Cussed (Kacchako)

TWENTY-ONE

Sorry this took forever. I got stuck on this chapter and kept struggling with it before I finally decided to just sort of leave it and write the next chapter and then come back to this one. I'm not super happy with either, but it is what is! I hope it is still enjoyable. And, as always, I hope all of y'all are staying safe in this absolutely insane year that is 2020.

***

Katsuki hung up the phone, a mixture of annoyance and exuberance running through him. It was always annoying trying to convince someone of something that suddenly seemed so clear to him, but he couldn't suppress the thrill that came with a break in a case, nothing was quite so invigorating. He slid his phone into his pocket and stepped out of his room to see Ochako cleaning up after their dinner. She glanced up and smiled at him. Well, almost nothing was quite so invigorating as a break in a case, he amended to himself, watching her bounce around the kitchen.

"Ponytail wants me to tell you that you're brilliant," he said, walking into the kitchen. His hands reached out to grab her, but he dropped them quickly when Ochako turned around and gave him a look. "What?"

"I haven't seen her in a ponytail in years. You used her name when you were busy yelling earlier."

"Well, I wasn't talking to you earlier," he muttered, pulling a wet dish out of her hands so he could dry it, "I don't want to call her by her name."

Ochako looked at him, utterly confused. "What does talking to me have to do with it?"

Katsuki focused on drying his dish, suddenly feeling very silly. There were a lot of reasons he called people by various monikers. The truth was, he felt like names held weight—which is why he didn't want to name the damn kittens—and he felt using someone's name was a sign of something. Sometimes that was respect, sometimes friendship, sometimes it was hatred...regardless, calling someone by their name meant something to him. "I call you by your name."

Ochako gave him a lopsided grin, "I'm not going to get bent out of shape if you say another woman's name, especially if it's someone that you're working with." She laughed, "I mean, it's not like you'd get upset when I use another man's name. I mean, I've talked about Eijiro-chan and Shoto-kun to you and you didn't seem to care." Katsuki didn't saying anything, but his face must have shown something because Ochako put down her dish and turned wide eyes on him. "Oh god, does that make you jealous??"

Katsuki felt the tips of his ears warm. "No!" he barked, then he grumbled, "It was like pulling fucking teeth getting you to call me by my name, why wouldn't I get annoyed?"

Ochako's tinkling laugh created mixed feelings; he loved hearing it, but in this context it just made him more grumbly. "It took you three days. What's this 'pulling teeth' you're talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, grabbing her forgotten dish to dry it vigorously. "We've known each other for almost two damn decades."

"And what did you call me for most of those?" She asked, her eyes sparkling at him.

"Your name!"

She laughed again, "And I called you by your surname too."

Katsuki glared at her, he didn't really have any retort to that so he settled for a good glare, but she just grinned at him. He spun on his heel and grabbed the dry dishes to put up. Damn woman. She was right, but still. There was nothing wrong with a little jealousy, it wasn't like he was asking her not to call other men by their names, she could do it and he could feel a little jealous over it. That was fucking fine, right? As he reached up to put the dishes in the cabinet, he felt hands slide under his shirt and then slide around his waist to hug him.