Ten TDBK/BKTD fics

day nine: before

They used to know each other, and Shoto thinks they used to be friends. Now, they barely can hold a conversation without feeling either extremely awkward or downright angry at the other.

~~~

Shoto finds that Katsuki has a hate-spectrum.
The lower end of that spectrum is a mild annoyance, and perhaps even a small tolerance.
The middle is a level of Deku-hate, and even though many would be surprised that that wasn't the other end, Shoto knew better. He's seen Katsuki's reaction to the presence of any LOV member.
The other end of the spectrum was a hate so deep and black it scared Shoto.

Where was Shoto on this spectrum of Katsuki-hate?
He would love to know.
He suspects somewhere between Deku-hate and villain-hate, despite his hopes of them becoming friends.

Some random day, Katsuki had stopped talking to him.
They had visited each other's rooms after school nearly every day before that, and Shoto had assumed they were friends.
Nothing had happened the day before that, but that day, Katsuki had acted like Shoto wasn't even there.

And he acted the same way for the rest of the month.
And the month after that.

~~~
"Katsuki," Shoto had said, calling him by his given name. (Katsuki had never protested when he did, so he assumed it was okay.)

"Yeah, dumbass?" Katsuki's slightly feral grin was something only Shoto could sense affection in.

"Can you make me soba? I'm hungry-"

"No," was Katsuki's immediate answer. "No soba. If you're hungry, I'll make you food. No soba, though. That shit is seriously unhealthy."

"But it's yummy," Shoto whines, and he swore Katsuki's gaze softened a bit. "Ramen, then?"

"Fine," Katsuki said. "Ramen. As long as it isn't soba."

For some reason, after what Shoto found a perfectly normal day, Katsuki began avoiding him.
And Shoto doesn't know what he did wrong.

~~~
It's been almost three months since Katsuki started avoiding him, and Shoto is fed up with the silence between them. 
"Fight me," are his first direct words to Katsuki in a while.

He expects Katsuki to ignore him, as usual, but this time, Katsuki winces, and nods. "To the battle grounds, then."

~
There's something wrong with Katsuki.
Shoto notices his punches are more hesitant, his leaps are slower.

If anyone had held back the way Katsuki is, Katsuki would be the one yelling at them.

Katsuki doesn't yell or scream as he usually does during fights, and Shoto figures his leaps are more graceful when whatever cuss words are going through his mind don't simultaneously come out of his mouth.

It's still slightly concerning Shoto that something is wrong with Katsuki, but as Katsuki proceeds to throw several punches at his face, he brushes it off to address later.

Maybe he's just slow today.
(At least they're close to each other, and Katsuki doesn't act like he's the epitome of pure evil.)

~~~
Katsuki's POV:

Fuck, he thinks, as Shoto comes toward him with a combo of fire and ice. He's definitely slower today- the thought of possibly injuring Shoto bothers him to an enormous extent. It doesn't help that he's hyperaware of how close they are, and how hot Shoto looks, even during an intense battle.

Yes, he happens to be in love with his classmate.
It just happened one day, Katsuki realizing that Shoto was one of the very few things that were comparable to the importance of keeping his pride and maintaining his reputation. (And that's saying something.)