Chapter Text
Katsuki beamed with pride as the no-name students stared as he and Izuku walked down the hallway hand in hand. A month had passed since he and Izuku (mostly he) publicly announced that they were dating.
He and Izuku had grown closer since then, learning how to better communicate their needs with each other. Since their announcement, the number of confessions Katsuki received almost immediately stopped (much to Izuku’s delight). In the beginning, though, there were a few stubborn extras who thought they stood a chance at stealing Katsuki away from the freckled hero hopeful. Those students were quickly put in their place at the receiving end of Katsuki’s full-blown wrath as he took their blatant disregard for his relationship with Izuku as a sign of disrespect towards his boyfriend. It took three people to hold Katsuki back from exploding those students on the spot. Kirishima once pointed out that Izuku should be strong enough on his own to hold his fiery boyfriend back, but… It was almost like Izuku wanted Katsuki to lash out at those students (it made Katsuki’s chest swell with pride).
As they made their way down the hall towards their classroom, Katsuki planted a chaste kiss on Izuku’s lips, turning the poor boy’s face red. To Izuku’s surprise, Katsuki loved PDA—loved showing Izuku off. Because every damn extra needed to know that the two problem children from Class 1-A were taken.
“Kacchan, stop…” Izuku whined as Katsuki placed another kiss on his cheek.
“What? Getting shy on me now, nerd? You weren’t so shy last night—“
Katsuki bit back a groan as Izuku harshly elbowed him in the stomach.
“Hmph.” Izuku’s face flushed. “Keep it up, Kacchan, and you can sleep in your own bed tonight.”
“Okay, okay,” Katsuki held his hands up in mock surrender and smirked. “I yield.”
Izuku giggled. “Can I get that in writing?”
Katsuki playfully shoved his boyfriend’s shoulder and the two walked into Aizawa’s classroom.
Class came and went without anything too exciting—today, they were learning about how hero agencies were created and run on a day-to-day basis. Once the bell rang, Class 1-A packed up their things and headed to lunch.
“Ready to go, Deku?” Uraraka asked with a smile.
Izuku nodded as he zipped up his backpack. “Ready!”
Even though he and Katsuki had been dating for a few months now, they easily found a balance between being with each other and being with their own friends. Lunch was one of the times that Izuku and Katsuki went their separate ways.
Izuku, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, and Iida headed towards the door to the classroom when a stern voice called out to him.
“Midoriya.”
Izuku stopped in from of Aizawa’s desk. “Yes, sensei?”
“Go ahead and have lunch in the medical wing. Recovery Girl wants to see you before your next class starts. Something about checking up on your arms.”
“O-Oh… Okay, sensei!” Normally Recovery Girl begged not to see Izuku in the medical wing, so it was a bit funny to him that she was actually requesting his presence. Izuku checked the clock and bit his lip slightly. No time to get lunch then… Maybe he would just ask Iida to run and grab him some lunch.
A strong arm wrapped around his waist, tugging him towards the door, catching Izuku off guard.
“K-Kacchan!” Izuku found himself being pulled away from his friends as they watched in amusement.
“Let’s go, nerd, don’t keep the old lady waiting,” Katsuki grumbled.
“See you later, Deku!”
Izuku waved shyly at his friends as they all headed to lunch with Katsuki still pulling him away.
“Kacchan, what in the world are you—“
As soon as they turned a corner into an empty hallway, Katsuki stopped abruptly in his tracks. He shrugged his backpack off to one shoulder, opened his bag, and quickly shoved a bento box wrapped in black and orange ribbon into Izuku’s arms. “H-Here…”
“K-Kacchan…” Izuku stared at the bento box in wonder. “Is this your lunch?”
“No, Deku. It’s… for you…” Izuku watched Katsuki rub the back of his neck and turn his gaze away. “Made it for you this morning… I guess it came in handy…”
Izuku laughed softly before kissing Katsuki on the cheek. “Haha, my hero has come to save me from an empty stomach. Thank you, Kacchan!”
Katsuki let out an embarrassed grumble and quickly turned away. “Come on, let’s go,” the embarrassed boy barked.
Izuku didn’t mind though. He only smiled and held his boyfriend’s hand as they walked towards the medical wing.
“Kacchan, I think I know my way to Recovery Girl by now,” Izuku laughed softly. “Go to lunch! I don’t want you to miss it!”
“It’s fine, Izu, I wanna walk with you…” Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s hand gently.
When he heard Aizawa say that Recovery Girl wanted to take a look at Izuku’s arms again, Katsuki’s heart sank in his chest. Izuku—ever stubborn Izuku—still used his arms during fights, albeit at a small percentage of OFA. Izuku had a ‘use it or lose it’ mentality. Even though he concentrated his training on his legs, he didn’t want to lose any strength in his arms. So Katsuki figured that Recovery Girl was calling the stubborn male down to her office to yell at him to be more careful with his damaged limbs.
When they arrived in the medical wing, opened the door to Recovery Girl’s office and ushered Izuku inside. “In you go, nerd.”
Izuku’s laugh that followed made his heart flutter. “Such a gentleman.”
Katsuki followed Izuku inside Recovery Girl’s office. He furrowed his brows when he saw that she was, in fact, not alone. At her side sat a student—maybe a year ahead of him and Izuku. His dark blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the undersides were shaven. Dark skin contrasted with his eyes—a light lavender color, nearly white, and for a moment, Katsuki thought that the student might be blind. That was until he saw the unnamed student’s eyes flitter over to Izuku, looking the cheerful boy up and down. Katsuki knew that look all too well. After all, he looked at Izuku that way every morning he woke up next to the green-haired male. Katsuki clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
“Ah, Midoriya-kun, Bakugou-kun, so nice to see you both again,” Recovery Girl greeted with a smile.
Katsuki rolled his eyes. She was obviously playing nice in front of the new guy.
“This is Ken’ichi Masami—he’s a new transfer student to the support department’s class 2-H. He’s also my new assistant. His concentration—ah, perhaps I should allow him to explain this.” Recovery Girl nodded at Ken’ichi who politely stood and bowed towards Izuku and Katsuki.
“Hello, my name is Ken’ichi Masami. As Recover Girl-san explained, I am a transfer student from Ketsubutsu Academy. I am in support class 2-H. My concentration is biomedical engineering, and my quirk is Vitals. It’s a medical-type quirk that allows me to read the vital signs of any person including x-rays and scans of localized areas. Pleased to meet you!”
Ken’ichi bowed and Izuku bowed back.
“It’s nice to meet you Masami-senpai!” Izuku greeted with a bright smile. “I’m sure you’ll love UA!”
Izuku quickly elbowed Katsuki who grumbled out a brief ‘hello’. Not that Ken’ichi really cared. His full attention was on Izuku.
“So you’re the infamous Izuku Midoriya, huh? Recovery Girl has told me so much about you.” Ken’ichi flashed Izuku a wink and Katsuki felt his palms start to heat up. He sent a heated glare towards the older male, but Ken’ichi only brushed him aside.
“Only good things, I hope?” Izuku laughed shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. On Recovery Girl’s desk, Izuku’s many x-rays were strewn about. The two were probably looking at them before Izuku and Katsuki arrived.
“Since Ken’ichi’s concentration is in biomedical engineering, he wants to build medical technology for hero costumes,” Recovery Girl explained. “I figured a good way to induct him would be with Class-A’s number one problem child.” Recovery Girl’s eyes sparkled with mirth as Izuku’s face heated up.
“I know that Hatsume-san has pretty much claimed your whole class, but I convinced her to let me borrow you for the time being.” Katsuki watched as Ken’ichi reached out and held Izuku’s hand. “Please take care of me.”
Katsuki grit his teeth as his boyfriend flushed and stuttered, bowing at the waist before the upperclassman. “N-No, really, I should be the one saying that! Thank you for helping me!”
"I just need to take a few basic measurements for today and then we can find a good time to meet after class!”
“Okay! If you don’t mind me asking, what are you planning on working on?”
“Oh, after looking at your x-rays, I want to see if I can create some kind of lining in the arms of your hero costume to help support your arms when you use your quirk! Also, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to ask your teachers for permission to observe you during combat training. I’d like to work as closely as possible with your fighting style in mind!”
“That sounds great! I’m sure Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei will be happy to let you observe!”
“Bakugou-kun.”
Katsuki tore his eyes away from the sight of his boyfriend and the new extra geeking out together and looked down where Recovery Girl was currently standing next to him.
“Thank you for walking Midoriya-kun here, but feel free to head back to lunch now.” She said with a smile.
Katsuki grimaced.
Right. Lunch.
His eyes flittered over to where Izuku was sitting on one of the medical wing beds, happily munching away on the bento Katsuki prepared while Ken’ichi’s quirk whirred to life, his eyes concentrating over Izuku’s arms as he jotted down notes into a notebook.
His chest felt tight like he was being suffocated. He swallowed thickly as he headed towards the door, giving Izuku a nod goodbye before heading to the cafeteria. The aching feeling didn’t disappear even as he sat down with his group of friends
"Hey, Bakubro," Denki threw his arm around Katsuki's shoulders with a knowing smirk. "What took you so long?"
"Yeah, man," Sero grinned like the Cheshire cat. "You and Midoriya weren't messing around, were you?"
The two chuckled as they teased Katsuki, but Katsuki didn’t even bother telling them off. He just wanted the dull ache in his chest to leave. All he could think about were lavender eyes staring at Izuku like he hung the stars in the sky.
In two weeks, Ken’ichi Masami became a permanent fixture. And Katsuki couldn’t stand it. During combat training, Ken’ichi was there with his eyes hyper-focused on Izuku, a pen in his hand drawing his boyfriend’s silhouette for his ‘hero costume’ (The fuck did he need that for? He’s supposed to be working on just the arms of Izuku’s costume). Moments walking hand in hand down the hallway were now spent with Ken’ichi by Izuku’s side with Izuku sandwiched in the middle.
Katsuki always made sure to have his arm around Izuku’s shoulders to show Ken’ichi that Izuku was very much in a relationship, but that didn’t seem to deter the upperclassman one bit. Even though Ken’ichi hadn’t overtly flirted with Izuku, something about him just rubbed Katsuki the wrong way—the way he talked to Izuku, the way he smiled at Izuku, the way he stared at Izuku. All of it.
And it really didn’t help that they were both so damn nerdy.
Turns out that Ken’ichi kept tabs on support and rescue heroes just as much as Izuku did. So even with Katsuki’s arm around his shoulder walking him to lunch, Izuku paid zero attention to him as he and Ken’ichi chatted away about this hero and that hero.
“I’ll talk to you later, Kacchan!”
Katsuki blinked as Izuku slipped out from under his arms. He shook his head quickly as he realized that they had arrived at the cafeteria. “Uh, y-yeah…”
He nodded his head at Izuku as he started heading to the table where Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, and Tsu were already sitting at.
But.
Why was Ken’ichi following him?
Katsuki slumped angrily in his seat next to Kirishima, eyes narrowing as they followed Ken’ichi who joined Izuku at his table. Thankfully, he sat across of Izuku since Iida and Todoroki sat on either side of him.
“Woah, man… You don’t look too good,” Kirishima pointed out as Katsuki stabbed his lunch with his fork.
“Why. The fuck. Is that bastard sitting there and not with his dumbass extra classmates?” Katsuki growled as he gripped his chopsticks tightly in his fist. “Don’t you guys think it’s fucking weird how much time he spends with our class?”
“By ‘our class,’ you mean Midoriya, right?” Denki asked with a smirk.
Katsuki turned his heated glare towards Denki. “Fuck off Dunce Face, I’m not in the mood.”
“Hey, hey, chill out Bakubro,” Kirishima raised his hands in surrender, trying to calm Katsuki down. “He’s only been here for two weeks, so maybe he doesn’t have that many friends yet. Plus, Midoriya is super friendly! And besides, if you don’t like it, why don’t you just tell him to back off? Or ask your boyfriend to do it?”
Katsuki crossed his arms and stared down at the table. “It’s not my place to tell Deku who he can and can’t hang out with. And that bastard is working on some shit with Deku for his class, so that would be a shitty thing for me to do.”
“Have you talked to him about how you’re feeling jealous?” Mina asked. “Remember what we talked about before, Blasty? About how—“
“Yeah, yeah!” Katsuki shouted, quickly interrupting Mina before she could finish. His face flushed a light shade of red as he cleared his throat. “I’m not telling the damn nerd I’m jealous. He’d just make fun of me… Oi! I’m not jealous!”
Denki, Kirishima, Sero, and Mina all shared a laugh at Katsuki’s expense.
Katsuki growled and glared fiercely at his group of friends. “I am not jealous, you damn extras! I just don’t like the way he looks at Izuku. And the way he talks to Izuku. And the way he just casually touches Izuku. I bet that fucker is trying to play footsie with him right now.”
“D-Dude, do you even hear yourself?” Kirishima asked between laughs. “You are so jealous!”
“I bet he’s still salty that Midoriya ditched him on date night,” Sero cackled, wiping tears from his eyes.
Katsuki’s left eye twitched.
His friends kindly referred to his and Izuku’s evening sparring sessions as ‘date night’. And two nights ago, Izuku decided to spar with Ken’ichi instead. No, Izuku didn’t ditch Katsuki. He was actually very sweet about the whole thing—he actually brought it up to Katsuki a week in advance because Ken’ichi needed help with hand-to-hand combat practice and thought it would be best if he could observe Izuku’s quirk up close. So no, Izuku didn’t ditch Katsuki. But that night, as Izuku and Ken’ichi sparred together, Katsuki stayed holed up in his room, a stabbing ache in his chest making it feel like Izuku really had ditched him.
That night, when Izuku came back giddy from training and cuddled with Katsuki in bed, Katsuki stayed quiet while Izuku rambled about training with Ken’ichi and One For All and his arms, only half-listening to his boyfriend.
Okay, so he was still a little mad about that. But could you blame him?
As lunch passed, his friends finally let up on their teasing and found new things to talk about. When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Katsuki gathered his things and stood up. His eyes glanced over to Izuku’s table where he and his friends prepared to leave for their next class.
Crimson eyes met lavender ones, and Katsuki glared at Ken’ichi from across the room.
There was a mischievous glint in Ken’ichi’s eyes, and Katsuki grit his teeth as the upperclassman’s lips twitched into a small smirk, unnoticeable to the untrained eye.
Something inside Katsuki snapped as he watched Ken’ichi follow Izuku’s group to their next class: Foundational Hero Studies with All Might.
Good.
Katsuki felt his palms heat up.
He needed to blow something up. And if Ken’ichi was caught in the crossfire, well… Katsuki sure as hell wouldn’t miss him.
Ken’ichi started sitting with Izuku and his friends during lunch every. Single. Day.
And Katsuki watched him like a hawk.
The fucker was treading on thin ice, and Katsuki wasn’t about to let him get away with… whatever he was doing without a fight.
Every morning, Katsuki woke up earlier than he normally did (which annoyed a tired, sleeping Izuku) to make Izuku a bento box for lunch wrapped in his signature colors.
Katsuki smirked each time Izuku opened the bento box in front of his friends, the nerd’s eyes beaming with happiness as he happily munched away at the delicious food Katsuki prepared for him. When Katsuki’s fierce eyes met Ken’ichi’s, Katsuki could easily see the hint of annoyance in those lavender eyes.
And it felt good.
But Ken’ichi didn’t stop there.
Soon, Ken’ichi began to retaliate by stealing Izuku away for more and more sparring sessions.
So Katsuki did Izuku’s laundry, and when his boyfriend complained that he didn’t have any more workout clothes, Katsuki would nonchalantly toss one of his signature t-shirts in his direction. It made him especially happy knowing Izuku was wearing his shirt and that Ken’ichi had to stare at a skull and crossbones with the word ‘DIE’ in bold lettering while getting beaten down by his boyfriend.
Message sent.
But that message was not received by Ken’ichi.
The support student happily gave Katsuki back ‘date night’ after quickly realizing he couldn’t keep up with Izuku’s stamina. It made Katsuki smirk when Izuku would come back to his room at night after a sparring session with Ken’ichi complaining as politely as he could that he felt like the past few sparring sessions were too basic and he wanted to work on some more complex moves with One For All.
Yeah.
Only Katsuki could keep up with his nerd. And he was happy to have their ‘date nights’ back.
But Katsuki’s victory didn’t last long.
While Katsuki’s strength was on the battlefield, Ken’ichi’s was in the lab. For every hour of Izuku’s time that Katsuki gained back, he lost them to Ken’ichi stealing Izuku away to the lab to work on Izuku’s hero suit.
Katsuki took a deep breath as he stood in front of the workshop door.
“Just fucking move…” He grumbled to himself, glaring down at his arm that refused to knock on the door. Maybe his dumbass friends were right. Maybe he really was jealous. Because there was no other reason he would ever get caught doing this.
Katsuki took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
It was immediately thrown open by a very energetic pink-haired student with dirt and soot all over her body.
“BAKUGO KATSUKI, JUST WHO I WANTED TO SEE! BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING, TAKE A LOOK AT MY NEWEST BABY!”
Katsuki was forcefully dragged into the workshop by Hatsume who was already piling a bunch of gadgets onto her workspace. In the other corner of the workshop, Katsuki spotted Izuku sitting patiently as Ken’ichi explained whatever he was holding in his hand.
Izuku caught Katsuki’s eyes immediately and gave him a happy wave. Katsuki smiled at his boyfriend softly, waving back before being promptly shoved into a chair by Mei.
Izuku always talked about how amazing (albeit overly energetic) Mei was. She was a genius at her craft in creating support items, and Izuku begged Katsuki to see her at least once. So Katsuki decided that today would be the day to see her.
It was out of pure curiosity, of course.
Not because Izuku was there with that damn extra.
“SO! I was thinking, you know that thing you do where you launch yourself around with your quirk? What if, and hear me out, you just use a jet pack instead!”
Mei’s excitable chatter brought Katsuki out of his daze. “What?! Absolutely the fuck not, you damn extra. I already told you what I wanted—I need my arm gauntlets to be more compact and lightweight without losing the firepower they currently have. Everyone’s been telling me how good you are, so can you do it or not? ‘Cause if not, don’t waste my damn time,” Katsuki growled as he removed his gauntlets and placed them on Mei’s worktable.
She was not at all phased by his attitude and began looking closely at his gauntlets. “Hm… Hm… Aha! That’s it!” She dug through a mess of drawers and the pile of discarded projects in the corner of the room. Then, she quickly searched on the computer for a blueprint of Katsuki’s current gauntlets.
Katsuki crossed his arms and watched her maneuver around the workshop in mild interest. Then, his eyes wandered over to Izuku.
“I finished sewing the lining onto your hero costume! It should help stabilize your arms, legs, and spine while you use your quirk without hindering your movements. And, I made this brace for you to wear during sparring. It wraps around your arms like this, and it might feel restrictive at first, but your body will get used to having it around. It should help prevent any strain on ligaments. You only need to use it when you’re not wearing your hero costume. And these compression gloves are for your hand. It’ll help the joints that have been realigned through Recovery Girl’s surgery. She did a wonderful job, but with your intensive daily routine may cause early-onset arthritis. This should help deter that from happening. I recommend wearing it when you sleep and if you start feeling any pain in your hands. Do you remember the hand exercises I showed you?”
Izuku laughed softly. “Yes, yes, I remember and I have the packet in my room. I do them every morning and every night.”
As much as Katsuki hated Ken’ichi, he had to admit that the guy went above and beyond in his work. He took care of Izuku’s needs much better than Katsuki could. Honestly, he didn’t know much other than the basic first aid training all students in the hero course were required to learn. After the multiple villain attacks, they were learning much more about field medical treatment, but still—it wasn’t really Katsuki’s strong point.
Katsuki’s eyes narrowed in on where Ken’ichi was touching Izuku’s arms and hands like it was the most natural thing in the world. He grit his teeth and scowled—the black pit in his stomach returning.
“Katsukiiiiii, I just need to take a few measurements and you’re free to go! I’ll have everything ready for you by tomorrow!” Mei grabbed all kinds of measuring instruments and gathered them into her arms.
“O-Oh, I actually have all of Kacchan’s measurements written down if you need them, Hatsume-san!”
Izuku cheerily piped in. Green eyes were filled with concern as they looked at Katsuki. Katsuki’s face softened. Izuku must have thought he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
“I’m already here, so might as well let her do it, Izu. Besides, maybe I’ve grown since last time you measured me.” Katsuki’s lips twitched into a cocky smirk as he flexed his bicep and forearm, prominent veins standing out against his skin.
He noted the way a light blush crept over Izuku’s face. He always did love Katsuki’s arms.
And Katsuki couldn’t help but lightly scoff as Ken’ichi very clearly rolled his eyes behind Izuku’s back.
Mei finished taking all of Katsuki’s measurements at the same time Izuku and Ken’ichi geared up to leave.
“Oh, Ken’ichi-senpai!” Mei quickly grabbed his arm as he stood up. “I actually need your help with one of my babies! Can you stay in the workshop a little longer? Please please PLEASE?”
Ken’ichi’s eyes glanced back and forth between Izuku and Mei before he caved. “Y-Yeah… Of course, Hatsume-chan.”
“Thank you SO MUCH! Bye, Izuku! Bye, Katsuki!”
Izuku and Katsuki both waved goodbye and Katsuki slung his arm around Izuku’s waist before tossing a side-eyed glance and smirk over his shoulder to Ken’ichi.
As they walked back to Class 1-A’s dorm, Izuku was rambling about all of the support items Ken’ichi created for him. Katsuki felt a creeping thought in the back of his mind that wanted Izuku to get rid of the extra’s items, but Katsuki quickly shook it out of his head. They were meant to help Izuku’s injuries. Really, what kind of asshole was he to even think of asking Izuku to get rid of them?
“Oi, Deku.”
Izuku glanced up at Katsuki. “Yes, Kacchan?”
“That extra… He said to wear the gloves if you feel any pain…” Katsuki rubbed the back of his neck. “So, um… Your hands… Do they hurt sometimes?”
Izuku hummed thoughtfully, looking down at his mangled fingers. “Sometimes I get a weird ache in them, but it usually goes away pretty quickly…”
“Tch,” Katsuki pulled Izuku even closer. “Figures. Your pain tolerance is so stupid high. Without that damn extra around, you probably wouldn’t have thought about the damage just using your hands are causing.”
Katsuki felt a soft pair of lips on his shoulder. “You’re always yelling at me to be more careful, Kacchan. And now I have lots of things that will help keep me from getting hurt!”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “I give you three days before you forget to put the gloves on at night.”
“I won’t forget!” Izuku whined.
When they got back to Izuku’s room, Katsuki quickly pulled Izuku into his lap and kissed him gently. Izuku’s hands tangled into Katsuki’s hair as Izuku kissed him back with fervor. When Katsuki pulled away, he brought Izuku’s hands down to his lips and kissed over each finger gently.
Some days, Izuku was self-conscious about holding Katsuki’s hand. Once, he asked Katsuki if it felt weird or gross holding his broken hand, and Katsuki was quick to shut him down.
“I don’t care how your hands look, you know,” Katsuki said softly between kisses. “Just as long as they’re not hurting…”
Izuku laughed softly as he kissed the tip of Katsuki’s nose. “They don’t hurt. Especially when you’re here to kiss them better.”
Izuku pulled his hands away from Katsuki’s lips and pulled him back in for a deep kiss. Izuku licked and sucked at Katsuki’s bottom lip, and Katsuki groaned at his normally shy boyfriend’s boldness. Tongues fought for dominance, and Katsuki snaked his arms around Izuku’s waist only to be stopped by Izuku’s hands. Katsuki grunted in confusion, but Izuku didn’t pull away. He only guided Katsuki’s hands lower and lower until they rested on the inside of his thighs.
Katsuki shuddered as he pulled away. “I-Izu?”
When they first started dating, Izuku was very cautious about where Katsuki placed his hands. He flinched whenever Katsuki wrapped his arms around from behind, so Katsuki always announced his presence first. Katsuki’s hands always rested above his waist, and during more steamy makeout sessions, Izuku allowed Katsuki to place his hands under Izuku’s shirt.
Izuku’s lips pursed slightly and he looked down shyly with a blush on his face. “W-Well… Kacchan’s been so sweet to me lately and…” Izuku bit his swollen lips, looking up at Katsuki through his long eyelashes.
Katsuki’s chest swarmed with heat and guilt.
Because Izuku didn’t know he wasn’t being nice just to be nice—it was to put Ken’ichi in his place.
“I-I’m sorry, Kacchan… I-If you don’t want to…” Izuku started moving off of his lap.
Katsuki realized he had taken too long to respond and Izuku was starting to shut down on him.
“H-Hey, wait…” Katsuki pulled Izuku in a tight hug. “It’s not that… It’s just… Can we… save this for another time?”
Izuku quickly nodded his head as he buried his head into Katsuki’s shoulder. “S-Sorry…”
“Don’t apologize, baby…” Katsuki kissed the top of his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“B-But… Kacchan doesn’t want me…”
Katsuki heard a familiar sniffle in Izuku’s soft voice. He quickly pulled Izuku away from his shoulder to stare into his beautiful green eyes. “Izuku, don’t ever think that I don’t want you. I’m just… not ready… It’s not you, okay? You did nothing wrong. Okay? Let’s go to bed, Izu.”
Izuku nodded as he snuggled into Katsuki’s chest. Katsuki stroked his hair gently until Izuku fell asleep, but Katsuki couldn’t close his eyes with the deep pit of guilt still hollowing his chest.
Maybe Mina was right.
He really should tell Izuku about how he was feeling…
Katsuki went to the workshop the next day as Hatsume told him to. But to his surprise, he found a note on the door.
One of my babies got loose! Will be back ASAP! Feel free to test out the new gauntlet prototype! :D
“Tch.” How did one of her machines get out— Never mind. Katsuki didn’t want to know. He moved to open the door to the workshop when he heard Ken’ichi’s low voice.
“I just don’t know what you see in him. The guy’s a jerk.”
Katsuki froze in his spot. He knew the way Ken’ichi looked at Izuku, but this was—to his knowledge—the first time he had blatantly voiced his interest in Izuku to the freckled male himself.
Was it the first time?
Did Izuku know Ken’ichi’s feelings towards him this whole time? And didn’t bother telling his own boyfriend?
Katsuki swallowed thickly, a scowl etching into his face.
“Masami-senpai, I’ve told you before—“
“I know, I know. I don’t mean to talk badly about your boyfriend but—you’ve got to admit the guy’s an asshole! I mean, have you heard the way he talks to Mei? Does he talk to you that way? Izuku-kun, does he hurt you?”
Tears pricked at the corner of Katsuki’s eyes, pin needles jackhammered at his heart. His palms heated in a frenzy at Ken’ichi’s assumption, not because Katsuki wouldn’t hurt his boyfriend, but because Katsuki had once hurt him. Physically hurt him intentionally.
Just because they were dating now didn’t excuse Katsuki’s previous behavior.
And Ken’ichi didn’t know anything about their past.
If that was how a complete outsider viewed their relationship, did Katsuki really deserve to be with Izuku?
The screeching sound of a chair sliding on the floor and the immediate clash of the chair dropping that followed made Katsuki flinch so hard that teardrops slipped from his eyes and landed in small droplets at his feet.
“Don’t you dare talk about Kacchan that way!”
Katsuki bit his lip at Izuku’s defense.
“I-I’m sorry, Izuku-kun. It wasn’t my place to—“
“You’re right. It’s not your place to judge Kacchan when you barely know anything about him or our relationship. You don’t know what he’s been through or how far he’s come. If you knew anything about him, then you’d know that Kacchan really respects Mei and he wouldn’t ever ask for her help if he didn’t trust her. She knows that. And what goes on in our relationship is none of your business. How dare you assume such horrible things about him. I’m sorry, Masami-senpai, but I think it’s best if we stop working together. I’ll be happy to find another one of my classmates to take my place in your independent study, and I’m sure they’d be more than willing to help you. But I won’t stand for you insulting the person I love like that. So if you excuse me—“
Katsuki didn’t have time to move out of the way as the door was angrily ripped open by a fuming Izuku.
“K-Kacchan?” Izuku said softly as his eyes raked over Katsuki’s tear-stricken face. Izuku sent one last glare over his shoulder before ushering the blonde away from the workshop.
“Don’t listen to him, Kacchan,” Izuku huffed as he angrily held his hand. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s just a jerk—“
“But he was right!” Katsuki's voice cracked as he pulled Izuku to a stop.
“No he wasn’t, Kacchan,” Izuku tried to calm Katsuki down by wiping his tears away, but Katsuki flinched away from his touch.
“I hurt you!” Katsuki sobbed, clawing at his chest.
“But you stopped,” Izuku quietly shushed Katsuki as he pulled him into a hug. “You stopped and you apologized. We talked about this, Kacchan…”
“Just because I apologized doesn’t take back everything I’ve done!” Katsuki’s body shook in Izuku’s arms. Katsuki could barely continue standing, and thankfully Izuku lowered them both onto the ground.
“You’re right, Kacchan, it doesn’t…” Izuku placed a kiss on the top of Katsuki’s head. “But you’ve been working so hard lately and you’ve been so sweet to me…”
Katsuki sniffled. “A-Actually… There’s something I need to tell you…” He took a deep breath. “The only reason I made you lunch every day was because that shitty extra always sat with you at lunch and I wanted to get him to back off… And then when he started asking to train with you so much, I did your laundry so you wouldn’t be able to use your workout clothes so you can use mine instead. And with goggles girl, I just… I didn’t want you to be alone in the workshop with him…”
Izuku gasped, “S-So Kacchan wasn’t doing all of those things to be nice to me?” Green eyes sparkled as tears began to pool in them.
Katsuki bent his head down in shame. “I-I’m so sorry, Izu—“
“Just kidding!”
Katsuki blinked, stunned as he looked up to see Izuku giggling with his hands covering his mouth.
“Y-You’re not mad at me?” Katsuki asked, eyes wide as he stared at his boyfriend.
“Of course I’m not mad, Kacchan,” Izuku laughed. “I knew you were jealous the day we met Ken’ichi in Recovery Girl’s office!”
“I-I wasn’t jealous, damn Deku!” Katsuki growled. But he couldn’t hide the way his face turned red. “Why didn’t you say anything, dammit!”
Izuku only giggled. “I didn’t want Kacchan to be embarrassed! And I wanted to see what other nice things Kacchan would do for me.” Izuku playfully stuck his tongue out at Katsuki.
“Why you little…” Katsuki growled as he and Izuku stood up from the ground.
Izuku gently pecked Katsuki’s lips. “Don’t be mad at me, Kacchan~ Can we go back to my room, please? So we can, you know…” Izuku teasingly traced a finger over Katsuki’s chest and Katsuki’s face turned an even brighter red.
“D-Dammit, shitty Deku… Let’s fucking go already…”
Katsuki let Izuku pull him towards the dorms, making sure to entwine their fingers together.
"H-Hey..." Katsuki mumbled. Izuku looked up at him expectantly. "That thing you said back there... Me too..."
Izuku blinked. "What thing?"
Katsuki felt his face heat up. "That you... you know... L-Love me..."
Izuku felt his face burn. They hadn't said the L word to each other yet!
"I-I'm sorry, Kacchan! I-I didn't mean for you to hear it that way, but I really do l-lo—"
"I love you too, damn shitty nerd." Katsuki turned away, the tips of his ears turning red. "I wanted to say it first, dammit..."
Izuku only laughed as he clung tightly to Katsuki's arm.
Ken’ichi carefully flipped through the stack of papers on his worktable when the door to the workshop opened.
“Hey, man!” A head of spiky blonde hair peeked through the doorway and Denki strolled inside. “Midoriya told me to meet you here. Thanks for helping me out!”
Ken’ichi flashed Denki a soft smile. “Yeah, no problem. Just have a seat here. I went through Recovery Girl’s files and it doesn’t seem like you’ve had any really bad injuries. You just ‘short out,’ for lack of a better term, when you overuse your quirk?”
Denki nodded. “Yup!”
Ken’ichi hummed as he jotted a few notes down onto his notepad. “Let me see what we can do with your hero suit then… Mei’s support item only allows you to better control the direction of your electricity, right?”
Again, Denki nodded.
“Okay, I just have a few questions to ask you about your quirk and then I can take some basic measurements of your electricity—nothing too extreme that’ll make you short out.”
“Thank, man!”
Denki slapped Ken’ichi’s shoulder in a friendly manner and Ken’ichi’ yelped as a wave of electricity rippled through his body.
“Whoops! Sorry about that! Sometimes I just lose control like that. No big deal. It’s not like it’s 1,300,000 volts or anything. Bakubro’s always telling me to be more careful with my quirk, but sometimes I can’t really help it. Especially people say mean things about my friends.”
Ken’ichi shuddered. Suddenly, Denki’s smile looked a bit more menacing.