Chapter Text
The Pillow (Deku) to The Humper (Dehisa)
The Humper: get ready to GO bitch
The Humper: Kats has smth for us
The Pillow: he does????
The Pillow: Weird
The Pillow: Normally he doesn't
The Humper: come one deks
The Humper: Its a break from ua aint it?
The Humper: And that's nice
The Pillow: it is 🥹
The Pillow: I am glad
The Pillow: It's just
The Pillow: Kinda nervous for kariage and kacchan???
The Humper: no, i get it
The Humper: But it's ok
The Humper: They big bois
The Pillow: yeah
The Pillow: Can you pick me up?
The Humper: sure make the poor dude do it
The Pillow: … i am also poor, Dehisa. At least you have money from criminal mindings
The Humper: thanks deks
The Humper: Yeah ill be there
The Humper: Tomorrow at 4 ok
The Pillow: yeah great
The Pillow: Do you know where kacchan wants us to go?
The Humper: it's a surprise! 🫡
The Pillow: 😮💨
The Pillow: can you wear the shirt?
The Humper: yeah yeah
The Humper: ttyl deks ❤
Izuku pressed his hands together as he took three long, successive breaths, trying to calm his nerves.
In ten minutes, Dehisa is going to pick him up.
In ten minutes, Izuku is going to follow Dehisa to god-fucking-knows where (Izuku certainly doesn't, thank you very much).
In ten minutes, he's going to let his two worlds combine again.
It hadn't gone well the first time, with Katsuki and Kariage. It was too awkward and their merry reveal too abrupt. Izuku was, of course, happy—esctatic, even!—for Kacchan and Kariage, but—
It definitely could've gone better.
Izuku had been planning on slipping out quietly to meet up with De and just go on to the middle of fucking nowhere, but Uraraka, who'd had a look in her eyes since the whole Katsuki/Kariage thing, stuck to his side like glue and didn't look ready to leave.
"Izuku?" she asked, "is something wrong?" She didn't bother to be quiet (because why would she) so almost everyone around them turned to look.
Izuku shook his red face, trying to hide. "I'm fine," he mumbled, feeling his tongue move faster than his thoughts, "bu' 'm gonna meet a friend an' he—" his accent always slipped up when he was nervous.
He could tell because Uraraka's face had gone stormy.
"Like the people who Bakugou is friends with?" she said it like a curse.
(Izuku knew that she didn't like them, but he also knew that the others who didn't like them were at least civil. And Jirou and Kirishima and some others had followed them to the party—they were obvious, even to Izuku—and they didn't really say anything negative!)
"Well—" he coughed, trying to distract her. "Um, I'm also—they're—we're—I'm kinda friends with 'em too." He bit back the following ya know, knowing that it wouldn't go down well with her.
"I see," she said tightly. Her voice was light—too light for this. "They're so much better, right?"
"Nah, they're no'!" Izuku protested, "they're jus'...my friends. Yeah?"
"Yeah," she muttered, but she turned away from him. "Look—Izuku, I…" she fished her phone out in an obvious excuse, "shit, I have to go!"
"It's okay," he tried to give her an innocent smile. He didn't think he succeeded by her wince. "Have—have fun, okay?"
"Yeah!" she called, and basically bolted.
He sighed.
If she wanted to be like that…
His phone rung—like, actually. (Not fake. Not like Uraraka's.)
The Humper: I'm outside ;)
Izuku swallowed his smile before sprinting out, merging with the crowd of students rushing out.
His eyes caught onto a blue 2010 Mazda 3 fairly quickly—not to mention its pulled-back roof, (illegally) made permanent to look more sporty.
It was Dehisa's car and had been Izuku's getaway more than once.
Dehisa smiled at Izuku as he tossed his bag in and hopped into the front seat, dialing down the dusty radio. He's swearing the shirt—the one that says Deku's Hump Pillow, worn and used and faded in some points—and it makes Izuku's heart swell. (Weird.)
"Bad day?"
"Not tha' bad," he said, rolling down the window to enjoy the air. "Where're we goin'?"
"Somewhere far 'way," Dehisa said as he nearly ran over a curb.
"Jesus, De—!"
"Chill, Deku, it ain't so bad!"
They flew faster than the city sights, passing the parks and buildings that made up general Musutafu before they broke out of the city.
"Yer goin' hecka fast," Izuku mumbled as Dehisa drove, humming alongside the country album he'd randomly picked. "Is this even good?"
"Hey, don' diss la música!"
Izuku snorted as Dehisa slammed his foot on the break pedal and they both went flying forwards. "What's yer obsession with Spanish, anyway?"
"None ya beeswax," Dehisa sniffed haughty, "'specially if ya judge my drivin'."
"Sorry, sorry, princess."
"Fucker!"
"Yeah, yeah," Izuku said absentmindedly.
Dehisa's driving wasn't good by any means, but—
"Holy—De, break!"
"Hol' yer 'orses!" Dehisa barked as he, yet again, slammed the breaks.
Izuku watched in relief as the deers finished crossing the empty road. He looked around, the smell of freshly cut grass sharp in his nose, at the seemingly-abandoned countryside. "...Where are we goin', De?"
Dehisa sent the car smoothly into parallel parking between a dumpster and stacks of lumber. He jumped out of the door and Izuku was quick after him, rolling his shoulders to release the pent-up tension.
"I think we're pickin' up flowers for Kari, from Kats," Dehisa hummed. "It's an orchard, idiot."
"Why'm I 'ere?" Izuku pulled up next to Dehisa.
"Kats said ya wanted ta get out—needed ta."
"Oh…"
"Say 'thank ya'," Dehisa snorted, "c'mon, let's go get it. 'E said it'sa old lady."
Izuku smiled as Dehisa slung an arm over his shoulder. "Thanks, De."
"Always, Deks."
They walked side by side, catching each other up on the drama (holy shit was Yume getting up to some escapades) as the cooling wind ruffled their hair.
"...awrigh', where is she?"
"We can keep lookin', Dehisa," Izuku said mindlessly as he stared at the trees that filled the orchard. "Are we also gettin' flowers?"
"Nah, ya think I'm doin' the romance stuff for Kari? That bitch has 'imself a boyfie and is gettin' laid, Deku. Ain't doin' shit for 'im."
Izuku swallowed a laugh, muffling it with his fist shoved in his mouth. Dehisa eyed him and Izuku was suddenly reminded of what Katsuki had said whenever something like this happened and Izuku complained to Kacchan: he wants it to be his dick in your mouth, idiot.
And, well.
That doesn't really help his situation here, does it?
Izuku turned around to look at more flowers and jumped.
"Holy—" he managed to cut himself off. "Um, hi?"
"Hello!" the small, old lady said cheerfully. At this point, Dehisa had also turned and jumped in the slightest bit of shock.
Still, he caught himself earlier than Izuku did and gave her a charming smile—the kind only reserved for people he was going to con or for old people (or, often, both).
(While Izuku was thinking "oh my god! Scary grandma that popped up out of nowhere," Dehisa was thinking: "holy shit it's Deku if he was a girl and elderly!")
"'Ello! Yer orchards are a beauties!" Izuku knew that Dehisa was laying the flattery a bit thick, but the old lady just smiled.
"Are ya here for an order?"
"Yeah," Dehisa said, somehow procuring a small slip of paper. "Name Katsuki, order 4952-304."
The woman nodded, still looking delighted: her thin, papery lips spread over teeth that had sunk into many happy meals in her life, forming a wide smile that sang of years. "That is good," she said, "I don't see many boyfriends coming 'ere together."
Oh.
Izuku flushed immediately, his cheeks now a bottly red color. "Oh, we're not—"
Dehisa winked, smoothly elbowing Izuku's side. "I aim to impress," he said haughtily, "Izu here has been with me for years."
The lady cooed, passing Dehisa the bouquet of flowers—the one for Kariage.
Kariage, Izuku had to remind himself, not for me.
He forced out a fake laugh, a pitch too high.
She turned around to work with some papers, and Izuku elbowed Dehisa's side and hissed, "What are you doin'?"
"Wha'?" Dehisa shrugged back, giving Izuku's hair a toss. Izuku just glared back. Dehisa sighed—he had that expression on his face, the one that said he didn't really care, but his hands were wringing the bottom of his T-shirt anxiously, pushing away any and all "what-ifs" that Izuku might've had about his feelings. "'M not messin' with 'er—Deks, she looked so happy when she hear'! It made 'er feel betters."
"It did," Izuku agreed begrudgingly, taking the bouquet from Dehisa's hands. "Let's not lie, though, okay?"
"I didn' lie," Dehisa shrugged, "jus'...ommitted—oh, thanks!" he took the bill. "Deks, ya have—?"
"'Ere." Izuku gave the lady some money that he'd nicked off Katsuki a while back—it wasn't much and Katsuki would've given it to him anyway, like a bribe, so Izuku didn't feel bad at all—plus a bit of a "tip" for dealing with them.
"We shoul' get goin'," Dehisa whispered under his breath to Izuku, who nodded.
"Have a good day!" she waved after them.
The way back was mostly quiet, though Dehisa had turned on music—an old mix that Izuku had once admitted to liking under pressure, attempting to be cool but not too hip, but Dehisa had somehow memorized and played every time they met up. They were both humming under their breaths as their hair was ruffled by the wind, blasting the music as they soared by the mini-countryside.
When they started to reach the more populated areas, Izuku turned down the volume, watching Dehisa out of the side of his eyes as he did so.
Dehisa didn't say anything; his humming got louder until he was fully saying the words, but that was that.
When Dehisa dropped him off—with chocolate that Izuku wasn't completely sure where he got it from—Izuku was happy.
Happy.
It had turned to a foreign feeling, without anyone he really knew in UA besides Kacchan, but spending time with Dehisa like this—had been nice.
Shyly, Izuku asked, "Can we do it again?"
Dehisa flashed him a wide smile, teeth and all, genuine. "Jus' call me, Deks," he said warmly.
"Alright, I will."
"An' I'll be waitin' for ya calls, Deks."
"Tonight, De?"
"Sure, darlin'."
Izuku willed his cheeks not to flush and gave Dehisa his goodbye.
At night, Izuku definitely didn't sit in his bed, staring at his ceiling as the clock crept towards one, his memories full of his two-hour-long FaceTime with Dehisa and the rest of the day.
As he fell asleep, Izuku thought: God, I missed him.
It was like he was living on prayers—and those prayers were Dehisa's words and gestures.