Work Text:
Izuku and Kacchan didn’t like to make their affections obvious. They didn’t think the rest of Class 1-A or anyone in UA needed to know. It was easier, and it kept things more personal. They knew that a few spare people in their class knew, All Might could sense it, and surely some random people had seen them at some point. But, on the regular, they didn’t show off their relationship in public.
It was more of a preference of Kacchan’s, not Izuku’s. Kacchan didn’t like the stares, the whispers, and the judgment. No one would truly care, but he didn’t want to deal with the possibility. Besides, he didn’t need those extras getting in his way any more than they already did. He only cared about Izuku, and his dream.
Their classes went by normally, even after they started seeing each other. They were past the point of Kacchan being unnecessarily cruel, and most of the class saw them as average friends. They were compatible in training, too.
On normal days, they would meet in the dorm common room in the morning after getting ready, walk to class together, and, when the day was over, retreat with the rest of the class to hang out in the dorms for the rest of the evening. Typically, Kacchan went to bed earlier than most and left Izuku to enjoy time with his friends.
This day, however, was a more eventful day.
It was an advanced training day. Eraser Head took the class to an outside arena to run a simulation. While normally there would be a mix of challenges, this test was all about combat. They were fighting fake villain after fake villain in a myriad of different scenarios.
They were placed in a setting by weakness. There were plenty of downfalls to be had. For example, Asui was put into a dry, barren area and Iida was trapped with nowhere to run. These were meant to pick at the students' failures and test them. Each student had their own space to overcome.
Izuku was put in a flat, open arena. Nowhere to jump around like Gran Torino. There were few flaws to One for All, so this was the best weakness the construction could come up with. Still, this would have to test his raw combat, making sure he didn’t do anything too powerful and break himself down. It was a welcomed challenge.
Across the course, Izuku could hear and sense Kacchan struggling.
They put him in a frigid box. Nowhere to light up or blast around and fight. He was trapped with the robotic villains and meant to fight with a diluted quirk. It was much like Izuku’s simulation, but it was clearly bothering Kacchan more.
As the class went on, Kacchan could be heard shouting in every corner of the zone. Every student was focused on their own task, so they didn’t have time to see him struggle, but they knew it was happening.
Kacchan put so much pride into his quirk that sometimes he forgot how to live without it. His heroic dreams were founded on his raw power. Now that he was watered down with icy walls and freezing air, he felt helpless.
It was wearing on him.
Aizawa was not the type of teacher to give his students grace either. They got one break in the three hour period, and even then, Kacchan didn’t take it. As every other student grabbed water, snacks, and took a breather, they all shared anxious glances when hearing Kacchan’s rage in the distance.
Izuku stared over the mess of others’ areas to see if he could get a glimpse of Kacchan, but all he could spot was a faint drifting of smoke. Every spark he lit must’ve burned out and drifted away soon after. Izuku frowned and felt torn. He knew Kacchan would be upset if he found out Izuku felt sorry for him, but he did. He wished he could help him in some way.
In a real-life battle, Izuku would be the first to run over and help if his partner was struggling. Even if he had to endure some arguing later. But, this was not the time for teamwork. The test itself made that very clear when everyone was isolated.
This was meant to stress them out. Izuku hated it, though.
When their time was up, Izuku passed with an 85%. It was the second highest, only falling short of Todoroki’s 90%. (It was hard for the teachers to combat a kid who already had two opposite quirks. Either way, Todoroki would have some sort of advantage.) The rest of the class all passed, some barely scraping by.
Kacchan got a 59%. When Aizawa passed out their grading sheets, Kacchan didn’t let anyone see his, but Izuku overheard him combating with Eraser on the wall back to the bus, insisting that his score be rounded to a 60% so he could pass. Eraser only agreed because Kacchan’s was truly the hardest arena in terms of countering their quirks.
The whole class filed onto the bus and got ready for the drive back to school. The lot they were training on was off campus and nearly an hour away, so they all got comfy. Some listened to music or chatted with others, but Izuku ended up with Kacchan beside him, his arms crossed and staring at his feet.
He looked awful. Surely getting beat up and shit on for three hours wasn’t going to do a person any good. His blonde spikes were knotted and singed with some awkward pieces sticking out. His eyes were dark and there was a bruise on his left cheek. His suit was torn in places and his shoulders sagged. He slumped into his seat, eyes dripping lower so their kids could shut more.
“Kacchan,” Izuku whispered. “Are you—“
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kacchan snapped, eyes glaring over at Izuku. “I’m tired.”
Izuku pursed his lips and nodded, gaze dancing away down to his own feet and then out the window. Scenery of trees and fields passed them by as the bus drove smoothly down into the city. It was a very nice day. On any other date, he would’ve tried to convince Kacchan to sit outside with him when classes were over, but maybe today was not the day.
He left Kacchan to his own thoughts—trying to telepathically tell him that he was there for him if he needed it—and started to think of his own experience.
He thought he did very well. The design of the training was a bit flawed and unfair, but perhaps that showed how compatible and powerful some of their quirks were. One for All was obviously a front runner in that idea. He spent his three hours cutting down enemies from every angle. He struggled at times, wished for a break during others, but mostly felt very productive. Sometimes, his faltering only occurred because he was focused on watching the classmates around him.
His love for studying was his greatest downfall. He wanted to watch everyone fight in their weaknesses, analyzing how they overcame it. His arena was right beside Uraraka who overcame her challenge rather well. Her space was made of light, soft objects that would really do an impact on an enemy if thrown or dropped. However, due to her martial arts training, she relied more on her physical strength and battle sense rather than her quirk. She used it only to give herself momentum in powerful punches.
Izuku found it fascinating.
Part of being at UA was just being around fellow heroes. He was in a community of fighters and innovators, and he would never take for granted his opportunity as a…
His upper body and shoulders froze, his breath halting as a heavy weight pressed on his left shoulder. The weight sighed and relaxed onto him, and Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He knew Kacchan was tired, but he was falling asleep on his shoulder?!
Izuku dared to turn his head and look down at Kacchan’s wild blonde head. All he could really see was his mess of hair, but he could feel his slow, easing breaths and he relaxed on Izuku and gave into the fatigue.
A small blush spread across Izuku’s face as he stared down at his boyfriend’s sleepy stature. He would never do this normally, but he had an unnecessarily bad day, so Izuku assumed he was trying to make up for it. Hell, Izuku didn’t care what the reason was, he was just going to enjoy the time.
He turned his head back to watch out the window once more. After about five minutes, he could tell Kacchan was fully asleep, the heavy sighs heaving his shoulders as he nestled more against Izuku and forgot his troubles. Of course, Izuku felt like he could not move a centimeter lest breaking this sweet moment, so the rest of the ride was a bit uncomfortable, but he savored every second.
At some point on the ride, he could feel the eyes of people across the aisle. He looked over to see Ashido and Yaoyoruzo whispering to each other. He caught the eye of Yaoyorozu and gave her a look, her face growing red as she looked away and shushed Ashido. They didn’t take much after that.
Surely, Kacchan didn’t want people to see him so relaxed with Izuku. Izuku knew that. Part of him wanted to wake Kacchan up so he could regain control of how others saw him.
But he just couldn’t bring himself to rustle him awake. He had such a hard time, and Izuku wanted him to rest.
Though, the bus ride had to end eventually. Soon enough, an hour had passed, they were back in the city and rolling up to UA’s front gates to endure just one more hour of classes before the day was over.
As everyone got to their feet to file out on Iida’s orders, Izuku had the wonderful duty of waking Kacchan up.
The man didn’t like to be woken up. One time, Kaminari and Jiro were talking loudly in the hall while Kacchan was trying to sleep and he exploded out of his room to yell at them. The door was still smoldering, some said.
Izuku placed a soft hand over Kacchan’s army and squeezed. “Kacchan, wake up. We’re back at UA, now.”
Kacchan roused slightly, groaning under his breath before relaxing against Izuku again.
Izuku cursed in his head, staring up at the ceiling of the bus as if asking God or All Might or someone to save him. Help him.
“Hey,” he whispered again. Now a bit louder. He shook Kacchan with more determination. “The bus has stopped, Kacchan.”
This time, Kacchan’s head snapped up. He sits back, eyes darting around with a furrowed brow and angry, tired eyes. He was dazed and sleepy, searching for his enemy until his head turned and he looked at Izuku’s concerned expression.
His anger fell and he looked away. “Oh, thanks.” His face was slightly hot and he stood up, avoiding the eyes of anyone who was walking down the bus aisle and saw his blush.
Izuku stood up too, fingers brushing Kacchan’s as they squeezed out into the walkway, and Kacchan actually took his hand and held it as they walked out of the bus. Perhaps it was his way of assuring Izuku he wasn’t really mad at him. Kacchan had a habit of wearing a stink face no matter who he was with. Izuku found it cute most of the time, but sometimes it was a bit intimidating.
They were the last two off the bus. As they stepped down and out onto the front steps, Kacchan took in the eyes of multiple classmates looking back at them and quickly dropped Izuku’s hand. Still, they walked together into the school building.
—
Kacchan was still very tired. He slumped into his desk seat, right in front of Izuku, and zoned out through the last lesson. He laid forward, head buried in his arms and shoulders rising and falling slowly.
Izuku tried to pay attention to the lesson, but he didn’t find much success. He was worried about Kacchan, who never dozed off so much in a lesson. As much of a smartass as he was, his dream included being dedicated to his grades. Sometimes Izuku would help him study, but Kacchan was smart enough to pay attention on his own.
Not today, though. He snoozed through the whole lesson. At one point, Jiro glanced over to his slumped head and stared with an uneasy expression. She met Izuku’s gaze and he gave her a look to tell her not to worry.
When the bell finally rang, everyone gathered their things and filed out of the room. It had been a long day for everyone, not just Kacchan. Izuku felt like the only reason he wasn’t giving into his own fatigue was because he was worried about Kacchan. His arms ached, his head was tense, and he was ready to relax for the night. He had homework to do, but, maybe, just for once, he would leave it for a later date.
Izuku stood up, grabbing his backpack with one hand as he focused on Kacchan. He had to wake him up again, and this time he would be even more upset. No one liked to slack off in class except for, maybe Mineta.
“Leave him, Midoriya,” Aizawa said, stepping up from his desk. “I’ll handle it.”
The quiet classroom was tense with worry. Both Izuku and Aizawa were concerned for Kacchan. Izuku didn’t know if he was just going to hand the situation over to his teacher even if he was capable. He wanted to help Kacchan.
He looked from Kacchan to his teacher, his brow furrowing as he debated listening to Aizawa or not. He wanted to, but he was worried about Kacchan. Clearly, he’d had a rough day.
Aizawa stepped over, waiting for Izuku to walk out of the classroom. Izuku shouldered his backpack, shifting towards the door while still keeping his weary gaze on Kacchan. He didn’t want to go if Aizawa was just going to yell at him for not paying attention. Kacchan didn’t deserve to be criticized after the day he had. Sure, being a hero meant having bad days, but izuku always felt empathy for others. He knew how hard everyone was working towards their dreams in Class 1-A. It just hurt even more when it was this specific student.
Aizawa gave him a reassuring look and Izuku left. Part of him wanted to stay outside the door and listen in, but he walked away. He joined Ochaka and Iida on their walk back to the dorms. They gathered with others from class and everyone agreed to hang out in the common room. As the class walked together, they planned who would make dinner, what channels they would watch on TV, and what games they would play. Some people kept talking about their training for earlier, and others complained about the work they had.
The walk back to the dorms was always a pretty one. It was a calm spring afternoon with a cooling breeze and spare clouds. Izuku felt himself brighten when they stepped outside, talking with Ochaka about her training and what she wanted for dinner. Everyone decided that Sato would make dinner because they wanted a good night. He took the job with pride, sharing ideas with the class. Izuku agreed with the group but wanted to try and suggest something that Kacchan would want on his behalf. He always liked things with a lot of spice even when it nearly killed Izuku and everyone else. Only Todoroki could keep up with him most of the time. (Izuku once asked if his spice tolerance only lasted if he ate on the left side of his mouth. Todoroki only laughed at him. Izuku still wanted an answer.)
He found himself smiling at memories of dinner with Kacchan and everyone else. The grinch his boyfriend always was ended with him slightly pouting at the end of the table, but Izuku always included him. Kacchan was learning. Slowly, maybe. But he was improving with his people skills. He mostly talked to Kirishima and Izuku, maybe Kaminari or Tokoyami. As much as everyone found him arrogant and brash, Izuku always found a way to see the charm in Kacchan’s demeanor. He was just a bit hard to love, but Izuku was learning.
As the group reached the dorms, Izuku began to miss him. They spent most days together whether that be in class, at the dorms, or out with the group (no matter how hard Izuku had to drag Kacchan to join everyone). The class wasn’t the same unless everyone was there. They were missing their big, mean dog at the back of the pack. The one that brooded with his hands in his pockets and a misleading grimace on his face. Truly, it only took a few moments around Izuku for Kacchan to gain a smirk or a small smile. He was, as difficult as he could be, an important piece in the Class 1-A puzzle.
Everyone found their places in the evening activities. Izuku ended up on the sofas with others, watching the news on a small attack downtown. It was nothing disastrous, but the replay footage was interesting. Izuku took out his notebook and started writing down what the heroes did to win. It was a good distraction.
Something that upset him was that no one seemed bothered that Kacchan was gone. Maybe they didn’t want to pry, maybe they were scared to ask, or maybe they just didn’t give a shit. Izuku at least thought that Kirishima would come and talk to him by now.
Izuku was trying not to think about it. He thought too much sometimes, Kacchan said. Kacchan was always trying to pull Izuku out of his head and bring him to reality. Izuku had the tendency to spiral. And here he was, spiraling when Kacchan wasn’t around.
To occupy him, however, was a spill in the kitchen due to Mineta’s idiocy. Yaoyorozu was helping Sato with some of the cooking as she could make any supply appear at an instant. And, of course, Mineta was following her around like the imp he was. He caused a spill of cake batter that Sato was preparing, and Izuku rushed over to help clean up. They made Mineta do the heavy lifting, but he assisted Sato in quickly whipping up another bowl of batter.
Izuku whisked the eggs that Yaoyorozu handed him as he heard the front doors to the dorms swing open and shut. He’d know that aggression anywhere.
He tipped his head out the kitchen, trying to keep the eggs from spilling out of the mixing bowl as he peered around the corner. He watched Kacchan storm through the common room towards the elevator, hands stuffed into his pockets, shoulders hunched and dead eyes ahead. As the elevator doors slid closed, Izuku caught the eyes of Kirishima who shared Izuku’s concern.
Everyone else seemed to be minding their business. Izuku went back into the kitchen to finish up helping. Once everything seemed to be under control, he bid Sato and Yaoyorozu a goodbye before rushing towards the elevator.
The upstairs floors were silent. Izuku slipped down the dark, quiet hallway to Kacchan’s door as if he was a ghost. Kacchan always snuck away when everyone was downstairs. He liked the silence. Izuku often joined him, but sometimes Kacchan wanted to be alone.
Izuku knocked quietly on the door and heard an approving grunt. He opened it to Kacchan’s dark bedroom. The blinds were drawn shut and Kacchan was already changed into his comfy clothes and lying in bed. His gray shirt was wrinkled and slouched as he sat back against the headboard and stared forward. His dark eyebags hadn’t gone away and he was glaring at the wall.
When Izuku came in, Kacchan turned to look up at him. It was enough that Kacchan wanted him in his room. Izuku made his way over, sitting on the edge of the bed before Kacchan pulled him closer.
Kacchan wanted him here. Izuku sat beside him and they took up a familiar position with Kacchan's head resting on his shoulder. They curled against each other, hands finding hands, ankles hooked over ankles. Kacchan sighed heavily and let himself relax. The quiet room was cool and comforting. Private. No one was there to impede on them.
Izuku tucked his nose into Kacchan’s hair. “What did Eraser want?”
“Eh,” Kacchan shrugged. His voice was low and sleepy. Like every word took a bit of effort. “Bastard just was asking if I was alright. And I’m fine, so that’s what I told him. He only kept me around to give me some tea and a snack. I was trying to get out of there, but he was holding me hostage.”
Izuku nodded and looked at the ceiling, resting his cheek on the top of Kacchan’s head. There was a minute of silence. Then another minute. Kacchan didn’t seem to be falling asleep just yet. It was almost as if Izuku could feel his eyes moving in Kacchan’s head, darting with his thoughts.
Izuku took a daring breath and whispered, “I know that you said you’re fine, but, if you weren’t, you could tell me.”
“I’m fine, ‘Zu.”
He knew this would happen. “I won’t think you’re weak or anything. I just want to help you--”
“I don’t need help.”
That was it. Izuku nodded and decided to leave it there. Kacchan would talk one day. Izuku knew Kacchan had piles of worries in his head, sometimes more than he did. He just needed to give him time and, after the hard day he had, he wasn’t going to press him.
After a few minutes, Kacchan shifted and muttered something about laying down. They found a similar position, heads back against the pillow as Kacchan tucked his head into Izuku’s neck, head resting on his collar. One arm wrapped around Izuku’s torso as the other rested tucked to his chest. Izuku wrapped his arms around Kacchan and rested back into the pillow, staring upwards.
The silence was too much for him. He changed the subject just to talk.
“I’m sorry if I should’ve woken you up on the bus. I just wanted you to be able to relax a bit.”
Kacchan shook his head slightly. “No, don’t be sorry. It was nice.”
Izuku bit the skin on his lip. “But some people saw.”
“So we’ll say it was an accident,” Kacchan huffed. He clearly didn’t want to keep talking. He wanted to sleep. But Izuku couldn’t keep himself from rambling Or something. It doesn’t matter.”
He nodded and ran his fingers through Kacchan’s hair. He was glad that the bus wasn't what was bothering Kacchan. If he was part of the problem, Izuku would’ve felt even worse. He wanted to be a hero to keep people happy, but he didn’t know how to help Kacchan down.
“You usually don’t do that.”
Kacchan smirked and chuckled, grumbling, “Yeah because I don’t want to be seen with a nerd like you.”
“Kacchan!”
“I’m kidding,” he laughed, “You know, I’m kidding. Now, let me sleep, ‘Zu. You’re a good pillow.”
Izuku smiled a small smile at Kacchan’s growing joy. He was hoping the rest of the night would be happy like this. Maybe he’d be able to get Kacchan out of bed for dinner. If not, he’d grab a plate for each of them and they would eat upstairs. Iida could nag them all he wanted for eating outside the dining room. Izuku would make sure Kacchan had a good rest of the day.
The quiet of the bedroom was starting to get to Izuku. Kacchan’s fatigue was contagious as his slow, easing breaths relaxed Izuku. Sometimes Izuku related Kacchan to a big, grumpy cat. One of those mean white-orange housecats that knocked shit off counters, scratched you when you pet it, and avoided any guests. But still, that cat that would find you when you napped or sat at work and sat by you. It would bat your hand with small claws but rub against you to assure you later.
He was cuddly like one too. Kacchan loved to sleep so much Izuku wondered why he even bothered getting out of bed. He was lucky his dreams of being a hero overpower his actual dreams. Izuku loved to join Kacchan for his naps. School rules said students in relationships couldn’t sleep in each other’s rooms, but Kacchan always mused about breaking it just so they could stay together. Technically, no one in power knew they were together. Kacchan just wanted to rest his head on Izuku’s lap and doze off.
On top of him, Kacchan shifted and tucked his head further into Izuku. His shoulders heaved with a heavy sigh and his arm around his ribs stretched. “Izuku?”
“Yes, Kacchan?”
There were no words to follow. All Izuku heard was a slight sniffling beneath him as Kacchan hugged him a bit tighter. Izuku curled and pulled Kacchan more on top of him. He tilted his head down, kissing the temple of Kacchan’s forehead as Kacchan quickly wiped his tears away. He wouldn’t let them fall far. It was as if he thought Izuku still couldn’t tell.
Izuku didn’t need to say anything either. He just stroked Kacchan’s hair and rubbed his back. Kacchan kept crying and some of it seemed as if it was out of anger. He was frustrated at himself for crying over something he thought was so insignificant. He was trying so hard to act like it didn’t bother him. Izuku wanted to tell him it didn’t matter. They were alone, he could let out his emotions. But Kacchan was still learning how to be vulnerable, even if it was just around Izuku.
Eventually, he quieted down. Izuku moved his hand up to scratch Kacchan’s head as his other arm wrapped around his shoulder. Kacchan stilled with those familiar, heavy breaths soon enough. His shoulders relaxed and Izuku felt his weight atop of him grow heavier. Just like a housecat, head scratches always eased Kacchan to sleep.
Izuku felt sleep catching him too. His eyelids got heavy and his head slumped on top Kacchan’s.
—
Hours later, Izuku was woken by the savory smell of dinner. His eyes cracked open and soon he was wide awake with the promise of a delicious meal. They had a long day and dinner was a sweet reward.
He whispered to Kacchan to wake up and all he got back was a grunt. Izuku pushed further and got Kacchan to mutter and ask him to bring him up a plate. Izuku was happy to. But, it took a minute for Kacchan to let him go. Izuku promised he would be back right away, but Kacchan insisted that he would get cold. The irony.
When Izuku got back downstairs, he caught the eyes of a few people who were wondering where he was. It had been about three hours of silence upstairs and surely people were getting suspicious.
Someone who observed with a loud mouth was Mineta, making crude and rude comments towards Izuku who was still getting used to being awake. He did not care to entertain Mineta and his perversions. If Kacchan were with him, Mineta would’ve been thrown through a wall. Luckily, Kirishima found Izuku before anything went too far and they went to the kitchen together to get some food.
As he passed, Izuku tipped out his foot and caught Mineta off guard, kicking him over. The little bitch didn’t stand a chance.