To Stand by Your Side (DekuBaku)

Chapter 12: Texts, Tunes, and Turns

"Oh, so you guys did outdoor rescue training today? Ah, that's my favorite!"

There was a small snort at the other end of the phone. "Wow, I'm so surprised. The hero famous for his rescues loved rescue training. Shocker."

Izuku flushed. "Kacchan, shush. It did me good, didn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're still a nerd." Katsuki finished, but Izuku could've sworn there was a hint of humor warming the edge of those words. "You still gonna be able to make it out here for the culture festival?"

"It's in a few weeks, right?" Izuku asked, running through his (admittedly short) list of things before that. "I don't think I've got anything else planned close to it. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Sweet." He said, a bit more excited than before. "You better come to my class' event. S'gonna be great."

Izuku nodded, forgetting Kacchan couldn't see him. "Why wouldn't I? It was your class that invited me first, anyway. And maybe after you're done, ah-"

We could spend some time together?

"-nevermind." He finished, trailing off. "But, yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

"You sound weird." Katsuki remarked. "Sure you wanna go? Are your legs acting up again?"

Izuku sighed, leaning back onto the couch. "For the last time, physical therapy's going fine. My legs are okay. Or, well, more okay."

"You told me you tried to climb down the stairs on your own yesterday, dumbass. Don't give me that shit." Katsuki scoffed. "I don't wanna see you limping around the next time you come here, got it?"

"And I don't want to deal with your grouchiness, either." Izuku grinned, but knew that Katsuki would be amused, if anything. "If I show up at your classroom, 'Sit your ass down, Deku' shouldn't be the first thing I hear. Besides, I'll have had more time in therapy by then!"

"Hmph. Fine." Katsuki relented. "Well, you better come."

"I will, I will, I–"

All of a sudden, a thud at the door caused him to snap to attention.

"Izuku! Can you open the door for us? We got groceries!"

He cursed under his breath, resigning himself to continue the conversation some other time. "Coming, coming!" He called out, getting back up to his feet. "Sorry, gotta go. Talk to you later?"

Katsuki grunted. "Nah, I got homework. Tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. You get all the stuff done that you need to do." Izuku said, but couldn't deny wishing that Katsuki could stay up and talk to him. "Bye, Kacchan!"

"Seeya."

Izuku was almost always the one to hang up first, and today was no exception. He shoved his phone back into his pocket in a hurry and rushed over to get the door for his friends so as to not keep them waiting too long. After a quick moment of fumbling with the lock, he pulled the door open to let them in.

"Thanks!" Ochako laughed as she stepped inside, a little more awkward than usual. "We, ah, forgot to take the spare key before we left. Sorry about that!"

Izuku waved it off, standing back to let them in. "All good, don't worry. What's for dinner?"

His friends walked in, a few bags between them. "Well, we did pick up some vegetables." Kirishima started. "And pork? I dunno, maybe we can throw together a stir fry or something?"

Izuku's eyes lit up. "That sounds good. I'll cut stuff up if you guys wanna take care of the rest."

There was a brief, awkward glance shared between his friends, almost missable. "Ah, if you want to!" Ochako rubbed the back of her head. "We'll get everything washed up, so, um, feel free to sit down for a bit?"