It was official. Katsuki hated realtors. They were pushy and nosy and for the last week, they had shown him a bunch of shit he didn't want or need.

He was a Pro Hero. An alpha Pro Hero with a kick-ass public image. He was loaded. That did not mean that he wanted to live in a mansion made out of glass. That was hideously impractical, and goddammit he didn't need it.

But that's all the fucking realtors would show him. The only request he'd made was to be shown homes that weren't over-the-top and ostentatious. He wasn't even completely sure what he was looking for! But the fucking vultures had seen a big-ass wallet and decided to parade him around fucking palaces.

He was a Top Ten Pro. He'd barely be home. What the fuck was the point of a mansion if you only saw the living room and bedroom? He wouldn't even have time to clean it all.

There was one manor-style house he'd been shown, and it would have taken him a week to get from the kitchen to the dining room the place was so huge.

"I can go with you, if you want," Deku offered, calmly flipping through his paperwork. It was the end of the day, and he'd been bitching the omega's ear off about real estate for the past hour. "I know you're not putting your foot down because you're not sure what you want. I can help them narrow it down with you."

"I just wanna see some fuckin' options that wouldn't take an army of maids to clean and a golf cart to navigate," he huffed, slumping into Deku's spare chair.

"I can help," he repeated. "I helped my mom find a new place a couple of years ago, remember? They tried to show me some super fancy places, too. Until I told them that most of my personal assets were tied up in agency registration fees—"

"Not exactly a problem anymore—"

"I still know how to get them to focus," Deku told him cheerily. "Let me come! At the very least, it's a second set of eyes. And I can try to turn the things you don't like into a list of what you're

looking for!"

Katsuki squinted at him. "Fine. Whatever. Be at my place at 7."

Deku looked at him sharply, eyes wide with alarm. "In the morning? On our day off?"

"I wanna get as many fit into one day as fuckin' possible," he muttered. "I don't wanna waste any more of my free time looking at shit I don't want—"

"Fine," the omega sighed. "But you gotta get Ei to come too."

Katsuki frowned. "Why?"

Deku had the audacity to raise an eyebrow at him. "So that he can distract you while I instruct the realtor. That early in the morning? I won't have the energy to get the realtor to behave and get you to not blow them up. I'm only human."

Katsuki scowled at him, but dug his phone out of his pocket and fired off a quick text to Eijirou. "I'm not that bad."

Deku's shitty eyebrows raised even further. "Look, you're my favorite person. Probably in the world." Katsuki flushed but waited. There had to be a catch. "But last week, an intern dropped a pencil in front of you and you called them a brainless twat-waffle. You're amazing, but you're also a bit of a hair-trigger. I don't need to tell you that. You're self-aware."

That's true. He was self-aware. But fuck Deku for saying it anyway. Even if he was Deku's favorite person. He tried very hard not to preen at that. Obviously he was Deku's favorite person. He was the fuckin' best.

"Whatever," he grumbled. Deku smiled at him, all soft and fond. "Thanks, nerd."

When Deku showed up at his flat in the morning, Katsuki balked. He was consciously aware that Deku was perceived as cute, but he'd never really seen it. For some reason, he was pretty close to understanding it today.

Maybe it was just because he looked so cozy? He was wearing an oversized cardigan, and his hair was sticking up in all directions like he'd just rolled out of bed. He was pouting and squinting as though the light were personally offensive to him.

A wave of aggression came over him. He wanted to pull Deku's cheek off his face. So he did. "Why do you look half dead," he barked, stretching the freckled cheek to its limit while Deku whined at him.

"Leave me alooooooone," the omega whined back, slapping at Katsuki's hand. "It's too early for this, Kacchan!"

"Such a baby," Katsuki teased, dropping his cheek and smirking as Deku scowled at him. "I made you coffee, so quit whining."

"Gimme," he demanded, shouldering past Katsuki and making his way into the flat. A face full of Deku's scent smacked into him as the omega passed.

"You're not wearing scent patches," Katsuki uttered. Usually, Deku's scent was covered by his work collar or, if they weren't working, scent patches. He always made sure to at least dull his scent around others, so it was weird that he was patchless when they were gonna be meeting someone new.

"Part of my strategy," he replied, filling the largest travel mug Katsuki owned with coffee and then filling another mug for him to toss back on the spot.

"You're gonna burn your tongue, stupid!" Katsuki hissed. "I don't need tastebuds, I need coffee," Deku snapped.

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean, it's part of your strategy?" he asked as Deku drained his mug.

"I mean, it's easier to keep people compliant with omega pheromones," he muttered around the rim of the mug.

"Isn't that unethical?"

"Absolutely. But it'll get the job done, and it's not like I'm gonna flirt with the realtor to get them to join the League or something."

Katsuki bared his teeth. "You're gonna flirt with them?"

"Maybe," he admitted. "Depends on what they're like. I might pretend to be your omega so I can

play distressed when I don't see stuff I like."

He knew the nerd could be sneaky and underhanded, but it was wild to see him use his dynamic to

pull it off. And the idea of Deku pretending to be his omega was...weird. "I don't like it." "More or less than you dislike the houses they've been showing you?" Deku replied, completely

serious. Katsuki considered it.

"Less," he decided somewhat bitterly.

Deku nodded. "I'll keep it to a minimum, I just want you to get something you like."

Fuck, Katsuki was so grateful to have Deku as a friend. He didn't deserve him at all, but here the fucker was at seven in the goddamn morning, preparing to puppeteer the absolute shit out of his unsuspecting realtor.

They swung by to pick up Eijirou before meeting the realtor at the first house. Izuku peeked out the window as soon as they arrived, scoping out the violet-haired man who was leaning against an SUV, leafing through a folder of listings.

"Scent me," he said suddenly, leaning down to rifle through the bag he'd brought with him. Katsuki looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "He's an unmated omega, and he's probably looking to turn a high-end client into a high-end mate," he explained. "So we're gonna let him think we're courting, and we're gonna dangle Ei in front of him as a potential carrot."

He had pulled a sheet of patches out of his bag, but instead of putting them on himself, he threw them at Ei. "Put those on," he instructed, emerald eyes laser-focused.

"Scent patches?" Eijirou asked.

"Enhancers," the greenette smirked. Katsuki's heart thudded. Vicious had always been a good look on Deku. "Not strong ones, we're not trying to trigger his cycle. Just...make him a touch more compliant with your requests."

He'd pulled a courting collar out of his bag, and was slipping it on. Seeing it did something weird to Katsuki's stomach. It was pretty—simple green satin with a silver clasp—and it matched his eyes. Those eyes turned to him as Deku held out his wrists.

Silently, Katsuki ran his wrist over Izuku's. His eyebrows raised when Izuku started purring—a gentle thrum.

"Shut up," Deku huffed. "I always purr when you scent me. It's relaxing. Now scent my neck, too." They both blushed when Katsuki complied, dragging his wrist across Deku's pretty collar.

"You two...finish whatever this is, I don't wanna reek of you two all day so I'm gonna step out," Eijirou said, pushing open the door and escaping.

Katsuki pressed his wrist down a little harder. Both of them were purring now. "You gonna do me, nerd?"

Deku blushed violently. "What?!"

Katsuki smirked. Pervy little nerd. "Are you gonna scent me back?" Deku rolled his eyes, but lifted his wrist and pushed it against Katsuki's neck with significantly more force than necessary. The alpha repressed a shudder as his hero partner scented him thoroughly.

It wasn't weird for them to scent each other. They were best friends, and it was a comfort thing. But this felt different. In a weird way.

What would Deku be like as a mate?

He pushed that thought out of his head. It definitely wasn't his business. "Ready?" he asked. Deku nodded but didn't move his wrist. He was swiping it in small circles across his throat. He was flushed—even his freckles were darker. At least he knew that whatever the fuck was happening right now was affecting him too.

"Yeah," he uttered. "Let's go."

The realtor did not look happy to see Deku there, and Katsuki immediately knew he made the right play. He took in the way Deku's hand was curled possessively around Katsuki's bicep and his face soured.

"Good morning, Mr. Bakugou," he greeted them, stance stiff and tone almost too polite. "I didn't realize you were bringing company."

"Yeah. I wasn't happy with any of the houses your coworkers showed me, so I brought help," he snapped. Deku smoothed the hand that was grasping Katsuki's arm up and down in soothing strokes.

"We figured that we could help him narrow down what he's looking for," Deku explained, smiling sweetly. Katsuki relaxed as Deku stroked his arm—the movement almost hypnotic.

"And you are?" the realtor asked, just shy of rude.

As if he didn't know who Deku was. Deku was #8 to Katsuki's #7 in the hero rankings.

Deku's smile widened, and Katsuki's pulse went up when it grew sharp—almost threatening. "I'm Kacchan's omega," he replied, honey dripping from his tone. He said it with so much pride that it almost felt real. It made his stomach feel all weird and fluttery. Like he might puke. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. I don't think I caught your name?"

He introduced himself as Mr. Watanabe, and Deku shook his hand cordially before passing him along to Eijirou. "I'm Kirishima," he said, sticking his hand out. The realtor went stiff for a moment, before blushing.

"Of course, the indestructible Red Riot. Pleasure to meet you," he crooned.

"Kiri's planning to start house hunting soon, so he's also here to get a feel for the process," Deku explained, same sweet smile on his face. Katsuki was probably the only person on the planet who could detect the twinkle of triumph.

"We'd be happy to help you with your own search when the time comes, Mr. Kirishima," Watanabe smiled.

Eijirou gave a sincere smile. "I'd really like that. Bakubro's been having trouble with other realtors, but you seem like you're really good at this!"

Watanabe blushed, and Katsuki could see why. He'd only ever seen Eijirou turn on the charm like that when he'd briefly dated Denki in high school—and that had been without the scent enhancers. With them, he was basically a weapon.

The implication was clear. Do a good job for Katsuki and his omega, and you'll be the person I go to for my house-hunt. That opened the door for referrals to the rest of the Demolition Squad and their UA peers. The destructive members of Class A were infamous and loaded.

"We'll see what we can do," he agreed with his pretty smile. "You didn't give us many criteria—" "I said nothing more than two stories," Katsuki huffed, turning to look at the house in front of him.

"This has four."

Watanabe fidgeted. "Well, we can narrow down your criteria this way. We can tour the place and

see what features you do and don't like and narrow your options from there."

"To be really fucking clear," Katsuki sneered. "I don't like gigantic houses that'll be impossible to maintain on my own. I just need enough for two people at most. Deku doesn't even live with me yet."

The realtor swallowed thickly and nodded, opening his little black padfolio and scribbling notes in the margins of the listing flyers. "I'll make sure we find something more suited to your tastes," he

promised.

"We really appreciate it," Deku simpered. Katsuki suppressed a grin. Good cop, bad cop. He was making it clear that he was the more reasonable and friendly of the two of them—even if he'd put a damper on the realtor's plans.

They toured the house, and Katsuki marveled as he watched Deku go to work—listing off all the features that seemed to be up Katsuki's alley and making sure the realtor scribbled them down.

"Don't you think it would be nice to have a home gym? Look at the size of this kitchen! You've always wanted marble countertops—remember the ones in Momo's place? You were drooling over that kitchen for weeks. Twelve rooms is a bit much don't you think? I think we'd—sorry, you'd be fine with a couple guest rooms, but this is really too much. Look at the size of these closets! Big closets are a must don't you think? That way your mom can send you as many samples as she wants and we—sorry, you—won't run out of room!"

Deku was an amazing actor. He played lovesick courted omega frighteningly well—intentionally slipping up and using 'we' in every other sentence and clinging to his arm excitedly as he pointed out new things.

Some of them were Katsuki's preferences, and he made sure to enunciate those loudly—practically yelling about the things that Katsuki wanted so that Watanabe would note them down.

Then there was the quieter mumbling—the things that Deku liked for himself that he couldn't help but voice out loud. It was one of Deku's most endearing traits. His inability to keep his mouth completely shut.

"Oh, wow, a library. I should get something like this, it would be perfect for displaying my merch collection," he'd murmur under his breath. Katsuki agreed with that—he had merch too, after all. He mentioned it to the realtor as a bonus, not a must-have.

"Oh, that's pretty," he whispered, tilting his head as he glanced at the accent walls. "I should do something like that. The colors are nice, don't you think?"

Katsuki shrugged. Home decor wasn't really at the top of his priority list, but he supposed it was aesthetically pleasing.

"Oh, the balconies are nice," he cooed. "Imagine eating breakfast out on one of these during an off- duty day."

It went on and on, from house to house until Katsuki miraculously had a picture of what he wanted in his head. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen anything that fit the description. Although, thanks to Deku he was getting warmer.

At the end of the day, they hadn't found the right place so they called it quits. "We can reschedule for next weekend if you'd like," Watanabe offered. "I think you made some great progress! I have a much clearer picture of what you want now."

Deku squeezed his arm, and Katsuki took it as both a congratulation and a very subtle 'I told you so.'

"I'll be out of town next weekend, but I think Kacchan can probably handle it," he replied, grinning. "And if not you can always FaceTime me, right?"

Katsuki huffed a little laugh. "Sure, baby," he said, only realizing what he'd said a full five seconds after. Deku's entire face had gone pink and Eijirou was wheezing somewhere behind him. He valiantly kept himself from flinching even as his ears burned. He had not meant to throw in a pet name. "Works for me."

Katsuki dropped Deku off first, smiling as the omega clambered out of his car. "Thanks for today, nerd."

"No problem! It was fun," Deku assured him. "And you've got a super solid foundation now!"

"It was very informative," Eijirou agreed from the back seat. Katsuki assumed he was referring to the fact that Deku was willing to dangle him like a piece of meat in front of his adversaries.

"Seriously, nerd. I owe you one."

"Fine," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. The motion drew Katsuki's eyes back to the courting collar—smooth, satiny emerald green that was still drenched in his scent. "You can buy dinner tomorrow."

Right. Tomorrow was movie night, where they'd probably be watching every single All Might film in existence. Again. "Fine," Katsuki agreed.

Katsuki waited until Deku was safely inside the building. Just because Deku could absolutely handle himself didn't mean he shouldn't take precautions. It was literally his job to watch Deku's back.

"Baby," Eijirou muttered incredulously. "You called him baby." "Shut the fuck up."

"Dynamight, a Mr. Watanabe is calling your personal line. Should I patch him through?"

Katsuki was on patrol, and it was painfully dull today. Not even a kitten to save from a goddamn tree. "Yeah, sure. Might as fuckin' well."

The operator laughed but connected the call before Katsuki could bark at him for having the audacity to laugh at him when he was already agitated. He should clock that shitty extra in the head with his stupid-ass computer.

"Mr. Bakugou?" Watanabe called, interrupting his somewhat violent train of thought. "The hell do you want?" he snapped.

"A house just went on the market—but it's in an incredible location and there are already offers on it. But it fits most of your criteria! You need to see it."

Katuski's heart raced. "I'm on patrol for two more hours."

"I can schedule a viewing for seven, would that work?"

"Sure," he agreed quickly, shooting a text to their office manager to let her know that he'd be

completing his paperwork in the morning before his shift started. "Hey, uh...thanks. For being on top of this. I appreciate it."

Watanabe chuckled. "Just remember that when your friends start house hunting, Dynamight."

He spent the rest of his shift practically vibrating in anticipation. He hadn't seen the place yet, but the realtor sounded so excited about it. This might finally be it. He might never have to look at another realtor again.

When Watanabe took him on a tour of the house, Katsuki felt it in his goddamn bones. This house was his. As he walked through the rooms and half-listened to the realtor-babble that was spewing from Watanabe's mouth, he could see each room exactly the way he wanted it.

They walked into the last room—a room lined with shelves that were temperature-controlled. "It says here that it's hermetically sealed—the last owner was a collector of pre-quirk comic books, so he'd built a library. I overheard Mr. Midoriya mentioning—"

"Stop," he said, holding up a hand. "Call the owner. Tell them I'll offer double their highest offer."

Watanabe's eyes bugged out of his skull. "Double?" he asked incredulously. "Are you sure? That's significantly over market value and it's expensive to begin with—"

"Listen to me," he said, staring Watanabe down. "Whatever it takes. Place what you think will be a winning bid, and if someone goes over me—fucking raise it. This is my home."

Watanabe smiled at him, hesitant but pleased. "Yes sir!"