Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey! Bakubro! You called for us?” Kirishima asked as he and the rest of the ‘BakuSquad’ entered his apartment, conveniently while Deku wasn’t home.

“Hey,” he said sitting on one of the couches, his elbows propped on his knees. “Sit.” The four friends looked at each other with mild concern as they all came in and sat down opposite of him. Once they were all seated, looking at him expectantly, he sighed deeply, reached into his back pocket, and set down a little black box on the coffee table. A pregnant silence settled over the five of them before Mina gasped loudly.

“Oh my god!” she shrieked as she jumped to her feet, her black eyes wide in shock. “Oh my god! Oh my god!? Are you serious!?”

“Keep your voice down, idiot!” Katsuki hissed, his face contouring angrily.

“You’re planning on proposing to your girlfriend and you’re telling me to keep my voice down!?” she half screamed, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Bakugou! I can’t believe you’re getting married! Aaaaahh!” she cried out, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Well, I’m not getting married yet,” he grumbled, looking down contemplatively. “I haven’t asked, and she hasn’t said yes...”

“What!? Oh come on, dude!” Sero said, seemingly breaking from his surprised trance. “She’s head over heels for you! There’s no way she’d say no!”

“But what if she does?” he asked worriedly, lips turned down into a scowl.

“Bro, it’s totally normal to be nervous,” Kirishima began, getting up and plopping down next to the ash blond. “But trust us, she’ll say yes, no way she won’t.”

“Can we see?” Kaminari asked. “The ring?” Katsuki nodded, leaning forward to pick up the small box. The others gathered around to watch as he popped the box open.

“Oooooooo!” they all marveled as they looked down at the ring. It was relatively thick as far as rings went, and was also pretty subtle. It was a thick band of dusty gold with two grooves along the sides. Between the two, there was a dull green diamond set in the band, leaving it flat. It was beautiful.

“Wow, that’s gorgeous,” Kaminari commented, eyes wide. The others nodded enthusiastically.

“You think she’ll like it?” Katsuki asked.

“You could give her the ugliest ring in the world, and she’d still be happy with it,” Mina laughed, to which the others agreed. “Plus, you know how terrible her sense of style is.”

“Hah, yeah,” he huffed, recalling fondly how hopeless she was when it came to fashion. “I just hope she likes it...”

“She’s going to love it,” Kirishima assured him, clapping him on the back.

“So!” Mina laughed, eyes wide with excitement. “When are you gonna ask?”

“That’s, actually why I called you all here,” he said, closing the ring box. “I have no idea what I’m going to do, what I want to do.”

“Better not go too big,” Kaminari pipped up, a teasing edge to his voice. “You know you’ll turn into a stuttering mess and be unable to get the words out.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima agreed, laughing as Katsuki’s face contorted in anger. “You might want to do something low key.”

“Oh! Oh!” Mina said, waving her hands around vigorously. “Where did you take her on your first date!?”

“Huh?” Katsuki asked, looking at her in confusion. “We went to get ice cream in the park close to our neighborhood.”

“Ice cream? Seriously?” Kaminari asked.

“What? We were 14, there’s not much else I could do,” Katsuki snapped, sneering at the blond. “And what’s wrong with just getting some ice cream? It was only our first date, Dunce face.”

“Anyways!” Mina shouted, drawing their attention back. “You should propose to her there! It’ll all be full circle!” she finished, jumping up and down excitedly as she clapped her hands together. “Isn’t that romantic?”

“That actually sounds like a good idea!” Sero agreed, nodding his head along with her. “It would be pretty low key, and it would be super romantic!”

“See?” Mina asked, grabbing Sero’s shoulders and shaking them excitedly. Katsuki just nodded thoughtfully, thinking about the idea.

“Just picture it,” Kirishima said, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. “You and Midoriya, holding hands, eating ice cream, doing cute coupley shit, and she’s in the middle of laughing, and you get down on one knee while she’s distracted. You’ll obviously turn into a stuttering mess, but once you manage to get the words out, she’ll say yes.” As Kirishima went on, Katsuki’s face got redder and redder, until he was hiding his face in his hands.

“Awe! Look!” Kaminari teased, pointing at their flustered friend. They usually only saw him when he was brash and confident, it was still relatively rare for him to get so embarrassed in front of them. It only happened when they got him to think about him and Midoriya doing coupley things. Geez, they’d been dating for over ten years, and he still got flustered just thinking about her? It was honestly adorable. But, if any of them vocalized that, he’d probably kill all of them, or at least try.

“You should definitely go that route, Bakugou,” Mina cheered, smile wide on her face.

“Y-yeah, sounds good,” Katsuki agreed with a nod, his face cooling down. “Now get out.”

“Awe, not even a thank you?” Kirishima pouted as they were shooed out of the apartment.

“Thanks, now beat it before I beat you,” he said, slamming the door behind them. He sank back against the door once they left, hiding his face in his hands again. Just thinking about proposing to Izuku made his heart race and his head swim. A wide smile broke out on his face at the thought. He and Izuku had a day off together soon, he’d propose then. He just hoped he didn’t pass out.

~~~~~

“Oi, Deku?” he asked as they were getting out of bed that morning.

“Hmm?” she asked, looking over at him, her hair still mussed from sleep, looking utterly adorable. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips, causing him to sputter and turn pink.

“Stop that!” he snapped.

“You’re so cute,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into his cheek.

“I-I’m trying to ask you something!” he insisted, although he made no move to push her away.

“Ask me then,” she teased, pecking his cheek.

“S-stop!” he pleaded, face reddening. “I-I want to a-ask you out!”

“I think you just did!” she laughed.

“I-I want to do it properly!” he insisted.

“Go for it then,” she challenged, kissing his nose.

“D-d-do you w-want to g-go out for ice cream?” he managed, unable to look at her as he asked.

“That’s a great idea, babe,” she replied, kissing him soundly on the lips again. “We haven’t gotten ice cream in ages! I’m so excited,” she laughed, tossing the blankets off her legs and heading into the shower. He placed his head in his hands as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart. He turned his head when she opened the door and peaked her head out.

“Sooooo, are you gonna join me, or?”

“D-die! Stupid!”

The two of them showered and got ready, with Izuku doing plenty of things to fluster her longtime boyfriend. It still amused her how easy it was to make him turn pink, despite their years together.

“I don’t know how you can still be so easily embarrassed, Kacchan,” Izuku said as they got breakfast.

“Fuck if I know,” he scoffed, angrily taking a bite of his food. “You piss me off, y’know.”

“You love me,” she beamed, causing him to turn pink again.

“Y-yeah,” he admitted, looking down at his food. “I-I really do.”

“I know, Kacchan,” she said, getting up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I love you too.” She punctuated her statement by a kiss to the lips, which only made him sputter more.

“S-stop doing that!” he roared, his face bright pink.

“Fine, I won’t kiss you anymore,” she said with a pout.

“W-wait, no,” he stammered, reaching out to her when she pulled away. She gave him a knowing look to which he growled in irritation and wrapped his arms around her middle, crushing her to him.

“You’re such a cutie, Kacchan,” she smiled, kissing the top of his head.

“Fuck off!” he shouted into her skin, causing her to laugh. “Let’s, let’s just get going.”

“Sounds good!” she cheered. They left their apartment and Katsuki lead them to the train station.

“Eh?” she spoke, looking around in confusion. “Why are we getting on the train? There’s an ice cream parlor near our apartment.”

“Uh, well,” he began, silently panicking, “it’s b-been so long since we’ve gone on an ice-cream d-date, so, I wanted t-to go where i-it all began, y’know?” he stammered, hoping she didn’t suspect anything.

“Ooh, Kacchan,” she beamed at him, a smile on her face. “That’s so romantic! Thank you,” she smiled and pecked him on the cheek, which made his cheeks flare up red.

“D-don’t mention it, s-stupid,” he scoffed, angrily looking out the window so he wouldn’t have to look at her cute face. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, and he honestly felt a little nauseous, but Bakugou Katsuki wasn’t afraid of anything, so he wasn’t backing down. The train ride back to their home town was a little ways away, so Izuku used his shoulder as a pillow. Pretty soon, her breath evened out and she fell asleep.

“Tch, stupid,” he muttered fondly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He took the time to take in her beauty, without being distracted by her embarrassing comments. She was gorgeous, her short hair curling around her face like a halo of green. Her face never lost its soft roundness, despite being made of 100% muscle, but he liked that about her. Her face was relaxed in her sleep, the signs of stress melting off of her. He worried she was working herself too hard, but he was no better. The way she snuggled into his side, even in her sleep, was ridiculously endearing. Everything about her was endearing, even her flaws, and Katsuki was so lucky to have her.

Hopefully, he’d be lucky and she’d say yes.

Once they were getting close to their stop, Katsuki gently shook Izuku awake.

“Mm, wha?” she mumbled, stretching in her seat and rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She was so cute.

“We’re almost at our stop, time to wake up,” he told her, smiling fondly down at her.

“Oh, okay,” she yawned, sitting up and stretching her arms up past her head. she let her hands fall into her lap and leveled him with a tired stare. A small, sleepy smile appeared on her face and she leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek.

“Eh! Hey! Kn-knock it off!” he chastised, his cheeks darkening.

“Mmm, but Kacchan is so cute,” she whined, leaning into him.

“W-well, fucking, get up. This is our stop,” he told her, standing up and letting her fall over.

“Aaah, Kacchan is so mean,” she whined again, getting up and following him to the train door, grabbing his hand in the process. “But I love you.”

“I-I l-love you t-too, d-damn Deku,” he muttered, ducking his head so other people couldn’t see his face. As they walked, Izuku began babbling about all the things she remembered from their school days. He found himself smiling and nodding along to what she was saying, nostalgia coming down on him in waves. As they got closer and closer to the ice cream parlor, Katsuki felt himself getting anxious. The small black box in his pocket felt like a burning block of lead, and he had to stop himself from nervously fiddling with it.

“Ah, there it is,” she declared as they turned into the park. “Awe, it hasn’t changed, has it Kacchan?”

“Yeah, everything looks pretty much the same,” he agreed, looking around fondly. “I wonder if the menu’s the same?”

“Oh, I hope so! They were the only people who would serve spicy ice cream,” she teased, laughed brightly at the memory.

“Hell yeah, that’s why this place is so great,” he smirked as he pulled them along to the parlor. There was a decent amount of people seated on the outside tables and some people in line at the windows, but it wasn’t too busy. There was still enough empty tables not to far away that he could take her to without it seeming too suspicious.

“Hello there!” the worker behind the counter said once they got to the window.

“Hey. I’ll take a small hot pepper on a cone and one small mint with hot fudge in a cup,” he told the cashier.

“Isn’t... isn’t that what we got on our first date?” she asked, a small, incredulous smile appearing on her face.

“Y-yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck bashfully. “How could I forget? I-it was our first date, after all...” he told her, pink rising to his cheeks.

“Awe! That’s so cute!” the worker said, smiling at them.

“Yeah, yeah,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes in irritation.

“Kacchan, don’t be rude,” Izuku chastised.

“Shut up, stupid Deku,” he retorted.

“Ah!” the worker gasped, her eyes widening in shock. “A-are you the number one pro hero Deku!?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Izuku laughed, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. Tch, cute.

“I am such a huge fan!” the woman rambled, beginning to vibrate with excitement. “A-and you must be Ground Zero! Oh, l-let me pay for your ice creams!”

“Oh, we couldn’t ask you to do that,” Izuku worried, to which he nodded in agreement.

“S’not like we’re short on money or anything,” he shrugged aloofly.

“Y-you do so much for us, please, let me express my gratitude,” the worker begged, eyes big and pleading.

“Well,” Izuku sighed, and he knew she was done for. “I suppose that would be alright. Thank you so much for your generosity!”

“It’s my pleasure ma’am,” the woman bowed, getting their orders ready.

“Ah, I always feel so awkward when people insist on paying for our things,” she sighed, brows pinched. “It feels like we’re taking advantage of them, y’know?”

“C’mon, we talked about this. Don’t stress about it, stupid Deku,” he chastised, petting her head comfortingly. “It’s what some people want to do to give back. It’s sweet, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, that’s true,” she agreed, nodding along with him.

“Here you go!” the worker said, giving them their ice creams. “Thank you two for your service!”

“You’re very welcome!” Izuku bowed to her as Katsuki pulled her away.

“C’mon,” he said, pulling her to a rather isolated table.

“This was a really good idea, Kacchan,” Izuku beamed at him, kissing his cheek after they sat down.

“O-of course, dumbass,” he sputtered, taking a chomp of his ice cream. “My ideas are always good!”

“Mmhm,” she hummed as she took a bite of her ice cream. “Mmm! So yummy! Want some?” she asked, looking over at him with an adorable smile.

“Ah, no thanks,” he waved off, almost too nervous to even eat his own ice cream, which he forced himself to take a chomp of.

“Suit yourself,” she chirped, beginning to munch on her own ice cream. He watched her fondly as she ate her ice cream, seeming as though she didn’t have a care in the world. He admired how, despite the fact that she had so much weight on her shoulders. He was the number two hero, for now, but their responsibilities weren’t all that different. Yet, she could still be as carefree as she was before they became heroes. God, he fucking loved her so much.

“Ah, Deku,” he said, which immediately caught her attention.

“What is it?” she asked, face calm and smile cheerful. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Fuck, he’d never felt so nervous before. No turning back down.

“Th-there’s something I-I wanted t-to tell you,” he stammered, feeling his face heat up.

“Oh, sure Kacchan,” she beamed. “What’s up?” she asked as she took a bite of her ice cream.

“I-I don’t want to be y-your boyfriend anymore,” he started, and, when she dropped her ice cream in shock, immediately regretted it. Talk about word vomit. Izuku’s head snapped back to him, eyes wide and already teary.

“Wh-what!?” she choked out, tears rapidly streaming down her face. “A-are you saying you want to b-break up!? Wh-what did I do!? W-whatever it is, I-I’m sorry!” He mentally kicked himself at his poor word choice, causing her unnecessary worry.

“Th-that’s not what I— fuck, I-I mean— I— Augh! Just marry me, nerd! ” This caused Izuku to freeze as her eyes went impossibly wider, silence washing over them.

“Wh-wha?” she stuttered, confusion evident on her face. Katsuki swallowed his anxieties as he got off the bench and got down to one knee as he fished out the velvet box from his back pocket.

“D- Izuku,” he began, carefully watching her face as he spoke. “I-I’m r-really shitty with words, th-that’s pretty damn o-obvious, b-but, I-I really love you. A-a lot. I-I don’t want to be j-just y-your b-b-boyfriend anymore. I-I want t-to be more, so, please,” he opened the box to her, “w-will y-ou... w-will... will you m-marry me!?”

Izuku didn’t respond for a moment, too overwhelmed and shocked to respond, or move.

“W-well?” he prompted, feeling antsy. “S-say something!” To his surprise, although he really shouldn’t be that surprised, Izuku loudly burst into tears once again. He panicked, because fuck, he had never done anything like this before! “H-hey! D-Deku! Do-don’t cry!”

“I-I-I I’m sorry-y-y!” she cried, wiping at her tears, although she was crying too much for it to help. “I-I c-can’t sto-o-op!”

“W-well!? G-give me a-an answer!” he stammered, placing his hands on her upper arms in an attempt to comfort her.

“O-oh, *hic* y-yes! Oh my go-o-o-od, yes!” she bawled and hiccuped, crying against him as he pulled her into a hug. It took her a while to calm down, which he was fine with, because he needed a bit to calm down too.

“Q-quit crying s-so I c-can put th-the r-r-ring on,” he complained, refusing to look at her while his face was so red.

“Mmm, r-right,” she laughed through a sob, holding out her hand for him to slip the ring on. With shaky hands, he slid the ring on her scarred finger, the band fitting perfectly on her. He paused for a moment as he admired the ring on her, entire body still shaking.

“Congratulations!” someone shouted from somewhere nearby, followed by applause. Katsuki hid his face in her hair in embarrassment as Deku laughed brightly. Fuck, he was so in love with her.

.

.

.

“What the fuck!?” Katsuki shouted, face red from anger. His friends were all around him, laughing themselves silly as Ashido replayed the video. Someone had taken a video of Katsuki and Izuku when they realized they were the number one and two pro heroes, and had also caught him proposing to her. They caught the flubbed attempt, the floundering, the stuttering, the crying, the blushing, and the smiles.

“I called it!” Kaminari crowed, leaning against Sero for support. “I told you he’d flub it! Look at how red his face is!”

“He just asked her in his own Bakugou way,” Kirishima tried to defend, although tears were pricking at his eyes. “It was super manly, by the way. Way to go, bro!”

“What’s manly about scaring your girlfriend into thinking you’re gonna dump her?” Sero asked, another wave of laughter washing over them.

“Well, at least she said yes!” Ashido cheered, clapping Katsuki on the back. “Congrats, by the way!”

“Yeah man! When’s the wedding?” Kirishima asked, his tone clearly joking, although the question made Katsuki freeze.

“Oh fuck.”