we should just kiss (like real people do)

i will not ask you

Friday

"You think you'll be alright?" Ochako asks, holding the door for him. He stomps past her down the path from the infirmary without waiting for her. But when he looks down a moment later, she's already at his side. Such a freakishly fast walker. He appreciates it though, he never has to pace himself for her.

Katsuki scoffs, "I've done it before."

He sees Ochacko roll her eyes, "yeah. One time, when you were sixteen. Not to mention you had help."

Katsuki grumbles noncommittally.

They walk the rest of the way back to the dorms in relative silence, on Katsuki's part, anyway. Ochako chats idly about classes and their friends. Katsuki tries to pay attention, he really does, but he can barely keep up with the other omega, his mind caught up in too many other things.

The leaves of all the trees on campus have steadily been turning darker, gathering in heaps around the edges of the trees and on every other crack and crevice in the walkways and roads. The wind rips through the tunnel that the surrounding buildings and street create, ruffling their clothes and whipping through their hair.

They arrive at the dorms for their year and part ways in the common room, and he doesn't see her until a class they have together the next day.

**

Wednesday

"Bakugou, I mean this in the most respectful way possible, so please don't hit me-" Katsuki scoffs, "-but do you think you could be going into Pre-Heat?" Shinsou asks it so plainly, right in the middle of lunch, with several of their friends around the table.

Katsuki freezes, a bite of spicy noodles halfway to his mouth. He catches a couple curious glances his way, and has to remind himself that hormone talk is something a lot of other people do. Regularly. Just not him.

Until today, apparently.

He takes a deep breath, glaring at Shinsou from where he sits across from Katsuki at the cafeteria table. The purple haired alpha shifts uncomfortably, and Kaminari shoots Katsuki a sympathetic look from where he's plastered to Shinsou's side. Hormone talk might be normal for friends and even acquaintances, but it's always a touch more personal for omegas.

"I... might be." He says carefully.

Katsuki winces at the following stirring of excitement around the table, but Izuku's eyes are the ones he gets caught on. His eyebrows are furrowed, an intense look behind his green eyes. Katsuki looks away quickly, and hopes Izuku won't corner him and demand answers to the questions he knows the other boy will have. He has a sudden distressed thought that Izuku will question hin right in front of their friends, but he knows his friend wouldn't do that.

"Yeah um... Again I don't intend to be rude at all, but like, your scent seems to have changed since last week so..." Shinsou trails off, looking deeply uncomfortable.

Katsuki shoots a glance down the table at Todoroki, who's looking up at them from his soba. He gives a solemn nod.

Well fuck.

If Yaoyurozu were here he'd check with the female alpha too, but he'd heard Mina complain loudly at the begining of lunch about Yaoyurozu and Jirou not having classes the rest of the day, probably taking full advantage to go on a date (which Mina seemed to find unfair, likely because she still had several classes that day).

"Do you know who your nesting buddy is yet?" Kaminari asks. He says it quietly (for once) but it still draws the attention of everyone at the table. Katsuki huffs loudly at his noodles, stirring and stabbing at them aggressively, like this is their fault.