At some point, Izuku's friends began backing away from him to give him room to breathe, something that he was internally grateful for. As much as Izuku loved and adored his friends, he wasn't willing to give up breathing for them, it would be sort of counter-intuitive. 

Of course, seeing as Izku's friends were extremely nosy and extremely enthusiastic ( well, some of them, at least) as soon as the group hugs ended and Izuku was given a moment to breathe independently, Ashido, Hagakure and Uraraka pounced on him with questions. 

"So, Deku..." Uraraka hummed with a quirked eyebrow, "What did you get up to when you were out?"

"Midoriya! What's it like dating the human embodiment of anger?" Hagakure giggled.

"Yeah, you've got to give us all the juicy details, Bakugo won't tell us anything!" Ashido added on enthusiastically. 

Upon hearing these questions, Izuku's face immediately gained a dusty pink hue. Uraraka's question wasn't all too bad, it was a genuine curiosity about what Izuku had been up to during his extremely brief disappearance, but the other girls' questions were a lot more intimate, a lot more private. 

"Now, Ashido and Hagakure. Bakugo has already expressed an interest in privacy, that courtesy is extended to Midoriya as well," Iida chastised, " Although, I too am curious about what you did during your time away..." 

"Oh, I didn't do much. I tailed a man and broke into one of the LOV's minor bases, I found so much information there, it'll help with bringing down the Hero Safety Commission." Izuku explained easily as if he wasn't insinuating that he intended to start a mutiny against an important government agency. 

"You broke into a League of Villains base?" Kaminari squeaked in astonishment. He, along with several other people, gawked at Izuku with gaping mouths and wide eyes. 

"Yeah, it was only a minor one. There were barely any guards. It was easy." Izuku dismissed easily.

"For him maybe," Sero whispered to Kirishima, who chortled lightly in response. Both boys received a confused look from Izuku before he turned back to talk to the class as a whole. 

"Anyway, I'm just glad to be back. I know I left voluntarily, but it was sorta stressful. I'd rather be here, with you guys," Izuku laughed bashfully which invoked coos and pats on the back from several classmates.

"Well, since you're back here now..." Kaminari smirked, "We should totally throw a welcome home party!"

"He was only gone for, like, a day, Dunce Face." Katsuki sneered.

"But we didn't get the chance to throw a party for when he came home the first time!" Kaminari exclaimed, "Come on, it's a wicked idea!" Kaminari looked around the room for support, especially to his girlfriends. 

"I don't see why we can't have a small," Yaoyorozu emphasised, "get together of sorts to commemorate Midoriya's return. Only small though, no excessive music. We can make some food and drinks, possibly watch a film. Only if Midoriya wants to, of course!" 

All the heads in the room swivelled to look at Izuku. "That sounds like it could be fun, as long as it's not too over the top..." Izuku muttered. His affirmation was enough to send some of the members of the class zooming from the room to prepare treats.

It was nice just hanging out with his friends. There was no stress. There was no pressure to get his position in the hero course back. The League of Villains and The Hero Safety Commission were not leering over his shoulder, threatening to strip him of everything he loved. He was simply Izuku, sitting with his friends, and shovelling junk food into his mouth periodically. 

"If you don't slow down you're gonna choke yourself," Todoroki deadpanned from Izuku's right. Izuku turned to his friend and offered him a cheeky smile.

"Don't worry about me, Shoto, I'm used to this. When Kacchan and I were little, we would have competitions to see who could eat the most food the fastest. I won most of the time." Izuku beamed. Katsuki snorted from beside him, whether he was mocking Izuku's enthusiasm or reminiscing on the various competitions he and his boyfriend has in their youth, Izuku was unsure. 

A calm atmosphere coated the common room. There were no expectations for the group of teenagers as long as they didn't leave the happy little bubble they had constructed for themselves. There was nothing that could hurt them except for their own carelessly harsh and cruel words. They were safe from the world as long as they were in this merry little space.

Of course, once the film ended, the bubble that had enshrined the class was popped and they were forced to confront the real world again. Several people scurried away to complete last-minute homework assignments whilst others (the more organised amongst the class) peeled away to do whatever they wanted, leaving only Todoroki, Iida, Uraraka and Izuku left in the lounge.

"We're so glad that you came back, Deku, you barely gave us time to miss you properly!" Uraraka giggled lightly. 

"It was very irresponsible of you to set out on your own," Iida started to lecture, "Nevertheless, I'm glad you are back safely. Please tell us next time you plan on sneaking away so that we may help you."

"Woah! Who said there's gonna be a next time?" Izuku laughed. He expected his friends to chuckle along with him, but he was sorely mistaken. Instead of laughing at Izuku's simple joke, the three other occupants of the room gave Izuku deadpan stares. They were looks that practically screamed 'Do you think we're stupid', Izuku quickly silenced his laughing. 

"We know you, Izuku," Todoroki muttered, "You've never been one to stick to rules, we don't doubt that you'll somehow end up out there again. It sounds like something you would somehow do..."

"Oh... Well, I don't have any plans to leave yet. You'll see! The only reason I'll leave UA is to visit my mum!" Izuku proclaimed boldly. Whilst his friends genuinely wanted to believe and trust Izuku, he had a bit of a track record.

"Let's move away from that and onto a different subject, like... I don't know... You're apparently dating Bakugo Katsuki!" Uraraka shrieked. 

"Oh... Right..." Izuku chuckled nervously. Izuku couldn't say that his friends finding out about his relationship via a private letter was ideal, but he knew that they were bound to find out soon enough. If he had been speaking to anyone else, Izuku might have readily shared the details of his relationship so far with sparkling eyes and enthusiasm, but it was hard to hold that same sentiment and desire when he was speaking to his ex-girlfriend. 

There had been no bad blood between Uraraka and Izuku after they had broken up. They were friends first and lovers second, and since the entire dating thing hadn't worked out, they decided to simply remain friends. If you asked Uraraka, she would say that their relationship didn't work out because Izuku was too devoted to bettering himself as a hero, leaving little room for them to develop their romantic relationship, she might also mention that it was just too awkward, dating, kissing, none of that felt right for the two of them, no matter how much they forced themselves.

 If you asked Izuku the same question, he would say the same thing as Uraraka, they simply worked better as friends. It was something that he could admit publicly with ease. But the real reason that his first relationship had ended was something he could only admit to himself in the privacy of his room. The real reason that Izuku hadn't been able to date Uraraka was simply that she wasn't who he really loved. He had loved the same person for nearly his entire life, that love had wavered at some points in time (specifically in middle school), but Izuku knew he was irrevocably in love with Katsuki Bakugo. As much as he hated to admit it, Uraraka was a distraction, somebody he used to try and escape his feelings. He wasn't proud of it, but he had only agreed to date her in hopes of banishing the persistent thoughts he had about his childhood best friend. When that hadn't worked... He had given up on restraining his feelings. The guilt that riddled him at having used Uraraka drove him to suggest that they break up, Izuku was just lucky that Uraraka also thought that their relationship was painfully awkward. They simply weren't compatible in the way they had hoped they were. 

"You have to tell us the details! When did you two get together?" Uraraka gushed. She looked at Izuku with wide sparkling eyes that only filled his heart with more guilt. 

"Oh, it was in the hospital... after the battle with Shigaraki... We kind of just blurted out feelings for each other..." Izuku muttered bashfully. 

"Aww, that's so sweet! Don't you think!" Uraraka looked over to Iida and Todoroki to gauge their reaction to this information. Both boys, inexperienced in the ways of love, only nodded to placate their enthusiastic friend. 

"Have you two kissed yet? You have to have, right? I mean... You don't say that you love someone before you kiss them, as a general rule!" Uraraka laughed. Izuku couldn't stop the compromising blush that invaded his cheeks. He didn't say anything, but his expression and reaction spoke volumes.

"Wait," Uraraka's laughter came to an abrupt halt, "Have you two not kissed yet?"

"What! Of course, we have," Izuku defended, "We kissed each other earlier, thank you very much!"

"So you said you loved him before you kissed him?" Todoroki mused, "I'm no expert, but from what I know, that's the incorrect order."

"There is no order to relationships, Todorki," Iida chastised, for a second, Izuku thought that he would be on his side. That was until he tilted his head and opened his mouth, "However, it is... rather unconventional."

Izuku glowered at his friends, his gaze held no real animosity, just joking anger. "Well, Kacchan and I aren't exactly conventional in terms of the progression of our entire relationship," izuku joked, "I'm just glad that I have him now."

Coos and awes echoed from behind Izuku, startling him enough to make him jolt ever so slightly in his seat. He hadn't been expecting the sudden noise. 

"You're so much more useful than Bakugo when it comes to this," Hagakure huffed, she skipped around the sofa and fell down beside Uraraka, causing the sofa to bounce ever so slightly, "He just glares at us and tells us to fuck off!" 

"Yeah, he's super rude about it," Ashido grinned, "Maybe you'll be able to placate the beast, hey, Midoriya?"

"I wouldn't want to do that," Izuku smiled serenely, "I like Kacchan as he is now. I wouldn't change a thing about him, well, aside from his need to scream 'die' all the time."

"Aww," Ashido cooed, "Where can I find such a devoted significant other! Toru, where are all the good lovers?" Ashido laid her head in Hagakure's lap and sighed dramatically, this elected chuckles from Izuku and Uraraka whilst Hagakure whispered reassurances to her best friend. 

Izuku felt like he was back where he was meant to be again. Nothing out there, in the real world, could reach him here. He was safe from the vindictive behaviour of the LOV and the slowly toppling Commission. Here, in Height's Alliance, he was safe. As safe as can be.

That night, when the excitement of the day had worn off and the members of class 2A were left drowsy, Katsuki lay beside his boyfriend in bed, running his fingers through abundant curls. 

"Wanna know something weird?" Izuku hummed.

"What is it, nerd?" Katsuki answered in an equally as quiet voice, though Katsuki couldn't match the gentleness of Izuku's voice. Katsuki had traded his gentleness way to a demon as a child in return for a Limited Edition All Might Bronze Age rare trading card and action figure. Or at least that's what he had convinced himself of as a child. 

"Ochako, Iida and Todoroki think that it's weird that I told you that I love you before we kissed." Izuku snorted. Katsuki looked down at his boyfriend and raised a singular eyebrow. His entire expression screamed 'That's news to you?'.

"They have a point, nerd, it's not the usual order to things." Katsuki chuckled ever so slightly. 

"When have we ever been conventional, Kacchan? Our entire love story is complicated and contrived, it makes sense that our relationship isn't exactly standard, right?" Izuku smiled serenely. 

"Ok, first of all, don't ever call our past a 'love story', that's not what that was and you know it. Also, it's cringy as fuck." Katsuki chastised. He gripped Izuku's cheeks in his hands and squished them together in punishment, "Secondly, nothing about our relationship will ever be standard. I'm Bakugo fucking Katsuki, I go above and beyond!"

Izuku laughed that musical laugh of his and pushed his forehead against Katsuki's. The two boys lay like that for a minute, simply basking in each other's presence. 

"Can I kiss you?" Katsuki asked near silently. His voice was nothing more than a whisper of a breath. Izuku nodded his head straight away, he didn't want to wait for a second longer to feel Katsuki's lips against his. 

As soon as he had confirmation, Katsuki leaned forwards and connected their lips in a quiet dance of passion. It wasn't fast-paced and confident. It wasn't needy and sure. The kiss was slow, cautious, hesitant and loving. Katsuki didn't quite know what he was doing and Izuku couldn't exactly boast a lot of experience either. It was relatively new for both of them, and yet the juvenile nature of the kiss made it all the better. It just meant that they would get to learn. Together.

"You know I love you, right, Kacchan," Izuku whispered into the darkness. His breaths were steady as they whispered against Katsuki's collar bones. 

"Tch, of course, I know that." Katsuki snorted in his usual abrasive tone, "Stop being a sappy shit and go to sleep. I'm not gonna lay here all night with you, awake. Some of us have a decent sleep schedule we intend to maintain."

Izuku laughed airily. Katsuki would never admit it, lest he sounds like that whipped idiot Kaminari when he simpered over his girlfriends, but Katsuki loved Izuku's laugh. It was like a blend of chiming bells and wood crackling in an open fireplace. It was comforting and warmed everybody who heard it. Katsuki never wanted to lose that laugh and the proximity he had to the person who unintentionally sang a sweet, husky melody whenever he opened his mouth. 

Izuku's laughter abated and he looked up at Katsuki with wide, crystalline eyes full of love and adoration. The sight of the boy who was so obviously gone for Katsuki made his heart clench with both love and guilt. How had he allowed his own ego, his own fucked up sense of superiority, to cloud his judgement? How had he hurt someone who so obviously only wished to do good for the world? Katsuki thought that even if they ever broke up and went their separate ways, he would spend the rest of his life reflecting on his misdeeds and working on being a better person, not just for Izuku, but also for Kastuki himself.

"Kacchan... I don't know how to describe this, but I feel like something bad is going to happen," Izuku's suddenly sombre tone snapped Katsuki from his love-sick trance.

"What? Is it danger sense?" Katsuki replied quickly, he sat up in his bed, immediately alert. Izuku shook his head and guided Katsuki back down next to him as if to keep up a pretence that everything was normal.

"Don't react, Kacchan. I just feel like someone is watching us..." Izuku hummed, his tone did not fit the serious words he was saying, "I've felt like it all day."

Katsuki rolled over onto his back and pulled Izuku into his side, "What do you mean?" he grunted.

"I don't know. It just feels like there are always eyes on me. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I promise that whatever happens, I won't leave you again forever, not on purpose." Izuku whispered into the oppressive silence of the room. Izuku's words caused Katsuki's breath to catch in his throat, he aimed a glare at his boyfriend. 

"Don't say shit like that, you know that we won't let anything happen to you. Everything will be fine." Katsuki said it with such conviction, such self-belief, that Izuku almost believed him. But he had been at this hero business for a little over a year now, and he knew not to put much stock in words and promises. Action and conflict were the only things that seemed to work in the grey and blurry world of crime and justice. 

"Ok, Kacchan, I believe you," Izuku murmured. There was tangible disbelief in his voice, but Katsuki chose to ignore that in favour of simply holding his boyfriend close to him for the night. The world they lived in was unpredictable, anything could happen at any time. 

Being heroes in training, both Katsuki and Izuku were sensitive to changes in their environments, and that skill didn't switch off just because they were sleeping. Both boys jolted awake with twin hisses of air exhaled through their nostrils. They had both felt it, the shift in the darkness of the hall outside of Katsuki's bedroom door. There was an ominous and foreboding feeling bubbling within them. Acting on pure instinct, both occupants of the room ducked down and padded silently over to the darkest corner of the room, a space which they were least likely to be seen in should someone enter the room. 

Silently, the two communicated in JSL so as not to alert the intruder of the fact that they were aware and alert.

"What should we do, it can't be one of our classmates, right?" Izuku signed as quickly as he was capable of, his signing wasn't the best, disjointed and halting, but his message got across well enough. 

"Obviously not," Katsuki sighed with an aggravated look on his face, "You go over to the window, check if there's anything out there. I'll send off a signal to Aizawa and All Might." 

Izuku nodded his head and hurried over to the wide balcony door whilst Katsuki pressed the emergency signal button by his bedside cabinet. Being an extremely danger prone class, it only made sense for the students of class 2A to have some way of conveying distress and such without the use of phones.

Izuku peered out of the window through the minute slit in Katsuki's curtains, he knew that it wasn't practical, but he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter, lest he wanted to alert any unknown assailants that he was aware of their presence. 

Through the small slit in the curtains, Izuku couldn't see anything suspicious, of course, that's not to say that there wasn't anything out there. Izuku spun around to convey this information to Katsuki, but he never got the chance.

Whilst Katsuki had been pressing the emergency signal button, a shadow had come to stop outside of the room, and the doorknob was slowly turning. Izuku gestured frantically towards the door as he rushed towards his boyfriend, and Katsuki seemed to receive his message, but it was all too late. 

The room quickly began to fill up with the strong scent of fresh-cut strawberries. This, ordinarily, wouldn't be too bad, but the smell was overwhelming and made both Katsuki and Izuku feel rather nauseous. They tried to cover their noses and mouth with their t-shirts, but it was too late. Katsuki was the first to fall unconscious, seeing as he was closer to the smell of what Izuku could only assume was a quirk similar to Midnight's.  Izuku took a few shaky steps towards his partner, but his effort was fruitless. Within three steps, he fell to his knees with a thud and kneeled over, unconscious. 

A masked figure clothed in all black aside from an embroidered logo stepped into the room, they were careful to avoid Katsuki's body and not lay a finger on a single object in the room aside from the slumbering body of Izuku. 

"I've retrieved the boy. He was awake, by the way, I thought you said that they were asleep," the masked figure hissed into their radio. They hauled Izuku over their shoulder and ventured across the room until they reached the sliding door of the balcony. With one last backwards glance to ensure that Katsuki was still firmly knocked out, the assailant fled into the night via Katsuki's balcony.  

Katsuki snapped awake abruptly. A cold wind washed over his body causing him to shiver where he lay on the hard floor. Immediately, Katsuki knew that a lot was wrong. Izuku's warmth was not pressed into his side, He was sleeping on the floor, the balcony doors were open. Something was very, very, wrong. 

It was rather suddenly that the memories from mere minutes prior came to the forefront of Katsuki's mind, and when they did, he was furious. 

"Fucking damn it!" Katsuki screeched into the oppressive silence of the dorms. It had happened again. Izuku was gone. Taken, right under Katsuki's nose. He was right there, he should have protected him, but he had failed. 

"Bakugo!" Aizawa called, he rushed down the hall and took in the sight before him. Katsuki was sat on the floor, his head in his hands and shakes wracking his body. Izuku was nowhere to be seen. 

"Bakugo, what happened? Where's Midoriya?" Aizawa asked in a more frantic tone than one would expect from the usually stoic man. "Bakugo! You need to tell me what has happened!"

Aizawa knelt beside his student and pulled his face from his hands gently, he looked directly into his student's eyes and asked the same question again, "Bakugo, where's Midoriya?"

"I was too fucking weak. This is my fault." Katsuki whispered brokenly. Aizawa thought it was probably the closest he had ever gotten in terms of seeing the boy cry. Katsuki was a stubborn, angry and emotionally constipated boy. Aizawa doubted that even his close friends had seen him cry. 

"I highly doubt that, Bakugo. Just tell me what happened so that I can help." Aizawa tried to speak with a reassuring tone, but he had never been the best when it came to speaking in soothing tones. That was more Present Mic or All Might's forte.

Seeing as Katsuki didn't seem to be in any state to respond, Aizawa elected to take a glimpse around the room to see if anything was out of place. The only things of note were the billowing curtains, indicating the balcony door was open, and the rumpled bedding. It was as though Katsuki had only just rolled out of bed, which would make sense. Aside from those things, everything looked how it had the few times Aizawa had seen Katsuki's bedroom. The one key thing missing, however, was one Midoriya Izuku. Aizawa knew that they were sharing a room, and he trusted his students (maybe not all of them, but the majority) so he didn't see any problem with them sharing a room. Something was very wrong here, although that was obvious to Aizawa from the moment he was jolted out of bed by the emergency alarm. 

"...Took him..." Katsuki whispered almost incoherently. Aizawa turned to see that his student seemed to have calmed down a bit; he was ready to tell Aizawa what had happened.

"What was that, Bakugo?" Aizawa asked.

"They took him. Those fucking bastards stole him!" Katsuki growled.

"Who, Bakugo?" Aizawa asked urgently, already he could feel the panic at having lost a child clawing at his throat and tearing its way through his chest. 

"Who do you think? The fucking commission!"

"Hello, Midoriya Izuku, we've got some talking to do, wouldn't you say?" 

Sorry that this is coming out late, I have no other excuse aside from I forgot to post. I was going to post yesterday/ earlier this morning (for me), but I fell asleep whilst proofreading. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a wonderful day, wherever you are.