Chapter Text
Katsuki's heart hammered in his chest and for the first time in hours, his words were glued to the back of his teeth, clinging on for dear life. Fuck. He was so close!
Meanwhile, Deku was staring at him like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and shocked. Very slowly, as though afraid to startle him, the greenette turned his head to glance over his shoulder. It was like he was expecting someone to be standing behind him—like Katsuki's words were for someone else.
Katsuki would have yelled at him for that, but he was busy freaking out.
"Kacchan?" Deku uttered, turning back to him.
He could do this. For Deku, he could do this. Sure his head felt fuzzy from panic and his palms were sweating and his throat felt like sandpaper. But he'd been through worse.
"Can I come inside? I need to talk to you," he said through gritted teeth. Izuku nodded dumbly, standing aside so the blonde could push past him.
"I need to get some shit off my chest, so I need you to shut up and sit there until I'm done. I don't know if I can get through it otherwise," he said honestly.
Izuku sat, waiting.
Katsuki took a deep breath, setting his shoulders like he was going into battle.
"I have had a long and idiotic history of misunderstanding you," he began, heart hammering against his sternum. "I've wasted so much fucking time on pushing you away and being angry with you."
Deku twitched in his direction, mouth opening like he wanted to object, but Katsuki pinned him with a stare. "No. I know we've worked it out, and I know you've forgiven me. It still fucking happened. It still sucked, and you deserved better from me."
He took a deep breath, rubbing his sweaty palms on the insides of his pockets.
"The fact that you let me back into your life after everything I did is fucking insane. Sometimes I can't believe it. I'm so fucking grateful you did, but I'm shit at telling you what you mean to me. But today I got hit by a quirk that makes it easier, so I wanted to tell you everything you mean to me. And I'm fucking gonna, so just...hang on while I do this, alright? I'm not good at this."
Deku nodded, making himself comfortable on the bed. "Sure, Kacchan," he replied quietly.
He could do this. He would do this, goddammit. He was in love with this idiot, he could tell him how he felt. There's no one he trusted more with his gross feelings.
"You are...incredible. No matter how much you get beaten down you keep getting back up, and you do it without getting angry at fucking anyone. Even with fucking Shigaraki—you were pissed that he treated peoples' lives like trash but you still wanted to save him. You're fucking good. And being near you makes me better."
The nerd was crying now—a steady stream of tears winding down his crybaby face.
"I feel like...you're a part of me. We're parts of each other," he swallowed against the sappy words, skin crawling a little. But he fucking meant them. "And I'm so proud of every piece of me that reflects you. You've changed the way I look at the world."
He swallowed thickly. "And I meant it. What I said earlier, I mean."
Something like comprehension flickered in Deku's eyes. "That you love me, you mean?" he asked quietly. Katsuki gave a jerky nod. He was silent for a moment. "You're not under the quirk anymore, are you?"
It honestly felt like talking around peanut butter, he was so fucking anxious. "No," he uttered. "It stopped before I came inside."
"But you're still—"
"You deserve to hear it. Telling you how I feel about you is the least I can fucking do, Deku. You're worth the discomfort," he stated, more firm than he felt. "It probably would have been easier and way fucking better if I'd had the quirk, but I had to fucking try. I would have said this eventually, I just needed to find the words."
"And were those all of the words you needed to say?" he asked.
"Not even close," he huffed, running a hand through his hair. A hand covered in nitroglycerin. He'd need to take a shower, or he'd blow himself up.
Izuku gestured for him to continue, but was literally biting his lips to keep quiet. He wanted to bite them too, dammit.
"You're the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about before I sleep," he said, watching as Deku squinted against his tears and sniffled. "My days are a thousand-fucking-times better when you're in them. I look forward to spending time with you more than literally anything else. No matter what we're doing, having you at my side makes it feel possible, even if it's just hanging out with the other idiots. Whenever you end up in the hospital it feels like I can't fucking breathe until you're up walking again. When I feel like shit, I come looking for you just to see your smile. There's no part of my dumbass brain that isn't completely fucking saturated by you, Deku. I don't need you to say anything back, I just need you to know that I love you."
He broke off, feeling like he'd run an emotional marathon, and also kind of like an idiotic sap from one of his dad's shitty rom-coms. His tongue felt heavy as he shifted under Deku's stare.
"Are you done?" the nerd asked. Katsuki gave a jerky nod, flinching when Deku stood, moving toward him.
He came to a stop when they were toe to toe—close enough that Katsuki could probably count his fucking eyelashes. "What are you doing?" he asked. He wasn't nervous, shut up.
"You took my word-vomit thing," he began softly. "So, I'm gonna take your man-of-action thing."
"Wh—"
Two things happened in the following second.
First, Deku placed his hands on Katsuki's shoulders—presumably for leverage.
Second, Deku's lips pressed against his—mostly soft but rough in that one place he always bit it. Katsuki blinked, his eyes crossing as he tried to look at Deku's face and understand what was happening.
Deku was kissing him. That's what this was, right? Not some weird platonic upright-CPR thing? Deku's lips on his lips was definitely a kiss, right?
Hesitantly, he reached up and threaded his fingers through Deku's hair.
The nerd let out a happy little hum—adorable and satisfied—and relaxed into him, parting his lips and licking along Katsuki's bottom lip before fucking biting it.
It felt like a goddamn fever dream—like there was liquid electricity in his lips and fingertips, charging him in a way that felt like it reached into his fucking soul. What the fuck.
Deku pulled back too soon, gazing up at him with those perfect emerald eyes. His face was still wet—hell, he was still crying—but his pretty kiss-reddened mouth was split in a blinding smile.
"You're probably sick of words by now," he said, running his thumbs down the sides of Katsuki's neck, making the hair on his nape stand on end. "But do you need any from me? Or did that cover it?"
Katsuki blinked at him, face burning. "Uhhhh," he couldn't shake the static from his brain. Bless his nerd's patience. He just waited for Katsuki to catch up. "Maybe...tell me what you're thinking so I know we're on the same page," he breathed.
"Sure," Izuku replied, leaning up to kiss his jaw. "You're my favorite person in the world. When you're in the room I can't look at anyone else," he explained as he dotted kisses back toward his mouth.
Holy Christ on a fucking cracker. His blood was pounding in his ears. His hand was still in Deku's hair and it was so fucking soft. His grip tightened as Deku ventured closer to his mouth, continuing to tell him how he felt between kisses.
"I can do anything with you for hours and never get overwhelmed. Having you in my life feels like my greatest accomplishment. The fact that you brought up partnership before I could made me insanely happy. The most exciting thing in the world is the way your eyes light up in a fight, even if we're just bickering. You're the first person I ever want to share things with, even things I shouldn't."
And then, right before reaching his lips, he whispered: "I love you, too."
Izuku could barely contain himself. His fingers were slotted through Kacchan's as they walked toward the theater.
It was their first date. It was taking all of his concentration to keep Float from activating, he was so stupidly happy.
He'd been happy for a whole week straight.
Since Kacchan had told him he loved him.
God, was he really this lucky?
"Oh, wait—" Kacchan stopped, checking the time on his phone. "We're pretty early, you think we have time to make a stop somewhere?"
Izuku frowned at him.
"A stop for what?"
"Someone I want you to meet," Kacchan shrugged, releasing his hand so he could throw his arm around Izuku's shoulders instead.
"Here?" Izuku asked, casting his eyes around. This neighborhood wasn't exactly familiar to either of them. Well, Kacchan patrolled here sometimes, but definitely not regularly.
His confusion only grew when Kacchan steered them into a corner store. It looked empty and honestly, it looked like a seven year old girl had chosen the merchandise.
Well, aside from the alcoholic beverages in the back.
"Yo!" Kacchan yelled into the store. "Gramps, you here?"
"Kacchan?!" Izuku uttered, looking around wide-eyed. Did...he have an actual relative who worked here? Or was it just someone who was generally older than them that he'd bestowed a rude nickname upon?
"Relax, Freckles," Kacchan laughed, kissing his temple. Izuku blushed violently, whining as he hid his face in Katsuki's shoulder. "It's been a week, nerd."
"That's not enough time to get used to this much affection," he declared.
"I'm used to it," Kacchan lied, smirking as he did it. Izuku scowled at him. "Get on my level."
"Oh yeah?" Izuku huffed. "Get on mine first," he replied before clapping the blonde's face between both hands and kissing him square on the mouth.
He felt Katsuki blushing beneath his palms with a giddy sort of vindication.
He could make Kacchan blush. Kissing him made him blush. Awesome.
He pulled back, pleased to note that Katsuki was just as beet-red as he was. "Fuck you," Katsuki grumped, lower lip sticking out as he looked away. He was so cute. It made Izuku's heart feel like jello.
"Oh, you're back!"
They jumped away from each other like they'd been burned. "Gramps," Kacchan choked, turning to face the interloper. "Where the hell did you come from?"
The shopkeeper looked highly unimpressed. "Well, it is my shop, kiddo."
Katsuki blushed even harder.
"Right," he uttered. "Where's tiny?"
Izuku frowned up at him. Who was tiny? Was 'Tiny' a nickname? "Kacchan?"
"Patience, dork," he mumbled.
"She's in the back doing her homework," 'Gramps' replied. "Want me to go get her?"
"She wanted Deku to sign stuff, right?"
Izuku's heart melted again. "Did you bring me here to sign a kid's stuff?" he asked softly, gazing up at Kacchan adoringly. Yeah, he was a simp, what about it?
"Not just any kid," Katsuki smirked as the shopkeeper bustled to the back to fetch his granddaughter.
Izuku stepped back into him. He couldn't help himself—Kacchan seemed to have his own gravitational pull these days.
He didn't mind being caught in it, though. It's not like there was any other orbit he'd want to be caught in.
There was a tiny squeak of surprise, and both boys turned to see a little girl, hands clapped against her mouth—eyes wide and shining. "Hey squirt," Katsuki grinned.
"Mister Great Esploding Murder God Dynamight, sir," she squeaked. "Mister Deku," she added a moment later, even more reverent.
"Didn't you want some merch signed?" Katsuki asked with a fond grin. "Seems like the least we can do, since you did so much for me."
Now, Izuku was really lost. "I'm definitely up for signing some merch," he said, shooting the little girl a smile. "But what did she do for you?"
"Oh," her grandfather uttered.
"Kimi Yukimura, Quirk: Confessional. Her quirk removes all verbal inhibition until the thought that weighs most heavily on your mind is spoken aloud," Kacchan explained.
Izuku's eyes widened in understanding.
"She hit you with her quirk? I'm so sorry for the trouble, she usually has an excellent handle on it—"
"No need for the apology, Gramps," Kacchan assured him. "She helped me out a lot." Then, he knelt to look Kimi in the eye, smiling as her eyes got wide and watery. "I got to tell the people who matter to me how I felt about them without my pride getting in the way. I told Deku I loved him because of you," he said, softer than Izuku had ever heard before. "It was very special to me and I bet you'll help a shit-ton of people someday."
Swearing aside, it was so sweet that Izuku could feel his eyes sting.
"I helped?" Kimi asked, lip trembling.
His heart melted. He could imagine how stressful a quirk like that could be, especially if she used it on people less courageous than Kacchan.
"Hell yeah, you helped," Kacchan replied, ruffling her hair. "You helped me be brave."
"Wow," she whispered with the wonder of a child who'd just discovered magic. She looked at her hands.
"You did us both a huge favor," Izuku said, kneeling next to Katsuki. "Who knows when he would have plucked up the courage to say something—hey!" he laughed as Kacchan pushed him over.
"You two are cute," the shopkeeper said, smiling. "I'm glad she could help you out. And that you chose to be brave."
Kacchan rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well," he caught Izuku's eye and blushed. "Some things are worth being brave for."