Deku knows everything about him because he was worthless little Deku

The first thing Kacchan saw was the fading paint of their room's ceiling. He turned his head to the side, assessing his surroundings. Beside him was Deku's unkept bed, the Captain America covers unceremoniously hanging from his bed and slightly touching the (might be dirty) wooden floor.

Kacchan grimaced in disgust. Fucking slob.

He tried to twitch his fingers, then he realized that his muscles felt like lead. Kacchan sat up, groaning at how much effort he needed to make for such a minuscule task. His throat was parched like he hasn't drunk any liquid for three days or something. He didn't feel like puking his guts out nor does he have a killer headache so he was positively sure this isn't a hangover. In fact, he never had a hangover in his life. So why now?

Fucking pathetic.

Wait, he didn't even drink last night.

A sudden flashback of what happened yesterday hit him like a gust of wind. A strong sense of dread entered his veins, he couldn't help but bury his face in his sweaty palms and hope that the bed would just swallow him whole.

Even more fucking pathetic.

If this was in another universe, he would've purposefully exploded his face off. And he actually wishes he had that power because he really doesn't know what he'll say or what he'll do once he sees Deku.

"You're awake," A voice said from the kitchen. Kacchan felt this was de ja vu. Deku emerged with a food tray in hand, containing a bowl filled with what he assumed was porridge and a glass full of orange juice. "You should eat,"

Kacchan blankly nodded, words couldn't seem to properly form in his mind for reasons we all knew why.

Deku smiled brightly, relief written all over his face for he wasn't greeted with any protest from him. "After you finish your breakfast, drink your medicine. It's on the tray beside the juice." He pointed to the capsule, just for emphasis.

"Deku," Kacchan glared down at the breakfast on his bed as if it committed the greatest mortal scene in the world yet he was forcing himself to believe he wasn't in the wrong. Typical Kacchan.

Deku smiled. "Yes?"

There was silence.

The curly-haired boy tilted his head to the side. "Would you want me to spoon-feed you?"

"N-n-n-n-no!" Kacchan would've shouted if only his voice permitted him to do so. Instead, his face lit up like a blazing fire. "I just... I just want to say I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, Deku looked unsurprised. He continued.

"I know I've been an asshole to you lately and you deserve an explanation."

He waited for Katsuki to proceed, but after one whole minute of silence, the blond man continued biting his lips and his cheeks were a flushed red. Deku sighed and have completely given up on his friend's attempt at honesty. Instead, he affectionately patted his friend's head. It was still warm, just like his whole face which was still the same color as burning hot flames. Maybe it was just residue heat from his fever or maybe because of his current state of embarrassment.

He wasn't sure.

"You don't have to explain, Kacchan," He said, gently.

Crimson eyes dilated, a soft gasp escaped from his dried and flaky lips. "But--"

"I've known you for so long, Kacchan. You admitting your flaws has the same gravity as me stabbing you in the eye."

"'A-a-am n-n-not," Kacchan pouted.

"So what we'll do instead is that I'll be saying the gist of what I understand our problem is and you will correct me so I may not misunderstand you,"

Kacchan hesitantly nodded.

Deku took a deep breath.

"College life has taken you by surprise."

He didn't say anything, Deku took that as a yes and continued.

"You were surprised to be surrounded by people who are on par, and dare I say, better than you. In fact, back in high school, you considered yourself as the best, but now you realized you're more or less just average."

Angrily, Kacchan's hands clenched so tightly his veins were practically popping and his knuckles were turning white. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he knew that Deku was right.

"You started hanging out with Tomura-san because you wanted to blame something or someone for your less-than-satisfactory results. You tell yourself, "Oh, I should've studied last night instead of partying." But you know you just don't want to exert your maximum effort, knowing that someone will have higher grades than you even if you did.

"It's not because you're grade-conscious, I doubt you give a fuck about those numbers. It's the pride and affirmation that you're superior to everyone else, that's the thing that you want. You want people to look up to you, envy you, shower you with praises, to extol you like a god-like how I did years ago. You want to step on other people like a tyrant. But you can't do that now because it seems like you're just a commoner in this castle and there are real kings who are now stepping on you. And you can't handle that and you know there's nothing you can do about it even if you rage. That's why you're raging, it's a sign of displacement: aggression.

"You're a classic case of a person with a superiority complex--"

"Shut the fuck up."

Deku did as he was told.

"Stop acting like you know everything about me," Kacchan said through gritted teeth, his fingers digging through the sheets of his bed. "you can't possibly understand what I'm going through because you're worthless little Deku."

But Kacchan knew he did know that Deku knows everything about him because he was worthless little Deku.

***

Oddly enough, after this incident, their relationship stabilized. And if you would allow Deku to say the cliche, the incident resulted in an even stronger bond between them. It didn't really have any physical evidence though, they just resumed their daily activities prior to the fight as if nothing happened. But they both knew that something did, and it was only for the two of them to know. Deku interpreted Kacchan as being extremely grateful because he felt like somebody finally, truly understood him without being verbal about it and he could finally expose his true self.

Ever since Kacchan's revelation, he has been increasingly touchy, more so than before. Deku interpreted it as him finally releasing his inner cat tendencies but he still can't help but think it's a bit weird yet cute at the same time. Of course, it's important to mention the downside of Kacchan's newfound comfortability in their friendship. Deku was greatly reminded on why they fought in the first place: his overprotectiveness towards him. Kacchan practically hisses at people now, like a real cat!

One day, Deku gathered up all his bearings.

"Kacchan," He calmly closed his notebook shut. Beside it, an expression had gone cold and a slice of cheesecake was left untouched.

Kacchan peered at him, stopping in the middle of his highlight bonanza. "Yeah?"

Deku opened his mouth, then closed it. He repeated it a couple more times.

"You look like a goldfish, you know." Kacchan rested his face on his palm, a rare smile appearing on his lips.

Deku blushed.

"Now you look like a Tomato."

"I-I-I-I do not!"

He chuckled. "Yes, you do."

God, Kacchan looked so handsome like this. Unguarded. Smiling. Happy.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your flirting," An arm slid on Kacchan's shoulders, causing him to tense up and effectively break the mood. "but you haven't been hanging out with us lately, Bakugo-kun."

Deku was not the type to glare, but whenever he sees Shigaraki Tomura he just couldn't seem to help it.

"Shigaraki," Bakugo acknowledged, slapping Shigaraki's arm off of him. "I've been... busy."

"With Midoriya-kun, I presume." He laughed pervertedly, glancing at Deku with a weird glint in his eyes.

Deku clenched his hand into a fist.

"Fuck off," Bakugo growled.

"Chill." Shigaraki raised both of his hands up, feigning defeat. "I was just gonna invite you to a party at the pub later."

"I'll have to de--"

"And you, too, Midoriya-kun." He turned his attention toward the messy-haired boy. "Surely, you don't want everyone to think you're a weak shit after last time's party, right? You blacked out after a couple of shots, after all."

"He's just taunting you," Kacchan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I wanna prove myself worthy of college parties as well." Deku nodded amicably.

"Deku," Kacchan warned.

"I want to see what it's like to be a party animal like you," Deku said through a forced grin. "I mean, I did attend that one party but I can't remember much of that..."

"Good!" Shigaraki patted both of their backs. "See you later then, 8 PM."

As soon as he left, Kacchan smacked Deku on the back of his head.

"I can't believe you fell for his lame attempt at a jeer."

"I want to see what it's like to be a party animal like you," Deku reasoned out again, equally lame.