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Assistant: Title: From The Sidelines
        Author: suffocatingspring suffocatingspring 
        Chapter: 7/14 
        Summary: When long-time enemies, Bakugo Katsuki--the all-star athlete and rascal of Ise--and Izuku Midoriya, the town sweetheart, are paired together for a long-term project, the quiet beachside town of Ise suddenly gets a bit louder.In which, Katsuki is an @ssh@l@ pole vaulter, Izuku is going to fail psychology, and both are about to have the most intense spring semester yet.
        Contents: Chapter 7: The Cliff Of Wishes
    

    


      
        
          32k words !I know it's 1:47 AM in HST (where I'll be for 2 weeks). I'm so so sorry for the late update. I'm at a 2 week conference rn so the update schedule is kind of wack, but it WILL be normal soon! Plus, I had to be very careful with the dialogue in this chapter, so it took a while. I'm so sorry for making you guys wait. I'm so grateful & thank you for being patient <3   i chose the sh@ttiest time to post this chapter, but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible, so I'm sorry if it gets lost in your emails!spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0snFtSvokWIcPVSb62VXIy?si=0f64a5cf1fdb4e8d
            
            (See the end of the chapter for  more notes.)
            
      
  

  
  
    
      When Izuku accepted that he was falling for Katsuki, everything got more simultaneously beautiful yet painful at the same time. But isn’t that what falling in love is like, Izuku thinks to himself: a beautiful kind of pain. One that crushes the air within his lungs, churns his stomach, and threatens to stab holes into his heart. And yet, there’s nothing like seeing the evening sun reflect off of Katsuki’s eyes, hearing the boy’s deep voice that tells him stories that Izuku knew he didn’t tell others, or feeling the warmth of Katsuki’s skin in the few lapses in time when the blonde doesn’t mind Izuku’s touch. Whether it be taking something out of the athlete’s hair, to wrapping Katsuki’s fingers in athletic tape for him, to pulling him by the hand to go somewhere, Izuku feels almost pathetic for allowing the slightest touch to linger within his fingertips for hours. If he could help it, he would. And it wasn’t as if Izuku was not trying. He most definitely was. But effort seemed fruitless, when it felt like Katsuki was a black hole, and Izuku’s path was bound to get sucked in. The night that Katsuki had shown up on his front lawn to give him the dance he never got to experience, was also the same night he accepted the inevitability of it all. And it was also when Izuku understood that this was going to end in heartbreak and destruction. After all, this was a one-sided affair. And he had the wrong end of the deal.  “Deku?” The deep voice coming in from the other side of the phone interrupted Izuku’s morning sleep. In a state of tired daze, he had picked up the phone around 5 in the morning upon seeing Katsuki’s contact name pop up. Izuku thought it was odd, considering that the blonde had never called at this time. Izuku’s eyes were still practically glued shut, but he forced himself up on his elbows and put the phone on speaker, “Kacchan? What’s going on? It’s 5 in the morning.” “I’m aware,” Katsuki chuckled in his slightly scratchy morning voice, and Izuku, even in this exhausted state that he was in, found the sound too alluring for his own good. “Mm,” Izuku hummed, rolling onto his side and bringing the phone close to his ear, “Is everything good?”The blonde then said through the line, and Izuku could practically see that playful grin, “Can’t I just call to say good morning, nerd?”Izuku airily laughed through the phone, eyes slightly open as he watches the shadows on the wall of his dark room, “Good morning, Kacchan.”The blonde then tells him in that gruff voice that Izuku could never get out of his head, “Good morning.”Izuku snuggled back into his blankets, and smiled into the phone, enjoying how cutely domestic this was, contrary to how they usually talked, “Did you sleep well?”At this, the athlete actually seemed amused and there was rustling in the phone as if he was getting up, “Well enough. Hm, I should do this more often.”Izuku bit his lip and grins, “Do what? Call to say good morning? Now tell me Kacchan, what do you  actually  want.”“You think too little of me, Deku,” Katsuki tsked, “Was it really hard to believe I just wanted to tell your @ss good morning?”Izuku just replied through the line, “A little.”“You wound me,” Katsuki feigns hurt, “Anyways, are you up for leaving the house right now?”“See?” Izuku points out, “There it is. I knew you were calling for a reason.”Katsuki just repeated, “Just answer the question, geez.”Izuku then paused, and looked over at the clock again. His mother was going to get up in about three hours. And it was a Saturday, so she definitely expected him to be home. The woman was beginning to check his room in the morning, even though Izuku wouldn’t say that he does anything particularly suspicious. It was possible that she was beginning to suspect he was sneaking out here and there. “It depends,” Izuku tells him quietly, “How long will we be out?”“All day,” Katsuki answers automatically, with some more rustling in the back. Izuku gaped at the phone, “Kacchan, you know I can’t do that.”“You can,” Katsuki insists.Izuku debates him on that, “I can’t.”“What if I told you I already asked her yesterday night and she said okay,” Katsuki then dropped on him.Izuku made a face at the phone, “Then you wouldn’t have asked me if I could leave.”“I  didn’t  ask you if you could leave. I asked you if you were  up  for leaving,” Katsuki corrected him, “It’s 5 AM after all, and I’m not completely an @ssh@l@.”“Wait, so you actually got permission from my mother?” Izuku asked, both a little shocked and touched, “ And  you’re being considerate of my time? Is this even Kacchan I’m speaking to?”“Shut up, you little sh@t,” Katsuki barked at him, “But yes. Took a while though. Auntie gave me a whole f@ck@ng speech about making sure you’re safe and to not let you get carried away when we go out, but ultimately said yes.”Izuku felt embarr@ssed by her behavior sometimes, and then asked Katsuki, “And what did you tell her to make her say yes?”“I told her we were going to my gramp’s farm for the day, and helping the old fart paint his house and do some farm work since the f@ck@r got sick, and the hag is forcing me to go,” Katsuki tells Izuku, “And that we will be grueling and learning the value of a dollar or whatever. And I think that little part convinced her to let you go.”“Okay, now…” Izuku laughs, “What are we  actually  doing.”“What do you mean,” Katsuki asked plainly.“You told her all of that to get me permission. So now tell me where we’re actually going,” Izuku humors.Katsuki was silent for a second before snorting, “To the farm, nerd.”Izuku blinked at that, before complaining a little loudly, “You are such an @ssh@l@, Kacchan! You’re trying to get me to go so that you don’t have to do all of the work yourself!”“Well no sh@t,” Katsuki reveals, “It’ll still be fun. Come on.”“You couldn’t have asked one of your stronger friends?” Izuku complained and then exaggerated himself, “I’m so tiny, and weak, and fragile, and-”“Alright, you’re overdoing it,” Katsuki interrupts him, “Weak, my ass. You coming or not? I’m not forcing you to, sh@th@@d.”Izuku knew he was going to go, because well, they were opposite poles of a magnet and Izuku felt compelled to be near him, but he played it off with a groan, “I guess.”“Great,” Katsuki said quickly then, “I’ll be outside in 5.” Izuku dislikes how his heart jumps every time he sees Katsuki. It wasn’t as if the boy had changed in appearance. Still the same hair. Still the same body: tall, handsome, larger than life. Still those same fiery eyes that burnt a hole through any defenses Izuku could ever build. Still those same hands that held his that one night they danced. And yet, it  wasn’t  the same. Because Izuku would dare say that they’ve gotten closer, not that he would voice it out loud. After all, Katsuki has still to this day never even admitted they were friends. But through his actions, Izuku knew. It was in the way that the blonde would hang out with him, saying that it was because he was bored and had nothing to do, and yet, when the greenettes goes to school the next day, he’ll hear someone say that Bakugo Katsuki didn’t show up to some party or major event that happened that very night. It was in the way that Katsuki, when they were hanging out, looked more comfortable going on rambles too, when previously, it was more so Izuku who would go on rambles while Katsuki’s words were always collected and shielded. The shields were still there, but it felt more like heavily frosted glass rather than steel walls.It was in the way that Katsuki might put a hand on the small of his back to stabilize Izuku if they were walking somewhere. In the way the green eyed boy might sometimes wake up in his bed with a blanket on him, even though he knew for a fact he had fallen asleep on the floor of his bedroom. In the way Katsuki made sure Izuku stayed close to him when they went out somewhere a bit sketchy together. Which made it all the more funny that in school, they still never interacted with one another. Izuku wished that he would. Because he was tired of feeling as if he was too embarrassing to be a part of Katsuki’s life beyond the evenings and nights.  “Where exactly is your grandpa’s farm?” Izuku asked, as he stared out the window while Katsuki drove steadily out of the Ise’s town borders. It was still dark, but soon enough, the sun will be rising. Katsuki drove with one hand on the steering wheel, and the other resting on the center console. At the question, Katsuki just stared forward and replied, “About an hour out of here. It’s at the foothills of the mountains: it’s not even a town. It’s literally just farmland for miles. The old f@ck@r’s got a corn field and a wheat farm. And a barn full of filthy animals.”“Sounds lovely,” Izuku honestly replies. He likes the quaint feeling of farms, so the thought of a corn and wheat field to frolic around in wasn’t too bad.Katsuki snorts, “It’s alright.”Izuku then finds himself staring down at the athlete’s arm that was resting against the center console. Prominent veins from working out rigorously ran down his entire arm, and Izuku admired how strong he looked. Those knuckles and hands looked thoroughly used from years of handling a vaulting pole. Izuku was staring so intently that he hadn’t even noticed when Katsuki glanced over at him then smirks. “You got a hand fetish or something, nerd?” The blonde teases him. Izuku immediately reddens.“No,” He replied honestly, before his voice got a little shy, “Your hands are just nice.”“Just my hands?” Katsuki snorts with confidence.Izuku wasn’t going to respond to that and give Katsuki the pleasure of knowing that  no , it wasn’t just his hands. Oddly enough, what happened next caused Izuku to glitch because he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. While driving, Katsuki then flipped the arm that was on the console over so that the underside of his arm was there, and his fingers parted so that it looked like an invitation for Izuku to hold his hand. The underside of Katsuki’s arms had even more veins running up. Izuku just stared at the arm that was still resting on the console, but turned up in an invitation. Katsuki still looked forward to the road. Izuku was sitting sideways anyways, knees pulled up slightly onto the seat, body facing the other. When Izuku didn’t make any move, the athlete glanced over at the greenette with a raised brow. “Go ahead,” Katsuki tells him, “If you want to admire, now’s the time.”Izuku blinked up at him, staring at Katsuki’s sharp side profile as the blonde goes back to looking at the road. He wasn’t exactly sure what caused the other to invite Izuku’s touch, but the greenette found himself automatically taking up the offer.Reaching out, Izuku slowly let his hands touch Katsuki’s palm. And softly, his fingers glided across the callused hands, admiring the physical proof of years and years of hard work on the track field. Izuku felt the urge to interlock their fingers, and the thought made his chest flutter a bit. Before he could stop himself, he aligned their hands, liking the way Katsuki’s larger ones encompassed his own. He didn’t intertwined them, but he practically did the next closest thing. If Katsuki minded, he didn’t say anything. Wordlessly, Izuku then used a few fingers to slightly trace over the athlete’s wrist, and down his underarm, following the prominent forearm veins, enjoying how firm everything about Katsuki was. From the driver’s seat, Izuku could feel Katsuki shift, and he paused immediately.With wide eyes, Izuku spoke, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean t-”“Don’t stop,” Katsuki tells him then, and Izuku wasn’t sure to be shocked or to be delighted. It was in times like this where Izuku senses that the blonde, like most people, occasionally wants more gentle touches, but unlike everyone else, was never going to ask for it. And so for the rest of the car ride, Izuku continues to place his hands on top of Katsuki, and habitually placed gentle touches here and there, and the both of them ignored how intimate a moment like this actually was. Instead, they masked it with casual conversations about anything that came up on their mind. Anything to distract from the fact that Katsuki was allowing himself to be touched like a lover.  When they got to the farm, it was exactly as Izuku had imagined it in his head, except maybe a little even more beautiful. Like Katsuki mentioned, it was at the foothills of a mountain, and on either side of a two story home with a traditional wrap around porch was green grass that was growing a little wildy, but had its charm. Across the dirt road from the house was where the farmland started. Immediately, they see an expansive corn field that went above their heads, about 8 feet tall, and not yet ripe. Apparently, the wheat field was beyond that, but it was not in sight from their vantage point. Katsuki pulled into the house side, and his tires crunched under the dirt and gravel road. It was now light enough outside, since the sun finally erupted from below the horizon, and the early morning light casted a beautiful pinkish-orange onto the creme colored house. Climbing out of the car, Katsuki pocketed the keys and led his way up the porch stairs and rung the doorbell. Izuku felt the porch stairs creak underneath his feet, and saw some of the paint chip off. Izuku stood behind the taller man, and admired the quietness of the home. The nearest neighbor was probably about two miles away out here in the countryside.A moment later, the door opened to reveal a tall but frail looking man with the same red eyes Katsuki had, yet they were warm and round, rather than sharp and blazing. The lines around his mouth were signs of much smiling during his younger years, as well as the crow’s feet around the elderly man’s eyes. Upon seeing Katsuki, his grandfather broke into a smile and walked forward to the boy for a hug. Katsuki glanced down to the ground, before stepping in awkwardly to give the man a pat on the back. Izuku found the interaction odd, as was most interactions Katsuki has had that required a bit more intimacy. It always looked a bit uncomfortable for the taller boy, even if it  was  his grandfather or whoever else. “Katsuki,” The old man exclaims with a raspier voice, “It’s so nice to see you.”Katsuki nodded to the man, “You too, gramps.”“And I see you’ve brought a friend?” His grandfather tilted his head to the side to take a look at Izuku.“Oh yeah,” Katsuki gestures to the greenette, “This is…”And then, the athletes paused in his words. Izuku stared up at him, catching Katsuki’s eyes, and wondered what was the hold up. He wanted to internally laugh seeing Katsuki struggle with how to introduce Izuku in a way without getting him berated for the nickname Deku. Izuku took pity on him, and was about to pipe up and introduce himself to Katsuki’s grandfather, when the blonde finished the introduction himself.“Izuku. Midoriya Izuku,” Katsuki then finished, voice careful but sure. And Izuku felt his breath hitched as he immediately turned to Katsuki, but the blonde wasn’t looking at him. It’s been a while since Izuku had accepted that he will likely never hear that name on the blonde’s lips ever again; therefore, he could barely believe his ears this time. It happened too fast. Izuku wanted to replay the moment, to hear his name roll off of that sweet, rough tongue again. Katsuki treated it like nothing, but the greenette  knew  that Katsuki understood what just happened was simply not normal. “Midoriya?” His grandfather comes in to give Izuku a hug, “You must be Mitsuki’s friend’s son. Inko, was it?”Izuku nodded his head with a bright smile, “Yeah, that’s my mom! It’s nice to meet you, sir.”“Likewise,” The old man gave him a toothy smile, “Katsuki’s never brought a friend to meet me, before. You must be special.”“Not really,” Izuku laughed and elbowed Katsuki, “He just didn’t want to do all of the work himself.”His grandfather disagreed, “Then you must be even  more  special than I thought. Katsuki here doesn’t like to have people help him with anything,” The old man reaches out to pat Katsuki’s shoulders. Katsuki shrugged him off, and brushed his way inside the home, “I’m right f@ck@ng here, gramps.”“I’m aware, Katsuki,” His grandfather turned his head to holler back, then turned to Izuku with a wink and a finger to his lips, “Don’t mind the brat. His way of showing affection is a bit unorthodox.” Before urging the greenette inside. Over tea, his grandfather forced the both of them to talk about their lives and catch him up. And so, they sat in a nice hickory wood room for a while, and Izuku admired the picture frames on the wall with all sorts of neat photos. Some of his grandfather when he was younger, many of Mitsuki and her siblings, some of Mitsuki and Maseru’s wedding photos, and then plenty of Katsuki and some of Katsuki’s other cousins. Katsuki looked angry in all of the kid pictures that were hung up on the wall. In one particular frame, the blonde looked as if he was going to bite the camera. Noticing Izuku staring at that one, Katsuki’s grandfather laughed and pointed at it, “Katsuki was so angry in that photo. When he was younger, Mitsuki would drop him off here when she and Maseru had a work trip, and I’d try to put the little brat to work out on the farm. But Katsuki, with his young little runner legs, would always try to escape and hide out in the river.”Katsuki added in aggressively, “And I was pretty d@mn good at it too. Until you sent that dog to find me.”His grandfather nodded, “That’s where the photo was from. You two should head over to the river during your break. Although, I did hear from some girls down the road that there were some leeches in there.”“Leeches?” Izuku paled. He wasn’t afraid of bugs, heights, or much, but the thought of a leech sucking the blood out of his body made him uncomfortable.“Those are just rumors,” Katsuki rolled his eyes, “I played in there all the time as a kid, and there weren’t no leeches.”“I’m just relaying what I heard,” His grandfather put his hands in the air with a cough, “Anyways, I’ve been a bit sick these past couple days, so there’s plenty of things I haven’t been able to get done. So I’m very grateful you boys have come to help me, because lord knows I don’t have the energy to do it myself right now.”And then, the old man pulls out a wrinkled piece of notebook paper from his pockets and slides it over the table, “Here’s a list of things that I really need to get done.”Katsuki holds it up and looks at it. Izuku reads from over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. 
   Reinstall three of the creaking panels on the front porch, repaint the front porch white, replace the fertilizer and use rototiller to put fertilizer in the garden, feed the chickens out back and collect the eggs,  return the pie dish to Mrs. Bua down the road, prune the tomatoes, replace the missing tile roofs on the tool shed, check cornfields to see if we have a black cutworm problem, measure the height of the wheat stalks.  
“Kacchan, that’s a lot,” Izuku whispered to Katsuki when the old man was getting up to grab something.Katsuki whispered back, “I f@ck@ng know. The old man always does this sh@t to me.”“Better get started then,” His grandfather yells from the kitchen, having heard their commentary.  And then began their toils. They decided to generally tackle the tasks in the order displayed on the list, which meant that they first had to reinstall the creaking floor boards on the porch steps. Grabbing tools from the workshed, they trudged over to the front of the house, where the two boys then put both of their hands on their hips, staring at the porch.Finally, Izuku turned to the side and asked, “So you know how to do this?”Katsuki pursed his lips then shrugged, “I have a general idea. If not, we can always google it.”“Kacchan, there’s no signal out here,” Izuku reminded him. “Hm,” Katsuki reconsiders the situation, “F@ck.” Before shrugging, “Whatever. We’ll figure it out.”Before they started, Katsuki jogs over to where his car was parked, pulls out the pill bluetooth speaker, and connected his phone. “Why do you always play music?” Izuku asks out of curiosity, bending down to pick up a pry bar to pull out the nails from the wood. Katsuki then played “Coming Around Again” by Carly Simmon, and set his phone aside, shrugging, “It makes me feel like I’m in a movie, even when I’m doing something f@ck@ng boring. Like this sh@t. If it’s one thing I hate, it’s people who want their life to be a certain way, but don’t do sh@t to change it. I’m not gonna wait around for movie moments. I’ll make my own.” Izuku felt a little targeted, but he admires the go-getter mentality, something he was beginning to pick up from Katsuki by the day, “I won’t be bored if I’m with you.”Katsuki paused at that, surprised at the candidness, and gives Izuku a flick on the forehead, “How can you just say sh@t like that, nerd.”Izuku smiles cheekily at Katsuki as he begins too pry nails out of the porch, and laughs, “Unlike you, Kacchan, I’m not afraid of expressing my emotions.”Oddly enough, Katsuki gives him a funny look as if he knew something Izuku didn’t and then replies, “Yes, you are.” Izuku gave him a confused expression but shrugged to himself when Katsuki didn’t seem to want to offer up an explanation.  Izuku was right though. When he was with Katsuki, he wasn’t bored. Not when both he and the blonde had so much to say, and bounced off of each other as well as they did. To think that there was a time when this was unfathomable makes Izuku wonder again what all went wrong. He knew that one day, out of the blue, Katsuki stopped talking to him. He could barely remember what day it had been, with only snippets coming in through his memories. Some words and actions were exchanged, but he didn’t know which ones. Something had happened, but he couldn’t recall what exactly. Whatever it had been, Izuku knew for sure, wasn’t enough to cause the reaction it did from Katsuki, because then, he would have remembered. Still, he was happy for what they had now, even if it was bound to end, because for the first time in his life, it feels as if he was living, not just alive. Just as Katsuki said. As the morning continued and the sun rises higher and higher into the sky, Izuku felt sweat on his back and the green flannel shirt he had on was sticking to his skin. From the side, he could see a bead of sweat fall down the side of Katsuki’s face. It had taken them about an hour and a half to take out the porch steps and to reinstall new wood, and then another hour to completely repaint it white. Once they were done though, Izuku sat back on the grass and admired how clean it now looked. Katsuki’s grandfather came out here and there in order to bring them water or refill their glasses. By the afternoon, they had finished rototilling, feeding the chickens, and returning the pie dish to Mrs. Bua. Feeding the chickens and collecting their eggs was arguably Izuku and Katsuki’s least favorite part. Not only was the smell of the chicken barn excruciating, but they had to essentially play Twister on the ground in order to avoid all of the excrement. Not to mention that the roosters were particularly feisty. Collecting the eggs was a different story, since some of the hens were protective over them. But they ultimately got a full basket and one small chicken scratch on Katsuki’s leg. “You boys working hard?” They were about to move onto pruning the tomatoes when Katsuki’s grandfather stepped outside to where they had just come back from setting down the chicken eggs.“Yes!” Izuku exclaimed through his exhaustion from the heat, “It hasn’t been too bad.”“That’s because you’ve been talking my ear off,” Katsuki grumbled.“So are you,” Izuku stuck out his tongue. His grandfather carried a woven lunch basket in his small arms, which Katsuki was quick to take off for him. The old man then gestured to the sack, “I made you and Midoriya lunch, so you two go take a break. It’s too hot in the afternoon, anyways. You boys can probably start again around 3, and still finish up before dark.”“Oh, thank you!” Izuku was grateful for the food.“It’s nothing too fancy,” His grandfather laughed, “Katsuki. Take him to the river, and eat your lunch there.”Katsuki cracked his neck and complied, “Alright. See ya later, old man.”“Have fun,” The man in question insists.  The path to the river was an odd one. The two of them had to walk down the side of the dirt road which was the only one for miles, side by side with the lunch basket in Katsuki’s arm. The sun was beating down on them, and their shoes kicked up dust with every step. Izuku’s body felt sludged from the heat. “-son of a b@tch came at me, and I had to f@ck@ng run like hell,” Katsuki was telling some story from a while back when he was at the farm, “So that’s why I cannot stand cougars. They always jump out of the rocks and sh@t, catching you off guard. It’s cheating.”“Who would win in a fight now?” Izuku asks, “You or the cougar.”Katsuki laughed at this, as they took a detour off the road and waded through tall grass that may or may not have ticks in them, going towards the woods, “I’d love to say me, but who f@ck@ng knows. Maybe we could call the f@ck@r out for a rematch. Bakugo versus Cougar, Round 2. But this time, I ain’t runnin.”“Only dying,” Izuku teases, “But no running.”Katsuki ruffles Izuku’s hair as they entered the woody area. The blonde weaves through the forest as if he knew the path by heart, “How about you, sh@tnerd. Any animal horror stories?”“Well,” Izuku looked up at the sky to think about it, “One time when I was really little, my dad took me out to a ricefield so he could visit his old friend from high school. And when he wasn’t looking, I fell into the flooded fields, and when I came up, about five leeches were stuck on my legs.”“Holy sh@t,” Katsuki cackles, “That’s f@ck@ng rough.”
“Yeah,” Izuku scratches his neck, “That’s why I’m not particularly keen on going to the creek.”
Katsuki shook his head as they walked towards the edge of the forest, where Izuku could now hear the sounds of a river flowing gently, “There’s no d@mn leeches.”“How do you know?” Izuku doubts.“I’ve been here more than anyone when I was a brat. Never seen a leech,” Katsuki replies. “But times have changed,” Izuku argues.“Not here,” Katsuki tells him, “Not in Ise. Not out here on the farm. Not for another four cities over. Nothing changes. Anyways, we’re here. It’s up ahead.”Izuku turns his head to see that they were now about to break through the treeline. As they approached the river, the surrounding trees looked to be more and more scarce. There wasn’t much shrubbery, so it was easy to walk through. The river itself was not particularly wide, about 30 feet across and looked to be about 10 feet deep max. It flowed slowly, enough that the current wouldn’t wash anyone away, and the water itself was a pretty greenish-blue, which was a tell-tale sign of a clean body of freshwater. On the other bank was where the treeline continued again. The sun’s rays glistened on the surface, and Katsuki set the basket down near the trunk of a large tree that had a thick branch high up that hung about 10 feet above the water. And from the branch, Izuku then notices a dense rope tied to the thickest part, most likely for people who wanted to swing into the water. Taking note of that, Izuku then sits down next to Katsuki on fallen pine needles and they pull out the food his grandfather had made out to eat. Izuku hadn’t even realized how hungry he was until he bit into the corner of a sandwich. The two of them, needing to refuel their energy, gulfed down the food easily and went for the other things within the basket. Chips, fruit, some harvested tomato salad. And they sat near the river, talking between their bites. Finally, the two washed down the food with water, before sitting back to let it all digest. Once in a while, a small fish would jump out of the water and surprise them. But other than that, it was peaceful and quiet other than the sound of Katsuki’s music playing. At some point, Izuku pulled out his phone to check the time. “It’s only 1. We have two hours before we have to go back,” Izuku then looked up at Katsuki, “What should we do?”Katsuki then stands up and stretches his legs, and with a mischievous grin, tells Izuku, “Get up, Deku.”Izuku slowly climbed up from his sitting position while eying Katsuki, “You’re swinging into the water, aren’t you.”He shouldn’t have even asked. Katsuki switched the song to Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac, which Izuku thought was perfect for a day at the river, before tossing it to the side and unbuttoning his white shirt. Izuku watched, as Katsuki looked up midway through taking it off to catch Izuku’s eyes on him. Embarrassed, the greenette looked off to the side, but Katsuki didn’t say anything. When the shirt was off, Izuku was free to admire under the ruse that he was just talking to Katsuki. It was the thousandth time he’s seen Katsuki half naked at this point, but the shock of how incredibly well defined Katsuki was, especially now with his skin more tan as the season comes along, never goes away.“D@mn right I am,” Katsuki finally says as he tosses the shirt to the ground, “And you are too.”“But leeches,” Izuku gestured towards the river, stepping back. Katsuki threw his hands up, “I told you for the millionth f@ck@ng time. There’s no leeches.”“And you gave me some b@llsh@t philosophical reasoning about how,” Izuku makes exaggerated mimicking hand gestures, “nothing changes in Ise. Or on the farm. Like sure, people might not change. But that doesn’t mean leeches won’t somehow find their way into a river, Kacchan.”To interrupt Izuku’s rambling, Katsuki rolled his eyes and sauntered over to where Izuku was, until he was mere inches away, and grabbed the collar of Izuku’s flannel. Izuku, shocked at the action, stepped backwards only for Katsuki to step forward once more. And then, the blonde began to unbutton the top of Izuku’s shirt, eyes trained on the buttons, “You’re getting in.”Izuku’s cheeks flared up, and their proximity and Katsuki’s hands undoing his shirt throws him off guard. He stares up at Katsuki, as those rough fingers move down his chest. “If there  are leeches, I’ll pay for your therapy,” Katsuki makes a deal, and undoes the last button. Izuku just lets the flannel slips off of his shoulder, and that’s when Katsuki meets his eyes, looking down at the greenette with barely inches between them. Izuku hadn’t said anything this entire time. It would be so easy to reach up, and meet halfway.  So  easy. And yet, neither of them do it.“The f@ck is it, nerd,” Katsuki breaks the silence, before stepping back, giving Izuku room to breathe. Izuku opened his mouth, before closing it. And then opening it again, saying with a slight laugh, “You have a habit of taking off my clothes, Kacchan.”Katsuki thinks about it, pausing for a moment to tongue his cheek and looked at a rock as if recalling if this was true. The kick-off. The lake party. And just now. Before switching his gaze over to Izuku, “Seems like I do. You uncomfortable or somethin?”Izuku goes to undo his pants, letting them fall to the ground as he steps out, and looks up at Katsuki’s eyes, “No.” Katsuki goes first, simply because the taller seemed to have extensive experience doing this. The blonde held onto the main trunk of the tree, and reached his arms out over the water to grab a hold of the rope. When his hand got a grip, Katsuki pulls it back and steps away from the tree, further into the land until there seems like there’s going to be enough momentum to swing him far into the river. Izuku watches and takes note.And then, grabbing on with both arms and securing himself, Katsuki then runs forward and right as he meets the border between the edge and where the river begins, the athlete tucks his feet in and around the rope, swinging forward. And at the maximum point in the boy’s trajectory, with a loud hollar, Katsuki lets go and flies into the water with a loud splash. Izuku laughs at the beautiful moment. And when Katsuki gets up, he pushes his wet hair out of his face.And then yells out, “Your turn, sh@tnerd!”“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Izuku says as he makes his way to the edge of the tree, waiting for the rope to swing back his way, and grabbing onto it before it can go back into its pendulum motion. And bringing the rope back, Izuku did the same until he could run forward, push off the ground, and at the maximum height, releases the rope to fall into a spot next to Katsuki with a fun scream. Izuku bursts out into laughter when he rises to the surface, treading water and shaking his hair. He felt like a kid again, except better. The sun shone through the tree canopy and onto the water, causing Izuku to shield his eyes while treading with one arm. The water wasn’t even that cold.Katsuki nudges the other from under the water, “So?”Izuku slyly looks over at the blonde, and jokes, “It  might  be worth the leeches.”“Might?” Katsuki chuckles, “What can I do to make it fully worth it.” The blonde asks as he swims a bit closer.Izuku meets him halfway and pretends to think on it, “You tell me, Kacchan.”Katsuki gives him a lazy grin with his head tilted slightly up as they swam closer to each other, “Getting flirty now, eh Deku?”It was a playful comment, so Izuku ended up throwing his head back in laughter, and Katsuki followed suit. Seeing Katsuki’s smile was one of the nicest moments Izuku could witness. He wonders what he looks like in Katsuki’s eyes. If his eyes were still as creepy as the blonde always said they were. If his smile was anything of note. If the water on his hair made him look silly or if he looked pretty with it. He looked up at Katsuki, who in turned tilted his head down at the greenette, still treading water. With the pretty music in the background, Izuku wishes that he could kiss the other. For real this time, and not under some guise. Katsuki broke eye contact, and began swimming towards the bank. Hollering back to Izuku, the blonde asked him, “Come on! Don’t tell me you’re only going to do it once, Deku.”Izuku, getting back into the environment, started swimming to the bank behind Katsuki, “Coming!” When 3 o’clock almost arrived, the two boys were laid back on the river bank, bodies sore from exhaustion and treading water. Izuku’s back was slightly sticky from the river water, and he was sure when he sat up, pine needles will be matted to his back. And yet he didn’t care, because laying in the warm countryside sun, drying off after repeatedly rope-swinging into the water with the boy who you are tragically falling for was going to stick in Izuku’s mind for a while as one of the more beautiful moments to have come his way. At one point, both Katsuki and Izuku attempted to get on the rope at once and jump off at the same time, but Katsuki ended up losing his footing and fell early, causing water to go up Izuku’s nose from laughing too hard. And now, with a nice upbeat song in the background to mellow out the wild mood from earlier, Izuku relaxes. “We have to go back to the farm in a moment,” Izuku announced with his eyes still closed, soaking in the sun. Katsuki hummed, “That’s in a moment. Don’t rush.”Izuku smiled, “I still can’t believe you talked to my mom for permission. How was that?”“Not fun,” Katsuki replies, “But you’re here. So it doesn't matter.”Izuku looked over at Katsuki and quietly took note with a fluttering heart how Katsuki has his own way of saying that he likes the company without ever saying it outright. Izuku knew that to some degree, he was appreciated.  After a few more minutes by the creek, the two boys trudged back up with wet boxers that made their actual clothes slightly damp. Once they got back to the farm, it was time to sludge again. There was still about half of the list to complete, and it was already about 3:20 by the time they made it back and was ready to go. Pruning the tomatoes was much more difficult than either of them had originally thought. Izuku and Katsuki decide right then that they do not possess a green thumb, and Inko, who enjoyed gardening, may be disappointed in Izuku for this. It got down in about an hour, making it halfway through 4 o’clock by the time they were ready for the next thing to do. And Katsuki predicted that replacing the tiles of the tool shed would take another 2 hours or so, considering that they had to uninstall and reinstall so many components. And so, the two started immediately to ensure that the sun stayed up. Indeed it had, because by the time 6:00 or so rolled around and the sun was beginning its trajectory to the ground once more, they had completed the tool shed and now only had the corn field and wheat field to go. Both of those tasks were relatively easy. For the corn fields, they simply would just have to look at the stalks and branches for a certain type of pest. As for the wheat field, they really only needed to take a couple of measurements and average them together. And so, the two stand in front of the corn stalks at the moment, staring up at the 8 feet stalks that threatened to engulf them. The breeze was picking up a little bit, and clouds above them were plentiful. The corn field was a massive plot that looked like it never ended. The entrance was right ahead, but it was tiny and branched out into several directions, similar to a corn maze.  Katsuki’s grandfather designed it like this simply because he wanted a way to go through the corn field efficiently.“So we just...check to see if there’s a pest problem?” Izuku asked the blonde. Katsuki shrugged, “Yeah. That about sums it up.”“Hm,” Izuku nods to himself, “How do we do that exactly?”Katsuki entered the maze hedge and pulls down a stalk from the side, before turning to Izuku, “You check here and there if there are lots of stalks that look like some f@ck@rs have eaten it, or if it has rotting parts inside. This sh@t doesn’t take too long. Only about half an hour.”Izuku replies with an  okay  before taking the opposite side of the dirt path in between where the corn was planted, which was probably around 2 feet wide in total. And so, the two boys had to squish or walk parallel so that they don’t run into each other in the tiny space in between where the rows are planted. For the next about twenty or so minutes, they weaved in and out of the corn fields, stopping here and there to check for any odd signs of damage in the leaves and fruiting body. It was not a particularly exciting activity; however, the job was easy to do. So far, Izuku had not seen any damage other than one or two areas of the corn field, and that was not because of the pests but for other reasons. They would make that area with a blue plastic tie, so that Katsuki’s grandfather would later be able to go through and see which parts needed to be looked at.As they neared the half hour, Izuku was convinced that the corn field did not have a pest problem, and told Katsuki as such.Izuku stares down at the flawless stalk of corn he just pulled down, and frowns. “Kacchan, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the corn,” Izuku tells the other, “It all just looks normal.”He turned over and looked at the plant some more to double check, and when he didn’t hear any answer, Izuku paused. He didn’t just hear no answer, but he heard no sound either. Dropping the corn and looking up, Izuku turned his head both ways to realize that Katsuki was no longer there. But had left him somewhere. Blinking fast, Izuku turned back and forth in his spot, wondering if it was intentional or if they accidentally got lost. But knowing Katsuki, Izuku would say that it was intentio-“Deku!” A shout was hard from far away through the maze, “I’ve given you a head start. Now run, I’m gonna go get your ass!” Izuku’s eyes widened, and he cursed out to Katsuki, “You’re a bad person, Kacchan!”Before he realized his mistake. He had been given a head start. And so, he just revealed his general location just by having responded to Katsuki. And the blonde didn’t take too long to reply.“Shouldn’t have done that,” Katsuki yells from somewhere else within the corn maze. Izuku agrees. He shouldn’t have. Because if he had not, then Izuku would also not be currently hearing the sound of fast rustling moving quickly through the corn stalks. And knowing it was Katsuki and how athletic he was, Izuku began running. The leaves shuffled in between them, and the sharpness of it scratched their legs here and there. Izuku felt the urge to look back every five seconds to see if Katsuki was close behind, and it felt like the sounds of rustling were coming closer. Going into his maximum speed, Izuku kept reminding himself to take a million turns. If he takes many turns then he’ll lose the blonde faster. And so at every corner he can find, Izuku takes a sporadic zig zag motion until it was harder to hear where Katsuki was. Izuku was grinning the whole time from the adrenaline of being chased, and he stopped for a second to catch his breathe, knowing that it would be especially hard for Katsuki to find him if he was staying still and not making rustling noises. “You can’t hide!” Katsuki shouts from not too far away, and Izuku was not expecting the blonde to be so near.Immediately, he begins running around, pushing past the stalks that threaten to cut his fingers and legs. At the continuation of movement, Katsuki hollers as he picks up the sound and starts running again too. Izuku was pushing through some 8 ft tall stalks, when the boy stumbled and was shocked by the sudden change in atmosphere.  He knew that behind the massive cornfield was where Katsuki’s grandfather’s wheat field began, but he was so used to running through the green corn just now that suddenly seeing fields of yellow that seemed to go on for forever jolted him. The wheat field was absolutely stunning. Behind him now was the edge line of the corn, and all he could see were the wheat fields with its gorgeous pale yellow stalks that blew in the direction of the wind. The 6:40 P.M. sun’s glow poured over the fields like molten gold, and it looked as if it will never end. How beautiful. Izuku’s breath was taken, and he put his hands on his knees to rest while breathing heavily. However, suddenly, from about 20 feet to his left, a Katsuki pops out from the corn fields and comes face to face with the wheat fields as well. But unlike Izuku, who stopped to stare at the sight, Katsuki ran straight towards the shorter male who was taken so off guard that he lost focus, allowing himself to be caught. “I got you, sh@tnerd” Katsuki laughed out loud as he ran towards the greenette.Then, to Izuku’s surprise, Katsuki tackles him by picking him up by the waist, lifting him up, and spinning him around in the air. The gentle breeze blew pieces of green hair across his forehead as he’s spun around in two circles, and Izuku laughed with his head tilted back. He lifted his arms to catch the breeze here up high, and everything was too stunning. Izuku then wrapped his legs around Katsuki’s waist and puts his arms around the blonde’s shoulders. For stability, Katsuki moves his arms from the boy’s waist to the bottom of his thighs, and Izuku could not help but feel as if their position was a little more intimate. Maybe for Katsuki, it wasn’t anything. But to Izuku, his heart was racing faster being held up like this. He tilted his head down to look at Katsuki, who shifted his gaze from the golden fields up to up at Izuku. From Katsuki’s pocket, the pill speaker was playing These Dreams, and Izuku finds himself relating to the lyrics too much. No matter what he tried to do, the athlete will show up in his dreams. And within his slumber, the athlete holds him just like this. Touches him just like this. The golden sun of Ise illuminates his face just like this. Lost in a trance, not breaking eye contact with Katsuki, Izuku forgets that he was not in one of his dreams, and he shouldn’t do what he was about to do. And yet he did anyways.Izuku brings a hand up from Katsuki’s shoulders to carefully place on the side of the blonde’s face, startling the other. Izuku’s eyes looked at him with a curious gaze, wondering how someone could steal his breath away like this, as his palm caresses Katsuki’s face. The rough skin met his fingertips with warmth, and Katsuki looked as if he was waiting to see what Izuku was going to do. Izuku brought their foreheads together, just leaning gently against Katsuki’s temple. And with a breathy voice, the greenette asks the other, “Say it again.”Katsuki raised a brow, “Say what.”Izuku thinks back to this exact conversation they had the night that Katsuki had came over so that Izuku could help him with some homework, and ended up staying the night. He repeats what Katsuki said then when Izuku had said  his  real name.“My name,” Izuku’s breath hitched, “Say it again.”He had been so shocked by how sudden and unexpected it was for Katsuki to have introduced him with his name earlier that he couldn’t experience it fully. It’s been a long time since Katsuki had called him Deku in a malicious way, but that didn’t mean  Izuku  on the blonde’s tongue excited him any less. The blonde searched through his eyes for reason and was silent for a moment. Izuku’s hands was still on the other’s face, and Katsuki then said in his usual gruff voice. “Izuku,” The athlete calls out to him. The boy in question could cry right now, but he holds it back in favor of smiling ridiculously wide that his eyes look like crescents and his teeth stretch wide. Katsuki’s expression widens at this for a second, before going back into neutral and observant. This time hearing it, Izuku felt as if he could enjoy it fully. The wind was picking up a little bit, and Katsuki uses an arm to reach up and take Izuku’s hands off of his face. The action reminded Izuku that he had definitely done something Katsuki didn’t particularly like. The athlete didn’t  do  gentle. And then, Katsuki settled him down on the ground again in front of him, and Izuku’s neck tilts up to look at the taller boy. Katsuki stares up at the sky. The clouds were moving quickly, and Izuku’s flannel flapped a bit in the breeze.“The winds are coming from the East,” Katsuki announced while observing the sky, “They’re gonna get pretty f@ck@ng strong.”Izuku frowned, “What will that mean?”Katsuki then looks down at Izuku, their height difference prominent, and Izuku sees the background of the sky moving behind him. The blonde’s hair flows gently, and his dark eyes stare at him. Katsuki then answers him, “It means a storm is coming.”


The signs of a storm coming became more and more prominent as the next week and a half moves by. Sometimes, Izuku would stop in his steps on the way to school and enjoy the strong but warm breeze hitting his body, and if no one was around, he’d spread his arms wide and feel it  fully . As Izuku has thought about before, Ise was static. The people, the motion of the ocean, and even the weather was static. The golden sunsets were beautiful, but they rarely ever changed. It gets to the point where he wishes for the occasional rain, which for him, was a symbol of change. It reminded him that Ise wasn’t  just  a computer-generated town, abandoned by its creators in a perfect state with its perfect sunsets, perfect location, perfect people, and perfect weather. And so, he waits in participation for the first drop to fall. On Monday, it does not come. The breeze was still there; however, the sky’s appearance was as sunny and beautiful as it always was. After school had ended, Izuku was watching Katsuki at the field with his teammates from outside of the chainlinked fence. Katsuki today was focused more on helping coach the others, as the captain of the pole vault team for obvious reasons, and Izuku admired seeing how Katsuki coached the others. He was not a kind or an easy teacher. He didn’t give baseless praise, but what he  was  is effective. His advice was catered to each of his teammate’s personal styles, which Katsuki had been observing under the radar for years.Just before he was about to leave, a fluffy head of brunette hair bounced towards him. And within a couple of seconds, Izuku looked up to see Kaito Sen standing on the other side of the gate, grinning down at him. “Midoriya,” The brunette calls out to him, “It’s a beautiful day to see a beautiful person, isn’t it?”Izuku rolls his eyes with a smile, “You really just like to throw out compliments, don’t you?”Kaito shrugged, “I’m just shooting my shot. Anyways, are you free tomorrow night?”Izuku thinks about it. He’s been on two other dates with Kaito since the first one, and they had gone to the movie theatre and then a park another time. It was nice, and had the same vibe as it did before. Sweet and safe. Izuku felt bad, because he knew that he wanted someone else, but still, the hope that maybe another person who would want him back could sweep him off of his feet made him agree to a few more dates with Kaito. Izuku learns a couple of things about Kaito. First, the brunette didn’t really like spontaneous things, and would prefer if dates were planned out. Izuku was sure that Kaito had a romanticized image of things in his head before it happens, and wanted it to play out exactly how he plans it. Which was fine, since it ended up still being a fun time. Secondly, Kaito enjoyed certain parts of Izuku and not so much other parts. Kaito liked Izuku’s face, the fact that Izuku was smart and involved in a lot of clubs, the way Izuku talked, and he liked Izuku’s happy personality. But from what the greenette noticed, Kaito  didn’t  so much enjoy Izuku’s strength, and it surprised him here and there when Kaito wanted to help him with something, just to find out Izuku could do it himself: carrying heavy things, and the like. Kaito also didn’t seem to like doing what he considers to be slightly ‘childish.’ No sneaking into places, no pushing each other in a shopping cart around a parking lot, none of the sort. Kaito prefers adult-like dates that could still be fun: dinner and a movie, walks around a park then ice cream, the classics. It was fine, Izuku tells himself. Thirdly, more than anything else, Kaito Sen  hated  Izuku’s relationship to Bakugo Katsuki. And he made it known. On their second date, they had been sitting on a park bench when Kaito had asked him what he did last night. “I climbed a water tower, and watched the sunset,” Izuku says casually while eating ice cream, “It was really nice.”Kaito gives him a look then, and then asks, leaning back against the bench, “Isn’t that illegal?”“I mean,” Izuku pursed his lips, “It was a water tower that’s been abandoned. No one really owns or uses it anymore.”“You know that’s dangerous, right?” Kaito looks at him and plays with a lock of Izuku’s hair, “You don’t know what’s broken or not in abandoned places since there’s no one to maintain the facilities. You could get serious hurt, you know.”The familiarity of those words struck a cord and Izuku frowned. He knew that the sentiment was nice and out of concern, but he was also sick of being underestimated. “If I get hurt, I’ll take responsibility for my own actions,” Izuku frowned, swinging his legs on the park bench. “Nah, if anyone, Bakugo should take responsibility,” Kaito said in a slightly bitter tone, “He’s always planting these stupid ideas in your head, and making you go on these ridicu-”Izuku defended himself, “It’s not stupid, and he doesn’t make me do anything. Kaito, I want you to know that I don’t just follow Kacchan around like a loyal dog. And some of these ideas are mine. He’s not the nicest person, but if there’s something I don’t want to do, he won’t even think about it. He knows my capabilities.”Kaito looked at him, then pursed his lips, glancing down at the ground, “Sorry. I just get a little jealous. You’re with him all the time.” Jealous? Don’t we all , Izuku thinks to himself. But just elbows the other, “We’re project partners.”Kaito then looks at him as if he was stupid, “ Just  project partners? Midoriya, we both know very well you two hang out much more than what’s required.”Izuku looked down at his lap, “Kaito, me and Kacchan’s partnership is not any of your business.” He said, wanting to end the conversation. “It is if I want you to be my boyfriend,” Kaito turns to him then, “I’m going to be real with you, Midoriya. I don’t want you hanging out with him. He’s a sh@tty person, you know. Great coach, great athlete, whatever. But he’s a bad person.”Izuku gaped at him, unsure of what exactly to say to this. Kaito looked frustrated as he talked further, “He’s emotionally f@ck@d in the head. All he cares about is vault and winning everything. He can’t take losing. He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. All of your efforts are wasted on him, so I don’t even know why you try. If you were my boyfriend, I wouldn’t want you to hang out with someone like that.”Izuku blinked up at Kaito, and there is a moment of silence, before he looks off to the side, “That’s why I’m not your boyfriend.”“ Yet .” Kaito said, unfazed, and went back to a more charming version of himself, “You’ll come around.”The conversation that day had ended there and left Izuku with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, at both the slander at Katsuki, but also his views on Kaito. It was obvious that the boy was speaking out of jealousy, he knew that much. But Izuku knew that he and Katsuki weren’t anything like that. Besides, even if he  was  Kaito’s boyfriend, that still gave him no right to treat Izuku as if he owned him, or to police who he can or cannot be friends with. He had enough policing in his life.  And so back to the moment, Kaito was standing on the other side of the fence, and Izuku thought back to that conversation during their last time hanging out. Smiling up at the athlete, Izuku shrugged, “I’m not sure.”“Well,” Kaito says then, “If you’re free, I’d like to take you to an art museum or something.”Izuku is curious, “There’s no art museums near here.”“It’s about a couple of hours away in a bigger city,” Kaito explains, “I don’t know. I was thinking we could go there, walk the museum. Explore the city a little bit. Grab dinner, and maybe even book a hotel room for the night and,” He gives Izuku a look, “ you  know.”Izuku knew all right. Kaito wasn’t exactly shy about wanting him in that kind of intimate way, and although they’ve made out usually at the end of their dates or played with each other’s bodies for a little bit, Izuku has never thought of going all the way with Kaito. When Izuku thinks of his first time, he can’t help but have an unrealistic image of someone who would never want him like that. And so, considering what Kaito was hinting at now, Izuku couldn’t help but not feel entirely interested.Kaito continued, “Your parents would let you go, right?”Izuku wanted to laugh a bit. He had said it so automatically, that Izuku wonders if Kaito really knew him at all. If he really knew Izuku, he wouldn’t have had to ask such a question.“It’s just me and my mom, actually,” Izuku corrected, “And she definitely won’t let me.”“Oh, my bad,” Kaito looked apologetic, “Well, I’m pretty busy this next week after tomorrow, but could I at least take you to the county fair next Wednesday?”Ah, the county fair. Izuku forgot that happened annually. He was usually allowed to go to the county fair, as long as he got back early enough. It was just a big carnival and fair event that happened on Ise’s fairgrounds, and there was always good music, good food, and lots of cool rides that he probably was too old for. Thinking about it, Izuku tells Kaito, “Sure, but I’ll have to leave early.”“It’s no problem,” The athlete grinned, “It’s a date then.” From behind Kaito, Izuku heard an all too familiar voice calling out to Kaito, “No, it’s f@ck@ng practice. Get your ass back to the pit. If I find you distracted again, you’ll do ten f@ck@ng laps with weighted vests.” Izuku watched the blonde come up, and as if out of reflex, wanted to go up to Katsuki and strike up a conversation, dragging the other somewhere. And then he remembers: this was the big-shot Katsuki, the celebrity athlete Katsuki, the one who says the minimum to him in school. Kaito huffed out some air, and turned to Katsuki, “So  you can come over here whenever you want, but the moment I do it for ten seconds, you’re gonna be like that, Bakugo?”Katsuki stepped up a bit, and the difference in build and power between Katsuki and Kaito was very clear. Katsuki had four inches on him, more muscle, a bulkier build, more of everything all around. To be fair, Kaito was very toned, athletic, and big. Just not in comparison. And then the blonde athlete spoke near his teammate, “Ask me that again when you are a three time National Youth champion, when your tournament record is 17’6, when your personal record is 17’10, and never lost a f@ck@ng tournament in your life, F@ck Face.” Kaito was silent. Because Katsuki was right. And the blonde knew it, because he sauntered forward with a nasty grin, “That’s right. Now get back to the pit and run your record. We’re getting you to the next inch by Friday.” Kaito breathed in and out, before stating a quick “Yes, captain.” And jogging off to the track field. That left the two of them: Izuku and Katsuki, standing there now with a slight air of awkwardness that wasn’t usually there these days. Izuku made eye contact then with Katsuki for a split second, to find the blonde’s expression unreadable, his body language not revealing anything. And Katsuki says nothing either, before he turns and jogs back to the practice pit as well.  Odd  , Izuku thought to himself.  Odd indeed .


“Kacchan, do you like Ise?” Izuku asks. As of current, it was a slow moving Tuesday evening, and Izuku had his head laid back on an empty pit. Katsuki, after practice had ended, had stolen Izuku off to go to the stadium where the next Regionals tournament will be held. At the moment, it was completely empty, and Katsuki had to climb over a metal gate in order to get in and unlock it from the other side. However, when they made it inside of the empty stadium, it left Izuku in awe. The outdoor stadium was about an hour or so from Ise, which wasn’t too bad, considering that this was a big tournament. It was a stage both Katsuki and Izuku has been to before. After all, the blonde competes every year, and the greenette watches every year. However, seeing it void of people gave off a completely different aura. Izuku was used to a large crowd, boisterous activity, and blaring speakers everywhere. Seeing the stadium empty, quiet, and missing any sort of activity made the place seem humongous. The stands were plentiful, and the track field looked larger than average. Even the vault pit seemed enormous, so much that Izuku couldn’t fathom how Katsuki could fly as high as he did. The athlete hadn’t taken him there to practice or anything. They had simply been driving with no actual destination in mind, just enjoying the conversation and the company over good music on the radio, when Katsuki swerved to pull into here. And here they were, an hour later after exploring the stadium and pretending they were the king of the world, shouting to each other from the tallest bleacher across the stadium, and they were now simply laying on the landing zone of the pole vault pit, staring up at the open sky, head nearly touching heads. Izuku watches the clouds move, and the classic golden Ise sun reflects off of it. In his right hand was an empty bottle of some carbonated yogurt drink, and on his left he was snacking on a salmon roe onigiri. The wind was a little bit more mild today. Crows perched itself on top of the pole vault bar, cawing to each other, and they’d hear the occasional sound of a car zoom by from outside of the stadium on the quiet highway. Katsuki raises a brow at the question, “Why are you asking, nerd.”Izuku gently elbows Katsuki from the side, “I don’t understand why you can’t just answer my questions easily, Kacchan,”Katsuki snorts, “Who would I be if I made it easy for you.”“A better person,” Izuku rolls his eyes with a grin, “But…” He thinks about it.He’s always thought this about Katsuki, but never found a way to tell the other. It wasn’t like any of their more light hearted conversations, or intense but enjoyable debates, or random tangent that they go on. This struck a little deeper. Izuku softly says then, “I feel like...you were born and raised in a town too small for you to spread your wings. Like you’ve always been meant to be far away from here. Far, far away,” Izuku reaches his hands to trace the clouds in the sky, “Somewhere bigger and better than what Ise and our quiet streets could ever offer you.”  Better than what I could ever offer you , Izuku thought, but didn’t say.Katsuki was quiet for a moment, seemingly contemplating Izuku’s words. Izuku found this to be rather thoughtful, and implied to him that the blonde was taking his statement with seriousness, rather than teasing playfulness. “I’m right where I need to be,” Katsuki cryptically said, “Caterpillars are stuck in their cocoons before they become butterflies. But those cocoons are necessary. They provide protection, warmth, a place to grow. But at some point, you gotta break out and explore the world and sh@t, ya know? Can’t stay there forever.” Izuku turned his head slightly to Katsuki, who was still looking up at the sky, “You’re a nerd too, you know. That just proved it.”Katsuki threw a protein bar wrapper at Izuku, “Shut it.”“I didn’t know you could be so philosophical,” Izuku laughed lightly, “Hm...so Ise is your cocoon, and you’re the caterpillar?”“Nah,” Katsuki answers, “It’s not just me. Ise is your cocoon too. It’s time to break out, nerd. Where are you going to college.”Izuku finds it funny that in all of their time together, the subject of university has never came up. He thinks it’s because there’s no point in asking about each other, or about Izuku at least. After all, they wouldn’t be associating come the end of this semester. The thought terrified the greenette, and so he avoids it whenever possible. But now, the question arrives from the star-athlete himself, and Izuku wished he had a more concrete and exciting answer. “I…” Izuku found himself stuck, “...don’t know. My mom wants-”“-wants you to stay near?” Katsuki finishes for him, “Could’ve f@ck@ng guessed. I should have asked where do you  want to go to college.”Izuku fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, before sighing, “I want to be in Tokyo. Their universities have the best sports medicine programs. It’d be nice to work in the sports industry, helping athletes figure out their best forms and techniques based on their bodies. I think it would match my interests and hobbies well.”Katsuki hummed, “Have you applied?”Izuku felt guilty, “...Yeah. To Waseda and the University of Tokyo”“Did you get accepted?” Katsuki asked.He felt more guilty, “...to Waseda, yes.”“And let me guess,” Katsuki chuckled, “Auntie has no idea. And I bet you’re thinking on passing up the f@ck@ng opportunity to make things easier on her. Even though you hate the d@mn thought of rejecting it.”Izuku bit his lip, “It wouldn’t be too bad. I could do a four-year nursing program at the college nearby, and-”“And what,” Katsuki pulls himself up into a sitting position, “Get stuck in our sh@tty underfunded clinic that barely has a competent f@ck@ng surgeon? I’m sick of this conversation. You’re so f@ck@ng complacent. This is why I f@ck@ng hat-”And then Katsuki pauses, and then thinks about what he was about to say. And Izuku lays there, looking up at the sitting athlete, waiting for the next words he’s expecting to come out of the blonde’s mouth. But after a moment, Katsuki’s shoulders seem to relax, and he settled back into a nonchalant mode. Izuku then pulls himself up to sit as well, and shuffles uncomfortable on the mat, “How about you? Where are you going to college?”Katsuki flicks a leaf off of the landing mat, “Keio, It’s 24 minutes from Waseda.”Izuku laughs bittersweetly, “Why did you bother telling me that? You don’t want to see my face again after this project ends.”At this comment, the blonde looks away as if he just remembered, “Tell me honestly, Deku. Our deal. You like it?”Izuku’s mouth gaped. Of all questions, Izuku most definitely did not expect this one. It was the very first time that Katsuki was so candid about the topic, and wanted to know  his  opinion on it. Now that the opportunity arose, Izuku was terrified. He had never expected to be given the chance to reveal the truth. He wasn’t sure if he should.”Izuku’s fidgeting increased, but he decided to be honest, “...No.”Katsuki turns to him then, and steps off the mat, reaching out to lift Izuku’s chin up and look into those bright green eyes for a moment, “Like I said. Complacent.”And he lets go immediately, turning around and taking a couple of steps forward to stretch his limbs, “Keio offered me a scholarship to be on their vault team. And I’m gonna play club, so I can qualify for Nationals and the Olympic trials come another couple years. I’ll be in the city for a while. More than a couple of years. When I can’t vault anymore, I’ll settle back down in Ise.” “You want to come back?” Izuku asked. “Sure,” Katsuki says, “Real question is, am I gonna come back to find you in the exact same spot I left you.” I left you . Izuku tries not to repeat the ending part of that sentence. What Katsuki said slapped him in the face harder than he needed it to. He imagines it then. Katsuki’s moving back into Ise a couple of decades from now, maybe married, maybe not, with plenty of stories to tell and sights he has seen. Would Izuku still be walking the same boulevards they roam through as teenagers? Hanging out by the same ice cream shops whose sweets were getting a little numb on his aging tongue? Watching the newer generation go to the Spring Dance, while reminiscing his unconventional one and wondering to himself what the boy who swept him off his feet was doing in the city? The thought killed him. “I...don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Izuku barely whispers, eyes looking forlorn as he delves into the sadder part of his mind. Katsuki takes in a breathe, and just says, “Fine by me.”The wind was picking up again, and it pushes the metal gates within its frame, sending its loud echo throughout the entire stadium, and Izuku just listens quietly to it. Katsuki stands there looking up at the bar he knew he was going to clear. Izuku turns his head up towards the sky. “It’ll be dark soon,” Izuku notices, “I heard there was going to be a meteor shower sometime between tonight and next Thursday.”Katsuki nods, “It’s not gonna be tonight. I heard it’s gonna come next Wednesday. Why. You wanna make a wish on a shooting star, or something?”Izuku smiles, “Maybe.”“You won’t find any tonight, then,” Katsuki turns towards him, “But I know another place you can make a wish.”Izuku tilted his head, “Yes?”“You ever been to the cliff of wishes?” Katsuki asked, bending down to pull up some turf. Izuku knew of it. Almost all of the students, and even adults in Ise has been there at some point in their life. It was almost like a town tradition. A little outside of Ise, up towards the mountains, there’s a rock cliff off the side of the road and it juts out pretty far so cars could actually drive on it. Most people park, and the tradition is to throw a rock off of the cliff while making a wish. The rock will carry the wish down to the Mountain God, who will grant your wish. It was an odd tradition, but one most people have participated in. “No,” Izuku shook his head, “Have you?”Katsuki shook his head, “Nah.”“Do you want to go?” Izuku asked, swinging his legs above the mat. Katsuki saunters over, picks up his keys off the mat, and shrugs, “Sure.” The drive to the cliff of wishes wasn’t too horrible. It still was a bit of a drive, since they had to go up the mountain road near Ise, and take the sharp incline that led to the rock cliff. The sun set behind them, and Izuku enjoys the wind blowing through his hair as they whipped up the mountainside. Izuku could tell Katsuki liked the incline, considering the boy loved to hike. The cliff was obvious when they arrived, since it jutted out from the side of the mountains and there were tire marks from other cars having been there before. When Katsuki pulled off the side of the road to drive on the rock, the sky was just about dark. Just a couple more minutes, and it would be completely night. Already, Izuku could see the stars and the moon. The ground was full of rocks and pebbles, perfect for throwing off of the cliff. The greenette stepped out of the car once they parked, and slowly, he sauntered over towards the edge of the cliff. He didn’t go far enough though so that something could accidentally happen and make him fall off. The wide cliff that jutted out overlooked all of Ise, some of the surrounding land, and had a gorgeous view of the ocean beyond their small town. It was absolutely beautiful, and Izuku turned to look at Katsuki with smiling eyes. “Kacchan, look at the view,” Izuku excitedly pointed. Katsuki seemed to let out a grin at this, and ruffled the shorter boy’s hair, “It ain’t bad.”Izuku then began to squint while pointing out things, “There’s my house. And there’s your house. There’s Lake Enid. And then there’s the junkyard.”“There’s no way you can f@ck@ng see our exact houses from here,” Katsuki frowned.“Oh, I can’t,” Izuku laughs, “I’m generalizing the area.”And for a little while, they both stand up there and point things out. Or at least, where they  thought  things were. Izuku finds it crazy how many more places he knew now because of Katsuki. Finally, Izuku bends down to pick up one mid-sized pebble and holds it in his palms. He looks out onto the view and thinks. He knew not to say it out loud because of the stereotype. He could feel Katsuki’s eyes watching him from the side. He knew what he wanted to wish for. Closing his eyes and thinking about it, Izuku then steps back and throws the rock off of the cliff. The entire time going down, Izuku could hear the clanking as the rock continues to hit  more  rock, before the dirt muffles out the sound in the forest below. “I made a stupid wish,” Izuku holds his own cheeks in embarrassment. Katsuki raises a brow, “What was it.”“I can’t tell you,” Izuku frowned, then noticed Katsuki wasn’t making a move, “Are you not making a wish?”The blonde in question shook his head, “I don’t have any wishes.”Izuku looks at him funny, “None? How does a person not have wishes? You could wish to win Nationals, you know.”“If I win Nationals, there’s no way in hell I’m sharing the credits to some wish cliff,” Katsuki rolls his eyes, “It’ll be all me. And only me.”“Very Kacchan of you,” Izuku notes, “Suit yourself. You don’t have any other wishes?”Katsuki sighed, voice devoid of emotion, and shrugged, “No.”Izuku felt like there was something off about that response, but leaves it anyways with an “Okay.” Sitting near the edge of the cliff, with the moonlight so beautifully illuminating the city and the rock beneath them, Izuku was happy enough for now. It was a beautiful day, one that he will stockpile into his memories. 


It was an unassuming Thursday when it decided to finally rain in Ise. It had began while Izuku was in class. The teacher’s voice droned on and on about something Izuku already studied to death the other night with Katsuki sitting nearby bothering him the entire time. He was daydreaming about some fake scenario with two of his favorite comic characters that he shipped, wondering what headcanon he could come up with, when he heard it first.The pitter-pattering of droplets on the window sill of his classroom. The gentle taps hit the glass and slid down in funny lines, and Izuku’s eyes widen as he stares at its trajectory. It was the first rain of the season, and it felt as if he’s been waiting for a while. The clouds were finally dark and powerful. Soon enough, he’ll expect to hear the boom of thunder and bright flashes of lightning. But as of now, the rain was calm, and he could see the black asphalt roads begin to soak up the long awaited rainwater. Ise was plenty humid, and the ocean nearby made all the plants look tropical, but rain only came now. He sat in his classroom, but wondered what the sensation of the crying sky on his fingertips felt like. He always found rain to be a sign of a transition, at least in Ise.As his day progresses, the rain increases in intensity. The soft pattering had turned into a fast pour, that they can hear even from inside windowless rooms. The storm drains were working hard to swallow up all of the water so it didn’t flood the streets.  And when the school day ended, Izuku stands under the awning of the school, wondering what he should do. His mother had told him to pack an umbrella this morning, and Izuku had told her he already had one stowed in his backpack, only to realize it wasn’t there. He could text her, and ask her to pick him up. Yeah, that’s what he’ll probably do. His feet were already a little wet from the wind blowing in some of the water. He stares out in the hazy atmosphere, blanketed in rain, and out onto the track field a bit of a distance away. It was solo practice, and practically speaking, Katsuki shouldn’t be there. But there he was, with the pole gripped in his hand, and wet clothes matted tightly to his body. Katsuki’s hair was dripping ridiculously, and he had to stop to wipe the water off of his eyebrows so that it wouldn’t fall into his eyes while he vaulted. Izuku was floored by the dedication, even though it didn’t seem practical to pole vault in the rain, when the track field was slick, the pole was slippery, and the landing pit was collecting water. But evidently, Katsuki did not care. Because Izuku watches from far away under the awning as Katsuki repeats his runs over again a couple of times. Izuku could barely hear anything over the sound of the rain, and occasional thunder. His books were clutched in his arms and he temporarily took off his backpack to place them in, and set it up against the concrete flooring as he digs into his pocket for his phone to text his mother. He types out a message, and was about to press send when he heard the dropping of a pole. He tilted his head up and over to the track field, to see Katsuki had left his pole on the ground and was now looking over at Izuku from a distance, running a hand through his wet hair. Izuku makes eye contact, and shyly waves. Katsuki does not wave back, but instead, the blonde starts jogging lightly towards the gate and leaves the field. Once he gets about 100 feet away, he slows down to a walk, and his steps on the asphalt makes splashes in the puddles. Izuku still stands there dry and watching the other walk towards him. When Katsuki was just a couple of feet away, Izuku admires the way the rain glistens off of his skin, and the slightly out of breathe look the athlete had. Katsuki simply stood for a moment, staring down at the shorter boy, seeming as if there was something he wanted to do. He didn’t say anything, so Izuku didn’t either. There was just a space of silence in between them, filtered out by the loud rain. Finally, the blonde reaches out a hand, dripping with water that ran down his forearm, and Izuku stares at it. It was extended out towards him, similar to what Katsuki had done when he asked Izuku to dance. However, this was no dance. Yet Katsuki’s arm reached out, waiting for his, soaking under the pouring sky, with beads of water dripping off his fingertips. Katsuki’s eyes were fierce as they usually were, and Izuku couldn’t see them waver in the slightest. Izuku doesn’t know how long he stands there, in the warm confines of the awning, mostly dry. Perfectly content with the comforts that the protection over his head provided him. He stares at the turbulence that would be sure to come the moment he steps out and take Katsuki’s hand. The wind, the rain, the uncertainties, the lightning, the dangers, and then the most turbulent factor of all: Katsuki himself. And yet, Izuku hesitantly reaches out. His hands feel it first: the initial couple of droplets of rain that immediately soaked the sleeve of his shirt, and it was warmer than Izuku had expected it to be. How nice: the first rain of the season was a warm one. When Izuku’s hand meet Katsuki’s, the blonde closed their grip and pulled Izuku forward, lurching the greenette until Izuku went from completely dry to soaked within seconds. The warm rain immediately matted his hair to his forehead, and Izuku looked up at Katsuki through rain dripped hair. His shirt was getting stuck to his body, and the hold on his hand was still secure. “Kacchan?” Izuku asked softly, barely enough to hear over the rain. The sky was a deep greenish-blue, even though it was still just 4:00 P.M., and the clouds completely covered the sky. The boy in question met Izuku’s green eyes with his ruby ones, “Deku.”Izuku used his other hand to brush water off of his eyelids, “What are we doing out in the rain? You know it’s thundering, right?”Katsuki lets go of his hand then, and steps back, tilting his head up towards the sky and spreading his arms out while grinning, “I’m aware.”Izuku laughed, pulling at his matted shirt, “If I get struck down by lightning, I hope I’ll at least gain superpowers.”Katsuki smirks at this, then looks off to the side before turning back to Izuku, “Have you ever been swimming in the rain?”Izuku was quick to answer, “I haven’t.”Katsuki grins at this response, “Say less, nerd.” Katsuki begins jogging in the direction of the beach, and Izuku has to yell out from behind to wait for him. He had stopped to take out his phone and text his mother a quick “I’ll be home a little late. Around 10 or so.” and jogs after Katsuki.The beach was about a 20 minute walk from Ise High, and so if they were jogging, it wouldn’t be too bad at all. But still, trying to run through the streets and sidewalks of Ise in the pouring rain was hard, considering their feet could hydroplane. And yet, Izuku has a fun time, laughing as he follows Katsuki quickly through the neighborhood streets, around the corner store, and down a shaded path until they reached the wet sand. Because it had been raining all day, the sand was thick and matted, instead of the usual baby powder white they normally were. In the distance, they could barely see too far out because the fast winds and thick blankets of rain and clouds covered up anything they could possibly have seen. And yet, that was the fun of it. Izuku and Katsuki were the only two fools stupid enough to be out on the beach in this weather voluntarily. Katsuki hadn’t even finished practice yet, for all Izuku knew. Since their clothes were both soaked, there was no need to strip down, and so both boys ran towards the ocean and immediately jumped in, fully clothed and ready to mess about for a while. The ocean water was cold compared to the warmth of the rain. Seeing the rainfall hit the ocean’s surface in tiny little dot patterns excited him, and with Katsuki swimming next to his side, Izuku felt ridiculously happy and unconcerned with just about anything else. Every other memory in the world can go to hell. They played stupid water games, and just swam out far to tread water and talk. However, it was harder to talk when the waves were rougher than usual, and saltwater continuously got up their nostrils and into their mouths. Izuku would smile wider if he could. “So I guess the rain means that Gasshi isn’t hosting that party anymore?” Izuku asks, padding the water out far. He wasn’t going to it. He just knew that Gasshi, one of their mutual classmates, throws a huge party every year that Katsuki always went to, and this year, it was scheduled for tonight. But with the rain happening, Izuku was sure there were not going to be a lot of people showing, considering the weather. Not everyone had the guts to go out in the rain like this. “I wouldn’t know,” Katsuki rolls his eyes, “I wasn’t going anyways.”Izuku gives him a funny look, “You weren’t? Why? Did something happen?”“Nothing happened,” Katsuki shrugged, “I just don’t feel like going this year.”Izuku takes this into consideration. Lately, some word here and there had been going around the school about Bakugo Katsuki, and Izuku, being who he was, couldn’t help but listen in and notice. Flutters of conversation throughout the school were proclaiming that the all-star athlete just haven’t been very active in parties or anything else lately. In fact, he hasn’t attended social events since the dance, and even then, the blonde had left halfway through to go to who-knew-where. And it wasn’t as if suddenly he has turned into a social shell, for he was still generally the same person within school. Except a bit...more off. Without seeming to know it himself, Bakugo Katsuki has picked up weird slang or sayings, and would occasionally go off on little tangents only to stop himself halfway. He still curses like a sailor, but the mean remarks had toned down just a tiny bit. If anything, it made people more obsessed with him: made him feel more attainable.  And yet, Izuku realized just then, Katsuki has not slept with anyone, in what seemed like a long time, too. If he had, Izuku would have known, since that sh@t spreads everywhere, and quickly too. If he had, then Izuku would have wondered where in his schedule did he find the time, in between spending much of his days with Izuku and intensely practicing pole vault even outside of practice hours. This realization made Izuku’s heart go crazier than he needed it to. False hope seeped through his skin, and he was quick to try and kick it out, because he didn’t need that for his mental stability. Pining hopelessly for the boy was enough. But if Izuku were to add in an element of  what if, it could ruin him. After all, just because Katsuki hasn’t slept with anyone for a while, didn’t mean anything aside from the fact that the blonde was extremely busy. Still, he was curious. And that curiosity persisted for a while. The two swam in the beach some more, constantly having to wipe away both the saltwater of the ocean and freshwater of the rain from their faces. The waves were getting rough because of the wind, which made them come in from all directions, essentially tossing both Izuku and Katsuki around like a doll in the water. Ultimately, it become more of a hazard to stay in, so the two climbed out of the water when the sky began to darken further. It should be about 6 o’clock right then, and if Izuku was correct, that meant the sun will begin to set behind the massive vat of clouds that covered it. The fun was far from over. The boys ran through the sand, picking it up to their feet in big matted clumps. Katsuki grabbed his pill speaker from the shore, and they ran to a small awning at the edge of a closed down beach-side bar, where it was dry. Izuku’s teeth chattered, going from being submerged in water to the windy surface air, and he held himself to keep warm. Katsuki was jogging in place to do the same, but put on a song. Against All Odds by Phil Collins. Once he put on the slower, more sentimental song, Katsuki shoved his phone in his wet pockets, and turned towards Izuku. They looked at each other for a moment, before Izuku grinned at him with a small laugh at how stupid they were as a default state when together. Katsuki ended up laughing a bit too, and reached a hand out to ruffle Izuku’s wet hair. And then they ran off back into the rain, since it was warmer than standing in dryness allowing the wind to hit their clothes. The thunder above was consistently booming, The dark greenish-blue tint was getting even deeper, as the sky loses its light. And the boys ended up near an empty white warehouse on the side of the road, with a parking lot that had too many potholes in it. When the city’s street lamps turn on, Izuku and Katsuki were jumping into potholes and kicking up water at each other. Izuku had strong legs, so his splashes easily soaked the athlete, who would sometimes push him into a larger pothole, soaking his entire body in warm, gravel water that was probably really dirty. It was in dumb moments like these that seem meaningless where Izuku finds the most joy. If anyone were to ask, saying that he spent the evening jumping and splashing around in potholes near an empty warehouse was not the most interesting thing to describe, but he felt like this was truly living. And looking at the smile on Katsuki’s face that he fails to hide, the blonde must think so too. When the rain begins to slowly pass over them and the fall isn’t as heavy, the two walk on the empty Ise roads, with their sneakers squishing from the water inside of the fabric, back to the school parking lot. It was a slow walk, and now that the rain was beginning to clear, they could hear each other’s conversations better. Izuku’s cheeks, for the fiftieth time, hurt from smiling so much, but what could he do but accept it. He was happy. It was dark at this point, with only the white street lamps to light up the asphalt road slick with water. Occasionally, a car would whiz by, and Katsuki could pull him in by the waist into the road so that he didn’t get ran over, and the gentle contact flushed Izuku’s cheeks.  When they got back to the parking lot, the rain had completely stopped, but the clouds were still plentiful above, which told them that the rain would begin again soon. Maybe in a couple of hours: possibly 2. But for now, it was quiet aside from the dripping of residual water off of the roofs of the school building. Katsuki had even turned the music off.The boys laid back on the asphalt, side by side, soaking up the heat radiating from the ground after a long day of rain. It warmed their backs, and this type of heat would probably get them sick. But Izuku takes that option, over losing what little time he feels like he had left with Katsuki. Even though he still had a bit to go. The darkness enveloped the parking lot, aside from the one street lamp that casted a faint white glow on both of their bodies laying flat on the ground. The crickets came out tonight as they usually did, and the singing was so in sync that Izuku wonders if there was a system to it all.Meanwhile, the conversation between Katsuki and Izuku was softer, a little deeper, with more space spread out in between as they take in the moment that felt like it should only be in a movie. Still, the curious thoughts he had earlier about Katsuki persisted, and Izuku wonders if now would be the right time to ask. He attempts to do so in the most casual way he can. “Kacchan,” Izuku bit his bottom lip, as he stared up at the moving clouds. He thinks about how to ask, without directly asking. Katsuki hummed, “Deku.”Izuku played with some loose rocks underneath his hands, and forced a laugh, “People have been wondering where you’ve been. They haven’t seen you anywhere.”Katsuki snorts, “Think about it, sh@tnerd. If I’m not at practice, then where am I at?”Izuku feels a tiny sense of pride saying it, but he admits quietly, “With me.”“Exactly. Tell the f@ck@rs who are wondering that you’re holding me hostage and forcing me to hang out with you,” Katsuki tells him. And Izuku pokes him from the side, “You initiate just as much as I do!”“Do I?” Katsuki pretends jokingly, “You’re making sh@t up, Deku.”Izuku rolled his eyes and grinned, “Why do I hang out with you.”Katsuki chuckles a bit, and it goes back to a peaceful silence as they feel the heat from the Earth go up into them. And Izuku still feels the curiosity lingering on the tip of his tongue. And so he just says is, “You haven’t really been with anyone for a while either.”At this, from the side, Katsuki raises a brow and turns his head slightly towards Izuku, who notices but refuses to make eye contact. “You keep track or somethin?” Katsuki asked him. Izuku shook his head, “No. Like I’ve told you before, word gets around. I know practically everyone you...do.” It hurt to say. Katsuki considers this, and his voice comes out low when he mutters, “Everyone, huh.”“Yeah,” Izuku feels breathless when he says it, and he now wishes that he never brought the conversation up, because the pangs of hurt and jealousy were beginning to arise from within his chest. He wanted the boy next to him so badly, he realized, that it hurt to be here just a couple inches away but not have him in the way others have had him before. Katsuki shifts in his spot, but shrugs, “I don’t know.”“Are you…” Izuku thinks of the right word, “frustrated?” He plays with the rocks more. Katsuki chuckles, “Yeah, like crazy. I’m f@ck@ng frustrated as hell, but haven’t done sh@t.”“Why don’t you,” Izuku was too quick to say. This question made Katsuki pause a little, and Izuku waits for his answer, wondering if it will come at all. He pretends to be casual about it, but Izuku’s mind was racing to know. When the athlete answers, he does so in an odd tone, “I got places I’d rather be.”Izuku’s heart fluttered at this statement. Because although it could be literal, Izuku wanted to feel more than anything that Katsuki had meant that he’d rather go out and do things with him. To play in the rain, swim in the ocean during a storm, splash around in potholes. He wanted to think that these kind of things meant more to Katsuki than some one-night-stands. And Katsuki’s statement just now more or less confirmed him. Izuku felt a rush of dopamine, and wanted to hug the other so badly. But he knew that the other just wasn’t that type of person. And so, Izuku just plays it off casually, “Like at a warehouse pushing me into potholes.”Katsuki half grins, “Exactly, nerd. Like pushing creepy-eyed nerds into potholes.”Izuku frowns, “Why do you always say that.”Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Because it’s true.”“Oh…” Izuku couldn’t help but feel slightly insecure. All of his life, he’s had mixed feelings on his eyes. They were so round, so large and feminine-looking. But most of all, incredibly expressive. No matter what he tried to hide, his true emotions show up in them. Anyone can tell when he was happy, when he was sad, just by looking at them. He’s had sketchy people and kind people alike tell him they’re gorgeous and doe-like. Katsuki was the only one who thought differently. And he knew one person’s opinion shouldn’t matter, but it was Katsuki. Katsuki sits up, and Izuku follows suit, bringing his knees up to his chest. “It’s almost 9. We should be getting back, before your mom b@tch@s,” Katsuki mutters. “Just a few more minutes,” Izuku says, opting to look at the ground next to him, “My clothes are almost dry.”“Alright,” Katsuki says, before adding on, “Nerd, when do your badminton matches start.”Izuku plays with the gravel, “Um, the first week of summer break, I’m pretty sure,” And then Izuku laughs with bitterness in his tone, “Why? Did you plan on coming to see me? After the project ends? Don’t ask things you don’t actually care about, Kacchan.”Izuku couldn’t help but come off as a bit salty. He was living a perfect life, right now, aside from everything that was going on with his mom. He was happier than he’s ever been, while more conflicted than he’s ever been. Because he knew that the happiness with Katsuki was on a downward trajectory, bound to end in a heap of heartbreak. He was on a smooth sailing carriage to his doom, it felt like. “Oi,” Katsuki’s voice sounded more serious, “What the f@ck is up with you.”Izuku’s brows furrowed and he bit the inside of his cheek. He took a deep breath, and attempted to let go of the frustrated, upset feelings plaguing him. He wasn’t supposed to get angry, or upset. That was never productive, so he tried to let it go, “It’s nothing, Kacchan.”“No, look at me, you f@ck@ng nerd,” Katsuki tells him from the side. Izuku shakes his head, not wanting to, and his fingers dig into the asphalt just to have something to do. He whispered out an “I don’t want to.”“And why the hell not,” Katsuki’s voice was getting impatient, “Look at me, d@mnit.”Izuku’s lips felt like trembling, but he held himself together. It wasn’t a big deal. And he’s had a great evening. There was no need to ruin it now. Izuku just shakes his head again, “No.”Katsuki reaches out for his face, and Izuku sees the hand incoming. But the greenette, feeling the pressure inside of him build up without his permission, slaps it away, “Don’t touch me!”Katsuki’s eyes widened, and Izuku sees it in his peripheral vision. The hand retracted, and Izuku’s voice seemed to waver as he says, “You…” He felt his breath hitch as he tries to keep his tone steady, “I don’t want to look at you...You don’t like my…” He looks down at the ground again with a slightly pained expression that he wanted to desperately hide, “my eyes.”Katsuki was silent for a moment, and Izuku did wonder what was going on through the boy’s mind. The crickets seemed to chirp louder as their uncomfortable silence continued, and Izuku waits for any kind of response, but was ultimately okay if the conversation ended there. Finally, Katsuki stood up and said with a frustrated tone, “For f@ck’s sake, you’re not gonna look at me because I don’t-” He runs an irritated hand through his hair, “F@ck. Are you sh@tt@ng me, Deku?”Izuku’s brows stayed furrowed, “You say it all the tim-”Katsuki then kneels in front of him, and uses both hands to grip onto the side of Izuku’s face and tilt it towards him, practically forcing the smaller to look at him. Izuku’s eyes widened as they met Katsuki’s gorgeous and dark red eyes once more, hating how they never cease to make his chest pound. “Who f@ck@ng cares, nerd,” Katsuki growls, “Look at me when you speak to me.”Izuku tries to tug Katsuki’s hands away to no avail, and frustratedly says, “First, you don’t want me to look at you with my  creepy-ass eyes. Now, you’re telling me to look at you. Kacchan, you’re a mess and you don’t know what you want.”“Yeah? And you know  exactly  what you want, and you don’t do sh@t about it and let people like me step all over you, you f@ck@ng piece of sh@t,” Katsuki tells him straight.Izuku wanted to cry, and his fingers pried at Katsuki’s hands, “What does that even mean.”“How much longer are you going to let people tell you what to do and how to feel about yourself and your life, huh?” Katsuki pressures him, “How much sh@t are you going to take from me? From your mom? From everyone else? B@st@rd.”And then, Katsuki let’s go, standing back up. Izuku touches his cheeks, then stares at Katsuki angrily even though he tried to hide it in his tone, and got up to his feet. “That’s none of your busi-” Izuku began, not actually having a good response. “For f@ck’s sake,” Katsuki threw his hands up in the air, “You wouldn’t even f@ck@ng look at me because I had a d@mn opinion on your eyes.”Izuku wanted to control himself. He wanted to not get angry, or upset. But it was hard when Katsuki, the instigator of it all, was standing right there. Before he could hold back, Izuku tells Katsuki, “Not everyone is emotionally f@ck@d up in the head, Kacchan.” And then, silence. God, it was silent. Katsuki’s eyes widened for a split second, before going back to neutral. Izuku felt immediately guilty. He knew where he had gotten that statement from. Kaito had said it a couple of days prior, and the statement glued itself to Izuku’s mind until now. Izuku knew he took it a bit far. It was true, but Izuku also wanted Katsuki to know that he was still there for the other. That he was willing to be patient, with the time they had left. But when Izuku let it out, it just seemed aggressive. Finally, the blonde stepped forward while clapping his hands slowly. Izuku moved back, as the taller boy continues clapping out loud. Katsuki let out an amused laugh, “There it f@ck@ng is.  There  it is. Good f@ck@ng job, Deku. You’ve said it.”“I’m so sorry,” Izuku scrambled to apologize, and there was guilt in his eyes, “I didn’t mean it like th-”Katsuki interrupted him with a wild grin, “Oh, you meant it alright. But I really want to hear more, Deku. Tell me more about how I’m emotionally f@ck@d up in the head.”Izuku shook his head while stepping backwards, “Kacchan, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was rude and out of-”Katsuki interrupted him again, “Jesus f@ck@ng Christ,” And threw up his hands once more, “It’s always one step forward and two steps backwards with you, ain’t it, you pr@ck.”Izuku was confused, “What?” He didn’t understand, “What do you mean.”“So you finally get some f@ck@ng guts to tell me how you really feel about me,” Katsuki meets his fiery gaze, “And now, you’re going back to your sh@tty ass apologize-for-everything mode. As expected from you.”“I don’t know what you want me to do!” Izuku was feeling frustration pool up again.“I told you want I want you to do, Deku,” Katsuki laughs at him even though nothing was funny, “Tell me more.”“No,” Izuku shakes his head, not understanding why Katsuki wanted him to, “I...I don’t want to. I can’t.”Katsuki takes this into consideration, then nods his head, looking off to the side like he was pondering over something, before turning back to Izuku, “This is why I f@ck@ng hate you, you know.”Izuku’s eyes widened. There was a bit of silence as he lets Katsuki’s words, that seemed random, sink in. This topic has only been brushed aside before, never addressed. And now that it was here, Izuku couldn’t connect the dots. He stands on the warm black asphalt, with the parking lot lights shining faintly down, looking at the boy across from him. “You hate me, because I won’t tell you why you’re…”  emotionally damaged?  Izuku couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.“No,” Katsuki rolled his eyes, “How do you manage to miss the point, every d@mn time, Deku. F@ck, you’re so clueless, it p@ss@s me off.”“Because you never say anything straight up, Kacchan!” Izuku stepped forward, feeling the anger he hated to feel pile up, “You give cryptic little statements and will say  anything  other than what you mean. How am I supposed to know what you’re trying to tell me, if you do everything  but  tell me?”“You’re not f@ck@ng dumb. You should be able to figure it out yourself,” Katsuki snaps at him. Izuku looks at him as if he was insane, then laughs, “You’re actually ridiculous. Figure it out  myself  ? You act like you’re so easy to read. Figure it out  myself ? Is that what you expected me to do when I was f@ck@ng five, and I lost the first friend I’ve ever made and you began to harass me?” Izuku practically yells without thinking twice, “Figure it out myself why you hate me so much?”Katsuki dryly laughs, “I was wondering when you’ll f@ck@ng talk about that. Or were you going to ignore the fact that I made your life a living hell for years. Because honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.”The humidity in the air was unbearable. Izuku looks to the side, “I didn’t think you’d want to talk about it.”“What. So you were just gonna let me live the rest of my cushy life without facing the consequences of everything I’ve done?” Katsuki gives him an amused but angry look. “Well, if you haven’t noticed,” Izuku shoots him a glare, “You don’t handle things very well.”“You obviously think so f@ck@ng little of me,” Katsuki steps forward, squaring Izuku up. “Kacchan, you  hate  it when I say anything nice to you. When anyone says anything sweet to you,” Izuku argues with him, “When we were at the diner, and Hana was saying how you were so helpful, you looked uncomfortable. When I try to ask you about your feelings on  anything , you looked uncomfortable,” Izuku’s voice escalated with every sentence, “When you feel frustrated and nervous at practice, you make sure to hide it and not let anybody know. Why? Because your emotions make you uncomfortable.”“Shut up,” Katsuki tells him. “See?” Izuku laughs angrily, “You’re doing it right now, too. And when you feel surprised, or when something makes you upset, or really happy, you let it show on your face for just a second, just enough for me to catch it, before you cover it up. To make it look like you don’t feel anything. Why? Because your emotions make you  f@ck@ng  uncomfortable. You can’t even hug your own grandfather in front of me, because you’re uncomfortable,” Izuku steps forward with pleading in his eyes. And Izuku’s eyes are watery as he looks down at his hands, trying not to let his voice crack, “And...and I don’t know why. Bec-Because I like seeing it, K-Kacchan,” He wiped away the water threatening to spill from his ducts, “I like seeing you happy. Or surprised. Or in awe. And I like being there for you when you’re nervous, or scared, or-”“I don’t f@ck@ng need you to do sh@t for me,” Katsuki turns away. And Izuku steps forward, to grab for Katsuki’s arm who pulls back, “But you want me to. Kaccha-”“I don’t want  sh@t  from you,” Katsuki looks at him angrily.Izuku was tearing up again, much to his dismay, “I know it’s hard for you, Kacchan. I know the pressure you feel is heavy, and that people have expectations for you. I know that everyone wants you to be a certain way, but I promise I won’t ever want anything from you other than your friendship. I don’t need you to be the super athlete Bakugo Katsuki. I don’t need you to break any records, or win Nationals. I just need yo-”“You f@ck@ng say that, but when I don’t, you’ll react the same as the rest of them,” Katsuki steps forward and points at Izuku’s chest. The tension was high, “The more people who f@ck@ng care about me, is the more who have the ability to be disappointed. And there’s nothing I hate  more  than seeing that look in people’s eyes. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. I don’t  need  you do f@ck@ng do sh@t for me. I’m fine on my ow-”Izuku was crying at this point, almost desperately pleading for Katsuki to listen to him, and his hands were on the sleeve of Katsuki’s shirt, to which the blonde shoved off, “The people who care about you won’t ever feel disappointed in you, Kacchan. We’ll support you no matter what. It’s okay to fee-”“God, shut the  f@ck  up,” Katsuki tells him angrily, “I f@ck@ng bullied you, and now, you’re here trying to give me life advice?”Izuku pursed his lips, and held Katsuki’s angry eye contact. He shouldn’t say it. He definitely shouldn’t. But he does it anyways. Starting with a cracked but normal tone, Izuku increases his volume slowly as he speaks, “You know what I think, Kacchan? I think you’re insecure. And I think you’re guilty, but you don’t even know how to apologize. Why else would you constantly bring that up?”Katsuki looked at him, with angry eyes. But Izuku continued, “Kacchan, you took away a lot of my happy days when we were little. That’s true,” Izuku bit his lip to stop his tears, and he took a moment to collect himself, “But you’ve given me so many more. Every time I watch you jump, a little bit after class every day, I feel like I’ve been motivated. Every time you take me out, I feel like I’ve regained a day I’ve lost sitting at home wishing I could be anywhere else but here. Every time you make sure I eat, or make sure I sleep on time, or do something nice to me even if you have excuses for doing so, I feel like I’m being cared for. Kacchan, you’re so much more than your past. You’re insecure about how people view you, and that’s why you close yourself off. Because you think that if you convince yourself to not care, then it won’t matter what they think.”Katsuki stares at him then, both angry and surprised. And Izuku doesn’t break his gaze. He was slightly out of breath, but he needed to tell Katsuki that. He needed the other to know that although Katsuki was opaque, there were still some parts that Izuku could see through. Katsuki finally replied, and it was still as frustrating to hear as ever, “Great, so you’ve developed f@ck@ng stockholm syndro-”Izuku wanted to yell, so he just gripped his hair out of irritation and shoved Katsuki away, “Can’t you take anything seriously? You know what I f@ck@ng meant, and you can’t just play it off with a joke. Talk to me, Kacchan! I need you to talk to me,” Izuku cried.“What is there to say,” Katsuki spat out, “You f@ck@ng got it. Ding, ding, ding. You want a d@mn prize or something? I have f@ck@ng issues. I don’t know how to accept happiness. I don’t know how to f@ck@ng lose, and I’m deadly afraid of it. I don’t know how to be a normal f@ck@ng human being. What more is there to even say?” Katsuki doesn’t even limit how much he curses.“That you’ll try. That you know it’s unhealthy to be like this,” Izuku begged, “That you’ll let me h-”“I’ve lived 18 f@ck@ng years, and I’d say I’m pretty d@mn good at the game. I don’t need to-” Katsuki out of habit began to defend himself again. Izuku wanted to punch the other, but held back. Instead, he just practically shouted, shoving Katsuki again, “You think you’re fine? Kacchan, you can’t even admit that we are  friends . We spend all of our free time together, you bring me to bed when I fall asleep on the floor, you tell me everything that annoys you or that interests you, and yet, you don’t ever talk to me in school, you have never accepted something kind I’ve said about you easily, and you have never even admitted we are friends. You’re a coward, Bakugo Katsuki. You’re a coward, and you’re so closed off, you don’t know what’s good for you anymore.”“You think  I’m  emotionally closed off?” Katsuki shoved him back, p@ss@d off, “Real f@ck@ng funny. Sure. I’ll admit it. I have issues. You got it, Deku. I can’t tell real kindness from fake sh@t. Sure, whatever. But you think that  I’m the one who is emotionally closed off?”Izuku stepped backwards, as Katsuki moved forward, and there was barely any space between them, but Izuku stood his ground, “What are you trying to say.”“You’re just as f@ck@d up as I am, Deku,” Katsuki grins menacingly, both pain, anger, and amusement in his deep eyes. “Kacchan,” Izuku laughs, “I don’t have a problem being happy.”“Maybe not,” Katsuki shakes his head in agreement, “But you sure do have a problem being angry. Being sad. Being anything that isn’t a perfect happy-go-lucky son of a b@tch.”Izuku squinted his eyes at him, “There’s nothing wrong with that. Being angry doesn’t ever solve anything.”“You sure about that?” Katsuki spoke as if he knew something Izuku didn’t, “It sure doesn’t fix anything either though. Don’t you think?”“Kacchan, I don’t get the point. What does this have to do with anyth-,” Izuku felt as if they were too close. And the tension between them heated up the after-rain air more than it already was. “You’re so complacent with your own mistreatment, it makes me sick,” Katsuki tells him. Izuku was beyond stifled. He felt like they were both saying words, but none of them were stringing together. Katsuki was just throwing out some sentences that seem to make full sense to the blonde, but made none to him. Their communication was on different pages that it made it difficult to sync minds. Katsuki never wanted to say what he meant, while Izuku couldn’t pick up the hints. Seeing how unproductive and straight up aggressive the conversation was, Izuku huffed, and turned away, wanting to go home. He’ll walk if he needed to. His heart was heavy, and Izuku just wanted to go home and cry. “This is getting nowhere,” Izuku tells him, “Until you can tell me in real words and not cryptic statements, I’m going home.”Izuku walked towards the awning, where he had left his backpack earlier, meaning to go pick it up and head back home. His mind was racing with too many thoughts that he couldn’t even pinpoint one string of reasoning from another. All he knew was that he was confused at how this argument started, where it was going, and how it was ending. This was the first real argument that they’ve had in a long, long time, and that weighed heavily on Izuku’s shoulders as he turned away from Katsuki, who stood there, illuminated by the white street light and clothes still damp. When Izuku gets about three meters away, Katsuki then speaks up. With yet again another enigmatic statement. “Do you remember the day you broke my Endeavor figurine,” Katsuki asks, voice quiet amidst the natural sounds of Ise. Izuku slowed to a stop, and swivelled around to his side, confused but looks at Katsuki. He thinks about it, and shuffles through his memories, before revealing, “...barely.”It wasn’t a detail that Izuku really thought much about. It was as if someone asked him what he did in the afternoon on a warm summer day ten years ago. It was a hazy memory, but Izuku knew something of the sort happened. He had been messing around with Katsuki’s toys, when something had happened. He didn’t remember too much of what happened afterwards, other than a small argument ensued. “We were in my backyard. 5 years old. And stupid kids,” Katsuki says, not looking at Izuku, “That was the day I decided I f@ck@ng can’t stand you.”Izuku felt water well up again, and he hated how easily he teared up, “That day? Over something that small?”Izuku had expected, all this time, that the reason why Katsuki hated him so much was some extravagant event. And his friends and others at Ise who knew of their terrible relationship in the past thought so too: it must have been something huge. Something worth all of the years of teasing and harrassment. Maybe Izuku had found out something about the other, which the taller bullied him to keep secret. Maybe Katsuki knew something about Izuku that he really didn’t like. But whatever it was, Izuku had always expected something crazy. But to know, it was over a broken toy, killed Izuku more. He didn’t understand. “Over a broken toy?” Izuku’s voice was tiny and there were small streams sliding down his cheek that he was quick to wipe away, “Over a stupid broken toy?” He cried.Katsuki still didn’t look at him, “I came in to get a drink. For just a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, you were messing with the toys I brought outside and you ended up breaking off the arm of my Endeavor figurine.”Izuku’s shoulders were shaking, and he silently stood there listening. “I barely gave a sh@t about that figurine, but I was a little b@tch. Even when I was a small brat, I was an @ssh@l@. An overdramatic @ssh@l@ with f@ck@ng anger issues. And so, I hit you,” Katsuki spat out quietly, “It was the very first time I’ve ever hit you.”Izuku looked up, eyes a bit red, and glanced over where Katsuki stood there, not looking at him.“It wasn’t a small tap either. I hit you and shoved you back into the dirt. You got a cut on your leg from falling on a stick, and a bruise on your jaw. I was a f@ck@ng sh@tty kid,” Katsuki laughed dryly, “But do you know what you did?”Izuku listened, slowly recalling the event that didn’t really mean much to him personally before tonight. “Nothing. Absolutely f@ck@ng nothing,” Katsuki sounded angry, “You got up. And smiled at me, said it was f@ck@ng okay. And apologized for breaking the figurine. After I hit you and shoved you to the ground. And when Auntie came to pick you up, you told her that you just fell.”Izuku’s lips quivered and he played with his fingers, “It...wasn’t a big deal.”Katsuki snorted at this, but looked both angry and pained at the same time, “Wasn’t a big deal…” He repeated once more, “Wasn’t a big deal? Deku, this is exactly what I f@ck@ng meant. I hit you, I f@ck@ng hurt you, and instead of getting angry, instead of getting justice for yourself, you shoved it off and said it was okay. But I’m not f@ck@ng dumb, Deku. I saw it, in those big eyes of yours that reveal absolutely  everything ,” Katsuki’s knuckles were white from clenching his fists, “You were hurt. And disappointed. Just to hide it away a second later with that careless smile. You say I hide everything with a blank face, but you hide everything with a smile. And if you ask me, that is even more sh@tty.”Izuku shook his head, not wanting to hear anymore. He knew his eyes were getting puffy, “Kacchan, stop. You’re so stupid. I don’t want to be hav-”The blonde didn’t, “I hated you because you were f@ck@ng pathetic. Weak. And maybe it was f@ck@ng stupid what had happened, but you never proved me wrong. Everything you did after that point only proved it. Every time I hurt you, every time I said something f@ck@ng sh@tty to you, every time I shoved you away, you were going to smile at me in the hallway the next day or watch me from afar with that look in your eyes as if you’ve forgiven everything. No matter what I did to you, you would have smiled and pretended it was okay. Do you know how much it p@ss@d me off?” Katsuki’s voice sounded strained, “What the f@ck is wrong with you.”Izuku’s bit his cheek to calm his voice, and he looked up at Katsuki with obvious tear streaks, “Is that why you left me alone after our fight? Behind that one cafe Ground Zero? When we were 15?”Izuku remembered that after that one argument, where Izuku raised his hand to Katsuki for the first time, the blonde had left him primarily alone afterwards. But he never understood why. Until now.“It was the first time you actually did some sh@t for yourself. Even if you apologized like a b@tch for it afterwards,” Katsuki tells him, voice full of venom, “I f@ck@ng hate people who are fine living in their own sh@t. You shove all your anger and b@llsh@t away, but I can see it in your d@mn eyes how much it hurts you. You’re so f@ck@ng easy to read, Deku.”Izuku’s shoulders continued to shake from the shock and pain of hearing all of this relayed to him, as Katsuki keeps telling him. “And it’s not just me,” Katsuki laughs, “You let everyone step over you. And you do nothing about it.”The greenette shakes his head, “No I don’t.” Just to have some pride for himself, even though he knew Katsuki was right.“Oh? You don’t?” Katsuki sounded extremely irked.“I don’t,” Izuku makes his final attempt to save himself. “You do,” Katsuki tells him, making his way over to the greenette and his words slap Izuku in the face, “You let your mom. You let other students. You let  yourself  step all over you, and you smile and pretends it’s all f@ck@ng dandy,” Katsuki looked at him incredulously, “Who the hell even taught you that? You think the only emotions worth feeling are happy-go-lucky giddiness and constant joy?”Katsuki scoffs, “You think it’s  healthy  to shove away your anger, your sadness, all of the emotions that you think are  so  negative? Well let me teach you something too, Deku. You’re going to feel it either way, whether or not you want to. It’s a matter of now or later. You’re gonna feel angry, sad, frustrated, no matter how much you shove it away. You’re just saving it for later. You’re just building that sh@t up until it consumes you and once you let it go, and trust me when I say you  will  let it loose, you’re not going to even know what the f@ck@ng do with yourself.”Izuku’s eyes widened. All of these statements, Izuku knew, applied to Katsuki as well. But up until now, he didn’t know they could be applied to  himself.  “I can’t…” Izuku cries silently, “I can’t help it.”“I want to see you get angry, Deku,” Katsuki tongues his cheek and reaches out to tilt Izuku’s chin up, “I want to see you get mad. I want to see you grow a pair of f@ck@ng b@lls, and stop taking sh@t. From me. From your mother. From anyone. Sure. I have f@ck@ng expectations on me. But you think you don’t give in to your own? People expect you to be the town’s sweetheart, to be perfect, to always f@ck@ng smile. And like me, you can’t break out of it either.”Izuku shakes his head as if he didn’t want to hear the truth, “Kacchan, it’s hard. It’s harder than you think.”Katsuki ignored him, “Have you ever told your mom about how f@ck@ng oppressive she is? Have you ever told anyone about how frustrated you are with your dad for leaving you, because I know you are. Have you ever told me how much you hate me for all that I did? Have you ever told anyone how sick you are of people thinking you’re a goodie-two shoes? Hah, and you think I’m emotionally closed off.”“I don’t hate you,” Izuku shakes his head, eyes closed so that Katsuki couldn’t see the redness as he cries, “I never hated you.”Katsuki ignores him, “Aren’t you sick of being the perfect son? With the perfect plans, and the perfect attitude? Aren’t you sick of it? I want to see you angry. It’s f@ck@ng good for you. It’s natural. You’re letting everyone tell you how to feel, how to act, what to do except for your d@mn self, Deku. Even now, when you were lecturing me, you apologized way too much and demanded too little.”Izuku opened his eyes and stared up at those red ones, now filled with emotion. Frustration, anger, disgust, careful, but the one that Izuku was most surprised to see: pleading. Katsuki’s thumb moved up to Izuku’s cheek to wipe the tears away.“Don’t cry,” Katsuki tells him. Izuku laughs very softly through his tears, “How can I not? You just kind of destroyed any image of comfort I could ever possibly have.”Katsuki’s tone this time was a lot less angry, and he continued to wipe away Izuku’s tears, “You’re allowed to feel negative things. You don’t need to pretend you’re happy when you’re not. Excited, when you’re drained. Content, when you want change. You’re allowed to get mad at me, to defy people’s expectations of you, to go off on people. And you said it ain’t f@ck@ng productive? B@llsh@t. When is advocating for yourself not productive, Deku?”Izuku leans into Katsuki touch, and his teary eyes glanced up at Katsuki, wondering how the blonde could give this advice but not take it himself, “Kacchan, I think I understand. But…”“But I need to follow my own advice too, but in the opposite direction?” Katsuki rolled his eyes, but his tone was gentle, “I get it. I get it, alright?”Izuku shook his head, and held onto Katsuki’s hand on his cheek with his own, “No, you have to promise me, Kacchan.”“Promise you what,” Katsuki asks. “Promise me you’ll try,” Izuku begs quietly, “Try to embrace your positive emotions, and I’ll try to confront mine.”Katsuki looks down at the shorter male in front of him, and doesn’t move his hand from the intimate position, which could almost even be considered the first step. Izuku stares up at him with wanting eyes, and Katsuki takes his time to answer. When he does, Katsuki bumps their forehead together and closes his eyes with a sigh, “We got sh@t to work on, don’t we.”The admittance of this was just as important. But Izuku insisted with a whisper, “Promise me.”Without moving from their position, Katsuki hesitantly tells Izuku, “I don’t make promises I don’t know if I can keep.”“Then make sure you keep it, Kacchan,” Izuku searches him, “You told me to make more demands, right? Promise me then. Promise me you’ll try. And keep it.”“Deku-”“No,” Izuku shakes his head, “Not after you said all of that. Not after everything you just told me. Promise me, Kacchan.”Katsuki looks at him with conflicted eyes, and Izuku knew it was not an easy road to change, and not an easy realization to even know you  need  change. Many years had made Katsuki into who he was. And it was going to be a long process to unwind all of that. But ultimately, Katsuki tells him, looking away, “I promise.”Izuku looked satisfied with this for now, but there was still something that seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, and Katsuki noticed. “What is it, now.” The blonde asked, thumbing the smaller’s cheek.Izuku’s voice seemed insecure as he spoke, “Do you...actually hate me?”Izuku immediately felt like throwing up in anticipation for the answer, but he heard Katsuki sigh. And move his hand from Izuku’s cheek to run through the greenette’s hair, before deciding to for the first time in their entire relationship, be honest about his thoughts towards Izuku, “No.”Izuku felt as if he knew that internally, but he needed confirmation. Katsuki was always straightforward with everything except how he felt about him. He could be honest with quite about everything else except for his perception of Izuku.And at times like this, Izuku just needed Katsuki to tell him straight up rather than him having to guess and read between the lines.Izuku looks up at the other, eyes shining with both relief and overwhelming feelings. The blonde stood across from him, hair still slightly damp, looking down at the shorter boy. And Izuku wanted to simmer in this powerful, but odd moment a little longer. Where he can replay all of the words Katsuki and he had just exchanged and simmer in it for a while.  However, before he had the opportunity to do so, Izuku saw the flash of a blue light. And his eyes darted towards that direction, to find that a car ws entering into the parking lot. At the disruption, Katsuki stepped away, putting his hands in his pocket, and turned towards the source of the interruption. It wasn’t just any car that entered the parking lot, but what looked to be a police car. Since Ise was such a small town, both Izuku and Katsuki knew the entire small fleet of the police force, since they likely grew up riding their bikes next to the cops or maybe their parents knew them. The siren sounded once, and Izuku and Katsuki walked towards the cop car which was pulling up near Katsuki’s car. Curious and wondering if they were in any sort of trouble, both of the boys began walking towards the cop car. When they were within earshot, the cop rolled down his windows to reveal that it was Mr. Hadashi, who knew his mother relatively well. “Mr. Hadashi?” Izuku asked, probably looking like a mess. His eyes were most definitely red, there were likely streaks of tears dried up on his face, and his clothes were almost dry but clearly looked like he’s been playing in the rain. Mr. Hadashi waved and looked surprised, “Midoriya? I’ve been looking for you.  I was going around the city looking for you, and saw a random car in the school parking lot. Turns out, it’s you two. Bakugo, good evening to you, too.”Izuku came up to the window and leaned down a bit, furrowing his brows, “You’ve been looking for me? Is something wrong?”“Ehhh,” Mr. Hadashi just kind of scratched the back of his head, “It depends.”“On?” Izuku frowned, confused. He turned to look over at Katsuki, who just leaned against the car and shrugged at Izuku. “On whether or not you’re okay,” Mr. Hadashi says, “So are you alright?”Izuku shook his head furiously, “Yeah! I’m perfectly fine. Wait, why does it depend on if I’m okay? What’s going on? And why were you looking for me.”“Oh, um,” The cop looked a little apologetic as he begins to tell Izuku, “Well, I got a 911 call about an hour ago. From Inko. Er, your mom.”Izuku’s heart dropped, and his fists clenched up automatically.  You have to be kidding me , he thought to himself. “And,” Mr. Hadashi continued, “She was freaking out. Crying and begging, and everything. Saying that you went missing, and that you were gone. And so I asked her when was the last time she had contact with you,” The cop waved his hands around lazily, “Protocol, you know? And she says that you texted her earlier saying you’ll be home late around 10. And so I told her that it’s fine and to wait until 10. You weren’t missing. You probably went out with your friends, and didn’t specify where you were. My daughter does that here and there. It’s not that big of a deal.”Izuku felt light-headed, and he couldn’t believe that his mother actually-“But she insisted that you were missing, and that I needed to come find you. She threatened to call other cops, so I decided to just go find you so that she’ll calm down a little bit. Although I must say I was sure you were fine. I would advise though, knowing how Inko is, to just text her when you’ll be ho-”“She called the cops…” Izuku tells him, as if wanting confirmation. His voice was unsteady, and he was stiff. “...yeah,” Mr. Hadashi looked a little sorry.“She called the cops, even though I told her I was going to be home around 10,” Izuku’s voice was taut and he checked his phone, “It’s 9. It’s literally 9:23.”“Midoriya, I’m just doing my job,” Mr. Hadashi held out both hands, “And your mom insisted I find you.”Izuku flipped his head over to Katsuki, who looked cautious of Izuku. He knew he must have looked tense right now. A vein was threatening to burst out of his forehead, and he felt both embarrassed, ashamed, angry, and sad all at the same time. Any momentary happiness he could have had today was completely turned upside down. “And where is she now? Is she at home? Or at the station?” Izuku asked, voice very rigid and for a moment, terrifying. Mr. Hadashi tells him, “She should be at home. I told her there’s no need for her to go to the station.”“Good,” Izuku says, “Great.” “Wait, Deku,” Katsuki began.However, before Katsuki could finish any thought, Izuku had already taken off towards home. He didn’t bother saying bye or grabbing his backpack from the awning. The greenette just ran towards the direction of his home at maximum speed, weaving in through neighborhoods to get on the fastest route. The entire time, anger and sadness surged through his head. His mother was paranoid, sure. He accepted that fact a long time ago. From when he was 3 years old, and above, she’s really only let him hang out with a select group of people. And she always restricted what he did. He had to stay within walking distance to his house. He had to text her back within an hour. He had to be home before 8PM. He had to always accept her rules, or not go out at all. And when he was old enough, he got to be home later but nothing after 10PM. He could be outside of walking distance, but she would give him a long talk beforehand. Everytime he’s asked to hang out, it feels like fighting on a battlefield. The tension was so thick that he could cut it with a knife. So yes, he  knew  she was overprotective. But this? Calling the cops  before  he had told her when he’d be home? This was something else. This was worse than calling up to his school to prevent him from attending the very event he planned. This was worse than taking away years of childhood and teenage experience. He was embarrassed. He saw that look of pity from the cop’s eyes, from his friends’ eyes, from Katsuki’s mouth. They all knew of his situation, and they felt sorry for him. And now, the woman had gone so far as to call the cops on a full grown adult who should be able to decide to go home at 10PM, which was generous. Izuku ran until his lungs felt as if they were going to collapse on him, but the anger that coursed through his soul pushed him forward. His footsteps left large splashes of leftover rainwater everywhere. He couldn’t tell whether he wanted to cry or whether he wanted to scream. He hit the ground hard with every step, and he needed to get home  now . He didn’t know what he’ll say when he sees her. He doesn’t know what he’ll do. He was utterly losing his mind. He turned onto his street, and saw his house in the distance. The porch lights were on, and the door was wide open, but he couldn’t see his mom. It was as if she was patrolling in and out of her house, waiting for him to arrive home. Izuku felt anger just thinking about it, and he ran even faster. His legs wanted to give out, but he ran up on his driveway and onto the porch. When he got there, Izuku put his hands on his knees and heaved, catching his breath. His chest went up and down, regaining oxygen, and he tilted his head up. Finally, Izuku walked into the house, and found his mom sitting on the kitchen stool, hands holding a mug of something and looking frantic and worried, muttering to herself with puffy red eyes and tears all over her face. When she finally noticed him at the front door, the woman’s eyes widened and looking like her entire life force has been returned to her, cried some more and called out. “Izuku?” Inko called out, getting off of the stool, “You’re hom-”“You called the cops,” Izuku just stated, voice even. His eyes were bloodshot, and his fists were clenched by his sides. Inko ignored him, even though he  knew  she heard him, “Oh my god! Why do you look like that? You look like a mess! Have you been hurt? You’ve been hurt, haven’t you. That’s why you should have listened to m-”“You called,” Izuku began again, tone much more serious now as he enunciated each word, “the cops.”The air felt as if it was sucked out of the house, and even the wind outside began to whistle a little louder. Soon enough, it’ll begin raining soon. All they had to do was wait. Izuku’s eyes were unusually dark, and he could feel himself losing grip of all composure he’s built up over years and years of suppressing his feelings. It was like a dam of hidden anger and frustration leaking from a crack that was bound to burst. Inko finally got the message that Izuku felt a certain way about this, and suddenly got defensive, “Of course, I did! I didn’t know where you were, and you just wouldn’t text or call me back! What was I supposed to do, ‘Zuku? You’re my baby. I have to make sure you’re ok-”“You could have just trusted me,” Izuku gripped his phone tightly in frustration, “I texted you I’ll be home at 10. It was barely 9, when you called 911.”“You didn’t tell me where you were, Izuku,” Inko’s voice was steady and as sweet as it always was. And Izuku was getting sick of it by the second. “I’m 18. I can vote. I can drive. I am a legal adult. And yet, I can’t make my own decisions about where I go?” Izuku asked, tone incredulous as he stares at her with big eyes. His string was about to snap. “You are still living under this house and my rules, Izuku,” Inko reminds him, “What I say  goes .”“If you keep doing things like this, then I won’t be for longer,” Izuku tells her then, voice tight and body filled with the weight of his anger. His mother’s eyes widened significantly, and Izuku shook his head, wanting to collapse from how heavy it feels to live in this house, “Even if you do stop, I can’t live in this house any longer, Mom. I can’t do this anymore.” Izuku’s voice then cracked. “Izuku, don’t say that,” Inko held onto her mug tightly, “You’re tired, and you don’t understand what you’re saying.”Izuku takes a step closer, feeling his blood pressure rise with every sentence, “I understand  exactly  what I’m saying, Mom,” He begins to speak more firm and loud, “I can’t  do  this anymore.” He repeats. Inko just tells him again, “You don’t mean it. You need to go up, take a shower. I’ll let your behavior go tonight, but we are going to be talking about this in the morn-”“No.” Izuku tells her, “Let’s talk about this tonight! You were up for it a couple of minutes ago, weren’t you, Mom?” He steps forward some more with the hint of a smile on his face, one that revealed that he has given up. He continues, “Why aren’t you up for it now? Because I’m not just bowing down and apologizing for getting home  before  I told you I was going to?” He had a crazed smile on his face, as if he was going insane.Inko was quiet, but her mouth was gaped. She stared at Izuku as if she was looking at a different person. As if she was seeing a monster. If she wanted to see a smile so bad on her precious boy’s face all the time, then here it was. One that was devoid of happiness. Izuku continued, walking one step towards her, voice crescendoing as he spoke, “Were you expecting me to come home and thank you for caring so much? So much that you called the cops and  wasted  their time? They have better things to do with their time, Mom. Do you understand that?” Izuku talked to her as if she was dumb, “They have better things to do than to look for normal adults doing normal activities at  normal  times! I was  fine , Mom. I was fine! I don’t need you breathing down my neck every single minute!”Inko looked cautious, but kept her volume level even, “Izuku, you know it was because I was worri-”“Because you were worried for me,” Izuku waved his arms around dramatically, as if he was drunk, and turned around in place, “Because I’m your precious baby boy. Because you care about me. Because you know what’s best for me,” Izuku laughed, “Mom, do you know how many times we’ve had this exact conversation? Do you know how many times I’ve heard those words come out of your mouth?”“Izuku, are you okay?” Inko looked at him as if he was going insane, “You’re not being yourself. You’re scaring me, ‘Zuku.”Izuku only added to her perception, by laughing at her reaction, “I’m scaring myself, Mom. Everything’s been changing so fast that I feel like I can barely catch up. The world is moving around me so quickly, and I’m only beginning to stumble behind to grab my place. And yet, I feel more alive and aware than I’ve ever been. Isn’t that crazy?” He wipes at his eyes and laughs some more. He came from one hard conversation back in the damp humid parking lot to another one immediately the moment he stepped into his own home.Inko shook her head, curling into herself, “Izuku, you need to go to bed.  Now .” “No,” Izuku tells her, feeling a surge of power at the fact that he just straight up defied his mother. He was going too far, he knew it. He looked deranged, he knew that too. And yet, this was what happened when 18 years of pent up anger comes out, and he didn’t know what to do with himself.“I’ll drag you to bed, Izuku,” Inko warned him calmly, “Do not test me.”Izuku shrugs and gives her a funny grin, “I’ll just sneak out.”“What?” Inko blinked up at her son, shocked to hear such a response.“I said,” Izuku repeats, giving up, “I’ll just sneak out of the house.”Inko was taken aback, and Izuku wonders if this was enough to make the calm and collected woman lose her composure. Inko shook her head, “You’d never. You’re a good boy, Izuku.”Izuku smiles at her, “Mom, does it surprise you to know that I’m not that good of a boy? Does it surprise you to know that I sneak out at least once a week? And do things I only dream about and watch others do? Speaking of,” Izuku pretends to be curious, by thumbing his chin, “Why do I even feel like I have to sneak out? Shouldn’t I, at this age, be allowed to just leave? To go to an ice cream parlor? Or to a skating rink?” And then he shrugs as if he didn’t care, “That’s just what the whole world thinks. But not you, apparently.”Inko shook her head and stared at him in horror, “No. No, this isn’t happening.”“Mom, does it shock you to know that I do a lot of dumb stuff when I go out? I swim really far out into the ocean. I sneak into lakes at night. I go explore abandoned buildings here and there too. I also get hurt, sometimes,” Izuku shoves it in her face, “Little cuts here and there from rocks or branches. A bruise once in a while too. But I’m such a baby and I can’t take care of myself, right? And that’s why I need to be kept inside of this house all the time, right?” Izuku sarcastically laughs. Inko puts her foot down on the carpet, “Enough. Izuku, you are far out of line. I don’t know what has gotten into you or why you are like this tonight, but you  will  deal with the consequences,” Her voice wavered, “I’m putting a tracker on your phone, and you are not leaving the house, not even for the project. I’ll contact Mr. Toshino-”The boy in question just smiled lazily, but there was no humor in his face, “I’m far out of line? You called the cops.” He repeated for the third time. “You’ve said that,” Inko said, voice more terse now but still candy-like, and Izuku wonders what it would take for her to get truly angry. “And you haven’t given me an explanation that isn’t stupid,” Izuku giggles, feeling so out of it, he wanted to die. He knew he looked insane, and yet, he couldn’t make himself think hard and tiptoe around his conversations with her like he’s used to. Inko looked as if she was about to cry at his words, “You think me caring about you is stupid?” She sounded so hurt, “You think me wanting you to be safe is stupid, Izuku?”“And there you go again,” Izuku raised his hands and gestured towards her, turning to a fake invisible audience, “There she is, everyone! Exhibit A! I call this The Manipulative Mother. She’s sweet. She takes care of you. But boy, when she doesn’t get the answers she wants or expects, she makes you feel like the bad guy by acting like a victim. And  man , does she make you feel bad.” Izuku’s voice was cracking left and right as he speaks, and he begins to cry while talking, “She’ll say everything all nice and soft, so that if you show any negative emotions, you’ll look like the evil one. She’ll twists your words around so that it looked like you don’t like her! Isn’t she amazing?” Izuku bowed to the fake audience in their broken living room. “Why are you doing this to me, Izuku?” Inko spoke with a very gentle expression, voice pleading. “And you’re doing it again!” Izuku points out, crying with her, “You always do this, Mom! If I say anything unsatisfactory, you’ll get all quiet. And you’ll say things that make me feel like a bad and neglectful son. And I end up thinking that it was my fault. How is that fair?” Izuku looks down at his feet, “How is that fair?” He repeats while burying his face in his hands.“I’m just doing my job as a mother,” Inko tells him, making her case, “Because as a mother, I do what I have to do to keep my son safe. Even if you don’t like it. When you have kids, you’ll understa-”“When I have kids,” Izuku says, now completely serious although quiet tears slide down his cheeks, “I will not repeat your mistakes. I’m not going to suffocate them. I’m not going to make them feel like they can’t talk to you about certain things in fear that you’re going to freak out,” Izuku slowly got louder, stepping closer to his mother for emphasis, “I’m not going to manipulate them into feeling bad about not being with me 24/7. I’m not going to make my kids m-”“Izuku, you’ve been raising your voice. You need to calm down. Remember what I taught you. Getting angry never solve-” Inko began, words very careful.“No! I’m sick of that!” Izuku shouted then, bursting out into big visible tears, eyes even more red while staring at his mother. Inko, startled by the shout, dropped her mug onto the ground with a clang. Since it was plastic, it didn’t break; however, the coffee that she had inside spilled out all over the floor and soaked into her slippers. It spread into the carpet of their living room, and Izuku knew the brown stain will forever remind him of this night. Izuku looked down at it, then back up at his mother, whose face was shocked and incredulous. “I-I’m…” Izuku felt his chest heave up and down, but he was nervous. He’s never said anything like this to his mother before, and he was habituated to never do so, “I’m s-sick of it, Mom. I’m sick of shoving away…” He cries some more as he thinks back to what Katsuki had said to him, and continues, “my negative emotions. I’m sick of having to be perfect. Of being happy all the time, even when I’m not. Of having to be grateful for everything, even if it hurts me. Of having to deny what my body natural feels, just so I don’t make others feel bad,” Izuku clutched the bottom of his shirt just to have something to hold onto. “I taught you that way so that you could grow up into a respectable young man, Izuku,” Inko justified herself, “Negativity only weighs you down. It just hurts you. It clouds your judgement, and you end up doing horrible things and saying things you don’t mean. I don’t want that for my son. I want you to grow up a happy and bright child, with only love to give. What is so wrong with that?”“What’s wrong is when I feel like I can’t give anything else  but love. I’m so one-dimensional to other people, with no emotions besides positive ones and I get stepped on by eve-” Izuku tells her, throwing his hands up. “I don’t  want  you to give anything else but love! It’s all you need in lif-” Inko tried to convince him. “Don’t be naive, Mom,” Izuku laughs dryly, “If love was all we needed, why did Dad leave?”Inko’s expression towards Izuku then was as if he shot her, and then he saw it: Anger fueling up inside of her, entering her body like a rain in a desert valley. He’s done it.Inko opened her mouth, then closed it again. As if holding herself back, she grabs her things off of the counter and stomps towards her room. Izuku wasn’t going to let that happen. The greenette ran towards her room ahead of her, while muttering, “No, no, no, no, no.”“Izuku,” Her tone was not playing around, “Please move.”“No,” Izuku stood in front of her door, blocking her entrance, “I deserve this conversation, Mom. You owe it to me.”Inko looked up at him then, with equally red eyes, “I’m not talking about that man.”“He gave you me,” Izuku pointed at himself, “If nothing else, why can’t we just appreciate that?” Inko then looked like she was near her breaking point, “He was selfish, and never grew up. Always wanting to go too many places, do too many things. He had dreams that were bigger than his responsibilities. He never wanted to settle down, and be with family.”“He did,” Izuku argued, “You just never wanted to go with him. He wasn’t perfect. He didn’t have priorities, but you never tried either. You never wanted to go anywhere, do anything!”“I don’t need to!” Inko finally raised her voice, “I had you and him. And that was enough.”“Mom, you have no ambition outside of me,” Izuku cries while shaking his head, “You opened up a shop because you needed to make money, not because you liked making custom prints. You never wanted to see the world, to experience more than just what this town had! And...and that’s fine. If you’re happy, that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean I have to live like that too. That doesn’t mean I have to live every day, wondering what more is out there or what could have been.”“And so what now?” Inko sounded bitter, “You’re just going to leave this town, move to some city and go to some pretentious school? And what happens when you know nobody there? When you miss your momma? What happens when you realize that no matter what, nothing is like here, at home?” “Then I’ll go home! To visit! Mom, you’re missing the point,” Izuku shook his head, “The point is that I want the option to come back and the option to leave without feeling as if I’m tearing us apart. Why does it have to be a choice? Why do I have to choose between my happiness and yours?” “Our happiness can be the same, Izuku,” Inko stated.“Sure, as long as it’s your definition of happiness, right?” Izuku laughed. “ Our  happiness,” Inko repeated.“Really?” Izuku called her out, “Because you know what I want to do with my life. You’ve always known. From when I was a kid to now, you’ve seen me look up to athletes, to Kacchan. You’ve seen me dream, doodle, and analyze how they move. You  know  what I want to go into, and you know where I have the best opportunity to do what I love. And yet, you still think my best chance is here? I...I love Ise, but I’m not going to die here without seeing everywhere else. Without doing...  more .”Inko was quiet.“So look me in the eye, Mom,” Izuku pleaded, “And tell me again that you know what my happiness means.”Inko’s tears were pooling at her waterline, her mouth in a permanent wobble, as she turns her head away and wipes at her face. And her words were in agony when she speaks next, ignoring his question altogether. “Why did you have to grow up, Izuku,” Inko moved away from him, “Why’d you have to go and change. We were perfect as we were. You and me. Mommy and s-”“You’re afraid of change, Mom,” Izuku tells her and he tilts his head up to the ceiling lights, as if the tears will fall back inside of his tear ducts. He hiccups, “You’re like this town,” Izuku accuses, “Stuck in the past. And I don’t plan on getting left behind with you.” Inko laughs at his futile attempt, “Izuku, where are you going to go? You have nowhere to go, but here.”Izuku hates the way she was laughing at him, so he tells it to her straight, “I got accepted to Waseda University in Tokyo. I’ll take out loans, and spend ten years paying them off if I need to.”His mother’s laugh stops then, as her entire body goes frozen and her eyes search Izuku in a desperate attempt to see if it was a lie. But Izuku stares at her straight on, so that she knew he was serious. He was completely serious, and she needed to understand now or never that if she didn’t change, he wasn’t going to be anchored down to this house with her any longer. Inko was completely silent, not saying a word, just looking at him in horror. As if he had betrayed her in the worst way possible. “Mom...do you know how much the way I was raised messed me up?” His voice was quiet now. Inko’s lips quivered and he could see her hands shake, but she said nothing. “Whenever I talk to you or anyone else, I have to always think of what to say to make everyone else happy, even if I’m not. If I ever get angry or sad or even...jealous, I feel as if I have to shove it away. When we get close to arguing, I have to take a deep breath and suppress my anger or my frustration. And I repeat in my head  Don’t get angry. Anger doesn’t solve anything  in my head like a mantra, because you always taught me never to be unhappy or ungrateful.”Izuku bit his lip then, “But just because I suppress it, doesn’t mean that it goes away. It’s there, just building up. And I don’t even know how to handle my anger anymore. Even now, I...I can’t even control myself because I don’t know what to do,” Izuku says between small cries, “I’m angry. And I’m sad. I’m...frustrated. And I feel like the world is passing by me faster than I can hold on. And I don’t know what to do,” He hiccups between his tiny cries, “Mom, I don’t know how to handle it, because I was never taught to be okay with these feelings,” Izuku wiped at his face. Inko has still said nothing at this point. Izuku looked at his mother then, smiling gently, “You wanted to see me smile all the time, right? Here’s my smile.” He forces it, “Does it make you happy? Does it make you feel satisfied, Mom?”Inko looked down at her hands. “No, don’t turn away. Look at your son,” Izuku tells her, “You wanted me to smile so badly, right? Then look at me,” Izuku cries while he smiles, “Should I be like this, forever? Will that make you happy?”When Midoriya Inko refuses to answer, Izuku drops the fake smile and sighs. He knew his mother was a good person. He knew she had great qualities, ones he was proud to have inherited including her hard-workingness. But that didn’t excuse her bad ones. “I love you, Mom…” Izuku whispered, “I just want to love  me too.”And then, Izuku walks away, stepping up the stairs, as he feels all of the tears he held back choke up in his throat. And outside, Izuku hears the rain start to pour again, and he didn’t want to be here anymore. He didn’t want to be in this house, breathe in this air, and feel all of the tension and strain interwoven around every floor board, every fiber of carpet, every square inch of this home. He couldn’t stay here tonight, not when his mother and the conversation he just had snuck into every crevice of his brain. He felt so guilty. He felt so bad, for all that he’s said and all that he’s done to Inko tonight. But he constantly reminded himself. He was allowed to feel anger. He was allowed to step up for himself. He was allowed to sit in pain, in sadness, and shouldn’t shove it away just for it to get worse. That didn’t mean sitting in this house, with his mother right downstairs, wasn’t difficult. And so, he didn’t. He couldn’t. Izuku couldn’t stay here right now. Going into his room, the greenette paces around the floor and cries into his hands. He was panicking, and going delirious. He still had so much emotion pent up inside of him, wanting to pour out all at once but the floodgates were only so wide. He pulled out his phone, and dialed a couple of numbers. Nobody picked up, and Izuku felt more alone than ever. He felt completely and utterly alone, in a world and on a day that wanted to spit in his face. He needed someone, anyone. And he couldn’t be in this d@mn house for another second. Dropping everything but his phone, Izuku stepped back down the stairs. The lights of the living room were still on, and Izuku saw that Inko was sitting in one of the armchairs and her head didn’t even turn to him when he walked past the living room. And Izuku cried some more, suppressing his sounds until he opened the door and walked out of the house in the rain. If she didn’t know he left the house randomly before, then she did now. And didn’t even look at him. Izuku sobbed into the night air the moment he stepped out and onto the porch, pulling his body forward even though it wanted to collapse out of mental exhaustion. And he walked through the streets of Ise, as the rain soaks him for the second time this day. His shirt was once more matted to his body, but everything felt like a numbing sensation. And he just wanted to feel anything. He could barely see through the downpour, and his only guiding lights were the white street lamps that were slightly blurred out by the rain. Izuku walked for a while, wondering when his tear ducts will dry up, but they felt endless. He had never spoken to his mother like that, never let go of his mental restraints like that, never behaved like that, and he doesn’t know what to do. Izuku finds himself, more intentional than not, standing in front of a door that belonged to someone very familiar, shivering to himself because the rain was colder now than it was earlier. His lips were probably blue, his eyes were definitely red, but he couldn’t even bother to think about that. Izuku wonders if he should knock. But he was done wondering, when his body automatically reached up and rung the doorbell, as if he needed it. He wonders if Aunt Mitsuki or Uncle Maseru will come out to greet him. If they did, Izuku wasn’t exactly sure if he can explain himself in this mental state. He was an absolute mess. He stands out there on the front door for a bit, shaking in his spot and still crying to himself. He wanted to stop, but couldn’t. Every time he’d try to calm down and force his tears to stop, one thought of what happened tonight and it was waterworks all over again. Izuku was about to give up altogether, and accepted that he’ll just roam the streets of Ise until morning, or at least until he can find the courage to go back to his house, when the door to the Bakugo family home opened. To reveal an irritated looking Bakugo Katsuki with rings around his eyes, holding the door aggressively as if ready to start a fight. But once the blonde saw who was on his porch, the athlete’s red eyes widened at the clearly distraught state of Izuku, standing there in the soaking rain looking as if he was ready to give up on trying. “Deku?” Katsuki asked, unsure if he was actually seeing Izuku at his doorstep this late at night. Izuku wiped at his eyes uselessly and tried to even his voice, but it still came out in hiccups, “H-Hi, Kac-Kacchan,” He hiccuped, “I’m sorry for showing up at this time,” His voice gets tinier at the end as his composure comes to a breaking point, and he cried near the end, “I-I just don’t really have anywhere to be right now. And I just can’t go home,” He shook his head and his chest shook, “I don’t want to bother you, but I just don’t know where to go. And I just...And I just had an argument with my mom, and it just all hurts really bad. And I just can’t be at home right now. So please, can I just ge-”“Come here,” Katsuki tells him, stepping back so that Izuku could go in. And Izuku, taking what Katsuki said the wrong way, steps in and immediately throws himself onto the blonde, wrapping his arms around the athlete’s shoulders and immediately sobbing. He just needed anyone right now, to hold him, to let him scream and cry. Izuku was desperate and at the first opportunity, jumped on the blonde. Katsuki, taken aback, just stood there for a second. Not holding the other back in a way Izuku needed him to. Instead, he just stands there for a minute, as Izuku slumps against his body and his shoulders were shaking. Katsuki’s clothes were immediately soaked with rainwater and tears. “So I guess the talk didn’t go well?” Katsuki asks, tone low and steady. Izuku shakes his head, not bothering to have a verbal reply, and clings onto the taller boy while he continues to cry. Katsuki just sighs, before bending down slightly to then pick Izuku up and lay the smaller boy across his arms, as if carrying him in a bridal style. Izuku was still wrapped around his shoulders, but Katsuki held him up, while telling the other. “Come on, let’s get you dried off and in bed,” Katsuki tells the other, and Izuku didn’t care where he ends up. He just was glad to not be in his own house. Katsuki takes care of him well, in the usual silent way that he did. The blonde takes him into the guest bedroom that Izuku stayed in the first night he was ever here, and sits Izuku down on the edge of the silk bed, careful not to get the comforter soaked in water. The boy didn’t want to let go, but Katsuki softly pried his arms away until he could go and get a towel and some new clothes. When Katsuki came back, Izuku was still silently crying, but he was reduced to hiccups, instead of full on sobs. That was good, because it meant Izuku was coming up from his breakdown. Now, his head just felt hazy, and all he wanted to do was be with someone. And be held, and cared for. Katsuki dried his hair off with a towel, careful to not be too aggressive. And then peeled off his shirt, before wiping him down with the towel too. When Izuku was dry, before Katsuki could put on another shirt, Izuku in a whisper tells the other to leave it. He’ll sleep without it tonight. Katsuki hesitates, but complies anyways, before moving down on the legs. The blonde removes the matted wet shorts, and dries off his thighs and legs with the towel, careful with every movement. And steps back, turning around after tossing Izuku a pair of boxers to use as sleeping pants. In the meanwhile, Katsuki goes over to change into a new pair of pants, and ditches the shirt as well, considering that he got rain on it earlier from Izuku’s hug. This sequence of actions felt as if it took forever, from the moment Izuku arrived at the house to when he got fully changed. When Katsuki changes into new pants, the blonde walks back into the guest room with a glass of water in his hand, “Drink this.”
Izuku reaches out with both hands, and takes it. Slowly bringing the cup to his mouth, and quenched his dry throat until the glass was half empty and then sets it on the nightstand. It was quiet for a while, and Izuku just couldn’t find himself to say much. Katsuki didn’t look like he’d pressure him to either, which he was grateful for. He didn’t want to rehash any of it. The blonde just stood there for a couple of minutes, off to the side of the bed, while Izuku sits on the edge, staring out into blankness. The rain outside persisted, and it was awfully dark in this room. But their eyes were adjusted to the dark blue tint of the bedroom, and the gleam of the silk sheets and comforter. Finally, Katsuki quietly tells the shorter boy, “I’m going to head back to my room. Are you going to be alright?”Izuku then turns to look over at the handsome blonde, filled with what he knew now to be the beginnings of love, “Kacchan.”The boy in question answers, “What is it.”“Can you stay with me tonight?” Izuku asks, wondering if it was too much, but ultimately not even caring. “I’ll be across the room,” Katsuki tells him.Izuku shakes his head, “No. Here, in this bed.”Katsuki’s eyes widened at the suggestion, and he looks at the bed, before his eyes go back to Izuku, “Dek-”“Please,” Izuku whispered, “I just want someone near.”Katsuki looked conflicted for a moment, as if he was battling with his own mind. But Izuku’s voice was so laced with desperation and plead, that it was impossible to say no. And so, Katsuki wordlessly makes his way to the other side of the bed. Izuku, shifts to the left side, and crawls up to where the comforter was tucked in, and untucks in. He slowly slid himself in, until he was settled down on the soft pillows. From beside him, Katsuki untucked the comforter as well, and slipped himself in on the opposite side, laying straight up with his arms crossed above the blanket. Izuku just stares at him from the side, and he wishes that he could touch the other. Right now, he wanted and needed nothing more than that. To touch and be touched. Izuku has been wanting him so badly, and at this moment of strife in his life, he felt as if he needed it. Izuku’s body gravitated towards Katsuki like the moon to the Sun. The blonde’s eyes were still open, as if he was thinking, and Izuku didn’t want him to go to sleep. Not when he was this close. Not when they could do so much more. Izuku was barely thinking straight, when he asked Katsuki. “Can you hold me?” Izuku asked him, voice soft and with want clearly laced in it. So much that the definition of  hold  could be argued. Katsuki’s attention immediately shifted, and he turned his head over to where Izuku was leaned on his side towards the blonde, eyes looking away but body very clearly positioned towards the taller boy. Katsuki didn’t seem to be expecting this request, for Izuku could hear the uncomfortable shifting in the bed. “You’re asking for too much, Deku,” Katsuki warns him gently.Izuku’s heart felt like breaking all over again, but he needed it so much he couldn’t give up.“Then feel generous tonight,” Izuku whispers to him. Once again, Katsuki looked confused and at a lost.“I’m not…” Katsuki began, voice seemingly more genuine, “I’m not meant for those kind of touches, Deku,” And Izuku knew exactly what the blonde meant by that. Katsuki was used to rough, to heavy, to aggressive touches that were purely sexual. He wasn’t used to soft holds that were meant for close friends and lovers. The blonde continued, “I don’t know how.”Izuku searched Katsuki’s eyes, which were turned towards him, and the greenette could have guessed that about Katsuki. And he feels like if it was a normal day, and he was in the right mindset, he would understand. And he would care. And he would definitely not do what he was wanting to do next. However, it wasn’t a normal day, and his mentality was out of whack at the moment, and so, in a moment of need and desire, Izuku slowly brought himself up to his elbow, sliding over just a bit to Katsuki, and reached out. The athlete watched the other the entire time, from the look on Izuku’s face to the way his neck was exposed to reveal delicious smooth skin, Katsuki watched as Izuku reaches his hand out to grab onto Katsuki’s own hand as if guiding him. Izuku picks up Katsuki’s right hand that was just resting there, and brings up closer, until it was headed towards Izuku’s body. “Then touch me in the way you know how,” Izuku whispered out suggestively, eyes slightly hooded, as he brings Katsuki’s hand down to touch his body, resting the athlete’s large and rough palm against the chest, over the perfect budding nipples from the coldness of the room, and down his torso. Katsuki lets the greenette play from a moment, before pulling his hand back and turning his head away, “Deku, stop.”Izuku didn’t understand. What about Izuku was just so unappealing for Katsuki to not want him in the way he wanted the other. The boy scooted closer, until his body was quite near Katsuki’s side, and Izuku reached over to gently touch Katsuki’s jaw, bringing his face over to look Izuku in the eye. In the dim bluish tint of the bedroom, Izuku can still see the gleam of the red, and he wanted so badly for Katsuki to touch him, in any way, he didn’t care. “Why,” Izuku whispered, bringing his forehead down to rest against Katsuki’s, “You don’t want to?”The greenette then moved his legs so that they go over Katsuki’s hips, and pushed his body forward until he was now on top of Katsuki, straddling the blonde’s hip while his upper body still laid on top of Katsuki’s. Izuku was merely inches above the taller boy, and his palm was resting against Katsuki’s sharp jaw. Their lips were barely three inches apart, and they were touching chest to chest. Katsuki breathed into his mouth, all without making contact, “Deku, you don’t want this.  Sh@t .” He cursed as Izuku grinded his hip down. Izuku hovered his lips above Katsuki’s, and they both played a game where they get so  so  close, but never actually touch, before asking the other, “How are you going to tell me what I want, Kacchan?”Katsuki sounded adamant when he tells Izuku this next. The blonde’s hands were now on his hips, not actually trying to push Izuku off, but also not bringing him any closer, “You’re f@ck@ng angry, sad, frustrated, and you probably feel lonely as shit right now, Deku.” He growled in Izuku’s ear, “You. Don’t. Want. This. I could be anyone, and you’d think this is what you want.”Izuku shakes his head no, and wanted so badly to go into a kiss, but his lips just kind of plays a game with Katsuki, grinding up against the other with his face right there, barely an inch apart, “So?” “So,” Katsuki says angrily in a low voice, “F@ck@ng stop it. You’ll regret it in the morning if you go any further, Deku.”Izuku laughed prettily, and sits up, until he was truly straddling Katsuki’s hip, and Izuku tilted his head back while using his own hands to play with his pert nipples, making Katsuki watch him toy with his cute little buds, “You’re not stopping me.”But Katsuki couldn’t reply. Izuku saw it too, under hooded eyes. Katsuki was watching him play with his nipples, twisting and pulling at him while parting his lips as if he wanted something in it. Something salty, or maybe even a bit bitter. The blonde’s eyes were watching him intently, words lost on the athlete, who lays there underneath him. Izuku, to up the game, begins to grind up on Katsuki’s lap once again, making sure to bite his lip and smile lazily down at Katsuki. He then closes his eyes, tilts his head back and lets out a quiet moan, enjoying the Katsuki’s friction provided him.After a moment, the blonde in question snapped out of it, and pulled himself up into a sitting position, with Izuku still on his lap, and gripped the boy by the chin. Izuku felt so small compared to Katsuki, but enjoyed the feeling of being on him like this. He blinked up at Katsuki with wide doe eyes. “You need to f@ck@ng sleep, Deku,” Katsuki warns him, eyes darkening, “You’re f@ck@ng delirious. You’re clouded by all of your damn emotions. You just need anyone to f@ck you right now just so you can distract yourself, and you don’t f@ck@ng deserve that.”Izuku raised an eyebrow up at Katsuki, who looked so serious, “And you care about what I deserve? What if I want that?” Izuku was just talking out of his ass, “Should I go ask someone else?”That was the wrong thing to say, because suddenly, their positions were flipped and Izuku was on his back, while Katsuki was pinning him down from on top. The blonde’s strength was unreal, and Izuku knew he couldn’t move if he tried. He looked up at Katsuki with eyes filled with l@st, and Katsuki had a wild, almost angry look on his face. “You leave this room to get f@ck@d by someone else, and I’ll kill them,” Katsuki warns with a dark tone. Izuku has noticed by now that Katsuki threatens that a lot. Izuku tempts him, “Then f@ck me, Kacchan.”The blatant request shocked Katsuki, who stared down at that freckled face which looked at him now with such need. Izuku’s lips were slightly parted, chest breathing heavy, and nipples were still as hard as ever. Izuku knew he was doing  something . He glanced down, to see that a slight tent had formed in Katsuki’s pants. And so if nothing else, Izuku now knew that he had the ability to attract Bakugo Katsuki. “No,” The athlete declares, brows furrowing, “Clear your f@ck@ng head. You’ll f@ck@ng hate the idea of being with me come morning.”“But will you?” Izuku ignores Katsuki altogether, “Kacchan, does it hurt?” The greenette gestures his head down to Katsuki’s crotch, “I can help. You said you were frustrated, didn’t you?”“ F@ck ,” Katsuki mutters to himself, while his face was turned to the side, and then he looks back down at Izuku, “F@ck! Shut up,” He breathes, “I’m going back to my room. You need sleep.”Izuku reached up to hold onto Katsuki’s jaw and bring the blonde back down, and he comes a little too easily, and they dance around each other’s bodies on the bed, “But why? I was told I give really good head.” Izuku tells Katsuki. And this made the aggressiveness in Katsuki spike to a high level, because at the comment, Katsuki stops their little game and pushes Izuku’s shoulder into the mattress, with another hand on the greenette’s face, thumb prodding at those lips. “And who the  f@ck  told you that,” Katsuki’s eyes were burning and his tone dangerous.Izuku’s eyes widened, but he felt himself harden up a bit more at the mere thought that Katsuki could be jealous. The blonde leaned down, pushing his shoulder into the mattress more and he shoved his finger down Izuku’s mouth, barking out a low, “Is that what you and F@ck Face have been up to? You’ve been sucking his c@ck?” Katsuki’s voice was pure venom. Izuku doesn’t say anything, but instead, enjoys this look on Katsuki more than he should. It made the other even angrier, “Tell me, nerd.” Katsuki sticks his thumb deeper into Izuku’s throat, and the shorter male loved it, “Does he make you get on your knees? I bet he f@ck@ng holds your hair back while he slaps his b@lls on your chin,” Katsuki looked so p@ss@d, “God, I want to kill him. Should I?” “Why?” Izuku laughs, when Katsuki pulls out his thumb, followed by a trail of saliva, “Who am I to you?” At this question, it was like it jolted Katsuki awake, because the blonde took a step back and looked at Izuku as if the question burned him. Izuku, now a little confused, waits for some kind of response from the other, only to get nothing, as Katsuki lets go of his pinned shoulder. And then, he just declares, “I’m not doing shit to you, and that’s final. You’re not leaving this room, and that’s final. I’m not your mom. I don’t want to f@ck@ng make your decisions for you. You’ve had enough of that shit already. But this? I’m not letting you go off and f@ck just because you want a distraction.” Katsuki tells him, reaching out to tuck a streak of Izuku's hair behind his ear.He knew where Katsuki was coming from, and yet, Izuku still felt rejected in a way. Izuku’s eyes felt like watering again, “Why am I not enough?”“Don’t f@ck@ng ask that,” Katsuki looked distressed at the question, and leans down again. The athlete was back on top of Izuku, but this time, in a much gentler fashion. This time, Katsuki puts a hand on his waist, and places his lips near Izuku’s chin, hovering featherlike touches from his lips down different parts of Izuku’s body, “I told you, Deku.”Izuku watches him, heart pounding fast. Katsuki was so gentle right now, as if he knew how fragile izuku’s mind was at the moment. The athlete just moved down his torso and his waist, looking up at Izuku as he goes down, “Go to sleep. You won’t want me in the morning.”Izuku, at just how careful Katsuki was handling him, felt a bit of his desperation seep out as he gets overwhelmed with something else: the feelings of falling in love with Katsuki. Katsuki, without even knowing Izuku’s feelings, wasn’t going to take advantage of Izuku’s deranged and desperate state, even when it was clear that the blonde was at least physically attracted to him. Katsuki naively thought that Izuku was suddenly feeling this way about anyone because of how horrible his night has been, when it was more like Izuku’s already felt this way to a minor extent, but his night made him feel as if he needed it. And so, he tells the other softly, “And if I still do?”Katsuki looks away then, “You won’t.”Izuku just sighs, and lets his body go loose, a sign to Katsuki that he wouldn’t try anymore. And then he lays back into the bed, looking off to the side. Katsuki sits in the same spot for a couple of minutes, and they let the silence simmer in between them, allowing Izuku to calm down further and for Katsuki to contemplate on something. The greenette, after a couple more minutes to relax and reflect, hated that Katsuki was right. He was absolutely shameless in his desperation, and he wasn’t going to enjoy the full experience, if the entire time, he was just praying it would distract him. Still, he felt rejected in a way. Then, from his left, Katsuki slowly moves back under the covers and scooches right up next to Izuku, snaking an arm around the boy’s waist and spooning him from behind. Izuku lifted his head and looked down, before glancing back at Katsuki, “Kacchan?”Katsuki hummed.“What are you doing?” Izuku asked quietly, biting his lip.“Holding you. Like you asked me to,” Katsuki says, rounding back to how it had began in the first place, “I’m f@ck@ng shit at this, but I can...try. As a...friend.” Izuku was initially shocked that the blonde finally admits that they were friends, but he was also bitter that Katsuki wasn’t doing this because he wanted to. Izuku tried to pry Katsuki’s arm off of his waist, frustratingly, “I don’t want your pity, Kacchan. Please. If you didn’t want to before, then I don’t want you to force yourself to do this just because you feel bad. Please, just get off of m-”“Shut the f@ck up,” Katsuki growled, and pulled him even closer into the taller’s chest, “I don’t do shit I don’t want to do.”Izuku then stopped his prying, and glanced back at Katsuki, but the athlete had his eyes closed. He was surprised. “So just stay still and go to bed,” Katsuki tells him, voice tired, “I’m okay with this. Just for tonight.”Izuku wanted to say something more. But Katsuki clearly didn’t want to talk anymore, so Izuku slowly just laid back down, feeling the warmth of Katsuki’s arm against his skin. Izuku was sure Katsuki has never held someone like this, but it was nice. And, this was also something Izuku might possibly regret in the morning, too. “Just for tonight, huh,” Izuku whispered to himself, as the person behind him drifts into sleep minutes later. And with that, he hopelessly wished that tonight never ended. 



Katsuki was right. He  did  feel slightly awkward around Katsuki, especially as they were getting ready for school early. Katsuki had actually picked up Izuku’s backpack from the awning the night before, and the car ride was a little weird. Because the previous night was a rollercoaster of emotions, including at the end. They didn’t talk about what had happened, and Izuku was grateful for that, because he honestly would not have known what to say. However, despite it being a little bit awkward, Izuku knew that in a hang out or two, they will go back to normal. This wasn’t bound to go on for long, And more than the oddity that was last night, Izuku at least has the promise made between them that they will both try. Izuku will try to embrace his negative emotions more, and Katsuki will try to embrace his positive ones more, rather than trying to hide it behind a mask of nonchalant and apathy. It was a quiet day. Izuku knew at some point, he needed to go home, but for now, he had school, which went as it usually did. Nothing too out of the ordinary. And when it ended, Izuku knew there was a team practice outside on the track field in a moment. After all, it was just a Friday. Izuku wonders if he’ll do something today, and decides to just go for it. To see if Katsuki was all bark, and no bite. All talk, and no action. Izuku goes to the vending machine, and buys a cherry gatorade. And when he leaves the school to walk towards the track field, instead of watching from the outside, like he usually does on team practice days when no one was around to see Katsuki and Izuku interacting, the greenette opens the gate and walks through. He steps over the grass, and then onto the polyurethane track field. The vaulters were simply stretching right now, but upon seeing someone who wasn’t part of their team walk up, everyone kind of paused to see. They knew who he was. Izuku was the boy who always came to watch Katsuki from afar. Izuku was the town’s sweetheart with a rumored exhilarating side. Izuku was someone who was generally known to get along terribly with Bakugo Katsuki. And yet, he was inside of the fence. Kirishima nudged Katsuki, who had his foot up against the bench, leaned down to tie his track shoes. At the nudge, Katsuki looks up at Kirishima, who nods in Izuku’s direction. And when Katsuki turns around, they make eye contact and hold it. Izuku was slightly nervous, but determined. He was determined to make this the first step in Katsuki’s mission to  try . He knew everyone was watching them as Izuku approached the other, even if the rest of the team including the coach was pretending to have other conversations. When Izuku was just two feet apart from the star-athlete, he stops. This was the Katsuki that he rarely interacted with: the one who was at school, rarely talked to him, surrounded by people, stars, lights, cameras, editorials. The one whose stage was the world, and whose stars feel too far for Izuku to reach. But today, Izuku decides he’ll diminish that space in between. Katsuki just looks at him, as if wondering what he will do. Izuku simply reaches into his bag, and pulls out the stupid cherry gatorade, and held it out for Katsuki. The blonde looked at him, and then at the bottle extended to him like a gift. The team was most definitely observing the interaction, expecting Katsuki to say something harsh or slap it away. The athlete looked over to his team for a quick second, before back down at Izuku. Without breaking the gaze, Katsuki reaches out to grab the bottle, and tells the shorter boy, “Thanks, nerd.”Izuku didn’t know his heart had been beating fast, until he felt massive relief when Katsuki, in front of everyone, genuinely accepts his gift and offer of care with even a word of thanks. If there was shock within the crowd, Izuku wasn’t paying attention. He was instead having his full attention on Katsuki. Somewhere in the crowd, Izuku was sure Kaito was feeling something, but he couldn’t mind that much either. Katsuki opens the bottle and takes a sip, before twisting the cap back on. Izuku holds onto his backpack straps, and looks up at the sky. After a moment, Izuku tilts his head back down, the wind blowing strands of green hair across his eyes, and he smiles up at Katsuki, before telling the other, “I guess I’ll head home now.”And he turned around, enjoying the weather and the crows perched on the telephone wires, about to walk a couple steps out towards the gate again, when Katsuki calls out from behind him, loud enough that people could hear. “Oi, nerd,” Katsuki shouts out.Izuku turned his body halfway around, and shouts back, “Yeah?”Katsuki jogs up to him then, and ran a hand through his blonde hair, before looking down at the boy, “Do you want to watch our practice? From the inside.” Izuku’s eyes light up. And he smiles, so brightly his eyes squint together. And then, he laughs, “Sure.”










  
  

    
      
        
        
          thank you so much for being patient. i love & appreciate you each so much, and every interaction brings me the greatest joy. I can't thank yall enough!Like I said, this upcoming Monday's update may be delayed bc I'm at a very packed conference, but I will try to work as fast as possible while taking care of our characters and their development. Note: next chapter will come out Monday around 8-11 HST!& some of you guys found my really dry Twitter so might as well haha ! @suffocatingspr1also !!! izuku finally stood up to inko !'
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
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