Chapter Text
"Hey Hagakure," Izuku said, sliding up to his invisible classmate. She jumped, because how the hell did he notice her? "Why aren't you partying?"
It was the beginning of their third year, and it was Katsuki Bakugou's eighteenth birthday. The celebration (that Katsuki 100% did not ask for) was in full swing around them. "I'm on photo duty," she explained, holding her camera up. "Kiri thought that if he couldn't see the photographer, he'd be less likely to blow up the camera."
Izuku barked out a laugh but stifled it quickly—eyes flicking to Katsuki to make sure he hadn't heard. "Let me do it," he suggested. "You go enjoy yourself."
"But then you won't enjoy yourself, Green Bean," she replied hesitantly.
"Of course I will," he assured her. "I'm not really into crowds, I just like being nearby," he explained. Besides, it wasn't about him—it was about Katsuki. Katsuki probably wouldn't want to even look at his birthday photos if Izuku was in them, so the best way he knew how to appease his classmates with his presence and let Katsuki enjoy his birthday was to enjoy it from the sidelines and make sure that he didn't taint the memory.
Hagakure faltered. "Are you sure?" she asked, and the excitement in her voice steeled his resolve.
"Absolutely," he assured her, holding his hand out for the camera.
"Thanks, Mido!" she said, handing it over and giving him a quick hug. "Let me know if you wanna trade-off later, okay?"
"Sure," he agreed, smiling sweetly. As soon as she bounded away, turned on the screen on the back of the camera to flip through the photos she'd already taken. Thankfully, there were only two that had his face in full view and he wasted no time deleting them. It's not like they'd ever make it into a photo album.
The party had turned out really well. Izuku was glad he'd been there to subtly give suggestions because it had been headed toward catastrophe until he started nudging them in the right direction.
Instead of the skull-shaped vanilla passionfruit cake that had been on the menu, Sato had made a dark chocolate cayenne cake shaped and decorated like a grenade. Instead of red and black streamers, Izuku had pointed out how Katsuki chose military green or sunset orange whenever he wasn't wearing black.
When it came to activities, he steered them away from movies and dancing and toward party games that would appeal to Katsuki's competitive nature, from Twister to the new Hero Melee Battle Royale game.
Izuku caught all of it on camera—from the soft, pensive look on Katsuki's face before he blew out his candles to the manic grin on his face as he pummelled Sero and Kaminari in HMBR.
The only time Katsuki looked directly at him was during the group photo, and Izuku hid his face behind the camera immediately. He'd only been in his line of sight for ten seconds, and he was already scowling. The faster he got this over with, the faster Katsuki could go back to enjoying his birthday as though he weren't there. "Smile on three! One, two—"
"Wait, on three or after three?" Ashido interrupted.
"He said on three," Sero rolled his eyes.
"Whichever one works," Izuku assured them, eyes flicking to Katsuki who was already getting agitated.
"Can't even figure out a fucking photo," Katuski snapped, making Izuku flinch back. Dammit. "When you hear the nerd say three just keep fucking smiling until he says stop, it's not that fucking hard!"
"Ah, sorry, Kacchan," Izuku winced. "He's right—when I say three, smile! I'll take a few shots so that you can choose the best one." He lined up the camera again. "One, two, three!"
The class smiled, and Izuku took a few shots. Then, because he couldn't help himself, he zoomed in on Katsuki's relaxed, half-smile—the one that told him that he'd genuinely enjoyed himself—and took a final picture.
He might have to ask Hagakure to sneak him a copy.
By the time the party wound down, people had collapsed into post-sugar-high comas on the couch—most notably the Bakusquad, all of whom had fallen asleep across their leader as the latest All Might biopic played. Ashido and Kirishima both had their heads in his lap, and Sero and Kaminari were on the floor, leaning against his legs. Katsuki was awake, eyes on the screen. As subtly as he could, Izuku snuck to a better vantage point and took a final photo—of Katsuki relaxed with people he liked, enjoying the last few minutes of his birthday in peace. If Katsuki saw him, that tiny precious smile would vanish.
He returned the camera to Hagakure. "Thanks for taking over, Mido," she said, hugging him again. "I hope you had a good time, too!"
"I did!" he assured her, and he wasn't even lying. It was good to see Katsuki unwind for real. He hadn't been this relaxed in years—unable to really enjoy himself under the weight of the pressure he put on himself. "I'm actually gonna go back and steal some of that cake for later. It was awesome."
"It was!" she exclaimed. "I was worried that Sato might go overboard with the spice, but it was really nice! It was so nice of you to—"
Izuku shushed her hurreidly. If Katsuki was alert, they were technically still in hearing distance of the couches. He tilted his head in the direction of the hallway, indicating that she should follow. "I don't want him to know I had anything to do with this," he explained quietly. "It'll ruin it for him."
"Oh, come on," she chided. "You guys are way better than you were last year, and he had a really good time! I bet he'd be grateful," she insisted.
"I'd rather not take the chance, you know? He never gives himself a break, so I want him to just enjoy this without anything ruining it," he replied. Based on her arm movements, he assumed she was folding them sternly. "Really, it's not a big deal, I just gave some pointers and you guys did the rest, right?"
"Not really," she drawled. "He would have dipped right after the cake if it weren't for you."
"He would have dipped before the cake if he'd known that I planned it," he shrugged. "It's really not a big deal. As long as he had some fun for once, you know?"
Hagakure was silent for a long, tense moment. "Fine, I guess," she muttered. Izuku sighed in relief and turned to leave. "Hey, Mido?" he looked back. "He's really lucky you know. To have someone who loves him as much as you do, I mean. Who's willing to step aside to see them happy and make sure he gets everything he wants. People go their whole lives without that."
"I don't—"
"I don't mean it like that. Well, I do, but maybe you don't. Either way, he's lucky to have you. And someday he'll realize that. Hang in there, okay?"
He stared at the space above her shirt, heart beating a little too fast. He was too obvious. Not good. "Please don't worry about me, I'm really okay," he assured her. "I just like making other people happy."
"Just make sure it's not at the cost of your own happiness. It's okay to want things for yourself."
No, it wasn't. Not when it placed a burden on others. Not when it would ruin any progress he'd made with Katsuki. He couldn't risk wanting anything, because everything he wanted would only end up further away. "I will," he lied. "Goodnight, Hagakure."
He had one more thing to do before he went to bed, and preferably before Katsuki woke his friends and stormed up to his room.
Carefully, he unearthed an envelope from his desk drawer. Inside, there were five open-dated tickets and a travel itinerary. A week-long trip to Daisetsuzan, the largest national park in Hokkaido. He'd gotten All Might's help in securing the gift—one of the people he'd saved owned an onsen near one of the major peaks. He could take some friends on a hiking trip during their next break.
He slipped it under Katsuki's door—unsigned with no note—before heading to bed.
He knew he was torturing himself. He knew, okay? But ever since Katsuki had left on his trip to Hokkaido with the Bakusquad, he'd been glued to Ashido's Instagram to see if they were having a good time.
They were. They were having the best time, and he was so glad. There were even photos of Katsuki grinning—wild and excited as he looked out over the landscape from the peak.
Izuku saved it. Then he decided that wasn't enough, and he downloaded it. He couldn't help it. He wanted to see that feral smile every day, and he knew he wouldn't see it in his presence any time soon, if ever.
One night, halfway through the trip, Kirishima called him. "Hello?" he answered hesitantly.
"Hey man, thanks. We're having a great time," Kirishima told him.
Izuku paused. "Why are you thanking me?"
Even the silence sounded pitying. Because everyone and their damn mothers had figured out how Izuku felt about Katsuki. Except for Katsuki, of course. "Bakubro might pretend that he doesn't know who got him this trip, but we're not stupid, dude. You're the only one who would have known he'd like something like this."
"Hey, it could have been his parents," Izuku denied.
"Slipped under the door?" he asked in disbelief.
"If he saw a letter from his mom, he would have blown it up. Maybe I'm just the messenger."
"Mido."
Izuku sighed. "Yeah, fine. Just...don't tell him, all right? He'll just get irritated, and I wanted to do something for his birthday that he'd actually enjoy."
"I think you're underestimating him, dude. You've totally repaired your relationship by now, and he likes having you around—"
"Kiri, please don't," Izuku stopped him. If he liked having me around, I'd be on that trip. He shook that thought away. He hadn't gotten him the tickets hoping that Katsuki would take him. He'd gotten them knowing that he wouldn't.
"I'm just saying dude, no one is closer to him than you are. I don't think you're giving your relationship enough credit."
"There is someone closer to him than me. There are eighteen, actually. Well seventeen, he hates Mineta—"
"Is that Mido?" Ashido squealed. Izuku heard a tussle which turned out to be Ashido stealing the phone from Kiri. "Oh my god, this onsen is amazing! How on earth did you afford it?"
"I didn't."
She scoffed. "Okay, then how did the magic birthday fairy afford it?"
Izuku huffed a laugh. "The magic birthday fairy might have asked All Might for some ideas, and All Might might have gone overboard," he admitted. "Where's Kacchan, why are you guys talking to me?"
"It's 10 PM, Mido," she replied, a little incredulous. "Blasty fell asleep an hour ago."
Some of the tension in Izuku's spine drained. "Oh."
"Seriously, Mido, this place is amazing. Since Kat probably won't say it," Izuku tried not to flinch at the nickname—the fresh closeness that he'd probably never have. "Thank you for this. It's been a blast."
"Kinda wish you were here to tell us all the tiny details about every plant and animal," Kaminari said from somewhat far away. Izuku actually did flinch at that. He wasn't there because Katsuki had chosen the people who were actually close to him.
"Shut up, dude," Kirishima hissed, followed by a muffled whack.
"It's fine, I'm glad you guys are having a good time," he said, smiling despite himself. "Make sure you take lots of pictures. If you send them to me, I'll make sure they get to Kacchan's parents so he can't delete them."
"Good idea!" Ashido squealed. "I had to change my password twice so that he wouldn't raid my Instagram."
"I'll look forward to them," he chuckled softly. "I'm gonna head to bed, guys. I have a patrol pretty early tomorrow."
"Okay! Night, Mido!"
"Thanks again, Green Bean!"
Ashido texted him almost sixty photos as he got ready for bed. She'd always been a little shutter-happy. "Holy crap," he muttered as he scrolled through them. He paused on a photo of Katsuki taking a break on a hiking trail—shirt off and smiling as he passed his bottle to Kaminari (who looked like he was dying).
He was beautiful.
Another text came through—autoscrolling away from the picture and demanding his attention.
He's lucky to have you Broccolini, and he knows it. Someday he'll show it too, I promise.