Limerence
(Heroes)

The final months of Katsuki's high school career are the craziest few months he's ever known, and that's saying a lot given the sheer amount of bullshit he's been put through nearly every term since before even starting at UA. The sludge villain in middle school. The USJ attack in the first week of high school. The League's attack on the summer camp. Getting kidnapped by said League. The provisional license exam. Make-up work. That had all happened basically within a year, and things hadn't let up since then. The thing about the bullshit, though, is that he had – maybe not expected it, but at least known how to handle it.

Train. Fight. Improve. It's all he can do, and in those instances, it was all he had to do.

Much of his last few months at UA is the same in that regard. The League of Villains makes its move in January, two months after its red herring attack in Nabu City. The fight is long and hard and takes them all out of school for several days, but in the end the heroes come out on top with heavy injuries but few casualties. All Might … All Might's predicted time comes to pass, but if there's anything they've learned in the last three years, it's that nothing is set in stone. In spite of the odds, the Symbol of Peace still stands by the end of the fight.

And Katsuki …

Well, Katsuki may have been the gust that snuffed All Might's flame in their first year, but he's also one of the winds of change that ensure Yagi Toshinori's fire continues to burn on in their third.

For the first time in years, Katsuki can look at his hero without feeling the guilt that – while it had no longer threatened to consume him as it once did one dark night at Ground Beta – had continued to smolder in his chest. He almost doesn't know how to deal with the cold emptiness its absence leaves behind, but the chill is a welcome one.

Despite the League's attack and All Might's brush with death and the heavy involvement of the third-years in internships, their classwork load doesn't let up. If anything, their teachers double down on them in the wake of the attack. They aren't given a reason for the push beyond the fact they're graduating soon, but there's a consensus among 3-A that their teachers are realizing just how much academic work got pushed aside and skipped over due to the heightened villain activity over the last three years.

Between schoolwork and hero work, none of the third-years have time to breathe, let alone relax.

But throughout it all … there's Ochako. Not Uraraka – Ochako. It's been months, and sometimes Katsuki still has trouble believing it's not all a dream. In fact, she's part of the reason things haven't just been busy, but crazy.

She's also the reason he hasn't gone crazy.

If one had asked him in his first year what he thought the most significant life-changing moment in his high school career would be, he would have spouted some goddamn bullshit. 'Passing the entrance exam,' possibly. 'Earning a Sports Festival win,' maybe. 'Getting an internship with a top hero,' perhaps. 'Graduating ahead of fucking Deku,' most definitely.

Well. First-year Katsuki was an overly cocky, abrasive asshole of a dumbass.

Now, that's not saying he isn't still those things, but he likes to think he's gained a little bit of self-awareness in his three years at UA. He must have. After all, Ochako would never have chosen him if he still acted the way he had in their first year. He doesn't even have to guess about that – she tells him as much sometime in those early days, when he's not yet convinced the other shoe won't drop.

But weeks pass, and then months pass, and he starts to find his footing among the rocks.

Standing beside her feels like standing atop a mountain. She's a view in and of herself – a breathtaking natural beauty he finds himself taking moments just to appreciate. Strong and immovable, she's been shaped and carved by one storm after another. She's unconquerable, but whenever she's beside him, he's overwhelmed by a feeling of victory, self-accomplishment, and a certain sense of serenity.

They're not under the impression that it will last. It won't, of course. It can't. But that's months away, and there are more pressing things to worry about in the meantime.

Fearing yet another attack by the weakened – yet undefeated – League, UA publishes a false graduation date and time to everyone except the students and the students' families. It's a precaution that hadn't been taken with the previous graduating classes, and it irks Katsuki a little bit that their year has to be coddled despite the fact they're more qualified and experienced than any graduating class that came though before theirs.

That being said, the League does attack at the published date and time, and Katsuki is left wondering whether UA was coddling their students or setting a trap.

Knowing Principal Nedzu? Probably both.

The actual graduation ceremony is held after everyone from the hero courses has recovered from their injuries, and passes with little fanfare. Receiving his diploma is an anticlimactic let-down of an end to everything Katsuki's experienced over the past three years. How can one piece of paper symbolize the literal blood, sweat, and tears he'd shed on campus grounds? How can it encapsulate the bonds he had forged – however unwillingly at times – with his fellow classmates?

It can't, and it mocks him from where it sits on his lap.

A round of applause prompts him to look up, and he watches as Yaoyorozu climbs the stage to stand behind the podium. That's right – as valedictorian of the hero course she had been asked to give a speech at graduation. Ochako had mentioned she and the other girls had helped her put it together, and for once in his life, Katsuki listens intently.

Yaoyorozu takes a deep breath and gives the audience a level look before diving in.

"Three years ago," she starts, "every one of us here passed the single most defining test of our lives – UA's entrance exam." She pauses to accommodate a cheer from the crowd. "UA is Japan's pre-eminent high school for those aspiring to involve themselves in heroics. From the hero course itself, to the support and business courses, to the general studies course, every aspect of UA's culture is steeped in the long-standing legacies of its alumni: professional heroes. This is not a school one chooses to apply to on a whim – it's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream."

Katsuki remembers his resolve, remembers the anger he'd felt toward Deku when he thought Deku was doing exactly that – applying on a whim. He didn't have a quirk, and it had felt like he was trivializing Katsuki's own ambition and drive which, unlike quirkless Deku's, was serious and attainable. The truth of the matter was – and still is – that Deku's drive was just stronger than his, and that's a problem in and of itself that Katsuki still struggles with today.

"Professional heroes." Yaoyorozu's voice brings him back to the present. "Pro heroes. We hear that phrase a lot. Here at UA, we drop it in conversations like it's one of life's constants. But what does it mean?" She lets the question hang for a moment. "The definition of 'professional' is easy – it's an adjective that means 'following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain.' But what about hero? We all have different opinions about what makes someone heroic. Physical strength. Internal strength. The act of winning. The act of rescuing others. Manliness."

Somewhere in the crowd, Eijirou yelps. Yaoyorozu grins, and Class 3-A shares a laugh at his expense.

Yaoyorozu waits for the laughter to die down before continuing. "As we move forward, both in life and in our professional careers, we'll have to make a choice. What does hero mean to us? Our careers require us to be heroes to others, yes, but what about ourselves? Despite how it may seem sometimes, we matter just as much as any other citizen, and thus we need to be heroes to ourselves as well. As we go forward, I urge you to remember the kid who wanted to be where you are now, who dreamed of one day graduating from UA, and make them proud.

"I'll leave you with one parting thought," she says, meeting everyone's eyes in turn. "Heroes should be who we are, not what we do. We will make mistakes in the coming years – hell, we've already made several. But a hero who does the wrong thing for the right reason is in the moral right. A hero who does the right thing for the wrong reason, however, is in the moral wrong, and that's something we must keep in mind going forward if we are not to repeat our predecessors' mistakes."

Yaoyorozu leaves it vague, but the atmosphere in the room changes, and Katsuki knows everyone is thinking the same thing. The Hero Killer Stain may be three years dead but his ideals about the dubious morality of heroes continue to resonate with the jaded and the disillusioned. It's a sobering moment amongst the high of graduation, and it drives home what they've spent three years learning time and time again –

"I look forward to working with each and every one of you," Yaoyorozu says cheerfully. "Good luck – we did it!"

– Hero work is not for those of weak resolve.

Distantly he acknowledges the representatives from the support, business, and general education classes who also give speeches, but Katsuki doesn't listen to any of them.

He's caught up in his own thoughts.

Yaoyorozu's words resonate within his soul. Where does his decision to go to America fall? Is he doing the wrong thing for the right reason – leaving Ochako to further grow as both a hero and a person? Or is he doing the right thing for the wrong reason – going to America to grow as both a hero and a person because he can't … can't handle being in competition with Deku and potentially losing?

He doesn't entertain the thought that he might be doing the right thing for the right reason or the wrong thing for the wrong reason. There's both right and wrong here, and he can't figure out what's what.

The ceremony concludes, and this is the way high school ends; not with a bang but a whimper.

Leaving for America in August leaves him with few options immediately after graduation. His parents offer to let him move home for the intermediate months, but Katsuki flat-out refuses before his dad even finishes his sentence. Despite how it may seem, his relationships with his parents had improved tenfold after he'd moved to the dorms, and he's not about to set them right back at square one by returning home.

Not that he'd admit that.

Not to anyone other than Ochako, at least.

To everyone else, he cites the fact he can't stand the thought of not doing hero work for five months, which isn't a lie. He'd likely go stir-crazy within a week if he were left with nothing to do, which would then exacerbate the aforementioned situation with his parents, and so on and so forth.

No fucking thank you.

Some of their friends have scattered to different corners of the country, accepting offers they couldn't before with school tying them down. Had things been different, Katsuki might have been one of them. He's always wanted to work in Tokyo proper, but considering the unlikeliness that any agency would want to take on a new hire for only five months, UA graduate or not, Katsuki stays on with Edgeshot's agency instead. He's promoted from intern to sidekick, and he begins treading water as the clock counts down.

And the clock is counting down.

Time slips away from him like the scenery past the window of the bullet train on which he now sits, ever farther out of his grasp. It's nearly the end of May – he graduated two months ago, and he has only two months left in Japan before he moves on.

As a kid, a month feels like a long time. As an adult? Suddenly it's not nearly long enough.

His phone buzzes in his hand, drawing his empty attention away from the window and the future rushing into the past. The sensation grounds him in the present, and he takes a deep breath as he re-centers himself the way Edgeshot taught him to.

He opens the messaging app, ignores the text from his mother and the former Class 3-A group chat he keeps muted for a reason, and goes straight for the only message that matters.

You gonna be on time today, or did you get out late?

A smile creeps across Katsuki's face as he reads and rereads the text. He hides the expression behind his hand and texts back with the other.

I'm on time today. I'm almost there.

Cool! I am too. See you in a little bit!

The train pulls into the station a minute later. Katsuki hops off and immediately starts walking – he's meeting Ochako for dinner, and for once, he's actually on time. She is too, and that almost never happens these days, so he's going to make the most of it.

His heart leaps when he sees her standing outside the restaurant they often frequent. She's dressed casually in a pink skirt, grey chucks, and a grey hoodie, her hair tied up in a loose ponytail. Despite the dawning twilight, she's got reflective aviators settled over those brown eyes of hers. As hot as the look is, he wishes he could see her eyes.

He loves her eyes.

She grins and waves when she sees him, and his heart stops for a solid two seconds before picking up again. They've been together for five months, and the way his stomach still flips at the sight of her makes him wonder if she can activate her quirk just by looking at him. He asked her, once. She only laughed in response and hadn't given him a proper answer.

"Hey, you," she greets him when he gets close. Bouncing up on her toes, she presses a soft peck to his cheek. He wants to turn and grab her lips with his own, but they're in public and – as much as he wants to show the world he's hers – that's not something he's comfortable with.

But Ochako knows this, and she doesn't push it. She steps back and takes his hand in hers and this … this he can do. He laces their fingers, leaving her pinky finger to float on the outside. She grins up at him, and the corners of his mouth twitch into the smile he reserves for her and her alone.

He pushes all thoughts of his departure from his mind. They don't matter now. The only thing that matters in this moment is her.

"You hungry?" he asks, dragging her into the restaurant. "I'm fuckin' starving."

She laughs, somewhat sheepishly. "Me too! I haven't eaten much today …"

He glares at her as they take a seat at a table. She's removed her sunglasses, and he can finally look into those soft brown eyes of hers. "You were overusing your quirk again, weren't you," he accuses. "I saw the news updates."

"There was just so much rubble to clear!" she enthuses, ignoring his tone. "Thirteen took care of most of it, but a lot of civilians were trapped underneath it and they couldn't risk sucking people in along with the debris so I had to move it! And then move the civilians who couldn't move on their own to a place where the paramedics could get to them."

"That's not an excuse," Katsuki growls. "You need to take better care of yourself!"

"I know, I know," Ochako says, relenting. "I'm trying."

"Order the thing on the menu with the most calories, or I'll do it for you. You need it."

Their conversation breaks as they order, and Ochako takes his advice. She usually does, except for when he's being stupid. He takes her advice when she gives it too, because she almost always has a good point.

Part of him wonders how he's going to survive once she's no longer there to help him keep himself in check, but he survived until they began dating, and he'll survive afterward too.

"– tsuki? Are you listening?"

Shit. She'd been talking to him.

"Does it seem like I was fucking listening?" he asks. "Sorry, Ochako. I got lost in thought there."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he says. He's not going to burden her with his thoughts. Not now. "What were you saying?"

"I was just asking how your day was," she says. "I saw you and Edgeshot took down those petty thieves who have been giving you trouble lately."

Katsuki snorts. "Oh yeah, those guys. They were sneaky, but that's about all they had going for them."

Conversation flows easily between them, but they fall silent when their food is delivered. That's one of the best things about spending time with Ochako – they don't have to be talking all the time. They sometimes spend as much time in comfortable silence as they do in conversation.

Katsuki loves Eijirou, but the man is always talking.

… It's been a while since he's talked to Eijirou. He'll have to call him sometime soon.

"Mom, mom!" A shrill voice breaks the silence. "Look, it's Ground Zero! And Uravity!"

Both Katsuki and Ochako look over to see a young boy staring at them in wonder, his mother hovering nervously behind him.

"It sure is, honey," she says. "Come on, I'm sure they want to enjoy their meal in – peace."

But her words go unheeded. The boy runs up to the table with stars in his eyes. Katsuki looks over at Ochako, who is stifling giggles, and back to the kid.

"Oh man this is so cool!" the boy gushes. "I didn't think I'd see you here – I know Uravity works in this area but you're with Edgeshot's agency out in Kamino Ward! Oh man oh man oh man!"

Katsuki blinks. Ochako comes to his rescue. "You sure know a lot about us!" she says, grinning. "What's your name?"

The boy's eyes light up. "Tanken Haruto! I'm gonna be a hero when I grow up, just like you guys!"

But in that moment, Katsuki sees not Tanken Haruto, but himself. He sees not Tanken Haruto, but Deku. He sees the spirits of two naïve young boys, each with a dream and an enthusiasm rivaled only by that of the other, who had absolutely no clue what was to come.

"I'm so sorry," Tanken's mother says, catching up with him. "He's obsessed with the Golden Year, has been since your first Sports Festival three years ago."

Katsuki shakes the image from his brain and finally finds his tongue. "Is that what they're calling us?"

"Yeah!" Tanken says. "The largest, strongest graduating class in the history of UA! Except maybe All Might, but he doesn't count."

Both Katsuki and Ochako laugh. "What's your quirk, kid?" Katsuki asks.

Tanken grins. "Knife fingers!" A split second later, his pointer finger elongates into a wicked-looking dagger.

"Haruto, remember what I said about using your quirk outside the house?"

Tanken pouts as he transforms his finger back. "Don't."

"Come on," his mother says. "Why don't you get a photo and an autograph and we'll leave Uravity and Ground Zero to their meal."

"Oh don't worry about it," Ochako says. "We're more than happy to take a couple minutes to talk."

We are? Katsuki bites back the retort. He doesn't really mean it, after all. He might be an ass, but he's not going to be mean to kids. Not when an encounter like this would've meant the world to him when he was Tanken's age.

"Mom, could you take the picture? Please?"

Tanken's mother is already pulling her phone out of her purse. Katsuki and Ochako squat down next to the kid to match his height, and she snaps a few photos.

"Do you have anything for us to sign?" Ochako asks.

"Uhh," Tanken's mother says, searching her purse. "Here, I've got this little notebook."

"That works!"

Ochako signs a page in the notebook as 'Uravity,' and Katsuki signs 'Ground Zero' right below it. He hands the notebook back, and Tanken's mother takes her son's hand and drags him away to little protest. He's still talking excitedly until they're well out of earshot.

"I'm still having a hard time getting used to that," Ochako says. "The whole 'being recognized' thing. I'm just a country girl from Kansai!"

Katsuki shrugs. "It's great, isn't it? Getting the recognition we deserve?"

Ochako scrunches her nose, and it's adorable. "I guess," she says, "but we shouldn't be doing this for recognition. Remember Momo's speech at graduation?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

They fall silent. There's something bothering Katsuki, something about the encounter with Tanken, and he rolls some ideas around in his head as he struggles to express exactly what it is. Ochako watches him with interest as he puts it together, but doesn't say anything as she waits.

"That kid …" he says at long last, "how can he say he wants to be a hero when he doesn't know what it entails? These kids, they see us on the TV being heroic and famous and all, but … they don't know about fuckin' everything else."

Sleepless nights.

An alarm clock that reads 01:37.

The rhythmic thud of a friend's punching bag well into the wee hours of the morning.

A muted television.

"Would they still want to be heroes if they knew the goddamned truth? If they knew about the trauma and the nightmares and … and the guilt that just never fuckin' goes away, no matter how many therapy sessions we sit through?"

His hands are shaking. When did they start shaking? He's better than this.

"Are we … are we killing dumb, idiot kids though the glamorization of the lives of pro heroes?"

How many times had he almost died during his three years at UA? How many times had his classmates nearly died? Deku wrecked his bones to the point that one more hit will put him out of commission, and Glasses has had irreparable nerve damage in his arm since first year. Not to mention that one upperclassman who had lost his fucking quirk!

And that was just UA! What about Utsushimi, who had been the victim of a villain attack, knocked out and bound so that bitch Toga could take her place?

Had any of them known what they had signed up for? Would any of them have signed up if they knew what it was they were signing up for at the time?

The answer – of course – is a resounding yes, but even that in itself is troubling.

Two naïve young boys, hell-bent on a life of pain and loss and suffering in the name of glory and saving others, who had absolutely no clue that was exactly what was to come.

Ochako reaches across the table and takes one of his hands in her own, lacing their fingers. Katsuki hates admitting weakness, but it's grounding, and he's grateful for it.

She hums thoughtfully. "You have a good point," she says, "but … becoming a hero isn't a decision someone makes lightly. And even if they do, it's like. Hm." She pauses a moment as she tries to find the words. "It's like … becoming an astronaut, back in the old days. Lots of little kids wanted to be astronauts, but only the select few who knew what it took and were willing to do what it took actually became astronauts. The programs were designed to weed everyone out who weren't the best contenders."

She pokes at her cheek with her free hand as she thinks. "The UA entrance exam is hard for a reason," she says, "and you've heard the stories about Aizawa expelling students left and right – the fact that most of our class got through was really unusual. If someone doesn't have what it takes, they're not gonna become a hero. I dunno – I could have made money for my parents any other way, but I still applied to UA. There were … actually several nights that I thought about dropping out, but I didn't."

Ochako meets his eyes and shrugs. "Anyone who becomes a hero wants to put themselves through what we did so that no one else has to."

Katsuki stares back at her, dumbfounded. How … does she always know exactly what to say? She's always so sure of herself, and it's a confidence he wishes he had.

"You're right," he says, steamrolling over a dawning realization he's not ready to process quite yet. He pulls his hand back brusquely, but she merely smiles at him.

"I think I'm about done," she says. "Should we get the check?"

"Let's."

Another thing that leaving for America in a few short months complicated was the whole living situation thing. They were kicked out of the dorms upon graduation, and as stated before, the last thing Katsuki wanted to do was go live with his parents again. But finding an apartment for that short a time would have been painful, and then he would have had to move out and … it was a mess.

So that's why Ochako offered to let him stay with her until he left. Well, that and the fact that she'd save money on rent with the both of them living there. Katsuki wasn't about to say no – especially when it meant staying out of his parents' house and spending more time with Ochako.

And that's how he ended up here: letting himself back into Ochako's apartment after having gone for his morning run.

The apartment is essentially silent upon his return; the only sounds are the hum of the air conditioning and the rumbling of the refrigerator. After he toes his shoes off at the door, he can hardly hear his own footsteps.

It's barely eight o'clock in the morning and they're both on call, meaning they don't have to go into the office unless there's an incident. Ochako is most likely still sleeping – she's the night owl to Katsuki's morning bird, but they make it work. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but Katsuki's favorite part of his morning routine is taking a few minutes to watch Ochako sleep peacefully, blissfully unaware of the world around her.

It's a nice change to the wild, thrashing nightmares they both get in the middle of the night.

Katsuki putters around the kitchen and makes two cups of coffee, one spicy and one half-weenie half-spicy the way Ochako likes it. Taking a sip from the spicy one, he carries the other into the bedroom.

"Oi, sleepyhead," he calls out, "it's time to wake the fuck up."

Ochako groans and buries her face farther into the pillow. She's tangled up in the sheets, wearing only one of his old t-shirts as nightshirt. Katsuki's heart leaps the way it always does, even after all these months, and he swallows hard against it.

"No 's not," she says petulantly.

"Yes it is."

"I don't hafta go into the office today, so I refuse."

Katsuki rolls his eyes and huffs. "I make coffee, and this is what I fucking get."

Ochako perks up a little bit at that and peers at him out of the corner of her eye. "Ya made coffee?"

"That's what I fuckin' said!"

At last, she rolls over. "Fine," she says, pulling off her sleep mittens. "I'm awake. Ya happy?"

"Extremely," Katsuki says dryly as he hands her the other mug. She takes a few sips before putting it down on the end table and flopping back onto the bed.

She pats the space beside her.

"Fuck off. I'm already up," he protests. "I went for a run – I'm all sweaty."

"And yer sweat smells like burnt sugar 'r whatever," she says. "Come on, neither of us hafta go to our agencies today, can't we jus' take this time n' be lazy?"

Katsuki rolls his eyes, but he's already moving. "Fine," he says, setting his mug down on the other table. He's incredibly weak against those brown eyes and that pleading tone – not to mention that accent he only hears when she's either incredibly upset or incredibly comfortable – and she knows exactly how to use it all against him.

And he – Bakugou 'pissed-at-the-world' Katsuki – can't find it in himself to be upset about being played like a fiddle.

He lies down next to her, and she immediately scooches over to rest her head on his shoulder. His stomach flips as his arm wraps around to stroke her hair. Will he never get used to the fact she wants to be near him?

Apparently not.

She hums contentedly, and Katsuki feels whatever tension he might have been holding melting away. They've both been busy recently, so they haven't been able to find the time for moments like this. It's unfortunate – physical affection is something Katsuki never knew he wanted until he got it, and now it's one of the things he treasures most.

For all his brag about being up and awake, Katsuki finds himself drifting. He slips easily between consciousness and sleep, lulled by the even rhythm of Ochako's breathing.

"I've never lived somewhere as peaceful as it is here," he murmurs in a moment of wakefulness. His house was always a racket, what with both him and his mother living there, and then he lived with nineteen of his classmates in the dorms for three years.

The tranquility almost makes him a little uneasy.

Ochako hums against his shoulder, pressing herself closer into his side. "It's been months an' it's still weird without everyone else around," she says. "There was somethin' comfortin' about knowin' everyone was there. I dunno how well I'd be doin' right now if you weren't here."

She pauses and shifts to look up at him. "Did ya like the noise? Do ya miss it?"

"Yes," he answers without hesitation, "but … I wouldn't want it for my kids." He doesn't meet her eyes, instead staring up at an imperfection in the ceiling. "Looking back, it fucked me up pretty good in the long run."

"You … want kids?"

Of course that's what she'd pick up on. Katsuki shrugs the shoulder she isn't lying on. "I guess I just never thought that I wouldn't," he says. "And, y'know, I kinda wanted to prove I'd do a better fuckin' job than my parents did with me, but I don't know." He hesitates a moment before asking, "You?"

Ochako sighs explosively and slings a leg over his. "I wanted kids when I was younger, but when I got to UA I realized that … I dunno, it's difficult to balance with hero work, especially for women. You probably know Endeavour's the only Top Ten hero in a serious relationship – actually, I think he's the only one in the top twenty – let alone with a family, and we … we know how well that's worked out."

Katsuki winces. Half n' Half's family situation had been somewhat of an open secret by the time they'd graduated, and it … wasn't good. Katsuki supposes – begrudgingly – that if anyone deserves Midoriya Inko as a mother-in-law, he does.

They're not Top Ten yet, but Katsuki has a passing thought that if any couple could survive as a Top Ten hero couple, it'd be fuckin' Deku and Half n' Half.

But …

"What about Mount Lady and Kamui Woods?" he asks. "They're together, right?"

Ochako shakes her head. "It's all rumor. If they are together, they've never made anything official."

"Damn."

They fall silent. Katsuki basks in the feeling of Ochako nestled against his side, her bare legs tangling with his, his fingers running through her hair. The morning light streams in through the window, and it's … serene.

It's perfect.

It's.

It's what he wants.

It's exactly what he wants.

And it's exactly what he can't have.

He's moving to America. He's aiming to be a Top Ten hero. This comfort, this serene tranquility, this perfection has an expiration date. He's letting himself get too comfortable, but goddamn does he deserve some happiness in his life before the other shoe drops and it all goes to shit again.

"But hey," Ochako says, jarring him out of his thoughts, "at least it's not somethin' we hafta worry about for a while yet. We're only eighteen, after all."

"Yeah," Katsuki replies. It's not something he has to worry about for a while yet, and until that day he does have to worry about it, he'll take what he can get.

He pulls Ochako closer and presses a reverent kiss to her temple. She hums sleepily and ghosts her lips along his jawline in return. They'll have to get out of bed at some point, but … not yet.

Yeah, he thinks as he drifts off again.

Not yet.

A/N:

I commissioned strawbit on tumblr to draw the gym scene from the last chapter, and it's SO GOOD:

strawbit. tumblr post /179592099949 /commission-from-karmahope-of-their-really-cute

Thanks for your patience!