What do you need?

This fic was a commission for aziciel! Sorry again for the delay, the last couple of months have been a mess.

cw: depression and vague mentions of suicide, but no actual angst

─────

“Yo, I’m Katsuki, what do you need?”

He knew Aizawa would have his head for the words again next performance review, but he’d always hated the way his co-workers sounded, with their sickly-sweet how can I help you or thanks for reaching out. He was meant to make these people feel like friends, right? And he didn’t know a single person in the damn world who would greet their friend with thanks for reaching out!

“O-Oh, um, I’m… I’m Izuku.”

“Hey,” Katsuki leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the table. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good, and you?”

It took every ounce of Katsuki’s willpower to hold back his snort. The response was so automatic in some people, and apparently this new guy was no exception.

“Could be worse, y’know? Ate a good sandwich earlier, so that was cool. How about you? What’d you get up to today?”

“W-Well, I had work this morning.”

“Oh yeah? What do you do?”

“It’s nothing special, I’m just a convenience store cashier. It pays the bills though, you know? Or at least most of them.”

“Nothing special?” Katsuki smirked. “Where do you think I got my good sandwich from?”

Izuku laughed at that, strained as it was, and Katsuki took that as a personal victory – any time a client managed to laugh at one of his dumb jokes, he’d done a good job.

“What kind of sandwich was it?”

“Pork cutlet, the best kind. Ridiculously unhealthy, I know, but a man can treat himself to a greasy sandwich once in a while.”

“I love pork cutlets, I’ve been addicted to katsudon ever since I was a little kid.”

“Ahh, a man of taste. Next thing I know you’ll be telling me you loved All Might comics, too.”

There was a pause, and for a moment Katsuki wondered if he’d said something wrong.

“How did you know?” the voice squeaked finally. “I loved him, he was my hero. He still is, I guess.”

“Knew it. Anyone with such fine taste in sandwiches has to have good taste in heroes, too. You still read them? There are hundreds now.”

“I do. I know that’s silly, as an adult, but-”

“Nah dude, I read them too,” Katsuki assured him, adjusting his headset to get comfortable – this was gonna be a long one, he could already tell. Easy one, compared to some disaster calls he’d had, but long for sure. “Highlight of my month, when that new edition shows up at my door. That subscription service was the first thing I bought when I got a job as a teenager; first time I got paid, it went straight to those comics. I was such a nerd.”

“They’re so inspiring, though,” Izuku whispered. “I wish I was more like him.”

“Hmm. He’s not real though, you know? I mean, obviously you know.” Katsuki mused. “But of course we’re never gonna be as good as this made-up superhero, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from him though, right? Here’s a challenge for you, nerd: Imagine All Might is a real guy, he shows up at your convenience store one day to buy a damn good katsusando. Some kid says ‘I wanna be just like you’ and all that, what’s All Might gonna say to him?”

“I’m sure he’d be encouraging.”

“Specifically, though. Like, kid wants to know how to grow up to be just like All Might. Think he’s gonna say ‘spend your life in the gym until you can punch people in the face’?”

“No!” Izuku insisted. “Of course not!”

“Then tell me, what’s he gonna say?”

“Mm… Be nice to people, and help people out.”

“Yeah, sounds like the sort of dorky hero thing he’d say, I’m on board.”

“What about you? If he called you up, what would he say to you?”

“Well if he called me, he’d clearly have had a bad day,” Katsuki pointed out. “So we’d probably talk about his favourite comic books or something.”

Another tiny chuckle came over the line, and Katsuki surprised himself with how genuine his smile was.

“Ever had one of those little old ladies come into your store who can’t seem to remember why they came?”

“All the time,” Izuku lamented. “They just want to talk about their grandkids, then they pull out a list they can barely read and ask where every item is.”

“I bet you find them, though.”

“Of course I do! It’s not their fault they’re old, after all.”

“Bet you’re the type who walks them around the store and carries the basket and all.”

“I try,” Izuku admitted. “If it’s slow enough, I do. Occasionally I have a line at the counter and I can’t, I feel bad those days.”

“And you ask them about their day, yeah? Remember the names of their grandkids, if they’re regulars?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said quietly. “Am I that obvious?”

“So you’re helping people,” Katsuki smirked. “Being nice to people and helping them out?”

Izuku paused for a second, then another laugh came out, brighter than the last.

“I guess I am,” he acknowledged. “Even if it’s only small.”

“Help doesn’t need to be big,” Katsuki shrugged. “Sometimes all you need to do is smile as you hand them their sandwich.”

“I get the feeling you’re a bit peckish,” Izuku giggled. “You haven’t had a dinner break yet?”

“Nah, I didn’t have lunch that long ago. It was just a really good sandwich.”

“Well, I’m glad it was good. I’ll do my best to serve my customers good sandwiches too!”

“I know you will.”

Katsuki hummed to himself faintly, contemplating, but when Izuku didn’t speak up, he took the plunge.

“You wanna talk about why you called today?” he asked, trying his best to be gentle despite how every fibre of his being screamed against it. “We don’t have to, but if you want.”

“O-Oh. I actually- I kind of forgot about it all, for a minute there. You’re really good at this, you know.”

“Thanks, I guess. It’s just a conversation, no big deal. If you wanna just stick with the chatting, that’s cool too.”

“I guess I was just a bit lonely,” Izuku admitted – bingo, score one for Katsuki. “I’ve been dealing with depression for a while, and most of the time I’m okay! But it’s been kind of a long week and I just… I saw this number, on my way home from work. One of those posters, you know? ‘Reach out, we’re here to help’ and all that. I thought maybe it was… A sign? That’s stupid, I know.”

“It’s not,” Katsuki interjected. “It’s not stupid, not at all.”

“Thank you. It was Katsuki, right?”

“That’s me.”

“Thank you, Katsuki. You’ve really helped. I’ll let you get on to some other people, they could use your help too.”

“You sure? I’m not in a rush, it’s cool.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Izuku assured him, and Katsuki felt like he could hear a little smile in his tone. “Really, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. You can call back if you want, any time. If you need someone to talk to.”

“Um… This might be a silly question but… If I did, could I, like…”

“Ask for me?” Katsuki finished knowingly. “Yeah, you’d surprise the hell out of my boss, but you definitely can. If I’m on a call they’ll let you know and you can wait or call back, or if you’re feeling particularly shitty you can give one of the dimwits a go too. They’re alright.”

“Okay, maybe I’ll talk to you again then, one day. I hope you get another good sandwich soon.”

“Thanks, hope the old ladies don’t give you too much trouble.”

Izuku hung up the phone, and Katsuki waited for the sound of it disconnecting before he took off his headset. The computer wasn’t flashing angrily at him for calls waiting to be picked up, so he stepped away to refill his water bottle, raising an eyebrow when he found Mina grinning at him from the next cubicle over.

“Seems like you got a good one,” she said, pulling her headset down around her neck. “Good job, Blasty!”

“Shut up,” Katsuki snorted. “Just some nerd who needed a friend, no biggie.”

“You’re always good at those!” Mina praised, laughing when Katsuki narrowed his eyes at her. “I mean it! You’re not great at the delicate stuff, but when someone just needs to feel like they have someone who cares? You do good at that. You don’t tiptoe around them like I do. I get nervous that I’ll say something wrong and upset them!”

Katsuki shrugged, reaching into the freezer for some ice for his bottle, and taking a long swig of the cold water.

“I wouldn’t want that nervous shit, if it was me,” he grumbled. “Don’t wanna feel like they’re being paid to help, you know?”

“And that’s why you’re so good with those ones!”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Katsuki sat back down at his desk, sighing as he pulled his headset back on, and checking the log for any incoming calls. Still nothing – a rare blessing of a brief reprieve from disasters – so he reached into his backpack, smirking to himself as he opened his newest comic.

─────

By the time Izuku’s calls got more regular, Katsuki’s colleagues had gotten used to directing them his way. Katsuki didn’t have a lot of regulars, so it never took much effort to send Izuku to him and take over the new callers on the list, even if it occasionally meant Izuku had to wait ten minutes for him to pick up. On those days, Katsuki always dreaded the moment the call connected, half expecting to hear silence on the other end, but still he got that same tearful greeting.

“Hi Kacchan, sorry to both you.”

The nicknames had started around call three, when Izuku, feeling better, had called Katsuki cute. Katsuki had spluttered and protested, blushing for reasons he couldn’t quite understand, and with a little giggle Izuku had dubbed him Kacchan to match. Katsuki had retaliated with a Deku in protest, regretting it immediately, but Izuku had only laughed, accepted it readily as penance for starting it.

“Yo, Deku,” Katsuki picked up, when Eijirou shot him the familiar hand signals and sent the call his way. “How’s it going?”

“M’sorry Kacchan, I just-” Izuku sniffed, and Katsuki tightened his grip on his armrests, sitting up a little straighter. “It’s been… I couldn’t think of anyone else…”

“Hey, no, don’t apologise for calling,” Katsuki said firmly. “You know I’m here for you, and all that sappy shit. You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“I l-lost my j-job,” he mumbled. “The job teenagers do in their spare time, and I got fired from it. I’m pathetic.”

“You’re not,” Katsuki argued, ignoring the glare Aizawa gave him from across the room – he hated it when Katsuki took that tone with people. “Listen to me, Deku. You are not pathetic. You didn’t like your boss anyway, she sounded like a total dick. Good riddance, right? Time to find someone who appreciates you.”

“No one wants a loser like me, that’s the whole reason I took that job.”

“You’re not a loser. Losers don’t have such good taste in movies and comics. Hell, even your taste in novels is pretty good. I picked up that one you were telling me about, couldn’t put it down for hours. No loser can meet my picky standards for literature.”

“I appreciate the effort, Kacchan, but we both know it’s not the same.”

“It is the same. And this is an opportunity, right? You’re free to do whatever you want, so what’s your next step gonna be? What do you enjoy? What are you passionate about?”

“I don’t know anymore.”

“Well then you’ve got the perfect opportunity to figure it out, yeah? You could go visit your Mom, you said it’s been a while.”

“I’m gonna stay with her for a bit,” Izuku agreed. “Not much point living here if I’m not working here anymore, you know? And I don’t have a job to pay the bills. She said it’s okay if I stay a while, while I find a new job.”

“Any idea what kind of job, yet?”

“Probably something similar, I don’t really have qualifications to do anything else. I barely finished high school, never went to university. Maybe a supermarket or something, I dunno.”

“Whatever you find, you’ll do great at it. You always put your heart into whatever you do. Plus Ultra, right?”

“Yeah,” Izuku chuckled faintly. “Plus Ultra. I’ll do my best, even if it’s a silly job.”

“No such thing as a silly job, ya Deku. Wouldn’t exist if it was silly, right? Someone’s gotta fill the shelves and-”

“And sell you sandwiches?” Izuku finished, his voice a little lighter than it had started out.

“I was gonna say ‘and carry baskets for Grandmas’, but yeah, that too.”

“I guess someone has to,” Izuku acknowledged. “It’s just depressing to be that person. It’s different when you’re young and just working after school or whatever, but when you’re already in your late twenties and you’re still there, not studying or anything, just picking up as many shifts as they’ll give you and trying to make rent, it gets… Depressing.”

“I understand,” Katsuki nodded, even though he knew Izuku couldn’t see the motion. “But you’re a hard worker, right? Whatever it is you’re doing, you always do it the best you can. That’s admirable, no matter what the job is. You know how many of my friends and co-workers over the years have been lazy assholes? They just sit back and watch while I pick up the slack for them. I wish all my co-workers worked as hard as you do, Deku. You’re a good dude.”

“Thank you, Kacchan,” Izuku sniffed, but Katsuki pretended not to hear the tears. “I’d better go, Mom is gonna come pick me up soon. I just needed to talk to someone first, thank you for being here for me.”

“I always am, Deku, you know that. You gonna be okay?”

“I think so. I’ll try to talk to my mom about it too, about… everything.”

“That sounds like a real good plan. I’m sure she’ll want to help you just as much as I do.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“And you save me a bowl of katsudon, alright?”

“I will,” Izuku chuckled. “I’ll talk to you again soon?”

“Any time. I’ll be waiting.”

“Thanks, Kacchan. Have a good night.”

“You too, Deku.”

─────

Three weeks passed with radio silence. From calls every other day, to no calls at all, in the blink of an eye.

Katsuki liked to think Izuku just didn’t need him anymore – he was going to stay with his mother, after all. Maybe she took good enough care of him, without Katsuki’s help. That would be really great.

In the back of his mind, though, he knew there was another big reason why people stopped calling. When people were doing better, they liked to call and tell them so, to thank them for their help when things were dark, and Katsuki’s office was always genuinely happy to get those calls. Other times, people fell off the radar, and weeks later they heard a familiar name on the nightly news, or saw it written in the newspaper.

Those days were the hardest, as their little office mourned together, regretting that they hadn’t done something, done more, done better. Izuku was the first regular Katsuki had ever personally had, but he’d celebrated with his friends when their own got better, and had sat in the local bar with them when they hadn’t.

“Maybe you should take some time off,” Aizawa suggested, when he found Katsuki staring listlessly at an empty call queue. “You need to keep yourself sane, Katsuki. Your own mental health is just as important as anyone else’s.”

“I can’t,” Katsuki insisted. “I don’t want to.”

“Katsuki-”

“I’m fine, I swear. I’m still doing my job, my performance hasn’t suffered, just… Please.”

Aizawa had conceded at that, the plea taking him by surprise – Katsuki only used that word when it was something important to him, something he needed in his life, and Aizawa knew that all too well. He could never say no when Katsuki gave him a genuine please.

And so he continued on, pushing Izuku to the back of his mind as he took on call after call, helping countless other people, but still lamenting that one little pocket of silence in his life.

Four weeks, five, six – Katsuki expected it to go away, to at least fade, but still that weight stayed in his chest, making it hard to breathe sometimes if he thought about it for too long.

“His name was Izuku, he said,” Katsuki said quietly, as he sat in the break room with Eijirou, finally caving to his friend’s concerned prodding. “It could have been a fake name, I dunno. I haven’t seen it in the news or anything, and Mina keeps reminding me that no news is good news and all that shit, but I can’t stop thinking about it, you know?”

“I get it, man, it’s rough,” Eijirou nodded. “Fake names aren’t exactly unheard of here, so it’s hard to be sure. But Mina is right, you’ve just gotta hope that he’s doing better, you know? You can’t let it keep bugging you.”

“I called him Deku,” Katsuki grumbled. “That was probably a dick move, but I didn’t think he minded, at the time. He called me Kacchan because he said I was cute or some shit, so it was all Kacchan this, Kacchan that. What an idiot.”

“Kacchan?” Aizawa asked, disbelieving.

“You’re the one who tells me to make a connection with callers,” Katsuki snorted. “Now you’re gonna make fun of me for a dumb nickname one gave me?”

Aizawa disappeared as quickly as he’d come, and Katsuki rolled his eyes. The guy was so weird sometimes, his work hours seemingly split equally between telling him to be nicer, and napping in his office. He wasn’t sure what the guy actually got paid to do, other than to take over if a call needed escalating, but at least he had given Katsuki a chance.

An envelope landed on the table beside Katsuki’s coffee, and for a moment he just stared at it, confused beyond belief by the loopy handwriting on the front.

Kacchan.

“This came a little while ago, but I didn’t know who on earth Kacchan was," Aizawa explained.

“Can I uh, have another five minutes on my lunch break?”

“Take as long as you need.”

Eijirou took the hint and followed Aizawa out, leaving Katsuki to open the envelope with shaking hands, barely holding on to the paper he unfolded from within.

Kacchan,

I hope this letter makes it to you. You’re probably not worried or anything, this is your job after all, but I keep thinking about how much you did for me, and I needed to say thank you, if nothing else. Even if you were being paid to do it, you really felt like a friend to me over the past few months, and it was really good to feel like someone cared.

Katsuki caught himself swearing under his breath as he read, torn between skimming quickly through the words to find the information he needed, and taking his time to avoid the inevitable.

I tried calling to say goodbye, but I guess the number goes to whoever is local, because no one knew who you were when they picked up. One of them was nice enough to give me a corporate office address, so I’m gonna send this letter there with a note explaining and hope they can get it to you somehow. If you’re reading this, I guess it worked. So thank you for all your help, Kacchan! You were amazing!

No, no, no. There was no way. Deku was not the type to give up that easily, his letter alone was evidence of that, there was no way he needed to say goodbye and-

My Mom found me a psychiatrist who is really amazing, we’re exploring options with counselling and coping mechanisms and looking into medication to see if it might work for me, so as sad as it is to say goodbye to my Kacchan, hopefully I won’t need to bother you anymore.

Wait. What?

I keep debating if I should put my phone number here or something, so we could talk again, but I know this is just your job and I would hate to obligate you like that, so I’m going to restrain myself. I’m not sure why I decided to tell you that, other than to remind you just how good you are at your job. I really feel like we were friends when I had no one else, even though we never met face to face or anything, and I’ll never, ever forget you.

Take care of yourself, and I’ll try my best to do the same.

-Midoriya Izuku.

Katsuki nearly crumpled the letter in his grip as he leapt to his feet, still trembling a little as he practically ran down the hall to Aizawa’s office.

“That time off you mentioned,” he said breathlessly. “Is that still-?”

“As long as you need,” Aizawa assured him. “Just keep in touch, let me know when you’re ready to come back.”

“Thank you. Really.”

He grabbed his bag from behind his desk, slinging it over one shoulder as he headed for the door, only pausing to double back to Eijirou’s desk for a moment.

“I’m gonna go see him.”

Eijirou’s face broke into a massive grin, and then Katsuki was gone, barely hearing the voices that called after him with all their well-wishes.

─────

As Katsuki stepped off the train, accompanied by a single old man who hobbled off toward the gates, he found himself staring blankly at the various signs. He’d managed to find out the right town by searching his last name online, finding old results from an Aldera Junior High School that matched and even a grainy old photo of a scrawny kid with green hair, but he hadn’t come across any contact info, or even any social media in the search to contact him on.

He’d jumped on a train, spent hours on the rails with a few changes at various stations, but it wasn’t until he reached the little town that he realised he really had no clue where to go next. It wasn’t like the school was going to give out decades-old information to him. It was the closest thing he had to a starting point though – if they still lived in the same apartment where he’d grown up, they had to at least be fairly close to the school, right? Unless it was a particularly good school and he’d taken the train to get there from miles away, but Katsuki refused to consider that possibility just yet.

He pulled up the maps app on his phone, and set out toward the school, sighing to himself as he walked. At least it was a nice day, not terribly hot and not pouring with rain, just a nice comfortable temperature for walking. School had long-since cleared out for the day, but a few kids still walked by him in their dark uniforms, chatting with friends after hanging out or doing their club activities. Katsuki hadn’t been big on those, at their age. In fact he’d been kind of a dick. Always felt like he was above everyone else, it made him shudder to think about now.

He’d gone into medicine at university, since that was the career for a stuck up brat who thought he was smarter than everyone else – even if he had been taken down a few notches in high school. When his psych lecturer had suggested he went into the mental health field, he’d almost snorted at her for being an idiot, but the more thought he’d put into it… Well, here he was, anyway. Professional suicide-hotline worker at twenty-eight, after he got sick of the face-to-face stuff. Eijirou had been volunteering there since his university days, so when they needed qualified people on deck, he’d dragged Katsuki in to give it a shot.

Despite the glares he got from Aizawa for being “unprofessional”, he did well at it. He was the most qualified one there, behind Aizawa himself, so it wasn’t like he was gonna get the boot for being casual with people. As much as Aizawa might not agree with his approach, he still recognised that it was a valid approach, and their mutual respect for each other kept the office running smoothly.

When Katsuki came across a small park, full of trees and flowers and even a little stream running down one side, he decided it was a good place to take a break. He’d stop in at the convenience store, grab a drink, and sit under the trees for a bit as he contemplated his next move. Maybe he’d even grab a pork cutlet sandwich to munch on, see if it somehow drew the nerd to him through some weird link of fate.

Wow, he had to be really desperate to resort to that logic.

A little bell tinkled above him as he stepped into the store, a young face popping up to smile at him from behind the counter.

“Welcome!” she called. “Let me know if I can help you with anything!”

“Thanks.”

He headed for the back of the store, where fridges full of drinks stood, and took his time exploring the options. Most of the time Katsuki lived on water, with the occasional cup of coffee on a bad day, but every so often he liked to explore his options, try something new or just drown himself in sugar for once.

He tried to ignore the fact that it usually happened when he was stressed.

A bottle of something fizzy and a thick sandwich later, he stood at the counter, digging out his wallet as the girl at the counter rung him up. A little old lady stood behind her, a manager or something he assumed, and she smiled widely at him when she caught his eye.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.”

Oh great, chatty grandma time. Seriously, what better time was there in the world for the nerd to show up and save the day?

“Yeah,” he grunted. “Looking for a friend who lives around here.”

“Oh? Did you forget their address? I know that game, though I thought a youngster like you would be better than me at remembering!”

She chuckled to herself, and Katsuki tried his best to manage an awkward smile.

He was pretty sure he failed.

“Was gonna surprise him,” he explained. “Guess I didn’t quite think it through.”

“Oh! That’s very sweet! What’s his name, dear? I know everyone around these parts!”

“Um, Midoriya. He went to school here, but he moved away for a bit.”

“Inko’s son?” the cashier suggested, handing over a small plastic bag. “Is he back?”

“Oh, Inko is such a lovely lady!” the older woman fawned, clutching a hand over her heart. “When my grandson was born she visited every day to help cook and clean! What a sweet lady, her son must be such a sweetie too! I remember one time-”

“If you go across the park, she’s somewhere in those buildings,” the cashier cut in quickly, apparently unnoticed by the manager who just kept talking. “I’m not sure which apartment, but maybe someone can help you over there?”

“Wow. Um, thanks. What are the chances, huh?”

“Oh, no, everyone knows everyone around here,” she laughed. “You must have grown up in the city!”

“I did,” Katsuki admitted. “Parents worked in central Tokyo from the time I was a baby. Guess I’m not used to this small-town thing.”

“Well, feel free to ask anyone you see over there, I’m sure they’d be happy to help you out. Unless you’re a stalker or something, then you’ll see the other side of the town.”

“Not a stalker,” Katsuki assured her. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“Well, good luck! Tell Inko hello for us!”

“I will, thanks.”

He waved a goodbye to the fawning grandma that went unseen, sighing as he stepped back out into the street. Two people into his journey he was already socially exhausted – why were people so much more difficult when they were happy?

Regardless, he walked across the park, ignoring the spot he’d eyed up for his snack and drink in favour of approaching the block of identical apartment buildings. He munched on his sandwich as he went, because frankly he didn’t care if people thought he was being rude or messy, and wandered uselessly among the buildings instead.

His first instinct was to check the intercoms and see if he could find their name, but with all the people hanging around who looked his way, he felt like maybe that was too stalkery. He was used to people looking at him, with his spiky blond hair in a sea of darker colours, his piercing red eyes in a world of browns, but it wasn’t usually so frequent.

Small town, he supposed. Any new meat in the area was something to look at.

“Excuse me,” he spoke up reluctantly, as he approached an older couple who ambled slowly toward a front door. “I’m looking for a friend, but I don’t know which building is his. Um, do you happen to know a Midoriya family?”

“Midoriya,” the woman mused. “It sounds familiar. Honey, do we know a Midoriya?”

“Midoriya,” he hummed. “Midoriya…”

“His name is Izuku,” Katsuki prompted. “I think his mother is Inko?”

“Oh! Inko! Of course!”

“You know her?”

“Everyone knows Inko! Come on in, son, I’ll show you the way.”

“Really?”

“Of course, of course. It’s no trouble at all.”

“Th-Thank you, that’s really, uh, really nice of you.”

His heartbeat was surprisingly quick as they stood in the elevator, his stomach churning as they shot up through the floors. He had no idea what he was doing, honestly. Seriously, how stupid was he, showing up on some nerd’s doorstep who might not even want to see him? He should just turn around and leave, forget about all of it and pretend it never happened.

“Here we are, son!” the man announced, clapping him on the shoulder. He hadn’t even noticed they’d been walking, honestly. “Enjoy your stay!”

“Th-Thank you, uh, you were a huge help. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure! That boy seems like he could use a friend, you take good care of him.”

“I will, I promise.”

He walked back to the elevator, and Katsuki stood at the plain wooden door, staring stupidly as he tried to get his breathing under control. He was trained for far worse things than knocking on a door, had experienced far worse things – he’d heard things happen that he never wanted to hear, and now he was just standing here like an idiot because he didn’t want to knock on a door?

He thumped twice, before he could stop himself, and for a brief moment he hoped no one would respond. No such luck, though – footsteps began immediately, padding down the hallway to the front door, and Katsuki squared his shoulders, standing up straighter as the door swung open.

Wild curls that he’d probably given up trying to tame, like the tangled vines that wound up tree trunks. Wide, shining eyes, as green as the leaves in the treetops where Katsuki hiked when he needed time away from work. And a face full of freckles like stars in the sky. Or maybe ants at the picnic in his forest metaphor.

God, what was his brain even doing?

“Can I help you?”

There it was, that voice he’d been waiting for. The one he’d been missing for so damn long. The one he’d been so irritable without – making a return to “high school Katsuki” if Mina was to be believed.

“Deku?” he choked out, lost for any kind of coherent sentence.

The man froze, jaw dropping as he stared into Katsuki’s eyes, and Katsuki was almost relieved to see that Izuku’s hands were shaking.

“Kacchan,” he whispered. “You’re… Here?”

“You made it hard,” Katsuki huffed. “No address, no phone number, not even a social media profile. Hell, I’m lucky I got your name out of you.”

“You g-got my l-letter?”

“Eventually. The idiots had some trouble figuring out who Kacchan was, nerdass.”

Katsuki grunted when a weight hit him in the chest, taking a moment to recognise exactly what was going on.

The nerd was hugging him.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Izuku sobbed, soaking straight through Katsuki’s t-shirt. “I can’t believe you found me! That you wanted to find me! What are you doing here?! Not that I’m not grateful, but-”

“Hey,” Katsuki smiled faintly, resting his hand on soft, fluffy curls. “I’m here, it’s okay.”

“Kacchan.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Deku.”

When Izuku squeezed him tighter, Katsuki caved. He let his arms fall around Izuku’s shoulders, hugging him lightly, and waited for the tears to come to an end.

His career had prepared him to handle tears, he was grateful for that.

“Izuku, sweetie, is everything- Oh, hello.”

“Hi,” Katsuki said awkwardly. “Um, I’m Katsuki. Izuku’s… friend. I just wanted to drop by and see how he was doing, I’m sorry to intrude.”

“Not at all, you’re most welcome here! Please come in!”

With a little snort, Katsuki slipped his arms down to Izuku’s waist, hoisting him up a little to carry him through the doorway. With a little “eep!” the tears came to a halt, replaced with a giggle that Katsuki had so sorely missed.

“Sorted now, nerd?” Katsuki smirked, messing up Izuku’s hair fondly. “I missed you too.”

“You did?”

“You had me worried as shit, damn nerd. Would have saved me a whole lot of drama by just writing my damn full name on the letter.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were gonna look for me!”

Inko ushered them through to the living room, and with a grateful nod, Katsuki dropped onto the sofa. Izuku sat down close to his side, and Katsuki found himself reaching out, bridging the gap between them. He set his hand on Izuku’s leg lightly, and Izuku smiled wider than Katsuki could even believe, nervously laying his own hand over the top.

“Kacchan helped me when I was really low,” Izuku explained, when Inko smiled at the pair. “No matter how bad my day had been, he always found a way to cheer me up. He was the reason I decided to call you, too.”

“Thank you for helping my son, I can’t thank you enough for being there for him.”

“It was my pleasure,” Katsuki assured her. “And I’m sorry again for showing up unannounced. He told me he was going to come visit you, but then I didn’t hear from him again, so I had to come check on him.”

“I’m doing well,” Izuku grinned. “Thanks to you and Mom.”

“I’m glad. Um, do you wanna give me your phone number, this time? We can talk. As friends, I mean.”

“Yeah! I’d love to!”

Izuku dug out his phone, handing it over with shaky hands, and Katsuki was weirdly proud of himself for being composed as he accepted. He typed his number in with a steady touch, sending himself a text to get Izuku’s number in return, and Izuku grinned again when he handed it back.

“Silly,” he giggled, hitting the edit button immediately. “It should be saved as Kacchan!”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but a smile came out all the same. He turned his phone, showing off his new contact, and got another bright laugh over Deku big and bold on his screen.

With Inko’s warmth and Izuku’s enthusiasm, soon the day was getting dark, and Katsuki cursed under his breath when Inko started talking about dinner plans.

“I should get going,” he grumbled. “Need to catch the train.”

“You’re going back tonight?” Izuku pouted. “It’s so far.”

“It’s fine, it was worth it.”

“You’re welcome to stay over,” Inko offered, smiling fondly. “You must have travelled so far today already, why don’t you take a rest and head back tomorrow?”

“You can have my room,” Izuku volunteered quickly. “I’ll sleep out here, it’s no big deal!”

“I don’t wanna put you guys out, especially when I showed up with no warning.”

“It’s really no trouble,” Inko assured him. “You’re most welcome here!”

“Please?” Izuku pouted, lower lip jutting out pitifully. “I want to spend more time with Kacchan.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Katsuki snorted. “Fine, if you insist.”

“Yay! Oh, Mom, do you think you could make katsudon?! I promised Kacchan I’d save him a bowl!”

“You really don’t need to fuss over me.”

“Katsudon it is,” Inko smiled, just as bright as her son. “You two keep catching up, I’ll go put it on to cook.”

“Thanks Mom!”

“Thank you, really. Let me know if I can help at all.”

“It’s my pleasure!”

She stepped away to the kitchen, and Izuku leaned in a little closer, watching Katsuki’s face carefully as he slowly laid his head on Katsuki’s shoulder.

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki nodded. “It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry I worried you, I didn’t mean to.”

“I know. It isn’t your fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Have you, um, lost people? At work?”

“Mm… Yeah, but no one like you. No one I really connected with.”

“You did?” Izuku asked, tilting his head back to see Katsuki blush. “It wasn’t just… You know, your job?”

“I wouldn’t be here if it was.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“You already said that,” Katsuki smirked, ruffling his hair again. “I’ll come again, if you want. We can hang out.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like that.”

─────

Three weeks passed in a whirlwind, from radio silence to calls and texts every single day, and Katsuki couldn’t have been happier. Four weeks, five, six, and finally he left work Friday night with a bag already packed, ignoring the teasing he got from his co-workers as he hurried out, jogging down the street to the train station and straight onto his platform. As he waited the final minutes for it to arrive, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and he raised it to his ear.

“Hey nerd, what do you need?”

“Kacchan! Did you finish work?”

“Yeah, I’m about to get on the train. What’s up?”

“I shipped the last of my stuff! It’ll be there Monday!”

“Good work, I won’t have to kick your ass into gear when I arrive.”

“Nope! We can go on our date!”

Katsuki chuckled to himself, glancing up at the approaching train, and nodded to himself.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Good boy, I’ll take you to dinner tomorrow after your appointment.”

“I can’t wait!”

“I gotta go, train just pulled up. I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?”

“I’m excited, Kacchan! It’s been a whole week!”

“Yeah, but the wait is almost over,” Katsuki reminded him. “And soon you’ll be seeing me every day. Every morning, every night, until you’re sick of my grumpy face.”

“Your grumpy face is the cutest, Kacchan. Have a safe trip, okay? I’ll have dinner ready for you!”

“Thanks, Deku. I’ll see you real soon.”

He hung up his phone with a little smile, following the queue onto the train and hunting down the seat he’d booked days in advance. As he settled in for the first segment of his journey, his phone buzzed again, and he raised an eyebrow when Deku flashed up on his screen once more.

“I’m ready when you are!” the text read, with a photo of a shiny new All Might comic. “Say when!”

“I'm good. You didn’t start without me this time?”

“Never, Kacchan! Okay start reading in 3… 2…”

Katsuki set his phone down and replaced it with the comic, flipping the cover open to start reading. He leaned on his elbow, taking a moment to look out the window as the train started moving, and surprising himself with the soft little smile still sitting on his reflection’s face.

By the time the next issue arrived, he wouldn’t have to text Izuku to read it with him. He wouldn’t even have to read it on a train anymore. Next time, Izuku would be waiting at home by the time Katsuki finished work, probably bouncing all over the apartment while he waited. They’d be able to sit on the couch together, leaning into each other as they read, and maybe, if he finally found the courage, Katsuki would be able to finish the comic-date with a kiss.

That was all Katsuki had ever needed in his life.