There was a knock at the door.
It was Asane.
"I want a raise," Asane said.
"Okay," Izuku said.
And that was that.
There was a knock at the door.
It was Asane.
"I want a raise," Asane said.
"Okay," Izuku said.
And that was that.
There was a knock at the door.
It was Asane.
"I want a demotion," Asane said.
"Okay," Izuku said.
And that was–
"Wait. What?" Izuku asked, catching Asane right before they left and closed the door behind them, prompting them to come back into Izuku's office.
"Yeah," Asane said. "I feel like I'm taking advantage. I don't even have to work anywhere else anymore, I'm making so much here. Then I asked for another raise and you just gave it to me. I'm making way above market rate for a healer, especially for one for an above-ground boxing arena."
"But you work every day," Izuku argued. "Not just twice a week like before. You keep everyone healthy and you do a thorough job on every single fighter. I think you deserve what you're paid. Actually, I think you deserve another raise. I'll put it in now!" Izuku said, turning to his desk and beginning to write.
"Izuku!" Asane objected with a laugh, stepping further into the office. "I ask for a demotion and you're giving me a raise?"
Izuku laughed. "I guess so! Maybe I'll add some extra time off, too! You deserve it!"
"I wouldn't ever use it!" Asane argued before Izuku could follow through with his gracious threat. "All I ever do is hang around here anyway!"
"Is that really healthy, though, Asane?" Izuku asked.
Asane gave Izuku a blank stare. "Are you really the one who can question that, Izuku?"
Izuku tried to smother his smile unsuccessfully. "Okay, no. Probably not. But my point still stands. Do as I say, not as I do?"
"Unlikely."
"You sound like Hitoshi."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Get out of here!" Izuku commanded. "Enjoy your raise!"
"Demotion!" Asane corrected as they left, closing the door behind them.
"And that's how Asane got another raise today," Izuku explained to Katsuki over dinner.
"Well," Katsuki started, taking a drink of his water before continuing. "They did ask for a demotion and you're determined to give them a raise. I don't see why both can't be true."
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"Pay them more money, but demote them in title. Like they're the healer right?" Katsuki asked.
"Right."
"Well, now they make double the money, but they're demoted to the assistant healer," Katsuki explained.
"That doesn't make any sense, though," Izuku said. "There's no other healer to be an assistant to."
"Which is hilarious," Katsuki said with a laugh which got Izuku laughing, too. "Can you imagine their face when you introduce them as the 'assistant healer' to the next group of new fighters?" Izuku started laughing harder, wheezing at the effort his lungs was putting out to keep up.
"You're a bad influence!" Izuku stated between deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"I just have the best ideas," Katsuki retorted. "It's not my fault you always take my advice."
"I am just the best at seeing reason," Izuku countered.
There was five seconds of silence where the two men stared at each other before Izuku stood up and ran, Katsuki hot on his heels. Katsuki caught him, tackling him onto the bed and digging wiggling fingers into his sides, making Izuku laugh uncontrollably and yell out that he gives up and takes it all back.
"Who is the best?" Katsuki asked. "At everything? Including seeing reason?"
"You are, Kacchan!" Izuku said, nodding frantically, hoping that it was convincing enough to avoid more tickling. "You're the most reasonable! You would never do something unreasonable… like tickle your boyfriend for saying he was the best at seeing reason?"
No such luck.
After Izuku calmed down from laughing, Katsuki argued, "I don't know how you're the reasonable one when you're the one who went charging into the Yakuza base!"
"There was a little girl who needed rescued, Kacchan! How could I just stand by and wait?!"
"We had a surveillance team that only needed two more minutes to scout the area to give us a map and exactly how many people we were up against, Deku!"
Izuku shrugged.
Katsuki's jaw dropped and he leaped for him again.
"No! No! Okay! Okay! I was reckless! Okay? I was!" Izuku admitted, scrambling away. "But it all worked out in the end!"
"Yeah. Only because you're my good luck charm," Katsuki grumbled. "Which is why I don't understand why you won't do this full time with me."
Izuku smiled genuinely, but there was a tinge of sadness in it. "I liked it–being able to help in a real hero's mission like that, but running the Pit is also something that I feel like I was made to do. How about this?" Katsuki perked up, paying full attention. "Why don't you use me as a consultant? Anything that you come across that you think could not get done efficiently without me, bring me on and I'll see what I can do."
"Yeah, that might work," Katsuki said. "Then, in a way, we can still be hero partners together. At least occasionally, yeah?"
"Yeah," Izuku agreed, leaning in to kiss Katsuki who met him halfway, who always meets him halfway.
Aldera
Katsuki's lackeys laughed as Katsuki chased Izuku, catching him easily and tackling him to the floor.
"Meet me at the park after school," Katsuki whispered in between mean taunts.
"Okay, Kacchan," Izuku said.
For all the lackeys knew, Izuku was saying okay and agreeing with the last thing Katsuki said at a normal volume, which was that he was useless and better off staying out of his way.
Izuku made a show of flinching away from Katsuki's sparking hands, but even if those hands met his skin, he knew it would feel like nothing compared to what he experienced in the Pit, so he was ready for it. It helped that Katsuki always made a big show of letting off huge sparks then dialed them down to almost nothing right before they ever made contact with Izuku. Katsuki's control over his quirk amazed Izuku.
When Izuku got to the park after school, Katsuki was already there. That was no surprise because Izuku had been held back by a teacher questioning why he was always starting fights with Katsuki and his friends. It was smoothed over easy enough by a promise to try to do better, which always worked better than trying to argue.
"Just checking in," Katsuki said as he heard Izuku approaching.
"I'm still fine," Izuku said, laying down on the grass next to where Katsuki was already laid out. "It's still working, too. My grades haven't been altered since it all started. Not even once."
Katsuki hummed. "I still don't like it."
"I know," Izuku said, turning onto his side to look at Katsuki. "I appreciate it, though."
"I don't know how."
"We've been over this," Izuku said in a soft voice. "Once we're heroes, we'll probably have to do stuff like this all the time. You know, like undercover and stuff."
"Promise?" Katsuki asked.
"Promise what?" Izuku asked, confused.
"Promise that we'll be heroes together and you'll have to suffer like this someday, too," Katsuki said flatly.
Izuku laughed. "Promise," he agreed. He hummed, turning back onto his back to watch the clouds in the sky. "Someday, we'll probably be undercover in a fight ring or something. We'll have to fight each other in front of a lot of people."
"You'll actually fight back?" Katsuki asked.
"Oh, yeah," Izuku said, promise in his voice. "With everything I have. I'll have to. It'll be a fight to the death. I won't have any other choice but to fight back."
"Who do you think will win?" Katsuki asked.
Izuku hummed as he contemplated. "I don't think it'll be so straightforward. Something will go wrong, but we'll spin it to our advantage and make it out, just in the nick of time."
"Doubtful," Katsuki said.
"What about that is unrealistic?" Izuku asked, abandoning his view of the clouds to look at Katsuki once again.
"It won't be that action-packed. It never really is–that's only in the movies," Katsuki said. "Something will go wrong, sure. Then our back-up will swoop in and take all of the action before we even get a chance."
"Good," Izuku said.
"Why is that good?!" Katsuki said, whipping his head over to look at Izuku, eyebrows furrowed with outraged confusion.
"Then I won't have to worry about you so much," Izuku said. "I'll know that our friends will have your back."
Katsuki groaned, slapping a hand to his face and dragging it down in exasperation. "You're such a fucking softie." Izuku laughed but didn't disagree. "It's not like that exact circumstance will happen anyway."
"You never know, Kacchan!"