Are you prepared for friendship bonding? I am. I need all the friendship bonding.

Speaking of relationships, I know this thing is slow burn but it's been a little too slow burn. Let's fix that, shall we? This is a BakuDeku fic, after all. That tag did not lie. XD

Either way, I hope you guys like it because writing this chapter was like pulling teeth, which is also why it's so short. I think I rewrote the ending like ten times and I'm still not completely happy with it. But here it is. Take it.

Chapter 10

The streets of Hosu were busy enough that it cared little for the two young men walking down the sidewalk. Shigaraki stayed near the wall, while Izuku occasionally bumped shoulders with someone passing by.

The night was quiet and warm enough under the thick fabric of his jacket. Izuku relished the comfort it brought and the simplicity of it all. It was an easy way to clear his head during a walk with a friend, even if their end goal was fairly malicious. The good weather and the calm could make him forget the League of Villains and the Hero Killer and everything else that had been weighing him down as of late.

"You never did tell me why you were so upset the other night," Shigaraki said, the pout audible in his voice, despite the side of his face being hidden by the hoodie. "I'm disappointed. I thought for sure you'd tell me the name of someone I'd get to kill for you."

Izuku entertained the offer for a moment: Shigaraki's Quirk eating through Kirishima's hardened skin like it was nothing; melting that stupid reassuring smile away into dust.

No amount of defense could stop Shigaraki's decay.

Kirishima would crumble away, leaving a vacant spot next to Kacchan's side.

He banished the intrusive thought and shook his head. Izuku licked the side of his lip and chuckled. "No one did anything to me. I just had a nightmare and wanted to get out of the house and see you to get my mind off it, that's all. I'm fine now."

"Nightmare?" Shigaraki asked, clearly hinting for details. The lift in his voice full of curiosity seemed too amused. He scratched his arm through the sleeve of his hoodie as they walked. "It must have been some bad dream to have you running all the way to my bar for comfort. Normally that's where you get fuel for your nightmares, not escape them."

"Maybe," Izuku said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tugged his jacket tighter around him. "I've been trying not to think about it with everything else going on."

"What was it about?" Shigaraki asked, his interest still amused but still with his own brand of genuine concern. "I want to know."

Izuku squeezed by a couple holding hands, his eyes lingering on their laced fingers before looking ahead. He closed his eyes for a moment and saw Kirishima's knee between Bakugou's legs and swallowed. His cheeks reddened as he remembered bits of the "nightmare" that he still had yet to come to terms with that it may have been a different sort of dream all together.

"Well?" Shigaraki prompted when Izuku didn't answer immediately.

"It's embarrassing," Izuku muttered. He hunched his shoulders forward as they walked, scanning the streets for alleyways Stain could have snuck into. He didn't want to get too distracted from their objective while Shigaraki dug for teasing material. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Midoriya, I've seen your All Might saturated room," Shigaraki said. He scratched his neck and pursed his cracked lips. "What could possibly be more embarrassing than that?"

Izuku had to stop and stare. Of all the things he'd done in Shigaraki's company from hysterical sobbing to bouts of ugly jealousy and tackling the other in an overemotional hug, Shigaraki chose that as his prime example of "Embarrassing Midoriya Moments?"

Of course it was.

Izuku giggled and shook his head before walking again. He waited for Shigaraki to catch up before he admitted, "I had a dream about Kirishima and Kacchan making out, but it was really weird. Kirishima ordered Kacchan around like some sort of pet and called him a "good boy." He even made Kacchan get on his knees and I hated it."

He discretely left out the part of the dream where Kacchan had traded Kirishima out for Izuku just before he woke up.

(Shigaraki didn't need to know that part.)

"Thinking of Kacchan making out with someone other than you would be a nightmare, I suppose," Shigaraki said. He scratched his neck, revealing his amused smirk. "We really should find you a more violent outlet for your jealousy. Maybe if you start breaking things, the jealousy won't sneak into your dreams and then you and Kacchan can make out to your heart's content instead."

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks, nearly smacking into the wall. Shigaraki paused a few steps farther and turned to stare. Izuku stuttered, "Who said I want to make out with Kacchan?"

"It's a little obvious," Shigaraki said, still lazily scratching his neck. He snorted. "You're obvious."

Izuku's facilities screeched to a halt as a million thoughts attacked his brain at once.

He hadn't ever thought of Kacchan that way before that dream. Kacchan and physical intimacy were always far from his mind. The only touches he received from Kacchan were smacks and shoves. Kissing was beyond it. It only showed up in his dreams after observations that Kirishima and Kacchan were so close they could have been lovers and even that wasn't totally right. It was more a weird dominance thing coming out sexually in his dream and that's part of why it was so weird and Shigaraki was still staring at Izuku and it was getting weird.

(He was rambling in his head again. Izuku needed to stop that.)

Izuku had never mentioned that he liked Kacchan that way and he'd certainly never hinted at it. They were friends. Or he wanted to be friends. Or none of that mattered and Shigaraki was still staring.

"You're mumbling to yourself," Shigaraki said. "Now I'm starting to think you're just as oblivious as you are obvious."

"What, what was obvious again?" Izuku asked, attempting to reboot this conversation into something that made since.

(He knew the answer; Shigaraki had said it plain as day, but he wanted to hear it again, dammit!)

"You're in love with Kacchan," Shigaraki answered.

Izuku cracked.

"I'm starting to think choosing Best Jeanist was a mistake," Todoroki said, slumping in his seat next to Katsuki. The overachiever looked miserable, frowning at the styled hair in a mirror off to the side. Katsuki wanted to laugh at him, but he was in the same stupid boat so he could only empathize. Todoroki groaned, "Even my father would have been better than this."

"Tell me about it," Katsuki muttered under his breath, resisting the urge to scratch his head. If he so much as moved a hair out of place, Best Jeanist appeared out of nowhere to fix it again (and it was never just "one hair" — the whole thing always had to pop out and it took hours to fix again). He scratched his back shoulder on the chair, staring gloomily at the clock. It was too early too go to bed, so he had no other option to hang out with Todoroki. "When I think of all the other options I turned down, I kinda want to go back in time and punch myself."

"If you figure out that technology, do let me know how it goes down," Todoroki said. He crossed his arms and looked out the window.

With that, the conversation died back down into a pleasant silence as they both tried to figure out what to do to kill time before bed and pretending they were going to actually learn anything on this stupid internship. At least Todoroki was quiet, Katsuki reasoned to himself. He'd had enough talking to last himself a lifetime between Kirishima and his Mother always asking about stupid Deku and trying to force friendly talk with said stupid Deku. After all this, Katsuki was content to sit like this and be quiet for the rest of the night.

It was a shame Mr. Hot & Cold decided to be friendly and start up a new conversation.

"So what's the deal with you and Midoriya?" Todoroki asked, glancing at Katsuki from the side of his eye. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow slightly. "I meant to ask earlier, but didn't get a chance with everything going on. You've been so hot and cold with him since he entered our school, I was starting to wonder if you'd turned into me."

Katsuki stared, mouth half open. "Did you just make a horrible joke?"

"No," Todoroki said, as deadpanned as possible.

"I hate you," Katsuki said, snorting and turning back to stare at the wall. "And there's nothing to talk about concerning Deku. I get enough of that shit from Kirishima, so don't you start, too."

"That's fair," Todoroki said. "Though if you'd like another ear that isn't your best friend, I wouldn't mind listening. There aren't many things that make you nervous, so I suppose the way you're tiptoeing around Midoriya has me concerned despite my better judgement."

"Deku doesn't make me nervous," Katsuki hissed, lowering his voice. He shifted in his seat, wishing that Best Jeanist would show up and take them out on patrol already and get him away from his topic. "We just have a freaking long history I don't want to talk about."

(Or admit to anyone other than Kirishima.)

"He seems very fond of you." Todoroki shot Katsuki a calculating look.

"Hell if I know why," Katsuki said. "We've known each other so long, you'd think the hero worship would have died off by now."

"Interesting," Todoroki said. "I imagine he must have been harboring that crush he has on you for quite some time then. That tends to skew people's perception from what I understand."

"His what now?" Katsuki asked, turning his head to stare at Todoroki. He blinked in equal confusion and Katsuki hissed. "What did you say Deku was harboring?"

"A crush," Todoroki said, slowly and evenly like Katsuki was crazy. "Have you honestly not noticed that he has a huge crush on you?"

"He's a lonely loser that's desperate for a friend," Katsuki said. His voice raised against his will, nearly cracking at the top of the pitch. "He doesn't have a crush!"

"He's practically your stalker from what I've seen," Todoroki said. The other shifted in his seat, clearing his throat and turning his head to the side. "I thought for sure he made you nervous because you didn't know how to handle his affections for you, but I suppose I miscalculated."

Katsuki's brain came to a screeching halt.

A crush would make sense.

People in love do stupid shit all the time and still wanting to be friends with Katsuki after all these years of doing everything humanly possible to make Deku eat dirt and leave him alone would definitely count as stupid.

(Deku with a crush would explain so much and oh lord his mother probably noticed, too, that old hag—no wonder she was always asking about Deku!)

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked as Katsuki paled.

"Fine," he answered back.

Katsuki needed to put some distance between the two of them if he wanted anything to even remotely go back to normal.

"Hey, Todoroki," Katsuki said. He had a pretty good idea what the first step should be to create that distance. "Could you do me a favor?"

Todoroki looked appropriately wary as he said, "Sure."

Iida hadn't given Normal Hero enough credit.

He followed the other on patrol, head down as he thought about the "talk" they'd had earlier concerning the Hero Killer and Iida's brother. It had been an enlightening conversation and he could feel the genuine concern from the older man. However, it wasn't something he'd wanted to discuss. Iida had thought he'd been better about hiding his true intentions of coming to Hosu, but that was a real Pro Hero for you—they noticed people in need and acted.

It hadn't changed his mind, however.

The Hero Killer had struck again three days ago, and the odds were high he was still in the area. Iida would have to be more careful about his investigations in locating the monster with Normal Hero keeping tabs, but he was still confident.

The name of Ingenium couldn't live on if he didn't take care of the Hero Killer first. If he didn't avenge his brother, Iida could never live with the stolen title.

It had to be done.

"I know this wasn't why you chose to come to Hosu, but I do hope that you'll get something out of this internship, Iida," Normal Hero said, looking fondly over his shoulder. His warm smile turned Iida's stomach. Normal Hero put a hand on Iida's shoulder and said, "If you keep focused, I'm sure time things will get better as time passes."

"Yes, sir," Iida said.

He looked at a clock on the wall of a building as they passed and noted the extra ten minutes they still had on patrol before he had free time and could explore the city without a babysitter. Iida had waited this long, he could stand to be patient.

Sure, he'd have to do it out of costume, but Iida didn't need the suit for his Quirk.

Iida gripped his hands into fists; soon. He'd find the Hero Killer and put him out of his misery soon enough.

(And then maybe he could stand to look at his brother in the face again; without the shame of taking his name before it should have been given away.)

It felt like an eternity had passed before Izuku managed to gain control of his tongue and answer Shigaraki's declaration.

"What?" Izuku asked.

"You're in love with Kacchan." Shigaraki scratched his neck harder, blowing out a breath. "I figured it out. You don't have to keep hiding it. I'm not going to judge you for it."

"Why do you think I'm in love with Kacchan?" Izuku whispered. He pulled his arms around himself and tried to tell himself the air only felt colder.

"You don't have to keep denying it," Shigaraki said. He dropped his arm and it swayed by his waist.

"No," Izuku said. He took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck. He ignored the people who paused to stare at them as they stood in the middle of the street having a conversation that Izuku never, ever, wanted to deal with. He held his hands up. "No, Kacchan's just a friend. I don't like him like that."

"I'm your friend, right?" Shigaraki asked.

Izuku paused before answering a soft, "Yes?"

"And that Shinsou boy," Shigaraki said, scratching harder on his neck. "He's your friend, too, right?"

"What are you getting at?" Izuku asked.

"Do you get viciously jealous when I talk to Kurogiri or Shinsou talks to anyone else in your class?" Shigaraki asked.

"No, but that's different," Izuku said. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I don't need to be jealous of you two because you're already friends with me."

"But Kacchan is talking with you again, isn't he?" Shigaraki asked. "And you're still jealous of Kirishima, aren't you?"

"Maybe, but because I want to be closer to Kacchan than he is doesn't mean I like him that way," Izuku said.

"Do you have pictures of me and Shinsou posted on your wall? Do you stalk us when we're not paying attention to you?" Shigaraki asked.

"That's different," Izuku said. "I wanted to keep up with what Kacchan was doing with his life. It's not the same when I see you two every day."

Shigaraki stared for a moment before leaning forward close enough that their noses nearly brushed. "If I asked to kiss you, what would you say?"

"No, Shigaraki," Izuku said, sighing and hiding the shiver. Shigaraki poked his cheek, pressing hard so that the inside of his mouth scraped his teeth. Izuku brushed the other's hand away. "I don't like you that way."

"I didn't think so. We're just friends. But your Kacchan is special, isn't he?" Shigaraki turned and whispered in Izuku's ears. "If Kacchan asked if he could kiss you, would you say no?"

Izuku's cheeks heated.

The curve of Kacchan's smirking lips and the temptation of a kiss had never crossed Izuku's mind before. He had only had dreams of Kacchan kissing Kirishima.

No, Kacchan being kissed by Kirishima.

Izuku's breath hitched and he closed his eyes.

Reversing roles didn't make him feel better. The thought of Kacchan pressing Kirishima into the window; pushing the redhead to his knees still made Izuku's blood boil.

"Well?" Shigaraki asked, leaning back so he could look Izuku in the eyes again. "This doesn't seem like a hard question. Aren't you the one who shouted 'Kacchan's mine?' to my face?"

"Because he is," Izuku snapped. He covered his lower face with his hand, shocked at his own outburst. He didn't own Kacchan. He didn't want Kacchan that way (did he?). Izuku pulled his hand away and glared at Shigaraki. "Why do you care so much how I like Kacchan?"

"I think it's cute," Shigaraki said. He leaned away and licked his chapped lips. "And maybe if you admit what it is you really want, you'll go and take it and stop whining about it all the time."

"What I want is to go back to looking for Stain so I can stop my other friend Iida from throwing his life away," Izuku said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking back down the street. "Let's go."

"We can go when you answer my question," Shigaraki said. He grabbed Izuku's hair between two fingers and yanked. "If Kacchan asked to kiss you, what would you tell him?"

Izuku grunted and leaned his head back, wincing as Shigaraki tugged. He hated it when the villain tugged on his hair and there was no way he was going to let go until he got what he wanted.

He'd also know if Izuku lied or just gave him an answer he'd want to hear; Shigaraki was smart that way. Izuku closed his eyes and considered it:

Kacchan pushing Izuku against the wall, looming above him with that same want in his eyes from Izuku's dreams. Rough (always rough), Kacchan takes what he wants without any qualms. If he wanted to kiss Izuku, he would.

Izuku wouldn't have a choice in the matter; it wouldn't matter what he wanted.

Shigaraki had asked a trick question.

"I'd let Kacchan do whatever he wanted," Izuku said, sighing. He reached up and grabbed Shigaraki's wrist, twisting it until he let go of his hair. Izuku pushed away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "If that means I like him as more than a friend, than maybe I do."

"Maybe you should think on it. You'll be much happier when you just admit the truth to yourself," Shigaraki said. He flicked Izuku in the head and pushed his hands into his hoodie. "Why don't I go up ahead and leave you to think it over for a little while?"

Izuku grunted and didn't argue. He wasn't sure what Shigaraki wanted out of this conversation, but some time alone wouldn't hurt. It wasn't as if they were actually going to run into Stain at this rate. "I'll call you in an hour."

"Have a nice daydream," Shigaraki said.

As he walked away, Izuku leaned against the wall. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he'd be able to put the thought of Kacchan being more than a friend out of his mind. Being friends with Kacchan was a already a dream too good to be true. The thought of being more was.

It was too much.

(But now the thought was there. Izuku cursed Shigaraki.)