Chapter Text
Katsuki let his head fall back in a groan as he finally got off the bus, making sure his duffel bag was secure as he walked his way towards the dorms. It had been the longest night at his work study, and he was more than ready to collapse on his bed. Well, take a shower first and then collapse on his bed. Maybe bother Eijiro if he wasn't asleep himself. He needed a pick-me-up from his overly chipper best friend.
Jeanist had him doing paperwork of all things today. Some shit about discipline and for sure a way to punish him after he had gone off at a stupid extra during patrol earlier that afternoon. What-fuckin- ever. He didn't know how goddamn exhausting it would be until Jeanist had plopped another stack on his desk when he was already done with the first.
Who knew all this crap was something pro heroes had to deal with? But Jeanist had also given him a lecture afterwards that this is what to expect when opening his agency in a year or two, which Jeanist was going to help him with. He only had a year left of high school, and he was ready to get the hell out of here.
He opened the door to the dorms, squinting as he was met with the brightness of the lights, the light sound of chatter, and something on the TV, and from the looks of it, he had missed a movie night. The common room was filled with people and blankets, and pillows.
“Hey, Katsuki!” Eijiro shouted, a bright beam of a smile on his face. For some reason, that made his cheeks heat. Stupid Eijiro and his stupid smile. The idiot probably waited up for him like he always does. He was always doing shit like that. Waiting for him after his work study, saving him the last bite, sharing his water bottle, making sure he was always involved in shit he didn't want to go to. Which he always went for Eijiro anyway, because then he'd get sad, and he always felt like an absolute asshole when he made his best friend sad.
“Hey, Shitty Hair.” He mumbled, waving at him as he passed the common room sofa he was sitting on. He looked around as he made his way to the elevator, seeing that everyone was almost asleep or in their own world. Dunce Face was snoring on Eijiro’s lap, and he had to roll his eyes at that. Dunce Face was always draping himself on people when they didn't fucking ask. Katsuki would always push him off, but Eijiro was too much of a goddamn sweetheart to do it himself.
“You're back late!” Eijiro said, and he was too done with the day to respond. Luckily, Eijiro knew him well enough not to get offended. He took a look back at the sofas, snorting as Eijiro very carefully transferred a knocked-out Kaminari to an equally knocked-out Sero’s lap. Eijiro noticed him noticing, holding out a finger as he got up.
He nodded, ignoring the elevator as it dinged.
“Thanks for waiting, man!” Eijiro said as he got closer. He held out his arms for him, and Katsuki shook his head.
“Fucking sweaty,” he frowned. And smelly. But he wasn't gonna mention that to Eijiro.
“Aw, okay.” Eijiro pouted, and Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“After I shower.” He said as the elevator opened again.
They made their journey to their floor together, the elevator silent as they went up.
“Sorry you missed movie night.” Eijiro frowned, like this was something to be sorry about.
“It's whatever,” he rolled his eyes.
“What did Jeanist have you doing today?”
“Stupid paperwork,” he answered, the elevator stopping and dinging, and opening.
“Paperwork? What for?”
“Who the fuck knows?” He sighed.
“Oh,” Eijiro said, following him to his dorm.
“I'm gonna take a shower,” he chuckled.
“Oh! Ah—sorry. I just missed you at movie night, I guess. And I kinda wanted to talk to you.”
“About what?”
Eijiro blushed bright red, bringing a hand to the back of his neck.
“Nothing important! After your shower!” He said, and Katsuki shrugged.
“I won't take long.” He promised, going to his in-suite restroom to get his shower caddy and a towel. He then went to his closet to get a change of clothes.
“No worries, man. Take your time.”
“Wait for me here?” He asked.
“Sure!” Eijiro said, already making himself comfortable on his bed. He laughed at that, waving Eijiro off as he made his way out of his dorm and to the showers.
⋆ ⭑ ⋆
Katsuki didn't take long, as promised. He had just showered yesterday, but he wanted to feel fresh. He already felt ten times better as he walked back to his dorm. He tried not to think about the fact that when he got back, Eijiro would be in there waiting to talk to him about something. He didn't know what in the world Eijiro wanted to talk to him about, but he said it was no big deal. Maybe he wanted to borrow his laptop or something. Or ask to study. Or maybe he wanted to just talk .
They had been hanging out a lot more lately, and he knew it was because they'd be out of high school soon. He didn't know what he would do when he couldn't see Eijiro every day. Maybe that's what he wanted to talk about. Their future. It's something he always avoided, something he never really liked to talk about. Futures could always change and..ugh.
“Hey, Shima.” He said as he walked into his dorm.
Eijiro was lying on his bed, covered with his blanket, his phone above his face as he was scrolling through it.
“Hey, man! Feel better?”
“Yeah,” he said, going to his bathroom to put his things up and his old clothes in the hamper.
When he walked back out, Eijiro was sitting crisscrossed in his bed, and his stomach dropped.
His best friend looked so…nervous. An air of seriousness he's never seen in his expression. He pursed his lips together as he saw him looking, staring firmly into his eyes.
Okay. Fuck. This wasn't something simple like asking to study or borrowing a laptop.
“What's up, ‘Shima?”
Eijiro smiled softly and quietly, and he exhaled. “Hey, Katsuki? Um—I've…can I ask you something?”
“Always,” he said, a lump forming in his throat.
He made his way closer to the bed, sitting in front of it on the floor as Eijiro let out another breath.
“Do you maybe wanna go um…do something tomorrow?”
Fucking hell. That's what he was so goddamn nervous about?
Katsuki shook his head in disbelief, “Yeah? Like what?”
“Umm, I was thinking we could go to the store and grab some snacks and then come back and pick a movie?”
He scoffed, “That's what you're so nervous about? We always do shit like that on the weekend.”
He could feel his body relaxing, the knot in his throat unraveling. Eijiro, however, still looked like the world was going to implode at any second. He started to run his hands down his legs.
“Yeah—ha, I know. But um…I was thinking…” Eijiro closed his eyes for a split second, letting out an audible breath of air from his nose.
“Come on, Ei. Spit it out, you're making me nervous.” He admitted.
“Promise you won't hate me?” Eijiro looked up at him with glassy eyes.
“Fucking impossible, moron.”
A hint of Eijiro’s smile came through, “Okay. Well um…I was thinking that maybe we can make it a date?”
Before he could stop it, Katsuki let out a, “Huh?”
“Sorry, I knew it was stupid.”
Katsuki got up from the floor, standing up and furrowing his brows, “Wait. What?”
“You can just forget this ever happened, I'm sorry.” Eijiro sounded on the verge of tears, trying to get up from the bed before Katsuki put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Wait. Eijiro. You wanna go on a date with me?”
Eijiro nodded, the tears already spilling from his eyes.
Katsuki wanted to tell him to stop crying, but the disbelief was fluttering in his chest, begging to fly out of his throat.
Eijiro wants to date him? His best friend wants to date him and do all that gross sappy shit like kissing and holding hands and being all cheesy and calling each other stuff like babe and sweetheart and—fucking hell.
Thinking about that shit always made his skin crawl. He couldn't even imagine being like that with somebody.
But he's never thought about that with Eijiro. He was closer to Eijiro than anyone ever. And he didn't mind when he'd get closer to him on movie nights, during lunch time when he'd insist on sitting right next to him, even though there was a whole table with three other chairs.
He didn't mind waking up next to him and his ridiculous snoring when their hangouts would run late. He'd find himself sad when he didn't see or spend time with Eijiro for a while. He'd always seek him out in a room because he's the only one he'd tolerate being around.
Would he mind dating Eijiro? Would he want to hold hands and shit with him?
Realizing he still had his hand on Eijiro’s shoulder, he let go and crossed his arms instead, sighing all his feelings out as he sat on the bed next to Eijiro.
“You like me?”
Eijiro blushed, making his cheeks heat from the way it made his heart jump, “Yeah. Like…a lot, man. I um...had a big crush on you since first year.”
Katsuki’s chest tightened with the realization. Eijiro likes him? He's liked him for the entirety of their friendship?
He…he doesn't know how to feel about that.
No one has ever liked him. Why would they? He was an asshole and a piece of shit with a temper.
But, Eijiro never took his shit. He never let him stay in his stupid, petty moods. He made Katsuki want to be a better person. Because if he was gonna be someone's best friend? He was gonna be the best fucking friend in the world.
And isn't that the way people talked about their boyfriends and girlfriends and shit? All that sappy stuff that made him gag?
Okay. Fuck. Eijiro needed an answer. He knew his stupidly insecure best friend was probably feeling like shit right now with his lack of one.
Dating Eijiro? He…he doesn't think he'd mind that. Kissing? Maybe he'd have to work up to it. Holding hands? He could manage that. Okay. Okay. Fuck it.
Dammit. He'd do anything for Eijiro, wouldn't he?
“Okay.”
Eijiro sniffed, looking up at him and wiping his tears with the back of his hand. “Huh?”
“Okay. ” He said again.
“Okay, what?” Eijiro asked.
He clicked his teeth, flicking Eijiro on the forehead, “Okay, I'll go out with you, moron.”
Eijiro’s eyes lit up like a kaleidoscope, a bright beam of a grin evaporating all the sadness on his face, “Really? You'll go out with me?”
“I just said yes, dummy.”
“Holy shit! Okay…um! Yeah! Cool.”
Katsuki couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. he couldn't believe the thought of dating him made Eijiro so happy.
“You gonna stop crying now?”
“Sorry, yeah! Sorry!” Eijiro chuckled, tears still falling down his cheeks despite his promise.
He got up with a scoff, going to his restroom and getting a wad of tissues.
“Here, dummy. Clean your face.” He said as he came back.
“Aw, thanks, man.” Eijiro smiled, grabbing the tissues from him.
But wait. Man? Wasn't he supposed to call him sappy shit? Maybe it was too early, but he sure as hell didn't want to be called man and dude and bro like Eijiro called everyone else. Fucking hell, they were close enough to call each other Eijiro and Katsuki.
“You're gonna call me ‘man’, still?”
Eijiro was in the middle of blowing his nose, and why the crap did he find that so…cute?
“What do you mean?” He asked, wadding up his tissue and tossing it into the trash can he had by his bedside table.
“Well, aren't we like boyfriends and shit now?”
Eijiro’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “You want to be my boyfriend?”
“Fucking…duh? Aren't we going out or whatever?”
“Uh, yeah! On a date but um…”
Katsuki’s stomach dropped. Dammit. Did he think about this all wrong? Isn't that what going out was supposed to mean? Shit. Maybe he just—dammit. Ugh.
“What? You don't want to be my boyfriend? Dammit, Eiji—”
“Wait! No! I uh—of course I do! I just—wasn't expecting you to want to…”
Stupid, insecure asshole, “Didn't I just say yes to going out with you?”
“Yeah! But on a date! Not to be…”
Holy crap. He's an idiot. He always jumps into things too fast and—
“Katsuki, wait. Hold on. Don't look upset, okay? It just caught me off guard. Of course, I want to be your boyfriend!”
Wait. When did this turn into him asking Eijiro out? Dammit all to hell, he was too goddamn tired for this!
“It's just…typically we go out on a couple of dates and then we become boyfriends. You know? That's why I got confused. Dude—uh, I mean, Katsuki. I've wanted to be your boyfriend for years.”
“Then who cares what's typical or whatever. You're my boyfriend and I'm yours now.” He rolled his eyes.
“Cool! Okay! Does that mean I can kiss you?” Eijiro asked, looking like an eager puppy waiting for a treat.
Katsuki clenched his jaw. That's the one thing he wasn't ready for.
“Maybe when we go on our date.”
“Oh,” Eijiro frowned, deflating, “Okay.”
Shit. He was frowning again. Maybe just…
“My cheek is okay.” He decided.
Eijiro smiled at him like he had just promised him the sun and the moon. And before he could even comprehend it, he felt a quick and wet kiss on his cheek. He didn't even have time to enjoy it. Or decide if he enjoyed it.
“That was too fast. Kiss me right, moron.”
Eijiro didn't even hesitate to kiss him again, his lips lingering on his cheek. They were a little chapped, but warm and firm. He kissed his cheek once, and then again right after.
“I'm so happy you're my boyfriend now.”
“Good.” He said.
“You can kiss me too, my cheek and stuff.”
He shook his head, and to his surprise, Eijiro smiled, “Aw, that's okay. You don't have to kiss me yet if you're not ready.”
And there. That's why. That's fucking why. Eijiro never made him uncomfortable or forced him to do shit. Their friendship was always at his pace, and he knew their newfound relationship would be the same.
“Thanks, Ei.” He said.
“Of course, Katsuki.”
And with that smile. That smile that made his heart stop, he knew he wouldn't mind dating Eijiro at all.