Archive of Our Own

"Will Kacchan still be my best friend if - if I never get a quirk?"

Izuku's swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, much like he will only a few days later at the doctor's appointment that will change everything. But he doesn't know this yet. He also doesn't know how Kacchan is going to answer, or if he's going to like the answer. Izuku's under no illusions where it comes to Kacchan's superiority complex over quirkless people, or actually, anyone who has a less powerful quirk than his - which is, in practice, everyone but All Might.

"Eh?! Who says you're not getting a quirk, shitty Deku?" Kacchan replies, predictably.

He launches into an angry speech about how his friends aren't shitty quirkless losers, and Izuku's heard it about a dozen times by now, and it's sweet, really, or at least it's Kacchan's way of being sweet, but- He cautiously turns his head and looks at Adara, who's currently settled into a blue jay because Kacchan wanted to one-up Tyrix's current sparrow form —if you're gonna be a stupid bird, Deku, at least be a cool one—.

Adara's face is really hard to read as a bird, but she tilts her head and then flies over to him, settling on his shoulder. Kacchan barely stumbles over the next part of his rant —if your shitty doctor says no then you tell me, and I'll ask him where the hell he got his shitty degree from—, and Izuku smiles.

Later, hours after Kacchan and Adara have gone back home, Tyrix changes into a soft white rabbit and curls on Izuku's chest. He's a warm, surprisingly light weight, and Izuku already knows this isn't going to be his settled form, that Tyrix only ever takes it because he knows it's comforting for him, but he almost wishes it would be.

"You know you're not getting a quirk," Tyrix says, voice level. "We've read all about it, Izuku. Even if you don't have the extra joint - I'm male. You know that's as clear as it gets when it comes to quirklessness."

But Izuku knows Tyrix won't be offended, so he just closes his eyes and hopes hopes hopes.

He's not getting a quirk.

He agonizes over how to tell Kacchan, but it's already hard enough to think about anything through the overwhelming grief. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be - broken. He was supposed to be a hero.

"You can still be a hero," Tyrix says, a very fine tremor in his voice that indicates he's more shaken than he wants to show, even though he knew. "There's no rules saying only people with quirks can be heroes. We checked."

So Izuku sniffles and wipes his nose on his sleeve, mind immediately flying back to his notebooks, thinking of how to adjust his notes on his future hero uniform.

"Plus, Adara said it was okay," he adds. His hands are shaking a little, but he reaches for his All Might pen. He doesn't notice the silence at first, because Tyrix is, unlike him, often quiet. "What?"

"Adara and Katsuki don't always see eye to eye."

"But she'd know," Izuku insists, unconcerned. Somehow his hands are shaking more now than they were before. Adara's been changing into a fallow doe, lately. Izuku knows daemons like he knows quirks - Adara's been feeling adaptable, loyal. Prideful, but not overly so.

Tyrix stares at him with wide, dark eyes. He's a deer right now too, although not a fallow one. Much meeker.

"She'd know," he agrees, gently. "But will he listen?"

It's only after the screaming, the burns on Izuku's hands where he tried to reach for Kacchan's, it's only after he's lying face-down on his bed and choking on the pillow and his own tears that he remembers.

Kacchan had been sick, weeks ago, and he'd fallen asleep while watching All Might's new cartoon. Adara had stepped closer to Izuku, nuzzling his hand with her head. She'd been in her fallow doe form, which Kacchan claimed was not as lame as other deer forms, but ultimately lacking.

"Do you think this is the one?" Izuku had asked her, taking the chance while Kacchan couldn't hear. That was a very loud argument worth avoiding.

And Adara had made a restless noise and head-butted him, because sometimes she really was too much like Kacchan.

"Too tame," she'd grumbled. "But it's the kindest one I can do. You don't wanna see what I'm supposed to look like."

"You're Kacchan's! I'll like you best no matter what form you take!"

But she'd only huffed and rested her head next to Tyrix's mouse form. Tyrix, who had shifted into a grey wolf for the first time and winced, then shifted into a lion and a python before settling for a fennec fox.

"We'll be strong enough for it," he'd said, determined.

And yet Izuku could see him shivering in his new form —Not quite right. Not yet—.

He remembers because, when he flinched away from Kacchan weeks later —smelling only burning skin and heartbreak—, Tyrix was staring right into Adara's beady black eyes. He didn't look afraid, but he kept flickering between forms, and she wasn't a doe anymore.

She was a wolverine.

There's dozens of legends and rumors about daemons.

That their shape can predict the future of their holder. That it can also predict their quirk, and their gender the lack of thereoft. That the holder's relationships depend on the compatibility of their daemon with others' —there's a particular abudance of conflicting information in this one, Izuku's discovered through his research—. That daemons always, always know too much, be it about quirks or death or other daemons.

The most well-known piece of information, and the only one everyone knows, intrinsically, just like daemons themselves know which form to settle on: daemons are a representation of their holders' souls, and souls are not meant to be touched by human hands other than their holders'.

Yet one of Izuku's first memories is the lightning-quick heartbeat of a blue jay under his careful fingers.

I don't like that form, Tyrix had said, when Izuku asked. I've never taken it, but I don't need to.

I remember. Adara had said. She'd made a pleased noise, wagging her tail. A sheepdog, Izuku thinks, a form she'd dropped very early on for being too revealing about Kacchan's feelings. You were the tiniest, weakest little human. You wanted to touch my feathers.

There's very few people that a daemon will seek touch from outside of their holder or other daemons. Best friends, even if Izuku wanted to believe that he'd ever sincerely been that for Kacchan, are rarely one of the exceptions. Izuku hadn't dared asked Adara why she allowed it. He hadn't dared ask Kacchan why he didn't seem to mind most of the times. So in those liminal hours too early to be morning and far too late to be night, Izuku had turned to Tyrix, who had the habit of curling up into a ball of fluff on Kacchan's lap whenever he was still for long enough.

I like him, had been his only comment. And then, when pressed, He's mine like you are. I would always know the sound of Adara's voice.

By when Izuku's life has come crashing down —by when he's left with the option of staying still until he turns to dust or walk walk walk on the shards until he bleeds—, he already knows his relationship with Kacchan has always been an anomaly.

It's only later that he discovers that what's really extraordinary is Adara.

"Get out of my fucking way, idiot Deku," Kacchan snarls, pushing him back against the locker with a burst of his quirk.

He's really not supposed to use it without adult supervision, particularly to make Izuku's sleeve burn to a crisp and his shoulder blister until he doubles over in nausea, but something about the way the four boys following him snicker tells Izuku that there's going to be no repercussions. Tyrix dives further into his pocket and squeaks, so long and pained that it's almost a wail, an impossible song of betrayal.

"Izuku," a rough, low-pitched voice says from somewhere around Izuku's knees. Adara stands on her hind legs and Izuku flinches, expecting her to hurt him somehow, even though she's not going to touch him anymore, she couldn't, not even Kacchan would order -

She does touch him. But it's not a punch or her claws down Izuku's face. It's the soft padding of her left paw lightly stroking his non-hurt shoulder, just for an instant, before she goes back on four legs and rubs her back against Kacchan's legs. It's so quick and so gentle that Izuku barely processes it happening, can barely believe it. Kacchan's friends didn't see it either, Izuku's sure, because they only look gleeful and expectant, much like before, like they're really expecting Kacchan to break one of the strongest taboos there are where it comes to daemons.

Kacchan, who full-body shudders and steps away, wide-eyed, paler than he's ever been since that one time Izuku's mom took them to the amusement park and they had several rides too many in the spinning teacups.

"Fuck off," he says, louder than usual in a way that speaks of how startled he is. Not that his friends would know, Izuku thinks, turning bitterness around in his mouth until it almost tastes sweet. Hoping that if he presses enough on the bruise it'll stop hurting. "Stay the hell away from me!"

Izuku doesn't point out that Kacchan was the one who approached him. He watches him and his friends walk away without comment, catches Adara's eyes on the way. She's difficult to read in her new form, but Izuku almost sees - longing. Hunger.

Tyrix peeks his head out of Izuku's pocket and watches her go, too. Izuku doesn't need to look at him to know what he's thinking.

It keeps happening.

Adara's always been somewhat at odds with Kacchan, but not like this. Never like this. Now she gets in the way when Kacchan's being a bully to Izuku —which is daily for more than a month, and then weekly for much, much longer—, especially when he uses his quirk. She doesn't seem to care that Kacchan's friends are around most of the time, or that it's clearly hurting Kacchan in some way, even if it's only that he hates it so much he wants to throw up —Izuku remembers the signs—. She never stops calling him Izuku, never stops staring at him in that particular way, like she's barely a second away from - something.

Everyday she lags a bit further behind when Kacchan walks away. After the first month, Kacchan gets to the end of the corridor before he feels the tug of the bond and turns, glaring daggers at her.

Disconnexion, Izuku thinks, mentally counting the steps between them. There are only two ways for the bond to be stretched, and disconnexion between the daemon's and the human's desires is the main one, if also the rarest. Most people don't tend to fight with their own souls - then again, it's just like Kacchan to do such a thing. Strange, for sure, but the bond doesn't allow enough distance between him and Adara to be worrying.

Not for a while.

But then Izuku's eyes flutter open in the middle of the night, startled by the brush of another soul against his even though his mother's daemon is likely sleeping by her bed as usual, and Adara's sitting on the windowsill with Tyrix's sparrow form resting on her back.

Izuku jumps out of bed and looks outside, but there's no Kacchan sulking under his window. Even if he's decided to go on a night run right by his house - and if he somehow hasn't, they're next-door neighbors but still -

"It's been too long," Adara's saying, leaping to his bedroom floor and rubbing against his legs like an overgrown cat. "Will you pay attention to me already, Izuku. I miss you. I miss seeing your stupid face smile. Pay attention -"

So Izuku kneels and slides a hand from neck to tail, feeling coarse wolverine fur between his fingers and his heartbeat on his throat.

"Adara," he hears himself say, from very far away. "You're too far. Adara -"

"It's been too long," she insists, unconcerned.

Tyrix flies over to them and shifts, slowly, like he's figuring out what shape he wants to take as he's shifting. Or like he's never tried the form before and he isn't quite sure of how to go about it. But Izuku can't focus on him at all because all he can see is Kacchan on his bed a house away, hyperventilating from the pain and the sense of wrong and trying not to show it even though he's likely alone, because that's just how Kacchan is.

"You're hurting him! You're hurting yourself! Please, please -"

"No." Adara's growling now, under her breath, her entire body shaking. "He's hurting us."

A red fox steps close and curls a long tail around her, comforting. Tyrix's eyes are the brightest they've ever been, and Izuku feels the tug in his navel, something clicking into place, unmovable.

"Go," Tyrix croons. "He needs you."

And in the end that's what does it, for reasons Izuku can't begin to guess, and Adara slinks away at a speed that betrays how uncomfortable the stretch of the bond must actually feel. Izuku stays by the window until he can't see her shadow any longer, then lays back on the bed, even though he knows he'll be staring up at the ceiling until his alarm rings.

Tyrix curls up on his legs and closes his eyes. The flame in them is extinguished.

Izuku knows the feeling.

By the day Izuku announces he's going to UA —which Kacchan angrily mocks for about five minutes, before Adara starts growling under the table, and studiously ignores afterwards, immune to his friends' best efforts to involve him further—, Izuku's memorized the spots that make Adara chirp with pleasure in her wolverine form. And more times than he can count, he's woken up by anxiety or a bad dream only to be nudged back asleep by two cold noses. He sleeps with his door locked now, afraid that his mom will walk into Adara when Kacchan's clearly not in sight and ask questions Izuku can't even dream to have the answer to.

Adara's been sleeping over at Izuku's at least every two days for months now.

But Kacchan never brings it up, and eventually, Izuku stops expecting him to.

The sludge villain has a cuckoo bird as a daemon.

Izuku doesn't have time to be bitterly amused by the implications of it, because Adara's strong and vicious, but too heavy to have the maneuverability she needs to free Kacchan. The cuckoo is mocking her, hovering just above her reach and dodging all her attempts to grab her. And Kacchan can't breathe.

The bag is in his hands before he can think about it.

He knows weaknesses. He couldn't think about it before, but everything's so much clearer when there's someone to protect, someone who needs him to think. And Kacchan needs him, whether he likes it or not.

As he throws the bag at the villain's eyes, Tyrix sprints, jumps off Adara's back, and catches the cuckoo mid-air with his mouth.

Izuku drops his gaze to avoid looking at the feral glint in Tyrix's eyes, the quiet threat in the way he's holding the villain's daemon between sharp teeth. It doesn't take long for the villain to surrender after that, and as he's being restrained by the heroes, Tyrix drops the cuckoo at All Might's feet and pads over to Kacchan, who's doubled over on his knees and coughing, teary-eyed and hands at his throat as if trying to rip away the phantom feeling of the villain's quirk.

Before Izuku can try and stop him, he slides between Kacchan and the ground and rubs his soft body against Kacchan's chest. His tail brushes Kacchan's nose and is swatted away. There's no threat in the gesture, only familiarity, and Kacchan rests a hand on top of Tyrix's head and the other on Adara's back until his breathing goes back to normal.

Adara doesn't come to Izuku's room that night.

A full week later and she's laying next to Izuku, where she grumpily let herself be pushed off Izuku's chest —she fully intended to settle there, even though she's way too heavy for Izuku to be able to breathe with her on top of him—.

"We miss you," she says, twitching restlessly. It's not the first time she's expressed a similar sentiment, but it is the first time she's said we. "Katsuki's so angry. He wanted to ask you why you helped him, but - he doesn't wanna talk." She gives him a smile, except that it's not that at all, it's a show of all her teeth, and her eyes are bitter. "Coward. He's going to make a terrible hero, Izuku -"

"Don't say that! That was really mean, Adara," Izuku hisses, but scratches the top of her head at her pouting. It's not her fault she thinks like that, Izuku knows. It says way more about Kacchan's insecurities than it does about her. "Kacchan's awesome, and he's going to be the best hero."

"He has to get a hold of his anger first," Tyrix intervenes, ruthless. "He's a bully, Izuku."

Izuku doesn't point out that apart from some taunting, Kacchan's mostly been ignoring him for months now. Adara was likely the one to make it so on the first place, and Tyrix was there for all of it anyway.

"He's an idiot," Adara says, her eyes narrowed. "He won't listen to anything I say, but he knows I'm right."

"Just like you were right when you said he wouldn't leave us if Izuku was quirkless," Tyrix replies. He's not as close to Izuku as Adara is, but Izuku can still feel him trembling. "Because that turned out great."

"I didn't leave. And I told you, he just won't -"

Izuku tunes them out for a few minutes so he can think. He's just realized - Adara doesn't know he's going to get a quirk. Which means Kacchan doesn't either. And that makes perfect sense, because All Might told him it was a secret, but knowing Tyrix's big mouth when it comes to Adara, it's not going to stay a complete secret for long.

He really should've thought to tell All Might about that.

"I miss him too, Adara," he finally says, shakily.

He can feel himself getting teary-eyed, but for once he doesn't try to hold it back. Kacchan's absence hasn't ever stopped hurting. They were best friends and then they weren't, and maybe Kacchan's a bit rough around the edges and maybe he wasn't always the best friend, but Izuku knows the scrunch of his nose when he's confused but trying to think, the seriousness in his eyes and his stillness when he focuses, the way something soft and hesitant makes his eyes shine on the rare moments Izuku reaches out far enough. Sometimes he dreams a memory of Kacchan's real laughter, not his mean one or his mocking one, and his entire body feels like it's filled with light.

"He'll get over himself," Adara huffs, nuzzling his shoulder with her nose. "No crying, Izuku! I hate it when you cry. I'll take care of it, okay?"

"I just - I don't understand," Izuku finally says, sniffling. He knows Kacchan. He knows exactly how Kacchan's mind works, the thoughts that were running through his head when he heard about Izuku's quirklessness - and also all the thoughts that came before that. But it's beyond his abilities to actually understand them, to make sense out of Kacchan's truths. "Why?"

Adara shows her teeth —not a threat, not a smile, merely a gesture of restlessness— and leaves Izuku's side to pace, just like Kacchan has a habit to.

"Coward," she repeats. "Weak. But he'll learn better, Izuku."

The or else is implicit, because Adara is more skilled at subtlety than Kacchan, but it rings threateningly all the same.

It's a windy winter Tuesday and Izuku gets back home late from a training session with All Might and Niek —All Might's peacock daemon play-fighting with Tyrix is still the weirdest thing he's ever seen—. He kicks off his shoes at the door before his mom has time to worry about him tracking mud all over the floor, and even though he was expecting it anyway, the shout never comes.

Tyrix's ears twitch, the only warning Izuku gets before he tenses and sprints upstairs.

Izuku drags himself after him, muscles aching, and stops so suddenly at his room's door that he stumbles, almost falls flat on his face. He grips the door handle for balance and watches, just watches until the sight of Kacchan sullenly sitting on his bed feels less impossible.

"Auntie's picking up groceries or some shit," he says, staring at his own knees almost challengingly. Next to him, Adara radiates smugness. "Told her I couldn't stay for dinner, but she didn't fucking listen. Always said it runs in the fucking family, didn't I?"

"What is he doing here?" Tyrix hisses, like Izuku has any better idea.

He looks like he'd love nothing more than to grab Kacchan between his teeth and spit him out at the doorstep of his house, but Izuku knows all his tells. Tyrix is a ball of tension, and he's staring at Kacchan like he's torn between fight and flight, but there's want in the way he leans forward, eyes halfway to turning soft already. And Izuku can't really blame him, because he's not in a much better state himself. Seeing Kacchan in his room, after so long - there's tears in his eyes already and he can't breathe and it doesn't even matter, because he can't trust Kacchan and it's maybe never been a good idea to want to keep him and -

And he's still going to.

"Katsuki's gonna apologize," Adara says, so certain that for a second Izuku almost believes her. "And then we're all gonna get Izuku's laptop and watch a hero documentary so he can't say anything to ruin it."

"Shut the fuck up," Kacchan sighs, tiredly. "Just - shut up."

Whatever Tyrix reads into those words, he's up and running faster than Izuku can react, throwing himself on Kacchan's lap with a noise Izuku's never heard from him before —and Kacchan, Kacchan lets him, and tentatively drops his hand on Tyrix's back like he's not quite sure of his welcome—. Izuku has no choice but to follow, once again. He walks further into the room and closes the door behind him, staring at Kacchan from almost close enough to touch. He sees the invitation in Adara's eyes and ignores it - he's not ready to sit down just yet, not when he might have to start running any second.

"We're listening," Tyrix says, loosely wrapping his tail around Kacchan's wrist.

"Whatever," Kacchan mumbles, nonsensically, and batts the tail away. Suddenly, his head snaps up and his eyes meet Izuku's. There's nothing in them that Izuku can read, except for some discomfort and the usual amount of rage for Kacchan. "Deku! I shouldn't've used my quirk on you and shit. Or let a bunch of extras laugh at you for being useless, like they can talk. Even you'd be a better hero than those useless fucks."

"That's not what you were supposed to say," Adara growls.

Izuku looks down at his hands, which have clenched into fists without his imput. If he squints he can still see the faint pink and silver patterns of the scars Kacchan left on him. Kacchan can probably tell that he's lost his audience, because he makes a wordless noise of frustration and runs his hands through his hair, jaw tense.

"I'm tryin' - I'm tryin' to say, Deku, that it wasn't - fuck, it wasn't cool. I shouldn't have hurt you when you couldn't even fucking fight back."

"We were friends," Izuku hears himself say. He doesn't recognize his voice, and for the way Kacchan's eyes widen, he doesn't either. "You were my best friend."

"Deku -"

"You - it really hurt, Kacchan."

"I fucked up," Kacchan says, unexpectedly. Both Izuku and Tyrix draw in a breath at the same time, and Adara chirps, pleased. "I'm- sorry. I really fucked up, I fucking know -"

Izuku steps forward and finds Kacchan's hands, as surely as if he could actually see anything at all through his tears. He reflexively tenses, expecting an explosion that doesn't come. Kacchan has gone stiff and silent. He doesn't grasp Izuku's hands in return, but he doesn't pull his away either.

"We missed you," Tyrix says, from somewhere under their hands.

"You've always been fucking idiots."

Adara sighs as well as a wolverine can, nudges Izuku with her nose. "Better get the laptop quick."

And Izuku laughs, shakily, and does. But it's got nothing to do with Kacchan's words, not when he's staring at Izuku like he used to when Izuku made a particularly good argument during a discussion about heroes or stopped in their way to class to pat a dog even though they were already running late, like he doesn't know how to react but he thinks he doesn't hate what he sees.

They watch the first documentary they ever made on All Might —for about the fifth time now, but Kacchan barely complains this time—, and Izuku sits next to Kacchan the entire time, close enough that he can feel the heat coming off him and their knees knock together when Izuku forgets himself. Tyrix's curled up on Kacchan's lap, head on Izuku's thigh, and Adara's sprawled next to Izuku's free side.

Izuku feels warm down to his bones.

Izuku's class misteriously stops taunting him, one by one over the course of a few weeks. And although Kacchan's friends still hang around him most of the time and Kacchan doesn't really talk to Izuku in public, they somehow learn to avoid Izuku the quickest. Izuku spends most of his time in school improving his notebooks, unbothered except for Adara's occasional commentary —Kacchan's taken to sitting somewhere in Izuku's nearby radio, glowering threateningly at people who approach either of them—.

On Saturdays and sometimes Tuesdays, when their schedules aren't quite as full as usual —or rather, when Kacchan's free and Izuku's coming back from training marginally earlier—, Kacchan and Adara drop by and let Izuku's mom force-feed them snacks until late in the evening, while Kacchan and Izuku play videogames or watch a show or argue about the newest up-and-coming hero.

They don't fit into each other's lives quite the way they used to. But somehow, it's - better.

"What the fuck have you been doing after school?" Kacchan asks one Saturday, gaze unmoving from the screen, where his character is kicking Izuku's character's butt. "You always look like you're 'bout to fucking faint for four hours straight."

About a million excuses run through Izuku's head. He could've taken up judo, or be going to the gym, or he could have a standing meeting behind the school with Kacchan's friends —no, not that one, not unless he wants to be the reason some kids need prescription burn cream—, or have developed a debilitating heart condition. Kacchan might even believe some of them, or he might not actually care about the answer, depending on his mood and how much attention he's paying to Izuku's tells and whether the universe has decided that it's time to end this funny little experiment they call a friendship.

Izuku takes in a deep breath. Gives All Might's disappointed face one last thought.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Later, Kacchan's disgruntedly staring at Izuku's ceiling and Izuku's trying and failing not to stare at Kacchan.

They're lying on the carpet by Izuku's bed because that's where Kacchan had sprawled after he was done pacing up and down Izuku's tiny room, and Izuku had carefully lied down next to him —sides close but not touching— a minute after, not daring to suggest they move to the bed or literally anywhere else that doesn't have crumbs that he's forgotten to vacuum for two weeks straight. Kacchan's chest falls and rises in a rythm that Izuku knows all too well - he can practically read what he's thinking off the spaces between breaths. Kacchan's never been a secretive person, but even when he's somehow not talking, his body says everything that Izuku would want to know.

"You're gonna be great, Izuku," Adara says, the first words she's spoken since Kacchan started pacing —at least, the first since her high-pitched, excited but incredulous No way—. It soothes an important part of Izuku's mind, but Kacchan hasn't said a word yet, and history has proven how little Adara's and Kacchan's thoughts intersect sometimes. "Can't think of anyone who deserves it more. You're gonna leave all those extras in the dust!"

Izuku wants to shake Kacchan and make him say something, anything, because for once he doesn't know what Kacchan's gonna decide this means and Kacchan's rarely as kind as Adara, especially when Izuku is judged worthy of something that he isn't. But he keeps quiet because he's never just not known where the chips are going to fall, not with Kacchan, and his head's spinning and is this how it ends, is it really what's going to make Kacchan give up on them and storm off forever this time, is -

"Say something!" Tyrix growls, ears flat against his head. He wants to trust Kacchan as much as Izuku does, but he's too cautious not to know better, not to be making back-up plans already. "Are you going to hurt us again?"

Kacchan springs up to a sitting position, scowl deepening, and rubs Tyrix's head roughly in a way that people generally only do to big dogs —but Kacchan knows, always knows what Izuku and Tyrix can take, and this is not one of the times when he chooses to ignore it—.

"I fucking said I wasn't gonna do that again, didn't I?" he replies, because he did, for all intents and purposes —barely awake after passing out on their school notebooks, Izuku's muttered I dunno what I'll do if Kacchan leaves again and Kacchan's soft, almost sighed it ain't gonna be like that anymore, Izu as his grip on Izuku's wrist tightened, but not enough to cause pain—. "Deku- why did you tell me?"

"Tyrix would've told Adara," Izuku says, frowning, but then he stills in a way Kacchan must recognize, because he raises an eyebrow back.

"Tyrix is a fucking secretive bastard."

He's- not wrong. Despite his best efforts, Tyrix is not trusting by nature. Unlike Adara, who seems to constantly blabber about what Kacchan's really thinking or feeling —at least with Izuku—, Tyrix keeps most of his knowledge to himself as long as he believes there's a reason to. Keeping All Might's secret, even to Adara, would have probably been a good enough motivation, and Izuku can't believe he didn't think of that.

"Maybe I just wanted to," Izuku says, sitting up to meet Kacchan's eyes properly. "Maybe I wanted to see if I could trust you again."

It's not about whether he can trust Kacchan not to betray All Might - he would never endanger the number one hero like that. It's about whether he can trust him not to betray Izuku. Not to take it as a betrayal on its own that Izuku didn't tell him earlier, or that he accepted the quirk to begin with, or that All Might chose Izuku and not him —which Kacchan would somehow manage to blame him for—.

Kacchan is not looking at Izuku anymore. His gaze has shifted to Tyrix, as if expecting him to offer more insight into Izuku's mental processes. Joke's on him - Izuku said it as it is. There's no backhanded insult or hidden implication that Kacchan can read off his words. That's Kacchan's world, a world where he's constantly on edge because of the perceived attacks on him, no matter how inocuous the words. But with Kacchan, Izuku always says what he means. If only Kacchan would learn -

"D'you not think I'm enough of a threat to All Might's secret, is that what it fucking is?" he finally says, turning back to Izuku. It's exactly the reaction Izuku was expecting from him, except - his tone is flat, almost doubtful, and he hasn't exploded yet —physically or otherwise—.

"That's not what it is!" Adara replies, after Kacchan glances at her. "That's not what he meant, you know that's not what he meant."

"I'm not looking down on you, Kacchan," Izuku offers, hesitant. He's so rarely been given the chance to have Kacchan listen, especially with something as big as this. "It's- the opposite, really."

Kacchan seems to be deliberating for a few long moments. Izuku has never seen the expression on his face before, so he waits, tense, hands curled into fists that he knows he won't bring himself to use even if they become necessary, but he can tell already that there's no aggression in the line of Kacchan's shoulders. This is- something else.

"Whatever," Kacchan says. As good as a I've heard you - thanks in his language. "Tell All Might you're fucking busy on Tuesdays. Doesn't sound like you've been doing any hand-to-hand combat and that's gonna bite you in the ass if you apply to UA, no matter how fucking flashy One for All is. No point in having a badass strength quirk if you don't know how to use your body."

"We're going back to the dojo?" Tyrix asks, eyes bright. It's been years.

"Deku and I are going. You're staying out of the way with Adara, you fuckin' overgrown rat, and watch me pound Deku into the ground until he gets less pathetic."

All tension leaves Izuku's body at once after a few seconds of incredulity, and he slumps into a useless heap on the carpet, trying not to cry because if he cries Kacchan will definitely mock him. Kacchan mocks him anyway —we're not even fighting yet and your form's already shitty, Deku—, but Izuku can barely hear him over the sound of his bone-crushing relief.

If All Might is suspicious at all of Izuku's new training regime, he doesn't show it. He thinks Izuku's best friend's idea to prepare for the UA entrance exam with extra fighting training is a fantastic idea, and doesn't comment on it otherwise. Neither does Izuku.

He tells Kacchan what All Might said and Kacchan grins like a little kid and says of fucking course, Deku, I'm a fucking genius, and acts all obnoxious in general, and Izuku -

Izuku can't breathe.

But this time it doesn't feel like his ribs are digging into his lungs and there's no air for him to take in and it's only a matter of time, only a little while longer 'til his body gives up on him. This time, it feels like the very first burst of spring wind, and Izuku knows better than to try and walk against it.

All there is to do is trust it with your back and let go.

It's been years since they've had a sleepover, but they're both too tired for anything else whenever they come back from the dojo.

Izuku's mom never asks Kacchan if he's staying over. She's known him for as long as Izuku has, after all. It takes her a couple of weeks, but then extra bedding and towels for the shower and some of Izuku's dad's old clothes —which miraculously fit Kacchan and are still too big for Izuku— start appearing on Tuesdays, already neatly sitting on the bed by when they get home. All Kacchan does is roll his eyes, but tellingly, he tolerates Izuku's mom ruffling his hair as a greeting even though he looks like he wants to bite the entire time.

When they collapse on Izuku's bed, Adara nudges Izuku until he turns on his side, towards Kacchan, and then sprawls at his back. Kacchan sleeps just like Adara, which Izuku tries really hard not to laugh about, but he always turns his head to stare back at Izuku. Tyrix starts curling up in the space between Kacchan's left arm and his ribs, and Kacchan doesn't say a thing.

They both think too much to sleep easy, and it usually only takes a few minutes before one of them talks —softly, to avoid alarming Izuku's mom—, as they stare at each other in the darkness. Sometimes it's Izuku overthinking, or planning the week, or talking just because he can. Sometimes it's Kacchan, with classic Kacchan stuff like who he's going to destroy in class next time or how Izuku still needs to improve his defense. But sometimes it gets - different. Weird. Like Kacchan's thinking Izuku's going to forget it in the morning, or at least avoid bringing it up - which to his credit, is exactly what Izuku does.

"Your shitty freckles look like stars," Kacchan says, once. "I keep fucking expecting them to shine when we turn the lights off."

"Uh," Izuku says back, smartly.

Kacchan's hand lifts so suddenly that Izuku almost flinches, but by then it's been more than a year since the last time he remembers Kacchan actually hurting him, and months since they made up. He waits, still but unafraid, as Kacchan draws invisible lines with his fingers, connecting the freckles on Izuku's cheeks in the dark. He looks soft under the moonlight - face devoid of his usual scowl, no tension in the way he moves, body pliant instead of tightly controlled. Bedtime is pretty much the only time Kacchan isn't challenging himself in some way, and Izuku wouldn't say it's his favorite Kacchan —that's Kacchan grappling for his arm, smothering startled laughter on his shoulder because when he laughs for real he makes this really stupid-sounding little snort—, but he'd still felt his absence like a missing limb.

"Like those fucking- those stars you put up in the ceiling for little kids. Not real stars. The plastic ones that glow kinda puke green."

A soft Kacchan is still kind of an ass.

The day of UA's entrance exam, Izuku's dragged out of bed by a particularly angry-looking Kacchan, who literally throws Izuku's clothes at his face and pushes him into the bathroom as Adara cackles maniacally in the background.

"You'd better not make me late, Deku," Kacchan yells from his room.

Izuku can hear his mom laughing downstairs. He sighs, considers reminding Kacchan that he's the one who came for Izuku and they're in fact at least twenty minutes early unless Izuku crawls to the exam, but then decides that he values his life too much. He gets ready the fastest he's ever done so under Adara's shouted encouragement, and in exchange he practically arm-wrestles Kacchan into staying for breakfast, trying to ignore his own stomach trying its best to twist into knots. Tyrix keeps so close to him —tense, giving Adara pleading looks until she nudges him with her entire body in a way that passes as friendly for her— that Izuku trips over him several times, legs tangled by the soft tail.

Kacchan doesn't seem concerned at all, moving like he's already being tested on his speed and form, eyes bright with challenge. Izuku wasn't expecting anything else. But Kacchan in that mood can rarely see anything beyond his need to prove himself, which is why Izuku nearly jumps out of his skin ten minutes into their walk to the station, when he pauses in his speech about how many extras he's going to destroy and turns to look at Izuku straight on.

"Don't embarrass yourself, Deku," he says. Good luck. "You've been training with fucking All Might. And with me. There's no way you can fuck this up, so stop looking like you're 'bout to lose your fucking breakfast."

"I'm fine!" Izuku protests. "I'm great."

"You're gonna do great," Adara agrees, pleased by his show of confidence, even if she can definitely tell how fake it is. Izuku still feels like puking, but Adara nudges him companionly like she's been doing with Tyrix and although it almost knocks him off his feet, it does help. "Katsuki and I are gonna be the best, so you've gotta catch up, yeah?"

"We're getting into UA," Tyrix suddenly says, voice like steel. "Doesn't matter where in the ranking. We're going to UA."

Kacchan throws his head back and laughs. Izuku's half-expecting it to be mocking, but it's not. It's just a pleased sound of approval, and when Kacchan looks back at Izuku, he's grinning. He picks Tyrix up and carries him on his shoulders like a fur scarf - which Tyrix never lets Izuku do, but is apparently fine with Kacchan doing for the rest of the way to the station. It's the first time Kacchan's ever initiated touching with Tyrix without prompting, aside from absent-minded petting when they were younger, and Izuku's burning, like Kacchan set off the biggest explosion he could right into Izuku's chest cavity and the fire's spreading. Only, it's nice.

"That's the fuckin' spirit," Kacchan says, grinning. "You're getting a ride, so you'd better save your stamina to help Deku - none of that wherever in the ranking bullshit."

"We'll do our best, Kacchan," Izuku promises, and he feels it down to his bones.

Red foxes have a ton of stamina. Not as much as wolverines, but a lot. Kacchan's holding Tyrix because he wants to, the same way Izuku likes scratching under Adara's chin when she sits on his lap, even though she's so heavy that his legs fall asleep in about a minute.

Kacchan only puts Tyrix down when they're on the train, but they keep close, and Adara's stuck to Izuku's side like she either wants the reassurance or knows Izuku appreciates it. The four of them only part the door, without needing to talk about it, under some kind of unspoken pact where Kacchan still doesn't interact with Izuku much in public and he definitely doesn't stick around when he's got extras to destroy. Izuku knows that if he watches Kacchan go, he'll just be looking at his back as he walks away —Kacchan's never really been good at goodbyes, as it is, but he's only gotten worse over the years—, so he lets himself glance around instead, trying to figure out everyone's quirks just for the fun of it.

"Hey," Kacchan's voice says, and before Izuku's gaze has time to snap back, Kacchan's punching him lightly on the arm. "See ya, Izu."

Izuku smiles so hard, some contestants actually veer away from his path.

There's no way he's getting into UA. He'd seen Kacchan flying around at impossible speeds, taking out robot after robot, and Kacchan's good but a lot of the other contestants were too, and meanwhile Izuku managed to break half of his body and barely took out a few of robots. Which wasn't even thanks to his quirk, it was all from his training at the dojo and if Kacchan hadn't thought to drag him back there he would've failed even more miserably -

Something smacks into him with so much strength that Izuku loses his balance, but a hand catches his arm before he can fall flat on his face and steadies him. Izuku would know that grip anywhere, friendly or not.

"Be fucking careful, Adara, you saw him breaking both of his fucking legs like an idiot," Kacchan growls, but Adara's entirely unaffected - she rubs her body roughly against Izuku's legs first, then against Tyrix, who makes a pleased noise and nuzzles back.

"I'm fine," Izuku says, wide-eyed. Kacchan still hasn't let go of his arm. "Recovery Girl fixed it."

Kacchan saw him, and Izuku kind of feels like apologizing even though he hasn't technically done anything wrong. Except disappointing All Might. And his mom. And Kacchan. He was so sure he'd get into UA -

"It wasn't stupid," Tyrix says, irritated. He's walking along with his head close to the ground, as if following a trail of some kind, but Izuku knows he's just feels as upset as he is. "No one was intervening! And that girl and her buffalo daemon were about to get really hurt!"

But Kacchan's just - staring. Whatever's in his eyes, Izuku can't read it, because he can't recall ever seeing it before. He's looking at Izuku a bit like he does sometimes when they're half-sleep in Izuku's room and Izuku's rambling under his breath —only much more focused—, but also a bit like when he finds something new he wants to be win at —only the desperation to improve himself is missing and there's only - hunger, or maybe the thrill of the challenge—. It's kind of freaking Izuku out, even though he's trying his best not to be.

"See?" Adara says, nonsensically, glancing up at Kacchan with a very smug look. "Told ya so."

Kacchan's jaw clenches, and Izuku's reaching for his hand before he can think it through. He's not sure what exactly he can do if Kacchan explodes, but -

"'s fine, Deku," Kacchan sighs. "I'm fucking fine. It's - Adara's been raving about how fuckin' great you are for years. I guess I can kinda see what's so fucking great now."

"Oh." It feels like Izuku's tongue is stuck to his mouth, but he somehow manages to say, "I really didn't- I messed it up, Kacchan. I could barely even take any robots down, and when -"

Kacchan squeezes his hand hard, almost warningly. Izuku's mouth snaps shut. He's expecting Kacchan to say something, anything, but he only makes a thoughtful noise and drags him along. They're almost at Izuku's house when Kacchan finally lets his hand go, and Izuku's already turning to walk inside when Kacchan speaks.

"All Might sure looked fuckin' pleased when he saw you took down that zero points. It can't have gone too bad."

It's not the best reassurance, because even if All Might didn't look disappointed, that's still not getting Izuku into UA. But - it's a good try, and Kacchan doesn't generally even try for reassurance at all, so Izuku does his best to smile and waves goodbye.

"Thanks, Kacchan. You did great, by the way! But I knew you would - you're amazing."

"I fuckin' know," Kacchan says, snorting, and walks away.

A week later, Izuku gets into UA.

"Fourth place," he tells Kacchan, heart in his throat, as they sit side by side on his bed. They rarely meet at Kacchan's house, but Izuku had gotten All Might's message and run over without thinking about it, stumbling inside so shakily that Auntie Mitsuki had actually almost called his mom. "I got fourth place, Kacchan."

And Kacchan, who got first place and has only been gloating about it for about ten minutes, just grins.

"Fucking rescue points."

In Izuku's brain, there's two separate scripts for Kacchan. In the one for middle school, they stay mostly apart - Kacchan doesn't seek him out except to silently intimidate other people away when he thinks it's necessary or just feels like fucking with some jerk—in Kacchan's words—, and Izuku doesn't seek Kacchan out at all. In the one for everything else, Kacchan takes him to the dojo on Tuesdays and drops by on Saturdays after Izuku's training, and Izuku seeks him out the rest of the time whenever he's free, dragging him to ramen places and comic stores and wherever he can somehow convince him to go —there's spicy ramen at the ramen place and All Might in the comic store, but places like the ice cream shop that just opened down the street require more delicate handling, because Kacchan disdains any kind of ice cream flavor that isn't so obscure that it takes most people a second to process it even exists—.

It takes Izuku until the very first day of class at UA to realize he doesn't have a script for high school.

Which is why he hears Kacchan blowing up at Iida and finds himself instinctively kicking him in the shin, with a hissed Kacchan and an obvious plea in his eyes to stop being so antagonistic before he makes enemies already. Kacchan kind of just stares at him, but at least he leaves Iida alone, so Izuku doesn't think much of it. Kacchan's told him before that he looks like his mom when he does that, after all, and for all that Kacchan says it's creepy as fuck, Izuku knows that Midoriya Inko is probably the only person whose disappointment Kacchan flinches away from, so he's happy to take it as a compliment.

Plus, Adara's sitting at his feet and watching the scene with pleased dark eyes, and when Izuku hunches over slightly so he can pat her head, she just purrs —it's a low growl, really, because wolverines can't actually purr, but it's what it translates to as far as Izuku knows—. Iida's gaze snaps to her, and his Japanese serow daemon nervously taps at the floor with a heavy hoof. From the top of Kacchan's desk, Tyrix glances at them with interest, but has no comments to offer otherwise.

So it doesn't hit Izuku then, because both Kacchan and their daemons are exceedingly unhelpful. No, it figures - it hits him at lunch.

Because then Izuku finds himself sandwiched between Iida and Uraraka, and without thinking, he waves at Kacchan before he can walk away and smiles. And Kacchan - Kacchan actually stops, hesitates for a second, and makes his way over with Tyrix and Adara at his heels, scowl quickly falling back into place.

"Can't survive without me even for fuckin' lunch, can ya'?" he grumbles, but he slids into the seat in front of him and focuses his irritation on Iida. "How the fuck have you already picked up a bunch of losers?"

"Uh - hi! Do you guys know each other?" Uraraka says, frowning slightly. Her cape buffalo daemon —Izuku's already managed to forget his name— huffs heavily in either anger or confusion. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I didn't see you together at the entrance exam."

"I did, but it did not occur to me that Midoriya would frequent the likes of him," Iida replies, and he gives Kacchan a dark look.

Kacchan's mouth twitches. Izuku can tell when he's holding back a snarl, and Adara's already starting to growl on the seat next to him, but Kacchan only turns his head to look at Izuku and raises an eyebrow, as if asking is this really who you're choosing to befriend. Izuku gives him a soft look and shrugs. Patience, he tries to say with his eyes, you were rude to him too.

"Fuck off, Glasses," Kacchan finally says, and the way his shoulders turn slightly away from Iida shows that he's officially uninterested in the conversation.

Izuku's never been prouder. For about a second, before it dawns on him that he's just never had the chance to be proud of this stuff before, because he never has to wrangle Kacchan for his classmates. Because they don't talk at school, and they definitely don't sit together at lunch.

While half-listening to Uraraka talking about the food —with her daemon - Vyxis, wasn't it, with Vyxis piping up occasionally—, he risks a glance at Kacchan from the corner of his eye. He's clearly on his phone and not bothering to hide his irritated expression either, but that's Kacchan for you. He still walked over when Izuku called, and Adara's wrestling with Tyrix next to his feet but without drawing blood, fondness in the way she swipes at him.

Izuku thinks of bringing it up anyway, ask if they're that kind of friends now, but he doesn't know how to word it and he's not sure he has the courage to try, and he definitely, very much doesn't Kacchan to overthink it and stop.

So he just - doesn't ask.

Kacchan eventually notices him staring. He lifts his eyes from his phone and gives him a little nod with a grim look, the kind of thing he does when a normal person would just smile but he's in public and unwilling to look anything but sullen.

Izuku grins and lets himself listen to Iida rant about proper nutritional intake.

It's the little things.

There's eighteen people in their class, not counting him and Kacchan, and only two of them know that they're friends or even know each other. Izuku probably shouldn't be surprised that it becomes such a huge deal, because it's Kacchan and Kacchan always leaves an impression, but -

Kirishima and Kaminari learn it next. It's as simple as Izuku forgetting himself again, lost of in a dazzle of new quirks that he's already managed to take so many notes of, but there's still so much left to write and look into that he's admittedly more than a bit frantic, and when he bumps into Kacchan on the way back to class after their break he doesn't apologize, only grabs his arm and stares desperately into his eyes.

Kacchan's new friends stop, startled —Kaminari almost toppling over, which makes Adara disgruntedly drag Tyrix out of the way by the scruff of his neck—, and Kirishima makes it as if to open his mouth, but Izuku's faster.

"Kacchan, you will not believe who's teaching class 1-B."

"We're being taught by All Might and your nerd ass is still gonna fuckin' get like this over some rando teaching that loser class?" Kacchan replies, rolling his eyes, but he's not yanking his arm out of Izuku's grasp and he's not even telling him to shut up. Izuku can tell when he's being indulged. Kacchan confirms it a second after by asking, almost as if against his will, "Who is it?"

"Vlad King's their homeroom teacher," Izuku informs him, still shaking a bit from excitement. Tyrix is vibrating with the same emotion in Adara's hold. "His quirk is so cool."

"But your quirk's so much cooler, Midoriya!" Kaminari says.

Izuku turns at the sound of his voice and feels himself flush. Him and Kirishima are staring at him with shocked, if admiring expressions, the daemons at their feet exchanging interested looks. He's somehow managed to completely ignore his two classmates, even though they're right in his line of vision, and they've seen him geek out like that and still think he's cool, somehow, even though he's being so rude -

"Yeah, no shit," Kacchan snorts. "Strength stockpiling is so much better than some shitty blood control quirk."

"Yeah, so manly!" Kirishima agrees, punching his fist into the air in approval.

Kaminari gets a confused wrinkle between his eyebrows for a second, then laughs. Kacchan rolls his eyes again, this time clearly directed at him even though he's still looking at Izuku —even though Izuku's in no state to react to it, too busy trying not to combust—.

"Not that one!" Kaminari says, impishly. "Bakugou taming! It's so badass, Midoriya."

Izuku immediately drops Kacchan's arm, flushing even harder. Tyrix chokes on what Izuku thinks is likely his own spit, and Adara releases him to growl lightly, a specific noise that sounds halfway between her pleased growl and her irritated one. It makes Kaminari's spotted skunk cower, but Kirishima grins cheekily and takes over, unaffected, as his red doe only grunts.

"I tried to pat him in the back earlier and he almost blew my arm off! You guys must be great friends."

"Or Midoriya has a second quirk," Kaminari insisted under his breath, apparently unwilling to let go of his pet theory. "And that's why we're not carrying him to Recovery Girl right now, or to his mom under a white sheet with scorch marks all over it."

"Oi!" Kacchan growls, sounding like he's reached the end of his patience but he's still struggling to hold onto what little remains. Probably so Tyrix doesn't grumble reproachfully at him later —Izuku tries to limit his own judgings to when it's impossible not to say something, for the sake of his sanity—. "Shut the fuck up."

"Katsuki and Izuku are best friends," Adara says gleefully.

Among Kirishima's and Kaminari's delighted snickering, and their claims of how manly and badass that is, Izuku fumbles over his words to try and explain that they've known each other for forever, and that their moms are university friends, and also to try and find a safe, polite way to warn them not to ever call Kacchan by the nickname Izuku uses. Kacchan just grits his teeth, grabs Izuku's arm, and tugs him away so fast that Izuku stumbles and only Adara's encouraging nudge saves him from faceplanting on the floor —that and Kacchan's vice-grip on him, of course—.

"For fuck's sake," Kacchan mumbles, and then raises his voice again. "Hey! Shitty Hair, Pikachu, if you're late to class because you're too fucking busy snickering like idiots it'll be your own damn fault, so don't come crying to me later."

Izuku listens for footsteps approaching them, but it seems like Kacchan's new friends are not particularly concerned by the very real threat. He leans in, makes Kacchan slow down a little even though they are at risk of being late to class if they take too long.

"We're best friends," he says. It's almost a question, even though that wasn't necessarily his intention.

Tyrix makes a pleased noise, and Kacchan takes in a deep breath in a way that spells annoyance, but somehow doesn't release it into a sigh. Izuku discreetly watches for his face turning blue, just in case —Kacchan is absolutely the type to choke himself to death just to make a point with style—.

"The fuck you sound so confused for? Did you just learn that, idiot?"

"No," Izuku lies, then decides to switch tactics midway. "I totally got that impression from you calling me a shithead nerd with shitty noodle arms every time you pin me down in the dojo."

"That's what I fucking thought," Kacchan replies, glaring at nothing.

There's the faintest of blushes on his cheeks and steadily spreading down his neck. Kacchan rarely blushes, but it always looks just like when he gets particularly angry, like his body can't bear to produce any kind of reaction that doesn't look like he's about to go on a rampage —which Izuku finds adorable, because his mom clearly dropped him on his head when he was a kid at some point, probably several times—.

"You're ours," Adara says, almost a warning.

Izuku raises his eyebrows but says nothing, because Tyrix's already stepping on Adara's way and pushing back —literally, shoving his body against Adara until she's pushed slightly backwards, which is no small feat considering her weight—.

"But you are ours," he says, an undertone in his voice that Izuku's never heard before from him —but he feels the answering feeling rising in his chest, whatever it is, protectiveness and love and something that almost trembles with power but keeps deceptively still like ocean depths—.

Kacchan's grip tightens on Izuku's arm. Adara coos, deep and vulnerable, the line of her back pulled tight like when Izuku scratches just the right spot.

There's no answer forthcoming, because the uncharacteristic silence is enough.

The rest of class 1-A finds out about them much like most things happen in Izuku's life - all at once.

Aizawa-sensei claps his hands unenthusiastically —his corn snake daemon watching the class with sharp eyes from his wrist—, and announces that they will be having combined training with their daemons, and could everyone please pretend they're happy to be there this early in the morning and line up, daemons to their right, so he and Isca can assess where they're starting from one by one.

Izuku stands between Iida and Uraraka, Tyrix by his side —he's observing the way Isca loops herself tighter around Aizawa-sensei's wrist, fascinated—, and tries not to be uncomfortable by the way a few of his classmates are looking at him and Kacchan. He has no idea of what's going on, but he has the distinct feeling that something's wrong. And Uraraka insistently bringing her elbow backwards into his stomach in a light nudge isn't helping.

"Midoriya," Iida says under his breath, leaning forwards so he can speak almost directly into his ear. "Do you need assistance calling your daemon to your side?"

"Uhm," Izuku says, because really, what else is there that he could possibly say. He discreetly points at Tyrix, who is still too distracted to comment. "Thanks, though."

"We're pairing up with our own daemons," Uraraka whispers. Her elbow retreats back to her side, thankfully. "You need to call yours over - I'm sorry, I don't think you ever mentioned her name, actually?"

Her tone suggests that she has in fact noticed before but was too polite to say anything, even though it's kind of been killing her. Izuku can't even congratulate himself on learning how to read his new friend within the first few days of meeting her, because he's getting the impression that she's gotten horribly, embarrassingly confused somewhere along the way. He directs his gaze where she's helpfully pointing, a few spots in front of them, right at Adara.

Suddenly, everything else seems to fall quiet —although Aizawa-sensei hasn't stopped droning on in the background as he ruthlessly critizices Todoroki at the front of the class—, and Izuku hears Kirishima whispering at Kacchan, who's rapidly flushing with rage.

"This is Tyrix," Izuku says awkwardly as he points next to him, very aware of the stares that he's drawing from other nearby classmates. "That is Adara, and she's - she's Kacchan's, not mine."

He watches Kacchan slap Kirishima's arm as if in slow motion, then look over his shoulder and meet Izuku's eyes. What the fuck, he mouths, scowling, and Izuku has to agree. Meanwhile, a quick glance back at his friends shows that Iida's face has lost all color, and Uraraka is rapidly blushing as if to compensate for it.

"But - but she's always around you, and Tyrix is always - "

"She touched you," Iida says, breathless. "She touched your bare skin, and you patted her head."

Ashido gasps from somewhere a few spots behind them. Izuku kind of wants to sink into the ground and never come back out.

"Uhm," he tries, tentatively, but then falls silent, because there's really nothing he can think to say.

"Will ya' stop fucking yapping at me?! I told you, I've known the shitty nerd since we were four - I don't even remember how the fuck we met anymore."

There's a ripple in the line as Kacchan pushes Kirishima back and storms off, only he's not walking away, he's walking towards Izuku for once. Adara hangs back for longer than she usually does for anyone that isn't Izuku, facing Kirishima's red doe head-on, and her familiar rough voice rings across the field.

"Why would it hurt? He's mine. I want him to touch me."

Kacchan's face twists, making Izuku suspect he might have some company in his new underground home.

"Like I fuckin' said," he grits out, ignoring their classmates' stunned faces and the way Iida takes a step back when he approaches. Aizawa-sensei has stopped talking, Izuku notices, and is now looking straight at them with an expression that suggests he'd rather be doing anything else, only he unfortunately happens to be getting paid to know what happens in his class. "It's fucking fine." And then he kneels and picks up Tyrix —their classmates gasp, some more dramatically than others—, who only looks cautiously amused and lets himself be carried to Aizawa-sensei. Izuku's daemon is a shameless heathen. "There isn't any fuckin' screaming, is there?"

Aizawa-sensei's Isca rears up and bows her head to examine Tyrix, while Aizawa-sensei just stands there long-sufferingly. Once it becomes clear that Tyrix isn't up for talking to people who aren't Kacchan, or even to daemons that aren't Adara, Aizawa-sensei sighs and gestures at Kacchan's arms.

"Is this fox daemon yours, Midoriya?"

"Yes, sensei!" Izuku startles. He feels the weight of everyone's eyes on him like a brand. He glances at Kacchan nervously, and Kacchan nods at him —'s cool, you've got this— at the same time Izuku feels something bumping his thigh. He doesn't have to look down to know it's Adara, because suddenly it feels like there's considerably less eyes on him. "That's Tyrix. Uhm - this is Adara," he adds, patting her blindly. "She's Kacchan's, not mine, but she doesn't mind me touching her. We've known each other for a long time," he tries, and is encouraged by the way Aizawa-sensei seems to lose what little interest he had in the proceedings.

"I did see in the forms that you had a settled fox daemon, so I'm going to believe that this is not some kind of practical prank," he says, and his snake draws back, curling around his leg. "And neither of you or your daemons seem distressed. Which means that this - whatever this is - doesn't concern me and I don't want to know. Bakugou, release Midoriya's daemon and - nevermind, both of you, get in front of the class with your daemons. We'll be doing a practical demonstration. Now, if Bakugou and Midoriya decide to work as a hero duo, they will have an advantage that you will only rarely encounter when you're fighting villains - "

Izuku's never walked faster than when Aizawa-sensei ends the class. He practically sprints, trusting that Tyrix won't be too tired to follow —he's fast and he's got stamina, but Aizawa-sensei's worked him and Adara almost as hard as he'd worked Izuku himself and Kacchan, only their daemons hadn't ever faced that intensity of training before—, but he can still hear footsteps behind him and cringes pre-emptively.

He slows down, letting whoever it is catch up with him, and sighs in relief when it's only Kacchan, flustered and hair especially messy in the wind. He looks right in the backdrop of UA, like this is where he was meant to be stared at in all along. Against the training fields they walk past, the strength of his shoulders makes sense, and the way his eyes have always burned —too bright, much too intense— takes on a new meaning.

Izuku watches as Kacchan's steps sync with his own, smiles to himself.

"It ain't that fucking weird," Kacchan says, shoving his hands into his pockets when they won't stop brushing against Izuku's. "That your overgrown hairball doesn't give a fuck if I touch him or not. That Adara - it ain't that weird."

But that's just the thing - it is. And both of them know it. It's been hanging between them all these years, unaddressed, and Izuku's not sure of how much longer he can pretend that being childhood best friends explains the way their daemons behave with each other. It doesn't. The only other person in the world who could possibly touch Tyrix is Izuku's mom, and they've only done so maybe twice. Kacchan's not even close enough with his parents for Adara to touch them without a life-threatening situation requiring it - it probably wouldn't hurt if she did, but it wouldn't be pleasant either.

It's nothing like the way Adara constantly seeks Izuku's company and touch, the way she slept in his bed for months, how she tugged and tugged and tugged at her bond with Kacchan until she could go to Izuku when Kacchan wouldn't. It's nothing like Tyrix crawling into Kacchan's lap at every opportunity, nudging him comfortingly when Izuku would but doesn't dare, his wordless following of Kacchan with his eyes and his body while Izuku's close by but distracted by something else.

"They didn't have to make such a big deal out of it," Adara huffs. "We could've been training for longer instead."

"You shut the fuck up," Kacchan hisses, his favorite words to her since Izuku's known them. "Didn't exactly fuckin' make it better with your needy-ass I want Deku's hands on me at all times bullshit, did ya'?"

It's how they treat each other, Kacchan and Adara, but this time there's a dangerous glint in Adara's black eyes and even Izuku knows that Kacchan should back down, snap at Tyrix if he needs to blame one of their daemons, but Kacchan so rarely pays attention to warning signs. His scowl deepens, and Adara bares her teeth in response.

"If you weren't too much of a coward to ask for it yourself, I wouldn't have to," she growls, and turns to Izuku, eyes immediately softening even though their intensity never changes. "Touch him."

"Wha-"

Izuku stops in his tracks, face burning —the rest of him frozen—, and his traitor hands curl around nothing, but they don't reach out, they stay still by his sides and wait. Tyrix pauses consideringly and sits by Adara, watching Kacchan like Adara's watching Izuku. Kacchan, who should be back at the train station by now if Izuku knows him at all, except that he's also stopped and somehow he's not running, he's not even saying anything, he's just standing there with his back half to Izuku and his whole body tense like it used to get when he was considering whether using his quirk on Izuku would be worth it.

But that's not what it is this time. Not when Izuku can read fear off the line of his jaw and his carefully turned away face.

"Take his hand," Adara insists, and it's almost hypnothic this time.

That's as good an excuse as any for Izuku stepping forward until he can feel the heat coming off Kacchan's body.

Kacchan doesn't move, so Izuku presses his right hand —so lightly that it's barely a brush— against Kacchan's left arm. He can barely breathe as he slids his hand down the length of Kacchan's arm slowly, down to his wrist and into his pocket, blindly feeling for his hand. His fingers curl around Kacchan's, and impossibly, somehow, Kacchan grips back. Izuku pulls their joined hands out of Kacchan's pocket and stares down at them, too shocked to know how he's feeling.

Tyrix squeals, pleased, then makes a guttural sound from the back of his throat. Izuku's never heard it from him before, but he's watched more than enough videos on red foxes since Tyrix settled to identify it - some animal experts call it clicketing.

And it's for mates.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Kacchan says, low and angry-sounding —although Izuku knows better—. He's still not looking at him.

"I know," Izuku replies softly.

"Your fucking hand is shaking, Deku. I told you, it's-"

"That's not why," Izuku says, and squeezes Kacchan's hand roughly so he knows. It isn't thinking Kacchan wants to hurt him. It isn't thinking he could lose control of his quirk, even though his hand is sweatier than Izuku's. "It's - it's like touching someone's daemon, having your daemon touched for the first time."

They never had that themselves - touch with Adara hasn't ever felt anything but natural to Izuku, just like Tyrix and Kacchan touching, and he knows it's the same for Kacchan —even back when he didn't want their daemons touching the other at all—. But Izuku's read stories. He's done plenty of research. This is how it's supposed to feel like. Like you're holding something in your hands that could destroy both of you. Like someone's reaching into your chest cavity to cradle your bare heart with greedy fingers.

Kacchan finally, finally turns to look at him. And he nods, just the once, snappishly.

"We're a fucking mess," he says, but doesn't seem too broken up about it. "Did you - fuck. Did you think about what Aizawa-sensei was saying, about hero duos and shit?"

"Kacchan," Izuku says, and smiles despite himself. It's bright, but it's built on the hope that Kacchan won't kill it in the next few seconds. Izuku's never been great at heeding warning signs either. "I've been thinking about that since we were four."

Kacchan's hands stretch reflexively, the one in Izuku's grip holding on tighter for an instant before loosening its hold. Izuku bears it without comment and waits. It's just what Kacchan does when he's mentally preparing himself to act, whether it's in a fight or not - and although it usually is, Kacchan's pensive expression doesn't match his fire when he's about to snap at someone. Izuku gives him space to think because that's what works best with Kacchan when he's like this, no matter how badly he wants to put pressure on the carefully balanced edges of Kacchan's expression until they shift into something definite enough for Izuku to interpret.

He's been accused of being reckless and impulsive what feels like a hundred times by now, and he's ready to admit that it might be one of his flaws, but he's never been like that with Kacchan. It's different with Kacchan.

But sometimes Tyrix, who is usually so much more careful than Izuku - sometimes he's different with Kacchan too.

As Izuku watches —nervous frown placed firmly on his face, not nervous enough to try and stop him—, Tyrix slids in between them, stands on his hind legs, and presses his front paws against Kacchan's thighs. The rest of the word slows down around them as he throws his head back and stares directly at Kacchan's face. Kacchan's eyes meet his. Light shoots up Izuku's spine and his whole body shakes, so unexpectedly that he loses his breath for a second, dizzily struggles to remember how it works.

Kacchan's almost-calm thoughtfulness crumbles, like the sand castles they used to make whenever Uncle took them to the beach.

Izuku can't see the expression that takes its place, because Kacchan's leaning down —tugging Izuku's hand down with him until he has to bend awkwardly to the side to keep his balance— and brushing a hand through Tyrix's fur from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. Then Kacchan straightens back up and Izuku still can't see his expression, because Kacchan takes that moment to pull him forwards until their noses bump lightly and they're too close to see and it doesn't matter anyway because Kacchan tilts his head just right and kisses him.

It might be a bit too kind to call it a kiss.

Kacchan presses his lips into Izuku's hard, less a kiss and more some kind of message he's trying to pass along without words and Izuku's too stupid to understand - or maybe just wants the excuse to keep doing this, whatever it is. I don't know what you're trying to say, Izuku tries his best to communicate, grasping Kacchan's arm with his free hand and leaning back slightly so he's free to move his lips again, leading Kacchan into something softer, something that won't leave their mouths bloodied. Kacchan stays still and lets him, kisses him back in a way that feels like him quietly watching Izuku rant in the dark, warm and yielding under Izuku's hands. This is not something Izuku needs help deciphering.

When they pull away, Kacchan's smile is wry, but his eyes are soft at the corners.

"We're gonna miss the train home, Deku."

"Which is not on me this time," Izuku says, bumping his shoulder against Kacchan's, and watches Kacchan's smile widen into something - open. "We can still make the next one."

He doesn't say are we going to talk about this. He knows better than that, and he doesn't always act it, but this time he can see the path to exactly where he wants to be as clearly in his mind as it if were right in front of him, glowing invitingly. As Kacchan untangles their fingers, letting his hand drop, Izuku leans back in and kisses him. When Kacchan kisses him back —no hesitation, body pulled tight with what Izuku recognizes as want now, the same quiet but intense longing in Adara's eyes when she used to look at him—, then he knows.

They talk about the day's training all the way to the station. Kacchan never once looks away from Izuku, but he and Adara have never been more in sync.

Nothing's really seemed to change, except that Izuku slids his hand into Kacchan's pocket sometime during the train ride and Kacchan tangles their fingers together like that's the way their hands are meant to be. The train's not full enough to justify pressing up against each other, Izuku's chest warmed up by Kacchan's side, but they do it anyway.

Tyrix and Adara are so wrapped up around each other that they don't bother to try and untangle them, not that they'd have any ground to stand on now.

As people tickle out and no one walks in, the last few stops almost empty, Izuku gently wraps an arm around Kacchan and pulls him further into his chest. Kacchan tsks —impossible to interpret without further context, although Izuku certainly tries—, takes out his phone with his free hand and types furiously, a reply to Auntie that he hadn't cared to send off before. He leans back into Izuku, too casual to actually be accidental, with what might be the beginnings of a soft blush, and that's the extent of his response.

Izuku thinks of Adara, all the times she chirps happily and lets Tyrix hold her down to groom her, even though often Tyrix is holding her down on the first place because she snaps and grumbles and twists out of his grip with a proud little growl until he wears her down. Weak, Kacchan mutters darkly, some of those times. But he never looks away.

It's Tuesday, so even though they skip the dojo this time, Kacchan walks into Izuku's house after the briefiest of hesitations. Izuku has too much energy burning right under his skin to stay still while Kacchan makes up his mind on whatever stupid thought just went through his head, so even though he knows Kacchan will snap at him for it, he impatiently tugs him forward and past the threshold anyway.

Kacchan shakes his hand off with a grumbled fuck off, a muted reaction if Izuku's ever seen one, and follows him upstairs.

They study together, as it's been their routine for the past few months, but for the first time they're not constantly elbowing each other for space or sprawling in opposite sides of the room —Izuku on the bed, Kacchan insistent on rolling all over the carpet despite Izuku's warnings on its dubious cleanliness—. This time, they both sit on Izuku's bed, sides brushing, and there's a single instance of elbowing that doesn't come until Kacchan's done with studying.

It's almost polite elbowing —for Kacchan—, pushing Izuku until he gets the hint and lays on his back, close to too comfortable for studying even though he's not even close to finished. But Kacchan twists around and lays his head on Izuku's stomach, and Izuku's fingers are in Kacchan's hair before he can think about it, tugging gently and rubbing at his scalp with well-practiced motions like his body knows something that he doesn't, like he's remembering something from a dream he's been having every night for years.

Kacchan pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls rapidly through something Izuku can't see, but the next time Izuku glances at him, his eyes are closed and he's the calmest he's ever looked without being asleep. Izuku smiles so wide that his face hurts, whips out his own phone, and lets him be.

Later, they stay awake in Izuku's bed in the dark as per usual, side by side, staring up at the ceiling. Tyrix and Adara are curled up in a heap by their feet.

Izuku suddenly thinks, unbidden, Your freckles look like shitty stars.

"You're the Sun, to me," he says quietly, testing the stillness of the room with cautious fingers. "You've always been, Kacchan."

Even in the relative darkness of the room, he can see Kacchan's blush ruthlessly rising up his neck and spreading over his cheeks. His heart goes soft, and so do his hands when he touches Kacchan's face, gentle, because he can tell Kacchan's about to blow up —he always does, when he's poked on an unguarded spot and knows nothing but to twist it into something he can use to fight back, even if he doesn't need to—.

"You're so fucking stupid," Kacchan mutters, startled into being placated. "Shitty Deku."

But when Izuku kisses him, because he can and because he wants to, what he mumbles under his breath is Izu.

The next day, it's almost too easy to forget themselves and walk into class holding hands.

Only Tsuyu notices, and she gives Izuku a questioning look, but even without knowing her for long he knows she'll let it go for as long as he needs her to. Which is fortunate, because Kacchan twists out of their shared grip so fast that Izuku feels the beginnings of a friction burn, and at this point Izuku doesn't trust his own ability to handle Kacchan's undoubtedly explosive reaction if their classmates start asking questions.

At lunch, though, Kacchan drops heavily on the seat next to him before Iida can take it, face dark and sullen. He's flanked by Kirishima, Kaminari, and a couple of other classmates that Izuku hasn't had the chance to talk to much just yet - but it seems he's in luck, because they all somehow manage to squeeze in on the other bench and re-introduce themselves.

Izuku eagerly joins the conversation, which is loud and energetic and not always smooth, because Kacchan is Kacchan and yells pretty much anytime he's spoken to and Iida isn't the best at socialization for completely different reasons, and frankly Mina and Uraraka might be too powerful a combination. Under the table —and sometimes over the table—, their daemons get acquainted with each other in a messy pile of fighting, chatting, and various forms of animal behavior.

Izuku's pretty sure he's never been happier. Meanwhile Kacchan, in true Kacchan fashion, just looks angry the entire time.

But he holds Izuku's hand under the table the entire time, too.