Archive of Our Own ^beta

Class 3-A doesn't get many calm days. Sometimes it feels like every day is a new crisis with this disaster class. So really, Eijirou should've seen it coming. The weather is too nice and Present Mic being out sick is too convenient for something to not go down.

Their class decides to spend their unexpected free period laying out on the quad, enjoying the warm sun and the fresh greenery of a spring in full bloom. Some take the opportunity to do some studying, while others catch up on badly needed sleep. Most of them are just goofing off, being the dumbass teenagers they don't get to be nearly often enough.

That is, until a purple tear in reality opens up in the sky above them. Because of course it does.

The sky rends itself open, looking like a pulsing wound being forced apart at the seams. The whole class scrambles to their feet, readying for a fight as the hole gets bigger still. Then something red comes shooting out towards them, moving too fast to properly make out what it is. There's one thing for certain though: It's gigantic.

Eyes widen around the lawn as it becomes increasingly clear that whatever it is doesn't plan on stopping. Eijirou and his classmates scramble to get out of the way, just before whatever it is hits the ground hard enough to shake the earth. The rend seals up, now that it's delivered its payload.

And… yeah, no. Seeing it while it's no longer moving doesn't make any more sense. Because sitting in the middle of their quad, bloody and beaten and breathing shallowly, is a dragon.

"...I will… get Aizawa-sensei," Iida eventually says, abandoning them with the giant mythical beast.

Eijirou swears he can feel a headache coming on.

Don't get him wrong, seeing a real life dragon is super fucking cool! Except for the part where it crash landed through a portal and into their one stress-free moment in what feels like forever, clearly with a story to tell if its injuries are anything to go by.

The class begins murmuring to each other, Eijirou stepping closer to Bakugou as he watches the blonde aim a death glare at the being. He’s one of the ones who'd been sleeping, but only after Eijirou convinced him to put the book down and actually take a breather for once. Lord knows he needed it. Being violently awoken from his nap is sure to make him crabby for the rest of the day.

He’s about to speak to the blonde when a "Deku, what are you doing?!" sounds from across the lawn.

Eijirou’s head whips to the side just in time to see Midoriya striding determinedly towards the dragon. "They're hurt!" He shouts back at Uraraka, whose cheeks are puffed up in anger, even if she’s too apprehensive to try to drag him back herself.

"Oh my god," Bakugou says under his breath, before curling his hands into fists and stomping towards the other boy. "It's a fucking dragon, nerd, it doesn't need you to save it!"

Eijirou sighs, following after him.

Bakugou and Eijirou manage to good cop bad cop Midoriya into observing the beast from a distance, just barely preventing him from climbing the thing. Eijirou isn't kidding though— he has no idea what kind of beating a dragon can take, but this one looks like it had seen some shit before coming through the portal. Blackened marks seem to be burned into its hide, and several wounds bleed sluggishly into the grass. There's also a large tear in one of the wings. Eijirou assumes it's the reason why the dragon crashed. That is, if it was even conscious when it came through the portal.

"I do not get paid enough for this," a deep voice rumbles from behind them.

Aizawa-sensei is already pinching the bridge of his nose as he walks up to the trio, Iida trailing behind him. This apparently signals to the rest of the class that it's okay to come closer.

"Neither do I," Bakugou grumbles under his breath.

Eijirou snorts. "We don't get paid at all."

"Exactly."

Iida, Yaomomo, Midoriya, and Sensei immediately get to strategizing about the best course of action to take. They can't just leave a dying dragon in the quad, after all. Other members of the class pepper Koda with questions about dragons, despite their status as fictional beings. No, they don't exist, but he knows a few lizard species that may be the next best thing. Plus, if it's an animal, he should be able to talk to it.

Bakugou huffs, rubbing at his temples as he steps closer to the dragon.

 Eijirou follows. "Headache?" he asks, feeling his own temples pulse.

He alternates between being excited about the dragon (Really! How cool is that!) and refusing to process that this is happening to his precious free period at all. Seriously, what is up with his class's luck?

He gets a grumble in return, but Eijirou's amusement is cut short when the dragon abruptly begins to shrink.

There's a sudden upwelling of noise as the whole class startles, watching the red giant shrink and shrink until in the grass lies the body of a man. A suspiciously familiar looking man.

He's wearing nothing but loose black pants, his tan skin scattered with red scales around his shoulders, arms, ribs, and over his cheeks. His hair is an equally fiery red, long and thick where it pools in the grass around his battered body. Two black horns curl up from his forehead, while a red tail twitches slightly in the grass by his hip. His wings lay across the ground beneath his back, one of them still ruined. His other wounds still bleed sluggishly, much more alarming now that they're gashed into human ribs and arms. Although they seem to be… closing?

Eijirou watches, transfixed, as the injuries slowly heal themselves. Except before they can be completely sealed the dragon man gasps, eyes shooting open. He sits up abruptly and slams a hand against his chest, over where his heart should be. "Katsuki?!" He heaves.

Turns out there was no need for Koda to translate after all.

Bakugou stiffens beside him. From his other side, Kaminari snorts. "Well at least that confirms he's Kirishima."

Eijirou throws a sideways glare at his so-called friend. Not cool, bro. Even with giant shape-shifting dragons who may or may not be him in their quad, he still can't catch a break.

The dragon Eijirou's eyes practically glow gold, the pupils cat-like slits. His head swivels, searching frantically through the crowd. A noise starts low but gets louder as he clutches at his chest harder.

Eijirou holds his breath as he realizes it's a growl.

Or… maybe not exactly a growl. It seems to be halfway to a whine? The despairing undertone to the noise kickstarts him into action, his brain yelling to do something.

So obviously he grabs Bakugou's arm, pulling him forward.

"Shitty Hair, what the fuck," Bakugou hisses, but he stumbles along with minimal resistance.

"He's looking for you. C'mon man, listen to how hurt he sounds!" Eijirou whispers back. "And looks. If this helps at all—"

"You think seeing me is gonna magically heal a fuckin'  dragon? Have you actually lost it or—"

The growl seems to kick up a notch as the dragon Eijirou notices their approach, before abruptly cutting off as his eyes land on Bakugou. They melt, his whole face softening into a look so full of affection that Eijirou feels his own cheeks heat up.

"Heartsworn," he breathes.

Bakugou stiffens, hands forming fists again. "Heart- whomst now?" He chokes.

The dragon man blinks. "Heart…" his face twists, eyes narrowing. The hand over his heart tightens again. "You're not Katsuki."

"Not to you, asshole," Bakugou bares his teeth. He shakes off Eijirou's hand, taking a step forward and pointing at the dragon. "Call me Bakugou or don't speak at all, Shitty Scales!"

"Maybe we shouldn't antagonize the literal actual dragon?" Sero suggests from behind them.

Bakugou throws him a middle finger over his shoulder.

The dragon seems to pause though, like he's unsure how to feel about the declaration or the nickname or both. "How do you even know…" he starts.

 Then his eyes land on Eijirou. They widen almost comically, and the hand on his chest comes up to point at him. "Who are you?!"

"Uhhh," Eijirou starts, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I think I'm you? Or… you're me, I guess, but a dragon?"

They stare at each other for a moment, before the dragon clutches at his chest again. "We're not in the territories anymore, are we."

Eijirou chuckles nervously. "Welcome to UA?"

"Yuei…?" He looks around, brow furrowing. His eyes roam across the quad, taking in the path, the buildings, the blackened lawn beneath him, before turning back to Eijirou. “Yuei doesn’t look like this.”

Alright. Good to know UA is a universal concept.

Eijirou walks closer, holding his hands out to his sides. "Hey dude, why don't we go talk about this inside? Then maybe we can help you out?"

The dragon looks up at him, eyes wide. "I need to find Katsuki," he insists, sounding desperate. "I— we were fighting, he was injured— I can't feel him!" His claws dig into the flesh of his chest, leaving red wounds there. If he doesn't calm down soon he's gonna seriously hurt himself.

"I need to find him."

Eijirou takes a deep breath. This is the sort of stuff they train for, right? He moves slow, taking another step forward before lowering himself to the dragon's level. "We'll do everything we can, okay? But right now we need to take care of you."

The dragon's pupils expand, his breathing ragged. It's… surreal, to say the least, to watch himself nearly fall into a panic, but he supposes if he was in this dragon's position— fighting alongside Bakugou, both of them injured, then waking up in a strange world with the guy nowhere in sight— he would freak the fuck out too. So Eijirou does what he would do for any of his friends; he leans forward, opening his arms and wrapping them around his dragon self and tucking his head against his shoulder. Eijirou closes his eyes, making the hug as warm and secure as he can, pouring as much love and support into it as possible.

"It's gonna be okay, okay?" He whispers.

It takes a moment, but eventually the dragon shifts his arms until he can wrap them around Eijirou in return. "Okay," he breathes, his voice a little wobbly.

Eijirou pulls back until they can see each other and gives him a smile. The dragon's eyes are back to normal now, round pupils in red irises. Eijirou lets out a relieved breath.

"I'm gonna lift you so we can get out of here, okay?" Eijirou asks.

He waits until he gets a nod in return before slipping his arm underneath the dragon's armpit and around his back. He uses the hold to haul him to his feet. The dragon leans a lot of his weight on Eijirou. His wounds seem mostly surface level by now, but he still winces as Eijirou gets them situated.

Eijirou turns around to face Aizawa-sensei, who gives him a nod and starts off towards the dorm building.

It's slow going, the walk back to the dorms, but the class falls in step with the two of them as they limp their way down the path. Bakugou grumbles as he trudges along behind them, whereas Midoriya turns around and walks backwards next to Todoroki so he can turn eyes sparkling with far too much curiosity on the pair. Mina skips up next to Eijirou, leaning forward to get a better look at their guest.

Dragon Eijirou's eyes widen as he takes them all in.

"Familiar faces?" Eijirou asks. 

He gets a slightly stunned nod in return. “I hadn’t seen some of you for months before the battle… Why are you all together? Is something wrong?”

Todoroki turns slightly to talk to them. “We all go to school together. It’s nothing special.” He pauses, tilting his head a little. “Although most classmates don’t live together, but we’re all well used to dorming by now.”

“Battle?” Sero asks from somewhere behind them and to the left.

The dragon nods, his face pinching into a frown. “Katsuki and I joined up with the rest of you to fight a large battle. We were in the middle of it when, well…”

Midoriya leans forward, pointing his curious eyes at the dragon with an intensity Eijirou doesn’t envy. “Where was your Kacchan when you were sent here?”

The dragon’s frown gets more severe. “He was riding me.”

Eijirou can’t help the way his face heats up. Behind him, Bakugou chokes.

Mina’s giggles set off warnings in his head. He turns to look at her just in time to see her open her mouth, and uses his free hand to clamp over it, preventing the inevitable joke from being voiced. “No,” he grounds out.

Behind them, Kaminari yelps. “Dunce face, I will end your fucking life,” Bakugou threatens.

“Riding you, huh?” Sero says from the blonde’s other side, voice raised.

“He didn’t mean it like that!” Eijirou shouts, face flaring red. Times like this, he regrets having more friends than hands to control them with.

Dragon Eijirou blinks, head tilting as he twists around to look at them. His eyes widen in realization, but instead of the embarrassment Eijirou expects, his face instead splits into a sharp-toothed grin.

“I didn’t mean it like that. But yes, it’s like that too.”

Bakugou’s hands explode. Eijirou almost trips over his own fucking feet.

“I will drop you,” he hisses to the dragon beside him. All he gets is cackling in return.

Today is gonna be a long day, isn’t it.

Dragon Eijirou is fully healed except for his torn wing by the time Eijirou puts him down on one of the common room couches. “It will need stitches to hold it together before it can heal,” he explains. The class settles around them, all peering at him curiously.

“I’ll get the first aid kit, ribbit,” Tsu-chan offers.

“Can we call you Dragonshima?” Kaminari asks. “Dragon Kirishima is just a mouthful.”

“It’s two words, dumbass,” Bakugou grumbles, dropping himself on the couch next to Eijirou. He's been leaning on Eijirou whenever they share a couch for years now, so the space he leaves between them may be small to anyone else, but it raises alarm bells in Eijirou’s head immediately.

The dragon blinks at them from where he slouches into the couch cushions. He looks… exhausted. “I guess it’s fine,” he mutters.

“You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want us to,” Uraraka says from her place on one of the other couches next to Midoriya. “If you don’t like it we can find some other way to differentiate between you two.”

The dragon hums. “It’s not that it’s bad, just weird. Kirishima is the name of my tribe, after the mountain range we live in. And since we’re all dragons it just seems… redundant, to me.” He turns to Eijirou. “Is Kirishima also where you’re from?”

Eijirou shakes his head. “No, it’s my family name. That’s super cool, though!” he replies, trying to focus on one problem at a time with as much cheer as he can.

Tsu comes back with the first aid kit. Dragonshima extends his wing to give her access, frowning at the movement. She studies it for a moment before looking to Aizawa-sensei for instructions.

“You all have first aid training,” Aizawa-sensei responds. “By this point you should be able to administer stitches yourselves.”

Tsu-chan nods, then gets to work. “This will hurt,” she tells Dragonshima.

“I’m used to it,” the dragon shrugs.

“Do you get hurt often?” Shinsou asks, sat on the floor by Midoriya’s feet. 

Dragonshima snorts. “Katsuki and I are hunters. We encounter all sorts of dangerous monsters and people. And besides, poachers are as common as they are illegal, and dragon parts sell for quite a lot. So no, we’re no strangers to injury.”

In fact, he barely winces as Tsu-chan starts putting the wing back together with neat, careful stitches.

“You heal really quickly, though,” Midoriya points out. “Is that a dragon thing?”

He nods. “It’s part of our magic. The energy for it is pulled from our internal fires, though, so it wears us out.” His face pinches, and his hand comes back up to clutch at his chest. “As my Heartsworn, Katsuki can usually share in the magic. But with how far away he feels, who knows how he’s faring…”

Mina’s eyes sparkle from her place on the floor in front of them, chin propped in her hands and elbows on the coffee table. “That’s the second time you’ve said heartsworn. What does it mean?”

Based on the way his face melted earlier, Eijirou isn’t sure he wants to know the answer.

Dragonshima settles back into the couch more, his eyes taking on a faraway look. “We bound our hearts to each other. It allows us to share magic, thoughts, feelings. Other things. Ties us together. It’s a promise of forever.”

Eijirou takes a deep breath. Crosses his arms over his chest. Ignores the pointed look Mina shoots his way. His side tingles where he and Bakugou don’t touch.

Eijirou and Bakugou’s relationship is… unique. Eijirou would call him his best friend, sure, except it’s clear to everyone including them that they’re more than that by now. Eijirou doesn’t have a word for it, not really. If he had to call it something he’d say they’re partners.

They’re… vulnerable, with each other. Open in a way they aren’t with anyone else. Honest.

Does Eijirou want more? He doesn’t really think that way. Bakugou is a cagey person, and to be as close to him as he already is is a blessing Eijirou never takes for granted. Has he ever looked at Bakugou and wanted to squish his cheeks or kiss his forehead? Sure. Has he ever seen Bakugou in the locker room and had to look away?

…Look, that’s besides the point.

The point is that this isn’t the first time they’ve been teased about getting together, by far. With friends like his, he’s gotten his fair share of eyebrow waggles and teasing comments, both in and out of Bakugou’s presence. But it’s different, to hear some alternate reality fantasy version of him say they’re together. And not just together— it sounds like they’re magic married. And that… it’s a lot to take in, alright?

“You look like you’re in pain every time you talk about it…” Hagakure points out.

Dragonshima huffs, blowing gray smoke out of his nostrils. “It’s not a promise made lightly. Losing one’s Heartsworn can be… fatal.”

A hush falls over the room, the weight of that declaration heavy on all of them. Eijirou is burning with one question: why? He and Bakugou have been through a lot together, sure. The whole class has. But to bind yourself to someone permanently, knowing how steep the consequences are… He’s right. That sure is a weighty promise to make, at their age. And the dragon doesn’t look any older than he is.

“How did you get sent here?” Aizawa-sensei finally asks, breaking the silence.

Dragonshima lets out a displeased grumble. “We were fighting. We had gotten somewhat separated from the others, which isn’t usually a problem, but our enemy’s forces were strong and we were already injured. I grabbed Katsuki so we could regroup, but it made me a target, I guess. One of the dark mages hit me with a spell, I think, and next thing I knew I was waking up here.”

Aizawa-sensei sighs. “Well, we don’t have magic here. Principal Nezu and the rest of us can look into quirks that might be able to send you back, but we may end up waiting on your friends to reverse the effect.”

Dragonshima tilts his head. “Quirks?”

“Yeah!” Eijirou grins. He holds out one arm, hardening it. “They’re like powers that a lot of people have. We’re all training to be heroes!”

The dragon blinks at his arm, running his hands along it. There’s a sort of scratchy noise where his claws drag across the hardened skin. “Like dragon scales,” he murmurs. It takes a moment for him to pull his gaze away, but when he does he leans forward to peer at Bakugou. “And your ‘quirk’?”

Bakugou holds out a hand in front of him, making tiny crackles in his palm. “Explosion,” he grumbles.

Dragonshima hums. “My Katsuki has fire magic, but he’s equally as adept with a sword.”

“Oh god,” Kamnari snorts. “Imagine Bakugou with a sword.”

The glare Bakugou shoots his way only makes him grin wider.

Aizawa-sensei breaks in before Bakugou can do any more than that. “I suppose I’ll leave you all to help our guest settle in. I need to go talk to Principal Nezu about this, but in the meantime, there’s an empty room on the fourth floor next to Bakugou’s that you can use. You’re all getting the rest of the day off to adjust. Do not make a mess of things.”

And with that, he excuses himself from the dorm.

“Alright!” Iida stands, hand chopping the air. “First things first, as class president I would like to formally welcome you to UA Class 3-A!”

A cheer goes up around the room, making Eijirou grin as the class’s excitement swells once more.

“Secondly, you must be hungry! There will be a lot of curious onlookers in the cafeteria, so why don’t we make you lunch?”

Dragonshima smiles. “I could definitely eat.”

Uraraka hops up, grabbing Tsu-chan’s hand and pulling her towards the kitchen. “Class lunch!”

Kaminari cheers, launching himself from his seat on the floor and half into Bakugou’s lap. “Yesss!! Blasty, could you cook for us, please?!”

“Fuckin’ alright!” Bakugou yells, smacking his palm against the other blonde’s face and pushing him back. “Get off of me, or the only thing you’ll be eating is my fist!”

Sero snorts, hauling Kaminari up with an arm hooked under his elbow and following Uraraka and the rest of the class. “Come on, dude, you’re not explosion proof.”

Bakugou hops up and stomps after them as well, with Mina following close behind.

Eijirou stands, stretching a little before extending a hand to his dragon self. “C’mon, Bakugou’s an amazing cook,” he smiles.

“Oh, I’m well aware,” Dragonshima responds, letting Eijirou haul him off the couch. He slumps a little when he stands, but quickly straightens up and waves off Eijirou’s immediate offer of support.

“I’ll be better with some food and rest,” he says.

“Well, we can definitely get you that!”

The entire class gathers in the kitchen, several students doing the actual cooking while everyone else helps prepare ingredients. Jirou and Yaomomo do something fancy with fish, Tsu-chan makes a vegetarian dish for her, Koda, and whoever else wants it, and Bakugou pulls a frankly absurd amount of meat out of the fridge.

“I’m feeding two Kirishimas and more, of course I’m cooking enough meat to feed a small army,” he growls.

Meal prep is interspersed with people showing Dragonshima their quirk and asking about the fantasy version of themselves. Eijirou is taken aback by just how many of them are apparently royalty. He’ll never be surprised by Yaomomo and Todoroki being rich, but he wasn’t expecting them to be royalty per say. Although thinking about it, he supposes their real families are, in a way.

Tokoyami is definitely a surprise, though.

“Prince of Darkness,” Tokoyami murmurs, looking far too pleased.

Dragonshima shrugs at Eijirou’s shock. “Katsuki is technically set to be king of his people as well, but we’d much rather adventure for now than sit around in tents. His mother leads the tribe until then.”

“Oh my god,” Kaminari whispers, looking delighted. “King Explosion Murder is real.”

“Shut the fuck up, worthless bard,” Bakugou grits, squeezing the pot handle just a little bit too hard.

“What’s his title?” Mina asks, watching Eijirou for some reason. There’s mischief in her eyes.

“Prince, for now,” Dragonshima starts, and ah, that’s why Mina is suddenly waggling her eyebrows at him. “But eventually he’ll be the Barbarian King.”

Sero snorts. “Yeah, that tracks.”

“I’m going to kill all of you,” Bakugou promises.

He doesn’t even raise a hand to spark off at them.

Lunch passes uneventfully, as does the rest of the day. Eijirou spends most of it alternating between trying to distract Dragonshima whenever his face pinches, whether that be in physical pain or a different kind, and bumping shoulders with Bakugou whenever he gets too tense. The dragon on their couch seems to bother him in the same way he bothers Eijirou, but eventually Bakugou gets over the momentary awkwardness between them enough to kick at his shin whenever Eijirou finds himself thinking too hard about the implications this heartsworn business has on their own relationship.

It’s nice, being reminded that Bakugou can read him just as well. They look out for each other like that.

By the time Bakugou’s bedtime rolls around, Dragonshima looks like he’s flagging too. Eijirou stands when Bakugou does, extending a hand to their guest again.

“Come on, we can show you to your room,” he explains.

They say their goodbyes to the class before heading to the elevators. Bakugou stands by Eijirou’s side once they get in, leaning back against the wall with his hands in his pockets. His shoulders are tense again. Although Eijirou knows why, he’d rather wait until they’ve gotten his dragon counterpart settled than break the silence of this small space.

The elevator dings, and Bakugou pushes off of the wall to lead the way, both Eijirous following. They walk down the hall side by side, heading towards the room at the very end.

Eijirou steps forward, pushing open the door. “Here’s your room! We can go grab you some sheets for the bed so you can sleep comfortably tonight.”

Dragonshima hesitates, a strange look in his eye as he peers into the doorway. He looks between Bakugou and Eijirou, gnawing on his bottom lip.

Bakugou rolls his eyes. “Just spit it out, idiot.”

Dragonshima rubs the back of his neck, a sheepish look overtaking his face. “Is it okay if… Can I stay with one of you tonight? I’m not used to sleeping alone anymore.”

The implication that he usually sleeps with his version of Bakugou hangs heavy over the three of them. Bakugou looks away.

Eventually Eijirou gives him a strained smile. “Ahh… y-yeah! Yeah, I have a futon you can use,” he offers.

Dragonshima’s shoulders droop. “...Sorry about this.”

“No, it’s okay!” Eijirou rushes to say. “It’s totally cool, I—” He almost says I get it, but then his eyes cut to Bakugou, who looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here. He swallows the words, feeling a sudden flash of panic. “...yeah.”

“Whatever,” Bakugou says, turning away from them and heading back down the hall. “Have fun with your sleepover. I’m going to bed.”

“Right,” Eijirou says, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “Goodnight.” He waits until Bakugou is in his room to start leading them back to his own.

He and his dragon self don’t really talk as Eijirou sets up the futon and they both get ready for bed. Dragonshima shakes out his wings before he lays down on the futon, checking the stitches. When Eijirou asks, he explains that he can’t put them away while they’re damaged, then proceeds to lay on his stomach instead. Eijirou turns out the lights and gets in his own bed. They say goodnight to each other.

When Eijirou falls asleep, he dreams of flying.

An explosion startles Eijirou awake a few hours later. He shoots up in bed, and finds an equally startled dragon staring back at him, irises gold.

“What is that? An attack?”

Eijirou shakes his head. “Bakugou.” He chews on his lip for a moment, fighting with himself.

Eventually he sighs. “I’m gonna go check on him.”

Dragonshima lays back down on his side, watching Eijirou intently. “I’ll be here when you return, I guess.”

“If he’s willing to come over,” Eijirou grumbles under his breath, heading into the hall and closing the door behind him.

He knocks on Bakugou’s door, squinting in the harsh light of the hallway in just his pajama bottoms. “Bakugou? I’m coming in,” he calls, before pushing it open.

Bakugou looks up at him from where he’s hunched over on his bed, eyes still glazed with fear. His quilt is a singed lump on the floor. He clutches at his chest, gasping breaths visibly wracking his body.

Eijirou shuts the door behind him and hurries over. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m here,” he murmurs, reaching out for the blonde. He sits on the bed, putting a hand on his knee. Shit, this must’ve been a bad one.

Bakugou stiffens when his hand makes contact, before brushing it off and putting space between them. “Shitty Hair,” he huffs, looking away.

It’s been years since Bakugou has called him Shitty Hair in a moment like this. It hasn’t happened since those first couple of times, when he was still trying to pretend everything was fine and he wasn’t waking himself and the whole floor with nightmares almost every night. Eijirou sighs, but doesn’t try to touch him again. He puts his back to the wall, his head thudding against it.

They sit there for a while, Eijirou closing his eyes while he listens to Bakugou catch his breath. Even with his eyes closed, the tension is taut between them in a way it hasn’t been in forever. This day has settled a certain kind of exhaustion in Eijirou’s bones, and it’s not physical.

“You can go back to your room, now,” Bakugou grumbles after catching his breath.

Eijirou opens his eyes to look at him. Bakugou can only maintain eye contact for a second before he turns his head away. Highly unusual for someone who considers looking away an admission of defeat. It makes Eijirou’s chest tighten.

“This is only awkward if you make it,” he says.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Bakugou answers too quickly, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Eijirou sighs. “Just because they’ve got… whatever it is going on in their world, doesn’t mean we have to let that change our relationship. It doesn’t mean anything for us.” He shrugs. “Or, I dunno, maybe it means everything. But… Bakugou, you're…” He doesn’t know how to finish the sentence. Doesn’t know what to call him, just knows that the distance between them hurts.

Bakugou looks at him again, eyes a deep, wine red in the darkness of his room. He slowly uncurls, his body slumping as he watches Eijirou with a frown. “...Go to bed, Kirishima,” he says, voice low.

Eijirou shakes his head. He’s gotten really good at knowing when to give Bakugou space and when to stay, but it’s all gotten jumbled in his head today and he can only think that he’s terrified to leave this unresolved. “Not without you,” he responds.

Bakugou huffs, watching him. He doesn’t know what calculations are going on in the blonde's head. He never does, but he can practically hear the whirring as he thinks.

Eventually, he speaks again.

“I dreamt about dark figures,” Bakugou starts. “They were… coming after me. In a forest, or a field or something, I dunno, but there were a lot of them. Then suddenly I was on a dragon, flying away from them. Then the dragon was gone, and I was on the ground, surrounded by them, and my chest…”

Eijirou blinks, brain going a mile a minute. “Then you woke up?”

“Yeah,” Bakugou replies, shuddering.

Eijirou holds his arms open for him, an invitation. Bakugou hesitates for a moment before crawling forward, dropping himself into Eijirou’s waiting arms and settling against his chest with a long breath.

Eijirou rests his head in his partner’s fuzzy blonde hair. “That wasn’t you,” he murmurs. “Not this you, at least. I… I dreamt of flying, too.”

Bakugou shakes his head. “What if he’s dead,” he whispers, like he knows he has to say it but is afraid to. “What if they killed him?”

Eijirou gets it. It’s… hard, to think of your own mortality. And they’ve been made painfully aware of it over their years at UA, from the very beginning. As they inch closer and closer to graduation, the concept only nips at their heels more and more. They’ll be going out there, risking their lives day in and day out. It won’t even be like now, where their encounters with villains are mostly incidental, where they almost always have pros there to watch out for them when things get crazy. Out there they’ll be the pros, and they’ll spend their days seeking out the kind of situations that keep death right at their backs.

What will happen to Dragonshima if his Bakugou dies? It sounds like they spend their days like that, constantly at risk of injury or worse. And yet they tied their hearts together permanently. Just a day away from his counterpart has the dragon clutching at his chest nigh constantly. He said losing your heartsworn is fatal.

Eijirou and Bakugou aren’t heartsworn, but he can’t help but wonder how he would go on without him.

“Come back to my room,” Eijirou says, arms tightening around Bakugou.

Bakugou shakes his head, face pressed into the crook of Eijirou’s neck. “Isn’t the dragon there?”

“Yeah?” Eijirou responds. “Who cares, he’s on the futon.”

Bakugou snorts, but starts to pull away. “I’m not—” he frowns, looking down. “It’s…”

Eijirou sighs. “Bakugou, he’s me. He’s not gonna judge you or anything.”

“He’s not you,” Bakugou insists. “He’s… he’s in love with his Katsuki.”

Eijirou’s chest seizes. He stares at Bakugou for a moment, unsure what to make of that. How to address it. “Is that… a problem?”

Bakugou looks up at him for a moment. His eyes widen. He looks away again. “It’s… fuck, Kirishima.”

Eijirou makes his body move, standing up from the bed. He doesn’t know how to untangle this. But his feet hit Bakugou’s battered quilt when he stands, and he remembers why he doesn’t wanna leave Bakugou alone right now. Why he came to check on him in the first place, why that takes priority.

“Look… just come to my room. It’s like…” he pauses, glancing at the red numbers on Bakugou’s alarm clock. “...two in the morning. Let’s just get some rest.” He holds a hand out to the blonde.

Bakugou stares at it a moment, before sighing. “Fine,” he grumbles, taking it.

Eijirou pulls him up, echoes of another event floating through his mind. He leads them out into the hallway, pulling the door to Bakugou’s room closed, then pushes open his own without letting go.

Eijirou doesn’t bother to turn on his lights after closing his door behind them. Dragonshima sits up, peering at them. “You’re back,” he says.

He watches Bakugou’s shoulders rise before he stomps over to his bed and flops onto his back on top of it. “What’s it to you, dragon?” he grits.

Eijirou keeps his sigh to himself as he follows him, crawling over the smaller man to put his back to the wall. There’s silence between the two of them, tense as Bakugou’s shoulders or the way Eijirou keeps his limbs to himself where he would usually throw an arm over Bakugou’s waist. Tense as Bakugou’s earlier statement makes him feel.

Dragonshima leans over, folding his arms over the side of the bed and resting his head on them. “You don’t like me,” he says, like it’s a simple observation. Maybe it is.

Bakugou somehow goes more rigid. “You don’t shut up, do you?”

“Hey,” Eijirou starts, sitting up. "Let’s just—”

“You like your version of me fine, though,” Dragonshima cuts him off. “Enough to be in his bed.”

Eijirou goes red, his face morphing into a frown. Goddamnit. Bakugou’s hands release small pops when he throws them in the air. “Oh my god—” he groans.

“So your problem isn’t with me. What is it then?”

“Would you just shut up?!” Bakugou yells.

Dragonshima looks between the two of them, his glowing crimson eyes unblinking. Then they go wide, and he raises his head from the bed. “It’s our relationship, isn’t it? Between my Katsuki and I?”

Bakugou’s hands come down over his face with an audible smack. He lets out a noise halfway between a groan and a whine.

“Dude,” Eijirou sighs, frowning at his dragon self.

“You’re not together,” Dragonshima continues. He must know he’s pushing it at this point. “The fact that we are bothers you. Why?”

“Why don’t I shove my fist down your throat?”

Dragonshima huffs. “Because we all know you won’t solve your problems by fighting them, Katsuki. Plus, you’d do more harm to yourself than me cutting yourself on my teeth. I grew up eating fire.”

Alright, Eijirou can’t help his snort. Sue him.

Bakugou lets out a bone-deep sigh, sitting up and putting his back to Eijirou’s headboard. “I… fuck,” he says again, gritting his teeth. “This isn’t even your fuckin’ conversation to have, lizard breath.”

The dragon shrugs. “No, but I can help you have it.”

Bakugou grumbles, dropping his forehead to his knees. Eijirou watches them both silently.

When it’s clear that neither he nor Bakugou will talk, the dragon does it for them.

"I refuse to believe there's a version of me that doesn't love you. Not until I see it myself. And I don't believe there's a version of you that doesn't love me back." Eijirou flares red, opening his mouth to protest, but the dragon continues before he can. "But you are the ones who get to decide what that love looks like. It's between the two of you. My Katsuki and I chose to be heartsworn. The two of you can do whatever fits you best."

"Why?" Eijirou asks, unable to stop the question from bursting out. “Why do something so deadly? And permanent?”

Dragonshima closes his eyes, his face twisting into a frown. He takes a deep breath before opening them again. "I… I lost him, once.

"There was an attack, by the same people we're fighting now, actually. We were separated, the two of us. I was stuck fighting with our friends, and by the time I realized he was nowhere in sight they had already taken him.

"We'd been traveling together for about a year, by then. It felt fast, so fast, the way our relationship grew, especially with someone like Katsuki. I suppose that’s what happens when you spend every day on the road with someone. But we always had each other's backs. And with him gone…

"Dragons have hordes, right? We keep things precious to us, usually in a den where it will be safe. It's why we tend to stay in one area, so we can come back to it easily. It feels wrong to be without one for so long. It was strange, then, that I could spend an entire year away from home without feeling that itch. But after they took him away it settled in my bones, made me antsy and irritable. Somehow, without me noticing, he had become the heart of my horde.

"It took weeks to find him. We checked every lead we had, sent a plea to anyone we had encountered in our year on the road. The only reason I didn't go begging Mitsuki was because I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I'd lost her son.

"Most people wouldn't help us. They weren't willing to put themselves in danger for a dragon and a barbarian they'd only spent a couple weeks at most getting to know. By the time the letters came back I had gotten so bad that there was no way I could appeal to them in person without biting their heads off.

"Eventually, Mina was able to find a spell that would let her send a message to a person directly. When reaching out to Katsuki didn't work, I suggested we contact Midoriya instead. We hadn't traveled with him and his party for long before Katsuki pushed us to part ways, but watching them had been enough for me to reach out to him.

"Midoriya came to our aid, thank the gods, and brought Shouto along with him. Apparently they'd encountered the same set of people, and knew where their base was. I pushed us to leave immediately, hellbent on tearing them limb from limb for taking Katsuki away from me, and eventually they agreed that with the strength of an angry dragon it was better to leave sooner rather than later, and do any necessary planning along the way.

"Katsuki was…. different, by the time we got him back. Quieter, with too many new scars for anything good to have happened in the time we were apart. The way everyone was delicate with him, like they didn't know what to do with him anymore… Normally he would scream at us for something like that, but he never raised his voice at all. Didn't chime in to conversations anymore, even if it was just to call us stupid.

"We'd taken to sharing a room. My instincts drove me crazy whenever we were apart, and apparently even a single wall between us was still too far to function. He woke up one night screaming. I held him as he cried through the remnants of his nightmare.

"It took a lot of coaxing to get him to tell me what happened. They'd tortured him. All those weeks I was driving myself crazy, begging people to help us find him, they had been torturing him. And it took so long for me to convince him to tell me why, but…"

Dragonshima pauses, sounding choked up. He takes a deep breath.

"They wanted to know how to get a dragon on their side. They tortured him to get to me.

"The guilt crushed me. I told him I wasn't worth that. But," he chuckles, smiling a little, "he grabbed my face, and a little of that fire in him seemed to come back. He told me that I was absolutely worth that. That there was no way in hell he would ever betray me like that. That he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"I wasn't willing to lose him again. Wasn't willing to go weeks without knowing where he was, what was happening to him. It's… Knowing someone will endure anything for you, and knowing you'd tear the whole world apart to get them back… the real question was why hadn't we been heartsworn already. It's a big thing, of course, but the fear of losing each other again was far greater than the fear of someday changing our minds.

"Between my magic and his, Katsuki's physical scars faded after about a year, but the mental ones we worked on together, like we swore we would. For us, love means everything. There's nothing we don't share, nothing we hold back from each other. That meant tying our hearts together too."

By the time Dragonshima finishes he’s smiling at them, eyes shiny with unshed tears. There’s joy in his eyes, love, promise, but an underlying fear as well. The fact of the matter is they were separated again. An entire dimension apart. Eijirou fits a hand over his mouth, blinking to hold back his own tears. Fuck.

There isn't a day he forgets Kamino. Those agonizing three days apart lurk at the back of his mind, threatening to jump to the forefront at random times. Bakugou's hospital stay after the war sits heavy with him too, all that time spent not knowing if the blonde would wake up or not.

Eijirou’s happy with what the two of them have, yes, but he can't deny there’s an itch that sits heavy under his skin. He wants to be Bakugou's best friend, yeah, his partner even if that just means as heroes. Wants to take on the world with him, because sometimes he feels like he can do anything with the blonde by his side.

But there’s this frantic part of him too, that has Eijirou seeking Bakugou out all the time. That knows what his explosions sound like at night. That crawls into his bed, or lifts his covers without a second thought when Bakugou comes to him after a nightmare. That folds him into his arms, squeezing tight and unwilling to let go. A part that will probably never sleep soundly without the blonde right next door again.

Air leaves Bakugou in a rush. "Fuck," he swears, looking overwhelmed. "I… good to know fantasy me doesn't do anything by halves either," he settles on.

Dragonshima chuckles. "Goodnight," he says, slipping off the bed and releasing them from the weight of his declaration. "Think about what I said. Or don't, it's totally up to you."

"Goodnight," Eijirou murmurs as they both lay down.

It's awkward, at first, but Eijirou can stand the distance between them now even less than he could before. Fuck it, he decides, and throws his arm around Bakugou's waist, pulling him close. The blonde stiffens for a moment before melting into him, one palm fit over the back of his hand.

Eventually Eijirou makes it back to sleep, Bakugou secure in his arms.

Things are better, the next morning. They move around each other like they usually do the morning after they spend a night together, this time with an added person. Eijirou offers Dragonshima a tank top and a pair of crocs once they take the stitches out of his wings and he gets them to go away, since he seems adverse to any of the other clothing Eijirou offers him. The two of them put the futon away while Bakugou grabs his uniform and toiletries from his room. He ends up between the two of them in Eijirou's mirror.

"I can't believe you both take forever on your dumbass hair," he groans, watching as they go through the rest of their morning routine without him.

"These spikes don't make themselves," Eijirou responds, something he's said so often it's become muscle memory.

"It'll tangle if I don't brush it," Dragonshima responds, equally as fast.

Bakugou meets eyes with Eijirou in the mirror. "You could always just leave it down," he responds. Then he looks at Dragonshima. "And scissors are an option!"

"I'm starting to think you just like me with my hair down," Eijirou grins.

Dragonshima snorts. "Good to know you and Katsuki are exactly the same."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean," Bakugou grumbles.

Dragonshima looks at Eijirou. "Let's just say I don't bother to put my hair up anymore since he'll just take it down anyway. Even braids don't survive his hands."

"That's—!" Bakugou starts, turning a brilliant red. Eijirou blushes slightly too, fighting not to laugh at just how flustered he looks. "We're gonna be fuckin late, morons!" He yells, before stomping out of the tiny room.

"We have like a half hour left!" Eijirou yells back, snickering at the tiny pops that come from the next room.

Dragonshima has no qualms about the volume of his laughter, running the brush through his hair as it dies down. "He usually gets fed up and does this for me," he says to Eijriou.

Eijirou focuses on his own hair in the mirror, thinking of all the times Bakugou has sat him down and helped him re-dye his roots because 'he takes too long', only to be so gentle it almost feels like a head massage.

"Yeah, I bet he does."

They make it to class on time, obviously. Dragonshima sits by him, although at some point during the day he moves to sit by Bakugou instead so he can stare out the window, not understanding anything that's going on in class. It's uneventful until their last period— heroics.

Dragonshima takes one look at Eijirou’s hero costume and immediately strips out of the tank top, the crocs quickly joining it as he stuffs both into Eijirou's locker. "No way am I wearing this when you get to look like that," he grumbles, unfurling his wings again.

Eijirou has to elbow Bakugou to get him to stop cackling, but it doesn't quiet anyone else in the locker room.

With a guest in their midst, All Might and Aizawa-sensei decide to give them a free period to work on whatever they want. They test out Dragonshima’s abilities, somewhat, but he's still not fully recovered from his healing so they settle for letting him watch the two of them spar.

They're on break for a moment when Dragonshima gasps, clutching at his chest. Eijirou's attention turns to him immediately, but instead of the pain he's expecting to see, Dragonshima looks radiant. "He's here," he breathes, face lit up in absolute joy.

Of course, that's when the gym doors burst open.

A man comes running through, blonde hair a clear indicator of exactly who he is. Red fang earrings stand out from his lobes, and a scarlet cape with white fur trim billows behind him. His chest is completely bare, except for the tooth necklaces decorating his collarbone and the bandages wrapped around his abdomen. Sturdy pants and boots mark him as someone who's no stranger to hard work. The saber strapped to his side suggests he's no stranger to battle either.

Running in behind him is someone who can only be Midoriya, wearing a green vest and sturdy pants and his signature red shoes, with a frankly oversized sword strapped across his back.

Red eyes scan the gym, shifting into a defensive position, until Katsuki notices Dragonshima.

"Katsuki!" Dragonshima calls, taking a step forward.

The barbarian’s eyes land on him for a mere second before he breaks into a run.

It's impressive, actually, how quickly he crosses the gym. He doesn't begin to slow down until he gets close to the trio, Dragonshima laughing as he holds his arms out for him.

Katsuki ignores them, reaching up to fit both hands around Dragonshima’s horns and pull him down into a frankly aggressive kiss. Dragonshima adjusts quickly, hands going to his waist instead.

Some cheering starts up as they go on, and by the time they pull apart Eijirou feels thoroughly red in the face. In fact, he has a feeling they only stop to breathe. Katsuki shakes Dragonshima by the horns, growling out a "You dumbass lizard," that would be incongruent with how hard he just kissed him if it were anyone but Bakugou.

"Your dumbass lizard," Dragonshima responds, like he's heard it a million times before.

Katsuki sighs, planting another kiss on his mouth before releasing him. "You're lucky I love you, dipshit."

Dragonshima giggles. "You found me," he says, sounding elated.

Katsuki smiles at him then, looking absolutely smitten. "Of course I found you, Heartsworn. We're bound together. There's nowhere you can go where I won't find you."

Dragonshima returns the look, lifting Katsuki's hands to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. "Right. And you as well."

"Guys, the portal…" fantasy Midoriya pipes up, before getting thoroughly distracted by the people standing around the room. "Wait, these are parallel versions of us!" He spots his counterpart, and both of their eyes widen as they point at each other. "You're me!" They say in unison.

Both Bakugous groan. Katsuki reaches up to grab one of Dragonshima’s horns again, dragging him back towards the entrance.

"Wait, Kats, love—" Dragonshima protests, patting his hand to signal for him to let go as their height difference forces him to bend over.

"No," Katsuki grits, only breaking his stride to grab onto the dragon's wrist instead. "I refuse to exist in the same room as two of them. One is more than enough." He raises his voice to yell at the other Midoriya, stomping towards the exit. "Oi! Nerd! Didn't you say we have a time limit?! Get the fuck outta here!"

"But Kacchan, they're us! Think of how much we can learn—"

"I swear to the gods, Deku, if I have to drag you back through that portal myself neither your precious witch or your dipshit prince will be able to recognize you when I'm finished beating your scrawny ass—"

Fantasy Midoriya scoffs. "Oh please. You can try."

He seems to realize his mistake after Katsuki's hands burst into flames.

Still, fantasy Midoriya grins wide, green lightning arcing around him as he takes off through the gym doors with an enraged barbarian prince on his tail.

Dragonshima laughs after them, turning to face the class. "Thanks, all of you! It was great meeting you! Maybe we'll see each other again, under better circumstances!" A chorus of goodbyes chase him as he turns around and follows after the others.

So yeah. They don't get much done during heroics after that.

Their friends are relentless with the teasing, afterward. They waggle their eyebrows, and make kissy faces, and Mina says that could be you at least twice. But Bakugou doesn’t put space between the two of them when their friends tease them as they stand in the kitchen. They stay shoulder to shoulder, red-faced and embarrassed, but they do it together.

Eijirou doesn’t have the excuse of letting Dragonshima rest this time, but he follows Bakugou back upstairs when his bedtime rolls around anyway. There's some teasing of course, but nothing worse than what they’ve been enduring all afternoon. They step into the elevator and Bakugou punches in the button for their floor, grumbling as he leans against the back wall and shoves his hands in his pockets, except this time the line of his shoulders is relaxed and his frown struggles to stay on his face. Eijirou can't help his grin, and doesn't even bother to fight the urge to throw his arm over Bakugou’s shoulders and pull the shorter blonde into his side.

Bakugou doesn't fight it, doesn't even pull himself away when the elevator doors open. He doesn't ask why Eijirou is here instead of downstairs with their friends, and he doesn't ask if Eijirou is going back to his room when they stop in front of Bakugou's door. He just lets them both in, closing the door like they didn't spend the night before having a crisis with a literal dragon.

Eijirou takes a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before spinning around to face Katsuki.

The blonde raises an eyebrow at him. "Not even gonna make it to the bed first?" He says, before Eijirou can get a word in edgewise.

"You don't even know what I was gonna say," Eijirou huffs, deflating.

Bakugou snorts as he passes by him on the way to the bed. "Of course I do, it's written all over your face," he retorts. Then, quieter, "I know you."

Eijirou heads towards the bed, watching the quiet, contemplative look on Bakugou's face as he climbs onto his bed.

"Bakugou," he starts, once they're sitting side by side.

"Call me Katsuki," the blonde responds before he can get any further. "You deserve that much at the very least," he mumbles.

Eijirou blinks. "O-okay? You can call me Eijirou." Then he pauses, turning to face him. "You're not just saying that because of—"

"No," Katsuki scoffs. "I don't do shit I don't wanna, you should know that." He picks at his fingernails, not looking up at Eijirou. "It's… I shoulda given you permission a long time ago."

"Katsuki…" Eijirou reaches across to take one of the blonde's hands before he can ruin his poor nails. "We can go at our own pace. I don't care what that pace is."

"I—" Katsuki's face scrunches up tight, like he just downed a shot of lemon juice and is dealing with the consequences. "Fuck," he exhales, hangs his head. "I… 'm sorry," he grumbles.

Eijirou's eyebrows tick upwards. He leans down, trying to catch a glimpse of Katsuki's face. It doesn't work well, but he can almost imagine the frustrated look there anyway. Apologies are rare with him, after all.

"For what?" He asks.

Katsuki sighs, long and low. "For my bullshit yesterday," he responds. "For… for pulling away, or whatever."

Eijirou's eyebrows creep upwards. "You don't need to— I mean it's understandable to want space after—"

Katsuki shakes his head. He raises his face again and spears Eijirou with his piercing red eyes, cutting off whatever he was gonna say mid-sentence. "No. I freaked out and tried to push you away. That's not… that's some coward shit. And I'm not about that life."

Eijirou sighs, resting his head back against the wall. It… it definitely didn't feel great to have Katsuki pull away from him, call him Shitty Hair and pretend he was fine after a nightmare after years of being each other's exception, their one vulnerability. Katsuki could recognize that. Eijirou lets that hurt feeling from last night bubble to the surface. He hadn't even realized it still bothered him, even after talking to Dragonshima last night, but he lets Katsuki's verbal apology soothe the feeling. They took effort coming from the blonde, after all, the setting down of his pride and the battle against his somewhat spotty way with words.

"I get it," Eijirou responds. "Apology accepted."

Katsuki deflates, a quiet sigh of relief leaving him. "So. Your grand speech?"

Eijirou takes a deep breath. "I just… I think we should talk about our relationship."

Katsuki's nose wrinkles. "Ugh. I guess so. Especially after last night."

Eijirou barely smothers a laugh at the look on his face. "Well don't make it sound like a chore, jeez."

Katsuki rolls his eyes, but the corner of his mouth upticks just a bit. "Alright. Whaddya want from me." Then, a bit more sober, "What are you unhappy with?"

Eijirou squeezes his hand. "I'm not unhappy with anything! Really." Then he makes eye contact with Katsuki and can't help but blush a little. "W-well."

Katsuki's brows furrow. "Well?"

"It's— Okay." Eijirou starts, trying to think about how he wants to handle this. "I'm not unhappy about our relationship. I really am not. Being around you, getting to be happy and vulnerable with you and being trusted with your happiness and vulnerability— I'm honored, really. Finding that… that safety, with you? It's been a blessing!"

He turns his body to better face Katsuki. The blonde tracks his movements as Eijirou takes his other hand as well. His eyes widen a little as they lock on Eijirou's, but Eijirou wants to make sure he hears, sees, feels every word he has to say. "I was serious last night when I said this can mean as little or as much for our relationship as we want. But… No, and I also agree with Dragonshima when he said there's no version of me that doesn't love their version of you. I believe it!"

He takes a breath. "I want you to know that I'll love you whatever way you want, okay? If you just wanna be friends, I'll love you like that. If you want something… not something more, because I think this is so much already, but something… something else? The kind of thing our friends can't seem to stop teasing us about? I'm down. If after we graduate you wanna live together, I'm all in on a lease. If you decide you wanna pack your bags and move to America or something while I stay here… well I'll be really sad for a while, but as long as you call everyday I'll make it work! I just want you to know that I love you. Whatever that looks like. And no matter what you want, I'm willing to love you that way. As long as we get to be in this together."

Bakugou blinks, before he leans in until he can rest his forehead on Eijirou's collarbone. "Shit, Eijirou…"

Eijirou giggles slightly. "No pressure. Really."

"Fuck you, I thrive under pressure," Katsuki grumbles. He takes a moment before sighing. "You still didn't explain your 'well.'"

Eijirou clears his throat. "Right. Uh. I— I guess the 'well' is that… sometimes I really wanna kiss you?"

Katsuki raises his head to fix him with a blank stare. "...You just gave me a speech about how much you love me and that's the part that gets you all flustered?"

Eijirou shrugs, grinning. "Loving you is easy."

Katsuki thunks his head back into his collarbone again, with some force behind it this time. Eijirou can see the red starting to rise to his ears. "Fuck you, you can't just say shit like that," he grits.

Eijirou giggles, turning his head to bury his face in Katsuki's blonde hair. He takes a deep breath, taking in his strawberry shampoo, the smell mild since Katsuki hates to deal with strong scents on top of the sweetness of his nitroglycerin. Katsuki squeezes his hands, letting them both sit there a moment.

Eventually Eijirou turns his head to the side. "I want to. I wanna tell you how much I love you, how easy it is to love you. I wanna cuddle with you for no reason besides the fact that we're both here. I just… I wanna be close to you. And I already am! I just… I don't wanna do anything you don't wanna do. Don't wanna make you uncomfortable."

Katsuki is silent for a while after that. Long enough that Eijirou pulls his head back, hoping he didn't make things awkward. Katsuki raises his head as well, his face looking pinched. Eijirou takes a deep breath, worry coiling in his stomach like a viper. Was that too far? Did he do the one thing he really really didn't want to?

Katsuki beats him to the punch. "I… didn't think I could feel the way I do about you about anyone, you know. No one has ever done this to me. Like… I found out about asexuality and aromanticism in middle school and thought I had everything all figured out. I didn't need romance, that was for suckers, y'know? And like hell was I doing icky shit with anyone else, the way all my classmates seemed to be obsessed with. No fuckin way."

Katsuki huffs, sounding vaguely amused. "But then here you come, bulldozing every expectation I've ever had, friendship or otherwise. I started feeling… I dunno. I also think Dragonshima was right. I think I do love you, and I have for a while. I dunno if it's always been romantic, but… I feel like somehow, somewhere along the line, something changed. And I think I'm still getting used to loving you like that. Have been for a while."

"You could be demi," Eijirou replies automatically, still processing.

Katsuki huffs a laugh. "Yeah, I know. Fucking up all my flags."

Eijirou frowns, mind racing. "Well, it's still on the ace spectrum, so if you wanted to keep your flags—"

"Eijirou," Katsuki cuts him off with a smirk. "Not the point."

Right. Not the point. The point was… "What does that mean for us, then?"

Katsuki hums. "It means… this is new territory for me. I don't really know what I'm comfortable with yet or what I'm not. But I don't want you to feel like… like you can't talk to me about that, or that you have to be embarrassed about it. I'm not made of glass, a smooch isn't gonna make me flip my shit." He pauses, grimacing. "Or, well, I'll talk to you about it instead of just pulling a repeat of yesterday. Cause that was stupid."

Eijirou shakes his head. "It wasn't stupid, it was a lot," he pushes back. "I was pretty overwhelmed too. I think it was the initial shock."

"Yeah, well, now that it's passed hopefully we can… be open about this? Talk about it?"

Eijirou smiles, a small thing. "I dunno, you're pretty adverse to talking," he teases.

"I'm willing to put in the effort for you," Katsuki replies, completely serious.

Eijirou's eyes widen. It hits harder than the I love you. "Yeah, I— me too. Always."

Katsuki sighs, letting out whatever tension is left in him. "You really are the only one who does this to me," he murmurs. Then, "What are we even calling… this?" He flicks two fingers between the two of them. "Boyfriends?" He says, but his nose scrunches a bit as he does so.

"I've been throwing around the word partner," Eijirou offers.

Katsuki snorts. "With who?"

Eijirou blushes. "No one! Just in my head, you know? I just… I needed something to call you, and best friend didn't feel like it was cutting it anymore."

Katsuki is silent for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, that works. Partners sounds good."

Eijirou beams at him, giddy about being on the same page again. It hits him once again that he does love Katsuki. Enough that he almost burns with it, the fire growing and growing in his heart until it's almost too big to contain.

"Can I hold you?" Eijirou asks, his face most certainly red.

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him, but he's smiling. "Fine, whatever," he says, letting go of Eijirou's hands to shift his position.

Katsuki kneels on his bed, pushing gently at Eijirou's shoulders until he sits with his back facing the wall again. Eijirou grabs a pillow to put behind him so he can sit away from the wall a little bit as he complies. Then Katsuki plants his knees on either side of Eijirou's hips, settling into his lap. He frowns a bit, seeming unsure of where to put his arms until Eijirou takes them and throws them over his shoulders, wrapping his own arms around Katsuki's waist. Katsuki gives a little hmph before he settles down, leaning forward into Eijirou's chest and tucking his face into his neck.

This close, Eijirou can feel every breath Katsuki takes, feel how they get longer, more steady as the blonde gets comfortable. He hums, hoping Katsuki will feel it in his chest too.

Eventually Eijirou turns his head and plants a soft kiss against Katsuki's temple. "Love you," he murmurs.

"Hmm." Katsuki tilts his face up, cracking one imperious eye open. "A proper kiss this time," he huffs, eye falling shut again.

"Are you sure?" Eijirou asks.

"Yes I'm sure," Katsuki responds.

"Alright then," Eijirou confirms, leaning down.

And. Well. He tries to kiss Katsuki! He really does! But he's smiling too much for it to be any more than a press of lips, and it's not long before he can feel Katsuki's silent laughter, the way his shoulders shake where they're pressed together, and then he can't even hold his lips closed for that either.

Katsuki pulls back, the glare he tries to shoot Eijirou's way absolutely undercut by the grin on his face. "You asshole—"

Eijirou really can't help but laugh this time. "Wait, gimme another shot—"

"Another shot?! After how horrendously you fucked up the first one!"

"Wait!" Eijirou gasps around his laughter. "Wait wait wait wait—" He brings his hands up to hold Katsuki's face still. "I'll get it this time!"

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him. "Why don't I trust you?"

"You shouldn't," Eijirou grins, before smothering his entire face in kisses.

"Eijirou!" Katsuki laughs, trying to bat his hands away, but Eijirou's hold stays firm, forcing Katsuki to grip his shoulders and weather the storm.

Eventually Eijirou is also laughing too hard to keep up his assault. He leans back against the wall, watching the remnants of Katsuki's giggles leave his body, eyes shut tight with the force of his laughter.

When Katsuki's eyes do open they only do so halfway, mirth dancing in his red irises like fireworks in the night sky. He reaches warm, callused hands up to Eijirou's cheeks. "My turn," he smiles.

Eijirou hums, a smile pulling at his lips, ready for anything.

Katsuki leans up, tilting Eijirou's head down. "Love you," he murmurs, before bridging the gap for a proper kiss. And as Eijirou melts into it, he thinks,

I love you too. In any way you want.