Bakudeku/Dekubaku Oneshots

Deku and Kacchan

The harsh metallic whir of Deku’s vacuum was driving Katsuki up the wall.

Back and forth and back and forth he kept working on the same goddamn stretch of hallway that Katsuki was in and because the nerd was going in every direction except a straight line, he had to keep backtracking to make sure he didn’t miss a spot.

Again and again and again and Katsuki would have finished cleaning the windows ages ago if he didn’t have to keep counting down from ten in order to reign in his temper.

Honestly, how someone could be so inept at vacuuming... It was almost like he was intentionally hovering and-Katsuki let his spray bottle fall to the floor with a hollow thunk.

“Shut that shit off right now, Deku.”

“What? Kacchan I can’t hear you, hold on.” The machine sputtered out and Deku looked at him searchingly. Earnestly. “What’s up, Kacchan?”

It spurred Katsuki to bare his teeth. To shout, “Why aren’t you done yet?”

Deku ran a nervous hand through his hair, leaving his curls standing at awkward angles in its wake.

“Well, the dorms are actually a lot bigger than I realized and we have to clean, well, everything, so I don’t think we’ll be done until this evening.”

Deku let his fingers drum on the handle while he spoke.His second finger didn’t use to bend like that- crowding into his first.

“You know damn well that’s not what I meant!”

His fingers stilled and curled into a loose fist and Katsuki determinedly banished them from his mind.

“No,” he urged, “I don’t know what you mean because I’m not a mind reader. You have to tell me.”

Gentleness laced his voice like arsenic and Katsuki scoffed in a desperate attempt to keep it from his lungs.

“I don’t need a fucking watchdog! And you certainly wouldn’t make the cut, Deku.”

The hallway was wide and open and shining in the afternoon sun but Katsuki felt trapped. Deku had long since gained immunity to Katsuki’s particular brand of venom but the blonde had never figured out how to return the gesture and those calculating eyes were still searching, still earnest, and suddenly an arm’s length didn’t seem like enough distance between them.

10…9…

Panic clawed at his throat.

8…7…

It felt like Dabi’s hand on his neck.

6…5…

Deku’s hands were scarred now.

4…3…

Deku was hovering because he was worried.

2…

Deku thinks he’s weak. Katsuki doesn’t think he deserves Deku’s worry.

1…Gotta keep him away.

Deku gaped. “I’m not- I’m not guarding you Kacchan!”

He spat it out like the notion was preposterous but his eyes flicked to the corner.

Bullshit.

“You forget I know your tells and you’re a shitty liar.”

Katsuki’s words came out significantly calmer than before. This was their shitty tango and he knew all the steps.

“Fine!” Deku shouted. His voice bled sincerity with the same intensity of his tears, as much as he visibly tried to keep them at bay, “But I wasn’t doing it on purpose! You just- you just disappeared last time Kacchan. And you were right in front of me so forgive me if I feel a little better when you’re close by!”