"Oh lover boy?"

Eijirou rolled over and stared at his bedroom door. He could hear Denki tapping his fingers against the wood.

"Lover boy?" Denki yelled through the door again.

"Fuckin', what Denks?" Eijirou yelled back as he rolled back over to face the wall. He heard the door creak open and was unsurprised when he felt the edge of the bed dip under Denki's weight.

"So, you came home with a boy last night?"

"Are you asking me or telling me? And you know it wasn't like that."

Denki pulled on Eijirou's arm until he got him to fall onto his back. "I don't know anything. You and Katsuki came back way before me and Hanta."

Eijirou just stared at him but Denki just smiled right back and waited.

Eijirou was the first to cave "Nothing happened, I just walked him to his room and said goodnight. Why would you think something would?"

Denki gave him an unimpressed look "Uh, I don't know. Maybe because by the end of the night you couldn't take your eyes or hands off of him and then asked him to go home early with you and then all weirdly whispered in my ear that you were leaving with him."

Eijirou's face was suddenly way too warm and he huffed at Denki's satisfied smile. "Look, he's cute but I didn't get the vibe he felt the same way at all. When we first got there I hardly touched him and he seemed kind of freaked out and he seemed like he wanted to leave until we, like, went outside."

"Okay, and then you went outside and made him fall for you with your charming smile and kind eyes and then his whole attitude for you changed."

"Shut up. That did not happen."

"Oh? So, you're telling me he wasn't wearing your jacket when we interrupted you two on the porch? And are you telling me he didn't let you rub his back for like thirty minutes on the couch?"

"Dude, don't get my hopes up."

Denki sighed "Did you atleast get his number?"

Instead of answering Eijirou just rolled back over to hide his flaming cheeks in his pillow.

"Dude!" Denki exclaimed, smacking his shoulder "You totally did!"

Eijirou felt the weight leave the bed and was relieved the interrogation was over.

"Hanta!" Denki yelled outside of Eijirou's door.

Or not. Eijirou pulled his blanket up over his head.

"What?" Hanta yelled back from the other bedroom in their suite.

"Ei got his number!"

"Good for Ei."

"Come here so we can talk about it!"

Eijirou contemplated running over to lock his door to avoid it but he knew they'd just be relentless and a locked door would do little to stop them. He decided to just get up and go to their common area. Luckily Eijirou's roommate wasn't here otherwise the poor kid would probably hate them already.

Once Eijirou settled onto the couch with his blanket wrapped tight around his shoulders he waited for whatever Denki had to ask him. He looked over at the blonde sitting on the floor in front of him and sighed. "Go ahead."

"I just want to know what your plan is."

"My what?"

"Your plan to win Katsuki's heart!"

Hanta rolled his eyes and Eijirou was glad he wasn't the only one who thought this was a little ridiculous. "There's no plan dude."

"There should be!"

"How about," Hanta cut in "you just talk to him like a normal person and see if you even like him as a friend first."

Eijirou nodded his head "Yup, good plan Hanta."

"Where's the fun in that?" Denki asked with a pout.

"I think that sounds plenty fun." Eijirou argued "Getting to know him like a normal person. He actually seemed pretty cool the little bit we did get to talk during the party. If not a little weird."

Hanta snorted. "Weird how?"

Eijirou waved his hand around vaguely. "Just like, shy I guess? I don't think he'd ever been to a party before."

Denki put his hand on his chest "Oh my gosh a baby. You're gonna corrupt this poor boy!"

Eijirou picked up a couch cushion and chucked it at Denki's face. He dodged it easily and laughed at the pink now dusting Eijirou's cheeks.

"I guess it's a good thing you creeped on his essay." Hanta offered with an amused smirk.

Eijirou cringed "I still feel so bad about that."

"Good."

Denki looked at Hanta confused. "Why is that good?"

"If Ei didn't feel bad he wouldn't be human."

Eijirou agreed but he couldn't help but worry "What if he finds out and it makes him hate me?"

Hanta shrugged "If you think it'd be better to be honest up front then tell him, but personally I don't think it's that big of a deal. It was shitty of you and I guess it depends how personal that stuff was or how much of it you read, but I'm sure he'll be understanding."

Denki barked out a laugh "I fucking doubt it! We hadn't even known him for five seconds and he called Eijirou's hair shitty! He doesn't seem like the nicest person."

Eijirou's jaw dropped "Is this not the same person you were asking me how I was going to woo?"

"Ew Ei, don't say you're going to woo him. Are you fifty?"

"That is so not the point dude."

Denki rolled his eyes with a frustrated sigh "He seems a little rude, so what? You like him right? I'm not going to judge you for falling for him. If he started being fucking mean to you that'd be a different story, but he just seems like he doesn't have a filter."

Eijirou knew his face was red again. "I'm not fucking falling for him! I just said he's cute!"

Hanta and Denki smiled at each other and Eijirou only kind of wanted to punch them both in the stomach.

"Sure, Ei." Hanta laughed. "Why don't you just take it day by day, ask him to hang out."

Eijirou sighed and leaned back against the couch "Yeah, okay, that I'll do."

…

After a day of laying in his bed feeling terrible Katsuki felt even less capable of dealing with his second day of classes. He couldn't decide if the party was a good decision or not and he just wanted to call his therapist. He knew he could but he just wanted to talk to someone in person. So he'd decided to wait until he saw Deku again and just gauge Deku's reaction to hearing about it. If it made him feel worse then he'd call.

He currently found himself awkwardly sitting on a stool in a far too empty room. It was the first time he was seeing the space he'd be working in for the next two semesters and he was actually really excited. He had a layer of anxiety behind it but he couldn't wait to get set up and get comfortable in his space.

The room wasn't that large but it had six movable walls that created 12 different studio spaces. The studio spaces weren't larger than six feet long by four feet wide but Bakugou could already picture his art hanging on the walls and himself hunched over a little table in the corner. He hoped it would be mostly independent work but he didn't really know how this professor would run the class.

His professor walked into the room just before their class was set to begin and took a seat on one of the stools by the windows. Katsuki had never seen someone look more miserable to be somewhere, this man looked like he'd never slept in his life and yet his messy hair made him look like he also just rolled out of bed.

"I'm your studio professor." He said suddenly, "You can just call me Aizawa." He stood and handed a stack of paper to a girl sitting nearest him. "Please take one and pass it around. It's a rule of the school that I have to go over the syllabus with you, but you are all now legally adults so I hope you'll do the adult thing and read it on your own because nobody wants to sit through me reading it."

Katsuki already liked him.

"Instead," He continued "we're going to learn to stretch a canvas." Aizawa walked over to a table that was already set up with supplies. "I'll give you a demo, and then everyone will be given the supplies to try for yourselves. Afterwards you can all select your studio spaces." Aizawa wasted no time with the demo and had everyone setup at tables to work.

Katsuki chose the table farthest from the group and the only other person near him was a girl who looked like she'd just walked out of a punk concert. He instantly liked her too. He had no intention of speaking to anyone but he was what Aizawa called 'a natural' at doing the corners of a canvas, so he couldn't avoid everyone's watchful eyes.

It didn't take long for that punk girl to wander over to his table. She looked bored out of her mind and lingered to his right for a minute before she finally spoke. "I can't get the corner right." She prompted, her tone as flat as her expression.

Katsuki glanced at her "Alright?"

"Can you show me how you're doing it?"

Katsuki just nodded and moved onto the next corner. He did it slowly and she stayed for the last two corners of the canvas too. When he finished that canvas she went back over to her table and got to work. Katsuki noticed when she'd finished working and looked over to see she'd done it just as well. She smirked at him and he smirked right back and happiness bloomed in his chest. This girl was about to be his second new friend.

When it came time for them to pick their studio spaces they chose ones right next to each other, even forfeiting the one with the good lighting from the windows. They didn't outright say it to each other but it seemed intentional on her part too when she flashed him a quick smile before disappearing behind their separating wall.

Katsuki hadn't brought much with him to the studio since he wasn't sure what he needed yet. It only took him a few minutes to get his stuff from his bag and to get his limited amount of furniture set up. He took a seat on his stool and scrolled through his phone waiting for Aizawa to give them further instruction.

"Alright," Aizawa called from the front of the room "for next class please have black and white oil paints and at least 2 canvases. Keep them small to start, no larger than 16 by 20 inches. We're going to start with a still life. You guys are done for today, but feel free to stay as long as you want or come back before next week. This space is yours and you have access to it as long as the building is open." With that he turned and left the room and Katsuki didn't really know what to do with himself.

Thankfully that girl popped her head around the wall.

"Hey"

Katsuki looked at her and fought back a smile. "Hey"

"I didn't tell you my name before, it's Kyuoka. Do you wanna go get some lunch?"

Katsuki could have sighed in relief. "I'm Katsuki, and sure."

Kyuoka smiled at him "Oh I know your name, Aizawa was just so impressed by your corner folding skills."

Katsuki felt himself flush "Oh shut up, he just said it was good."

Kyouka laughed and Katsuki felt more tension fall from his shoulders. Together they walked down the stairs to their cafeteria. They were fortunate that the painting department was right above it.

Only a few steps into the cafeteria and Katsuki instantly spotted a familiar head of red hair. He couldn't help his small smile. Eijirou saw him too and waved excitedly before standing from his table and rushing over to Katsuki.

"Hey!" Eijirou said with a wide smile "Do you want to come sit with us?"

Katsuki gave him a tentative smile in return "Uh," He turned to look at Kyouka "If you don't mind?"

Kyouka looked at Eijirou and then back at Katsuki before smiling "Oh, sure."

Katsuki and Kyouka grabbed some food before making their way over to Eijirou's table. He was sitting with his roommates and a girl with pink curly hair and heavy eye makeup that Katsuki definitely hadn't seen before.

"Oh! It's the feisty blonde again!"

Katsuki shot a glare at Denki. He was surprised he actually remembered their names. Not that he was going to use it now. "Oh, hi dunce face."

"Dude!" Eijirou exclaimed, but Katsuki could tell he was trying not to smile.

"What? He started it." Katsuki said as he sat next to Eijirou.

Kyuoka sat on his other side.

The girl with the pink hair stuck her hand out across the table, which Katsuki ignored so Kyouka ended up taking it. "Hi! I'm Mina."

"I'm Kyouka, this asshole is Katsuki."

Katsuki shot her a glare and shoved her a little. She wasn't wrong, but damn, they'd only been friends for, like, an hour.

He was about to snap when he felt Eijirou lean into his space. "Ha, she's funny."

Katsuki wanted to cling to the annoyance he was just filled with but it slipped away from him with every word Eijirou said.

"I'm Eijirou, dunce face here is Denki, and that's Hanta."

"Hey!" Denki cried "What the fuck!"

Katsuki smirked "It's just an accurate nickname and Eijirou is intelligent enough to value it."

Even Hanta seemed amused which left Denki to just pout and glare at them all.

Katsuki was happy to fade into the background of the noise as everyone around him talked. It was pretty nice getting to be with people like this and just be able to exist. He picked at his food and laughed quietly along with all of the idiots, but most of his attention was on Eijirou. He seemed to notice too, because he turned his attention to Katsuki.

"What class did you have today?" He asked with a small smile.

Katsuki didn't know why but it made him blush, just a little. "Painting. It's my major."

"No way! I'm in illustration!" Eijirou's face lit up.

Katsuki blinked at him "Okay?"

"Dude, we'll have a lecture together on Wednesdays!"

Katsuki cocked his head to the side and gave Eijirou a confused look.

Eijirou looked at him just as confused, "Did your professor not tell you?"

"Apparently not."

"Oh, the whole 2D department has a lecture in the last hour of our wednesday studios! It's for visiting artists to come tell us about their work."

"Huh," Katsuki was surprised Aizawa didn't mention it. Maybe it's a part of the syllabus they were supposed to read. "That actually sounds really cool."

"Yeah, and now we'll see each other there every week!"

Katsuki smiled "What's the rest of your schedule like?"

"Tomorrow I have animation, friday I have astronomy, and on mondays I have art history."

Katsuki's eyes widened "Wait, art history in the auditorium? The class at 9:45?"

"Yeah, that one. Are you in it too?" Eijirou looked thrilled by the news and Katsuki felt like it was contagious.

"Yeah! I guess I'll see you every Monday and wednesday." Katsuki felt like he'd smiled more today than he had in a long time.

"That's so cool! What's the rest of your schedule like?"

"I have drawing at 3 today, and on friday I have pre-calc and psychology."

Eijirou hummed "Pre-calc and psychology in one day that sounds terrible."

"I think it'll be good." Katsuki shrugged "I like that kind of stuff."

"Ah, like how I'm a jock, you're a nerd."

Katsuki glared at him. "I guess a person can be two things."

Eijirou smiled in return "I like how you didn't deny it."

Katsuki only huffed and turned back to his food but he couldn't hide the smile tugging at his lips.

…

The last two days of the week went by without an issue but Katsuki was still relieved to find himself standing in front of Deku's apartment. He was eager to get inside and finally talk to Deku about everything that had happened.

Once he was comfortably sitting on Deku's couch, bowl of rice in hand, he waited for Deku to ask. He knew he would.
"Kacchan, how was your first week?"

"It was good." Katsuki took a bite of his rice.

"Just good? Have you met any new friends? Or have a favorite class yet?" Deku pushed a little further. He knew Katsuki wouldn't willingly offer the information up, even if he wanted to.

"My studio professor seems cool, and I really like my psychology class. I'm looking forward to a lot of what we're going to cover. Most of my classes just went over the syllabus though so it's hard to tell yet."

Deku hummed "Yeah, I'm sure you'll know in the next week or so. How's the environment in the dorms? Is everyone scrambling to make friends?"

Katsuki shrugged "I don't really know what everyone else is doing since I have a single, but I did go to a party."

Katsuki could feel Deku's eyes burning holes into the side of his head. He didn't need to look to see the surprise on his face.

"How was it?" Deku asked, careful as always. Katsuki could translate though, and what Deku really wanted to ask was if Katsuki had a panic attack.

"It was… good. I think."

"Yeah?"

Katsuki finally looked at Deku to nod and his relief was palpable.

"You know I have like a million questions, right?"

Katsuki nodded again "Ask away."

"Where was the party? How did you find out about it? Who did you go with?"

Katsuki could have laughed "Can you ask a question at a time, jesus. It was actually in your neighborhood and one of the guys that lives down the hall from me asked if I wanted to go. I went with him and his roommates."

"Huh! Were they nice?" Deku set his bowl down and turned his attention fully to Katsuki.

"I guess. Two of them seem like idiots, but they're okay."

"And the other?" Deku looked way too invested and it was starting to make Katsuki nervous. Or maybe it was just the topic itself.

"He was nice." Katsuki shoved another large spoonful into his mouth.

"You know I won't push if you don't really want me to, but I can tell something's up."

Katsuki swallowed and looked away from Deku. "I think he was flirting with me?"

"Oh?"

"And I can't tell if I had fun at the party, but I didn't hate it. At Least not after a little while." Katsuki hoped he wasn't blushing too badly and chanced a look at Deku.

"I'm really surprised you even went to the party at all. Was it really crowded?"

"Yeah, and my skin felt like it was on fire at first, but eventually I got comfortable."

"Really?"

"Well, no. Eventually we went outside so I could have some space, and then we went inside and I tried weed and I definitely felt more comfortable then."

"You what?! Damn Kacchan, really living that college life." Deku laughed.

"Shut up, I'm being serious!"

"Wait who'd you go outside with?"

"Eijirou, uh, the kid who invited me."

"The one who was flirting!"

"I think he may have been. I'm not sure."

"Okay, why do you think he was?"

"He gave me his jacket, and he was kind of touchy."

"Woah woah woah, what?" Deku looked genuinely shocked "And you were okay with that?"

"Once I was high, yeah. But, that's kind of my issue now. I woke up and felt kind of terrible that I was okay with it and still ended up having so much anxiety."

Deku nodded his head for a minute in thought. "You probably shouldn't smoke again if that's the case. How touchy was he? Should I be concerned?"

"God, no Deku. He just like leaned on me and rubbed my back a little, and that was really just because I choked on the smoke. And I never plan on smoking again. It was terrible. Can we stop now I'm starting to feel panicked." Katsuki put his hands on his knees and squeezed until his knuckles turned white.

"Fuck, sorry. I shouldn't have asked like that. Do you need anything?"

Katsuki shook his head roughly but he couldn't speak so he probably did need something. He took a shaky breath and counted in one, two, three, four, out one, two, three, four. Over and over. Deku got up and got a glass of water from the kitchen and once Katsuki felt he could hold it without shaking too badly he chugged it.

Neither of them spoke for a while, and Deku didn't say anything about the still half full bowl of rice going cold on the table. He just ate and gave Katsuki the time he needed to gather himself. Deku's seen enough of Katsuki's panic attacks to know this wasn't anything to get freaked out over, but he also knew he had to wait to see where Katsuki was at.

Katsuki's throat was dry when he finally did speak and his voice sounded scratchy "Sorry."

"You know it's okay." Deku gave him a tiny smile

"S fucking stupid." Katsuki shook his head and leaned further into the couch.

Deku shrugged "It is what it is."

Katsuki couldn't argue with that. "I think I want him to be flirting with me."

"Can I ask?" Deku smiled again and Katsuki couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Katsuki nodded "I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't okay with it."

"So you're gay?"

Katsuki almost wanted to laugh. It seemed silly to be having this conversation now after all the things they'd been through. "I don't know, I just know what it felt like when he gave me his jacket, and when he noticed I was uncomfortable but didn't ask about it and just tried to make it better. Like, this stupid fluttering in my stomach and my chest felt heavy. That kind of bullshit."

"So, you like him?"

"I'm surprised that wasn't your first question when I said he was flirting with me."

"Well I couldn't tell if you were into it until you explicitly said you were. Plus it doesn't really matter unless it matters to you. Like, I'm really glad you told me, and I think it's important, but if you show up to my apartment with a boyfriend it wouldn't be any different than you showing up with a girlfriend. If that makes any sense?"

"Yeah, it does. Thanks."

"Thanks for telling me."

Katsuki just gave him a shaky smile.

"Have you talked to him since the party?"

"Mhm, we ate lunch together on wednesday and turns out we have some classes together so I'll see him next week too."

"You should get his number."

"He has mine but he hasn't texted me yet."

"What! What is he waiting for?"

"I don't know. Like he asked me to sit with him in the cafeteria, he didn't have to do that." Katsuki said with a shrug

"No. I'd say he's at least interested in you even if it's platonic. So, maybe just give it time?"

"I will. I mean I'm gonna see him Monday morning anyway."

"Have you made any other friends?"

Katsuki huffed "Jesus Deku, are you my fucking mom? Yes I did."

Deku only smiled wider "Well, tell me about them."

"Her name is Kyouka. She's in my studio on Wednesdays and she seems really cool."

"Kacchan," Just the way Deku said it already had Katsuki feeling nervous again "if I throw a party can I meet your friends?"

"For fuck sake. I guess? But, please don't invite too many people."

"Of course not! It'll be tiny! Plus it's only the first week of the semester I probably won't throw it until after midterms."

"Okay you fucking nerd." Katsuki said with a snort.

Deku just rolled his eyes and shoved Katsuki's bowl over to him. "Eat your fucking rice."

Katsuki picked up the bowl with a grunt and stuffed his face.

He ended up staying the night and was actually surprised in the morning that Ochako had made breakfast, even for him. He didn't want to admit it but he was starting to like her too and he'd only met her twice. Maybe he was even more desperate for friends than he had realized.