Archive of Our Own ^beta

A blond child with red eyes rounded the trunk of another towering oak. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and he walked without a true destination or drive. His mother had been angry again, she was always angry. She’d told him to go, so go he did. It wasn’t a big deal. Afterall, it was summer. The nights were warm enough for him to sleep under the stars, and his bag had food and money to last two weeks. Eventually he’d have to go back. Not for awhile though. 

He’d been told to leave yesterday, and he’d decided to go north. It had been a long time since he’d walked to the Yamanashi prefecture. If he crossed the valley then he could spend a week or so in the mountains before heading back home. 

The child wasn’t exactly happy; he was still angry and frustrated with his mother. But this was as close to happy as he got. Anger and frustration were his constant companions no matter where he went. Here though, out in the comfort of woodland and bird song, those companions strayed from him. His tense frame relaxed, lulled by the solitude. 

“Hello! Is someone there?”

And with those loud words, anger and frustration startled and raced right back to the child. His face twisted up into a grimace, and he ducked down, hoping that the owner of that voice wouldn’t notice him. 

“Oh! There is someone else out here! I almost didn’t see you! Who are you?” 

Out of the corner of one red eye, the child could see a too happy face. Short brown hair and wide black eyes. The new child looked about the same age as the first. After a moment of consideration, the blond child elected to ignore the newcomer. He’d lose interest and go away. Right?

Apparently not, the new child was undeterred and bounded over to walk alongside the first child. 

“What are you doing all the way out here? Usually I’m the only kid to hike out this far! My mama says I have too much energy, but I think I have just the right amount. It’s super cool to meet someone else out here though! I love making new friends!”

Gritting his teeth, the blond child kept his gaze firmly ahead. The other child waited in silence for several seconds before realizing he wouldn’t be getting an answer. Black eyes peered at the first child, studying him for several seconds. 

“Can you hear me? I can talk louder if you can’t. My mom says I’m a bit loud already though.”

That wasn’t what the first child wanted at all, so he gave a small nod. Just enough to confirm he could hear the other. So they’d shut up. They did not shut up.

“Oh, okay! Can you speak then? Do you need to talk with your hands instead? I can’t talk with my hands very well, but I know how to listen to people’s hands! I’m really good at it!”

The blond child paused, anger ebbing. He could talk with his hands, he’d learned because his hearing was a bit off. Honestly, he’d rather not talk at all today. But if he said he couldn’t speak, then he’d be a liar. Sighing, he glanced at the other child. The words felt heavy and rough on his tongue, as if he was spitting out rocks. Still he forced them out. 

“Can if I wanna.” 

Red eyes went back to looking straight ahead, hoping the other would take the hint. The other child did, but not the way he had intended it.

“Oh, so you don’t want to talk? That’s okay! My mama has no-talking days too! That’s how I got so good at listening to hands. Is it okay if I keep talking? I like to talk a lot, but you don’t have to reply or even listen to all of it. I just like getting all of my thoughts out of my head.”

Again, the blond child paused. This was new territory for him. Most people took his distaste for talking as an insult. They’d follow him around and demand his words again and again until he relented. When he glanced back at the other child, there were no lies on his face. 

Against his better judgement, the first child nodded, and the new child was delighted. He launched into an excited rant about something, and the blond child couldn’t really keep up with him. It was nice. Knowing that the other didn’t expect him to listen. 

They walked together for an hour before the other child asked him a question.

“By the way, I just realized I don’t know what your name is! Am I allowed to know it?”

It was a fair question. The blond child shook his head regardless. He didn’t feel like speaking, and he didn’t particularly feel like hearing his name today either. As before, instead of getting offended, the brown haired child didn’t mind. 

“Okay! Can I give you a nickname then?” 

A nod. The first child had decided he liked this other child, and a nickname from him didn’t sound so bad. 

“How about…Daffodil? My mom has some of them in the yard, they’re really pretty, and you remind me of them.”

Seconds ticked by as they walked and the blond child thought it over. Daffodils meant respect, right? He liked that. With a firm nod, he approved the nickname and then considered the other boy next to him. Daffodil didn’t know his name either. After considering the matter for a few seconds, he waved to get the boy’s attention. The other startled and then focused, watching his fingers closely. 

Keeping his movements slow, he gestured to the other boy, then made a flattened o with his fingers. Rolling his hand in a soft circle as he brought it up to eye level, he tapped the collected tips of his fingers to his cheek on each side of his nose. He wasn’t sure if the other boy would know the sign, but the other’s eyes lit up in recognition. 

“Sunflower? As my nickname?”

Daffodil nodded, a hesitant smile on his face and a questioning tilt to his head. The brown haired boy bounced with delight. 

“I love it! Sunflowers are my favorite kind of flower and mom has some that grow in our backyard, and I got to help plant them this year even though I’m not perfect at it yet-”

Sunflower chattered on about his mothers’ yard, and Daffodil let his happy voice wash over him. Somewhere during their journey, Daffodil’s anger and frustration slipped away. They’d been replaced by his new companion. He was unfamiliar with the soft feeling in his chest, unused to how his eyes kept being drawn back to the other’s smile, unsure of the fluttering in his stomach. It’d been a long time since Daffodil had felt at ease around someone else his own age, let alone wanted to spend more time with them. And yet here he was, already planning to lengthen his stay in the valley.

Katsuki had grown a lot over the years. He was 16 years old now, broad shouldered and sturdier. Anger and frustration were still shadows that followed him loyally, but over the summer he’d found them subsiding more and more. It was almost unthinkable how much things had changed in so short a time. 

Summer had been two months long, and now they were back into training. Everything in Katsuki's life had changed during those two months. Yet at the same time, as Katsuki sat on the bus with Eijirou beside him, his classmates being loud and dumb around him, and Aizawa up ahead napping in his seat while he tried to ignore the lot of them, Katsuki couldn't help but feel that nothing had really changed at all. Things were just a little easier now. A little calmer. A little softer. It was nice.

Letting his eyes close for a moment as he took in a deep breath, Katsuki let the tension out of his shoulders. They'd be arriving soon.

Sure enough, it was only a few minutes before the bus reached their destination and everyone disembarked, the group's energy picking up and some of their more excitable classmates even getting a bit bouncy. For once, Katsuki wasn't inclined to yell at them. He was pretty fucking pumped for today too.

It was the day they'd be taking their provisional license exam, and Katsuki was psyched. He couldn't wait to get actual practical experience as a hero, and he was feeling pretty damn good about the exam. He'd reviewed all the grading criteria several times this week alone, and his whole class had spent the week leading up to the exam preparing super moves for it.

Katsuki already had quite a few of those, but he'd figured out two new ones, AP shot and a variant, and he wanted to see how they did as higher precision attacks.

Everything about the day just felt good too. Katsuki had gotten all his shit ready the night before, nobody had forgotten anything at the dorms, there hadn't been any issues getting here, hell Katsuki was pretty sure they were ahead of schedule for once. Even the weather seemed to agree. The sun was shining down on them, with a pleasant summer breeze gently gusting through the gathered students.

Speaking of the gathered students, Katsuki realized something was... off. He'd been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed a tension spreading through his classmates Huh. Glancing around, Katsuki noticed that they'd formed an almost circle around him, and several of them seemed to be casting glares outwards towards the students from other schools. Hell, it even some of Class 1-B was in on it. What the he-

Ah.

You'd think two months would be enough time for people to get over shit like 'A UA kid got kidnapped by villains then had his family drama aired out on national TV' but nope, apparently not.

Katsuki took another deep breath in and let it out. He was fine. There were a fuckton of eyes on him, and he knew he'd been getting targeted throughout this shitshow, but that was fine. Those assholes could watch while he did fucking amazing and mowed down anyone stupid enough to get in his way.

Rolling his eyes and keeping his head held high, Katsuki glanced around to see where Denki had gotten off too. Ah, chatting with the vine girl from 1-B. Ugh, that was going to go poorly. Katsuki was about to head over and intervene in that mess before a booming loud voice made him freeze in his tracks.

"UA students! Welcome!"

Swiveling, the entire damn class turned to a brunette boy with tanned skin and a bright smile on his face. What the hell? The guy was from Shiketsu by his uniform, and his class president seemed to take offense to his too loud greet because he was getting scolded. At least he looked sheepish.

Something about him seemed oddly familiar. Like a face Katsuki had seen in a dream before. Ignoring his classmate's attempt at a defensive formation, Katsuki pushed his way over towards the newcomer. Izuku and Ochako were already talking to him alongside Iida and Momo. He got close enough to over hear what they were saying.

"-we're all excited to be given this honor-"

His brain quickly tuned out the words in favor of examining the teenager's face and trying to figure out where Katsuki knew him from. The stranger was replying to Iida, excited, too loud, and too passionate against everyone else's relative calm. His eyes went to look over the gathered students only to freeze when his brown eyes meet Katsuki's red. Katsuki froze too, almost causing Eijirou to crash into him.

There was silence over the whole group for several seconds as his class glanced back and forth between the two students, trying to figure out what was going on and if they needed to do something about it.

It was the other boy that broke the silence, just as he had all those years ago.

"Daffodil?"

This time though, Katsuki's words were stuck in his throat, weren't sandpaper on his tongue. This time he replied out loud, a nickname he'd never spoke into the air before.

"Sunflower?"

Sunflower walked with Daffodil all the way through the valley, showing him favorite viewpoints and little hideaways. When it started to get dark, he had to go home. Before he’d left, he’d asked to meet Daffodil again in the morning. Daffodil had agreed; he had no other plans after all. The other boy had wished him a safe journey home, and Daffodil didn’t bother correcting him. He watched Sunflower go, then he set about finding a place to sleep.

That night Daffodil slept under the watchful eyes of the stars, cradled in the arms of a maple tree, and wrapped in a blanket of moonlight. For once, cruel words, black restraints, and dark closets kept away from his sleeping mind. Fields of yellow flowers took their place, spanning as far as the eye could see. Under the cover of tall green stalks, two boys played without a care in the world. They held hands, pressed close to one another, and in the safety of a dream where fear did not exist, Daffodil pressed a soft kiss to endlessly smiling lips. 

When morning sunlight and early birds roused the child from his sleep, he found himself almost disappointed. Not quite though, for Daffodil saw no reason to not set about making his dream come true. 

He met Sunflower at their agreed upon spot, and the two of them hiked into the mountains together. The field of flowers they found wasn’t yellow. It was mostly purple and white with a few patches of other colors. As they were mountain flowers, the stalks barely covered the boy’s legs, and the end of the field could be easily seen. Flowers gave way to rocky cliffs and alpine forests. 

All the same, Daffodil found himself playing like there was no fear to weigh him down. The other boy made him feel light as air, in all senses of the word. As they quickly discovered, their quirks fit together like puzzle pieces. Like wolf cubs they fought, tussling the other to the ground only to never quite claim victory. It was the first time Daffodil found himself equally matched. He was more fond of it than he thought it would be. 

When afternoon came the sun warmed their flower field, and both of them had tired from their fun. Daffodil cleaned his hands very carefully, ensuring there was not one drop of sweat on either palm, and then he held it out to Sunflower who took it with a blinding smile. The two of them lay together in a sunbeam. One sided chatter filled the air, given freely to the gentle breeze with no demanded replies, and Daffodil listened with a soft smile. He still did not feel like speaking, and Sunflower did not ask him to, nor did he ask for a justification. Sunflower accepted Daffodil’s silence, watching his hands and his body language instead, and Daffodil felt like he was being properly heard for the very first time in his life. 

As they lay together, Daffodil found his eyes growing heavy, the lines between his dreams and reality blurred away. Only one thing was missing. Neither child was the sort to hesitate, so Daffodil tapped the brown haired boy’s hand to get his attention. Once it was given, little hands formed circles with fingertips pressed together. He tilted one inward and the other out, tapped them together in front of his chest, flipped them, and tapped again. One hand dropped and the other pointed to himself as his eyebrows raised. 

Sunflower stared at him for a few moments in shock, before black eyes went up to meet red. Looking for confirmation. They found it there, and a blush spread across tan skin as the brown haired boy nodded. He leaned over, not all the way, but just enough. Daffodil pulled him a bit closer by their joined hands and pressed a soft kiss to kind lips. 

It lasted only a moment. There were no fireworks, no butterflies, no world shattering revelations. Just two children in a field of flowers, living out a kind dream in the soft afternoon sun. 

"Ah, do you two know each other?" Momo asked, looking near shell-shocked.

"Yeah, uh, wow." Katsuki damn near stammered out, a million thoughts and emotions racing across his face. He looked like he had no idea what to say.

Then a grin broke out on Inasa's face, and he took a step forward, offering a polite bow. When he looked back up at Katsuki, there was a burning emotion in his eyes, so intense that it damn near startled those around him.

"I'm honored to finally meet you again. I searched for you after I failed to show up at our meeting place, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Whatever, it wasn't your fault. I looked for you too, but I guess our paths just never ended up crossing. Until now that is. I'll admit, I was always kinda hopeful I'd find you again in the hero world. You ended up going to Shiketsu, huh?"

The boy gave a bright grin again, one hand going to scratch the back of his head.

"Yes! I actually earned the top score for the UA entrance exam, but I ended up deciding on Shiketsu instead. I must admit, had I known you would be attending UA, I might've made a different choice."

He paused then, glancing off to the side, looking almost ashamed.

"I actually... I noticed you during the UA Sports Festival. I saw you, and I was sure it was you, but there was so much going on in my own life that I never had the chance to reach out. I had been hoping I might get the chance during summer and then... Well goodness! You had a very busy summer indeed! It seemed unfair to return to you life at such a chaotic point, so I decided to wait and hope you would be attending the provisional exam as well!"

"Yeah, probably the right call. Honestly, if you'd just shown up during the middle of the summer I'd probably have assumed you were an agent for the League of Villains or something, that's how weird this fucking past two months has been. Still... It's good to see you again. Guess you already know my real name then, huh."

"Yes, of course! But you wouldn't know mine yet! My name, my real one is Inasa. Inasa Yoarashi."

Katsuki gave a bright smile of his own, again shocking his classmates around him. It was as if their Katsuki had been taken and replaced by someone new.

"Your name suits you. I think I like calling you Sunflower more though."

"Then I would be honored to remain Sunflower, would I also be allowed to continue calling you Daffodil?"

Barking out a laugh, Katsuki nodded. He looked like he might be about to say something else, but they were cut off by Shouto who'd come over to investigate the group. He glanced between Inasa, eyes flickering with slight confusion as he tried to figure out why the boy looked familiar to him. When no name came to mind, he glanced to Katsuki.

"Ah, this is Icyhot. Though most people call him Shouto. He's one of my classmates. The one behind me's Eijirou, and it looks like you already met Deku's group?"

Inasa's gaze darkened when he looked over Shouto. Only to falter when he glanced back to Katsuki. As if he was conflicted about something. Red eyes narrowed in confusion.

Luckily for all three of them, Katsuki wasn't the sort to let things go unsaid.

"You got a bone to pick with Icyhot or something?"

That startled Inasa, and he took a moment to look sheepish again before his glare returned. It took him several seconds to find his words, but he did eventually.

"We meet previously at the recommendation exam. I have no interest in speaking with the Son of Endeavor again after how he behaved-"

"Alright, nope. Cut that shit out right now." Katsuki had a glare of his own on his face this time, uninterested in letting this bullshit go on for even one second longer. "I dunno what happened between the two of you, but don't go calling Shouto that, and listen, I get it, he was kinda a dick at the start of the year. Trust me, I was worse. Regardless, he's been working through some major shit of his own, but he's doing a lot better these days. Either way, he's a friend of mine, so if you're starting shit with him then you're starting it with me too."

Shouto piped up next, offering a polite bow of his own. "My apologies, I didn't recognize you right away since a lot has happened in my life since our exam. I'm sorry about how I acted back then. I was handling a lot of personal situations poorly, and I had a bad habit of taking that out on people around me."

Inasa looked near dumbfounded for several long seconds before his face split right back into that bright grin. This time he straight up slammed his face into the ground, voice ever increasing in volume. 

"You have my most sincere apologies too! I must have misjudged you when we first met, and I’ve allowed myself to get too caught up on so few interactions! I hope we can be allowed to become friends throughout this examination!” 

It took Shouto several seconds to give his own hesitant nod and then Inasa was back on his feet, excitedly chattering about something. Katsuki nearly laughed at how familiar and warm it all felt, but he was distracted by a shout from across the room. Goddamn it Denki. Sighing, Katsuki turned his attention back to Inasa. 

“Ugh, sorry, I gotta go deal with the shit happening over there. I think the exam is starting soon, but I’ll see you out in the arena, right Sunflower?” 

Even though Inasa’s face fell when he realized Katsuki had to go, he perked right back up at the thought of seeing him again soon and the nickname made him beam. One large hand reached out to snag one of Katsuki’s, slowly enough that the other boy had plenty of time to pull away if he wanted to. When no negative reaction was given, Inasa brought the joined hands up so he could press a soft kiss to the top of Katsuki’s knuckles. 

“There is not a force on earth that could prevent me from finding you again Daffodil, and I cannot wait to fight beside you!”

All of Class 1-A froze, as did Inasa’s own classmates, shocked at his daring move. Honestly, the whole goddamn group of gathered students and even a good number of the teachers hanging off to the side and watching all of this were completely frozen at seeing someone not only approach but offer such a romantic gesture to Katsuki Hakamata of all people. 

What was perhaps even more surprising was that he didn’t get a face full of explosion for his efforts, and instead was rewarded with a faint pink blush spreading across Katsuki’s cheeks. It took a few moments for Katsuki’s brain to restart before he glanced off to the side, looking damn near shy. When he replied, his words were unusually soft. 

“God, still a sap I see. Yeah, I’ll look forward to it or whatever.” 

Then he was pulling away and making his way across the room to stop Denki from short circuiting himself before the exam even started. Leaving behind a confused mess of jealous teenagers in his wake, and one incredibly happy one.

Somewhere across the room, out of earshot of his students, Aizawa gave a long sigh. 

“Well there goes any hope of them focusing on their goddamn exam.” 

Sunflower asked Daffodil if he could call him his boyfriend that same afternoon, and Daffodil smiled so wide his cheeks hurt as he nodded. When night came Sunflower had to go home again, and Daffodil dreamed of summer winds and mountain flowers. Little pencil drawings of Sunflower found their way into Daffodil’s sketchbook. 

A week and a day passed them by. Such a short time for adults, but to children it was as if years had passed them by. Daffodil didn’t speak in all that time, the sandpaper had left his throat, but he found he enjoyed being quiet around Sunflower. It was like he was a different person in this strange dreamworld. Nothing like the boy he was at home. With Sunflower he didn’t need to speak to be listened to, and he reveled in that power. They shared stories, dreams, plans for the future. So much said in so short a time. 

All good things must come to an end, and the blond child knew he could not stay Daffodil forever. School would start up soon, and he needed to go home. He put it off two more days, before a cold wind blew through the valley, and he knew it was almost time. Sunflower could tell something was up. 

“Do you have to leave soon?” He asked, as they sat together in the early evening sun. It was almost time for Sunflower to go home. 

Daffodil nodded, his red eyes drifting south. 

“Will you be here tomorrow at least?” 

Another nod, he could be Daffodil one more day. No longer though. 

“Okay! Then tomorrow I’ll bring you a paper with my address. I meant to bring it today, but I forgot it. That way, if you’d like, we could write letters? And we can stay in contact, even when you have to leave!” 

It sounded too good to be true, but Daffodil nodded a third time. He didn’t want to give the other boy his address. He couldn’t risk his mother finding out and trying to take him away like she took away anything he cared about, but he didn’t want to lose Sunflower either. If he had the other boy’s address though, he could write him a letter and give him a different address to reply to. Maybe he could get a PO box, or maybe he could have the letters delivered to Auntie Inko’s house instead. She wouldn’t mind, right?

Sunflower was delighted by the possibility, and promised to return with his address the next day. He almost certainly had more to say, but the last rays of sunlight were fading, and he realized he would be late getting home. His mothers would worry if he was late! 

With a goodbye wave, the brown haired boy jumped into the air, making it halfway down the hillside before he realized he hadn’t gotten a goodbye kiss. He spun in place, not wanting his mothers to worry, but not wanting to leave his boyfriend without their evening tradition completed. Daffodil almost laughed at him. He shooed the boy with a wave of his hands, and when the other was still unsure, he rolled his eyes. One hand flattened, the other made an L, and he pressed his thumb to his palm, flicking his index finger down several times to get his point across.

Later Daffodil said, Later he promised. 

It was enough and Sunflower raced home, red eyes watching him until he was out of sight. 

Little did the two of them know, Sunflower’s mothers were worried about him. Not because he’d been out too late, but because of the sudden storm rolling in. The rain started not long after the brown haired boy got home and it only got worse from there. 

Behind Inasa there was a wolf-whistle from a girl with fawn brown hair. 

“Damn, you really went for it, huh Inasa? Good thing he was into it, ‘cause that was hella smooth!”

Inasa gave a wide grin and waved at the girl. “Thank you Camie, I certainly had plenty of time to think it over and I’m glad my advances were well received!” 

That restarted the rest of Class 1-A, leaving them casting wild glances around at one another until Izuku finally piped up. 

“Why- How do you know Kacchan?” It came out way more accusatory than Izuku was expecting, and he quickly corrected himself. “Sorry, uh, it’s just I grew up with Kacchan and I knew him his whole childhood, so it’s pretty unusual for him to know someone I don’t know, let alone be so… comfortable with them.” 

Thankfully, Inasa didn’t seem offended. 

“Ah! I remember, I saw you at the sports festival as well and I was incredibly impressed by your passion! I also admired your bravery when you came to his defense in your interview! But we’ve never met previously, and I suppose Daffodil might not have mentioned me. I only knew him for a brief period in our childhood when we were no more than 10, but we met out in the woodland and I was quite entranced by him. Upon our second meeting, he asked to kiss me and I was more than happy to comply. We agreed to be boyfriends, and we met each other every day for a few days over a week, and we had plans to stay in contact after that, but fate intervened and prevented it.” 

Eijirou’s eyes went wide with realization. “So when he mentioned- Oh. Oh. You were his first boyfriend?”

“I believe I would hold that honorable title, yes! I am incredibly glad to have found him again, and I must admit my feelings for him have not waned over the years. In fact, I’m quite hopeful we could continue our relationship now that we’ve found each other once again.” As he spoke, Inasa’s eyes wandered over to where Katsuki was scolding Denki, a fond light in them. He glanced up towards the clock counting down until it’d be time to start. “We might even have time for me to ask him now!” 

“No-” Started Izuku before he cut himself off as all eyes turned to him and he quickly stammered out an apology. “Sorry! I just mean, we’re about to take our provisional license exam, which is super important for our careers! If you asked Kacchan out now, he might not take it well, and that might throw him off during the exam!” 

Ochako piped up behind him, nodding sagely. 

“I’m with Deku on this one, even if he does want to date you, it’d be really distracting for him to be handling all those feelings during our exam.” 

“I agree! It would be inappropriate to ask him out before such a vital event. Romantic feelings can be resolved afterwards in a less public setting.” Iida chimed in, and Inasa considered all their words before giving a sharp nod of his own. 

“Yes, I do believe you’re correct! Thank you, I was foolhardy in my haste to make up for lost time. Instead I shall do my best in our exam, and I will ask him out once we’ve successfully completed our mission!”

Just then, a voice called out over the throng of students. 

“Inasa! Camie! It’s time for our class to get suited up! Come on!” 

“Ah, coming Nagamasa!” Camie called out, turning on her heel to go rejoin the rest of her class. After calling out an enthusiastic goodbye, Inasa followed her. 

There were several long seconds of shell shocked silence between the Class 1-A students, until Shouto finally broke it.

“Can I take back my apology or is it too late now?”

Winds whipped through the valley, rain pounded every house, windows were broken and lighter cars even lifted a few inches off the ground. The storm raged on all through the night, and by morning it hadn’t slowed in the slightest. 

There was no way Sunflower’s mothers would let him out of the house. Not when the weather was this bad. Even though his quirk let him ride the widest of winds, he was not immune to the rain and the cold. Roads were flooding, power was knocked out, and downed power lines littered the forest. He begged and pleaded with his mothers, but they held firm. Surely Daffodil’s parents wouldn’t let him out in this weather either, they reasoned. Wouldn’t Daffodil want him to stay home and be safe? So Sunflower relented, and waited desperately for the skies to clear.

Daffodil found himself caught out in the thick of the storm. He took shelter in a cave not too far from his and Sunflower’s meeting place. It was silly. The other boy wasn’t going to come in this weather. Daffodil didn’t want him to come, didn’t want him to put himself at risk. 

He waited until sundown all the same, through the freezing cold and the wild winds. Just in case. 

With a heavy heart, he started for home that evening. The storm would only be getting worse. Trekking through the night, soaked to the bone but uncaring. No matter how his body ached, his heart hurt far more. Daffodil walked south, as anger and frustration finally found him again, having missed their traveling companion dearly. He walked and he walked, until he wasn’t Daffodil anymore. As he rounded the last corner, wet and so cold he didn’t feel cold anymore, he found himself just a child with blond hair and red eyes once again. A tired, angry, frustrated child. 

He entered his house in the dead of night with little fanfare. His parents weren’t there. They left a note for him, they’d be in France for a week, and he’d better be there for his first day of school or he’d be in trouble. Whatever. It wasn’t as if he’d miss it. He had to go to school to be a hero. That was all he wanted, so of course he’d show up.

Class 1-A had only a very short period to discuss their plan, but they only needed a short period. Inasa could not be allowed to steal Katsuki from them! They knew almost nothing about the older boy, other than he was too loud, too energetic, and too damn close to Katsuki. 

Part of it was jealousy, some of it romantic, some of it just sheer indignation that Inasa thought he could know Katsuki for a week six years ago then waltz back in and sweep him off his feet! All of them had earned their friendships with Katsuki damn it, and he needed to too! It shouldn’t be that easy for him to get a smile from their Katsuki, let alone have the gall to pull such a romantic move and get an actual blush from Katsuki. 

Another part of it was protectiveness. They didn’t know Inasa. They had no idea if they could trust him or not. Katsuki hardly even knew the boy, a week six years ago? That was nothing! What if Inasa was a creep? Or what if he was a villain? Or what if he didn’t treat Katsuki right? What if he convinced Katsuki to switch schools? That was all clearly unacceptable. Katsuki was just too caught up in happy memories to realize it though, so they had to protect him from his own foolish heart. 

While Katsuki was distracted by a student from another school who’d come over to try and greet him, Shindo or something, the rest of the class agreed that they’d keep Inasa away from Katsuki during the exam at all costs. Nobody was more passionate about this plan than Izuku, Eijirou and Shouto. 

Izuku was torn between being upset that he hadn’t known, and his own jealousy at Inasa’s apparent history with Katsuki. Goddamn it, he was Kacchan’s childhood friend who called him a cute nickname. That role was already filled, and it certainly was not up for grabs by someone who had only known Kacchan a week or so. 

Eijirou and Shouto were both a mix of protective and jealous. The rest of the class fell behind the three of them, and when the exam started, everyone set out ready to complete their goal.

Lucky them, by staying together as a group they managed to move through targets fairly quickly. Shinsou did exceptionally well. It was easy enough for him to trick opponents into replying to him, and that let him take out their targets with ease. He was more than happy to hold targets still for his classmates too, not that any of them were really having trouble finding prey of their own. He was the second person overall to pass.

The first, to the rest of the class’s distaste, was Inasa. He pulled some move on the other side of the battlefield that apparently too down 132 students before he zoomed over towards where the 1-A students were battling their way through. 1-A had a plan for this though. Izuku and Shouto had both already tagged enough targets (with a bit of help from Shinsou), and they were ready to meet the whirlwind head on. All it took was a friendly challenge, and Inasa was instantly on board, delighted to be fighting such worthy opponents. Their battle raged on, high stakes and intense even for them. 

The plan to protect Katsuki was going great. Jirou was the last one in Class 1-A that needed to get her third target down, she’d been busy keeping her ear on Inasa previously, but now that he was distracted she slammed a ball onto some weird shinobi looking student’s last light and claimed her victory. Hell yeah. She heard Denki and Mina cheer somewhere behind her, and she turned to look for Katsuki to see if he’d seen that awesome move-

Wait. 

“Uh, guys, where the hell is Katsuki?” 

Above them, Inasa’s battle with Shouto and Izuku paused. The whole class froze, and everyone looked towards someone else before chaos erupted. 

Goddamnit. It hadn’t even been twenty minutes!

In his defense, Katsuki hadn’t meant to separate from his classmates. He wanted to stick with them, partially to make sure none of them fucked up the exam, and partially because it’d make it easier for Inasa to find him again. As embarrassed as he was to admit it, his heart was still fluttering as childhood feelings rushed back into him and made him feel like he was 10 years old again. Still, his focus was on passing the exam first and foremost. 

Mostly. 

It was just that he spotted the other Shiketsu kid, the one who’d been hanging out near Inasa, Camie? Watching their group, and something about the girl was just giving Katsuki a major bad gut feeling. He had no idea why, no idea what her deal was, but he knew that he didn’t fucking trust her. That girl smelled like a liar, just like that Shindo asshole who’d tried to get all buddy-buddy with Katsuki before the exam, and Katsuki fucking hated liars. He’d already gotten two people out, and she seemed like the perfect third. 

When she realized she’d been spotted, she tried to retreat, but Katsuki wasn’t having any of that. He raced after her, leaving his class behind, but of-fucking-course, he lost her. 

Just his luck too, because someone else had found him. 

Katsuki blasted himself away just in time to dodge the meatball that tried to encase him from behind. 

“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected the eradication to be that easy.” 

Some fucker with dull purple hair and a creepy fucking look about him spoke up from somewhere behind Katsuki.

The purple haired fucker launched into some monologue about eliminating impure heroes or something like that. Honestly, Katsuki didn’t actually give a fuck, so he paid the other’s words no mind. Instead he launched himself straight for that fucker’s face and took a vicious pleasure in hearing his self-centered thinly veiled authoritarian idealism be replaced by a high-pitched scream. Alright, Katsuki still needed to find the girl after this, but he could have fun with this in the meantime. 

Or not. A solid five minutes had gone by and Katsuki found himself nearly pinned into a corner. If he’d been facing an actual villain, this woulda been easy, but they weren’t supposed to cause serious harm at this point in the exam, which meant Katsuki was left in a tricky situation. The purple haired fucker could take all his lighter blows without seemingly any issue. An AP shot would take him out for sure, but the guy wasn’t tough enough to take one full force. Katsuki had gotten two of his lights out, but he needed to get the last one and it was proving a major pain. 

Not only that, but Katsuki’s muscles were starting to ache. Usually he could keep going for way longer. This asshole was forcing him to make extremely tight turns and twists, and Katsuki’s method of flight wasn’t meant for that. He endured it though, endured and endured until he fucked up. 

There was really no other word for it. Katsuki twisted wrong, meaning his angle was ever so slightly off and the fucker got his ankle in that weird fucking meat of his. 

He should’ve been able to recover from it. It shouldn’t have taken him more than a second to blast the flesh off before it could take hold.

But it touched him, wrapping around him and grabbing, an oozing, living, fleshy slime grabbing hold of his ankle. 

Katsuki was 14 years old again. He was Katsuki Bakugou again, and slime had come up from the ground to grab his ankle. There was a voice in his head, and it was suffocating him, and he fought, and he fought, and there were people all around him but nobody would tell him what was going on. Nobody would help him. Katsuki was Katsuki Bakugou again, he was 14 years old, he was drowning on dry land, and all he could hear was his mother’s voice mocking him in his head. 

“Daffodil!” 

A warm summer wind blew around Katsuki Hakamata, and he was 16 years old once more. It had only been a second, a heartbeat, but the flesh ball had climbed to surround his chest. 

Face twisting into a snarl as he pulled himself together, Katsuki didn’t bother fighting the flesh on him. He spun, one arm shootout and he let loose a full AP blast. Not directly at the dull purple fucker though, no. Katsuki’s gaze was dead set three inches to the asshole’s left where two balls were laying forgotten. 

His blast hit dead on, spraying concrete in his opponent's face and knocking him off his feet. That was enough for him to lose control over the flesh wrapping around Katsuki, and while neither ball hit his remaining target, one came close and the other came right towards Katsuki. 

With his manic battle grin in place, Katsuki didn’t waste a goddamn second. He rocketed forward, snagging the ball in midair and slamming it right into that fucker’s target. The other wasn’t expecting the direct assault, nor was he expecting Katsuki’s explosive follow up that blasted him fifty feet or so back where he slumped down, defeated. 

It took Katsuki several seconds to catch his breath, only to very nearly lose it again when a large hand touched his shoulder hesitantly. Glancing behind him, red met wide brown, and for a few short moments Katsuki felt like there was nothing in the universe but the two teenagers standing beside one another. As if they were lost in a field of flowers together, safe and away from the rest of the world. It terrified him how easy it was to slip back into that dream, even after so many years apart. 

“Are you alright? You have my deepest apologies for Seiji’s behavior! While honorable combat is one thing, I cannot believe my classmate would stoop so low as to call you-”

“I literally didn’t hear a single thing that fucker said, and I don’t care to.” 

“Oh.” Inasa paused for a second, unsure of what to make of that before his face split into a bright grin. “Well I suppose that’s the best possible outcome then! I’m glad you’re-”

“Kacchan! Are you okay? What happened?” Nice of his classmates to finally show up. Katsuki rolled his eyes at Izuku’s worried shout, he had just rounded an alley with Shouto hot on his heels and he looked upset. More than he really should be. Had he forgotten Katsuki could take care of his own shit? 

Opening his mouth to shout back, Katsuki cut himself off to lunge forward. 

Izuku froze, pretty much fucking everyone froze. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Katsuki flew at Izuku, only to twisted at the last possible moment, soaring over his shoulder to slam into a blur that had nearly reached the other teenager. 

A growl tore it’s way from Katsuki’s throat as he pinned down the Shiketsu girl’s hands. Red eyes were damn near slits, and his teeth were bared. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re trying to pull?” He demanded, and when the girl only stared up at him with shocked eyes, Katsuki reared back, slamming her back down into the ground. 

“Katsuki-” Was that Ochako? Sounded like her. She was probably worried about the amount of force Katsuki was using. Fair enough. It was excessive, but there was a clench in Katsuki’s gut. All his instincts were screaming at him that the person in front of him was a liar . He knew better than to ignore them. 

Behind him, a booming voice piped up in surprise. 

“Daffodil- Camie? Camie, what on earth were you doing?”

Right. Inasa knew this girl. Or should know her. Keeping his eyes locked on his captive, Katsuki projected his voice so he was sure the others could hear him.

“Sunflower, do you know what she got on any recent tests? Doesn’t matter which one.” 

A few heartbeats ticked by before Inasa started. 

“Ah- Yes, she mentioned that she got-” 

“Don’t say it out loud!” Katsuki almost whirled around to glare at the other, but the feeling wrong was enough to keep him focused. “What test was it? Without saying her score.”

“It- An English test. Her most recent one. Why-” 

Maintaining eye contact, Katsuki gave the girl a slight shake and ignored Inasa’s question. 

“What’d you get on that English test?” 

Finally, the girl under him seemed to restart, eyes wide ( too wide ) and a slight shake to her shoulders ( lies ).

“I don’t- Why do you want to know?” 

Katsuki wasn’t fucking around with this shit. He yanked the girl back up and slammed her back down. Behind him, he heard his classmates gasp, but he paid them no mind. Eijirou was saying something, probably worried Katsuki was overdoing it. Didn’t matter.  

“Cut the crap. I can smell the liar on you. If you’re really who you say you are, then you should know what goddamn score you got on your last test. So what was it?” 

Silence for several long seconds, and then the girl’s face was twisting in a grin. Katsuki reached for his explosions a millisecond too late, he was being thrown back in a surprising show of strength as the girl’s flesh straight up melted away. 

He braced for an impact that never came. Wind wrapped around him, followed swiftly by strong arms. People were shouting, a battle was going on, but Katsuki was frozen by the summer’s day holding him firmly but ever so carefully. 

By the time his brain kicked back into gear, Toga was gone. Goddamnit. At least she hadn’t gotten away with whatever she was trying to pull. An alarm was going off. Apparently, they’d reached a hundred passing students so it worked out. A voice was instructing students to do… something. Katsuki couldn’t focus enough to make out the words. 

It was like there were two different Katsukis in his body. Part of him was trapped in a silent panic, lost to memories of a dimly lit bar and watching her play with that knife of hers while eyeing him up for hours. Another part of him was happy to just be held safely for a little bit. 

Both Katsukis were fine with staying where they were though, so that’s what he did. Inasa held onto him the whole way, guiding him towards the locker rooms even as his classmates swarmed the two of them. All of them were worried, he didn’t blame them, but he didn’t have the energy to verbalize his thoughts right now. 

Right now, Katsuki wanted to be silent. So he was silent as they waited in the locker room for the people running the event to tell them what was going on. 

Aizawa-sensei was there at some point. He asked if Katsuki was okay, worried to hell and back. All Katsuki could manage was a nod, but he meant it. It had been scary as fuck, but he was alright. He just needed a minute to catch his breath, then he’d be good to go. 

All his gear was unpacked and hung out to dry, even though his body was shaking and his fingers felt numb and clumsy. He’d pushed through worse before. The stabbing pangs of loss in his chest were new though. They hurt so damn much, and the worst part was that he didn’t know how to ease them. 

An hour passed him by before he finally decided to go to the one person he trusted to ask for help. The storm was still raging on, but he braved it without fear. This time his journey was much shorter, just down the street to Auntie Inko’s apartment. He had to rap on the door three times before she answered. He opened his mouth to apologize for disturbing her so late, but he was pulled inside before he could speak. 

“Katsuki? Oh goodness, what happened to you? Did you walk over here in the storm?”

Before he knew it, there was a towel wrapped around him. Then he was being pushed into the bathroom to change into dry clothes. When he came out, he was ushered under blankets and warm tea was pressed into his hand. 

Phase two of the exam was easier.

Well, okay. Not really. The actual exam content was harder. But like, there were no overdramatic assholes trying to enforce their purity agenda on him, and no more members of the goddamn league of villains hanging around. So it evened out. 

They were supposed to be doing rescue. Admittedly, this was kinda Katsuki’s weak point. The ‘handling people nicely’ part of things anyways. He’d been getting better at it over the summer though. And luckily, while he wasn’t great at comforting people or any shit like that, he did have a damn good bit of medical knowledge. Particularly emergency first aid, and he had the supplies for it too. That meant he could get away with minimal talking, rotating from ‘patient’ to ‘patient’ and getting them ‘stable’ enough for his classmates to evacuate.  

He also had quite a bit of general survival… okay, training wasn’t really the right word for it. Know-how? Yeah. Know-how. Running around the woods for 16 years gave you some good skills.

It was all going great. He’d spoken about five words total, but there was almost always one of his classmates or Inasa by his side to entertain the civilians with their chatter. 

And then Katsuki had to do a life check on a kid that was playing an unresponsive victim. Shit. Inasa and Shouto were the only two nearby, and he already knew neither of them knew how to do this correctly. Katsuki knew how to, but his hands were covered in sweat. He’d been able to get away with not taking his gloves off, or taking them off and just sparking off for the rest of the exam. That shit worked fine for adults, but he couldn’t risk it with a kid. All it took was a trace amount of his sweat to poison the hell out of them, and while it wasn’t dangerous with his gloves on, he couldn’t do a life check through his gloves. 

Then he remembered that trick Shouto had taken to pulling on his hands when they were just hanging out, and he perked right back up. God, how had he forgotten that? Yanking off his gloves and sparking off most of the gathered sweat, he turned towards the other two who were securing the area. 

“Oi, Icy-”

Before he could finish, a sudden powerful wind blew over his hands. Like a hand dryer, but times a thousand. A few stray sparks popped, and then it was over and he was staring up at Inasa’s beaming face. Right. He must’ve watched Katsuki clean it off when they were kids and remembered. Hell yeah, this way his hands wouldn’t be freezing either. 

“Nevermind. Thanks Sunflower.” 

He got an enthusiastic response as he turned back to his work. Not before he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Shouto looked upset about something. It bugged Katsuki a little, but he didn’t have time to sort it out right now. 

Two minutes later, Gang Orca took the stage. 

Five minutes later, Katsuki set the goddamn record for the fastest ‘villain’ defeat in the provisional exam.  

What? He’d been a giant Gang Orca fan when he was younger, and that meant he knew all the guy’s weak spots. Izuku did too, and it had only taken a look from them to make a plan. 

Ochako and Momo took charge of the rest of the class, going after his sidekicks. Katsuki and Izuku launched forward without hesitation, and with some help from Tsuyu and Inasa, Katsuki tackled Gang Orca into the water. 

Gang Orca obviously thought Katsuki had made a mistake, grin wide with sharp teeth as they plunged under the water’s surface. He hardly even resisted the tackle, thinking that he’d gain the upperhand in the simulated ocean waves. Only for him to realize with growing horror that Katsuki knew exactly what he was fucking doing when that grin was met with a toothy smirk. He had about two seconds to try and fix his mistake, and then Katsuki was on him.

Fun fact, Nitroglycerin was an organic chemical and a contact explosive. Water didn’t do shit to it. 

That was something Gang Orca learned the hard way. 

Out of everything, it was the beaming smile and admiring stare Inasa gave him when he resurfaced with a victorious grin that made him feel best. Somehow, it outshone even the battle rush and glory high from taking out fucking Gang Orca in under five minutes. 

Tsuyu and Shouto helped Katsuki drag Gang Orca back onto dry land once he was out. Once that was taken care of, Katsuki tried to give himself a quick shake to get at least a little less waterlogged, and before he knew it there was wind rushing around him once again, drying him off in a matter of seconds. 

There might’ve been a fond smile on Katsuki’s face when he looked up to see Inasa in front of him, but that was between them. The rest of his class was weirdly grouchy about the wrap up, but the lot of them had been off the entire day. Katsuki had no idea what their deal was, but he was too happy to get caught up in it. 

Auntie Inko asked if his parents knew where he was. He would never lie to her, so he shook his head. That meant she’d text them, and his mother would apologize for him being such a burden. Whenever she got home, he’d be in trouble. Oh well. Auntie Inko asked why he’d come over with the storm raging outside. 

Words wouldn’t come to Katsuki’s lips, so he shrugged. He didn’t know why he was here. He didn’t understand any of this. So he shrugged and hoped she’d understand. She did, and let the question go. 

“Are you okay?” 

Another shrug as red eyes fell. His heart didn’t hurt so much anymore, but tears were forming at his eyes. Katsuki wasn’t supposed to cry. He hadn’t cried in three years. It was harder around her though. Auntie Inko made him feel safe, not the same way Sunflower had, but similar. Not crying was harder when he felt safe. Besides, Auntie Inko was the same as Deku. She’d cry over anything, and so maybe Katsuki thought he could cry sometimes too. As long as it was just her. 

Auntie Inko didn’t ask anymore questions. She didn’t yell at him, she just wrapped him up in a hug and let him cry. He cried and cried until he was too tired to stay awake any longer. 

In the morning he washed his face and slipped out the door before Deku woke up. She didn’t stop him, but she watched with those worried green eyes. That day he went to school as if nothing had happened. Only this time he couldn’t help but overhear when other students talked about boyfriends and girlfriends and kissing. It made his heartache worsen, so he tried not to listen. 

It was several weeks before Katsuki could slip out to the woods again. He went back north, to their meeting place, but there were no clues left behind for him. The flower field was empty and cold. Everything was too quiet and still without warm chatter and a soft breeze.

As he grew older, he learned new words for himself. Sometimes, he wondered, and he’d search halfheartedly to see if he could find Sunflower. The older he got, the less sure he was that he wanted to find the other boy. Maybe it was better left as a treasured memory. As sketches on old paper, and the warm fuzzy feeling of a distant dream. If he met Sunflower again, the other would surely be disappointed. Katsuki wasn’t a quiet boy who spent his days playing out among the flowers smiling all the time. When that storm had whipped through, it’d carried off Daffodil with it, and Katsuki was all that was left behind. Loud, angry, frustrated Katsuki. 

Still, he kept his eyes open. For all his fears, Katsuki hated leaving a promise unfulfilled. 

The exam wrapped up with all of Class 1-A (and Class 1-B) having passed with flying colors. 

Though you’d never guess it from how 19 of Aizawa’s 20 hell children were sulking.

All of Class 1-A was gathered in a room while Aizawa was watching over them from behind a one-way mirror as he waited to hear back from the exam organizers on what the hell had happened with Toga. Inasa had joined them, sitting beside Katsuki and chattering on about something or another. Not that unusual. What was unusual, was how damn content Katsuki was to be chattered at. Hell, Aizawa was pretty sure he’d seen him blush twice now, and he’d never seen this kid blushing before. 

As much as Aizawa was judging most of his class for their stupid teenager antics, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of protectiveness in his chest watching how his student leaned in a little closer to make out something Inasa was saying. What? That kid had been through hell and back already, and Aizawa was right to be worried at the risk of all the bullshit and heartbreak that came with high school relationships.

He didn’t have long to think it over. Kugo came stumbling out a few minutes later, beat up but with a smile on his face. 

“God, I get what Mic said now. Kid’s damn terrifying when he wants to be.”

“He’s ten times worse when he’s facing down an actual villain.” 

“Speaking of…” 

“They didn’t catch her, did they?”

“Nope. I helped with part of the search, and as best we can tell she tagged herself and slipped out with the other eliminated students.” 

“Has Tsunagu already been alerted?” 

Kugo huffed a sigh. “Not yet, I’m calling him after this to let him know what happened.” He paused, glancing over the collected students. “God, Tsunagu was so excited for him and now he’s going to be anxious as hell for the next week at least. Can’t believe we let a villain get so close to him at a damn license exam.”

“It’s bad, but Toga is near impossible to detect. The good news is she wouldn’t have been able to do much, even if Katsuki hadn’t grabbed her. My biggest concern would be if she got blood from a student, but she didn’t even manage that. She wasn’t going to be able to take off with him.” Aizawa offered a shrug with his words, before pausing to take his own sweeping look over his kids. “Besides, if it makes him feel any better I’m not letting that kid out of my goddamn sight until we’re back at the dorms.” 

No sooner had Aizawa spoken then something changed. Inasa had asked Katsuki something, gesturing towards the door. It was like the air had been sucked out of the rest of the class, and Aizawa was pretty sure he saw murder in several of their eyes. Defeat in others. Kirishima actually reached out a hand towards Katsuki. 

Katsuki didn’t notice. He appeared taken off guard, but nodded all the same and followed Inasa out towards the door. 

“What-” Kugo started, but Aizawa cut him off. 

“Teenager drama. I meant what I said though, so we’re following them.”

Katsuki and Inasa didn’t go far, only a few paces outside of the door. Which was nice since it meant Aizawa could keep an eye on the rest of the class while they tripped over themselves to spy on Katsuki’s conversation while also being able to keep his eye on his trouble-magnet student. Just in case. 

Really, Katsuki shouldn’t have been surprised when Inasa asked him out. It was where all this was leading to, right? His thoughts had been wandering to it all day. Towards the possibility of a relationship. Towards reclaiming lost summer nights and a softness he never thought he’d find in himself again. 

Yet even when Inasa asked to speak to him about something in private, even when he seemed uncharacteristically nervous, Katsuki didn’t realize what was happening until the other had made his too loud request. A childish part of him yearned to say yes, to throw caution to the wind and embrace the summer breeze, but… 

“I’m sorry.” He started, and watched Inasa’s face fall with a pang. Katsuki felt his own twist into a sad smile. “It’s not- God, it’s not anything you did wrong. Fuck, I mean, if I was going to say yes to anyone right now, it’d probably have been you. But... “ He was having trouble finding the words, but Inasa had always been too good at hearing Katsuki, even when he couldn’t say them out loud. 

“You aren’t ready?” There was a sadness to his now far more subdued voice, but it was an understanding sort of sadness. Katsuki nodded, eyes falling shut as he took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, then let it out as he reopened them. 

“Yeah. I’ve got school, gonna have work study soon enough, plus a ton of other stuff going on in my life. It’s barely been two months since I got kidnapped, not to mention everything else that happened after that. I’m just, I’m not ready for a relationship. And…”

The second part of this was harder, but it needed to be said too.

“And I’m not the same person who you knew six years ago. I don’t think you’re the person I knew then either. We hardly even knew each other then, and we certainly don’t know much about each other now. I don’t want a relationship based on over-romanticized childhood memories.” 

Pausing, Katsuki glanced up at Inasa. There was a soft, sheepish acceptance to the other’s face, and it made him brave enough for the last part. 

“I wouldn’t mind being your friend though. And I’m not saying no forever, god I have no idea who the fuck I’ll be six months from now. Who knows what that Katsuki will be ready for and who he’ll like. But for right now, I think we might be better off friends. Okay?”

Despite getting rejected, a smile split Inasa’s face anyways, and his voice was loud as ever as he shouted out his agreement. Katsuki couldn’t help but grin back at him, and the two of them exchanged numbers so they could stay in contact. Then he spotted Aizawa and Gang Orca waiting outside the room, and he got distracted trying to find out what’d happened with Toga. 

When he went back into the room to gather up his classmates, the lot of them were looking oddly guilty yet strangely happy about something. At least they'd gotten over whatever funk they'd been in.

It wasn’t until they were getting ready to leave, the rest of his class already on the bus while Katsuki was saying goodbye to Inasa that he remembered. God, it’d been six years, but he remembered his promise. Inasa was babbling on about something, and Katsuki cut him off with a wave. 

“Sorry, I gotta go before Aizawa-sensei gets pissy. Before I do though, I just remembered I made you a promise the last time we said goodbye. I would hate to be a liar.”

Inasa remembered too it seemed, because his face went red, but he only offered a slight nod. Unsure. 

Well, Katsuki was a man of his goddamn word. 

Leaning up, he caught Inasa’s lips in a quick, soft kiss. It lasted only a moment, and it was innocent as a summer’s day, but it brought a soft flood of warmth over Katsuki. Their kiss tasted like loose ends tied up and new beginnings, and he couldn’t help but look forward to it all. This new chapter in his life. 

“Bye, Sunflower.” He murmured, turning to board the bus that would take him back home. 

“I can’t wait for our paths to cross again, Daffodil.” The other teenager replied, and Katsuki laughed as he got on the bus. He took his seat beside Eijirou, stretching himself out and yawning. God, he was tired. 

As much fun as that whole affair had been, Katsuki was glad to be on his way home. Surrounded by his classmates, head slumping over onto Eijirou’s shoulder, Katsuki let himself drift into a half-waking, half-sleeping state. There was a faint buzz in his ears as his classmates chattered around him, and he relaxed into the white noise. It was nice sometimes, to relive a long lost dream, but he didn’t want to go back to the past. Not really. He was happy here in the present, with his mind turned towards the future, and he wouldn’t give that up for all the soft summer nights in the world.