Chapter Text
Kirishima’s eyes flick between Kaminari and Katsuki, back to the dark blond and over to his best friend. His world feels like it’s tilting a little, or a lot, because whatever it is that’s going on here had not been anything he’d ever expected to see happen. He stares at the hand that is still clinging to Katsuki’s wrist, notes the way the blond makes no effort at all to brush it off or slap it away as he does with everyone else’s touches, and Kirishima knows – it’s like sliding the final piece into a puzzle, or gaining a piece of information that finally leads to the solving of a particularly difficult riddle. He knows that he had, in fact, been wrong about the whole crush thing; Katsuki was in a full-blown relationship with this strange man sitting next to him. Just an hour or so ago, the red-head and his friends had laughed their asses off thinking about the blond pursuing someone in a romantic fashion, and now here they were, witness to what had been deemed unthinkable by the court of the Bakusquad.
The green-haired stranger – Bakugou Katsuki’s lover – stares at Kaminari, shell-shocked, and Katsuki does the same. “When the fuck did you learn JSL?”, he asks, breaking the spell of silence draped over the room, and Kaminari huffs in disbelief.
“My future father-in-law is literally deaf, and my boyfriend-,” he starts, then shakes his head vehemently, “that’s really not the point right now!”
“Uh, yeah, I agree!” Mina slaps her flat hand onto the table. “You’re dating? A man?”
Katsuki sneers at her. “What, got a problem with that?”
“You know damn well that none of us do.” The pink-hair eyes him up and down, searching for some sort of answer in the blond’s body language but finding none, therefore continuing, “how long has this been going on?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, you-”
“Kacchan.”
The strange word, presumably a nickname, cuts through their dispute like a sparkling dagger, and the four friends watch intently as the greenet loosens the scarred fingers he’d wrapped around the blond’s wrist and slides them down his arm until their hands touch, intertwines them and squeezes gently. Katsuki hesitates for a second before he looks over towards him. The blond’s features immediately soften as emerald eyes collide with his, and he sighs heavily. They exchange a long, drawn-out look that has the friends on the edge of their seats. Kirishima hears Sero draw in an audible breath when Katsuki turns back towards them after a moment.
“…seven months.” His eyes are cast somewhere on the coffee table as he speaks. His hand tightens around the one he’s holding. “Well, eight in a few days.”
Another stretch of silence. This time, it’s Sero who breaks it.
“That’s a long time.”
Mina nods in agreement. “It is.”
“Yup.” Kaminari pops the p.
“How come you didn’t tell us?”
Kirishima isn’t sure why he asks, because he already knows the answer – knows that Katsuki is a private person, someone who most definitely prefers to keep other people out of his business, even his closest friends. It’s a safety mechanism he began utilising when he was a child, a habit he doesn’t seem all that willing to break, and Kirishima, or all of the blond’s friends and acquaintances for that matter, respect it for what it is; fundamentally Bakugou Katsuki.
Still, it’s exhausting in certain instances. Kirishima knows he doesn’t really have the right to feel this way, but sometimes, the blond’s privacy hurts.
The red-head watches as Katsuki’s eyes go unfocused for a second, watches as the greenet – who still doesn’t even have a name in all of this – gently strokes the back of his hand with his thumb and leans towards him a bit, a look on his face that can only be described as unconditional adoration. Kirishima has seen it before in rom-coms, or when getting coffee in cute cafés and even during fan events, but never this intense; never this honest and raw. “You don’t have to do this right now if you don’t want to.”
Katsuki stares for a little longer, and Kirishima almost thinks he’ll just keep looking straight ahead until they all leave him alone – but then the man opens his mouth, closes it again, turns so that he’s directly facing Kirishima and speaks.
“I was, am, fucking worried shitless about what you’ll think of us. We only established, like, a few weeks ago that we both even are cool with telling people we’re together, and I wanted you all to be the first to know. I was going to do it today at Mina’s, but then Izuku got hurt.”
And that, well. That’s not what any of his friends expected to hear, at all – because it’s the very honest, very simple and plain truth, and perhaps the most upfront the blond has ever been with any of them about anything. Kirishima, who's still looking his best friend right in the eyes, can’t seem to find any, let alone the right words to say in response to that, so he’s glad when Katsuki continues speaking.
“Listen up, motherfuckers, because I am not going to be repeating this.” The blond lifts his chin up, a bit tauntingly, but he’s shaking. “This,” he raises his and the greenet’s intertwined hands demonstratively, “is my fucking boyfriend, Midoriya Izuku. I love him more than life itself and will not refrain from blowing you into bite-sized pieces and feeding you to pigs if you dare insult, degrade or, god help you, harm him.”
Well, damn.
Kirishima continues to stare, then turns towards his friends who look back with the same bewildered look on their face.
“You…you all just witnessed that too, right?”, Kaminari asks carefully after a second has passed, and Sero nods.
“I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this.”
Mina wheezes. “I think I need to lie down.”
“Take me with you, please.”
Katsuki clicks his tongue, knee bouncing up and down slightly. “Stop acting like I just told you I became a father or something.”
Sero groans in exasperation. “I literally said earlier I’d be less surprised if you’d told us that.”
Mina cups her face with her hands. “It’s a lot to take in, babe.” She blinks, and swivels over to Midoriya. “Sorry, I call everyone that. Can I call him that?”
The greenet giggles, a sound like bells, and nods. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Katsuki snarls. “It bothers me.”
“No one asked you, babe.”
The blond throws her an aggravated look, but before the situation can derail as it so often does when Mina and Katsuki go head to head, Kirishima throws up his hands and claps them together loudly, gaining the attention of everyone around him. “Can we please stay on track?”, he asks, and when the others say nothing, “thank you. Now,” he turns towards Katsuki, who looks back expectantly. “Before all hell breaks loose with us questioning how you two met and whatnot, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I’m really glad you told us about Midoriya-kun. I know it couldn’t have been easy, and I’m sorry if we ever made you feel like you couldn’t trust us, but we are all extremely happy that you found someone you love.”
From beside him, Sero hums in agreement. “Hell yeah. Couldn’t have said it better, we’re really happy for you, bro.”
“Yeah! I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, but you two are adorable together!” Kaminari chuckles when Midoriya blushes at that, and Mina joins in. “Oh, definitely. We’re happy for you, Blasty.”
“I told you to not fucking call me that-”
And just like that, the sentimental bubble bursts again. The corner of Katsuki’s mouth twitches though, and Kirishima can’t help but grin. The situation is still weird, not at all how he imagined to spend his Friday night, but it’s something uniquely them. “Alright, so, out with it. How’d you two meet?”
“Oh!” Midoriya’s face lights up at the question and he scoots forwards a bit. The improvised ice pack still melting in his lap almost slips off of him and onto the ground, but Katsuki catches it before it can and wraps an arm around the greenet’s shoulder to keep it in place. Midoriya places a hand over his. “Our parents actually befriended each other when we were infants, so since then, basically.”
“Oh my god,” Kaminari clutches his chest, “that’s so cute.”
“You’re not getting any baby photos.” Katsuki sends the dark blond a pointed look, and the latter pouts. Mina shoves him lightly by the shoulder.
“My turn! Midobabe, do you work in heroics, too?”
“Oi, quit the nicknaming, raccoon eyes.”
Midoriya laughs at his boyfriend. “It’s fine, Kacchan!” Addressing Mina, he adds, “feel free to call me whatever you like. And no, I don’t really work in heroics.”
“Not really?”
“Well,” the greenet shrugs his shoulders and wiggles his scarred leg around a bit, “I’d be more of a liability on the field than an asset. I’ve worked with heroes before, though.”
“Oh, I see.” The pink-haired woman shrinks back a bit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
“It’s quite alright!” Midoriya gives her a kind smile. “It’s not like you were rude about it or anything.”
“So,” Sero inquires, “what is it you do?”
“Ah, I’m just in college at the moment. I mainly study quirks.”
“Oi.” Katsuki give his partner a pointed look and pinches his uninjured cheek. “Quit selling yourself short.”
“Ow! Just because I don’t brag all the time doesn’t mean I’m selling myself short!”
Kirishima barks out a laugh at the subtle insult. This guy’s got some spunk.
“You’re in school for Advanced Quirk Studies. You got every right to brag.”
Kaminari trades a look with the others and whistles through his teeth. “Damn. Isn’t that course, like, super hard to get into?”
“Damn straight it is, Dunce Face. And Izuku here got in with a recommendation and a personal scholarship curtesy of the rat.”
“You mean Principal Nezu?”
“Precisely, bitches.”
“Kacchannn,” Midoriya whines and pulls at the blond’s hand. “Quit that.”
“Nah, they gotta see how damn impressive you are.”
Mina laughs heartily at the way the greenet groans in embarrassment, his ears burning. “You really are!”
Sero nods along. “If you managed to make Nezu believe you’re worth his time and money, you gotta be quite something.”
“You really are super manly.” Kirishima grins. “So, what kinda stuff do you study, then?”
Midoriya’s eyes sparkle like a kid’s in a candy shop at that question. “Ah, well, it’s a mix of different things. I do research on the genealogical makeup of quirks and the way certain types of powers affect certain parts of the body differently, but for the most part, I do analysis.”
Kirishima eyes him questioningly. “Analysis?”
“Yes! I observe a quirk’s workings during different scenarios and deduct their inner functioning and the like by what I can see. It gives me a pretty thorough understanding of the way a power works, both when lying dormant and when in action, and provides me with general knowledge of possibilities for improvement and certain weak spots.”
“That’s…damn.” Sero blinks a few times, then looks over at Katsuki. “You really found yourself a genius, didn’t you?”
Midoriya vehemently shakes his head at that, but Katsuki responds with a barked damn straight that has his friends laughing.
Kirishima can’t help but stare a little, though. In his head, something clicks into place, and he leans forward, this time without an uptick of his lips, to ask, “so it was you, then? The notebooks?”
Midoriya tilts his head at that. It’s endearing. “Sorry?”
“Oh, right! Apparently, Bakubabe was taken in for questioning one time because they found a suspicious notebook in his room,” Mina explains. Her golden eyes sparkle curiously when Midoriya huffs a laugh at that. His eyes land on his boyfriend, who looks back at him with a bit of an annoyed but nonetheless fond pout.
“Yeah, that would’ve been me. Katsuki borrowed it for an assignment, and I hadn’t thought my theories were anything more than, well, theories, so you can imagine my surprise when I had a detective and underground Pro knocking at my door that night.”
“I don’t even want to think of that day.” Kirishima shudders at the memory. “But, damn. What I read in there was really something.”
Midoriya sends him an apologetic look. “Ah, I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“Nah, it’s cool. I’m just very glad to know that you’re using your powers for good.”
Sero and Kaminari nod in agreement at that. “Yeah, dude. I think we would totally be toast if you’d wound up working for the LoV.”
“Damn straight you’d be.” Katsuki gives them a menacing grin, and Kirishima can’t help but think that, had Midoriya become a villain, the blond would’ve most definitely followed him down that road as well. And hell if that isn’t scary to think about, so the red-head quickly shakes the thought off and focuses on Mina, who is now resting her chin on intertwined fingers, eyeing the greenet up and down.
“So, is that part of your quirk then?”, she asks, and Midoriya’s face falls a bit, but he doesn’t stop smiling. The way Katsuki’s jaw clenches lets her know, though, that the question might have struck something she didn’t intend to. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean-”
“No, no, it’s alright!”, Midoriya reassures her. “It’s just…I don’t have one.”
At that, the pink-hair’s brows furrow. “…you don’t have one?”
“I don’t.”
“Like, no powers at all?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what the definition of quirkless is, yes.”
And just like that, the heavy air is back in the building. Kirishima watches as Mina, who normally has a comeback for every sort of interaction be it positive or negative, sits back in her seat on the floor and snaps her mouth shut. Katsuki’s face hardens a bit. “Quit looking like he just told you he’s terminally sick or some shit.”
Even with that, it takes a good few seconds before any of the friends find the courage to speak again. “Sorry for being weird about it, dude.” Kaminari shrugs, uncertainty colouring his features. “It’s just not something you hear every day.”
“Neither is me telling you I got a damn boyfriend, and you swallowed that just fine.”
“Kacchan…”, Midoriya says, and like before, the blond falls back a little. “It’s okay. No one really knows how to take in that sort of information nowadays.”
Katsuki scoffs. He’s about to retort something, but before he can, Sero pipes up and asks, “is that why you didn’t tell us?”
Kirishima’s eyes fly towards his black-haired friend. His dark eyes are looking straight ahead at the couple before him, and Katsuki blinks at the question a few times before answering.
“Yeah. Big part of it, at least.” His red eyes travel back towards his boyfriend, who doesn’t meet his gaze. Midoriya does lean in a bit closer to him though, reminiscent of a child searching protection. “I know you morons are not the kinds of people to go against someone for shit they can’t control, but the risk is still there. The Quirkless experience shitloads of discrimination and are in constant danger of being put in harm’s way, both mentally and physically.”
There’s an underlying tone in his voice, Kirishima notes, that implies experience. He’s no doubt that Katsuki has born witness a lot of times to the things Midoriya must’ve been subjected to as a small child and teen, unable to fight back in a world rigged against him in every way possible. The red-head can’t help but stare at greenet’s swollen face, the cut on his cheek and the stains on the shirt he still hasn’t had the opportunity to change out of. It makes him wonder if, “is that what happened to your face?”
As soon as the question’s out, Kirishima bites his tongue – it’s insensitive, rude; but Midoriya just looks at him a little irritated before barking out a surprised laugh that has everyone looking at him in confusion.
“Ah, no,” he explains, chuckles immediately illuminating the atmosphere like a single firefly in a cave, “I slipped on a bit of soap on my way to the shower.”
----
Night falls over the city like a comforting blanket by the time Katsuki shuts the door behind his friends, small click resonating in the now empty hallway. The blond has to fight the urge to sink against the wall once all of them are out of the apartment; he feels heavy as lead, like his pockets have been filled to the brim with wet sand and rocks – but not in a negative way. It’s the sort of exhaustion that creeps up into one’s bones after getting something particularly important off of one’s chest.
And today had been exhausting alright; starting off strong with the fucking heart attack he sustained when Izuku damn near split his head open on the bathroom sink today, and then another one about twenty minutes later when he returned to the apartment from the pharmacy around the block only to find his friends standing around his lover as if he were a demon they’d just accidentally conjured. He’d be surprised had he not known these morons and their insatiable appetite for, as Mina would refer to it, Tea, for far too many months and years now. He loves them, truly (though he’d never admit to that, of course), but they do tend to…overstep, sometimes. And yet, even though Katsuki deems that to be one of their more aggravating qualities, he can’t help but feel a little glad at the fact that they broke into his house today.
Honestly, looking back on everything, all of their collective experiences during highschool, the blond doesn’t really see another way that all of this could’ve gone. They’ve never done anything without that thing involving some sort of absolute chaos, mess and destruction, the breaking down of walls and the subsequent building them up again – it’s how they function as a group, and it’s how they’ve been since the beginning and probably will be until the bitter end. Really, Katsuki is stupid for thinking his coming out slash relationship reveal could’ve worked without the help of a likely concussion and some good old breaking and entering.
The blond huffs a laugh at the sentiment. This is so stupid.
His forehead leans against the door. It’s nice and cool, perfect for warm nights like these. In the background, Katsuki can hear the shower running – Izuku had disappeared into the bathroom as soon as they were alone again. He’d come here straight from university, the icky feeling of stuffy lecture halls and sticky cafeteria tables still clinging to his skin, so he was more than happy to rid himself of the grime of college life via a nice bubbly soak. The sound of the water hitting the tiles has a relaxing element to it, almost like rain pitter-pattering against window panes during an autumn storm, and Katsuki finds his eyes slipping shut in order to just listen.
Everything is quiet around the apartment; it’s calm, comforting. Katsuki remains in his spot until he hears the water shutting off, then he pushes off the door and heads into the kitchen.
The living area’s floor lamp dimly illuminates the apartment, casting flickering shadows as he walks by, almost playfully. The appliances are bathed in yellowish light, too, as Katsuki steps in front of them in order to reach for a glass. He fills it with water and takes a long, slow sip, barely noticing the sound of footsteps coming from behind him before scarred, slender arms wrap around his middle and hold him close. A face burrows into his back, right between his shoulder blades, and it feels a little like getting a massage. Katsuki takes another swig, then sets down his cup and turns his head to peak down at his boyfriend.
The greenet’s not wearing his hearing aids, unruly curls stick to his forehead, still pretty wet. He’s getting the back of Katsuki’s shirt all damp, but the blond couldn’t care less.
He grabs his boyfriend’s hands, loosening them just enough so he can turn around and embrace the smaller man in a careful hug, then rest his chin atop of the dark locks. Izuku giggles beneath him.
“You’re so tall.”
Katsuki mumbles back, “you like it,” despite the greenet not being able to hear it and pokes his boyfriend’s cheek, who in response grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers. His voice is a little more serious when he speaks again, but still happy. “Today was…really something.”
The blond hums in agreement and scoots back a little so that he’s face to face with Izuku. Green eyes peer up at him. They’re a little red – he must’ve gotten soap in them earlier. “But I’m glad everything went so well.”
“Me too.” Katsuki’s careful to properly enunciate his words, to make it easier for Izuku to understand what he’s saying without him having to loosen the hand he has resting casually on the greenet’s lower back. It earns him a fond grin from the latter, and he smiles back.
For the first time in a while, Katsuki sleeps easy. He doesn’t dream of anything, isn’t startled awake by a beeping pager or drunken friends wanting to spend the night over at his place.
When he wakes, it’s to a gentle fingers carding through his hair as if it’s made of gold and another fidgeting with the cracking callouses on his thumb an heel of his hand. Izuku is wearing a shirt of Katsuki’s, an old grey thing he’s had since highschool, with a washed-out image on the front that’s grown completely indecipherable after the hundredth time in the washing mashine. It’s slipped off one of the greenet’s shoulders, exposing a freckled collarbone and a starburst scar, which is almost completely faded by now.
Despite the sun’s warmth beaming down on them through a gap in the curtains, their legs are entangled, skin to skin, and Katsuki indulges in a deep lungful of Izuku’s fruity shampoo before wrapping an arm around the man and pulling him even closer.
There is no doubt in his mind, none at all, that this is exactly where he belongs.