Twenty-Four Hours - Part 2

5:00

Most days, Katsuki got up at five to go for a run and get to work in time for an early patrol. When his alarm went off that day, though, he rolled over and slapped the off button immediately, groaning as he buried his face in his pillow.

“Morning, Kacchan,” Izuku giggled. “Here, a little one.”

He handed over the smallest gift so far, once again wrapped with a string bow, and despite the way he ached to fall asleep immediately, he couldn’t resist his boyfriend’s cute birthday plans. He unwrapped it carefully, pulling out two metal pens, both dark and shiny and etched with his name in silver.

“They’re explosion proof,” Izuku mumbled into his neck. “Just in case you have an accident or anything, so you can stop covering your desk in ink.”

“I’m tempted to test it.”

“Maybe wait until proper-morning just in case,” Izuku huffed. “We don’t need to be in until eight for the conference, we can sleep late.”

“Hell yes. Thanks, Deku. You’re always so good at finding me things I don’t even realise I need.”

“I pay a lot of attention to you,” Izuku chuckled, shaking the bed with the motion. “When you turned five, your quirk had just come, and you were still having a lot of accidents.”

“Ugh, yeah. It was a pain in the ass.”

“Me and Mom found these crayons that were supposed to be unbreakable. I’m sure there are ways, but they held up to your explosions at least. Apparently your Mom got all teary because you hadn’t been able to draw in months and she hated how frustrated it made you.”

“Yeah?”

“That’s what she says.”

“Thank you, then,” he hummed, leaning on Izuku’s hair comfortably. “For letting me draw.”

“Happy to help, Kacchan.”

“I know, nerd. You always were.”

─────

6:00

At six years old, Katsuki had wanted nothing more than his own set of dumbbells. His parents had laughed, had thought it was just a passing fancy, but Izuku had known better – he’d seen Katsuki in the kindergarten playground doing curls with his water bottle, showing his friends how to squat with sticks. He’d reported that information to his mother with glee, and Inko, ever the saint for her son and his best friend, had taken him out to find a set.

They had been small, the heaviest one only a kilogram and a half, but they’d looked like the real deal. Izuku didn’t want any of the brightly coloured plastic versions, they had to be perfect and professional for his Kacchan.

And sure enough, Katsuki had loved them. Even his parents had been baffled by how excited they made him, realising way too late that he’d been serious when he asked for them, but they’d learned to never question his choices again – from then on, whatever Katsuki requested for his birthday, regardless of how silly it seemed to them, they’d still done it. He wasn’t the type of kid to ask for the most expensive thing, or the dangerous thing, he had a dream, a goal, and everything he wanted was to help him get there.

When Izuku’s alarm went off at six a.m., he reached for another package, tucking it into Katsuki’s grip before he could even open his eyes. With a cut little yawn, Katsuki kissed him on the forehead, tearing into the package to see his new toy.

“For my desk?” he murmured, when he found the deflated exercise ball inside. “Thanks babe.”

“You mentioned it a few weeks ago,” Izuku hummed back, tucking his face into Katsuki’s shoulder. “That you wanted something for your core, I mean.”

“Yeah, I don’t do enough core,” Katsuki agreed, setting it down beside the bed before he wrapped Izuku back up in his arms. “Thanks for listening to me.”

“Always, Kacchan.”

─────

7:00

“Alright, give it here so we can get to work.”

Izuku laughed, but he pulled out a little package all the same, tossing it lightly at Katsuki’s smirking face. They’d finally rolled out of bed around fifteen minutes earlier, and Katsuki was more than smart enough to have figured out the patternas he snatched his brief moments of sleep in between.

“Seven o’clock, so this is from my seventh birthday?” Katsuki hummed, slitting the envelope open neatly. “That was just after we started school, so it was probably something school related.”

“Was it?” Izuku hummed, smiling cheekily. “Hmm, I wonder.”

“Wasn’t it? What was- Oh shit, that was the year you made me the bracelet, wasn’t it? The knotted cords with the grenades and the booms on it?”

“The booms,” Izuku repeated, grinning when Katsuki blushed faintly. “You called them that for so long.”

“Explosion was hard to say, okay!”

“So is Katsuki.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” he snorted. “Alright, let me take a look.”

He opened up the tiny box, a soft smile stretching across his lips when he saw the soft, dark leather inside. It was a flat band of braided leather, a single silver charm dangling from the middle, with an etched grenade on a spiky explosion background. It was more professional than his first one, which had been a mess of colours that at the time they both loved, and it was so perfectly Katsuki that it hurt.

“Put it on me?” Katsuki requested, holding it out to him. “It looks awesome.”

“I’m glad you like it!”

He wrapped it around Katsuki’s wrist, fastening the catch on the end carefully, and Katsuki shook his hand to settle it, smiling as he watched the charm rattle a little

“It’ll match my costume perfectly,” Katsuki praised, kissing Izuku’s cheek.

“And it has a boom.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki chuckled. “And it has a boom.”

─────

8:00

The workshop was all set up, ready to begin, when Izuku buzzed again, diving into his bag to retrieve a package in a hurry. It was another small one, just a thick envelope, and Izuku looked weirdly nervous as he handed it over.

“Eight was the year we were all obsessed with remote control toys,” Izuku grinned sheepishly. “I found you that plane that actually flew and everyone was so jealous.”

“I remember that thing,” Katsuki agreed. “You were the only other person I let try it, because I knew you’d be careful not to break it.”

“You’re um, gonna complain about this one,” Izuku mumbled. “But I promise it wasn’t too expensive.”

Warily, Katsuki flipped open a little cardboard folder, eyes widening when he saw the two tickets inside. He looked up again, staring at Izuku in silence, and Izuku threw his hands up defensively.

“It’s still months away, I booked it well in advance,” he insisted. “So we have heaps of time to arrange people to cover our patrols and things, and I’ve already put it in the agency calendar so that everyone knows and can plan around it! I got a really good deal on them, and we have a super pretty room at a resort with a spa and everything, and it’s gonna be great.”

“This is in the middle of winter.”

“Yeah! I thought we could escape the cold for a week and have a little vacation. Okinawa is basically tropical, so it might be a little chilly, but it’ll be like autumn temperatures here! They said it’s usually around 15 degrees on a cold day, so still warm enough for us to do stuff!”

“God you’re perfect.”

Izuku burned bright red, hearing a few chuckles behind him as people began to join them to greet their friends and find seats for the workshop, but Katsuki could only take his hand and squeeze it hard, staring at him with so much love that Izuku could hardly take it.

“So it’s okay?”

“I’m still annoyed that you’ve spent so much money on me,” Katsuki huffed a little laugh. “But you’re so damn thoughtful, and this is... Really sweet. So thank you, even though you spent too much.”

“I just thought you deserved something special,” Izuku shrugged faintly. “I know you don’t like running these events anyway, you only do it for me and for our rankings, and the fact that we could only arrange this one on your birthday is a bit... Shitty. But you were so gracious about it all, so willing to give up your special day for this, and I just want you to be happy and have a good day even though you had to be here.”

“You’re overthinking this,” Katsuki smiled, pinching Izuku’s cheek and making him whine. “I want to be the best, indisputably, and if that means running some dumb courses to get good will and try to learn something new, then so be it. I would do far worse things for you, nerd.”

“Aww, how cute,” Eijirou teased, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Happy birthday bro! We’re taking you both to dinner, later. Denki booked a private room at that fancy place you love, I promise it’s only a dozen people, for good food and a lot of drinks. Sound good?”

“Fine,” Katsuki huffed. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Our pleasure! We booked it for half past five so we can just go straight there after the last course, then you can be home in time for an early night, Grandpa.”

Eijirou gave him a last pat on the back, stepping away before he could grumble about it, and Izuku flashed him a beaming smile when they were back to being alone together.

“Alright Kacchan, let’s get started!”

“You’re doing the talking shit, right?”

“Yeah! You just have to stand here and look handsome.”

“Fine, I guess I am the expert at that.”

“Damn right you are.”