Unexpectation [Pride Month 2023]

SmashHit: Hey! Just got home from work, late night again :( How are you doing??

KillerKing: Alright. You eat something?

Katsuki set his phone down on the desk, sighing as he leaned back to stare at the dull, beige ceiling. It always made his stomach churn in a weird way when he got notifications from that app, even if he enjoyed himself on it most of the time. He didn’t interact much, preferred to just scroll through forums with interesting names and lurk in the community, but that one over-excited puppy of a member had just refused to let him be invisible. All because he’d made the mistake of setting an All Might-themed profile picture, since he was hardly gonna use his own colours.

He wasn’t even sure why he’d signed up for the thing, all those weeks ago, but there was just something... nice about it. About being a part of the community, even if he wasn’t an active one; about knowing there were other people like him, and reading their experiences, feeling them deep in his bones. Even if he didn’t talk to people, and very rarely deigned to post in any of the forums, he just felt good about being there.

SmashHit, that damn fanboy, was the only one who had ever braved Katsuki’s DMs, who had reached out with a ‘Hey! You like All Might?! He’s my favourite hero!’and somehow wormed his way into becoming something Katsuki might, on a good day, have called a friend. He didn’t know anything else about the guy – his age, his job, his location: all a mystery – and likewise, Smash didn’t know anything about him. They’d never asked, neither of them had ever breached that boundary, and Katsuki was deeply relieved for that. He hated lying, even to random usernames, so he was glad he’d never been put in a position where he needed to.

“Blasty?”

Katsuki jolted upright, meeting the wide, dark eyes that stared at him, but didn’t say a word. There was nothing he could say, honestly.

“You’re not on night shift,” Mina said pointlessly – it wasn’t like they didn’t both know he’d been caught out. “Why are you still here?”

“Got invested in some shit,” Katsuki shrugged, glancing over at his computer screen. “Guess I lost track of time.”

“Katsuki,” she said softly, and he mentally braced himself for the annoying lecture coming his way. “I know you care about this case, deeply, but you can’t keep doing this to yourself. How are you gonna act at full capacity when it’s finally time, if you don’t get any rest until that moment?”

“Who are you, my mother?”

“I care about you. You know that.”

“And yet you’re here, too.”

“I was on the evening shift,” she reminded him pointedly. “I just wrapped up that meeting over at Togata’s agency.”

“Oh. Uh, how did it go?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, during your actual work hours.”

“Bitch.”

“Love you too, asshole.”

He saved all his files and locked his computer, leaving everything open to come back to in the morning, and Mina flashed him a warm smile as he rose out of his chair with a groan.

“I mean it,” she said, softer this time. “Get some rest, you need it and you deserve it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He rumpled her hair as he passed, cracking a smile at the whine he got for it, and then he was on his way down the stairs, lighting up his phone screen again to take a look.

SmashHit: Working on it as we speak! How was your day? Anything exciting happen?

KillerKing: Nah. Worked late as well, dinner at the desk.

SmashHit: Dedicated as always!!

The smile on his lips stayed in place as he typed, though he would have denied it if anyone had pointed it out. The nerd’s enthusiasm was actually kind of endearing, in an I-would-hate-you-in-real-life kind of way.

KillerKing: You see that fight that happened in Shibuya?

SmashHit: Yes!! So close to the station, I was terrified more people would get hurt! I’m so glad it was at a slower time of day, it could have been so much worse if it was rush hour!

KillerKing: Not a huge fan of Lemillion and his lackeys, but they did an alright job this time.

SmashHit: You’re not?! Lemillion is amazing! I mean, obviously not as awesome as All Might, but he’s so passionate and he really has that spirit of a true hero, you know?

KillerKing: His quirk control is alright, but he hires all those weird-ass sidekicks straight out of high school who just get in the way all the time.

SmashHit: They’re trying their best!! Things don’t always go to plan in a fight, I’m sure, but the important thing is having people who care and want to help!

KillerKing: The important thing is having a strong-ass quirk to be able to beat villain ass.

SmashHit: I think any quirk is amazing if you can use it right!

That seemed to be a common theme in their daily news recaps. Smash was so obsessively kind about all the weirdo newbies on the scene and the potential of their quirks, even if they didn’t seem to know how to use them. Katsuki supposed that came with watching from the sidelines, always analysing shit instead of being the one out there with idiots getting in his way. Not that he could say that – Smash would have figured out his identity in seconds with that quirk obsession of his.

SmashHit: and I mean, the alternative is people like the Endeavour agency, right? Strong and powerful, sure, but they’re just so rude and self-obsessed. I swear they always seem angry at people for getting attacked by villains, as if they chose to get attacked!!

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Katsuki slammed his front door a little too heavily, storming into the kitchen to grab some water before he overheated with his annoyance.

SmashHit: Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing quirks in that place! But the attitudes? Boy am I glad I don’t have to work in that building, it must be terrifying just to say good morning to any of them!

What did that asshole know? Endeavour’s agency was awesome. Full of strong heroes who cared about being Number One, not a bunch of weaklings who were just doing their best.

KillerKing: I know which one I’d want saving me if I were in trouble.

SmashHit: Me too! The one who wouldn’t yell at me for being at the station during a crisis!

Katsuki barely managed to stop himself from typing ‘I don’t yell at people that much, asshole’, only preventing it by setting his phone down for a minute to make himself breathe. It wasn’t the nerd’s fault he was uneducated, it wasn’t his fault he’d never had to deal with those situations, Katsuki just had to remember that.

And breathe.

He was honestly pretty proud of the handle he’d gotten on his anger over the years. He still felt it well up inside him, still watched the world blur as his vision went fuzzy for a moment, but nine out of ten times, he managed to force it back down, to make himself breathe through it in the moment and later beat up a punching bag or a particularly annoying intern to work it off. Thankfully Endeavour kept a good stockpile of those around – dumb little high schoolers with powerful quirks who he thought might be worth investing in, one day, now that his weirdo son had decided to cut ties and go elsewhere – asshole didn’t know how lucky he was to have the top hero for a father, not that Katsuki would have given up his own dad, even for a hero.

Admittedly Endeavour was a little... intense. And smelled like old people, even though he couldn’t have been that much older than Katsuki’s parents.

SmashHit: Sorry, I know I have strong opinions on this stuff. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable!

KillerKing: Whatever nerd, you have the right to be wrong if you wanna.

He tossed his phone onto the bed lightly, stripping off his work clothes to fall in after it. Thankfully he’d decided to shower post-patrol at the agency – mostly because of one particularly gross villain who flung mud everywhere, and maybe worse things that Katsuki didn’t want to think about – so he at least could just collapse the moment he got home.

KillerKing: I’m gonna head to bed, been a long day. Talk to you tomorrow?

SmashHit: Looking forward to it!! Sweet dreams!!

It was part of an ongoing routine in his life, now. Every day he woke up and said good morning before he’d even gotten out of bed, then he went to work and chatted with Smash about the various villain events of the day during his downtime, then he went home and they did a quick recap and general chat about whatever was on their minds that day, and then they said goodnight and went to bed. Every step of the way, every moment of the day, Smash was there. And Katsuki, admittedly, kind of liked that. Sure, he had friends in real life too – his old clique from high school, and a few of the other sidekicks from work – but there were so many things he didn’t feel like he could talk about with them, that he thought they’d judge them too much over if they knew. Especially being so close to finally cracking the Top Ten list, he couldn’t afford any controversies.

With a last little sigh, he closed the app for the night, taking a moment to just stare at it in the little folder, smiling faintly at the little rainbow icon.

─────

“They’ve requested that we send our best heroes,” Endeavour explained, clearly playing the ego-game even though Katsuki could see right through it. “Obviously I can’t send myself anymore, and you’re trying to get back to number one, are you not? I didn’t think you’d want to let Deku work the case without you.”

Okay, that one stung. Fuck the ego-game, Endeavour was playing dirty now.

“Fucking fine,” Katsuki growled, snatching the papers from his hand. “If you’re so fucking retired, why are you still here making me do shit?”

“Because it’s still my agency, even if I’m no longer in the field.”

“Then give up on this shitty father-son-reunion dream and give me the damn building.”

“Like hell.”

Katsuki huffed quietly, but looked down at the papers anyway, frowning to himself as he read them over. It did, admittedly, look like a case he wanted to be involved with – and not just for the amount of press coverage it would get, fuck you very much. Some underground network of dickwads had been trafficking children for years, and had only gone undiscovered for so long because most of the kids were quirkless. Shitty villains thought people were less likely to notice or care about the ones who didn’t have flashy quirks, and apparently, they’d been right. The police hadn’t even realised there was an epidemic going on for the longest time, and they’d taken even longer to refer it on to the heroes. Katsuki was in half a mind to march down there and start punching police officers, bad press be damned.

“They wanted to meet this evening, but they’ve just asked to move it forward to this afternoon, if we’re amenable to that. They have been assured that you are more than happy to cooperate.”

“Why the hell would you assure them that?”

Endeavour just looked at him, and Katsuki scowled, ducking his head to stare at the papers again.

“Fucking fine,” he forced through a clenched jaw. “I’ll go now.”

“You can skip the costume if you want to, since you’re just going for a meeting.”

“Like hell, I’m gonna intimidate the fuck out of them.”

“Do what you want.”

Endeavour left him alone, finally, and Katsuki locked the door behind him, drawing the curtains to change into his gear. He’d already showered and changed after his patrol, probably the reason Endeavour had tried to be nice and tell him to go in his work clothes, but if Katsuki was going to walk into that stupid Lemillion Agency and cooperate with those nerd-ass heroes, he was gonna do it fully-loaded and rearing to go, inconvenience be damned.

When he grabbed his phone and his keys to head out, he found himself pulling up a familiar little rainbow app without even thinking about it, tapping through to the usual conversation out of pure muscle memory. He waited until he was stood on the right train platform before he began to type, to avoid crashing into civilians in the streets, but the page called to him the entire way there

KillerKing: Yo, Smash Shit.

KillerKing: I’ve got some dumb shit to do at work, might not be as talkative for a few days.

KillerKing: Don’t go thinking I’ve died or whatever.

He tucked it into his pocket when the train began to pull in, standing back and letting the rest of the passengers on first, with their nudges and whispers and glances his direction. Apparently the old hags of the world thought it was nice when heroes let them get on first, and he supposed it was an easy way to gain a few extra likeability points with the public, while he clawed his way back into the top spot.

That was the only reason Deku was above him again, after all. He always put everyone else first, was always trying to be polite and humble and shit, while Katsuki was busy blasting shitheads. What a nerd.

Thankfully, people left him plenty of space to get on, with his broad shoulders and huge gauntlets to accommodate. He was always grateful that he’d picked an apartment within walking distance of the agency building, when he had to ride the train with all his costume shit, because he was pretty sure he’d have gone insane if he’d had to do that twice a day every day for potentially the rest of his life. All around him people were staring and whispering, and he had to squeeze his fists tightly inside his gauntlets to keep from reacting.

Thankfully, the trip to Lemillion’s agency was short, and soon he was stepping back out onto a train platform, escaping from the crowds and back up to street level where he could breathe a little easier. He slid his phone out again as he walked, glancing down to see a new reply waiting for him.

SmashHit: Hi King!

SmashHit: Thanks for letting me know! Hope work goes well!

SmashHit: Please don’t die!

Katsuki snorted to himself as he put it away again, marching into the agency building and mentally preparing himself for the bullshit to come. He took a deep breath and walked up to the front desk, thankfully not having to do the ridiculous job of introducing himself thanks to the costume on his back, and soon he was being shown through to a small conference room, left in a hard chair at a big table with a mug of coffee hastily shoved in front of him.

Definitely not ideal, but at least he had caffeine.

It took a solid eight minutes before the door opened again, that stupid freckly face appearing in the doorway, tugging at one of his long gloves as he walked – Katsuki wasn’t sure if he was taking it off, or if he’d hurried off to change into them after Katsuki arrived in costume. He suspected it was the latter.

“Deku.”

“Dynamite, welcome! Thanks for coming on such short notice, we really appreciate you altering your schedule to-”

“Deku,” Katsuki said again, exasperated this time. “We don’t have to do this pleasantries bullshit.”

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to- Never mind, okay, let’s get down to business.”

He sat down right beside Katsuki, seeming to think better of it too late to change his mind. His eyes darted off to the other end of the table, like maybe he should have spread them across the whole thing, but his butt was already in the seat, the papers already being slid toward Katsuki.

“You will have seen some of these already,” he clarified, when Katsuki looked down at them. “I got some new information today though, since sending it over, so they’ve been updated, along with some confidential info we didn’t want to send out where someone might intercept it.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

Deku just blinked at him, and Katsuki gestured toward all the empty seats.

“O-Oh. Well, it’s just us, actually. I mean, we had a few others on board, but when Endeavour said you wanted to come, I thought it was probably best if it was just the two of us? It’ll be easier to communicate, and we can be stealthier, and there won’t be any poor young sidekicks for you to blow up at, so-”

“The fuck did you just say to me?”

“Dynamite,” he said flatly. “Don’t even pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“If they’re shitty enough that I need to yell at them, they shouldn’t be on a case like this anyway!”

Deku raised his eyebrows, gesturing toward the empty chairs, and Katsuki huffed. Fine, point taken.

“Whatever,” he muttered, snatching the papers to skim over for the new parts – all highlighted, because of course they fucking were. “You better not get in my way.”

“Likewise,” Deku grinned, a surprisingly self-assured look that Katsuki was not used to seeing on him, not that he had any right to be used to anything. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Kacchan.”

Katsuki bristled, and Deku burned bright red, already apologising before Katsuki could even open his mouth. He wanted to complain, but the nerd was still rambling his disjointed excuses and apologies that Katsuki wasn’t even listening to a word of, and honestly, he wasn’t sure what he’d have said anyway.

It had been a long time since he’d last heard that name.

“When do we leave?” Katsuki cut him off, mid-ramble. “I need to pack a bag, and arrange cover for my patrols.”

“Oh! Of course, yeah! I thought maybe tonight, after dark so not as many people will notice us leaving and risk reporting on it and stuff. But if that’s too soon, we could go tomorrow instead, so-”

“We should go separately.”

Deku bristled, mind clearly whirling, and Katsuki continued before he could go down some stupid rabbit hole.

“It’ll be more noticeable if we’re together,” he clarified. “Since we’ve never worked together before.”

“Oh.”

“Leave when you’re ready, and I will too, and we’ll meet up at the other end.”

“Okay,” Deku agreed easily. “Sure, that works. I’ll write down the address for you. We’ve got an apartment to stay in, in a nice quiet area, so it should be comfortable at least.”

Katsuki just nodded, flipping a page to glance over again even though he’d already read them all, and thankfully Deku seemed to get the message.

“So basically,” Katsuki began slowly. “We just need to stake out this apparent hideout, confirm they’re up to no good, then smash our way in?”

“Basically,” Deku cracked a smile. “Making sure we don’t risk the safety of any hostages in the process, but I’m sure you know that.”

“Figured that went without saying. Be pretty stupid if a number one hero didn’t assume that in the process.”

“Mm... I’m pretty sure I’m number one.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, but there was something in Deku’s face that made him pause with snarky words right on his lips, something... teasing.

“You fucker,” he grunted, turning straight back to the papers he was now on his third re-read of. “I swear if you do this shit the whole job, I’m gonna-”

“I wouldn’t,” Deku assured him. “You deserve it just as much as I do, I know that!”

“I’m gonna take it back at the next one.”

“We’ll see!”

“Shut up.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the thought nagged at him: how was it, that in all their years of clawing their way up the charts, breaking the top ten in the same ranking announcement, and swapping back and forth in those damn first and second place slots, this was the first time they’d held a conversation of more than three sentences?

“Alright,” Deku said with a chuckle. “I’ll leave after my shift, and see you up there when you’re ready. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Course you are, nerd.”

─────

“For his inspiring work with children and youth, his impressive record of civilians saved, and his eternally optimistic spirit, our Number Two Hero: Deku!”

Cheers and applause burst through the audience, but Katsuki didn’t even hear them; he was too busy glancing over to catch Deku’s eye, a sharp smirk spreading across his lips. Deku just shook his head faintly, a little amused by Katsuki’s glee, and continued to smile and wave at the crowd like it was second nature.

“And for his incredible statistics so far this year in rescues and captures, including successfully navigating multiple sensitive hostage situations, your Number One Hero: Dynamite!

Katsuki stepped onto the stage, nodding to acknowledge the cheers and whoops and excited screams, and shook hands with the man presenting the little plaques to the heroes; he was pretty sure he should recognise the dude, should know his name or his job, but honestly he didn’t have a clue.

“Would you care to say a few words?”

That was the one thing Katsuki hated about it: every time he took first place back again, he had to give another stupid speech, and it always had to be different or else he’d become a laughing stock on the internet, tagged in a thousand compilations titled Dynamite still hasn’t hired a new speech writer or whatever.

“I’m happy to be back here,” he began, the crowd quieting immediately to hear his words. “Things have been pretty crazy since the last rankings came out, and I’m glad I’ve had a chance to prove myself to you all once again.”

He paused for a second, glancing over at the line of heroes standing stiffly along the stage, silently begging him to keep it short and let them leave.

“It’s uh, an honour to be standing next to all these... amazing heroes. As always I need to thank Endeavour for welcoming me into his agency all those years ago, and I’m happy to add, for trusting me to take over for him when he finally retired this year. My parents will never let it go if I don’t thank them again, so thanks, you two. And...” he took a deep breath, internally cringing over the words about to leave his mouth. “And Deku, for inviting me along on that rescue a few months ago, which obviously helped add to my statistics. And for always challenging me up here, keeping me on my toes. Uh, thank you, for... being willing to take that step.”

Deku’s eyes widened, staring at him like every word had suddenly ceased to exist in his brain, and quickly Katsuki looked back out at the audience again instead.

“And all of you, thank you for your support, and please stop ending up in a position where I have to save you, it would make my life a lot easier.”

Thankfully, the crowd laughed rather than get offended, and Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief as he handed back the microphone, holding up his little plaque with a last awkward bow before he marched back off the stage. The line of heroes followed him, chatting animatedly amongst themselves, but Katsuki just wanted to go home and eat and sleep and probably message Smash to share their thoughts on the rankings – nerd was sure to insist that he shouldn’t have been in first, but Katsuki had sure showed him! Not that Smash knew that, but that wasn’t the point!

“K- Dynamite?”

With a quiet groan, Katsuki turned around to meet the wide eyes, all open and green like some rich asshole’s lawn.

“Thank you for mentioning me, that was really sweet of you.”

“Whatever, nerd. Don’t go thinking you’re forgiven and shit.”

“Forgiven?” Deku blinked at him, falling still. “What did I do?”

“Like you don’t know.”

“I really don’t, I’m sorry.”

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed in a glare, and he folded his arms tightly, huffing. He knew he looked like a petulant child for it, but at least he was out of view of all but a few lingering heroes.

“You fuckin’ lied to me our entire lives.”

“Lied to you? What are you talking about?”

“Are you fucking serious?” Katsuki demanded, gesturing sharply at Deku, standing there like an idiot in his hero costume. “You’ve clearly got a fucking quirk.”

Deku’s jaw dropped, and Katsuki couldn’t help but think he’d never seen that happen to someone in person before; it seemed to be reserved for books and cartoons, most of the time.

“Is that what you...? Oh god, um... can we... go somewhere? To talk?”

“Why the fuck would I want to talk to you?”

He thought he’d made that clear on their joint mission, with how much time he spent locked in his thankfully-private bedroom, only giving Deku what was needed to do their job properly, and nothing more.

“I just... please, Kacchan. I live nearby, come over just for ten minutes. I even have a nice bottle of whiskey that All Might gave me the first time I got number one, I’ll open it just for you.”

Damn it, Katsuki was partial to a good whiskey, even if it was going to taste a little bitter knowing that All Might had given it to him.

“After that, if you want, I’ll never talk to you again.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Katsuki grumbled, stripping off all the little bits and pieces on the outside of his costume, tucking them into his bag safely. “Fine, whatever.”

“Thank you.”

Deku waited at a respectful distance while Katsuki packed away his stuff and pulled on a hoodie, only moving when he got the sharp little nod to say Katsuki was done. He gestured the way they needed to go, leading without actually walking in front of him, and Katsuki had to admit that Deku seemed to have wised up over the years.

They walked out the back way, avoiding the crowds of onlookers waiting to interfere, and soon they were on a quiet little street, heading up to the door of a fancy apartment block. Deku was obviously doing okay at Lemillion’s agency, if he was living somewhere so new and nice-looking. Honestly, Katsuki didn’t know why the dude hadn’t just made his own fucking agency at this point, or rebooted All Might’s old one, or some shit – seemed pretty stupid to have the number one hero still working under Lemillion in Katsuki’s books. Oh well, they didn’t have to worry about that anymore, now that he was back in second where he belonged.

“So um, this is my place,” Deku said awkwardly, as he showed Katsuki into his apartment. “The bathroom is just to the left there, if you need it, otherwise make yourself at home, I’ll go grab the whiskey. Do you want anything else? Are you hungry?”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, just give me a second then.”

He hurried out to his kitchen, and Katsuki ditched his bag by the door, flopping onto the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. Sue him, his socks were clean. He plucked his phone from his pocket, unlocking it to check his messages, surprised to see Smash’s name waiting for him, the typing icon.

SmashHit: Exciting rankings!!

SmashHit: Seems like the generation gap is narrowing every time they do it, lots more youngsters in the top 50 each time!

SmashHit: I mean that in a good way of course, I love seeing all the new talent!

He hadn’t messaged again since around twentieth place, but then, Smash never seemed to message more than three times in a row. Occasionally, of course, if he knew Katsuki was busy, but usually he seemed to avoid it.

KillerKing: Yeah, good to see the old farts retiring finally. Don’t need any old men breaking hips as they carry a civilian out of a crumbling building. Dynamite back in first, nice.

To his surprise, the typing icon popped up right away; Smash had clearly been waiting for his response to start nerding out.

SmashHit: Yes!! Dynamite is amazing so I’m not surprised at all, I used to love watching his sports festivals from U.A. and seeing how far he’d come each year. Always knew he’d be at the top one day!!

That was... actually really nice. In all of their daily chats, for over a year at this point, Katsuki wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Smash say a nice word about him. Admittedly Katsuki had avoided bring up his own name, in case anything stupid slipped out, but Smash had always been pretty negative about Endeavour’s agency, he supposed he’d just assumed that included himself by extension.

KillerKing: Oh yeah? Never knew you were a fan of his too.

SmashHit: Of course!! Can I tell you a secret?

KillerKing: Don’t you always?

SmashHit: True. Okay well you know I have an embarrassing amount of All Might merch, right?

KillerKing: Yeah?

SmashHit: I collect Dynamite’s, too. Not nearly as much, he hasn’t released as much, but I have like, a ridiculous number of Dynamite plushies especially.

Katsuki couldn’t stop the smirk that tugged at his lips. He was glad he hadn’t known that from the start, it would have made their friendship a little more awkward to start out, but finding out after a year of being friends? Yeah, that was funny as hell.

SmashHit: Don’t judge, he’s cool! But I’ve gotta finish a quick work meeting, talk to you later okay? We’ve gotta delve into all the rankings!!

KillerKing: Looking forward to it, nerd.

He set his phone down as Deku returned with two glasses, a fancy bottle tucked under his arm for refills. He dithered for a moment, glancing at the seating options in his own damn living room, and finally settled on sitting right at Katsuki’s side, handing a glass to him with a nervous smile.

“To the new number one,” he squeaked, holding up his glass.

“Hell yeah.”

Katsuki clinked their glasses together, amused when Deku looked visibly relieved. Deku took a long sip, then sighed faintly, setting his glass down on a coaster near Katsuki’s feet – he had an odd urge to threaten to knock it over, just for fun.

“So, um, I guess I never realised you... felt that way. That you thought I’d lied to you.”

Katsuki’s eyebrows knitted together in a frown.

“Of course I fucking felt that way, what are you talking about?”

“W-Well, I didn’t lie, I was just a- a late bloomer, and-”

“Don’t start that shit with me,” Katsuki cut him off quickly, gritting his teeth. “I’m not fucking stupid, okay? No one’s quirk manifests when they’re a teenager. If it was some shitty quirk that did nothing then sure I could believe that you just didn’t know yet, but not super strength. I remember that weedy, nerdy little kid. And I remember you going to the fucking doctor and coming back with that shitty story about your toe. If other people want to buy your bullshit then fucking fine, but I’m not stupid, I know you lied to me.”

“Kacchan-”

“And if you had manifested it late, miraculously, then you would have fucking called me.”

Deku didn’t seem to have an answer for that, just stared at him with those big fucking eyes, and Katsuki slammed down the rest of his drink in one go. He was proud of the handle he had on his anger, but he was only human.

“Gotta piss,” he muttered, snatching his phone again and storming off to the bathroom. “Figure out your next damn lie while I’m gone.”

Deku didn’t speak, just let him go, and Katsuki briefly considered just walking out the door and not coming back. He probably would have, if not for the fact that his boots took a solid three minutes to put back on, and it would have pretty much ruined the impact if he had to stand there and fumble with them on his way through.

He sat down on the toilet lid, putting his head in his hands and taking a minute to just breathe. He didn’t have the luxury of just blowing up and screaming at the nerd, didn’t have the capacity and words for all the shit he’d punched down into a tiny little ball to just burst back out again unplanned, so he had to get it all back into its little cage in the time it would plausibly take him to piss.

His phone buzzed in his hand, and he flipped it over to look – he’d only taken the thing with him in case he decided not to go back, but it was probably a good thing that he hadn’t left it for Deku to snoop through. He could only imagine how easy it would be for Deku to take number one back if he knew about that little rainbow icon he spent so much time on.

Speak of the devil.

SmashHit: This meeting is so harrrrrd.

SmashHit: Sorry to get all IRL on you, just needed to vent.

Katsuki sighed. It wasn’t the first time one of them had complained about something or other, but it always made him tread so cautiously.

KillerKing: Bunch of idiots not understanding your slideshow or something?

SmashHit: More like not being able to explain myself even though I really want to.

KillerKing: So they’re not understanding your words? Even better. Idiots.

SmashHit: Not exactly haha. More just I’ll get in deep shit if I explain myself, I could lose my job.

KillerKing: Oh, fuck. Yeah, maybe don’t do that.

SmashHit: Right? It’s so hard though, they think I’m doing something awful, and I can’t defend myself properly!!

KillerKing: That’s rough. I mean, you’ve gotta look out for yourself first. But like, if you can’t sleep at night over this shit just because you’re “not allowed” to defend yourself, maybe you need a new job or some shit, idk.

SmashHit: You’re not wrong. I love my job, I can’t imagine ever leaving it, but... I don’t know, it’s just hard.

KillerKing: Yeah. Um, I’m sorry. That you have to go through this, I mean.

SmashHit: Thanks, King. I really appreciate you being here for me.

KillerKing: Always.

Katsuki flushed the toilet and washed his hands, more for show than actual hygiene, and made his way back out to face the firing squad again. He’d calmed down a little with Smash’s chat in his hand, even without focussing on his breathing, and he knew he was gonna have to deal with Deku’s nonsense sooner or later, so he may as well just fuck it and get out there.

“Hey, Kacchan,” Deku said softly, when Katsuki returned to his spot on the couch and a re-filled glass. “Thanks for coming back.”

“Hardly gonna pass up All Might’s whiskey.”

“Yeah,” Deku smiled faintly. “Have as much as you want. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion, and this felt pretty special to me.”

“What, the dumb kid who tormented you coming over after beating your ass in the charts?”

“I was thinking reuniting with my childhood friend,personally?”

“I was a piece of shit.”

“But you were my piece of shit,” Deku teased, grinning when Katsuki rolled his eyes. “And um, I totally get where you’re coming from, and you’re right that it’s not the whole story. But I swear, before we moved, I really was quirkless. I promise I never lied to you about that.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, and Deku squirmed in his seat, fingers fiddling with his phone in his lap to keep busy.

“Working that mission with you was a lot of fun,” Deku said, instead of just fucking explaining himself. “It was kind of like all my dreams came true, you know? I always wanted to work by your side, the two of us together as the best heroes ever, so I was really proud to be able to work with you on a pretty even playing field.”

“You’re doing alright,” Katsuki admitted, begrudgingly. “I guess I knew you would, back then. When all that quirkless bullshit happened, it ruined your dreams obviously, but it also ruined mine, you know? And I couldn’t fucking say that, it was way too selfish and my mother berated me any time I got close.”

“I would have loved to hear it,” Deku said sheepishly. “I get where your mother was coming from, but honestly? It would have really helped, to know that you cared about me not being there.”

“Too late for that shit now, I guess. You got here, anyway.”

“Yeah! And I’m really glad. Going back and forth with you, always fighting to get back to the top, having someone to challenge me each and every day, and all of that being Kacchan? It makes me really happy.”

“God you’re such a sappy fucker.”

“Sorry,” Deku laughed, wiping at his eyes in what he clearly thought was a subtle gesture, even though it very much was not. “I’ll cut it out, please don’t run away.”

Deku’s phone buzzed, and he flipped it over to check immediately, clearly feeling guilty for it by theway he quickly looked back up again with an apologetic smile.

“I was talking to someone earlier,” he explained. “Habit, sorry, that was rude of me.”

“It’s whatever,” Katsuki shrugged. “Text your girlfriend back, I don’t care.”

“Kacchan!”

“What? It’s not like I care, heroes are allowed to date.”

“First of all, where would I find the time? Second, I’m gay as hell.”

Katsuki’s head shot up, blinking at him, and he watched as those freckled cheeks turned bright red, scarred hands quickly lifting to cover it up.

“Sorry, that was so blatant!” he squeaked. “I didn’t mean for that to come out – or for me to come out, haha- sorry, forget it, it doesn’t matter!”

“You’re gay?”

“Yeah,” Deku nodded awkwardly. “I came out in high school, so I just make those jokes without thinking. I mean, in public I obviously don’t bring it up because as stupid as it is, I’d cement you in first for a long time if people knew and I can’t give you that satisfaction.”

Katsuki snorted, and Deku cracked a smile, looking a little more like himself again.

“How uh, how did you know? If it’s okay to ask.”

“That I liked guys or that I didn’t like girls?”

“Uh... Either?”

“I had a lot of silly crushes on guys, growing up. Heroes mostly. My mother always knew, she never made a big deal out of it, I was really lucky that she was so accepting. And I guess I just... never felt that way about a girl. When other guys were perving at our classmates and making silly comments, I just thought it was weird and didn’t get it at all. Until one of my classmates said she was a lesbian, and I was like, ohhhh, you know? That didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but-”

“It did,” Katsuki corrected him quickly. “You did.”

Deku smiled again softly, and just waited, giving Katsuki time.

“Me too, I think.”

“Oh?”

“I’m queer for sure,” he explained, shrugging. “I dunno exactly what, yet.”

“Thanks for telling me. It means a lot that you’d share that with me.”

“Says the man making fucking coming out jokes.”

“You know what I mean!”

Katsuki cracked the tiniest smile of his own, shaking his head fondly. He was starting to remember why they’d been so close as kids. Even in their week together on the job he’d started to remember, started to enjoy himself, but he was just so hyper-aware of the lies.

“If you’re interested,” Deku began quietly. “There’s this app I use, it’s kind of like a forum site for queer people in Japan? It’s not a dating app, I swear. Iknow you’re not much of a social person, but I found it really nice just for meeting other people like me and kind of... figuring myself out?”

“I... might already be on it,” Katsuki grimaced. “If it’s the same one, I mean.”

“Really?! I wonder if we’ve met!”

“I doubt it, I just kinda lurk. I’ve probably made like a dozen replies in a year.”

“That’s fair too! I’ve got a friend like that, we talk all the time in DMs but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them post on anything. They’re one of my best friends, though! I talk to them every day!”

Katsuki felt dread pooling in his stomach. There was no way, right? What were the chances? There were like a million queer people in Japan, there had to be thousands of them on the app, so surely there was no way...

He picked up his phone, not bothering to excuse himself from the conversation as he typed out a message quickly.

KillerKing: Hey.

Deku’s phone buzzed in his hands.

KillerKing: Fuck.

Bzzzzt.

KillerKing: Of fucking course it is.

Bzzzzt.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Deku looked down, frowning slightly, and Katsuki groaned to himself as he typed out one final message.

KillerKing: Look up, dipshit.

“Oh.” Deku said softly, realisation washing over his face. “K-Kacchan?”

He glanced between Katsuki and his phone a few times, looking a little frantic, before his thumbs began to move quickly.

SmashHit: Kacchan??

KillerKing: What are the fucking chances.

“Oh my god.”

Katsuki looked up just in time to see a giant green menace fill his vision, two long arms wrapping around him in the tightest hug he’d ever been subjected to.

“It’s so nice to meet you in person!”

Katsuki laughed. Not some little derisive thing, or a quick snort, but a full-on, ridiculous, laugh. Leave it to the nerd to react that way, instead of the rightful dread and mortification.

“So what’s this about Endeavour’s sidekicks being assholes?” Katsuki complained, when Deku thankfully released him from his torment. “You out here talking shit to randoms online?”

“I stand by everything I said,” Deku laughed brightly. “You guys were jerks! You’ve gotten better, sure, but you’re still a prick sometimes.”

“Everything?”

“Yes! Everything!”

“Even the fucking plushie collection?”

Deku blinked at him, smile slowly fading as it dawned on him, then quickly he forced it back down, grinning again.

“Nope! Everything but that!”

“Fucking liar!”

Katsuki jumped up, Deku right at his heels as he ran, managing to slam the bedroom door open before Deku could tackle him to the ground. He ducked out of the way deftly, swinging himself around the door frame to avoid the lunge, and Deku landed face-first on the ground. Deku rolled, popping back up to his feet, and threw his arms up in an attempt to block Katsuki’s vision, far too late.

Sure enough, lined up along Deku’s bed – not even a fucking shelf, his bed –was every plushie in Katsuki’s likeness that had ever been released. And a few extras, that he assumed were fanmade merch, because he’d sure as hell never seen Dynamite-in-an-All-Might-onesie before.

“You fucking stalker,” Katsuki sneered, shoving him out of the way to pick up the offending plushie by a yellow hair-antler. “I should have known you were out here jerking it to my rescue videos like you did with All Might’s.”

“I did not.”

“Past tense.”

“Wh- No! I still don’t! Screw you, Kacchan!”

“You fucking wish.”

Deku turned bright red, and Katsuki sat down on the edge of the bed just to torment him a little more – every time he got in that bed, he was gonna remember Katsuki taunting him.

“So um,” Izuku said, when his face had cooled down a little. “I’m probably making a really stupid decision here, but... can I... explain myself?”

The cryptic messages in the bathroom flooded through Katsuki’s mind, and he swallowed hard, nodding.

“I’m trusting you to never repeat a word of this to anyone,” Deku explained, “because it will end my career immediately if you do.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“I know. I trust that, now, knowing that we’ve been talking so much for so long, even if you didn’t know it was me. So... you deserve the whole truth, as my best friend.”

Katsuki just nodded, waiting, and Deku sat down beside him, squeezing his hands together to keep them from trembling. Katsuki plonked the little fan-made Dynamite in his lap, and Deku smiled faintly, hugging it to his chest.

“After we moved away, I had the chance to make a fresh start at school, to not be that obsessed hero nerd with all these grand dreams despite being quirkless. So I kept quiet, I didn’t make waves, and people left me alone. It wasn’t great, having to just... be quiet, you know? It was pretty awful just crushing my personality to avoid being picked on. But I got through it. And I ended upjoining a martial arts club, for self-defense and stuff, and I actually really enjoyed it.”

“I can’t imagine it.”

“Me doing martial arts classes?”

“You being quiet.”

Deku laughed, his hold on the plushie loosening a little, and Katsuki cracked a smile of his own.

“So when it was time for high school applications, I knew I couldn’t do the U.A. heroics course entrance exam. I sent in an application for General Studies, but there was a local high school with a heroics course too, and they were willing to take me even knowing I was quirkless, so in the end I decided as much as I loved the thought of U.A., I was gonna give this other place a shot.”

“I guess it worked out for you.”

“You could say that,” Deku smiled wryly. “I regretted it a lot when I heard All Might was gonna be teaching at U.A., it felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life, even though he wouldn’t have taught General Studies anyway. But then he came to visit us one day, I guess one of our teachers worked with him at one point and asked him to come visit? It was the best day of my life. He was so sweet and complimentary, and he was so surprised when he found out I didn’t have a quirk.”

He paused, and Katsuki tried his best to be patient. It was a little easier, knowing that Deku wasn’t quite as awful as Katsuki had thought he was for most of his life, but he still seemed to enjoy testing Katsuki’s patience.

“He came to see me, afterward. We talked for a bit. I thought my teacher had sent him since I was such a fanboy. And um, he told me... that he could give me a quirk. His quirk.”

Katsuki froze. He couldn’t even turn his head to see Deku’s expression, he was too busy watching the world blur before his eyes, his ears ringing with a high-pitched sound like he’d just blown off a massive explosion right in his own ears.

“I’m wasn’t supposed to tell anyone this, obviously. But All Might had one or two close friends who he entrusted with the secret, so I feel like it’s only fair that I can too. I’m trusting you to keep it to yourself.”

“Y-Yeah. Of course. You know I’m... not like that.”

“I know.”

“So uh... how does that... work?”

“It’s just his quirk- my quirk. It’s not like he can just transfer them at random, our quirk just... works that way.”

“Okay. So one day you’ll just... pick someone new?”

“Pretty much?” Deku said sheepishly. “When I find someone who’s a good fit.”

“Huh.”

Katsuki wasn’t sure how to process the information. It sounded ridiculous,sounded impossible, and yet Katsuki believed him, without hesitation. Deku hadn’t lied to him all those years, hadn’t been making fun of him, looking down on him, it had all been true, and then Deku had gone through that whole situation, all those changes, alone.

“I wish you’d told me,” he blurted out.

“I wish I had too,” Deku admitted. “I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me, even for that. And I was pretty sure All Might would kill me if I told anyone. My mother still doesn’t know, though she probably suspects something weird went on.”

“Am I... the only person you’ve told?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re forgiven, I guess.”

Deku smiled, his shoulders sagging in his relief, and Katsuki took the plushie back from him, inspecting it with a grimace. It looked way too cute for his merch, he should just blow the thing up while he had the chance.

“Thanks for telling me, or whatever.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for giving me a chance to explain.”

Katsuki just nodded, fiddling with the plushie a little more before he set it back down with all its friends. He reached for his phone again, pulling up that familiar window that he’d never be able to look at in the same way again, and his thumb trembled a little as it moved.

KillerKing: Go on a date with me.

There was a brief pause, while Izuku grabbed at his buzzing phone and stared at the screen for a moment in confusion, but then a smile broke through, stretching across his lips, and Katsuki knew he’d won.

SmashHit: I’d love to!!

KillerKing: Damn right you would.

─────

KillerKing: Your shift is over.

KillerKing: Asshole, come home.

KillerKing: We have rankings tomorrow.

KillerKing: Don’t make me call you, nerd.

SmashHit: Sorry!! I won’t be long, I swear, just need to finish this paperwork!!

KillerKing: I made katsudon.

SmashHit: Never mind, on my way!!

KillerKing: Get home safe, nerdass.

SmashHit: Will do!! See you soon!! Love you!!

KillerKing: Love you too.

KillerKing: Even if you are gonna be number two for a second time in a row.

SmashHit: Sorry can’t read your message busy walking home!

KillerKing: No response needed, I said what I said.

SmashHit: 😘

KillerKing:🖕

KillerKing: 🧡