Things that fit

“Will you stop spouting that ‘manly’ shit?” Katsuki snapped, shooting Eijirou a glare. “It’s annoying as fuck, leave me the hell out of it.”

“Woah!” Denki chuckled. “Calm down, dude. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“I’m soaking wet, covered in mud, and freezing my ass off. Of course I’m in a bad fuckin’ mood. Never gonna go anywhere without a change of clothes, ever again. Especially with you pieces of shit. Why the fuck did you think it was a good idea to screw around by the river in the middle of a training exercise? And don’t call me dude.”

“We said we were sorry!” Hanta whined. “Let it go!”

“If I had anything spare, I’d share with you.” Eijirou pulled a face. “Maybe we can find some clean water later to wash off?”

“Great, then I can just be wet and freezing.”

“Well, yeah,” Eijirou sighed. “I mean, it’s not great, but is it better than muddy as well?”

“Sure, just let me get pneumonia or some shit to get rid of the mud.”

“Point taken.”

“I think I have a spare pair of leggings, if you’re desperate?” Mina offered. “They’re super stretchy so they should fit, but they’ll be pretty form-fitting.”

Katsuki paused, glancing over at the genuine-looking concern on her face, and managed a little nod.

“Sure. Thanks.”

“Yeah? You sure?”

“You think I’d rather stay in this shit?”

Katsuki waved a leg at her pointedly, soaked pants slapping heavily as they moved, and she cracked a tiny smile.

“Yeah, okay,” she chuckled. “Good point.”

She slipped her backpack off her shoulders, opening it up to dig out a little roll of fabric and handing it over. Katsuki shook them out with a grimace, eyeing the mottled purple patterns.

“What even is this?” Katsuki asked, stepping behind a bush to change. “You been painting in your pants or some shit?”

“It’s galaxy print!” Mina beamed. “They’re really cool, they have constellations and moons and all sorts.”

Katsuki looked a little closer, squinting at them, and finally conceded a nod. At a closer look they actually had some rhyme and reason to them, unlike at first glance. Plus, Katsuki did like space – space was cool as fuck.

“Acceptable.”

It took a minute to squeeze into them, but once they were settled in place, they were actually pretty comfortable. Clingy, sure, but light and soft, and plenty moveable, unlike the skinny jeans half the class liked to wear. Katsuki had always assumed people wore leggings for the aesthetics, but maybe it was more about comfort after all – or at least a combination of the two.

Katsuki could definitely get on board with that.

“Wow, look at you!” Mina gushed. “Your hips don’t lie!”

“Shut up,” Katsuki snapped, cheeks warming all the same. “Whatever, they’re dry and they fit, so thanks or whatever.”

“No problem, Blasty!”

Denki slung an arm around Katsuki’s shoulders with a grin, gaze darting down to eye the clingy fabric as Katsuki pulled away stubbornly.

“You make girls’ clothes look surprisingly good, man.”

“Fuck off. Clothes don't have genitals, you idiot. When Mina wears them they're girls' clothes, when I wear them they're my clothes.”

“You know what I mean!”

“No, I fucking don’t.”

Katsuki stormed off ahead, letting the group just stare blankly as they tried to gather their thoughts, until they finally found the presence of mind to hurry along behind. In the back of Katsuki’s mind, the nagging thought was as annoying as ever. Tell them. They don’t know. You can’t get mad if they don’t know. But somehow it was never enough to just know it; acting on it, controlling emotions that had a mind of their own, was a whole different ball game.

“Can we sit for a sec?” Mina requested, when they reached the edge of the trees, the mud finally drying out into proper grass. “My feet are killing me.”

Katsuki didn’t say a word, but still stopped when everyone else did, each of them finding a dry spot to sit down. The group was weirdly quiet – especially for their group of noisy weirdos – and Katsuki couldn’t decide whether or not to say something.

“Thanks for the leggings,” was what finally came out, in an awkward mumble. “My ass is finally drying out.”

Mina burst out laughing at that, the rest of the group quickly following suit, and Katsuki cracked a tiny smile, looking away to keep them from noticing.

“I’m glad I could help,” she said fondly. “You know I’d do much more for people I like a lot less.”

“Stop hitting on me, I’m taken.”

Katsuki expected protests, but instead just got another laugh.

“But it’s so much fun!” she teased. “You expect me not to flirt with a cute dude when I see one?”

Katsuki’s smile faded quickly, and while the rest of the group didn’t seem to notice, Mina’s eagle eyes were always trained on the subtle things, like emotions and all that other stupid shit.

“Can we be serious for a moment?” she requested, glancing over at the guys who were engaged in some kind of weird foot-fight. “I think we need to talk about some stuff, right?”

“Oh,” Eijirou nodded, sitting up in a hurry. “Is everything okay?”

“Can I ask?” she continued, glancing at Katsuki for confirmation. “I feel like I’ve been noticing stuff, especially today, and these idiots probably haven’t, but as long as we’re alone in the woods, we may as well talk, right?”

“I don’t want to do this shit,” Katsuki huffed. “And the woods are back that way.”

“You don’t want me to ask?”

Katsuki shrugged faintly, looking away, refusing to meet Mina’s painfully concerned gaze.

“Is this about the ‘manly’ thing?” Eijirou asked. “You've said it a couple of times lately, and I’m trying to stop, I swear, it’s just habit! I didn’t know you didn’t like it.”

“I’m just... sick of that shit,” Katsuki grumbled.

“What shit?”

Katsuki shrugged it off, but the entire group had become invested after hearing the serious tones, and were suddenly hanging on every word.

“You know I’m Bi,” Mina prompted. “Is it... something like that?”

Katsuki didn’t answer right away, and Denki’s eyebrows knitted together.

“He’s dating a guy,” he pointed out. “We all know that, don’t we? Am I the only one who knows?”

“Not like that, hun,” Mina chuckled faintly. “But uh, sometimes people... don’t feel like they were born in the right body, you know?”

“I know what trans people are, Mina,” Denki assured her, surprising Katsuki a little. “But I’m pretty sure we’d know by now if Bakugou wanted to be a girl.”

“I’m not a girl,” Katsuki said firmly.

“See? I told you so!” Denki said triumphantly. “I would have noticed if he was buying dresses, I barge into his room way too often to not have caught him out.”

“Okay,” Mina nodded. “I just thought I should check, that’s all!”

Katsuki hesitated, glancing around at all the faces that had been so ready to accept it, if “I’m a girl” had spilled out in that moment. They genuinely cared, as difficult as that was to understand and accept.

“But...”

The group fell silent again, their brief return to grins and teasing quickly gone again, and Katsuki regretted the word immediately. Stupid brain, stupid mouth.

“I’m not a guy, either.”

The group stayed silent this time, and Katsuki tore at a few blades of grass, refusing to look up.

“Is there a name for that?” Eijirou asked. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know much about this. I don’t want to make you explain more than you feel comfortable with, so if there’s a name for it, I can look it up myself instead.”

“Mm. I’m uh... non-binary.”

“Oh. So male and female are the binary, and you’re... outside of that?”

“Pretty much.”

“Is that why Midoriya says ‘they’ all the time?” Mina asked.

“Does he?” Hanta frowned, face scrunching up as he thought back. “I’ve never noticed, it’s always just ‘Kacchan’ this and ‘Kacchan’ that.”

“Yeah, he does” Katsuki said simply. “I... prefer that.”

“I’ll do my best,” Mina promised. “I’m sorry if I make mistakes, but please correct me when I do!”

“It’s fine. Shit happens.”

“I’m serious though! I mean, if you don’t want to say anything, like if it’s in a big group and you feel awkward about it or anything, then obviously you don’t have to. But if we’re hanging out like this and I screw it up, please remind me so I can train myself into it!”

Katsuki nodded faintly, a little overwhelmed by all the unquestioning acceptance – every time they’d tried to bring it up as a kid, they'd just been laughed off or ignored. Eventually, it had just become habit to keep it quiet, to not bother bringing it up. Izuku had been the only one to understand it – had, in fact, been the one to research it and figure out what gender-neutral words he could use when he talked about Katsuki, the one to find a name for it, a label that made Katsuki belong somewhere, instead of being the odd one out all the time.

“What does Midoriya call you?” Eijirou asked. “Not ‘boyfriend’, obviously.”

“Partner,” Katsuki shrugged. “Or just ‘Kacchan’, people can usually tell from his tone.”

“True,” Eijirou chuckled. “He does seem pretty infatuated every time he says your name.”

“Can you tell us anything about it?” Hanta pushed, when there was a moment of silence again. “Just so we can, like, get it? Or, closer-to-get it?”

“Like what?”

“Like... Since when?”

“Forever.”

“Yeah?”

Katsuki shrugged again, but the group just waited patiently.

“I was like eight,” Katsuki said finally. “I’d always hated that shit. Boys’ clothes and girls’ clothes. Boys’ line and girls’ line. Boys’ bathroom and girls’ bathroom. Deku got it. Didn’t feel the same, but got it. He did one of his dumb research rabbit holes and came back with notebooks full of non-binary and agender and genderfluid and all the rest, showed me all these lists summarising what the differences were and asked if any of them sounded right for me.”

“Aww, that’s so nice!” Mina gushed. “He really is such a sweetie.”

“Mm-hm.”

“And he’s used gender-neutral stuff ever since?”

“Yeah. He fucked it up a few times the first day, and my parents don’t get it so sometimes he has to use the wrong ones in front of them, but otherwise he’s been pretty good since.”

“Only the first day? That was quick.”

“You know him. Spent hours in his bedroom practicing in mutters to himself until he got it.”

“Aww, what a great guy.”

Katsuki didn’t bother to hide the little smile that came out at that. It was true, after all – Izuku was a great guy, the best guy, that was why Katsuki was dating him, after all.

“So does that make Midoriya gay or straight or what?” Denki mused. “Like, I guess it’s neither of those, but I don’t know what it would be. Some sort of bi?”

“He’s pan regardless of me.”

“Oh!” Denki perked up. “Pan, gotcha! So uh, what’s pan?”

“Means he doesn’t give a fuck.”

“But Mina doesn’t give a fuck either.”

“It’s more like, I’m attracted to all genders,” Mina explained. “But Midoriya is attracted to who gives a fuck.”

“That makes sense!”

“It does?” Katsuki asked, snorting. “Who would’ve guessed.”

“Yeah, it does!” Denki nodded firmly. “Like, Mina is all over hot guys and pretty girls and whatever kind of attractive you are, but Midoriya just likes you, he doesn’t care what’s in your pants.”

“That’s... actually pretty close.”

“Yeah!” Denki grinned. “Also, in other news, I think I might be pan.”

“What?!” Mina squawked. “You can’t abandon the bi-bus that quickly!”

“You mean like you abandoned the lesbian-bus?”

“That was different!”

“How?”

“The guys got tall and hot when the awkward years passed!”

“Okay, valid.”

Katsuki shook their head faintly, forcing back a smile, and this time, when the group quieted again, there was no pressure or awkwardness that came with it.

“We should head off,” Eijirou said finally. “We don’t want to be the last ones there.”

“Yeah,” Mina agreed, climbing to her feet. “Thanks for giving me a break. And thanks for talking to us, Bakugou! It was cool to learn about, and I’m glad you trust us enough to share.”

“Don’t get all sappy on me, raccoon face.”

Katsuki stood up, brushing grass off purple leggings, and pulled a face at the greenery that fell away.

“I’ll wash them later and get them back to you.”

“Nah, keep ‘em!” Mina grinned. “You wear them better anyway.”

Katsuki snorted, but nodded faintly anyway – despite some initial reservations, they’d actually become quite fond of the things.

“Thanks, I think.”

With backpacks strapped on, the group continued their path down the mountain, and soon they caught sight of a gathering in the distance, all their little teams of classmates joining up together after their nights in the wilderness with no adult supervision. Half the class had dreaded the whole camping side of it, but Katsuki had actually been pretty keen from the beginning, and other than a few setbacks with idiots destroying tents and Katsuki being knocked into rivers, it had, sure enough, been a decent trip. Being able to speak up to their friends and get understanding and acceptance in return had just been the icing on the cake, even with the awkwardness that had come with it.

“Kacchan!” Izuku beamed, waving wildly as they got closer. “How was your night?”

“It’ll take more than two sentences to tell you all the shit that went down with these idiots,” Katsuki smirked, opening their arms as Izuku launched himself into them. “It was pretty good.”

“I’m glad! I had a lot of fun too, Todoroki kept us all nice and warm when that wind picked up – did you feel it too?! I was so cold! But he kept the fire going for us all night so we wouldn’t freeze to death. I missed you though.”

“Missed you too, nerd.”

“Is Bakugou wearing leggings?”

Katsuki looked up, just raising an eyebrow at Ochako’s shocked face, and Izuku grinned as he slid a hand down to Katsuki’s thigh lightly.

“I like them! You look good! And I love the space patterns.”

“We were screwing around a bit too much,” Mina laughed. “Bakugou fell in the river and kinda ruined their pants.”

Izuku’s lips stretched into a smile that was impossibly wide, and he glanced up just in time to see Katsuki crack a little one of their own.

“Mina let me borrow these, but I refuse to give them back, they’re actually really comfortable.”

“I said you could keep them!” Mina protested. “Don’t make it sound like you’re some badass stealing them from me, you wouldn’t steal a free balloon from a carnival.”

“Mine now.”

“Thanks for letting us borrow your Bakugou for a night,” Eijirou grinned, nudging Izuku lightly. “I think we’d have gotten lost halfway up the mountain without them, not to mention we’d never have gotten the tent up.”

“Kacchan is great in the outdoors,” Izuku agreed. “I’m glad you all had a good time!”

“Next time we do this, it’s gonna be at a nice campground, in summer, with a bunch of marshmallows and the whole class there to hang.”

“That sounds great! Count me in!”

As the last of their classmates trickled in, Aizawa opened up the storage compartments on the bus, and one by one they tossed their heavy backpacks down below for the long trip back to school. Izuku kept his hand laced through Katsuki’s as they moved, finding a seat on the bus and giving them a pitiful look, until they squeezed his hand lightly in agreement.

“I’m gonna take a nap,” Izuku said firmly, as soon as they were in their seats. “Gonna lean on you.”

He put his head down on Katsuki’s shoulder, and Katsuki huffed a little laugh – it was so typical Izuku, acting like he wanted attention and company when all he really wanted was a pillow.

“You had a talk?” he whispered, not lifting his head. “It seems like it went well.”

“Didn’t intend to, but yeah, we did. And it did.”

“I told you they’d all be cool with it.”

“Don’t start this shit.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely starting,” Izuku teased. “I was right and Kacchan was wrong, how often do I get to say that?”

“Damn nerd.”

Katsuki tucked an arm around Izuku’s back, holding him comfortably against their side, and in a moment of weakness, leaned their cheek on a mop of tangled curls.

“Thanks,” they said softly.

“For what, Kacchan?”

“Just... All of it.”

Izuku giggled, shaking Katsuki a little with the motion, but Katsuki just smiled softly, letting their eyes fall closed.

“Nap time for you too?” Izuku asked knowingly.

“Yeah, so stay still.”

“I’ll do my best. Sweet dreams, Kacchan. Tell me all about it when we get back, okay?”

“I will. Love you, nerd.”

“Love you too, Kacchan.”