Cuddly Midori

How Katsuki Went From Cuddled to Avoided and Back to Cuddled Again

Katsuki used to be prime cuddling territory. Izuku's favorite place. He's warm and fluffy and soft in the right places. Mitsuki and Inko have a billion and one pictures of the two (or rather mostly Izuku) cuddling each other.

But then, the quirks come in.

And Katsuki gets "the best" quirk.

And Izuku...gets nothing...

And suddenly, Katsuki can't be seen with Deku who is weak. And Bakugo Katsuki is not "weak," so the cuddles have to stop.

And Izuku eventually learns (rather painfully) that Kacchan is no longer cuddle-safe territory.

But Katsuki actually really, really *likes* the cuddles. But his pride demands that no cuddles are to be had.

So if *he* can't have cuddles, NO ONE can have cuddles.

And so everyone around Izuku (and Izuku himself,) often rather painfully, learns that there are no cuddles to be had ever. And poor Izuku is deprived of his cuddles everywhere, except at home.

This continued until UA, since only until then does Izuku's and Katsuki's social and community circles change.

Now, it's high school, and Katsuki is ready to assert his "rightful" place as top dog.

But that's no longer the case.

He is no longer the most talented in a pool of mediocrity, but at most, slightly average in an ocean of prime talent.

In fact, Deku, *somehow*, has begun to outshine *Katsuki* of all things.

Katsuki can no longer enforce "no cuddles EVER." Not without backlash.

So, now when Izuku begins to get the cuddles he has so desperately needed and has been so terribly denied, Katsuki must watch and *burn* silently.

Because Kacchan is *not* a cuddle safe area.

And Katsuki has no idea how to fix that.

Especially without showing the oh so dreaded *weakness.*

So, how does he fix it? Or maybe he can't and it's just up to Izuku?

~~~ Heat Salamance

I just wanted to showcase this lovely piece of inspiration from the comments, I hope I do it justice!

Katsuki's not blind, he can see the looks the extras are giving him when he's the only one Deku doesn't touch. They're wondering if he did something to the nerd (they aren't wrong, but hell would freeze over before Katsuki admitted that) and his palms burn with the need to blow something up because he's made it very clear to Deku that he's not allowed to cuddle him (or anyone, but that went out the window as soon as Half-and-Half and the Pro Hobo allowed it). Just watching them let him cling all over them sets his already short fuse alight, because Deku was weak, and the weak shouldn't hang out with the strong.

And now that Deku is surpassing him (and not weak and quirkless), relief and anger are warring away inside him. Relief that, since Deku is no longer a weak Deku, he can allow the cuddles he's missed for years. Anger that quirkless Deku somehow outshines Katsuki, that he's no longer quirkless, that he's going to become a hero. But he's dealing with that, it's nothing different than Half-and-Half and the other extras actually standing a chance against him. He doesn't know how to get Izuku cuddles now that it's been years since Deku last tried (and got a nasty little scar in retaliation), he doesn't know how to do that without tossing his pride.

There must be some way he can get cuddles without showing weakness, right?

Izuku's not blind, he can see Kacchan's even shorter fuse lately, he can see the others watching them, he can even guess why, but between the incessant instinctual fear response and the tingling scar tissue on his arms and back, he can't bring himself to do anything. He knows, logically, that Kacchan would never try something like before at UA, he knows that the staff and his friends wouldn't allow him to get away with it if he did, but he can't shake the thought that he'll do it anyway, that everyone will abandon him again, so he doesn't approach. He stays away from Kacchan (as much as he can with his seat being right behind him), he ignores the almost longing look under the boy's perpetual anger, he distracts himself with his friends, keeping his mind off the books full of photos with the two of them cuddling before Kacchan got his quirk and Izuku didn't, before he became Deku.

But plans are always easier to follow when the Fates don't enjoy messing up your life, as Izuku knows all too well.

The change happened suddenly for the rest of the class, they heard about the suspension the two got for fighting (Bakugo no doubt dragged Izu into it) and the next thing they knew, Izu was hanging off Bakugo like he did the rest of them. They didn't pry, if they worked it out, they worked it out, it was none of their business (Mina, Toru, and Kaminari excluded, because they definitely pried and investigated).

Turns out, they only needed to fight on equal grounds to open up to each other, whether Bakugo apologized or not is still up in the air (he did, in his own Kacchan way), but Izuku forgave him anyway, almost soaking him in tears when he tackled the other boy in a suffocating hug neither wanted to leave (even when Aizawa came to get them, quickly dealing out three day suspensions to both of them for waking him). And if Aizawa bemoaned becoming a teacher to a bunch of hormonal, emotionally constipated teenagers as he reviewed the recordings of their unsanctioned fight and subsequent emotional breakdowns, well, only half the staff were there to silently pity him.