Chapter Text
The first time that Katsuki called Izuku and told him to come over it was well into the night.
After ten o' clock.
What time it was wouldn’t be worth noting, but it was firmly established in their youth that Katsuki went to bed barely after sunset—in summer sometimes before.
Izuku felt a bolt of panic run through him when he saw Kacchan flash suddenly on screen, accompanied by an insistent vibration that threatened to buzz his phone off the edge of his coffee table.
Even when Katsuki called him for an impromptu sparring match to blow off steam after a shitty day it was rarely after dark. Thinking the worst and expecting disaster, Izuku answered the call in a rush.
“Kacchan! What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is someone else hurt? Where are you?”
The last thing he expected was Katsuki’s rough laughter on the other end of the line. The sound immediately stilled the anxiety that was rippling under Izuku’s surface.
‘Kacchan is okay. Good.’
“Nothin’ wrong, nerd.”
Katsuki’s voice held the remnants of amusement and the warmth of it distracted Izuku into a prolonged pause—long enough for Katsuki to be the first one to speak again.
“What are you doing?”
Izuku’s brain resumed humming at the question.
‘What am I doing?’
He pulled away to look at the screen---
‘Definitely Kacchan.’
---then returned the phone to his ear and bit the inside of his cheek.
“Kacchan…are you sure you’re okay? Did you get hit with a quirk or something?”
From anyone else the question would sound like a joke or a jab, but Izuku asked in earnest concern, he was nothing if not sincere.
“Hah?! I’m fuckin’ fine!”
Izuku could hear the growl that Katsuki was holding back and that alone reassured him a bit.
“Just—what the fuck are you doing right now, Deku?”
Releasing the inside of his cheek from his teeth, Izuku pursed his lips before answering.
“Nothing, really.”
He had finally dragged himself away from the agency less than an hour ago, doing a mountain of paperwork he’d been putting off the whole week in favor of overtime patrol hours. He almost always managed to make his deadline but not until the last minute, he knew it was important but not more important than being ready to defend anyone in need; he was the next Symbol of Peace, afterall. What’s a symbol good for if no one can see it, if no one can look to him when things are at their worst?
“I was just going to scrounge some dinner and veg out for a while before passing out.”
“You haven’t eaten yet?”
Katsuki didn’t sound surprised.
“It’s late as shit, Deku.”
“Maybe for you! What are you even doing awake, Kacchan? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
A hint of teasing colored the edges of Izuku’s concern. Katsuki took a turn to pause, leaving Izuku in the wake of his prodding to wonder if he was going to blow up.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“No?”
“No.”
Izuku attacked the inside of his cheek again and thrummed his gloved fingers on the hard muscle of his thigh, he hadn’t even changed out of his hero costume yet.
“How come?”
Katsuki clicked his tongue in reply, “Just can’t.”
Just as Izuku was about to ask another question, Katsuki jumped in with a request.
“Come over. I’ll make you dinner.”
Izuku’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, he had to have misheard. Katsuki had never invited him over to his apartment, not once in the three years since they graduated. Sure, they saw one another often enough ‘Nowhere near enough.’ At work they were paired together regularly on missions or patrols, they hung out with their friends here and there, sometimes they saw one another in passing since they lived in the same area, and then there was the occasional spar to keep on their toes. This though, just the two of them at his apartment, and Katsuki making him dinner…that had never happened.
“Yes! I’ll come over!”
The embarrassment over his enthusiasm was immediate and Izuku felt his face heat up, glad to be on the phone instead of in front of Katsuki. The lack of proximity didn’t stop Katsuki from laughing at his excitement. It wasn’t a mean sound, if Izuku didn’t know better it sounded like Katsuki was—happy? Izuku couldn’t help but smile at the idea.
“Good, get your ass over here. And I’m not making anything weak. It’s going to be spicy and you’re gonna like it.”
“Okay, Kacchan. I’ll be right over.”
***
Izuku stood in front of Katsuki’s door with one hand raised, poised to knock but stalled in the action. He had rushed over with curls still wet from a quick shower, but still, it was almost eleven. It was far later than he’d seen Katsuki stay awake even for a party. He was always the first one to take off, always the first one to bed at UA, always the first to pass out when they still had sleepovers as kids.
‘Maybe he was just joking? Is this a prank? Will I knock and no one will answer? Maybe he will text me tomorrow telling me how stupid I am for believing he wanted to hang out. No, he said he was having trouble sleeping. He wouldn’t admit something like that lightly. He would consider it showing weakness. I know Kacchan. At least I think I do. This is by far the strangest thing he’s ever done.’
As he ruminated on the myriad of outcomes should he be bold enough to knock, his phone chirped at him. Izuku pulled it out to see a text from Katsuki:
[ Kacchan #1 ]
Yo, Nerd. Where the fuck are you?
Izuku let out a breath he’d been holding for too long and felt a sudden rush of dizziness wash over him.
‘Okay, still weird but…he seems like he wants me here.’
Instead of returning the text, Izuku decided to risk an explosion to the face and let his fist knock gently against the door in front of him twice. When it jerked open before he could land a third, hopefully more confident knock, he jumped back half a foot.
“Fucking finally, get in here.”
Katsuki turned and left the door open wide to retreat further into the apartment that Izuku had never been in. Not wanting to take the risk of Katsuki changing his mind, Izuku walked in and shut the door behind him.
It was small, bigger than Izuku’s but that wasn’t a challenge, barely more than a large room. Izuku could see three closed doors; one looked like a closet, so that must leave the bathroom and Katsuki's bedroom. Izuku lived in a studio, which he barely spent time in. They were still rookie heroes in name and paycheck despite the indispensable roles they had played in the war. There were still dues to pay before they would make enough to live the high life, which was fine with Izuku, hero work had never been about money.
He knew that it was the same for Katsuki, even though he’d made offhanded comments over the years about being the highest paid hero someday, the best, the most famous, number one. Despite all of that, on the job Katsuki never acted without the nobility of a hero who just wanted to keep people safe. Sure, rescue wasn’t his forte, not with such an intense quirk, but he would never let something like a paycheck keep him from doing the backbreaking work of saving lives. They had worked together on countless patrols and a handful of more focused missions over the years and while some heroes aimed for flashy assignments Katsuki just did what needed doing. It was what made him the best in Izuku’s eyes, even if he wasn’t number one yet.
“You gonna actually come in or just stand at the door?”
Katsuki's voice came from the kitchenette, where he was dishing up something that smelled amazing—if not a little dangerous.
“Ah, sorry, yeah.”
Izuku toed off his sneakers and let them fall haphazardly by Katsuki’s before he shrugged off his jacket and hung it on a hook by the doorframe. He’d dressed quickly, just sweatpants and an old t-shirt.
“Smells great, Kachaan. Spicy,” Izuku murmured and made his way awkwardly towards the center of the room. He bounced on his toes wondering where he was supposed to be or what he should do.
“Fuck, sit down.” Katsuki ordered without any bite to his voice, while he carried two steaming bowls towards the couch and set them on the low table in front of it.
Izuku moved quickly to follow but just stood in front of the table, lost in an internal debate about whether he should sit on the floor or on the couch. Katsuki plopped heavily down on the sofa and stared up at Izuku like he was a lost child that was getting on his nerves.
“Sit. Down. Nerd.”
“Right!”
Izuku took a seat beside him and stared at the meal in front of him, his stomach loudly calling for it. The rumble that echoed would normally be embarrassing but Izuku hadn’t eaten since his lunch break almost twelve hours ago. Until this moment he hadn’t really noticed. One more grumble from.his gut, and he grabbed the hot bowl and leaned over to start shoveling the food into his mouth, ignoring the scalding and spice in favor of sustenance. It wasn’t until he had nearly finished the bowl that he noticed Katsuki hadn’t even begun to eat.
Izuku turned, unaware of the food on his face and the sweat that was beginning to bead at his brow. Katsuki was simply staring at him, mouth slightly slack and eyes narrowed in judgement. Izuku slowly straightened his back, he had been hunched over like a gargoyle while he plowed through most of his bowl.
“Deku.”
The nickname sounded like an accusation.
“...Yeah?”
Izuku wiped at the corner of his mouth where he felt a stray bit of rice, flicking it back into his bowl.
“What the fuck?”
“...I don’t understand…”
Izuku lowered his hands to rest the bowl on his lap.
“When was the last time you ate?”
“Lunch?”
Katsuki’s brows knit together before he suddenly reached out and snatched Izuku’s almost empty bowl from him, earning a sharp protest from the hungry man. The protest was short-lived as Katsuki replaced it with his own bowl, still untouched. Izuku blinked at the sight of it, he had barely taken the time to appreciate his before digging in like a bear fresh out of hibernation.
It was beautiful.
The rich red-brown of the sauce was flecked with a shimmer of gold that almost glowed as steam rose from it in soft wisps, it pooled over the fluffy white rice like a velvet blanket. The chicken and vegetables were all cubed and diced to be exactly the same size, which had left each part of the curry tender. The scallions were sliced on a bias, each one perfectly symmetrical and placed with thoughtfulness as a bright garnish over top.
‘Kacchan is amazing at everything.’
Izuku had turned to hand Katsuki his bowl back, knowing that the other hadn’t eaten dinner either since he’d waited for him, but he’d already gone back to the kitchen to dish himself up a new one. Izuku waited this time, waited until Katsuki had come back to sit next to him, waited until he had settled in and took his first bite before he dug into the second helping. It was as delicious as the first, and this time his mouth was already used to the burn.
They didn’t talk as they ate side by side.
Katsuki didn’t ask why Izuku hadn’t eaten in the last twelve hours and Izuku didn’t ask why Katsuki couldn’t sleep, or why he had wanted Izuku to come over to eat dinner.
When Izuku said his thank-you’s and a goodnight to Katsuki it was almost one in the morning, and as he made his way back to his own apartment he couldn’t shake the question.
'What the fuck was that?'
