Chapter Text
Deku couldn't remember how he'd gotten there, couldn't fathom how he'd been laying next to Kaminari one moment, and had woken up on the roof the next. Any memories between then and now were completely gone; like a college student getting blackout drunk at a frat party, he had no idea what had happened or if he had done something stupid to end up here. It was so windy on the rooftop, Deku's hair blowing every which way and tousled green locks whipping against his cheeks briefly before the breeze settled down a bit.
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him had him reflexively on his feet in a split second, fists raised and green lightning crackling all over his body as his quirk activated in preparation to fight.
"So you finally woke up...I was starting to think I was gonna have to kick you."
Deku's eyes widened slightly as he realized that it was Bakugou talking to him, those red irises boring into him like he was some disgusting, flea-ridden mutt.
"Kacchan, what- " Deku glanced around confusedly. "Why are we on the roof of the dorms?"
"I brought you here, you idiot." Bakugou said coldly. "Why did you kill Kirishima?"
Deku looked taken aback by the sudden accusation, his fighting posture still up but his quirk no longer activated.
"I didn't kill him, Kacchan, you know I didn't...." he said quietly.
"You expect me to believe that when you were the last person with him?!" Bakugou asked, gritting his teeth as he set off a small explosion. "You're working with the villains, aren't you? You're the UA traitor, aren't you?!"
"K-Kacchan, no!" Deku protested, putting his hands up in a show of submission. "Why are you acting like this? You know me! You know I would never join the villains, and I would definitely never hurt Kirishima! I don't know what's going on, okay? Nobody does! Just....just calm down, please!"
Bakugou stomped his way over to the freckled boy, swiftly grabbing him by the throat and squeezing just hard enough to show that he meant business.
"You've always been a fucking useless idiot, Deku..." he sneered.
Deku clawed at the hand around his throat, panic washing over him like one of Todoroki's flash freezes. What the hell had gotten into Bakugou?! This wasn't like him at all!
"Kacchan, stop it! You're better than this!" Deku said, trying to diffuse the situation as best he could, considering that his childhood friend could very easily blow his head off right now. "I know you're upset about what happened, I'm upset too! Kirishima and I had just started a relationship and then he was taken from me only a moment later! You don't think I'm hurting too? We're all confused, nothing is making any sense- nothing is....how did you bring me here without me knowing?! I don't even know if anything is real anymore! Tell me, Kacchan! Is anything real? Am I going crazy?! Did I lose it when I lost Kirishima?!"
Bakugou's cold gaze slowly shifted into a psychotic grin, hand tightening the grip around Deku's neck and lifting him up into the air until the boy was gasping and writhing helplessly to try to escape, feet kicking the air uselessly as if Deku were only a mere, quirkless child again. Suddenly he dropped Deku and took a step back, watching him cough and try to catch his breath.
"You're finally starting to get it now, huh?" He chuckled darkly. "Poor, pathetic little Deku, you've been so blissfully unaware of everything and accepting this false reality presented to you without a second thought. I honestly thought you would catch on sooner but you really don't think much about the details of your dreams, do you?"
"What are you talking about?" Deku asked, brows furrowed in confusion as he looked up at the other from where he was kneeling.
Bakugou's body seemed to glitch in and out of existence like the flicker of a digital candle, an evil smile stretching his lips so wide that they could split if he grinned any harder.
"I was getting bored watching you live in this bizarre dream I set up for you." He explained, voice sounding like Bakugou but the tone of it clearly belonged to another person. "You really didn't question anything at all! I have to say, I'm actually a little disappointed that you didn't pick up any of the hints I left for you. Didn't you find anyone's behaviour strange? It should have been obvious! It's no fun playing with you if you don't even know that you're supposed to be playing a game!"
Deku got to his feet, once again taking up a fighting posture, green lightning crackling wildly.
"You're telling me none of this is real?!" He asked, keeping his distance cautiously.
"Bingo!~ Man, you're the most clueless pro hero ever- and you're supposed to be number one? Ha!" Bakugou taunted. "Well, no matter, the game is coming to a close and you're almost out of time to wake up. In just a few more minutes, your comatose body will begin to shut down, and then your soul will remain trapped here in this false reality as it crumbles into nothing."
Deku lowered his fists once again, realizing how pointless it would be to fight with this fake Bakugou. This was a dream, the Bakugou here wasn't real, nothing was, and even if he tried to attack him, he would probably end up fighting tirelessly until he eventually fell into this villain's trap. He bit his lip, taking in the sight of the glitching blond before him, shuffling his feet as he contemplated his next plan of action. If he was comatose in the real world then how was he supposed to get back? Was the coma induced by this villain's quirk or by an injury sustained in battle?
"You said this is a false reality, right?" He asked quietly.
"Yes- oh but don't worry, a lot of it is constructed from what I was able to pull from your garbled memories." Bakugou said simply. "The whole turning into a girl thing never actually happened to you in real life, but a lot of personal things about your friends were plucked straight from your mind and twisted around to craft this strange dream. It's so easy to turn a simple admiration into romantic feelings- did you honestly think that many of your friends had feelings for you? I think being the number one hero has gotten to your head, all those fans making you feel special and wanted; how sad for you."
"If this is a dream, why can't I wake up?" Deku asked, trying to ignore how much those words rubbed him the wrong way.
He didn't care about fame, he just wanted to be a hero everyone could rely on.
"You could wake up whenever you wanted, you just never figured out how to." Bakugou shrugged. "Like I said, you really are clueless."
"Tell me how to wake up then." Deku said flatly.
"Straight to the point, huh?" Bakugou sighed, turning his back to the freckled boy in favor of staring up at the cloudy sky above them. "I've seen your memories, every last one of them, even the embarrassing ones you'd rather not remember. You also have so many sad memories, Deku.....your life has been one huge rollercoaster of sadness and celebration, and it looks like sadness has been taking a larger foothold in the past few years."
Bakugou glitched again, taking on the form of the blond when he was in middle school; shorter and less muscular than high school Bakugou yet still as intimidating as ever as he glanced over his shoulder at Deku.
"I have to say, I feel pretty sorry for you after seeing everything you've endured over the years." He said, turning back to completely face Deku again. "If I were you, I probably would have given up after finding out I was a quirkless brat, but you......you kept fighting to become a hero despite that. As much as I want you dead, I can't help being impressed by the sheer amount of willpower you have to keep going despite everything that gets thrown in your way. How do you do it? How do you keep fighting?"
"Because it's in my blood," Deku replied softly. "Being a hero is....rooted deep in the core of my being, it always has been, even when I felt helpless. I guess I just didn't understand the meaning of giving up."
The villain slowly approached Deku, eyeing him up and down before snapping his fingers.
Deku suddenly found himself much taller than the middle school version of Bakugou, a little over a foot taller to be more precise. His body had a lot more muscle, lean muscle, and so many more scars decorating his hands and arms; his left wrist sported a tattoo of his mother's favourite flower, two dates inked below it, one her date of birth, the other.....
Memories came flooding in, piecing together like fragments of broken glass. Deku dropped to his knees, clutching his head with a wavering groan as everything began to come back far too quickly.
"Don't resist it, I'm letting you have access to your memories..." the villain said, crouching down in front of the freckled man and snaking his fingers through unruly green hair. "There's a lot of messed up shit in those memories of yours, Deku, and you get to remember every painful thing that has ever happened in your life. All. Over. Again."
Deku weakly tried to bat the hand away from his head, though with the pounding in his skull, he found that the touch was surprisingly more comforting than he would have liked to admit. He allowed the villain to pet his head and coo soft taunts at him; it was easy to ignore the other's words and just focus on the fingers carding through his hair like he was some sort of domesticated animal. The memories just kept coming, some making him feel a sense of pride, others bringing him to tears, and the nostalgia that came with all of it almost made it feel like a mini-movie playing out in his mind.
At the end of his second year at UA, he had gathered up the courage to confess his feelings for Uraraka, only to be gently rejected when she told him that she had pushed her own feelings aside in their first year and that she was more focused on hero training than dating.
He discovered his bisexuality at the end of his second year as well, getting roped into a game of truth or dare with his classmates and shyly sharing his first kiss with Kaminari. About half the class had kissed each other by the end of that night, and even Iida, of all people, had been smooched by a couple of classmates after being persuaded to relax and let himself indulge in being a regular teenager.
Deku's memories of high school were fairly good; he had more internships and he dated on and off with a few people in his class, including Uraraka and Kirishima.
His father had come home from overseas to be there for his graduation, and shortly after graduation, Deku had become a team with Bakugou and Todoroki, the three of them quickly climbing the ranks as pros and starting their own hero agency with the help of Endeavor.
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu had dated all through third year and on, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they had gotten married four years after graduation. Deku was glad to be best man at their wedding.
Deku lost his virginity with Bakugou on his twenty-second birthday; both were pretty drunk at the time, a couple of virgins clumsily going through the motions to chase after pleasures they had never experienced before. They never clicked in a romantic sense since their rivalry held on so strong, and the sex was usually pretty rough, but they trusted each other enough to turn to one another whenever they needed to get out their frustrations, and that was enough for them. He wasn't sure if he should consider it hate fucking or casual sex, but regardless of label, Deku found the occasional romp in the sheets to be a good stress reliever.
The tragedies started rolling in as the years went on and it all started with the death of everyone's favorite retired hero, All Might. He'd passed quietly in his sleep due to the health complications he had been battling for so many years, though at the very least, everyone was glad that he had gone peacefully.
Deku took it pretty hard when he had failed to save a group of people from a collapsing building caused by a villain with an unknown quirk; four people had been crushed under the rubble and a fifth person had died on the way to the hospital from head trauma and excessive blood loss. He had his hands full with the villain and their henchmen, him being the only hero on the scene at the time. Nobody blamed him for what happened, they were all angry with the fact that the other heroes hadn't come quickly enough to back Deku up and rescue the people trapped in the destroyed building.
The following year, his mother took a trip overseas to see his father, but she never made it back home. The plane had crashed on the flight back, and when Deku saw it on the news, the world around him came to a halt. Everyone from his class had come to pay their respects at his mother's funeral and Bakugou made sure that Deku took time off from hero work in order to grieve and get back on his feet. They fought and quietly went on with their lives out of respect for Inko.
The memories kept flooding in and Deku could only handle so much at once, a low whine escaping him as he stayed a crumpled ball on the rooftop. The villain's hands still ran through his hair, a brief glance at the fake young face of his childhood friend making him feel sick to his stomach. That face didn't belong on that villain but the memories that came with that fake face stung more than he would like to admit.
"Why don't you take a swan dive off the rooftop? Maybe you'll be born with a quirk in the next life."
That voice had a sickly sweet tone that sent Deku's nerves on edge; it wasn't Bakugou, but the words were definitely his, words spoken from the past in an attempt to strike his spirit down.
"ENOUGH!" Deku yelled, shoving himself away from the fake Bakugou. "Don't you dare use Kacchan's face! Kacchan is different now! He's changed! He would never say something like that to me ever again!"
The villain smirked and stood up, looking down on Deku with a sick satisfaction laced in his eyes.
"And yet after all these years you still cling to that empty insult." the villain taunted. "Really, even though you knew he never meant it, to this day you still think about it from time to time, don't you? Why is that, hm?~"
"To strengthen my resolve," Deku replied, slowly getting to his feet. "To remind me that even at one of my lowest points, I still fought for what I believed in. If you think you can use that to tear me down, you're dead wrong! I'm still standing and I'll still keep fighting no matter what!"
His feet were moving before his mind could even catch up, but even as he ran at the villain with a burst of strength from One For All, arms wrapping around a thin waist in a bone-crushing hold, he knew that this was it. The wind rushed past his ears as he took them both over the edge of the rooftop, sailing through the air in what seemed like slow motion; the villain's eyes widened in fear, hands clawing at Deku's shoulders to no avail as they plummeted toward the ground.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the fake Bakugou screamed.
"WAKING UP!" Deku shouted, voice barely audible over the wind whipping past them as the ground quickly grew closer.
The freckled man closed his eyes, relaxing as he counted the seconds to impact, the villain in his arms screeching and setting off explosions against his shoulders and back.
3...2...1.......
Darkness.
Faint sounds reached Izuku's ears, his head feeling as though it were underwater. Was that some kind of beeping he heard? His body felt sore, eyelids heavy as sandbags as he cracked them open at a painfully slow pace, and god, the light was too bright for his retinas to handle but he had to know where he was.
"Izuku? Izuku, are you awake?"
Unfocused green eyes shifted to try to look toward the voice speaking to him, his vision swimming for a long moment before it began to settle.
Blond hair and dark eyes greeted him, facial features slowly coming more into focus the longer he allowed his eyes to adjust. Their chin might have had a bit of stubble, dark circles under their eyes, no more baby fat on their cheeks from his youth, but Izuku knew right away who he was looking at. Ojiro Mashirao, an old classmate of his from UA, leaned over from a chair at Izuku's bedside, onyx eyes shining with mixed emotions and the threat of tears as a warm hand gently slipped around his own drastically colder one. The faint beep of machines around him and the distinct smell of cleaning solution spoke for itself. He was in the hospital.
"Izuku?" Mashirao spoke up again. "You can hear me, right?"
Izuku wanted to speak but, with a breathing mask on his face and his throat feeling about as dry as a desert, he could only give a slight nod. Everything felt so slow.
"I was so worried, I..." Mashirao's voice wavered as a tear rolled down his cheek and his hands lightly squeezed Izuku's. "Damnit...don't scare me like that, Izuku."
Scarred fingers slowly curled to grasp Mashirao's hand, the only movement Izuku's sluggish body could accomplish at the moment since he was hooked up to so many wires and IV drips with who knew how many drugs. He didn't want to risk accidentally pulling out an IV. The soft glint of a silver band on Mashirao's ring finger caught Izuku's attention, a tiny sapphire set into it reflecting the light of the hospital room; Izuku wished he could sit up and pull the man into a hug but for now, all he could do was fondly stare at his husband and watch him try not to cry.
"Finally, you're awake, you damn idiot."
Izuku glanced over toward the other side of the room where another familiar face stood in the doorway. Red eyes, ash-blond hair, holding a brown paper bag and a cardboard cup holder tray with three coffee cups in it. Katsuki looked about as bored as ever, but the dark circles under his eyes told Izuku that his rival had been just as worried about him as Mashirao.
A head of brown hair poked out from behind Katsuki, doe eyes lighting up with joy at the sight of Izuku awake before pushing past the explosive blond with a bright smile.
"Deku, you're awake!" Ochako exclaimed, coming to stand at his bedside.
Her eyes quickly welled up with tears but it didn't stop the smile on her face from expressing just how happy she was to see that her friend was okay.
Katsuki moved to the side of the bed where Mashirao was sitting, wordlessly nudging a coffee cup against the man's forearm until he let go of Izuku's hand to take it with a small nod and a quiet thanks. Katsuki himself took a seat by the tail-quirked man and rolled his eyes as he listened to Ochako cry over Izuku.
"Has the doctor come in yet?" He asked quietly.
"Not yet," Mashirao replied. "He should soon, it's almost around that time."
Katsuki nodded and took a sip of his own coffee.
"You know, you're a lot more personable than you were back in high school..." Mashirao continued.
"Comes with being a hero...." Katsuki absently rubbed his thumb along the edge of his coffee cup, eyes following to where some of Izuku's IVs hooked into different machines before glancing at the other blond.
Mashirao nodded in understanding.
Being in the hero field sounded great when they were kids, but nothing could prepare them for what it was like to actually do full hero work. People died, citizens and heroes alike, and it was a pain that never got any easier to deal with no matter how many times it happened. A clear example of that was only a little over two years ago when Eijirou died; he'd pushed Katsuki out of the way of a villain with an incineration quirk and took the hit instead, even his hardening quirk was not enough to protect him from being cooked alive in a flash of blinding white heat. His scream was a sound that haunted everyone's nightmares to this day, Katsuki in particular.
"Any update on the villain that caused this?" Mashirao asked quietly.
Katsuki nodded.
"On the way up here, I got a call from the agency." He explained, trying to keep his voice low so as not to worry Izuku about things. "Guess the guy woke up not too long ago and is now being sent to Tartarus to serve his sentence. I haven't heard of a quirk effect lasting for this long though....I think things are beginning to change with the next generation; quirks are getting stronger, lasting longer, posing less issues as far as drawbacks go. I hate to say it but sooner or later, our generation won't be able to keep up."
Katsuki glanced down at Mashirao's tail, or at least the two-thirds left of it and the bionic attachment making up the last third. That was proof enough for the ever-growing distance in power between them and the next generation; even if there were more powerful heroes, it also meant there would be more powerful villains, and Katsuki had to wonder if maybe a world without quirks would be better in the end.
Soon enough, a nurse came in, followed by Izuku's doctor; they drew blood and replaced some of his IV fluids while getting rid of others. With Izuku being awake, he no longer needed the breathing mask so that was removed and he was given some water to drink, then was filled in on his current condition and the next measures to be taken. Aside from his quirk induced coma, he was stable and only needed to stay for another night so the hospital could monitor him and make sure he was safe to be discharged.
By the time the nurse and doctor left, Ochako had dozed off on the little couch by the window, her half-empty coffee cup precariously held in her hands. Katsuki leaned over and took the cup from her before she could drop it or accidentally make it float, setting it on the table beside the couch.
"I didn't buy her coffee so she could waste it." He sighed, turning his attention back to Izuku. "Oi, Deku, you sure took your sweet time waking up from that guy's quirk, what the hell happened?"
Izuku was quiet, emerald eyes staring down at his own hands as he tried to think of how to respond.
"Well," his voice was quiet and a little bit rough, even after drinking a decent amount of water. "This is going to sound weird, but that villain somehow blocked off my memories and created this fake world in my head. I was back in high school again but I was hit by a quirk that temporarily turned me into a girl for about a week, which was very awkward for multiple reasons. I won't go over the details since it's pretty embarrassing, but overall, it was just weird and messed up, and when that villain finally gave me access to my memories....."
Izuku trailed off, seeming to relive the moments in his head.
"Izuku..." Mashirao leaned forward and gently set his hand on top of his husband's, giving it a small squeeze. "What's wrong?"
The freckled man shook his head, eyes flicking up to meet Mashirao's with a small smile.
"Sorry, it's just....I'm still missing some small pieces of my memories." He explained. "I know you're my husband but I don't really remember how we got together in the first place....I just know that we've been together for a while now and that we just got married earlier this year."
Mashirao tilted his head in confusion before letting out a laugh.
"Wh-what's so funny?" Izuku asked, visibly flustered.
"Aw man, Izuku, you might not remember it but I sure do." Mashirao chuckled.
Katsuki rolled his eyes as he listened to the couple speak; he might not have cared much for all the sappy love stuff but he couldn't help being curious about how this otherwise unlikely pair got together. He hadn't exactly gotten to hear the story since he had been trying to keep distance from Izuku since Inko died, and it was only after Eijirou died that, with some help from Tenya, he eventually started talking to his rival again.
"We were roommates," Mashirao explained, smiling softly at Izuku.
"Oh my God, they were roommates." Katsuki said sarcastically.
"Kacchan, did you just- "
"Dunce Face isn't here to say it, and you know he would have." Katsuki snapped before leaning back slightly in his chair. "Anyway, continue your barf fest of a story."
Izuku smiled and shook his head, turning his attention back to his husband.
"As I was saying," Mashirao chuckled. "We were roommates sharing an apartment and we kind of had this calm, mutual living going for us, nothing special, just a normal roommate relationship where I'd complain about you using up all the hot water and you'd whine about me walking on the floors after you had just mopped. I think it was about two years of us living together before I got into the battle that cost me part of my tail....you did anything and everything you could to help me through it, even when you were exhausted after fighting your own battles. You were there for me through everything; my surgeries, rehabilitation, my mental breakdowns, getting my bionic tail attachment...you took care of me every step of the way and kept me fighting, even when I felt helpless. Eventually, it got to a point where I couldn't help but look at you and think 'What would I do without this man?'."
Izuku smiled at that, unable to help the blush that crossed his face; hearing his husband talk about this was just so sweet, and seeing the soft, sentimental look in Mashirao's eyes, he immediately knew why he had married this man.
"You were cooking dinner one night," Mashirao continued, a smile tugging at his lips at the memory. "I don't remember what you were making, I just remember you put something in the oven, and for some reason, at that moment, I couldn't hold back anymore. I just grabbed you by your apron and kissed you hard...then one thing led to another and......well, long story short, we kind of made a mess of the kitchen and ended up having to order take out because we forgot about the food in the oven."
"You two banged on every surface in the kitchen, didn't you?" Katsuki snickered.
"Kacchan!" Izuku squeaked, cheeks flushing bright red.
He looked like a strawberry.
"Deku, you're thirty-two, isn't it time you stopped getting flustered over things like that?" Katsuki sighed.
"I don't know, Katsuki, isn't it time you got a better hobby than picking on my husband?" Mashirao cut in with a frown.
Katsuki went quiet at that, giving a slight glare in response.
"Anyway," Mashirao continued, looking to Izuku once again. "I wasn't even sure if- "
The door opened at that moment, a tall man with dark blue hair and glasses entering with a small bouquet of flowers in hand; he paused as he realized there were multiple people in the room.
"Katsuki, Mashirao, I didn't realize you were still here..." he said, closing the door quietly. "Apologies if I'm interrupting you, Ochako messaged me earlier to let me know that Izuku was awake, but it seems you all chose to stay. I would have been here sooner but I had patrols to finish."
Izuku smiled and lifted his hand slightly as a way of waving to his friend, being careful of the IV still attached to him for the time being.
"Hey, Tenya, sorry if I worried you." He said sheepishly.
"By this point, I really shouldn't be surprised that you managed to get yourself into trouble again." Tenya chided, though there was a small smile tugging at his lips despite his words.
"That nerd has always been a magnet for trouble." Katsuki interjected, gesturing to Izuku as if to make his point.
"You say that as if you aren't the same way." Tenya replied.
Mashirao looked to Katsuki with a smirk, nudging the explosive blond.
"He's got you there." He teased.
"You're lucky we're in a hospital or I'd wipe that smug look off your face." Katsuki grumbled, crossing his arms.
Tenya came closer and rested a hand on Katsuki's shoulder, drawing the blond's eyes up to meet his.
"No need to be hostile, Katsuki, it's just friendly banter." Tenya said softly.
Katsuki averted his gaze, the tips of his ears turning red as he mumbled something under his breath.
Tenya moved his hand from Katsuki's shoulder to his chin, slowly tipping it up; blue eyes met red expectantly.
"Okay, fine, I'm sorry." Katsuki huffed, rolling his eyes.
"You've been doing well with your therapy over the past couple of years, don't go making it a wasted effort because of something trivial." Tenya said, softly brushing his thumb along Katsuki's chin before letting go.
Izuku and Mashirao looked to each other in confusion, not quite sure what was transpiring before them.
"Uh Kacchan...?" Izuku spoke up.
Katsuki looked to the freckled man, brow raised.
"Are.....you and Tenya...dating?" Izuku asked hesitantly.
"I don't know if I would call it- " Katsuki started.
"Katsuki, I got you back on your feet and helped set you up with therapy for the past two years." Tenya cut in. "We've been sleeping together for the past five months, we've gone out countless times, and you've just moved in with me this past week, so yes, we are dating. Are you saying you're having doubts about all of this?"
"Wh- no!" Katsuki exclaimed, his face turning bright red in both anger and embarrassment. "This...this just isn't the time to talk about our relationship! I told you I didn't want to go public with it yet, and here you are, blabbing about it to Deku of all people- he can't keep a secret for shit, Tenya! I'd give it a month max before he spills the news!"
"Are you ashamed of being with me?" Tenya's shoulders dropped at the question, thinly masked hurt crossing his features.
Katsuki paused at that, taking a moment to compose himself.
"No....." he sighed, trying to word himself in a way that hopefully wouldn't make things worse.
Therapy, he needed to remember his therapy; the room was silent as he tried to think carefully about what to say, all eyes on him aside from a sleeping Ochako.
"I...." the words didn't want to come out but he knew he needed to say something before he ended up hurting Tenya. "It's been.....almost three years since...Eijirou....."
Tenya listened quietly, being patient with the blond; he knew how hard Katsuki was trying to properly express himself and he was proud of how far Katsuki had come with it in the past two years. Even if it was slow, they were making progress and that was what mattered.
Katsuki dug his thumb nail into the lid of his empty coffee cup, creating a crescent moon indent in the plastic. Red eyes stared at the indent for a few seconds before flicking up to meet blue once again.
"Is three years too soon to move on?" He asked quietly. "Won't people think.......won't they think I'm...desperate? Will they think that...I didn't love Eijirou?"
Tenya shook his head, handing the bouquet of flowers to Mashirao before gently taking the empty coffee cup from Katsuki's hands and setting it aside, then taking those same hands into his own, running his thumbs over scarred knuckles.
"Katsuki, no one would ever think that of you, and if they did, they would have to answer to me. I know you loved him, everyone knows you loved him even if you never publicly stated it." He said softly. "Healing has no specific time limit and neither does love, but I'm sure you already know that. Thank you for being honest with me and putting your trust in me, it means everything that you're communicating these concerns."
Katsuki just nodded, blush still colouring his cheeks as he took in the praise; Tenya's patience with him over the past few years had been an absolute blessing, because before Tenya, Izuku and Eijirou were the only other people to take their time with him. He really appreciated that kind of dedication.
"If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you two get together?" Mashirao asked.
Katsuki rolled his eyes as he glanced over at the other blond, looking partially annoyed by the question but decided to answer it anyway.
"You want to know? Fine. Five months ago my therapist said I needed a good outlet for my aggression." He explained. "I already knew my best outlet was sex, so because this fucker,"
He gestured to Tenya.
"Was the one that dragged me into doing therapy in the first place, I propositioned him. He told me he wasn't going to sleep with someone he wasn't dating and since I wasn't about to waste time hunting down someone else, I reluctantly agreed to try it out. Turns out that under all that prim and proper bullshit, he's actually one kinky bastard; gave me everything I needed and more, and eventually after a few months, I realized I was starting to catch feelings. It's not much of a story but there you have it, that's it."
Izuku and Mashirao looked to each other before looking to a very red-faced Tenya as though to ask if that was true.
"Well, that...that may be the basis of it but there's still more to it than that..." Tenya mumbled shyly. "After Eijirou's funeral, he holed up in his apartment for weeks and I got worried. Even though he wouldn't answer the door, I kept leaving messages in his voicemail and care packages at his door, until one day, he slid a grocery list out from the mail slot. Of course, I went out to get what he had listed and brought it back for him, then that went on for a couple of weeks before he ended up letting me in and cooking me dinner as a thanks for looking out for him...so dinner at Katsuki's became a regular thing and before I knew it, I was over there almost every night."
"You were a persistent bastard and I didn't want to be indebted to you." Katsuki huffed.
"You know I wouldn't have asked for anything in return, I only wanted to make sure you were alright." Tenya replied. "And for the record, I didn't drag you into therapy, I recommended it to you and you asked me to help you. You're also forgetting the movie nights and coffee dates and late night conversations..."
Katsuki got up from his seat and headed over to wake up Ochako.
"Well excuse me for finding it embarrassing to talk about all that gushy stuff, I'm not as openly romantic as you are. Let's get going, I don't have the energy to sit here and talk about all the other sappy shit, we can talk about this at home." He grumbled, shaking the woman's shoulder.
Ochako groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Are we leaving?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, we are." Katsuki replied, handing her her coffee cup before snatching Tenya by the wrist and wordlessly pulling him to the door.
Tenya stumbled over his own feet for a couple of steps but followed easily enough, waving goodbye to Izuku and Mashirao.
"Bye Mashirao, bye Deku," Ochako said tiredly as she shuffled out after Katsuki and Tenya.
Once they were gone, Mashirao and Izuku looked to each other again in disbelief.
"That was a prank, right?" Mashirao asked, raising a brow.
"Kacchan might be sarcastic and mean sometimes but pranks aren't really his thing." Izuku replied. "I'm just as surprised as you are."
"Damn, if someone told me fifteen years ago that those two would be dating in their early thirties, I would think they were crazy." Mashirao chuckled.
"Same here...."
They both burst out laughing at that, though Izuku's was short lived since it irritated his still sensitive throat.
"I'm glad you're okay, Izuku." Mashirao said softly. "You were out for four days and no one knew what that villain's quirk had done to you....everyone was so worried about you."
"Apparently I was only minutes away from organ failure according to that villain....I'm glad that jumping off the roof actually worked to wake me up." Izuku said quietly.
Mashirao's eyes widened upon hearing that and he immediately reached over to pinch his husband's cheek.
"Don't you dare ever do that again." He chided. "What if that had killed you? Did you even think of that possibility? Damnit Izuku, I don't want to lose you over something so stupid."
"Mashirao, I'm sorry!" Izuku squeaked. "I had to take a risk, if I didn't, I wouldn't be awake right now."
"You're lucky it actually worked....I really don't know what I would do without you." Mashirao sighed, gently cupping the cheek he had just pinched.
Izuku closed his eyes for a moment, nuzzling into the warm touch of his husband's hand.
"I'm not going anywhere..." he said softly. "I promised you I was going to be there for you no matter what, and that's a promise I intend to keep. I'll fight with everything I've got to make sure I come back home to you."
"Even if you know I'll pinch you for doing dumb things?" Mashirao asked.
"Yeah....even then." Izuku chuckled. "But even if I do dumb things to make you worried, I know you'll always take care of me."
The freckled man leaned over and carefully reached a hand up, scarred and crooked fingers grazing over the bit of stubble along Mashirao's jaw. He watched as his husband sighed and leaned in to the soft touch, and he couldn't help the flutter in his chest as he became filled with a sense of endearment.
"I love you..." Mashirao whispered.
Izuku smiled softly and leaned in a little more, semi-chapped lips meeting with soft ones that tasted slightly of coffee and the sweet promise of forever. It might have only lasted a moment, but even as he pulled away, he knew he wouldn't trade that feeling for the world.
"I love you too, Mashirao."