was there a lifetime waiting for us? in a world where i was yours,

• its second year highschool! things have calmed down significantly and for class 1-A this means that its time to celebrate their teenage years like they werent able to before
• this means more movie nights--more days they get to spend having fun and being regular kids like they shouldve always been
• meanwhile bkdk? after confessions and apologies made on bloody battlefields and quiet hospitals at the dead of night... its almost comical how cheesy they are
• deku sneaks up on kacchan during lunchbreaks, dragging him to the training fields where he serenades him with a guitar and laughs as a small crowd of their schoolmates whoop in glee
• he sings songs of youthful love and friendship, awkward voice smoothing into something beautiful and charming
• in return, katsuki learns new songs. he learns to draw and to play the drums even better--living for that shocked little smile when he draws doodles of deku and dedicates especially sappy songs to him during their monthly school jamming session
• they arent together at this point, technically. no one knows what they are. no one can begin to label what they have either.
• but its definitely good.
• its bright and its beautiful and its loud, so theyll protect it with their eyes wide open but in the meantime class 1A just sits back and watches the twin stars of UA unravel like leaves in the cool mornings of fall
• they go everywhere together, always holding hands. bakugou and deku have promise rings, little matching all might insignias glinting in the sun
• they won those in an arcade somewhere. no one knows what the promise is, and no one really bothers to ask
• katsuki really likes lending izuku his jackets. its nothing he says outright, just the fact that he's always ready—always one arm out of its sleeve—to bundle his sweaters and drop it into the lap of the unsuspecting nerd.
• "geez, is it just me or is it really co—" *flop*
• sometimes kirishima worries about his best friends allowance at the rate in which he has to replace all his jackets
• they brawl in the hallways, rough house on the train station, cuddle when its cold and the common room is filled with people and light
• deku often likes to surprise katsuki with little gifts. he sneaks spicy candies into the other boy's backpack between classes, slips giftcards and notes of appreciation between the pages of katsuki's textbooks
• in return, as he does with everything, katsuki goes big. sometimes he surprises deku with a giant teddy bear, or soft hoodies that remind him of the other. he'll get the whole bakusquad in on it and fill the hallways in the morning with encouraging yells and loud boisterous laughter
• sometimes, obviously, they'll still mess up. They're still teenagers, still human.
• Deku will sometimes not say things that he should and Kacchan will sometimes say things he doesn't mean.
• they'll fight and yell and unsettle the dorms with how charged the air becomes. sometimes Aizawa's worried they'll go back to ground beta and increase the hero course's already abysmal annual repair budget again like they used to do when they were stressed and repressed and each other obsessed
• but then bakugou will sneak into dekus balcony at the dead of night, like some sort of delinquent trying to visit their goody two shoes lover at the risk of running into their shotgun father
• (which in this case, bakugou supposes, would be uraraka--the metaphorical shotgun being a very tired todoroki)
• and he'll knock on the window gently, trying not to smile as izuku opens the window and rubs the sleep from his eyes.
• "ka... cchan?"
• katsuki lets himself smirk at last and tells deku theyre sneaking out.
• phrases it like a taboo secret, even as aizawa watches from the security footage room exasperated but also kind of relieved because of all things his class has gone through, a little midnight tryst is the least dangerous of them all. its not even close to the biggest secret deku's ever had, and by god he has plenty.
• but he stifles his giggles into the palm of his hand and watches as bakugou precariously sits on the metal railing, clothes a mess and leaves still stuck in his hair
• "Our little secret, okay?" Kacchan jokes, red eyes glimmering with something raw and perfect. "Don't tell your dad about me."
• Izuku rolls his eyes and reminds him that All Might isn't actually his father, god Kacchan! You've met my real dad!
• Yet still, he lets it pass.
• And then, oh so carefully yet recklessly as if they weren't the most powerful duo of their generation, katsuki reaches out and slips deku's hands in his and takes him away
• takes him to a beach (Dagobah, because of course it is) in the middle of the night, the stars brighter than theyve ever been because everything looks different when youre young and in love
• they lay in the sand and listen to the waves and some weird beat thats been stuck in Izuku's head. Bakugou turns to watch his eyelashes flutter against freckled cheeks and holds out a pinky.
• "I'm sorry. By the way. I didn't mean what I said and I want you to be happy."
• Izuku hums and they talk it out. Eventually the other boy holds his pinky out too and they link together like pieces of a puzzle.
• Under the stars, the two of them make a million promises. Promises that they know they'll break, promises that they know they won't, promises that leave them uncertain and guessing.
• "—but you promise, though. Right? You promise that we'll still be by each other? Us against the world forever and ever even after this. Even when we grow old?"
• Their pinkies stay linked together and the two boys know for sure that it's one of those highschool promises that they will keep forever.
• Deku stares into pretty red eyes that remind him of juicy apples and warm bonfires beside friends who never run out of stories to tell
• Katsuki stares back into clear green eyes that remind him of calming tea and lush grass he lays down on in the familiar heat of a summer afternoon
• they just. stare. stare and stare and stare and maybe, they begin to think
• maybe in those eyes, i can see our future.
• and its good.
• its really really good.