Better Man // Katsuki Bakugo
Summary: When an unofficial on and off again relationship between Izuku and reader comes to an end, Katsuki steps in to show reader her worth.
Pairing: Izuku x Reader x Katsuki
His hands were on your hips. His fingers easing into your skin, pulling and grasping all he could get. His face was in your neck. His voice gasping out little moans, his lips placing hot kisses over your skin, his teeth ever so gracefully grazing your ear in a way that made you shiver and groan.
Your hands were on his back. Your fingernails digging into his back and easing up to his shoulder where you grabbed onto him for support, the feeling of your nails on his skin only further cause for him to drive himself into you quicker. Quicker, and needier. Your legs were around him. Your legs were tightly wrapped around his waist, legs hooked together pulling him in closer with every pound in and out.
You both were inches from each other, fornicating in such a forbidden way, a way Izuku swore he would never touch you. You both could’ve told each other no, the wine in your system wasn’t that strong. You were both practically sober, and there would be no one to blame but yourselves in the following morning. Even as you clenched around him, even as he felt himself cum into the condom, he was trying to justify his actions. It’s just one night. Just one night. One night you both tended to repeat on different nights.
‘It’s just one night,’ he told himself as he pulled out of you and walked over to the bathroom attached to your bedroom. 'It’s just one night, it doesn’t mean anything,’ he told himself as he pulled the condom wrapper off of himself. 'It’s just one night, it doesn’t mean anything, she’s your best friend,’ he told himself as he turned the water on and grabbed a washcloth to clean himself up.
They were all justifications. Justifications to every thought he had that gravitated towards you. Justifications to every moment he wanted you to be his. Justifications for everything he was putting you through. Justifications for every push and excuse he gave to keep you at arms’ lengths away.
You laid on your bed, thoughts of a different manner running wild through your head. 'It feels different this time,’ you told yourself as you pushed yourself up against your headboard. 'It feels different this time, he’s not going to push me away this time,’ you tell yourself as you pull your sheets tight against your naked chest. 'It feels different this time, he’s not going to push me away this time, he’s gonna make it official, he’s gonna make us official,’ you tell yourself as you reach for the water bottle on the table beside your bed to rehydrate yourself.
Izuku walked back into your bedroom, pants on his body, tying his belt around his waist as he looked around for his shirt. He was positive he had left it strewn on the floor by the left side of your bed. You tried not to let a frown slide on your face, you left a smile present, an unwavering smile. Izuku hated himself as he saw you sitting there staring at him. You smiled like your father, Toshinori, a smile so full of hope. Full of hope in him, full of hope in him and you.
“I, um, yeah… I have early patrol tomorrow. You know how it is.”
“Yeah! Stay safe, text me when you get home.”
'I want to stay. I want to cuddle you. I want to caress you as you fall asleep. Care for you like a lady should be.’ They were the words he wanted to say. The words that got stuck in his throat as he watched you, happy and unwavering, happy and dignified, happy and hopeful.
Those are the words that actually come out of Izuku’s lips, but they’re just another lie. He places a kiss against your forehead, a sweet and bitter goodbye. 'I shouldn’t see you anymore, not after tonight’, it is a bitter reality he thinks he needs to follow. He had let himself have too much freedom with you. He slips his t-shirt on and then proceeds to go to the front of your apartment to find his phone and jacket. There are missed texts on his screen, missed texts from the girl he gave no thought to during his moment of ecstasy with you.
'She’s a civilian, she means nothing to me,’ he thinks to himself as he swipes the text off the screen, yet it doesn’t stop the guilty nagging feeling in his chest. 'Just a distraction, a failed distraction from [Y/N]’, more words he tells himself as he grabs his keys off of your coffee table. 'She’ll hate me when she finds out. She’ll never want to talk to me again,’ more words he tells himself as he opened your apartment door and walks out, locking the door behind himself. 'It’s perfect. She’ll be far and safe from me,’ more words he tells himself as he pulls his jacket tight around his head, hoping not to be seen exiting his mentor’s daughter’s apartment at two in the morning. Hoping not to be seen leaving your house, looking like sex the day before he plans to officially announce the civilian girl, Haruka, as his girlfriend to the public.
'It’s safer this way,’ he thinks to himself. It’ll push you away from him. It’ll keep you safer. It’s just like in high school, when he rejected you. It took weeks of coaxing from your father to get you to talk to Izuku again. He didn’t want you to have a target on your back. He vowed to himself never to put you in harm’s way, for the sake of you and his mentor. There would be no coaxing from your father this time, it wasn’t high school, it was adult life. You would surely hate him, no forgiveness on the table.
When you wake up the next day the following night has not left your head. You still think of the way Izuku touched you, the way he grabbed and kissed you. As you shower and got ready for the day, as you bathed yourself and looked in the mirror, every mark he left behind and the memory of how he gave them to you ran wild.
Izuku was in your mind all day. You think of Izuku from the walk out of your apartment to the subway. You think of him from the subway ride to your office at Shield Technological Enterprises. You think of him every time you check your phone that morning, hoping to see a text despite him not texting you that night. You think of him in your meeting with your boss, Melissa Shield, thankful that it was a group meeting, or else you might not have made it out without being called out for being else where mentally.
At lunch, your mind derives elsewhere, to a place of more substance, food. You were quick to pack up your work bag full of designs and a few pieces of tester equipment before you grabbed your phone and checked for a text from him once again. 'He’ll text soon,’ you kept telling yourself. He had to be thinking of you the way you were thinking of him. While you were somewhat privately on and off again without ever really saying you were in a relationship, you don’t just sleep with someone, tell them you love them, and ghost them. You had a meeting with him for his new costume design anyway, he would have to face you whether he wanted to or not.
You slid your phone in your pocket and made your way down to the subway station. You had an appointment with Izuku regarding a new wrist brace, after that, you had an appointment with Uravity regarding a new costume that wasn’t so skin tight. You were hoping to slip lunch in between your appointments. You knew your father was in the city today, maybe he could join you.
You walked into Izuku’s hero agency and made your way into the elevator to go up to his office. You could feel your chest bubble with nerves. He was going to give you a chance, a man doesn’t just sleep with a girl and say he loves her for nothing. A man doesn’t just sleep with his best friend only to throw her away. Deku wouldn’t do that. He had more respect for you.
You quickly tossed your arm out to activate the new heat sensory motion activators to make the doors stay open, it was a product created by you, it looked like they were working well. You didn’t create or design products that weren’t for hero costumes often, but you hated the old elevator sensors. A woman stepped into the elevator, panting a bit as she made it in and hit the button to close the doors. She hadn’t hit a button beside the one you already pressed, she must be going up to the same floor as you.
“Those sensors are so neat. They work so much better than the one you usually see.”
Pride swelled in your chest as the elevator went up. It was always a burst of pride whenever someone complimented your designs. You eyed the woman slightly. She didn’t look like a hero, and you were positive she didn’t work in the agency. With Izuku as your best friend, you came here often, you also kept a file of every hero in the city so you could have a reference to their quirks and costumes.
The door opened and the woman stepped out, you soon following behind her. You supposed it was your curiosity, but you wanted to know who she was. Maybe she was from another support agency, you didn’t like people stealing your clients. She kept walking until she reached Izuku’s office. You hoped to god she wasn’t from another support agency, you would not be letting her poach Izuku. Momentarily, you worried you had gotten your meeting time mixed up, but you were positive you had the right time.
The woman patted down her clothes and checked herself in the reflection of a window before walking into the office. That was rude and unprofessional. You should always knock, especially if you don’t have a scheduled meeting. You follow behind her into the office and Izuku looks up in surprise as he stands up. The woman makes her way around his desk and he hugs her before she follows it with a kiss. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was a lip kiss. You couldn’t deny they were romantically involved and it hurt. It hurt so bad. You didn’t want to believe it.
“What are you doing here? You were supposed to come at one.”
She was supposed to come at one. An hour after you would be meeting with him. Missing you entirely, like two ships in the night. Your heart stung, why would he do this? It wasn’t like you were together, not officially, but it hurt. He didn’t just use you, he used you to cheat on someone.
“[Y/N]? I- shoot. Haruka, can you step out for a minute, I have an important meeting with this woman.”
He wouldn't even use your name. Has she any idea who you were? That you even exist? Were you not supposed to be best friends?
She chirps her words out at him and kisses him again before spinning in her heels and walking out of the room. Each passing encounter and each shared touch just put a new bullet in your heart. You were just some woman, he didn’t even call you his best friend.
“We’re dating, me and her.”
“A month, she ran into me when her abusive ex was following her. Couldn’t do anything without proof so I took her out for coffee, and it just escalated.”
You looked up at the ceiling, it was better than looking at him. If you looked at him you would cry, and you really needed to not cry. Not when she was just outside his office, not when you’d have to pass her on your way out.
“And that wasn’t something you could’ve told me before last night?”
“[Y/N], I’m sorry, but you knew before hand that we can’t be together.”
“No! Don’t try pulling that shit. We could be together if you wanted to, you’re just a coward. You won’t give us a chance because you’re scared it’ll look bad that I’m your mentors daughter.”
You look at him as your eyes tear up and point your finger at him. Screw the woman outside, screw what she thought of your tears. She deserved to see them, deserved to know what Izuku did to her, what a supposed hero he was.
“We can’t be together because it’ll put an immediate target on your back! You’re quirkless and defenseless, it’ll be so easy to kill you.”
“Fuck you! We both know that there’s already a target on my back for being a Yagi, for working for the most prominent support agency. I deliver weapons to you, to Katsuki, to Hawks, the best of the best. You’re just scared people will look further into your relationship with my dad.”
“And what if they did? You’ve always been under a microscope, it would be even bigger if we dated.”
You wiped your tears as a few of them slid down your face. You weren’t going to let him see you cry. You weren’t going to let him see how hurt you were.
“After everything we’ve been through, this is how you’ve repaid me? Denied me and betrayed me. I’ve always loved you Izuku, but you always take that for granted.”
You quickly unzipped your work bag and dug around for the 'Midoriya’ work file you knew you had in there. It contained his costume and the blueprints on his new equipment. You threw it on his desk, not caring if any of the papers fell out and flew around.
“There’s your files, I wasn’t sure if you’d like the design, we both know how you like to look at other things when you’ve already got something else in mind. When your ready, contact us with your answer, you know my assistant’s number.”
You stormed out of Izuku’s office, slamming the door behind you. The woman, his girlfriend, eyed you casually, unsure if he was upset and whether or not she should come back later. You tried to compose yourself and gave her a gracious smile as you stuck out your hand.
“I’m [Y/N]. [Y/N] Yagi, Izuku’s bestfriend.”
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you! Izuku talks about you, a lot. I’m Haruka.”
"So your Izukus girlfriend? How about you and me grab lunch, I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about."
Izuku sat on a wooden barstool as he waited for the bartender to get him a shot. It was moments like these that he liked his rising fame, there were at least a dozen other citizens waiting for their own liquor, but the bartender would bump him up on the priority list due to his rising status. It wasn’t like Izuku specifically asked for this to happen, he would never take advantage of his name like that, it just so happened that two out of every three times, a grateful citizen would appreciate his heroism, or they would like to leave a good impression so he would use his newfound fame to advance their business.
Heroes also tended to tip well.
Izuku kept checking his phone for anything and everything. He wanted to see a text from you, but then he had to remind himself that he didn’t. He did this whole thing to push you away. He hurt you to push you away. He’d sent you several apology texts, hoping to get you to understand he did it for your safety, but you had ignored them, and rightly so.
He supposed it didn’t really seem like he cared for you and your safety, not when he began dating some other girl, and a girl with no experience dating a hero. He claimed to want to protect you by not dating you, yet here he was willing to date some other girl and willing to risk some other girl’s life. Not that, that tiny tidbit mattered, she had broken up with him hours after he had that argument with you in his office. It seemed you had told her about him cheating, so she sent the break up text.
It was the first time Izuku had been broken up with by text, it was the first time he had been broken up with at all in fact, but he knew he deserved it. He toyed with both you and her. He had callously endangered her life when he was trying to protect yours, and he cheated. He knew how you felt about him, every one did, and everyone constantly said that one day he’d buckle down and settle with you. He knew he was toying with your feelings, and while hurting you so roughly was unintentional, he shouldn’t have.
It was so hard to stay away from you when he felt the exact same way for you as you did him. He truly was scared of hurting you, and he’d just wrecked any chance he’d ever have with you. But that was what he was trying to do in the first place, wasn’t it?
Katsuki Bakugo roughly pushed his way through the people in the bar and slammed his shot glass down on the bar next to Izuku. He supposed he should’ve been lighter, more careful as to not break the glass, but he was already feeling buzzed. He was buzzed and happy, he had no early patrol tomorrow and he just advanced in the hero ranks, not to mention he came here with a beautiful woman. He had great cause for celebration.
“Another shot and a daiquiri moonrise.”
The bartender warily eyed him before filling the glass. Most people were wary of Katsuki, his entire persona screamed destruction. While he was a hero, bartenders were always worried he’d be the one to get into a bar fight with another hero. Ultimately, the tip would always be far to great to turn down service to a hero like Katsuki.
Katsuki took the glass, raised it to his lips, and slammed it back down on the counter before he recognized the green mop head beside him and realized it was Izuku next to him. A scowl crossed Katsuki’s face as his eyes went over to you, who sat across the bar. You, who invited Katsuki out in the first place, demanding he needed to get out somewhere besides patrol and the gym. You, who sat with Izuku’s now ex-girlfriend, a fling if you would. You, who spent a majority of the night tipsily chatting and bagging on Izuku, before you became to buzzed to care about him.
“Dumb-Deku. You’re a dumbass, you know that don’t you?”
“Kacchan, I’m not in the mood tonight.”
“And... You think [Y/N] was in the right mood when you fucked and discarded her?”
Izuku’s eyes went over to where you were sat across the bar. Izuku had seen you come in, followed by Katsuki, and his ex. He could just imagine the media tomorrow: Rising Hero Deku’s Bestfriend Spotted Drinking With Rival And Ex. To see you so cozy and friendly with her stung, but he deserved that one. You looked happy laughing with his ex, he was glad to see you had some kind of joy and happiness amongst the hurt he served you.
“I know, I hurt her okay? I know that. I know I hurt her, and that hurts. She’s not answering my texts, and I know she hates my guts and it hurts.”
“You think if I went over there she’d listen to me apologize?”
Katsuki rolled his eyes at his old friend and rival. He wasn’t going to sympathize or feel remorse for him. He knew what he was doing, he knew how he was toying with you, he’d been doing it to you ever since your days at UA. If Izuku never meant to hurt you then he wouldn’t have strung you along in highschool with the false hope that maybe 'one day’ you could really be together. It started with a rejected confession with the promise of friends forever, but the glances, the lingering touches, and shitty flirting strung you along. Deku couldn’t handle the jealousy of seeing you with other guys, but he wouldn’t man up and date you himself. Katsuki hated Izuku for stringing you along even in your prime years, and he hated everyone else for feeding into your crush on him by saying one-day he’d want to make it official.
It would have been better if they set in the reality. Deku would never buckle down, not being the coward he always was. 'You would've been better off years ago', Katsuki thought, better off if you had been cut off clean and moved on. Moved on to someone better, who would've appreciated you and saw you past your weaknesses. Someone strong, who would've voted to actually protect you in public, rather than secretly string you along in the shadows.
“You’ve been hurting her with false hope since fucking highschool. But me? I’m taking this drink over to her because she invited me here and she trusts me. We’ll leave together too because I’ve always given it to her straight. And you? You’re going to be here, pathetic and alone because you’ve always taken her for granted and led her on.”
"Don't fucking call me that, now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to attend to. And hey, maybe I'll even fuck her tonight but at least I won't ghost her in the morning or pull out a secret girlfriend."
Katsuki took the daiquiri with him to the table you had across the bar. He slid down into the seat next to you and placed the cup in front of you. You looked over at Katsuki with a smile, completely oblivious to his conversation with your now-former friend.
You never got the chance to take a sip, before you even had the chance to thank him he cupped your cheeks. With his warm palms holding your face up to his, he leaned in really quick and placed his lips upon yours. They were soft yet rough at the same time, you had never imagined ever sharing a kiss with Katsuki, but you couldn’t deny you hadn't thought about it at least twice in high school.
“I know you and dumbass Deku. He’s so fucking bad for you, but he’s all you ever want. I don’t know if you’re gonna go back to him, if you can even call it that when you’ve never technically dated, but I can treat you better and I needed to do that before anything happened.”
His hands fall from your face and stuff into his pockets as he resumes the conversation as if he never kissed you. It wasn’t his intention to pretend the kiss never happened, it was far from that. In fact, it would probably be brought up tomorrow when you stopped by his office with a new costume design. He wanted you but he needed you to truly think about his words. To truly think about how toxic Deku was for you, how bad he was, how he’d never want to settle down for you, not with his savior complex of needing to keep everyone safe.
You closed the door to Katsuki’s office and took a seat in the chair across from his desk. His office was decorated well. The wall colors looked good in contrast with the chairs and sofa he had pushed against the wall. Part of you wondered if he let his mom decorate his office or whether he picked up habits from his parents.
Your stomach churned as you gave the blonde hero a brief, halfhearted greeting. Your head swirled as you began to pull out papers from your briefcase to show him the newest designs on his latest costume. You had a major hangover going on, the drinks you had last night were much to potent, and they only began to progress after Katsuki had kissed you. It wasn’t exactly the most logical solution to your problems, but it was a great temporary one.
You were lucky and thankful that your meeting with Katsuki hadn’t been scheduled until later into the afternoon to accommodate his busy schedule. Unluckily, you had an early business meeting with your boss, Melissa. Most fortunately, Melissa believed you when you said you got a flat tire on your way into work and would have to postpone your meeting.
Or at least, she'll believe you until she sees the tabloids. You hadn't even dared look, you could only imagine how the photos looked. You, Katsuki, the kiss. You, Deku, his exe. All the scenarios that must be spinning right now.
“These are the new designs for your hero costume. I have some blueprints for a better grenade gauntlet somewhere in my briefcase.”
Katsuki reached across his desk and grabbed the costume designs from your hands, his fingers lingering on your wrists just a few seconds too long. You weren’t sure what to make of his kiss to you from the previous night. You weren’t sure if he was being genuine, or if he just drunkenly wanted to try to obtain what his former friend failed to. Regardless, the action doesn’t fail to make your cheeks heat up. You quickly draw your hand back and begin to scramble around in your briefcase for the gauntlet blueprints. You shouldn’t be acting like this, you should be more formal and professional.
“I’m gonna look really badass. You draw them yourself?”
“I draw all my costumes myself. I’m sure all my assistants hate me, I’m such a micromanager. I try not to be so controlling, but it never works like that.”
“I know, there were times in highschool that I was sure googels… Uhm- Hutsame? Hatsume was going to kill you. It looks great. You did a fuckin’ fantastic job.”
You let out a light laugh despite your pounding head. Katsuki was never good at remembering his peer’s names, it was only as of recently he was making more of an effort after the media called him out for using harsh and cruel nicknames. A blush adorns your cheeks deeply. Crimson red sprouting up from your neck and above. Most people say the way to a woman’s heart is gifts, jewelry and flowers, for you it was your designs.
“Here are the gauntlet blueprints, I think you’ll like them too. It sprays a non-toxic formula on your wrists to make you secrete sweat more while you wear them, creating a bigger blast in half the time it usually takes to collect it.”
Katsuki takes the papers from you and looks over the blueprints, his eyes briefly going over the ingredient list. He didn’t really care what you were putting in it or on his skin. He trusted you, if you said it was safe and nontoxic, then it was safe and nontoxic. He handed them back to you hesitantly, he didn’t want you to leave his office, not just yet.
“They look great, can’t wait to use them.”
“I’ll move them to the top of my list of priorities. If you didn’t mind me asking… Why did you decide on a new costume? Not that I don’t love the business, but you’ve had the same costume design since you graduated UA.”
“Like you, I’m controlling, I hate when things change, I like constants. My costume was a perfect constant. The designers always take what I say I want and change it up. With you, it’s not like that.”
You smiled over at Katsuki and straightened out your shirt. You took such pride in your designs and projects. When someone complimented it and your efforts, you found yourself shrivling away into a blushing, bashful mess.
“With you, it’s not like that at all. I don’t care if it’s changed and messed with.”
He wasn’t referring to the costume, and you both knew that. He was referring to life in general. Katsuki liked having a constant, unchanging schedule. Ever since high school, he woke up at a certain time, trained at a certain time, ate at a certain time. He had a schedule and a life that depended on a constant. The only reason he decided to get a new costume change was to have an excuse for you to come over to his office, to have you talk to him, even if just for fifteen minutes out of his day.
Katsuki didn’t care how he disrupted his schedule when you were around. He didn’t care what was getting changed. You could change his sleep schedule, you could disrupt his workout times, and even add the wackiest and stupidest detail to his costume, he would let you do that, his perfect constants be damned.
You muffled out a yawn and began to slowly collect the papers back up and push them into your briefcase. You wanted to mention the kiss, mention how it made you feel, ask if he was too drunk last night. The words kept getting jumbled and stuck in your throat.
“You kissed me last night.”
Your words just tumbled out, so bluntly and honestly. Stating a fact you both knew had happened. Katsuki nods at you, a coy smile coming over his face.
“Y'know, I meant what I said. I could treat you better.”
“I know you’re not over Deku. You’ve been pining over that block head since high school.”
Katsuki stood up and made his way from his side of his desk to your side, he leaned against the edge of the desk and grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers into his warm ones, the way a couple would. You hadn’t realized how his feelings for you had just slipped by you over the years. How had you not seen his feeling for you earlier on? Were you that preoccupied with Izuku?
“I know you’re not over him, but I’m not over you. I’ve wanted you just as long as you’ve wanted him. I wasn’t good enough then. I didn’t think I was good enough, especially after your dad’s retirement. I thought it would be better to not intervene and let him have you, but fuck!”
Katsuki crouched down to the chairs level, to your level, to talk to you more equally. You could just see the anguish in his eyes. He’d had feelings for you all this time, and he just pushed them aside, thinking Deku would be better, thinking Deku would be more worthy.
“All Might picked Deku, so I thought he’d be good for you too, but he treats you like shit. He uses you and then pushes you aside. He refuses to claim you as his, but I would! I would make you mine! I would make you feel so fucking wanted, I would treat you good!”
Before you knew what you were doing., before you could even process your actions. You leaned forward and gripped Katsuki’s cheeks before pressing your lips against his. They were soft, like the night before, and they tasted like cinnamon, but they felt warm. His hands came up and wrapped around your torso, holding you like delicate glass as your mouths pressed together.
“Ask me out. You say you want me, you say you can treat me better, so ask me out. Take me on a date, ask me out.”
You say the words breathlessly. You couldn’t hear the pounding in your head anymore, but you could feel the pounding in your chest, your heart beating hard against your skin with excitement.
“Are you available tonight?”
Katsuki’s voice came out raspy, and just as breathless as you. It was just above a murmur, relishing in your surprising actions, excited at the reality of being able to grasp his long awaited shot. Your hands were still on his cheeks, fingers delicately holding him as your lips curved into a smile.
"Pick me up at 7, and don't be late."
Slowly your dinner with Katsuki transitioned into more and Izuku became a thing of the past. Your dinner dates progressed and grew longer and longer each time. As time dragged on your dinners turned into nightcaps, a quick bite of dessert you just so happened to conveniently have bought or baked earlier that day. Slowly those nightcaps turned into the daring question: “Want to stay the night?”
As the months raged on, you began randomly popping into his agency for lunch because you happened to be in the area. Katsuki’s patrol route suddenly changed and went right by your company on days he knew you’d be in.
It wasn’t long before you and Katsuki went public and put a label on yourselves, boyfriend and girlfriend. With him being seen leaving your apartment early in the morning wearing fresh clothes, you having lunch with him more than weekly but less than daily, and more than often evenings spent together, it was obvious to the media what was going on between you both, and the media was completely eating it up out of the palm of your hands.
“Can you fix my gauntlet?”
His voice was rough, his mouth stuffed with food. You grabbed a napkin as you laughed at him, his job wore him out too much. He always stuffed his face during lunch, he needed the energy and it seemed mannerisms left his mind in private. You reached across the sofa that resides inside his office, meant for him to take naps in between patrols, and wiped food of the side of his face.
“Is it malfunctioning? My assistants know how to fix it if you broke it in battle.”
“Your dumb assistants forward me paperwork every time I have to send in gear to get fixed when I break it.”
“You’re such a baby. They give you paperwork for legal purposes. If you broke it, we’re going to charge you. You’re lucky I have my tool bag on hand, I’ll look at it when I’m done eating.”
Katsuki grinned over at you before pressing a hard kiss against your cheek. He already did enough paperwork whenever he took down a villain, he didn’t need to fill out more just because your company didn’t want to pay for something he broke on his own. Katsuki grabbed his gauntlet from a box hidden in a corner behind his desk, he wanted to be sure to keep all the parts together for you. This wasn’t the first time he asked you to fix something, and you always grumbled about how if he was going to be destructive he could keep all the parts together.
Katsuki brought the box over to you and set it on the coffee table before he began to clear away all of the empty takeout containers from the table to make some more workspace for you. You wiped your mouth clean with a napkin, tossed it in the trash, then reached for your work bag and pulled out some tools. Katsuki heard you get the gauntlet from the box and heard you let out a ragged sigh. He didn’t have to see the box to know you were upset.
“You are so destructive. I don’t even know if I can fix this, how did you do this?”
“It was an accident! I was falling and Eijirou caught me, but he had his quirk activated.”
“Accident? You killed him!”
Katsuki snickered at you quietly as he took a seat on the couch next to you. He watched you tinker around with the parts and your tools, you were so in your element and focused, he could go on watching you like this for hours.
“Yes. My assistants named this one Gary. Gary the grenade. I would take him back to my office to fix him, let you fill out paperwork, and learn your lesson, but I bet twenty bucks Gary would last at least two months before you broke him.”
Katsuki drummed his fingers against his leg as he watched you mess around with your screwdriver. His heart was pounding in his chest as he watched you. He had an ulterior motive for inviting you over for lunch. There was a question he needed to ask you, one he thought you were both ready for. He didn’t want to ask you in public where the media would be prying in with a camera, and he didn’t want to ask you when you were having dinner in your apartment. He didn’t want you to feel trapped, he wanted you to be in a comfortable setting where you could feel free to say no.
“You’re such a dork, I’ll try not to kill Gary again.”
Your laughter resounded out in Katsuki’s office. You both knew he would kill Gary. Katsuki was constantly breaking his gauntlets. Although you had to suppose that breaking his equipment would happen with his job, he broke his equipment more than any other hero you knew. Katsuki took a breath before he blurted out the question he’d been holding in.
“Will you move in with me?”
Your laughter died out and you dropped your screwdriver on the ground. With a shaky hand, you reached down and grabbed the screwdriver. You fumbled with it in your hands, unsure of how to answer his question.
“I’m over at yours or your at mine all the time anyway, I just thought it would be nice and convenient.”
“I don’t know… Katsuki, we haven’t even told my dad about us.”
He could sense your hesitance. The way you were bouncing your leg and the way you squeezed your screwdriver was evidence enough. He didn’t want to pressure you into this, he wanted you to take your time and think it out. This was a big decision for both of you.
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to say yes to me. It’s okay to say no if you’re not ready. I just thought it’d be nice to wake up to you every day.”
You bit down on your lip as you packed your tools up into your bag and placed the gauntlet back in the box. On second thought, bet be damned, maybe you should take Gary back to the office. The ambiance in the office was suffocating and throwing off your aura.
“It’s just kind of soon, I need to think about it.”
Katsuki wrapped your jacket around your shoulders and helped you zip it up as you shrugged it on your arms. You needed to get out of his office, this question was beginning to suffocate you. It’d only been a few months, it was moving really fast. You loved Katsuki, you knew that much, but this was important. Katsuki tightly wrapped your scarf around your neck to keep you warm from the cold February air and pulled you in for a brisk kiss.
“I love you, but it’s really soon, I’m gonna think about it okay?”
“I love you too, take as long as you need to think, this is important. Whatever you decide on is not gonna change us.”
You grabbed your work bag and the box before you made your way out of Katsuki’s office. You were going to think about it, you’d give him a decision by the end of the week. You made your way down the hall and hit the button on the elevator. After a minute of waiting the doors slid open, a man stepped out and you barely gave yourself time to register the face as you stepped on.
With wild green hair and deep green eyes, Izuku Midoriya watched as you walked past him onto the elevator as he had just gotten off. You clicked on a button, but Izuku was quick to call out your name and stick his hand in the elevator door. They slid back open, damn those heat-sensitive elevator bars you designed. Bad creation, bad creation! They really took off after you designed them, now you wished you hadn’t.
You were over him, over what had happened, at least mostly. That deep petty part of you wanted to ignore him, pretend you hadn’t seen or heard him despite being in front of you. He was still your father’s protege, it would be rude and upset your father should he hear about it. After all, it wasn’t like you clued your dad in about the drama that happened between you and Izuku.
Izuku was feeling the complete opposite of you. He missed you. He wished he hadn’t played with your feelings like that, he wished he had manned up and just dated you. He went from talking to you practically every day, to not hearing from you in months. He was reeling, suffocating in his own loneliness. It was his own damn fault, and if he could change it he would.
“I haven’t seen you in so long.”
Your heart clenched at his words. Maybe some part of you was still holding on to him, it wasn’t like you could blame yourself, you had been in love with Izuku for so long. He was your first real friend and your best friend, someone who didn’t see just as All Might’s daughter. He was your first lover, albeit unofficially, and your first heartbreak.
After the incident in his office, you cut complete ties to him, and you were extremely gracious about it. You didn’t spill to the press about why ended your friendship, the media assumed it had to do with dating his rival. You didn’t go spilling your guts to your father, his mentor about how he slept with you while he was dating a civilian either.
“I- I want to apologize. I shouldn’t have treated you how I did, it was shitty, and I was a coward.”
You didn’t want to have this conversation, it hurt. You hated those heat-sensitive bars. Maybe you should push to have them stop being produced.
“You were right, I didn’t want to admit my feelings because your dad is All Might. But I really did do it to protect you, I mean that. Twisted as it was, I thought pushing you away would protect you.”
“What you did was shitty, but I’m over it Izuku. It’s been months, consider yourself forgiven.”
You weren’t sure you truly had forgiven him, but you were sure some part of him did push you away for your safety. In high school, the league had originally targeted you instead of Katsuki, although they failed to obtain you and took him instead, it tore Izuku up. That was when he began leading you on with empty promises of a relationship. It was to protect you sure, but you wished he could’ve gotten over it after nearly ten years.
“[Y/N], I don’t just want your forgiveness. I want you, I miss you, I want my best friend back. Do you think we could get some coffee sometime? Have a fresh start?”
Izuku pushed your hair behind your ear and you wanted to throw up. The whole situation made you sick and you wished the elevator door would open up already. Maybe Izuku cared about you, maybe he wanted you, but he didn’t love you, not really. It was obvious you were with Katsuki, it was obvious you were happy. You had his gauntlets in your arms, you had his jacket on your body and there were dozens of news articles about your loving relationship.
He knew you were with Katsuki, he should’ve known how happy you were. Why couldn’t he leave it at that? You would’ve let him happily be with that civilian girl had he not cheated on her with you, she had to know the truth for that one. Katsuki flashed to your head and you felt nauseous. Katsuki held back his feelings for you for years. Years. He held back for years because he wanted you to be happy.
Katsuki really did love you, in the end, he wanted whatever would be best for you, whatever made you happiest. Your whole relationship he’d been attentive and sweet. Caring and loving. The perfect boyfriend. It made you laugh, Izuku of all people put this into perspective for you. Katsuki completely loved you, and talking with Izuku cleared any doubts. Moving in with Katsuki shouldn’t be a question at all, it felt right now.
“Izuku, we can be friends, but nothing more. I’m with Katsuki, and I am happy.”
“Right, sorry! I… I shouldn’t have overstepped that.”
Izuku backed up and gave you space just as the elevator doors slid open. You walked out of the building, a new dignified feeling in your chest. Once you were in your car you put Gary in the passenger seat and buckled him up for a safe ride to your office, then you pulled out your phone to shoot a quick text.
You began to prep the garlic, peeling each piece before you crunched it up in a metal mincer. You didn’t even own a mincer before you began dating Katsuki. He had complained that your cooking utensils weren’t good, slowly you began to notice that new utensils and spices would show at your apartment. Not that you were complaining, Katsuki was a great cook and he was right, fresh garlic was better than that pre-prepped refrigerated garlic.
Your father, Toshinori, stood beside you as he cut up the onions and vegetables for your Yakitori. You were nervously watching the clock, unbeknownst to your father. You were waiting for Katsuki to get here, but your father didn’t even know you were expecting another guest. Every Wednesday your father had dinner with you, yet you never mentioned being in a relationship.
You never mentioned your relationship with Katsuki, and your father didn’t watch the tabloids for things like that. Truthfully, you were scared of his reaction. He always hoped you would end up with Izuku. Naturally, as his mentor and your father, he wanted you with someone who he knew. Someone he thought would protect you. You never introduced your father to any boyfriends before Izuku, and you didn’t want to break his heart. You would be lying if you said you were putting off your father finding out about you and Katsuki.
“Dad, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
You kept your hands focused on the task at hand, harshly crushing the garlic as you tried to find the best way to phrase your words.
“I’ve been seeing someone, and I invited him over for dinner.”
Your father kept slicing the onions before he moved onto the vegetables. Admittedly, he began to cut more meticulously and harder, nearly cutting his finger.
You bit down on your lip as you walked over to the stove and shoveled the garlic into the pan with the meats before you reached over and grabbed the bowls of vegetables that your father was cutting up and poured them into the pan as well. You knew you were upsetting your father. He wanted you to date Izuku, ever since you met Izuku, all he did was encourage your crush on the green boy.
“What? I thought you wanted me to be with Izuku.”
“God, no. I love Izuku like a son, and I might’ve said that when you were in high school, but that was because I knew you would never progress more than best friends.”
Your father brought over more chopped vegetables and poured them in the pan before taking a wooden spoon and stirring the contents around in the pan.
“I didn’t want you dating in high school. I thought it’d be better to encourage you to chase after someone who didn’t know how to talk to girls rather than having to deal with you dating a guy like Kaminari or Bakugo. That would’ve been a horrible nightmare.”
To hear that your father didn’t actually want you with Izuku was a relief, your worst fear was disappointing your father, hearing him say it would’ve been a nightmare had you been dating Bakugo was heart-clenching, There was a rough knock at the door, and it couldn’t have been timed worse.
Your father took long stride-full steps and walked over to your door. He unhooked the latch and opened the oak door up, there before him stood Katsuki. You wondered if he was as nervous as you were feeling. This was his old school teacher, and the hero he looked up to growing up. It took a lot to say 'hey, I’m dating your daughter’ more so it was ballsy to say 'we’re moving in together’ on the same night.
Your father greeted Bakugo kindly with open arms as if he hadn’t just said you being with Bakugo would be a nightmare. If Katsuki was nervous he didn’t show it. His body wasn’t too stiff, and he had worn nice clothes. He smiled at your father, a genuine real smile as he held out a wine bottle. Katsuki had evolved so much since high school, you hoped he showed that to your father this evening.
“Good evening sir, I brought some wine.”
“Joseph Phelps red, that's quite expensive. Personally, I’m more of a white wine guy.”
Your father turned it around in his hands before smiling back at your boyfriend lightly.
“It’s not white, but we’ll make do.”
Katsuki shot you a helpless look as your father carried the bottle into the kitchen to look for your wine glasses and pop open the bottle. This evening was already off to a bad start.
“I thought you said he liked red wine.”
“I thought he did. He drinks it a lot.”
Katsuki ran his fingers through his hair stressfully. He wanted this dinner to go well, he wanted your father to like him as your boyfriend. Katsuki wanted a life with you, and the key to that was your father’s approval.
“Just sit down and relax. It’s not like your a total stranger to him, he knows you.”
“I should say the same to you. You look like your gonna pass out.”
You placed a chaste kiss against Katsuki’s lips before you took off to the kitchen to help serve dinner and Katsuki made his way to your table. It was the fact that your father knew him that worried him. Katsuki knew he could come off as aggressive and mean. Compared to high school, Katsuki was a lot tamer but he was worried your father wouldn’t see that. Katsuki knew how much your father and his opinion mean to you.
You carried plates of food out to the table and placed them so Katsuki was at one end of the table and your father at the other, with you in the middle. Out came your father from the kitchen, forks in one hand, wine cups in the other. You took your seats and began to eat, all while your father gave Katsuki a very intense stare.
“So Katsuki, [Y/N] tells me you’ve been dating her.”
“Yup! Best damn six months of my life.”
Katsuki cringed as the swear word tumbled out of his mouth. That could’ve been worded better. Toshinori raises his eyebrows as he takes a bite of his food.
“So, it’s been six months, and you’re just now telling her father?”
“We were waiting to see how serious this was going to be, testing out the waters of a new relationship first.”
“You weren’t serious about her in the beginning?”
You took a big gulp of your wine as your father began to accost your boyfriend. It was great for your nerves, you weren’t sure if you should intervene or let Katsuki handle himself. To put it plainly, when it came to your father you were a chicken.
“I’ve always been serious about [Y/N], but she can be very… Hesitant and indecisive.”
It was a nice way of saying distrustful and wary, hesitant to be in a relationship after Izuku callously used you and tossed you aside constantly. Toshinori took a sip of his wine and tried his best to make it look distasteful, truthfully it was good wine and Katsuki was being really smooth and cool with his replies.
“What makes you think you deserve my daughter?”
“I deserve her because I know I can make her happy. I know I can keep her safe, and we love each other, so fuckin’ much.”
A blush dusts your cheeks as Katsuki slides his hand into yours on the table. You weren’t used to showing such a display of affection, physically or verbally, to a guy in front of your father, and you still felt nervous. Ultimately, Katsuki was right. He made you happy, he made you feel safe.
“I will admit, you’ve come a long way since high school. Truthfully, I love the wine, I just wanted to mess with you both.”
You let out a small breath of relief. He liked Katsuki, he really liked him.
“If you’re going to try and hide something from your father, you probably shouldn’t tell your boss, who is also my goddaughter.”
“Melissa is such a snitch.”
“You also didn’t hide it very well. Your bathroom reeks like male cologne, I found some boxers in your bedroom, and you’re all over the Facebook.”
“I thought you didn’t use social media, you barely know how to text.”
Your father laughed at you as you crossed your arms. He really had you worried when he said it would’ve been a nightmare for you to be dating Bakugo. Your anxiety went through the roof, and you drank a lot of wine glasses to soothe your nerves.
“Melissa has been teaching me how to do it. It’s rather, what’s that word, it’s lit. She’s gonna set up a TokTik with me tomorrow.”
“I taught him in high school, I know he’s going to respect you and treat you right. If not… Well, I’ve got Snipes number and he owes me a favor.”
You smiled and squeezed Katsuki’s hand. You let out a nervous chuckle then took a gulp out of your wine again. It was now or never. It was no big deal. It’s not like you were getting married. You squeezed Katsuki’s hand harder as your words came out.
“I and Katsuki have decided we want to move in with each other.”
“I think that’s a big step, but if you’re happy then that’s all that matters.”
“Thanks, dad. He does make me happy, he makes me really happy.”
Your father smiled at you and grabbed your hand. It was the closest thing to a hug that he could give you while you were eating dinner. Your father liked him, he approved of the relationship and that was a heavyweight lifted off your chest. You were happy with Katsuki, completely and irrevocably happy.
“While we’re on this subject, I think we should talk about what I found in your bathroom trash can last week.”
You were laid down on your new couch, your head in Katsuki’s lap as he ran his fingers through your hair carefully and gently. The news played on the TV, going over and displaying the highlights of Katsuki, or rather DynaMight’s fight from earlier that day. Each new scene was more explosive than the last, but it painted Katsuki as a hero.
“They always get my destructive side on highlight. It would be nice if they could get more footage of me post-explosion.”
“I like it, makes you look all badass and hot. Besides, I get a good view of you using Gary without seeing him all broken up.”
“I’m starting to wonder whether your my number one fan or Gary’s.”
You let out a short chuckle as the scene cuts to an end and they start showing footage of a new hero. Katsuki reaches forward, grabs the remote, and flips through the channels until he finds the cooking channel. Ever since you moved in together 'Master Chef’ had been playing on your TV a lot.
The move went great. It took some time for you to find an apartment you both liked. You had decided it was best to find a new apartment altogether rather than moving into one of your own. It was something the both of you could have together, to decorate and make a home out of.
“I’m always your number one fan. You light up my world like DynaMight!”
“That was a cringy joke. I’m not letting Denki and Mina in our apartment again, they’re gonna drain your brain cells.”
There’s a hard knock on the door, and you pull your head up off of Katsuki’s lap, bringing yourself into a sitting position. You stretch your back out before standing up and unwrinkling your clothes.
“It’s probably the pizza, I’ll get it. You can find a movie for us.”
“Do you mean find, or look at the movies you added to our Netflix list?”
“Hey, you make me sound like a dictator. I’m giving you the opportunity to choose between the three movies I picked out.”
Your voice yells out to Katsuki from across the apartment as you make your way over to the door. You didn’t bother checking through the hole before opening the door, it wasn’t like anyone was going to try something at DynaMight’s home. They should know they’d be blown to bits.
You were expecting the pizza delivery boy with your pizza, instead you were greeted by green eyes and a soaking wet green bed of hair. It must be raining out, you felt bad for the delivery boy and your pizza.
Deku stared at you, unsure of why he came here. One minute he was drinking, the next he was typing your new address into his GPS, and his feet started walking on their own accord.
“Hello. Why are you here?”
You get out a displeased sigh as you heard your words come out. You were just terribly hungry. Seeing Deku wasn’t what you wanted, seeing Deku and no pizza was especially not what you wanted.
“I’m sorry, that was rude. I mean it’s kind of late, are you alright?”
He wasn’t sure what to say, all he knew was that he missed you terribly bad. He missed you so much, he yearned just to see you. He knew it wasn’t right showing up at your house, but he needed to just see you in person. Not through old Instagram photos and Snapchat stories, he needed to see you in person.
“I’m sorry for showing up unannounced like this, I just needed- I needed to see you.”
Upon hearing the sound of his voice Katsuki scowled. Even deep within his new apartment, Katsuki could hear Deku, it was a nuisance to him. He placed the remote on the coffee table and made his way over to the front door while calling out to you, feigning ignorance of Deku’s presence.
“Was it the pizza princess?”
Katsuki slinked his arms around you from behind, letting his chin rest on your shoulder as a small coy smile made way to his face, he kissed your cheek before looking at Izuku, rubbing it in his face.
Katsuki’s voice holds an unpleasant disdain as he says Izuku’s name and it’s a slap to his face. It was wrong of him to show up at your apartment. Your shared apartment with Katsuki. It was so wrong. He knew you were with Katsuki, he knew you were happy. Why did he show up here? Why couldn’t he stay away from you?
It’s now that it hits Izuku. He didn’t love you, not really, not deeply enough. Not the way Katsuki loved you. Katsuki stayed back, stayed silent. He suffered for years, all for the purpose of letting you be happy. He wanted what would make you happiest, and now that he had you, he treated you perfectly, like a queen.
Izuku himself was falling apart without you. He took you for granted. He pushed you away to protect you, and his heart. He hurt you. He never tried to give you what would make you happiest, never tried to do what was best for you.
He understood now. If he truly loved you, then he was going to have to be the one to step back. He needed to go away, to suffer silently. He needed to do what was best for you now, and that was to let Katsuki take care of you. His old friend always did say he was going to be the best, better than him. While he was talking about being a hero, now he was the best, at least for you.
“No, sorry. I’ve been drinking. Just got a little turned around is all. Have a good night, both of you.”
“Do you want me to call you a cab?”
Izuku pauses slightly and looks at you. He gives you a smile, the one he gives to citizens. The one he gives in a fight when he feels completely hopeless but needs to keep fighting. This was the right thing to do, the real right thing.
“No, I think I’m sober enough to get home. Goodbye [Y/N].”
