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“I’d like to help you find the Hyacinth field, Kacchan!”
This again.
“Absolutely not. I don’t need your help. In fact, I don’t need anybody’s help,” Katsuki sneered, looking down at Deku from his raised patio.
Katsuki leaned against his doorframe, his black velvet cloak shifting smoothly over his shoulders. Deku has been vying for his attention ever since King Todoroki made it public knowledge that Katsuki was to make him a ‘special potion’.
Since the king is a moron, who wanted to brag about getting the most powerful mage on the continent to make him a specialized potion, he decided to tell everyone in the vicinity of his incredible luck.
More like incredible amounts of money.
Money can get you everywhere. Don’t let anyone fool you otherwise.
“But- But Kacchan! I know where the field is at! I found it on one of my travels- the one to Queen Midnight’s palace, to tame the dragon? I’ve heard it’s incredibly hard to navigate alone! Please let me go with you!”
Ah right. Deku’s been everywhere in the goddamn universe.
“No is no, damnit! I don’t want to travel with you! This is a personal request from the King, and I don’t need a magic less peasant such as you to... mess it all up!”
Ok, maybe Katsuki didn’t really give a shit if he fucked over the King. He just didn’t want Deku’s help. He can see it now; ‘Magicless Deku rubs in powerful mage Katsuki’s face that he needed help’!
Deku has always looked down on him! He wouldn’t let him do it again.
“Please,” Deku gave that damn smile again. Blinding, enchanting, fake. “I promise, you can lead the way! I just… I just want to go with. I swear.” His voice took on a softer tone, more unsure of himself.
He might be able to take this as a chance. A chance to show Deku that he’ll never measure up to him. Not in a million years. Prove to Deku to he doesn’t need help, and he never will.
“... Fine. I’ll let you… come alon-”
Deli whooped for joy, jumping and pumping his fist in the air. Katsuki recoiled a bit. Deku was really, really fucking loud. He was going to scare all of the damn wildlife from the entire fucking forest at this rate. Holy shit.
“Really?! Really, you’ll let me?!”
“Yeah, yeah. As long as you don’t do… that, again,” Katsuki waved his hand at him.
“You won’t regret it!”
——
Katsuki slipped on his usual attire. Loose and flexible. Long and easy. Enchanted jewelry; only because he couldn’t think of many accessories besides rings and piercings to charm for protection.
Thin, yet sturdy black boots, black pants, a white blouse, and a velvet cape with a matching witch’s hat.
He hated that that was the literal name for the damn thing. ‘Witch’s hat’. Fucking stupid.
Katsuki imagines that he and Deku wouldn’t be gone for more than a week- after all, how hard could it be to find a field of flowers? Sure, the way there might be long, but he was prepared. He had his magic (When he was in magic school, he majored in Black Witchcraft, but his minor was Conjuring), after all.
“Kacchan!” He heard a muffled shout from outside of his cottage. “Are you ready?”
He spared a glance towards his clock. 8 am, right on the dot.
He suspected that Deku either waited outside until it was exactly 8, or he really did just get here. Exactly on time. Like the nerd he is. The last one seemed more probable.
The witch made his way to the front door, using his broom to easily fly his way from his room (which was on the top floor, and technically impossible to reach without magic). Protection was absolutely necessary, considering the amount of wannabe masters trying to steal his rare potion ingredients. Which was to say, a lot.
He opened the door.
And promptly wanted to fly right back inside. His broom would not let him. Stupid broom.
Deku had, what? Five whole ass backpacks, and (deadass) a unicorn. What? What the fuck? How the hell long did he think they were going to be traveling? Deku lived nearby, right?
“...” Katsuki stared right into his large, sparkling green eyes. Gross, but kinda cute. “Deku. Why in the hell do you have this much… stuff!”
Deku’s lips formed into a small ‘o’, wringing his hands, he ducked his head down slightly.
“Well… the way over is quite long. Dangerous, too! Better safe than sorry, in my book! Why don’t you have anything?” He accused.
“Because,” Katsuki said “I don’t need anything.”
Deku gaped at him for a bit, before something must’ve clicked in his mind. Why? He lights up like a damn lightbulb. Eyes wide with excitement like he just figured out the secret of the universe. Likely story, bud. Likely story.
“Of course you don’t! Magic! How’s that part work? Does it just clean, or does it also totally change what you’re wearing? Also, when did you learn that? I thought you were just elemental?! Oh, and-”
He started to fall into a mutter, talking to himself instead of at Katsuki. Katsuki could feel his eyebrow twitch and scowl form.
“Nerd?”
Deku paused, and looked up.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
“.. Ok, Kacchan.”
Katsuki cleared his throat. It was time to begin their journey. Their long, more than likely draining journey.
“So, nerd, where to first? Through ‘The Erased Forest’, or the ‘Screeching Willows’?”
“...”
“Uh. Loser? You in there?”
Deku gave him a blank stare, and then a small smile. A devilish smile. Why the fuck is he so damn confusing?
“Thought you told me to shut up?”
“Oh my God!”
——
And that was how they ended up at ‘Froggy Swamp’, outside of some random-ass cottage. It was ugly, by the way. You couldn’t give him all of the potions in the world to make him live there. Maybe it was nicer on the inside, at least, as soon as Deku got unstuck from the magic mud (gracefully nicknamed ‘Gross Shit’ from all who got stuck).
Prior to Deku absolutely screeching his ass off while Katsuki laughed at him from high up on his wonderful, wonderful broomstick, they’d been travelling for a full day in The Erased Forest. They fought a gargoyle, for some reason, who wanted to protect the ‘sacred stone’. Jokes on him, Katsuki didn’t give a shit. He wanted to find a damn flower field! (They did try to reason with him, but the gargoyle was absolutely feral)
“Kaccha- Kacchan! Kacchan, help me! Plea- Please!” He was oddly still for his screeching. Well, not ‘oddly’. It was an appropriate response to being trapped in ‘gross shit’. Ha ha ha. Loser. Katsuki would never, ever have a problem like that.
“Hm. Yeah, why not?”
“Kacchan-”
“Ah ah ah! I’m saving you, lameass!”
Katsuki reached down into his left boot, and pulled out his trusty Black Diamandis wand. It was really expensive, but it had the best features. Totally worth it.
“Disperge vicinitatem contrarii,” he said, lazily waving his wand in an upwards ‘A’.
Suddenly, the ‘gross shit’ seemed to dry, and crumble to ash. Deku was free, and spotless as well. The former ‘gross shit’ had seemed to completely repel from his body.
“Wow… thank you, Kacchan!” Deku beamed at him.
Kinda cute. No, it was super cute.
Katsuki gave a small ‘hum’ in acknowledgement. Did he just think of Deku as… cute? Cute, him? The wannabe, magicless, mage? Well, Deku hasn’t really expressed any want to learn magic in a long, long time. He’s dedicated his life to adventure, now.
Off topic.
“Um, Kacchan? So, uh, the Frog Princess cottage is right up there… we could stay the night? Remember?”
Right. Katsuki shook it off.
“Uh. Yeah. Cottage.”
“.. Is something wrong, Kacchan? You seem a bit off…”
No, he was not fine! He just thought that Deku was cute! No! That couldn’t slide. Although, the slight warmth he felt in his cheeks said otherwise.
“You’re not getting sick, are you-”
“I’m fine! I was just thinking of something. None of your damn business, nerd! Let’s just go to the goddamn cottage or whatever.”
——
“Round face?!”
“Katsuki!”
Deku smiled awkwardly while Katsuki gawked at the girl in front of them.
“So.. you two know each other..?”
Katsuki growled, his expression turning sour. Of course he knew this bitch. His one (and only) competition for top mage. He won, of course, but she was a close second back in school. Nowadays, who knew? Katsuki liked to believe he’s improved tremendously over round face over there.
“Yes,” He ground out. “We know each other.”
“Yeah!” That same damn smile as the one she held at sixteen. God-mother-fucking-DAMNIT. “We went to magic school together! Oh my gosh, it’s been so-so long! God, I have so much to tell you, Katsuki!”
“Oh! You guys met at U.A.? That’s great!”
Wait. Deku knows this bitch?
“You know this bitch?”
Deku turned to him, his brow quirked downward making him seem… confused? What, was he supposed know that they knew each other? He wasn’t God, for fucks sake! (Actually, he’s just a close second…nobody needs to know, though)
“Don’t call her a bi- ‘B’ word! That’s so mean! You guys are friends!” Deku whined, looking between both him and Round Face. Why was he deluding himself? They were never friends. Fierce rivals, sure, but friends? Absolutely not. And he was just about to say so. Gotta make sure it’s drilled into his head.
“We were-”
“Best friends! We hung out after school, like, all the time! Training, studying, and motivation! Like? This man was a blessing! I went from 13th to 2nd like it was nobody’s business!” Round Face clamped her gloved hands together, making her float up and up into the air. While up there she swirled and circled near the ceiling in dizzying patterns. She had a nasty habit of slamming into the ceiling when they were in high school.
“Ah, Katsuki! Oh how I’ve missed you so! How come you’ve been ignoring my letters?”
Letters? She sent him letters?
“Letters?” He strained his neck upwards. What fucking letters? No no no; scratch that. She wrote to him and thought about him after graduation? Well, he thought about her… but only occasionally! Just wondered if she was beating up monsters like he was, or taking on stupid potion requests from rich guys… like he was... He could do better than that.
“Uh. Yeah. Letters. Don’t tell me you don’t get any!”
“No, I haven’t.”
Ugh, fucking message fairies. They’re so damn unreliable! Stupid assholes just love fucking with people! Stealing names and shit…
“Wh-wha! I’m so happy~! I thought you were ignoring me!” Round face dropped to the ground, gracefully, and wrapped her arms around Katsuki’s neck. Katsuki nearly fell on his ass from the sudden weight.
“Uh, yeah, no. I still would’ve ignored them, even if I had gotten them,” he said.
“Katsuki!”
“Kacchan!”
“It’s true!”
——
Sometimes later in the night, Round face‘s wife (she was married already?!) came home. Although, she went straight to sleep. Something about the difficulties of being apart of the royal court. So they were bunking with literal royals, and they lived in a… what, cottage? A cottage was the best they can afford? The kingdom needed a better treasurer.
Around thirty minutes ago, Round face had taken Deku into another room after dinner.
… What did they expect him to do? Stick with his thoughts and sulk? Ha! He didn’t even know where his room for the fucking night was!
So, he just sat still. And waited. And maybe mulled over his thoughts. Like, he thought of Deku as cute earlier. What the hell was up with that? All the damn nerd ever did was look down on him. He was still doing it to this day! So great job, Katsuki, on picking the worst person ever to get a small, minuscule crush on!
He waited longer.
.
.
.
For Deku. That’s familiar, isn’t it? Katsuki could feel the rise of annoyance on his face. He used to wait for him in beginners school. Used to wait for him to make a spark, like him. Used to wait after class, trying to give Deku separate lessons, thinking he could be a better teacher.
He used to push. Shove. Yell it out of him. Nothing ever did happen. No spark, and no magic. Although, his hero complex never faded. Never will fade. Deku would always be there, just around the corner, for his time to save someone in need.
He was there for him. There to mock. There to laugh. There to show him up, become the savior he always wanted to be. To prove even without magic, he was the superior.
He didn’t like to think of that.
“Yo Deku! Hurry the hell up with that gossip shit, and get around face to tell me where my fucking room is!” He shouted.
He was tired, damnit!
“Ah- ah! Yes, um, just a bit Kacchan!
Deku came walking back down the hall shortly after. His face was… red, for some reason.
“Sorry for the wait! You, um, good? I’ll show you we’re your room is!”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Go show me where it is…”
——
They left Round faces place a few days ago (That’s right, folks, days!). They had made a few pit-stops in some villages and cities, fought some rando trying to pickpocket them, all the while Deku was…
Strange. Very, very strange.
Anytime Katsuki stood near him, his face went all.. red, and shit.
It was cute. Again, Deku was being fucking cute as hell.
Currently, they were walking (well, Katsuki was flying) on the violet version of the yellow brick motherfucking road. It winded upwards with seemingly no end. Katsuki wanted to groan the longer he thought about it. Why did this journey have to be so long? Completely unnecessary!
“Deku,” Katsuki said. “How much longer are we gonna be walking down this fucking road?! We’ve been at it for five whole-ass hours now!”
“Oh yeah! The road doesn’t end!”
“... What?”
“Yeah! The Hyacinth field is close, though-!”
Deku was cut out mid-speech as a fucking dragon pierced through the sunset sky.
Holy shit.
The clouds it dropped from cleared out from the entire visible sky. The yellow and red ombré scales glimmered, and shined against the reflection of the sun. And the sight was absolutely gorgeous. Katsuki knew first hand how magnificent dragons could look. After all, he had a dragon friend. This dragon, though, was five times larger.
The dragon slammed down to the ground, leaving a crater in its wake. It stood tall and powerful in front of the duo.
Then, it growled.
“Kacchan! Kacchan- kacchan, we need to leave! This isn’t- this isn’t a normal dragon! This is a dangerous one, the national dragon Endeavor!” Deku shouted.
They had a national dragon?
Who gives a fuck? The system is screwed anyway!
The dragon inched closer, letting out a roar almost directly in their faces. It learned, barring and gnashing its teeth together to seem intimidating.
It wanted a fight.
“Get away from my flower field!”
That, or it just wanted to protect its treasure.
“Deku, listen to me…” Katsuki started. “We’re going to fight it.”
“Absolutely not, Kacchan! It’s not worth the risk! We can come back another time!” Deku continued to mutter and murmur about all of the ways they could escape gracefully.
“Stop it!”
Katsuki whipped his head around towards Deku, barely noticing the hat on his head flying away.
He could feel his blood start to boil. Who the hell was magicless Deku to tell him what he can and can’t do?! Ever since they were kids, he’s done the same damn shit. He’s never thought that he could take of himself. That he can’t handle it. He fucking can!
He can save himself! He can, and most certainly will, win!
Without Deku.
“Metu ignis!” Katsuki soared in the air so he was above the dragon, grabbing his wand out of his boot. He waved it in a circle around his head causing a halo of flame to appear.
He pointed the wand in a large swoop down to the dragons’ head.
Flames and more flames shot into a humongous blast in the dragon's’ face.
“Take that!”
Deku stood still on the ground.
“Kacchan! The dragon, it feeds on fire!”
Katsuki couldn’t hear him from the ground, but he saw his lips move as he casted another fire spell.
“Shut up Deku! I have it under control!”
Somehow, Deku heard him. He looked surprised. For whatever reason, he wouldn’t be able to guess.
Although, the dragon…
… Wasn’t loosening or weakening its own attacks.
Katsuki scowled at the dragon, dodging another swipe to his head. His broomstick led him closer to the ground, near the nerd.
“Terrorem ignis!”
“I know you can’t hear me, but the dragon eats fire! Stop using fire attacks!”
Katsuki swiveled around, flying closer to Deku.
“I don’t care! I don’t! I’ll use whichever spells I see fit! Stop looking down on me!”
Saying what he wanted, he left to attack again. Since his recent discovery of the immunity the dragon has to fire, maybe he can switch to ice spells? It seems like the most logical course of action.
“Nigrum glaciem ingredi!” Sharp shards of black ice shot out of the ground, trapping the dragon to the ground. He used one of his most powerful black ice spells. The dragon struggled to break through the ice. It probably wouldn’t.
His black ice spells were top notch, unbeaten in the world of magic.
“Nerd,” Katsuki smirked from above the dragon “How was that for unbeatable? Let’s get a move on!”
Deku has that look on his face again.
The same one that he’s been having their entire trip.
Wide eyes, flushed face, almost with… admiration?
No.
No.
No.
It must be something else. He’s never thought of him like that. As much… as much as he might want Deku to look at him like that. It wouldn’t happen. Not in a million years.
Great.
Deku smiled. “Right! You’ve improved so much from beginning school! But of course you have, it’s been so long! You’re so powerful!”
The smirk fell off of his lips.
Why the hell was Deku lying to him?
“Shut up and stop lying nerd!”
Deku’s own face fell into a look of confusion. His eyebrows twitched downward, and the smile was wiped off of his face.
“... Lying..? Wh- How could I ever lie? How would I ever lie? You- you just defeated the most powerful breed of dragon in the nation! His hands flew up to wave around in strange motions unrelated to what he was saying.
He needed to shut up! Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up- he’s so sick of this! Sick of Deku looking down on him! Sick of Deku not feeling the same way he did! Sick of feeling weak! Sick of being down and out, and still obsessed with how Deku sees him! Just… sick of it all!
“I’m not just talking about today, nerd! I’m talking about all of the other times you’ve lied to my face! You compliment my power, yet you feel the need to intervene and prove that no matter how powerful I become, I’ll never be as strong as you!”
Katsuki had yet again flown down to Deku, getting up into his face. The adventurer was still as a rock, while Katsuki could feel his hands grow clammy and cold. Sweaty with nervousness. Nervousness about how Deku would look at him now. Still, after all these years.
Still.
“I’ve… I’ve never thought of you like that!”
“Bullshit! I just happened to catch you red handed!”
“No! Kacchan, shut up! I can’t believe you thought I saw you like that! All I’ve seen you as was someone admirable, not to be condescended!”
“What are you-”
“Listen to me! I knew something was up! I thought we were fine! Fine after all this time! You were so… oh, I don’t know, mature! I’ve only ever wanted to stand and fight next to you! I wanted the magic to join you at U.A. for so long, even when I knew I wouldn’t get it!” Deku avoided looking into his eyes. Katsuki backed up some.
“I wanted to be like you, not shove you down and take your place! Please… please, believe me! I’ve always admired you, Kacchan… I probably always will.” Tears sprung to Deku’s eyes, but he wiped them away.
Katsuki didn’t respond.
He hopped off of his broom to walk away.
Maybe he fucked up, somewhere.
No, scratch that, he fucked up for sure.
——
The walk to the field was long and tedious. They didn’t cross anymore opponents.
It was silent the whole time.
None of Deku’s mutters to fill the quiet. Just nothing.
Then… the field.
Needless to say, it was one of the most beautiful flower fields he’d ever seen.
Katsuki walked down and into it. He needed to find a perfect few purples to take home with him. There weren’t many, but the ones he did see were rotten and dying.
Instead, Katsuki sat down on his knees, trying to find one hidden near the dirt.
Deku joined him.
Maybe now was a good time to say something… something about what had happened. Just an hour ago.
“Uh, Deku?” God, he sounded so timid. “I… I just wanted to apologize. I didn’t know. I’m sorry, I guess.” His face burned in embarrassment.
“No, no! If- if anything I should apologize-”
“No, nerd. I put you through hell as a kid. I misinterpreted everything you’ve ever said for… years now. I’m better than that. You didn’t…” Katsuki sat back onto the flowers. He put his hands into his lap and looked down. His eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Never did, huh?”
“Well… thank you, Kacchan.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah…”
Deku moved over to sit next to him on top of the flowers with a small sigh. By now, the moon was high up and hanging in the sky. It was broadcasted by little tiny nightlights sprinkled utop navy blue curtains. The night sky, far away from the central kingdom, was beautiful.
“... Did you find any purples?” Katsuki asked, turning his head towards him.
“Ah, no? They were all dying, like yours.”
“Oh.”
Katsuki looked at Deku. He took a good look at him. Deku wasn’t looking back, rather, staring at the stars. Katsuki drank it up. His eyes glimmered and gleamed with happiness, his eyelashes long and dark in contrast with his lighter skin color.
Breathtaking, he could now admit. Breathtaking.
Their shoulders were touching. It felt warm. It was nice.
He glanced back down in between them, when he spotted a small cluster of purples.
“Hey, Deku? I think I found some purples..”
“Really?”
“Mhm.”
——
The trip back was much, much easier. They never encountered the dragon again, thank God. They found shards of the ice laying on the ground, though.
They stayed with Round face again, and Katsuki got to meet the frog princess properly. She was very blunt.
They encountered another goblin though, but taking it down was much easier than expected. They worked together on a better suited plan this time around. Worked like a charm.
Katsuki stood at his doorstep, seconds away from opening the door when he felt a small tug on his wrist.
“Deku?”
Deku’s eyes didn’t quite meet his own.
“I just wanted to… give you a proper goodbye! That’s um, that’s all…”
Before he could count to three, Katsuki’s body was being pulled into Deku’s. His arm wrapped around him, warm and welcoming. He wrapped his own arms around him in a mutual hug.
“So, Kacchan. Would you like to-?”
Katsuki cut him off with a quick kiss to the lips, pulling away before Deku could register what was even going on.
It was no fair for the nerd to be able to surprise him with affection! He had to one up him!
“Yeah, whatever nerd. Next time, let’s go goblin hunting!”
“Wait, what?!”
“Nevermind that. Do you remember when we were staying at Round faces? The first time around?” He changed the conversation quickly, hoping Deku would slide with it and not question his morals concerning the livelihood of goblins. He was curious, though.
“Yes?” Deku questioned “What about it?”
“I want to know what the fuck you two were talking about!”
“Oh, that? Ha ha! Well, um, y’see? I..?” He trailed off.
“...I? What?”
“Was asking for advice!”
“About?”
“How to... talk. To you. Normally,” he muttered the last part into Katsuki’s shoulder. Adorable.
“I see. Did the advice work?”
“Yeah, you could say so. But you could be the judge of that one.”
“Mhm,” Katsuki gave him another peck, this time on the cheek. “I think it worked plenty.”