Chapter Text
Dynamight used an explosion to flip over an incoming villain, blasting the guy in the back and knocking him out just as his partner stepped back into the right part of the city. Stranger was American, with a portal creation/teleportation quirk and an unhealthy obsession with an old fictional character with a similar ability. Apparently Stranger had based his name and costume off of the guy. Dynamight thought it was kind of silly, but he couldn't really talk- he'd done the same thing minus the costuming part. So had Kirishima, and anything Kirishima did was cool in Dynamight's mind.
"Dynamight, there you are! I thought I got the wrong city for a minute."
"Wouldn't be the first time, you overgrown spaghetti noodle."
Stranger crossed his arms over his chest, pretending to be offended.
"Hey! I am not that skinny! I'm just tall!"
Dynamight sighed. "Believe me, I know."
Dynamight wasn't usually one to care about how little he'd grown since high school. It helped his quirk to not have to push a larger body into the air, but he did wish he'd at least cracked 5'10 instead of petering out around 5'9½. Especially since Stranger was 6'4 and thin, making Dynamight look even smaller than he was when they had to take pictures together.
Stranger spoke again, shaking Dynamight from his thoughts.
"You excited to get back to HQ? I heard today's your last day in the States."
Dynamight nodded.
"As much as I hate to admit it I kinda miss my idiots back home. I wonder how they're doing."
Stranger giggled. "If they're anything like you they're doing amazing. Probably so busy signing autographs and kicking butt they haven't realized you're gone."
Dynamight flinched, but hid it as a muscle spasm from overusing his quirk. Stranger didn't know it but he'd gotten pretty close to one of Dynamight's biggest fears- that his friends had realized how awful he'd been back in high school and wouldn't want to be around him anymore. Why would they, really? His default response was 'fuck you' even if that's not what he meant. It would hurt if the others left him, but frick.....Kirishima. If Kirishima didn't want to be around him anymore Dynamight didn't know what he'd do. Kirishima was the one he'd stayed in contact with everyone through, since the American Hero Commission didn't allow international communication for foreign heroes. (One too many villains had snuck in under the guise of heroics for that) All online hero accounts were monitored, so Dynamight had been forced to send letters through his aunt, who sent them to Kirishima's aunt, who gave them to Kirishima. Since they were both related to known heroes, they were questioned about it, but they'd played it off as a pen-pal relationship and had never been bothered again.
Dynamight tried to keep Kirishima up to date on the events of his life in America, from how weird it was that everyone greeted him with a handshake and a 'nice to meet you, Katsuki' to how he'd gotten fluent in English in two months because of how terrible everyone else's Japanese was. Kirishima had gotten a kick out of some of the mistakes Dynamight had written down for him.
Back at the hero base he'd been staying at for the last four years, Bakugou sighed happily as he pulled off the last pieces of his costume. Next to him, Stranger shrugged into a hoodie and a pair of jeans, turning back into 'mild-mannered Matthew Harding' as he'd once (jokingly) described himself.
"So Katsuki, what're you gonna do first when you get back home?"
Katsuki (because that was how he thought of himself now even though it weirded him out every time he thought about it) shrugged.
"Probably sleep. I'll be pretty jet-lagged, it's a long flight."
"Fair, fair. After you sleep then. You finally gonna tell that redhead of yours you like him?"
Katsuki froze. He'd forgotten about that conversation.
"Shut up Harding."
"Sorry! I forgot how badly constipated your emotions are."
Katsuki whacked him upside the head.
"I feel plenty I'm just not good at expressing it. Now come on, I want to get food before I pass out."
Matthew followed him rubbing his head. It was a fairly long walk to the 'Hero Café' as it was affectionately named, but it was filled with conversation as Katsuki said his goodbyes to the myriad heroes and staff members he'd met on his exchange. Eventually though, it was just him and Matthew and a giant sushi platter that while a decent attempt, came nowhere near the level of what he had at home.
"Seriously though, you need to tell him." Matthew said out of the blue. "You said you'd liked him since your first year of high school, right? That's eight years-"
"Seven. Japanese high school is three years."
"Seven years then, and you haven't done anything besides one random comment during that Pride celebration."
Katsuki winced. He remembered that.
It'd been his second year in America, and Matthew had dragged him along to a pride festival as 'team bonding and cultural immersion.' The first day Katsuki kind of just tagged along as Matthew and his boyfriend walked around, but when Matthew's boyfriend had changed the colors of Matthew's costume into the bi flag Katsuki asked him of he'd make his own costume into a pride flag as well. The next day they'd walked around in their pride flag costumes and a civilian had asked him if he was gay. Without thinking Katsuki had responded 'I went to high school with Red Riot, how could I not be?' before realizing the girl had been filming a few hours later once he got back to their hotel room and saw the clip as the #1 trending item online. The subject had never come up in any of the letters Kirishima sent that month but it was unlikely that he didn't know about it.
"Yeah.....still can't believe I said that."
Matthew patted Katsuki's arm gently.
"Hey don't worry about it too much. It was two years ago remember? He's probably forgotten about it by now. Besides, you've been in love with him for so long it's amazing you've only slipped up once."
"Yeah well Japan has different views on this sort of stuff, it's still less okay to be- hey wait did you say 'love?'"
Matthew blinked.
"Um. Yes? If you like someone for longer than four months you're in love with them, it's a chemical thing in the brain. Did you not know this?"
Katsuki dragged his fingers through his hair, freaking out a little.
"No! Frick, I'm going home today, I'm gonna see him in less than 24 hours and I find out I'm in freaking love with him?!! How the heck am I supposed to face him?!"
Matthew reached out again and set a calming hand on Katsuki's shoulder.
"Dude, relax. You're going to be fine. Just promise me you won't take too long to tell him, ok? From what you've told me I'd say you've got a pretty good chance, and you don't want to miss out on a wonderful relationship because of a few insecurities and societal pressure. Trust me, I know."
Katsuki nodded.
'Alright. I'll try."
"Remember, if you need anything you can just call me. The Commission doesn't block us talking once you're back in Japan."
"Understood. Now eat your sushi or I'll eat it for you."
Matthew grinned.
"Yessir."
A few hours later goodbyes had been said, luggage loaded and a plane boarded and Katsuki was on his way home. Curling into his seat a little bit, he thought of the last letter he'd sent. A smirk spread across his face as he realized he'd forgotten to mention that he was coming home. Come to think of it, it'd been a week since he sent that letter. Since he usually sent one every week that made his arrival perfect timing. Awesome, he thought. I can deliver this one in person.