Chapter Text
The restaurant that Class A reserves once a month is not usually a lively place. There are only a few tables that get unceremoniously pushed together into a large collection in the center of the space while the class crowds around it, excited to spend some time together again.
The owners, an older couple who clearly remember the days of the war, who remember the faces of the children who had saved them and their own kids, welcome them warmly each time, bowing profusely even as the chorus of voices asks them to stop.
They’re mid-meal now, everyone beginning to relax below the steady chatter. Izuku feels warm, maybe from the bit of beer he’s had, but also definitely from the bubbling feelings he has in his chest from being surrounded by people he loves.
He looks around the space, taking in the faces of his former classmates in various states of joy and revelry. If you asked Izuku Midoriya about his life, he would tell you that while it wasn’t what he had envisioned when he was younger, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.
He has Todoroki to his left, engaged in a conversation about his most recent villain apprehension with Ochaco, Tsu, Iida and Aoyama. To his immediate right is Katsuki, listening to Kirishima talk to Mina, Sero, Kirishima, and Tokoyami about his recent experience with his interns, who have only just gotten over their star-struck hero worship. The rest of his classmates sit opposite him, with Aoyama and Hagakure relaying to Momo, Jirou, Koda, Satou, Shoji, and Shinso stories about their recent encounters as an agency.
All in all, Izuku muses to himself, he’s content. More than that, actually, he loves his life and everything about it. He feels the warm buzz of alcohol and friendship in his veins, filling him with joy as he looks at Katsuki’s profile, taking him in.
He feels the smile on his face soften as he looks at that sharp jawline, the smirk that seems permanently etched on a perfect face and can’t help the way his heart skips a beat. And okay, maybe there are still things he yearns for, deep in his heart, but he’s more than happy to just be by Katsuki’s side. As long as he has a place here, next to him, then Izuku has no complaints.
It also doesn’t hurt that next to him is the best spot to watch Katsuki as he takes off his jacket, moving to put it over the back of his chair. It gives Izuku the perfect angle to watch his arm and neck muscles flex as he maneuvers the clothing off of himself, exposing just a bit of skin below the collar of his black shirt, revealing… what?
Izuku can’t help the small noise that escapes him in disbelief as the pale, beautiful skin he was expecting to see is marred by some sort of bruising? No. Wait. It can’t be. His mouth opens in shock and he knows his face is bewildered.
Katsuki’s eyes dart over to him, and Izuku summons all of his willpower to act normal. His mouth snaps shut and he averts his gaze to his plate. Which means that Katsuki immediately knows that something is up.
Red eyes dart to his and an eyebrow raises as Katsuki asks, “what are you looking at, nerd?”
Izuku needs to just be calm and cool about this. So of course, what comes out of his mouth is, “I— just… I mean— NOTHING, Kachaan! Hah? Why? What’s up with you?”
“Nothing is up with me, Izuku,” Katsuki replies, confused, eyebrow still raised. “You seemed off. I wanted to make sure you were good.”
“Yep! All good here,” Izuku manages to squeak out, through reddening cheeks. Oh god, he can’t stop looking at it now that he knows where it is. Katsuki’s eyes track his line of sight and narrow dangerously.
“What the fuck are you looking at?”
“Nothing! It’s nothing I sweat! I swear!!”
There’s a pause as Katsuki just looks at him, waiting for him to crack and Izuku’s body feels like it’s about to vibrate out of his skin.
He looks down at his hands, twisting them together and whispers, “it’s just— Kachaan. It looks like there’s something on your neck.”
“Huh? I can’t hear you”
Crap, Katsuki’s hearing isn’t the best even though he’s added ear protection to his support items. Izuku is gonna have to be a little louder. He decides to commit to the question.
He says a little louder, trying not to bring too much attention to their conversation, gesturing vaguely around his face, “you just, have a mark on your neck,” he trails off at the end. So much for being brave.
“Izuku, I literally can’t fucking hear you. What are you saying” Katsuki says a little forcefully.
“KACHAAN, WHY DO YOU HAVE A HICKEY?!?”
All noise in the restaurant stops as all 21 heads at the table turn to stare at the two of them.
Then, all hell breaks loose.
There’s a cacophony of noise as their classmates start clambering over each other, trying to make themselves heard over shouting.
“WAIT, WHAT,” Mina shouts, launching herself over Kirishima as she attempts to pull down Katsuki’s shirt to see the evidence.
Kaminari starts laughing hysterically, doubling over while saying, “hey at least Kachaan is getting some, you know what I’m saying?”
“Oh this is not very polite of us,” Momo says, continuing, “I’m sure Bakugo would prefer to keep this private, between himself and his partner.”
“If he wanted to do that, he shouldn’t have shown up with a fucking hickey,” Sero chimes in.
Izuku’s face burns under the embarrassment of being the one to call this to attention, but more than that he feels the white-hot stare of one Katsuki Bakugo drilling into the side of his head and he absolutely is not looking right now. Or maybe ever again.
Tsu comments, “dang, I mean I guess out of all of us, Bakugo would be the one with the most active sex life,” while turning to Ochaco to point at the now visible flush on Izuku’s face.
Izuku wants to melt into the floor, and asks the universe if he could just manifest an impermeability quirk, fast. The universe remains decidedly silent on the matter and Izuku knows he has to face this.
Through all the noise and the ribbing, there has been a very loud, specific silence that Izuku notices. The absence of cursing and yelling that would normally accompany Katsuki being forced to be the center of attention in a situation such as this.
Izuku chances a look to his right.
Katsuki is staring right at him, arm extended and locked against Mina’s head as she struggles over Kirishima to try to make contact with Katsuki’s collar to pull it down.
Katsuki hardly seems to notice though, and instead says through gritted teeth, “what. The. Fuck. Izuku.”
“Hah... Kachaan, I’m. I mean— I’m so sorry!”
“Sorry means jack shit to me now, what the hell are you talking about?” Katsuki looks bewildered and on the verge of incensed, his stare drilling holes into Izuku, not letting him look away.
Izuku shrinks back into his chair, and GOD even an invisibility quirk would work now too, as he raises one hand in surrender and points at Katuski’s neck with the other.
Katsuki’s eyes widen and he clamps a hand down on his neck and mutters, “he fucking didn’t.”
He’s up out of his chair and on his way to the bathroom before Izuku can even blink. Izuku follows, flailing his hands lamely, “Kachaan, you didn’t know?”
The bathroom door slams in his face and Izuku pushes it open to see Katsuki pulling down his shirt to reveal the very dark hickey that sits just under the line of his collar. He glowers in the dim lighting, staring at the mark in the mirror as though he can scare it off his skin.
“Of course I didn’t fuckin’ know! You think I would have let that motherfucker do this?”
Izuku stops behind Katuski, making eye contact through the reflection, “oh, um... who was it?”
Katuski explodes, “none of your damn business!” His eyes dart back to his neck and he starts poking at the hickey, testing the tenderness of the spot, and Izuku is suddenly filled with an acrid jealousy, wishing that he was the one who put it there.
“And why the hell would you scream that at the table,” Katuski asks, turning his rage filled gaze back to Izuku, who finds himself an unwilling target.
He flushes and sputters, “It’s just that, well I was just, you know, surprised!”
Katsuki looks deeply offended by the statement and Izuku tries to backpedal, continuing, “NOT surprised that you’re. Erm... hooking up wi—making love to someone,” he feels the blush spreading down his neck, “cause I mean of course you are HAHA, Kachaan is such a catch, you know, but like I was just I guess surprised you would uhm..” Izuku has picked up a shovel and can not stop digging, “let someone do that! To you. NOT THAT I THINK ABOUT YOUR SEX LIFE!”
And the hole is now deep in the center of the Earth.
Izuku is pretty sure he yelled that loud enough for the rest of their classmates to hear outside of the bathroom, because the chatter from beyond the door falls silent for a second.
If looks could kill, Izuku would have been dead a few minutes ago and all that would be left is a charred corpse, especially with the scowl that Katsuki turns to fix on him now.
“STOP TALKING ABOUT MY SEX LIFE!” Katuski roars, throwing his arms up in the air and advancing towards Izuku. “Fuck! Why are we even talking about this? I had sex, the asshole was an asshole, and he left a fucking hickey! It’s not a big deal!”
Izuku knows that he needs to stop digging. But he can’t help himself, he has to know who is good enough for Katsuki. “I mean, I’m sure whoever he was, he didn’t do it on purpose,” he ventures. He tries to make his body language relaxed, uninvested in the answer.
“Tch— doubtful,” Katsuki snorts out in a half-laugh, then gathers himself again, “wait I’m fucking mad at you and we are NOT talking about this anymore.”
Izuku isn’t sure who the reminder was for, himself or Katsuki, but he knows he’s hitting the limits of Katsuki’s patience when the vein in his forehead makes its appearance. He’ll have to investigate later, he decides.
Izuku angles his body to the side to let Katsuki brush past him, a little forcefully, which he thinks is earned, given the public spectacle he has made of Katuski's sex life. He follows Katsuki out back to the table, where their friends quickly look away from the bathroom door and pretend they weren’t actively eavesdropping.
Kaminari is the first to address them as they approach, stating, “hey, look who’s back? It’s those guys! Our friends! Who we definitely weren’t listening to at all!”
Sero jabs an elbow into Kaminari’s ribs, knocking an oof out of the man, “dude shut up. You’re making things weird.”
Iida takes control of the situation, standing up and raising his hands, “this is inappropriate dinner conversation, we are changing the subject. Jirou, I heard you have a new song coming out soon! Tell us all about that! Spare no detail!”
Jirou, who had been twirling her earphone jack around her finger, starts at the attention, but after a moment of shock nods determinedly at Iida begins, “oh! This song is sick, it came about because of a dream that I had a few months ago.”
Izuku loves Jirou’s music and is actively anticipating the release of her new song, but he can’t bring himself to focus on what she’s saying at the moment. He takes advantage of the attention shifting away from him and takes a moment to breathe as he sits down.
He notes, sadly, that Katsuki is pointedly looking away from him, though perhaps it’s for the best. He lets the chattering of their classmates fade into the background as he brings his hand up to his mouth and starts to run the numbers. Here are the facts: all of their classmates seemed surprised, so it’s not them, and they didn’t know... and that’s it. That’s all he knows for now. His eye starts twitching.
It upsets him maybe more than it should. He pauses after that thought, because, really who is he to be getting upset over this? He and Katsuki are best friends, yes. And yes, Izuku has been in love with Katsuki for years, but Katsuki definitely doesn’t feel that way about him. In fact, Katsuki would be mortified at the knowledge that Izuku harbors these feelings, and if he’s too obvious about his need to know who Katsuki is sleeping with, it could reveal everything. Which would ruin their friendship and everything that they have built over the years.
He’s spiraling a bit, he knows this. This is all scorched-earth, worst case scenario. He just needs to be cool and collected about it. Gather information secretly. Build up a case. He just needs some advice and he knows exactly who to ask about it. He pulls out his phone and brings up a text thread with Shinso and Tokoyami. In a few minutes, he and the two of them have plans to meet up the next day for lunch. He ignores their looks of incredulity. He’s gone up against worse odds. The mission is on.
The rest of dinner goes by incredibly fast, especially compared to the debacle that Izuku had started in the middle of it, and soon enough all of class A is outside the restaurant saying their goodbyes. Izuku makes his rounds, giving hugs and exchanging parting words, but he’s only half paying attention. Most of his focus is spent watching Katsuki out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge whether or not a goodbye would be welcome. It’s not the end of the world if it’s not, but he and Katsuki do have plans to meet up in the morning for a hike, so he would like to know whether or not to bring an apology gift.
Katsuki catches him staring and rolls his eyes, puffing air out of his mouth as he does so. He walks over to Izuku, breaking away from his conversation with Kirishima and gesturing with his chin for Izuku to walk with him a little ways away from the group.
Izuku follows again, footsteps soft against the pavement as they make their way out of earshot. He starts to say something, but stops himself. What can he say to make this better?
Katsuki beats him to it, “we’re still on for tomorrow, nerd. So stop being so weird about it and move on.” He sounds nonchalant, but his hands are dug deep into his pockets and his shoulders are hunched in over his body in a pose reminiscent of their teenage years.
Izuku knows Katsuki wants him to stop asking about it. He decides to lose this battle to win the war. He’s playing the long game.
“Of course, Kachaan. I really am sorry about bringing it up so publicly,” Izuku responds, sincere in the second part of the sentence at least.
Katsuki’s gaze softens a bit at the apology, and he sighs before saying, “I know. It’s fine. It’s literally just sex.”
Some of the jealousy from earlier squeezes its way back into Izuku’s gut at the words, but there’s some hope there too. Even if he isn’t the one who gets to be with Katsuki, this other guy doesn’t seem to be a romantic partner, either. It’s another fact he adds to his mental file about the person.
He nods at Katsuki, acknowledging the statement as far as he can without talking, because if he opens his mouth more questions will fall out.
Katsuki smirks at him, a corner of his mouth lifting and his teeth showing as he turns to walk away, pulling his phone out of his pocket with one hand and waving the other in the air in a goodbye. Izuku doesn’t want to think about who Katsuki is texting. He has a suspicion. His eye starts twitching.
“Night, Izuku. 8 AM sharp. Don’t be late,” Katsuki calls over his shoulder.
“R-right!”
Izuku schools his expression the best he can under the circumstances. Which is to say probably not at all. He’s almost glad Katsuki is walking away from him because he feels the scowl sitting on his face.
He walks back closer to the group, where Ochaco, Iida, Tsu, and Todoroki are waiting for him.
“Hey, Deku! Are ya ready to go home,” Ochaco asks, waving him over.
“Oh yeah! It’s time for our sleepover,” he replies, looking around at the other four. He resolves to not think about Katsuki’s mystery man for the rest of the night. He’s going to focus on hanging out with his friends instead.
The five of them set out to Izuku and Ochaco’s shared apartment. They take their time, chatting about the day and enjoying each other's company.
When they get to the apartment complex, Izuku takes out his key and opens the door, stepping aside to let his friends in first. He follows after them, shutting the door quietly and toeing off his shoes.
He makes his way through the living room, decorated courtesy of himself and Ochaco, with minimal hero merch as she had talked him down to just three framed posters above the couch and a bookshelf with his magazines, comics, and figurines. He figured he would respect her and their shared space and keep much of the chaos to his own room.
He goes into his room to change out of his clothes into pajamas, stopping to plug his phone in and brush his teeth. As he comes out, he runs into Ochaco who is moving out of her room and into the hallway.
“Deku, are you okay,” she asks, a concerned look on her face as she tilts her head to the side in question. “You seemed a little off at dinner, you know after the whole Bakugo thing.”
At the reminder that he definitely didn’t need, Izuku pulls a smile on his face that he hopes doesn’t seem forced.
“Yeah, Ochaco. I’m okay! I didn’t mean for that to happen, I was just so shocked about Kachaan letting someone do that to him.”
Ochaco’s mouth pinches as she chews on her cheek. She’s clearly thinking about whether or not to say something.
“Well, yeah Deku it is surprising, but the thing is Bakugo is an adult and it’s not that shocking that he’s having sex with someone,” she finally says, twisting some of her hair near her face as she does.
Izuku splutters, “w—well I know that! I mean, I don’t think about his sex life! I just, I know he’s having sex! It’s just... I didn’t— he didn’t have to be so obvious about it!”
Ochaco smiles the way she does when she pities Izuku, specifically the smile that comes out whenever Izuku starts talking about Katsuki. It’s no surprise really, that she knows about the enormity of his feelings towards the man. In fact, she had been the first person he told.
It had been one of the first nights after they had moved in together as roommates, deciding to be frugal and pool their money for a shared space rather than spend on individual places. They had also craved companionship from one another after a few disastrous attempts at fielding the dating pool had crashed and burned in their faces. They saw it as a mutually beneficial thing— partnership and support without the chaos of romance.
On this particular night, they had been up late unpacking what would be their living room, laughing in the dappled light of the street lamps from their balcony window. It had been a fun and full evening of sorting through boxes, interspersed with some very intense vetoing sessions about which pieces of hero merch Izuku was allowed to have in the living room.
Once night settled around them, and their lamps were turned on making the space into a cozy future home, they sat on their couch with a few cans of beer. They had no TV set up yet, so they were just enjoying each other’s company.
It had been after the second can was cracked open that the conversation turned treacherous.
Ochaco had been in the middle of a story about her ex-girlfriend, explaining their breakup. “She was great, I swear! Beautiful, funny, and charming, but...” she paused, “she wasn’t everything, and I don’t think she could have been. You know, in the same way that Himiko could have been.”
She stopped here, took a breath. Brought the can up to her lips and took a sip. She smiled a watery smile at Izuku, “it’s not like I’m hung up on her. I know she’s gone and that the reality wouldn’t have been as sweet as I imagine, but... I just want someone who lights a fire in me, you know?”
Izuku nodded, he understood. God did he get it.
“Plus, she didn’t ever put her laundry in the basket! It drove me crazy” Ochaco barked out with a laugh, clearly trying to ease the tension.
Izuku laughed with her, having been no stranger to other people’s weird habits in his most recent dating escapades.
“Oh, I get it,” he agreed, nodding. “My last, erm, fling was a disaster” he commiserated.
“Tell me about it,” she asked, shifting further up on the couch and turning towards him. “You didn’t talk about him much.”
It’s true, Izuku hadn’t talked about him much because really there had been nothing to tell. They had gone on a few dates, Izuku had gone to his apartment a couple times and not much else. He had been the last in a line of people he had attempted to date with no real success following it.
“Uh, yeah. I guess there’s not much to it. He was nice, but like you said, there was no real chemistry or spark I think” he mumbles out, hesitant to vocalize those feelings. He had felt bad dumping the guy when there was really nothing wrong with him. It’s just he wasn’t him.
“But do you know why,” Ochaco presses, tilting her head trying to understand. Izuku hates her a little for it, and wants her to drop the subject.
Maybe it’s the beers or maybe it’s the atmosphere of being with one of his best friends in the world in a space that was theirs; something in his chest suddenly felt so heavy with the secret he had been guarding for years. It made him want to tell someone.
“It’s just that every time I start to see someone, I can’t help but compare them to someone,” he starts, a little shy but determined to not be ashamed of his feelings. It could never happen, but he wouldn’t apologize for loving someone so amazing.
“Who?”
“Okay but if I tell you, you can’t tell anyone. You have to promise,” he says, panicking a little.
“Deku, I promise. Your secret is safe with me,” she responds with kind eyes, and of course she would never betray his confidence.
He shuts his eyes, faces away from her, “Kachaan,” he finally says.
He hears a gasp and his eyes fly open to her smiling wide behind her hands. There’s a sparkle in her eyes as she says, “OH GOODNESS, I KNEW IT!”
“What do you mean, ‘you knew it,’” he asks a little wildly, throwing his hands up in the air as he does.
“I mean, you’re not exactly the most subtle person in the world, Deku,” she responds, not unkindly. “You’re always staring at him like he hung the moon and I’ll be honest, you talk about him all the time.”
He splutters out, “I-I do not!”
“Yes you do! It’s always ‘Kachaan did this, Kachaan and I did that,’ he’s like your favorite topic!”
Izuku feels his face flush red as he has to admit to himself there is some truth to her words, but he feels the desire to rebut. “He and I are close! It’s reasonable that I would talk about him a lot! He’s one of my best friends and a hero! Those are like two of my favorite things!”
“Yeah, Bakugo is definitely one of your favorite things,” she laughs into her beer.
He smiles at the memory, coming back into the present, where he is currently being a bad host to his other friends who are patiently waiting in the living room. He moves down the hallway grabbing Ochaco’s hand as he does to drag her with him towards the sound of soft conversation.
They enter to see Tsu and Todoroki sitting on opposite ends of the couch, with Iida sitting on a cushion to the right of their coffee table, all faced towards each other and chatting. They all seem to have taken turns changing in the bathroom and are ready in comfortable clothes for the night they have planned ahead of them.
Todoroki is talking to Iida, saying, “well, I feel confident in the work that I’ve been doing, and I feel like my last few interviews have been... better,” he had to search for the word.
Iida replies, “YES, I saw your last interview with “Beneath the Costume” and the interviewer was only lost for words three times, down from your usual five!”
Todoroki smiles at Iida, “thank you, I am glad that someone noticed, I had some talking points written down beforehand.”
Izuku sits down to the left of the coffee table, allowing Ochaco to sit on the couch between the other two. She had made a detour to the kitchen to grab a case of beers for them to enjoy and set them down on the table between them.
Izuku and Tsu make a grab for them, laughing as Iida makes a face.
Tsu in response says, “c’mon Iida, we’re adults.”
“I know, but we have to be responsible about it! Remember some of us have work tomorrow,” Iida relents, his face relaxing a bit.
Ochaco sits back, cracking open her beer, “so, what’s the topic of the night?”
Before Izuku can open his mouth, Tsu’s eyes lock on to him with a dangerous glint in them. He feels fear.
“Well, I think we all can agree that Bakugo was quite interesting tonight, wouldn’t you agree, Deku,” she says with a smile that tells Izuku she knows exactly what she’s doing.
“I don’t know what you mean, Tsu,” he says, looking away from her and at the can in his hand.
There’s a beat of silence. He continues quickly, “but if I did know what you are talking about, I would be very curious to know if any of you knew anything about it!”
Well, there go Izuku’s plans not to talk about it. He grimaces internally, he cracked under zero pressure.
Ochaco cringes at the statement, signaling something with her eyes that Izuku doesn’t understand.
Iida says, “it was certainly an exciting moment, but I don’t know that I was all that surprised.”
“W-what do you mean by that,” asks Izuku, stiffening at the insinuation that all of their friends know that Katuski is a sex-god. How was he the last to know?
Todoroki chimes in, “he is a very good looking man. Unfortunately I do not know who his mystery man is, Izuku. I am sorry,” he says as though he has anything to apologize for.
“I-I don’t need to know, you don’t have to say, ‘sorry’ to me, Todoroki! It’s not like I have any personal investment in it, you know,” Izuku exclaims.
“I don’t know, it sure sounded like you had some ‘personal investment’ in Bakugo’s hickey earlier,” Tsu deadpans, adding hand quotes in the middle of her sentence.
Izuku feels cornered, “I don’t! I was just telling Ochaco this, it’s just weird that he would let someone mark him.”
“So you’ve been talking about it,” Tsu questions. She continues, “and you’ve been thinking about how Bakugo might be like in bed?” She raises her eyebrows and lowers her can into her lap.
“What are you implying, Asui,” Izuku asks, leaning backwards in disbelief at the sudden pointedness of the conversation.
“What am I implying, Izuku,” she replies.
Iida chimes in here, looking between the two of them, sensing the tension but lost, “yes, I would also like to know what is being implied.”
Tsu has him pinned under her stare. Izuku can’t do this anymore. “Fine! You win!”
He throws his hands up, spilling some beer onto his head as he admits, “I’m in love with Kachaan!”
There’s a moment where Iida and Todoroki seem to be processing the new information, given the looks on their faces; identical quizzical stares locked on Izuku as they seem to be digesting the fact that he admitted to something so huge.
Tsu snorts, “you finally admitted it.” She laughs and raises her can to her mouth to take a sip. “I’m proud of you, Izuku. It takes a lot to be honest about your feelings,” this she says more gently, sincere.
Izuku very heroically fights the blush rising on his face and loses, for maybe the thousandth time this night. He opens his mouth to try to say anything, but instead it just hangs open as some beer drips into his eye. He can’t tell which stings worse: the carbonated beverage in his eyeball or the mortification at having been goaded into revealing his feelings to so many people.
As though she can sense his reticence to continue talking, Tsu continues, “hey, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I was teasing at first, but I also want you to know that you can trust us with this. We’re your friends, we want to help you. And if I’m being honest? You’ve never been that subtle when it comes to Bakugo.”
Iida chimes in, “yes! You can trust us with this secret. We will tell no one.” His face is serious, set with determination usually reserved for the battlefield.
“It must have been hard to keep this a secret for so long,” Todoroki muses, looking down at his lap then to Izuku. “I’m sorry we were such poor friends you felt you couldn’t share this with us.”
“N-no! It’s not like that at all,” Izuku scrambles to say. “It’s just that... this was- is something private. It’s not that I feel ashamed to love Kachaan. He’s incredible after all, but it's more like it seemed like something I needed to keep close to me. Like if I said it, it would become real and I’d have to do something about it. And we all know that’s not possible.”
“Well, why not,” Ochaco questions, and Izuku is back on the Ochaco hater train. He feels every muscle in his body stiffen at the question, his back going ram-rod straight.
“W-what do you mean, ‘why not,’” he responds, a little hysterical. “He’s- he’s Kachaan! He’s perfect in every conceivable way! He’s beautiful without even trying and he’s so effortlessly cool and he just understands everyone in a way that makes sense but also pushes them to be better! He’s amazing... and I’m just me.” He curls into himself at that statement, the understanding of just how undeserving he is of Katuski’s affections hitting him.
Iida slams his beverage down a little forcefully and says, “hey I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak unkindly about my friend,” he smiles a bittersweet smile, “and also not to talk about Bakugo as though he is some shallow individual. He cares about you, Deku. More than I think you know.”
“You think,” Izuku asks.
“I know,” Iida replies. The other three nod their heads aggressively in agreement.
Tears well up in Izuku’s eyes as he processes the support and love he feels in the room not just for himself, but for Katsuki as well. He thinks about how far they’ve all come as former classmates, as friends and finds himself grateful for the friendship they’ve been able to foster and not let fade away as it so often does. Deep in his chest he feels a ferocious love for all these people as he manages to say, “thank you guys. It really means a lot.”
They let him cry a little, used to the protocol when it comes to Izuku’s tears. After all, they have known each other for over a decade. Iida and Todoroki are making gentle conversation with him, while Tsu and Ochaco are on their phones, distracting themselves and giving him some privacy. When he starts to calm down, Ochaco leans over Todoroki to pat his arm and hand him a tissue, which he takes to wipe at the tracks leftover from his overflowing emotions.
It’s in this moment of peace that Tsu prompts, “I think you should tell him.”
It takes Izuku a second to read her. Her eyebrows are slightly raised and there’s a small smile on her lips. It’s because of both the openness of her expression and the fact that it’s Tsu, who never minces her words, that makes him register that she is being dead serious.
“Tsu, you know that I can’t,” he replies in a flat tone.
“Well, why not?”
He pauses, considering. It’s not that Izuku doesn’t want Katsuki to know about his feelings, he would love for him to know how much he is loved. The part that makes Izuku hesitate is that he knows that Katsuki doesn’t feel the same way, especially now that he has a partner, and that it might make their friendship awkward or strained. That’s the part that he couldn’t handle.
“Things just wouldn’t be the same if he knew,” he smiles a little sadly, “Kachaan wouldn’t be mean about it, that much I know, but if he knew just how much I love him, even beyond my normal admiration for him, well anyone would feel uncomfortable with that knowledge. I couldn’t bear it if he needed some space or if things changed between us. I would respect any decision he made, but it would be awful. He’s my best friend, he’s always been a part of my life. I can’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
Tsu and Ochaco share a look that Izuku can’t decipher before Iida speaks up, “you’re speaking like he doesn’t feel the same. How do you know he doesn’t reciprocate your feelings?”
At that, everyone turns to stare at Iida, with varying looks of consideration. Todoroki pipes up, “that’s true, Deku. How do you know that he doesn’t feel the same way if you’ve never asked?”
Izuku smiles a sad smile, and responds, “it’s not like I haven’t considered it before. And if I’m being honest, there have been some times where I felt like it would have been possible, but...” he trails off a bit, and something in his smile tightens, “but now I think it’s too late. You know, because he has a partner.”
Ochaco raises a finger and brings her hand to cover her mouth slightly before she says, “yeah, but Deku, I’m not entirely sure that Bakugo is, you know... dating the person that he’s involved with right now.”
“Yeah, but that could change at any moment! Plus, Kachaan doesn’t usually let people that close to him, so what if they’re just casual now, but there’s secret feelings simmering under the surface? A-and what if he is just too afraid to say anything because this guy is being all-all nonchalant and disinterested in romance, and Kachaan doesn’t feel like he can say anything,” Izuku gets up at this realization and starts pacing as the thoughts begin falling into place. “AND what if Kachaan doesn’t feel like we’ll support him or something and THAT’S why he hasn’t told me- I mean us- anything about him! Oh my god! I’ve been such a bad friend! I haven’t made him feel like he can tell me about this because I’ve been too wrapped up in my own feelings and haven’t thought about him!”
Izuku’s mind is racing a million miles a minute as he comes to these conclusions and he can feel himself breathing a little hard. Then a lightbulb clicks on in his head and he rushes to his room, much to the surprise of his four friends.
He hears slight muttering in the living room as he desperately digs around in his room, trying to clear a path for the rolling whiteboard he keeps stored in there. He grabs his phone off the charger and begins to wheel the slightly squeaking board down the hall and into the living room.
“Oh no,” Ochaco mutters, bringing her hands up to cover her face, “we’ve set him off. He’s not gonna stop now.”
He makes it to the living room and begins setting up, angling the board towards the couch and his four incredulous friends.
“Where did he even get that,” Tsu questions.
“Okay, here’s what we know,” he says, putting on his teacher voice and circling a picture of Katsuki that he unceremoniously slapped on the board.
The picture is clearly a candid, taken while he was looking at the person taking the photo, likely Izuku, with a smile so serene that it leaves the other four slightly taken aback. Izuku turns to fully face the board, beginning to mutter in a way that signals to the others that he is lost in thought.
Tsu leans into the others, “I’ve never seen Bakugo smile like that,” she whispers, all of them leaning in over the table as Izuku starts writing something on the right side of the board.
“Yes, Deku brings out a side of Bakugo that the rest of us don’t see,” Todoroki confirms.
“And Deku refuses to believe that Bakugo is in love with him too,” Ochaco sighs, looking tired, as though she’s had this conversation before.
Iida says, on the verge of being too loud, “yes, we all know that they are both in love with each other, but for now, it seems as though we just have to play along with Deku. We can not reveal either of their feelings, it needs to be something organic, as per the rules.”
Ochaco slaps a hand over his mouth, but thankfully, Izuku is too lost in his conspiracy board to pay attention to the noise it makes, “Iida, shhhhhhhh. Deku can’t know about the bet, it would ruin everything!”
“For now, we should just go with it, like Iida said,” Tsu agrees. “It’s less suspicious for us to agree with whatever rationalization he’s cooking up than for us to try to convince him otherwise. Plus, Mina texted the group chat to update them on the crash out from dinner, so all the other people that have placed bets can stay updated on what’s going on. Most of them know we were having this sleepover, so we can’t do anything too direct or it’ll look like we interfered.”
The rest of the group nod in unison, agreeing to stay silent about the issue for the time being. They all turn their heads towards the board and Izuku only to be stunned into silence at the scene.
Izuku has his phone in his left hand and a marker in his right, writing down a very large list that seems to be the whole roster from classes A and B from UA. He has pulled a few names into the middle, where he has labeled them ‘likely suspects,’ as though he is starting to put together a case.
“Hey, Deku,” Ochaco ventures, “what exactly are you doing?”
“Oh!” Izuku is pulled out of his mumbling and turns to look at them with determination. “I’m making a list of possible contenders for Kachaan’s partner and trying to narrow it down so I can start helping him romance them, like a good friend should!”
“Do we think that this maybe... might be a little excessive,” she questions, shifting in her spot on the couch.
“Oh, no. Not at all, I’m not exerting any energy that I didn’t already have,” he responds cheerily, turning back to the board, “thank you for the concern though!”
He continues, “so we know he’s a man, and that rules out all the girls, but let’s think about what Kachaan’s type is. He would want someone strong, and someone who gets him, but also especially he would want someone who pushes him to be better.” He slams his right hand with the pen down onto the left palm and promptly drops his phone to the floor. “Oh whoops, let me get that- hmmmm initially I would have thought it would be someone like Kirishima, he’s strong but... he’s already got that thing with Mina, unless they’ve officially called it off. Tetsutetsu is a possibility because sometimes he is very similar to Kirishima, but I just don’t see their personalities aligning...” He trails off again, getting lost in his thoughts, and doesn’t seem to register the ding of his phone from where he’s placed it on the whiteboard shelf.
Ochaco feels her phone vibrate from its place in her pocket and pulls it out. She unlocks the device, pulling up her notifications. What she sees makes her jaw drop.
“H-hey Deku,” she says a little hysterically, “you’re going to want to see this!”
“Hmm” he responds, clearly not hearing her.
“Deku,” she yells, calling his attention to her in a snap of his head.
“What’s wrong, Ochaco,” he asks, beginning to turn towards her.
“So you remember how I retweeted that post from your alt account earlier today?”
Tsu jumps in, “wait he has an alt account?”
“What’s an alt account,” Todoroki asks.
“Please don’t ever change, babygirl,” Tsu replies, patting Todoroki’s arm.
Ochaco thoroughly ignores both of them, her eyes panicked as she stands up to show Izuku the phone.
Izuku takes the phone out of her hand and looks at the screen. His eyes go wide and his jaw goes slack as he takes in the information.
@GEMGDYNAMIGHT: retweeted
@dynamightsleftpec: Uravity is a lesbian and GEMGDynamight is a gay man send tweet
“Oh no... ohnoohno,” Izuku immediately starts muttering to himself, dropping one hand to his side and the other to thread through his hair as he begins pacing.
Tsu comes up to grab the phone from Ochaco’s hand and begins searching through Izuku’s alt account. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Deku. There’s only like- oh no- a few thousand retweets... in the last five minutes.” She seems to lose some confidence in the last portion of her statement.
Izuku knows that Tsu is right because he hears his phone vibrating incessantly from its place on the whiteboard. He doesn’t want to look at his notifications right now. This may be the most cowardly he has ever felt.
Iida speaks up from where he and Todoroki are crowded around Tsu with Ochaco’s phone. “Is- is this his method of coming out?”
At that Izuku feels like he’s going to melt into the floor. The tweet had been a bit. Sort of.
“Ochaco, pleasepleaseplease tell me this is all a joke,” Izuku says, twisting both of his hands in his hair. “I get why you retweeted it, because it was an inside joke between us and you have been facing all that speculation on your sexuality lately.”
Ochaco nods facing the others to fill them in, “yeah, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about that and I got tired of being in the closet about it. And last night, Izuku was arguing with some person on some ship art of- ugh- Bakugo and me. And that’s not just wrong, it's gross! So he had to say something about it, and I thought, well it’s not like Izuku was wrong about the part about me and it was funny, so I figured why not?” She sounds more than a little hysterical at this point, “but why would Bakugo retweet it too?”
Todoroki stands and goes to Ochaco, his hands up in a placating manner, “I’m sure Bakugo had the same logic as you did. I don’t think this was one of his PR interns, this must have been something he saw an opportunity to take. I doubt he would leave something like this to them. It’s not either of your faults,” he finishes, looking between Izuku and Ochaco.
“That’s right,” Iida agrees, “Bakugo isn’t naive and he’s nothing if not intentional. He probably saw the thread that Deku originally was arguing in and got tired of it, like you did, Ochaco.” He hasn’t moved from his spot on the floor, and something about his measured calm relaxes some of the hysteria from the room.
Izuku takes in some of their words and takes a breath. He can do this. Of course it’s not his fault, Katsuki wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to do. He finally grabs his phone from its perch and opens his notifications. He looks, screams, and immediately throws it at the couch.
“Deku, why did you just launch your phone,” Tsu questions, already moving to grab it from its landing spot. She turns it over and scans the screen intentionally before saying, “oh. I see. Bakugo followed your alt.”
Izuku’s knees give out suddenly and he wails, “so it wasn’t a hallucination!” He buries his hands in his face and begins to mutter, “oh god no, Kachaan can’t follow that account, he can’t even KNOW about that account! What am I gonna do? What if he goes through my past tweets, I have NOT been subtle on that account. I thought I was safe with the anonymity. Oh my god what if he figures out it’s me? That’s going to be it he would know how I feel about him and it would make things weird because he’d know I’m an obsessive little freak and-”
“I’m pretty sure anyone that knows you knows you are an obsessive little freak, to be fair,” Tsu interjects, clearly trying to talk Izuku down.
It doesn’t seem to be working as Izuku is still muttering into his hands, words coming faster and faster. The other four start to wonder if he is even taking breaths in between.
Iida takes control at this moment, pulling his phone out and going through his contacts. Tsu looks over his shoulder at the screen, saying, “oh that’s a good idea.”
Iida brings the phone to his ear as it rings and waits for the person on the other end to pick up. “Hello, Bakugo! I’m sorry to be calling you so late, but as your friend and former class president, I thought it prudent to check in with you about your latest retweet!”
He pauses to let Katsuki respond, an irate tone sounding through the speaker even if the others can’t quite make out the words. Izuku and Ochaco are stunned out of their panic into silence, lest Katuski hear what they are freaking out about.
Iida continues into the phone, “why, yes we are all having our sleepover tonight! We just wanted to be sure you were okay, and to support you with your public coming out. I know that can be difficult, especially for Pro Heroes, so I wanted to be sure you knew we were in your corner.”
Katsuki on the other end responds, volume less intense this time, which makes Izuku wonder exactly what is being said. Katsuki’s temper is far more level as an adult, but he can’t imagine he would be very receptive to a late night phone call. Someone or something must have calmed him down. His eye begins twitching again as he remembers Katuki pulling his phone out to text someone as he left the dinner.
Iida finishes his conversation with Katuski, his voice softer than Izuku would have expected, “of course, I just wanted to confirm you were okay and let you know we all care for you. Thank you for picking up, Bakugo. Goodnight.”
Izuku launches himself towards Iida as the call clicks off. “Iida, what did he say? Was he okay?”
Iida allows Izuku to cling to him as he says, “he appreciated the call, and wanted you all to know he was ‘just tired of all these extras’ assuming things about his sexuality. He saw that Uraraka retweeted it and thought it would be funny. It’s nothing we should be worried about.”
“That’s good,” Izuku responds, relieved that Katsuki is okay.
He had been worried about the state of his friend when he saw the tweet. Katsuki had historically been reluctant to confirm or deny his sexuality in public. It had been something they had discussed at length to weigh the pros and cons. Katsuki hadn’t really felt strongly either way, but thought it was best to leave the speculation unanswered. It makes Izuku wonder what had changed between now and the last conversation they had. He comes to the conclusion that it’s likely Katsuki’s new partner. He does his best to swallow his jealousy and bring himself to be happy for his friend. It’s remarkably difficult.
“Can we all take a breath now,” Iida asks the room, gently prying Izuku off of him and putting his hands on Izuku’s shoulders. “There is no reason to panic,” he places a finger on Izuku’s mouth when he tries to respond, “yes, I know that this is slightly stressful, but it was an eventuality that always could have happened. At the very least, it happened tonight, when all of us were here. Now, let’s begin brainstorming.”
“Brainstorming what,” Izuku asks furrowing his eyebrows and looking up at Iida with a confused expression.
Iida pushes his glasses up his nose and responds, “how to get you and Bakugo together, of course.”’
Izuku chokes, spluttering, “wh-what? Iida, you know that's not possible! Kachaan doesn’t feel that way about me, and even if he did, what would I even do? I mean I’m totally unprepared for the idea of dating him, and-and again, he doesn’t even like me like that!”
“Izuku, you’re spiralling, again,” Tsu says, reaching over Iida to grab Izuku’s hand.
Iida brings his hands up to Izuku’s face to capture it between his palms, “Izuku, my friend. Firstly, we need to address your confidence issues. You are a wonderful human being who is selfless, kind, and has quite literally, saved the world. You are a perfect candidate to be anyone’s boyfriend. Secondly, Bakugo would be lucky to have you as a potential suitor, and I think even he knows that. If you asked me, it’s not a matter of ‘if you’re good enough,’ it’s ‘if he’s smart enough’ to act on it. So therefore, we need to start planning how you are going to court him.”
“I think the first thing we need to find out is who this mystery man that Bakugo is seeing,” Ochaco says. She has since moved to stand at the board and begins taking in the list of names Izuku has already laid out.
Todoroki makes his way over to stand next to her, nodding his head, “yes, this is the first point of order. We need to get this man out of the way.”
“That’s a little intense, but I like the energy,” Tsu says, getting up from her place on the floor. She turns to Izuku, “so, what’s the rationale for having Shinso up here? He and Bakugo do not get along.”
Izuku rubs the back of his neck, replying, “I didn’t want to rule out the possibility of ‘hate-sex.’” He looks down, “I don’t think Kachaan would mind... that,” he finishes sheepishly, blushing again.
Ochaco and Tsu exchange glances, and begin talking amongst themselves, crossing names out and adding some after looking through their social media.
Todoroki and Iida sit at the coffee table and begin strategizing what Izuku should bring to Katsuki in the morning for their hike. They throw out the idea of flowers, chocolates, and a card, and instead put their heads together to come up with the perfect gift.
Izuku sits there speechless, looking between the two groups of his friends. Though he doesn’t really think they’re correct in their assumptions, he has never felt so loved.