a #kiribaku au where pro-hero Eijirou has just turned thirty and he’s so alone, until his old best friend from high school suddenly turns up on his doorstep on his knee courtesy of the fallback marriage pact they made when they were seventeen. Eijirou’s pretty sure he’s dreaming.

notes!

- aged up krbk, thirty years old!
- canon universe, the two are pro heroes by now
- includes flashbacks to high school days
- heavy fluff, spots of angst and confusion. just a lot of feelings
- cliché tropes can sometimes be

Eijirou might not have had a relationship for a very long time, but he wouldn’t say he wasn’t lucky in love. At this point, it was just that he wasn’t looking for it and it wasn’t looking for him, aware that he was busy rising steadily in the ranks.

Love was just being…considerate to him, that was all. And he could wait for it.

If his first boyfriend after high school meant anything (of course they had broken up because Eijirou was never around, working hard every day and Eijirou had to admit, it was probably true that he cared about the guy less than wanting to be a great hero

and it made him feel terrible but it also just made sense), he /needed/ to wait. Until after he’d got as far as he needed to feel a sense of peace with himself, after he was in a comfortable enough position to relax a little then, and probably /only/ then, maybe he’d find a date.

Yeah, so he’d tried over the years. He’d never really turn down a date offer from a guy, just in case, and see how it’d turn out but the romantic in him still made him imagine what a future would be like with any of them, and he could never see it.

But he wondered if that was the reason he felt so lonely sitting there on his couch, exhausted and balancing a cupcake on his forehead. Maybe it was because his twenties was over, what felt like his /youth/ was over and here he was.

Thirty years old, alone, and still not happy with himself.

It had hit midnight a minute ago, truly giving way for October 16th. He’d been drinking since ten to ease some of his soreness because even if he was giving himself a day off for the ‘big old birthday’,

his limbs were completely leadened by the day before where what seemed like every minute of his patrol was met with an annoying corrupter making mayhem.

And God, the /paperwork/. It’d always be the least favourite part of his job and of course, the more people you take down, the more paperwork you have to do! The cons of being a good hero…one day he’d go rogue and run off right after beating the villains. That was the dream.

He heard his phone buzz and he lazily reached out for it, pulling it up right to his face so he wouldn’t have to drop the cupcake, and he smiled when he saw it was Mina wishing him a good one on twitter.

Yeah, they were old now and him and his friends didn’t really do the ‘wishing someone happy birthday EXACTLY at midnight!’ thing anymore, but Mina, she’d never failed to keep it going every year. 15 straight years, since the first year of high school.

Damn. He’d wonder where all those years had run off to, but right now he had a birthday cupcake to eat and a midnight pizza to loyally wait for and that was all he really wanted to do.

When the doorbell rang, his arm immediately flew out to grab the cupcake and he pushed himself off the sofa, wincing slightly as he stretched his arms out and took a bite. Then he was walking off as quickly as he could even with his (only slightly!) sore legs.

“One large Meat Supreme pizza, that’ll be 2500 yen,” the delivery boy said boredly and Eijirou grinned, holding out the money. 

“Got it, thank you.” 

The boy was stilling then, and he took off his sunglasses to clearly look at Eijirou, his blue eyes bigger than the moon.

“Woah. Are you…?” 

“Maybe,” Eijirou said, grinning wider. “Keep my address secret, alright?” 

“C-Can I get a-” 

“Sure, let me grab a pen!”

Eijirou turned a bit too fast and he yelled out, clutching his back and the boy called in worry, but Eijirou tried to wave him off.

“Ah, don't worry about it kiddo, I’m just old,” Eijirou laughed it off as he turned around, though he blinked when he saw the boy shake his head.

“No you’re not! You’re so cool! I bet you’re just tired from some extensive villain catching or something!” 

Eijirou beamed, turning slightly pink. “…right. Thanks, pal. I’ll get that pen.”

He tried not to skip off too giddily, and after he was waving the boy goodbye, he smiled to himself as he hugged his pizza warmly. 

Imagine that, getting the sweetest ego boost on his birthday? This was why he loved fans. They were everything to him.

He kicked the door closed behind him and he manoeuvred back towards the living room, setting the pizza down on the living room as he scarfed down the rest of the cupcake.

It was a really cute cupcake, red velvet and himself-themed, something he’d been able to snag from the heroes section at the bakery. He’d seen it through the window and fallen in love so he had immediately put on a cap and lifted his mask so he could go and-

Eijirou jolted when the bell rang again. Was the boy back? Had he forgotten something? Eijirou had paid right? Yeah, yeah he had…oh wait! The boy still had his pen! Aw, it would be sweet if the kid was coming back to return that.

“IN A SEC!” Eijirou yelled as he wiped his icing-y crumby fingers on his shirt and folded up the cupcake wrapper before bolting over. “You know you can keep it if you wa-” 

His mouth went dry after he’d opened the door.

A quirked blond eyebrow on a stoic face looked up at him. “Keep what, Shitty Hair?”

Eijirou was frozen at first. But slowly a small choked noise left his mouth and he stumbled a little, reaching out a hand to messily clutch the door handle.

Because the number two hero, the person who was on the front cover of every magazine these days, the man who was once the closest, greatest friend he could even dream of having was down on one knee at his doorstep, holding an open black box that held a simple, lithe, gold ring.

An engagement ring.

“K-Katsuki-” 

“Happy birthday, Eijirou,” Katsuki said, a mix of a smile and a smirk on his face but he looked so genuine as he stared up at Eijirou. “Wanna marry me?”

And before Eijirou could even stutter, Katsuki said a pointed, “You know you’re legally bound to say yes.” 

“W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN LEGALLY BOUND?!” 

“I’m sure I’ve got the contract somewhere.” 

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, Eijirou /knew what this was about/.

“Katsuki,” Eijirou said after a deep breath, a hand resting a little shakily over his brow. “We wrote that when we were seventeen in red crayon that I found under my bed.”

Katsuki’s eyebrows were raising again. “And I still think we were pretty fucking serious. What, you wanna go back on your word, Red?” 

Eijirou groaned, wondering how even after all these years, Katsuki /still/ knew exactly how to push his buttons. “Just- just get inside!”

“But you haven’t-” 

“I ain’t gonna fucking answer you yet, Katsuki, just get the FUCK inside!” 

Katsuki blinked, slowly getting up and holding up an arm in surrender as he edged around Eijirou who was glaring at him, huffing slightly as he crossed his still shaky arms.

“Alright, goddamn, I’m inside I’m inside.” 

“Good. Now sit down. And eat some damn pizza.” 

“Wh-” 

“I SAID-”

“Eijirou, holy shit, why is this making you so angry?!” Katsuki yelled, eyebrows furrowing as he reached out for Eijirou’s arm, and Eijirou was about to pull it away until he saw the flash of hurt that passed Katsuki’s eyes. Fuck. He needed to backtrack.

“God’s sake, man,” Eijirou mumbled under his breath, dragging a hand through his hair before he let his eyes meet Katsuki’s again. But they still wandered. Wandered over this guy he always saw in the news in his incredible dynamic hero suit with his incredible dynamic hero face.

But right now he was so different. So different to ten years ago Katsuki, and so different to TV Katsuki. For one thing, his eyes were softer than Eijirou ever remembered them being. He wondered if that was because of age, or because of certain experiences.

He was more built now but his leanness was still there, you could tell through the guy’s effort to be a little formal in his dark blue button up and darker trousers. His top two buttons were still undone, though, and Eijirou’s eyes lingered there, because that was one similarity.

Even his hair. It was shaved at the back and sides but still so explosive, still so blond no matter how much neater. Eijirou had seen it so many times in media, at parties, at gatherings but right now all Eijirou remembered was all the times his hands once ran through that hair.

Fuck. Eijirou had told himself so many times over the past few years that he didn’t miss him, he didn’t miss him, he /didn’t/, but it was so hard to deny now when the guy was right in front of him.

But Eijirou couldn’t just go and hug him now. Even calling him by his given name felt a surreal kind of weird, so how could he hope to have even half of what they once had? 

“Oi. Eijirou. Sit the fuck down and stop pacing, you’ll drive holes into the floor.”

Eijirou realised with a start that Katsuki was sitting on his sofa now, and he was indeed walking a mile a minute. He swallowed, nodding as he slowly sat down.

He turned to look at Katsuki, shakily opening his mouth but he blinked when he saw Katsuki stuffing his face with pizza. The guy looked up when he noticed Eijirou’s stare, and he held a slice up. “You want?”

“Of course I want, I literally bought it bro,” Eijirou snorted, taking the slice and Katsuki shrugged. For just a small moment, it was silent, just eating noises filling the room until Katsuki swallowed and he managed to say, “So this is your grand old birthday meal?”

“I’m a simple man, Katsuki.” 

“Oh I’ve always fucking known. I’m gonna cook you something better later though.” 

Eijirou stilled then, the hand holding his pizza dropping a little. “You…you’re gonna stay the whole day?”

Katsuki’s face was just the tiniest bit nervous when he peered at Eijirou. “What, you don’t want me to?” 

“We haven’t- we haven’t spent that much time together in so long, bro. Like even this - this is new.” 

“It’s not new,” Katsuki mumbled. “We’ve just been neglectin’ it.”

“What?” Eijirou asked in disbelief, sure he hadn’t heard right. “Katsuki. I don’t think we’ve hung out alone in over five years.”

Katsuki winced. “I fucking know that. I ain’t dumb.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I’ve got a fucking ring, I drove twenty miles and I just want a bloody answer, for fuck’s sake.”

“Don’t buy it. I’m stalling some more.”

“Kirishima /fucking/ Eijirou-”

“Seriously though, just- just hear me out for a sec. Okay?”

Katsuki sure didn’t look happier about it, but he slowly nodded, digging his crossed arms further into his chest. So Eijirou inched closer some more.

“You really wanna marry me, dude?” he asked softly, and he saw the way Katsuki bristled for a split second. “Like, for real?”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. “Shut up. It was in the fucking contract.” 

“I’m not asking the contract, I’m asking you.” 

“Think about it, dipshit. Why the fuck else am I here?”

“Did you miss me?” 

“Fuck off. Why would I miss you? I see you like every month.”

“For two seconds usually at a crowded party with people hollering over any chance we might get to talk.”

“Yeah. And I fucking love it.”

Eijirou laughed, settling with a small smile on his face as he leant his head back against the sofa, watching Katsuki. He still had bad posture, still looked like he had no idea how to sit with the way his legs were crossed and pushing into a thigh, but it still suited him.

“Kat.”

Their eyes met as the old nickname unconsciously left Eijirou’s mouth, and they both quickly looked away. But the question still rose out of his mouth. “When did we lose touch?”

“Wow that’s dramatic and also, I did that? Fuck, I’m sorry dude.”

“It’s fine. We were well on our way out by then anyway.”

“H...Heh, yeah, I guess-”

“I wanted to try.”

Eijirou blinked, eyes snapping up and Katsuki’s face looked mildly but still very presently troubled. “I did. But I didn’t know how. And before I knew it, you were gone, and I was so confused.

I didn’t know what to do. I thought you would. But it’s fucking selfish expecting you to be the only one to keep it- us going.”

“Hey,” Eijirou said softly, moving in closer again. “I didn’t- you’re not allowed to blame yourself for anything, man. It’s been too long for that. I’m just happy to see you, bro. So happy.“

Katsuki immediately grabbed the box again. “So how happy would you be if you got to be with me for the rest of your life-”

“KATSUKI!”

It might have been funny at first but it wasn’t too long before they fell into silence. And it was awkward now, or at least to Eijirou it was.

Katsuki was sitting there looking all pensive, trying to think while Eijirou just worried that if he didn’t speak again soon, Katsuki might just up and leave him. Again.

“I didn’t like your boyfriend.”

“What?”

“He was a prick. His face made me angry.”

Eijirou let out a surprised burst of laughter. “A lot of faces made you angry.”

“Yeah well his extra sucked,” Katsuki huffed, melting back in the sofa in the little. Then a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. “Oh haven’t even asked yet - you in a relationship?”

Eijirou fiddled with his fingers. “Nah. Hero work takes up my time.”

“Thank fuck. That would’ve been awkward.”

Eijirou laughed again, quietly. “You don’t think it’s awkward now, bud?”

“Nah,” Katsuki said without missing a beat, but his voice wasn’t steady. “Never awkward with you.”

Eijirou’s heart squeezed, and he wondered how true that was. He thought about the sparse encounters they’d had over the past recent years and maybe Katsuki really /hadn’t/ felt awkward, ever.

He could remember Katsuki smiling at him across the room at hero chart standings, Katsuki laughing with him if they got caught up into a group crazed dance and Eijirou would get to messily twirl him around once before going to the next partner,

even Katsuki breezily joining him as a comrade or rival in any spontaneous game even if he’d leave right after. Neither of them were party nuts but look at them - that was basically all they were to each other now.

A friend they got on well with when it was time to let loose and celebrate their heroic duties.

Eijirou would be thankful they could have even that, if he couldn’t so bitterly remember when they were so much more. Like thirteen years ago.

A few days before the last year of their high school journey began, days Eijirou thought would be better spent in bed groaning about how much he didn’t want to go back with a very unimpressed sleepy blonde who’d still cuddle him.

“I’ve been so happy not thinking about school and work and I dont wanna do ittttt,” seventeen year old Eijirou had whined, banging his fists against the bed as Katsuki snorted sleepily, eyes opening a crack as he pushed his face further into Eijirou’s hair.

“But I still wanna do hero training and see everyone more often BUT THAT’S IT! I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT NUMBERS BEATING ME UP IN MY SLEEP BECAUSE I CAN’T ADD THEM, KATSUKI, NIGHTMARES!!”

“I don’t know why they’d beat you up for that. They should be happy. When you add two numbers you remove their individual life forces to merge them into one spineless collective one. They‘re not even themselves anymore. Something new. A regenerate.”

Eijirou’s eyes were blown wide, hands clutching Katsuki’s shirt tight. “Bro...holy /woah/...”

“Don’t fucking validate my dumb sleep spiel,” Katsuki mumbled, yawning quietly and Eijirou moved up in his arms so their heads were level, and he watched Katsuki groggily blink his confused eyes at him. Eijirou smiled, a little enchanted as he tapped Katsuki’s nose.

“Sorry, bro. Swear I’ll never make you stay up late again.”

“You were sad, means it was my problem so it don’t matter,” Katsuki slurred, irritatedly pushing his cheek against Eijirou’s which elicited a bright laugh from the latter. “I fuuuuckinggg /love you/, you little /shit/.”

“Katsuki, broski, Katsubroski I think you might still be dreaming a lil,” Eijirou snickered, beaming when Katsuki’s arms slung over him messily. “Seriously though. Thank you. For being there.”

“It’s alright you little shit.”

“Stop calling me a little shit, I’m a Big shit.”

“I hope you’re fuckin’ hearing yourself.”

“Yeah I wholly regret that.”

“People are gonna love you so much, you little shit. You’re not allowed to think they won’t. You’re gonna attract everyone so you better choose the good shit. You’re gonna get the best fucking boyfriend, the best husband, the best kids I’m gonna fucking see to it myself.”

Eijirou smiled a little bashfully, dipping his head. Yeah. He still remembered last night so clearly, where he didn’t know why but he’d just broken down crying in the bathroom, so sure that he’d never find love.

It might have been spurred by a film he saw on tv but he didn’t know at that point. He just felt so goddamn unloveable that when Katsuki had found him, his confused words of “but I love you to fucking pieces, you idiot?” had meant everything to him.

“I hope so, man. God I...I really want it, I-I don’t...” Eijirou curled into Katsuki a bit more, eyes wavering. “I don’t want to end up alone.”

“Oh my fucking God, you /won’t/, shut /up/,” Katsuki groaned but Eijirou shook his head, frowning.

“You don’t know that Kat, you don’t! No one’s ever gonna know and I just-”

“You better shut the hell up right now or I’m about to fallback marriage pact the fuck out of you.”

Eijirou blinked, eyes snapping up as he stared at Katsuki who was glaring fiercely at him through his eyelashes, face twisted in what was somehow an angry pouty sort of thing. “A-A...what?”

“That if you don’t get someone by thirty then I’m gonna be the fucking one to marry you.”

Eijirou’s heart was pounding, his mind slowly processing before he whipped out an arm to grab at Katsuki’s hands. “H-Huh?! What do you mean?! Is that a THING?! Wait WAIT - what if /you’re/ with someone?”

Katsuki grimaced. “Ew. And I’d fucking drop them for you in like a heartbeat.”

“Your future significant other would be really sad right now.”

“Yeah, though if we bloody do this then that could be YOU.”

Eijirou gasped without being able to help it and Katsuki burst out laughing, thwacking Eijirou’s chest. “See! You fucking like it, don’t you?! Get a damn pen and paper right now, you lonely bastard!”

“A-Alright!” Eijirou yelled, following the instructions without really thinking as he grabbed a piece of scrap squared paper that he had definitely rage ripped from his Maths exercise book at some point, and he looked around desperately for a pen but he couldn’t see anything.

“What’s taking so long, butterfingers?”

“Stop calling me names, that doesn’t even make sense!” Eijirou whined, crouching down to scan the ground, and he let out a quiet cheer as he grabbed the runaway crayon just under his bed and hurried to get on the other side.

Katsuki didn’t look happy though.

“Eijirou. This is supposed to be a serious contract.”

“Contract?!”

“Don’t be a bloody parrot, give ‘em here!”

Eijirou thrust them into the other’s hands, watching in amazement as Katsuki sat up, basically all signs of sleep gone from him except for the terrible bedhead and slight sand in his eyes.

But his eyes were focused, his hand was scribbling furiously, and Eijirou watched as neat, permanent, dynamic words were crayoned by the second onto the paper. Then Katsuki was holding it out, grinning. “Fuck yes. All done.”

“Can I-“

“‘Course, you soft dipshit.”

Eijirou used to get so flustered when Katsuki called him soft, until he’d found out that it was also an archaic synonym for dumb. Of course.

Eijirou made grabby hands for the paper, and Katsuki rolled his eyes as he handed it over. And Eijirou looked down, reading line by line, with his eyes growing wider by the second.

‘Fallback Marriage Pact

This contract hereby states that if the two parties, Bakugou Katsuki and Kirishima Eijirou, are both extremely pathetically single by the time they are thirty years old then they will engage in holy matrimony.’

And at the bottom, Katsuki’s name was neatly printed as well as his neat swooping signature next to it. And then a space for Eijirou’s turn, with even a straight dotted line ready for it.

“So? Whaddya think?”

“I..I...”

Fuck. No, Eijirou couldn’t cry, he wouldn’t, but he couldn’t believe Katsuki would do something like this for him. He wanted to object, wanted to tell Katsuki that he needed to focus on his own life, /not/ care about Eijirou’s but for now...

All he could do was yell out and soar at Katsuki in a flying hug, which had the guy yelping in surprise as they both fell back, tumbling to the floor.

“SHITTY HAIR OH MY-”

“KATSUKI I LOVE YOU SO SO FUCKING MUCH! A-AND I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT! GOD, I /REALLY/ HOPE YOU KNOW THAT!”

There was silence for a moment as Eijirou sniffed, squeezing his eyes shut to hold back tears. But then a hand was soothing across his back, pushing Eijirou down into Katsuki’s chest.

“Stop yelling, moron. Yeah. I know.”

“Promise?”

“‘Course.”

So Eijirou had signed the paper, and Katsuki laughed as Eijirou pounced at him again after. And here he was now, twelve years on but still ready to cry just as hard, but for different reasons now. Older reasons. Nostalgic reasons. Sadder reasons.

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

Katsuki looked up from where he was currently tucking into what had been Eijirou’s slice of pizza. “Huh?”

“You’re here ‘cause you remember how sad I was. How much I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Eijirou,” Katsuki said slowly like Eijirou was a toddler. “I am here because of the /contract/.”

“Yeah,” Eijirou grinned. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, though his hands was slowly reaching out for another slice of pizza but Eijirou stopped it, taking hold of the hand loosely. “Come on, man. You must be exhausted driving that far, ‘n I don’t think I’ve ever seen you up /this/ late.

Do whatever you want, have a shower or go to sleep right now, I don’t mind. You can have my bed bro.”

“Mm. Right. No guest rooms, huh?”

Eijirou scratched the back of his neck, and Katsuki smirked. “What’s a top ten hero like you doing in a tiny apartment like this.”

“It’s...it’s...”

“What?”

“I tried getting a bit bigger one once but it just - well, it just, kinda-”

“Fucking knew it,” Katsuki said, eyes glinting. “It’s cause it’d make you feel too goddamn lonely. Ei, that is /literally why I’m fucking here/.”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Eijirou complained, huffing when Katsuki just sent that same old shit-eating grin at him. “And you know I have a dog, okay, but she’s at the vet’s...”

“Huh? What happened? You usually never shut up about her, you didn’t wanna bring this up?”

“I haven’t seen you in a month! And I’m not about to talk about my dog’s bowel problems when I’m almost drunk!”

“See that’s where you’re wrong, once when you were shit-faced at last year ‘s Christmas party you told me the entire details of how this badger puked in front of you on a morning walk.”

“Oh fuck I still remember that...Katsuki there were so many seeds-”

“SHITTY HAIR! I DIDN’T WANNA FUCKIN HEAR THAT THEN AND I DON’T WANNA FUCKING HEAR THAT NOW!”

“AHH OK I’M SORRY! I just...ah...Katsuki, I wanna be able to talk to you when I’m sober too...but sometimes when I see you? I just gotta drink.”

Katsuki looked away then. “Yeah. I know.”

Eijirou looked at him a little wistfully. “You say that phrase a lot. You always have.”

“Cause I know a lot.”

“I know. My bro was always the smartest. That’s why... you still wanting to follow through with this pact is just so crazy to-”

“What if it was the only fucking excuse I had to let myself see you?”

“Huh?”

“I told you I’m so damn bad at this, always have been. But contracts, set things in a timeline, that’s my game. Do you think a perfectionist like me wouldn’t have put this day on calendars?”

Eijirou blinked. “Calendar...”

“I ain’t saying I’ve made the best decisions. I ain’t saying I’m not an idiot. But I’m telling you that I’m doing this. I can get you whatever you want, fancy reception, stable living, a whole big staged proposal, I can do it, it’s not a problem.

I haven’t been there for you for twelve goddamn years because we’re morons but this contract reminded me, we’re not over. And if there’s something that’s gonna let me hold onto someone who was such a damn big part of my life?

Then fuck it, I’m gonna buy a ring and cross the country for him- fucK- EIJIROU-”

“Pl-Please stop t-t-talking,” Eijirou blubbered, sniffling as he clutched Katsuki tight, having knocked both of them over as his arms hugged Katsuki’s middle as he tight as he could.

“Why do you always give one hundred percent into everything, how can can speak like a damn poet and beat at my heart?! It’s not allowed!”

That was when Katsuki spotted the soju bottles behind the coffee table.

“I actually don’t think you’re ever going to talk to me sober. I /thought/ I could smell something funny.”

“No I’m not- I’m not that-”

“Shut the fuck up. Go to sleep. Tell me your answer tomorrow.”

Eijirou frowned, but his mouth fell open when Katsuki’s face neared his, and then a fluttery furry feeling swished his cheek. Butterfly kisses. Katsuki was giving him butterfly kisses.

Eijirou hadn’t felt one of those since he was ten, but it had been his mothers’ favourite things to do. Eijirou wouldn’t be surprised if Katsuki knew that. He wondered if Katsuki still remembered his parents.

“My parents miss you,” Eijirou said, and Katsuki pulled back to look him, soft and quizzical. “Mama says you were the only one who’s ever help her in the kitchen.”

“I wouldn’t ever trust you or your other mum in our kitchen.”

“Please don’t. I will steer clear. Will only be there to cheer you on.”

Katsuki grinned. “You thinking about it already, huh?”

Eijirou frowned, eyes cutting to the side as he shook his head. “I need to think about it, man. I really do. It’s all so sudden and I-I don’t know what the adult reaction is supposed to be to this. We were so young when we made that pact.”

“And I was thirty years old when I realised I still wanted to do it.”

“And I was thirty years old when I was unsure.”

“Do you still love me, Eijirou?”

Eijirou’s eyes widened, mouth wobbling slightly. “Y-You can’t ask that.”

Katsuki nodded, gaze dropping. “I know. But get back to me when you have an answer.”

Eijirou felt a pressure on his hand, and he saw another nimble hand slipping the ring onto his index finger. “For now, just keep hold of this for me.”

Eijirou brought his hand up to his face, letting his fingers twizzle the ring around, watching it catch light so beautifully, and he felt himself nodding before he knew he was. “Okay.”

Katsuki nodded, expression blank yet softened as he looked at Eijirou, before he lifted himself up and slithered out from under Eijirou. “Aight, I’m leaving. Got a fuckin hotel reservation that lasts basically only seven more hours anyway so it’s virtually redundant but eh.”

“Wait, what?!” Eijirou called out, looking up in surprise. “I thought you’d be staying here!”

“Nah. Thought newly engaged ‘kids’ being in one apartment might be a lil dangerous,” Katsuki teased, and Eijirou flushed bright pink.

“B-But we’re not-”

“I’ll be back soon. Have a good rest, Eijirou, I’ll be back literally before you notice. And happy fucking birthday.”

“Thank...you...” Eijirou replied a little confusedly as he watched Katsuki go to the kitchen, and from the noise, he was pretty sure Katsuki had left through the window. Either he had forgotten there was a door, as you do, or he was still an extra nerd.

Always the last one.

Eijirou was no longer sure if this was real or a dream.

*

He woke up to stiffness and a banging headache, but it definitely wasn’t the worst he had ever felt. He sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair as he groggily looked around, then blinked when he felt something hard brush his head.

He pulled his hand back and stared, watching the gold band wink at him. It was so pretty in its simplicity, smooth but slightly jaded, a shadow of a minimalistic pattern printed on it. He took it off and twisted it around in his fingers, his eyes soft.

He mildly wondered how sad it would be that he wouldn’t be able to wear a wedding ring during hero work, because he was definitely the kind of sap who wanted to keep it on him at all times, wanted people to /know/ he had a husband who was awesome and beautiful.

“Is... is that gonna be Katsuki?” Eijirou asked quietly, mouth dry after sleep, his voice wobbly and raspy. “He /is/ awesome and beautiful but he’s not...mine...”

He jolted when he heard a clang from further in the house, and he sat up in sleepy confusion. Had someone got in? Maybe Katsuki had left that window open and now Eijirou had a stray to deal with...well at least his dog wouldn’t be lonely.

He yawned, rubbing his chest as he flopped back onto the bed, turning on his side as he reached out to grab his phone. He winced at the bright light but he got used to it soon enough, and he grinned at the number of texts pouring in.

From his boss, colleagues, all the heroes he’d met over the years, but there were a few that stood out to him.

hanta! - broski happy birthday man!! THREE DECADES YO!! plus a whole double since we met bro :* excited to see you this weekend!

you - yo you’re right omg fifteen + fifteen! thank you so much man ILY!!! gonna hug you so hard on sat!

mina - EIJIIIIII MY BABE ITS YOUR DAY OF BIRTH I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BESTESTEEYST DAY COME VISIT ME IF YOU WANT!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHH!!

you - AWWW mina I love you too so much!!! I’ll keep that offer in mind

denki - bro

you - bro

denki - KANNSJS BRO

you - KSJJSJS WHAT

denki - it’s your DAY bro

you - ik bro. lotta stuff going on though

denki - YO thats awesome! was scared you’d be alone was gonna take a day off for you! you with some pals?

you - well. A pal. maybe. crazy shit going down man

denki - oooooooh

you - one word

denki - feet

you - ew no

denki - goblin

you - close. bakugou

denki - WOOOOAGAGGAH YOURE WITH BAKUGOU HOLY SHIT

you - MY REACTION EXACTLY I MEAN IM NOT WITH HIM YET BUT I MIGHT BE

denki - OH MY GOD HOW THE FUCK I’M SO HAPPY WHAT THE SHIT SHUT THE FUCK OFF

you - HAHHAD WTF DUDE

denki - ARE YOU GUYS FRIENDS AGAIN?! OMG PLS I MISS HIM HE DOWSNT COME AROUND AS MUCH ANYMORE

you - idk man I mean I don’t think we ever stopped being FRIENDS but like...I really don’t know. my head’s just frazzled

denki - that’s ok bro just please please try and bring him to your birthday meet up this weekend? everyone would love to see the big ol gremlin man we only see him every month!

you - yhtrue! I’ll try my best bro I don’t know what he’ll say but I really want him to be there

denki - alright man let’s hope!! have an awesome day with bakugou omg I’m actually crying you’re with bakugou

you - ST O P NOT WITH HIM YET

He sighed, feeling much more awake than he was but still not really fancying getting away from the warmth his bed was providing. He stretched slightly, but slithered his arm back in after, content as he snuggled up.

Then he heard a loud stark, “Wait I don’t know where the fuck his room is.”

There was a short pause, before a slightly but not very much quieter, “Oh shit he’s awake. Camie I’m gonna- NO FUCK YOU- shut up oh my God I’m leaving tell your cat I said hi and that fucker needs to come live with me I bet you fuckin terrify it with your shitty slang.

No- CAMIE- WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU DONT KNOW WHERE YOUR CAT IS- ok I’ve literally asked you to survive one day without me and this is what you do. This is why I never go anywhere.”

Eijirou quietly snickered to himself, especially when he heard a loud growl then a slam which was probably Katsuki throwing his phone at the floor, and in the next few seconds, his door was being nudged open.

Eijirou peeked out over his bedsheets, and almost burst out laughing when he saw the pink, slightly bashful but still irritated face Katsuki was sporting. “So you fucking heard that. Whatever. Ain’t my problem. She’s bloody lost her cat.”

“It’s alright, man,” Eijirou laughed as Katsuki walked in, holding something with both hands. “That...that was Maboromicamie, right?”

“Yeah. Why.”

“The media really love your relationship man! You guys are sweet.”

“Ugh. What relationship, I’m her bloody /carer/,” Katsuki growled as he sat down beside Eijirou on the bed, and Eijirou twisted, turning his head to look up at Katsuki. He noticed the slight glow his face had as he looked down at the tray.

“I’m really glad you have close friends, bro.”

“Shut up, bastard-”

“Wait a second why do you have a tray?”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. “Clearly it’s not just a tray, you idiot. Open your eyes bigger. Is your nose not workin’ either?”

“Got hit in the nose bad recently bro it’s been off limits for a while,” Eijirou shrugged, but he did as he was told, rubbing his eyes and that just made them blurrier,

but it just meant that when he fully opened them, the food he saw in front of him all had an ethereal blurry halo around them.

“Eijirou, you’re drooling.”

Eijirou slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes growing wider by the second. “Oh my...Kat it looks- it looks so good, what the /hell/. And there’s so much meat oh my GOD you’re trying to fatten me up and kill me and for what cost, Katsuki, /what cost/-”

“Idiot, I just made you fuckin’ breakfast in bed! Stop being a weirdo!” Katsuki snarled, thwacking Eijirou’s shoulder and the latter whined. Then Katsuki was rubbing his nape.

“Last gathering we met at, your drunk bastard self told me you missed my cooking. Thought this might be a good idea.”

Eijirou’s mouth opened but he didn’t really know what to say. Well, it was obviously true, Katsuki had always been a master at cooking in a way Eijirou would still think about to this day.

But his drunk self really seemed to be running his mouth off sometimes, because he didn’t fully want Katsuki to /know/ that.

“Ugh I’m staying sober today, I swear! I don’t wanna tell you anymore embarrassing things... that is...are you really staying?”

“Well you’re already acting like I am,” Katsuki said, roughly patting Eijirou’s head. “You haven’t even questioned how the fuck I got in your house.”

“Oh man, that...didn’t really dawn on me,” Eijirou realised in amazement, though he was more focused on Katsuki’s fingers running through his hair. “Did you kick my door down, dude?”

“Nah. Window.”

“You really did leave my window open, huh.”

“Only a crack so I could do this, don’t worry no-one’s broken in.”

“Except you,” Eijirou giggled, before blinking when a glass of something pink was shoved in his face. “What’s this?”

“Hangover remedy, idiot. You’re talking too quietly for someone who’s okay.”

Eijirou immediately grimaced, shaking his head fiercely as he rolled up into his blanket and turned to the other side. “Noooo I don’t want it! They’re always so gross, please don’t make me, it’s my /birthday/!”

Katsuki’s forehead pinched. “Holy fuck, are you seriously thirty? Get your bratty ass over here and down it like a man.”

Eijirou bristled at that, staying where he was for a moment before he sighed and ever so slowly turned back around, holding out a hand. “I hate you so much.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Sit up first, moron, you’ll get it all over you.”

“But then you can’t stroke my hairrrr!”

Katsuki blinked then, eyes widening a fraction as he immediately retracted the hand like he’d touched a hot plate. “...fuck off. Actually don’t, get up.”

Eijirou pouted but he nodded, slowly getting up again while clutching his head, wincing as he he reached out for the drink once more and Katsuki pushed it into his hand.

He took in a breath telling himself this was for his own good, /his own good/, before he closed his eyes and tipped it down his throat.

And his eyes flew open a second later, because bloody hell, this was /good/.

Not good like /delicious/, but it tasted like rose milk and ginger and that was as far as Eijirou could pick up, because then he was swallowing and staring at Katsuki in awe. “Fuck...swear to God, trust you to make the only good tasting hangover remedy ever.”

Katsuki smirked, saying, “‘I’ve had hella practice when all my friends are children who can’t survive without a drink a day.”

“Sorry bro. We’ll be better.”

“Pfft, speak for your fucking self. Eat up-”

“Join me, man. Don’t know if I could eat all this myself! Looks like a feast fit for a king.”

Katsuki tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as if he was considering for a moment, before he nudged Eijirou who immediately moved to the side.

But then he was yelping as the blanket was pulled off him, but it was back in seconds, and now it was covering both him and another warm body, Eijirou’s almost bare leg brushing Katsuki’s clothed one under the blanket.

“Feast fit for two kings, then.”

Eijirou blinked in wonder, before smiling. “Yeah? We the kings?”

Katsuki picked up a set of chopsticks, breaking them in half before holding them out to Eijirou. “Fuck yeah.”

They ate in warm almost-silence for a while, with only satisfied eating noises, Katsuki growling at him to eat neater and Eijirou’s light laughter. It felt so foreign yet familiar at the same time,

memories of basically falling asleep in his chair until Katsuki would come over with a plate of eggs and bacon to get him going through the day running through his head, and it was so nice. So nice that Eijirou inched closer, and hoped Katsuki wouldn’t notice.

“Remember when we used to share food all the time?” Eijirou asked slightly wistfully, and Katsuki grimaced.

“No, you just took mine.”

“Bro no way! I even fed you sometimes.”

“Because you’re an overbearing bitch.”

“Yeah definitely, who wants to make sure my bro is feeling warm and loved. Being fed is the best feeling!” Eijirou argued, and Katsuki raised an eyebrow, his chopstick in mid-air.

“And who the fuck’s been feeding you, huh?”

Eijirou immediately regressed, muttering a huffy, “You don’t gotta be like that,” as Katsuki barked in smug laughter. Eijirou was about to sulk a lot more because it seemed like Katsuki was /never/ going to stop targeting his loneliness at this rate -

but then a hand clasped his jaw to turn his head around, and when Eijirou’s mouth instinctively fell open in question, a slice of sausage was pushed inside but not far enough for him to choke.

But his jaw still locked up, his eyes widening as Katsuki stared at him, eyes dynamic rubies as always, but they were light.

“If you marry me, I can do it every day. Just sayin’.”

“Okay maybe you’re selling this pretty well,” Eijirou breathed out a little terrifiedly and Katsuki grinned in triumph, immediately going back to take something else to eat. Eijirou stared at him for a while longer, slowly chewing his piece of sausage but the instant he finished,

he tapped Katsuki’s shoulder and got a grunt back. “Yo. I’m serious, I want to know your real deep thoughts about this, /all/ of them. Like how sure are you? Is this something you /really/ want?”

Eijirou frowned a little at the heavy raspy sigh he got in return, as Katsuki put down his chopsticks, and just looked straight ahead.

Eijirou wasn’t sure if he’d answer for a second, worried that he’d made the guy angry, and he opened his mouth to make amends until Katsuki said, “I’ve never liked anyone as much I’ve liked you. That’s fucking good enough for me.”

Eijirou had /not/ been expecting that. It was surprisingly simple, maybe even a bit...childish. But one look at Katsuki’s furrowed eyebrows and drawn expression was proof enough that he was one hundred percent serious, and it tugged at Eijirou’s heartstrings, so much.

“D’you really still think that, ma-”

“You could’ve visited.”

“/You/ could’ve visited.”

“But then I’d have to leave.”

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t visit you. How could I have visited someone who wouldn’t answer my calls that often anyway, huh?”

“But you- you /always/ find a way,” Katsuki muttered, arms crossing. “Or you always did. It used to be so fucking annoying, the way you’d knock on my door for fucking hours-” 

“Man, it wasn’t hours come on-”

“How you’d always seek me out no matter what, how you made fucking sure you were always the first person I woke up to if I was in hospital.”  

Eijirou flushed a little. “You noticed that…heh…”

“‘Course I did, it was fucking dumb,” Katsuki snorted before he collapsed a little against the back of the bed, tipping his head back with yet another dynamic sigh. Then his small smirk twisted into a frown.

“Back at UA, I had all of you, all the time, literally whenever you wanted. Once you were gone I just - I couldn’t really get my head around the fact that all we could do was phone and text. So I didn’t.

Even visiting you, it just - my brain thought none of you would be better than only some of you, after I had all of you for so long.”

Holy shit.

“You’re so damn /about/ this 100% thing, aren’t you?”

“Shut the fuck up, why wouldn’t anyone be?!”

“I know, I know, it’s good! I’ve always found it so manly, bro! I just...ok. Now I kinda get it, I just thought you were completely pushing me away. I should’ve known my bro was just on his all or nothing complex...”

Eijirou tried to shield himself when Katsuki cleanly smacked his head, making him snicker. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Seriously, man, I...Katsuki. Hey.” Eijirou nudged Katsuki’s foot underneath the blanket, which made the guy stiffen even more.

“Look at me! Im gonna tell you something super super important! You /have/ to listen.”

Katsuki’s eyes shifted at that, eyebrows quirking, and Eijirou smiled at him. “I’ve never liked anyone as much as I like you either.”

“That’s a fuckin lie-”

“Nah. Promise. Even if I’ve lost you a bit, you’re here now, you want me, and that’s the epitome of /everything/ we were. We still tight, man?”

Katsuki stared at the first Eijirou was raising, then at the questioning open look Eijirou was giving him. But a smile graced his face next when Katsuki raised his own fist to knock against Eijirou’s. “You‘re such a fuckin’ sap.”

Eijirou beamed. “Yeah. You know.”

“I know.”

They looked at each other for a while, fists lingering a beat before Eijirou realised what was happening and he had to look away, arm falling back down onto the bed. He heard Katsuki cough, probably to mask how awkward that was, and Eijirou cinched his bedsheets a little.

“Hey, Katsuki?” 

“Mm.”

“What’s going on at your agency right now? Is it like.../okay/ without you there?”

Katsuki snorted, shrugging. “Deku can take care of that shit.” 

Eijirou blinked. “He’s the number one hero. And you’re asking him to solely take care of your company.” 

“Everyone’ll work something out, it’s fuckin’ fine.”

“Hey if this was on...on your calendar...” Eijirou still couldn’t believe that. “Then couldn’t you have warned them earlier? Wouldn’t you have known you were gonna come? Oh yeah, that being said, you could’ve found out a way to contact me beforehand?

Like what if I wasn’t home bro- wait a fucking second, how the hell did you know where my apartment was?!”

“Mmm, see /now/ you’re actually sweating the small stuff,” Katsuki snorted, rolling his eyes before holding out a hand, snapping his fingers. “Phone.” 

Eijirou grabbed it and handed it over, eliciting a hum from Katsuki as he tapped on it. “Password?” 

“041620.”

“Why the fuck did you actually tell me that. You suck.” 

“What?!” 

Then Katsuki furrowed his eyebrows. “The fuck. Your password. This /is/ a different phone to the one you had in high school, right?”

“Yeah but I usually pass the same password on when it comes to anything. I like familiarity, ‘n this one stuck-”

“Does your dipshit brain not even remember that’s the password you made because of me? Cause I told you my month and your day adds up to my day and you were a fucking idiot in love with the idea and had to change your phone to it.”

Eijirou was still for perhaps a good half a minute, before slowly, ever so slowly, he raised a hand in surrender. “To be fair. I-It’s been a long time.”

“You better have not fuckin told anyone else your password, they would’ve bloody thought we were dating!”

“HEY I don’t usually tell people that, I mean I know you’re a trustworthy person so with you it’s fine and I don’t think anyone would have even figured that out - wait bro- you want me to /marry/ you and you care if people think that we’re dating?”

“Yeah but I’m actually asking you to marry me, we weren’t actually dating.” 

“...fine. But they could’ve just thought it was a bro thing. No, I stand by my statement, /no-one/ would have realised that anyway!”

“Ugh,” Katsuki scoffed, rolling his eyes for the millionth time as he angrily unlocked Eijirou’s phone and did some more things that Eijirou couldn’t quite see from his angle, so he leant forward and just about perched his chin on Katsuki’s shoulder.

“What you doing?” 

“Use your fucking eyes.”

Eijirou did, and frowned in thought when he saw Katsuki typing in his own hero name in the Internet search bar, along with ‘leaving agency’, and that was when Eijirou’s eyes grew wide and he grabbed at Katsuki’s arm which had the latter turning narrowed eyes onto Eijirou. “What.”

“Did you quit your agency?” 

Katsuki looked at Eijirou like he was crazy, but there was no malice in it, just a genuine bout of disbelief. “You. Have got to be fucking kidding me. I half own that place. That’s currently the best hero agency in the /world/.”

“I know but - your search! It’s scaring me...huh?”

Katsuki was holding up the phone, which was now playing a video.

It was at Katsuki’s hero agency, with a bunch of workers standing in front of it as well as Deku all looking distressed and confused while Katsuki was standing up on the seat of his car, the top half of his body sticking out of the roof window, a feral smug grin on his face.

“KACCHAN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!” 

“I’M BOUT TO GET HITCHED, LOSER! YOU FUCKERS BETTER CHEER ME ON!”

“WHAT? HITCHED BY WHAT?! WHAT VILLAIN ARE YOU GONNA FIGHT?!” 

“I think he means he’s getting married,” a voice behind the camera said, and there were more gasps than there must have ever been from the sheer noise it encompassed.

“IS THAT TRUE, BAKUGOU?!” 

“FUCK YEAH! PROBABLY.” 

“BOSS TELL US ALREADY, WHO ARE YOU DATING?!” 

“WHAT? No-one, what the fuck?”

“He’s gotta be lying after that stunt he pulled last week,” someone else said and there were mammoth sighs of relief and it seemed like video Katsuki couldn’t hear what it was about as his eyebrows knitted, a glower passing over his face.

“FUCK OFF, I don’t care what you think, I’m gonna be gone for a week.” 

“A WEEK?!” Eijirou and Deku both yelled out in alarm, and both Katsukis barked in laughter, as the one in the video sank back down into his car and not even a minute later, said car was racing off.

All the colleagues were left there in stunned confused silence, until someone said, “We know why he’s not the number one hero right now,” and Deku was about to smack them just when the video ended.

“So that’s what happened, basically. Mostly on adrenaline than anything but I stand by it,” Katsuki said, clicking the phone off and handing it back to Eijirou who was just sitting there, stuttering in amazement. 

“W-What…wait so you mean…tha- that’s all over the internet?”

Katsuki tilted his head, eyes narrowing again. “Why does it matter? Didn’t say your name.”  

“I know but - what are they talking about? What stunt did you pull?” 

“Oh. You really don’t keep up with me do you?”

Eijirou eyes grew wide as he got ready to deny that /tenfold/ (besides, how could he say he felt pride and a small pang in his chest both a little too overwhelming when he saw Katsuki on media so he couldn’t do it all the time?), but he winced when a rough hand fell on his head.

“It’s fine,” Katsuki said, an unreadable expression on his face but Eijirou recognised it as being warm, and he realised that Katsuki was doing some kind of malformation of ruffling his hair. “Let me show you that too.”

“…are you sure? They made it sound like it was something embarrassing.”

“Hah? Ex-fuckin’-cuse me, do I ever do anything embarrassing?” 

“Oh oh I’m /so sorry/ sire, no, you are only simply a perfect specimen.”

“You think you’re joking but you so fucking mean that,” Katsuki said pointedly, pushing back against the headboard as he scrolled through the phone that Eijirou hadn’t even taken yet. “Yeah, here.”

Katsuki held the phone out again, and Eijirou watched attentively. It was a shorter video, and it was of an interviewer at the side while Katsuki stared ahead, looking bored out of his mind. 

“You’re still so bad at interviews.” 

“Kindly shut the fuck up.”

“So, you’re in your thirties now, aren’t you?” the interview said brightly and video Katsuki grunted, “What’s it to you?” 

”Can’t believe people really ask that kinda thing. Isn't that rude or something?” Eijirou questioned and Katsuki shrugged.

“Dunno.”

“W-Well how about any significant others by now? We’re dying to know, as always! Any secret lovers you’re hiding from us? We’ll make sure they /stay/ secret!” The interviewer winked at the camera, and video Katsuki bristled.

“You’re literally broadcasting this to the entire world, you bloody idiot,” he said but he looked and sounded so confused that Eijirou burst into laughter, punching Katsuki’s arm. 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s true, that was a porky pie!” 

“The f*ck.”

“HA! They censored you with a squeaky noise! Like a rubber duck!” Eijirou yelled in glee, mindlessly reaching out to throw his arm around Katsuki’s shoulders. “You’re a rubber duck!”

Katsuki glowered at Eijirou so hard he thought his face might burn off but he was more than fine with it. “I will fuc-” 

“/SQUEAK/-” 

“EIJIROU!”

“Ahaha, but we’re just wondering! This could be the age where marriage could be on the cards!” 

“Oh yeah. That’s definitely on the cards,” Katsuki said blankly and the interviewer froze in her laughter, eyes blinking. Well. Not as much as Eijirou was blinking. 

“Wait…really?”

“Yeah for sure. Probably. Think it’s something I should do.” 

“O-Oh! Would you like to elaborate?”  

“It makes sense. That’s it.”

The video ended, and Katsuki tossed the phone for good which Eijirou messily reached his hands out to try and catch, before holding it close to him. Windswept. That was probably the word for how he felt. And there were all kinds of thoughts running through his mind now too.

“So…you want to marry me for the experience? More than for me? Right?”

Eijirou yelled when Katsuki kicked him cleanly in the thigh. “HEY-” 

“You’re such a dipshit, that wasn’t general, I was talking about you. I knew the day was coming.

Yeah I didn’t warn my agency but I prepared getting Camie to look after my house and Icy-Hot’s looking after my cat.” 

“Yeah, how’s King?” 

“A fuckin’ brat, recently he’s been wanting to climb up my body like I’m a tree everytime he sees me.”

“That’s cute. I’d climb up your body if I was a cat, your body is good." 

“Huh?” 

“You know, safe and strong!” 

Katsuki peered at Eijirou in complete and utter bewilderment. “So you say this weird shit, yet /you’re/ the one who doesn’t want to marry /me/?”

Eijirou flushed a little, descending back into his covers. “I haven’t…said…no…” 

“Yeah well I ain’t rushing you. So come on, let’s stop talking about that shit, I'm so sick of this. Let’s just go celebrate your damn birthday already.”

Eijirou perked up at that, pushing the covers down to stare at Katsuki. “You gonna take me somewhere?”

“Anywhere you want.”

“I don’t know where I wanna go." 

“Then we'll stay inside.”

“But I want to go outside.” 

“There we’ll go outside.” 

“But I don’t know where I wanna go.” 

“/Eijirou/.”

He tried to think, really, but he didn’t have an inkling on where he could possibly go. He felt like Katsuki would get bored if they stayed inside the house anyway, and Eijirou felt like it would be nice to get out.

“Bro. Let’s just go to the high street. Roam the place, see if there’s anything that might catch our eyes.” 

Katsuki quirked a sceptical eyebrow. “That’s what you wanna do? Seriously?”

“Yeah, man. It’ll be a light kinda fun and unpredictable! And we could eat out too. Wait, what’s the time?” 

Katsuki checked Eijirou’s phone. “Nine twenty. Get up ’n freshen up then I’ll take you out, I guess.”