A Careful EmbrAce - Chapter 5

By the end of week one of their soft touches and little kisses adventure, their classmates finally began to catch on. After several more dates, some planned by Izuku and others by Katsuki himself, they'd finally started to notice how often the pair were together. Izuku tried his best to deflect, when people asked the question, but eventually they were cornered, seated at the lunch table with Eijirou leaning over from behind to keep them from bolting, Mina and Ochako opposite them with conniving little grins on their faces.

"You two are dating," Mina declared, not even a hint of questioning in the tone. "How long?"

Izuku glanced over at Katsuki's face, searching for a hint on how to respond, but when he found Katsuki looking back, he knew they had outed themselves.

"A couple of weeks?" Izuku said weakly. "It's still kind of new to us both, sorry."

"I'm so happy for you guys!" Eijirou grinned, clapping them both on the back. "It's about time!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katsuki scowled, shoving him off. "About time for what?"

"Dude," Mina laughed, "you've been pining for the guy as long as I've known you."

"I have not been pining, you asshole! Shut the hell up!" he burst, eyes of many a classmates turning his way and turning his cheeks faintly pink. "You shitty extras didn't even know either of us liked guys, let alone each other."

"Maybe you can work off some of that anger in the bedroom," Ochako winked.

"Don't you fucking sta-"

Izuku slapped a hand over Katsuki's mouth in a hurry, shaking his head.

"We don't do that, Uraraka, please don't make jokes like that."

To Katsuki's surprise, Ochako looked apologetic when he snapped his gaze to her.

"Of course!" she nodded. "I'm sorry if I upset you!"

"Blasty is a virgin," Mina stage-whispered, leaning into Ochako fondly and shooting Katsuki a cheeky smirk. "Don't mind him, he just has no experience to work with. I even offered to help him out once, and he said no! Don't get me wrong, girls are way better, but for a dude he's kind of cute when he's not scowling. I thought maybe if he got la-"

"Ashido, please," Izuku said firmly, watching her eyes widen at the tone, her sentence cut off abruptly. "We just got together, we don't need weird jokes making it awkward. Please don't do this."

Something about the look on his face made Mina freeze, staring at them with a stunned look on her face until Ochako elbowed her sharply.

"Y-Yeah, sure, Midoriya," she spoke up in a hurry, eyes darting from him to Katsuki, then back again. "I, um, yeah, I'll stop."

Izuku slowly removed his hand from Katsuki's face, relieved when he sank in his seat rather than bite back, pouting more than scowling this time.

"Sorry, Bakugou," Mina added quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I won't do it again."

With his arms folded stubbornly, Katsuki looked away, acknowledging the apology with a little nod. In a moment of boldness Izuku leaned in, planting a little kiss on Katsuki's cheek, watching him flood with red as everyone else cooed at them.

He spluttered uselessly for a moment, settling for grabbing Izuku by the hair and giving him a shake.

"What was that for?" he choked out. "Sappy piece of shit."

"I wanted to make you smile!"

"Fuck off!"

Despite his words, he made no move to leave, even though Eijirou's guard on them had slackened a little. When Izuku reached out, eyes shining, Katsuki snatched his hand with a strange aggression, muttering under his breath even as their fingers laced together.

"Is it a secret?" Mina asked, taking Ochako's hand to match. "Or you just haven't talked about it?"

"The second one," Katsuki answered, well aware that Izuku would never dare to make that call. "It's still new."

"Then we need to go on a double date!" Ochako gasped, eyes lighting up. "It's so perfect! We finally have someone to go on dates with!"

"Ew," Katsuki pulled a face, as if the words somehow smelled awful. "No."

"We could do it once," Izuku said softly, squeezing at his hand. "It might be nice? You like them both! It's not like they're just my friends and you can't stand them or something."

"Shut up, nerd."

"We'd love to," Izuku grinned, ignoring Katsuki's little huff. "Just let us know when and where!"

"The things I do for you, shit head," Katsuki grumbled. "Damn social creature."

"Kacchan says he's looking forward to it!" Izuku beamed. "Sorry, I might have to translate sometimes!"

Despite himself, Katsuki laughed, elbowing Izuku in the ribs sharply as he finally picked up his chopsticks.

"Eat your damn food, nerd. You need your strength for when I beat your ass in training."

"You're on!"

He shoved his mouth full of rice and vegetables Katsuki had packed for him, the conversation quickly ending now that both of them were distracted by food, and finally Eijirou backed off to give them some space. He sat down on Katsuki's other side, flicking one of his fries into Katsuki's bowl just to see him scowl. Within a month of them all moving into the dorms, people had learned of Katsuki's aversion to fried food. If it was available from a shitty chain resturant in the mall, he was having none of it. Most of the class respected his self-control and healthy eating habits, but of course Katsuki's friends couldn't just leave it alone, they had to constantly tease him with greasy, salty, shitty food.

It was kind of cute the way he tried to police his friends' eating habits, too. Every time Denki reached for a bar of chocolate or a bowl of chips, Katsuki was there to glare at him and make him put it down. Every time Mina got lazy and began scrolling through delivery apps on her phone, Katsuki was there to slam a bowl of salad in front of her and tell her to "shove that in her face while he cooked the rest". He was well aware that they went against his best attempts once in a while, grabbing burgers and fries for lunch like Eijirou, or sneaking out for massive icecream sundaes like Sero and Denki. Izuku still smiled fondly any time he saw the protectiveness, though, and did his best to make good choices any time Katsuki was within eyeshot.

Katsuki threw the greasy fry back at Eijirou with perfect aim, slamming him right in the face, and Izuku almost spat out his food when he laughed. The look on Eijirou's face was just too perfect, a quick change from teasing to stunned when suddenly salt and oil were staining his cheek.

"Idiot," Katsuki said quietly, shoving Izuku lightly as he tried to contain his fit of giggles. "Shut up and eat."

"I'm trying my best!"

When Katsuki ruffled his hair, Izuku was caught by surprise a little, but still he smiled sweetly and let it happen. Any time Katsuki touched him so casually, whether it be teasing or affectionate, it still made him feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

"Aww, look at you two," Ochako cooed. "You're so cute!"

"Shut the hell up," Katsuki growled, snatching his hand back in a hurry. "Pay attention to your damn girlfriend."

With a laugh, Mina threw her arm around Ochako's shoulders, dragging her into a big hug.

"Yeah, babe, pay attention to me!" she grinned, planting a sloppy kiss on Ochako's cheek. "I'll fade away without your gorgeous eyes on me!"

Katsuki mimed gagging, getting another round of giggles from Izuku, his hand clapped over his mouth to keep from spilling his rice. Despite himself, Katsuki smiled at the motion, scarlet eyes locked on Izuku as he nearly doubled over.

"Idiot," he said softly, squeezing Izuku's hand under the table. "You're such a dumbass."

─────

When the night of their double-date rolled around, Izuku was nervous. Thursday evening, as he sat with Shouto to work on their homework, the girls had shown up with wide grins stretched across their faces. He groaned when they slapped tickets into his hand for the next night, some extra-cheesy romance movie that seemed like too much even for Ochako. But they refused to take no for an answer, and he conceded a sigh and a little nod.

"I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee Kacchan will go along with it!"

On some level, he kind of hoped Katsuki would refuse – would be strong enough to get them out of the ridiculous cliché where Izuku was not. Despite a few complaints, though, Katsuki never actually objected to going. Izuku took that as a victory, despite his earlier hopes. Even with such an un-Katsuki-like date on the table, he still went along with it, for his friends and for Izuku.

Sure enough, Friday came, and as he changed out of his uniform into something Katsuki would deem somewhat acceptable – he could never get on board with fashion, but he at least knew that Katsuki despised his "T-Shirt" t-shirts – he braced himself for a night of Katsuki's frustrated whines. They just had to get through the night, though. He just had to get Katsuki through one gross movie that hopefully wouldn't have too many innuendos that made Katsuki cringe, and then they were free of the obligation if it didn't go well.

As they walked to the theatre, Ochako threw an arm around Izuku's shoulders, dragging him ahead to look in some little store window. When he looked back, he saw Mina clutching at Katsuki's sleeve, the pair speaking in voices that seemed far too soft for either of them, and Ochako gave him a knowing little smile.

"She was worried about the other day," she whispered. "That he might still be mad at her for the virgin jokes. Apparently she never took him seriously when he told her to shut up about it."

"Oh," Izuku smiled faintly. "She's a good friend, he knows that, even if she says stupid things occasionally."

He watched out the corner of his eye as Mina threw an arm around Katsuki, pulling him into a hug with a little grin. Katsuki shoved her off, grabbing her in a headlock and messing up her hair while she laughed and squirmed, and when they broke apart, they exchanged fist bumps with a little smirk.

"I think we're good," Ochako giggled. "Back to normal."

"As normal as their squad can get, at least," Izuku laughed.

Katsuki grabbed him by the arm when they caught up, dragging him away from the window with a muttered complaint about distractions and being late for the movie.

"Everything okay, Kacchan?" he asked quietly, when they stepped through the theatre doors.

"Yeah, we're good. Let's get this dumb movie over with."

Sure enough, the movie was terrible. Ochako was a sap for rom-coms, Izuku knew from experience, but the one they'd picked turned out to be just so over the top that even she couldn't get all misty-eyed and sniffly about it. Instead, the four of them sat in the back row of a half-empty theatre, huddled together over their snacks and snickering at the ridiculous antics onscreen. They spent the entire two hours mocking the stupid decisions the characters made, repeating their cheesiest lines in squeaky tones, stifling their giggles in their hands as they tried not to choke on their drinks.

"You want me to serenade you with music older than your mother?" Izuku teased, nudging Katsuki lightly. "On a boombox the size of my torso?"

"Only if I can stand outside your dorm room in the rain holding a bunch of dead flowers," Katsuki snorted back. "You're getting drowned flowers for every holiday, for making me sit through this shit."

"Eat more popcorn, you'll feel better."

He shoved the bucket in Katsuki's face, watching him stuff a handful in his mouth, then leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"You spilled some butter," he teased. "I got it for you."

"You fuckin' belong in this movie."

They were still laughing about it on their way home, as they stopped for late-night ramen, stuffing themselves full in a dark side street. Even when they got back to the dorms, they were still giggling like idiots, and Izuku suspected a lot of it was due to the time – all their classmates were in their dorms, if not already asleep, by the time they made it back, and Izuku was feeling the fatigue weighing on him despite their night full of laughter.

"This was fun!" Ochako said brightly, hugging Izuku tight. "Thank you for coming with us!"

"We should do it again!" Izuku agreed, hugging Mina in turn when she dove on him. "Thanks for inviting us!"

To his surprise, Katsuki didn't protest when Mina hugged him briefly, even allowing a quick one from Ochako without protest.

Yep, definitely tired.

They parted ways with the girls at the elevators, heading up to their bedrooms, and Izuku walked Katsuki right to his door, grinning as he squeezed at a warm hand. He wasn't even sure when they'd started holding hands again – they'd broken apart for the hugs, but by the time they reached Katsuki's floor they were back, it had practically become second nature. He was gonna have to be careful in class, make sure he didn't silently reach for the hand while they were listening to All Might's instructions for their lesson.

"Thank you for coming," Izuku smiled, pulling Katsuki into his arms. "I know the big noisy dates aren't your thing, so thank you for giving it a chance for me! I had a lot of fun with you!"

"It was alright," he admitted, shrugging. "I guess we can do it again, if you want. As long as it's not all the time."

"I promise our next one can just be quietly reading together again," Izuku grinned. "Maybe we could finally go on that library date?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Or, um, the arcade is fine too. Or rock climbing."

"All my old ideas?" Izuku asked, holding him a little tighter. "Thank you for not telling me they were stupid."

"They're not. We can still do stuff, it doesn't all have to be quiet. I, um, I don't mind talking and stuff too. With you, I mean."

"Thank you, I'm glad," he smiled. "Alright, we should get some rest, then!"

"Yeah. Next time, plan this shit during the day."

"Deal." Izuku agreed. "Now, this is where I'm supposed to kiss you goodnight, right?"

He smiled teasingly, but then Katsuki's arm was around his neck, leaning in close. When their lips met, Izuku felt like the world stopped spinning – all that mattered was that one moment, with Katsuki's lips on his, so warm and soft and-

Katsuki stepped back, a little blush in his cheeks despite his cheeky little smirk.

"Goodnight, nerd."

"G-Goodnight, K-Kacchan."