The Perfect Man [Part 2 - The Kitchen]

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Izuku had never seen as many of his classmates in the kitchen at once as he did that night. Somehow the girls had managed to convince the entire class that they needed to cook for the group, and as they sat back and watched, the guys flitted back and forth across the kitchen, taking turns to cook their omelettes.

They came with varying levels of success, from Denki who had burned his eggs so badly that they ended up throwing the pan in the trash, to Katsuki, who got in there, whipped up something beautiful, and disappeared before he could be roped into anything else stupid.

While the boys cooked, the girls whispered together, and Izuku couldn’t help but overhear a few of their words. They’d sat themselves down at a table with their little checklist, and as the guys cooked, they ticked off other items on the list. They’d made it to “is tall, thin, and muscular” apparently, because they were doing a lot of debating over what was considered tall and what was considered muscular.

Honestly, Izuku couldn’t believe the other guys hadn’t picked up on it yet.

He slid them his plate of omurice – nowhere near as pretty as Katsuki’s, but he knew it would still taste good – and gave them his best puppy eyes.

“Can I leave now?” he asked, hoping they might take pity on him for how pathetic he sounded.

“Sure!” Ochako grinned. “But first, you’re an only child, right?”

“Yes...” he said slowly, wary. “Why?”

“No reason!”

Tooru ticked something off, and Izuku groaned, turning away in a hurry and almost slamming into Rikido in the process.

“Wow! It looks delicious!” Mina praised, as Rikido slid them the plate. “Thanks, Sato!”

“My pleasure. Is there anything else you’d like?”

“Nope!” she grinned. “But hey, what’s your favourite food?”

Rikido frowned slightly, contemplating.

“Does cake count?” he asked finally.

“Absolutely!”

“Then cake is my favourite.”

“Cool! Thanks again for the food, I really appreciate it!”

“Any time.”

With a last little nod, he disappeared, and the girls got stuck in with gusto. His plate and Rikido’s were both clean within a minute, and Izuku supposed that was a good sign.

“Iida likes beef stew,” Ochako pointed out, as Tooru made more checks on the list. “Todoroki likes cold soba.”

“Kami likes hamburgers, I reckon that counts,” Mina added.

“Agreed,” Tooru murmured, running her pen down the page to find the right columns. “But Tokoyami and Sero are out.”

“And Kouda. They all picked fruits and vegetables.”

“Alright, I think that’s all the foods.”

“What about the texting one?” Mina suggested. “I can tell you that all the guys in my squad are shit at texting back, so they’re all a no.”

Izuku finally tore himself away as they discussed, shrinking away into the hallway, but before he could make his way to the elevator, Katsuki blocked his path.

“K-Kacchan,” he squeaked. “I thought you left!”

“Water,” he said simply, holding up the empty bottle in his hand. “Why do you look like someone shat in your omurice?”

“I don’t!”

Katsuki just raised an eyebrow, and Izuku huffed quietly, eyes darting back toward the table.

“What, you wanna be scored highly?” Katsuki snorted. “Why do you give a shit?”

“I don’t know!” he whined. “I don’t, really. I don’t think. But uh, I don’t like it when they rate... other people lowly.”

“Oh?” Katsuki sneered. “The nerd has a crush, huh?”

“Shut up!” he whined. “Kacchan, don’t tease!”

“I see how it is,” Katsuki’s lips stretched a little wider, into an impeccable smirk. “You want to know what the scores are like for your interests.”

“What?! No! I don’t need scores to know who to like!”

“So you do have a crush.”

“Cut it out!”

He took a step sideways, but Katsuki blocked him immediately, never willing to let him get away that easily.

“That siblings one is ridiculous,” Katsuki said quietly. “Why would I give a shit whether or not the guy I liked had younger siblings?”

“Apparently the oldest sibling is more mature or something,” Izuku grumbled. “And only children don’t count.”

“Is that why you look like a rat crawled up your ass?”

“You need to stop with those similes.”

“Make me.”

Izuku frowned, but Katsuki didn’t seem to notice. Or care, maybe.

“I get it, for the record,” Katsuki said quietly, making Izuku lean forward a little to hear him clearly. “It’s kinda shitty hearing them mark you down for dumb stuff, but it’s even shittier hearing it about the person you like.”

“Yeah,” Izuku grumbled, looking away briefly. “There’s um, someone you like?”

Izuku felt his stomach sinking at the thought. He’d never considered the idea that Katsuki might one day get a boyfriend, get married, even start a family. He’d always just expected Katsuki to be at his side, there to spar with, or to spot him in the gym, or to grab dinner with after a long day. The idea that he might not be, that he might be busy with someone else, someone he liked better, made Izuku feel like he was gonna throw up.

“Something like that,” Katsuki agreed, leaning against the wall too-casually – Izuku knew immediately that he was not as comfortable as he was acting. “I’ll tell if you tell.”

“Really?”

“You’ve gotta tell first.”

Izuku grimaced, and Katsuki snorted at him.

“Knew you were gonna try to cheat your way out. Asshole.”

“I wouldn’t!” Izuku insisted, cheeks warming. “But you’ve got it wrong, I don’t like anyone, not like that. I guess I’m just curious about who is perfect enough for you.”

“Oh, he’s not, not even close,” Katsuki laughed quietly. “God, I wish he was, that would make shit so much easier.”

“Do you, um, want to talk about it?”

Katsuki just shrugged, looking away, and Izuku figured that was probably a no. At least for now, anyway – maybe he’d change his mind eventually. But Katsuki wasn’t exactly the heart-to-heart type, after all.

“You’ll score well on their list,” Katsuki said finally. “If you care about that.”

“I don’t think so, it seems like I failed a bunch of the tests.”

“You want to get married one day,” Katsuki began, counting off on his fingers. “You would buy them jewellery and shit. You text a lot. You’re considerate and shit, there were a bunch of things like that. And, well...”

He trailed off, waving vaguely at Izuku instead, and Izuku looked down blankly – had he spilled egg on his shirt and not noticed?

“Your body, dingus,” Katsuki huffed. “Muscles or whatever, always smiling and shit, those were both on there.”

“Kacchan, have you been perving at me?”

He said it jokingly, trying to be friendly and teasing, but to his surprise, Katsuki blushed.

“Shut the hell up,” he snapped. “Don’t say that shit. Of course I’ve fuckin’ looked, but that’s not perving, asshole.”

“I was joking, Kacchan!”

“O-Oh.”

Katsuki’s eyes were surprisingly wide, and all at once it hit Izuku, crashing into him like a ton of bricks.

“Do you want to tell me who you like?” he prompted quietly. “We can... Go up to my room, if you prefer.”

“Why the fuck would I want that?” Katsuki answered, completely unconvincing. “It’s none of your business who I like!”

“Are you sure?”

Their eyes met briefly, and Izuku felt the pain there, even though Katsuki hid it well.

“I’ll tell you too,” he said finally. “But you have to go first, otherwise you’ll cheat.”

“What the fuck, nerd?” Katsuki growled, embarrassment forgotten in an instant. “Who the hell is the one here with a history of lying and hiding stuff, huh? When was the last time I had a secret quirk? Or sneaked out of my bedroom or hospital bed to do something stupid? Or ran off to fight some asshole villain without even telling you?”

“That’s different!”

“It’s not. If I say shit you know I mean it, if you say shit it’s probably bullshit.”

“I never lie to Kacchan!”

“Bull-fucking-shit.”

Izuku pouted, but Katsuki didn’t back down, still scowling at him in a way Izuku knew contained hurt, and that was honestly the worst thing about it.

“I try not to,” he amended quietly. “I told you about my quirk eventually, after all, and I left you a note the other times, mostly.”

“I don’t want your fucking notes, I want you to say it to my damn face and listen to me tell you what a fucking idiot you are instead of hiding from the truth.”

“I’m sorry.”

Katsuki muttered something under his breath, folding his arms across his chest, and for a moment Izuku just watched him, watched the torn expressions that twisted at his usually-handsome face.

“You bought me an All Might keychain for my last birthday,” Izuku said softly.

“Hah? So what? You like that nerd shit.”

“That’s like buying accessories for a girl, right? So I think that counts.”

Katsuki snorted, his expression softening a little, and Izuku cracked a tiny smile.

“And you always text me back quickly, even if you don’t usually text first.”

“No point texting you shit if I’ve got nothing to say.”

“I know! I never mind hearing from you, though.”

Katsuki huffed quietly, and Izuku smiled as he gestured toward the stairs awkwardly, struggling to meet Katsuki’s gaze with everything he knew was hidden in those fiery eyes, and everything he knew Katsuki would see in his own.

“My room?” he suggested again.

“Fine,” Katsuki conceded. “But you’re still going first, fucker.”

“I’m okay with that.”

[Next Chapter]