Chapter Text
It was a good day, nothing bad had happened, everyone was in a good mood, and they were on a very rare class field trip into the city.
It was a relatively boring field trip considering it was to simply observe the city in detail because that was an important thing to know as a hero apparently. What the norms were, who was a regular where, what suspicious activity actually looked like and how to see it in such a busy space.
Currently the class was in the local mall, they had walked plenty so they were taking a small break in one of the mall’s rest spots with the maybe-a-little-too luxurious recliners and glass coffee tables with cheap magazines set atop them.
Kaminari and Kirishima had been sitting in the same chair squished together talking and showing each other things on their phones, Uraraka and Iida were window shopping at the store closest to them, most of the other students were sitting on the floor in groups because social etiquette? Hard pass when your feet hurt and you’ve been staring at what seems like nothing all day.
Katsuki was sitting in one of the (very comfortable) chairs on the other side of Kirishima and Kaminari. Finally though, Todoroki, Shinsou, and Izuku were leaning against the glass half-wall railing that looked into the floor below them. They were simply talking quietly while watching the bustling people underneath them. It was calm, they were actually relaxed.
But, of course, something had to happen.
A group of teenagers that were probably the same age as them cut through the rest area in the middle of the hall to get to the store on the other side, no one really looked up because, well, they simply weren’t bothered by some people trying to get through.
A few people scooted aside to make more room for the group and there were a few thrown out thank yous at the action. Nothing weird. Nothing suspicious. Just polite actions and words. Normalcy. That was until one of the teens on the edge of the group stumbled and reached out blindly to grab onto something to keep themselves upright. They just happened to grab onto Izuku’s arm.
As soon as there was skin on skin contact there was a flash of bright yellow light and the sound of sizzling. The whole class was immediately on their feet.
When the light dimmed and came to a stop the almost fallen teenager looked horrified and was holding their hands to their chest with a river of apologies falling from their mouth. When people finally blinked away their somewhat spotty vision they realised why.
Izuku was still there, and he wasn’t hurt. But, well, something was very startlingly different. Izuku was only about three feet tall and his eyes were incredibly wide as he stared at everyone in front of him.
The class was speechless, trying to wrap their heads around what the hell just happened. Is that really Izuku? It looked like it. His hair was still wild and fluffy and forest green. Freckles and wide emerald eyes. And his uniform was still on, thought now significantly smaller in order to fit him. Everything checked out but they still couldn’t quite believe it.
The silence was broken when the child let out a hiccuping sob and dropped to the floor to hug his knees to himself. Chaos broke out amongst the students of class 2-A.
Uraraka let out a shrieking, “What do we do?”
Iida looked as if he finally reached his limit.
Kirishima and Kaminari were still questioning if it was really Izuku.
Shinsou and Todoroki, who were the closest to the now crying child, looked stunned. Todoroki kneeled down to try to talk to the child in a hushed voice. Shinsou just kept outright staring.
The rest of the class was screaming. Except, oddly enough, Katsuki. Who was at the back of the large group of students, pretty much out of sight and just stared at the tiny Midoriya Izuku.
Aizawa finally spoke up after letting the loudness of the class go on for 30 seconds too long. “Enough, stop screaming. You’re training to be heroes and this is how you’re all dealing with such a situation?” The class went silent and some of them looked ashamed but they all were still mostly looking at the—still crying—child.
Aizawa turned to the teenager that was still there looking on in horror at what happened because of their own hand, “What did you do?”
The boy’s eyes widened when he was finally addressed and squeaked out his explanation, “I really didn’t mean to! I touched him when I was falling but I didn’t mean to activate my quirk! I really didn’t! I was just startled, I guess? I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to!”
The boy then bowed at a full 90 degree angle, hands clasped together and everything. Just as Aizawa was about to open his mouth to ask a few more questions, an ear piercing shriek shook everyone around them. All eyes turned to Todoroki and Izuku, Todoroki looked as though he had just been burned, holding his hand far away from Izuku, who was curling more and more into himself.
Aizawa moved to take a step toward them both before a low growl was heard from the back of the class and Katsuki started pushing his way through everyone. No one could react in time before the blond boy was already in front of the kid, reaching out despite what just occurred.
Right before Katsuki’s hand touched Izuku, Uraraka was yelling incoherently and trying to pull him back.
Katsuki turned and pulled his arm out of her grasp before saying, in a voice calmer than any of them have ever heard, “I know what the fuck I’m doing.”
Properly stunned Uraraka let go, her arm falling limp to her side and Katsuki turned back to Izuku and reached out, placing a hand on his knee before simply saying, “Hey.”
It wasn’t yelled and there was none of the usual undertones of anger that were always present in his voice. It was just neutral and his entire focus was on the boy he was now crouched in front of.
Something about it seemed to reach the distressed child, though tears were still streaming down his cheeks, his sobs subsided into hiccups as he tipped his head up out of knees to look at Katsuki. When his eyes focused on Katsuki, the boy went still.
Everyone held their breath as they expected the child to scream or cry harder. The class was aware of the still rather vague past of the two. But none of them were thinking of the childhood friends part of their past as their minds collectively raced with the reminder that Katsuki was somewhat of a bully to Izuku when they were younger.
Instead of the screaming and crying they expected, Izuku squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side as if to really look at Katsuki. The blond just looked back, silently, letting the kid decipher whatever he was seeing.
“Kacchan?” It was the first time they heard little Izuku speak and several of them felt themselves melt at the soft, high voice of their friend.
“Who else would I be?” Katsuki said it was a smirk and then the kid was beaming and throwing himself into Katsuki’s chest, tiny arms coming to wrap around his shoulders while tucking his head into his neck. Katsuki threw one arm around the kid to half hug him back.
“What the fuck.” A voice that sounded suspiciously like Kirishima whispered.
“Yeah, what the fuck.” Came Kaminari’s response.
Katsuki simply held up his middle finger with his back still turned towards them.
Finally Aizawa spoke up again, addressing the boy that did this. “What exactly does your quirk do to people? And is it reversible?”
The teen looked sheepish before replying, “It de-ages people… in a way? It turns them into a child again, both physically and mentally. They’ll only have their memories from that time in their life as well. But, uh, it’s a 50:50 gamble if they actually remember what happened when they return to normal.” The boy’s voice trailed off. Aizawa squinted suspiciously when his second question was avoided.
“Okay, is it reversible?”
“Not really but also yes? It just lasts a week and then they return to normal.”
Several voices chimed in, yelling, “A week?!” Which made the boy bring a hand up to the back of his neck as he flinched and nodded his head in confirmation. Aizawa sighed heavily before turning to the rest of the class.
“I believe it’s time to return to the dorms,” Aizawa turned his head to look at Izuku still clinging to Katsuki, “Bakugou, you’re in charge of Midoriya for now.”
The usually quite explosive teen just nodded in response, still keeping his attention on Izuku.
“Can I pick you up?” Katsuki’s voice was but a whisper, the only ones to hear it were him, Izuku, Todoroki, and Shinsou. The two other boys looked on at the scene in front of them like it was a car crash they couldn’t look away from. Little Izuku nodded into Katsuki’s neck and then he was standing up, adjusting Izuku’s legs on either side of his hips, the boy's arms clinging tighter onto Katsuki and leaning his head on his shoulder.
When Izuku finally settled in his arms, Katsuki turned around. The class was still staring at spectacle the two made and Katsuki was barely able to contain himself when he told them all to fuck off and get on with it.
The class managed to shake themselves out of their stupor and follow behind Aizawa, Katsuki made sure to stay at the back of the group, away from prying eyes and annoying questions. Shinsou and Todoroki stayed behind a bit but still ahead of Katsuki, just to keep an eye on everything and almost act as a shield of some sort from the rest of the class. Everyone was overflowing with curiosity and the need to touch or look at Izuku.
Todoroki internally decided that was not a good idea based on his small experience when he tried to comfort Izuku.
“Kacchan, what’s going on? Why are you so big now?” Izuku’s tiny little voice finally spoke up, his words were mumbly and, to the untrained ear, probably hard to understand but Katsuki understood just fine.
“You got small again. You were big—like the rest of us—less than 10 minutes ago. Right now we're going back to school.”
“Okay, Kacchan.” Izuku whispered into Katsuki’s shirt, not really understanding the explanation but just taking it in stride.
Katsuki just huffed out a laugh and continued following the rest of the class.
They walked into the dorm building and Katsuki immediately went to the couch to sit down, carrying a kid all the way back was tiring, not that he would admit it out loud.
Aizawa stayed outside while he called Nezu and then Izuku’s mother. Quickly following Katsuki was the rest of the class who came to stand around him in a circle, marvelling at the child version of their friend on his lap.
When Izuku shuffled and opened his eyes to look around he startled at all the eyes on him, tears immediately welling in his eyes again as he took cover in Katsuki’s chest.
“What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Back the fuck up, you’re scaring him.” The bite in his voice was unmistakable. It made the class disperse a little, still staying close and in the room but not right on top of them.
All but one person took the warning for what it was.
Uraraka stared him down and then sat on the couch sideways, directly beside them. Katsuki rolled his eyes but brought an arm up to curl protectively around Izuku.
“Deku-kun, do you remember me?” She said in a voice that was much too shrill and overexcited. Izuku jolted in his lap and went rigid before slowly sitting up and turning toward the girl.
He looked at her skeptically, Katsuki could see the use of the name Deku made him uncomfortable. When he shook his head no, her smile dropped before her eyes glinted as she took a quick glance at Katsuki before continuing on, “Well, I’m Uraraka Ochako! I’m your best friend when you’re big! Wouldn’t you rather hang out with me than that meanie?” She brought her hand up to wave it vaguely at Katsuki. Her smile was a bit overconfident as she said it, in her mind there was no way Izuku would pass up this offer.
Much to only her surprise—Izuku looked absolutely appalled at her words. He leaned back into Katsuki to hug him tight while still looking at her with a scowl on his child-like features.
“What?! Kacchan’s my best friend! And he’s not mean! If anyone’s mean it’s you.” He sniffed angrily before turning himself back into Katsuki’s side.
Uraraka openly gaped at his reaction, some people in the class trying to cover their snickering with their hands.
Katsuki lost it. A genuine laugh ripping it’s way out of his throat as he practically cackled at Izuku’s reaction. He brought his arms up to hold said boy tighter to him while his body leaned forward from laughing.
“Did you really expect that to work?” Shinsou spoke plainly, clearly unimpressed with Uraraka’s little scheme.
She waved her hands wildly before exclaiming, “Yeah! I don’t get why it didn’t!”
“Well for one, he literally doesn’t know who you are. Why would a…” His voice trailed off before he looked over at Izuku. “Hey, Izuku, how old are you?” Izuku looked over at him before he held up one of his hands with five little fingers on display, “Five?” Shinsou questioned and got a small nod in response.
He turned back to Uraraka, “Why would a five year old decide to spend time with someone they don’t know, and then on top of that, someone that insulted the only person they do know and obviously trust? Does any of that add up to you?”
Uraraka huffed and crossed her arms, “Well, not when you put it like that.” Uraraka moved away from them, standing up and beside the opposite edge of the couch.
Just when Shinsou opened his mouth to speak again, Aizawa walked back into the dorms. “I’ve spoken with Principle Nezu to inform him of the situation. I’ve also spoken with Midoriya’s mother, she is not able to take him to stay at home due to her work hours but she will be coming by later to see him. This means that Midoriya will be staying in the dorms with you all while he is a child. I expect you all to behave and act accordingly. You all have my number in case of an emergency. It seems he only knows and trusts Bakugou. Which means that he will be his main caretaker this week most likely. Any objections?” His eyes were focused on Katsuki but the question was still for the whole class.
Everyone shook their heads no, Aizawa nodded.
“When Ms. Midoriya stops by later, she will also be dropping off clothes for him for the rest of the week.” Aizawa scanned his eyes over Izuku’s small form still seated in Katsuki’s lap, “Bakugou, can you find out if he wants or needs anything else?”
“Yeah, I’ll text you anything I find out.” Aizawa nodded.
“She should be here around 6-7pm this evening. I’ll come back around then as well. Good luck.” The students all murmured their acknowledgement as he promptly turned and left the dorms, leaving them all to handle things.
“‘Zuku.” Katsuki’s voice broke through the thoughts of all his classmates.
“Kacchan?” Izuku looked at Katsuki with wide eyes and his head tilted to the side.
It was indescribably cute, several of the other students aw’d at the action. A small blush raised to Izuku’s cheeks when he heard them, which then prompted several of the girls to squeak. He never looked away from Katsuki.
“Do you want Auntie to bring you anything from home? She’s gonna be here later.” Little Izuku’s eyes widened at the question before he looked down and brought a fist up to his mouth, tugging at his bottom lip as he started muttering a spiel of thoughts under his breath.
Katsuki just waited, a patience they’ve never seen him give Izuku before.
Shinsou spoke up again, “So he’s always been like that when he thinks about things, huh?” He asked Katsuki who just nodded, not really feeling like verbally answering.
“It’s weirdly reassuring that he hasn’t changed much… he is much quieter though.” Todoroki noted aloud, everyone else nodded along with his observation.
Izuku was usually always loud with how easily excitable he was and his need to help or be there for people. It was odd for them to see him so subdued and quiet.
Izuku’s tiny voice finally spoke up after a while, bouncing a little as he asked, “Can she bring my All Might plushie? Please, please, please Kacchan!”
He looked at Katsuki with his best puppy eyes and his bottom lip jut out to form a pout. Katsuki just gave him a half smile and shook his head no morosely. Izuku looked absolutely crestfallen at his answer.
“She can’t bring you something that’s already here, Nerd.” Katsuki’s voice was dripping with fondness as he said those words. Izuku’s eyes went so wide and filled with confusion it was endearing.
The rest of the class felt themselves spiral while the two of them just spoke to each other, they’d never heard Katsuki address Izuku as anything other than Deku, nerd, or other half-assed insults. Though if you read into it too much, they would be seen as the poorly disguised pet names they are.
“Already here?” He inquired in a small, maybe a bit wobbly, voice. Katsuki’s lips quirked up as he gently moved Izuku off his lap before he stood up and turned around, holding a hand out to the kid who quickly took the offered hand. Izuku’s tiny hand was only able to hold onto a few of Katsuki’s fingers.
Katsuki softly pulled Izuku up and off the couch so he could stand up, “Wanna go to your room, nerd?”
Izuku’s mouth dropped open as if he was stunned by the idea that he also had a room here. Despite his shock he nodded his head viciously, bouncing on his toes in excitement. With that Katsuki turned and pulled Izuku along toward the elevator to go to the second floor and show him his room that was overflowing with All Might merchandise.
Both of them ignored the few others that yelled after them, wanting to ask more questions or introduce themselves to Izuku again. Katsuki decided that could happen later, right now he was more focused on getting Izuku comfortable and able to just fucking relax.
The boy has been stiff since he turned into a kid because of how jarring and just plain loud his surroundings were. The only people he trusted around Izuku right now was himself and maybe— maybe Shinsou and Todoroki. He knew they were pretty chill and are the closest to Izuku when he’s normal so they had to be somewhat aware of how to act around him. But, until then, it was just himself and Izuku.
As Katsuki approached Izuku’s room he prayed the door would be unlocked because he had absolutely no idea where his keycard would be. Luckily enough, and alarmingly so, the door was unlocked.
He pulled Izuku into the room and shut the door, flicking the lights on. He heard a sharp gasp and felt the hold on his fingers tighten when the room was flooded with light, unveiling all the red, yellow, and blue in the room. He glanced to the side to see Izuku was completely shell-shocked by his own bedroom, little eyes wide and darting around the room in astonishment trying to look at absolutely everything.
Katsuki let out a laugh that was more along the lines of a heavy exhale and walked them both over to the bed, lifting Izuku up so he could sit on the edge of it. Izuku was still looking at everything in wonder before his eyes locked on the shelf on the far side of the room that had an All Might plushie on it that was worse for wear compared to all the other merch in the room.
After all, it was subjected to years of being dragged along on the ground or held tightly in arms. Katsuki slowly walked toward the shelf and dislodged the toy amongst the other items before walking back to Izuku and holding it out to him.
Very, very gently Izuku took the toy from his hands, barely gripping the toy in fear of hurting it somehow.
“Is that what you wanted Auntie to bring you?” Katsuki asked, even though he already knew the answer.
He’s seen that doll go through hell and back due to all the ‘adventures’ they went on as kids together. He had watched Izuku cry when he accidentally dropped it into the stream. The toy was with Izuku every time they went outside until he was around eight and the damage became too much for it to be taken along anymore. Midoriya Inko’s lovely stitching could only help so much for so long.
Izuku nodded his head and smiled at Katsuki, “Yeah! It is!” Katsuki sat sideways on the bed, making sure to face Izuku’s profile so he could observe him as he looked over the plush, prodding at all the stitching that happened years in the future for him.
“Hey Kacchan… all those people… do they really know me?” Izuku wasn’t looking at Katsuki as he spoke, his voice a feeble little thing amongst the serene silence of the room. His little form was trying to make itself even smaller, his shoulders hunching forward and dropping his head down.
Katsuki reached out before he was even thinking, every fibre of his being dedicated to comforting Izuku.
His hand came to rest on his shoulder before sliding over the top of his back and rubbing gentle circles, “Yeah, they’re all your classmates. And your friends. Later I’ll make them all introduce themselves to you again, promise.” Izuku gave him a small nod before finally looking over at him.
“Was that girl telling the truth? Are we really not best friends when I’m big?”
Katsuki had never seen such a sad expression on the boy in front of him before and considering all they had been through over the past year and a half of high school, it was a little jarring. Katsuki shook his head adamantly in response.
“I mean, we’re not as close as we were when we were your age but we’re still each other’s closest friend in our own ways.”
“Do we still tell each other everything?” With the way Izuku asked it, Katsuki knew the question was a test of their current friendship.
Secrets were everything to a little kid, truly the sign of 100% trust in another person. Katsuki took only a moment to think about it before he answered, “Yeah, we do. I know all your secrets and you know mine. We still go to each other for comfort, too.”
Katsuki thought about how Izuku broke his idol’s trust and promise just to not lie to Katsuki when he received one for all, even if Katsuki didn’t understand it at the time. Looking back, it made him feel something warm in his chest. Knowing Izuku still trusted him so much and saw him as a friend, saw him as someone he didn’t want to betray or lie to despite all the strain their relationship had been under at the time.
Sometimes Katsuki felt undeserving of it but he let himself be selfish with it. He never took Izuku’s friendship for granted after they fought and then talked and then, finally, all those months later, truly made up.
Katsuki had reflected a lot when they first started truly speaking to one another again. They kept it very quiet for the first month or so of being friends again, since they knew how the class would react.
Some of them still didn’t believe it or were just in denial of them actually being close. No matter how many times people noticed them walking out of each other’s rooms in the morning rather than their own, how they sat by each other any time they could, how when they were in class there would be whispered conversations and so many other things that were clear proof of how far they’ve come.
How Izuku would casually reach out for Katsuki and there would be no rebuttal from the latter, fingers clasping around his wrist or upper arm, sometimes tangling in the back of his shirt.
Katsuki wishes some people would just pull their own head out of their ass so they could open their goddamn eyes and see the fantasy they're still living in is just that: a fantasy.
“So she lied to me? Hmph.” Izuku pouted, sounding exasperated by the idea of someone lying to him. Katsuki laughed a little, sometimes the dork was simply too cute for his own good.
They talked a lot, which mostly consisted of Izuku asking questions about how he acted when he was big, where they were, how he got in Yuuei of all schools because he may only be five but the aggression and bullying due to his quirklessness had already started.
He asked about who in the class was closest to ‘besides his Kacchan, of course’ which made Katsuki blush but he would never admit to that.
He explained how he was mostly close with half n’ half ‘uh I mean, Todoroki’ and ‘fu- freaking the puppeteer, Shinsou’.
Censoring himself was becoming harder and harder and he knew he was not going to last a week, or maybe even the rest of the day, before he just gave up completely on trying not to curse in front of the kid. He was only trying so hard because he knew how Izuku reacted to yelling and cursing due to his shitty family life when he was younger but he was really gunning for the idea of Izuku not getting too freaked out simply because well, it was Katsuki. It was his Kacchan and he could always trust him.
After their discussion which was mostly a one-sided interrogation he asked Izuku if he was hungry or thirsty and with a gasp and nod and a “Kacchan can you make me something?” They were on their way downstairs. He knew that whoever was in the common room was going to probably ambush them but, fuck it, he needed to get introductions over with before Izuku’s mom came over anyway.
It was already 5pm which gave them an hour at the least and two hours at most.
When they meandered out of the elevator only a few students were in the common room and immediately perked up and looked over at them when the hush of the doors closing reached their ears.
Thankfully, it was only Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Iida left in the common room but he heard someone shuffling around in the kitchen and hoped it wasn’t anyone that would jump at Izuku when they saw him.
He did not want to deal with a distressed Izuku again so soon, the maybe 3 minutes of crying he witnessed at the mall was enough for him. Not to even mention the crazed, protective frenzy it put him in.
Momo waved at them and Iida greeted Katsuki. Todoroki sat silently but gave him a nod of acknowledgement.
Katsuki could tell that Todoroki was still alarmed by how Izuku reacted when he tried to offer physical comfort back at the mall, so, with a sigh, he gently pulled Izuku along until they were only a step away from the rest of them.
“Fuckin’ introduce yourselves to him, get it the fuck over with. I know you all want to.” His voice was gruff when he spoke, and in his head he realised he finally sounded a little more like himself. Not that he hated the way he spoke to Izuku or anything, it was just vastly different.
He felt Izuku hide himself a little more behind his legs which made the edge of his lips twitch upwards. Katsuki pushed that threatening smile down though because no. He would not be all soft and self-satisfied in front of other people, absolutely fucking not.
Sure, maybe he was entirely too cocky about the way Izuku seemed to only want to talk to him and not the rest of them. Sure, when Izuku did finally speak to someone else it was only to defend Katsuki.
Who wouldn’t be smug after that?
Yaoyorozu grinned before getting up and walking over to the two of them. She squatted down in front of them a ways away as if to not spook Izuku.
“Hi,” her voice was soft as she spoke, “My name’s Yaoyorozu Momo!” She offered the hiding child a soft smile which seemed to do the trick because Izuku took a step forward, hands still gripping the side of Katsuki’s pant leg. With his free hand he gave her a small wave.
“Hi, I’m Izuku,” He said back politely, “Nice to meet you, Ya-yaor-”
“You can call me Momo if you like,” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “I know my name is kind of hard to say.”
“Nice to meet you, Momo.” Izuku stuttered out but still gave her a smile wide enough to make the corners of his eyes crinkle up.
She nodded back at him with that same soft smile before standing up and stepping back, leaving room for one of the others to come forward.
Iida confidently stood up but before he could even move forward Todoroki was already in front of Izuku, sitting on the floor in front of him rather than just crouching down.
“I’m Todoroki Shouto but you usually call me Shouto because we’re close friends.” Todoroki’s eyes were gentle and he had a close mouthed smile on his face that kind of freaked Katsuki out. The blond was much more used to him having straight, indifferent expressions. Izuku’s eyes lit up when he recognised the name and he looked toward Katsuki.
“Is he..?” He didn’t have to finish the sentence for Katsuki to know he was referencing their earlier conversation while up in his bedroom, Katsuki nodded. The blond caught a questioning gaze from Todoroki but ignored it, he knew Izuku would answer all his questions without him even having to ask.
“Hi Shouto, I’m Izuku! But you know that…um, anyway! Kacchan already told me that you were one of my close friends when I’m big!” Izuku was practically buzzing with excitement at the prospect of meeting someone who was close to him that wasn’t Katsuki, he was bouncing on his feet and his eyes were shiny with excitement. Todoroki looked starstruck at such a positive response from the kid who was barely speaking earlier that afternoon but he smiled and nodded his head nonetheless.
“Hi, Izuku. And that’s nice of him.” Todoroki said placatingly. The returning smile Izuku gave Shouto could have cleared the darkest of skies with how bright it was. Todoroki nodded with that same gentle, understanding smile before deeming their conversation over as he got up off the floor.
Iida hastily made his way over finally but he didn’t crouch like the rest of them, just stood in front of Izuku and Katsuki.
“I’m Iida Tenya, our class’ representative. We’re friends when you’re our age, of course.” He said in a tone that was definitely too authoritive for addressing a child. Izuku clung tighter to Katsuki at the tone.
Iida then presented a hand for Izuku to shake at the end of his short introduction but Izuku just looked puzzled before shaking his head and turning into Katsuki’s leg to hide himself. Iida looked perplexed by the action.
“He doesn’t like to be touched. Or to touch others.” Katsuki explained as he contradicted his own words by setting a hand on top of Izuku’s head, Iida just kept staring at the shied away kid, a mildly offended gleam in his eye.
“He seems fine with you. I don’t understand.”
Katsuki was almost impressed at how much seemed to go over Iida’s head despite his intense personality when it came to rules and such. Just as he was about to explain that hey, I guess you forgot or something but I’m the only he actually fucking knows right now Shinsou finally wandered out of the kitchen and looked at Iida before he snorted.
“Maybe because he actually knows Bakugou? Crazy, I know. Imagine only trusting the one person you know in a room, that’s just too wild.” Shinsou deadpanned, staring into Iida’s eyes a little unforgivingly.
Seems that Katsuki wasn’t the only one annoyed with Iida’s aversion to acknowledging the obvious. After stating his peace, Shinsou looked over at the little Izuku who was still cowering behind Katsuki, “Can I also give my grand introduction or is he at capacity?”
Katsuki looked down at Izuku who attentively looked up at him. “Are you still good? Or is it too much?”
Izuku scrunched his nose in thought and then shook his no, whispering back, “Not too much.” Katsuki then looked back up at Shinsou and jutted his chin out to give him the go ahead.
Shinsou walked over to Izuku, crouching down in front of him. He cocked his head to the side and just looked at Izuku for a bit before finally speaking, “My name’s Shinsou Hitoshi, you can call me whatever you want. When you’re normal, me and you are pretty close, if I do say so myself.” He gave Izuku a half smile on the edge of being a smirk. Izuku seemed pleased though, he nodded his head in thought before glancing between Todoroki, Katsuki, and Shinsou for a second.
“You’re the other person Kacchan told me about. He called you something weird though,” Izuku’s brows furrowed and he bit his lip trying to remember Katsuki’s words. Katsuki smirked though knowing he called Shinsou a ‘fucking puppeteer’ and he was rather interested in how he would react to that.
Shinsou looked up at Katsuki with an unimpressed glare knowing full well it was one of his stupid nicknames that he pined on all his fellow classmates, “Oh really? What did he call me then?”
“Uhhh. It started with a ‘p’. Peh-? No. Puh? Oh! Oh! It was Puppeteer? I don’t know what that means though…” Izuku trailed off with a frazzled tinge to his voice, obviously not liking that he didn’t know the meaning.
Katsuki barked out a short laugh and Shinsou just glared at him before a much too innocent smile took place on his face.
“Yeah, he calls me that because my quirk lets me control people, like if they were a puppet.” He tells Izuku with a smile, bringing his hands up and moving around his fingers as if he were pulling up strings before glancing up at Katsuki again, “Do you wanna see me use it?” And with that sentence Katsuki glared fiercely. He should’ve expected this.
Meanwhile, Izuku’s mouth dropped open with a gasp before he started practically vibrating in place.
“Woah! That sounds so cool! So, you can make people do stuff? That’s so cool,” Izuku started pulling at Katsuki, “Kacchan, isn’t that cool?!”
Izuku gasped before Katsuki could even respond, going quiet before there was a stream of words pouring out of his mouth so rapidly that none of them could understand any of it at all, it ended when he finally looked up again to ask his timid question, “Can- are you allowed to show me?”
“Yeah, I can show you. I’d just have to get permission from whoever I use it on.” Shinsou finished with a pointed look to Katsuki, who was still just glaring.
“Yeah! Yes, please!” Izuku continued on, head tilting in that curious way of his, “Wait, could you use it on me ?” His voice was small, unsure of his own offer.
Katsuki reeled before nearly seething out, “Absolutely fucking not.”
Shinsou just rolled his eyes which made Katsuki even angrier.
“Sorry, Izuku. I couldn’t use it on you, you’re too little for that.” Shinsou apologised before he looked at Katsuki, offended at the idea that the blond really thought he would use his quirk on an unsuspecting kid.
In theory, Katsuki knew Shinsou had a whole battle when he first got into Yuuei about how his quirk was seen as villainous and how Izuku was one of the main people that helped him see otherwise but he couldn’t really think straight right now.
Shinsou then peered up at Katsuki again, this time contemplative and maybe a little vindictive, “Would you be willing to be our lovely little test dummy, you know, to show little Izuku here?” He reached out towards Izuku like he would’ve ruffled his hair but then dropped his hand, seeming to remember the exact reason he even walked out of the kitchen to reveal himself.
This question seemed to intrigue Izuku as he was already looking up at Katsuki with his big green eyes and, god, Katsuki could fucking see his resolve crumbling down. Why was he so fucking weak to this kid?
Katsuki scowled as he looked off to the side, clearly having trouble with what he was going to do before he felt a small, insistent tugging at the hem of his shirt. He grimaced before glancing back down at Izuku, expecting the worst.
He was pleasantly surprised.
“You don’t have to Kacchan! I don’t have to see it now. It’s okay, promise!” He gave Katsuki a small little smile that was oddly reassuring and cute. Katsuki could thank the universe for the fact that Izuku has always been intelligent when it came to reading people and being endlessly considerate.
Katsuki heard Shinsou tsk before he stood back up, realising he was not going to be successful in this endeavour. Katsuki just grinned at Izuku before ruffling his hair.
A high pitched ‘ping!’ broke everyone out of their revorie, whether they were involved or just quietly watching the scene in front of them. Yaoyorozu whispered out a quick apology before retrieving her phone from her pocket to check it. Her face lit up at whatever she was reading, quickly typing out a response.
“Ms. Midoriya and Aizawa-sensei are on their way over, they’ll be here in about 15 minutes, “She turned to Iida, “We should get everyone to come down.” Iida nodded in response, immediately setting off towards the elevator to get the boys while Yaoyorozu turned back to Katsuki for a second, “Everyone is going to have to do quick introductions to Midoriya before his mother gets here, will he be okay with all of that?”
She looked down at Izuku, concern etching itself into her features, fretting over the boy and his health and safety. Katsuki stared down at Izuku who in return stared back up at him. The kid’s eyes weren’t guarded yet and he wasn’t clinging to Katsuki like his life depended on it anymore.
“He’ll be fine. If he does get overwhelmed I can deal with it.” His voice was even as he spoke and out of the corner of his eye he saw Yaoyorozu nod once, trusting his judgement.
Soon after everyone was piling into the common room throwing themselves down on the furniture before hopping back up to talk to Izuku who seemed very alarmed by all the attention but took it in stride. Katsuki was proud of him, knowing just how much socialisation tired the kid out, especially with strangers.
Kirishima and Kaminari seemed to catch Izuku’s attention the most with their positive and boisterous introductions and actions. Secretly, Katsuki was pleased as hell to see his friends get better responses from five year old Izuku than Uraraka and Iida, two people who were relatively close to Izuku when he was his actual age.
Izuku remained glued to Katsuki’s side so he navigated them to the end of the couch to sit down, Izuku immediately crawling up into his lap when the chance arose.
Conversation was thrown around the room and the atmosphere was good despite the undermining tension of the adults on their way over. Everyone settled into their respective spots, some just sitting on the floor or leaning against the backs of chairs.
Finally, there was a single knock at the door before it opened, Aizawa and Inko stepping in, both politely bowing in greeting before making their way over. Inko bumbled over to Katsuki immediately, having a sixth sense for knowing exactly where her son would be.
“Izuku!” She singsonged, making Izuku shoot up off of Katsuki and look around wildly. He smiled wide before darting over to her and hugging her legs in greeting, she laughed a little before petting his hair and lightly hugging him back, ‘Hi baby.”
Her voice was soft, using a tone similar to the one Katsuki switched to when Izuku first got hit by the quirk. It made some of the class curious but they all bit their tongues to stop from questioning it.
She looked up to wave at all the students watching the two of them before shrugging off the bag that was on her shoulder and squatting down to rifle through it, Izuku was still holding onto her arm and nuzzling into her. The entire class was endeared, all hoping that before the end of the week Izuku would be comfortable enough with them to do the same.
Inko let out a little ‘ah hah!’ before holding up a small brown paper bag that was neatly folded, whatever was inside it was pretty small. She slowly opened it and pulled out a dusty pink treat, “I brought you a snack!” She said with the most cheerful grin on her lips. She handed it to Izuku who took it and swiftly bit into it.
“It’s yummy! Thank you!”
“Of course, sweetie.” Her voice was still gentle and soothing, almost melodic.
Inko then stood up and picked the bag up before just leaning it against the side of the couch. She explained that it had all the clothes Izuku would possibly need over the week, she laughed and joked about knowing that not getting rid of them would be useful. The conversation was easy and flowing between the class and Inko as Aizawa simply watched, making sure everything would be alright.
His attention turned to Izuku, who was still standing in the same spot, nibbling away on the sweet in his hands. Izuku apparently felt his eyes on him as he turned a little and looked over. Izuku’s eyes bulged out of his head when he realised he really was being stared at before quickly turning away, looking down at the ground trying to act nonchalant and failing miserably.
While the rest of the class was distracted by Inko and her explanations followed by light conversation, Aizawa slowly walked over to Izuku and whispered out a question, not wanting to attract attention, “Can you come with me for a second? I just want to ask you some stuff.” Izuku, though skeptical, nodded his head and followed Aizawa out the front door of the dorms so they stood in the calm silence of the evening air.
“Right, so, I’m Aizawa Shouta, I’m your teacher and your class’ main guardian while you're at school and in the dorms.” Aizawa said in a quiet voice, he and Izuku were now sitting on the front step of the building. Izuku nodded slowly, a natural pout on his lips.
Izuku mumbled something incomprehensible and Aizawa stayed silent for a second before sighing and asking him to repeat himself. Izuku looked nervous for a second before opening his mouth, “I’m confused…” Izuku’s already small voice sounded almost frail.
Aizawa felt the innate need to comfort the boy so he did the only thing he could: offer explanations, “You can ask me about anything, I’ll give you all the answers I can.”
“I just don’t get it. Why am I little when everyone else is big? Even Kacchan is way older…”
“We were out as a class in the city earlier today and while we were resting, a group passed through us. One of them almost fell and accidentally grabbed onto you to steady themselves. The initial panic of falling made them activate their quirk when they touched you. And now you’re back to being a child.”
“Woah.” Izuku sounded a little awed that it was a quirk that did this, but his amazement melted into something more concerned quite quickly, “What uh- what about school? What do- what am I gonna do?” Izuku squirmed as he asked it, it was likely the kid had been worrying about this since he pieced together the small picture his mind had painted. Luckily, Aizawa already talked about this subject with Nezu earlier that day.
“I’m guessing you’re worried about where you’ll be while everyone else is busy, yes?” He got a small nod in return, “Well you’ll actually be accompanying them to school tomorrow, we’ve already informed all the other teachers about your situation. But I do need to know who you prefer being with? To sit by and be watched when class and training is in session. We’ll have to have 2-3 people willing to switch between accompanying you.” Aizawa was already aware of who one of the answers would be but he had no idea who else the kid had warmed up to, he hoped someone made some sort of impression on the boy by now.
“I’m going with Kacchan to school?!” Izuku said probably louder than he meant to since he winced a little afterward, “I wanna be with Kacchan.”
Aizawa nodded. “I expected such but you’ll have to choose someone else as well for when Bakugou is busy. Is there anyone else you’re okay with yet?” Izuku looked to the ground and stared hard, his soft features turning sharp as he tried to think of who else he likes.
“Not really? Is it okay if I tell you when I see you, uh, tomorrow?”
Aizawa thought about it and, sure, it’d be a bit of a hassle to on-the-fly accommodate whoever else Izuku was okay with but he would rather Izuku be genuinely comfortable than just throw out a name to try to appease him.
“That would be fine.” He assured, which made Izuku smile in response. Aizawa gingerly stood up from the step and motioned for Izuku to get up as well.
They quietly went back inside to rejoin the others. When they walked in, everyone’s gazes flicked over to them before quickly turning back. Aizawa could only roll his eyes at their antics. Inko walked over to them and reached to take Izuku’s hand, pulling him to the side of the room and talking quietly. Aizawa walked closer to the rest of the class.
“Tomorrow, and the rest of the week, Midoriya will still be coming to class with you all, though he won’t be participating for obvious reasons. He will need two, three at most, trusted companions during this time to stay near him while the other is busy during training periods. He already chose Bakugou but he is still deciding who else. I expect at least one of you to earn some of his trust before tomorrow morning.” He looked pointedly at the rest of the class, already seeing determined faces amongst them, “With that information, I’ll be leaving.”
He turned to see Ms. Midoriya walking back over to him and Izuku speed walking back to Katsuki’s side.
“I’ll also be taking my leave, I already talked to you all about everything I needed to. Katsuki knows about anything else,” She smiled at all of them looking around before landing on Katsuki and Izuku, “I trust you to take care of him well, you always have.” Her smile turned soft as she spoke to Katsuki who had a light blush rising to his cheeks, almost unnoticeable.
The blond nodded in acknowledgement without looking her in the eye, thoroughly embarrassed. Hushed murmurs broke out amongst several students at that claim though, the rest looking lost or disbelieving at her words. She walked back over to Katsuki and Izuku, leaning down to press a kiss to Izuku’s forehead and whispering a “Bye sweetie, I love you.”
The class watching the interaction with gentle eyes that turned somehow softer when Izuku whispered back an excited, “Bye bye! I love you, too!”
Once the two adults left the building everyone turned to Katsuki who looked back with an unimpressed, semi-irritated look.
Uraraka broke the silence, “So, who do you think should be his other person at school the rest of the week?”
Katsuki scoffed, “Not my decision. Whichever one of you fuckers he takes a liking to will be the one he chooses.” The class nodded their understanding but Uraraka looked a bit miffed.
Todoroki stepped forward a bit which caught Izuku’s attention, eyes snapping over to him at the movement, “Is there anyone you want to talk to, to get to know?”
Izuku looked thoughtful, the pout returning to his lips tenfold as his eyes scanned over the class. Then he nodded once, resolutely, and pointed at Todoroki himself and, to the class's surprise, Shinsou.
They didn’t expect his choices because even though they were friends when Izuku was 17 like the rest of them, they didn’t exactly look approachable all the time. With Todoroki’s no-bullshit expression and Shinsou’s tired eyes and near constant frown.
Katsuki just groaned and mumbled, “I fucking knew it.” Todoroki and Shinsou both looked incredibly pleased and a bit smug with this announcement.
Shinsou walked over to stand by Todoroki with a smirk gracing his lips as he spoke, “What’cha wanna talk about, Izuku?” Todoroki looked at Izuku as well, a light in his eyes that wasn’t normally there.
The class hung out in the common room to talk amongst themselves for a while and play around while Izuku sat on the floor between Katsuki’s legs with Shouto and Hitoshi in front of him. Having a quiet conversation between the three of them, Katsuki listened in every so often but mostly just talked with Kirishima and Kaminari.
Yaoyorozu spoke up suddenly, catching everyone’s attention to ask if anyone was hungry, and almost on command as she spoke Izuku’s little stomach grumbled, making him blush and cover his stomach, trying to hide it. Katsuki felt guilt tug at his mind when he remembered the whole reason they even came downstairs was because Izuku was hungry and that was now two nearly three hours ago. Some of the class giggled at Izuku’s actions while others exclaimed how they were starving. Soon enough food was being ordered since no one had the energy to cook.
Once the food arrived, everyone ate quietly. They ended up putting a movie on in the background that Izuku seemed enthralled in. Katsuki had to remind him to eat several times because of it. Near the middle of the movie Izuku abandoned his empty plate and hopped up onto the couch to curl himself into Katsuki’s side claiming he was sleepy but wanted to watch the rest of it, Katsuki just grunted in response and manouvered his arm around Izuku so he could bring the kid closer.
Izuku was half on top of Katsuki by the time the credits rolled, fast asleep and stealing Katsuki’s body heat. Izuku’s head was tucked into his juncture where Katsuki’s neck and shoulder met, curls tickling against the skin.
A lot of people also excused themselves to their rooms, exhaustion catching up with them. The only ones left in the room with the two were Todoroki, Shinsou, and Yaoyorozu. Todoroki was asking questions about Izuku, since he had suspicions and concerns. Katsuki was reluctantly answering most of the questions. Shinsou was listening in to them, taking in all the information he could as well.
Yaoyorozu quietly cleaned up her plate and folded the blanket she was using before taking her leave as well, wishing the three of them goodnight and good luck for the days to come.
“Hey, half n’ half, help me move him so I can get up.” Katsuki whispered roughly, Todoroki quickly moved over to untangle Izuku from Katsuki so he could get up and then pick up the sleeping boy. As soon as Izuku was in Katsuki’s arms again, Izuku tightened his hold around him and subconsciously snuggled in closer. He tipped his head in thanks before turning away, calling out a gruff goodnight before entering the elevator.
Whilst standing in the elevator Katsuki looked down at the peaceful Izuku resting in his arms, just to gaze at him and take in the tranquil child-like features he hasn’t seen in years. Feeling a little self indulgent he slowly leaned down and nuzzled into Izuku’s curls.
He doesn’t know why all these soft feelings have been pouring out of him since Izuku was hit with the quirk, it feels out of his control.
Once they reached the fourth floor, Katsuki made his way down the hall. Unlocking the door was a bit troublesome due to the child in his arms but he managed.
He slowly made his way to his bed and gently laid Izuku on it pulling the blankets up around him. He gazed at Izuku for a second before he attempted to step away. A tiny hand caught his wrist though, startling him more than he would care to admit. He turned back to see Izuku sleepily blinking up at him, weakly tugging at him to come closer.
“Kacchan, can you stay?” Izuku mumbled out, voice distorted by sleep.
“I wasn’t going anywhere, ‘Zuku, don’t worry. Just go back to sleep.” His hand came up to brush Izuku’s hair away from his forehead even though he knew it was futile. The curls fell back into place as soon as his hand was pulled back.
Izuku let out a weak ‘okay’ before his hand dropped away from Katsuki’s and he turned on to his side to nuzzle into the pillow.
Katsuki quickly switched out his jeans for sweatpants and changed into a more comfortable t-shirt. When he was done and ready for bed he turned his light off and walked over to the other side of the bed, slowly climbing and pulling the covers over himself. As if Izuku sensed his presence next to him, he flipped over and reached out for Katsuki, his small hand gripping his shirt tightly and pulling himself closer to snuggle back into the blond.
Katsuki just sighed as he curled an arm around Izuku. Hoping sleep would find him soon.