Chapter Text
“C’mon nerd, quit it. Our chemistry final is at 8:30 tomorrow, and then bio is at 3. We don’t have time to-”
Izuku pressed a kiss to Bakugou’s inner thigh, lips grazing over the row of zeroes that marred his skin. He grinned at the way Bakugou’s breath hitched, sure that he’d easily win this little game.
Unfortunately, he’d overestimated Bakugou’s self-restraint this time around. Izuku let out a small yelp when his boyfriend none-too-gently hit him over the head with his notebook. When he looked up, he saw the way Bakugou’s cheeks were flushed bright red, betraying his scowl.
“Deku. I’m serious. We have to actually study, or I’m leaving your dumbass here and going to the library.”
Izuku looked scandalized, “Kacchan, you wouldn’t dare! Besides, I don’t think you’re being honest. You’re already getting-”
Bakugou hit him again, but Izuku laughed this time, thinking he probably deserved it for teasing him so much, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop-” he was cut off when Bakugou leaned forward and grabbed Izuku’s face with both his hands, pulling him up for a kiss and coaxing him to sit properly in his lap, instead of between his legs like he’d been doing.
“After,” Bakugou breathed, kissing the side of Izuku’s mouth, “After we’re done with exams, Deku. Till then, there’s no way I’m letting you fuck up my 4.0 GPA.”
Izuku snorted, “I can’t believe you’d rather get a 100 on your finals than let me give you-”
“Deku!” Bakugou said, grasping his boyfriend’s face so tightly his cheeks were squished, “If you think I prefer studying, you’re fucking insane. I’m not going anywhere, nerd, but these stupid exams are tomorrow only so just have some patience, you insatiable bastard.”
“Your pet names are getting more creative,” Izuku pouted, but eventually he gave a sigh, “but okay, I get it. I’m just getting bored, is all. Can’t we take a short break, at least?”
“It’s never a short thing with you, Deku.”
“No, I didn’t mean to do that! Just a normal, fifteen minute break. Here, I’ll set an alarm on my phone.” Izuku crawled off of Bakugou’s lap to get his phone, charging on the other side of the room. He quickly tapped at the screen and held it up for Bakugou to see, and the other grumbled a short word of approval.
Izuku went back to their bed (they’d pushed the two beds together at some point a couple months ago, since it seemed silly to them to sleep apart) and straddled Bakugou again, taking his notebook from him, “We’ve been studying for hours. I demand you take a break. No ifs, ands, or buts. Got it?”
Bakugou let out a frustrated sigh, but relented to his roommate’s whims with a roll of his eyes, “Alright, fine. I guess it can’t hurt.”
“It’s fifteen minutes, Kacchan, of course it can’t hurt. Besides, we both know you’re going to get top marks.”
Bakugou flashed a bit of a cocky smile, “Well, duh. That’s a given.”
“Good,” Izuku said, snuggling against Bakugou’s chest with ease.
Bakugou naturally wrapped his arm around him, nestling his face in the mess of Izuku’s green hair, “We should eat soon, too.”
“Are you cooking?” Izuku asked, his voice clearly lighting up at the prospect.
“Fuck no, you think I have time for that right now? We can order takeout. Or we can get out of the dorms and you can swipe us into the cafeteria.”
Izuku tried not to sound disappointed. Going out or even answering the door for takeout meant he would need to get dressed. He groaned, “I guess let’s go to the cafeteria. I still have a bunch of meals I need to use up before the semester officially ends.”
“It ends in two days, Deku.”
“Well, I guess we gotta go out to eat a lot then, huh?” Izuku asked, lazily. He let his eyes close for now, resting them. He kind of had a headache from the relentless studying they’d been doing, “Uraraka always likes going out for free food. Do you think they’d get suspicious if I swiped in Kirishima and the others, too? I know they don’t have meal plans, so I bet they’d like a free meal too.”
“Considering it’s mostly students on work-study staffing the place, they definitely don’t give a shit.” Bakugou replied, mindlessly rubbing his thumb across Izuku’s back in a way that was making the other quite sleepy.
“Cool, cool. Can you text them and see if they wanna go in like...I don’t know, an hour?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Bakugou agreed, but he didn’t move to grab his phone immediately. He’d get to it in a few minutes, loathe to disturb Izuku, who was curled up in his lap like a cat at the moment.
They were both quiet for a moment, together.
Things had gotten better since spring break. Izuku hadn’t immediately forgiven Bakugou; he’d gotten the apology, but it wasn’t an immediate resolve. It wasn’t that he felt Bakugou needed to prove he was truly sorry or anything, that much was clear. He’d had an inkling that Bakugou felt guilty about things even before they’d started dating- he’d seen his non-verbal attempts at apologies through his actions over time. Izuku had really just wanted some time to himself to reflect on everything Bakugou had told him that day. It was all important. He wanted to document it, file it away in his mental notes about Kacchan so he could understand him better.
He’d sat him down a few days after their fight and together they had a long and admittedly terse conversation about their wants and boundaries, and Izuku in particular explained that he wanted to work on communication in the future. Bakugou had been surprisingly receptive.
After all, he was ambitious in everything he did- he wanted to be the best, despite the unique challenge of emotional vulnerability when it came to their tentative relationship.
Things weren’t perfect, but there were easy times, like right now, where he felt more than content. There was warmth that swelled in his chest and while he was perfectly happy to tell Bakugou how much he cared for him, Bakugou preferred to show it through action. The way he rubbed his back, curled Izuku closely in his arms, didn’t complain even though Izuku knew his legs were probably falling asleep by now. Quiet, silent love and apology.
Izuku wasn’t great at quiet, though; “You know, I’ve been thinking…”
“Dangerous,” Bakugou grunted in response, his voice low.
Izuku snorted, “Shut up. Anyways, I’ve been thinking. What if we are soulmates?”
It was Bakugou’s turn to let out a short laugh, but Izuku kept going, “I’m serious! Our moms have been friends for a long time, right? It’s possible...I mean, it’s a theory about people who are born without soulmates. I've read about it. Potentially, if you meet your soulmate before your mark appears, then…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Bakugou buried his face in Izuku’s wild green curls, eyes closed. In a rare moment of sincerity, he breathed, “It doesn’t matter, Deku. Soulmate or not, we found each other. That's enough.”
Doesn’t matter? Izuku had spent years researching soulmarks, trying to puzzle out the reason behind his being at zero. With no way to prove it, though, Izuku supposed a theory was the best he could hope for. It was a nice thought, but all the research in the world wouldn't resolve anything. Izuku shifted slightly and let his heavy eyelids close so he could rest, clearing his mind of the thought for now, “I guess you’re right, Kacchan.”