Archive of Our Own ^beta

By 8 am, and Izuku already knew that today was gonna be complete and utter bullshit. He had decided to visit his mother for the weekend, so that meant he would need to wake up by 6 am in order to make it back to campus on time for class.

He woke up at 7:30. Then missed his train at 8. Then he crashed into someone so hard that his bag split and his books went flying.

By 10 am, he knew the entire week was gonna suck.

On the bright side, Yaomomo was kind enough to make him a new backpack when he stumbled into class an hour late clutching his stacks of loose-leaf nonsense and the ripped bag.

On the downside, he hadn't realized that the asshole who had slammed into him on the train had also hit him with his quirk without warning him about the effects. He packed up his new bag quickly—he wanted to use the lunch hour to run back to the dorms for a change of clothes. His uniform had gotten dirty during the fall, and he had landed in something that smelled kinda weird. He just wanted clean clothes. He practically sprinted from the room in his attempt to make it to the dorms and back in time for his afternoon classes.

"Deku, wait!" He heard Uraraka yell after him, and he jolted to a stop so suddenly that he nearly fell over. "Woah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to run and grab a change of clothes. I when I fell and split my bag this morning I think I landed in something gross." He replied, wrinkling his nose. She paused, then her nose scrunched up.

"I think you're right. You'll miss lunch though."

"I'll grab a protein bar on my way back." He shrugged. "But if I wanna have time I gotta go now."

"Yeah, okay. Go get changed." She smiled at him. His body sprang into action almost too fast, and he raced away from her.

"Later!" He yelled over his shoulder. 

Honestly, it was a testament to how poorly his day was going that he hadn't realized what was happening yet.

It hit him like a freight train in his first class of the afternoon. Fundamental Hero Studies was his favorite class (obviously), and as such he tended to...well, you know. Mutter the entire time. It's not like he meant to do it, but his "nerd brain" couldn't contain the "sheer fucking volume of thoughts without shutting down his verbal filter in the process". Katsuki's words, not his.

So, just like every other day, Izuku mumbled up a storm and about fifteen minutes later (a drastic increase from the measly three minutes he would have gotten in their first year), Katsuki turned to him and snapped. "Shut the fuck up nerd! I can barely hear myself think!"

And Izuku's jaw practically sealed itself shut. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open his mouth to speak. Thankfully, he wasn't called on during the lesson, but that didn't mean he hadn't tried to participate. He just couldn't.

'What the hell?' He pondered as he tried to open his mouth to produce words—or even just a sound. But he couldn't. He had been hit with some kind of quirk. As he ran through his day, he realized just what type of quirk he was dealing with.

If his slightly panicked analysis was accurate, he was currently under the influence of an obedience quirk.

FUCK.

He packed slowly after classes let out for the day, waving his friends ahead when they paused to wait for him. He gestured to Aizawa and they nodded, disappearing out the door. When the last of the stragglers left he practically threw himself on Aizawa's desk, much to the alarm of the sleeping bag clad teacher.

"What do you need Midoriya?" Aizawa asked, eyeing him warily.

Izuku gestured at his throat frantically. Aizawa lifted an impatient eyebrow. "Spit it out, problem child. I have places to be."

Izuku gasped in relief. "Oh thank god. I was in a quirk accident this morning and didn't realize until like two hours ago."

Aizawa was immediately on alert. "What kind of quirk accident? Are you hurt?"

"No, but I am a security risk at the moment. When I was coming back from my mom's I crashed into someone on the train and I think they hit me with an obedience quirk. Kacchan told me to shut up and I couldn't even open my mouth."

Aizawa stiffened, then let his forehead drop to his desk. "It's always you. Why is it always you? Or Bakugo I guess, but honestly, this is getting ridiculous Midoriya."

"Your guess is as good as mine, sir." He replied. He supposed it could have something to do with being All Might's successor, but that typically didn't factor into the lesser bullshit like Gentle Criminal or the fartknocker who quirked him on the train.

Aizawa paused to collect himself. "First you should see Recovery Girl. While you're there, I'll look for people who used their train pass on your line this morning who have mental quirks so that we can figure out the conditions of the quirk. I would...avoid telling the class unless absolutely necessary. Ashido would have a field day wringing gossip out of you," he sighed. Izuku paled dramatically. He hadn't even considered that.

"Excellent point. No one can know."

"Unless?" Aizawa prodded. Izuku stared at him blankly and he sighed tiredly. "Unless it is a direct threat to your health or mental wellbeing. And this goes without saying, but you are forbidden from leaving campus until the quirk is released. The amount of information about heroes you hold in that thick skull is your most easily weaponized asset, followed closely by your freakishly overpowered quirk. You could obliterate cities with your fists and society itself with your knowledge, so you will not take a single step outside of school grounds until you can't be weaponized by a villain with a simple verbal command."

And that in itself was a verbal command, so Izuku would undoubtedly obey. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now go see Recovery Girl. I'll contact you when I have more information."

Izuku sincerely hoped that he'd have more information soon.

So far, nothing had gone drastically wrong. He wasn't super fond of suddenly having his free will yanked away but luckily, his classmates didn't tend to order him around.

They were just a little careless with their phrasing sometimes.

Right now he was helping Sato cook—given the simple task of chopping vegetables. "Hey, grab that for me Midoriya?" Sato pointed at the rice cooker.

Izuku had immediately dropped the knife and sliced his finger, but grabbed the rice cooker. "Here you go," he replied tightly.

"Oh my god," Sato cried, tossing the rice cooker on the counter to grab Izuku's hand. "What happened?"

"It's fine!" Izuku laughed. "I nicked myself on the knife. I was just gonna tell you that I'm gonna run and bandage it up."

"You do that," he replied seriously, and Izuku had to obey—springing into action.

"I'll be back in a minute!" he called over his shoulder, trying to make his hasty retreat seem less strange. Unfortunately, he was intercepted on his way to his room.

"What the hell did you do, you damn Deku!" Katsuki snapped, grabbing the back of his hoodie as he tried to get to the elevator. Suddenly, he was unable to complete Sato's order, and discomfort—something almost painful—punched through him as he struggled in Katsuki's grip. "Why are you being so fuckin' weird, just let me look at it, nerd!" he snapped. "You're dripping blood everywhere."

And it seemed that Katsuki's command overrode Sato's because the discomfort abated and he went limp in Katsuki's grip. Katsuki gave him a weird look, but took Izuku's hand and studied the cut. "What happened?"

"Nicked my finger with the knife while I was cutting veggies," he replied dutifully.

"Clumsy ass nerd," he grumbled. "C'mere. Why didn't you just use the first aid kit in the common room?"

He followed behind Katsuki as ordered and allowed himself to be pushed on the couch while the explosive blonde calmly unearthed a first aid kit from the cupboard. He'd be more upset about the whole thing but lately, he'd been unearthing these rare moments where Katsuki was so soft, and he really couldn't resist them.

Like now, where Katsuki gingerly held up his hand to swab Izuku's finger with antisceptic—grip a little firm to keep him from squirming at the sting, but still so gentle that Izuku wanted to hold his breath, just in case a stray inhale broke the spell.

So yeah, he was ass-over-mouth in love with Katsuki. What the fuck about it? It's not like he felt the same way. He was just finally accepting that they were friends and maybe taking muscle relaxants with his protein shakes. No big deal.

"Gonna use liquid bandage and a cloth wrap," Katsuki muttered. "Especially since you're gonna go back to fucking cook, aren't you? Last thing you need is fuckin' food to get stuck under a shitty band-aid."

"Of course, Kacchan," Izuku nodded, docile.

"There," he grumbled a few moments later. "Now you're not flinging blood everywhere. Don't fuckin' cut yourself, Deku. Pay attention to what you're doing."

Izuku felt the commands wash over him. Oh, that was interesting. Could Katsuki command him to not injure himself? What would happen if he broke the command? There was a certain degree of inevitability when it came to injury in heroics—would it affect his training?

"Oi!" Katsuki snapped, flicking him on the forehead. "You start mumbling and I'll blast your face off. I was asking if you'd studied for Calc yet."

Izuku shook his head, a little dazed. "No, not yet." Katsuki glared at him.

"The quiz is tomorrow, dumbfuck," he growled. "When the fuck were you planning on studying?"

"Right after dinner!" Izuku replied, affronted. "And I'm good at Calc! I'm more worried about the essay for Mic-sensei's class."

"You're better at English than Calc," Katsuki insisted. "How are you supposed to keep up with me if you don't study—" he put the tip of his finger on the very top of Izuku's cheekbone, right under his eye, and dragged it downward. "Or sleep?" Ah. So he was emphasizing Izuku's eyebags.

Dick.

"I'm an insomniac, Kacchan, it's not like I don't try to sleep," Izuku grumbled.

"It would be easier if you got in bed earlier."

"What are you, my mother?" Izuku cried. "Let me live!"

"No."

Izuku gently pushed Katsuki back and stood. "I'm gonna finish helping with dinner. If you're so worried about my Calc scores, quiz me after."

"Who said I was worried!" Katsuki barked. Izuku raised an unimpressed eyebrow and Katsuki flipped him off in response. "Go fuck yourself."

Oh no. Oh nooooooo.

Izuku began moving towards the bathroom at a speed that neither boy had anticipated. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"I need to use the bathroom," Izuku barked over his shoulder, frustration forcing more sass into his tone than was strictly necessary. "Do you need to come verify?"

"I'm gonna kill you, nerd!"

"Not if I kill myself first out of sheer embarrassment," Izuku muttered as he sped away to address his brand new inappropriate boner.

It hadn't even been a day, and he was already 100% ready to be done with this quirk.

He realized pretty quickly that keeping this a secret was going to be a problem. Izuku had never really noticed how many times a day Katsuki said the words "go fuck yourself".

"Hey, Deku!" Uraraka slid up to his desk, smiling sweetly. Izuku smiled back fondly. "How did you feel about the essay?" It was Wednesday now, and the two days had passed at a glacial pace.

"Fine," he replied. "But now there's the Lit test tomorrow and it's gonna suck." He was packing his bag.

"Oh, I'm really comfortable with the Lit material!" she said, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. "Study with me!"

He jolted with the command, but he was already getting used to the effects enough that he could hold out on obeying until he got specifics. "Sure! When?" he replied, slightly strained. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Katsuki tense in front of him.

"I'm meeting Tsu in the library right after class. Meet us by the locker rooms after training! We can walk over together."

Another order.

"Sounds good," he smiled at her. She flounced away and he sagged in his seat, tempted to slam his head on the desk hard enough to knock himself out for the rest of the week. It had only been two days since he'd been hit with the quirk and he was mentally, physically, and sexually exhausted. He was pretty sure he was gonna get a blister on his dick if Katsuki told him to go fuck himself one more time, and he was not looking forward to the experience.

Maybe he should start carrying lube. Just for the chafing obviously.

This quirk was bullshit.

At least Katsuki had stopped yelling "die" whenever he was angry. That would have presented a real problem.

Speaking of Katsuki, as soon as Uraraka had left, the blonde had spun around in his seat to glare at him. "Kacchan?"

"Did you fuckin' forget about training, dipshit? We're scheduled for practice drills with Black Whip on Ground Gamma for three fuckin' hours after school."

He hadn't forgotten, obviously, but it wasn't like he had an option here. "Uh, y-yeah, I must have forgotten. It's been a weird week."

Katsuki squinted at him, and Izuku felt like he was under an x-ray. "Well tell Kirby that you have fuckin' plans because I'm not rescheduling a three-hour training for you to go flirt with your floaty girlfriend."

Izuku was grateful for the counter-order until he registered what Katsuki said. Then he spluttered, bringing out his phone to obey Katsuki's command via text while he simultaneously tried to object to Katsuki's statement. "I don't flirt with Uraraka, and she's not my girlfriend—" That was literally the last thing he wanted Katsuki to think.

But Katsuki was already packing up his bag. "Yeah, definitely seems like she knows that," he drawled, a nasty edge to his tone.

"We're just friends!" he insisted, but Katsuki was already on his way out the door. His phone buzzed, and he looked down.

'Meet up with us after!'

Izuku's spine tingled. Great. So he could be ordered around via text, too. Spectacular. At least if it were an auditory stimulus he could avoid it by avoiding proximity. Was he supposed to ditch his phone? He sighed and texted Aizawa with the update. He got a response almost immediately.

'Of course u couldnt get the simple qrk. Need nap, will txt l8er'

Honestly, he could relate to Aizawa's fatigue on a molecular level. He was tired of his own bullshit, so he could only imagine how handling it as a third party who just wanted to have a normal Thursday would feel. Would being hounded by Ashido for gossip really be the worst-case scenario here?

Well, for one thing, she could demand to know who his crush was. And there was no way on God's green earth he was going to put himself in a position to reveal that. So yeah, unless he wanted to die by a fiery explosion, he had to keep his fat mouth shut.

Izuku heaved a sigh and went about putting away his notes. Maybe he could eat lunch on the roof away from people. No people sounded like a pretty good deal right now. People were fucking pushy.

By the end of the day, he was pretty much ready to go to bed. But noooooo. No, he had three more hours of OFA training and then he was meeting Uraraka for a study group because he couldn't say no.

To say that he took his frustration out in training was an understatement. After he demolished his third building, Katsuki snapped. "Jesus Christ nerd, you're supposed to be training Black Whip not Full Cowling. What the fuck is wrong with you? Chill the fuck out!"

And like magic, all the tension in Izuku's body drained. Fuck Katsuki for being so demanding. But also bless Katsuki for always knowing what he needed. He felt like a noodle. A ragdoll on puppet strings.

"Sorry, Kacchan. Rough day," he replied, boneless. Katsuki gave him a weird look.

"You good, nerd?" he asked reluctantly.

"I'm having a weird week," he said, looking down at his feet. "More tired than usual."

"Need to stop?" Katsuki asked, giving him another once over.

"Nah, I want to try it without breaking a building. But after this I have that study session and I just wanna go to bed."

"What about the Lit test?"

"I'd rather wake up early and study. I don't think I'll actually learn anything tonight. Brain's too fuzzy."

"So tell Round Face you're too tired, idiot. Why would you agree to a study plan that doesn't work for you?" he snapped.

Izuku sighed with relief when Katsuki made his demand. "I dunno. Don't want to disappoint anyone?"

"That's stupid, nerd. Sometimes you gotta look out for yourself," he grumbled. "You can't just go around trying to please everyone at the expense of your own fuckin' needs."

"What's the hold up, boys!" All Might's voice jolted them out of their little bubble.

"I was asking Deku why he was blowing up the buildings instead of saving the hostages, and he was explaining why he's being an idiot," Katsuki drawled. Izuku smacked his shoulder.

"Sorry, All Might," Izuku flushed. "I'm not at the top of my game. Can we reset the hostage run? I wanna do it again properly."

"Of course, kid. You okay?"

"Just tired and a little frustrated."

"Then we'll wrap up a little early today. We'll do two more runs, and then you can have your evening back. Sound good?" All Might's smile was warm and fond. Izuku smiled back, grateful.

"You sure that's okay? I don't want to skimp out on training," he replied.

"We'll do a little extra over the weekend," he suggested. Izuku nodded. "You take a water break, I'll go reset the hostage dummies in a building that's still standing."

He didn't mind the order this time. He needed a water break—he'd been inhaling the dust of decimated buildings for an hour and a half.

Once All Might had set up the training dummies, Katsuki and Izuku got ready to rumble. Katsuki had been playing villain today while Izuku tried to rescue hostages. "Alright, nerd. Get ready to get your ass kicked."

OH. NO.

Izuku turned his back to Katsuki, bent over approximately 45 degrees, and presented his ass to him. Katsuki spluttered. "The fuck are you doing?" he demanded, voice cracking.

Izuku flushed in pure humiliation. He could play this off as sass, right? "Y-you said 'get ready to get m-my ass kicked'," he stuttered. "I'm ready, Kacchan."

"What the fuck nerd?" Was Katsuki's voice raspy? No, that had to be his imagination. Or wishful thinking, but whatever.

"Oh are you not ready? My bad, Kacchan. Maybe next time!" he replied, straightening, activating Full Cowling, and running the fuck away. Katsuki's voice bellowed after him, only delayed by a few moments of utter shock.

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS YOU FUCKING DEKU!"

Katsuki did indeed kick Izuku's ass, but Izuku still managed to save the hostage dummies. It was satisfying to know that within the parameters of the exercise, he'd technically won.

He was willing to ignore the black eye in favor of the victory. Even if it had throbbed during his Lit test today. That had been a little distracting. Katsuki had told him to shut up five minutes into the class period though, so it wasn't like he could ask to go to Recovery Girl about it.

Unfortunately, the test was long past. Now they were in hero training, and it had fully hit him that Aizawa had neglected to tell the teachers that there was something wrong with him.

"Show them no mercy, Midoriya!" Midnight yelled over the training field. They were doing three-on-one fights, and Izuku was currently the "one" in that equation.

He was up against Tsuyu, Jirou, and Kirishima. Showing them no mercy was probably a bad idea.

"Uh...are you sure about that?" he yelled, even as One For All flared up over his skin.

"Give them the punishment they deserve! Beat them down until they cry for mercy!" she cackled. Those were two very conflicting orders. Unfortunately, the more concerning order was the last one to come out of her mouth. Beating them down until they cried for mercy was not gonna be a good look for him.

It took a minute for anyone to realize that something was off—the energy that he gave off was almost rabid. Things got a little out of control when he picked up Kirishima and started using him as a bat to literally beat Jirou down. He could hear Katsuki cackling from the sidelines, undoubtedly overshadowing cries of concern from their classmates.

"Midoriya, drop him!" he heard Midnight yell after almost a minute of using Kirishima as a stone club. It was a poor choice of words, because at the moment he was floating a good 25 feet in the air. Luckily, once he'd followed the command he could do whatever he wanted, and he snatched Kirishima out of the air with Black Whip and lowered him gently to the ground. His bloodlust was gone, so he only needed to follow one command at a time. That was also good to know.

"What the hell was that nerd?" Katsuki barked, a little wide-eyed as they limped back to the stands. He reached for Kirishima to support him, and Izuku pointedly ignored the sinking feeling in his gut.

"She told me to go all out," Izuku shrugged.

"I didn't know you had it in you, kiddo!" Midnight cried, slapping him on the back. "You have a sadistic side, don't you? Go ahead, tell us what you like!" she teased.

"I like Katsudon and spending time with my friends. I like to watch Kacchan because he inspires me and the way he exists is beautiful. I like proving that I'm strong so that people feel fear for underestimating me. I think I like getting choked and having my hair pulled, but I'm pretty sure that I'm a switch," Izuku replied immediately before flushing a shade of red that could rival a tomato. "I am so sorry, my brain to m-mouth filter is really b-bad and you c-caught me off guard—" he stuttered, trying to avoid the eyes of everyone around him, especially Katsuki's.

Midnight cackled, and Izuku finally looked up only to find the classmates who were within earshot staring at him with their jaws hanging open. Katsuki looked like he'd been hit by a truck, but he was recovering quickly.

"Jesus, Mido, tell us how you really feel," Sero uttered, a little horrified.

"I feel like this is an inappropriate discussion for battle practicum, and like I just revealed my kinks to my class and I'd like to go delete myself by slamming my head in a locker door," he replied, before slamming his face into his hands. "Okay, I need to go to bed earlier, my brain is not doing its job today."

"Alright, enough picking on Midoriya for today," Midnight sighed. "Even if it is very fun to see him all flustered and uncomfortable."

"Isn't it your turn, Kacchan?" Izuku grumbled from behind his palms.

Katsuki spent another moment looking like he'd been clubbed over the head with Kirishima before snapping out of it with a grin that was just a little less manic than usual. "You bet your ass it is, nerd. Keep your eyes on me, Deku. I'm gonna show you how it's done," he grinned—flashing that heart-stopping manic smile and Izuku had no trouble following that command. He couldn't have looked away even without the quirk.

Katsuki was magnificent, as usual. He was set up against Iida, Tokoyami, and Kaminari and the whole battle was over within ten minutes. He was more brilliant than a firework—blasting too bright for Tokoyami to function and moving too fast for Iida to catch. He had some trouble with Kaminari, but not enough to hold him back for long. He didn't go absolutely nuts as Izuku had, but he only let up when he'd crafted custom craters for each one of his opponents.

Izuku didn't take his eyes off of Katsuki for a single second but honestly, he was pretty chill with it. It would have happened anyway. "That was awesome, Kacchan!" he trilled excitedly when Katsuki returned. Katsuki smirked down at him, taking in his excitement.

"Course it was, nerd. It was me," he replied before sauntering off to scold Kaminari for letting his guard down. Izuku grimaced, still watching. Katsuki hadn't made a new demand, so he was stuck watching him. He didn't want to be too obvious about it, so he moved—positioning himself at the back of the room so that he could watch more inconspicuously.

Honestly, fuck Katsuki for being so goddamn beautiful.

Izuku started to get irritated when no one else made an offhanded command. They'd been accidentally pushing him around all day, and now that he had a command that made him act like a creep he was stuck with it? Unfair as fuck.

It continued past the class period, right into the locker room. Izuku very strongly considered taking his own desires seriously—slamming his head in a locker would be preferable to staring at Katsuki while he stripped down to his boxers.

"Take a picture, nerd. It'll last longer," Katsuki barked. He clearly didn't expect Izuku to fish his phone out of his pocket at lightning speed and actually take a picture of him in his boxers.

Fuck. At least he could look at those abs in his future hospital bed.

"G-good idea, Kacchan," he stuttered into the shocked silence. Every male member of Class A was staring at him in abject shock. "Thanks!" he flashed a peace sign and fled.

He heard the locker room explode with sound as the door swung shut behind him. He was pretty sure there was an actual explosion in there, too.

He was so dead.

He wasn't entirely sure how he kept surviving his Katsuki-related bisexual disaster moments but here he was, two days later and somehow still breathing.

Granted, he was exhausted and everything about this week was stressing him out, but he was still alive and he had to count his blessings. Another blessing was that the weird tension he'd created by spilling his goddamn kinks in front of the class meant that the classmates who had heard him were avoiding him, and the others seemed to be following suit out of sheer survival instinct.

Katsuki was apparently determined not to be put off by Izuku's sudden dramatic weirdness and had been dragging him to study sessions in the evening. "Get the fuck downstairs, nerd. You need help with Calc, and I'm not doing this shit twice," he'd snarled. "Either you study with the rest of the idiots and get my help, or you don't get my help at all."

"Fine," Izuku had grumbled, shuffling along behind him. That had been an hour ago. Izuku was done studying and was now going over one of his notebooks, analyzing the earlier entries with the new knowledge he'd gained in their Quirk Theory class. He was also trying hard not to stare at the scene across the table from him.

When they'd gotten to the common room, Katsuki had dropped into the seat next to Kirishima. Kirishima, who was clearly already sporting a headache, had dropped his forehead into Katsuki's shoulder and whined about not needing math for heroics. Katsuki had scoffed but had allowed Kirishima to continue resting his head there.

Kirishima was Katsuki's first real friend. And by that, he meant the first person that Katsuki considered a friend, not the first person who thought they were Katsuki's friend. Because the latter was Izuku by a ten-year landslide.

And Izuku had eyes, okay? Kirishima was objectively hot. Izuku had thought about it more than once—how beautiful and openly communicative Katsuki and Kirishima would be as a couple. It was hard not to think about it when they were always all over each other. So yeah, Izuku had a mountain-sized crush on Katsuki, but he had a strong feeling that the blonde had eyes for someone a little more crimson. And that was fine, because Izuku could finally call himself Katsuki's friend without being blown up, and that was totally good enough for him.

Of course, this week had kinda messed with his ability to maintain his objectivity, because guess who he was thinking about whenever Katsuki told him to go fuck himself? That's right—he'd been jacking off thinking about Katsuki multiple times a day for a week, so his eyes were a little greener than normal. Jealousy sucked.

"Hey Mido! What's that?" Mina asked, pointing at the notebook he was scribbling in. He'd been so focused on his analysis and not looking at Katsuki that he hadn't noticed the Bakusquad abandoning their homework to goof off.

Izuku flushed, hating the way all the attention in the room suddenly turned to him. "It's, uh—" he swallowed anxiously. "It's one of my old analysis notebooks. I was going over it again with what we learned in Quirk Theory," he explained.

Katsuki's eyes flicked down to the notebook, taking in its burnt edges. Izuku grimaced, but Mina looked intrigued. "Is it one of those notebooks you were always carrying around last year? I thought those were your journals!"

"Uh, they have some personal thoughts and stuff," he replied hesitantly. "But mostly they're analysis. It was a hobby for me, growing up." In fact, this particular notebook happened to have some really shitty poetry about Katsuki's beautiful eyes with the amount of angst and longing one could typically ascribe to a lovesick middle-schooler, but it really was mostly analysis.

"Well, let us see!"

Izuku panicked, but each moment he didn't hand the notebook over made his muscles feel like they were being stretched over a bed of nails.  "I don't think you want to see this one," he grimaced.

"Awww, come on, show us!"

"Yeah, dude, let us read it!" Kaminari piped up enthusiastically. Izuku dropped his eyes to the tabletop, trying very hard to resist, but reluctantly pushed the notebook forward.

This felt reminiscent of the days where he'd be minding his own business and his notebooks would be yanked out of his hands. Maybe he should tell them what was going on. Maybe they'd respect his privacy a little more if they knew he had no choice.

He didn't see Katsuki eyeing him warily. He was busy trying very hard not to panic.

Because yes it was an analysis notebook.

But it was an analysis notebook devoted entirely to Katsuki.

"Oh look, Blasty! It's about you!" Mina cried a moment later, leaning into his space and dragging the notebook with her. She kept flipping through it, and Izuku's shoulders tightened as she got closer and closer to the poem.

Then she saw it, and Katsuki was still reading with her. Her eyes widened, eyes dancing over the page. "Oh my god, Mido, this is so good! It's so sad, was it about a crush?"

Katsuki's eyes snapped to his, and he dropped his gaze back to the table. "You have a crush? Tell us about them, dude!"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—

"They're really admirable," he admitted through clenched teeth. At least Kaminari hadn't specified how much to tell them. "They work so hard for everything they have. They're really optimistic and really beautiful. They take such good care of the people around them, and they're really encouraging and inspiring. I love spending time with them, even if we're only friends." He'd managed to paraphrase his feelings enough to calm down a little. Katsuki was optimistic in his own way—sure that he'd win every moment of every day. He was encouraging in the way that rivals were inspiring—always pushing him to be better. And he took excellent care of his friends, even if he was...belligerent and aggressive about it.

"Aww, Mido, that's so romantic," Mina gushed. "Listen to this guys—"

And then she started reading the fucking poem.

"When you look at me, I feel so small

but your eyes are worth the fall.

And when you look at the world they'll see

why you mean so much to me—"

"Bro, that's beautiful!" Kirishima sniffed, hiding manly tears in Katsuki's shoulder. Katsuki himself looked either irritated or sickened, and Izuku didn't want to dwell on that because honestly, it would just hurt his feelings.

"Yeah, dude, who is it about?" Kaminari asked, rocking forward to lean closer.

"That's enough, fuckers," Katsuki snapped. "Don't push him to talk about shit he doesn't want to talk about, and don't make him share shit if he's not comfortable. Does that seem like the type of shit he'd be comfortable telling you about, dumbass?" he growled, yanking the notebook away from Mina and hurling it back at Izuku.

"Thanks, Kacchan," he muttered, shoving the notebook back in his bag.

Katsuki scoffed, glaring at him. "What happened to having a spine, Deku? Go fuck yourself."

Izuku slowly climbed to his feet, moving to comply with Katsuki's demand. "Sorry, Kacchan. I think I'm gonna head to bed, guys. Have a good night."

For the record, jacking off while he cried was weird.

Izuku had always gone through life with a "tomorrow is a new day" mentality, and the following morning was no different. He greeted everyone cheerily as he came through the doors of the classroom, giving extra attention to Ashido and Kaminari who looked spectacularly guilty when they saw him. They looked relieved to see him back to normal.

He went to go chat with Uraraka and Iida before class started, and they were joined by Todoroki. He felt someone's eyes on him, but he didn't turn. He figured it was one of the Bakusquad being nosy now that he knew he had a crush on someone.

When Aizawa walked into the classroom, he made eye contact with his tired teacher, and the older man raised an eyebrow, clearly asking if he was still under the influence of the quirk. He shrugged since he hadn't been ordered to do anything yet that morning. "Sit down, Midoriya," Aizawa said, voice fatigued like he'd been awake for three years.

Dammit.

"Sorry, sir," he grimaced and moved toward his desk stiffly, still fully under the effects of the quirk.

He zoned out during Aizawa's lecture on media, rhetoric, and how it related to heroics—trying not to fixate too hard on the events of the previous night. Instead, he stared at the back of Katsuki's head.

By the time hero training rolled around, he'd already accepted that he wasn't at the top of his game and that he'd need to borrow someone's notes in order to keep up. It would probably be Katsuki's, but he didn't want to think about his crush scolding him for being scatterbrained. There was only so much he could take.

"Today we'll be two on two battle simulations," Aizawa instructed. "Change into your hero costumes and meet up on Ground Gamma."

Izuku had taken to changing in the stalls ever since the photo incident, but it didn't really matter. Katsuki seemed to be taking longer and longer to get ready every day, so no matter how long he sequestered himself in the bathroom stall, he still came out to get an eyeful of a hot, shirtless human bomb chatting with a hot, sometimes shirtless human rock.

"Hurry the fuck up, nerd!" Katsuki yelled while Izuku changed. Apparently, Katsuki was waiting for him. He let his head smack against the door to the stall before hurrying up as instructed.

"Why didn't you just use the other stall, Kacchan?" he mumbled, shuffling out into the locker room with his eyes fixed on the ground. He stuffed his clothes in his locker before looking up. Katsuki was, thankfully, fully suited up and looking somewhere between unimpressed and concerned.

"You've been taking fuckin' forever to change. You sick or something?" he demanded.

"No," he replied honestly. "Just feeling a little self-conscious this week."

Katsuki eyed him thoughtfully but eventually accepted that answer. "Well get a fucking move on. You're holding up training by taking for-fucking-ever," he snapped.

Izuku offered him a small, awkward smile. "Sorry, Kacchan. Let's go."

Unsurprisingly, his partner for the 2x2 battle sim was Katsuki. It had been happening more and more often—their teachers were clearly trying to push them into a partnership. He wasn't opposed, but he also didn't think Katsuki would want to be a registered duo. His whole life goal was to become the number one hero on his own merit.

That said, they did work seamlessly together. Working with Katsuki was always exhilarating. They barely even had to talk.

Of course, Izuku wasn't actually capable of staying silent, so they were currently crouched behind a wall trying to figure out a plan of attack against Todoroki and Tsuyu. Katsuki was crouched as low as possible and peering out a window while Izuku talked a hundred miles per minute.

Apparently, Katsuki caught sight of one of their opponents, because he barked, "shut up and get down", right before the wall they were hiding behind was smashed to smithereens by a giant icy battering ram.

He would have gotten up and assured Katsuki that he was fine but he'd been instructed to shut up and stay down, so now he was lying limp and mute in the rubble.

It took a second for Katsuki to realize that he was down, but he was pissed when he noticed. "FUCK! I'm gonna kick your ass if he has another broken bone, IcyHot!" he bellowed, launching himself at Todoroki.

They were heroes. Even if another hero was down on the field, they had to complete the mission.

Apparently, Izuku going down was all the motivation that Katsuki needed to go wild and completely dominate the field. Sure, he sounded a little unhinged while he did it, but that was just classic Kacchan. It took him like ten minutes and Izuku was, once again, in awe. Katsuki was amazing.

"Nerd, are you still down?" Katsuki ran over to him as soon as he wrapped capture tape around Todoroki's neck (a little too tightly). "Deku!"

But Izuku had been instructed to shut up, so there he lay—completely mute, completely limp, and eyes wide open. He made eye contact with Katsuki, and...was that a sigh of relief?

"What, are you injured? Get the wind knocked out of you or some shit?" Izuku stayed silent. "Jesus fuckin' Christ," he grumbled, unfastening his gauntlets and letting them drop to the ground. Izuku frowned, following the motion with his eyes. What the hell was he doing?

Oh.

Katsuki picked up one of Izuku's arms and threw it over his shoulder, then slid one arm under Izuku's back and the other under his knees and lifted him like he was a goddamn feather. He was carrying him back to the observation room where Recovery Girl was waiting. Carrying him. Izuku could feel those unbelievable biceps against his side and his perfect pecs against his cheek and kind of wanted to die.

"C'mon nerd, it's not like you to be so goddamn quiet. Tell me what you're thinking," Katsuki muttered, clearly freaking out by the silent, limp nerd in his arms.

"Your pecs were carved by God himself, and it's weirdly hot that you can lift me like this. I might like being manhandled," Izuku replied dutifully, turning bright red as he spoke. Katsuki dropped him in shock and Izuku groaned.

"What the fuck, nerd?"

"Sorry, I was winded back there," Izuku replied despite the fact that that was not what Katsuki had been asking.

"You jackass, I thought there was something seriously fucking wrong with you!"

"I just said sorry!"

"And then you just—you keep—ugh, you can't say shit like that, all right?"

"Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku said again. Of course, Katsuki wouldn't want him to say stuff like that. It was super pervy and there was no way Katsuki wanted to hear that shit from him.

"Just...fuck, what the fuck ever," Katsuki snarled. "C'mon, you need granny to make sure you didn't crack your thick fuckin' skull."

"I'm not hurt, Kacchan," Izuku rolled his eyes.

He was hurt.

"Four of your toes are fractured, and you sprained your wrist," Recovery Girl scolded him. "I need to find a way to decrease your pain tolerance so that you actually understand how injured you are."

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly.

"They'll stitch themselves up just fine now, but wait here for half an hour and have a gummy. Don't need you passing out on the way back to your dorm," she instructed sternly. The order washed over him and he sighed heavily.

"Yes ma'am," he replied wearily. Recovery Girl shuffled into her office, and Katsuki's glare zeroed in on him.

"Told you you were fuckin' injured. Suck it, nerd."

Fuck no.

Izuku stood from the cot and slammed to his knees in front of Katsuki, hand already grasping for his belt. No no no no no no no—

Katsuki slapped his hand out of the way. "What the FUCK, Deku! Get the hell away from me!" he snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Izuku stood, letting out an exhausted sigh before looking up at Katsuki. "You said to suck it," he replied dryly. "Just following orders, Kacchan."

"I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, but it's not funny. Don't fuck around with me like that. You like someone, right? Go bother them with this shit instead of making shit awkward with me," he snapped before turning on his heel and storming out of the med center.

Izuku pulled himself back up onto the bed and lay down, curling into himself slightly so that he could hug the scratchy pillow to his face and scream into it as he flushed with sheer humiliation.

At least Katsuki hadn't told him to go fuck himself this time.

It was official—Katsuki was avoiding him. Not that Izuku blamed him. He was probably feeling very awkward and sexualized now that his childhood friend had not only presented his ass like he was asking to be fucked from behind, but had also moved in for a blowjob after giving lewd compliments about his anatomy.

That didn't mean Izuku wasn't hurt when Katsuki started putting as much distance between them as physically possible.

Quirk accidents didn't last that long. Izuku would go back to normal eventually and he could find a way to make it up to Katsuki. It would be fine.

It would be fine.

"Broccoli kid!" An enthusiastic voice sent a chill up his spine. He'd been walking to the cafeteria, but something told him he wouldn't be able to get lunch today.

"Hey, Hatsume," he greeted, apprehension coursing through him.

"You're durable. I need you to try out some of my babies," she said, and Izuku's stomach dropped. Ohhhhhh he did not like the sound of that. "Come with me!" she demanded before he could protest. Goddammit.

Oh well. Hatsume hadn't killed him yet, right? He should be fine.

He really needed to stop tempting fate like this.

"Okay, stand still," she instructed. She'd dragged him to her workshop like a spider that had caught a very unfortunate fly and pushed him onto a low pedestal. She got to work buckling him into some strange armor-like corset. "This is a compression harness that's supposed to minimize reverberation from impact."

That...actually sounded pretty useful. He'd love something like that for his arms. But this thing was for his torso. "Okay," he replied, still a little apprehensive.

"We're gonna test it out," she continued. "I've already done some tests on dummies so you should be fine, but tell me if you get injured from the impact."

Okay, at least she was taking his physical condition into account this time. He braced himself for whatever was coming, but immediately noticed something—when he tensed, the fabric of the armor seemed to stiffen and seize up. "Hatsume—"

"Hush," she commanded. "I haven't even hit you yet."

Shit. Oh, this was not good. Her command for silence had overridden her command to tell her when he was in pain, and she was getting ready to hit him with a baseball bat while the armor was tightening and squeezing around his ribs. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—

And here's the thing—Hatsume spent her days lugging giant pieces of machinery around like they were teddy bears. The girl was fucking jacked, so when the bat made impact with his stomach, he knew he was fucked.

He huffed out a little wheeze and grimaced when the corset (because that's what it was, goddammit—a fucking corset that put the Victorian era to shame) tightened to stop his bones from rattling. On the one hand, it definitely prevented reverberation but on the other hand, it felt like he was being squeezed by a python while being hit with a fucking baseball bat.

When she landed a hit against his back, he thought he felt something crack. The stupid thing was getting tighter, and whatever ribs Hatsume had put dents in were slowly cracking under the pressure now that they were structurally weakened.

Hatsume landed one more blow, Izuku heard a snap, and then his vision went blurry right before he passed out.

When he woke up, he was in Recovery Girl's office again, and Aizawa was with him. "You let Hatsume test her inventions on you without telling her about the quirk you were under?"

"She didn't give me the chance. And I think she was joking, but she said 'hush' and it had the same effect as someone telling me to shut up," he groaned. "Any luck on finding the guy? Because I was done with this quirk three days ago and I'm ready for it to be done with me too."

Aizawa grimaced. "Not yet," he replied. "I'm still working on it. But in the meantime, I've informed the rest of the staff. I'm sorry I neglected to do that earlier—I was preoccupied at first and then incorrectly assumed that you'd inform them yourself as you did with me," he said, contrite. "If Power Loader had known, he could have stopped Hatsume's testing earlier. You took a serious beating there, kid. How are you feeling?"

Izuku paused to take stock of his body, shifting his appendages and torso to scope the pain. Ultimately, he was uncomfortable but fine. "Not terrible," he allowed. "How long was I out?"

"The duration of the school day," Aizawa informed him. "I told your classmates that you were ill. Yaoyorozu offered to give you her notes. Your friends have been texting you enough that your phone vibrated off the table a few times," he said, gesturing at the phone itself where it lay face down. "Recovery Girl wants to keep you overnight. You still have some ribs healing."

Izuku sighed and slumped back into his pillow. "Fine,' he grumbled.

"Goodnight, problem child," Aizawa sighed, standing. "You have my number. Text me if you need me."

"Goodnight, sir."

The next morning, he was cleared to go back to class. As soon as he stepped in the door, his friends swarmed him.

"Are you okay, Deku? You never skip class—remember last year when you got sick? You just put a mask on and showed up anyway—" Uraraka fretted, leaning insanely far into his personal space.

"If you were feeling unwell, it was very irresponsible of you to come to class! You could have been contagious—" Iida bellowed over her.

"You can't leave me alone with them, Midoriya. I don't understand half of what Uraraka says, and Iida keeps scolding me for being too blunt—" Todoroki pleaded with a completely straight face.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Izuku. Let me know if you need me to help you study what you missed yesterday." Honestly, Tsuyu was a level-headed godsend.

"I'm fine you guys. I'm not when it happened, but I felt sick during lunch and I went to Recovery Girl, and she said I had food poisoning," he explained. "I'm feeling much better now."

They all looked relieved and continued to talk over each other, so Izuku let his eyes wander. His eyes ultimately landed on Katsuki—who was staring at him inscrutably—and Kirishima, who was sitting on Katsuki's desk and leaning into him as he spoke to him in low tones.

Unlike when Izuku spoke to him, Katsuki—despite looking in Izuku's direction—was offering Kirishima his ear, listening to what he had to say and nodding to show that he was paying attention. He always tried to block Izuku out. He turned his attention back to Uraraka as she chattered at him.

Katsuki didn't say a word to Izuku as he passed to take up his usual seat behind him. He didn't even look at him. Kirishima did, though. He eyed him appraisingly, with a note of—was that distaste? He and Kirishima weren't that close, but they were definitely friends. The look on his face now was almost hostile. Izuku took stock of his actions for the past few days. Was he mad about being used as a battering ram? It was hero training—they never held the things that happened in hero training against each other.

Then he realized what must have happened. Katsuki must have confided in Kirishima about his weird, forced flirting. If he was right, and Katsuki and Kirishima liked each other, it would definitely explain the look he was getting now.

His suspicion was pretty much confirmed that evening when Kirishima knocked on his door. "I don't know what's going on with you lately, but you're crossing a line," Kirishima stated, shoulders firm and mouth stiff. "What you're doing is completely unfair."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, pretty much dreading the answer.

"Bakugou. You're making him seriously uncomfortable. Back off."

The command burned under his skin. He had known this was coming. "Sure," he replied, trying to sound anything other than empty. "Let him know I'm sorry for making him uncomfortable, yeah? I'll leave him alone," he promised. Kirishima was eyeing him like he knew that something was off, but Izuku was already closing the door on him.

Just because he saw it coming didn't mean that it didn't suck.

It had been three days since Kirishima had demanded that he stay away from Katsuki, and despite having been ordered around multiple times since then, he was still following that particular command like it was an act of divine intervention.

In his determination to leave Katsuki alone, he'd doubled down on his time with the Dekusquad—something they were positively enthused by. It had come with its own set of ridiculous moments.

"Hey, tell me something—" Uraraka began, but she paused long enough that it registered as a command.

"Mineta has watched at least 1400 hours of pornography since we've met him," he informed her dutifully. Her face crumpled in disgust.

"Ew! Why did you tell me that? No, why do you know that?"

So yeah, it was still awkward. But at least he wasn't making even more of an ass of himself with Katsuki. Because he'd passed Katsuki's "Deku-Acceptance-Threshold" already, and he probably couldn't go any lower.

But he'd let himself get too comfortable. His friends were so accommodating and even their demands were typically light and easy—nothing concerning came from them. Maybe a few moments of embarrassment, but it was usually just fine.

"Hey, Deku?" Uraraka asked, sliding up to his desk when the bell rang. "I know you're doing some extra training tonight, but do you think I could talk to you after?" she asked. Izuku smiled at her.

"Sure!" he replied, warm and bright. He was glad she was here, distracting him from the blonde in front of him now that there wasn't a lesson to focus on. Not that he'd focused on the lesson either—he'd been too busy trying not to stare at the back of Katsuki's head like a creep.

"Great! I'll uh—do you mind if I meet you outside of the locker rooms? I don't really want to talk in the dorm," she flushed. He was a little concerned now.

"Sure," he agreed again. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, of course! It's just...private," she replied. His brow furrowed, but he nodded.

"Okay, then. We should be done by 5," he told her. "I'll shower up in the locker room and we can talk at 5:30?"

"Perfect!" she grinned, face still red. "I'm gonna have lunch with the girls today, but I'll see you later Deku!"

Izuku smiled after her as she flounced away, a little confused but pleased that she felt that she could confide in him about whatever it was.

Katsuki chose that moment to scrape his chair back and stomp out of the classroom—shoulders tense and fists clenched—and Izuku couldn't help but watch him leave.

Training without Katsuki was nowhere near as rewarding as training with him. It was actually kinda depressing, but he met the day's requirements head-on. "You don't seem like you have your head in the game today, Young Midoriya," All Might said during his midway break. "Does it have something to do with the quirk that you didn't tell me about?"

His mentor was a little salty about that. Understandable, really. "Yeah. I uh...I made some people really uncomfortable because of some of the commands I was given. It's throwing me off."

"Does that have something to do with why Bakugou isn't here?" All Might asked knowingly. Izuku sighed.

"Yeah."

"Why haven't you told him about the quirk? Surely that would clear things up."

"I thought about it," Izuku agreed. "After the first couple incidents. But by then I'd been put in some really uncomfortable situations just because Kacchan speaks almost exclusively in inappropriate commands. If I told him that I was acting weird because I had to obey the things he said, he'd feel guilty for putting me through it or not realizing what was happening. You know how he beats himself up when he blames himself for something."

All Might looked conflicted—like he agreed but thought that it was doing more harm than good to keep this from Katsuki. "Make sure you also take yourself into account, kid."

And in a way, he was. Katsuki didn't want him, and Izuku had to get over him. Maybe putting some space between them for once would help it along.

He met Uraraka outside the locker room at 5:30 pm on the dot. "Hey," he greeted her with a smile, putting his conversation with All Might out of his head. He'd deal with that later. "What did you wanna talk about?"

She looked nervous, shifting on her feet. "Walk with me?" he nodded, and she led him out of the main school building and guided him in the direction of the main courtyard. "I, uh," she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, looking down at her feet. "I'm just gonna come out and say it," she said, looking up at him. She was nervous but determined, and Izuku motioned for her to continue. "I like you. I've liked you for a really long time, and I'm tired of not doing anything about it. Go out with me."

For fuck's sake.

Izuku stared at her, wide-eyed for a long moment as he considered his options. He couldn't say no, but he could tell her about the quirk. He could go and then let her down easy later.

Or he could give it a real shot. He could see himself dating her. Really, he could. And it might be what he needed to get over Katsuki. Dating someone like Ochako would be good for him. Would that be so bad? Getting over someone and trying to fall for someone else?

"I'm being honest here," he said. "I've never really thought about dating you. You were kind of my first friend aside from Kacchan and it never really occurred to me," he took a deep breath. "But I'm willing to give it a shot," he smiled, still a little shell-shocked. Uraraka grinned at him, and he felt warm about it. "When?"

"Tomorrow after classes? There's a new bistro not that far from here that would be really nice," she replied, exhilarated. Tomorrow was Friday. He nodded.

"Tomorrow sounds good," he agreed. "After classes, we can go get changed and then meet in the common room."

"Perfect!"

The next evening, when Izuku stood in the common room in jeans and a green hoodie under a black bomber jacket—looking like he actually put thought into one of his outfits—he stirred a frenzy. "Looking good, Mido!" Ashido cried, bounding up to him. He gave her a shy smile.

"You think? I thought the hoodie might be too casual," he replied.

"Nah, it's like...you're hot but you're snuggly about it," she giggled. "Like 'yeah, I'll pay for dinner and I'll give you first-class cuddles after', you know?"

He chuckled, a little overwhelmed by her giddy energy. "I'll take your word for it," he replied. His eyes swept the room to see if Ochako had arrived yet, but they caught on Katsuki. It was Friday night—he should have known that if Ashido was here, the rest of the Bakusquad was too. Katsuki was glaring at him, jaw clenched so tight that Izuku thought he might hear his teeth cracking.

He tore his eyes away quickly, not wanting to incite further rage than the pure fury he'd just witnessed. If that's how Katsuki felt when he was just in the same room, he could only imagine that prolonged eye contact would land him in a handmade crater.

Ashido interrogated him about their fast-approaching date with no mercy and slipped a few tips and ideas in as she went. She seemed very invested in the whole thing. It occurred to him suddenly that during their "girls lunch" yesterday, they must have been hyping Ochako up to ask him out.

Izuku couldn't help but wonder if Ashido was so keen on him dating Ochako because Katsuki had told her how uncomfortable he was. Was she just...redirecting his attention?

No, she wasn't even paying attention to Katsuki. She hadn't even glanced back at him—wholely focused on Izuku until Ochako flounced into the room clad in a flouncy pink dress, a denim jacket and white slip-ons looking so excited.

Anxiety twisted in Izuku's stomach, but Ochako didn't notice because Ashido was gushing over her. Once she'd successfully escaped the alien queen's clutches, she approached Izuku shyly. "Hey," he smiled at her. "Ready to go?"

She nodded, smiling brightly. "Ready!" Izuku's eyes snagged on Katsuki again when he stood and stalked from the room, Kirishima hurrying after him. His stomach twisted, but he ignored it and refocused on Ochako.

"Let's head out, then. Later, Ashido!" he waved as they headed out the door.

Two hours later, they had made it to the bistro, worked their way through dinner, and were now nibbling on desserts, and Izuku realized that he...was having a really nice time.

The bistro was perfect. The food was amazing, and it was quiet without being stuffy. Quiet enough to have a conversation but noisy enough to keep it from being awkward.

The company was great, too. Ochako was his best friend for a reason. She was funny, bright, and so strong and determined. He could talk to her so easily—now a proven fact because the conversation hadn't lulled the entire time they'd been here. He was genuinely enjoying himself.

But it didn't feel like a date, and Izuku felt pretty damn guilty about it. He wanted it to feel like a date, but it felt like two friends taking time away from the chaos of UA at a nice bistro. The perfect way to de-stress after almost two weeks of utter bullshit.

He'd told her she looked great because it was an objective fact. She looked really pretty and she put him at ease in such a wonderful way, but he just couldn't flip the switch from platonic to romantic. Maybe he was too comfortable. Maybe the ease with which he spoke to her made him forget that he was supposed to be considering her as an actual potential love interest. Either way, it made him feel like crap, because what the fuck was wrong with him?

"Deku? You don't look like you're all here," Uraraka said, quiet and concerned. "Tell me what you're thinking."

Deku grimaced at the command, but Uraraka was his best friend, and he had to be at least somewhat honest with her. "This is the perfect date," he admitted, bracing himself. "I'm just on it with the wrong person," he finished quietly. Uraraka went very still. "I'm so sorry, Ochako. I should have told you earlier, but I didn't want to admit it. I uh," he swallowed thickly. "I'm in love with someone else. I just know that it's not gonna work out with them, so I didn't want to say it out loud, you know?"

Uraraka was quiet, examining him carefully. "Who?" she asked, face carefully blank.

He looked down at his plate. "Kacchan," he admitted quietly.

"Oh, Deku," she sighed. "I wish you would have told me. But I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me now," she smiled sadly. "Don't get me wrong, I like you a lot and I wish you liked me back, but you can't really control that kind of thing."

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, tearing up. "I really didn't mean to hurt you or lead you on."

She laughed, a little pained. "You didn't," she replied. "I mean, you probably shouldn't have agreed to the date, but you didn't lead me on. I wasn't gonna tell you that I liked you either. But then Mina was telling me about how you'd written this poem that she was sure was about me, and I guess I decided to shoot my shot?" she shrugged helplessly.

"Huh," he squinted. "I guess I can see how she might have taken that out of context, especially with how I described him. I kinda...fluffed it up. I made my feelings generic enough that it wouldn't be obvious, but specific enough that Ashido would stop asking me questions about it right in front of him," he explained. "But I wrote that in middle school before I'd met you," he admitted. "Besides, one of the lines was 'when you look at me, I feel so small,' and you've never made me feel small. You make me feel comfortable in my own skin, and really good about myself," he glared down at the table. "Which is why I really wanted this to work out. What could be better than dating my best friend? I'd be the luckiest guy. But instead, I'm apparently a masochist."

"You know I'm not your only best friend, right? You've actually got a few of those. Bakugou included," she replied dryly.

He scoffed. "Pretty sure that's not true anymore."

"What do you mean? Does it have something to do with why you've been avoiding him?" she asked, concerned.

"I was...I was flirting with him. I guess I was getting ready to shoot my shot too," he said, bending the truth. "But I made him uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure he's dating Kirishima and I didn't realize it until now."

"I mean, they're close, but do you really think they're dating?" she asked, dubious. She thought it over, brow furrowing. "Oh, I guess they are pretty touchy. And they're always together unless Bakugou is with you," she admitted, looking truly sympathetic. She was such a good friend—pivoting so quickly from first-date to pining commiseration.

"And Kirishima came to my room a few days ago and told me that I'd crossed a line. Told me to stay away from him," he muttered, stabbing at his chocolate cake. "Kacchan told him that I was hitting on him and that it was making him uncomfortable. Even if they're not dating, that kinda implies that they're headed in that direction."

"Yeah, it does sound like that," Ochako replied apologetically. "What are you gonna do?"

He shrugged. "Back off for a while and then apologize when he feels comfortable around me again. Work on getting over him."

"Shouldn't you find out if they're dating? If they're not you could still—"

"He made it pretty clear that my distinctly non-platonic advances made him uncomfortable. I don't want that. I'd rather be his friend than make him so uncomfortable that he cuts me out for good, you know? He's my oldest friend. Not having him in my life isn't an option," he explained. "I'd rather see him happy with someone else and have it suck for a while."

She gave him another understanding smile, and Izuku felt guilty all over again. "Yeah," she said. "I know the feeling."

When they got back to the dorm, the Bakusquad was still in the common room, and they were watching a movie. Kirishima's head was in Katsuki's lap, and his legs were thrown over Kaminari's. All eyes turned to them as they entered, and like clockwork, Katsuki's eyes went from calm and sleepy (it was almost 9 pm—a whole hour after his bedtime) to a steely glower. Izuku tried not to let the distress show. "Wanna go watch a movie upstairs?" he asked Ochako.

"Sure," she smiled softly. "But in my room. I can't watch a movie when All Might is watching me from every direction," she joked. He nudged her playfully.

"It's not that bad!" he protested, laughing. "I still have to show you the rest of those pre-quirk superhero movies, he said as they waited for the elevator.

"Oh yeah! You said you were gonna show me Captain Marvel next," she exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet as the door opened.

Katsuki's eyes didn't leave them until the elevator door closed.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two," Iida exclaimed over breakfast. "I thought you two would make a lovely couple!" It was early on a Saturday morning (they'd established Saturday Squad Breakfasts halfway through their first year, just so they could make sure they were making time for each other) so no one was awake except his friends, but Izuku still tensed at Iida's sheer volume.

Ochako shrugged. "It's a bummer, but you can't help who you like, right?" Tsuyu had inquired after their date as soon as she'd laid eyes on them, and they'd told their friends that Izuku had wanted to try, but he just didn't feel it—that he liked someone else and hadn't shaken it. He'd decided not to tell them that it was Katsuki—what good would it do? "Besides, we're fifteen. Our crushes not liking us back is hardly the end of the world," she smiled, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. But it was a huge fucking bummer, and Izuku could completely relate.

"That's a very mature outlook, Ochako!"

"Thank you, Iida. But could you lower your voice?"

"Aww, it didn't work out?" Ashido pouted, bounding into the kitchen. "What happened?"

Uraraka smiled up at her. "The poem wasn't for me," she explained. "But he still wanted to give it a go. But we're better off as friends. It's no big deal."

"The poem wasn't for you?" Ashido cried. "Then who was it for?"

Izuku's smile was distant. "Doesn't matter. They're out of my reach. It's okay though, I swear." Ashido's pout deepened. "Really, they have a good thing going, and I'm just happy that they're my friend. I admire them, I don't need to be dating them."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine," she grumbled as though they'd told her that romance was dead forever. "But if you change your mind and want some help wooing your girl, you let me know," she said, jabbing a finger at him.

He and Ochako shared a look, but he smiled complacently. "Thanks, Ashido. I appreciate it."

The next two days were both easier and harder than the previous two weeks had been. In a spectacular show of support, Uraraka took it upon herself to distract Izuku whenever Katsuki was in the room. She didn't really need to though, because Kirishima had effectively turned himself into a human wall. So on the one hand, he had his friends to support him and his teachers counteracting the commands that they heard flying around. On the other hand, he hadn't spoken to Katsuki in six days.

Even in middle school, he'd at least spoken to Katsuki almost every day. But he'd agreed to give Katsuki space so he pulled tighter into the Dekusquad, and Ochako rose to the occasion—always ready with a ridiculous meme or adorable video whenever she could see his expression dropping.

One morning, as Izuku was putting on his shoes as he got ready to head to campus, Kirishima burst into the common room and made a beeline for Katsuki—eyes wild. "Ready to go, Deku?" Ochako asked, coming up behind him. He spared Kirishima and Katsuki one more glance, brows furrowing when he noted that their hushed conversation seemed tense. They both flicked their eyes over to Izuku, and Izuku looked back to Ochako with a tight smile.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he replied, leading the way out of the dorm and leaving whatever was happening between Kirishima and Katsuki behind him.

By noon, Katsuki seemed to be giving Kirishima the cold shoulder. Izuku's gut churned with concern but didn't speak up. Their relationship wasn't his business. As soon as the bell rang for lunch, he hopped out of his seat to join the Dekusquad, playfully hip-checking Ochako as they headed out the door.

They sat two tables away from the Bakusquad at lunch, but Izuku was watching a cat video compilation on Ochako's phone so he didn't notice until he heard a chair scrape backward as Katsuki snarled: "You're full of shit!", waving his arm in a sweeping arc as he glared down at Kirishima. "And you don't know what you're talking about—"

"Dude, just listen to me—"

"Don't. Just leave it the fuck alone," Katsuki snapped, grabbing his bag and hauling ass out of the cafeteria. Kirishima's eyes flicked over to Izuku, but unlike the outright hostility he'd been receiving for the past week, he looked anxious. Izuku's head tilted in curiosity, and Kirishima's expression changed again—now leaning more towards...regret? Before Izuku could properly catalog the expression, Kirishima had taken off after Katsuki. Ashido and Kaminari just stared after them in confusion—a feeling which he could definitely relate to.

"What was that about?" Ochako asked quietly, staring after them even though they were long out of sight. Izuku shrugged.

"Don't gossip!" Iida barked, and Izuku's skin tingled. "It's unbecoming of hero students!"

"Oh no, don't listen to him," Ochako grinned. "Gossip with me, Deku!" His skin tingled again and he would have been irritated, but sometimes it was fun to rile Iida up.

"Did you hear that Kendo caught Monoma and Pony necking in Ibara's garden?" he murmured to them. Iida frowned, and Izuku was sure that he was going to scold them. But his friends were a constant surprise.

"That's not gossip. Even I've caught them necking," he said, looking a little disappointed at the old news. Ochako burst out laughing, and Izuku chuckled. Then Todoroki spoke up, shocking all of them.

"Are they supposed to be exclusive? I saw Monoma kissing Tokage on Monday," he said, voice as blank as ever but his brow delicately furrowed. And oh boy did that launch an inquisition—Ochako even summoned Ashido to tap her in-depth rumor knowledge.

To Izuku's relief, that distracted him for the rest of the lunch period. Unfortunately, he still had to sit behind Katsuki when lunch was over, and the blonde was tense. He was worried about him, and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay, Kacchan?"

"...'m fine. Shut up, nerd," he replied. Izuku complied, both because he had to and because he didn't want to overstep when he was already on thin ice.

But that small interaction—the first one they'd had in a week—seemed to shift something, and suddenly Katsuki was in his periphery everywhere he went. Still silent and glaring, but firmly back within his orbit. Which was great! Definitely progress. But then:

"Eat my dust, Midoriya!" Sero hollered as they raced across the Ground Gamma obstacle course. Izuku immediately dropped to the ground and licked it, before hopping back up and sprinting to catch up to Sero. He beat Sero by almost three minutes but when he got back to the observation room, he was met with Katsuki's calculating gaze. He met that gaze head on, but Katsuki looked away.

Later in the dorm, Izuku had been making his way to the restroom when Yaoyorozu had shoved a bucket of various supplies into his hands. "Hold this, I'll be right back," and ran away. She was not right back, and he needed to pee. He was practically dancing in place when he caught Katsuki's eyes—the blonde's brows were tightly furrowed in confusion.

"Thanks, Midoriya!" Yaomomo came running back five minutes later to take the bucket back. "Sorry about that," she said before rushing away. Izuku didn't have time to dwell on Katsuki's bemused stare, he had to get to the restroom.

Later, to all of their distress, they were subjected to one of Mineta's latest discoveries. "No, listen," he'd demanded them. Only Izuku was compelled to do so. "She took three dildos!"

"Mineta, that's enough," Izuku scolded. "You're making most of our classmates uncomfortable—"

"I'll listen to you when you're as accomplished as Candi Bell! You try taking three dildos Midoriya, then we'll talk," Mineta cut him off haughtily. Izuku went rigid. Sero pounced then, strapping tape across Mineta's mouth and handing him over to Ashido for punishment.

He didn't specify when, he didn't specify when, he didn't specify when, he didn't—he didn't even have three dildos! Fuck. How would that even work logistically?

He supposed he could try to bend the intent a little—two in his mouth and one in his ass? But he still only had one dildo, and he couldn't exactly leave campus unsupervised to get two more. He'd been allowed off campus with Ochako because at least then they'd have the buddy system to back them up, but he was not going to ask a friend to accompany him to buy sex toys.

He could ask Yaomomo.

He could not ask Yaomomo.

Discomfort was building under his skin to the point of pain. Apparently, since he hadn't asked for a specific time, the 'immediately' was implied. He looked up, trying to see if anyone was paying attention to him so that he could slip out to fuck himself.

Katsuki was paying attention, that same strange frown on his face as before. He raised a challenging eyebrow, and Izuku flushed under his gaze. He gave Katsuki a little awkward wave before turning on his heel to go satisfy the quirk, moving a little faster when he saw Katsuki move to follow.

"Mido, wait!"

Izuku froze, relieved that the previous command was wiped out but a little anxious that he was trapped under Katsuki's scrutiny. Kaminari bounded up to him. "What's up, Kaminari?"

"Can I borrow your study guide from last week's calc test? I'm retaking it tomorrow," he pleaded.

"Yeah, of course. Come with me to grab it from my room?"

"You're the best, dude."

Escape achieved.

The next day, Katsuki was back to mostly ignoring him. Part of him was disappointed—he'd hoped that Katsuki was going to let him apologize. Kirishima was talking to him again, sitting on the edge of this desk. Katsuki wasn't looking at him, but he was still lending his ear which meant that they weren't arguing anymore. Izuku breathed a small sigh of relief.

Aizawa let them use first period as a study hall, so as soon as he'd zipped up his sleeping bag, Ochako called him over. "Work with us on the English assignment, Deku!"

He'd finished the English assignment yesterday. He always finished English first—he was nearly fluent. Half of the news footage available on All Might was in English because of his time in the States, so he'd taught himself pretty early. Nevertheless, the command washed over him and he stood to go join them.

He didn't see Katsuki's eyes burning into his back.

By the time hero training rolled around, Izuku felt generally calm. Very few people had commanded him today, and when he'd been put into a group project with Kirishima and Tokoyami, Kirishima had seemed pretty chill with it. If Kirishima wasn't mad at him anymore, chances were that Katsuki wasn't either.

Even with that in mind, he grew unfathomably nervous when Aizawa and All Might announced the day's training plan. They were sparring today. And he was up against Katsuki.

Throughout this whole ordeal, he hadn't been against Katsuki. If he'd interacted with Katsuki during hero training, it was because they were on the same team. That's how the whole "suck it" incident had happened in the first place. Naturally, he was anxious.

It started out okay—there was always this undeniable thrill that came with sparring with Katsuki. He was so explosive (obviously) and brilliant that it made him want to push further and shine just as brightly. Katsuki looked satisfied too. Not many people could push him to his limit the way Izuku could; partly because he was intimately familiar with Katsuki's moves so he had to think outside the box to win.

Katsuki launched himself in the air faster than Izuku could follow. Izuku saw him go for the pin on his gauntlet and his eyes darted around the training ground for somewhere to take cover.

"Take this you fucking dweeb!"

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—

"Bakugou, wait!" he heard Aizawa bellow over the training ground. But it was kinda too late for that.

He was stuck in place for about five seconds before being encompassed by blistering heat and then blasted back—flying through the air before landing almost 20 feet from where he'd been hit. He blinked up at the sky blearily. "Ow."

"What the fuck was that, Deku?" Katsuki bellowed, blasting in his direction and skidding to a stop above him. "Since when do you just hand me wins? What the fuck?"

Izuku got gingerly to his feet. "Couldn't find cover fast enough. Just froze. Sorry, Kacchan," he winced tensing and flexing to see if he was injured. "I think I can keep going if you want."

"The fuck you can, dumbass. You just took a full blast from my gauntlets at full fucking capacity and got thrown like a fucking deku," he sneered. "I'm taking you to Recovery Girl."

Aizawa caught up to them then. "I thought I told you to wait, Bakugou," he snapped, checking Izuku over.

"Not his fault, sir," Izuku protested, still a little dazed. "He already had his finger under the pin when you yelled. I'm pretty sure that five-second delay was the ignition catching."

"Don't fucking defend me, I could have redirected."

He wanted to insist that there hadn't been time, but he'd been ordered not to defend him, so he settled for glaring mulishly. "You're going to Recovery Girl, Midoriya," Aizawa insisted.

"I'm taking him," Bakugou said. "He might try to downplay what happened again."

"I won't!"

"Bullshit."

"Just go. Both of you," Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Katsuki grabbed his arm but dropped him immediately when he winced.

"Come on," he grumbled. Izuku sighed as he felt the command tingle along his spine and followed obediently.

Katsuki insisted on staying as Izuku was checked over. "You don't have to," Izuku insisted.

"I fucking know that, dork," Katsuki had snapped.

When Recovery Girl released him, he tried to ditch Katsuki again. "Gotta go get my stuff from the locker room," he tried.

"Oh. Yeah, me too."

"Uh...actually, I can do it later. I gotta—"

"Stop. Just fucking stop. If you don't want to be around me, whatever, but stop fucking avoiding me."

Izuku's mouth dropped open, even as the new command washed over him. "Stop avoiding you? I'm just trying to give you space! I made you super uncomfortable, you wanted me to back off—"

"Yeah, you were being really fucking weird! And you're still being weird, but it's not about me, there's something wrong with you," Katsuki barked.

"I'm fine," Izuku snapped back. Katsuki grabbed his now healed arm and hauled him into an empty classroom. Apparently, they needed privacy.

"You're fine? Okay," Katsuki scoffed. "Touch your toes." Izuku immediately complied, and then groaned. "Do the splits." Again, Izuku acquiesced, wincing at the sudden strain. "Say 'I'm a big dumb dork, and I hate All Might."

"I'm a big dumb dork, and I hate All Might." Izuku parroted, glaring at Katsuki as he did. "You're on thin fucking ice, Kacchan."

"And you're a fucking liar," Katsuki barked back. "Tell me what the fuck is wrong with you, and don't leave anything out."

"I'm under the influence of an obedience quirk. It was that morning that I came in with my bag ripped. I only figured it out when you told me to shut up. Aizawa and the teachers are the only ones who know. I didn't tell you at first because I was hoping it would be resolved quickly, but then you made a bunch of really awkward orders that I had to follow and I didn't want you to feel weird about it. You say 'go fuck yourself' a lot. I only have to follow one order at a time, and one order can be wiped out if I'm given another one. I can be ordered by text. If the order is ambiguous, I can ask for clarification—like what time they want me to do the thing, or how long they want me to do the thing for. If I resist, I feel discomfort, and the longer I resist, the more painful it gets—" he broke off with a gasp. He hadn't even known he could talk that long without taking a breath but considering how much he mumbled, he shouldn't have been surprised.

Katsuki was staring at him in shock. "That was like...two fuckin' weeks ago. You're still affected?"

Izuku grimaced. "Three weeks tomorrow. Yeah. And look, I'm really sorry for all of the—" his grimace deepened. "The sexual advances. I wasn't really in control, but it still must have been really uncomfortable for you. Especially since you're dating Kirishima. I never meant to disrespect your relationship, and I definitely didn't mean to make unwanted advances. Especially since we were finally in a good place." Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, so he looked down to hide them. Emotional displays made Katsuki uncomfortable, and he was actively trying not to do that.

"What?" he barked, eyes widening. "What the fuck makes you think I'm dating Sharkface? No wait, fuck, that doesn't matter right now. So the entire time you were—ugh, flirting? If you can even call it that—was because I was commanding you to do awkward shit?" Izuku nodded.  "Shit. Must've made shit really awkward for you and Kirby."

"Don't call her that," Izuku scolded him. "But that's not why we didn't work out."

"What do you mean you didn't work out?" Katsuki snapped.

"...we're not dating? I thought everyone knew that," he replied, confused. Ashido had kind of made it her mission to broadcast as much of Class A's personal life as she possibly could, so it was kind of unfathomable that Katsuki didn't already know this.

"Why the hell not? I thought you liked her. You wrote that poem—"

"For someone else!" Izuku cried. "Ashido just assumed—"

"Then why did you go on a date with her?" Katsuki sneered. "That's a kinda shitty thing to do if you didn't like her, nerd."

"She phrased her confession as a command," Izuku replied dryly. Katsuki paled as if the full weight of what could be done to Izuku under the quirk had just occurred to him. "At first I was upset about it. But then thought maybe if I could fall for her, I could get over the person I do like." Katsuki stilled, turning the past three weeks over in his head.

Izuku could tell you the exact moment that Katsuki understood what was going on. Realization and utter confusion clashed on his face, and Izuku almost wanted to laugh. But he didn't want to laugh at all, because FUCK.

"It's me. You like me," he breathed. "You like me?" Izuku wasn't sure he'd ever heard Katsuki so quiet or shell-shocked.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does!" So the quiet thing apparently didn't last long. Katsuki yelled so loud that Izuku's eyes darted to the door, wondering if anyone in the hall could hear them.

"I know it's uncomfortable, Kacchan, but I'll get over it," he insisted. "You don't—I'll get over it. I swear."

"Why the hell would you do that?" For the first time in his life, Izuku looked at Katsuki like he was dumb.

"Because you like Kirishima—"

"Why do you keep saying that? I'm not dating him, and I don't like him! I like you, you fucking idiot!" Izuku's lungs seized and there was no way his heart didn't actually stop in his chest. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he stared at Katsuki in silence. Katsuki took that as his queue to elaborate. "That's why I was so pissed when you were fucking flirting with me even though you wrote a sappy-ass poem for Floaty—"

"Not for her—" Izuku croaked. Katsuki ignored him.

"I'd just figured out how I felt—with Shitty Hair's help, by the way," he said with a halfhearted glare. "And then immediately after you started complimenting me and doing all kinds of weird suggestive shit. I thought you knew how I felt. Fuck, you know everything else about me. At least I thought you did. I thought you were making fun of me."

Izuku was lost for words. The utter fucking idiocy of the man before him literally moved him to tears. "You thought I was making fun of you?" he hissed with angry tears spilling down his face. Katsuki took an alarmed step back. "When in my entire fucking life have I ever made fun of you, you big blonde sack of garbage?"

"Woah, can it with the insults, fucker—"

Okay, so insults were off the table. Fine, he could still make his point. "I spent two weeks humiliating myself before Kirishima ordered me to back off. I jacked off thinking about you forty-one times because you told me to. I presented my ass to you during quirk training with All Might. I told the entire class that I like watching you because you're beautiful. And then I took that fucking picture of you in the locker room and fucking used it to help when you ordered me to go fuck myself. Do you know how many abs you have, Kacchan? SO many abs! I told you to your face that your pecs were carved by God and that I liked being manhandled by you. For fucks sake, that fucking poem was in a notebook that was exclusively about you—how the fuck did you think I was making fun of you?" He had graduated from a low growl to an outright bellow, stalking closer to Katsuki until he was right up in his face.

"I thought you liked Kirby!"

"And I told you she was just a friend!"

"You went on a date with her!" Katsuki bellowed back.

"AND TOLD EVERYONE THAT WE DIDN'T WORK OUT THE NEXT DAY!"

"You were still hanging all over her, Deku! What was I supposed to think?"

"You were supposed to trust that what I said was the truth! I was hanging out with Ochako because I told her that I was in love with you, and I thought you were dating Kirishima. She was helping me give you space, not dating me!"

Katsuki looked like he'd been slapped again. "You—" he swallowed thickly, voice a little high. "Love?" he croaked, still a little more soprano than usual. Izuku rolled his eyes.

"I tell you that you're amazing every day. I have told you that you're amazing every day since we were four. I basically have my lips planted firmly against your ass on an ongoing basis—how the fuck did you miss this?"

Katsuki just gaped at him and Izuku sighed, deflating rapidly. He trudged over to one of the desks and slumped into one of the seats. Katsuki needed time to catch up.

"Why did you think I was dating Kiri?" he asked quietly when he got his brain back.

Izuku frowned. "Why wouldn't I? You're always all over each other. You told him I was flirting or whatever and that it made you uncomfortable, and he came to my dorm to tell me to back off. He spent a whole week glaring at me and acting territorial."

"He thought that you were flirting with me even though you were dating someone else. He was pissed," Katsuki explained. "I didn't tell him to tell you to back off. I actually had no idea until a couple days ago. Mina told him that you weren't with Floaty and he tried to convince me—"

"And apparently didn't believe him—"

"But I saw you all over her, so I thought he was full of shit. That's when he told me what he did. I was pissed," he continued as though Izuku hadn't spoken. "And I was pretty sure they were wrong because of that poem—"

"Which was for you—"

"And because you were always fucking touching and giggling and shit," Katsuki sounded incredibly frustrated. "I thought maybe you'd told Mina that you weren't together to get her off your back or something. I probably would," he admitted.

"And you let Kirishima hang all over you and you listen to him when he talks. You don't do that for any of your other friends," Izuku muttered. Katsuki frowned.

"I do that for you, shithead," Katsuki replied.

They stared at each other for a long, tense moment before Izuku let his forehead smack onto the desk. "We're fucking disasters."

"Jesus, be careful, Deku! You just got out of the clinic, don't give yourself a concussion—"

And that was just about the last straw.

Izuku jumped up from his seat and strode over to Katsuki, who backed up in alarm as Deku approached, only to be halted when the teacher's desk hit the backs of his thighs. "Deku—"

Izuku grabbed his shoulder yanked him down, slamming Katsuki's mouth onto his and kissing him hard. Katsuki was rigid for a split second longer than either of them anticipated, but just when Izuku moved to pull back, Katsuki gripped his waist with one broad hand and wove his fingers into Izuku's hair with the other and holy mother of—

Katsuki pulled Izuku's head back so that he could really lean into the kiss and devour him, swiping his tongue over his lower lip before biting down on it, then licking into his mouth as he dragged Izuku closer. Izuku let out a filthy moan when Katsuki slipped his leg between his thighs and pressed it against Izuku's rapidly growing erection. Was this moving too fast? Maybe. But did he fucking care?

The answer to that was definitely no. Noooo. No he didn't give a single fuck.

But it seemed like Katsuki did, and damn wasn't that disappointing. Katsuki pulled back, looking wrecked and predatory. "Fuck," he growled, pushing Izuku back a step. "We can't."

"Why the fuck not?" Izuku whined. Hadn't he gone through enough?

"Okay, I get that you're super horny right now, I am too, but first of all, we're in a fucking classroom and the school day isn't even over yet. Second of all, there has to be some sort of danger to fucking you while you're under an obedience quirk," Katsuki tried to reason.

"We aren't fucking, we're making out," Izuku growled. Katsuki raised an eyebrow. "I have been waiting for this for five goddamn years—"

"Stop being a brat." Izuku went silent and pouted, eyes dropping. "Fuck, you looked like I killed your mother, I'm just saying we should chill the fuck out for a sec. Look at me," he said, cupping the back of Izuku's neck more gently than Izuku had thought he was capable of. It sent a shiver down his spine, and he raised his eyes obediently. "Now we know, right? We have all the time in the fucking world to do this the right way."

Izuku groaned and dropped his forehead to Katsuki's godly pecs. Fuck him for being so reasonable. Katsuki wrapped his arms around Izuku's shoulders hesitantly, like he couldn't quite believe he was allowed to do this, and they stayed there basking in each other.

Then, Katsuki tensed. "Wait a fucking second," he barked, pushing Izuku back to look him in the eyes. "Last night—were you gonna try to put three dildos in your ass?"

Izuku hid his burning face behind his hands as Katsuki cackled.

Izuku woke up the next morning wondering whether he'd imagined the whole thing. There was no way yesterday had actually happened right?

Izuku's phone vibrated, so he grabbed for it blearily, only for his stomach to fill with butterflies when he read the text.

'Eat your fucking breakfast, nerd.' There was a picture of an omelet included, with a middle finger just barely fit into the frame.

Was throwing up from excitement a thing? He was so giddy that it felt like he might be having a heart attack. Obviously, Katsuki knew when he woke up—they usually went on runs together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Katsuki went to the gym on the off days and usually found Izuku trudging out to drink a protein shake when he returned.

They were both early risers. Katsuki was just a little more put together about it because Izuku was also a night owl.

Izuku scrambled out of bed, jamming his feet into his slippers, and practically sprinted for the kitchen. Katsuki raised an eyebrow as he skidded into view, giving Izuku a lazy once over. "What's your fuckin' hurry?" he drawled, stabbing at his omelet with his fork.

"We're dating Kacchan," Izuku breathed, eyes a little crazed. Katsuki's eyes narrowed, clearly unimpressed.

"We established that yesterday, dumbass. What's your damage?"

Izuku made a strangled noise—somewhere between frustration and excitement—before marching up to him and grabbing his face to plant a long, enthusiastic kiss on his favorite gremlin.

Katsuki dropped his fork in surprise and Izuku pulled back, grinning widely. "That's my damage," he giggled manically, practically vibrating. "I can do that whenever I want! We did that for like an hour last night!" Katsuki's eyes were wide and dumbfounded, and his cheeks were still squished between Izuku's palms. He blinked up at him a few more times before batting his hands away, blushing furiously.

"Fuck you. I'm making you pancakes," he grumbled, standing to go back to the stove. Izuku's eyes dropped to the second omelet that was already prepared.

"But you—"

"Shitty Hair can eat the fucking omelet. We need to buy off his silence anyways," he snapped. They had decided to tell Ochako and Kirishima, but keep their relationship private from the rest of the class until the quirk was nullified. Katsuki had reminded him that the OFA secret was at risk, and Izuku had been mortified—he'd only been concerned about his feelings being revealed. So, they'd be telling Ochako and Kirishima that they wanted to keep it private so that they could get used to it and enjoy it for themselves for a while—it wasn't completely untrue, and it was more mushy and romantic, so it was more likely to be accepted by both parties. "You like pancakes. You're getting pancakes. If you shut up and sit down, I'll even throw in strawberries and powdered sugar for your disgusting fucking sweet tooth." Izuku shut up and sat down immediately. "Good boy."

Ah, what a lovely time to reveal his praise kink. Izuku squeaked, hiding his face in his hands, and Katsuki turned around, concerned. Then he understood. "Jesus Christ, you're literally the fucking definition of a bottom."

"Not for everyone," Izuku squeaked back. "Pretty sure it's a you thing."

"Fuckin' better be," Katsuki replied, turning back with his face glowing red. "Now talk about something else. I'll burn your breakfast if you keep distracting me."

"After breakfast can we make out in my room?"

Katsuki dropped the flour. "I said something else!"

"We were talking about me being a bottom. Now we're talking about making out. It's different."

"I can't believe I signed up for this. You're such a little shit," Katsuki groaned, smacking his forehead against the cabinets. "No, we can't make out in your room. We will never make out in your room. I refuse to let All Might watch me defile you."

"Defile me? What are you, a Victorian Englishwoman?" Izuku laughed. Katsuki flipped him off over his shoulder. "Fine, your room then."

"...Fine. But only for half an hour—we both need to shower and change."

"Honestly, I think we should skip," Izuku shrugged. "I think I deserve some kind of honeymoon after five years of hopeless pining—"

"Absolutely not. No. If you start slacking, I will break up with you for your own good," Katsuki warned. Izuku scoffed.

"Talk about ineffective punishment. I'd just start slacking from heartbreak instead—"

"You do that and I'll beat your ass."

"Promise?" Izuku teased with a reckless grin.

Katsuki turned to him again, mixing bowl in one hand and the other pointing the mixing spoon at him threateningly. "Don't fucking tempt me," he warned. Izuku pouted as the command washed over him. "Behave, you horny little dweeb."

As if Izuku couldn't see Katsuki's rising boner through his sweatpants. Unfortunately, a command had been given, so he had to settle for pouting petulantly as Katsuki went back to making pancake batter.

Izuku settled for chatting about a news piece he'd seen last night about newer heroes who were rising through the ranks, running his mouth as Katsuki worked and made the occasional comment. Once Izuku had a steaming stack of pancakes in front of him, Katsuki texted Kirishima a picture of the omelet. There was a second stack of pancakes, and Izuku sent a similar text to Ochako.

Kirishima showed up within a minute but stopped stock still in the doorway at the scene in front of him. Katsuki had taken up his seat next to Izuku again, lazily eating the remainder of his breakfast as Izuku talked with his mouth full. There was powdered sugar on his cheek and his eyes were alight with happiness that Kirishima hadn't seen in days. "So...you guys are cool now?" he asked hopefully, eyes flicking between them.

Katsuki snorted. "Something like that. Eat your fucking breakfast."

Kirishima sat, pulling the omelet from the middle of the table. Izuku picked his chatter up again, and Katsuki listened diligently. "Okay, what do you want?" Ochako demanded as she dragged herself into the kitchen, eyes still mostly closed. "You only cook for us if you're trying to bribe us and it's the ass-crack of dawn—"

"I made them, Kirby—" he cut off with a sharp exhale as Izuku's elbow landed in his ribs.

"We're working on improving your nickname, Ochako," Izuku promised as Katsuki scowled. "But you're right. We wanted to talk to you two before anyone else woke up," he explained.

Ochako's eyes had snapped open when she'd heard Katsuki's voice. "Oh my god, you're together," she breathed. Kirishima flinched, eyes snapping to her and back to them. She let out an ungodly squeal, and Katsuki hissed for her to shut up.

"Do you want to wake up the entire dorm?" he demanded.

"Kinda!" she exclaimed. "What? WHEN? When did you—"

"Yesterday," Izuku replied, holding up a placating hand. "After he hit me with that Howitzer—"

"Hey, it's your fault for not moving—"

"I froze, Kacchan, shut up. That's not the point. After he took me to Recovery Girl, he confronted me and we...well, we figured it out," he explained, that same wild smile spreading across his face. "There were a lot of misunderstandings, but yeah. He figured out that I liked him and kinda confessed while he was yelling at me—"

"You were accusing me of dating Shitty Hair—"

Kirishima choked on air and Ochako squealed again, making them both cringe as she launched herself at them to wrap them in a hug. "I'm so happy for you two!" she cheered.

Kirishima managed to breathe just enough to say, "That's awesome, guys!" He sounded winded though, and slightly panicked—as though the thought of dating Katsuki had put the fear of God in him.

"Would you two shut up?" Katuski choked in Ochako's grip. The girl had a hell of a stranglehold. "We don't want everyone in the fucking class to know!"

Kirishima frowned. "Why not, bro?" It couldn't be because he was embarrassed, right?

"Because they're nosy shits and we have a lot to figure out," Katsuki snapped, squirming out of Ochako's hold. "I'd like to know what it's like to date my fucking boyfriend without every goddamn extra under the sun in my business."

"Oh come on, they'd be happy for you!" Ochako whined, squeezing Izuku tighter. Katsuki looked a little concerned, eyeing Izuku as he slowly turned purple.

"You're telling me that Mina wouldn't be directly up my ass the entire time? You honestly believe that?" Katsuki barked. "Hey, loosen your grip, Floaty—he's choking."

Izuku gasped as she complied. "We just want it to be private for a little while," he panted as his lungs returned to normal. "Just about us, you know? But we wanted to tell you two because—"

"We were a fucking mess and you two were moderately helpful while we got our shit together," Katsuki finished for him, dry and not nearly grateful enough for the amount of bullshit their friends were willing to put up with. Izuku kicked him in the shin.

"Very helpful. You were very helpful. Even if things got lost in translation," he said, glancing at Kirishima who flushed with shame.

"I'm so sorry, dude. When Mina said that you were into Uraraka and you were flirting with Bakubro and he was so upset about it—I kinda just took what she said at face value and jumped to conclusions—"

"I did too," Izuku shrugged. "I thought you told me to back off because you were dating."

"And he went out with me to try to get over him," Ochako explained. "It's actually kind of a miracle that you worked this out so fast," she said thoughtfully a moment later.

"He threw a match. That shit was weird," Katsuki shrugged.

"I didn't throw it!" Izuku insisted, kicking at Katsuki again. "I froze!"

"It's sweet that you know him so well, Bakugou," Uraraka smiled. "I wouldn't have caught that."

Katsuki flushed again. "What the fuck ever. Eat your fucking breakfast. You too, Deku. We have shit to do."

Izuku blushed and dug back into his pancakes with gusto. 'Things to do,' indeed.

Ochako and Kirishima interrogated them through breakfast before letting them retreat. Unfortunately, as soon as they made it back to Katsuki's room, Izuku's nerves seemed to rear their ugly heads. He stood rigidly by the door as Katsuki set an alarm before he made himself comfortable on the bed, backing up until his back hit the wall.

"What're you waiting for, nerd?" Katsuki asked when he made no move to follow.

"I've, um...I'm kinda new to this. Like yeah, there was yesterday, but that was more...spontaneous? I don't know—"

"We don't have to, you know," Katsuki shrugged, looking a little disappointed but generally supportive. Fuck Izuku loved him. "It's new for me, too."

"I want to," Izuku insisted. "I just—um..."

As usual, Katsuki knew what he needed. "Come here, nerd." Izuku went, but froze at the edge of the bed, unsure of how to proceed. "Give me your hand," he instructed, helping Izuku maneuver onto the bed, then gripped one of his legs to pull it over his own so that Izuku was straddling him. "You good?"

Izuku nodded, already blushing. "Yep," he squeaked. "Really good. Fantastic." Katsuki huffed a fond laugh. He brought Izuku's hands to his shoulders before taking Izuku's jaw in his hand and pulling him down to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Then fuckin' relax, dumbass," he murmured.

"Will you tell me what to do?" Izuku requested quietly. "I think that'll make it easier—I might suck at this."

"Hasn't been a problem so far," Katsuki reminded him, grinning when Izuku blushed even harder. "But fine. Kiss me the way you want to kiss me."

Izuku was 100% sure that Katsuki hadn't thought that one through.

"Kacchan—" he warned, a little anxious but feeling the telltale discomfort of disobedience settling into his bones.

"If I don't like it, I'll tell you to stop," Katsuki promised. "If there's one thing we're good at, it's adjusting."

Okie dokie then. Izuku was officially absolved of responsibility for what happened next. Plus fucking ultra, then.

Izuku wound his hands into Katsuki's hair and dragged him up to meet him halfway, shuffling forward so that their bodies were pressed flush against each other. He pressed his lips to Katsuki's insistently, nibbling on his lower lip until he opened his mouth enough for Izuku to lick along the ridge of his teeth.

He knew it he was going from 0 to 100 without warning, but Katsuki had said to kiss him the way he wanted. He wanted to kiss him like they were about to fuck. He'd been thinking about it for three weeks without reprieve. Sue him.

Katsuki seemed content to passively devoured for a while, moaning appreciatively when Izuku did something he liked and cradling the back of Izuku's head like he was precious. The passive thing ended immediately at the first jolt of Izuku's hips—when Katsuki trapped Izuku's tongue with his teeth and sucked. He felt Katsuki's freakishly warm hands grip at his waist over his shirt and he moaned (louder than he probably should have), pulling Katsuki's head back to gain leverage, only for Katsuki to press forward in retaliation—nipping harshly at Izuku's tongue before soothing it with his own. Izuku bucked into him at the first flash of Katsuki's teeth, and Katsuki pulled him in tighter in response, pushing Izuku's now unfairly hard cock into his abs in retribution.

Of course they made out like it was a confrontation. How the fuck else would they do it?

He'd be embarrassed about how turned on he was, but he could feel Katsuki's own erection beneath him—and the way he was subtly grinding up into him. He broke away from Katsuki's mouth with a pathetic-sounding whine when Katsuki slid his hands from Izuku's waist to his ass, squeezing roughly as he bucked upward with a harsh groan. "Fuck, Deku," he groaned, burying his face in Izuku's neck and brushing searing hot, opened mouth kisses on his heated skin. Izuku whimpered and dropped moved his hands to the hem of Katsuki's shirt, pulling it up before—"Don't," Katsuki instructed through gritted teeth. Izuku whined, but dropped his shirt. "Clothes on. We have class soon, nerd—"

"Kacchan, please," Izuku pleaded, planting his face in the junction of Katsuki's shoulder, pressing himself as close as he could. "You set an alarm, we still have time—"

"We'll have more time later," Katsuki mumbled against his skin. Izuku shivered, hips jumping again. "Not now. And if you argue with me, I'll make you put your hands behind your back until the alarm goes off," he threatened.

Okay, he should have been disappointed, but fuck that was hot. "Sorry, Kacchan, please don't do that," Izuku replied, a little frantic. He wound his arms back around Katsuki's shoulders. "I'll be good, I promise."

"Fuck," Katuski bit out, grinding up into him again. "I should make you beg for me every time, Deku. 'S fuckin' hot." He sounded pissed about it, but Izuku didn't really have time to ponder that before Katsuki fisted his hair in his hands and dragged his mouth back to his forcefully, biting down on his lip and grinding his teeth together to drag a high pitched keen out of Izuku that had him rutting against Katsuki like a straight-up slut.

He wondered if they'd always be this intense. If this is how it felt when they were making out with their clothes on, how would it feel when they had sex?

Now that was a thought.

His arms still around Katsuki's shoulders, Izuku started to lean back, dragging Katsuki with him. Katusuki seemed to understand what he wanted immediately and followed him dutifully as Izuku moved to lay back—pressing into him as he hovered over him.

Then the alarm went off. "Fuck," Katsuki snapped, pulling back. He had to pry Izuku's hands away to keep him from dragging him back in. "A deal's a deal, nerd."

"Five more minutes," Izuku whined, pushing up onto his elbows to try to catch another kiss. Katsuki rolled off him.

"No," he barked. "Later. Go take a shower, you fucking deviant."

Izuku scowled, standing slowly. "Is that what you're gonna use the obedience quirk for? Seriously? I spend three weeks discovering that I get turned on by you bossing me around, and you use it to make me be responsible?" he asked, already moving toward the door.

"Someone's gotta keep their fucking head on straight, Deku," Katsuki replied, still looking wrecked. "When it's not possible for me to turn you into a straight-up sex toy, I'll boss you around all you want. I like it better when you choose to listen to me."

Izuku groaned, head smacking the door. "You're not playing fair, Kacchan," he whined.

"Payback, Deku. You have three weeks of surprise boners to catch up on," Katsuki replied, a malicious grin spreading across his face. Izuku paled, turning back even though the compulsion to take a shower was starting to cause him pain.

"Those were accidents!"

"Still your fault," Katsuki shrugged. "You could have told me earlier, but you chose to keep it quiet."

"You're the worst," Izuku breathed.

Katsuki's grin sharpened. "And you still love me. That's on you."

"The worst!"

After Katsuki's warning, Izuku was on edge. Jumpy, even. It didn't help that Katsuki smirked every time he turned to talk to Izuku. When he didn't make a move, Izuku figured that he hadn't found a way to mess with him without exposing their relationship.

By their third class, he'd been lulled into a false sense of security.

Big mistake.

It was innocuous. Katsuki bumped into him on his way out of his seat. "Be aware of your surroundings, nerd." Katsuki scowled. It didn't reach his eyes—his eyes were dancing with what Izuku misinterpreted as affection.

An hour later, Izuku realized that it was not affection—it was mischief. The command still hadn't worn off—he was intimately aware of everyone in the area, from their position in the room to what they were doing. He could have recited Aizawa's lecture from memory.

His phone buzzed quietly against his thigh and he took it out discretely while Aizawa's back was turned, surprised to find a text notification from Katsuki. Katsuki never texted in class.

When he opened the text, he nearly crushed his phone. He took a deep, quiet breath to calm himself, placing his phone face down on the desk carefully. He had to be aware of his surroundings, so reacting to the picture that Katsuki had just sent him was out of the question.

It had clearly been taken that morning after Izuku had left for his shower. He was standing in front of his mirror with his shirt pulled up—hem tucked between his teeth. His abs were flexed, and the hand that wasn't holding his phone was gripping his still hard cock through his sweats.

Izuku had to restrain himself from grabbing his phone to drink in that sight. This was unfair.

As soon as the bell rang, Izuku sprang from his seat, but Katsuki was ready for it— grabbing his arm. "Don't do anything about it until the end of the day. Just like I did," he instructed, voice low and suggestive. Katsuki's grin was so sexy, but Izuku wanted to smack it off his face.

"Don't do this to me," Izuku pleaded quietly. "You want me to walk around like this all day? We have four hours of classes left."

"Well, you don't have to obey. I guess you could go find someone else to give you a counter-order. Or," he murmured, eyes flicking around the classroom to watch for eavesdroppers before leaning closer. "You could be a good boy for me."

Well, fuck him, then. Izuku swallowed thickly, nodding jerkily. "Combine squads at lunch?" he asked. The intensity of Katsuki's gaze softened, and Izuku suddenly felt like he could breathe again.

"Sure, nerd. Oi, Shitty Hair!" he barked. Izuku flinched at the sudden change in volume. "We're sitting with the dork squad at lunch. Deku and I have things to discuss."

"Sure thing, Bakubro!" Kirishima grinned knowingly. He slung his arm around Kaminari's shoulders, dragging him out of the classroom with Ashido and Sero trailing behind them. Ochako and Iida had already departed to beat the lunch rush for Lunch Rush, and Tororoki was in the corner with Tsuyu, quietly going over the classwork.

Katsuki packed up his stuff, before leading Izuku out of the classroom. "Hey, if any of this makes you uncomfortable or some shit, tell me," Katsuki demanded as they walked. Izuku looked up at him, suddenly hit with the freedom to get himself off in the bathroom.

"No, I'm good," he promised. "And at least you told me to expect this," he chuckled, walking a little stiffly for obvious reasons. "I dropped this kind of thing on you with no warning—"

"Not by choice, though. I'm choosing to do this, and consent is fucking key or whatever—"

"You asked me to be a good boy and I folded like a lawn chair," Izuku cut him off dryly. "Maybe it'll be uncomfortable to be hard during classes, but I'm definitely consenting. You could ask to spank me in the cafeteria and I'd probably say yes—"

"Where the fuck has this been hiding?" Katsuki demanded, flustered as fuck. It was adorable, but Izuku valued his life so he would probably never say this out loud.

"In my notebooks," he answered honestly. "Not the blue ones I carry around. There are green ones in my room under my bed," he explained. "Nothing this submissive, though. This is a recent discovery."

They reached the doors to the cafeteria, and Katsuki took a deep breath to beat his blush down. "Behave yourself in there, nerd."

It wasn't Izuku he needed to worry about though. When they arrived at the table, Iida was looking over Kaminari's Calc test and explaining his mistakes, and the blonde looked like he was going to short circuit from sheer distress.

"Fuck me with a fork," Kaminari groaned. Katsuki's eyes widened in alarm when Izuku reached for the fork. Izuku was pretty alarmed himself. This was a pretty public place, and fucking a classmate with cutlery wasn't exactly a socially acceptable practice.

"Pass me a napkin, nerd," he barked. Izuku's hand redirected for the napkins and they both sighed in relief. What if Katsuki hadn't known about the quirk? That could have been awkward and terrible. "Thanks. Now eat your fucking lunch."

"You shouldn't speak to your classmates that way, Bakugou," Iida scolded. Katsuki flipped him off.

"Yeah, Mido, stick up for yourself more," Sero chuckled.

"I'm not a baby. I can decide if Kacchan is too much to handle on my own," he snapped, before slapping a hand over his mouth. Katsuki heaved a longsuffering sigh as Izuku tried to shield his face from the table.

"Chill out nerd," Katsuki grumbled. "They're just looking out for you. Now eat."

"You're looking out for me too, Kacchan," Izuku grumbled, stabbing at his Katsudon. "You're just more of an asshole about it."

"But we like that about him, right Mido?" Kirishima teased. Katsuki flipped him off too.

"It's unethical to treat your fellow heroics students and future colleagues with such blatant disrespect!" Iida insisted. Izuku felt irritation crawl up his spine. He loved Iida, he did, but sometimes he was such a sanctimonious prick that it set his teeth on edge.

Ashido slammed her hands on the table. "That's bullshit! If disrespect is bad form, then tell me why Mineta is still in the hero department!" she'd demanded hotly.

"Because despite being a literal sack of pervy garbage with absolutely no regard for consent or human decency, he's a good strategist in a pinch and he makes an effective capture hero. It doesn't matter much if the victims he's supposed to be helping feel more victimized when he's done with them, though," Izuku had replied obediently.

"Bite me, Midoriya!" Mineta wailed, apparently eavesdropping. Izuku had stood immediately and made a beeline for the grape-faced asshole.

"Sit the fuck down, Deku!"

Izuku, who was a bit too irritated to think through that command logically, sat down on the floor without a second thought. Katsuki facepalmed.

"Sit at the table you fucking dweeb," he growled.

"Don't listen to him, Deku. You sit where you want," Kaminari crowed.

Izuku stood, still glaring at Mineta, before turning back to march over to the table. But instead of sitting in his seat, he shifted to the right and sat directly in Katsuki's lap. "Get off me, Deku," Katsuki barked, blushing violently.

"Sorry, Kacchan," he grinned mischievously, sliding back into his own seat. "You're just so much more comfortable than the chair."

"How did you do that without getting blown up?" Kaminari demanded. Ashido nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Twelve years of practice," Izuku shrugged, digging back into the remains of his lunch. Izuku felt his pocket vibrate, and he pulled his phone out to a text from Ochako.

'If you're going for subtlety, you really suck at it,' it read. He sent back a string of embarrassed emojis in reply.

"Do you have Baku-taming notes in those notebooks of yours?" Ashido teased. Izuku rolled his eyes.

"Those are quirk analysis notebooks, Ashido," he replied. "The only stuff in them that isn't about quirks or heroes are random thoughts."

"Liar," Katsuki mumbled. Izuku elbowed him, which was not subtle.

"Oh? Does Blasty know something we don't?" Ashido asked, leaning in for the tea. "Do tell!"

"They really are about quirks and heroes. Sometimes I go a little overboard, though," Izuku admitted. Katsuki shook his head.

"Don't you fucking dare elaborate," he commanded. Izuku sagged in relief. Ashido pouted.

"Why not?" Kaminari asked. "You have notes on us too, right? I'd love to see what you know about my quirk."

"No. Trust me, Spark Plug, you do not want to know."

"Why not?"

"I can fuckin' guarantee you that Deku knows more about you than you do. Trust me, leave it."

The bell rang for classes to start again, and Izuku flashed Katsuki a grateful smile. Katsuki, however, was still staring at Kaminari who, instead of looking like he was going to let it go, looked like he was just getting started.

Izuku wasn't sure if he was in paradise or hell. On the one hand, Katsuki was turning him on to an almost painful degree at every turn, and it was pretty fucking torturous. On the other hand, he knew that he'd get some satisfaction by the end of the day.

He hadn't really thought that someone as blunt as Katsuki could be such a goddamn tease though. It was a lot.

They were doing conditioning exercises for hero training today, and the torture had started in the locker room. "You're with me today, Deku," Katsuki had barked. "Wait for me while I change."

Izuku sat and waited obediently and then nearly died. To the untrained eye, Katsuki was ignoring him completely—facing him but chatting with Kirishima and Sero as he changed. First, he pulled off his belt, slow and deliberate with a little snap at the end. Kirishima's eyes flicked to the motion, then to Izuku with a smirk. Izuku swallowed thickly, practically salivating when Katsuki started unbuttoning his shirt, sliding it off his shoulders with a sensual roll. He turned his back then, stuffing his shirt and belt in his locker before going for his undershirt, sliding it up slowly so that Izuku could watch each of his back muscles flex as they were exposed. He bit back a whimper, considering looking away but not really wanting to pass on the view.

Kirishima was clearly holding back laughter now, eyeing Izuku's red face in outright amusement. Izuku flipped him off as subtly as possible and pulled his baggy shirt down to cover his now prominent erection but froze when Katsuki looked over his shoulder to catch his eye.

Izuku's eyes darkened when Katsuki turned back around and went for the button on his pants, flicking it open and dragging the zipper down. He pushed his thumbs into the waistband, maintaining eye contact as he worked them off his hips.

Katsuki was fucking beautiful and it was so unfair. Izuku wanted to sink his teeth into that ass and dig his hands into those thighs. And fuck, he wanted it the other way around, too. Katsuki's hands should be illegal. So should that shit-eating grin on his stupid pretty face.

'Unsexy thoughts, Izuku. Mineta in a speedo, Angry Aizawa, Shigaraki's crusty face— ' he tried to keep his cool as Katsuki got dressed, training his eyes onto the floor.

"C'mon, nerd," Katsuki barked. Izuku looked up and nearly groaned aloud. Katsuki had decided to forgo the UA uniform top, opting for a tight black tank instead, the over-shirt thrown carelessly over his shoulder. His pecs. Izuku wanted to bury his face in them.

Izuku followed shakily, eyes roaming over his boyfriend's (boyfriend!) build hungrily. "Coming, Kacchan," he croaked. Kirishima couldn't help the laugh that time.

It only got worse when they got into the gym. Apparently, Katsuki was doing upper-body training today and for a warm-up, he'd chosen to do a hundred pushups. Izuku would have paid money to just...roll beneath him.

Then, the real work started. Katsuki dragged Izuku to a bench, leaning in before he got started. "Bet I could bench press you, Deku," he murmured. Izuku's brain stuttered to a halt. He definitely could. Undoubtedly. "What's my goal, here, nerd?"

"I'm 75 kilos, Kacchan," he breathed back. "You could definitely bench me." He cursed his voice for shaking as Katsuki smirked down at him.

"My average is more than twice that," Katsuki said, clearly delighted. Izuku didn't really get why the idea of being bench-pressed by his boyfriend was so fucking hot, but it was and he was now in crisis.

"I don't think I'm sane enough to spot you right now, Kacchan," Izuku warned him. Katuski's smirk grew but he relented and beckoned Kirishima over. The redhead grinned at him as he fled to the squat rack.

Unfortunately, the squat rack afforded him a front-row seat to Katsuki's workout, so it didn't really help. "You okay, Deku?" Ochako asked knowingly as his grip slipped on the bar.

"Nope. Yep. Maybe. Probably not," he replied distractedly as Katsuki moved on to deadlifts, bending from the hips so that his ass was thrust in Izuku's direction. "Nah, I'm not. I'm dying. Look at him."

Ochako looked over at Katsuki in consideration. "Oh, he's mean," she laughed quietly. "And very sexy. Pretty rude to do this when you can't do something about it."

"It's payback for my week of poor communication and flirting," Izuku grimaced. "So I deserve this, but he's killing me. I've had like three heart attacks today alone."

She frowned. "What else has he done?" Izuku paused for a moment, wondering if it was mean to flaunt his new relationship in Ochako's face after their failed date. But she looked genuinely curious and she was his best friend, and he needed someone to understand why he died when they found his body.

Izuku fished his phone out of his pocket and showed her the picture from that morning. She dropped her water bottle. "Sent that to me during class this morning. Then he did this striptease in the locker room—"

"Holy crap," Ochako breathed, leaning in closer to examine the perfect specimen on the phone screen. "He's evil. In class?"

"Yeah," he replied, allowing her to take the phone from him to zoom in on his abs. He totally understood the fixation. "I think my greatest accomplishment in life was holding back my reaction."

"How does he even have abs like that without looking bulky?" she asked in awe. "Sato has an eight pack, but it's all body-builder-like and kinda intimidating."

"If I knew, I'd have them too," Izuku grumbled, taking the phone back. "Who the fuck knows what he sees in me when he could flash those abs and attract the entire population."

Ochako gave him a very dry look that made him feel both dumb and offended. "Besides your personality and the fact that you put up with his bullshit? Your ass, Deku. There isn't a person in this school who hasn't had to resist the temptation to smack that ass and watch it bounce. And you could crush boulders with those thighs."

Izuku flushed under the praise. "Thanks?" he mumbled. She punched his shoulder.

"Believe me, Deku," she warned. "Or else you're accusing me and Bakugou of having bad taste, and I have a feeling that won't fly."

The command sent a strange surge of self-confidence rushing through him, and he preened. "Thanks, Ochako."

"Better. Now fix your form or else your excessively hot boyfriend is gonna come over here and yell at you," she grinned. He was hit with another wave of gratitude for Ochako. He didn't deserve a friend like her.

Hero training was always the last class of the day. Since the goal was to exhaust yourself in pursuit of improvement, and that didn't lend well to adequate attention spans during normal classes. Izuku had never been more grateful for that.

"Gonna do my homework in my room," Katsuki barked. "Do not disturb me, or fuckin' else. I'll be down for dinner and I'll help you shits with your work after," he barked to his friends.

"Thanks, Bakubro!" Kirishima grinned.

As soon as the elevator doors closed behind him, Izuku got a text. 'Follow me in fifteen minutes.'

Kirishima sent him another knowing smirk as soon as his phone went off. "You seemed a little off in training today, Mido," he teased.

Izuku glared at him. "Y-yeah, just a little tired," he fibbed. Ochako scoffed quietly behind him, and he regretted all of his life decisions up till this point.

"Are you not getting enough sleep, Midoriya?" Tsuyu asked, genuinely concerned.

"More than usual," he replied. "But apparently my body doesn't like that either," he joked, trying to distract the class from the dickhead-best-friend squad.

"I'm glad to hear you're taking better care of your health!" Iida's voice boomed through the common room, smile wide. Izuku gave him an affectionate smile. "Make sure to give your body time to adjust!" A fairly innocuous order that was vague enough to not require immediate action. Those were his favorites.

"Yeah, dude, definitely work on your sleep schedule," Kaminari laughed. That one was a little more specific. If it wasn't overridden, he'd be in bed by 8 pm. "Running into you at night during one of your insomnia runs is like meeting a zombie in a locked room."

"I'm not that bad," Izuku pouted. He flushed at the sounds of disbelief that rang out around him.

"Even Tokoyami is scared of running into you at night. You're like the girl from The Grudge," Sero cackled.

Izuku kept checking his phone, counting the seconds until he could follow Katsuki. "You got somewhere to be, Mido?" Ashido asked. "You keep checking the time."

"I'm supposed to call my mom," he replied quickly. Technically not a lie. But he was supposed to call her tomorrow between her shifts. "She doesn't have a lot of time, so I try to be punctual when she does."

"That's so sweet!" Mina cooed. "Say hi to her for us!"

They'd met his mom over the summer after their first year after a class bonding event that Yaomomo had set up. All the parents had been invited, but his mom had been one of the few who attended in order to bond with the other involved parents. The class loved his mom.

"I will," he promised as the order washed over him. Tomorrow, he would. He checked the time again before turning to Ochako and Tsuyu. "I'm gonna go get changed into something more comfortable. I'll be back down later. I might take a nap or something. But after dinner, let me know if you want me to look at your English assignments."

He changed out of his clothes in record time, wanting to make it to Katuski's room before any more classmates decided to come upstairs. He took the stairs up to Katsuki's floor at record speed, stopping just shy of pounding on the door just in case it alerted his classmates.

Izuku only knocked once before the door opened and he was yanked inside. "You're five minutes early, nerd," Katsuki scolded, pushing him up against the door.

"Your order got wiped out," Izuku breathed, arms going around Katsuki's shoulders. "Didn't want to be late."

"You mean you didn't want to wait," Katsuki grinned, reaching down to cup him through his shorts. Izuku barely beat the urge to go limp in Katsuki's hold, dropping his head to the blonde's shoulder in a needy moan. "I should make you sit on the bed and wait for me to finish my homework."

Izuku whined. "Nooooo," he pleaded, dropping a wet kiss on Katsuki's collarbone as he pressed his hips into Katsuki's burning hand. "I've been so good all day, Kacchan, and I was only a couple minutes early, please—"

"Good? I saw you slacking in training, nerd," Katsuki scolded him, pressing closer and tightening his grip. "And I saw you show Kirby the picture I sent you," he murmured against Izuku's ear. Izuku thrust against his hand as Katsuki's breath seemed to sweep heat down his spine.

"She asked me why I was so flustered, it was the easiest way to explain—" he groaned, trying to pull Katsuki even closer.

"Yeah? And what did she say?" he asked, pushing his hand into Izuku's hair to tilt his head to the side. Izuku's brain short-circuited when Katsuki ran his teeth along his neck—shutting down his entire body with the slightest pressure possible. "Tell me, nerd."

"Said that you're excessively hot and evil," Izuku replied dutifully with barely any air in his lungs. He tried to maneuver so that he could catch Katsuki's lips with his own, but the grip on his hair tightened to keep him in place and his knees went weak. "Kacchan, please," he begged.

"So polite, nerd,"he teased, releasing Izuku's hair and allowing him to latch onto his mouth with a throaty moan. Katsuki snagged Izuku's bottom lip between his teeth and bent down just enough to snake his arms around Izuku's thighs and pick him up—groaning when Izuku locked his legs around his waist like a fucking koala. He walked them over to the bed carefully—Izuku clinging to the back of his shirt with one hand and running his hand through the hair on the back of his head with the other—and did his utmost not to collapse on top of his freaky nerd when he rutted into his stomach as he crawled them up the bed. "Fuck," Katsuki gasped, pulling back with a very loud protest from Izuku. "Quiet," he snapped half-heartedly. "Octo-dweeb will hear you."

If he was as turned on by Izuku's noises as Izuku was by Katsuki's, then there was no way he actually wanted him to shut up. But an order was an order, and Izuku's volume dropped dramatically. "Sorry, Kacchan," he breathed, eyes still fixed on Katsuki's mouth. Katsuki could feel Izuku's dick throbbing through his shorts and he pressed his own hips into it on instinct, wringing a pathetic whimper from Izuku's mouth.

"Tell me how far you want to go, Deku," Katsuki panted, nipping at Izuku's jaw. "Actually think about it and tell me because I don't wanna push too fuckin' far—"

"I wanna suck you off," Izuku replied immediately, feeling gratified when Katsuki's breath stuttered against the corner of his mouth. "Please, Kacchan, I've been thinking about it all day—"

"Fuck," Katsuki kissed him harshly. "We'll work up to it, alright?" Izuku whined, but Katsuki cut him off. "Trust me, I've been thinking about stuffing your mouth with my dick for months," Izuku's hips jumped at the mental image, cock twitching in anticipation as he was compelled to have faith in Katsuki's plan. "So we'll get to it, but I want it to fuckin' last when it happens," he snarled, looking a little unhinged. He leaned in close to Izuku's ear. "We've been wound up all fucking day, so first we're gonna get each other off, and then you're going to get on your knees for me and put that pretty fucking mouth of yours on my dick."

If Izuku had known that Katsuki was capable of spilling such pornographic filth so seriously, he would have written his will the day before because he was pretty sure that he was dying. That feeling only intensified when Katsuki's burning hot hand pressed under the waistband of his shorts, pushing the fabric down and under his balls so that he could freely wrap that same hand around his weeping dick, sliding his other arm under Izuku's head to center his balance above him. Izuku gave let out a pathetic cry and thrust into Katsuki's grip, arms tightening in Katsuki's hair. "Kacchan!"

"Feel good, nerd?" he asked, relishing the sting in his scalp and flexing his hand around Izuku's dick to test his grip—groaning when Izuku thrust up again. Izuku nodded hurriedly. "Good. Do the same for me," he instructed. Izuku moved faster than he had in his entire life; the hand that was wrapped around his shoulders dropped to snake under Katsuki's sweats. Katsuki moaned when Izuku's hand met the head of his cock, thrusting into his hand unabashedly. "Good boy, Deku," he uttered reverently when Izuku's grip tightened around him. "A little tighter—fuck, that's good, you're so good for me—"

Oh, fuck. Katsuki was a talker. He'd never be able to listen to Katsuki speak without thinking about this ever again. He would either die horny or happy, and there would be absolutely no in-between.

Katsuki set a deliberate pace, and Izuku did his best to match it—dragging Katsuki's lips back to his as he tried to keep up with his rhythm. The problem was that the feeling of Katsuki dextrously running his hand over his cock—rolling his thumb over the head with each pass—was so fucking distracting that Izuku could barely breathe, let alone think. Katsuki didn't seem to mind though—taking control by thrusting into Izuku's hand on his own and chasing both of their orgasms for them. The entire time, Katsuki ran his filthy mouth against Izuku's lips—tearing Izuku's sanity to shreds as he went. "Can't fucking believe you're letting me touch you like this," he gasped. "So fucking desperate for me, slutty fucking Deku." Izuku keened loudly, back arching as Katsuki's words punched through him. "You like being called a slut?" Katsuki chuckled hoarsely, contorting slightly to bite Izuku's nipple through the fabric of his shirt. Izuku yelped, and Katsuki barked out a breathy laugh. "Answer me, 'Zuku," he ordered.

"Your slut," Izuku whimpered back, putting more effort into focusing on getting Katsuki off by picking up his pace. That was apparently the right thing to say, because Katsuki made a noise that was startlingly close to a whine and bore his weight down on him a little harder.

"Fucking right, you're my slut," Katsuki gasped, voice getting breathier as his hips stuttered into Izuku's hand. "Such a good little slut for me—" he cut off with another harsh groan when Izuku's grip tightened. Izuku felt like he was on fire and his thighs began to shudder around Katsuki's hips.

"Kacchan, I'm gonna come," Izuku cried, eyes squeezing shut as his thrusts grew frantic. He nearly teared up—or actually teared up, he couldn't tell—when his perfect boyfriend gave him what he needed and moved his hand faster, kissing him almost violently in response.

He came all over his shirt and Katsuki's hand with a shaky cry into Katsuki's biting mouth—his hand tightening in Katsuki's hair as his hips bowed rocketed off the bed. Katsuki came moments later with a satisfied groan, emptying onto Izuku's hand as his thrusts slowed. Izuku withdrew his hand so that Katsuki could comfortably collapse to the side to catch his breath, kisses growing gentler as they calmed down.

"Stay," Katsuki demanded when he'd caught his breath, pulling Izuku's shorts back up and pressing another quick kiss to Izuku's mouth before crawling off the bed to wash his hand. He grabbed a hand towel and ran it under water, tossing it to Izuku. Unfortunately, Izuku's reflexes were turned off, so it smacked him in the face. Katsuki snickered when Izuku sluggishly took the towel and turned his face to glare over at him.

"When I have my brain cells back, I'll get you for that," Izuku grumbled.

"When you have your brain cells back, you'll be on your knees," Katsuki reminded him. Izuku flushed, throwing an arm over his face as his entire body twitched at the reminder, and Katsuki softened. "Only if you want to," he promised.

Izuku lowered his arm to make eye contact again before bringing his other hand up to slowly drag his tongue through Katsuki's cum. His eyes fluttered at the taste—not pleasant per se, but erotic as fuck—but he kept them open just enough to watch Katsuki falter on his way back to the bed, eyes darkening.

"Seriously, when did you get like this?" he uttered, voice rough. Izuku grinned at him, bringing up the washcloth to wipe away the rest. He glanced down at his shirt and grimaced. "Take it off, I'll give you one of mine later," Katsuki said, stalking forward. Izuku complied quickly while Katsuki slid in next to him and before the shirt even hit the ground, Katsuki had pulled him back in, kissing him roughly.

He wondered if Katsuki could taste himself on his tongue.

He also wondered if they would always feel this explosive—so that half a touch would make them boil over.

Katsuki's hands were just like the rest of him—adept, attention-grabbing, and heated. "Are you using your quirk?" Izuku asked as he pulled away; reveling in his burning hands as they smoothed down his sides and gripped at his waist and squeezed his ass, pulling him in tighter. "I know you heat them up when it's cold or if you're doing those sports therapy massages—"

"Are you analyzing my fucking quirk when I'm trying to make out with you?" Katsuki asked incredulously, popping up on his elbow to stare down at him.

Izuku faltered. "Uh...not intentionally?" he replied sheepishly. "Your hands are hot, it distracted me—"

"Too hot?" Katsuki interrupted, concerned. Izuku smiled softly, leaning up to kiss him gently. "Tell me, nerd," Katsuki insisted. Izuku's heart clenched at the depth of Katsuki's care.

"It's perfect," he assured him. "It feels amazing. It's just distracting too," he admitted. "Like the only thing I can feel is your hands. It's intense."

Katsuki looked satisfied. "This temperature is what I use when I'm trying to...I dunno, fuckin' relax or something? Like hot stones," he explained, deciding to satisfy Izuku's curiosity so they could get back to business. "Probably heated them up on instinct when you started tensing up," he smirked. "I guess I like you pliant," he teased.

Izuku snorted. "You can literally tell me to do anything you want, but go off, I guess."

"I can tell you, but that doesn't mean you won't overthink it and get all tense and shit on me," Katsuki disagreed, thumb rubbing soothing circles into his waist. "Even if you're into it, like this morning. It still took a minute for you to relax enough to get into it."

Izuku frowned. "Why aren't you tense about this?" he asked, curious. "This is probably the only thing that we're on even footing on, but I still feel like I'm running to catch up with you."

Katsuki shrugged, hand leaving Izuku's waist to tangle their fingers together instead. "You shouldn't. I know I've been too fucking turned on to worry about being awkward. Besides, I know this shit is new to me, so I know there's a learning curve," he said. "It's new for both of us, so I'd rather enjoy figuring it out than stress out about whether I'm good or not. Same with quirk training."

"I stress out about quirk training, too."

"Because you're playing catch up," Katsuki replied, dropping an affectionate kiss on his mouth. "And One For All comes with a legacy and you're a martyr with an inferiority complex—"

"The psychoanalysis is completely unnecessary—"

"But that's mostly in front of our classmates. I was talking about quirk training when it's just you and me," he continued as though Izuku hadn't interrupted. Izuku went silent, hanging on his every word. "When we're testing our limits and going plus-fucking-ultra—that feeling where you have no idea what the fuck is gonna happen next, so it's just action and reaction until we get it right and pull off something fuckin' amazing mpphh—"

Izuku had sealed their mouths back together, tearing up again—this time because of the utter adoration in his chest instead of overwhelming sensation. "I can't," kiss, "believe," kiss, "you made training," kiss, "romantic," kiss, "I won't be able to," longer kiss, "fight you without," kiss, "getting emotional," he complained.

Katsuki snorted. "You get emotional about everything," he replied, pulling back.

"I'm gonna spend the rest of the year in training looking at you like you're about to kiss me in the moonlight," Izuku insisted, pulling back. "Or thinking about you fucking me, depending on what you're wearing I guess—" he cut off with a yelp when Katsuki brought his hand down on Izuku's ass with a loud smack.

"Don't care how you look at me as long as you keep giving me your all," Katsuki said. "You start slacking on me—"

"And you'll break up with me for my own good," Izuku parrotted dryly. "Yeah, you said that this morning. I thought we already vetoed that idea."

"Is that sass?" Katsuki glared. "Are you sassing me?"

"Depends," he replied cheekily. "You gonna do something about it?"

Katsuki considered him carefully, eyes narrowed as his hand came back to rest on Izuku's waist. "Maybe," he murmured, watching with interest as Izuku melted under his hot hand where it lay against his bare skin. "Or maybe I'll order you to go do your homework," he continued. "As much as I want to feel you choke on my dick, you're kind of being  a brat, so maybe I should make you earn it."

"If you stop touching me, I'm gonna rip your hands off," Izuku warned him seriously. Katsuki raised a single, unimpressed eyebrow before pushing more heat into his hand—just before the point where it would truly burn. Izuku moaned loud and lewd, throwing his leg over Katsuki's waist again and clutching at the front of his shirt.

A pain kink. Fascinating."Your brain cells back, nerd?" Katsuki asked, feeling Izuku harden against him and hardening himself in response. Weren't refractory periods typically longer?

"They were, but they're leaving again," Izuku replied, a little breathless. Katsuki's searing hand was spilling heat into his veins again, and his grip was tightening. Katsuki leaned down to kiss him again, gaining momentum and intensity as their hands began to clutch and grope.

"You still want to blow me?" Katsuki mumbled against his mouth. Izuku nodded frantically. "Then get on your knees, Deku," Katsuki ordered, pleased when Izuku pushed back and climbed off the bed to kneel obediently. Katsuki stood just long enough to drop his sweats to the floor, before sitting on the edge of the bed—perched with his legs spread wide so that Izuku could settle between them.

Izuku had seen Katsuki's dick before—they'd known each other for years and they'd shared multiple locker rooms. There was a certain degree of inevitability. But this was the first time he'd allowed himself to observe it.

Katsuki was half-hard—the tip of his cock flushed red. He was wider than Izuku anticipated, and he could already tell that he wouldn't be able to fit all of it into his mouth without attempting to deep-throat him. But fuck he wanted to feel the weight of him on his tongue. He looked up at Katsuki when the blonde wrapped his hand around himself and tapped the tip against his bottom lip. "Tap out if it's too much," Katsuki instructed.

"You worry too much," Izuku replied, delighting when Katsuki's dick twitched against his lip as his breath washed over it. He kissed the head gently, reveling in Katsuki's breathy sigh and looking up at him through his lashes. "But I promise," he agreed. Katsuki's shoulders relaxed. "Tell me what you want me to do?" he requested.

"Open your mouth," he instructed. Izuku complied. "Keep it open," he continued before tracing his lips with the tip of his dick, then rubbing it along his tongue. Izuku's gut clenched in arousal when he felt the weight on his tongue go rigid. "Fuck," Katsuki groaned, already sounding winded. "Get your dick out, Zuku, I want you to feel good too," he said, letting his own dick rest atop Izuku's tongue as he held his mouth open. He reached down to cup Izuku's jaw with one hand and the back of his head with the other—fingers winding into his verdant hair. It hadn't really registered before, but the new nickname twisted in his stomach now, intimate and reverent in a way that squeezed his lungs and made his head feel fuzzy.

Izuku hastened to comply, pushing his shorts down over his ass and stroking himself gently. "Good boy," Katsuki breathed. Izuku whimpered, hot breath washing over Katsuki's dick again. "Close your mouth," he continued, grip tightening as Izuku's lips sealed around his head. "Jesus fuck your mouth is like fire," he swore, hips twitching forward. Izuku watched as Katsuki's jaw clenched—trying to maintain control.

Izuku brought the hand that wasn't on his dick up to clutch at Katuski's thigh, eyes fluttering shut as Katsuki slit further along his tongue. "Suck gently," Katsuki instructed, moaning gutturally when Izuku hollowed his cheeks around him. Izuku's eyes snapped up at the sound, moaning at the look on Katsuki's face—eyes squeezed shut and mouth agape with his head tilted back as he panted. Izuku's moan reverberated through Katsuki's dick and up his spine, and Katsuki jerked him forward by his jaw, thrusting into his mouth. "Fuck!" he barked, fist tightening in Izuku's hair before he eased up hurriedly. "You okay, Deku?"

Izuku waited for him to make eye contact—knowing he'd look down if he didn't respond—before hollowing his cheeks again and sinking down another inch, tongue laving insistently along the underside as he went. Katsuki made a sound like he'd been gut-punched, head falling back as Izuku pressed forward and took as much of him as he could in one go. Katsuki moaned, rough and filthy as Izuku marveled at the stretch in his jaw, whimpering and rutting into his hand. 

Katsuki cut a striking figure above him—sharp jaw clenched in pleasure as his chest heaved as he panted; strong arms tensed against his own desire to fuck up into Izuku's mouth. Izuku wanted to worship him. He wanted to see more.

Izuku lifted his hand from Katsuki's thigh again, snaking it under Katsuki's arm to fist it in the hem of his shirt and tug at the material in protest as he whined. Katsuki looked down at him, brow furrowed in confusion until Izuku released the shirt to slide his hand beneath it, still running his tongue along Katsuki's length. Katsuki stared down at him reverently for a long moment before releasing his head to strip his shirt off, gasping as Izuku moaned around him again and sucked even harder.

"You feel so fucking good," he slurred, one hand twisting in the blanket as the other went back to the base of Izuku's skull. "Look so fucking pretty with your face filled, Deku," he pulled Izuku's head back by his hair until his head met the tip of his tongue, watching in awe as his reddened mouth dragged along his length and suckled at the tip. He jerked when Izuku's tongue dipped into his slit. "Suck harder for me, slut," he crooned, hissing when the pressure increased and Izuku's whine rattled through him. "Should have known your mouth would feel this good when you're always fucking running it," he gasped, pushing Izuku's head back down, then pulling it back up. "Follow the rhythm, Zuku," he instructed, setting a pace for Izuku to bob up and down his length, swearing colorfully as Izuku took the reigns and fucked his own mouth with Katsuki's length. He gripped Katsuki's thigh again for leverage as he moved, still running the other hand over his own dick insistently. "Fuck that's my perfect little nerd. Just like that, Deku, god you little slut, you're so good for me," he praised. "You fucking your hand for me too, Deku? You feel good with your mouth full of my dick?"

Izuku moaned in agreement, pitch rising into a whine when Katsuki moved his hand from the bed reached down to run a calloused thumb over Izuku's nipple before pinching and tugging it. Izuku lurched forward, stifling an aborted shriek of pleasure by choking on Katsuki's dick, fingers digging into his thigh in surprise. His eyes snapped upward, wide and desperate. "Like that, Deku?" he panted. He groaned when Izuku nodded, lips sliding across his dick with the motion. "Fuck, which part? Nipple play? Choking on my dick?"

Izuku whined, pulling his mouth off Katsuki to reply, "Both," his voice a little hoarse and his lips wet—a sloppy string of saliva still connecting them. "Both, Kacchan."

"Fucking gag on it then," he growled, pulling Izuku back and whining when the heat enveloped him again. Izuku jerked into his hand, dick pulsing almost violently at the command. "Felt so good—I fucking felt your throat close around my dick like a fucking vice, Jesus Christ your mouth was made for this—" he cut off with a groan when his dick hit the back of Izuku's throat again and it convulsed around him.

Tears sprang up in his eyes as he gagged, mouth spread wide with drool spilling from the corners of his mouth as Katsuki pulled his head down as far as he could, grinding up into his mouth. He felt filthy, debauched and so wanted under Katsuki's heated gaze—jaw sore to the point of cramping but so utterly aroused by the unfettered need on Katsuki's face that it barely registered.

He dropped his dick for a second, bringing his hand to his chin to collect the expelled saliva, then bringing it back to his dick and trembling at the slick glide it provided. Katsuki swore again, fucking up into his mouth, losing his rhythm as his thigh started to tremble beneath Izuku's palm. "Fuck that was so hot, what the fuck—" His voice cracked, and the taste in Izuku's mouth changed—the dark, sweet, musky flavor getting saltier as precum dragged along his tongue. "So fucking close, Deku," he said, voice shaky as the tip of his cock pushed into Izuku's tonsils over and over. "Stop if you don't wa—fuck!" he cried, coming hard when Izuku lifted his hand from Katsuki's thigh and cupped his balls, rolling them as he pulled back to the tip and sucked hard.

Izuku moaned throatily as he swallowed, eyes riveted on Katsuki's full-body convulsion and working himself faster in response. He released Katsuki's dick from his mouth but didn't move far—kissing and nipping at the junction of his pelvis and thigh as he jerked himself off and spilling onto Katsuki's sweatpants not long after.

He pulled his knees out from under him—sitting heavily to the side as he continued to press lazy, open-mouthed kisses to Katsuki's inner thigh. Katsuki had collapsed backward, hand still clenching and unclenching absently in Izuku's hair. "You okay up there?" Izuku rasped after a long silent stretch where they both caught their breath. His eyes widened when he heard his voice—scratchy and wrecked as it scraped out of his throat.

"Hnngh," Katsuki replied intelligently, still pitchy from exertion. He huffed a throaty laugh before unsteadily climbing to his feet, knees smarting. Katsuki peered up at him, in blank-faced awe.

"Quick nap?" Izuku asked. Katsuki squinted at him, clearly considering arguing—they still had homework to do. Izuku chuckled weakly at the resignation that stole over him a moment later as he registered his heavy limbs and bleary eyes. "Just a quick one," he promised. Katsuki nodded blearily, pushing himself up the bed sluggishly and ripping back the covers so that they could both slide in.

Izuku snuggled into Katsuki's side, resting his head on Katsuki's bare shoulder and kissing the skin he could reach gently. "You good?" Katsuki asked once his faculties returned. Izuku smiled at him, nodding. "We should do that every fucking day," he said seriously, shifting his body so that he could place a soft kiss on Izuku's swollen lips. Izuku huffed a laugh against his mouth.

"Might be impractical, Kacchan," he croaked. "Unless you don't mind me being mute." Katsuki stilled, face thoughtful as though he were considering it, and Izuku smacked his shoulder, a silly grin spreading on his face. "Asshole," he laughed.

"You say that now, but you don't know how fucking good that felt," Katsuki replied tiredly, pushing his face into Izuku's neck.

"You gonna show me sometime?"

"Fuck yes."

Katsuki only let them snooze for an hour. Izuku hadn't really slept, too busy reveling in the fact that Katsuki fucking Bakugou had willingly cuddled him. That was almost more jarring than the fact that his dick had just hammered the voice right out of his throat.

"You coming, Deku?" Katsuki was already up and in a fresh change of clothes. Izuku was still lounging and Katsuki was definitely losing his patience—not wanting to lose any more study time. Izuku grumbled but pushed himself out of bed, slipping on the shirt that Katsuki had thrown in his face.

"Fine," he croaked, smoothing out his hair haphazardly. "I'll meet you downstairs? I'm pretty sure Ashido knows every article of clothing in the building by sight—gotta change before I come down."

Katsuki nodded. "Maybe find a fuckin' cough drop, too, " he commented idly, smirking. Izuku scowled.

"Your fault," he replied as Katsuki snickered. 

Izuku thought he might have lucked out at dinner—by the time they got downstairs, most of their classmates were already in their own little conversation bubbles, so they got through most of the meal without incident—despite the fact that Katsuki's fucking hand was on his thigh the whole goddamn time.

Turnabout was fair play, though, and he made sure to throw in a few appreciative moans as he ate just to watch Katsuki go rigid in his periphery. Ochako and Kirishima looked like they were having tremendous difficulty with restraining their laughter.

And then Iida happened, and Izuku's plan to remain mute for the rest of the evening went out the window.

"Did you get some rest, Midoriya?" he called from across the room. Izuku smiled at him sheepishly.

"Not really," he rasped. "I ended up watching the debut report again to see if I glossed over any of the finer details—" he broke off when he saw the expressions on his friends' faces. "What?"

"Are you okay? You sound sick," Tsuyu croaked. He flushed, and thanked the universe that he was an awkward blushing mess on a normal day.

"I'm fine! Allergy season is creeping up on me," he assured her. A couple of people frowned, not remembering Izuku's allergies from previous years, but figuring he must have medicated before they could affect him. Ochako and Kirishima, however, had a very clear picture of what had actually happened and they had both turned bright red and averted their gazes. Iida seemed to have a bone to pick though, and completely disregarded the "allergy" issue in favor of a scolding.

"If you weren't sleeping, you should have been studying. I gave you a study schedule for a reason, follow it!"

Izuku tensed, as did the hand on his thigh. Izuku resisted the urge to turn to Katsuki to see what expression was on his face to correspond to the tighter grip. "Follow whatever study plan works best for you, nerd. Don't forget that you're currently third in the class and Glasses is fifth."

The class rankings had gotten a thorough shaking over the past year. Katsuki and Izuku's hyper-competitiveness had landed them in second and third place behind Yaomomo. Todoroki, by virtue of spending so much time with Izuku, had accidentally landed in fourth. Iida was fifth, and Kaminari—after Izuku had encouraged him to get tested for ADHD and dyslexia—had made it to sixth.

Izuku smacked his arm anyway. There was no need to goad him. "Thanks for your concern Iida," Izuku smiled. "I'm on top of my work—I only have a few questions for the history assignment and a couple of calc problems left."

Iida somehow looked irritated and pacified simultaneously, and Izuku decided not to dwell on whether the irritation was because of Katsuki's rude reminder or Izuku's ability to remain ahead despite his shoddy schedule. He really didn't have the mental energy to wonder if his friends were being bitchy at the moment.

"Did you shits need any help with your work?" Katsuki asked, jabbing his fork in the Bakusquad's directions.

"If you have time, could you look at my English assignment to make sure I got it right?" Ashido asked. Sero nodded fervently beside her. He rolled his eyes but grunted his agreement.

"I'm fine on homework," Kaminari drawled. Katsuki shot him a wary look. What I want is to know how to improve in our battle sims." His eyes slid to Izuku, who tensed under his gaze. "C'mon, Midoriya, give me some pointers! I got slammed yesterday."

Izuku shot Katsuki a glance. "Well you were going up against quirks that had you at a disadvantage," he rasped cautiously. "Really the key is to find ways to make your quirk work despite that or anticipate weak spots—"

"I could do that," Kaminari agreed. "But you already have ideas, man. You gotta share!"

"I told you to leave it alone, dumbass," Katsuki warned.

"Come on, dude!" Kaminari whined. "I wanna hear it!"

Katsuki looked at Izuku, then back at Kaminari. "I'm telling you it's a bad idea. You think it'll be just cutesy analysis that'll give you an edge, but it's fuckin' not."

Kaminari scoffed. "Oh, like he's scary? Please. We're friends with you, Blasty. C'mon Midoriya, tell us!"

Izuku looked at Katsuki for help, but he was met with an expression that was equal parts resignation and amusement. "I warned him," Katsuki shrugged. "Go ahead, nerd. Terrify him."

Ah, fuck.

"Uh...well, my personal strategies used to be focused on improving my control over my quirk, but I've pretty much gotten that covered now...so I started going back into quirk analysis so that I could increase my efficiency without injuring myself," he began hesitantly. Besides the fact that he was about to terrify the shit out of one of his favorite classmates, his throat was still sore goddammit. "Really, all you need to do is evaluate your opponents' most likely weaknesses in relation to your quirk, and make sure that your own weaknesses can't be exploited."

"Okay, so what about yesterday? I was put up against Todoroki and he kicked my ass so hard that I saw Jesus," Kaminari complained. Izuku saw Todoroki turn to them in interest, and he grimaced again.

But Katsuki had instructed him to terrify him. He cleared his throat, trying to force some clarity back into his fucked out voice. He eyed Katsuki when he stood and walked into the kitchen.

"Your quirk works by converting energy in your body into electricity, kinda like a mill or a generator. That's especially useful against someone like Todoroki. The heat that he creates is basically an unlimited energy source for you, so as long as you can find a way to insulate your brain, you can use him to power yourself. You'd have to be careful not to go overboard on voltage though, because you haven't trained anything above 2.5 million volts. Any higher than that and you could permanently damage your brain. But the point is to build a store of energy. As for the cold, it works in the opposite direction." Katsuki returned and pressed a water bottle into his hand. Izuku shot him a small, grateful smile before continuing.

"It takes tons of energy to keep your body warm when you're encased in a block of ice, which is why it's a good idea to always keep some sort of support item on you that can keep you warm. I actually have like...ten ideas for support items that would be ideal for you, especially since you can power them yourself. Keeping something that can generate sonic pulsation would be useful, for example. Like how Jirou can break apart rock formations and yes, Todoroki's ice, you could power something that would functionally do the same thing. It would keep you from being pinned down, and allow you to conserve the energy that you would usually expend breaking out manually. But that's all on how to strengthen what you already have. Your weaknesses are the really interesting part."

"My...my weaknesses?" Kaminari asked, flinching when Izuku pinned him with a disbelieving stare. Of course Kaminari had weaknesses. Big, fat, exploitable weaknesses. Just because they were hard to figure out due to his sheer power magnitude didn't mean that they didn't exist. It really just took some basic knowledge of physics and engineering. Luckily, most of the villains they'd encountered so far didn't really care to learn that, they just wanted to make their point loudly and publicly. Not intelligently. He took a sip from the water bottle that Katsuki had procured from the ktichen.

"More than I think you've realized," Izuku replied slowly, eyes narrowing. "I don't think anyone in the class really considers how deep their weak points run. I was gonna find a way to tell you this without straight up telling you. I want you to trust me and hang onto the self confidence you've built, but...okay look—"

"Told you," Katsuki grinned maliciously as Kaminari paled.

"When it comes to disabling you, it doesn't really take much. Your opponent could find a way to insulate or ground you and it would limit, if not completely decimate your effectiveness. You're not the best at hand-to-hand combat; you rely pretty heavily on enforcing distance with your quirk, so if someone found a way to implant you with some sort of inhibitor, you'd be effectively useless, especially since all of your support gear is focused on enhancing your quirk instead of fortifying you against your opponent. Well placed rubber banding or implants would make you quirkless on the battlefield, and you'd have nothing to back you up since you've gone light on your quirkless combat training. Shindo Yo from Ketsubutsu could bury you in seconds and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it because you'd be grounded and none of your support items are geared toward preventing that."

Kaminari was ghostly pale—not having considered how many ways he could be rendered useless in a fight since he was so often relied on as a catch-all. Not to mention the terrifying notion that he could be buried alive and unable to do a damn thing about it. He opened his mouth but Katsuki held up a hand.

"He's not done yet," Katsuki's smile was grim and satisfied. Someone—either Ashido or Ochako—whimpered. This was just the information he had on Kaminari—did he have information like this on the entire class? On other pro-heroes? On the League?

"On the more life-threatening side, it would be pretty easy to find a way to get you to overload you. You're not just a generator, you're a circuit. If someone could get your current to double back through your body instead of expending it the way you usually do, they could overload your brain in record time—even push it past the point of repair if you were at a high enough voltage. I'm pretty sure Jirou could do it if she hit you with a vibration that was a high enough frequency to excite your energy conversion. Todoroki could, too, with high enough ambient heat. Monoma could do it just by copying your quirk, but he's such an egotistic asshole that he never thinks beyond a quirk's base use. You've gotten lucky on that front."

"Uh, Deku? Maybe you should stop," Uraraka squeaked, eyeing Kaminari in concern. But that was a polite request rather than an order, so Katsuki's order to terrify Kaminari hadn't been wiped out. He glanced at Katsuki, who only gestured for him to continue.

"I warned them, Deku. Besides, it's not like the information isn't useful. Go ahead, keep going."

Izuku nodded, feeling a little more confident with Katsuki's assurance and—dare he say it—praise. He remembered the first time he'd given Katsuki analysis after their fallout. It had gone very poorly. But as soon as they'd gotten close again, it was the first thing that Katsuki had asked him for and it had been so validating that Izuku had cried like a goddamn baby.

"That's just what could happen if someone overloaded you and amped your power to its absolute max—past where your body can handle it. They could also do the exact opposite with properly executed energy absorption. The right quirk or device could draw enough energy out of you to render your cells completely inert. You'd be brain-dead within a minute, and permanent brain-cell necrosis would follow pretty quickly after that. Todoroki could do that too, by cooling you to the point where you're incapable of absorbing or generating energy. Momo could produce a tank of liquid nitrogen. Jirou could essentially plug into you and use your energy to power her own blasts while completely draining your own reserves. Personally though, if I were trying to disable you, I would put you in the ground. Like in the ground. I can't do anything that'll force you to overload or render you inert, but there are lots of quirks that don't do that so aside from one of those, burying you is not only effective—it's probably one of the best strategic moves on the board. You almost always work with team members—it's where you perform best. By burying you I could ground you, and your teammates would have to waste time and energy to dig you back out. It would distract them enough to give me a leg up in whatever I was trying to achieve, and it would also take your quirk off the board. If I were a villain, it would also have the added benefit of potentially killing you before you could be saved. Not to mention your hero costume is lightweight and more aesthetically driven than functional, so in the process of burying you I could probably significantly injure you on the way down—enough that you'd be out of commission if you did make it back to the surface."

Kaminari looked completely horrified, and Izuku figured he could ease up a bit now. "Dude, what the fuck?"

"I fucking told you, Pikachu," Katsuki scolded him, even though he looked way too amused. "Nerd has a strategy for nearly every situation. He's one insult away from being the world's strongest supervillain."

"Mean, Kacchan," Izuku pouted. "I would never."

"Yeah, because then All Might would be disappointed in you," Katsuki replied, rolling his eyes. "Don't think I forgot that Auntie caught you collecting spiders to put in my room through my bedroom window, and you only stopped when she asked you what All Might would do."

"...that was supposed to be between us, you dick," Izuku snapped. "And I was six—"

"And I would have died of fright. You would have been a murderer at six, dweeb."

"Anyway," Izuku said, still glaring at Katsuki. "All of that can be overcome or planned for with the support team's help. Something that can keep you warm or introduce kinetic energy to your system, a sonic device that can help you blast through rock and ice, body armor that can go under your costume or even incorporate into your costume, some way to reserve excess energy so that you don't overload and you can store it for emergencies? There are ways around your limitations. I'd be happy to help you work with Hatsume to make it happen. She and I have been working together a lot on her support gear ideas to make them more...realistic and custom fit to the heroes she works with."

"Yeah, dude," Kaminari whimpered. "Whenever you're free, I clearly need it. Jesus fucking Christ."

"Don't think about it too hard, Kaminari. Most villains don't think that deeply about it because they have no idea who's gonna show up on the scene. They usually go for maximum damage without really considering how to KO their opponent. It's only when we go up against villains that we've battled more than once that you really run a risk of being taken out—"

"I don't think that was as comforting as you wanted it to be, nerd," Katsuki drawled. "We're fuckin' magnets for vendetta villains, remember? It's only a matter of time. He should think about it, and he should be grateful that you brought it up before it came up in combat. Besides, he asked for this."

"I still scared him," Izuku muttered, risking a glance at the rest of the class, heart sinking when he saw them looking at him in awe and fear. "And them."

"Don't overthink it," Katsuki demanded. "They'll be fine, and maybe now they'll be more mindful about how they can get themselves fuckin' deleted if they're not more careful."

Izuku's tension drained immediately, and he smiled. "Okay, Kacchan."

"Yeah, dude. I hadn't even considered how to use my quirk aside from stealth and the occassional blast," Jirou murmured, thinking up a storm.

"Okay, no more," Ashido protested. "I've already heard enough to give me nightmares. Homework and then sleep. Bother Midoriya for strategies on your own time because I can't even right now—"

"Yeah, I'm definitely done hearing about ways we could be killed for the day," Kirishima muttered, standing to put his dish away. "I still gotta finish my calc assignment without the looming dread of certain death, thank you very much."

"I can help you with Calc while Kacchan looks at Ashido and Sero's English assignments," Izuku offered.

"Flip it, nerd. You're better at English," Katsuki grunted, taking both of their plates and following Kirishima into the kitchen.

"You two okay with that?" he asked, turning to Ashido and Sero who still looked a little pale, but nodded hesitantly.

"Mind if I join?" Ochako asked. She looked a little wary but apparently, the power of best-friendship aided in recovery time. "I think I've got it, but I just wanna be sure."

"Yeah, sure. Anyone else?"

"Don't forget that you still have work to do, Midoriya!" Iida barked. Izuku sighed irately when the command washed over him.

"Can it, Glasses," Katsuki barked as he returned. "Take your fuckin' time, Deku. If you need help finishing your own shit later, I still gotta do mine, too." Izuku shot him a grateful smile which only widened when Katsuki flipped him off. Only those who knew what to look for saw the tips of the blonde's ears go pink as he got flustered.

"Thanks, Kacchan!"

"Shut the fuck—ugh, just help them goddammit," he growled as he faltered on the command. Ochako snickered next to Deku, and Kirishima grinned widely behind Katsuki.

Tutoring his classmates usually went pretty well. He was a softer touch than Katsuki was so usually, people were receptive and grateful for feedback. Sero had struggled with this one though, so when Izuku handed his paper back to him, his forehead fell onto the table with a loud crack. "Man, fuck this assignment."

Izuku went rigid, the familiar mortification of a super inappropriate order washing over him as he reached for Sero's paper again. Sero handed it back to him in confusion as Izuku fought the order. He didn't say when, he didn't say when, he didn't say when—"Kacchan!" Crossing a panicked squeak with a fucked-out rasp was a weird vocal combination.

"Hmm?" he looked up from the Calculus assignments. "What?"

Of course, he wasn't listening. "You're more familiar with Sero's English work, what can I do to help?" he squeaked, eyes boring into him desperately. Katsuki was a gift because he always caught on quick.

"Just fuckin' leave it and if he has questions later, I'll take care of it," he barked, barely managing to stay chill. Kaminari looked up from the problem that Katsuki had been explaining to squint between the two of them, eyes flicking back and forth. He caught Izuku's eye, furrowing his brow. Izuku wasn't exactly the most chill person in the world, but the panic he felt under Kaminari's stare was impressive.

"G-got it," he stuttered, turning back to Sero and passing his assignment back. "I'm not as good at explaining how to do stuff," he said apologetically. "I'm better at corrections and edits. If you have any more assignments you need me to look at though—"

"It's all good, dude," Sero assured him fondly. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine with what you gave me already. Thanks, though."

"No problem," he smiled. He could still feel Kaminari's stare on the back of his neck, but he did his utmost to ignore it. "How are you doing, Ashido?"

"I think I get it," she replied slowly, leafing through the papers. "English grammar is fuckin' weird though. I might have to tap you again later."

"We do practice conversations sometime," Izuku offered. "Once you're more comfortable with speaking, the rules start to make more sense. You start to hear it in your head when your sentences aren't right."

"That would be awesome! We have oral exams to worry about too, so it would probably help to practice speaking," Ashido smiled. "Thanks, Mido!"

"Alright, that's enough losers. Deku needs to do his own homework now. C'mon, nerd."

Izuku stood, following the order even as he protested. "You don't have to—"

"If I don't, you'll get distracted with hero debuts again and you'll be up until the ass crack of dawn," he snapped.

"Will not!" he whined. Katsuki pinned him with the most unimpressed stare he'd ever seen. "Well shit, I might, but it's not that big a deal—"

"You let me blast you with a Howitzer the day before yesterday. Your reaction times are even fuckin' worse than normal, dweeb."

"I didn't let you!"

"Oh, so standing in the middle of my blast was your plan? Fuck you."

"BOYS!" Ochako barked. They both turned to her, surprised that someone had interrupted. "Shut the hell up. Deku, do your homework and go to bed. Bakugou, feel free to knock him out if he's not down by eleven." She giggled when Izuku's face dropped in utter betrayal and Katsuki grinned at her.

"Hell yeah, Floaty," he held out a fist and she bumped it enthusiastically. Izuku pouted. Since when did ganging up on Izuku warrant a fist bump?

Well, probably since always but still. The betrayal.

"My friends have forsaken me. I am alone in my fight for justice," he drawled as he packed his bag. "Never speak to me or my three children again, betrayer," he called over his shoulder as he dragged his feet on the way to the elevator.

"They're not your children, Deku!" she called back.

"You take that back, Ochako!" he barked as the elevator closed behind them. They were absolutely his children, and they would never treat him like this.

"You're so fuckin' dramatic, Deku," Katsuki chuckled.

"I've earned it," he grumbled. "I've put my life on the line for those children and she has the audacity to tell me they aren't mine?"

"Does that make me their fuckin' step-father? I've been told I'm a bad role model."

"We'd have to be married, Kacchan."

"Give me a couple years," he replied. Izuku dropped his bag, barely noting that Ochako's order had been wiped out. "What?"

"You can't just say stuff like that!" Izuku replied hotly.

"I can say whatever the fuck I want," Katsuki scoffed. "I'm not the one who's under a fucking obedience quirk." He paused then, brow furrowing. "Speaking of that, are those extras always so fucking demanding?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your fucking friends! My fucking friends! Dropping orders like a fuckin' raver dropping ecstasy," he snapped. "I've had to keep my eye out all fuckin' day—what did Tapeface even say to you?"

Izuku snorted. "He said 'fuck this assignment'. Thanks for intervening—I didn't want papercuts on my dick."

"You're fuckin' welcome," he grumbled, leaning against the wall of the elevator tiredly. "It's fuckin' exhausting though."

"You're not the one who almost fucked Kaminari with a fork," Izuku reminded him.

"You also almost bit the purple ballsack," Katsuki reminded him. "If you dare, I will refuse to make out with you until you've brushed your teeth for twenty fucking minutes."

"It wasn't like I wanted to," Izuku argued. "He said 'bite me'! Besides, you stopped me. It was fine."

"You sat on my lap," Katsuki reminded him. "In the middle of the cafeteria." Izuku shrugged.

"I wanted to sit there."

"You're such a little shit."

"A little shit whose dick you've touched."

"A little shit whose throat I fucked," Katsuki grinned menacingly. Izuku did a quick mental health check because looking menacing shouldn't be hot. It shouldn't. It should be threatening, but he really just wanted to lick at every one of the perfect teeth that were shining viciously under the crappy fluorescent elevator lights.

He should probably check in with his therapist.

"See? Not all bad," Izuku replied, flushing. Actually, he'd really liked that part. Katsuki flushed too, and Izuku was suddenly reminded that even though Katsuki had a mouth like a seasoned prostitute, they were both such virgins.

"Not all bad," he agreed gruffly. Izuku chuckled and stood on his toes to press an affectionate kiss to Katsuki's cheek. "You're fuckin' embarrassing."

"You're the one who's dating me," Izuku grinned. "If it's too embarrassing—"

"Didn't fuckin' say that nerd. Shut up."

Izuku's jaw locked shut, but there was a smug sort of victory on his face.

The victory disappeared immediately when the door opened to Jirou's shocked face.

They stared at each other long enough that the elevator doors began to close. Katsuki looked at the floor number in confusion. "The hell are you doing here, Ears?"

"Uh...I uh..." she gaped at them. "Shoji...we were comparing notes on the underground tactics—"

"Whatever, fuck, we get it," Katsuki snapped, pulling Izuku out of the elevator while crowding Jirou back. Eventually, he caught Jirou around the wrist and dragged her into his room, Izuku trailing behind them awkwardly. "How much did you hear?"

"Um...I started listening when you hit the third floor," she said. "I could hear you without plugging in or anything, I swear I wasn't eavesdropping—"

"What did you hear, Kyoka," Katsuku snarled. The first name seemed to do the trick because her spine straightened and her eyes went wide.

"I uh," she blushed furiously. "I started listening after 'a little shit whose dick you've touched," she admitted. "So I definitely know you two are dating. Holy crap, you two are dating?"

"Would you keep your fucking voice down? We're trying to keep it quiet, dumbass!"

"Why?" she demanded, eyes bright and smile wide. "This is great!"

"Because," he began before Izuku shoved a hand shoved over his mouth.

"Because we want it to be just about us for a while. Just for ourselves," Izuku explained. "We want to get a feel for the difference before everyone else sticks their nose in it."

"Uggghhh that's such a good reason," she whined. "I just never would have guessed! You two are always bickering, I guess it must have been sexual tension. I didn't even know you liked dudes, Midoriya!"

"Uh...I'm bi," he uttered. "But I've only ever had feelings for Kacchan. And I didn't really think that was on the table until a few days ago, so I didn't think there was much point in broadcasting my sexuality. If the only person I liked didn't like me back, I mean."

"What the hell, that's so sad and romantic!" she cried. "As soon as you start telling people, the girls are gonna lose their shit. Wait—" she squinted at them. "You've only been dating for a couple of days and you're already sucking his dick? Didn't think you'd be such a ho, Mido."

Izuku blushed violently. "Uh...sexual frustration was sort of the catalyst to us figuring our stuff out. We were both kinda pent up."

She smirked at him, and he blushed even harder. "Should I be telling Shoji to keep his ears to himself?"

"Fuckin' yes," Katsuki snarled, ripping Izuku's hand off his mouth. "I'm not kissing this little shit in his All Might shrine or anywhere near the Grapist's room, so the only option is here. Both of you mind your fuckin' business!"

"I'll let him know. What should I tell him if he asks me why?"

Izuku and Katsuki glanced at each other. Everyone in the class had seen them have wordless conversations before, but now that it was romantic, Jirou wanted to hug them both. It was totally ruining her brand.

"You can tell him the truth, but that's four goddamn people who know. We really don't want it to go further," Katsuki growled.

"It's bad enough that Kaminari is catching on," Izuku grumbled. "He stared at the back of my head for like ten minutes."

"Fuckin' phone charger always in my goddamn business," Katsuki agreed with an irate grumble.

"Oof. If Kaminari thinks he knows something, the first person he'll tell is Mina. You might have to throw them off their rhythm," she suggested. "May I recommend one of your standard extra-as-fuck smackdowns in training?"

"We're doing joint training tomorrow," Izuku whined. "Won't work. We'll probably end up on the same team again."

"Hm. Maybe you can just...fight. You two always fight."

"If I fuckin' fight with him, my chances of getting laid go down astronomically," Katsuki grimaced.

"Not really," Izuku admitted. Katsuki's head snapped in his direction so fast that Izuku was surprised he didn't get whiplash. Jirou cackled. "What? You're hot when you're angry! Don't fucking judge me!"

"Holy potty mouth, Mido! Don't let Iida catch you talking like that. You'll never hear the end of it."

Izuku rolled his eyes, annoyed at being given a new order so late in the day. "I'm seventeen, I do what I want."

"Sure, Jan."

"Alright, get the fuck outta here. We need to finish our homework," Katsuki snapped. Jirou smirked and gave a little wave before disappearing out the door. "Fuck."

"Not ideal," Izuku agreed. "But she handled it pretty well?"

"She stared at us like we were fuckin' zoo animals for a whole goddamn minute," Katsuki sneered.

"She was surprised! Give her a break." Izuku sat on Katsuki's bed as the blonde himself took the desk.

"I don't give breaks, shitty Deku," Katsuki replied sourly. Izuku pouted. "Don't look at me like that, dweeb. Do your homework."

Izuku glanced at the time, obediently pulling his homework out of his bag. "Awww, are you grumpy because it's past your bedtime?" he teased. He grinned when Katsuki pinned him with a nasty glare. "Cute, Kacchan."

"Shut the—goddammit." Katsuki groaned, pressing his palms to his eyes in frustration. Izuku was so fond of him for trying so hard not to order him around without consent. He loved this guy. This guy was his. In real life! "M'not cute, dickhead." Yes, he fucking was, but Izuku recognized a comfort threshold when he saw one.

"If you say so," Izuku replied amiably, smiling softly when some of the tension released from Katsuki's shoulders.

They both got a text a few minutes later. 'lmao shoji already knew, ya nasties'.

Izuku blushed violently. "Oh god. I should apologize to him."

"His fuckin' fault for eavesdropping. Fuckin' focus, nerd." Katsuki barked, blushing just as hard but keeping his eyes trained on his work. Izuku pulled out his earphones, hoping to tune out his mortification with the lo-fi hip hop study playlist that Jirou had shared with him almost a year ago. He knew it wouldn't work, but it was nice to dream, right?

By the time Izuku was done with his work, Katsuki had crawled into the bed behind him and was listening to Izuku's other earbud and snoozing while he waited for Izuku to finish. "I'll get out of your hair now," Izuku smiled, pushing his books back into his bag. Katsuki sat up, wrapping an arm around Izuku's waist from behind and dropping his head into the space between his shoulders.

"Y'don gotta go," he mumbled sleepily. Izuku's heart clenched. Who the fuck gave him the right to be so adorable when he was sleepy?

Probably Satan.

"We both need to sleep," Izuku replied quietly, grasping Katsuki's hand where it rested on his stomach. "But I can come back in the morning." Katsuki only responded by pressing his face harder into Izuku's back, holding him a little tighter. He was so warm. He reached over his shoulder to run his fingers through Katsuki's hair and he slumped into him even further, body going completely lax against him. "C'mon, Kacchan," he coaxed, slowly unraveling the hand that was around his waist. "Bedtime."

When he finally managed to wriggle away from his sleepy boyfriend, the boy in question was pouting (glaring) and rumpled and Izuku fought every instinct in his body that told him to crawl back into bed and smother him with affection. "You suck," Katsuki grumbled as Izuku pushed him down into his pillows and swaddled him with a blanket.

"Oh yeah, I'm the worst," Izuku chuckled. "Wanting you to get a good night's sleep is criminal."

"Fuck you," he pouted, eyes barely open. "Kiss me, loser."

Izuku grinned, leaning down to press a soft kiss into Katsuki's pout. "Goodnight, Kacchan."

"...night Deku."

The following morning they were scheduled for a morning run, so Izuku woke up hellishly early to sneak back into Katsuki's room. He pushed at Katsuki's shoulder until he was met with a ferocious but sleepy glare. "Cuddle before our run?"

"Coulda just fuckin' done it instead of waking me up at the ass crack of dawn, shithead," Katsuki growled.

"I could have, but I needed you to move over," Izuku laughed. Katsuki was, as usual, starfished across the bed as ridiculously as possible. Katsuki grumbled and shuffled to the side, flipping the covers back and opening his arms lazily so that Izuku could crawl into them.

"S'why I told you to stay," he mumbled, burying his face into green hair as Izuku nuzzled into his chest. "So you wouldn't fuckin' wake me up."

"Could have told me not to come," Izuku replied, muffled by blankets and pectorals.

"Shut up," he huffed, and Izuku complied easily, already falling back asleep in Katsuki's warmth.

He complained when Katsuki's alarm went off and he was dragged out of the bed by the back of his shirt without even getting to make out with him but other than that, the start of their day went smoothly.

Except for mortified blush that Izuku adopted when Shoji met his eyes over breakfast.

They got their tests handed back to them in class, and Izuku scowled when Katsuki scored three points higher than him. Katsuki turned back to him with a feral grin. "Who's the best, nerd?"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "You are, Kacchan," he replied dryly.

"Tell me why I'm the best," he teased. Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? No, a summer's day is not a bitch," he began, completely deadpan. Just because he'd been ordered to tell him, didn't mean he had to do it nicely. He heard startled laughter run through the room, but he just smirked at Katsuki's dumbfounded face. "But my dear bitchy favorite, you are an inspiration. A bastion of victory. You're so impressive to me that I can't take my eyes off of you. No matter how loud and obnoxious you can be, you back up your dickheadedness with results. You give everything your all, even if it's stupid. Like that time we were walking home and you decided to race a seven-year-old—completely ridiculous, but you won! Your determination is amazing. You're so smart, Kacchan. You pass every class with flying colors, and you outthink all of your opponents. No one stands a chance against the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight."

"The sarcasm is fucking unnecessary—" Katsuki muttered as Kirishima howled with laughter.

"And you're hot too. Like damn, there's a shortage of perfect asses in the world; how dare you be a hero and put yours in danger every day? Selfish, Kacchan. And your pecs could be a national monument—"

"Fuckin' stop, nerd!" Katsuki yelled, blushing violently as the class cackled around them. "You're a fucking menace."

"You asked," Izuku shrugged. "That's what you get for being smug about one test score—"

"You just don't like that I beat you, shitty Deku! You think you'd be used to it by now—"

"I kicked your ass in English so—"

"Yeah, because you're fluent—"

"BOYS!" Ectoplasm barked, stopping their argument in its tracks. "Face the front and let me teach."

"Sorry, sir," Izuku replied sheepishly. Katsuki grumbled but settled back in his seat.

"I have no idea how Aizawa deals with you two," he muttered.

"He lets them beat each other up in combat training," Asui piped up helpfully.

"Or pairs them up so that he can fail them if they don't get along," Ashido grinned. Izuku made an offended noise in the back of his throat as Katsuki whipped around to glare at her.

"He pairs us up because we kick ass, Pinky."

"Yeah, maybe now," she replied. "But in the beginning? He was totally using training as a get-along shirt."

"That's ridiculous—" Izuku began, but Ectoplasm cut him off.

"Enough!"

Ochako covered for them when they disappeared at lunch, delighted when she realized she had another comrade in Jirou. "We've got you covered," she insisted, flashing them a thumbs up as she hooked her arms through Kirishima's and Jirou's respectively.

"Enjoy your lunch date," Jirou smirked, only growing smugger when Katsuki flipped her off. Izuku dug an elbow into his side, letting out a strangled noise when Katsuki threw his arm around his shoulders to try to draw him into a headlock.

"Thanks, guys," he wheezed as he tried to pull out of Katsuki's grip. "We'll see you later!" Katsuki was already pulling him away. Izuku stiffened when he heard Kaminari question where they were going.

"That's gonna be a fuckin' problem," Katsuki muttered, flinching when Izuku's fingers dug into his sides and dropping the freckled menace immediately. "No fucking tickling, nerd, that's cheating!"

"Says you," Izuku shot back. "If it gives me a tactical advantage though—"

"It's a cheap trick—"

"If a villain is ticklish, I'm using it, so why wouldn't I use it to get out of a headlock?" he demanded, grinning impishly. Katsuki scowled. "Awww, don't be like that," he crooned, bumping his shoulder with his own. "Just because I'm not ticklish doesn't mean that I don't have other weaknesses you can't exploit."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at him, considering. His eyes looked...heated? "None that are appropriate in public."

Okay, when Katsuki had asked him to eat lunch together on the roof, and Izuku had melted. But that had been a soft, warm feeling, and it had nothing on the sudden heat and weakened knees he was afflicted with now.

Katsuki caught his elbow when he tripped over his feet. The perfect roulette wheel combination of deviant and gentleman. "Horny nerd," he grinned. "Be more careful."

Izuku grabbed his arm, glaring, and pulled Katsuki forward at a nearly unmatchable pace. "You're the worst."

"We've been over this. You chose this, so it's your own damn fault, dweeb."

"Pardon me for not realizing you were so goddamn provocative, that wasn't really a part of our relationship before," he growled. Katsuki scoffed incredulously.

"Excuse you, shithead. I've always been provocative, it's just never been sexy."

"It was plenty sexy, it just wasn't sexual," Izuku corrected him. "So sure, you've always been incendiary, and it's always been hot, but I've never been able to do anything about it before and now I can and you keep on pushing the 'on' button that you were always pushing by accident before but now you're doing it on purpose and I honestly don't understand how you think I'm gonna keep a lid on this if you keep giving me unshakeable boners in the middle of the—"

"Deku." The 'shut up' was implied, and it was effective. Izuku's gaze snapped to Katsuki's and was pleased to find him flustered. Serves him right. "Talkin' loud enough for anyone in a thirty-foot radius to hear, wait until we get to the roof to start perving on me, dork," he muttered, blushing. Ah, so he liked the perving. Perfect, because that wasn't going away any time soon.

As soon as the door to the roof closed behind them, Izuku crowded Katsuki up against the door and kissed him hungrily, fisting the taller boy's jacket in order to pull him down to his level even as he stood on tip-toe to meet him halfway. Katsuki never disappointed, matching him in intensity and threading his hands in Izuku's hair—tilting his head so that he could kiss harder and deeper until Izuku could feel his presence in every molecule of his body.

Unfortunately, Katsuki was also responsible, and he pulled away. "We gotta eat, nerd."

"Do we, though?" Izuku mumbled, nuzzling Katsuki's jawline. It was such a good jawline. You could cut glass with it. What the hell.

"Yes. But you have a choice—we can set a timer, make out now, and eat later; or we can eat now and make out until the bell."

Izuku bit his lip, turning the options over in his head. He kinda wanted to scratch his itch now, and the instant gratification was insanely tempting—especially since Katsuki was now kissing his neck, holy fuck—but if they ate now, they might eat quickly enough to squeeze more making-out time out of their lunch hour than they would if Katsuki set an alarm to ruin his fun. He released Katsuki's jacket, and Katsuki immediately released his head in response, looking so unfairly unruffled that Izuku kinda wanted to hit him. How did he go back to normal that fast? How was that any kind of fair?

"Good choice nerd. Eat fast," he smirked. Izuku pouted but pulled out his lunch as he walked over to the little cement bench that let them look out over campus and beyond the gates to the sprawling city. There was a similar view from Heights Alliance, but from here you could see UA's gates and it filled him with pride and appreciation for how far he'd come. A welcome distraction considering the fact that his explosive boyfriend had kissed him like he was a meal and then cut him off cold.

"Ready for joint training?" Izuku asked through a mouthful. Katsuki wrinkled his nose, and Izuku remembered that one of Katsuki's weirdly prim pet peeves was people talking with their mouths full. He swallowed. "I need to ask Aizawa to put us on the same team."

"You don't think he was gonna pull that shit anyways? It's our get along shirt," he sneered, clearly resenting the implication that he couldn't get along with Izuku for an hour (despite all the evidence to that point from their first year).

Izuku shrugged. "Maybe," he replied. "Still, better safe than sorry. If we're teamed up against Class B, I want someone with me who can counteract orders when they come up."

"Should you be participating?" Katsuki asked, picking at his own food. Izuku shot him a sharp glare. "What? Any other day we both know you'd kick their collective shit into the sun, but I nearly fucking barbecued you, Zuku," he said seriously. "Who the fuck knows what would happen around people who give less than two shits about you? Just look at what's been happening around our class by accident! What if we get paired against Five-Finger Bitch-Count?"

Izuku paused at that, turning the nickname over in his head. "Five-finger—Is that a wordplay on five-finger discount? Like a shoplifter? Are you talking about Monoma?"

Katsuki gave him a disgusted look. "Do I look like I know any of their names?" he asked, affronted.

"Well, I know you know Shinso, Kendo, and Testutetsu, but I guess you wouldn't know Monoma unless you found him impressive. The copycat quirk guy," Izuku explained.

"Yeah, him."

"That's...not your best work, Kacchan," Izuku chuckled. Katsuki pouted. "It's not!"

"Five Minute Disappointment."

"So much better!" Izuku cheered. "Okay, what about him?"

"What if we're matched against him?" Katsuki asked again. "He's a real bitch, and if he throws out the wrong command—"

"You'll be there to back me up and save my ass like always," Izuku replied casually. A weird look flashed across Katsuki's face before he hid it from view by dropping his gaze back down to his food. "What was that?"

"What was fuckin' what?" Katsuki mumbled, stabbing a vegetable.

"You made a face. It wasn't a bad face, just a weird face."

"Now my face is weird? Damn, nerd, that hurts," Katsuki drawled, still not looking at him.

"Kacchan." He bent, trying to catch his eyes. "Katsuki." That caught his attention. "Talk to me."

"Feels good," he shrugged. "Good and really weird."

Izuku frowned. "What does?"

Katsuki grimaced like he was in pain, which only really happened if he was mortally injured or emotionally exposed. "That you trust me like that. Like you're sure that I'll have your back."

Why were they eating instead of kissing? That seemed stupid. "I am sure that you'll have my back. You always do," he replied fondly. Katsuki trembled, face turning red as his shoulders tightened.

"Finish your fucking food, nerd. Hurry the fuck up."

Good to know that Katsuki wanted to make out with him just as badly. Really, every time he remembered that Katsuki wanted to kiss him too, he felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin.

As soon as he had swallowed his last bite, Katsuki had captured him around the waist and dragged him onto his lap. "Do something useful with that mouth, Deku," Katsuki growled, and Izuku was only too happy to oblige. He swung his leg over Katsuki's clumsily, straddling him under the afternoon sun. In this position, he was the taller one and he relished the control it afforded him.

He wrapped his arms around Katsuki's shoulders, practically purring when Katsuki's hands anchored him down by his waist. It was fascinating to feel the tension drain out of Katsuki's body as he brushed kisses against his mouth—each kiss deeper than the last until Katsuki lost his patience and trapped Izuku's bottom lip between his teeth.

"Kacchan," he whined, grinding down into Katsuki's lap; moaning when Katsuki's hips jerked beneath him.

"Fuckin' tease," he muttered back. Izuku huffed a laugh before pushing in for a deeper kiss, squirming when Katsuki's hands stroked up his sides and down his back. For one insanely nerdy second, he was reminded of the convection diagram they'd been given in physics—heat moving through him in that same pattern; up to his obliques to his traps, then down to his lats and back again.

He ran his tongue across Katsuki's lower lip, before flicking it deeper to meet his tongue—sighing at the lazy pressure that Katsuki applied in return. It was unhurried and slow but so sexy. Izuku melted into it, savoring each swipe of Katsuki's tongue and insistent press of his lips.

Katsuki tasted like chili peppers (probably because of his lunch) and the beeswax lip balm that his entire family swore by, and he could probably die happy now that he knew that. If it weren't for the sounds that Katsuki made, he'd probably be content just kissing him like this for hours.

But Katsuki wasn't just a talker, he was...aurally expressive, and each noise he made shook Izuku to the core. It was gratifying because he knew exactly what Katsuki liked as soon as he did it, but he was getting drunk on the groans that rumbled through him like thunder and the moans that sounded like growls. They were animalistic, shameless, and flattering in a way that made him want to push farther and farther until the entire world knew what Izuku could do to him; while simultaneously making him possessively greedy—never wanting anyone to hear him like this except him.

Katsuki took the next step, hastily untucking Izuku's shirt from his pants so that he could get even closer. The breath punched out of Izuku's body at the first touch of Katsuki's flaming hands to his heated skin—whining loudly and clutching Katsuki tighter, hands fisting in his shirt and hips stuttering pathetically against him.

"If you two goddamn menaces screw during school hours, I will end your careers and your lives in that order," a tired voice growled from the door to the roof.

Izuku jumped away from Katsuki with a startled scream and landed on his ass, right as Katsuki let off panicked explosions exactly where Izuku's waist had been mere seconds before. "Sensei!" he yelped.

"What the fuck," Katsuki wheezed, clutching his stomach. Izuku must have kneed him in the gut in his rush to put distance between them. Oops.

"I'm so sorry—"

"I don't care," Aizawa drawled, cutting him off. "Just keep your clothes on and don't hump each other like animals in public. I'm not condoning sexual activity but I'm not an idiot, so keep it behind closed doors. This school and its students have a reputation, and any missteps you make here will follow you into your careers," he sighed heavily. "As you should know, there's protection available to you in the dorms, and my door is open to you if you need to talk, no matter how uncomfortable the topic. Be safe, be smart, and don't have sex on the school roof."

"We weren't going to fuck! Jesus Christ!" Katsuki barked, beet red and fuming. "We have class in like ten minutes!"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "You're teenagers. Endurance isn't exactly an expectation."

Izuku was now curled into a ball, hiding his face in his knees. "Please stop," he whined. "We were just kissing."

"That may be true, but I don't really care. Hands above the clothes when you're on campus, problem children."

"Yes, sir," Izuku squeaked.

"Fuckin' whatever," Katsuki scowled.

"Good. And congratulations. Mic and Midnight both owe me a week of supervisor duty," he grinned maliciously. Izuku dropped his hands from his face to gawk at his teacher. Katsuki's face went blank—clearly shocked.

"You bet on us?" Izuku asked, dumbfounded.

"I started a betting pool after your fight on Ground Beta," he confirmed, malicious grin growing wider. "After weeks of trying to get Bakugou to see a counselor because he was kidnapped and the whole country thought he had villain potential, he decided to forgo a therapist and drag you to an empty training ground in the dead of night instead because you were the only one who he felt comfortable being vulnerable with, despite your clear interpersonal problems. Then he unloaded his feelings on you in the most violent way he knew and you let him while simultaneously comforting him, encouraging him, and admiring him. It wasn't a question of if you would get together, it was a question of when. Mic and Midnight didn't believe me, even when you two disasters started to get closer. So really, I should be thanking you for proving that I'm always right and that no one should ever argue with me."

They gaped at him. "Is that why you pair us together? Because Ashido thinks it's so we don't fight. Like a get-along shirt," Izuku uttered, mortified.

"It can be both."

"What the fuck," Katsuki breathed. "We're not fucking dolls. You can't squish our faces together and make us kiss—"

"I don't have to make you do anything," Aizawa smirked. "I just had to put you two in each other's vicinity often enough that you stopped trying to kill each other. Besides, I have to entertain myself somehow. It distracts from the destruction and chaos that being your teacher has forced on me," he hid his face in his capture weapon. "Now, I came up here for a reason. Midoriya, we haven't found the person who bumped into you. It's been three weeks, and we don't think we'll be able to find him. He was probably using someone else's commuter pass, or he was using a single-use ticket. Either way, tracking him has been difficult. Police are still looking, but since it's a mental quirk that can apparently last indefinitely, it's safe to assume that there's some sort of off switch to undo whatever is making you obedient. As the school's second-best quirk analyst, would you like to take it on as an assignment? You'll be given extra credit if you do. Nezu's orders."

Izuku's new kinship with Nezu was one of the strangest things to come out of their time at UA. Their principal had picked up on Izuku's knack for analysis during finals in their second year, as he'd been seated next to Izuku during the other students' testing periods. Nezu had offered to mentor him during his third year, and Izuku had accepted. Unfortunately, between the course load and Nezu's own schedule, they hadn't been able to meet as often as they'd hoped, but Nezu would give him assignments and objectives every few weeks so that he could hone his skill.

Hence the previous evening with Kaminari. His analysis had been detailed in his pre-Nezu days, but now there was a terrifying edge to it that only Katsuki had seen (and been unfathomably disturbed by).

"I can try!" Izuku agreed, standing.

"Good. I'm going to leave now. Be in class on time, or I'll tell Iida that you were defiling school property. And before you tell me that's a weak punishment, imagine how much time it will take you to shake him," he grinned, already walking away.

They both blanched. "Yes, sir."

"Didn't have to fuckin' threaten us, I haven't been late a day in my life and I won't start now!" Katsuki called after him, volume increasing as he got farther away. "Jesus fuckin' Christ," he uttered, burying his face in his hands once the door shut behind their teacher.

"Aizawa just told us not to fuck on the school roof. Aizawa just told us to use protection. Bleach my brain—"

"I'm gonna boil my brain," Katsuki groaned. "Gonna scrub it with acid. I'm never kissing you in public again—"

"What?" Izuku's eyes snapped to him, alarmed.

"How am I ever going to be able to enjoy it if I'm worried that a fucking teacher will roll in out of fucking nowhere to make it awkward as shit again?" Katsuki demanded.

"I just started kissing you, you're not taking this away from me—"

"We can kiss in private where no one will barge in—"

"We don't have to make out, but you're really gonna flirt with me and change in front of me and look all perfect and then not let me kiss you? That's cruel and unusual punishment, and not even for my behavior! Where's the justice?"

"You're gonna kiss me and not go further? Like fuck we'll be able to pull that off, Deku," Katsuki snapped. "You look at me wrong and I'm ready to jump you." Well shit, that was flattering. And powerful. "It's a fucking hair trigger. And I just need to suggest that I'm thinking something dirty and you're ready to go."

"Because it's new right now! It'll get better with exposure."

Katsuki's glare turned dubious. "Self-serving sales pitch, Deku. Sounds like bullshit."

"It's not! They call it a honeymoon phase for a reason, Kacchan," Izuku insisted, pouting. Katsuki studied him and Izuku deepened his pout accordingly, eyes widening and bottom lip sticking out. He knew he'd won when Katsuki groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face.

"We get fuckin' cockblocked like that again, I'm shutting down any and all PDA until I can look whoever did it in the eyes again," he said finally, jabbing his finger at Izuku for emphasis. Izuku nodded rapidly, completely fine with whatever terms would let him kiss his boyfriend as often as possible.

"Completely reasonable. Absolutely acceptable," he agreed, climbing to his feet so that he could drop another kiss on Katsuki's mouth.

"Better be acceptable, shitty Deku," he grumbled as Izuku pecked at his face. The bell rang, signaling that their interrupted lunch date was over. "Now get off me, it's time for class."

Izuku pouted again, but obediently packed his lunchbox and followed Katsuki back to class.

As they'd predicted, Katsuki and Izuku were on the same team for their joint training session. They were joined by Asui, Kaminari, and Yaomomo—all good teammates that would be valuable for a variety of strategies.

They were up against Shiozaki, Shinso, Monoma, Rin, and Tsuburaba; a difficult set of quirks to plan for. Each one was so different, and both Shinso and Monoma were top-tier strategists themselves. 

"Break a leg, Deku!" Ochako cheered as they made their way out of the observation center.

"Why would you say that, Kirby?" Katsuki barked. "He might actually do it! His fuckin' cracker bones need a break—"

"First of all, leave my bones out of this," Izuku interrupted, pointing at Katsuki, expression dryer than a desert. Ochako spluttered a laugh, but Izuku wasn't sure if she was laughing at Katsuki's irritated scowl, or at the 'cracker bones' comment. "Second of all, thanks Ochako."

"Do not break a leg, Deku. I can't stress that enough. No broken bones," Katsuki demanded, visibly stressed. Izuku struggled to keep the fond smile off his face, rolling his eyes instead.

"I know, Kacchan," he grumbled, moving to walk out of the room.

"Oh look, it's the 1-A disaster duo," Monoma sneered as they walked up, completely ignoring the rest of the team. Not that their teammates minded being ignored where Monoma was concerned. In fact, they were so determined to avoid him that all three of their teammates split off to walk through their plan again, settling almost thirty feet away before deciding that was a safe distance. Katsuki and Izuku, on the other hand, ignored him completely and focused on the person they'd somehow adopted into each of their respective friend groups.

"Hey, Shinsou," Izuku greeted his tired friend brightly. Shinso squinted as though Izuku was literally too bright.

"Midoriya," he replied, sounding like a reanimated corpse.

"You sound like you fuckin' died, eyebags," Katsuki chastised him gruffly. "You're worse than Deku. Why don't you ever fuckin' sleep?"

"Sleep will take me only minutes before my death," Shinsou replied, tone dull. "And coffee will fuel me until then."

"Fuckin' dramatic. Just take a fuckin' Ambien, MindFuck."

"As soon as you pop a Xanax, Boomer," Shinso shot back. Katsuki shot Izuku a glare when he laughed.

"Traitor," he snapped.

"Oh, come on! It's funny, Kacchan!" Izuku replied, laughing harder. "Boomer? Like boom—"

"It won't be as funny when I blast your face off," he snarled.

"It's easy to laugh at people when they're jokes, Bakugou," Monoma chimed in, smiling placidly. His smile only stretched when Izuku fell silent, straightening sharply.

"Who's the joke here?" Katsuki barked back, shooting Izuku a warning look. "You can't do shit with on your own; you have to borrow power. I've seen your quirkless combat training stats, copycat. That's the fuckin' joke," Katsuki sneered.

"And I've seen you in action despite your scores—predictable and destructive," Monoma shot back. "It's funny that you think you're so much better when all you do is attract trouble and blow things up. There's more to being a hero than a flashy quirk and fighting, you know. People have to feel safe when you're around, and I don't think—"

"Deku, stay put," Katsuki commanded. Izuku stilled, and both Monoma and Shinso's eyes snapped to him. They hadn't even realized that he had been preparing to lunge, but here he was—knees bent and ready to tackle Monoma to the ground. "Chill the fuck out. You can beat the crap out of him when the exercise starts," he reminded him.

"Oh, I will," Izuku promised, eyes dark. "I'll fold him like a fucking pretzel. You think you're gonna make a good hero, Phantom Thief? Kacchan might be intimidating, but you make people feel small. You're arrogant and condescending, and the idea of talking to you gives 80% of the people who've met you straight-up nausea."

"And you think they prefer to talk to you? Nobody believes your bullshit optimism, Midoriya. "Deku is the name of a hero?" Don't be ridiculous. No, Deku is the name of an idiot with a pipe dream. I might make people feel small but you make them feel sorry for you, so suck my dick, Midoriya," Monoma sneered.

Izuku was in front of him faster than Katsuki could move, grabbing Monoma's crotch in a steel grip. "Maybe after I've ripped it off your body," he hissed. "But I've heard the reviews, and I'm pretty sure Kacchan won't let me eat garbage."

"Drop him," Katsuki said, but there was something strained in his voice. Was he mad? Izuku complied immediately, backing up into Katsuki's space for good measure. Shinso was staring at him, lips pursed in a thin line. Was he mad, too? But then he stopped staring at Izuku and flicked his eyes up to meet Katsuki's, and they both broke—doubling over with laughter.

"Fuckin' Christ," Katsuki wheezed.

"Garbage—" Shinsou choked around a laugh.

"It's not funny, Shinsou, my dick is great," Monoma snapped, and they both cackled harder, Shinsou actually falling to his knees. He went red with embarrassment, clearly realizing that that wasn't the best snap back, but since he'd chosen that path, he kinda had to stick with it. "You would be lucky—"

"Monoma, is your ego so fragile that you're trying to market your dick to someone you hate? Get a fucking grip, they're choking!" Izuku cried, placing his hands on Katsuki's shoulders and shaking him lightly to try to get him to breathe.

Shinsou calmed down before Katsuki, and caught his breath while he watched Izuku try to shake the laughter out of him. The look Katsuki gave Izuku when he calmed down was soft and fond—affectionate, even. Izuku blushed but stiffened a moment later, shooting a glance over his shoulder and meeting Shinsou's eyes. His eyebrows shot up and Izuku panicked, eyes flicking to Monoma who was still glowering at them. "C'mon, Neito, let's get in position," Shinso said, distracting the fuming blonde. Izuku shot him a grateful look.

"You know your place, Deku," Katsuki agreed. "Get in position, nerd."

"Bye guys!" Izuku waved, already running in the opposite direction. Shinsou frowned after him. It was the shortest goodbye he'd ever received from Izuku since they'd met.

"Knock 'em dead, Midoriya!" Kaminari bellowed after him. Katsuki's eyes widened, body stiffening in panic.

"Deku, wait!" Katuski barked. Izuku stopped in his tracks, swiveling his head over his shoulder. Shinsou's eyes narrowed. "The thing we talked about earlier, remember it?"

Luckily, they actually had talked about something earlier—after the initial barrage, Izuku was supposed to stick to Katsuki like glue—so he nodded.  "Got it, Kacchan!"

"Get going then," he replied. "What the hell are you gawking at, Troll Doll?"

"Nothing," he replied, breaking out his Aizawa grin. Katsuki stiffened. Shinsou had an ace in the hole. "Good luck, Short Fuse," he drawled, curling his fingers in the collar of Monoma's costume to drag him away.

"I don't need luck!" Katsuki bellowed after him.

He was half right.

The exercise was a two-part battle sim. They flipped a coin for who would play the heroes and who would play the villains. Izuku's team ended up on heroics by chance (a disappointment, honestly. Sometimes it mad the training more zesty when they got to play the villains), and it was their objective to rescue twelve hostage dummies while simultaneously subduing the villain team.

The first barrage went pretty darn well. Their strategy was to launch offensive strikes against the villain team that would serve as a distraction for their team members who were essentially acting as underground heroes—allowing them time to seek out the hostages while the flashiest quirks drew the opposing team's attention. It helped that the flashiest quirks also meant the quirks that worked well at long range—meaning that they could stay out of the villains' line of fire while eating their stamina.

They lost Kaminari to Rin pretty early. His scales had been used effectively—sniping Kaminari's support gear from afar and startling him enough to make him fry his brain. Yaomomo took Rin out with a cannon a few minutes later. It was a good first move—Rin was a powerhouse defense and a strong long-range player. Pulling him out early was a blow that the other team hadn't been expecting, and it forced them to pull Tsuburaba off of Hostage Defense and back to the front line, since Monoma had (as expected) favored taking on offensive quirks, with only Tetsutetsu's quirk as personal defense.

In the meantime, Asui and Izuku had taken the time to sneak away from the main battle to rescue the hostages that were being held in three of the buildings. They ran into Shiozaki, who was acting as the guard by creating walls of violent foliage. Luckily, he had been training to use his Air Force techniques in more applications than just blunt impact. He sliced his arm through the air to create a wind blade (that he had geeked out over for months when he'd figured out how to do it) in order to create openings in the vines just long enough for Asui to capture hostage mannequins with her tongue. Izuku noticed them growing more rapidly when they were sliced, so he switched back to blunt force—punching holes that simply pushed the vines apart instead of damaging them. Shiozaki apparently couldn't tell that anything was wrong if he didn't damage the plants, so their job got easier as she let her guard down.

"Let's get back to the front line," Asui croaked as they placed the final hostage in the safe zone.

"Wanna hitch a ride?" Izuku offered. She smiled at him, and he bent just far enough for her to climb onto his back, fingers sticking to his back. "Hold on tight!"

"Always do," she replied.

Sometimes he remembered how slow life was without One For All. Sure, he wasn't really supposed to use his quirk as a civilian, but even with the continuous 3% he used on a regular basis, he could get places so quickly. He'd long since abandoned the notion that he would have been useless without a quirk, but he had to admit that it was nice to have. Walking at his quirkless pace was a drag.

He made it to the front line in less than thirty seconds—Asui hopping off his back to defend for Momo's offense while he immediately fell into step with Katsuki. "Watch yourself, Deku," Katsuki barked. "The solid air extra is backing up Eyebags, and Garbage Dick has the razor sharp dude's quirk," he winced, and Izuku noticed that his upper was bleeding—the heavy duty sleeve slashed open like paper. "And he's using Tetsutetsu's quirk as defense. If you're gonna try to land a punch, be careful."

Asui went flying past them, and Izuku flicked his eyes over to Yaomomo to see why. Shinso had his capture weapon wrapped around nothing—Tsuburaba's solid air, he realized—and was using it to swing out of the way of Yaomomo's attacks. He must have used the increased momentum to land a hit on Asui. So cool!

"Focus, nerd!" Katsuki barked, pushing him to the side as a wall of fire rushed in their direction. "Shit, I guess he must have touched IcyHot. You think he's got ice too? Does that count as two quirks or one?"

"Either way, he's gotta be reaching his limit for anyone he touched before the match started," Izuku groaned, picking himself up. "I'm not sure how much he's increased his time limit, but the more he has, the less he can hold them—" he dove out of the way of an ice spear. "Well that answers the ice question." Katsuki fired off a Stun Grenade, giving them smoke cover. "We gotta hit him at the same time. He's gonna want to use Razor Sharp against me, but if he's using Real Steel to defend against you, he won't be able to," he explained. Katsuki frowned.

"That'll put you in the line of my blasts," he argued.

"Not for long. I'll be moving too fast. You let off a barrage, and I'll hit him as hard and as fast as I can. I can even move over or under your firing line if that makes you feel better. I'll barely get singed," he replied.

"Alright, dweeb, go for it," he grimaced. "But be careful."

Izuku zipped away and up the side of a building, and Katsuki started an Autocannon barrage—firing through the remnants of his smoke in Monoma's general direction. "Up 2, Left 4!" Izuku shouted, and Katsuki adjusted his aim, immediately hearing a pained shout. "Nice shot, Dynamight!"

He wanted to tell him to get a move on, but that would give away their plan. Instead, he increased the intensity of his attack, forcing Monoma to keep his attention on him.

Izuku was already on the move, launching himself off the side of the building (cracking some of the windows—they were still working on keeping property damage to a minimum) and rocketing towards Monoma like a missile.

"Midoriya, stop!" Shinsou's voice bellowed from behind them, and Izuku froze. He had launched himself with enough force that he couldn't alter his trajectory, but he flew toward Monoma as limp as a rag doll.

"Deku, hit him!" Katsuki snarled, raising his other hand to launch one of his newer attacks at Shinsou, hoping to drown him out with the sheer volume of his Flash Bangs while he continued his Autocannon assault on Monoma.

Deku regained some of his force and landed his attack on Monoma, but with far less power than if he'd been able to maintain his momentum throughout the entire move. Monoma fell—not as hard as they wanted, but hard enough to stun him—so Izuku picked him up by the legs and swung him; releasing at peak momentum and letting him fly.

He crashed into the third story of a building the next block over, and Izuku gave chase to make sure he was knocked out. Sure enough, he was lying limp on the sidewalk where he'd landed. That was two down out of five. Once Shiozaki realized that her hostages were all captured, she'd undoubtedly join the fray. Luckily, they had a plan for that when it happened.

In the meantime, he had something new to worry about. Shinsou had clearly figured out the obedience quirk. And probably that he and Katsuki were dating, but that was not the most prevalent issue here. He made his way back to Katsuki's side. "I need to plug my ears," he said as soon as he'd made eye contact.

"Yeah, but we're in a fuckin' battle sim, that's not exactly safe," Katsuki replied, making moves toward Shinsou, Tsuburaba, Asui, and Yaomomo.

"Sign cues to me," Izuku suggested.

"Only works if you're looking at me, dweeb," he negated, lining up an AP Shot. "New plan—you grab some of froggy's poison darts and take out vine head. Then you can get back here and if we haven't killed them already, we can figure out how to take out Eyebags and the extra." He'd forgotten about Asui's 'poison' darts (even though they'd been his suggestion). They were little darts that she could shoot from launchers on her wrists that were filled with her concentrated paralytic toxin.

"Tsuburaba isn't an extra, Dynamight," Izuku scolded. "But yeah, I can do that. But getting close to Tsu might be an issue since Shinsou is right there."

"Go long," Katsuki replied and Izuku nodded, turning and running toward where he'd last seen Shiozaki. A few moments (and city blocks) later, he heard a sharp blast, and saw Asui's dart launcher sailing overhead. Just like the baseball from their quirk assessment test in first year.

"Jesus, I didn't think you meant that long," he muttered to himself, picking up the speed so that he could catch the falling gauntlet.

The best part of being a quirk analyst at heart, was that he picked up a lot of knowledge on how a lot of random shit worked. Like the circulatory system of plants. He was pretty sure that as long as the vine was still attached to Shiozaki, he could introduce the toxin to her system. Sure, the closer the injection site was to her body, the quicker it would take effect, but if he could introduce the toxin and then fight her in close quarters, he could get her blood pumping and any extraneous nutrients that she was absorbing through her vines would get metabolized faster.

He didn't like to be smug, but it felt so goddamn good to be right. After emptying Froppy Toxin into thirty-six of Shiozaki's vines, he met her head-on—meeting her with a chaotic barrage that forced her to move and use as much energy as he could draw out of her. Then she stilled, eyes widening. "What did you do?" she gasped, as her muscles locked up.

"I'll tell you later," he smiled. "Sorry, Shiozaki. Thanks for a good fight though!"

"Your ability to make people like you even when you've beaten them is detestable, Midoriya," she managed to slur against the effects of the paralytic.

He flushed and shrugged apologetically before dashing away. He saw the smoke before he arrived at the main battle—wincing when another huge bang echoed across the training ground and a plume of smoke mushroomed into the sky. If he had to guess, he'd say that Katsuki was trying to break through Solid Air to get to Shinsou. He heard a cannon as he got closer, followed closely by an enthusiastic "FUCK!" Izuku frowned. The cannon was Yaomomo's, so why would—oh. Shinsou must have gotten control of her. And now she was attacking his boyfriend with a cannon. Spectacular.

He rushed forward through the alleys, stopping short so he could observe the scene. Shinsou and Tsuburaba were the only members of their team left but they were a powerhouse together, and with Yaomomo at their side it was a pretty deadly combo. He glanced around to spot Asui, and found her slumped in the street thirty feet away. So it was just him, Katsuki, and Yaomomo once they snapped her out of it.

"Take out Bakugou, Midoriya!" Shinsou shouted. Izuku's eyes widened. He hadn't realized that he'd been spotted in the dark, but the command rushed him and he dug his heels in. He gritted his teeth against the discomfort and tensed his every muscle against the urge to follow through. Apparently, Shinsou hadn't realized that he could disobey at the cost of a little pain. He broke his bones on a regular basis, he could stand a little discomfort if it meant getting a win in training. Or not attacking Katsuki.

"Snap Ponytail out of it, Deku!" Katsuki barked. He raised his hand without question, sending a 1% Air Force blast at her and watching as it made an impact and she stumbled.

"Thanks, Midoriya!" she called.

"No problem!" he yelled back, darting forward.

"The fuck took you so long nerd?" Katsuki barked.

"Shiozaki is strong, Dy—"

Oooooh, rookie mistake. Always check to see who's speaking when Shinsou's on the field. Goddammit.

"Snap out of it nerd!" the real Katsuki bellowed. "And don't fall for that shit again!"

Apparently, obedience overrode mind control. Fascinating. "Sorry Kacchan!"

"God-fucking-dammit!" Shinsou growled.

"How the fuck?" Izuku heard Tsuburaba mutter. "Does Bakugou's voice work as a shock to his system? That's so homosexual—"

Izuku faltered, head whipping around to stare at Tsuburaba in disbelief. "What?" he barked, running at him.

"In a cute way!" Tsuburaba insisted, right before blowing solid air in Izuku's path. "I'm not a homophobe!"

"Oh okay," Izuku grunted, smashing his fist into an air wall and shattering it. "It's still none of your business," he smashed a fist into his stomach. "And I still have to beat you."

Tsuburaba wheezed, doubling over before putting up another, thicker wall. "Might not be my business, but some of us—fuck—" he swerved out of the way of another fist. "Kinda watch your, shit not the face!" he ducked and rolled, trying to put distance between them. "Your relationship like a K-Drama."

Izuku froze. "What?"

"We ship it," he shrugged, pausing when he noticed that Izuku was no longer in pursuit. Katsuki was trying to apprehend Shinsou with Momo's help, and he couldn't tell if he was glad that he didn't have to hear this or sad that he had to hear it alone. "Like we weren't sure, but dude. You ran after him like the most valuable thing in your life was being stolen that day at the training camp. Even if it doesn't work out, even if you're straight, it's epic, you know?"

"Uh..." Izuku swallowed. "How many people think that?"

"Oh, only like six, dude. And it's not like...creepy. Y'all are just cute."

"Um...I'm gonna knock you out now, and we're never talking about this again."

Tsuburaba blanched. "Can...can you not? I can tap out. I was running on fumes there, I'll surrender."

"Yeah, just don't look me in the eye for like a week."

"Yeah, no sweat," he agreed easily. "Shinsou, I'm out!" he yelled.

"Dude, I just knocked out Creati!" Shinsou hollered back. "I can't take them on my own!"

"It's either that or get knocked out by the murder broccoli!"

Izuku spluttered. "Murder broccoli?"

"Surrender Midoriya!" Shinsou bellowed while he was distracted.

"I surrender," he replied obediently. Fuck. "Goddammit, Shinsou!"

"I'd say sorry, but I gotta take an opening where I get one!"

"Stop fuckin' talking and fight me, Eyebags!" Katsuki bellowed. "Deku, I'm gonna kick your ass for going down that easy!"

"Understandable! Beat his ass, Dynamight!" Izuku cheered.

"See? That's what I mean!" Tsuburaba cried. Izuku jumped. He'd already forgotten he was there. But he looked...unperturbed. Maybe he thought it was Shinsou's quirk that had forced him to respond? It was a unique quirk, so maybe it had the potential for alternative applications. It wasn't a huge reach. Or maybe he was just focused on his relationship with Katsuki.

"You agreed we'd never talk about this. I'm gonna have to knock you out now," Izuku insisted. Tsuburaba held up his hands.

"Sorry, dude."

Izuku never doubted that Katsuki would best Shinsou. He was smart and he was fierce. Without any teammates to back him up, Shinsou didn't really stand a chance, especially since Katsuki knew not to respond. But he put up an impressive fight—refusing to back down until Katsuki had him completely pinned.

"Fuckin' capture weapon is a goddamn nuisance," Katsuki grumbled, helping Shinsou up.

"I made some improvements. Less malleable when introduced to heat. I was kinda hoping to test it against Todoroki."

"What, I'm not hot enough for you?" Katsuki huffed, shoving his shoulder lightly as they walked to the "time out" center where their fallen teammates were waiting to head back to observation.

"Temperature-wise, sure, but the heat from combustion hits different. Todoroki's fire is more steady. If you're talking about something else, don't even go there. If I even thought about it I'd be Detroit Smashed into the stratosphere," Shinsou replied, sly and slow. His eyes slid to Katsuki in his periphery.

Katsuki sighed. "What gave us away?"

"Were you trying to be subtle? The soft, adoring look you gave him after he said you wouldn't let him eat garbage? Dead giveaway. You are neither soft nor adoring. You're lucky Neito was two seconds from a bitch fit, otherwise, it would have been broadcast for the entire campus."

"Well, fuck you too," Katsuki grumbled. "What about the quirk?"

"Sometime between when you told him to drop Neito and when you told him to get in position. He looked like he wanted to tear him a new one, it surprised me that he dropped him without driving the point home. He's pretty feral when people insult you."

Katsuki went pink. "Shut up."

"Is...is that one of the things you like about him?" Shinsou asked incredulously. Well, it was hard to tell if he was incredulous. His voice stayed deadpan no matter how he felt on the inside. "When he looks like a straight-up demon?"

"If it means the fight's gonna be good, yeah," Katsuki shrugged. "Once he said I make him stronger. S'hot."

"You two are certifiable," he insisted.

Katsuki scoffed. "Most of the idiots who have the fuckin' nerve to breathe the same air as me think of their partners as weaknesses. What I've got is way fuckin' better."

"That was romantic," Shinsou replied, probably in shock. "What the fuck, dude. You're supposed to be aloof and disdainful, that's why I'm your friend. To balance out Midoriya's endless parade of sunshine and rainbows. You can't do this."

"Bitch please," Katsuki barked. "The only time I see you awake and alert is when Denki's ass is in the vicinity. Keeping your eyes open for more than five minutes is basically your version of a fuckin' sonnet. Don't try that shit with me."

Shinsou actually stopped in his tracks. "What the f—"

"Were you trying to be subtle?" Katsuki mocked. Shinsou gaped at him. "Snap out of it, Walking Dead, we gotta move."

Shinsou followed behind him quietly for about a minute before the next questions came rolling in. "Why haven't you told anyone that you're dating?"

"Because we don't want anyone up our asses about it for a while," Katsuki replied after a thoughtful pause. "We've known each other our entire lives but only in two very specific contexts that are really fuckin' different than what we're doing now. We wanna figure that shit out before we put it all on display like we're fuckin' zoo animals."

Shinsou seemed to accept that. He knew what the hero course could be like when there was something new and not life-threatening to freak out over. "Why haven't you told anyone about the quirk?" he pressed.

"Deku has some shit in his life that he doesn't wanna broadcast, and some of our classmates are the nosiest shits on the fuckin' planet. He's pretty private, and Pinky and Invisalign would be on him like white on rice if they realized they could get him to open up. Especially after that fuckin' date with Kirby," Katsuki explained. "They already commanded him to basically let them read his fuckin' diary."

"That's...a good point," he muttered. "Well, good luck with that. And congrats, or whatever."

"...thanks."

Katsuki's demeanor completely shifted when he laid eyes on Izuku. "Told you to fuckin' pay attention nerd!" Katsuki bellowed over the remaining distance. Izuku jumped and spun around, immediately abandoning his conversation with Kaminari.

"Sorry, Kacchan!" Izuku replied sheepishly when they approached. "Got distracted. Tsuburaba said some...interesting things."

Katsuki frowned and opened his mouth to ask exactly what he'd said, but Izuku shot him an anxious glance that clearly said 'please god, no'. "So you just fuckin' drop your defense? You gonna do that if a villain tells you that he likes to have tea parties or some shit?"

Izuku looked affronted. "Of course not!" he snapped. "Don't be a dick, Kacchan. I haven't gotten distracted in a battle sim since last year, give me a break!"

"We went over this, I don't give breaks. I give you a break now and in a year I'll have to fuckin' bury you. Stay sharp, asshole."

"I already apologized, so you can stop barking at me like a constipated pomeranian now," Izuku seethed. "It was an honest mistake. Besides, Tsu and I rescued all of the hostages without getting a scratch on us, then I took out Monoma and Shiozaki on my own, so I pretty much carried you this time around."

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

"Oh are your explosions finally damaging your ears? Like I warned you they might years ago? Because I was speaking pretty clearly—"

"Listen, bitch, last week I had to carry you off the field when you went down. Then you fuckin' stood there when I blasted you at full force and I thought you'd fuckin' died."

"Those weren't my fault!" he yelled. "Neither of those was because I let my guard down, Kacchan, and you know that—"

"HEY!" Kaminari yelled. "What the fuck? Take it down, Jesus Christ!"

"What the fuck ever," Katsuki snapped, turning to stalk away toward the observation center. Shinsou stared after him, blinking in shock. What the fuck? How did he go from romantic and soft to a full-on nuclear shouting match?

"Uh..." Tsuburaba faltered. "I can carry Monoma back," he said awkwardly. "Someone wanna grab Asui and Yaomomo? Shiozaki already headed back."

"I've got Momo if someone can grab Tsu," Izuku replied absently, still staring after Katsuki with a troubled frown.

"I'll get Asui, I needed to talk to you anyway," Shinso offered. The rest of the group started walking, leaving Shinsou and Izuku alone. He moved toward the tiny frog lady and picking her up delicately. "For someone so badass, she's fuckin' tiny," he muttered.

"Hmm," Izuku acknowledged, clearly not paying attention. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapping rapidly. He stared at the screen, waiting for a response.

"We need to go, Midoriya, they need to reset the field," Shinsou prodded. Izuku looked up at him, studying him thoughtfully.

"You figured it out, right?" he murmured. "Not the quirk, that's obvious. But that Kacchan and I—"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Yeah, we talked about it on the way over. He was so chill before we got here that it freaked me out. It surprised me when you both blew up like that," he admitted.

"Me too," Izuku replied, glancing at his phone. "But I didn't really do anything wrong. I'd be beating myself up about it if I had. I don't think it was a real argument." His phone buzzed, and his eyes snapped back down. "Ah, yeah. Kaminari's been getting suspicious. He saw an opportunity to throw him off and took it. Still sucked, though," he said, showing Shinsou his phone.

'yea sry, trying to throw chargedolt off. you suck @ lying so i went 4 it. tlk abt it l8r.'

"Damn. You might need to apologize. You went in on him," Shinsou said, hefting Asui up a bit higher.

"Hell no," Izuku frowned. "He didn't warn me. He just went for the throat with no warning. I responded in kind. It took a long time to grow this spine, I'm not gonna bend over just because we're dating. Besides, I think he'd like me less that way."

Shinsou shook his head. "The weird thing is that you're right," he muttered. "He literally said that when we were walking over."

Izuku gave him a hesitant look. "What did he say?"

"Really?" he replied immediately. "You're gonna make me talk about emotions and romance? Why? Why are you both doing this to me?"

"C'mon, please?" he pouted. His greatest weapon. Shinsou sighed.

"Fine. He said that he likes that you don't think he's your weakness. He likes it when you get all scary and combative, even if it's against him."

Izuku flushed. "That's...really sweet."

"You two are so weird and gross," Shinsou complained. "Grab Yaomomo, dude, we gotta get going."

Izuku complied, barely noticing the order washing over him as he smiled softly. Katsuki gave him a weird look when he got back to the observation center. He'd made his face as blank as possible, but Katsuki could usually read him pretty damn well—the first two weeks of this quirk incident excluded. Apparently, he was expecting him to still be pissy. He wasn't wrong—that petty fight had slapped him out of nowhere—but the affection was definitely stronger than the irritation and to Katsuki, it showed.

Kaminari seemed spooked though, so it seemed like Katsuki's ruse had worked. His eyes were darting between the two of them as he whispered to Ashido, who was frowning deeply. "Hey Midoriya!" she called. "Come over here!"

He sighed, but obliged. "What's up?"

"You and Blasty okay? Denks said things got a little heated. I thought whatever weird argument went on between you two last week was over."

He smiled thinly. "Just a disagreement. We'll work it out, don't worry."

Mina's frown deepened, clearly thrown by his cool response and fake smile. "If you're sure, I guess."

"No way, dude, you went off at him. He was out of line, too, but damn dude I've never heard you talk to him like that—"

"Just because you've never heard it, doesn't mean it hasn't happened," he interrupted. "I appreciate your concern, but it's none of your business. We'll resolve it eventually, so please stay out of it."

They both flinched back at his tone and he felt kinda bad, but Ashido's interference had already done some damage this month, and Kaminari's prodding was starting to get to him. After a long, silent moment, he gave them an awkward wave and moved to the observation screens to watch the rest of the battles.

His phone buzzed again, and he fished it out of his pocket. 'U good nerd?'

'yea i'm fine."

'mad @ me?'

'...a little. but not rly.'

'meet me after class?' Katsuki asked. Izuku spared him a glance, giving him a quick nod. Katsuki typed something else out, and his phone vibrated again a second later. 'think of me till then.'

That motherfucker. He looked up again, narrowing his eyes. Behind Katsuki's resting bitch face, there was a tiny flash of mischief. He glared a little harder before turning back to the monitors, focusing his mind on the gut-punch Katsuki would be receiving after class. His phone vibrated again.

His phone vibrated again. 'not what i meant, deku. think about what we were doing before aizawa caught us.'

Well shit. He took a deep breath through his nose and pushed it back out through his mouth as he remembered the feeling of Katsuki's hands sliding up and under his shirt, stroking heat into his skin as their tongued tangled. He could not believe he was about to pop another boner right here in the observation room.

When was the last time he went through a full school day without getting unforgivably horny? Too long. And he wished he could be mad at Katsuki for it, but he was dating Katsuki and way too excited about it.

He could practically feel the way Katsuki's lips had fit against his own—the memory so vivid that it made his spine tingle.

By the time they were done with training, he was chomping at the bit. He finished showering and changing in record time before racing back to the dorm, throwing a hasty apology to his classmates since he wasn't waiting for them to finish changing.

He shut himself in his room as soon as he got back, grabbing his phone out of his pocket to tell Katsuki exactly what he thought of that particular order, but was met with another one.

'wait for me & don't touch urself'

FUCK. He tossed his phone on his desk before collapsing back on his bed, throwing his arm over his eyes as he tried to ignore his dick, which was fighting the zipper of his pants for dominance.

The moment he heard a knock at his door, he was yanking it open. He wasn't sure, but he'd moved so fast that he might have activated his quirk in his haste. Katsuki was on the other side, smirking at him and Izuku lunged.

"Not in your room. I meant it, Deku, never in your room," Katsuki protested, stepping back. "C'mon."

Izuku followed him obediently. "For someone who gets on me about my grades all the time, you sure like making it impossible for me to retain information in class," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. The corners of Katsuki's lips twitched. "Mean, Kacchan."

"You keep saying that, but you keep trying to suck my tongue straight out of my mouth," Katsuki replied, quiet and smug. "A couple of hours ago you were fuckin' humping me on school property—"

"Don't say that like you weren't an active participant," Izuku scolded, blushing furiously. They reached Katsuki's room, and Izuku was pulled inside hastily.

"Didn't say I didn't like it, Deku," he replied, pushing Izuku towards the bed. "S'fuckin' hot. Almost as hot as you yelling at me," he breathed, reaching for the buckle on Izuku's belt as he buried his face in Izuku's neck brushing his mouth over the skin at the ridge of his shirt collar.

"Yeah, well you were being a jerk," he muttered shakily, hands going up to grip at Katsuki's shoulders, whining when he pulled back to look at him seriously.

"We should have talked about it first," Katsuki admitted. "And this is what I meant about consent. You were pissed earlier, and I fucked with it by ordering you to think about us necking on the roof. Are you actually down to screw around right now? Answer honestly."

Izuku glared. "Yes. I was mad at the moment because it surprised me, but I got over it. But I will break your arms if you stop right now."

"Fuck, I'd say you didn't need to threaten me, but you're hot when you're mad," Katsuki replied, sounding almost breathy with excitement.

"See? It's not just me," Izuku joked, gasping when Katsuki yanked his belt off.

"Yeah, well it's been pointed out that we're fuckin' weird," Katsuki mumbled, flicking open the button on Izuku's pants and pulling his shirt out of the waistband. "Get your shirt off," he ordered, already tugging his zipper down.

He might have actually torn his shirt in his rush to obey. Katsuki's mouth was on his nipple less than a second later, biting down harder than he expected and wringing a needy cry out of him. His hips shuttled further forward, pressing into Katsuki's hands and Katsuki took that opportunity to slide his fingers slid under his waistband to push his pants over and off his hips. Izuku moaned a little too loudly when his hot hand gripped him through his boxers. "Lower the volume nerd. We don't want to traumatize Octo-Eavesdropper even more," he grinned against Izuku's chest. Izuku flushed in embarrassment.

His embarrassment was completely forgotten when Katsuki sunk to his knees. "Kacchan?"

"You wanna be sitting or standing?" Katsuki asked, looking up at him from where he knelt. His knees were already weak, just from the sight of Katsuki kneeling in front of him, so the answer was pretty clear—especially if this was going where he thought it was going.

"Sitting," he breathed, and Katsuki shoved him back a few inches so that the backs of his knees hit the bed, and he dropped into a seated position, completely malleable to Katsuki's whims. "Kacchan—"

"I want to suck you fuckin' dry," Katsuki growled, mouthing at his erection through his boxers. Izuku short-circuited. "Fuck, I love it when you bitch back at me, I almost fucked you right there on the training ground. You want me to blow you, Zuku?"

Of course, all of this was said with Katsuki's face literally in Izuku's crotch—hot breath washing over him as his deep voice physically rumbled through him—so all Izuku could really do was whine desperately and clutch at Katsuki's hair as he trembled in anticipation.

"That's not an answer," he said, turning his head to nip at Izuku's thigh, grinning as his muscles spasmed in response. 

"Yes, please Kacchan, please please please please," he begged, lifting his hips when Katsuki started tugging his boxers down. The relief he felt when his cock bobbed free was short-lived—he barely caught his breath before Katsuki's mouth wrapped around him and sank down, sucking insistently as he went.

He knew he was making noise—maybe even words—but he couldn't find the mind to pay attention. The heat and the pressure and his tongue had stolen the lungs out of his chest and between the struggle to breathe properly and resisting the urge to thrust into Katsuki's mouth, he had no idea what to do to himself except moan like a whore and writhe.

Katsuki wrapped a hand around his balls, running a thumb over them and Izuku's control slipped—hand tightening and hips thrusting. He hit the back of his throat and expected Katsuki to gag or pull away. Neither of those things happened. Instead, he moaned. The sound was dark and rough and it felt like thunder rolling through him. "Fuck!" he cried when Katuski pressed closer, fucking his own mouth open on Izuku's dick. "Feels so good, Kacchan, oh fuck—" he fell back, using the improved leverage to arch off the bed.

Katsuki's hands found his hips, keeping him still. For a second Izuku thought he might have pushed too far and he pushed up on his elbows to look down at him, but Katsuki looked him in the eye before taking him all the way down, pretty lips resting against the base of his dick while his hips were caught in a vice grip. Control. Katsuki wanted control.

Or he wanted to be fought for control.

Izuku's grip tightened again, yanking Katsuki's head up and off. "You intentionally pissed me off today, Kacchan, you think I'm just gonna be your good little slut like yesterday?" he demanded. Katsuki grinned at him, licking a broad stripe along his dick which he'd foolishly left within tongue's reach.

"You gonna do something about it?" he asked and oh his voice was unfair—rougher and raspier but still deep and harsh and Izuku wanted to find out just how gravelly he could make it.

"Open your mouth," he panted.

"Make me," Katsuki goaded back. Izuku ignored the brief crackle of green that flared out at the challenge. He cupped Katsuki's jaw and pressed down at it's hinge—pressure increasing each second he kept his jaw shut.

"Open your mouth, bitch," he snapped, pleased when Katsuki's breathing stuttered and his eyes darkened. Katsuki's mouth fell open, tongue flicking out to lave at the pre-come on his tip. He gave his hair a sharp yank of rebuke and Katsuki whined. How the fuck was this his life now? "Put your hands on my calves," he instructed, groaning as he took his cock in hand and placed the tip on Katsuki's lower lip. "And don't touch yourself. I'll finish you off later when you've earned it—"

Katsuki's fingers curled around his calves, burning almost too hot and gripping hard. "What're you punishing me?" he asked brushing his lips over the head of Izuku's cock. "Thought you weren't mad, nerd—"

"Not mad anymore," he corrected, pulling Katsuki's head forward and sliding his cock inside. "Still didn't like being yelled at in front of our future colleagues," he reprimanded shakily, stuttering out a moan as he pulled Katsuki's head further down. "So good, Kacchan," he whined. "God, you were right, this feels amazing. Look at me," he groaned when Katsuki looked up through his ridiculously long eyelashes to meet his gaze.

Fuck, he was so pretty. That's something he should say out loud. "So pretty, Kacchan," he purred breathlessly. "Suck for me, yeah—oh fuck," he fought the urge to throw his head back, intent on watching Katsuki's cheeks hollow around his length. "Feels so good—you're so beautiful, Kacchan." He started guiding Katsuki's head, watching delightedly as his cock disappeared into Katuki's mouth over and over again. The sight would be seared into his memory—his boyfriend Katsuki Bakugou on his knees with his mouth full of his dick. What the fuck had even happened in the last 48 hours for him to be blessed with this specific scenario?

He got lost in the slick glide of Katsuki's mouth and the insistent stroke of his tongue of his now glistening cock, eventually falling back again to regain the leverage he needed to get himself off. He was straight up fucking his face now, pushing his head down and thrusting up in equal measure; body quaking each time he felt Katsuki's throat close over the tip of his dick.

When one of Katsuki's hands left his calves, he propped himself up. "Did I say you could—" he broke off with a stuttering gasp when Katsuki ran a finger through the saliva that wet his chin before pushed his hand beneath Izuku's legs so that he could press the now wet digit against Izuku's asshole. "Kacchan—oh fuck, fuck, fuck!" he cried, hips arching off the bed as he came when Katsuki's finger pushed inside him and the suction on his dick doubled down.

Katsuki moaned around him, drinking down every last drop and then waiting—mouth still full of Izuku's dick as he wheezed on the bed above him. He ran his tongue along it almost soothingly, but it made Izuku shake and tremble. Izuku pulled him off, reaching down to grab the front of his shirt and drag him on top of him, whining when Katsuki's finger slipped out of him as he went. "Enjoy yourself, nerd?" he asked, absently wiping his chin with his sleeve.

Izuku barely registered the question—eyes fixed on Katuski's swollen mouth. He grabbed Katsuki's tie and dragged him in, kissing him hungrily. "So good," he murmured. "C'mere," he instructed, repositioning them so that Izuku could slump against the pillows. "Pants, Kacchan," he frowned, fumbling with the belt. Katsuki rolled his eyes and climbed back off of him, shrugging out of his shirt and tugging his pants off as fast as he could before climbing back over him.

He grunted in surprise when Izuku tugged him down next to him, slipping an arm under his shoulder and sliding that hand into his hair to kiss him languidly. He moaned low and rough when Izuku's hand curled around his length and began to stroke him. "So good for me, Kacchan," he breathed, against his mouth. "Your turn."

Katsuki pressed their lips back together, rutting into Izuku's hand desperately as he chased his orgasm. Each thrust into Izuku's fist pushed the head of his dick into Izuku's stomach, leaving pre-come behind with each move. That thought curled into his brain and took root—something needy and possessive that made him want to mark him up and stake his claim. Maybe a remnant of watching Izuku get so distracted by the Solid Air extra that he'd let Shinsou get the drop on him.

Izuku whined when Katsuki pulled their mouths apart, but it quickly turned into a delighted moan when Katsuki dug his teeth into his shoulder. He came hard all over Izuku's stomach when he returned the favor—the surprise of Izuku's teeth grinding into his skin snapping the frantic tension in his body faster than he'd thought possible.

Izuku found Katsuki's lips again and kissed him lazily, removing his hand from his spent cock and wrapping it around his waist to drag him closer instead. Katsuki's satisfied moan felt like a purr—trembling through both of them lazily as their brains slowly rebooted.

"Sorry for yelling at you or whatever," Katsuki mumbled eventually, nibbling on Izuku's lip.

"Sorry for surrendering," he replied absently, preoccupied with how soft Katsuki's skin was as he stroked circles into his back with his thumb. "Tsuburaba caught me off guard."

"Don't fuckin' talk about other people right after I suck your dick," Katsuki scolded, pulling back. Izuku didn't let him get far, holding firm.

"What's the matter?" he frowned. "What did I say?"

"Getting distracted by some fuckin' extra isn't really your style, fucker," he grumbled.

Izuku did the mental math—it took some time because there was a missing variable—and finally got there. "He wasn't hitting on me. He distracted me by telling me that there are people in Class B who watch our relationship like a K-Drama. They ship us."

"The ship us?" he squinted, confused. Izuku smiled fondly. Fandom wasn't Katsuki's preferred form of media consumption so naturally, he didn't know shit about it. "The fuck does that mean?"

"It means they don't know if we're gay, but they think we'd make a cute couple," he explained patiently. "It took me by surprise. He caught me off guard by telling me that your ability to break me out of brainwash was "so homosexual". Apparently, the development of our relationship has been a compelling and eye-catching narrative that they've become invested in."

"That's creepy as fuck," Katsuki insisted, eyes narrowing. "What the hell?"

"It doesn't usually happen with real people," Izuku agreed. "It's meant for like...movie franchises and anime and books. That's why it caught me off guard."

Katsuki's brow furrowed before he groaned and pushed his face into Izuku's neck. "Now I just feel like an asshole. And like I should probably start blowing up the spare class one by one."

"You are an asshole," Izuku agreed mildly. "A possessive one, apparently. Not gonna lie, that's kinda hot too."

"Weirdo."

"No, you."

Eventually, Katsuki got up. He still had work to do, and so did Izuku. Izuku, however, was content to laze around a while longer.

He threw on some sweats and a tank top before he picked up his phone—swiping it open when he saw a text from Kirishima.

'dude, u 2 r loud af. from now on if ur gonna get freaky w mido after class, WARN US. shoji and i r downstairs, lmk when its safe to come back.'

He barked out a laugh, startling Izuku. He tossed him the phone and watched with poorly contained malicious glee as Izuku went tomato red and dropped the phone, burying his face in his hands.

"Oh nooooooooooo," he whined.

Katsuki cackled, tickled pink at his mortification. "I warned you to be quiet!"

"And then you put your mouth on my dick! Out of the blue, too! That is not how I expected it to go at all!" Izuku exclaimed. "We just discovered that you don't have a gag reflex, Kacchan. You put your finger in my ass. How was I supposed to be quiet through that?"

Katsuki tried not to preen. "Good point," he replied, smirking. Izuku shot him a sour glance, indicating that his smugness was not appreciated. Then Izuku started tapping out a reply on his phone. "What're you doing?"

"Telling him it's safe to come back. Then I'm gonna go do my homework," he replied, sending the text and then gingerly climbing out of bed.

Katsuki frowned. "Will you come back here?" he asked. "To work, I mean."

Izuku considered him as he pulled his pants up. "Why don't you come downstairs to work?"

Katsuki pulled a face. "Too loud," he muttered while Izuku pulled his shirt back on. "But I can come down for a bit."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Izuku assured him. "I can just come back later. Ochako wanted to hang out and study Lit, and I promised her I'd be there. But when we're done I can definitely come back and finish studying here."

"We could just come back up together after dinner," Katsuki replied, not looking at him. Izuku smiled at him, not even bothering to digest the butterflies in his stomach. When he didn't reply, Katsuki looked up and blanched a little at the soft look on his face. "What's the fuckin' look for?"

"I want to spend time with you too, you know," he chuckled. "You can tell me what you want. No matter what, I'll be the clingier one in the relationship."

"Fine," Katsuki grumbled, going pink. "Please come back and study with me after dinner. You can bring Kirby if you want. I'll drag Sharkface with me so it isn't awkward."

Izuku finished smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes before walking over to wrap his arms around Katsuki's waist, resting his chin on his (perfect, idyllic, godly,...big) pecs to stare up at him. "I'll ask her if she wants to join us. It'll be good to get a feel for what it's like to be a couple around other people, right?"

Katsuki pulled another face. "Is it—" he cleared his throat. "I know she's your best friend and she's happy for us and everything. She's been...really fuckin' great, actually. I don't want to rub it in her face if she still likes you or whatever," he muttered, wrapping his arms to rest around Izuku's shoulders.

"So thoughtful, Kacchan," he murmured, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "But I think she's okay. I never really told you what happened on the date, did I?"

"No," he grumbled. "You just came out looking like a full fuckin' meal and then took her to your room when you got back."

"I think that before Ashido started messing with things, she knew I didn't feel the same," he explained. "She asked me what I thought of the date, and I told her it was great, but I was on it with the wrong person. Then I told her about you, and she told me that she wished I liked her back, but you can't control who you like. And she was glad that I trusted her enough to tell her. Then she encouraged me to go after you even though I was planning to give up because of Kirishima. She's promised that it was fine and that an unrequited crush wasn't the end of the world. I think we both like each other better as friends in the long run."

"Kirby's good people," Katsuki replied quietly, nuzzling Izuku's forehead. "If you think she'll be fine, then yeah, bring her. Our best friends should get to know us better n'shit, right?"

"I already know Kiri pretty well," Izuku chuckled. "I'm not an antisocial gremlin—" he broke off with a yelp when Katsuki bit his nose. "That's the second time you've bit me. Am I your boyfriend or your chew toy?"

"Oh, that fuckin' reminds me," he snapped, pushing himself out of Izuku's grip. "Constipated Pomeranian? Fuckin' really?"

Izuku raised a single, unimpressed eyebrow. "You were being a bitch. Like for real, you were just bitching at me out of the blue. Not to be rude, but you literally looked like a barking dog."

"Fuck you," Katsuki snapped half-heartedly.

"I'm so glad you've stopped randomly telling me to go fuck myself," Izuku sighed, pulling Katsuki back in. "It was really disruptive."

"Yeah, I'm a fuckin' saint. Changed like half of my personality for you."

"Just because you don't yell orders at me at random doesn't mean you're not still an ass," Izuku replied sweetly.

"Thin fuckin' ice," Katsuki mumbled when Izuku pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Get the fuck outta here. Kirby's probably waiting for you."

"You've gotta stop calling her that," Izuku said, mild and amused as he moved toward the door. "See you at dinner, Kacchan."

"Later, nerd."

When the elevator opened to take Izuku back to his floor, he was met by both of the guys he'd accidentally sexiled from their rooms. Kirishima and Shoji refused to make eye contact, and Izuku could totally relate. "I am so sorry," he said frantically, turning red in record time. "I promise we'll warn you from now on—"

"I'll forgive you if you answer one thing," Kirishima said, holding his hand up. "Is Bakugou the bottom? It sounded like it."

"No, last time he definitely topped," Shoji replied before Izuku could. Izuku, if possible, went even redder—looking like a whole-ass strawberry. "Jesus, sorry, I didn't—"

"No, it's fine," Izuku squeaked, squinting at them like it was painful to look at them directly. "We brought that on ourselves. I'm just gonna—" he took Kirishima by the shoulders and gently swapped places with him, ushering Shoji out of the elevator too. "Go. I'm gonna go. Bye!" he called, slamming his fist on the door close button until the elevator finally shut.

When he'd changed into casual clothes and finally met up with Ochako in her room, immediately updating her on all of the day's mishaps as he hid his face in a pillow and she laughed at him. "You guys suck at keeping this a secret," she crowed. "It's only been two days and six people already know. And it's mostly because you can't keep it in your pants—" she wheezed.

"Stooooop," he whined. "He's really hot, okay! And he actually wants me? I'm taking advantage of that as often as possible just in case he realizes that he could point at any living creature and have them if he wanted them."

She rolled her eyes. "I think he already knows that judging by the pic he sent you yesterday. I think he's more concerned with finding someone who wants to stay with him even after he's opened his big fat mouth. Besides, based on how petty he was being when he thought we were dating—and with Tsuburaba this afternoon—I'm gonna go ahead and assume that he feels the same way about you." She reached over and flicked him on the forehead. "The self-doubt thing is depressing and ridiculous. Stop that."

"It just feels too easy. Like it's great, don't get me wrong, but it's been two days and I feel completely comfortable."

She shrugged. "Maybe it's what you were meant to be doing, and all the other stuff was uncomfortable because you hadn't figured it out yet. There's nothing wrong with it feeling comfortable, you know."

"It's just weird. Considering we're building our lives around chaos and stuff, especially. Maybe I'm just not used to things being easy."

"...I wouldn't call your relationship easy. Just remember how much bullshit you had to climb through to get to where you are now. That should make you feel better."

As ordered, he remembered exactly how far they'd come and it totally made him feel better. She made a great point. His relationship with Katsuki was like showing up to a villain fight—messy and unstable, with danger around every corner. But both of them were heroes, and they'd cleared the obstacles and worked through the troubled waters and come out victorious. And there might be another obstacle in the future, but they'd just tackle it again with the same level of determination and vigor they always did when they worked together. And that...was a really romantic thought.

Something hit his arm, and he realized that he was crying. Fuck. "Deku?" Ochako reached out, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just being a sap. You're totally right," he blubbered. She hastily pressed tissues into his hand. "We've come really far."

"So far that Aizawa caught you undressing each other on the roof," she agreed, amused. Izuku blushed again, still blubbering.

"Why would you bring that back up! I'm never gonna be able to look him in the eyes again," he protested, burying his face again—this time in the tissues.

"I'm sure he's seen worse," Ochako replied.

"It was still embarrassing!"

"More embarrassing than when a five-year-old punched you in the dick on sight?" she asked. "Or when Hatsume got her hand stuck to your ass while you two disasters were trying to improve Sero's tape? Or when—"

"I GET IT! I'm an embarrassment, you can stop now!"

"I wouldn't say you're an embarrassment. You just...attract bullshit," she laughed.

"I'm well aware, thank you," he grumbled.

"So you've told me about everything that went wrong," she began slyly. He looked at her suspiciously. "You gonna tell me about what went right?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, nervous about the look on her face.

"Is he good in bed?"

"OCHAKO!"

After some haranguing, he ended up telling her just enough to satisfy her need for gossip and barely managed to get her to work on her homework. They took turns reading the book aloud to each other while the other took notes, and it was all calm and generally soothing after the wack ass clusterfuck that the rest of the day had been.

'Sato's done cooking! Dinner's on!' Mina's enthusiasm seemed to bleed through to everything she did, even announcing dinner. "Wanna come study with me and Kacchan after dinner? Kirishima should be joining us too," Izuku offered as he packed his bag.

She shrugged. "Sure. As long as you don't start necking in front of us," she teased. He threw an eraser at her, pleased when it smacked her in the forehead.

"We wouldn't!"

She scoffed. "Okay," she replied. "Kiri and I already have a bet on your PDA once you go public."

"What is it with people placing bets on us! First Aizawa then my own best friend? Did I tell you that Class B ships us?"

She laughed. "I knew about the Class B thing already. I just thought you were straight so I didn't bother telling you. Kendo told us during one of last year's girls' nights."

They made their way down to dinner together, Ochako still ribbing him quietly as they made their way to the kitchen.

"I promised Mina, Momo, and Tsu that I'd eat with them, but I'll catch up with you after," Ochako promised, hip-checking him as she left. He grabbed his plate and went to sit with Kaminari and Sero, who were (unfortunately) talking to Mineta.

Thankfully, they seemed to be talking about video games instead of whatever was usually infecting Mineta's tiny skull. "Mind if I join you guys? Ochako ditched me," he pouted.

"Of course dude," Kaminari replied, kicking out a chair for him. "I wanted to talk to you anyway. Did you hear how I got taken out today?"

"Rin got you with his scale launcher, right?"

"He got my earpiece and the signal feedback startled me into self-electrocuting," he replied, embarrassed.

"Well, like I said yesterday, we can workshop some support items with Hatsume. I think if you have some sort of device that can absorb power in excess of 1.5 million volts, you'd stop frying your brain because the excess power that you can't handle would have an outlet. There's no need to be embarrassed, it's only been 24 hours since we talked about it and Rin has damn good aim."

"Pick any time, I'll make it happen," Kaminari said. "I hate it when I'm taken out that fast. I'm basically useless against attacks like—"

"Do you guys talk about anything else?" Mineta demanded, standing on his chair. "We should be talking about how Midoriya rejected Uraraka! How are you still friends with her after embarrassing her like that?"

"I didn't embarrass her," he frowned. "If anything, I'm the idiot for not liking her. She's great."

"Well if you don't want her, this is the perfect time for me to make a move! She's vulnerable and she'll need a shoulder to cry on," he insisted. "Come on, hook me up, Midoriya!"

The order felt like molten lead; heavy and infuriating in a way he wasn't sure he'd ever experienced before. He smiled tightly. "Gladly. I'll be right back." Mineta looked genuinely surprised and excited.

"Dude—" Sero interrupted as Kaminari grabbed the back of his shirt in alarm.

"Let go," he snapped, and Kaminari let go immediately. "Sero, come with me."

Frowning, he stood and followed Izuku as he approached Momo and Ochako. "Hi Yaomomo," he greeted her, his thin smile still firmly in place. She blinked up at him, brows furrowing in confusion.

"Midoriya?"

"You okay, Deku?" Ochako asked, concerned.

"I'm good. Can you make a hook for me, Yaomomo? Like a big meat hook?"

"Uh...why?" she asked uncertainly as Sero suddenly realized what was happening. He choked on a laugh, body trembling with the effort to not cackle and give Izuku's plan away.

"There's something I need to...hook up. It's not big, but I think I'd like to make a point, so the flasher and more exaggerated the better. Sero, before I turn around, please ensure that he can't run away," Izuku instructed, oddly calm despite his deep irritation. Sero pressed a fist to his mouth, tears of mirth gathering in the corners of his eyes, but he nodded.

"Sure dude," he wheezed.

"What's so funny?" Ochako inquired, now more suspicious than concerned.

"Don't worry about it," Izuku replied right when Sero said:

"You'll see!"

Izuku blocked Yaomomo from view as she lifted her shirt to produce a comically large double-pronged meat hook—almost a full foot long and made of steel. "Thanks. Where's the nearest flag pole?" he asked. Yaomomo's look of concern only deepened, but she answered anyway.

"Uh...the entrance to the Heights Alliance courtyard."

"Perfect. Sero, get him," he instructed.

He admired Sero a lot. At first glance, his quirk wasn't very heroic. But he'd made it heroic through incredibly hard work—increasing its adhesiveness and tensile strength through sheer perseverance. He'd also developed incredible aim—a point that was emphasized now as he launched tape at Mineta and making direct contact with both of his legs.

Izuku marched over to him, Sero following behind laughing his ass off. "Wrap his legs," he instructed, and Sero obeyed quickly.

"What the hell are you doing!" Mineta cried, trying to wriggle out of the tape.

"You are a predatory, perverted piece of shit, and I've had it," Izuku growled, activating his quirk just enough to have the strength to push the hook through the back of Mineta's sweatpants and boxers. "You think I'd help you make moves on my best friend when she's vulnerable you absolute flaming cock nugget?" Kaminari broke down then—'cock nugget' too ridiculous of an insult for him to let slide.

"Deku! What the fuck are you doing!" Katsuki barked, moving to intervene.

"He wanted me to help him get with Ochako while she was vulnerable from my 'rejection'," he growled, turning his fierce glare on his boyfriend. "He told me to hook him up. I'm obliging," he explained, holding Mineta up by said hook as he writhed like a caught fish.

Katsuki was dumbfounded for a moment before he snorted in amusement. "Got it," he replied, pulling out a chair to watch the spectacle.

"Kiss my ass, Midoriya!" Mineta wailed.

"Do not kiss his ass, Deku, you have no idea where it's been," Katsuki drawled, taking a bite of his food. "You should tape his fuckin' mouth shut, or else someone will take him down earlier than he deserves."

"Excellent idea," Izuku hissed, holding out his hand to Sero for more tape. He slapped it over Mineta's mouth with way more force than strictly necessary, and they all got the impression that he'd just wanted an excuse to hit him.

"Midoriya! Put him down!" Iida barked, storming toward them. Izuku held on tight, despite the pain that flared through him for the defiance.

"Nah, Deku, you keep doing what you're doing. It's about fuckin' time someone taught the little shit a real lesson," Katsuki negated. "That asshole's been making the girls feel like crap for two years, Glasses. Let Deku do this, and I fuckin' promise you he'll think twice about harassing our classmates."

Iida looked troubled, but it was pretty clear that Izuku wasn't going to back down. Izuku didn't want to risk him barking out another order that he may not be able to refuse when he was angry like this, so he took off running.

Three minutes later, he'd hoisted Mineta up in the most vindictive patriotic wedgie he'd ever seen—gagged and bound with tape as he swung from the top of the flagpole by his pants and boxers. "If I ever hear you say shit like that again, I'm gonna kick you into the fucking sun!" he bellowed up to the flailing grape.

"Midoriya?" he whipped around to face the newcomers—finding Kendo, Pony, and Shinsou staring at him in varying levels of shock.

"Hey guys," he replied cheerfully.

"What's going on, Mido," Shinsou asked, eyes flicking up to Mineta's flailing form.

"He pissed me off, and I'm sick of him victimizing our female classmates," he shrugged. "I'll let him down eventually if a teacher doesn't."

"Savage," Pony whispered, wide-eyed.

"What are you guys doing out here?" he asked mildly, as though he hadn't strung up another classmate like a patriotic fish on its twenty-foot line.

"We were heading to your dorm. Momo offered to help us with Chemistry," Kendo explained, still eyeing the flagpole.

"And after that, I'm helping Kaminari with English," Shinsou added, also eyeing the flagpole—his expression much more impressed than Kendo's. A quick frown flashed across Izuku's face. Kaminari was the top of their class in English. Then he understood what was happening, and he smiled brightly. 

"I'll walk back with you!" he replied, already turning to walk back.

"I guess Monoma was lucky he caught you right before training instead of after school," Shinsou drawled. "I'd honestly pay to see him up there someday."

"If I thought he'd learn his lesson, that's exactly where he'd be," Izuku muttered. "But his hate boner would just...grow."

"...hate boner?" Kendo whispered, horrified.

"That's what Kacchan calls it," he shrugged. "Seems to fit."

"This is the best day of my life," Shinsou chuckled. "Garbage Dick with a Hate Boner. We should make him a t-shirt."

"I'm sure Momo would oblige," Izuku laughed.

The following week was pretty tame, mostly because Izuku had been burrowing away in his free time to try to crack the quirk. It was way more trouble than it was worth, and even though it lent itself to some...fascinating explorations with Katsuki, he had been ready to be done with it weeks ago.

Of course, there had been some near misses. And then there had been incidents that Katsuki and Aizawa hadn't been around to save him from.

One poorly placed "Go Deku!" during training had him racing off school grounds at a nearly unmatchable pace. He wasn't sure why the quirk had interpreted "go" as "run as far as you can," but it had happened, and he had hated it.

Tokoyami, in a fit of frustration, had uttered "Fuck me sideways with a ten-foot pole." Not only had the mild-mannered bird man's declaration been MASSIVELY out of character, but his command had been extremely hazardous to his health. Luckily, there hadn't been any ten-foot poles nearby, so he'd had to go hunt one down before Present Mic told him to stop measuring poles. That had been a pretty clear-cut command that had been unavoidable.

Then, during a study period, Kaminari had noticed that Aizawa was in a particularly foul mood. "Damn, he looks depressed. Give the man a hug," he'd declared. It hadn't been meant as an order, but his weird new lizard brain had interpreted it as one anyway. He'd gotten up from his seat and moved to the front of the classroom. Katsuki hadn't heard the order, so he didn't have any idea what was happening until Izuku had moved behind Aizawa (who looked startled and confused) and wrapped him in a hug from behind, resting his chin atop his head.

"What the hell are you doing, problem child?"

"You looked upset. Hugs are good for you," he'd squeaked in reply, making terrified eye contact with Katsuki who looked like he was going to bust out laughing.

"...Thank you. Now sit down."

"Yes, sir."

The most frustrating part was that the quirk seemed to vary in intensity between commands—some orders forced him to act, whereas some only caused discomfort or pain if he refused to comply. Or maybe it was that if the command caught him off guard or hit him when he was tired or distracted, he couldn't muster the willpower to refuse the command. There were too many factors, and if he couldn't figure out how it worked, he would never figure out how to break it.

"Bend over," Katsuki instructed. Izuku, who had been scanning his notes and muttering up a storm, immediately complied. "Nice ass, dweeb." Izuku rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Kacchan," he replied, straightening and throwing him a dry look.

"Bend over," he repeated, grinning. Izuku rolled his eyes but resisted. Sure, Katsuki was trying to help, but he was doing it in the least helpful way possible. "I said, bend over." Oh. Okay, resisting hurt a little more now. So maybe the intensity of the command had a bearing on how painful the refusal was? Eventually, he caved and bent over. "Good boy."

"I am trying to focus, Kacchan," Izuku scolded, turning pink. "Please stop leveraging my kinks to distract me."

"Not my fault you have so many," Katsuki teased. "Come on, nerd, it's Saturday and you've been doing this for hours. You woke me up for this. At six. Come take a break."

Izuku eyed him suspiciously, holding out on the command. "No articles of clothing are allowed to leave my body. We didn't give your floormates warning, and I have work to do."

"Fuckin' fine," Katsuki agreed, already scooting back on the bed to make room for him. Izuku crawled after him, unable to keep from smiling when Katsuki pulled him close to bite at his lips.

He let his mind run blank as Katsuki kissed him lazily, almost lulled to sleep by the warmth of his hold and the soothing stroke of the hand in his hair. He cuddled in closer, body devoid of tension when Katsuki released his lips to brush his mouth along his cheeks and his nose. He was so comfortable and everything about this morning was so peaceful and gentle. The only other person on the planet who could make him feel so at ease was his mother. Oh. His mother.

He stiffened—just slightly—and Katsuki noticed immediately. "What're you thinking, nerd?"

"We need to tell our parents," Izuku murmured in reply as Katsuki bit and kissed along his jaw. "OW!" he yelped as Katsuki actually dug his teeth into his ear. "What the hell was that for? And why do you keep biting me?"

"Bringing up the hag while we're in bed is the fuckin' definition of a no-fly zone, Deku," Katsuki scolded him seriously. Izuku snorted. "I'm serious. Why were you even thinking about that?"

He shrugged, pulling Katsuki closer to burrow into his neck. "Dunno. I want my mom to know. And I think if your mom found out from my mom instead of us, it would be her villain origin story." Katsuki barked a laugh, and Izuku grinned triumphantly.

"You don't think it's too soon?" he grumbled. "We've only been dating for a fuckin' week."

"We can tell them it's new," he allowed. "But I think they'd be happy, don't you? Supportive."

"Haven't even told them that I'm gay," Katsuki replied, hiding his face in Izuku's hair. Izuku stiffened again.

"Really?" he asked quietly. "Why not? You don't they'd be supportive?"

"...I think they would be. But I've caused a shitload of trouble. What if this is the one thing they can't take?"

Irritation. Heartbreak. Irritation. Heartbreak. Irritation. "What do you mean you've caused a shitload of trouble?" he demanded, pulling back to look him in the eye. "You're a model student. You're at the top of the class. You only break rules in life threatening situations. What trouble have you caused?"

Katsuki frowned. "They know how I treated you. They know how I treated everyone. Had shit-tons of disciplinary meetings about how I treated classmates. Well, not how I treated you. But everyone else? They were dragged into parent-teacher meetings almost fuckin' monthly. Then the fuckin' league took me because they thought I'd make a good addition to their shitty emo boy band. We had to move into dorms because of me, Deku."

Izuku reached up to flick him between the eyes. "First of all, anyone who thought you would make a good villain wasn't paying attention to you at all. Second, you've grown. You treat people with your own weird brand of respect, and we've all noticed. Third, I'm dating you, so if I've gotten over how you treated me, they should too. Fourth—"

"What is this, a fuckin' essay?"

"Fourth," he pressed on irately. "Your parents are insanely proud of you and what you've become. And if you throwing your life in harms way for a living isn't going to stop them from caring about you, I highly doubt your sexuality will. But, if you're not comfortable with telling them, we don't have to tell them," he promised. "We can handle this at your pace."

"You don't like keeping things from your mom though," he muttered.

He shrugged. "Sure, but it's not just my relationship. It's not just about me. I want you to be comfortable too. I want you to feel good about how we approach it, from how we tell our parents to how we tell our friends," he smiled, pressing forward to kiss him softly. "I'll wait as long as you need."

"Go out with me," Katsuki said seriously. Izuku frowned, even as the command took hold.

"I am going out with you?"

"Like on a date, loser. Go out on a date with me. It's Saturday. Let's go out for the day."

Izuku blushed, a delighted smile lighting his face. "I have to clear it with Aizawa," he replied, a little giddy. "But it should be fine if we're together. He let me leave with Ochako."

"Stop bringing up other people when I'm being mushy n' shit," Katsuki barked, trying to push him away. "I'm serious."

"Sorry, sorry," Izuku laughed, latching onto Katsuki's torso so that he wouldn't fall off the bed. "I'll text him and ask. When do you wanna go?"

"There's that new movie out. We could go see that and have dinner. Or we could go to lunch before and watch after," he offered pulling Izuku back in close and speaking into his hair.

"If we're avoiding suspicion we should go earlier," Izuku replied with his face firmly pressed into Katsuki's neck. "We can go to that hole-in-the-wall spot you like downtown."

"You sure? What about the other place? The prissy little bistro by that hero merch store?"

"We'll go there next time," he replied, grinning. "Your place is closer to the theater anyway. And it's not prissy!"

"They serve their fuckin' cakes with gold leaf, Deku. Prissy as fuck."

Aizawa granted them permission to leave campus, as long as they checked in by text every hour. He had a feeling that the additional restriction was his very light rebuke for stringing a classmate up from a flagpole. He hadn't had to check in when he'd gone out with Ochako.

Speaking of Ochako, he needed her help.

'Hey, can I ask u a favor?' he texted her. The speed at which she texted back had always alarmed him. It was like her phone was permanently in her hand.

'yea whats up?'

'kacchan & i r going out. help distract the class while we escape?'

'say less. u need help getting dressed? 😉🥵'

'...yes pls 😰'

It's not that he didn't know how to dress. He'd proved that the last time he'd gone on a date. It's that Katsuki was the son of two titans of the fashion industry, and he'd probably look like sex on a stick while Izuku looked basic cute at best.

In record time, she'd stuffed him into skinny jeans, a viridian t-shirt (that apparently brought out his eyes), and a black button up that she insistently rolled to his elbows. She'd glared at his hair for longer than he'd liked. "What?"

"Fluffy. Cute. Not hot."

"Hey!"

"Hey, the girls are planning to talk you into an undercut, and I can't say I disagree," she argued. "It's not like your hair is bad, it just makes you look young. We're going for impact here, Deku."

"Well it's not like I can just get a haircut right now. I'm meeting him outside in," he glanced at the clock. "Six minutes."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just trying to figure out...do you have a beanie? A plain black beanie?"

"Uh...actually, I think I have Kacchan's—"

"Perfect! Where is it." She pulled it over his head as soon as he'd unearthed it, fluffing the curls at his forehead just so until she was satisfied with how they fell. "Okay, what do you think?"

He glanced at himself in the mirror and was...pleasantly surprised. "I like it," he smiled.

"Good! Now wait here for three minutes while Kiri and I make sure the coast is clear in the common room. If there's an issue I'll text you."

He adored her. "Thanks, Ochako," he replied gratefully.

Three minutes later he snuck into the common room, peering around the corner to see if anyone was paying attention. Ochako was regaling the girls with what seemed like her entire gossip arsenal, while Kirishima had decided to set up an impromptu arm-wrestling tournament. He glanced out the window and saw that Katsuki had already made it outside.

His pocket vibrated, and he fished his phone out and found a text from Hagakure. 'the key to being sneaky is to act like you've got nothing to hide. walk out casually, don't make eye contact.'

His eyes snapped to the girls and found the floating pair of gloves that were giving him a subtle thumbs up.

Make that seven people who know something was up. But she'd given an order, and he followed them to the letter, escaping out of the front door without even a single raised eyebrow.

'thanks!'

'no problem🙂 have fun!'

Now that was a command he was down to follow.

Katsuki was leaning against the entryway pillars, scrolling through his phone, looking positively edible in ripped jeans, a black hoodie and a leather jacket. It wasn't fucking fair. "Sorry I'm late," he said in lieu of a greeting, trying not to eye-fuck his boyfriend in public.

Katsuki looked up then smiled, slow and predatory. "Lookin' good, nerd. I was wondering where that went," he said, tugging on the edge of the beanie where there was a bright orange embroidered 'X'.

Izuku smiled. "Like I'd let anyone else have your prototype hero merch," he teased.

"Not even me, apparently," he smirked. Let's go, movie starts at 2," he said, slinging an arm around Izuku's shoulders to propel him forward. Once they were out of range of the dorm windows, Izuku pulled that arm off so that he could tangle their fingers together instead. "Sappy nerd," Katsuki muttered, blushing.

"Your sappy nerd," he replied cheerily, swinging their arms a little for emphasis.

They made their way past 1-B's dorm, then 1-C's and then they were through the gate.

They were too wrapped up in each other to notice the eyes following them as they strolled past the windows of the other dorms.

If going on a date with the wrong person had been fun, going on a date with the right person was positively fucking blissful. Even holding Katsuki's hand made him feel like he was floating away.

Oh, well, he actually did that a couple of times. Float was a weird quirk to begin with and even though he mostly had control over it, sometimes it would activate when he was...emotional. Namely when he was embarrassed, flustered, or apparently when he so impeccably happy that he could barely form a sentence.

Fuck, he was so sappy. He had no idea how or why Katsuki endured it. But here he was, basically being carried like a balloon by his surly, stupidly-attractive boyfriend on their way to a seedy dive that had the best spicy curry west of Musutafu.

All Katsuki had said to incite his stint as an airborne flotation device was that he'd complimented his observation skills. They'd been talking about a hero battle in France, and when Katsuki had criticized the spotlight hero's recklessness, he'd pointed out that he'd specifically chosen a team that could not only back him up, but reinforce buildings and shelter citizens as the battle raged—especially the metal creation hero Armature who had shored up the Eiffel Tower before the villain had even made it to the center of Paris.

"Didn't even notice, the coverage was all focused on Bombardier," he'd replied. "Not many people would have pointed that out, nerd. Nice." Then he'd paused when the hand holding Izuku's began to raise. "The fuck?" he asked, looking up at him.

"It's...you're holding my hand and complimenting me. I'm...I'll be fine. Just keep walking. I'll come down eventually," he explained poorly, face red.

"Fuckin' embarrassing," Katsuki grumbled, gripping his hand a little tighter and continuing to walk. "I've complimented you before."

"Not while holding my hand. Definitely not dressed like that. I was already kinda giddy, I think the compliments pushed it over the edge," he squeaked.

"Dork," Katsuki huffed affectionately. "I can't believe I'm taking a fuckin' balloon on a date."

He'd settled down by the time they got to the restaurant, but Katsuki had thrown his arm back over Izuku's shoulder to make sure he stayed anchored to the ground and would not stop teasing him about it. He'd be annoyed, but he deserved it and he was on a date with Katsuki, and that had kinda cemented his good mood.

It felt so normal. The only thing that was different from any other time they hung out was that Izuku knew that he was allowed to kiss the guy across from him and Katsuki would welcome it. They still talked about the same things they always did—still bickered, still debated and fought for the best point (and therefore the last laugh)—but it was shaded by flirty grins, affectionate gazes, flushed cheeks, and...Katsuki running his foot up Izuku's calf.

"We're in public," Izuku scolded him, blushing violently. "Like actual, "civilians present" in-public."

"So control yourself, nerd," Katsuki replied, devilish smile included. "It's not like I'm doing anything that suggestive."

"That foot goes any higher, and that'll officially be bullshit," he warned. "And we still have the movie after this." He blanched when Katsuki's smile widened. "Oh, no."

"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning innocence very badly.

"You are not walking us into a PG-rated movie and traumatizing children by manhandling me in the back row," he replied, the seriousness of the statement overshadowed both by the tremor in his voice and the glint in Katsuki's eye.

"Well, it's a matinee, so it'll be less crowded," Katsuki replied, picking Izuku's hand up off the table to play with his fingers. "But if it really makes you uncomfortable, we can table it for later. Doesn't really matter. Don't ever really care what we do as long as you're there."

"I'm already in love with you, you don't need to get my heart in a chokehold," Izuku breathed, eyes riveted to Katsuki's thumb tracing patterns into his scarred fingertips. "Let's table it for later, though. We've already proved that I can't stay quiet for shit."

"Fair," Katsuki nodded. "You just look good. Really fuckin' good. First time I saw those jeans I wanted to blast Kirby's eyes out of her skull."

"S-sure glad you didn't since she picked out the rest of this outfit," Izuku stuttered.

"You'd look good in four-day-old sweats that had been through a villain fight," Katsuki replied dismissively. "It kinda pisses me off. Fuckin' roll out of bed looking cute n' shit every fuckin' day. You use two in one shampoo, your hair should not be that fuckin' soft. And you're fuckin' jacked. I nearly died when you choked out that fuckin' bomb bubble shithead with your thighs."

That had been...the most ridiculous fight he'd ever been in. There were two villains—one could make some sort of silly-string-like substance that hardened into cement, and the other could blow explosive bubbles. Izuku's arms had ended up cemented to his sides, and he'd had to do some literal legwork to knock out the Bubble Bomber. That's what he'd called himself.

But more importantly, Katsuki liked his thighs. And his hair. And maybe his face? His face could not possibly get any redder. "But this looks better?"

"Different," he disagreed. "Like you did something special for me. And it's good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, good," he smirked again, and Izuku's stomach felt kinda like the first drop on a roller coaster. He dropped his voice to a low murmur so that only he could hear. "Like you could have a nice, polite sit-down dinner with my parents, charm the shit out of them, and then take me home and rail the fuck out of me."

Oh, look! He could get redder. Just like that!

"If you don't behave yourself, I'm gonna do exactly that," Izuku threatened half-heartedly.

"Not if I rail you first, nerd," Katsuki grinned, sharp and challenging. Izuku squeaked and hid his face in his free hand.

"I hope you're not embarrassing this poor sweet boy, you little gremlin," a voice interrupted them, and Izuku jolted in his seat, banging his knee against the table.

Katsuki loved this little restaurant so much that he was on a casual roasting-basis with the owner and the wait staff. The few times Izuku had joined him, he'd been amused by their hearty bickering. Now he was known as the 'polite broccoli friend.' They called him that. To his face.

"He's enough of an embarrassment on his own, he doesn't need me to embarrass him," Katsuki sniped back. "Mind your business, Fish Face." Fish Face was, of course, in reference to the multicolored scales that adorned her face, and the fact that she had gills. She could breathe underwater for an hour at a time and thought she could communicate with marine life. Izuku had his doubts about the last part.

"Aww, he's not an embarrassment, how could you be so mean to him?" she pouted, setting their check down in front of them before reaching over to pinch Izuku's cheek.

"Oi! Hands off my boyfriend," Katsuki snapped, batting her hand away. She froze, eyes widening in shock.

"Boyfriend? Since when?" she exclaimed, eyes dropping to their entwined hands. "It's a miracle. How'd you get someone so sweet to date you? Be honest honey, are you being held hostage? Blink twice if you're in trouble."

"Since last week and fuck you, lady! I'm a goddamn catch!"

Izuku laughed. "I'm not being held hostage, I promise. Kacchan is amazing," he assured her, shooting Katsuki a fond smile. "This is our first real date, and he was complimenting me. He was being very—"

"Don't you dare," Katsuki warned, ears going pink. Izuku's mouth clicked shut, but the sweet smile endured.

"Oh look at him, he likes you!" she gushed, digging her phone out of her pocket. "You two are so cute! I need a picture to show the rest—"

"What the hell?"

"Smile!" she instructed, snapping a picture as soon as Izuku obediently plastered on a grin while Katsuki's scowl deepened. "Adorable. I can't believe it."

"Don't—don't share that on social media," Katsuki requested quietly. "You can show the rest of the staff, but we're trying to stay low-key for a while," he explained. "Between the media nonsense and my mother—"

"Hey, I'm not here to make your life harder, I'm here to feed you and take your money," she barked, flicking him on the forehead. "I'll leave you two...lovebirds sounds ridiculous. One of you is a literal demon."

"Fuck you—"

"But I'll be taking this back," she said, sliding the check off the table to both of their protests. "Hey, we thought we'd have to find him a nice animal shelter. I'm very happy for him. A little concerned for you," she said, pointing at Izuku. "But congrats! It's on the house."

Katsuki squinted at her. "I'm leaving you an obnoxiously large tip next time."

"Oh no, whatever shall I do," she replied dryly, already walking away.

"Buy yourself a new set of extensions!" he barked, volume increasing as she strutted farther away. She threw her head back in a full-bodied laugh, throwing up a middle finger over her shoulder.

"You should let me tell people how sweet you are," Izuku grinned. "It's not like they'll believe me."

"Go fuck yourself," Katsuki pouted. Izuku groaned—that particular command washing over him for the first time in almost two weeks, and Katsuki remembered the quirk. "Ah, fuck."

"Just take it back," Izuku grumbled.

"Uh...unfuck yourself?"

Izuku snorted, and it quickly devolved into loud belly laughter. "Unfuck—"

"I panicked!" he barked, flushing. "Check the time, nerd."

Izuku checked his phone, still laughing. "It's—" he took a deep breath, regaining control of his voice. "It's 1:30, we should get going."

"Text Aizawa, shithead." Katsuki reminded him, still pink with embarrassment.

"Yes, Kacchan," he grinned, still ridiculously amused. He told Aizawa that they were fine and that they'd be going into the movie at 2. He got a thumbs-up emoji, and an instruction to turn on his location while he was in the theater so that he wouldn't have to check in. He sent a thumbs-up back.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late," Katsuki said as he stood, holding out his hand. Izuku took it as he stood, charmed to death by the fact that he was still blushing.

The movie was good—a remake of an old comic in modern quirk society context. Izuku loved the older hero movies (hence why he was making Ochako watch the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from the early 2000's), mostly because their motivations were so different from those of modern heroes. In this, the protagonist was opting to work as an underground hero despite having a flashy quirk that would make a mint in the spotlight.

Katsuki had put up the armrest between their seats without a second thought and threw an arm around Izuku's shoulder to pull him in close, not even batting an eyelash when Izuku spent the entire movie mumbling modern quirk theory into his ear. Izuku almost stopped when he realized he'd been chattering through half the movie, but allowed himself to keep going when Katsuki squeezed his shoulder after only a few moments of tense discomfort.

He figured Katsuki would have said something if there were lots of people in the theater, but it was almost completely empty except for a group of five in the front and a couple off to the right. Instead, when he chanced a glance at Katsuki's face, his ear was tilted down just slightly to receive the information as his eyes remained trained on the screen—a clear indicator that he was content to let Izuku ramble excitedly. His face, usually wild and tumultuous, was calm and the corner of his mouth was quirked up in the barest smile physically possible, but it made him feel like his heart was in a vice. In a good way.

It was stupid to think he could fall out of love with him. Last week Izuku was dumb as a bag of rocks.

He was still mumbling up a storm when they left the darkened theater, Katsuki offering a spare word or comment when he had something to include. His arm was still secure around Izuku's shoulder; a soft, warm weight that implied closeness and care that made him feel like he was treasured.

The soft, warm feeling he'd been nursing all day disappeared as soon as he took out his phone to turn it off silent.

Mostly because he was met by one hundred and thirty-six texts, ten of which were from Aizawa and forty of which were from Ochako. "What the hell?" he muttered, swiping his phone open to start reading them.

"Hm?" Katsuki looked over his shoulder at his phone screen. "Jesus, what the fuck?" he asked, pulling out his own phone. "A hundred and eighty-seven texts? Fuck, did someone die?"

"Uh...no? But...I'm so sorry, Kacchan, but your parents either know or will know that we're dating within the next two hours," he squeaked, showing Katsuki a link that Aizawa had sent.

Usually, hero students managed to stay out of the press unless something seriously scandalous happened or they did an exemplary job in the field during a major raid or villain fight. More than that—when Izuku wasn't in costume, he looked like almost any other member of the general populace. When Katsuki wasn't in costume, he usually looked too refined to be recognized as Dynamight, the ferally violent nutcase.

But apparently, someone had followed them on their date. Another student, it seemed, since the photos started from inside the school gates. There were pictures of them holding hands and with Katsuki's arm around his shoulders, and the quick kiss they'd shared as they waited for the train. A picture of them at lunch, fingers intertwined across the table as Izuku blushed and Katsuki smiled. Not the waitress—it was taken from farther away, across the restaurant.

And whoever had followed them had sent those photos to a hero gossip magazine, and that magazine had published an article titled 'STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AT WORK? A Dubious Love Story From Behind UA's Gates.'

"Oh fuck," Katsuki breathed, eyes flicking to his own phone. As he scrolled through his messages, Izuku read through Aizawa's texts. The instructions were clear. Do not come back to campus, the media was camped outside. Tell any reporter who saw them that they had no comment. Call as soon as he saw these messages.

Izuku dialed Aizawa immediately, taking Katsuki by the hand to pull him deeper into the theater—near the auditoriums that showed the movies that were going stale with age. "Problem child," Aizawa greeted him as soon as he picked up. "Calm down, it's not as bad as it seems."

He calmed down. "So how bad is it?" he asked. Then he remembered the article title and got riled right back up. "Stockholm Syndrome? Who the fuck do they think they are?"

"Calm down. Whoever sold those photos to the tabloids also gave them their view of your turbulent relationship. They clearly knew you in your first year based on some of the details they gave. It's also clearly someone who has a bone to pick with both you and Bakugou, based on your portrayals. We have a PR team for a reason, kid. This'll work out fine."

"It'll work out fine?" he barked, eyes filling with frustrated tears. "Kacchan wasn't out to his parents, sir. I'm not exactly open with my sexuality either. How is being outed to the entire country fine?" Katsuki tensed beside him, as though that thought had just occurred to him.

"...it's not. You're right, it's not. You have every right to be angry, but trust me when I say that we'll handle this. We'll go over your options when you get back to campus, but you'll need to give us a few hours to clear out the media. You're both popular hero hopefuls with fairly private lives and limited social media activity. They're hungry for information, and we need time to shake them loose."

"Fine. Where should we go?" he noticed that Katsuki's grip had turned to iron in his hand.

"The theater is fairly close to your parents' neighborhood. If Bakugou is up for it, you should head there. We'll send a school car to pick you up when we're sure it won't be tailed."

"Fine."

"Text me when you've reached...wherever you decide to go," he instructed. "We're doing everything we can."

Izuku deflated a little. There was no point in taking out his anger on Aizawa. "I know you are, sir. Thank you. I'll get in touch soon." He turned to Katsuki when he hung up and found him still scrolling through his phone, eyes wide and face a little pale. "Kacchan?"

"Mina's pissed we didn't tell her we're dating," he said quietly. "Hanta and Denki helping Eijirou do damage control on Twitter. Ponytail says congrats and wants to know our PR plan so that she can get her parents to help. IcyHot said he'd be willing to give a statement detailing my growth and your strength—" he broke off with a choked laugh. "My mom called six times."

Izuku rubbed his hand down Katsuki's arm, soothing as much of the panic as he could. "What do you want to do? We can't stay here, so where do you want to go?"

Katsuki squeezed his eyes shut. "Wanna call your mom and ask her to meet us at my parents' place? We should probably talk to them."

"Sure," he agreed quickly, voice soft. "If you're up for it, we can do that. But if you want to hide, we can just go hide on a rooftop somewhere," he offered.

Katsuki shook his head. "If I don't appease the Hag now, she'll get ten times more psychotic for every minute we fend her off," he explained, rubbing a hand over his face. "The entire country thinks I psychologically tortured you into wanting me. Fuck."

"Well they're fucking wrong, and whoever said it is gonna get their neck snapped," Izuku snarled.

"Murder isn't for heroes, Deku," he replied dully.

"I'm smart enough to hide the evidence," he assured him darkly.

"Alright, mastermind," Katsuki grumbled. "Let's just go."

Izuku called his mom as they walked—taking side streets to avoid heavy foot traffic and any lingering media vultures. "I'm sorry it happened like this," Izuku murmured when they were a block away. They'd been walking in silence, Katsuki gripping his hand like a lifeline as they went. "And I'm sorry our date was ruined." He tried to will away the tears pricking at his eyes, but he'd always been a crier. If that was a dealbreaker, Katsuki would never have agreed to date him.

"Wasn't. It was great," Katsuki replied. "This had to happen eventually."

"Not like this," Izuku said. "Not r-right now."

"Hey," Katsuki stopped, turning to him. "Don't cry." Just like that, his impending emotional breakdown ceased. "We'll handle it. Always fuckin' do," Katsuki insisted. "It's shitty, and I'm freaked out about what kind of social media shitstorm requires damage control, but for now let's just have an awkward as fuck dinner with our parents. We can make a press statement later or some shit. But the date was great, Deku. Everything that we were in control of kicked ass."

Izuku offered him a shaky smile, letting him brush away the tears that had already escaped. "Hell yeah, it did." Katsuki smiled back—thin and unable to completely hide his anxiety, but so soft. Izuku leaned up to give him a quiet, lingering kiss.

Katsuki pulled away first to say, "but when we get inside, I'm using you as a human shield. The Hag loves you more than she loves me," before taking his hand again to move them forward.

Izuku shot Aizawa a text when they were on Katsuki's doorstep, then put it back on silent. "You ready?"

"Fuck no. She's nuts. But we're here, so—" he grabbed the handle to push the door open. "We're here!" he bellowed into the house, pushing Izuku in front of him as he trudged them into the foyer and slammed the door shut behind them. They barely had time to take their shoes off before Mitsuki came barrelling around the corner.

"Stop slamming the goddamn door, brat! And why the hell did I find out you two were dating from the shittiest tabloid in the country!" She bellowed right back.

Izuku sighed, ears already ringing. "Sorry, Auntie. Today was actually our first date."

And with that one sentence, the wind left her sails completely. "What?"

"We've only been together for a week," he explained. "Today was the first time we had enough time to go on an actual date. We only told a couple of people, and that's mostly so that they could cover for us with the class. We weren't ready to tell anyone—" he didn't really mean to use his tears to his advantage, but the reminder that their privacy had been violated and their first date would have been perfect if it hadn't happened made him sad and frustrated, and suddenly he was crying again.

"Oh, baby," she cooed, pulling him into a hug, completely ignoring how Katsuki tried to pry her off. "It was your first date? I'll fucking kill them! I've been waiting for this since you were five and they ruined it!"

Katsuki went still, arms dropping to his sides. "The fuck?"

"Watch your mouth, Katsuki. Just because I'm happy for you doesn't mean you can mouth off in front of guests," she snapped. "Come on, both of you. Inko is in the kitchen making your favorite, baby," she said, voice going low and soothing as she stroked Izuku's back.

"Told you she loves you more than me," he said loudly, even as the tension left his shoulders.

"Don't be ridiculous, brat," she barked, pushing Izuku into the couch and pointing imperiously at the spot next to him, clearly indicating that Katsuki was supposed to sit there. Masaru was watching quietly from the chair across from them. "You had your rough patches, but you've grown so much. And Izuku is a strong, kind, fair young man. If he's with you, then it's because he wants to be. I love him, sure—I helped raise him, after all. But you're my baby. When I get my hands on whoever gave them the bullshit ammo for that shitty article, I'm gonna rip their fucking heads off with my teeth."

Katsuki looked up at her, dumbstruck. Then his lower lip trembled and his eyes went narrow as they filled with tears and he tried to hold them back. "The fuck, hag?" he croaked. Izuku gripped his clenched fist, only slightly surprised when it opened to slot their fingers together.

"Language, Katsuki," Masaru sighed. "Of course, we're in your corner, son. We love you and we're very proud of the man you've become, and we couldn't be happier with your choice of partner. That tabloid is looking down the barrel of a very expensive defamation lawsuit, especially since you're still a minor."

"Oh, boys, are you alright?" Inko cried, busting out of the kitchen like the Kool-Aid Man.

"We're okay," Izuku replied. "We're supposed to wait here until UA can clear the media from the front gate."

"Why didn't you tell me you two were together?" she cried, eyes watery.

"It was their first date, Inko," Mitsuki replied for them, fuming. Inko burst into tears. Katsuki looked terrified, accustomed to wailing Midoriyas, but unsure of how to stem this particular flow.

"They ruined your first date?" she wailed, throwing her arms around them, Niagra Falls still channeling through her tear ducts. "Tell me what happened, I'll give them a piece of my mind!" she sobbed loudly directly into their eardrums.

"I was hit by an obedience quirk a month ago, and some of the orders I ended up having to follow made Kacchan really uncomfortable. It ended up leading to a bunch of misunderstandings and eventually, Kacchan confronted me about it and we sort of shouted our feelings at each other a week ago. We've been dating since then, but we've been keeping it quiet because we wanted our relationship to be private for a while. This morning we decided to go to lunch and a movie for our first date, and on our way off campus, someone must have spotted us and decided to follow us. It looks like they sent those pictures and their statement to the media while we were watching the movie. It had blown up by the time we got out," Izuku blurted, voice only slightly strangled under his mother's grip. Katsuki sighed in resignation as Inko very slowly released them, as though she was absorbing Izuku's word vomit.

Ah, obedience.

"Well shit," Katsuki grumbled, and Izuku couldn't help but agree. It was going to be a long night.

Izuku was exhausted.

To begin, Inko had not been happy about the obedience quirk. Nor was she happy that he'd kept it from her. She felt a little better after he'd told her that Aizawa knew and that both he and Katsuki had been looking out for him while they tried to figure it out. She completely chilled out when she learned that it had been a random quirk accident instead of some death-defying villain attack.

Then Mitsuki had started in. To be clear, he wasn't afraid of Mitsuki Bakugou. The woman loved him. But that didn't mean he wasn't completely distrustful of her motives when she sat down in front of them with a wide grin.

"Nope," Katsuki barked, standing to leave. Mitsuki grabbed her son by his shirt and yanked him back down. "You have an unfair advantage, Hag!"

"How else would I get you to tell me anything?" she grinned. "This is a rare opportunity for me, brat. Indulge me."

She had directed that order to Izuku and he let out a long, put-upon sigh. "Please have mercy," he requested. Her smile grew a little fonder and less predatory.

"Answer me honestly," she instructed. "What could you have possibly done to make my degenerate son uncomfortable?"

"Uhhh...are you sure you want to know that, Auntie? They're...k-kinda inappropriate," he stuttered. Her grin only widened. Dammit.

"I definitely want to know," she laughed, sounding a little evil.

"He, uh...well, he told me to get ready to get my ass kicked, and I ended up bending over," he replied, blushing. "And then during training, he told me to keep my eyes on him, and when I hadn't stopped by the time we were in the locker rooms, he told me to take a picture because it would last longer, and I did. He was in his boxers. It was super awkward. Mina ordered me to show them the notebook that I use exclusively for analyzing Kacchan. Once, he told me to tell him what I was thinking and I told him that his pecs were godly and that it was hot that he could carry me bridal style. Then he told me to 'suck it', and I got on my knees and tried to pull his pants down before he told me to get the fuck away from him."

Mitsuki was howling laughter. "Oh, my," Inko uttered, mortified. "I think I'm going to finish dinner while Mitsuki gets her blackmail, dears. But I hope you know that you just earned yourself an encore of the sex talk, Izuku."

"Mom, noooooo," he whined. "There's no need!"

"Oh really?" Mitsuki asked, still cackling. "How far have you two gone?" And fuck he was still obliged to answer honestly.

Inko fled the room before he could answer, and he was so grateful. "Not as far as I wanted," he admitted, face turning nearly purple with embarrassment. "We've given each other oral sex, but Kacchan won't go further while I'm under the influence of a quirk that could tamper with consent."

Mitsuki didn't laugh at that. She actually stopped, giving her son the softest look he'd ever seen her make. "That's very responsible of you, Katsuki. I'm very proud," she said, patting his knee.

"How did Katsuki figure out that you were under a quirk, Izuku? You mentioned some misunderstandings—I'm assuming you were attempting to keep the quirk a secret?" Masaru asked, still sitting back in his chair, mild as ever.

"Uh...a classmate of ours gave a really uncomfortable order, and Katsuki started to notice that I was trying to obey it."

"What was the order?" Mitsuki prodded, still pushing for blackmail.

Izuku grimaced. "He told me to try taking three dildos," he uttered, hiding his face in his hands. "Then later during training, he told me to "take this" when he was throwing out a super move, and I stood in his blast zone. That's when he figured out that something was wrong."

"Okay, that's enough, Hag. His head's gonna explode if you keep going," Katsuki insisted. "Look at him, he looks like a fuckin' strawberry."

"Fine," she sighed. "Ruin my fun. You boys feel free to hang out while we finish up dinner. But if you go upstairs, the door stays open, Katsuki."

"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled. "Wanna watch something with us, Dad?" he asked, reaching for the remote.

The rest of that part of the night was relatively peaceful, excluding Inko's speech about responsibility and safety over dinner that made both boys want to evaporate while Mitsuki died of laughter across from them.

When Aizawa came to pick them up, it was 8 pm. They were both surprised that it was so early—the day had felt unfathomably long. "I'm very disappointed that I wasn't informed about Izuku's quirk accident, Mr. Aizawa," Inko scolded him through the car window.

"My apologies, Mrs. Midoriya. Since Midoriya was staying on campus and under our supervision, I incorrectly assumed that we could save you some anxiety unless the situation took a turn for the worst."

"I appreciate the thought, but please see that it doesn't happen again," she replied, uncommonly stern.

"And please let us know what options the boys have in terms of PR," Mitsuki added, standing at Inko's shoulder. "We intend to levy a libel suit against the tabloid, and we're pursuing a retraction. We think that getting a more reputable news source to cover a more accurate version of their story would go a long way."

"We agree," Aizawa conceded. "We were planning on having the PR team meet with the boys tomorrow. If you'd like to be present for that meeting, we can send a school car for you."

"That would be perfect," Mitsuki agreed. It wasn't often that they got to see Katsuki's mom behave diplomatically. Even Aizawa's first impression of her had been wild and volatile. But now, their mothers were on a mission, and the stalwart calm on their faces—the easy collaboration—sent chills up both of the boys' spines.

It was like watching a spider as it waited for a fly to land in its web. Yikes. "Okay, we have to go now," Izuku said nervously, pushing Katsuki toward the car. "We have a lot of explaining to do back at the dorm and if Kacchan isn't in bed by 10 pm, he's liable to blow up a city block—"

"Jesus, make me sound fuckin' unhinged, why don't you—"

"Love you! See you tomorrow, bye!" he called, climbing into the car after Katsuki. "She's using the danger voice, drive!" he hissed to the back of Aizawa's head.

"I'll phone you when the school car is on its way," Aizawa told them before rolling up the window. "How are you two holding up?" he asked when he was finally pulling away from the curb.

"Better than I thought I'd be," Izuku admitted. "Just a little mortified. I won't be able to look my mom in the eye for a few years."

"It went better than I thought it would," Katuski grumbled, slouching in his seat. "I just wasn't expecting it to happen today. Shit sucked."

"Well, hopefully you won't get too much trouble from your classmates. Uraraka and Kirishima have been running interference with Jirou's help."

Katsuki groaned. "If Mina was pissed that I didn't tell her, she's gonna be fuckin' furious that I told Kyoka first," he muttered.

"We didn't tell her, she found out," Izuku protested. "And she can't be mad at you for how you want to handle your relationship. It's not like we were never gonna tell her. We just wanted it to ourselves for a while."

"Yeah, and now all of Japan knew before she did."

"It's not about her," Izuku snapped. "It's about us. Maybe she'll be annoyed, but she's a good friend, Kacchan. She'll get that."

"I don't say this often because he's usually a disaster, but Midoriya's right," Aizawa said, tone as flat as ever.

"Hey!"

"Ashido is excitable, but she's very supportive. And, at the risk of giving you an unethical edge, she's very susceptible to guilt-tripping. If she's badgering you, remind her that you had your privacy violated on a national level. I can almost guarantee that it'll get her to back down, or completely redirect her anger toward whoever is responsible," Aizawa said.

They stared at the back of his head for a long moment before Izuku spoke up. "You don't usually give personal advice, sir."

"I usually don't have two of my best, most motivated, and incorruptible students ripped out of the closet and slandered by a crappy tabloid," he replied. "I make exceptions in extreme circumstances."

Both of them blushed, deeply touched. While they knew he always had their back, they also knew that Aizawa's compliments weren't just rare—they were like finding ten-carat diamonds on the sidewalk.

"Thanks for helping us through this," Izuku said. "For taking control of the situation and helping us stay calm."

"Literally my job," Aizawa replied, waving him off.

He doubted Vlad King would go as far for Class B as Aizawa did for them. Maybe that was unfair—he didn't really know the other homeroom teacher that well—but it felt true.

When they got back to campus, Aizawa dropped them off outside of the main entrance to Heights Alliance. "Are you coming in?" Izuku asked. Katsuki looked like he hoped Aizawa would be joining them, even if it was just to stave off the rest of the class.

"No. I'm going over security logs to try to find out who followed you two off-campus. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you who's responsible by morning. Good luck with them," he replied before leaving them to their doom.

"Damn. I was hoping we could use him as a shield," Katsuki sighed.

"Wanna just get it over with?" Izuku asked. Katsuki nodded, holding out his hand. Izuku took it, squeezing lightly as Katsuki pulled him forward. Katsuki squeezed back.

"We'll handle it, remember?" Katsuki mumbled. "We've got this, nerd."

"I know, Kacchan," Izuku replied, smiling up at him.

When they reached the door to the dorm, they both drew up short. "Hey," Katsuki broke the silence, turning to him. Izuku looked up at him and was met with a firm, thorough kiss—Katsuki's free hand reaching up to cup the back of his neck. The longer the kiss went on, the more tension Izuku could feel draining from his shoulders.

"What was that for?" Izuku breathed when they broke apart. Katsuki smirked down at him.

"What, I need a fuckin' reason now? I thought you were supposed to kiss your date at the door," he teased. Izuku flushed, but his smile widened anyway.

"Such a gentleman," Izuku chuckled, giving him another soft kiss. "Auntie wouldn't recognize you if she saw you now." He yelped when Katsuki smacked him upside the head. "Ah, there you are!"

"Little shit," he grumbled, kissing him again. "You're lucky I l-like you. Come on," he said, tugging Izuku toward the door. Izuku consciously chose to ignore his mid-sentence stumble—mentally unwilling to take on the additional emotional rollercoaster that could lie behind those words.

They were met with a significant amount of noise when the door opened. Saturday nights were typically boisterous, but there was a frantic edge to the volume that was usually absent. They took off their shoes at the door, slowly inching into the common room as their grip on each others' hands grew tighter in trepidation.

Sero, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Aoyama were huddled at one of the tables, each on individual laptops as they talked to each other. Momo was sitting by them and she appeared to be taking notes.

Ashido, Hagakure and Ochako were debating something loudly (read: yelling) by the TV, wild hand gestures and all, while most of the rest of the class huddled around them.

"They're back," Shoji announced, making them both jump. Katsuki shot him a glare, but Shoji just sent them a shit eating grin from one of his tentacles.

Yeah, they probably deserved that.

"Finally!" Ochako cried, whipping around.

"Jesus Christ, are you two okay?" Ashido shrieked, vaulting over the couch to run at them. "I can't believe you two didn't tell me you were dating! I can't believe you didn't tell me you were gay!" she said, pointing at Katsuki firmly. "I can't believe someone did this to you!" Her hands came to their shoulders then, and she shook them both. "Why the fuck haven't you been answering your texts?! Answer me!" she wailed, shaking harder with each word until they were basically bobbleheads.

"Deku—" Katsuki tried to negate the command, but Izuku was already talking.

"We've been with our parents and they were interrogating us, we haven't really had time. Especially since we were technically coming out to them, too," Izuku explained immediately.

"We just wanted—fuck, stop shaking us goddammit," he barked, wriggling away from her. "We just wanted to have some time to ourselves. We were gonna tell you eventually. We're shit at keeping it a secret anyways. We've only been dating a week and five people that we hadn't told already found out."

"Did I ask you why you didn't tell me?" she demanded, hands going to her hips. "No! Ochako and Eijirou already explained and I get it but DAMN! I feel like such a dick for prying about your diary now, Mido!"

"It's not a diary!" he yelped.