The two kinds of people - Part 1

Happy belated white day! This is my gift fic for Kyra, who wrote me an amazing fic for Valentine's Day <3 Unfortunately since I've been sick I only just got the chance to finish it, sorry for the delay!! I hope you like it!!

─────

While he would never admit it out loud, Katsuki could pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Deku.

They were at the beach, a trip he hadn’t even wanted to go on in the first place – but his annoying friends had, of course, nagged and goaded and tormented him until he finally caved and agreed to go along just to shut them up. Most of their class was there, sunbathing in the sand or playing in the waves, but Katsuki had taken up position under a rocky outcrop, leaning against a cliff and letting the overhang shade him from the sun.

It was a stinking hot day, with Katsuki sweating like a pig the entire morning, keeping a damp towel on-hand at all times to wipe his hands off and prevent any stupid accidents. His friends had taken turns joining him, taking their own breaks from the heat to have a drink or a snack in the shade at his side, had even shared the duty of rinsing out his hand towel with cold water from the ocean. The whole beach trip was still ridiculous and stupid, but he had to admit his friends kept it a little more bearable, letting him have his peace when he needed it but giving him enough social interaction to keep from getting too bored, as well.

So he stayed in the shade, lathered in sunscreen all the same, yelling at his idiot classmates to reapply and hydrate periodically. The night prior, he’d caved and helped put together a picnic so he could keep everyone fed, too. He’d spent a few hours throwing together some healthy salads and snacks so the dumbasses wouldn’t try to live off sugary shit the entire day, so when the class gathered for lunch he at least had some decent food to munch on – and he had to admit, Sato’s cooking was pretty tasty too. He was used to seeing the guy bake, had nibbled at pieces of birthday cakes he made for everyone in the class, but that day might have been the first time Katsuki ate anything savoury he had prepared, and he was man enough to admit that he made a damn good yakitori.

“You having a good time, Kacchan?” Deku asked brightly, sitting down beside him in the sand. “It must be nice to relax for once, right? You’re always so busy, you push yourself too hard. I’m glad you came along to have some fun and rest!”

“It’s hot as fuck,” Katsuki grumbled, biting another chunk of chicken off his skewer. “Gonna end up blowing up the whole damn beach with this sweat.”

“But Kirishima said they were keeping you safe,” Deku frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side. “Weren’t they keeping your towel cool? Are they not changing it often enough? Do you want me to take a turn too?”

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, cheeks faintly pink as he reached for another yakitori from the stacked plate in the middle of the picnic blanket. “They have been, it’s whatever.”

“Okay, well, just yell if you want anything, okay?” Deku offered. “You could use the ice from the cooler if you get desperate, too. I saw you’ve been keeping everyone hydrated, thank you for looking out for us.”

“Whatever,” Katsuki huffed. “Don’t need to deal with that shit when people start passing out from heatstroke or whatever.”

“Yeah, Kacchan is good at thinking ahead!” Deku smiled, his concern disappearing in an instant. “Thank you!”

As people finished up with their meal, a game of volleyball began to take shape. Sero set up a makeshift net across the sand with his tape, Kaminari pulled a ball out of his bag, and Kirishima grabbed Katsuki by the arm, dragging him along despite his groans and curses. Mina jammed a cap down over his stubborn spikes, keeping the glaring sun off his face, and when Kirishima shoved him into place on one side of the net, he gave up arguing. At least whacking a ball around would give him the chance to hit something, and better yet, something that wouldn’t hit back or yell at him or get hurt or something, so he wouldn’t get suspended for it. Maybe it would take his mind off the heat, at least – he always enjoyed a good competition, after all.

His hopes were dashed immediately. He knew they were completely doomed when Uraraka and Yaoyorozu joined the other side, peelingoff their flimsy cover-ups and steppinginto the sun wearing bikinis. Katsuki knew their team was going to be distracted to death, with the pair jumping around to reach for the ball. He could already feel Kaminari’s gaze locking on them from across the net, Sero a little more subtle but equally hormone driven and insane. Part of him wondered if it was intentional – Uraraka was competitive as hell, after all. He wouldn’t put it past her to use her swimsuit to distract a couple of horny teenage boys, to make the most of what she had just to gain an edge on the opponent.

Not that it mattered, Katsuki was good enough to make up for a couple of distracted idiots. Plus, more than enough of their class played for the other team, so to speak, so the shenanigans wouldn’t ruin too many of them.

Then again, the guys were starting to toss their shirts aside too, so maybe they were just all screwed. Forget the damn ball, they’d all just spend the game taking turns to perv at each other – Katsuki had been around his classmates long enough to see it coming a mile away. He wondered if it was too late to just back out and return to his spot in the shade, to mope alone with his phone and his water bottle – judging by the way Kirishima was throwing the ball in the air excitedly, though, he had probably missed his chance to slip away. He could still storm off, sure, but no one was going to believe him if he told them the reason for it, they were just going to goad him for being scared, or torment him about not wanting to see his classmates in swimsuits or some shit. As much as he dreaded the thought of watching his idiot classmates perv at each other, the thought of listening to their nonsense was worse.

So he stayed, and to his surprise, his teammates actually weren’t as bad as he’d expected. They were nowhere near good, but they put in a decent effort, apparently full of energy as they jumped and dove and smacked the ball as hard as possible toward the other side of the net. He got a few good hits in of his own, gritting his teeth when Deku blocked them with his typical bright smile, eyes lighting up when Katsuki glared at him stubbornly. The damn nerd had always been able to read him like a book, he really should have gotten used to it over the years, but somehow he still found himself surprised by it every time. They’d never even played volleyball together before, there was no reason for him to be able to anticipate Katsuki’s movements so easily, but apparently the stalker had some kind of weird sixth sense when it came to Katsuki, one that transcended beyond time and repetition, into some weird understanding that just switched on whenever they were in the same room for the sake of driving Katsuki crazy.

Maddening.

They only played for about ten minutes before Katsuki was dripping with sweat, constantly wiping his hands on his shorts to keep from coating the ball in a substance known to explode on impact. He stepped out silently between rounds, bristling when his friends immediately began to whine at him, but then Deku was excusing himself too, hurrying after Katsuki to walk at his side.

“Let’s go for a swim,” he suggested, grabbing Katsuki by the elbow and dragging him down the sand. “It’s nice and cool, you’ll love it, I promise!”

“Get off me, I hate the cold.”

“It’s not cold, just cool! Trust me, Kacchan!”

Deku tightened his grip a little, and despite the way Katsuki grumbled, he didn’t pull away. He muttered stubbornly the whole way, but Deku just smiled and ignored it, pulling him through the shallows and splashing his way out into the waves.

With no warning other than a little twitch of a smirk, Deku dove into the clear waters, dragging Katsuki down with him. An indignant squawk and a lot of bubbles brought them back to the surface, and Deku laughed brightly as Katsuki yelled at him, lifting his arms to block the torrents of water Katsuki slung into his face indignantly.

Katsuki could feel the eyes burning into them from the beach, the game paused in favour of watching the damn nerd torment him, and he quickly snapped his mouth shut, fists trembling as he fumed silently. Deku finally managed to gather himself, his laughter quieting, and when their friends returned to their game, he reached for Katsuki’s hand. It took every ounce of Katsuki’s willpower to keep from pulling away, but he’d done too much of that already in his lifetime.

“I’m always amazed by Kacchan’s self-control,” Deku said quietly, rubbing gently across Katsuki’s palm to clean away his explosive sweat. “Anyone else would have blown the ball up, but Kacchan always knows when to stop.”

“Would’ve served them right if I did,” Katsuki huffed, turning his head to avoid watching the tender touch. “Shouldn’t have dragged me into all this shit.”

“Oh Kacchan, we both know you would have said yes if you wanted to,” Deku grinned. “You’re allowed to hang out with your friends, you know. It doesn’t make you weak to have them, and we’re all allowed to take breaks! Relaxing is important, you can’t spend every waking minute on training and studying.”

“Can if I want to.”

“Do you, though?”

Katsuki shrugged, letting his hands sink back into the water, clean and calmed by Izuku’s touch. He hated to admit it, but the nerd was kind of right – the water did feel good, pleasantly cool but not cold at all, just right for swimming in under the hot sun. So he stayed there, Deku at his side, watching the pervy beach volleyball until things began to wind down, everyone packing up to head back to the dorms. They talked quietly together, much calmer than Katsuki was used to – despite being the personwho had pissed him off the most in their lives, Deku knew exactly how to avoid it when he wanted things to be civil.

“Oiiii!” Kaminari called, hands cupped around his mouth like they might magically turn into a megaphone. “Time to go hoooooome!”

Katsuki huffed a sigh, but Deku smiled and waved, nodding his acknowledgment as they began to walk in to shore. Katsuki walked a few paces ahead, and Deku allowed it like he always did – he’d never been one to get awkward or feel lesser just by letting someone else lead. Katsuki was just reaching the foamy white waves of the shallows when he heard the yelp, whirling around just in time to see Deku land face first in the water, sending a massive splash cascading around them both and scattering tiny rainbows through the air for just a flash before they were gone again. Deku moaned quietly, sitting back up, but when he met Katsuki’s wide eyes he cracked a little smile, shaking his head and sending more droplets off his hair like a big wet dog.

“I’m okay,” Deku assured him. “You can laugh now.”

Katsuki had never been one for laughter, really. He didn’t vocalise his amusement when he watched or read something funny, was more inclined to roll his eyes at his friends’ bad jokes, and he certainly didn’t giggle every time he talked to a cute guy like some of the girls did. Somehow, though, the combination of a pathetic wet Deku who had tripped over his own damn feet in the sand was just too much for him. The moment Deku gave him permission, he was clapping his hands over his mouth, stifling the unattractive snort that burst from him so forcefully. Deku grinned when he heard it, looking up to watch as every face on the beach turned to watch, dumbfounded by the way Katsuki doubled over as laughter shuddered out of him, eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears that threatened to spill over. He wasn’t even sure what was so damn funny about the situation, but somehow everything in his body had just let go, giving in to the peals that overtook him.

When he finally cracked them open again, Deku was still sitting in the tiny rolling waves, watching him with a strangely fond look on his face as he slowly managed to get himself under control. There was sand all through his hair, sticking to his front as well, but still he just watched with that fond little smile.

“Feel better?” He asked, when Katsuki took a deep breath, wiping tears from his eyes with a damp hand. “That looked like it felt good.”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I do.”

“I’m glad.”

Deku took a few steps back, ducking under the water again to rinse off all the sand, and as he emerged all golden skin and emerald eyes, freckles dark on his cheeks and bicep bulging just a little as he reached to push his soaked curls out of his face, Katsuki’s heart stopped. His eyes widened, watching as that bright grin stretched across Deku’s lips once more, beads of water running down his broad shoulders and the grooves of his abs, Katsuki knew he was fucked.

He’d fallen in love with Deku.