Tall Order - Chapter 1

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As Katsuki climbed off the ferry, he raised one hand in a small wave, bidding farewell to the man who had brought him this far. Whose stupid idea had it been, anyway? Spending two hours in a tiny boat, being abandoned on an island in the middle of the ocean, for an entire week? They were heroes for fuck's sake, what was gonna happen if some shitty villain popped up while they were all in the middle of the ocean with – he checked his phone – yep, no cell signal. Typical. 

Muttering under his breath, he stuffed his phone back in his pocket and began the hike up the hill. It was a narrow dirt path, winding through a thick forest, but he could see the points of a dirty red rooftop breaking through the treeline in the distance. With the sun setting behind it, casting a fiery orange glow over the tiles and leaves, it actually made a fairly pretty picture. He wasn't one to care about watching the sunrise or sunset – it happened every day, after all, it wasn't like it was some fantastic rare occurance – but every now and then he came across a scene like this one. Nothing he would stop and take a thousand photos of, spending an hour on finding the perfect filter to share it; nothing he would write home about, gushing to his parents about how it changed his life; just a simple, peaceful scene he came across on a long hike or trail run and briefly stopped to watch.

His opinion changed considerably when the shadows began to stretch around him, spreading long and wide, darkening the track. He spat more curse words, hitching his backpack up and continuing to walk, keeping his eyes focussed on his dark boots. It wasn't a long trip, nor a difficult one, but he was damn tired and well past ready to collapse into bed – ideally his own bed, the most comfortable bed he'd ever felt, in a dark and silent room, but that was out the window for the next week. He was also dreading the excitement that would no doubt be waiting for him in the house, over a dozen people he rarely saw, ready to swarm him and pry into his personal life – not to mention the shared bedrooms with people who would no doubt end up drunk, loud, snoring, or all of the above. 

The sky was lit only by stars by the time he reached the door, the moon barely a sliver of white in the clouds, and he sighed as he braced himself. It was going to be a shitshow beyond that plank of wood and he knew it, but it was only for a few days – he just had to make an appearance, it didn't matter if he left early, he'd just make some excuse about work and find a way to call the boat back for him. There had to be some way to do it, surely the island wouldn't be rentable if it didn't meet some kind of safety standard. God damn Round Face and her dumbass ideas, he didn't even know why he had agreed to it in the first place. 

He raised his hand, curled it into a fist, and knocked twice – almost hoping no one would hear it. No such luck, though, he heard the footsteps immediately, padding to the door in a hurry.

“Katsuki!” Ochako exclaimed, beaming as she pulled the door open. “I'm so glad you made it! I was worried! Come in!”

She held out her arms, eyes widening as she realised too late what she'd done, but Katsuki accepted the embrace. She gasped as she hugged him tight, his strong arms draping around her back, and when they let go he could have sworn he saw tears shining in her wide eyes.

“That was your fuckin' gift,” he grumbled.

“Oh yeah? What's that then?”

She pointed at the wrapped box jammed into the outside pocket of Katsuki's backpack, topped with a slightly disheveled bow his mother had tied for him.

“For your poor fuckin' spouse-to-be.”

He turned around for her to take it, ignoring the giggles as she plucked it out, and folded his arms stubbornly as she beamed up at him. 

“It's been a while, Katsuki,” she said a lot more softly. “I'm glad you could make it.”

“Don't start the sappy shit, Pink Cheeks. We're all adults here, let's be mature.”

“But I still can't believe you agreed!”

“Trust me, neither can I,” he assured her. “Where can I ditch my shit? I'm tired as fuck.”

“Oh! Sorry! That's right, you had to work all day, you must be exhausted! Come with me!”

She bounced up the stairs with Katsuki at her back, pointing out the toilet and bathroom as they passed, leading him down to a little room right at the back of the house. There were six beds inside, crammed along the walls, and most of them had suitcases or backpacks tucked underneath. He recognised the farthest one as Eijirou's, the same worn-out old pack he'd carted with him when they'd gone on work trips together, but the others looked much newer and cleaner than what he usually saw.

“It's all old classmates in here with you,” she assured him, when she caught his eyes wandering over the belongings. “Eijirou, Denki, Hanta... And... Uhh... Oh, and Kouji and Mezo! Hopefully they'll, you know, let you sleep.”

“I'll shut them up if I have to,” Katsuki grumbled, dumping his bag at the end of the last empty bed. “Thanks.”

“No problem! The rest of us are just hanging out downstairs, you're welcome to come join us for a drink! Or some food? Have you eaten?”

“Yeah, had plenty of time to shove down some shit on the boat ride.”

“Of course. Okay, well, um... Is there anything else you need? Anything I can get you? Do you have any questions?”

“I'm good,” he assured her, ruffling her hair and smirking when she pouted at him. “I'm gonna shower and sleep, give me a pass on the social shit until morning, okay?”

“Of course!” she grinned. “I won't even tell them you're here, just in case they try to drag you into the fray.”

“Thanks.”

With a last smile she left him to settle in, and Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief at the peace and quiet. He dug out a pair of sweatpants to wear to bed, plugged his phone charger in by the bedside table, and with his bag of toiletries swinging from his hand, headed back to the bathroom.

To his genuine surprise, the water was hot and strong, bucketing down on his aching muscles. There were no finicky water heaters to deal with, no shitty half-assed showerheads that barely got his hair wet enough to wash, just a quiet little room that he had all to himself, to relax and wash away the mounds of dirt and sweat that had gathered over the course of his patrol. 

He could hear them down below, laughing together as they talked, and a weird part of him almost felt left out. A few of them had arrived the night prior, to get things set up, but most of them had travelled early in the morning, all together on the same boat, catching up during the long trip on the ocean. No doubt they'd spent the two hours pushing each other over the sides constantly and laughing as people vomitted out the back. 

As usual, Katsuki had been the odd one out. The one who got his invitation in the mail, and after a day of mulling it over, had to call her up and say 'hey, I can't get out of work that day, I'm not going to make it', only to have Ochako come back to him with a thousand alternative options to get him there. She'd been well prepared for it, it seemed. Saw it coming a mile away. The list was extensive, he'd hardly been able to get a word in edgeways, but a later boat had been the most sensible option she offered him; attempting to float them both over the ocean, the least.

Thankfully his bedroom was above what seemed to be the kitchen end of the house, rather than the living room end. Once he got back to the bedroom the noise died off, replaced with just the occasional beep of a microwave oven or a cupboard door closed too heavily, and he yawned as he pulled back the bedcovers. He made a mental note to find out which one of them had made the bed up for him, to express the smallest amount of gratitude he could possibly muster: just enough to let them know he noticed and acknowledged it, rather than enough to expect thanks for every dumb little task they performed. 

It really was nice, though, to find it ready and waiting for him.

As he finally settled in, pulling the covers up to his chin, he was immediately interrupted by voices in the next bedroom over – someone talking about beds and roommates. Complaining, no doubt. At least they had the sense to use hushed voices, but seriously, it was-

Katsuki glanced at his phone and scowled.

Okay, it was just after ten, but some people liked to be in bed an hour ago.

He rolled onto his stomach, pulling his pillow over his head to muffle the noise, and finally as his eyes sank closed he managed to drift off.

─

The peace was short lived.

What felt like only minutes later, though he suspected it was more like an hour, he was rudely awoken by two heavy figures diving on him, rattling the bed frame and jiggling the mattress, squawking out indecipherable words as they rolled around like idiots on top of him. He groaned, long and low, but all he got in return was a bunch of dumb giggles from the two assholes, squawking their delight.

“Katsukiiiiii!” Denki sang, wrapping his arms around the blanketed bundle. “You made it! I didn't know you were here!”

“Because I wanted to sleep you fuckin' cretin.”

“You should have come down and had drinks with us!”

“Which part of sleep do you not understand?”

“Sorry,” Eijirou laughed, dragging Denki off the bed. “I know you had a long day, we were just surprised to see you! We didn't hear you come in!”

“Ever think maybe that was intentional, dumbass?”

He sighed as he sat up, rubbing at his tired eyes, but when he saw the glowing faces and beaming smiles pointed at him, his complaints were lost to a groan.

“Yeah, it's good to see you too.”

“Katsukiiiii!” Denki tackled him back onto the bed, but this time he lay in the narrow space to Katsuki's side, draping a lone arm over his waist instead of his entire weight. “It's been months! I never see you anymore! I missed you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

He shifted his arm when he saw Eijirou looking, letting the man fall in with a laugh, squeezing in on the other side of Katsuki's suddenly warm frame.

“Katsu sandwich,” he teased, propping himself up on an elbow. “Our beds are right over there, anyway. You aren't stuck with us for the entire night.”

“Yeah, Round Face told me. Figured you'd done it on purpose.”

“Kind of,” Eijirou agreed. “We'll shut up when you tell us to, and the others are pretty quiet anyway, so hopefully you'll get some sleep.”

“Thanks, I guess. You made up my bed, too?”

“That was Hanta,” Denki corrected him. “We were all making ours up and he said you'd probably get here tired and want a nap.”

“Thank him for me when you fuck off.”

“Will do!”

With a last little laugh they climbed off the bed, letting him get comfortable again, and Eijirou pulled the blankets up to his chin, tucking him in snugly.

“It got cold here last night,” he explained. “Stay tucked up nice and warm!”

“How cold is cold?”

“Um, it was icy in the morning? But it got super warm once the sun came up! It's just the trees and the elevation and everything, the days are perfect!”

“Ugh, so you're telling me it's gonna be freezing, then.”

“Hang on, I'll get you another blanket.”

He ducked out to the hall to rummage through a closet, finding a nice heavy duvet to throw over Katsuki's bed. 

The pair of them found it oddly cute, the way Katsuki immediately snuggled into it. His friends knew him well, they all knew he loved his warmth, but still it was kind of sweet seeing him so comfortable with his blankets.

“We'll leave you in peace,” Denki said finally, taking a step away. “It's good to see you, man. Get some rest.”

“Yeah. We'll, um, hang out in the morning.”

“Yeah!”

As they reached the door, Eijirou paused, glancing back at the snuggly little bundle of bedding again. 

“Hey, when did you last see Midoriya?”

“Huh? Oh, Deku. I don't know, it's been years. Why?”

“He's meant to be coming too, it'll be cool to catch up. He's just about as hard to spend time with as you are, at least lately. You're both flitting off to other cities or conferences overseas while we're stuck at home wanting to go out for lunch.”

“We're heroes,” Katsuki grumbled. “We have to work.”

“I know, I'm not complaining. It's just really nice when we get to see either of you. Both of you at the same time is practically unheard of.”

“Pink Cheeks gave us a lot of notice. We had months to plan our leave.”

“So if I book a day with you six months in advance, you'll go to lunch with me?”

“Only if you book it at a decent hour of the fucking day.”

“Point taken! Goodnight Katsuki!”

Finally the door closed behind him, and he rolled over onto his side, pulling the blankets around him tightly as he curled up into a nice, warm ball. His friends might be assholes who woke him up in their excitement, but apparently they really fucking cared about him. 

He couldn't resist a little smile.