"They got into a fight?!"

"What the actual hell."

"Apparently, they're under house arrest."

"Are they stupid?!"

"Must be."

"Wow."

The following morning, such were the exasperated cries of your fellow students. You'd already known from the night before, of course, but Katsuki had stayed true to his word and fought Izuku one-on-one. He'd urged you not to get involved so as to not take any of the blame, but you'd been up pretty much all night, tossing and turning in bed. He'd finally sent you a message near two o'clock in the morning, and told you that he'd amassed a four-day suspension after being caught. It definitely wasn't ideal, but after the whole rescuing fiasco, you were just glad Aizawa hadn't threatened either of them with expulsion again.

Katsuki and Izuku had both been assigned to cleaning duty as penalty for their actions. You'd already been told this, too, but waking up in the morning to see your boyfriend vacuuming while muttering under his breath was still a sight to behold. He had bandages and bruises all over, but they didn't like too severe, much to your relief. He seemed his regular, hotheaded self.

"Morning, Katsuki-kun." You walked up to him with a smile, adjusting the tie of your uniform. "How's the cleaning going?"

He scoffed. "Shitty, how else?"

"It looks like you're doing a pretty good job, though."

"Bite me, [Name]."

You laughed it off. He was all pouty and indignant, it was super cute. And maybe you were imagining it, but the dynamic between him and Izuku... it seemed a bit more stable. As if the flames had died down somewhat.

"Umm... [Name]-chan?" Izuku mumbled, working his way over to you. He glanced in all directions before lowering his voice. "I heard from Kacchan that you, well... you know. About everything, I mean."

"Oh."

So he told them.

"Yeah, I know," you affirmed, "but I don't intend to breathe a word about it to anyone else. Katsuki-kun trusted me with this, so I intend to respect it. You too, of course."

He managed a shaky smile. "Yeah, I figured. I'm the one to blame by spilling the beans in the first place. If I hadn't done that, then maybe Kacchan wouldn't have found out. But still... it sort of feels right this way. Now that I'm not the only one keeping this secret, it feels like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I'm pretty selfish, aren't I?"

"You're not selfish at all. Just trust in us, Izuku-kun."

The freckled boy boisterously nodded his head, flashed you another smile, then resumed dragging his vacuum across the floor. Katsuki was furrowing his brows at you from over his shoulder. You cocked a brow.

"Yes?"

"Stop talking to that asshole," he glowered. "You tryna piss me off?"

"Hm, maybe?"

"You—!"

Another laugh fell from your lips. "Alright, Katsuki-kun. I gotta go now." You fixed the creases in your skirt and leaned in to give him a quick peck on his cheek. He flushed for a moment, turning away with a hurried scowl. You began trickling out with the rest of your classmates, waving your boyfriend off. "I'll tell you what we covered during the opening ceremony, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

He scowled again, but you didn't miss the few words he spoke to Izuku just as you headed out the door.

—

There wasn't much to say about the ceremony. Some teachers spoke, the principal spoke, and mainly the same key points were touched on as during the first semester. You were just looking forward to seeing Katsuki back in the dorm now that classes were over. It was weird not having him there with you. You even lived together, yet it hardly took much for you to start missing him.

"I'm still surprised Deku-kun and Bakugou-kun had a fight," Uraraka frowned. "I mean, sure, they were never on good terms, but it was kind of out of nowhere, wasn't it?"

"Hmm, yeah. I guess so."

She narrowed her big brown eyes. "Unless you know something that I don't...?"

Curse her and her psychic tendencies.

"He might've told me about it," you admitted, not wanting to keep any more secrets from your best friend. "But I didn't want to intervene. I just let him do what he wanted instead of getting a teacher involved."

Uraraka blinked. "So he actually told you before he went through with it?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I didn't take him for the type to be that transparent with someone."

"I guess he just trusts me," you smiled. "Katsuki-kun isn't a bad guy. A lot of people have it wrong."

"Well, I at least know that much, but still." She pursed her lips for a moment. "So, then, has he... you know... said those words to you?"

"What words?"

"C'mon," she frowned, lightly slapping you on the arm, "those words. The big ones."

"Oh." A warm flush rose to your cheeks. You nodded briskly, prompting the brunette to let out a shrill, prolonged squeal. "Yeah. He's told me he loved me before."

"Oooohh!!"

Uraraka continuing giggling like a child, her already-reddened cheeks burning even brighter. Now that you thought about it, you'd never really told anyone this yet. You were sure your classmates got the gist of how closely-knit the two of you were, but they probably couldn't imagine someone like Katsuki saying something like this. Then again, you hadn't expected it, either.

"So things are going amazing, then!" she exclaimed. "You guys haven't had any problems lately, right? Oh, actually... what about the new mark on your hip? Has the writing starting coming in yet? "

You shrugged. "Nothing yet. I looked it over in the mirror yesterday, but it was still too faint so I couldn't make it out."

"Hmm. Mind if I take a look?"

"Sure, knock yourself out."

You pulled off to the side, moving for a more secluded area of the hallway. Classes were over, so most of the students had already trickled out, but you'd still rather not expose yourself for no reason. Uraraka watched as you untucked your dress-shirt, shimmied your skirt down a bit, and revealed your left hip. Brown irises darted to-and-fro.

"I can't really make it out, either. Hold on a second." She stooped to a crouch, furrowing her brows together and squinting right before the mark. Then, she blinked. "[Name]-chan?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Oh." You bit back a chuckle, slowly bobbing your head in agreement. "Thanks, Uraraka-chan. I love you, too."

"No, no, no—I mean, yes, but also no. I'm talking about the mark. The writing I'm staring at right now. Doesn't it say 'I love you'?"

You stiffened up. "I... don't know. Does it?"

"I think. It's still pretty fuzzy, but when I stare at it from this close up, I can see the outline of the letters. It looks like that's what it says here."

"I love you".

Katsuki had said those words to you, not even all that long ago. It was right when your mark had disappeared altogether, and you'd spent the night by his side, curled up against his chest and crying openly into his arms. It had been fading for a long time up until then, but after that...

My new mark came in the very next day.

You remembered Hana's words from before. She'd said her own mark had been fading for a long time, but after re-connecting with her soulmate and spending time together, her previous mark had been replaced with new words. New words, but still his words. And no one other than your friends and family had ever spoken these three to you.

"They're Katsuki-kun's," you breathed, cupping a palm against your blistering cheek. "I think... his old words have been replaced. With this."

Uraraka frowned. "His words? But wasn't your tattoo the first thing he ever said to you? I didn't know that could change."

"I didn't either, but I guess it can." You lowered your head to the ground. "I really didn't like the way he spoke to me at the beginning. When we first met, I had a very bad impression of him. Perhaps... I ended up resenting his words to me so much that my body rejected them, or something. I met with Hana-san just yesterday. Something similar happened to her, and while every case is surely unique, the resemblance is uncanny."

"His first words were pretty horrible," Uraraka affirmed. "I guess it makes sense in that case. So then, you were—?"

"Subconsciously rejecting him, probably." You inhaled sharply. "I think, for all his talk, Katsuki-kun was still trying harder than me at the beginning. We talked about this before, but... he stopped fighting it a lot earlier than I did. I had too many doubts, too many insecurities. If I'd just been more honest with myself..."

"There's no point in regretting anything now, right?"

"Yeah, that's true."

You adjusted your skirt and tucked your shirt back in. Uraraka gave you a big smile. Yet another load off your chest. This new mark wasn't a premonition, or ominous foreshadowing. It was just proof of how strong your connection had become. It actually made your heart race, knowing that you'd get to display those words with pride for the rest of your life.

"Come on," Uraraka ushered, linking her arm around yours, "let's head back to the dorms and make some food, okay?"

You nodded, following alongside her. Another thought was steadily building. Even though all this time, your mark had been fading, Katsuki's had always remained intact. If your fading mark was proof of your wavering, or doubt, then wouldn't that mean that—

Katsuki-kun never had any doubts about us?

Your heart did a pang. The realization was both joyous and excruciatingly painful at the same time. Even though Katsuki had told you just for how long he'd gone on resenting his mark since he was a child, he still hadn't rejected you.

He'd never regretted your meeting, not even once.

"Man, I'm so hungry! Let's make some pasta if we—[N-Name]-chan! Why are you crying?!"

You wiped away at your eyes and laughed.

"It's nothing. I just realized how lucky I am."