Chapter Text
Long ago, in a land hidden somewhere between rolling hills and morning mist, there was a place that seemed to escape the ordinary rules of the world.
Forests stretched endlessly within tall, noble trees that intertwine their branches high above, forming a green canopy, which golden sunlight filtered gently. The light fell softly onto the ground, dancing across moss, stones and tiny flowers hidden within the grass. Streams murmured lazily, leading to small waterfalls where water cascaded down rocks like silver threads, breaking into thousands of shimmering droplets.
The forest was a place where the silence was not empty but soft and comforting, gently wrapping around everything. Only the wild animals lived within it, not breaking the peace, but becoming a natural part of it.
Deers moved slowly between the trees, their steps light, almost soundless, as if they didn’t want to disturb the stillness around them. Birds rested on branches, singing softly, their gentle melodies blending seamlessly with the rustle of leaves, creating a soothing harmony that seemed to calm everything it touched.
At the edge of this gentle woodland, almost hidden among the trees, stood a small village.
From afar, it seemed just as quiet as the forest, but with every step closer, you could see it was full of life.
People filled the streets with their voices blending with laughter, daily conversations and a constant motion that never truly faded. Some hurried along with their work, others paused to exchange a few words with neighbors, while children ran between them, bringing even more energy into the town. Stone paths wound between modest homes with colorful shutters, while the air carried the scent of freshly baked bread and wood burning in fireplaces.
At the edge of the village stood a humble cottage surrounded by wildflowers and soft grass.
Its walls leaned slightly with age and its simple roof provided shelter from every storm. Beside it stood an old wooden water wheel, turning slowly under the flow of a nearby stream, producing a quiet, soothing rhythm. In this humble home another peaceful morning began. Soft sunlight filtered through the windows, illuminating the small interior and dancing across the wooden floor.
“Mom, I’m heading into town!” a warm, slightly energetic voice called out.
Izuku appeared in the doorway, adjusting the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder. There was something bright in his eyes… a curiosity about the world that never seemed to fade.
“Okay honey! Be careful,” Inko replied gently, peeking out from behind the kitchen counter with a warm smile.
“Of course mom!” he answered quickly, returning the smile.
With a soft creak of the door, he stepped outside and made his way down the path toward the town. He walked with a light step, as if every day held something new waiting to be discovered.
Izuku looked as cheerful and energetic as always — his green, slightly curly hair fell messily around his face, shifting softly with each movement. His big, emerald eyes sparkled with excitement and his freckled face was brightened by a wide, sincere smile.
He was wearing a light beige shirt with the sleeves rolled up, giving him a casual look. He had a loose green plaid pants that reached mid-calf, held up by dark suspenders. On his feet, he wore simple brown shoes and dark socks, creating a neat outfit.
He and his mother were not wealthy. They lived modestly — their home was small, their clothes were worn for years (looking as best as they could) and their meals were simple, though always prepared with warmth and care.
Sometimes, they had to give up small comforts that others took for granted. New things were rare and every coin spent was thoughtfully considered.
Izuku’s father had left them when he was only three years old. He didn’t remember his face, his voice or his warmth (if he had ever known him at all).
That memory remained like an empty space he could never quite fill.
But even after that he was never truly alone.
His mother was everything to him. A kind, loving woman with a big heart, doing everything she could, even when it was hard, raised her son as best as she could.
Now, nineteen years old, Izuku has grown into a gentle, kind and intelligent young man.
Someone she could truly be proud of.
And even if their life wasn’t perfect, Izuku never felt like something was missing.
He was happy with what he had.
Sometimes, he dreamed of seeing the world, exploring distant lands and places he only knew from books and stories.
Sometimes maybe even… of having a family of his own… a quiet, warm home, something steady and his…
But… that always felt unreal.
So instead, he smiled and kept walking, holding onto the moment, appreciating every day he was given.
Stepping into the village, Izuku was instantly surrounded by sounds of conversations, laughter and footsteps echoing softly against the stone paths. People passed by him, greeting him with small nods or warm words and Izuku returned each one with the same natural kindness. And then the familiar smell of freshly baked bread hit him. It was warm and comforting, impossible to mistake. It mixed with the scent of other foods and spices, almost guiding him toward a familiar place. As he passed by the bakery, he slowed down, a moment later, a familiar face appeared in the doorway.
“Izuku!” Ochaco called out cheerfully, leaning against the frame.
“Hey, Ochaco!” he replied with a smile, stepping closer.
“Perfect timing!” she said, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him toward the counter, “My dad’s trying a new recipe. A bread with blueberries! You have to try it!”
“Blueberries?” Izuku blinked, already curious, “Wait, like— baked inside?”
“Yeah! And it smells amazing, right?” she added, nudging the plate closer to him, clearly excited for his reaction. Izuku took a bite without hesitation.
His eyes nearly lit up as the taste spread across his tongue. The sweetness of the berries mixed with the softness of fresh bread made him look like he had just discovered something incredible.
“Ochaco, this is—” he started, almost at a loss for words, glancing at her like he needed to make sure she knew how serious he was, “This is amazing!”
“Right?!” she beamed, leaning forward, “I told him to try something new and he actually listened this time!”
Without waiting, Izuku reached for another piece and then another, as if he had completely forgotten about everything else.
“This texture— it’s so soft, but not too soft— and the berries aren’t too sweet either— it’s balanced perfectly—” he rambled between bites, talking faster the more excited he got, “How did he even manage that? Did he change the flour or—”
Ochaco laughed, raising her hands slightly as if surrendering to his rambling.
“I have no idea! I just ate it!”
Izuku let out a small laugh, clearly impressed.
“Your dad is a genius, seriously! This might be the best bread I’ve ever had!”
“Wow, high praise,” she teased lightly, crossing her arms with a smirk, “Should I tell him that or are you gonna come back and say it yourself?”
“I— I mean— yeah! I could— I wouldn’t mind—” Izuku stumbled a bit, clearly caught off guard by the idea.
They both smiled and she tilted her head, studying him, her expression softening just a little as she watched him calm down.
“So, where are you off to this time?”
“To the library,” he answered immediately, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ochaco raised an eyebrow, looking at him with amusement.
“Again?? God that’s never going to change… Books will always be your obsession.”
Izuku let out a small, slightly embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yea… you’re right. But seriously, books are amazing! Each one is like a completely different world, a different life, full of stories and people we’d never get to know otherwise—”
Ochaco smiled knowingly, nodding as if she had heard this a hundred times before.
“And let me guess—”
“And that feeling when you start reading and suddenly nothing else matters because you’re inside the story, experiencing everything with the characters and—”
“And you forget to eat, sleep and exist?” she finished for him, grinning.
Izuku paused, then laughed softly, a little sheepish now, “Yeah… That too.”
“Ochaco! I need your help!” a loud voice suddenly called from the back, urgency cutting through the moment.
“I’m coming!” she called back, before looking at Izuku again with an apologetic smile, “Sorryyy, duty calls. Gotta go.”
“Yeah, of course,” Izuku said quickly, shaking his head lightly, “Don’t worry about it.”
Ochaco took a step back, but before disappearing behind the door, she glanced at him one more time.
“Hey— don’t get lost in those books again, okay?”
Izuku smiled softly.
“No promises.”
She laughed slightly, “Yeah, figured. See you later, Izuku!”
“See you!”
He lingered for just a moment longer before continuing on his way, heading toward the library.
He hadn’t gone far when—
“Please remain calm and form a proper line! Everyone will be served in order!” a loud, firm voice rang out, the one Izuku recognized instantly.
He smiled to himself.
“Iida…”
As he approached the familiar stall filled with herbs and teas, he noticed it was open as usual in the morning. However, something seemed off this time — the line had slowed to a halt, people shifting impatiently as voices started overlapping.
“Ma’am, there is a limit of one portion per person for this blend! It is a matter of fairness for all customers!” Iida spoke quickly, gesturing sharply with his hands.
“But I got here early!” the woman argued immediately, “Why should I get less just because other people came later?”
“Because that is precisely how fairness works!” Iida shot back, adjusting his glasses, “Everyone is entitled to an equal share—”
“Equal share doesn’t mean a tiny portion!”
“We can prepare a similar blend for you. This one is limited,” Shoto said quietly, already reaching for another jar without even looking up, “The difference in taste is minimal.”
“I don’t want similar! I want that one!”
“…It is the same base,” Shoto added, tilting the jar slightly as if to show her, “only a slight variation in the dried berries.”
“I said I don’t care about that!”
Iida straightened immediately, “Please understand that rules exist for a reason!”
“And customers exist too!”
“And chaos exists when rules are ignored!”
Shoto let out a quiet sigh.
“Iida, raising your voice will not improve the situation.”
“And allowing disorder certainly will not either!”
Izuku paused beside them, watching, his eyes moving quickly between all three, already trying to piece together something that would work for everyone.
“Umm… excuse me,” he said, stepping a little closer, lifting his hand slightly like he didn’t want to interrupt too much, “Maybe— maybe we could try something else?”
All three of them turned to look at him. Izuku scratched the back of his neck slightly, as he always did when trying to come up with an idea.
“Well— uh— if that blend is limited… maybe you could split one portion into two smaller ones? So it’s still within the rules, but uh—she still gets to try it?”
“…Split it?” the woman repeated, skeptical.
“Y-yeah! I mean it wouldn’t be as much, but you’d still get the same taste and— and then maybe later you could come back for more if there’s another batch?” he glanced quickly at Iida, “That way the rules are still followed, right?”
Iida froze for a moment, clearly processing.
“That… would maintain distribution fairness…”
“And prevent further delay,” Shoto added calmly.
The woman hesitated, “…So I’d still get some of it?”
“Yes!” Izuku nodded quickly, “Just— not all at once.”
“Hmph…” She looked between them, “…Fine. But only because I’ve been waiting.”
“That is acceptable,” Iida said immediately, straightening with renewed confidence, relieved to have a solution that still followed structure.
Without wasting any time, Shoto began preparing the drink, his movements smooth and precise, completely unaffected by the earlier tension. Izuku let out a small breath, only now realizing he had been holding it the entire time.
Moments later, Shoto handed over the cup.
“Here.”
The woman took it, still slightly tense but after taking a sip, her expression softened almost instantly.
“Alright… that’s… actually really good.”
The line began moving again, the earlier tension dissolving into quiet chatter and movement.
Shoto looked back at Izuku.
“Thank you, Izuku.”
“No problem, Shoto!” Izuku smiled, a bit brighter now that everything was resolved.
“Are you waiting in line for tea?”
“Nooo, just passing by today. I’m heading to the library… But I’ll definitely come by another time!”
“You say that often.”
“Okay, yeah maybe I do haha…”
“You should commit to it,” Iida said seriously.
“I’ll try!”
Shoto gave a small nod, “We’ll be here.”
Izuku raised his hand in a short wave, lingering just a moment longer before turning away and continuing his path, leaving the noise of the market behind.
After a while he reached the main square which was the busiest place in the entire town. It was filled with constant noise — carts rolled by one after another, wheels creaking against the stone, while animals were led through the streets and added their own sounds to the mix. People talked loudly, laughed loudly, everything blending into one lively chaos.
At the center stood a fountain, its water flowing gently. It was a quiet contrast to this surrounding bustle. Izuku was just about to pass it when something caught his attention. A large flock of sheep was making its way through the crowd. Walking behind them was Tsuyu, calm as always, watching over the animals with a steady gaze.
“Tsuyu!” he called out, raising his hand.
She turned toward him and gave a small wave.
“Hey Izuku!” she called back, continuing on without slowing down, guiding the flock toward her farm.
Izuku smiled softly and kept walking.
With every step, the noise of the square faded, replaced by the quiet calm of a less crowded part of town. There, slightly removed from everything else, stood a small library. He pushed the door open and the soft chime of a bell rang out, announcing his arrival.
“Good morning Izuku,” came a familiar voice.
The elderly man who worked at the library didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. He was standing by a shelf, arranging books.
“Good morning sir!” Izuku replied cheerfully, stepping closer, “Did any new books come in?”
The man chuckled softly, placing a book back on the shelf.
“Izuku… nothing new could have arrived in the two days while you weren’t here.”
Izuku laughed lightly, a bit embarrassed.
“Oh right haha… Well, that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find something anyway.”
He walked along the shelf, fingers brushing against the spines of the books, until he picked one out.
“Didn’t you borrow that one five times already?” the librarian said with a small smile.
Izuku looked at the book fondly, “I really loooove this one.”
The old man studied him for a moment before smiling gently again.
“In that case… you can keep it.”
Izuku blinked in surprise, “Really?!”
“Really.”
For a moment, he just stared, as if making sure he heard correctly and then his face lit up with pure joy.
“Oh my god! Thank you so much!”
He bounced slightly in place, hugging the book to his chest before heading toward the door.
“Thank you once again and have a nice day sir!”
“You too, Izuku!”
The door closed behind him with the soft sound of the bell and he started walking with a book in his hands and a smile he couldn’t hide.
Izuku slowed his pace, allowing himself for a quiet moment. He walked slowly through the town, taking in everything around him — the people, the colorful houses, the light reflecting off the windows.
This village really was beautiful.
Surrounded by forests, green fields and distant mountains, it felt almost like something out of a story. Izuku knew he was lucky to live here and for a moment, everything felt calm… and simple… like nothing could disturb it.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice someone stepping right into his path. They collided and his book slipped from his hands and fell to the ground.
“Oh!—” Izuku stepped back, quickly looking around.
“Midoriya!” a familiar voice called, far too confident.
Standing in front of him was Neito.
Tall and clearly well-built with confidence that was impossible to ignore. His light blonde hair was tied back into a short ponytail, with a few loose strands falling across his face, emphasizing his sharp features. His pale eyes carried a certain superiority, as if everything around him existed merely for his amusement.
A faint, self-assured smile lingered on his lips — the kind that was more irritating than charming.
The way he stood, the way he moved, even the way he looked at others… everything about him was irritating. He knew exactly how much attention he attracted… and he enjoyed every second of it.
But lately, his attention has been focused on one particular person…
Izuku.
At every possible opportunity, he approached him or appeared out of nowhere with that same annoying confident smile, always asking him out. And every single time, he was met with rejection.
And yet… he never stopped trying.
“What a coincidence,” Monoma added with a smirk, tilting his head like this meeting was entirely intentional.
“Hey Neito…” Izuku replied, already distracted, looking for his book.
He spotted it and immediately moved to pick it up—
“Hm? What’s this?” Monoma said, picking it up and quickly flipping through the pages.
“Ughhh… How can you even read something like this?” he scoffed, glancing over the pages with clear disinterest, “There aren’t even any pictures.”
“Because it’s an interesting story,” Izuku said, trying to keep his tone calm, “You can imagine everything,” he reached out his hand, “Can I have it back?”
Monoma didn’t return it. Instead, he shut the book with a light snap and let out a dramatic sigh.
“Sighhh… Seriously, Midoriya… You should really stop focusing only on books.”
“…I don’t only focus on books,” Izuku replied, his hand still raised and waiting.
“Oh?” Monoma smirked, stepping a little closer, “Could’ve fooled me.”
He leaned in slightly.
“You’re always alone… always buried in pages… Doesn’t that get boring?”
“…My book.”
“Or…”
He stepped even closer and grabbed Izuku by the shoulder with one hand.
“Come with me,” he said smoothly, like it wasn’t even a question, “Let’s go to the bar, have a drink, experience some real life…”
“I’m not—”
Without warning, he tossed the book and it landed straight in the mud.
Izuku froze.
“What are you doing?!” he blurted out.
He immediately pulled away from his grip and rushed to pick it up, handling it carefully as if it were fragile. He quickly started brushing the dirt off the cover, checking the pages like he was afraid they’d tear.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said firmly, focused on the book, not even looking at Monoma.
“Oh, come on—” Monoma stepped in front of him again, blocking his path, “It’s just one outing—”
“I said no.”
Izuku didn’t even look at him and simply walked past him.
Monoma turned, watching him leave with a slight frown.
“Stubborn…” he muttered under his breath, “Seriously, Midoriya, how many times are you going to refuse? I’m trying to give you a good, wealthy life… Honestly, what’s wrong with you? How can he say ‘no’ to me?!”
He let out a long sigh, shaking his head.
“He’ll give in eventually…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
When Izuku was already close to his home, he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the basement.
He paused for a moment and heard the creaking metallic. He frowned slightly and stepped closer, opening the small door leading downstairs.
“Mom?”
The air inside was warmer, filled with the faint smell of fabric and oil. Inko was sitting hunched over her sewing machine, completely focused, though clearly exhausted. Her hands were slightly dirty from work and frustration was written plainly across her face and her movements just a little too sharp.
Less than two months ago, they had received news about a competition in a nearby town. The best machine could win a large sum of money.
Inko hadn’t hesitated for a second.
She knew how much winning could help them, how many of their struggles could ease, how much it could change their everyday life.
But that wasn’t the only thing on her mind.
She knew about Izuku's quiet longing to see the world, truly experience it, to stand in those distant lands he only knew from stories. She saw it in his eyes when he talked about books, in the way his face lit up when he spoke about places he had never seen.
She wanted to give that to him.
She wanted to see his dreams become more than just words written on pages.
Even if it meant exhaustion, sleepless nights and attempts that ended in failure… It was worth it.
But now, the machine let out another long, painful creak.
“Oh…” she sighed heavily, her hand pausing mid-motion as frustration slipped through.
Izuku stepped closer, watching her carefully, his expression softening instantly.
“Can I help you, mom?”
“Nooo, it’s fine, sweetie… I can manage…” she said, forcing a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You’ve been working on this all day, haven’t you?”
“It’s almost done! I just need to fix this part and then—”
The machine creaked again, louder this time.
“Okay… maybe not just that…”
Izuku leaned over the machine, his eyes moving across every part, silently analyzing the mechanism.
“…When did it start making that sound?”
“Earlier today,” Inko replied, watching him now instead of the machine, “I thought it would go away…”
Izuku hummed quietly, already deep in thought. After a few seconds, his eyes widened.
“Wait—”
He quickly turned and rushed to a nearby cabinet, opening it and searching through its contents until he found what he was looking for — a small metal spring with a delicate hook at the end.
“I think this is it!”
“Are you sure?” Inko asked, a bit hesitant but hopeful.
“Pretty sure like, really sure just— give me a second—”
He hurried back and carefully placed the piece into the mechanism, adjusting one of the gears with precise movements before stepping back.
“Okay… Try now.”
Inko glanced at him uncertainly before slowly pressing the pedal, her foot hesitating just for a second before committing.
The machine trembled under her touch, a low, uneven vibration running through it as if it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to cooperate or fall apart completely.
They both leaned in slightly without realizing it, eyes fixed on it, waiting.
For a moment, nothing happened. Just that shaky, uncertain sound.
Then… It evened out!
The movement smoothed, the noise settling into a steady, familiar rhythm, like nothing had ever been wrong in the first place. Inko’s eyes widened and they both gasped at the same time.
“It works!” their voices overlapped, filled with excitement.
Inko immediately stood up and pulled her son into a tight hug, like she couldn’t stop herself.
“Oh my god, you’re so smart, Izuku! I’m so proud of you, sweetie!”
Izuku laughed softly and hugged her back gently.
“You’re the one who built it, mom. It’s amazing… and so are you.”
Inko pulled back slightly, looking at him, her eyes already shining.
“You really think so?”
“I know so,” Izuku smiled, “You’re going to win this. I’m sure of it.”
She let out a small, shaky laugh, “I hope so…”
They stayed like that for a moment longer, neither of them moving, holding onto that feeling just a little tighter, tears welling up in their eyes.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The next day came sooner than expected. The morning was cool, yet bright, the air felt fresh and the sun had just begun to rise over the hills, casting a soft light across the land, painting everything in warm, quiet colors.
Inko moved around the cart, checking everything again.
And again.
And again…
“The machine… tools… materials…” she murmured to herself, making sure (for what was probably the fifth time) that she hadn’t forgotten anything. Her hands hovered over each item like she still didn’t fully trust it was all there.
Izuku stood nearby, watching her with a small smile, already recognizing this routine.
“Mom…” he said gently, stepping a little closer, “you have everything, don’t worry.”
“I know, I know…” she replied quickly, but still checked one more thing anyway, adjusting a small bundle that didn’t really need adjusting.
“…Are you sure you packed the spare parts?”
“You checked those three times already.”
“Right… And the tools?”
“Mom…”
“Okay…” she murmured and paused, as if finally letting it sink in. She took a deep breath and turned to him, pulling Izuku into a tight hug.
“I’ll be back soon. And… I’ll bring good news.”
Izuku smiled gently, closing his eyes for a moment.
“I’ll be waiting for you here, mom…”
“Don’t forget to eat properly, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“And don’t stay up too late reading!”
“I’ll try.”
“And make sure you lock the door at night!”
“I will.”
“And if anything feels off—”
“Mom… I’ll be fine.”
She sighed and then smiled. She climbed onto the cart, adjusting things one last time.
“Take care of yourself, alright honey?”
“Of course mom, you too!”
The wheels creaked softly as the cart slowly began to move.
“Goodbye, Mom!” Izuku called out, raising his hand.
Inko turned back for a moment, smiling warmly and lifting her hand in return, “See you, Izuku!”
Then she faced forward toward the winding road stretching between mountains and green fields, leading her farther and farther from home.
Izuku stood there for a moment longer, watching as the cart slowly disappeared into the distance.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Inko had been traveling for hours as the day slowly began to fade.
The golden sunlight disappeared behind the horizon, replaced by cooler, muted tones, until the sky turned into a heavy mix of orange and gray.
The road that had once been clear and familiar began to change — the trees grew thicker, their branches twisting into unnatural shapes as if reaching for everything around them, while a dense, damp fog crept low along the ground, slowly swallowing the path ahead.
She had been riding through the forest for several long minutes now, and with every passing second, it seemed to grow darker… as if the light itself was slowly being drained from the world around her, like something was swallowing it piece by piece.
She was no longer sure which direction to follow. The forest grew heavier with shadow and the silence that once felt peaceful now turned thick and unsettling, pressing in around her like something alive.
“I think… I think I'm lost…” her voice sounded small in the vast, suffocating silence of the forest, barely louder than a breath.
The air felt heavier now, colder, as if something unseen was pressing in around her. Even the sound of the cart wheels seemed muted, swallowed by the thickening fog, like the forest itself didn’t want to be heard.
She glanced around, her eyes searching desperately for anything familiar like a sign, a path or anything that could guide her.
But every direction looked the same.
Twisted trees.
Shadows stretching too far.
Nothing else.
“This isn’t right…” she whispered, her voice trembling.
And then she heard a faint rustle. The horse’s ears twitched sharply, its body stiffening beneath her hands. Its breathing grew uneven, like it sensed something she couldn’t yet see.
“Inko… I-It’s nothing… you're just imagining stupid things…” she whispered to herself, though she didn’t believe it.
Her fingers tightened further, knuckles paling as her heart began to pound louder in her chest.
She heard another sound.
This time it was closer.
Not the wind.
Not the trees.
Something moving…
“…Hello?”
Silence answered her.
Then a long, echoing howl cut through the forest. It came from everywhere at once, bouncing off the darkness around her, stretching through the trees like something endless.
The horse tensed violently, its breathing breaking into panicked bursts.
“Easy… easy…” she tried to calm it, her hands trembling as she tried to steady the reins.
Another howl cut through the air.
Closer.
Too close…
The horse neighed loudly, pulling against the reins, its hooves scraping against the ground as it struggled to break free.
“No— no, wait!”
From the shadows, something moved—
and then a wolf lunged forward, emerging from the darkness in a blur of fur and teeth. The horse panicked completely and bolted forward, dragging the cart with it uncontrollably.
“HEY— HEY! CALM DOWN! STOP!” Inko cried, gripping the reins tightly, her body jolting with every violent movement.
“I can’t— I can’t!”
The road was uneven, the wheels bouncing harder and harder, the cart shaking beneath her.
Then one of them struck a stone. The impact was brutal. She lost her balance and fell. The air was knocked out of her lungs as she hit the ground. The cart disappeared deeper into the forest, the sound of it fading too quickly.
“NO!— Come back!” she cried out, scrambling to her feet, stumbling forward a few steps before stopping helplessly.
She heard another howl.
The cold wrapped around her instantly, seeping through her clothes as the fog thickened, closing in around her like a cage.
Her heart began to race.
“No… no, no, no…” she whispered, shaking her head, backing up a step without realizing it.
She began walking faster, almost stumbling over uneven ground, her breath unsteady as panic slowly crept in. She didn’t care where she was going anymore. She just needed to find anything that could keep her safe. Her eyes darted through the darkness, searching desperately, while every shadow seemed to move just a little too much.
The minutes stretched endlessly, each distant sound making her flinch, her heart racing faster with every step—
Finally…
She saw something. A massive silhouette emerged from the mist. The castle was enormous, far larger than anything she had ever seen in her life.
Its towering spires rise high into the thick, unmoving air as if they were trying to pierce the very sky itself. The dark stone walls seemed cold and ancient, their sharp edges and jagged outlines blending almost seamlessly into the night, making it difficult to tell where the structure ended and the darkness began. Vines crept along parts of the walls and the tall gates stood half-hidden in shadow, giving the entire place an abandoned feeling. Most of the windows were completely dark like hollow eyes staring out into the forest. But here and there, a few faint lights flickered behind the glass, soft and golden, trembling slightly as if disturbed by something unseen.
It looked abandoned.
And yet… not entirely empty.
Inko stopped for a moment, staring at it, before, having no other choice, she began to walk toward it. With every step, its presence grew more overwhelming, until she finally stood before the massive iron gate.
She hesitated for a second, then pushed it open with trembling hands. The gate gave way with a long, heavy creak. She stepped into the courtyard.
What she saw was… unexpected.
Despite the darkness and cold, the space was filled with flowers — wild ones growing between the stones, but most of all, red roses. Their petals were deep and vivid, almost unnaturally alive against the gray stone, as if something was keeping them from fading.
A sudden, cold gust of wind swept through the courtyard, stronger than before, making Inko flinch slightly. Her hair shifted with the movement and before she could react, the ribbon tied around it slipped loose.
For a brief moment, it fluttered in the air and them it caught on one of the sharp rose thorns. She didn’t notice and kept walking slowly through the courtyard until she reached the enormous doors leading into the castle.
With effort, she pushed them open. They groaned loudly, as if they hadn’t been opened in years. As soon as she stepped inside, she quickly shut them behind her. The freezing wind disappeared instantly, leaving only cold, still air. It wasn’t much warmer inside… but it was better than outside, just enough to breathe without the cold biting into her skin.
“Hello?” she called out uncertainly, her voice echoing faintly off the walls, “Is anyone here…?”
Silence answered her. She took a few careful steps forward, her shoes scraping softly against the stone floor.
The inside of the castle was vast.
High ceilings disappeared into shadow and long stone walls were decorated with old tapestries and portraits whose eyes seemed to follow her every move. Dust lingered in the air and the sound of her footsteps echoed through the empty space, louder than she expected. In front of there was a grand staircase stretched upward into darkness.
“Is anyone here? I-I don’t mean any trouble…” she called again, her voice trembling, “I-I lost my cart… I just need help…”
“…Please…” she added more quietly, almost under her breath.
She moved forward slowly, looking around.
Somewhere in the distance, on top of a large cabinet… something shifted.
A clock and a candle stood there.
“Maybe… we should help her…” Denki whispered softly, his flame flickering, leaning slightly forward like he couldn’t just watch.
“We shouldn’t interfere,” Kirishima replied quickly, his voice low but urgent, “Master will be furious if he finds out. You know how he is.”
His gaze flickered nervously toward the dark hallway, as if expecting someone to appear at any second.
“But we can’t just leave her like this,” Denki whispered back, “Did you hear her, man? She’s scared… and alone.”
“We’ve seen this before,” Kirishima muttered, his tone tightening, “And it never ends well.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t do anything! Come on man…”
Kirishima frowned, clearly torn for a moment, before shaking his head.
“That’s not our decision to make! If he sees her here—”
“Hello!” Denki suddenly called out, not letting him finish.
“WHO?!” Inko startled, spinning around quickly, “Where are you?!”
“Over here!”
Confused, she stepped closer and picked up the candle, lifting it to see better. Her eyes scanned the dark hall until they landed on—
The flame… that was… speaking to her?!
“AAAAAAA!” she screamed, dropping the candle.
“OW! Hey— careful!” Denki yelped, his flame flickering wildly as he hit the floor.
Inko froze, staring wide-eyed at the candle that had just… complained?
“Y-you… you’re… talking…?”
She slowly stepped closer, her fear now mixing with pure confusion.
“Of course I’m talking! And don’t worry, ma'am, we’ll help you!”
From the cabinet, Kirishima jumped down with a thud.
“Denki, we are about to have a serious—”
Before he could finish, Inko suddenly picked him up.
“…This is… unbelievable…” she murmured, turning him slightly in her hands, “How is this built…? The joints, the movement… this is—”
“HEY!— Put me down!” Kirishima protested, waving his tiny arms.
“OH! I’m so sorry!” she said quickly, setting him back down, “I’ve just never seen a machine that can— ACHOO!”
Denki’s flame flickered brighter in concern.
“It’s too cold here… Please come with me. There’s a fireplace in the next room. You’ll warm up there.”
Kirishima sighed, already knowing this was a bad idea, “This is not going to end well…”
They moved together into the next room.
It was warmer here, the fire in the fireplace casting a soft glow across the walls, the kind of warmth that made your shoulders finally relax.
Inko carefully sat down in a chair, letting out a quiet breath, like she hadn’t realized how tense she was until now.
Suddenly something ran up to her. A footstool… which was wagging like a dog…
“Oh!—” she laughed softly in surprise, instinctively reaching down, as it nudged her gently.
Then a blanket lifted itself and gently covered her shoulders.
“This is… very kind service,” she said with a small smile.
“Do you feel better ma'am?" Denki asked.
“Yes… thank you… I-I don’t know what to say—”
Just then, the door opened and a small table rolled in, carrying a teapot and a small teacup.
“Hello, dear!” Mina greeted warmly, her voice soft and comforting, “You must be freezing… would you like some tea?”
“Oh— I— that would be lovely, thank you…” Inko replied quickly, a little overwhelmed but grateful.
Steam rose delicately from the teapot, carrying a light, soothing scent that seemed to melt away at least a little of the cold lingering in the room.
From behind her, teacup peeked out shyly.
“H-hello…” Eri said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Inko’s expression softened instantly at the sight.
“Oh— hello there…”
The cup was carefully placed into her hands. She hesitated only for a second before bringing it to her lips. Almost instinctively, she drank it in one go like she hadn’t realized how cold she truly was. The warmth spread through her immediately, chasing away the chill that had settled deep in her bones.
A soft laugh escaped Mina, “Oh my, someone was really cold.”
Even Denki let out a small chuckle, his flame flickering brighter.
“That hit the spot, didn’t it?”
Inko let out a small, relieved breath, her shoulders finally relaxing.
“Yes… it really did…”
The room felt so warm. Just a second ago she was in a dark forest… and now she was sitting in a warm chamber, surrounded by kind voices and gentle wa—
BANG.
The doors slammed open violently. The fire in the fireplace went out instantly and freezing wind rushed into the room.
Everyone froze.
“What was that?—” she whispered, her voice barely audible now.
She heard a low, threatening growl right behind her. Slowly… she turned her head…
And her face went completely pale.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku sat comfortably in a chair by the window, a book resting in his hands.
The morning began in such a peaceful way. Birds chirped softly outside the window, their gentle sounds blending with the quiet flow of water from a nearby stream, while sunlight poured into the room, spreading warmly across the floor and walls, wrapping everything in a calm, golden stillness.
Izuku had just finished breakfast and was slowly sipping his daily tea, one hand lazily holding the cup while the other turned a page.
Everything was so calm, quiet and perfe—
BANG, BANG.
A loud crash came from the front door.
Izuku flinched, his shoulders tensing instantly, lifting his head from the book. He stood up, walking toward the door. He peeked through the peephole—
…and his expression immediately turned into pure irritation.
“Ughhhh… God seriously…”
Standing outside was Neito, wearing that same absolutely unbearable smile. Izuku sighed and opened the door. Monoma didn’t hesitate and stepped inside immediately, closing the distance between them without permission like he owned the place.
“Hello there, my dear Midoriya~” he greeted smoothly, his tone overly sweet, “Today is a very important day for you!”
Izuku grimaced and stepped back, already putting space between them, “What do you mean?”
Monoma smiled wider, turning to the mirror to adjust his hair and clothes, completely ignoring Izuku for a second like his reflection mattered more.
“The kind of day every woman dreams of. The day your life changes forever for the better.”
“…That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
Monoma continued anyway, “The day you receive everything they all could ever wish for… security, luxury and a future with someone like me~”
He admired himself one last time before stepping closer again, his confidence completely unshaken.
“I will fulfill all your dreams Midoriya~”
Izuku raised an eyebrow, “You don’t even know any of my dreams.”
“Oh, I do,” Monoma replied instantly, waving his hand dismissively, like that detail was completely irrelevant, “We’ll live far away from this… little village… somewhere worthy of me.”
“Of course…”
“A beautiful estate, wide lands, servants, something proper… the kind of life everyone dreams about.”
He took a step closer, his voice lowering slightly, almost as if he was painting a perfect picture.
“We’ll have… six children.”
Izuku froze.
“I’m sorry— what?”
“Six,” Monoma repeated confidently, holding up his fingers like he had already planned it out, “Strong like me, well-raised, admired by everyone. You’ll take care of the house, of course. Cooking, cleaning, organizing everything properly… That way, I will focus on more important matters. It’s only natural my dear~” he smiled, clearly satisfied with his own vision.
“…You mean yourself?” Izuku said, his tone dry and Monoma ignored it.
“So… what do you think, sweetie~”
Izuku stared at him in silence. His expression shifted into clear, undeniable disgust.
What the hell is he saying?!
Calling me sweetie???!!
“Thank you…” he said at last, taking a step back to create distance between them, “but I’m not really interested.”
“Oh, don’t be shy, my dear—” Monoma said immediately, stepping forward again before Izuku could create any real distance.
He followed him without hesitation until Izuku’s back met the solid surface of the front door. Before he could react, Monoma placed one hand against the wood beside his head then the other on the opposite side, effectively trapping him in place. There was nowhere to go. Izuku’s body stiffened instantly.
Neito leaned closer to his face.
Far too close.
Izuku could feel his breath now and it made his stomach twist uncomfortably.
“You should really reconsider… Opportunities like this don’t come often.”
Izuku’s expression tightened, discomfort flashing clearly across his face as he turned his head away.
“I’m really not interested, Neito…”
His hand moved behind his back, searching blindly for the door handle.
“Think about it… A life like this… most people would beg for it…”
Izuku’s fingers brushed against the handle.
Finally.
The door opened and Monoma, completely unprepared, lost his balance instantly falling off to the ground.
“Wha—?!”
A small, satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“Bye,” he said dryly and shut the door.
“You’ve got to be kidding me—” Neito growled under his breath, pushing himself up from the ground and brushing dirt off his clothes with visible annoyance, “I offer you a perfect life, and this is how you respond?!”
He glanced back at the closed door, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“UGHHHH you’re such a damn brat!” he muttered under his breath, his pride clearly bruised now, “I’m not done with you yet, Midoriya…”
He scoffed and turned away, still muttering to himself as he walked off.
Inside, Izuku leaned back against the door, letting out a long irritated sigh, dragging a hand down his face.
“Ughhh… why me…”
A few minutes passed before he pushed himself away and carefully glanced outside, making sure the blonde was nowhere in sight. Once he was sure it was safe, he stepped out and walked around the house toward the small sheep enclosure, still tense, like he expected Monoma to just appear again out of nowhere.
“God seriously— what is wrong with this guy?!” Izuku muttered under his breath, scattering food for the animals a little more aggressively than usual, “Proposing like that? Who even does that?!”
He let out a short, disbelieving laugh, shaking his head, trying to process what had just happened.
“Walking into someone’s house, acting like it’s already decided…” he continued, gesturing with his hands without even noticing, “Not even asking— just assuming! Like I don’t get a say in any of it!”
A sheep bleated nearby.
“Right?!” he added automatically, glancing at it, as if expecting agreement.
He tossed the last bit of feed onto the ground, brushing his hands together with a frustrated sigh.
“He’s unbelievable— honestly unbelievable! Such a damn irritating guy who thinks anyone would just fall for him because he says so! UGHHH… why did he choose to annoy me?! I can’t stand him anymore!”
For a moment, he just stood there, staring down at the ground with a still tense expression. He exhaled slowly, trying to let some of that irritation slip away.
“Okay… Just forget it…”
Another breath.
“Ughh… I need more air…”
Still a little worked up, he stepped away from the enclosure and began walking, following a familiar path that curved gently away from the house. His steps gradually slowed, the tension in his shoulders eased bit by bit as the sounds of the animals and the house faded behind him, replaced by wind and distant birds, until the path finally opened into a wide, peaceful space. The meadow stretched wide before him, covered in soft green grass and countless colorful flowers swaying gently in the breeze. Sunlight bathed everything in warmth, reflecting off petals and giving the entire place an almost magical feeling.
In the distance, gentle hills rolled across the land and beyond them, the faint outline of mountains stood calm and steady.
The air was fresh and clean… completely different from the tension he had felt just moments ago.
Izuku sat down in the grass, finally allowing himself a moment of peace. For a while, he simply looked ahead, his eyes drifting over the endless stretch of grass and flowers, watching how they swayed gently with the wind.
The world felt so distant in that moment almost like it existed separately from everything else.
“I wish someday…” Izuku murmured softly, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers, “I could find someone…”
His voice faded for a second, as if the thought itself was fragile.
“Someone who truly understands me… Not just… tolerate me. Not just stay, but actually want to be there…”
His gaze softened, drifting further into the distance, as if trying to picture something he had never truly seen before.
“To live somewhere far away… somewhere peaceful… in a beautiful land… with someone who would appreciate me, just the way I am… not expecting me to change or trying to decide things for me…”
He let out a small, almost nervous breath, his fingers tightening slightly around the blade of grass before letting it fall.
“Someone who would choose me… the same way I would choose them…”
The wind brushed gently through his hair, moving the grass around him in soft waves.
And for that moment… everything felt still.
Almost like the world was listening…
Suddenly—
Somewhere in the distance, a sharp sound broke through the air. Branches snapped, uneven, frantic hoofbeats pounding against the ground. Izuku flinched instantly, his head snapping up.
“What…?”
Before he could even stand a horse burst out from the line of trees.
His mother horse.
The cart behind it rattled wildly as it stumbled across the uneven ground, the animal clearly terrified.
Izuku’s heart dropeped.
“Wha— What happened?!” he shouted, already running toward it, panic hitting him instantly. He reached out, trying to grab the reins as the horse paced restlessly, pulling away.
“Hey, hey! Stop!—”
The horse neighed loudly, jerking its head back. Izuku stumbled slightly but didn’t let go.
“Easy— easy, it’s me!—” he said quickly, trying to steady himself as much as the animal.
Then he looked at the cart.
It was empty.
Completely empty.
Everything inside him dropped.
“Where is my mom?!” his voice cracked, panic flooding through him, his hands tightening around the reins.
The horse neighed again, pulling back, too panicked to settle.
“No— no, no, no—” he muttered quickly, shaking his head, his thoughts racing too fast. He stepped closer again, slower this time.
“Hey… hey…” he said gently, reaching out carefully, “It’s okay… you’re safe… nothing’s going to hurt you…”
The horse still trembled but its movements slowed.
Izuku swallowed hard.
“Show me…” he whispered, his voice barely steady now, pressing his forehead lightly against the horse’s neck, “Please… Take me to her.”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Trees blurred past in the darkness, branches reaching out as if trying to grab them, while the cold wind howled in Izuku’s ears, stinging his face with every breath. His black cloak whipped violently behind him, snapping with every movement. His heart pounded uncontrollably. So fast and so loud. He wasn’t thinking about anything else…
Only her…
“Just— hold on…” he whispered under his breath, gripping the reins tighter, “Please… just be okay…”
After what felt like an endless ride, a massive silhouette finally appeared ahead.
The castle rose from the darkness like something unreal, overwhelming and unfamiliar, its shape cutting through the night like it didn’t belong there at all.
The horse slowed as they reached the iron gates. Izuku didn’t wait any second and jumped down, stumbling slightly as his feet hit the ground, his chest rising and falling too fast.
“What is this place…” he muttered, looking up at the towering walls, his voice small against something so massive.
But he didn’t stop.
He pushed the gate open and stepped into the courtyard, quickening his pace toward the massive doors—
Until something caught his eye. Roses lined the path, deep red and almost unnaturally vivid. And among them… something familiar. He stepped closer and saw a ribbon. It was caught on one of the sharp thorns.
His mother’s.
“Mom…” he whispered with a trembling voice.
His fingers tightened around the fabric, as if needing to be sure it was real. Fear hit him all over again, stronger than before. He let it go immediately and hurried forward.
He reached the doors and pushed them open with force. They creaked loudly as they opened and he stepped inside.
The interior was vast, silent and strangely well-kept. Though everything looked old, as if no one had lived there for years, there was no dust, no signs of neglect. Everything stood perfectly in place, as if someone still cared for it…
“Hello?!” he called out, his voice echoing through the hall, “Is anyone here?!”
No answer.
He kept moving, faster now, until he reached the grand staircase.
“Mom?!” he shouted, louder this time, already running up the stairs, his heart pounding louder with every step.
“Mom where are you?!”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The kitchen was relatively calm, filled with the soft clinking of porcelain and the quiet hum of routine. Warm light flickered gently across the room, reflecting off polished surfaces and neatly arranged dishes. Mina sat among the porcelain, carefully adjusting a few cups and plates, making sure everything was perfectly aligned.
Then the door burst open and Eri rushed in.
“Mina! Mina!” she called breathlessly, nearly stumbling as she ran inside, “I saw a boy! He’s walking through the castle!”
Mina paused mid-movement and slowly turned toward her, one eyebrow lifting.
“Eri, sweetheart… don’t make things up.”
Eri took a small step forward, clearly frustrated.
“I’m not making it up! I really saw him!”
Before Mina could respond the door flew open again. A feather duster rushed into the room.
“She’s not making it up!” Kyouka said immediately, not even stopping to catch her breath, “I saw him too. There’s a man walking through the castle!”
Mina froze and her expression shifted instantly to something far more serious.
“…What?”
On the little cup a small triumphant look appeared on her face, “Told you.”
Elsewhere in the castle, Eijiro spoke firmly to Denki, “That was a terrible idea, man. Letting her in? Without the master’s permission?”
Denki’s flame flickered sharply, reacting to the tone.
“Hey, I was just trying to help! Did you see her? She was terrified! Alone! She didn't know what to do!”
“And that doesn’t change anything! We have rules for a reason!”
“What was I supposed to do?! Just leave her out there? Pretend I didn’t hear her calling for help?”
“Yes! I mean— no, that’s not what I— It’s not our decision!”
“But something could’ve happened to her!” Denki said more emotionally now, “She could’ve gotten hurt, or worse! We couldn’t just stand there and do nothing Kirishima!”
Eijiro looked away for a moment before speaking again, “I know… I’m not saying you were wrong for caring… but you still put all of us at risk.”
Denki fell silent with his flame dimming.
“And now we have a problem anywa—”
“Hello?! Is anyone here?!”
The voice echoed loudly through the hallway, cutting through the tension.
Both of them froze instantly and turned at the same time. At the far end of the corridor, Izuku appeared, walking forward quickly, his breathing uneven, like he had been running for a long time.
“Mom?!”
Denki stared and for a moment and didn't blink.
“It’s… it’s him…”
Kirishima frowned, glancing between Denki and the boy.
“Who?”
“IT’S HIM! The one who will break the curse!” Before Kirishima could react Denki moved toward a boy.
“Denki, don’t—” he muttered under his breath, but still followed after him.
Izuku kept walking, unaware of them.
“Where is my mom?!” he called again, louder this time, his voice echoing again and again through the empty halls.
Then he heard a faint creak. A door slowly opened somewhere behind him. Izuku stopped immediately, his body going still.
“Who’s there?…”
Silence answered him.
But he didn’t hesitate. He turned and stepped toward the sound, pushing the door open fully and walking inside without a second thought. The room was dark and cold. The air felt heavier here, almost suffocating. A narrow spiral staircase twisted upward into shadow, disappearing into darkness.
“I’m looking for my mom…”
He moved forward, up the stairs. The temperature dropped with every step, air growed damp and the light faded more and more.
“Mom?!”
“I-Izuku…” weak and trembling voice hit him like something unreal.
“MOM!” Izuku rushed forward, his heart pounding so loudly it almost drowned out everything else.
He made down the last steps, nearly stumbling, until he reached one of the cells. Cold metal bars separated him from the darkness inside. He dropped to his knees, gripping them with trembling hands.
“Mom! I’m here— I’m here!”
From the shadows, a pale hand slowly reached out. Tears immediately filled his eyes at the sight.
“M-Mom… w-what happened…?” he whispered, his voice breaking with every word, “I’ll get you out of here… I promise… I will…”
Inko weakly shook her head.
“N-No… I-Izuku… run… please…”
“No! I’m not leaving you he—”
The dungeon exploded with a deep ROAR.
It was loud, raw and definitely something inhuman…
The sound shook the walls and seemed to vibrate through his chest, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Izuku froze instantly, his entire body locking in place.
Then he heard footsteps. Heavy, slow, deliberate, each one echoing through the corridor like a warning. The stone beneath them seemed to groan, the sound bouncing off the walls again and again, growing louder, closer, until it filled every corner of the dungeon.
The air itself seemed to change, thickening, turning colder, heavier, harder to breathe, as if something unseen was pressing down on everything around him. Even the faint moonlight flickering through the small window above seemed to dim, swallowed by the darkness creeping forward.
From the shadows ahead, something moved. Not fully visible but enough to know that something was there. A shape, large and wrong, its presence distorting the darkness itself as it stepped closer, its shadow stretching unnaturally along the walls, shifting and twisting with every movement.
“What… are you doing here…” came a low, raspy and filled with anger voice.
Izuku’s grip tightened around the bars, his knuckles turning white as fear crawled slowly up his spine.
“I-I was looking for my mother. Please… let her go. She’s very sick…”
“She trespassed,” the voice shouted coldly, “She entered without permission. She will be punished!”
“NO! PLEASE! She didn’t mean to! She was lost, she didn’t know where she was— please, you don’t understand!”
“I understand enough! Humans always take, always invade— and then they beg when they face the consequences!”
“That’s not true!” Izuku shouted, desperation rising in his voice, “She’s not like that— she’s done nothing wrong! Please, she doesn’t deserve thi—”
“DESERVE?! You think you get to decide what is deserved?!”
“T-Then punish me instead!” he shouted, the words spilling out before he could stop them, “If someone has to stay— then let it be me! Just let her go!”
Heavy and tense silence fell over the dungeon.
“I’ll stay here…” he added more quietly, “Just… let her go…”
A long moment passed.
“…Do you swear?” the voice finally growled.
Izuku hesitated. Just for a second, his breath catched and fear clawed at him.
“Step into the light…” he said quietly.
Pale moonlight streamed through a small, high window, creating the only patch of light in the entire dungeon.
The footsteps came again.
Slowly…
Heavy…
And then a figure emerged from the darkness.
The creature was enormous.
His body was covered in rough, pale fur that stuck out wildly in places, as if it had never been tamed. Sharp, curved horns rose from his head, and his ears resembled those of a predator. His red, sharp, almost glowing in the dim light, eyes locked onto Izuku with pure hostility. His face was partly human, but twisted by beast-like features… it had sharper fangs, a tense jaw, heavy breaths escaping his throat with each movement. His shoulders were broad and muscular, his hands ending in claws that caught the faint moonlight. Draped over him was a heavy red cloak, stark against his wild with monstrous form.
Izuku gasped sharply.
“AAAAH!”
“DON’T DO THIS!” Inko cried with fear, “Izuku please! Go away!”
But Izuku stood up.
He was trembling.
He was scared.
But he didn’t step back.
“I swear…”
…
“…Good.”
The cell door opened with a loud clang and the Beast moved without hesitation. In one swift motion, he grabbed Inko by the arm and pulled her out of the cell, his grip firm and unyielding.
“IZUKU!” she cried out immediately, trying to reach toward him.
“MOM!” Izuku answered, panic flooding his voice as he lunged forward, trying to reach her—
But the door slammed shut between them with a deafening clang.
“NO! WAIT!”
He hit the bars with both hands, the cold metal biting into his skin as he struggled against it, as if sheer force could break it open. On the other side, Inko fought against the Beast’s grip, her movements weak but desperate.
“LET ME GO! Please— he’s just a child— don’t do this!”
The Beast didn’t even slow down. His footsteps echoed heavily through the castle halls as he dragged her away, each step final, merciless, leaving no room for hesitation. The sound of them faded slowly, swallowed by the vast emptiness of the castle.
“Izuku!”
Izuku pressed himself harder against the bars.
“MOM! WAIT! PLEASE!”
But she was already too far. The cold night air rushed in as the Beast dragged her outside and threw her into the carriage.
“Take her away.”
The command was cold and the carriage lurched forward on its own, the wheels creaking as it began to move.
“IZUKU! Give me back my son! Please!”
The Beast didn’t answer.
Didn’t even look back.
He stood there for a moment, watching the carriage disappear into the darkness and then turned away, walking back into the castle.
As if nothing had happened.
As if he hadn’t just torn them apart.
In the dungeon, Izuku ran to the small window, gripping the bars so tightly his hands began to hurt. He watched as the carriage drove away and disappeared into the dark forest.
As it took with it the only person he had…
“Mom…”
Tears streamed down his face, one after another, uncontrollable.
He couldn’t do anything.
He couldn’t stop it.
He was left alone.
In the cold, dark dungeon.
With a beast…
And his own fear…
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The weather in the village had grown colder. The wind swept through the narrow streets, carrying dampness and chill with it, driving most of the residents into their homes. The only place that still pulsed with life was the tavern near the center of the village. Inside it was warm, loud and filled with laughter, conversations and the clinking of mugs blending together into a lively, chaotic noise.
At one of the tables sat Neito, clearly irritated, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
“I seriously don’t understand it… How many times can someone say no? It’s starting to get ridiculous.”
Sero leaned back comfortably in his chair, shrugging slightly, “Yeah… it’s kinda weird. I mean, seriously, who would reject you?”
Aoyama sighed dramatically, placing a hand over his chest, “Mon ami… this is almost a romantic tragedy… such great feelings… so cruelly rejected…”
“Exactly! Finally, someone understands.”
Shinso, who had been silent until now, rested his chin on his hand and looked at him with half-lidded eyes.
“Or maybe… you’re just too pushy.”
Silence fell over the table. Monoma slowly turned his head toward him.
“…What did you say?”
“You know,” Shinso shrugged lightly, “You walk into his house uninvited, tell him what his life is going to look like, how many kids you’ll have…”
Sero let out a quiet snort, “Okay, when you put it like that, it sounds a bit…”
“Intense,” Shinso finished.
“That is NOT being pushy!” Monoma snapped immediately, slamming his hand against the table, “That’s called confidence!”
Aoyama nodded, “Ah, oui… confidence is very attractive…”
Shinso raised an eyebrow.
“There’s a difference between confidence and ignoring someone’s answer.”
“How can he reject someone like me?” he said gesturing to himself, “I’m offering him everything. Stability, money, a future!”
“Maybe he doesn’t want that.”
“Everyone wants that!”
“Not everyone wants to be trapped in a life they didn’t choose.”
Sero glanced nervously between them, “Alright, alright, maybe you just need a different approach? You know… less ‘we’re getting married tomorrow’ and more like… a normal conversation?”
Aoyama nodded, “Yes… a touch of subtlety… romantic mystery…”
Monoma scoffed quietly, looking away.
“He’ll agree eventually. He just doesn’t understand it yet.”
Shinso let out a quiet sigh.
“Or you don’t understand him…”
Before Neito could respond, the tavern door suddenly burst open, and a freezing gust of wind swept inside, cutting through the warmth and noise, silencing the room just enough for every head to turn toward the entrance.
Standing there was Inko, her hair disheveled, her clothes slightly torn, her face pale and flushed from the cold, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she had run the entire way.
“HELP! Please— someone help me!” she cried, her voice trembling and breaking, “My son— my son has been taken! There’s a beast, a horrible beast in the castle— i-it trapped him! Please, you have to help me!”
Someone laughed.
“A beast?” one man scoffed, shaking his head, “What is this, a fairy tale?”
“You expect us to believe that?”
Inko didn’t stop. She rushed further inside, moving from person to person, her hands reaching out desperately, her voice growing more frantic with each second.
“Please, he’s all I have!” she begged, her voice cracking, “He’s in danger, he needs help, please— anyone!—”
But people pulled away from her touch, avoiding her, turning their backs and openly laughing at her.
“Poor woman, lost her mind…”
“Or had too much to drink!”
“Yeah, sure— a beast in the woods!”
The laughter grew louder, heavier, swallowing her words.
Tears began to spill down her cheeks, but she didn’t stop, her hands trembling as she reached for anyone who might listen, anyone at all—
But then someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and pushed her back toward the door.
“That’s enough. Take your nonsense somewhere else.”
The door slammed shut behind her.
She stumbled forward into the cold, the wind biting sharply against her skin, stealing her breath, her body trembling as she stood there alone in the dark.
From inside, muffled laughter still echoed faintly.
“Oh… my poor baby Izuku…”
There was no one coming to help her.
No one believed her.
And Izuku… was still out there…
Alone…
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku didn’t know how much time had passed. In the cold, damp cell, time seemed to stop existing, stretching endlessly. He could only assume that another day had come from the pale light falling through the small window that was slightly brighter than before.
He sat curled up in the corner, hugging his knees, trying to warm himself with his own body.
He didn’t know what would happen to him.
He didn’t know if he would ever leave this place.
The only thing filling his thoughts was the image of his mother… and the awareness that he had lost her.
His freedom…
His life…
Everything had been taken from him in a single moment.
Tears filled his eyes again and his shoulders trembled as he buried his face in his hands and quietly began to cry.
Somewhere deeper in the castle, within the cold stone corridors, the Beast walked through them with heavy steps. Shadows shifted along with him, and the air itself seemed to tense with every step he took.
From behind one of the corners, Denki cautiously appeared, his small flame flickering unevenly. He hesitated before moving any closer, as if even the air around the Beast felt dangerous to step into.
“H-hey…” he began nervously, “So… that boy…”
The Beast stopped and looked at him directly. Denki froze mid-air, his flame shrinking slightly as if it was reacting to the tension. For a moment, it felt like he shouldn’t have spoken at all. He swallowed his fear and continued.
“I-If he’s going to… stay here longer… t-then maybe…” he let out a small, nervous laugh, “he could get a… better room…?”
A low growl rolled through the corridor from the Beast, “Don’t interfere.”
He lifted his hand and a sudden rush of air burst outward hit Denki directly. The flame flickered violently, going out.
The Beast had already started walking again, as if the conversation was over before it even began.
Denki however didn't give up.
“No, no, no, no, no!— You can’t just leave it like that! Come on!” he called out, following after him, “Just— just think about it! What if it’s him? The one who will break the curse?”
The Beast stopped again. This time slower and the silence that followed was heavier. For a long moment, he said nothing, standing completely still in the dim corridor.
“…Tch.”
Without another word, he turned and began walking toward the dungeon.
Izuku was still sitting curled up in the corner, his arms wrapped tightly around himself, when suddenly he heard something.
A sound that didn’t belong to the silence he had grown used to. Metal scraping against metal and the grinding of a lock.
His body tensed immediately.
The cell door slowly opened with a long, drawn-out creak that echoed through the dungeon.
Izuku flinched slightly and lifted his head.
And there he was again.
The beast stood in the doorway, his large silhouette filling the entrance, blocking what little light had been there. His presence alone seemed to make the air colder.
Izuku’s breath hitched. His heart tightened painfully in his chest, fear rising all over again, just as strong as before.
“What… do you want…” he asked with his weak, tired and hoarse from crying voice.
“Come with me… I’ll show you your chamber.”
Without waiting for any response, he turned away and began walking down the corridor, his heavy footsteps echoing. He didn’t even look back to see if Izuku followed him.
Izuku stayed where he was, still sitting on the cold floor. For a few seconds, he didn’t move at all, his mind struggling to catch up, confusion mixing with fear.
A chamber…?
Was this some kind of trick?
His hands tightened slightly. But staying here wouldn’t change anything. Slowly and carefully, he pushed himself up to his feet, his legs a little unsteady after sitting for so long and followed the Beast.
They walked in silence.
For the first time since entering the castle, Izuku had a moment to actually look around. Before, everything had been chaotic, he hadn't had the chance to notice anything…
The castle corridors were vast and austere, with high ceilings and stone walls that seemed to stretch endlessly. Old tapestries hung along the walls, partially faded, depicting times long gone, and large windows let in pale daylight that only emphasized the coldness of the place. Shadows danced along the walls, and every step echoed, deepening the feeling of emptiness.
The Beast carried a candle (or rather Denki) whose small flame flickered nervously with every step.
Denki leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice into a careful whisper, “Maybe… you should be a little nicer to him…”
The Beast shot him a brief, sharp glance, his eyes narrowing, clearly unimpressed.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Well… I don’t know… just— say something! Anything!”
The Beast scoffed under his breath, clearly annoyed.
“Katsuki… Katsuki Bakugo. That’s my name.”
The words felt rough, unfamiliar like he wasn’t used to introducing himself at all.
Then came a brief pause. An awkward one. Heavy and uncomfortable, stretching just a little too long.
“…Do you like it here?”
The question hung in the air, stiff and unnatural, as if it didn’t quite belong coming from him.
Izuku didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at him. He simply kept walking, his gaze lowered, his expression distant, as if the words hadn’t even reached him.
Katsuki turned his head toward Denki, letting out a low, warning growl, his patience clearly thinning.
Denki shrank back a little, his flame dipping, “Okay— okay, I’m just trying to help…”
The rest of the walk passed in heavy silence.
The kind that presses on your chest.
Only the sound of footsteps echoed through the long corridors, stretching the tension further with every second.
After a few minutes, they finally reached a large, ornate door, its surface carved with intricate patterns, worn by time but still imposing. The Beast pushed it open with a heavy motion, the hinges groaning under the force. He stepped aside just slightly just enough to let Izuku pass. The green-haired boy walked inside slowly, cautiously, as if unsure what he would find.
“You may move freely around the castle, the staff is at your service,” Katsuki said coldly, before his tone dropped, sharpening into something far more serious, “but you are to stay out of the west wing… and that is NOT a suggestion.”
The words came out firm, unquestionable as if even the idea of disobeying that rule was something unforgivable.
Denki gently nudged him from the side with his flame, lowering his voice once more, “Maybe… invite him to dinner? He must be hungry…”
Katsuki exhaled sharply, clearly irritated, but still spoke.
“Come eat something with me…”
“No.”
The word fell flat between them.
“HUH?! THAT WAS NOT A REQUEST! IT WAS AN ORDER!”
The door slammed shut with a loud, violent bang, the sound rang through the castle long after it closed.
Heavy footsteps followed, growing more distant with each second as the Beast stormed away down the corridor.
Izuku flinched at the sudden outburst, his whole body tensing as fear rushed through him again. Without thinking, he quickly backed away and then hurried across the room, almost stumbling as he made his way toward the large bed standing at the center. He climbed onto it, the soft mattress sinking under his weight and immediately he buried his face into the pillows.
Quiet sobs escaped him again, his shoulders trembling as everything came crashing down at once. Thoughts raced through his mind faster than he could process them.
What was he supposed to do now?
How was he going to survive here?
Was his mother safe?
Would he ever see her again?
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know anything anymore.
Minutes passed like that, his cries slowly fading into uneven breaths.
Eventually, exhaustion and the quiet of the room began to calm him down. His grip on the sheets loosened, and his breathing steadied, though his eyes were still wet with tears.
Slowly, hesitantly, Izuku lifted his head and for the first time, he looked around.
The room was… nothing like the cold dungeon. It was vast, warm-toned and almost overwhelming in its elegance. A large canopy bed stood in the center, draped with soft, flowing fabrics that fell gently around it. The sheets beneath him were plush and neatly arranged, far more comfortable than anything he had expected to find in a place like this.
Golden curtains framed tall windows, their heavy fabric catching the faint light and giving the entire room a soft, muted glow. Intricate patterns decorated the walls and ceiling, carved and painted with delicate detail that spoke of a place that had once been full of life and luxury. A chandelier hung above, elegant and still, its metal frame darkened slightly with age but still beautiful. There were pieces of antique furniture placed carefully around the room — a polished desk near the window, a large mirror framed with ornate carvings, and a small seating area that looked untouched, as if no one had used it in a long time.
Everything was beautiful.
And yet…
It felt empty.
This place was nothing like home…
Izuku sat there in silence, still trying to process everything around him—
knock, knock.
He flinched slightly, his head snapping toward the door. Before he could even respond, the door slowly opened and someone (or more like something) stepped inside.
“Well, hello there!” Mina greeted warmly, carrying a gentle kindness that immediately contrasted with the cold atmosphere, “Don’t be alarmed— I’m Mina.”
Izuku blinked. He just stared at her, his mind clearly struggling to process what he was seeing.
“Okay… this place really can’t get any weirder…”
Mina let out a soft, understanding laugh.
“I know, I know… it’s a lot at first. It was for all of us too… at the beginning.”
There was something reassuring in the way she spoke, like she was trying to ease him into this strange world instead of overwhelming him with it.
“But you’re safe here… I promise,” her expression softened even more, “And… I wanted to tell you… You’re very brave, you know. Not many people would do what you did… Sacrificing yourself for your mother like that… that takes a lot of courage.”
Izuku’s gaze dropped slightly, his fingers tightening just a little in the fabric of his clothes.
“I just… couldn’t leave her…”
“Of course you couldn’t. That just means you care… a lot.”
For a brief moment, the room felt lighter for Izuku…
“You must be cold… right?”
Before Izuku could answer, something small peeked out from behind her. It was Eri, filled with steaming tea, carefully stepping forward. The warmth from it rose gently into the air.
“H-here…” she said shyly.
Izuku blinked again, still clearly overwhelmed by everything happening around him.
“…Thank you.”
The warmth of it seeped instantly into his fingers. He brought it closer and took a small sip and warmth spread through his body almost immediately, chasing away the deep, biting cold that had settled in his bones ever since the dungeon. His shoulders, which had been tense for so long, finally relaxed just a little.
He let out a quiet breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding.
“That’s… really good…”
From across the room, something suddenly shifted—
A soft creak echoed through the space. Slowly, one of the tall wardrobe doors moved on its own, opening just slightly at first.
“Well now,” came a refined, composed voice, “we simply cannot have you attending dinner dressed like that.”
The wardrobe doors opened fully.
“I am Momo,” she continued with a polite tone, “And I will be assisting you.”
Izuku just stared and didn’t even react at first.
Because honestly how do you react to a talking wardrobe introducing itself?
Before he could form a single word, the inside of the wardrobe came to life. The doors opened wider, revealing rows upon rows of neatly arranged clothing — elegant fabrics, rich colors, finely tailored pieces, all far too luxurious for anything he had ever worn. Momo began pulling garments forward, one after another, presenting them with precision and care.
“This one… no, perhaps something more formal… Ah— this color complements you quite nicely… but perhaps a more refined silhouette…”
A coat slid forward.
Then a shirt.
Then another.
“Oh! Yes!— this would suit you wonderfully,” she said with quiet satisfaction.
Izuku watched all of it in stunned silence, his brain once again struggling to keep up with the reality of the situation. Meanwhile, Mina slowly stepped back toward the door, smiling softly.
“Well, we’ll leave you in good hands! We need to finish preparing dinner…”
And just like that, the two of them slipped out of the room, the door closing gently behind them with a soft click. Momo continued her work with focus, carefully considering each option until, after a moment, she finally selected one outfit. It slid forward neatly, perfectly arranged.
“Perfect,” she said with a satisfied nod.
But Izuku shook his head gently, “Thank you, but… I’m not going to dinner.”
“…I beg your pardon?” Momo said, clearly surprised.
“I’m not going…”
Momo's doors shifted, studying him more carefully now.
“I understand that this situation is… difficult… but if you do not attend… the Master may become very upset.”
Before Izuku could answer—
knock, knock.
The door opened once more and Eijiro entered.
“Dinner is served…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki sat at the head of a long, grand dining table that stretched across the vast hall, its surface completely covered with an overwhelming amount of food.
Freshly baked loaves of golden bread still steamed slightly, their crust crisp and fragrant, while large platters of roasted meat glistened under the warm light, seasoned with herbs and rich sauces. Bowls of thick, creamy soup released gentle curls of steam, and trays of roasted vegetables, brushed with butter, filled the air with a savory scent. There were delicate pastries filled with berries, golden pies, and small, carefully arranged desserts that looked almost too perfect to touch. Silver dishes reflected the flickering firelight, making everything seem even more lavish.
And yet no one was eating.
Katsuki’s leg bounced impatiently beneath the table, his claws tapping lightly against the floor as a low, irritated growl rumbled in his chest.
“Where the hell is he?! He’s late!”
Across the room, standing atop the fireplace that illuminated the entire hall with a steady, warm glow, were Mina and Denki, his small flames flickering gently.
Mina tilted slightly, her tone calm but firm as she answered, “Give him some time… the poor boy lost his freedom and his mother on the same day. This is very hard for him…”
Katsuki let out a quiet growl under his breath, looking away, clearly irritated.
A moment passed before Denki spoke up, “Well… if he’s the one who’s supposed to break the curse… maybe you should try being a little nicer to him?”
Katsuki’s head snapped toward him immediately,“I am nice! I introduced myself, I gave him a room, I let him walk around the castle freely— what more does he want?!”
“That’s not enough! You have to show him that you care! Make him feel safe!”
Mina nodded gently in agreement, “He won’t trust you if he’s afraid of you… and he is afraid. He’s our only hope… the only one who can break the curse.”
Katsuki’s expression tightened, his gaze dropping for a moment as frustration mixed with something quieter.
“I don’t even know how to do that… And besides… it’s not like he’d ever fall for someone like me. He… looks good and charming, and—” he stopped himself, his jaw tightened, “normal… And I’m just… a monster.”
For a brief moment, the room fell silent again.
“Then show him what’s inside… That’s what matters.”
Denki’s flame flickered brighter as he immediately leaned forward, “Yeah! Exactly! Just— be nice! Be polite! Gentle! Say something kind!”
Both of them hopped down from the fireplace onto the table, moving closer to Katsuki.
“Compliment him! Offer him food properly! Make him feel comfortable! You need to be warm. Thoughtful!”
“And smile! …You can smile, right?”
Katsuki shot him a sharp glare, “…Don’t push it.”
“Okay, okay— not smile,” Denki corrected quickly, backing off, “just— try.”
Katsuki huffed quietly, clearly annoyed, but didn’t argue further.
And then the sound of the door handle turning echoed through the hall. All three of them froze.
“He’s here,” Denki whispered, almost excited.
Katsuki straightened slightly, trying to compose himself.
The doors slowly opened, and for a brief moment, hope flickered in the room—
But instead of Izuku, Kirishima stepped inside.
Katsuki’s expression darkened.
“Where is he?” he demanded sharply.
Kirishima hesitated, shifting awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable under the stare, “Uh… well… sir, I just— uh— well, you see, it’s just that— he, um— he said that he— well— it’s really hard to say haha— uh…” he swallowed nervously, glancing anywhere but directly at Katsuki, “He says… he’s not coming to dinner.”
…
“WHAAAT?!”
Katsuki roared, his voice exploding through the entire castle and echoing off the walls like thunder. Before anyone could react, he shoved his chair back and stormed out of the dining hall, his heavy footsteps hitting the floor with force as he headed straight for Izuku’s chamber.
“Wait—!” Denki called, jumping off the table, while Mina quickly followed, “Bakugo, hold on!”
Kirishima rushed after them, all three trying to catch up as they ran down the corridor, calling after him to calm down.
Katsuki reached the door first and slammed his hand against it with a loud, aggressive BANG.
“WHY AREN’T YOU COMING TO DINNER?!”
“I don’t want to… I’m not hungry.”
Katsuki’s expression darkened instantly, his claws tightened.
“That wasn’t a request! It’s an order!”
“I’m still not coming.”
By then, the others had caught up, stopping just behind him, slightly out of breath.
“Hey— hey! be nicer!” Denki whispered, while Mina added more firmly, “Talk to him properly… calm down.”
Katsuki clenched his jaw, clearly forcing himself to hold back, the tension visible in his posture as he took a short breath, trying to not explode again.
“…Come to dinner…” he said again, this time his voice noticeably less aggressive, though still stiff, like the words didn’t quite sit right in his mouth.
Denki leaned closer, whispering, “Say please…”
Katsuki shot him an irritated glance, clearly not liking that idea at all. After a second he looked back at the door, exhaling sharply through his nose.
“…Please.”
…
“…No.”
A dangerous growl rumbled deep in Katsuki's chest, his jaw tightening as his patience finally snapped.
“FINE! THEN IF YOU WON’T EAT WITH ME— YOU WON’T EAT AT ALL!”
A low, furious growl escaped him as he turned sharply on his heel and stormed off down the corridor, his heavy footsteps echoing behind him while the others stood there for a moment, the tension still hanging in the air long after he was gone.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Fury burned through Katsuki as he stormed down the corridor. His heavy footsteps echoing sharply until he shoved open the doors to one of the castle’s secluded chambers.
The room beyond was dark. Dust lingered in the air, disturbed only by his sudden entrance, drifting through faint beams of moonlight that slipped in through tall, broken windows. Torn curtains hung unevenly, their fabric frayed and worn, swaying slightly in the cold air that seeped inside.
The furniture was damaged — chairs overturned, their legs splintered, upholstery ripped apart as if something violent had once torn through the room. A large bed stood against the wall, its canopy shredded, the once-elegant fabric now hanging in tatters.
At the far end, near the balcony doors left slightly ajar, stood a small, delicate table.
And on it was a rose.
It was beautiful.
Unnaturally so.
Its deep red petals seemed almost luminous in the dim light, rich and velvety, as if untouched by time itself. A faint glow surrounded it, subtle but alive, and one by one… its petals slowly loosened, drifting downward in soft, silent motion, disappearing before they could reach the surface beneath.
Katsuki approached it, his expression tight with frustration.
“I’m trying! I’m trying to be nice and he’s still so damn stubborn!”
His claws curled tighter at his sides, shoulders tense, breath uneven as frustration spilled out of him faster than he could control it.
“What does he even want from me?! I gave him a room, I didn’t throw him back in the dungeon, I—” he cut himself off sharply.
He stood there for a moment, breathing hard, his chest rising and falling as the anger settled. His gaze drifted toward the small table beside the rose. There, resting against it, lay a small, ornate mirror. He stared at it for a second, then reached out and grabbed it abruptly.
“Show me… show me Izuku…”
The surface of the mirror shimmered softly, the reflection distorting for a moment as if something beneath it was coming to life.
The faint glow pulsed once and then Izuku appeared on it. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in his chamber, his posture small. His hands rested in his lap, fingers loosely intertwined, his gaze lowered, distant and lost somewhere deep in his own thoughts.
Beside him stood Momo, her wardrobe doors slightly angled toward him, “Our master is not as terrible as he may seem… He simply… struggles to express himself. You only need to get to know him better.”
Izuku fingers tightened.
“I don’t want to get to know him at all…”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Katsuki’s brows furrowed deeply, his grip tightening slightly around the mirror.
Something twisted in his chest.
“…Idiot.”
He lowered the mirror, his shoulders dropping just slightly as the anger shifted into something heavier.
“I'm such an idiot… I keep getting my hopes up… And it never changes…”
The room fell silent again.
Only the rose remained slowly losing its petals…
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Several hours had passed, evening had quietly settled over the castle.
Outside the tall windows, snow had begun to fall. Soft and steady flakes drifting down from the dark sky, covering the world in a silent, white calm. The wind whispered faintly against the stone walls, and the cold glow of the night gave everything a distant, almost dreamlike stillness.
Izuku slowly opened the door to his room, just enough to peek outside. He held his breath for a moment, listening carefully but nothing answered him.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Just silence.
Carefully, he stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him as quietly as possible. His footsteps were light as he moved through the dim hallway, the shadows stretching along the walls, the faint light of distant candles barely guiding his way.
After a few moments, he noticed a soft glow coming from below.
From the lower floor, a door stood slightly ajar, warm light spilling out into the otherwise dark corridor. He slowly made his way toward it.
It was the kitchen. Inside, the atmosphere was… much livelier.
“I prepared so much food!” a frustrated oven complained loudly, its metal frame rattling with irritation, “Hours of work! Perfectly cooked! And for what?! Nothing! Not even a single bite!”
“Calm down, calm down…” Mina said gently, in her teapot form, sitting neatly on the counter nearby, “He’s been through a lot today. He lost everything in one moment… you can’t expect him to just sit down and eat like nothing happened.”
“Well, I still don’t like it!” the oven huffed, letting out a small puff of heat.
Nearby, the sink was filled with warm, soapy water, bubbles rising and popping softly. Floating in it was Eri, gently bobbing with the water.
“Maybe… maybe next time he will come…” she said softly, her small voice hopeful.
“He better! All that food going to waste is a tragedy.”
On the table, Denki flickered lightly, his candle flame swaying as he spoke up, “I mean… it didn’t help that someone scared him half to death earlier…”
From the side, Kirishima ticked loudly, his clock hands shifting, “We really shouldn’t have pushed him so hard. The Master… tends to be a little intense.”
“A little?! He literally yelled at him!”
“He’s trying! He just… doesn’t know how to show it properly.”
“That doesn’t make it less scary!”
Eri slowly sank a little deeper into the bubbles, her voice quieter this time.
“Do you think… he’s lonely too…?”
The question lingered in the air and no one answered it. Denki’s flame dimmed slightly, Mina looked away, Kirishima didn’t move and even the oven didn’t complain…
creeeak…
The kitchen door slowly opened. All of them froze and every single one turned at the same time. Standing in the doorway was Izuku.
“Oh!” Mina brightened immediately, “Hello again!”
Denki’s flame flickered excitedly, “You came!”
Kirishima straightened slightly, “Welcome.”
Eri gently splashed in the water, “Hi!”
Izuku hesitated just a little, still not fully used to all of this.
“H-hi… uhm… I’m… I’m hungry…” he said, apologetically, like it was something he shouldn’t be saying out loud, “I-I mean— not like— I can wait if— if it’s not a good time…”
…
“I KNEW IT!” the oven suddenly shouted, bursting into action, “Alright! Back to work! Nobody panic— actually panic a little, but in an organized way!”
“WAIT— WHAT DO WE EVEN MAKE?!” a cabinet yelled as it flung itself open, plates clattering slightly.
“Something warm! He said he’s hungry— that means proper food!” Mina chimed in, already moving across the counter.
“Of course he’s hungry, he’s human!” Denki added, his flame flaring brighter, zipping from one side of the kitchen to the other like pure chaos, “Do humans like— bread? Soup? Everything?!”
“EVERYTHING IS FINE, I HAVE A PLAN!” the oven declared dramatically, despite clearly not having one.
Izuku froze, completely not knowing what was going on.
“I— I can wait…” he said weakly, his voice completely lost in the chaos, “I really don’t—”
“NO WAITING!”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
“Plates!” Denki called out.
“Tea!”
“Careful, careful!” Kirishima said as things began moving around.
Eri perked up, “I’ll help too!”
Drawers opened on their own, plates slid across the counter, utensils clinked into place and the oven immediately began reheating dishes, filling the kitchen with warmth and the smell of freshly prepared food once again.
“Oh, you have to try this!”
“And this one too!”
“It’s still good! I made sure of it!”
Izuku stood there for a moment, watching all of it happen, still a little overwhelmed by how alive everything felt around him.
“Hey,” Denko said in a lighter tone, trying to sound encouraging, “come on— I’ll take you to the dining room. The food will be ready in just a second.”
Izuku hesitated only briefly before nodding, “O-Okay.”
He followed the candle through the dim corridors, the soft light guiding him until they reached the large dining hall.
He slowly walked toward the long table and sat down at the far end and almost immediately things began to move. Plates slid neatly into place in front of him, silverware arranged itself perfectly and a folded napkin gently settled onto his lap as if placed by invisible hands.
Izuku blinked softly in surprise, barely having time to react before the doors opened and food began to arrive all at once.
Warm bread with golden crusts, steaming bowls of rich soup, roasted meats glazed with herbs, colorful vegetables, soft pastries and delicate desserts, all spreading across the table in an overwhelming display.
The smell alone made his stomach tighten, reminding him just how hungry he really was.
He stared at it for a moment, clearly stunned, before quietly saying, “Th-This is a lot… Thank you.”
From nearby, Mina answered gently, “Of course. You’re not a prisoner here… you’re our guest.”
That made him pause for just a second, the words settling in, before a small, genuine smile appeared on his face.
“Thank you… really…” he said again, and finally reached for his fork.
The first bite was warm and his body reacted instantly. His empty stomach tightening before slowly relaxing as he began to eat more, each bite easing the tension that had been building inside him since he arrived.
“Mhmm… It’s really good…”
Eri peeked carefully from the edge of the table, “I’m glad you’re eating…”
Izuku glanced toward her, offering a small, gentle smile, “Thank you.”
For a moment, the room settled into a quiet rhythm, broken only by the soft sounds of cutlery and movement, until Mina spoke again.
“It’s okay… if today feels overwhelming. You don’t have to figure everything out right now.”
Izuku slowed slightly, listening, his shoulders still tense but beginning to ease.
“You’ve been through a lot. Anyone would feel lost.”
“Yeah…” Denki added quickly, trying to lighten the mood, “Honestly, I’d be panicking way more than you right now.”
That earned a small, quiet laugh from Izuku.
“I think I am panicking…” he admitted under his breath.
“But you’re handling it well. You’re still standing! That says a lot!” Kirishima spoke, his voice grounding the moment.
Izuku blinked slightly, surprised by that, “…You think so?”
“Definitely!”
“You’re stronger than you think.”
Izuku looked down at his plate, his grip on the fork loosening just a little as the words settled in, “I don’t feel strong…”
Eri’s small voice spoke up again, “You still came here… you didn’t run away…”
That made him pause, his expression softening, “I couldn’t… I promised.”
“And that matters,” Mina replied.
The warmth of the food, the quiet kindness around him, the way no one was forcing him anymore. It all began to sink in slowly and without even realizing it, Izuku’s shoulders relaxed just a little more and his breath was steadier now.
And for the first time since arriving in the castle…
He didn’t feel completely alone.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku walked through the castle corridors alongside Denki and Kirishima, the soft glow of the candle lighting their path as the quiet halls felt far less intimidating than before.
“So— okay, you have to admit,” Denki started, his flame flickering playfully, “this place isn’t that bad once you get used to it, right?”
Izuku let out a small laugh, “Yeah It’s… definitely different.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Kirishima added with a short chuckle, “Most people don’t react this calmly to… well—”
“Living furniture?”
“Yeah… That.”
Izuku smiled a little more at that, his shoulders noticeably more relaxed now, “I think I’m still trying to process it, honestly…”
“That’s fair! Honestly, I’m still processing it too and I’ve been like this for—”
“Don’t finish that sentence Denki…”
“—a while haha…”
That earned a small laugh from Izuku, a bit louder this time.
For a moment, the three of them just walked together like that talking, joking, the tension slowly melting into something warmer and lighter.
“…I’d really like to see more of the castle,” Izuku said after a moment, glancing around with quiet curiosity.
Denki immediately brightened, “Oh! Yes— yes! Absolutely!”
“Of course! We can show you around.”
“Yeah, we’ve got a lot to show you!” Denki said, already turning slightly as if leading the way.
They began walking down another corridor, this one lined with large, ornate paintings that covered the walls from end to end.
“Okay, so this one—” Denki started, gesturing with his light toward a large portrait, “this is from way back, like, before everything got all… you know—”
“Complicated.”
“Yeah, that.”
Izuku stepped closer, studying the painting carefully.
“It’s… really detailed…”
“Right? We’ve got tons of these! Different rooms, different people— some of them are kinda creepy though, I’m not gonna lie. One of them even watches you!”
“…Denki,” Kirishima warned.
“What? It does!”
Izuku let out another small laugh, “…I’ll keep that in mind…”
Denki moved his light slightly to the side, illuminating another painting.
“Oh! And this one— this one’s weird! Look at the eyes. I swear they follow you around the room.”
“They don’t follow you. It’s just the way they were painted. Perspective.”
“…Yeah, okay, Mr. Technical. Still creepy.”
Izuku leaned in a bit closer, tilting his head, “…It does kind of feel like it’s looking at you…”
“SEE?”
“Let’s not scare him…”
“I’m not scaring him! I’m educating him!”
“That is not education.”
Denki ignored that completely and moved forward again, lighting up another large painting further down the hall.
“Okay, this one’s actually cool. This is from when the castle was full of life, there were lights everywhere, music echoing through the halls, people walking around, laughing, talking… it felt warm, like the whole place was actually alive…” he paused for a moment, his tone dropping just a little, “before everything became… different.”
Izuku looked at the painting a little longer, “It looks… warmer…”
“…Yeah,” Eijiro replied quietly.
Denki didn’t comment this time, his flame dimming just slightly for a moment before flickering back to normal.
“But hey! Not everything here is creepy or depressing! Some of them are just… fancy.”
“Most of them,” Kirishima corrected.
“…Okay, most of them are fancy and some of them are haunted.”
“They are not haunted.”
“Emotionally haunted.”
“…That doesn’t count.”
Izuku laughed again, a bit more openly this time. And just like that, the lighter mood returned.
They continued walking, Denki rambling excitedly about random details of the castle while Kirishima occasionally corrected him, until they reached another section of the hallway.
And that’s when Izuku noticed the stairs. They curved upward, darker than the rest of the castle, the light fading as they led into the upper levels. Without thinking too much, he took a step toward them.
“Hey!” Denki reacted immediately, quickly floating in front of him, while Kirishima rolled slightly forward, blocking his path as well.
“Uh— nope! Nothing interesting up there!” Denki said quickly, a little too quickly.
“Yeah haha…” Kirishima added, “Just— old rooms. Nothing worth seeing.”
Izuku blinked, confused, “…Really?”
“Really!”
Izuku looked back at the stairs and took another step forward, “I still want to see it…”
Both of them immediately shifted again, blocking him once more.
“Or— or w-we could go somewhere else!”
“Yeah, yeah! There are way better places!”
“Like uhh— the dining hall!”
“You’ve already seen that,” Kirishima cut in.
“Okay, not that— uh— then there’s the courtyard!”
“It’s snowing.”
“Right okay uh— t-there’s the ballroom!”
“Not a good idea right now.”
“Kitchen! You liked the kitchen!”
“We just came from there.”
“Okay, okay wait uhhhh— oh! The library! We have a library!”
Izuku paused.
“…A library?”
Denki nodded quickly, “Yeah! A big one! Like— really, really big!”
“Plenty of books!”
Izuku’s expression shifted, curiosity clearly sparking, “…Really?”
“Yeah, yeah! Come on, we’ll show you!” Denki said quickly, already turning and starting to move down the corridor, Kirishima following along.
“It’s one of the better places in the castle,” Kirishima added as they walked, trying to keep the conversation going, “Quiet. Organized!”
“Very non-threatening!”
They continued talking, describing the library, its size, the number of books, and the atmosphere. They were so caught up in their own rambling that they didn’t notice that the footsteps behind them had stopped.
Back at the staircase, Izuku stood still for a moment, looking up into the darkened upper level.
Then he turned quietly and began walking up the stairs. Each step he made the air felt colder, heavier, as if something in this part of the castle didn’t welcome him.
When he reached the top and stepped into the west wing, the difference was immediate. The corridor ahead was darker than the rest of the castle, the light barely reaching its depths, shadows clinging to the walls as if they refused to let go.
Broken mirrors hung crookedly, their shattered surfaces reflecting distorted fragments of his movement as he passed, torn paintings dangled from their frames, slashed and ruined, their subjects barely visible anymore and tall statues lined the hallway, their hollow eyes seeming to follow him with every step.
The silence here pressed in on him, thick and suffocating, making even his quiet breathing sound too loud, his footsteps echoing unnaturally as he continued forward despite the unease settling deep in his chest.
At the end of the corridor stood a set of large doors. Izuku slowed, his hand hovering near the handle as he glanced back over his shoulder
No one was there, the hallway behind him empty and still.
Swallowing nervously, he finally reached out and pulled, the doors resisting for a moment before opening with a long, heavy creak that echoed through the darkness.
The room beyond was just as abandoned, just as broken, with shattered furniture scattered across the floor, chairs overturned, tables cracked, fabric torn apart as if something violent had once torn through everything. Dust covered the surfaces, disturbed only by his careful steps as he moved slowly between the wreckage, nearly stumbling when his foot caught against a small table before catching himself at the last second.
Then his gaze lifted and landed on a massive portrait hanging on the wall. Or what was left of it. The canvas had been torn apart, slashed through in several places, leaving only fragments behind, but even then he could make out part of a… face…
Sharp features, pale skin and one visible eye glowing faintly red through the damage. Drawn in despite himself, Izuku stepped closer, his voice barely a whisper, “Who is that…”
Slowly he reached out and his fingers brushed against the torn fabric, gently pulling at it, trying to move the damaged canvas aside just enough to see more of the hidden face.
And then a faint glow caught his attention.
He froze, his head turned slightly as something in the corner of his vision shifted and when he looked, he saw a small table near the balcony, and on it… a rose.
Its deep red petals glowing softly in the darkness, each petal slowly drifting downward in silent, delicate motion.
“Wow…” Izuku whispered under his breath, stepping closer without even realizing it, his eyes softening as he looked at it, “…It’s beautiful…”
He reached out slowly, almost instinctively, his hand moving toward the glass that covered it.
And then—
A deep growl rolled through the room behind him.
His entire body froze, his fingers stopping mid-air just inches from the glass as a cold shiver ran down his spine, the sound instantly pulling him out of whatever quiet curiosity had drawn him closer.
He knew that sound…
Before he could even turn, the Beast moved, appearing in front of him in an instant, shoving him back slightly as he stepped between Izuku and the rose, completely blocking it from view.
Izuku stumbled, his breath catching sharply in his throat as he looked up and the sudden closeness, the sheer size of him, the heat radiating from his body made everything feel overwhelming all at once.
Those red eyes locked onto him.
Burning.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
Izuku flinched hard, panic flooding his expression as his heart began to race uncontrollably.
“I— I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to— I just—”
“You shouldn’t be here!”
“I-I didn’t know— I didn’t know this was—”
“You don’t know what could have happened!” Katsuki shouted, louder and harsher, like there was something more tangled in it than just anger, something closer to fear, buried too deep to name.
“…W-what?”
“GET OUT!!”
The roar that followed was deafening, echoing violently through the chamber and crashing into Izuku all at once, making him flinch.
His chest tightened painfully and his thoughts scattered completely and without thinking, without stopping, without even understanding what he was doing he turned and ran.
He burst out of the room, his footsteps echoed wildly as he raced down the dark corridor. His heart pounded so loudly it drowned out everything else, his breath coming fast and uneven as panic pushed him forward.
“I shouldn’t have come here— I shouldn’t have—” he muttered under his breath, barely able to form the words as his thoughts spiraled.
He didn’t look back, didn’t slow down, didn’t think— he just ran down the stairs, through the halls, past shadows that seemed to stretch toward him, until he reached the grand entrance of the castle.
“Wait!—”
Denki and Kirishima rushed toward him.
“Where are you going?!”
“I can’t stay here! I can’t— not even for a moment!”
“Wait, just listen!”
But Izuku didn’t stop.
He threw the doors open and a blast of freezing wind hit him instantly, snow whipping through the air in a violent storm as the world outside seemed to disappear into white chaos.
“WAIT!” Denki shouted after him—
But the doors slammed shut behind Izuku with a loud BANG.
Izuku ran straight to the horse, his hands shaking as he climbed onto it, gripping the reins tightly before urging it forward.
“Go!”
The horse bolted into the storm.
They rode through the forest at full speed, branches whipping past, snow blinding his vision, the wind howling in his ears as if trying to swallow him whole. He didn’t look back, didn’t slow down, didn’t think—
Until he heard a sharp howl cut through the storm.
The horse suddenly reared, panicking, its hooves kicking up snow as it came to an abrupt stop.
“W-wait!—” Izuku gasped, gripping tighter as he nearly lost his balance, breath catching in his throat.
Then he saw them.
Shapes shifting through the storm.
Eyes glowing in the dark.
Wolves.
A whole pack of wolves…
Izuku’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes darted around the tightening circle, their low growls vibrating through the cold air.
“N-no…”
The word barely left his lips.
Suddenly one lunged. It moved so fast Izuku barely had time to react as it launched itself at the horse. Its jaws snapped shut around the animal’s leg.
The horse let out a loud, panicked scream, rearing violently onto its hind legs and its body twisted in fear. Izuku lost his grip completely, his hands slipped as he was thrown off balance and sent crashing down into the snow below.
He hit the ground hard. The impact knocked the air straight out of his lungs as cold immediately seeped into his body. His vision blurred for a second as he struggled to breathe, to move, to get up—
But before he could, the wolves were already coming. They rushed toward him all at once, snarling, their movements aggressively, claws tearing through the snow as they closed the distance in seconds.
Their teeth bared, their eyes fixed on him like prey that had nowhere left to run.
Izuku’s heart pounded violently in his chest, fear fully took over.
“AAAAAAAH!—”
And just as they were about to reach him—
Something moved…
A shadow tore through the storm, fast and brutal, slamming into the wolves and throwing them aside.
The sudden shift was so violent and unexpected that Izuku froze completely, unable to process what had just happened.
Because standing in front of him, shielding him completely—
Was the Beast.
Katsuki stood over him, his body lowered into a defensive stance, claws digging into the snow, shoulders tense, breath heavy, eyes burning with fury as he bared his teeth at the pack, placing himself directly between Izuku and danger.
He didn’t even look at him.
All of his focus was on the wolves.
They attacked again.
One lunged and Katsuki met it head-on, slamming it into the ground. Another snapped at his side and he twisted, claws striking, but a third one managed to sink its teeth into his arm.
A snarl tore from his throat as he fought back harder, the snow around them tearing apart as bodies collided and growls echoed through the storm.
Izuku watched in shock, unable to move, his heart pounding as he saw how outnumbered he was, how the wolves attacked from every direction, biting, tearing, dragging him down—
And yet Katsuki didn’t retreat.
Even as blood stained the snow, even as more wolves came he kept fighting.
Driven by something stronger than instinct.
Stronger than pain.
Stronger than anything Izuku could understand.
Katsuki roared, throwing another wolf aside with brutal force, its body crashing into the ground.
Slowly, the wolves began to hesitate.
Their movements slowed, their formation breaking slightly as they circled. One let out a low growl, stepping back instead of forward.
One by one, they began to retreat, still growling, but no longer attacking, their bodies disappearing into the storm as quickly as they had come.
Silence fell, broken only by the wind and Katsuki’s heavy breathing.
Izuku’s chest rose and fell rapidly as he stared, his lungs burning from the cold, his mind struggling to catch up with everything that had just happened.
Katsuki stood there for a moment, his body tense, rising and falling with each breath, his entire frame trembling as blood dripped from multiple wounds into the snow.
Slowly, he turned toward Izuku.
Their eyes met.
Emerald and ruby.
And something in Izuku’s chest tightened.
Because this wasn’t the same terrifying Beast from before…
This was someone badly hurt…
Only then did Izuku truly see the deep, jagged wound along Katsuki’s arm, torn open, blood pouring from it far too quickly and far too much…
Katsuki took one unsteady step forward, his claws digged into the snow as if trying to hold himself upright—
But his strength gave out.
His body dropped heavily, collapsing into the snow with a crushing sound.
For a split second, Izuku froze, his breath catching as his eyes flicked upward toward the horse. It was still there, the path ahead wide open, leading to freedom, to escape, to safety.
He could leave…
Right now.
No one would stop him.
But then he looked back down at the Beast…
Lying there…
Bleeding…
Alone…
And something inside him twisted painfully in his chest until leaving didn’t feel like freedom anymore.
“I-I can’t… I can’t leave you here…”
The decision settled in his chest instantly.
Without another second of hesitation, he pulled off his cloak with trembling fingers as he pressed it against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
“S-stay with me… I-It’s going to be okay… I’ve got you…”
He tightened the cloth as best as he could. His hands were shaking but were still determined, refusing to give up. With effort, he shifted his weight, slipping his arms under Katsuki’s body.
He was heavy.
Far heavier than Izuku expected.
“I’m not leaving you…”
Step by step, his foot slipped in the snow as he forced himself forward with arms straining trying to lift him. His muscles protested under the weight but Izuku refused to give up.
Finally, with a strained breath and one last push, he managed to get the Beast onto the horse. He climbed up right after, pulling Katsuki closer, holding him upright against him. One arm wrapped tightly around his body to keep him from slipping.
The storm howled around them, wind cutting sharply against his face.
Izuku tightened his hold on the reins and turned the horse back toward the castle.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred at first before gradually sharpening, the flickering light from the fireplace reflecting faintly across his vision until shapes began to settle into something clearer.
For a moment he didn’t move at all, just staring at the ceiling, his breathing slow but heavy, like his body hadn’t quite caught up with him yet. He realized he was back in the castle, lying on a large couch in one of the chambers, the warmth of the fireplace in front of the couch spreading through the room, its soft glow flickering against the walls and pushing away the cold.
Then suddenly the pain hit him. His breath caught slightly as he looked down at his right arm, where a deep wound stretched across it, still raw.
Just like that the memories rushed back…
The forest…
The snow…
The wolves…
Izuku…
His eyes widened just a little as he pushed himself up too quickly, a low hiss escaped him when the movement pulled at his injury. He ignored it and forced himself into a sitting position—
But then he froze.
Because he saw him.
Izuku sat by the fireplace with his back turned, carefully soaking a cloth in warm water, bandages neatly laid out beside him, his movements quiet, steady and focused. He sat completely unaware that he was being watched.
For a moment, Katsuki just stared.
Something in his chest tightened slightly. Strange, unfamiliar and annoying.
Then Izuku moved as if sensing him and turned his head.
“Oh— you’re awake,” he said softly, immediately standing and walking over, the damp cloth in his hands, his expression shifting instantly into concern, “How are you feeling?”
Katsuki just stared at him for a moment, something twisted in his chest again. He scoffed lightly and looked away.
“Tch. I’m fine. I don’t need help.”
Izuku didn’t stop, “We need to clean the wound, don’t move—”
And before Katsuki could react, the cloth pressed against his injury.
“TCH!— DON’T TOUCH IT! IT HURTS!”
“Well maybe if you didn’t move, it wouldn’t!” Izuku snapped back instantly with a sharper voice than before.
“If you hadn’t run into the forest, I wouldn’t even have this!” Katsuki shot back.
“And if you hadn’t scared me, I wouldn’t have run!”
“Well if you didn’t—” the sentence died halfway. His jaw tightened as he suddenly didn’t know what to say. He clicked his tongue and turned his head away with a low growl.
“…Tch. You shouldn’t have gone into the west wing.”
“And you should control yourself.”
Their eyes met and for a moment neither of them spoke.
The tension hung heavy between them, sharp and fragile at the same time, like something that could snap if either of them pushed just a little too far.
Izuku finally broke it, his voice quieter this time, “Don’t move… It might sting.”
He held out his hand slightly, silently asking for Katsuki’s arm.
The Beast stared at it for a second before slowly, reluctantly giving in and placing his arm in Izuku’s grasp.
Izuku’s fingers wrapped around it carefully, his touch gentle, steady, as he pressed the cloth against the wound again, this time slower, more careful, more aware of every small reaction.
Katsuki hissed under his breath at first, his body tensing. After a moment the pain dulled, easing just enough for him to relax slightly.
The room fell quiet again.
But this time it wasn’t sharp…
Or suffocating.
It was just… still.
Izuku reached for the bandages and began wrapping the wound. His movements were steady, making sure it was secure without hurting him further.
“…Thank you,” Izuku said quietly after a moment, “…for saving me Kacchan.”
Katsuki blinked, caught off guard by that. His gaze flickered slightly before he looked away again.
“…Yeah, of course.”
Izuku smiled softly at that, the kind of smile that was small but genuine.
For a brief moment, something shifted. The tension that had been sitting between them seemed to loosen…
The room itself felt different.
The air was no longer feeling heavy with unspoken frustration, but instead with something calmer…
Just a quiet understanding settling in something neither of them quite knew how to handle yet.
Something gentler…
Lighter…
Peacefu—
“Wait—”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes, looking back at Izuku.
“…What did you just call me?”
“…Huh?”
“I’m not ‘Kacchan’. My name’s Katsuki.”
There was a long pause. Izuku froze completely as his entire face turned bright red.
“H-HUH?? O-OH MY GOD, I'M SO, SO SORRY! I SOMETIMES FORGOT PEOPLE NAMES AND THEN I MIXED THEM UP I REALLY DIDN’T MEAN TO, I’M SORRY, I DON’T KNOW WHY I ALWAYS END UP SOUNDING SO—
“Tch, stop mumbling, it’s not a big deal,” Katsuki cut him off, his tone dismissive, but not as sharp as before, “You’re such a damn nerd…”
And even if it sounded like annoyance…
There was something different now.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
It was a cold, unforgiving night in the village, the kind where frost clung to every surface and the wind howled softly through the narrow streets, chasing everyone indoors. Windows were dark, doors tightly shut and no one wanted to be outside in weather like this.
Only in one place a faint, warm light spilled from the windows of the tavern near the center of town. Inside, it was quieter than usual, the usual laughter and chatter replaced by a low murmur and the occasional clink of glass.
At one of the tables, Neito sat with a composed, almost smug expression, his posture relaxed as if he had all the time in the world.
Across from him sat an old man. He was thin, hunched, with sharp features and eyes that gleamed with something far from kindness. His fingers tapped slowly against the table as he studied Monoma.
“I rarely take patients in the middle of the night,” the old man said slowly with a dry voice, “so whatever this is… it better be worth my time.”
Monoma smiled faintly.
“Oh, I assure you… it will be.”
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.
“There’s a woman in this village, going around telling everyone there’s a beast living in the castle.”
The old man raised an eyebrow.
“A beast?”
“Delusions. Clearly. The kind that requires… professional attention. She needs to be taken away.”
“And what does that have to do with you?”
“Her son. Midoriya. He cares deeply for her. Desperately so. If she’s taken away… he’ll do anything to stop it.”
The old man leaned back slightly, interest growing.
“And you intend to… use that?”
Monoma’s smile widened just a fraction.
“I’ll offer him a solution. If he agrees to marry me… his mother will stay.”
The old man let out a low, amused hum.
“…That is a rather cruel plan. So Manipulative and desperate,” his eyes gleamed, “I like it.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“But without proper compensa—”
Monoma dropped a heavy pouch onto the table. The sound of coins clinked inside it cut through the man's words.
His gaze snapped to it immediately. Slowly, he reached out, opening it just enough to glimpse the gold within. A crooked smile spread across his face.
“Well then,” he chuckled darkly, “you have my full attention…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Inko moved quickly around her small home, her hands trembling slightly as she gathered everything she could think of — a blanket, a lantern, a small pouch of supplies, anything that might help her survive the journey ahead.
“If no one is going to help me… then I’ll do it myself… I’ll bring my sweet Izuku back no matter how long— ACHOO!”
A sudden sneeze broke through the silence. She paused for a second, pressing a hand to her chest as her body shivered. She was still sick, still weak and exhausted but none of that mattered.
Nothing mattered more than her son…
She reached for one last item, gripping it tightly before straightening up.
Without another thought, she turned and stepped outside, leaving the door behind her slightly ajar, not even bothering to lock it.
She disappeared into the dark forest.
Minutes passed, the wind howled softly and then the sound of wheels broke the silence.
A carriage rolled up to the small house, its wooden frame creaking as it came to a stop. Painted across its side were the words: psychiatric hospital.
Neito stepped down from it, brushing off his coat as his eyes settled on the quiet, dimly lit house. He walked up to the door and knocked loudly.
“Midoriya,” Monoma called out, his voice impatient, expecting an immediate response, “open the door.”
But nothing came.
No footsteps.
No voice.
Just silence.
His expression tightened slightly, irritation flickering across his face as he waited a second longer than he intended, before knocking again this time louder. The sound echoed through the quiet night.
Still nothing.
And then the door slowly creaked open on its own.
Monoma paused, his hand still raised mid-knock, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at the dark gap now inviting him inside.
Without hesitation, he stepped in.
The house was empty, dark shadows filling every corner, no fire, no light, no movement.
No sign that anyone had been there recently at all.
No Midoriya.
And no woman.
“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath with the irritation fully settling into something colder.
He turned on his heel and walked back outside, approaching the carriage again.
“They’re not here,” he said flatly to the old man waiting inside. After a brief pause, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.
“But they will be… We’ll just have to be patient…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku stood in front of the mirror in his room, the soft morning light streaming through the window and filling the entire space with a gentle warmth. The storm from the night before had passed, leaving behind only a quiet, peaceful landscape with fresh snow covering everything in a perfect, untouched white, while the sun timidly peeked through the clouds, making the world outside shimmer faintly.
Izuku looked at his reflection, still not entirely used to what he saw. Momo had given him new clothes. It was something far more elegant, far more refined than anything he had ever worn before.
A crisp white shirt with loose, slightly billowing sleeves, the cuffs delicately detailed, paired with a fitted green vest that hugged his torso neatly, fastened with small golden buttons down the front. His trousers were dark-colored, tailored perfectly to his slick figure, giving him a surprisingly noble, almost princely appearance.
It felt strange.
But also comfortable…
“I… really look like this…?” he murmured quietly to himself, adjusting the sleeve slightly.
Then the silence was interrupted by a quiet knock. He turned his head and from the other side of the door, Katsuki's voice came, calmer than usual.
“…Oi. You awake?”
“…Yeah.”
There was a short pause before Katsuki spoke again.
“Do you… want to eat something?”
Izuku hesitated for a second, surprised by how normal the question sounded.
“Yeah…”
“…Be in the dining hall at ten,” he said and his footsteps faded.
Time passed quickly and soon Izuku made his way downstairs. He noticed the castle was quieter in the daylight, less intimidating somehow.
When he stepped into the dining hall, the table was already prepared.
Breakfast was laid out in abundance — freshly baked bread, golden butter melting softly on its surface, fluffy scrambled eggs, slices of roasted meat, bowls of fruit, small pastries dusted with sugar and a teapot letting off thin streams of steam.
The smell alone made his stomach tighten with hunger, curling through the air in a way that made it impossible to ignore. For a second Izuku just stood there, taking it in before stepping further inside.
Katsuki noticed him immediately.
He stood from his seat without a word and pulled out the chair across from him for Izuku. The movement was rough but deliberate, his hand lingered on the back of it like he wasn’t sure why he was even doing it.
Izuku hesitated only briefly before stepping closer, his movements quiet, like he didn’t want to disturb the moment.
“…Thank you,” he said under his breath, almost too quiet to hear, before sitting down.
They started eating in silence.
The only sounds were the soft clink of cutlery and the faint crackle of the fireplace. The quiet stretched between them in a way that wasn’t entirely uncomfortable… but not easy either.
Izuku glanced up once, then quickly back down, hesitating for a moment.
“This place…” he started carefully, like he was testing the air between them, “looks different in the morning… It’s… less scary.”
Katsuki’s fork paused mid-air for a fraction of a second before he continued eating.
“Tch. It’s the same.”
Izuku shook his head lightly, “No… I think it depends on how you look at it.”
Katsuki’s eyes flicked up, studying him, lingering just a second longer than necessary, before dropping back to his plate.
“…You’re weird.”
Izuku blinked, caught slightly off guard, “That’s a bit harsh…”
“It’s true.”
“I just meant—” he hesitated, trying to find the right words, his fingers tightening slightly around his fork, “…At night everything feels… bigger… darker… Like the castle is watching you…”
“It is.”
…
“That doesn’t help…”
“Wasn’t trying to.”
“Right…”
A small, awkward breath left Izuku as he glanced around the room. The sunlight spilled through the tall windows, softening the heavy stone walls, making everything feel… different.
“It feels… calmer,” he added more quietly, “Like the castle is… breathing differently.”
Katsuki let out a quiet snort, “It’s a building. It doesn’t breathe.”
“I know! I just— it feels that way…”..
A short pause followed before Izuku shifted slightly in his seat, his gaze dropping to his plate again.
“Uhm… Thank you… For the meal…”
“Wasn’t me.”
“I know, but… you invited me here—”
“Don’t make such a big deal of it.”
“I’m not! I just— really appreciate it.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue,
“…Tch. You talk too much.”
“I’m barely talking…”
“Still too much.”
“Then why are you answering?”
“I’m not.”
“You just did.”
“…Shut up.”
Izuku huffed a quiet, almost amused breath before speaking again.
“Do you… always eat here alone?” he asked carefully.
Katsuki’s movement slowed, “…Yeah.”
“Oh… That sounds kind of lonely…”
“I don’t need anyone.”
“…I didn’t say you did.”
Katsuki exhaled through his nose, “…Tch.”
He didn’t snap or push it any further and Izuku didn’t try to fill the space either. The silence settled between them and stayed, softer now, not sharp or heavy, somewhere between comfort and awkwardness.
They sat at the table, eating slowly, sharing the quiet moment together.
From behind the slightly open door three pairs of eyes watched them closely. Denki leaned forward, his small flame dimmed as much as possible, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Okay— okay, this is good! This is really good! They’re not yelling!”
“Keep your voice down!” Kirishima muttered, his ticking slightly uneven from the tension of trying not to get caught.
Beside them, Mina tilted slightly, watching the two at the table with a hopeful expression.
“Look at them…” she said quietly, “They’re trying…”
Denki leaned a little more, “Okay did you see that?! He thanked him!” And the Master didn’t yell back!”
“He’s softer around him…”
“Izuku isn’t scared anymore…”
“Not as much as before!” Denki crossed his tiny arms thoughtfully.
“And the boss didn’t snap at him that much for talking…”
“Don’t jinx it,” Kirishima warned immediately.
“…Right, right,” Denki whispered quickly, though his flame flickered just a little brighter with hope anyway.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The castle had grown quiet for the night. Most of the halls sat empty and still, filled only with the distant sound of crackling fireplaces and the occasional whisper of wind against the windows.
The only place alive with conversation and noise was the kitchen. Plates clinked loudly against one another, water splashed across the sinks and Denki’s dramatic complaining echoed through the room every few minutes.
“THIS IS ABUSE. ACTUAL ABUSE!”
“You dropped three plates already,” Kyouka replied flatly from nearby as she swept the floor.
“THAT WAS ONE TIME!”
“It was literally five minutes ago.”
“Okay but in my defense, the plate attacked me first!”
“The plate attacked you?…”
“Yes.”
“…Right.”
“I’m serious! It slipped!”
“Because you were spinning around singing!”
“That’s unrelated!”
Kirishima snorted loudly while carrying another stack of dishes toward the sink.
“Bro, you almost took out half the kitchen.”
“I survived though.”
“Unfortunately…” Kyouka muttered.
Izuku laughed softly under his breath as he dried another plate carefully with a towel.
He had shown up after dinner, feeling guilty watching everyone constantly prepare meals for him and clean up after him every day. No matter how many times they told him they didn’t need to help, he still ended up in the kitchen anyway with his sleeves rolled up.
Mina looked over at him from the counter, shaking her head with a small smile.
“Izuku, you really don’t have to do this, you know.”
“I know,” Izuku replied quickly, “but everyone keeps taking care of me all the time. I wanted to help too.”
“You’re a guest. Guests aren’t supposed to do chores.”
“But I’ve been here for days already! At some point I stop being a guest and start becoming a problem.”
“You’re not a problem!” Eri chirped immediately from beside the sink.
Izuku’s expression softened instantly.
“Thanks, Eri…”
“You make the castle less scary,” she added proudly.
Izuku blinked in surprise, “I do?”
“Mhm!”
Izuku laughed again, quieter this time but much more genuine now.
“Honestly, it’s kinda nice having you around.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Kirishima nodded immediately, “Things feel less gloomy lately.”
“That’s because now we have someone normal around,” Kyouka said.
“RUDE,” Denki gasped loudly.
Mina laughed, “No seriously. You’re so sweet, Izuku.”
The compliment made him visibly flustered immediately.
“I-I’m not— I mean— thank you…”
“And helpful,” Eri added.
“And patient,” Kirishima nodded.
“And somehow capable of surviving Bakugo’s personality,” Denki continued.
“That deserves an award honestly.”
Izuku nearly dropped the plate in his hands, “W-WHAT—”
“Oh my god, he’s red!” Mina laughed.
“I’m not red!”
“You are absolutely red.”
“I just wasn’t expecting that!”
That immediately earned a chorus of laughter from everyone in the kitchen. Izuku’s face only turned redder.
“H-Hey— stop laughing…”
But despite the embarrassment, a small laugh escaped him under his breath too as he tried to hide his face behind the towel in his hands.
The sound blended naturally into the warm chaos of the kitchen.
And from the hallway outside the slightly open kitchen doors, red eyes watched everything.
Katsuki stood silently in the shadows of the corridor, one shoulder leaning lightly against the stone wall as he observed the room from a distance.
He watched the entire mess of noise and movement in the kitchen quietly from where he stood.
But his gaze every second kept returning to Izuku. Without even realizing it, Katsuki found himself following every little movement Izuku made.
The way he moved around the kitchen so naturally despite still being unfamiliar with the castle. The way he thanked everyone for even the smallest things. The way he immediately stopped what he was doing whenever Eri needed help reaching something higher.
He noticed how different Izuku looked here.
Different than at the dining table.
There was no nervous stiffness in his shoulders now, no careful hesitation before speaking, no quiet glances like he was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing. He laughed easily whenever Denki said something stupid. He teased him right back when another plate almost slipped from his hands. He listened carefully whenever someone spoke to him, nodding along seriously even during the dumbest conversations like everything they said genuinely mattered. And somehow everyone around him responded to it naturally, drawn toward him without effort. Like warmth spreading through a cold room.
Katsuki stayed completely still as he watched Izuku help Mina wipe down the counter, listening attentively while she rambled dramatically about how Denki was “banned from touching glass forever”. Izuku nodded along with complete seriousness, asking questions like it was the most important conversation in the world, which only made Mina laugh harder.
The sight did something strange to Katsuki’s chest. Bright in a way he didn’t think he had ever seen this castle before.
Katsuki’s gaze lingered a little too long as Izuku bent down beside Eri to help her gather fallen spoons from the floor after she accidentally dropped them.
“I’m sorry…” Eri mumbled sadly.
“It’s okay,” Izuku laughed quietly, handing one back to her carefully, “See? No disaster happened.”
Eri giggled immediately.
And without meaning to, Katsuki’s expression softened at the sound.Only then did he realize he had been standing there for several minutes already.
Just watching him.
Watching the way Izuku made the kitchen feel warmer somehow simply by being there.
And somehow… he still didn’t want to leave.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku walked slowly through one of the long hallways. His footsteps were soft against the stone floor as the morning light spilled through the tall windows beside him. Every now and then he stopped for a moment, drawn toward the glass to look outside at the snowy courtyard below.
The castle didn’t feel as frightening anymore.
Not like it had during his first nights here.
Back then every hallway had seemed too large, too dark, too empty. The shadows stretching across the walls had made the entire place feel alive in the worst way possible.
But now…
Now he noticed different things.
The warmth from fireplaces tucked into corners, the quiet sound of laughter echoing from distant rooms sometimes, the way the castle seemed calmer during the evenings somehow.
And the people he had met here too…
Mina’s loud energy somehow filling entire rooms by itself, Denki constantly talking even when nobody asked him to, Kirishima always helping without hesitation, Kyouka pretending to be annoyed while still staying nearby anyway and little Eri following him around whenever she could.
A small smile slowly appeared on Izuku’s face as he thought about all of them. They had started feeling less like strangers, less like enchanted objects trapped inside a lonely castle.
And more like… true friends.
But there was still one thing that kept him from feeling completely at ease.
Or rather one person…
Kacchan.
Even thinking about him now felt different than before.
Katsuki still intimidated him sometimes. His sharp voice, the way he glared without realizing it and how suddenly his mood could shift… It still made Izuku nervous every now and then.
But at the same time… he had also started noticing other things.
The way Katsuki always waited for him to sit down first during meals now, the way he actually listened whenever Izuku spoke, even if he acted annoyed about it afterward, the way he stopped yelling as much around him, like he was trying to hold himself back without fully knowing how.
He wasn’t as cruel as Izuku first thought he was.
There was something softer underneath all that anger and roughness. Izuku could see small pieces of it sometimes before Katsuki immediately hid them again.
The problem was… their conversations still felt stiff. Like both of them were standing on opposite sides of something fragile, unsure how to cross it without ruining everything.
Izuku wanted to fix that somehow.
Wanted to talk to him more naturally.
Understand him better.
Maybe even become closer to him someday…
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening somewhere at the end of the hallway pulled Izuku out of his thoughts.
Izuku looked up immediately.
At the far end of the corridor, one of the doors opened and Katsuki stepped out from inside and started going down thephallway.
Izuku's heart skipped strangely.
He had literally just been thinking about him!
This was perfect!
Before he could lose confidence and start overthinking it, Izuku quickly hurried after him.
“Hey Kacchan!”
Katsuki stopped and immediately turned toward the voice. Red eyes landed on him instantly. Izuku slowed to a stop in front of him, but the second he actually had Katsuki’s attention, all his confidence disappeared at once.
“Uhhhhh…”
Katsuki stared at him expectantly and Izuku’s brain went completely blank.
“I just— uhmmm…”
Why was this suddenly so hard?!
“I was just walking and then I saw you and—”
Amazing start…
“Hi…”
Katsuki blinked once, “…You already said that.”
“Uhm right yeah sorry…”
Izuku laughed nervously under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I just thought maybe we could… talk a little?”
“…We are talking.”
“Right yeah, I know I just meant like… more?”
“More?”
“I mean not more more haha… you probably wouldn't want to anyway… I mean just… normally? I guess?”
Katsuki stared at him for a second, clearly unsure what the hell that was even supposed to mean, before letting out a quiet scoff through his nose.
“You always talk this much?”
“Only when I’m nervous…”
“So always.”
Izuku let out another awkward laugh, “Okay wow, that was kinda mean…”
“Tch.”
A short silence settled between them as they continued standing in the middle of the hallway.
Izuku tried again anyway.
“I was helping everyone in the kitchen yesterda—”
“I know.”
That surprised him slightly, “You knew?”
“Yeah, hard not to when I can hear your loud asses across the entire castle.”
“Oh, yeah I guess so… But it was nice though! Everyone was really fun to be around! Denki almost broke another plate.”
“That idiot breaks everything.”
“He looked very proud of it.”
“He would be.”
Izuku smiled faintly at that before glancing back toward Katsuki.
“You could’ve joined us too, you know…”
Katsuki’s expression shifted immediately. He made a slight face, something between irritation and discomfort, before quickly looking away from Izuku.
“I wasn’t invited.”
“You didn’t need an invitation…”
“Tch. Says who?”
Izuku blinked, caught slightly off guard by the sudden sharpness in his voice.
“I just… thought maybe you’d want to…”
“Not everyone likes playing a happy little family all the time.”
The words landed harder than Katsuki intended.
An uncomfortable silence immediately settled between them, strangely tense now. Izuku instinctively pulled back, his shoulders curling inward almost immediately at the sudden coldness in Katsuki’s tone.
And the second Katsuki noticed that reaction he regretted it.
Shit.
That came out way too harsh…
“Oh…” Izuku lowered his gaze slightly, “No, yeah… you’re right…”
The quietness in his voice hurt more than if he had sounded angry.
He looked away completely now, no longer meeting Katsuki’s eyes, and the small warmth that had been there only moments ago disappeared almost instantly.
Katsuki’s jaw tightened almost immediately.
Dammit…
Izuku had actually approached him first, tried talking to him normally, tried getting closer to him and Katsuki had immediately fucking ruined it by snapping for no reason.
The worst part was that he hadn’t even meant it like that. The words had just come out too sharp, too defensive, before he could stop himself.
Like always…
His claws flexed at his sides as frustration twisted heavily in his chest because he couldn’t fucking control his damn mouth for more than five minutes.
“Sorry… I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“That’s not what I—”
“It’s okay,” Izuku interrupted softly, though his smile looked more forced, “I should probably go anyway…”
And before Katsuki could say anything else, Izuku stepped back fully and walked past him down the hallway.
His eyes lingered on the direction Izuku had gone long after he was already out of sight, frustration twisting tighter and tighter inside his chest.
Because that wasn’t how he wanted that conversation to go. Izuku looked genuinely happy when he walked up to him. Nervous, yeah, awkward as hell too, but still trying. Actually trying to talk to him first.
And Katsuki like a fucking idiot had immediately ruined it.
His claws curled slightly into his palms.
Why the hell did I always do that?
Every time things started feeling even slightly easier between them, he immediately made it worse. Like some stupid reflex he couldn’t control.
Katsuki let out a low, irritated breath and dragged a hand harshly down his face.
“Fuck…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
A week had passed and Izuku and Katsuki had continued meeting for meals almost every day.
Some of them were quieter than others.
Sometimes Izuku tried starting conversations only for them to awkwardly die a minute later.
Sometimes Katsuki actually answered him.
Sometimes they simply sat there in silence, listening to the crackling fireplace while avoiding looking at each other for too long.
It wasn’t terrible anymore.
But it wasn’t easy either…
Izuku had started relaxing around the castle little by little. Katsuki noticed it all.
He noticed how Izuku laughed more around the others, how easily he talked whenever Denki or Mina dragged him into conversations, how comfortable he looked helping around the kitchen or sitting with Eri while she rambled about random things. And somehow Katsuki kept finding himself watching those moments from a distance. But every time Katsuki tried talking to him directly, something went wrong.
Like in the hallway earlier.
Izuku had actually approached him first, tried talking to him normally and Katsuki had immediately ruined it by snapping at him for no reason.
The memory still sat heavily in his chest.
Now Katsuki sat in his chamber, leaning back in his seat with visible restlessness while one leg bounced impatiently against the floor. The fire crackled nearby, warm light flickering across the room, but it did nothing to ease the irritation twisting inside him.
Because he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do anymore. Part of him wanted to try harder. Wanted to give Izuku something more than awkward dinners and short conversations that kept ending badly.
But another part of him kept insisting it was pointless.
Why would Izuku actually want to spend more time with him?
With a beast…
“…You know, this isn’t enough.”
Katsuki barely looked up from his seat.
“What isn’t enough.”
“The meals!” Denki replied quickly, “I mean they’re good, really good, but that’s not enough!”
A low growl escaped Katsuki.
“What do you want me to do, huh? I sit there, I don’t yell, I don’t throw shit, I even try talking to him and every time I fucking ruin it anyway!”
Denki flinched at the sudden outburst. Katsuki dragged a rough hand through his hair in frustration.
“I tried talking to him earlier and somehow still managed to make everything awkward again.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’.”
Denki shifted slightly but didn’t back down, “Okay but that still doesn’t mean you should give up.”
“I’m not giving up.”
“You kinda are.”
“The hell I am.”
“You keep waiting for him to do all the work! He’s the one starting conversations most of the time!”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened annoyingly.
Because… that was true.
“See? That face means I’m right.”
“Tch.”
“You need to do more than just sit there looking intimidating.”
“What else am I supposed to do?!”
“More effort! More than just showing up!”
“I am trying.”
“No, you’re trying not to scare him. That’s different.”
Silence fell heavily between them as Katsuki’s claws pressed slightly into the armrest, “You wanna say that again?”
“…You’re doing the bare minimum.”
Katsuki just looked away, his voice dropping into something quieter, “Izuku won’t trust me. Not like this… Not ever…”
“Then give him a reason to!”
“Tch… Why would he even want to trust me?”
“Because you saved him!”
“That doesn’t mean anything…”
“It does to him! You saw him! He still tries talking to you even after you scare him half to death every other conversation!”
Katsuki went quiet for a moment.
“…He still looks at me like I’m going to bite his head off at any moment.”
“Sometimes you look like you want to…”
“Shut up.”
“I’m just saying!”
Katsuki dragged a hand down his face, “…I don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“This! Talking, acting normal, whatever the hell you all are expecting from me!”
“We don’t want you to be normal. We just want you to show him… you.”
“Yeah, that’ll help for sure.”
“It will! Show him the real you!”
“This is the real me.”
“No… That’s the version of you when you’re angry.”
Katsuki didn’t answer.
Denki hovered a little closer, “There’s another side… You just don’t let anyone see it…”
“And why the hell would I…”
“Because he already sees parts of it… You just don’t realize it yet…”
Silence settled between them again as Katsuki leaned back, staring ahead.
“So what… What am I supposed to do?”
Denki perked up slightly, a hint of excitement returning, “Do something he likes!”
“…Like what?”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki walked through the castle corridor with steady steps, his hands tucked loosely at his sides. His fingers curled and uncurled all the time like he still wasn’t fully convinced this was a good idea.
After a moment, he stopped in front of a familiar door.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
His hand lifted, then paused mid-air, like he could still change his mind.
But then despite his thoughts he knocked. The door opened slightly, Izuku peeked out from behind it, a bit cautious at first, before blinking in mild surprise when he saw who it was.
“Oh—”
Surprise flickered across his face.
Katsuki looked at him for a moment, longer than necessary, before speaking, his tone carefully neutral.
“I want to show you something…”
Izuku blinked again, clearly not expecting that.
“Oh— o-okay.”
There was a short pause before Katsuki added, “Bring your coat. We’ll have to go through the courtyard.”
Izuku nodded quickly, “Right— okay.”
Moments later, the two of them stepped outside, the cold air immediately brushing against their skin as they made their way across the snow-covered courtyard, their footsteps crunched softly beneath them.
Izuku pulled his coat tighter around himself, his breath visible in the air. He glanced at Katsuki a few times, like he wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how.
Katsuki didn’t look at him. He just kept walking, but his pace slowed slightly, just enough so Izuku didn’t have to hurry to keep up.
They reached a large structure standing at the far end.
It had glass walls catching the soft daylight.
The greenhouse.
Katsuki stepped forward first, pushing the door open before stepping aside, letting Izuku enter before him.
Izuku stepped inside—
And immediately froze.
Warmth wrapped around him, soft and gentle, carrying with it the scent of fresh water, blooming flowers and rich earth.
The greenhouse stretched high above him in elegant arches of glass and dark metal, forming a vast, almost cathedral-like dome that let sunlight pour in from every angle, illuminating the entire space in a soft, golden glow.
Lush greenery surrounded him on all sides — tall plants and flowering vines climbing toward the ceiling, delicate blossoms in shades of pink, white, and red spilling over their stems, while smaller plants filled every corner with life and color.
In the center, a narrow, winding pond cut through the stone floor, its surface calm and clear, dotted with floating leaves and petals, reflecting the light above like glass.
Everything felt alive.
Peaceful.
Like a hidden world untouched by the cold outside.
Izuku’s eyes widened, almost sparkling.
“Wow…” he breathed out, stepping further in, slowly turning his head as he took everything in, “This is… this is incredible…”
He moved forward without even thinking, drawn in by the life around him. His steps were light, almost careful, as if he didn’t want to disturb anything.
Katsuki stayed near the entrance for a moment, watching him.
Izuku approached one of the plants, crouching slightly beside it.
“Oh— I know this one! This is— uh— yeah, it’s used for calming teas, right? It helps with stress and uh— sleep, I think… or maybe anxiety too— yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s both—”
He leaned closer, studying the leaves carefully, his voice picking up speed as his thoughts began to spill out.
“And the way it grows— if it gets enough light, it spreads really fast! Oh— and the roots! They’re actually pretty delicate, so if you overwater it, it can rot really easily, but if you don’t water it enough then it just— kind of— stops growing and— oh!”
His attention snapped to another plant nearby almost instantly.
“And this one— this one needs more water, right? The leaves are a bit dry— well, not dry, but— yeah, it needs more humidity— or maybe it’s the temperature… actually, no, wait, the color’s still good so it’s probably just the air— unless—”
He paused mid-thought, crouching slightly lower to look at it from another angle.
“No, yeah, it’s definitely humidity… probably… I think…”
He kept going, rambling and muttering, moving from one plant to another, completely absorbed in everything. His hands hovering carefully over leaves but never quite touching unless he was sure it was safe.
And Katsuki…
Quietly listened to Izuku.
His listening to the others was always only watching, staying alert, not really paying attention to the words themselves.
But to Izukus mumbling…
He actually listened.
His eyes followed his movements, the way he leaned closer to inspect something, the way his voice shifted when he got excited, almost tripping over his own thoughts.
He didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t tell him to be quiet.
Didn’t snap.
Instead, he stood there, arms crossed loosely, his gaze steady as he listened to every word, even if he pretended he wasn’t.
“Tch,” he muttered after a moment, though there was no irritation in it, “You really don’t shut up when it’s something you like, huh.”
“OH— S-sorry…” Izuku said, the apology slipping out on instinct. He pulled back without even realizing it.
It wasn’t anything new. The reaction came to him before he could even think about it like something his body had learned on its own.
People had always told him the same thing — that he talked too much, that he got carried away, that it was annoying after a while. And even when they didn’t say it outright, he’d learned to recognize the signs.
So he learned to cut himself off, to swallow the rest of his thoughts before they could spill out, to watch people’s reactions more than his own words.
It was easier that way.
If he stopped himself first, then no one else had to. No one had to tell him he was too mu—
“I didn’t say you should stop…”
Izuku blinked.
Then again, slower this time, like his mind had stalled for a second, the words not quite landing the way they were supposed to.
For a moment he just stood there, caught between confusion and something he didn’t recognize right away, because it didn’t fit with what he expected to hear.
He looked up at Katsuki, searching his face almost instinctively as he waited for the irritation, the familiar shift that always came next, the one that told him he’d gone too far again.
But it never came.
Katsuki just stood there, his gaze fixed on him, steady in a way that felt different from before.
He didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t look away.
Didn’t shut him down.
He just… listened.
The absence of it caught Izuku off guard more than anything else. For a second he didn’t quite know how to respond to it.
The tightness in his chest shifted, slowly easing as something warmer began to take its place. It was subtle at first but hard to ignore.
He wasn’t being interrupted.
He wasn’t being cut off.
He wasn’t being told he was too much.
The realization settled quietly, but it stayed, steady and real in a way that made his chest feel almost too full, like he didn’t quite know what to do with it.
His fingers loosened slightly at his sides, and when a small smile finally returned to his lips, it came without him forcing it. The warmth settled deeper in his chest and stayed there.
Katsuki held his gaze on Izuku for a second longer than necessary, like he didn't want to look away. He crossed his arms as he glanced around the greenhouse.
“I come here sometimes. Doesn’t matter the season.”
Izuku looked at him, listening quietly.
“They need to be taken care of. If you leave them alone too long, they start to die. Some of them are more annoying than others— how you said some need too much water, not enough water, too much light, not enough light…” he clicked his tongue, “They’re so picky.”
His eyes shifted toward a nearby plant, narrowing slightly.
“That one nearly dried out last week. I had to move it closer to the window. And the vines— if you don’t cut them back, they just take over everything,” he gestured slightly, “It gets out of control fast. So I just have to deal with it.”
The words were simple, but Izuku felt something shift the moment he heard them. His expression softened and a quiet warmth spread deep through his chest. He lowered his gaze slightly for a second, trying to calm the strange fluttering feeling growing stronger inside him.
Because this wasn’t the same Katsuki he’d seen before.
Not the one who only growled and snapped.
Not the one who looked angry at the entire world.
There was something else here, something quieter and so easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention.
The way he noticed small changes, in the way he adjusted things without making a big deal out of it.
Despite how rough Katsuki acted sometimes, he did something in his own quiet way.
This was someone careful.
Someone who took care.
Someone who stayed.
And for some reason, realizing that made Izuku’s chest feel painfully warm.
At the thought, a deep flutter spread through his stomach again that was really impossible to ignore…
“That’s… really amazing Kacchan…”
“What is?”
“This… You… taking care of all of this…”
“Tch. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing! It means you’re patient and kind!”
“Don’t say weird stuff like that…”
Izuku smiled, looking down at one of the plants again.
“I used to grow things too… When I was younger.”
“Really?”
“Yeah… Small stuff. Herbs mostly. I liked watching them grow… it felt like… like I was doing something right… But then I got more into… fixing things. Building, taking stuff apart and putting it back together, you know…”
Katsuki watched him quietly.
“Tch. That sounds like you.”
Izuku huffed out a soft, almost shy laugh, the sound slipping out before he could hold it back as he glanced at him.
“Is that a good thing?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
The silence that followed settled in slowly, stretching between them without urgency, but it didn’t feel like the ones from before. This one was different, quieter in a way that felt easier, as if neither of them felt the need to fill it right away.
The air in the greenhouse carried the soft sounds of the faint rustle of leaves shifting nearby and steady drip of water echoing gently through the space. It all blended into something that let the moment linger without breaking it.
Izuku stayed where he was, his attention still on Katsuki even as neither of them spoke.
When Katsuki finally looked at him again, it lasted a second longer than it needed to, before he turned.
“I’ve got something else to show you.”
“Really?!” he said surprised by that.
“Yeah,” Katsuki said, already starting to walk, “Come on.”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki led Izuku through another part of the castle, the corridors gradually changing the deeper they went, the walls rougher, the light dimmer, the air heavier with something old and untouched, like this part of the castle hadn’t seen many footsteps in a long time.
Izuku stayed close behind him, his gaze wandering from time to time, quietly taking everything in, but never straying too far.
Eventually, Katsuki stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.
He pushed them open and they creaked as it gave way.
The room inside was dim, but not lifeless.
Dust floated lazily in the beams of sunlight that filtered through a high, narrow window, cutting through the space in warm, golden streaks. The ceiling stretched high above them, supported by dark wooden beams, with old mechanisms and wheels hanging overhead.
The entire room was filled with worktables, each one cluttered with tools, gears, metal pieces and half-finished inventions. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with jars and carefully placed components, while in the center stood a large, worn wooden table, scattered with parts as if someone had left in the middle of creating something and never came back.
Izuku stepped inside, and his eyes lit up instantly. They looked like stars scattered across a deep night sky with curiosity and wonder.
“I haven’t been here in years,” Katsuki said, his voice more casual than it should’ve been, “Not really my thing. Never cared much for all this tinkering.”
Izuku barely seemed to hear him, curiosity taking over him and he started moving.
His gaze darted from one table to another, from tools to mechanisms, from small details to larger structures, completely absorbed.
“Woah— this is— this is so awesome Kacchan!” he breathed out, his voice filled with pure excitement.
Katsuki watched him quietly.
“If you want you can come here whenever you want and use it.”
Izuku froze for a split second and turned to Katsuki so quickly it was almost dizzying.
“Really?!”
“Tch, yeah.”
That was all it took.
Izuku’s face lit up completely, his excitement overflowing as he let out a small, almost high-pitched sound.
“Oh my god— Thank you so much Kacchan!”
And before another word could even leave him, he was already at the central table, picking up tools and examining them quickly. His hands moved with familiarity as he instinctively began putting things together, adjusting pieces, testing how they fit.
Katsuki stayed where he was, his gaze fixed on Izuku as he moved, taking in the way his attention narrowed completely onto what he was doing.
He watched the way Izuku’s focus sharpened, the way his earlier nervousness disappeared completely, replaced by confidence and curiosity, the way his hands worked without pause like he’d done this a hundred times before.
No matter where he tried to look, Katsuki's focus drifted back to Izuku again and again, like something about the way he moved held his attention there.
Izuku looked like he belonged here. Steady, focused, completely at ease in a way Katsuki hadn’t seen before.
He couldn’t look away, like he didn’t want the moment to pass too quickly.
His chest tightened slightly, something strange and unfamiliar in a way he couldn’t quite place and name.
The kind of feeling that settled in his chest without asking and was hard to ignore.
Izuku suddenly looked up from the table, his eyes bright, still glowing with excitement.
“Oh uhhh— hey… Can you uhm… can you hold this for a second?”
“Huh?”
“This— just here,” Izuku said quickly, already reaching out without thinking.
His fingers brushed against Katsuki’s hand as he guided it into place, positioning it over a small, loose component.
“I just need to adjust this part, if I tighten it like this— no, wait hold it steady— yeah, like that—”
Katsuki didn’t pull his hand away. He stepped a little closer, closing the small distance between them without even realizing it. His eyes flicked between the mechanism and Izuku’s face, making sure he held it exactly where Izuku needed it.
“You really get into this, huh?”
Izuku let out a soft laugh as he glanced down at what he had been working on.
“Yeah… I do. It’s… it’s really nice…”
He paused for a moment, searching for the right words.
“…It makes things feel… simpler, I guess. Like if something’s broken, you can fix it. You just have to figure out how…”
Katsuki's gaze lingered on Izuku for a second longer, then drifted down to the small mechanism between them as if he was thinking about what he had just said.
They both stood there, side by side, in the quiet hum of the workshop, surrounded by half-finished things and soft light, sharing a silence that didn’t push them apart.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The kitchen was calm, filled only with the soft hum of warmth and the quiet clinking of dishes. Steam drifted lazily through the air, and the gentle glow of the room made everything feel safe, almost peaceful, like for once the castle wasn’t holding its breath.
Mina rested on one of the counters, slightly tilted, watching the doorway with quiet focus.
“They’re doing better… Izuku and Master.”
Denki flickered beside her, his flame brightening slightly with excitement.
“Right?! I was just thinking about that! It’s been, what— four days? Four whole days and they haven’t yelled at each other once!”
“Exactly!”
“And— okay— listen you all. I saw something yesterday…”
From the side, Kyoka glanced at him, already mildly curious, “What?”
Denki lowered his voice slightly, like he was sharing a secret.
“He let him fix his sleeve!”
“What?! Really???”
“Yeah! Like— Izuku just grabbed his arm, didn’t even ask! and started adjusting it. Bakugo didn’t even flinch! He didn’t snap, didn’t yell— he just stood there, letting him do it!”
Mina’s expression lit up completely, “Oh my god that’s— that’s huge!”
Kirishima chuckled softly from nearby, “He’s definitely different around Midoriya though. Like… he actually listens to him.”
“Oh my god! Bakugo never listens to anybody!”
Kyoka let out a quiet huff of disbelief, the corner of her lips lifting slightly.
“I didn’t think I’d ever hear that… Okay, I’ve got one too. They were in one of the smaller dining rooms earlier, not the main hall, just the two of them.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah. I only noticed because it was quiet. Izuku was talking and Bakugo was eating, but he kept glancing at him between bites like he was trying not to pay attention and failing. And listen this… Izuku reached for something across the table, but he didn’t quite get it and before he could even say anything, Bakugo just pushed it toward him without looking up. Without. Looking. Like he already knew what he needed!”
“Oh my god no way?!!”
“Yeah! And when Izuku noticed, he smiled at him, really, really smiled and Bakugo just clicked his tongue and kept eating, but he didn’t stop after that.”
Mina froze for half a second, then her eyes went wide.
“No— no, that’s actually insane! He just knew? Without even looking??? That’s— ughhh, that’s so annoyingly sweet! Okay, Okay, no— listen, this one was my favorite,” she leaned a little more, lowering her voice like it was the most important gossip of the day, “They were in the hallway near the stairs, right? And Izuku was carrying this whole stack of books like way too many and of course he trips, because of course he does—”
“Of course,” Denki snorted.
“And when he starts falling, Bakugo actually catches him!— like, not just the books, but him! And for a second they just… freeze there! Like reallyyyyy close.”
“NO WAY!”
“I’m serious! And Izuku just goes completely red, like he forgot how to function and Bakugo didn't even yell! He just kind of… stares at him for a second, then clicks his tongue and goes, ‘Watch where you’re going, idiot,’ but he doesn’t let go right away.”
“He didn’t let go???”
“Nope. Not until Izuku stepped back first.”
For a second, no one said anything, the energy shifting as the image settled in.
Denki let out a quiet breath, “Okay, that’s not just a one-time thing anymore! It’s like— every time we see them lately, it’s something!”
Kirishima nodded.
“Bakugo is trying…”
“In his own… very Bakugo way,” Mina added softly.
“…And Izuku doesn’t get scared when he raises his voice anymore,” Denki said, quieter now, “He just… answers him back.”
“And Izuku sees that…” Mina added gently.
That made the room fall quiet for a moment.
Kirishima broke it, his voice softer this time, “They really fit together, you know.”
Jirou raised an eyebrow, “Oh? So we’re saying that out loud now?”
Mina let out a light laugh, “I mean— I’ve been thinking about it too for a while.”
Denki looked between them, then toward the hallway.
“Yeah… We really hope so…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Somewhere else in the castle, Izuku and Katsuki walked side by side down a long corridor. Their footsteps echoed softly against the stone walls as they talked about random things.
Or well… Izuku only rambled while Katsuki listened.
“—and then the whole mechanism actually worked! I didn’t think it would at first, I mean it was misaligned at the base and the pressure wasn’t distributed properly, but when I adjusted the alignment, just a little— it suddenly clicked into place, like everything just… fit! And the movement smoothed out completely, so I tried it again just to be sure and it worked the same way— so yeah, it was really satisfying!” Izuku let out a small laugh, glancing at him.
Katsuki huffed quietly through his nose, “Tch. You get excited over the weirdest things, huh?”
“It’s not weird! You made it, after all!”
“It’s just how it’s supposed to work.”
“Yeah, but not everything does. Most things break before they even get that far. Or they don’t line up the way you expect, or something’s off and you don’t notice until it’s too late.”
“Then you fix it.”
“Not everyone can. Some people don’t even see what’s wrong in the first place.”
“Then they’re not paying attention.”
“Maybe… But Kacchan always is!”
Katsuki clicked his tongue but didn’t interrupt.
“You notice things really fast! Like earlier with the door near the west hall. You figured out what was wrong with it almost immediately.”
“It was obvious.”
“It wasn’t for me,” Izuku admitted with a laugh, “I probably would’ve just kept trying the handle for another five minutes.”
“That’s because you don’t think before you act, nerd.”
“Hey! I do think!”
“Not enough.”
For a moment, neither of them said anything and the conversation slipped into an easy silence as they kept walking side by side.
Izuku huffed out a quiet laugh, glancing at him again.
“Still… I think you notice more things than you pretend to.”
Katsuki’s gaze shifted away almost immediately.
“Tch…”
“You act like you don’t care sometimes,” Izuku continued carefully, “but it kinda feels like you do.”
Katsuki didn’t answer right away. His gaze stayed fixed somewhere ahead down the corridor instead of on Izuku now and the tension in his posture became slightly more noticeable the longer the conversation continued. His shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly, jaw tightening for a second before relaxing again like he was trying not to react at all.
Izuku noticed it immediately.
He probably should’ve stopped there but now that he had started saying it out loud, the thoughts kept slipping out easier than before.
“Like with everyone in the castle. You pretend you’re annoyed all the time, but you still help them when they need it.”
“It’s not that deep.”
“Maybe not. I just mean… you pay attention to people more than you act like you do.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue quietly under his breath and kept walking without looking at him.
“…You talk too much.”
Izuku laughed awkwardly under his breath, “Yeah… probably…”
The silence that settled afterward felt different from before.
Not uncomfortable but fragile somehow. Like one wrong word could ruin it completely.
Katsuki’s responses grew shorter after that and even without looking directly at him anymore Izuku could tell something in his mood had shifted.
Still, despite noticing it, he tried again anyway.
“And with me too… I mean… you still let me stay around even though I probably annoy you half the time…”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened harder this time.
Izuku slowed slightly beside him, finally noticing the change clearly now. Katsuki wasn’t just embarrassed or awkward anymore.
He looked… uncomfortable.
But Izuku still didn’t understand why…
“You still came after me in the forest and lately you’ve been trying more too, even if you don’t say it directly and I just thought maybe—”
“Can you stop talking like you know me?”
The words cut through the hallway sharply enough that Izuku stopped mid-step.
Katsuki immediately looked away afterward, like he regretted saying it the second it came out, but the tension in his shoulders only grew tighter.
The silence that followed felt thin and unfamiliar, nothing like the easier quiet from before. Whatever warmth had been there earlier disappeared almost instantly, leaving behind something awkward and heavy that Izuku didn’t know how to fix.
He stood there for a second trying to understand what exactly had gone wrong.
Because none of it had felt bad to him.
He hadn’t been trying to upset Katsuki.
If anything, he thought he was saying something nice.
“Sorry…”
Katsuki clicked his tongue under his breath.
“I’ve got something to do,” he muttered, already turning away before Izuku could respond.
Izuku stayed where he was, watching him go, the sound of his footsteps fading into the distance. For a moment he didn’t move, trying to understand what had just happened.
He replayed the conversation in his head, searching for the exact moment things shifted, but nothing stood out enough to explain it.
Did he say something wrong?
Was it the way he said it?
Did he push too far?
Why did Katsuki shut him out all of a sudden?
And why did that even bother him…?
The confusion settled heavier in his chest as the space around him suddenly felt too empty.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Evening had settled over the castle and with it came a quiet that stretched through every corridor and empty hall, as if the whole place had finally exhaled after the day. The usual echoes had faded, leaving behind only the faintest sounds somewhere in the distance, in a quiet chamber.
The fireplace there cast a soft, flickering glow across the room. The light danced along the stone walls, catching on the edges of old furniture and the warmth settled into the space in a way that felt almost too gentle for a place like this.
Outside the tall window, the sky went completely dark and endless snow fell in slow, quiet spirals.
Katsuki sat on the couch near the fire, one hand resting stiffly against his knee while the other remained where Izuku had guided it earlier.
Izuku sat beside him, much closer than they had been before, carefully working on changing the bandage around his arm. His brows were slightly furrowed, lips pressed together in quiet concentration as he adjusted the cloth with precise, practiced movements, making sure not to pull too hard, not to press too deep.
For the past few minutes, Izuku kept glancing up at Katsuki. He saw he was tense the entire time, shoulders tight, posture stiff, like relaxing just wasn’t something he allowed himself to do, no matter how careful Izuku was.
“You don’t have to sit so stiff,” Izuku said quietly.
“I’m not.”
Izuku paused, his fingers resting lightly against Katsuki’s arm as he looked up at him.
“…You kind of are. You’ve been tense this whole time.”
Katsuki’s gaze shifted away immediately toward the fire.
“Maybe I just don’t like people touching me.”
Izuku didn’t respond to that. He thought about it how quickly Katsuki shut things down, how easily he brushed things off like they didn’t matter. He dipped the cloth back into the water and continued.
Suddenly, a small hiss slipped past Katsuki’s teeth and Izuku stilled immediately.
“Sorry—” he said quickly, his hands freezed for a moment before moving again even more carefully, “I’ll be more careful…”
“I’m not a child. It’s nothing.”
“Sorry…”
Katsuki clicked his tongue at that.
“Stop apologizing every damn second.”
“…And you should stop pretending it doesn’t hurt.”
“It’s nothing. I’ve had worse.”
“That’s not ‘nothing’. You’re going to have a scar.”
Katsuki didn’t respond and the tension in his shoulders still didn’t ease.
Izuku finished wrapping the fresh bandage, his fingers moving with practiced care as he secured it in place, tying it off neatly. When he was done, his hands lingered for just a moment longer than necessary, resting lightly against Katsuki’s arm before he finally pulled back.
“Why do you care so much?” Katsuki asked suddenly.
Izuku blinked, caught off guard by the question.
“Because you're hurt,” he answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Katsuki frowned, “So?”
“So…? You got injured because of me. Of course I’m going to take care of you.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Katsuki looked away again, “Tch…”
Izuku’s frustration flickered slightly at that.
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Acting like everything means nothing. I saw you out there. I saw what those wolves did to you and you still came back.”
Katsuki’s eyes sharpened.
“What, you think I was just supposed to leave you there?!”
“That’s not what I’m saying!”
“Then what are you saying?!”
“I’m asking why you came back!”
Katsuki froze. It was subtle, but Izuku noticed the way he stopped, the way his expression shifted just slightly, like that wasn’t the question he’d been expecting.
“…Why did you come back for me?” Izuku asked again, quieter now.
Katsuki didn’t answer. The silence stretched between them. They were so close enough that Izuku could see the tension and the hesitation on Katsuki’s expression. The fire crackled softly in the background, but it didn’t fill the space the way it should have. It only made the quiet more noticeable.
“…Why do you do that?” Izuku asked after a moment.
“…Do what?”
“Push people away like they don’t matter. Like none of this matters. Like none of this means anything to you…” he swallowed and his hands tightened slightly, “Every time something starts feeling normal, you suddenly shut everything down again!”
Katsuki’s expression hardened immediately.
“And every time you start talking, you act like you’ve figured everything out! Stop acting like you know anything about me!”
“But I’m trying! I’m trying to understand you!”
“Then stop!”
The words hit harder than they should have. Something in Izuku snapped with them. The frustration that had been building this whole time finally pushed through.
“Stop telling me what to do! You don’t get to decide and control that!”
“I’m not controlling anything!”
“You are!” Izuku snapped, sitting up straighter now, “You decide everything, you shut everything down, you don’t listen!”
“Yeah? Because I’d rather shut everything down than deal with people like you! Someone who thinks they can fix everything! Because every time someone starts acting like they understand me, it gets worse!”
The words hung in the air and Izuku didn’t answer right away. For a moment, he just watched Katsuki, thinking, trying to piece it together. He was trying to look past the anger, into everything underneath. The tension, the way he held himself like he was bracing for something, like letting anything in would be worse than shutting it all out.
“…Why does that bother you so much?”
For a second the room went completely still. Katsuki stared at him, something unreadable flickering across his face, like the words had landed somewhere deeper than they were supposed to.
Then his expression shifted, sharp again, his brows pulling together and jaw tightening.
“You think it’s that simple? You think people are just… nice? That you can just say something like that and suddenly understand? That everything magically works out if you try hard enough?”
Izuku didn’t answer and just watched him.
“You’re naive. You’re stuck in your own little world where everything works out and people actually care enough to stay. Well guess what? They don’t. People leave. They don’t care. They don’t give you a choice.”
His hand curled into a fist at his side.
“You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to live like this, like some kind of monster, stuck in this body, stuck in this place?! I didn’t choose any of this!”
“I didn’t either!” Izuku shouted back immediately, the words bursting out before he could stop them,“You’re the one who locked me here! You’re the one who took my choice away from me!”
“Then why didn’t you leave?! You had the chance! You could’ve run! So why didn’t you?!”
“Because I couldn’t just leave you there!” Izuku stepped forward without thinking, “You were bleeding, you could barely stand, you were alone out there in the snow! How was I supposed to just walk away from that?!”
Katsuki didn’t respond.
Didn’t move.
He just stood there for the first time since it had all started, looking at him without saying a word.
Izuku slowly unclenched his hands at his sides, the tension easing out of them as the anger began to fade.
“And I know you could’ve just let me go. I ran. I was out there alone, and I could’ve died— but you came after me. You came back…”
“I—” Katsuki started, but the words didn’t quite come together.
Izuku took a small step closer. Not enough to crowd him. Just enough to close the distance.
“Why do you keep acting like caring about someone is a bad thing?”
Katsuki let out a slow breath, looking away.
“You don’t get it…”
Izuku didn’t look away.
“Then try to explain it to me…”
Small silence settled between them. Not sharp, not pressing this time, just… waiting.
Izuku didn’t rush it. He stayed where he was, like he understood this wasn’t something Katsuki could just say out loud without thinking. His gaze didn’t waver, but it wasn’t demanding either. It just was there, giving him space.
Katsuki opened his mouth like he was about to snap again… but nothing came out.
His shoulders tensed, then dropped slightly as he exhaled through his nose.
“…It’s easier.”
Izuku tilted his head slightly, “What is?”
Katsuki hesitated, his jaw tightening for a second before he looked away.
“…Not letting it matter.”
Izuku shook his head lightly.
“But it does to you. You came back for me.”
Katsuki glanced at him. Something in his expression shifted instead.
“…It doesn't change anything.”
“It does… you came back for me even though you didn't have to.”
That made Katsuki pause. For a moment, he just looked at him, like he was trying to figure out why Izuku sounded so sure.
Why he wasn’t stepping back like everyone else?
“…You think one moment suddenly fixes everything?”
“No…” Izuku answered honestly, “But I think it means something…”
“You don’t know what it’s like,” Katsuki said slower now, like the words were being dragged out of him, “People don’t stay. They don’t look at you like this forever. Not when they see what you really are.”
Izuku’s expression softened, but he didn’t interrupt.
“They either leave… or they start looking at you differently. Like you’re something to be afraid of. Something to get away from… And eventually, they do… So it’s easier. Not letting it get that far.”
Izuku’s expression softened, but he didn’t look away. His gaze was steady in a way that didn’t waver under the weight of those words.
“I don’t know why people hurt you before… or why they made you feel like you had to expect that from everyone… But I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to leave and I’m not going to look at you like that. I’m not going to look at you like that just because things get difficult.”
Katsuki didn’t move. Izuku’s fingers curled slightly at his sides, but his voice didn’t shake.
“So… let me prove you wrong and let me show you I will stay… Cause I’m still here, Kacchan…”
Their eyes met fully and neither of them moved.
For a second, it felt like everything else dropped away. All that was left was that moment, stretched between them.
Katsuki felt it before he could stop it, something tightening in his chest… It made it harder to breathe, harder to look away, like if he did, something would shift again and he wouldn’t get it back.
“Yeah… you are…”
Izuku’s lips curved softly and to his own surprise, Katsuki didn’t look right away. The corner of his mouth twitched, just barely, something close to a smile forming before he even realized it. He broke eye contact first, clicking his tongue under his breath.
“…That was stupid. You, running off into the forest in the middle of the night.”
Izuku let out a quiet laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, “Yeah… probably…”
“Don’t do it again.”
Izuku glanced at him, a small spark of something playful returning to his eyes.
“Then don’t give me a reason to.”
Katsuki huffed under his breath, though there was no real bite to it this time.
“Tch. Like hell I would.”
That made Izuku laugh.
When the sound faded, the silence that followed didn’t feel awkward or heavy. It settled between them, stretching just enough that neither of them seemed in a hurry to break it. Their eyes met again without either of them meaning to look away.
And this time it lingered in a way that hadn’t happened before.
Katsuki didn’t move. He should’ve, should’ve looked away or said something sharp to cut through it, but instead he stayed exactly where he was, gaze fixed on Izuku like something had caught him there. There was something different now, something he couldn’t quite name and couldn’t ignore either.
A quiet pull in his chest that made it harder to act the other way…
“…You’re staring,” Izuku said, breaking the silence.
Katsuki didn’t look away, “Am I?”
“Yeah…” Izuku smiled nervously, his gaze dropping for half a second before lifting again, a hint of color rising to his cheeks, “You’ve been doing that for a while now…”
“Tch… you make weird faces when you overthink.”
Izuku blinked immediately, clearly caught off guard.
“I do not make weird faces!”
“You absolutely do.”
“What kind of faces?!”
“Like your brain’s about to explode.”
Izuku let out an offended noise while Katsuki watched him ramble again, words immediately tumbling over each other.
“You’re overthinking again.”
“I’m not—” Izuku started, then paused, letting out a quiet breath, “Okay… maybe a little…”
“Obviously.”
Izuku huffed out a quiet laugh at that. His eyes stayed on Katsuki, warmer now, like he wasn’t trying to hide it anymore.
“You’re not as bad as you think you are, Kacchan…”
Katsuki stilled for a second, the words landing somewhere deeper than expected.
“You’re weird…”
Izuku smiled more at that, “You’ve said that before…”
“Doesn’t make it less true.”
“Yeah, maybe…” Izuku’s eyes flickered to the side for a brief second before he looked back at him again, softer this time, “but you’re still here…”
That made something in Katsuki shift again, subtle but real.
“Yeah…”
And even though neither of them said it out loud, something had finally changed.
The sharp tension that had been sitting between them since the beginning finally loosened, easing into something steadier.
Izuku felt it in his chest, that tight, restless feeling from earlier softening into something lighter, something that settled instead of pushing and pulling at him.
He hadn’t expected this. Not after everything that had just happened. But Katsuki hadn’t shut him this time.
He hadn’t walked away.
He stayed.
He said something real, even if it had been quiet, even if it had taken everything to get it out.
And that meant more than Izuku could put into words.
Something had opened.
Just a little but enough that the quiet between them didn’t feel empty anymore.
For the first time since it had all started, it felt like they were finally standing on the same side of it.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Morning arrived quietly, wrapped in soft light and fresh snow.
The castle felt different somehow. It was calmer, like the tension from before had finally settled.
Outside, the world was still bright, the kind of quiet that wasn’t empty but full, carried by the faint sound of birds and the gentle whisper of wind brushing through the trees. Snow covered everything in a clean, untouched layer, reflecting the sunlight in a way that made the whole courtyard glow.
Over the past few days, something between him and Katsuki had started changing little by little.
Just in small moments Izuku kept noticing without meaning to.
The way Katsuki had started asking if he slept well after colder nights. The way he always noticed when Izuku forgot to eat while working for too long and dragged him to meals with irritated muttering that never really sounded angry anymore. The way he silently moved closer to the fireplace whenever Izuku looked cold without even mentioning it. Sometimes Izuku would realize Katsuki had already prepared things before he even asked for them, an extra blanket tossed onto the couch, warm gloves left near the door after a snowy morning, tea already waiting beside him while he worked.
Katsuki never made a big deal out of any of it either. He always acted like it was nothing, clicking his tongue or grumbling under his breath whenever Izuku thanked him too much, but the actions kept happening anyway.
And somehow, Katsuki always listened.
Really listened.
Not the distracted kind where someone only waited for their turn to talk, but the kind where he actually remembered things afterward.
Tiny things Izuku mentioned once and forgot about himself. What kind of tea he liked more. The fact that he hated the colder side hallways in the mornings because his hands got cold too quickly. That Izuku always pushed vegetables he disliked to the side of his plate first before eating the rest. That he tended to stay up too late whenever he got excited about building something new. Even small expressions Katsuki had somehow learned to recognize already like the thoughtful face Izuku made before getting an idea or the quiet pout whenever he was frustrated with himself.
Every time Izuku realized Katsuki had remembered something small about him, that same warm feeling returned to his chest all over again.
And maybe the strangest part was how natural it had started feeling.
Their conversations had become softer now. The awkward tension that used to sit between them during every meal had slowly faded into something gentler, something that no longer made Izuku feel nervous all the time.
Sometimes they sat together in comfortable silence near the fireplace and somehow that silence didn’t feel heavy anymore.
Every time, Izuku felt that same warmth spread through him again.
It made him happy.
Genuinely happy in a way he hadn’t expected when he first arrived at the castle.
Because Katsuki wasn’t just tolerating him anymore.
He stayed beside him.
He listened.
He noticed him.
And little by little, without Izuku even realizing when it happened, being near Katsuki had started becoming one of the safest and warmest parts of his days.
The thoughts lingered softly in his mind as he made his way toward the small stable tucked along the side of the castle grounds. The moment he stepped inside, his expression softened.
“Hey… how are you doing, huh?” he greeted quietly, reaching up to gently stroke the horse’s neck, his fingers brushing through its mane in a familiar, comforting motion. The horse leaned into the touch slightly, nudging him in return.
“Did you sleep well? You look like you did,” he added with a small, quiet smile.
The animal huffed softly, pressing its head closer. Izuku let out a faint breath of laughter under his nose.
“Yeah, yeah, I know… I’m late,” he murmured, resting his forehead briefly against its neck, the warmth grounding him for a moment.
Then his hand slowed and Izuku’s thoughts drifted. His hand rested against the warm coat as something more distant crossed his mind.
“I hope she’s okay…” he murmured under his breath.
His gaze lowered slightly, as pieces of memory surfaced. The way she used to worry over him, asking if he’d eaten, if he’d slept enough. The way she’d smile even when she was tired, like she didn’t want him to notice.
He wondered if she was still doing that now… if she was walking through the house, pausing every so often like she expected him to be there.
The thought lingered for a second longer before he exhaled softly and shook his head, like he was gently setting it aside for now.
His hand resumed its slow, absent strokes along the horse’s neck, grounding himself again in the present. A small smile returned as he looked back at the horse.
“Alright, breakfast time!”
He moved around the stable with quiet ease, replacing the water and setting out food.
“There you go. You’ve been waiting, haven’t you?”
The horse huffed lightly, already focused on eating. Izuku let out a quiet laugh, watching it for a second before resting his arms against the wooden railing.
Once it finished, he tilted his head slightly, eyes bright again.
“Wanna go outside?”
It was a silly question, but he asked it anyway.
A moment later, he was guiding the horse out into the open courtyard, the snow crunching softly beneath his boots.
The place opened up wide before them, almost like a hidden garden frozen in time.
A narrow stone path cut straight through the center, partially cleared but still dusted with a thin layer of snow that crunched softly under each step. On both sides, low hedges curved gently, their shapes softened and rounded by thick blankets of white. Beyond them stood rows of bare trees, their branches heavy with snow, creating a delicate frame around the entire space.
At the far end of the courtyard stood a small white pergola, its wooden beams dusted in frost. Beneath it was a simple table and chairs sat untouched, like they’d been waiting for warmer days. In the center of the clearing, a shallow, circular fountain lay still, its surface frozen over in smooth glassy patches, snow gathering around its edges in uneven layers.
Stone benches lined the sides of the garden, half-buried now, two symmetrical pedestals stood near the entrance, their tops capped with soft piles of snow.
Izuku walked slowly beside the horse, one hand resting lightly against the reins, the other reaching into his coat before pulling out a small apple. The horse immediately leaned closer to him, already expectant.
“Okay, okay… I know that look…”
The horse immediately perked up, nudging forward eagerly. Izuku let out a laugh under his breath, pulling the apple back before it could snatch it.
“Hey— hey, not so fast!”
The horse huffed in mild protest.
“Alright, alright… gentle, yeah?”
This time, the horse took it slower. Its nose brushed against his hand as it ate and Izuku’s laughter slipped out again, the sound warm against the cold air.
“See? That’s better.”
He stayed there for a moment longer, gently patting its neck, completely unaware of the figure watching from above.
From one of the castle balconies, Katsuki stood still, his arms loosely crossed as his gaze remained fixed on the scene below. His eyes followed every small movement without thinking. The way Izuku spoke, the way his shoulders loosened with each quiet moment, like the world wasn’t pressing down on him for once. There was something easy about him like this, something unguarded, like he didn’t have to think about how he was being seen.
Katsuki leaned against the cold stone of the balcony, his gaze fixed without effort. Izuku didn’t rush anything. He took his time, adjusted things without frustration, like even the smallest moments were worth paying attention to.
And the way he laughed…
Something in Katsuki’s chest shifted again. He’d seen people laugh before, heard it a hundred times… but this wasn’t like that. This felt real, and for some reason it made it harder to look away.
“Hmmm…”
The voice beside him broke through the moment.
“You’ve been staring for a while now…”
Katsuki’s expression tightened. He let out a low, irritated sound left him as he glanced to the side.
“Shut up, dunceface.”
“Hey, hey— relax,” Denki raised his hands, “I’m just saying— this is new! I’ve never seen that kind of look on your face before!”
Katsuki ignored him completely. His gaze had already dropped back down to the courtyard, like the distraction hadn’t even been worth acknowledging.
Izuku was still there, still smiling, still talking softly to the horse like nothing else in the world mattered right now. Something in Katsuki’s expression softened just slightly, almost imperceptibly, as the earlier irritation faded into something quieter.
He wanted to be the reason for that smile…
Izuku had done more than enough already, more than anyone ever had and for the first time, Katsuki found himself wanting to give something back.
Not because he had to.
But because he wanted to.
“I wanna do something for him,” he muttered, almost under his breath.
Denki blinked.
“…Wait— WHAT?”
His expression lit up almost instantly, surprise shifting into something much more exciting.
“Hold on, hold on— did you just say you want to do something nice for someone?”
“Tch, don’t make it weird.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely making it weird—”
“You know, forget I said anything,” Katsuki cut in, already turning away from the balcony, “I didn’t say shit.”
“Wait— HEY! You can’t just drop something like that and leave! What are you gonna do? You have a plan? Since when do you have plans for this kind of thing?! Come on, tell me! Oh my god— are you actually trying to impress him—”
“SHUT UP!”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
It was already afternoon by the time Katsuki made his way through the castle corridors. His steps echoed faintly against the stone walls as he moved with quiet purpose. He didn’t slow down until he reached Izuku’s room.
He knocked, but there was no answer. After a short pause, he knocked again, a little louder this time.
“Izuku…”
Silence answered him again.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside just enough to glance around, but the room was empty.
For a second he stood there, thinking where Izuku could be?
Until a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Of course…
He turned on his heel without another word and headed deeper into the castle, already knowing exactly where he’d find him.
He walked through the long corridors without slowing down, until he finally reached the workshop. Without hesitating, he pushed the door open and immediately spotted the green-haired man inside.
Izuku stood near one of the work tables, dressed in a slightly oversized work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, goggles resting over his eyes. In front of him sat a small steam-powered machine, built from a mix of metal parts, pipes and a pressure gauge that ticked faintly as it idled.
It did not look stable.
Izuku, completely unaware of Katsuki’s presence, leaned in closer, adjusting something near one of the valves.
“Okay, if I just increase the pressure a little and redirect the flow, then the piston should move smoother and the output will— no, wait, that’s not aligned— hold on—”
He paused, tightening something quickly before stepping back. Then he pulled off his goggles dramatically.
“Voilà!”
Katsuki didn’t even have time to react before Izuku reached forward and turned the mechanism on.
The machine sputtered to life and immediately let out a loud and sharp HISSSSSSS.
The gauge needle shot up far too quickly and Izuku froze, his eyes widening.
“That’s— that’s not how it supposed to—”
The machine rattled violently in front of him, the metal shaking as the pressure built. A second later thin streams of smoke started slipping out from between the joints—
BAM.
A burst of steam exploded out the side, followed by a loud metallic crack as part of the machine blew loose. Thick smoke filled the workshop almost instantly.
Katsuki was already moving the second it happened.
“IZUKU!!”
He crossed the distance in seconds, his arms wrapped around him in a tight, protective hold like he didn’t even think about it.
“IZUKU!! ARE YOU OKAY?!!”
“I’m fine— I’m fine!” Izuku coughed, waving a hand through the smoke as he tried to catch his breath.
But then they both stilled.
Because of how they were standing.
Katsuki had pulled him close without thinking, one arm wrapped securely around Izuku’s back, the other resting on his waist. Izuku’s body was pressed against his chest, one of his hands braced instinctively against Katsuki’s torso to steady himself.
Their faces were turned toward each other, just inches apart, close enough to feel each other’s breath in the space between them.
For a moment, neither of them moved, like everything around them had gone quiet all at once.
Then it hit Izuku and his face turned red instantly. Katsuki noticed right away, his gaze lingering for just a second too long, a faint flush crept across his own cheeks before he could stop it.
He pulled back slightly, like he remembered himself at the last second but not enough to actually let go.
“What the hell was that?!”
Izuku let out a small, nervous breath.
“I-I was trying to improve the pressure system,” he explained, glancing toward the broken machine, “It was supposed to regulate itself but I think I miscalculated how fast it would build—”
“You miscalculated?” Katsuki cut in, his grip tightening just slightly without him noticing, “You saw that thing going out of control and still stood there? What if it blew up worse than that?”
“I didn’t think it would get that bad so fast—”
“That’s exactly the problem. You don’t think about that stuff until it’s too late! You could’ve gotten seriously hurt,” Katsuki snapped, though there was more worry than anger in his voice.
Izuku blinked at that, a little surprised by the tone more than the words. His shoulders relaxed just slightly.
“I’ll be more careful… I promise.”
Katsuki held his gaze for a moment longer, the tension in his shoulders easing just slightly as the initial panic faded.
They stayed like that for another second, still close, still looking at each other, neither of them quite pulling away yet.
Izuku tilted his head a little, a small, teasing smile slowly returning to his lips.
“Sooo… what are you doing here? You don’t just randomly show up in the workshop right when something explodes…”
Katsuki looked away, a faint blush creeping onto his face.
“I just— wanted to show you something…”
Izuku lit up immediately, his eyes having that same familiar spark of excitement.
“Really?!”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki and Izuku walked side by side through the long castle corridor. Izuku glanced at Katsuki once or twice, like he wanted to ask where they were going, but he held back, trusting him enough not to interrupt whatever this was.
Eventually, they stopped in front of a pair of tall, intricately carved wooden doors.
“Uh… what is this?” Izuku asked, looking at the doors with curiosity.
“Close your eyes.”
Izuku blinked, caught off guard.
“Huh?”
“And give me your hands.”
There was a small pause as Izuku processed that.
“O-okay…” he said, letting out a quiet, nervous laugh. He closed his eyes and slowly reached his hands out toward him.
Katsuki’s hands wrapped around his and the first thing he noticed was how soft they were. Smaller than his, warmer than he expected, the kind of careful grip that didn’t try to take up space but still held on.
God, his hands fit so easily in mine…
It caught him off guard more than it should have, something settling in his chest.
Izuku’s fingers tensed just slightly at the contact, then relaxed, like it felt more natural than he’d expected.
“Don’t trip,” Katsuki muttered, pushing the doors open with one hand and guiding him forward.
“I won’t— I mean… I’ll try not to,” Izuku mumbled, carefully following his lead.
They walked a few slow steps into the room before Katsuki stopped.
“…Can I look now?”
“Not yet.”
Katsuki let go of his hands. Izuku stayed still, listening as Katsuki moved away, the soft sound of heavy curtains being drawn filling the space.
A moment later, light spilled into the room. Even through closed eyes, Izuku could feel the spreading light.
“Okay… you can open them now…”
Izuku took a small breath before opening his eyes…
And everything around him seemed to stop.
The library stretched endlessly before him, far larger than he could have imagined. Towering arches framed walls lined entirely with books, shelf after shelf rising up toward a high, vaulted ceiling adorned with gold detailing that caught the sunlight in soft, glowing patterns.
A massive stained-glass window stood at the far end, sunlight streaming through it in long, golden beams that spilled across the marble floor and illuminated the entire space in dreamlike glow.
Balconies curved along the upper levels, with ornate railings and ladders that could be rolled from shelf to shelf. Every inch of the place was filled with hundreds, thousands of books arranged in endless rows that seemed to go on forever.
Izuku didn’t move at first, his body hadn’t quite caught up with what he was seeing. He just stood there, slowly turning in place, his eyes trying to take everything in at once, moving from one towering shelf to another, up toward the high ceiling and back down again.
His breath caught somewhere in his chest like the space around him was almost too big to process.
“I—” the word slipped out, but nothing followed.
Katsuki watched him from where he stood, his gaze lingering waiting for some kind of reaction, even if he tried to not show it.
“Well… What do you think?”
Izuku turned to him so quickly it looked like the question snapped him out of it, his eyes wide and shining in a way that made it impossible to look away.
“It’s— it’s amazing, Kacchan!” he said, the words coming out all at once, “It’s— I don’t even— I’ve never seen anything like this before…”
Katsuki looked off to the side for a second, rubbing the back of his neck, not knowing what to do with that kind of reaction.
“Yeah, well… It’s yours.”
Izuku blinked.
“…What?”
“The library… it’s yours.”
For a moment, Izuku just stared at him, like the words hadn’t quite reached him yet. He looked like he was trying to understand if he heard them right.
His eyes searched Katsuki’s face, but then something shifted in them, softer, warmer, something that made his breath catch.
And before he could stop himself, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Katsuki’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug without hesitation.
Katsuki froze instantly. His whole body went stiff, his breath catched as his hands hovered awkwardly at his sides for a second, like he didn’t know where to put them. He didn't know what to do with them or how to respond to something so sudden and so close.
It wasn’t just the contact that made him freeze.
It was the way Izuku held onto him, without fear, without doubt, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
No one had ever hugged him like that before.
No one had ever just… chosen to.
He carefully wrapped around Izuku’s waist, pulling him closer. He lowered his head to hide his face in Izuku’s hair.
He could feel the steady rise and fall of Izuku’s breathing and could catch his scent. It smelled like caramel, subtle but sweet, mixed with something lighter, almost like clean cotton and a hint of woodsmoke. It was so comforting and real that it made it so hard to pull away.
They stayed like that longer than either of them realized, neither of them saying anything.
For that moment, it felt like everything else had faded into the background, leaving only the warmth between them.
Katsuki didn’t rush to let go.
For the first time, he didn’t feel like he had to.
He wanted to stay in those arms forever, never letting him go.
Eventually, Izuku pulled back first, though not very far. His hands stayed on Katsuki’s shoulders like he hadn’t even considered pulling back, his face flushed, still full of something that felt too big to put into words.
He looked overwhelmed in the best possible way.
Katsuki stayed close too, his hands lingering at Izuku’s waist.
“Kacchan I-I don’t even know how to thank you. This is… it’s incredible, Kacchan! I mean I’ve never had something like this before and you just— I just— it’s so much, I don’t even know where to start, there are so many books and I-I’m probably talking too fast, sorry… I just— thank you, really…”
He cut himself off with a small, breathless laugh. His words kept tripping over each other, spilling out in a way that was messy but completely genuine.
Katsuki watched him the whole time, not interrupting, something soft settling into his expression without him even realizing it.
“Of course… anything for you, Izuku…”
The words came out softer than Katsuki meant them to. They settled between them in a way that made the space feel way smaller.
Izuku's whole expression went still as if his mind had stopped. His eyes widened slightly, lips parted a little and a deep blush spread across his cheeks, reaching all the way to his ears. It was so impossible to hide, his whole face had betrayed him at once.
Katsuki noticed immediately. Looking at Izuku's face, how flustered he was, something in him reacted before he could stop it. His own cheeks warmed, a flush creeping fast, his expression tightened for a second like he didn’t know what to do with it.
GOD, WHY HE’S SO FUCKING CUTE?!!
Katsuki forgot how to move at all for a moment. His body went still like everything had suddenly narrowed down to just him and Izuku.
Then he felt Izuku’s heart starting to beat faster…
Or maybe it was his?
He couldn’t tell anymore.
“Don’t look at me like that, Izuku…”
Izuku let out a small soft laugh at this.
Then he smiled, not looking away even for a second. His eyes stayed on Katsuki like nothing else in the room mattered anymore, like he couldn’t focus on anything else even if he tried.
And Katsuki… he tried to keep his usual expression, he really did, but a small smile slipped, pulling at his lips before he could stop it.
The moment lingered for a little longer, before Katsuki finally cleared his throat.
“Go look around,” he said, nodding toward the shelves.
Izuku’s face lit up instantly. He turned and hurried deeper into the library, his excitement impossible to contain as he moved from one shelf to another, running his fingers along the spines, pulling out books and flipping through them with wide, fascinated eyes.
“Oh wow! This one— I’ve seen this but never actually read it… and this one— wait, this is a completely different edition— I think it has extra notes— oh— oh my god! Look at this print! It’s so detailed! I didn’t even know this existed!”
He kept going, words tumbling over each other faster than he could control, barely stopping to breathe. His voice was full of awe, like he was trying to hold onto every single detail at once.
Katsuki stayed where he was at first, just watching him. The way Izuku lit up, the way he got completely lost in something he loved without holding anything back…
It did something to him, something warm settling deep in his chest.
He loved seeing this version of Izuku.
The one who smiled without thinking, who spoke too fast, who looked at the world like it was still worth being.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, a quiet thought settled in, heavier than the rest…
He wanted to give him more of it. More reasons to smile like that. More things this cruel world had never given him.
If it meant Izuku would keep looking like this… then he’d give him everything…
“Kacchan!” Izuku suddenly called, “Come here, you have to see this!”
Katsuki walked over with no hesitation. Izuku was already flipping through a book when he reached him, his hands moving quickly over the pages.
“Look— look at this! I’ve never seen anything like this before, it’s all landscapes! But not just normal ones— they’re from different regions, some of them I don’t even recognize! And the details! Look at the way they drew the mountains here, and this one— this looks like it’s from a colder region. You see? The way the snow is layered— and this wait— the way the light is painted here, that’s so hard to capture!”
Izuku kept mumbling, turning pages and leaning slightly closer as he pointed things out, completely absorbed.
Katsuki didn’t interrupt. He listened to every word, every excited ramble, every little detail Izuku pointed out like it mattered more than anything else.
His eyes stayed on him, softer than usual, watching every detail. The way his smile never faded, the way his eyes seemed to shine brighter with every second, the way he looked at Katsuki whenever he pointed something out…
The moment settled softly around them, the kind that didn’t need to rush anywhere. Izuku’s voice slowed just a little as he kept flipping through the pages, still talking, still smiling and Katsuki stayed right there beside him, closer than before without even realizing it.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
“OKAY— THIS IS GOING WAY TOO SLOW!”
A few days had passed and in that time something had clearly changed between Izuku and Katsuki. They were almost always together now, like it just happened naturally without either of them noticing.
They sat next to each other during meals, walked side by side through the castle and somehow they always ended up in the same place without planning it.
Even when they weren’t talking, they stayed close, like neither of them really wanted to be anywhere else.
Kyouka glanced at Mina, “What do you mean slow? Have you seen the way they look at each other?”
“It’s not enough!” Mina shot back immediately, “Look at them right now!”
They were sitting on one of the balconies in the library, slightly hidden behind the railing. Not far below them, tucked between tall shelves, Izuku and Katsuki sat together on the floor.
They were closer than necessary, their shoulders brushed, legs angled toward each other without thinking. At times their hands would shift just enough to accidentally touch and neither of them pulled away.
Izuku was holding a book open between them, leaning slightly closer as he spoke, “And look at this part— see how they describe the valley here? It’s not just about the shape, it’s about the way the light falls over it— like, it changes depending on the time of day and they actually wrote that into the structure of the drawing— and here— wait— this one is even better, the way the mountains are layered makes it feel deeper than it actually is and I think that means they used a different perspective technique because normally it wouldn’t look like that but here it does and it’s just— it’s really impressive—”
He kept going, barely pausing as he turned a page, already moving on to the next detail, “And this one— look, the shading here is softer, which probably means it’s meant to represent a colder area, because the light wouldn’t reflect as strongly, and— oh, and here, this is my favorite part actually— the way they blended the edges makes it look like it’s moving even though it’s completely still— like you can almost feel the wind just from looking at—”
He stopped suddenly, the words cutting off mid-thought like he just realized how long he had been talking. Instead of continuing he went quiet and flipped through a few pages like trying to disappear in them.
Katsuki noticed immediately. His brows pulled together as he glanced at him.
“Why’d you stop?”
Izuku's fingers brushed along the edge of the page, not quite looking at him.
“I kinda got carried away again… I thought maybe… it was annoying you…”
“It’s not.”
The answer came so fast it made Izuku look up. Katsuki didn’t even hesitate, like it wasn’t something he had to think about. He was looking at him, closer than before without realizing it.
“Keep talking… I like hearing your sweet voice…”
Izuku's whole face flushed instantly, the color spread fast across his cheeks up to his ears.
“KACCHAN!!! DON’T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!!!” he ducked his head down, pulling the book up in front of him like it could hide him.
Katsuki laughed badly at that. He loved seeing flustered Izuku, it always made him laugh. He leaned back slightly making their shoulders touch.
“What? It’s true.”
“IT’S NOT!!! YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT OUT OF NOWHERE!” Izuku shouted behind the book, peeking to glare at him.
Katsuki snorted, clearly not taking him seriously.
“Yeah, yeah… whatever you say, angel.”
Izuku froze. His face somehow got even redder now.
“KACCHAN?!!”
“What?” Katsuki said, way too calm, like it was a totally normal thing, “That’s what you sound like right now.”
“I DO NOT— STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!!!”
“What? You don’t like it?”
“I— THAT’S NOT— YOU’RE DOING IN ON PURPOSE!!"
“Maybe.”
“KACCHAN!!”
Katsuki huffed a laugh, clearly enjoying this way too much, “You’re the one reacting like that.”
“BECAUSE YOU KEEP SAYING WEIRD THINGS!”
“They’re not weird.”
“THEY ARE!!!”
“Then stop getting so red.”
“I CAN’T— THAT’S NOT HOW THAT WORKS— UGHHH, YOU’RE SO MEAN KACCHAN!!!”
Katsuki laughed again, louder this time not even trying to hide it anymore.
Mina stared at them from above, her expression shifting from disbelief to pure frustration.
"NO, SERIOUSLY— LOOK AT THEM RIGHT NOW! THEY’RE FLIRTING, THEY’RE PRACTICALLY SITTING ON EACH OTHER AND STILL NOTHING??! THEY SHOULD’VE KISSED BY NOW!!”
Kirishima blinked, clearly caught off guard by the intensity.
“Woah… okay, let’s not rush it— I mean, they’re getting there, right? That’s already a big step—”
“It’s not rushing! It’s obvious! They want to, they’re just— not doing anything about it!!”
Kyouka glanced down at the two again.
“She’s not wrong. They’re painfully close to figuring it out.”
“Exactly! So we need to help them to figure it out faster!”
Denki, who had been half-listening, suddenly straightened.
“Okay— wait— I’ve got an idea.”
All eyes turned to him.
“That’s already concerning…” Kyouka muttered.
“No, no— hear me out! What if we just… help them a little?”
“Help them how?” Kirishima asked.
“We could… uhhh… I don’t know— lock them somewhere together or something?”
Kyouka just stared at him, “Wow. Incredible plan, Denki.”
“I’m just throwing ideas!”
Mina hummed, thinking about it, “Hmm… no, no… we need something more natural… something that happens when we’re all with them…”
Denki’s eyes lit up again, “Oh! Then I wanna be the distraction!”
Kirishima snorted immediately.
“Dude, you’d make it so obvious they’d figure it out in like two seconds.”
“I would not!”
“You absolutely would.”
“No, listen— I can be subtle!”
“You can’t even lie without smiling.”
“I— that’s not true!”
Kirishima laughed, shaking his head.
“Man, you’d last two seconds before ruining the whole thing.”
Denki crossed his arms, pouting, “You guys don’t believe in me at all…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku and Katsuki walked side by side down the long castle corridor. The air was quiet, almost lazy until they passed one of the tall windows. Sunlight spilled through it in soft, golden streaks and the sight outside made Izuku stop so suddenly Katsuki nearly walked past him.
He stepped closer to the glass, his eyes lighting up instantly.
“Kacchan, look! It’s really nice out today!”
Katsuki turned and stopped beside him. The light caught in his hair, softer than usual and for a moment he just glanced outside before looking back at Izuku.
“Then go.”
Izuku turned to him, “Will you come with me??”
“Yeah, obviou—”
“WAIT!! YOU’RE GOING OUTSIDE?! COUNT ME IN!!”
Denki practically burst into the scene out of nowhere.
“We’re coming too!!”
Right behind him Mina, Kirishima, and Kyouka appeared, all looking just as excited.
“NOBODY INVITED YOU EXTRAS!”
Izuku couldn’t help it and laughed, already turning toward the doors.
“Okay, last one outside is a rotten egg!”
He started running before anyone could respond.
“HEY! THAT’S NOT FAIR! YOU HAVE LEGS!” Denki shouted as the others rushed after him, their voices overlapping in chaos.
Katsuki sighed under his breath, dragging a hand down his face before following after them at a much calmer pace.
By the time he stepped outside, the courtyard had already turned into a mess of movement and laughter. Snow crunched underfoot as everyone ran around, kicking it up into the air, tossing handfuls at each other without any real aim. The cold air was sharp, but it didn’t seem to bother any of them.
Katsuki walked up to Izuku, who had already crouched down in the snow, laughing breathlessly with cheeks flushed pink from the cold.
He handed him his coat.
“You forgot your coat, nerd. You wanna get sick or what?”
Izuku blinked, then looked down at himself realizing.
“Oh— right! Thanks for remembering, Kacchan!”
Katsuki looked away immediately, a faint tint of red creeping up his ears.
“Yeah, yeah… It’s nothing.”
Izuku watched him for a second longer than needed, before a soft chirping sound caught his attention.
A few small birds had gathered on the branches of a nearby tree, hopping lightly between the snow-dusted twigs.
Kirishima walked up beside Izuku and held out a small handful of seeds, “Here.”
“Oh! Thank you, Kirishima!”
He took them carefully and made his way toward the tree. He poured a bit of the seeds into his palm and lifted his hand, holding it steady beneath one of the lower branches.
One of the birds tilted its head and fluttered down, landing gently on his hand. Izuku laughed softly as more followed, pecking at the seeds. His shoulders relaxed, his movements gentle, like he didn’t want to startle them.
Katsuki watched him quietly, his attention settling in a way he didn’t even try to fight.
The way he moved so carefully, like he didn’t want to scare anything away. The way everything seemed to trust him without hesitation. Like he belonged in moments like this, soft and warm even in the cold.
Katsuki’s gaze lingered, tracing over Izuku when he let out those soft, almost breathless laughs whenever another bird joined.
Of course they’d go to him… He’s like that with everyone.
For a moment, he stood there, watching as another bird hopped closer, settling into Izuku’s palm like it had always belonged there.
Izuku glanced over at him with bright eyes.
“Kacchan, you should try too!”
The words pulled Katsuki out of his thoughts before he could sink any deeper into them, his attention snapping back to the present. He scoffed lightly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“I don’t know… animals always run away from me…”
Izuku smiled, walking back over before he could protest further. He reached out, gently taking Katsuki’s hand and tugging him toward the tree.
“Come on… just try…”
Izuku stepped closer again, careful not to startle the birds still perched on the branches above them. He gently took Katsuki’s hand and poured some seeds into his palm. His fingers brushed against Katsuki’s skin a second longer than necessary, like he didn’t quite notice he hadn’t pulled away yet.
“Don’t move…”
His voice dropped quieter as if speaking any louder might ruin the moment.
Katsuki huffed quietly under his breath but did as he was told, lifting his hand toward the branch. The movement was a little stiff like he already knew how this would go.
The reaction was immediate.
The birds scattered, wings fluttering sharply as they took off all at once.
Katsuki didn’t even look surprised.
“See? Told you.”
Izuku shook his head right away, stepping just a little closer.
“Don’t rush… just— wait a second…”
There was no frustration in his tone, just quiet patience. He adjusted Katsuki’s hand slightly, guiding it into a steadier position before letting go.
Katsuki exhaled slowly, then tried again.
This time, he moved more carefully. He forced himself to stay still, even when every instinct told him to tense up, to expect the same result as before.
After a moment one of the birds tilted its head. It hopped closer and then, cautiously, it fluttered down, landing right in Katsuki’s palm.
Katsuki’s eyes widened slightly, the surprise slipping through before he could hide it.
“See!!” Izuku beamed, his whole face lighting up.
A small smile tugged at Katsuki’s lips at that.
Suddenly more birds followed, gathering quickly until they sat on his arms, his shoulders, even one bold enough to settle right on top of his head. Katsuki froze completely not knowing what to do.
“Uhhhhh… Izuku…?”
Izuku burst out laughing immediately, before he could stop it. He brought a hand up to his mouth, trying to hold it in, but failing anyway.
He’s so adorable…
The thought slipped in so naturally it didn’t even feel like something he had to think about. Not when Katsuki looked like that, stiff, completely at the mercy of a bunch of tiny birds.
Katsuki opened his mouth to say something but he sneezed instead. All the birds scattered at once, wings beating loudly as they flew off in every direction. Izuku laughed even harder, doubling over.
Katsuki stared at him for a second and despite himself, he laughed too. Then suddenly a snowball hit him straight in the face.
“THE HELL—”
“SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!” Denki shouted.
And just like that, everything exploded into motion. Snow flew in every direction as chaos took over the courtyard completely.
“NO WAY I’M LOSING THIS!”
“HEY, THAT ONE WASN’T FAIR!”
“TAKE THIS—”
“NO, YOU—”
“Come on, Bakugo!!” Kirishima shouted.
Katsuki clicked his tongue, “I’m not playing this stupid game—”
Another snowball smacked him directly in the face.
He turned immediately and saw Izuku standing a few feet away, trying (and failing) not to laugh.
“Oops…” he said teasingly.
“Oh? So that's how you wanna play?”
Izuku’s smile dropped instantly when he saw the size of the snowball Katsuki was already packing together. He turned and ran without another word.
“GET BACK HERE!”
“KACCHAN WAIT—”
Izuku barely got the words out before the snowball hit him full force, knocking into him hard enough to send him stumbling back.
“THAT WAS TOO BIG, KACCHAN!!!”
Katsuki just tilted his head, completely unbothered.
“Oops…”
Snow flew everywhere now without mercy, everyone running in different directions, ambushing each other from behind pillars and laughter echoed through the cold air.
Mina ducked behind a tree, laughing as Kyouka tried to aim at Denki. Kirishima charged forward without a plan, getting hit from both sides. Denki kept shouting that nobody was playing fair.
Izuku ran backward, laughing, not watching where he was going.
Suddenly, his foot caught against the uneven ground. His balance slipped completely as he tipped back, his whole body falling with nothing to catch him, his head dangerously close to hitting the stone beneath—
But Katsuki moved faster.
He caught him mid-fall before he could hit the ground, stopping the motion completely.
He wrapped one arm securely around Izuku’s back, the other holding him beneath his knees, lifting him just enough to keep him from hitting the ground. Izuku’s arms instinctively came up around Katsuki’s shoulders, gripping onto him.
They both went still.
Izuku’s grip tightened slightly against Katsuki’s shoulders. He could feel the steady support of Katsuki’s hold, like there had never been a chance he’d actually hit the ground.
“…You saved me, Kacchan.”
“Yeah…”
Izuku swallowed lightly, his gaze flickering for a second before settling again.
“Uhm… thank you…”
Katsuki hesitated for a moment like he wasn’t sure what to do with the way Izuku was looking at him.
His grip shifted slightly before he finally set him back down.
“Be more careful…”
Izuku nodded quickly, “Mhm…”
They stayed there a moment longer, just looking at each other.
Without warning, Izuku suddenly scooped up a handful of snow and threw it straight at Katsuki’s face.
“Stay sharp, Kacchan!!”
The snow hit perfectly. Katsuki froze for half a second, blinking as the cold settled in.
“YOU LITTLE—”
Izuku laughed and immediately turned, already running before Katsuki could finish. But Katsuki was right behind him immediately.
“GET BACK HERE!”
He caught Izuku quickly, wrapping his arms around him from behind and lifting him off the ground. Izuku’s back pressed against Katsuki’s chest, the sudden contact knocking the air out of him in a surprised laugh. His hands flew up instinctively grabbing onto Katsuki’s forearms as his feet left the ground, kicking uselessly in the air.
“Kacchan!!! Put me down!!!”
Izuku was laughing so hard he could barely get the words out.
“In your dreams, nerd.”
Izuku kept laughing, kicking his legs, though he didn’t try that hard to get away.
“You’re impossible Kacchan!”
A little further away, the others had slowed without even realizing it, the chaos of the snowball fight fading into the background as their attention shifted all at once.
Mina was the first to stop, peeking out from behind the tree she’d been using as cover. Her expression softened almost instantly, a wide, knowing smile spreading across her face.
“They’re really cute…”
“Yeah,” Kirishima said, nodding with an easy grin.
“Way too obvious.”
“Totally.”
And honestly… none of them were wrong.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
“ACHOO!!”
“I TOLD YOU YOU’D GET SICK!!!”
Everyone had spent the entire day outside and only now, long after the sun had started to set they finally returned to the castle.
“That’s not true, kaccha— ACHOO!!”
Izuku barely managed to finish his sentence before another sneeze interrupted him. He rubbed his nose, already wrapped up in himself from the cold.
Behind them everyone followed at a slower pace. Denki leaned slightly toward Mina, lowering his voice.
“We should do something now…”
Mina nodded immediately, eyes lighting up with an idea as she stepped forward.
“Hey! Why don’t you two go sit by the fireplace and warm up? We’ll bring you some blankets and tea.”
Izuku glanced at Katsuki for a second before nodding.
Katsuki gave a short, “Yeah.”
They made their way to one of the sitting rooms. The warmth of the fireplace already filled the space.
The soft glow of the fire painted everything in shades of gold and orange and the crackling of wood was the only sound when they settled onto the couch.
They had barely gotten comfortable when the others returned, full of blankets and something warm to drink.
Katsuki didn’t hesitate and immediately took one of the thicker blankets and draped it over Izuku, pulling it around him more securely than necessary. Before Izuku could even react, Eri hopped neatly into his hands with a cup of tea.
Izuku smiled softly, “Thank you…”
He took a careful sip, the warmth spreading through him almost instantly.
Katsuki watched him the whole time.
“Better?”
Izuku nodded lightly, “Yeah…”
Denki clapped his hands together suddenly, already backing toward the door.
“Well! Looks like our job here is done!” he announced, grinning as his eyes flicked between the two of them, “We won't disturb you anymore… you know… we wouldn’t wanna interrupt anything important.”
He dragged the moment out on purpose, leaning slightly as if trying to get one last good look at them sitting so close together.
“So we’ll just leave you alone… nice and quiet… just the two of you… alone… on one couch… together… in front of a fireplace… haha…”
Kyouka and Kirishima shot him a sharp look.
“Dude.”
“What?! That looks really cozy, doesn’t it? Almost like something straight out of a roma—”
“Okay, we’re leaving.”
“Yep. Right now.”
“HEY— WAIT, I DIDN’T EVEN FINISH—”
But they were already pushing him out, the door closing behind them, leaving the room quiet again.
Izuku sat curled up under the blankets, knees drawn in slightly, the fabric practically swallowing him whole. Katsuki sat quietly beside him.
The room settled into a deep and steady calm. The fire burned low, its glow soft casting flickering shadows along the walls and across the floor. Every so often, a piece of wood shifted with a quiet crack, sending a brief burst of sparks upward before settling again. Katsuki kept glancing at him the whole time. He noticed Izuku had curled in on himself more, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders.
“You still cold?”
Izuku shifted slightly, glancing at him, “Just a little…”
Katsuki immediately stood up, grabbed another blanket from nearby. He draped it over Izuku, layering it on top of the first one and adjusting it so it actually stayed in place.
Izuku blinked, a little surprised, “Thank you, Kacchan…”
Katsuki huffed quietly, sitting back down, “You’re terrible at taking care of yourself.”
Izuku smiled faintly, lowering his gaze, “I’m fine… after all, Kacchan’s taking care of me.”
“Yeah well, someone has to. You’d probably forget to take care of yourself completely if I didn’t.”
Izuku let out a small, breathy laugh at that, pulling the blankets just a little closer around himself.
They stayed like that, sitting close enough that their shoulders rested against each other, the warmth of the fire mixing with the quiet warmth between them.
After a moment, Izuku’s attention drifted. He noticed a small stack of books resting on a low cabinet nearby, their worn covers catching the firelight.
“Oh— can I see those?”
He shifted slightly, about to stand but Katsuki’s hand caught his sleeve.
“Stay here and don’t move.”
“I can just grab—”
“I’ll get it.”
Katsuki stood, walked over and picked one of the books and placed it into Izuku’s hands.
Izuku looked down at it and opened it carefully, flipping through a few pages. His expression softened as he skimmed the text.
“Oh! it’s a fairytale!”
“What kind?”
“It’s about a starlight spirit who falls from the sky and ends up in a quiet village! No one knows what it is at first, but there’s this one person who helps it… and they start teaching it how to live like a human, but—” he paused, glancing up, “…Do you want to hear it?”
Katsuki held his gaze for a second, then shrugged lightly.
“Sure.”
Izuku’s smile widened instantly like that was all the encouragement he needed. He shifted slightly under the blankets, settling in more comfortably before adjusting the book in his hands.
“Okay… so— It starts like this… Once upon a time, there was a small village at the edge of the world, where the nights were longer than anywhere else… and the stars shone so brightly, people believed they could hear them whisper… One night, one of those stars fell right from the sky and landed just beyond the forest, where no one ever dared to go…”
The words flowed gently, filling the space between them, blending with the crackling fire.
Katsuki listened without interrupting, his attention fixed more than he would have admitted.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Time went unnoticed, the fire had burned lower, softer now, its glow dimmer and the steady crackle turned quieter. Outside, the castle had gone still, the earlier noise fading completely into the night. Izuku was reading this whole time, not stopping.
At some point (neither of them really noticed when it happened) they had shifted. Izuku ended up sitting between Katsuki’s legs, his back resting against his chest. One of his legs was bent comfortably, the other stretched a bit forward and the book rested in his hands as he held it up just enough to keep reading. Katsuki leaned back against the couch, one arm braced beside him and the other rested loosely near Izuku’s side without quite touching.
His head dipped slightly forward, resting in Izuku’s curls, close enough that he could feel the faint warmth of him.
Izuku didn’t seem to notice how close they were.
Or maybe he did and just didn’t pull away.
He stayed where he was completely absorbed in the story, turning pages slowly, his voice soft and filling the quiet space between them.
Katsuki listened the entire time without interrupting, his attention fixed more than he would have admitted. Not just to the story, but to the way Izuku told it.
The way his voice softened without him noticing, dipping slightly at certain lines, growing quieter during gentler moments like he didn’t want to disturb the atmosphere he was building. The way he paused just a second longer at the end of sentences, like he was picturing everything in his head before continuing.
Sometimes, he’d smile faintly at a part he liked. Sometimes, his brows would pull together just slightly when something got tense.
And Katsuki noticed all of it.
More than he meant to.
Now, though, Izuku’s voice has started to change. It grew quieter, each word slower than the last as if it was slipping away with his energy.
“…and the spirit… stayed… even when the sky called it back…” a small yawn slipped out before he could stop it, “…because… it had found… something it didn’t want to leave…”
The words trailed off. And then quiet, lingering silence settled between them, stretching just a little too long to feel intentional. The fire crackled softly in the background, but Izuku’s voice didn’t return.
Katsuki frowned slightly, shifting just enough to turn his head and look at him.
“Oi… Zuku…”
A small snore answered him instead. Izuku had fallen asleep mid-sentence with the book still loosely held in his hands.
Katsuki let out a quiet exhale through his nose before carefully reaching over for the book from Izuku’s fingers without waking him up. He closed it and set it aside on the small table next to the couch.
Then Izuku shifted. Katsuki’s attention snapped back instantly, his head turned toward him but Izuku only moved slightly, settling more comfortably. He turned in his sleep, shifting closer, leaning into Katsuki. His head rested against his chest, one hand loosely curled near him and his fingers brushed against Katsuki's shirt.
“…Idiot,” he muttered under his breath, though there was no real heat behind it.
He reached for the blankets, pulling them up around both of them, making sure Izuku stayed warm.
Katsuki’s arm slipped around Izuku’s waist, holding him securely in place. His other hand lifted to Izuku’s curls. Slowly he started to play with them, gently threading a few strands between his fingers, feeling how soft they were, how easily they shifted under his touch.
Then his gaze dropped to Izuku’s face.
Katsuki’s eyes lingered a little longer, tracing the small details. The way his hair fell messily across his forehead, the way his lashes rested against his cheeks, the faint part of his lips, just slightly open as he let out little snorts. His whole expression had softened completely, all tension gone, replaced with something peaceful.
He’s really that comfortable, huh?
Izuku looked… different like this. More relaxed than Katsuki had ever seen him, like he’d finally let go of everything he usually carried. There was no nervousness, no overthinking, just quiet, steady sleep.
And like this he’s unbelievably cute.
Katsuki could just sit there and watch him for as long as it took for him to wake up.
His grip shifted slightly, just enough to pull him a little closer. Izuku barely moved, only settling more naturally against him, like that was where he was meant to be.
Something warm tightened low in his chest.
He trusts me…
He feels safe with me…
“Dumb nerd…”
He leaned his head forward just slightly, letting it rest against Izuku’s.
A calm silence settled around them, filling the space completely.
Nothing rushed.
Nothing disturbed it.
Just the quiet warmth of the room, the soft weight of Izuku against him and the gentle, almost fading sound of the fireplace as it slowly died down.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
A calm morning settled over the castle. Soft rays of sunlight slipped through the tall windows, spilling across the stone walls and floors, chasing away the usual gloom with a quiet and golden warmth.
Izuku's eyes fluttered open slowly. For a moment, he didn’t move and just lay there, half-aware, staring at the fabric beneath his cheek.
The couch.
Right…
He shifted slightly, blinking as he tried to wake up properly. His thoughts were still slow and unfocused, caught somewhere between sleep and awareness.
Something felt… off.
The warmth around him felt different. Too warm for the couch…
He didn’t question it yet and shifted slightly, turning his head—
and stilled completely.
Right in front of him was a broad chest. So close that Izuku could see the slow rise and fall of his breathing and feel the warmth coming off him in gentle waves.
His eyes snapped open fully.
Kacchan.
Katsuki was right there.
For a split second, his brain refused to process what he was seeing. Everything just stopped. No thoughts, no reaction, nothing but the sight of Katsuki right there, too close to make sense, too real to ignore.
They were tangled together under the blankets, far closer than he could have imagined. Izuku was tucked against Katsuki’s chest, his head resting just below his collarbone, one of Katsuki’s arms curved around him, holding him in place even in sleep. Their legs were loosely intertwined under the covers making the warmth between them uninterrupted.
Izuku went completely still and heat rushed to his face so fast it felt like it might actually burn.
DID HE WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME?!
WE SLEPT LIKE THIS??
HOW LONG— HOW DID I NOT— OH MY GOD?!!
I WAS SLEEPING ON HIM—
WAS I HOLDING ONTO HIM THIS WHOLE TIME?!
DID I MOVE??
DID I TALK IN MY SLEEP?!
DID I SNORE?!! NO WAIT I DEFINITELY—
WHY DIDN’T HE MOVE ME?!!
HE COULD’VE JUST— I DON’T KNOW— PUSH ME AWAY—
WHAT IF HE TRIED?? AND I JUST CLUNG TO HIM?!!
OH MY GOD I’M STILL TOO GOD DAMN CLOSE!!
He could feel his heartbeat in his throat now, his thoughts spiraling one over the other, faster than he could even keep up with them. He stiffened even more, like that would somehow fix the situation.
And then Katsuki stirred.
Izuku’s heart practically stopped.
Katsuki’s eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first, then sharpened as he woke up properly. His gaze landed immediately on the green-haired mess right on top of him.
They stayed like that for a second just staring at each other.
“…Morning.”
Izuku’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.
Katsuki’s expression didn’t change much, but his voice came again, a little more awake this time.
“…You drool in your sleep, nerd.”
Izuku short-circuited. His thoughts seemed to slam into each other all at once, leaving him bright red and completely unable to think straight.
“O-OH! REALLY?! I MEAN I DIDNT I WASNT— OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY I DIDNT KNOW, I DIDNT MEAN TO I JUST I UHM— DO I REALLY?— NO WAIT I MEAN IM SORRY KACCHAN I DIDNT—”
He scrambled up immediately, movements rushed and completely uncoordinated, trying to get off the couch as fast as possible.
“I’M SORRY, I DIDN’T MEAN TO, I REALLY DIDN’T, I JUST WOKE UP AND YOU WERE THERE AND I— HAHA— I MEAN— OH NO—”
His foot caught in the blanket.
“AAAH—”
Before he could hit the ground, Katsuki grabbed him mid-fall without hesitation, steadying him instantly.
“Watch it.”
He set him upright. The second Izuku regained his balance, he immediately turned his gaze away, unable to look at him.
“Haha… y-yeah…”
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Katsuki remained where he was, standing there with a slight stiffness, like he wasn’t entirely sure what to do next, a hint of confusion lingering in his posture.
Izuku's breathing began to settle, though the heat in his face didn’t fade completely. He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes drifting anywhere but Katsuki.
“…You wanna get breakfast?” Katsuki asked after a moment.
“Y-YES.”
He froze right after saying it, his eyes widening.
“I mean— yeah! Yeah, that sounds good,” he nodded quickly, a little too fast, “breakfast is good. That’s uhm… normal. We should eat. I just— uh— I need to do something, I’ll be right back, I just have to— yeah I forgot— UHM not forgot, I just need to check something really quick it won’t take long I just— yeah I’ll be back!”
Before Katsuki could respond, Izuku turned and slipped out of the room. The door closed behind him, leaving Katsuki standing confused there.
A small, high-pitched squeak slipped out under Izuku’s breath. He bolted and rushed down the hallway toward his room, not slowing down for even a second.
Not far from the door, Denki and Mina were sitting off to the side, like they had been there for a while.
“Well… Looks like the two of them had an interesting night.”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
“TOASTSSSS!”
Denki burst into the dining room way too loudly for that early morning. Right behind him a tray rolled in, neatly arranged with breakfast. It stopped by the table and served the plates in front of Izuku and Katsuki with perfect timing.
Izuku brightened immediately.
“Thank you!” he said immediately, already reaching for the food, taking his first bite.
Katsuki watched him for a second, then narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Slow down, nerd. It’s not going anywhere.”
Izuku shook his head quickly, still chewing.
“I know, I know, I just— it smells really good, and I didn’t eat that much yesterday, and—”
“You’re talking with your mouth full. Chew before you talk.”
Izuku made a small, embarrassed sound and covered his mouth.
“Right, sorry.”
Katsuki let out a quiet huff and nudged the cup of tea closer to him.
“Drink that too. It’ll help, so you don’t get more sick.”
“Oh! Thank you!”
Izuku reached for the cup and took a careful sip. His shoulders relaxed as the warmth spread through him.
“Mhmm… It’s really good…”
“Tch. Obviously.”
Izuku smiled faintly into the cup, “You say that like you made it.”
Katsuki shot him a look.
“I could.”
Izuku let out a small laugh, “Yeah? Then next time you should.”
Katsuki leaned back slightly, crossing his arms.
“I’d do it better.”
Izuku raised a brow, “Ohhh? Better than this?”
“Yeah.”
“Now I’m curious.”
“Don’t be.”
“I am though.”
Izuku let out a quiet chuckle and took another sip before setting the cup down.
“You talk too much when you’re hungry.”
“And you’re weirdly bossy when you’re being nice.”
Katsuki didn’t answer, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly into a small smirk before he looked back down at his plate. The dining room settled into a quieter atmosphere filled only with the soft sounds of eating and the occasional clink of cutlery against plates.
Denki, leaned against the wall and watched the entire exchange with growing interest.
“Wow…”
Katsuki glanced at him with visible irritation.
“You want something, dunceface?”
“You’re acting like a married couple.”
…
“WHAT?! WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!”
They both shouted at the same time.
Izuku went bright red instantly, turning his head to the side as if the wall had suddenly become very interesting. Katsuki looked the other way just as quickly, jaw tightening as he tried to ignore the heat creeping up his neck.
Denki stared at them for a second before immediately breaking into laughter.
“Okay, wow. That reaction alone tells me everything.”
“It tells you nothing!” Katsuki snapped immediately.
“We’re just friends!” Izuku added way too fast.
Denki raised a brow, “Friends who spend literally every second together?”
“We do not spend every second together!”
“You slept on the same couch.”
Izuku nearly choked on his tea the second the words left Denki’s mouth. He coughed immediately, grabbing the cup with both hands while his entire face turned bright red all over again.
Denki pointed dramatically at him, “SEE?!”
“T-That was just because we fell asleep! And there were blankets and the fire and we were reading and then I accidentally—”
“You accidentally cuddled all night?”
“I DIDN’T SAY THAT—”
“You basically did.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue loudly, “Why do you even care?”
“Because it’s adorableeee…”
“It’s not adorable,” Katsuki growled.
“It kinda is. You sit together, you eat together, you’re all ‘drink your tea’ and ‘slow down before you choke, Izuku’—”
“That’s not—” Izuku started, but immediately lost confidence halfway through, “I mean… Kacchan is just being nice…”
Denki gasped dramatically.
“OH MY GOD. HE ADMITTED IT. BAKUGO IS NICE TO YOU!”
“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, DUNCEFACE!”
Katsuki snapped before he could finish, standing up so abruptly the chair scraped loudly against the floor.
Katsuki snapped before he could finish, standing up so abruptly the chair scraped loudly against the floor. Before Denki could even react, Katsuki grabbed him and dragged him across the room.
“HEY WAIT! I’M JUST SAYING—”
“OUT!”
“I’M RIGHT THOUGH, YOU’RE TOTALLY—”
“SHUT UP!”
Katsuki shoved him out into the hallway and slammed the door hard behind him, the loud bang echoed through the dining room.
He walked back to his seat like nothing had happened and sat down calmly, picking up his fork as if he hadn’t just thrown Denki out seconds ago.
Izuku sat stiffly in his chair, still slightly red from embarrassment and very suddenly fascinated by literally everything except Katsuki.
For a few quiet seconds, the only sounds were the faint clinking of cutlery and the soft crackle of the fireplace somewhere deeper in the room.
“…Your tea’s getting cold.”
Izuku blinked, immediately snapping out of whatever frantic spiral his thoughts had trapped him in.
“OH— right…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku sat at the workbench, completely focused on the half-finished steam machine spread out in front of him. Small tools, screws, bits of metal and handwritten notes covered every inch of the table.
Every now and then the machine let out a quiet hiss of steam or rattled suspiciously, but somehow nothing had exploded yet.
Yet being the important word.
He had been sitting there for hours already, so long that the warm sunlight outside had slowly faded into softer shades of orange. The windows of the workshop glowed dimly with the last light of the evening while shadows stretched longer across the floor.
Izuku tightened one of the bolts carefully, squinting at the machine.
“Okay… if this pipe connects here… then the pressure should move through this side first…” he mumbled quietly to himself, adjusting one of the small valves, “Which means theoretically it shouldn’t explode this time…”
…
“…Probably.”
The machine rattled ominously and Izuku stared at it.
“Please don’t explode…”
Right as he reached for another tool, the sound of the workshop door opening pulled him from his concentration.
He looked up immediately, already knowing who he was about to see.
“Kacchan!”
Katsuki stepped inside, closing the door behind him as his eyes scanned the workshop.
“Hey…”
Izuku smiled a little automatically just seeing him there.
Katsuki glanced at the scattered tools and suspiciously steaming machine before looking back at him.
“You feeling better?”
Izuku nodded quickly, “Yeah! Actually— a lot better! Your tea really helped! Like seriously helped! My throat stopped hurting after a while and I’m not cold anymore and I didn’t even sneeze that much today, so I think it worked really well! And it tasted really good too! I didn’t even know tea could taste like that! I mean I’ve had tea before obviously, but yours was different somehow and—”
“Alright, alright,” Katsuki interrupted, a faint pink tint creeping across his face, “I get it, nerd…”
Izuku smiled sheepishly. Katsuki cleared his throat quietly before speaking again.
“If you’re feeling better… I wanna show you something.”
Izuku’s eyes widened instantly.
“Really?!”
He stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped backward behind him. Katsuki had to catch it before it hit the floor. Izuku barely noticed, already hurrying after him with curious eyes, practically vibrating with excitement.
He kept glancing around as they walked through corridors, trying to guess where they were going.
“Are we going to the kitchen?”
“No.”
“The library?”
“Try again.”
Izuku pouted a little, though the smile didn't left his face.
“You’re being mean on purpose, Kacchan…”
Katsuki glanced at him from the corner of his eye, “I’m being patient, nerd.”
That only made Izuku laugh softly as he followed along, stepping carefully over the stone floor.
As they continued walking, they started climbing higher through the castle, passing through hallways Izuku hadn't seen before. The unfamiliar corridors and quieter parts of the castle only made him even more curious, his eyes constantly drifting around as he tried to figure out where Katsuki was taking him.
When they finally reached a set of large doors at the end of the hall, Izuku looked up at them with surprise.
“Kacchan… where are we?”
Katsuki didn’t answer and only pushed the doors open. The moment they opened, a cool breeze swept in from outside brushed gently Izuku's face. He blinked and what he saw made him stop.
Beyond the balcony stretched endless mountains layered one behind another, fading softly into the distance beneath the evening sky. The sunset painted everything in warm shades of gold and soft orange that slowly melted into deeper blue higher above them. The last light of the sun rested along the edges of the mountains, while the valleys below were already sinking into shadows.
Patches of snow still clung to some of the higher cliffs, slowly melting beneath the colors of the sunset. Far below, dark forests and rolling hills disappeared into the horizon and above all of it, the very first stars had already begun appearing faintly in the darkening sky.
The entire view looked unreal, like something straight out of a storybook.
Izuku stared at the view in front of him, completely frozen in place.
His mouth parted slightly, eyes wide as the colors of the sunset reflected in them. For a moment he didn’t even seem capable of blinking, like he was afraid the landscape might disappear if he looked away for even a second.
“Kacchan It’s…” he breathed, almost unable to find the words, “It’s so beautiful… Kacchan, it’s absolutely gorgeous…”
A small, disbelieving laugh escaped him under his breath. He moved forward immediately, stepping quickly toward the balustrade and leaning over it carefully, as if he wanted to take in every inch of the view at once. His eyes moved across the mountains, the sky, the little streaks of light caught in the distance and for a moment he looked completely lost in it.
“The mountains… and the sky… It looks unreal, Kacchan… I’ve never seen anything like this before…”
Katsuki stayed where he was, watching Izuku more than the landscape itself.
The way he kept looking around like he was trying to take in every single detail at once, unable to stay still from excitement alone. Even the sunset seemed dull compared to the expression on his face right now.
Izuku turned his head slightly, “Do you get to see this every day??”
Katsuki leaned one shoulder against the doorway, gaze still resting on him.
“Pretty much.”
Izuku looked back at the view, then at him again.
“That’s not fair at all. You just… live here and get this all the time??”
Katsuki shrugged lighty, “Guess so.”
Izuku let out a small, awed laugh and looked back over the mountains.
“That’s incredible…”
For a little while, neither of them said anything. The balcony settled into a quiet, comfortable silence filled only with the soft sound of the evening wind moving around them. It brushed gently through Izuku’s curls and tugged lightly at their clothes while the last warm colors of the sunset slowly faded deeper into the horizon.
Katsuki stepped away from the doorway and walked toward the balustrade, stopping right beside Izuku. Together they looked out over the mountains stretching endlessly beneath the darkening sky.
“Sometimes I wonder what’s beyond all of this…” Izuku said it quietly, as he kept looking out toward the endless mountains and fading horizon.
Katsuki slowly turned his head and looked at him.
“I used to read about places like this in books… About oceans and huge stretches of land and cities so big you couldn’t see the end of them. Mountains even taller than these, places where people live completely differently, where everything looks and sounds and feels new… I always wanted to know what it would be like… to actually be there.”
Katsuki stayed quiet while Izuku spoke, his eyes fixed on him the entire time. He listened with the same focused attention he gave everything Izuku said.
“What place would you go to first?”
Izuku turned toward him a little, thinking hard.
“I’ve heard there are huge cities in the west… I’d want to see them first. I’d like to learn how people live there, what they make, what they eat, how they talk to each other… I’d like to know everything…”
He smiled softly at Katsuki.
“And then I’d want to see the ocean,” he added, glancing back at the horizon, “I’ve read about it so many times, but I’ve never actually seen it. It must be amazing… endless, loud and wild…”
Izuku fell quiet for a moment, his eyes drifted back toward the landscape stretching endlessly in front of them. He stayed there completely lost in the view again, like he was trying to imagine every place he had just spoken about somewhere beyond those distant mountains and fading skies. Izuku’s gaze lingered on everything for a long moment, unable to look away.
“There are so many places… So many things I want to see…”
Katsuki didn’t look away from him once.
The mountains, the sunset, the stars above them had all faded into the background. His attention stayed completely on Izuku.
The way Izuku’s eyes lit up every time he talked about the world, the soft excitement in his voice or the small smile that kept appearing whenever he mentioned another place he dreamed about seeing someday.
Katsuki’s chest tightened as he watched him speak so openly about his dreams.
On how badly he wanted those things.
How badly he deserved them.
He wanted Izuku to have all of it.
The oceans, the cities, the entire world if he asked for it.
He wanted to see that same look on his face again and again…
“You’ll see them Zuku… I promise you…”
Izuku looked at him immediately. His entire face softened into the warmest smile Katsuki had ever seen.
His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, shining softly beneath the fading sunset light and a deep blush spread across his cheeks and nose, making the freckles scattered over his skin stand out even more.
Katsuki felt his breath catch for half a second, his gaze catching on Izuku’s face and refusing to move away. The sight of Izuku smiling at him like that, so genuinely happy, hit him harder than he expected. He had seen Izuku smile before, but not like this. Not with that much warmth, not with that much open happiness, like the whole world had just handed him something precious and he didn’t know how to hide it.
His chest tightened warmly, something soft and unfamiliar spreading through him so suddenly it almost caught him off guard.
The only thing he wanted to do right now was staring at Izuku's beautiful face. Watching the way the sunset reflected in his eyes, the blush still dusting across his freckles and the soft happiness written all over his face pulled Katsuki in completely.
The mountains, the sky, the entire view behind him was nothing compared to that smile.
“Kacchan’s the best…” Izuku said, without even trying to hide how happy he sounded.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Katsuki's mouth, unable to stop himself.
Izuku let out a soft breath and leaned his head gently against Katsuki’s shoulder, settling there as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Katsuki relaxed slightly beside him, letting Izuku stay there letting the moment stretch between them as the sunset deepened and the first stars shone brighter above the mountain peaks.
Together they watched the sky slowly darken, the last traces of gold melting into blue and violet across the horizon.
Their fingers rested close together against the stone railing, touching lightly at the edges and neither of them made any move to pull away. It was such a small thing, so simple it could have gone unnoticed by anyone else, but it made the silence between them feel even warmer and more full.
Right now… everything felt perfect…
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku sat curled comfortably in one of the quieter castle chambers. Several books spread around him across the couch and low table nearby.
Outside the tall windows, snow continued falling slowly across the castle grounds, covering everything in soft white silence.
Soft firelight flickered across the pages as he absentmindedly flipped through another book.
At some point, Izuku realized he had been staring at the same page for several minutes without actually reading a single word.
Because instead, his thoughts kept wandering somewhere else entirely.
To Katsuki.
To the past three weeks.
They passed way faster than Izuku thought should’ve been possible.
Honestly, he didn’t even know when exactly the days had started slipping through his fingers so easily.
Somehow, whenever he was with Katsuki, hours stopped feeling like hours at all. Mornings melted into afternoons and afternoons disappeared into evenings before Izuku could even realize time had moved at all. Entire days felt unbearably short now, gone in what seemed like seconds.
And Katsuki was always there somewhere inside them.
They ate every meal together now without even questioning it anymore. If Izuku woke up late, Katsuki waited. If Katsuki disappeared somewhere in the castle, Izuku eventually found himself searching for him without even thinking about it. Somehow, by the end of every day, they always ended up side by side again like it had become the most natural thing in the world.
Some days were spent in the library, sitting next to each other while Izuku rambled excitedly about books and Katsuki listened to every single word. Other days disappeared inside the workshop, surrounded by scattered tools and half-finished inventions while Katsuki leaned nearby watching Izuku work with that familiar look of attention in his eyes.
And then there were the evenings.
Soft evenings spent near the fireplace with the sound of crackling wood filling the quiet between them while snow fell endlessly outside the windows.
Evenings where Izuku told stories from his childhood while Katsuki listened silently beside him, his gaze softer than Izuku had ever thought possible for someone like him.
Evenings where they sat close enough that their shoulders brushed accidentally… and then eventually not so accidentally anymore.
Sometimes they climbed up to the balcony together just to watch the sunset disappear behind the mountains.
And somehow those moments became Izuku’s favorite part of every day.
Katsuki had become something warm, something that Izuku’s days started revolving around.
He took care of him in ways so small and gentle that sometimes Izuku didn’t notice them until much later.
He always made sure Izuku wore enough layers before going outside, grumbling under his breath while fixing his scarf himself whenever Izuku tied it badly.
Whenever snow covered the castle steps too heavily, Katsuki cleared a path before Izuku even woke up.
If Izuku fell asleep in the library, he’d wake up later with a blanket draped over his shoulders and Katsuki sitting nearby pretending he hadn’t been waiting there the whole time.
When the evenings were colder, Katsuki had slowly started sitting closer to Izuku. At first it was only their shoulders brushing against each other beneath shared blankets, but somewhere along the way it turned into Katsuki naturally leaning against him, strong arms resting loosely around him while they sat together in front of the fire.
Izuku noticed quickly that despite Katsuki’s sharp hair and the thick fur that looked rough and untouchable, they were actually unbelievably soft beneath his fingers.
Every time Izuku curled closer against him, he caught the quiet natural scent clinging to Katsuki’s fur, smoke from fireplaces, cold winter air, pinewood and something warmer underneath it all that Izuku could never properly describe but had somehow already started associating with safety.
Sometimes Katsuki would silently pull Izuku a little closer whenever he noticed him shivering, acting annoyed the entire time despite being the one tightening the blanket around both of them first.
Sometimes Izuku would enter the workshop only to realize Katsuki had already prepared the space for him before he arrived — the fireplace lit, tools organized neatly on the table, extra candles placed nearby because Izuku complained once about the lighting hurting his eyes while reading blueprints late at night.
That might’ve been the thing that affected Izuku the most.
He listened to every ramble, every idea, every unnecessary fact Izuku accidentally started talking about too excitedly.
Sometimes Izuku caught himself staring at him because of it. Because nobody had ever looked after him so carefully before.
Not like this.
And every single time when Katsuki did something small without asking for recognition, that same warmth bloomed painfully inside Izuku’s chest all over again.
It almost felt unreal sometimes.
For so long, Izuku thought love, care and understanding were things that always came with conditions. That eventually people would grow tired of him talking too much, dreaming too much, feeling too much. He had gotten so used to shrinking parts of himself down, apologizing for taking space, quieting his excitement before it could annoy someone.
But Katsuki…
Katsuki listened like every word mattered.
Even the messy rambles that spiraled into ten different topics at once without Izuku realizing he’d completely lost track of the original subject five minutes ago.
He listened when Izuku talked excitedly about inventions that probably sounded completely ridiculous to anyone else. He listened when Izuku accidentally started overexplaining things nobody asked about. He listened to every dream, every theory, every unnecessary observation Izuku blurted out without thinking.
And somehow, Katsuki never made him feel embarrassed about it.
Never made him feel like he needed to stop.
Most people eventually lost interest. Izuku was used to noticing it, the drifting eyes, forced nods, polite smiles that slowly turned distracted the longer he spoke.
But Katsuki stayed focused on him the entire time.
It made Izuku feel seen in a way he didn’t think he had ever experienced before. Like Katsuki genuinely wanted to know him completely, every strange thought, every dream, every little part of him Izuku usually tried to tone down around everyone else.
Katsuki never asked him to become quieter.
Never asked him to become less.
Katsuki seemed to appreciate every part of him.
The excitement in his voice whenever he discovered something new. The endless curiosity that made him ask too many questions. The way his thoughts ran too fast for his own mouth to keep up sometimes. Even his softness, his kindness, the parts of himself Izuku had always worried were too emotional or too fragile for other people to truly understand.
Katsuki looked at all of it and stayed anyway.
No…
More than that.
He looked at Izuku like those things were worth loving, worth protecting, worth everything.
And that realization alone was enough to make Izuku’s chest ache with warmth every single time he thought about it.
He didn’t know exactly when his feelings for Katsuki had changed into something deeper.
Maybe they always had been.
Maybe they started growing during late nights beside the fire, during soft conversations beneath sunsets, during every quiet moment where Katsuki looked at him like only he mattered in this world.
All Izuku knew now was that the castle no longer felt cold anymore.
Because Katsuki was in it.
And he had become home to Izuku…
knock, knock.
The soft sound echoed against the door before it creaked open carefully and Mina peeked inside. The porcelain lid atop her head rattled faintly as she leaned into the room.
“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere—”
She stopped mid-sentence. She saw Izuku still hadn’t looked up from the book in his hands.
More specifically… he was staring at the one page with a weird soft expression.
Mina’s eyes narrowed and a grin spread across her face immediately.
“Oh my god…”
She floated a little closer across the room, curiosity practically radiating off her.
“Why are you smiling at a book like it just confessed its love to you?”
Izuku jolted so hard he nearly dropped the book entirely.
“H-HUH?!”
He snapped out of his thoughts instantly. His face warmed in seconds as he looked up at her in complete panic.
“Mina! When did you get here?! I wasn’t smiling! I mean maybe a little? But not like that! And definitely not because of— because of anyone or anything weird! I was just reading! Thinking! Normal thinking! Very normal! And not about Kacchan either! I MEAN— not that there would be anything to think about! Not in a weird way! And love?! Haha— what? No, no, no, no…”
Mina’s grin widened slowly into something dangerously knowing.
“Ohhhh… so it’s BAD bad.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You literally said his name without me mentioning him once.”
Izuku's entire face turned violently red all the way to the tips of his ears. In complete panic, he grabbed the nearest book and hid his entire face behind it like that would somehow save him from the situation.
Mina burst into laughter at the horrified look on his face before lightly hopping up onto the low table nearby.
“You know… you really don’t have to hide it from me.”
Izuku lowered the book slowly from his face.
“Hide what…”
“You like Katsuki…”
Izuku’s entire face immediately turned bright red again.
“I—”
“And before you try to deny it… you smile differently every single time someone mentions him.”
Izuku opened his mouth but no words came out this time.
His fingers tightened slightly around the edges of the book resting in his lap as warmth spread through his chest all over just from thinking about Katsuki again.
“So… What’s going on inside that giant brain of yours?”
The fire crackled softly for a moment while snow continued falling quietly beyond the windows.
“…I just…” he started quietly, “I feel different around him.”
Mina stayed quiet, letting him continue.
“I feel safe. Like… genuinely safe. When I’m with Kacchan, it feels like I can just exist normally.”
He paused for a moment, searching for the right words.
“I talk too much sometimes,” he mumbled with a small embarrassed laugh, “and I get excited over stupid things and ramble and overthink everything and most people eventually get tired of it… But Kacchan listens.”
The softness in his voice made Mina’s expression melt instantly.
“He remembers things I tell him even when I barely remember saying them myself. Tiny things. Things nobody usually notices. And he looks after me so naturally like it isn’t even something he has to think about… He makes me feel important…”
Izuku laughed softly under his breath after saying it, like he couldn’t believe it himself.
“And maybe that sounds silly because he’s just being nice but… nobody’s ever really looked at me the way he does before…”
Mina smiled softly immediately, her eyes warming.
Hearing Izuku describe those exact hidden pieces with so much warmth made something ache gently inside her chest.
Because somehow… they had found each other.
Two people who spent so long feeling lonely in completely different ways.
And now they looked at each other like they had finally found somewhere safe to rest…
“Oh, honey… That’s definitely love.”
Izuku immediately hid his burning face behind the book again.
“Minaaa…”
“I’m serious! You talk about him like he hung the moon himself.”
A quiet, embarrassed groan immediately left Izuku. He slowly slid further down and covered half of his burning face with the book again.
Mina laughed quietly at the reaction. Then her expression softened again as she looked back at him.
“And honestly? I think Katsuki looks at you the exact same way.”
That made Izuku peek over the edge of the book instantly.
“You think so…?”
Mina smiled knowingly.
“I’ve known him a long time, Izuku. Katsuki doesn’t let people close easily. Actually… he doesn’t let them close at all. He acts angry all the time because it’s easier for him that way. Easier than letting people see when he’s scared or hurt or lonely. Most people stop trying after a while or they only stay around the loud version of him. But you? You kept looking underneath all of that.”
A faint warmth spread across Izuku’s cheeks immediately.
“I’ve never seen him this patient with anyone before. He could pretend it’s annoying all he wants… but Katsuki doesn’t give his attention away like that unless someone truly matters to him. He listens because it’s you…”
The room grew quieter around them, her gaze warmed even more.
“He’s softer around you, Izuku. Like he can finally breathe properly for the first time in years. Now he smiles more without realizing it, he stays in rooms longer if you’re there, he actually looks relaxed sometimes. And whenever you leave somewhere, his eyes follow you automatically before he even notices he’s doing it… You make him feel safe too. And trust me… Katsuki doesn’t give those parts of himself to just anyone. And I think… you became something important to him a long time ago.”
Izuku sat completely still after hearing that. His chest tightened so suddenly it almost hurt.
“You know what love actually is?” she asked after a moment.
“What?”
“It’s looking for someone first without realizing it… It’s remembering little things because your heart decides they matter. It’s feeling calmer just because they’re nearby. And sometimes… love is realizing someone feels like home long before you’re brave enough to call it that.”
For a moment Mina’s gaze drifted somewhere distant, softer with memory.
“You know… I used to think love had to be huge and dramatic all the time. Like fireworks or some giant life-changing moment. But… when I fell for Eijiro, it wasn’t like that at all. It happened slowly. In tiny moments I almost didn’t notice at first. The way he always waited for me after long days. The way he remembered things I said. The way he made bad days feel lighter just by being there,” warmth filled her expression completely now, “And one day I realized I was happiest during the boring moments. Just sitting beside him… talking, laughing, existing together. That’s when I understood real love doesn't have to be something loud. It’s just… finding someone who makes life feel warmer.”
A small silence settled softly around the room afterward.
Izuku lowered his gaze toward the book resting in his lap, but he wasn’t really seeing it anymore.
Because now all he could think about was Katsuki.
Mina’s words kept echoing softly in his mind, one after another and suddenly every small moment from the past three weeks seemed to fall into place with clarity.
Izuku’s fingers curled slowly around the edge of the book in his lap as warmth spread through his chest again, almost overwhelming in how gentle it felt.
He looked down at the page again, though his thoughts were nowhere near the book anymore.
All he could see in his mind was Katsuki, always Katsuki, as if his heart had quietly decided there was nowhere else it wanted to look anymore.
Izuku covered part of his burning face with one hand, but he was smiling too much now to truly hide it.
He looked back toward Mina, warmth filling his chest all over again.
“Thank you, Mina… For listening to me… and for telling me all this…”
“Of course,” she smiled softly, “That’s what friends are for.”
A comfortable silence settled around the room.
The fire crackled gently nearby while snow continued falling outside the windows and the warmth filling the room had nothing to do with the fireplace anymore.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Denki floated lazily down one of the castle hallways, small flames flickering warmly along the top of his candle while he rambled beside Kyouka, who swept slowly across the floor with her tiny broom movements.
“So hypothetically, if someone incredibly handsome and charming asked you to dinner, what would your answer be?”
“My answer would be: stop talking.”
“Ouch, cold…”
“You’ve asked me that same question four times this week, Denki.”
“Because I’m waiting for character development!”
“You’re waiting for a miracle.”
Denki clutched his chest dramatically, “You wound me, Jirou…”
“And yet somehow you survive every time.”
He gasped loudly again, the little flame atop his head flickering wildly as he drifted closer to her.
“You know, one day you’re gonna realize I’m irresistible.”
“Denki, last week you lit yourself on fire trying to flirt.”
“That happened one time!”
“It happened twice.”
“That second one barely counts!”
Kyouka snorted quietly under her breath at that.
Then suddenly, they heard a loud scraping noise echo from somewhere nearby, followed by what sounded suspiciously like an irritated growl and the aggressive clatter of silverware hitting a table.
Both of them slowly turned toward the slightly open doors.
“…What the hell is he doing?” Kyouka muttered.
Through the gap, they could see Katsuki moving around the dining hall in obvious frustration. One of his hands aggressively dragged a cloth across the same section of the long table while the other adjusted silverware that already looked perfectly straight.
A few candles floated slightly crooked above the table and Katsuki immediately stopped to fix them too. He stared at them for several seconds before moving one barely an inch to the left.
Then he went back to the exact same spot on the table he had already cleaned three separate times.
He kept pacing around the room afterward, fixing things that didn’t need fixing at all.
“Okay, that’s terrifying…”
Katsuki muttered something under his breath before aggressively fixing the position of a plate by maybe half an inch.
“He looks… nervous.”
“Oh god, that’s somehow worse.”
Another loud scrape echoed through the room as Katsuki abruptly shoved a chair back into place harder than necessary.
Denki and Kyouka exchanged one look before finally entering the dining hall.
The moment the doors creaked open, Katsuki immediately turned toward them with an irritated glare.
“What.”
Denki pointed directly at him, “Okay, What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve been cleaning the same table for ten minutes.”
“…No I haven’t.”
“You literally moved that spoon six times.”
Katsuki froze for half a second before immediately clicking his tongue under his breath. He didn’t answer after that, he only turned his gaze away toward the wall beside him with visible irritation.
Denki’s eyes widened slowly and suddenly his entire flame flared brighter in realization.
“Oh my god!”
Katsuki immediately looked suspicious, “…What.”
“THIS IS ABOUT IZUKU!”
“It’s not—”
“OH MY GOD IT IS!”
Kyouka’s eyes widened too now, “No way…”
Denki nearly bounced in the air excitedly, tiny sparks flying everywhere.
“You’re planning something romantic!”
“I'M GONNA KILL YOU.”
“A DATE?! A ROMANTIC DINNER?!”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!”
“IT’S ACTUALLY A DATE, MAN.”
“IT’S NOT A DAMN DATE!”
“Then why are you panicking like a divorced father preparing for prom?!”
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
Kyouka rubbed her forehead tiredly while Denki continued floating excitedly around the room.
“What’s the plan?! Candles?! Flowers?! Music?! WAIT— DO YOU NEED ME TO BE ROMANTIC LIGHTING?!”
“I need you to disappear!”
“Not possible. I’m emotionally invested now.”
Katsuki growled loudly under his breath before dragging a clawed hand through his hair.
Kyouka finally stepped in, pointing her broom at Denki’s face.
“Okay, enough. Let him talk.”
“What, you want me to be calm? About this? Impossible.”
“You’re making him worse,” she said and looked back at Katsuki, “Ignore him. Just say what you’re doing.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue quietly, glaring at both of them before looking away again.
“…So what exactly are you trying to do?”
Katsuki clicked his tongue quietly, “…I dunno.”
“That’s a lie.”
Katsuki’s gaze drifted briefly toward the large windows where snow continued falling quietly outside.
“He’s always happy doing stupidly simple stuff. Doesn’t matter where we are.”
Denki immediately became silent too now, listening carefully.
“We sit near the fireplace and he looks happy. We watch sunsets and he looks happy. We spend hours in the workshop and somehow he still acts like it’s the best thing in the world… I just… wanted to do something more for him.”
The room went quiet. For the first time since they entered, Katsuki’s voice lost all its roughness beneath the words.
“I don’t even know how the hell we got here. One minute we couldn’t even sit through dinner without awkward silence and now… Now he’s a part of my every damn day.”
Denki’s expression melted instantly and Kyouka looked emotional too despite trying not to show it.
Katsuki noticed it immediately and snarled.
“Don’t make weird faces!”
Denki wiped fake tears dramatically,
“He’s so in LOVE love.”
“I WILL THROW YOU INTO THE FIREPLACE, DUNCEFACE!”
Kyouka smacked Denki lightly with her broom handle before looking back at Katsuki again.
“What did you have in mind?”
“…Dinner.”
Denki’s whole body nearly vibrated with excitement.
“OHHHHHH—”
“Don’t.”
“Too late. I’m screaming on the inside and outside.”
Kyouka tilted her head, “That sounds nice. But you know him. Just dinner might not be enough.”
“…I know.”
Denki’s eyes went even wider, “Wait. There’s more. You planned more!”
Katsuki looked now like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. He sighed through his nose, already looking exhausted by the conversation.
“…He said once that the most romantic thing was dancing with someone.”
Denki’s flame exploded brighter so suddenly he nearly floated into the ceiling.
“OH MY GOD.”
Kyouka’s eyes widened again, this time with genuine surprise, “Seriously??!”
Katsuki’s expression turned grim with embarrassment immediately.
“Forget I said anything!”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT. You’re making him dinner and a dance?!”
“It’s just something nice.”
“JUST SOMETHING NICE?! That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said in your life!”
“Keep talking and I’ll make sure you never get to say anything again!”
“Honestly, it’s a really good idea,” Kyouka said.
Denki nodded so fast the little flame on his head nearly flickered out, “Amazing idea. Fantastic idea. Visionary idea. And Izuku’s gonna loooooove it.”
“So. Dinner, music, dance. When?”
“…Tonight.”
“TONIGHT?! WE NEED TO HELP YOU!”
“I didn’t ask.”
“But you clearly need it.”
“I do NOT.”
“You’ve cleaned the same spot on this table four times.”
“…Shut up.”
Denki floated beside him with the brightest grin imaginable.
“Don’t worry, Bakubro. Your romance experts are here.”
“You are the exact opposite of an expert.”
Denki grinned wider, “Come on. Let us help before you stress yourself into another table-cleaning incident.”
Katsuki let out a low growl beneath his breath, glaring at both of them like agreeing to this physically pained him.
“…Fine. But if either of you makes this weird—”
“You’re already making it weird.”
“We are just making it successful…”
Katsuki clicked his tongue, but this time he didn’t tell them to leave.
And that, more than anything, made it very clear just how much this meant to him.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The entire castle erupted into chaos almost immediately.
The moment news spread that Katsuki was planning something romantic for Izuku, absolutely nobody knew how to behave normally anymore.
The kitchen became complete madness first.
The enchanted oven barked orders at everyone while several cupboards slammed open and shut on their own, throwing ingredients across counters at alarming speeds. Pots stirred themselves aggressively while the kitchen staff rushed around preparing far too much food for what was supposed to be “just dinner.”
“We need something elegant!”
“WHY ARE THERE SEVEN DIFFERENT DESSERTS?!”
“Because romance requires options!”
Eri stood on top of a chair near the counter trying very seriously to help decorate tiny pastries with icing despite somehow getting more frosting on herself than the food.
“I’m helping!” she announced proudly.
“You’re doing amazing, sweetheart,” Mina assured her while floating around the room hanging ribbons and decorations absolutely everywhere.
Meanwhile in the ballroom, several enchanted instruments prepared excitedly for the evening. Violins tuned themselves dramatically while the piano repeatedly played soft romantic melodies without being asked.
Denki immediately burst into tears hearing one of them.
“THEY’RE PRACTICING LOVE MUSIC!”
“Denki, pull yourself together,” Kyouka sighed.
“I CAN’T!”
Kirishima walked proudly through the castle like some kind of motivational coach.
“Alright everyone! Looking good! We got this! Maximum romance energy!”
“You are taking this way too seriously,” Kyouka said while sweeping glitter off the ballroom floor for the third time because Denki somehow kept spilling it everywhere.
“It needs more sparkle!”
“It absolutely does not.”
“It needs an atmosphere!”
“It needs you to stop touching things.”
And in the center of all the chaos Katsuki looked like he was moments away from collapsing into the floor from sheer embarrassment.
“WHY ARE THERE THIS MANY CANDLES?!” he snapped loudly while staring around the ballroom in horror.
“ROMANCE!” Denki shouted immediately.
“I SAID NO.”
“THE CANDLES STAY.”
Katsuki turned toward Mina next.
“WHY ARE THERE FLOWERS EVERYWHERE?!”
“They’re pretty!”
“He’s gonna think I’ve lost my damn mind!”
“He’s gonna think you’re in loooove.”
“I AM GOING TO THROW ALL OF YOU OUT A WINDOW’”
“Not before dinner!”
“What if we make flower petals fall from the ceiling?” Mina suggested dramatically.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”
“Ooo wait,” Denki gasped loudly, “what if the ballroom doors open automatically when they arrive?!”
“NO.”
“And then the music starts right as you take his hand! And THEN—”
“SHUT UP!”
Kirishima walked past carrying decorations over one shoulder with the biggest grin imaginable.
“What about fireworks?”
“WHY WOULD THERE BE FIREWORKS INSIDE THE CASTLE?!”
“For the vibe!”
“THE VIBE WOULD BE DEATH.”
At this point Katsuki’s entire face was visibly red from pure embarrassment.
Every single time someone suggested something more romantic, his ears twitched harder and his tail lashed violently behind him while everyone else only got more excited.
Even Kyouka eventually started smirking.
“You know,” she said while adjusting decorations, “for someone pretending this isn’t a date, you’re reacting very emotionally to date ideas.”
Katsuki pointed at her immediately.
“You’re all banned from speaking.”
Denki gasped dramatically, “He’s flustered!”
“I’M NOT FLUSTERED!”
“You absolutely are!”
“I HATE ALL OF YOU!”
“Love you too!” Mina chirped.
Katsuki groaned loudly and dragged both hands down his face.
How the hell had this turned into such a disaster?
He only wanted to do something nice for Izuku.
Something that would make Izuku smile the way sunsets and fireplaces did.
But now the entire castle acted like they were preparing for the greatest romance in history.
Kirishima finally noticed the growing panic on Katsuki’s face and walked over beside him while the others continued arguing loudly in the background about music and decorations.
“Hey… They’re just excited.”
“Tch.”
“They wanna help because they care.”
“I didn’t ask for all this.”
“I know…” Kirishima smiled warmly, “But honestly? I think it’s kinda nice.”
Katsuki clicked his tongue quietly, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he watched Denki nearly set himself on fire trying to carry candles dramatically.
“…This whole thing’s stupid.”
Kirishima laughed softly under his breath.
“But you really love him, huh?”
Katsuki froze instantly. His entire face turned bright red all the way to the tips of his ears. Kirishima burst out laughing immediately.
“DUDE YOUR TAIL IS WAGGING!”
“SHUT THE HELL UP, SHITTY HAIR!”
Katsuki immediately turned away, furiously trying to force his tail to stop moving. An embarrassed growl rumbled beneath his breath as he stormed off across the ballroom. Which only made Kirishima laugh harder behind him.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Katsuki walked stiffly through the castle hallway, every step heavier than the last.
This was a really bad idea.
A terrible idea.
That was the dumbest idea he had ever had in his entire life…
Izuku was going to think this whole thing was weird and stupid.
Katsuki wasn’t good at this kind of thing.
Hell, he barely even knew what he was doing!
His tail lashed nervously behind him as he stopped in front of Izuku’s door, staring at them.
“This is stupid,” he muttered under his breath before immediately turning around.
Mina and Denki instantly step directly into his path.
“Oh no you don’t!”
“There is literally NO backing out now,” Denki added dramatically.
Katsuki clicked his tongue, glancing once toward the door again. He exhaled sharply through his nose before knocking once against the wood.
“Come in!” Izuku’s voice called softly from inside.
Katsuki pushed the door open and immediately forgot how functioning normally worked.
Izuku looked up from the couch near the fireplace, book resting loosely in his hands. The second he saw Katsuki, his entire face brightened automatically into that soft happy smile that always appeared around him without effort.
Katsuki froze instantly. Heat rushed violently up his neck as his entire body went stiff. His ears twitched backward while his expression completely short-circuited into something flustered and overwhelmed.
“Hi, Kacchan!”
“H-Hey…”
That came out embarrassingly awkward…
“I just uh— tch— I wasn’t doing anything weird, obviously, I just came because— forget that part—”
Izuku blinked at him in confusion, “…Are you okay?”
“YEAH, FINE,” Katsuki cleared his throat immediately, face somehow turning even redder, “Fine, I’m fine…”
Katsuki forced himself to stop spiraling for two damn seconds.
“Do you… have plans tonight?”
“Not really…”
“Good. I’ve got something for you. Or not FOR you— tch— I mean… I have a surprise…”
Izuku’s eyes widened instantly, sparkling with immediate curiosity and warmth while a soft blush spread across his cheeks.
“A surprise?!”
Before Katsuki could answer the door suddenly BURST opened and Mina and Denki rushed in.
“WE’RE STEALING YOU NOW!”
Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Wha—”
“NO QUESTIONS!”
“YOU’RE GOING ON A ROMANTIC—”
Mina smacked him before he could finish.
“OW!”
Izuku looked completely overwhelmed now as Mina and Denki immediately grabbed him.
“H-Hey wait— what’s happening?!”
“YOU’LL SEE.”
“WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?!”
“BECAUSE LOVE IS STRESSFUL!”
“KAMINARI!”
“RIGHT. SORRY.”
Izuku barely had time to glance back toward Katsuki before Mina and Denki started dragging him laughing out into the hallway.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The large dressing chamber had completely descended into chaos.
Absolute chaos.
Clothes covered nearly every available surface. Rich fabrics spilled over chairs and couches while ribbons, gloves, jewelry and half-open boxes were scattered across the room like a storm had passed through.
And in the middle of it all Izuku stood completely overwhelmed.
“NO, NO, NO— this one washes him out.”
“It literally does not,” Kyouka muttered from where she leaned against the wall.
“It does emotionally.”
“That sentence doesn’t mean anything!”
Momo circled Izuku for what felt like the hundredth time, carefully adjusting tiny details with terrifying concentration.
“The sleeves are slightly uneven.”
“They are NOT,” Mina cried dramatically while digging through another pile of clothes.
“They’re two millimeters off!”
“That is psychologically impossible to notice.”
“It matters!”
Izuku barely even had time to process one outfit before another was immediately thrown at him.
One moment he wore an elegant cream-colored coat with gold embroidery. The next, Mina shoved him behind a changing screen and returned him in dark green formalwear lined with silver detailing. And Momo started fixing his hair every three minutes.
“No, wait— the curls here look softer.”
“His hair always looks soft.”
“More soft!”
“That also means nothing!”
Izuku stared helplessly into the mirror while another jacket was forced onto him.
At this point, he genuinely felt less like a person and more like a doll everyone kept aggressively decorating.
“Wait— hold still!”
“I AM holding still!”
“No, emotionally you’re moving too much!”
“That is not a thing!”
Momo carefully adjusted the sleeves with intense concentration.
“The gold embroidery works better with his eyes in this version…”
“But the darker green looked more romantic,” Mina argued immediately.
“We are not color-coordinating him based on a romantic atmosphere.”
“Yes we are!”
Izuku blinked as another elegant coat suddenly landed in his arms.
“…How many outfits are there?”
“Enough.”
“That answer terrified me.”
Kyouka snorted quietly while Mina pushed Izuku back toward the changing screen again.
he had completely lost track of how many outfits they had already forced him into at this point.
Every time he stepped out, somebody immediately noticed another tiny problem.
“The sleeves are wrong.”
“The buttons don’t match.”
“He looks too formal.”
“He doesn’t look formal enough.”
But even through all the chaos, his thoughts kept drifting somewhere else entirely.
Back to Katsuki.
The image formed in his mind almost too easily now.
“Did Kacchan plan all of this?” he asked softly.
“Oh yeah, he is PANICKING.”
“Viooolently.”
“He spent twenty minutes yelling about candles earlier,” Momo admitted politely while smoothing down the front of Izuku’s coat.
“…Candles?”
“Too many candles apparently.”
“There were not enough candles.”
Izuku couldn’t stop the soft laugh that escaped him.
Somehow the image of Katsuki angrily arguing about lighting made his chest ache in the gentlest way possible.
So if he was trying this hard…
If he was letting the others help him…
Then this really mattered to him…
And somehow that realization made Izuku even more nervous than before.
“He’s really doing all this for me…?” he asked quietly, almost to himself.
The girls softened instantly.
“Oh sweetheart… that man is DOWN BAD.”
Izuku immediately made a quiet, horrified noise under his breath and his entire face turned red again.
“M-Mina!”
He covered half of his burning face with both hands, shoulders curling inward in embarrassment while the girls laughed softly around him.
Momo suddenly gasped.
“OH MY GOD! THAT’S IT! THAT’S THE ONE!”
Before Izuku could even react properly, Momo immediately shoved the outfit into his arms and pushed him toward the changing screen.
When he showed up after a few minutes, all three girls stared at him in complete shock.
Izuku slowly turned toward the mirror and immediately stopped breathing.
The outfit fit him perfectly.
The deep forest-green coat fell elegantly around him with cream and gold details woven carefully through every layer. Golden buttons lined the fitted front while braided embroidery traced along the edges of the jacket and shoulders like something made for royalty. A richly decorated sash crossed diagonally over his chest, delicate chains glinting softly whenever he moved beneath the warm light.
The cream trousers and dark polished boots balanced the look perfectly, making the entire outfit feel graceful, princely and almost unreal against Izuku’s softer features.
His curls had been carefully styled away from his face just enough for his green eyes to stand out brighter beneath the candlelight.
He barely recognized himself.
Like someone straight out of a storybook.
Like a prince.
Warmth rushed instantly into his cheeks as he stared at his reflection a little longer, almost expecting the person in the mirror to suddenly turn back into the same awkward boy he was used to seeing every morning.
Izuku’s fingers lightly brushed against the embroidered fabric near his chest, careful like he was scared of wrinkling it somehow. He had never worn anything this beautiful before. Never looked this… important.
“I look…”
“Amazing!”
“Stunning!”
“Katsuki is literally going to stop functioning!”
Izuku’s face turned bright red immediately.
“H-huh—”
“I’m SERIOUS!”
“You look insanely pretty.”
“And the colors suit you. God, I'm so proud of myself.”
“Yeah. Bakugo’s done for.”
Izuku covered part of his burning face with one hand while all three girls laughed warmly around him.
Meanwhile… on the complete opposite side of the castle…
“THIS LOOKS STUPID!”
“YOU SAID THAT ABOUT THE LAST TWELVE!”
“Because THEY WERE stupid!”
Kirishima rubbed his forehead tiredly while Katsuki aggressively tugged at the collar of another formal outfit with visible offense.
“This one makes me look like a rich vampire.”
“You ARE a rich vampire.”
“I WILL KILL YOU.”
Denki floated dramatically through the room holding three more outfits.
“You are the pickiest person alive.”
“Everything looks wrong.”
“BRO YOU LOOK GOOD IN LITERALLY EVERYTHING!”
“That’s objectively false.”
At this point Kirishima finally snapped, “Katsuki, PLEASE just pick something!”
“NONE OF THESE FEEL RIGHT!”
“You know Izuku would probably think you look amazing no matter what you wear, right? You could literally show up naked and he’d still look at you like you were some five-star meal!”
Katsuki’s entire face turned violently red at that.
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
“SEE?! THAT REACTION MEANS I’M RIGHT!”
“I’M GOING TO THROW YOU OUT THE WINDOW, DUNCEFACE!”
Kirishima laughed softly before stepping closer.
“Hey, relax… You’re overthinking. He already likes you, man…”
Katsuki looked away immediately after hearing that, his tail flicking once behind him.
“WAIT—” Denki gasped suddenly. He pulled another outfit from farther back, “Try this one!”
Katsuki groaned and went to the dressing room. A few minutes later the doors opened again. Denki and Kirishima immediately stared.
The outfit was darker than the previous ones, elegant black layered with deep crimson and gold details that made Katsuki look almost painfully regal. The fitted jacket traced perfectly along his broad frame while intricate golden embroidery decorated the collar and chest. Dark belts wrapped neatly around his waist, giving the entire look a sharper edge that somehow suited him perfectly. A long crimson cape draped from one shoulder, lined with rich patterned fabric and trimmed in soft white fur that rested against his neck and shoulders. Black gloves and polished boots completed the outfit, making him look less like the terrifying beast.
He looked beautiful in a way that almost caught them off guard completely.
And despite the way Katsuki stood there looking deeply annoyed and uncomfortable under their stares, there was still something undeniably breathtaking about him.
Denki immediately burst into tears.
“IZUKU IS GONNA PASS OUT!”
“Dude! You look incredible.”
Katsuki instantly looked away because of the compliments, “Shut up…”
“Nah seriously,” Denki continued dramatically, “Izuku’s gonna look at you once and immediately fall MORE in love.”
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
Right then the door opened again and Kyouka leaned into the room.
“Izuku is ready…”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Mina and Kyouka guided Izuku quietly through the castle hallways. At first, nothing felt unusual besides the nervous excitement still fluttering inside his chest. But the farther they walked, the quieter the castle became. The usual distant noises slowly disappeared until all Izuku could hear were their footsteps echoing softly against the stone floors and the faint rustle of fabric with every movement. The lights along the walls had been dimmed lower than usual, bathing the corridors in soft golden shadows. Small flower petals had been scattered carefully across the floor, their colors glowing warmly beneath the candlelight.
After a few minutes of walking they stopped before the enormous golden doors leading toward the grand ballroom. Izuku stared at them for a second, heartbeat suddenly speeding up for reasons he couldn’t fully explain.
“What… what is this…?”
“Just go in…”
Before Izuku could ask anything else, the doors slowly opened…
And he stopped breathing.
The ballroom stretched endlessly before him, impossibly beautiful beneath the glow of dozens upon dozens of chandeliers hanging from the high painted ceilings. Warm golden light spilled across polished marble floors where elegant patterns curved through the center of the room like artwork. Massive staircases swept downward gracefully from both sides while crimson curtains framed towering windows that reflected the candlelight like stars.
Everything looked straight out of a fairytale.
It was really breathtaking.
But Izuku barely noticed any of it.
Because the moment the doors opened, his eyes found Katsuki immediately and suddenly everything else around him faded into nothing.
Katsuki looked up the moment the doors opened and the second he saw Izuku something on his face softened completely. A small smile appeared there instantly, quiet and genuine in a way Izuku thought might honestly stop his heart.
Izuku felt his chest tighten painfully at the sight of him standing there in dark crimson and black, the elegant cape draped behind him, gold details catching softly beneath the chandeliers.
The sight of him stole the breath directly from Izuku’s lungs so suddenly he almost forgot how to move.
He looked beautiful in a way that almost didn’t feel real.
Not just beautiful in appearance.
Beautiful in the way Katsuki looked at him.
Beautiful in the softness hidden behind all the sharp edges.
Beautiful in the quiet nervousness, Izuku could see beneath his posture despite how hard Katsuki was trying to hide it.
And somehow that affected Izuku even more.
Because Katsuki had done all of this.
For him.
And Katsuki looked at Izuku like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing either.
Katsuki genuinely thought he had never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life. He felt his chest tighten almost painfully at the sight. Like Izuku had walked directly out of every soft impossible dream he never allowed himself to want.
Their eyes never left each other for even a second.
Izuku couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Couldn’t think properly.
All he knew was Katsuki.
Katsuki standing there watching him with that unbearably soft expression. Katsuki smiling at him like this entire evening only mattered because Izuku was inside it, looking at him like he was something precious.
Warmth bloomed so intensely inside Izuku’s chest every next second.
Slowly, he began walking down the staircase toward him and Katsuki watched every single step. When Izuku finally stopped in front of him they just stared at each other again for another long moment like neither of them remembered how talking worked anymore. Then Katsuki swallowed slightly.
“You look… You look beautiful, Izuku…”
The blush that rushed across Izuku’s face was immediate. His heart stumbled so hard in his chest he thought Katsuki might actually hear it.
“Kacchan…” he laughed softly under his breath, “You look incredible too…”
That only made Katsuki’s ears redden beneath his hair. The corner of Izuku’s mouth lifted even more at the sight.
For a moment Katsuki just stood there looking at him quietly, like he still couldn’t fully believe Izuku was actually standing in front of him like this. Then he reached toward him and gently took Izuku’s hand into his own.
Izuku’s breath caught immediately when their fingers touched. Katsuki’s hand was warm against his skin, large enough to completely envelop his own as he held it with softness.
“Shall we?”
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his knuckles.
Izuku nearly melted on the spot. His face burned violently as he nodded quickly, “Y-Yeah…”
Katsuki’s lips twitched upward again at the reaction. Then he extended his arm toward Izuku.
Izuku stepped carefully closer and placed one hand lightly against Katsuki’s arm while their other hands remained intertwined between them. The position pulled them close enough that Izuku could feel the warmth radiating from Katsuki immediately, close enough to catch the soft scent of smoke, winter air and pinewood clinging to him beneath the expensive fabric.
Katsuki glanced down at him for half a second and the look in his eyes softened all over again.
And Izuku genuinely thought his heart might not survive this evening.
Together they descended the rest of the staircase side by side toward the long candlelit table waiting below, covered in elegant dishes, glowing gold beneath the chandeliers while soft music drifted quietly through the ballroom around them.
When they reached the table, Katsuki immediately pulled out a chair for Izuku. The gesture was so natural and gentle that Izuku’s heart nearly melted on the spot again.
“T-Thank you…”
Katsuki only smiled before taking the seat across from him.
For a moment, Izuku simply stared at the table. It was filled with elegant dishes and warm freshly baked bread, delicate desserts, fruits, steaming meals and glowing candles placed carefully between everything.
He genuinely didn’t even know where he should start first.
The two of them began eating together, soft music continuing to echo quietly through the ballroom around them. But even while tasting the food, Izuku kept getting distracted. His gaze wandered constantly across the enormous hall, over the glowing chandeliers, the candlelight flickering against marble floors, the flower decorations and golden details shining warmly beneath the lights.
His eyes kept drifting around the ballroom, trying to take in every tiny detail all over again.
Katsuki noticed it immediately.
“You keep staring at everything,” he said while reaching for his glass.
Izuku immediately pulled his attention back toward Katsuki again.
“Because everything is so beautiful! Like really beautiful!”
“…If something looks stupid, blame Denki.”
“It doesn’t look stupid at all! It’s perfect! Kacchan, this entire place looks like something out of a storybook! The lights and the music and the flowers and the— and everything feels so warm and soft and pretty and I still genuinely can’t believe this is all real right now because this might actually be the best thing anyone’s ever done for me in my entire life…”
Katsuki stared at him quietly for a second before looking away toward his plate again, but Izuku still caught the tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth despite how hard he was trying to hide it.
That soft reaction made Izuku smile gently.
“Thank you for inviting me, Kacchan… Really… This means a lot to me…”
Katsuki’s fingers tightened slightly around the glass in his hand. A faint flush spread across the tips of his ears while his tail flicked behind his chair.
“Yeah… Wanted it to be nice for you…”
The words hit Izuku’s chest with so much warmth it almost hurt.
Slowly, the conversation began flowing more naturally between them while they ate.
They talked about some small things like favorite foods from childhood, things they used to hate eating, which desserts were overrated and why Denki absolutely could not be trusted near kitchens anymore.
Izuku laughed so hard at one point he nearly dropped his fork when Katsuki admitted he once accidentally exploded an entire pan trying to cook something himself years ago.
“You exploded a pan?!”
“It was one time.”
“Kacchan, HOW do you explode a pan?!”
“Shut up, nerd…”
The longer they talked, everything melted into something warm.
Sometimes they reached for the same thing at the exact same moment, their fingers brushing lightly over silverware or plates before both of them pulled back with small embarrassed laughs.
Sometimes they accidentally started speaking at the same time and paused before laughing quietly afterward. Other times the conversation drifted into comfortable silence while they simply looked at each other across the candlelight with small smiles that never fully disappeared.
Izuku wish he could stay in this moment forever…
Then suddenly he heard a familiar melody drifting through the ballroom.
“No way…”
The orchestra had begun playing one of his favorite melodies. Warmth exploded across his face instantly before he pushed his chair back abruptly and stood up.
“Kacchan!”
Before Katsuki could even react properly, Izuku hurried around the table, grabbed both of his hands and gently tugged him upward.
“Hey—”
“Kacchan, c’mon! This is one of my favorite melodies!”
The excitement in Izuku’s voice was so genuine and bright that Katsuki didn’t even have enough time to properly protest before Izuku was already pulling him away from the table with a soft laugh.
“Izuku, slow down—”
Izuku only laughed more as he gently dragged Katsuki toward the center of the enormous ballroom beneath the golden chandeliers, the music echoing beautifully around them while candlelight shimmered across the marble floor.
For a brief moment after stopping, neither of them moved.
They stood there awkwardly with their hands still connected. Izuku could feel Katsuki’s nervousness immediately in the slight stiffness of his posture.
Izuku smiled and laughed softly which seemed to ease something in Katsuki almost instantly. Katsuki’s arm wrapped around Izuku’s waist, pulling him naturally closer until barely any distance remained between them. Izuku stepped closer immediately, one hand resting lightly against Katsuki’s shoulder while their other hands intertwined gently.
And slowly, they began to dance together.
At first their movements were careful and slightly uncertain, whenthey tried to follow the rhythm of the melody. But little by little, everything started flowing naturally between them.
Katsuki guided Izuku across the marble floor with one arm secured firmly around his waist while Izuku’s body moved effortlessly alongside his. Their joined hands lifted gently into the air whenever Katsuki spun him beneath the golden chandelier light, Izuku laughing softly every single time before falling right back against him again.
Sometimes Katsuki pulled him impossibly close, Izuku pressed with his back against his chest while they swayed slowly together in rhythm. Other times Katsuki dipped him backward carefully, one arm holding him securely while Izuku trusted him completely without hesitation, smiling breathlessly up at him the entire time.
Neither of them stopped looking at the other even once.
The chandeliers shimmered above them while the orchestra echoed beautifully through the ballroom and Izuku genuinely felt like he had stepped directly into one of the stories he used to dream about as a child.
Katsuki’s hand remained warm against his waist the entire time, their fingers stayed intertwined tightly and neither of them could stop smiling.
Every time Izuku spun gently beneath Katsuki’s arm, the blond watched him, completely mesmerized by the sight. His eyes followed every movement, every laugh, every tiny smile pulling at Izuku’s lips.
And Izuku looked at him exactly the same way.
The world around them blurred beautifully into gold light and music while they danced together across the ballroom floor.
The melody softened into something slower and naturally, their movements slowed with it.
Izuku stepped closer until their bodies were completely pressed together now.
Slowly, he rested his head closer against Katsuki, the side of his forehead brushing gently near Katsuki’s jaw.
Katsuki’s hand spread carefully across Izuku’s back while their intertwined fingers remained secured tightly between them, moving softly together with the slow rhythm of the melody.
He pulled Izuku even closer against him and Izuku melted into the embrace immediately.
Their eyes drifted shut little by little while they continued dancing slowly beneath the golden chandeliers, completely lost in the quiet warmth of each other.
And for that moment, nothing else in the world existed except the music, the soft glow of the ballroom…
And the two of them together inside it…
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
After more than an hour of dancing together beneath the chandeliers, the ballroom had slowly turned into something soft around them.
At some point they had completely stopped caring whether their movements were graceful anymore.
They laughed every time Katsuki accidentally stepped wrong. Izuku nearly lost balance twice because he kept staring at Katsuki instead of paying attention to where his feet were going. Katsuki caught him both times automatically, pulling him back against his chest while Izuku laughed so hard he could barely breathe afterward.
But both of them were slightly breathless now.
Izuku’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much and Katsuki’s tail refused to stop moving no matter how much he tried pretending otherwise.
Izuku laughed quietly and leaned his forehead briefly against Katsuki’s shoulder.
“Okay… I think I need air before I collapse.”
Katsuki snorted softly under his breath.
“You’re the one who kept dragging me into spins every five seconds.”
“And you survived all of them.”
“Barely.”
Izuku grinned brightly at that before gently taking Katsuki’s hand again and leading him out of the ballroom.
The further they walked from the music, the quieter everything became.
The loud warmth of the ballroom slowly faded behind them until only soft distant melodies still echoed faintly through the castle halls. Candlelight flickered gently against the walls as they stepped onto the balcony together beneath the endless night sky.
The moment the cold breeze brushed against Izuku’s flushed face, he let out a relieved little laugh.
“Okay, yeah… That’s exactly what I needed.”
His curls shifted softly in the wind as he lifted his gaze upward.
“Kacchan, look at the sky tonight!” wonder filled his voice instantly, “It’s so beautiful…”
Izuku hurried toward the balcony and carefully sat himself on top of it, staring upward at the endless sea of stars glowing across the dark sky above the mountains.
Katsuki walked over more slowly before sitting beside him.
“Yeah… It is beautiful…”
But he wasn’t looking at the sky.
He was looking at Izuku.
At the soft candlelight still lingering against his skin from the ballroom behind them, the way his eyes reflected the stars so brightly they almost looked like they carried galaxies inside them and the peaceful smile resting on his face while the cold wind moved gently through his curls.
Katsuki genuinely didn’t think he had ever seen anything more beautiful in his life.
And the worst part was that Izuku never even seemed to realize the effect he had on people.
He didn’t realize how warm every room felt the second he entered it, how easy it became to breathe around him, how naturally people gravitated toward him because kindness seemed to exist inside him as effortlessly as breathing itself.
Katsuki had spent so much of his life angry at the world, angry at himself, constantly carrying loneliness so deep it had started feeling normal.
Then Izuku appeared and somehow turned all of that warmth back on again without even trying.
Without asking for anything in return.
Katsuki wanted Izuku woven into every part of his life so deeply that the thought of losing him now felt unbearable.
Slowly, he reached over and gently took Izuku’s hand into his own. Their fingers brushed softly together before settling carefully against each other.
Izuku looked down immediately before turning back toward him with that same gentle expression that always made Katsuki’s chest tighten painfully.
“Kacchan?”
Katsuki swallowed quietly.
“Izuku…”
Then he took both of Izuku’s hands between his own, holding them carefully like something important enough to break him if he lost it.
For several long seconds, he simply stared into those emerald eyes shining beneath the stars.
The way he looked back at Katsuki so openly, so gently, without fear, the way his fingers stayed curled around Katsuki’s hands like that was the most natural thing in the world.
Katsuki’s chest ached painfully with things he didn’t know how to put into words.
There was so much he wanted to tell him.
So much sitting heavily inside him every single time Izuku smiled at him like this.
But every single time those thoughts tried to leave his mouth, guilt wrapped around his throat instead.
Because no matter how happy these past weeks had been… Katsuki still remembered what he had done.
Izuku had been trapped here because of him.
Separated from his mother because of him.
And despite all of that… Izuku stayed.
Even when he had chances to leave.
Even when Katsuki would’ve understood if he hated him for it.
Izuku stayed beside him anyway.
That realization alone almost hurt more than anything else.
Katsuki looked down briefly at their intertwined hands, his thumb brushing carefully against Izuku’s knuckles.
He wondered how someone as gentle as Izuku could still look at him with so much warmth after everything.
And maybe that was exactly why Katsuki couldn’t bear trapping him here forever.
Because Izuku deserved open skies.
Freedom.
A life untouched by guilt, cages and cursed castles.
Even if the selfish part of Katsuki wanted nothing more than to keep him beside him forever.
“Izuku I… I still don’t understand why you stayed…”
His voice came out quiet, almost uncertain beneath the soft night wind.
“You could’ve left a long time ago. There were so many chances. And you still stayed here with me after everything I did…”
The words made Izuku’s expression soften instantly. His brows pulled together and his eyes widened with quiet hurt, like hearing Katsuki speak about himself that way genuinely pained him.
“You promised you wouldn’t run away… and somehow you actually kept that promise. And I don’t think I’ll ever deserve that.”
“Katsuki…”
“You deserve freedom, Izuku… You deserve to go wherever you want. To see your mother again… To live your life without being trapped inside this castle because of me. And no matter how much I… no matter how much I want you here… I can’t ask you to stay forever…”
Izuku stared at him silently. The words settled heavily between them and his chest ached painfully hearing them.
His chest tightened painfully hearing Katsuki speak like that.
Like he genuinely believed Izuku regretted staying here with him.
Like he still couldn’t understand that somewhere along the way this castle had stopped feeling like a prison to Izuku the moment Katsuki became part of it.
And suddenly, the thought of leaving hurt far more than it should have.
Because when Izuku first arrived here, all he could think about was escape.
But now…
Now the idea of waking up one morning and not hearing Katsuki’s voice nearby anymore made something inside his chest ache sharply.
No more quiet evenings beside the fireplace.
No more sunsets together on the balcony.
No more warm hands brushing against his accidentally on purpose.
No more Katsuki looking at him like he mattered more than anything else in the room.
The thought alone felt unbearably wrong.
Izuku’s fingers tightened instinctively around Katsuki’s hands.
“Kacchan…” he said quietly, “I never stayed because I had to…”
Katsuki looked back at him immediately.
“I stayed because… I wanted to.”
There wasn’t even a second of hesitation in Izuku’s expression while saying it and it made Katsuki freeze completely. Izuku smiled softly, squeezing his hands.
“At first I was scared here… I wanted to leave…”
Katsuki’s gaze dropped instantly at that confession, guilt flickering across his expression again. But Izuku squeezed his hands before he could disappear into those thoughts.
“But then things changed… You changed. The castle stopped feeling lonely after a while. At first everything here felt cold and I thought I’d never be able to feel comfortable in this place… But then we started spending time together more and more and suddenly my days didn’t feel empty anymore.”
His thumb brushed lightly against Katsuki’s hand absentmindedly.
“I started waking up excited to see you. I kept looking for you everywhere without even realizing I was doing it. And every time we sat together near the fireplace or worked in the workshop or watched sunsets together…” his smile softened warmly, “those became my favorite parts of every day before I even noticed it happening.”
Katsuki stayed completely silent beside him, listening carefully to every single word.
“You made this place feel warm. Not because of the castle itself… but because you were here.”
His cheeks flushed faintly pink now beneath the moonlight.
“And somewhere along the way… being here with you started making me happier than I ever expected.”
Izuku looked back up at him then with the softest smile Katsuki had ever seen.
“Every moment I spent here with you… I’m glad for it, Kacchan…”
For several long seconds, Katsuki genuinely couldn’t respond at all. Everything inside his chest seemed to stop working properly the moment Izuku said those words.
And the warmth in Izuku’s eyes nearly destroyed him.
Katsuki had spent so long believing that eventually Izuku would realize staying here beside him was a mistake. That one day he would finally see Katsuki for what he truly was and leave without looking back.
But now Izuku sat beside him beneath the stars, holding his hands willingly, smiling at him like being here together genuinely made him happy.
Like Katsuki himself was something worth choosing.
Something worth staying for.
Katsuki’s throat tightened painfully around emotions he didn’t know how to name out loud. His fingers instinctively closed a little tighter around Izuku’s hands as if some part of him was terrified this moment would disappear if he loosened his grip even slightly.
“I have something I want to show you…”
“Hm?”
Katsuki stood slowly before offering his hand back toward him again.
“Come with me.”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Hand in hand, Katsuki led Izuku through the castle corridors.
The warmth of the ballroom slowly faded behind them with every step while the castle around them grew darker and quieter again. Candlelight flickered softly along the stone walls as their footsteps echoed gently through the empty halls.
At first Izuku thought maybe Katsuki simply wanted to show him another hidden part of the castle.
But then he realized where they were going.
Toward the west wing.
Izuku blinked in confusion, his gaze lifting toward Katsuki and back toward the familiar hallway ahead.
Eventually they reached the chamber with the enchanted rose.
The moment the doors opened, warm pink light spilled gently across the dark room. The rose still rested beneath its glass cover in the center of the chamber, glowing faintly crimson against the shadows around it.
And beside it was a small mirror resting carefully atop the table.
Izuku looked at it in confusion. Katsuki walked forward slowly before picking it up carefully in his hands.
“…There’s something this mirror can do,” he said quietly.
He turned toward Izuku and held it out to him.
“If you ask it to show someone… it will.”
Izuku’s breath caught softly and his thoughts immediately flew toward one person.
Slowly, he accepted the mirror from Katsuki’s hands and looked down into the smooth glass surface.
“Show me… my mom…”
The mirror glowed bright green instantly. A wave of light spread across its surface before an image slowly appeared inside it.
And Izuku’s entire body froze.
He saw his mother completely alone, walking weakly through a snow-covered forest while violent wind tore through the trees around her. Snow fell so heavily that it nearly swallowed her figure beneath the storm and every step she took looked weaker than the last, like she was forcing herself forward through pure desperation alone.
The sight made panic begin rising instantly inside Izuku’s chest.
She looked exhausted. Far beyond exhausted. Her face was frighteningly pale beneath the snow collecting against her hair and clothes and even through the mirror Izuku could tell her breathing looked uneven. Several times she stumbled hard enough that Izuku thought she was about to collapse already, but somehow she kept forcing herself forward through the freezing storm.
Fear gripped him harder with every second he watched her struggle.
“M-Mom…?”
Then suddenly her knees gave out beneath her. The image shook sharply as Inko collapsed directly into the snow.
“MOM!”
The scream tore itself out of Izuku’s throat instantly.
Panic flooded through his entire body so violently it almost stole the air from his lungs completely. He lurched forward instinctively toward the mirror like he could somehow reach through it and pull her back up before the snow swallowed her entirely.
“NO NO NO NO NO—”
His hands shook so badly he nearly dropped the mirror.
“KACCHAN SHE COLLAPSED!” his voice cracked violently under the panic overtaking him, “SHE’S OUT THERE ALONE AND SHE’S SICK AND ITS FREEZING— KACCHAN SHE NEEDS HELP!!”
His breathing turned uneven immediately as terror spread visibly across his face.
“I need to help her! I need to go right now! She can’t stay out there alone!!”
Katsuki felt fear hit him instantly too the moment he heard Izuku’s voice.
Because he had never heard him sound so terrified like this before.
“Then go,” he said without hesitation.
Izuku looked back at him with wide shaking eyes.
“Go to her as fast as you can.”
“Kacchan—”
“GO!”
The sharpness in Katsuki’s voice echoed through the chamber, but beneath it there was panic too, because despite everything inside him screaming not to let Izuku leave, none of that mattered more than the fear written across Izuku’s face right now.
And Katsuki knew immediately that if anything happened to his mother, Izuku would never forgive himself for not reaching her in time.
Izuku nodded quickly, panic still visible across his entire face as he turned toward the doors immediately.
But after only a few rushed steps, he stopped.
The chamber fell quiet again except for the faint sound of his uneven breathing.
Slowly, Izuku turned back around and lowered his gaze toward the mirror still clutched tightly in his hands before walking back toward Katsuki again.
“Your mirror…”
He stepped closer and carefully held it back out toward him. But before Izuku could fully place it into his hands, Katsuki gently pushed it back against Izuku’s chest instead.
“Keep it…”
Izuku blinked softly.
“…What?”
For a second Katsuki didn’t answer. His gaze shifted away toward the floor beside them while his jaw tightened faintly.
“With that… you’ll still be able to see me…”
The words wrapped painfully around Izuku’s heart instantly.
Because beneath the softness of them there was something else too.
Fear.
Fear that once Izuku left this castle, he might never come back again.
Slowly, Katsuki lifted one hand toward him. His claws brushed carefully through Izuku’s curls with impossible gentleness, moving through the soft green strands like he was trying to memorize the feeling of them before they disappeared from his hands entirely. The touch carried so much unspoken emotion inside it that Izuku’s breath caught quietly in his throat.
Without even thinking about it, he leaned into the warmth of Katsuki’s palm immediately.
Their eyes met again. And suddenly neither of them seemed capable of looking away anymore.
“I’ll come back to you… I promise…”
For a second Katsuki simply stared at him and then slowly, the smallest smile appeared on his face.
That expression hurt Izuku worse than anything ever did.
Before he could lose the courage to do it, he stepped closer onto his toes and gently pressed a soft kiss against Katsuki’s cheek.
Katsuki felt the heat rushing violently across his face instantly while his breath caught somewhere deep in his chest.
Then Izuku pulled back slowly, smiling at him one last time before turning and running from the chamber as quickly as he could.
The sound of his footsteps echoed farther and farther down the hallway while Katsuki stood completely motionless beside the rose, watching him disappear into the darkness of the castle corridors.
Several long minutes passed in silence before suddenly the doors burst open loudly.
Denki floated into the chamber practically glowing with excitement, his small flame flickering wildly as he rushed inside.
“SOOOOO?! How was your super romantic date?! Did you finally confess your tragic undying feelings?! Did you dance dramatically beneath candlelight?! WAIT— DID YOU KISS?!”
He floated farther into the room excitedly without even properly looking at Katsuki yet.
“Actually no, hold on, don’t tell me yet because I want to guess first. Okay. You definitely danced. Mina said there were at least forty candles involved so there’s no way dancing didn’t happen. Oh my god did he cry? Did YOU cry? WAIT—”
Then Denki finally looked up properly and stopped immediately.
Because Katsuki wasn’t smiling anymore.
The blond stood quietly beside the rose, one hand resting heavily against the table while staring down at it silently. His shoulders looked tense beneath the elegant clothes and the softness from earlier that evening had disappeared entirely into something emptier now.
Denki’s excitement faded almost instantly.
“…Bakugo?”
Katsuki didn’t look up.
“I let him leave…”
Denki blinked once.
“Yeah, yeah, cool, awesome, very roma—”
…
“WAIT, WHAT?!”
Katsuki finally glanced toward him.
“I let Izuku leave.”
Denki’s flame flickered violently in shock.
“You WHAT?! WHY WOULD YOU— WHAT HAPPENED?! IS HE OKAY?! DID YOU TWO FIGHT?! WAIT NO YOU LOOK TOO SAD FOR THAT—”
“His mom is alone in the forest. She needs help.”
Denki immediately went still and Katsuki’s jaw tightened faintly.
“He was terrified… and I couldn’t keep him here after seeing him look like that…”
Denki stared at him silently for several seconds.
“You let him go…?”
“What the hell else was I supposed to do?! Lock the doors and pretend he wouldn’t hate me for it?!”
The room fell silent after that except for the faint crackling of Denki’s flame beside him.
And for the first time in weeks, Katsuki felt the castle become cold again.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku rode through the frozen forest as fast as the horse could carry him.
Snow exploded beneath pounding hooves while violent wind tore through the trees around him, pulling harshly at the dark green cloak streaming behind his back. Branches blurred past in the darkness and icy air burned painfully in his lungs every time he tried to breathe, but none of it mattered compared to the panic tightening harder and harder around his chest with every passing second.
His hands gripped the reins so tightly they ached while his heart slammed violently against his ribs. The image from the mirror wouldn’t leave his mind no matter how desperately he tried to focus.
“MOM!” he shouted desperately into the storm.
Only the wind answered him so Izuku pushed the horse faster.
Snow whipped across his face while tears threatened to blur his vision from the freezing air and overwhelming panic twisting through him at the same time.
“MOM!!” his voice cracked painfully now.
What if he was too late?
The thought hit him so violently he felt sick.
Then suddenly he saw a figure, lying motionless against the white snow beneath the trees.
Izuku’s breath stopped completely.
“MOM!!”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
The first thing Inko felt was warmth.
Real warmth.
Not the freezing wind that had followed her for weeks through endless forests and snow-covered roads. Not the painful cold that had settled deep into her bones during lonely nights spent wandering without strength left to keep going.
She heard a quiet fire crackling somewhere nearby while heavy blankets rested over her body and for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t feel cold anymore.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
At first everything looked blurry. Golden light melted together with shadows while her exhausted mind struggled to understand where she was.
But little by little, her vision cleared and confusion immediately spread across her face.
Then she recognizes she’s in her house.
She slowly pushed herself up against the bed and immediately saw Izuku.
He sat beside the bed near a small table cluttered with medicine bottles, folded cloths and steaming tea. His head rested tiredly against one hand like he had been sitting there for hours without moving.
Inko’s eyes widened instantly.
“Izuku…?”
The second he heard her voice, his head snapped upward immediately. For half a second he just stared at her like he couldn’t believe she was awake.
“MOM!”
Tears filled his eyes instantly as he rushed toward her and practically threw himself into her arms.
Inko gasped softly at the force of the hug before immediately wrapping both arms tightly around him in return.
“Mom!! You’re awake!!”
He held onto her desperately, his shoulders shaking while relief poured out of him all at once after hours of fear and panic.
He finally pulled back slightly, staying close beside her. His face was completely tear-streaked now while panic and relief still fought visibly across his expression at the same time.
“How do you feel?! Are you dizzy? Does your chest still hurt? You had a fever earlier but it went down a little and I made tea and you need rest but if you still feel bad I can go get more medicine—”
Inko blinked several times, trying desperately to catch up with everything happening.
“…Did I die?”
Izuku stared at her for a second before letting out a wet laugh through his tears.
“No! No, mom, you’re okay— You’re home…”
He rubbed aggressively at his eyes while trying to calm himself down.
“You’re safe now…”
That only made tears finally spill from Inko’s eyes too.
“How… How did we even get here…?”
“I saw you through a magic mirror,” he explained quietly, “You were walking through the forest and then you collapsed and I-I ran out of the castle to find you—”
“The castle?”
Fear flickered across her face instantly.
“Izuku… How did you escape from that horrible beast?! Did he hurt you?!”
“What?! No! No, mom, Kacchan would never hurt me!”
Inko blinked in confusion.
“…Kacchan?”
A faint flush instantly spread across Izuku’s cheeks.
“I mean— Katsuki! That’s his real name…”
Inko stared at him silently while Izuku suddenly became very aware of how suspicious all of this sounded.
“He’s not… He’s not the way you think he is… At first, I was terrified of him. He yelled constantly, looked angry all the time… But then… I started actually getting to know him. And yeah, he’s loud and grumpy and dramatic about literally everything… but he’s actually really kind.”
Inko tilted her head slightly.
“Kind?”
Izuku immediately nodded.
“He takes care of people constantly even when he pretends he’s annoyed the entire time! And he remembers really small things nobody else notices and he listens to everything I say even when I talk way too much and… he notices things… If my hands are cold, he notices immediately. If I look tired, he notices. One time I mentioned I didn’t like reading blueprints in dim lighting and the next day he already put extra candles in the workshop before I even got there… And whenever it snowed too heavily outside, he would clear paths around the castle before I woke up so I wouldn’t slip. And if I accidentally fell asleep in the library, I’d wake up with blankets around me because he stayed there…” a tiny soft smile appeared on his face, “He pretends he doesn’t care about things but he does care about everything…”
The softness in Izuku’s voice while talking about Katsuki made something warm ache gently inside Inko’s chest.
Because she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him speak about someone like this.
“He made me tea once when I got sick and he always waited for me before meals even if I woke up late. And every evening we sat together near the fireplace and talked for hours and he remembered my favorite things just because I mentioned it one time.”
“He remembered?”
“Yeah… and tonight he invited me for dinner…”
The memory made his cheeks turn pink again.
“He planned the entire evening because he wanted to make me happy and he was so nervous about it even though he tried pretending he wasn’t…”
Inko simply watched Izuku. Watched the way he smiled unconsciously while speaking about Katsuki. The way his entire face glowed softly with warmth every single time he mentioned him.
Izuku looked happier than he ever was.
The realization hit her quietly.
“Izuku…”
“Hm?”
“You care about him very deeply, don’t you?”
Izuku froze instantly and his face turned completely red in seconds.
“I— W-WHAT?!”
Inko laughed softly, “You smile every time you say his name.”
Izuku immediately hid half his burning face behind both hands.
“MOM…”
“But more importantly…” Inko continued gently, “he sounds like someone who cares about you very much too…”
Izuku slowly lowered his hands.
“He does… He really does…”
A short silence settled softly through the room after that. The fire crackled quietly nearby while snow slowly stopped falling outside the windows and Izuku’s gaze drifted toward the floor again, though the small smile on his face never fully disappeared.
“I think he was lonely for a really long time…”
Inko watched him carefully while Izuku continued speaking almost absentmindedly, like his heart had already started talking before his brain could stop it.
“He always acts angry and loud and intimidating because I think he got used to people being scared of him first. But when I actually stay around him long enough… he’s so gentle.”
Izuku’s voice softened more and more the longer he spoke.
“He makes me feel safe… Like genuinely safe. When I’m around him, it feels like I can breathe properly. I don’t have to pretend to be quieter or calmer or less emotional just so I won’t annoy someone.”
A faint blush spread across his cheeks.
“He listens to everything I say even when I ramble too much and he remembers tiny details nobody else notices and… when he looks at me, it feels like I actually matter. And honestly… I care about him a lot. More than I even realized at first…” his fingers tightened slightly together in his lap, “I just… want him to be happy… Every time he smiles or laughs or relaxes around me, it feels important to me. And when I left the castle tonight… seeing him standing there alone hurt way more than I expected it to.”
Inko was already smiling so much with her eyes looking watery with emotion.
“Izuku…”
“Hm?”
“You’re in love with him.”
Izuku’s entire face immediately turned bright red.
“MOM?!”
Inko laughed quietly at the horrified expression on his face he made.
“Oh sweetheart…”
Izuku immediately hid his face in both hands again with a quiet groan.
“I didn’t even say that…”
“You absolutely did. You’ve been talking about him for ten minutes straight with the softest expression I’ve ever seen on your face.”
Izuku slowly lowered his hands again, still completely red.
“…Is it that obvious?”
“Yes.”
The immediate answer made him groan louder.
But despite the embarrassment, the tiny smile pulling at the corners of his mouth never disappeared.
Inko looked at him quietly for a moment before reaching over and brushing her fingers gently through his curls.
“I’m so happy…”
“You are?”
“You haven’t looked this happy in years…”
The words hit him quietly.
And somehow, hearing them from her made something warm ache inside his chest.
“So…” she said carefully,“tell me more about him.”
Izuku laughed softly through his embarrassment.
“Kacchan is… really funny, gentle, caring, he’s also incredibly loyal and protective and—”
knock, knock.
Both of them immediately looked toward the door.
Izuku blinked in confusion, slowly standing up from beside the bed.
“That’s weird… Nobody should come this late…”
He walked toward the door anyway and carefully opened it. The second he did, his entire expression faltered.
An older man stood outside with a strange unsettling smile stretched across his face. Behind him the snowy village street looked crowded and loud, shadows of people shifting restlessly beneath lantern light.
Something about the man instantly made Izuku uneasy.
“…Can I help you?”
The old man chuckled, “Oh yes… I’m here to take your mother…”
Izuku’s face immediately shifted into startled confusion, his brows raising while anxiety crept visibly into his expression.
“…What?”
The man’s smile widened unpleasantly.
“She requires special care…”
Then he stepped slightly aside. Izuku instantly saw a large black carriage standing outside with painted across its side in bold letters words: psychiatric hospital.
Izuku’s stomach dropped violently.
Around the carriage stood people from the village watching the house with cold expressions and cruel curiosity in their eyes.
“M-My mom doesn’t need that!” Izuku shouted immediately, panic flooding his voice, “She’s fine!”
One man from the crowd suddenly pointed angrily toward the house.
“She was talking about some beast living in a castle!”
“She kept rambling about curses and monsters!”
“She’s clearly lost her mind!”
“No sane person talks like that!”
“Well who’s ever seen a bigger lunatic than her?!”
The crowd burst into cruel laughter immediately after that. Izuku’s face twisted with horror and anger.
“That’s NOT TRUE! She’s not crazy!”
“Izuku…?”
Inko stepped shakily out from deeper inside the house. The moment the crowd saw her, murmuring exploded everywhere. The old man smiled wider.
“Oho… there she is. Good evening, ma’am…”
Several men immediately jumped down from beside the carriage and marched toward her. Inko’s eyes widened in fear.
“W-Wait—”
Rough hands grabbed her arms instantly.
“LET GO OF ME!”
Inko struggled desperately against the men gripping her arms. Fear filled her voice so strongly it made Izuku’s chest tighten painfully.
“MOM!” Izuku screamed immediately as he lunged toward her without thinking, panic completely overtaking.
“Don’t touch her!”
Before he could even reach Inko properly, someone suddenly stepped directly into his path.
Monoma.
“Oh dear…” Neito sighed dramatically with fake sympathy, “What a tragic situation…”
“Monoma! You know my mother isn’t insane!”
Monoma tilted his head slightly, pretending to think about it.
“Do I?”
“She’s sick! She was freezing in the middle of the forest and she’s exhausted and confused and—”
“And talking about beasts in cursed castles.”
The crowd behind him immediately started murmuring louder.
“I heard her too…”
“She kept talking about some monster…”
“She’s dangerous!”
Izuku’s breathing became more uneven with every word.
“She’s NOT dangerous!”
“Well… Maybe this misunderstanding could still be solved…”
“…What?”
“You know… I’ve actually always liked you, Midoriya.”
Izuku’s stomach twisted immediately.
Monoma suddenly grabbed Izuku by the waist and harshly pulled him against his chest. The movement startled him so badly he almost stumbled backward.
“So maybe,” Monoma whispered near his ear, “I could convince everyone to forget this whole situation…”
“Get OFF me!”
“…if you agree to marry me.”
Silence hit instantly. Izuku stared at him in complete shock before disgust crashed across his face so violently that his expression twisted.
“What?!”
“You heard me…”
“You’re INSANE!”
“Oh come on… Your mother gets proper care, your reputation gets saved and you get a wealthy husband. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”
Izuku looked genuinely horrified now.
“You think I would EVER agree to that?!”
“You should think carefully.”
“NEVER!”
Izuku shoved him away violently and Monoma stumbled backward through the snow while several people gasped loudly at the sight.
The fake kindness disappeared from his face instantly and sharp anger replaced it so quickly it was almost frightening.
“Fine! Have it your way then!”
“IZUKU!” Inko cried out again while struggling desperately against the men dragging her toward the carriage.
Izuku’s panic immediately returned to full force.
“No— WAIT!”
He looked wildly between Inko and the crowd before suddenly turning around and sprinting back into the house.
A few seconds later the door burst open again and Izuku ran back outside clutching the enchanted mirror tightly against his chest.
“I’LL PROVE SHE’S NOT CRAZY!”
The crowd immediately quieted again and Monoma narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Izuku’s hands shook violently as he raised the mirror.
“Show me Katsuki!”
The mirror flashed bright green instantly. Several villagers screamed when after a second Katsuki appeared within the glass.
“IT’S A MONSTER!”
“LOOK AT THAT THING!”
“DEAR GOD—”
“IT’S DISGUSTING!”
“THAT THING HAS FANGS!”
“IT WILL KILL US ALL!”
People stumbled backward in fear while others grabbed whatever weapons they had nearby.
Izuku immediately turned toward them furiously.
“That’s NOT TRUE! Katsuki isn’t evil! He’s kind and gentle and caring and protective and—”
The crowd stared at him like he had gone completely insane and Monoma’s face twisted slowly into pure disgust.
“You really are sick.”
“You don’t know ANYTHING about him!”
Monoma stormed forward and harshly grabbed Izuku’s wrist.
“Stop talking about that beast like that! Or I’ll start thinking you actually have feelings for it.”
Izuku’s face immediately burned red with anger.
“Katsuki is NOT a monster!”
“Oh really? Because that thing looks pretty monstrous to me!”
“He’s more human than you’ll ever be!”
The crowd gasped loudly at those words and Monoma’s face practically exploded with rage.
“YOU LITTLE—”
He violently ripped the mirror out of Izuku’s hands before climbing onto the carriage step and raising it high for everyone to see.
“LOOK AT HIM! The boy’s completely insane too, just like his mother!”
He shoved the glowing image of Katsuki toward the villagers one after another while fear spread rapidly through the crowd.
“That beast is hiding in the mountains waiting to slaughter us all! We need to kill it before it comes here!”
“What if it attacks the village?!”
“What if there are MORE monsters in that castle?!”
“Wait! That castle… Isn’t that Bakugo Castle?”
Several people immediately looked at each other.
“Oh my god…”
“It IS!”
“Years ago the Bakugo royal family lived there!”
“My grandfather used to work there!”
“They disappeared years ago!”
“That monster probably murdered them all!”
The realization crashed into Izuku at the exact same moment it nearly stole the air directly from his lungs.
The castle.
The expensive clothes
The royal ballroom.
The enormous empty halls.
The rose…
Izuku’s eyes widened slowly as piece after piece finally connected together inside his head all at once.
Oh god.
Oh my god.
That was why the castle looked so impossibly grand and royal despite being hidden away in the mountains. That was why every portrait had been removed, why nobody ever spoke about the past directly.
Katsuki wasn’t just the beast trapped inside the castle.
He was the prince of it.
Everything suddenly made sense.
And somehow…
Somehow Katsuki had never once told him.
Izuku’s chest tightened painfully at the realization because suddenly he understood something else too.
Katsuki never wanted people to know.
Not after the curse.
Not after becoming… this.
The image of Katsuki looking away shamefully while talking about the past flashed through Izuku’s mind again. The guilt in his voice, the way he always called himself a monster before anyone else could.
Because he genuinely believed he stopped being worthy of that title a long time ago.
Prince.
The word echoed painfully inside Izuku’s head.
And suddenly the image of Katsuki standing alone in that giant castle felt so unbearably lonely that it made Izuku’s chest ache.
Meanwhile the villagers around him kept shouting hateful things about killing the beast, but Izuku could barely hear them anymore over the frantic pounding of his own heartbeat.
Monoma’s eyes widened before excitement suddenly flashed across his face.
“Well then, that makes this even better!”
Monoma turned dramatically toward the crowd and pointed toward the mountains.
“Then there’s only one thing left to do! We need to march to the castle and kill the beast!”
“YEAH!”
“KILL THE MONSTER!”
“PROTECT THE VILLAGE!”
“NO! You can’t hurt him! Katsuki isn’t a monster!” Izuku shouted louder now while tears already filled his eyes, “He’s the prince!!”
Monoma barked out a cruel laugh directly in his face.
“Sure. And next you’ll tell me the beast sings lullabies too!”
The crowd burst into loud cruel laughter while Izuku kept fighting desperately against them.
“You don’t understand! He’s GOOD! He protects people! He’s lonely and kind and he would NEVER hurt any—”
“Enough!”
Monoma’s voice suddenly became ice cold as he looked toward the older men nearby.
“Lock both of them away.”
“What?! NO!”
Strong arms suddenly grabbed Izuku tightly from behind before he could react. One of the older men restrained him harshly against his chest, locking an arm tightly across Izuku’s shoulders while another hand clamped painfully over his mouth to silence him.
“MMPH!—”
Izuku thrashed violently in panic while tears spilled down his face. Inko screamed desperately trying to reach him.
“IZUKU!”
Monoma raised the mirror high above his head dramatically.
“To the castle! Tonight we kill the beast once and for all!”
The crowd roared loudly in agreement as weapons were raised and torches lit the snowy darkness orange. The villagers began marching toward the mountains together.
Meanwhile Izuku and Inko were dragged toward the cellar beneath their house while Izuku fought desperately the entire way.
“MMPH! LET ME GO!”
The heavy cellar doors slammed shut behind them violently.
“NO!!”
Izuku immediately threw himself against the wood, slamming both fists against it over and over again.
“LET ME OUT!!”
But outside, the only thing echoing through the freezing night was Monoma’s distant cruel laughter and the growing chants of the villagers marching toward the castle.
“KILL THE BEAST! KILL THE BEAST! KILL THE BEAST!”
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
“HOW COULD HE LET HIM LEAVE?!” Mina screamed so loudly her voice practically echoed through the entire castle.
“BECAUSE HIS MOM WAS ALONE IN THE FOREST AND SHE NEEDED HELP! What was he supposed to do?! Keep Izuku locked here while his mother was dying?!”
“That’s not what I’m saying! I’m saying this is horrible timing! The rose has already started losing more petals again!”
Kirishima looked stressed for the first time all evening as he glanced nervously between them.
“…Do you guys think Izuku’s okay?”
“I’m more worried about Bakugo right now,” Kyouka muttered quietly.
The hallway fell silent for a moment after that because all of them immediately understood what she meant.
Denki’s flame dimmed slightly.
“He looked really bad after Izuku left…”
“He’s definitely blaming himself…”
Uncomfortable silence settled between them. Mina straightened after a moment with determination.
“Maybe we should go check on him…”
The four of them quietly made their way through the castle halls until they finally reached Katsuki’s chamber. Somehow the castle already felt colder now without Izuku anywhere inside it.
Kirishima knocked softly and no answer came from inside. He exchanged a glance with the others before slowly opening the door anyway.
The room was dark except for faint moonlight spilling through the windows.
Katsuki sat alone on the couch completely motionless, elbows resting against his knees while he stared blankly down at the floor beneath him.
His elegant clothes had been abandoned carelessly across the room. The royal coat lay half crumpled beside the sofa while gold chains and belts reflected dimly beneath the moonlight.
Now he sat only in black pants and a slightly wrinkled white shirt with the sleeves pushed messily to his forearms.
He looked completely empty.
The second the others saw him, every bit of frustration immediately disappeared from their faces.
“Bakugo…” Kirishima said quietly but Katsuki didn't react at all.
Mina slowly walked closer first.
“He’s gonna come back, you know…”
“He promised he would…” Denki added, “And Izuku’s the type of person who takes promises seriously.”
Katsuki’s eyes lowered slightly.
“Izuku cares about you a lot. Honestly probably more than a lot.”
Katsuki stayed quiet for several long seconds before finally speaking.
“I know…”
His voice sounded small. Uncertain in a way none of them were used to hearing from him.
And somehow that hurt worse than if he had started yelling at them instead. Mina’s expression softened immediately.
“You did the right thing…”
Before anyone could answer, distant shouting suddenly echoed loudly from outside the castle.
All of them froze instantly.
“What the hell was that!?” Kyouka muttered.
The shouting grew louder, “KILL THE BEAST! KILL THE BEAST!”
Everyone’s expressions immediately dropped. Denki rushed toward the window first before suddenly going pale.
“Oh no…”
The others hurried over too and immediately saw a massive crowd carrying torches and weapons marched directly toward the castle through the snowy darkness below.
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
“How many people IS that?!”
“They’re armed!”
The moment Katsuki heard the screaming outside, he stood up and every trace of emptiness vanished from his face instantly. He rushed toward the window and stared down at the approaching villagers below while his entire expression sharpened immediately into something cold and dangerous.
Because at the very front of the crowd he saw Izuku’s mirror glowing brightly in Monoma’s hands.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Izuku slammed desperately against the heavy cellar doors over and over again while panic completely overtook him.
“LET ME OUT!” he screamed, his voice breaking apart from crying, “PLEASE! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!”
His fists hit the wood hard enough to hurt but he barely even felt it anymore. Tears streamed endlessly down his face while every horrible thought crashed violently through his head all at once.
Kacchan.
The villagers were heading toward the castle right now.
Toward Katsuki.
Toward everyone inside.
And it was all because of him.
“PLEASE SOMEONE HELP! THEY’RE GOING TO HURT HIM!”
“Izuku…”
He turned toward Inko immediately with entire face soaked with tears and panic.
“They’re going to kill Kacchan, Mom! They’re all going there right now and it’s all my fault! If I hadn’t shown them the mirror— if I hadn’t said anything—” fresh tears spilled down his face harder now, “They think he’s a monster and they’re going to hurt him because of me! Kacchan let me leave and trusted me and now everyone’s going there to kill him and I can’t even stop them!”
His breathing became uneven from panic and guilt twisting together painfully inside his chest. Inko immediately pulled him into her arms before he could completely spiral apart.
“Izuku…” she whispered shakily while holding him tightly, “breathe…”
He buried his face against her shoulder while his entire body shook.
“I can’t lose him Mom… I can’t…”
Inko’s expression softened painfully at those words.
“IZUKU?!”
Both of them froze instantly. Izuku’s head snapped upward.
“…What?”
“IZUKU?! ARE YOU IN THERE?!”
He recognized the voice instantly.
“Ochaco?! I’m here!”
“Oh thank god! Move away from the door! We’re breaking you out!”
Izuku and Inko quickly stumbled backward just as something heavy slammed violently against the cellar doors.
BANG.
The wood shook hard.
BANG!
Cracks spread through the old doors immediately.
One more hit—
CRASH!
The doors finally burst open.
Cold night air flooded into the cellar as several familiar figures appeared in the doorway.
Ochaco, Iida, Shoto and Tsuyu stood there and Izuku’s eyes widened instantly upon seeing them. Without even thinking, he ran toward them and threw his arms around Ochaco first.
“You came!”
Ochaco hugged him back immediately.
“Of course we came!”
Iida adjusted his glasses quickly, looking both relieved and stressed at the same time.
“We heard shouting from the village and people running through the streets with weapons!”
“And then someone said they were going to kill a beast in some castle…” Tsuyu added worriedly.
Shoto looked directly at Izuku, “What’s happening?”
Izuku looked between all of them with panic returning to his expression again.
“I’ll explain everything later,” he said quickly, “Right now I need to get back to the castle as fast as possible!”
Ochaco nodded immediately.
“If it matters to you that much, then we trust you.”
Everyone nodded too. The relief that crossed Izuku’s face almost made him cry again.
“Thank you, guys…”
Izuku rushed toward the horse and quickly helped Inko climb onto it, jumping up himself. He looked back toward his friends one last time.
“Thank you so much!”
Then he grabbed the reins tightly and the horse bolted forward into the snowy night at full gallop, racing desperately toward the castle.
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Chaos exploded through the castle.
Everyone ran back and forth through the grand halls trying desperately to barricade the massive front doors before the villagers reached them. Heavy furniture scraped loudly across marble floors while panicked voices echoed through every corridor.
“MOVE FASTER!” Denki shouted with his flame burning wildly, “THEY’RE ALMOST HERE!”
The giant piano groaned dramatically while sliding itself across the floor.
“I WAS NOT BUILT FOR WAR!”
“KEEP PUSHING!” Kirishima yelled while helping shove an enormous bookshelf toward the entrance with several animated wardrobes behind him.
The oven and kitchen furniture rushed out next carrying stacks of heavy pots and trays.
“We brought weapons!”
“THOSE ARE FRYING PANS!” Kyouka yelled back while sweeping across the floor at full speed.
“AND THEY’RE HEAVY!”
“Okay nobody panic!” Mina shouted and accidentally she panicked herself, “Actually WAIT NO PANIC A LITTLE THIS IS REALLY BA—”
BOOM.
The giant front doors shook violently and everyone froze.
BOOM.
“They’re using something heavy!”
Denki immediately flew toward the nearby windows and peeked outside before his flame flickered violently in horror.
“OH MY GOD THEY HAVE A TREE!”
“A WHAT?!”
“A WHOLE TREE!”
The villagers had grabbed an enormous tree trunk and were repeatedly slamming it against the castle entrance while torches burned wildly around them in the snow.
“BREAK IT DOWN!”
“KILL THE BEAST!”
The doors groaned loudly under another massive hit. Everyone inside immediately panicked harder.
“POSITIONS!” Kirishima shouted loudly.
“GET READY TO FIGHT!”
The kitchen staff immediately armed themselves with every dangerous cooking object imaginable while wardrobes threw open their doors dramatically and launched clothing like projectiles.
CRACK.
The doors finally splintered apart.
The villagers slowly stepped through the broken entrance into the dark castle one by one while torchlight flickered across the enormous quiet halls.
The silence felt wrong.
Nobody moved.
Nobody attacked.
Monoma stepped inside first holding a drawn bow tightly in his hands. His blond hair fell messily over narrowed eyes while a cruel grin stretched across his face. The flickering torchlight reflected sharply against the arrow aimed forward as he slowly scanned the castle halls like a hunter finally cornering prey.
“Where is it?” someone whispered nervously behind him.
The castle remained completely still around them.
Too still.
The villagers slowly spread out through the entrance hall while staring uneasily into the darkness of the castle. Rainwater dripped from their clothes onto the marble floor while trembling torchlight flickered against the enormous walls around them.
Everything was too quiet.
Too still.
Some of the villagers already looked nervous now.
“I DON’T LIKE THIS—”
“WHERE IS THE MONSTER?!”
“KEEP MOVING!”
Monoma stepped farther inside first with his bow raised confidently while glaring into the shadows.
“Spread out! Search every room! Don’t let the beast esc—”
“ATTACK!!”
Absolute chaos exploded instantly.
Every piece of furniture in the castle launched itself at the villagers all at once.
“FOR THE CASTLE!!”
The kitchen erupted first as forks, knives and spoons suddenly shot violently through the air like tiny weapons.
“TAKE THIS!” the oven screamed furiously while launching burning trays directly into the crowd.
“MY EYE!!”
“WHY ARE THE SPOONS FLYING?!”
Several villagers immediately ducked too late as bread and flaming pans smashed directly into them.
“WHY IS THE OVEN ALIVE?!”
“THE CASTLE IS CURSED!”
Denki shot downward from above like a flaming comet while throwing fire wildly everywhere.
“GET OUT OF OUR CASTLE, YOU UGLY PEASANTS!!”
Several villagers instantly caught fire around their sleeves and started screaming while desperately rolling across the floor.
“I’M BURNING!”
Mina flew across the battlefield carrying enormous boiling teapots.
“HOT TEA COMING THROUGH!”
She dumped steaming water directly onto a group trying to break farther inside.
“AAAAAH!”
“HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!”
“MY FACE!”
“YOU DESERVE IT!” Mina yelled while smacking another villager directly in the head with a saucepan.
Kyouka raced aggressively across the floor like an angry broom missile, sweeping legs out from under people one after another with terrifying speed.
“TRIP THEM ALL!”
Kirishima roared loudly before lifting an entire chair above his head and launching it directly into a group of attackers.
“GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE!!”
The chair smashed into three people at once and all of them collapsed screaming.
The wardrobes suddenly burst open dramatically.
“BE BLINDED BY FASHION!”
Entire piles of coats, dresses and curtains launched directly at the villagers’ heads. One man became completely trapped beneath several layers of clothing and immediately fell over screaming blindly.
“I CAN’T SEE!”
“WHY ARE THERE PANTS ON MY FACE?!”
Another villager got strangled halfway by a feather boa while trying to escape.
“HELP ME!”
“NO ONE LOOKS GOOD IN THAT COLOR!” Momo shouted aggressively.
The piano suddenly rolled violently through the entrance hall crushing weapons beneath its wheels while playing dramatic battle music at full volume.
“RUN THEM OVER!”
“THAT PIANO IS TRYING TO KILL US!”
Everything became complete madness.
People screamed.
Furniture screamed louder.
Plates shattered across the marble floor.
Torches rolled everywhere.
Flames reflected wildly against the walls while feathers, clothes and silverware flew through the air like battlefield debris.
One villager got hit directly in the forehead by a flying loaf of bread and collapsed dramatically.
Another slipped across spilled soup before crashing directly into a statue.
“WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”
“NOT BEFORE I KILL THIS STUPID TEAPOT!”
“COME AND TRY IT!” Mina screamed back while throwing another stream of boiling water directly into his face.
Denki landed dramatically on top of the staircase railing while pointing toward the terrified villagers below him.
He blasted another wave of fire downward and several villagers immediately turned around screaming.
“RETREAT!”
“THE CASTLE IS INSANE!”
“THE FURNITURE IS POSSESSED!”
The villagers finally began panicking completely now. After several more chaotic minutes the entire crowd started breaking apart and running toward the exit in fear.
“RUN!”
“GET OUT OF HERE!”
“THE BROOM TRIED TO MURDER ME!”
“THEY’RE ALL DEMONS!”
People stumbled over each other desperately trying to escape the castle while furniture chased them all the way toward the broken entrance.
Denki threw both fists into the air triumphantly.
“THAT’S RIGHT!! RUN AWAY, LOSERS!!”
Monoma during all the chaos slipped away unnoticed. He rushed toward the upper floors with his bow still tightly drawn. His boots echoed through the dark corridors while he searched every room with growing obsession.
“COME OUT, MONSTER!”
He kicked open room after room aggressively while aiming the arrow into every shadowed corner.
“WHERE ARE YOU?!”
The castle halls echoed eerily around him while distant sounds of battle continued far below.
Monoma wandered deeper and deeper through the upper levels for several long minutes until eventually he reached the west wing.
The air there felt colder somehow.
He slowly approached the final set of doors before violently kicking them open.
BANG.
Monoma stepped inside with the bow raised high. His sharp eyes scanned every inch of the dark chamber while the arrow stayed perfectly aimed ahead of him, ready to fire at the slightest movement.
The enchanted rose immediately caught his attention.
Its glowing red petals drifted slowly downward beneath the glass while several more had already fallen.
“What the hell…”
Then suddenly—
A deep terrifying ROAR exploded directly behind him.
Before Neito could even turn around, Katsuki launched himself at him with a furious roar. The impact slammed directly into Monoma’s chest and violently threw both of them out of the chamber doors. They crashed hard against the balcony railing before tumbling onto the cold stone outside.
“GHH!—”
Monoma barely had time to react before Katsuki lunged again with claws bared and teeth snarling viciously. Pure rage burned in his red eyes now.
But this time Monoma dodged.
He jumped backward over the balcony railing and landed roughly onto the steep castle rooftop below. Rain scattered beneath his boots instantly while he spun around and aimed his bow directly at Katsuki without hesitation.
TWANG.
The arrow shot forward violently.
Katsuki barely dodged in time as it flew past his shoulder and shattered against the stone behind him.
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO IZUKU?!” Katsuki roared furiously while leaping onto the rooftop after him.
Monoma only cruelly laughed.
“Oh? Your precious Izuku?” he said with a grin, “Poor thing ran straight into town screaming about the beast in the castle.”
Katsuki froze for half a second.
“Oh yes… he looked absolutely terrified… But don’t worry, I was kind enough to comfort him. In fact…” his grin widened cruelly, “he’ll be marrying me soon enough anyway.”
Something inside Katsuki snapped violently. Pure fury flooded through him so fast it almost hurt.
“THAT’S NOT TRUE! IZUKU WOULD NEVER MARRY SOMEONE LIKE YOU!”
“Oh please… Once this is over he won’t have a choice. He belongs to me now!”
Katsuki’s entire expression twisted with rage.
“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”
He lunged forward.
The rooftop battle exploded instantly into chaos.
Rain and melting snow made the dark roof dangerously slippery beneath their feet while thunder rumbled somewhere far above the mountains. Monoma kept retreating across the steep tiles with his bow raised, firing arrows one after another, but Katsuki barely even registered the pain from the cuts appearing across his body anymore.
Because all he could hear was Izuku’s name.
Every disgusting word Monoma said about him echoed violently inside Katsuki’s head and twisted something furious deep in his chest.
He belongs to me now!
The sentence replayed over and over until Katsuki genuinely felt sick with rage.
Izuku was not some object.
Not something Monoma could touch.
Not someone he could force into staying beside him.
And the thought of Izuku being scared right now made something almost feral awaken inside him.
Katsuki charged through another arrow without hesitation. The sharp tip sliced across his arm but he didn’t even flinch. His entire body burned with adrenaline and fury while rainwater dripped from his hair into eyes glowing violently red in the darkness.
All he could think about was protecting Izuku and making sure Monoma never touched him again.
Monoma fired another arrow quickly.
“You really think he’d come back to a monster like you?!”
A furious roar ripped straight from Katsuki’s throat before he launched himself forward so violently the rooftop cracked beneath his feet. He slammed directly into Monoma hard enough to send both of them skidding dangerously across the wet roof tiles.
Monoma cursed loudly while trying to shove him off, but Katsuki grabbed him by the front of his shirt and smashed him hard against the roof again.
“DON’T TALK ABOUT HIM!”
The sound barely even sounded human anymore.
Rain poured harder around them now while Katsuki’s claws dug into the stone tiles beneath his hands. His breathing had become uneven and sharp, chest heaving violently with emotions far too big to control anymore.
Monoma looked up at him with another cruel grin despite being pinned down.
“Oh wow,” he laughed breathlessly, “you really are obsessed with him!”
“SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!!” Katsuki roared while throwing another vicious strike.
Monoma barely blocked it before kicking Katsuki harshly backward.
“You really are pathetic,” Monoma spat while regaining balance, “A monster pretending it deserves someone like him.”
Katsuki attacked again instantly.
Their fight turned brutal again.
Monoma kept firing arrows whenever he managed to gain distance while Katsuki relentlessly chased him across the rooftops.
“You know what’s funny?” Monoma shouted while dodging another attack, “Izuku looked disgusted when I touched him.”
Katsuki froze for the smallest fraction of a second and his pupils narrowed sharply.
Something dark flashed violently across his face the moment those words reached him. Because suddenly all he could picture was Monoma touching Izuku against his will.
Rain poured heavily down his face while his claws scraped violently across the rooftop beneath him.
Monoma noticed immediately and smiled cruelly.
“Ohhh, did that upset you?”
Katsuki’s tail lashed violently behind him.
“You should’ve seen his face! He looked absolutely horrified when I pulled him close!”
Something in Katsuki snapped harder with every word.
“But don’t worry,” he continued smugly while pulling another arrow from his back, “he’ll learn eventually… Once you’re dead!”
Katsuki roared loudly at that. The sound exploded across the rooftop so violently it echoed through the storm itself.
He launched himself forward with terrifying force and tackled Monoma directly against one of the stone towers hard enough to crack the wall behind him.
CRACK.
The rooftop beneath them splintered. For several seconds Katsuki completely overpowered him with pure strength alone. Monoma smirked and struck directly where Katsuki was weakest. The fresh wound across Katsuki’s side exploded with pain.
“GHH!—”
Katsuki cried out instantly as Monoma slammed his elbow hard into the injury again. Pain shot violently through his body and his footing slipped.
Katsuki crashed lower down the steep roof with a harsh grunt before barely catching himself against the edge. Monoma stood above him breathing heavily with a vicious grin stretched across his face.
“What happened?! I thought beasts were supposed to be strong!”
Katsuki growled through gritted teeth and tried forcing himself upward again despite the pain tearing through his body.
Then suddenly—
“KACCHAN!!”
Everything stopped.
Katsuki’s entire body froze instantly at the sound of that voice. His head snapped so fast toward the courtyard. The fury burning across his face disappeared immediately, replaced by something painfully soft.
Izuku.
He was there.
Sitting atop the horse beneath the pouring rain with wide terrified eyes locked directly onto him. His hair was messy from the wind, breathing uneven like he had run the entire way there without stopping once.
And he looked terrified.
Terrified for him.
The sight hit Katsuki so hard his chest physically hurt.
Because Izuku came back…
Even after finally getting his freedom back…
He still came back.
Katsuki felt all the air leave his lungs at once while his expression softened completely without him even realizing it.
“Izuku…”
For one tiny impossible moment the battle, the castle and the screaming villagers all disappeared around him again.
There was only Izuku.
Only those green eyes staring at him like losing him would destroy him.
Monoma saw the whole scene and immediately growled in frustration.
“Oh for god’s sake—”
He quickly grabbed another arrow and pulled the bowstring back violently while aiming directly at Katsuki.
The sharp sound snapped Katsuki back to reality instantly.
His eyes widened.
The arrow flew. He barely dodged in time as it shot past his face and shattered against the stone tower behind him. The softness vanished from his expression immediately. Pure rage flooded back across his features as he turned toward Monoma again with a vicious snarl. He lunged at him again instantly and the fight exploded back into motion across the rooftop.
Below them, Izuku and Inko looked upward in horror while gripping the horse tightly.
“Izuku!” she cried out desperately, “Go! Go help him quickly!”
Izuku nodded immediately without hesitation. He jumped off and sprinted toward the castle entrance as fast as he could, heart pounding violently inside his chest while the sounds of fighting echoed high above him through the storm.
Katsuki and Monoma kept fighting viciously, every hit echoed loudly through the storm while both of them slipped dangerously across the soaked roof tiles. Monoma kept firing arrows whenever he managed to create distance between them, while Katsuki charged through the pain over and over again.
Cuts covered his body now. Blood ran down his arms and shoulders, dripping from claw marks and deep wounds opened by arrows. His breathing had become rough and uneven while rainwater mixed with the blood staining his white shirt crimson.
But he kept fighting.
Because Izuku was here.
And Katsuki refused to let anything happen to him.
Monoma stumbled backward after another violent hit to the jaw and immediately fired another arrow. Katsuki dodged barely in time before slamming into him again hard enough to crack more roof tiles beneath them.
“WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE?!” Monoma screamed furiously.
Katsuki snarled and grabbed him by the front of his clothes before smashing him hard against the stone tower again.
“KACCHAN!!”
Katsuki’s head snapped instantly toward the balcony below. Izuku stood there completely soaked by the rain, gripping the railing tightly with terrified tear-filled eyes.
“Izuku!!” Katsuki shouted back immediately.
And that tiny moment of distraction Monoma’s expression twisted viciously.
“Well then,” he hissed while quickly aiming another arrow, “I’ll kill him first!”
Katsuki’s eyes widened instantly.
“NO!!”
The arrow shot forward directly toward Izuku. Katsuki threw himself into its path without hesitation.
THUD.
The arrow pierced violently through his shoulder.
“KACCHAN!!” Izuku’s scream echoed through the storm immediately.
Katsuki staggered hard from the impact while pain exploded through his body, but he still didn’t fall. Instead his expression turned even more terrifying. Slowly, he grabbed the arrow embedded in his shoulder and ripped it out. Blood splattered instantly across the rooftop.
Monoma’s face paled.
“Oh shit—”
Katsuki lunged at him like a wild animal. He tackled Monoma violently onto the roof and started hitting him over and over again with pure furious rage.
Monoma cried out while trying desperately to block the attacks, but Katsuki completely overpowered him now. Finally Katsuki grabbed him harshly by the front of his shirt and dragged him upward before lifting his entire body over the edge of the rooftop.
Monoma immediately went pale.
“WAIT— WAIT!” he shouted instantly, panic flooding his voice, “P-PUT ME DOWN! PLEASE!”
Monoma dangled helplessly above the massive drop beside the castle walls, desperately clawing at Katsuki’s arm while panic spread wider and wider across his face with every passing second.
Katsuki said nothing. His arm remained perfectly steady despite the blood still pouring heavily from his wounded shoulder. Rainwater dripped from soaked blond hair across his face while his red eyes stared down at Monoma with a coldness that genuinely terrified him.
Because for the first time since arriving at the castle, Monoma realized the beast truly could kill him. And Katsuki looked furious enough to actually do it.
“PLEASE!” Monoma shouted again, his voice shaking harder now, “I-I WON’T COME BACK— I SWEAR!”
Katsuki’s grip tightened slightly around his shirt and Monoma immediately gasped in terror.
Below him there was only darkness, sharp rocks and the violent storm surrounding the mountain. For one horrible second he genuinely believed Katsuki was about to let go.
And honestly, part of Katsuki wanted to.
The rage inside him still burned violently while images flashed through his head one after another.
Izuku terrified, the arrow flying toward him, Monoma touching him, threatening him.
Every thought twisted painfully through Katsuki’s chest while thunder echoed loudly around them.
But then Izuku’s face appeared in his mind instead.
And Katsuki couldn’t do it.
Even now, shaking with fury and covered in blood, he still couldn’t become that kind of monster.
A disgusted snarl escaped him before suddenly he threw Monoma back onto the rooftop. Neito crashed hard against the stone with a painful cry and immediately scrambled backward, breathing unevenly while staring at Katsuki.
Katsuki slowly stepped toward him once and Monoma instantly flinched.
“DON’T EVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN! AND DON’T YOU EVER GO NEAR IZUKU AGAIN!”
Neito nodded immediately now without even trying to argue anymore because fear had fully replaced his arrogance.
“KACCHAN!!”
The second Katsuki heard Izuku’s voice again, his entire expression changed.
The sharp fury melted almost instantly from his face as he turned toward the balcony below. Izuku stood there in the rain with tears streaming endlessly down his cheeks while his hands gripped the railing tightly. Panic and relief mixed desperately across his expression after watching everything happen right in front of him.
And the moment Katsuki looked at him, Izuku’s face crumpled even more.
“Kacchan…”
Katsuki’s chest tightened painfully.
Without another glance toward Monoma, he immediately moved across the rooftop toward the balcony. His movements were slower now from exhaustion and blood loss, but the second he reached the edge he carefully climbed down until finally landing beside Izuku again.
The moment his feet touched the balcony floor, Izuku rushed toward him instantly.
“Kacchan are you okay?! Y-You’re bleeding so much— oh god your shoulder—”
His voice shook badly while his hands hovered helplessly around Katsuki like he didn’t know where to touch first without hurting him more.
“Kacchan, you got hit because of me and—”
Katsuki only smiled softly.
Slowly, unbelievably gently for someone covered in blood, bruises and rain, Katsuki lifted one hand toward Izuku’s face and fingers rested softly against his cheek.
Izuku leaned into the touch instantly like it was the safest thing he had ever known.
Katsuki’s breath caught quietly at that.
Rain continued pouring around them while thunder rumbled somewhere far away, but suddenly everything felt quiet again.
Only Izuku mattered.
“You came back, Izuku…”
Izuku looked up at him immediately through tears and despite crying, he still warmly smiled.
“Of course I did… I promised you…”
Something unbearably tender crossed Katsuki’s face at those words because Izuku always kept his promises.
For several long seconds neither of them moved at all. They simply stood there impossibly close beneath the rain while staring deeply into each other’s eyes. The entire world around them faded away again until it felt like they were the only two people left alive inside the storm.
There was too much emotion between them now to put into words.
Something so painfully deep and soft that both of them were terrified of naming it aloud.
Katsuki’s thumb brushed gently beneath Izuku’s eye, wiping away some of the tears still falling there. Izuku’s breath trembled softly while Katsuki looked at him like he wanted to memorize every part of him forever.
“Izuku, I—”
SNAP.
Everything stopped at once.
The rain poured violently around them and thunder echoed through the mountains, but for one horrifying moment the entire world felt frozen.
Katsuki’s body suddenly jerked hard. A sharp broken gasp escaped his throat as a blade buried itself deeply into his back.
And behind him stood Monoma.
Rain dripped down his face while a twisted smile spread across his lips. His expression looked terrifying beneath the storm.
“Well,” he laughed breathlessly, “that was disgustingly romantic.”
Then he shoved the knife even deeper. Katsuki screamed really loudly and the sound tore directly through Izuku’s chest.
“KACCHAN!!”
Katsuki collapsed forward instantly and Izuku barely managed to catch him before both of them crashed hard onto the balcony floor together. Blood immediately began spreading across Katsuki’s clothes frighteningly fast while his entire body trembled violently from pain.
Monoma burst into loud, breathless laughter, the sound sharp and ugly against the storm.
For a second, it almost seemed like the world might keep moving around him.
Then his foot slipped against the rain-slicked rooftop. His expression changed so quickly it was almost startling, all that cruel confidence breaking apart at once as panic flashed across his face.
“W-WAIT!—”
He staggered backward wildly, arms flinging out in a desperate attempt to catch himself, but the wet stone gave him nothing to hold onto.
His heel slid over the edge, then the rest of him followed and suddenly he was clawing at empty air with a strangled scream ripping out of his throat.
“N-NO— NO, WAIT!—”
His voice echoed once through the storm, then again, thinner and farther away, until at last it was swallowed whole by the darkness below.
Izuku didn’t even properly register him falling.
All he could see was Katsuki.
All he could hear was the horrible wet sound of blood soaking through cloth.
“KACCHAN!! NO NO NO NO NO—”
His voice broke apart violently while he carefully lowered Katsuki onto the balcony floor. His trembling hands instantly pressed against the deep wound, desperately trying to stop the blood pouring endlessly through his fingers.
But it wouldn’t stop. No matter how hard he pressed, more blood kept spilling out between his shaking hands.
“KACCHAN, STAY WITH ME! Please, please, please don’t close your eyes— don’t you dare close your eyes on me!”
Izuku was shaking so badly he could barely breathe anymore. His eyes were wide with pure terror, overflowing endlessly with tears uncontrollably going down his face while panic completely overtook him.
“This is all my fault!” he sobbed hysterically, “This is all my fault! I came too late, I shouldn't have yelled for you— Kacchan please—”
Blood stained his hands.
His clothes.
The floor beneath them.
And still it wouldn’t stop.
Katsuki’s breathing grew weaker.
“I… zuku…”
The moment Katsuki whispered his name that softly, Izuku immediately looked back down at him.
Katsuki was lying weakly against him, heavy and frighteningly still in his arms. Izuku sat on the cold balcony floor holding him as tightly and as carefully as he could, one hand trembling at the back of Katsuki’s head while the other still pressed uselessly against the wound in his chest.
“KACCHAN!! No, no, no, no, no you’re okay— you’re going to be okay—” Izuku cried shakily while tears dripped directly onto Katsuki’s face, “Please don’t do this please—”
Katsuki looked at him quietly for a moment.
Even through pain.
Even barely conscious.
He still looked at Izuku gently. And that softness hurt more than any blade ever could.
“You really came back…” he whispered weakly.
The words broke Izuku all over again.
“Of course I did! Of course I came back! I promised you I would! I promised you, Kacchan, I promised—”
A faint, trembling smile appeared on Katsuki’s face at that. Slowly, with the last of his strength, he lifted one shaking hand toward Izuku’s face. His fingers were slick with blood, trembling violently in the rain, but he still reached for him anyway.
The moment that hand touched Izuku’s cheek, Izuku leaned into it instantly, as if he could live inside that touch if he had to.
“Kacchan…”
“Thank you… For staying with me…”
Izuku’s whole expression cracked open even further.
“Kacchan— N-No! don’t say things like that! You’re going to be okay! We can fix this somehow, we can—”
“For making the castle feel warm…”
“Kacchan please!”
Katsuki’s thumb brushed weakly beneath Izuku’s eye one last time, wiping away tears that kept coming no matter how much Izuku cried.
“And… I’m glad… I’m glad I got to see you again…”
“No… No, no, no, no, no! Don’t say that like it’s over, don’t say that, you’re not leaving me, you can’t leave me!”
Katsuki gave the faintest smile at the sound of his voice, as if hearing Izuku one last time was enough to soften even this.
For one final moment, their eyes locked beneath the rain.
There was so much between them that neither of them had ever managed to say aloud.
Something painfully beautiful that had existed between them long before either of them knew how to name it.
Katsuki’s lips parted weakly like he wanted to say something—
But no sound came out. His hand slipped slowly from Izuku’s cheek and fell lifelessly against the balcony floor.
“Kacchan…?”
His eyes closed completely.
His body stopped moving.
And suddenly… there was nothing.
Izuku stared at him in complete horror.
“No…”
The word came out tiny and broken.
His entire body violently shook apart.
“KACCHAN!!!”
He pulled Katsuki closer with frantic, desperate arms clutching him against his chest.
“NO, NO, NO, PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS— YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME, YOU CAN’T! KACCHAN PLEASE WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!”
His voice shattered violently against the storm.
The scream tore itself raw inside his throat while he clutched Katsuki closer and closer against his chest like he was trying to hold together something already slipping away from him piece by piece.
Rain poured endlessly over them both, soaking through Izuku’s curls, his clothes, his trembling hands covered in blood.
“KACCHAN PLEASE! PLEASE LOOK AT ME!”
His body shook so hard he could barely breathe anymore. Every breath came broken, collapsing into another sob before he could even finish inhaling.
“YOU CAN’T JUST— YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME HERE LIKE THIS! PLEASE WAKE UP! PLEASE SAY SOMETHING— YELL AT ME, TELL ME I’M CRYING TOO LOUD, CALL ME AN IDIOT, ANYTHING!”
His eyes were red and swollen now, completely wrecked by sadness while his fingers desperately tangled into Katsuki’s clothes.
“KACCHAN PLEASE!”
The desperation after a long while in his voice slowly cracked apart into something weaker, more broken.
“Please…”
Izuku buried his face against the soft fur at Katsuki’s chest and sobbed like his entire soul was tearing itself open.
His shoulders shook violently beneath the rain while weak trembling breaths escaped him one after another, every single one sounding painfully hollow now.
The warmth beneath his hands was fading and Izuku could feel it.
“No… no, no, no, no… please don’t go… please…”
His fingers curled tighter into Katsuki’s clothes while he pressed himself closer desperately, as if he could somehow keep his heart beating through sheer love alone.
The balcony felt impossibly cold now.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
And slowly Izuku broke more and more…
His cries weakened into trembling breaths while tears continued sliding endlessly down his cheeks. His forehead rested against Katsuki’s chest now while he held him close with both arms, like letting go even slightly would destroy whatever remained of him.
The storm still raged around the castle. Thunder still rolled across the mountains. But around Izuku there was only silence now.
A terrible silence.
The kind that comes after something precious disappears forever.
“I love you… I love you so much, Kacchan… please don’t leave me…”
Far away inside the west wing, the enchanted rose stood motionless beneath the glass.
The last remaining petal trembled and…
It fell.
Like the final breath of something beautiful.
Like the end of a story that had fought desperately to survive.
The petal touched the table gently and the rose went dark.
No glow remained.
No warmth.
No magic.
Only endless silence.
The entire castle seemed to feel it.
Every hallway fell still.
Every candle flickered weaker.
Even the storm outside suddenly sounded distant now, like the world itself had paused to mourn with him.
And there on the rain-soaked balcony, Izuku held Katsuki’s motionless body against his chest while the silence swallowed everything whole…
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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⡂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⣤⣧⡤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠼⢯⡳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡾⠉⠀⠀⠈⢳⠛⠂⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠿⠻⣷⣄⠀⠀⠀⣼⠁⠀⢠⠄⠀⢈⣟⡁⠀
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⠞⠛⠶⣄⠀⠀⢿⣆⣤⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⠃⢠⠀⠀⡿⠀⠀⡸⣿⠰⠆⠀
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠒⠒⠒⠋⠀⢰⢻⢀⣏⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡴⠟⠁⠈⢙⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⠋⣾⢰⡍⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣸⠁⠀⠀⠀⠻⠟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠐⠁⣼⢇⠷⠀⠀
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⢸⠇⠀⢸⠀⢀⠆⡇⠀⠀⠀⢣⠳⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢷⣷⠄⠀⠀⠹⡄
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⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠶⠆⠹⣷⣄⠀⠀⠈⠻⣖⢤⣀⡀⠀⠀⢀⣠⣴⡿⠀⠿⠆⣰⠇
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⡿⢡⡍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣶⠈⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A powerful golden light burst violently from the dead rose.
The entire room illuminated instantly while magic exploded through the castle like sunlight breaking through endless darkness.
Izuku's tear-filled eyes immediately snapped toward the source of the light. For a second he couldn’t even breathe properly, the glow so bright it painted the storm itself gold.
Then the rose petals began lifting into the air. Hundreds of crimson petals swirled upward, carried by streams of brilliant golden magic.
Izuku stared in complete shock.
The glowing petals rushed onto the balcony, circling around Katsuki’s motionless body in endless spirals of gold and red light. They moved faster and faster until the magic wrapped around him completely, shining so brightly Izuku could barely even see through it anymore.
Izuku's expression had gone completely stunned now, wide watery eyes frozen in disbelief while his lips parted slightly in shock. Tears still clung to his lashes, but now confusion and hope crashed violently through him at the same time.
The magic surrounding Katsuki suddenly flared brighter and his body slowly began lifting from the ground.
Izuku gasped loudly and instinctively stumbled backward, staring upward in complete disbelief while golden light spun endlessly around Katsuki like living sunlight.
The petals danced violently through the air now.
The storm itself seemed to pause.
And then Katsuki’s body began to change.
The fur along his arms dissolved first beneath the glowing magic, disappearing into streams of golden light. The sharp claws slowly softened into human hands while the monstrous shape of his body shifted and reshaped itself piece by piece.
Light poured from every part of him.
The horns vanished next.
Then the fangs.
The towering beast slowly disappeared beneath the storm of glowing petals and magic swirling around him.
Izuku couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
All he could do was stare.
The magic wrapped around Katsuki one final time in one massive brilliant wave of gold—
And the light exploded outward across the balcony.
Katsuki’s body slowly descended back toward the floor. The glowing petals drifted gently around him now like falling embers while the last traces of magic shimmered softly through the rain.
Izuku stared at him with shaking breaths.
“Kacchan…?”
His body lying there moved and Izuku’s heart immediately stopped.
Slowly… shakily… his hands pressed against the wet stone floor beneath him. Katsuki pushed himself upward weakly before finally rising slowly to his feet. Rain dripped from blond hair now instead of fur while his breathing came unevenly from his chest. He looked down at his trembling hands in stunned disbelief, turning them slowly like he couldn’t understand what he was seeing himself.
Then he finally turned toward Izuku.
And the moment Izuku saw him clearly all the air vanished from his lungs.
Katsuki stood there beneath the fading rain completely transformed, golden light still shimmering softly around him like the final traces of magic refusing to leave his skin. His blond hair fell around his face in messy damp layers, clinging slightly to his neck and shoulders. The torn white shirt hanging loosely from his body exposed pieces of pale skin beneath it while rainwater slowly rolled down his collarbones and arms.
But it was his face that completely stole Izuku’s breath away.
There was no fur anymore, no fangs, no monstrous features hiding him from the world. Only Katsuki stood there now, staring back at him with wide crimson eyes filled with disbelief and emotion.
His real face.
His real smile.
His real warmth.
Izuku genuinely forgot how to breathe because somehow Katsuki looked even more beautiful than every impossible image Izuku had imagined in his mind.
For several long seconds neither of them moved. They simply stood there beneath the soft rain and golden sunlight breaking through the clouds above the castle while the magic still shimmered around them.
“Izuku…”
The sound of Katsuki’s voice nearly shattered him.
Izuku stepped closer slowly like he was terrified this moment would disappear if he moved too fast. His trembling fingers carefully lifted toward Katsuki’s damp blond hair first, brushing softly through the strands. His hand slowly moved lower and traced carefully along Katsuki’s jawline while his breathing shook uncontrollably. He touched his skin almost desperately now, like he needed proof this wasn’t another dream.
Katsuki was here.
Alive, breathing and smiling softly at him.
The moment Izuku looked back into his eyes again tears immediately filled his own.
“…Is it really you, Kacchan?”
Katsuki stared at him for a long moment after those words and then he laughed softly.
“Yeah… it’s me, Zuku…”
The second those words left his mouth something inside Izuku completely shattered. A smile spread across his face instantly, huge and trembling and painfully relieved while fresh tears flooded his eyes all over again.
“Kacchan!!”
He threw himself directly at Katsuki and the blonde barely had time to react before Izuku crashed into him completely, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck. Katsuki instinctively caught him around the waist, the force nearly knocking both of them backward. Katsuki laughed breathlessly from pure shock, tightening his hold around Izuku even more.
Their bodies pressed together so closely there wasn’t even space left between them anymore. Izuku buried his face against Katsuki’s shoulder instantly while sobs of overwhelming relief shook through him violently.
“Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan!!” he kept repeating through tears and broken laughter like he physically couldn’t stop himself, “You’re alive! You’re really alive!”
“I’m here,” Katsuki whispered immediately, “I’m right here…”
Izuku shook harder after hearing that.
“You were dead!” he cried against Katsuki’s shoulder, “You stopped breathing and your heart wasn’t beating and I thought— I thought—”
His voice completely broke apart and Katsuki’s expression crumbled instantly at the sound.
“Hey,” he whispered quickly, one hand sliding shakily into Izuku’s curls, “Hey, Zuku… look at me…”
Izuku slowly lifted his head and the moment their eyes met again Katsuki felt his chest ache so painfully he almost couldn’t breathe. Izuku looked absolutely destroyed from crying. Tears clung to his lashes endlessly while his cheeks were flushed pink and his lips still trembled uncontrollably. Rainwater and tears mixed together across his face while he stared at Katsuki like he was terrified he’d disappear again at any second.
“I’m okay,” Katsuki whispered softly, brushing his thumb beneath Izuku’s eye carefully, “I’m okay now, Izuku…”
Izuku let out another broken sound before grabbing Katsuki’s shirt tightly in both fists.
“Don’t ever do that to me again! Don’t EVER scare me like that again, Kacchan!”
Katsuki laughed shakily.
“I don’t think getting stabbed was really part of my plan.”
“That’s not funny!”
Katsuki burst into laughter at the offended look on Izuku’s face. Izuku started laughing too despite all the tears still falling down his cheeks. The sound echoed softly through the castle balcony beneath the sunlight.
And then finally a tear slipped down Katsuki’s face too.
Because Izuku was here.
Alive.
Holding him like he was something precious. For the first time in years Katsuki felt human again in every possible way.
He let out another shaky breath before suddenly lifting Izuku fully off the ground and spinning him around beneath the sunlight. He immediately burst into louder laughter while clinging tightly to him.
“Kacchan!! Wait!—”
“You’re light, nerd.”
“That’s because you’re stupidly strong!”
“Damn right.”
Izuku laughed harder at that while Katsuki kept holding him impossibly close, almost like he physically couldn’t let go anymore.
Above them the storm clouds slowly disappeared, broken apart by streams of warm golden sunlight pouring across the mountains. The curse was finally gone now and the entire castle glowed brightly beneath the morning light while the rain softened into sparkling droplets around them.
Eventually Katsuki lowered Izuku carefully back onto the balcony floor but neither of them stepped away. They stayed so close their foreheads nearly touched while both of them struggled to calm their breathing again.
“How…” Izuku whispered breathlessly, “How is this even possible…?”
“That was the curse…”
Izuku blinked slowly.
“I was supposed to stay a beast until…” he hesitated before looking directly into Izuku’s eyes again, “until someone truly loved me…”
Izuku froze instantly. A deep blush spread across his face so quickly Katsuki almost laughed again.
“Oh.”
Katsuki’s smile widened immediately.
“Oh?” he repeated teasingly.
Izuku instantly turned even redder.
“I-I mean, well obviously I— not obviously! I mean— Kacchan you literally DIED like five minutes ago don’t look at me like that—”
Katsuki laughed softly again, completely unable to stop himself now.
God.
He loved hearing Izuku ramble.
“You really came back for me…” he said more quietly this time. Izuku immediately looked back at him seriously.
“Of course I did.”
“You could’ve stayed safe.”
“I didn’t care.”
“You were terrified.”
“I still came back.”
Katsuki stared at him silently for a moment after that. Something warm and painfully emotional filled his entire chest so intensely he almost didn’t know what to do with it.
“You know…” Katsuki said quietly, fingers slowly intertwining with Izuku’s, “When you left the castle earlier… I thought that was it.”
Izuku’s expression softened immediately.
“I thought I’d never see you again… And honestly? I kept telling myself that was probably better for you.”
“Kacchan…”
“But then you came back anyway.”
Izuku squeezed his hand tighter instantly, “Because you matter to me… You matter so much, Kacchan…”
Katsuki’s eyes widened slightly at the honesty in his voice.
“I don’t care about the curse or the castle or what you look like. I just… I just wanted you… I wanted you alive. That’s all I cared about.”
Katsuki genuinely looked overwhelmed hearing that. No one had ever looked at him the way Izuku did now.
Like he was worth loving.
Like he was worth coming back for.
“You said you loved me…”
Izuku’s face exploded red immediately, “I-I thought you were dying!!”
“I was.”
“KACCHAN!”
“But you still said it.”
Izuku hid his burning face against Katsuki’s chest instantly while groaning in embarrassment, “Oh my god…”
Katsuki laughed softly before wrapping both arms around him again.
“Say it again, Zuku…”
“KACCHAN!”
“I almost died. I deserve compensation.”
“You’re unbelievable!”
“And you love me anyway…”
Izuku slowly, nervously, lifted his head and finally looked back at Katsuki.
“Yeah… I do…”
Katsuki’s entire expression gentled instantly.
“I love you too, Izuku…” he whispered, brushing his forehead against Izuku’s, “So fucking much…”
Everything inside Izuku stopped.
The biggest smile Katsuki had ever seen spread across his face so brightly it nearly stole his breath all over again.
Then Izuku stood onto his toes and kissed him.
Katsuki froze for one tiny shocked second before immediately kissing him back. One arm wrapped tightly around Izuku’s waist while the other held him securely against his chest, pulling him impossibly closer. Izuku melted completely into him. Their bodies fit together perfectly beneath the warm sunlight while their lips moved together slowly and desperately at the same time.
The kiss felt overwhelming in the most beautiful way possible, like every lonely moment, every glance, every almost-confession and every heartbeat they had swallowed down for weeks finally collided together all at once.
Izuku’s fingers curled tightly into Katsuki’s shirt while Katsuki held him like he never wanted to let go again.
When they finally pulled apart after what felt like forever neither of them moved very far. Their noses still brushed softly together while strands of damp green and blond hair tangled between them. Both of them were breathing hard, smiling helplessly and completely in love…
“I really love you, Kacchan…”
Katsuki’s eyes softened so much it almost hurt to look at him.
“I know… And I love you more, Izuku…”
Izuku laughed through another happy tear before immediately kissing him again.
Meanwhile… somewhere else in the castle the last terrified villagers were fleeing the castle in complete panic.
“GET ME OUT OF THIS INSANE PLACE!”
“THE TEAPOTS ARE EVIL!”
“RUN FASTER!”
The enormous front doors slammed open while villagers practically tripped over each other trying to escape the castle grounds. Denki stood at the top of the staircase pointing dramatically after them.
“YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT!! KEEP RUNNING, LOSERS!! AND DON’T COME BACK!!”
Then suddenly a golden light burst around him.
“…Huh?”
The magic wrapped around his entire body instantly while glowing flames spiraled through the entrance hall. His eyes widened in complete shock as his body suddenly started changing beneath the light.
His tiny flame-like form stretched taller.
Human arms appeared.
Human legs.
Human skin.
A second later Denki collapsed directly onto the floor with a loud yelp.
“WAIT!”
Denki stared down at his hands in complete horror before immediately grabbing his own face with both palms.
“WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT—”
His eyes kept growing wider with every second while he aggressively touched literally everything he could reach.
“My face is smooth— WHY IS MY FACE SMOOTH?!”
Golden light still swirled around him in warm glowing spirals while he stumbled backward across the entrance hall completely overwhelmed by what was happening.
Then suddenly he gasped dramatically.
“I’M HOT!”
Everyone stared at him. Denki immediately pointed at himself in panic.
“I MEAN HUMAN! HUMAN! I’M HUMAN, GUYS!!”
He spun around in circles while touching his hair, arms and face over and over again like he genuinely couldn’t believe it.
Behind him Kyouka suddenly gasped as the feathers of her broom burst apart into glowing light. The magic swirled rapidly around her body while feathers lifted everywhere through the air before finally dissolving completely.
And there she stood.
Human again.
Denki completely stopped functioning. His jaw dropped open while he stared at her like she had personally descended from heaven itself.
“Kyouka…”
Kyouka blinked slowly while staring down at her own hands first. Her fingers flexed quietly while she looked at herself in stunned disbelief before finally lifting her eyes toward Denki again.
And the second their eyes met Denki immediately sprinted toward her.
“KYOUKA!!”
He wrapped both arms around her instantly, hugging her tightly enough that she nearly stumbled backward from the force.
“Oh my god you’re real—” he suddenly panicked halfway through the hug and jerked backward slightly.
“SORRY! I SHOULD’VE ASKED FIRST! I JUST— YOU WERE A BROOM FOR SO LONG AND NOW YOU’RE NOT A BROOM AND—”
Kyouka stared at him for one long second before dramatically rolling her eyes.
“Oh my god just shut up already.”
She grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him directly.
Denki immediately melted into the kiss. His entire body froze while his face exploded violently red beneath the sunlight pouring through the windows. His knees nearly gave out instantly and he grabbed onto Kyouka’s waist in complete emotional devastation.
When she finally pulled away Denki simply stared at her silently like his soul had physically left his body.
“I think I died again…”
“You’re so embarrassing,” Kyouka snorted while trying and failing not to smile.
“Mina?!” Kirishima shouted suddenly.
They turned just in time to see Mina running full speed through the entrance hall toward him.
“KIRIIIISHIMAAAAA!!”
Golden light suddenly exploded around her body too while she was still sprinting. Her tiny transformed form shifted rapidly back into a human mid-run and she immediately tripped over her own feet.
“WOAH!”
Kirishima lunged forward instantly and caught her before she smashed directly into the floor.
“Careful!!”
Kirishima lunged forward instantly and barely caught her before she smashed directly into the floor. Mina blinked once in complete shock and burst into loud laughter.
“I HAVE LEGS AGAIN— OH MY GOD EIJIRO!”
She looked up and down at Kirishima and immediately threw herself against him, nearly crushing him into hug while laughing and crying at the same time.
“Kiri, look at you!! You’re huge!!”
“You literally see me everyday!”
“Yeah but now you’re HOT differently!”
Kirishima immediately turned bright red, “Mina?!”
She just laughed louder before grabbing his face and kissing him directly too.
“WAIT FOR MEEEEEEE!!”
Eri came sprinting down the staircase while glowing magic swirled around her tiny body too. Halfway down the stairs she transformed back into a human and immediately missed a step.
“AHHH!”
Mina and Kirishima both lunged forward together and barely caught her before she crashed into the marble floor. Eri blinked once and immediately burst into laughter.
“I’M TALLER NOW!!”
The entire entrance hall exploded into warm laughter after that. Everywhere across the castle more and more glowing magic appeared while enchanted objects slowly transformed back into people one after another.
Momo became an elegant woman again and immediately burst into tears while touching her own face.
“I HAVE SHOULDERS AGAIN!”
The oven transformed into an older chef who instantly dropped to his knees sobbing dramatically.
“MY BEAUTIFUL HUMAN MUSTACHE!”
The piano became a tall man who immediately shouted, “I HAVE ARMS!! THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!”
All throughout the castle people cried, laughed and hugged each other while golden sunlight poured endlessly through the windows for the first time in years.
The curse was finally gone.
And slowly the castle itself seemed to breathe again. The halls no longer felt cold and the shadows no longer felt heavy. Warmth filled every corner that had once been lonely.
For the first time in forever the castle sounded alive again.
Then suddenly soft footsteps echoed from above.
Everyone slowly looked upward. Izuku and Katsuki were walking down the staircase together hand in hand. Sunlight poured around them beautifully while both of them smiled so brightly it almost hurt to look at.
The entire hall fell completely silent from shock. Everyone's eyes widened so much they genuinely looked painful.
“NO WAY—”
“KATSUKI!!”
Denki launched himself across the hall directly into Katsuki at full speed. He barely caught him before Denki nearly tackled him over completely.
“WOAH, HEY!”
“YOU’RE HUMAN!! YOUR FACE IS REAL!! YOUR HAIR IS SO STUPIDLY BLOND!!”
“GET OFF ME YOU FREAK!”
“But your eyebrows are NORMAL NOW!”
“DENKI I SWEAR TO GOD—”
Kirishima immediately rushed over, looking genuinely emotional now.
“Bakugo!” he laughed shakily while grabbing Katsuki’s shoulders, “You’re really back!”
Mina literally started crying, “OH MY GOD YOUR EYES LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME—”
“WHY ARE YOU CRYING?!”
“BECAUSE THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!”
Kyouka crossed her arms with a smirk, “Took you long enough.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes immediately, “Yeah yeah…”
Then finally his gaze shifted toward Izuku again and it instantly softened.
Every noticed it and Denki gasped loudly, “WAIT—”
He pointed between both of them dramatically, “YOU TWO FINALLY CONFESSED TO EACH OTHER!”
Izuku immediately exploded red, “DENKI!”
“KNEW IT!!” Mina screamed, “I KNEW IT FIRST!”
“You literally cried when they held hands once,” Kyouka reminded her.
“THAT’S DIFFERENT!”
Kirishima burst into loud laughter while Katsuki groaned in complete embarrassment.
“You’re all annoying.”
“But you looooove us…”
“…Unfortunately.”
Izuku laughed softly beside him and Katsuki immediately looked toward him again like he physically couldn’t stop himself anymore.
Outside the enormous windows the final dark clouds disappeared completely from the sky while sunlight flooded across the mountains and illuminated the castle in warm golden light. The stone walls shimmered softly beneath the sunlight while flowers bloomed wildly throughout the castle gardens below like the entire world itself had awakened together with them.
For the first time in years the castle truly looked beautiful again, alive with warmth, laughter and love filling every hallway that had once been silent. And standing there in the middle of it all, surrounded by people who had finally gotten their lives back while Izuku’s hand remained tightly intertwined with his…
Katsuki smiled.
Not the sharp guarded smile he used to hide behind.
Not the lonely one he wore for years inside the curse.
This smile was real.
Soft enough to rival the sunlight pouring through the castle windows.
And when Izuku looked up at him again with that same impossible tenderness in his eyes, Katsuki realized something quietly deep inside himself.
For the first time in years he was finally home.