The two kinds of people - Part 3

When Izuku saw the toy sitting in a shop window, he knew what he had to do. He was in the door before his friends even noticed he was moving, so set on his new mission that he didn’t even notice when they stopped to stare after him, baffled. All they could see from the street was Izuku pointing at the window, pulling a wad of cash from his wallet and counting it out at the register.

But the moment Izuku wrapped his arms around the toy, he knew he’d made the right decision. It was huge, and soft, and squishy as hell, and it barely fit in his arms until he squished it just right to get a good grip on the thing. His friends were dumbfounded by his delight, but Izuku didn’t even care to try and explain himself – he was too busy thinking about taking his new treasure home with him.

When Katsuki got back to his dorm, a little sore from a good workout, but clean and warm from the shower afterward, he almost tripped over the green mound left in his doorway. He froze to stare at it for a moment, realisation slowly dawning on him as he took in the green fur and red spikes, the long tail curled around its body. He picked the thing up to take a look, sighing to himself when he saw the goofy smile on its face, with big embroidered eyes and a toothy grin that didn’t suit the creature at all.

Despite his sigh, he wrapped his arms around its middle and carried it into his bedroom, setting it down on his duvet to take another look. It was massive, bigger than his damn pillow, he wasn’t sure how he was even going to fit in the bed with it.

Well, other than not. He supposed he could just leave it on the floor instead, but somehow that was the second option to cross his mind. He knew exactly who it had to have come from, the timing was way too convenient to have been anyone else, and that knowledge made him strangely warm inside. He knew it didn’t mean anything special, Deku was just teasing him, but all the same it was kind of nice to have such a cheesy gift from the person he...

Liked.

It was still hard to think the word, let alone say it out loud. Even though he’d realised it weeks ago, he just couldn’t quite wrap his head around the concept. He’d never really had crushes before, had just kind of thought that gene was missing from his DNA, but he was starting to think maybe it was something else – maybe he’d been too busy liking Deku for all these years without even realising it, too focussed on him to crush on anyone else.

He pulled out his phone, leaning back against the squishy dinosaur as he tapped out a message.

Damn it nerd, I only wear the thing because it’s warm.

His phone pinged only seconds later, a bunch of laughing emojis lighting up his screen, and Katsuki couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Okay, Kacchan! ^^

I’m serious, asshole.

Whatever you say! ^^

Cut it out! I mean it!

I believe you! ^^

Izuku smiled to himself as he stared at his phone, waiting for another stubborn reply. He knew Kacchan was telling the truth, he’d never questioned that for a moment, but he also knew that the exclamation marks and little smiley faces would absolutely have Kacchan fuming, convinced he was being sarcastic or just humouring him to let him save face. It would piss him off to no end, and as much as he felt a little guilty for it, it was also kinda fun. Teasing Kacchan was far too easy

On a whim, he opened up his bottom drawer and began rifling through the contents, a lot of out-of-season or outgrown clothes with sentimental value buried away where they didn’t get in his way on a daily basis, and he lit up when he found what he wanted. He pulled it out triumphantly, tucking it under an arm, and then he was out the door, padding down the stairs with a grin splitting his cheeks.

He knocked on the door lightly, waiting patiently for a few seconds before he knocked again, the room silent within. It took a third set before cranky footsteps finally headed over, yanking the door open and freezing in his tracks. His mouth hung open a little, as if he’d been about to yell and just suddenly lost his voice, instead staring blankly at Izuku’s smile.

“Let’s have a sleepover!”

Kacchan just stared at him still, but when Izuku nudged past him he made no effort to stop it. He slid his way inside, heading straight for the snack drawer and frowning when he found the stocks dwindling. He rummaged through what was left, humming to himself in contemplation, then glanced back at Kacchan, still standing oddly still in the doorway.

“We should watch a movie,” he suggested. “Have you run out of that good popcorn? Oh no, did I eat it all last time? You should have told me, I would have bought you more!”

Kacchan finally seemed to snap out of his daze, losing the door and heading for the closet, producing a grocery bag of extra snacks he hadn’t yet added to the stash. Izuku suspected he was the only one who knew the drawer existed, tucked away in his desk where his other friends wouldn’t look for fear of getting sucked into a black hole of homework. It wasn’t until he turned to the bed to get comfortable that he finally spotted the new addition to Kacchan’s room, his smile stretching even wider when he saw the fluffy, happy dinosaur sitting atop Kacchan’s pillow – or, more accurately, sprawled across his bed. He knew the thing was big when he bought it, but there was something hilarious about just how much space it took up.

“He looks so comfy!” Izuku beamed, when Kacchan burned bright red. “Do you love him? I loved him, I couldn’t resist.”

Kacchan didn’t answer right away, but he did sit down beside it, staring down at the big, happy eyes. He raised a hand slowly, like he might think better of it before he got all the way there, and finally laid it on the spiky head.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “He’s cool.”

“I’m glad! And look!” He shook out the bundle from under his arm, waving it at Kacchan happily. “Ta-da!”

Kacchan sighed audibly when he saw the All Might onesie hanging from Izuku’s grip, but a tiny smile tugged at his lips when Izuku started getting dressed, zipping himself into the suit and pulling the bright yellow hood up. Two plush antlers stood straight up on the top, and Kacchan reached for one, using it to drag Izuku onto the bed amidst his giggles.

“You damn nerd,” he huffed, laughing all the same. “There go my plans for the night, I guess.”

“You didn’t have plans,” Izuku argued, sticking his tongue out playfully. “Oh no, I ruined your early night on a Saturday. God forbid!”

“Shut up.”

Side by side, they settled in on the bed, leaning against the wall to look at Katsuki’s television. They pulled up a cheesy superhero movie, and Katsuki pulled his dinosaur onesie on without even a prompt from Izuku, snuggling in with his big plushie in his lap and a bag of his favourite popcorn propped between them.

And if he eventually fell asleep there, head falling to rest on Izuku’s shoulder, no one ever had to know.