Katsuki went to bed that night with plans to wake up in the morning and go after his boyfriend. He was never one to follow after others, preferring for them to follow him. He wasn't a follower, he was a leader. But if following Izuku led to his boyfriend not being killed, the corrupt governing body that preceded over Heroes being toppled and The League of Villains being defeated, then Katsuki didn't mind following this one time. Katsuki went to sleep with firm plans in mind, he didn't expect those plans to be disrupted by a dream. Katsuki didn't usually dream, he went to sleep and woke up, that's all there is to it. He couldn't say that the dream was unwelcome, though.

Katsuki was in a field, all he could see was green. In the distance, he thought he could see the start of a forest, but he couldn't be sure. He wasn't alone in the field, curled up beside him was a huge lump of muscle that Katsuki recognised as a dragon. The dragon was a deep ruby colour and had curling ivory horns. The dragon felt very familiar, it was like Katsuki had a bond with him. He knew that the dragon was hungry but was waiting for somebody to arrive before he left Katsuki so that he could hunt.

"You can leave me alone, Shitty Hair, I don't need your protection. I'm literally waiting in a fucking field." Katsuki growled, he had no control over what he was saying, it was like he was living out a story.

"But, dude, I want to see him too," surprisingly, it was Kirishima's voice that echoed around Katsuki's skull when the dragon 'spoke'. It was less speaking and more telepathically communicating.

"And you can see him later. I can practically hear your stomach growling," Katsuki huffed "Now fuck off!"

Kirishima laughed, although as a dragon it simply sounded like a snort and huff. Katsuki scowled at his friend and kicked his scaly leg, the kick didn't have any effect, but that was beside the point.

"Alright, I'm going!" Kirishima chortled, "Tell Izuku that I said hi." With that Kirishima pushed himself off of the valley floor and shook his wings out. With two powerful beats of his leathery appendages, Kirishima was flying off to find some food. 

Katsuki watched him go with hidden awe. No matter how many times he watched his friend fly away, he never stopped feeling in awe at the sight. Dragons were going extinct, and Kirishima was lucky that he had found Katsuki when he had when they had both been young and naive. 

"Kacchan!" a familiar bubbly voice called across the field. Katsuki's head immediately whipped around to look in the direction of the voice, a smirk emerged on his face at the sight of his partner. 

"Nerd," Katsuki called, he tried to contain his enthusiasm and joy at seeing the other boy, but his efforts were pointless, Izuku could see the joy and sparkle of love in Katsuki's eyes, "Took you long enough to get here!"

"Sorry! Sorry. I got held up, Shoto wanted me to sign off on some mission that I'll be doing next week and since I'm gonna be one of his closest advisors I have to help organise his coronation-" Izuku rambled on, but he was cut off as he was pulled into Katsuki's chest in a tight hug that conveyed the man's emotions better than his words ever could.  Izuku smiled and hugged Katsuki back just as tight, it had been a month since they had last seen each other, and the time hadn't passed fast enough for either one of them.

"I don't care about that, idiot," Katsuki grumbled into Izuku's abundant curls in a rare show of vulnerability, "I'm just glad you're back."

Izuku smiled serenely into his fiance's shoulder, "I'm glad as well. Come on, Kacchan, let's go home." Izuku pulled back from Katsuki and looked up into his vermillion eyes with nothing but love and adoration. The two inched closer and closer to each other, eyes falling shut and lips pursing ever so slightly for a kiss. Katsuki's heart sped up in his chest as the anticipation built, just when Katsuk's lips were about to fall against Izuku's (as they had in so many dreams before) a hand fell on his shoulder, yanking him out of his dream. 

Katsuki sat up with a gasp and looked around his room with unseeing eyes, he was infinitely glad that he hadn't been woken up by a nightmare, but that didn't eradicate the fear and panic that grasped his heart. Without thinking he grabbed the hand on his shoulder and threw the person attached to it onto the floor. He pinned their arm behind their back and sat on it. The entire ordeal happened within a few seconds, it was scarcely enough time for either party to register what was happening. 

"What the fuck!" Katsuki snarled at the person below him, "Why the fuck are you touching my shoulder whilst I sleep?"

"Kacchan!" the person beneath him squeaked. It took a moment, but Katsuki's eyes adjusted to the pre-dawn light of the room and he was faced with a bush of verdant curls and freckled cheeks.

"Deku? What the fuck?" Katsuki frowned in confusion. He hadn't expected to see Izuku any time soon seeing as the boy had decided to go all vigilante and fuck off to try and take down the League of Villains by himself. The events of the past 24 hours registered in Katsuki's mind causing him to scowl heavily at Izuku. 

"Kacchan, I know you're most likely mad, but we can talk about this later, ok." Izuku tried placating upon seeing the way Katsuki's lips twisted into a scowl and his eyes darkened with barely constrained rage, "I spoke to Aizawa and All Might because I found something really important."

"Fuck that!" Katsuki snarled, "We're gonna talk right fucking now!" Katsuki rolled off of Izuku and pulled the boy closer to his face by the front of his t-shirt. Distantly, in the part of Katsuki's mind that wasn't alight with rage, Katsuki realised that Izuku must have been back for some time. He had debriefed All Might and Aizawa, as well as changing out of his hero costume and having a shower if his damp curls were any indication. 

"You promised me you wouldn't run off and do this by yourself, that's how you get yourself killed, idiot! Do you wanna die? 'Cause, that's what it seems like to me. And don't think that you're gonna get away with saying that you love me via a letter! A fucking letter! Are you a coward!" Katsuki ranted as he shook his boyfriend. Izuku stayed silent, it was best to just let Katsuki get everything out of his system at times like these. "And I couldn't even say it back to you because it was a fucking letter! And we haven't even kissed yet but you consciously told me that you love me, and I love you too you assholes but that's not the point!" 

Katsuki ranted on and on about how stupid Izuku was and how unfair it was for him to consciously tell him he loved him via a letter and a text. Izuku just sat there and took it, he knew that Katsuki tended to let his worry show through anger. 

"Are you done?" Izuku asked when Katsuki finally came to a stop. When Katsuki silently nodded his head with his scowl still fixed permanently to his face, Izuku sighed in relief, "I am sorry, Kacchan. Trust me, I've already been scolded by both All Might and Aizawa."

"Yeah?" Katsuki grumbled, "Good! That doesn't mean that I'm not gonna beat your ass in a spar though. You deserve it for worrying... everyone." 

"Ok. That's fine. I do love you Kacchan," Izuku whispered. His cheeks gained a rosy hue, but he held firm eye contact with Katsuki as he spoke, "And we can talk more about that, our relationship and everything, but I need to tell you something about the League and the Hero Safety Commission." 

Finally, Katsuki let Izuku go so that he could retrieve his phone from his back pocket. Whilst Izuku was doing that, Katsuki desperately tried to ignore the mounting tightness in his chest. It wasn't the same warm feeling he got when he looked at Izuku and admired how he looked or reminisced on just how far their relationship has come. This was a black, sticky feeling that invaded Katsuki mind and stirred doubts. Did Izuku think their relationship was meaningless, or at least not as important as their hero work?

Katsuki would be the first to admit that he viewed his training and subsequent hero work as some of the most important things in his life. Much more important than other trivial matters such as TV shows and music, but he couldn't say the same about his relationships, any of them. Katsuki had been faced with the importance of relationships, positive and negative, friendships and romance, throughout his time at UA. He (and he would never admit it to anyone but Izuku and he would only admit it to Izuku if he was delirious with exhaustion) thought that his friendship and blossoming romance with Izuku were as important as hero work. Maybe a bit more or less so, but the point was that Katsuki held his relationship with Izuku on a pedestal. he had lost it once before, he had no plans of doing so again. 

What Katsuki saw, as Izuku pulled his phone out and started muttering about evidence, was Izuku putting their relationship in the background. Izuku leaving unexpectedly had hurt Katsuki. It had hurt to know that Izuku didn't trust him enough to speak to him. That was a crack in their relationship, one that could easily be repaired very easily, but that crack got bigger when Izuku ignored Katsuki sadness and fear in favour of babbling on about the LOV. 

"And if we can amass a big enough force of heroes, we can stop them. Of course, it would be best if somebody was working from within the Commission itself to stop the League's influence from spreading too much," Izuku muttered, but Katsuki wasn't actively listening. Usually, he would retain the knowledge, he had perfected the skill of parallel thinking some time ago, but this time, Izuku's words went in one ear and out the other. Katsuki was too consumed by his relief at seeing Izuku alive and the uncomfortable thought that Izuku didn't care about their relationship to the same extent as Katsuki.

Izuku looked up at Katsuki with wide eyes alight with joy, however, that joy tapered out when he saw the look on Katsuki's face. It could be described as a mixture of sadness, anger and acceptance. "Kacchan, are you ok?" Izuku asked gently, he rocked forwards on his knees and placed a scarred hand on Katsuki's cheek, he looked deep into his boyfriend's eyes in an attempt to convey the sincerity he was feeling, "You can tell me anything."

"It's nothing," Katsuki dismissed, "I'm just being an idiot."

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed even further. That was a red flag. Katsuki calling himself an idiot? That was practically unheard of. "No, I can tell that something is wrong. Just tell me, Kacchan, I'll help you, however, I can." Izuku whispered in a soothing voice.

Katsuki sighed heavily and ran one hand through his spiky hair, "I just feel like you don't trust me. I know that we're training to be heroes, but I feel like... I feel like you think that hero work is more important than our relationship. You fucking off hurt me, I don't want to admit it but it did, and it made me feel like you don't trust me enough to let me in. And as soon as you get back all you want to talk about is what you found whilst I was stuck here worrying about you."

Katsuki had vowed to himself after the hospital battle that he would be more open with his emotions, that was why he was trying to see a therapist regularly, but it was hard. Talking about his emotions didn't diminish his gruff attitude and behaviour, if anything, it only made it worse because Katsuki was unused to it. 

"You know what, don't listen to me. Ignore that," Katsuki huffed with a shake of his head, "We need to go. The rest of the idiots you call friends are probably already sneaking out to find you."

Katsuki pushed himself off of his bed, preparing to leave the room and announce Izuku's presence to everyone else in the dorm, but a scared hand on his wrist stopped him. Katsuki peered over his shoulder and was confronted by a teary-eyed Izuku. His grip on Katsuki's wrist was verging on being painful; his face was alight with distress and fear. Fear for their relationship. Fear for their future, a future they had been carefully constructing together over the past year in which they loved from enemies to rivals, to begrudging friends to lovers. Izuku had wanted after Katsuki for so long, he couldn't let him leave now. At least not without hearing what Katsuki had to say. Not until he understood Katsuki's point of view. 

"No, Kacchan. They can wait. Explain everything to me, please." Izuku begged.

Katsuki froze where he stood, and internal conflict raged behind his eyes. To express vulnerability or not? That was the vital question to which Katsuki sought the answer. Any sort of vulnerability was a weakness, at least in Katsuki's eyes. He had come a long way from the scared and perpetually angry boy he had been upon entering UA, but he hadn't sorted through all of his issues just yet. 

"Please..." Izuku whispered, his voice trembled as he spoke, portraying just how desperate he truly was, "I can't fix anything if you don't explain, Kacchan."

With a heavy sigh and clear reluctance, Katsuki moved back towards the bed and took a seat next to Izuku. Izuku was quick to shuffle close to Katsuki and lay a hand on his knee, he knew better than to spring a surprise hug on his boyfriend, it wouldn't be received very well. 

"I don't know what else you want me to say," Katsuki sighed, "I've already said practically everything. You care more about hero work, The League and The Hero Safety Commission than you care about our relationship. And... Fuck! I get it! Ok? I get it. Being a hero is everything to you, it's everything to me as well, we both know that we'd do just about anything to prove that we're capable of being heroes. But you left me after you promised not to. You lied to me for the sake of, what? Because you wanted to be the hero? Because you can't accept the fact that we want to help you?"

Katsuki continued on and on, ranting about whatever came to mind. By the end of his speech, he was out of breath. His head was hanging so Izuku couldn't see the hurt shining in his crimson depths, but Izuku knew Katsuki was hurting. Why else would he open himself up to Izuku? Why else would he be fighting tears? Why else would there be a faint hitch to his voice with every other sentence he spoke? Izuku knew all of Katsuki's mannerisms like the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, Kacchan," Izuku croaked, "I know I should have told you before I left. It was stupid of me not to, but... You understand why I did it, right? You would have tried to stop me. I... I really do love you, Kacchan. I care so much about our relationship, I don't mean to make it sound like I'm placing one thing above the other. Hero work and how I feel about you are on the same level ground, it's just a shame that you perceived one over the other."

"Tch. It doesn't matter, I'm just being dramatic," Katsuki sneered, he once again tried to stand from the bed, but he was pulled back down by Izuku. Annoyance tingled in Katsuki's chest, it wasn't directed specifically at Izuku, no, the building annoyance in Katsuki's chest was at himself for getting so worked up over something that he deemed insignificant in the long run. What did it matter that Izuku was focused on his hero work, would Katsuki not do that same thing if he were in Izuku's position. Katsuki thought he was being a hypocrite. 

Izuku yanked Katsuki down beside him, forcing the blond to lay down. Izuku stared deeply into the crimson pools beside him and tried his best for a smile. "It matters to me, Kacchan. I know I'd feel the same way if I was in your position." Izuku hummed, "Can I kiss you, Kacchan?"

The question came out of nowhere for Katsuki. Sure, their faces were incredibly close together, and it had been over a month since they'd started dating, but the question still sent a shock through Katsuki's system. Thankfully, Izuku waited patiently for his boyfriend to reply, he didn't rush him, he knew how much Katsuk valued his privacy and how he wasn't always up for physical contact. 

After a few seconds of anticipatory silence, Katsuki finally nodded his head and muttered an almost silent, "Yes". That was all the permission Izuku needed to swoop in and press a chaste kiss to Katsuki's lips. Neither one of them would have imagined in their early childhood that Izuku would be the one with more experience when it came to matters of romance and the heart, but that was the case. 

The kiss was short and sweet. It was only supposed to be a reminder of how much Izuku adored and cherished Katsuki, and yet it still left both boys breathless with the exhilaration of the moment. A type of tension and been mounting between the two of them since they had started dating, it was by no means gone after a short kiss, but it had abated ever so slightly.

Izuku took Katsuki's face into his hand and squished his cheeks in a way that he knew would aggravate Katsuki, "Please talk to me about this kind of stuff, ok, Kacchan? I love you." Izuku whispered into the scarce space between them. The moment was charged with intimacy and an all-consuming romance that neither one of them could rid themselves of, not that they wanted to. 

"I love you too, Nerd," Katsuki grumbled bashfully. The look of sheer joy and delight on Izuku's face upon hearing those magical words was enough to shatter all of Katsuki's doubts. The progression of their romance was anything but conventional, typically couples didn't bust out the L-word for a few months at the very least, and they kissed within the first weeks of their relationship, but Katsuki wouldn't have it any other way. After all, when had they ever been the conventional kind?

After their heart to heart, Katsuki and Izuku descended the stairs and walked into the common room. They didn't hold hands, they didn't touch in any way, but there was a palpable air that lingered between the two of them. One that Katsuki might call 'sickening' had it been anyone aside from him and Izuku. 

"Deku!" Uraraka gasped as soon as Izuku entered her line of vision. She didn't waste any time in vaulting over the back of the sofa and crashing into Izuku with all of her strength, this, of course, sent the two of them tumbling to the ground; neither one of them seemed to care, though, they simply laughed. 

Soon enough, the rest of the class piled into a colossal group hug, all welcoming Izuku back after his brief disappearance and chastising him for causing them so much worry. As Izuku was squeezed on all sides, he knew that he was where he was supposed to be. Sure, he wasn't technically in the hero course at that point in time, and there was so much going wrong for him in life, but at least he had a safety net to fall back upon. A safety net of friends who loved him more than words could describe. Izuku was going to be ok. He was sure of it. 

Sorry if this isn't the best. I'm not really feeling this story at the moment. Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.