress wasn’t assaulting Izuku anymore, that he’s calmed down from the event which happened right before the break, that the performance pleased him, was enough to tug the corners of his lips higher.

Izuku had to thank Uraraka after the break was over. If not for her little habit of teasing Katsuki by pretending to mistype her number and give his number instead, the two wouldn’t have met. Heck, he wanted to thank their damn professor for assigning him to a group project.

The emotions bustling through his veins sought an exit. His lips parted for words resembling them to gain freedom.

He wanted to let him know how much Izuku was thankful that he was a part of his life, that he considered himself lucky for being with Kacchan. He wanted to tell him that listening to his mother’s advice and coming here was the best decision he made.

He wanted to speak for his heart that’s been doing somersaults in his chest. He wanted to acknowledge the butterflies in his stomach ruffling louder than his heartbeat. 

He wanted to tell Kacchan that he loved him. That thought alone escalated his heart rate. 

He did say it today, and through texting, yes, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, not with the way Kacchan was looking at him like Izuku was, dare he thought, everything. 

Kacchan was everything to him too. And even though Izuku had pretty much shown how much he meant to him, he still wanted to say it.

That he really loved him.

But Kacchan beat him to it.

His line of thoughts was cut when Kacchan closed the distance between their faces, kissing him. The motion electrified his whole body. His eyes flew wider. His head blanked out.

Katsuki kissed the corner of his mouth. Izuku could feel him smiling across his skin. He pecked him on the cheek as he maneuvered his lips close to Izuku’s ear to whisper.

“Good.”

And it was understandable, okay? Kacchan couldn’t just look him in the eye and say the word out loud, expecting it to reach him clearly while music was blasting through the speakers in the venue and everyone around them screamed their throats out.

Thus the whisper. 

Still.

Still!

The huff of air against his ear coated its tip with red. The heat expanded its territory and dominated his face. He was suddenly thrown into a white space with only the two of them. No one surrounded them, yet their bodies were glued together. No music played around them, yet Kacchan chose to whisper in his ears. 

His lips tingled as his eyes couldn’t fall off Kacchan’s the moment they locked contact. If not for the arm holding him in place, Izuku would have fallen when Katsuki seized the distance between them to nothing.

Izuku’s head combusted all at once. His whole body flared up and melted against the other. The fact that it was flushed against Kacchan wasn’t helping him cool down at all.

When he pulled away, Kacchan simply smirked, smirked, before he shifted his attention back to his friends on the stage, leaving behind a poor dumbfounded goldfish.

Alright, all the teasing definitely backfired. How utterly unfair of Kacchan to tease him with… with—Izuku’s teasing was mere words!

Whatever the group was playing did not register in his ears as they grew in temperature. Well then, at least he managed to hear the first bit of Kirishima and the others’ music.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“How was it, Midoriya?” 

Kirishima chirped as the group left the venue. The audience long left since Izuku and Kacchan waited until the band members gathered their instruments.

Izuku matched Kirishima’s grin with one of his own as he pumped fists in the air. “You guys were awesome.” 

“Except for Dunce Face.” 

Said boy rolled his eyes as Ashido snickered next to him. “Will you stop that man?” 

“Never.” Kacchan met Kaminari’s pout with a shit-eating grin.

Izuku poked him in the side. “Be nice.” 

With a tut, Kacchan stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“Dude.” Kaminari nudged Kacchan with a smirk, to which he grunted. The glare didn’t stop him from speaking his mind. “Why can’t you be as nice—“

“Shut your ass.”

“We know he loves us.” The redhead snaked his arm across his shoulders and pulled him for a side hug. “Right, bro?”

“But we do have a rival now.” When Ashido spared Izuku a glance, he blinked. Upon wiggling her eyebrows, he gaped but then his gaze shifted to his feet. Chuckles reached his ears, along with a mumbled curse.

The two got to the dorms after having dinner at a restaurant on the way back. Izuku entered the room first as Kacchan turned on the lights.

Fingers interlocked behind his back, Izuku turned on his heel to face him. Kacchan was in the middle of taking off his jacket. 

“You know, I said this the last time I came here but,” Kacchan turned around, and Izuku sent him a toothy smile “Your dorms are really nice.” 

“It’s whatever.”

Izuku shook his head. “No really, and you have a kind roommate too.” 

That irked his eyebrows. “Fucking bullshit.” It earned him a giggle. 

“You used to live in the dorms too, yeah?” Kacchan said after a long prudent stare.

Widening his eyes, Izuku exclaimed. “Not really.” When Kacchan lifted his eyebrow, he followed immediately. “I lived in a sharehouse, actually.” 

“Yeah?” Katsuki crossed the room and settled vertically on the bed, back leant against the wall as his legs stretched ahead. 

Izuku hummed as he turned to maintain eye contact. “We had the option to either have a room to ourselves or share one with someone.” He paused to shrug his shoulders. 

“The latter option was cheaper so I went with it.” 

Izuku scratched his cheek and chortled. “I thought living in a sharehouse and sharing a room with someone will help me make friends.” 

“Did it?” 

Nope. 

With a smile, he shook his shoulders. 

It wasn’t really a bad decision. A lot of students chose to live in a sharehouse or the dorms instead of an apartment to save money and make new connections. Izuku was just… unlucky, which wasn’t entirely surprising, sadly. If his middle and high school days were anything to go by.

“C’mere.” Kacchan said as he patted his thighs. For a second, Izuku’s posture went completely still, eyes the size of a saucer. His traitorous mind went back in time to the gig and Izuku found the ground interesting. 

A snort pulled his attention away from his feet. 

“Turn that fucking shoujo mode off and get your ass here, nerd.” 

Izuku’s jaw fell. “Sh-Shoujo?”

That smirk from when they were flushed together in the middle of a crowd flashed at him again. He swallowed.

“Just c’mere.” Katsuki said after letting out a huff. His gaze didn’t linger too long as his eyes flitted to the side a few times. His lips curled at the corner.

God. The desire to close the distance and tuck himself in Kacchan’s personal bubble washed over him in a flash. Who was Izuku kidding, thinking he could resist anyway?

His hand carded through green curls. A small smile played around with the corner of his lips. 

Izuku crossed the small distance between them. Climbing onto the bed, he laid on his back and rested his head over the blond’s thighs. At once, Kacchan’s fingers sought his curls and claimed his head as their new home. His other hand settled over Izuku’s stomach.

Despite not saying anything, or prompting him to talk, Izuku’s desire to do so bubbled up in his chest until it burst. Besides, he needed a distraction.

“You know, my roommate wasn’t actually bad.” 

Kind of dumb to think such a distraction was going to be healthy though.

Kacchan raised an eyebrow, giving him a deadpan. “Yeah, you were absolutely fucking ecstatic to see him back at the convenience store.”

“H-Hear me out.” Izuku placed his hands over Katsuki's. “I was new and a bit… timid.” 

Kacchan snorted. “A bit .” He parroted with a raised eyebrow.

It caused Izuku’s bottom lip to jut out.

“What?”

“A bit ? Says the guy who hung up on me on our first video call.”

Izuku scoffed. “Th-That—I told you cuz I didn’t-didn’t expect—“

“Even though you —“ he booped Izuku on the nose the same time he emphasized on you ,“ — were the one who wanted that.”

“Ka-Kacc—“

“You also hung up on me on our first phone call.”

Izuku’s jaw fell. Was he reprimanding Izuku over something that was months ago?!

“Which, again , you were the one who called first.”

“By mistake!”

“Doesn’t fucking matter.”

Kacchan tousled his hair continuously as a shit-eating grin planted on his face. “A bit is an understatement, you damn nerd.”

Izuku shook his head to either side in an attempt to stop Kacchan from messing with his hair while repeating okay in defeat more than once.

“Don’t act like you’re any better, Kacchan.” Izuku mumbled under his breath as his gaze flitted to the side. Cheeks filled with air.

“Hah?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Izuku found a frown on his features. His hands rose and cupped Kacchan’s cheeks. He grinned the moment Kacchan furrowed his eyebrows. 

“It means you’re as awkward.”

Crimsons widened one moment, then they blinked. His lips parted twice in an attempt to retort. Because Izuku knew how he would react, his grin widened, challenging Kacchan to prove his point.

Surprisingly, Kacchan grasped both of Izuku’s hands and drew them away. A grunt followed, before he mumbled the next words.

“At least I don’t hang up on people.”

“Of course. You lash out at them instead.”

“Fucking asshole.”

Izuku giggled, giving in to the warmth Kacchan enveloped him with. His hand nestled in green curls again to comb through it, as Izuku cradled his other hand that settled on his stomach.

His eyes crinkled as Izuku’s features relaxed, recalling what they were talking about.

He cleared his throat. “Anyways, my roommate introduced me to everyone at the sharehouse, and also offered to show me around campus. I couldn’t really click with any of the students living in the house. I felt so different. My roommate made it easier for me to blend in with them.” 

“But?”

Izuku smiled. It was obvious that the but was coming, huh. 

“But it all changed at some point.” 

Kacchan’s fingers stopped threading his hair. His eyes squinted at him. “Changed how?” 

Izuku’s lips trembled as he resisted the urge to ask Kacchan to continue playing with his hair. That was his motivation to go on. Without it, unwanted memories escaped to bring forth the demise of his mind.

“Everyone started to ignore me at first, or made it obvious they wanted nothing to do with me.” Izuku gulped. He squeezed Kacchan’s hand. Gaze was glued to the ceiling. 

The sudden change confused him back then. He did nothing to offend anyone, but they acted as if Izuku had committed a sin. Mind you he wasn’t that close to any of the students in the sharehouse. They lived in a world completely different from his. If he ever tried to mingle with them, Izuku had to become someone else, and that wasn’t a thing he ever wanted. 

Sure, he wanted others to like him, he wished to make genuine friends, but not on the expense of becoming a whole different person just to buy their friendship.

So he kept their relationship formal and tried not to cross any lines.

“Their attitude was weird, made me doubt myself, like, have I done something that they disliked?”

A scoff pulled his attention back to him. Kacchan’s scowl made his heart pound against its cage. It wasn’t directed at Izuku, but at the fact that he thought he was in the wrong for what happened. 

Like Kacchan hated that Izuku thought of such a ridiculous assumption. That in itself pulled him back into the present and out of the depths of his past. He was no longer a part of that toxic community, nor was he hanging out with people who disliked him for who Izuku was.

His fingers resumed to play around with his hair. Izuku released a sigh. He swallowed a lump and continued. 

“I found out later that they never liked me. It was all an act, and my roommate excelled in that department.” 

Izuku never understood why the guy pretended to be nice only to stab him in the back. They never met before, so what drove him to do such a thing? 

Then again, Izuku and the rest of the students, including his roommate, differed from each other in so many ways. Like the fact that they preferred to go out and have fun over attending lectures, or that they loved partying all-night, ending up turning the whole house into a dumpster, that they thought Izuku was such a boring guy just because he kept up with university and avoided drinking on a damn Monday . 

Perhaps that was why his roommate put on the polite mask at first. He wanted to figure out Izuku, what kind of person he was and if he was going to be just like the others in the sharehouse. Another pawn.

No wonder the act was dropped the moment he realized Izuku didn’t, and wouldn’t, fit. No wonder they gave him the silent treatment and pushed him off a cliff without basically doing much.

“I was the boring sheepish nerd who liked a dumb series like All-Might and refused to pull an all-nighter with the rest of them.” 

Right after realizing that he was living with a two-faced and his followers, Izuku worked his ass off to save and eventually move out. 

He thought he could suck it up until he saved enough, but alas, he ended up asking his mother for money because he couldn’t stay in the sharehouse anymore.

He lived in a house of six people yet felt like he was living in solitude. Everyone had something in common except for him. Even if he dared show an ounce of interest or talked about his likes, no one would care, much less engage in a conversation with him.

But more than anything, he couldn’t stand their fakeness. How they harbored dislike towards him and whispered behind his back yet wore a smile when their eyes met.

A hand slid to his forehead, before it grabbed his bangs and pushed them to the back. The motion steered Izuku’s gaze to Kacchan, who wore a perplexed look on his face. 

“Give me the fucker’s number.” 

Izuku blinked. Twice. “What for?” 

Kacchan clicked his tongue. He kept Izuku’s bangs pushed backwards. “To kick his sorry ass, why else would I want his stupid number?” 

Izuku couldn’t help it. He let the laughter bubble out. Kacchan huffed in displeasure, and that derived a series of chuckles.

“You don’t—” Whatever words he wanted to release toppled down his throat again when Kacchan hunched over and kissed his exposed forehead. His lips burnt the spot they touched. Izuku unconsciously clutched his hand tighter. His eyes fluttered closed.

When the softness drew away from his forehead, Izuku opened his eyes. 

It was a mistake. 

While Kacchan did move away, he still kept the distance between their faces short enough to send a shiver down Izuku’s spine. No way was his current posture good for his back, but Izuku dared not mutter a word. He was too busy trying to settle his raging heart anyway.

After what seemed like the longest staring session, Katsuki parted his lips to speak. 

“You’re—” He paused, curling his lips to the side as his eyes flitted left and right. His fingers wormed between green curls in a tender movement. 

Clicking his tongue, Kacchan’s eyebrows wrinkled. He drew himself away. His back hit the wall with a thump. He found the other side of the room more interesting to look at than Izuku himself.

“You’re a cool nerd, Greenie. Fuck whoever thinks otherwise.”

Izuku was too stunned to do much other than blink rapidly at him. His mouth hung open. Brain cells overheated as they tried to process the compliment. Heck, he didn’t even know if he was shocked at that or the forehead kiss or the way Kacchan spelt the word Greenie in that soft tone of his. 

As soon as the initial shock dithered, Izuku flipped on his side and buried his face in Katsuki's sweater. His arm curled around his waist and folded behind his back. Blush glazed over his ears as Izuku squeezed Kacchan’s upper half. 

“Kacchan.” The stretched whine was muffled as Izuku kept snuggling left and right, but the fact that a snicker echoed in the room informed him that his words reached the blond regardless. 

Kacchan’s hand carded through the birdnest as the other caressed his back.  “Little shit.” 

He let out a small whine as he nosed his stomach. 

Kacchan really was going to be the death of him.

Chapter Text

Freckles: Kacchaaaan 

Freckles: >:(

Katsuki: What’s up drama queen 

Freckles: I just had to deal with a gang!

Katsuki: No shit

Freckles: There was this big fight I guess, so the police brought those who needed immediate health care first. It was so exhausting! 

Freckles: They kept making trouble or refusing to let me tend their wounds or just simply making my job much harder

Freckles: I managed to deal with their brash mouths

Freckles: But one of them really made my skin crawl 

Freckles: Kacchan? 

Said guy covered the pot, put aside the ladle, and at once picked up his phone from over the counter to reply. He only managed to read what Izuku was sending as he cooked.

Katsuki: I’m here freckles

Freckles: You busy? 

Katsuki: Nah, was just preparing dinner but I’m done

Leaving the food cooking over the stove, he walked to the living room across the kitchen and plopped on the couch. Having his own kitchen was a blessing he would never give up to anything else. Long gone were the days on which he had to share the kitchen area with good-for-nothing extras who made the damn place look like a battleground.

Fingers drummed over the small screen as a smile tugged the corners of his lips.

Katsuki: So one made your skin crawl?

Freckles: Oh! 

Freckles: Well, she kept looking at me in a funny way

He lifted an eyebrow.

Katsuki: Funny how? 

Freckles: She looked obsessed? 

What in the fresh hell?

The damn nerd took whining as a second job ever since he became a nurse. If Katsuki thought the stream of complaints that came with that shitty part-time job he had as a student was going to end when Deku finally got a real job, he had another thought coming.

Much like when he worked at the convenience store, the nerd complained about every damn patient he dealt with. Of course, they came from genuine reasons, and Katsuki never disliked this dumb habit of his.

In fact, it warmed his heart. He never wanted any fucker to be the nerd’s emotional supporter. 

Still. 

What in the fresh hell ? 

He hunched over and typed a reply.

Katsuki: With someone she met for the first time?

Freckles: Yes! 

That earned him a snort. One corner of his mouth tugged to the side to form a smirk.

Katsuki: At least she has good taste 

Freckles: Kacchan! That is not the point! 

Freckles: …She made it difficult for me to tend her wounds 

Katsuki: Cuz?

Freckles: Cuz she kept trying to touch me 

“That fucking—“ His body surged at the same time the curse got out. Lips parted for another curse to run free, but Katsuki halted. He opted to type the full version of the curse instead of simply saying it out loud.

Katsuki: That fucking bitch!

Katsuki: You should have left her fucking wounds open so she bled to death

Freckles: I’m a nurse, Kacchan…

Katsuki: Who the fuck cares!

Freckles: Me?

Katsuki: Fuck u nerd

Katsuki: And that bitch too

Katsuki grumbled. The nerd didn’t even attempt to type a reply. His lack of response meant one thing. Katsuki could literally hear his dumb giggle. 

He settled on the couch again and eyed the three dots as they jumped in a sequence. But Katsuki sent a message before Izuku managed to finish whatever he was typing.

Katsuki: Shut up

The dots disappeared, then reappeared after a few seconds.

Freckles: I didn’t even say anything, Kacchan

Freckles: But I wonder what you’re thinking of :)

Katsuki: Fucker

Freckles: I’m so glad it’s all done though

Stupid kind nerd.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Freckles: Why must everyone be difficult today?

Katsuki: Who is it now?

Ten minutes later with no follow up, Katsuki placed his phone on the round dining table and stood. He took the empty bowl along with the chopsticks to the kitchen. 

Two dings resounded just when Katsuki was done drying the last utensil. Lips forming a small smile, he walked back to the living area as he picked his phone on the way there. 

The nerd was still sending messages after he settled on the couch, so Katsuki waited until there were no dots anymore.

Freckles: It’s just this woman and her kid…

Freckles: She lashed out at me because apparently I “hurt” her kid while I was checking on him

Freckles: Which isn’t true

Freckles: The kid was being overdramatic and she just… kept making it worse

Snorting, Katsuki started typing. A grin planted on his face. 

Katsuki: Reminds me of this one nerd Ik

Freckles: Kacchan

Freckles: I'm not dramatic

Katsuki: Yes you fucking are

Freckles: No!

The three dots altered between popping up on screen and dithering away as Izuku typed and erased whatever retort he came up with. 

That, or he’s just typing another one of his essays.

Freckles: I mean I know what I’m doing and I’m not irresponsible enough to hurt a child so the least this woman could have done was help me calm her kid down so I could do my job or just shut up if all she was gonna do is make things worse, like my hand was literally five inches away from the kid yet he started to bawl his eyes out and she simply lost it at me

Well then, there it was.

Katsuki: Zuku

Freckles: What

Katsuki: You’re whining again

Freckles: I’m not! 

Katsuki: And it means you’re dramatic

Freckles: I’m not exaggerating! 

Freckles: I’m stating facts. Real facts that happened at work!

Katsuki: And I am stating a fucking fact too

Freckles: I hate you

Katsuki let go of another snort. 

Katsuki: No you don’t

Freckles: Don’t talk to me

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

The movie he started watching could not get any worse. What a big fucking waste of money and time. To think it was one everyone at work raved about.

Then again, their taste was shitty in pretty much everything, be it the layouts of presentations or files they made, their fashion sense, the lousy excuse of a desk they had, or whatever the fuck else. Katsuki was in the wrong for thinking his coworkers' taste in movies would be any better. 

The heck did he even consider watching what they recommended anyway? 

A buzz from the coffee table resounded just when the lame excuse of a protagonist in the movie started to chase a criminal. The sender’s identity brought a sinister smile on his face. 

So the shitty nerd was done sulking. 

Katsuki grabbed the remote and turned off the tv. To hell with the fucking movie. When he picked up his phone and his eyes reflected the time on the screen, Katsuki grumbled. He should have just taken a nap instead of watching a movie in which none of the actors knew what they were doing, let alone portrayed their role perfectly.

Freckles: Why is Midoriya upset? 

He lifted a brow at the latest text. His brows pinched in a frown. But then something clicked, and his insides started to boil. 

Katsuki: Why the fuck are you using his phone? 

Freckles: Because you refuse to save my number

Katsuki: I don’t need your useless number 

Freckles: It’s not about the need, Bakugou 

Katsuki: Fuck you dead brain

So first it’s the shitty movie, and now the nerd’s dumb friend at work. The moment his mind thought of good-for-nothing extras, this fucker manifested out of thin air just to piss him off.

Shin- something, or whatever the asshole’s name was, was a new nurse at where Izuku worked. The more days passed, the closer the two got until the fucker became someone as close to the nerd as Round Face and the rest of his gang.

And mind you, Dead Brain wasn’t a bad person. Katsuki was actually less worried about the nerd now that he had someone decent as a fellow nurse, unlike those the blond worked with at work.

Still, he was an annoying fuck who liked to pick at Katsuki’s already worn-out patience just for fun. Hence why he wasn’t labeled as his friend, but Izuku’s. 

And yes, Katsuki never bothered to save his number just to spite him. Payback for irritating him. Not that the fucker didn’t have Katsuki’s number because the fucking nerd shared it without his damn consent.

Yet the bastard still preferred to text him using the nerd’s phone. Fucker knew Katsuki put everything down to reply if it’s Izuku and took advantage of that.

Freckles: You didn’t answer my question

Katsuki: I didn’t answer for a reason

Katsuki: Use your fucking brain

He frowned. 

Katsuki: My bad. Forgot Yours is dead

Freckles: I wonder how Midoriya tolerates you

Freckles: Then again, I doubt you treat him the same way you treat everyone else

Freckles: With how much he mentions you

Katsuki hmphed, straightening his back and puffing his chest. Nerves relaxed when his mind started projecting a mini film dubbed as ‘nerd’ inside his head. 

Throughout teenhood, life lacked a spark. Unlike everyone else, nothing outshone another to Katsuki, and no one piqued his interests. His days played in the same manner for years, dull and tedious. 

It’s only after he met the Shitty Nerd did his life gain its long lost glimmer, like his presence splashed it with colors. Not a single moment passed without Deku barging into his head.

Katsuki smiled, before he carded his fingers through his hair.

Nah, the nerd was always there. It was only a matter of shutting away everything else and uniting his thoughts to drive them towards one direction.

One person. 

His hand jolted when the device buzzed. Katsuki blinked twice for the haze to go away.

Freckles: Are you daydreaming about him?

That fucking—

Katsuki: GIVE HIM BACK HIS DAMN PHONE

Freckles: Oh you’re still here

Freckles: I didn’t steal it if that’s what you’re thinking 

“No one fucking asked.” Katsuki hissed as the dots continued to jump before him.

Freckles: Midoriya left it behind after suddenly announcing that he was ‘done’ with Kacchan

Why for the love of life Izuku didn’t lock his damn phone with a passcode was beyond Katsuki. 

He threw his phone on the couch, mumbling fucking nerd under his breath as he glared at the device like it’s the root of all of his problems. Katsuki picked the tea cup from over the coffee table and walked away from the living room. The last thing he wanted was a chat with Eyebags.

When he returned and checked on his phone, there was a new text waiting for him.

Freckles: Are you two done for real?

“Goddammit!” 

Katsuki: DIE

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Shitty Hair: So we’re having a party

Katsuki: No

Raccoon Eyes: Booooooo

Katsuki: I don’t give a fuck what you think

Shitty Hair: Aw come on man! It’s gonna be fun 

Shitty Hair: Everyone is coming!

Shitty Hair: So you should come! Midoriya too

Katsuki: Fuck no

Pikachu: Kacchan just hates sharing his babe

*Katsuki removed Pikachu from the group* 

Raccoon Eyes: Is that the 34th time? 

Shitty Hair: 35th 

Raccoon Eyes: Wow blasty

Katsuki: You wanna be kicked out too dipshit?

Shitty Hair: Anyways it’s tomorrow!

Katsuki: I said I’m not fucking coming 

Raccoon Eyes: Don’t then 

Raccoon Eyes: Midori will be enough

Katsuki: HE AIN’T COMING TOO

Raccoon Eyes: We’ll see about that

Raccoon Eyes: :)

Shitty Hair: :)

Katsuki: FUCK YOU BOTH DIE

The sound of the front door opening attracted Katsuki’s attention.

Fucking finally.

He turned his phone off and flung it onto the couch. Standing, a stray curse left his lips as he shot daggers at the device. 

His friends could happily fuck off to their dumb party.

As Katsuki neared the entryway, his gaze fell on Izuku, clad in his nurse uniform. He was sitting on the small step of the entryway to take off his shoes. A smile brushed over the Katsuki's lips. 

Less than a minute later, Izuku jumped on his feet as his hands held his shoes, though he staggered to the side. His arms flew to either side to retrieve balance. Katsuki bit on his lip to prevent a snicker from alerting the guy. 

The nerd half turned and placed his sneakers on the shoe rack. All done with the task, feet slipped inside his slippers, he turned to face the apartment.

When their eyes met, Izuku's eyes widened.

“Hey, Greenie.” Katsuki said as his arms folded. 

Despite being drained from work, despite the drowsiness coating his eyes and the hunched shoulders, despite having to deal with a gang and shitty brats, his face brightened, with white pearls shining behind lips that parted in a wide grin. Izuku dropped his bag to the side at once and raised his arms to either side. 

It derived a snort from him before he shook his head. Clingy like always, not that he hated that of course. Whenever they met and before they moved in together, Izuku would touch just as much as breathing, which meant always. Kissing, hand holding, fingers threading through hair, hugging and hugging and hugging. He buried himself in Katsuki’s hold whenever the chance arose. 

It only escalated when they started living together, because the life of a nurse wasn’t a walk in the park. Izuku left the apartment all animated and chirpy, but came back a touch-deprived zombie. Funny, because you’d think he’d restore energy from other things, like sleep . Sure, he slept and all, but that alone lacked the amount of warmth his job sucked from him throughout the day. 

Izuku made grabby hands. A stretched whine followed the motion.

The nerd probably forgot all about their last texts and the sulking session he stuck to until the end of his shift.

No, he definitely did.

Katsuki ambled towards those inviting arms. He snuck his arms under Izuku’s, gripped him from behind tightly and at once lifted him off the floor. It caused a giggle to run free. 

Izuku curled his arms behind Katsuki's neck and lodged his face there. Softness brushing against his skin caused his stomach to flip. Izuku nosed the area then pecked all the spots. The sensation tickled Katsuki but he squeezed the guy further in a poor attempt of not squirming away. 

This was how Izuku Midoriya recharged every day, and also how it maxed Katsuki’s energy to the brim. 

Alright, perhaps Izuku wasn’t the only one obsessed with touches. His tiny habit of touching might have infected Katsuki.

Then again, whoever wasted a chance to bring the nerd into a bone-crushing hug was not in their fucking mind. Not that Katsuki would let any motherfucker do so because he was the only one allowed.

Because Izuku was his precious someone. 

After a final squeeze, he let Izuku’s feet touch the ground, though his arms lingered on his back. Izuku drew away with a smile. His arms crept from over Katsuki’s shoulders all the way to his waist. The motion caused a shiver to wash over him. 

And then Izuku thought it was a wonderful idea to transform that smile into a toothy one. How the fuck did shitty Deku always ignite his cute aggression behavior?

“I’m back, Kacchan.” He said. The fucker.

Katsuki had no choice but to please his stupid hormones by resting his forehead against the other’s and cupping his cheeks. 

“Your dumb ass is late.” He lowered his grumble to a whisper, thumbs caressing Izuku’s cheekbones. 

Izuku’s arms interlocked behind Katsuki’s lower back. His grin long melted but the smile never went away. 

“No, I’m not, silly.”

Katsuki huffed. His fingers crept further back to twiddle with the hair over his ears. “You know what I fucking mean.”

A smirk was Izuku’s answer.

“Thanks for waiting for me, grandpa.” 

“Dumb nerd and his dumb demanding job with its dumb long shifts.” 

That earned him a chuckle that caused his heart to skip a beat before Izuku rained kisses all over his face, which Katsuki was more than happy to return.

This wasn’t always how it went, since Katsuki worked too and still stuck to his strict sleep schedule.

But on some of his days off, he chose to stay up until the nerd came back. He didn’t mind, not when the outcome was this comfort Izuku bestowed him with. 

“Hungry?” Katsuki asked once Izuku came back after taking a hot bath and changing into his pajamas.

Izuku hummed as he cut the distance between them. “I’m good. I ate a snack before my shift ended.” 

He pulled the blanket away and Izuku climbed onto the bed. It creaked as he maneuvered closer to the center, where Katsuki sat with his back leaning against the headboard. Izuku snuggled with him, resting his head over Katsuki’s collarbone. Green curls caused his chin to itch. 

Katsuki draped the blanket over them. His arm crept behind Izuku’s small back until his hand settled on his side and he pulled the guy closer. 

“You and your fucked up diet.” 

Izuku laid his arm over his stomach as the other snuck its way behind his back. 

“I’m too tired to eat anyway.” 

Ironical, how Katsuki actually became the nerd’s personal fucking chef. It’s not because Izuku begged the guy with puppy eyes or gave him cuddles as a bribe. No. Shut up. 

Katsuki simply treasured his life and the nerd’s. 

No way in hell was Izuku allowed to cook ever again, only stepping into Katsuki’s kitchen to have meals. He didn’t want to come back home and find fucking firefighters all over the place. 

It didn’t happen by the way, but almost did.

The nerd tried to bake Katsuki a cake for his birthday once.

A fucking cake .

The amount of stress that hit Katsuki upon knowing that, and how it was impossible for him to get mad at Izuku for messing up the whole kitchen and almost burning the building.

Whatever, he liked cooking anyway. Doubling the ingredients for another serving wasn’t a big deal.

“Oh! Kirishima said he’s throwing a party tomorrow.” 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. His hand slid from Izuku’s side all the way to his green curls and he started to comb it from behind. 

“I’m gonna kill the bastard.”

“Uraraka and the rest are coming. It’s been a while since we saw them. He said it won’t be too big or anything fancy. Just us hanging out. Oh, maybe I should invite Shinsou.” 

“Don’t you dare.” That reminded him of the conversation the two had tonight, which instantly soured his mood. Katsuki tutted. “And lock your goddamn phone.” 

Izuku, no surprise there, simply giggled. His hand rose to pat where his heart resided. “I can’t understand why you two are always at each other's throats. You’re even on better terms with Todoroki now than Shinsou.” 

A scoff. “Cuz he’s an annoying fucker.”

“Okay, Kacchan.” 

Katsuki raised a brow. “Don’t you okay me, nerd.”

“I do have tomorrow off if you wanna go to the party though.”

Katsuki scoffed the statement right away. Not a single moment was taken to consider the option. “And waste that on a dumb party? Fuck no.”

Izuku raised his head to lock eyes with him. A grin rolled over his lips. 

“Aw, I also wanna spend it with you alone, Kacchan.” 

How in the fuck did Izuku’s voice remained all chirpy and sweet despite being exhausted? 

Grumbling, Katsuki forced Izuku to lower his head again by placing his chin over green curls. He muttered ‘shitty nerd’ against his hair, but it still reached Izuku and he chuckled. 

“Won’t they be sad if we don’t come though?” 

“The dumb assholes can fuck off for all I care.” 

“You don’t mean that, Kacchan, I–” A yawn cut him off, “I know you care.”

“Shut up, sleepy head.”

Chuckling, Izuku shuffled around to pull them both so they could lie on the bed. They kept the same position, though Izuku drew closer and cuddled him, leaving not an inch of space between their bodies.

Katsuki grunted. He curled his arms around him as the other did the same. Izuku tucked his head under his chin. His lungs released a whiff of relief before he nosed Izuku’s curls left and right, relishing in the vanilla smell of the shampoo he liked to use.

Soft. That’s one way to describe the nerd. One out of one thousand. 

“Good night, Kacchan.”

Said boy hummed. His fingers continued to fiddle with Izuku’s hair.

Something soft caressed his neck for a moment, before said softness was pressed against his skin. It robbed him of a few heart beats.

“Love you.” Hot breath grazed his skin with the mumble.

Katsuki pulled himself away just enough to push Izuku’s bang away and place a kiss on his forehead. His lips formed a smile against the skin there.

“Love you too, Freckles. Night.”

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Someone slapped him on the back. Lifting his head to look behind his shoulder, he caught the redhead as he was leaning over with his hands propped over the back of the couch. A wide grin plastered on his face. 

Despite not saying a thing, the act managed to derive a tsk from him as he steered his attention forward again. Specifically to Izuku, who was in the middle of a dumb chat with his group of friends on the other side of the room, where they sat at the dining table. 

The nerd did say that he missed his friends, now that he settled in Tokyo and couldn’t meet the three of them regularly anymore. No wonder he stuck around them right after dinner, and Katsuki wasn’t in the mood for pointless blabber. 

So here he was, a dead lump of a grumbling mess who refused to partake in any kind of conversation.

Shitty Hair said it was a party, but really, this was more of a hangout than anything. They merely had that lame excuse of food Eijirou dubbed as ‘dinner’, which was basically takeout since no one cared enough to cook real food here. Then everyone scattered in small groups around the place, chatting and drinking. 

The other couch to his right was occupied by Pinky and Frog, with Dunce Face settled on the floor for some goddamn reason like Pinky and Shitty Hair’s apartment was the size of a cage.

“Aw, why the long face?” Eijirou chirped happily, or more like he shouted. Katsuki lost a vein as it popped open. They did turn the music volume down, so why the fuck was he this loud?

Izuku was chuckling at whatever the fuck Round Face and Four Eyes were discussing. It was impossible to make out the gist of their conversation, what with how loud Dunce Face was being at the moment.

Katsuki spared Eijirou a glance, lifted an eyebrow and gave him his best deadpan. “Why do you think?” 

The bastard basically tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed. Then his eyes enlarged the way his grin did. “Cuz it’s past your bedtime.”

Katsuki clicked his tongue and broke eye contact. 

Fucker. 

And wrong.

Izuku was speaking and waving his hands in the air now. His expression shifted from shock to a grimace then a pout in a span of a minute. The nerd was probably telling them about the gang from yesterday. While Round Face expressly showed her sympathy and Four Eyes chopped the air as his body grew tense, Half n’ Half looked as dead as ever.

Fuck Eijirou and his dumb parties or whatever. 

Katsuki could have spent the day chilling at home. He and Izuku rarely had their days off overlapping.

But no, let’s go to the party after all, Kacchan, Eiji will be sad if we don’t , he said, with his stupid puppy eyes that he knew Katsuki couldn’t resist yet purposely put on full-display. 

The couch dipped on his left. “You’re not drinking.” 

Turning to face the redhead, Katsuki raised an eyebrow. “Genius. Neither do I want to be here.”

Eijirou snorted, nudging his arm with an elbow. “Aw you don’t mean it!”

Seriously, fuck his friends. 

“I one hundred fucking percent mean it, Shitty Hair.”

“Then I gotta thank Midoriya for dragging you here.”

A scoff. “Like he has anything to do with it.”

“Oh he has everything to do with it, my man.” 

“You have a soft spot for him, Kacchan.” Dunce Face decided to join them. Grinning, he propped himself on his palms over the floor. “Admit it.” 

“He doesn’t have to admit it.” All three turned their heads towards Shinsou as he joined the group in the living area. He settled on one of the armchairs across from where Pinky and Frog sat. 

“It’s clear as day.” 

Eijirou cackled alongside Denki, before the first nudged Katsuki with his elbow. “I mean, he has a point.” 

“Will you fucking zip it, you good for nothing drunk!” Katsuki pointed at Eyebags next. “And you, fuck off!”

“Are we teasing Blasty? Lemme in!” 

Katsuki internally then publicly groaned when Pinky flashed a shit-eating grin at him. 

The worst part wasn’t the fact that his friends were enjoying their time as they pissed him off. That was something they always did. A mere routine since high school days. 

It’s that Eyebags happily relished in the teasing. Katsuki had a belief that the bastard made it worse than in the past. Shin-something was more withdrawn, and he rarely joined their hangouts unless Izuku insisted. This was basically his second time here, yet he clicked with Katsuki’s friends just as fast as he did with Izuku. Fucking parasite. 

“You two didn’t go to the same university, did you?” 

Katsuki grunted. 

“They didn’t.” Pinky answered Dead Brain instead. “Didn’t Midori tell you how they met?” 

“He was more into gushing about his amazing Kacchan than telling me real facts, so no.” 

Dunce Face snorted midway through drinking, ending up choking and making a mess that made Eyebags scrunch his nose but eventually smiling. Eijirou and Pinky started cackling at the display, while Frog was handing Denki some tissues.

Why was Katsuki even here? 

“Ooooh! What’s so funny?” 

Fantastic. 

Raccoon Eyes' gaze found Round Face as she was approaching them. But then it stuck to Izuku walking beside her and she sent him a grin. Izuku merely blinked, eyebrows shooting up his forehead. 

“We were about to tell Shinsou how a certain nurse met a certain demon.” She said.  

The brunette giggled and at once joined the two girls on the couch. Izuku’s jaw fell and he released a confused eh? As his face gradually heated up. Four Eyes and Half n’ Half bypassed him and joined Dunce Face on the carpet.

Mind you such bullshit from his friends would easily tick Katsuki off that he’d bark at the three of them instantly, but the display Izuku was putting was more entertaining to watch than anything else.

Too bad that moment was short lived because the dumb idiot that was Shitty Hair decided to bump their sides, breaking his concentration. A cheeky smile met Katsuki when he turned to face his friend. 

No, a knowing kind of smile. 

What in the ever loving fuck?

Eijirou jumped off the couch and walked towards the still flustered nerd. His shoulders flinched when the redhead all but slapped his palms over them to get his attention. Then the fucker twirled around Izuku and started pushing him to where Katsuki sat. 

Once Izuku settled next to Katsuki, Shitty Hair sat next to him, making Izuku squeezed between them. 

“That’s neat.” Eyebags commented at whatever Round Face was saying. Katsuki was too busy shuffling over the couch for Izuku to sit more comfortably to listen to their blabbering. 

“Right? It saved me a lot of trouble.” Round Face locked eyes with him, a sinister smile curled the corner of her mouth. “And also pissed off a demon.” 

So they were talking about the mistyping of her number bullshit that the brunette started as a useless hobby. Katsuki scoffed, leaning against the back of the couch with one arm stretched across its top and all the way to Izuku’s left shoulder. 

“You’re one to talk, you witch.” 

“So you and Bakugou didn’t have a great start?” Dead Brain asked, addressing Izuku, who started to scratch his cheek. 

“Not really?” He turned so their eyes could find each other. A fond smile planted on his features. “We kinda competed in who could piss off the other more.” 

“That’s…” Shinsou furrowed his eyebrows.

“Adorable.” 

“I meant to say weird actually.” Fuck Dead Brain.

“I’d say it’s adorable too. It made them inseparable.” Round Face agreed with what Ashido said as she flashed a grin at a deflating figure that was Izuku. 

“I mean, look, Blasty is doing the thing again.” Upon that, Eijirou and Denki started to snicker.

“What thing?” Uraraka asked as she glanced at Katsuki’s way with perked eyebrows. On the floor, Iida and Todoroki followed the motion to get what Ashido was referring to. 

Apart from the music playing as background noise, everyone adopted silence as they focused their attention on Izuku and Katsuki. The first was completely clueless on what they were trying to see. 

“Oh.” Shinsou was the first to break the silence. Izuku tilted his head as their eyes locked. His fellow coworker basically snorted, shook his head and then took another gulp of his drink. 

“Uhh–” Izuku started when Uraraka and Ashido hid their smirk with the tips of their fingers.

The rest of his friends seemed to catch up, excluding Kaminari and Kirishima as it was obvious they knew what this thing was. Todoroki wore a blank expression, but his features were more relaxed. Iida was smiling the same way Asui was. 

“Wh-What thing?” Izuku asked them.

Someone snorted. Another did, before both gave in and their laughs turned into fits. On the other hand, the girls tried to stifle their laughs.

Their voices struck Katsuki back to reality and his hand halted what it was doing. 

Viridians were the size of a saucer, unblinking and devouring him. Lips parted as blush glazed over his cheeks, making his freckles glow.

His hand was nestled inside soft curls on the back of Izuku’s head. When Katsuki drew his hand, the tips of his fingers brushed the nerd’s burning ear. Izuku flitted his attention between him and his lap, lips pressed in a thin line.

“I told you guys, his brain logs out when Midoriya is around.” 

Katsuki looked Eijirou’s way, eyebrows furrowed. Hold a damn fucking—

“I bet Kacchan didn’t hear a single word we said.”

“Isn’t he adorable, Tsuyu?”

“Mhmm. That’s sweet, Bakugou.”

“Alright everyone, you shouldn’t tease him so much.”

“Why not Iida?”

“Because you know—“

“Great blackmail material actually.” 

“Todoroki!”

“E-Everyone… stop—“

Katsuki all but jumped off the couch, making Izuku exclaim in astonishment from the sudden motion. He spared every single fucker in the room a glare. Hands balled on either side of his body. A combination of shit-eating grins and sinister smirks and fond smiles was all he got in return. 

Alright. That was the last straw. He’s done fucking partying . 

Clutching the nerd’s wrist, Katsuki hauled him off the couch and basically dragged him across the apartment and away from those shitty good-for-nothing assholes. 

“K-Kacchan?” 

Said boy halted, eyebrows twitching. The knuckles of his free hand turned white. 

“Aww, Blasty, already leaving?” 

“Kacchan don’t go.”

“Come back bro, we’ll behave!” A snort followed this statement and betrayed its owner.

Katsuki turned on his heel and roared across the room so it reached everyone. 

“DIE YOU ASSHOLES!”

Seriously, fuck his friends.

Chapter Text

“Kacchan, no.” 

“Stop being a wimp.” 

When he stepped closer, Izuku took a step back. Shivering hands rose to form a lousy shield before his chest, palms facing forward. 

“I’m n-not—this wasn’t the deal!” His voice gained volume after a second long pause during which his eyes popped wide. His feet cut another step between them just for good measure. 

Futile. His brain provided, because that wouldn’t really stop Kacchan from approaching him.

Katsuki made a dramatic eye-roll as his back straightened. The monstrosity curled around his shoulders shifted its direction to the side. Izuku followed the motion, gulping another lump. Was that a sign of it giving up on its interest in him? Izuku sure hoped that was the case. If only that applied on Kacchan too.

“Freckles. You’ll be fine.” 

That caused Izuku's eyes to triple in size. His lips parted, but the words on the tip of his tongue fought one another that none sounded right when they rushed free, let alone made any sense. Katsuki found that amusing, as a grin brightened on his face. 

Swallowing the tenth lump for the past five damn minutes, Izuku pressed his lips thin. Kacchan wasn’t about to bridge the five steps between them. It was to his advantage that the thing on his shoulders was now slithering down his back and Katsuki got distracted. 

Izuku stifled a gasp. One hand flew to cover his gaping lips. Was that really an advantage? What if he was bitten? 

Oh god it could bite. 

“K-Kacchan… put it away.” Said guy turned his head for their eyes to meet. 

Then he smirked. 

And cut two steps out of the pitiful five between them. 

“Okay. Take him.” 

Izuku choked on his spit, immediately jumping three steps to the left. “No!” His back hit something. 

Turning back to examine said something was a mistake, because there inside the glassy terrarium was another of them. Its eyes locked with Izuku’s in that one moment. His heart plummeted to the ground. Limbs reacted in record time, causing the boy to bounce away. 

Wrong move in a place with narrow aisles lined by even more terrariums, because once again, his side thudded against another and he squeaked. Izuku was too caught up in his head to realize none of them could do anything since they were kept inside.

The act pulled a rich laugh from Katsuki. Once the sound reached his ears, Izuku drowned in a heap of panic and worry because Kacchan was holding a damn snake as amusement bubbled out from his throat. Said creature made its way over his left shoulder. Its tongue flicked out twice, and Izuku swore it grazed Kacchan’s skin. 

“They’re trained, you doofus. You heard the girl.” 

At her mention, Izuku surveyed the place devoid of customers except them and a man sitting at a table and sipping coffee far to the right. The short-haired girl was chatting happily with the other co-worker near one of the terrariums close to where the man sat.

Out of all places, why did he agree to visit a snake café? 

That’s right, because he didn’t. It’s Kacchan and his husky voice and glimmering rubies and beautiful smi—This was not the time to daydream about the way Kacchan seduced him into this, Izuku, focus.  

This was a crisis. A serious crisis that he must put an end to preferably before his one and only precious person was bitten. 

“It won’t bite me.” 

Izuku gasped. Then he started blinking rapidly. Kacchan snorted. “It’s obvious from the way you’re gawking at him.”

“How do you know it won’t.” 

Katsuki raised an eyebrow as his head tilted, wearing his are-you-fucking-with-me face.

Okay. The girl told them. Point taken. 

It didn’t change the fact that Izuku wanted out. 

Now. 

“You said you weren’t scared of them.” Katsuki stated, eyes following the black head as it crawled along his extended arm. Its skin blended with his sleeveless black hoodie. To say the scenery was terrifying would be an understatement. 

“I-I did.” 

Katsuki bent his arm, bringing his hand towards his face and letting the snake find its way back around his neck. “Well, ain’t that some bullshit.” 

“It’s not.”

“Then hold him.”

“There’s no wa—Oh my god.” Izuku breathed out in utmost shock. The snake successfully coiled itself around Kacchan now. Its eyes set on him, and he simply snickered with a shit-eating grin. 

In his defense, Izuku wasn’t scared scared of them. They just made his flesh crawl, the way they slithered their body around as if determining the quality of your meat and deciding whether you were worth a bite, how you couldn’t make out their motion or where they would creep next. You literally had to stand stiff as a wood and let them roam freely.

Oh. 

Uncomfortable. Yes. That’s the thing. 

Snakes made him uncomfortable, not scared. There was a big difference between the two.

“Are you guys having fun?” 

The girl jolted the same time Izuku did as he let go of a yelp and stepped away. She giggled apologetically, but Izuku didn’t share the same sentiment.

God did he want the ground to swallow him right now. 

And hold on a minute—fun?

What part of this experience was fun exactly?

Grunting, Katsuki let her take the black snake off his shoulders and back to its terrarium. Izuku dispelled a lungful of worry which nurtured his chest the whole time Kacchan had it on him. 

“Lemme hold the python now.” 

“K-Kacchan!” 

The girl tipped the lid of the container back in its place, before she turned to face the two. A smile planted on her round face. “Sure.” 

“No!” Surprise widened her eyes. Izuku gaped for two seconds, realizing that he had just shouted at a complete stranger who was just doing her job. He cleared his throat as his feet cut the distance separating him from Kacchan and her.

“I-I mean,” He waved a hand as if to shoo the awkwardness tainting the air around them. “We would like to order something now.” 

And he made sure to spell the word order while slanting Kacchan a determined look.

“O-Oh.” A chuckle ran free as she nodded. “Well, pick whichever table you’d like and I’ll be there with you in a second!” 

As soon as she retreated away, Izuku flitted his attention around the medium sized café in search of the safest and farthest table from the terrariums. The place was filled with all kinds of reptiles in various containers set on long tables in parallel lines. 

Near the entrance, two black tables with four chairs settled next to each other. However, a row of terrariums settled on either side of the space in which the tables were at. Izuku mentally ticked them off the list.

On the other side of the café and past more containers were smaller tables with two chairs. Except no way Izuku would pick either since there was a table with a terrarium on top glued to each one. You’d literally sit two inches away from a snake. If he really hoped not to choke, he better found somewhere else. 

A few couches settled under the windows, but sadly a huge terrarium faced each.

Was Izuku being dumb? This was a snake café. Where the heck would he find a table that deemed itself safe and—Oh!

Izuku’s eyes glinted as they fell on two tables that were near the counter farther inside. It was a perfect spot, as the nearest set of containers were a good distance away from both. 

He was about to turn around and inform Kacchan of his great discovery, only for something to poke his nape at that exact moment. 

His whole body stiffened as his heart leapt to his throat. A flood of goosebumps scattered all across his exposed arms. Bug-eyes stayed unblinking and facing forward. 

The word snake-snake-snake-snake-snake-snake buzzed in his head so loud his ears started ringing.

Then he was being shoved into a hard chest as an arm stretched across his shoulders. “Shit, Zuku, will you fucking relax?” 

An gentle puff of a laugh bubbled out of Katsuki. When Izuku raised his head and locked contact with red, Kacchan tipped his chin and kissed his temple. 

Izuku merely blinked at him, jaw hanging. Everything in him was attempting a restart, which was taking quite the time. Katsuki shook his head. He placed another kiss on his hair, lingering there for a bit just to have a good whiff of vanilla. 

“Y-You–” As senses struck back to life, Izuku blurted, only to gape for thirty seconds at the man currently keeping him tucked in his personal bubble with a lifted brow. 

Kacchan cracked a smile, humming and prompting him to talk. His hand slipped past his shoulder and found his waist.

Izuku widened his eyes. In the next second, he slid himself away from Kacchan’s hold and at once stormed towards his chosen table. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

Izuku: I hate you 

A groan cut through a second after that was delivered. “Zuku, I’m. Right. Here.”  

Izuku took his eyes off the device in his hands, daggered into the blond sitting in front of him, then he lowered his chin again. 

Izuku: You’re the worst

“Will you fucking drop this nonsense?” A thud resounded as Kacchan slapped his phone on the wooden table. A scowl planted on his expression.

Sliding his arm across the surface, Izuku flipped Katsuki’s phone so it faced him. He sagged against the chair again. The pout never left his lips as he typed. 

Izuku: You tried to scare me earlier

Even with his attention stuck to his phone, he could imagine Kacchan pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I was just teasing you, Freckles.” A pause. “Like fucking usual?” It sounded like a question that begged for positive confirmation.

He was having none of it. Fingers started drumming on the small screen. 

Izuku: You don’t tease me around snakes

He hit send. Lifting his chin, he caught the way Katsuki pursed his lips as he was eying his phone and pondering over what he should say next.

Truth be told, he wasn’t really mad. It caught him off guard earlier because everything in him focused on making sure Izuku kept his distance from the terrariums and all. However, it wasn’t something worth getting upset over to the point of refusing to speak to him. 

Izuku was just getting back at him. 

Teasing each other was like breathing. Not a single day passed without one or the other planning their next move. It was a ritual their relationship started with after all. 

Perhaps he was being a little bit mean, engulfing the other with distress. Kacchan’s demeanor began to shift now. His gaze would seek Izuku, and once the latter noticed, Kacchan flitted it somewhere else. 

It was becoming harder to bite back the giggle threatening to expose him. Except Izuku didn’t want to stop just yet. This deemed itself a good distraction for a good ten minutes. His nerves no longer sizzled in pure agitation, and he could mute his surroundings for the time being. 

“Nerd, look, I didn’t—” 

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” A chirpy call cut Kacchan short, as the girl with a pixie haircut swung by with their drinks.

She placed the chocolate milkshake before him, and the lemonade in front of Kacchan, who was still regarding her with a glare for interrupting whatever he wanted to say earlier.

Izuku smiled at her. “Thank you.” 

“Of course!” She turned her attention towards Kacchan. “Let me know when you want to hold the python. You’ll love him.”

She left soon after, unaware of the grimace which grew on Izuku's expression at the mention of the snake. 

He took a sip of his beverage, letting cold sweetness coat his tongue. His features brightened in a blink.

“Kacchan.” He slid the glass towards him. “It’s so good, try it!”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, looking for something specific in Izuku's eyes. With a head tilt, Izuku inched the glass closer, not paying the gesture much attention. 

Grunting, he leant to take a quick sip, only to scrunch his nose. “What the fuck nerd, this shit is too sweet.” 

He threw himself back, picking his own drink to wash away the taste. Eyes glaring at a point to his right. 

Izuku rendered a light laugh. He drank some more, this time relishing in the taste for a bit before swallowing. 

“It’s not bad at all. You’re so dramatic.” 

“Says you.” The glass clanked as it hit the table. “Done sulking?” 

“Nope.” Popping the p, Izuku attempted to pout as if to prove a point. Except laughter charged out of his chest and ruined his plan. 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. 

“You know,” He dispersed the short period of silence the two enjoyed for a few minutes. His drink was half done at this point. “They let you feed them too.”

“No.” Izuku said, knowing full well what kind of suggestion that reveal was leading to.

“We can feed one together.” 

Izuku brought his milkshake against his chest, sipping as his expression scrunched. 

“It’s not like this is the first time you’d do it, Greenie.” 

Izuku wrinkled his brows. He most certainly had never fed snakes in his life before. What was Kacchan talking…abo—

His jaw fell. Immediately, he laid his drink on the table and blurted. “Those were bunnies!” 

Katsuki shrugged his shoulders. “Same difference.” 

“Bunnies do not flick their tongues at you or try to choke you. They’re adorable and would never hurt you.”

“Neither would the snakes.”

“Snakes bite.” 

“These won’t. They’re fucking trained.”

“You don’t know that.”

Silence cut them both. 

Izuku busied himself sipping more of his milkshake. Before him, Katsuki twisted on his chair to examine the terrariums behind him. His lemonade was long gone. 

No longer than mere minutes, Katsuki sprang to his feet with a click of a tongue. “Whatever. I’m going.” 

His heart plummeted before his jaw fell. “Wh-Whe—” But the wave of panic hitting him was gone just as fast as it came when Kacchan leant over to ruffle green curls.

“To hold that python, you nerd.”

And just like that, Izuku was left at the table, clutching half a milkshake glass with both hands. Its cold oozed into his palms. His head turned to follow Kacchan as he approached the girl. She nodded with a smile curling her lips, before she walked away from the counter, Katsuki on her tail. His hands were stuffed in his jeans as the two of them made their way back to the entrance of the café, where the python’s terrarium was. 

Realization crashed onto him then. 

Today was supposed to be Kacchan's turn to pick where they should go. They specifically took some time off close to Izuku’s birthday to have fun for a change somewhere outside of Tokyo. Hence why they came here, in Osaka. 

Yet here Izuku was, hiding away and letting Kacchan spend what was supposed to be their ‘together’ time, alone. 

Well not really alone, if you counted the… snakes.

A shiver ran up his spine. Izuku placed his drink on the table in favor of rubbing his arms. 

To think Kacchan would pick a snake café of all places in Osaka. It’s not his fault goosebumps pebbled his skin from the thought alone of being somewhere full of reptiles that could literally bite you to dea—Izuku shook his head excessively for the thoughts to disperse. 

He stole a glimpse of the terrarium set behind Kacchan’s chair. His eyes shook as he willed himself to imagine one of them coiled around his arm or neck. The image vanished in a blink, as his shoulders quivered. 

This is for Kacchan.  

He reasoned with himself, glaring at a random spot on the table. He didn’t have to hold one to begin with. Simply standing by Kacchan and committing that happy grin to memory was enough. Maybe he could muster up enough courage to brush a finger along the snake’s skin. 

Another shudder zipped through his spine. 

On second thought, watching Kacchan as he happily enjoyed the reptile’s presence was more than enough. 

So Izuku took a final sip of his beverage, before he rose from his seat. With cautious steps along the aisles, he ambled to where Katsuki was. 

As well as the giant python stretched across his shoulders, head pointing towards the floor.

Correction: he would watch Kacchan as he happily enjoyed the reptile’s presence from a good distance, preferably without the other knowing lest he coaxed Izuku into holding said reptile.

“You came!” The girl said, which immediately prompted Kacchan to take his eyes off the snake and direct it towards Izuku. 

So much for watching from a distance without him knowing. 

“H-Hey, uhhh–yeah.” Izuku rubbed the back of his head. 

“Would you like to touch him as well?” 

“N—” He wanted to object at once, but gulped the word down when the two locked eyes. Kacchan’s gaze outmatched a magnet, pulling him despite his attempt to stay away. He was practically under his control, unable to steer his eyes away as Katsuki looked at him with so much interest.

So much hope and anticipation.

Izuku bit his bottom lip. 

This was impossible. 

He couldn’t say no. Not with the way Kacchan was tugging at his heartstrings.

“I–O-Okay.” He whispered. He didn’t miss the way Kacchan’s crimsons widened in size, before a grin took over his lips. 

Stupid Kacchan. 

“Okay, go ahead.” The black-haired encouraged, tipping her head towards the snake. Kacchan was now holding him against his chest. Its head making its way over his right shoulder. 

Izuku swallowed. His heart pounded so loud no way the two before him couldn’t hear it. His eyes found Katsuki’s, who was looking over his shoulder to follow what the snake was doing behind. 

Just one touch. He promised himself. One touch while the snake wasn’t flicking his tongue at him. 

“It-It won’t upset him if I–?” 

The girl shook her head. “Not at all.” For emphasis, her palm rested over the snake’s skin, and she started to stroke it gently. 

Izuku’s heart raised its beats. 

Okay. 

He got this. 

What was hard about touching a snake anyway? All he had to do was stretch his arm until the tip of his finger grazed the reptile. Heck, he didn’t have to let his hand linger the way the girl did. Besides, he wasn’t the one carrying the snake. 

It should be fine.

“O-Okay.” He nodded, more to himself than the girl. 

Izuku extended his arm slowly. So very slowly despite the snake not expecting a thing. His hand halted an inch away from the lower half of the reptile. He locked eyes with crimson, just to give himself another boost of courage. 

Kacchan raised a brow, waiting. There was a hint of a smile on his lips. Izuku nibbled at his bottom lip as he directed his attention back to the snake.

He cut the remaining distance between them. His forefinger grazed cold scaly skin. The sensation was enough of a prompt for Izuku to jerk and at once snatch his hand away. 

A snort pulled his goldfish stare off the snake and towards Kacchan. “C’mon, Freckles, you can do better than that.” 

It was a tease. God it was such an annoying tease which caused his lips to curl to the side. Kacchan even tipped his chin towards the snake, grunting for a retry.

Izuku huffed. Cheeks filled with air as the stars on them stretched to either side. It derived an airy laugh from Kacchan. 

“F-Fine.” 

After a good minute of silent prayers that the snake stayed where he currently was, slithering behind Katsuki’s shoulders, Izuku shoved past the thumps of his heart, past the shouts of don’t-do-it-don’t-do-it-don’t-do-it, and placed his fingers over the smooth skin. Just a sheer brush. None of his fingers pushed down a single millimeter.

Everything in him screamed at him to draw his hand away, but he silenced the desire, and let his palm rest over the python. Its coldness seeped into his skin. His body was slippery all over. An odd sensation, but not entirely bad. 

“See, you’re fucking fine, nerd.” 

Izuku nodded absentmindedly. His lips formed a small o as he brushed skin left and right. The girl’s giggle reached his ears. A quiet encouragement of you-did-it! followed.

“It’s…” He drifted away, pondering over thoughts to express his current emotions.

“Awesome?” 

Izuku flitted his eyes up so they locked with Katsuki's amused stare. “I meant to say weird actually. Different.” 

Katsuki scrunched his nose, clearly disagreeing. But before he said a thing, Izuku smiled his way. 

“But yeah, awesome.” 

It made him puff his chest pridefully. “I fucking told you.” 

The mere thought of touching a snake rocked his nerves left and right. However, now that he had done it, it came to his attention that it wasn’t too bad. He had never touched one before, which was a real accomplishment to say the least. So yes, not a bad experience. Well, so long as the reptile didn’t—

—turn its head towards Izuku, which was exactly what happened before the thought could complete its formation, as if the snake sensed the boy’s anxiety.

Izuku tore his hand faster than a blink of an eye. 

“O-O-Okay.” He raised his palms up. “I’m done.” Izuku stepped backwards.

That, for some mysterious reason, brought up a sinister smile on Katsuki’s lips. Izuku took another step back, not trusting what that smile implied one bit. 

“Now that you know they’re fucking awesome,” He ruined Izuku’s attempt to create distance between him and the snake by bridging the gap. “It’s your turn to hold him.” 

And just like that, they were back to square one, with Kacchan following Izuku around and trying to make him hold the reptile, and Izuku regretting the moment he agreed to come here. 

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“Kacchan.”

Said guy grunted to let the other know he was still around. An occurrence that he had repeated a few times now.

“It-It’s on my shoulders.” 

A snort. “For the umpteenth fucking time, nerd, I know.”

“What is it doing behind my back?”

Silence.

Izuku was about to turn his head, but nothing in him cooperated. His limbs became as stiff as a rock the second the girl helped him place the python across his shoulders. He tried to take a glimpse sideways, but it was impossible to catch what was going on over his shoulders in this position.

He gave up, fixing his attention ahead.

“Kacchan?” Izuku called again.

“He’s just looking around.”

Izuku frowned. “F-For what?” What was there to find?

Silence replied again. He gulped a lump. Where did the girl go? Wasn’t she supposed to stay around and make sure Izuku wasn’t bitten to de—Okay. Reset. Back up. 

Nothing like that was going to happen.

A huff of air assaulted his ear then, as an arm snuck around his lower back.

Izuku flinched at the sudden motion. His heart hammered against its ribcage. Mind you, it wasn’t because Kacchan was as sneaky as usual. That was the norm now. He always crept on him while he was doing whatever, be it doing the dishes or watching tv or simply texting.

It was because Izuku had a damn reptile coiled around his shoulders, doing god knew what behind his back. 

“I think—“ When Kacchan started, Izuku’s senses crashed back into reality. 

Katsuki paused to stifle a laugh, but then hot breath was back on his ear.

“I think he’s tryna find a delicious spot to devour.”

Izuku's eyes grew the size of an egg. His hands grabbed the hem of his shirt.

But Kacchan wasn’t done.

He kissed the skin right next to his ear. His lips lingered there, and Izuku could feel them spreading into a smile. 

“Which I don’t blame him.”

Another stifled laughter. 

Forget about dying from a snake bite, Kacchan was surely going to cause him a heart attack one day.

┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ⋆ ┊ .  ┊★┊ ⋆ ┊

“Man, that was the best fucking café ever.” Kacchan stretched his arms towards the sky, grunting in pleasure. His muscles must be strained from the damn six snakes he held today. He turned his attention to the sulking man to his left and nudged him with an elbow. “Right, Freckles?” 

“I hate you.”

A snort. 

“We already established forever ago that you don’t.” 

A shiver jerked Izuku as a memory barged into his head. He rubbed his arms, hugging himself as the two walked in a somewhat crowded sidewalk to where they parked the car. The sun shying away on the horizon, declaring the end of its task for the day.

“It was so heavy.” His fingers wiggled before him, eyes enlarging. “Its tongue flicked right into my ear.” 

“Cool, right?”

Izuku looked mortified as he gawked at him. Arms dropped to either side. He wanted to say something, how utterly creepy that was, not cool, but chose to huff and face forward. 

“You’re impossible.” 

Kacchan slipped his arm behind his back then, letting his hand rest on Izuku’s waist from the side and successfully stealing a beat from his heart. “And you love me.” He dragged the boy into his personal bubble.

His lips parted for a retort, another fake I-hate-you, but Izuku thinned his lips. Katsuki simply sent him a toothy smile, which made his stomach backflip. 

Izuku sighed in defeat, shaking his head. Why did he have a Kacchan weakness of all things in the world?

“Izuku.” 

He hummed when Kacchan called. The two were walking hand in hand now. The car was only five minutes away. The sidewalk was narrower but less crowded.

Izuku turned his head and tilted it when Katsuki didn’t speak for a good minute.

Kacchan halted in the middle of the road. Izuku’s sneakers screeched as he stopped too. He half-turned, brows furrowed. He retreated a step. Lips parted to ask what was wrong, because surely there was something up. If the earnest look his face adopted was anything to go by.

“Let's adopt a pet snake.” 

Izuku blinked once. 

Once turned into twice, and twice turned into thrice, and thrice—Izuku gaped. The suggestion failed to settle in his head, as Kacchan continued to stare at him with utmost seriousness.

“What?” Because surely his ears weren’t functioning. That stupid snake and its tongue. It probably broke them, or something.

Kacchan tugged, dragging him closer. Their hands still interlocked. 

“We should get a sna—” Izuku slapped a palm over his lips, looking one hundred times more serious.

“Kacchan.”

Silence.

Blond brows perked up.

“Absolutely. Not.” He articulated every letter as clearly as possible.

A mere five seconds passed, before the dam broke. 

First came a snort. A muffled huff of amusement against Izuku’s hand. When he pulled it away, Katsuki hunched his back. Shoulders trembled as he tried but failed to stifle the laughter. 

“Your fucking face—“

All Izuku did as Kacchan gave in was silently stare with bug-eyes.

God. 

Kacchan was impossible. 

Truly.