So I wrote this for Bakugo's birthday, if there are any mistakes, please let me know. 

Bakugo Katsuki had been roaming the earth for centuries now. Centuries spent wandering from one country to the next. Centuries alone. Katsuki was fine with that fact, that truth. He relished in his solitude, it merely saved him from the inevitable pain which would attack his heart otherwise. He had already lost one person when he was turned into a vampiric beast, he didn't want to repeat that mistake, and yet... And yet one bastard managed to make him change his principle. One bastard wormed his way past Katsuki's impenetrable barriers and took root in his heart. He burrowed himself there, and now he would never leave. Katsuki had known the risks of allowing someone into his heart again, but he had let it happen, and now he would pay the price.

***

He had first met Kirishima Eijiro in an unnamed forest in Japan. Seeing as it was his country of origin, Katsuki frequently returned to Japan and its beautiful nature every few decades, the duration of his stay shifting each time. It really depended on how much pain he wanted to put himself through, after all, this was where his previous lover had died.

Katsuki, as was usual for him, had been strolling through the forest at a leisurely pace. He allowed the soothing scent of the flora and fauna to wash over him, overpowering the foul scent of blood which always clung to him. No matter how many times Katsuki scrubbed at his clothes and swilled out his moth, the scent was still present. Maybe it was a warning to the mortals. 'Stay away from this man, he's capable of ripping your spine out through your mouth'. He'd done it before when he was freshly turned and he'd let his anger consume him.

Dry leaves crunched underfoot and branches cracked ever so slightly as they swayed in the wind. It was perfect. Or, at least, it was perfect until birds took flight into the sky with startled chirps and the heavy sound of footsteps thundered in Katsuki's ears. The ever-present scowl on Katsuki's face deepened at the intrusion to his tranquillity. Humans had no subtlety when it came to their movements.

To the right of Katsuki, a hulking man seemingly comprised solely of muscle burst from the forest, breath coming in uneven gasps. His hair was an obnoxious shade of red which was very obviously dyed, his roots were in need of a touch-up. He must have been around 6ft3, practically towering over Katsuki's height of 5ft10. He looked like he would be pleasant to hug, and yet too hard to do so at the same time. Overall, his face was open and friendly despite his lack of breath, but his body was that of a man who could murder you if he made one wrong move.

The man seemed surprised to see Katsuki openly staring at him. Blond eyebrows were drawn low over his blood-red eyes, and his mouth was set into a firm scowl that discouraged people from approaching him. The man, however, didn't seem like the type to be discouraged by a measly scowl.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, man. Sorry if I scared you at all, I'm just doing some endurance training." The man chuckled. Katsuki wanted to scoff at the very notion that the mortal before him could scare anyone. What with the way he thumped through the forest like an unaware giant.

"I'm Kirishima Eijiro, by the way, what's your name?" the newly named Kirishima asked amicably. It didn't matter how nice he acted, Katsuki had no plan of entertaining the man. It would only lead to heartbreak and hatred.

"None of your business," Katsuki grunted roughly as he spun around on his heel and swaggered into the forest, allowing the dense foliage to swallow him up, leaving Kirishima with nothing but the image of an ethereal man and the scent of late summer blossoms. 

***

The next time they stumbled across each other was a year after their first meeting. Katsuki had returned back to Japan from Panama, he had only planned to stay for a month or two, but something about July made him nostalgic. He was well aware of why July, in particular, was a month that reminded him of the time before he was a gross caricature of a human, but he never wanted to admit what made the month so special to himself. He meandered around where his childhood town had once been. It was no longer there, of course, having been destroyed countless times and rebuilt over the centuries he had been alive. Fate must have been playing a cruel trick on him, what were the chances that he would stumble upon the same heavy-footed man as before? The chances were practically non-existent, especially seeing as Katsuki was on the opposite side of the county from where he first met the man, and yet there he was, standing at the till in a coffee shop with a beaming smile on his face.

"Hello, welcome to Sunshine Coffee, how may I help you?" Kirishima greeted jovially. It took less than a second for recognition to flicker through his features and his smile to somehow widen further.

"I recognise you! You're that guy I met in the forest last August. Wow, this is crazy, what are the chances?" Kirishima chuckled merrily. Katsuki didn't feel particularly inclined to respond to the incarnation of the sun in front of him. Yet his body betrayed him when his stomach fluttered at the sight of the man's winning smile. He suppressed the feeling as soon as it rose, he wouldn't let anyone get close.

"Impossible. Or so I thought." Katsuki grumbled. Where any other person would have turned away in discomfort or simply hurried through Katsuki's order, Kirishima started up a conversation, seemingly oblivious to the other patrons who were waiting all too patiently for their turn to order.

"This is crazy. Damn. Do you live around here then? We met on the other side of the country! I was over there because I was visiting one of my friends who had moved over there not long before. I was on a jog when we met. The forests and mountains on that side of the country are beautiful, aren't they? I was considering moving over there soon, I'm in my last year of university, you see, though I'm not sure if it'll be worth moving over there because the job prospects for my chosen career are better over here. Anyway, enough about me, how about you?" Katsuki let Kirishima ramble purely because he hadn't decided what he wanted yet. His voice was mere background noise to Katsuki, and yet he still subconsciously absorbed each word as if he would actually do something with the information later.

"You don't need to know anything about me, this isn't a date," Katsuki grumbled, "I'll have an apple pastry and fruit tea."

"Oh. That's completely fine, dude! I get it!" Kirishima enthused, though Katsuki could smell the slight tinge of disappointment in his masculine scent.

"I need your name so that we can call it out." Kirishima smiled holding a cup at the ready.

"Bakugo," Katsuki grumbled. He found that when people knew his name, they tended to remember him for longer, which he didn't want. But that plan didn't always work out the best.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima's voice pierced through the low hum of the cafe. Katsuki looked up from the book he was ready to see Kirishima holding out his purchases with a wide smile on his face.

"Thanks," Katsuki was a rude person, but he knew first hand how horrible it could be to work in customer service.

"No problem, dude!" Kirishima enthused. Katsuki was suspicious of his over-enthusiastic temperament, especially because his blood no longer smelled of rejection but anticipation and nervousness. Katsuki didn't want to linger upon this face for too long for a variety of reasons. Whenever he mulled over the emotions which made people's blood fragrant, he tended to delve down a rabbit hole that he didn't want to linger in.

Katsuki didn't say anything more to the jovial giant, he simply nodded his head and strolled from the cafe, ready to retreat to the top of the hill in the forest, the place where his sole house in Japan was.

It was an adequately large house, much too large for Katsuki to live in all by himself, but he liked being alone. He liked the space, he could do whatever he wanted with it. Katsuki's revenue of money was steady and came from various investments and projects he had worked on. Whether that be the book he had written 80 years ago which he still earned money from and was now part of the reading curriculum for Japan or the company he had set up in several European countries which dealt with several areas such as entertainment and tackling social issues. He was rich, to put it lightly, but he didn't do anything with the money. He had discovered long ago that materialism only got you so far.

When Katsuki returned to his forest home, he placed his purchases on the white granite of his kitchen counter. He was about to turn away to get a book from the bookcase, but something out of the ordinary stopped him. Scrawled in chicken scratch on the cup of his tea was a note.

'Bakugo. Call me <3 xxxxx-xxx-xxxx Kirishima Eijiro'

Katsuki wasn't sure whether he should have been furious or amused. Ordinarily (because it wasn't the first time that this had happened to him), Katsuki would scrunch up the cup and throw it where the sun doesn't shine, but it was different that time. Somehow, it was different. So Katsuki didn't scrunch up the cup and throw it in the bin, instead, he transferred the number to a piece of paper and stuck it to his fridge. Curse his traitorous heart.

*** 

The third time they meet is no accident. It's no accident because Katsuki went against every single one of his instincts and called the red-haired fucker. Maybe it was out of pure curiosity that he entertained the man, or maybe he just wanted to torture himself, regardless, he found his way down through the forest and to the cafe where the two men had agreed to meet.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima yelled happily, "I'm glad you came, man! This doesn't have to be a date, of course. I'm just glad you called me."

"It's not a date, Shitty Hair. You'd probably just keep bugging me otherwise," Katsuki grumbled.

"Our hair isn't that different, man. But anyway, why don't we just get to know each other?" Kirishima's smile never left his face, his dimples seemed just as permanent as his warm smile.

"I'll go first!" Kirishima enthused. " I was born in the Chiba prefecture, I'm 22 years old. I like weight lifting, boxing, geology, and manly men! Hmm, what else is there? Oh! I'm a three-time national boxing champion, but I've never managed to get outside of Japan when it comes to competing. I know quite a bit of English and I'm hoping to be a geologist when I graduate. Now it's your turn!"

Katsuki was, honestly, quite impressed. Kirishima was anything but mundane, Katsuki had never thought he was, but the fact had been cemented in his mind now. Katsuki didn't want to share much about himself, it just meant that he would be subjecting Kirishima to more pain when he eventually had to leave. But... Something about this man was just too alluring to Katsuki. He reminded Katsuki of the man who he'd watched die whilst he couldn't follow him to the afterworld. Although they shared the same sunny disposition, they were vastly different. Katsuki liked that as well, though he didn't want to admit it to himself.

"Bakugo Katsuki. 23, technically. I was born near where the Shizouka prefecture now is. I know English, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian. I've written and sold 135 books under different names. I like spicy food, true crime, cross country and nature." Katsuki muttered. When he glanced over to look at Kirishima, his stomach swooped at the look of utter adoration on his face.

"That's amazing dude!" Kirishima enthused, " That sounds like it would take lifetimes to do!"

"It did," Katsuki said in an off-hand matter. He didn't hide the fact that he was a vampire. Why should he? He wasn't exactly proud of what he was, and he wished he wasn't, but there was no point in concealing a vital part of himself. Plus, when people found out, they tended to run for the hills

"Huh? What does that mean?" Kirishima chuckled, curiosity tickled Katsuki's nose.

"I'm a vampire. That's what it means." Katsuki's voice wasn't harsh when he spoke. It was more of a resigned sigh, just a matter of life.

"Dude really?" Kirishima asked. Where Katsuki had expected fear, he was instead slapped in the face with amazement and curiosity. Where he had expected fierce rejection, he was confronted with a man who followed him like a puppy. Instead of everything Katsuki had expected, he was faced with the complete opposite. Katsuki thinks that was the moment he was doomed to have his heartbroken yet again. He knew he couldn't leave the man now. No. He was doomed. It was all Kirishima Eijiro's fault. 

***

Katsuki soon stops keeping count of how many times they meet. There's no point. He's stuck with the man now. It seemed that they met each other every day, and if not, they were certain to encounter each other at least five times a week. Katsuki would like to say it was infuriating and that he despised Kirishima with every atom of his being, after all, having someone close to him only ever led to pain and heartbreak on his part. But, to Katsuki's great despair and jubilation, he simply couldn't find it within himself to hate Kirishima. His sunny disposition and overall attitude made Katsuki happier. Katsuki hadn't felt so alive, so carefree, in decades, possibly even centuries.

Kirishima was understanding where other people were dismissive. He didn't care that Katsuki had to drain animals of their blood every month to live a painless life. He didn't care that Katsuki was immortal, unable to be killed by anything but a mysterious flower which Katsuki had searched for labourously but never found. He didn't care that Katsuki was different, he embraced their bizarre circumstances with open arms, maybe a bit too enthusiastic about having a vampiric friend. Katsuki, as much as he loathed to admit it, relied on Kirishima, in a roundabout way, and he didn't ever want to see him depart from his life. It was a shame that neither one of them could challenge fate and win.

"So, dude, if you're like a vampire, do you live in a cave or a castle? Oh, also, how old are you?" Kirishima liked to do this, ask Katsuki random questions about his being a vampire, that is. Some of them are valid questions, spurred by curiosity, other questions, on the other hand, were simply imbecilic. Like the questions, Katsuki was being posed at that moment.

"What the fuck, Shitty Hair, do I look like I live in a fucking cave!" Katsuki snarled. The two men were sprawled in a meadow in the centre of the forest, their heads beside each other in a way that could have been described as intimate.

"Well... No," Kirishima chuckled, "But... I'm still curious where you live. You must live somewhere in this forest because you always head in this direction when we leave each other. Anyway, you didn't answer how old you are."

"23, I told you," Katsuki huffed angrily.

"No, no. I mean how many years have you been alive. Technically you're 23 because literally, everything about you paused, but how many years have you been alive?" Kirishima rolled his eyes in exasperation. Katsuki would have admonished him for his attitude had his heart not done a weird fluttery thing.

"Shit. I don't know, I stopped counting after a while. Uh... 367, maybe. Possibly 400. I'm not sure, somewhere in that age range." Katsuki muttered. He didn't see the point in counting the years; he had tried at first, but that had just driven him into a deep melancholy which took longer than he liked to admit to pull himself out of.

"Weird. How did you become a vampire?" Kirishima asked. Katsuki thought he would have asked that question sooner, in all honesty. They'd been meeting for around two months at this point, and yet Kirishima had kept a leash on his curiosity, it seems that the leash had snapped.

"Bit insensitive to ask, don't you think," Katsuki muttered.

"Oh my gosh, dude! I didn't even think! I'm sorry!" Kirishima rapidly apologised, he stuttered over his words and his eyes filled with grief and regret. Katsuki almost wanted to laugh uproariously at the poor man, he found amusement in other people's confusion and minor pain. Call him sadistic if you want, it was just a fact.

"Chill, Shitty Hair, I was joking," Katsuki snickered lightly, he ignored the faux affronted look Kirishima sent his way. "I... I'm not 100% sure how I was turned. All I know is that it wasn't any of that cliche shit. I wasn't bitten or anything. I just woke up one day with no heartbeat and a desperate craving for blood. Maybe it was in my genes, I don't fucking know. I think my old hag was at least half-vampire, she didn't kick the bucket until at least 200 years after the regular lifespan of a regular human."

"Really? That's so strange. So you can't turn people into vampires?" Kirishima, Katsuki noticed, had the tendency of asking questions with wide eyes full of a thirst to know the secrets of the universe, but not in the same sense as an extremely academic person. No... more out of human empathy. Less the scientific answers of the universe, he desired to know what made up human behaviour.

"No. I've tried, but if I can, I don't know how to. Plus, the longer I live, the less I want to subject somebody else to the shit I'm being put through. I must have done something really fucked up to end up like this." Katsuki grumbled. He hadn't meant to dump the issues he harboured deep in his soul onto Kirishima, but it had just come out. It seemed that he was getting too comfortable around the red-haired man. Not that Katsuki could find it within himself to care.

It was awkward for less than a second before Kirishima, in all his sunshine like glory, jumped up from where he was laid and offered a hand out to Katsuki. "Let's not stay here moping, how about you prove that you don't live in a cave, hmm?" Kirishima beamed at the other man. It was then, with the sun shining behind Kirishima, creating a golden halo behind him, that Katsuki recognised what the fluttering in his stomach meant. Why the fuck did he have to fall again, especially when last time turned out so bad?

***

Katsuki would like to say that he packed up and left the country as soon as he realised what his emotions were doing. Of course, had he left, he wouldn't have called it 'running away', no, it was... a tactical retreat. He was simply eliminating a variable in his life that would no doubt lead to unbearable pain, on his part and Kirishima's. But he didn't retreat. He stayed. Like an idiot. He stayed and let Kirishima get closer and closer to him. He let Kirishima introduce him to his friends. He let Kirishima pull him around to all of his favourite places. He let Kirishima spend nights on end at his house. He attended Kirishima's graduation, only clapping and not screaming about his pride like the parents around him. He let Kirishima get all too close to him. He wanted to hate the red-headed asshole for pushing past his walls and setting up camp in his heart, but he just couldn't find it within himself to muster up the emotions.

After a year of knowing Kirishima, he had given up when it came to matters of his own heart. He had accepted that he was in for a shattering heartbreak. He was preparing himself for it. Kirishima's actions only made it harder.

***

"Hey, Katsuki!" Kirishima shouted enthusiastically. Katsuki hadn't expected Kirishima to show up to his secluded house in the mountain forests with ruddy cheeks, panting for breath. He couldn't say the surprise was an unwelcome one, but it did little to aid his poor heart which fell deeper and deeper for Kirishima every time he saw him. 

"What are you doing here, Shitty Hair?" Katsuki grumbled, he tried his hardest to maintain the hard edge in his voice, but he failed miserably. He could hear the softness creeping into his tone. It was pathetic, in Katsuki's mind. 

"I thought that I'd just pay you a visit, I've got something I want to tell you about anyway. Were you going somewhere?" Kirishima asked with a tilted head. Katsuki was on his way to go and hunt some animals since his blood supply had been running low recently. He told Kirishima as much, there was no need to hide it, after all. 

"You were going to go hunting? Sorry, dude, I can come back later, if you want." Kirishima said.

"Nah, it's fine. You might as well come in since you ran all the way here." Katsuki sighed, concealing his jubilation at having Kirishima in his home once again.   

"Ok, dude!" Kirishima cheered, bounding up to Katsuki and taking his arm. The two men walked into the house, both of them desperately trying to conceal their true emotions, at least, for the time being. 

Katsuki walked into his living room from the kitchen, having prepared some snacks and drinks for the two of them, and saw Kirishima sprawled out on his sofa, staring off into space. Katsuki was well aware that Kirishima lacked most (if not all) social decorum. Despite it pissing him off when other people lounged around or did something unsightly in public, Katsuki couldn't find it within himself to care when it was Kirishima. His emotions for the human were growing day by day, and that was dangerous in every conceivable way. So many things could go wrong if Katski allowed himself to indulge in the fluffy feeling of love that had taken root in his heart and was slowly infecting every other part of Katski's body. Soon enough, it would infect his brain, covering the world in a pink haze of love which would lead to foolish mistakes and heartbreak. Was Katsuki willing to risk it? 

"Here you go, Shitty Hair, I don't know why you like this shit so much?" Katsuki grunted as he flopped onto the sofa next to Kirishima, offering him what could only be described as cancer on a stick. 

"Because it's delicious, Bro. You should really try one, it's not going to kill you," Kirishima chuckled. 

"That thing looks like it might be the thing to strip me of my immortality. Maybe I should give it a taste to try and get out of this eternal suffering." Katsuki mused.  

Katsuki wanted to kick himself for letting such words fall from his lips without thought. He was well aware that Kirishima got uncomfortable when he expressed his desire to escape immortality and simply die. As Katsuki had predicted, there was a brief flicker of sadness and discomfort in Kirishima's eyes before he seemingly dismissed the negative emotions and beamed at Katsuki with unrestrained happiness again, though Katsuki could have sworn he saw something akin to nervousness in his best friends features. 

"Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about, Shitty Hair?" Katsuki asked. 

"Oh, right!" Kirishima perked up slightly (how that was even possible when he was already as happy as could be was beyond Katsuki) and took Katsuki's hands into his own, much to the vampire's surprise. 

"What are you doing?" Katsuki, try as he might, couldn't muster up the emotion to sound angry, nor could he stop the pink tinge which grew across his cheeks. 

"I need you to listen to me carefully and not interrupt me, ok? I... Saying this... I know that you're probably not going to be a fan of what I say, but I'm willing to risk it. Just promise that you'll let me speak, yeah?" how could Katsuki deny Kirishima when he looked exactly like a pouting puppy. He silently nodded in confirmation, promising that he wouldn't interrupt him.

"OK. Good," Kirishima sighed, " I'll get straight to the point. I like you, Katsuki. I mean, romantically. I have for a long time now, well, relatively speaking. Anyway! Umm... I knew that this is probably really selfish of me. You've told me that you don't want to fall in love again because everyone is mortal and you're not. But... I just had to tell you, even if it means that you'll leave me. As painful as that would be, it couldn't compare to the pain of having you right there and saying nothing. You... You're amazing Katsuki and I want to say that you're mine, but I knew that can't happen. I like you so much, even if it's dangerous and selfish."

Kirishima's words were infused with such pain, such longing, that rare tears began to spring in Katsuki's eyes. He knew exactly what Kirishima meant. Of course, he did. Did he not feel the exact same way. Loving him was dangerous. It was selfish to the highest degree. It was ludicrous. And yet... Yet Katsuki wanted nothing more than to indulge in the feeling of love which he hadn't allowed himself to experience in so many years. He wanted to lose himself in the throes of passion and emotion. He wanted to experience what most humans did in their life. He wanted to grasp what he had once lost, an emotion with which he had fallen out of touch with. Katsuki knew that loving Kirishima would no doubt be different from the emotions he held for that green-haired beauty he had known centuries before. Despite only being in love twice in his life (including the deep feelings he held for Kirishima) he knew that love came in many forms and felt different, his emotions for Kirishima weren't comparable to his first love, but that didn't make them any less real, any less heartbreakingly hard to avoid. 

Silence settled between the two men. Kirishima fidgeted ever so slightly in place, clearly worried he had messed up, yet he didn't relinquish his hold on Katsuki. Katsuki's mind was abuzz with what seemed to be a hurricane of thoughts and emotions. He was conflicted. He didn't know if he should give in to the storm of emotions that rattled his entire body. Was it worth the pain? Was Katsuki willing to experience a brief relationship full of raw emotion and security only to lose it all one way or another? Whether he loses it due to them breaking up or a repeat of history happen. He knew the answer deep within his guts, he'd known it all along, it was just a matter of whether he would accept the possibility of having his heart torn into minuscule pieces. 

"Kirishima," Katsuki started in a voice much too quiet for the usually confident and boisterous vampire. Kirishima's head whipped up to look at Katsuki with adoration in his eyes. "If I let this happen... Do you know how much pain I will be in when it ends?"

Kirishima opened his mouth to respond, tears glistening in his eyes, but Katsuki didn't give him the chance to voice whatever was on his mind. 

"I really like you, Kirishima. Fuck! This is so fucking shitty! I like you, and I want to be in a relationship with you, but it hurts so damn much knowing that I'm going to outlive you, no matter what." Katsuki didn't attempt to shield Kirishima from the tears which flowed freely from his eyes. "But... Fuck it. I'll date you. I'll stay with you for as long as you can put up with me, but please... please understand that... that if I run, if I'm a coward, it's not your fault. It's mine. I'm willing to be in a relationship with you, but..." Katsuki didn't know how to phrase the fact that he was scared. He was scared of losing someone again.

Thankfully, Kirishima seemed to understand what Katsuki's desperate gaze meant. Kirishima squeezed Katsuki's hand a bit tighter, conveying his understanding and reassuring Katsuki wordlessly that he would be there for him. 

"I understand, Bakugo. I'm here for as long as you want me. If it gets too much, you simply have to tell me and I'll back off. I'll leave you for as long as you want me to, even if that means forever." Kirishima's words and manner of speaking were so gentle that it only caused Katsuki deeper pain. 

No more words were exchanged that evening. The two men, vulnerable after having bared their emotions to the other, sat together on the sofa, wrapped around each other in a comforting hug. They weren't ready to say anything to each other just yet, but that wasn't required. They only needed the presence of each other.

***

It was hard, for Katsuki. Settling into a relationship. It had been so long since he'd had a meaningful friendship with someone, let alone nurtured a romantic relationship whose sparks still needed tending to. Despite the year of friendship that preluded their relationship, Katsuki still struggled to open up fully to his newly dubbed boyfriend. Kirishima, like the marvellous man he was, didn't push Katsuki farther than he was comfortable with. He respected that Katsuki was having trouble adjusting to the relationship and offered him a guiding hand through the experience. He backed off when necessary, and remained by Katsuki's side when he needed him. It was the selfless actions of Kirishima that only worked to make Katsuki feel more guilty when he was still struggling to adjust to the relationship after a month.

Katsuki's struggle was more internal than anything. He didn't flinch away from casual touches, used to them due to the fact that Kirishima had expressed his friendship through hugs during the year before they started dating. Katsuki could handle the hugs, the kissing, the hand-holding and the feeling of Kirishima's hands on his shoulders or combing through his hair. What Katsuki was finding it hard to adjust to was just how much he cared for the redhead. Katsuki hated (and loved) the way his heart would thunder in his ears when Kirishima was framed by the light just right. He hated how much he loved the poor mortal man and what loving him would mean in the future. He wanted to denounce love and leave Kirishima before everything boiled over and he was left grieving at his graveside, but he couldn't do it. He could never leave Kirishima, not when his heart yearned to stay at his side. 

"Katsuki," Eijiro's voice echoed through the house. Despite himself, Katsuki perked up at his boyfriend's voice. Even after two months of dating, hearing Eijiro call out his given name was equivalent to a dagger of pure love and adoration being speared through his heart.

"What?" Katsuki called back, trying to disguise the softness in his voice that Eijiro summoned. 

Eijiro came bounding into the living room with a smile on his face, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. This caught Katsuki's attention. 

"I just wanted to talk to you about something. I just think we should talk this out, otherwise, there's going to be problems for us later on."  Eijiro reasoned gently. As with every time the couple had a somewhat serious discussion, Eijiro took Katski's hands into his own and rubbed his thumb against his silky skin.

Katsuki, as much as he may have wanted to avoid the conversation and his own emotions, nodded readily. There was nothing but the truth in his boyfriend's words. If he wanted to pursue a long-term meaningful relationship with Eijiro, he needed to talk about what had been playing on his mind for the past two months.

"Ok," Katsuki started, "I really do care for you. Love you, maybe. But... I'm scared of letting myself become vulnerable around you. I'm scared of putting my all into this relationship because I know that even if I'm with you for the rest of your life, I'm going to be left alone at the end of it. I'm going to end up crying at your graveside and it'll just be a repeat of what happened before."

Eijiro listened intently to Katsuki as he spoke. He was a gentle and attentive soul, and he would never wish pain onto the man he loved. He was well aware that being in a relationship would be hard for Katsuki, it had been so long for him and his last one hadn't ended favourably. He wanted to help Katsuki as best as he could, but it was hard figuring out what to do.

"I can't say that I understand your pain, fully, it's never happened to me, after all. But... I'm here now, Katsuki. I'm here for you now. And even if in the future we may have to part ways, one way or another, I'll always be right here," Eijiro gently nudged Katsuki's chest, right above his heart, "As cliche as that might sound. Right now, at this moment, I'm here. Why not live life in the moment, don't think too much about the future, just focus on what's happening now." 

As lovely as the sentiment was, Katsuki wasn't one to outwardly express the mushy feelings which Eijiro stirred in his heart. So, instead of saying something just as cliche and heartwarming in return, instead, Katsuki elected to say "Tch, you sound like a hippy." Eijiro laughed uproariously at Katsuki's words. 

The sombre mood which had overcome the two men was dispelled. They were wrapped in each other and exchanging gentle kisses a few minutes later. Neither one of them was willing to forget the conversation so soon. Eijiro was right, there was no point in Katsuki fretting over the future, he simply had to live in the moment. And that was what he intended to do.

Of course, Katsuki's fears did not disappear overnight. Despite not technically being a human, he still had very human emotions which were unfortunately hard to deal with. Some days it was easier to simply be with Eijiro. It was easier to spend time with him and love him unconditionally. But, on other days, Katsuki's fears consumed him whole and drove him away from Eijiro. Katsuki would eternally be thankful for how understanding and patient his boyfriend was. How could he ever repay Eijiro for the numerous times that he had sat there with Katsuki and held him lovingly in his arms, rocking them backwards and forwards, whilst Katsuki's torturous thoughts ate away at his rationality? 

Despite the vampire's fears still remaining firmly rooted in his mind, their relationship still continued to progress, getting better and better with every passing day. It seemed as though Eijiro spent more time in Katsuki's mountain home than he did in his own flat. Katsuki wasn't going to pretend that he didn't relish every second he spent in Eijiro's company. Sharing a bed with him simply meant that he could spend more time with him before inevitability kicked in. Whenever thoughts of the future, fears for Eijiro's well-being kicked in, Katsuki pushed them to the side and tried his hardest to focus on what was happening at the moment. Just as Eijiro had suggested. 

***

It was only a year into their relationship when Katsuki's bouts of worrying grew far and in between. It was rare for him to lapse into silence and contemplate what would happen to him after Eijiro's death, he had fully embraced the mentality of living for the moment. With his fears discarded, he threw himself head-first into loving Eijiro unconditionally. Katsuki wasn't one to voice his love openly, it simply made him uncomfortable, so he expressed his adoration through actions such as cooking or buying Eijiro gifts that he knew he would adore. It was only when the stars' light shone on the two men in the depths of the night, when they were holding each other lovingly and ready to fall into a slumber, that he would whisper the sacred words of 'I love you, Eijiro' into his boyfriend's hair, receiving nothing but a sleepy smile and hum in response. Eijiro knew his partner well enough to know that hearing those words in return, right after he had said them himself, would only make Katsuki pull away slightly and curl in on himself in embarrassment. So Eijiro stuck to humming the three words to him when they woke up. 

***

Two years into dating, the two men were as content as could be with their life. Katsuki didn't want to say that this chapter of his unending life was perfect. That would be a crude butchering of the truth that would not do justice to how much he adored his time with Eijiro. The two men still had their arguments, Katsuki still fell into periods of time where he completely retracted from the world and therefore Eijiro. They still had their misunderstandings. But ultimately, that was just part of being in a relationship. Katsuki loved Eijiro with all of his heart, and Eijiro returned those emotions readily. 

"Katsuki, you remember my friend from university?" Eijiro hummed. The two men were in the kitchen talking casually whilst Katsuki prepared dinner. 

"You're going to have to be more specific, Shitty Hair, you're the epitome of a social butterfly. You had so many friends in university." Katsuki grumbled. His voice held no ill will for his partner, he just perpetually sounded as though he was a second away from snapping. 

"Kaminari Denki. Him. Well, we met up the other day and he was telling me about what's been going on in his life recently. I try to keep up with all of my friends, but I hadn't seen Denki in a while. Anyway, we get to talking and, this is so crazy, but he already has a kid. She's only a few months old, but isn't that crazy!" Eijiro gushed. 

"Well, you are 24, nearly 25, I don't think it's that strange for your friends to be having kids. Back when I was actually 25, people already had three or four kids. They started having 'em when they were around 16. Fucked up times." Katsuki muttered. 

"16? That's really young. But, then again, I guess life expectancy was shorter for the general populace back then. Weird." Eijiro mused. The conversation lulled for a minute or two, neither one of the men was desperate to fill the silence, more than content to simply sit there in each other's company. 

"Katsuki, I love you," Eijiro whispered out of nowhere. Katsuki's heart (as it did every time Eijiro said those words) stuttered in his chest. He ran his tongue over his fangs, a nervous gesture he commonly did, and turned away from his boyfriend, not wanting him to see his glowing cheeks.

"Tch. Don't say stuff like that randomly, dickhead," Katsuki chastised weakly, "I love you too, idiot."

The smile that lit up Eijiro's face could have provided light to the world for decades. Katsuki often found himself wondering how he had managed to find such an amazing human. How he, a nihilistic asshole, had such an optimistic man in his life. Maybe it was the work of some higher being who was giving Katsuki a brief reprieve from his meaningless life. Whatever or whoever had brought the sunshine boy into his life, he was sincerely thankful to them. 

***

Eight years into their relationship, when Eijiro was 30, Katsuki made a monumental mistake. His eyes were clouded over with love, and no matter how happy it would make him in the short term, the death of Eijiro would only hurt all the more. In a flower-filled meadow, with the sun shining down on them and a cloudless sky stretching in every direction, Katsuki asked:

"Will you marry me?" 

The gasp which left Eijiro's throat and the tears which welled up in his eyes were answer enough for Katsuki, though he wasn't going to celebrate until he heard the response verbally.

"Oh, Katsuki," Eijiro whispered in a hushed voice full of love, "I... Of course, I'll marry you. But... Are you sure? I know you wouldn't do this without thinking about it but..." 

Despite him not saying it, Katsuki could hear what Eijiro was saying loud and clear. Marrying Eijiro would mean that he was committing himself indefinitely, there was no randomly deciding to up and leave one random night. There was no backing out of the relationship out of fear. 

"I know," Katsuki whispered, "I know. But... You said that I should live life in the moment, and that's what I'm going to do. What happens in the future doesn't matter right now. All I know is that I want to spend the rest of your life with you. I want you to be my husband."

The tears which had been brimming in Eijiro's eyes finally spilt over and he collapsed on the floor beside Katsuki, wrapping him in a rib crushing hug. "I'll marry you, I love you so much, Katsuki." Eijiro laughed wetly into the crook of his fiance's neck. Katsuki returned the hug just as fiercely. 

Katsuki had made a mistake of gargantuan proportions, but he didn't care. He didn't care that he was only making the inevitable pain in the future all the worse, because he was in love; love made you do stupid things, and Katsuki was no exception to that rule. He couldn't bring himself to regret the choice he had made, the only emotion coursing through his veins was stark relief, love and happiness. 

***

Ten years into their relationship, when Eijiro was 32 but Katsuki maintained his outward appearance of a 23-year-old, the two men got married.  It was a quiet affair that only consisted of Eijiro's friends and family, after all, Katsuki had nobody left. They got married under a beautiful arch of varied flowers on the edge of a forest, dense with the wonders of nature. The cheers of Eijiro's family and friends filled the air, music to Katsuki's ears. In his centuries of living, Katsuki had rarely felt as happy as he did when he was looking deep into the crimson eyes of his husband on their wedding day. All thoughts of being left alone after his death were discarded in place of unbridled joy and jubilation. 

"Congrats, man!" Kaminari Denki, one of Eijiro's long-time friends, cheered happily as he and his wife, Jiro Kyoka, bounded up to the newlyweds with their daughter.  

"Thanks, dude!" Eijiro cheered back, pulling his friend into a hug fueled purely on his happiness. "It's great to see the three of you again, it feels like it's been too long. How's that new album going, Jiro?"

The three adults fell into mindless chatter about their lives whilst Kaminari and Jiro's daughter ran off to play with the few other children present at the wedding. Katsuki, unsure of what to do, simply remained at his husband's side, tuning in and out of the conversation.

"Man, you look like you haven't aged a day since I first met you. How do you do it?" Kaminari chuckled as he turned to address Katsuki. Indeed, since meeting him when Kaminari had been 22, Katsuki hadn't aged a single bit, as was the curse of a vampire. Of course, Katsuki wasn't going to spill that little bit of information to just anyone anymore, he no longer had just his well-being to look out for. Who knows what would happen if he shared the secret now? Some creep might use Eijiro to get to him, so he settled on a white lie.

"My family has good genetics, we tend to physically age really slowly. My mum looked only around 40 when she died." Katsuki answered simply. 

"What, really!" Kaminari gaped. Katsuki nodded silently in reply. "That's crazy. You got lucky Kiri. Who would have known my best bro, the man who nearly died after choking on his own vomit, would be married to an eternally young beef-cake!" 

Raucous laughter filled the air. Eijiro blushed. Katsuki smirked. Jiro chortled. Kaminari giggled. Everything was brighter in the world. It seemed as though nothing bad could possibly be occurring whilst Eijiro and Katsuki laughed freely with their friends on their wedding day.

***

When Eijiro was 37, fifteen years since the two men got together, Katsuki and Eijiro had a monumental argument that stirred past fears which had been laid to rest in his heart. The slamming of the front door was what jolted Katsuki out of his rage-fueled haze. The moment he was alone in the house, tears begin to stream down his cheeks and gather on the floor beneath him. He hadn't cried as much as he did that night for a very long time. Not since his first lover died. Katsuki prided himself on being a strong man, completely devoid of all emotion aside from the adoration he held for his husband, but he couldn't boast that after having this monumental argument with Eijiro.

It was stupid, really, Katsuki couldn't even clearly remember what they had been quarrelling about. All he knew was that it had escalated further than either one of them could have predicted, it was much worse than any other argument they'd ever had. Usually, their arguments were brief and ended with the two men cuddled up together on the sofa, whispering sweet nothings and apologies to each other. But it wouldn't be like that this time. No, it couldn't be like that. Eijiro had fled from the house before the tension increased beyond the point where both of the men would do something that they would regret. He had left Katsuki alone in a dark house, a thunderstorm raging on beyond the walls. 

Katsuki didn't blame his husband for leaving him alone for the night (or however long Eijiro saw fit), despite not remembering what the menial cause of their argument had been, he was sure it was most likely his fault. He was the cause of most of the arguments between the couple, a fact he vehemently detested. So, because Katsuki didn't blame Eijiro and he knew that he had to give his husband space no matter how much he wanted to run after him and pull him into his arms, Katsuki remained on the floor of his house for the entire night whilst thunder and lightning created a sorrowful symphony. 

To Katsuki's discomfort and horror, Eijiro didn't return for three days. Three days in which Katsuki was alone. Three days in which Katsuki gorged himself on the blood of the animals who frolicked around his home. Three days in which Katsuki's fears of loneliness and his husband's death coiled around Katsuki's mind and claimed an iron hold in his heart. Three days in which Katsuki broke down due to the absence of his dear love. 

To describe the days as dreadful would be an understatement. Katsuki's entire life for those few days was full of anguish and fear. He feared that Eijiro wouldn't return to him, fed up with his shitty attitude and brash personality. He was worried that something had happened to Eijiro and that, despite the promise he had made to Eijiro on the night of their wedding day, he wouldn't be there to guide him through his final moments. Thoughts like these consumed his entire being. The appearance of Eijiro on a surprisingly sunny evening didn't abate Katsuki's fears. 

"Katsuki! I'm home. I'm sorry for walking out like that, I just got too overwhelmed. We need to talk about this, I understand where you were coming from but-" Eijiro sounded exhausted. His voice was laden with regret, grief and sorrow. His words, however, were cut off when he walked from the entryway and into the living room. 

Despite the sunny weather, the entire room was cloaked in darkness. Despite the pleasantly warm evening, the living room of the house was cold. That wasn't what concerned Eijiro the most though, what concerned him the most was the blood-streaked floor. Logically, Eijiro knew that the blood was most likely from animals and not from his husband, but there was a churning feeling in his gut that told him something was extremely wrong. Katsuki wasn't a messy person, he drank his blood from cups and made sure that it never spilt due to the fact that it stained too easily, so why did the living room look like a murder scene? 

"Katsuki?" Eijiro whispered into the silent room as he took cautious steps. The further into the room that he walked, the louder the gentle sound of sobbing grew. Eijiro's stomach turned at the noise, he so rarely heard his husband cry.

"Katsuki. Please come out. I'm here now and we need to talk, but not before I see that you're ok. I love you, Katsuki, and you know how much I hate seeing you hurt. Come out please." Eijiro was on the verge of begging his husband to emerged from wherever he had hidden. It was hard to pinpoint his exact location when his cries seemed to bounce around the walls and pierce Eijiro's heart. 

A movement out of the corner of Eijiro's eye caught his attention. He whipped around and watched in minor horror as his husband crawled out of his hiding place, the front of his body soaked in blood. Despite the clearly still wet liquid, Eijior rushed to Katsuki and brought him into his arms. Hugging his husband like this was only the start of a lengthy apology process, but it was a start.

"Katsuki, I love you so much. Please don't clock out like this. I love you. Please tell me what's wrong so that I can help you. We'll talk about our argument later, please tell me what's happened." Eijiro's words were whispered frantically, hysteria and fear tinging his voice.

"I'm sorry," Katsuki whispered hoarsely "I'm sorry, Eijiro. This was all my fault. I... I was worried that you weren't going to come back. I thought you had left me or had died. I thought I had broken my promise. I'm sorry." 

It extremely rare that Katsuki was so vulnerable when it came to his emotions, he simply preferred to bottle up his feelings. Eijiro could count the number of times he had seen Katsuki break down in their fifteen-year relationship on one hand. And just like every other time that it had happened, Eijiro held on to his husband a bit tighter and whispered hushed reassurances into his hair. He put his husband's fears to rest, just for the moment, and smothered him in the love which he rightfully deserved. 

***

30 years since the day that Katsuki's life had changed for the better and when Eijiro was 52, the two men were as happy as ever, although they had stumbled upon a problem, and not for the first time. You see, Katsuki had never been one for displays of public affection but he did enjoy holding his husband's hand whilst they walked about the town. Doing that without receiving scathing looks had been getting harder and harder since Eijiro's age had started showing through the light wrinkles at the corner of his eyes and on his forehead. Eijiro certainly didn't look 52, he looked a lot younger, surprisingly, but he still looked quite a bit older than Katsuki. 

The problem of receiving criticising looks from others had never been a problem for Katsuki. After all, his first (and only before Eijiro) lover had died young, his life being cut short by the atrocities of ancient wars. Katsuki didn't care much for the opinions of others, he lived life however he wanted, who gives a fuck about what other people thought? The same couldn't be said about his husband. 

Eijiro was self-conscious when it came to the gaze of others. Of course, he would never even suggest that Katsuki and he should go their separate ways to save himself from the glares, they both knew that Eijiro would physically age and Katsuki wouldn't; they were prepared to receive some odd looks, but that didn't make the reality any easier to deal with. 

"Just ignore them, Eijiro. What does it matter what they think? We both know why I'm with you and when we met, we don't owe them fuck all!" Katsuki snarled venomously whilst he stirred the soup he was preparing.

"I know that Katsuki, but you know how nervous those people make me, it's like everyone is staring into my soul and judging every life choice I've ever made. It's dreadful. I'm sorry, sweetheart." Eijiro sighed with his head on the table. His body language screamed exhaustion. 

"Are you forgetting things in your old age? I thought I told you not to call me that!" Katsuki admonished with faux heat, "And regardless, people should keep their nose out of other people's business. It's not that hard."

Silence fell between the two men. The only sounds were the bubbling of the soup on the stovetop and the chirping of birds as they settled down for the night. Finally, Katsuki broke the silence with a heavy sigh. He turned off the hob and turned around to look his husband directly in the eyes, ruby met crimson. 

"If it bothers you that much, we just won't hold hands in public anymore. If people are going to judge us, then they don't deserve to see our fucking beautiful relationship. We'll still have each other in private anyway, that's all that really matters." Katsuki reasoned. Both men knew that it was a rather depressing alternative to simply expressing their love for each other publicly, but what choice did they have? The older and more weathered Eijiro got, the more they would receive those unwelcome gazes. So they had to settle and welcome the inevitability. It didn't matter, really, because they still had each other. Eijiro wasn't gone from Katsuki's sight yet, but he knew that the day was growing closer. Death was the true inevitability that the couple were yet to face. 

***

When Eijiro was 70, 48 years into their relationship, the two men travelled the world together. They'd done it once before when they were younger, it was their honeymoon. But they wanted to relive the experience at least one more time, so they travelled again for their wedding anniversary.  

Eijiro would describe the experience as magical, and Katsuki wouldn't disagree. Despite having travelled the world numerous times, it always struck Katsuki hard in the heart. With each time he circled the globe, he saw how humans changed, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Sometimes industrial complexes were overtaken by nature, creating a beautiful picturesque scene of the world reclaiming its independence. Sometimes he watched as his favourite forests to walk through in France gave way to a new town full of unnaturally new houses. Either way, Katsuki liked travelling the world to watch it change. It was a reminder that things were never as static as they seemed. 

"Me gustaría dos platos, por favor. No. Solo dos. Sí. Gracías." Katsuki tried his best to be kind to the poor teenager who was asking how many plates he and Eijior wanted for the buffet, but it was hard to keep a top on his anger when the adolescent clearly lacked common sense. 

"Wow, that's so cool. No matter how many times I see you speak a different language, it always amazes me!" Eijiro gushed to his husband.

"Don't get too excited, dimwit, I'm rusty. I doubt I said that correctly." Katsuki grumbled.

"Well, you're doing better than me!" Eijiro enthused, "Come on, the plates are here and I'm very hungry!" 

"Yeah, yeah. You dork." Katsuki smiled fondly at his husband who bounced away with energy that didn't match his age. Katsuki could feel his time with Eijiro drawing to a close, but he pushed the doubts behind him and focused solely on what was happening at the moment. 

***

The 68 years which Katsuki had spent at Eijiro's side seemed to pass in a blink of an eye for the immortal being. His death dawned upon them much too fast for Katsuki's liking. And why did his husband have to leave him, exit his field of sight, on the same date that they had initiated their relationship? In the exact same place that Katsuki had proposed. The only difference to the day that Katsuki had asked for Eijiro's hand for the rest of his life was Eijiro's age. The years had been kind to Eijiro, despite being 90, he was still rather spry for his age, not to mention that he certainly didn't look ten years from 100. So why as it that he left Katsuki that day? Hands clasped together, staring up at the azure sky. 

"You know what Katsuki?" Eijiro wheezed out. Katsuki turned his head to look at the wrinkled face of the man who he loved so dearly, despite his mortality. Wrinkles mapped his face, carving it up into trenches and hills. Smile lines told joyful stories. A sturdy hand came to rest on Katsuki's cheek, the skin impossibly silky given Eijiro's hobby of fiddling with rocks that cut his hands. "You're amazing, and I'm glad that I got to call you mine. I love you."

Those were Eijiro's last words. Katsuki was sure that his husband was still alive when he whispered his reply of "I love you, too, Eijiro. More than you could ever know." but he would never truly know, not really. He simply had to believe that the reassurance of his own love had pierced through the veil of death which was wrapping itself around Eijiro.

Katsuki didn't notice when the tears started streaming down his cheeks, he didn't notice when it became harder to breathe due to his throat closing up, Katsuki was too consumed by grief to notice the signs of his own devastation. He was too afraid to even look at the body beside him. The body of the man he loved. His death had been swift, one moment he was lit by the light of life, and the next his light had been perpetually extinguished.

***

The days after Eijiro's death passed slowly. It was as if Katsuki was swimming through a thick substance called life, a substance that pushed against Katsuki, trying to get him to give up and fall beneath the waves of darkness and depression that constantly battered him. But... he wouldn't let the waves drag him down as they had before. He had made a promise to Eijiro, and he intended to keep it.

"Promise me, Katsuki, that when I die, you'll try your hardest to keep going. I know that you can't die, but I want you to live. Live properly, no hiding."

The sincerity with which Eijiro had said those words, had dealt them upon Katsuki's heart, pushed Katsuki onwards. He kept every 'I love you' that Eijiro said close to his heart. Deep within him, Katsuki knew that he could never fall in love again. His heart had sealed itself off completely now. Before, when he had met Eijiro, there was still a minute crack that he had forced open and occupied wholly, but now that crack was filled with Eijiro. Katsuki's two past loves were the only ones meant for him. He was destined for loneliness now, and he was ok with that.   

He sold the house, it reminded him of Eijiro. He didn't go hiking for a solid 50 years, it reminded him of Eijiro. He refused to go to Japan for 20 years, it reminded him of Eijiro. He cried frequently at the memories he had with Eijiro. His heart ached constantly. Yet he still returned to Eijiro's side every year on their wedding anniversary. It was there, 100 years after Eijiro's death, that Katsuki's turbulent heart finally settled, and he was at peace once more. 

"I'm not over you, Ei, but I think I'm ok now. Taken long enough, right? I hope your ok, wherever you are. I hope you got to reunite with Denki, Kyoka, Mina and the rest. And, hey, if you see Deku, tell him I'm still sorry that it had to end as it did. Geez, maybe I'll actually get to join you someday, but it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon. Sorry." Katsuki coughed and wiped the tears streaming from his eyes. "I think I'll always cry for you. You've eclipsed my heart."

Thank you so much for reading. This is the longest one-shot I've ever written, so sorry if the story/ writing tapers off and becomes boring. I was trying to rush to get it done before Bakugo's birthday. Likewise, there may be quite a few mistakes since I'm editing this myself and it's quite long. If you noticed a mistake, feel free to tell me so that I can correct them.  Also, the Spanish probably isn't perfect since I'm still learning. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.