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Katsuki hated Tokoyami Fumikage and it was the boy’s own fault.
It had all started a couple weeks before.
The whole class had been in one of the training grounds, practising with their quirks and on that unfortunate day all of Katsuki’s special shirts that could handle his nitroglycerin sweat had been at the laundry so he’d been forced to go with a regular T-shirt. Unloved, of course, since he knew he’d probably never get to use it again.
Perhaps a bit too optimistically, Katsuki had thought that he could have survived the whole class with the T-shirt more or less intact, if smelling horribly. But instead it hadn’t been long before only tatters had been holding onto this body and by that point he’d thought “fuck it” and simply ripped the rest away. It had become more of a hindrance than anything else.
Katsuki hadn’t really been paying attention to anything around him, preparing himself to go back to training when a comment had taken him by surprise.
“I’m thankful I like guys,” had come from his left and Katsuki had frowned because… good for them? Like, who cared? Still, he’d turned and had found Tokoyami staring at him as well as half the class. The other half had been staring at Tokoyami, surprise evident in their faces.
It hadn’t taken long for Katsuki to put two and two together and realize what Tokoyami’s words meant. There really had just been one thing to do: Katsuki had smirked at Tokoyami, who had stared for a couple more seconds before turning away.
After, Katsuki had finally gone back to his own training while in the background he heard some people giving Tokoyami congratulatory words.
And that really should have been it.
Except instead Katsuki had kept thinking about it and now he hated Tokoyami. Not because he was gay, of fucking course not, he didn’t care and it wasn’t like he was exactly on the straight and narrow lane himself. It wasn’t because he’d been ogling Katsuki either because fuck it, he was aware that he was damn hot. No, it was for the fact that that night he had thought “I guess Tokoyami is kinda hot too. Even his weird bird head.”
And then two days later he’d been daydreaming in class and thought “it’s not like he’s just physically attractive. He seems smart and he doesn’t make a ruckus and Dark Shadow is a fucking badass.”
After, things had just gone downhill until almost a week had gone by and trying to fall asleep, Katsuki had wondered “does he just think I’m hot? Is he interested in me?” which had just opened a can of worms that Katsuki wanted to explode and turn to ashes.
Katsuki had been confessed to several times – of course – but he’d never liked anyone back and anyway, that simply wasn’t in his plan. Katsuki was going to be the best damn student UA had ever seen; pro hero agencies were going to be at each other’s throats to get him to sign for them by the time he was graduating. Being involved with someone just wasn’t part of the plan.
Yet, he really just couldn’t stop thinking about it. About Tokoyami’s look when he’d stared at his body and about how now that Katsuki had noticed the many great things about Tokoyami he just couldn’t turn that part of his brain off. It was fucking pissing him off, that’s what it was and he couldn’t help how he kept staring at Tokoyami.
So, it probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise when at the end of the last class on a Thursday, Tokoyami had approached his desk and asked him to stay a bit longer so they could talk.
Katsuki had in no way missed the looks being shared by his stupid friends – fuck, he missed just having other kids following him around – and even stupid Deku’s concerned look – like he was going to deck Tokoyami or something like that – but he ignored them and just nodded at Tokoyami, who went back to his desk to put all his stuff away.
Kirishima and Ashido were the last to leave, sending looks to Katsuki that he was probably supposed to get some hidden meaning from, but just made him once again wish that he’d never accepted to spend time with them outside of class.
Fuck, fine, he guessed he didn’t completely hate them. Shit; UA was making him soft. Even in his own head he couldn’t be mean anymore. What a hormonal mess.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last week,” Tokoyami’s voice brought him back to reality and Katsuki finally turned away from the closed door to Tokoyami’s serious face – well, ok, Katsuki couldn’t really recognize any other face he made. He had a freaking beak, alright?
Wait, what had Tokoyami just said?
“What?” Katsuki frowned. Tokoyami blinked slowly before repeating himself.
“I’m sorry that my stare last week made you uncomfortable. I understand that you were training and it wasn’t correct of me to be… staring. And wouldn’t have been okay even if you hadn’t been training,” he quickly added on and he’d spoken surprisingly fast and also, possibly more words than Katsuki had ever heard him say outside of answering one of Aizawa’s questions and was Tokoyami actually nervous!?
It was that more than anything that made Katsuki actually try and not mess things up even further.
He prayed really hard that his face wasn’t turning red but he could pretty much feel the smoke coming off it and fuck no, he absolutely should not put a hand against his face to make sure he really wasn’t creating explosions with his cheeks or something like that.
Katsuki just pressed a hand against the back of his neck because Tokoyami definitely didn’t have the look of someone who was staring at a guy exploding his own face.
“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” he forced the words out.
Tokoyami didn’t say anything for a few seconds and fuck his bird head that was the most perfect poker face ever. This was absolutely not the time but Katsuki was already making plans to take him with him at the next family poker night because seeing his mom lose would make his year.
Of course, if he and Tokoyami were even on speaking terms after this awkward as fuck conversation.
“But you keep staring at me,” Tokoyami’s voice brought him back to reality once again and fuck this fucking shit.
What the fuck was he supposed to say!? “I really wanna know if you like me as a person or if you’re just interested in my booty” and damn Ashido’s musical choices.
Tokoyami was just staring in silence and Katsuki could tell that it wouldn’t be long before he just left or maybe let Dark Shadow out to kick Katsuki’s ass – he’d like to see him try, ah – and if he was going to say something about his growing attraction – not a fucking crush – then this was the moment.
Of course, he could just let Tokoyami walk away but Bakugou Katsuki was not a fucking coward.
“I think you’re attractive too,” he pretty much bit out the words and he was not fucking repeating himself if Tokoyami hadn’t understood him.
Yet, Tokoyami just blinked again and damn but he had really big eyes. And they were red and yeah, Katsuki had noticed them before but not like this? Because he couldn’t look away from how nice they looked? Fuck, he hated emotions.
“I see,” Tokoyami said and what did he see!? Katsuki forced himself to continue to breathe normally. It wouldn’t do to show just how on edge Tokoyami’s calmness was making him. “I guess you’re thankful you like guys too.”
Katsuki couldn’t be one hundred per cent because hello, beak, but he was pretty damn sure that Tokoyami was smiling at him. His tone had at least been pretty warm.
Katsuki shrugged, “I don’t really care about gender.”
“Oh, so it’s the person you’re interested in and not their appearance?” Tokoyami asked and Katsuki guessed that was a pretty good way of putting it.
Wait.
Did that mean he thought Katsuki liked him as a person? Shit fuck shit fucking fuck. Katsuki wasn’t made to deal with this shit. He should have accepted his mom’s offer of seeing a shrink after the villain attack.
Tokoyami bowed slightly and Katsuki immediately went into high alert because something was about to go down.
“I accept your feelings. Please go out with me.”
What.
WHAT!?
Katsuki blinked several times and after a few seconds in silence Tokoyami straightened back up and his face still looked the fucking same, but he wasn’t really looking Katsuki in the eyes anymore and he was fidgeting with the edge of his jacket with his right hand and he was nervous. And he’d just asked Katsuki out and Katsuki really didn’t think Tokoyami was the sort of guy to do… well, anything, just because it was expected of him or some shit like that.
So, if he didn’t like Katsuki back he definitely wouldn’t have asked him out. Fuck, he just got asked out.
Villain attacks Katsuki could deal with. Being kidnapped had been a fucking mess but he’d survived it and he hated living with so many people but he was also getting through it but being asked out!? Fuck, what was he supposed to say?
“Yes, you fucking dumbass,” he heard inside his mind and came really damn close to replying “shut the fuck up, mom” out loud but he didn’t want to seem insane to someone that liked him.
Wait, didn’t want to look insane? As in, he actually cared what Tokoyami thought and wanted him to continue liking him?
“I’m sorry if that wasn’t what you wanted to hear. I’m going to leave now,” once again, Tokoyami spoke and made Kastsuki wake up from his daydreaming and he absolutely had to stop doing that.
Tokoyami had already turned around but before he could even take one step, Katsuki grabbed onto his arm, though he made sure not to do it too roughly.
Tokoyami turned his head back to stare but didn’t say anything. Katsuki’s face felt hot again.
“Sorry, I was just thinking. I don’t want you to leave. And yeah, I’d like to go out with you,” this time, he actually spoke the words like he’d been learning Japanese since he was a small kid and not like he was being forced to speak.
For once, Tokoyami’s pause was short. Good, because the few seconds spent in silence were making Katsuki start to doubt every single life choice that had ever led him to this moment.
“That makes me happy to hear.”
“Good,” Katsuki replied and what was he even saying anymore!? He abruptly let go of Tokoyami’s arm, kind of in hope that the other would leave and he’d be left alone to die in embarrassment. Wait, they hadn’t actually agreed on what, when or where? And they didn’t have each other numbers? … But they did share classes and were now sharing a building and Katsuki had seen him spend time with Shoji, who shared a wall with him, so really, there was no escaping him.
Well, good thing Tokoyami liked him too and Katsuki wouldn’t be forced to blackmail him into leaving UA because a) Katsuki sure as hell wouldn’t be the one leaving and b) he’d heard rumors about Tokoyami’s room and someone like that definitely had something to hide.
“Would you like to have lunch this Saturday? I need the night to train with Dark Shadow.”
Katsuki nodded, “yeah, that sounds good.”
Tokoyami nodded and turned to go once again. This time Katsuki didn’t stop him though Tokoyami had barely walked a few steps before he opened his mouth again, “if you want, I can help you train Dark Shadow.”
Tokoyami stopped and it took him some seconds to turn back to Katsuki. Of course, aside from the change in features, Katsuki could understand what he was feeling from his face about as well as he could from his back. Probably less.
“Are you sure?”
Katsuki frowned. He thought he was about to receive a resounding no, not that.
“Yeah, I’m fucking sure. Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t, would I?”
Tokoyami blinked. “Dark Shadow is… difficult to control at night.”
“I know,” Katsuki said in a tone that asked “why are you stating the fucking obvious?” because the two of them had never been close – Katsuki was barely close with anyone anyway, and those four had basically forced him kicking and yelling to spend time with them – but everyone knew that. Dark Shadow didn’t have an indoors voice, didn’t like light and could be unreliable – at best – at night.
“I don’t want you getting hurt,” Tokoyami finally spelled it out for him and Katsuki suddenly had a flashback of the camping trip and how Dark Shadow had been holding onto Tokoyami with far too much strength and if he and that half-and-half bastard hadn’t created some light who knew how long he would have stayed like that. Or worse.
“Dark Shadow doesn’t like light,” he didn’t make it a question, but Tokoyami still nodded, though a little less assertively than usual, “well, who better to be around than me?” Katsuki stopped himself there, even though his brain had gone ahead and whispered inside his own brain, “I can protect us.” But that wasn’t something he was ready to say, now or never. Well, okay, maybe not never.
Tokoyami blinked again but he seemed more relaxed and his eyes were doing a weird thing and it took Katsuki far too long but he finally realized that Tokoyami was smiling, except without the smile. It was really fucking cute and this was a horrible mistake.
“I accept your help, then. See you Saturday. Actually, we still have classes tomorrow,” Tokoyami said and he sounded kind of embarrassed and he was the actual cutest thing Katsuki had ever seen and what the actual fuck? Like seriously, how had bird head gone from badass guy in a cape that he made look way too majestic – not that Katsuki had ever paid it much attention – to… well, a regular teenager with a crush.
Tokoyami Fumikage had a crush on Bakugou Katsuki. He would have mocked him if it wasn’t pretty damn obvious that he reciprocated it.
“See you,” Katsuki said and Tokoyami left the classroom. Alone, Katsuki let out a sigh. Fuck, this had been more tiring than any of Aizawa’s training.
At that thought, Katsuki quickly looked around himself but no, Aizawa wasn’t around. He still wasn’t completely sure he didn’t have a mind reading quirk.
Well, time to go home… And deal with the curiosity of his friends. Fuck.
.
Katsuki refused to feel nervous. He was Bakugou Katsuki, future Number 1 Hero, and he did not get nervous about anything, especially something as simple as a date. Fuck no, his face did not go red when he thought that word and he’d clearly eaten something bad for dinner, that really was the only reason he felt his stomach clench.
He’d escaped people’s questions about what he’d wanted with Tokoyami with a simple yet strong “fuck off” plus a couple tiny explosions happening at the same time. Of course, since Kirishima and Ashido didn’t seem to have a single self-preservation bone in their bodies that hadn’t deterred them. Not that it had led anywhere, of course.
It wasn’t anyone’s business what they were doing and truth be told, Katsuki kind of liked having a secret. Not that it was important or anything.
Wait, no. If it wasn’t important then there was no point doing it since it was only taking away from time he could be studying or practicing. So, okay, it was a tiny bit important. But not that much!
Katsuki had spent Friday night googling restaurants at a walking distance from UA. It hadn’t been that hard to find a place; it was Tokyo, after all. No, the difficulty had been not just in the type of food – did Tokoyami like Indian? Korean? If they hadn’t been living together and eating dinner at the same time Katsuki would probably be wondering if he ate human food though since his organs were human (… hopefully. Where his organs human!?) then he should eat human food – but the price range.
If they were sharing the bill then they could go for a bit of classier place. But wait, what was the message that that sent? That he was a posh bastard? That he really liked Tokoyami? But if they just went to some sandwich place then that was putting the bar pretty low, wasn’t it?
Katsuki knew that his mother wouldn’t have minded giving him some extra money for this outing, but that would imply telling her what it was for and not in a hundred years was Katsuki telling her he had a date. She’d probably come early to get their picture or some other embarrassing shit. Parents, honestly.
Eventually Katsuki had settled on a regular noodle place but that didn’t look like your regular on the wall place, just a bit classier and he’d simply take extra money in case he was the one paying. Another question: how did they decide that? He knew that if he was taking a girl out on a date he was expected to pay but neither of them were girls. And it had been Tokoyami asking him out. But like fuck was he letting him pay.
Fuck, he’d deal with that later.
By Saturday morning he was a ball of nervous and pretending very hard not to be. He’d managed to rope Kirishima into some one-on-one fighting – well, okay, it wasn’t roping if he’d literally just texted him at 2AM with “fight in the morning?” and then received “YEAH!” as a response several hours later followed by “why were you awake at 2AM????” “Is everything okay???” “Do u wanna talk???” which Katsuki had resolutely ignored. Damn Kirishima being such a mother hen.
After the fighting and ignoring Kirishima’s worried looks – so he looked slightly paler from the lack of sleep, it wasn’t like he was dying or some shit – Katsuki had taken a quick shower and gone to get dressed.
And now there was another dilemma: what to wear? He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of this before.
He didn’t really own anything nice. And most of his stuff smelled, anyway, even though he used special products to make the nitroglycerin smell go away, not to mention to make sure that his clothes didn’t explode in the washing machine or something like that.
Most of his T-shirts had designs on them and were several sizes too big which he quite liked but since he already knew Tokoyami liked his body, he might as well show it off. He put on a tight black tank top and damn, he looked good. But kind of an idiot without anything else on top.
Katsuki looked at his phone. Fuck, no. He looked back at the mirror. He either got someone to lend him a button down or he changed.
Fuck.
He picked up his phone and texted Sero. Kirishima was right on the other side of the hall and they weren’t that different in size – in fact, Sero was taller and skinnier – but out of the four idiots Katsuki spent his time with, Sero was the most level headed.
“yo, u got a button down u can lend me”
It took only a few seconds for Sero to answer back, not even enough for Katsuki to choose a pair of pants.
“Yeah, what type u want?”
He should probably make sure it matched the pants, shouldn’t he? Fuck, how many button downs could Sero have?
Katsuki didn’t exactly own many different types of pairs. There were the pairs of the school uniform, baggy sweatpants, baggy khakis and baggy jeans.
Wait, he did own a couple not baggy pairs of jeans… Wait no, fuck, what was he thinking.
With some trepidation Katsuki opened the bottom drawer in his dresser. In there he had hidden the couple of jeans Best Jeanist had given him as a present for finishing his internship. Luckily, they weren’t as tight as the one he’d forced on him for the actual internship, but they still weren’t his type.
Fuck, in for a penny, in for a pound.
“Smthing that goes wth a blck tank top & jeans,” Katsuki quickly texted Sero back. It wasn’t like he was afraid of losing his nerve or anything. He simply had to hurry up.
He looked at the clock on his phone. He really did have to hurry up, fuck!
Kastsuki put on one of the pairs of jeans, not really caring which one – they really weren’t that fucking different, anyway – and then grabbed his less dirty pair of boots.
“I’m coming up, gotta hurry,” he sent to Sero and in less than five minutes he was out of the door, having put his wallet alongside his phone on one of the back pockets.
“You look nice,” a voice sounded behind him and he turned around – not in a surprised manner or anything like that! – to find Shoji looking at him.
Fuck, he’d forgotten he and Tokoyami were friends. Did he know what they were doing? Nope, absolutely not the time to worry about that.
“Thanks. Sorry, I have to go,” Katsuki said in a more polite tone than usual. It wasn’t even because Shoji was Tokoyami’s friend, just because the dude was actually cool. He had a badass quirk and Katsuki was pretty sure that if there was anyone in the whole building that was aware that he sometimes had nightmares it was Shoji – and possibly Jiro – but he’d never said anything about it.
“Have fun,” one of his mouths said and it was smiling. Fuck, he definitely knew.
With an awkward as fuck wave, Katsuki got to the lift and went to Sero’s room.
And of course, because this day simply couldn’t get any worst, he wasn’t alone. At least it was only Kaminari in there.
“Don’t say anything,” Katsuki practically growled as he entered the room after Sero had opened the door wide enough for him not to have to push him.
Kaminari raised both eyebrows at him while Sero smirked.
“Oh, so we shouldn’t comment on how you look nicer than usual? Don’t tell me Bakugou “the most important thing is to become the Number 1 Hero” Katsuki has a date.” Why had Katsuki ever thought going to Sero was better than Kirishima!?
“Shut the fuck up. Do you have the shirt or not?” Katsuki told him, foregoing any violent gesture because he really did need that shirt.
Without a response, Sero went to his wardrobe and opened the door. “Take your pick.”
Katsuki was in front of it with three steps. He immediately grabbed one but didn’t immediately take it out. It felt too soft and was green and white really the best color with the rest of his outfit?
“Would you like some help?” Sero asked besides him and while his tone was a bit mocking, he was smiling pleasantly.
“Hey, it’s cool if you have a date, Bakugou,” Kaminari finally spoke from where he’d been propped up against Sero’s pillows.
Katsuki went to tell him to shut the fuck up but before he could, Sero spoke, “it really is okay. We’re happy for you.”
Fuck, his smile was just too fucking genuine. Why weren’t Katsuki’s friends assholes like he was? That probably said something about himself that he absolutely refused to look deeper into.
Katsuki was stopped from having to come up with an answer by Sero grabbing a shirt and offering it to him. It was a simple grey cotton button down.
“Thanks,” Katsuki bit out, taking it from him. Sero smiled again.
“Just have fun.”
“And frown less! Girls don’t like that.”
“Who said anything about a girl?” Katsuki said and he was going to treasure Kaminar’s look for the rest of his life. He didn’t let either of them say anything else as he left the room, putting the shirt on as he walked. As expected it was a tighter fit than he’d usually go for and stopped several inches below his waist but looking himself up and down on the mirror of the lift Katsuki thought he looked damn good.
As the doors opened to the entrance hall, he took out his phone. He had three minutes to reach UA’s gates. He looked up with a determined look only to falter when he saw Tokoyami’s back as he exited the building.
Should he let enough time pass that he wouldn’t arrive just two seconds after him? Or should they walk together?
Fuck, he just needed to make a decision and stick to it, none of this second-guessing himself that Katsuki was growing real tired of.
Decision made, Katsuki jogged after Tokoyami, catching up to him just a few steps outside of the dorms, since Tokoyami wasn’t walking at a very fast pace.
“Hey,” he called out when he was at a distance where he wouldn’t have to shout to be heard.
Tokoyami stopped and turned around. Katsuki kept walking and as he did so he saw Tokoyami’s eyes widening. Not too much, not like human’s eyes would have done but Katsuki had been looking for it and so he caught the tiny movement Tokoyami’s eyes moved.
Yeah, he looked good.
“Still thankful you like guys?” Katsuki asked with a smirk, stopping just in front of him.
By now, Tokoyami’s eyes were back to normal and he had his regular poker face on but somehow Katsuki could tell that he was content. The guy had really expressive eyes when you knew what to look for.
“Very,” Tokoyami responded and then coughed, “that is, you look very nice, Bakugou.”
“You too,” Katsuki said and it was true. Tokoyami had gone for his preferred dark clothes, with black jeans and a grey button down, though his was actually buttoned up. “Shall we go?”
“Yes,” Tokoyami said and they started walking side by side. “I must admit that I don’t know where to go. I googled some places near the area but I don’t really know what you like to eat.”
“Spicy food,” Katsuki immediately replied.
“Oh.”
“We don’t have to eat spicy food if you don’t want. I actually found a pretty good noodles place around here,” Katsuki said.
“That’s good,” there was a pause, “I like noodles.”
“Yeah, me too,” Katsuki said and felt like smiling. But he wasn’t an idiotic teenage girl – or Deku. Yeah, Katsuki fucking saw him around Uraraka – so he didn’t.
It was silent after that. Katsuki wasn’t exactly used to them or even overly fond but he didn’t know how to break it. Fuck, he didn’t really know much about Tokoyami and how did one make small talk!?
“At least once a week my mom would make the spiciest curry ever and whoever was in tears first had to wash the dishes for the rest of week,” Katsuki told Tokoyami, looking at him from the corner of his eyes.
“That sounds fun,” Tokoyami said and it didn’t sound like he was saying it just for the sake of commenting. “Perhaps not the spicy food, but that you and your mom share an interest.”
Katsuki shrugged, “she’s alright, I guess.”
“Do you two not get along?” Tokoyami asked.
Katsuki frowned at him, “no, it’s not like that. It’s just… I’m her shitty son and she’s my hag mom. It’s just the way we are.”
“Ah, so you’re the male version of her?”
Katsuki scowled, “she’s the female version of me.”
“She’s older,” Tokoyami pointed out and Katsuki was pretty sure he was being mocked.
“You’re a smart ass,” Katsuki replied but he couldn’t pretend he didn’t sound slightly amused.
Tokoyami didn’t reply but he walked just a bit closer to Katsuki, so that their arms touched every time they took a step. Katsuki was pretty sure that his arm felt like Kaminari must feel all the time; like electricity was rushing through it.
They were silent for the remaining ten minutes it took them to get to the restaurant but it didn’t feel uncomfortable anymore. Quite the opposite, actually.
.
The food was good. At least, Katsuki assumed it was, since he wasn’t really paying attention to it, eating more mechanically than anything else, even though he’d ordered the spiciest noodles they had.
No, instead it was Tokoyami whom he was paying attention to. Even though they had been eating in the same room for months and sometimes not that far from each other, Katsuki had never really noticed that Tokoyami didn’t eat like a normal person. Well, duh, he didn’t have a regular mouth.
Instead of simply opening his mouth and putting the noodles there and swallowing them, he had to open his beak and drop the noodles inside, sometimes from the side and after chewing them, he swallowed with strong neck movements.
Katsuki honestly knew he was being rude by staring but he just couldn’t look away. By now, it was widely accepted that most people were born with Quirks, but not everyone was used to those that had a Quirk that changed them physically. There had been lots of kids like that at middle school and before but truth be told Katsuki had never spent that much time with them.
“You’re staring,” Tokoyami finally pointed out and he wasn’t glaring or anything but his shoulders were hunched and his voice had sounded tight and fuck, Katsuki was making him uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry,” he said, meaning it but not being able to stop the bitten tone to the words, unused to saying them. “Was noodles a bad choice?”
Tokoyami blinked. “What?”
Katsuki looked down at his noodles, moving them around the bowl with his chopsticks, before looking back up at Tokoyami. He didn’t like not talking to people’s faces. “Is it hard for you to eat noodles? I should have thought about that before.”
Tokoyami blinked slowly again and Katsuki was happy to see his shoulders loosen up. “Is that why you keep staring?”
Katsuki nodded, feeling shy but refusing to let it show. He was being a considerate date, fuck it all. “Yeah, I don’t want you to… I dunno, force yourself to eat shit that’s hard or anything.”
Tokoyami didn’t reply right away and Katsuki forced himself not to fidget. “I thought I was making you uncomfortable by eating.”
Katsuki frowned, “it’s just the way you eat. Yeah, it’s different but so what? We’re in a restaurant; it would be way fucking creepier if I was the only one eating and you were just staring.”
Tokoyami stared at him for a few seconds and then his eyes did that thing again where they smiled without his beak making a movement and if Katsuki had been standing, he was pretty sure he would have swooned because he was fucking doing that. Just his words were making someone – Tokoyami – happy. Fuck, it felt good.
After that, things became easier. Katsuki actually concentrated on his food and got to savor the spicy flavor and didn’t stare at Tokoyami eating so much, who for his part seemed more comfortable as well and the conversation flowed easily, though they mostly talked about classes.
Surprisingly, Tokoyami wasn’t a very good student.
“We can study together, if you want,” Katsuki offered and then immediately continued with, “you gotta be less annoying than shitty hair, anyway,” because what was he doing!? Could studying together be considered a second date? Should he even ask for a second date before they were halfway through their first? Fuck emotions.
“Thank you, I would enjoy that very much,” Tokoyami said and Katsuki could feel his stomach clench and he sincerely hoped the food wasn’t bad. He couldn’t take time off for a sickness; like hell was he giving stupid Deku or Half-and-Half an advantage.
They were silent after that, almost being finished with their meals.
“What would you like to do afterwards?” Tokoyami asked and Katsuki looked at him. “It’s still too sunny to train Dark Shadow.”
Right, Katsuki hadn’t thought about that. It would be really weird if he said they should just go back to their dorms and wait for nightfall, wouldn’t it? Yeah, probably. And it wasn’t like he didn’t want to spend some more time with Tokoyami but he really wasn’t good with conversation and they still had several hours ahead of them. Right, what was an activity that you could do with someone and not talk?
“We can go to the cinema,” he offered and once again, Tokoyami didn’t reply right away. Katsuki was getting surprisingly used to the silences even though they were quite rare around him.
“That’s a very traditional date setting,” he finally said and Katsuki blinked, slowly frowning after.
“Yeah?” He asked confusingly and perhaps with some irritation because what the fuck, they were on a date, weren’t they? Did Tokoyami think he wouldn’t try? Fuck that; Katsuki put his all into everything, even if it was a stupid date.
Tokoyami didn’t look away from his eyes as he spoke. “I’m surprised. I…” For the first time he seemed at a loss for words, the only reason Katsuki didn’t start yelling at him for being so surprised. Tokoyami was nervous. Katsuki could and would respect that.
“I understand that you wouldn’t have said yes if you hadn’t wanted but…”
“You thought I’d get bored or something?” Katsuki asked, more surprised than anything else.
Tokoyami shrugged, the first time Katsuki had seen him do that gesture but he couldn’t even fully appreciate it, trying to pay attention to what he was saying. “I know you said that you weren’t just interested in people for their physique but I thought perhaps you were just… curious. Because I look different.”
Katsuki blinked. Then a second time. “I thought your attraction to me was just physical,” he finally shared.
It was Tokoyami’s turn to blink. “Oh,” he said after a pause, long enough that Katsuki was starting to wonder if he should just make a break for it, “in case you still believe that, my interest for you goes beyond that.”
“Oh,” Katsuki said, dumb footed.
Apparently taking that as cue that he should keep talking, Tokoyami continued, “it is true that you have an explosive personality, but that has benefits as well as downsides. Although you’re rude to your friends, I’ve noticed that you always help when they require it and that you don’t like the class to feel disheartened, such as when you got Kaminari to use his power at full strength to cheer us up after Aizawa told us he would have expelled us all after your kidnapping.”
“That wasn’t-“ Katsuki tried to cut in, feeling embarrassed and also like he had an image to protect.
“And you are, of course, one of the best students in the class which shows a lot of work and commitment. In short, I have always believed you to be a bit scary, but you’re actually a giant nerd.”
Katsuki had started to move back in his chair, not really being used to being contemplated so openly but at the end of Tokoyami’s sentence he abruptly made his chair screech. What had he just called him!?
“You-!”
“I did not mean it as an insult,” Tokoyami added, still in his regular and calm tone and he really didn’t look like he’d said anything weird and what the fuck was he supposed to say to that?
“Don’t say that to anyone,” he finally exclaimed, pointing a finger at Tokoyami, who didn’t even flinch. He slowly lowered it, “… but thanks, I guess. But fuck you if you don’t think I’m a cool nerd.”
“I would assume those two things would be opposites,” Katsuki opened his mouth to start an argument but Tokoyami fluidly continued, “before I met you, of course.”
Holy fuck. Was… was Tokoyami flirting!? The smooth talker… What the fuck.
“You’re a cool guy, too,” Katsuki forced himself to say but as he continued, the words didn’t sound as forced anymore. Tokoyami had been honest about his feelings, and he was matured enough to do the same. “You have a powerful quirk and I know you take it seriously and you… you have like a calm aura to be around. Like there’s no expectations to be someone, you know?”
Tokoyami blinked and Katsuki could swear he saw some of his feathers move – fuck, could he control that? “Thank you for saying that.”
“Yeah, well, whatever. Just didn’t want you to think I was only here ‘cuz you’re hot or some shit like that,” Katsuki said and tried to catch the eye of the waitress. It was definitely time they went to get some fresh air.
Tokoyami did that smiley thing with his eyes and yeap, spending some time in a dark room where they didn’t have to talk sounded just about perfect right now.
.
Fuck. This was not perfect, not at all and what the fuck had Katsuki been thinking!? Choosing a political drama hadn’t been that hard – Katsuki didn’t want a romantic comedy and Tokoyami didn’t want that nor an action film – and Katsuki had paid for the tickets while Tokoyami had gone to get popcorn and drinks – yes, they’d just had lunch (which they’d shared the cost equally) but they were growing boys! – and it had felt like things were going to go just dandy.
But now they were sitting next to each other and half the times Katsuki went for the popcorn his hand bumped into Tokoyami’s and the last time he’d done it, he’d actually grabbed it accidentally and had almost thrown the bucket to the floor with how strongly he’d pulled back.
It had now been several minutes and he hadn’t gone to pick up anymore even though they were really salty like he enjoyed them.
This was so fucking awkward and Katsuki really was turning into a teenage girl.
He should probably feel more upset about it than he actually did, but it was hard to think about that when the cinema was nicely cool, the story didn’t completely suck – from the moments he actually paid attention to and not to the person next to him – and all in all, it felt nice to spend time like this. If ridiculously nerve-wracking as well.
“Do you want some more?” Tokoyami whispered, not moving his eyes off the screen, just tipping the bucket towards Katsuki, who saw he was holding it with both hands and took all the popcorn he could with just one hand.
Things got better after that, with the bucket emptying out and Tokoyami putting it on the empty seat next to him and Katsuki let his guard down. Rookie mistake, really.
Because now they had nothing to do with their hands and Katsuki had put both of them on the armrests which should have been perfectly fine except while one of the seats next to him was empty, the other certainly wasn’t and he should have figured out that Tokoyami would want to put his hand on the armrest as well.
Fuck, their arms were touching and so were their pinkies and this was so damn stupid.
Katsuki had a sudden flashback of being twelve and hearing a classmate bragging about holding hands with a girl in the cinema and obviously Katsuki had scoffed at him because what a ridiculous thing to be proud about, since it was such an easy thing to pull off.
Apparently not.
Katsuki could, of course, simply put that hand on his lap but fuck that, he’d paid for the seat and truth be told he felt a weird rush every time their hands touched.
Should he put his hand on top of Tokoyami’s and interlock their fingers? That was a date thing to do, right? But a pretty forward one as well, wasn’t it? Well, it wasn’t like Katsuki hadn’t already shot himself in the foot by inviting Tokoyami to studying with him before the date ended and they knew if this was the worst mistake of their lives or not.
Katsuki breathed deeply from his nose, feeling like an idiot for not being able to move the muscles in his hand to do one simple gesture, especially after everything that hadn’t actually made him freeze, like a fucking villain wanting his body.
Fuck it, he thought and grabbed onto Tokoyami’s hand except oh no, thinking about the villain had made him angry and he did it with far too much strength. Shit, what did he do next!?
Just relax, loosen your hold, he told himself and slowly relaxed his hand on top of Tokoyami’s.
“I’m sorry, would you like me to move it so you can have more of the arm rest?”
Katsuki turned his head to look at Tokoyami, who was already looking at him and he felt him start to take his hand away and so he grabbed it again, though this time he made sure not to do it with so much strength.
“Stay,” he said, in a too loud tone. Fuck, he should have just let Tokoyami take his hand back. What if he knew exactly what Katsuki was trying to do and had been trying to find a nice way to let down Katsuki?
But what would it say if Katsuki let go now and moved his hand away? Fuck, they were on a date and they were doing date-y things and if Tokoyami didn’t like them… well, he could simply say so. He wasn’t a bad guy and Katsuki knew he wouldn’t mock him or spread it around the school that Katsuki was a closeted romantic or something – which he wasn’t! He just wasn’t a coward and Tokoyami’s hand had been right there and it just made sense to hold hands!
“Do you want to hold hands?” He asked, this time forcing his voice lower, though he didn’t know if Tokoyami even understood them from how quickly he ushered them out. He could feel his face getting really warm and he really wanted a hole to open up and swallow him. Outside, Katsuki just breathed a bit more deeply than usual, trying to calm his nerves.
They were still staring at each other. Tokoyami blinked and without saying anything forced the hand underneath Katsuki to move so that their palms were touching and then he interlocked their fingers and Katsuki squeezed once and that hand felt like the warmest part of his body and this was absolutely not the moment to make an explosion but no, that wasn’t what he was feeling, it was just… nice.
They spent the rest of the film like that even though as time passed, Katsuki felt his hand get clammier and clammier and he didn’t actually understand the ending, since he’d spent so much time not paying attention but Tokoyami had taken to rubbing circles on his hand with his thumb and he wouldn’t have let go for anything.
.
Tokoyami led them back to the school.
“Aizawa-san has given me permission to use one of the training grounds at night to train Dark Shadow,” he explained as he pressed his palm to one of the smaller buildings used for training, which their class was too big for and so unrecognizable to Katsuki.
Katsuki just hummed in response. The walk over had been spent mostly in silence, though they’d left the hand holding behind in the darkness of the cinema. He was pretty sure that two people on a date were supposed to talk more, especially when deep down they didn’t know each other that well, but he didn’t like small talk and Tokoyami seemed perfectly happy with the silence as well.
Once inside, Katsuki looked around for a few seconds and so, was surprised to turn back to Tokoyami and notice him looking more nervous than usual.
“What?” He asked with a frown.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to do this anymore,” Tokoyami offered and his voice sounded certain and he wasn’t looking away from Katsuki or anything of the sort but his shoulders were hunched and there was, of course, the fact that he still hadn’t released Dark Shadow.
“I’m not fucking backing down. Besides, I can take care of myself,” Katsuki said in a rough voice though it wasn’t like he couldn’t see where Tokoyami was coming from – it must suck to be afraid of his own Quirk’s capacities – but he simply didn’t know how to sound any other way. Being nice just didn’t come easily to him and Katsuki didn’t have a fucking problem with that.
“He has been… Uncertain since the camping trip so if it becomes too much-“
Katsuki didn’t even let Tokoyami finish the sentence before he was cutting him off with, “you’re fucking crazy if you think I’m leaving you behind or some shit like that. Besides, if he does go crazy I’m your best option of calming him down, yeah?”
Tokoyami frowned even though Katsuki knew his logic was sound. “I don’t want you getting hurt,” before Katsuki could say anything in response – besides the ugly fucking blush appearing on his cheeks – Tokoyami coughed and continued, “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
Katsuki didn’t offer a platitude of the sort “don’t worry, you won’t; you can control him” because the reason they were here was because Tokoyami couldn’t control him.
Instead he took a deep breath and approached Tokoyami, who just looked at him walking closer with a curious look. Katsuki moved one hand slowly to reach one of Tokoyami’s and squeezed it.
“Trust me,” he said in a soft voice. Then he let go and smirked, “now come on, let’s see what you two can do.”
Tokoyami didn’t reply right away, just stared at Katsuki some more, who could see the gears in his brain moving and remembered his earlier words, “I have always believed you to be a bit scary, but you’re actually a giant nerd” which should have been fucking bullshit but he was pretty sure he was showing him correct but he couldn’t really force himself to be upset about it.
He liked Tokoyami and if he was going to have to put down some of his defenses to make him feel better… then fuck it, Bakugou Katsuki never ran away from a challenge.
Finally, without a deep breath or anything like that, Dark Shadow simply appeared from Tokoyami, maintaining their connection through his chest and aside from the camping trip, Katsuki had never actually seen him at night.
He was bigger than usual but not as big as that night.
He looked… different. Not exactly scarier, but more serious. During the day Katsuki had seen Dark Shadow act a bit aloof, completely different from Tokoyami, pestering his friends for a treat or a pet or just yelling “I’M BORED” until Tokoyami was forced to get him back inside, though if it happened outside lunch rush or class he usually just tried to find something for Dark Shadow to do.
Katsuki wondered if Dark Shadow was aware when he was inside Tokoyami; if he felt trapped. That thought made him take a step closer to him, hating the thought of anyone being imprisoned.
“Careful,” Tokoyami said from behind him but Katsuki didn’t take his eyes away from Dark Shadow. He wasn’t sure starting a staring contest with a being that didn’t actually have to blink – he didn’t have physical eyelids after all – was the smartest choice but he at least hoped that he wouldn’t feel his status threatened like a dog.
“YOUR DATE!” Dark Shadow yelled which as far as Katsuki knew, was his only way of speaking. He wondered why that was and was reminded of how little he really knew about Tokoyami and by extent, Dark Shadow.
“Don’t be embarrassing, Dark Shadow. He’s here to help me train you. He and Todoroki were the ones that calmed you down when the villains attacked us, remember?” Tokoyami said, walking until his shoulder was almost touching Katsuki’s.
Dark Shadow stared at Katsuki a few more moments before he lowered his head until they were almost at the same height level. “THANK YOU.”
Katsuki blinked and then smirked, “thanks for getting rid of that villain. It was badass.”
He could have sworn that he saw Dark Shadow’s feathers ruffle at that while Tokoyami sighed, “please don’t encourage him.”
Katsuki didn’t take his eyes away from Dark Shadow as he continued, “but what you did to Tokoyami was shitty.”
At this, Dark Shadow moved away a bit – Katsuki wondered if the two of them had ever practiced exactly how far away from each they could go – apparently ashamed and Tokoyami pressed his shoulder against his.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Katsuki asked, not really caring for the tense atmosphere and feeling himself growing excited as well.
He’d fought Dark Shadow before, back at the Sports Festival, but that had not just been during the day but after he’d already exercised himself quite a bit. Now he was as restful and energized as he was bound to get and Katsuki could feel his palm itch with wanting to fight someone and aside from Kirishima, pretty much no one in their class could handle him at his full strength.
Tokoyami moved away from Katsuki, standing in front of him and wordlessly, Dark Shadow moved to envelop him. Katsuki had seen the move before, but during the day, when Dark Shadow was barely bigger than Tokoyami himself. Now, Tokoyami could barely be seen from the darkness.
Katsuki smirked and let Tokoyami make the first move, though he didn’t do it immediately. Katsuki could see Dark Shadow vibrate so he assumed this was part of the training, forcing Dark Shadow to calm down and only move when Tokoyami wanted.
When Dark Shadow finally made his move, going to attack Katsuki with just his head, leaving the rest of his body with Tokoyami, Katsuki threw an explosion at his face. Unlike the Sports Festival, it didn’t take as long for Dark Shadow to reel back from it and he went back to attacking, faster and stronger than Katsuki was used to.
It just made him smile, feeling the blood throbbing in his veins, the sweat collecting over his body.
It made him feel alive.
.
Hours went by like that. Katsuki kept throwing explosions while Tokoyami controlled how often and with what power Dark Shadow attacked.
Eventually though, Dark Shadow seemed to get bored with it – or maybe tired and looking for an excuse out, who knew – and wound up his body around the two of them, forcing them so close together they would be hugging if they moved their arms around each other.
Tokoyami blinked up at him, “I think he saw this move in a film. But we can’t exactly kiss,” the last part was said in a more nervous tone and Katsuki looked seriously at him.
Then he moved down and pressed his lips against Tokoyami’s beak, which was warmer than he had expected. “Now we have.”
“Not like in the movies,” Tokoyami said and he sounded self-conscious.
Katsuki frowned, “so what? I’m not about to declare my undying love for you at the top of a hilltop or some shit like that like in the movies either.”
“IT WOULD BE SO ROMANTIC,” Dark Shadow yelled and fuck, he’d forgotten he was there. Oh well, Katsuki guessed this would be a witness there was no escaping, not as long as he kept close to Tokoyami.
Tokoyami didn’t pay any attention to Dark Shadow, just continuing to stare at Katsuki, who was starting to feel self-conscious himself. And fuck, he couldn’t even move a hand to pass through his hair or any other movement that might help his nerves.
“Look, it doesn’t fucking matter if we kiss like that or not, alright? I just like spending time with you.”
“So you’d like to do this again?” Tokoyami asked in a low voice and it was really fucking cute.
Katsuki wondered if he’d eventually become immune to Tokoyami’s cuteness if he spent more time with him but kind of hoped not. He didn’t want to become indifferent to anything involving Tokoyami.
“Yeah,” Katsuki said, not having to even think before speaking.
“AWW,” Dark Shadow said and Katsuki made sure his left pam was nowhere near Tokoyami when he sent an explosion to Dark Shadow’s flank.
Tokoyami just smiled at him and Katsuki smiled back. He couldn’t wait to see what came next.