Can't Choose

Chapter Sixteen

Katsuki had finished his homework earlier in the evening, so he was now sitting in the common area with most of the class, comfortable on the sofa. Mineta had been thrown out of the hangout by the girls, for good reason. He grew disgusted at the thought alone.

Deku was leaning slightly against his shoulder, Kirishima's fingers lightly dancing over his hand on his other side. He'd noticed Raccoon Eyes staring at them all earlier, which he'd expected from the nosy, pink-haired girl. Let her figure it out if she wants to. Not like he'd be able to fuckin' stop her anyway. Currently, though, she was animatedly blabbering off to Round Face about something. When Katsuki turned his gaze away from her was when he realized someone else happened to be looking his way: Half 'n Half.

Katsuki's brows furrowed in irritation when they made eye contact. Todoroki's face remained as impassive as ever, heterochromatic stare seemingly unblinking. This lasted for only a few short moments before Ponytail said something and drew Half 'n Half's attention away.

"Tch."

"What is it, Katsuki?" Kirishima asked, breaking away from a conversation with the yellow-haired class idiot.

"Nothing, shitty hair."

Kirishima chuckled and rolled his eyes before returning to Kaminari. Deku was now leaning forward, away from Katsuki, as he got caught up in whatever Round Face and Raccoon Eyes had been going on about.

"So, you and Bakugou knew each other when you were younger?" came Uraraka's bubbly voice.

Izuku nodded, laughing a little awkwardly, shoulders squeezing up with slight tension.

"Ooh," Mina grinned widely. "What was he like?"

Katsuki silently listened in as Izuku laughed again, considerably more strained than the first time, and obviously struggling to find something to say.

"Oi, Raccoon Eyes, you know I'm right fuckin' next to him, right?"

His words were met with a cheery smile, though the glint in Mina's eyes expressed something a little more sinister, more devious. "Oh, of course, I know! Now don't interrupt our conversation!"

"Don't see how it's any of your damn business what I was like when I was younger."

"Relax, Baku! What've you got to hide, hmm?" The teasing lilt of her voice made him huff in annoyance. Beside him, Deku was still tense and stiff, and Katsuki could practically feel the anxiety radiating off of him, the way his thoughts were clearly racing, so loud he could almost hear them- Oh. Wait. He could. Damn Deku and his stupid ass mumbling. The blonde elbowed him slightly before responding to Raccoon Eyes, which shut the nerd up quickly as he realized what he was doing.

"I don't got anything to hide! It's just none of your fuckin' business!"

"Alright, alright," Mina sighed at him, exasperation dripping from her words. However, she perked up quickly. "I'll just ask him when you aren't around!"

"Fuck you," he growled. Deku had finally eased up, and now Round Face was leading their conversation in a different direction. Mission accomplished, Katsuki supposed. And, no, he didn't interject to help that damn nerd! Raccoon Eyes was just being too goddamn nosy about things that didn't concern her. Yeah, that was it. Obviously.

It was maybe around ten minutes later when people started to head off into their rooms. Katsuki and his boyfriends were among the earliest to leave, and it was completely unrelated to the fact that the blonde could tell Deku was still stressed for some ridiculous reason. The three of them walking off together did attract some curious looks, particularly from the self-named Bakusquad, but most didn't heed them as they left.

"Thanks, Kacchan," Deku said as the remaining chatter faded out behind them.

"The hell are you thanking me for?"

"Oh, I see," the shorter boy responded through a bout of soft laughter.

Kirishima snorted at the exchange. "You know you can stop hiding the fact that you care about him. You're literally dating."

"Never asked for your dumbass insight," Katsuki muttered, shoving his hands forcefully into his pockets.

"I give it anyway," the red-haired boy replied playfully. "But I am making a serious point! Wouldn't hurt to show Izuku a bit more affection, now, would it?"

In his peripheral vision, Katsuki saw Deku startle slightly at the words. At least, he thought he did. It was such a slight movement that he couldn't quite tell if he'd imagined it or not. More likely than not, he was just seeing things.

"If he wanted more of my damn affection he'd ask," Katsuki growled. Huh. Scratch that, he was certain now that he was not, in fact, seeing things. Deku just fucking winced. Why the hell...? The blonde kept his mouth shut for now, but, if this continued, he was sure as hell gonna find out why.

"If that's how you wanna be, I'll just keep him all to myself," Kirishima declared, pulling Izuku over to him as they walked. The nerd almost tripped over himself, which everyone had expected, because it's Deku. Surprisingly, however, he didn't stutter out a word, keeping quiet as Kirishima grabbed his hand. Katsuki was about 110% confident that he was blushing furiously, though, even in the dim half-light of the hallway.

The silence remained until they were in front of Kirishima's door. They hadn't exactly agreed on where they were going, but Kirishima had taken somewhat of a lead, and so they ended up here. Said owner of the room pulled Izuku over to sit on his bed, not even bothering with the lights, while Katsuki watched in a way that was most definitely not fond (the fuck would make you think that, huh?).

"Babe, c'mere," Kirishima beckoned him over with a tone that was almost a whine. Katsuki made a big deal of huffing with exaggerated irritance and dramatically rolling his eyes, but complied regardless. It took a couple of minutes, but, eventually, they'd all comfortably shifted around together on the bed, though Izuku was still rather anxious about it. It was also a bit of a tight fit; nevertheless, they did their best to make it work.

Kirishima had wiggled his phone out his pocket, holding it up above his face and playing what sounded like one of those stupid matching puzzle games. Katsuki resisted the urge to slap the mobile device out of his hand, instead tilting his head and deciding to watch and wait for him to inevitably fail a level. Izuku was...unnaturally quiet.

The strange occurrence was explained quickly, when, just a few minutes later, Kirishima whispered, "I think Izuku fell asleep." Warmth rose in Katsuki's chest and he couldn't resist it. It melted down his guard, and a genuine smile almost forced its way onto his lips.

...God, he was so, so fucked.

"Should we sleep, too then?" Kirishima had shut off his phone, leaving Katsuki's eyes to adjust to the darkness for a moment. Peering over the red-haired boy, he could see Deku's slumbering form.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Alright then." Katsuki couldn't see his face, but he could hear the smile in his words. "Night, babe. Night, Izuku."

Katsuki responded with a simple 'night' in return, refraining from making a comment on how it was dumb to say goodnight to someone who couldn't hear you anyway. It didn't take all that long for him to fall asleep, the fuzzy emotions remaining with him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

A/n: Hello again! Happy to say I'm back with another chapter, and I am planning out the next one as well! Don't have too much to say here, so...

Have a great day, guys!

-Lavender