Forgotten

Happy slightly-belated birthday, Izuku!

———

Izuku woke up with a smile on his face, rolling over to silence his alarm before it started blaring. The sun was already rising, casting a pretty pink-and-orange glow across the ceiling, and Katsuki was still sound asleep beside him, clutching the blankets tight around himself in a toasty cocoon. Izuku rolled over again with a contented sigh, back to his cosy spot curled around his Kacchan, to spend the last few minutes of his morning in the place he liked the most.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” he murmured, when Katsuki began to stir. “Busy day ahead.”

Katsuki groaned, but his eyes cracked open, his sleepy face tilting up to find Izuku’s smile. He muttered something unintelligible and shoved his face back into Izuku’s chest, snuggling in to snooze, and Izuku couldn’t help but grin down at him.

“Sorry baby, time to get up,” he said softly, planting a kiss on Katsuki’s head.

“Don’t call me that,” Katsuki grumbled. “M’not a baby.”

“You’re my baby,” Izuku teased. “You’re so cute when you’re tired.”

“Shuddup.”

Izuku gave him a minute, and finally Katsuki sighed, dragging himself away and propping himself up on an elbow.

“Morning,” he said reluctantly. “Hungry?”

“Yeah!”

“Alright,” Katsuki sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “Eggs and rice?”

“Sure.”

Katsuki nodded, hauling himself out of bed, Izuku just watched him go, waiting. He’d expected something a little fancier or more special, to be entirely honest, but neither of them were exactly what you’d call morning people so he wasn’t terribly surprised. With how tired Katsuki had looked, it wouldn’t surprise Izuku if it hadn’t hit him yet – otherwise he’d have said something, surely.

Izuku crawled out of bed to follow, well aware that his hair was a mess and his sweatpants were hanging way too low, but that was the joy of being married, right? He didn’t have to care about those things anymore, didn’t have to stress about whether he looked attractive enough, first thing in the morning. Katsuki, of course, seemed to look effortlessly perfect no matter how much – or how little – sleep he got, but Izuku had learned a long time ago that Katsuki was the exception to pretty much every rule.

“Heaps of meetings on the calendar today,” he said, as he trailed out to the dining room and took a seat. “Do you think I need to bring anything special?”

“How should I know?” Katsuki asked, frowning slightly. “Aren’t you the one meticulously planning out every detail for this shit?”

“Well, yeah, but I just wondered... forget it, it’s fine!”

Katsuki gave him a weird look, but when Izuku said nothing, he rolled his eyes and went back to cooking. He was used to Izuku being a little weird sometimes, it was nothing new or special to him.

Soon Katsuki was dishing out bowls of food, joining Izuku at the table to eat, and the table was strangely quiet. Usually they chatted over their food, made plans for the day or lamented the things to come, but Katsuki just silently munched on his food, and for once Izuku didn’t fill in the gaps on his own.

“You good?” Katsuki asked, when they’d cleared their bowls. “Sleep okay?”

“I slept fine,” Izuku assured him. “You?”

“Another hour wouldn’t have gone amiss,” Katsuki admitted. “But I’ll cope.”

They began gathering their stuff for work, and still Katsuki didn’t say anything. Izuku slid an extra change of clothes into his bag, just in case, and made sure his hair looked at least relatively presentable, getting another strange look from Katsuki for it as they passed ways in the bathroom. But soon, he was dressed and ready to go, and Katsuki still wasn’t giving anything away.

All morning, he waited. He waited through meeting after meeting, half-expecting one of them to be a facade, a set-up to catch him by surprise, but nothing.

“Oi, answer your phone,” Katsuki demanded, leaning against Izuku’s office doorway.

Izuku reached for his pocket, only to find it empty. That explained the lack of messages he’d been getting, he supposed – oops.

“I left it at home,” Izuku admitted, grimacing. “Sorry, was it urgent?”

“I have to go cover a patrol,” Katsuki explained. “One of the extras called in sick. You alright to do the meeting with Endeavour without me?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure!” Izuku flashed him a smile. “You can count on me, Kacchan!”

“Nerd.”

He walked out without another word, and Izuku sat up a little straighter. Was this it? Had Katsuki been planning it all along?

When he hurried over to Endeavour’s agency, he braced himself for people to pop out and yell surprise, for someone to throw a cake in his hands, but... nothing.

Huh.

He deflated again as he sat through the meeting. He’d been so sure this time, and still nothing had happened. His own agency, when he returned? Normal. The little cafe he frequented for lunch when he needed a pick-me-up? Empty. His office? Silent.

Katsuki hadn’t really forgotten, had he? He had to be planning something, messing with Izuku, setting him up to really be surprised, even if it was a little sad in the meantime.

No, he couldn’t think like that! It was just another day on the calendar, after all. He couldn’t go and be selfish about it, he was a hero!

He buckled down and set to work, getting through as much paperwork as he could and typing up all his meeting notes, ready to distribute to the other local heroes. Katsuki would be back soon, and surely he had something planned for dinner, if nothing else. So Izuku got his work done, and when Katsuki appeared in the doorway again, he popped up with a big smile.

“Hi, Kacchan! How was patrol?”

“Was fine,” Katsuki nodded slightly. “Only stupid incidents, nothing major.”

“That’s good! I’m glad!”

“You ready to head off?”

Izuku glanced at the clock on his office wall, blinking at it stupidly. He hadn’t realised exactly how late it had gotten, while he was working, but he was grateful to have passed the time so effortlessly!

“Yep!” he agreed, turning his computer off in a hurry and grabbing his bag from the floor. “Let’s go!”

Katsuki stepped aside to let Izuku join him, and with a last few waves to their coworkers, they were out the door, shoulders slumping immediately with the relief of being off-shift.

“Been thinking about dinner,” Katsuki said, making Izuku perk up in a hurry. “I’m kinda shattered today, have we still got that leftover curry in the freezer?”

“O-Oh. Um, I think so? We uh, we could buy something on the way home?”

“Nah, no need to waste the money when I’ve got frozen shit for these days. Unless you don’t want my curry?”

“I always like your curry,” Izuku assured him, hoping it wasn’t too obvious how disappointed he really was. “Sure, Kacchan, curry sounds good.”

In a last-ditch effort to be optimistic, Izuku braced himself in the corridor outside their apartment, watching Katsuki fumble with the key. Maybe all his friends were waiting inside, ready to jokingly berate him for believing they’d really let him down like that. Maybe there was a fancy dinner and a cake sitting on the kitchen counter. Maybe—

Maybe the apartment was empty and silent, just like it always was when they came home.

He didn’t entirely let himself believe it until the sky got dark, and he watched Katsuki head for the bath with a yawn. Feeling strangely numb, he headed into the bedroom, tossing his clothes aside and crawling into bed. He buried his face in his pillow, finally allowing himself some silly, selfish tears, sniffling to himself as he dampened his pillow.

“What’s going on?” Katsuki asked, his footsteps heading over to his side of the bed. “You alright?”

“I’m okay,” Izuku choked out, his voice clearly telling a different story.

“Talk to me, nerd. You’ve been weird all day.”

“It’s just—” Izuku felt a sob welling up in his chest, and did his best to swallow it back down. “I know it’s silly, and selfish, but I thought you would want to do something, you know?”

Katsuki didn’t answer, and Izuku felt his tears come a little quicker, his pillow muffling his choked-up words.

“I know we were busy, and you were tired, and the unexpected patrol and everything, but even— even just a kiss and a happy birthday would have meant something, you know? Just to show you remembered.”

Katsuki was still dead silent, but his hand reached out, and Izuku flinched away when he felt it touch him. Instead, Katsuki sat down on the mattress beside him, waiting patiently as Izuku got all his mumbled words out.

“You’re an idiot,” Katsuki said quietly, when Izuku was done speaking. “Your birthday is tomorrow.”

“No it’s not,” Izuku whined. “It was today, Kacchan. The fifteenth, like it always is.”

“Oi, dumbass.”

Izuku turned his head reluctantly, only to find Katsuki’s phone in his face, and he had to blink a few times to focus.

“Read it, asshole,” Katsuki demanded, his cheeks a little pink when Izuku glanced up at him. “You think I’d fucking forget? Read it.”

Izuku froze. Right there, on Katsuki’s screen, sure enough...

“It’s the fourteenth?” Izuku asked weakly.

“Yeah, moron. Of course you’d get your own birthday wrong.”

“I didn’t! I mean— are you sure?”

“Yes, Deku, I’m fucking sure.”

Izuku didn’t flinch this time, when Katsuki reached for him, and with permission apparently granted, he shuffled in closer, lying down at Izuku’s side and pulling him into a hug. The tears began again, with Katsuki holding him, but Katsuki just held him patiently, stroking his spine and nodding along to Izuku’s whines and mumbles. He just lay there, silently listening, until Izuku had gotten all his words out, and then he leaned in to plant a cheesy kiss on Izuku’s hair.

“I’ve been planning for fucking weeks,” Katsuki told him, huffing, though Izuku could feel the smile on his face. “Why do you think I’ve been sleeping like shit? Had to make sure it was all perfect for my damn husband.”

“Really?” Izuku sniffled.

“Yeah, idiot. I even borrowed a damn waffle iron, and bought that stupid chocolate chip ice cream you like, to make you a sugary asshole birthday breakfast.”

“Really?” Izuku asked again.

“And Round Face picked the most expensive damn catering company in the city to bring in lunch for everyone at the agency, because I’m not some cheap asshole who just buys a bag of sandwiches and says that’ll do.”

“She used them for her wedding lunch,” Izuku said knowingly. “She talks about them all the time.”

“Tell me about it. And I arranged your stupid schedule to finish early as a surprise, so we could come home and eat Katsudon with our parents, who are driving up tomorrow just to eat Katsudon with us.”

“My Mom is coming?”

“Obviously, nerd, it’s your birthday.”

Izuku swallowed hard, finally looking up and meeting Katsuki’s eyes, and Katsuki just smiled, shaking his head fondly.

“You thought I’d fucking forget,” he huffed. “No-faith nerd.”

“I did not!” Izuku objected. “All day I was expecting you to surprise me with something, I couldn’t believe you would forget so I thought you must be planning something and trying to trick me.”

“All day you just kept getting disappointed over and over again?”

“Well... yeah.”

“Fuck, nerd, why didn’t you say anything?” Katsuki complained, hugging him tighter. “Dumbass— Izuku. I wouldn’t do that, I wouldn’t intentionally let you be sad or disappointed just to surprise you. Ever.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay,” Izuku sighed faintly, ducking his head again to hide against Katsuki’s chest. “Thanks, Kacchan.”

“And if for some stupid reason you ever think I’ve forgotten an important day, please tell me, alright? I don’t care how awkward or embarrassing it might be, I want to know so that I can fix it, or at least make my best effort to.”

“I will,” Izuku agreed. “You too, okay?”

“Of course. You think I’d let it go if you forgot our anniversary or something? No way. From now on, on every special occasion, we’re gonna talk about it the moment we wake up, so you can’t think I forgot shit. I’m gonna race you. Gonna wake up a whole hour early just so I can say it the moment you open your eyes and beat you to it.”

Izuku cracked a smile, nodding into Katsuki’s chest, and Katsuki contorted himself a little to plant a kiss on Izuku’s tear-stained cheek.

“You ready to snuggle in for the night?” Katsuki asked knowingly. “I know it must have been draining, thinking it. And you must have thought everyone else was in on it too, huh? Didn’t even hear from your mother.”

“Mm. When I realised I didn’t have my phone, I just thought I hadn’t gotten the messages.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“But cuddles sounds nice,” Izuku mumbled. “Can I?”

“Yeah, course,” Katsuki agreed, pulling the blankets up over them both. “Gotta make sure you’re comfy and cozy by midnight, after all.”

Izuku chuckled, and Katsuki grinned triumphantly, only compounded by Izuku lifting his head to see it, to share in it.

“I love you, Kacchan.”

“Believe it or not, I love you too,” Katsuki teased. “Even if you’re a dumbass sometimes.”

“Especially when I’m a dumbass sometimes?”

“Absolutely not.”