Chapter Text
It was a relatively quiet night when Izuku’s world came to a screeching halt. The dorm’s living room was full with everyone relaxing after a long day of lessons and training, working on their homework at the tables or watching game shows on the television with the volume kept at a reasonable level. There was chatter and laughter and complaints about various assignments, and there were jokes and ribbing as people teased each other and gossiped or planned school projects.
Things were comfortable. Easy. And “easy” was such a blessing that even though the war was over and nowadays things were peaceful, Izuku found his attention drifting away from his own assignment as he just watched the room with sleepy happiness from one of the dining tables where he sat alone. The living room lamps provided a warm golden glow and the windows were dark in a way that seemed comforting rather than ominous. Everyone was in for the night, everyone was safe.
Or would be soon. Katsuki and Kaminari were still out on patrol, but a quick glance at the clock assured Izuku they would be back any moment, and as if his thoughts summoned them back into existence, the front door opened and Katsuki entered with Kaminari following on his heels, both of them changed out of their hero uniforms after already showering, clean and cozy in sweats and tank tops.
“Dude, it’s not that big of a deal! So you’ll be a little less uptight-”
“The fuck do you mean, uptight?” Katsuki growled, but it had no bite to it and Kaminari ignored it.
“-overall, it’s not the worst quirk to get hit with.”
“Whatever,” Katsuki muttered, looking away from Kaminari with a stubborn expression as he scanned the living room. Then his eyes met Izuku’s and his face softened unexpectedly, relaxing immediately.
Izuku gave him a worried look as the blond approached. “You were hit by a quirk, Kacchan?”
“Nothing to worry about, nerd,” Katsuki said, his voice full of affection in a way Izuku had never heard before. And then-
Katsuki lifted a hand to cup his face and bent down to kiss him fully on the mouth.
The world stopped so fast that Izuku would have been shocked that he didn’t go flying off the planet if he still had the ability to think.
“DUDE!” Kaminari shouted and pulled Katsuki back bodily, causing them both to fall over as Izuku stared at Katsuki in dumbfounded shock. His lips were tingling. His face was burning hot where Katsuki had touched him and his heart was either completely stalled out or beating so fast that he couldn't feel it anymore.
“Get the fuck off me, dumbass!” Katsuki snapped, pushing away from Kaminari.
“No, I was wrong! This is the worst quirk to ever be hit by, oh my god, you’re going to murder me! Please don’t desire my death! Midoriya, I’m so sorry!”
“Tch!” Katsuki finally pushed Kaminari’s arms off him and stood up, kicking him harmlessly. Then he turned back toward Izuku, glaring at him like usual. “What!”
Izuku opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. Katsuki’s expression flickered, like he was trying to stay mad, but then his nose wrinkled and his lips tilted up a little bit. “God, you’re cute. Even when you’re being annoying as fuck.”
Kaminari latched onto Katsuki’s leg, wailing, “Midoriya! Run away! Don’t look at him like this or he’ll legitimately murder me once he realizes-”
“Oi, I’m perfectly aware of what I’m doing!” Katsuki shoved his foot against Kaminari’s chest in an attempt to dislodge him again.
“But you can’t stop yourself! You can’t even want to stop yourself!”
“Holy shit,” Mina laughed, finally breaking the astounded silence that had taken over the rest of the living room. “You lost your inhibitions? Did you run into that Boozy the Bozo clown out there?”
“Yes,” Kaminari said miserably, finally shoving himself to sit upright. “And we turned him in, but he tried to get me at the last moment because I found him hilarious and I guess he thought that would get him out of an arrest? But Bakugou took the hit for me…”
“He didn’t realize how much I had been holding back before he stripped my self-control,” Katsuki said ominously with a smirk, then he refocused on Izuku. “You alright, sweetheart?”
“S-sweetheart…” Izuku squeaked, his eyebrows shooting up as high as they could go. He felt lightheaded. “Y-your inhibitions were stopping you from calling me-”
“Oh my god, you are so adorable,” Katsuki chuckled. He snatched Izuku’s hand and tugged him up to his feet so that he collided into Katsuki’s chest with an “eep!” Katsuki’s hands fell to his waist and Izuku couldn’t help that his own hands settled on his shoulders. There was nowhere else for them to go! “Wanna come upstairs with me so these extras don’t lose their fucking minds?”
“Oh my god…” Izuku breathed. Somewhere in the very near distance, Mina was cackling, Mineta was screaming, and Iida was shouting about proper dorm room etiquette.
“Dude, that’s such a manly confession!” Kirishima declared, leaning over the back of a couch to congratulate Katsuki.
“Kirishima! Help me stop him!” Kaminari whined, still sitting on the floor as if defeated despite his low-effort attempts.
“Why? He’s been wanting to confess-”
“You have?” Izuku asked breathlessly, searching Katsuki’s eyes, as Kaminari mournfully said “not like this!” in the background.
Katsuki’s lids lowered and he brushed his nose against Izuku’s. “Yeah…Kind of been too chicken.”
“Why?” Izuku’s hands drifted higher up his shoulders, almost sliding around his neck.
“Thought you’d tell me to fuck off.”
“Oh my god, no, never. I’ve been wanting…” Izuku murmured, drifting closer to kiss him, his eyes sliding shut, only for Uraraka’s alarmed voice to break through his dream moment.
“Deku-kun! Wait! This isn’t how you should do it!”
Izuku jolted, suddenly reminded that everyone was around them, and he pulled back just enough that he earned a cute frown from Katsuki when his lips met nothing.
“Ochako-chan is right,” Jiiro agreed despite sounding unsure. “He can’t really consent like this, can he?”
Izuku jerked back like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, breaking out of Katsuki’s hold. He covered his mouth in horror. “Oh my god, you’re right! Kacchan, I’m so sorry!”
“Tch, I can consent just fine!”
“No, you really can’t. As soon as the quirk wears off,” Izuku started, slipping into analysis mode to recover from his shame, “you’ll get all of your reservations and inhibitions back, and you’ll hate me for this.”
“I could never hate you, nerd,” Katsuki chided him warmly.
“I’m pretty sure you hated me for like ten years…” Izuku reminded him with no malice.
“I was a dumb motherfucker back then, I haven’t hated you for years since then and never could again.” Katsuki moved to close the space between them, but Izuku darted around the table to keep the distance.
“You would if I took advantage of you like this!”
“It’s not taking advantage if I want it! Besides, I can’t stop myself, so are you just going to hide all week?!”
“All week?!” Izuku asked, dismayed. “Is that how long they say the quirk lasts? I thought it was only two days.”
“Boozy used his quirk at one hundred percent,” Kaminari said miserably. “We’ll be lucky if it only lasts a week…”
“Shit…” Izuku hissed.
“Fuck, you’re sexy when you curse…” Katsuki muttered, leaning his forearms on the back of a chair as if he were sulking. But at least he wasn’t trying to come at Izuku again.
Izuku blinked at that realization. If Katsuki wasn’t compelled to just kiss him constantly, that meant his desire to not upset Izuku was stronger than his desire to kiss him. Izuku untensed slightly. He could work with this. They could get through the week like this without any further motives for murder.
“Okay, Kacchan,” Izuku started, then stepped back quickly when Katsuki perked up and moved toward him. He lifted his hands defensively to keep the space between them, but Katsuki stopped approaching, curling his lip in annoyance until Izuku continued speaking. “If- if you really want to k-kiss me, it has to be after the quirk wears off. That's…that's what would make me happy.”
“You know that's not how inhibitions and this quirk work, sweetheart,” Katsuki said with a click of his tongue, folding his arms over his chest. “If it was, I could just desire for the quirk to go away and be fine.”
Izuku covered his face with both hands, whispering the word sweetheart to himself, unable to believe it had come out of Katsuki's mouth directed at him. Twice now. Then he rubbed his hands down his face and inhaled deeply. “Okay, you're right, but it was worth a try. But…Kacchan, you don't really want… me, do you?”
Katsuki smirked, but the expression was warm and a little helpless, his brows pinched together in rueful amusement. “Only ever you, Izuku.”
“Kacchan…” Izuku breathed and he didn't move away when Katsuki stepped into his space once more. Instead, he just covered his mouth with his hands to avoid a kiss as Katsuki leaned in to whisper softly in his ear, so only he could hear.
“Do you want me, too?”
It could have been lewd and suggestive, but the gentle rumble of words came out hopeful and cautious, almost nervous despite Katsuki's confidence just a moment before. Izuku was weak. Katsuki was his weakness and he was so fucking weak for him. He immediately wrapped his arms around his neck and turned his head to catch his mouth, earning a soft, helpless noise from Katsuki as the blond hugged Izuku tight around his waist.
Fireworks wouldn't even begin to describe the blinding illuminations that burst from within Izuku, little zips of magic crackling up his whole body to cause goosebumps and leave him feeling dizzy.
Catcalls and whoops of surprise almost drowned out Kaminari’s moans of misery about his short life and Uraraka’s slap against her forehead. Almost, but not quite, and after a long moment, Izuku reluctantly broke the kiss despite Katsuki chasing after his lips like a dream.
“Kacchan, oh my god, yes I do,” Izuku whispered in answer, setting his forehead against Katsuki's, meeting frustrated red eyes. “But you're under the influence of a quirk and-”
“You're the dumbest genius I know, you know that?” Katsuki interrupted, then shut him up with a kiss. Izuku leaned into it forcefully, then groaned and pulled back completely, pressing his palms against Katsuki's chest to keep him away.
“No, Kacchan, this isn't right,” Izuku said, pleading with him to understand.
“You go ahead and keep lying like that, Izuku,” Katsuki said, gripping Izuku's hands against his chest and closing the space between them so their knees bumped. “But I'm not going to deny it anymore.”
“You literally can't deny it,” Kaminari bemoaned. Katsuki rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored him.
“I'm going to show you how I feel, baby,” Katsuki said, lifting one of Izuku's hands to kiss his fingers with his gaze locked on Izuku's eyes. Izuku's knees weakened under the intensity. “And once this quirk clears up, you'll see there was nothing to worry about.”
“Great!” Uraraka interrupted loudly, smiling as she grabbed Izuku's shoulders and pulled him away. “And that's only one week from now. It'll be over before you know it and then you can kiss all you want.”
Kirishima appeared behind Katsuki to hold him in place with a friendly pat on the back. “Yeah, man, you've been wanting this for years-”
“Years??” Izuku yelped and let Uraraka steer him toward the staircase, but he couldn't help looking back at Katsuki struggling against Kirishima's hard grip.
“-what's one more week, right?”
Uraraka pushed Izuku's back so he was forced to head upstairs without lingering any longer. With a groan, he trudged with her to his room, then faceplanted into his bed once they entered and shut the door behind them.
“Deku-kun, are you okay?” Uraraka asked, worry heavy in her voice as she sat beside him on the bed.
“Why did it take a quirk accident?” Izuku asked miserably, his voice muffled into his comforter.
“At least it's only for one week. Then you'll be able to talk to him about everything.” She patted his head reassuringly.
“You don't understand,” Izuku said, turning his head to look up at her forlornly. “Toga is so upfront with how she feels, that's not how Kacchan is at all. This is my only chance to have an open conversation with him and I can't do it without taking advantage of him.”
“Maybe it'll be easier for him after the quirk is gone since he's pretty much already confessed.”
Izuku sighed. “Yeah. Maybe.” He glared at his comforter for a long moment before speaking again. “Thanks for trying to keep me honorable. Sorry I failed.”
Uraraka huffed a small laugh and ruffled his hair. “Can't really blame you. You made a valiant effort. And, well, soooo?” she smiled conspiratorially, “Is he a good kisser?”
“Oh my god, he's incredible,” Izuku said in a rush, rolling over to look up at her and Uraraka laughed at the bewildered glee Izuku was sure was showing on his face.