*Izuku*

Izuku was nervous. Scratch that. He was fucking terrified.

He was still reeling from his discovery that their- Shouto's apartment was now empty. The kitchen and fridge contents remained, and appliances.

But Shouto's clothes were gone, his toothbrush, and personal items. Shouto was gone.

Seeing their previously cohabitated space devoid of either of them felt like the last hit of the nail. It was sealed. That was it. Sliding the key below the door felt pointless knowing Shouto probably wouldn't be back here either.

He got his clothes and finished early that morning, so now his duffle bag occupied a chunk of space in the living room. He had begun to browse the local papers in search of an apartment, when Eijirou was busying himself to leave. Mina had left while Izuku was out. He forgot to ask what she did for a living.

Eijirou put Katsuki on the loudspeaker and held the phone between them, though Izuku was on the other side of the room.

"Slow down, you're gonna miss me anyway. I'm almost out the door. Dude, you just gotta be prepared, right." Eijirou stared pointedly at Izuku who blushed.

"What?" Katsuki asked loudly, and there was a muffled scratching sound on his end.

"Just, bring some beer or some shit, would ya?" Eijirou raised his voice and said it slowly, grinning widely at Izuku. "I'm not gonna be here, nor is Mina."

"I'm comin' for your dumb Xbox. You should really get a Playstation, y'know. Better than this Xbone shit you got." Katsuki sounded irritated. There were more static like sounds and scraping. Izuku wondered what he was doing. "I got your key, you don't gotta be there."

"Why don't you get your own stupid Playstation, bro." Eijirou rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling with a hand on his hip.

"Then you'd never see me because I cannot stand all that animal print around your apartment." Katsuki said snarkily. Eijirou laughed and mouthed ' as if ' to Izuku who stifled a snicker.

"Good thing you don't live with me." Eijirou laughed. "Don't mess my place up, would ya."

He hung up and sighed.

"I tried to warn him." Eijirou said. "He's gonna be surprised, so I don't know man. Tell me what you told him later, because I can try to keep secrets for you, but I have Mina, and I kinda tell her everything. So I might slip."

"Don't worry about it. I'll… tell him that Shouto and I are over at least."

"Well that's a given, you're on my couch, dude!" Eijirou groaned. "I don't mean it in a bad way. I gotta go though. There's food in the fridge, or take out nearby."

"Thanks, Eijirou." Izuku sank into the couch and stared at the blank TV.

"There's also- cough - the Xbox. Games. You know. Take your mind off things." Eijirou said as he strode to his door. "Best way to get over someone is to-"

"Oh god, shut up." Izuku buried his face in his hands. He heard the door shut and finally looked up. He was alone in a strange place surrounded by a random array of his things. There was no way for him to hide his shit and vacate the premises before Katsuki got here. He had asked Eijirou to let him rent a room at a nearby motel, but Mina wouldn't let him leave.

He sat in silence for a second before he decided to distract himself with tv. It didn't work as his mind raced and paused and raced again with thoughts about what would happen when Katsuki showed up.

His heart thundered in his ears and he spun on the couch to look at the door. He watched as Katsuki paused when his red eyes found his sneakers. He saw his eyes widen with realisation before he called for Eijirou, wondering who was there.

"Hey, Kacchan." Izuku smiled, hoping it didn't look sad or painful.

"What are you-?" Katsuki looked around as he shut the door with his heel. He placed his loafers beside Izuku's and set what looked like a six-pack of something at his feet; his eyes found all of Izuku's things piled in the room with the couch.

Izuku felt his face flush and he turned away.

"I-" his voice was stuck in his throat. He cleared his throat and fought the burning in his eyes. He tried again, his voice a little strangled but clear enough. "Shouto and I broke up."

Izuku almost turned around again to look at Katsuki because the silence was so long, he thought Katsuki had silently slipped away.

"I should go-"

"No-" Izuku said too quickly. He heard soft shuffling, and for a sinking moment, Izuku thought he was slipping back into his loafers. There was a thud; it sounded like the refrigerator.

Before curiosity caused him to turn around, Katsuki sank into the couch beside him. It was a three seater couch, otherwise Izuku would have fallen into Katsuki with how squishy the cushioned top was. He looked up at Katsuki in surprise.

Katsuki kept his gaze forward at the TV before he picked up the Xbox controller that remained on the lower part of the coffee table.

"Can I play?" Katsuki gestured at the TV with his fingers. He still hadn't looked at Izuku; Izuku sank into his corner of the couch, tension holding his shoulders so tightly, he felt bound.

"Yes, please." Izuku said in a small voice. Katsuki grunted. Izuku felt guilt wash over him, he was in Katsuki's space again. "I should-"

"Stay." Katsuki's voice was hoarse, the way it would be when he yelled too much or, when he lowered it to talk to Izuku when he was trying to be gentle. Izuku felt his shoulders unwind and he sank further into the couch, feeling a familiar sense of ease he had looked forward to from being around Katsuki. A soft bubble of utter safety.

Izuku watched as Katsuki shot people and was shot more than not. He made angry noises in the back of his throat, and Izuku could tell he wanted to be louder, but he simply gripped the control tighter or sucked at his teeth when he died. The gamer's headset lay abandoned. Izuku wondered if he kept it off because he was there.

He found himself paying attention to Katsuki in his peripheral more than the gameplay and just when his nerves had wound his shoulders back up again, Katsuki looked at him as his character's dead body fell to the ground and it zoomed into the person who killed him, highlighted in a bright purple.

"Why?" Katsuki held his eyes with his own. They weren't accusatory, or aggressive. They were soft, curious.

"Why what?" Izuku blushed as Katsuki didn't blink or look away, even as explosions came from the TV and his character groaned as he died again. Katsuki rolled his eyes and turned on the couch to look at him.

"Why'd you break up, shithead." Izuku gave a shy grin. He had grown fond of the slight insults, at least when he said it in that tone.

"Do you want the long version, or the short version?" Izuku chuckled. Even as pain tugged at his chest when flashes of Shouto and his fight came back to him, he could smile while looking at him . That was something at least.

His smile faltered when he remembered that Katsuki had company last night. There was a blushing red, almost purple bruise on his neck to remind Izuku. Katsuki had tracked Izuku's eyes to his neck and his hand reached for it reflexively. A frown appeared on his face as his eyes lost focus, as though he were remembering something.

"Kacchan?" Izuku asked softly, scared to startle him from his thoughts. Katsuki's eyes sharpened as he looked at Izuku and he smiled. He didn't grin, or smirk, or sneer, but smiled. It was miniscule, almost indiscernible. But it was there.

"Was it because of me?" Katsuki asked, his voice hoarse and hushed. Izuku heard Shouto's voice echo in his head, Kacchan, Kacchan, mocking him.

"It-" Izuku felt like his voice was purposefully doing this to him at this point, failing him when he needed to be clear and confident; reassuring. He cleared his throat again and met Katsuki's eyes. "It's complicated. Short version, we don't trust each other anymore."

Katsuki nodded slowly. He turned back to the TV and rejoined a game. He had been kicked as Izuku and he talked. He sank into the couch, his hips slid forward, so that he resembled melted cheese; a frown gradually increasing as the game kicked back into full speed.

Izuku couldn't take his eyes off his neck, where his pulse throbbed below the purple surface of the love bite undoubtedly left by that man last night.

"Are you seeing someone?" Izuku asked, not bothering to pretend he wasn't staring when Katsuki glanced at him. The frown vanished and was replaced by surprise.

"It's complicated." Katsuki said after a moment. Izuku heard Katsuki's character die again with a dramatic yell of pain and Katsuki didn't look away from him. Izuku felt his legs tingle as the blood circulation was cut off from being folded under him and he uncurled his legs, pulling his gaze from Katsuki's to straighten his body and stretch his legs to the coffee table.

He heard two soft thuds, the empty space between them vibrated. Izuku looked over and saw Katsuki's palm. He looked up at Katsuki and Katsuki tapped the surface again. Then he turned back to the game and kept his gaze on the TV.

"You can put your legs up if you want." Katsuki didn't look at him. Izuku hesitated, his stomach doing somersaults. "You were facin' over here, I mean. Your body was just used to this direction and it's softer." He paused, Izuku followed his throat as it bobbed. "For your legs."

Slowly, Izuku rotated and brought his legs up to the couch and stretched them out. The contact on the underside of his thighs was much more relaxing than the empty space beneath him as his heels balanced on the surface of the table. He sighed as deep fatigue washed over him.

The heat from Katsuki's thighs warmed the underside of his feet, even without contact. Then they began to tingle because he wanted to press his feet to his thighs, to touch him. He leaned back against the arm rest and as the game sounds echoed into the room and Katsuki's occasional grunting filled the space, his eyes grew a little heavy.

"Hey nerd. Did'ya sleep last night?" Katsuki asked, jolting him to attention. Izuku smiled sleepily.

"Mmm… not really, Kacchan." Izuku tried to pull himself up, because at some point in his drowsy state he had sunk lower onto the couch and his feet were halfway onto Katsuki's lap. Katsuki caught his ankle and stopped him.

"Put your head down. I'm not goin' anywhere." Katsuki let go as quickly as he had grabbed him. Izuku's ankle tingled at the point of contact. He looked at Katsuki, hesitating. Then sleepiness grasped at his eyelids again and he sighed.

Shifting so that his head lay on the armrest, he let Katsuki guide his feet further onto his lap, and he fell asleep to the warmth of him.