Archive of Our Own

The gravel under Shouto’s feet crunched softly and he puffed out an annoyed breath as an overly large rock wedged its way between the treads of his boot for the second time, displacing his weight in an annoying fashion. Pausing to dislodge would mean letting Inasa and Katsuki pass him on their path though and he had no intention letting that happen so he ignored the rock, letting it poke weirdly against the rubber. 

The weather had been nice that morning, a low haze hanging in the air as they got in the car at an ungodly hour for a day off, but now it was hot and the wetness in the air hadn’t decreased from the morning dew, leaving stickiness everywhere. Shouto clenched his hands as he stomped up the incline, feeling the gross sensation of moisture that hadn’t come from sweat on his palms. He could feel the blood coursing through his hands, hyper aware of a feeling that was prickling against his skin in a way that made it feel like it was coming from the inside out, hot and itchy and impossible to wipe away. 

There had been silence for a while now, it being at least half an hour since the path narrowed out, pushing them into a single file. Inasa said something, but his name wasn’t mentioned so Shouto assumed the message was for Katsuki and kept walking. 

“Shou-chan? Babe?” 

He didn’t stop in his trekking, just walked up the mountain. that ‘s what they were doing right? Walking up a mountain, eating, walking down a mountain. It sounded like something father would try to do as ‘bonding’. 

“Yes.” Maybe if he put his hands in his pockets the feeling would go away. 

“I asked if you wanna play a game! We can play that game, uh what’s it called? Where you pretend to be a famous person and you give us hints! You go first and me and ‘tsuki will try to guess. Sound good?” Inasa sounded like he was so excited and Shouto couldn’t deny that tone. He couldn’t deny it even though all he wanted was to continue walking and talk to no one and take in none of the sights and not enjoy a moment of it. His head was starting to hurt. 

“Fine, I’m ready.” Maybe he could just walk faster, out pace them and wait at the stopping point they had already determined on, or just keep going and summit. Might as well finish what you start. “I am a hero.” 

“Oh fun! We all know a lot of them so this should be easy!” Inasa’s childish tone of excitement gave Shouto a momentary pause, he could still go back, he could still change his answer, not be an asshole for once. No. he wanted this game to end and this was the fastest way. Pulling an itchy hand out of his pocket he rubbed at his itchy eyes. Why were his eyes itching? They probably weren’t, not really. Just another phantom itch like the one on his sticky palms. 

“I wear a mask.” 

“Tons of people wear masks, dipstick. Can you make it more obvious so we can finish humoring baldie faster.” Katsuki barked from the back of their procession. A tiny and bright call of “Still not bald, baby cakes!” came from Inasa, but it was ignored. 

Katsuki sounded happy, really happy. Something clenched in his chest; mixed emotions of anger and shame. He could usually count on his blonde partner to be a united front in quelling Inasa's over excited plans, but this time he seemed to be enjoying himself.

“I’m not making it hard. Maybe you just need to work on your brain with the same effort you put into your pecs.” Somewhere in the distance between the two of them Inasa gave a warning “Shou-chan.” but it doesn’t matter. They will just play their silly game on the silly mountain that they were climbing up on their day off. The sneeze takes him by surprise, and the itch in his throat that follows is annoyingly familiar. So the feelings in his hands and eyes hadn’t been just a strange hyper aware sensation. Great this was so much better.

“I’m short.” 

Inasa followed Shouto’s lead and went back to the game, going through all the people this answer had eliminated. Katsuki was, oddly enough, chiming in helpful things, his competitive nature clearly outweighing any protests he had had before.

“I’m blonde”

“Oh Fatgum is blonde! Wait no, he’s not short at all.” Inasa had his hand on his chin like he was thinking deeply when Shouto chanced a glance back. Made it hard for him to stay mad about being dragged out of bed only to be allergic to the air. “Do Keigo-san’s glasses count as a mask?” 

Shouto shook his head at the question and was about to respond when a growl hit his ears. He didn’t even have to start it, perfect. “You’re playing the game wrong, princess! Give us specifics, things they have done or something like that.”

“I’m attractive.” 

“That is subjective!”

“I graduated from UA, I’m twenty one years old.” Shouto continued in a monotone ignoring Inasa’s cheerful cry of “Oh! It’s ‘Tsuki!” and Katsuki’s third growl of the morning in favor of finishing this game so they could walk in silence again. “I’m a control freak with anger issues who never shuts up.” 

For once Katsuki did shut up. It seemed all the sound in the air had stopped along with their talking, the birds and the wind deciding to take a break to help make Shouto’s day even worse. The silence was supposed to be welcomed, but he had been wrong. What he wouldn’t give to hear Katsuki blow up.

“Shouto.” The warning was strong. He sneezed again. Maybe it was the trees, maybe if they got up to the plateau they had planned to stop at and the itching would go away. Great, now his nose was running. “Can you say what’s got you moody, little mister?” 

No, he couldn’t actually. He would be fine if he could just get up to the open air again. His feet moved faster, picking up speed to follow the command of his brain till he broke into a sprint. The rock finally dislodged from the tread of his boot as he ran, the hot wet air pulled against his face, and his hands gripping his backpack were still itchy, feeling as hot as his forehead underneath his bangs and cap. 

He had wanted to stay in bed and yet now he was running, ignoring the calls from behind him. The physical sensations were all too much but stopping and admitting that was too much too so running had seemed to make sense. Now as he reached the hilltop, looking around the small clearing and took a deep breath- fuck no. Grass was worse than trees. The immediate itch that sprang up behind his eyes sent his brain into a panic. Why hadn’t he remembered to take his allergy medication this morning? Oh right cus ‘this morning’ had been the middle of the fucking night.   

Dealing with any of this seemed like too much. It was too much to deal with his conflicting emotions about how content those he loved were doing something he hated, and it was too much to handle how every inch of his skin was now crawling with an itchy feeling he knew was only half real but still couldn’t escape, and it was way too much to deal with the look of disappointment that would paint Inasa’s face. So he wouldn’t. 

The clearing wasn’t large and the surrounding trees were the same kind as the ones along the path had been, with many low branches starting from only about shoulder height so Shouto found himself running to the other side and making his assent with ease. He wasn’t that high, only going far enough that the thick foliage of the tree would conceal him. 

The rough bark of the branch he had found to sit on felt good against his prickling hands and Shouto didn’t even try to resist the urge to scrap them across the trees' protective layer harshly, leaving them as red and irritated as they felt. Distantly he could hear the sound of voices calling for him, but it didn’t matter right now. 

Now his attention had been turned to a gross insect that had flown into his vision. His sniff was both in disdain for the bug and to hold back his running nose as he shot a tiny flame out to crisp the creature to ash and watched it fall from the air. It was a least a way to pass the time, he thought as his big kill count went up to two a moment later. These stupid bugs, in this horrible tree, on the ridiculous mountain… that his boyfriends loved so much and who’s trip he was spoiling. 

The shame was over taking the anger now as he sat, rubbing his now over scratched hands against the branch and killing bugs for no reason. The state of limbo existing in the tree was only making things worse, but Shouto wasn’t going to be leaving it. Down there was the admission that he was being an ass and an unbearable partner, but what was even worse was the knowledge that it would be okay. Up here he could dwell in uncertainty, instead of being faced with a dwanting concept of unconditional love and affection.

He could hear their voices calling, both heavy timbres but with distinctly different tones. Inasa’s voice was full and loud, a round sound that stretched through space pushing its way outward where Katsuki’s was sharp and anxious, cutting through the trees and lodging itself in Shouto’s head. Both of them made his heart sink.

How long would they look for him? How much worse would it be the longer he stayed up here. Inasa wouldn’t be mad, he was never mad, but there would be that distinct sort of look in his eye. It was that look that had made Shouto like him in the first place, a look that longed to make everything right, a look that craved peace and spoke only of goodness, a look that belonged to a hero.

“This is insane.” Katsuki muttered to himself, the crunch of sticks as he trudged along cueing Shouto into just how close he was. He stopped breathing, waiting for his boyfriend to walk below him, his footsteps carrying him in a wide circle from just below Shouto to all the way back out into the clearing.

This was it, this was the moment when he could climb down from the tree, apologize, and escape with his skin intact. Inasa wouldn’t be that mad just about some rudeness, though the game of hide and seek wasn’t part of their plans at all either. If he went back now it would be easy, but that route was still relatively unexplored for him. Doing what what easy, or at least what other people seemed to tell him should be easy was actually much harder in general and in this moment especially it seemed almost impossible to drive himself down from his hiding place and confront…

Confront what exactly? There wouldn’t be anger he reminded himself for the hundredth time, there would probably only be the slightest hint of disappointment. Mostly there would be sympathy and understanding and Shouto wished he understood why those were somehow harder to deal with sometimes.

It was because this was his fault, he realized, staring down at the now raw and scratched skin of his hands. If there was anger coming at him he could be bitterly angry in return, but when faced with kindness it was harder to mirror. He was mad at himself and if someone else was mad too he could move that energy onto them, but with nowhere else to go it always came back in on himself.

His eyes burned again but it wasn’t allergies anymore. The raw skin on his hand burned as it touched the salty tear he wiped away before it could unstick itself from his eyelashes. He glanced down at the digital face of his watch and noted the time. He had been in this tree for forty minutes. Forty minutes of hiding, of running away from feelings and trying to lock them up. He was getting worse, or well Inasa would say better.

A year ago he could go hours, days even, ignoring himself and his thoughts, be it guilt, or anger, or at the strangest of moments joy. But after all this time with Inasa constantly pulling it out of him and Katsuki demonstrating at every turn that you could tell the world exactly what you thought of it, Shouto was no longer much good at shutting it out. Now the emotions came to him unprompted, but he did wish they could come fast enough to keep him from being an idiot in the first place. 

However today was not that day he thought as he constructed an ice slide and slid to the ground to avoid having to maneuver through branches that he wasn’t totally sure how he had gotten through in the first place. The sound of the ice forming must have been loud enough to be heard because as he walked back out to the clearing his boyfriend’s were already making their way toward him, one with a furrow in his brow so deep that Shouto briefly thought he should advice him on a skin care routine to help prevent wrinkles, and the other with a look of great relief. 

He opened his mouth to speak but there was no point as huge bare arms came around him in a second and a deep heavy breath heaved against his ear as he was pressed to Inasa’s chest. “There you are little blizzard. Been a minute”

“More like an hour” Katsuki grumbled, from beside them with his arms crossed despite the way his body was ever so slightly leaning in closer.

“Sorry” He mumbled, still not used to admitting it without being prompted.

“For?” Inasa asked, extending the word out in a questioning lilt. 

“For hiding from you and ruining our trip. You were excited.” The guilt that had settled in his chest was hardening into something heavier with every admission. Why was he so selfish? “And for being mean to Katsuki I guess.”

That drew a snort from the blonde who reached forward and pulled on the grab handle of Shouto’s backpack slightly, causing him to step back from Inasa’s hug and relinquish the pack. “It’s fine princess. You called me hot too so it evens out.”

Shouto’s own backpack joined Katsuki’s on his shoulder and he turned on his heel, marching away from them with a call that he was “Going to set up the picnic.” and to “Not take another fucking hour.”

He watched this partner’s retreating back for a moment, feeling something pull at the heavy feeling in his chest. Katsuki wasn’t mad at him. He usually wasn’t despite who much the two of them bickered, but hearing him say it was… It didn’t make the feeling go away at all but it helped. Katsuki wouldn’t lie. 

“Baby, you didn’t ruin anything. We still have time for our picnic and sure it wasn’t my favorite thing in the whole world that you were naughty but it’s okay.” Inasa spoke with his usual cheery voice, reaching out and running a finger over Shouto’s lips to get him to stop biting at them. That word should have made him feel worse, feel small and humiliated or embarrassed but it didn’t. The word wasn’t about him, but his mistake. It was a small word for a small mistake.

“Yeah.” Shouto agreed, rationally believing just what Inasa said, but still holding onto that deep, heavy something inside of him. He knew it wouldn’t last forever, but it also never went away in an instant.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded and just like that they were walking, his hand being swooped up and pulled along. It was only ten or so meters till they stopped again at the edge of the woods, a fallen tree making the perfect place for Inasa to sit, dragging Shouto to stand in front of him and looking up with wide beseeching eyes. “So can you tell me what happened back there? What upset you so much.”

Shouto felt his nose crunch up as he glanced away from Inasa, not needing that look to help make him feel any worse. “I just got overwhelmed… I didn’t take my allergy pill and I’m tired and everything was… it was too much.”

“Sensory overload.” Inasa started, nodding his head but keeping that soft smile intact. “It’s okay, I’m not upset about that, although I know you know it doesn’t happen as much when you take your meds and are well rested and we should work on that.”

It was always “ we” with Inasa. Never just him or just Katsuki, or even just Inasa himself, they were always we in his eyes, growing and bettering themselves as a team.

“But what are we supposed to do when that happens?” He kept pressing with the same intent that seemed to permeate through everything he did.

“Communicate. Let someone know so they can lower their output or help me to lower it, or leave the situation which is what I did-” He was cut off by Inasa humming a soft rejection of an obviously weak excuse. 

“That’s to leave a room baby, not run and hide up a tree. And how long was it till you felt okay but were still hiding fifteen minutes? Twenty minutes? It’s never taken you that long to come down from- Oh Shou.” Inasa cut himself off this time, his voice morphing from a disappointed scowled to a worried coo. He had taken Shouto’s hand to pull them closer, probably to start tilting him over his knee when he had caught sight of the raw skin of his palms. They were now both face up, cupped in Inasa’s own hands and he had to resist the urge to pull them away from his boyfriend’s grasp.

“My hands itched.”

“Shou.” Inasa said, finally putting a warning in his voice that sent a shiver down his spin.

“They really itched.”

Inasa just sighed at that, letting him go in favor of reaching into the backpack at his feet. Out he pulled a tiny pill case and a bottle of water, handing them over without a word as Shouto finally took what was the only thing that would really give him relief. 

“Sorry I didn’t think to give them to you sooner. I only brought some in case your morning pill wore off, but I suppose I should have reminded you to take it in the first place.”

Shouto grimaced as he handed back the water bottle a simple “not your job.” falling from his lips that was only answered with a shrug. 

“Okay baby come on. Time to put this behind us.” Inasa said, patting his thigh as he spoke. In a few moments Shouto’s eyes would stop burning, but one burning would only be replaced by another, he thought ruefully as he leaned over and felt his joggers and underwear being pulled down just past the swell of his ass. There hadn’t even been one shred of his being that had thought he would get out of this without being bared. It was so rare at this point that his only saving grace would have been the public setting, but it was clear that there was no one else around them for kilometers. 

Inasa always felt a little pang in his chest as his hand fell for the first time on Shouto’s perfect little rump, settling quickly into a rhythm that he would likely carry out through the whole punishment. It was easier to do this when one of his babies was being feisty ( not bratty . No matter one Takami-san said, his boys were not brats.) and fighting him a little bit. It was easier for him to deal with that then the sorry sight that was his little blizzard already red eyes and sniffing.

“I’m sorry you weren’t feeling good Shou-chan, but being rude, running away, and hiding aren’t good ways to deal with it. If you knew you needed medicine you should have said something, if you needed quiet we would have given it to you, but you need to tell people what you want.”

The only response he got was a little ‘ow’ and a squirm, but Shouto didn’t really like to talk much in this position, so he let it go, for once certain that his boyfriend knew exactly what he was in trouble for. There were a few minutes where nothing was said, the only sounds being the clap of his hand falling against Shouto’s ever pinkening rear end and the small gasps and whines he let out in response. Nothing out of the ordinary for them, nothing new, the comfort of the routine only changed by the setting.

“So that’s that dealt with.” He said happily, stopping momentarily to rub softly at one nearly red cheek. “Now I do have a question, baby. Why did you hide for so long hmm? I know you were overwhelmed, but why did you keep hiding after that, what kept you away?”

“I felt…bad” Shouto whispered. A quick peak showed Inasa that his eyes were scrunched up tight and his perfect button nose was pink just like his bottom although he didn’t know if that was from tears or allergies. 

“Do you mean you were feeling guilty?”- a nod was all he got in response- “well then I’m sorry Shou-chan but we don’t hide away and beat ourselves up like that.”

His hand came down again, catching the tops of Shouto’s thighs now. “I bet you were thinking some mean things about yourself hmmm?

There was a long pause before a soft “maybe” met his ears. That was an understatement. His boys, bless them, never seemed to be able to make the smallest mistake without thinking the worst of themselves. Laying down another four swats he thought for a moment, thinking back to how upset Shouto had looked when they had first found him. 

“Shou, tell me the truth please. If we stopped right now and I said you were all forgiven, would you be able to let it go?” 

“I will, I promise” Shouto sniffed out, not quite sobbing, but fast on his way. 

“I don’t need to cut a switch to make you stop being mean to yourself?”

“No I swear!” His boy did choke on his tears that time, pulling his head back for one moment to wail before dropping back down and crying deeply at only the threat of such a thing. Inasa moved to action quickly, scooping Shouto up and pressing his cheek into his shoulder, feeling slim but well built arms wrap around him tightly. He would have to trust Shouto, not that he found that hard. 

They sat for a few minutes, Shouto sipping from the water bottle Inasa had produced again while Inasa stroked at his locks that had been flattened down by his cap which had fallen off during the spanking. Brushing bangs from his eyes and righting it back on Shouto’s head had them walking back out into the sun again, spotting Katsuki laying on his back in the near distance. They walked closer to find an incredible spread of food meticulously laid out across the picnic blanket, Katsuki sitting up and scowling at them as though daring them to say anything nice to him about it. He had insisted on doing it all himself, spending hours after dinner making bentos for each of them as well as three others filled with things to share. Inasa couldn’t help at least giving his hair a soft brush over accompanied by a “This looks wonderful ‘Tsuki” as he sat.

Shouto on the other hand didn’t say a word, ignoring the food entirely and plummeting head first into Katsuki, laying down on his side across the outside of the blanket and burying his face against their blonde loves stomach, mumbling something that sounded an awful lot like ‘I’m sorry”

“Shou-chan, no more apologies. Come on, sit up and eat with us.”

For a moment Shouto stiffened, seeming like he would rather stay hidden against Katsuki’s abdomen, but then Katsuki chimed in, his tone harsher than his words, or the soft hand on the back of Shouto’s neck coaxing him up. “I go to all this trouble to make your favorite food and you are just going to sulk?”

That got Shouto up, peeking around at the dishes in search of his beloved soba. His eyes were still soft and wet, but there was a life to them again that reassured Inasa that everything would be perfectly fine. No, not fine. With his boys in his life nothing was ever just fine. It would be perfectly perfect.

Katsuki was just about to leave. Princess had been practically forced to nap, carried just like a princess would be up the stairs even as he complained into Inasa’s neck that it was unnecessary. Yeah right, half and half had been practically insufferable all day with the amount of trouble he had caused and there was no way he wasn’t exhausted after the hike up the mountain and the ass beating he had earned up there. 

The day had been nice overall. The fresh air had done him good and it had been a good level of physical exertion for a day off, but something was lingering in Katsuki’s chest that had started forming on the way down the mountain. He had planned to stay the night here, he did more than not at this point, however now he was thinking maybe he should head back to his apartment. His apartment he went to about once a month, his apartment that he was only holding onto because he was a coward who couldn’t commit. 

His backpack was slung over his shoulder and he was headed toward the door when a stupid friendly voice stopped him, acompanied by a loud creak coming from the last step of the staircase as his giant boyfriend hit the landing. “Hey babe, what do you want for dinner? Shou-chan is pretty much out till then so maybe we could watch some tv and then make something quick. What do you think about doing-” 

Inasa stopping in the middle of his sentence made Katsuki’s shoulders tighten. Shit. He knew there would be trouble if he snuck away without saying goodbye, but the likelihood of baldie letting him leave if he tried had seemed low. That’s how this had all started to begin with. 

“‘Tsuki? Where are you going?” He asked slowly, walking from the stairs to Katsuki’s shoulder and bending forward to rest his chin there. 

“I was going to mine for the night.” Katsuki gritted out, biting the bullet and turning around. Inasa was smiling but the weight on Katsuki’s chest just wasn’t going away. 

“Why would you do that?” Katsuki felt himself scowl in return. 

“Because I can.” 

“But do you want to?” Inasa’s head tilted as he asked his question and Katsuki couldn’t help but wonder how he asked such a smart question while looking like such an idiot. He didn’t reply though, just gripped the strap of the heavy bag full of hiking equipment and glared off to the side. Inasa let out a long thoughtful sound, one that made his heart beat a little faster.

“You know. you behaved so well today.” -what?- “You were so good all day and now you want to go and be by yourself? But if you do that how will I show my baby how much I appreciate his sweetness?” Inasa was almost pouting at the end of his sentence, but he smiled again as his hand guided Katsuki’s cheek forward so they were face to face. “You look really stressed out baby. Is it that feeling in your heart? Shou-chan needed a lot of attention today, but you know that doesn’t mean we don’t love you right?” 

He drops the bag without being asked, leaving it on the floor by the genkan. He didn’t want to deal with whatever the hell this stupid sweet moron was about to say next, but he also didn’t want to think about leaving Inasa alone, what with Shouto asleep like the princess and the pea upstairs. 

“You really did do a very good job today, even though Shou was trying his best to get under your skin. I think you deserve a reward.” 

Two hands clasped both of his and Katsuki could feel the difference between the roughness of the callused hand Inasa kept ungloved and the soft warmth of the hand he covered. 

“How about a spanking? A good boy spanking.” Inasa announced this while practically beaming and Katsuki had to roll his eyes, even as a blush crept up from his neck. 

“Is that your answer to everything?” He grumbled as he let himself be dragged up the steps. They made it to the landing but Katsuki balked when Inasa went to open the bedroom door. “Isn’t princess getting his beauty sleep. It doesn’t matter how much you tanned him before he’ll be a menace if we wake him up.” 

“He’s in the guest room, the sun comes in too brightly on this side of the house when it’s setting.” 

Ancestors, he really was a princess. 

The glow of the sun was rather sharp as it broke across the floor, but it was warm and golden, not like the white hot sun they had been out in all day. Katsuki didn’t have long to focus on that, deciding whether he himself could have slept in the light and whether or not to make fun of Shouto later for it, before they were at the bed and Inasa had sat down. His shorts were gone and his stomach came into contact with strong thighs and so far it was the same as a regular, non ‘good boy’ spanking but something about the air of the room was different, causing Katsuki’s head to feel slightly cloudy. 

“Okay kitten” He could hear the smile in Inasa’s voice as he brushed his hand over Katsuki’s bare ass, sending goosebumps up in his wake. “Relax for me and you can have your reward for being so good.” 

The first smack was… nothing. Barely more than a tap, but Katsuki jolted slightly, feeling keyed up from the soft touches. They kept coming, these barely strikes, doing little to nothing but drive Katsuki crazy, his brain growing fuzzy with the strangeness of the sensation. Then the first actual smack came and it was still softer than Inasa would have ever started with in a punishment but he felt it strike deep at his core. The feeling went on as the slowest warm up in existence began. It was increasing, however slowly and Katsuki hardly noticed when the sensation changed from just sort of weird to a familiar warmth that radiated across his skin. It was without the sharp sting or the deep ache though, just the warm pulsating feeling. Now he understood what Inasa had meant when he said it was a reward. 

Inasa had said to relax and Katsuki was managing to for the most part, but his hand kept fidgeting against his will, gripping at each other. His fingers were about to scrape harshly at his wrist when another hand came in and stopped them, halting Katsuki’s breath along with it. 

“Kitten, do you want something for your hands?” Katsuki buried his head in the thin summer blanket they had on the bed, wishing for a thick duvet that would better hide his embarrassment. “It’s okay to need that. And your being good so you get whatever you want. Do you want my hand, or do you want me to get some rope real quick?” 

“Rope.” He choked out softly and in a moment he was sitting on the bed shifting his hot skin against the cool blanket beside Inasa who had leaned over to the drawers of their bedside table and grabbed the shortest length of rope. The tie was the simplest imaginable, but it did the work. Katsuki pressed the heels of his hands together as he was placed back over Inasa’s knee and felt a rush of satisfaction when it did nothing to separate his wrists. 

With this detail in place Katsuki felt the clouds in his brain disperse, like he was moving higher above them, floating into a more vest plane above the clouds where the oxygen was thin but the view was incredible. The weight on his chest was gone too as the floating feeling took over his whole body, the only thing tying him to existence being the muffled pain that had helped him ascend in the first place. 

Katsuki had no perception of how long they went on, only seeing the golden light travel across the floor like an unmarked sundial. It was a slow descent from his high up place, like coming down the mountain they had climbed that morning, and he barely noticed the point at which the swats pittered back down to soft rubbing. 

“ Baby? How are you feeling?” Inasa’s voice broke through, bright and alive as always. 

Katsuki couldn’t find his voice just nodding his head in the affirmative. 

“Can I untie your hands?” Another nod. “Why don’t we take a little nap ourselves? Shou-chan will probably be out for another half hour.” 

His nod was more vigorous this time as his newly freed hands came up to his eyes to wipe at tears he didn’t know had formed. A nap sounded nice. They lay in still silence for a moment, Katsuki wrapped up in strong arms that reminded him of nothing but Inasa himself. 

“‘Nasa?” Katsuki started getting a curious ‘hmm’ noise in response. “All that shit you said? It’s true right?” 

The arms around him wrapped even tighter. 

“Every single word. We love you so much Katsuki.” 

The light had moved from floor to wall and Katsuki found himself staring at the golden streak as he closed his eyes and let out a breath he had been holding for far too long. Faintly he could hear the gentle pad of socked feet walking towards them, could feel the bed dip as Shouto crawled in. The last thing he felt as he drifted of was a soft breath on his neck and the warm embrace of the two people he loved most.