A Careful EmbrAce - Chapter 1

Midoriya Izuku grew up on the internet. What began with just the comment sections on videos grew quickly to hero forums, social networks, and even the occasional cringy "your mother sold you to the number one hero" fanfic. By the time he was fourteen he was a seasoned pro with his own hero analysis blog that no one from his "real" life would ever recognise was him.

Except maybe Kacchan, but the fact that his blog was fairly popular probably kept him safe from that wrath. Katsuki would never admit to seeing one of his posts if it had over ten thousand views.

So when Ochako came out at the end of their first year at U.A. he wasn't nearly as innocent about sexuality as his friends believed. He smiled sweetly as Ochako explained to him that sometimes girls liked other girls, nodding along, and did his best to hold back his meme-loving ass's laughter.

He'd been on the internet way too long to assume everyone around him was straight.

It hadn't really occurred to him that all of his friends were assuming he was straight, either. He supposed it made sense, with how flustered he got around girls, but frankly he suspected they just didn't pay enough attention to him around guys. The taut abs and tight butts, the broad chests and thick biceps, every venture into the changing rooms was a disaster in the making, where Izuku had to just avert his eyes and hope for the best.

The day Mina asked Ochako out was a happy one for all of them – Ochako had been pining for months, after all. She ran full-throttle into the kitchen to tell them, as Izuku and Tenya cooked dinner together, and Izuku hugged her tightly as he tried to decipher her squeals.

"She asked me out!" was enough to understand what was going on, and then Izuku was celebrating too, and Tenya, and even Shouto when he came to investigate the commotion. "We're going to the mall on Saturday!"

"I'm so happy for you!" Izuku beamed, patting her back fondly as they parted. "You're gonna have such a great time!"

"You're okay with this, right, Deku? You understand the whole lesbian thing?"

"Yeah, of course," Izuku laughed. "Whoever you love is okay by me!"

"Thank you!"

She ran off again just as quickly, to tell everyone that she finally had a date with her crush, and when Tenya excused himself to the bathroom, Izuku found an odd look waiting on Shouto's face.

"Why does she keep asking if you're okay with it?"

"Ahhh, yeah," Izuku smiled sheepishly. "She was worried I was too innocent or something? I guess she wasn't sure if I knew what a lesbian was?"

"She knows you like guys, doesn't she?"

Izuku froze, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, and Shouto just waited with his usual impassive look, waiting for him to find the words.

"Did I tell you?" He asked finally. "I don't remember."

"Is it a secret?" Shouto asked, tilting his head slightly in a weirdly cute look of confusion. "Sorry, I didn't realise."

"No! It's fine! I just- When Uraraka came out, I realised people didn't know. I didn't want to steal her thunder though, you know?"

"Oh, so she doesn't know."

"No," Izuku smiled faintly. "I mean, I like both, so it's not a problem, I just..."

"I won't say a word," Shouto assured him. "I just thought everyone knew about your whole Kacchan thing."

"W-What?!" Izuku stumbled, burning bright red. "What are you talking about?! Me?! Never!"

"Oh, is that a secret too? I'm sorry."

"N-No, it's- Well yes, he would kill me, but I didn't... I didn't realise it was so obvious."

"You spend half your day yelling 'Kacchan sugoi' at him, I thought everyone knew."

"I don't!" Izuku whined, covering his face with his hands in a futile attempt to cover his blush. "Am I that bad?!"

"I believe Bakugou is still oblivious, if that's what you're concerned about," Shouto hummed thoughtfully. "Would you like me to find out if he's gay for you?"

"No!" he insisted in a hurry, shaking his head. "Please!"

"Okay," Shouto nodded. "If I can do anything to help, please tell me."

"You... want to help?" Izuku asked incredulously. "You're not going to tell me he's rude and awful and would make a terrible boyfriend?"

"You know him better than the rest of us," he shrugged. "If you see something that we don't, who am I to stop you?"

"Th-Thank you, that's- That's actually really nice of you."

"Who knows, maybe I'll see it too, soon," Shouto mused, glancing toward the noisy living room. "If Uraraka and Ashido want to spend more time together, I imagine we'll be spending more time with their group."

"O-Oh. I hadn't thought about that."

"Don't worry, Midoriya," Shouto said firmly, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll make sure you get to sit next to Bakugou."

"What?! No!"

To Izuku's disbelief, Shouto smiled at him as he left – a sweet, teasing smile that he rarely saw.

Clearly their class was a bad influence on him.

─────

Izuku tried his best to ignore the little smile and the thumbs up Shouto aimed at him, as he slid into the last seat at the lunch table. They'd commandeered the biggest table in the room, loading it up with Mina's squad and Ochako's alike, and of course Izuku's dumb luck had left him sitting next to Katsuki.

It made sense, to be fair. Most of them avoided sitting next to him, preferring to stay out of his punching range. Eijirou was the only one brave enough to sit by him willingly, with Denki across the table where he'd be able to see an attack coming before it hit him, and since Mina was snuggled up next to Ochako, Katsuki remained wide open on his right.

His favoured arm for punching.

Great.

He sneaked a glance over, as he set his food down, and immediately Katsuki was glaring at him, snatching his lunch tray away.

"Kacchaaan!" he whined. "I'm hungry!"

"What is this shit?" Katsuki demanded, prodding at a thick slice of white bread. "Bread? Cheese?"

"I'm allowed to eat sandwiches!" Izuku whined, grabbing his food back and taking a stubborn bite. "What are you eating that's so healthy, huh?"

Katsuki opened his lunchbox with a smug smile, showing off layers of lean, protein-filled meat, a rainbow of healthy vegetables, a couple of perfectly spherical little rice balls on the side for his carb fix, and even a tiny fruit salad for dessert.

"Whatever," Izuku grumbled, looking away with a little pout. "We get it, Kacchan is perfect, blah blah blah."

"Don't you forget it."

He took another stubborn bite of his sandwich, glaring daggers at Katsuki, but when a spoonful of chicken and vegetables landed on his plate he couldn't help but be surprised, his eyes widening.

"Eat it," Katsuki demanded, shoving a scoop of it in his own mouth. "Stop making it so damn easy for me to beat your ass."

"O-Okay," Izuku conceded, setting his sandwich down obediently. "Um, thanks, Kacchan."

"Whatever, nerd, just eat the damn food while it's still hot."

Out the corner of his eye, Izuku saw another little thumbs up that he pointedly ignored, blushing as he stuffed his mouth with carrot and mushroom.

"Oh, it's spicy," he said stupidly, staring at the plate for a moment before he took another bite. "I didn't realise."

"Obviously."

"Yeah, I should've known!" he smiled, taking a piece of chicken next. "It's really yummy, Kacchan!"

"Damn right it is."

Lunch became oddly calm, with the small peace offering, and Izuku managed to hold an actual conversation with Katsuki for the first time in quite a while. He'd forgotten how much he missed just talking to the guy, spending time with him, even if he knew it would never be as more than tentative friends and rivals. They'd been so busy lately, between schoolwork and internships and studying for their upcoming exams, not to mention Katsuki always going to bed so ridiculously early.

He'd missed his Kacchan.

But no, he couldn't think about it that way – he needed to stop thinking of Katsuki as his, for one thing. It was never going to happen, not in a million years, and he needed to hurry up and accept that.

"I'm not doing this," Katsuki said stubbornly, snapping Izuku out of his daydreams. "Shut it, Sparky."

"Oh come on, I didn't ask you about your sex life!"

"I'm leaving."

"Come onnnnn," Denki whined. "I'm sorry, dude, I didn't know it was that bad."

Izuku stuffed the last of his food in his mouth, smiling faintly when Shouto reached across the table and took his trash knowingly. With a little nod, he pushed his chair back, hurrying after Katsuki into the hall.

"Fuck off," he growled, without looking back. "I've told you a thousand times that I hate it when you talk about that gross sex shit, can't a guy eat his lunch without being assaulted by those disgusting visuals?!"

"I, um, don't think we've had that conversation," Izuku said sheepishly, watching as Katsuki whirled around, stunned. "Sorry, were you expecting Kirishima?"

"Yeah," Katsuki agreed, his voice oddly faint. "I, uh... I'm..."

"Apology accepted," Izuku grinned, slowly walking nearer to stand at his side. "The food was yummy, thank you. Can I, um, hang out with you? I promise I won't talk about gross shit."

"All this shit with Raccoon-Face and and Round-Face has got them obsessed with dating and shit," Katsuki explained in a grumble. "It's just... You know."

"You don't like hearing about it?" Izuku smiled faintly. "Well, you don't have to worry about it from me!"

"Yeah, no kidding, nerd-ass," Katsuki snorted. "Not like you've ever dated."

"Yeah."

"Do you, uhh... Shit. You know. Like that stuff?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about this?" Izuku smiled wryly, bumping into him with his shoulder as they began to walk. "We can talk about something else."

"Yeah, alright."

It took a long, silent hallway for Izuku to catch on, to realise his mistake.

"Do you, um, want to talk about it?" he asked awkwardly. "I know you don't want to hear about the, uh, gross stuff, but- I mean, did you want...?"

"You asking if I'm gay?" Katsuki snorted, elbowing him in the ribs. "You gonna make stupid jokes about Shitty-Hair's hero costume too?"

"W-Well Kirishima is an attractive guy, I wouldn't blame you if-"

"No," Katsuki cut him off quickly. "I don't give a shit about any of that."

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"I'm, um... Ace."

Izuku paused, forgetting how to walk for a moment as the words set in. He'd heard the term before, or at least read it online, but he'd never given it that much thought. It made sense, though, from everything he knew about his K- not his, thank you very much, brain- about Kacchan's mind.

"Yeah," Izuku nodded. "That, um, makes sense."

"You... Know what that means?"

"Yeah! Of course!"

"Oh."

"Did the others not understand?"

"No. I, um, only told Shitty-Hair. Had to send him a bunch of articles and shit to read."

"Oh," Izuku smiled. "It's sweet that they took the time to understand, though!"

"I guess," he shrugged. "They just... can't cope with the idea that I don't want to hear about it. It's not like I don't give them plenty of opportunities to talk without me around, I just... Ugh. It's probably selfish to ask for that, huh?"

"No, not at all! I'm sorry if I've ever done it! I'll be extra careful from now on!"

"Yeah. Um, thanks."

"Any time, Kacchan!"

Izuku spotted an empty seat in the shade, not far from the changing rooms where they would need to go after lunch, and with a smile he walked toward it, glad to find Katsuki following at his heels.

"Are you Aro too?" Izuku asked, curiosity getting the better of him. "You just want nothing to do with any of it?"

"I'm not sure," Katsuki admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck as he sat. "It just seems like everything leads there, you know? Unless I manage to find some other Ace person who's willing to put up with me, it's not really worth it."

"What if it was someone who wasn't Ace but they were onboard with not going there?"

"That's never gonna happen."

"But if it did? Would you consider it?"

"It's not g-"

"Theoretically," Izuku pushed.

"Yeah, I guess?" he shrugged. "If they want to just jerk off the whole time we're together or something. Or I guess, like, polyamory maybe? If they want to do that shit together and involve me in the stuff that isn't digusting?"

"See, you have options!" Izuku grinned, nudging him again lightly. "This might be on the gross-stuff spectrum so tell me to fuck off if you want, but have you ever done that? Jerked off?"

"I've tried it," Katsuki grumbled, face flooding red. "I mean, it was fine, but it wasn't..."

"All it's cracked up to be?" Izuku laughed. "Yeah, I get that."

"Why are you suddenly so damn curious, anyway? You starting 'Shitty Nerd Sexuality Analysis for the Future' or something?"

"Maybe I just want to ask you on a date."

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and Katsuki's eyes narrowed on him when he blushed.

"Why the fuck would you do that?"

"B-Because at risk of being blown the hell up, I've l-liked you for ages, Kacchan. A-And sex is fine and all but I would be m-more than willing to forgo it if I could date you without it."

"Are you fuckin' serious? Why me of all people?"

"Because you're Kacchan," Izuku pouted. "You've always been the most amazing person in my life. I've always liked you, ever since we were toddlers. Why do you think I always followed you around even though you told me to leave you alone?"

"I didn't really want you to leave," Katsuki admitted, looking away in a hurry. "I was glad you were behind me."

"Is that a yes?"

"One date, nerd. It better be good."

"It'll be the best! I promise! Um, Saturday okay? We can shower and change after training in the morning, and we'll go out after that!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! It'll be amazing, just like Kacchan!"

"Dumb nerd," Katsuki shoved him lightly, looking up when the bell rang above them to signal time for class. "I don't do all the sappy shit. We're not, like, eating from the same plate of spaghetti or some shit."

"Okay, noted," Izuku giggled. "Anything else?"

"I'm not gonna sing you a dumb ballad while we wrestle in the forest."

That one took Izuku a moment longer to figure out, wracking his brains.

"Like The Lion King?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, no singing and no lions, got it."

"And don't try to make me link tails with you on a chimney in the moonlight."

"What are you even talking about?"

"The Aristocats, you uncultured swine."

"Kacchan, do you only know about romance from cartoon animal movies?"

"Shut up."

"You're so cute," Izuku teased, grinning when Katsuki's face flushed pink again. "I promise it won't be a sappy cartoon date, it'll be fun!"

"It better be."

When their friends and classmates emerged from the building, their excitable voices hitting them long before their bodies did, Izuku stood up with a tiny smile.

"I won't say anything yet. You can let me know what you think of my date before I tell anyone."

"Okay."

"Ready to come get your butt kicked?"

"Dream on, loser."