You stole his phone?! [10 shocked face emojis]
I didn't mean to!
Great job, Kiri.
I'm sorry!
[Whining Puppy.gif]
Ugh! Do not!
[Whining Puppy.gif]
[Sleeping Puppy.gif]
[Running Group of Puppies.gif]
All right, enough! We gotta come up with a plan.
We got one. Get that password.
???
Did Bakugou approve of that plan?
No. But we gotta do something or he's gonna lose Midoriya. This is a squad decision.
You realize I'm gonna have to tell her what's going on right?
Yep.
All right. Squad up. [Thumbs up emoji]
Squad up. [Thumbs up emoji]
"I don't know why he's avoiding me."
Ochako wants to do a couple of things right now. She wants to hug Izuku, snuggle him close like a bunny in need of cuddles. She also wants to find Katsuki and use her badass fight training on his nose.
Fortunately, Iida's there to offer up logical explanations instead of violence — though sometimes he wishes he could default to that in cases such as these. "Perhaps he is busy, or his friends need his assistance in studying."
Izuku lets out a helpless sigh as the trio head back to the dorms. "I guess that makes sense?" It doesn't. Not really. But it's better than thinking that Katsuki has regressed back to hating him.
"Sure it does! We're in our last year and the workload has increased! Bakugou is quite studious, you know."
"Yeah! Maybe message him and ask if you can study with him?"
"I can't. I lost my phone."
"That's not like you, Midoriya."
"Yeah. Just... having an off day I guess."
"Have you checked the lost and found? Or the classrooms? Or-"
"Iida it's fine, I'll search for it later." Right now all he wants to do is get to his room, let his All Might merchandise comfort him, and rest. Or eat ice cream. Or both. Yes. Both are good.
"Nonsense. I will go and look for you."
"Iida, you don't have to-"
Too late. The exhausts embedded in Iida's calves hum to life before he takes off back to campus. Izuku just shakes his head while Ochako smiles at him. "He's trying to help in his own way."
"And what's your way?"
"Ice cream and action movies."
"I love you."
Ochako smiles and goes in for that hug, ready for the nest of green hair and scattered polka dots on those pinchable cheeks. But before she can embrace her friend she's pulled back by a well manicure hand the color of pink cotton candy. "Wha-?"
"Hi! We gotta talk!"
"N-now?" Normally, Ochako adores talking to Mina, but, "Deku and I are about to-"
"It's an emergency," and Mina's already dragging her away from Izuku.
"It's fine." Izuku plasters a smile on his face. It's being held by wet tape that barely retains its adhesiveness. "I'll meet you at the dorms."
"I won't take long, Deku, I promise!"
"You might," Mina says as she pulls Ochako down the sidewalk.
Once they're away from Izuku, Ochako wiggles out of Mina's grip, a puffed-cheek scowl aimed directly at her. "All right. You've been acting weird all day, Pinky Pie. What's going on?"
Mina tries not to let her heart melt. Ochako's such a cute, squishy bean. "Listen. I need the password to Midoriya's phone," then she says, "No questions asked," just to say she tried.
"... what? Wait, why?"
Welp, she tried. "Bakugou accidentally texted him a love confession."
"Really?!" Ochako puts the pieces together in record time. Katsuki's avoiding Izuku out of embarrassment, not malice. "Oh thank GOD! THAT'S why he's acting weird?"
"Yes! Ugh, boys are stupid. I told him to just let him read the message."
"But Deku's phone is-... wait... is it missing?"
Mina rolls her eyes, feeling the beginnings of a headache at the base of her horns. "No."
"YOU GUYS STOLE HIS PHONE?!"
Mina shakes her head and says, " I did no such thing. The boys did."
"... boys are dumb," Ochako says, bonding with Mina, her poor girlfriend cursed to have a group of well-meaning, silly boys in her friend circle. "So you need the password because..."
"He wants to delete the message."
Ochako doesn't need to mention it but she does so anyway. "Bakugou's gonna be pissed that you told me this."
Mina crosses her arms at her chest, eyes a mix of exhaustion and determination. "The squad decided that this would be for the best."
"Well, you're right, it is."
"So you'll get the password?"
"I already have it, have had it for a while," at Mina's surprised look Ochako explains it with, "I was showing him a new hero app. Didn't think too much about it."
"Ah. So what is it?"
There's a look on Ochako's face, something akin to the best friend watching two hopeless people finally fall in love. "Trust me, when you tell Bakugou, he won't wanna delete anything."
Katsuki wants to make a comment about Izuku grabbing an entire tub of ice cream, but that would mean actually talking to him. So instead he raises an eyebrow at him from where he's sitting on the couch in the living room, silently asking if he's actually about to eat the whole thing. The other boy looks like he wants to say something but he, thankfully, leaves the kitchen to go back to his room. Katsuki takes a breath because, wow, it's oddly difficult to not talk to Izuku now that they have this friendship. And Katsuki's gonna keep that relationship going — once he gets rid of that damn message.
"Yo! Bakubro!"
Katsuki sighs. Does it always have to be an announcement?
"Don't look at us like that, we got something for you," Kaminari says as he sits next to him.
"Is it a way to delete that text?"
"Actually? Yes."
Katsuki practically skyrockets himself out of the couch and grabs Sero by the shoulders. "Don't fuck with me. I will mummify you with your own tape if you're fucking with me."
"Dude. Relax. I'm telling the truth."
Kirishima pulls the phone from his pocket and hands it to Katsuki. Katsuki stares down at it for a long moment of disbelief before his face breaks into an inhuman grin. "You never put it back in his locker. You've had it this whole time and you figured it out. I'd kiss you right now if you didn't contaminate your lips with Sparky's on a daily basis."
"Whatever! I'm a damn good kisser, you're missing out!"
Katsuki looks like he considers it for a millisecond before he focuses on the task at hand. "So what's the password?"
"It's coming," Sero says.
"... what does that mean?" It's here that Katsuki realizes that there's a person missing from the group, a person whose idea involved telling Ochako about the text. "Tell me you didn't..."
"Didn't what?"
Ah. There she is. Ochako Uraraka. Standing next to Mina, both girls looking at him with mutual smirks on their faces. It's irritating, and it's the last thing Katsuki wants to deal with. "Listen, Round Face, I dunno what she told you-"
"Everything. She told me everything."
"And you all were in on this?" Katsuki eyes the three boys, suddenly knowing what true betrayal tastes like. Bitter. It's bitter, like a sour swig of cheap beer. "I thought we were a squad!"
"Bakubro..." Kirishima, hurt.
"Dude..." Kaminari, pained.
"Stop being so dramatic." Sero, done. Just done.
"Well it doesn't matter, cuz he's never gonna see the message."
"Bakugou, you should let him see it. He's not gonna get upset, he actually-" but before Ochako can finish she — and the others — watch as Katsuki tightens his grip on the phone, palm sweaty, smoke billowing, and- "Wait don't!"
Boom!
In an instant the phone is turned into a charred husk, Katsuki letting it clatter to the ground. "There. Problem solved."
"DUDE!" The chorus comes from the three boys.
"Oh my GOD you are THE WORST!" The two girls.
Katsuki shrugs. "Whatever. Things will go back to normal tomorrow."
"Your birthday," Ochako says, tiny body shaking in... she's not sure. It's annoying, but also amusing, almost cute since it's Bakugou trying to process love.
"Huh?"
Mina tugs at her hair, nearly pulls out chunks of it in frustration — would probably consider it if her hair weren't so cute. "The password. It's your birthday."
"... what?"
"He's been upset all day because you've been avoiding him. He read the text and wanted to talk but you kept blowing him off."
"So you... don't wanna walk to class together?"
"Are you... gonna ask me how my training went?"
"We usually train together, but-"
Oh.
So he... read it already.
And wanted to talk.
The password is his birthday.
Because Izuku Midoriya...
"Loves you, too," Mina says.
"Dumbass," Sero adds, because he most certainly told him so.
"Mummified. Later." Then Katsuki leaves, heading straight for Izuku's room.
"Go get him, bro!"
"You encourage him too much," Ochako says.
Kirishima smiles and it's a big, fractured thing. "It's how I cope with his denial."
Generally, Katsuki Bakugou approaches a situation with a plan. It may not look like it, but he's good at thinking on his feet so he can win the day. But after he knocks on Izuku's door and is greeted with wide, perplexed eyes, he can't think of what step to take next. Especially when the green looks like watercolor paint, like he's on the edge of crying but forcing himself not to shed any tears.
"Kacchan?"
And he probably wants an explanation for his behavior if the carton of ice cream and soft, sad music playing in the background is any indication. Lyrics about trying to heal, trying to move on but not able to forget about a difficult love.
Katsuki wants to come up with something less embarrassing than the truth, but there's something to be said about cutting to the chase — goddamnit Sero and Mina.
"Um... Kacchan?"
"Screw it."
"Huh?"
Katsuki leans in and presses his lips against Izuku's, completely catching the shorter boy off guard. It tastes like longing, shortness of breath, and chocolate ice cream that's been consumed by the spoonful. Eventually, Izuku gathers his witts and Katsuki worries, for a moment, that he's going to get shoved away. Instead, Izuku grabs Katsuki's uniform top, pulling him into his room as Katsuki kicks the door shut. With strength that he's been developing for years, Izuku shoves Katsuki against the door and keeps him pinned there, the two frantically kissing each other like they've been saving up for this, like they've been wanting this for far too long.
"I got your text," Izuku says between kisses, lips cold from the ice cream and wet from how intense the kisses are.
Embarrassment? Whose got time for that when there's a small, pink tongue getting to know the inside of your mouth. "I know," Katsuki breathes when he gets the chance. "I know that now. Wasn't avoiding you. Was trying to figure out a way to delete the message." It's the cliffnotes version but it gets the point across.
Izuku laughs and it makes Katsuki feel lightheaded, like he's watching an orchestra combine their talents to make the perfect sound. " That's what you were doing?! Kacchan, I was so happy to get that message! I love you so much, Kacchan!"
It sounds so much sweeter outside of a dream.
Katsuki responds to the statement with another kiss, and oh , he swears there's a spark of that green lightning that caresses Izuku's body when he's going into battle. This kiss is less fevered, the boys slowing things down to savor each other. They're creating a harmony now, their moans echoing around them and lingering in the air when they finally pull away.
Katsuki won't admit it out there with the others, but he'll admit it here. "I'm so stupid."
"I should've tried harder," Izuku says, panting to catch his breath.
"Are you really blaming yourself when I blew up your phone?"
Another kiss, gentle smiles, sweet laughter, then, "... wait, you did what?!"