One of the reasons that Izuku enjoys teaching at a primary school so much is that the children are incredibly uncomplicated. Their most pressing problem is about food, meaning that he can focus his time and energy on himself. It takes him a few weeks but eventually he manages to get all his things unpacked, feeling very accomplished at having done it so quickly rather than leaving it and tripping over boxes for months on end like the last time he moved house. He settles into his new role well; the children are attentive (and the younger ones are so cute too) and the staff are all incredibly friendly. So far he's made firm friends with Ochako and Eijirou as well as Denki, Shouto and Tsuyu: he's even been out with them to the local karaoke bar after work on a Friday night. Now that he's been at the school for a couple of weeks he's just about learned everybody's names as well. Although he does still struggle to remember what the drama teacher, Toru, looks like unless she's standing right in front of him.

As far as Katsuki goes Izuku largely tries to ignore him in the hope that he'll get over his crush. It was made abundantly clear in their conversation on his first day that Katsuki isn't interested in continuing their fleeting romance and doesn't care to know how Izuku feels about it either. Well that's fine. Just because they had a lot of fun together back in Takenohama and it was the best sex of Izuku's life doesn't mean he wants to try and force something that is clearly not going to happen, it will only lead to more heartache for Izuku if he does. Occasionally the two of them do bump into each other in the corridors, where a quick apology is offered before they continue their separate ways, and they've often seen each other in the staff room. Once or twice they've even bumped into one another at the coffee machine and exchanged a pleasant hello but other than that the two of them have said very little to each other, which is fine with Izuku. So it surprises him greatly when Katsuki sits down opposite him while he's in the staff room eating his lunch one afternoon.

"Mind if I sit here?" Katsuki asks, nodding to the empty seat opposite Izuku.

Izuku blinks at him, unsure how to respond. It's not as if Katsuki has shown any interest in spending time with him before but it would be rather nice not to be eating lunch alone as his other friends are either on playground duty or helping with various lunch clubs. "Um... sure," he replies with a small smile.

"Thanks," Katsuki says and sits down. Silence falls between them, Izuku watching as Katsuki takes out his lunch box and begins to eat. He tries not to stare but it was something he noticed in Takenohama; no matter what Katsuki does he looks sexy doing it, even if it's something as simple as eating.

"So... er... how's things?" Izuku asks in an attempt to make conversation and stop feeling like a creep for staring at him while he's eating.

"Fine," Katsuki says with a shrug. "Usual shit, you know?"

Izuku chuckles. "Yeah I suppose I do," he says. "I guess once you've taught one class you've pretty much taught them all."

"That about sums up teaching," Katsuki says with a chuckle of his own. "Is that all you're having for lunch Deku?" he asks, suddenly glancing down at the sandwich and bottle of water sitting on the table in front of Izuku.

Cheeks flushing Izuku also looks down at the sandwich. "I was running a little late this morning so I had to grab something for lunch from the store on the way in. This was all they had left by the time I got there," he explains with an awkward chuckle. "I left what I had made last night in the fridge but I'll just have that for dinner when I get home so it's no big deal. It's not like I've lost anything."

With a roll of his eyes Katsuki divides some of his own lunch onto the lid of his bento box and hands it to Izuku. "Here you go."

"Oh," Izuku gasps. "No I couldn't possibly take your lunch!"

"It's fine," Katsuki says. "I always make more just in case I end up working late but I'm not planning on staying too long after the ankle biters have gone tonight so it's not like I need to eat all this. Have some."

"Seriously the sandwich will do me just fine," Izuku says although the smell of the rice is making his resolve crumble a little and he's pretty sure that's half a pork cutlet on top too.

"Just take the fucking food Deku," Katsuki tells him.

"Okay," Izuku says hurriedly and takes the lid from Katsuki. Before he begins to eat he casts a glance down at the sandwich still sitting on the table. "Would you like half my sandwich as a trade off?"

"Absolutely not, I'm not eating that and you shouldn't either," Katsuki says. "It's probably filled with shit that's bad for you, not to mention parasites and other shit, and will probably make you sick."

Izuku can't help but laugh at that. "Didn't realise you were such a stickler for eating healthily," he says before taking a bite of the cutlet. The outside is crisped to perfection while the inside is juicy and tender, coupled with whatever sauce Katsuki has mixed into the batter means Izuku has to physically stop himself from moaning loudly at the wonderful taste. "Oh wow, this is amazing!"

Katsuki snorts. "See, it's good shit." he says. "So do you usually get your lunch from the store?"

"No, just today," Izuku replies before he catches the incredulous look on Katsuki's face. "I don't! I cook for myself."

"You're so easy to tease Deku," Katsuki chuckles.

Izuku pouts, going red once again. "No I'm not," he all but whines even though he just knows that Katsuki will tease him about that too.

Instead Katsuki just chuckles again. "So how's things?" he asks.

"Here or at home?" Izuku counters with a question of his own.

Offering him a shrug Katsuki continues with his lunch. "Either, whichever one you want to talk about first."

"Well I think I'm settling in okay both here and at home," Izuku grins. "I've even unpacked and everything."

Katsuki chuckles. "And here was me expecting you to be living out of your boxes for six months."

"What gave you that idea?" Izuku asks, only partially offended because it would have been one hundred percent true had he not needed something to do to get his mind off Katsuki. He thought it had worked and that he would be fine when it finally came to talking to Katsuki again but sitting here with him now, their conversation flowing and friendly just like it had been in the summer, he's not so sure.

"Because," Katsuki says with a teasing smirk, "I distinctly remember the excuse 'no you can't come to my place cause there's boxes everywhere' being thrown around on more than one occasion."

It's the first time Katsuki has brought up anything to do with the summer and Izuku isn't sure whether he should point that out or not. There is a chance that if he does then Katsuki will get annoyed and leave and Izuku isn't sure if he can handle that, not when they're actually getting along with each other. "Well my new place is a little smaller so I don't really have the luxury of leaving them unpacked," he says, deciding to stay with the safer option for now.

"Is it far away from here?" Katsuki asks.

"Not really," Izuku replies. "It's a decent walk, like half an hour maybe. I was thinking about getting myself some rollerskates to make the journey go faster."

A snort sounds from Katsuki. "You really are twelve," he teases.

"There's nothing wrong with liking sweet things and I'll have you know that rollerskating is a really good workout, especially if it's all up hill," Izuku sniffs.

Katsuki laughs again. "You really are so easy to tease Deku, I'm just messing with you again," he says.

Izuku blushes and goes back to his lunch, He knows he's easy to tease – he always has been – but it's worse when he likes someone. Clearly he's not actually over Katsuki, it's obvious to him just sitting here talking to him, and how could he be when he's not only sexy but also a nice guy underneath all the gruffness and he's apparently really good with the kids. "So how long have you been teaching here?" he finally asks, needing to say something before he just leans forward and kisses him.

"About three years," Katsuki says. "Didn't expect to stay as a primary school teacher but the brats are fun and I actually enjoy it to be honest. How are you finding them so far? They're a sweet bunch of kids so I doubt they're giving you much trouble."

"Oh no they're the cutest little lot I've ever met," Izuku says, smiling. "They're all really sweet."

"Good," Katsuki says with a small smile. "Glad you're settling in. I know it's hard moving across the country but you seem to be doing well." He leans over and gives Izuku another piece of pork cutlet.

Izuku stares at the pork cutlet, mouth watering. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Katsuki replies. "Don't want you passing out on us."

"Thank you," Izuku says, taking a bite. The second taste is as heavenly as the first. "Do you do this for the others?" he asks.

"Do what?"

"Do you feed some of the other members of staff or am I just lucky?" he asks giving Katsuki what he hopes is a cheeky grin.

"Only those who clearly need my help," Katsuki says with a roll of his eyes. "Although I gave up trying to help Pikachu a long time ago seeing as he only seems to eat white bread and takeaway."

Izuku frowns. "Pikachu?"

"Kaminari."

Izuku laughs. "Why do you call him Pikachu?"

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him. "Have you not seen his huge collection of pokémon plushies?"

"I thought those were for the kids."

"And you would be wrong."

Izuku laughs again. "Oh dear."

"Having said that it works in Iida's favour that his secretary is a huge child as well," Katsuki says. "He's pretty good with them as they're on the same wavelength, age wise."

Silence falls between them as they eat again but rather than awkward it's the kind of comfortable silence that they used to find themselves in only a few weeks ago as they lay in the afterglow of an orgasm in Katsuki's hotel room. Maybe, as they've been talking to each other so easily, it might be a good time to bring up their brief affair as the conversation has been pretty nice so far. If Izuku doesn't says something now, when he's feeling bold, then he's never going to and he knows that's the case. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he decides that he needs to just go for it: now or never.

"Hey Kacchan..." he begins tentatively.

"Yeah?" Katsuki asks and it's quite a good sign that he doesn't immediately tell Izuku not to call him that while they're at school.

"Can we talk about the summer?" Time to rip off the plaster and see what happens. "I know we said we wouldn't but does me being here really not change anything for you?"

Katsuki frowns, his entire demeanour changing, as Izuku half feared it would. "No, it doesn't."

"But..." Izuku begins, unsure how to continue. He had expected Katsuki to be a little more accommodating, giving how they've been talking but apparently he was wrong.

"There's no need to say anything because we've already said everything that needs to be said," Katsuki tells him, his voice harsher than before. "We agreed that things would stay in Takenohama and there's no point in complicating things by suddenly changing our minds about it now."

"Surely me being here makes things complicated though," Izuku says.

"Look Deku, I'm not going to lie to you, when you turned up here I was surprised but now that we work together it's even more important that we just forget about what happened between us," Katsuki says. "You're a nice guy and we had a lot of fun together but if things didn't work out between us it would make working together a nightmare."

Izuku swallows around the lump forming in his throat. "Yeah you're probably right," he mumbles, his eyes on the empty lid in front of him.

Katsuki sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "I'm sorry Deku, I don't mean to make things harder than they already are and I don't want to hurt you anymore than I probably have so let's just leave it, okay?"

"Okay," Izuku says, swallowing the threatening tears. He hands Katsuki back the lid of his bento box. "Thanks for the food, it was great."

"Deku..." Katsuki begins as if he's going to try to convince Izuku to stay but then he seems to think better of it. "No problem."

Before he has the chance to start crying if front of him Izuku offers him a parting, watery smile and darts out of the staff room. He shouldn't be surprised that Katsuki thinks this way – his reaction to first seeing Izuku should have told him that – but he had thought their brief encounter meant a little more to Katsuki than that to be able to just forget about it. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand he tries to forget about the conversation and push it completely from his mind. Clearly it all meant more to him than it did to Katsuki. Getting too attached has always been a problem of his and he knows it.

"Hey Midobro," Eijirou's voice suddenly cuts through his thoughts and brings him back to the real world. "Everything okay?"

Izuku looks up, his eyes a little watery. "Oh... hey Kirishima," he sniffs. "Sorry, did I walk into you?"

"No you're fine, I actually came after you as you left so suddenly," Eijirou says, taking a good look at his forlorn expression and frowns. "You okay man?" he asks. "You look upset."

"It's nothing," Izuku lies.

"Is this to do with Bakubro?" Eijirou asks.

A squeak leaves Izuku. "How did you...?"

"Well I saw you two talking just now before you ran out all frantic... and Ochako told me about what happened between you two," Eijirou replies.

Izuku sighs. "Of course."

"So do you maybe wanna talk about it?" Eijirou presses when it becomes obvious Izuku isn't going to say anything else. "I want to help if I can."

Izuku thinks this over for a moment. While he's not overly thrilled that Ochako told Eijirou what he asked her to keep in confidence but as Eijirou knows Izuku might as well ask his opinion as Eijirou also knows Katsuki better than he does. "Okay..." he mumbles. It might not be a bad idea to get someone else's perspective...