Chapter Text
Izuku thought his heart was going to stop. This was— well firstly, it was an unforgivable offense on his behalf. Secondly, it was doing more to his blood pressure than meeting All Might did.
“Kacchan, you have…. you have freckles?!”
Kacchan was extremely unamused.
“The fuck does it matter!” He glared at Izuku from where they sat pressed together on a bench, eating lunch. “They showed up in middle school. Too much damn sun.”
Izuku was besotted. He was pretty sure cartoonish hearts were pulsing in his eyes, if Kacchan’s knee-jerk defensive reaction and the slight twinge of red now dusting his cheekbones were anything to go by. But Izuku couldn’t look away from the unassuming pale brown sprinkled faintly across Kacchan’s nose, heart-achingly light, as if painted by the gentlest hand. Izuku wanted to touch them so badly.
Katsuki was now eyeing him amusedly, not even trying to hide the laughter in his eyes. Too late, Izuku realized he’d been leaning in obscenely, staring hard at Kacchan’s freckles from up close. Blushing, he leaned back and flicked his gaze up to meet Kacchan’s, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Kacchan shook his head in exasperation, chuckling. “Whatever, dork. I guess you can touch them.”
???!?!?!!
Izuku almost fainted. “What??” He whisper-screamed, dizzy at both the permission and the insinuation that he (really, really) wanted to.
Kacchan fixed him with a deadpan stare. “Zuku. We’re fuckin’ dating. You can touch my goddamn face.”
Izuku’s vision blackened around the edges the way it often did when he was reminded that he was dating Kacchan. Actually dating him, in real life, and not in snatches of guilty daydreams. He blinked rapidly and grinned through his stronger blush, beaming at his boyfriend (his boyfriend!!), who quickly looked away in a grimace to hide the answering flush the graced his cheeks.
He turned back to face Izuku soon enough, though, settling his burning gaze into what felt like Izuku’s very soul. Ignoring this with the strength of a thousand heroes, Izuku reached out to pet over Kacchan’s freckles, and he couldn’t help but giggle. Kacchan’s face was so soft. His hands were roughened from training and explosions and callouses but here, on the most vulnerable part of him, he was soft to the touch.
Izuku, perhaps for the 900th time, marveled at the dichotomy of Kacchan. A boy whose power rivaled the sun and burned just as bright, and who had the gentlest of sunspots freckling the bridge of his nose. Tall and built and freckled. Sun-kissed in every way. Izuku had graduated to cupping Kacchan’s face, and now pressed a soft kiss to his upper cheek. He pulled back and finally met Kacchan’s eyes again, which hadn’t left him even once, still darkened and heavy-lidded and warm enough to melt Izuku into a little puddle.
Instead of succumbing to his preferred state of Deku-goo, Izuku met Kacchan in the middle for a kiss, smiling into it. Kacchan pulled away just enough to bonk their foreheads together gently, looking up through his lashes with a lopsided smile.
“We match,” he said casually, affectionately, brushing over Izuku’s own multitude of freckles with a thumb before smirking wider at Izuku’s sudden slack-jawed stare and pulling away completely, nonchalantly returning to his bento.
Izuku was losing his mind. He hadn’t even considered that yet, too caught up in the pure exhilaration of finding something new about Kacchan, and it being freckles, of all things. Too enamored by how Kacchan was even prettier, somehow, than he had assumed 10 minutes ago.
He knew they were still new in their relationship, but if this was what dating Kacchan would always be like, Izuku didn’t know if his heart could take it.
Kacchan, apparently tired of Izuku’s blank stare as he sat frozen in awed shock, shoved his chopsticks in Izuku’s mouth.
“MMF— oh this is so yummy, Kacchan,” Izuku said, accustomed enough to Kacchan randomly shoving things in his mouth to not choke. Kacchan ruffled his hair, an impossibly fond look in his eyes, before playfully glaring and stabbing a finger at Izuku’s own bento.
“Finish that so we can get back to work,” he griped. Izuku teasingly reached for Kacchan’s much-higher-quality lunchbox instead, whining as Kacchan slapped his hands away. “Kacchaaan. Yours is so much better,” he pouted, not really expecting Dynamight, who famously carefully curated his meal plan, to do anything but guard his food.
To his utter shock, Kacchan huffed and took Izuku’s bento, trading it for his own. Izuku looked down at the box in his lap and back up at Kacchan, mouth gaping. “Shut the fuck up and eat,” Kacchan grouched, ears red. “I’ll make you a damn bento tomorrow if you prove you can actually eat lunch instead of just staring at me with those fuckin eyes for an hour.”
“I can do both!” Izuku said cheerfully, digging in with only a little guilt. He moved some takoyaki over to Kacchan’s bento and Kacchan in turn gave him back some vegetables, and they sat there, contentedly finishing their meals, leaning into each other slightly and enjoying the fresh air.
When they finished, all packed up to head back, Izuku turned to Kacchan suddenly. On a whim, he stretched on his tiptoes and kissed Kacchan’s cheek, giggling as he pulled away and darting off. He looked over his shoulder to see Kacchan stock-still, blinking with one hand on his cheek. His heart squeezed with affection — Kacchan sometimes acted like they hadn’t recently started making out every single day.
Turning back around and continuing to flee, Izuku steadfastly did not think about how Kacchan looked at him like he was the sun, sometimes. For the sake of his hopelessly weak heart.
Izuku squealed as he was suddenly scooped up from behind by bulky arms, turned and pressed to a solid chest as his own face was peppered with kisses. “Kacchan!” he giggled, ticklish. Kacchan growled and kissed him more, clearly overcome with something.
Izuku sighed in contentment, wrapping his arms around Kacchan’s neck. He gleefully resigned them both to being late again.