Chapter 10 - It's Always Been Him

"Bakugo?"

The incredulous voice of his closest friend shot irritation through him. This alpha dared to question the worth of his chosen alpha? The quick reaction made Izuku grimace with embarrassment. Uraraka would have questions, of course. All his close friends would. Izuku also had no claim to Kacchan. It wasn't as if Kacchan was courting him.

Still, though he suppressed his irritation, he couldn't stop the little growl to his voice when he responded. "What's wrong with Kacchan?"

He saw that Tenya also looked at him with surprise. The pair had caught him in the common room as he tried to sneak through on his way to his room. Kacchan had detoured to the kitchen to store their purchases and make something for them for dinner. He could hear the cupboard doors slamming as Kacchan worked off his own irritation. He'd glared at Izuku's friends before leaving Izuku to them.

Uraraka and Tenya dragged him to the far end of the room, away from the handful of other students relaxing on the couches. There were only a few and they all watched Izuku with curiosity, but didn't pester him with questions as he passed. They probably assumed they'd hear it from Uraraka if she could pry the identity of Izuku's chosen alpha from him, though walking in loaded with groceries between him and Kacchan should have answered that question.

Uraraka held up her hands. "Nothing is wrong with him. I mean," she floundered, looking to Tenya for help.

"He is not exactly a kind and soothing individual," Tenya tried.

The omega hissed, surprised that he made that sound. Uraraka and Tenya flinched, crooning softly to him in an alpha attempt at mollifying an omega. It didn't work nearly as well as Kacchan's crooning did.

Uraraka sighed, lowering her hands. "We're not trying to be mean, Deku," she said, her vocal tone at a lower timber with the intent to soothe him further. "You two are always fighting. How did he convince you to be your alpha? You have to admit his temper and yelling, along with the way he treats you, would make us surprised you chose him."

Izuku rubbed his hands over his face. He understood their point. He wasn't so enamored with Kacchan that he was blind to how the alpha appeared to everyone. At least, to everyone who didn't know him. Izuku imagined that Kacchan's other close friends probably saw him as more. "You asked me last night if there was an alpha I was already interested in," he said, his cheeks flaring with embarrassment.

Uraraka's eyes widened. "Bakugo?"

Izuku nodded. "It's always been him. Since we were kids."

"But," Tenya said, but didn't continue. Izuku looked at his taller friend and saw the confusion there.

"We talked. I think we understand each other. Things are…good…between us. We both misunderstood the other, but it's cleared up. At least, I hope it is. It should be. He explained what he's been thinking and feeling for years. I told him what I have felt all this time. It all made sense and I'm pretty sure I made sense to him." He realized he was falling into his usual muttering pattern. After a deep breath, he looked each of them in turn in the eyes. "I'm not saying this because I don't trust either of you. Or Tsu. Or Shoto. It's just, I trust Kacchan the most. I always have, no matter how much we've misunderstood each other."

Izuku felt a twinge of guilt when he saw the flash of hurt in Uraraka's eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. "I understand, Deku," she said, attempting a smile. "And, we're here if you need anything. Or, if, uh, something happens."

Izuku loved Uraraka. She was his first friend at UA and she had been so supportive of him throughout their time. She was fun and good-hearted, as well as a ferocious competitor. She was going to be a great hero someday. He had told Kacchan that Uraraka cared too much, but it didn't impede her ability to be a hero. In fact, he thought it made her better. She was like him, in that respect.

When she got like this, however, assuming things about him or assuming she knew more about what was better for him, it stirred a little anger in his heart. He was never angry enough to yell at her – it was more a general irritation. Her assumptions about his complicated relationship with Kacchan triggered this feeling. He sighed. "Kacchan is a good alpha. I know you probably don't believe it, but he is and he will take good care of me. I believe that."

"Of course," she replied, though her tone indicated her disbelief. "I just wanted you to know that Tenya and I are here if something happens."

Of course, he didn't have the heart to tell her neither she nor Tenya were in his top four choices. Izuku tried not to laugh at the thought of something happening to Kacchan. Whether he injured the alpha (and here, he almost whined at the thought) or Kacchan just threw his hands in the air and gave up because Izuku was too much of a handful, Uraraka and Tenya would be hurt to find out they weren't on his backup list.

"I appreciate it," he said instead, choosing to keep peace with his friends. "Mr. Aizawa knows who to ask if Kacchan can't take care of me." Izuku left it at that. They didn't know his list, Mr. Aizawa wouldn't tell them, and Kacchan wouldn't let him down.

He devoutly believed that.

After speaking with Uraraka and Tenya, Izuku escaped to his room, averting his eyes so he would not meet the eyes of his other classmates. Either Uraraka would say something, or everyone would figure it out. Despite Kacchan's insistence earlier that the rest of their class were dumb, Izuku knew they weren't. Kacchan and Izuku bringing in groceries together, plus Kacchan making two dishes that disappeared with him up the stairs, screamed that Izuku picked Kacchan. Not only that, but they'd all had probably asked each other, so they knew it wasn't any of them.

It was nice to have the room and the evening to himself, though. He and Kacchan ate the simple meal Kacchan had cooked in Izuku's room, but Kacchan didn't stay past that. He left Izuku to prepare for his heat, muttering about making a few meals ahead for the freezer in case he didn't have a chance to cook at any point during the next few days. He said this with a blush on his face that was so endearing to Izuku. He couldn't hold back the purr that began and which, he figured, caused Kacchan to dash out with their dishes yelling obscenities.

Constructing his nest brought a sense of calm to his stirring hormones. His only regret was that Kacchan wouldn't be heat-sharing with him, at least not in the true sense of the word. Every time the thought invaded his mind, Izuku felt his body turn warm and gooey, like molasses.

Kacchan returned later in the evening as Izuku was nearly finished with the nest. He carried an armful of clothing pieces and wore a scowl. Izuku assumed he was irritated to carry heavily alpha-scented items that weren't Kacchan's alpha scent. Nevertheless, he handed them over to Izuku as promised. A separate bag dangled from his fingers, full of Kacchan's t-shirts all smelling like warm, burnt sugar. Much more than Izuku asked for, but he was pleased at Kacchan's show of dominance over the other alphas.

Not everyone gave him something, but most people did. He could smell the earthy scent of Kirishima and the lemony scent of Mina. Kami's scent sparked like lightning and Tenya's smelled of oil. Tsu had the smell of a dewy pond and Shoto of a winter morning. Uraraka's scent reminded him of fresh air and Koda's of a wet puppy. As he sat in his nest after Kacchan ran out again, placing the items where he felt they fit, he smelled each of them and felt overwhelmed by the show of kindness and support from his friends.

Kacchan's items covered his pillow, and he tucked the extra ones into the blankets surrounding where his head would lay. He wanted his main scent to be of his Kacchan. The scent lay over him all night, his nose buried in it as his inner omega purred and leant him some vivid dreams.

When Izuku awoke, he felt an overwhelming lethargy. It was as if all his muscles and joints were liquid and he stretched languidly in his nest. It was going to start today. He could sense it. Not yet, but he knew his body was prepared for the onslaught. As much as he didn't want it, he was ready for it to begin. If for no other reason than to get it over with. Once it was over, then he could figure out what was going on with Kacchan. Now, his hormones were taking over his brain, and he wasn't in any shape to be thinking about the future.

He sat up, fumbling for his phone to check the time. There were messages, mostly from his friends wishing him a good heat. He rolled his eyes, because many of them included requests to let them know if he needed them if things didn't work out with his alpha. Though Kacchan told him they all knew when he delivered the alpha-scented items, these messages proved it to him. It irritated him that they doubted his alpha as Uraraka and Tenya had. Did no one trust Kacchan or Izuku's judgment?

One message from Kacchan, though, caught his attention.

Kacchan: Get your ass down here for breakfast

He laughed. The message had been sent a couple minutes before. The ping from it must have stirred him from his sleep.

Me: Can I at least shower first? Just woke up

Kacchan: Hurry up

"What's all this, Kacchan?" he asked, eyeing the spread on the table. It was just the two of them, as it was well past when classes had started. Everyone else was at school.

"Breakfast," Kacchan grunted. "What the fuck do you think it is?"

"This is too much!" Izuku usually ate very little for breakfast.

"You need this for your energy. It's gonna be a long four days, idiot."

"I know that, but I can't eat this much!"

"You can and you will. Sit!"

Grumbling, Izuku sat down, glaring at the setting in front of him. Two large bowls, one with rice and one with miso soup steamed at the top corners of a plate loaded with three large pieces of grilled fish, natto, a pile of vegetables, bread, and a huge omelet. He couldn't even see the plate. "I'm gonna get sick."

"And you're gonna burn that all off in the first few hours."

"It might not even start today," he tried, though he knew that it would. His bones still felt like water and he was already light-headed.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Can you smell yourself?"

With a sinking heart, Izuku raised his arm and sniffed at his wrist. "D-do I smell bad?" he asked with a waver in his voice, turning his head to look at Kacchan in the kitchen area.

Kacchan stared back, a fleeting expression of panic crossing his face. "No! No! Zuku no!" He lifted his hands, waving them erratically, which looked comical as he still held a spatula in one hand.

Izuku sniffed again at his wrist. He smelled normal. Just…more. "Alpha doesn't like my scent?" he said, barely lifting his tone in a question. He was devastated to think that Kacchan wouldn't like his scent. That would certainly put a stop to any hopes he had to be with the alpha someday.

"I said no!" Kacchan slammed the spatula down next to the stove and strode over to the table. His face was like a thundercloud and Izuku actually flinched away. Kacchan held his hands in front of him, trying to appear non-threatening. "Don't be scared of me," he said, his voice strained. "I wouldn't do anything to you."

"I-I'm sorry. I showered. I thought…I didn't think. Do I really smell that bad?" He couldn't bring himself to be ashamed of the tears that gathered in his eyes.

"I didn't say it was bad," Kacchan said. "I just meant it was strong. Stronger than usual. I know you don't have any blockers on, but it's stronger than it should be."

"But you like it?"

Flushing, Kacchan looked away from his eyes. "Of course, I do," he said shortly.

"Really, truly?" Izuku knew this must be the heat hormones. Normally insults or negative jibes from Kacchan didn't get him this worked up, but now he felt as if his world were crumbling. From a simple misunderstood sentence. Kacchan was right; it was going to be a long, few days.

"Really and truly," Kacchan said, but in a low tone that Izuku barely heard.

"Did you call me Zuku?"

Kacchan grunted, "Yeah. Do you not want me to?"

"You always call me Deku."

"I'll call you the fucking King of Japan if you want me to."

His chaotic hormones shifted inside him – he thought he could literally feel them skittering around underneath his skin – and he giggled, though the action jostled a few tears to roll down his cheek. "Why Zuku?"

"Deku doesn't feel right. I wanted to try something else."

"But it's my hero name."

"And everyone calls you that now," Kacchan growled. "I want something only I call you."

Oh, did that sound nice. Kacchan liked his scent. Kacchan had made him a breakfast good for an omega in heat. Kacchan wanted a special nickname for him. He felt a purr start in his chest as he smiled up at the flustered man next to him. "I'd like that," he said, shy.

"Tch," Kacchan hissed, then held out his hand a little hesitantly. "Can…can I scent you?"

Izuku knew Kacchan would be taking care of scenting his nest and anything else Izuku wanted, like his sheets. It didn't necessarily mean he would scent Izuku, however. Sometimes omegas didn't want that sort of intimacy, especially with an alpha who wasn't taking care of them sexually in their heat. He was surprised that Kacchan offered, though, glancing down at the waiting food in front of him, he realized he shouldn't be surprised. Kacchan was approaching this heat with an attitude of possessiveness. It was uncalled for, of course, since they weren't officially courting, but it gave hope to Izuku that perhaps after his heat, they could progress to that.

"Of course, Kacchan," Izuku gave his assent in a soft voice, lifting his arm again.

Kacchan gulped. Izuku felt fuzzy inside to see how nervous he looked. A wave of nostalgia hit him hard as their wrists rubbed gently together. It was brief, but with his heat scent deepening, it rose between them, mixing sweetly with Kacchan's burnt sugar scent. Izuku closed his eyes briefly, remembering the image of two children sitting in a pillow fort, carefully rubbing their wrists together to imitate Kacchan's parents.

"You smell sweet, omega," Kacchan said, crooning lightly under his breath and the noise soothed all worry from Izuku's mind.

Until he smelled something new. Something not as pleasant. "Is something burning?"

"Fuck!" Kacchan rushed back to the stove, swearing a hurricane of profanity that had Izuku laughing and receiving glares from the chef. "My fucking breakfast, thank you very much!"

"You can have some of mine, Kacchan!"

"No, I can't! Eat your fucking food, you little shit, before I force feed it to you!"