A Communication Error - Part 7 [FINAL]

[Part 6]

“I just can’t believe he’s so oblivious!” Ashido whined, flopping onto the couch and letting her head fall back dramatically. “I’ve pulled out all my best moves, and he just smiles and laughs and tells everyone how grateful he is to have a friend like me! I mean, it’s super sweet, but come on!”

“Tell me about it,” Kaminari sighed. “I’ve tried everything.”

“Did you try talking to him?” Katsuki asked, kicking himself immediately for getting involved.

“Of course we did!” Kaminari objected. “I told him that he’s super hot, and that I’d love to date someone as well-built as him, and he just laughed and said he was sure I’d find somebody amazing.”

“That’s not... Fucking forget it, never mind.”

He stalked back into the kitchen, to check on his cooking dinner, gritting his teeth as an increasingly large group of people lamented their failed attempts at hitting on the nerd.

“I swear he must be blind, or something,” Mineta complained. “Surely he’s not that dumb.”

“He’s not stupid,” Katsuki growled. “He just doesn’t care, of course he’s not gonna know what your dumb asses are implying.”

“Aww, Kacchan,” Kaminari said teasingly. “Believe it or not, most teenage dudes would jump at the chance to have sex, even if you aren’t there yet.”

“Yeah, man,” Sero piped up, chuckling to himself. “Just because you don’t have any interest doesn’t mean other people don’t.”

“It doesn’t mean that everyone does, either, idiot.”

“It’s cute that he thinks he and his bestie are identical in every way,” Ashido said, grinning. “Sorry Blasty, but I’m with the boys here. You’re an exception, not a rule. And I’m pretty sure you just need to meet the right person, anyway. Or maybe just get a hero licence so you can focus on something else. One day you’re gonna figure it all out!”

“Fuck off,” Katsuki grimaced. He was used to that shit, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. “I thought you were better than that.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Shut up.”

Familiar footsteps headed down the hallway toward them, and everyone in the room snapped to attention, their conversations and activities immediately abandoned. Kirishima stood up straight, tensing his arms to show off his muscles; Ashido adjusted her skirt, hitching it up a little higher on her waist to show off her long legs; Uraraka tugged at the collar of her shirt, making sure there was cleavage on show; Yaoyorozu glanced at her reflection in a window, making sure her hair was sitting just right; Mineta whipped out a magazine that Katsuki adamantly refused to look closer at; and Katsuki turned around, walking back into the kitchen.

He wasn’t sure where it was all going, when or how it was going to finally come to a head, but he knew it had to end soon. Someone was going to snap – one of the idiots was going to finally blurt out their actual intentions and scare the nerd off in a fit of flustered stammering and blushing, or Izuku was going to catch on of his own accord and gently turn them down, though that was going to take a long time if it came down to it. He’d probably come running to Katsuki’s dorm in a fit of tears and nerves, asking how to deal with it, and Katsuki would have to help him figure out a way to say ‘fuck off’ that was family-friendly enough for Izuku to be okay with it. He didn’t understand that whole ‘being nice’ thing, people knew what they were getting into when they started that bullshit in the first place.

As Katsuki scooped out perfectly fluffy rice from the cooker, he could hear the unintelligible noise of multiple people trying to have a conversation all at once, the garbled mess of different classmates trying to be the first to grab Izuku’s attention, to get their shot in before anyone else could beat them to it.

As he stirred in the mix of eggs and onions that had been simmering away on the stove, he heard the awkwardly high giggles that told him the girls were trying to be cute and flirty, and probably failing.

And as he carefully cut and positioned pieces of breaded pork on top, he caught a glimpse through the doorway of people clapping Izuku on the back or wrapping an arm around his shoulders, trying their best to get some kind of physical touch in, as if that would drive him wild for them or something.

Dressed in his baggy sweatpants and an old, threadbare hoodie, Katsuki returned to the common room. Next to the others, in their cute, or pretty, or skimpy, or straight-up shirtless again – seriously, what the fuck was Todoroki thinking? – outfits, he looked like a slob, but he’d never seen the point in making an effort when they were just hanging around the dorms anyway, wasn’t it better to be comfortable?

He held out a steaming bowl, and every conversation Izuku had been involved in was over immediately, when Izuku gasped and clapped his hands over his mouth, eyes lighting up when they saw Katsuki standing before him.

“For me?!” he asked, hurrying over to retrieve it from Katsuki’s proffered hand. “Why?! Is it a special occasion?!”

Katsuki just shrugged, and Izuku clutched the bowl to his chest for a moment, hugging it tightly.

“Thank you, Kacchan!” Izuku gushed. “It smells amazing, oh my gosh.”

He took another step forward, leaning in, and planted a cheesy little kiss on Katsuki’s cheek, despite both of them turning pink over the gesture.

“Really,” he said quietly. “Thank you, Kacchan. Do you want to go watch a movie while we eat?”

“Sounds good, nerd.”

Izuku tucked his bowl into one arm, and with the free one, he reached out, clasping Katsuki’s fingers between his. He led Katsuki toward the hallway, toward one of the bedrooms where they could get some peace and quiet, and Katsuki grinned when he heard the stunned silence that followed them.

He paused in the hallway, glancing back over his shoulder, despite the confused look Izuku gave him for stopping.

“It’s Ace Week, extras,” Katsuki said smugly. “Do some research.”