Chapter Text
“Why the hell was Deku cuddling me, and why the fuck don’t I remember how I got here?” Kacchan yells, seated firmly across the couch from Izuku. He’s as far from Izuku as physically possible.
Once the screams had finally died down and Eijirou managed to convince Kacchan to hear him out before he stormed off to hide in his room, Izuku and Kacchan sat down expectantly before Eijirou and Mina, waiting for an explanation of their current... predicament.
The last thing Izuku remembers before he woke up in Kacchan’s arms (Kacchan’s! Arms!) was leaving the agency for lunch; he’d forgotten to pack his food, and Kacchan had decided to keep him company while he went to a nearby restaurant to buy something for himself. Everything after that is a foggy blur of half-forgotten emotion and movement.
Now, if the moonlight shining through the dorm windows is reliable indication, it’s nighttime. Lunchtime was hours ago. (At least, Izuku hopes it was only hours.)
Eijirou laughs, scratching the scar on his eye nervously. “So, you’ll never guess what happened…” He glances at Mina, something pleading in his eyes, and gets a firm shake of her head in response.
“Well? Are you gonna sit there and stall, or are you gonna explain this?” Kacchan demands.
With a sigh, Eijirou turns back to them and explains. Izuku and Katsuki had been found in a park, quirked down to children. After a few interjections from Mina about how awesome she is, Eijirou gives a brief overview of their afternoon, which they spent as children, playing with their classmates.
There’s a thick silence once Eijirou finally finishes speaking. Izuku covers his blushing face with his hands and thinks about polite ways to flee the room and hide in his bedroom forever. He’s never living this down, oh god.
In true Kacchan fashion, he's the one who breaks the silence first. But-
“Alright, that’s fucked, but it still doesn’t explain why we- why Deku was all over me when I woke up.”
-Izuku had really been hoping no one would bring that up.
Mina snorts. “Little you and little Izuku were super close! You were adorable together, the puppy love was-” Eijirou slaps his hand over Mina’s mouth, but it’s too late.
“Puppy love? What kind of bullshit-!” Kacchan begins to stand.
“W-well, thank you for explaining, guys! I’ll be going to my room now!” Izuku squeaks, shooting to his feet as well to scurry to safety.
“Oi, you aren’t going anywhere nerd, you’re next on my kill list after Pinky here!”
Izuku runs faster.
Izuku hears Mina sign her death warrant (“You can’t say that, I was little Katsuki’s favourite, he thought I was way cooler than Eijirou!”) before the elevator doors close behind him.
Hopefully, he’ll have enough time to make some funeral arrangements before Kacchan makes it upstairs.
As predicted, Kacchan does come and find him, but when he does it’s half an hour later, and he isn’t enraged in the least. He knocks on the door with a reasonable amount of force—a little heavy handed, but this is Kacchan, so that’s to be expected—and calmly asks if he can come in after Izuku cautiously peels open the door.
Izuku nods and lets him in. Kacchan sits himself down smack in the middle of Izuku’s bed without another word. Ah. Okay. Izuku crosses the room to sit at his desk across from Kacchan, but Kacchan raises an eyebrow at him. “I’m not gonna fuckin’ bite,” he says, and though his tone isn’t particularly comforting, he scoots up the bed to allow more room for Izuku.
If Izuku sits at the desk now, Kacchan probably will bite. He shuffles against the carpeted floor to sit gingerly beside Kacchan, sinking into the plush comforter at the end of his bed.
“So… What’s up?” Things aren't normally this awkward, haven’t been anywhere close for months. But the circumstances aren’t exactly ordinary.
“You know what’s up, idiot. Just calm down, will you? I’m not angry.”
Now, it’s Izuku’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Kacchan sees this and rolls his eyes, but relents, “Okay, I’m not angry anymore.”
Yeah, that’s what Izuku thought.
“And why were you angry?” Izuku asks, turning to face Kacchan a little.
Kacchan leans back, looks up at the ceiling as if there’s something interesting up there. (There is, it’s an All Might poster, but something tells Izuku that’s not what Kacchan is looking at.)
“‘Cause I was a shitty fucking kid, and being a kid like that once was one time too many.”
Oh. Honestly, Izuku had chalked up Kacchan’s anger to the embarrassment of how they woke up, to what had happened to them that afternoon. There’s so much he wants to say—how Kacchan was always his friend, through even the roughest times. How as children, Kacchan had been a bright, shining star for Izuku to chase after. How at that age, there was no antagonism to be had between the two of them, so their child selves must’ve had a great afternoon together. But Izuku doesn’t say all of that. Kacchan might not even believe him.
There’s only one thing he needs to say. “Kacchan… you know I’ve forgiven you for all of that, right?”
Kacchan laughs, short and bitter. “Somehow, I feel like you shouldn’t have.”
And somehow, it stings to hear such negativity from Kacchan of all people.
An idea pops into his mind like a playful, yet delicate bubble, ready to flirt with death. Because apparently, that’s the only thing Izuku can think of to help, now.
So Izuku swallows the nervous fluttering in his chest and lets the bubble burst. “Kacchan,” he says seriously.
He swings his legs up on the end of the bed and falls into Kacchan’s lap. Wide red eyes stare down at him. Izuku lets himself grin cheekily. “Are you a middle schooler or something? ‘Cause last I checked, you’re like, sixteen.”
The apples of Kacchan’s cheeks darken to match the red of his eyes. He looks away with a scoff, pushing half-heartedly at Izuku’s shoulder. “Fuck off, I get it. Thanks, or whatever. Just get off me.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” Izuku blinks up at his friend.
“Deku.”
“Kacchan.”
Kacchan sighs, lets a hand fall to Izuku’s hair, and relents to Izuku once more. “Fine, you annoying little gnat. Tell me what topic you picked for Mic’s assignment.”
Izuku lights up and makes himself comfortable. He plans to be here for a long time. “So, I picked the culture around hero costumes in the early pro era…”