From the very beginning, the idea of you and Katsuki together never made sense. Not in another timeline, not in his book and probably yours, and definitely no one else’s. You can’t blame them, though, because in complete truth, first glance and all, it’s natural for people to put you and Katsuki in different categories of people.

He was all bark and plenty bite, the kind of guy whose presence was always remembered because he quite literally came through with sparks in the air, voice booming wherever he was. You, on the other hand, you were everything he wasn’t, but not in a bad way.

You were the person people leaned on because of how patient you were, because you smiled even when things didn’t go right, because you somehow managed to help everyone’s worries of the world and everything else feel much lighter.

On paper, you two were opposites in every way that counted. And yet, somewhere along the line, somehow, Katsuki had taken an uncharacteristic liking towards you and it was starting to eat him alive. He found himself starting to orbit you, constantly pulled in by you and you didn’t know that you were doing so.

It started small, so small that he himself didn’t even pick it up after a while, and someone like him, never slipped, never softened, would’ve right away. He started being less snappy when he knew you were around, catching himself when he was about to yell when he caught sight of you in the corner of his eye.

He hated, hated that you had this strange effect on him, how you almost dared to soften his rough edges. You didn’t even dare to, you just unknowingly did. For someone who has gone through his entire life thinking strength meant being loud and ruthless. You were a contradiction he couldn’t shake. You were gentle without being weak, kind but not naïve.

The longer it went on, the worse it got. For him, at least. You’d laugh at something he muttered under his breath and he’d feel his heart punch against his ribs so hard, he swore the others could’ve heard. You stayed back with him after training, asked if he was okay, and the way you looked at him almost made him want to answer honestly.

His hands burned in a way his quirk would never let him reach. You’re doing things to him and you don’t even know. Everytime he thought about saying something, about making a move, a crushing weight reminded him what could happen if he wasn’t careful enough.

He tried to bury it, of course. Tried to throw himself into training, into fighting, into yelling at anyone who got on his nerves. But none of it worked. It was eating him alive from the inside, this war between wanting you so badly his chest ached, and holding himself back because he was terrified of messing everything up.

For once in his life, Katsuki wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to fight what he wanted, or brave enough to reach for it. And when the frustration finally boiled over, he found himself snapping. Not at you, but more like at himself because he felt like he was being cowardly. Talking to a girl romantically? Confessing his feelings? He’s good at a lot of things, but those two don’t happen to be on the list.

You’re waiting up for him after training again, a casual thing to you, but to him? He takes pride in knowing that you don't usually wait up for anyone else, dare he even say special treatment from you. But then again, that only gives him all the more reason to be attracted to you, and then afraid of hurting you if he were to go further.

“You don’t get it, do you?” He breathes out hoarsely, still catching his breath from training as he packs his things. “That I’m into you? It isn’t obvious?" He says something else but you can't even pick it up properly with how his sudden words hit you. "I yell, I screw shit up, I’m not careful. I don’t wanna hurt ya. I don’t wanna be the reason ya stop smilin’ like that.”