painless.

CHAPTER 018.

"act, katsuki. say it." katsuki whispers a pep talk to himself.

"i think i love you." katsuki says loudly. it is the first thing izuku hears when he wakes up.

he had slept over at katsuki's, and they'd now been dating for a month. ( and, no, naxolone didn't work on izuku, as much as he'd wanted it to. )

"hm?" izuku hums, still tired, his limbs entangled with katsuki.

"i said, i love you." katsuki whispers into izuku's ear, sending shivers down his back.

and really, katsuki isn't lying. katsuki is a strong believer in soul mates, and he thinks that he found his. katsuki loves the way that izuku does virtually everything, from sleeping to eating to the way he rolls his eyes when katsuki says something dumb.

"it's okay if you don't want to say it back, i understand." katsuki says after izuku doesn't reply for awhile.

and, it's not that izuku doesn't love katsuki, because he does he has for awhile. it's that katsuki is the only person besides izuku's mom to tell him i love you. izuku's dad doesn't love him, his friends never really loved him-or at least they never said so, and izuku never really dated anyone else. so, in all his nineteen years, he'd only been loved by one person. well, now two, and that's what's shocking him.

"no, i love you, too." izuku finally says, and katsuki lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

katsuki tries to kiss izuku, but izuku pushes him away. "brush your teeth first, mr. morning breath."

"okay!" katsuki pops out of bed and runs into the bathroom, to brush his teeth.

izuku just laughs and then slowly gets up, blushing when he realizes that he's not wearing any clothes due to last night's activities. ( look, mitsuki wasn't home for the night, what would you expect two gay teenage boys to do? ) so, izuku puts on his pajama bottoms-that were carelessly flung across the room the previous night -and heads down to the kitchen.

he begins to pour himself some cereal, because he knows katsuki won't mind. after he's taken two bites, he hears katsuki ramming down the stairs. katsuki's thing with stairs is that he always goes down them fast.

katsuki then walks over to izuku with a cheeky smile on his face, and gives him a big kiss. izuku smiles into the kiss, and so does katsuki, so their teeth clink together. izuku can taste the mint from the toothpaste katsuki just used.

after that, katsuki pours himself a bowl of cereal and he right away takes a bite, making a sour face afterwards.

"what is it?"

"this cereal tastes disgusting!"

"katsuki, you just brushed your teeth."

"oh, yeah. duh." katsuki facepalms, but still takes another bite of cereal. "eating through the pain." he says.

izuku rolls his eyes, just like how katsuki loves.

"wanna hear a joke?"

"uh, sure."

"why did the baboon ask the giraffe why the long face?"

"i don't know, why?"

"because he thought the giraffe's neck was its face!"

izuku doesn't say anything, because that joke was just utterly dumb, and izuku hopes that by not laughing or saying anything that it will get the point across. it does.

"okay, sorry. that one was stupid."

"it's okay, babe." izuku smiles, finishing off his cereal and loading his bowl into the dishwasher.

katsuki is done almost immediately after him, and so he follows suit and loads his dish, too.

then, the boys watch some tv before izuku gets a text message from his mom that says he should come home.

"bye, kat." izuku smiles, giving him a light kiss on the lips.

"bye, izu! i'll miss you!" katsuki calls to izuku as he walks away.

izuku smiles and blows katsuki another kiss before walking out the front door and heading home.

when he gets there, his mother is on the phone. he walks through the door and tries to walk past his mom and go to his room, but she stops him before mouthing this is for you.

the phone is pushed into izuku's hand before he can even ask who it is. he holds it up to his ear and hears a masculine voice that he doesn't recognize.

"hello, izuku."

"uh, hi. who's this?"

"it's your father."

"yeah, uh, no. bye." izuku panics, handing the phone back to his mother and going to his room before she can hand the phone back to him.

izuku thanks whoever built this house for putting a lock on his door, because as inko knocks on the door, she can't get it open and make izuku talk to his father.

"he needs to discuss something with you, izuku!"

"i do not want to discuss anything with him, mom!" izuku yells, grabbing his earbuds off his dresser and playing his music loud so that he can't hear his mother.

"this is serious, izuku!" inko screams through the door, and izuku knows she really means business, so he reluctantly climbs off the bed and unlocks the door.

inko's face is a angry red and she shoves the phone into izuku's hand. he puts it up to his ear.

"before you hang up on me, this is a college offer that your mother agreed to."

"oh?"

"yes. there's a clinic on campus at the college nearest to me. your mom said she'd love if you applied."

"i'll think about it."

"this is serious, izuku. your education is very important!"

"well, apparently i'm not, to you. so, bye." izuku hangs up.

he then walks back to his mother. she gives him a pointed look-in which he does not acknowledge.

but, izuku knows this is an opportunity he can't pass up.