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A phone call later, Katsuki was led back to his cell.
“You know, what you did tonight was pretty damn stupid,” the officer commented lightly, keys jingling in one hand. “It'll probably go on your record.”
“Fuck off.”
“I doubt they'll take your hero license over a stupid bar fight, but the commission will want you penalized.”
“Whatever.”
“At least you didn't use your quirk too much. Maybe no one recognized you.”
Katsuki scoffed. As if. He was probably trending on social media by now: “Top 10 pro hero engages in bar fight and earns an arrest” or some shit.
“But, between us” the officer added, as he opened the jail cell so Katsuki could enter. “I'm sorry he hung up. Even I felt it was pretty mean.”
Katsuki huffed, as the man took off his handcuffs and led him inside the cell.
“I deserved it. Now leave me the fuck alone.”
The man merely laughed. Katsuki was tired, drunk and nauseous, and none of his insults held any bite at that point.
Normally, by this hour, Katsuki would be properly tucked in bed, beside his boyfriend, already falling asleep - it was too late for this shit.
But Katsuki had fucked up, and now he'd spend an entire night inside a cold, dark, dirty jail cell, having only one very drunk old man for company.
“Mama can't come pick you up, golden boy?” The old man wheezed at him, as Katsuki sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the wall.
“Don't you have a ditch to go die somewhere?” He asked with a sigh, eyes closed.
The wheezing laugh of the wrinkled fuck grated on his nerves. Eventually, he stopped long enough to keep yapping at Katsuki.
“You're not the first young hero to get involved in a bar fight and won't be the last. Boiling hormones, too much power, you're all the same. Useless egomaniacs, all of you.” The man shook his head with a heavy sigh, adjusting his position on the hard, cold floor. “What tipped you off? Someone insulted your balls or somethin’?”
At that, Katsuki smiled. A small, sad smile.
“You wanna know why I kicked those assholes’ asses? I'll tell you why.”
—
“I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown
In the name of someone I no longer know
For the shame of bein' young, drunk, and alone
Traffic lights and a transmitter radio”
It was raining. Of course. Of all the days Katsuki had to get into a heated fight with Izuku and go for a walk to calm down, it had to be right on a night of pouring rain. His jacket did fucking nothing to hold back all of that pouring water, so Katsuki looked for some shelter until the storm ran off.
At that hour, the only thing still open in a five mile radius was a small, dimly lit bar, unreasonably full for a Thursday night. The noise was almost unbearable, packed with too many shitfaced assholes hollering about whatever the fuck. But it was dry, and it was warm, and Katsuki was in the mood to drink his hurt anger away. So, he got in.
At the fifth shot of tequila his head was pleasantly buzzed, and with it came the dangerous, self righteous feeling he always got when he was too angry at someone. Of course he was right! He was always right! Izuku was the stupid one, for not listening to him!
What were they fighting about, again?
Doesn’t matter! Katsuki was going to call him right fucking now and tell him why he should apologize!
Or he would, of course, if his phone’s battery wasn’t busted.
Shit.
With a sigh, he thumped his forehead on the counter. Stupid Izuku. Katsuki only wanted the best for them. He loved the nerd, goddammit. He loved his stupid, pretty eyes. His stupid, gorgeous smile, and his stupid dimples. He loved the stupid freckles scattered in his face. He loved his mid performance and half baked hero stats…
Wait. That wasn’t his mind.
Katsuki looked around, and damn, if the room could stop spinning with him, that would be great.
“... And last month, during that fight at the coast? If it wasn’t for Froppy’s assistance, that guy would be toast! He’s a joke, I swear.”
What the fuck.
“Guy reached his peak at sixteen and then never again.”
Someone was shittalking his nerd!
“Right? You’d think the bar would be higher, since they’re in charge of our safety and all, but…”
No one shittalks the nerd in his presence! Scratch that, no one shittalks the nerd at all!!!
Katsuki looked at the whole bar (slowly, so his vision could catch up with his head properly), looking for the assholes.
“It’s like All Might all over again! Dude could barely fight but people still kissed the ground he walked on.”
Oh no. Those guys were dead.
Their loud cackles finally allowed Katsuki to spot them, at a table close to the TV, where they watched a game of whatever shitty sportsball was airing at that unholy hour.
Katsuki stumbled out of his tall bench by the counter and stomped towards the assholes who dared to badmouth the kindest, strongest, bravest hero he ever, ever met. (And All Might. Assholes!)
They didn’t notice him right away. Well, he knew how to make himself seen, anyway. His large hand landed on top of the group’s table with a loud thump . Startled, the men glared at the hand’s owner.
“Excuse us?! What the fuck do you want, shithead?”
“Heard you talking shit ‘bout Deku.”
One of the guys raised his brows, probably recognizing Katsuki, but the others merely looked at each other and laughed mockingly.
“So what if we were? What are you, a fan? Want to kiss his ass?”
His drunk mind still had enough sobriety to tell Katsuki to not mention he actually did kiss that ass, very frequently, in fact. Bets were off for everything else, though.
The man laughed again, obnoxiously, and the others followed - with the exception of the guy who recognized Katsuki. That one just quietly slipped out of their table. Smart dude.
Katsuki joined their slurred laughter for a while, then slammed his hand on top of the table once more, with an extra explosion to add insult to injury. The table blew to pieces, shards of wood flying everywhere. The group yelped. Suddenly, the bar went dead quiet.
“No fights in my bar!” The barman yelled. He didn’t move from his spot, however.
“What the fuck, man? You wanna die?” The three assholes stood up, chairs screeching back on the floor, as they stepped menacingly towards Katsuki.
“No one talks shit ‘bout Deku!” Katsuki hollered, hands already in his signature claw position. “Well. ‘Cept me. But it’s different!” Ugh, his taunting game sucks when he’s drunk.
“Well, we can send you in tiny little pieces for him to sign his stupid ass. How’d ya like that?”
Surprisingly, they had yet to recognize Katsuki, which probably meant they were as drunk as he was, if not more. Which meant that Katsuki had an advantage there - because a drunk trained pro hero was still more efficient than a bunch of extras trying to look tough in a bar fight.
So he smirked manically, as he always did when he was about to enter a very intense battle.
“Try me, fuckface.”
At some point, the three idiots did realize they were picking a fight with Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight himself, and tried to escape while begging for their lives. But it was too late for that.
“NO ONE SHIT TALKS IZUKU IN MY SIGHT, NO ONE, SHITTY EXTRAS!” He threw a chair in the face of one of them, who scrambled to hide behind a pillar in the middle of the room. The others were equally hidden and properly terrified, but if they wanted Katsuki to leave them alone, they should have thought of that before spewing stupid shit about his boyfriend out in the public.
(Katsuki wasn’t sure they were still together, but Izuku still hasn’t said the feared words yet, so he would clutch the title with greedy hands until the very end.
… Also, the public didn’t know they were together, but his drunk mind didn’t take that into consideration, of course.)
The fight itself was a blur, of course - Katsuki could barely see straight, let alone focus on anything moving wildly in the middle of a brawl. He had half a mind to not abuse his quirk in a closed space - he didn’t really want to destroy the entire bar - so he just resorted to a few burnt marks and exploded chairs at most. Which was a relief, in retrospect; God knew Katsuki was fucked if he had brought the whole bar down.
He wasn’t considered the Symbol of Victory for nothing, (at least, his symbol of Victory, which was the only title that mattered), so of course he won with flying colors. That is, until the doors were busted open and fucking Monoma Neito entered the room, throwing a blast of light (that God knows from whom he took it) on his face that immediately made him very, very nauseous.
“I was almost off my shift, you asshole, what the fuck are you doi- BAKUGOU !”
Copycat ass could handcuff him alright, but if he didn’t want Katsuki to hurl in his shiny idiot shoes, he shouldn’t have almost blinded him.
“Oh my fucking God, I actually want to kill you, I hate you so much…”
Heh. Serves him right.
—
“I don't like that when they threw me in the car
I gave your name as my emergency phone call”
They threw him inside a cop’s car, then took him to the precinct. By this point, all the fight in Katsuki’s blood was completely drained - he could only stare at nothing, waiting for his fate to be decided.
“Bakugou, what were you even doing?” It was Monoma again. The cops hadn’t even tried to interrogate him - just left the task for the assigned hero, apparently. Cowards.
“They were saying shit about Izuku! And All Might!”
Monoma stared at him blankly, appalled.
“...That’s it?!”
“The fuck you mean ‘that’s it’?! They were saying shit about Izuku! And All Might! ” Katsuki enunciated (as best as he could), as if the mere sentence was enough for Copycat to understand. Because it was. Fuck him.
“You put your own hero license in jeopardy to defend the honor of your boyfriend in a bar fight???... And All Might’s?”
Katsuki lowered his head and mumbled to himself quietly.
“The fuck did you say? Can’t hear you.”
“I don’t know if he still wants to be my boyfriend.”
Monoma gaped at him. With a heavy sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and closed his eyes.
“Okay, do you want to tell me everything from the start? Not that I care, mind you, but it’s still my job to take your account of the event or whatever.”
So, Katsuki did. To the best of his abilities - the alcohol was fucking with his memory a little bit - he told Monoma why he was out, what he was doing at that bar, why did he pick up a fight with those idiots. Who deserved it, mind you, but maaaaybe Katsuki went a little overboard with it.
For all the contempt he held towards Katsuki at that moment, Copycat did his job responsibly, taking note of Katsuki’s account and asking the right questions - let it be known his work ethics shouldn’t be questioned at all, even when he was fuming for losing a pretty good pair of shoes to a drunk idiot.
After that, he offered Katsuki his phone call.
—
“Honey, it rang and rang
Even the cops thought you were wrong for hangin' up”
“Who are you calling, Mr. Dynamight?”
The cop assigned to babysit his drunk ass was kinda nice - briefly mentioned his daughter was a great fan, so way to blow the image of an idol, he guessed - but he was still a cop on duty, so Katsuki was still handcuffed and was still only allowed one phone call.
And honestly, Katsuki could call someone who would actually help - Kirishima is a ride or die kinda guy, for example. He would bail Katsuki out. His mom would probably chew him out to hell and back, but since it wasn’t a serious felony she’d probably forgive him. At some point. Maybe it was better to call his dad. He didn’t want to disappoint his dad, though…
Hell, who was he kidding? There was only one person he wanted to call.
So, he gave the cop a number.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang.
“Hello?” He could hear Izuku’s thinned voice spilling out of the speaker, and his heart squeezed painfully. Ugh, why did he have to get into an argument with the love of his life? Stupid. So stupid. He just wanted Izuku back. The wave of emotions forced him to blink back tears - he wouldn’t cry pathetically in front of the cop.
“Hello. This is officer Kenzou, I was given your number as an emergency phone call…” Katsuki refused to give him Izuku’s name, but after Monoma’s interrogation he was pretty sure the cop knew, anyway.
“Emergency phone call??? Oh my god, w-what happened???”
Oh no. He made Izuku worry. Katsuki was such an asshole.
“Well, the man who gave us your number was arrested for involvement in a bar fight, and asked for you to be contacted for…”
Izuku hung up.
There went Katsuki’s only phone call.
The cop stared at the phone for a few seconds, then looked at Katsuki with sympathy.
“Sorry, son.”
Katsuki sagged on his chair with a sigh.
—
“... So you’re more of an idiot than I expected.”
Katsuki didn’t answer, eyes closed, head tilted up, body freezing inside that cell. He was still damp due to the rain.
“Yeah, go figure.”
“Well, it’s a noble cause, I’ll give you that. A stupid one, but still noble.”
“Thank you, old fart.”
“If you get suspended I’m going to laugh so hard.”
“Go die somewhere.”
The old man eventually fell asleep on the only mattress inside their cell, but Katsuki didn’t want to doze off - he didn’t feel like he deserved the rest, at least - so he resorted to counting the dots of mold on the ceiling. The nausea got too overwhelming, however, so he just closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
The old man, Monoma, the officer, all of them were right - Katsuki fucked up. He was stupid and let his heightened emotions and the alcohol speak for him. What kind of number one hero was he, that he couldn’t even behave in a bar without flipping the fuck off?
Izuku would probably never want to speak with him again, let alone be his boyfriend.
Fuck.
After what felt like hours, he heard steps approaching the cell, and squinted one of his eyes open. Two silhouettes appeared behind the bars: one, short and wide, probably the officer’s, and the other - the other was slightly taller, stocky, with wild curls. Katsuki sat up, not daring to hope, but hopelessly wishing for a miracle.
“Guess someone wants to bail you out, kid.”
Katsuki stood up, body swaying slightly, and had to lean against the wall for support. Slowly, he walked towards the bars. His blurred vision finally managed to make up the soft, worried features of his (please, please still be my) boyfriend, his silhouette sharply cut by the light on the hallway behind them. Like an angel, who descended from heavens to save him.
“What did you do, Kacchan…”
Katsuki wanted to cry. He disappointed Izuku. That was disappointment, plain and simple. He grabbed the bars separating them and grinded his forehead on the rough metal. “Izuku, I… I’m sorry, fuck…” Oh no, he was actually crying. Oh no. Fuck. “I’m an idiot, I know that, I’m so sorry, fuck…”
Izuku’s eyes softened.
“We’ll talk about it later, alright? Let’s get out of here, for now.”
He nodded, and let himself be led out of the cell. Izuku gently held him by his elbow as they left.
Sad, subdued, and with eyes full of tears, Katsuki could barely make out where they were - Izuku stopped to talk to the officers a bunch of times, and he recognized Copycat’s voice at some point, but apart from that, Katsuki was barely along for the ride.
Finally, Izuku led him to the passenger seat of their car, where he sat down with closed eyes and took a deep breath. His heart was heavy and broken, and he felt like they were on the precipice of the end.
Izuku sat by his side, but didn’t turn the car on yet. Instead, the turned towards Katsuki, worried expression never leaving his eyes.
“What happened, Kacchan?” His voice was so, so soft; as if Katsuki deserved this softness, as if he didn’t put their entire career in danger out of something so stupid.
Except it wasn’t stupid.
“They were saying shit about you. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let them. They’re not half the man you are.” He lowered his head. “M’sorry.”
“You’re very drunk.”
“M’not.”
“You are.”
Katsuki didn’t answer. Izuku sighed deeply beside him.
“Kacchan… You told me you were only going for a walk to clear your head. Then you wouldn’t come back home, and next thing I know a police officer was calling me, telling me you were arrested in a bar fight!”
“And you hung up on him! What the hell, Izuku!” Katsuki snapped, eyes back on the man beside him, suddenly furious. God, being drunk sucked ass . Izuku avoided his eyes, crooked hand rubbing at his nape.
“My phone may or may not have slipped from my hand while I was talking to the officer. When I grabbed it from the floor, the call had disconnected.” Katsuki blinked in surprise. “I tried calling back, but I guess they can’t receive calls from the number they called me.”
“How did you find me, then?”
“Monoma contacted me a while later.” Shit. “You owe him a pair of shoes, by the way.” He added with a chuckle.
They got quiet for a while. It was so late there was barely any noise from the city around them, so Katsuki just basked in Izuku’s presence, in the sound of his soft breathing and the rustle of their clothes.
“I didn’t… Plan to do any of that.” Katsuki started, unsure.
“Thank god.”
“Shuddup, let me finish.” He sighed. “I was upset about our fight, all soaked wet from the rain and the only thing open was a hole in the wall bar. I got in. I decided to drink. And these, these…” Katsuki was getting worked up again. “These motherfuckers were talking shit about your work as a hero! They were assholes! I couldn’t let them! They know nothing about you! STOP LAUGHING AT ME, YOU-”
“Sorry, Kacchan, I’m sorry.” Izuku tried to supress his laughter, and put a hand on Katsuki’s thigh to placate him. That calmed him enough - if Izuku was okay with these casually intimate gestures, it meant he still liked Katsuki enough, right? “I wish you hadn’t put yourself through that situation, but it’s kinda funny that you got into a bar fight to protect my honor. I’m sure it’s mostly because you’re drunk, you’re usually not that stupid - stop, it was stupid and you know it” he reprimanded, when Katsuki opened his mouth to protest. “But it’s sweet.”
Katsuki fumed, but acquiesced.
“You’re not… Breaking up with me, are you?” He asked in a small voice, too chicken to look Izuku in the eye.
“What? No!” Izuku’s hands cradled his cheeks, and turned his head so he could face Katsuki properly. “What makes you think that?”
“I… You’re my hero partner. I put our careers in danger. You should hate the fuck out of me.”
Izuku frowned.
“Kacchan, do you even remember what we were fighting about?”
If Katsuki had to be honest with himself, he did not remember. So he shook his head. Izuku sighed and threw an exasperated look at the car’s roof, before facing him with a frustrated expression.”
“That was exactly the reason. You always look for reasons I should actually hate you. It’s as if you hadn’t forgiven himself, so you think I shouldn’t, either. But I did. I forgave you a long time ago. You were angry at me because I wanted to make our relationship public and you thought I deserved better than this. I don’t get it, since I already have the best.” Izuku’s thumbs rubbed his cheeks soothingly, and Katsuki’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s really frustrating when the person I love the most always recoils when I want to scream for the whole world how much I love him.”
It was official: Katsuki was never drinking ever again. He was an emotional drunk, yuck .
“I…” He couldn’t find the right words. Katsuki wished to give Izuku whatever he wanted - hell, he wanted to give him everything - but forgiving himself was still way out of his capabilities. How do you forgive yourself for hurting the best person you’ve ever met, the person you would literally die for? “S’hard. You didn’t deserve what I put you through.”
“I don’t think anyone deserves to be hurt, but it happens. The people we love can hurt us as much as the people we don’t. But you changed, didn’t you?” One of Izuku’s hands slid to his hair, petting him sweetly, and Katsuki closed his eyes with a sigh. “You changed and you turned into this amazing man that decided I was worth fighting for. Even for a stupid reason.
“They talked shit about All Might, too.”
“Those fuckers deserved it, then.”
Katsuku laughed at Izuku’s visceral, instantaneous reaction. Always his nerd.
“M’still too drunk to promise you anything.” He sagged sideways against the car seat, a wave of exhaustion suddenly taking over. “We should talk ‘bout that tomorrow.”
“Can you not push me away again, at least? It’s important to me. It sucks to feel like you’re not comfortable in this relationship. I don’t want you looking at me only to feel guilt, instead of the love I feel for you.”
Katsuki knew. It really wasn’t fair to Izuku. And it wasn’t fair to him, either. Katsuki went to therapy long enough to know he deserved to be happy, even if he didn’t feel like it.
He looked in his eyes and, for once, basked in the love and care pouring out of the gorgeous man in front of him.
“I’ll try not to storm out of the apartment again. Talk like an adult or whatev’r.” Izuku smiled brightly and kissed his forehead. “Oi, give me a real kiss, you little shit.”
Izuku’s laugh was like the chime of bells. Katsuki felt like stepping into heaven. “No way. You puked all over Monoma’s shoes, your breath probably stinks. Maybe after you brush your teeth.”
“Deal.”
“I dial drunk, I'll die a drunk, I'd die for you.”
Noah Kahan - Dial Drunk