#KACCHAN GETS A PHONE CALL

[marimeeko]

Small dream that the supposed popularity poll movie about the most popular character(bakugou)was coming out and there was a literal trailer

I think it was after UA and after Bakugou starts professional work. Pretty sure he was working with Jeanist maybe as a sidekick. Or maybe he's about to debut as an independent hero so the world is watching him, so to speak.

The villain looked like a literal shape-shifting type, and had taken to shifting specifically as Bakugou(Dynamight), and causing trouble.

So now Bakugou has to deal with someone who is trying to tear down his status, who's committing crimes in his name, and has to reclaim his image, maybe?

I think, bc 1, there can be no Katsuki Bakugou arc without Izuku, 2, I would like to see Izuku do some cool things while he is Quirkless, and 3, Izuku would take SPECIAL offense to someone imitating/slandering/framing Katsuki and his image, Izuku would become involved in this somehow.

If it's Pre-support suit, he could be kind of an undercover or spy to help Katsuki fight back, get info, and catch the villain...if it's after that 8 yr reveal of the support suit... well, we could see him back in full action. Even his debut.

I'm thinking of this super cool shot of him grinning as he shifts into the suit, ready to go.

(Though I gotta say I like the idea of him not having the suit yet and doing some cool stuff anyway, using more of his brains than powers!!)

[phant0mth1ef]

the feeling that i’m losing her, forever.

bakugou katsuki x childhood friend hcs! pt 2

- you’d both met in kindergarten when you had complimented his quirk which had just manifested, and in return, he asked to see yours.

- your quirk wasn’t anything too flashy, you could manipulate the terrain beneath you, or anything that was considered part of earth for that matter. (think of toph from atla).

- he straight up told you that your quirk sucked and so you hit him in the head with a rock. he got set to the infirmary and you had a lengthy chat with your principal about why you shouldn’t use quirks on other students.

- sought you out after that encounter because he liked that you weren’t scared or took what he said to heart because you knew you were good.

- even as a kid he was a cocky little shit so you consistently kept him in his place whenever he started his “forward march and here we go!” chant.

- over time, you two simply just stuck by each other because you were almost always in the same class, so you never really had any reason to ignore the boy, and he found himself not completely hating the feeling of having you right by his side.

- in middle school he found out that you put shiketsu instead of ua down as your top school and he threw a fit because he didn’t want to lose one of the things in his life that was consistent and stable, but got over it when you told him that you’d come visit.

- when he got into ua and you got into shiketsu, your parents joined together and had a celebratory dinner for you both, and he could swear he had never been happier than that moment.

- when your family had to move so you could go to shiketsu, the boy went over and pretended he wasn’t about to cry because truth be told, you were his best friend.

- at first, you’d both called each other almost every night to gain daily updates on how your new lives were treating you, and it was something bakugou had looked forward to after having to deal with those extras all day.

- the first time you guys didn’t check up on each other was the same night that the usj had been attacked by the league of villains, something that you had seen on the news as you immediately dialed up your friend, who texted you that he was just too tired to talk right now.

- the second time was after ua’s sports’ festival, when you called to congratulate him and he just completely ignored the call, no explanation as to why, just instantly getting sent to voicemail.

- you pretended like you didn’t care, obviously you knew he was busy and that he probably just didn’t have the time in between classes and trainings, but then again, you were doing the same things and making time for him, why couldn’t he do the same for you.

one time he accidentally butt dialed you before class had started and when you picked up you could hear the bustling nature and conversations going on in his classroom, the sound of the boy pulling out his seat and sitting down was heard.

“hello? katsuki?” no response.

you recognized izuku’s voice coming into earshot.

“kacchan, i’ve been meaning to ask. how’s y/n doing?” the boys positive attitude even conveyed itself through the phone as you waited to hear how bakugou would respond, because truth be told, you had a major crush on your best friend.

“i dunno.” and you could hear him taking a bite of something, like an apple or something crunchy.

“y/n?! if i didn’t know any better, i’d think you had a girlfriend bakugou!” an unrecognizable voice boomed through your headphones.

“s’not the case. she’s just a friend. i don’t like her like that. always callin’ me and shit, gets annoyin’ y’know?” he grunted as the sound of your bell ringing had filled your ears, you quickly hung up and turned off your phone. pretending that what just happened didn’t sting a bit.

- from there you stopped calling him so much, figuring that if he wanted to talk, he’d call you up first.

- eventually you stopped talking altogether because you stopped starting the conversations, refusing to make him feel as if he had to talk to you.

- bakugou of course was unfortunately a firm believer of “the phone works both ways,” so he never decided to start a conversation up either. matter of fact he refused to ever think of hovering his finger over your contact, instead opting to just tell kirishima about his thoughts.

- when ua moved into the dorms, bakugou had a bulletin board filled up with a variety of different things that seemed so out of character for him, like pictures of him as a kid, pictures of his family, newspaper clippings from the sports’ festival, and a few select pictures of you both through the years.

- the first time kirishima was let into the blonde boy’s room, it was like the first thing his eyes locked onto as he sat down at bakugou’s desk, seeing a genuine smile on his friends face.

“who’s that?” his voiced laced with curiosity as he unpinned the picture, taking it down to show his friend.

“eh? friend of mine.” his reply was short and concise, as if he didn’t want to talk about it. so kirishima just pinned the photo back up, and looked at the rest that littered his wall.

a picture of you both at your kindergarten graduation, a few candid pictures from grade school, and a picture of just you from middle school graduation, but you can tell bakugou took it because a tuft of the spiky blonde hair hung in front of the camera lens and left only half your face visible.

kirishima had to stifle his laugh when he saw a childhood picture of you and bakugou playing in a sandbox, the boy getting sand thrown into his face, and on the back of the photo read “katsuki’s first friend!” clearly something mitsuki had done for him.

- he felt his breath getting separated from his body when he saw you stepping off the bus at the provisional licensing exam, your shiketsu cap taunting him, teasing what could’ve been.

- of course he didn’t miss how your second year classmates all walked with you huddled between them, they’d known of your foul relationship with someone from ua, and as the one of the only first years that were attending the exam from shiketsu, they felt as if they had to protect you.

“oh, look kacchan! she’s here.” midoriya was excited, because after all, you were his friend as much as you were bakugou’s.

“i know.” and that was all he said before angrily walking off, he saw your phone in your hand, he knew it still worked.

he was acting as if he didn’t miss you. and even if his eyes lit up as you essentially dominated the piece of earth terrain, he’d never admit that he wanted his best friend back by his side.

“seiji was eliminated? no way!” you spoke to inasa after the first part of the exam, true disappointment in your voice as you found out bakugou had eliminated your classmate.

“he likes you, y’know.” inasa’s voice was naturally loud, so you weren’t shocked when people’s heads begun to turn at the sound of romance in the air.

“who?”

“shishikura.” all inasa wanted was for his friend to gain the girl he’d been pining for since the first day of school, even if his friend was a certified dick to some people.

katsuki hadn’t once bothered to look your way since you’d gotten to the exam site, but his knuckles were turning white as they gripped the table in front of him.

he didn’t realize it, but he had lost you a long time ago back when he had called you annoying.

[gamblersdoll]

cw: semi cheating trope, cucking, doggy style, masturbation (m) spitting, katsuki being really mean in this one, slapping.

this felt dirty and wrong, izuku thought. the way he felt about you was greater than his past crush for ochaco, yet here he was. the obsessive and adoration he had for you was no match, but here he was.

here he was pressing down on katsuki’s head as he went down on izuku, him slightly gagging on his length and pushing away. “fuck– you getting too rough, deku.” he spits, glaring up at him. “calm down this time.”

he nods, eyes filled with lust and his judgement clouded. he didnt notice the two missed calls you had given him, nor the four missed messages. his fingers trail through katsuki’s head, yet his balls lurched when katsuki licked his lips.

“zuku, what are you—“ you say, opening the door and looking at your phone. until your eyes meet the two, katsuki on his knees while izuku sits on his bed, manspreading.

both of their hearts thump, a cold nervous sweat on both of their faces and hands as you just stand there, bewildered. your heart clenches, feeling sadness, but more of disappointment and rage filling your veins.

“baby—“ izuku starts, but gets cut off by you.

“nah nah, fuck you!” you shout, turning around and slamming the door. it had to be about nine in the evening, so everyone was already downstairs chilling out.

it took you about a month or two to settle your nerves, feeling rage and betrayal from him just getting his dick sucked from his childhood friend.

a friend who also just so happen to be friends with you, surprisingly. thats what threw you off, katsuki just so suddenly became friends with you and wasn’t completely an ass to you. you at first thought nothing of it, but now it made sense.

your mind stops thinking, your ears and eyes being drawn to the message ping on your phone. izuku had texted, asking to meet in his dorm to talk.

should you even fucking bother? maybe. let hear what this bitch had to say.

“so— first i want to say im so sorry.” he starts, hands on his bouncing knees and eyes darting around. he picked at his nails, katsuki having to pull his hands apart. that only added salt to the wound, because what the fuck was he doing here?

“and why does bakugou have to be here for this?” you ask, growing impatient and tapping your foot. he looks up to your eyes, the glare you gave was mean, hurting his heart.

the “because he has involvement with this— its not what you think!” he quickly says, hands up in defense and looking to you and katsuki.

“so..”

“uhum–“ he tried, swallowing thickly and takes a deep breath. “so.. you remember when i told you i was bi, right? before we got together?” he starts, knee bouncing faster harder. you nod, eyes raised in a “yeah, no shit.” look. “well.. kacchan and i had been talking since we made up, and we started to like you as well.”

youre feet stop tapping, heart stopping and you start a glare. “hold on! and we started to like you and it kinda separated us for a couple weeks, thats when me and you were first dating and we had that big fight that you had to separate.” he rambles, katsuki flicking him to stay on topic.

“and uh, me and kacchan made up again after you both became friends and we wanted to ask you in person if you could give a threeway a shot!”

you just stare, looking at the both of them and watching katsuki just lean back. that made your blood boil, the way hes just acting all casual.

katsuki notices, manspreading himself and staring right back at you. “if you got something to say, say it.” he states, testing to see who and what you were.

you say nothing, biting your tongue and looking back to the green haired boy. “that’s absolutely bullshit and you know it.” you say, finding that shit unbelievable and quite frankly, offensive. “you mean to tell me that you both were fucking on the down low and then i just peaked both of your interest, you got together with me and all of a sudden you want a three way?”

“aint that what he just said?” katsuki finally speaks and chimes in, eyebrow raised.

you feel like a snapping point, like your ready to reach across and slap the fuck out of him for even speaking to you at all. “you can shut the fuck up, baku—“

at that point, he had heard enough between you and izuku. he reaches out, grabbing you by your throat and giving a slight choke. your thighs quiver, it being an instant trigger for you to become a mess.

“kacc—!”

“nah, you took too long with your fuckin’ delivery.” he says, hand groping a breast and leading you to the bed. “youre the one who told me this the shit she likes, so i’m fuckin’ her.”

and if those words werent a trigger for you, it was for izuku. his cock grows hard, his shorts becoming a restriction to his length and he groans.

katsuki’s lips crash onto yours, him effortlessly taking a hand and freeing himself from his boxers and tapping it against your skin. “you want it, dont you?” he teases, ripping the shorts off of your skin and rubbing circles into your clit.

his hand pries open your mouth, his eyes lowering. “open.” he says, curling his lips and spitting into your wet cavern. he looks over to izuku, izuku already freeing himself and spitting on his own length. “you see that there?” he points, whispering in your ear.

“thats what he does when he thinks about me fucking you like some common whore.” he reveals, chuckling in your ear. “he been waitin’ for this, to see me fuck you relentless and he watch.” he says again, slapping your clit and pinching it.

“zuku—“ your voice tries, sounding hoarse and katsuki focusing on your face now. he lands a somewhat hard slap to it, forcing you to look only at him.

“dont look at him, why are you looking at him? whos about to fuck you?” katsuki presses, fingers digging their way into your walls. “huh? whos about to fuck this pussy hm?”

you stutter, the intrusion being too much and you claw at his skin. “katsuki! shit—“

“yeah, thats right. im the one fucking you, not him. he assures, fingers finished from curling inside onto your gspot and forcing themselves into your mouth. “you dont get to cum, yet, either.”

you suckle on his fingers, eyes rolling back from the sheer force of his demands and tossing. he flips you over, face in the mattress and him grabbing you by your hips. shit, could you do this? doggy you cant even handle with izuku.

you try to look up, only catching a glimpse of izuku fisting his cock and his face flushed.

you squeal, feeling the heat from katsuki’s tip slip inside of your walls and hitting that spot already. the spot that hadnt been touched in however long you and izuku hadnt talked. “fuck, i can see what you mean by her being a tight space.” katsuki groans, hand gripping a hip and shoulder blade.

he starts immediately thrusting at such a violent place, but you knew he was going to be like that. “some fucking girlfriend you fuckin’ had!” katsuki laughs, his hips snapping into yours and balls slapping at your clit. “just some fucking whore that needed a good dick!”

you moan into the mattress, drooling against it and eyes rolling harder to your skull. you clawed at the sheets, hearing izuku lose himself in his fist as he watched his fuck buddy, his childhood best friend fuck his pretty girlfriend.

you choke, his cock angled at a different spot that had never been used or touched. “oh shit, you havent fucked her this way either, huh?” he grins, his hips angling themselves better and he spits onto the curve of your back. “yeah? he doesnt fuck you good like i do, huh?” he asks, a harsh slap to your ass.

“no— no no fuck!” you moan, going stupid from the intrusion, the sheer force of his hips alone making you go dumb. your tummy clenched, feeling your clit throb more than anything until it hurt.

“fuck, shes about to cum, deku.” he growls in a praise, his palms pressing down on your lower back as he slams his bodyweight into the thrusts.

you squeal, that coil tightening and hearing izuku lose himself in his own orgasm at the same time. you had missed hearing him cum, you both usually always have a simultaneous orgasm together at the same time.

“cum in her— breed her pussy please, kacchan.” he pleads, his hand shines with his seed and sweat that came from fucking his cock.

katsuki loses himself in a matter of time, approximately two minutes after you both had came and it was all because of how good you felt and that izuku just wanted to watch you get fucked by his childhood friend. his own rival.

[firesmokeandashes]

Mha "could've been canon" quotes/scenarios

Fake Deku: *walks into the common room and over to Katsuki*

Fake Deku: "Hey Bakugou! Want to go spa-"

Half of class 1 a: *suddenly jumps the fake deku*

Fake Deku: "Wait! What are you guys doing! Get off me!"

Ochako: "Cut the bullshit, we know you're not Deku"

Fake Deku: *detransforms into some random villain*

Villain: "But how? I haven't done anything out of the ordinary!"

Todoroki: "Midoriya never calls Bakugou, Bakugou"

Tenya: "In fact we're not entirely sure he knows how to say Bakugo's real name"

Katsuki: Besides, danger sense would have alerted Izuku before everyone jumped you and gotten out of the way. So really you're just stupid"

Jirou: "Wait, sense this guy isn't Deku-"

Momo: "Where's the real one!?"

●●●●●●●

Meanwhile at the villain's hideout:

Izuku: "So you see, you can be whatever you want to be, you don't have to be a villain"

Villain 1: *sniffling* "That's so deep man"

Villain 2: *crying* "No one's ever told us that before! Thank you!"

Villain 3: *sobbing uncontrollably* "Thank you so much! Im gonna turn my whole life around now, I promise!"

Villain 4: *sitting in a corner contemplating their life choices and having a mental crisis*

Izuku: *slightly flustered* "There's really no need to thank me! You guys should have been told all this from the beginning!"

All four villains: *thinking* 'And he's humble too!'

●●●●●●●

Back at UA:

Aizawa: "So you mean to tell me he's been missing for FIVE HOURS!?"

Katsuki: *frustrated sigh* Yeah"

Aizawa: *insert groan of dissapointed and frustration*

Aizawa's phone: *rings*

Aizawa: "What!?"

Villain 1: "Um, is this Erasurehead?"

Aizawa: "Yes, what do want? I'm in the middle of important business!"

Villain 1: "Well, you see, we have one of your students, Midoriya, and we want to know where we should drop him off at?"

Aizawa: "...."

Aizawa: "What do mean 'drop him off at'"?

Villain 1: Well, he kind of gave us a talk about how we don't need to be villains and now we all feel bad about the stuff we did and want to give him back to you"

Aizawa: *sighs tiredly while dragging his hand down his face*

Aizawa: "Meet me at the abandoned choclate factory over on 15th street"

Villain 1: "Okay! Yeah, we can do that and I just want to say how sorry we are for kidnapping him! We're fully expecting to be arrested when we get there, so don't worry about us putting up a fight"

Aizawa: *sighs tiredly and hangs up*

Katsuki who listened to the whole conversation on speaker phone: "So he did it again?"

Aizawa: "Yup."

Katsuki: "And now you have to call the police and do more paperwork than you want to?"

Aizawa: "Yup."

Katsuki: "Want me to go with you to pick him up or..."

Aizawa: "Yes, lord knows he's gonna need someone to talk to on the way back and I cannot deal with him right now."

Katsuki: "So... what do we do with this guy?"

Katsuki: *jabs finger towards the shapeshifing villain who is tied and gagged with sero's tape snd spewing muffled curses at them*

Aizawa:"Hand him over to campus security and let them take care of him"

Katsuki: *nods and drags the screaming villain out the door with him*

Aizawa: "Im getting too old for this"

●●●●●

Later at the abandoned Chocolate Factory:

Aizawa, Katsuki, and a handful of cops walk into the Factory:

Izuku: *jumping up and down while waving his hand*

Cops: *rush over to arrest the villains*

Izuku: "Sensei! Kacchan!! Over here!"

Katsuki: "We know, idiot! We aren't blind!"

Villain 1 being arrested: *whispering* That's 'Kacchan'? I thought he'd be nicer"

Villains 2-4 also being arrested: *nod in agreement*

Izuku: *bounds over to Aizawa and Katsuki*

Izuku: "Sensei! Kacchan! You're not going to believe the day I've had!"

Izuku: *begins rambling*

Aizawa looks tiredly at Katsuki: "You take care of him, I have a big enough headache as it is"

Katsuki: *nods and turns back to listen to Izuku's rant and scold him for being reckless and getting in trouble again*

■■■■■■■

[whenanafallsinlove]

KATSUKI BAKUGO; - you take a cat home... or not? crack﹗ ✧ Word count: 1.9 k

﹗warnings: swearing :D

a/n: Okay, so this ended up longer than intended, just enjoy! I hope I get you to laugh a little ;) . Comment your thoughts and remember my asks and dm's are open!

You were in your home, chopping vegetables for your lunch. The day was sunny, and you were in a good mood. Your favourite music was playing in the background, while your rice was cooking. Suddenly, your phone rang, it was Izuku. You knew Katsuki was currently working on a case with him and Todoroki, so you instantly picked up to learn the news. Maybe they already captured the villain, and they could come over for lunch!

"Hello, Izuku! Is everything alright?" you asked cheerily.

"Oh, hi (Y/n)! Well, uhm-" he was interrupted by something that sounded like a hiss, "Ouch! Kacchan, stop it! Todoroki-kun, could you help?"

"Izuku?" you asked, starting to get concerned.

"Sorry, (Y/n)! It's just, well... Wekindofhaveasituationhere, beacusewe werefightingavillain, but, uh- shehadaveryunusualquirk, and, well uhm-"

Okay, when that man starts to mumble, something is definitely wrong. If something happened, he better talk now.

"Izuku Midoriya, you have three seconds to spill it, before I pull a Katsuki on you" you practically ordered, your bubbly mood from before, long gone.

"Kaachan was turned into a cat!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, but don't worry, he's fine. Please come to the Agency! I swear we'll tell you more about it once you're here!"

"Oh, okay, alright. But is he fine?"

"He- he is! Just, please hurry? He's already scratched me like ten times..."

"I'm on my way" you hanged up and turned off the stove. Grabbed your keys, your phone and instantly headed out.

You made it to the Agency in record time and got as swiftly as you could out of the car and into the building.

"Ms (Y/L/N)!", Sasaki, the receptionist called right after you entered, "they're waiting for you in Dynamight's office!"

"Thanks, Sasaki!" you nodded, and headed straight into the elevator. You pressed the button for Katsuki's office and waited.

While the elevator went up, the news finally dawned on you. Your boyfriend was turned into a cat! By a villain! God knows for how long!

The doors of the elevator finally opened, and you sprinted to your boyfriend's workspace. When you got there, you slammed the door open and were met by Izuku's and Todoroki's eyes.

"Where is he?" you said, without greeting them

"He is seated in his chair" Todoroki responded, nodding to the corresponding direction.

You walked slowly into the room, to take a look at your boyfriend. Then, you spotted a fluffy yellowish cat, with the grumpiest face, seated on an office chair.

And you barked a laugh.

Then, you turned around to meet, Izuku's and Todoroki's confused stares, which only made you laugh louder.

"Uhm, (Y/n), are you okay? Izuku asked, with a concerned tone

"Yeah, I'm fine! It's just-" you chuckled, wiping the tears that your laughter provoked, "I just can't believe Pro hero Dynamight got quirked into a cat! How the hell did it happen anyway?" you questioned between laughter, earning a hiss from the cat.

"Well, this villain is called ‘Animaniac’. At first, we thought it was just a villain who could talk with animals, and we thought she had let out the animals from the Zoo. But while fighting, we discovered she actually turns people into animals, and the ones that were roaming around the city, are people who got hit by the quirk." Todoroki explained.

"Yeah, and when we were fighting her, she was going to hit a little girl with her quirk, but Kaachan acted faster, and got hit with the quirk instead..." Izuku continued.

"Aw, Kats... You're so sweet for protecting the girl!" and then started chuckling, "You're such a nice Kat!" and roared a laughter once again; this time earning contained chuckles from the other two heroes.

"He is Cat-suki!" exclaimed a laughing Izuku, and in a swift movement, the cat jumped from where he was seated and started attacking Izuku with his claws.

You gasped and instantly went to help Izuku, while Todoroki just stood there watching the scene unroll. The chaos went on for a few moments until an accidental scratch made your skin sting.

"Ouch! Okay, that's enough" you grabbed Katsuki from the neck, how a mother cat would take her kitten, and embraced him.

Finally, Izuku shook off the fur that got stuck in his clothes, breathing from relief. You sighed.

“So, tell me… Did you take him to the police or the doctors yet?”

“We went to the hospital, where the police met us. They told us the quirk was not going to last, long, but they took Bakugo’s hero costume to follow up the investigation.” Todoroki explained and you nodded in understanding.

“Good. So, I’ll take Katsuki home, and I’ll see you guys around?”

“Yes, (Y/N)! Take care! And please keep us updated if anything happens!” Izuku said, waving goodbye.

“Sure! See you!”

“Bye, (Y/N). Take care.” Todoroki said with a smile as you closed the office door behind you.

You made your way into the elevator, once you were alone with Katsuki, you spoke.

“Sorry for teasing you, it’s just such a funny situation.” The cat looked up as you continued, “Do you want to get in my purse? Or do you want me to keep carrying you?” the cat blinked.

“I’ll just carry you, then. I don’t want you getting stomped on, or kidnapped, or anything”. Just then, the elevator opened, and you walked to the exit.

“Bye, Sasaki!” you addressed the receptionist as you quickly passed by her place. You didn’t wait for an answer, since you were sure Katsuki would like to avoid any type of attention towards his cat form.

Once you were out of the building and inside your car, you spoke to Katsuki again,

“Kats, stay in my lap. I’ll just put the sit belt for both of us”, Katsuki blinked at you and did as you said, while you clicked the belt, covering both of you.

You started driving home, and the stillness of Katsuki made you slightly concerned.

“I know you can’t speak right now, but I feel like you’re acting a little weird. Do you feel okay? If you’re getting motion sickness, meow two times” he stayed silent.

A few more minutes passed until you pulled over in your driveway. You took off your sit belt and carried Katsuki inside your home.

His silence was making you believe he was mad that you made fun of him in front of his friends, so you put him in the kitchen aisle and said,

“Hey, Kats. I’m really sorry for teasing you. I know you must be feeling so unlike yourself right now, and you must not be in the mood to be make fun of. I’ll make it up to you, ‘kay? I’ll cook lunch” you offered him a smile.

Then, you put your apron on and continued the cooking you had started before all the chaos. When you poured the ingredients in the pan, the smell of the food seemed to content Katsuki, so he got off the counter and started to rub his head around your feet.

“I’m almost finished, babe. Just know that I didn’t cook it with spice this time, we don’t know if you’ll be as resistant in this form”.

“What form?” the voice made you jolt, you looked to the cat to see if he could talk, but then you spotted him.

Katsuki was standing near the entrance.

“What? Babe get behind me” you picked up the cat and put it behind your figure, as you took the knife you used to chop the vegetables and pointed it to the human Katsuki.

“Babe? What’s wrong?” he eyed the cat “Why is there a cat?” the confusion in his eyes was evident.

“Do not get closer or I’ll call the police!” you threatened when he tried to get closer.

“What the fuck, (Y/N)? Why are you acting so weird? Did you get hit it he head? Let me check if you have a concussion-” he took a couple steps towards you before you interrupted,

“I do not have a concussion! I just, how are you there? I don’t understand!” your voice sounded more exasperated than you wished.

Katsuki recognized you were starting to panic at the situation, so he had to make you calm down before anything escalated.

“Okay, I’ll prove to you that it is me.” He hummed, as he thought about a memory only the two of you knew, “Remember when we had our first date and you were laughing very hard, and then I hugged you and-”

“Stop! Okay, I get it, it’s you!” you tossed the knife to the counter and sighed.

“Now that it’s settled… Care to explain why you’re acting like a maniac?”

“I still don’t get why there’s two of you, is the effect of the quirk gone?” Katsuki’s eyes grew even wider.

“What quirk? There is no other me, are you sure you didn’t hit your head, freak?” he then went and took your head in his hands, hunching slightly to analyse your face.

“The quirk that hit you! The one that turned you into a cat? Do you not remember? We can call Izuku and Todoroki…”

“What? Okay, explain everything to me.” You narrated everything that happened since you received the call, the story that the two heroes told you and how you ended up with a cat.

“Those bastards pranked you. I’m gonna fucking Howitzer them into their next lifetime; see if they reincarnate in a cat, tch" he said as he hugged you. He rested his head in yours.

“I can’t believe I got pranked on by Izuku and freaking Shoto! How could I fall for that?!”

“You’re a dumbass” he chuckled “Even the name they made up for the villain sounded fake as fuck, and I wasn't even working with them today!”

“They were really convincing, I swear! Even the cat attacked Izuku, I really thought it was you!”

“He attacked him? We should keep it!”

“By the way, where is he?” you broke the embrace to search for the cat and caught him eating the food directly from the pan. You sighed.

“What should he call him?” Katsuki asked.

“We’re keeping him for real?” you asked surprised.

“Yes, whatever. He seems to like your food, and if he doesn’t like Deku, then it’s a plus.” You smiled while rolling your eyes.

“Then we should call him ‘Lord explosion!” Katsuki scoffed.

“Shut up. At least I didn’t confuse that cat with you and then proceeded to act like a nut case once I saw you.”

“Stop! We are so gonna get back at them for this. But I think we need to take care of Lord explosion first…” the cat was digging in one of your plant pots, which he then used as a litter box…

“Oh shit! Literal shit!”

Bonus: Sometime later that day...

“Do you think they’ll adopt the cat?” Izuku asked Todoroki. They were patrolling together. “Yes. But I’m sure once (Y/N) discovers that we lied, she will personally come to scold us”. “But we did it for a good cause! How else would they have taken the cat?” “I’m just surprised she fell for it, and found it amusing even…” Todoroki said in a thoughtful voice. Then, Izuku’s phone rang. It was your number. “What do we do?” Izuku’s nervousness evident in his voice. “I’ll answer” Shoto took the phone from Izuku’s hand and tapped the screen to speak with you, “Yes?” “Count your seconds, because we're coming for you two, including Lord explosion” then you hung up. “They’re adopted him” Todoroki shrugged and gave the phone to Izuku. Then, they continued their patrol, watching out for any other civilian or pet in need.

[slayfics]

Izuku overhears your late night call with Katsuki.

800 Words~

Izuku shuffled in bed becoming conscious of his surroundings as he blinked heavily. His hotel bed was nowhere near as satisfactory as his one at home. Not that Izuku was one to complain- but he found it amusing that Japan’s top two heroes were placed in a shared mediocre hotel while out on a mission.

Shuffling around once more Izuku became aware of what had woken him at such a late hour. It must have been two or three in the morning, but his friend’s low voice surrounded the silent room. Trying not to make Katsuki aware, he peeped an eye open and was met with the sight of his friend on the phone. Even though he was across the room on his own queen-sized bed, Izuku could see the tension in the way Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his hand over his face.

It didn’t take Izuku long to guess who Katsuki was talking to. It had to be you, there was no one else Izuku had seen Katsuki speak to with such softness. Not to mention how strict he was with his sleep schedule. No one else would be lucky enough to get away with calling Katsuki at this hour.

“You don’t need ta’ worry about me- you know that” Katsuki spoke quietly into the phone. “No- I’m not going to hang up… I’ll stay right here till you’re asleep, ok? So quite down… breath alright…”

Izuku fought the urge to interrupt and ask what was going on. It sounded like you must have been upset on the other line. Despite his helpful nature, he resisted the urge knowing Katsuki would only be infuriated by his interruption.

“It’s fine I’m-… I’m glad you called… I missed you too,” Katsuki spoke into the phone, causing Izuku to hold back an audible gasp. The words sounded so foreign coming from Katsuki. He always knew Katsuki had an affinity for you but- it felt so surreal to hear it with his own ears. It was such a sharp contrast to the Katsuki he was used to.

“I’m sorry I haven’t called or- reached out to you since we’ve been gone… I’m just- not good at this stuff you know…,” a low chuckle came from Katsuki at whatever you said next.

“It’s… nice to hear your voice again…I’ll come to see you when we’re back ok? … Yeah, yeah I promise brat. Now sleep for me alright? It’s late as hell and I can hear how exhausted you are… Good just drift off- and I’ll see you soon,” Katsuki said.

Izuku wasn’t sure if the conversation continued any longer because the next thing he knew his alarm was buzzing and waking him up for their mission.

He and Katsuki both sleepily stalked around the room getting ready. Against his better judgment, Izuku had to ask.

“Hey… last night… were they ok?” Izuku asked.

“HAH?! You listened to my phone call?!” Katsuki yelled; the annoyance clear on his face.

“Sorry-,” Izuku stuttered. “It’s not like I had a choice though. This room they gave us isn’t very big!”

“Yeah, cheap asses- whatever… they are fine don’t ask me about it again,” Katsuki spoke sternly.

“Ok Kacchan,” Izuku spoke respecting his friend's privacy as he continued to get ready, but to Izuku's surprise Katsuki called back out to him.

“Hey-…” Katsuki exclaimed, keeping his gaze away from Izuku.

“Yeah?” Izuku answered back.

“… What…,” Katsuki groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “What the hell do I say to them? I… I don’t know how to do this crap.” He spoke. Katsuki knew he wasn’t good at showing affection. He hadn’t even reached out to you in the week that they had been gone- which caused you to call him in panic. He hated that he did that to you but- these things just didn’t come easy to him like they did to Izuku.

“Well- I think that depends. What do you want them to know?” Izuku asked, treading carefully with his friend.

“I don’t fucking know… I just want the brat to take care of themselves…” Katsuki said frustrated.

“That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing to say: Take care of yourself.” Izuku answered.

“Fine…” Katsuki huffed and typed a quick message on his phone before tossing it aside. “Let’s fucking get this mission over with- wanna go home.”

Izuku nodded in agreement.

The next morning you woke up to a text from Katsuki.

Take care of yourself, idiot.

tags: @queenpiranhadon @unofficialmuilover @maddietries @fiannee @i-heart-carlisle @derangedmango @matchat3a @bakugouswaif @reneinii @zanarkandskylines @pastelbakugou @abadbitchblogs @deluluforcarlos55

[shibaraki]

LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO ┊ TODOROKI SHOUTO

synopsis: slow to heal and forced on sick leave, a lonely Todoroki Shouto decides to download the latest popular app, Enigmail, to cure his boredom. he finds you. the rest is… well. moderately disastrous.

tags: NSFT, AFAB reader, pen pal au, hero personal assistant reader, prohero shouto, strangers to friends to lovers, injury recovery, online friendship + eventual romance, feelings development, misunderstandings, identity reveal, pining, sexting, masturbation (male chara), making out + heavy petting, getting together, *slaps roof of fic* you can fit so much fluff in this thing

wc: 17K

It started unexpectedly—with a tremor.

Rather, it started with Oda Shuichi, the prolific villain known as Tremor. At the time of the incident his quirk had been unregistered, but doctors quickly found that it severely affected an individual's motor neurons. According to them the length of time that he has a five point touch hold on someone influences how long they will lose motor function—and how poorly their muscles atrophy.

Shouto spent three uninterrupted minutes trapped in his clutches.

“I promise I’ll come by and visit whenever we can. You’ll still get updates and reports through your work email,” Midoriya tried to assure him with that signature smile, brows drawn together into an almost pleading expression. “It’s just for a little while!”

“For a month,” Shouto pointed out petulantly. Nori, his elderly adopted cat, stirred from her place on his stomach while restless fingers combed over her short pale fur.

“A month,” Midoriya parrots. He offers an apologetic grimace and leans over where he lies horizontal, slumped and agitated, to fluff up the couch cushions behind him. The newly crowned Symbol of Peace obviously felt needlessly responsible for the situation at hand. Shouto had only allowed Tremor to grab him so Deku and Suneater could get the hostages out, after all.

“Taking a break isn’t so bad, Shouto. And Hawks told me you’ve yet to actually use any of your vacation days,” he continued. “Even Kacchan takes time off. Do you know how many hours you have to work to outdo Kacchan?”

“I’m sure you could tell me exact numbers”.

“Don’t be mean,” Midoriya said, dithering as he peers around the room, slightly unfamiliar now that the furniture has been temporarily moved around to make navigating the space easier. Thanks to an on-call specialist Shouto would still be able to walk in short bursts, but he’d have to gradually build up strength and stamina over the weeks to come.

A pleased sound reverberated in Midoriya’s throat as he finally discovered the TV remote, setting it beside Shouto’s phone on the arm of the chair. “Okay. There,” he hooked an ankle around the coffee table and dragged it a little closer. “If you need us to get you anything from the store just text us”.

Shouto grumbled. Midoriya sighed, fondly exasperated at the childish display. Before leaving he moved the nearby pair of crutches within reach, listing off all the things he can think of, “Hey, maybe you can catch up on Quirky Hearts now! Or read that series Iida said you’d enjoy. There’s that new app I heard about, too. Enigmail? That might be fun”.

The anonymous pen pal app, Enigmail, exploded in popularity after its release in the spring. Shouto barely knew a thing about it, only that you needed to be over eighteen and chatting partners were assigned at random. Nothing about that sounded tempting.

Midoriya’s suggestion hung over his head for the rest of that afternoon. Quirky Hearts droned on in the background. Halfway through the first episode Shouto had yet to retain any information. Nori hardly left her spot. Jaws stretched wide around a yawn, lips pulled back to display what remained of her teeth. He liked to think she sensed his inner turmoil, though realistically, she was likely too lazy to move.

Curiosity prevailed in the end. The logo featured a pink post mounted mailbox, the slot unhinged to receive a folded paper plane. Shouto opened the app onto a pretty basic interface that followed an almost pastel theme. The profiles are barebones. He supposed that was purposeful. It asked for pronouns and a nickname, offering the option to pick an icon from their default library, but nothing more.

From what he could discern skimming over the rules he would be assigned to a random chat room with another person in a speed dating style interaction. A timer would count down from two minutes and upon completion prompt the user to either switch partners or remain talking.

A simple concept. But anything had sounded better than sulking horizontally and staring dead eyed at reality television for the remainder of his night. And when was the last time he met somebody new?

Almost every username he could think up had been taken. Even his hero name was unavailable. In a last ditch effort he settled on a miraculously accepted Sooba and scrolled through the icons. “Hey, it looks like you,” he murmured, pleased by the regal white cat icon. She hadn’t heard him, but sunk her dull claws into the meat of his forearm as he turned the image to her, those dramatic yellow eyes dilating at his coo, “Don’t worry. You’re the only Nori in my life”.

Shouto clicked start.

The first few users are odd, and without tact. Others communicated in languages he couldn’t understand. He stuck around regardless—luckily the developers had thought to include a translation tool, and Shouto managed to befriend one or two people with innocuous pictures he’d taken on previous patrols alone.

Then there’s…

XpLoveGuest ▻ Hey sexy

By that point early evening had already flooded through his balcony doors and drenched everything in a gauzy orange glow. His nose wrinkled. “You have no idea what I look like,” he thought aloud, switching to his right hand to roll the ache from his left wrist

▻ ASL?

Shouto frowned in faint confusion. He minimised the app to search up the term. Results flowed in, and after a brief look over everything he discovered they all repeated the same description. It’s an old acronym.

His thumbs tapped across the keyboard in quick succession.

Sooba ▻ Age: 27 ▻ Location: Tokyo ▻ Sex: No thank you

The chat immediately disappeared. A loading symbol blinks in the centre of the screen. He snorted, and suddenly a new chat opened with a different username blinking at the top corner. It’s a bit on the nose.

‘InsertNameHere’.

You shared the same default cat icon, which he took as an immediate plus.

But a minute elapsed and nobody spoke. There was an unusual trepidation on your part. Shouto chewed his bottom lip. He contemplated starting the conversation when suddenly three dots skipped across the screen, indicating the other user was typing something.

InsertNameHere ▻ You’re not going to send me a picture of your dick, are you? ▻ If you have one that is.

Shouto’s mouth parted in soft surprise, then pressing defensively thin, and he had glanced around his living room as though someone were there to witness this weirdness alongside him.

Sooba ▻ I have one.

InsertNameHere ▻ Ok. Well I don’t want to see it.

Sooba ▻ It sounds like you see a lot of dicks.

Not once taking his eyes away from the screen, Shouto felt for the TV remote and paused the show, brow arching at your next response.

InsertNameHere ▻ And it sounds like you’re new here.

Sooba ▻ I am. My friend recommended I try this to cure my boredom while I recover.

A few beats passed. He eyed the countdown looming over your shared interaction, conscious of how little time is left. You were the first interesting person he’s come across. Though he supposed that isn’t saying much.

InsertNameHere ▻ Recover? That sounds bad. Are you alright?

Sooba ▻ Injury at work. I’ll be fine in a few weeks.

Just as you were beginning to respond, the timer cut out. Shouto reflexively expelled his frustration and Nori lifted her head toward the abrupt movement of his chest, ears twitching. She blinked up at him in disapproval for shaking her. “Sorry sweet girl,” he murmured, wearing a small smile as he scratched under her chin. So temperamental.

A familiar pop up in the cartoonish shape of a postcard covered the chat. Your messages blurred into the background. It read: Do you wish to continue corresponding?

Shouto clicked ‘Yes’. And apparently you did too, because your contact pinned itself to his in-app mailbox.

A melodic chime pinged from his phone. Confetti burst across the off white background in pixelated blooms.

✎ CONGRATULATIONS! You have a new pen pal ✐

InsertNameHere ▻ Guess I can keep you company in the meantime. ▻ You’re the only sane person I’ve come across so far.

Shouto smiled, even as the muscles in his cheeks protested. It’s a stubborn reminder of his condition. He repositioned himself to lessen the strain on his wrists, chin tucked to his chest where his phone is propped, and said:

Sooba ▻ I’d like that. :)

The fortnight that followed is slow to pass. An endless cycle of wake, stretch, eat, lightly exercise as instructed by his physiotherapist, play with Nori, eat, watch Quirky Hearts, stretch. Midoriya stopped by, bringing Iida along with him. Jirou sent him playlists to listen to. Fuyumi called every evening and shared the phone with his mother, gentle in their fretting. He assures them all that he’s coping just fine from the Shouto-shaped depression in his couch cushions.

But there’s also you; the stream of consciousness keeping his seams together, lest he fall apart from the complete and utter boredom he’s been forced to endure. In the beginning he wasn’t sure of the rules. Talking online is not his forte and neither is making new friends. That entire first morning was spent ruminating whether or not texting you ‘good morning’ was strange, and estimating how many times was appropriate to message you before he violated some invisible social boundary.

Normal had been irrelevant until now. Normal, to Shouto, consisted of avoiding his father’s phone calls, sending the occasional concussive text message—indecipherable to even the greatest cryptanalysts—and giving Nori updates in the 1A Grad group chat.

Sometimes he’ll open the app to see you typing, pausing, typing. Imagining you, a faceless someone, equally uncertain about your footing pleases him a little. In the end he figured if you didn’t want to talk to him, you wouldn’t respond. Evidenced by how you often saved him the trouble by messaging first, sometimes as early as five o'clock in the morning. Apparently you worked irregular hours in a rather unpredictable industry. Shouto weighs the possibility that you might be a fellow hero—or something close—more than he cared to admit.

Any trepidation he felt would always dwindle as soon as a notification lit up on the screen. He reads your username and his insides turn over.

InsertNameHere ▻ I’ve escaped to the break room. ▻ Do you ever think about how we don’t have muscles in our fingers? How fucked up is that?

Shouto smirks, pulled away from the conversation at hand. He unlocks the phone in his lap, beneath the kotatsu to remain hidden, an attempt at being inconspicuous as he replies.

Sooba ▻ I try not to think too much about anything.

You throw back a few laughing emoticons and satisfaction washes over him. “You’ve been texting a lot. Who’s got you smiling like that?” Natsuo asks slyly. He’s cross legged, tie tossed irreverently over his shoulder, shirtsleeves rolled up to his forearms, having come straight from work. “A special someone?”

Shouto forces the muscles in his face to relax into feigned nonchalance. “Nobody. Nothing,” he says unconvincingly.

Rei enters the room with a modest tray of dango before Natsuo can open his big mouth. She’s wearing a bi-coloured hoodie. The sleeves slip as she sets the treats down on the table beside the green tea Fuyumi brewed earlier; another gift from Yaoyorozu’s family travels. Natsuo’s face twitches under Shouto’s unbroken stare, which is daring him to bring it up while their mother is here.

Then his phone vibrates and any possibility of peace is shattered.

His mother glances curiously at him, expression soft in the dewy afternoon light, and she smiles. “Are you speaking to one of your friends?” she asks. “Please tell Deku ‘thank you’ for sending me your new Shouto hoodie. It’s very warm”.

The words fill something cavernous inside him. Soothes the ache with gentle wonderment. She smiles down at his hero logo printed proudly across her chest, rubbing the hem between her finger and thumb. A younger Shouto could have only ever imagined it.

“I’m not so sure it’s a friend this time,” Natsuo teases, spoken with a playful, sing-song cadence. “Shouto wouldn’t text at the table and risk facing Fuyumi’s wrath just for a friend”.

Shouto does not pout. “I would risk anything for my friends,” he says, affronted; anything maybe except his older sister's well intentioned nagging. “…It’s a new friend, that’s all”.

Rei perks up, settling on her knees and laying the kotatsu blanket over her thighs. The quiet sound of plates and cups clinking together fade in from the kitchen. Natsuo hums, unconvinced, and hides a smile behind his mug. It's moments like this, when the people he loves are gathered in one place, and he can hear them in every corner of his home, that he’s glad for buying a smaller apartment.

“That’s wonderful, Shouto,” Rei murmurs as Fuyumi pads into the room, Nori not long behind her, threading through his elder sister's ankles. She too arrived right after work, donning a suit-skirt and blouse. “What’s their name?”

His thoughts stutter. Fuyumi’s nose wrinkles seeing the panic stark on his face. “Who are we talking about?”

“Beats me. Ask him,” Natsuo says, taking a stick of dango between his teeth as he tries not to grin when Shouto’s phone vibrates a second time. “I want to know who’s so eager to talk to my little brother”.

InsertNameHere ▻ Sooooobaaaaaaa ▻ I’m on my lunch keep me company

Shouto snatches up his phone to respond. He brings it closer to his face to allow Nori access to his lap. She monopolises the space instantly. “You’re not a teenager anymore, Shouto,” Fuyumi laments. “No phones during family time”.

“I know. I’m sorry, nee-san. I just need to…” his thumbs dance over the keyboard, head ducked in amalgamated shame and apology.

Sooba ▻ Question ▻ InsertNameHere ▻ What is your name?

InsertNameHere ▻ At the personal info stage already? You move fast. ▻ Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.

That stirs a faint unease in his gut and he understands better then. Anonymity is what gives people a sense of security and he isn’t exempt from that. In truth, right now he doesn’t want to know what might change if you knew who was on the other end yet.

Sooba ▻ You can call me whatever you want.

“Shouto”.

InsertNameHere ▻ That’s not even a line is it. ▻ Man. You’re dangerous.

Sooba ▻ ???

Shouto stares at the flickering dots by your username. You type, then stop. Type, then stop. As if you were deleting and starting over again. A habit of yours he’s quite endeared to. “Shouto!” Fuyumi huffs, poking a manicured finger into his side. Though short, the nail still causes him to flinch, and he’s quick to stretch his phone out of reach as her hand swipes through the air. “I mean it!”

Nori is jolted. She voices her immediate displeasure and Rei titters into her sleeve. The sleeve with his name stitched into the fabric. He breath catches, like it always does when his mother laughs. “Shouto doesn’t have to tell us anything until he’s ready,” she assured, offering him a gentle look—a look so sincere he feels awful for being evasive.

And his feeble resolve fractures.

“I don’t know,” he confesses bluntly. Natsuo and Fuyumi frown, at one another and then back at him, in unsettling synchrony cultivated through siblinghood. Shouto shrugs and pulls at a stray thread in his jeans cut loose under Nori’s claws, “I can’t tell you a name because I don’t know it”.

Natsuo appears mildly surprised. Fuyumi sinks into disbelief, feet curled beneath her body, going lax at his side. She drops her arm. “You… don’t know it?” she repeats.

“The app is anonymous,” he supplies hastily, attention flickering to his mother, far more worried about discerning her reaction. She’s unreadable. “My name isn’t on there either. We just talk about stuff”.

“Stuff?” his siblings' voices overlap, told apart only by the difference in tone. Natsuo’s shock has melted into some strange mix of pride and innuendo. “Is it that penpal thing everyone has been talking about? Enigma?”

“Enigmail,” he mutters. Natsuo lights up. Fuyumi does not share the sentiment.

“You’re a hero, Shouto! What if it’s someone with bad intentions?” she frets, brows drawn down and together, mouth pressed thin. “They could be tricking you. The internet is rife with predators, and—!”

“Nee-san. I’m a grown man. I understand the importance of internet safety,” Shouto interjects.

Natsuo slumps onto the table with a mawkish sigh, the sound steeped in fondness. “Let him have fun. You know he’s right, ‘Yumi, he’s an adult. It’s a wonder where all that time went,” he says. A few beats later he’s abruptly straightening his spine, “Gods, Fuyumi. You’re almost thirty five!”

Fuyumi glares from behind her glasses. She reaches across the kotatsu and swats lightly at his bicep, “Do you have to say it like that? You’re thirty one!”

“Please. Stop arguing,” Shouto says. He pets the unperturbed cat curled up on his thighs, “You might startle Nori”.

“Shouto. She’s deaf”.

Rei cuts their bickering short as she breathes, “When did you all get so big…” a serene smile hung on her lips, not a hint of grief to be seen. The answers surrounding your identity—or lack thereof—are lost to the nostalgia cloying in his throat.

They return to enjoying tea and dango after that. Shouto sets his phone face down on the floor and turns off vibrate. For now, he wants to ward off further interrogation.

His mother intuits this and steers the conversation in another direction, “Natsuo, how have things been at your new job? Are they treating you well?”

Things are good. Fuyumi’s class would soon be graduating, an award for Best Teacher polished and positioned on her desk. Natsuo had landed the job he always wanted—a medical welfare officer working closely with trauma survivors—and was already making waves. His mother, Rei, finally finished cultivating her traditional garden, weaving tales of lush foliage and water spouts. Touya too has been improving in his rehabilitation programme, according to his psychiatrist’s reports.

A tremor quakes through the tendons in Shouto’s forearm as he lifts his tea to sip the remaining dregs. Yaoyorozu outdid herself this time. If he hadn’t already known the price he would have discerned it from the refreshing, uniquely sweet taste. Thoughts of you cross his mind in these instances without warning. Would you like it? What’s your favourite tea?

Shouto scrunches his eyes shut as if it might wash those thoughts away. How is it that the stranger in his pocket possesses the ability to awaken such yearning in him; he feels mildly ashamed to have realised his loneliness with an audience.

The hour rolls into another. Shouto scrapes the last dango along the skewer with his teeth, jutting his chin to evade Nori’s curious sniffing. “This was lovely, Shouto. Thank you for having us over,” Fuyumi expressed as she carefully ran her hand along the feline's back.

Sensing the finality, Shouto motions to stand and sets Nori on the couch. Everyone protests it. He huffs, sliding a crutch over from where they lay nearby and letting it take his weight. A good decision, he thinks, inwardly grimacing as the blood rushes to his feet, prickling like violent white noise under his skin, and his knee almost gives out.

“I’m okay. The doctor told me I should be trying to move around more anyway,” he tells them, deigning to mention that he expended most of his energy tidying up this morning before their visit. “You’re my guests. I want to walk you to the door”.

Shouto tries not to bristle under their wary scrutiny. A cool hand slips around his arm then. His mother’s natural chill seeps through the sleeve of his shirt and allays the irritation. “We appreciate it, sweetheart,” she says.

“We do,” Fuyumi gently insists. “We’re happy to see you recovering well. Right, Natsu—?”

“Kiss tax!” Natsuo exclaims, oblivious to his surroundings. He scoops Nori up from the arm of the couch. She is comically tiny pressed against his chest. A continuous indignant drone rumbles in her throat as his brother peppers firm kisses to the top of her head.

“Put my baby down,” Shouto deadpanned.

“She isn’t your baby,” Natsuo slides one hand under Nori, the other carefully tucked into her armpits. He holds her close to Shouto’s face. Dramatic round eyes stare back; a flat expression emphasised by prominent cheekbones. Barely a hair's breadth between them, Nori begins to swipe her rough tongue against his scarred cheek. “See? You’re her baby”.

“Mine, too,” Rei rises to her tiptoes and scratches behind Nori’s ear, turning a smile toward Shouto. That same hand moved to cup his cheek. Though far taller than his mother, Shouto tips his head and finds himself feeling incredibly small as she presses a kiss to his forehead. “Your hair is getting long again,” she adds as she pulls away.

“I can trim it if it’s bothering you,” Fuyumi nods, sidling up beside Rei to survey the growth together. She brushes back the wayward strands framing his face and Shouto blinks. “Though, I think I like this look on you. What’s it called? A wolfcut?”

“I’m not sure. This is how Mina cut it a few months ago,” he replies.

Natsuo interjects without Nori in his grasp, now notably covered in short cat hair. He claps Shouto on the back and pulls him into a firm side hug, “She did good. Our handsome little Shouto”.

Initiating physical affection with his family was still a weary affair after all this time, though patently one sided. Having them touch him so freely always left him a little stupefied.

After they depart, Shouto hobbles to find his phone with all the grace of a newborn fawn. It is face down under the kotatsu cover right where he left it. And as it blinks to life, he skips the notifications from the 1A group chat to find your screen name at the bottom.

InsertNameHere ▻ My boss has these awful little nicknames for everyone in the agency. Mine’s ‘Maestro’. Nerd and butterfingers, too, but mostly Maestro. ▻ To do with my quirk and role, I suppose. Good for morale etc. His creativity astounds me (๑ಕ̴ _̆ ಕ̴) ﾝ？ ▻ Not that I don’t appreciate it but. Well shit, what about my morale? Lol ▻ You there? ▻ Sorry if I scared you off by getting personal.

Shouto worries at his bottom lip. Maestro. Something new about you. A foreign feeling churned in his chest. Faint, barely there, but new enough for him to notice. He’s not sure how to pin it; whether your mention of working at an agency bothers him or the fact that others, people who are not Shouto, get to see you everyday, close enough to give you a personal nickname.

Sooba ▻ Sounds like you have a good relationship. I’ve got a close friend who sounds similar. People say it’s just his love language ha ▻ And you didn’t scare me off. I’m the one who asked. Some family came to check on me.

He barely thinks it over before adding:

▻ My mother said hi by the way.

Your reply isn’t immediate but it is quicker than he expects.

InsertNameHere ▻ You’re right. I do like my boss sometimes. Maybe. And I love this job but I think it has aged me ten years. My ulcers have ulcers! ▻ Also—telling your family about me now too? We really are moving fast.

A soft huff of laughter jumps in his throat. There’s a distant clamoring near the kitchen. The sound of Nori’s bowl being pushed around the tile. Her absence clicks in place when he looks at the clock. He should feed her soon.

Sooba ▻ Technically it was only my mother, older sister and brother. ▻ But I can relate about the work stuff.

InsertNameHere ▻ Yeah? You mentioned being on leave because of an injury. Do you like your work?

That’s a question he has never asked himself, nor has he ever felt the need to. Heroism was the path life handed to him. The path he ultimately followed of his own volition. Shouto loves his family, his friends. He’s good at his job—enough to have made it into the top ten. And isn’t that all that matters?

Sometimes he would take a long, weary look out the revolving agency doors, recognise the heaviness in his bones and give the entire thing a second thought. But that never made any difference. Because people needed him. And he needed them too.

There’s a fleeting urge in that instance; a temptation to come clean, if only to sate his own curiosity. To compare the idealised image of what you looked like or how you sounded. He’s spent many a shameful night thinking up romanticised scenarios in his mind about what it would be like to meet you in real life. Shouto always squashes it. He doubts you’d believe him.

Ever perceptive to his moods, Nori chooses that moment to pad in from the kitchen and sit herself directly in his line of sight. She wails, demanding attention and lacking any volume control.

Right now he is not a hero but a man alone on two unsteady legs with a small living thing reliant upon him. He’s just Todoroki Shouto. He’s just—

Sooba ▻ As of right now my occupation is ‘Nori’s dad’. I like it pretty well.

Your reply is immediate.

InsertYourName ▻ Oh you have a kid?

Nori’s frustration grows. Her tail swishes back and forth, agitated. “It isn’t time to eat yet,” Shouto tells her, pulling up his phone camera and zooming in. On her next yowl the shutter goes off. The picture is perfect. Mouth wide open, large ears flat and nose wrinkled in displeasure, lips curled up to display her pink gums.

Sooba ▻ [IMG_0243] ▻ Something like that.

It’s a risk and he knows it. Though infrequently his team has posted Nori to his social media in the past at the delight of his fans—she was younger in those pictures, but if you were well acquainted with him there was the possibility of you putting the puzzle pieces together.

InsertNameHere ▻ Oh my god sooba. She’s so cute. Give her everything she asks for, you monster. ▻ Hey. Are those Ingenium themed crutch pads?

Anxiety rockets through him. He pulls up the photo and sure enough, his crutches are in the corner of the frame, laid within reach beside the couch. Secured around the handles are Ingenium themed pads to cushion his palms.

Sooba ▻ They are.

InsertNameHere ▻ Is he your favourite hero?

He turns his phone over in his hands before he types, overcome by an abrupt restlessness.

Sooba ▻ One of them. ▻ Do you have a favourite hero?

Nori wanders off in his periphery and not long after he hears the telltale sound of cardboard being torn apart. You stop typing, replies coming to a halt. He lets out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

It becomes clear you’re offline. Shouto spends the evening imagining your answer—ducking sheepishly at the idea that you might say him, then cringing at his reaction—and reading through his work emails.

Partnering with Hawks hasn’t been the worst thing in the world. Despite his carefree demeanour and general lack of personal space Hawks was professional and meticulous when it came to his work. As promised, Shouto was CC’d into every important thread and forwarded every significant incident report each day. Apparently there’s a big fundraiser tonight that he is unable to attend.

Hawks suggests matching Endeavor’s donation in spirit. Shouto doubles it.

The night air barely touches him. Leaning against the balcony railing he surveys the cityscape. A kaleidoscope canvas. He stares until the pinpricks of light stretch and bend, streaking his vision, regaining shape when he blinks. Nori is curled around his calf, playfully kicking her back legs at his ankle. She’s careful to never break skin.

It’s nearing midnight when you get back to him. A disconcertingly vague reply of:

InsertNameHere ▻ I’ve had enough of heroes.

Shouto waits for you to elaborate before presuming anything nefarious. He would hate for Fuyumi to be correct. She’d never let him forget it.

▻ Shit that made me sound bad, didn’t it? I promise I’m not a villain

He snorts, reclining himself into one of the chairs on his patio. Yaoyorozu insisted upon helping decorate the space. This piece in particular had been chosen by Uraraka, if only for its cocoon, egg-like shape. She always sat in it if she came over; Shouto can’t say he blames her, now curling up inside it himself, leaving one foot flat to the floor for Nori to cling to.

Sooba ▻ Only a little bit lol.

InsertNameHere ▻ I just mean for today! I’ve had enough for today! ▻ There’s… a whole lot of them at this work event I’m attending is all. ▻ See! ▻ [IMG_0589]

It’s the first picture you’ve ever sent to him that wasn’t a meme. Your legs are crossed, turned inward to show more of the showroom floor. There are people everywhere. You’ve overturned your lanyard in your lap, straps dotted with the charity logo, to display the back of your security pass. No identification. Just proof that you’re there—

Proof that you’re a real person, giving colour to the vague, shapeless figure in his head. The figure once outlined only by random tidbits, like your favourite food, the music you like, the movies you loved as a child. The figure now clad in tight fitting, seemingly pearlescent sheer material from the waist down.

—Shouto swallows dryly.

You have nice hands. He tries not to linger on that.

▻ That’s why I disappeared, btw. Sorry about that. ▻ I feel weirdly underdressed.

The logo on your lanyard has recognition prickling in the back of his mind. Hours earlier Midoriya had texted him two pictures from the ‘HEROKIND’ fundraiser Hawks mentioned. One being a selfie of him and an aggrieved Bakugo, each wearing their own fitted suit, and another of Uraraka in an evening gown stood behind the imposing silhouette that was his father, stealthily pointing her middle finger at his back.

He saved that one to his camera roll.

Sooba ▻ In that case I will close the HPSC anonymous tip line ▻ Sometimes people try too hard at those events and forget why they’re there. You look good from what I see.

InsertNameHere ▻ How very gracious (´・｀ ) ▻ Sounds like you have some experience with this kind of thing. My condolences lmao ▻ But thank you. I’m glad you think so.

Shouto entertains the idea of sending you something back. His eyes surreptitiously flicker around as though being watched. Nothing revealing who he is, but enough to maybe—

The camera captures a few of the modest flower beds and cat grass lining his balcony, Nori coiled around his bare ankle. He looks at his hand. Shuffles his hips further down to mirror your angle and flexes his fingers in his lap. Heat floods his body, guided by the shameless desire to inform the image you might have of him in your own head, too.

Sooba ▻ [IMG_288] ▻ At least you’re having more fun than I am.

You type for a long ten second interval. Then restart. A tedious minute elapses and just as regret creeps in, your messages come through.

InsertNameHere ▻ I’m not so sure about that. ▻ Actually it would probably be more bearable if you were here with me.

The sound of his heartbeat floods his ears. So warm it’s like he’s standing under the sun. Shouto belatedly realises it’s just his quirk, as the steam blows out through his nose. Nori butts his ankle in complaint. He bends to take her into his arms, feeling ridiculous and somewhat bad at being a person.

Sooba ▻ Think so? ▻ Just so you know I have been called socially inept on numerous occasions.

InsertNameHere ▻ Then we can hide together in the corner, get tipsy and sneak bits of the fancy spread.

This—doesn’t happen to Shouto. “Nori. I have feelings for a person I’ve never seen,” he pushes his face into Nori’s fur, and she purrs, feeling the vibrations of his voice. Admitting it aloud only highlights the absurdity. He feels out of his depth. And he decides he’s glad for the anonymity. Grateful, even. Lest he publicly humiliate himself and set off every fire alarm in the vicinity.

Sooba ▻ That sounds perfect.

InsertNameHere ▻ I’ll hold you to that. There’s another one of these coming up in two weeks. ▻ Prepare yourself (ꈍᴗꈍ)

“You’re really not helping,” he continues. Nori rubs insistently under his chin. “Fine, fine. I get it,” She croaks as he presses into the touch, mimicking her movement and cradling her as he gets up.

Before retiring to bed he pulls up Yaoyorozu’s contact. He settles into a comfortable position in the covers, propping his phone on his stomach, and he types:

Shouto : 00:14

I think I need help.

Consciousness eases into him slowly. It’s a sleepy pastel morning. Dust dances in the soft spotlight cast through his curtains. Shouto’s jaw unhinged to release a long yawn, limbs stretching every which way under the covers as his joints click.

Shouto props up on his elbow, twisting in place to reach and unplug his phone. He blinks away the blurriness hemming his vision and squints at the stack of messages from Enigmail right at the top of his notifications.

InsertNameHere ▻ Oh shit. Hero Shouto donated double the amount of what Endeavor gave and he couldn’t even be here tonight. That’s hilarious. Can that guy get any hotter ▻ I didn’t intend for that to be a pun. ▻ These cocktails are becoming suspiciously easy to drink. ▻ You’re probably sleeping like a good boy but I miss you. Wake up! ▻ Have you ever had feelings for someone you’ve never met

The loose tongued messages stop there, at around one o’clock in the morning. Then there’s a seven hour jump to only ten minutes ago.

▻ Oh my god. Please ignore all of that. And then kill me.

Hardly awake, sleepsand still crusty at the corners of his eyes, Shouto’s mind reels as he considers pinching himself. He doesn’t know which part to focus on. Your apparent—and unknowing—attraction to him as a public figure or the implication that you had feelings for Sooba.

But you’re obviously embarrassed. So he bites back a smile and starts with something simple.

Sooba ▻ Good morning to you too ▻ Remember to drink water and take some bufarin.

Sitting upright with legs hung over the bed, Shouto clicks out to his text app by way of distraction. There’s another photo from Midoriya. This time it’s just him. Speckled light glitters along his cheeks, expression beaming as the hero holds a piece of sashimi in front of his pink face. Shouto heart reacts to the text.

InsertNameHere ▻ Send more Nori

He chuckles, sleepy. That makes known Nori’s absence. Strange, he muses. She is usually the one to wake him. Rather than search he scrolls through his albums to find a photo you hadn’t seen yet. It was taken a few months ago. He’d slipped his camera under her chin and pressed the shutter when she looked down, looming over the viewer with a dumbfounded look.

Sooba ▻ [IMG_142]

After a few minutes with no response, assuming that you had accepted his bribe and sought out some painkillers, Shouto braced against his bedside table and stood, phone in hand. Every muscle in his body felt like wet sand, held together by too tight skin. This morning, though, the incessant ache that beat alongside his heart was gone.

Walking still felt as though he was wading through molasses but strength was steadily returning to his physique.

The floor is cool under the soles of his feet as they shuffle down the hallway. There’s a noise in the kitchen that gives Shouto pause. A voice, hushed yet high pitched voice, cooing like someone might to an infant.

He drops into an ungainly defensive stance, pyjama bottoms and all. Worst case scenario they at least hang low on his hips, loose around his legs, leaving room for flexible movement. He rounds the corner without a sound.

And relief beats like a drum in his chest.

Yaoyorozu meets his gaze from the kitchen island where one hand is petting a very happy Nori, sipping from a glass of water with the other. Her face is bare, shadows soft under her eyes, hair pulled haphazardly into a low ponytail as if she had just rolled out of bed and rushed here. Creati in a bleach stained hoodie and leggings. The press would have a field day.

The sight brings a small smile to his face. Their schedules have been misaligned for months. It’s good to see her—if only her expression had not then darkened. “Todoroki Shouto,” she says with all the authority of an older sibling, “What on earth was that text last night? You had me worried sick”.

“Text?” he parrots dumbly, looking to check his phone.

InsertNameHere ▻ Painkillers acquired. Thank you Nori ▻ I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night.

“I let myself in with the key you gave me. I hope that was alright,” she continues, quiet and apologetic now. He skims over your reply and switches to check his text app. Sure enough the last thing he sent to her was an ambiguous plea for help.

“Of course it’s alright,” he replies, regarding her with a meaningful look to cover for how sheepish he truly feels. “I gave you the key because you’re always welcome here”.

Yaoyorozu smiles on the end of an exhale, idle hands smoothing down Nori’s cheeks. “Of course,” she echoes, examining his form closely now her anxiety is assuaged. Over him comes the muted awareness that he’s being judged. “How about we go on a short walk for once, since I’m here? The weather is quite pleasant”.

Shouto steps forward with mouth downturned, “Momo, I assure you I’m fine. You don’t need to walk me like a dog,” he says, wincing thereafter at his bluntness. She only hums.

“When was the last time you went anywhere?”

Very uselessly he replies, “I go places”.

Yaoyorozu’s potential to lead and assert had never escaped him, not even in his teenage years, and it was something he staunchly admired her for. But never has he resented his own affinity for compliance more than he does the moment she ignores his pouting and tells him to finish his morning gait training and get changed.

Dressed casually and statuesque in the centre of his living room, left leg lifted to mimic a flamingo, Shouto’s limbs shake far less than previous days. He can hold his phone while he balances now, too. You haven’t sent any new messages. Probably waiting for him to assure you that he isn’t upset, but even so he’s a smidge disappointed.

Sooba ▻ I’m here. A friend appeared in my kitchen. ▻ You don’t need to apologise for anything, I wasn’t uncomfortable. I've received worse drunk texts I assure you.

He switches to his right leg and chews the inside of his cheek. Facing villainy was far less daunting than navigating his feelings.

▻ I thought it was cute.

That’s about as brave as he felt today.

Yaoyorozu resurfaces from the coat closet with a jacket in hand and a pep in her step. There’s something else coiled around her wrist. Nori’s cat leash, red and attached to a blue harness, matching Shouto’s hero colours.

“Can we bring her along?” she asks, bouncing in place. Upon recognising the leash Nori makes her opinion known, releasing a drawn out yowl. “Oh please, Shouto”.

Nori didn’t regularly enjoy walking but she had been trained to do so from a young age. She was peculiar and picky, and Shouto trusted her to let him know if ever she wanted anything—something she never failed to do.

“Are you sure?” he murmurs, bending to tap her nose. It wrinkles, a stray tooth flashing between her lips. “If you get tired I won’t carry you”.

Nori blinks. A lie and they both know it.

Shouto sighs, defeated. “Okay. She hasn’t wanted to in a while so I can’t really deny her”.

“Wonderful,” Yaoyorozu breathes, handing him his jacket before undoing the harness and crouching to slip Nori’s paws through one by one. “We can grab a warm drink to go from the cafe downstairs and talk”.

Shucking the jacket on and flattening the collar, Shouto dithers in the genkan with his crutches nearby. He tucks the wayward strands of hair into a knitted hat and loops his mask around his ears. The scar couldn’t be helped but atleast this way a majority of people would not think to look twice.

They leave the apartment together, all three. In the short time it takes to step out of the building's lobby you still haven’t replied. He shoves his free hand in his pocket, fingers clasped around his phone in case it vibrates.

The establishment across from Shouto’s home has been open for longer than he’s been alive. An elderly couple named Pierre-Louis and Tsutomu run the place. The two men moved back to Japan decades ago to care for Tsutomu’s sick mother, and with Pierre-Louis’ incredibly unusual coffee quirk ‘Bean Boost’, opening a cafe seemed the right route to take.

Since moving here they’ve endeared themselves to Shouto. If they see him on his way to work Tsutomu will often rush to offer him a takeout cup. This morning is no different.

“Mon petit chou!”

Tsutomu slides open the walk up window and calls his name, beckoning them closer. The breeze tousles the short grey curls around his ears. Shouto’s heart near stops when the older man leans out to greet Nori as she stretches upward and almost loses balance. “Tsutomu-san, please be careful,” he says.

“I am still rather spry, young man. Don’t worry about me,” he returns happily, gaze moving to Yaoyorozu when he rights himself. “Lovely to see you again, Momo-chan. Have you come to rescue our prince from his cave?”

Indignant, Shouto grumbles, “I wish you would all stop acting as though I’m a hermit. I haven’t been stuck indoors that long”.

The two level him with a look of doubt. Tsutomu gently pinches his cheek and rubs a thumb over the swell above the mask. “Your pallor betrays you, Shouto. Let the sun kiss you more, no? We worry”.

“Tout va bien?” another voice interjects. Pierre-Louis squeezes up next to his husband, ignoring his disgruntled noise, and brightens when he sees Shouto on the other side. “Mon chou, you’ve emerged! And with two beautiful girls at your side”.

Yaoyorozu muffled a laugh while Nori busied herself chewing on the nearby grass, leash never pulling too far. “Pierre-Louis,” Shouto murmurs, unable to keep the fond lilt out of his voice. “It’s good to see you both”.

“And you,” he beams. The wrinkles by his eyes deepen. Shouto never met his grandparents but he thinks perhaps this is the closest he’ll get. “Are you going anywhere special?”

“We’re just taking a walk, Pierre-Louis. I thought it might be nice to get a warm drink for the journey,” Yaoyorozu spoke warmly and nudged his side. “Where better than here?”

“Bien sûr! Will that be one earl grey and one green tea?”

Shouto nods at her questioning glance, “Loose leaves today, please”, he adds.

Pierre-Louis disappears to make their drinks, shortly returning with two takeout cups, steam pluming softly from the mouth. Shouto swaps his crutch to his right side and accepts the green tea with his left hand, heat seeping through the cardboard sleeve.

“How much will it be—?”

“Nonsense,” Tsutomu interrupts with a sudden switch to English. He shakes his finger, silencing any protest, and his husband gives a resolute nod in support. “Take it, mon chou. Call it a family discount”.

Shouto bids them a dazed goodbye, leaving the walk up window; a lump in his throat that he tries to wash down with hot heat, tongue impervious to the temperature. “They’re very sweet. I’m glad you have them,” Yaoyorozu muses. “What is it they call you? ‘Chou’?”

“Mon petit chou,” he repeats clumsily, accent slightly gawky. “I asked Aoyama a while ago and he told me it means ‘my little cabbage’”.

Yaoyorozu pauses and Nori continues ahead, leaping up onto a nearby half wall with her tail hooked high. She pounces on a crack between the bricks, blissfully unaware of the nearby traffic, trying to eat a ladybug.

“My little cabbage?”

Shouto hums, squinting up at the early sun, rising in a blanket of pale blue and mottled grey clouds. The air is refreshingly cool. “Apparently it’s something French parents call their children,” he shrugs, as though he were not then warmed from the inside out at the reminder that they truly did see him as one of their own.

“That’s lovely,” she says, slowing to match his pace. He’s not tired so much as he is enjoying the morning dew. They follow a familiar path. Turning down a hidden narrow walkway that leads to a neighbourhood park. Nori’s chitters fill the spaces left by comfortable silence.

Yaoyorozu suggests sitting at one of the picnic tables. Tall trees flanked the area on either side, columns rising to create a weave of foliage that shrouded them in gold. The old wood is cold under his thighs. Nori hops up onto the bench, ears flat to her head, and hisses at a dog across the way which hasn’t even noticed her presence.

“So,” Shouto glances over toward Yaoyorozu as she speaks. Her arms are settled on the tabletop, fingers curled around the disposable cup and swirling the liquid inside. “Are you going to tell me what you were panicking about last night?”

He picks at the cardboard sleeve, twisting it, and supposes this was inevitable. Slipping down his mask, Shouto brings the tea to his lips in distraction, grasping for a way to articulate his situation without simply saying: “I have feelings for my anonymous online friend”.

In the end he realises there really isn’t any other way.

Yaoyorozu listens intently, as he expected she would. Of all his well intentioned friends Shouto knew she’d be the most open to his reasoning. Her expression visibly softens while he wrings his hands and rambles about the palpable connection that he first attributed to his own loneliness—

Rambles about you; you, the one now carried with him everywhere, the presence weaving his days into tapestry; you, accepting of his random thoughts, giving of your own; you, unintentional charm and bad jokes and sharp wit; you, faceless and voiceless, the one to receive first and last thought.

He expels his fears. Concerns of who you really are. Of what you might think upon learning his identity—if you wouldn’t like him anymore, or if his own feelings might change after meeting you offline, and if that makes him a terrible, shallow person.

Then he mentions the photo from the Herokind event and her head cocks in interest. “May I see?” she asks. Shouto murmurs his agreement and pulls his phone out from his pocket.

You’ve messaged him.

InsertNameHere ▻ Appeared? Like, teleported?? ▻ I’m glad we’re ok. I would miss you otherwise. ▻ But you can’t know I’m cute. You’ve never seen me lol

Shouto is typing back with unfounded confidence before he realises it.

Sooba ▻ I don’t need to see you to know that.

Then his eyes flicker to Nori, staring up at him clad in her Shouto themed harness, lip caught on her scraggle tooth. He takes a quick picture. Examining it before sending, he notices Yaoyorozu’s slender hands in the background, and wonders if you might be jealous.

He scoffs inwardly at his own childishness and sends the photo.

▻ Not teleported hah, just came in with a spare key. We are out walking now.

“Sorry—I just wanted to reply first,” Shouto clears his throat and presses his phone into her now proffered hand. Given without question.

Something flickers in her expression at your photo; it’s a brief shift that flies over her gaze like a shadow. Her thumbs pinch and part on the screen as she zooms in. “I was there for a few hours last night,” she says. “I recognise this outfit. Would it not be easier to check the list of attendants?”

“…That doesn’t feel fair,” he admits soberly. “I know that’s silly”.

“It’s not silly,” she affirms with a small smile, fingers now moving as she types. “You are aware of your position. You have the resources to find them and presumably they do not. Of course it seems unfair”.

It’s testament to their friendship that he feels no need to check what she’s doing. Her brows furrow slightly, then arch into her hairline, eyes brightening. Pleased, Yaoyorozu locks the device and hands it back.

“What did you do?”

“Don’t worry. I didn't do anything untoward,” she replies. “But I do know who you’re talking to now”.

Shouto’s fingers flex around his phone. “You do?” he breathes, incredulous. Just like that?

Yaoyorozu nods, lending her attention to Nori. “I don’t have a name. But if you want to find them I think you’ll want to speak to Bakugo-kun”.

“Bakugo…?” Shouto echoes.

“I believe your friend may work for him,” she clarifies. Ah. The clamouring in his head comes to a halt. In hindsight it’s clear. Your nicknames make sense now.

“I’ll think about it,” he swallows, bringing his tea to his face for another sip. He finds it tepid and warms it again with his quirk. Yaoyorozu doesn’t push.

They spend the hour catching up on the things Shouto has missed in the weeks he’s been absent, and the weeks prior. Midoriya’s claims of him being a workaholic become a reality he can’t outrun. Tea finished, Shouto takes both cups and disposes of them in the recycling bin. Yaoyorozu stands from the picnic table with Nori cradled to her breast—Nori stares back at him, smug—and they make their way back to his apartment.

“Shouto,” she coaxed, now standing outside the tall glass doors leading to the lobby. Nori’s claws sink into the collar of his jacket as she’s passed to him. He takes her leash from Yaoyorozu, bunching it up; and she covers his enclosed fist with her hand.

“Go for it,” she tells him, giving a firm squeeze. “I’m rooting for you. Just be safe”.

Stepping back into his apartment, his cheeks are warm and his limbs are trembling. You’ve buzzed inside his pocket three times.

InsertNameHere ▻ Oh my god. How can such a perfect creature exist? And her harness! Shouto colours? ▻ I hope you’re having fun. <3 ▻ You know, you never answered my question from last night

“You don’t think I’m hopeless, do you Nori?” Shouto asks the thin air—Nori has already scrambled toward the nearby shoebox, bunny kicking at the corner as she chews. He sighs.

Yaoyorozu’s encouragement rings loud in his ears while he replies.

Sooba ▻ Yes. I think I’ve had feelings for a person I’ve never met.

And it feels like a confession.

Shouto sees the week come to an end before he finds enough strength, physically and mentally, to visit Bakugo’s agency.

Your conversations have evolved. They carry a flirty undertone now, the verbal toeing of the line that makes his heart pitter patter. You send pictures throughout the day. Always angled away from your face. Swathes of skin. A pen between your fingers. Stacked paperwork and an empty coffee cup. The burgeoning skies on your walk home. Comfortable at home, your legs crossed over the other, a fluffy slipper hanging at the end of your foot.

He never knew so much thought had to go into making a photo appear candid, effortless. At one point he purposefully shuffled his workout shorts lower on his hips and spent the remainder of the afternoon mortified with his head deep between the couch cushions.

Liking another person is humiliating. He feels exposed, like a flesh wound that you won’t stop prodding.

InsertNameHere ▻ [IMG_412] ▻ I hope you have a good day!

You’re sitting at your desk, presumably. A slide knot bracelet hangs loose around your wrist. Hand held out over the mouse and keyboard, you’ve pinched your thumb and finger—smudged with black in—together to make a heart shape. It’s cute. You’re cute. He files the pose away for any later run-ins with paparazzi. His PR has been getting on about trying harder when they photograph him for months.

Shouto’s body rocks with the train car as it careens down the tracks and readjusts his grip on his crutch. He smiles behind his mask, sinking into the confines of his hood which he has pulled over his cap. There are eyes on him today. It can’t be helped in such close quarters. But they’re uncertain—too afraid to bother him and be wrong about his identity.

Sooba ▻ You too :) ▻ Remember to take breaks. I read that you should spend five minutes away from your screen every hour.

InsertNameHere ▻ You have to stop making me smile at work. My coworkers think I have a secret husband or something.

Sooba ▻ I promise to send you off with a homemade bento tomorrow morning.

InsertNameHere ▻ And a kiss.

Shouto grabs the nearby pole as he is almost knocked on his feet. Passengers board, others depart, and his heart hammers in his throat like a fist.

Sooba ▻ A kiss?

You’re still typing a reply when Shouto hears the hesitant evocation of his name. It’s timid and hushed, belonging to a person trying to restrain their excitement. She covers her mouth with a gasp when he meets her eyes.

“It is you,” she bubbles. A metallic taste pervades the static air around her, short hair wiggling on end as if it were responding directly to her excitement; behaviour unbefitting of a typical reporter, he notes.

Your text box jumps onto the screen in his peripheral vision, bumping up the chat. He jolts and angles the phone away from her just to be safe.

InsertNameHere ▻ Yeah! A bento box and a kiss to get me through the day, obviously. As my husband.

There are three others a few feet away, huddled together beside a pillar and abuzz with energy. Mild dread churns in his stomach. Definitely not a reporter, then. “If you have a moment…” the young woman spares a glance over her shoulder and her friends excitedly encourage her forward. “Um. Would you maybe be interested in—”

“No,” Shouto replies. The young woman winces at his tone. Ah. She’s embarrassed now. He really should make a habit of lying in consideration for other people's feelings. Fuyumi did mention that, though not in as many words. Before her face can crumple further he continues, “I’m very sorry, that was rude of me. I’m in a bit of a hurry”.

Her relief is palpable, near contagious. Expression softened with understanding she folds her hands against her stomach and ducks into a slight bow. “Of course, I understand,” she says. Somehow it makes him feel worse. “And—I’m glad you’re well, Shouto-san. We’re all wishing you a complete recovery”.

Gratitude bubbles inside him. He smiles, pressing a finger over his mask, and her complexion turns a bright shade of pink. She nods in understanding, scurrying to her friends.

Shouto departs the train without disruption. The conductor takes stock of his gait and the crutch at his side, offering to lay out the ramp, but he politely refuses, stepping onto the platform with ease. He feels good; closer to his other self, the one before his muscles were run through a metaphorical centrifuge.

Sooba ▻ Obviously. ▻ I suppose I can add ‘house husband’ alongside ‘Nori’s dad’ on my list of occupations now.

Blast Zone isn’t far, a fact for which he’s grateful. Bakugo insisted on rooting himself in the centre of the city, right in the spot where all transport routes seemed to meet; there stood the symbol of victory’s headquarters, imposing in the skyline.

According to journalists at PowrStruct magazine The Blast Zone agency is an ode to modern architecture. A steel frame structure surrounded by reinforced concrete, an outer coating embossed with a texture that gives the award winning building the fragile appearance of having been meticulously glued back together while simultaneously being both blast proof and earthquake proof. Shouto cares not for design in general. He does, however, steal a mini Dynamite themed pen from the front desk while he’s waiting to be signed in.

There’s a thin chain attached to the cap with a Chibi Bakugo hung on the end. Sue him.

“He’ll see you now, Shouto-san,” the receptionist states, pupil-less eyes blinking back at him. Shouto tucks the pen into his sleeve, feeling foolish and somewhat nervous. “Head on up to the office on the twelfth floor. He knows you’re on your way”.

Shouto clears his throat. “Thank you,” he says, weakness in his knees that has nothing to do with his nerves. The Ingenium handle pads cushion his palm as he braces onto his crutches, supporting him toward the nearby lift. There are eyes on his back as he goes. They’re heavy, lingering like physical touch. Something in him spoils at the unnecessary pity.

The lift remains mercifully empty. He presses the twelfth floor button and it glows green. The ride up is smooth, and quick. Double doors slide open onto a sprawling office space flooded with natural light. No one bothered to glance in Shouto’s direction as he gawked. If he remembered correctly this area was specifically for employees that worked closest to Bakugo. They’re all so nonplussed and focused. No nonsense. He likes that.

“Loser,” Bakugo grunts. He appeared from thin air, standing aside with arms crossed over his chest, eyeing Shouto’s stiff form with suspicion. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re still on leave”.

Shouto makes a noncommittal noise, inwardly miffed. He straightens his posture and takes more of his own weight. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. Maybe I missed you,” he says. Bakugo’s expression suddenly soured, as though he swallowed a lemon, mouth thin against his teeth.

Amusing as it is, acknowledging the disconnect aloud makes him truly accept the distance he had put between himself and his friends; how he’d worked too hard, untied himself from the tangle of their lives and ended up isolated.

“Nori told me to say ‘hi’ by the way”.

Bakugo sweetens. “She like that cardboard house I sent you?”

“She already destroyed it,” Shouto admits. And Bakugo laughs, irritation split by a crooked grin.

“Atta girl,” he nods in approval, turning on his heel and starting toward a pair of towering doors. “Oi. You comin’? Or are you going to stand there all damn day?

Dynamite’s office is anything but corporate. Professional, yes, but it’s also so plainly personal in a way that screams Bakugo. A setup reconfigurable for days that he can’t sit still, a folding treadmill under his large mahogany desk to keep him moving. Bakugo works better on his feet, something Shouto knows well.

Built in shelves line the accent wall, filled with framed pictures of friends and family, newspaper clippings and awards. There are even fan creations—mostly from his debut era, when being favoured felt far more significant, but Shouto finds it sweet all the same.

Walking ahead of him, Shouto approaches the desk. Bakugo lingers for a beat to holler something out the door before returning to his desk.

Two consult chairs face the head office chair opposite. Lowering into one of them, Shouto props his crutch up and takes his phone out of his pocket. Ever hopeful, he unlocks it, opens Enigmail and refreshes the chat list. There are new messages from a few other people he added in the beginning, but nothing from you. He tries not to sigh too obviously.

“What’s got you all fuckin’ mopey?" Bakugo leaned over to look down at the phone. Shouto hastily locked it and the explosive hero narrowed his eyes at the impassive veil Shouto pulled over his face.

“Nothing. How did the first Herokind event go?” he asks, fiddling with his newly acquired Dynamite pen. “Midoriya always sugar coats things for me”.

“Went fine. You didn’t miss anything,” Bakugo waves off. The leather office chair creaks as he leans back. “Boring as all hell since it was just the kickstarter. Food mild enough for a toddler to eat and too much alcohol. The auction will be more interesting. That birdbrain partner of yours was hilarious, though”.

“Hawks?” Shouto’s mouth twitches, failing to conceal his mirth. “What did he do this time?”

“Spent the night antagonising your shitty old man,” Bakugo pauses for a brief moment and rescinds his words. “Or aggressively flirting. Can't tell the difference with him”.

Shouto keeps his thoughts to himself on that one.

“Ended with Endeavor triggering all the sprinklers at the after party though,” Bakugo ends, eyes crinkled under the weight of his wicked grin. Shouto pursed his lips tight. Amusement huffed through his nose. He imagines his father standing in the middle of the room, pathetically soaked through, wisps of smoke rising from his put-out embers, and he laughs.

Bakugo looks rather pleased by the reaction. But then his gaze flickers over Shouto’s shoulder and his brow arches expectantly. “Did’ya need something? I shouted for the Egghead because I thought you were on your break”.

Shouto’s laughter dwindles as he follows Bakugo’s line of sight. His breath catches. An employee stands in the doorway peeking around a tall box of paperwork. Wide eyed as they examine him.

Wrapped around their wrist is a familiar sliding knot bracelet.

“I just—uh…”

His head spins. There’s a smudge on your finger where your pen's ink leaked, just like in the photo. Could this be you? You are—

“What the hell has gotten into everybody today,” Bakugo tuts, pushing up from his desk and striding over to receive the box himself. Your shoulders slump when you are relieved of the weight. Bringing your hands to your chest and massaging the joints.

—still looking right at him. Cute. He cannot help but think how cute you are, tripping over your words, losing your footing.

“Oi, maestro,” Bakugo clicks his fingers in your face and startles you out of your stupor. “Get it together. I need you with a clear head when that sleepy bastard from the HPSC gets here”.

You glare at Bakugo, “Mera-san is the least of your problems, Dynamite. Worry about yourself and the six unanswered emails I forwarded to you from the claims manager”.

You’re beautiful. And your voice, it’s so—his lips part, and he tries to speak, to interrupt Bakugo’s incessant teasing, but words fail him.

“Whatever. Those insurance claims are bullshit and you know it,” Bakugo mutters. He turns and moves to shove the box of paperwork beside the desk. His mouth downturns into a smirk when he stands and notices your attention drawn to Shouto once again.

“Is that everything? I’d appreciate it if you stopped gawking,” Bakugo drawls, a dry rasp to his taunting that seems to embarrass you further. Shouto isn’t sure he’s breathing. You’re right there. You’re within reach and he’s rooted to his chair.

“You’re such a—! Y’know what, no, I’m leaving now,” replying harshly you start toward the open door where you come to an abrupt halt. Shouto feels the distance like the pull of a leash. You incline your head into a short bow, losing strength in your voice as you acknowledge him, “Have a good afternoon, Shouto-san”.

Then you’re gone. He stares after you dumbly. In all the years he has worked in the hero industry Shouto has never been more thankful for choosing to make his given name his brand than he is now.

Bakugou falls heavily in his chair and sighs.

Shouto swallows, “Who was—”

“Don’t,” Bakugo stresses the command, as though telling a dog to heel. Shouto can feel the heat behind his pointed glare. Undeterred, his eyes linger after you, stuck on the spot where you once stood, heart beating like a hummingbird’s wing.

“I mean it, Halfie. Run off the only competent PA I’ve ever had with your pisspoor flirting and I will kill you,” Bakugo barrels on. There’s no true malice but it comes through gritted teeth, like he has resigned himself to the impending stupidity. Because Shouto is already looking back at him with that small, impish curl to his lips.

“I’m not that terrible at flirting,” he says.

“Making eye contact for three uninterrupted minutes is not flirting,” Bakugo scoffs.

Shouto hums. “And what is? Pulling their pigtails for ten years?”

“Watch it,” Bakugo grouses, bottom lip jutting. He kicks the leg of Shouto’s chair and he laughs; he’s missed this.

Hoping to get back on track then, Shouto asks, “Will you be attending the charity auction, then?”

The other man grunts an affirmative. “I’ve put some memorabilia and shit up to be sold. Sparky somehow convinced Eijirou to auction himself off for a date,” Bakugo snorts and gives an amused shake of his head. “I’m willing to bet he’ll rake in at least ten million yen. Minimum”.

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Shouto agrees. Kirishima had grown a lot since graduation all those years ago. Pair a stocky build with a big hearted guy like him and everyone is tripping over themselves to get a piece. “Is he nervous that he won’t make much?”

Bakugo clicks his teeth, interlocking his hands across his midsection and getting comfortable. “He really hasn’t got a fucking clue. The HPSC schmuck I’ve got to talk to today has already suggested extra security in case certain high profile guests get resentful,” he says. Crimson peeks through narrowed eyes, considering, calculating. “Are you gonna go? You’re looking steady enough”.

The last Bakugo had seen of him was directly after the incident—crumpled into the fetal postion and involuntarily spasming with six second intervals. Unable to speak, to walk, to turn his head. Worst case scenario presented on scene was that he could lose the ability to function at all, and Shouto had been thrown into a pit of depression so oppressive that he withdrew from himself all together.

There’s an underlying relief in Bakugo’s question that comforts him in ways he wasn't aware he’d been seeking. Pleased, Shouto drags his crutch between his thighs and twists at the padding around the handle. “I’ll be in attendance. I plan on bidding on a few things. David Shield’s original design sketches maybe,” he admits. “…Will ‘maestro’ be there?”

Bakugo seems to parse the response carefully, as if it cracked open a hole into Shouto’s psyche. “Izuku is shooting for those, you know. I’m the one that’s gotta deal with him cryin’ if he loses”.

“I know,” Shouto’s mouth splits in a wry, intentional smile. “If I’m not outbid then I’m happy to give him whatever I win”.

“Shill bidding? Ha. Izuku never believes me when I tell him you’re secretly a dick,” Bakugo smirks. A thought visibly crosses his mind. He props his elbow on the arm of his chair, chin resting in his palm and considering Shouto closely. “…My PA will be there for the auction. Working. So if you show me up—”

“I won’t,” Shouto interjects.

“—I will see you to the pearly gates myself,” Bakugo continues, unperturbed. There’s no true malice to his tone, moreso fond resignation, and Shouto’s chest bubbles with affection for his hard headed friend.

“That’s nice of you,” he says sincerely.

“Get fucked. You want an update on the cases we opened this week or did you seriously come here just to annoy me?”

“To annoy you, mostly,” Shouto ducks away from the hand that swiped at him. “Hawks forwarded me the arrest report. Tremor ended up going for a plea deal?”

“Yeah. Sold out the extras that helped him gather the hostages,” a forceful click of the keyboard; Bakugo slaps the spacebar to wake his monitor and makes clear his disapproval. “They went too fuckin’ easy on him,” he sneers. “Deserved a longer sentence”.

“As long as they’re off the streets,” Shouto muses. He isn’t one to hold a grudge against villains who’ve harmed him, but he can understand his friends' frustration. Had it been Bakugo or Midoriya, Shouto too wouldn’t be so quick to accept this outcome.

The gentle light flooding through the office windows recedes a fraction as a dense cloud covers the sun. His visit to the Blast Zone is but a blip of time, cut short by the foreboding ring from Bakugo’s emergency pager. He’s up and moving immediately, routine woven into him like muscle memory, and Shouto can’t help feeling jealous.

Under the door to his office, Bakugo clears his throat. He cocks his head toward the impending rain, “You need me to have someone drive you home?” And appears to regret it right away as Shouto smiles up at him, touched by the suggestion.

“No, thanks but I’ll be fine,” he waves off. Bakugo departs with a grunt, demanding he take an umbrella from the receptionist, because who doesn’t check the weather before they leave the house. The thud of his work boots reverberate off the walls as he disappears around a sharp corner, and Shouto shifts in the residual silence.

He takes out his phone as he pushes upright on his crutch; a habit rather than necessity. You haven’t messaged him since before your paths crossed—though you wouldn’t know that. He sighs. A niggling guilt has burrowed into his chest but it remains largely outweighed by his impatience.

Employees greet him on his short journey to the lift he arrived in. Bowing their heads, evoking his name with appreciation and awe while he’s scanning the space for signs of you. It’s a fruitless affair. Coming up short he steps inside, frown etched into his brow, and presses the ground floor button.

The speaker alerts him that the doors are about to close. He turns on his heel, leaning a hand on the support bar. Looking up from his shoes his eyes fall on your figure. You’ve stepped out from one of the closed off rooms, thumb tapping away at the phone in your hand. Shouto swallows, watching his own with trepidation.

Sensing a heavy gaze your eyes flicker to meet him at the last second, contact through the crack right as it shuts. He can hardly think. If this were a scene in Quirky Hearts he thinks he might just cast aside his dignity and sprint up the fire escape to confront you. The mere idea has heat simmering under his skin; it makes him want to fold himself into singularity. Shouto, a top five hero, a sword without ire.

Waiting dutifully, the receptionist hands him an umbrella from behind the staff desk. He squints at her name tag, muttering “Thank you, Akiyama-san” while he tucks the umbrella under his arm, deigning to mention the murky blueish blush that floods her skin, those pupil-less eyes shimmering. Shouto pulls his mask up over his nose, breath warming his cheeks, and takes a moment to observe the street.

Throngs of people scurry along the pavements to get away from the unforgiving chill. Raindrops can become a thousand paper cuts when the wind wills it. Afternoon starters amble into the lobby with wet shoulders. In his departure nobody so much as looks his way.

Sooba ▻ Hope you didn’t forget an umbrella today. Stay warm.

His thumb stopped mid-air, right above the “send” button. Sparing a lasting glance to the upper floors, Shouto quickly presses it, pockets his phone and opens up the umbrella. Stepping into the storm white noise fills his ears, tapping harshly on the PVC canopy over him.

Shouto tugs his jacket closer to his chest. The pavements are soaked, water fed into the uprooted cracks. He threads through the moving bodies back toward the station. With the streets overcast he feels better concealed.

A train is already waiting at the platform, decorated in yellow. The colour identifies it as a slow running train, taking the local stops route rather than the rapid one. He hides in his collar and stands in the corner of the carriage, umbrella collapsed and hooked over his wrist.

Six stops later—rather than three—and Shouto is closer to home. In the time it took to reach his street the rain had thinned out, now a sparse sun shower as the clouds pushed eastward.

Nori yells accusingly the very second his key slots into the door. He turns the lock and pushes it open, holding out his foot to keep her from rushing past. “I know, I know. I’m sorry sweet girl,” he scratched her head while bent to line up his shoes. “I missed you too. Bakugo said ‘hi’”.

She mewls and circles in place on her delicate paws, flicking her tail at him. Shouto takes it as forgiveness. “I think I met someone special today,” he recites to her, “The one I told you about…”

Stopping in the middle of his warm apartment, Shouto becomes unbearably aware of how damp his clothes are. He fishes his phone and wallet out from his pockets and sets them on the kitchen island before padding toward the bathroom.

A thorough rinse and long soak later, Shouto sprawls himself across his couch, phone laid on his chest and arm hung loosely over the edge while Nori plays with his fingers. She clings to his forearm as he cups her full belly, lazily dragging her back and forth across the floor.

He’s sipping on the mouth of his water bottle, mindlessly watching as Aki-or-something begs for Saeko-or-other to take him back after going on a date with another contestant, when your messages come through on Enigmail.

InsertNameHere ▻ Guess what happened today ▻ Saw Pro Hero Shouto at work. ▻ I think he might hate me? lol

Shouto inhales sharply, choking on his mouthful of water. Tears prickle behind his eyes as his diaphragm spasms, and he tries to catch his breath, fist thudding at his chest. Oscillating between mortification and delight—it really had been you.

Sooba ▻ Why would you think he hates you?

InsertNameHere ▻ I left an awful impression. And he looked at me like this (⊙＿⊙’) the whole time.

Heat burns at his nape; embarrassment spilling over into every crevice of his body. The air around him distorts and he exhales, steam curling from his lips. Nori watches on from the floor in fascination, sparing no sympathy. Maybe Bakugo had a point.

Sooba ▻ Maybe that’s just his face.

InsertNameHere ▻ Maybe… ▻ It is a pretty face though. Prettier in person.

Shouto feels all the air deflate from his body. He sinks into the couch, head lolling against his shoulder as he turns to press a grin into the cushions, gripped by a sudden rush of endorphins. It had been you. You’re real. More importantly, you are attainable.

Now did he want to do anything about it?

Sooba ▻ You think so??

The typing dots bounce along the chat room border as you reply.

InsertNameHere ▻ I know so. I was there. Beautiful even when he is staring right through me (￣ロ￣lll)

The memory of you speaking his name echoes like a broken record. He has yet to tire of it. Though he’s lightheaded and hazy, your features are still clear in his mind. The sure fire in your eyes, your sharp tongue and your pouty lips. A slow, warm tension trickles into his gut, swooping in anticipation and breathless longing as he imagines the face you might make if he touched you.

Sooba ▻ That’s presumptuous. He was staring at you. Why wouldn’t he be

InsertNameHere ▻ I. ▻ You’re so unfair you know that ▻ If you were here I would

His breathing picks up ever so slightly.

Sooba ▻ What would you do with me

InsertNameHere ▻ Are we veering into sexting territory right now

Sooba ▻ Unintentionally.

Shouto shifts his hips. The movement pulls his sweatpants tighter around his hips and a familiar tingling rushes below his waist. When was the last time he touched himself? He brings the phone to his forehead for a moment of clarity, peering up at the screen through his eyelashes.

InsertNameHere ▻ Is this the part where we come full circle and you actually send me a dick pic

He tucks his chin, a lazy smile playing on his lips. The gentle throb in his briefs pulses throughout his body and he answers, reaching to squeeze himself through the fabric, just for relief.

Nori sneezes. He falters, reminded of her presence and overcome by the urge to cover up. Proverbial tail between his legs, Shouto retreats to the privacy of his bedroom, shutting the door with a quiet click. Evening filters in through the windows, mauve and rosy. He kneels on the bed and it yields under his weight, frame silent while he crawls to the headboard and reclines back, phone in hand.

▻ Shit, sorry. I was joking you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to

The message goes over his head. He opens the front camera and stares back at his flushed, disheveled face before tilting the device, angling it toward his body.

Frosted fingertips trail up his stomach and it jumps, laying the hem of his shirt across his chest. Down again to the fine dark hair below his belly button, goosebumps rising across skin, blood rushing to the surface. Hooks his thumb suggestively into his waistband, hand splayed across his hip, and takes the photo.

Sooba ▻ [IMG_628] ▻ I want to

Shouto. Shouto. Shouto. Abuzz with salacious apprehension he wonders what would it sound like above him? Under him? Breath knocked from your lungs, whining through the motions. He traces the outline of his clock. Covers his eyes with the crook of his arm and releases a shuddered breath, hips rising into the heel of his hand. A hand too big to be yours. Sweatpants pushed halfway down his thighs he pictured it anyway—you laid on your side, at his side, loose fist stroking him root to weeping tip.

Shouto thumbs at the head, smearing precum over his sensitive frenulum. Panting heavier, he squeezes his cock and wonders, would you tease him? Lick into his mouth and tell him not to be quiet?

The phone in his hand buzzes. Anticipation grips his heart. He almost drops it on his face when he squints up to read the screen.

InsertNameHere ▻ Fuck. You’re so gorgeous ▻ I can’t concentrate

Sooba ▻ You like it?

InsertNameHere ▻ I’ll show you how much ▻ [IMG_447]

Heat races through him. You’re in a loose tank top, touching yourself over pale boyshorts. The dark straps have fallen around your shoulders in an almost demure manner, collar slipping forward to reveal the soft cleavage of your chest. You’ve mirrored his position, albeit a little higher, enough for your mouth to be in frame. Wet and rouge, if he thinks hard enough he can imagine he left them kiss bitten.

Sooba ▻ I want to touch you

He’s desperate to know what you like. The way you want to be touched, how you might yield under his wandering hands. Patterns dance behind his eyelids as he reaches to knead his pecs, pinching the pert nipple with a breathy moan. He smooths over his abdomen, corded muscle tensing beneath the added sensation, arousal coiling hot in his belly.

InsertNameHere ▻ Touch yourself for me instead, yeah? ▻ Gonna think about you too

“Fuck,” he chokes. Shouto loses his phone amongst the sheets. Feet planted flat to the mattress, his knees spread until the waistband protests. “Please. Please. I’m so close,” he whispers to the image in his mind. His pace stutters, feverish as he fucks his fist. Your lips brush soft along the column of his throat to feel him swallow. He turns into the pillow, mouth parted for heaving breath.

“That’s it Shouto. So beautiful for me,” you’ll murmur, so at home in the crook of his body. Amidst the desperation you’ll straddle his thigh, rhythm synchronized, chests rising. Your hand—his hand—slips further, fingers curled to press up behind his balls. He’s on fire. “Cum for me, baby. Let me see you cum”.

Shouto’s head tips back into the plush of his pillow, every muscle clenched. Pleasure rockets through him. His cock twitches in his grasp. He cums with a strung out moan, breaking into short, wet pants as he catches his breath.

Riding the gentle aftershocks, his arm falls heavily to the side and hits his bedsheets with a quiet thud. The smell of old petrichor blows into his room with the draft draws his attention to the darkened window. Streaks of gold sunlight peak between the buildings across the street where it settles under the horizon.

The stickiness between his fingers is difficult to ignore. Drying steadily on his chest. Reality returns to him slowly as he stares at his soiled hand. After cleaning himself up with the wipes in his bedside table, Shouto tugs up his sweatpants and rubs at the pink splotches leading up his throat. With clarity comes a vague haze of shame and he is loudly alone; something vibrates and he is anything but lonely. He lifts his head, rummaging through the sheets to find his phone.

InsertNameHere ▻ Want you to feel good ▻ You there baby? ▻ Sooba? ▻ Hm. That’s not the sexiest of names

Shouto laughed through his nose. Endeared by your awkward jump from flirting to nervously making up for a perceived misstep.

Sooba ▻ sorry can’t multitask ▻ shouldnt make fun of your house husbands name

Exiting his bedroom is uncomfortably close to a wall of shame. He drags his feet; gait unsteady for far nicer reasons than a near career ending injury. Nori has acquired his spot on the couch, retaining warmth in his absence. She observes him, all knowing.

InsertNameHere ▻ No capitalised letters? Punctuation? What have you done with my Sooba lol ▻ How are you feeling?

Sooba ▻ really good. sleepy

He wanders to the kitchen and dithers over his next message, leaning his forearms on the cool countertop. This fleeting, unintended conversation could change everything and that fact is starting to nag at him.

▻ what about you

InsertNameHere ▻ I feel really good. And sleepy <3

The implication is not lost on him. He chews his bottom lip, flustered at just how pleased that makes him.

The next burst of chat bubbles appear in an instant, one after another. Typed hastily as though to outrun your own apprehension.

▻ Can I ask you something?  ▻ Did you mean it when you said you’d come to the event with me? ▻ I have a plus one. I want to see you. But you don’t have to 

Shouto swallows. Tugged between elation and fear. You’ve become all he yearns for and you could be just that, his, yet he panics all the same. Heroism had consistently been his lacquered shield. An excuse for his self isolation that people had to begrudgingly accept. Working himself to the bone afforded the luxury of never having to dwell on it. 

Exhaustion aside he was content with the humdrum life he hid behind. Before you, Shouto rarely wanted for anything. He had his family, and good friends, and a job that felt rewarding; it didn’t seem worth it to lay himself bare and be dissected on the off chance that someone new might love him. 

Because hectic work and risks aside, he’s profoundly aware of the ghosts he has yet to conquer. That somewhere, there is something fundamentally different inside him that you might find disappointing. 

Unthinkingly, Shouto grapples with the courage in him existing on the fringes and replies in much the same way you had. 

Sooba ▻ I meant it. I want to see you too.  ▻ I’d like to go with you  ▻ Don’t worry about a plus one. I’ll meet you there 

InsertNameHere ▻ Wow, okay. That was easier than I thought. I’m so excited  ▻ And super nervous

As it turns out the impending date motivates Shouto like nothing before. Days pass without fault or interruption. The man-shaped dent in his couch rises without the constant weight. He sticks closely to the routine his physiotherapist drew up for him. Walks longer distances and soaks up the sun daily, to Tsutomu’s great delight. 

Too wrapped up in his own coalesced anxiety and elation, he realises he hadn’t found it remotely odd that you hadn’t questioned his ability to get into the auction. 

His train of thought is interrupted by a firm hand coming down on his shoulder. “Man of the hour!” A familiar sharp toothed grin blocks his vision. Shouto clenches under the sudden weight to keep himself upright as Kirishima gives him a shake, “We missed you around here. You’re looking good!”

The charity event is in full swing. An anticipatory lull permeates the atmosphere as the chosen guests, heroes and civilians alike, wait for the auction to finally begin. Shouto arrived fashionably late, as Mina called it, after spending nearly three hours on a group call with her, Yaoyorozu, and his sister. 

The applause upon his entry had not been expected. His palms are still clammy. 

Compared to Shouto's charcoal three piece suit, tailored to precision, Kirishima dons a charmingly loud burgundy blazer over a dark turtleneck, pulled together by a simple chain. The material is tight across his broad shoulders. “Thank you, Kirishima,” Shouto smiles. He looks him over, “You look good too”. 

That signature grin grows weary. “You really think so?” Kirishima lowers his voice into a hush, tugging at the loose hair framing his face. “I wasn’t so sure about tying my hair back. What if nobody bids for me? I’m dying inside just thinking about it”. 

Shouto turns away from the sea of vibrant clothing and chatter to pat his friend on the arm and level him with a serious look. “A lot of people are going to spend money on you tonight, Kirishima. But in the impossible event that they don’t I’ll bid on you myself,” he tells him. “We can go to Mythoscape and try that new rollercoaster”. 

“Bro…” Kirishima’s eyes are wide and glassy. While Shouto expects the firm hug, he is mildly surprised by the long, dramatic kiss to his cheek. His breath smells faintly of white wine. “You’re the best,” he continues as he sets Shouto back on his feet. “But is it really okay for you to do that?”

A flash goes off. Shouto frowns. He scans the crowd and rubs away the wet mark left behind. Yaoyorozu catches his attention with a delicate wave from her place beside Kendo and Uraraka. “Why wouldn’t it be?” he asks, smiling back, yet distracted. You’re still nowhere to be found. 

“Well,” Kirishima draws breath through his teeth. “Bakugo kinda told me about your crush on his PA,” whatever he sees pass over Shouto’s expression has him sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and scrambling to explain. “Nothing bad, man! You know he actually seemed pretty approving of it, in his own way”. 

The evermoving mass of bodies sharpens around a few other familiar faces. Midoriya is excitedly gesticulating as he rambles to a visibly overwhelmed HSPC shareholder. Bakugo watches the interaction with no intention of concealing his amusement. 

“I’m not sure about that,” Shouto rasps, narrowing his eyes at the man in question, like the pressure behind it might be enough to elicit his attention. Bakugo of all the people here would know where you are. The phone snug in his inside blazer pocket remains silent. A pout works its way onto his lips before he can stop it. “He said I’m bad at flirting”. 

Kirishima stifles a laugh and clears his throat when Shouto directs the petulant glare to him. “You are a little bad at it. But only when you’re actually trying! And even then that’s part of what makes it charming, y’know?”

“No, I don’t know”. 

“You’re the type to flirt without realising you’re doing it—or atleast people think you are, because you’re handsome and attentive and whatnot. But when you try it’s kinda obvious and bro, please stop looking at me like that,” Kirishima explains clumsily, tone pitching higher the longer he talks. 

Shouto’s lips thin as he tries to suppress a smirk. He rights himself as Kirishima nudges his side, catching a smile of his own, “What I meant is you have a chance. And Bakubro thinks so too. He wants you to be happy”. 

The sentiment warms him from the inside out. But it also makes apparent something trepid and cold in his gut. Regardless of his friends unfettered support there remains the real possibility that he will be rejected. That you will be disappointed or scared away by his status. That you could do as you please with the intimate parts of his life ‘Sooba’ gave you.

Scarier is the hope that you won’t.

“I’m going to get a drink,” Shouto announces, noticing Endeavor prowling around in his peripheral vision. Kirishima’s brow furrows, mouth parted in confusion, no doubt seeking to reassure him. “I’m okay, Kirishima. I just need something to do with my hands”. 

“Alright,” the taller man murmurs. Shouto finds himself at the end of a gentle smile once more. “Make sure to say ‘hi’ to Denks if you see him. He misses you too”.

“I will,” Shouto nods, ducking away from the inexpressible tenderness that has clung to him since stepping into the hall. People part to allow him through. His left leg has already begun to feel weak, not enough to worry but enough to notice, and he hopes he can later blame his gait on the alcohol. 

He reaches the bar and wrinkles his nose at the thick amalgamation of perfume, body odour and over-applied cologne. The bartender slides up to him. “Umeshu, please,” he says. “On the rocks”. 

Another body settles beside him. He shifts to accommodate them but doesn’t look; too distracted as he inhales deeply through his nose and exhales long out his mouth to allay his beating heart. Pulling his phone out from his inside pocket, the screen lights up and he finds it void of messages. 

After the… sexting, things had been fine. Better in a lot of ways. You both felt emboldened to truly act on your feelings. Sharing more pictures, secrets—though never your names—and laughter.  It is disconcerting that you would now go silent. 

The bartender sets his drink down and Shouto quietly gives his thanks, bringing it to his face, briefly caught in the soft glimmer, cubed ice submerged in liquid gold, tasting the sweet aroma at the back of his throat. He tips it back and drinks. 

As the glass hits the surface once more, the person next to him softly asks, “Are you waiting on anyone?” 

And his mouth goes dry. 

You’re bracing on crossed arms, watching him closely. Speckled in the warm low light reflected on the bar, you are more beautiful than he remembers, and just as nervous. There’s an air of uncertainty about you that shifts as your eyes meet, faint but palpable, encouraged by what he can imagine is the wonder on his own face. 

Shouto wets his lips. The plum taste lingers on his tongue. “…I might be,” he murmurs. You brighten at his reciprocation, a more charged kind of nervous—the kind that swoops low in your belly right before you take a leap. 

“If I’m wrong don’t laugh and don’t tell Dynamite,” you turn to face him and smooth your hands over your hips. This allows him a better look at your attire. Silken fabrics that form gentle lines around the waist, loose but elegantly so, not in a way that the clothes wear you. 

Your eyes dipped low, averted to avoid his stare. He cannot seem to direct it anywhere else. The auction has fallen away in its entirety. As far as Shouto is concerned there’s only you. 

“It’s me. And you’re…Sooba?” 

The tremble in your voice shrikes through him and it occurs to Shouto that you have always been the brave one.

He leans into your space, enjoying the way you quickly draw breath at his proximity, forced to meet his gaze. Rather than something remotely suave or cool, he dumbly asks, “You knew?”

Part of him wants to tuck his shoulders to his ears as you begin to laugh. They’re warm, undoubtedly red. Amusement is not at all what he prepared for. He thought this might all end up in his scrapbook memory, to be taken out and pined over now and then. 

“Shouto-san with all due respect, you came to my workplace with your very recognisable crutches and stared at me like a deer in headlights”. 

“Shouto,” he says. 

Your laughter simmers, “Hm?”

“Just call me Shouto,” he tells you, equal parts relieved and embarrassed. 

“Shouto,” you smile at him with a fondness that derails his thoughts. He has the vague urge to whine when it wanes. “I’m—I really am sorry I didn’t tell you. I swear I didn’t know until after you visited the agency. It all made sense after I looked up your socials and saw some old pictures of Nori”. 

“It’s alright. I knew and didn’t say anything either,” Shouto inclines his head, abashed. Then with a sudden sharp sort of clarity, he continues, “So then you knew, when you asked for a dick—?”

Words evade him under the warm press of your hand as you quickly cover his mouth. You glance around the room, closer than before, and you don’t seem to realise. Cautious, he touches your waist; he puckers his lips to kiss your palm; he feels your stomach jump under the silky fabrics. 

Your eyes darken, swallowed by pupil. “You’re a menace,” you simper, and reluctantly pull away. “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere with less…cameras”. 

Umeshu abandoned, Shouto wraps an arm around your lower back and allows you to direct him through the crowd. You weave through the moving bodies like thread through a needle, at one point reaching behind to take his wrist, becoming his tether.

Bakugo meets his gaze from across the room. His eyes flit to you, widening in surprise. Shouto flashes a boyish grin before disappearing through the side door. 

The door you choose next opens to a private bathroom. Shouto surges forward, taking you by the hips and crowding you against the bathroom counter, overcome by the need to feel everything that you are pressing into everything that is him.

He kicks the door behind him and settles in the clutch of your thighs as you scramble to balance on the marble edge. Your hands slide over his shoulders, splaying over each cheek. You’re both breathing heavily despite having done nothing at all.

“I said talk,” you remind him with a tremulous smile. Shouto knows you’re being playful. He apologises anyway; rests his head in the crook of your neck, letting the moment simmer, and you comb through his hair with your fingers. A shiver rolls down his spine. 

“Did you know it was me? Before you came to the agency, I mean”. 

He reclines from his crook to look at you. Eye level, silhouetted by the cheap bathroom luminescence. “When I saw you in there—and put it together I was so scared,” you continued. 

“Scared?” he echoed with a frown, knuckles brushing your cheek. 

“Not like that. I was scared of what you might think,” you turn into his caress and his pinched expression falls away. He can’t stop touching you and he can’t bring himself to be sorry about it. “I mean, I looked terrible that day, and you appeared out of nowhere and I wasn’t mad it was you. I was just…”

You swallow thickly, emotion swelling in your eyes. They’re crinkled at the corners. “You’re so big and bright. I didn’t want you to be disappointed”.

You were unaware of it—the profound cord you struck within him. How even in anonymity, your incorporeal fingers always seemed to find it. Even now, as you echo his own fears. 

“Momo first mentioned you might work for Bakugo. I didn’t know before I saw you that day. I still wasn’t certain until tonight”. You peer at him through your lashes then, listening intently. He brings your foreheads together and tells you, “There is no way you could’ve disappointed me”. 

“Oh? I could’ve been a villain”.

“My oldest brother was a villain,” he monotoned, wandering hands squeezing intermittently at your waist as though to make sure you’re still there. “My capacity for love and forgiveness knows no bounds”. 

You snort. The sound is abrupt and the force knocks your skulls together. “Oh—ow,” he grins, insides melting. Together you dissolve into a warm fit of laughter. 

“Hey, Shouto?” 

He hums in acknowledgment, eyes fluttering as your thumb swipes over the red mark below his hairline. “I like you,” you murmur. “I like you so much it’s stupid”.  

Plunged into an ice cold realisation, Shouto freezes to process your words. “You—like me?” 

“Yeah?” you said it like he was dense, like it was clear all along. “I can’t help it when you’re so…yourself”

And isn’t that all he’s ever wanted? To be loved without pretense, without a winner. To be special to someone for no special reason. 

“Oh,” he breathes. “Me too. I like you. I want—” his fingers flex at your hips, grounding. He blinks. “I don’t know your name yet”. 

Affection colours your features. Shouto likes you best like this—sure of yourself, of his feelings for you. You recite your name. He repeats it endlessly in his mind and rolls it around his teeth. He calls to you even when you’re right in front of him. 

“Can I kiss you now?” 

“You were waiting?” you laugh, tucking his hair behind his ear. It’s such a novel thing but it makes something monumental swell in his chest. “Kiss me. I want you to”. 

Given permission, Shouto traces the curve of your jaw with a bold shyness, from the sensitive skin below your ear to your chin. His finger hooks beneath. You’re lovely. He thinks he could spend an hour describing your demure half smile, how your lips yield under the light pressure of his thumb; your tongue darting out reflexively. 

He shakes at the desire that fills him. He’s not used to it—this wanting. It feels like a thousand insatiable butterflies in his chest. Dipping into your magnetism, his heart beat faster and faster with the simple brush of your lips. He kissed you, innocent and honest, and then he kissed you again, licking the seam of your mouth, arms coiling around your middle as you cling to him. 

You tip forward. Your thighs clench at his waist and drag him impossibly close. It brings you chest to chest. He tries to hold you steadfast as your hand wraps around his nape, softly scratching his scalp; he feels you smile against his lips when he shudders. 

You break for air. Arousal shoots through him at your half moan, the sound tapering into a happy hum the instant his lips trail down your neck, tasting your pulse before making his way down to your exposed collar. He peppers kiss after kiss on every swathe of skin he can reach, sinking teeth into every little reaction you give him. 

Big hands at your lower back arch your body into his. You yield, tension sapped from your limbs, grappling his shoulders to keep yourself from falling while you grind down on his lap. Shouto groans, grip slipping lower to cup your ass. 

“We’re getting carried away,” you gasp between kisses. That alone was obvious. His cock strains uselessly in his suit pants. But the light glints tantalisingly along your mouth, swollen and wet with saliva. Shouto kisses you again so you won’t have to tell him to attend to his responsibilities. 

A warm breath scores his cheek as you huff through your nose, nipping firmly at his lower lip. “I mean it. I am technically still at work,” you try again, voice lacking strength. “Dynamite will knock on every door in this building—don’t wrinkle your nose, you know I’m right”.

“Alright. I know,” he rasps, barely an exhale. It takes all his willpower to pull away. He steadies you on your feet, smoothing out the creases in your formal attire while you are quite pleased to simply watch on as he adjusts himself in his pants. “I’m glad my suffering is funny to you”. 

“Don’t be dramatic,” you murmur, pecking the corner of his mouth. “I'll hide with you in the corner like I promised I would. We can make up for lost time after the auction. You know. The one for charity”. 

Shouto hums and reaches for the door, knowing you’ve won. “Oh. I told Kirishima I’d bid for his date night,” he recalls as he turns the handle. “Would that bother you?” 

“Of course not baby,” you reply and take one last look at your reflection, less disheveled than before. The endearment ‘baby’ almost has him walking into the doorframe.

You straighten up. Shouto thinks he must look incredibly dumbstruck, if your concerned expression is any indication. “You okay?” you ask, proffering your hand. “You didn’t bring your crutches tonight, did you?”

“Don’t worry. I’m fine,” he intertwines your fingers, dizzy as you squeeze around him. 

“It’s just a tremor”. 

[angels-fantasy]

Sweet Confessions

Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Reader

Description : After a night out with friends, Bakugou decides to tell you something while you two are eating sweet pastries.

Details : 1.8k words, friends to lovers, cussing, reader and bakugou are over 21! readers looks are not specified in any way, but she is a woman. small mention of alcohol.

this is my first fanfic ever, so please be kind! constructive criticism is welcome :)

When Bakugou received a text message from Kirishima inviting him out to eat with the bunch of other idiots, he immediately declined. Though this was nothing new, and it was something his red-haired friend was already expecting. Which is why he had Mina execute plan b.

Raccoon Eyes

Yo Bakugou! Come out with us tonight. You're always locked away in your apartment. Let loose a little!

Bakugou glared at his phone and typed out a message.

Hell no.

UGH BAKUGOU!! You're literally no fun. I can't believe you'd miss out on the opportunity to see this cutie -.-

A few seconds later, a picture was sent. When Bakugou opened it, he saw that it was a picture of you. He brought his phone closer to his face and looked it over carefully. He noticed you were dressed for the occasion, like everyone else in the background, and you were smiling widely at the camera. Mina probably told you to pose.

He must've been looking at your photo for too long because another text from Mina came in.

You drooling or what lover boy? Hurry up and get here so you can make a move already. We all know you like her 🙄.

Bakugou felt his face flush. It was true, he did have a crush on you. And though he never verbally admitted it to anyone, they all saw right through him. Except you, of course.

He clicked his tongue and typed up a quick response before beginning to get ready.

Shut up. I'll be there in 30.

"Woo! We got him!" Mina cheered, leaning across the table to high-five Kirishima.

You looked between them suspiciously, "What are you guys plotting?"

The pink woman had the audacity to look nervous. "Nothing! Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, okay."

As Mina and Kirishima kept whispering to each other, you squirmed in your seat. You knew the other pro heroes at the table fairly well, but not enough to just strike up a conversation like you would with Mina.

"Hey pretty, what do you look so nervous for?"

You turned to the left and were faced with a yellow haired man.

"Oh, hi Kaminari. I'm not nervous, just hungry. They're taking a little long to bring out the food. Don't you think?" You lied.

Thankfully he was kind of an airhead. "Oh yeah I know right! I'm starving. I'm gonna go ask how much longer!" He said and got up out of his seat, leaving you alone again.

You sighed and took a sip of your drink. Since Mina and Kirishima were too busy talking to each other, and you didn't want to bother talking to anyone else you decided to scroll mindlessly on your phone.

Some time later, the empty seat next to you was pulled out and sat in by Bakugou himself.

Your ears got hot at the sight of him. It wasn't the first time you'd met him, you two were good friends after all. But you never got used to how handsome he was. It was like he got better looking everyday. You began to wonder what he looks like under that button up-

"Hey nightlight, what're you staring at huh?" He asked, snapping you out of your trance.

"Shut up! I told you to stop calling me that." You said with false annoyance.

"It ain't my fault your quirk makes you a nightlight." He smirked. You scrunched your nose to hide your laugh, but unknowingly failed since Bakugou still saw it.

His nickname for you was completely harmless, and came from your quirk which allowed you to produce light from your hands. It wasn't anything comparable to a pro hero's quirk, but it did have its uses.

"Kacchan you made it!" Midoriya exclaimed with his big smile.

Bakugou clicked his tongue, "Shut it nerd, or else I'll leave. Give me a menu, yeah?"

Midoriya laughed off his words and passed him a menu, used to his harsh way of speaking.

Dinner went on without any problems, and the food was delicious. Everyone around the table cracked jokes, brought up old memories, and some people had even began drinking alcohol, including you.

Your drink wasn't very strong, but the few you had was enough to have you a little tipsy. Thankfully, you took an uber to the restaurant, so you didn't have to worry about driving.

During dinner, you and Bakugou engaged in a conversation. Mostly about his hero work and the villains he had caught recently.

Once everyone finally finished their food and drinks, they had all begun to leave. Slowly leaving one by one, some in pairs as well.

While you grabbed your stuff, you got on your phone to call for an uber but got interrupted by Bakugou talking to you.

"How you gettin' home nightlight? You better not even think about driving after drinking." He warned.

You brushed him off, "I'm taking an uber, don't worry!"

He grunted in agreement and was silent for a moment before saying, "I'll give you a ride home. C'mon."

"No it's okay! I can just take the uber home. Besides, didn't you drink too?"

"Hell no I didn't. It's not my thing. Just hurry up and accept my offer alright? This is the only time I'll be this nice."

You smiled at his words, knowing he was lying when he said this was the only time he'd be nice.

"Alright then, let's go!"

He smirked and held out a hand for you to hold, which you did while he walked you to his car. He made sure you didn't fall on the way there, and even opened the door for you.

"Wow what a gentleman you are. Do you open doors for all the ladies?" You teased.

"Nah, so consider it special treatment for you Nightlight."

You smiled shyly and wiggled your feet a bit after he shut your door and got into his own seat.

The ride to your house was quiet, except for the occasional small talk. But it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. It was a comforting feeling for the both of you.

When he pulled up to your place, you turned to him to say goodbye, but instead you said "Um, do you wanna come inside with me? I have some pastries I made earlier..."

He laughed lightly at your words, "Sure, but be ready for me to critique the hell out of those pastries."

You led him inside where you both took off your shoes and coats. You ushered him to sit on the couch and relax while you went to go prepare some drinks and the pastries for the two of you.

While you were gone for a few minutes, Bakugou couldn't help but think about how he was actually inside your house. It wasn't the first time he'd been there, but it was the first time he'd been there alone. Just you and him.

In the midst of his thinking, he felt his phone buzz and he looked at it to see a message from Kirishima.

Shitty Hair

I see you left with your little nightlight ;) Better make a move while you have the chance!!

Bakugou huffed and sent a middle finger emoji, then silenced his phone. He didn't need any distractions.

Finally, you came from the kitchen with a tray in your hands and placed it on the coffee table.

"Here they are! My babies. I hope they're still good, considering they're not as fresh as they were this morning." You said nervously while sitting down next to him.

Bakugou hummed and grabbed a pastry, biting into it. You watched silently as he chewed and swallowed it, anticipating his reaction.

He bit it again, "S' good."

You smiled, "I'm glad you like it. That means a lot coming from you, Bakugou. Your cooking is so good!"

He turned away with a red face, "Of course it is. I'm the best at everything. And why don't you call me Katsuki? We've known each other for years now."

"Oh, I didn't realize you felt that way. Sorry Baku-erm, Katsuki. I just thought you didn't want anyone to call you that, especially since Kirishima doesn't even call you that..."

"Tsk, I feel a lot of ways. You just don't know about it."

Your interest peaked at his words. "Oh yeah? Then would you do the honors by telling me how you feel Katsuki?" You teased.

Bakugou felt himself hesitate before speaking, which is something he never did. Gosh, he couldn't believe this is how he was going to confess to you.

"I like you, idiot."

Your smile fell and your expression formed into one of pure confusion. "What?"

Damn. Maybe that wasn't the right move.

He began to panic and sat up quickly, "Ugh, nothing. Forget about it-"

"No! I'm not forgetting about that." You said while grabbing his hand, pulling him back down onto the couch.

As he sat down next to you in silence, you kept his hand in yours. "You like me Katsuki?"

He huffed and turned away. "So what if I do? It doesn't matter-"

You grew frustrated at his words. "Of course it matters! Stop acting like this is nothing. I need you to talk to me seriously, because I don't want to get my hopes up..."

He looked back at you, only to see your eyes watering. "Hey wait-don't cry. Shit. I'm real fuckin' bad at this, ain't I?"

You laughed and sniffled, "Yeah, a little."

He sighed and squeezed your hand that was holding his.

"I uh, I do really like you. I have for a while. I just didn't wanna fuck up what we already had-" He was cut off by you throwing your arms around his neck tightly.

"You big dummy. I can't believe you thought you'd mess things up."

His eyes widened in surprise, but he still wrapped his arms around your waist. He stayed quiet to listen to what you had to say.

"I actually like you too, y'know. I have for a while now."

He smirked and hugged you tighter. "Thank god. I was almost afraid you'd run out on me."

You snorted and pulled away slowly. "No way in hell would I do that. I just didn't know how to tell you..."

He threw an arm around you and said, "Well I'm glad ya did. 'Cause you're my girl now."

"Don't I get any say in this?" You asked jokingly.

"Nah, you agreed when you said you liked me back."

Extra:

That night, Katsuki decided to sleepover at your place since you two had already made it official. You lent him some mens pajamas you had since you were sure they'd fit him, which he fussed about because he assumed they belonged to another man.

"No Katsuki, these are actually mine believe it or not."

"Tsk, good. If I ever find any other loser's shit in here I'll blow it up."

[theglitterypages]

Self Control

Katsuki knows that self control is not something he is good at, he has a hot temper and he rarely speak without a scowl or shout. But it's not the worst example of his lack of self control.

He was silently sat in his office as he spins the phone in his hand like a fidget spinner, contemplating whether he should give in to his greed or try to not give away himself but after a couple of minutes debating with himself, he decided to give in to his selfish need.

He pressed dial and it wasn't long until somebody picks up.

"Kacchan? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Katsuki held the phone tightly against his ear, his heart beating fast out of anticipation. "Where are you?" he asked with a low growl, trying to act normal, right, this is how he is with everyone right? Not soft, but tough. "Oh I'm on my way to your office now, I brought us lunch." Katsuki's eyes widened when you suddenly came in holding two lunch boxes in your hand with a grin.

He ended the call and rolled his eyes as he walks toward you, taking the lunch boxes away from you. "You're my secretary, not my personal cook. We could've just ordered or somethin'." he clicked his tongue, sitting down at the couch while you settle down beside him with a soft chuckle, ignoring the rough attitude.

"Oh come on, we both know it's not healthy. Plus, I also bought some lunch to Ni-chan, I figured I'd give you something too." you told him, giving him a spoon and fork so he could start digging in.

Katsuki finds himself watching you as you took your first bite, so, you went to see your brother. Now, that is what he needed exactly to remind himself why he needs to chill and practice self control. "How's Izuku?" he asked, trying to distract himself from the way your knees brushed against each other, since when did his couch in the office got so tiny? He couldn't properly savor the meal you cooked because your whole existence is making his senses go haywire, did you change your shampoo? And why is your hair put up? Why is your neckline exposed like that? Why is it that-

"Kacchan?"

Katsuki jerked out of his thoughts when you snapped your fingers in front of his face, "What?" he didn't mean to say it a little harshly but he saw that you were taken aback, you withdrew your hands away from his face with a defeated sigh, as if burnt by a raging hot fire. "N-Nothing, I'm sorry. Just call me if you need something." you immediately clean after yourself and exit his office while Katsuki groaned out of frustration, noticing the tears threatening to fall in your eyes but he couldn't do anything to stop you from leaving his office.

"Fucking hell." he buried his face in his hands and let out a muffled scream.

He didn't mean that, no, but he had to do his best to try and put up an act. This is him trying to control himself, he needs to get back to his senses, he should've know that it's a bad idea for him to hire you as his secretary, but no, he gave in to his own desire to keep you close and now it's becoming his own torture.

He can't bring himself to pursue you, no, he can't do that to Izuku, or maybe it's not really the bro code that he's being wary of, maybe it's your rejection that he's running away from. Because why would you even want anything to do with him? He knew that Izuku has forgiven him for all of the things they went through as children but what about you? What if you're still seeing him as your big brother's bully?

He banged his head on the table, he needs distraction, or else he'd storm out of this office to find you to just hold you tightly in his arms and never let go.

You were teary eyed when you left Katsuki's office, did you do anything wrong? You thought you two are becoming closer, but how come he's all snappy again? Well you always knew how unpredictable his mood is, but a part of you hoped that Katsuki would care to not snap at you the way he does with everybody else.

"YN?"

You looked up and saw Shoto looking down at you worriedly, "Hey…" you greeted, hoping that he won't noticed the dried tears on your cheeks, but when you felt his thumbs wiped your cheeks, you knew that you failed to hide your sadness with your fake smile.

Shoto looked around, "Is he mean today?" he asked, gently patting your head before pulling you in for a hug. You shook your head and held onto his shirt. "J-Just the usual…I'm just being a little sensitive today, I guess." you told him and Shoto gently rubbed your back.

"You should've worked with me." he joked, trying to lighten up the mood and you pulled away from him with a chuckle, "I should've…I was just too stubborn." Shoto sighs, well, he's not one to understand this kins of sacrifice, but he tries, and he sees how much you want to work with Katsuki to stay close and support him, and he knows exactly why. "Mina's having a party tonight, come with me, the girls can probably help you with this." you smiled at Shoto and hugged him tightly, you know that he's awkward, but since he knows your real feelings for Katsuki he tries to ease your struggles by just listening and you're thankful for that.

"Thanks, Sho."

Shoto smiled. "I can't do much so I think you'll be better to find someone who can relate since all I can do is listen." he pat your head once again and looked at the closed door of Katsuki's office, "I'll talk to your boss now." you just nodded and sat back down on your seat, scrolling through your phone to send a text message to Mina and the others to inform them that you'll be at the party tonight.

"EHHH?!"

The girls had the same reaction when you told them about your feelings for Katsuki, none of you can speak for a few minutes all of the girls are trying to find reasons as to why you've fallen in love with Bakugo Katsuki. Ochaco was the first one to break the silence, her fingers on her chin as she looks at you with a surprised look. "You know, I used to think you'd fall for Todoroki-kun rather than Bakugo-kun." she told you as before she closed Mina's wide open mouth.

Momo nodded in acknowledgement, recalling the times where you and Katsuki would often scream at each other while you were all sweet and calm with Shoto, for years of being your friends, the girls genuinely believed that it will be you and Shoto. "And you guys are pretty close aren't you? In fact there were rumours that you were dating." you sighed, you are seen with Shoto in public a lot of times, but it was because he gives an effort to try and distract you from your inner struggles because of your feelings for Katsuki.

"Ehhh, what a shame, we thought you guys came together here to announce your relationship officially or something."

Momo giggled and then others followed, "Oh come on guys, you're forgetting my real issue." you groaned as you took another shot of tequila. You were well aware of the attention that you get when you hang out with Shoto but you never knew that the girls actually thought that you are together. It was frustrating, really if you were being honest, Shoto was the man of your dreams, the typical prince that you used to dream of marrying as a kid but reality is far from princess, knights, and castles. And in this reality your heart is not stolen by a prince but a raging man disguised as a dragon.

"I mean this could actually help." Mina comforted you as the other girls squeezed you with their hugs, whispering sweet nothings to make you feel better.

"We'll make sure that we'll find out if he likes your if he's still a jerk after all these years."

With all honesty you were just hoping that they'd listen to you, it's not like you want to do anything to let him know about your feelings, especially that your friendship and his friendship with your brother will be at risk but you forgot how enthusiastic Mina is when playing the matchmaker and now you're scared of whatever she was planning next and so the next thing you knew, Mina dragged Shoto towards you with a smirk that could only mean embarassment or trouble for you.

"Kirishima is on the way with Bakugo why don't you guys wait for them here in the couch together?" Shoto was forced to sit down beside you and you looked at the other girls silently begging for help. Shoto on the other hand is just drinking quietly, having no idea of Mina's scheme.

Kirishima went through hell just to convince Katsuki to come and join the party, "I've got morning patrol you shitty fuck." the blond complained as they arrived but despite his death glares and never ending curses, Kirishima didn't let himself given for he was more scared of getting beat up by Mina if he won't succeed in bringing Katsuki in for tonight's party.

"Just loosen up will 'ya?!" Kirishima made his way through the crowd, dragging the complaining Katsuki with him but the blond froze midway, making the red head turn towards him. "Come on, dude. We're already here! It's too late to back down!" Kirishima pulled his friend but Katsuki was still staring at something or maybe someone…

When Kirishima followed Katsuki's gaze, he can now fully understand why the blond was frozen in his place. Even with the flashing lights and the crowded place, he was able to see what Katsuki was looking at.

Shoto was slow dancing with you, his hands on your waist, while your hands were wrapped around his nape. Faces close to each other, forehead and nose tips almost touching, it looks so intimate.

Katsuki could feel his world crumble at that moment, and he wanted to run as far as he could but he couldn't especially when he heard Mina's enthusiastic voice yelling for him and Kirishima. The red head looked at him apologetically, "Sorry dude. I didn't know they'd be here." Katsuki said nothing and went straight to grab a drink but even as he settled down on the couch nearby, his eyes was still fixed on you and Shoto.

His eyes scanned how you seem to be so relaxed in Shoto's touches and in his arms, for fucks sake you were even smiling, and he feels like in your world, there's no place for him, no place for Katsuki because everything is reserved and dedicated for Shoto. He let the bitter taste of the alcohol as it travele down his throat, his stomach filled with something warm, his temperature rising as he watches you and Shoto even more.

It reminds him of what happened earlier, if he didn't put on an act of keeping you at arm's length, will it change anything? Is he gonna be the one to hold you tight while Shoto is the one downing drinks the way he does right now? For some reason, his eyes sting, is it because of the burning sensation traveling up his throat? Damn, he should've known he'll never be able to have you, he could only settle for this, keeping his distance because why the hell would you even look at his way when you have the perfect man in front of you?

Shoto on the other hand could feel someone drilling holes at the back of his head with their glare alone and he already knew who it was without looking. Honestly, he's not a fan of the plan that Mina told him, but he decided to go with it, after seeing how you look so defeated. As someone who witnessed your secret admiration for Katsuki for years, this is the least he could do for you.

"Am I doing this right?" he asked innocently, afraid that he might step on you or something. You giggled at him and nodded, "You're a little awkward but you got the spirit." you joked and Shoto chuckled, a very rare moment that even you rarely witness. "Oh wait, is that a chuckle?" Shoto just shook his head, going back to his usual stoic expression.

"Can you see him?" he asked, looking down at you. "No, you're kinda too tall for me to look over your shoulder." Shoto thought for a moment, he ponders whether he should do it or not, a part of him knows that if his observations were right, he coud either help you or he might end up with some serious injury but he figures if it's for his friend's happiness maybe he should try his best to show Katsuki what he might lose if he'll turn a blind eye on your feelings for him.

"I'll lift you and take a quick look."

"Wait what?!"

It was late, Shoto lifted you off the ground by your waist to let you up in the air for a quick moment so you can observe Katsuki behind him and your eyes widened when you met his gaze as you gripped on Shoto's shoulder tightly.

Mina and the other girls were shocked of how far Shoto played his part in this plan, and when they turned to look at Katsuki's reaction, it was an enough testament of his true feelings, especially when the blond placed his glass harshly on the table, almost crushing it before making his way towards you and Shoto.

You didn't even have time to think when Shoto put you down, because before you could even look at your friend, Katsuki's hands immediately snatched you away from Shoto and he dragged you away from the group.

Katsuki was cursing in his head, why did he let his temper get the better of him again? He should've just left without dragging you, now he's standing in front of you and he couldn't even utter a word as to why he snatched you away from Shoto. Fuck there's no escaping this now, no dumb alibi can sound reasonable after he straight up snatched you from Shoto like a kid upset that his favorite toy is held by someone else.

Self control. Control. Control.

It wasn't enough for him to chant it in his head, because before he could even try to do something logical or reasonable his body gave in and he let his head rest on your shoulder before wrapping his arms on your waist, inhaling your scent, letting his mind and his soul etch your scent an the warm feeling of your skin against his, if this is the last time that he'll get to touch you like this, he needs something to hold on to for his own sanity.

"Please…." he whispered weakly almost begging. He doesn't know what he was begging for, but he's at the end of his wits, he's left with no further layers to strip down, no more masks to wear, because everything that he is lays bare in front of you, his whole existence is at the palm of your hand, he feels tiny, and so vulnerable, he would've fallen down on his knees if you didn't place your hand on his back.

As you let your hands rest on his back, you felt him shaking, and when you heard him sniffing as you felt something wet on your shoulder you just realized that Katsuki was crying.

"K-Kacchan?" you called, not knowing what's happening. He stayed silent, just holding on to you as if somebody will take you away from him as he let his tears roll down his cheeks then onto your shoulders.

"Please…don't be in love with someone else." he whispered quietly, his hands around you holding you tighter, as if his own sanity depends on it. "I'm sorry…but please…choose me." Katsuki knows that this was pathetic, in fact this was the lowest that he thinks he could go, for someone like him to just break down like this, he knew he's at his wits end, he's been fighting himself for these feelings for years, in fact he couldn't even remember how long it's been but tonight is the last straw, if he hides this from you any longer he could burst into flames and be consumed by his own love for you.

He couldn't bear to see your sparkling eyes fixed on someone else, he couldn't see your delicate hand held by another, he couldn't bear hearing you laugh because of someone else, he wants all of it to be his, he wants to be the one to make you smile, to make you laugh, to be the one to hold you in his arms, to be looked at by your sparkling eyes, and he'll go crazy if all of this will be someone else's.

Your eyes widened when his voice broke, your arms automatically wrapped themselves around him, hugging him back.

"I've chosen you long ago, Kacchan. It's always been you."

Katsuki pulled away a little but his protective arms still around you, "B-but you and Shoto…" you shook your head and wiped away the tears rolling down his cheeks, his ruby eyes glazed with tears threatening to fall once more.

"Oh come on, if I like Shoto I would be working with him and not stuck with your grumpy ass." you told him with a glare and Katsuki was frozen for a moment before he hugged you tightly, his face buried on your neck, "I love you…always have, and always will." he confessed, dropping the tough guy mask he's been wearing around you for years, who cares about self control? If his heart wants you, why should he restrict himself from wanting you?

"Can I kiss you?"

"D-Dumbass you can't just ask and just expect me to---"

Katsuki cupped your face and gently pressed his lips on yours, it wasn't long till one of his hands found your waist once more to pull you closer, he gently nipped on your lower lip, earning a sigh from you before he pulls back, breathless.

"Can I hear you say it?" he asked, a part of him afraid that this is just a dream and he needs to hear you say it or else he'll believe that he's going insane.

"I love you." you chuckled before standing on your tip toes to press another quick kiss on his lips.

[fever-dreamer97]

Bakugo, on phone: Oi Nerd.

Izuku, on phone: Kacchan! What time did you say you were coming over?

Bakugo: I’m actually calling about that, I have to cancel because of something that came up last minute.

Izuku:

Bakugo: Look, I know you were looking forward to this, but I can’t get my ass out of it-

Izuku: I cleaned my entire apartment. I took the dishes out of my bed for you.

Bakugo:

Bakugo: You should be doing that regardless.

[tteokdoroki]

this is entirely self indulgent but im just imaging bakugou attempting to get the sound out cinnamoroll build a bear for you! fluff + fem!reader

“god fuckin’ damn it. these resell prices are fuckin’ insane.”

with his brows furrowed, katsuki slams a closed fist down on his desk— his other hand running through his soft blonde hair similarly to the waves of stress that roll over him. just as he clicks onto another listing, deku slips through the door to his office with his freshly packed bento in tow.

“hey kacchan! what’cha doin’?” the number one chirps, making himself at home in his old childhood friend’s space. he hauls himself up in one of the spare chairs, setting up his food and getting comfortable— frowning when bakugou barely spares him a glance.

frustration hits bakugou hard again when the item he was after goes to another and higher bidder— an irritated grumble slipping past his lips. “fuck nerd, lost it again,” looking up, he swipes a bite of deku’s lunch and munched hard on his onigiri before he’s perks up with a thought. “get on yer phone, load up ebay. need yer help midoriya.”

this catches deku’s attention— their whole lives, kacchan has never ever called him by his proper name. so he does as he says, swiping open the app obediently. “what exactly are you looking for?”

“the god damn cinnamoroll build-a-bear.” katsuki says through gritted teeth, aggressively scrolling through the various listings open on his work laptop. it’s the middle of the day, most people are working or patrolling. for christ’s sake and it’s absolutely blowing his mind— the fact that a stupid stuffed animal has sold out in mere minutes. now he’s stuck looking at ridiculous reseller prices.

but it’s not a stupid stuffed animal, it’s a stuffed animal that you want so badly, that you’ve been talking about since it’s announcement— with sparkly eyes and excitement in your voice. bakugou knew he had to get it for you. you do so much for him every single day, the least he could do is indulge your little sanrio addiction and get you the plushy of your dreams.

“k-kacchan, it’s sold out almost everywhere— and the price is like ridiculously high—“

“i know that, nerd!” there it is, back to the snazzy nicknames. “but i promised her, whatever it takes to get that fuckin’ cinnamoroll bear, okay?” bakugou says with a seriousness it almost scares izuku shitless. the green haired hero gives his friend an affirmative nod and gets to hunting. this is important to him, to treat you his girlfriend like the princess she deserves— even if it means fighting for his life for a bit of sanrio merchandise.

katsuki bakugou is known for a lot of things; brute force, determination and loyalty and deku can see him exhibit all three of those in the comfort of his office— entering a bidding war for the last cinnamoroll plushy.

one that bakugou happily delivers to you, a week later— falling hopelessly in love with the angelic grin on your face.

[red-riot-unbreakable-heart]

Pining Katsuki | BKDK Headcannon 💚💥

It's 3am and Katsuki can't sleep.

He's thinking back to training earlier, when the two were sparring in one of the school's gyms. Izuku had tripped backwards over some debris from one of Katsuki's explosions. In a rush, Katsuki reached forward and caught Izuku around the waist.

Time had seemed to slow down. Katsuki remembers that he had instinctually wrapped an arm behind Izuku's head to cushion the fall. When they had hit the ground, Katsuki felt the hard impact on his arm and elbow, but luckily Izuku was safe and sound - wrapped in his embrace.

They had stared at each other for a moment - nose to nose. Izuku's face burned brightly - his adorable freckles lost in his flushed cheeks.

"Hey guys - get a room!" Denki called out from the sidelines, breaking the moment of tension. Katsuki roughly disentangled himself from Izuku, shoving his green haired classmate away, as he had stumbled to get to his feet.

"Watch it, Deku! Pro Heroes can't be clumsy as hell." He scowled, waiting for Izuku to get to his feet so they could resume their mock fight.

"Thanks for catching me, Kacchan!" Izuku had sputtered out, getting to shakily to his feet and starting to power up again.

Katsuki had ultimately won the fight.

He turned over the moment again in his mind - the way his hand had felt gripping Izuku's slim waist. The way tucking Izuku into his chest had felt so natural as they were falling.

Now, in his dorm room in the middle of the night, his face burns hot as he thinks about laying over his childhood friend - nose to nose in the heat of battle. What would have happened if he would have...

Katsuki shakes the thought from his mind before it can fully form. He whips out his cell phone and quickly opens up one of Izuku's social media pages. He does this every once and a while - when his feelings are all mixed up and he can't decide if he likes Izuku, or if he hates him. He likes scrolling through Izuku's Instagram page the most. He always rolls his eyes as he types in his classmate's IG handle - AllMight89. "So lame, Deku." He whispers under his breath as the page loads onto his phone screen.

Katsuki starts to scroll through image after image of Izuku. There are so many photos from the past year at UA - pictures of Izuku with classmates and Pros. Katsuki scrolls back a few months to one of his favorite pictures - a close up of Izuku at the beginning of the Sports Festival after he had won the obstacle course.

He loves the way Izuku's face shines with pride as he looks out into the stadium full of people, basking in the glory of his win. His curly green hair is absolutely wild and his UA uniform is charred from navigating the minefield. He looks so...goddamn heroic. Looking at this picture makes Katsuki's heart squeeze in a way he doesn't like.

When he's too tired and can't police his thoughts, he imagines Izuku looking at him that way - proud, exhilarated. What would it be like, to be the sole focus of his friend's intense gaze? To have it be just the two of them, alone. Would the world fall away? Would all of the unspoken things that Katsuki wished he could say come tumbling out of his mouth? Would he be able to apologize to Izuku for all of the goddamn bullying he had subjected his friend to in order to hide his terrifyingly intense feelings? He wonders if Izuku knew how he felt...could he ever forgive him?

Katsuki keeps scrolling through the page. Every once and a while, he clicks on an image to expand it and see Izuku's bright face as it takes up the length of his phone screen. He does this for a bit, zoning out as he clicks through the images. He's pulled from his mindless scrolling when his phone buzzes with a new text...

...It's from Izuku.

Katsuki checks the time - 3:45am. Why would Deku possibly be awake at this hour!? He hastily clicks open the text to read -

Um Kacchan - why did you just like one of my photos from 8 months ago on Instagram?

Katsuki's heart plummets. The hell? Hastily, he scrolls back up on the Izuku's profile grid. His eyes dart across the screen until he finds it. There - he's accidentally hearted a picture of Izuku celebrating his last birthday with his mother. The image is sweet - Izuku is blowing out a cake full of candles as his mother looks on with pride. They are both adorned in triangular All Might party hats. Just a few minutes earlier, Katsuki had thumbed through the picture and briefly smiled at the look of joy on Izuku's face. Now he looked down at his phone screen in abject horror at the tiny pink heart his tired fingers had accidentally awarded to the image.

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT

Hastily, he unlikes the image - but it's too late! The damage has been done. He thinks the best way to get through this is to deny everything.

The hell you talking about nerd? Leave me alone it's 4 fuckin' AM.

Katsuki's rolls over in bed, panicking as he sees the three dots pop up on the screen to indicate that Izuku is typing. An image appears on the screen - a screenshot of an Instagram alert "Katsuki99 liked your photo."

"SHIT!" Katsuki yells out angrily, tossing his phone to the ground. He doesn't know what to do. He's embarrassed and mad and secretly happy that Izuku has texted him in the early morning when the rest of their class is no doubt asleep.

He sits in his bed, glaring at his phone that is now laying on the carpeted floor, abandoned. What the hell should he do!?

Suddenly, the phone screen lights up, casting a fuzzy glow in the pitch black room. Katsuki scrambles out of his nest of blankets and drops to the ground, grabbing the device up in shaky hands.

It's not a text this time, but an Instagram alert.

"AllMight89 liked your photo."

Fingers quaking, Katsuki clicks the alert and it takes him to Instagram. A few moments later, he sees that Izuku has liked one of his own posts from earlier in the year. It's a photo of Katsuki standing in front of UA on one of his first days of school. He's staring down the camera - mean mugging in his brand new school uniform. The caption simply says "Pro Hero in the Making."

Katsuki remembers making the post - he had been so excited to put on his crisp new uniform and to start taking classes at his dream school. He had made his mother take the photo, happy in the moment even as she roasted him for having such a nasty look on his face.

Katsuki clicks back to his alerts. AllMight89 liked your photo. His chest fills with warmth at the statement. His phone buzzes with a new text - from Izuku again.

That's my favorite photo of you.

Katsuki's heart does double time in his chest as he stares at the message. He has no idea what to do or say. After a few agonizing moments, he taps a hasty reply back.

He types out "You damn nerd." But what he means is: "I love you."

Izuku doesn't reply, and Katsuki is unable to get a wink of sleep for the rest of the night.

---------------------------------------

Thanks so much for reading!! Check out my other 🌶 <spicy> 🌶 BakuDeku fics on My Master List :)

[doumadono]

hi I wanted to send in an emergency request, I just had to cut my dad out of my life because of how he was. he was very toxic (cursing me and hitting me as a child. sometimes calling me names at the age of 19) I feel like maybe I should take it back because he's my father but I'm also scared cause he says he'll be better but always goes back on his word.

could I get comfort from izuku comfort the person crying when getting off the phone or any one who you think that would be best to comfort

no force <3

The bravest thing you can do - Izuku x Reader

A/N: I'm so sorry to hear about what you're going through. It takes incredible strength to make a decision like that, especially when it involves family. Remember, your well-being comes first, and it's okay to prioritize your own safety and happiness 🌟

EMERGENCY REQS MASTERLIST

As you hang up the phone, tears blur your vision, and the weight of your decision presses down on you like a heavy burden. Doubts swirl in your mind, questioning if you made the right choice by cutting your father out of your life. The hurtful memories replay in your mind, each one a sharp pang in your heart.

As you try to compose yourself, a gentle voice breaks through the turmoil.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Turning around, you see Izuku standing there, his expression filled with concern as he tilts his head like a puppy, observing you with his keen, emerald eyes. His eyes hold a warmth that instantly puts you at ease, as if he understands the pain you're going through.

Without a word, you shake your head, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

Izuku steps closer. He wraps you in a comforting hug, his embrace strong yet gentle, as if he's silently promising to support you through this difficult time. "It's okay to feel overwhelmed, I felt that way too, many, many times before, over many different things," Izuku says softly, his voice a soothing melody in the midst of chaos. "You're not alone, and you're so brave for standing up for yourself. Forgive me, but I might have overheard a thing or two…" Izuku's voice is hesitant.

You lean into his embrace, finding comfort in his unwavering support. "I'm not sure if what I did is right," you whisper against his chest, sobbing quietly.

"Mind telling me what exactly happened?" he asks, his tone gentle.

You hesitate, unsure of how much to share, but the sincerity in Izuku's eyes encourages you to open up. "I just had to cut my dad out of my life," you confess, the words heavy with emotion. "He's been toxic for as long as I can remember, and I finally reached my breaking point."

"I know it's hard," Izuku whispers, his tone filled with understanding. "But sometimes, putting yourself first is the bravest thing you can do. You deserve to be treated with kindness and respect, no matter what. I'm so sorry you had to go through that though," he adds sincerely. "You must be feeling overwhelmed right now."

"I just don't know if I made the right decision," you admit, feeling the weight of doubt settle in your chest.

Izuku reaches out to place his hand on your shoulder. "It's natural to doubt yourself, especially when it comes to something as difficult as this," he says gently. "But sometimes, putting your own well-being first is the bravest thing you can do. That's the lesson Kacchan made me learn painfully well," he jokes, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

You take a shaky breath. "Do you really think so?"

Izuku nods, his conviction unwavering. "Absolutely. You deserve to be surrounded by people who lift you up, not bring you down. And if your father isn't capable of treating you with the love and respect you deserve, then you have every right to distance yourself from him."

You nod, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders as Izuku's words sink in. For the first time in a long while, you allow yourself to believe that you made the right decision, despite the pain it may bring. "Thank you, Izuku," you say, your voice choked with emotion. "I needed to hear that."

"I'm here for you, okay?" Izuku says, his voice gentle but firm.

As you lean into his comforting embrace, the tears slowly begin to subside, replaced by a sense of peace. Despite the uncertainty of the future, you know that you have a friend who will stand by you through thick and thin. And with that knowledge, you take your first steps towards healing, knowing that brighter days lie ahead.

[peachsukii]

Cozy mornings with Izuku 🍵☀️ 『 i.midoriya x fem!reader 』 ♡ izuku midoriya masterlist ♡

『 Matcha & Waffles 』

A beautiful Sunday morning awaited you as the sunrise peaked through the curtains of Izuku’s apartment - the light refracting into beautiful rainbows on the wall of his bedroom.

Izuku wasn’t in bed when you stir awake, shifting in the cotton sheets as you stretch your limbs like a cat. The sudden aroma of sugar and fruit fills your senses and immediately coaxes you out of bed. You grab Izuku’s discarded All Might hoodie from the floor and throw it over your tank top and shorts as you meander down the hall and to the kitchen.

Izuku hears your soft footsteps and peaks into the hallway.

“Good morning, honey! Don’t you look cute,” he smiles, his signature big goofy grin plastered across his face. “Come sit, I made us breakfast.”

You oblige, wiping the sleep away from your eyes as you sit at the island attached to the kitchen.

“Smells delicious,” you say groggily, yawning into the sleeve of the hoodie.

Izuku opens the oven and reveals a large platter of waffles, at least a dozen stacked high. On the countertop was an assortment of cut up fruits and homemade whipped cream with a bottle of syrup. He saunters over with the first plate and puts it in the middle of the island. He looks so stinkin’ cute wearing his All Might apron and white headband that pushes back his hair.

“I just finished the last of the waffles a few minutes ago, the others have been warming in the oven for a bit. I used Kacchan’s recipe for the batter and whipped cream! His were always the best, so I hope you like them!”

He transfers the bowls to the island with the syrup bottle before stopping himself with a quiet ‘oh!’ and spinning on his feet back to the counter. He comes back with two yunomi cups, both steaming with a cloud of milk froth on top.

“I made us matcha lattes, too!” Izuku chirps, setting yours down in front of you. He scoots on to the stool next to you with his own cup.

You wait for him to set everything down before jumping to your feet, swinging your arms around him in a sleepy hug.

“What’s all this for, Zu?” You ask, nuzzling your cheek against his shoulder. He embraces you, kissing your forehead before letting you go.

“We both have the day off! I wanted to treat my darling to something special, that’s all.”

Your heart flutters, beaming at his generosity as you touch his cheek and stroke it lovingly with your thumb. “Silly, you’re my something special.”

A huff escapes him as he closes the gap between you two, placing a feathery kiss to your lips. You melt into his warmth, full of nothing but affection and adoration. The two of you part and turn back to the waffle buffet, ready to devour every single bite.

“What do you want first - strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or raspberries?” Izuku asks, preparing a plate for you.

“I’ll take whatever, load it all on!” You exclaim, excited to eat as much as you can.

He sets the plate down in front of you, two waffles with everything on them. “Dig in!”

And you do! One bite turns into two, then three…and soon enough, your plate is cleared before he’s even finished making his own.

“Damn, these are delicious! What the hell kind of recipe does Kat use? Seriously, these taste way better than any waffle I’ve had.”

Izuku laughs. “Maybe it’s separating the egg whites and yolks before hand? It was pretty easy, just a couple extra steps. You know how particular he is with his recipes. He walked me through it over the phone this morning.”

“Zu, it’s only 8:15. How early were you up?”

“…6:30ish? Kacchan is always up around 6 though so I didn’t wake him!” He waves his hands anxiously to defend the early morning phone call. You grab one of his hands, holding it briefly to get him to refocus on breakfast.

“You know Kat wouldn’t even bother to answer, let alone stay on the phone and walk you through the recipe, if he didn’t want to. He’s probably flattered you even asked, he’ll just never say it.”

He nods, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, you’re right.”

You reach over and grab another two waffles and pack on fruit and whipped cream, stuffing your face gracefully. Izuku watches you and smiles, satisfied that he was able to please you as he slowly chips away at his own plate.

He’s knocked out of his infatuated trance when you smear whipped cream on his nose and lips, cackling as you do. He laughs along with you, grabbing a dollop out of the bowl and smushing it against your cheek.

“Don’t get it on your hoodie, babe!” You joke, avoiding his playful poke at your lips.

The tone of the room shifts when his fingertip sits on your lip, a charm swirling between you two. Izuku stands to his feet, bending down to sensually lick the whipped cream from your cheek and down to your lips, sucking on your bottom lip with a soft smack. A blush blooms up your neck and settles on your ears, tinted pink as he looks at you with half-lidded emeralds.

You know what the look means.

“Wanna get back in bed for a bit?” You hum, licking the whipped cream off his nose in return. He doesn’t answer verbally, but snatches you off the stool and grabs under your thighs to yank you into him.

“I could use a nap after being up early,” he winks, dashing down the hallway to the bedroom with you in his arms.

You both forgot to drink your matcha lattes while they were hot.

.   ݁ ˖ ࣪ . ⋆ * . .   ݁ ˖ ࣪ . ⋆ * . .   ݁ ˖ ࣪ . ⋆ * . .   ݁ ˖ ࣪ . 

Bonus!

Later in the day, you text Katsuki to thank him for the waffle recipe.

[y/n] thx for the waffle recipe! they were bangin’ [kat] the fuck? weirdo [kat] ...you’re welcome

[starieq]

You make a present plan 2.0!

day 4 of an explosive birthday celebration! You were looking through some old boxes you had in your parent’s garage for whatever reason, probably to bring back some awesome childhood memories, until you stumble across some old trading cards you found in a very decorated box. You decided to open one for fun until you get an All Might one! You first thought about how katsuki has one displayed on a shelf in his room from when he got one. But you wanted to make his 18th birthday present 2.0 as great as the recipe book! 

You remembered, wait, you know All Might, Katsuki knows All Might, and Izuku knows All Might. Why don’t you get it signed? It’ll be a special All Might card cause it came from you. But it’s always special cause it came to you. 

You grab your phone from your back pocket to call Izuku.

ring ring ring

“Hi y/n! What’s up? Something wrong? No, you would have called Kacchan because he’s your boyfriend, or he didn’t answer,-“ there he goes again. You honesty think it’s a little funny.

You giggle, “no izuku, I’m fine. Thanks though.  I just need favor to ask!”

Izuku sighs into the phone, “okay good, but what’s the favor?” 

The next day, you walk to All Mights office at UA and knock on the door.

“Who is it??” He says slumped back in his chair.

“Y/n! I have a favor to ask!” 

“Oh, young y/n! Come in!” 

You open the door the door and walk over the All Might.

“Hey All Might, I know your days of signing things as a pro is over, but can you pretty pretty please sign this card for Katsuki since it’s his birthday on Saturday and I want him to have a card signed from me so he can always remember me?” 

“Oh! Of course!” He says, Turing into his All Might form. “I would love to sign young Bakugos present! Gimme the card!” 

After he signs the card, you go to the store to get a case for it. You keep it inside your phone case so nobody steals it. You go inside the store to see what case fits the card and find the perfect one. 

When you’re walking back to the entrance, you get a call. 

Caller ID; Katsuki🧡💥

“Why the hell are you at the store again?” God he’s so nosy. 

“I was uhm, getting some new socks! Cause the needed some more! Hah..!” 

Wow, that sounded believable. “And why are you still looking at my location, freak!” You giggle a bit.

“Shut it brat! Just come back soon. Don’t want ya getting kidnapped or some shit.” 

You can’t help but giggle at that. 

“Yea, yea. I’ll be fine Kats! See you in a bit!” You hang up the phone and go right into your dorm room to hide the card and the case under your bed. 

:a/n; hihi! I had really fun writing this! Thanks for letting me be apart of this! I put a little of everyone’s so far into this, so, sorry if it’s offensive. I cant wait for the finish product, and when everyone’s is done! Love ya! ❤️

taggies!;

- @gina239

- @mystic60

- @meowze4r

- @icedemon1314

- @bigsimpo343

- @ah-mya

- @whezdostuff

- @berry-vioo

- @seonne

- @slayfics

- @food8me

- @katsuisbaby

- @azzo0

- @kieran-rhoades

- @xnorthstar3x

-@zanarkandskylines

-@queenpiranhadon

ᴅᴀʏ ᴏɴᴇ: Coming April 14th - @zanarkandskylines

ᴅᴀʏ ᴛᴡᴏ: Coming April 15th - @xbabyd0lli3x

ᴅᴀʏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ: Coming April 16th - @angels-fantasy

ᴅᴀʏ ꜰᴏᴜʀ: Coming April 17th - @starieq

ᴅᴀʏ ꜰɪᴠᴇ: Coming April 18th - @lowkeyremi

ᴅᴀʏ ꜱɪx: Coming April 19th - @queenpiranhadon

ᴅᴀʏ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ: Coming April 20th - @cashmoneyyysstuff

[silverynight]

The pro hero convention

Finally, Izuku can't contain his excitement; he's going to meet All Might himself! Yeah, he's retired, but he'll attend this particular convention because he's now the mentor of one of the best pro heroes: Dynamight.

Now, Izuku truly admires him too, but the truth is that he bought his ticket because he wants to see All Might.

He wonders if he'd be willing to sign his merch or at least Izuku's old notebook in which he has gathered a lot of information about quirks over the past twenty years.

Izuku is just a quirkless boy who works at a bakery, but he's still a fan boy who loves to know everything about pro heroes and the things they do to protect society.

Maybe he can go see pro hero Shoto after that; it's not like he doesn't want to stay and see Dynamight as well... it's just that they used to go to the same school when they were very little and even though they weren't friends ('cause Katsuki himself told him that a couple of times), the little blond boy used to protect him from other kids that made fun of him and Izuku called him his hero because of it.

It'd be an awkward reunion, that's why he wants to avoid it. Besides, it's not like Katsuki has a friendly personality. It's one of the reasons his PR is exhausted at the moment and follows him basically everywhere.

Although now that he thinks about it, Katsuki has probably forgotten all about him already.

Maybe Izuku has nothing to worry about.

There's a huge line already; Katsuki has a lot of female fans because he's very handsome, just like Shoto.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to get in line because All Might is by himself watching everything from afar; the fact that no one recognizes his true form makes Izuku sad. It's true that it's not like most of people know the story behind All Might's power, but it's not a secret either.

Shaking with excitement, Izuku approaches the tall, thin and blond man with the dark blue suit and tries to speak without stammering too much.

"Could you please sign my notebook, All Might?"

The man smiles, although he looks a bit surprised at the same time.

Izuku gets flustered.

"I mean... I know you're not here to do that, but I thought–"

"I'd love to, young man."

"Really?" Izuku knows he has stars in his eyes at the moment and that he's blushing, but he can't help himself.

"Yeah, sure! Follow me!"

Izuku doesn't know how his legs somehow keep functioning, but they do. He walks behind All Might towards the table where Dynamight is signing merchandise with an expression that tells everyone he'd rather be anywhere else.

All Might sits on a chair next to the young pro hero and tells Izuku to show him everything he wants him to sign.

"Izuku?"

The green haired boy blushes to the tip of his ears and gets immediately nervous.

"Kacchan! Uhh... No, sorry! I mean Dynamight!" Izuku begs all the gods up there Katsuki doesn't kick him out before he gets at least one of his things signed by All Might.

"You can call me whatever the fuck you want," Katsuki smirks, looking suddenly very happy with himself.

His PR is having the worst time of her life; the girls in front of the line are impatient already and Izuku is sure more than one recorded Katsuki cursing out loud.

"Do you two know each other?" All Might smiles, genuinely curious.

"We used to go to the same school when we were little." Izuku says, very proud of himself because he sounded normal and didn't stammer once.

"We played house a lot; I used to demand Izuku to be my wife every single time," Katsuki says, very proud of himself.

Izuku's face turns completely red; he can't believe he had forgotten about that.

"Here." Katsuki hands Izuku his own phone while a very enthusiastic fan starts glaring at Izuku likes he's her nemesis now.

"Uhh..."

"Add your number."

Izuku is so nervous he doesn't even question it, he just does it. When he gives him the phone back, Katsuki has a huge grin on his face that shocks his own fans a bit because they're used to see him with a frown upon his face all the time.

"So... you have come here to see me?"

"I actually wanted to meet All Might."

Katsuki's smug grin disappears in an instant; he grimaces like he's in pain before narrowing his eyes.

Then he pouts like he used to do whenever Izuku didn't want to play house with him. Now, he remembers...

At that moment his PR tells Katsuki to keep signing and Izuku feels relieved for not having his undivided attention anymore.

All Might chuckles, looking from him to Katsuki with amusement before asking Izuku to put everything he wants him to sign over the table.

Izuku is too excited again to think about what just happened with Katsuki; he's never been so happy before.

***

He makes his exit quickly and goes directly to where pro hero Shoto is signing things for his fans.

Still shaking with excitement about what happened earlier, Izuku decides to wait in line to meet pro hero Shoto and keeps looking at all the merchandise All Might signed for him.

Izuku can't stop grinning the entire time.

"Izuku."

He gasps and he's sure a couple of people around squeak in delight when they notice Dynamight standing a few feet from the line.

"Kacchan!" Izuku mumbles, wondering how Katsuki managed to escape from his own signing.

"It's my lunch break," Katsuki says, almost like he's reading Izuku's mind.

He smirks when the green haired boy blinks at him, but has to growl at the people who gather around him to try to get a picture and an autograph too.

They take a couple of steps back as soon as they notice the way the pro hero is glaring at them.

"Let's go grab something to eat, Izuku. My treat..."

"I was waiting to–"

"Half and half is not worth it," Katsuki cuts him off, looking irritated out of the sudden. It must be due to the fact that he's always fighting Shoto over the first place.

Despite the expression on Katsuki's face, Izuku can't help but smile at him; it's like when they were kids, the blond had always been stubborn and kept following Izuku around until he agreed to play as his wife.

"Fine," Izuku gives in, allowing Katsuki to lead him outside the building for a moment.

They actually have a good time; it's like he never stopped seeing Katsuki because it's so easy to talk to him about anything.

Despite being just a quirkless guy, Katsuki seems genuinely interested in Izuku's life; he asks about the bakery and makes Izuku share the location with him.

At some point, Katsuki takes one of Izuku's hands in his and stares into his eyes in a way that makes Izuku turn completely red in seconds.

"I want us to be close again."

"Sure! I'd love to be your friend!"

To his confusion, Katsuki shakes his head a couple of times.

"I don't want us to be just friends," he says, leaning closer. "I want to start dating you."

"Are you sure? I mean we just–"

"I never do anything I don't want to; yes, I'm pretty sure," Katsuki assures him, leaning forward to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay, let's start dating!"

Izuku thought it'd be weird to even think about it since Katsuki is one of the best pro heroes and he's very talented and famous, but the truth is that Izuku feels at home whenever he's with him.

Maybe this could work out.

The only bad thing about it is that in less than a day, Dynamight's fans find out through social media.

Izuku texts Katsuki about it, but it seems like he not only does not mind what they say, he just makes it worse by posting a couple of pictures he took of Izuku on his official Instagram.

It almost looks like Katsuki wants everyone to know he's dating Izuku.

It's alright, actually. Izuku is sure everything will be fine. Dating a pro hero can't be that complicated.

***

Patreon