painless.

CHAPTER 005.

"at the clinic today-oh my.. what happened in here?" mitsuki stops her statement as she walks into katsuki's room. red paint appears in splatters on the walls, the floor, the windows, and the ceiling. katsuki is sitting in a bean bag chair he had dragged into his room after he and izuku were done painting.

"izu and i painted." katsuki smiles, observing the room. "i like it this way."

"are you sure? at least get the paint off the floor and windows." mitsuki suggests.

"i like the floor," katsuki looks at the footprints from izuku and himself stepping in the wet paint. "but, i'll scrub the windows, for you."

with that, katsuki goes down the stairs to get some cleaning solution, and he scrubs the paint off the windows. then, he and his mother move a mattress and a desk into his room.

"you're quite fond of him, aren't you?" mitsuki asks katsuki as they go back downstairs to get katsuki's dresser. mitsuki doesn't even have to say 'izuku' for katsuki to know who she's talking about.

"mom.." katsuki whines. mitsuki doesn't say anything else, she just smiles to herself.

meanwhile, down the street, izuku is yet again being scolded by his mother.

"izuku, why are your hands so red?" inko asks as she picks up her son's hand with her own.

"i had to get the paint off my hands, mom."

"you can't scrub off layers of skin like this, izuku!"

"i'm sorry, i didn't know i was." izuku says quietly as he looks at his lap.

"i'm not mad, just be more careful, okay?"

"okay." izuku feels like a puppy that had just peed on the carpet, or something, and he doesn't like it. so, he goes back to his room. that's what he gets, he supposes, for socializing with his mother. that's why he likes the internet better. they can't scold him for not being careful. ( well, maybe they could, but that would be extremely lame. )

after an hour of mindless scrolling down his twitter and tumblr feeds, izuku's phone rings. he picks it up and the caller ID reads katsuki. see what izuku means when he says katsuki doesn't know how to leave him alone?

"hello?"

"hi, izu! i just wanted to talk."

"katsuki, it's only been, like, two hours. what is there to talk about?" izuku replies, picking up a pen and some paper and doodling while he speaks.

"hmm. well, i'm keeping my room the way we left it, with the paint splatters everywhere. my mom made me wipe the windows, but that's all."

"we could do my room some time, yeah?" izuku says as he looks at the turquoise green shade of his wall. he doesn't really like the color turquoise green, and it's always annoyed him a bit.

"yeah, that'd be fun." katsuki says. izuku is just about to reply when katsuki speaks again. "i need to ask you something."

"if it's about my disorder-"

"no, it's not. sorry if this is really blunt. i just need to know." katsuki pauses. "are you gay?" katsuki says, abruptly, taking izuku aback.

"uh, yeah. why?" izuku says slowly.

"i wanted to know, you know, for future references. well, bye, izu!" katsuki says it all so fast there's no place for izuku to reply. then, katsuki hangs up, before izuku can even say goodbye. izuku sits in his room, with his eyebrows furrowed, just thinking: what the fuck just happened?

+

the next morning, izuku is woken up by his mother.

"katsuki's here." she says.

"um, tell him i have to change and i'll be out in a second, i guess." izuku responds groggily, slowly sitting up and getting onto his feet. he walks over to his dresser and pulls out a random tank top, tossing it over his head and then pulling on a pair of black skinny jeans. he brushes his hand through his hair for good measure before going out to see katsuki.

"what the hell are you wearing in your hair?" izuku says when he sees katsuki in his living room.

"it's a well, a scarf-like headband thing." katsuki says. "my bangs get in my eyes."

"you're a dork." izuku teases, smiling, before following katsuki. "where are we going?"

"i was thinking we should go for a walk."

"don't we everyday?"

"well, yeah. so, why should today be any different?" katsuki shrugs, starting down the sidewalk. izuku walks next to him, their fingers brushing momentarily before izuku jerks away. ( not as subtly as he wishes. )

"so, what was that about on the phone, yesterday?" izuku questions.

"well, i thought-well, now i know that you have a boyfriend and i just-i wanted to know." katsuki says, but he's a bit fidgety.

"wait, what? i don't have a boyfriend." izuku arches an eyebrow.

"i just thought-'cause you're so cute-um, i mean 'cause you've lived here for awhile so i figured that you'd have a boyfriend.." katsuki stutters, looking away because he's blushing. he didn't mean to call izuku cute to his face, that was supposed to be kept in his thoughts.

"no, i don't have a boyfriend, katsuki." izuku says, smiling to himself. katsuki's cute when he's being awkward. "i suppose you like guys too, then?" izuku asks, but he's too concentrated on katsuki's face to see that one of his shoes is untied, and so he trips over his own feet, basically.

"yeah-izu!" katsuki rushes to izuku's aid, picking him up off the ground. "you're pretty clumsy, aren't you?" katsuki asks as he brushes dirt off the front of izuku's shirt.

"yeah." izuku says. "let's keep walking, yeah?"

"izuku, you don't want to walk right after probably twisting your ankle, do you? plus, you hit your face." katsuki brings his hand up to izuku's cheek and softly presses on the shallow cuts from the gravelly sidewalk. "does that hurt?" he asks as he presses a little harder.

"katsuki.." izuku sighs. "you want to know what's wrong with me?"

"well, you just fell down, so i already know." katsuki says as if it's obvious.

"no, like, the reason i have to go to the doctor every day."

"oh, uh, sure-yeah."

"okay, have you ever heard of congenital insensitivity to pain?"