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Katsuki’s first mistake was ever agreeing to tutor these idiots. His second was letting them get under his skin.
It had started like any normal study session. Katsuki was working ahead on assignments. Mina and Kaminari were behind, and Kirishima was struggling to finish math homework that was due tomorrow morning. Second year was going better than the first. So far no mass event villain attacks every week. They had all returned to the dorms after New Year break and fallen back into their regular routines after a week. But Katsuki knew something was up when Denki didn’t return fast enough after running upstairs. The electric blonde forgot his English textbook in his locker so Katsuki told him he could use his. In the last year Katsuki had become a little more lax about letting his idiots into his dorm room when he wasn’t there. Only with permission of course, and they had thankfully never crossed that boundary. But when Denki came bounding down the steps with the English book and an All Might teddy bear in his arms, Katsuki’s heart leapt into his throat. Shit shit shit! He’d left Mighty Bear on his bed and now Denki had him!
“Look what I found in Kacchan’s room,” the blonde snickered, waving the bear in front of him. The brown stuffed animal was dressed in All Might’s Silver Age costume. His ears were worn down, barely any fuzz left after years of being loved.
“Aww, I didn’t know you still sleep with stuffed animals, Bro,” Kirishima smiled, taking the bear from Denki. “The fact that you’re so open about it is super manly.”
“I don’t sleep with stuffed animals,” Katsuki hissed, trying and failing to swipe Mighty Bear from the redhead's grip. “The Hag must have snuck it into my bags when I came back to campus.”
“You sure?” Mina drawled. “Looks pretty well loved to me.”
“Tch, I haven’t slept with stuffed animals since I was seven,” Katsuki clicked his tongue. He could feel his ears burning hot. He had never been good at lying. As Kirishima tried to pass the bear back to Kaminari, Katsuki intercepted and glared at Mighty Bear. Why hadn’t he remembered he was sitting on his bed? What was he supposed to do now? Fuck, he had to save face. “It’s not important anyway.” It physically hurt to toss Mighty Bear into the waste bin atop all the discarded sheets of homework that had to be restarted. His throat was tight as he saw the bear’s beady eyes looking up at him from the trash. I’ll come back for you, Katsuki promised. He rounded on the idiots at the table who seemed surprised at his actions. “Let’s get back to work. I’m not staying up until midnight to help you morons finish homework that should have been done two days ago!”
Izuku trudged into Heights Alliance and kicked his shoes off at the door. His limbs were so heavy after a tough training with All Might. Tonight had been his one-on-one training, so he hadn’t had a chance to catch up with Kacchan and ask about going for a run in the morning…or rather the lack of one. Izuku wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand in the morning.
“Hey Deku,” Ochako greeted from the couch followed by a big yawn. “You’re back late.”
“Yeah,” he sighed and removed his coat. “Been working on precision. My whole body hurts, but I made some good progress.”
“That’s great,” She smiled as she packed up her things. “Don’t stay up too late. We’ve got that quiz on Hero Law & Legislature tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine,” he nodded. “Good night.”
“Night,” she yawned again and padded to the elevator to head up to her dorm.
Izuku stretched his arms and groaned as they burned. Just needed to eat something and then he’d head to bed. There wasn’t much to be had in the kitchen, but he was at least able to turn some day old rice into fried rice with egg and veggies. By the time he sat down to eat, his eyes could barely stay open. Washing his dishes was a grueling task. His hands shook with the effort of scrubbing, fingers stiff from many broken bones over the years and intense training. He flicked off the kitchen light and was about to shut down the common room when something colorful caught his eye. Lying on top of the piled papers in the waste bin was an All Might Silver Aged bear. But this one was special because his ears were worn, and his nose was hanging on by a thread. The costume colors were pale in some places from many years of play.
“Mighty Bear,” Izuku whispered, approaching the waste bin. “What are you doing in here? Who would throw you away like this?” He plucked the stuffed animal from the bin and hugged it to his chest. The faint scent of sweet nitroglycerin reached his nose, and he nuzzled his face against the bear’s head. “Kacchan would never get rid of you. He loves you too much.” Izuku raised the bear in front of his face and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you back to Kacchan tomorrow. He’s probably asleep right now. You can stay with me tonight.”
And so, Izuku flicked off the remaining lights and headed up to his dorm. Mighty Bear was tucked securely under his arm. He hummed softly remembering all the adventures Mighty Bear went on with him and Kacchan when they were little. He’d get this prized possession back to his boyfriend in the morning.
Katsuki paced in his dorm, scarlet eyes flicking to the clock on his desk. He had to wait until everyone went to bed to grab Mighty Bear from the trash. His stomach was in knots worrying about the precious stuffed animal. He’d had Mighty Bear since he was two, gifted to him by his grandmother who had since passed. But that bear had gone everywhere with him up until he was nine or ten. He’d been made fun of at a few sleep overs growing up and once things started taking a turn towards hateful, like that time one of his schoolmates marked up the costume with permanent marker, Katsuki began leaving him at home. But he’d never stopped sleeping with the stuffed animal. It brought comfort on nights when he needed to be reminded that things were alright. Fuck! He needed to go down now and get Mighty Bear.
The hallway was dark when he exited his dorm. Everyone was asleep. So, quietly as he could, Katsuki opened the door to the stairwell and rushed down to the ground floor to retrieve his prized possession. The lights were off in the common room, and he sagged in relief knowing no one would see him coming back for the toy. But when he flipped the light on and padded over to the waste bin to see only papers shoved inside, his stomach twisted anxiously. Mighty Bear was gone!
“Shit,” Katsuki hissed, crouching down to root through the papers. His heart was pounding, chest clenching painfully at the thought of losing Mighty Bear forever. “Where are you?” He walked to the couch and moved around pillows, cushions and blankets, searching for him. Under chairs and tables, inside the wall of cubbies near the elevator, but Mighty Bear was nowhere to be found. His eyes stung and he blinked rapidly while swallowing back the tightness in his throat. No, no, no! His hands gripped onto his hair tightly and pulled. The pain helped ground him slightly, but it didn’t give him any better ideas of what had happened in the last hour.
Kirishima, Mina, and Denki had all gone up at the same time as him. Most of the class was already in their dorms for the night by the time they’d started studying. The only people still around had been Uraraka, Iida and Yaomomo who had all been grilling each other for that law quiz they had tomorrow. But none of them seemed like the type to take the bear. And fuck, Deku still wasn’t back yet when he’d gone up to his room. He’d ask the nerd in the morning if he saw Mighty Bear. Defeated, Katsuki returned to his dorm and slipped into bed. It felt weird not having the stuffed animal tucked under his arm. He huffed and turned over, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep, but the anxiety of not knowing what happened to Mighty Bear was making it extremely hard to relax. He grabbed an extra pillow and wrapped his arms around it. It didn’t bring the same comfort as Mighty Bear, but it would do for now. And after a few more minutes of talking himself down, Katsuki drifted off into a fitful sleep.
When morning came and his alarm blared, Katsuki was already awake, staring at the ceiling and feeling incredibly anxious. His sleep had been plagued by nightmares, some strange and others disturbing. He remembered waking in the middle of the night shaking and sweating, hand patting around the bed for Mighty Bear. It had taken him a moment to remember the bear wasn’t there and the shocking realization had nearly brought him to tears. How could he be so stupid as to discard Mighty Bear so quickly? All so he didn’t get teased by his classmates. He’d hated that feeling when he was 10 and he hated it more now.
Dragging himself from bed, Katsuki pulled on his joggers and a heavy sweatshirt. There were white flurries on the ground denoting it had snowed a bit overnight. But even if the weather was bad, he and Deku never missed a morning run. But after he tied his shoes, wondering where the nerd was, he pulled out his phone intending to text him. That was when he saw the message sent after 10pm.
{Deku}: Sorry Kacchan, no run tomorrow morning. All Might pushed me hard tonight and everything hurts. I need to let my body rest.
“Well, fuck,” Katsuki huffed under his breath. Now he’d be running alone and he wouldn’t get the chance to ask Izuku about Mighty Bear. He’d have to wait until after class. There was no way he was asking about his stuffed animal within earshot of the rest of the class.
Katsuki slammed the door behind him and took off into a sprint toward the track. The cold bit at his cheeks and he wished he’d thought to bring a hat. It was colder this morning than it had been last night and he could already feel his ears going numb. Whatever, he’d do a couple miles and then head inside for a shower and breakfast. Maybe he’d get lucky and the nerd would come down before the rest of the extras woke up.
It had been wishful thinking. Because of course this would be the day that Izuku didn’t show himself until the bell almost rang. Katsuki’s leg bounced anxiously in his seat while he looked over his English homework due next period. It looked fine. He knew it was fine. Focusing on the paper was just an excuse to avoid conversation. When Izuku rushed into the room and nearly threw himself into his seat with a pained groan, Katsuki rounded on him.
“Where the fuck have you been?!” The blonde growled at his boyfriend. Emerald eyes blinked rapidly at the terse greeting.
“I o-overslept,” the nerd stuttered. “Didn’t mean to, but I slept through my alarm. Did you go on a run without me this morning?”
“Course I did,” Katsuki clicked his tongue. God, he really wanted to ask about Mighty Bear right now. He’d been worrying about him for hours now and that anxiety had been clawing at the back of his brain more insistently since he’d woken up. “I’m not a fucking slacker.”
Softness melted onto Izuku’s face despite getting his head bitten off first thing in the morning. “Hey Kacchan, I have-”
“Everybody quiet,” Aizawa droned, shuffling into the room. Katsuki turned forward, leg bouncing even more furiously than before. “First off, your trip to the Hero Commission Headquarters is this Friday and I still haven’t received permission slips from a few of you. Sato, Hagakure, Asui, and Sero. If I don’t get a signed permission form from your parents or guardian, then you will be staying behind to write an essay about the importance of a governing body in hero society.” The four culprits groaned at the news. Aizawa moved onto the next topic, but Katsuki couldn’t be bothered to pay attention.
Izuku had tapped his shoulder, but he ignored him, not wanting to get in trouble. Besides, he was sure the nerd was just going to ask him what was wrong and Katsuki refused to tell him anything right now.
By the time they made it to the second half of the day, he was a wreck. What if he never saw Mighty Bear again? They weren’t in production anymore. Besides, a new one wouldn’t replace the many years of memories held within his Mighty Bear. All the days of fighting villains in his backyard with Mighty Bear as his sidekick. All the sleepovers with Izuku where they pretended that the freckled boy’s Mighty Bear was sent from another universe to team up with them to save the world. Reading new issue All Might comics together, watching the All Might cartoons together after school, teaching Mighty Bear about all the cool things All Might could do. Hell, there were 15 years of memories drenched into that bear. Katsuki had to find him.
“Look out!” Kirishima shouted just before slamming into Katsuki and sending him through a nearby glass window when Pink Cheeks launched an attack from above. “You good, Bakugou?”
“Fucking fine!” the blonde growled, jumping through the damaged window and helping to stop the assault of debris raining down on them. Fuck, he hadn’t meant to get so distracted! That’s it, after training, he’d get Izuku alone and ask about Mighty Bear. This shit had to stop. He’d been out of it all day. So much so he was pretty sure he bombed their quiz about hero law. And he knew that crap like the back of his hand!
Izuku had been trying all day to tell Kacchan about Mighty Bear. But there never seemed to be a good time. After witnessing his boyfriend’s snappy attitude firsthand and seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Izuku knew he was missing his fluffy friend. Something had happened last night that caused him to lose the bear and Izuku had been hoping to ask him about it. But he’d arrived to homeroom last minute. Then there was a surprise in-class English essay that everyone focused on. Then he’d tried to pass a note to Kacchan in math and Ectoplasm caught him, forcing Izuku to the front of the class to help with writing equations on the board. And, of course, they’d had that hero law quiz, after which Kacchan had booked it out of the room looking like he was ready to set the next person on fire who dared to speak to him. And when they made it to heroics class, they were put on opposite teams for a capture the flag exercise. Izuku flinched hard when he saw Kacchan get launched into a building when Kirishima hip checked him. His boyfriend was distracted for sure, but Izuku couldn’t really confirm if it was because of Mighty Bear or something else that was bothering him. The blonde had been quieter than usual today, barely even engaging with his friends at lunch, and missing notes in class toward the end of the day.
When the day was over, Izuku hoped to catch Kacchan before they headed back to the dorms, but Cementos asked if he could run an errand for him. Being the people pleaser that he was, Izuku agreed and delivered some files to Principal Nezu. Then he’d been kept behind for a lengthier chat than he’d been comfortable with, inching his way closer to the door the longer the little rat talked. By the time he made it to Heights Alliance, everyone was settling down for dinner. Kacchan was stabbing a piece of beef with his chopsticks while Denki chatted his ear off. With most of the seats taken, Izuku was relegated to the opposite side of the table, forced to wonder what the electric blonde was saying that made his boyfriend’s face grow darker and darker by the second. The sound of an explosion and an annoyed growl made everyone jump.
“Bakugou!” Iida reprimanded. “Quirk use against fellow classmates is strictly prohibited.”
“What the hell man?” Sero asked, voice incredulous as he handed a napkin to Denki so he could wipe his face. “I thought you were past all this aggression.”
“I’m going to bed,” Katuski huffed, ignoring their classmates’ shouts imploring him to apologize.
“Dude, it’s only six,” Jirou sniffed. “That’s early even for you.”
Katsuki only acknowledged the statement with a grunt before disappearing into the elevator and riding it up to the fourth floor.
“Seriously, what crawled up his butt?” Hagakure growled.
“No idea, but he was really distracted during heroics training today,” Kirishima shrugged.
“I thought it was weird he didn’t do anything when I attacked you guys,” Ochako sighed.
“I hope he’s alright,” Yaomomo said, biting her lip worriedly. “We all know Bakugou isn’t the most open with his feelings. Maybe we should remind him that there are counselors on campus that can help.”
“Midoriya, he’s more open with you, right?” Mina asked. “Has he said anything?”
“No,” Izuku shook his head. He smiled softly. “But I think I have an idea of what’s bothering him.” Most of the class relaxed at that statement.
“Oh good,” Yaomomo sighed. “Please, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Sure,” Izuku agreed. Then he thought of something. “Actually, there is something. Do any of you know anything about why a teddy bear in an All Might costume was in the trash last night?” Mina, Denki and Kirishima stiffened at the other end of the table. “It’s just…it’s really important to Kacchan and it seems really weird that it would end up anywhere outside his dorm.”
“Bakugou said it didn’t mean anything and tossed it in the wastebasket,” Denki started. “I was only teasing when I joked about him sleeping with stuffed animals.”
“I knew he was lying,” Mina hissed under her breath.
“Oh,” Izuku breathed, finally understanding the situation. Somehow, Mighty Bear had made his way downstairs and their friends had teased Kacchan about it. He knew the blonde was super self-conscious about the prized toy, having stopped letting anyone see it even before they made it to middle school. Of course he’d try to avoid being teased now even if it meant doing something stupid to save face. “I think I understand.”
“We’re sorry, Midoriya,” Denki pleaded. “And I promise I’ll apologize to Bakugou, too. I didn’t know it was so important. If I did, I wouldn’t have said anything. I just thought it was so unusual for him to have something so soft. I was curious.”
“Actually,” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “It might be better if you just act like nothing happened. Kacchan doesn’t like people knowing about Mighty Bear.”
“Mighty Bear?” Ochako squealed. “That’s so cute!”
“Just please, don’t tell him that I said anything,” Izuku told them all. “He got teased a lot when we were kids, but it’s a comfort item and we’ve both had a lot of special moments with that bear. So, can we just forget about it?”
“Of course,” Iida nodded. “No one here will bother or tease Bakugou about something so special. I believe we all have a similar possession that serves the same purpose.”
“Thanks, Iida,” Izuku relaxed and the rest of the class nodded in agreement. He was about to clean his plate when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
{Kacchan}: I have to ask you something. Come to my room when you’re done with dinner.
{Izuku}: Sure. I think I know what this is about.
{Kacchan}: See you soon, Nerd.
{Izuku}: 💚💚
“See, you guys later,” he told his classmates before grabbing his empty plate and the half-eaten plate Kacchan left behind. He stored the leftovers for later and washed both dishes before running up the stairs two at a time to grab Mighty Bear from his dorm. He snatched the bear from his bead and gave it a quick squeeze, breathing in the still lingering scent of Kacchan’s nitroglycerin. He’d gotten some of the best sleep of his life last night cuddling with this little guy. “See, I told you,” Izuku told the bear. “You’ll be reunited with Kacchan very soon.”
Izuku took the stairs to his boyfriend’s floor and knocked rapidly. The moment Kacchan opened the door, he thrust Mighty Bear toward him with a smile.
“He went on an adventure last night, so I took him in for the night,” Izuku chuckled.
“Oh thank God,” Katsuki breathed and snatched the stuffed animal, crushing it to his chest. “I thought I lost him.” The freckled boy stepped into the room and let the door close behind him. “I’m sorry Mighty Bear,” the blonde whined. “I’m so stupid.”
“You could have told them the truth you know,” Izuku stated, taking a seat on his boyfriend’s bed. “They wouldn’t think any less of you. We’ve all been through a lot, Kacchan. Everyone has something that brings them comfort.”
“Just didn’t want…I hate being teased,” Katsuki sighed, sitting next to Izuku and holding Mighty Bear in his lap. “Kept thinking about those sleepovers we had when our classmates used to invite everybody to their birthday parties. The things they did to Mighty Bear and the shitty things they said to me.”
“I know,” Izuku whispered and rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “And I know how important he is to you. So, I knew something crazy must have happened for him to end up in the trash.”
“When I came back down last night to get him and he was gone…I panicked. Couldn’t sleep at all. I knew I made a mistake, but thinking I lost him forever? I almost…” Katsuki’s voice was tight, wavering slightly as he spoke. Izuku knew what he needed, and so he wrapped an arm around the blonde’s shoulder and squeezed tightly, saying nothing that would bring attention to the small sniffles coming from Kacchan.
“Do you want to lay down?” Izuku asked softly.
Katsuki nodded and they got comfortable on the twin bed facing each other. Izuku ran his fingers through soft blonde locks and hummed at the weight of his boyfriend’s arm settling over his waist. Mighty Bear was snuggly tucked between them.
“It’s okay, Kacchan,” he told him. “You’re safe now. You can sleep. I’m right here and so is Mighty Bear.”
“Stay,” Katsuki demanded softly, scarlet eyes already hidden behind heavy lids.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Izuku whispered and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Kacchan was snoring softly by the time he pulled back so he could wrap his boyfriend in his arms. A memory of them falling asleep just like this when they were five came to mind - both clad in All Might pajamas, exhausted from a day of playing heroes and bellies full of Auntie Mitsuki’s superb cooking. Fuzzy warmth radiated from Izuku’s chest to the rest of his limbs and then his own eyes were closing, too.