Chapter Text
Katsuki was fucking raging. It was not good. Really not good. A potential E.D. Double P level of anger and what was worse? He was about to put his keys in his door and Shoto was going to have to deal with him.
It wasn’t anything in particular that made him this way. No horrible fails or overarching nightmare fuel that triggered it and somehow that was fucking worse.
Katsuki felt like an unbearable piece of shit and he didn’t even have a good excuse for it.
He hadn’t felt this fucked up for a long time.
He hesitated as he let his keys dangle in his hand, debating if he should just leave and head to Eijiro’s.
Shoto shouldn’t have to deal with this.
Unfortunately, the red and white fucker was apparently psychic these days.
The door opened and there he was. Two different coloured eyes, both of them dumb. Two different colours in his hair that Katsuki sometimes wanted to shave off because it got fucking everywhere.
Katsuki stared and stared and stared and then, Shoto sighed, soft but sad.
“Tell you what? Why don’t you come in and scream in the shower, I’ll keep Abby away from you, and I promise not to say anything for at least forty minutes?” He offered.
And it hurt.
It hurt because Katsuki shouldn’t be putting him, of all people, through this.
It hurt because in moments like this, Katsuki couldn’t help but think Shoto’s mother had a point after all.
An overly warm hand landed on his chin, tilting it up and suddenly those dumb eyes were sharper.
Shoto’s duality was always weirdly mesmerising. He could flip on a dime between about fifteen different people and it was always a shock to the system.
That tired dumb man was now a tall stern one with eyes lit like a prowling leopard.
“Hmmm, not that then. How about this?” Shoto said, voice suddenly deep and rumbly.
And then he grabbed Katsuki hard by the front of his jacket and yanked him inside.
He snarled immediately, adrenaline and anger answering the call where it should be surprise, but even if Shoto was a million and one different things, most of all, he was a creature of fucking steel.
Katsuki tried to fight him off, but Shoto was absolutely ruthless with him, not giving a fucking inch. Katsuki was flipped and slammed into the hardwood floor and Shoto was on him. Katsuki was so stunned by it that he went still, but then Shoto’s lips were on his and everything immediately shifted.
Oh.
Oh fuck yeah.
Angry sex was exactly what he needed.
Katsuki growled and bit him, and Shoto growled right back and pressed hard into his body, fingers now claws and violence in his eyes.
He was an absolute animal.
All that past history of celibacy and dodging interest was a big fat fucking lie.
Well no. Shoto didn’t fuck people.
He didn’t like people getting too familiar and letting anyone that close when he felt vulnerable was next to impossible for him.
Katsuki was the extremely lucky exception to that rule.
But Shoto was absolutely fucking filthy regardless. He had a porn folder of disgusting things Katsuki himself had blushed at. An entire list of dirty kinks that Katsuki wasn’t sure he could even say with a straight face, let alone work through with him, and a ferocious libido that came and waned in waves like a goddamn moon cycle.
At its peak Katsuki barely got the chance to wear clothes and even if Shoto would then want to go a week or three without wanting to see his dick at all, the minor drought was absolutely worth the wait when it inevitably returned.
Pure and innocent little baby?
Absolutely fucking not.
It also just so happened that he rather liked bringing mild violence into the bedroom. Nothing too wild, but enough that Katsuki’s vanilla ass was a little hesitant about it.
“You remember your safe word?” Shoto growled into his ear as he bit so hard it almost fucking tore.
“Carrot.” Katsuki answered immediately and with no hesitation.
Katsuki hated that the stupid ‘lucky carrot’ joke between them had planted roots, but it was funny as fuck when he thought about how it got to this regardless.
“Good. I’m going to be very rough with you. Green?”
“Very goddamn green.”
From there, it dissolved into chaos.
Shoto actually ripped a hole in the ass of his jeans as he stripped him, furiously biting into the back of Katsuki’s neck to try and hold him still as Katsuki himself shrieked in rage.
They threw fists, controlled but with real intent and it was almost like one of their spars back at UA but with a hell of a lot more groping, grinding and saliva.
The both of them knew how to fight professionally. The both of them could throw fucking haymakers at each other with minimal consequences. There was a line, but they knew it well and in moments like this, Katsuki wondered how he had ever tried dating everyday people at all. Fuck ‘everyday’ when he could elbow Shoto in the gut to wind him but immediately be tripped onto his ass in the next second.
Katsuki snarled and kicked and gave almost everything he had short of his quirk.
Shoto matched it immediately and then escalated to the point Katsuki had a fucking handprint lightly burnt onto his ass.
It was almost too far. A damn sight further than it usually went, but Katsuki was enjoying it and laughed cruel and alive as he managed to trap Shoto’s head between his thighs.
Then Shoto bit him and flipped them and Katsuki was snarling and screaming as Shoto held him flat on his back with one leg and a sneer.
“Colour?” He said as Katsuki shrieked.
It took a second before he blinked a little.
Right.
“Green.” He choked out. Shoto’s sneer grew into something utterly vicious.
“I’m going to get rougher. Tap out if you need to.” He said almost sweetly through his feral expression.
Rough didn’t even begin to cover it. He fucking attacked Katsuki. Put genuine weight behind his throws and slaps as he physically fought and dragged him scratching at the hardwood into Katsuki’s bedroom. He grabbed a rope from fucking no where (which questions would be asked about later) and suddenly Katsuki’s hands were bound expertly together and to the headboard as he shrieked and kicked out.
It was actually a little frightening.
Shoto was almost always a long range fighter and when it came to pure muscle mass and physical strength, Katsuki always thought he had the upper hand. He had to have the arm, leg and shoulder power to contain and manoeuvre through extreme explosive force, but Shoto? All of Shoto’s power came from his core. An unyielding girder, solid and unmovable as he threw literal forces of nature away from himself with precision.
Like this, that core power enabled him to wrestle Katsuki completely fucking immobile.
But it was also thrilling. Not to mention if Katsuki really didn’t like what he was doing he’d just blow the fucking ropes up or red card him.
Shoto grinned down at him, horrifyingly beautiful and smug as all fuck with himself before he leant down, that sneer reappearing.
“Are you going to be a good boy now?” He said, deep and low in a way that had the hairs on Katsuki’s arms prickling upward with his dick and skin tingling all over.
“F-fuck. No. Fuck you.” He growled, immediately trying to wrestle out of the binds but failing completely and giving another enraged scream as Shoto casually flipped him the fuck over like a delicate pancake as opposed to two hundred pounds of muscle. Shoto laughed, loud and cutting as he pressed Katsuki’s face into the mattress.
“I like this, you’re fun when you’re furious.” He goaded as he dragged Katsuki’s body down the bed and spread his legs.
Katsuki went to unleash some sort of retort but just screeched loudly as Shoto poured quirked frigid cold lube onto his ass.
“I think you’d look really good in more restraints, but I want you squirming today.” Shoto continued, apparently leaning into this weird as fuck dom mindset he had found himself in.
Katsuki opened his mouth again to spit some abuse but just made a strange wailing yelp, half pleasure half pain, as Shoto’s cold as hell fingers stretched him whilst his very hot hand pressed right over that handprint already on his ass.
Katsuki’s head span with it, all manor of undignified noises rolling through his throat as Shoto laughed and roughly worked him open.
Then he was tortured. There was no other way quite to put it.
Shoto, the sick bastard, would fuck him, slow and deep, then hard and fast, then barely at all as he clawed his hot and cold fingers all over Katsuki’s body and he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him.
It was a fucking lot. A hell of a fucking lot.
At one point he had been manoeuvred onto his knees, face pressed into the mattress but arms still tied and raised over his head as Shoto fucking brutalised his prostate when slowly, his head slid right along side Katsuki’s own.
“Colour sweetheart, you’ve gone very quiet.” He whispered in the deep throaty tone that made Katsuki’s toes curl.
“S-shit.”
“That’s not a colour Katsuki. Come on now.”
He could barely think through the dizziness of sensation.
“Colour.” He mumbled sloppily, the wet patch on the mattress from his own spit cool against his forehead. “God. Fuck. Green. Good. Please let me cum.” He managed. Shoto pressed a sweet kiss to the back of his neck.
“No.”
“Hah?”
Shoto slapped him around the head and suddenly Katsuki was back to screaming.
“There’s my boy.” Shoto jeered as he slapped again but hard on the ass and got right back to torturing like the twisted bastard he was.
Hours later, Katsuki a quivering shivering mess of twitching muscles and overstimulation, curled up right against Shoto who was humming pleasantly and stroking his back, he frowned as he remembered how this started.
How he had been in such a calamitous mood.
How he had been considering not coming home to save Shoto the trouble of what would have been Katsuki being an unrepentant antagonising crying piece of shit.
He sat up a little to look into peaceful mismatched eyes, half lidded and perfectly happy.
“You’re probably the best thing that ever happened to me.” He said quietly. Shoto’s eyes opened a little more to look at him with interest.
“Huh, maybe I should smack the hell out of you a bit more often. That was a very nice thing to say.” Such a fucking dick. Always such a goddamn dick.
Katsuki rolled his body to lean down and bite him on the nipple so he shouted and elbowed him in the back.
Then they were wrestling again, Shoto jeering and teasing as Katsuki did the same before they collapsed into each other laughing.
“Thanks IcePop.” Katsuki said as they calmed back down.
“No, thank you. I enjoyed myself.”
Katsuki had a black eye. Shoto went very pale when he saw it in the morning and had gone completely silent, even when Katsuki reassured him.
It was obviously an accident and Katsuki honestly didn’t even remember it happening. But it had happened and suddenly Shoto was very upset.
What was worse? It was wedding season.
It was wedding season and that meant photos.
Of course, they were pro heroes and they got all manor of injuries that showed up at inopportune times, but weddings meant photos that wouldn’t be going away anytime soon.
Katsuki fucking hated wedding season. It was as if every few years everyone seemed to get a collective itch in their psyche to make overly loud commitments to each other and half his friends, extended family, or miscellaneous associates invited him to watch it unfold.
The actual things themselves were fine enough he supposed. He could eat a half decent meal, drink some alcohol and duck out relatively early in most cases. But between arranging his hours with work, half of his friends also working a job where days off were hard to come by and overall organising himself, a fancy suit, a gift and everything else, it was all very fucking annoying.
Plus, now, he had to deal with Shoto.
Shoto who, for some reason known only to him, absolutely fucking loved weddings.
His persona literally shifted from a somewhat regal, very distance aware but loving house cat, into a chaotic, poorly trained, alcoholic Labrador with zero self control. He got drunk, socialised, danced, and seemed to channel a whole new wedding-only Shoto alter ego.
It was absolutely fucking terrible in almost every way, except for the fact he also got vaguely horny for some reason and would feel Katsuki up when no one was paying attention. Except once, when he did it intentionally as someone was paying attention, but in his defence, that dude had been trying to get Katsuki’s eye for a while and he deserved the somewhat possessive ‘fuck off show’ that Shoto gave him.
This season, Katsuki had fifteen fucking invites. Fifteen. He barely even had fifteen contact numbers in his phone.
Four cousins three times removed - how he wished they would stay removed.
Five colleagues that he oversaw at some point in the past - how he wished they would stay in the past.
Four of Shoto’s past colleagues/vague relations that Katsuki wanted absolutely fucking nothing to do with.
And two weddings that were completely unavoidable.
Sero Hanta’s all the way in Okinawa for a beach wedding. Dick move, but ultimately worth the effort of getting a whole four days off since it could double as a mini holiday. Plus Sero had been in a long term committed relationship for quite some time and it was expected. Katsuki hadn’t actually met the bride to be before, but had it on good authority that she was ‘awesome’ and ‘really hot’ from Eijiro and Denki respectively.
Then there was the biggest of the season.
Fuyumi’s wedding.
Things in the Todoroki family itself had settled somewhat and bridges were once again mended.
Shoto was handling it all with a surprising amount of backbone, firmness and with just a dash of that usual aloof nonsense.
Literally last week Shoto threw his phone at Katsuki’s head and snarled: “I just told Dad to go fuck himself and Fuyumi’s trying to scold me, get that phone away from me. She’s in timeout for two days and if she calls you tell her I’ll phone her when I’m goddamn ready to.”
Katsuki wanted to send Shoto’s therapist an exorbitant gift basket.
Shoto still came back from therapy with a hollowed out expression and either a complete lack of interest in Katsuki or with a desperate need to get naked, both of which were somewhat alarming, but far from terrible.
Once when he got home, he had ripped Katsuki’s clothes clean off and he couldn’t help but wonder if Shoto’s therapist was drugging him or something.
But no.
It was apparently because Shoto had discovered that he actually really did like physical contact after all and quietly explained that he wanted Katsuki to touch him all the damn time instead of holding back.
“Let me decide if I want you to touch me or not. I appreciate how intuitive you are, but I want it to be my decision.” He had whispered a little shakily, still very new at enforcing his boundaries with those he cared about. Katsuki had immediately pulled him into his arms and held him so tightly.
“I’m gonna strangle you like a fucking octopus.” He growled deep and hungry into his hair as Shoto laughed.
“I thought octopi were supposed to be rather agreeable.”
“Shut up.”
Point was, things had been going well and Fuyumi’s wedding was looking far more like an actual celebration rather than a future battleground.
Katsuki was absolutely fine with that and like before, his main plan was to behave himself, bite his tongue and be nothing but a supportive and loving boyfriend.
But now Katsuki would apparently be attending with a Shoto sex special shiner.
He couldn’t even pull some strings to get the medics at the office to help him out because last time they had tried to wrestle him into their care he had bluntly stated (screamed) that unless his wound got in the way of work they could fuck the hell off and got a quirk healing embargo slapped on his dumb ass.
Karma was such a fucking bitch.
He knew questions would probably be asked and, foolishly, he had assumed he and Shoto would be on the same page as to what to say.
They were not.
They got themselves ready, Katsuki put on some make up to try and damage control the worst of it and off to the shrine for the ceremony they went.
Natsuo stared at him with surprise as they waited to be shown in.
“That’s nasty. What happened?”
Shoto flinched like a guilty idiot.
“Nothing. It happens.” Katsuki brushed it off.
“I punched him in the face.” Shoto said, a little too loudly turning several heads. Katsuki elbowed him in the side with a hiss.
“What? Why?” Natsuo said looking shocked.
“It’s nothing.” Katsuki growled.
“We were-….” Shoto began, looking upset again. Katsuki grabbed him by the collar and slapped his hand over his mouth.
Natsuo’s eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“Shoto.” He said disapprovingly.
Shoto struggled in Katsuki’s hold but he was absolutely not having this complete moron spill secrets about their sex life.
“It was an accident.” Katsuki hissed and fucking finally, the guilt shifted just enough for Shoto to realise that telling his brother he had clocked Katsuki in some fucked up foreplay wasn’t exactly clever or appropriate.
Strangely, as he went still, his eyes widened and his entire face went red.
Katsuki honestly hadn’t seen Shoto blush like that before which was surprising given how often he put his foot in his mouth and he stupidly let him go to observe it.
Then Shoto, always a complete awkward dumbass, ran away.
Natsuo watched him go with an open mouth before he looked to Katsuki for explanation.
Katsuki sighed heavily.
“It genuinely was an accident but he’s being fucking weird about it. Not too hard to figure out why.” He grunted.
Natsuo whistled.
“Right.” He just said before clearing his throat. “So. Family party. You ready?” He said, changing track.
Katsuki exhaled with relief.
“Ready as I’ll ever be. If you see me talking to your old man feel free to run interference.” He muttered.
“Oh, ditto.” Natsuo said with a smirk. Katsuki snickered. He liked Natsuo. He was a good black sheep. Well. Maybe a white sheep in a family of black sheep. Hard to say.
Katsuki stuck to Shoto’s side during the Shinto ceremony, not that it was hard to given the event. They held hands as Koji said his vows and clapped politely when appropriate. It was all very nice and proper. It was surprisingly quiet too. These parts were always somewhat exclusive to family, but it really was an intimate audience.
Of course fucking Endeavor cried during it.
Katsuki never would figure him out.
How could a man so full of emotion be so goddamn stoic and cold one moment, but then a sobbing mess the next?
Then again, he really was his quirk personified.
Fire.
Roaring and wild, then whisper quiet embers.
Honestly, Katsuki never delved into Todoroki Enji too much. He probably should all things considered, but putting actual effort into understanding why he was the way he was would take considerable brain power that Katsuki was not ready to give.
Plus it would probably ultimately result in him feeling sorry for the bastard.
Katsuki wasn’t an idiot.
Someone didn’t become the way he was without reason and he was sure as hell that his bullshit didn’t materialise out of thin air. Also, for all the shit people gave Katsuki about the traits they shared, there were plenty that Enji shared with Shoto that were somewhat telling.
An inability to have a heartfelt conversation without being a dick in some capacity just to name one. Todorokis would always be Todorokis after all.
Then there was Katsuki’s inner bias.
Enji could probably walk over to him and say ‘you look nice’ with total sincerity and Katsuki would only hear ‘that’s surprising for a lowlife like you’.
Katsuki wasn’t ready to make nice with him. Maybe never would be.
“Hey.” Shoto suddenly said, knocking him out of his spiralling thoughts. “You’re sweating explosives in a wooden room where several people have fire quirks in some form or another.” He added with mild irritation. Katsuki pulled his hand free from Shoto’s and dried them off on his handkerchief.
Now wasn’t the time.
Speeches were always a boring affair. Katsuki was rather to the point when being formal and listening to people drivel on about bullshit was torturous.
But it was a wedding and weddings meant speeches.
Katsuki zoned right the fuck out as Koji’s friends and father spoke, then audibly whined when Enji did earning a smirk from Natsuo and a bony elbow from Shoto.
Then Natsuo spoke and it wasn’t terrible. A bit cheeky and funny. He was a good public speaker too, even if he was a nervous wreck.
Not as nervous as Shoto though.
He stood up rigid and Katsuki went still as all eyes went their way.
He hadn’t mentioned giving a speech.
Then Shoto opened his mouth and nothing came out.
Shoto was not and never would be a spokesperson. Dry and flat with the charm of a half dead fish.
If you asked him about something he cared about, he’d speak for hours, but formal shit like this?
Not in his soba constructed wheelhouse.
“Fuyumi is my sister.” He finally began. Tone perfectly free from any inflection at all. Katsuki snorted earning a sharp glance from him. “I love her dearly.” He continued more irked.
To be fair, that was a good thing.
Angry Shoto was far more interesting to listen to in his opinion.
“When she told me she was getting married, I was surprised. Not because she’s not desirable but because sometimes I forget just how grown up we’ve all become.”
Katsuki’s lips twitched again, a bit weird calling his sister hot, classic Shoto.
Then Shoto paused and he swallowed thickly.
Katsuki sat up at that.
He was actually struggling here.
Katsuki leant closer and gently pressed his fingertips to his leg under the table where no one could see.
Shoto inhaled slowly and let it out smooth.
And out came the battle face. Katsuki always loved that fucking face.
“My sister is important to me in a way that’s rather hard to make people understand. I’m sure most of you know that our family has been through a lot to put it somewhat mildly. But even when things were at their worst, Fuyumi has always been like a lighthouse. When we all fight, she always stood up and tried to guide us through the storm, even when it was painful and she got nothing but anger aimed at her for it. Sometimes, given I’m a man of few words, I wonder if she knows just how important a person she has been for me. If not, then let me express it now.” He lifted his head from his little cue card to look at her, and a smile Katsuki only normally saw aimed his way appeared.
A big soft one with warm eyes and genuine love.
“You are an incredible woman. Strong and brave but soft and gentle. You have all the best bits of our parents with none of the bad and you have always been such an inspiration to me. Sometimes we fight. We are siblings after all. Sometimes you make me so angry and I’m sure I do the same to you. But not once, ever, have I doubted that you love me. Even when things have been really bad, I’ve never wondered if you stuck by me out of sheer obligation. You’ve always been there, even when I didn’t want you to be. Even when it would have been better for you not to be.
“You make mistakes, just like me, you are human, just like me, but you also have such a genuinely good heart that even when I struggled with our family so badly, the idea of losing you as a person in my life left me hollow and empty. Our family often talks about heroics. How can we not when it has defined so much that makes us who we are? But whilst you don’t fight criminals or patrol the streets, you are by far the most heroic person in our family by a very large margin. Selfless and earnest with nothing but good intentions in all you do even when horribly painful. Your strength during the darkest moments sometimes scared me and often it could be difficult, but it always left me in such awe of you. I truly admire the woman you are and often aspire to replicate your gentle but insistent heart in all I do.”
Fuyumi burst into tears but Shoto just smiled bigger.
“To see you get married is an honour, and having met your husband, I know that your future is going to be so wonderful. That your own family in each other is going to be so full of such kindness and patience. I look forward to seeing it grow and bloom. And know that you will always have my unrivalled support in your lives. Even if we’re fighting, like siblings do.”
Katsuki was shocked fucking shitless.
That was absolutely not what he was expecting. Shoto hadn’t run any of this by him, hadn’t been practicing it in the apartment, hadn’t even mentioned he was doing this.
And here he was cracking out deeply emotional sentiments as if it was his natural way of things.
Shoto then looked to Koji.
“I’m delighted to have you as a brother. Please love my sister with your full heart. She is extremely precious to me.” He said far less warmly, an ever so slight hint of warning to it. But even if everyone awkwardly chuckled at the light air of threat, Koji just smiled and bowed his head at him.
“You have my word. And thank you. I’m touched.” He said sincerely.
Shoto nodded and sat his ass back down as everyone clapped politely.
Katsuki just gawked at him and he turned to look at him in surprise.
“What?”
“That was… impressive. I’m impressed.” Katsuki whispered.
Shoto smiled a little awkwardly.
“I rewrote it a lot, but my therapist helped me get my words together. It was rather short.” He admitted very quietly.
“Well good fucking job IcePop, the best speeches are always the short ones anyway.”
“Thanks.”
Katsuki stood and watched as Shoto danced with his sister, his wedding alter ego in full swing and his drunk ass smiling bigger than Katsuki had ever seen it around his family as he span her around.
It was weirdly moving despite him acting like a total clown.
Shit wasn’t fixed.
Shit like the Todoroki Trauma couldn’t ever be truly fixed.
But it really was miles better and honestly? That was all Katsuki could ever hope for.
A family with more baggage than Tokyo airport wouldn’t ever be beautiful to outside eyes, but Katsuki was close enough to it to see the new growth once again sprouting from the gritty ashy remains.
Their family was always an ever shifting landscape. He hoped this time it stuck.
Then of course, the moment was fucking ruined by the Shit-Lord himself.
Katsuki couldn’t help how his entire posture changed as Enji moved to stand beside him and he didn’t bother trying to hide his distaste as the man looked at his two children enjoying themselves with a soft expression as if he had anything to do with it.
“I suppose the next family wedding will be your own.” Enji finally said, flat and controlled; neither positive or negative. Katsuki hated that he was currently holding a very fragile champagne flute and this conversation was already a serious threat to it.
“I suppose it will be Dad.” He drawled at him, short and blunt.
He wasn’t aiming to start a brawl here, but he wasn’t going to avoid this confrontation either. Katsuki was still an asshole and this had been coming for a long time.
Enji grimaced at his words and Katsuki smirked in satisfaction.
Then Endeavor turned to face him fully, his huge height towering over him but his face still perfectly controlled.
“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I can accept that you will never exactly be a fan of mine. But for the sake of my family I want to try and clear the air, if only a little.” He said measured and sincere.
Katsuki stared up at him with barely contained disgust, that internal bias in full motion.
“I’m behaving myself and I will continue to do so. But to say I don’t like you is almost as big of an understatement as saying that you’ve made ‘mistakes’. ‘Mistakes’ like yours come with consequences that won’t ever go away and I am no where near as nice or forgiving as your son. I love him. I’d die for him. I’ll even be cordial to you for him. But make no mistake about this, that’ll only ever be for him.” He said firm and serious.
Enji stared him down but his face was far better at poker than Shoto’s ever was and Katsuki couldn’t get a read on what could possibly be going through that giant head of his.
Finally, he sighed.
“I understand. But please, for my own peace of mind, I want your word you won’t ever hurt him.” He said far more gently.
The actual fucking gall of this man.
Katsuki just about managed to keep his temper in check to not explode the glass in his hand but it was a very near thing.
Truth was, he got it. He did.
This was an extension of an olive branch and an attempt to ‘bond’ over the one thing they both cared about. But it was also so fucking insulting even if Enji truly didn’t mean it to be.
Katsuki could back down and accept it for what it was. Shoto would probably want him to. But as much as Katsuki loved that wonderful dumbass, there were lines here that he could never let be crossed no matter how well meaning.
Shoto had every right to want the peace that came from forgiveness and Katsuki would always help him in that, but Katsuki was also a feral beast and to be gracious and merciful was absolutely not in his skill set. Especially so for people like Endeavor.
Someone had to hold him to task and Katsuki would always very happily walk the low road to be that fucking person.
“I am not and I won’t ever be like you.” Katsuki spat at him with genuine anger. Enji’s eyebrows shot upward. “People always draw parallels between us and you know what? I can see why they do that. I am aggressive, powerful and unapologetic and so many people look at me and they see you, especially because of our connection to Shoto. But you and I have very big fundamental differences that only the people who actually know us get to see. Because as vicious and aggressive as I am, I am also capable of so much fucking unconditional love.”
Enji didn’t move an inch but he was clearly listening as he kept Katsuki’s gaze.
“I do not compromise on my morals and ideals. I do not push aside those who helped make me who I am for my own benefit. I. Am. Not. Like. You. Blundering and burning any and all in your path for your own twisted idea of victory. Thoughtlessly destroying and breaking everything good and kind before you for the sake of your own fucked up ego and entitlement.
“Now I was messed up as a kid. I got a lot of dumb ideas in my head and I had to work on those to become the man I am today, but I did. I worked hard every damn fucking day but I did it and, as much as I am absolutely not a nice person, I am a good one. You barely fucking pass at half that. Even now. Name one thing you’ve done in the last year that helped Shoto or made him genuinely happy.” He said sharp and wild with the hate that burned deep in his heart.
Enji didn’t answer him but his eyes narrowed a little.
“You fucking can’t.” Katsuki hissed. “No praise without criticism, no words of encouragement, no offers of comfort or understanding. Zilch. But I can name at least five things you’ve said or done that hurt him badly this last year alone right off the top of my head. Demands, expectations and outright fucking blame for things he had absolutely no control over. So don’t you dare come to me and ask me to treat your son carefully you fucking projecting hypocrite.
“I am not and I never was the fucking problem here and your poor attempt at making nice ain’t nothing but a goddamn insult. When all of Shoto’s fucking issues ultimately stem back to you, even now when you’re actually trying to be a better person, then once again, ‘Number Two’, your best is not fucking good enough and in my opinion, as someone who loves Shoto completely and unconditionally, it won’t ever be.”
He stiffened up to his full height, still very much shorter than the mountain of the man in front of him but absolutely fearless like he was always taught to be.
“For Shoto’s sake, I will say this. Your little baby boy is gonna do fucking fine, with or without me. But even so, I’ve got his back in all things and at all times without a shred of doubt. Unlike you and all the other people in this hall who love Shoto, I’m never gonna hurt him. I won’t ever treat him the way you all have. Now I don’t care about you, but Shoto does so, after this, I’ll do what I can to not be an asshole to you and I expect the same treatment in return. I’m not some dumb fifteen year old anymore. Neither is Shoto. Time to wake up and smell the future. But in that future, if you actually want our relationship to improve, don’t come to me and say these stupid things like they’re a given obligation. Work harder and be fucking better.” He said with venom. Katsuki could go on, but Enji’s blue eyes closed and his jaw flexed and Katsuki figured he had cut just deep enough to hurt but not start an actual fist fight.
A good compromise.
He turned and walked away.
Katsuki nailed back two whiskeys to cool his shit before Natsuo caught up with him.
“Hey, so, I saw you talking to the old bastard.” Natsuo said passing Katsuki another fragile champagne flute and smiling a little strained.
“Words were exchanged, no one died.” He growled out earning a brief look of amusement.
“Your unrivalled effort to not kill anyone is deeply appreciated.” He said back light heartedly.
“That old fucker isn’t going to be my villain origin story. It’s too goddamn sad.” Katsuki hissed as he lifted the champagne to his lips.
“You wouldn’t be the first if it was.” Natsuo replied blithely making Katsuki spit the champagne back out into the glass.
Katsuki cackled as he coughed down bubbles, unable to help himself through the sheer shock of it and Natsuo gave him a wry smirk.
“Oof. Yeah okay. Geez.” He wheezed. “Fucking wow. My bad.”
Natsuo shrugged and sat down, Katsuki taking up post beside him.
“Shoto said he’s been in therapy for quite a while now. I take it that’s your doing?” Natsuo said then, looking at the dance floor and smiling.
Shoto’s tie was off and he was apparently doing the fucking Macarena.
Alcoholic fucking Labrador.
“I helped, but it’s all his work. I ain’t taking credit for the effort he’s making.” Katsuki said a little uneasy at discussing it.
It wasn’t a secret, but Shoto wasn’t exactly open about it either. Some days he was proud as hell of himself and on others he moped around like the saddest little worm.
Katsuki understood. It was a process.
Natsuo turned back to him and smiled.
“You’ve been so good for him. You’re like a rock. It’s really good to see him so happy you know?” He said sincerely. Katsuki heaved out a breath.
Another fucking emotional conversation.
What the fuck even was this wedding? Was Katsuki actually asleep and having a fucking nightmare?
“We’ve been close for years. Not much has really changed.” He dismissed.
“Nah it has. A lot has. He actually told off our mother last time we all had lunch because she was digging at me about proposing to my girlfriend. It was a real shock. He’s so much more confident. Like, it’s notable.” Natsuo said with a far more impish grin. “Never ever thought I’d see that. Ever. I could barely fucking speak. He’s picked up some colourful language too.” He added with a bit more tooth to that grin.
Katsuki let out a huff.
Shoto had always been confident, but, he supposed their family dynamic must have changed. His view of Shoto would always be different to theirs.
“He’s had colourful language long before me. He just uses it more sparingly for maximum impact.” Katsuki muttered earning a laugh.
“I suppose so. But still, I like this new Shoto. He’s kinda bad ass.” Natsuo said making Katsuki smile a little.
“Yeah. It’s been a ride. But despite both our bullshit, we work. It’s actually kinda crazy.” He admitted.
“He still gave you that panda eye though.” Natsuo said with a bit more suspicion to his expression.
Katsuki sighed.
“We were play fighting.” He muttered. “Play-fighting as pro heroes comes with eye socket risks.”
Natsuo didn’t look convinced. Katsuki was just drunk enough to figure ‘screw it’.
“If you really gotta know, we were fucking, you nosey asshole. Your little brother is a kinky shithead.” He hissed.
Natsuo’s mouth fell open and then he burst into raucous laughter.
“Holy… holy shit! Holy fucking shit… Shoto! Oh my god that’s why he went all red!” Natsuo howled as Katsuki nodded grimly.
Yeah. Second family ‘chat’ of the evening and here they were discussing his sex life.
Katsuki was considering helping out the staff for something to do that didn’t involve talking to any more Todorokis. Honest to fuck if he could grab one of those serving trays he might be able to blend in.
Unfortunately, as he longingly looked at the staff door they were all disappearing into like lucky assholes, who else but Todoroki Rei would come and politely perch beside him.
It was a little bit like having a wild bird land next to him.
He didn’t want to say anything or make any sudden moves in case he scared her off, but also suddenly had the desperate urge to violently fidget because of it.
She smiled at him softly.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” She asked, polite and still absolutely fucking terrible at small talk. Katsuki’s expression should have been able to answer that question without him saying a word.
Katsuki cleared his throat.
“It’s been an event.” He said politically. “You?” He asked in a hope to deflect.
She smiled more amused but nodded.
“I am. Fuyumi looks beautiful and it’s been such a lovely day.” She said somewhat wistfully as she looked out at the masses.
Katsuki got the horrible feeling she was thinking of her own wedding which was probably fucking awful.
“She does. Happy too. Koji seems like a good guy.” He said before wanting to kick himself for probably unintentionally jabbing that sore spot.
First Toya and now that? What was wrong with him?
“Yes. He does. I’m so happy for her.” She said genuinely.
She was beautiful up close when she wasn’t scared out of her mind. Her quirk personified just like Enji. Freshly untouched soft snow despite her horrible life.
She was kind of tragic as a person and it was always weird for Katsuki to meet women like her when he grew up with Satan in human form.
She turned to look at him again.
“How is your mother?” She asked like a fucking seer making Katsuki grimace.
“As she is. Last I heard she spat at her neighbour with the car that has the loud exhaust and started an incident. Apparently she threatened to slash his tyres.” He said earning a polite chuckle as if he was joking. Dear Lord she had no idea.
A year ago Katsuki had to go and drag The Hag out of the local police station when she got into an ‘altercation’ with someone playing music loudly on the bus and she really needed to tone it down or they’d slap her with another curfew.
“She’s a powerful woman. I bet she’s so proud of the man you’ve become.” Rei said then, fond and honest. Katsuki raised an eyebrow at her.
Was she drunk? Maybe.
“Proud is… well. I suppose she is? She’s certainly proud when she loudly tells everyone I can kick their ass.” He said, a little blindsided and on the back foot. “She’s more proud of your son even if they’re currently not on speaking terms.”
Rei looked worried.
“Heavens, why?” She said shocked.
Katsuki really did not want to answer that.
It was so fucking stupid.
“He insulted her new curtains. That’s the equivalent to, I don’t know, taking a shit in your favourite flowerbed I guess. She’ll get over it. She finds him too funny to stay mad at him.” He said earning another small giggle.
“Ah. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” She mused.
“Oh no, he absolutely did. She pissed him off by cuffing me round the head a little harder than usual so he did it out of pure spite. Your son may be a kind hearted man, but he knows exactly where to stick the knife when you cross him. Maybe he took it too far, but honestly? The two of them together is absolutely fucking awful so I’m enjoying the temporary ceasefire. It’s literally horrifying when they both unite to gang up on me.” He said truthfully and a little haunted at the memory of the passive aggressive fucking show down that started.
His mother wouldn’t ever win at passive aggressive, especially not against Shoto. It wasn’t her natural way of fighting.
Rei laughed again, her eyes crinkling with it. It was a nice noise.
“I’m glad they get along well, even if it is somewhat chaotic. I was actually considering messaging her. It’s been a while since we spoke.” She said looking away again, that smile turning a little sad.
“She’d like that, but just to warn you, that woman is the devil and she might get you arrested if you’re not careful.” Katsuki said smirking, the idea of The Hag dragging Rei into her nonsense weirdly hilarious.
“Katsuki.” Rei admonished. “You shouldn’t talk about her that way.”
He openly scoffed at her with a grin, impressed at her trying to scold him.
She had come so far from that shaking waif who turned up at his door to apologise.
“You know nothing of our ways. I’m the rational one. And watch out for the old man too. He may seem harmless and sweet, but he whispers little ideas into The Hag’s ear. A devious black horse that one. There’s a reason we were dubbed the outsiders of the wider family. Besides, she knows I love her just like how I know she loves me despite every word out of her mouth being an insult. It’s just how we work.” He said with a shrug.
She smiled a little to herself.
“You are an interesting family. But good. Really good.” She said quietly.
Katsuki met her eyes.
“We can be. For the right people.”
Katsuki was considering outright hiding. Five extended family Todorokis had cornered him to say such utter bullshit. Stupid pompous ultra rich people bullshit.
Honestly, Katsuki thought the black eye would have made him look intimidating enough to keep a nice circumference of personal space, but apparently these shitheads feared nothing.
Five.
Two aunts, two cousins and some sort of eccentric old woman who, admittedly, was actually hilarious given how much she hated all the Todorokis including herself.
Honestly, Katsuki didn’t even know Shoto had this many relatives, but their entire family tree was a fucking mess so he didn’t bother trying to figure it out. They were clearly all only invited by some sort of family formality.
Katsuki hoped to never fucking see any of them again. Most of them probably felt mutually once he was done with them.
Still, the evening was finally winding down and Katsuki slumped into a chair to try and survive the dregs of it.
But of course, one last bit of fuckery when it was the most unexpected in the true tried and tested Todoroki way.
A slow song came on in the now mostly empty hall and Wedding Shoto, King of the Dance Floor, held out his hand for Katsuki in the middle of his stage.
Katsuki didn’t know if he was just drunk, those whiskeys finally catching up to him, but Shoto literally looked like he had a spotlight shining on his red and white hair. Coloured lights whirled around him garishly like he was the protagonist in some bullshit sappy as fuck movie.
It was awful, but in moments like this, when Katsuki managed to quell all his own bullshit - insecurity, anger, anxiety, and fear - and really looked at Shoto, as in, really looked at him, his heart would swell so fucking big he felt like he was back on a battlefield deciding the fate of the world from decades ago.
He was so beautiful and it was so fucking much.
Katsuki pushed aside his own everything and accepted the invite, getting to his feet, brushing down the folds in his suit as he stormed over to take Shoto’s perfect if not a little too cold hand.
Shoto pulled him in close and Katsuki gave him such an emotionally exhausted stare that the man laughed. Small, but bright and happy and oh so currently untouched by all the horrid bullshit he had to put up with in his life.
Katsuki’s entire body hurt at it’s purity and he moved to wrap an arm around Shoto’s waist to pull himself in even closer so he could bury his face into his neck.
“Aww. If you’re that upset we don’t have to dance.” Shoto said, soft and kind, knowing that dancing really wasn’t Katsuki’s thing.
But it wasn’t the dancing that made him this way.
It wasn’t the gentle rocking they did around each other in perfect time.
It was everything else.
Katsuki thought back to when this love affair first started and the friendship that came before it. How, even then, even that long ago, Shoto had been such a force in his life. A solid springboard for his thoughts. A truly unique perspective to honestly state how he saw whatever it was Katsuki chose to relinquish into his hands. Even the thoughts Katsuki couldn’t force his lips to say out loud to Izuku or Eijiro.
They found such safety in each other even then. Got so close despite them both being so figuratively prickly.
Any and all of Katsuki’s many flaws, so happily taken in stride, and met with nothing but genuine sincerity and consideration. How, even when Katsuki felt the world so viscerally, Shoto just observed his emotions with curiosity and interest and helped guide Katsuki through it and back into his own body like some sort of firm but steady homing beacon.
Katsuki looked up at him, the music horrid and emotive as they slowly rocked to it and Shoto gave him a brief look of surprise at whatever tortured expression Katsuki was pulling before it turned so impossibly fond.
“I really love you.” Katsuki said, his words wobbling like a teenage boy. A teenage boy Shoto had known, even then, personality warts and all.
Shoto’s little smile grew into a genuine masterpiece, the word a trauma taboo but correct regardless, his mismatched eyes so full of authentic affection and adoration.
Never afraid of Katsuki.
Never anything but absolutely inthralled and devoted to him even when he was being a complete shithead and vice versa.
“I love you too. So so much.” Shoto whispered, teeth appearing in his smile before he leant forward and kissed Katsuki’s forehead. “And the next time I make you dance like this, it’s gonna be at our wedding. Well. No. It’ll be at Hanta’s. But then ours.”
Katsuki heaved out a noise he couldn’t make sense of but Shoto just laughed, head thrown back with confidence like he was All Might himself and Katsuki joined in, cackling whilst flustered at his emotions swelling so big. His eyes felt heavy with tears he would die before letting fall right here but they both knew would probably resurface later.
“Yeah. Okay. I’m down for that. But when I cry, please don’t set fire to our friends because you’re embarrassed.” He said unable to stop how his face mimicked Shoto’s own.
The fucker kissed his forehead again.
“I’ll get a fire proof suit, I promise.” He whispered, voice light and airy.
They were having a western style wedding then? Surprising but sure.
“Good. Is it gonna be as big as this or can we keep it quiet?” Katsuki mused, eyes closed as he let his nose run along Shoto’s jaw, red then white stubble, yet to show visibly but the red side always oddly more soft.
Unique. Utterly and absolutely unique.
Shoto hummed before he chuckled low in his chest, the vibration rattling through Katsuki’s own at their closeness.
Then he gently gripped Katsuki’s chin in his forefingers and thumb, tilting his head to force eye contact.
“When I marry you? I want the entire world to see it. I want everyone to see how unbearably in love we are, even if it’s terribly embarrassing. I want the whole world to know that you’re mine. All mine.” He whispered in that deep voice, slow and with that ever so slight edge of madness that Katsuki loved so fucking much.
Todoroki Shoto was a terrifying man sometimes. Resolute and powerful. Katsuki’s entire bloodstream immediately lit up with it.
He bared his teeth, manic and crazed at the sudden intensity thrown his way.
“I’m gonna marry you so damn loud the moon will bitch about not getting an invite.” He growled at the fucker, the hair on his arms standing up and spine tingling at the sudden adrenaline.
Shoto grinned so wild his canines appeared and those two different coloured eyes went dark with how his pupils dilated.
“Not the next, but the one after? That one is ours.” He growled back.
Katsuki let his hand move into Shoto’s hair and gripped it tightly.
“Ours.” He agreed.