Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s been a year since Shouto and Katsuki started dating.

They started dating in their second year of high school. Shouto was 16, Katsuki was 17, and they confessed to each other at night under the moon (with the gentle silver light emitting from it framing their faces). Katsuki made Shouto happy ever since, and their bond has been steadily building as time went on. Their relationship was beautiful like that; it grew slowly, over time, into something strong.

Now, Shouto was 17, Katsuki was 18, and it’s been exactly a year. Katsuki was taking them somewhere (it was a secret), and Shouto was getting ready in his room, when he heard a knock.

“Come in,” Shouto said, putting on his shoes.

“Hey, do you still have that-- woah, what are you wearing?” Came Eijirou’s excitable voice. Shouto turned to look at him. His hair wasn’t gelled like usual, held up in a ponytail, and he was wearing a huge hoodie. A perfect contrast to Shouto’s jeans and fitted black shirt. “Is it too much?” Shouto asked.

“No, you look nice,” Eijirou cleared up. “But what’s the occasion?”

Shouto looked at him, brows pinched in confusion. Surely as Katsuki’s best friend, he should’ve known about the meaning of the date? Nevertheless, Shouto told him.

“It’s Katsuki and I’s anniversary,” Shouto told him. “He’s taking me out.”

“... No, but seriously, I’m curious,” Eijirou said with a smile. “You usually look good-- I mean, you’re you -- but never like you're trying to look good, so this is pretty refreshing.”

“I just told you,” Shouto frowned. “It’s our anniversary.”

Eijirou laughed. “You know, you don’t usually joke around, but this is nice,” he said encouragingly. “It’s good to see you loosen up every once in a while. Well, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay! Have fun!”

And with that, he exited Shouto’s room, leaving the puzzled boy alone with his confusion.

When Shouto took the elevator down to the main floor, he was met with a few curious glances of his classmates that were hanging around in the common room.

“Have you guys seen Katsuki?” Shouto asked, looking around.

“He went outside,” Hanta said, pointing his thumb at the door. 

“And he was looking nice, just like you,” Kyouka added, looking up from an assortment of cards she had in her hands. “Where are you going?”

Shouto remembered Eijirou’s reaction and wondered if they wouldn’t believe him, either. “He’ll probably tell you guys when we get back. I’ll head out, don’t want to be late.”

“Sure, we won’t keep you,” said Ochako, placing a card on the floor and laughing as Kyouka sighed in defeat.

Shouto went outside, putting on his jacket as the wind blew his hair away. Katsuki was leaning against a tree, scrolling through his phone. When he looked up and saw Shouto, his eyes brightened, and his usual deep frown relaxed.

“Hey,” Shouto said after making his way to him, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear elegantly. “I hope I’m not too late.”

“You’re not,” Katsuki said quickly, observing him. “Even if you were, it would’ve been fucking worth it.”

Shouto’s lips quirked up as Katsuki placed his hand on Shouto’s neck and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. “You’re ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Shouto said quietly, his smile content. Their hands intertwined and nothing felt more meant to be.

Katsuki recently got his driver’s license, and with his mother’s car and Aizawa’s permission to leave the school grounds, he was free to take them anywhere he wanted. Katsuki liked the freedom, and Shouto liked to gaze out of the open windows at the scenery, so it worked out perfectly.

“Where are we going?” Shouto asked, looking at Katsuki from where he was leaning against the window frame. Katsuki didn’t look away from the road, but he smiled a tiny bit, and Shouto’s heart swelled with fondness. “You already know I won’t tell you. Stop asking.”

“I was hoping you were weak enough to tell me.”

“You make me the weakest,” Katsuki confirmed, and pink blossomed on Shouto’s cheeks. “But I still won’t tell you.”

Shouto pouted as if that wasn’t the answer he expected.

At some point, after parking the car somewhere, Katsuki told Shouto to close his eyes. He did, and let Katsuki lead him through the uncertain darkness.

“Give me a hint! is the surprise food?”

“Food comes later,” Katsuki answered. “Try again.”

“Hm… are you taking me to a roof?”

“Fuck no, I think we both learned our lesson from last time.”

“Aizawa was so mad,” Shouto said, suppressing a chuckle. “It was worth it.”

Katsuki hummed in agreement and continued to lead him. At some point, Shouto heard him pushing open a door, and then another one, and then Katsuki let go of Shouto’s hand.

“You can open your eyes,” he said.

Shouto let his eyes open, and then they widened slightly, and then they immediately softened. It was an ice rink.

The ice rink was empty. No people, no staff. It looked to be abandoned, and Shouto looked at it with stars in his eyes.

“Katsuki, how did you--” Shouto asked, turning to look at him. He was holding two pairs of Ice Skates in his hands.

“You said you wanted to teach me how to skate, so here you go,” Katsuki said, the corners of his lips quirking upwards. “Let’s see what you’re made of, hotshot.”

Shouto smiled and kissed him softly. “Thank you,” he muttered happily. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Come on,” Katsuki said, trying (unsuccessfully) to hide his red cheeks.

Shouto held Katsuki’s hand as he tried to skate. It was the first time Shouto’s ever seen him not immediately excelling at something he tried for the first time and it was the most endearing thing Shouto’s ever seen. Maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment thought, but Shouto reached the conclusion that maybe he wanted the rest of his life to look like that; holding Katsuki's hands and feeling nothing but happiness.

They laughed, fell, exchanged small kisses and soft words until it was late. Katsuki wasn’t a person that smiled often, but he did it a lot more when he was around his boyfriend, and Shouto was so unbelievably gone for his smile. Shouto couldn’t help but stare whenever Katsuki smiled genuinely, and would think to himself that he was so immensely lucky. when Katsuki smiled widely, laughing after he fell on top of Shouto accidentally, he couldn't resist the urge and kissed his nose.

They were lucky to have found each other.

Later that night, they went out to eat. Shouto got to have the cold soba he always wants, Katsuki ate something that looked spicy beyond belief and they talked over anything and everything at the same time. Nothing was more perfect.

They came back to the dorms at around midnight, whispering and laughing and overjoyed. When they entered the dorm building, they ignored the several heads that turned in their direction, and went up to Shouto’s room (with the intention of cuddling and not letting go, because they couldn’t get enough of holding each other).

“Wasn’t that really weird just now?” Mina mentioned after Shouto and Katsuki left the common room, just as she, Denki, Momo, and Tenya played an Uno game (class 3-A was pretty big on card games).

Momo tilted her head, thinking. “I also didn’t know that Shouto and Bakugou-san were close like that, but they have gotten considerably closer the past year and a half, so I guess they greatly improved their friendship when I wasn’t aware.”

“That’s one hell of an understatement. Don’t you feel like something spicy is going on?” Mina asked as she placed a color-changing card and stuck out her tongue at Denki. “I mean, that was the most blatantly happy expression I’ve ever seen on Bakugou’s face.”

“That’s their thing,” Denki replied after putting down his last red card. “They like to mess with people. I saw them holding hands yesterday.”

“Shouto-kun and Bakugou have gotten close, as Momo said,” Tenya said, placing a yellow card on the pile. “It shouldn’t be out of place for them to spend time together, and I don’t think they do it simply to confuse the rest of us.”

“I’ve never seen Baku this smiley before though.”

“Yeah,” Mina said, wondering. “He doesn’t smile like that with anyone, not even with Eijirou, and they're best friends . That smile seemed a lot more intimate.”

Momo and Tenya hummed in quiet agreement, and they continued to play with the interaction on their minds.

“I still stand by my point, that they’re joking,” Denki said after a while. “We all saw them just now, all smiley and touchy in the common room of all places? They wouldn’t do that unless they’re pranking us, like I said! Maybe they’re trying to make us spread rumors and speculate.”

“That… would make sense, I guess.”

“Even though I doubt Todoroki-kun would go through with something like that…”

“Contrary to popular belief, Shouto-kun does possess a sense of humor.”

“I guess that’s what it is, then,” Mina agreed. “So they’re trying to prank us? Those sly foxes.”

“They’re probably trying to convince us that there’s something between them!” Denki continued. “Because how weird and out of place would that be, right?”

“I can see them together, actually,” Momo said, placing another card. “They would make for a really sweet couple.”

“Ew, Bakugou and Todoroki? No way!”

“Where were you?” Izuku asked when Shouto entered his room, looking up at him from books and papers that were scattered on the ground. “I wanted to study, so I figured I should call you too but you weren’t in your room. When I asked Ochako she said you went somewhere with--”

“Katsuki,” Shouto completed. “Yeah, it was our anniversary today.”

Izuku’s eyes widened like saucers. “What are you talking about?”

Shouto sighed in disbelief. “Come on Izuku, you’re my best friend. I expected you to remember, I had it marked on the calendar in my room and everything.”

“So that’s what it was?” Izuku muttered to himself. “Wait, slow down-- can you go back to the part when you said it was your anniversary? Anniversary of what exactly?”

“Our relationship,” Shouto said, as if it was obvious. At Izuku’s puzzled expression, Shouto let out an exasperated groan. “We started dating a year ago, Izuku.”

“Hold up, you started what ?!”

“Did you not know?!”

“Was I supposed to? You never told me anything about this!”

“Yes, I did! Right after we got together officially, I came to your room and told you that we sorted out our feelings!”

“I didn’t know those were the kind of feelings you were talking about! Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Shouto said, face-palming. “I mean, even if you didn’t get it at first, we were a couple a whole year after that! How could you possibly not know? Did you think the hand holding and the hugs were me being friendly With Bakugou Katsuki of all people?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku said defensively. “I thought you were just messing with me.”

“This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever said,” Shouto declared. “seriously, I can't believe you. I think I’ll go back to my room, where my boyfriend is sleeping in my bed.”

“You’re really serious about that? Please tell me this is some really elaborate joke.” 

“I call him by his first name!”

“I do too!”

“Katsuki and I aren’t childhood friends though, Izuku.”

Izuku hid his face in his hands. “So you're telling me this whole time, you two were together …”

“Yeah.”

“Am I a bad friend for not believing you?”

“Oh my god. I hate you.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, jerk,” Shouto huffed. “I’m leaving.”

“Is Kacchan really in your room?”

“ Yes , why would I lie about that?!”

“I don’t know?”

Shouto wanted to smack his friend in the face. How clueless and dumb one must be to not notice their year-long relationship?

Shouto entered his room, closing the door soundly in an attempt to not wake Katsuki up. Despite that, Katsuki opened his eyes as soon as he did.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Shouto whispered, and Katsuki lifted the blanket to let Shouto in. 

Once Shouto was settled nicely under the blankets, Katsuki closed his eyes again. “It was cold without you.”

Shouto’s heart fluttered in his chest, and he let out a tiny smile like he often did around Katsuki.

After a while, Katsuki still wasn’t asleep, and his eyes slowly opened. “I can’t sleep.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just say something. Your voice helps me calm down.”

Shouto started to smooth out parts of his hair. “I went to Izuku’s room before I came here, just to check on him. He asked me where I was, so I told him I was with you since it’s our anniversary.”

“Let me guess, he didn’t remember.”

“Worse,” Shouto said. “He didn’t even know we were dating.”

Katsuki’s eyes, that were looking at nothing in particular, moved up to meet Shouto’s. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Right?” Shouto asked, on the verge of laughter. “I thought it was pretty obvious. Even after I cleared it up, he still didn’t believe me.”

“Some best friend you have,” Katsuki said and chuckled.

“Hey, yours reacted pretty much the same way!”

“To hell with that, Kirishima knows we’re together.”

“...”

“... I think,” Katsuki added after a while. “What did he say to you?”

“He came to my room before we left. I told him you were taking me out and he thought that I was joking and avoiding the question because I didn’t want to tell him. He even told me that it’s "refreshing to see me joke around" and then left.”

“The fuck.”

“I know, right?”

“If those two dumbasses don’t know, who in this hellhole does?”

“... I assume everyone else?”

Katsuki looked at Shouto skeptically. “I doubt that.”

“We weren’t exactly being secretive about it. Or subtle.”

“But we never really said it, either,” Katsuki said. “And the people we did say it to don’t fucking believe us, apparently.”

Shouto processed what he said and couldn’t stop himself from laughing quietly. “So no one knows?”

“You tell me, genius.”

“This is absurd,” Shouto declared quietly. “No one in our class is that dumb.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow.

“... Stop that. They’re not.”

“Maybe we should check that,” Katsuki suggested, his small smile turning into a mischievous grin.

“What are you planning?” Shouto asked, hiding his smile with his hand. “Please don’t do something you’re going to regret.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

Shouto was mildly concerned, but he let Katsuki peck him on the lips and close his eyes, clinging to Shouto’s warmth as he went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Shouto was woken up by a pillow to the face.

He groaned, sleepily pushing it away, and turned to the other side.

And then a pillow hit his face again. And another one.

“What,” he snarled, still half-asleep. Shouto took a few more selfish seconds of peacefully breathing before he opened his eyes, and sat up.

“Morning, sunshine,” said his smug boyfriend. He took a second to examine Shouto and chuckled. “You look like hell.”

“I’m tired,” Shouto supplied, sinking back to his pillow. 

“Get up,” Katsuki urged him. “I ran out of pillows.”

“Why are you waking me up? It’s so early .”

“We’re going to class together,” Katsuki said, getting up from where he was doing homework. He nudged Shouto with his foot. “Up, Snowflake. If it was any other day I’d be in class right now.” 

“What am I being punished for? I never come with you, since you leave before I’m even up .”

Katsuki shrugged. “Sue a bitch for wanting to spend time with his boyfriend.”

Shouto sighed. “Sitting with you in our cold classroom, doing essays and homework at the crack of dawn while Tenya cleans his glasses and organizes his pens in the background does not sound like an ideal way to spend time with you, Katsuki.”

“Oh my fucking god, get up already,” Katsuki said, placing both of his arms under Shouto’s armpits in an attempt to pick him up. Shouto’s legs stretched the way a cat does when he’s being picked up. “You’re literally impossible.”

After a few minutes of struggling, Shouto got up, rubbing at his eyes and glaring daggers at his boyfriend (who didn’t look sorry in the slightest). He got ready, put on his uniform, and reluctantly let Katsuki pull him out of the dorm building.

“It’s so early,” Shouto mumbled, eyes half-closed. “I want to sleep.”

Katsuki tried to repress a laugh, and Shouto was so tired he couldn’t even hide how much he loved it.

“I hate you for waking me up,” Shouto said, pressing a kiss to the corner of Katsuki’s mouth, “But I’ll let it slide. You’re lucky you’re so beautiful.”

Katsuki looked away. “Stop doing that thing where you catch me off guard. It pisses me off.”

Shouto smiled.  “But it’s so cute.”

“Shut up. I’m not cute .”

“The cutest,” Shouto continued, Katsuki still refusing to look at him. “Your enemies should fear your pout more than your quirk.”

“Stop it.”

“I see you trying not to smile, you know.”

Katsuki’s tight-lipped frown turned into a snort and he pushed Shouto lightly (but with enough force that he stumbled a step to the left). “When you say that, I can’t not smile!”

“That’s entirely the purpose, you jerk,” Shouto said through his laughter.

“ Your jerk.”

“Yep. Mine and only mine.”

Shouto was tired and sleepy but Katsuki was laughing by his side, and as the sun came out from behind the school building, it occurred to him that maybe the morning wasn’t so bad after all.

When they got to class, surprisingly alone, they started to talk about the Hero Billboard Chart out of boredom.

“It’s fucking ridiculous that Gang Orca dropped out of the top 10,” Katsuki said while examining the list. “And Kamui Woods over Crust? What a fucking Joke. He’s been a hero longer than Kamui’s been alive .”

“What I’m surprised over is Ryukyu. She’s still in the top 10, somehow.”

“She had a big case a few months ago,” suddenly came a third voice. Katsuki and Shouto turned around to see Eijirou and Tenya enter the class together. “She was on a joint mission with Miruko that brought major results and blew up on social media.”

“That so?” Shouto asked. “I haven’t heard of it.”

“Maybe because we were head deep in studying for exam week,” Eijirou suggested, putting his bag on his seat. “What are you guys doing here so early?”

Shouto was about to say that he didn’t really know either, but Katsuki cut him off.

“I asked him to come early,” he said, not elaborating. “Anyway, this year’s ranking is bullshit. It turned into a popularity contest.”

Eijirou looked at him with a confused expression.

“It did,” commented Tenya from his desk, organizing his notebooks. “It seems as if Present Mic’s work as a hero amounts to nothing with where Billboard ranked him.”

“Yeah like, 29? After everything he did? And the fuckers put Mt. Lady in the 13th fucking rank like she hasn’t been a hero for four goddamn years.”

“When we'll be pro heroes, I wonder who’ll make it to the top 10,” Eijirou said. “Midoriya’s gotta be there somewhere, and Yaoyorozu also has the potential to be pretty popular.”

“Katsuki’s going to be first,” Shouto added. “If someone like Endeavor can get the first place just because of how many cases he has under his belt, Katsuki can take first place easily.”

“Don’t talk like you’re not going to be the poster boy for popularity,” Katsuki huffed. “Annoying motherfucker. The public’s gonna love you and your stupid beautiful face.”

Shouto laughed quietly, and Katsuki looked pleased with himself. “I love the way you compliment me and hide it as an insult. Proves what I said about you being cute.”

“I will fucking choke you,” Katsuki said, a little less pleased, and Shouto didn’t want to expose the way he choked back a smile in front of their classmates. Shouto smiled at him cheekily instead.

“Another Bakugou classic,” Eijirou said. “Threatening to choke someone after being complimented.”

“It’s the humility.”

“Or the murderous intent.”

“Stop fucking talking, idiots,” Katsuki said, annoyed. “That wasn’t even trying to be a compliment. Pieces of shit.”

Shouto pinched Katsuki’s cheek. “I mean it,” he said sincerely. “You’re adorable.”

To Eijirou it might’ve sounded sarcastic, and he started laughing, not noticing the way Katsuki’s face reddened in the process.

“I hate you,” Katsuki muttered to himself.

“Consider it payback for getting me out of bed this morning.”

Katsuki was being awfully clingy that day.

Well, it was Katsuki clingy-- no actual physical clinginess, but he wouldn’t leave Shouto alone.

(Which Shouto didn’t exactly complain about.)

Katsuki didn’t go to his usual lunch table with Eijirou, Denki, and Hanta, choosing to sit next to Shouto instead. Again, no complaints; but it was weird for everyone, including Shouto.

“Are you okay?” Shouto asked Katsuki quietly while Tenya and Izuku were distracted. “You seem off today.”

“I’m fine,” Katsuki responded simply, stuffing a spoon into his mouth. “Doing fuckin’ great.”

“You’re sure?” Shouto asked hesitantly. “I didn’t really get why you wanted me to come with you to class, and I don’t get you sitting next to me at lunch either. If you had a nightmare or anything you’d tell me, right?”

“Shouto. Calm down,”  Katsuki said, and gently took his hand. “I’m fine, it’s nothing like that. I just wanted to spend time with you, you worrywart.” 

“Can you blame me?” Shouto sighed. “You’re acting weird.”

Katsuki smiled. “That’s the point, baby.”

Shouto raised an eyebrow. “What did you just call me?”

“Nothing,” Katsuki mused, hoping someone overheard them and collecting his tray as he got up. “See you in class.”

In the training session they had later that day, when Aizawa announced they’d be working in pairs, Shouto naturally wanted to ask either Eijirou or Tenya to partner with him (they both seemed to be a good match when it came to the kind of training Shouto wanted to work on). He was about to open his mouth when he and Katsuki locked eyes and he mouthed “with me”. Shouto was confused but nodded, because his boyfriend was strong and why not humor his sudden need to be close to Shouto at all times.

And then Katsuki decided to say it out loud, and Shouto was even more confused. Pleasantly surprised, but confused.

“I’m taking this guy,” he declared, moving over to him. “Are you ready to lose?”

“You wish,” Shouto said, smiling when Katsuki put his arm around his neck.

A lot of people other than Shouto were confused about that, it seemed.

“But--” Eijirou was about to protest, before Izuku stopped him.

“I can be your partner today, Kirishima-kun,” he said, and then leaned in to whisper. “You probably don’t want to get in between those two.”

Eijirou looked at him curiously. “You noticed it too? They’ve been so close lately. It’s like they’ve been friends for years.”

… Or it’s like they’ve been boyfriends for a year.

Izuku thought about what Shouto told him. He still didn’t fully believe him, maybe because he hasn’t seen any of the boyfriending happening in action, but no one could deny that they were close anymore.

“Why did you do that?” Shouto whispered when no one was paying attention. “I’m starting to think you want people to get on our cases.”

“You’re finally catching on?” Katsuki asked, and Shouto’s mouth formed a little “o”.

“Katsuki!”

“What, is it that bad? I’m just going to confuse them a bit.”

“You’re so mean,” Shouto mumbled. “So what next? You’re going to hug me in front of everyone?”

“That’s not a bad idea--”

“ Katsuki .”

“I’m joking, killjoy. But it is weird that we’ve never done that before.”

“What?” Shouto asked quietly.

“Hugging in front of everyone,” Katsuki explained. “We never really did that whole PDA thing and thank fuck for that, but I don’t really give a shit about other people, and usually you don’t either. Really makes you wonder why they don’t know we’re together.”

“Can you not do this right now?” Shouto asked, suddenly feeling tired. “We’re going to start soon.”

Aizawa was instructing the class on what they were supposed to work on, and he was almost done, meaning they had a few minutes before starting.

“Okay,” Katsuki said. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Shouto said softly. “I love you.”

Katsuki looked at him and his edges softened. “Yeah. Love you too.” 

Katsuki knew that Shouto meant his words, but couldn’t shake the feeling that he just wanted an out of the conversation. Katsuki sighed internally. He filed that conversation for later.

Training went as well as one would expect when two of the strongest students in the class were pitted against each other; they caused damage, fought to the extreme, and attracted a lot of attention when other students should’ve been practicing.

Katsuki didn’t have time to strategize with how quickly Shouto was dishing out ice pillars, and Shouto couldn’t stop those since Katsuki was exploding things left and right while blocking his vision, and it was a big mess of constant attacking. 

Shouto kept Katsuki on his toes, something he wasn’t able to do a year or so back. His speed, power, tolerance to the frostbite that grew on his arms and the intricate ways he learned to use his quirk all improved tremendously ever since their first year, and it showed.

But Katsuki was himself, and that was the deal-breaker.

“Let’s stop it here,” Aizawa cut in, right as Shouto’s left side starting burning, and neutralized both of their quirks. “This is training , not a fight to the death. Back off.”

Katsuki wiped his sweat and nodded, breathing heavily. He looked over to where Shouto stood, his training clothes in tatters.

His hair was messed up and his lips were parted as he breathed just as heavily as Katsuki. Ice shards were framing his face and his eyes were wide open, which highlighted their color.

He was always pretty, but his state post-battle was captivating.

Katsuki let his gaze linger, and Shouto’s lips quirked up.

“I can see you trying not to smile.”

“Fuck you,” Katsuki said as his blank expression turned into a grin. “I’m not.”

“Liar.”

They laughed (mostly Shouto giggling behind his hand and Katsuki suppressing a potentially loud chuckle) and walked away from the training grounds, taking a breather. Shouto threw Katsuki a water bottle and they sat together, talking about their training session, while Izuku rested on the ground next to them.

“Your precision is getting better,” Shouto said, taking a sip from his water bottle. “Your focused attacks are improving, too.”

“Your technique is almost perfect,” Katsuki returned nonchalantly.

“That’s thanks to you,” Shouto said, letting out a tiny smile. “You helped me get better.”

“I can say the same damn thing about you,” Katsuki said. “You and your annoying perfect precision.”

“Don’t make this into a competition,” Shouto said, chuckling. “I won’t stop if you get me started on your observance.”

“You say that when you’re way sharper.”

“Both of you are annoying. And wrong,” Izuku said, his eyes closed. “Please shut up.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to fucking do,” Katsuki said and crossed his arms. “Only your stupid best friend gets to do that.”

“You’re so sweet,” Shouto cooed. “If I ordered you to tell the whole class that I’m the better hero between us, would you do it?”

“Yeah. Just because I’ll do it doesn’t mean I believe it, though,” Katsuki shrugged. “I’ll make everyone know that I’m number one.”

“That’s more like you,” Shouto nodded. “Obeying out of defiance.”

“Defiance might as well be his middle name, at this point,” Izuku added.

“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki snarled. Shouto stroke his head softly to distract him, and Katsuki looked aside while frowning but didn’t say anything more.

It’s when he got quiet that Shouto realized how much power he held over Katsuki’s heart.

Shouto usually hung out with Momo and Denki after school, occasionally with Izuku when he was studying, or with Katsuki whenever he had other free time. He also liked reading in the common room, since he got to be around everyone and do the things he loves at the same time. It was relaxing. It was his routine. 

Shouto was on his way to his favorite spot on the couch with a book when Katsuki’s voice reached him.

“Hey, wanna play chess?”

Shouto turned around, just to make sure it really was Katsuki. It was.

“Since when do you play chess?”

“Death-eyes and I play almost every day,” Katsuki shrugged. He was probably referring to Shinsou. Strangely, it was nice to hear that he and Katsuki were getting along, since Katsuki wasn’t a big fan of him at first (like with most people).

“That’s cute,” Shouto commented, and Katsuki’s eyes furrowed in annoyance. “We can play chess if you want to.”

Shouto and Katsuki settled on the floor, and Katsuki started placing the pieces in their places. Shouto never played chess with him before, but he did like the game on its own, and played it with Izuku a few times. It was almost as time-consuming and interesting as Sudoku.

“You can start.”

Katsuki moved one of his pawns, and Shouto faked a pondering expression.

“Are you sure you want to put that there?”

Katsuki looked at him with an irked expression. “Are you really one of those assholes that try to mindfuck people into making mistakes?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shouto said. “I just asked a question.”

“Don’t give me that crap. Chess is about slow thinking, strategizing and attacking until you win.”

“Chess is about figuring out the enemy and preventing him from winning,” Shouto disagreed.

“Chess is about playing, not psychological manipulation.”

“You’re right, it’s about analyzing the other player.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Of course it is.”

“Yeah,” agreed Izuku, who was talking to Ochako and couldn’t help but overhear. “Shouto’s right.”

“What? No, that’s bullshit,” huffed Denki. “Chess is about playing . I’ve never tried to psycho-analyze someone to win a game of chess.”

“That’s how you lose,” Izuku disagreed with a shrug. “Predictability plays a huge role in the strategizing front, and if you get the other person second-guessing themselves, you got it in the bag.” 

“Oh my god,” Mina said in the background. “You guys are so annoying. Chess is not even fun.”

“She’s right,” Hanta agreed.

“Fuck it. Let’s just play Monopoly.”

In the end, too many people wanted to play Monopoly with them, so it ended up with a few teams. Izuku was with Ochako, Shouto with Katsuki and Denki with Mina, while Hanta, Eijirou, and Kyouka played by themselves.

Nothing could be more perfect for Katsuki’s weird need to confuse every person in class.

While Shouto organized the cards, Katsuki placed an arm over his shoulders, leaning on him a little. Shouto glanced at him once but didn’t comment, noticing everyone else who saw the interaction blink in minor confusion.

“It’s so fucking hilarious just how stupid these people are,” Katsuki whispered in Shouto’s ear, and Shouto looked at him disapprovingly.

“Can you stop? You’re so mean.”

“You like them mean,” Katsuki replied with a suggestive tone, and Shouto groaned.

“You spend too much time with Kaminari. Sometimes I wonder why I like you this much.”

“What’s there not to like?”

Shouto put his hand on Katsuki’s mouth. “Shut up. Like, right now.”

Katsuki laughed quietly. “Or you’re going to do what, hotshot?” he asked, his voice muffled by Shouto’s hand.

“You are aware that there’s a more handsome, more athletic, smarter and better version of my ideal boyfriend in this building?” Shouto asked jokingly. “His name starts with “I” and ends with “enya”.”

“You’re saying I’m not the best version of your ideal boyfriend?” Katsuki asked. “When my mouth is perfectly fucking capable of licking your hand?”

Shouto pulled away immediately, and Katsuki had to suppress a laugh. 

After deciding on the order of the people playing, the group started their turns. They all had the feeling that they were going to be there for a long time after the first argument broke out. Every person had a different version of the rules and it quickly became utter chaos.

Some swore to choke their friends when they bought a street off their cities, some punched the floor when another person got something they wanted, and some were in a constant state of despair.

At some point Kyouka warned Hanta, saying that if he dared to buy the last train when she had the other three, she would take her battleship shaped token and shove it in his throat.

(Shouto was endearingly adamant on playing with the dog.)

It was a nice, hostile atmosphere.

At some point, Katsuki was too tired to continue, and he left with Shouto after inheriting all of their money to Eijirou.

Shouto quietly scrolled through his phone as Katsuki got ready for bed. Once Katsuki was done, he sat on his bed, and signaled Shouto to do the same.

“What I said today before training,” Katsuki said slowly. “I want to talk about it.”

“You said a lot of things before training,” Shouto said, silencing his phone and turning it off. He looked at Katsuki, giving him his full attention. “I guess it’s something I should’ve remembered if you want to talk about it.”

“It was about everyone else not knowing we’re together because we didn’t really show it,” Katsuki said carefully. “You said “can you not do this right now” and now that it’s later…”

“Katsuki, there’s nothing to say,” Shouto said. “Not every couple has to be affectionate and in people’s faces--”

“I know that,” Katsuki cut in. “I know. And don’t get me wrong-- it’s so fucking funny that nobody knows about us and I love confusing people about it. But it got me wondering about why it's so hard for people to accept.”

“I don’t know why either,” Shouto said quietly. "Does it matter?"

“I think it’s because we don’t show it," Katsuki said, ignoring his Shouot's question. "We don't show us . You never initiate anything and I always wait for you to initiate because that’s how you’re the most comfortable, and nothing ever comes out of it.”

“I don’t get it, are you saying that I'm hiding our relationship? That I don’t want to be with you? Because that’s not true,” Shouto was quick to say. “And I thought you knew that.”

“Stop going off on your own, that’s not what I’m fucking saying. Just… Shouto, are you even happy with our relationship? Proud of it?”

“Of course I am,” Shouto answered, his mostly neutral expression turning from slightly hurt to slightly disgusted. “I just didn’t think I had to spell that out to you.”

“You don’t. But you’re not really good at showing it.”

“Cool,” Shouto said, his expression hardening. “Good night.”

Shouto got up and left Katsuki’s room, closing the door behind him harshly, leaving his hot-headed boyfriend alone with his hot-headed thoughts.

Eijirou was on the brink of bankruptcy, Izuku and Hanta left already, Denki fell asleep on Mina’s shoulder and Ochako practically won the game already. Kyouka was stubborn, and tried to somehow prevent herself from losing, until she landed on one of Ochako’s hotels and lost all of her money.

“I give up,” Eijirou said tiredly. “You’re just way too good at this game.”

Ochako grinned in silent victory.

They started to organize everything back in its box as Mina started to nudge Denki awake.

“This game was intense,” Kyouka said with a smile. “You’re all animals. Especially you, Ochako.”

“What can I say, you’re all suckers,” Ochako shrugged. She picked up a card from the floor and showed it to Kyouka. “See this? This is the “get out of jail” card. The first thing I did right was collecting all of these cards so you guys keep throwing money at me.”

“Fraud,” Denki murmured, yawning.

“It was fun though,” Mina said, rolling the dice for fun and getting a double. “Where was this when Denki and I spent three turns in jail? Anyway, we should definitely come together more to play dumb games like today. It was nice to hang out in a large group.”

“Monopoly is not dumb, it’s a game of careful calculations and high tension.” 

“It’s Monopoly , Ochako.”

“My point still stands,” Ochako said and laughed when Kyouka shoved her lightly. “We were all pretty into it. Todoroki-kun’s tantrum over getting taxed was so funny.”

“It was. I think I saw Bakugou laughing for the first time today because of that,” Denki said, chuckling.

“Yeah… what was his deal, anyway?” Ochako asked. “He was acting like you , Kirishima-kun. Acting all buddy-buddy with Todoroki-kun and all.”

Eijirou shrugged. “They've been really close lately.”

“You think?” Mina asked sarcastically. “I’ve never seen Bakugou touch another human being willingly before.”

“My theory is that they’re pranking us,” Denki said, unknowingly right (but also so, so wrong). “It just kind of seems all out of nowhere.”

“Your theory ?” Kyouka asked and laughed. “That’s stupid. They’ve been hanging out a lot lately from what I’ve noticed, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But they’re like… the most antisocial non-affectionate beings to exist,” Mina pointed out. “And the hardest to approach.”

“We’ve all changed,” Eijirou reminded them. “Shinsou smiles. Tokoyami laughs. Mina gets A’s on her essays.”

“Hey--”

“What I’m saying is,” Eijirou cut her off, “I think that it’s amazing that they’re friends. They even joke around about it. Shouto told me a few days ago that they were going out for their anniversary . They celebrate friendaversaries, how cute is that--”

“Woah, wait,” Kyouka stopped him. “He said what? That changes things, dude.”

“No it doesn’t. Sero and Kaminari celebrate their friendaversaries.”

“Yeah, but we’re dating now,” Denki said, shrugging. “We cared about that because we mean a lot to each other.”

“They can care about that platonically, you know.”

“You know what this means,” Ochako said, closing the Monopoly box.

“What?”

“It’s time… for a bet!”

They all collectively groaned in various sounds of rejection.

Chapter Text

The worst part about avoiding Shouto was doing it willingly.

Sometimes, Katsuki and Shouto didn’t have time to really talk, or were too tired to, and they understood that when understanding was needed. Sometimes, they needed to clear their heads, and they respected each other’s space enough for it to be completely fine.

Ignoring each other was painful because they wanted to see each other, wanted to talk, but deliberately chose not to. They’d notice each other from opposite sides of a room and quickly turn away, acting like they weren’t looking. Katsuki loved Shouto so much that it suffocated him, but it was impossible to blame Shouto for anything when he was so damn beautiful . It was hard, since Katsuki couldn’t stop himself from looking at him, and his breath was stolen every single time.   

Shouto didn’t have as hard a time as Katsuki, though.

Shouto wasn’t quick to get angry or start an argument, but whenever he did, he’d stubbornly refuse to talk it out until Katsuki’s attempts to soften him up would succeed and he’d cave. This time was no different; Shouto refused to look at him, refused to talk to him, and was generally being as difficult as one would expect.

Katsuki was mad at him. For not listening, for taking things too far, for misunderstanding. Katsuki was mad and he badly wanted to go up to him and tell him everything he felt. Vent. Yell out his frustrations. Maybe slam a door. 

Katsuki did that thing where he got mad at Shouto for something that wasn’t his problem every once in a while, but often felt so guilty for taking it out on the person he loved most that he couldn’t meet his eyes. Whenever he’d get like that, Shouto would softly stroke his hair while reassuring him with quiet words and warm touches, and Katsuki would ease up and apologize. This time, they were both mad and hurt for reasons that weren’t that clear.

"Cool. Good night."

Funnily enough, Katsuki couldn’t sleep that night, and he could feel the absence of Shouto’s warmth as he blinked at the ceiling of his room. Thoughts were running in his head, and he was upset and angry and he was sorry , and it was all too much for him to let go of and fall asleep. Shouto's smile kept appearing in his thoughts as if he was haunting him.

Katsuki knew they’d be okay, eventually. He knew that he’d be okay soon too, because they had a saying. 

Once Shouto got mad at something, it was a losing battle. Once Katsuki got mad at something, it was a regular Tuesday.

So Katsuki stared at the walls of his room, stubbornly and angrily running scenarios in his head and thinking about what he should say to him. How to apologize. How to clear up what he meant.

How to make Shouto understand. How to make him see what hurt Katsuki in the first place.

Too many thoughts.

They were too obvious in school. They didn’t say a word to each other, didn’t even look at the other’s direction. The rest of the class, who were all curious about the rumors and bets circling around, were even more confused than usual.

Confused, but careful, since they could feel that something was wrong.

Izuku distracted Shouto all day by reciting useless facts Tenya taught him, that were mostly about frogs and crabs and pandas. Eijirou distracted Katsuki by being Eijirou, and Denki distracted Katsuki by being Denki. They didn’t need much more than that.

Everyone else looked from the sidelines as if they were trying to figure the situation out, and if it wasn’t so suffocating it would’ve been funny.

Shouto was studying better than usual, probably because he was tuning everything out. He learned to do that after his first real interaction with Katsuki, before they became friends, when everything was ten times more confusing and difficult. When they got closer, that's when Shouto learned to listen, to pay attention.

He didn’t really need that at the moment.

The silence at school was painfully similar to the one in their first year, and Shouto liked the quiet, as long as it was temporary. He wasn’t that mad.

Or so he thought.

“We’re doing pairs again,” Aizawa said when they were getting ready for training. “You can pair up as you wish, just like last week. Next week I’ll be pairing you off according to your performances. That’s it.”

The students started to talk amongst themselves, settling in pairs like they always did. Eijirou and Tenya, Shouto’s preferred sparring partners, paired up with each other. Izuku paired up with Momo, which was good given that they recently developed a good sparring rhythm. Shouto’s best remaining option was probably Hitoshi with his weird Aizawa-like attack patterns and sharp thinking.

“Todoroki and Bakugou should pair up again,” Denki suggested suddenly. “They were really awesome last time.”

The people that heard him all tensed up. Some stared at him as if they were trying to kill him with their eyes. Someone facepalmed. 

Shouto was about to politely decline and offer to partner up with Hitoshi, but Katsuki wasted no time in opening his mouth.

“Fuck that. Round Face!”

Ochako looked over to where Katsuki stood. “What?”

“I’m kicking your ass today.”

She rolled her eyes. “You wish, Grumpy.”

Katsuki left to go talk to her, leaving an embarrassed Denki and a frozen Shouto behind. Shouto couldn't believe that Katsuki really had the nerve to pretty much announce they weren't talking to the whole class.

“I, uh, sorry?--”

“It’s fine,” Shouto cut Denki off. “Shinsou.”

Hitoshi’s tired eyes moved up from the ground. “I’m not going to be your punching bag, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m just looking for something that puts up a fight.”

If Shouto was mad before, it was nothing compared to how angry he was after Katsuki's statement, and it showed in his offense; he clearly wasn’t strategizing, throwing ice and fire wherever his hands went without thinking twice and ignoring his surroundings. The training grounds looked like a battlefield more than anything else.

Shouto hoped that one of the ice thorns that scattered in the area sabotaged Katsuki’s fight, somehow. He was so angry at him that he didn’t care how petty that thought is. 

At some point, Shouto started pointing his attacks in Katsuki’s general direction, hoping they’d help Ochako with getting a punch or two in.

“Watch it!” Katsuki yelled as a spike of ice almost hit him. “You almost hit me!”

At that, Shouto directly targeted him, ice rapidly growing from his legs to form multiple spikes that Katsuki blew up with his quirk.

“Break it up,” Aizawa said, coming between the two while using his quirk on Shouto. “Todoroki, take a break. Shinsou can continue with someone else.”

“The fuck is your problem?!” Katsuki hissed at him, and Shouto’s eyes narrowed, on his way to bite something back.

“Don’t answer,” Aizawa instructed him. “And don’t start again until you’ve calmed down.”

Shouto glared at Katsuki one more time before backing off. 

Ochako and Hitoshi exchanged a tense look that could count as a whole conversation.

“So…” Ochako said hesitantly. “It’s not just me that saw that, right?”

“Everyone saw,” Tooru provided unhelpfully. 

“And everyone’s uncomfortable,” Kyouka added. “Mostly because there was obvious tension between them the whole day. They need to talk.”

“Right,” Mina agreed.

“Trouble in paradise?”

“I still don’t think that’s it,” Mina said and pouted. “I mean, they never showed any signs of tolerating each other until recently.”

“Or maybe we just never noticed,” Kyouka shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but as the only one who’s taken between us, I think today really looks like couple fighting.”

“The only one who’s taken between us,” Mina repeated, mocking Kyouka’s voice. “You love your girlfriend, we know .”

“I hate couples,” Tooru muttered. Kyouka shoved her playfully. “Anyway, can we do anything to help them?”

“I want to say that we should keep our noses out of their business, but considering their communication skills…”

“That basically amount to zero…”

“Yeah.”

The girls sat together in contemplating silence for a minute, until Tooru sighed.

“No matter how we try to help, I don’t think that we’ll succeed without making at least one of them angry.”

“What’s the gossip?” asked Denki, who happened to hear Tooru’s statement.

“Todoroki and Bakugou,” Ochako answered. “We’re trying to see how we can help them make up without pissing them off.”

Denki’s expression turned sour. “I feel terrible about today. I wanted to talk to Bakugou, but I doubt he’ll want to listen when he’s this upset.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“I’ll ask Kiri,” Denki said. “He’s the only one that can talk to Bakugou when he gets like this.”

“I think this is a bad idea,” Eijirou stated as Denki dragged him towards Katsuki’s room. “I doubt he’ll talk, anyway. Maybe we should give him space--”

“Shut up,” Denki groaned. “I need you. We all need you. You may be the only person that can get to the bottom of this, and we’re all invested, so you’re our only hope.”

Eijirou frowned. “Am I being used?”

“Lovingly,” Denki replied. They reached Katsuki’s door, and Denki pushed Eijirou forward. “We’re counting on you!”

“No pressure,” Eijirou mumbled. Once Denki left (mouthing “you got this” and finger-gunning on his way out) Eijirou knocked gently on Katsuki’s door. “... It’s me. Can I come in?”

There was a sound of the door’s lock turning and Eijirou took it as permission. He opened the door slowly, and was met with the sight of his best friend lying on his bed, his face buried in his pillow.

“Hey,” Eijirou said carefully. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about what happened, but everyone’s really worried about you. Especially me. If you want to talk about it, I promise nothing will get out of this room.”

“I know that,” Katsuki mumbled into his pillow. “That’s not the reason I don’t want to fucking talk.”

“I know.”

Eijirou sat on Katsuki’s bed and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “What happened?”

“... Shouto and I fought.”

“That’s pretty obvious. I want to know what actually happened.”

Katsuki’s head turned and one of his eyes glared at Eijirou. “I love him.”

Eijirou was taken off guard, his mouth forming an “o” shape as his eyes widened comically. Katsuki sighed in response and turned his head back to how it was, squished against the pillow. “That is exactly why we fought. All of you dumbasses don’t know that we’re together. Have been for a while now.”

“Wait, you were both serious about that?” Eijirou asked, stunned. “I was so sure he was messing with me--”

“Yes we’re fucking serious about that,” Katsuki said, turning around to lay on his back. “I’m planning on being his for a long ass time.”

“You’re… not joking?”

“No, dumbass,” Katsuki repeated, and then his expression softened. “I love him like I didn’t know I could love anybody.”

Eijirou’s face melted into soft realization. “Oh.” 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Took you long enough. You’re the worst best friend I ever had.”

“I’m the only best friend you have,” Eijirou defended himself, crossing his arms. “Kaminari doesn’t count.”

Katsuki didn’t answer, and they were quiet for a little bit. “How did you know?” Eijirou asked. “That you love him, I mean.”

“That’s a long fucking story--”

“I wasn’t there to see how your first relationship happened,” Eijirou cut him off. “So the least you could do is tell me.”

“You’re not my mom.”

“Come on, I deserve this.”

It started towards the end of their first year in high school.

“Why did you do that?”

Shouto looked up to Katsuki, who was leaning on the wall looking very displeased. “Why did I do what?”

“Why the fuck did you tell the interviewers that we’re friends when we’re not ?” Katsuki elaborated. Shouto looked at him strangely, like he couldn’t understand the question.

“We are friends,” Shouto mumbled, confused.

“No we’re fucking not.”

“Bakugou--”

“No. I literally can’t stand you,” Katsuki said clearly. “And the fact that we went to the remedial course together doesn’t mean shit . Learn to take a fucking hint.”

After that, Katsuki expected that Shouto would lose interest, or at the very least stop trying to befriend him. But nothing changed. They were paired up for an assignment, and Shouto bugged him about when and where and how they’ll do it. They sat in the common room with the rest of the class, and Shouto commented on things Katsuki said. they were training, and Shouto handed him water bottles. He talked to him and stood next to him and acted like they tolerated each other, which they didn’t . Not as far as Katsuki was concerned.

Shouto refused to back off.

One day, something in Katsuki snapped, and his mouth started running on his own without thinking.

“Give it a rest already, you annoying piece of shit. Can’t you see that I want nothing to do with you? We don’t get along. I literally hate you.”

“Why though?” Shouto asked simply. “I never gave you a reason to.”

“I don’t need a reason to hate you,” Katsuki mumbled back. He turned around. “Anyway. Bye.”

“Wait,” Shouto said. Katsuki didn’t want to wait, but for some reason, he did. “I don’t want you to hate me. I want us to be friends.”

“That’s not going to happen. Leave me alone. I mean it.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed and he huffed in annoyance. “That’s why I hate you.”

“Then I guess you’re going to hate me until these 3 years are over,” Shouto said in a shrug. “I know we’re all always competing, but... we’re always working together too. And you’re a person that I like to work with.”

“You have plenty of other fucking people you work with, and they actually want you around.”

“But it’s different with you,” Shouto said simply. “They’re all great. Iida, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya… but you’re different, because you never cared about who I am. You never cared enough to treat me differently, especially when it was just the two of us in the remedial course. I really appreciate it.”

Katsuki didn’t respond. He didn’t really know what to say to that. Shouto noticed and continued.

“You make me feel comfortable. So if it’s alright with you, I’d like to be your friend.”

“It’s not alright with me.”

“You didn’t seem to mind before today.”

“I did.”

“Okay,” Shouto said with a shrug. “But that doesn’t change how I feel.”

“It should,” Katsuki muttered.

“It doesn’t.”

“What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Be my friend.”

“Not in a million years--”

“And now,” Shouto stopped him. “Actually think about it.”

“‘M not changing my answer,” Katsuki mumbled, but he was hesitating. “I don’t fucking get it. I don’t get you .”

“If you weren’t so dead set on hating me, maybe you would,” Shouto said with a shrug. Katsuki stared at him, not knowing how to respond to his determination. 

“What the fuck do you want me to do, then?”

Shouto looked at Katsuki with the same neutral expression, but his eyes brightened in a way that indicated that the snappy answer Katsuki provided him made him happy. “If you could start being a little less aggressive, I’d appreciate it. You know, since I’m trying to be your friend and all.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Katsuki said, annoyed. “Look, can you just not do this?”

“No, I can’t,” Shouto responded simply.

Katsuki sighed. “And if I do start being a little less fucking aggressive, would you leave me alone?”

“Maybe,” Shouto said, and started to smile. “But that depends.”

“Depends on what ?”

“Depends on if you’re just calm or if you’re actually nice.”

Katsuki glared at Shouto, hoping that he’d miraculously get another quirk that allows him to blow up people’s heads with his stare.

When Katsuki wasn’t fighting it, being nice to Shouto wasn’t that bad. The thing was that since he was fighting it, it was really annoying most of the time.

Katsuki had to get used to letting things slide. Having to bite down a comment, or stop himself from getting mad, or suppress a growl at Shouto when he wanted to do anything in Katsuki’s general vicinity wasn’t easy. Those little actions didn’t matter much, and it wasn’t a big change, but it also was at the same time, and Katsuki hated it.

The acting nicer part, that is. The part where Shouto smiled a little, laughed quietly or showed appreciation towards something that Katsuki did or said wasn’t that bad. The part where Katsuki got too annoyed to care about whether Shouto was sitting next to him in the common room or not was… pretty okay.

The part where Shouto’s eyes started to be a place that Katsuki often got lost in was a big problem. 

One day Shouto was making tea in the dorm kitchen, and Katsuki was leaning on the counter next to him while solving sudoku puzzles on his phone, and they were peaceful. Shouto hesitated a second before he turned on the kettle, and turned to Katsuki. “Do you want tea?”

“I don’t like tea,” Katsuki mentioned offhandedly. “And hot drinks in general.”

“Oh,” Shouto said, grinning. “Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said, and moved his gaze from his phone, noticing Shouto’s satisfied expression. “What?”

“Nothing,” Shouto said, pouring hot water into his cup. “It’s good to know.”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow and lost interest, going back to his sudoku.

“Hey.” 

Katsuki went to the common room to grab a jacket he left when he saw Shouto huddled on a couch, holding his phone in his sweater-covered hands. “What are you doing?” Katsuki asked, crossing his arms.

“I’m watching a movie that Uraraka really likes. It's called Kimi no Na wa. You can join if you want.”

“No fucking thanks. Kaminari cries to this movie every weekend,” Katsuki protested.

“I only watched a few minutes, so I can’t say if it’s cry-worthy or not,” Shouto said, and pressed play. “I guess we’ll see.”

“A rock has more emotions than you do, so I doubt you'll cry.”

Shouto hummed as an answer and continued to watch the movie. Katsuki grabbed his jacket and looked at him, all curled up and immersed in the movie. He wanted to go back to his room, but somehow sticking around to see if Shouto cries or not became an appealing option, and he found himself sitting next to him despite his best efforts.

He didn’t cry.

“So…” Shouto started, his pen halting in its movement. “Are we friends?”

Katsuki didn’t look up from his homework. “No.”

“You didn’t say that like you meant it.”

Katsuki looked straight into Shouto’s eyes. “No.”

Shouto didn’t say anything for a second, and looked into Katsuki's eyes as if he was deciphering his thoughts. “I can see you trying not to smile. You don’t really mean it.”

Katsuki’s mouth betrayed him and he smiled a little. “Shut up.”

“I’ll take that as a yes?” Shouto said, smiling back once he noticed Katsuki’s expression.

“It’s a no.”

“It wasn’t a mean no, at least,” Shouto said with a shrug. Katsuki shoved him.

“Are we friends yet?”

Katsuki took off his headphones. “What?”

“Are we friends yet?” Shouto asked again, this time louder.

"No."

"..."

“... Stop asking and the answer might change into a maybe.”

Katsuki put his headphones back on and ignored the way Shouto’s face softened.

One Thursday night, the windows were wide open to let the cool wind in and Kyouka was playing the guitar quietly in the common room. The girls were huddled around her, talking between them, a group of guys were doing something on their phones and Shouto and Katsuki were playing War with a card deck Shouto found in Izuku’s room. Shouto was wearing shorts, a hoodie that wasn’t his (most likely Eijirou’s if you guessed by the bright red color and how huge it was on him), and a pair of socks that had a banana print on them that Denki got him for his birthday. 

Katsuki won their second round, and Shouto mixed the cards absent-mindedly when the thought crossed his mind. “Bakugou, are we friends?”

“I mean, you’re wearing those ugly-ass socks, so I think you’re enough of a fashion disaster to qualify.”

“Seriously,” Shouto chuckled. “I just want to know. Trying not to get my hopes up and all.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki asked as Shouto handed him his cards. “Getting what hopes up?”

“I hoped that you’d like me,” Shouto explained simply, as if he wasn’t saying something extremely personal. “Hoped that us getting closer wasn’t just my imagination.”

“Don’t make it weird.”

“ You’re the one making it weird when it shouldn't be,” Shouto redirected as they turned their cards. Shouto’s card was a king, and Katsuki’s was 4 of spades. Shouto took both cards. “If you weren’t so set on hating me, I wouldn’t have to hope for anything.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything, and they turned the cards again. Shouto’s card was 7 of diamonds, and Katsuki’s was 7 of hearts. War.

They both placed two cards facing down, and then placed one facing up simultaneously.

Shouto’s was an ace. Katsuki’s was a jack.

“Shit,” Katsuki hissed, watching Shouto taking all six cards. He only had a few left while Shouto’s deck kept growing, and he was very clearly not going to win.

“Why are you so afraid of friendship with me, anyway?” Shouto asked as they turned another pair of cards. Katsuki’s was higher. 

“I’m not scared of you,” Katsuki disagreed sharply. “And I’m especially not scared of friendship with you. I don’t want to be your friend. That’s it.”

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” Katsuki asked, not explaining himself but not rejecting Shouto’s question rudely like he used to. “We were never meant to be friends.”

“Yet here we are, playing cards, talking…”

Katsuki looked at Shouto until his piercing eyes looked at him back. Shouto’s turquoise eye was so clear and bright and unique , while his gray eye was dark and subdued. His eyes were so captivating. Katsuki found himself looking at them way too many times.

“We were never meant to be friends,” he said again, soft, but also firm.

The bewildered look on Shouto’s face showed that he took that sentence way differently, that time.

That same night, a few hours later, Katsuki was staring at his walls as the clock by his bed kept ticking. He couldn’t sleep. Eventually, he got frustrated, and got out of bed. He exited his room, went up the stairs to the next floor, and found himself knocking on the door of the same person he claimed to hate. Shouto eventually opened the door, looking confused.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“We’re not friends,” Katsuki said, ignoring him. “But I have a fucking question for you . Don’t you think we’re way more than just fucking friends ?”

Shouto didn’t answer, his eyes widening.

“I tried my hardest to stay away from you because I knew you were trouble from a fucking mile away, but you kept being so goddamn stubborn--”

“What are you saying?” Shouto stopped him, still unable to fully comprehend what Katsuki meant.

“I’m saying, I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you. Now that I am, I can’t get the hell away. I can’t be just your fucking friend. It’s either I force it to be less deep than that, or it becomes way, way deeper.”

“Deeper?” Shouto asked softly. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I have… something for you,” Katsuki said. “I thought it was hatred at first, and then it became something else, and I used hatred to keep that something else the fuck away from me.”

“I have something for you too,” Shouto supplied unhelpfully, leaning on his door frame. “But all this time I literally just wanted to hang out without you screaming at me.”

“Well too fucking bad. You ruined it with your annoying enchanting eyes. Fucker.”

Shouto frowned. “That’s mean.”

“I hate your eyes.”

“Thank you,” Shouto said, his frown quickly turning into a tiny smile. “That means “I like your eyes” in Bakugou, right?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki said, but he was almost smiling too. “They’re… pretty. You’re pretty.”

Shouto’s mischievous smile turned into something quieter. Warmer. “You’re pretty too.”

Katsuki pushed Shouto lightly into his room and closed the door behind them. One look at Shouto’s slightly surprised expression and Katsuki’s hand was already on Shouto’s neck, pulling him closer. Their lips met, and Shouto’s hand moved to cup Katsuki’s face. Katsuki never experienced anything like what Shouto made him feel before. He made him a mess of confusion and bad defense mechanisms, but he was also comfortable. Easy to talk to, easy to understand, and easy to fall for. 

Every time Shouto asked that same question, Katsuki had an answer. That answer didn’t change, but the feelings behind it did, quite a bit.

"Are we friends?"

No.

I never want us to be friends.

Eijirou looked at his friend gently. “The reason why no one thought you two are really together is that we didn’t see you two get close. But that was you, wasn’t it.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. “I didn’t want it. Any of it. Not the friendship or anything that came after that.”

“And now?”

“I want it more than anything,” Katsuki replied and groaned in frustration. “I want everything he can give me.”

“Bakugou,” Eijirou said softly. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s not your fault,” Katsuki said. “No one told you.”

“I’m going there and I’m going to tell him exactly what I think of him and his stupid face. Don’t try to stop me.”

“Todoroki-kun, no,” Izuku said in an attempt to stop him. “This is the worst idea you’ve ever had, and I’ve seen them all.”

“... Worst?”

“ Worst .”

“What should I do, then?” Shouto huffed, sitting back down on Izuku’s bed. “Do nothing and let him ignore me until he’s had enough?”

“Look, I don’t know how your relationship works,” Izuku said. “I’m still kind of in denial about that. I do know that he’s hot-headed and that this shouldn’t be a new thing for you.”

“It isn’t,” Shouto mumbled. “But this time I’m also mad.”

Izuku smiled fondly at his friend. “I say this with love, but you’re both not the best communicators. Maybe you misunderstood him, or he misunderstood you. Either way, you should talk to him.”

“Of course I should. I just don’t want to.”

“Shouto.”

“ Fine ,” Shouto agreed reluctantly, recognizing the fact that he was acting a bit childishly. “But I think I’m allowed to be the one who’s mad every once in a while.”

“Say that to him,” Izuku said, encouraging. “You got this.”

Shouto smiled wearily. “Thanks.”

Shouto was mad, but Izuku convinced him that he should at least try to keep an open mind. So he did, pettily. 

(He wore Katsuki’s favorite skull hoodie after he came out of the shower. Katsuki liked oversized clothing, and that hoodie was huge and comfortable; Shouto took at as soon as Katsuki looked in the opposite direction.)

Shouto knocked on Katsuki’s door a few times, but there was no answer. He went down to the common room to ask if anyone knew where his boyfriend was, and he ironically found him there, drinking tea.

It took Shouto a while to get him to enjoy tea, just like it took Katsuki ages to convince Shouto to share the hoodie instead of stealing it completely.

“Hey,” Shouto said, crossing his arms as Katsuki, Eijirou and Denki all turned to look at him, his shorts and his striped socks. “Can we talk?”

Katsuki looked at him blankly as if he was trying very hard not to smile. “Fine by me.”

Eijirou and Denki exchanged a look as Katsuki and Shouto left, both taking sips of their tea in silent understanding.

“I’m mad at you,” Shouto said as soon as Katsuki’s room door closed. “ Especially after today. But I’m here, because unfortunately, I love you more than anything.”

Katsuki sighed. “I love you too. Look, can I explain--”

“That’s not the part of the sentence I wanted you to pay attention to.”

“Shut your pretty mouth for one fucking second,” Katsuki stopped him. “I get why you’re mad, but you need to get why I’m upset .”

Shouto brushed his hair aside so he could see Katsuki’s eyes better, since his eyes were the part Shouto could read the best. On the outside, Katsuki didn’t seem very upset, but he wasn’t a person to throw around words that indicate weakness carelessly. Shouto knew that, and he let him talk despite the storm he was bottling up.

“I wasn’t trying to accuse you back then,” Katsuki said, mindful with his words. “I was scared, because the more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that you might not be happy with our relationship.”

“-- Wait,” Shouto said in disbelief. “Really? If we put aside the fact that I’m pissed at you for a moment, don’t you already know that you make me the happiest I’ve ever been and probably the happiest I’ll ever be ? Don’t you remember what made me want to get close to you in the first place?”

Katsuki knew he was right. He knew, but he still couldn’t bring himself to look at him.

“Katsuki, I love you,” Shouto said, his voice unyielding. “That’s not something I say to make you feel better or ease your anxiety. I mean it. We’re not too young and we’re not too stupid to know the weight of that word, at least not as far as I’m concerned.”

“Then explain it to me,” Katsuki said harshly, his voice steadying. “Explain to me why no one knows about us? Why no one even imagines in their wildest dreams that we might be close like that?”

“It doesn’t have to be that deep, Katsuki! Maybe they’re just idiots like you always claimed they were?”

Katsuki’s brows furrowed in annoyance. “Stop being petty.”

Shouto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he’d say something he’d regret. “Stop talking. This isn’t a part of my grand plan to make you insecure about our relationship, and I have no idea why everyone’s so sure we hate each other, but I do know that you’re overthinking and that it’s stupid .” 

Katsuki opened his mouth to speak, but Shouto beat him to it. “And if I’m already mad and I’m already petty, why not bring up how it’s possible that they don’t know because you literally tried to convince me and yourself that you hated my guts for almost a year?” 

“We talked about this,” Katsuki said through gritted teeth. “I told you I was sorry--”

“I’m not looking for apologies...” Shouto started to say, his tone dismissive. He stopped talking for a moment and closed his eyes, tired. “...This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

Katsuki’s guard dropped and his anger vanished in an instant. He scooted closer to Shouto, and once he made sure Shouto was okay with it, placed a comforting hand on his neck.

“I want to be able to show you off,” he said, his voice soft. “You’re Todoroki fucking Shouto, and you’re mine . It’s not like we’re keeping our relationship a secret, but we never said anything, either. I just hoped that this didn’t happen because I didn’t love you enough for them to take the hint.”

“You love me enough,” Shouto said, and kissed Katsuki gently, allowing himself a quiet moment before he spoke again. “We’re not done talking about this, okay? But I forgive you. And please don’t make me this mad again, what you did today at training was as dumb as offering water to someone who drowned.”

“I don’t know anything politer than “fuck no”, but sorry anyway.” 

Shouto giggled and Katsuki felt like he could finally breathe, letting his face relax like he often did when his gaze gravitated towards Shouto and he was unaware of it. “I like that about you,” Shouto said fondly, and smiled when Katsuki kissed the corner of his scarred eye. “Let’s talk more tomorrow. I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Sleep?” Katsuki suggested.

Katsuki was already convinced that Shouto’s place was in his arms, but Shouto’s unbelievable warmth and the way his arm secured Katsuki’s waist reminded him that it also went the other way around.

Chapter Text

After a few long years, Katsuki reached the conclusion that there was nothing more taxing than being a U.A. student.

As per usual, after a day of tedious studying and intense training, there was nothing he wanted to do more than jump straight into his bed. Shouto often teased him about his sleeping habits by calling him old, but Katsuki didn't think that wanting to get a little more than enough sleep was too much to ask.

After a few hours of staying behind to repair a part of his gauntlets, Katsuki finally entered the dorm building after an extremely long day. He was sore everywhere and exhausted, out of focus and in dire need of a long bath.

“You look tired.” 

Shouto placed a comforting hand on Katsuki’s shoulder and Katsuki strained a smile. “My back hurts like hell.”

“I can probably help you with that.”

Shouto often gave his friends massages using his quirk after training. He learned to control his left side well enough that his hands would steam but not burn, and he had surprisingly good hands, that Katsuki fully utilized to his advantage. 

Katsuki took off his shirt and positioned himself on the couch, letting Shouto’s warm hands relieve the stress that piled on his body.

“So, how did your day go?” Shouto asked casually. “Other than you being bitter over Iida giving you a run for your money in training, I mean. He almost beat you.”

“He almost did, I’ll give him that,” Katsuki said. “Other than that? I’m fucking peachy.”

“Are you sure? Because I heard Hatsume from support gave you a hard time.”

“The chick’s a lunatic, but she didn’t annoy me as much as usual. Probably saw that I was feeling like shit.”

“Your luck is that you’re intimidating even when you’re tired,” Shouto mused. His hands moved higher and started to soothe Katsuki’s shoulders, but Shouto hit a particularly troublesome spot and Katsuki groaned in pain. “That fucking hurts .”

“Sorry,” Shouto said, smiling apologetically. “This is going to hurt too.”

“What are you--”

Shouto’s thumb applied pressure to the painful spot and Katsuki gritted his teeth, trying to stop himself from yelling out profanities. “Okay, we can continue later,” Shouto said and ruffled Katsuki’s hair. “I’m going to study in Izuku’s room if you need me.” 

Katsuki put on his shirt and frowned deeply. “What?” Shouto asked.

Katsuki continued to frown and didn’t say anything.

“I’m going to Your room?” Shouto tried. Katsuki’s lips quirked up and Shouto laughed, shoving Katsuki lightly in embarrassment, and letting him peck his cheek before leaving. 

Katsuki’s gaze lingered on Shouto’s back until he disappeared into the elevator. 

“You guys are cute,” said Eijirou, who walked over to stand next to Katsuki. “It’s weird that I haven’t noticed it before.”

“Noticed what?”

“That you two are really close.”

Katsuki crossed his arms. “We should be. He’s my boyfriend.”

Eijirou grinned his signature toothy grin. “I still can’t get used to that, but in a good way. I can’t believe that you two are really a couple. Ah man, I owe Jirou and Uraraka money!”

Katsuki face-palmed. “You played right into Uraraka’s greedy hands, dumbass. When have any of us won a bet against her?”

“Fair point,” Eijirou said, his shoulders slumped. “I just thought you two are really good friends.”

“Sure. I hold my friends’ hands all the fucking time,” Katsuki said sarcastically. “I let my friends sleep in my room, in my bed, and I hold onto my friends when I go to sleep. I also take my friends out on our anniversaries because I give so much crap about when I met you jackasses.”

“When you say it like that…”

“Seriously. Like how fucking dumb do you need to be--”

“Hey, in my defense, it’s not like you told me you guys are dating.”

Katsuki stared at Eijirou in disbelief. “But I did ? A few fucking times?”

Eijirou thought for a moment, and then shrugged. “I only remember Todoroki telling me, and I remember not believing him.”

“You seriously didn’t know,” Katsuki mumbled, a little bit amazed. “You didn’t know. And to think that I fucking told you, to your face, that Shouto and I started seeing each other--”

“ That’s what you meant?” Eijirou cut him off. “That’s... hilarious? I didn’t know that’s what you meant by that, I just assumed that you meant that you two started to see eye to eye and get along.”

“'Get along' is a huge fucking understatement.”

Eijirou looped an arm over his shoulder and grinned apologetically. “Better late than never?”

Eijirou was lucky Katsuki loved him. “I guess,” he said, his edges softening.

“Anyway, Mina and I are going to play Pokémon , if you want in.”

“Look at this,” Shouto said, shoving his phone in Katsuki’s face. 

Katsuki blinked at the cat gif Shouto shoved in his face. “Cute cat.”

“The cutest."

"... Send me that later."

Shouto smiled. "Now that you've considerably softened up,” he said, "Will you agree to come to movie night?"

"I am considerably softened up, but no. I'm not coming."

“But you have nothing to do,” Shouto pointed out. “And it’s going to be fun.”

“I need to sleep.”

“You can sleep on my shoulder,” Shouto suggested, and Katsuki rolled his eyes fondly. “Katsuki, please? everyone‘s really excited, so excited that we even asked Aizawa to borrow his projector.”

“Wow, no tiny laptop this time?”

“We upgraded.”

“Tempting, but it’s still a no.”

“What can I do to make you come?” Shouto asked, his eyes softening. “I really want you to be there.”

“Don’t do that thing with your eyes,” Katsuki requested when Shouto’s pretty eyes looked at him expectantly. “I don't want to come. Why do you want me there so much?”

“ Fine ,” Shouto sighed, and looked away. “I guess I’ll cuddle Tenya instead.”

Katsuki thought about it for a moment, and realized that if Shouto’s watching movies till late at night, they won’t get to go to sleep together. When it came to sleeping, Katsuki was a little reluctant to sleep without his better half, since the feeling of safety he provided was intoxicating.

Shouto was Katsuki’s sleeping pill; he was warm, secure and soft. A little while after Shouto and Katsuki started to date, Katsuki started having nightmares, which wasn’t new but was just as difficult to deal with as always. Those went on for a few days until one day, Katsuki allowed himself to lean on Shouto’s shoulder when they were eating lunch together, and was out like a light. Shouto politely but stubbornly requested that they’d start sleeping in the same room, just so he could be there for Katsuki in case he needed him, which lead to Katsuki sneaking into Shouto’s futon every night to sleep with him. 

Shouto pretended to not wake up for the sake of Katsuki’s pride, and waited until Katsuki was comfortable enough to officialy ask him for that favor. They barely slept apart since.

Katsuki already got used to the comfort in Shouto’s warmth, and found that falling asleep without him became something he dreaded. Katsuki stopped having nightmares long ago, but once you get a taste of heaven…

“I’ll come,” Katsuki said eventually. “But no complaining if I do fall asleep on your shoulder.”

The movie was some mushy Disney shit and Katsuki was a little invested.

Sleepy, but invested nonetheless.

Katsuki’s head was comfortably nestled in Shouto’s neck, and he was trying to keep his eyes opened, especially when Shouto seemed to like the movie they were watching quite a lot.

“Skewer them Elsa, you boss ass bitch,” Katsuki said, stifling a yawn. He turned to Shouto. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt if you would skewer some people with your quirk.”

Shouto laughed quietly. “And barbeque them with my other quirk.”

“Naturally.” 

Hitoshi hissed a curse and threw popcorn at the wall after Elsa was captured, and Katsuki mumbled an insult directed at the screen. “Where are the badass Disney princesses at?” someone asked.

“Let’s watch Brave later,” someone else suggested, followed by various approving noises.

“Elsa’s just misunderstood,” Shouto defended her. “Her sister and her people don’t know about her kindness and the pain she’s been through because she wanted to protect them from her power.”

“Sounds like you know her better than they do,” Denki said, and Shouto pouted.

“You guys don’t know what’s it like to be a reserved person with deadly ice powers.”

“Yeah, because you’re so deadly,” Katsuki teased him. Shouto huffed in annoyance.

“Take your flirting somewhere else,” Eijirou stated, tears in his eyes as Elsa’s sister became a frozen statue. Katsuki’s eyes widened slightly, but it seemed like nobody took that statement seriously. Shouto and Katsuki exchanged a look before continuing to watch the movie. 

By the end of the movie, Shouto was clutching his blanket anxiously, while most of the girls booed at the cliches that unfolded after the climax of the movie. The boys, however, were all quite moved by the ending (even when they pretended not to be). It was a wholesome mess.

“Let us pick the movie,” Kyouka said when the credits started to roll. “You guys are way too sentimental .”

(The girls decided to watch an action movie.)

Movie night continued smoothly, and it was full of laughter, hushed conversations and buttery popcorn. Katsuki refused to admit that he had fun to prevent Shouto from using that against him next time they’d plan something similar, but he secretly enjoyed movie night more than he thought he would. Seeing Tooru get excited over car races in cheesy action movies and Hanta sing along to Disney songs without missing a beat was definitely a strange, welcomed change.

Katsuki’s eyes gradually closed, and he started to drift away after a few hours. They were watching movies for a very long time and Katsuki wasn’t one for staying up late, so he let himself fall asleep knowing Shouto would take care of him.

“Katsuki,” Shouto whispered as the credits to the next movie rolled and they started to wrap up. “Katsuki, we’re done.”

No answer.

“Katsuki, if you’re pretending to sleep so I’ll carry you to bed again, I’ll leave you here.”

Still no answer.

“Would you look at that,” Mina said when she noticed Katsuki’s peaceful sleeping. “That’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him.”

“Ditto,” Hanta said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him relaxed,” Ochako said jokingly.

Shouto tried not to laugh and wake Katsuki up, but it was amusing to see him get teased when he wasn’t aware of it and ready to retort, and a short chuckle escaped his lips. 

As Tsuyu and Tenya started to pick up trash from the floor and the boys started to get the living room back to what it looked like, Shouto realized that he couldn’t move without waking Katsuki up.

“Can you guys handle this?” Shouto asked Eijirou apologetically.

“Don’t worry, we’re just cleaning up. Bakugou wouldn’t have helped with that anyway, and besides, we’re almost the whole class here. We’ve got this covered,” Eijirou reassured him reliably. “You can get him to his room if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Thanks, Kirishima,” Shouto said with a tired smile. “Izuku, can you help me for a second?”

Once Izuku got the blankets Shouto and Katsuki were tangled in off them, Shouto wrapped a careful arm around Katsuki’s back and pulled him up from his legs. Katsuki’s head rested on Shouto’s chest as he carried him up to his room, so he could sleep in his bed properly.

Once Shouto managed to get Katsuki to his bed, he was pulled down by Katsuki’s weight, and found himself held captive by the unrelenting strength of his sleeping boyfriend.

Wonderful . He’d maybe manage to get out of his boyfriend’s hold once he woke up, which depended on how clingy Katsuki would be in the morning. All options considered, Shouto was trapped for the next few hours.

Katsuki liked to curl around Shouto in his sleep. Shouto knew this, and succumbed to his fate with a sigh. 

(A sigh that quickly turned into the fondest smile Shouto could muster. It was a smile that Shouto tried to prevent Katsuki from seeing, so that he wouldn’t be able to hold the way Shouto was absolutely stupid for him over his head.)

It was getting really late, and a few people stayed in the common room to organize the aftermath of movie night, since they knew it would never be done otherwise. Kyouka and Ochako were talking to each other mindlessly as they folded the blankets they used for movie night, as Eijirou and Momo swept the floor.

“Hey, by the way,” Eijirou said to Ochako, and leaned on the broom he was using. “I think I owe you money.”

“You look displeased about that,” she said, grinning. “Displeased, like you didn’t think it’d come to this.”

“Stop it, I knew my chances were slim,” Eijirou said with a sigh as Kyouka snickered. “Bakugou already called me an idiot for it. I don’t need your smug satisfaction on top of that.”

“So which bet did I win?” Ochako asked gleefully. “Was it the chicken nuggets one? The weather one? Or was it the one where I bet that Kaminari can finish Legend of Zelda before you do?”

“We still have two more weeks for that,” Eijirou reminded her. “But this is about the most recent one.”

“Oh.” The smile dropped from her face. “I won that?”

“Why do you look so disappointed?”

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t know you knew about that. I was really hoping to lose that bet. On the bright side, I’m sure Ojiro feels the same way, but he’s been studying hard lately for exams and this is not the best timing anyway--”

“-- What? ”

“... What?” 

“Uraraka.”

“... So you weren’t talking about the bet on you and Ojiro.”

“Not sure I heard of that one,” Eijirou said flatly. “You are a bet addict, you know that?”

Ochako shrugged. “You do what you have to do to survive in this capitalistic society.”

“Of course. But I’m going to need you to run me by that when I’m less tired. Anyway, the bet you won-- well, not only you.” Eijirou gestured in Kyouka’s direction.

Ochako looked at Eijirou, confused, and then her face changed in realization. She started to shake Kyouka’s shoulders. “You’re not serious! So Bakugou and Todoroki are dating?”

“After how Todoroki princess-carried Bakugou today, I’d hope they’re dating,” Kyouka said, smirking. “Pay up, Kirishima.”

“Why are you guys so stingy? Put it on my Uraraka tab.” 

“In hindsight, it probably was more obvious than we think,” Ochako said. “The reason why we noticed them lately is that they’ve gotten close really fast, but they could probably only get that close after a lot of time and getting comfortable with each other.”

“Makes sense,” Kyouka nodded. “They didn’t start out as friends, either. It was probably hard for them to put their egos aside and communicate.”

“Damn, now I’m invested.”

Eijirou sat on the couch. “If you guys would lessen my debt, I could tell you a short, not personal version of the story.”

Ochako and Kyouka exchanged a look, and nodded at each other. “What do you know?”

“I feel so stupid,” Mina stated. The girls were all sitting in Kyouka’s room, and she and Ochako told them what Eijirou explained to them the previous night. “They were dating the whole time… I saw the signs! It was so obvious!”

“We did too,” Ochako said and laughed. “But we got the hints, unlike you, who believed Kaminari-kun’s rant on how they must be pranking us because they’re robots that are incapable of feeling love.”

“He did sell me on that. Why is he such a loser?” Mina asked with a groan. Kyouka laughed in understanding. 

“I didn’t really want to pry,” Momo said, sweet as ever. “But it seems like those two don’t really care about that, at this point.”

The girls all agreed and it was quiet for a few moments. “Nothing is going to change,” Momo said after a few seconds. “But they should know that we know, just in case their relationship is more private than we assume.”

The rest of the girls agreed again. “I’ll just tell Bakugou,” Kyouka volunteered easily. After Mina gave her an unsure look, Kyouka chuckled. “Don’t worry. He has a soft spot for me, so it’ll be fine.”

[Kyouka]: yo

[Kyouka]: yoooooo

[Kyouka]: i’m outside your room open up

[Kyouka]: why don’t you ever answer when i knock

[Kyouka]: it’s not late & you shouldn’t be sleeping so stop ignoring me

[Kyouka]: i’ll eat your homework

[Katsuki]: jfc

[Katsuki]: i can’t rn

[Kyouka]: it’ll be quick, i just have to tell you something

[Kyouka]: pretty please?

[Katsuki]: u have two minutes

Katsuki unlocked his door and stared at Kyouka, annoyed. “What do you want, Earlobe? I’m busy.”

“I just wanted to tell you something, just so we’re on the same page,” Kyouka said casually. “What are you doing, though?”

“What do you want?” Katsuki asked, ignoring her question. “I don’t have all day.”

“Kirishima and the girls all know,” she said. “About you. And Todoroki.”

“Cool. Don’t tell Kaminari yet, I’m having fun with that,” Katsuki replied, indifferent. “Anything else?”

“Nope,” Kyouka answered, just as unfazed. “Go back to whatever you’re doing.”

They bumped their fists in solidarity, and as Katsuki moved back to close the door, Kyouka caught a glimpse of red hair.

“Who was that?”

“Jirou.”

Katsuki sat next to Shouto on his bed and wrapped an arm around him. “I think our idiot friends are finally making some progress. She told me the girls know.”

“Oh really? That’s good,” Shouto said, his face relaxing a bit. “I was worried about how I should tell Momo.”

Katsuki hummed, burying his face in Shouto’s neck. “So who out of everyone else do you think will piece everything together first?” Shouto asked, his hands carding through Katsuki’s hair. “I think it’ll be Tenya.”

“Nah, the only emotionally perceptive person we have left is Eyebags.”

Shouto pondered that for a moment. “Do you think students from other classes know?”

“Don’t know. Don’t really care.” 

Shouto’s phone made a ‘ding!’ sound, and Shouto unlocked it to read the message. “Sorry, I need to go. Kaminari wants to talk about when we’ll do our project.”

“You could tell him to come here,” Katsuki offered casually.

“Wouldn’t that be weird?” Shouto asked, examining Katsuki’s face. “That’s not the innocent expression you think it is. You like toying with him way too much.”

“What’s the problem with him coming to my room? We’re all friends here.”

Shouto stared at him, unimpressed. “Of course,” he deadpanned. “I’m going to humor you just this once, and just because I’m comfortable and I don’t really want to get up, but I’m not helping you prank him next time.” 

Katsuki kissed Shouto’s cheek as a non-apologetic apology, and Shouto sighed, giving in easily. He texted Denki and shot Katsuki a look before Katsuki withdrew his arms and released Shouto from his hold. A few seconds passed before the door opened loudly and abruptly.

“Hey dudes,” Denki said. “What are you guys doing?”

Shouto was about to answer, but Katsuki talked before him. “Sitting here, the fuck does it look like? Get what you need done fast and get out.”

“No need to be so grumpy, Blasty,” Denki said, and Katsuki huffed at the nickname. “So. Todoroki. My guy. What are we doing about our project? We have to work on it soon.”

“I’m free tomorrow after school, if it works for you.”

“I think I’m free too, but I’ve got to study for the quiz Aizawa has planned for the next few days. I don’t know shit.”

“That includes tomorrow,” Shouto pointed out. “He could just quiz us then.”

Denki’s face stiffened in realization. “Shit.”

“Idiot,” Katsuki supplied unhelpfully.

“Can you guys help me?” Denki asked with a sigh. “I mean, I’m not ready for that quiz and if I already have U.A’s brightest minds gathered in one room--”

“Go ask Momo,” Shouto said and chuckled faintly, hiding his smile with his hand. “I’m sure she’d be glad to help.”

“Yeah, we’re doing stuff. Get lost.” 

It seemed like something clicked in Denki’s eyes, and he furrowed his brows in suspicion. “Doing stuff? You mean sitting here?”

“Yeah. Got a problem with that?”

“No. Can I join?”

“No,” Katsuki immediately answered, scrunching his nose. “Can you leave ?”

“Geez, alright,” Denki backed off. “Talk tomorrow, Todo.”

“Sure.”

When Denki closed the door, Shouto started audibly laughing. “I don’t know how to describe it, but there’s something so endearing about how straightforward and stupid he can be sometimes.”

“You find everything endearing.”

“Not more than you,” Shouto promised him, smiling when Katsuki scowled. “You can rest easy knowing that you’re the cutest.”

“Please fucking stop calling me cute.”

“Fine, you’re not cute.”

“...”

“You’re adorable .”

Shouto liked to tease Katsuki, and he giggled at how his scowl deepened. A soft, apologetic peck to his forehead was only appropriate.

“Katsuki, I love you.”

Shouto remembered the first time he said those words to him well. It was the first day of their third year, after they’ve been together for a while. 

Shouto was afraid of saying it, because he was afraid of voicing how Katsuki had his heart in his hands. He was afraid of letting him in, terrified of how he had the power to break his heart. For a moment, Shouto trusted Katsuki more than his fear usually allowed him to, and he said what his heart’s been singing for a while.

When he said it, Katsuki stared at him as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What the fuck-- What ?”

“I love you,” Shouto repeated, quieter. “I think I have for a little while.”

Katsuki didn’t speak, just wide-eyed. Shouto didn’t speak either, mostly out of fear of putting his heart on the table.

“Fuck, sorry, you surprised me,” Katsuki said when he realized he hasn’t said anything in a while. “I uh. I do too.” 

A rock immediately lifted off of Shouto’s shoulders, even if Katsuki didn’t say it back, but then he came to his senses a bit and panicked. “Sorry for putting you on the spot, I don’t know why I said that.”

“Stop panicking, idiot. You’re fine.”

Katsuki and Shouto intertwined hands in silence.

“I mean it, you know.”

“I fucking know that. I’ll say it back soon, so wait for me.”

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t mean it.”

Katsuki stared Shouto right in the eyes, the eyes he so often let himself get lost in, and spoke with overwhelming confidence.

“I mean it.”

Shouto felt relief washing over him. His heart chose the right one.

The first time Katsuki said the words that he didn’t know he’d have anyone to say them to, it wasn’t any special occasion, and it wasn’t some sort of an intimate moment. He and Shouto were sitting in class, by themselves, studying together. The orange light that washed the room indicated that the sun was setting, and Shouto’s face was framed beautifully by the light as he reviewed his notes. Katsuki leaned on his palm, and let his eyes settle on his focused boyfriend’s face, not aware of how unguarded he was. When he spoke, his voice was soft, laced with tenderness. “I love you, you know that?”

Shouto’s eyes moved up from his notebook to Katsuki, clearly surprised. His mouth was slightly opened and his eyes were a little wide. He was beautiful.

“Oh,” Shouto muttered, his gaze softening. After a moment, he spoke again. “... I do know that. But it’s nice to hear you say it.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed. “It is.”

Shouto looked at Katsuki warmly. “I love you too.”

Shouto smiled into the kiss.

Those words, that were difficult, and took time, became comfortable. Their relationship, that started from the bottom, reached heights they could’ve never guessed they’d reach. They found something in each other that they didn’t find in anyone else, they learned to know each other inside and out, and they were perfect for each other in every possible way.

Including the way they were complete, utter idiots.

“Shouto, I love you more than anything, but I fucking swear to god that if you change the color to blue when I only have green and red cards, I will kill you.”

“Sorry,” Shouto said, and placed a blue reverse Uno card on the already existing red reverse Uno card, changing the color. “You were good to me, I guess.”

“You bet I fucking was, you piece of shit,” Katsuki groaned. “I’m fucked.”

“You still have a chance,” commented Eijirou. “It all depends on the numbers your cards have.”

“Don’t help him!”

“Bros before hoes,” said Kyouka.

“I’m not Kirishima’s hoe.”

Eijirou shrugged. “I mean…”

“Don’t you fucking dare to finish that sentence.”

“Rest in peace, Bakugou and Todoroki’s relationship,” Ochako commented, organizing her cards. “Now stop being whiny and take a card. I’m planning on winning here.”

Denki and Momo came out of the kitchen with the drinks everyone requested, and started to hand them out. “What did we miss?” Denki asked, grinning at the way Katsuki was frowning, his arms crossed. “Is Bakugou losing? That’s a first.”

“Yes,” Shouto answered, thanking Momo for the tea. “He’s losing miserably. He has the most cards out of everyone.”

“Fuck all of you,” Katsuki said, holding onto his coffee mug angrily. He turned to look at Shouto. “Fuck you especially.”

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” Shouto replied, and laughed quietly at Katsuki’s annoyance. “You really should be used to this by now.”

“You missed the perfect opportunity to tell him to fuck you himself.”

“I’m going to get up and walk away,” Katsuki warned him. “Don’t test me.”

“Guys, you’re scaring it,” Kyouka said in a mocking tone. “Don’t you know that kittens need to be approached slowly?”

“Does anyone have tuna?”

“That’s it, I’m over this,” Katsuki said and stood up. Ochako and Denki were laughing loudly, and Shouto laughed with them, grabbing the fabric of Katsuki’s pants to stop him from leaving.

“Stay,” Shouto said through his laughter, tugging at Katsuki’s pants again. “Sit down already.”

Katsuki grumpily sat down, but he did so immediately. Shouto saw through the way he forced a frown only to make them believe he was angry.

“It’s okay, you can smile,” Shouto said, using his best weapon. “I see that you want to.” Katsuki broke into a grin as soon as Shouto said that, and he shoved him, both of them laughing. 

“Stop saying that, you jerk,” Katsuki said, trying to compose himself. “I hate when you do that.”

“It’s incredible how you can’t help it and start to smile every single time,” Shouto said, satisfied. “Yet another win for me.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes and placed his arms around Shouto’s waist. Kyouka made a gagging motion but leaned on Momo’s shoulder nonetheless, causing her girlfriend to smile at her, entertained. Ochako and Eijirou just exchanged knowing smiles and went back to contemplating which card to choose when Ochako’s turn would come up.

Denki was confused.

Seeing his friends so physically close, especially considering that they’re both not the most comfortable with physical contact, was very unusual. He would chalk that up to them trying to mess with him, but there was something so natural about the way Shouto’s knee brushed against Katsuki’s, or the way Katsuki’s arm perfectly fit around Shouto’s waist.

“Bro,” Denki whispered in Eijirou’s ear. “Look at them.” 

Denki gestured towards Shouto and Katsuki as Shouto organized Katsuki’s big card deck. Shouto was a bit taller than Katsuki, but he still looked small when he had to look up to meet Katsuki’s eyes as he talked.

“I’m looking,” Eijirou said. “Now what?”

“What do you mean? Don’t you think they’re being weird?”

“No?” Eijirou asked, looking at Denki with a raised brow. “Bro, they’re dating. What’s weird about them sitting really close to each other?”

Denki’s eyes widened. “Wait, what ?”

“Yeah,” Eijriou confirmed. “I guess you didn’t know about that too. Bakugou told me that they’ve been dating for over a year.”

“What?” Denki repeated, louder. “They’re dating ? They’ve been together this whole time?”

“I know bro, it’s wild,” Eijirou nodded. “But they’re good together.”

“Wait a minute,” Denki said, loud enough that the whole group hears. He looked at Shouto and Katsuki with disbelief in his eyes. “You two are together? Together together?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki confirmed without hesitating.

“You didn’t know?” Ochako commented.

“They’re so obviously into each other, you dumb rock,” Kyouka added.

“It’s not hard to figure out,” Eijirou said with a shrug.

“You all knew ?”

“It’s not like we were keeping it a secret,” Shouto supplied unhelpfully.

Denki was completely caught off guard, staring at Shouto with wide eyes and an open mouth. “You guys are not pranking me, right?”

“Here he goes again with his prank bullshit,” Kyouka sighed. “They literally told you themselves that they’re dating.”

“You somehow convinced yourself that your idea was correct and now you’re refusing the truth,” Momo agreed with her. “Maybe you’re in a bit of denial, Kaminari-kun.”

Before Denki could reply, Katsuki tilted Shouto’s chin and kissed him gently. After a moment, he broke off the kiss and looked back at Denki, challenging. “Yeah, we’re dating, and no, we’re not fucking pranking you.”

Shouto cleared his throat. “Actually,” he said, “Katsuki did try to confuse you. Katsuki?”

“Why the fuck are you selling me out--”

“ Katsuki .”

“Fine,” Katsuki sighed. “I might’ve tried to mess with you a bit. I knew you dumbasses didn’t know about us and I wanted to see how you’d react if I gave Shouto… special treatment. Your confusion was fucking hilarious.”

“I didn’t help him,” Shouto was quick to add. “I won’t do that to any of you, even if you were annoyingly oblivious.”

Denki took a second to process the information. “Woah. You guys are serious.”

“I reacted like that too,” Eijirou said, placing a hand on Denki’s back for support. “You start to get used to it pretty quickly, though.”

“It starts out weird, like, Todoroki and Bakugou are dating?” Ochako said. “But then you see them making out somewhere and you’re just like ‘here they go again. Good for them’.”

“When did you see that?”

“Not important.”

“You should’ve told me sooner,” Denki pouted. “Hanta and I could’ve taken you guys on a double date.”

Shouto and Katsuki looked at each other, considering the offer for a moment. “We appreciate the sentiment, but double dates are not really our thing.”

“You could’ve taken us on double dates, jerk,” Kyouka huffed.

“We're in the middle of playing Uno,” Ochako reminded everyone.

After recent revelations, Denki decided to ask around and find out if he was the only one who was oblivious to the fact that two of his closest friends were dating for over a year.

“I kinda figured,” Hitoshi said.

“I’m not surprised, Todoroki-kun and Bakugou-kun have been very close for a while now,” Tenya stated simply.

“Oh, you just realized this now?” Mashirao asked, surprised.

“You’d notice if a usually dark room would be suddenly lit,” Fumikage said. “Just as you’d notice the lack of shadows around the ones constantly shrouded in darkness.”

Even Denki’s own boyfriend.

“I caught on a while ago,” Hanta provided, to Denki’s surprise. “I’ve been coming into Todoroki’s room to borrow manga for some time now, and it wasn’t hard to notice him wearing random black skull t-shirts or texting sometimes with a really soft expression on his face.”

It seemed that he was the only one.

It was kind of amazing.

One day, Denki sat in Shouto’s room and asked him to tell him their story. Denki was surprised to find out just how much he missed out on when he wasn’t paying attention. Katsuki and Shouto dated for a whole year . He had a hard time wrapping his head around that.

“Back then, I think we both realized at the same time that we can’t be just friends,” Shouto told him. “And at the same time, we were both scared of letting someone in. Acknowledging that fear was really hard but it allowed us to get a lot closer.”

“That’s amazing,” Denki said honestly. “I really had no idea. You guys are so good for each other.”

Shouto smiled softly at his friend. “Thank you. I think we are.”

Just like when you learn a word and you suddenly see it used everywhere, Denki learned about Shouto and Katsuki and suddenly they acted like a couple 24/7.

“This is not fair,” Denki complained. “You guys were never like this before now.”

“Trust me,” Katsuki said from where he rested on Shouto’s lap. “We were.”

“They weren’t like that,” Denki said to Izuku one day, watching as Shouto stared softly at his boyfriend, who was playing chess against Hitoshi.

“They were,” Izuku said, taking a sip of his smoothy.

“Seriously, they really didn’t act like this,” Denki argued when Katsuki pushed Shouto’s hair back to kiss his forehead.

“They probably did,” Ochako said with a shrug.

“I think you’re just trying to justify how blind you’ve been,” Kyouka added.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe she wasn’t, and Shouto and Katsuki were amping up the clinginess to mess with Denki. It wouldn’t be the first time if that’s the case.

Somehow, watching the two interact, Denki realizes that it doesn’t really matter what he thinks.

One dark night, Shouto’s arm was wrapped securely around Katsuki’s waist like it usually was, his legs tangled with Katsuki’s like always, and his warmth engulfed Katsuki with its comfort as it always did. If it was any normal night they’d both be sleeping, but hours after midnight they were still awake, both very much aware that the other can’t fall asleep.

“So…” Shouto said quietly. “We’re graduating tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s our last day here. We’re going to have to pack everything as soon as we wake up.”

“... Yeah.”

“... I don’t want it to end.”

“I do.”

“Do you really?” Shouto asked under his breath.

“Yeah,” Katsuki confirmed. “It’d be nice to not have a target painted on my back just because I'm a U.A. student anymore.”

“That’s not really going to go away.”

“But it's not going to be as intense. We’ll finally be able to breathe.”

“I guess.”

After a few moments of silence, Shouto spoke again. “I’m going to miss everyone.”

“They’re not going anywhere, Shouto.”

“Yes, they are. They’re going to different agencies and they're planning overseas trips and they’re scattering , Katsuki. It’s not going to be the same.”

Katsuki turned around so he could face his boyfriend. “Of course it’s not going to be the same. That’s the best part.”

Shouto frowned deeply, and Katsuki cupped his face, placing a tiny kiss on the top of his nose. “I can promise you that no matter what, we won’t change.”

“You can’t promise that,” Shouto disagreed, still frowning. “We’re also going to different agencies.”

“Our schedules won’t always match up,” Katsuki agreed. “It’s not going to be the same. But we won’t change. We have our plan, remember?”

Shouto’s edges softened. “Of course I do. We'd move in together after making some money and adopt a few cats.”

Katsuki smiled. “And when we’re older, functioning adults, after being together for years, we’ll get married. You’ll take my last name as a last ‘fuck you’ to your dad and we’ll be happy for a long time.”

“Sounds perfect,” Shouto said, allowing himself a tiny smile. “We’ll grow old together, retire, and open a soba place.”

“Naturally.”

Shouto laughed softly, and Katsuki kissed him. It was easy for Katsuki to tell that he was nervous by the way his eyes were soft and sad, and he tried to drown that sadness with a few soft pecks to Shouto's face. 

“I love you,” Katsuki reminded him. “And I’m not going anywhere. I promise that I won’t leave you.”

“I believe you,” Shouto replied quietly. “I’m just… sad. It’s going to be just me again, and I know that I’m going to miss everyone a lot.”

“I understand that. But I hate it when you’re sad,” Katsuki stated, smoothing out strands of Shouto’s hair. “The things you get sad over are never worth your sadness. Graduation is a good thing. Don't forget that everyone worked hard to create opportunities and start their careers, including you.”

“... Okay,” Shouto murmured eventually. “Don’t say anything if I hold your hand in the ceremony tomorrow.”

Shouto smiled when Katsuki huffed out a laugh, and for a moment was struck with how much he cared for him.

“It’s going to be just me and you.”

Katsuki’s laughing subsided, and his normally intense red eyes held more love and fondness in them than they ever have.

“That’s how it’s always been.”