Archive of Our Own

Kacchan has been screaming for two minutes straight with zero signs of stopping. Izuku is almost impressed by his lung capacity. Or maybe he should be impressed with Todoroki’s lung capacity. He’s not entirely sure how this body-swap quirk works. Actually, there’s an interesting thought. His fingers itch for his notebook. Todoroki would certainly answer any questions he asked. He’s not sure about Kacchan. Maybe after he cools down a bit? Wait. What if Kacchan literally cools down? Or triggers Todoroki’s fire quirk? Can they use each other’s quirks? Hypothetically, it should work like that, but usually in a situation like this Kacchan’s palms would be sparking, and there hasn’t been a lick of fire or ice (yet?), so that begs the question—

“Stop using my face to fucking mutter, nerd!” Kacchan snaps before taking a deep, heaving breath of air and screwing up Todoroki’s face.

Izuku winces apologetically and presses his lips together. Kacchan’s lips. Which aren’t as chapped as his own would usually be, he wonders if this is how it would feel if—

Ah, fuck— no. He gives his brain a despairing mental smack. These twelve hours are going to pass slow if he can’t be normal about this.

“It’s only a day, Bakugou,” Todoroki says levelly. Izuku’s briefly distracted from his internal spiral by Todoroki shooting an unimpressed look at Kacchan in response to the other boy’s sullen glare. Wow, he doesn’t think his facial features have ever done that in Kacchan’s direction.

“An entire day of these goddamn bangs? No fuckin’ thanks,” Kacchan grouses. Then his eyes spark with sudden interest. “You know what, IcyHot? Think I’m gonna go collect on that haircut Pinky and Invisalign have been offering to give you, whaddya think?” 

Todoroki blinks. “Uh. No.” 

Izuku steps forward, hands raised. “Guys, I think we should set some ground rules for what we can do while in each other’s bodies. Just for the duration of the quirk. We don’t entirely know how the quirk works, and Aizawa-sensei said we should try and blend in and not raise alarm until they’ve managed to capture the villain who caused it. I mean, it’s not a particularly destructive quirk, but someone could probably render some Pro Heroes pretty useless with it, considering how difficult it would be to activate a quirk that’s not theirs while fighting, oh or they could use it to swap an imposter into U.A.—” 

“The point, nerd,” Kacchan interjects, the corner of his mouth quirking up. 

“—right, well, if our classmates are going to be thinking that I’m you and Todoroki’s me and you’re Todoroki, then there are certain things we can’t do.” Izuku catches his breath. “Like, we can’t do anything embarrassing while wearing someone else’s face. Or c-confess feelings to anyone, because that’s just mean.” He avoids looking at either of them as he says that, blushing resolutely down at the ground. “Or ask anyone for secrets about another person. Or—” 

“I think we get it, Deku,” Kacchan cuts him off. But he sounds more resigned than anything now, definitely calmer than he was a few moments ago. “No fucking with each other’s lives. Actually—” He arches a brow at Izuku. “You should just go up to my room until this shitty quirk’s time limit is up. You could just say you’re studying.” 

“And with your bedtime, nobody would question it,” Todoroki nods. Kacchan glowers at him, but he seems entirely oblivious. “That’s clever. Midoriya, what should I do? You usually stay out socializing until at least nine, and then go up to your room with Uraraka for a few minutes.”  

As Todoroki speaks, it hits Izuku with horrible clarity how often he and Ochako gossip. About Kacchan, in specific. Ffffffff—

“You and Round Face, right.” Kacchan sounds abruptly mutinous. “I hope you don’t expect Half-n-Half to mack on your girlfriend for you, Deku.” 

“Mack—?” Todoroki goes so pale that Izuku’s freckles stand out stark against his white cheeks. “Oh.” 

“What?” Izuku stammers, still distracted by the thought of all the things he’s told Ochako that she wouldn’t know to keep secret. (Like how many times he’s agonized over Kacchan’s pecs to her. And Kacchan’s eyes. And Kacchan’s smile. Fuckfuckfuck—) And everyone knows Todoroki tends to blurt out things he shouldn’t on a regular basis. He never means any harm, and it’s never anything terrible, so maybe if Izuku asked him specifically not to say anything…? “O-oh,” he realizes they’re both still staring at him, Kacchan scowling and Todoroki looking anxious. “Um, it’s not actually like that, Todoroki, you’ll be f…fine.” Izuku, on the other hand, is starting to feel sort of queasy. He’ll definitely have to talk to Todoroki before Kacchan banishes him to his room.

Kacchan gives him a strange look that Izuku studiously avoids. 

“Anyway. Kacchan, you could probably go to your room too? Since Todoroki used to be reclusive enough that nobody would question it if it was just for tonight. You could just say you’re tired or something.” 

“Ah.” Todoroki pauses. “That wouldn’t work, actually.” 

Kacchan narrows his eyes at him. “Don’t think I could lie convincingly? I could pretend to be you in my sleep.” 

Somehow, Izuku has his doubts. He must make an involuntary face at Kacchan, because Kacchan shoots him a glower and mouths Shut up. Izuku raises both hands in surrender, trying not to smile. 

“No,” Todoroki says. “Tonight’s movie night, remember?” 

Izuku’s stomach drops. “Oh. So the whole class will be in the common room until at least eight,” he fills in, mind whirring. “And the quirk started at nine in the morning. And Kacchan, there’s no way your friends would let you go up to your room on the monthly movie night.” At least that solves the problem of the Todoroki-Ochako conversation? But with it comes a whole host of new issues. “So we all have to pretend to be each other for the night.” 

There’s a pause as the three of them consider the horrors of this new reality. 

“Do you think Aizawa-sensei will give us the day off of training?” Todoroki ventures. 

“Definitely,” Izuku says resignedly. “I mean, he has to. It’s a safety issue. He’ll probably make up some excuse why the three of us are being punished, and then we’ll have to spend the day cleaning the dorms.” 

Kacchan scowls. “Punishment for shit that isn’t even our fault,” he grumbles.

“But that mean we’ll be alone for the majority of the day, so… it’s just for tonight,” Izuku says finally. Just tonight. He can probably do that, right? They all can. Like. How much can go wrong in five hours? 

~

Izuku has never noticed until tonight how much silent communication he and Ochako usually engage in, but dear God, if she sends Todoroki another conspiratorial glance, he might burst into flames. Literally. Is it Kacchan’s quirk or his own panic that’s making his palms so sweaty? Thankfully, so far Todoroki has been more or less oblivious, but Ochako’s not stupid. Izuku sees her brow furrow after her third smirk in Todoroki’s direction goes unanswered. Would it be too much to ask for her to broach the subject with him tomorrow, after they’re all safely back in their own bodies?

No sooner does the thought enter Izuku’s mind than Ochako stands up from her place on the bean bags with Hagakure and Jirou, who are fiddling with the remote to queue up the movie. “Izuku, could we talk real quick in the kitchen?” 

Izuku wants to melt. Through. The. Damn. Floor. 

Worse, Todoroki doesn’t respond at first, and it takes a tap on the shoulder by Iida and Ochako repeating the question for comprehension to dawn in his eyes. “Oh,” he says with a blink. “Sure.” 

Izuku stares furiously in his direction. He has to look back so Izuku can give him a signal. Look back. Come on, Todoroki, look—

He does not look back.

Izuku slouches back into his seat and fights the urge to bury his face in his hands and groan.

“You okay, man?” Kirishima asks quietly from his side. “Still mad about training?” 

“Fine,” Izuku grits out, then quickly shoots Kirishima a smile to put him at ease. “I mean, great! I mean—” Kirishima looks downright alarmed now. Izuku is going to put his head through a wall. No, he couldn’t do that to Kacchan’s body, they don’t know exactly how this quirk works and the damage might sustain even when they switch back… He mentally amends: he is going to metaphorically put his head through a wall. He tries for a friendly scowl. Kacchan does that sometimes, right? Wait, how does one do a friendly scowl. “Uh. Fuckin’. A-Okay.”

Kirishima stares at him for a second before turning slowly to face the TV with a muttered, “...Cool.” 

Izuku sneaks a glance at Kacchan to find the other boy already glaring in his direction. Yeah, he’s botching this. In his defense, he wasn’t expecting to be under the duress that Todoroki is unintentionally putting him through. He cranes his neck in the direction of the kitchen again. It’s kind of been a while. Like, at least thirty seconds. What are they talking about? 

“Hey, Blasty,” Ashido whispers from his other side. “I asked Uraraka and she told me that Mido and her are definitely not dating, so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Not that I’m saying you’re worried! But you just seem sort of tense, so I thought you should know.” 

Izuku whips around to stare at her with wide eyes, completely forgetting that he’s supposed to be scowling. “What?”

Everyone in the common room turns to look at him. 

“Thhhhhe fuck,” Izuku gulps out. “Did you just. Say to me. About All Might. You’re fffff…fucking crazy if you think the second generation movie adaptations are better than the first. Yep. That’s all.” 

In the corner of the room, Kacchan rolls his eyes heavenward and plunks his head hard against the back of the couch. 

Kaminari grins at him, leaning wildly out of his beanbag on the ground next to Shinsou. “I knew you were a huge All Might nerd! This is the best day of my life. Say something else nerdy, Kacchan.” 

“Fuck no,” Izuku says and attempts a death glare. It’s easy when he thinks about Kaminari using his nickname for Kacchan without permission. 

Kaminari sinks back into his seat with a pout, and Izuku gives himself an internal pat on the back. Disaster kind of sort of avoided. 

Except Ashido’s still next to him, and she looks curious. “Nice save,” she murmurs. 

Kacchan probably wouldn’t say thanks. Would he? No. Izuku stares at her, panicking, but apparently he keeps his face blank enough that she interprets it as a normal Kacchan glare and decides to move on. “But seriously, Blasty, you okay? I know you told me not to ask but it came up in conversation— naturally, I swear!” she adds quickly in response to whatever Izuku’s face is doing now. Izuku has no idea. He has zero control right now. 

Told her not to ask? Since when did Kacchan and Ashido talk about this stuff? And when the hell did this come up in conversation between Ashido and Ochako? That just doesn’t seem like a natural conversation topic. At all. Does everyone think he and Ochako are dating? They do hang out a lot… no, focus Izuku! The most important thing right now is to avoid breaking the ground rules they set earlier. He cannot find out anything else. He needs to stop this right now, nip this conversation dead in the bud before it gets even worse. He absolutely cannot invade Kacchan’s privacy like this. 

Except. What if he likes Ochako? 

No, Izuku! 

“You know what, I don’t even care,” Izuku says, trying not to cringe at how blatantly untrue it comes out sounding. “Let’s just watch the movie. The, uh, fucking movie.” 

He should be better at this, for God’s sake! He’s been Kacchan’s best friend for years, and even when they were on bad terms, Izuku was in his orbit in one way or another.

Ashido narrows her eyes at him. Izuku sweats and gives her a nervous smile on reflex before remembering Kacchan doesn’t do nervous smiles. Aahhhhh. 

Suddenly, Ashido’s eyes widen, realization dawning. Fuck. “Can I talk to you in the stairwell for a moment?” she hisses. 

Izuku throws a desperate look towards Kacchan, but he’s not even looking in their direction. More. Internal. Screaming. “Sure!” he squeaks out. Then quickly corrects himself: “I guess.” Is that gruff enough? He lowers his voice. “Make it quick.” 

Ashido’s eyes sparkle. “Oh, it’ll be quick.” 

Oh, goodie. Izuku wobbles to his feet and follows her out of the room. Kacchan will never let him hear the end of it if he’s the one to expose the body swap. He’s usually better than this! The fear of his secret being exposed is just crowding his mind and making lying so much more difficult. 

Ashido stops and turns around the second they’re out of the earshot of the others. “You’re acting really weird, Blasty, and I think I know why.” 

Izuku winces hard. Is this salvageable? Or could he just beg her not to tell anyone? 

“You’re going to make a move on Midoriya tonight, aren’t you!” 

And every function inside Izuku’s brain grinds to a halt. 

He… definitely heard that wrong. 

“I’m sorry, what?” 

Ashido stares at him like it’s obvious. “It’s obvious!” she says. “You’ve been all fidget-y all night, and you keep staring at him, and when Uraraka took him into the kitchen, you freaked. I know Kiri’s been telling you to make a move for forever. I mean, Mido’s not going to wait around indefinitely. Well.” She wobbles her head from side to side and grimaces. “He might. But you shouldn’t make him! Aren’t you the one always going on about how he deserves the best? It’s your time, Blasty. You got this. Tonight’s the night.” 

He did not hear that wrong. Oooookay. Well, confusion aside (ignoring the humiliating comment about his own crush that Ashido apparently knows about already. He’s dying inside) this is a simple fix. Kacchan wouldn’t want anyone thinking that he likes Izuku. Izuku knows exactly what the explosive boy would say in this situation. He’s been hearing it for his entire life, every time the allegation has ever even been hinted at.

“I don’t like Deku,” Izuku says confidently, ignoring the small pinch in his heart as he says the words. “That’s fucking stupid.” 

He waits for her to nod. To say, “Oh, I must have thought wrong.” Maybe even to flush in embarrassment and apologize. 

Instead, Ashido squints at him. “Bro. I thought we were past this.” 

What. 

“Past…?” Izuku says faintly, but Ashido’s already talking again, pacing in front of him. “I mean, I know it’s embarrassing to say out loud all the time, but I’m not dumb. You’re always talking about how strong he’s gotten and how cute his freckles are and how beautiful his eyes—” 

“How cute—?” Izuku might be going into cardiac arrest. “Freckles? Eyes?” 

“Well,” Ashido allows. “Maybe not in so many words. But Kiri and I can translate Baku-speak. We’re not your friends for nothing.”

She’s wrong. She has to be wrong. Izuku swallows, wets his lips, opens his mouth. And. Nothing comes out. 

For the first time in his life, he’s wordless. At the worst time too! He has to defend Kacchan against these grossly incorrect allegations! He has to represent his friend’s face well! Kacchan would be furious if he knew what Ashido was saying right now. Would probably blow up a building or two. But Kacchan’s not here, so it’s up to Izuku to—

“Dude, breathe,” Ashido laughs, knocking her shoulder against his. “Go get your man. If you hurry and talk to him before the movie starts, y’all could, like, cuddle or something.” 

Izuku still can’t manage any words, but he can move his head. So he shakes it. Furiously.

Ashido arches a brow at him. “My mistake. Definitely no PDA for Lord Explosion Murder.” She affects a startlingly accurate thunderous expression, then winks at him. “Hey. You think Mido would be down for that, though? I bet he would, he’s pretty tactile now that he’s gotten comfortable with everybody.” 

This is terrible. Oh God. Izuku is blushing. With Kacchan’s face. In front of Ashido. 

Ashido, who’s already skipped out of reach like she’s expecting to be swatted at. Fuck, Izuku messed that up, too; Kacchan would have definitely tried to fight her by this point in the conversation. She’s grinning at him cheekily. 

“Let’s go back to the main room. I think Midoriya and Uraraka are back, and they’re not going to start with movie without us.” 

Sure, just as soon as Izuku stops blushing. He fights the urge to smush both palms to his hot face. Aargh. 

“...Yeah, okay, I’ll give you a minute,” Ashido says slowly. Her expression softens. “You really care about this, huh? Don’t worry. Midoriya would be crazy not to like you back.” 

Izuku doesn’t reply, which is probably for the best because the second Ashido is gone, what comes out of his mouth is… incomprehensible. He fights the urge to sink to the ground and cry. How on Earth did he manage to mess that up so badly? Now Ashido is convinced that Kacchan has a crush on Izuku. 

Unless…

No. Izuku shakes his head to dislodge that train of thought. He raises his hands to his face and pats fiercely at his cheeks. He can pull this together. He’s Izuku Midoriya. Ninth Holder of One for All. Hero-in-training and on his way to being a great Pro. He’s been through worse. He knows how to handle crisis situations, goddammit! He just needs to take a breath. 

Izuku drags in a loud breath in, then blows it out shakily. 

That’ll have to do, he thinks determinedly, and then he turns on his heel and marches back to Kacchan’s usual spot on the couch, avoiding Ashido’s knowing gaze all the while. 

Surreptitiously, he checks the clock. 

Two more hours before he, as Kacchan, can flee to his room. 

Izuku clenches his fists and reclines stiffly onto the couch pillows. 

He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can—

~

This is bad. 

Izuku can’t stop staring at Kacchan now, as though the truth will reveal itself on the other boy’s face if Izuku glares at him hard enough. What’s worse, every time he looks up from Kacchan, Ashido catches his eye and smirks knowingly, because Kacchan’s sitting next to Todoroki, wearing Izuku’s face. 

Hngggggngngng. Internal groaning. Hell is upon him. 

And the thing is, Izuku assumes he would have noticed if Kacchan liked him, okay, because he’s observant and he’s always looking at Kacchan. So if Kacchan liked his freckles or his eyes, wouldn’t he look at them? At some point?

Izuku narrows his eyes in Kacchan’s direction. Meanwhile, Kacchan has lain back and affected a perfectly serene expression, hands folded over his stomach. It’s actually infuriating that Kacchan is good at playing Todoroki. At least better than Todoroki or Izuku are at playing each other. Which is… Izuku tears his gaze away from the two of them and scowls unseeingly at the movie (the plot of which he couldn’t tell you for the life of him). Okay, maybe that’s not very hard to do. Todoroki’s specialty is a blank face and Izuku is an absolute mess right now. He’ll have to challenge Kacchan on it on a day he’s not having a whole entire crisis about his crush while inhabiting his crush’s body. 

And isn’t that a convoluted thought. Izuku makes a face and returns to staring at Kacchan. 

Kacchan cracks an eye open in his direction and shoots him a glare. Stop staring at me, his expression says. Which… fair. 

Izuku shifts TV-ward and wrinkles his nose at the screen. In the movie, the Quirkless hero has just discovered she has powers and is using them with perfect form to battle the movie’s Supervillain. Izuku’s scowl becomes more genuine because that is utter bullshit. Not only that every cool Quirkless hero ever has to develop powers, but that she’d be able to use them effortlessly? Izuku has scars disfiguring both arms that say otherwise. 

His heart has begun to sink again. Kacchan hasn’t glanced at him or his body all night, and with every moment he’s becoming more convinced that Ashido was just doing some well-intentioned but completely off-base matchmaking. As if Kacchan would ever like him. He’s lucky enough that they were able to salvage their friendship, and to ask for any more wouldn’t just be hubris; it’d be plain stupid.

His eyes sting. 

Fuck it. Izuku can’t do this anymore, and whenever Kacchan doesn’t want to do something, more often than not he just… doesn’t. Might as well make the most of it, right? 

“Night,” Izuku says abruptly, standing up. 

“What? Don’t leave,” Kaminari yelps, accidentally knocking Shinsou’s arm off his shoulders in his haste to roll in Izuku’s direction. 

Jirou pauses the movie.

“I’m tired,” Izuku says shortly. It’s not even a lie. He is tired. Tired of false hope, quirkist movies, and feeling less than. Here’s to hoping that by the morning, once he’s in his own body again, he’ll feel normal and they can just put this whole thing behind them. 

Kirishima and Ashido give him matching looks of concern, which he meets with a glare. “Goodnight, fuckers,” he grumbles. This time, no one stops him when he makes for the stairs. It’s a good thing, too; that’s just the moment he loses his grip on his tears. 

~

Nobody knocks on Kacchan’s door. Probably because all of his friends know that he needs time to cool off before he’ll talk to anyone. So for the next hour, Izuku sits on the floor and tries not to get too much snot on Kacchan’s shirt. On his way up the stairs, he almost went to his own room before he realized how difficult that would be to explain on the off chance that someone came by, and if they switch back the same way they switched the first time, Izuku will return to his own body in its physical place— and Kacchan will return here, to his room. It just makes sense. 

The problem is, Izuku promised along with the other two not to invade each other’s privacy using this quirk, so he can’t go rifling around Kacchan’s room. And he can’t imagine Kacchan being happy with him in his bed. Ergo, the floor. 

Not the most comfortable place to have an emotional breakdown, but whatever. Izuku hugs his own arms, feeling stupid. At least Kacchan’s t-shirt is kind of soft. He plucks at the fabric, more warm tears slipping down his chin, leaving cold, salty skin in their wake. 

Then the door suddenly creaks open, and Izuku knocks his head on the side of Kacchan’s desk in his haste to stand up. “I’m fine!” he shouts through blurred eyes, scrubbing quickly at both cheeks before snapping his spine straight. “Just tired! About to g-go to bed, so you should l-l-leave—” 

“Nerd?” 

Izuku freezes with the heels of his hands pressed to his eyes. 

Slowly, he lowers his hands. 

“...Kacchan.” 

Kacchan stands in the doorway. His frown is familiar but warped by Todoroki’s facial features. Izuku takes a deep breath, and with one last swipe at his cheek, steps towards the door. “My mistake,” he says, fighting to keep his voice steady. “I thought that we would all go to each other’s rooms so we’d wake up in the correct beds when the quirk runs out. I didn’t touch anything—” He stops himself as his voice starts to waver. “Um. I-I’ll just. Go to my room, now.”

Except when Izuku moves towards the door, Kacchan doesn’t step out of the way. 

“Kacchan?” Mortifyingly, Izuku’s voice breaks.

Slowly, arms come around Izuku’s shoulders. Izuku has just a second to wonder if they’ve somehow unswapped bodies after all when Kacchan shuffles closer and mumbles in Izuku’s ear, “If Raccoon Eyes said something to you, I’ll fuckin’ fight her.” 

Izuku laughs wetly, then tries to turn his head so he won’t smear anything on Kacchan’s shoulder. “Sh-she didn’t. Well— n-nothing bad.” 

“Nothing bad?” 

Izuku squeezes his eyes shut and lets himself sag against Kacchan’s body. All his muscles ache at the sudden lack of tension. It almost hurts worse than holding himself upright. This illusion of comfort. Kacchan would let go of him the second he found out about Izuku’s feelings or if he knew that Izuku was even entertaining the thought that they might be reciprocated. So, so stupid. Izuku sniffles. 

“Tell me, nerd.” Kacchan’s voice is uncharacteristically soft. 

“It w-was. R-really stupid,” Izuku gets out. Maybe they can laugh about it. That’ll only work if Izuku manages to deliver it with a smile. That’s fine, though; he’s had plenty of experience smiling through pain. He manages a wet laugh. Oof, that’s not convincing anyone. “She said that—” This time his laugh sounds more genuine, although it dissolves into a silent sob a second later. At least at this angle, Kacchan can’t see his face. “—that you were gonna make a move on me tonight.” He forces out another laugh. “F-funny, right?” 

“And that made you cry?” Kacchan sounds both bewildered and… something else. Almost resigned. 

“U-um.” Izuku definitely shouldn’t’ve said anything. “N-no?” 

“Izuku,” Kacchan says quietly. “I can’t read your fuckin’ mind.” 

And thank God for that, Izuku thinks, pulling a face at the wall. He tugs at Kacchan’s hold, and the other boy immediately releases him and steps inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Now they’re standing across from each other with the wrong faces. But Kacchan’s expressions are unmistakable, even now. Izuku has memorized the way those eyes blaze.

He gives himself another, albeit weaker, mental smack. “It’s really—” 

“I swear to God, nerd, if you say stupid one more time—” 

“It is!” Izuku snaps, finally tearing his gaze free from Kacchan’s. It’s easier to be objective when he directs his words at the floorboards. “Ashido was talking like you have a crush on me, and I g-got my hopes up, and I did an awful job of defending you, and now she thinks you like me—” And my freckles. And my eyes. And my smile. “—a-and I was the one who said we should set ground rules and I completely broke them all—” 

Izuku’s words cut out when he lifts his head and finds Kacchan’s eyes much, much closer to him than before.

“‘Zuku.” Kacchan’s voice has never been so hushed. “Listen up, 'cause I’m only saying this once. You know you’re the smartest person I know, right?” 

Izuku blinks. His brain feels a little fuzzy. “What?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kacchan says without heat. “You’re a certified fucking genius, with your quirk analysis and all that shit. And what doesn’t come naturally to you, you make up for in pure determination.” He takes a breath and runs a frustrated hand through Todoroki’s fringe. “Do you get it now?” 

“Get—” Izuku shakes his head a little. “Kacchan, what are you—?”

Kacchan makes a garbled noise. “I swear to fucking God, for such a smart person you can be a complete fucking idiot—” 

And then he kisses him. On the mouth. Izuku’s mind kicks into overdrive, wondering frantically what the logistics of this are, how Kacchan can stand to kiss his own face— this is weird, right? This is definitely super weird. Todoroki and Kacchan’s mouths are touching. Hell must be actively freezing over. 

Then Kacchan shifts a hand to the back of Izuku’s neck and readjusts their lips, and Izuku’s thoughts all become weightless and drift away. 

He’s kissing Kacchan. 

Kacchan's kissed him. 

For a long moment, every spinning cog and ticking gear in the back of Izuku’s frantically whirring mind devotes itself to the sweet, steady reality of it.

Then they break apart for a sip of air, and Izuku finds himself swaying softly with his eyes closed, forehead pressed to Kacchan’s. He swallows. 

“What are you thinking about?” Kacchan whispers.

A helpless laugh spills from Izuku’s lips. Lips that are still tingling from their previous occupation. Holy shit, they just did that. “Right now?” He keeps his own voice equally low, but laughter makes it lurch up an octave. “Not all that much. A few seconds ago, though, I was thinking about the fact that yours and Todoroki’s bodies just totally made out in your room.” 

A word of advice to anyone who is ever lucky enough to kiss their crush: forget whatever awkward things you’ve ever heard about happening during or after a kiss. At this moment in time, Izuku has somehow found the absolute most efficient possible way to ruin a romantic moment.

Kacchan jerks back. “Nerd, what the fuck.” 

Izuku’s face is flaming. “Gah! I’m sorry, Kacchan, it’s weird for me too—” 

“First of all, we did not make out, you fucking virgin,” Kacchan growls.

“Okay, rude—” Izuku starts.

“And second of all,” Kacchan goes on furiously, “we did not make out. Us. You and me. Fuckin’ Half-n-Half isn’t here, Deku.” Then, with a slight tinge of hysteria in his voice: “Why the hell—” 

“I don’t know!” Izuku yelps, flinging his hands up over his face. “Forget I said that, not my best moment, alright?” 

“I’ll fuckin’ say.” Except Kacchan kind of sounds like he’s smiling. 

Izuku peeks at Kacchan through his fingers to confirm. He can feel his heartbeat in every fingertip. It’s strange to see Todoroki’s mismatched eyes glinting with Kacchan’s unique brand of fondness. It’s even stranger to have it directed at him, but it gives him a surge of confidence, enough to get him to lower his hands and step closer to Kacchan again. 

“Here,” Izuku says, reaching for Kacchan’s face. Last time, Kacchan did all the work, but this time Izuku is determined to pull his weight, and as a scientist, he’s very curious to find out if a second kiss will have the same effect on him—

“Hell no,” Kacchan denies, smacking a palm to Izuku’s forehead and stopping him before he can get close. “I’m thinking about IcyHot now, no way am I kissing you in this body again. You’re going to have to wait.” 

Izuku groans, slumping against Kacchan’s hand. Todoroki’s hand. Kacchan’s hand. Curse his motormouth. Then the rest of Kacchan’s words catch up to him. He peeks up at the other boy through the blonde hair flattened over his eyes.

“But… there will be another kiss?” 

Kacchan just looks at him. 

“You’re a fucking idiot.” 

“I was just wonder—aaah!” Izuku flails away from Kacchan, ducking away from a few deadly swipes at his ear. “It just seemed improbable, okay!” 

“That I’d like you?” Kacchan is still pursuing him, and Izuku is running out of room to run. Unless he wants to crawl on top of Kacchan’s desk, which… given Kacchan’s murderous expression is beginning to look like an appealing option. 

He twists around and gets one knee up on the desk before Kacchan yanks him back down and slams him to the floor. Izuku twists to get a leg free, but after a brief scuffle Kacchan shoves Izuku’s arms down, leaving him pinned. Which gives Izuku no choice but to stare back up into burning, mismatched eyes. 

“Get this through your thick skull,” Kacchan says, shaking Izuku’s imobile wrists for emphasis. “I like you, okay?” 

The words leave a ringing silence behind, Izuku going limp under Kacchan’s hold. 

For the first time, Kacchan looks nervous. “Tell me to fuck off,” he says suddenly. 

“What?” This is giving Izuku whiplash. 

“If you want me to fuck off.” Kacchan’s face is red. With Todoroki’s fair skin, the flush in his cheeks is especially pronounced. “Tell me to. If you don’t like me ba—” 

“That’s not it,” Izuku blurts out.

Kacchan’s eyes narrow. “It’s not?” 

This Izuku can say with absolute certainty. “No.” And when Kacchan’s scrutiny doesn’t fade: “Kacchan, I’ve liked you for months, and even before that you were, like, the single most important person in my life for years. Even when you ignored me. Even when you were mad.” 

Kacchan’s brow creases, his hold on Izuku’s wrists loosening. “Even when I was a dick?” 

Izuku smiles up at him. “To be fair. You’re still kind of a dick.” 

Kacchan’s mouth falls open, and he lunges with renewed fury, leaving Izuku squawking and desperately twisting to evade his jabbing fingers, gasping for breath through his laughter, and then—

Izuku opens his eyes. Behind him, the clock turns 9:01pm. The movie credits are frozen on the TV screen, and his hands are halfway through braiding Ochako’s hair. He didn’t know Todoroki knew how to braid. Kind of sucks for Ochako, since he himself has not the faintest clue how he’s supposed to finish the complicated twists of her hair. 

He lets go, watching her hair tumble back to her shoulders, and brings both hands up to his mouth. He could swear that he can still feel the slight warmth and effervescence lingering on his mouth where it touched Kacchan’s, even though he knows, logically, that these lips have never met Kacchan’s. He’s not too sad about it, given that he’s now at least ninety percent sure that Kacchan will be willing to rectify that soon enough. Well. He pictures Kacchan’s burning eyes. Maybe, like, ninety-nine percent sure. After all, he has it on good authority that Kacchan likes him. Laughter bubbles up through his chest. Kacchan likes him. 

Ochako turns around curiously. “Deku? What’s so funny?” 

He beams down at her, cheeks aching. “I’ll tell you later.” 

~

Shouto blinks. One moment, his hands are deftly weaving through Uraraka’s hair as she leans her head back into his lap, the next, he’s on top of Bakugou on the floor in an unfamiliar dorm. And they’re both breathing heavy. 

Bakugou stares up at him silently. Shouto has one hand braced on the floor to the side of his head, another digging into his vulnerable side. 

What. 

The. 

Shouto and Bakugou speak at the same time: 

“You’ll take this to the fucking grave—” 

“Bakugou, I don’t want to know.” 

With that, Shouto hauls himself off of Bakugou and swiftly exits the room without a backwards glance, trying desperately not to think about what was happening in that room before it turned nine. Twelve hours, for God’s sake. Bakugou had his body for twelve hours. How—? No. Nope. He cannot think about it. For his own sanity’s sake. 

He reaches up and brushes his fingers through his bangs. At least Bakugou kept his word and didn’t put Shouto through any unauthorized haircuts. Although, now that he thinks about it, he might be needing a trim. He’ll ask Ashido and Hagakure about it tomorrow. 

For now, he has to sort through the forbidden knowledge he holds and find a way to deal with what he now knows. There’s at least one trauma-free, potentially useful piece of information he gained; he never knew that Bakugou blushed with his ears. 

Hm. Maybe he should challenge the class to game of poker tomorrow evening.