Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Being publicly mated on an open rooftop in the middle of a mission, with all the TV cameras focused on him, had not been part of Katsuki's plan when he got out of bed this morning, but here he was.

He lay on his stomach, unable to move, his mind racing.

This isn't happening, his brain screamed as his back arched in response to the warm body above him.

All around, he felt turmoil.

It was hot, stuffy and the air smelled of smoke and burnt plastic. Somewhere in the near distance something exploded, shaking the ground. He heard booming police sirens, felt a strong, cold wind and saw the reflections of a helicopter's lights flickering on the wet ground in front of him.

"Hold still -"

His face was pressed into the wet ground, and a warm hand in his hair held him down.

A sharp stone dug uncomfortably into his cheek.

He couldn't move, he felt paralysed. Completely helpless and defenceless.

He made one last desperate attempt to free himself, scraping his fingers along the rough floor in the hope that it would do some good, while a small, choked whimper broke out of his lips as sharp teeth sank into his neck.

Fuck.

He swallowed the moan and pressed his lips tightly together as another tried to break over them. A hot shiver ran down his body, making him tremble. Feelings that were not his pushed into him, filling him with the deepest satisfaction for a moment before they vanished, leaving him empty.

His mind was bare. Every thought erased.

Teeth pulled from his skin with a wet sound. Suddenly there was silence. Just the rush of blood in his ears. His heavy breathing and then...

"Katsuki..."

Then Todoroki's hand slipped underneath him and ran over his now exposed stomach as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The cool, brisk fingers weren't the only thing he could feel. Hot, moist breath hitting the back of his neck gave him uncomfortable goosebumps.

And the realisation that Todofuckingroki had just bitten him, binding him to him, slowly seeped in before he was suddenly torn away.

"Shit, Shouto!" someone shouted. It sounded like Kaminari, but higher.

Katsuki felt sick to his stomach and his head began to spin. He felt terribly hot and dizzy. His heart was racing as he tried to understand what was happening, but nothing made sense. He was confused and his body was burning for something that was completely foreign to him.

He had several open wounds, but they weren't important at the moment - not that he felt anything but the lingering shadow of Todoroki's lips on his neck. His teeth in his skin -

"Let me go! He's mine!" Todoroki. "Don't touch him!"

Someone bent over Katsuki and pulled him to his feet, which felt like jelly but somehow managed to keep him upright. Green eyes looked at him in panic.

"Oh God, are you okay? What happened? Ka-Dynamight, talk to me. Are you okay?"

Deku... He was talking to him, looking at him completely distraught, but Katsuki didn't understand a single word.

His hand went to his neck.

It hurt.

Todoroki had just bitten him.

And not only that. Hebonded him.
He had fucking-

Shocked, he looked at Todoroki who, at the same moment, rammed his fist into Kirishima's face before he could use his quirk. His best friend bumped into a policeman and they fell to the ground together. Everything happened so quickly.

Hot flames rose uncontrollably and destructively, making room for themselves.

Hanta pulled Denki to one side before ice crystals several metres high shot in all directions, catching and immobilising the helicopter. Only the blades continued to whirr loudly.

And in the middle of the chaos, he stood. Todoroki.

His wild, almost mad gaze met Katsuki's.

He took two steps in his direction before Hanta grabbed his arm and tied it tightly. Not that that seemed to stop him. Without breaking eye contact, Todoroki burned the tape, then effortlessly dodged Kirishima's fist and pushed him away with the force of an ice block.

It was as if every fuse in Icyhot had blown, and before them stood the mad killing machine Endeavour might once have wished for. There was no sign of the normally composed, stoically calm hero. And worst of all was the smell.

Intimidating and suffocating.
An Alpha, in all its brutal glory, out of control.

Katsuki's blood froze in his veins with every step Todoroki took towards him, until his heart almost stopped.

His neck throbbed.
Todoroki had him...

"Calm down, Shouto!"

"What the hell has gotten into him?!"

"Dude, hold him down!"

"Get Katsuki out of here!"

The blond could still hear the loud growl that made his knees buckle. "Get out of the way -" then something hit his arm and made him stop.

A small dart was stuck in his arm. Anaesthetic.

Three slow steps and Todoroki's body fell to the ground in front of him.

It was over.

Only it was just about to begin.

"Fuck..."

-

The rest of the night blurred into a grey mass.

He was brought down from the roof.
Silently he followed.

"...need to fix that wound..."

"It looks really bad..."

"...Omega..."

His head jerked upwards.

Someone - probably Deku - was helping him to an ambulance.

Two medics fiddled with him, tending to his wounds and talking to him. He didn't really understand what they were saying. Did it matter now?

They cut the back of his shirt and removed his gauntlets before examining him. Or tried to. His reaction was stronger than expected.

"Don't touch me!" He grabbed the back of his neck protectively, defending himself. He didn't want to be touched. Not by-

"Please hold still for a moment..."

"Dynamight, can you tell us what happened?"

"Can you hear me? You are in..."

He was aware that someone was talking to him, but he didn't understand a word. The two paramedics took out bandages, one holding his hand. His neck was burning. He felt strangely dizzy. And not remotely well. His insides were churning and restless, his heart was still beating in his throat. He had no idea what was going on. He didn't even really hear what the others were trying to tell him.

"Kacchan?"

He didn't answer.

His mind was screaming manically.

Alpha. Alpha. Alpha!
We have to get to our Alpha!
We need to be close to Alpha!

He slapped away the next hand that reached for him.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

-

The medics decided to take him to the hospital.

Kirishima sat next to him, worried. That he was worried, Katsuki could tell by the smell. Something he hadn't noticed for years. Scents. He took so much suppressants that he usually couldn't even smell others, and now...

Kirishima smelled stressed. Upset. Sad.

All the things Katsuki needed to be, but couldn't be because he couldn't really process what had happened. When Kirishima's hand came down on his shoulder, he hissed and jerked away, ready to use force.

"Don't touch me!"

The Alpha pulled back, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"Sorry, I'm just... sorry."

-

He was completely out of it while a policeman interrogated him, or at least tried to. There was no reaction from the blond. As if he wasn't really there, as if he was a ghost watching this scene. He couldn't really listen to what the man was saying because his body was busy trying to interpret the scents in the room that were affecting him.

He smelled something familiar. Something warm from his childhood that contrasted with the rest of the sterile scent of the room.

The man in front of him smelled of... wood.
Like the smell of a tree that had just been cut down.

He was a Beta. Pleasant but boring.

We must go to our Alpha.

He heard everything as if he were under water. Far away from everything and he...

"- take legal action against Shouto-"

Huh?

"Obviously not consensual..."

"- as Omega..."

Only now did he listen and raise his head. "What?" His voice sounded scratchy and strangely tense. Where was he again?

"Did you hear me?"

Katsuki looked around. He was sitting on a bed in an examination room. When had he come here?

"No-I," he broke off, grumbling and pressing his palm to his eye. "What?" he asked again. He had a headache. "Can you repeat that or just leave me the hell alone?"

Slowly, Deku approached and pushed into his field of vision from the side. Then that must have been his scent he had detected beside the policeman. "Can we stop the interrogation for a moment? I don't think it makes any sense right now."

What was the nerd talking about?

The officer looked at him sympathetically before apologising and leaving the room for the time being. Deku stayed with him.

"Bakugou?"

"Hm?"

"How much is five plus one?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" the blond grumbled. Deku's expression brightened. He seemed to have finally lost his mind.

"I just wanted to make sure you were responsive again," he replied. "I don't think you've ever been out for so long... but that's a normal reaction! Sometimes our brains need to take a step back for a moment, and yes..." He looked down at his hands. "I know the circumstances are very bad, but are you OK? How are you feeling?"

"How do I feel?" replied Katsuki. He frowned and looked grimly at his personal nemesis. He looked visibly battered. His suit had several burn marks and his sleeve was torn. "How do you think I feel?"

Deku took half a step back. "Kay, since you can already yell at me, you seem to be doing better than you were a moment ago - I'm sorry, I'm just... can you tell me what happened?"

Growling, Katsuki turned away. Investigating, he reached into his neck, only to find bandages. Hmph.

"They took care of the wound - but - he, well, Todoroki - he -" Deku stammered helplessly until Katsuki gave him a withering look and silenced him.

"He fucking bonded me," Katsuki stated flatly. His stomach heaved, ready to release its meagre contents at any moment. "Fucking bastard!"

Instantly, Deku was on him again. "I'm sure there's an explanation for this. He would never have done it without your consent - I didn't even know that he knew you were an Omega - I'm sure-"

"Shut up!" Katsuki growled in between, running his fingers over the bandage again. What a fucked up thing to happen. Of all the things that could have happened, this wasn't on his imaginary list of possibilities. "Not him - the guy with the mask and the feathers for hair."

"The guy with the mask?"

"He-" his memory was failing him a bit, but Katsuki could still remember the guy who did this to him. "Some guy - he wasn't the target - no idea what he was up to." In general, the mission had pretty much backfired.

It was a level 3 mission. One that could easily be done in an hour and then filed away before going out for a beer to enjoy the end of the day. Provided the investigators had done their job, which they probably didn't fucking do, as you could now easily see.

Instead, it had become this dilemma. To put it nicely.

"Can you describe him?"

"Yes, red feathers for hair, black mask. He was wearing a grey trench coat and he could do something with his skin..." he trailed off briefly, thinking before sighing. "He shouldn't have been there, I don't even know where he came from." It had all happened so quickly. "He grabbed Icyhot's arm and then... the rest happened."

"He just touched him?"

"I think so."

Icyhot dared to stand in front of Katsuki - for whatever reason - and before Katsuki could even get angry that he didn't have to fucking protect him, Todoroki was sitting on the ground, clutching his chest.

And then the shit hit the fan.

The two criminals they were actually looking for opened fire and Katsuki had to make sure that he and the idiot got away. A bullet had grazed Todoroki's shoulder. That sucked, but it didn't necessarily stop him. Then a fire broke out in the basement, so Katsuki decided to take them upstairs to reorganise.

With Icyhot, who resembled a useless sack of potatoes, in tow, it hadn't been easy, but he'd made it, only to be thrown to the floor by the very same and-

"So he didn't just-" Katsuki's piercing gaze made Deku stop. "I'm sorry - I'm - I don't know what I am. I'm so terribly sorry! I don't want to say that I'm relieved! But I... I don't want to defend him, but I... and you... I'm so sorry, Kacchan...."

That was all shit.
Pretty big shit, actually.

And someone would have to pay for it.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Icyhot, who else?!"

"He's... in a hospital, but not this one. He's in secure custody. The police weren't sure if they could keep him near you - he put up such a fight... I don't think I've ever seen him so out of control."

"Hmph."

His stomach tightened uncomfortably as he thought about the way Icyhot had looked at him. Possessive, almost manic, like a crazy bastard.

Katsuki had always suspected that there was more beneath the surface - Quiet Waters and all that - but that Icyhot could turn into such a psycho....

"Uhm - Kacchan, I just want to warn you that this didn't happen completely unobserved."

Deku tugged nervously at his glove. This was nothing new. It was just the way the nerd was. Nervous and always on guard to say the right thing, or better said, not to say the wrong thing. Especially in Katsuki's presence.

"Meaning?"

Deku continued to fumble around before finally spilling the beans and putting it all into one word. "Theyfilmedeverythingandthey'vealreadypublished-"

"They what?!" snarled Katsuki, jumping down from the examination bed, ready to kick someone's ass.

"They filmed the whole thing and it's already on the internet-"

"Fucking-what?!"

He felt hot, then cold.
And then he had to sit down. He felt terribly dizzy.

Overwhelmed, he put his hands to his face and tried to breathe. Perhaps he was having a panic attack. Or maybe his body had just decided to die.

He preferred the latter.

It was, without exaggeration, the worst day of his life.

Everything sucked.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Shut up and stick your pity somewhere else before I do it myself!"

Deku winced, but said nothing more. Otherwise, his childhood friend looked absolutely devastated.

Katsuki didn't even know what was worse at the moment.

The fact that Todoroki had bonded him and that the public now knew that he was an Omega, or the fact that he felt the fucking need to be close to him. Or the fact that Deku, of all people, felt sorry for him!

Why did this shit happen to him out of all people?!

"Kacchan... you have to talk to the police - or - I can do that for you? They need your statement because... it doesn't look good for Todoroki."

Katsuki raised his head and looked wearily into Deku's eyes.

"So- of course, not as bad as for you- no, wait. Crap. Sorry, it's just the media. It's bad. Okay? The footage... it looks really bad."

"How bad?"

"Really bad...it looks like an attempted rape..." he almost whispered the last word.

"Fuck," he growled, standing up and pacing the stupid room before angrily kicking a chair away. "Fucking hell!"

Deku winced but said nothing. "You're both my friends and I don't want... the media to drag this through the mud like this. If Todoroki didn't do it on purpose, then..."

He whirled around angrily.

"Then what?" Katsuki didn't even know whether to laugh or cry.

Him and Todoroki. Absurd.
Not really, his subconscious told him. Absurd! Katsuki corrected himself.

Icyhot was like a cold fish to him, even though he liked to say that they were friends.
He was polite, weird, distant and ready to stand up to Katsuki's bullshit.
Not that it really made any difference now.

"Then... don't get me wrong, I'm just... if you don't tell the police that he's not to blame, then... I don't know if he can be a hero after that."

Kirishima burst into the room. "Kats?"

The blond instinctively backed away. Defence mode activated.
Kirishima was an Alpha. Not his Alpha.

God, how he hated this Omega behaviour.
His instincts were out of control.

"Sorry - should I go?"

"No, stay here - bloody hell." Annoyed, he picked up the knocked over chair and sat on it. Afterwards, he hid his face in his hands. "Can someone bring me my supps? This is fucking unbearable!" Why had his instincts been triggered in the first place? He had taken his fucking pills this morning like a good boy!

"The doctor said that unfortunately there are no supps that freshly mated Omegas should take..." Deku said to his displeasure. "Actually, it's quite irresponsible to leave you here alone. Without him..."

He looked up. "Huh?!"

"Freshly mated Omegas need their Alpha before they get that feeling of abandonment...", Deku's voice became softer with every word. He already knew how much Katsuki hated being reduced to his secondary gender. Omegas this, Alphas that. Fuck this shit! "Sorry..."

"Just shut up." Deku's whining didn't help him now. And it didn't make him feel better either. He felt really shitty. His reputation was ruined. It wasn't that he was ashamed of being an Omega. He just didn't want to be reduced to it, and now it was all for shit. Three years of a hero's career.

"Kats," Kirishima demanded his attention again. "I know it's the worst possible time, but our PR department needs information to work with... Can you do that?"

"Just tell them to go fuck themselves and wait! Or I'll go and talk to one of the reporters myself!"

"Better not," Deku interjected before turning to Katsuki. "Is it okay with you if I talk to the policeman? After all, you told me everything..."

The blond snorted.

"Yeah, go."

Katsuki knew that Deku would downplay the situation so that Icyhot would no longer look as shitty as he did right now. Maybe that would help, maybe it wouldn't. He had no idea.

Mating an Omega against their will, with the world's cameras rolling, was the worst possible way to rise in the rankings. Even for a prodigy like Icyhot.

Especially when that Omega was Katsuki himself!

"Well, that's some fucked up shit," Kirishima grumbled from across the room, leaning against the wall next to the door. There was a nasty bruise on his cheek that was already starting to swell. He was keeping as much distance as possible from Katsuki, but the Omega in Katsuki's head still wasn't happy about it. Not that Katsuki could do anything to make it happy. He could hardly go to Icyhot. "Ah-um... I have something for you?"

"Like what?" he asked back before turning away. "If it's not a bullet you want to put through my forehead, then I don't want it."

"No, but maybe you still want it...?" Hearing a rustling, Katsuki looked up again. His self-proclaimed friend was rummaging through a plastic bag before pulling out a blue hoodie. That scent...

"Is that...?"

"Yeah, I got it earlier."

Katsuki stared at the blue piece of cloth as if it were enchanted. This was Todoroki's hoodie. He could smell it. He-

Wordlessly, Kirishima threw the hoodie at him. To Katsuki's shame, he caught it and pressed it to his nose. Fuck...

"I thought this would help you."

"Shut up...", Katsuki lowered the hoodie and let it rest on his lap. Close enough to have the scent near him, far enough to not seem like an animal. He didn't even know Icyhot smelled like that. So... fucking good. "Did you break into his place?"

The redhead shrugged. "Someone needed to feed his cats."

Katsuki ignored the fact that his buddy could also start a career as a burglar. "Didn't even know he had cats."

Kirishima laughed quietly. "Yeah, two of them. Dynameow and Dekucat."

"He-" Katsuki cut off. Dynameow and Dekucat...? "Who the fuck names their cats like that?"

"Seems like a fanboy." Kirishima winked at him. "Want me to take you home?" Katsuki frowned. "Not that you can't handle it yourself, but..."

"Shove your worries up your ass, kay?"

"Kay..."

There was a knock at the door and then, to make matters worse, fucking Endeavour was standing in front of him. It was clear that Icyhot's fiery father had come to check on his son's Omega. Red feathers peeked out from behind him.

"God... not him too..." the blond muttered in frustration.

"Bakugou, do you have a moment?" Endeavour didn't sound like he would accept any other answer than yes.

"Not really," he grunted. "What do you want?"

Enji Todoroki, Father of the Year and Pro-Hero Number 1, pushed his way into the room, but against all expectations, stopped at the door, a very long way from Katsuki. Luckily, the scent he gave off was anything but pleasant and only made Katsuki want to flee the room. Hawks squeezed himself against the wall and then leaned against a chair. A far too amused expression on his face. Winged Bastard.

"I've just heard the statement Deku made on your behalf, and I'm here to apologise on behalf of my son," he began. "Even if it was out of his control, I don't want him or our agency to..."

"Don't bother, okay?" Katsuki interrupted him. "You're just here to do some damage control. You don't care about what happened to me."

Enji pressed his lips together. Visibly annoyed. But then again, when had the man ever been pleased? And it wasn't up to Katsuki to somehow make the guy, who he couldn't even really stand, happy.

"Circumstances may turn out to be very unfortunate, but I still want to take care of my son's Omega..."

"You finish that sentence, old man, and I'll blow this place up!"

Endeavour looked at him.

"Fine. You want to take legal action?"

A moment later, there was silence in the room. Katsuki looked at Kirishima, who was standing tense in a corner, biting his nail, then at Hawks, who was still looking over at him in amusement, and finally at Enji.

"No."

The man seemed a little relieved. "Any other claims for compensation?"

"I pass."

"Are you sure?"

Katsuki looked down at the hoodie, curling his fingers into it more tightly, before looking back at Enji. "Yes. No need."

"Could have made a lot of money out of it," Hawks informed him, but Katsuki decided to just ignore him. Hawks was a pest. He had no idea what the Todorokis saw in him.

"I don't need your money, just leave me alone."

-

Leaving the hospital turned out to be a big mistake.

He tried to leave through the back entrance. Deku and Kirishima were hot on his heels, with their damned caring scent - Good God! As if they were his mother, who had already called him seven times. But he still hadn't found the strength to talk to her about it. He would call her back. Maybe. When he got rid of the other two idiots.

But there was also a gaggle of scavenging reporters at the back exit, shoving microphones and cameras in his face. It was nothing new for vultures to pounce on the latest story to exploit, but it didn't make him any less annoyed. More so, in fact.

"Dynamight! Care to comment on recent events?"

"What is your relationship with Pro-Hero Shouto?!"

"Do you have a relationship with Pro-Hero Red Riot?"

"Were you mated against your will or was it your own wish?!"

"Why did you hide the fact that you are an Omega? Are you ashamed of it?"

If it hadn't been for Kirishima, Katsuki could probably have added a few more headlines. 'Omega - freshly mated against his will - murders reporter', yeah he'd like that. It would be well deserved, too.

The redhead and Deku made sure that he got to the car. Deku squeezed into the back seat while Katsuki took a seat on the driver's side, then Kirishima slammed the car door shut and the blond could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Now, he had to get rid of Deku somehow and then he would finally have some peace.

Deku gave the driver his address and then turned to his phone, which finally gave Katsuki the time to close his eyes for a moment.

He felt terrible.

Icyhot's hoodie that he had put on made it a little better, but he really felt like a pile of shit. His insides throbbed and demanded to be close to his Alpha.

Fucking Todoroki.

If Katsuki could, he would have gone up to him and kicked his ass for all this drama!

-

After the ride, he dismissed his new protector. Yes, he would be fine on his own. No, he didn't need company and damn no, he didn't want to be cuddled or scented!

Deku had left with a very worried look on his face and then Katsuki had thrown himself into bed in his Icyhot-scented hoodie. He hated everything.

His cell phone kept vibrating and he had more than twenty messages and missed calls. He texted his mother that he was okay before she decided to come here. He ignored the rest.

This was terrible.

And he hadn't even turned on the TV.

The next morning he caught up on that and immediately regretted it.

His face was all over the news.

And the shot of him looking at Todoroki, stunned, with his hand on the back of his neck, was repeated on every channel for literally every twenty minutes.

‘Pro-Hero Dynamight mated under force.’

‘Pro-Hero Shouto loses control and mates defenseless Omega.’

‘A hero running amok is more like a villain.

‘Police report says it was an accident.’

‘Insider reveals Omega Dynamight wanted it himself.'

Katsuki turned off the TV.

This was... fucking hell.

His cell phone was off by now. He plugged it back in and lay back in bed with it. He felt this nagging need for... something soft. God, if his heat came now, too, he'd just jump out the window and end himself.

Fortunately, it didn't, but the nagging, inner unease remained.

He had a hard time concentrating. At first he had just played games and tried to read a book. When he realized he was making little progress, he put away his phone and tried to sleep.

It took forever, then he fell into a restless sleep, from which he was ripped out two hours later by his phone.

Deku.

"Kaachan, I wanted to ask you if you are okay?"

"Go to hell," he growled into the phone and hung up. Unfortunately, he was awake now and ready to tear something to pieces. He put his nose into his sleeve. It didn't smell as strong of Icyhot as it had yesterday. That was bad.

Restless, he got up, made himself something to eat, and went back to bed.

The next day, the whole process started all over again, only now he gathered his pillows around him. Fuck, now he was nesting too... fucking hell.

He reached for his phone.

His voicemail was full and he had 107 messages on LINE.

He replied to his mother and father.
He sent a sticker to Kirishima and then turned his phone off.

That was terrible.

He realized that himself.

On the third day, he stood in the shower for almost an hour, only to crawl back into Icyhot's hoodie and hate himself. His neck throbbed and his stomach felt queasy. He felt sick all over.

Deku had sent him something about withdrawal symptoms, but he didn't want to and couldn't read any of it.

And sometime in the evening, he decided that he couldn't go on like this.

He had to fucking do something about it.

Chapter Text

Shouto

When Shouto opened his eyes, he knew immediately that something was wrong.

He was lying in a hospital room and his father was close by. That alone was enough to know that something had happened.

With some difficulty, he sat up and saw Endeavour sitting in a chair. Standing next to him was Hawks, looking over at him.

"Your little boy is awake, Enji."

Enji just pushed Hawks out of his sight without a word and stood up. His gaze rested heavily on Shouto, confirming to him all the more that something was very wrong.

He felt... strange.
But he couldn't really say what was different.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Don't you remember anything?"

"Maybe that you..." his father covered Hawk's mouth.

Shouto felt miserable. Something was tugging at his mind, something inside him was urging him out of bed, as if he needed to be somewhere.

"No, I-" he had been on a mission. A mission in which he was involved. He and Bakugou- "Is Bakugou okay?"

"Define okay," Hawks said amusedly. "If you call it okay-" His father silenced him with a glare. "I'm already silent, sorry, it's not funny."

"Do you remember anything?" his father asked again.

"The mission," Shouto began. His head was throbbing. "We were on a mission. Something happened and-" In his mind's eye, he saw a flash of memory. Too little and too confusing. Bloodied blond hair. Bakugou. Bakugou lying beneath him. Groaning, he grabbed his forehead, only to find himself chained to the bed.

"Why am I handcuffed?"

"Security measures."

"What, why?"

"You caused quite a ruckus," Hawks said. "Don't you remember anything?"

"A ruckus?" Irritated, he raised an eyebrow. Why would he make trouble? It didn't make sense unless... "Is Bakugou hurt?"

His father growled. "He's alive."

That was a strange answer.

"What happened?"

"Do you want the short version or the long, detailed one?" Hawks offered. The grin never left his thin lips for a moment. His father gave him an annoyed look, but this time he just shrugged instead of shutting up. "Either you tell him or I will."

His father cupped his nose with his hand and rubbed the bridge. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. "There was a complication with the mission, and you-"

"You mated fucking Dynamight!" Hawks yelled before his father could get a word out. Enji looked at him in horror, but Hawks seemed to have no regrets at all.

"I did... what?", confused, Shouto frowned. That was impossible. "Bakugou is an Alpha. I can't mate him in the first place."

His shoulder burned, but when he tried to reach for it, he hit the limits of his restraints again.

"The joke is that he's not an Alpha at all," the blond bird chuckled, walking around his bed. "He's just been taking such strong suppressants that no one's noticed, but de facto he's an Omega - well, your Omega."

Shouto looked over at his father, doubting that Hawks was telling the truth. Bakugou had always been an Alpha. His scent and even his aura had always been that of an Alpha. He couldn't...

When his gaze met the serious one of his father, he felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach.

"Hawks is right. Dynamight, or Bakugou as you prefer, is an Omega, and during the mission you were hit with a Quirk that triggered something-"

"You've totally lost it!" interjected Hawks almost euphorically, bracing his hands on Shouto's bed and leaning over to him. His sweet scent rose to his nostrils, causing him to back away. "Like, totally lost it!"

"What?" He... he couldn't remember. Only fragments of memories. Bakugou, blood... lying on the floor - him on top of him.

The restraints clanked as he grabbed his head, which had just begun to throbbing violently.

"There are videos! Do you want to see them?!"

"Hawks!"

"There's what...?"

His father pulled the other away from him. "As much as I hate to agree with Hawks, of all people, I'm afraid it's true." Another deep sigh. "The good news is that he won't pursue legal action, so no charges have been filed."

"Which is really a loss, he could have gotten a lot of money."

Enji ignored him. "The police have already sent Bakugou's statement to the Hero Commission. I'm afraid there might be disciplinary proceedings anyway."

"Yeah, because the pictures look really, really bad," Hawks interjected again. "You were like a deranged maniac, completely out of control. Even reduced part of the hospital to rubble when you first woke up and your Omega wasn't with you-"

"Hawks..." His father shook his head. "You're not making it any better."

"And I didn’t mean to."

"I did...", somehow, Shouto hadn't quite managed to process it yet. He had... mated with Bakugou? Quirk influence or not. That was terrible. "I have to apologize to him."

"I don't know if apologizing is enough, kid. You mated him, not broke his favorite vase." Hawks took some distance and crossed his arms behind his head.

"I don't think Bakugou has a favorite vase." What did that have to do with anything?

"You'd better leave him alone," his father grumbled. Shouto gave him a less than enthusiastic look.

"I don't think I want to take advice from you about Omegas."

"Understandable," Hawks agreed. Enji sighed, sounding more resigned each time.

"I just want to protect you."

Hawks shrugged. "At least it stayed relatively G-rated, or they wouldn't have been allowed to show it on the news."

"They- what?" Shouto's voice almost cracked.

It all seemed like a terribly bizarre, strange, and most of all, bad dream. He would never have mated with Bakugou, not because he didn't... not because he didn't find him attractive or didn't like him, but Bakugou was an Alpha. Well, until now. But apart from that, he would never have done that without first agreeing to it or something like that. It was never up for discussion. Why should it be? Bakugou didn't even like him like that, did he? They were just friends. Well. Probably not anymore. "I should apologize...where is he?"

"He was discharged from the hospital and is probably at home, but you shouldn't visit him. If the media gets a hold of this, it will only create more input. They're already all over it."

"Who knows if he'll even want to see you," Hawks posited. "After all, it was practically a forced marriage."

"But he..." he dropped his hands powerlessly. "But he's alone-"

"Are those Alpha instincts kicking in?"

Shouto felt his cheeks warm a little. Apparently, Hawks took that as a sign to get back on his tail.

"Aww, that's so cute! He takes after you, Enji!" His father gave him a disapproving look, but it didn't seem to stop him. "I really wouldn't want to be in your shoes, kid. If you want me to be honest, you'll be lucky to keep your job. That shitshow you put on was absolutely awful, and even if it was just a quirk, the world saw what you're capable of. And that was really bad. And also a little hot, if I'm being honest. Really impressive what you can do. But mostly awful."

His father didn't say anything, which somehow made it worse.

"The only positive thing right now is that Bakugou won't sue your cute little ass."

Enji put his hand on Hawk's shoulder. "That's enough. Let the doctors know he's awake."

"And let me miss the fun here-" Enji growled. "Okay, okay. I'll go."

His father let out another heavy sigh after Hawks left the room before looking back at him. And Shouto? Shouto was miserable.

He had little or no memory of the incident, just that strange, vague feeling in his chest. And the guilt that was weighing more and more on his shoulders with every passing minute. He bonded Bakugou....

"Was it really... that bad?"

"Nothing my lawyers couldn't handle," Enji replied. "Even if it was counterproductive to have everything filmed. You might drop a few places in the rankings. The PR team is already preparing an apology speech-"

"I don't care about my ranking!" Shouto suddenly interrupted angrily. How could his father put his ranking ahead of Bakugou's well-being! "I... I bonded Bakugou... He is my friend... He will never forgive me for this..."

For a moment, Enji was silent.

This was terrible.
And unforgivable.

"If the Hero Commission takes away my license, then it is absolutely justified. A hero shouldn't do that - heroes don't do that..."

As a warm hand rested on his shoulder, he looked up. His father looked at him. His gaze was a little softer than usual. And he probably wasn't capable of any more emotion, which somehow made it worse.

"Everything will be fine."

-

Nothing was fine.

At least not right away.

He was questioned, examined, and then released from the hospital.

The quirk that had caused all this was untraceable, but since he was apparently no longer a threat, the doctors decided to let him go. Presumably, his father had helped somehow.

The police also let him go.

Since Bakugou had not filed a complaint, there were no criminal charges, so he had gotten away with it for the time being.

And after he had gotten past the reporters who had thrown all kinds of accusations at him, from killing machine to rapist, he was in the car with Hawks. Not his favorite company at the moment, but at least the bird hero was honest and straightforward. Shouto could deal with honest and straightforward better than with subliminal messages. Or with the heavy looks of his father.

"They were pretty rough, weren't they?" Hawks started the car and led them away from the pack that formed around the car.

"That's probably justified," Shouto replied as he buckled his seat belt and pulled the black cap down over his face. It didn't help much.

"Don't worry, tomorrow someone else will go crazy and they'll forget all about you. That's how it is with the media." He was aware of that, too, but Bakugou wouldn't forget tomorrow. Bakugou would still be bound to him tomorrow and- "Hey, stop it." Hawks nudged his shoulder before opening the windows and airing them out. "I'm an Omega too, and with your scent in here, I'm running out of room in such a small space."

"Oh - sorry..." Shouto tried to compose himself, but it was anything but easy. He had already seen the videos and... what could he say? He looked like a psycho. He found it hard to believe that this had been him. Even if it had been caused by a quirk, it was so far away from him that it scared him. He had mated Bakugou against his will, on the ground, like an animal. What would have happened if he hadn't been pulled away immediately? He didn't want to know. Besides, he had injured Kirishima and destroyed a hospital. How much worse could it have been?

"It's okay," Hawks muttered, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a cell phone. "Here, got some missed calls."

"Thanks..." He didn't even want to see it, so he put the small device away for now.

"No sweat."

There was silence for a while, Hawks humming along with the music, before he decided to try and make conversation again. "Any plans on what you're going to do with that sweet Omega of yours?"

Shouto lowered his head. "It feels wrong to see him like this - as my Omega. I don't think I deserve to call him that."

"Deserved or not. The fact is, he is your Omega now. Mating is forever. You should definitely figure out how you're going to make this work."

"I have no idea," he sighed, leaning his head against the window pane. "I think he's going to rip my head off, and if I'm honest, I'm okay with that."

"Naw, don't be so gloomy. Bakugou didn't seem like that, and if he did, I'd say your problem will be taken care of quickly." They turned down his street, and the thought of being able to fall into his bed made everything a little better.

Hopefully, Fuyumi or Natsuo had fed his cats, otherwise they would probably beat Bakugou to it and end his life right there in the hallway because he hadn't taken care of them in time. "Your situation may seem hopeless right now, but there's nothing alcohol can't fix."

"Are you suggesting that I start an alcohol addiction?"

"Yes? No. Of course not. But maybe you wait a little bit. The PR team will come up with something nice, grass will grow over it, and things will start to look up."

"And what do I do about Bakugou? Does our PR team take care of the fact that he was claimed by someone he didn't want as Alpha?"

Hawks shrugged. "I'm an Omega, but I don't know Bakugou well enough to know what he thinks about it, but he didn't seem too upset. Maybe he has a crush on you?"

Shouto rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he doesn't." If Bakugou was hiding the fact that he was an Omega, there must have been a good reason for it. And Shouto had not only claimed him, but outed him publicly.

Hawks parked at the roadside. "Endeavor said you were free for the next few days. You can call if you get bored. I took the liberty of putting my number in your phone."

He winked at him. Huh? Was Hawks flirting with him?

"I'm obviously taken."

"I know, but I like to flirt and you Todorokis are just too cute."

Shouto remained silent and just looked at him for a long moment before he answered.

"I don't think I want to know any more about it." He opened the door to leave. "Thanks for the ride."

"Always a pleasure for my favorite Todoroki."

Shouto slammed the door shut harder than necessary.

In the hallway, he met a neighbor who looked at him startled before suddenly fleeing.

Wonderful.

This would probably be his life for now.

He pulled the black cap deeper into his face. Not that it helped much with his prominent hair color, but it was better than nothing, and to avoid upsetting any more people, he took the stairs to his apartment.

At the top, he took out his keys and opened the door.

Instead of excited mewing he was met by silence. Fuyumi had probably fed them already. She had promised him that she would take over if he was ever out of commission or out of town. It was nice that he could rely on that, because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to take on Dynameow and Dekucat-

He stopped abruptly.

There was a strange scent in his apartment.

It smelled... he couldn't interpret what he perceived - the scent was new - but something drew him to his bedroom. If now someone also had broken in his-

He stopped in front of his open bedroom door and almost got a heart attack.

On the bed were his two cats, and between them... Bakugou. Asleep.

Something happened inside him, as if someone pushed him in Bakugou's direction, and suddenly he was standing in the bedroom in front of his bed. Bakugou didn't even look asleep. His eyebrows were knitted together, a snarling expression on his lips. But -

What was he doing here?
Why was he sleeping in his bed?
Shouto didn’t remember to ever give him a key…
Did he break into his apartment? For what?

Dynameow woke up and stretched before curiously coming over to Shouto and meowing loudly. That seemed to wake the blond from his slumber. It didn't take a second for Shouto to dodge a fist. Bakugou looked at him startled before he recognized him.

"Fuck!" he hissed, running a hand through his hair, "What the fuck, Icyhot? What are you lurking around here for?"

"Um... this is my place..."

Bakugou looked around. "Hmph. Right."

A moment of silence fell between them.

The silence weighed uncomfortably on his shoulders and pressed against his chest at the same time.

Shouto decided to change that. "Bakugou, I-"

"Shut up, okay?"

"But I-"

"I don't want to hear it," Bakugou cut him off again, sitting down more comfortably and burying his hand in Dekucat, who made a soft noise.

"Are you here to kill me?"

The blond raised an eyebrow. "Are you stupid?"

"No, I..." Shouto started, then sat down on the bed with Bakugou and looked at him. He felt so guilty and if Bakugou really wanted to kill him now, he wouldn't put up much of a fight. "I mean, I could understand if you... well... hate me now."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Bakugou asked instead.

"But-"

"Just shut up."

"Okay..."

They looked at each other for a moment in silence.

It wasn't easy to withstand Katsuki's gaze. Usually, he had no problems with that, but usually, Shouto hadn't committed a mortal sin beforehand... Besides, he could now interpret the feeling that was eating him from the inside. He wanted to be close. Close to Bakugou.

Everything in his body urged him to get closer. To wrap his arms around him and hold him. To hold him and just be close to him.

He wondered if he felt the same.

He opened his mouth, but Bakugou didn't even let him get a word in. "I don't want to talk about it now."

"But-"

"Listen," he interrupted him again. "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it. Not right now. So shut the fuck up and go lie down so I can go back to sleep!" With that, he threw himself back into Shouto's pillow and the conversation was apparently over for him.

Then he turned his back to him, revealing the bandage around his neck. The bite...

He had bitten him there and put them in this situation. If he hadn't... he had no idea what he could have done differently. He didn't even really know what had happened, except what the police had told him. Which wasn't much at first, so as not to falsify the statement... But the fact was that he had lost control. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it didn't matter in the end with the outcome that was right in front of him.

It made him sad and angry to see the bandage. Sad because he was sorry that Bakugou was bound to him now, and angry because he couldn't control himself despite everything. And at the same time... somehow, it filled him with a morbid satisfaction.

Bakugou was... his. The Alpha part of him felt immense joy.
He felt confused. How could he feel something like satisfaction despite everything? Was an Alpha indifferent to how mating took place?

He had never thought about mating with an Omega. Especially not with Bakugou... Okay, sometimes, he had thought about it. But it had always been out of the question. He had always thought that Bakugou was an Alpha and somehow, he had little interest in others. And now... well. Coincidence had decided for them.

He lay down with Bakugou. Apparently, that was what the other one wanted right now. For a moment, he just looked at the blond back of his head. The neck was directly in front of his face. As if it was mocking him....

"Can I say one thing?" he asked before moving closer. All instinctively.

Bakugou sighed loudly before nodding. "If you shut up after."

Shouto hesitated, but if he didn't ask, he would probably lose it. And after the nonconsensual bond, Shouto would rather ask twice before doing something that would hurt Bakugou.

"Can I... hold you?"

Bakugou shifted, then took a deep breath.

"Yeah..."

Immediately, Shouto moved closer. His arms automatically pulled the blond to his chest and his nose pressed into the blond hair. He smelled good.

Like caramel and like when you light a match. It was a sweet but spicy mixture that suited him so well. Much better than the neutral smell he usually caught. Shouto never thought that Bakugou would smell sweet....

His body was warm and felt surprisingly good. He also felt Bakugou relax in his grip. So it felt good for him as well?

He never thought that he would touch Bakugou like this. It wasn't uncommon for them to touch each other. They often worked together. Sometimes, they carried each other out of danger. Sometimes, they supported each other, but that was nothing compared to now. And it probably never would be again.

"The situation is chaotic, but I promise you that I will do what I have to do, Bakugou... I will be the best Alpha for you. I promise. And... I'm sorry. I hope that you can forgive me."

The blond remained silent in his embrace before he snorted. "That's the kind of bullshit only you can talk. Didn't I say I didn't want to hear it?"

"Yes, but I can't just... ignore it."

"Let's... let's just talk about it tomorrow. I'm tired and I don't want to hear your nonsense."

"Okay..." he murmured into Bakugou's neck, suppressing the urge to press his lips against it.

Bakugou was his Omega, but he still had no right to do that.

-

The next morning, he woke first.

Dynameow stuck her wet nose in his eye as a sign that she was ready to be fed. Dekucat sat on the other side of the bed and looked in his direction as well.

Bakugou lay sleeping close beside him. He actually looked a little more relaxed than yesterday.

To be honest, he didn't want to get up, but he knew that the two hairy monsters wouldn't rest until he fed them, and maybe he could make Bakugou breakfast as well?

That was what people did, right?

Inside, he felt the urge to take care of the blond. Whether it was out of politeness or because his Alpha urged him to do so, it didn't matter in the end.

He pulled away from Bakugou, only to realize that he had been scenting him all night and that Bakugou now smelled more like him and only very subtly like spicy caramel. Hmm...

He couldn't say that it didn't make him happy.

Quite the opposite. Seeing Bakugou lying so relaxed in his bed filled him with a strange contentment. The blond hair was spread out on the pillow, his arms were in front of him. Probably one of the cats had slept there.

Every glance at Bakugou's neck made his stomach tingle. Whether from guilt, shame or pure satisfaction, Shouto couldn't tell.

Despite everything, he had to get up now.

The very first thing he did was to go into the kitchen, closely followed by his two fur babies, and give them their food. Then he made some coffee and a pot of tea. Bakugou used to prefer green tea, but he had no idea if that was still the case.

He knew it was a mistake, but he still picked up his cell phone and opened his messages.

His father texted him. A link and a message.

'I'm trying to minimize the damage. Please refrain from any contact with Bakugou. - Dad.'

‘Another Todoroki scandal,' wrote a news portal known for its provocative writing. The Todoroki drama continues.

He looked at the text.

'Actually, it was expected that another son of Endeavor would go berserk, but it still could not be prevented.’

A picture of him kneeling over Bakugou, his chin covered in blood, decorated the top of the article. Whew...

'After Endeavour's own past came to light, exposing him as a domestic tyrant who abused his wife and children, and later his son Touya - better known as Dabi - who was presumed dead, committed several murders, and helped form the League of Villains to overthrow society and start a war, the youngest of the family has apparently lost his way.

Pro-Hero Shouto lost control during a mission and mated with fellow hero Bakugou Katsuki - better known as Pro-Hero Dynamight.

Dynamight, a.k.a. Bakugou K., had never revealed his secondary gender. It is assumed that he wanted to prevent this from happening. No further details are known as the injured party has not yet spoken out. Experts suspect that the trauma suffered will require many years of therapy, as a non-consensual bond is compared to rape.

According to the police, it was a quirk accident in which Shouto came into contact with a triggering substance. This doesn't make the footage any less horrifying, though, and only serves to underscore the fine line between heroism and evil.

Maybe the Todoroki family should get out of the hero-business.

Shouto had never expected to be put on the same level as his father and brother.

‘Too late,' he replied to his father before going through the other messages. He didn't want to dwell too much on the message above. He wasn't like his father. Nor was he like Touya.

He had several messages from his colleagues and friends.

Izuku wrote to him, as well as Kirishima and Ochako. He wrote to Kirishima first, apologizing for his behavior - he knew that wouldn't be enough, but for now, it was all he could do - then he replied to Izuku and Ochako. Both wanted to know how he was doing. And the fact was that he wasn't as bad as he should be right now. Bakugou was with him and... somehow, that made everything better. Even if he couldn't really understand why he was here.

While the water was boiling, he went into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. For Bakugou, he laid out a towel and a wrapped toothbrush. Then he went back to the kitchen and checked his refrigerator to see what it had to offer.

He had bought groceries, but some of them were already getting legs and making their escape. He threw a rotten cucumber in the garbage, then started to pull out a few things. If he was honest, he had no idea how to make breakfast. He rarely had anyone to make breakfast for. His own breakfast often consisted of a shake and later a coffee with extra milk before he ate anything at the agency.

He could make miso soup. Maybe rice and...

"Don't overexert yourself, Icyhot." He almost dropped the pan in shock, while Bakugou just rubbed his face tiredly.

"I was going to make breakfast," Shouto replied a little offended after Bakugou took the pan from his hand and pushed him away.

"I happen to know that you can't cook to save your life. Make yourself useful in some other way."

"Okay... tea or coffee?"

"Tea."

Ten minutes later, they sat together at his table and ate in a strange silence.

Shouto didn't know if this was a good thing or not. Bakugou hadn't yelled at him or ripped his head off or tried to hit him yet. Hell, he'd even made him something to eat. Surely, that was a good sign?

Dynameow managed to convince the blond to give her a little snack before she left satisfied. And after they were both done, Shouto figured it was time to start.

"Bakugou... Can we please talk about what happened?"

The blond licked his fingers from the bacon he shared with Dekucat and looked up.

"I don't know what you want to talk about," he said. "Shit happened."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean- that- we have to leave it like that. The consequences that follow- I'm okay with that and I-"

"The consequence is that I'm stuck with you."

"Yes, but surely there's more. You can't really just be okay with it-"

"I'm not." The blond got up from his chair, took both of their plates, and put them in the sink.

"Are you leaving?" Something like fear formed in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

"No," it came back, then Bakugou went into the bedroom. "Come here."

Shouto stood up, confused. What was he planning?

"Are you coming?!"

Immediately, Shouto jumped out of his seat.
Bakugou stood in front of the mirror, testing the angle for a photo.

"What are you doing?" he asked. The blond grunted.

"Saving your career and your reputation, now get over here. Get behind me."

Shouto didn't really understand what the other was up to, but he got behind him as he was asked. Bakugou adjusted the phone until her reflection could be seen on the camera.

"You can thank me later, dickhead."

Huh?
Oh...

"You..." he began. His arms automatically wrapped around Bakugou's middle. Carefully, he snuggled up to the other from behind and pressed his face into Bakugou's neck, just behind his ear, and inhaled his scent deeply. He had no idea if this was appropriate or not, but he couldn't help it. Silently, he exhaled against the warm skin. "Thank you..."

Bakugou relaxed.

"I can't kick you out of sixth place if you're out of the rankings because some prick destroyed your career, Icyhot. Now just shut up and do what possessive alphas do."

Grumbling, Bakugou took a few pictures before choosing one.

Shouto looked over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

Bakugou chose a photo where they were both easily recognizable. Bakugou's middle finger was reflecting in the mirror while Shouto was clinging to him like a drowning man. His face was buried in Bakugou's shoulder. His hair and half of his face were enough to identify him perfectly.

'Fuck all of you. The drama's over," he wrote in the post before uploading the image to his official Dynamight account.

"Let them eat this and die."

Shouto hugged him tighter.

He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve Bakugou.

"Aren't you angry with me?" he asked more quietly. He could understand if Bakugou was angry. More than angry. Mad and furious.

He had not only bonded him, he had also outed him.
Those were both such personal things... he could never give that back.

He deserved punishment. A trial and everything the justice system had to offer him, but Bakugou probably didn't see it that way.

"I'm fucking pissed," he let him know with a growl. Actually, Shouto expected Bakugou to break free of his grip and scowl or punch at him, but he remained surprisingly calm and allowed himself to be held. Only his scent changed slightly. The spicy caramel was joined by a pungent note. "But I won't let him win. Do you understand? The guy responsible for this is the problem. Not you, you idiot."

"I saw the video, Bakugou," Shouto said quietly. "I saw what I did to you... and what I'm capable of..." He still didn't understand how he could lose his temper like that. "And I'm sorry that such an intimate moment happened to you like that..."

"Well," the blonde said with a shrug. "Then you can be glad that it was me and no one else."

Maybe Bakugou was right... He really could be glad that it was Bakugou and not a civilian or... no. Actually, it was just as bad. Or even worse. He had done this to Bakugou of all people. And he would make it better for him.

"What I said yesterday," he began, "I meant it... the situation is far from ideal, but I will do my best to be a good Alpha for you. The best. For you."

Bakugou pushed him away and looked at him grimly. "Cut the drama, just be glad that I don't hate you as much as I would like to."

"It's no drama if I want to stand up for my mistakes. It's called normal common sense.

"Like you have anything like normal common sense after growing up with fucking Endeavour." Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"I think I have enough common sense to know that I have done something unforgivable. Whether it was out of my control or not." Hesitantly, he took Bakugou's hand. "But I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that you don't feel only regret. I will take care of all your needs and your body - if you let me."

Bakugou's cheeks flushed, but that didn't stop him from letting go of his hand and grabbing Shouto's shirt to pull him roughly towards him. His steady gaze bored into Shouto's.

"Listen to me, Icyhot: You may have bonded with me, but you have to live with me, too," he growled. "I don't want any alpha shit, okay? And I'm not a good Omega. I will never submit or whatever. Don't expect me to be a good Omega. I won't. Ever." He let go of him. "But - I refuse to be the victim, you understand? I'm not the victim."

Shouto looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Understood."

"That fucking motherfucker forced us into this, but I'm not going to do shit and let him win. You're going to be fucking perfect and this fucking relationship is going to fucking work, you understand?"

"Of course."

Bakugou's grim features slowly relaxed. His scent also became pleasantly light again.

"Good."

There was silence for a moment before Shouto spoke again.

"Will you let me ... take care of you?" he dared to ask. "I'll be good, I promise." In response, Bakugou pressed his flat hand to his face, the tips of his ears flushed.

"Just shut up so I don't regret not beheading you."

"I'll do my best - but ah- Bakugou - is that my hoodie?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Nothing... I'm just... nothing."

"Spit it out, Icyhot."

Shouto pressed his lips together before coming up with an answer. "It...makes me happy to see you in it."

Bakugou looked at him doubtfully for a moment before snorting.

"Damn possessive alphas... you better do your fucking best, halfie."

"I will."

A few months later.

"Stop looking at that...I look like a maniac."

"'I'll destroy anything and anyone that hurts Katsuki,'" Katsuki quoted with a mischievous grin on his lips, while Shouto pressed his face into the steering wheel in front of him in shame, banging his forehead against it several times. It was terribly embarrassing. It was terrible and embarrassing. "Brave of you to say that on camera."

That was... not what he wanted to say. He was so full of adrenaline and anger and whatever, and then it was too late.

"It just slipped out," he mumbled into his hands. "Why do reporters always interview me when it's most inconvenient?" He turned his head and looked somewhat desperately in Katsuki's direction. He just shrugged his shoulders, but seemed no less amused by the whole misery. His arm was in a sling and his head was bandaged.

In the last mission, he was shot and pushed from the third floor, and Shouto completely lost it. Again.

"Because you're easy prey with your alpha hormones constantly out of whack." The Quirk accident was more than a year ago, and yet this kind of thing was happening all the time. Maybe this wasn't the Quirk. Maybe he was just a madman... "Your father's going to have a stroke if you keep this up," he said, dropping the phone onto his thighs.

Shouto bit his lip before he reached out his hand and gently pulled Katsuki close to him by the neck. Then he pressed his nose into Katsuki's cheek and inhaled his sweet-spicy scent.

He was fine...

There was a sense of peace in his heart.

"I'm sorry... I don't know what got into me..."

Katsuki leaned his head against him, mumbling.

"It's okay, you super-alpha. The world's not going to end from this just because you're possessive as shit, Icyhot. In fact, they're lucky you're a hero. You'd definitely be a bigger problem on the other side of this boat. Now take us home. I'm hungry, and the cats are waiting."

Shouto reluctantly let go of him and started the car.

He looked at Katsuki.

He hated himself a little for being like that, but when he looked at the blonde, he couldn't help it.

It was true, their relationship hadn't started out rosy. On the contrary. Shouto couldn't imagine a worse beginning, if he was honest. But after he understood why Katsuki wasn't as pissed off as he had expected, he was ready to give the blonde the world.

Maybe it really wasn't the quirk.

Deep down, he knew that he would do anything for Katsuki.

He pulled Katsuki close to him again, ran his fingers down Katsuki's neck and gave him a small kiss on the temple.

"Thanks for putting up with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Chapter Text

"No, mom. I'm fine-"

"Fine? What do you mean fine? Are you absolutely sure? I did see the pictures!"

Grumbling, he held the phone away so his ear wouldn't fall off. "Fine under the circumstances!" he growled back loudly, causing a few passersby to turn around and look at him questioningly. "Fuck, now stop being dramatic!"

"Dramatic? You call that dramatic? I can get a lot more dramatic! My only son got bonded and doesn't even have the decency to call his own mother!!!" she snapped back, reminding him who he got his unique character from.

"It's just Todoroki, okay?!" he countered. It was hopeless, but he wouldn't give in. He was bonded, yes. Was that great? No, it sure wasn't. Would he make drama about it now? The fuck, no.

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"Could have been Deku," he grumbled, at which his mother sucked in a sharp breath. He held the phone away, but could still hear her fantastically. As could everyone in a five meter radius.

"At least you know him! With him, I'd be sure he'd take care of that awful character of yours!"

"Sure! Because he and I get along so well!"

"Better than..." she broke off and sighed. The argument why fucking Deku would be better than fucking Todoroki, he would love to hear. On the other hand, he could definitely do without the old witch's opinion.

"And you yelling at me now changes what exactly?!"

"Nothing at all!" she still grumbled, but quieted down. He could imagine her rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance and stamping her foot. "Endeavour is terrible. He abused his wife and son, and now ... his son ... I'm just a mother who's worried, too."

"He's nothing like his father."

"I would believe that, but..." She sighed. Really heavily this time. "It looked so terrible… sure you're okay? You don't have to be with him. You can also...I don't know. Go into hiding or whatever it is that youth does now. Ghosting they call it nowadays."

"I'm okay," he grumbled a little more conciliatory. "Really."

"Are you lying to me to make me feel better?"

"Have I ever?"

"Okay... but then I expect you to at least introduce us to him! I want to meet the boy my son is now mated to. Got it?"

"Absolutely not," he replied, knowing how this day would end if he did. That being, he would be helping his mother bury a fresh Todoroki corpse. "I only called you so you wouldn't come here, okay! Not because I wanted to be yelled at. I'm not home anyway, and I don't need to be rescued. I'm okay. He's not holding me hostage or whatever the media is saying right now!"

Actually, Katsuki didn't want to defend the Icy Hot Bastard at all, but somehow his mother had a completely wrong image of him. Maybe with Endeavour's reputation along with the rest of the Todoroki drama, maybe that was reasonable, but Icyhot wasn't like that. He'd rather his mother hated him for the right reasons, and that was because he was a fucking hopeless idiot.

"Yeah, he just bonded you. My poor Omega baby! I knew it was a bad idea to keep that a secret!" He rolled his eyes.

"I'll introduce him to you when I think it's a good time." He would never say it out loud, but he was sure his mother would love Todoroki. Maybe not right away, but the half-half bastard had a certain charm that few mothers could resist. Probably it was because of his terrible, oblivious nature.

"Can I at least come to the wedding?"

He sighed. "There will be no wedding."

"I expect my son to be courted properly!"

"Okay, I'm going to hang up now. Wasn't pleasant!"

"Don't think I won't-" He followed through on his threat.

Good lord, his mother could bug the dead out of the grave when she wanted to. And also when she didn't want to. And he wasn't in the mood for that right now.

It had now been exactly a week since the incident, and he was on his way back to his normal life for the first day today, on his way to work.

A week with Todoroki. Or rather Shouto.

They didn't do much. Which only incited the media to start the wildest rumors about them and their new relationship in the first days after it was discovered that Katsuki wasn't at home. Todoroki would hold him captive and do unspeakable things to him.
Or that a little Shouto-Katsuki baby would be born in a few months. God... There was even a hashtag on Twitter for their new shared name. #Shoumight

It couldn't have been worse.

But the fact was, they did nothing for a week except watch shows, sleep, and play with the cats.

Todoroki Shouto apologized a hundred times. At least.

The big, bad, possessive Alpha who was supposed to do these terrible things to him was just a big softie. Actually, it pissed Katsuki off how cute the half-assed bastard could be. But he couldn't tell that to the press, and that was exactly why Todo-Shouto would throw himself to the wolves today and comment on the incident while Katsuki went back to work.

Endeavour had actually requested his presence, but Katsuki had simply felt no need to comply with the request of his almost father-in-law. Whether the fiery pro-hero had his redemption or not, he didn't care. For Katsuki, it didn't change the fact that someone like that had no right to be in the business. And he simply didn't like him.

There were several reporters in front of the agency, but Katsuki just walked past them without saying a word. He thought that he had given them more than they deserved with the photo with Shouto. They pounced on it like vultures and spammed all the press portals. Private hero stories were just too much in demand.

At the reception, he nodded to Hanaka aka Material Girl and moved on. In the lobby, a few sidekicks were sitting and talking; when he passed them, they fell silent.

Hmph.

At the changing rooms, he found Kirishima and Denki. Blondie stopped mid-sentence and stared in Katsuki's direction in surprise as he stood in the doorway, suitcase and all.

"Kats!!!" his self-proclaimed best friend yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Working. What else does it look like?" With a raised eyebrow, he turned away and threw the suitcase onto a wooden bench before taking off his jacket.

"I thought you weren't coming back after-" Before Denki could finish the sentence, Kirishima punched him in the side. "Oops, sorry- so, um..."

God... how annoying.

Katsuki took a deep breath before looking at his friends. "Just save what you have to say. I really don't want to hear it."

"But - are you okay?" the redhead asked worriedly anyway. The smell he gave off didn't make it any better.

Katsuki wasn't allowed to take supps. Not that it mattered much at the moment. He smelled so strongly of Shouto as if he was standing in the room. That would at least keep the others away, although it didn't help that he was now aware of the others' scent.

Annoying.

"Peachy," Katsuki grumbled back. "I'd feel even better if everyone would behave normally!"

Blondie made a stupid face. "But let's have a real talk, Bakubro," he began. Katsuki knew immediately that he wasn't going to like the rest of it. "You got mated by Shouto and now you expect us all to just shut up and accept it? It just happened that we were there and - I don't know!" He threw his hands in the air. "It may be none of our business what happens in your love life, but we're your friends and we're allowed to worry!"

Kirishima grumbled from the side. "I agree with Denki." Fucking traitor.

"Would you guys have dated before, which would have been weird enough, but like this without anything and then you expect us to be cool with it?"

Katsuki looked at him for a moment and wondered if he had time today to bury those two idiots somewhere. His schedule was rather free. "Take your worries and shove them! Preferably up your fucking ass!"

Pissed off, he turned around and started to get undressed.

He heard the two idiots whispering, then felt a hand on his shoulder. He jerked to the side before he could identify Kirishima. Who immediately looked at him a little startled. Damn Omega reflexes.

"Sorry, I was just..." the redhead looked at him sadly. "If anything happens- you can always... well, count on us? Or talk to us! Real men talk about their feelings..."

"Yes!" the other idiot agreed. "We're ready to defend your honor!"

"Defend my what?"

"Well, your honor!" To this, Katsuki could only shake his head.

"From what I saw, Shouto wiped the floor with you. I don't know who you're going to defend if you can't even defend your-fucking-selves."

"That's mean!" protested Denki. Kirishima just nodded and looked at Katsuki's neck. The bandage was off and the wound was slowly healing now, openly showing the world that he belonged to someone.

"Is Shouto... is he okay?" he asked a bit absently.

"He'll live," Katsuki grumbled as he changed his clothes. He couldn't wait to get back to work, even if it meant dealing with the public. "He got an interview with the vultures from the press today, though. We'll see how much they leave of him."

"But he's... normal to you? He hasn't done anything else...?"

Katsuki pulled down his shirt, then looked in Denki's direction with a raised eyebrow. "We're talking about fucking Shouto here. Of course, he's normal to me. As normal as this idion can be."

"Yeah, and we've all seen what happens when-"

"Just shut up!" Katsuki interrupted, then tightened his gauntlets and turned away. "Just don't get on my ass. Nothing has changed. He's still the same idiot he was before."

"Yeah, but..."

"Nothing but, just don't get involved!" He didn't want to talk about it.

Kirishima looked dejected, and it showed in his smell. Urgs. At least Denki had the decency to use a scent blocker.

"But... are you guys together now?" asked Blondie. "Just so I know how to...well. You know."

Katsuki's cheeks grew suspiciously warm, and to hide it, he turned to the door before muttering. "Officially, yes."

"And unofficially?" He didn't answer. Sullen and somewhat embarrassed, he left the changing rooms, only to run into Best Jeanist. Oh, great.

"Bakugou." He looked surprised. As far as you could tell from him. Half of his face was hidden in that awful denim collar, as usual. "You're here again."

"Where else would I be?"

His boss showed no emotion. "Will you come into my office for a moment?"

Actually, he didn't want to. But he also realized that this wasn't really a question to which a 'no' would be tolerated.

"If you absolutely must."

"Please," said Best Jeanist, and pointed politely toward the offices.

After a deep, exasperated sigh, the blonde reluctantly followed, dropping into the chair in front of the desk in equal annoyance. Crossing his arms, he watched as the other walked around the table and took a seat as well.

"So, what's going on?" Katsuki asked impatiently.

Best Jeanist showed little emotion. Besides, as a Beta, he only smelled of old denim, so Katsuki couldn't tell anything from that. But he knew that it would be about him and Shouto again.

"How do you feel?"

Snorting, Katsuki pressed his lips together before answering. "You called me here specifically to ask me how I feel?" He had to pull himself together not to snap at the man straight away. "If you just want to make small talk, find someone else! I don't have time for this bullshit!"

He was about to get up. He wasn't in the mood for this! This wasn't what he was here for!

"Bakugou, please sit down again." Katsuki looked at him sullenly, but sat down again. "I understand that this is a topic you obviously don't want to talk about right now, but since the... incident with Shouto happened during a mission, I share the responsibility for it."

Tsk, incident....

"I just want to make sure that you're okay, and offer you options for coping in the form of therapy if you feel it's necessary."

Katsuki raised his eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well," Jeanist intertwined his fingers. "Bonding is a very intimate matter, and non-consensual bonding can do serious damage to an Omega's psyche. I know you've been through a lot, but I want you to know that there are options open to you if you-"

"I don't need any damn therapy!" Katsuki interrupted snarling. "I'm not some mimimi-princess who needs to be rescued, okay? Save it. I'm fine. And I'd be better if everyone would leave me alone. I'm fine!" How many times did he need to say that today before they believed him!

Beast Jeanist looked at him calmly before nodding. "All right, I will take note of your wish, but I want you to know that all options are open to you at all times." He pulled his laptop over to him. "I'll make a note in your file that you have a partner." Katsuki's heart quickened immediately. This was getting really annoying. "Also, as an omega, you are legally allowed an unlimited number of days to spend your heat with your partner-or alone, of course. You don't have to go into detail, it's enough if you just call in sick."

Oh God...
He'd kick Todoro- Shouto!'s ass for that!

"I know that Omegas don't have a particularly good standing in the hero business, so I want to support you with everything I can. After all, you are one of my best employees. And there's a great future waiting for you as a Hero, as long as you continue to strive for it." He flipped the laptop closed and fixed Katsuki with his gaze. "Let me know if you need anything."

Katsuki returned the look before snorting and rolling his eyes. Jeanist knew how to bait him, the bastard. "I'd like a job, old man."

Best Jeanist refused to be provoked. "I can only offer you patrol today. Your usual one, together with Red Riot. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Already on my way."

He was almost out the door when he heard his boss's voice. "Ah and Bakugou." He didn't turn around, "It's okay to be weak sometimes or depend on others."

"Fuck you, I am never weak," he grumbled in response, rudely slamming the door tighter than necessary. Best Jeanist could take his advice and shove it up his ass. Katsuki didn't need it.

Kirishima was waiting outside the office. He scrolled around on his phone until Katsuki stepped out of the room and glanced up.

"Ready to go?"

"Hmph! The sooner we get out of here, the better!"

"Okey-dokey!" the redhead replied, stupid as he was, jumping to his feet before putting the phone away. "Missed you already," he began as they headed for the door. "Silverwire is cool as a sidekick, but I missed being insulted at work!"

Katsuki gave him a venomous look, but said nothing.

They went out the back to avoid the reporters waiting for him out front like a vulture for his next dead snack. Working was great. But it also meant that he had to face the public. Well, better than doing an interview with said vultures. Katsuki wouldn't trade places with Shouto for any amount of money.

Shouto had shown him Endeavour's messages. The old fart almost had a stroke after Katsuki had posted the photo of them. It had been worth it just for that. The picture was picked up by all the reporters and immediately filled both of their mailboxes with heaps of requests for interviews and the like.

But that wasn't what Katsuki wanted. Shouto may have been familiar with people digging around in his private life - thanks to the Todoroki family at this point - but Katsuki actually preferred a modicum of privacy. Japan might have a claim on Dynamight, but not on himself. That much he had learned from Aizawa.

"Is it too personal to ask you about your week?" Kirishima asked at some point.

Katsuki frowned and looked in his direction. Immediately, the redhead raised his hands as if the blonde was about to explode. "No details, I just want... two dudes talking about their week."

The blond stared at him for a moment before grumbling. "I'm not expecting a brat in nine months, if that's what you're worried about."

Immediately, Kirishima gesticulated wildly. "No! No, of course you're not! I'm just... this is so crazy! You and Todoroki are suddenly bonded now, and - And I thought, as your best friend, I'd have an inter-bro talk first before. You know, a manly bro-to-bro talk! You haven't had any time to think about it thanks to that quirk, but - You don't seem too... sad about it, so... can I assume that you don't hate it as much as everybody thinks? I remember a conversation when you were drunk and-"

Katsuki's face grew darker.

"Come on, Kats! Give me some hints or something! I want to be a good best friend!"

When Katsuki opened his mouth to snarl at the said best friend, he covered his mouth. "Don't tell me to butt out! Maybe I should, but I don't want to, because I'm allowed to worry! You and Shouto are my friends!" He took his hand away. "So, do I have to worry?"

He would kill him.

Right here, right now. No matter what the media would think. Katsuki would just strangle him...

No.
No, he wouldn't do that.

What had Aizawa said about controlling his pulse?
Breathe in, count to ten and don't explode. One, two, three... Hmph!

He growled and finally slumped his shoulders, snorting loudly.

"No."

Kirishima looked surprised. He probably expected an explosion.

"Is Todoroki even still alive?" he asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow, and Katsuki could only roll his eyes. Idiot.

"Yeah, I didn't kill him." But maybe his mother would take care of that if she got the chance. "He's fine." At least for now. But it was doubtful that it would stay that way after the vultures were done with him.

Kirishima hmm-ed skeptically. "How did he take all this?"

Grumbling, Katsuki crossed his arms over his chest as he walked.

"He apologized a hundred times and talked a lot of bullshit."

Why did he even say that?

"Bullshit?"

Embarrassed, Katsuki turned away. He really wasn't good at these things. And by things, he meant conversations that involved feelings! Whether it was manly or not, he didn't care, it had nothing to do with gender at all. But the fact was, he just really disliked talking about feelings. Especially his own. "Alpha bullshit."

"Alpha bullshit," Kirishima repeated, confused, before raising an eyebrow. "You mean something like 'I'm going to make you so many babies until you'-?"

Katsuki spun around so fast he was almost dizzy before snarling at Kirishima. "No!" Red-faced, he gritted his teeth and growled. "Do you want to fucking die?!"

The redhead laughed out loud, but kept his distance for safety's sake. A few people turned to look at them. "Sorry, sorry, you just smell so strongly like he's here. I thought you had sex all week or something. He must have scented you a lot - that you even let him do that surprises me." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have pegged him for the possessive type, but..."

Katsuki put a hand over his mouth. "Just shut up."

Kirishima grinned against his hands until Katsuki pulled them away. "Does he actually know that you-"

"Shut up before I-"

Their cell phones vibrated simultaneously, thankfully ending the conversation at that point. Katsuki glared at the redhead for a moment before pulling his phone out of his pants.

"Mission a few blocks away," Kirishima said. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

Immediately, they ran.

All the better, so he didn't have to deal with the reluctant accusations of his supposed best friend. Kirishima obviously knew too much. And even worse, despite all his discretion, of course he stuck his nose into something like this - under the guise of caring.

Maybe Katsuki overreacted because it was about him.

He just didn't want people to worry about him like a hen worries about her chicks. Was that too much to ask?

Maybe it was.
But maybe it was also appropriate.

If another Omega had been in his place, Katsuki might even have felt something like disgust for the Alpha. But that was not the case with Shouto. That wasn't necessarily because...

"Dynamight, what do you think about me coming over the roof and you coming from behind?", Kirishima snapped him out of his thoughts.

The message said that two wanted individuals had been spotted. In a side street. Two policemen were already on the scene.

"Sounds good," he replied. The redhead hurried to a metal staircase and climbed it while Katsuki moved quietly through the side street. He put a communication device in his ear to stay in contact with Kirishima.

The message contained two pictures. Two guys. One with a remarkably square face and a terribly ugly beard, the other rather plain. Dark eyes, dark hair. Both wanted for arms trafficking and other crimes. Petty criminals with potential for more. They were small fry in Katsuki's eyes. It would be done quickly.

He would bomb them away and then Kirishima would do the rest and then he could-

He stopped abruptly.

Beside the two wanted men, there was a third one. Trench coat. Red feathers for hair.

That fucking son of a bitch!

"Red!" he hissed in a forced low voice. In response, he heard a rustling before Kirishima replied. "That son of a bitch is here!"

"What son of a bitch?"

"The one with the red feathers!"

"Huh? Oh! Shit!" he calmed down. "I'm on top of them, keep quiet."

"Don't tell me what to do!" he growled back.

Cautiously, he peeked out from behind a garbage can, only to see the red-furred bastard shoot one of the guys and take off.

"We have to intervene!" he hissed and dashed off.

The guy with the square face was beyond help, already bleeding to death on the ground when Katsuki reached him. The other one took flight when he saw Katsuki and ran in the same direction the bastard had fled.

Kirishima jumped down from the roof behind him and together they ran after the criminals. The inconspicuous guy was inconspicuous as hell, but he could run, much to Katsuki's regret.

The side street led to a small alley that ended at a battered wooden fence that Katsuki saw the guy climb. With the force of his explosions, he jumped up while Kirishima simply kicked in the fence.

Now they were in a run-down parking lot that belonged to a mangy casino. Katsuki knew the area. Anything that caused trouble was around here. If you wanted to get into crime: This was the place to be.

"There!" Kirishima shouted, pointing to a small warehouse. "This could be a trap."

"Guess we'll have to find out," the blond decided and ran off. "Don't let that guy touch you, no matter what!" He really wasn't in the mood for another Alpha accident. Well, it couldn't get any worse than being bonded. But he didn't really want to find out.

Kirishima checked the entrance before kicking in the door. "You have one minute to surrender!" he called into the hall. Katsuki came in behind him and looked around.

There were only a few boxes, a lot of dirt and junk, and two vehicles covered with sheets.

He pointed with his chin in the direction of the cars. Kirishima nodded.

Together they approached and tore it down. Nothing.

"I'd like to know where-"

They heard a laugh from behind, then the red-feathered bastard jumped down from a beam and landed on his knee in a twisted superhero landing.

"Dynamight!" the smug grin Katsuki would slap right off his face! "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Die!" he was already charging his gauntlets when something hit him from behind and threw him forward.

Stumbling, he grabbed onto the car as blood began to pour from his shoulder.

A second shot went off, but narrowly missed him and hit the car. Katsuki immediately took cover between the two cars and grabbed his shoulder. It was annoying, but not too bad.

"Fuck!" yelled Kirishima and jumped to his side. His hands were immediately on his broken top.

"I'm fine!" Katsuki hissed and pushed him away. Without looking where he was aiming, he fired several shots over the back of the car, hoping to hit the idiot.

"You're bleeding!"

"It's just the shoulder, you better take care of-"

Behind Kirishima, the bastard who ruined his life appeared. An amused grin on his lips. The guy probably didn't have any survival instincts if I dared to get this close to him!

Katsuki pulled the redhead away before the other could grab him. Instead of touching Kirishima's back, the bastard now had his arm. Shit! Anyway, he wasn't an Alpha. He wouldn't go crazy like Shouto.

"I guess you didn't learn your lesson, Dynamight, huh?" he asked amused. Katsuki pushed him away.

"Shut your stupid fucking mouth and fucking die!" He was ready to blow him away!

"And I thought you would be grateful for your new boyfriend that I gave you. What's he like, little Omega? I hope he is nice to you, giving you a knot to sit on-?"

"I'll let you know after I put you in the fucking prison!"

The son of a bitch kept his distance. He was quicker than he looked. Maybe he was related to Hawks after all. Katsuki wouldn't be surprised at this point.

Kirishima decided to interfere. "Dynamight! Let me handle this!"

"Stay away and take care of the other idiot!" the blond growled. "I'm not up for any Shouto 2.0 shit! So stay the fuckaway!"

"Understood!"

The red-feathered bastard raised an eyebrow in amusement before laughing out loud. "You think I can only trigger Alphas?"

Huh?!

"If I were you, I'd worry about myself."

That was it.

He'd flatten him and make it look like an accident.

Chuckling, the guy jumped backwards. "It's even faster on an Omega than on an Alpha."

And to Katsuki's horror, he already felt something warm in his body.

Chapter Text

Shouto

Silently, Shouto fiddled with the buttons on his sleeves. His father had made him wear an overpriced suit and matching shoes that rubbed uncomfortably with every step he took.

In front of him was the text he was supposed to read, to apologize to the public and regain their trust.

To be honest, he didn't really understand why he had to apologize to the public when it was Katsuki who was suffering from this misery.

Hawks sat down in front of him and looked at the text. A smile appeared on his thin lips.

"The PR department really went all out."

Shouto shrugged. His thoughts were on Katsuki anyway.

The blonde went back to work today after they had spent a week together at his place.

It had been strange but definitely not bad to have Katsuki with him.

He usually spent a lot of time alone in his apartment. He was not very social. Midoriya often had to force him to go out for cocktails after work. He never refused invitations, but it wasn't necessarily because he needed a lot of company. With Katsuki, it was somehow different. The blond was... surprisingly pleasant.

He liked to play with the cats and then let himself fall onto the couch with Shouto.

That had been a nice feeling.

Now, all he felt was a nervous knot in his chest.

"You don't look like you want to be here," Hawks remarked, leaning back. His fierce gaze was constantly on Shouto.

"Because I don't."

His father approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to control your scent, Shouto."

He looked up, confused.

"Where are your thoughts?"

"With Katsuki."

"Katsuki!" grinned Hawks, waggling his eyebrows. "They're already on a first-name basis! Oh, how beautiful young love must be!"

Enji looked unhappy. The corners of his mouth turned down. "I told you to stay away from him until we find a solution..."

"He is my Omega. That was the only correct solution," Shouto countered, shaking off his father's hand. "You should have included that in your text at some point. It would have been much easier to base your lies on the idea that we've been in a secret relationship for months."

His father snorted. "You're lucky there's no case against you."

"And I have Katsuki to thank for that, not you and your big speech."

Hawks chuckled between them. "We should have invited Dynamight."

"He didn't want to," Enji muttered.

"Too bad, I would have loved to see that."

"It would be easier to advertise that you two had a secret relationship that was now out in the open if he was here to back it up."

"He doesn't owe me anything," Shouto grumbled. "Besides, I don't see why I should have to apologize to the public when Katsuki is the one who has a bond with me now."

Enji grumbled while Hawks laughed again. "Because we have to assure the public that you're not an Alpha running amok and attacking defenseless Omegas."

"Exactly. And you really should get your scent under control. It's getting too much even for me."

Shouto didn't answer, just furrowed his brows until his father let go of him.

"How is Bakugou, anyway?" Hawks asked curiously. "I heard he went back to work today?"

"He's doing well, considering the circumstances," Shouto replied. "And yes, he wanted to work again."

"How was the mood?" he looked over at Shouto curiously. "Should we include in the apology an announcement that there will soon be a cute Shouto Dynamight baby?"

Shouto's cheeks blushed despite your quirk. He quickly regulated his temperature, but looked away in embarrassment. "No, there won't be. Besides, it's a very personal question."

"Yes, and I'm a very curious person. The reporters are about to get even more personal. So you can prepare to answer some very personal questions."

He'd rather shoot himself.

"It's about to start," Enji told him.

Shouto stood up and went into the conference room with his father.

A long table was already set up on the small podium, with microphones, a few bottles of water and a few pieces of paper on it. There would probably be a copy of his speech as well, just so he wouldn't forget it. Enji had made him memorize it, but if Shouto was honest, nothing stuck in his head. He really preferred to go home and hug Katsuki... Maybe that was inappropriate. But he had a hard time suppressing his feelings at the moment.

Midoriya had sent him some articles about newly mated couples and how the psyche and behavior changed. Maybe that would explain the unknown needs. Maybe they were still the consequences of the quirk. But something in him wanted Katsuki to be with him. He wanted him to be safe, to protect him, to hold him close, to sink his teeth into his...

"Shouto!" his father snapped at him. Immediately, he regained his composure. "Sit down."

He sat down in the center. His father handed him a small plastic bottle. "Take this."

"What is it?"

"Scent blocker."

"No, thanks." He pushed it away, earning a disapproving look in return.

The PR woman signaled for the press to come in, and within minutes the room was filled with many people and many more cameras and microphones. It became uncomfortably loud and reminded Shouto that he really didn't like crowds. Being a hero was nice, but public relations was not for him.

As the owner of the agency, his father spoke first. He explained the situation and answered the first questions.

Stubbornly, Shouto looked at his paper.

All those lies.

He would rather tell the truth. And the truth was that Katsuki, despite his terrible reputation, deserved a halo for forgiving Shouto.

"How is the situation being handled internally?" a reporter asked. "Dynamight did not press charges and also made positive comments about the event. Will there at least be consequences within the agency?"

"Since the situation happened because of a quirk accident, we don't want to punish Shouto for something he couldn't help."

"Couldn't help it?!" someone interjected indignantly. "An innocent Omega was mated against his will! Anyone who isn't a hero would get five years for that! Why isn't Shouto punished for this?"

"Dynamight admitted to a close relationship with Shouto, he-"

"Then where is he?" the voice shouted again. Shouto looked up. It was a young woman with a severe bun on her head, staring in his direction, visibly disturbed. "Perhaps he's imprisoned? We know from the past how unpleasant Omegas are treated in the Todoroki family! We can't be sure if this relationship isn't just a PR stunt to save face!"

"All I see is an aspiring young Omega hero being robbed of his promising future!"

"Dynamight is-"

Shouto spoke up and interrupted his father. He really had heard enough. "He is at work, doing his job and his passion. I'm not holding him captive," he said calmly. "Dynamight is still a pro-hero who takes his duties seriously and has no plans to abandon them despite the incident. He's not here because he didn't want to come. The reason is because of reporters like you who start false accusations and rumors in order to damage the image of the people who are protecting them. Explain to me why you are better than a villain."

"Shouto!" his father hissed.

"Does this mean there will be no children in the near future?" someone shouted. "Is it because Dynamight, as an Omega, is totally unfit for the role of a mother? We'd like an explanation."

"Katsuki was right. This interview is a waste of time. I could have saved myself coming here."

Enji looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any moment, while the press was already shouting more questions into the room.

"Since Dynamight was outed as an Omega, would you confirm that he is Japan's most feral Omega and do you plan to change that? Was that perhaps the reason he kept it a secret?"

Shouto's cell phone vibrated. Then his father's.

"One moment, please."

He frowned as he took it out of his pocket. Kirishima.

Without much thought, he answered it. "Yes?"

"Shou, you must come here. It's about Kats!"

"What happened?" His heart skipped a beat.

"I'll send you, just come here!"

Enji also looked worriedly at his phone, then at his son, who was already standing up.

"The interview is over," he announced, then picked up his speech and let it burst into flames. "I didn't want to talk to you anyway."

There was a roar in the room as he left. A reporter threw something nasty at him again, but it didn't matter.

Katsuki needed him.

Enji was right behind him and grabbed him by the arm to stop him, but Shouto jerked away.

"I don't have time."

Enji gave him a look. "I'm glad you're taking responsibility, but you could have handled the press situation better."

"I don't like the press. They're useless."

"Public perception is important to a hero!" he sighed, touching his forehead before composing himself. "I'll take care of the press, you take care of Bakugou."

-

Kirishima sent him a very brief summary and an address near the casino district, but when Shouto arrived there ten minutes later, he still didn't really know what to expect.

There were several police cars and an ambulance in the rundown parking lot. Best Jeanist and Kirishima were already waiting for him. Two large vans were also parked there, and a visibly battered man in a dirty and battered trench coat was being dragged into one of them. He had red feathers on his head... This was the man he had to thank for all this misery.

"Oh! Shouto! Have you come to thank me?" he shouted at him. "I gave you a perfect Omega, didn't I?"

Shouto ignored him and quickly approached Kirishima. "Where is he?"

"In the warehouse. He's injured, but he's fine."

Injured? Immediately, Shouto turned away and headed towards the warehouse.

Suddenly, a sweet scent caught his nose.

He knew this scent. It was an Omega in his heat - it was Katsuki!

There was no mention in Kirishima's text that the blonde was in heat. His heart began to beat faster and something inside him stirred. His inner Alpha was immediately alarmed.

"Katsuki?" he called.

Between some big wooden crates, he discovered him. He was sitting with his head leaning against the wooden surface under a heavy blanket made of fireproof material.

"Katsuki!" Immediately, he was with him, kneeling in front of him. Carefully, he grabbed his shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

Katsuki's head tilted to the side, then he looked at him with glazed eyes before licking his lips. "Alpha..."

Shouto suddenly grew hot.
Then freezing cold and his head began to buzz.

His knees became weak.

He had to...
He had to concentrate. And he had to get Katsuki out of here.

Carefully, he reached for him. "I'll take you with me, okay?" humming softly, he lifted him up. The blonde fell gently into his arms and closed his eyes.

The scent was... intense, but bearable.

"Don't..." he grumbled. "My quirk... highly flammable..."

Hmm. Shouto understood.

Katsuki's quirk was a big threat at that moment. He was literally highly explosive, one moment of carelessness and he would simply blow them all up. Not that Katsuki didn't always threaten to do that anyway, but this way, he couldn't even control it.

It wasn't uncommon for Omegas with such a strong quirk to lose control, especially in the hero business. Katsuki was no exception.

Shouto had to be careful.

With Katsuki on his arm, he left the building.

Kirishima kept his distance to signal that he was no threat. Best Jeanist, however, came closer since he was tolerated as a Beta.

"Shouto?" he began, "Thanks for coming." He paused for a moment and looked at Katsuki, who was panting heavily and pressing his nose into Shouto's chest. "The wound on his shoulder has already been taken care of, but it will take some time to heal completely." He pointed with his hand in the direction of a car. "We have arranged transportation. Can I count on you to take care of him?"

Shouto nodded.

With Katsuki's scent, it would be difficult - he could already feel his skin tingling unpleasantly - but not impossible.

His Alpha instincts were on high alert. His Omega was in danger and he would protect him with everything he had.

"We arrested the man responsible for this. I thought you should know." Shouto nodded and looked into Katsuki's face. His face was red and he looked so out of it. If someone had told him a week ago that he would be holding the blonde like this, he wouldn't have believed it.

"The transporter is ready. Where shall it take you?"

"To my place."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Best Jeanist. "He's in heat."

"I noticed. But my place is fireproof... and he needs me."

The pro-hero didn't look pleased, but nodded. "Fine. Take care of him, please."

Inside the van, he sat down on the bench and pulled Katsuki close to him before the door closed behind them. Katsuki was warm and his breath kept hitting his neck. One of his hands was clenched in the front of Shouto's suit, the other was holding the back and it felt suspiciously damp. Nitroglycerine was probably seeping into the expensive fabric.

They really were a perfect match. Fire and gasoline.

"Hey..." he began quietly, brushing a blond strand away from Katsuki's damp forehead. His eyebrows were knitted together, his mouth slightly parted. "Are you still there?"

The strong pheromones in the small room made him feel a little dizzy. The transporter was here for Katsuki, but he hoped he wouldn't lose control himself. There was nothing worse he could do to him now that he had bonded with him, but he didn't want to push his luck.

"Mhm..." he returned belatedly.

"Are you... are you okay?" He also realized that this was a stupid question to ask right now, but it couldn't help when his insides were trying to drive him crazy with worry.

So far, he had no experience with not being able to control himself. He had very little contact with Omegas. Especially Omegas in their heat.

His family consisted of Alphas, his mother was a Beta. His circle of friends only included Asui, who was an Omega, and the last guy he had dated briefly had been an Alpha....

He had promised Katsuki to take care of him, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. They hadn't even talked about what they would do in such a case.

"Hmmpf... stupid question, Icyhot..."

"Sorry..." he mumbled back quietly. Katsuki moved in his grip. On his leg, he could already feel something that was wet. Immediately, he felt a chill and a hot shiver ran down his spine. "You..." he started but stopped without finishing the sentence. He didn't know what to say anyway.

His inner Alpha screamed.

"Shut up..."

"Okay," he pressed his lips firmly against Katsuki's forehead and hoped he could survive the ride without going completely crazy.

The rest of the trip was torture.

But finally, they arrived and Shouto was able to get out of the van before he lost his mind. He had never in his life expected that an Omega could have such powerful pheromones and that the effect on him would be so drastic.

With Katsuki in his arms, Shouto somehow managed to unlock the door and stumbled into his apartment.

Unfortunately, he lost his balance and they landed on the floor.

Fuck...

When Shouto sat up, Katsuki was lying on the floor beneath him, breathing heavily and facing to the side. His legs were bent, his hands between them. His eyes were closed and when he opened them and looked at him weakly, something happened inside Shouto.

He could feel that he was losing control. It ran through his fingers like water and it wasn't until he growled loudly, pressed his nose against Katsuki's neck and licked over his scent gands that he regained consciousness.

The blonde smelled and tasted absolutely fantastic.
Ripe and fertile -

"Fuck..." he moved away, sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

Katsuki didn't move, just looked at him with a transfigured gaze and remained motionless. The fact that he didn't even defend himself was enough to drive Shouto crazy. Did he trust him? Probably not. It was more likely that he just couldn't help himself, the heat taking its toll.

Katsuki lay defenseless at his feet and Shouto had to decide now how he was going to deal with the fact that such power had been given to him.

He had to keep it together!

They didn't talk about it. Actually, they didn't talk about anything, how they would handle their relationship.

Now, they were in this awkward situation.

But Shouto was his Alpha....
He was probably the worst Alpha in the world.

"I will take care of you," he promised quietly and kneeled down to pick Katsuki up from the ground. He left the fireproof blanket behind.

Omegas needed physical closeness. Katsuki needed closeness. He could provide that without overstepping Katsuki's boundaries.

"I guess we should wash off the nitroglycerine."

Katsuki made an indistinct sound and resembled a sleeping kitten. Soft and cuddly. His hand slipped powerlessly away as Shouto held him.

His own cats looked at him judgmentally from a safe distance before disappearing into the study.

With a heavy sigh and strong doubts, he carried Katsuki over to the couch. It would be easier to undress him there and since Shouto wanted to put him to bed afterwards, he preferred to take off the dirty and bloody hero's uniform first.

Katsuki remained quiet, his eyes still closed.

"I'll undress you, okay?" He was not sure if Katsuki could hear him, but he refused to do it just like that... Alpha or not.

After the blonde held still, Shouto started to remove his uniform. The gauntlets were already gone. The area around his shoulder was soaked with blood, but the wound he discovered under his clothes was already closed.

Someone dared to hurt Katsuki. Anger ran through him.

His fingers started to tremble the more he removed the uniform.
The top could definitely go in the garbage, the rest seemed fine so far.

Hesitantly, he undid the belt and pulled down the blonde's boots and pants.

Now, he lay half-naked in front of him and Shouto could admire the Omega's body for the first time in a long while. Here and there, a few scars adorned his body. Memories of past battles and a strong contrast to their school days.

He remembered too well when Katsuki, Denki and Kirishima compared their muscles and Katsuki insisted that he had much bigger biceps.

"The only thing bigger here are your booby muscles, Blasty, and your fat ego!" Denki had thrown at him, collecting a fist to the face.

It was one of many memories he associated with Katsuki. Now that he thought about it, the blond had always had his own special way of behaving at school. Besides, he never smelled strongly of anything but his shower gel.

Looking back, maybe he should have realized that the blond was no Alpha.

The scent Katsuki gave off now that his clothes were off was even more intense and fogged his brain. It was as if he was trying out a whole new kind of drug that had been developed just for him.

He smelled so damn good...

"Are you done staring?" Shouto looked up, startled, only to find that Katsuki's eyes were open again. He looked tired and looked over at him with a sluggish look as he tried to squeeze his legs together.

"Sorry, I-"

"It's okay..." He tried to move, but quickly realized that his body was completely shut down. "H-he hit me with his fucking Quirk..."

"Yeah... But you successfully arrested him."

"Hmph... I just threw everything I had at him," he muttered back, a small smile on his lips. "But... now I feel like shit..."

Shouto gave him a sympathetic look. "I'll run you a bath."

When no protest came, he got off the couch and left Katsuki alone for a moment. In the bath, he was able to breathe in and out with relief.

The pheromones made him feel stupid. His heart beat faster and in the mirror he noticed that his pupils were dilated. He really felt like he was on drugs.

This was not good. And he should hurry back to the blond as long as he was responsive and could clarify what was okay and what was not.

He quickly turned on the water and filled the tub. In the bedroom, he loosened his tie and threw his jacket on a chair. He kicked his shoes off his feet and finally went back to the blond who was lying on the couch just as he had left him.

His eyes were closed, but his body language told Shouto that he was awake.

"Katsuki?"

"Uh huh?"

"Good, you're awake," he walked slowly around the couch. "I'm going to take you to the shower and then to bed. Is that okay with you?"

"Mhm..."

Shouto got him into a sitting position before lifting him into his arms and taking him to the bathroom. There, he tried to put him into the water as carefully as possible after he had freed him from his boxers.

Katsuki fell forward and pressed his nose against Shouto's neck, clawing his hands into Shouto's shirt. He heard him take a deep breath, then Katsuki's breath tickled his skin before he sighed softly.

"Fucking Alpha...you smell good..."

Immediately, he felt hot again. Quickly, he regulated his temperature.

"Th-thank you... that goes for you too..."

Katsuki whispered against his skin. "Can you handle it?"

That was a good question. Could he handle it?

"I don't know," Shouto replied honestly while he gently stroked Katsuki's back. His hand stopped dangerously close to Katsuki's ass. His skin was so warm, so soft... The blonde was so surprisingly pliable...
If he let his fingers slide deeper, what would happen? Was Katsuki as wet as one would expect from an Omega? Would he take his fingers right away?

He had to stop thinking about that.

After a moment, he pushed him away and helped him into the tub. He made sure that Katsuki didn't drown right away.

To have him completely naked and unprotected in front of him was a thing of its own. It was terrible. Terrible and good.

Katsuki closed his eyes in exhaustion as soon as he was under water. This gave Shouto a moment to remember that he had to stay focused. If he was honest, he hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

He had paid attention in class and knew what to do in such a case. Aizawa had explained to them how to deal with Omegas. In case they had to rescue one during the heat. He knew what to do...

In theory.

But all the theoretical stuff was completely meaningless when he looked at Katsuki and breathed in his intoxicating scent. Now he understood why Alphas went crazy when it came to their partners. But there were so many questions in his mind -

"How was the interview?" the blond asked, his eyes still closed.

Shouto almost asked what kind of interview he meant before he remembered. The interview he had left in a hurry after Kirishima had called him.

"I don't know, I left," he replied. "Kirishima called and I got up and left."

"In the middle?"

"Right at the beginning, but I didn't want to talk to the reporters anyway." He sighed softly and lowered his hands into the water. It was slightly pink, because of the blood. Luckily the wound was already closing, but it would leave a scar for sure.

A small laugh left Katsuki's mouth, distracting Shouto, then he opened his eyes and looked at him, exhausted. This was so far away from the Katsuki he knew...

"Just like that?"

This Katsuki was... soft. He was still highly explosive and dangerous - especially when combined with him - but he was still... weak and soft, so Shouto felt the inner urge to protect him. To take care of him and lay the whole damn world at his feet. Katsuki looked exhausted, tame in a strange way, and Shouto was completely fascinated by it.

"Yes..." he answered belatedly, remembering that Katsuki had asked him something. "Just like that. My father said he'd take care of it."

Actually, he should be grateful to him right now. Enji wasn't very enthusiastic about the new member of the family, but there wasn't much he could do anyway. Shouto wanted to take responsibility for his actions.

"Was it before or after he had a stroke?"

"Before, I guess, but you can never be sure with him." He touched Katsuki's knee with his fingers. The conversation distracted him. That was good. "The press and I probably won't be friends anymore." Not that it bothered him much. He still didn't understand what the public had to do with his private life. Besides, he had never been afraid to scare off rude reporters. Usually not even on purpose. Midoriya said he was simply too blunt.

"The press sucks... and we are an easy target for them..." Katsuki was right.

They were the best thing that had happened to the media in a long time. After the affair with Endeavour and Dabi was over and his brother was in prison and could only watch the world from behind bars, it had become very quiet around the current number one. And that had to change as soon as possible. So the youngest Todoroki with the mouthy Omega hero came in handy.

Besides, the relationship between Alpha and Omega was always relevant and made headlines. But he didn't like the questions of the reporters at all. He did not imprison Katsuki. He didn't forbid him to do his job and the blond wasn't some untamed Omega. He was Katsuki.

"Is the water okay?"

"Mhm..." Katsuki pressed his lips together and mumbled something that sounded like 'your scent' but somehow made no sense. His cheeks were flushed, but that was probably due to the heat and the bath.

"What?"

"Your scent," he growled as he turned away. "It's easier to think."

Was he embarrassed to admit it?

"Hmm." Shouto's fingers moved to Katsuki's cheek all by themselves, gently stroking the heated skin. "Don't be embarrassed. It's a normal reaction... I'm glad if my presence makes it easier for you. I promised you that I would take care of you and your body."

He wished he could say the same, but Katsuki's scent was... overwhelming.

And when the blond pressed his face into Shouto's hand and looked at him shyly, he felt something stirring inside him that suddenly tried to get out. An unbearable heat spread through his chest, threatening to burst at any moment.

He let out a low, harsh growl before he could stifle it.
He withdrew his hand immediately and looked into Katsuki's face, startled.

"Sorry, I..." he had no idea what to say. I'm sorry that I'm apparently the animalistic monster the media makes me out to be? Maybe that was fitting. "I'm sorry..."

To his surprise, Katsuki started to laugh.

Huh?

"Why are you laughing? This isn't funny..." Pouting, Shouto moved away and sat down on the closed toilet. His heart pounded in his throat. "This is terrible... I'm terrible."

"Yes, you are." Katsuki grinned before he slid deeper into the water and looked at him mischievously. "You bad, bad Alpha... I didn't expect you of all people to react like that, as fucking stoic as you are."

Shouto put his head between his hands and looked at the floor. "This is not funny..."

"What are you going to do, huh? Bond me?" Shouto grimaced. "Calm down, will you?"

"No, I... I don't know," he grumbled and looked up again. "Maybe I am what they're accusing me of after all...Maybe they're right."

It was one thing to wake up and be shown videos, quite another to feel this sense of loss of control happening in real time.

Why was he having so much trouble controlling himself? Was this normal? Did the quirk still have a hold on him?

"No," Katsuki replied simply. "You're just stupid."

That didn't make him any wiser, but he decided that maybe he should leave Katsuki alone for a moment before he went crazy and did more stupid things. But at least he was right about one thing. He could no longer bond him by accident.

When he got up, the blonde looked at him. "Your scent is driving me insane," he told him honestly. "I think I need to get out of here for a minute, okay? I'm not leaving you, ok?"

Katsuki nodded before a small smile appeared on his lips.

Shouto left the door open after leaving the bathroom. In case the other one called him. He knew that Omegas quickly felt abandoned. And he didn't want that.

He just had to... try not to freak out.

He might not be able to bond Katsuki anymore, but who knew what else could happen...

In the kitchen, he got something to drink and fed the cats before he leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. His brain felt like a fog. A fog of Katsuki's damned wonderful pheromones. His brain played scenarios of what he could do to him. His Alpha was demanding attention and Shouto was really struggling to face it because the idea of him sitting in the water behind Katsuki and watching him...

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, reminding him that he still had a life outside of this personal crisis.

Enji Todoroki.

"Shouto," his father began after he had answered without thinking. As always, his voice sounded as if someone had thrown up in his breakfast. "I wanted to let you know that the interview is over."

"A text message would have sufficed," he replied flatly.

"The press wasn't thrilled that you just left, but I wanted to let you know that being seen with Bakugou definitely helped your reputation. A team apparently followed you and filmed you carrying him out of the building. It speaks well for you that you're obviously taking responsibility."

"Okay."

"Is everything okay with Bakugou? I haven't gotten the report from Jeanist yet."

"He's fine under the circumstances. He's just having a bath and I'm taking care of him."

"Can I do something for you or for both of you?" Enji offered to his surprise. He frowned. His father must really have been doing penance. " Maybe you need some food. I could have some delivered to you."

Shouto took the phone from his ear and looked at the name of the caller to make sure it was really his father.

"Shouto?" He could hear Hawk's voice in the background. "He's just confused that you can be human. Give him time."

"I'm still here," he replied, running a hand through his hair, "We're fine. Thank you."

"All right. Do you know how to take on an Omega in the heat?"

No, he didn't, but he'd rather die than talk about it with his father. "They need a lot of physical closeness and..."

"I'm going to hang up now."

He heard Hawks laugh out loud, then hung up and stared at his phone for a while. What the hell?

At least the conversation served as a distraction and he could think more clearly again.

He got another bottle of water for Katsuki and looked in the refrigerator to see what he could cook today. Katsuki wouldn't be too happy about him cooking, but if he didn't want to starve, he would have to make do.

He put the bottle of water down in the bedroom before he went into the adjoining bathroom.
Katsuki lay there just as he had left him. His eyes were closed, only a little less relaxed. His face looked redder than before.

"Katsuki?"

"Mhm..."

"I'm back."

"I can smell that."

Shouto snorted. "I think I should wash you and put you to bed, are you okay with that?"

"Yeah...tired..."

Once the bathtub plug was out, the pink water drained and Shouto gave the blonde a quick rinse. Before he picked up the shower gel, he looked indecisively at Katsuki's face. "I've never washed anyone before, please don't be mad if I make mistakes."

"I literally can't move, Icyhot. The last thing I'm going to do is judge you and your fucking washing skills."

"Okay..." He took a deep breath, then started soaping the blond. It was less about actually washing him and more about getting the nitroglycerin off, especially on his hands.

He tried not to stare at Katsuki's penis, at least not so obviously, but it wasn't easy because it stretched hard at him as soon as Shouto's hands touched Katsuki's skin.

It was normal for an Omega's body to react this way. The heat was there to reproduce. A purely biological reaction of the body to ensure the preservation of humanity, quite simply...

"Fuck, Icyhot..." Katsuki bit his lips. "What's taking you so long!"

"Sorry, I...I...you...I..."

"Hurry up, I'm getting cold." That was a bold lie. But Shouto decided to let it slide. He took the shower head and rinsed the foam from the other's body.

Katsuki took a shaky breath and pressed his knees together.

"Are you okay...?"

"No... it's fucking annoying, okay? Get me out."

Shouto followed the request. Or the order.
It didn't matter, he was ready to do anything.

Carefully, he lifted him out of the bathtub and held him so that the blond wouldn't fall over. Swaying, Katsuki leaned against him, pressed his whole wet body against his and pressed his forehead into Shouto's shoulder. His whole body was shaking. And then he heard him let out a muffled groan before cursing softly. "Fuck..."

Shouto looked down at himself.

Cum was slowly running down his pants. Katsuki's cum…

"Please just don't say anything..." His face was bright red and he tried in vain to hide in Shouto's shoulder while Shouto tried not to think about it...

"It's okay, Katsuki," he replied automatically while a storm broke out inside him. He had absolutely no idea how to deal with all these feelings, so he did what he did best. He ignored them and would deal with them later.

First Katsuki, then the feelings.

He put a towel around his unexpectedly small shoulders. Then he pushed Katsuki out of the bathroom.

They stopped in front of the bed.

The towel served as protection for both of them, but he didn't want his Omega to have to get into bed with it, so he let go of it and it fell to the floor.

Katsuki leaned naked into his arm, his eyes lowered with flushed cheeks and a phenomenal scent...

He had just come on him without him having to do anything.

Shouto's hands began to wander all on their own, carefully stroking Katsuki's back before exhaling softly and stopping at his hip. "Do you... do you want to have sex?"

He felt Katsuki's warm breath on his skin, then the blond shook his head.

"Okay," Shouto replied a little relieved. It wasn't up for discussion, but if he was allowed to make requests, he didn't want their first time to be under such circumstances.

Carefully, he led the other to his (their?) bed and pulled the blanket over Katsuki's body until only his blond mop of hair was visible. "Wait, I'll bring you something."

His bathrobe was hanging on the bathroom door. That would suffice for his purposes. Without asking Katsuki if he wanted it, he dropped it next to him. "Take it if you need it. It should smell like me enough."

"Are you sure? You won't get it back... in the same condition."

"I'm aware of that. Take it."

Katsuki's hand came out from under the blanket and pulled the soft piece of cloth towards him.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No...I'm...tired."

"Okay, I'll let you sleep, but I'll be around."

With weak knees he left the bedroom.

Katsuki would be his downfall.

Chapter Text

Katsuki

Katsuki woke up feeling every single bone in his body, every single muscle and every part of his skin that was in contact with anything.

What he also felt was an unpleasant tingling sensation and the disgusting wetness between his legs.

He was alone, but he could hear someone in the next room. He rubbed his eyes tiredly before grimacing in disgust. He had cum on his hand. Ew.

He needed a shower. Or a bath. Anything, as long as he could wash everything away.

His heat seemed to have subsided, but he could clearly feel the aftereffects.

After he moved and grunted loudly, Shouto's red and white head peeked through the open crack in the door. "Katsuki?"

"Uh-huh." That was all he managed to utter.

Shouto stepped fully into the room and Katsuki could see him take a deep breath.

Embarrassed was the wrong word to describe Katsuki's feelings. Why did he have to be... never mind. Compared to the last two days, it couldn't be worse.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm... yeah."

"Do you want some water?" Icyhot looked at him insistently until his gaze lingered on Katsuki's wet cheek. Of course. "Shower?"

Actually, he should be glad that the half-half-idiot was handling him and his heat so normally, and didn't make Katsuki feel bad or weird, but somehow... he had no idea.

He just wasn't used to sharing this situation with someone. It had been a long time since his last heat. The sups he had been taking were extremely effective. So effective that some doctors had advised him against it. But as a hero, he couldn't risk suddenly offering his ass to any Alpha in the area in the middle of a fight, raid, or hostage situation.

Maybe he should be grateful to Todoroki that that wouldn't be the case anymore if he now offered his ass to just him instead... He couldn't decide if that was an actual benefit or not.

He pushed the thought aside. That was for another day.

"Yeah..." he grumbled and pulled himself to his feet. He was still a little too warm and felt run over, but he also knew that it was over now and that he would be able to think clearly again after a good shower.

" Should I draw you a bath?" Icyhot asked attentively, but Katsuki shook his head. "Then I'll make you some tea for when you're done."

"Mhm."

He was already out the door, obviously understanding without Katsuki having to say anything that he needed some time to himself for now. The idiot had probably read some how-to alpha books to meet Katsuki's needs. Because he couldn't imagine that Icyhot had even an ounce of Alpha in him. He was simply too reserved and stoic for that. Too introverted. Just too Todoroki.

And the most alpha-like thing he had ever done was to growl at a classmate who had harassed Asui.

After said alpha idiot was out the door, the blonde threw the blanket aside and went into the adjoining bathroom with heavy bones. Icyhot's apartment was great, he had to admit.

It took him longer than usual, simply because he felt so sluggish and exhausted, but when he got out of the tub, freshly showered, he felt much better. The fog in his head was gone and he could think more clearly.

Back in the bedroom, he found Shouto changing the sheets. His two cats were playing with it, making his job more difficult.

His cheeks immediately became hot.

His Alpha was taking care of the laundry, which he had completely soiled during his heat.... He couldn't decide if he found it terribly embarrassing or cute.

He preferred to just kill himself. Spending the heat at someone else's place wasn't really something that was ever on his list of things to do in life. However, it also didn't say he wanted to be bonded and here he was.

Icyhot turned to him. "I made tea and breakfast. Are you feeling better?"

The blond muttered something he didn't understand himself.

"There are clothes for you on the chair."

That's a start.

Grumbling but grateful, he got dressed and couldn't help but notice that the clothes smelled pleasantly of Shouto.

Dekucat played with his pants as he tried to put them on. "You really have to rename her. I refuse to call her Dekucat." Even though she reminded him a bit of the nerd. She was black and all plush. She also had big green eyes.

Icyhot laughed softly as he threw the sheets into a basket. He was so terribly normal that it made Katsuki uncomfortable. He could be wrong, after all, the heat was really messing with his Omega brain, but he was very sure that the other one had been sitting outside the bedroom door...

He had felt his presence. Was he just pretending? Maybe Shouto wasn't so calm after all and Katsuki's heat was taking more out of the idiot than he wanted to admit.

"But that's her name."

"Hmph."

"Since you survived my cooking for the last two days, I think you'll like my creation today," Icyhot said as he walked past him. A pleasant smell wafted in Katsuki's direction.

Did he do that on purpose?

Probably...

"I have no choice anyway," the blonde grumbled back and followed the other into the kitchen. Dekucat trudged after him. In the kitchen, Katsuki sat down on one of the chairs and looked at the table. There was tea in front of him. That was easy. There was also a small bowl with rice, fried vegetables and an egg on it. "That even looks edible, Icyhot. I'm shocked."

The alpha smiled gently before slipping Katsuki another small bowl of sweets. "My omega deserves the best, so I made an effort."

Immediately, the blond's blood rushed to his brain, shutting it down. He could literally feel the soggy sludge bubbling in his head. "Y-you..." he pressed a hand to his face. "Don't say that, you idiot..."

Icyhot looked shamelessly at him before sitting down next to him and pulling himself a cup of coffee. "Enjoy your meal, Katsuki."

Surprisingly, the food tasted good. It wasn't anything super impressive, but it was alright and the blond silently appreciated it as he shoveled the food into his mouth. After the heat, he always had more appetite than necessary. He already knew why his second nature was getting on his nerves.

"Did I miss something?" he asked with his mouth full to distract himself.

Shouto looked up from his phone.

"Eh... not much. Best Jeanist called to ask how you're doing. Midoriya called to ask the same thing, and I'm pretty sure my father had a stroke."

"Huh?"

"He..." He looked a little confused, as if he couldn't really process it. "He offered to bring us food and wanted to tell me what to do with you. Well - as an Alpha."

Katsuki choked on his rice.

"I hung up before he could go into details, just to be on the safe side."

"Sounds like a stroke," the blonde confirmed after he coughed hard and downed more tea. God. That was embarrassing.

"Are you okay though?" Shouto asked, looking over at him. If Shouto had a bit more facial expression, Katsuki would say that he even looked a bit concerned. "Since we didn't talk about what was okay and what wasn't before..." Before he could stop him, he went on. "I hope I was good for you."

It took Katsuki a moment to understand that his cheeks probably wouldn't turn a normal color today, no matter how hard he tried. He decided to hide his eyes behind the hand he had been using to support his head. "Just shut up."

"Katsuki..." the idiot repeated more insistently. "I want– I want to do this right." Katsuki heard, even without Shouto saying it, that there was more to it.

"I'm okay," he forced out, his eyes still fixed on his bowl as if it were an anchor on which his life depended. "You did– you did good."

Shouto nodded, looking pleased.

Katsuki decided he was just stupid.

A stupid, stupid alpha.

A stupid alpha who cared about him.

How embarrassing was that.

He'd done so much to make sure no one knew his little secret, and now he just had Icyhot as his Alpha... of all the people in the world, the very guy he'd disliked the most in his school days. Sometimes even more than Deku!

At least he wasn't a loser like the nerd or Kaminari.

Fate was a humorous thing.

"Your phone rang a few times, maybe you should check your messages. I put it on charge in the living room so it wouldn't go off."

"Mmm."

Icyhot let him eat in peace and refilled his tea.

Katsuki just slid off his chair at some point and went into the living room, grumbling. His phone was on the small table, blinking. A sign that he had unopened messages or missed calls.

As he reached for it, he glanced at the couch.

Memories flooded back to him immediately.

How he had been lying on the couch two days ago with Todoroki hovering over him, trying to remove his clothes.

His stomach tingled as he remembered how the other had looked at him.

Hungry. Lurking. On the verge of losing control.

And yet he'd simply undressed him.

Katsuki could only imagine what it must have been like for him.

Sitting with an Omega - with his Omega - in a confined, enclosed space and not being able to touch him properly. Todoroki had more self-control than Katsuki had expected - apart from the stupid Quirk and their bonding.

He pushed the thoughts aside.

It was bad enough that he couldn't just leave. Not that he really wanted to. The only thing waiting for him in his apartment would be an empty bed.

His phone told him he had fourteen missed calls and thirty messages in various chats. Not counting the group chat with the idiots who were just spamming anyway.

Izuku, Kirishima, his mother and Best Jeanist.

He prioritized them. Not necessarily in that order.

‘I'm still alive, bitches ,' he wrote in the group chat to get it over with quickly.

He also replied to his mother, but he knew she was at work anyway. It was a miracle that she hadn't beaten Shouto's address out of Best Jeanist to get here.

‘Woohoo! Nothing gets you dead!!! ' Denki wrote back. 'Hope you had fun ;)))'

Rolling his eyes, he replied with a stinky finger emoji while Icyhot came into the living room to take the blankets that were lying on an armchair. Ah yes. Now he could have his bed back.

"Is everything okay?" he asked when he felt Katsuki's piercing gaze.

"Yeah," he grumbled, turning away to text Denki that he was going to drown him in the bay of Tokyo. "Denki just wants to die."

"On his birthday?" the other asked back.

"On his - what? Is it today?"

"Yes?"

"Fuck! Shit. Maaaan-!" he breathed out loudly, annoyed. Then he added 'as a gift ' to his last message.

'Awww, thank you! You're coming to my party, aren't you? With Todo-bro-kiii?'

Katsuki threw his phone away.

Shouto looked at him, confused.

"I'm going back to bed," he announced before getting up and walking towards the bedroom together with the cats. "Good night."

-

In the evening, Katsuki realized that he simply wouldn't escape life and resigned himself to his fate in the form of a commitment to Denki's birthday party.

It was okay. He was well rested. His heat was gone, he'd cuddled with Icyhot's cats and he was getting a little bored too.

It was only logical that they would go together.

Only now they were standing in the hallway and Katsuki had the feeling that something was wrong.

Icyhot's glances were getting more and more insistent and his smell also told him that something was up.

"Ba- Katsuki."

There it was.

"What is it?" he asked in return. He sounded more annoyed than he was.

Icyhot looked at him for a moment before lowering his gaze.

"What's wrong, Icyhot?"

The half-half alpha visibly wrestled with himself before returning Katsuki's gaze.

"We can't leave. I have to scent you."

Katsuki frowned. "What?"

"I... have to. Scent you. Or we can't get out."

Now he raised a blond eyebrow in confusion.

"You have to scent me?"

Shouto didn't look particularly happy about his statement. And Katsuki was slow to understand why.

Icyhot was no ordinary alpha. He usually didn't even let on that he was one. His alpha nature was subtle. Guiding. Supportive and protective. But now?

Now this Alpha had an Omega. He had him.

Accordingly, he looked helpless.

"I'm– I'm sorry–"

Katsuki interrupted him, rolling his eyes, before the other could shame himself into the ground and disappear or some other shit.

"Shut up and do it."

Todoro– Shouto's – he was having a hard time getting used to calling him that – face brightened immediately. Maybe he should just stay with Icyhot permanently. That was safer.

"Are you really okay with this?" the other asked hesitantly. His gaze wandered to the ground, helpless, before he looked up at Katsuki again. "It's just that you still smell too much like heat and I—" he broke off and looked indecisively at Katsuki's face.

Grumbling, the blond folded his arms in front of his chest. "Spit it out, Icyhot." A deep sigh escaped his throat as the other merely bit his lips. "Come on, you normally have no problem spitting out the most fucked up stuff."

Icyhot sighed before giving in.

"I don't want anyone else to be able to smell you. You're mine."

That last was obviously unexpected, even for him, because he immediately clutched his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry. That was uncalled for. I'm just-"

You're mine.

His heart skipped a beat, showing him how fucking pathetic he was. Was he happy that someone else was. An alpha. Shouto out of all people. Claiming ownership over him?

He shouldn't be happy about that.

That was pathetic.

Katsuki didn't know what to say to that. Just as he didn't know how to react to the feeling in his stomach. So he muttered, "Fucking possessive alpha," and approached the other. "Go on, do it. Scent me."

Shouto hesitated. If only for a second.

Then he carefully reached for Katsuki's hand and brought it to his neck, pressing his wrist flat against his skin.

He maintained eye contact as he let go of the hand and then pressed his own hand against Katsuki's neck, spreading more of his scent on the blond.

It felt strangely intimate.

And that despite... well, what had happened in the bedroom and the bathroom.

Icyhot smelled... good. And he couldn't help but consider the smell on himself as good, too.

Never in his fucking life had he thought that he would smell like fucking Shouto Todoroki. And that he would even like it.

His life was a disaster.

"Thanks," grumbled the man responsible for the disaster, looking at him a little bit satisfied.

"It's okay..." Katsuki mumbled back. "Can we go or do you intend to hump me and pee on me to mark your territory?"

The corners of Shouto's mouth turned upwards. "No. Ready to go."

Katsuki turned away at first, but stopped for a moment. "Ah- act normal, okay? If you have to scent me. Then tell me that. If there's something else going on in that crazy alpha brain of yours, tell me. Doesn't matter what it is. Got it?"

The other nodded slightly. "Understood."

"We don't need to make it harder on ourselves unnecessarily."

"Okay..."

Katsuki pulled the hood of his- Icyhots hoodie lower over his face and Shouto put on a cap and sunglasses to avoid being recognized too quickly.

They knew anyway that the reporters would be lurking like vultures outside Shouto's apartment complex, but they didn't have to make it too easy for them.

They managed to avoid them somehow and eventually they were on the subway on their way to Roppongi.

The ride was uneventful and silent.

Shouto scrolled through his phone. Cat news. And Katsuki was more or less lost in his thoughts.

This was his life now.

Icyhot by his side forever. An alpha on top.

He had no idea if he should think that was good or bad.

It was horrible because it was Icyhot of all people, but on the other hand...

"Katsuki. Do you want to move in with me?" the horrible person asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"You could move in with me," Icyhot repeated without looking up from his phone. "You don't have to, of course. But my apartment is big enough. I still have a room that I once planned as a guest room. You can have it. If you want it."

The blonde eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What makes you think that now?"

"It would be easier."

"Easier for who?"

Shouto looked up from his phone and looked into Katsuki's eyes for a moment. "For... everything? You've been with me for the last two weeks anyway. I thought it might be more convenient for you. And for me. Even if the early stages of bonding wear off and... well..."

Katsuki returned the look, but couldn't really make sense of the offer. Grumbling, he leaned back in his seat. "I'll think about it."

After Icyhot returned to his phone, silence spread between them.

That was strange.

But better than talking about who should move in with whom.

Maybe Katsuki should stick to his own rules. While he demanded that Icyhot share his thoughts with him, he wasn't willing to share his own. He was a bastard with double standards.

Well, fuck him, he had every right in the world to be.

-

The bar Denki had chosen for his celebration was, of course, in the middle of the most popular street in Roppongi, so they had to push their way through crowds of drunken people without being recognized before they arrived.

The bar owner merely raised his head and gestured to the back for them to go through as Katsuki and Shouto, hooded as they were, stood in front of him. Despite the busy area, they had enough privacy to enjoy themselves in peace (or not) at a handful of bars that prided themselves on discretion.

A luxury that you didn't have very often as a Pro Hero these days. At this point, he could understand why Aizawa looked completely different in private than he did as a Hero. While Eraserhead resembled a hobo, Aizawa Shouta even looked somewhat attractive. He could still remember too well when he saw him in the evening after the fight with Deku. If it hadn't been for the familiar tired expression on his face, he probably wouldn't have recognized Aizawa. No wonder All Might had snagged him when he could.

Katsuki followed the noise his so-called friends caused in the bar.

He pushed the short curtain aside - barely having to duck due to his lack of height, unfortunately - and then was met with sudden silence.

Blaring silence that was worth a thousand words, coupled with curious pairs of eyes fixed on him and, a moment later, on Shouto, who entered the room close behind him.

He should have known.

"God, chill out," he grumbled annoyed, whereupon at least Kirishima had the decency to jump up and greet them, even if Katsuki only pushed him away. Followed by fucking Deku, who squeezed between him and Shouto to greet them.

Denki downed the rest of his beer, while Ochako and Momo exchanged obvious glances. Katsuki didn't like it, but that was probably the way it was now.

"Hey, welcome! Have a seat!"

"I didn't know you were coming here together," Deku began. "Or that you were coming at all, Kacchan..."

"Well, here I am. Problem with that?" the blond growled, as his nature intended.

Deku shook his head in panic. "Of course not! Have a seat! Mina isn't here yet either, but she probably had another job at the tower. Ah- and maybe Shinsou will come! Ehh- Do you want a drink? Beer? Is that Todoroki's hoodie?"

Katsuki looked at him blankly and then wordlessly pushed past his childhood friend to a free seat. That was worse than expected.

Shouto took a seat opposite him after Momo had given him a strange look, but nevertheless directed him towards him in a friendly manner.

"Nice to see you," Ochako began, but looked tense.

Denki happily slid them both a beer. "Aye, I'm glad you could make it! And above all, that I won't be thrown around this time!" Laughing, he gave Shouto a little blow with his elbow.

Icyhot looked slightly ashamed at the table. "I'm still terribly sorry about that, Kaminari."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was really cool to see you in action, well, half of the time anyway. Definitely a change to be at the other end of the line for a change."

"Mhm..."

"Ey, Pikachu, leave him alone," the blond grumbled. "Otherwise I'll throw you under the bus for a change."

"But it's my birthday today!"

"Perfect, then we'll save on the numbers and letters on your grave!"

Denki grabbed his chest in fake horror, "Ouch!" Then he turned to Shouto again. "No, honestly. It's okay! Let's drink to that! And the way you brought down the helicopter! Like Terminator!"

"Don't remind me..." Shouto grumbled, hiding in his glass. And Katsuki couldn't help but to find that a bit cute.

Fortunately, the mood returned to normal quite quickly after the first few awkward minutes and once they had alcohol in their hands, it became a little easier to block out the looks of the others.

Deku was telling some old story, euphoric as ever. Kirishima, who sat surprisingly far away, interjected every now and then and when Mina arrived, it got louder once more.

The mood lightened, but it didn't change the fact that everyone ignored the elephant in the room.

Until Mineta eventually opened his mouth.

"So... aren't we talking about Blasty being bonded by our beloved ice prince?" he interrupted Deku's boring story and half-climbed onto the table to get the attention he wanted. With his gaze, he first caught Katsuki and then Shouto.

"Mineta..." Momo admonished him, but he just waved her off.

"No one likes you," grumbled Ochako.

"What?" the dwarf hissed back. "We all want to know, but none of you losers dare bring it up because Blasty will rip your head off."

Katsuki could feel his carotid artery throbbing dangerously.

"Justified, don't you think?" he asked with forced calm. "So, do you want to die?" Deku put a hand on his shoulders, which didn't help at all.

"I'll gladly sacrifice myself if I get information, okay?"

"Mineta!"

Ochako tried to pull him off the table, but the goblin easily dodged her.

"What, huh? Blondie comes in here smelling fresh after bonding and heat and expects no one to ask?! Not to mention Torodoki's crushing scent that just screams that anyone who touches his new beloved Omega is going to die!" with a cocky grin on his face, he looked over at Katsuki who was about to climb on the table and wring his neck. "The elephant is so fat in the room that there's hardly any room left. Thought you'd be more relaxed after the heat. You did fuck, didn't you?"

"We didn't fuck, what the fuck!" Katsuki hissed, throwing himself forward to grab the little purple-haired(?) douchebag, but he just dodged once more.

Who invited him anyway?

"Even if they did fuck, it's none of our business, Mineta!" Mina snarled and had the presence of mind to throw a bowl of edamame at the idiot.

"We didn't fuck!" Katsuki now snarled at her, even if he felt a brief hint of gratitude for the bowl that hit Mineta squarely on the head.

"The news said you got hit by that sex quirk, didn't it?" The gratitude was gone again at that.

"That doesn't mean we fucked! What's wrong with you guys?!"

Now Denki joined in. "It's none of our business at all," he called out in between, but then had to grin big. "But: we're fucking curious!"

"Denki!" Kirishima pulled the blond back into his seat. "This is Kats and Todoroki's privacy! Whether they fucked-"

"We didn't fuck!" Katsuki shouted angrily and hit the table with all his might, knocking over two glasses. The first sparks flew from his hands.

There was silence shortly afterwards.

Katsuki had probably been heard on the street.

Everyone looked at him, everyone except Shouto.

"Well, technically speaking," he began nonchalantly. "I did make you come." With his finger on his beer glass, he looked thoughtfully at the table.

Katsuki gave him a bland look. "Don't make things worse, Icyhot."

Shouto shrugged his shoulders.

"They're our friends, maybe we should-"

Katsuki interrupted him. "We don't have to do anything!" he hissed. Then he looked around. "Get your noses out of my fucking business! Enough that the media act like my life is public property!"

Grumbling, he got up. "I'm going to get some fresh air!"

Shouto looked up at him, but dutifully stayed in his seat.

As Katsuki reached the back alley taking a deep breath, he heard the wooden door open and close again. It was Kirishima.

"Are you okay?"

The redhead casually stood next to him and lit a cigarette.

"Yeah, go fuck yourself."

Kirishima snorted in amusement.

"You can hardly blame them, can you?"

"Are you trying to defend Mineta?"

"No, of course not," his best friend replied. "The way he talked about it was shitty. He deserved the edamame. But-"

"Don't give me the but ."

"No, I don't... you gotta give them some credit for being human. Two of their friends are in a difficult situation and nobody really knows what's going on. Your statements weren't really informative and no one really knows how to act, man. And then you come in smelling like Shouto, like you've been bathing in his pheromones. You, who wasn't even officially an Omega two weeks ago. It's okay to be a little curious, don't you think? What if that were Ochako or Deku?"

"I wouldn't care," the blond grumbled, even if he would care.

"You would care," Kirishima grinned and took a drag on his cigarette. When had he even started smoking again?

They remained silent for a moment.

"You and Todoroki are okay, right?"

Katsuki grumbled, but then answered. "Yah."

"Sorry to ask, but the last time I saw you, you were begging for your alpha and Shouto... I thought he'd rip me apart if I got too close. He- he still smells so strong. It's not so easy to sit next to him without feeling like he's about to jump on my neck. I'm allowed to ask if my best friend is being oppressed by an alpha."

"We're still talking about Icyhot here."

"Doesn't change the fact that his presence is quite overwhelming. You don't even notice the way he looks at you, do you?" when Katsuki furrowed his brows in confusion, the other laughed. "Oh, he probably doesn't even notice it himself. But just for the record, he keeps track of every little touch the others make on you. It's a bit funny, considering he probably doesn't even do it on purpose."

"I don't know what you mean," Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"If he had, would he have been here?"

Kirishima shrugged his shoulders. "I know you're not the type to be oppressed, but Alphas and Omegas can be very complicated. I just want to make sure you're okay."

The blond couldn't roll his eyes as far as he wanted to.

"No, he's... he's okay."

"Okay… He... what's he like? As an Alpha."

The blonde shrugged his shoulders. "Better than expected."

"Mhmm..."

"He suggested I move in with him today. That freak."

Katsuki pretended to be annoyed by the absurdity of the suggestion, but Kirishima just laughed out loud.

"I guess there are no compromises with him. Will you accept the offer?"

"I don't know, maybe." With his hands in his pockets, the blond kicked a few rocks out of his way. "He has cats."

"And he's your alpha who obviously can't keep his hands off you?"

"He can if he has to."

"But he scented you?"

Katsuki shrugged his shoulders. The conversation was kind of embarrassing for him. Actually, everything combined with the current situation was embarrassing.  "Alpha things, I guess."

"You know... you once said, when you were drunk, that you-"

"Oh, shut up," the blond crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively. He knew what Kirishima would say now. "If you come up with that shitty story again, I'll have to choke you."

"Kinky." The redhead grinned broadly so that the pointed teeth were all perfectly visible. "Well, you said what you said."

"I was drunk and fifteen!" He turned away grumpily and ignored Kirishima, who was laughing quietly to himself. They remained silent for a moment. Kirishima smoked his cigarette, only to light another one.

"I'm going back inside. You stink."

On his way back, Mineta and Momo crossed his path. Grumbling, he pushed past them before heading back to their room.

" — I just think it's unfair how the consequences have been distributed," he heard Shouto say. He sounded a little sad. He immediately perked up and stopped moving. "Katsuki was stripped of the chance to choose, while I got a perfect Omega. That doesn't seem fair to me."

"Perfect omega, Bakugou?"

"He... he is perfect. And I find it very difficult to... control myself."

"But you didn't touch him during the heat?"

"No." A sigh. "I just sat outside the bedroom door like a dog and tried not to lose my mind. I still feel terrible about it."

Hah! So Katsuki hadn't imagined it after all! Hm. On second thought, that didn't make the situation any better. Even weirder somehow.

"Todoroki," Deku began. "You should realize that you're not responsible for this situation alone."

"Exactly, man! It wasn't you on the field."

"But it was me . Just - completely out of control. I don't think that was the Quirk. That was me."

Everyone fell silent for a moment and Katsuki could feel the depressed mood all the way behind the curtain. He could even feel it in his stomach.

"Did you talk about it?"

"Just a little. He's handling it very well. Too well, in fact. I thought he'd be angry with me, but... We actually get on pretty well. He- He told me not to hide anything. But..." Katsuki could hear Ichot ruffling his hair. "How do I explain to someone I've bonded against their will that I want to touch and scent him all the time?"

"Well, it looks like you did it after all? He completely smells like you."

"He—"

Katsuki decided he'd heard enough and made his presence known loudly as he walked through the curtain.

"What are you whispering about, losers?"

Ochako and Deku looked over at him, startled, while he stepped up behind Icyhot and leaned casually over him, reaching for his glass.

He leaned his upper body completely against Shouto's back. "Jo, are you still drinking that?" Without waiting for an answer, he clutched the glass and drained it in one go. "You're carrying me home, Icyhot. I don't think I'll make it through this evening sober. And you're the cause of this mess."

Shouto lifted his head slightly to look up at him. A small smile on his lips.

"Sounds fair."

He would never admit it out loud, but at that moment he thought the half-and-half idiot was a little bit cute.

Deku looked at Katsuki in surprise, but said nothing. Such an open display of physical proximity was not Katsuki's style at all, but apparently Icyhot needed a little reassurance. Or the others. Maybe even himself.

They were all right.

They would work.

Denki grinned wide and slid him another glass. "Here, freshly brought!"

Kirishima returned a moment later with Momo. They seemed to have buried Mineta somewhere. "Jo, we've ordered another round of beer!"

"Fantastic. I'm going to need it!" Katsuki growled, then intentionally made himself heavier before letting go of Shouto and standing up. Not without several pairs of eyes watching him.

He would probably have to get used to that.

He was probably asking too much of the others, simply accepting the new situation without asking questions.

He gripped a new, cool glass of beer tighter and made an inner decision.

"So, you losers. Listen up." All the loser eyes were immediately on him. "Since you're so fucking curious and won't give me a break anyway: Icyhot and I are officially in a relationship. Dating, whatever. Feel free to spread it in the media or do whatever you want, but leave me alone."

"Awww, Katsuki's showing feelings!" Denki sighed overdramatically.

"I'm gonna show you feelings!" the blond growled back, furrowing his eyebrows grimly, but decided to turn his attention to his beer. "Fuck you guys."

"Cheers!"

Mina hopped over to him and clinked glasses. "To you and Shouto!"

"Whatever, alien face."

-

After Katsuki's small but obviously very necessary speech, the mood in the room lightened. Maybe it was the alcohol. Or maybe not.

And even if Katsuki was planning to get completely wasted for once, it was Icyhot who was hanging on his shoulder wobbling, completely drunk.

"Can you handle this, Kacchan?" Deku looked at them unconvinced as Shouto almost slumped forward. Of course, thanks to the Quirk, the little bastard could handle vast amounts of alcohol without getting drunk. Quite the opposite to Icyhot, obviously. "I can walk with you?"

"No, thanks, you nerd. I'll get Icyhot to bed on my own." In one hand he held Shouto's apartment key, which he had taken from him earlier. The other hand was around Shouto's middle, holding him upright. Sort of, anyway.

Deku nodded. "Actually, I was going to tell Shouto to take care of you, but I guess that just became unnecessary. So... you take good care of him."

"I'll try not to forget him on the subway."

"And don't do it too hard!" shouted Mina as she waved.

"Use protection!" Mineta, who had reappeared at some point, threw after them, only to receive a smack on the head from Ochako.

"Idiots," the blond mumbled quietly before turning away with Icyhot in tow and heading towards the subway station. It wasn't comfortable, but it was what it was.

They caught the last train. And once they were seated, Katsuki pulled Shouto's hood down over his face. Photos of a drunken Hero were not particularly beneficial to a career. Especially not when the hero in question had already made negative headlines.

At the apartment, Dekucat and Dynameow greeted them at the door and only left when Katsuki dropped Shouto on the floor.

Grumbling, he looked down at Icyhot, who was now trying to take off his shoe. "I fell," he commented.

"You don't say."

Katsuki took off his shoes and his jacket first before he turned his attention to the little disaster called Shouto. He pulled the second shoe off his foot and placed it in the corner in an exemplary fashion, then took Icyhot's hand and pulled him up.

"You're heavy."

"Sorry," the other mumbled back, then leaned against the blond with his full weight, pressing his nose against his cheek on top of it. "I'm... pretty drunk..."

Katsuki sighed, "Yes, you are."

He put Shouto's arm around his shoulders and more or less dragged him into the bedroom.

Ah, yes.

Now that his heat was gone, the bed belonged to the half-and-half idiot as well.

While Katsuki pondered what to do, Shouto staggered to the side - but still clung to Katsuki and together they fell onto the bed, almost missing it.

Katsuki landed on top of him.

"Are you stupid?" He hissed, pushing away only to look up into Shouto's annoyingly handsome, drunken face.

"Maybe a little," the idiot replied and then turned to the side with Katsuki.

"Hey!"

Katsuki tried to roll to the side to get up. He still had his clothes on and he didn't actually intend to sleep in them. But Shouto had a different opinion and put his arm around his middle and pulled him back.

His nose touched the back of Katsuki's neck, pressed firmly against his hairline and then the idiot took a deep breath.

The blond remained calm in the tight embrace and let it pass with a pounding heart.

"You smell good..." the idiot mumbled softly against his skin at one point. Katsuki's heart decided to skip a beat. Fuck... "Like me... I like that."

Uff....

"Mhm. Go to sleep, you fucking idiot."

Chapter Text

Shouto

(A few weeks later)

'I'm already at the gym. see you there. don't be late.'

Shouto looked at his cell phone to read Katsuki's message before replying with a curt 'ok'. Then he remembered Midoriya telling him that he should use more smilies to sound less rude. Even though he didn't know how to sound rude via text message. So he added a smiling cat emoji.

“Is that Bakugou?” Momo asked curiously. Shouto suppressed a smile and nodded.

“Yes, we've arranged to meet for training today.” Although 'arranged' was perhaps not the right word. Katsuki had gotten out of the shower this morning and said, “Let's train tonight.” And Shouto had been okay with that. He didn't have any plans today besides the usual coffee date with Momo anyway. And Katsuki was a good training partner, even if he fought unfairly.

She sighed heavily, then stirred her latte macchiato and moved the decorative cookie, which no one ate anyway, from left to right.

“I'm glad the media is starting to leave you guys alone. The situation was bad enough and then it's being exploited like this.”

Shouto shrugged his shoulders.

By now he didn't know what to say except to agree. He was back on duty, but his popularity had dropped. That was okay.

If that was the price he had to pay, then he would pay it.

He leaned back in his chair.

"My father still gets requests for interviews for me and Katsuki every day. I guess the first statement wasn't enough for them."

The media wanted photo shoots together. Talk show appearances and a documentary. Shouto would rather eat snails than comply with any of these requests.

Momo pressed her lips together, but had to smile anyway.

"Well, you can hardly call the first interview a statement. But I don't think they deserve more than that," she agreed. "As long as you and Bakugou are okay, that's enough."

Shouto looked at his phone thoughtfully.

"Last night, he put his clothes in my closet and said he wasn't moving in. Is that normal?"

She laughed softly.

"Probably. I guess it's a Bakugou thing."

"Mhm, okay."

Momo's cell phone vibrated, reminding her that her lunch break was over. With a sigh, she turned off the alarm. "I better get going then. Duty calls."

She finished her latte and stood up. "Thanks for the coffee. Maybe I'll see you in two weeks. Say hello to Bakugou for me."

"I will. See you then."

After Momo had left, Shouto finished his coffee and paid for his way to the Endeavor training area. He was glad to have Momo as a friend.

Even though their first meeting had been a bit tense after the whole bonding thing, it seemed to be okay now. He couldn't blame her. As a Beta, she might have felt a little uneasy after everything that had been shown about him in the news. Fortunately, that was slowly coming to an end.

With a cap on his head and a mask on his face, he left the shop. On the way, he picked up some fresh vegetables, hoping that Katsuki would cook him some soba noodles as a reward. Although he could already hear him: "You can't keep eating those tasteless noodles!

Soba noodles were not tasteless at all. They were perfect.

At the train station, his cell phone vibrated. A message from his father.

Can you explain this to me?

This was followed by a hyperlink.

Urgs. And somehow, even before he clicked on it, he knew he wasn't going to like it.

The link led to an article in the Hero magazine he disliked the most.

Shouto's & Dynamight's fake relationship busted!

He didn't want to read any more, but he did. What had the magazine come up with now? His and Katsuki's relationship wasn't fake...

It hadn't happened under particularly good circumstances, but it was ... there.

In the article were pictures of him and Katsuki, and the dramatic 'accident' that changed both of their lives. Below that, the following was written.

After the public bonding and the surprise announcement of an apparently secret but long-standing relationship between pro-hero Shouto and fellow hero Dynamight, there was already speculation that it was a PR stunt to protect Shouto's reputation and cover up the unwanted bonding.

Now those speculations have been confirmed!

Reporters spotted Shouto with fellow Pro Hero Creati, whom Shouto had previously dated. And not for the first time.

What the...?

Underneath was a picture of him and Momo leaving a café. Just like today. There were also a few older photos from their high school days. In one of them they were holding hands. Only he and Momo had never been dating at all.

In the world of pro-heroes, fake relationships were not uncommon, but a tried and tested means of generating or shifting attention. In this case, it was a clear distraction from the fact that Pro-Hero Shouto had bonded with his co-worker against his will.

But the truth always comes out!

The question remains, who is worse off? Pro-Hero Dynamight, bound against his will, or Pro-Hero Shouto, now bound to an Omega who doesn't see himself as such. And is not suited for it at all.

According to independent reports, the latter has made no further comment and has returned to work instead of accepting his role alongside Shouto.

Experts suspect that this is an attempt to destabilize the bond and confirm that the termination of a bond is possible in rare cases.

Obviously, Shouto is more interested in building his relationship with Creati, even if they had to keep it secret. In fact, the young woman is a suitable partner for Shouto, unlike Dynamight.

He almost dropped his phone when it suddenly vibrated.

It was his father calling. He considered ignoring it, but answered it anyway.

"Yes?"

" Yes ? That's all?"

"How else am I supposed to greet you?"

He heard a sigh. "Is there something going on? Are you meeting Creati?"

"Yes. For coffee during her lunch break," he grumbled through clenched teeth, feeling anger building in his stomach. "We're friends. I didn't know that was forbidden."

Another sigh. "Damn reporters have been calling me for half an hour about this damn article!"

"Then don't answer. Katsuki and I don't have a fake relationship. And Momo is just a friend. She's taken. And a lesbian. Since always."

Why did he have to justify himself at all?

"That's a disaster."

"Yes, it is." He agreed.

He scratched his head, at a loss.

Why didn't the media just leave them alone?

Endeavor huffed. "I'll see what I can do." Then he heard him mutter something that sounded like, "I should just burn the place down. He didn't mind. Maybe he should do it himself. What was that address again?

"Hmph."

"Don't do anything until then, understand?"

"I'm just going to the tower. I'm supposed to meet Katsuki for training in Delta."

"He's here?"

"Yes. But leave him alone."

"All right. I'm glad he's willing to support your potential."

"Dad...shut up."

"Maybe it'll help if you two get engaged."

"I'm hanging up now."

Without waiting for an answer, he hung up. His father clearly seemed to be teetering on the edge of insanity and he didn't want to witness it.

The article on the phone jumped back at him.

Ten more potential partners for Shouto that would fit him perfectly.

He closed the tab and was thankful that the train was coming so he could finally leave.

This was terrible. Again.

-

In the tower, he immediately went to the locker room and changed his white hoodie and light blue jeans for a gray training shirt and matching long black sports pants. He grabbed a towel and a bottle of water and went to the training area where he could already smell Katsuki in the entrance.

Just a little.

He still couldn't get used to the fact that the other had such a pleasant scent.

Sleeping next to him didn't seem to help either.

"Katsuki?" he called into the wide open hall, which consisted mostly of mountain levels. Further away, he heard a small explosion and saw smoke rising before he saw a blond head of hair appear.

Katsuki's skin glistened slightly with sweat, which he wiped from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Finally," he grumbled.

Shouto said nothing, just took a sip of water and put the bottle on the wall next to his towel.

"I thought you wouldn't come anymore, Mr. Busy."

"We agreed that I would come here after the meeting with Momo." Confused, he tilted his head slightly and looked at the other. But Katsuki just waved him away and continued to grumble. His smell was intense. But that was probably from the training.

"Whatever. Come on. Are you at least warmed up?"

"No. Give me a moment."

"'Kay."

Katsuki turned away and moved to the side to get a drink. Sweat pooled on his forehead and he was breathing heavily.

"Have you been here long?"

"Long enough."

"Okay, I'll warm up quickly."

Luckily, with his Quirk, it was a lot faster. He stretched, warmed up his muscles and after a few minutes, he was ready for whatever Katsuki had to offer.

In the meantime, Katsuki had returned to the compound but stopped when Shouto appeared behind him on a staircase made of ice.

"I'm ready. Did you want to train something special?"

"No."

"Some close combat training wouldn't hurt," Shouto suggested. He was much better trained now than when he was still at school, where he neglected his guard, but he was nowhere near as good as Katsuki or Midoriya. "My father said that you are best suited for this."

“Well, at least I'm good enough for that,” the blond grumbled back grumpily.

Shouto raised his eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Forget it. Let's get started."

"Is something wrong?" Shouto asked after Katsuki had turned away. He wasn't exactly the best at reading people, but it seemed obvious even to him that Katsuki was upset.

“No. Everything's fucking fine,” came back. "Now stop wasting time and get into position!"

Shouto had barely two seconds to realize that Katsuki was charging forward.

More by reflex than technique, he dodged the fist that would have hit his nose.

He almost fell off the ice stairs.

"Don't sleep, Icyhot."

Katsuki gave him exactly one more second, then followed with another punch. This time, Shouto was less surprised and blocked it easily. He jumped off the ice and landed next to Katsuki, who was already lunging again. Shouto blocked this blow as well and pushed the blond backwards.

"That wasn't very fair," he commented. But Katsuki was on him again without answering. He quickly aimed at Shouto's open side and growled as Shouto blocked again and caught Katsuki's arm to throw him off.

A quick step and Shouto was in front of him, but the blond was faster and countered with a first blow to Shouto's side.

That was painful. However, the other didn't give him any time to react and struck again.

Shouto backed away. He blocked another blow, then another.

It became more and more clear that something was wrong.

He forcefully pushed Katsuki away from him to create space between them.

"Katsuki," he said, slightly out of breath. "What's wrong with you?"

“What would be wrong with me?” the other growled back and got into position again.

Quickly, he moved towards Shouto again. First, he threw three hard punches, which Shouto successfully countered. Then Katsuki tried to kick his legs and throw him off balance. Shouto skillfully jumped backwards, but had to make himself a piece of ice to keep from falling off the ledge where they were fighting.

Well, he wasn't an expert by any means, but Katsuki seemed pretty rough to him. Then again, that was Katsuki. Rough was more or less what he was, especially when it came to fighting.

Was he angry? If so, why? Did Shouto do something wrong?

He dodged a fist.

He had left the house this morning after Katsuki had suggested the training. He hadn't been angry then. There was nothing wrong in leaving the house. Then he had met Momo, that wasn't wrong either and then...

And then a thought came to him.

"You read the article, didn't you?"

It was more of an observation, because he really couldn't explain it any other way. It must have been the article. Even if he was somehow surprised that it had triggered something in Katsuki at all. The blond didn't think much of the media. So why would he care about this one of all things?

"Which article do you mean?" the blond growled as he stomped towards him.

"The one with Momo."

“You mean the one that says you're banging Momo?”

Shouto dodged a fist. Katsuki only hit the air. So he did read it.

Growling, he bared his teeth, almost like an animal. Or just Katsuki at half past twelve.

"The one that says I'm a complete loser as an Omega? Unfit and unable to adapt to the role at the side of my beloved Alpha?"

Another one.

"Or the one where ten other, better mates were chosen for you. With fucking Deku in fucking first place?"

Shouto caught Katsuki's fist. The blond inhaled loudly, pulled his arm back and glared at Shouto. Good thing looks couldn't kill...

"You know none of this is true," Shouto tried to be conciliatory. "Momo—"

"Momo is a fucking lesbian and has been with Phoneears for five years, I know that," Katsuki replied snappishly, not at all reassured.

"Then why are you angry?" asked Shouto. "You know that's just—"

"Can't you just shut up?" Katsuki interrupted him harshly and looked at him even more annoyed than usual. "If you want to chitchat, you can go back to Ponytail!"

"But you—"

"Nothing but."

Shouto could really feel how Katsuki was burning up. Not only that, but his scent became more intense and for the first time in a long time, Shouto had the acrid smell of a really angry Omega in his nose. His instincts told him to take care of his Omega and calm him down, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how.

"We should—"

He heard the crackling in the air even before the first sparks flew. Out of reflex, he created a thick chunk of ice in front of him before the explosion could hit him.

“Kats—”

"I don't want to fucking talk, Icyhot!" he snarled, cutting him off. His eyebrows knitted together so tightly and angrily that there would be wrinkles. "Either you train with me or I'm leaving!"

Actually, that should have been the moment to end the fight. But his heart was beating fast in his chest and adrenaline was pumping through his body. But that wasn't all. Something deep inside of him felt challenged.

He couldn't stop now.

If the only way to calm Katsuki down was to fight him, then he would.

“Suit yourself,” he replied, and without warning, he let ice shoot out of his foot in Katsuki's direction. Not big, but just big enough to make a statement. "But don't complain."

The blond dodged and destroyed the wall of ice. Grinning now, he seemed almost a bit manic, but Shouto knew that he liked it when they trained with quirks. He probably still held a grudge from the first fight at the tournament, when Shouto had simply given up.

“Fuckig finally.”

They moved the fight to a higher level, to an already slightly damaged area of the forest.

Using the power of his Quirk, the blond catapulted himself into the air, only to dart out through the resulting smoke and attack Shouto.

Shouto shot back with ice, building a wall and using his fire to grab Katsuki's side. He burned part of his shirt.

"Katsuki—" he tried again.

"What?" the other hissed back. He spun in the air and kicked at him. Again, he met unyielding ice.

"If I win, I want an explanation."

The blond furrowed his brow.

"For what, huh?!"

"For why you're so upset."

Frustrated, he snorted as Shouto blocked the next attack with ice as well. "I'm not!"

Shouto clawed at Katsuki's black shirt, spun around nimbly and threw him over his shoulder into a tree. He landed with a groan and dodged a burning fist just in time.

A few leaves fell on them and it smelled like burnt wood.

"Yes, you are."

"I am not!" the blond growled and rammed his fist into Shouto's exposed flank. This made him stagger to the side. Katsuki's strength was not to be underestimated.

Shouto quickly caught himself. He had to, because Katsuki was not only strong, but also incredibly fast. Faster than him.

With the help of his ice quirk, he dodged backwards. He slid across the forest floor until he had put some distance between them. “Then one of the articles hurt you anyway and I'd like to know why.”

"Hurt?!" Katsuki hissed. It exploded between his palms. “You think I'm hurt by something the fucking media says?”

"It seems so," Shouto replied, which only made Katsuki angrier. His face literally darkened.

"Nothing hurts me at all! It just annoys me. Everything about it!" he continued to growl as he dashed forward to close the distance between them. There were explosions everywhere that Shouto had trouble understanding Katsuki. "I knew how the world would react to Omegas! Especially to me. " An explosion threw Shouto to the side. He rolled over the ground, but quickly got up again. "And that's why I kept all this shit a secret! And then that idiot came, and then you..." Another explosion pushed Shouto further back, so that they were now on some kind of ruined street with houses already heavily demolished.

"But you said you weren't angry about that-?"

He caught Katsuki's fist with the speed of his mind and froze it.

"I'm not!" Katsuki broke free with a blast, but Shouto was faster. He grabbed him again. He threw him into the air and sent several chunks of ice flying out of the ground, throwing Katsuki even higher.

“You know I don't think any less of you, you're-”

Katsuki spun around in the air and kicked a broken chunk of ice in Shouto's direction, which he caught with fire and melted.

“You don't, but you don't do anything else either!”

Huh?

Katsuki came to a halt on the broken piece of ice, breathing heavily and Shouto could feel his heart beating faster and faster.

"What-?"

The blond launched himself off the chunk of ice and catapulted himself towards Shouto.

The force caused them to crash into a house wall together and break through it.

They rolled across the floor and through the debris. Katsuki hit him in the side with a blast and Shouto burned him on his upper arm.

Somehow, Shouto got to his feet, only to be slammed into a wall with full force.

Katsuki obviously had too much power for such a small body.

Shouto's pulse raced.

More out of reflex than anything else, he blocked a blow he could barely see through the rising smoke, twisted Katsuki's arm and slammed him against the wall, pinning him down.

With his arm pinned above his head, the blond looked at him intensely. He literally impaled him with his red gaze. His chest rose and fell violently. Shouto's hand was at his side, feeling the body in front of him gasping for air. He felt how hot it was.

Shouto felt something stirring inside him.

Something deep inside him.

Then the blond licked his lips and grinned.

"Not bad, Icyhot."

His hot breath brushed against Shouto's cheek, sending shivers down his spine, then the blond pushed him away, blasting himself off from the wall and throwing himself at him. He wrapped his legs acrobatically around Shouto's hips, sparks already flying from his hands. Shouto freed himself and threw Katsuki against something in the room. It crashed and clattered. It must have been a metal cabinet that was now out of commission for good.

Shouto heard Katsuki growl, then he was thrown off his feet and they fell backwards together. On the ground, Katsuki didn't give him a moment's rest and hit him again and again. As if in a fury.

It resembled a drunken teenage punch-up rather than two professional heroes training.

Shouto managed to grab Katsuki's hands and spin them so that he was sitting on Katsuki's hip, but the blond rammed his forehead into his jaw so hard that he blacked out for a few seconds.

He found himself on the floor with a throbbing headache and ducked just enough to avoid being hit by Katsuki. Then he kicked his feet away and the blond Omega landed next to him with a surprised gasp.

He grabbed Katsuki's arm with his fire hand.

- And ignited a powerful explosion that threw them to the side.

His ears rang violently as they rolled across the floor until they finally came to a stop against the nearest wall.

Katsuki was lying underneath him. On his stomach. His breathing was heavy.

Shouto's hand in his hair pressed his face into the floor.

He knelt over him, holding him down.

His lungs burned. There was dirt in his mouth and in his hair. Everywhere, really. His body was on fire.

In a good way.

Katsuki didn't look any better when the smoke cleared. His blond hair stood out even more than usual and his back was covered with countless scratches. And actually, he should have ended the fight right then and there.

But he couldn't.

He felt good.

Breathing heavily, he held Katsiki under him. He pinned the smaller body to the ground and pushed it down, his hand gripping the blond strands tightly.

He had to.

Absently, he bent lower. His vision flickered. Katsuki smelled so unbelievably good...

His neck was exposed in front of him.

His...

He ran his tongue over the hot, sweaty skin.

His body shivered violently. He heard Katsuki gasp as he stroked his skin with his other hand. He enjoyed the soft surprised sound and then -

— he went for a bite. His teeth touched him, pressed into the firm skin and—

And then he came to his senses so quickly that he felt sick.

What the hell was he doing here?

He stood up immediately and let go of his friend. He let go of Katsuki. His Omega. His Omega, who he had unintentionally bound. "F–fuck. I– I'm sorry." Katsuki was his Omega only because he had lost control. Like he was now. He didn't have the right - "Fuck", overwhelmed, he grabbed his hair and ran his hands over his face. He felt terribly hot. "Sorry... I—"

He had to put some distance between them. So much more distance than they had right now.

But before he could take a single step, the blond threw himself at him. He yanked him off his feet so that they landed on the ground again. Breathing heavily, Katsuki stayed on top of him and Shouto became aware of every part of his body that Katsuki touched.

What were they doing here?

This wasn't training anymore...

They should stop while they still could...

"You're not going anywhere, Icyhot," the blond growled, pulling Shouto up by his shirt. "I'm fucking warning you."

“Kats-”

"You finish what you started."

"We should-"

And then Katsuki crushed his lips against Shouto's and something deep inside him literally exploded with happiness.

A hot shiver ran down his body, so violently it made him feel dizzy.

This was their first kiss.

And it was fantastic.

Katsuki tasted fantastic.

A little bit of dirt, a little bit of blood, but more than anything, a lot like Katsuki.

Katsuki's lips moved hard and hot against his, he opened his mouth and pushed his hot tongue into Shouto's mouth. Intense and demanding.

That made Shouto's stomach flutter. And more.

He had no idea what was going on here. But he liked it. Loved it. It felt right.

Despite his confusion, he didn't dare think a second thought. No 'what ifs', no nothing. His hands pulled Katsuki to him so fast that the other could only gasp.

He felt the warmth of Katsuki's body against his own. He could feel how the other trembled in his grip, pumped full of adrenaline and hormones. And everything that made the heart race. Just like his own.

Almost desperately, the blond deepened the kiss as he pressed his hips against Shouto's and made him feel how hard he was for him.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

Overwhelmed, but at least as excited, he pressed the smaller body against him and murmured contentedly into the kiss. His hands ran curiously over Katsuki's bare skin under his shirt. He stroked the annoying fabric upwards and ran his hands firmly over his back. Katsuki felt uniquely good...

With a jerk, he sat up with the other, his hands still wrapped around him. He needed some air before he died right here. Katsuki stayed on his lap and looked at him impatiently.

"I... wanted to say that we should stop," he began out of breath. "But please don't stop..." he pulled him closer again and Katsuki gasped hotly against his lips.

"Fuck, I want you, Icyhot. You don't know how much I want you!"

Then he bit him, kissed him again and scratched over his skin. Harsh and demanding. Just as Shouto had expected from the bratty blond.

His hands were everywhere. Roughly working their way into the red and white strands and making him moan.

Katsuki literally threw herself at him, pressing himself against his chest. Shouto caught him. He held him tightly, running his hands over Katsuki's amazing body. Exploring the soft but firm skin for the first time. His fingers trembled. He gasped breathlessly between kisses.

Their lips touched again and again. Katsuki's teeth clawed at his skin. The blond clung to him like a drowning man and gave him no chance to stop, just as Shouto demanded.

Then he threw Katsuki off him.

He stayed on the ground with his legs spread wide and looked at him intensely. Shouto could feel the fire burning in Katsuki. His cheeks were bright red, his lips glistened wet as he licked them with his tongue.

Shouto grabbed his shirt and pulled it up over his head. He had to feel the other. Right now.

Katsuki did the same. The annoying piece of cloth landed somewhere next to him in the dirt.

Then Shouto was over him again, grabbed his thigh and pulled him towards him until he was kneeling between his spread legs.

"Kats..." he started but didn't know what to say. He was still so confused, but eagerly willing to do whatever the other wanted.

The blond interrupted him with a kiss, leaned over and grabbed Shouto's neck again, pulling him closer by the hair, obviously enjoying the soft moans that followed.

It was as if their fight wasn't over yet. The blond was bossy, dominating the kiss and driving Shouto out of his mind.

His scent intensified with every passing second and suffocated Shouto with a wonderful, perfect smell of spicy caramel. And when he thought about it, he never wanted to smell anything but Katsuki again. He never wanted to touch anything but that perfect hot body. He wanted...

He wanted so much.

So much more than he thought.

And Katsuki was willing to give it to him.

Was ready to give himself to him.

The thought alone made him shiver and his groin twitch with pleasure. Katsuki gave him far too much of himself.

Katsuki was ready to give himself to him.

None other than the most perfect Omega in the world held him tightly and kissed him out of his mind.

Shouto broke away from him. Completely out of breath, he licked his lips. "Fuck... you are so perfect..."

He began to kiss his way down Katsuki's chin. He planted hot kisses everywhere, on every spot he could reach. Inhaling his perfect scent, he licked his skin. "I didn't know you wanted this...not like this..." Slowly, but intensely, he kissed his way down his neck, over his bare, trembling chest and finally across his stomach. He tasted the other for the first time and enjoyed the feeling that grew inside him.

Something deep inside of him was satisfied.

A feeling that frightened him and felt so good at the same time.

Then he looked up at him, into the bright red eyes staring down at him, half shut.

"Because you're fucking stupid," it came back almost softly Katsuki took a deep breath, then grabbed his hair and forced him up a bit to get a better look at him.

"You want me too, don't you?" he asked roughly. There was a vague note of uncertainty in his voice.

Shouto's fingers only dug deeper into Katsuki's narrow hips. More possessively.

He swallowed hard.

He'd felt so bad when Katsuki had his heat and he'd sat like a dog in front of his own bedroom door. Ready to jump up at any moment, burn the door down and make the sweetest Omega in the world his own.

He had felt terrible. Because he knew - because he had thought - that Katsuki hadn't wanted him to.

"God, yes. I want you. So much." A little roughly, he pulled Katsuki against his hip, leaned over him again and breathed a soft kiss on his hot lips. Guilt spread through him. "I want you. I want you so much that I feel bad every day that I have so little remorse for bonding you to me. I want you so much that it scares me... because deep inside me there is something... that is just waiting to have you..."

He never said it out loud. Never admitted it to anyone. He didn't even want to admit it to himself. He was afraid of what he felt for the other. He felt terrible because he wanted to do these terrible things to him. Terrible things that felt way too good with Katsuki.

"Oh, just shut up," Katsuki grumbled amusedly, pulling him closer and planting a firm kiss on his lips. "You fucking, evil, evil Alpha..." he whispered against his lips afterwards.

The hand on his neck grew heavier and Katsuki's grip softened.

"You're not angry?" he asked softly. He looked into the bright red eyes that watched him, almost a little in love. He shook his head.

"No, but I will be angry if you don't-"

Shouto pulled him onto his lap with a single tug.

"What are you doing?" the other one grumbled.

"You want me to finish what I started and I don't want to hurt you when I fuck you, if that's what you want," Shouto grumbled back, tilting his head back to look at the blond.

Katsuki turned a shade redder and then exhaled loudly. "It's not like you didn't just throw me across the damn room." His cheeks were deliciously red. He looked so cute. Shouto's hand wrapped itself around his cheek, Katsuki was so warm and so soft. "I kind of liked it," he confessed quietly as he pressed his head against Shouto's hand.

He looked so unexpectedly cute. Shouto's heart stumbled. He would never recover from that sight.

"I... I didn't know you had such masochistic preferences..."

"You're so stupid..." Katsuki said in a raspy voice, taking Shouto's hand and slowly running it over his chin and neck. "So stupid. I don't even know why I like you, but I do." His fingers stroked over Katsuki's chest. Further and further, deeper and deeper- "Probably because of all the losers in the world, you're my favorite loser. "

Shouto swallowed as Katsuki slid his hand down the front of his pants, letting him feel how ready he was.

"You want to fuck me?" he asked roughly, licking his lips and looking at Shouto through his lashes. Invitingly. Willing. Ready- "Then undress me, Shou..."

Shouto died inside.

He died a thousand deaths.

Katsuki. He...

Katsuki's pants went up in flames.

"F-fuck?!" The blond looked down at himself in alarm. His skin was unharmed. But his pants were gone. Disintegrated into fine ashes. Including his underwear. "Fuck... I... the fuck? ... You ass... I liked the pants..."

“I don't think you need it right now,” the other muttered back, pulling Katsuki firmly against his crotch and allowing himself to stroke Katsuki's exposed ass. "I'm going to touch you now, Katsuki..."

Curiously, but as if he had never done anything else in his life, his fingers slid between the perfectly round cheeks. Touching him carefully at his entrance.

The blond gasped in surprise.

Katsuki was wet.

Wet and ready for him.

Shouto's penis throbbed in his pants.

"...You... are wet...", he whispered. A bit of a statement, a bit of a surprise. He knew that Omegas got wet. But... that was Katsuki.

Katsuki, who was now looking at him, a little unhappy about that fact. Embarrassment was written all over his face. "Don't say it like that, you idiot..."

Shouto could only look at him with satisfaction. "But I want to... because... you're wet for me ..."

Testing, he pressed against the tight muscle and got a deliciously sweet moan in response.

Katsuki felt hot. Even hotter when Shouto gently slid the first two fingers into him and got another sweet moan in return.

He was hot and tight. Shouto couldn't wait to feel him.

Reassured by Katsuki's reaction, he worked his fingers into him. Kissing the soft moans from his lips, he enjoyed the perfect sight of the other. Katsuki moved slowly towards him, riding his fingers and panting hotly against his cheek.

"Fuck, Icyhot... My last time... was quite a long time ago... if you wait too long... I'll come on your fingers..." he gasped softly, making Shouto's cheeks even hotter.

"That's fine with me too..." he whispered back against his chin. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

Katsuki panted loudly and then licked his lips, breathing heavily. "But I want your stupid Alpha cock inside me..."

Shouto's mind went black as all his blood rushed to his lower region, not leaving much for his brain.

"You..." he managed to get past his lips, biting into them before realizing that thinking was no longer necessary here.

Katsuki wanted him. There was nothing else to think about.

And if Katsuki wanted him, then he would give himself to him.

"In a minute..." Shouto grumbled. "Be good... you're not ready yet."

Katsuki arched his back and thrust his bottom at him, demandingly.

"Don't tell me to be good– ! Hnhaahh— ! "

The rest was lost in a loud moan as Shouto pushed three fingers deep inside him.

"F-Fuck... Icyhot..."

"Let me... let me take care of you..." Shouto replied roughly. His voice sounded hoarse. He could hardly think straight. But he wanted... he wanted to take care of his Omega.

"Fuck you... Hhhgnn..."

Katsuki melted in his hands like butter.

His body seemed to relax, taking the fingers in more and more easily until...

"That's enough. Fuck, that's enough! I'm ready..." he grumbled, panting. Urgently. "Please..."

Overwhelmed, Shouto rested his head on Katsuki's shoulder and breathed in his scent deeply until he managed to regain some control. "Okay..."

He fumbled to free himself from his pants.

Katsuki looked at him impatiently and licked his lips. “Let- Let me...” he panted and then reached for Shouto's hard dick. He moved his hand around it, feeling it, which made Shouto groan weakly. Katsuki looked at him. "Of course, you have to have a big cock, Icyhot..."

He gave him a kiss, panting hotly against his skin.

Shouto said nothing, just looked at him. He was sweating, he was hot, and his quirk didn't make it any better.

Everything was sticky. Katsuki was sticky, he was sticky, but it was perfect.

"Ready?"

Shouto nodded absentmindedly.

No, he wasn't ready. But he would die if he wasn't allowed to sink into Katsuki right now.

The blond guided Shouto's cock to his entrance and sank down slowly. His body gave in willingly and let him enter slowly. Bit by bit, until Katsuki threw his head back and moaned loudly.

Fuck.

The sight alone almost made Shouto come.

Fuck...

Katsuki was everything.

He was hot, he was tight, and he was beautiful.

He was perfect .

Absolutely and utterly perfect. Perfect for Shouto. So perfect that it hurt. Like he was made for him. For him and him alone.

"D-don't... don't say that... you idiot..." the blond gasped.

Huh? Did he say that out loud?

Smiling, he pressed his nose against Katsuki's hot cheek and enjoyed the feeling of having his Omega all over him. To be completely buried in him.

"But you are perfect..." He grabbed Katsuki's hips in a tight grip and helped him move on top of him.

The feeling was overwhelming. He wouldn't be able to last long, he was already aware of that.

"Nhhahh..."

The blond head tilted forward.

His lips were slightly parted and slowly curled into a small smile. Sweat stood on his forehead and honestly. He had never looked better than he did right now. With Shouto's dick up his ass. The half-open eyes and the transfigured look. So open and honest. So indescribably sweet and vulnerable...

"Thank you..." he whispered.

Shouto's heart stumbled.

But that didn't stop him from impaling the blond on his cock again and again, eliciting sweet cries from him.

Pulling the other against him so tightly that nothing could fit between them except his hand, he grabbed Katsuki's hard cock and massaged it.

"So perfect... Katsuki...", he whispered in a chanting manner. Enjoying the soft and hot moans. Katsuki was taking him so good.

"Fuck... fuck, Shou...! That-That’s too much— Shou… .! Hnng–ah !"

And then he came violently in Shouto's hand, trembling in his grip and driving Shouto to the brink of madness.

Katsuki's body felt fantastic. So soft and compliant when he let himself sink weakly against him.

Shouto moved him slowly on top of him, letting him enjoy the wave of pleasure before he moved him harder on top of him and finally came inside him as well. Hot and deep.

Satisfied, he laid his head on Katsuki's shoulder and tried to catch his breath.

Totally exhausted, but indescribably happy.

The blond mumbled something into his hair.

"Mhmm...?" Shouto hmmed absently.

" You ... your knot...."

Huh?

"Oh....," he managed slowly as he realized what was happening. "Shit... sorry..."

It was too late for that now, and his arms did nothing to help. Guilty, but far too happy, he savored the wonderful feeling as his knot began to swell inside the blond.

Katsuki mumbled and slowly surrendered to his fate. Leaning against Shouto, letting him hold him as the knot got bigger and bigger at the base inside him. Far too exhausted to resist. 

Breathing heavily, he let out a soft whimper after a moment.

"Fuck... fuck..." he panted softly and a little helplessly on his knot. Shouto stroked his back gently. He had no idea what that must feel like, but he could imagine that it wasn't necessarily pleasant if you weren't prepared for it.

"I'm sorry...", he whispered guiltily.

Katsuki bit his lips.

"This... this is my first time...", he told him with a strained breath.

Shouto's stomach started to flutter.

"Your...?"

A feeling of complete satisfaction spread through him. His eyes closed and he slowly turned his head to press his lips against Katsuki's neck. He wanted to bite. But he wasn't allowed to. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh God..." Katsuki gasped louder. Everything in Shouto tightened. Sluggishly, he let go of his shoulder and tucked his head back far enough to look at Katsuki. "That—"

Katsuki's eyebrows were knitted tightly together and sweat stood out on his forehead.

He shivered and bit his lips again. "Fuck..." he gasped softly. Whimpering. Shouto couldn't tell if he was in pain or if he...

"Kats..."

"Help... me..."

Shouto's hand moved between them and grabbed Katsuki's hard cock.

He hissed and cursed again and again. But then, to Shouto's surprise, he relaxed completely on his knot. Gave up his fight and surrendered to the feeling. He felt good. Shouto see that. Could feel it. 

"Fuck... fuck... Shou... fuck ..." His cheeks glowed. His eyes squeezed shut before he opened them again and looked at Shouto with tiny tears glistening in his eyes. "That... feels... good ..."

Shouto hugged him tighter, grabbing Katsuki's hair with his other hand and pulling him roughly to his lips as he massaged him harder. 

Their lips moved hard together. Katsuki bit him and moaned into the kiss until Shouto felt him tremble again as he came all over his fingers a second time.

"Fuck—! " hissing, he bit down on his lips. " Fuck ..."

Shouto tried to burn every movement of the blond's face into his memory forever.

Katsuki coming on his knot had earned a very special place in his memory.

"Did it feel good?" he asked him. Totally stunned by his perfect expression. That perfect view. His perfect little Omega. That just came on a knot for the very first time in his life.

Katsuki looked at him and breathed heavily. "Don't ask such a stupid question..."

Shouto started to smile. "Tell me..." A hand traveled down Katsuki's ass to his entrance, which was stretched to its limit. His knot was now completely inside him, tying them together. Carefully, he caressed the skin, eliciting a muffled moan from the blond. "Do you like it? On my-”

Katsuki pressed both hands to his mouth, silencing him. "If I'd known you had such a perverted mouth, I wouldn't have fucked you... please... just shut up..."

Shouto smiled against the warm, caramel-scented palms.

"There's... just something in me that's very happy about the fact that you've never been knotted before..." he murmured against the hands. Katsuki raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm your first..."

"You'll be my last if you keep being like that!"

Shouto's smile widened. "I'll die a happy man."

"I'll write that on your grave. No problem."

-

He helped Katsuki to sit up after the knot had swollen enough to pull it out without hurting him. But not without first holding him down to watch his sperm drip out of the blond.

"What... what are you doing?" he hissed, blushing.

"Enjoying the view."

His fingers twitched. He wanted to touch him. Wanted to push the cum back in.

Instead, he handed the blond his pants. Katsuki just looked at him in disbelief.

"You're terrible."

"Terribly happy."

"No. Just terrible."

"Shower?" he suggested as he pulled on his boxers.

"Yeah... I'm dangerously sweaty."

When Katsuki took a step and his legs almost buckled, Shouto grabbed him and lifted him into his arms. " — Fuck! Icyhot ! Put me down— What the fuck! I can walk by myself!"

"I know, but... I want this."

Katsuki struggled, but eventually realized that it wasn't working and Shouto only let him down when they were in the shower.

Luckily, the showers were directly connected to the training halls and no one had seen them. If he wasn't so happy and out of his mind from the phenomenal sight Katsuki had given him, he would feel bad about having sex in public. But he was just too happy.

Happy and - huh?

"Katsuki... what... what are you doing?" Shouto asked confused as the other pushed past him.

Without answering, the other stood in front of him, facing the wall. The cool water flowed over his naked and slightly bruised back. Shouto's fingers twitched.

Katsuki's breathing was shallow.

What was he doing?

"Just so you know," he finally said softer, not really answering his question. "I've never done this for anyone before." It sounded accusatory, but also somehow... incredibly vulnerable.

And then he tilted his head forward and slightly to the side.

At first, Shouto could only stare wordlessly at Katsuki's exposed neck. Then he realized what the other was doing.

He almost suffocated. When had he stopped breathing?

"Katsuki... you..." his hands cupped Katsuki's sides all by themselves, feeling the warm, heated skin. Fuck...

"You... you want this... don't you?" the blond asked softly. Quieter than Shouto had ever heard him speak.

Shouto didn't know how to answer.

Katsuki's neck was right in front of him. Exposed. Completely accessible. The fine scar that Shouto had left behind was clearly visible. And reminded him of what they were to each other.

"Why... are you submitting to me...? You don't have to do this...” he replied gently.

Katsuki turned slightly to look at him.

"Are you that stupid?" he asked. When Shouto didn't answer, but just looked at him, overwhelmed beyond belief, he continued. "Because I want to, why else would I do this? I want it. And you... you need this." He sighed softly. "You want this, don't you?"

Of course, the view of Katsuki's neck was tantalizing. Of course, it triggered something in him. Katsuki always triggered something in him. Every time.

"No?" Katsuki asked when he still didn't answer. He sounded disappointed. Wait a minute. Wait, stop.

Immediately, he grabbed him tighter and moved closer. He pressed his body against the other one.

"Katsuki, I..." he began. He had no idea what to say.

"I see the way you look at me, Icyhot. I'm not blind. I see the guilt that eats you up inside every time you get too close to my neck or throat. I can even smell it." Katsuki looked over his shoulder. “I just...I just want you to...to know that I...want this too.”

Shouto's mouth felt completely dry.

He hadn't expected that Katsuki would want to have sex. Now this too.

But Katsuki wanted this. He wanted him .

"Do you want this as well or am I wrong?"

Shouto swallowed hard, then pulled Katsuki closer to him and buried his nose in the wet blond strands at the back of his neck.

Katsuki smelled so good. Sighing, he breathed in the wonderful scent and closed his eyes.

"I want this..." he breathed softly against the warm skin. "I want you ..." Then he planted a small kiss on his neck and turned the other to face him.

He looked at him with a smile. Looked into the red eyes that for once weren't looking at him grimly. "Thank you..."

Katsuki grimaced. “You don't have to thank me,” he grumbled. "Are you sure you don't want to bite me?" he asked, but Shouto just shook his head in satisfaction.

"Sure. But I might want to marry you."

Katsuki's mouth dropped open. But no sound followed.

Shouto looked at him and waited. It was probably the first time he'd seen Katsuki speechless.

"Kats-"

"Shut up."

"Is that a no?"

"No."

"A yes then?"

"Neither."

Now a little amused, the blond put his arms around Shouto's shoulders. "Ask me that again in six months."

"Okay..." he replied, looking at the pretty face. "Thank you."

"Yeah..." Katsuki grumbled now. "It's okay, stop thanking me."

Grumbling, he loosened his grip and started to wash off the nitroglycerine. "Let's go before someone else shows up. Besides, we haven't fed the cats yet. They'll get cranky."

Smiling, Shouto watched him go. "Yeah..."

Katsuki was perfect.

And he was his.

-

As they stepped out of the shower, none other than Endeavor was standing in the locker room, eyeing them with an indefinable look. Somewhere between concern, regret, amusement, and delusion.

Hawks poked his head through the door. “Oh, they're finally done!”

“You really took your time,” Endeavor grumbled, tossing Katsuki a packet of pills. Confused, he caught it and looked at the package. "As far as I know, you're not on birth control," his father continued. "If you don't want children, I would take these today."

Katsuki gasped. But instead of answering, he just mumbled. Embarrassed.

Oh. He hadn't even thought about it. To be honest, he hadn't thought of anything. Nothing at all.

"This is not a good time, Father-" he started, but his father just raised his hand. Sighed, as if he was just giving up. No matter what battle he was fighting, he was surrendering.

"I just want you to know that any accusations of a false relationship are off the table."

"Huh?" Katsuki made from the side as he swallowed one of the pills.

Hawks squeezed under Endeavor's arm. Grinning. "But only because someone leaked the Securicam feed of your training."

"What?!" Katsuki imploded. Nearly choked.

"At least it was without sound. Not that it mattered much," Endeavor grumbled resignedly. "I tried to minimize the damage, but I doubt I succeeded."

Shouto didn't know what to say, so he just shrugged.

Then so be it.

He felt no remorse.

Only satisfaction.

He was happy. Happy to have Katsuki at his side.

Happy that the blond didn't hate him. Even wanted him.

And he showed that when they left the building an hour later and he kissed the blond on the lips in front of all the cameras and microphones. He held him as close as he could and publicly showed the world that he was his.

His perfect, untamed Omega.