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“Can someone explain to me why I’m here?” Denki asked, dumping a box labeled “Linens, Box 1 of 3” on the sidewalk.
“Well, I know why me and Uraraka are,” Hanta answered, cutting off a piece of tape for his left elbow.
“Oh, geez, thanks, that really helped me figure things out,” Denki grumbled as he watched Hanta attach a long stretch of tape to the Linens box number 2.
“It’s pretty obvious, dude. We’re a much cheaper hire than proper movers.”
“That’s what they think.” Denki and Hanta turned around at the cheery sound of Ochako’s voice. “Just wait until they see the bill after all the sushi I’ll eat!”
“We’re getting sushi after this?” Eijirou asked, emerging from the back of the rental truck with two wrapped-up area rugs tucked securely under his arms.
“That’s the plan,” Hanta confirmed.
“Ya’re gettin’ squat if you’re just gonna stand ‘round like a buncha morons,” Katsuki promised, moving out of Eijioru’s way as he went inside the apartment building.
“Now, now, Kacchan, that’s not very helpful,” Izuku gently admonished. He grinned at their assembled friends as he trailed after Katsuki.
“Yeah, well, neither are they,” Katsuki huffed at Izuku.
“We should be glad anyone showed up at all.”
“We could’ve done it ourselves,” Katsuki muttered as he stalked towards the truck. In the same smooth motion he had been doing all day, he grabbed the pull-up handle and swung himself up and into the back of the truck.
Despite saying it under his breath, Izuku still heard him. And if he heard him, everyone heard him. He turned to their friends and dramatically rolled his eyes. Cupping one hand to his mouth, he stage-whispered, “It’s supposed to rain tonight.”
A chorus of “Ahhhs” answered him. If there were two things everyone knew about Katsuki, they were that he was incredibly whipped for Midoriya and that he hated the rain.
“I fuckin’ heard that!” Katsuki yelled from inside the truck.
“You were meant to!” Izuku sang back to him.
Incoherent Katsuki noises rumbled out of the truck, but Izuku ignored them. Now that he was able to get a better look at their belongings that had already been offloaded, and what was left in the half-emptied truck, he could do some quick trigonometry and figure out how much time it would take to get everything inside the apartment.
Izuku tilted his head to the side in thought and said loud enough for everyone to hear. “We'd better hurry up, or the sushi place might be closed.”
Silence reigned over the friend group; the only sound was a neighbor's dog barking from their yard.
And then, everyone was moving. Sero attached long strands of tape to every box he could see. Uraraka ran behind him, tapping any place her fingers could reach, engaging her quirk along the way. Denki gathered the tape strands as the boxes hovered a few inches off the ground.
Denki turned to Izuku and held out both arms. “Now what?” he asked, clenching his fists tightly so not one of the boxes could float off. “I don’t want to risk letting them all go when I pass them over.”
Izuku was thinking through fourteen possibilities when Eijirou shouted, “Up here!” from Katsuki and Izuku’s new balcony.
“Ochako, can you manage one more?” Izuku asked, genuinely concerned she was taken on too many objects for so long.
But he needn’t have worried, she already had a hand hovering over Denki’s shoulder, she was only waiting for Hanta to finish completing the band of tape encircling Denki’s waist.
Izuku’s mouth twisted up into a self-satisfied and proud grin as he watched Denki steadily rise up into Eijirou’s waiting arms. Once he was sure their stuff had made it inside, he made a comment on how amazing their quirks were, but then looked up at the vacant balcony and then back at them apologetically.
Before he could say anything, the two of them were making their way inside, promising to make sure Eijirou and Denki didn’t goof off too much.
Izuku thanked Hanta and Ochako for their hard work and made his way inside the truck.
“What’s that look for?”
“You see what a little positive motivation can do for teamwork?”
Katsuki sniffed derisively when Izuku hopped into the truck. “Seems pretty manipulative to me.”
“What? What’s more motivating than food?” Izuku laughed as a thought occurred to him. Katsuki knew he was in trouble when Izuku bent forward slightly to look straight into his downcast face. “It worked on you, didn’t it?”
Katsuki’s brows matched his lips in a frown. “Are you calling me ‘food motivated?’”
“That depends on what you like to eat,” Izuku said, purposefully bending over the nearest box, making sure to give Katsuki one of his admitted favorite views. When he heard no incoming barb or indignant scoff, he chanced a look over his shoulder. Whatever reaction he had been hoping to cause, he got as Katsuki stood there, tense and red-faced, clearly envisioning what Izuku looked like under his black shorts and hoodie. Izuku’s face split into a grin so wide it made his eyes close. Confident he had made his point, he moved into a proper crouch.
“You are too,” Katsuki said right behind him.
Izuku nearly dropped the last box of their linens at the unexpectedly close sound of Katsuki’s voice.
“What?”
“Food motivated,” Katsuki clarified. “Even for things that aren’t food.”
Izuku shivered at the deep timbre of Katsuki’s tone in his ear and was grateful that he was holding something shatterproof. If Katsuki were to touch him, Izuku was positive he would drop the box. “I’m not convinced. Could you tell me more?”
“Don’t you try ta’ play coy with me, Deku. I’m onto your schemes now.”
Izuku looked up to find Katsuki standing over him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Uh, huh. You think I don’t know why you prioritized settin’ up our bed first? Why you’re in such a hurry to get things inside? Should I let our friends know what else you wanna get inside?”
Izuku snorted.
“Or maybe, I oughta let you have me. Right here. Right now.”
Izuku sucked in a breath and straightened, turning around to face Katsuki.
“Kacchan, our friends will be back any second. And the truck is wide open. We could be arrested for indecency.”
Katsuki’s grin was dangerously gleeful. “What, you honestly think they don’t know the freaky shit you’re into? What a pervert you are! Who else would even care about the damn truck being open? It’s not like we’re plannin’ on doing anything. Much.”
Having long since learned not to let one of Katsuki’s challenges go unanswered, Izuku stepped into Katsuki’s personal space and hooked a finger around one of his belt loops, and pulled, tugging him closer. “And what if I’m in the mood for something a little different?”
There was a flash in Katsuki’s eyes as he pressed his forehead to Izuku’s. “Heh. We both know nothin’ ‘bout me is little.”
“Oh Gods, really? You two are the absolute worst,” Ochako groaned, her face red with embarrassed indignation. “Can you two quit flirting and help us move your things? We’re getting hungry.”
They both jolted at the interruption but didn’t pull away.
“Yeah,” Denki concurred. “We get it, you’re crazy in love. And living the dream together. Big deal.”
Eijirou appeared next to Denki. “Guys, seriously, if you want some alone time, you gotta help us move y’all in.”
That was the moment Izuku and Katsuki separated. “Sorry, sorry. You’re right.”
“And for the record, we all know you’re the bigger freak, Bakugou,” Sero added.
“Tch, whatever,” Katsuki took a step away from Izuku, but then seemed to rethink it and grabbed the front of Izuku’s hoodie and pulled him in for a kiss.
“Unbelievable,” Sero sighed.
Katsuki let Izuku go and licked his lips. “Alright, enough foolin’ ‘round. These boxes ain’t gonna unload themselves,” he said, pushing up his shirt sleeves, smirking at the round of derisive groans that met his ears.