Katsuki waved as Hakamata's car disappeared from view, walking across U.A.'s campus towards the dorms. He went inside, greeted by the sight of Denki and Hitoshi playing Mario Kart with Mina and Kyouka.

"Hey guys." Katsuki said, making Denki pause the game and turn.

"Hey Kacchan." Denki said. "Can you check on Ei, if you're going upstairs?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Katsuki said, concern immediately spiking.

"Nothing, that I know of." Denki said. "I texted him about half an hour ago, asking if he wanted to play. He hasn't replied, which is strange for him, I haven't seen him since dinner. I was going to go up in a minute."

"I'll check." Katsuki said, heading towards the stairs.

"Thanks."

Katsuki went up the stairs two at a time. He knew Eijirou was most likely fine, but he couldn't help but worry a little bit. He got to Eijirou's door, knocking twice. He paused for a second, swearing he heard a little moan from the other side.

He opened the door, quietly stepping inside. Eijirou was tucked into his bed, his arms wrapped around his shark plushies. He blinked his eyes open, making a confused noise in the back of his throat.

"Katsu…" Eijirou mumbled.

"Go back to sleep, Eiji. I was just checking on you." Katsuki said, leaning down to press a kiss on his forehead.

"Love you."

"Love you too." Katsuki smiled, running a hand through Eijirou's hair. He turned to leave, heading into his own room.

Hoshi was curled up on his bed, idly licking a paw. She meowed when she saw him. Katsuki smiled, reaching out to fuss her. She rolled onto her back, exposing her soft white belly. Katsuki brought his hand to tickle the soft fur. Hoshi dug her claws into his hand, biting at his fingers.

"Let go, nutter." Katsuki laughed, shaking his hand free. "Love you, crazy kitty."

Hoshi meowed, blinking slowly. Katsuki leant down, kissing her head before scratching behind her ears. Then he moved to grab his towel and a change of clothes before heading down to the baths.

As he had said to Hakamata, he didn't really want to have a bath He had no desire to use them. But he knew the hot water would soothe his aching muscles, and in the morning, he'd be grateful. Katsuki went downstairs towards the baths, passing Kaminari as he did.

"Denki," he started, making the other look up. "Eijirou's fine, he's having a nap."

"Oh, fair." Denki said. "He looked tired. You didn't wake him did you?"

"No, he's fucking adorable and I'm not a monster." Katsuki said, Denki laughed.

Katsuki went to the changing room, stripping off his work clothes and leaving them in a locker alongside his clean pyjamas. Katsuki quickly rinsed himself off in the shower, more out of habit then any real need to be clean as he'd already showered at Genius.

He then wrapped his towel around his waist, heading towards the baths. Izuku and Shouto were in there already, sitting a polite distance apart, talking quietly. They looked up when Katsuki approached, watching as he threw the towel to the side and got into the water.

"Hi Kacchan." Izuku said.

"Katsuki." Shouto nodded.

"Izu' Shou'." Katsuki said, sighing as he sunk into the hot water.

"The fuck happened to you?" Shouto asked. "You're covered in bruises."

"Training." Katsuki replied, leaning back and closing his eyes. "So much fucking training."

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked.

"Just sore." Katsuki replied, "I hurt my arm, but I'll be fine."

"I've got painkillers in my room if you want some." Shouto said.

"Yeah me too." Izuku said.

"It's okay, I've got some." Katsuki said. "What have you two done today?"

"I went to see my Mother and my Brother." Shouto said.

"Oh did Natsuo come to visit?" Izuku asked.

"Something like that." Shouto replied, freezing the top of the water around him, watching as the ice melted almost immediately.

"Stop doing that." Izuku laughed.

"No." Shouto replied, sending a wave of ice towards him. Izuku squeaked, moving further from Shouto, trying to avoid the ice crystals.

"Kacchan, make him stop." Izuku said.

"Boys behave or I'll ground you both." Katsuki sighed, not opening his eyes. Izuku laughed, Shouto snorted.

"I've been training today too. My legs feel like spaghetti." Izuku said.

"I just want to sleep." Katsuki said. "But also, like, cut my arms off because surely that'll hurt less."

"I can cauterise the wound." Shouto said, Katsuki nodded.

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Katsuki mumbled.

"Can you actually do that?" Izuku asked. Shouto shrugged.

"My Father can, I don't see why I couldn't. I have to admit though, I've never tried."

"Do you guys ever shut up?" Katsuki asked. "I've remembered why I don't come here now. It's not that I don't like baths, it's that I don't like people."

"Sorry Kacchan." Izuku laughed. "But we were here before you, and we want to talk, so…"

"Go fuck yourself." Shouto finished.

"You guys are assholes." Katsuki groaned.

"What do you normally do when you're hurt from Quirk overuse?" Shouto asked. "You don't normally come here?"

"Eijirou massages my shoulders." Katsuki said. "And everywhere else."

"Why didn't you go to him?"

"He's asleep. He's been down a bit recently, I don't want to disturb him." Katsuki replied.

"Fair. Well I'm too warm. I'm gonna head out." Shouto said, rising to his feet. Both Katsuki and Izuku averted their gaze. Nakedness was not uncommon or taboo amongst the boys; changing together all the time and visiting the onsen at the Summer Camp had kind of desensitised them all to each other and had ensured that everyone saw everyone else's cock. But it wasn't polite to openly look. However curious they were about the colour of a certain someone's pubes.

"See you later." Shouto said, grabbing his own towel.

"Bye Shou-chan." Izuku said.

"Whatever Icyhot."

"There are two kinds of people." Shouto said with a snort, leaving the baths, heading back towards the changing rooms.

"Is Kirishima-kun okay?" Izuku asked once they were alone. "He told me he suffers with depression, is there anything I can do to help?"

Katsuki was initially shocked that Eijirou had told Izuku about his mental health, but then when he took a second to think about it, it made sense. Katsuki wasn't one to speculate on other people's mental health, but it didn't take a genius to recognise Izuku had something going on. Something most likely caused by Katsuki's treatment of him when he was younger. It would make sense for Eijirou to reach out to a similar soul.

Katsuki was there to help, of course he was. Whenever Eijirou needed him, he'd be right by his side. But when it came to depression, well… Katsuki didn't know what he was doing. He knew from Hound Dog's tentative diagnosis all those months ago that he most likely had it too. But that didn't mean shit, just because two people had the same illness doesn't mean their experience would be the same.

Eijirou had no self-confidence, not on his bad days, and that was something Katsuki couldn't get his head around. He couldn't relate. To him, Eijirou was worth all of the praise and support but to himself, he was barely anything. Katsuki's depression was much more trauma orientated and focused around the fear of failure. His own depression was mainly triggered by his anxiety attacks, there was a clear pattern to his down moments. Eijirou's were entirely random.

"Kacchan?"

"Erm, don't crowd him, but let him know you appreciate him." Katsuki said. "He might be okay by tomorrow, but if not, maybe you could spar with him in training? He doesn't necessarily believe me when I say he's deserving of his place here and stuff. But maybe you'll be able to reassure him a bit more than I can."

"He doesn't believe you?" Izuku asked, cocking his head to the side.

"He says that I'm his boyfriend and I have to say nice things to him." Katsuki replied. "Like I said, it's only if he's having a bad day. He might be okay, could have just been tired."

"I hope he's okay."

"He might just want to cuddle." Katsuki shrugged.

"Kacchan all cuddly." Izuku said with a laugh. "Middle school you would have beaten you up."

"Oh, most definitely." Katsuki laughed. "When did I become so soft?"

"I don't know Kacchan, I don't know."

Katsuki and Izuku stayed in the baths a little while longer. Izuku getting out first when his skin went wrinkly. Katsuki got out he dressed in his pyjamas and went to the kitchen. He made two large mugs of hot chocolate and headed upstairs.

Eijirou's door was open when he got there, the red head doing work on his bed, Katsuki kicked the door in lieu of knocking. Eijirou looked up and smiled.

"Did I dream you earlier or did you actually come and check on me?"

"I came to make sure you were okay." Katsuki replied. "Denki didn't know where you'd gone." He handed Eijirou a mug.

"Thanks." Eijirou said taking it. "I was tired, so I took a nap."

"You feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling better. Yesterday and today have been a bit rough, but I spoke with my Mama on the phone. I guess I miss them. Which is stupid, I saw them two weeks ago." Eijirou said, "I mean your family is in an entirely different country."

"It's fine Ei, I'm used to them travelling, I guess."

"I still feel bad complaining."

"Don't." Katsuki said, sitting on the bed next to Eijirou. "We're allowed to feel differently about similar things, Eiji, don't try to invalidate your feelings by comparing them to mine."

"You can't use big words when I'm post-nap. It's mean." Eijirou frowned.

"I love you, Silly Boy, that's all you need to know."

"Even if I over think everything and don't deserve you?"

"Especially if you overthink things." Katsuki said. "And you do deserve me, you deserve the world."

"I love you too." Eijirou said. "You wanna cuddle?"

"Yeah, Red, I want to cuddle."


Monday was strange, and Gods was Katsuki sick of thinking that. All he wanted was one normal day, but he guessed he chose the wrong school for that. Secretly, he longed for his Middle School days; the simplicity of going to class and then going home at the end of the day. He longed for a time where the bell at the end of the day meant school was finished, that he no longer had to worry. The days in which he could go home to his parents' warm embrace and spicy cooking.

Those days were over.

Instead, he and his friends walked into class that morning to find Aizawa was already there. That was a warning sign in of itself. Aizawa was never there before they were, and he was never like this.

His hair was brushed, his messy curls somewhat tamed and possibly straightened. He looked like he had shaved recently, his stubble significantly shorter than usual, like he had shaven completely the day before. His hero costume looked new, his ragged sleeves no longer torn, it was as if he'd replaced the top entirely.

"Woah, looking good Sensei." Mina, who had absolutely no shame, said as they walked in.

"Thank you, Ashido." Aizawa said, "Everyone sit."

Katsuki frowned at his subdued demeanour. It wasn't like Aizawa was the most enthusiastic of people, but there was something about him that seemed off, as though he was emotionally tired, not just physically.

"After the events on Friday, I was forced to speak with the Commission about how we safeguard you students." Aizawa said, Katsuki winced at the mention of the Commission. So far, all of the new members had been good. No one had done anything to piss anyone off and they seemed to be taking their job seriously for once.

"Nezu and Powerloader suggested these." Aizawa patted the case on the desk. "Tracking bracelet. They emit a GPS signal, meaning I can find out where you are at all times. Now I can't force you to wear them, but I'd appreciate it if you could."

"Who has access to the GPS?" Shinsou asked.

"Me, Mic, Powerloader, All Might and Nezu." Shouta said. "It'll all be on a secure sever, no one else will have access."

"Who else has them?" Iida asked, "Just us?"

"For now yes." Aizawa said. "However, I know Nezu is thinking of using them to replace the I.D. badges."

"Do we have to wear the all the time?" Mina asked, raising her hand but asking before Aizawa nodded to her.

"Like I said, I can't enforce that you wear them but yes, preferably you would wear them all of the time."

"Sensei, we'll all wear them." Momo said. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that anything that makes us all feel a little safer will be worth it." Aizawa nodded, opening the case. He began to hand out the tracking bracelets.

They were thin bands of leather; black and unassuming. They adjusted to fit tightly around the wrist and when Katsuki ran his finger along the top he could feel the tracking chip inside. It was a tiny little thing and Katsuki put it on straight away.

"Finding Katsuki would have been a lot easier if he was wearing one of these." Shouto said.

"Exactly." Aizawa replied. "Hopefully it won't come to that, but if it does, we'll be able to find you."

Katsuki saw everyone nod and slip on their own band.

"Thank you. I know it's a nightmare, but I promise you, you'll all be safe."

"We trust you, Sensei." Iida said. Aizawa nodded.

"Each bracelet is encoded to you, so please don't swap them or anything. If you have an issue with them come to me."

"Yes Sensei." The class chorused, Aizawa turned around.

"The Culture Festival will still go ahead." He said simply, returning to his desk. "As long as there are no further incidents. As you are aware, Friday you will have the day off and you will perform in front of everyone. Are you ready?"

"We're just putting the final touches in, practicing a bit more." Jirou said. Aizawa nodded.

They had got the song down and Mina's group had choreographed a dance for the music. According to Shouta and Eijirou they had sorted out the special effects. They just had to bring it all together. Jirou and Momo had made a practice timetable, having them practice after dinner every day until they were perfect.

"If you need anything let me know."

"We will, Sensei." Jirou smiled.


After their classes for the day, Katsuki and Eijirou went to one of the training room to spar. They both wore their P.E. clothes and Eijirou had put his hair up in a ponytail, it had gotten quite long and Katsuki loved to play with it.

"I'm not going to go easy on you because you're cute." Katsuki said.

"Likewise, Kitsune." Eijirou smirked, walking backwards. Katsuki snorted.

"Fuck off."

Eijirou threw the first hit, making Katsuki duck to avoid getting punched in the face. Eijirou moved a lot quicker than the last time they had sparred. He really had improved since he'd been on the mission to rescue Eri. He was so fast the Katsuki struggled to dodge, and when Eijirou punched him in the shoulder pain blossomed across his skin. He yelped at the impacted, his shoulder was still hurting from straining it the day before.

Katsuki kicked out at Eijirou's side, knocking the air out of him. Eijirou stumbled to the side but managed to right himself before he fell. He punched Katsuki again, hard in the ribs.

"Fuck Ei, you tryna break my ribs?"

"Not really." Eijirou grunted. "But I guess."

"Rude." Katsuki kicked Eijirou again but missed.

"Yeah well, we agreed not to go easy." Eijirou kicked Katsuki in the exact same place as he'd hit before, sending Katsuki flying backwards. The blond grunted as his back hit the ground, bouncing off the rough floor.

Eijirou was on him in seconds, attempting to pin him to the ground. Katsuki rammed his knee into the soft flesh of Eijirou's stomach. The redhead curled in on himself, collapsing on top of his boyfriend.

Katsuki manoeuvred so he could wrap his legs around Eijirou's neck, so his head was trapped between the blond's thighs.

"Kinky." Eijirou choked out as Katsuki tightened his grip. He rolled them, forcing Eijirou on his back, falling back onto his stomach. Eijirou groaned again, his hands going to Katsuki's hips. "You're playing dirty."

"We agreed not to go easy." Katsuki said, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh it's on." Eijirou laughed.

He rolled them, slamming Katsuki back into the ground. This time Eijirou was prepared for any flipping Katsuki could attempt, so he tensed his muscles and crowded into Katsuki's space. Katsuki struggled but Eijirou didn't give him space to move.

Instead Katsuki did the next best thing. He kissed Eijirou hard. The redhead squeaked in surprise, but he leant into the kiss. Their tongue collided in a battle for dominance. Eijirou moaned and relaxed his stance, and that was when Katsuki made his move.

He used his entire body strength to flip Eijirou, straddling his waist. He pulled away from the kiss, smirking down at his prey.

"You're so not fair." Eijirou groaned again. He sat up, wrapping his arms around Katsuki's waist, pulling him close. He joined their lips again, pressing a chaste kiss to them.

"I like this better."

"We're supposed… to be… training." Katsuki said in between kisses.

"This is training." Eijirou replied. "If you think about it."

"Silly boy." Katsuki laughed before kissing him again, relaxing into the hold.

Eijirou pulled Katsuki as close as he could manage, driving his tongue deep into Katsuki's mouth. The blond kissed him back just as fiercely. Eijirou moaned softly, nibbling on Katsuki lip. Katsuki wrapped his arms around Eijirou's neck.

"Aw come on guys, not in front of my salad." Sero's voice startled them apart. Denki and Hanta had come into the training facility, Hanta holding a salad with a plastic fork.

"You're not supposed to bring food in here." Katsuki said.

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to have sex in here either, but that doesn't seem to bother you." Hanta shrugged.

"We're not having sex." Eijirou huffed.

"Close enough." Denki said.

"I'll show you having sex." Eijirou said, kissing Katsuki again. It was deep and somewhat forceful, Eijirou's hand gripped Katsuki's chin, holding him in place. Katsuki allowed it, knowing the action was in play.

"No, no, no, no." Denki said, running towards them. Grabbing Katsuki under the arms, pulling him back.

"Hey." Katsuki pouted as Denki pulled him across the floor.

"Leave room for Jesus." Denki said before frowning. "Or any deity of your choice."

"I personally like Lucifer." Katsuki said.

"You would." Hanata snorted shoving lettuce into his mouth.

"Come back." Eijirou pouted, making grabby hands for Katsuki.

"No." Denki jumped between them. "I won't allow it."

"Oh yeah?" Katsuki asked, he got to his feet, grabbing around Denki's legs before standing up, lifting him off the ground.

"Ahh." Denki screeched. "Hanta, help me."

"But my salad." Hanta sighed. He put it on the floor, off to the side before running towards Denki.

Eijirou intercepted him before he could get there. He tackled Sero to the ground, pinning him.

"You gonna kiss me too?" Hanta laughed.

"You wish." Eijirou said.

Meanwhile, Denki was pulling at Katsuki's hair, trying to make him let go. Instead, all he managed to do was make Katsuki fall on top of him, crushing Denki to the floor.

"I'm too beautiful to die." Denki choked out as he tried to grab Katsuki in a headlock. "Ahh, you bastard, did you just bite me?"

Eijirou was chasing Hanta around the room, somehow the tape user had gotten free and was now sprinting across the expanse of the training room, Eijirou hot on his heels. The redhead slammed into Hanta, smashing him against the wall, causing a large, echoing bang to spread out across the hall.

"Ow." Hanta said after a second.

"That's what you get— Agh." Denki started and Katsuki scooped him up by the waist, trying to dig his nails into the floor. "When abandon you comrade in battle."

"I had an Eijirou after me." Sero croaked as Eijirou picked him up in a fireman's lift.

"Well now you lose, bitches." Eijirou said.

"No. You'll never take me alive." Denki began to struggle, kicking at Katsuki's legs, but it did nothing.

"Die then." Katsuki snorted.

"Aw man." Denki sighed. "I'll Indiscriminate Shock all of you."

"You'll hurt Hanta then." Eijirou pointed out.

"All. Of. You." Denki repeated. "I have no loyalty to that traitor."

"Rude." Hanta scowled, still hanging over Eijirou's shoulder. "I just got Eijirou'd into a wall for you."

"Stop using my name as a verb." Eijirou said, throwing him to the floor.

"Ow." Sero repeated. "I hate the lot of you."

"Why did you come here anyway?"

"Someone's at the dorms, looking for Katsuki. We said we'd come get you."

"For me? Who?"

"I don't know, someone from Best Jeanist's office. Average height, light brown hair."

"Needles?"

"What kind of a name is Needles?" Denki asked, he started to laugh, a breathless sound.

"I don't know. Everyone has nicknames at Genius. He has a people name; I just don't know it."

"You work with the guy but you don't know his name?" Denki asked.

"What do they call you?" Sero said.

"Katsuki." Katsuki said. "Or Bakugou, depending on who they are."

"So you don't have a nickname?"

"Well, technically it's Ground Zero. The sidekicks go by their hero names." Katsuki said standing up. "I need to go and see what he wants."

Katsuki began to head towards the door, the other three boys got up and followed, Hanta grabbing his salad. They went back to the dorms and Katsuki was surprised to see it was Needles waiting in the Common Room. He was talking to Shouto, who held Soba in his arms. Needles reached out and pet the cat.

"Needles?" Katsuki asked, the man turned around.

"Bakugou." Needles smiled. "I asked Sleuth to give you these on Sunday, but she "forgot", so I thought I'd bring them." He said, gesturing to the pile of paperwork in his hand.

"Erm let's go sit." Katsuki pointed to the tables and chairs. Needles nodded and that's what they did. As soon as they sat, Momo approached with tea.

"There you go. If you need anything else, Higuchi-san, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu-san." Needles said. Momo bowed and walked away.

"That's your name?" Katsuki asked and Needles laughed.

"I suppose none of us use our real names at the office." He shook his head, holding a hand out. "Higuchi Teruo." Katsuki took it, shaking.

"Bakugou Katsuki." They smiled at each other. "What are they then?" He gestured to the papers.

"Technically illegal." Higuchi said. "However, I doubt the Commission will give me any shit; they aren't exactly interested in agency filing."

"You've lost me." Katsuki admitted.

"These are the registry forms to make you a sidekick. Tsunagu was going to make you fill them out the day of the License Exam, if you remember."

"Yeah, but I still don't have a licence?"

"Tsunagu doesn't understand the paperwork like I do." Higuchi laughed. "Technically you don't need a License to register as a sidekick. You need one to do hero work, so it would be a title in name only, however, if you fill it out now, it means I can get all the filing all done and then when you get your License, you'll just have to fill in your hero number."

"And what does that mean?"

"They'll be no waiting around. The day you get your License, you'll be able to go straight to work. No waiting period."

"Really?" Katsuki asked

"It usually takes about two weeks for all of the paperwork to go through. Which is frustrating when you've been waiting for so long to get your License, so if we file it now, whenever you get your License, you'll be ready."

"What do I need to fill out." Higuchi handed Katsuki several pieces of paper.

"Name, don't date it, I'll sort that. Hero name, date of birth, Quirk. Just regular shit." Higuchi point to each line, reading off what Katsuki had to write. "And then sign it all."

"Okay." Katsuki said, taking a pen and beginning to the paper.

"I wanted to thank you." Higuchi said as Katsuki filled in the paperwork.

"Why?" Katsuki said, looking up.

"I've known Tsunagu since we were kids. I think we were five. He's never been as happy as he is with you." Higuchi said. "Don't get me wrong, he's not been unhappy. But… I don't know… I think he needed you in his life. You know? You've become family to him, like a son. Someone he can look after but someone who can look after him. If that makes sense?"

"Yeah, I think." Katsuki nodded.

"He's in this awkward place, where everyone he knows is his age and has a family, kids. Or they're in their early 20's and want to go out and party. You've kind of become a son for him. He's the godfather of all of my children and obviously he has Ezume and Kuugo's kids but, you're different. I guess you're older, not tiny. He doesn't really like children."

"Wait you have kids?" Katsuki asked, Higuchi laughed.

"Yes, three."

"Oh wow." Katsuki said. "I had no idea."

"I'll bring them in one day. I'm sure they'd love you."

"Really?"

"My youngest is that stage where she's obsessed with fire. So she definitely would."

"What's her name?"

"Chinatsu. Then my eldest daughter is Tamiko and my son is called Masato."

"Cool." Katsuki said. "How do I not know any of this about you?"

"I guess we don't talk about personal stuff." Needles shrugged. "Are you done?" he gestured to the papers.

"Yeah, I think." He handed the pieces of paper back, the man checked over it.

"Good." He nodded. "I'll get these started tomorrow."

"Okay." Katsuki said. "Thank you."

"No problem kiddo." Needles said, packing the papers up and putting them into his bag. "It was nice to see you."

"And you."

"See you Sunday."

"Bye."

Higuchi bowed before leaving, stopping to thank Momo again for the tea. Katsuki sat at the table for a few minutes before he was suddenly embraced from behind. He startled for a second, but then he recognised Eijirou's coconut scent and muscular arms.

He rested his hand on Eijirou's bicep.

"Hey Baby, you okay?" Eijirou asked, kissing his neck. Katsuki leant back.

"Mhm." Katsuki sighed.

"What was that about?"

"Just work stuff." Katsuki shrugged.

"Come on, let's make some dinner so you can go to band practice."

"I'm gonna be so fucking glad when this festival is over." Katsuki sighed.

"You're not excited?" Eijirou asked. "I thought you liked playing the drums?"

"I do but like, not the same song, over and over and over again." Katsuki said. "It's just boring."

It was boring, but Katsuki knew they had to practice. They needed to prove to all of the other classes that they were the best. That they deserved the attention they got and they weren't some overhyped talentless class.

It was still annoying though. Every night they practiced until eleven, at which point Hound Dog would wither come and kick them out of the training room or storm into the dorms claiming they were too loud, and he'd receive noise complaints. Katsuki assumed from Monoma.

One-time Inui had dragged Aizawa along with him, and Katsuki didn't know who their teacher had wanted to kill more. Katsuki's fingers ended up cramping from holding the drumsticks for too long and by time they got to Thursday, the night before their performance, Eijirou was forced into massaging Katsuki's hands.

"Oh shoot." Izuku said, suddenly from the tables. Katsuki looked up from where he and Eijirou were sat on the sofas.

"Just swear you nerd, you'll sound less pathetic."

"Not all of us are like you Kacchan. My mom would kill me."

"Who's gonna tell?" Katsuki asked. "Not me."

"What's wrong Midoriya?" Eijirou interrupted, rubbing his thumbs into Katsuki's knuckles.

"The rope for Aoyama is all frayed." He said, holding it up for inspection. Katsuki tutted and Eijirou hummed in acknowledgement. "It's not safe."

"Ask Ponytail to make another one then." Katsuki shrugged.

"She's gone to bed, and I don't want to tire her out before the performance tomorrow." Izuku shook his head.

"Then just hope the rope doesn't snap and you're not responsible for the death of a classmate."

"Kacchan!"

"Izuku!" Katsuki replied.

"Hanta can tape it?" Eijirou offered.

"There's a hardware store just off of campus. I could possibly go after training tomorrow. I should be back before we go on."

"Whatever." Katsuki frowned.

"Are your hands feeling any better Kacchan?"

"No." Katsuki sighed. "But I'll be fine. When's pain ever stopped me doing something."

"You know I think you're manly as hell, right?" Eijirou asked and Katsuki nodded. "But I kind of think pain is your body telling you to stop doing something."

"If my body wants to be a little bitch, that's its problem, not mine." Katsuki pouted.

"That's not remotely concerning."

"Shut up Ei. Deku gets it." Katsuki sighed, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Can we go to bed now? It's late and we have to be up early."

"Yeah, let's go. It's almost ten, no wonder you're grumpy."

"Fuck off." Katsuki scowled.

Tomorrow was the big day. Katsuki looked back at Izuku, who was muttering to himself about hardware stores and ropes, to say goodnight. Katsuki hoped nothing would go wrong, but with their class, anything could happen.