Philia – Friendly Love

Izuku Midoriya always liked his childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo. Cool and smart, he has always admired him because, unlike Katsuki, Izuku is always the reclusive one.

One time, after Katsuki and his small gang of kids finished playing at the park, Katsuki and Izuku are walking home together. "Izuku, why do you hang out with me?" Katsuki asked as he walked, looking down while stepping on the gaps on the sidewalk. "You don't seem to fit in with us."

"It's because of you, Kacchan," Izuku replied.

Katsuki looked up to Izuku and simply said, "Is that so?". And the two continued to walk home, saying goodbye to each other.

A few days later, while Izuku is alone at home because his mother is out shopping, somebody knocked at the door. Straightening himself up, he ran out of his room to the front door and was surprised to see Katsuki, grinning. "We're going out, Izuku."

"B-but mom's not home," Izuku said. "I have to watch the house."

"Leave a note or something and lock the door," Katsuki said. "We're gonna go to the nearby mountain to catch beetles."

"Eh? Isn't that place dangerous? Mom said so." Izuku said.

Katsuki laughed. "Nah, it won't be. She just say that to scare you. So hurry up!"

Izuku hesitated, then nodded. He wrote a hasty note to his mom before going out, locking the door behind him.

The two first went to the park where they met up with the others before they ventured out to the mountain. When they reached the foot of the mountain, Katsuki ordered his gang to look for beetles. "Whoever finds the biggest beetle wins!" he added.

While the other's are looking, Izuku remained at Katsuki's side. "Kacchan, I heard that there's going to be rain this afternoon."

Katsuki is already atop a tree, looking for bugs in the leaves. "And so? We'll just finish up before it- score!" He showed a large stag beetle to Izuku. "Look, Izuku! Isn't it cool?"

"Wow, Kacchan, that's so big!" Izuku exclaimed. "But be careful, or you might fall."

"Don't worry, the tree's not that tall, and I'm careful."

"Okay," Izuku nodded. "I'm just worried you'll fall and hurt yourself."

Katsuki jumped down from the tree as the others returned to him, carrying their prize. Izuku, who was holding the cage they're going to put their beetles, held it out and opened it. The others caught less bigger beetles than Katsuki, which made the other beam up. "Beat that, losers," he said gleefully.

"Kacchan, that's mean," one of them said.

"Yeah, yeah," the others agree.

Katsuki glared at his gang. "Me catching the biggest beetle means I clearly won, and you lose," he said.

"But gloating isn't nice, Kacchan," Izuku said. "I think all of you won 'cuz you all got beetles all on your own."

"So that means Izuku is a loser because he hasn't caught one," one said.

"Hey, you just said that it's mean to call someone a loser, you hypocrite!" Katsuki cried, the others, not knowing the word, just stared at each other.

"What's a hypocrite?" the one who called Izuku a "loser" asked.

"It means that you don't follow what you say," Katsuki explained. "And because you don't follow your words, you are a hypocrite. Say sorry!"

The one who called Izuku a "sorry" turned and said, "Sorry, Izuku. I won't call you a loser again."

"Good," Katsuki said, then a clap of thunder resounded around them. "Let's go home before the rain comes."

The gang went home, but before Izuku and Katsuki left the park where the gang parted ways, rain poured. The two kids ran, and after a few minutes, reached Izuku's place. Izuku and Katsuki entered, only to be met by Inko with her arms akimbo. "Where have you been, Izuku? You're soaking wet!" she asked.

Before Izuku could answer, Katsuki said, "Sorry Mrs. Midoriya. I forced Izuku to follow me to the mountain to catch beetles." He held out Izuku's hand which is holding the cage of beetle.

Inko walked towards the kids and hugged them. "Thank goodness you're okay. Izuku, Katsuki, please don't worry me or Mitsuki, okay?"

Izuku hugged back, muttering "sorry", while Katsuki just stood there, scowling just a bit. "You called my old hag?"

"Katsuki, don't call your mother that," Inko said, letting go of the two. "Your mother is worried sick when you went out without asking permission."

Katsuki just clicked his tongue and looked out of the window, which is battered by rain and wind. "I don't think I can go home. Mrs. Midoriya, can I stay here for the night?"

Inko looked out of the window, too. "You're right. I'll call Mitsuki and tell her you're gonna stay for the night. Meanwhile, you two take a bath."

Izuki nodded and ran towards the bathroom, pulling Katsuki along. Once inside, Izuku started to take down his clothes and prompted Katsuki to do the same. "Come on, Katsuki, take your clothes off."

"Aren't you ashamed?" Katsuki asked.

Izuku looked around and shrugged. "Why would I? We're friends, aren't we?"

Katsuki smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we are." He took his clothes off and the two went and took a bath.

After taking a bath and lending Katsuki some clothes, Izuku and Katsuki stayed at Izuku's room. After a few minutes, Inko called the two for dinner. The two went to the kitchen and was treated to the wonderful cooking of Inko.

"Yay, katsudon!" Izuku exclaimed as he took a seat. "I love katsudon!"

Katsuki took a seat besides Izuku. "Why do you love katsudon?" he asked.

Izuku blushed a bit. He looked down and said, "Because it has 'katsu' in it, and it reminds me of you."

Katsuki blushed a bit too. "Oh, is that so?"

After dinner the two went and watched television. After that, they watched some videos on the internet, both fanboying over All Might. As the night draws on, and the two are getting ready for bed, Izuku's mind flashed back to the time when he was asked why is he friends with Katsuki. He looked besides him, where Katsuki has laid down, and asked. "Kacchan, why are you friends with me?"

It took a few moments before Katsuki answered. "Why not? I want to be friends with you, so I became friends with you."

"But there are many more better than me," Izuku said.

Katsuki turned and looked at Izuku. "And so? I want to be friends with you."

Izuku smiled. "Really? So, can we friends forever?"

"Of course!" Katsuki agreed, smiling back. "We'll be friends forever."

-Philia End-

A/n: "Philia, often translated "brotherly love", is one of the four ancient Greek words for love: philia, storge, agape and eros. In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics , philia is usually translated as "friendship" or affection. The complete opposite is called a phobia."