The press conference was an absolute nightmare. Not in the sense that their plan was a bad idea, but it caused an uproar about how it was finally time the two came forward with their relationship and the public was celebrating the fact that the hero duo were finally open about their courting. It was all nonsense though, they were never secretly courting, but they decided to roll with it and pretend that was what happened. It blew the rumors of the pregnancy scandal out the water and that Alpha was mocked publicly from then onwards. However, the press had asked during the conference if he was pregnant with Dynamight's pup which caused another riot at the conference which had them ending it early.

Now unfortunately there were still pregnancy rumors, but instead of that civilian Alpha, it was Katsuki's. Izuku did deny that he was pregnant, but the public on social media kept adding fuel to the fire the duo were unable to extinguish. Katsuki had said that as time went by and he showed no signs of pregnancy, the public would eventually give it up, to which the Omega doubted heavily.

PR suggested they go on dates and be seen being affectionate with each other in public to try and pull the public's attention away from the pregnancy rumors. Which is why they now sat at some high end restaurant sitting at a table with a stark white tablecloth, silverware and candles, surrounded by the elites of society, and dressed up in restricting clothing.

Katsuki looked as though he was seconds away from exploding. "Kacchan? Are you okay?"

The blond huffed out in annoyance. "Fine nerd, just don't like being made to wear a tie."

Izuku himself wasn't comfortable wearing such stuffy clothes, wishing he was in his shorts and oversized t-shirts. "Then why did you pick this place? We could have just gone to a hole in the wall place. They also serve bigger portions."

"Well shoot me for thinking that this would be the best place to showcase our courting play." The blond leaned back in his chair, the heat in the restaurant causing the sweat to drip down his neck. "Damnit, if I get any hotter, my scent patches are gonna come off."

"I'm sorry Kacchan, I didn't mean to get you mixed up in my problems." He looked down at his hand that lay on his lap, his scent souring.

"Oi oi oi! Don't fucking say that! Look at me nerd." He sat forward, putting his hand over the table with his palm facing up, the blond silently asking the Omega to place his hand there. He hesitated momentarily before reaching up and placing his hand in the explosive hand before looking up into carmine eyes. "I chose to do this. You are my partner, and I will always have your back."

Izuku felt his heart swell with warmth the same time his chest clenched in pain. He knew his childhood friend meant they were platonic partners. He would never dare to hope for more. "Thank you Kacchan, it means the world to me." He gave a gentle squeeze to Katsuki's hand. "I have your back as well, always."

The Alpha huffed with a smirk on his face. "I know you do, just don't forget that I do."

Izuku had an idea, it hit a little too close to home because it was always things he dreamed of, but he thought why not use this opportunity to play out those dreams, even if they weren't real. "Kacchan?"

"Yeah nerd?"

"You know, I was thinking now. These kinds of scenes aren't really our thing, and I'm kind of worried our fans would realize that, so why don't we rather go on fake dates to places we would actually enjoy. Maybe we can take turns going to our favorite places, that way it would be more believable and we would get to have actual fun instead of torturing ourselves." He nervously fidgeted with his free hand on his lap, biting his lip slightly while waiting for an answer.

The look on his partner's face was somewhat unreadable, he could only make out a slight hint of curiosity on his face. "You know what nerd, I think you're right." The blond let go of his hand to stand up, Izuku feeling bereft of the contact. "Why don't we blow this joint and go get some proper spicy shit?"

Izuku stood up to join the blond. "Let's do that" The smile on his face was the only thing protecting his heart. "Although maybe not too spicy…"

They were now sitting at a hole in the wall restaurant with their blazers hanging over their chairs, ties in their pockets, sleeves rolled up and top buttons was a nice cool breeze coming in from the window next to their table, but it wasn't enough for Izuku.

"Oh my god! Kacchan! I think I'm dying!" His face was firetruck red, sweat rolling down his face in droves.

His insufferable hero partner was sitting across from him, guffawing with his hand to his stomach.

"Shut up Kacchan! This stuff is really spicy!" He picked up his glass of water to take a sip only to have it snatched out of his hand by the grinning blond.

"Nuh uh idiot! You know the rules, no drinking until the bowl is finished." He set the glass far from Izuku's reach.

The greenette whined pitifully. "It's not fair! My mouth isn't made of steel like yours is!"

"Ha!" The indignant shout was loud as the blond scowled at the Omega. "I don't have a fucking steel mouth! I just have better taste than you Deku!"

"I find it really hard to believe you have any taste left after eating this." He leaned his forehead on the table and groaned. "Kacchaaaaaan… I'm dying…"

"Tch!" The Alpha held up his hand to signal down a waitress and ordered a tall glass of milk. "You are such a baby, can't believe the public thinks you're ready for a pup when you still act like one."

Izuku tilted his head up slightly to level the Alpha with a bland glare. "I'll have you know that unlike a certain Alpha that I know…" The look becomes pointed. "...I don't whine like a pup for injections."

"Hah!" Katsuki' voice rose above the rest of the hub bub in the restaurant, causing gazes to flit their way.

"Kacchan! Keep it down! We don't need to make a scene!" The Omega whisper yelled.

"I do not whine like a pup!" The volume was a tad lower this time but still loud enough.

"You do realize that they can hear you saying that right?'" A viridian eyebrow lifted in mock. "You basically giving them something to make rumors with"

"Then stop talking shit Deku." He leaned closer, his eyes turning into slits as he glared at the greenette. "You're the one always saying the weird shit. It's not my words that end up in the media."

"That's because you always react so loudly to whatever I say, loud enough for the world to hear. I'm not the one raising my voice." The look he gave dared the blond to deny it.

"Tch!" He leaned back over his bowl to slurp in another feeding of the spicy noodles, Izuku grimacing at the reminder of just how spicy it was. It was then that the server came back with the milk to which he gratefully accepted and guzzled down as fast as his mouth would allow him.

It had been the Alpha's idea to come here and see who could handle the spiciest noodles the place could make, forgetting how he was no match for the explosive blond. He was driven by the goading look he was given, competition rearing in his veins and helping him forget about the fight that his mind was having with his heart. However, now that the conversation was dying down and the burn was somewhat being relieved by the milk, his mind seemed to be losing the battle as his heart continued to batter at his defenses. Too bad his heart didn't seem to realize how useless it was to yearn for his hero partner.

He knew this charade wasn't going to be easy, he knew it was going to hurt pretending he had something he wanted so badly but would never get. If only he had the courage to be forthcoming with the Alpha, but his fear of losing the friendship he had with him far outweighed his need to have the blond in any other capacity.

He was interrupted from his dismal thoughts by the blond. "You okay there nerd? Was it too spicy? Does your stomach hurt?"

The look on his face showed real concern which only hurt him more, knowing that it would be ruined if he had to say anything about his feelings. "Yeah, my stomach does hurt a little bit." He used the blonde's question as an excuse for the souring of his mood.

"Well I'm done, why don't we grab some stuff from the convenience store for your stomach and head back home?" Katsuki pulled out his wallet to start counting out the yen needed to pay the bill.

The word 'home' made his heart beat painfully. Yes, they shared a home together, but not in the way Izuku wanted them to. Eventually they will go their separate ways when the blonde found a mate and wanted to start a family of his own.

"Izuku?" The use of his name caused him to startle, looking at his friend in question.

"It must really hurt if you're crying about it." He hadn't noticed he was until it was brought to his attention, reaching up to wipe the tears away hastily.

"Ah…um..yeah…" His voice faltered.

After setting the yen on the table, the blond stood up and walked over to the Omega's side. "Need help there nerd?" The sincerity in his voice cutting that much deeper with the Alpha none the wiser.

He shook his head, covering his pain with a smile. "I'll be okay, maybe I just need to take a nap." Standing up to make his way out of the restaurant with Katsuki.

When they had made it into their apartment, Izuku was quick to run to the kitchen, grabbing the milk out of the fridge and drinking straight from the carton.

When Katsuki caught sight of him after taking his shoes off at the genkan, he was quick to yell at the Omega. "Oi nerd! Use a fucking glass! You ain't the only one who uses the milk!"

Izuku didn't pause his drinking while side-eyeing the explosive hero.

"For fuck sakes! You really need to increase your tolerance levels, otherwise you'll never catch up to me." He walked into the kitchen to lean against the counter, a smirk playing in his lips.

Gasping for air as he took a break from drinking, he leveled a glare at the blond. "How about you just be a normal human being for once and stop eating nuclear food."

Katsuki huffed a laugh. "Never, the shits the best."

"One day you are going to shit lava, and I will not be the one to help you with that."

With mock indignation on his face and his hand over his heart, the Alpha feigned offense. "You wound me Deku, I thought you would always have my back?"

Izuku rolled his eyes and drank from the carton again.

"Oi, don't drink too much, otherwise you gonna get the farts again…" The milk Deku was trying to drink in, suddenly spluttered out through his nose. "...and I don't think I can handle wearing another gas mask for 3 days again."

Grabbing the bridge of his nose and applying pressure to try and stop the burning sensation. "Kacchan!" His face had turned a scarlet so deep, you'd think he could fry an egg on it. "I thought we agreed to never bring that up again!?"

"Uh, you promised not to, I never promised anything." The mischievous look on his face gave the warning that he was never gonna let go of that incident. "I still had to lie through my teeth for you and told everyone you were at home sick with a summer cold." The chuckle that followed showed how much he enjoyed tormenting the Omega.

"Kaccaaaaaan!" He groaned, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

"Oh come on nerd, I've seen worse come out of you than that before."

"KACCHAAAAAN!" The nickname came out with a squeak.

The blonde chuckled at the Omega, causing the smaller man to hide his face in his arms, the heat in his face refusing to calm down. "Don't Kacchan me, you know it's true." He pushed himself away from the counter to stand in front of his hero partner. He took the milk carton from his hand and set it on the counter. "How is your stomach feeling now though? Still in any pain?"

When Izuku peeked out from behind his arms, the look of concern on the Alpha's face melted away any embarrassment he was feeling. "Yeah, it feels better now, thanks Kacchan."

"Well I still think you should take an antacid before going to bed." He rummaged in the packet from the convenience store and pulled them out. "I'll get one ready for you, want to go put on a movie for so long?" He tilted his head slightly to the side with the question, the sight causing butterflies to erupt in Izuku's stomach.

"Um, yeah, I'll do that." He had to look away before his emotions got out of hand again, not willing to risk another crying session.

The Alpha reached his hand up to ruffle viridian curls before turning away and getting a glass out of the cupboard.

A blush was forming on freckled cheeks, different from the one of before. He sighed before making his way to the living area to select a movie from their collection to put on. As he was putting the disc in, he heard Katsuki walk into the living room. "Here ya go nerd, when it's finished fizzing, drink it quickly."

Izuku turned around to take the glass from the Alpha. "I hope you don't mind that I chose 'Guardians of the Galaxy'?"

The blonde flopped down on the couch and grunted out a reply. "Sounds good Deku."

Quickly downing the fizzy antacid, Izuku made his way to the couch and took a seat. He leaned over to put the empty glass on the coffee table and grab the remote. "Thanks Kacchan."

"Sure thing Nerd." He grabbed the throw blanket and tossed it over the two of them, the Omega starting to purr with the warmth radiating from the blonde.

They sat there for a while with the movie playing, but Izuku couldn't quite get his mind to focus on the movie. It was somewhat stuck in the endless loop of back and forth thinking regarding the 'fake courting' they were acting out for the public. Yes it made it easier that close friends and family knew the truth, allowing him to vent to his friend Ochaco. He still remembers that conversation vividly.

He had shown up to her apartment with Mochi as a peace offering because he knew she was going to lose her shit with him. When the door opened and she eyed the Mochi in his hands, the first words out of her mouth were. "What did you do now?"

He gave her a sheepish look as his neck shrunk into his shoulders. "Hi there Ocha, how are you?" His voice was squeaky with guilt.

She sighed and stepped to the side to let him in while rolling her eyes. "Just get in here and tell me what's going on so I can finish floating you to oblivion and I can get back to my drama. You lucky my mate is not here right now, pretty sure he will lecture you as well."

He stepped in and toe'd off his shoes before stepping into the living room with the brunette following him. "It's not that bad this time. In fact it will get me out of that whole pregnancy scandal."

At the mention of the sandal Ochaco gave him a suspicious look as she sat down on the couch. "What did you do? Don't tell me you decided to get hitched?"

He sat down next to her after putting the Mochi on the coffee table before waving his hands to dissuade the notion. "No! No no no! I did not get married!" He bit his lip as he scrunched his nose. "Well sort of."

"What!?" The shrill screech that came from his fellow Omegas mouth just about deafened him. "Who?! You can not be serious Zuzu! I know you don't like anyone enough for that!" She stopped herself as a thought crossed her mind. "Well except for Mr. Explodio…" She whipped her head to look him in the eyes. "It's Katsuki isn't it?"

Izuku knew she would figure out most of it before he could explain, but he decided to let her go off instead of interrupting. He needed to wait for her to allow him to explain himself. "Well it's not quite as you imagine it." He took a deep breath before explaining. "Kacchan and I are fake dating to try and help me from getting any more creepers making weird and false claims."

The shock on her face was palpable. "Does he know how you feel about him?"

"No, and I won't tell him either. I don't want to make this difficult on him." Looking down to his fingers fiddling on his lap and sighed. "I can't lose him."

"Izuku! What were you thinking!?" She sat closer to grab his hands. "What if he finds out anyway? Then what?"

Izuku felt the tears start to gather at the corners of his eyes and he let out a little sniffle. "I just have to be very careful that he doesn't find out."

"Oh gosh Zuzu." She pulled him into a hug, releasing calming pheromones to try and calm the distressed scent coming from the viridian haired Omega. "Why didn't you come to me first before thinking of doing such a crazy thing Zuzu? I'm sure we could have come up with a better plan, or maybe even found someone else."

He pressed his nose in the crook of her neck, soaking up the calming and familial pack scent. "It wasn't my idea, Chaco. It was Kacchans, and it didn't seem as though he would take no as an answer. You know how protective he is."

This caused the brunette to pause, pulling back to look at her friend. "Have you ever thought that maybe the reason he acts like this is maybe because he feels the same way about you as you do about him?"

Izuku huffed out a quick laugh to hide the hurt that shot through his system and rubbed his eyes to clear the tears. "I very much doubt that, he has never said anything and he doesn't treat me like an Omega he wants to court."

Ochaco let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We all know how emotionally constipated the hot head is, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even understand how he feels about you." When she leveled another look at him. "I honestly think you need to come clean with him. You can't keep doing this to yourself every time." The look in her eyes now was of worry when she spoke next. "Izuku, if this carries on, you could go into drop, you do realize this right? If you keep staying so close to him and your feelings don't move on from him, it will hurt more each day. I know I told you this when you moved in with him, and I don't see you getting over him like you said you would. To me it looks like it's getting worse, not better."

The greenette looked away in shame, his voice soft. "I honestly thought that if I was around him more, that I would get used to him and the feelings wouldn't feel as intense as before."

The brunette sighed again. "Izu honey, you need to be careful, please. You are my best friend, I want you to be happy." When he glanced at her face, the look was imploring and sympathetic.

"I know Ocha."

"Deku?"

The call of his nickname brought him out of his rumination of the past conversation. "Hmm?" He turned head away from the TV to see a concerned expression on his hero partner's face.

"I've been calling you for a bit, are you sure you're okay?" The blonde lifted a hand to press it against his forehead. "Izuku! You're burning up!" He jumped up and reached for his phone. "I'm going to phone Auntie."

Izuku quickly reached out and grabbed the Alpha's wrist. "No!"

Katsuki paused, turning to give Izuku a questioning look.

"I mean I'm not sick…" His face flushed in embarrassment. He knew he had been feeling symptoms since this morning, but he was doubting it because it was still two weeks too early. "I think…I think I might be going into an early heat…"

The tips of the Alpha's ears turned red and he stuttered. "O-oh… Um… Well that um… Explains why you smelt… Ya know, sweeter…" He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you…?"

The Omega felt his face flush an even brighter red, pretty sure his skin was melting off. "Oh! No! You don't have to do that!" He let go of Katsuki's wrist like it was on fire.

"Oi! I didn't mean that you stupid nerd! I mean do you want help with getting to your room…" He glanced away before leveling the Omega a look of determination. "And I could get you things you need and so on, ya know, help you stay fed and hydrated."

The warmth that bloomed in Izuku's chest made him feel hot all over. Kacchan wanted to provide for him during his heat. He had never done that before. He didn't know if he should accept or not, he didn't want to cause any misunderstanding, not sure what he would let slip loose while under the influence of his heat. "That's alright Kacchan, I'll ask mom to help me, you don't need to go out of your way to do something you don't want to."

The Alpha huffed and glared down at the Omega. "Since when do I do or offer to do anything I don't want to do?" He leaned down to put his arms under Izuku's legs and behind his back, causing the Omega to let out a surprised squeak. "Don't take me for a fool Deku."

The warmth in his chest was now joined by a fluttering as they made his way to his room. "Kacchan! I can walk you know!"

"Sure sure nerd." Katsuki gently set down the greenette in his nest. "Stay here, I'll get you some water."

With that he left Izuku to stare at the empty space where the Alpha stood, his mind reeling in protest at the sudden development that just happened. Kacchan wanted to help him? Didn't offer because he felt obligated to. He didn't want to get his hopes up, he doubted the Alpha felt the same way he did, maybe he just felt sympathetic, or maybe it's because he didn't want people to see him leave for the days his heat would play out. Yeah, it had to be that, it was all for the facade, nothing more…