When Izuku returned home from patrol (after getting his ass chewed out by Iida, who did, in fact, see him), he fell into his couch. After sitting at home for days in too much pain to move, running around the city had really drained him. He wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep in his living room. 

A sigh dragged itself from his lips as he pulled his phone out. TV didn't sound like it would hold his attention at the moment, so doom-scrolling would have to do. That plan went out the window when his device clicked to life, and the newly added contact was still pulled up. 

He'd nearly forgotten Eijirou's request to text him when he made it home. Should he comply? Even to Izuku, it sounded like a horrible idea, but... Eijirou had been sweet, oddly sweet for a villain. Even without all the flirting, he was still borderline nice. Plus, Izuku was the one who had declared he was going to save the redhead and his childhood friend. Maybe that started with a text. 

Or maybe that's how he loses his hero license. It was honestly a toss-up, one Izuku decided was worth the risk. 

Made it home without dying

There, he thought to himself, short and sweet. 

He closed out of his messages and opened a random game Uraraka had downloaded onto his phone months ago. Every once in a while, he found himself bored enough to actually play it. 

It couldn't have been more than two minutes later that his device buzzed, and a new notification showed. 

Hot Guy In A Mask~

I'm pleasantly surprised by that

No offense but you've got to have the worst luck I've ever seen

Izuku chuckled quietly at the absolute understatement the redhead had just made. 

You have no idea

I swear to god I just attract villain attacks at this point

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Doesn't that come with the territory tho? 

Seeing as its been that way since high school 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say its me and not my rank

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Oh ya I think I remember hearing about that

Didn't the league have a hard on for you or something?

Or something

Hot Guy In A Mask~

It's like 4 am

Shouldn't you be passing out by now?

Do you remember how we first met? 

Sleeping isn't one of my strengths

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Ramen?

Are you asking a pro hero out to dinner for the second night in a row? 

Are you suicidal?

Hot Guy In A Mask~

If you were gonna arrest me you would have done it by now

I think we ALL know that

Besides can't save me and kats if we're locked up in prison

You warming up to the idea of being saved?

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Nope

But I might be persuaded over late night ramen ;) 

Fine

But this is the last time, got it?

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Sure little hero 

STOP CALLING ME LITTLE BEFORE I ACTUALLY ARREST YOU

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Sure sure

See ya in ten?

Unfortunately

Hot Guy In A Mask~

Aw don't act like that

You know I'm growing on you 

Izuku put his phone down with a huff, clapping his hands against his face a few times in hopes of forcing his blush away. Eijirou was growing on him in the worst way possible. 

How could he let it get this far? He was going to dinner with wanted criminals on the regular. How did this happen?

Before he could read too far into it or change his mind, he threw on a hoodie and headed for the door. He only had ten minutes to get across town. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is a stupid idea," Katsuki grumbled as Izuku slid into the booth on the opposite side of him and Eijirou. "For all of us," he added. 

Izuku rested his elbow on the table and used his hand to prop his chin up, his eyes drooping slightly from fatigue. "Tell that to your boy toy who keeps inviting me." 

"You put up zero fight!" Eijirou exclaimed, having the audacity to look hurt over Izuku throwing him under the bus. 

"There was a little fight," he huffed back, eyes widening ever so slightly as a bowl of steaming ramen was pushed in front of him by the blond. He didn't have the energy to look grateful as he used the last of it to start eating. 

Katsuki let out a small grunt as he sat back in his seat, eyeing Izuku. "Jesus, do they ever give you a break? You look like you're about to drop dead." 

The hero shook his head while trying to swallow the burning food in his mouth before speaking. "They try to give me breaks, lots of them, actually. I'm not super great at listening," he admitted before shoveling another too-hot bite of noodles into his mouth. 

Eijirou was watching him with an amused smile on his lips, resting his chin on his palm and leaning forward slightly. "It's not gonna grow legs and run away from you." 

"I'm starving," Izuku said with a frown. "Haven't eaten since... breakfast or something, I don't know." 

Red eyebrows shot up at the admission. "Dude, how are you still functioning?" 

"Spite." 

"Spite's gonna get you killed," Katsuki huffed, his eyes following Izuku's every move as he continued to shovel food into his mouth like a starved man. Technically, he was. 

"You sound like Uraraka," Izuku mumbled in between bites. 

Katsuki scowled at the name. "Don't bring up pink cheeks, not while I'm trying to eat." 

"You're not eating anything, Kacchan," he deadpanned back, taking note of the fact there was no food in front of the blond. 

Just to prove Izuku wrong, Katsuki snatched Eijirou's chopsticks from his hands and stole a bite of the redhead's ramen. 

"Hey!" he whined, reaching across Katsuki to get his chopsticks back. "If you wanted food, you should have ordered it." 

Izuku let out a breathy laugh at the display, momentarily forgetting just who he was sitting across from. He pushed the half-empty bowl of ramen back toward Katsuki, folding his arms on the table and letting his head rest there. "You can finish it if you want," he offered, punctuating his statement with a yawn. 

Katsuki rolled his eyes at the offer, nudging the bowl back. "Please, you need all the calories you can get, nerd. I'm not hungry." 

Barely lifting his head, Izuku shrugged one shoulder and struggled to keep eating. He only managed a few more bites before the weight of his skull became too much for his neck to support. He dropped his forehead against his arms and sighed. Had he really let it get so bad he couldn't even finish a meal without wanting to pass out? 

"You good, Midoriya?" Eijirou's voice called softly from across the table. 

Izuku weakly lifted a hand to wave off the concern. "Yeah, 'm fine. Just heavy." 

"Heavy?" Even to Izuku's half-asleep ears, the redhead sounded like he was fighting back a laugh. 

"Head's too heavy," he managed to slur out, his eyes drifting shut without him noticing. 

"Oi, don't fall asleep on the table, nerd." 

"'M not, just resting. Promise," he mumbled back, thoughts and words becoming too much to process. 

"I told you, dude. The guy just drops." 

"Jesus fucking Christ. Do you remember where his apartment is?" 

"Obviously." 

"Fine, let's go." 

Izuku vaguely remembered getting jostled around and being none too pleased about it, but everything after goes dark. 

The next thing he knew, he was waking up on his couch. His head was buried into a warm pillow, and there was a soft blanket over the top of him. He could hear faint murmurs of voices and assumed he'd fallen asleep while watching TV. 

He groaned while turning around, blindly reaching for the remote on his coffee table without opening his eyes. 

"Great, you're awake. Mind getting the fuck off me now?" 

Izuku bolted upright, eyes wide and blurry as he made out the figure of Katsuki. What he had previously thought to be a pillow, had actually been the blond's lap. Izuku was ready to die from embarrassment at any second. 

"K-Kacchan, what are- how did- I thought- huh?" Izuku's sleep-riddled mind couldn't seem to comprehend anything he was seeing. He couldn't even remember how he got home last night, let alone how he ended up sleeping on the villain. 

"Good morning, sleepy head," Eijirou's amused voice called from the doorway that connected Izuku's living room to his kitchen. He whipped his head around to find the redhead leaning on the door frame; his arms crossed as laughter danced in his eyes at the confused hero. "You passed out at the restaurant last night, so we brought you back here. You know, the heroes are gonna have to put me on payroll soon, with how often I'm saving your ass." 

Izuku scooted further away from Katsuki on the couch, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He passed out, and two wanted villains carried him home. Holy shit, he was in so much trouble.  

"Oh fuck," he mumbled, shaking his head slightly. "You two really shouldn't be here." 

"Yeah, we know, but we weren't gonna just fucking leave you there," Katsuki said with a scoff. "We were gonna drop you and leave, but then your super-powered ass used One For All and dragged me onto the couch with you." 

Izuku let out a high-pitched groan of embarrassment. Unfortunately, that sounded exactly like something he'd do while passed out; he had clung to enough of his friends while sleeping to know it was true. "I'm so sorry, Kacchan. I didn't mean to-" 

"It's whatever, Deku," Katsuki's gruff voice spoke, cutting off his rambling apologies before they could really start. "Not like we had anything better to do anyway." 

"Oh!" Eijirou exclaimed, pushing himself off the frame and pointing to the kitchen behind him. "I made pancakes." 

Izuku tumbled off his couch in a rush to get to the kitchen. He'd been neglecting food for a few weeks now, and just the thought of pancakes was enough to override his previous embarrassment. He scrambled to his feet, half jogging past the redhead. 

"Seriously," Eijirou marveled, following after the pro at a much slower speed. "Are you starving yourself? I've never seen someone so excited about pancakes." 

"You've never lived in a dorm with nineteen high schoolers before," Izuku mumbled in a distracted voice, snatching a plate out of his cupboard and piling on a few of the pastries. "Kacchan never used to make enough for everyone, and it always turned into a brawl for the last of whatever the hell he'd made that day." 

Eijirou chuckled quietly as he took a seat at Izuku's counter, watching the pro gather up his breakfast. Eijirou had sat on a stool, like a normal person, while Izuku pushed himself onto the counter and set his plate in his lap to start eating. 

"Those losers never deserved my cooking anyway," Katsuki grumbled as he joined the other two men in the kitchen. He grabbed a plate and started to help himself as Izuku hummed. 

"You ever gonna let them know you're okay?" Izuku asked between bites. "Or do I have to live with the knowledge of knowing and not telling anyone for the rest of my life?" 

"You know exactly why I can't tell them," Katsuki said in a softer voice than Izuku was used to. 

It caught him off guard, but he quickly ignored it in favor of his breakfast. "Hm, fine. Your choice." 

"If it makes you feel any better, talked to sparky last week," Katsuki said with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Almost blew his arm off while I was at it." 

Izuku threw his head back with a groan before pointing his fork at both men in turn. "None of that, no villain and hero shit in my apartment. When you're here, you're Kacchan and Kirishima, and I'm Izuku, got it?" 

Eijirou had rested his chin in his open palm, looking up at Izuku with an amused smile. "Got it, Izuku." 

"Oh," he mumbled in quiet surprise as he felt the tips of his ears start to heat up. He hadn't really thought that one through. 

Katsuki, noticing that Izuku's plate was nearly empty, stabbed another pancake with his fork and let it flop onto the other's plate. "You working today?" 

Izuku sent him an appreciative smile while using his fork to cut up the pancake into bite-sized pieces. "Just morning paperwork," he responded before plopping a piece in his mouth. 

"Uh, I don't mean to freak you out, but it's not exactly morning anymore," Eijirou spoke up with a sheepish chuckle. "It's already noon." 

"Fuck," Izuku breathed, hastily setting his plate down on the counter and pulling his phone out of his pocket. He confirmed that it was already twelve, and he'd totally missed his start time for the day. "Whatever," he said with a sigh, placing his phone down next to him. "Everyone's always telling me to take the day off." 

"I'm definitely team take the day off, but maybe shoot someone a text," Eijirou suggested, pushing the hero's phone toward him. "Just so they know you're breathing." 

Izuku had to admit that he had a point. Every time he went no contact, it usually meant something bad had happened. Just as he was reaching for the device, a harsh knock sounded at his front door. 

"Oh, shit," he hissed. 

"Izuku Midoriya, open this door right now!" Uraraka's angry shout sounded through the wood. 

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Katsuki asked in a low voice, pushing himself off the counter he was leaning on and moving further into the kitchen. 

"She's my best friend, Kacchan," Izuku whisper-yelled back, shooing both villains into his living room in hopes of hiding them. "She worries about me." 

"Get rid of her!" Katsuki snapped back. 

"Coming, Ura!" he shouted over his shoulder as he turned for the kitchen. "Gimme a second." 

"No! You lost that privilege when you went no-call no-show," she snapped, banging on the door again. 

Izuku sighed as he pulled his front door open just enough to stick his head out and see his fuming best friend and Todoroki standing next to her. "I have neighbors, you know," he muttered, glancing over to the taller hero. "Hi, Sho." 

"Hi, Iz," Todoroki said with a small smile and head bow. The two of them had started using first names when they had dated and never switched back after the breakup. 

"Where were you?" Uraraka asked, tapping her foot on the ground like an impatient mother. "You didn't call or text any of us. We thought something happened." 

"I... overslept," Izuku admitted with a small sigh. "I didn't mean to freak you out, I literally just woke up." 

Uraraka's fury disappeared in an instant, her mouth forming a small 'o'. "You overslept?" 

"Yup," he confirmed. 

"That's... actually great," she said, a smile slipping onto her face. "I'm glad you got some rest." 

"Yeah," he said with a forced laugh. "Guess I really needed it." 

Uraraka looked between him and the partially closed door, her eyes narrowing. Izuku knew he was fucked. "What's going on, Deku?" she asked. "You're normally tripping over yourself to invite us in." 

"The, uh, place is a mess. I'd prefer if you didn't," he rushed out, hoping the lie would be believable. 

"Your apartment is always a mess," she said, her eyes narrowing even further. "What're you hiding in there?" 

A crash sounded from inside the living room, and it was all the prompting Uraraka needed. She shoved past him and barged right into his apartment, her eyes scanning for any sign of danger. 

"Ura! Wait!" Izuku cried, rushing after his best friend and catching her just as she reached the living room, freezing in place. 

"No fucking way," she whispered, her eyes wide as if she'd seen a ghost. For all intents and purposes, she had. Katsuki Bakugou was scowling at her like the last decade had never happened, and they were back in the 1A dorms. "He's alive?" 

Katsuki's glare shifted to a sheepish Eijirou, who had knocked over a stack of books on Izuku's end table and caused the loud thud. "I'm gonna fucking kill you," he hissed at the redhead. 

"Is that... Bakugou?" Todoroki asked in quiet disbelief, joining his two friends at the threshold of the living room. 

"In the flesh," Katsuki stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can call off that stupid fucking missing persons report now. Was never missing, by the way, just avoiding all of your dumbasses." 

"Kacchan," Izuku scolded lightly, ignoring his anxiety in favor of trying to keep the blond in check. 

Uraraka looked at him with a frown. "Have you been hiding him in your apartment? Oh my god, he was that friend! Holy shit, he was the guy you went on a date with. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" 

Todoroki perked up, looking at Izuku with furrowed brows. "You went on a date?" 

"It wasn't a date!" Izuku exclaimed, already bright red at the accusation. 

"It was totally a date," Eijirou spoke up, catching all three heroes' attention. "Just not with him." 

"Izuku," Uraraka said in the calmest voice she could muster. "What the hell is going on?" 

Izuku was bright red and could feel himself start to sweat, from his anxiety or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. It didn't seem like his biggest problem at the moment, anyway. He glanced at the two villains behind him before quickly looking back to his friends. "I, uh, um. Kacchan's alive, we've been hanging out, and he doesn't want anyone else in our old class to know. So, if you could keep a secret for once in your life, that'd be really, really great." 

Uraraka's brows knit together, her lips pursed. "You know I can't keep with from Ash." 

He should have realized earlier that asking her to keep anything from her girlfriend was off the table. "He doesn't want to be found," he argued, glancing over his shoulder at the man in question. "That's his choice, Ura." 

"She's been looking for him for close to a decade," she hissed, glaring at Katsuki over his shoulder. 

"I didn't ask for them to look for me," Katsuki spat. "Thought I made it perfectly clear I wanted nothing to do with any of you." 

"You didn't!" Uraraka shouted at him, pushing past Izuku. "You made nothing clear because you fucking disappeared! You didn't say shit to any of your friends and just took off. After everything we'd already gone through, you couldn't just leave a note or something? We thought you got kidnapped, Bakugou, again." 

Eijirou frowned, looking over to his partner. "You got kidnapped?" 

That was when Izuku realized just how little Eijirou knew. Obviously, he didn't know a thing about his childhood or any of his friends, but the hero didn't realize Katsuki had kept everything from before they met a secret. Getting kidnapped by villains seemed like an important thing to tell your villain accomplice. 

"Whatever," Katsuki bit out, ignoring Eijirou's question. "Let them know I'm not kidnapped, and they can fuck off now. Tell them to leave Deku the fuck alone about it, too. Knowing those idiots, they'll be all over him," he scoffed. 

"God, you haven't changed at all, have you?" Uraraka accused, her arms crossed over her chest as her hazel eyes glared daggers up at the man. "They were your friends, Bakugou. They mourned you, and you don't even care." 

"I didn't ask for any of that shit." 

Uraraka turned from him, starting for the front door. "You didn't deserve it, either." 

She slammed the door behind her, and Izuku finally loosened a breath. He glanced over at Todoroki, who was still staring blankly at the blond in the living room. 

"You can go, Sho," he mumbled, nudging the half-and-half man toward the entrance. 

"You sure?" he asked, glancing between his friend and Katsuki. "Bakugou wasn't exactly... nice to you in high school." 

Neither were you sat on the tip of Izuku's tongue, but he swallowed it down and plastered a smile on his lips. "Kacchan's harmless, Sho. I'll be fine." 

"Fine," he huffed, directing all of his attention back to Izuku. "I'll see you tomorrow? We're scheduled to patrol together." 

Izuku nodded, his smile dropping the second the taller man was out of sight and shutting the front door behind him. He nervously looked back to the villains in his living room with a frown. 

"I'm sorry about that," he mumbled, collapsing onto his couch. "I didn't mean for... well, any of that to happen." 

"It's whatever, Izuku," Katsuki grumbled, slumping down next to the hero on the couch. "It was bound to happen at some point." 

Izuku was too mentally drained to freak out about his first name coming from the blond. He chalked it up to the emotional distress and concluded that it probably wouldn't happen again. "Still, I'm sorry." 

"You got anything else to do today?" Eijirou asked, shifting from the arm of the couch to sitting next to Katsuki, their shoulders pressed firmly against each other. 

"Nope," Izuku mumbled, slumping further into the couch. "I plan to sit here and rot the rest of the day." 

Eijirou hummed in amusement at his answer, peering around the blond to look at him. "We got somewhere to be later tonight, but we can rot with you 'til then if you want." 

Izuku glanced over at the two men, readjusting so his back was against the arm of the couch and his legs were stretched out across them. Neither seemed to mind the new position, especially since Katsuki was fidgeting with the leg of his pants. "This is a terrible idea; you guys know that, right?" 

"Well aware," Eijirou confirmed, a dopey sort of grin on his face. "But I'm invested at this point. I think you're stuck with us, little hero." 

Izuku slipped further against the arm of the couch, a pout on his lips. "I'm not little." 

"Whatever you say, nerd." 

Feeling crazy dysphoric lately, which means I may or may not start writing a trans au soon. I need to vent write lolz.