Work Text:
“God fucking damnit, baldy.”
“I’m not bald,” Inasa replied quickly as usual, but not nearly as enthusiastically.
Katsuki took a deep, calming breath. They needed to focus. He could yell at the dumbass after they beat everyone else in this exercise.
Despite his naturally powerful quirk, Inasa was possibly the worst person he could have been partnered up with. Their personalities clashed, and the guy was too stupid to keep up with Katsuki. He had no forethought, no plan, and it seemed like he thought he could get through everything with brute force alone.
Well, unfortunately, the exercise they were doing was an obstacle course. It was set up like a race, and they were dead fucking last.
Most of the teams had used strategies to skip past the hard puzzles, like when Deku took Tsuyu’s hand and they hopped over the one that Katsuki and Inasa were stuck in, currently. Or when Todoroki used his ice to create a bridge that half the teams used to get ahead of Katsuki and Inasa, who were forced to go through each and every puzzle in between.
They had to think of something, fast. But first, they needed to figure out how to escape the pit of sinking sand that Inasa had managed to clumsily knock them into.
It took them much longer than Katsuki would have liked to claw their way out of the thick mud. The way it clung to him itched at some bad memories that he would rather not think about at all. If he was stuck having nightmares again that night, he would gladly blame that on Inasa too. When he was finally free, he wasted no time to propel himself up to the top of the rock-climbing wall that was meant to be the next puzzle.
From this vantage point, he could see the entirety of the course. The rest of the teams were bunched up, for the most part, almost 3/4ths of the way through the course. There was no way the two of them could catch up, unless…
Inasa finally floated up beside him, right in the center of his own personal storm, and Katsuki made grabby hands at him. “Throw me,” he demanded seriously. “Then follow. We can probably make it to that big group down there, then we just have to beat them. ‘Kay?”
Inasa just stared at his hands for a moment. “Right, yeah, good plan,” he murmured distractedly.
Katsuki waved his hands at his face. “Now, asshole, we don’t have all fucking day!”
The guy blinked whatever thoughts he was having away, and took both of Katsuki’s hands in one of his own. “Tiny,” he said quietly to himself.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Katsuki growled lowly.
“Nothing!” Inasa shouted quickly. “I mean, it’s just, you have such a big personality; I never realized you’re actually kind of small?”
Rage boiled over in Katsuki’s chest, but his hands were firmly trapped so he couldn’t lash out. Instead, he hopped on one foot and struggled to kick at his shins. “I’m not fucking small, you’re just fucking massive,” he shouted back. “Quit being stupid and fucking throw me!”
Finally, he obeyed the order. The plan worked exactly as Katsuki expected.
They came in second, right behind Todoroki and Camie.
After class was over, it should have been no surprise when everyone was so excited to spend more time with the two Shiketsu students. All of class A watched with wonder as Camie demonstrated her impression of Todoroki, which was just as out of character as the first time. Inasa was crowded too, but he didn’t seem to mind the attention. Soon enough, the two were being invited to stay at the dorms for dinner, much to Todoroki’s apathetic delight and Katsuki’s vocal dismay.
Katsuki originally planned to make himself something quick for dinner and take it straight upstairs, but Camie had a knack for herding him around and he somehow ended up trapped on one of the smaller couches while everyone socialized loudly around him.
“Wait, so you’re saying Bakugou was good with the kids, then?” Kaminari said with an incredulous laugh.
Camie smiled sweetly. “Well, yeah,” she said, voice pitched up. “Once we gave him a few examples, of course. He made fireworks for them. It was adorable.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki groaned through a mouthful of chicken.
Inasa took that moment to plop himself down on the couch right beside him. Katsuki was pressed into the corner, and Inasa took up the entire rest of the couch.
“Those kids were little monsters,” Inasa said with a grin. He threw his arms over the back of the couch, so Katsuki was basically underneath him.
Katsuki had never once considered himself small before this day. Sure, he was smaller than adults. He was shorter than some of his classmates. He was definitely a little small compared to Shoji or Sato, but he was all muscle, and he was strong. He was far from petite.
Inasa’s comments changed something in his mind, though. Because now, while he was curled up in the corner with the guy’s massive arm practically wrapped around him, he found that he had never felt so small in his life. And something about that was calming.
“Dunno why everyone’s obsessed with this,” Katsuki muttered. “It was fuckin’ forever ago.”
“You guy’s never told us what went down in those classes, really,” Kirishima said from his spot on the couch across the table from him. The traitor. If he’d just sat next to Katsuki like normal, he would never be stuck in this position.
“I suppose we were just too tired at the time,” Todoroki said thoughtfully. “I wasn’t trying to keep things from any of you, I just didn’t have the time to discuss.”
“I didn’t give a shit,” Katsuki grumbled. He shoveled the last bite of rice into his mouth and started to lean forward to toss it onto the table, but Inasa took it from him and set it down without hardly shifting at all.
Inasa didn’t even look at him. “Those classes were rough!” he confirmed jovially as he rested his arm on the back of the couch again. Katsuki stared blankly at the bowl on the table. “I’m glad we had them, though. We learned a lot, and made new friends in the process!” The arm above Katsuki’s head moved to actually wrap around him, and a giant hand landed on his shoulder. “I’m sure that the bonds we formed will last long into our professional careers,” he said with confidence.
As he spoke, his hand rubbed up and down Katsuki’s bicep carefully. His fingers wrapped partially around his arm, then let go. The hand moved back up and wrapped firmly around Katsuki’s shoulder. Inasa’s thumb touched his shoulder blade, and his fingertips brushed against his collarbone.
He was being felt up.
Right in front of all of Katsuki’s classmates, this asshole was comparing his hand to Katsuki’s body. It seemed that whatever sudden fascination Katsuki had developed with Inasa’s size was actually a shared experience between the two of them, and Inasa was not known to be subtle.
Katsuki slapped at his hand. It didn’t move. “Stop fucking touching me, goddamned hairless bastard,” he hissed.
Mina laughed. “I dunno, I think you’re gonna have to work a little harder to get Bakugou to be your friend,” she said, amused. “He’s a little touchy.”
Inasa let out a booming laugh and pulled Katsuki into his side despite his struggles. “We’ve gone through hardship together!” he said. As if that was all that was necessary to form a friendship. Katsuki punched him repeatedly in an effort to get away, but really, he had to admit to himself that he wasn’t trying as hard as he could.
The group around them laughed at his struggle, and no one made any effort to help or defend him. He couldn’t tell if it was because his classmates were assholes, or if his fight came across just as ingenuine as it was. Either way, he was fucking embarrassed, and it was long past time for him to make an escape.
He squeezed out of Isana’s grasp and stood abruptly. “I’m leaving,” he grumbled. “Fuck all of you.”
As he bent over to snatch his empty bowl from the table, Inasa grabbed his wrist. Katsuki looked back with a scowl. “We should hang out again soon,” Inasa suggested. His tone was no different from normal, but his eyes were curious and calculating.
There was something happening between them. Katsuki had no idea what it was. It scared him, just a little. He looked down at the hand that enveloped his wrist. “Only if you’re buying,” he growled, ripping his hand away. “And don’t be fucking annoying about it. Bastard.”
The last thing Katsuki heard as the elevator doors closed was Mina’s disbelieving voice. “Maybe you did make friends with him.”
Inasa didn’t wait long at all to contact him. The very next afternoon, Katsuki received an overly excited phone call from the guy suggesting they go out to dinner, then maybe, only if he wanted to of course, they could take a walk through the park, or go see a movie, or something. Maybe Katsuki was going insane, but to him, it sounded an awful lot like the guy had looked up a generic list of date ideas, and he was just listing them out, hoping Katsuki would have the sense to choose for him.
He also felt like he was going insane because although he recognized that this was clearly meant to be a date, he didn’t even consider refusing.
“A walk sounds nice,” he’d said absently.
And so, it was decided.
Katsuki hadn’t meant to get dressed up, exactly, but he wasn’t about to show up to a date looking like he just rolled out of bed. It was just a dark button-down, and yeah, he chose a pair of pants that actually fit him for once. The outfit was honestly less effort than he’d put into picking out the perfect set of pajamas to wear to movie nights, but when he walked through the common room, everyone stared at him like they were seeing a ghost.
He wasn’t the only one who dressed up, though. Inasa was in semi-formal wear as well, with a dark red button-down, slacks, and a leather belt. His boots probably cost more than Katsuki’s entire hero uniform. Katsuki told him as such, and reveled in the way he shrunk with embarrassment.
As it turned out, Inasa could drive, so they went to a place far on the outskirts of town, bordering on the country. It was a place that the guy had clearly been to before, if the speed at which he ordered his food was any indication. Katsuki didn’t know what to expect from a place like this, but their teriyaki didn’t look so bad, so he figured he could give it a chance.
It was alright.
They made quiet conversation as they ate. Their warring personalities of before were nowhere to be seen now. In its place was a new dynamic entirely, this one marked by a quiet sort of curiosity that neither of them knew what to do with.
Katsuki had never considered his sexuality before. He’d never been interested in girls, but there wasn’t a single moment that he’d thought maybe that might be because he had a preference for men. Even now, he couldn’t quite fathom how he’d ended up in this position. It felt completely natural, like this was just how it was meant to be.
He had the feeling that Inasa was in the same boat. They were both going through this strangely simple period of self-discovery together. That thought was comforting.
Once they’d finished eating, Katsuki was admittedly still a little hungry. He ordered a cucumber salad to go. It would be nice to have something to do with his hands, anyways. Something to distract himself from how vulnerable he was in this situation.
They arrived at the park around sunset, and Katsuki was a little surprised to see how empty it was. The paths were perfectly manicured, and between the trees he could see that there were artificial creeks splitting through the land. It seemed like this whole park was crafted by experts in landscaping whose only goal was to create the perfect photo opportunity for its guests.
Maybe it was abandoned because it was too dark for pictures. Katsuki didn’t mind the peace and quiet, anyways.
He munched on his salad as they walked, and listened to Inasa go on and on about whatever came to his mind. He spoke about his classes, work studies, and classmates. The way he rambled reminded Katsuki of Kirishima, a little, and even Deku, and… he wasn’t exactly prepared to go down the rabbit hole that line of thought was threatening to take him down, so he focused on Inasa’s words instead.
At some point, Katsuki shivered from the cold, and Inasa helped him put on his jacket. Katsuki didn’t even bother to complain, or claim that he could do it himself. The jacket hung off of him like a blanket, but it was warm, and that’s all that mattered.
“I want to carry you,” Inasa said suddenly when they were paused on a bridge, admiring the view in silence. His tone suggested he was admitting something that he felt quite embarrassed about.
Katsuki looked up at him. He was still looking out at the view, refusing to meet Katsuki’s gaze. He glanced around at the completely empty park, then looked back down at the creek. “Do what you want.”
Inasa lifted him into a fucking princess carry, and Katsuki placed his takeout container in his lap. It was… actually very comfortable. They continued the walk in silence. There was some kind of tension between them now, but Katsuki wouldn’t say it was a bad kind of tension. It was something unidentifiable, gathering and pulling at the pit of his stomach.
“Can I try some?” Inasa asked, almost in a whisper.
Katsuki mixed the thin slices of cucumber a bit, then looked up. Their faces were very close. He hadn’t realized how much distance the height had put between them until that moment, when he could feel Inasa’s breath on his face. “Sure,” he practically breathed.
He gripped a few slices with his chopsticks, then held it up to Inasa’s lips. Hesitantly, the guy took the bite, red in the face and refusing to look him in the eyes. What was this, a goddamned romance manga? Katsuki felt his own face heat up a bit in his embarrassment, but then.
“Hm, it’s good,” Inasa choked, stilted and awkward. “Another?”
They shared the rest of the salad. Once they were finished, Inasa carried him over to a trashcan on the side of the path so that he could toss the box inside. Katsuki laid his head on his chest and relaxed while they continued their walk.
It ended all too soon, really. Katsuki could have fallen asleep like that. He had a sense of security in that position that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Not for as long as he could remember. Actually, maybe he’d never been this secure before. Inasa placed him carefully in the passenger’s seat of his car, then moved to take the driver’s seat.
The ride was made in amicable silence. For a first date, that had gone surprisingly well. Too well. Although they were both confused and inexperienced, none of it had been uncomfortable. He didn’t want it to be over. Katsuki wished he could invite him inside and cuddle, for fucks sake. He couldn’t, though. Not without risking the class figuring out what was going on before he even understood it himself.
They sat and stared at each other for a moment when Inasa parked outside of the UA gates. This was the part where, after a really good date, people would normally kiss. He didn’t know if he was ready for that. He knew that’s what this was, he’d known all along, but there was a difference between questioning his sexuality and actually kissing a boy.
“We don’t have to,” Inasa said softly, and Katsuki realized with a flush that he’d been blatantly staring at the guy’s lips for far too long to be normal. “I don’t even know if I’m…” Inasa trailed off, embarrassed.
Once again, this experience was shared between the two of them. Katsuki let out a sigh of relief. Inasa was just as nervous about this as he was. He was also coming to terms with things, so of course he wouldn’t want to rush into that either. Katsuki flicked his eyes back up to Inasa’s. “Next time,” his voice rumbled low through the muted space of the car, and Katsuki realized in that moment that it was the first time he’d spoken above a whisper in hours. “Or not,” he added as an afterthought. “We don’t have to, but…”
“I want to, I think,” Inasa assured him, and the rush of relief that sent through him was embarrassing, honestly. “Just… yeah, next time,” he breathed.
“Okay,” Katsuki said simply. They paused for a moment. “Thanks for dinner.”
“Yeah, yep,” Inasa choked, finally returning to his awkward self. “Anytime! Um, let me know when—or, or if you want to do this again!”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, and he couldn’t help the upward twitch of his lips. “I will, baldy,” he said as he opened his door and stood. “Fuck off. You’re past curfew.”
“Oh, shit,” Inasa said, head whipping to the clock. He started the engine and sped off with no further fanfare.
Oh, shit, indeed.
Katsuki watched his car turn out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
Yeah, he definitely wasn’t straight. Not even close. He was still wearing Inasa’s jacket.
This was a problem for later.