*Izuku*

Izuku didn't know what he was doing by suggesting they cut his hair. He just knew he didn't want the day to end just yet. He had seen Katsuki be soft, kind, concerned, blushing maybe. It was like he had finally become a normal human being in front of Izuku, instead of a wall.

Plus, Katsuki had touched his hair, and it felt so good to have hands run against the back of his scalp other than his own. Confronting Katsuki about it would of course result in a huff, rudeness, and some half assed explanation that his hair was long. And what better excuse to use than his hair was long, so they could go to Kirishima and they wouldn't have to split up.

Shouto calling at precisely the wrong moment, or maybe the right moment, felt like a reminder that Izuku belonged somewhere else, to someone else. Because there was a moment when Katsuki was looking at him, and it felt like a wolf, finally bowing his head and allowing someone to get close to him. A form of submission.

Saying "I love you, too" while looking at Katsuki was an unconscious decision. Izuku could see the walls being rebuilt, see the wolf rise from submission and immediately raise his haunches. He didn't like it, Katsuki. He didn't like those words or he didn't like Izuku saying those words while looking at him.

There was a moment when it looked like Katsuki wanted to kiss him, but Izuku juggled the idea in his mind and dismissed it as being absolutely ridiculous. He hated Izuku. He hated Izuku enough to say a blunt 'No' to Izuku's question on if they were friends. Yet somehow, they sat and ate together. It kind of looked like Katsuki had short circuited, as though no one in his history of knowing people ever asked him that question.

Sometimes, Izuku did think he was blushing. His arms were crossed firmly in front of his chest, but his neck would flush, and his eyebrows would furrow to a painful looking pinch on his forehead.

He replayed the moments in his head because he was studying Katsuki. He was interesting, like an angry feral cat- more like a wolf really, but much cuter than a big wolf sometimes- and he needed careful attention, movements, a particular environment and way of which to speak to him, so he didn't spook and clam up; teeth bared, ready to hurt the helping hand that wanted to get to know him.

When Katsuki's fingers had cupped the back of his head and passed along his scalp, he had to bite the inside of his cheek because the noise he almost made would have definitely made him run away, or hurt him.

And he hadn't flinched at the contact because all evening, he had wanted him to touch him. He wanted the soft and firm contact across his wrist. He knew touching Katsuki's shoulder earlier was a risk, that Katsuki didn't like people to initiate touch, let alone Izuku of all people, but he was prepared for the inevitable smack of his hand, but it didn't come. He had flinched then though.

Since then, he had made up his mind, if Katsuki touched him, wrist, shoulder, whatever, he would not flinch. He needed to show Katsuki he was okay, he was safe, he was friendly. Otherwise, just like a distrusting, abused, aggressive pup, he would distrust the world and take longer to warm up to Izuku.

Again, Izuku didn't know what he was doing. He truly did crave a friendship that wasn't linked to Shouto, and this was it. Katsuki and Kirishima at least. Because they were on their way there, and Izuku inexplicably wanted to put his hand on the back of Katsuki's which was resting placidly on the automatic shifter.

"I took you for a manual guy." Izuku said, speaking without having formed the thought.

Katsuki looked at him.

"Huh?"

Izuku gestured to the automatic shifter.

"Oh. It was heavy on my ankles in the city. Sucks in traffic. I got lazy, plus, modellin' with a shit ankle sucks." Katsuki said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Izuku looked at his hand again and noticed a silver ring on his thumb, something he hadn't noticed before. Katsuki was odd with his jewellery choices, red fang in one ear, black stud in the other, silver ring on his thumb of all digits.

"Will Red Riot be open?" Izuku asked. He had seen the time, plus it was a Saturday; Kirishima was bound to be open for business, but he wanted to keep Katsuki talking. His voice had gone gravelly, like he was hoarse from yelling. Hoarse from how harshly he usually spoke. It sent a shiver up Izuku's spine, it was like listening to a growl, the kind that reminded Izuku of a playful dog.

"I messaged him to tell him we're comin'. He didn't say he was closed." Katsuki said. Izuku smiled. He was talking to Katsuki. They were having a regular conversation. He didn't call him an idiot even though his question was very obviously stupid.

"What time does he close?" Izuku asked. He turned his head to force himself to look out the window at the passing cars. He had memorized the shape of Katsuki's head by now, newly cut, Izuku could see him differently than he had known him all his life.

"Eight, but we might convince him to wrap up early if he has no appointments." Katsuki said.

"Kacchan," Izuku looked at Katsuki who's eyes snapped to Izuku before returning to the road. "It's like two in the afternoon."

"Yea?" Katsuki said. The car slowed at a light and he surveyed Izuku, his body slouched comfortably in his driver's seat, but somehow he was still looking down at Izuku with his chin tilted up.

"That's six hours later." Izuku knew his eyes were wide. He was surprised, because by his calculations, if he interpreted this right, Katsuki was okay with spending the next six hours with him.

For someone who had literally an hour ago said they weren't friends, he was being awfully friendly. He thought better of saying it out loud. He had to be careful.

"And?" Katsuki turned his head to the traffic and let the car roll forward when the light changed to green. "Got somewhere else to be on a Saturday, nerd?"

Izuku could see him smiling, lopsided, and more like a smirk, but he was smiling.

"I- no. I guess I don't." Izuku said. He passed his hand through the back of his hair absentmindedly. Finally, they pulled to the side of the street beside a meter. Katsuki, without asking, reached over and pulled the glove compartment down hitting Izuku's knees and reaching into it. Izuku heard the change, but it was muffled because he was inhaling lungs full of maple and earthiness and watching the throbbing pulse in Katsuki's neck. If he leaned forward- he shook his head.

"Sorry." Izuku pressed himself back into his seat trying to increase the distance between them.

"There you go, sayin' sorry again. For what this time, huh?" Katsuki shut the compartment door with a click, change in his fist as he looked at Izuku with those pinched eyebrows.

"I was in the way?" Izuku suggested.

"If I'd have told you, hey, find some change for me, it's in there somewhere, we'd be here for five minutes. And I can't-" Katsuki swallowed thickly, the last words of his sentence. "Let's go, shithead."

Izuku felt comforted that the derogatory nicknames were being peppered into the conversations, because it showed he was being more like himself. The word Deku, the last time it was said, wasn't even said in the same way. It was soft, like regret almost.

Izuku climbed out of the car and surveyed Red Riot in the bright daylight. It looked different, like an actual business. Katsuki spared Izuku a split second glance, armed the car and then strolled in through the doors. Izuku had to run to it before it closed behind him. With his friend, Katsuki was going to revert to being a feral wolf. Maybe.

"I know I told you you can just show up man, but-" Kirishima stopped talking when Izuku walked in through the door. "Oh." His eyes flickered to Katsuki whose face Izuku couldn't see, but he could see his shoulders tense.

"Sorry, Kirishima, I can come back another-" Izuku started. Kirishima's hands flew up and his face broke out into a wide grin.

"I like giving this fucker a hard time, I didn't know that he had company ." Kirishima looked at Katsuki again and was unfazed by the absolute murderous aura that oozed from him.

"Sorry, bud." Kirishima said to a man who was looking bewildered in the chair at the station Kirishima was standing at. Kirishima jabbed his finger at a door to the back of the shop and stared daggers at Katsuki. "Go, wait. Be a good boy."

Izuku would have laughed if he wasn't going to follow Katsuki into a closed room. He felt like he would be susceptible to bullying if he had dared let a giggle past his lips. Katsuki didn't bother looking over his shoulder at Izuku or Kirishima as he practically stomped through the door. It was like a little kitchenette, with a small dining table and two chairs. Izuku sat while Katsuki buried his head in the fridge.

"You just ate, Kacchan."

Katsuki growled in response and Izuku turned his body to face the door. Fast escape.

"Sorry, he gives me a hard time, he wasn't tryin' to be rude." Katsuki said as he stood straight and looked over the open refrigerator door and at Izuku. He was using it as a barrier while simultaneously saying sorry ? For something that wasn't even his fault?

"Ha, look who's apologizing now." Izuku clapped his hand over his mouth. Fuck, he had broken his rule of not prodding the angry, untrusting wolf.

"Tch." Katsuki shut the fridge door and turned toward the sink, pressed his palms to the edge and leaned. Izuku watched his back muscles ripple like he was stretching. He wasn't angry, he wasn't berating Izuku. In fact, Izuku swore he heard him chuckle.

"Are you- why are you laughing at me?" Izuku asked, certain now that he was chuckling because his shoulders moved with the sound. He relaxed and spun around, then leaned against the counter, crossed his ankles and folded his arms, a broad smirk across his face and humour in his red eyes.

"Kitty cat has claws, sometimes." Katsuki's incisor glinted and Izuku wanted to punch his stupid smirking mouth.

"I am not a fucking kitty cat ." Izuku said. Somehow, that made him angry. Like all Katsuki saw him as was some tiny fluffy thing that was practically harmless. Defenseless and pathetic, or whatever kitty cats are. Katsuki's eyes had widened with humour at Izuku's reaction and he threw his head back and laughed.

"Fine. You're not a kitty cat, Izuku."

The world stopped. Whatever sound the machine was making outside, the humming of the refrigerator, the cars zooming past, all of it, his own breathing even, it had all stopped.

"Did you just-" Izuku stared at his mouth, not trusting what his ears had heard and hoping to see it on his mouth. Katsuki was frowning again, and he had gone stock still as though he had stopped breathing.

"Could you two keep it the fuck down? I'm shutting this door, I can hear your stupid flirting from out here! You're scaring my customers." Kirishima yelled and the door shut so loudly, Izuku thought he felt his ears pop. That had successfully broken the intense gaze Katsuki had taken to searing into Izuku's skull, one that Izuku had returned because he most definitely did not imagine it, he had said Izuku .

For what felt like an hour, all that filled the silence was the sound of their breathing, both men at opposite ends of the room, the sound of the refrigerator and what started to sound like rain. The blinds were shut, so Izuku couldn't tell. He had taken to staring at his nail beds and picturing different colours on his hands, because he wasn't going to look up and have a staring contest with him again.

"Kacchan-" Izuku said to the table. The door flew open and Kirishima stepped in.

"Did you two just stay like this because you got scolded? Geez, you're both like children. Come on Izuku, let's get you fixed up." Kirishima left the door open and had already retreated to a clean station.

"Again, sorry Kirishima, I didn't mean to just show up." Izuku tried to explain as he sat in the chair and Kirishima pumped the pedal for him to get to the proper height.

"Man, you're still calling me Kirishima? Call me Eijirou." he said as he ran his fingers through Izuku's hair to get a feel for the length. Izuku noticed that it didn't quite feel the same as when Katsuki had done it and filed that away to dissect later.

Izuku had also noticed that Katsuki didn't follow them out of the kitchenette. And that the salon was now empty.

"Where is everyone?"

"Ah, my apprentice is coming in to fill in soon, you get me, and then we get out of here!" Eijirou said.

"Huh?" Izuku was lost.

"Listen, you need to get out of that pretty head of yours and come out and have fun." Eijirou said as he tilted Izuku's head in his hands and brushed through it.

"Out? It's like-" Izuku glanced at the clock on the wall that pointed at the 3 and 9, "almost three pm? What do you do for fun at three in the afternoon on a Saturday?"

"Well, we won't be done with you for another hour maybe, and then it might take us half hour to get to the place, by then they'd be serving their signature bar food and the music would be pumping up."

"A bar?"

"A bar."

"Okay."

Izuku felt apprehension battle with excitement. One hand, he had been drunk in front of Katsuki before. It was bad, so bad he didn't remember much of it and his one distinct memory was the feel of Katsuki's skin under his hand, and Katsuki's fingers as they gripped under his thighs before they settled under his knees as he lifted his deadweight body.

Because he couldn't walk.

Because he was drunk.

Embarrassment flooded through him. He could just not drink this time. He could focus on why he was excited. What was Katsuki like when he was drunk? Was he still angry? Would he be angrier?

The subject of Izuku's thoughts finally strolled out from the kitchenette and dropped heavily into a chair on the other side of the salon. He spun carelessly and ignored them both.

"Are you done throwing your tantrum?" Eijirou said absentmindedly. He had the clippers in his hand and was looking at Izuku in the mirror, a sly smile on his face. "You big baby." He turned on the clippers and drowned out the snarl that Katsuki fired his way. Eijirou laughed.

*Katsuki*

Fucking hell. Fucking hell! Katsuki had said it, he had been dying to try it out loud, it was supposed to be said in private, to himself, but he called him fucking Izuku, to his face.

Fuck.

He had called him a fucking kitty cat too. Katsuki could die of laughter, and he would be, if the subject of his derision wasn't himself. When Kirishima came to get them from the room, it wasn't soon enough. Because he was staring at Izuku and Izuku couldn't look at him. He had fucked it up, he was sure he had fucked it up.

He was moving too quickly. The plan was to be friends gradually so Izuku could forgive him eventually. Not scare him with careless fucking words that was uncharacteristically Katsuki. Izuku looked at him as though he was being possessed by an alien. He had stared at Katsuki's mouth for so long, Katsuki thought maybe he was drooling, or some other embarrassing thing.

But no, he was staring at his mouth because the idiot that Katsuki was, had just said Izuku. After taunting him about being a little cute kitty cat. With claws.

Katsuki spent minutes, but wanted days, drowning his face in cold water by the sink because he needed to snap out of it. He was intending on going to the bar with Kirishima, so maybe then he could relax. And hopefully, Izuku being so damned polite and kind and good would decide it wasn't for him at five in the afternoon, to go to a LGBTQIA+ bar and drink with his bully and not nearly quite a friend who was now cutting his hair.

There was no way Izuku would agree to go drinking with them after the last time he was drunk around Katsuki. Right?

With that thought to comfort him, and his face burning from the sting of cold water now dried off his face, he rejoined them in the salon and plopped into the chair. He couldn't look at Izuku now that Kirishima was there to see all his stupid awkwardness in all its glory, so he spun. He spun like a fucking toddler in a spinny-winny chair.

"Are you done throwing your tantrum?" Eijirou said, and Katsuki could see his stupid smirk in the stupid mirror and he could tell Izuku was watching everything carefully like he was studying some rare wildlife or some shit. Katsuki wasn't going to respond, he wasn't going to give Izuku any more ammunition to study him with. He would ignore Kirishima until Izuku had decided to go home. He shot Kirishima a glare as if to say " Ha, I win!", but Kirishima grinned.

"You big baby."

Katsuki spat obscenities but the words were lost in the steady buzz of the clippers. Izuku was smiling.