Tics and Scratches

Chapter 24

Katsuki's heart beat just that little bit too fast for just a little bit too long after he first walked out of class. In the space of just one hour he had started the chain of events that would get his parents prosecuted and told his entire class about the health condition that was currently consuming his every thought. Admittedly, it had been a lot and Katsuki was willing to accept that he needed a break to at least collect his thoughts before he started studying. So, he had chucked his school bag by his dorm door and sauntered down to the blessedly empty kitchen, pulling down some flour to make his famous spiced cookies. 

He hadn't baked since his tics had properly butted their ugly heads into his life and in hindsight he should've seen that handling eggs and flour wasn't a very good idea. But he had decided it was too late to go back once he was thoroughly covered in flour, and egg was unfortunately splattered across the majority of the ceiling. The cookies that came out of the entire adventure were worth the mess, however. Snagging one of the steaming masterpieces for himself, Katsuki lined the rest up on a tray sat on the table. Cookie in mouth and icing bag in hand he slowly drew a letter on each cookie in alternating red and green, little crosses adorning the sides. The decorating didn't take long and once he was satisfied he begrudgingly went about cleaning up the mess that covered practically every inch of the kitchen, only after snapping a quick picture to print and place next to the fresh cookies.

He was eventually forced to call it quits on trying to get all the egg off the ceiling, adamant that everybody else would just have to deal with the slight stains that adorned certain patches. Finally, mind completely clear as desired, he placed the photo of the wrecked kitchen next to his masterfully baked goods and trudged upstairs to his dorm smiling to himself. He knew at least the 'Bakusquad' would find the icing hilarious. In fact, he's sure Shouta, Hitoshi and Hizashi would love them as well. The brightly coloured 'fuck tourettes' that was spelt out was both educational and fucking funny after all.

The baking was supposed to be just a quick diversion from his goal of studying but as soon as he made it back to his room, stomach filled with warm sweet goodness, his bed just looked too tempting, almost as if it was calling to him. With drooping eyelids and heavy limbs he fell face first onto the plush duvet, not fighting the sleep that washed over him in waves.

*****

The sound of somebody knocking on his door finally tore him away from his forever tempting sleep. His sat up with a start, fully aware of the fact that he had slept with his uniform on and was looking dishevelled at best. He hadn't planned on sleeping until the rest of the class got back to the dorms for the evening but he hadn't planned a lot of things recently, such as you know, getting a new set of parents. 

"Kats? It's me." Hearing Eijirou's voice through the door sent Katsuki's heart racing all over again. Scrambling out of the covers desperately trying to smooth down his shirt, he ripped open his dorm door shoulders instantly relaxing upon seeing the bundle of red. "Can I come in?" 

"Uh - red riot unbreakable - yeah yeah, come in." He stammered, whistling as he stepped to the side of his doorway, watching Kirishima slide into his room, hands in his pockets. Katsuki had accepted about a week ago that he was crushing unbelievably hard on the extrovert. The two had been texting back and forth everyday as usual, only now he had Shouta and Hizashi pointing out the blush he didn't know adorned his cheeks, or the small smile that was stuck to his face. Only then did he notice the butterflies that swarmed his stomach whenever he thought of the redhead's blinding smile, or the way his heart sped up whenever the boy was mentioned. A few years ago he would have had a crisis, denied the feeling as much as he could and stashed it away in a box. But now he lived in a house with two men that loved each other more than his own parents ever could, he knew it was okay that he felt giddy whenever he made contact with the other boy. The realisation certainly didn't help him keep himself under control however. It was almost like the knowledge that he had a crush amplified his every sense making him aware of the subtle shifts of air around the other boy. And that is exactly how he knew Eijirou was psyching himself up to say something. The uncharacteristic shuffling, twiddling thumbs, gnawed lips. There was something playing on the red heads' mind and that made Katsuki extremely nervous.