17 Katsuki Just Wants to Squeeze Izuku

When Izuku's tears started to die down, Katsuki could secretly breath the faintest sighs of relief. The green-haired teen's crying had left him feeling… flustered? People cried in his presence (who do you think he was?) but usually he was the one who provoked it. This time, he hadn't done anything! Well…as far as he could tell, anyway.

Izuku tried hard to hold in his sniffles, already feeling somewhat embarrassed. He hadn't meant to break out into tears so suddenly, but the feeling of Kacchan's intense guilt and panic hadn't helped him any.

"Listen up," Katsuki said demandingly, immediately recapturing Izuku's wandering attention. He pressed his head onto Izuku's fluffy hair.

Izuku's heart started thumping hard, his stomach doing little somersaults without his permission. It felt like his heart had made its way into his throat. He couldn't get any words out. Kacchan felt unnaturally still, both emotionally and physically. What was he going to say? Did he get sick of Izuku already? Did he regret everything that happened at UA?? He must have, oh god. Sure, he'd acted a little presumptuously back then, but – but. He'd already realized what a mistake he'd made? Did he just wish Izuku had died back then?

The deeply hidden emotions in Izuku shook, rushing to the forefront of his thoughts. Every little insignificant insecurity, every trifling negative emotion gushed out from the hidden little box he'd locked them away in. He didn't think he could go through all that again. He didn't think he was strong enough – oh god. He –

The panicking teen had his whirling thoughts screeched to a halt as he felt a warmth on his lips. What…? Oh. Oh. Kacchan. Kacchan was kissing him. Izuku. Not anyone else, but him. Izuku melted.

"Breathe, idiot."

Izuku had never heard the term 'idiot' used so affectionately from Kacchan. He felt like a mixture of exasperation and fondness. It felt surprisingly good.

Breathe?

The green-haired teen sucked in a breath inadvertently at the thought, his lips breaking from Kacchan's. The oxygen that rushed into his lungs made him feel light-headed. He gasped, the unconscious action of breathing finally occurring to his brain. Izuku's chest heaved at as he took in the oxygen that he'd been denying his lungs unconsciously.

Katsuki snorted, burying his head into the crook of Izuku's neck. He felt both guilty and the slightest bits of gratification that he could affect the other teen that much. He'd already known, considering Izuku's letter, but it was nice that he could experience it first-hand.

"Don't fucking do that anymore, understand?"

Izuku's heart dropped to his stomach. Kacchan felt like a mix of anger and concern. Did Kacchan kiss him just to ask him not to kiss him anymore? Did he just kiss him as the fastest way of getting him to breathe? Did he not want to do that at all? Was he just taking his feelings into account and –

Kacchan frowned at the silence that greeted him. Why wasn't Izuku responding? He heard the other teen's breathing falter again. The blonde shot up in alarm, not sure what had set the other off this time.

"Hey," he said forcefully. Katsuki grabbed Izuku's hand and squeezed it. "Breathe, okay?"

When he saw Izuku nod and resume breathing, he let his concern simmer down slightly.

"What was it that I said that made you stop breathing?"

Izuku bit his tongue, hesitantly asking, "Kacchan, did you kiss me just so that I would breathe again?"

The "yes" that he heard caused his heart to shatter into a million fragile pieces. He pressed his hand to his heart, not at all welcoming to the familiar feeling. Izuku had delusionally let himself think that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to feel this way anymore, but evidently it wasn't going to happen.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, trying to ignore the crushing emotions.

"Did you hear me? You aren't allowed to recklessly throw yourself into dangerous situations anymore, understand?"

Katsuki furrowed his brows. Izuku hadn't replied to his earlier statement, so he had to reinforce it.

Izuku felt his brain short-circuit for the third time for the day. What. "Wait, so... You weren't talking about kissing me? You mean you're just concerned about me in danger? Not that you didn't want to kiss me anymore?"

"What?" said Katsuki, befuddled how Izuku's thought process went in that direction. "No, idiot. We're obviously going to be kissing a lot. So, you better stop running headfirst into danger, got it? You obviously have these masochistic tendencies or something. You practically charging full speed into danger and –"

Izuku started blanking out, ignoring how hypocritical Kacchan was for the time being. He felt his shattered heart start to tentatively glue itself back together piece by piece.

"So, you love me?" Izuku blurted out, cutting Kacchan off.

The explosion of embarrassment and shyness of Kacchan's feelings was enough answer for Izuku. He watched the blonde teen's face immediately start turning red, a strange sense of disbelief washing over him.

"Shut up!" muttered Katsuki, feeling embarrassed from Izuku's blatant staring. He used his free hand to block the other's sight, not able to take the embarrassment much longer.

"Argh." Katsuki wanted to ruffle his hair, but he didn't want to let go of Izuku's hand, and he also didn't want him to keep looking at his flushed face. It was already bad enough that he could feel his emotions but letting Izuku look directly at his red face was just beyond his coping capacity.

"I'm only going to say it once, okay! I don't know if this is love, but. I –" Katsuki felt his face flush further. Why was it so goddamn hard to get three little words out?

Dammit, he could do it. He would do it. He was Bakugou fucking Katsuki.

Katsuki took a deep breath, steadying his emotions.

"I – I l-like you." Katsuki paused, feeling the burning embarrassment kick up another notch. He'd never felt so embarrassed in his life.

"I fucking like you, okay! Maybe it's not love yet, but it's something right? I'm sure I'll be able to get to love eventu-"

Katsuki was cut off by Izuku squeezing the breath out of him with a single arm. How was that even possible, he vaguely wondered, his heartbeat beating dangerously fast. He still felt the slight rush of embarrassment, but he probably had it pretty good.

Who else would be able confess when they already knew the other person was in love with them?

"I love you, Katsuki." Izuku's voice was low and smooth. Katsuki could feel the pure sincerity and adoration in the green-haired teen's voice.

The embarrassment that had barely died down immediately returned with a vengeance. His cheeks felt like they were glowing with heat. He could probably heat the entire room in winter. He squirmed. The way Izuku said his name gave him some funny feelings. He didn't know how to describe them.

He felt like a mix of embarrassment and…arousal? Katsuki dismissed the thought.

"Right. So." Katsuki buried his face in the crook of Izuku's neck again, toppling the two of them down onto the bed.

He removed his hand from Izuku's eyes, pressing his weight onto half of Izuku's form and letting his arm curl around the other teen's form.

Katsuki felt Izuku's muscled arm wrap around his waist. He felt steadier. More anchored. It was worth going through that embarrassment if it could reassure the both of them. He hadn't liked leaving for the UA Entrance Exam before making things clear with Izuku, but he hadn't had a choice.

Both Izuku and Katsuki settled down on the bed, curling into each other, taking refuge in each other's presence.

As long as they had each other, everything would be alright.