Chapter Text
As Izuku pulls off the highway, he breathes out a deep sigh, tilting his head to see the faded green signs on the side of the road, detailing how many miles until the next whisper of civilization.
It was mid afternoon, with the sun peeking in and out of the clouds as shadows from the tree tops danced along the dusty road below him, with small, weather worn houses tucked far from the road with rusty pick up trucks and tires littering the grass.
As he drives farther south, farther from the highway, the landscape changes a little. The trees get thicker, the heavy branches starting to dip further and lower across the road, and in between the trees, tall, thin grasses start to grow and expand, opening up into the wide, expansive marshland sparkling under the summer Carolina sun.
As he stares out at the marshes, a loud ringing interrupts his thoughts, and he quickly turns his attention back to the car, and smiles a little as he answers the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey! I just saw your article went up on the site today, it looks great!” Ochako chirps over the car speaker, “And James told me you’re getting the front page tomorrow!”
“Thanks!” Izuku sighs with a little laugh, “I went through about eighteen drafts before working out the final one. James really tore up some of them.”
“Yeah, he’s not exactly kind when it comes to editing. Guess that’s what happens when you grow up with an award winning New York Times editor as a mother.” She laughs and Izuku rolls his eyes playfully as he laughs with her.
“You’re not wrong, but he does whip my work into shape.”
“So do you wanna get drinks with me, Tsu, and Iida tonight? Celebrate your hard work? James can come.”
“I can’t,” Izuku sighs, looking out the window at the tall, thin trees lining the county road he was rumbling down, “I’m… I’m in South Carolina.”
“What?!” Ochako shrieks, and Izuku winces a little— this is exactly why he didn’t go into detail about where he was from, “Why the hell are you in South Carolina?”
“I have to go back home for a few days to take care of a few things.”
“Home? Like, home home? Have you been back since you left? Wait, you never told me you were from South Carolina!”
“Nope,” Izuku sighs again, glancing out to dense woods around him, littered with greenery, fallen leaves and twigs, “It’s been ten years.”
“Wow,” She exhales in disbelief, “That’s crazy. Are you okay? Are you seeing your parents?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Izuku smiles a little, “And yeah, I’ll see them. They’re my second stop.”
“Second?”
“Yeah, there’s a, uh, more pressing matter I have to take care of first.” Izuku says hesitantly, hoping it doesn’t show in his voice too much.
“Okaaay, you’re being suspicious, but I’ll let it slide since this is a weird time for you. Tell me about it when you get back, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” He responds, peeking further down the road, “I gotta go, I’m about to lose cell service at this turn.”
“Okay, good luck! And have fun, I think?”
“You’re more optimistic than I am.”
“Oh, cheer up, grumps! I’ll see you soon!”
They say goodbye and hang up, and Izuku sighs again, flicking on his turn signal as he turns down the narrow road, glancing up at the faded signs.
An uncomfortable feeling of familiarity starts to settle in his bones as he passes the crooked, worn out billboards on the side of the road, with run down wooden fences seperating the cows lazing in the grass behind them from the signs for fresh peaches, strawberries and boiled peanuts stuck in the grass.
Despite the weight on his chest, he feels a smile tug on his lips as he turns down another street and sighs a bit. He’s greeted by the sight of thick, looming live oaks lining the side of the road, with wispy Spanish moss tangled up in the branches and leaves, sunlight streaming the thick canopy of green above.
He hadn’t been back home in ten years, not since he’d left for Columbia when he was twenty to pursue writing, and never looked back. His parents visited him occasionally, but New York was usually too much for them for more than just a few days, and they didn’t exactly fit in with his life in New York. Not in any negative way, it was just… different. It had to be different.
His anxiety starts to ramp up as he turns down another painfully familiar dirt road, and his car bumps and jolts along the uneven driveway that led up to the white, two story farmhouse ahead of him. He slows to a stop as the car approaches the house, and he sees the big, ancient looking trees he used to climb shading the yard from the brutal sun.
Izuku takes a deep breath before he opens the car door and gets out, taking off his sunglasses as he stares up at the house, leaning against the frame of his car.
It looked almost exactly the same, maybe a six months or so overdue for a paint job, but the large front porch was the same, with the porch swing and its rusty chains still intact somehow. In front of the house, there was a long, wooden dock leading out past the marsh grasses, with two wooden chairs at the end, and a small metal boat bobbing in the water by the end of it.
He tears his eyes away and glances down to see a large, light brown dog lounging on the porch, and his bittersweet heart stings a little.
“Georgie.” He whispers to himself, smiling a little, until the dog stands up and starts barking furiously at him. Izuku jumps and wildly waves his hands in front of him, “Ah! No! Come on, Georgie boy, you remember me? I knew you as a puppy!”
“Boy, if you don’t shut the hell up already—”
Izuku hears a loud groan from inside of the house, and the rickety door swings open, and a man walks out. As he keeps his head down, his face is shielded by a faded red baseball hat, and he waves a wrench threateningly in his hands as he shakes his head in annoyance.
“Kaminari, you fucker, I told you I’d get you those damn tires if you just hold on for half a fuckin—”
He picks his head up and stops in his tracks, the wrench falling from his hands, and it clatters onto the porch as he just stands there, staring at Izuku with his mouth hanging open a bit.
Unfortunately, Izuku doesn’t fare much better as he tries not to stare, considering his childhood best friend was literally just wearing a dirty white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a baseball hat that was older than both of them. But it was a little difficult, considering this Katsuki was now three inches taller with about fifty pounds more muscle than the Katsuki he left behind when he was twenty.
His hair was shorter, cleanly cropped in an undercut at the back, the shorter mullet he’d grown out as a teenager, both piss off his mom and have Izuku play with, was now gone. His shoulders had broadened, and his arms were tanned and muscular from long days outside under the sun, but he was still lean, his waist still defined as a pair of jeans hung low on his hips.
He quickly tried to refocus himself to try to remember what twelve year old Katsuki with braces and a cracking voice was like instead, but he can’t keep concentrated with Katsuki staring at him like that, and the dog just keeps barking.
“As I live and struggle for breath,” Katsuki finally says as he leans against the house, an obnoxious, cocky grin creeping onto his face as he tucks his thumbs into his jeans pocket, “Hey, darling.”
“You don’t get to call me that anymore.” Izuku replies firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Is that so?” Katsuki lowly chuckles, his tone still imperceptible as he pushes off of the house and starts to walk down the old wooden steps.
“Yes, it is so,” Izuku huffs, and he leans back into his open car door to yank out an envelope and holds it up, “Now get your stubborn ass over here and give me a divorce already.”
Katsuki stops walking, slowly taking his hands out of his pockets as his eyes glance to the envelope in Izuku’s hands, and his jaw clenches as his expression shifts.
“You’re shittin’ me, right?”
“There’s a copy for me, for you, and for the lawyers,” Izuku sighs, tossing the envelope on the hood of his car, “You sign where the tabs are.”
Katsuki doesn’t answer for a minute, just staring at him before he takes a few steps towards him and opens his mouth to speak, but Izuku beats him to it.
“What, you thought I was coming to visit you?”
“You got some real goddamn fuckin’ nerve, you know.” Katsuki spits out angrily, scowl deepening on his face as he walks down the stairs, the dog following behind him as he continues to bark.
“Excuse me?” Izuku asks, a little surprised at his words considering the last time Katsuki spoke to him.
“You show up here after ten years,” Katsuki scoffs, fury in his voice, “Without even a damn ‘Hi, Kacchan? Hello, remember me? Izuku, your best fucking friend? Your damn husband’?”
“You’re not my husband anymore.”
“The fuckin’ government says I am.” Katsuki fires out, and Izuku rolls his eyes with an annoyed huff.
“Don’t act like you missed me.” Izuku scoffs and Katsuki’s mouth twitches as he takes another step towards him.
“Oh, I fuckin’ missed you, alright,” Katsuki practically hisses, face twisted with irritation, “But you’re in my range now so I won’t miss this time.”
“What, is that a threat?” Izuku scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly, “You gonna throw another shoe at me?”
“Depends, you gonna chuck more of my fucking clothes out the window?”
“You hid my keys!
“You siphoned the gas outta my damn tractor!”
“Because you broke my lab partner's nose for talking to me after class for too long!”
The dog continues to bark loudly as they continue to throw accusations at each other, making Izuku’s head pound harder in the heat, and he turns to yell down at the dog.
“Shut up, Georgie!”
“Shut up, Charlie!”
Izuku snaps his head back at Katsuki after he shouts, and Katsuki just exhales deeply, rubbing his forehead as Izuku’s eyes slowly move back to the dog on the front porch.
“What—” He pauses as his voice catches, “What happened to Georgie?”
“Died. Two summers ago,” Katsuki replies shortly, before he picks his head up to glare at him, “You weren’t here.”
Katsuki then turns on his heel and storms off back up the stairs, leaving Izuku bewildered in the driveway. He scoffs in disbelief, grabbing the papers off his car as he scrambles to follow behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving,” Katsuki shoots out without turning around as Izuku follows him up the steps, “You’ve fuckin’ done it, you should be fuckin’ familiar with the concept.”
“Can we at least try to talk like normal people here?”
“Have you even gone to your own fucking house yet?” Katsuki suddenly snaps, turning back around and Izuku steps back in surprise, “Have you even seen your damn mother or did you come right over here to piss me the fuck off?”
“Don’t talk to me about my mother!”
“Oh, I fucking will,” He spits out, and Izuku notices how much angrier he’s gotten, “‘Cause only one of us sees her on Christmas, ain’t that right?”
Izuku doesn’t reply, his stomach twisting a little but he keeps his jaw clenched tight as Katsuki scoffs at him, rolling his eyes as he moves towards the door.
“She and Toshinori are your only damn family so get your annoying, nerdy little ass in that car, drive over, go see your parents and then maybe I’ll fucking talk to you.” Katsuki spits out, shaking his head as he moves to the screen door, yanks it open, and slams it shut behind him.
Feeling white hot anger he hadn’t felt in a decade surge through him, Izuku grunts in frustration as he stomps up to the front door.
“Kacchan! You dumb, stubborn, redneck hick!” Izuku shouts through the screen, throwing the papers up in his hand, “The only reason you won't sign these papers is because I want you too!”
“Wrong!” Katsuki turns to yell back through the door, a cocky but still angry look on his face, “The only reason I ain’t signing is because you’ve turned into some hoity toity, Yankee bitch, and I’d like nothing better right now than to piss you off!”
“You—!”
Before Izuku can answer, Katsuki slams the door and yanks down the blinds over the glass window, shielding Izuku’s view into the house, and Izuku glances to the side as the other windows follow suit, and his irritation increases tenfold.
“Katsuki Bakugou!” Izuku shouts louder, banging on the door with his fist, not caring about making a scene all the way out here, “Open this damn door right now!”
“Can’t hear annoying nerds in my fucking house!”
“Our— Ugh!” Izuku stomps his foot, tearing off the porch as he speeds around the side of the house. Muttering to himself, he runs over to the bushes, and he searches around the dirt, looking for a tiny fake rock he knows is hidden down here, “Please be stupid enough, please be stupid enough, please be– ah ha, he is!”
Izuku lights up as he finds the rock and pulls it out. He slides off the plastic backing and stands up, running over to the side door and he fits the key into the lock.
“Yes!” He whispers as he turns the janky old knob, jiggling it twice before it creaks open. He pauses as he hears Katsuki upstairs, running through the house, locking all the doors and windows. As dramatic as he is, Izuku does feel a little flicker of pride that Katsuki still believes he can climb up to the second floor roof.
He rolls his eyes a little as he tosses the papers onto the kitchen counter and pulls out a stool to sit down on as his eyes fall to the fridge. Debating it for a moment, he crosses the kitchen to the fridge and grabs a beer out of it. The bottle hisses open as he snaps the top off, tossing it into the trash can.
Moving back to his spot, Izuku exhales deeply before he takes a long sip, letting the cold, familiar taste soothe his throat for all the yelling he knows he’s about to do. He then crosses his ankles, bouncing his feet a little as he waits until he hears Katsuki’s heavy footsteps come down the stairs again.
Hopping off the bottom step with a satisfied sigh, Katsuki stands with his back towards the kitchen, hands on his hips as he looks out to the rest of the house, seemingly proud of his efforts as he reaches for the whiskey on the shelf beside him.
“Hey, boy genius,” Izuku calls out, and Katsuki’s hand freezes on the bottle, “Next time you lock someone out, make sure they don’t know where the spare key is.”
“Get the hell outta my house!” Katsuki shouts, turning towards him as he looks down at his hand and points at it, his face reddening in anger, “And gimme my goddamn beer!”
“Our house, Kacchan!” Izuku argues, standing up off the kitchen stool as he points back at him angrily, “I’m still paying taxes on this thing!”
“Well, that’s your fault for paying your fucking taxes!”
“Oh my god,” Izuku half laughs, half scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief as Katsuki glares at him, “You really haven’t changed one bit, have you? Still the same selfish asshole who can’t take accountability!”
“And I don’t even know who the hell is standing in my house right now!” Katsuki shouts back, stepping towards him, “Is that damn gel in your hair? And your shoes are shinier than my truck’s rims, I can see up your fucking nose to your tiny ass brain!”
“You shut your—” Izuku pauses after he huffs, and shakes his head quickly, trying to get back on track, “No, we are not going to stand here and scream at each other, okay, that’s the whole reason I’m here. Sign the fucking papers.”
“No.”
“Just sign the damn papers, Kacchan,” Izuku sighs deeply, rubbing his forehead as his head starts to hurt again, “Let’s finally get this over with, okay?”
“Why you so eager, huh?” Katsuki asks as he leans against the couch, scoffing as he rolls his eyes, bitterness lacing his words, “You tryin’ to get hitched again or something?”
“And so what if I am?” Izuku rapidly shoots back, his tone fiery, and Katsuki’s smug smile drops as he quickly stands up off the arm of the couch.
“Are you? Really?”
“Yeah, Kacchan, I am,” Izuku bites out, rolling his eyes as he holds up his left hand to show the thin band on his ring finger, “That’s why I can’t still be married to you.”
Katsuki just stares at him for a few moments, eyes stubbornly imperceptible as they dart between his hand and his face, before he just lifts his chin up and crosses his arms over his chest, “Well, too fucking bad. I ain’t signing them.”
“What?” Izuku steps back a little, “Why?”
“Cause it’s fun fuckin’ with you.”
Izuku just scoffs lightly, shaking his head once, “Unbelievable.”
As Katsuki stands firm, Izuku just stares back, that same irritation he hadn’t felt in ten years flowing through him once again, but he refuses to let his anger bubble up again, refuses to let him rile him up.
“I don’t even know why I came here,” Izuku shakes his head again as he sighs deeply, and moves to grab the folder of papers off the counter, “I knew you wouldn’t help me. Now I just have to deal with more lawyers because you’re too damn difficult.”
“Yeah, Izuku, ‘cause I’d love to help you divorce my sorry ass.” Katsuki scoffs, turning away from him towards the back door as he walks down the hall, and he reaches for a set of keys hanging off a nail on the wall.
“You wanted this too!” Izuku argues back, snapping his head towards him as Katsuki’s hand slows towards his keys for half a second, but he shakes it off as he quickly grabs them and shoves them in his pocket.
“Sure, Izuku. Whatever you fuckin’ say.” Katsuki scoffs back, shaking his head as he opens the door.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“To feed my damn chickens, remember them? Or did you fucking forget about them, too?” Katsuki snaps back at him without turning around, “I’ll be back inside in twenty fucking minutes.”
He then slams the door as he walks out, the wood creaking and groaning as it swings back in the doorframe.
Izuku sighs, rubbing his forehead as he tries to push off his headache, before he picks up his head and looks out towards the back of house. He hesitates for a moment, before he grabs his beer and makes his way towards the back door. He lifts up the blinds, peeking through to see out into the backyard, a large, open expanse of grass that rolled over the flat land for miles and miles, dotted with cows finding any source of shade.
He can’t help the small smile on his face as he looks out at Katsuki in the yard, chucking seed throughout the grass as he talks wildly to the chickens, his hands flying all over the place as he rambles, clearly complaining about Izuku, just like he used to.
As quick as it comes, his smile fades, thinking back to the night he’d sat in this kitchen when he was eighteen, begging Katsuki to let them try out just a few hens so they could always have eggs. Katsuki had pushed back for about thirty minutes until Izuku climbed into his lap and pleaded with arguably his best puppy dog eyes ever. They had a rooster and three chickens by the time Izuku woke up the next morning and he kissed Katsuki by the coop when he said he’d let him name them all.
He sighs again, letting the blinds drop as he swallows the memory sized lump in his throat.
Stepping away from the window, Izuku looks around, and lets himself take in the house he’d once lived in for two years, and his heart aches a little.
He and Katsuki had grown up together in this tiny little town, next door neighbors that shared a marshy pond in their backyard, small creeks flowing into it from both sides. They’d been together as babies when their moms sat with sweet tea for hours, letting them grab at each other's hands and garble nonsense at each other.
But his first memory of Katsuki was when they were three.
Izuku and his mom had wandered down towards the pond to watch the ducks and the herons, and they found Katsuki and his mom sitting in the creek on their side of the pond, catching frogs and crayfish. As their moms set them in the water as they chatted, Katsuki had lifted up a crayfish to show Izuku, before he giggled and shoved it into his face as Izuku shrieked. But to his surprise, Izuku just snatched the crayfish out of his hands and shoved it straight back in his face, and its pincers latched into the tip of his nose.
As Katsuki screamed and Izuku wildly grabbed at the wriggling creature on his nose, their moms looked over just a second later to see Izuku chuck the crayfish halfway down the creek. Then the two of them exploded into a fit of giggles, laughing their heads off and splashing the water and throwing crayfish at each other, and they’d been catching them together ever since.
Well, until they fell in love, got married, and everything went to shit.
Izuku shakes his head, clearing his mind of the nostalgia and memory that’s been stubbornly creeping into his brain ever since he crossed the town line.
But as he glances around the house, the nostalgia sticks like molasses and he lets himself walk through the house, eyes pouring over every familiar detail.
The thick, wooden support beams still ran along the ceiling, matching with the other rich, wooden furniture scattered throughout the living room. The old, slightly lumpy couch was still there, one of Mitsuki’s handmade blankets thrown across the back of it, and he smiles as he spots a fluffy, orange cat sprawled out on one cushion.
“Hey, pretty girl,” Izuku says softly, slowly bringing his fingers to her nose, and she sniffs once before rubbing her head against his knuckles, “Bet you get spoiled, huh?”
She purrs a little bit, flopping onto her back as Izuku scratches behind her ears one last time, before he brings his eyes back to the room.
He glances down at the coffee table, scattered with books, some fiction, some related to things on the ranch, and he smiles to himself as he glances around and sees all of Katsuki’s grandpa’s old trinkets and books were still there.
There was an open notebook lying on it, and Izuku peeks over to see a rough sketch of some new pen it looked like he was building, with something that looked like coffee stains on the bottom of the page. He glances over at another notebook, showing Katsuki’s neat handwriting detailing a to-do list, including fixing a fence, bringing peaches over to his parents house, and babysitting Kirishima and Mina’s kids next week.
Izuku can’t help but smile to himself a little bit, seeing Katsuki’s life so unapologetically laid out in his house like this.
He walks over to the front of the house, opening up one of the blinds to look out to the yard. The afternoon sun sparkled across the water, so bright and glittering he had to squint a little, but his eyes shift to the long, wooden dock.
Izuku stares at it, at the space at the end of the dock he used to spend his summer nights, where Katsuki’s grandpa would bring them out ice cream and fresh peaches from his tree. Where they’d make up stories of who they’d be if they lived somewhere else. Where Katsuki kissed him for the first time, out on the water at sunrise in that little boat.
He lets himself stare for a few more minutes before he just sighs deeply, and glances behind himself at the stairs leading up to the second floor. His feet were rooted in the spot, while they also itched to hear those wooden steps creak under his footsteps again.
As his feet carry him up the stairs, he lets his hand drag up the bannister, feeling the cool, smooth wood under his fingertips as he slowly makes his way upstairs. As he reaches the top of the stairs, he exhales as he sees Katsuki’s bedroom door open. Peeking in quickly, he saw nothing but a bed with a white quilt on top of it, and a single bedside table with a lamp and a book on it, and his heart hurts a little bit as he stares at how blank the room was.
Leaning back into the hallway, he peeks down and sees the door that was always locked, even when they moved in. The doorknob a little older than some of the janky ones they’d had to replace, but it was a beautiful gold knob with tiny detailing from another time. He smiles to himself, before his eyes flick to the other room across the hall, the door closed, but he knew the lock was broken.
He slowly makes his way towards it, hand shaking a little as he approaches, but before he can change his mind, he reaches out to grab the knob and push open the door. Keeping his eyes closed, he takes a deep breath and pokes his head in, and his stomach shrivels up as he opens his eyes and looks into the room.
Their old room.
It looked exactly the same as the day he left. Same sun bleached, blue and white curtains over the janky old window that never closed quite right. Same simple, yet beautiful hand stitched quilt that Mistuki gave them for their first year together carefully laid out over the mattress. Same corkboard on the wall full of their whole lives, with photos of them as kids, concert tickets from Charleston, little notes they’d written to each other during class, and a photo of them at their high school graduation, their kiss hidden behind a graduation cap and Katsuki’s hand flipping off the camera. Same bench under the windowsill Izuku used to read in with Katsuki sitting on the other side, their legs tangled up together. He swallows hard as he notices three of his old books from high school still stacked on the cushion.
It was exactly the same, completely untouched, and Izuku wonders, as his chest aches again when he notes a thin, barely there layer of dust on the bedside table, if Katsuki had even gone in this room other than to clean in the ten years he’d been gone, or if the memories flooded back for him too.
“Mm, Zuku, baby, stop, come back to me.” Katsuki whines, tugging him back as Izuku tries to sit up on the edge of the bed.
“We gotta get up, Kacchan.”
“No, mm, just stay with me a little longer,” Katsuki hums, sitting up and pulling him back against his chest, wrapping both arms fully around his waist. He nuzzles his head into his neck, kissing his nape softly,“I barely fuckin’ saw you yesterday.”
“‘Cause you started a one sided war with the goat and he won.” Izuku giggles as Katsuki kisses along his skin, just humming quietly.
“And now I wanna spend all day in bed with my husband because our goat was fuckin’ mean to me,” Katsuki whispers in his ear, kissing it lightly as Izuku blushes, “Come on, baby, let’s play hooky.”
“We can’t play hooky, Kacchan!”
“Sure we can,” Katsuki whispers, shifting down to kiss his shoulder, “Tell your mama you’re fuckin’ sick or somethin’ and can’t come in.”
“She’s gonna get mad at me!”
“No, she won’t,” Katsuki assures him, shaking his head a little, “Not if I tell her that I’m the one takin’ care of ya.”
“Mm, I do like the sound of that.” Izuku laughs, turning around a little as Katsuki loosens his arms around him to let him shift.
“What, your husband taking care of you or playing hooky?” Katsuki chuckles softly as he takes his hand, one of his thumbs fiddling with the thrift store ring on his left ring finger, “I like the sound of both of those.”
Izuku smiles as he leans in and kisses him, and Katsuki brings one hand up to hold his chin with two fingers, before he pulls back and smiles, keeping his fingers resting on Izuku's jaw.
“I love you so much, Izuku.”
“You’ve been saying that a lot, Kacchan,” Izuku giggles a bit as Katsuki ‘s finger traces back and forth along his skin, "I love you, too."
“Can’t help it. I feel fuckin’ drunk or somethin’.” Katsuki grins, leaning in and kissing him obnoxiously all over his face as Izuku laughs and pushes him off a bit, but he just ends up leaning back in to kiss him one more time
“Yeah, me too. Think we’ll ever get over it?” Izuku sighs, turning a little bit more to look at Katsuki’s still sleepy face hooked over his shoulder, “That we’re actually married? I know we always talked about it but it still feels so… normal?”
“Mm, it’s only been two weeks, Zuku. Guess we gotta wait and see.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Mhm,” Katsuki hums, pulling him flush against him as he leans around and kisses his cheek, “We got a lifetime, darling. I can’t fuckin’ wait.”
The memory fades as a bitter taste fills his mouth, and he exhales heavily, shaking his head a little as he closes the door. He takes a moment, his hand still on the doorknob before he sighs again, and heads back down the stairs.
Izuku walks back to the kitchen, and that bittersweet feeling comes back. He’d had his best and worst memories in this kitchen. Memories of sitting on the counter while Katsuki stood between his legs and let him have the first taste of everything he made. Memories of Katsuki practically draped across Izuku’s back with his arms around him as they took their first sips of morning coffee, at least one hand on his waist at all times until he woke up enough to be conscious and kiss him good morning.
Memories of insults traded over that black and white tile floor, days of silent treatments where the only thing you could hear was the slamming of cabinets. Dish towels thrown at each other's heads, screaming matches about forgotten arguments that made even the faraway neighbors flick on their lights.
He swallows hard as he glances back out to the living room, and his eyes fall to a chestnut brown table that was tucked behind the couch that he didn’t recognize. It was simple, just a tall, plain table that had a vase of fresh flowers on it, but as he stepped a little closer, he could see delicate floral patterns spiraling down the legs of it, and there was a beautiful daisy etched into middle of each flat side, with vines and leaves flowing around it, perfectly symmetrical.
As he admires it, Izuku hears the back door open again, and he glances up to see Katsuki slipping his boots off and hanging his keys back up on the wall before he glances up at Izuku. He rolls his eyes a little and moves towards the kitchen, tossing his gloves on the table.
“You’re still fucking here?”
“This table is really nice,” Izuku tries a different approach, ignoring him, as he nods down at it, “I don’t think I recognize it.”
Katsuki looks over and glances down at the table, staring at it for a second before he turns back, “From Charleston.”
“Oh,” Izuku says softly, and nods a little more, trying to toe the line of not getting into another argument in this house, “It’s really beautiful.”
“Mm.”
“Look, Kacchan,” Izuku steps back into the kitchen, trying to keep his voice even, “Can we just please do this? You don’t want to see me, I don’t want to see you, so please, let’s just get it over with, okay?”
“I told you, I’m not fuckin’ talking until you talk to your parents.”
“Feels like I’m talking to them now.” Izuku mutters as Katsuki glares over at him.
“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki opens the fridge and pulls out a beer, “Go see your mama. I ain’t doing shit ‘til you do.”
“You’re so damn difficult,” Izuku crosses his arms over his chest, “I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
Katsuki just huffs and shakes his head, scoffing a bit as he flicks the top off, “Thought you might fucking say that.”
Suddenly, there’s a loud knock at the front door, and Katsuki smirks as he walks over to the entryway, keeping his eyes on Izuku as he takes a sip of his beer.
“Who is that?”
“Sheriff. You’re fucking trespassing, shitty nerd.”
Izuku’s eyes widen a little as Katsuki grins, “Kacchan, you know he hates me!”
Katsuki just shrugs, grabbing the doorknob and the door swings open, but Izuku’s nervous energy immediately evaporates as he’s met with warm, familiar eyes.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in!”
Izuku breaks into a smile, “Kirishima!”
“That’s Sheriff Kirishima to you now. What’s up, city boy?” Kirishima greets him, throwing his arm around his shoulder as he messes with his hair a little, “You raisin’ hell with my boy here again?”
“We’re not going down fucking memory lane, alright?” Katsuki snaps, crossing his arms over this chest, “Get this fucker outta my house.”
“What? Why?” Kirishima looks between them, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Aren’t you guys back together?”
“What!?” Izuku squeaks as Katsuki shakes his head firmly, “Fuck no.”
“Why else would you be here, Midoriya?” Kirishima asks sincerely, tilting his head a little as he glances between them again.
“To get rid of him!” Izuku exclaims, pointing over at Katsuki as he rolls his eyes. Izuku then huffs, and walks over to the kitchen table to hold up the envelope, “He won’t sign our divorce papers!”
“Wait, so you guys are still married?”
“Yes, because someone keeps sending the papers back without signing them and my lawyer bills me every time.” Izuku glares over at him as Katsuki just rolls his eyes and waves him off.
“And I would like someone to get outta my goddamn house!”
“Our house!!”
“Kirishima, please get this fucker off my property before I actually fucking murder him with a pitchfork.”
Kirishima doesn’t answer at first, he just looks in between them for a few moments before his eyes fall to the papers in Izuku’s hands, and he holds his hands out. He glances down at the papers, eyes scanning over the words, and he looks up at Katsuki, “House still have his name on it?”
Katsuki clenches his jaw before he grunts out, “Technically.”
“Well then,” Kirishima clears his throat as he hands the papers back to Izuku, throwing an apologetic glance at Katsuki, “Ain’t trespassing, man. Sorry.”
“Well, just get him the fuck out then! Arrest him for disturbing the peace!”
“But he’s not disturbing the peace?”
“He’s disturbing my fucking peace!”
“I am asking for one damn thing, Kacchan! One thing but you are just too stubborn!"” Izuku protests as Katsuki glares at him, and turns to yell before Kirishima steps up.
“Okay, okay,” Kirishima interrupts, moving between them as he puts his hands up, “Midoriya, we can chat outside.”
“What?! No!” Izuku’s eyes widen as he looks at Katsuki’s smug face, and he huff, arguing, ”But he just—”
“Outside.”
Izuku looks over at him to see Kirishima standing firmly with his hands on his hips. As Izuku glances down at the little gold star on his jacket, Izuku holds back a groan and just brings his hands up in defeat, “Fine, fine.”
“Man, I love using that card,” Kirishima laughs, practically almost a giggle, and Izuku would be tempted to say fuck it and plant his feet in this kitchen, but Kirishima was just too nice, “Just meet me outside, man.”
Izuku glares at Katsuki, who glares right back, before he just scoffs a little and shoves his way through the front door to the porch. He hears Kirishima slowly shut the door behind him, and immediately voices start up. As irritated as he was, Izuku really didn’t want to eavesdrop on Katsuki just complaining about him.
He takes a deep breath and inhales the thick, buzzing summer air that only feels slightly suffocating in this heat as he leans his palms on the porch railing.
He knew this wasn’t going to go well, but he hadn’t expected Katsuki to flat out refuse to sign the papers. He knew he was stubborn, and would be an ass about all of this, but Izuku really hadn’t expected him to react like this.
“Hey,” He turns around to see Kirishima closing the door behind him, and throws him an apologetic look, “Just… talk to him tomorrow, okay?”
“Kirishima, I’m not going to—”
“I know, alright, I know,” Kirishima interrupts with a sigh as he glances back at the house, “Believe me, I know. But you’re not going to get anything from him tonight. Let him calm down. He… He hasn’t seen you in ten years, man.”
“Yeah, and he hasn’t changed one bit,” Izuku scoffs to himself, shaking his head, “Not at all.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Kirishima replies, glancing back at the house again, but he just shakes his head a little as Izuku looks at him quizzically, “But hey. Come out to the bar tonight and see everyone, I know they’d be thrilled to see you. Although, I would avoid Farmer Jones if he’s there. He’s still pissed about his sheep that y’all stole and put in the locker room.”
Izuku snorts a little and he shakes his head as finally, purely happy memories start to run through his mind, “Almost forgot about that.”
Kirishima smiles at him before clapping him on the shoulder, “Come. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Izuku breathes out, his heart rate finally coming down.
“Plus,” Kirishima gives him a little nudge as he grins, “You know Mitsuki would kill you if you didn’t go and see her.”
“Yeah,” Izuku laughs, shaking his head as Kirishima squeezes his shoulder, “She really would.”
“Good, then I’ll see you tonight?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cool, I’m gonna, uh,” Kirishima clears his throat and juts his thumb behind him towards the house, “Gonna hang here for a bit.”
Izuku just nods and gives him a wave as Kirishima walks back in the house, and Izuku heads towards the driveway to his car.
“Mama? You home?”
“Is that my baby?!”
Izuku hears a loud clatter from the kitchen and his mom comes flying out of the doorway, frantically wiping her hands on her apron as she comes running towards him and wraps him up in a suffocating hug.
“Oh, my baby boy is home! I missed you so much!” Inko squeezes him tighter, and Izuku can’t even hug her back yet with her arms pining his own to his sides.
“Ma— can’t breathe.” He manages to get out, and she gasps and lets him go, but as he looks down at her, her eyes are shiny with tears, and he feels the lump in his throat grow.
He leans down and hugs her normally, and her arms come back around him as she cries and laughs against him, and he melts against her, "I missed you, too."
She hums happily before he reluctantly lets him go, holding his face once as she sighs and drops her hand.
“You hungry? Let me fix you somethin’, honey,” Inko turns to bustle back into the kitchen, and Izuku fights the urge to roll his eyes.
“I’m okay, Mama, really. You're making dinner now.”
“Nonsense,” She looks him up and down, frowning a little, “You are practically skin and bones. Are you eating enough up there? I know groceries are expensive but you can’t be eating those cup noodles all—”
“Stop worrying, I’m eating enough, and you know James and I work out all the time!”
“Probably eating those horrible, unseasoned chicken breasts with rice and broccoli.” She scoffs a little, and Izuku doesn’t reply at first as he thinks back to the sad meal he’d eaten the night before, and Inko glances over and throws her hands up with a huff, “I knew it!”
“Ma, stop,” Izuku laughs a little, heart warming over his mom fussing over him, “I’m fine.”
“Honey, I wish you’d told us you were coming sooner, why didn’t you call?”
“I’m not exactly here for a vacation, Mama, I…” He exhales sharply, preparing himself, “I have to sort out everything with Kacchan before the wedding.”
“Oh,” She deflates a little, but she nods before putting a steady smile on her face, “You and James have set a date?”
“Oh, um, no not yet, but I’ve put this off too long,” Izuku sighs, before he rolls his eyes a little, “More like Kacchan has put it off.”
“Well anyway, let’s not focus on the sad stuff right now, okay?” Inko says quickly, waving her hands, “Your father will be home any second, and he’s going to be thrilled to see you.”
“Yeah?” He smiles a little, and his mom smiles warmly back, leaning towards him.
“Of course, honey,” Inko replies, bringing her hand up to pat his cheek, “We miss you down here.”
Izuku sighs, guilt simmering, “I know, Mama. It was too long.”
“Too long indeed.”
He turns around to see his dad dropping his bag in the doorway, hanging up his captains jacket on a hook by the door.
“Dad!”
“Come give your old man a hug, huh?” Izuku rushes over and hugs him tightly as he chuckles and hugs him back, firmly wrapping his arms around Izuku’s shoulders as Izuku melts into him.
Izuku reluctantly pulls back as Toshinori smiles down at him, and reaches up to ruffle his hair before he wrinkles his nose, “Why is your hair hard?”
“It’s just gel, Dad.” Izuku grumbles sheepishly, smoothing his hair down again.
“Looks weird.”
“Thanks.” Izuku rolls his eyes a little as Toshinori just grins and puts his arm around his shoulders, leading him towards the kitchen.
“So, how long are you in town for, honey?” Inko asks, moving back in front of her cutting board as she chops up some basil and parsley
“My flight back is on Monday.”
“Oh, so soon?” Inko slows her chopping, looking up at him as her eyes get misty.
“Mama, you know I have to work,” He sighs, trying to look away from her sad expression, "I can't take more time off than this.”
“But it’s the weekend!” She argues, and puts the knife down as she puts her hands on her hips, “Shouldn’t you be off anyway?”
“The news industry doesn’t really take weekends.”
“Are you working yourself to death?”
“Mama, I am fine! Quit worrying so much!”
“I don’t blame her if that’s what they’re telling you to do with your hair up there.” Toshinori comments as he slides behind Inko, kissing her cheek lightly before he grabs two beers out of the fridge, and hands one over to Izuku across the counter.
“Thank you!” Inko smiles at her husband before giving Izuku a look as she picks up her knife to keep chopping, “Why are you hiding those beautiful curls? You know I love them.”
“Yeah, I’ll bring them back cuz my mommy likes them.” Izuku mutters, and Inko stops and narrows her eyes at her.
“Don’t sass your mother, young man.” Inko frowns, pointing her knife at him, and he quickly puts his hands up in defense.
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.”
“Mhm. Besides, I wasn’t always the only one who loved them.” She glances up, a knowing look in her eye as Izuku glares back.
"Mama."
"What?"
“Don’t.”
“What!?”
“I know you’re still Team Kacchan, but can you at least try and reign in the favoritism?”
“I don’t know what you could be talking about.” She replies innocently, scraping the herbs into her bowl as Izuku fights the urge to roll his eyes.
“Whatever, this humidity is gonna bring them out anyway.” Izuku sighs, leaning his elbows on the counter top as Inko moves around it and kisses his head as she heads out towards the grill to meet Toshinori on the back porch.
“Good. You look more like yourself.”
He rolls his eyes a little before exhaling deeply again, rubbing his forehead as he closes his eyes, trying to stave off his headache. He picks his head up and looks out the back door to see his parents standing at the grill, the orange sun setting behind them through the thick trees as they chat happily, his mother’s arm resting gently on his father’s.
Smiling to himself, he let his eyes well up for the first time today, feeling a little overwhelmed at everything he was feeling today, feelings he’d purposefully ran away from.
“Honey?” Izuku looks up to see his mom coming back in, hovering in the doorway, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Izuku sniffles, wiping at his eyes a little, “Just a lot, being back here.”
“Will you be going out tonight?” She asks, coming back into the kitchen, “To see everyone?”
“I don’t think so, I’ll probably just turn in early so I can head to the lawyers office first thing tomorrow.”
“What, you’re not even going to see Mitsuki and Masaru?” Inko asks, eyebrows furrowing as she stares at him.
“I–” Izuku's voice cracks a little, and he clears his throat, “I’m not sure they’d want to really see me. I kind of just want to lay low this weekend.”
“Nonsense,” Inko says firmly, drying her hands before settling them on her hips, “You’re like a son to them.”
Inko pauses, glancing up at Izuku as he just looks down at his hands. She sighs deeply before coming over and wrapping her arms around him, and he hugs her back.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push. I know this is hard.”
“It’s okay.” He shrugs a little as she rubs his back, and she shifts a little, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“Go out tonight, honey. I know your friends would be extremely excited to see you after all this time.”
“Do you—” Izuku looks down again, “Mama, do you think they hate me too?"
“Too?”
“Yeah, like Kacchan does, for leaving.”
“Oh honey,” She laughs, shaking her head as she washes off her cutting board, “That ain’t hate.”
“Come on, stop,” He shifts uncomfortably, fiddling with the ring on his finger, “I don’t want another repeat of this afternoon.
Inko sighs, looking over at him before she comes around the counter, leaning against it next to him, “That bad, huh?”
“He locked me out and then called Kirishima and told him I was trespassing.”
“Man, that boy is so dramatic.” Inko laughs, shaking her head a little.
“You use that key I told you to hide in the bush?” Toshinori asks, poking his head in the back door with a grin.
“Course I did,” Izuku smiles as Toshinori nods at him, a proud smile on his face.
“That’s my boy. Told you he’d forget.” Toshinori replies before he leans back and slides the door shut again, heading back towards the grill
Izuku laughs a little, before a sadder memory returns to him, and he turns to his mom, “I, um, I didn’t know Georgie died.”
“Oh,” Inko exhales deeply, shaking her head sadly, “Poor old thing was holdin’ on for dear life. Katsuki used to joke that he was just waitin’ to see you one last time. But his new one, Charlie, grew right up into a carbon copy of old boy Georgie. Almost spooky.”
“O-Oh,” Izuku gets out, trying not to read into that too much or else he might actually burst into tears, “I called him Georgie when I saw him.”
Inko stares at him for a little bit, smiling a little sadly, “No one hates you, baby. We’re all so proud of everything you’ve done up in New York. Leaving ain’t always a bad thing, you just had something special you had to leave behind that made it harder. And that’s sort of precious, no?”
“Yeah,” Izuku smiles to himself, nodding a little. He’d spent so much time focusing on the bad parts of he and Katsuki, how they ended, that he’d sort of forgotten how much good this town held, despite it all. He left it behind, but that didn’t mean the memories went anywhere, and it didn’t warm his heart any less, “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Have some dinner with us, go out tonight, and see all your friends,” Inko nods firmly, and although Izuku did feel a little better, he had a feeling this was not something his mother was budging on, “Now go set the table, please.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Izuku Midoriya, get your ass over here!”
Izuku stops about three paces into the bar as he hears someone calling out for him, and he turns to come face to face with a familiar pair of red eyes.
“My second boy has come home, and I have to hear about it from our fuckin’ neighbor’s daughter’s friend who swore she saw you driving in when she was on the damn school bus!” Mitsuki rambles on in an annoyed tone as she wraps him up in a hug, and Izuku can’t help but smile against her hold, “Goddamn ridiculous! Our house should be your first fuckin’ spot!”
“Sorry, Auntie,” He laughs a little as she tsk’s, “It was last minute.”
“Don’t care, excuses,” She pulls back and holds his cheeks in her hands, smiling widely as she sighs a little, “Oh. You are a sight for sore eyes, my sweet boy.”
“Jesus, Ma, remember who your actual son is.”
Izuku looks to the side to see Katsuki approaching them, one hand shoved in his pocket with the other holding a beer. Izuku inhales, before he turns to him and smiles politely.
“Hi, Kacchan.”
“Hey.”
“Katsuki, be nice.” Mitsuki scolds him and he throws his hands up in defense.
“I said fuckin’ hello!”
“With attitude, you little brat.”
“It’s okay, Auntie, nothing I’m not used to.” Izuku smiles sweetly as Katsuki rolls his eyes.
“Mm,” She eyes Katsuki up and down before turning to smile at Izuku, “Well, you just come on up and order whatever you want. On us.”
“Auntie—”
“No arguments, boy.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Izuku nods, and she smiles again, patting his cheek twice quickly before she bustles off back to the bar.
Izuku watches her walk away before he turns to Katsuki, who’s just shaking his head, “Same old Auntie?”
“Same old hag.” He sighs out, before he looks down at his hands and sighs again dramatically before nodding over to the bar, “You want a fuckin’ drink or something?”
“I can get my own drink, thank you.”
“Whatever.” Katsuki scoffs, walking away as he sips his beer and heads towards the back of the room.
Izulu exhales, shaking his head to clear his mind before he heads over to the bar to get a beer. After chatting with Mitsuki for ten more minutes, and then getting his cheeks pinched and scolded for not eating enough by every mom and Auntie he’d ever said hello to in this town, he finally managed to get away and slink against a back wall.
He’d taken two sips of beer before he heard his name called out again.
“Izuku!” He turns around to see wild, curly pink hair, “Oh my god, I thought that was you!”
“Mina, hi!” Izuku smiles, a little grateful to see a genuinely friendly face as she gives him a one armed hug, and he startles as he sees a baby on her hip.
“Look at you, fancy pants!” She laughs, bouncing the baby a little bit, “You look great, honey, I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Look at you! You have a baby!” Izuku laughs, smiling down at the chubby, smiling dark haired baby on her hip, before he glances out around them, looking back with a little concern while trying to sound upbeat, “In… a bar!”
“Well, you hush now,” Mina smiles at him with a playful eye roll, “You know just as well as I do that we were all in here playing darts by the time we could throw.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Izuku relents and laughs a little, looking around the bar as Mina waves someone over, “Man, this place hasn’t changed one bit.”
“Can’t say the same for you, Yankee boy!” Izuku looks over at the voice and breaks into a smile as Kaminari throws an arm around his shoulder, knocking his head against Izuku's as he tugs on his shirtsleeve, “What is this, dude? Armani? Who the hell are you and what have you done to my Izuku who wears shirts from the Piggly Wiggly?”
“Oh, please,” Izuku flushes a little as he pushes him off, and he sees Kirishima come up behind him, and he gives him a friendly nod and a smile.
“Hey, man. Glad you could make it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Izuku smiles back at him, and Kirishima brings his arm around Mina’s shoulders.
“What brings ya back to us?” Kaminari asks, tilting his head as he claps him on the shoulder, shaking him a little.
“I, uh, have some legal business to take care of.”
“By that, you mean our reclusive, aggressive friend with all the chickens who won’t sign your divorce papers?” Kaminari asks with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Yes, that one,” Izuku can’t help but laugh, the tension in his chest breaking a bit, “I’m, uh, I’m getting married, but since we aren’t legally divorced, I just gotta—”
“Oh, congratulations!” Mina exclaims happily, giving him another one armed hug, “That’s so exciting!”
“Why am I the only single one now?” Kaminari whines as Kirishima just rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his drink.
“Because you like the wrong people instead of the ones who have been there the whole time.” Mina snorts as Kaminari looks at her in bewilderment
“What’s that mean?”
“Anyway, congrats, man,” Kirishima interrupts, clapping on his shoulder before he then sighs a little, “Damn, I gotta say though, I’d always hoped that you and Bakugou would get back together one day.”
“Eijirou,” Mina slaps his chest with the back of her hand as she gives him a glare, before she turns to smile apologetically at Izuku, “Sorry ‘bout him. He’s had too much.”
“I have not!”
“No, it’s okay.” Izuku forces out a little laugh, “I’m sure you’re not the only one around here. My mother included.”
“Yeah, I still got money on it.” Kaminari sighs, taking a sip of his beer before Mina slaps his chest too.
“Are they here with you? Your fiancé?” Mina asks, ignoring the two boys as she peeks over Izuku’s shoulder a bit, but he quickly shakes his head.
“No, um, he couldn’t make it. He had to work.”
“Ah, of course. Busy New York life and all,” Mina nods, giving him another kind smile as she tilts her head a little, “You gotta bring him sometime back to meet everybody! And Mineta finally got arrested for being a perv so no more town weirdos!”
“Besides the grumpy dude with the chickens.” Kaminari adds, and Kirishima snorts a little, shaking his head.
“Yeah, yeah, maybe one day.” Izuku replies, unconvincingly, but if Mina, Kirishima and Kaminari notice, they don’t say anything.
They chat for a little while, mostly consisting of Mina scolding the two boys as they all interrogated Izuku about his life in New York, asking more questions than he could keep up with, and he suddenly feels bad for every person he’s ever interviewed.
Eventually, Mina and Kirishima’s baby gets a little fussy, and they say goodbye after making him promise to play darts with them later, and they wave off.
Izuku inhales deeply as he looks out to the bar, at the sea of people he’d recognize anywhere, but he feels a little overwhelmed with how many people there are that he’d truly never expected to all see in the same room again.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that little Menace Midoriya over there?”
“Oh, you gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” He mutters under his breath, holding in his groan as he turns to the side and sees a blonde woman grinning at him with her hands on her hips.
“Hi, Toga.” Izuku tries to smile as she squeals and runs up to him.
“Hi, Izuku!” She smiles widely at him, jumping up to give him a big hug before she pulls back, but keeps her hands on his shoulders. She tilts her head as she tugs at his cheeks, pushing his head back and forth as he wrinkles his nose, “Shoulda told us you were coming back to town, I missed this pretty little face around here!”
“Get your pervy hands off of him,” Izuku looks over to see Katsuki walking up to them and rolling his eyes as Toga pouts, “Don’t make me shove your ugly face in the creek again.”
“I can’t help it!” Toga whines, and reaches up to grab his face again, squishing his warm cheeks, “He’s still so cute, and now he’s all grown up and hot! Izuku, you really did pick the wrong cousin, you know.”
“Knock it the fuck off.” Katsuki slaps her hands away as she rolls her eyes with a huff.
“You’re literally no fun, Kats. I’m just messing around.”
“You’re making him fucking uncomfortable.”
She gasps, throwing her hand to her chest, “I would never. He loves me.”
“She’s fine, Kacchan,” Izuku rolls his eyes a little at how quickly Katsuki can shift into protective mode, “Relax.”
“Don’t tell me to fucking relax, nerd.”
“Ugh, you ruined the vibe,” Toga sighs, before turning to Izuku and smiling, “I’ll come find you later.”
“Don’t.” Katsuki glares at her and she just sticks her tongue out at Katsuki as she walks away, waving sweetly at Izuku before she turns and disappears into the crowd.
“Has literally anyone changed?”
“Sure, you know Kirishima dyes his hair, but now he does it ‘cause he’s tryna hide his fuckin’ greys.” Katsuki snorts,
“Kirishima’s got grey hair?”
“Fucker’s got three kids under five. Fucking obviously.”
“Fair enough.”
“Sorry ‘bout Toga.” Katsuki says suddenly, looking at his feet, but Izuku just laughs and shakes his head.
“Sometimes familiarity isn’t bad,” Izuku just shrugs, and Katsuki just hums in response, and Izuku hesitantly adds, “I didn’t see your mom’s garden box next door, what happened to it?”
“They moved.”
“Oh,” Izuku deflates a little, feeling his chest ache a little at the idea, “That’s too bad.”
He’d spent so much time with them growing up, with Mitsuki hollering at them to get inside and wash the dirt off of their feet and Masaru handing them sweet tea or lemonade as they raced inside. Masaru had been the one to figure out they were dating first, with a very awkward moment where he’d stuck his head up into the treehouse and saw them holding hands when they were fourteen. Katsuki had been so startled and flustered that he’d kicked the trap door shut right onto his dad’s head.
“Don’t go crying yet, it’s too damn early in the night,” Katsuki scoffs, “They just moved over by the lake once me and Toga moved out. You’ve already seen Ma, and Dad’s back at the bar now.”
Izuku glances over at the bar, and can’t help but smile as he sees Mitsuki, aggressively shaking a cocktail shaker behind the bar as she argues with one of the old guys sitting at the bar top. His chest warms further as he sees Masaru silently slide behind her, hand on her waist as he leans to kiss her cheek gently, whispering something in her ear. She blushes, argument dropped as she watches Masaru just continue down to greet Kirishima's moms at the other end of the bar.
“Yeah, but your parents and your house just had a lot of good memories. I practically grew up there too.” Izuku sighs, tearing his eyes away back to Katsuki.
“Yeah, your fucking height notches were still carved into the wood next to mine when they sold the place.” Katsuki chuckles, a hesitant smile playing on his lips.
“Oh,” Izuku breathes out a small laugh as his chest aches with nostalgia, and he feels his eyes tear up, “God, I forgot about that.”
“I didn’t.” Katsuki replies, glancing over with a smirk as Izuku rolls his eyes, sniffing once.
“Cause you were always taller than me.”
“You came close when we were seventeen and never let me fuckin’ forget it.” Katsuki snorts, looking over at him as Izuku laughs along with him.
“We got about a good six months of being the same height.”
“Mm,” Katsuki just hums, nodding a little bit before he glances up a few times and then opens his mouth to speak, “So, you—”
Before he can continue, a loud ringing interrupts him, and Izuku feels his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulls it out, and reads James across the screen.
“Oh, um, I should go take this.” Izuku gets out, glancing up as Katsuki just takes a step back and nods.
“You know the way to the back porch.” He juts his head towards a door tucked in the back, and Izuku just nods and smiles a little awkwardly before bolting out the door.
The warm air hits him as he hits the answer button, and brings his phone up to his ear as his feet hit the wooden back porch.
“James? Hi!”
“Hey, babe.”
“Hi,” He breathes out, relieved to hear his voice to convince himself this whole day wasn’t just one big hallucination, “I’m happy you called.”
“So, you get this thing done yet?”
Izuku’s smile drops a little as he moves to sit on the stairs leading down to the back parking lot, sighing a little as he plops down, setting his beer next to him.
“Look,” Izuku starts, wondering how the hell he could explain this, “I’m trying, but I told you, Kacchan is difficult and—”
“I really wish you’d stop calling him that already,” James interrupts with a sigh over the phone, and Izuku can practically see him rubbing his forehead, “It’s childish.”
“It’s all I’ve ever known him as. You know this.” Izuku explains calmly, not trying to ignite another fight this week about stupid Kacchan.
“I know, but I don’t like this, you going down there.” Izuku looks up as James speaks, a little flutter of hope that he might actually be jealous, might actually speak up about the fact that Izuku was hundreds of miles away with his childhood sweetheart. Or husband, but as Izuku assured, only according to the government.
“I know, but—”
“We’ve got a deadline next week for that whistleblower memoir piece, and your last draft wasn’t great.”
Izuku’s heart sinks as he moves to tilt his head back to look up at the vast endless sky before he snaps back into focus as he registers his words and glares down at his phone.
“Wait, you read my stuff?” Izuku replies, trying to keep his voice even as irritation flickers within him, “James.”
“I had to see if Nora would just end up cutting it.”
“You—” Izuku huffs out, trying to remain calm as he shakes his head, “You know I don’t like you doing that.”
“Then you should be more attentive to your deadlines, Izuku, and I wouldn’t have to.”
“I am attentive! Don’t act like I’m lazy!” Izuku shoots out, but James just chuckles in response.
“You’re not, babe, just spacey. Just get this shit done, okay? Check off the boxes.”
“Yeah, I will,” Izuku sighs, before he tilts his head back again to look up at the stars, and he feels a wave of peace fall over him as he feels miniscule underneath the endless sky, “Hey, James?”
“What?”
“Do you ever think it’s sad?” Izuku asks as a small smile creeps onto his face as he looks up at the wide expanse of darkness littered with constellations he’d grown up under, memorized like the back of his hand, “That we can’t see the stars in New York like you can out here?”
“Why would I want to look at the stars? They’re just balls of gas,” James huffs, and Izuku’s smile slowly drops as he brings his eyes back from the bright, expansive sky to the dirt below his feet, “Get this over with already, that country air is getting to you.”
“Yeah, yeah, maybe,” Izuku replies quietly, keeping his eyes up, before he sighs deeply and rubs his forehead, “Just send me your edits on my last piece, I guess. I’ll work through them at a cafe or something tomorrow once I talk to the lawyers.”
“Okay. Send me what you come up with. I gotta go.”
“Okay, goodnight,” Izuku shuffles on his feet before he holds his phone a little tighter, and adds, “Love you.”
“You too. Night.”
The call ends, and Izuku brings his phone back down, staring at the black screen.
He sighs a little before slipping it back into his pocket, and he looks back up at the sky as he grabs his beer and takes a sip.
If there was one thing he’d missed like hell while he was in New York, it was skies like this. New York was a whole other set of twinkling lights at night, but nothing could beat seeing what felt like the entire universe at your fingertips.
He takes another long sip of his beer, eyes tracing over the stars, and he keeps his gaze up for a while as he drains his bottle, tracking the constellations he could see, and he can’t help but finally appreciate something not changing.
“So you just hidin’ out here now?”
Izuku looks back to see Katsuki closing the back door behind him, and he huffs out a weak laugh.
“Something like that.”
“Whole town full of fuckin’ whackjobs,” Katsuki scoffs, looking down at his feet, “Nothing much has changed with that.”
“Don’t think it ever will.” Izuku laughs, shaking his head a little.
Katsuki just hums in response, shifting on his feet for a few moments before he pulls something from behind his back and Izuku looks back, “Old times sake?”
Izuku glances down at his hand, and he sees a mason jar with clear liquid sloshing around in it as Katsuki waves it around, and Izuku gives him a stern look.
“I almost fell off the water tower the last time I drank your mother’s moonshine.”
“Then avoid water towers, dumbass.” Katsuki smirks, his eyes a little challenging as they glint under the porch lights.
Izuku stares at him for a few moments before he sighs, and dramatically scooches to the side to make room for him on the steps.
Katsuki walks over and sits down with a deep sigh, before he just hands over the jar without looking over.
“Youngest first.”
“Such a gentleman.” Izuku rolls his eyes, taking the jar from him as he unscrews the cap, shuddering a little as he smells it.
“My mama raised me right.” Katsuki replies quickly, just before Izuku takes a sip, but Izuku just snorts a little, jar still on his lips, before glares over at him
“Don’t make me laugh when I’m about to drink literal gasoline.”
“Then stop finding me charming and fuckin’ hilarious.”
“Shut up.” Izuku rolls his eyes as Katsuki shakes his head in amusement. Izuku takes a deep breath and takes a sip, and immediately the memory of it burns down his throat, and he swallows, barely, before he starts to cough.
“You used to drink this shit like water.” Katsuki snorts, taking the jar from his hand
“Well, I’ve gotten a little more used to cocktails recently.”
“Oh? Katsuki raises his eyebrows, smirking, “Though you always were pretty damn familiar with those.”
“You are so immature.” Izuku rolls his eyes as Katsuki just shakes his head, looking out to the woods as he takes a long sip, sighing after he swallows.
“You used to be, but you’re just too damn uptight now.”
“I am not uptight.”
“Are fuckin’ too.”
“I am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not!”
Katsuki doesn’t respond at first, just grins as he brings the jar back up to his mouth as Izuku rolls his eyes again, feeling a little dumb, “It’s just too damn easy to rile you up.”
“Yeah, whatever, you know me well, old news.” Izuku replies, yanking the jar out of Katsuki’s hands and he takes a gulp, the fire in his throat lessening slightly as he focuses on not coughing.
“Atta boy.” Katsuki’s grin gets wider as Izuku swallows it silently, feeling his cheeks flush a little, but he still glares over at him a little as he hands the bottle back.
“Shut up, you do know they make actually good tasting moonshine now, right? With, like, flavor that doesn’t taste like rubbing alcohol?”
“You think I don’t know that? Mama’s blackberry one is fuckin’ unreal,” Katsuki smirks, and wiggles the jar obnoxiously in his face, “I just brought out her original one that Gramps used to make.”
“You are such an ass.” Izuku pushes him out of his face, but he can’t help but laugh a little bit. He glances over at Katsuki, and sees a small, amused smile on his face that he hadn’t seen all day, or more accurately, in ten years, and it made his heart hurt a little.
He then glances over to Katsuki’s hands again, and before he can change his mind, he quickly takes the jar again and takes a big gulp as Katsuki’s eyes widen a little, but all of the cool points he’d hoped to gain quickly went down the drain as he begins to cough again.
“Oi, chill,” Katsuki slides a little closer across the porch, slapping his back a little too aggressively, “If you kill yourself, you know they’d fuckin’ blame me.”
“Stop—” Izuku chokes a little again as his chest rattles a bit with coughs and laughter, “Making me laugh.”
“Told you,” Katsuki nudges him with his elbow a bit as he finally calms down, “Stop finding me so fuckin’ amusing.”
Izuku just rolls his eyes, although less venemous and more playful than before, and they sit there in silence as the warmth of the moonshine starts to settle in their bones.
He glances over at Katsuki, who is just sitting quietly and staring out at the woods ahead of them, his foot tapping ever so slightly to the faint music they could hear inside. Izuku tries not to smile as he remembers how often he’d find Katsuki drumming his fingertips on a table, or absentmindedly bouncing his leg to the beat of whatever song was playing in the background. It felt nice, the realization that had been settling in his bones all day, that some things really don’t change, and probably never will, and that's not always a bad thing.
As he thinks about it, his stomach gets a little tight, and he’s overcome with nerves he hadn’t felt since he was about thirteen, back when he and Katsuki were toeing the line of something more.
He wasn’t sure why he was nervous, but all he could think about was how odd this all was, how he was sitting here drinking moonshine with someone he thought he’d have for life. And despite it being ten years, and despite the fact that he was the one to leave, Izuku can’t help but feel like underneath it all, he'd missed those things that seemed like they'd be there forever.
“Kacchan, do you—” Izuku speaks up hesitantly, glancing over at Katsuki, and the yellow, dusty light on the porch makes him glow just a little like the sun, “Do you think we still love each other?”
“What kind of stupid fucking question is that?” Katsuki scoffs immediately, but he doesn’t look over, “I told you, rest of our lives. I know at least I meant that shit.”
Katsuki pauses for a few moments, then shakes his head a little with a sigh, “But doesn’t fucking matter, right?”
“Yeah,” Izuku coughs again awkwardly, fiddling with the thin band on his left hand, “Right.”
Katsuki glances down at it before looking up, and he tilts his head at him and leans forward, inquisitive and all too knowing eyes staring through him as Izuku shifts slightly and Katsuki narrows his gaze.
“You are getting married, aren’t you?”
“I–” Izuku stops and looks down at his hands, “Yes. I think so. I don’t know. No, yeah, I am.”
“Super fuckin’ convincing,” Katsuki snorts, shaking his head as he takes another sip, “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I…” Izuku betrays himself and looks up to see Katsuki gazing over at him, eyes curious, and he just nods a little, a silent push. Izuku feels his chest warm, nostalgia of nights telling each other everything seeping into him. He looks back down as he feels the knot in his stomach loosen a bit, “We’ve been engaged for two years, but we don’t even have a date set.”
“Why the hell not?” Katsuki asks, unable to mask the surprise in his voice.
“I don’t know, other stuff keeps getting in the way. Important stuff,” Izuku answers honestly, shrugging a little as he sighs, “We’re not in a hurry.”
“Stuff more important than marrying you?” Katsuki scoffs again as he brings the jar back up to his lips as he rolls his eyes over at Izuku, shaking his head a little, “Bullshit. I took you down to the courthouse the fuckin’ second we turned 18.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not you, and besides, look how well that turned out for us.” Izuku laughs, a little bitterly, but Katsuki doesn’t follow along. He just takes another long sip before he settles the mason jar back between them.
“Why does he want to wait?” Katsuki asks, but his tone isn’t full of annoyance or irritation, he just seems curious.
“Uh, he hasn’t really given a reason exactly,” Izuku shrugs, answering honestly, “Just really hasn’t been the right time for a whole big wedding like he wants.”
“Do you want to be married to him?”
“Um, yes.”
“Does he want to marry you?”
“Yes?”
“Should be a good enough fucking reason to do it, then.” Katsuki grumbles, grabbing the mason jar again as Izuku eyes him warily as he chugs a gulp.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Izuku replies, before he reaches out when Katsuki takes his second gulp, “Maybe you should slow–”
“Shut the hell up. You can’t tell me what to do anymore.” Katsuki slaps his hand away, then glares at him challengingly as he takes another sip before putting it down in between them.
“As if I could ever tell you what to do.” Izuku rolls his eyes, and Katsuki snaps his head to the side.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You never listened to me!”
“Are you an idiot? All I did was listen to you yap! That’s why I have so many fucking chickens!”
“You didn’t need to get more!”
“Of course I fucking did!” Katsuki shouts as he sits up, sloshing the moonshine in the jar next to him a little, “What if–”
He suddenly stops short, staring at Izuku for a moment before he closes his eyes, sighing deeply as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He then stands up, wobbling a little bit before he dusts off his jeans and turns around, “I’m going back inside.”
“Kacchan–”
“Night. Don’t fuckin’ drive home,” He says sharply, before he slows his walking for a moment, “Take the moonshine. I know your dad likes it.”
Izuku just watches Katsuki walk back inside, closing the back door of the bar a little too hard, before Izuku sighs, dropping his head as he shakes it.
Exhaling one more time, he pushes himself off the porch stairs. His dad has offered to pick him up, but he felt the urge to take the walk home instead, to let his brain stew over the last day as he takes tiny sips of the moonshine from the mason jar as he walks.
As he rambles through town, he passes by the long dirt road that leads to Katsuki’s house, their house, and he slows a little. As he stands in the entrance of the long, dusty path winding ahead of him, he sees a glimpse of the water and the dock. His heart twists as another painful memory comes to mind, but he pushes it off, forcing himself to move from his spot rooted to the dirt as, but it still plays in his head dully, like a muffled, dusty record as he makes the walk back to his parent’s house.
“What’d you think of what we read in class today?”
“I liked it. Greek mythology is cool as fuck, and Achilles and Patroclus were definitely getting down and fuckin’ dirty in that damn tent,” Katsuki shrugs, looking up at Izuku from his lap as he laughs, “But Achilles is kind of a dick, though. Talk about too much damn pride.”
"Yeah, you'd know nothin' about that, huh?"
"Shut the hell up," Katsuki reaches up and shoves Izuku's giggling face a little as he chuckles, "You know what I mean."
“Yeah, I guess,” Izuku replies, gently running his fingers through Katsuki’s hair as they sat on the dock, him sitting with his legs dangled over the side as Katsuki laid down with his head in Izuku’s lap as he played with his hair, “It’s still kinda romantic, though, loving someone so much you’d slaughter an army or face something or someone scary like that to avenge them in your grief.”
“You’re a little fuckin’ freak, you know that?” Katsuki snorts, shaking his head a little as Izuku rolls his eyes, tugging on his hair a little.
“Come on, you know you think that’s, like, the peak of romance.”
“Okay, sure, fine, but Patroclus was also kind of an dumbass too. Standing in place of someone like goddamn Achilles, knowing what he had to do? He must’ve known he didn’t stand a fucking chance against someone like Hector.”
“Maybe, but he was doing what he thought he needed to do, you know? He knew Achilles would come through eventually, and the Greeks would fight back, but he couldn’t stand there and wait for it to happen,” Izuku counters, before he smiles a little and tugs on Katsuki’s ear, “Actually, it kinda seems like something you would do.”
“Please, if anything, I’m the strong as fuck, cocky asshole, and you’re the underestimated one with a spooky past.” Katsuki brings his hands up and wiggles his fingers in his face as Izuku laughs, shaking his head.
“What, you really think we’re like them?”
“No, not exactly,” Katsuki hums out, shaking his head a little, “But you would be the type of person to sacrifice yourself in a dumb fuckin’ way like that.”
“I wouldn’t say it was dumb, it was for the good of the people, all people, even if it would break Achilles' heart. To help end the war,” Izuku replies, and he leans down over his face as he smiles teasingly, “I know I would sacrifice myself for you. Throw myself to the wolves and all that to keep you and everyone safe.”
To his surprise, Katsuki doesn’t tease back, he just sighs a little as he takes Izuku’s hand in his, playing with his fingers.
“That’s what worries me, darling,” He replies with a sigh, finally looking up, and the little worried crease between his eyebrows appears, “I know I fuckin’ would too, but I don’t want you to do that.”
“Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”
“Yeah, sure, maybe,” Katsuki replies with a sigh, before he looks up at him, red eyes warm and genuine, one of Izuku’s favorite expressions on him, “But you’ve always shone brighter than me. You deserve the fuckin’ best, not a measly death by fuckin’ wolves.”
“Not true,” Izuku shakes his head, running his hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp as he goes, “You’ve always been amazing, Kacchan. You shine, too.”
Katsuki just shakes his head, eyes never leaving him, “No, Zuku, you’re just… you have somethin’ else. I want it all to myself, but I also want everyone else to see it too. It’s confusing.”
“Mm, well, you know I’m all yours, Kacchan, and nothing else.” Izuku hums, gently tracing down his jaw with his fingertips as his other hand stays in his hair.
Katsuki doesn’t respond, he just stares up at him for a few more moments before he sighs deeply and turns his head back to look at the stars.
“I know. That’s what scares me.”