A Chance Encounter (Chapter 2)

He’d seen the word asexual before, of course – in high school biology classes, as they talked about reproduction and all that shit he’d discarded from his brain the moment he left school. When he saw it in a totally different context, scrolling through internet forums late at night, he didn’t know quite what to think. It felt like he’d frozen in his chair, unable to scroll past, but unable to investigate further, either. In hindsight, it was almost like he’d felt a connection to it immediately, but in reality he suspected it was more logic-based than anything superstitious. He knew what the word meant in a scientific sense, so the sexuality equivalent was pretty logical. It was just… Too good to be true, maybe.

He’d taken hours to actually look it up. It was just too much to think about all at once, he needed time to process before he went down that rabbit hole. And when he did finally look it up, it still took a while to really sink in.

He wished he could say it immediately felt right, that it hit him like a ton of bricks and fit like a glove right away. That would have been a massive lie, though – it was more like he’d been trying on pants in a cramped dressing room for twenty-one years. Some of them were just completely the wrong size, like he couldn’t get them over his thighs to even try. Others he’d been able to make work, with a few stitches to hem them shorter or a belt to hold them up. When he’d finally come across a pair that fit, he’d been wary – checking every angle for holes, sitting and standing to test the stretch, until he’d finally decided yes, these fit me.

And even then, he’d kept it to himself for a little while. It was nice to finally have something that fit him, something that made so much sense, but wearing it out into the world was something much… bigger.

So he kept it in, held it like a dying flame inside his chest that might go out if he called too much attention to it. And even hidden away inside, it made him feel so much more normal. There were other people out there who were like him, other people who felt the same awkward discomfort from the sex-obsessed peers and went through the same struggle of what am I in their teenage years. In fact, he discovered, there was a whole network of people like him, online. They had their own website, to meet and chat and share their stories, to make friends and even find dates with other people who were like themselves. That was far beyond where Katsuki stood, but he still liked knowing it was there, that when he felt the need to reach out, there would be an entire community of people to welcome him.

Until he’d run into a familiar face in the grocery store, of all places. It was such a cliché, straight out of a bad soap opera, as he’d reached for the last bag of frozen pork cutlets only to be beaten to it by a hand covered in scars.

“Kacchan?”

Katsuki’s head jerked up, eyes widening when he saw the bright smile before him, freckled face lighting up as he held his frozen prize.

“Are you visiting your parents?” he asked, somewhat pointlessly Katsuki thought. “I’m staying with Mom for the weekend. It’s been so long!”

“Yeah,” Katsuki nodded faintly, eyes darting down to the bag of pork. “Your mother lets you make katsudon with frozen pork?”

“Shhh, she doesn’t know,” Izuku laughed. “It’s not like you to buy frozen stuff, either.”

“Old hag demanded them,” he sighed. “Apparently they eat them when they can’t be bothered cooking real food.”

“Oh! You take them, then!”

“Haah? No way, nerd. Let them put some effort in.”

“But they won’t believe you,” Izuku laughed, tucking the bag into Katsuki’s shopping cart neatly. “She’ll say you’re lying about them being sold out so that you don’t have to buy them.”

“Hmph.”

“Are you busy tonight? We should grab a drink or something and catch up.”

“Not busy,” Katsuki grumbled, looking away from the glaringly bright smile. “We can.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool!” Izuku clapped his hands in his delight, like a damn cartoon character. “I’ll come by your parents’ place around seven? We can walk together.”

“Sure.”

“Okay! Great! I’ll see you then!”

Katsuki nodded, and Izuku gave him one last smile before he diverted his cart, heading off down the aisle to finish his shopping. A quiet hum went with him, a habit Izuku apparently hadn’t kicked since they were children, and with another quick sigh, Katsuki headed the other direction.

─────

“Are you going out?”

Katsuki nodded, reaching for his keys on the hall table.

“Deku is in town too,” he explained, when Masaru waited patiently. “He wanted to get drinks and catch up.”

“Oh, that’s great! Inko mentioned he was visiting soon, I didn’t know it was this week.”

“Yeah, ran into him at the supermarket.”

“You got your keys? Do you need cash?”

“No, I’m good,” Katsuki snorted. “I’m not a kid anymore, I have an income.”

“Sure, but you have bills now too!”

“I’m good. Um, thanks.”

“Have a great night, Katsuki. Say hi to Izuku for me!”

“I will.”

His phone showed six fifty-nine as he stepped outside, and when he saw the twitchy figure waiting at the gate, he snorted. Almost three years had passed since they finished school and went their separate ways, but still he could read the nerd like a damn book. Too anxious to be late, too anxious to be early, so instead he arrived early and waited for exactly the right time to knock on the door.

“Hey,” Katsuki spoke up, swinging the gate open and making him jump. “You could’ve come in.”

“I didn’t want to rush you, if you weren’t ready,” Izuku laughed. “But here you are, right on time as always.”

“Could say the same about you.”

“I didn’t want Kacchan to complain if I was late.”

“Fair.”

He closed the gate behind him, and shoved his hands in his pockets as they began to walk. The street was quiet, only the glow of streetlights guiding their way with the moon obscured by clouds. Katsuki felt peaceful, for once – living up in Sendai had given him plenty of time out in nature, but so much noise pollution to go with it. He could only imagine it was even worse for Izuku, working in the middle of Tokyo.

“How’s your ankle doing?” Izuku asked, not bothering to look over. “Better now?”

“Yeah, had a couple of weeks off-duty. I go back Monday, so the hag demanded I come spend some time with them first.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Came down Wednesday.”

“Heading back tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too,” Izuku hummed. “Only takes me an hour though, must be a lot longer for you.”

“Mm. An hour to Tokyo, another hour and a half to Sendai.”

“We could catch the train together, if you want someone to hang out with.”

“If you want. I’ll probably leave around six, get me home in time for an early night.”

“Sounds good! I’ll bring dinner, we can eat together on the train!”

“Since when can you cook?”

“I’ve been practising!”

“Alright, make me something good. No frozen shit.”

“I promise!”

“I’ll pick you up, then. About six. Don’t spend too long on the waterworks.”

“We’ve gotten used to it,” Izuku laughed. “It’s been what, five years since we moved into the dorms? We’re pretty good at saying goodbye by now.”

Izuku slid open the door of a little bar, well-known in their town, and before they could even step through the doorway the room was erupting into cheers. Katsuki groaned, but Izuku seemed oblivious to it all, looking around with his typical little smile as if everyone was welcomed that way.

“Welcome home!” the man behind the bar called, shooting them a wave. “Our favourite heroes! Come on in!”

“Oh, thank you,” Izuku grinned, finally catching on. “It’s good to be back!”

He was deep in conversation with the bartender by the time Katsuki closed the door behind them, wiping his shoes and reluctantly heading over to join them. He nodded faintly when the man looked at him, didn’t bother to wait for the words, and the moment he sat down there was a marker being thrust into his hand. A collection of framed photos and news articles was quickly placed in front of them, and Katsuki signed them obediently, right next to Izuku’s loopy autograph.

“Thank you so much!” the man gushed, when he collected them back up to hang back on the walls. “Any time we get visitors from out of town we tell them all about you two, I swear half of them don’t even believe us. Sometimes your old classmates are in here and get to regale them with stories about your school days.”

“Ugh” Katsuki grimaced. “I was an asshole in school.”

“Kacchan has always been amazing,” Izuku huffed. “My school days are much more concerning.”

“No no, it’s all great,” the man assured them. “The perfect stories of how you can grow and change as a person!”

“I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

“Kacchan is amazing,” Izuku repeated, leaning in closer and giving him a cheeky smile. “You know it’s true.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

“Can you autograph something for me too? You still haven’t.”

“You’re such a nerd I swear to God.”

“That’s not a no.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, ignoring it in favour of putting in his drink order. He threw the first glass down before Izuku’s was even served, nudging it pointedly back across the bar, and shooting the man an approving nod when he refilled it quickly.

“Is my company that bad?” Izuku laughed.

“When you start fanboying over autographs and shit, yeah.”

“It’s okay Kacchan, I’ll give you mine too.”

“I don’t want your shitty autograph.”

“Sure you don’t. I bet you have all my merch back home.”

“I have one piece of your merch that you sent to me and I’m going to burn it when I get home just to spite you for this.”

Izuku was far too used to Katsuki’s attitude. He didn’t seem even remotely concerned by the threat, just kept smiling his stupid smile as if Katsuki had been talking about the weather.

“So fill me in,” he prompted, as Katsuki took a sip from his drink. “How have you been? What have you been doing?”

“Just working,” Katsuki shrugged. “By the time I eat, sleep, and work, it’s time to start the cycle over again.”

“At least you’re still getting plenty of sleep!”

“I guess so. Um, what about you? You probably have some kind of social life, I guess.”

“I try! Uraraka and Iida live nearby, so I hang out with them when we have the time, and Todoroki still visits regularly!”

“Mm, that’s… Good.”

“Yeah!”

“What about… Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

“Mm… No,” Izuku shrugged. “Not long after we graduated I figured out that I was Ace, so dating is like… A lot of effort. I mean, sex is fine, but it’s not for me I guess.”

For a second Katsuki just stared at him, fumbling for words that didn’t want to come out, and it took a moment for Izuku to look up and see his confusion.

“Oh, do you-”

“Me too,” Katsuki cut him off. “I… Me too.”

“Oh,” Izuku grinned, face lighting up all over again. “That explains a lot, actually! Like, how we were the only ones who were consistently focused in school?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki nodded awkwardly. “It’s um, a recent discovery, for me, though. I uh, you’re the first person I’ve told.”

“Really?! I’m honoured!”

“Yeah, I… Learned about it a couple of weeks ago. Learned the word, I mean. And it kind of… Fits. Bi and Pan were close, but Ace is the first thing that seems…”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded understandingly, when Katsuki trailed off. “I’m really glad you told me.”

“Me too, I guess.”

Izuku held up his glass, and Katsuki cracked the tiniest of smiles as he clinked his own against it, taking a long sip of sharp vodka.

“To us,” Izuku beamed.

“To us.”