Chapter Text
Friday July 21st
California USA
2:32 AM
Nobody could make Bakugou Katsuki do anything.
It’s with that same knowledge that the blonde chooses not to throw the two idiots under the bus when Aizawa interrogates him on their whereabouts. Instead, Katsuki stares at their teacher, just barely processing the litany of comments about how he wasn’t getting paid enough for any of this. He probably wasn’t.
“Bakugou.”
And at that, Katsuki snaps awake properly and sits up a little straighter in the bed. Aizawas frown is prominent, and his gaze is anything but forgiving. That being said, the student was not at all proud of what he did next.
“We just went to the city for a concert and booked a hotel; what’s the big fuckin deal?” He bites with a little more venom than intended. He was a morning person; he woke up before the sun and had himself together mere minutes after it rose. Katsuki just wasn’t one for being woken up; no matter how many hours he got, the sound of anything other than his alarm interrupting his sleep resulted in a cranky Katsuki.
“It’s not my fault icy hot doesn’t tell his dad shit why am I getting woken up at the asscrack of dawn!”
At that, Aizawa leans back in his chair, his eyes squinting briefly, and it takes everything in the blonde not to nervously squirm under that gaze. "Bakugou, it’s six p.m. Why is it dark in your room?” Scoffing, the blonde turns to find the nearest alarm clock to shut the delusional bastard up before stopping in his tracks. His clock would say something different, as would his phone, and it was most definitely pitch black out.
A hotel in the city. That’s lie number one, and he’ll do well to keep track of that. Aizawa was back home in Musutafo, and they were in fucking California, USA.
“Shit.” He says more so to himself. “Guess I fell asleep again. Late show.” Is all he offers only to be met with an unimpressed stare. "Also, not that it’s your business, but these are blackout curtains. I can see the sun tomorrow.”
“I expect all three of you back in these dorms by Sunday night.”
"Sir, yes, sir.”
“And problem child, which show did you say you attended?”
“I didn’t. I’m going the fuck to sleep.” With that, he hangs up, tossing the phone across the bed like it ran hot in his hands. Exhaling, he throws himself back, arms spread, and stares at the ceiling. They were so fucked. Not ground beta wrestling fucked or sneaking out to save a classmate fucked. Aizawa was going to get a dart board and hang their faces on it for stress relief sort of fucked.
“Hopefully that bastard does not check my recent purchases, or that lie will screw us over." Todoroki pipes up from fucking nowhere, and Katsuki is not tense because he’s not startled by that creepy asshole in the slightest. “Shut up.” The grump bites, scrunching his eyes shut. The sweet embrace of sleep has left him to rot wide awake. He can hear icy hot padding across the room going back and forth, pausing, and starting again. Katsuki is fixing his mouth to tear him a new one when his eyes are attacked with a warm orange fluorescent light.
“For fucks sake,” he snaps, sitting up and throwing the covers off of himself, glaring daggers at Todoroki, who is still wiping sleep from his eyes. “I’m kind of hungry. Do you think Midoriya will wake soon. ?” Half sitting on his bed, Todoroki hardly registers his mood. Katsuki stares in disbelief, twitching slightly at the warmth that runs down his back. His hands grip the sheets so hard that his knuckles almost go white. With the sliver of self-control he has, Katsuki restrains himself from pushing him off the bed entirely. Instead, he stalks over to where the nerd is peacefully sleeping. Green curls spread in their usual mess around his freckled face with both hands tucked underneath his chin. Deku looks peaceful like this, angelic even, and perhaps that’s the only satisfaction Katsuki will get from this morning, ruining it.
“WAKE. THE FUCK. UP.”
Deku shoots up to a sitting position, whipping his head left and right hard enough to make him slightly sway once he stills, the sleep vacating his person in record time. Eventually, stupid green eyes go back to their normal size, and Deku glances at the blonde, waiting for an explanation. Biting his lip, Katsuki turns on his heel and fights the urge to chuckle. Really, he had just wanted to ruin Deku's morning too, but he hadn’t anticipated the nerd's reaction to be that funny. He favored a disoriented peacock.
“That was on me, Midoriya. I didn’t know you’d be collateral.” half and half piped up, and Katsuki doesn’t need to turn around to know he’s wearing that stupid smirk on his face. Deku lets out a big sigh and goes limp on the bed.
“So mean Kacchan..”
Serves him right; he was the reason they were in this shitshow to begin with.
✢
“Look alive, Asswipes."
Deku yawns, sitting up straighter, but ultimately slouches over the cavity invitation of a breakfast he’d ordered. After a yawn, green eyes settle on the loud blonde. “I dunno how alive I’m going to look. Jetlag is kind of winning this battle, Kacchan.” Truthfully, the nerd looked like he was too tired to even chew. "Well, that breakfast is gonna do a shitjob of waking your ass up.” Katsuki grunts, retiring to his seat across from the two and bringing an obnoxiously colored smoothie to his lips. The nerd's polite smile turns into a genuine one, shameless as all hell, while he shovels a mountain of waffles soaked in berry syrup and whipped topping into his mouth. Next to the heathen, Todoroki pokes at his omelet, buried beneath a blanket of cheese and vegetables. Again, Katsuki wonders what the point of half these menu items is besides a short food coma.
“What do we have to wake up for? Have you warmed up to the idea of a vacation in the last four hours?”
“Fuck no. You heard Aizawa, and we got about twelve hours before our parents caught wind of the fact that we ain’t in Japan at all.” At that, Deku straightens up brows strewn together with that look of worry he wore naturally. “Bastard called me at fuckin five AM demanding answers. I lied for your sorry asses, and I’m not letting you dig our graves any deeper. We went to a concert and booked a hotel for the weekend.” Agreement comes in the form of shrugs, not the least bit worried about their current predicament.
“He expects us back Sunday evening like usual.” Icy hot adds staring off into the distance.
Bastard . He’d purposely left that out so the nerd wouldn’t get any dumb ideas. Katsuki knows that realistically, even if they did manage to pull this off, there was a chance something would give them away at some point. If it weren’t them, then perhaps it would be the generous bill they were currently racking up on Endeavors behalf. Or the mountain of evidence gathering in the Nerds phone since he took a photo of every fucking thing they came in contact with, including the restaurant they were at currently.
Brown Wooden boxes of foliage lined the outdoor area, with orange and red flowers reaching for the patrons while they ate. The tables were square, turned on an angle, with an umbrella stuck through the middle, shrouding them in the familiar hue of red Katsuki often saw everything in. Behind the two morons, the city was something out of a movie, a little far but not so far that he couldn’t hear the traffic, all basking in the warm glow of the morning sun. If this were actually a vacation, he may have taken it upon himself to bring his digital camera and get a few photos himself. Ones of the hotel, the big windows and city views, the flowers, and the busy streets littered with fun clothing and shops. Instead, he kept his phone safely tucked in his pocket so as not to let it witness his delinquency.
He would’ve turned the thing off so it couldn’t be tracked, but of course these idiots didn’t have international plans. His parents traveled a lot; it only made sense that the family plan had that. Forced to carry their shenanigans on his back, Katsuki bit the bullet and took over communications because radio silence would surely get them found out. He’d bought them time, and it only cost a little of his integrity.
"Well, since we have two days to spare,”
Underneath the table, the blonde's fist clenches, and his chest rises steadily as he chews with more aggression than necessary.
Don’t
“I found a few cool places; I couldn’t sleep after we landed, so I started looking at the list I had; maybe we can kill some time.”
“Fuck. No.”
"Sure, it could be fun.”
The nerd gasps in delight as he exhales a slew of explanations. Todoroki attentively listens, but not before sparing Katsuki a small smile. He almost breaks the glass holding his smoothie. Almost .
✢
Outside of combat Katsuki wasn’t one for spontaneity, the blonde liked some order to things even more than that for a trip like this one. He’d gotten a measly ten minutes to process Dekus' bat shit explanation of why he was acting weird. Needless to say Katsuki hadn’t exactly packed for…whatever the hell this was. Having any sort of fun was the last thing on Katsuki’s mind but even then staring at the two sets of clothing he’d packed — because he hadn’t planned on leaving the fucking country — drove him to feeding the flame of Dekus insanity.
“I don’t have any clothes and I’m not sharing with you halfwits.” He states simply arms folded across the skull on his chest. Teeth threaten to pierce the meat of his cheek, chewing to keep the alleged pout he had from showing itself. Todoroki, like a moth to a flame, sticks his head out from around the corner “you wanna go shopping ?”
“That’s what I just said,” he barks, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Okay, we can use my card.” icy hot declares disappearing into the bathroom once more “ten minutes” he calls a few seconds after. Katsuki rolls his eyes, strolling into the common area in search of the other. Deku has taken it upon himself to explore all the television stations, he sits idly in the center of the couch curled up with his knees under his chin. Katsuki stills at the sight letting traces of nostalgia ghost over him, pushing its way to the front of his brain.
It’s Deku, age five curled on the living room couch mere inches away from him. They’re under the same Allmight blanket Katsuki had gifted him for his birthday months prior. Shoulder to shoulder just how they liked it, watching the Allmight Halloween special. Izuku always watches like it’s his first time but Katsuki gets bored between his favorite parts so he stares at the other boy instead. Laughs when he gets excited and lets Izuku squeeze his hand when scared; he was here for protection because movies didn’t scare him and Izuku is a big baby. He takes his role very seriously.
“Kacchan?”
Katsuki blinks and the memory fades throwing him back to the present, it’s disorienting yet part of him wants to reach out for the memory, that feeling. “We’re going out. Turn off the baby shows.” He hopes the discontent in his tone wards off the feeling because this was Deku now and there was nothing like here. “It’s not a baby show!” Deku whines, the blonde makes a point of turning towards the tv while a blue dog is in the middle of playing pretend with what he assumes are his children. It’s teaching them the responsibility of having a pet clearly, and it all goes to shit in the next ten seconds when he tackles some yellow dog that shows up with the fake hand pet. Deku shrinks, scrambling to turn it off and because Katsuki is so generous, he doesn’t tease the nerd any further.
“Uh where are we going ?”
“To get clothes because your dumbass told me about this shitty idea with no time to pack right.”
The nerd bites his lip probably trying to hold in one of the many sorries he gives in a day.
“Okay I’ll put my shoes on in a sec” he assures slowly uncurling himself rising to his feet. “You still haven’t explained any of this.” Katsuki mumbles taking the seat across from the couch crossing one ankle over the other. Red eyes glare expectantly at the nerd demanding an explanation. Reluctantly Deku obliges.
“I just needed some time to figure some stuff out.“
“Across the fuckin globe deku ? Do you have any clue how much shit we’re in you dumb fuck” part of him knows that no answer would’ve been good enough for him. No matter what this ended with possible expulsion derailing their entire life for good.
“Then why did you follow me?!”
It’s a simple question isn’t it ? But the blonde trips over his answer in his head. Because dying would be easier than spitting out that they go everywhere together . He resented the fact that Deku would even ask why he followed him like the fucker wasn’t glued to his back most of their life. Questioning Dekus presence had become more of an expectant glance around in search of the nerd rather than a demand to know why he was there. Katsuki hated the way they seemed stuck in one another’s orbit and he hated the implications of his answer.
He didn’t think about it. If Deku was going, so was he, like some natural law of physics or some shit.
“Trust me I would’ve stayed the fuck home if I knew this is where you were dragging me. I thought this was undercover work your nepotism got you” it’s a blatant lie and Katsuki protects it behind the gruffness of his voice. “Would you stop calling it that?” His whole aura sours at the comment and that part of Katsuki that likes to keep going until he breaks things takes center stage.
“Why? So you stop feeling guilty about it ? Trust me I don’t give a fuck I’ll still pull ahead. Just got tired of you having all the fun.”
That cocky grin of his grows just enough to put the nail in the coffin, a freckled hand balling into a fist flexing a few times. He wouldn’t say anything because Deku never says shit to him, just gets all quiet and walks away. Maybe the reason it makes Katsuki so mad is because he wishes something in his brain would grant him the same control one day. He’s left to stare at the ceiling listening to the sounds of Deku slipping on his red sneakers making no effort to move from the doorway. Katsuki sighs, he hadn’t expected to reach that reaction just yet, him keeping his distance. That usually took screaming at him or a hand charging up an explosion to tell him to fuck off with.
Next time he blinks, Todoroki looms over him with that blank expression of his and they stare at each other for a while. Constantly the bastard was always pushing him into the smallest of battles like a fuckin staring contest.
“Tch. what are you looking at me for?”
“Cars gonna be here, let's head down.”
✤
The nearest mall went up three stories and was full of people and their thirty-something shopping bags. Large white tiles with specks of silver cover the ground floor and shine enough for Katsuki to see their reflections in them. He grabs a map of the place and opens it up, grumbling at the sheer amount of crap crammed onto it. This shit was in a foreign language, and it was too damn loud to see straight.
“Do they not have the store you wanted?” Half-n-half pipes up from his left, and Katsuki tries not to tear the map in his grip. “I’m pretty sure they do. There’s just all this fuckin bullshit in the way it’s annoying.” He snaps, bringing the thing closer to his face, which only pisses him off more.
“You might like the clothes from here, Kacchan,” Deku pipes up, pointing to some blue dots on the map. “I know the logo, so it’ll be okay if we just walk around for a little without having to look at that map. It’s kind of confusing.” Confusing was an understatement. Some kids gasp in awe while Katsuki crumbles the map and incinerates the thing in his palm. “Let’s friggin go then,” he huffs, walking in a random direction, not missing the way Deku reaches for another map and pockets it. As if he could read that thing better than Katsuki.
Like the nerd promised, he did recognize the logo, and the collection wasn’t that fuckin terrible; okay, it was actually fuckin cool. He was up to his ass in band shirts, flipping through them just to take it all in. “You know you could go look at literally any other part of this store, right?” Todoroki hums and sticks to Katsuki’s side like a kid scared of getting lost. Luckily, the bastard was quiet when he lingered, but it was fucking awkward. It was almost enough to make Katsuki miss the nerds ramblings while he did the same.
“True. But I’d like to see where my money is going.” He smiles at the pause in Katsuki’s browsing, taking another step closer. “That one looks cool.” He points to one of the gray shirts littered with bleach stains. “Their music fuckin sucks ass though I wouldn’t be caught dead in their merch.” The sound Todoroki makes sets Katsuki off a bit more than he’d like to admit. Surprisingly, his neck doesn’t break with the speed at which the blonde turns his head.
“Got something to say?”
“You listen to this stuff? They’re real bands, not just cool designs.”
“Fuckin obviously. Never seen this fuckin store before, but they got good shit in here. Nerd was right.” Of course, he was. Because, for some reason, he knew everything about him. "Yeah, I usually expect that from him when it comes to you.” Todoroki agrees, and Katsuki swears he sees the fucker smirk a little. “Credit cards shouldn’t talk,” Katsuki decides, continuing his search for bands he was actually a fan of. It gets a chuckle out of the bastard, and the blonde rolls his eyes and smirks a little as well.
“Fuck”
Pulling the black shirt from the rack, he excitedly holds it up, feeling his eyelids retreat a bit more than usual at the sight of it. “What? Is that a good one?” Todoroki whispers with more enthusiasm than usual. “It’s better than good; it’s fuckin amazing. They never sell shit for them back home unless they have a show.”
“You should get it then.”
“Icy hot; you’re a little too liberal with that card.”
“He’d let me bankrupt him if he thought it meant I was warming up to him.” Katsuki doesn’t know what to say to that at first. Whatever nefarious means of revenge Todoroki has for his father, he has supported it. Not like he was really laying into him anyway.
“Serves that asshole right.”
He decides reaching for another shirt, the urge to return the money fading slightly. They move on to the pants section, and Katsuki has no fuckin clue what exactly is going on over here. There’s so many zippers and chains, too many damn pockets. “They have blue jeans over there.” Todoroki points to their left, and Katsuki snorts. “I may dress normal around school, but I’m not that fuckin preppy. I want them a little distressed.”
“Kind of like you.”
Todoroki walks straight into his back and chuckles, taking a step back. This smartass.
“The fuck does that mean?” Bakugo dares, gripping the neckline of icy hots white t-shirt.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, Bakugou,” is all he supplies, and for the second time that hour, the blonde wishes it was the nerd instead. Because when Katsuki demanded an answer, the nerd gave it, and then some. Where was that nerd? He and his terrible outing etiquette always wondered off.
“Why did you even plan this with the nerd anyway? Don’t tell me you idiots were gonna get hitched. Still illegal here too.”
“Really ? I thought America was progressive.”
Katsuki clicks his tongue at the way Todoroki makes no effort to deny his theory; oddly, he remembers this same irritation when the nerd confessed what he was doing and said he was going with icy hot of all people. As if this bastard knew anything about keeping Deku out of trouble and stopping his shit ideas before they started.
“Whatever.”
“That’s not what we were doing, by the way. We just started talking about getting away from UA for a weekend, and then it turned into all of this, and then we kind of just... were already doing it.”
“You’re both morons. And stop getting card happy I’m gonna send you the money for this shit.”
“I feel kind of bad for dragging you along. Midoriya and I knew it was risky, but you didn’t get all the details. So think of this as a sorry instead of a favor.”
“Can’t buy the nerds friendship, you know.” And really, he knows Todoroki would never stoop so low to make friends. He didn’t have to; the guy was pretty popular to begin with. Todoroki huffs something like a laugh and takes some shirts off his hands for him. Again, such a fucking gentleman; kill him.
“Maybe with all might merch. But I wouldn’t dream of it anyway; we’re pretty good right now, and I don’t have enough money in the world to buy the spot he has for you , so you shouldn't be worried.”
“Excuse me?”
“Kind of like a first pet; there’s you, then there’s everything after.” The bastard continues to act like he didn’t just drop a bomb on him. Katsuki should be ripping Todorokis ears off for comparing him to a damn pet, but he’s equally taken aback by the statement that precedes it. It’s not news to him, but still, it’s sort of weird to hear someone else acknowledge it. Katsuki wants to interrogate the idiot and figure out what exactly he thinks that means and why. What does he know?.
“Where’s the nerd?” Hopefully, the concern isn’t that noticeable. “I’m right here, Kacchan,” his voice pipes up from behind him. Bakugou turns on his heel to see his arms full of pants. “Are you giving yourself a makeover?” Katsuki jeers, stomping over to him. Deku shakes his head and offers them up. “No, I just figured these would fit you. They’re kind of your style too.”
His stomach drops at the explanation, and the tips of his ears heat up slightly. As Todoroki said, the jackass was usually right.
“How do you know my size?”
“I don’t! I just guessed.”
“Stalker”
“Kacchan”
“ Pervy stalker.” Shame is damn near palpable at this point, and Katsuki tries not to give meaning to the swell of pride he gets. Yeah, so the nerd watches him way more than necessary, and Katsuki absolutely hates it. He’d state as much every damn time he saw Deku's nose in his notebook, occasionally glancing up at him during training. It was creepy and constant.
It would almost be intimate if it wasn’t so damn unsettling, churning his stomach in an odd way every time he noticed the nerd doing it.
Deku shoves the pants into his arms and turns away, pulling his hoodie down over his face. “If he’s right, he deserves an award.”
“He deserves fuckin jail,” Katsuki snorts, looking around for some dressing rooms.
✤
The phone in Izuku’s pocket feels like a ticking time bomb, with every vibration sending chills over his body. In the middle of a hundred and six-degree weather, passing it off as being cold was just asking for suspicion. Todoroki seems unconcerned with the whole thing, because what would he really need to worry about? Any hero school would take him, and his father was never in his good graces. He, on the other hand, was in a slightly different boat and purposely ran all the way to America with a phone service that wouldn’t work here just so none of them could ask anything of him.
He was a coward. Running here was so wrong, yet finding the strength to care proved impossible. They could give him one weekend of not being an ace to whatever team was assembled this time. Just three days of not knowing what was going on in Japan for once. Bringing Kacchan was an unexpected turn of events; originally, Izuku planned not to tell the blonde a word and just brace for impact when they returned. It’s not anything he can fully understand just yet, but doing anything without the blonde felt like some sort of betrayal.
It was selfish to want him here; of course he’d come along if he thought you were doing something important .
And Izuku may have omitted the part about this mainly being some stupid getaway and not a ploy for one of the missions he’d been stationed on. There may have been some intentional button pushing on his end to force that leash around the other and lead him where Izuku wanted him. He wanted to spend time with Kacchan, but karma had come back and bitten him already.
Things like jealousy or envy didn’t afflict him much, not in the negative way they do for others. That guy he follows on Twitter with a better all-Might collection? There is a healthy amount of jealousy there. Bakugou's existence? In his eyes, there was a healthy amount of envy there too. But watching the blonde excitedly, in that restrained expression of his thumb through band shirts, he felt a different kind of jealousy. Todoroki lingers behind him, not missing a step, and the blonde didn’t so much as make a show of being disgruntled by that.
It made Izuku's face go slack, awkwardly swallowing the feeling bubbling in his chest. He’d found the place even though Kacchan was being a proper ass, which kept him from blowing his top at the map. He was helpful, kind like usual, but it was Todoroki who the blonde let casually chat with him. Izuku was as sad as he was bitter.
When it came to the two of them, he had no clue in what direction he was walking most days. Sometimes Kacchan was fine with the small talk and the company. Other days, it was like a complete 180 that made him question if he was imagining the progress altogether.
So yeah, looking up and watching Todoroki laugh and Kacchan smirk like they’re so familiar with each other tears something ugly through him. And for a second, he thinks he may actually hate them both.
Why is it so easy for Kacchan to let others in?
Izuku was made to watch from a distance, picking his battles. The jeans are a distraction task at first, then a peace offering. Four pairs of dark-colored distressed jeans meant please go back to tolerating me instead of hating me. I’d really love to chat with you too. When Kacchan teases him, the flight response tells him to get away before he gives the blonde something else to poke fun at. Specifically, the red he felt was flooding his cheeks.
He tries not to notice that Todoroki has latched on to him now because it takes Bakugou being unavailable for the prodigal son to notice him.
Stop punching up ; he scolds himself.
Todoroki hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, he was being extremely kind, like always.
“Have you heard from anyone back home?” Todoroki breaks the silence, rubbing his fingertips along a pair of corduroys. "Yeah, through social media, mainly. So I’m not really sure if all–“ could you be any more obvious?. “Any of the staff have contacted me.” He corrects the statement. Izuku leans against a wall, resting there and tapping his fingers on the surface behind him. “I’m sure my old man will eventually ask what I am doing, but I’m nowhere near the limit yet.”
It made Izuku's head spin to guess what exactly that limit was. They’d gotten plane tickets, car service, a hotel room that was too nice, and breakfast. America was by no means cheap. If it wasn’t such a rude thing to ask, he would have begged Todoroki to explain just how rich his family was. It was hard to get a read on all might since he was sort of like him, liked his few brands, and didn’t pay much attention to expensive things. There was that private plane ride that one time.
“It’s a bit late to ask, but why’d you suddenly want to do this now? Not that I’m not grateful or anything. This is kind of amazing. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I wake up from a dream.” Todoroki looks at him thoughtfully, stuffing both hands in his pants and rocking on the balls of his feet. Something about it makes him sort of nervous.
“I guess I kind of panicked; I’m still not sure if that was a good idea, but I’m not seeing the harm in it yet. This is sort of fun. I’m still new to the friend thing; guess I just really wanted to hang out with you away from all of that for once.”
The two smiled at each other in understanding.
Lizuku feels the mood lighten, and his cloud of angst dissipates. “Oi losers!” Kacchan's voice travels through the store, and Izuku's feet move instinctively towards it. He’s standing in the entrance of the dressing room, head to toe in new clothes, looking at his own reflection.
“Does it look like crap?” He mutters.
As if he of all people could look like crap in anything, well, he did have that unfortunate phase in middle school whenever he saw him on weekends. That wasn’t important right now. Right now, Kacchan had both hands on his hips, staring down at his pants and slowly rotating one of his legs. His pants were cream-colored with no rips and didn’t cling to him, but they were still far from baggy; they piled up artfully towards the bottom. The shirt was navy blue with a sports logo across the front; it was also a size or three too big. Pretty simple, but fun-looking. “It fits you.” Todoroki states, nodding for good measure, then red eyes turn on him. Suddenly, Izuku forgets how to breathe under the weight of his attention.
Just say something normal. He doesn’t really care what you think anyway.
“You look fine,” he beams, which was too early a celebration since Kacchan huffs at the response.
“ Fine ? I need awesome. I’m changing.”
The blonde disappears into the dressing rooms once more, and Izuku glances at Todoroki, happy to find his matching confused expression. They both chuckle quickly, shutting up when the blonde sends a threat their way for laughing at him. Next, he emerges, and Izuku is quickly reminded of who Kacchan's parents are and just how little he thinks about the outfits he puts together. Glancing down at his blue jeans, red sneakers, and white shirt, the boy fights the urge to compare himself to the other two. This is how he dressed, and he likes how he dresses; he did a minute ago, and he’d force himself to continue.
“Well?”
“Would it suffice to call you hot this time?” Todoroki probes. The snort that leaves Izuku is one of shock that quickly converts to nervousness. They really couldn’t afford the blonde blowing up a store overseas. Todoroki must be the luckiest guy on earth, because all Kacchan does in response is flash a grin before leaving again. That pang of envy is back.
Kacchan manages to find three outfits in this store alone, each one better than the last. Izuku has been tasked with pointing out more cool places to shop. Part of him loves that Kacchan deemed him not terrible at this; it almost makes up for calling him a Nepo baby.
The sudden impact on his chest almost knocks him over, forcing him to pay attention. Red eyes narrow at him, and Kacchan's palm presses the few pieces of clothing against his white t-shirt. "Uh, yes, Kacchan. Did you want me to hold these?”
God. He was kind of a spoiled brat sometimes; all he had to do was ask, and Izuku would happily do anything for him.
“No.”
"...no?”
The blonde clicks his tongue, and Izuku feels the patience leave him entirely once his foot taps. “Are you going to try the shit on or not?” He snaps, pressing harder.
Oh .
Freckled hands fly to hold the clothing being offered, and he stutters through a thanks even though he has no clue what’s going on. Maybe the blonde was finally having fun or something, which really wasn’t expected at all. Lines, changing a bunch, and walking around carrying it all didn’t sound like anything he’d have patience for, vanity included. Izuku trails behind the blonde, quietly watching the consideration he gives to each item he touches.
“What is it, Deku?”
"Nothing; I'm just glad you’re having fun, I guess.”
He gets a glare in response, then some colorful mumbling that boils down to a shut-up. God forbid someone wishes a good day on Kacchan.
“Icy hot is just rewarding you for being a stalker.” Which he is sure makes complete sense to just the blonde but doesn’t dare ask for clarification. “Um. Alright.” After one more rack, he’s being shoved off to the changing rooms, staring at the blonde blocking his exit from the private stall. His arms are folded, his jaw bone jutting out like it always did when he grinds his teeth. He knows he’s waiting on him to do something, and survival might actually push him to swallow his embarrassment so he doesn’t get blown up.
“Why are you just fucking standing there?!” Kacchan finally snaps, rattling the tiny room a little.
“I’m sorry! Can you please just wait outside?!”
The blonde blinks, all anger erased from his expression and replaced with one of confusion, then seconds after realization. Seriously? He hadn’t noticed; he dragged them both in here and practically slammed the door behind them. “Crap. Whatever, just hurry up. I want to look at the hiking gear they got across from this place.”
Izuku nods and wastes no time tossing his t-shirt and pants aside, reaching for whatever it was Kacchan had decided was a good fit for him.
“Well?” His voice muffled through the door, startling him. He hits a rack with his flailing hand and hops around in pain for a few seconds, biting his lip so as not to add to his embarrassment. “You’re so fucking clumsy, Deku.” He can feel the eye roll from here.
“Sorry. Just give me a second, Kacchan.” He races to pick up a pair of pants and pull them on. It’s not long before he begins trying to fill the dead air. “I saw this park in one of the destination books before I got here. I was going to see if Todoroki would check it out with me, but I’m not sure how much he likes that stuff. It has trails, and these trees are as big as buildings.”
“No.”
“And they have this lake named after emeralds we can walk close to,” Izuku continues anyway, pulling a shirt over his head only to find it’s backwards. “I think there’s wildlife as well, but none that would really bother us. There are a lot of different parts to it. They called it the giant forest.”
A rhythmic knocking begins against the area close to the door, and it takes Izuku a second to realize what the blonde was doing. “You’re gonna give yourself a headache.” He warns.
“You’re already giving me one; I might as well speed run it. I’m le-”
The dressing room door is flung open before he can finish the sentence, and Deku stumbles out, pulling a button up over the graphic tee he’d put on. Kacchan sighs, turning around when scarred hands grab his wrist. “But Kacchan, you’d really like it. The trees are so huge, you don’t understand! It’s like endeavor agency tall! You’d like it!” Izuku doesn’t know why he’s pleading because Kacchan wasn’t one to listen to him when he pushed like this. Maybe it was his lucky day too, because he didn’t get his face exploded, just a stone-cold scowl with a once-over, and he turned his head to the side, defeated.
“ You don’t know what I like. ” He mutters, avoiding eye contact with him, shaking his wrist away. Untrue. But he wouldn’t put it past the blonde to swear off liking anything he guessed correctly about. “But fine, we can go; just fuckin hurry up.” He growls, making a hastier exit than before. Kacchan was totally excited. Throwing a fist up in the air, Izuku celebrates his victory, stopping when reminded that he was indeed in public, and though he’d never have to face these people again, Todoroki wasn’t a stranger. And he was staring right at him along with his camera, which he heard clicking.
Izuku bows his head in shame, accepting the comforting pat Todoroki gives him. “You looked cool,” he comments, and they both try not to laugh at the obvious lie. “Just grab the rest and take the tags off those; I don’t think he’ll wait long,” Todoroki tells him before disappearing again.
Oh, right, he was trying on the new clothes. He turns to stare at himself in the full-length mirror, his green eyes going wide at the sight before him.
Okay. I definitely don’t mind that embarrassing photo if I’m dressed this cool.
He walks a little bit taller through the mall in this new outfit, and Kacchan practically rushes them out, demanding to know more about the park after seeing a picture of it hung in the hiking store. Finally, the trio was back where the day began, and there was still so much more to do. Izuku wanted to glue himself to the bed.
“You guys have thirty minutes to be ready. I'm not missing the hours for this trail.” Kacchan demands it from the couch.
He didn’t even want to go an hour ago.
Deku rolls his eyes with a knowing smile.