“marry me.”

“we’re fifteen, idiot.”

“c’mon, marry me.”

“not right now,” katsuki looks up from his notebook, leaning over to tap his pencil on the papers in front of eijirou. “you have more equations to solve.”

“when i finish them will you marry me?” eijirou asks, a hopeful glint in his eye as he worries his lip between his teeth.

bakugou stares at him a moment, ignoring the pink heat licking at the tips of his ears, before shrugging.

“i’ll think about it.”

that seems to be enough to satisfy eijirou, a wide grin cracking across his face as he snaps his eyes back down to his work, pencil scribbling across the paper messily. bakugou watches.

it’s the fourth time that day that eijirou has asked him that same question. thankfully, katsuki’s halfway used to it and his face ksn’t bright red like it was when eijirou asked him in front of all their friends at breakfast.

they aren’t even dating. well, maybe they are. they act like it, from what katsuki can tell. they’ve been inseparable since the first day of school, practically attached to the hip. they sort of act like couples do, maybe. but how can you really tell that?

i mean, kirishima does look at bakugou the way that iida stares at todoroki. and bakugou does tend to flush a little like deku does around uraraka. and maybe they both share bashful moments of contact like momo and jirou do.

does that make them a couple?

does katsuki want it to?

he observes intently as eijirou works on his math problems, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth and brows slightly furrowed in concentration. his eyelashes flutter against high cheekbones and bakugou takes note of the nearly flawless eyeliner on his lids.

one thing’s for certain, eijirou is pretty.

so they’ve got the attraction part down, no problem.

bakugou’s cheeks heat up whenever kirishima glances up at him from over his homework, flashing him a bright grin, pearly whites on full display. bakugou looks away quickly, back to his own work, and ignores the eyes of his best friend.

‘marry me.’

yeah, right.

***

“you hungry or not?” bakugou grumbles as he shoves the plate of food in front of eijirou’s face. the redhead stares up at him with heart eyes from where he’s perched on the couch.

“thanks, kat!” he beams as he takes the plate, swatting denki’s hand away when he tries to grab it.

katsuki mutters something incoherent under his breath as he grabs the shake he made for himself off the kitchen counter and hops over the back of the couch, landing right next to eijirou. the latter wastes no time in scooting closer to his new couch mate, getting in his bubble.

“wow, you keep spoiling him like that, you’ll never get him to leave,” sero teases from his spot on the floor in front of tokoyami, leaning back against the latter’s knees.

“i don’t think kacchan /wants/ him to leave,” deku grins, dodging the remote bakugou aims at his head.

“fuck off, that’s bullshit. besides, do you want shitty hair to burn the kitchen down in his lame ass attempt to cook?” katsuki snaps, narrowing his eyes at his classmates.

“fair point,” todoroki notes as he perches himself on iida’s lap, ignoring his boyfriend’s blushing face.

“you guys make me wanna fuckin hurl,” katsuki fakes a gag before taking a drink of his shake.

“us?” ochaco giggles as she combs her fingers through deku’s hair. “as if kiri isn’t staring at you like a lovesick puppy right now.”

katsuki snaps his head over to see what she’s talking about only to come face to face with eijirou’s completely enchanted expression. he smiles softly, leaning closer to katsuki, and places a hand on his knee.

“marry me?”

“what?!” katsuki gapes, cheeks burning scarlet. “no! don’t fucking ask that! we’re just ki—“

“ah ah ah, you’re both 18 now,” mina interrupts, smirking. “so, no, bakubabe. you’re /not/ kids.”

katsuki curses every god above for mina’s good and valid point.

he looks eijirou straight in the eyes and glares, taking his hand off his knee and begrudgingly lacing their fingers together before relaxing back against the couch.

“not right now,” he huffs, “you haven’t finished your stupid food.”

eijirou shovels his rice in so fast he nearly chokes.

***

“deku texted, said you won’t return his calls,” eijirou smirks as he sidles up next to katsuki, pulling his t-shirt over his head and shoving it in his locker. “he invited us to dinner tonight.”

“/us/?” katsuki arches a brow, adjusting one of his gauntlets on his arm.

“well, he had originally planned to invite us both individually, but /someone/ decided to be an ass and ignore all of his attempts at communication,” eijirou teases, smug, as he slips out of his pants.

katsuki does his best not to blush at the half naked man in front of him.

even though it’s not wrong to blush at the sight of your boyfriend getting undressed.

if he can even consider him his boyfriend.

they /really/ should’ve cleared that up before they graduated.

“i’m not going to eat dinner with that shitty nerd and round face just so they can flaunt their engagement in front of my face and act all lovey dovey with each other,” bakugou rolls his eyes, kicking his boot against the bench.

“come on, katsuki. it’ll be fun. besides, most of our old classmates will be there, won’t it be good to see them? you know how hard it is to get us all together now that we’re pros, dude,” eijirou pleads, sticking out his bottom lip a little.

katsuki doesn’t want to give in, doesn’t want to give eijirou the satisfaction of knowing he won him over, but he just can’t help it. it’s hard to resist eijirou when he makes that face. or any face, really.

“fine, whatever. but i’m only staying for an hour then i’m getting the fuck outta there,” he complies, albeit snarky.

“yay! thanks man!” eijirou jumps as he slides his hero costume pants on, buckling them in place.

katsuki watches and waits patiently, and when eijirou is finally done, they walk out of the changing room to head straight for patrol. katsuki knows the question’s coming before eijirou even opens his mouth.

“you know, you wouldn’t be so bitter about seeing our friends engaged if you’d just marry me,” eijirou offers with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, looking at katsuki out of the corner of his eye.

katsuki lets the question stir for a moment, thinks it over, contemplates if 20 is too young for him to get hitched, and gives eijirou time to get his hopes up before he paints on a wicked smirk and shakes his head.

“not right now, we’re out on patrol,” he answers, sending eijirou a devilish look over his shoulder as he walks ahead of him a few strides, priding himself on the cockiness in his tone. “maybe once our shift’s over.”

he laughs when eijirou tries to clock out early.

***

“babe, you almost ready?” eijirou asks as he slips into katsuki’s room, only to find the blond struggling with his tie in front of his vanity mirror.

his vendetta against neckwear is certainly coming back to bite him in the ass now.

katsuki isn’t sure whether his ears are heating up over the petname or the embarrassment that he as a 23 year old man can’t tie his own tie, but he scowls at the reflection of a blush on his cheeks in the mirror.

“here, let me help,” eijirou chuckles, crossing the room and taking the material out of the shorter male’s hands.

katsuki watches eijirou through the mirror as he starts tying it up with ease, obviously having way more practice with this than katsuki does.

“there, perfect,” eijirou smiles at their reflection before wrapping his arms around katsuki’s waist from behind, leaning his chin on his shoulder. “are you ready to go now?”

“no.”

“and why not?”

“i hate weddings.”

“yeah, but this one is different because you’ll be standing up front,” eijirou smiles.

katsuki rolls his eyes and shoves kirishima’s face away as he tries to place a kiss to his cheek.

“yeah, all ‘cause of that dumb icy hot. where does that bastard get off on asking me to be his best man? he knows i hate shit like that.”

“oh c’mon, he’s your best friend! it would be /so/ unmanly if you turned it down,” eijirou laughs, grabbing katsuki’s wrist. “besides, you look good in his wedding colors.”

“he’s /not/ my best friend,” katsuki spits, “and i look good in every color, dumbass.”

“he /is/ your best friend,” eijirou counters, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time. “your best friend who is totally going to kick my ass if we don’t leave right now. let’s go, we’re late!”

katsuki mumbles a slew of curses under his breath and barely has time to grab his own phone before eijirou is tugging him out of his house and towards his car. eijirou opens the passenger door for him and katsuki quirks his brow up whenever he doesn’t shut it back right away.

“what, idiot?”

“you know i’ve got to ask—“

“dumbass, this isn’t the time!”

“katsuki, would you—“

“eijirou i swear to god if we’re late—“

“—do me the incredible honor—“

“—and half n half gets pissed at me because of /you/—“

“—of marrying me?”

“—i’m gonna kick your ass.”

“so is that a yes?” eijirou grins, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“not right now!” katsuki snaps at him, placing his hand on the car door. “if we make it through this dumb bastard’s wedding without me killing someone, then maybe.”

katsuki doesn’t end up killing anyone, but he does almost blow up denki’s face at the reception.

***

katsuki whips his head around, eyes wild in search of bright red hair, dark tattered pants, blocky hero shoes. anything. his heart rate picks up as he walks on shaky and weak legs over the rubble, dropping the villain into the police officer’s waiting hands.

the building had collapsed on them.

and he can’t find kirishima.

“red?” bakugou calls out, voice hoarse, cracking as he tries not to trip over debris.

he does his best not to panic, tries to tell himself everything is fine. eijirou is strong, a building crumbling isn’t enough to stop him. it’s not.

bakugou’s going to find him and he’s going to be fine.

“ei, where are you? stop fuckin playin around!” bakugou shouts again, doing his best to fight off the tears welling in his eyes.

he’s scared. he’s scared and he just wants eijirou. he needs him to be okay.

then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees it. that bright red hair pulled back in a now completely disheveled ponytail. for a second a wave of relief washes over him, but then, he notices it.

eijirou’s skin isn’t hard.

and he’s trapped under rubble.

katsuki can’t tell if he’s even breathing.

“ei!” katsuki shouts as he runs over, tripping over his own feet and broken concrete in his haste. “get a fucking medic over here! riot is down!” he calls over his shoulder.

he falls to his knees at eijirou’s side, hands shaky as he reaches out to gently cup his face.

“ei, red, hey. look at me. open your fucking eyes. c’mon, look at me,” katsuki pleads, and if it were any other situation he would curse himself for sounding so desperate.

but right now he couldn’t care less.

“k-kat?” eijirou’s voice comes out hardly above a whisper, cracking more than once. he can hardly slit his eyes open.

“hey, hey fuck, you’re gonna be okay, you hear me? you’re gonna be fine,” katsuki tells him as the medics come over and some others clear the rubble.

eijirou’s shoulders shake with what must be some type of laugh, and he winces as it makes his body move. there’s a smile on his face, albeit weak, and he raises a hand up to place it over the one bakugou has on his cheek. katsuki doesn’t like the expression hiding behind it.

“katsuki—“

“eijirou, /please/.“

“i-i need to ask you something—“

“don’t do this here.”

“m-marry me?”

katsuki can’t help it as the tears fall, his face twisting up in all forms of hurt as he fights to choke back a sob. his entire body feels like it’s breaking, like he’s the one being crushed by rubble and not eijirou. it’s suffocating. it hurts.

“not right now,” he shakes his head, trying to force a shaky smile onto his lips. “you go get stitched up and fixed and let the doctors take care of you. once you’re healed, you ask me again, okay?”

eijirou nods—slow, slight—as his eyelids droop back closed, the hand he has pressed against katsuki’s falling limp.

“okay.”

katsuki screams when they carry him away on the stretcher.

***

“uncle kacchan! uncle kacchan!”

katsuki smiles as two toddlers, one with long green hair and the other fluffy brown, jump up into his arms. he hugs them before holding them on each of his hips, sending glances between them.

“what did i say about you two calling me that?” katsuki asks with a raised eyebrow, to which one of the twins merely giggles.

“but daddy calls you it! and we can do whatever daddy does!”

“is that so?” katsuki chuckles, nodding to uraraka as she walks in through his front door.

“thank you so much for agreeing to watch them, bakugou. it’s not often me and izu get to have a date night,” she smiles at him, watching as her kids jump from katsuki’s arms and run off.

“‘s fine,” he shrugs, “got nothin’ better to do and shitty deku wouldn’t ever get off my back about it if i said no.”

“you really should refrain from using such harsh language in the presence of children.”

bakugou looks behind ochaco to see iida walking through his front door too, holding his little son’s hand.

“oh whatever, four eyes. it’s fine,” katsuki grumbles, “just drop your kid so you two can go do your double date shit.”

iida sighs but lets go of his son’s hand and bakugou crouches down in front of him. he opens his arms up, but the baby blue haired boy just peeks at him from behind iida’s legs.

and then eijirou walks into the room.

“is that my favorite boy takashi?” the redhead asks as he walks into the foyer, and that’s all it takes for the boy to run out from behind iida’s legs and into eijirou’s waiting arms.

katsuki scoffs.

stupid ei being takashi’s stupid favorite.

whatever, the twins still like /him/ more.

so that’s two against one. he wins.

katsuki raises onto his feet and waves off another slew of thank yous from uraraka and iida before shoving them out the door. he gestures for eijirou to head to the kitchen and stops to yell down the hallway.

“akito, asami, get your bratty butts in here it’s time for dinner!”

“coming!” they both shout in unison, then there’s a small crash, hushed murmurs, and the two come waddling down the hallway looking far too innocent to not be guilty of something.

katsuki just shakes his head and follows the pair into the dining room, where eijirou already has everyone’s plates fixed. dinner goes off without a hitch, and the three kids end up tiring themselves out enough to pass out on the couch. katsuki takes that as his cue to do dishes.

“i like seeing you with them,” eijirou grins as he walks up behind katsuki and wraps his arms around him, peppering light kisses against his neck. “you know, maybe we could have our own running around here someday.”

katsuki blames the fact he almost drops the plate in his hands on the slippery soap and not on being flustered. he tries to ignore the heat licking up the back of his neck.

“yeah? what makes you think i want kids?” katsuki retorts, moving on to clean the silverware.

“i see the way you look at them, you’ve got a soft spot,” eijirou says softly, placing a lingering kiss just under katsuki’s ear. “plus, i think you’d be a great daddy.”

the silverware clatters out of bakugou’s hands.

“get off me,” he grumbles, frowning through his blush.

eijirou just laughs, tightening his grip and pecking katsuki’s cheek. katsuki, of course, lets him.

“i’d wanna do it right, though. ya know, don’t wanna ruin our good image and all,” eijirou chuckles, pulling a scoff out of katsuki.

“yeah? and how do you plan on doing that?”

“well, you gotta marry me first.”

katsuki pauses what he’s doing and turns his head to look back at eijirou. the latter is staring at him with nothing short of love, a wide dopey grin plastered on his face. katsuki leans up on his tippy toes to get closer to eijirou’s face.

he leans in, lips hovering over his for just a second, before pushing their lips together firmly. he can feel eijirou smile against the kiss, hear the sigh he lets out through his nose. then katsuki pulls back, and can’t help the smirk curling the corners of his mouth.

“not right now,” he mumbles against eijirou’s lips, whose already trying to chase him for another kiss. “i’m babysitting, and it would be against my ethics to marry someone while my kids are asleep.”

katsuki has to physically stop eijirou from trying to wake the snoozing children up.

***

“wow, you two. you look great!” the short woman who had been doing their makeup shrieks, clapping her hands together. “really, a picture perfect couple. you two fit so well together.”

“that’s not even—“

“thank you,” eijirou beams, grabbing katsuki’s hand to pull him to the door

katsuki grumbles under his breath but allows eijirou to tug him out of the dressing room and through the photographer’s studio. he lets go of katsuki’s hand and throws his arm around his shoulder, pulling katsuki snug against his side as they walk.

“what were you about to say? ‘that’s not even true, we aren’t a couple’? as if we haven’t been together since we were fifteen?” eijirou teases, causing katsuki’s already pink painted cheeks to flush against the makeup.

“whatever,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“ground zero, red riot! it’s a pleasure!” the photographer, a tall and lanky man that bakugou thinks reminds him of soy sauce, grins politely as they walk up, a camera hanging from around his neck.

katsuki weirdly likes him already.

“thanks for having us! i’m a /huge/ fan of the pics you did for my bro tetsu, they were sick!” eijirou starts, releasing bakugou and walking up to the man.

bakugou steps up after him, shifting back and forth on his feet as he looks around the studio.

“thank you. when i heard you two needed PR shots for the announcement of opening your own agency, i just had to hope you consider me. i’m glad my reputation pulled through,” he nods to eijirou, before looking up and down both their suits.

katsuki feels weirdly possessive whenever his eyes run down eijirou’s body.

“new suits, no? i haven’t seen these before.”

“ah, yeah! we just got them done because our manager thought it would be good to have matching ones, for things like this and press conferences,” eijirou answers.

and they do match. both of their hero costumes are more blacked out than their originals, and the orange x on katsuki’s chest is now red instead. they’re definitely a sight. they look good next to each other like this, katsuki thinks, he likes it.

bakugou is about to add on, make a snarky remark that they look cool as fuck, before a young girl with black hair and a clipboard walks up to him.

“u-uhm, mr. ground zero, if you could come with me i’d like to get you started on positioning.”

katsuki fights off a frown. he hates it when people act scared around him, all jittery and shit. don’t they know he’s a hero? he literally isn’t going to lay a single finger on them. just because his temper’s bad doesn’t mean he’ll lash out at /everyone/.

“sure,” he mutters, allowing the girl to lead him towards the bright lights and white background.

he can’t help but glance back at eijirou, eyebrows furrowing as the redhead talks to the photographer in hushed tones, a blush high on his cheeks.

why the fuck is he blushing in front of some shitty extra?

he tries not to pay any mind to it and does his best to listen as the young girl gives him tips on what he should do when the shoot gets started. soon, eijirou is at his side and the photographer is directing them where to stand and how to pose.

most of them are standard. standing back to back. both doing their own signature poses. a few snaps of them doing each other’s signature poses instead. eijirou with his arm around katsuki’s shoulder. katsuki’s sitting on eijirou’s shoulders.

the photographer even has them do some sappy ones that make katsuki hope the lights don’t pick up on the tint of his cheeks. eijirou laughs when he grumbles out embarrassed curses.

then there’s a pose where eijirou has to crouch down in front of katsuki, holding his fists together and hardening them as katsuki stands behind him and sets off harmless little explosions. he knows it’s going to look sick as fuck once they get that one printed.

he can’t help but smile at the thought as the smoke from his explosions clears around his face, and he looks down at eijirou to mouth something off about how badass the two of them are.

but his words get lodged in his throat as he looks down.

bent down on one knee, staring up at katsuki with the softest expression he had ever seen, is eijirou. he smiles warmly, and reaches into his pocket before pulling something out and holding it up to show katsuki.

a black velvet box.

eijirou opens it up to show the black ring held snugly inside, three bright rubies in the center of it. the color of the gems match the irises that are presenting them, and katsuki feels a feeling he hasn’t ever felt before.

“i know i’ve asked you nearly every day for the past ten years,” eijirou starts, and it takes everything in katsuki to hold back the tears threatening to spill over. “and i know it hasn’t ever been the right time. i’ve lost track of how many ‘not right now’s you’ve given me.”

katsuki can’t help but laugh a little at that, rolling his eyes as his hands clench at his sides. he’s vaguely aware of the camera flashes and clicks around him, but his focus is solely on the beautiful man kneeling in front of him.

god, eijirou’s perfect.

“i told you i wanted to do things right. i wanted to make everything perfect for us, for the moment when my question wouldn’t be met with some grumbled out answer. even if your pout /is/ cute.”

katsuki frowns at him and eijirou laughs at his narrowed eyes.

“i’ve been in love with you since we first met in highschool and i thought i wouldn’t ever be able to love you more. but i do, every single day. i know this is all sappy and you hate stuff like this, but i can’t help it. i love you, katsuki, more than anything.”

katsuki holds his breath as eijirou gently uses his free hand to slide his glove and gauntlet off, he blushes when eijirou’s fingertips brush under his now bare palm. he swears he’s on fire.

“so, you know i have to ask,” eijirou smiles, and a tear drips down his cheek.

thank god for waterproof makeup.

“bakugou katsuki, will you please finally say yes and marry me?”

katsuki’s heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest, opening a gateway for the butterflies swarming within his stomach and offering them the chance to escape. he feels hot, despite the chills going down his spine, and wants to yell at himself for crying, but he can’t.

fuck, he’s so happy.

“hell yeah,” he smirks, giving eijirou’s hand a squeeze. “hell fucking yeah. yes. yes, dumbass. now get up here and fucking kiss me.”

eijirou slips the ring onto katsuki’s finger faster than he can blink and suddenly there’s arms wrapped around his waist and he’s being lifted up, his own arms wrapping around eijirou’s neck. a warm and familiar mouth connects with his, lips tender and sweet.

it tastes like eijirou’s strawberry chapstick.

he’s never really believed people whenever they talk about time coming to a stop, freezing around them and drowning out everything else. but now, he understands. because in that moment, despite the flashes and whoops and hollers and camera clicks, it’s just him and ei.

it’s always been just him and ei.

when they finally pull back, eijirou is smiling like a mad man, and katsuki knows his expression is probably an exact reflection of that. eijirou laughs, tears streaming down his face as he pecks katsuki’s lips again.

“i thought you’d never say yes,” he teases, but katsuki knows there’s a hint of sincerity behind it.

“losing faith in me, red?” katsuki quips back, and eijirou shakes his head fondly.

“never.”

their manager ends up using the picture of katsuki being held up in eijirou’s arms as they kiss for the announcement of their agency’s grand opening.

katsuki tries not to blush every time he sees it on the cover of a magazine.

***

“ei, wake up,” katsuki whispers against messy red hair, trailing his hand down eijirou’s bare back.

the way his fingers delicately trace over the dips and curves of his muscles makes a visible shiver run down eijirou’s spine, followed by shifting in the sheets.

there’s a quiet sound of protest, and katsuki’s eyes glint with something borderline on smugness as the sheets slip past eijirou’s waist, his perfectly sculpted skin even more on display. eijirou shakes his head as he buries his face in his pillow.

“five more minutes,” he mumbles, voice all but lost in the down feathers. “too sleepy.”

katsuki smiles against his temple before dragging his nails down his back. the action makes eijirou jolt a little and he turns his face enough to crack an eye open at the blond.

“wanna take a shower,” katsuki shrugs, tone nonchalant as he gives eijirou’s bicep a squeeze before pulling away and sliding out of bed. “didn’t know if you needed one too or not.”

eijirou’s eyes focus in on how the t-shirt katsuki is wearing —which is /his/ t-shirt, he notices— hangs off his shoulder slightly and ends at the tops of his thighs. it makes eijirou’s sleepy eyes darken and he tries to push himself up on his elbows.

“you’re so pretty,” he grins, smile dopey and lopsided as he rubs at his eye with the back of his hand. “how do you look so good when you just woke up?”

“cause i’m perfect, obviously,” katsuki smirks with a roll of his eyes, fixing eijirou with a playful glare.

well, he can’t argue with that.

eijirou hums out a sound of groggy agreement before lowering his head back onto his pillow, letting out a drawn out and content sigh. katsuki stares at him for a moment before smiling and shaking his head, taking a step towards the door.

“the old hag is keeping the boys until this afternoon,” katsuki says as he slinks across the room. “so, i’m just saying, if you wanted to join me in the shower, there’s not a damn thing to stop you.”

he doesn’t have to look back to know that eijirou is getting out of bed because he hears him fall to the floor with a muffled curse, probably tripping over the bedsheets he had been tangled up in. katsuki bites his lip to hold back a chuckle.

“you really are perfect,” eijirou simpers as he gets back onto his feet.

“we just went over this. of course i’m fucking perfect.”

“i’m so in love with you,” eijirou counters instead.

“i know,” katsuki smirks.

“shit, please marry me.”

katsuki stops just as he’s about to walk through the bedroom door and looks back at eijirou over his shoulder. his smirk melts into a genuine smile as he holds up his hand and waves it, showcasing the black band decorating his ring finger.

“i already did.”

- end of thread.