In Your Shadow [Chapter 32]

“All good bro! I’m gonna go back to sleep" Katsuki snorted, sliding the phone into his school bag for later.

[Chapter 31]

“All good bro! I’m gonna go back to sleep (๑>؂•̀๑)”

Katsuki snorted, sliding the phone into his school bag for later. He made one last look around the room, to make sure he’d grabbed everything, before feeling like an idiot for it – he was literally going to be back in less than forty-eight hours, it wasn’t like it really mattered.

His uniform was folded into a neat pile to carry down with him, his school books were already in his bag, his old costume was back at school for training sessions while his new one got washed for him, everything else he could live without for a little while.

Really, it should have been the night before that he sorted it all, but he’d been too tired to do much more than fall into his insanely comfortable bed. He could’ve saved Eijirou an alarm, could’ve made sure all his gear was ready and waiting, but the prospect of getting up early had been far less daunting than the idea of staying up for ten more minutes. So he’d woken up with his bright-and-early alarm, the one that normally would have sent him next door to drag Eijirou out of bed, and instead of snoozing for a little while before he headed to the train, he’d dragged himself up, this time, to head for the gym.

If he was staying over in an elite hero agency, he’d have been stupid to not use it for his morning workout, right?

It was barely after five, the sun only just beginning to shine through the copious amount of windows in the agency, but when Katsuki made it down to the basement, to that little piece of athlete heaven, there were already people waiting for him. One of the pair who had helped out at the explosion incident – Naeru or Tobu, he couldn’t remember which was which – was running on an elliptical, and shot him a quick nod from across the room; Crystal was on a rowing machine, though they didn’t seem to notice Katsuki arrive; Oxi was setting up a barbell, pausing to give Katsuki a wave; and most important of all, in one of the squat racks, clad only in a damp tank top and sweatpants, was Deku.

Honestly, Katsuki considered just walking back out. It was hard enough to focus with Deku around at the best of times, let alone when he was working out. There was something about the sight of him, with his unruly hair dark with sweat and pushed back by his headphones, his scarred arms on full display, that look of concentration on his face that was so often replaced by bright smiles or stern lectures, that just… did something, to Katsuki.

He’d wanted to spend his morning lifting, but that seemed like a dangerous idea, with Deku so close. Instead, he scurried over to a stair machine, tossing his towel and water bottle down and starting a good run up the steps. It didn’t take long for his thighs to start burning, and he relished the feeling, enjoying the way it quickly distracted him from what he could so easily be staring at, if he just turned the other way. Most days Katsuki hated the thing – if he wanted stairs, he could just walk up and down the hill his school was built on – but it was one of the few machines that faced the other direction, and Katsuki loved it for that.

He kept his eyes carefully averted every time he changed machines, and by the time he looked over again, Deku was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief, getting in a few good deadlifts before he had to start wrapping up, and gratefully accepting Oxi’s offer to spot him, so he could do some bench presses too. With a last quick stretch, the clock on the wall began to call his name, and Katsuki ran off to the showers. If he was lucky, he’d have just enough time to get himself clean and dressed, then walk to the station, without having to sprint through the morning commuter crowd. If he showered quickly, he could even grab a snack from the cafeteria on the way through.

That was how he ended up in the lobby, with his school bag on and a couple of hastily wrapped muffins in hand, freezing in his tracks when that stern voice called his name.

“You forgot your tie,” Deku continued, his footsteps eerily loud on the tile floors. “This is the second time.”

“Oh,” Katsuki choked out, his mouth far too dry for his liking. “Um… I don’t, uh…”

“You don’t have it?” Deku asked, raising an eyebrow. “Really, Katsuki.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, just lifted his hand, a watch strapped around his wrist that looked surprisingly similar to Katsuki’s own one, come to think of it.

“Wardrobe,” Deku spoke into it. “Can someone please bring Katsuki’s spare tie to the lobby?”

Katsuki wasn’t sure what that meant, considering he didn’t remember leaving a uniform down there at all, let alone with a tie. He expected the department to radio back saying as much, but instead he heard hurried footsteps come from the stairwell, a little mortified to see a familiar red tie in the runner’s hands.

“Thank you,” Deku said, accepting it and turning to hand it on to Katsuki. “You’re lucky we’re an agency who pride ourselves on being prepared.”

“Uh, yeah,” Katsuki agreed reluctantly, looping the tie around his neck. “Lucky.”

Deku watched him like a hawk as he tied it on, and Katsuki’s fingers felt oddly clumsy. Why was it so much harder to do anything when people were staring at him? He never used to mind being the centre of attention, but lately, maybe since he started being watched by people whose opinions he actually cared about, it had gotten much more difficult.

“Good boy,” Deku said, when Katsuki looked up at him for approval. “Work hard today, make me proud.”

“Y-Yes, Deku,” he choked out, eyes darting toward the front doors – his escape was imminent, if he played his cards right. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Looking forward to it,” Deku agreed, stepping aside knowingly. “Be good.”

He sounded like a damn parent or something, talking like that, but Katsuki didn’t stay to argue about it. He adjusted his bag, made sure his muffins were safe, and hurried out the door, picking his pace up to a jog – his delay had cost him precious minutes, and he didn’t want to risk missing the train, revoking his incredibly lenient permissions from Aizawa.

A few people shot him little smiles in the train station, and Katsuki had to grit his teeth to keep from saying anything. None of them ever looked twice at him normally, why did the stupid tie make him so much more approachable?

He knew the answer, really; he looked like a fuckin’ nerd, and old ladies loved nerds.

He itched to just tear it off then and there, but a small part of him was convinced that Deku was watching him, testing him; lingering in some corner to see what he’d do, whether he’d do as he was told, or just wait until he was out of sight before he did whatever the hell he wanted. Katsuki hadn’t met all of the sidekicks at the agency yet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find out there was someone with an invisibility quirk on board, like the extra in his class who sat in front of him. At least she was easy to see past in class, to read things off the board. Even without invisibility, there was always Orus, who could have been watching him at any moment and Katsuki would have been none the wiser – sure, he claimed he never did things like that, but it wouldn’t have been the first time someone lied to Katsuki’s face.

By the time he got to the school station, surely he’d be safe. He could tear the damn thing off before he even stepped off the train, stuff it in his bag to deal with later – apparently he was gonna have to start keeping it on him for those brief moments at the agency, or go back to changing on the train. That was a lot harder in the mornings, though, when he usually couldn’t even get a seat.

The station was almost empty when they pulled in, and Katsuki cursed to himself as he checked the time. Homeroom was about to start, and while Aizawa had said he didn’t mind, Katsuki was trying his best to not abuse that privilege. He made sure to be one of the first off the train, rather than get stuck in a crowd, and ran up the stairs two at a time, for good measure. If he was lucky, he’d slide into the room right as the bell rang, with just enough time to get in his seat before Aizawa marked the roll.

Oh, shit, he still had a muffin to eat, too. Would Aizawa care if he ate it in class? Surely not, if he was okay with him being late. He could always stand outside for a minute as he jammed it down his throat, if Aizawa did care. But he’d brought the spare one, after all, so surely—

The bell rang as Katsuki jogged down the corridor, and he slid to a stop in the classroom doorway, breathing a little quicker than usual. He reached into his bag before anyone could say a word, setting the better-looking of the pair of muffins in front of Aizawa, getting a wide-eyed look of surprise in return.

“Had to grab breakfast,” Katsuki explained, gesturing with his own. “Thought I should… you know. Um, do you mind if I…?”

“Go ahead,” Aizawa assured him, before Katsuki could find the right words. “Thank you, the blueberry are my favourite.”

“Good.”

Katsuki remembered that, of course, but he was hardly going to say that.

He fell into his seat, shedding his bag and unwrapping his muffin, only to catch a glimpse of his watch as he moved, and curse at himself quietly. Deku would have his head if he didn’t send the ping – normally he did it from the station, but he’d been momentarily sidetracked by the time. He double-tapped the button that triggered his shortcut, raising an eyebrow when he saw Aizawa’s phone screen light up on the desk. He’d assumed it would be muted entirely, like Deku’s, but apparently he still got the alerts every time. Good to know.

The muffin, he had to admit, was excellent; Aizawa had good taste. He chowed down contentedly as Iida read out the daily notices, occasionally shooting Katsuki a glance that he couldn’t quite read – he supposed eating muffins in homeroom wasn’t Iida’s idea of a sensible classroom, but he could hardly complain when Aizawa was leaned back in his chair, munching on his own. His friends, too, seemed to keep looking his way, and Katsuki could only assume that they were gonna berate him later, for not bringing enough to share. Truth be told, he did feel a little guilty for eating in front of them without anything to offer, half of them had probably skipped breakfast too. But hey, maybe he was setting a new precedent – if they brought snacks for Aizawa, too, they could eat their breakfast during homeroom. That seemed like a good improvement to their class.

The moment the clock reached 8:35, when Aizawa excused himself to head to another class, Kaminari was slamming a hand down on Katsuki’s desk, eyes wide and sparkling with some kind of stupid mischief.

“I can’t take 20 fuckin’ muffins from Deku’s cafeteria,” Katsuki pre-empted him, leaning away slightly to give himself some space. “Deku always makes sure to have them when Aizawa-sensei visits, I could hardly not bring one.”

“Fuck muffins,” Kaminari answered, surprising Katsuki a little with the language – apparently he’d picked up Katsuki’s share of the swearing, when Katsuki cut back because of Deku. “Why are you wearing a tie?”

Katsuki froze. The entire class was looking his way, with varying degrees of subtlety, and his few close friends were all gathered around him, squeezing in way too close, ready to mock him for the rest of his life for it. He felt his face burn as red as the stupid tie, and he quickly yanked it off, shoving it in his bag without care for it getting wrinkled.

“Fuck you,” Katsuki choked out, even though he knew there was no bite in the words. “Not like I’ve never worn a tie before.”

“You wore it once,” Eijirou pointed out. “After the first sports festival.”

“Shut up.”

Mina’s lips crept into a smile, and Katsuki knew he was done for. As much as he loved and trusted her, there was no way she was going to keep from saying something stupid, in that moment.

“Deku made me put it on,” he admitted grudgingly, kicking his bag lightly for good measure. “He saw me walking out without it and got all stupid about it.”

“Aww, wanted to look nice for your mentor?” Kaminari teased, apparently now full of death wishes along with his newfound swearing. “That’s so cute.”

“Fuck off.”

“Don’t worry, Katsuki, I think it’s super manly!” Eijirou said with a grin. “It’s good to be versatile!”

“Huh?! Since when do you get to call him by his first name?!” Kaminari whined. “Why am I being left out?!”

Katsuki was pretty sure that Eijirou was the only one who called him Katsuki, so he wasn’t sure where that conclusion came from, but he supposed it came with a good opportunity.

“He doesn’t give me shit about my mentor being overly controlling,” Katsuki pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe if you do the same, you’ll get the same privileges.”

“I’ll never mention it again,” Kaminari said, raising one hand like he was swearing an oath. “You can call me by mine, too.”

“Like I’d want that.”

The next bell rang, and everyone scurried back to their seats, the door sliding open on their next teacher, ready to go. Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief, shoving his muffin trash in his bag to deal with later, and prayed to every god he’d ever heard of that maybe, just maybe, Denki would keep the stupid promise.

He’d been planning to offer anyway, after all.

———

“Hey, can you do me a favour?” Katsuki asked, glancing back at where Mina and Denki were sucking on their water bottles, ready for their break time.

“Sure, what’s up?” Mina answered immediately – she had far too much trust in him, or maybe just no sense of self-preservation. “While you’re sparring?”

“Yeah. I need to get better at watching my surroundings, not getting laser-focused on my opponent. So while Sh- Eijirou and I are sparring, can you guys hold up a number or something, see if I catch it?”

“Sure!” Mina agreed, Denki nodding along as well. “Just like a number of fingers?”

“Whatever you want, really,” Katsuki said with a shrug. “Number, colour, item, whatever. Remember what you held up, I’ll check with you after, see if I got it.”

“You want multiple?” Denki offered. “We can make a list, see how many you miss.”

“Yeah?” Katsuki asked, a little surprised by the suggestion – or maybe just that it came from Denki. “If that’s cool.”

“Hell yeah, this’ll be fun.”

When All Might called the next group out into the field, Katsuki caught a glimpse of Denki moving, and cracked a little smile to himself. He’d expected them to just stay put, hold up a hand once in a while, but apparently his friends were taking it seriously. He’d picked the right people to hang out with, after all.

Then again, his other classmates had done a lot for him too, recently. Todoroki freezing his ice packs, Iida sending his class notes, Sato making him food. He was gonna have to come up with some way of repaying them, without looking too sappy about it. He could make a cake or something and claim it was leftovers from Deku’s, though Sato made them sweets a lot anyway, or maybe just offer to help them all out with extra trainings, when he was around. That one could definitely work.

When the whistle blew again, Katsuki moved, watching Eijirou immediately harden himself up to prepare for Katsuki’s early attacks. He was well-accustomed to Katsuki’s usual style, so Katsuki decide to throw him off a little; rather than launch right in, he hung back, glancing around to spot where Denki and Mina had situated themselves first. Denki was easy to spot, already holding up two fingers on his hand, but Mina wasn’t immediately visible, at last not from his position. When he did make his first attack, he slid past rather than go head-on, peppering Eijirou with a few explosions to distract him as he found a new vantage point to check out his surroundings. Sure enough, there was Mina, in a spot that would have been directly behind him only seconds ago. She wasn’t holding anything up yet, but now Katsuki knew where she was, it would be easier to spot it when that changed.

With an explosion that rocked the training grounds, Katsuki finally attacked for real, watching Eijirou fumble for a moment to catch up – he’d gotten too complacent about knowing how Katsuki operated, Katsuki was gonna have to mention that later.

On and on they went, exchanging blows that Katsuki was sure would be echoing through half the campus, but Eijirou didn’t let up, he just kept absorbing the hits and trying his best to fit in a counter whenever he got a moment of space. And as they went, Katsuki kept moving, kept changing his angles, kept glancing up to spot where his friends had moved to next, with their fingers up for him to spot.

When the final whistle blew, Katsuki was the first, for once, to reach out. He clapped Eijirou on the back, shooting him a little smile, and Eijirou just stared at him, baffled. Katsuki didn’t think it was that rare, but he supposed at school, specifically, it could have been.

“That was fun,” he said, leading Eijirou out of the fenced area, back to where they could guzzle water and watch their classmates work next. “Thanks.”

“Y-Yeah,” Eijirou choked out, eyes shining despite the confusion and surprise in his expression.

“Do you, uh, have any… feedback for me?”

Katsuki could feel all the eyes on him, but he pretended not to notice – though he did spare a glance for Denki and Mina, who were running back their direction.

“You’ve gotten really fast,” Eijirou said, smiling sheepishly. “It’s hard for me to keep up, these days. But uh, you seemed more… grounded?”

“Grounded? Like, stable or something?”

“No, like, literally. You used to spend a lot of time in the air, but today you were always on the ground. I dunno if that was intentional, so I thought I’d point it out.”

“Oh. Yeah, thanks. I guess I was focussing too much on these two.” He nodded toward Mina and Denki, as they slowed to a stop either side of Eijirou. “I’ll work on it.”

“Give us the numbers!” Denki demanded. “I had five – wait, did you want to know that?”

“I caught four,” Katsuki said, grimacing. “Three, two, one, two. Where did I miss it?”

“Right at the end, when you did that two-hand blast. I kept it up for a while, though, I wasn’t trying to trick you or anything.”

“I know,” Katsuki assured him. “Okay, so got distracted when I was quirking it, got it. Mina, I saw a three, a five, and I think a seven? And then you flipped me off at the end, fuck you.”

“You missed a two at the start,” Mina told him, laughing as she dodged his half-hearted swipe at her. “and it was an eight, not a seven, but it would have been hard to tell from that distance.”

“Okay.”

Katsuki could tell they were waiting for more, waiting for him to get annoyed at himself or make excuses, but he refused to give them the satisfaction – or to allow himself to slip into old habits.

“Thanks,” he said finally, watching Denki and Eijirou’s faces fill with shock. “Really.”

“Any time,” Denki assured him. “No skin off my back.”

He grabbed out a notebook as the next group got set up, scribbling a couple of notes – his own feedback, of course, but also the things he’d noticed in the others. He wasn’t sure if anyone actually wanted his feedback, but if they did ask, he’d have it ready to go.

Denki and Mina were the next ones to go up, so Katsuki leaned against a fence to watch, his notebook pages quickly filling up with his scrawls. All too soon it was his own turn again, and he set it aside, giving Todoroki a quick nod when they were sent in together. Eijirou was in with a new partner too, but Mina and Denki started moving before Katsuki could even ask, and he gave them a grateful nod when they split up around the perimeter of the field.

“Why are they giving you numbers?” Todoroki asked, surprising Katsuki a little – he hadn’t realised the jerk was paying attention. “Rating your performance?”

“Wouldn’t have gotten ones and twos if they were,” Katsuki snorted. “Multi-tasking practice. You gonna fight me properly, this time?”

Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

“You told me you working with your asshole father was meant to be good for you,” Katsuki explained. “So did it fucking work or what?”

“I think it helped,” Todoroki answered, oddly sincerely – clearly he thought they were friends or something, instead of Katsuki just wanting a good match. Ugh. “I’ve been using my fire a little more, it doesn’t… mess with me as much, anymore.”

Well. He didn’t know what to say to that, to be honest.

“Good,” he grunted finally. “Don’t go easy on me this time, then.”

“I don’t think All Might would be impressed if we destroyed the field.”

Katsuki snorted, a little annoyed when Todoroki smiled back. He was definitely getting too comfortable, thinking they were friends and shit.

“I bet I can spot more numbers than you,” Todoroki goaded him.

“Dream on.”

“If I get more numbers right, you have to buy me soba.”

“Fine, asshole. When I win, you have to make me mapo tofu with your sister’s recipe.”

“Deal.”

There was something, dare he say it, fun about the match. Sparring was already Katsuki’s favourite part of the week, even though it didn’t last long enough and some of his classmates were a little too easy to beat; being against someone who could actually take a beating and give him a run for his money, let alone with extra challenges on the side, was a great feeling.

“I got eight of them,” Todoroki told him, the moment All Might put an end to their brutal match.

“Bullshit, there were only seven.”

“Shows what you know.”

They both rounded on Mina and Denki immediately, Katsuki’s face clearly a lot more aggressive, though there was a hint of determination in Todoroki’s that he didn’t often see, too.

“Three, five, ten, one,” Katsuki said firmly, pointing at Mina.

“Good work, Blasty!”

“Eight, six, four, five,” Todoroki finished, looking at Denki.

“Oh? I didn’t know you were playing too! Good work!”

“Bullshit, there was no four,” Katsuki insisted.

“Sorry buddy,” Denki said with a chuckle. “Todoroki was pounding you with ice bullets for most of it, you must have missed it.”

“Fuck,” Katsuki growled, ignoring Todoroki’s stupid, smug face. “Fine, I’ll buy your shitty soba.”

“Excellent,” Todoroki said triumphantly. “Your speed today was excellent, though.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks. I’ve been working on it.”

“It shows. I had trouble getting a moment to aim at you.”

“Me too,” Katsuki admitted. “You put up those damn walls so quickly, it’s hard trying to out-smart you to get by them.”

“Your firepower was breaking through them pretty easily, I had to keep re-layering them.”

“I can’t keep that level up for long, though. You’d probably out last me at that strength.”

“You were much more mobile that time though,” Mina offered. “You didn’t spend as much time on the ground.”

“Yeah, I tried,” Katsuki admitted. “It’s hard trying to fight like myself and think about shit at the same time.”

“Tell me about it,” Denki laughed. “I can’t even think about old stuff while I fight.”

“Clearly, since you’re always burning yourself out with way higher voltages than you need,” Katsuki snorted. “You’d last a lot longer if you stopped trying to spout off big numbers.”

“You reckon?”

“Take a physics class, asshole.”

“And me?” Todoroki asked, a smirk twitching at his lips. “What do I need to do?”

“Stop being so static. You and Eijirou are the same, always planting yourself in one spot and assuming you’ll be able to fend people off. All it takes is one asshole to get the jump on you, or some stupid environmental quirk, and you’re fucked.”

Todoroki blinked at him, and Katsuki felt himself blush. Clearly Todoroki hadn’t expected an actual answer, when he’d asked it, but Katsuki thought he’d actually meant it. Fuck.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, brushing it off. “Forget it.”

“No, I appreciate it,” Todoroki assured him. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah.”

“What about me?” Mina asked, sidling up closer to him and poking at him playfully. “Did you watch me, too?”

“You were perfect,” Katsuki said flatly. “Good job.”

“Oh come on,” she complained, laughing all the same. “Really.”

“You just need more power,” he said with a shrug. “Your technique is good, your speed is good, you mobility is great, you just need the strength to do the damage.”

“You gonna spot me on the weights?”

“If you want.”

She blinked at him, and Katsuki scowled in return.

“All the shit we already do, and that surprises you?”

“Sorry,” she laughed, looking a little sheepish all the same. “You’re always so busy, I never expect you to agree to do more.”

“I’ll find time.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “I prefer our stretch sessions, I can get anyone to spot me.”

“That’s true. Alright, but let me know or whatever, if you need it.”

“Thank you!”

With the last rounds wrapping up, they began heading to the changing rooms again, and Katsuki glanced at his watch. He appreciated the extra day of sparring that had been added to their week, but it made him miss the agency, too. He knew he’d been there the day before, and he knew he’d be there again the next day, but he was like a stupid lovesick teenager for the place, apparently.

“Somewhere to be?” Mina asked knowingly.

“Nope,” he answered, without hesitation. “Just our stretch session when the bell rings.”

The look on Todoroki’s face had Katsuki convinced he was about to ask questions, maybe push for an invite, and Katsuki tensed up – how was he supposed to deflect without making everyone suspicious?

The bell rang for school to end, and Katsuki thanked the gods for the timing, grabbing his things to hurry off to the changing rooms again.

“See you soon,” Mina called after him.

He raised one hand in a wave, relieved that Todoroki didn’t sprint after him to ask for an invitation – that had been a close one. He was still gonna have to buy the idiot soba, though, and that thought made him grumble to himself under his breath – he should never have made the dumb bet, he’d just gotten caught up in the moment.

Now the prick really was gonna think they were friends.

[Chapter 33]