Archive of Our Own ^beta

Katsuki was uncomfortable… He wasn’t often uncomfortable, but this, this did it.

Thankfully, his state went unnoticed since so was every single person either involved or listening to the conversation happening between Mina and Izuku. Because no one, including the two talking, seemed comfortable with this.

Katsuki's phone was on the table in front of him, unlocked and open to a phone call that they shouldn’t have answered. A call that he definitely shouldn’t have immediately put on mute, and then on speaker so that Sero, Todoroki, Kaminari, Shinsou, and Kirishima could listen as well.

It was a call that shouldn’t have been made in the first place, and the single Alien emoji that shined back at him from the screen should have known better as well. 

Mina had texted him about ten minutes ago, and it had said, “You need to hear this, stay on mute, don’t tell them I did this,” and then her call had come through.

He had told the group he was with what she had said, and Kaminari had leaned in with a look on his face like someone had given him a cake when it wasn’t his birthday. Now even his face was pinched in concern.

Mina wasn’t talking to them. She knew they were all together, all of them were supposed to hang out tonight but apparently, the girls of their class at UA were having a “sleepover”. It had been over five years since they graduated but the girls still got together, still close friends.

Of course, Mina had stayed better friends with Katsuki and the rest of their group. She had been closer to them as well in school but she had always loved her other friends. Now though, this was one of those things where she was very clearly communicating where her loyalties lie as she secretly called Katsuki, knowing all of her friends were together.

Katsuki could tell that the group on the other side of the call was at least a little sloshed. Which was probably what had led to what was going on. 

Katsuki could hear Uraraka and Mina talking to Izuku, who was also not at the party but had been called as well, although publicly in his case. From what Katsuki could tell the group of girls had even put Izuku on speakerphone. 

Then Mina had called Katsuki so he and the rest of his friends could listen, and he very quickly realized why.

“No, I’m sorry, I realize this is totally out of left field! But it was just a question I had always wondered about you know? So I asked Ochako and she said she didn’t know so we’re calling you! You absolutely don’t have to answer and like… especially in front of everyone you know?”

Izuku laughed on the other end of the line but Katsuki could tell it was forced, and a little nervous. It was annoying really, it had probably been over a year since he and Izuku had a conversation with any substance, nothing more than a passing hello, and he could still read Izuku this well through two separate phone calls and two crowded rooms. 

Katsuki knew that Izuku didn’t want to be having this conversation, but he still replied to Mina with a, “No, it’s fine, it’s just a hard question to answer, you know?”

“You’ve got good reasons, Midoriya! Bakugou wasn’t always nice to you-” Ah, they were talking about him, great. At least her voice was gentle, her tone empathetic.

“-And so for a while, we thought that was it. The friends of a guy who gives you a bunch of shit are probably not your first choice in friends but… You still stuck by him, like we did, you know?” He couldn’t shake a single one of those assholes until he figured out that apparently, Izuku had about a twenty-year limit putting up with him.

“And after school when you guys were working together at Endeavor’s agency, I mean- I feel like you two were getting closer, but you still didn’t want to hang with us.” 

That was what she was asking him then, and what she had tried to ask Uraraka. Why Izuku and her were never close friends, why Izuku and all of Katsuki’s friends were never close. 

It wasn’t that Izuku was ever rude to them, and no one would argue whether or not he was friends with them all, of course they were friends. But they weren’t close, and Izuku rejected any of Katsuki’s friend’s advances to make them closer. Eventually, his group kind of gave up trying to get Izuku to hang out with them, even one on one. 

Mina had asked Katsuki why before, he hadn’t been able to give her an answer. It sounds like she tried to find it again through Uraraka and didn’t get an answer… and was now trying a final time by calling Izuku directly.

“Oh no Mina, I’m so sorry! I swear I never meant to make you feel that way,” Katsuki could hear Izuku’s rushed reply, quick to try to assure her even though it was just a theory.

“It’s nothing any of you did, really, I was just... “ He trailed off, and Katsuki thought he heard him sigh, “I was a little jealous I guess, and that’s not something any of you should blame yourselves for. That’s- I mean it really is just my problem, it’s not Kacchan’s fault either.”

“You’re jealous of us?” Mina asked, but she didn’t take much of a break before she continued, “You were jealous that Bakugou was our friend and not yours.” The second part wasn’t a question, it was an affirmation, a realization.

“Yes,” Izuku replied. Katsuki didn’t look away from the phone on the table in front of him, but he could see on the edges of his vision Sero and Kaminari sharing a look, and Kirishima shaking his head, a contrast to a calm Shinsou and stone-faced Todoroki.

“I doubt that Kacchan talked about it much but we didn’t just grow up together, we were really good friends when we were really little, before- um, well before school,” Izuku didn’t say it, even at this moment he was trying to make sure Katsuki looked good, giving him more credit than he deserved.

Because they had been friends before they’d gotten, and not gotten their quirks. 

Because they were supposed to be heroes together, and Izuku ruined it. 

Because Izuku had extended a hand when he was little to help, and Katsuki had internalized the action for another fifteen years.

“Our moms are still best friends because we insisted on spending so much time together.” They were, anything personal about Izuku these days Katsuki learned through another hero or through his mother relaying information from her time spent with Auntie Inko. The two were an unlikely pair of friends but… he supposed he and Izuku had no right to criticize.

“My mom would watch us when Kacchan’s parents were doing their work events and Kacchan’s parents would watch us when they weren’t working so we were usually together. He was my first friend and my best friend, and after we weren’t friends anymore I had a… hard time accepting that.”

Some of the girls in the room were making sympathetic noises as Izuku spoke. Mina’s were the loudest and the hardest for Katsuki to listen to.

“I spent most of my life just sort of… forcing myself into Ka- into Bakugou’s space.” 

No one missed the switch from nickname to last name. Katsuki hated the way it sounded in Izuku’s voice.

“I was chasing the friendship we had as kids instead of just letting it go, and let me tell you I chased,” Izuku laughed humorlessly, and he had to clear his throat after like he was choking up.

“I just, um… I just wanted to be his friend, and that was more important to me than respecting the boundaries that he very clearly put in place. But… but then Kirishima and Kaminari did it, you know? They just followed him around, placed themselves in his life, and he… he let them. And then you and Sero joined in and the five of you were so close and you had all done it with the exact same method that I had been trying for ten years. Just sort of keeping yourself in his life until he let you stay, that was what I had always hoped would happen, and it was… hard to see it work so easily for someone else.”

The girls were quieter now, and the room around Katsuki was deadly silent

“That’s why I’m saying you really shouldn’t blame yourself for it, none of you did anything wrong you just… succeeded where I couldn’t, and I realized then that it wasn’t about how hard I thought I was trying, it was just… because it was me you know?” 

‘Because it was me’ yeah, of course it was different with Izuku. It had always been different with him, that wasn’t bad.

“Bakugou’s friends when we were younger were assholes with flashy quirks and that hurt because I knew I was nothing like them. But then we were both at UA and the four of you…” 

The four of them had quirks that were special and impressive, and none of them were as strong as Izuku's. But Katsuki had told Izuku his entire life that he was worthless because he didn’t have a quirk, and once he did have a quirk, one that was better than most, Katsuki’s tone with him hadn’t changed much.

“You pushed through his boundaries because he let you. But he’s had those since the beginning, and technically, we all should have respected them, but I never could and eventually, the weight of it all caught up to me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t give us the chance to be closer friends Mina because I know that we all could have been really good friends and I made that difficult,” Izuku’s voice cracked on the last word and he stopped speaking.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Mina told him, her voice loud in comparison to Izuku’s, enough to almost startle Katsuki, but as loud as it sounded to him it was still kind. “I understand, I guess I had always assumed that if it was just because of Katsuki you still would have been close to the rest of us but this- it makes sense.”

Izuku didn’t reply, but Katsuki could picture him nodding his head to agree with her. 

He wondered where Izuku was and what he was doing. 

Did he still live at that place by the river? Was he sitting at home, or was he taking a break out on patrol? Had he eaten dinner yet? It was late at night but Izuku was notoriously shit at taking care of himself and might not have remembered to eat yet.

Even though Katsuki could picture the expressions he had, and Katsuki knew how he was probably feeling, Katsuki was mad that he couldn’t picture him. Was the new scar on his chin that Katsuki saw on his face at the ranking ceremony four months ago still so red and shiny? Did he finally let his undercut grow back out? 

The last time Katsuki had seen it Izuku’s hair had been a fucking mess. It had looked like Izuku had tried to clean it up himself with a pair of shitty clippers and a mirror that must have once been a fucking clown mirror. 

Katsuki had been trimming it, had, until Izuku had stopped asking him to.

He would make Izuku sit on his toilet and he would pull his soft dark green hair up on top of his head into the dumbest little ponytail. Katsuki would stand between his legs and he’d tilt his head from side to side as he slowly shaved the undercut into those curls.

Izuku would always buy them takeout as a thank you. 

Once Izuku had even eaten while Katsuki had given him his haircut. Katsuki remembered it so clearly because he had made a comment about what Izuku had been eating and without being asked Izuku had gotten a piece of the food and held it up with his chopsticks. Katsuki, who had his hands full at the time had leaned down and let Izuku feed him the food. He had then gone right back to what he was doing, in hopes that Izuku hadn’t seen his blushing face.

But that had last been around two years ago, and Katsuki assumed that the butchered state his hair had been in the last time Katsuki saw him was Izuku’s own fault. He hoped Izuku had left it alone… he hoped more that Izuku would just call him to come and fix it.

“Can I ask one more question?” Mina’s voice was still kind when she spoke again.

Izuku breathed out a heavy breath, it wasn’t a sigh, it felt more like him trying to get a hold of himself before he spoke, “Yeah, Mina, of course, you can ask me anything.”

“After school, you and Bakugou were working together and you were really close. And then even after Bakugou took on that sidekick gig for a while you were still super close and then you saw each other less and less, and then there was nothing and… I mean you know it’s hard to tell with him, but it seemed like losing you was hard for him like- it’s still hard for him even though it’s been a couple of years.”

Katsuki did not need Mina spreading his shit out for her friends to hear but she wasn’t wrong, and he knew she was using it as a bargaining chip. Her subverted way of saying ‘but you finally got Katsuki to be your friend too and then you just let go? Why?’

“Do you think so? It didn’t seem like a hardship on him,” Izuku’s reply wasn’t angry but it was sharper than his earlier words had been.

Mina was right, it was hard on him. They had been through so much over the twenty years they had been together. The last few years had been filled with them getting each other through emotional pain, supporting each other in battle, and being vulnerable around each other in a way Katsuki could never be with anyone like he could with Izuku. 

He had been so worried when he had switched jobs. They had been working together at Endeavor’s agency out of school but the sidekick gig with Mirko was the perfect opportunity. They both had known he’d be an idiot to pass it up, so he’d said yes. But despite his worries that not seeing each other every day at work would drive them apart, they had been closer than ever. After Katsuki left they had their individual jobs to talk about when they met up for dinners, or when Katsuki dropped by Izuku’s place on their days off, or hell if Katsuki was stationed nearby they’d even share breaks. 

And then something changed. Katsuki had thought about it for an unfortunate amount of time in the years it had been since their friendship had snuffed out. He tried to figure out what the something was. Was it something he did? Something he said? Was it work? Was it hero politics?

Izuku had started asking about dinner less and less, he had stopped taking Katsuki’s days off as an invitation to come over. For a while, they had been still working out at the same times in the same gym but even there Izuku asked him to spar less and less, and eventually started coming in during the evenings after his shifts instead of in the mornings before, when they could go together. 

Katsuki tried to switch a few times, to be there at the same time Izuku was coming, but it didn’t matter, they barely saw each other anyway.

Years, he’d spent years now wondering why he’d lost Izuku, and the knowledge that he was about to find out twisted his guts enough to shorten his breath, to make him sweat.

“It was hard on him, Midoriya, I promise you that-” Izuku snorted from the other phone, it interrupted her and Izuku immediately checked his behavior.

“I’m so sorry Mina, that was so rude! I just, I’m not mad, I just don’t… I’m sorry, I really am, I just don’t believe you.” Anyone listening could tell that Izuku tried to say those last few words as gently as possible. 

Everyone knew it wasn’t Mina’s fault Izuku didn’t believe her, it was Katsuki’s. Or, in Izuku’s mind, it was probably just his own fault. Since he’d so far blamed everything else on himself and his feelings.

“What happened, Midoriya?” Mina asked carefully, trying to bring him back on track.

This time Izuku did sigh before he spoke, “With you and your friends I learned that Katsuki could and did want friends like all of you. And that the method of sticking around and asking him to be friends with you could be successful. But I think it took me a while to process that and it started to make me realize that I wasn’t Katsuki’s friend like the rest of you were, our relationship was… different.”

Of course it was different, how could it not be? After everything they’d been through and all of the years they had known each other, of course, it was different.

“The reason we’re not friends anymore is my fault too, well, kind of I guess- I don’t know maybe it’s just for the best,” He paused and Katsuki could feel his friends around him and the girls in the room held their breath.

“I noticed once that he asked Kirishima to go pick something up with him across town the next day. And that stood out to me, not-! Not because I had a problem with him doing something with Kirishima!” Izuku clarified in a rush, still trying to convince Mina that his distance from their friends had never been their fault. “But, it had made me try to think of the last time he asked me to do something with him, you know?”

Katsuki felt like the knot in his stomach was now free-falling, like the bottom just gave out.

“And then he asked Shinsou to go get drinks with him, and then I really thought about it, you know. It was never ever Ka- Bakugou who asked me to spend time with him. It was always me just… making him spend time with me. Forcing a friendship on him like I’d done our entire lives.” 

Katsuki could hear the pain in Izuku’s voice.

“When you mentioned that new horror movie, he asked you to go see it with him, and when Sero and Todoroki went to that concert together, he asked if he could join them. Once I was paying attention to it I couldn’t stop myself from hearing it. Every time he asked someone else if he could spend time with them all I could think of was how I’d never heard that from him.

“So I… I stopped trying to initiate things. I wanted to see if he would just ask me to do something, anything. I could even- fuck, I would even lead him to things!” Katsuki knew he was right, he remembered.

Because it had hurt, Izuku cutting their tethers and slowly letting him out to sea. But Katsuki didn’t know that Izuku thought he had been trapped. And Katsuki could have used his own sail to catch up if he hadn’t been so used to relying on Izuku’s work.

“We hadn’t sparred recently, and when it would have been the perfect time for it he came up to me and said that we hadn’t sparred in a while and he asked me what was wrong with me. I told him nothing was wrong and that I could spar whenever he just needed to let me know when he wanted to. He walked away like he was mad at me because I wasn’t sparring with him when I told him he needed to just ask me. I practically begged him to, and that wasn’t the only time!”

It wasn’t the only time. Moments from back then were lighting up in Katsuki’s head like a fucking pinball machine. As they had started spending less and less time together, they had spent more time talking about things they could do together. Izuku would bring up a new restaurant he wanted to go to, but they wouldn’t end up going to it. He would talk about a new show like he wanted him and Katsuki to sit down and watch it, but when they were together he didn’t bring it up again.

It was all because he wanted Katsuki to just ask him. He wanted Katsuki to take the barest level of initiative and ask him to do something. 

But Katsuki hadn’t noticed. Katsuki had only seen him pulling away, and he had let him go because after everything he had put Izuku through in this lifetime if Izuku didn’t want to be around him, Katsuki wouldn’t force him to be.

“I think I noticed it at the beginning of last year? I haven’t really spent time with him since the end of that summer. So it took about six months, in six months he didn’t ask me to do a single thing with him, and so I stopped trying too.”

Izuku didn’t sound sad anymore, he sounded tired.

“I was either completely carrying our friendship with no support from him and I wasn’t being appreciated, or I gave him exactly what he wanted and finally left him alone. Either way, you can’t convince me it was the wrong choice.”

The silence that followed was heavy because everyone knew he was right, even Bakguou knew he was right. 

“If he wanted to talk to you, would you say yes?”

Katsuki was surprised that the voice that broke the silence was Jirou. When she didn’t get an immediate reply she tried again, “If Bakugou wanted to have a relationship with you where he carried as much of the weight as you did, where he was there for you, would you hear him out?”

Katsuki could picture Izuku again, shaking his head before speaking because his voice had changed, right back into that tone it lived in when he was about to defend Katsuki’s life choices, “That’s not fair, he has been there for me, he was there for me! I wouldn’t have made it out of UA without him, I wouldn’t have been where I am now in my career if he hadn’t been there for me. He’s- we’re still friends.”

Were they? Maybe Katsuki just hated that they were the worst version of friends they could possibly be. 

He knew what it felt like after a long day to sit in a late-night cafe eating a sandwich while his legs were spread under the table tangled in Izuku’s. He knew what it felt like to be pressed against Izuku’s side on a too-small couch, the two of them in sweats and slippers working their way through a movie marathon. 

Katsuki missed that closeness every day and was unsurprised to learn that he could have solved this problem.

Now he only saw Izuku in crowded debriefing rooms, across the middle of the battlefield, or standing at his side at the hero ranking events. Japan’s number two hero, just happy to stand next to the number one. That wasn’t friendship, that was a fucking work colleague.

Katsuki remembered when they had been spending time together that up close Izuku has the smallest freckle on the soft skin under the corner of his left eye. Katsuki had dreams where he’d cup Izuku’s face and his thumb would perfectly rest on that freckle. 

Sometimes he’d dream of touching that freckle, and in his dream, the two of them would be laying in bed together, panting and relaxed. He always woke from those dreams sweating and ashamed at the reaction his dick had to what looked like a soft and tender moment.

That was happening during the peak of their friendship… but it didn’t seem like a just friends thing. He hadn’t wanted to make Izuku uncomfortable then, not with his growing desire to be closer and closer to Izuku. 

But, there had been times when he’d thought those feelings had been returned. 

Moments late at night when Izuku had woken up from a nap on Katsuki’s shoulder to give him the sweetest look. Their faces would be close together and Izuku’s face would be soft with sleep. But Katsuki was never brave enough, he always pulled away, and after Izuku started to pull away completely they stopped having those moments in general.

“He’s not interested in being friends with me, Jirou, he’s never been interested.” 

Izuku’s words were final, and they were wrong.

“Deku, you know that’s not true,” Uraraka started. Round Cheeks herself, one of Izuku’s best friends, but Katsuki knew this wasn’t something that Izuku was going to be convinced otherwise of, and then Izuku confirmed that.

“It doesn’t matter, okay? I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you of all people. I’m done wasting my time and Kacchan’s trying to force a friendship between us. I’m done. If he wants to talk to me he can, but if he wanted to talk to me I would have heard from him.”

The room of people he knew were listening to the call didn’t argue with him.

“I answered Mina’s question, that’s fine but I’m not looking for a therapy session. I don’t want to talk about this anymore, okay? I just got home from a shift, I need to shower, I need to eat, and this isn’t how I want to spend my Saturday night. I’m gonna go.”

Katsuki was pretty sure that most of the people in that room didn’t really know how to reply or what to say. But everyone did know that Izuku worked too hard, and wore himself too thin, and that if he did just get off a shift he really did need a shower and some food, and if getting off the phone would convince him to take care of himself they would let him do it.

“You’re right,” Jirou started, “If Bakugou isn’t going to put as much energy into things as you do then it’s not worth your time.”

Katsuki heard Izuku make a noise, and not one that he could interpret as positive or negative.

“I hope he pulls his head out of his ass, you deserve it, you both do, but he hasn’t, and I understand why talking about it is hard,” Mina added, “Thank you though, for answering my questions, Midoriya.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Mina,” Izuku’s voice was quiet when he spoke again, and he did sound tired, very tired.

She laughed gently, “I told you, you don’t have to be sorry! It was the answer I should have expected, and you let me know if you want to get together and grab a coffee or something one of these days, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, I’d like that. I’ll text you.”

“Okay, I’m looking forward to it! Have a good night!”

“Thanks, Mina, you too,” He was trying there at the end, Katsuki could hear a little bit more pep in his voice.

A chorus of “Goodnight Midoriya/Izuku/Deku” rang out through the phone, abruptly reminding Katsuki and probably Izuku that there had been more people listening than they had realized. And Izuku didn’t even know about Katsuki and his friends.

Uraraka promised to text Izuku, and after that call was over, the call to Katsuki was ended without warning as well.

The room was quiet. Katsuki’s friends looked at each other, but only Kirishima and Todoroki were brave enough to look over to him.

Katsuki slowly picked his phone up off the table, clicking the button to put it to sleep. He accidentally clicked it more than once and the background picture on his phone popped up. It had been the same picture since the night he turned nineteen. 

It was a tiny potted cactus, framed by dozens and dozens of other plants that had been in the plant store where he’d taken the picture. There was a hand in the shot, tipping the plant back so Katsuki could take a picture of the pot it was in that said “What a prick”. 

The hand in the shot had long crooked fingers that Katsuki knew were stronger than they looked. Scars cut across the skin that had twisted bones underneath, and Katsuki knew the callouses that would be there on the palms and the finger pads. 

But now all he could see was the gentleness being used to tip the plant back and give Katsuki a better shot. Katsuki still had the pot, now with a new little succulent growing in it after the cactus had outgrown its original home. He’d had that plant for years, he’d had this picture as his lock screen for years. 

“I’m going to Izuku’s,” Katsuki said as he stood up, pausing only to grab his jacket from one of Sero’s dining room chairs.

“Good luck, dude,” Kaminari said as he left, and Katsuki threw a hand up to wave goodbye but didn’t stop as he walked out the door.

Izuku’s place was maybe a twenty-minute walk from Sero’s, but Katsuki was willing to see how much he could push that expected arrival time. 

~~

“She told you that fast? Seriously?” 

Katsuki hadn’t said anything yet, but those were the first words out of Izuku’s mouth.

Katsuki had been distracted the moment Izuku had opened the door. When he’d been met with a mess of dark curls that were still a little damp from a shower, and a very tired-looking pro hero wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a “Bed” t-shirt.

He was lucky to begin with that Izuku had even answered, and that he still lived in the same apartment. It had been probably over a year since they’d spent time together when Izuku looked like this, at home, relaxed, comfortable. So when Katsuki saw him again, he froze.

That’s why Izuku had spoken first. He asked about Mina while rubbing his eyes. A movement that was either trying to push away a thought or excuse the redness that was already there. 

“You were on speaker in a room full of people,” Katsuki threw at him before he could stop himself. That wasn’t why he was here, don’t be an asshole, asshole, he reminded himself.

“You were not one of those people, as far as I was told,” Izuku shot right back. He didn’t seem mad, but his exhaustion was clear as he leaned against the doorframe. He even let his head rest against the wood, a movement that made Katsuki’s heart twist. It made Izuku look soft, vulnerable, and gentle in ways that Katsuki knew he was and the rest of the world didn’t get to see.

Katsuki was not one of the people in the room, but he didn’t want to lie to Izuku.

“I heard it, Mina… I heard it,” Katsuki said quietly, searching Izuku’s eyes for emotion as he spoke.

Izuku just sighed, “How much of it?”

“All of it.”

Izuku didn’t sigh again, but Katsuki heard him stop the second one. An itch that made Izuku clear his throat and look away.

“You guys are a real ride or die group, huh? Nothing gets past any of you,” Izuku didn’t sound mad when he said it. But he didn’t look happy.

“Do you remember that time in high school when your friend tried to murder someone and several people from your friend group ended up fighting a hero-killing villain?”

Izuku had told Katsuki that in confidence, which was probably why he was glaring at him now.

This was not why he was here. Don’t be an asshole.

“Hamster-face would have done the exact same thing for you,” Katsuki tried again, a little more gently. 

Izuku shook his head and Katsuki was pretty sure he rolled his eyes because he couldn’t argue. Katsuki was right, she absolutely would.

“I’m… I want to talk about it, because if I was the reason everything fell apart then that means I can fix it right? If it’s my fault I can make it better,” Katsuki said a little defensively, but that wasn’t exactly right…

Izuku’s face twisted a little, almost like he was in pain.

“It’s not…” Katsuki started but he didn’t want to fuck this up. This was hard, he had wondered about this for so long and to get so much information so quickly was a lot. “It’s not all me, you could have said something,” Katsuki said, and he didn’t slow as he saw irritation flash across Izuku’s face, but he continued to clarify, “and I could have asked.”

“I get that I’ve spent both of our lives being very fucking hard to talk to, especially about this kind of shit,” Katsuki said and before he could even wince at his own words Izuku was upset again. 

Rightfully so, no wonder he never passed Momo in school, he was a fucking idiot.

“Not shit! I don’t mean that it’s shit it’s just hard for me to talk about emotions and-” Katsuki caught himself that time, but so did Izuku.

“-Shit, emotions and shit,” Izuku finished for him with a level stare up at him. 

“Yeah, I mean, that’s why you ended up thinking that I… uh-” He caught himself again, but Izuku was already interested.

“Go on, Kacchan, tell me what I think,” Izuku goaded him on, his irritation at the comment leaking out in his voice. But his feelings about Katsuki at the moment were evident in the fact that Izuku was making them have this conversation in front of his place instead of inside it.

“You think I hate you,” Katsuki finished.

“I wonder why?” Izuku said, the anger in his tone bleeding through with pain.

“Because I told you I did,” he admitted, followed immediately by a huff from Izuku. “I told you I hated you, and that I didn’t want you around me for years, and there were times when we were younger that I meant it.”

Izuku clenched his jaw, a movement that would be normal on Katsuki’s face but stood out on Izuku’s. Especially because Katsuki thought for a split second that he saw Izuku’s bottom lip quiver right before he did it.

Izuku, one of the greatest heroes the world had ever seen, who had defeated the greatest villains, who broke his bones to prove points, and threw himself into every battle fearlessly. Brought down by some asshole who was really bad at words.

“I don’t hate you, Izuku, I…” No, he didn’t want to be an asshole but he probably shouldn’t be fully honest either. Those three words might be too much right now, especially while Izuku’s face was still twisted a little in pain. 

But they also might be exactly what they need...

“I don’t hate you. I think we finally figured our shit out together and I miss where we used to be, okay? I miss how things used to fucking work for us because it worked, and I was happier two years ago than I’ve ever been,” It was a lot of words, and some of them Katsuki had to squeeze out but he needed to say it, needed to tell Izuku the truth because honestly, he didn’t give a fuck what he had to do or say to convince Izuku that he meant it.

“I miss you,” Katsuki finished… but when he looked at Izuku, he didn’t see the acceptance he had hoped for. 

Izuku looked tired, not just because of the bags under his eyes but because of the way his shoulders slumped and he curled in on himself. It was visible in how he collected his thoughts for an extra moment or two before he spoke. It was in the slow movement of his hand dragging through his hair. Hair that was still messy and uneven, but was almost grown out now since it had been so long since Katsuki had cut it. 

It was in the way his voice cracked when he spoke, “What do you want, Kacchan? Why are you here?”

“I’m…” Izuku finally looked back up at him, and the words caught in his throat as shining green eyes met a glowing red pair. Katsuki forced himself to hold Izuku’s gaze, and he kept going. “I’m trying to meet you halfway.”

Katsuki raised his arm and showed Izuku the takeout peace offering he’d brought from their favorite place down the road that always stayed open late. He’d called ahead as he’d crossed town at an alarming speed that definitely wasn’t aided by unauthorized use of his quirk, and since the place just needed to package up their food, he had been able to grab it in no time. Izuku hadn’t seemed to notice the bag until Katsuki was lifting it up.

Izuku scrubbed his face with his scarred hand and left it covering his eyes as he groaned out a “Kacchan...”

He threw his hand away with a burst of energy and shook his head like he was trying to streamline his own thoughts before he replied with gesturing hands, “We can’t just flip a switch Kacchan, we had to warm up to the place we were at for years, it’s not that easy.” 

As Izuku spoke he straightened back up and Katsuki panicked at the possibility that he would leave and go back inside. 

Katsuki didn’t want to be left out here in the cold. 

There was something inside of him that was desperate to claw its way through thick muscles and burned skin to get out and stay at Izuku’s side. The beast that lived in his chest that whined when he saw Izuku get hurt in battle, the one that used to preen at Izuku’s touch, the one that only settled itself when the two of them were together, happy and safe.

“We can’t, huh? This-” Katsuki gestured back and forth at the gap between them,  “is unnatural for us, Izuku, being together isn’t the problem, being apart is.” 

Izuku looked surprised at that comment, and he froze, so Katsuki continued.

“We have never been so far away from each other in our entire lives,” Katsuki said. He took a half step forward and then rocked back on the foot that moved so he didn’t really get any closer. He second-guessed himself with a clenched jaw and a shake of his head. 

“We flipped a switch the first time didn’t we? I saw you as a fucking toddler and I knew you were it for me, asshole. I was going to be by your side for the rest of my life and we were going to be the greatest heroes this country had ever seen.” 

Izuku was watching him, his arms crossed and his mouth pressed tightly closed. But his eyes… his eyes were shimmering in unshed tears and Katsuki didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.

“We are the greatest heroes this country has ever seen,” Katsuki said confidently, staring straight down into dark green eyes, watching them twinkle in the outside lights.

“We are the greatest heroes, now we just need to be doing it by each other’s sides, then it will be perfect,” He tried to smile at Izuku, it was just a quirk of his lips but it made Izuku smile back, that tight look cracking as a tear finally spilled onto his cheek.

“Forever preferably,” Katsuki added with his grin now more of a smirk, just to be a little cheeky. While yeah, being one hundred percent serious about that forever.

Izuku snorted and shook his head, a hand darting up to wipe away the tear. But his expression was still fond when he replied, “Forever, huh? You should have brought a ring instead of food then.”

He said it lightly. It was a joke. 

Katsuki knew it was a joke, Izuku was even holding out a hand to take the bag of food from him. His offering of peace was being accepted with that held-out hand. It was over, it could be over right now, and they could be friends again, they were good, it was a joke.

It was a joke and yet...

“I’ll bring you one next time, silver or gold?” Katsuki asked because he didn’t know, Izuku didn’t really wear jewelry.

Izuku snorted again and rolled his eyes, but it was much less playful. It was him trying to come off like this was a joke too.

“What type, Izuku?” Katsuki asked, again.

Izuku looked up at him. He seemed upset that he was being made fun of, but as his gaze met Katsuki's, his features softened.

His eyes were flicking across Katsuki’s face because Katsuki wasn’t treating it like it was funny, there wasn’t a smirk on his face. Katsuki wondered if he looked too earnest, but he was willing to push his luck. He hoped Izuku wanted gold ones, but he’d be willing to compromise.

Izuku was starting to furrow his brow again. He had thought it was a joke, but Katsuki seemed serious which Izuku was still interpreting as a joke that was now being pushed too far. So Katsuki spoke up.

“I’m not kidding, if we’re getting back into this we might as well do it fucking right this time. I spent half of my life at your apartment, right? Why not move in? I know what you feel like sleeping in my arms, why wouldn’t I agree to a lifetime of it? We’re going to be working with each other anyway, why not spend the other parts of our lives together too?”

Izuku didn’t look mad anymore, but he didn’t seem convinced.

“You scoot back in press interviews so the cameras will focus on both of us. You know what laundry detergent I like to use and how I like my food cooked. I’ve got one of the strongest quirks on record in the country and I use it as a heating pad for your busted ass bones. We used to spend all of our holidays together, and you and your mother still have dinner with my family for my mother’s birthday every year.” 

Sometimes his similarly hot-headed mother would make Katsuki cook for them and they’d all stay at his family home, splitting bottles of wine over baby pictures. Sometimes his mother would make them all dress up and use Izuku and Katsuki’s hero status to get them into fancy restaurants where she always ended up giggling between his father and Auntie Inko like teenagers in a place too nice for them.

“When I think about the rest of my life, that’s all I want, is to spend it with you, so why not buy rings? Why not share everything? I want that with you, Izuku,” Katsuki said, and still Izuku just watched him. The hand that had reached out for the food had dropped, and there were still or… again there were tears filling Izuku’s eyes.

Katsuki was trying to claim that they had already been spending their lives together, so Katsuki brought out the big guns with a grin on his face, “You want it all with me, too, and you want to know how I know?”

Izuku eyed him, wary of his attitude change.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, twisting his smile even further, and spoke, “I watch you get baby fever every single time I hold a child or sign something for a kid.”

Izuku almost seemed to startle as he blushed and breathed out, “No, I do not,” So quickly the words jumbled together.

Katsuki took a big step closer, Izuku didn’t move, “You do, you think I’m so good with kids you want my dumb ass to settle down and help you raise our kids don’t you?” Katsuki’s smirk was back, but Izuku was looking everywhere but at him.

Katsuki took another step closer as he watched Izuku’s blush deepen, the red making some of the lighter freckles on his cheek disappear. “You, me, a couple of brats? We’d be good at it together, we’d fucking ace those parent-teacher conferences because our kids would be perfect. They’d be cute as fuck too, we could even buy them all the onesie versions of our dumb friends’ hero costumes. Couple of little All Might ones too.”

Izuku made a noise and shook his head, which means that was exactly what that little nerd liked to hear. Katsuki wouldn’t say the thought didn’t make his heart swell too.

“You wanted us to start an agency together. It’s why I haven’t left Mirko yet even though I should have a long fucking time ago. I was waiting for you to ask, and I’m not going to do that anymore, so I’m asking. Start an agency with me?”

Izuku was crying again, or harder? Big tears occasionally rolling down still red cheeks. He was starting to glare at Katsuki in a way that miraculously managed to come across as slightly amused.

“Then you’d have to sit with me at all those shitty conferences and things and I could make you do all of the talking.” Alright, Izuku was actively glaring at him now. “We could even bring in a few of the extras to work with us if you want, but we’re owning it,” Katsuki finished with.

“Kacchan…” Izuku started but didn’t continue, so Katsuki took a final step forward.

There was barely an inch of space left between them. It would have been awkward that close for Izuku to look all the way up at him, so Katsuki dipped his head down next to Izuku’s. He could feel the warmth from his body in the chill of the night, and he heard Izuku’s breath catch in his throat as Katsuki’s lips brushed over the shell of his ear.

“Think about it, Japan’s top two heroes, Dynamight and Izuku: Get hitched, open an agency, poach all our friends. Then once we get them doing the heavy lifting, we’ll get ourselves a couple of cute kids.”

When he pulled back a little to see how his comments were being received Izuku’s eyes were glistening with tears, but they sparkled with something else too.

“We can adopt them, maybe a kid that has a difficult quick, maybe one that’s quirkless.” Izuku’s breath caught in his throat but he didn’t interrupt. “We’ll call Half and Half and ask how his pro hero dad raised him, and then we’ll do literally the opposite,” he finished with a grin.

Katsuki lifted a hand to grab the door frame next to Izuku’s head. He was trying to get closer, not exactly boxing him in since there was still a large open apartment behind him. The space between the two of them now was almost nonexistent, but Katsuki couldn’t hold Izuku’s eyes.

Katsuki was trying to step up, to tell Izuku what he wanted. But he wouldn’t close that last gap, he still needed Izuku’s reassurance that he wanted it too.

“It’s too much,” Izuku whispered against his chest.

“Too much for you? Or for everyone else?”

Izuku looked up at him then, his neck bending back so he could meet Katsuki’s eyes while he spoke.

“Because if it’s too much for you, I’ll leave, I’m not going to force you into anything. That was why I didn’t…” Katsuki looked away for a moment but forced himself to turn back to meet Izuku’s gaze. “I’ve taken so much from you, I didn’t think I could ask for anything else.”

“I couldn’t ask for your forgiveness after I was such a shitty little kid. I couldn’t ask for your friendship in school. I couldn’t ask you to be my partner. I couldn’t ask you for any of the things I wanted to, so now I’m asking.”

Because asking isn’t taking, it’s asking. As long as Izuku says yes and really wants to say yes, it isn’t taking. It’s an exchange where both parties have to go halfway for the other. Katsuki was willing to put in that work, he understood better now than he had all night, and all of his life. Asking wasn’t taking, it was showing interest, genuine interest in Izuku and the things he and Izuku could do together.

His hand slid off the doorframe and he gently cupped Izuku’s face, his thumb settling against the dark freckle next to Izuku’s eye. A perfect fit, just like he’d always imagined. 

“I’m asking you for everything I’ve always wanted. I missed you, but if this very stupid couple of years apart hadn’t happened we would probably be in the same place, and I would be too afraid to ask you for anything let alone this. I want this, I want you, so I’m finally asking,” Katsuki leaned down to close that last remaining bit of space, his nose bumping up against Izuku’s as he spoke, “Can I spend the rest of my life with you, Izuku?”

Izuku looked up at him with stars in his eyes.

The two of them held the moment, exposed to the world but attentive to nothing but each other. Their foreheads pressed together, noses sliding along one another’s gently. Katsuki could feel the warmth from Izuku’s body against his own, he could smell the shampoo on his newly clean hair.

“I want a gold ring,” Izuku whispered against his lips.

Katsuki smiled at him, rubbing their foreheads together just to hear Izuku giggle, “Me too, nerd.”

Then there was a warm scarred hand settling on the middle of Katsuki’s chest, and another sliding up his body to cup the back of his neck. He leaned into Izuku’s touch, soaking it up after missing it for so long.

“If we… had an agency, we could get a place together near it…” Izuku was still whispering as he spoke like if he said it too loud, it might not be real. “I want two kids, maybe three.”

“Me too,” Katsuki assured him again. 

“Why, Kacchan? Why do you want all of that with me?” Izuku asked, and Katsuki could tell that the question wasn’t because Izuku didn’t believe him, but because Izuku wanted him to say it. Those three words that Katsuki almost said earlier.

“I’ve never wanted any of that with anyone other than you, it’s only ever been you because I love you,” Katsuki finally admitted.

“I love you too, Kacchan,” Izuku replied voice quiet but happy, and then he tilted his head and leaned forward to cross that tiny space remaining between them.

Katsuki let his eyes slide closed as warm, soft lips pressed up against his own, and he pressed back. Izuku was kissing him, something that Katsuki had wanted since he found out what kissing was. A lifetime of only being in love with one man and finally being smart enough to admit it, and being lucky enough to be loved in return.

Katsuki let the bag of food down onto the ground next to him and then with both hands he grabbed onto the love of his life to deepen their kiss.

Izuku tasted sweeter than he ever could have imagined. He’d kissed people before, dated some others on and off, but he didn’t know it could be like this. The two of them just fit together, like they always had. 

Izuku’s cheeks were warm under his hands and their bodies pressed against each other in the doorway as their lips parted open for the first touch of Izuku’s tongue against Katsuki’s mouth. He just pressed them closer together, and opened wider, his own tongue coming up to slide against Izuku’s just because he could. 

Katsuki surrounded Izuku’s body with his own, his growth spurt at UA had actually happened. Izuku had never gotten one, but Katsuki was thankful more now for how they fit together than for any of the short joke leverage their heights had given him.

They kissed until they were panting into each other’s mouth’s and only when a door shut down the hallway in Izuku’s building did they break away from each other just a little.

“That was a yes, by the way,” Izuku said, his voice more confident and free-flowing now. “A yes to all of it, I have Monday off if you want, we can get together and talk about the agency…”

Izuku trailed off, giving Katsuki an opportunity.

And Katsuki just watched Izuku’s sweet face, the way his tongue traced over swollen lips, the blush on his cheeks as he looked up at Katsuki, panting just a little despite his ability to lift buildings and catch cars in midair. 

Katsuki was pretty proud of himself if he could say so, and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to back out now, or ever.

“Yeah, I’ve got patrol in the morning and I’m just on call for the rest of the day. We can talk about what we want, who we want to steal, maybe we can reach out to a few people who have multi-hero agencies and see if they would be willing to walk us through how they did it,” There was no need for Izuku to be questioning anything Katsuki had said before, and as Katsuki spoke now he could tell it settled Izuku’s nerves just a bit.

“Agency first,” Izuku started before his eyes flicked away embarrassed, “then we can get married if you still want to.”

“I will,” Katsuki said instantly, “But yeah, the agency first isn’t a bad idea. Like you said once we have a good place we could move in together close to it.”

Izuku nodded, seemingly happy that he had been listened to.

“Also, don’t call me Bakugou again, I hated that,” Katsuki said, pulling back a bit and wrinkling his nose at just the thought.

“Baku–” Izuku had started in a sickly sweet voice, but Katsuki silenced him with a kiss that he could feel Izuku laughing through. It was just as sweet as the other had been… or others? However you would describe the long makeout session they’d just had.

“Great Explosion Murder Dynamight is still a mouthful, you know,” Izuku countered, even though Katsuki knew he was happy to say it all in public.

“I don’t want to hear it, you turned my pet name for you into your fucking hero name,” Katsuki murmured against Izuku’s temple. Izuku just snorted and rolled his eyes, watching Katsuki watch him.

“You mean the nickname you gave me when we were children to be mean to me? That pet name?” Izuku asked while starting to pull back just a bit, but his hands didn’t leave Katsuki’s body so he wasn’t too worried about it. 

“Yeah, term of endearment some would say,” Katsuki replied with a smirk, leaning back as well.

He watched Izuku’s lips as they looked at each other, they were shiny, and Katsuki knew how soft they would be if he captured them with his own again. He wanted to lick inside of Izuku’s mouth, wanted to taste him, to feel him-

“Do you want to come in?” Izuku asked, and when Katsuki’s eyes flicked up to meet Izuku’s the look he was given was heavy. The atmosphere between them had changed, sparking with the opportunity to be together in a more intimate, and hopefully filthy way. 

Katsuki leaned down to pick up the food again, lucky that when he’d dropped it none of the takeout containers had burst. “Yeah, I’ll come in, you hungry?” He asked and was absolutely fucking delighted to watch Izuku’s eyes roam over Katsuki’s lips, down the line of his neck, over his tight shirt, and pausing only for a second on the bulge of the chub in his pants.

“Yeah, Kacchan, I’m hungry. Wanna fill me up?” Izuku asked with a mischievous smirk right back at him.

Katsuki ducked down to slam their lips back together again, and pushed forward, herding Izuku backward into his apartment so he could get his hands on him in private.

Izuku let himself be moved but pulled away so he could shut and lock the door behind Katsuki, and then in a devastating move that proved he was in fact hungry for the food he snatched it from Katsuki’s hands and moved away towards the kitchen leaving Katsuki to scramble to get his shoes off before following him.

But before he could even put his shoes away, still halfway through taking off his coat, he heard the fridge door slammed. Izuku walked in and out of his view moving from the kitchen to the hall to his bedroom, calling out behind him, “I ate before I showered, better hurry Kacchan.”

Katsuki left his coat on the fucking floor.

He was down the hall and in Izuku’s room before he could blink.

Katsuki almost slid on the floor when he tried to stop himself and change directions as he followed Izuku, but his half slip up meant that Izuku had a bright smile on his face when he made it into his room. 

“Kacchan…” Izuku started warily, and then another “Kacchan!” Came out of his mouth surrounded by a laugh as Katsuki scooped him up with strong hands under his thighs.

It felt like a blessing just to get to touch those thick thighs. Izuku let himself be picked up and easily moved to wrap his legs around Katsuki’s hips. 

Katsuki felt a strong arm hook around his shoulders, and Izuku’s other hand reached up to wrap around the back of his neck. Izuku’s hands had always been so big, even in high school. He’d never grown into the size of them and now they were also tough, calloused hands covered in scars. Katsuki had missed the weight of those hands, he used to pull them, especially the right one, into his lap while they were sitting next to each other, watching tv, eating lunch, during late-night paperwork after shared missions. He would heat up his hands just a little and work them up and down Izuku’s thick fingers. Izuku would always tilt his head forward with his eyes closed and the most blissful look on his face. If Katsuki did it for too long Izuku would start to moan, it wasn’t on purpose, but that was what had always scared Katsuki into slowing down and letting go. 

Izuku was making those noises now as he kissed Katsuki, and it was still the sweetest sound.

Katsuki climbed onto Izuku’s bed with Izuku still held up in his arms, walking across the sheets on his knees until he could lay Izuku down beneath him with Izuku’s body still wrapped around him. Izuku used his hold to pull Katsuki down the moment he could, back into another searing hot kiss.

Katsuki let the hand that wasn’t holding him up above Izuku wander as they made out. It slid up the hard plain of Izuku’s stomach, his fingers sliding around the curve of Izuku’s pec through his t-shirt, and finally up the side of Izuku’s neck to cradle his face once again. 

That wasn’t enough for Izuku though. The strong legs around his hips pulled him in closer until he was practically laying on top of Izuku’s body. The two of them slotted together perfectly, but unfortunately still separated.

“Clothes,” Katsuki managed to breathe out against Izuku’s lips between kisses. 

“Clothes,” Izuku echoed before simply fisting his hands in the back of Katsuki’s shirt and pulling. Katsuki just laughed and wiggled away trying to escape the awkward angle his shirt was being removed from. He finally emerged out the bottom, now sitting up with wildly disheveled spikes.

Izuku smiled at his hair but Katsuki watched it slip away as he reached out to gently run the tips of his fingers across some of the scars on Katsuki’s chest. Scars he got saving Izuku.

“I don’t regret them, I don’t regret a single time it’s happened,” Katsuki grabbed the hand trailing across jagged lines and thick gnarled skin and he pressed it against the middle of his chest. He held Izuku’s hand there over his heart and leaned back down to hover over him again.

“Do you regret any of yours?” Katsuki asked Izuku because he already knew the answer.

“No, I don’t, I just wish you didn’t have so many,” Izuku said with a sad smile. 

Katsuki brought the hand he was holding up from his chest to his mouth and he kissed the scars on Izuku’s fingers. “I wish you had a few less too you self-sacrificing asshole, best we can do now is just try to help each other prevent more from happening.”

“We could do that a lot with an agency together,” Izuku said, and Katsuki hid his grin against Izuku’s skin. 

“We sure could,” Katsuki agreed. He wanted nothing more honestly, “I missed you, Izuku.”

Izuku stared at him with the beginning of a smile on his face, “Really, Kacchan?”

“Yeah, I miss your dumb freckles,” he said, leaning down to kiss some of them to really prove a point how dumb they were, Izuku giggled so it obviously worked. 

“I missed how you’d always make a fucking mess in my apartment,” He continued, kissing across Izuku’s cheeks. “I miss the face you used to make when I made the food too spicy,” Katsuki said kissing down the side of Izuku’s neck.

“You always make it too spicy, Kacchan,” Izuku said, almost scolding but not really. 

“Mmhmm,” Katsuki agreed, and both of them froze for a moment as Katsuki grabbed the bottom of Izuku’s shirt, pushing it up and up his chest until it bunched under his armpits and left him exposed. Katsuki ducked his head down and continued kissing across Izuku’s skin, chasing freckles and scars and mapping out Izuku’s body with his lips.

“I’m going to miss this too, every second I can’t have you under me, I’ll miss you not being there,” Katsuki admitted, his eyes flicking up to watch Izuku’s face as he ducked and took one of his nipples between his lips.

“Will you still miss me when I’m on top of you?” Izuku said, his voice a little coy. 

Katsuki smirked as he pulled off Izuku’s nipple with a quiet ‘pop’, “That would work for me too, guess I’ll just miss you when you’re not next to me.”

“Codependent,” Izuku said, huffing it out as Katsuki danced his tongue across Izuku’s other nipple.

“With you? Always. You won’t get rid of me until I’m dead.”

“If you die before me I’ll kick your ass,” Izuku threatened with an intense look on his face. 

Katsuki bit his pec and Izuku yelped, Katsuki kissed the mark he’d left and moved up quickly to capture Izuku’s lips in another sweet kiss before he spoke, “Guess we’ll just have to live long happy lives, and you won’t be able to kick my ass if I wait until you’re all old and wrinkly before I die.”

“... Fine, I guess we’ll have to wait until then,” Izuku agrees before pulling him down for another kiss. It pressed their naked chests together, and Katsuki wanted to feel everything. 

Katsuki helped Izuku fully pull off his shirt to free him from where he had just pushed it out of the way. He slid his hand down Izuku’s side and dipped two fingers in the top of his shorts, Izuku pulled back just long enough to whisper, “Please” against his lips and Katsuki took that as permission to slowly drag the clothes off Izuku’s body. 

He gave Izuku one final hard kiss and then moved to pull Izuku’s shorts fully away from him, underneath the shorts he was wearing a pair of half white, half red briefs. 

“Seriously?” Katsuki asked with an eye roll.

Izuku pointedly didn’t reply, he just reached between them dragged them off his body, and threw them away from the bed. Then he laid back down with a devious smirk on his face while he watched Katsuki.

He knew exactly what he had just done.

Katsuki was pretty sure he couldn’t have even told you Icy Hot’s name after he had a fully naked Izuku sprawled out beneath him.

From their childhood, glimpses in locker rooms, and helping each other get changed when they were injured, Katsuki had always been cursed with the knowledge that Izuku’s freckles absolutely covered his body. They formed patterns across his skin, down his chest, little galaxies of clusters and constellations. Katsuki knew how pretty they looked across Izuku’s ass, but seeing them pepper his thighs and lead up to the dark patch of green curls around his dick almost felt like too much. Katsuki wanted to kiss every single one of them, and he was delighted to realize he might be given the chance throughout his lifetime. 

Izuku squirmed a little beneath him, embarrassed that Katsuki was taking his time. But Katsuki wanted to enjoy this. His eyes followed the lines of muscle cut into Izuku’s body down to his perfect dick. It was half-hard, chubbed up and laying up against Izuku’s stomach. It was thick and uncut and Katsuki wanted it in his mouth. 

“I’m gonna blow you,” Katsuki said, and Izuku nodded, “and then I’m gonna fuck you,” Izuku nodded again. “Great, all in agreement, where’s your lube?”

“I’ll get it for you if you take your pants off,” Izuku told him like that was a bargaining chip that he needed to play when really Katsuki would probably do literally fucking anything Izuku wanted at that moment for whatever reason he wanted it done.

Katsuki just nodded dumbly and sat up to give himself access to undo his belt buckle. Izuku rolled away, distracting Katsuki with a beautiful view of the freckles on his ass that Katsuki was so in love with as he reached to dig around in his bedside table for the lube.

Katsuki was able to shimmy out of his pants and underwear by the time Izuku triumphantly turned back around and it was encouraging to watch Izuku’s eyes trail down his chest before widening as they found his dick.

“Come on, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” Katsuki drawled, pulling Izuku back to the middle of the bed and climbing over him again.

“I’ve never seen you hard before, give me a break,” Izuku said, tossing the bottle the short distance between them. Katsuki caught it easily and Izuku spread his legs just a bit wider beneath him. 

“Is it everything you ever imagined?” Katsuki asked and Izuku laughed.

“Oh, and more,” Izuku let him know with a smile.

“And more huh? I’ll take that as a compliment, don’t correct me if it wasn’t meant as one,” Katsuki said with a smile.

“I don’t need to correct you… it’s big, Kacchan,” Izuku said, looking up at him with a wide playful look. 

“Big huh?” Katsuki crawled over him and kept his hips low, slotting the two of them together and grinding down just a little. They both moaned, but Izuku was right, Katsuki was big enough they didn’t line up exactly.

“Let me help you fit it in,” Katsuki asked, leaning down to press a kiss far too chaste for the current conversation against Izuku’s lips.

Izuku just rocked his hips upwards as well, whimpering at the feeling, “I don’t know how long I’ll last,” he admitted, voice sweet. 

“You’ve got great stamina, if you come I’m sure you can come again,” Katsuki said and Izuku just looked up at him and nodded.

“I want to make you fall apart in every way I can,” Katsuki planned out loud. “I want you to fall apart underneath me, above me, inside of me,” Katsuki began kissing Izuku's chest as he spoke, and he heard Izuku’s breath huff out above him. “I want to know what you taste like Izuku, what you feel like, and right now I want to finger that ass until you fucking cry, baby.”

Izuku gave him a look, but Katsuki could see Izuku’s body trembling below him. He watched the heavy rise of Izuku’s chest as Izuku sat up just enough to watch him while he tugged off a couple of rings on his right hand and popped the top of the lube. “It’ll be good to take you apart now before I get my hands on our wedding rings, do you think I’ll have to take it off when I want to finger you?”

“Kacchan!” Izuku laughed, “Don’t even start, you’re right-handed-” What Izuku was going to say got cut off as he jumped just a little, Katsuki looked down to see that the lube he had not been watching himself drizzle on his fingers had dripped down onto Izuku’s dick.

Katsuki just hummed at the sight. He shimmied down to lay between Izuku’s legs, one hand coming up to wrap around Izuku’s now slick dick and the other sliding beneath them for the tips of his fingers to gently press against the ring of muscles between Izuku’s legs. “I wouldn’t want it to get dirty you know,” he said, using his left hand that did still have rings on it to wrap those fingers around Izuku’s cock as he slowly started to stroke it. 

Izuku watched him and Katsuki stared right back up at him as he was able to watch Izuku’s eyes become clouded, his chest started rising up a little faster, and his mouth had dropped open just a little as he waited for Katsuki to do more than his light touches.

“Please, Kacchan,” Izuku asked. 

“Anything for you, Izuku,” Katsuki replied. It was meant to come out with a smirk, it could have been a joke, but the tone of his voice betrayed him and how honest that statement was. He kept his eyes on Izuku as he finally ducked his head down to take Izuku’s dick into his mouth. He dropped down slowly, bobbing his head and taking in just a little more with each pass of his lips and tongue.

Izuku’s eyelashes fluttered but he was able to keep his gaze on Katsuki. Katsuki was floored by the sweet little, “oh” that left his lips as Katsuki took him in. That noise, plus the weight of Izuku in his mouth, the taste of his skin, and the precome off the tip of his dick, Katsuki was in love, absolutely in love.

He pulled himself up like he was going to drop Izuku out of his mouth until he was only holding the pretty head between Katsuki’s wet lips, and then he pushed the finger he was circling around Izuku’s hole deep inside of him. 

Like he expected, Izuku's hips jerked. They pumped upwards, thrusting into his mouth before pulling back down, sinking himself further on Katsuki’s slick and searching finger. 

“Ka-cchan,” Izuku moaned, but the sound was muffled. Izuku had pressed a hand against his mouth, and Katsuki was determined to make him loud enough it wouldn’t help. 

He slowly started to press his finger in and out with the bob of his head, letting it sink deeper and deeper as he sucked harder on Izuku’s dick. His tongue pressed against the length of Izuku’s cock as he moved up and down. He realized that Izuku would squirm just a little extra beneath him when he took the time to pause and give extra attention to the head so Katsuki started doing that with each pass.

He found his rhythm there. As he pressed his finger upwards sliding along the inside of Izuku he got Izuku to let out a little noise and so he added another finger, slipping it inside of Izuku along with the first to help him stroke Izuku’s inner walls.

Izuku’s hips started thrusting between Katsuki’s mouth and his fingers, pushing up to chase the wet heat of Katsuki’s mouth while thrusting back down to push himself harder onto Katsuki’s fingers. But the two of them had always been so perfectly in sync, and Katsuki picked up on what Izuku needed quickly. 

He slipped another finger inside of him, pumping them in and out so Katsuki could feel the stretch of Izuku’s body forming to his knuckles. He slid them over Izuku’s prostate again and again, gently but insistent. 

Izuku squirmed beneath him. All of the noises he had been hiding in the back of his throat were coming out of his mouth now and eventually, both of his hands slapped down so he could dig his fingers into Katsuki’s broad shoulders. 

Katsuki was fairly certain at this point the noises were actually clipped versions of “Kacchan.” The tender call of his name that Izuku could barely get out.

Izuku was clenching around Katsuki’s fingers and his hips were jerking with the edge of desperation so Katsuki held steady keeping up the rhythm he had set until he felt Izuku’s body going rigid beneath him. Izuku cried out as he came. His voice was high and clipped, his fingernails dug into Katsuki’s shoulders, and his hips pumped his come into the back of Katsuki’s throat. But Katsuki couldn’t help but focus on the way Izuku’s body tightened and pulsed around the fingers he had sunk inside of Izuku. He couldn’t think of a better way to end the night than having the same sensation around his own dick as he came, to get to watch Izuku’s face twist up with that pleasure. Katsuki let out an excited hum and Izuku whimpered at the feeling around his sensitive dick. 

Katsuki pulled off slowly. He let Izuku’s cock slide from his mouth without spilling a drop too, a flawless move as he swallowed what was left of Izuku’s spend. When he looked up he saw Izuku watching him, panting with heavy eyes.

“Sleepy?” Katsuki asked, slowly kissing up Izuku’s stomach, leaving his sensitive dick behind but gently scissoring his fingers inside of him one more time before slipping them out and wiping them on the sheets. 

Izuku hummed, whether it was because Katsuki just dirtied his sheets or whether he was as tired as he had been when Katsuki got here. It made him look extra soft and extra sweet as Katsuki crawled up far enough to kiss him again.

“I was promised sex and two orgasms, will I pass out after the second one? Probably. But I still want it,” Izuku said, moving to meet his lips. Then Izuku was wiggling, squirming beneath him in a way that Katsuki first thought was to try to wake himself up a little more, then he thought it might be to be sexy, then he realized that Izuku was actually trying to move. 

“Ah ah ah, do NOT do that,” Katsuki said, catching Izuku’s arm as he tried to slip down Katsuki’s chest.

“Kacchan!” was the undignified squawk he got in return.

Katsuki slid down the bed to look Izuku in the eyes, “If you put your mouth on me I’m going to come, and then I can’t fuck you.”

Izuku giggled, full-on giggled like Katsuki had told him a funny joke, “Oh,” he said, shimmying up to lay back down on the pillow. 

Katsuki just snorted, “Don’t laugh at me asshole,” He said, pressing a very threatening kiss to Izuku’s forehead. 

Izuku scooted in closer, slotting a leg between Katsuki’s. He pushed it in close until Katsuki’s dick was resting against it but he didn’t press in hard. That was somehow even more maddening than if he had so Katsuki pushed until Izuku was on his back again beneath him. His legs spread open to allow him to scoot in closer and he did, dragging his aching dick against the inside of Izuku’s thigh as he moved. He didn’t catch the hitch in his breath at the touch, didn’t hide it in time.

“Been a while, Kacchan?” Izuku said, he had a sly smile but he didn’t really seem like he was mocking Katsuki. 

“Of course it has been, I’ve got high fucking standards,” Katsuki slid a hand down Izuku’s side as he spoke, running it over his hip, brushing against his ass before pulling him up by the back of his thigh so Katsuki could stuff a pillow under him before letting him back down.

“Oh and I meet those standards?” Izuku asked with a proud glint in his eyes, they were burning with a light that wasn’t reflected in the tired skin beneath them, but Katsuki would take their happiness where he could. “I’m honored,” Izuku finished with a shake of his head.

Katsuki leaned down over him so he had Izuku’s full attention. “Babe you defined the standards, no one else could ever measure up,” Katsuki said leaning and kissing Izuku’s now gasping mouth.

Izuku sputtered and pushed away from him, “How dare you! Stop being nice to me, what's wrong with you?” Izuku said with a laugh, squealing a little and ducking away from the kisses Katsuki was peppering up his neck.

“Oh my bad,” Katsuki started, pushing himself up again so he could look down at Izuku with a smirk on his face, “You gonna let me fuck you, you shitty little nerd?”

Izuku giggled again, immune to the insults he knew Katsuki never meant. “I see how it is asshole,” Katsuki started, now settled between Izuku’s spread legs. He moved to pull away as he grabbed the lube but Izuku held him there for another kiss. 

Katsuki wouldn’t be upset at any kiss he was ever given. Izuku’s lips felt better on Katsuki’s than he’d ever imagined, and tasted sweeter than anything he’d ever had before.

Katsuki finally pulled away from his gentle lips, giving himself enough room to slick his dick with the lube. He figured he’d try one more time to see if he was still being too nice, “Let’s see what kind of jokes you’ve got when your ass is milking my cock.”

“Oh my god , shut up!” Katsuki laughed a little with him after Izuku yelled, but he also noticed the red flush deepening on Izuku’s cheeks. 

Katsuki did the next best thing to saying something in hopes of prodding a deeper reaction from Izuku, and he settled the slick head of his cock against Izuku’s hole.

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat and his eyes flicked down between their bodies. The pillow under his ass had angled him upwards, he could see Katsuki’s long thick cock hanging between his legs, just the tip resting against Izuku’s body, and Katsuki angled it against him with a hand at the base of his cock. He still hadn’t taken the rings off his left hand so the thick ring on his thumb and the slim two rings on his middle finger sparkled in the light like the lube on his dick did.

“Ready,” he asked, leaning down so his lips brushed over Izuku’s ear as he spoke. 

Izuku shivered beneath him.

“Please, Kacchan, I want you so much,” he said, and that was all Katsuki needed. He held himself and pressed forward, slowly but steadily sinking into Izuku. Izuku’s hole fluttered around him and he moaned beneath Katsuki. Izuku’s hands slid up his back until they were resting on his shoulders and then they pulled him down so crooked fingers could slide up the back of Katsuki’s neck and hold him there. 

Katsuki let himself be moved. Izuku pulled him close as he pushed himself in and the two sank together until they were slotted against each other like two parts of one whole. 

Izuku was so tight and warm around his dick, his thighs were squeezing Katsuki’s hips, trapping Izuku’s slick cock between the two of them. When Katsuki pulled back, drawing himself out of Izuku just a little, they both moaned, too much, too soon.

Katsuki took a moment to acknowledge the newness of this situation. There wasn’t much at this point in their lives that they hadn’t experienced, and hadn’t experienced together. Katsuki used to hold Izuku’s hand when they were potty training, he’d carried him across battlefields, let Izuku rub lotion into his aching hands, they’d been through it all together during their lifetime. But not this. 

Izuku had been under him before in sparring matches, fights, Katsuki’s possessive sleeping habits when they were kids. It wasn’t a moment that was ever held or acknowledged, but right now Katsuki took his time. 

He held himself over Izuku on his back in the bed. Izuku’s green curls fanned out around his head and looked almost black in the moonlight that filtered in through the window. Katsuki was glad it was bright enough to see the freckles that ran along the tops of Izuku’s shoulders.

“Will you start an agency with me?” Katsuki asked after catching Izuku’s eyes and before cruelly pushing into Izuku and cutting off his answer. He didn’t stop moving his hips once he started, but eventually, Izuku was able to get out a “Yes” between thrusts.

“Will you marry me?” Katsuki asked, kissing up the side of Izuku’s neck.

“Yes.”

“Will you raise kids with me?” Katsuki chased the freckles across Izuku’s cheeks with his lips as he asked another question.

“Yes.”

“Will you spend the rest of your life with me?” Katsuki pressed his lips to the sides of Izuku’s face, chasing away the tears and slowing down a bit to fuck him slowly.

“Yes”

“I’m glad you have such shitty taste,” Katsuki said before kissing Izuku as he laughed below him.

“Excuse you, only the best is good enough for me, that’s why you’re here,” Izuku said and Katsuki faked a noise of disgust at his words but he couldn’t help but smile when Izuku laughed again.

The laugh cut off into a little noise as Katsuki pulled out too far and the two of them had moved too much and he slipped out.

“Put it back in, Kacchan,” Izuku said, his voice breathy as he looked at Katsuki above him. 

Katsuki jumped at the request, grabbing his slick and aching dick and sliding it back inside the tight heat of Izuku’s body with a groan. He pumped his hips a few times and then leaned back down on top of Izuku, pressing their bodies together as he fucked him.

“I missed you, Izuku,” Katsuki admitted between his thrusts and was met with a whimper. 

“I missed you too, Kacchan,” Izuku choked out, but his voice was wet with tears so Katsuki slowed and pulled away just enough to look at him. 

“Why are you crying, baby?” Katsuki asked and Izuku’s lip quirked up, almost into a smile just at the name. He wrapped his arms around Katsuki’s shoulders to keep him held there and close.

Izuku was like a leaky faucet with an inconsistent drip. Katsuki kissed him again, short, sweet kisses so he could still breathe.

“I’m just so happy Kacchan,” Izuku said against his lips.

Katsuki held himself above Izuku, but just enough so he could see him. Their bodies were still pressed together, Izuku’s dick was trapped, sticky and hard between their stomachs, Katsuki was still sunk deep inside of Izuku. His hips rocked slowly back and forth even as he spoke. 

“I missed you, Izuku,” he said again, staring into Izuku’s eyes. He felt like a sap he didn’t give a shit, Izuku wouldn’t tell anyone. 

“I missed you too, Kacchan, I missed you so much,“ Izuku said through a bright smile and tearful eyes. And fuck him honestly, because how could he say Izuku wasn’t allowed to tell anyone how much of a lovey-dovey dork he is when he plans to tell everyone in the fucking world how wonderful Izuku is. 

“I love you Kacchan!” 

When he said it Katsuki couldn’t stop his hips from jerking forward. Izuku just laughed at the feeling, giggling at Katsuki’s emotional response under him like Katsuki didn’t have him begging to get fucked a minute ago. 

“Oh I’m going to marry the fucking shit out of you I love your dumbass so much,” Katsuki said, his hips snapping forward. Izuku just laughed, his breath catching with each of Katsuki’s thrusts.

Their lips met again, never tiring of each other even if they weren’t coordinated enough at the moment for more than their faces to just brush together. Izuku was holding him down by the neck, and Katsuki was pressing as much of their bodies together as he could while curling around Izuku to account for their height difference. 

It was soft missionary position sex and it was the best thing Katsuki had ever felt in his life. His body burned with Izuku’s touch everywhere he felt their skin pressed together. His mind was a loop of taking in how amazing the moment was, how beautiful Izuku was, how happy he was. He could feel it filling him up like a pressure, a volcano about to blow full of nothing but joy and love. 

Katsuki shifted the angle he was thrusting at and Izuku started to let out the smallest noises. Each thrust was punctuated by one as Izuku writhed beneath him, moving his hips to meet Katsuki’s own while breathing out little “Kacchan”’s into his ear. 

Katsuki wasn’t going to last, but he wasn’t going to come without Izuku. 

He snaked a hand between their stomachs and wrapped it around Izuku’s slick dick that had been trapped between them. Izuku moaned and lost his rhythm just a bit as Katsuki started to stroke him in time with his thrusts. 

Izuku was locking up around him, holding them together tighter and tighter until it was just Katsuki’s hips and wrist pumping away. Katsuki pressed their foreheads together and let the moment happen, let everything in his world in that time and place be Izuku. Nothing but Izuku wrapped around him, the smell of Izuku, the taste of Izuku, Izuku’s shining green eyes staring up into his until they were squeezing closed as Izuku screamed out Katsuki’s name as he came under him. 

The whispered “Izuku” that Katsuki let out in return as he came was drowned out by Izuku, but Katsuki couldn’t help but say it again and again as he pumped his own come deeper and deeper into Izuku’s body while Izuku painted their stomachs in come. 

Katsuki could feel Izuku clenching around his dick as their shared orgasm ran through them. They locked around each other, riding through the wave of it together as it crested and left them both panting, exhausted, and just as close together as they had been when they’d started.

Katsuki carefully let go of Izuku’s dick and moved just enough to pull out of him and drop down on the bed next to him. He knew he needed to get up, to clean them off, maybe even to convince Izuku to get back into the shower with him, but one of Izuku’s legs came up and wrapped around his hip as Izuku curled up against his chest and he figured he could wait.

“Guess I should text Mina now huh?” Izuku mumbled against one of his pecs.

Katsuki just hummed, he was enjoying the warmth of Izuku’s body half laid across his and the tips of his fingers were slowly skimming up and down Izuku’s back. Their bodies were sticking together, in some places a little extra sticky, and Izuku was probably so covered in Katsuki’s sweat he could light them both up. But damn was he warm and comfy.

“I should text her too, ‘Izuku told you he wanted to see me take some initiative, so I asked him to marry me and he said yes’,” Katsuki said, letting his eyes rest for just a moment as a smile spread across his face.

He could feel Izuku smiling against his skin but he wanted to see it so he opened his eyes back up and looked down at him. Izuku was smiling, and he kept smiling as he looked up at Katsuki. Katsuki turned a little to be on his side and face him too.

“Did we learn from this experience?” Izuku asked him with a pondering look on his face and Katsuki couldn’t help but laugh. He couldn’t tell if Izuku sounded like Aizawa actually teaching them a lesson or All Might trying to act like what he thought a good teacher would say after they did something dumb.

“Probably that we should just talk to each other about shit instead of thinking we’ve both got it all figured out,” Katsuki replied.

“Mmm that’s a good one, I was thinking that I learned you’ve got a big dick but yours is probably better to share with others,” Izuku said, clearly happy with himself.

Katsuki tried not to let his chest swell with pride, “I don’t know, I think you should share both.”

Izuku just smiled, “Do you think anyone is even going to be surprised by this?”

Katsuki assumed Izuku wasn’t talking about the size of his dick. He could have been talking about them getting together, agreeing to get married, planning to have kids, scheming to open an agency together, a laundry list of the lifetime of things they had agreed on in one night.

“No,” Katsuki told him honestly, but he wondered, “Are you?”

Izuku laughed, “No, no, somehow this isn’t surprising. You were right-”

“I usually am,” Katsuki inserted and Izuku just rolled his eyes.

“It felt wrong to be apart, bad and uncomfortable. This feels right, this is how we were always supposed to be,” Izuku finished and Katsuki held his breath as Izuku smiled up at him.

“This is right,” Katsuki agreed, wrapping a hand around Izuku’s cheek to cradle it like he had in the doorway, a moment that felt like a lifetime ago. Izuku settled a hand on top of Katsuki’s so he could turn and kiss his dangerous palm and it felt like a moment of understanding, of love.

~~

Katsuki called off work for the rest of the weekend, he was only supposed to be on call anyway and they could get anyone else to be backup if needed. The two of them spent Sunday in bed, leaving only for Katsuki to cook them breakfast, or for Izuku to reheat the takeout Katsuki had brought so they could have dinner on the balcony with their legs entwined making eyes at each other over takeout containers.

Monday, after a morning of back and forth over their agency plans, Katsuki convinced Izuku to brave the outside world with him. For the two of them to step out together for the first time of the rest of their lives.

“This place is nice,” Izuku whispered to him as they were led past most of the diners in the restaurant, and then he added a little quieter, “You plan on proposing again? There’s no way you got a ring that fast,” Izuku’s voice was teasing and Katsuki looked back at him to be met with a playful smirk.

He had in fact already ordered a ring, asshole. But no, he wasn’t going to propose… again, in Mina’s favorite stuffy ass restaurant. So he didn’t reply, but he did take the offered hand so they could stay together. 

The hostess stopped and opened the door to a private room, politely telling them, “Your party is inside, someone will come by soon and get you started with some drinks.”

Katsuki nodded as he went by but he heard Izuku be a little more polite with a verbal thank you as they passed into the room. It wasn’t too big but it had a killer view out the windows of the city, and already sitting inside was everyone else who had been invited.

Katsuki turned so he could watch Izuku’s face light up in realization. Katsuki’s friends were already all there and seated, as well as some of Izuku’s extras. Everyone lit up in return as the pair walked inside together holding hands with happy looks on both of their faces. It took about two seconds before Mina and Izuku had managed to cross the room enough to be crying in each other’s arms and Katsuki’s heart swelled at the sight.