Chapter Text
"You what?"
Shouta stared with wide eyes at Hizashi. By the looks of Hizashi's complexion, he was no doubt flustered, with his face burning a deep red color.
"I-I said," Hizashi stuttered, perhaps for the first time in his young life. "That I like you."
"As... as a friend?" Stupid question, but it slipped past Shouta's lips on accident.
"Yes-- I mean, no! I mean--" Hizashi fumbled with his hands before shoving them deep into his pockets. "As in, more than a friend."
"... Oh."
Shouta felt dumbfounded. His crush of quite a few long months had confessed to him, and all he could get out of his system was one little oh. He could feel heat creeping up onto his face, from his neck and spreading to the tips of his ears.
"You, uh," Hizashi sighed, looking down at the ground. "You probably don't feel the same. That's alright, though! I just-- I just wanted to tell you. And now that I've told you, I should probably get goin'--"
"Don't go."
Hizashi jerked his head up at the outburst to look at Shouta. His ears were burning a bright red, his face a little lighter, and he could see something in his eyes. He didn't quite know what to call it. Maybe embarrassment, or deeply insulted. He probably didn't want to know.
"I like you too. Like, like-like you."
All of the worries running through Hizashi's mind seemed to vanish in an instant as his eyes widened at the boy in front of him. He took a step forward, two, three, before launching himself up the stairs and onto Shouta in the tightest, most loving hug he could muster.
Shouta stood their awkwardly as Hizashi squeezed him and babbled out the rest of his confession. It wasn't that Shouta was purposefully blocking him out, he was still in shock; In shock from Hizashi's confession, his own confession, and the fact that his crush (although he didn't want to call it that, at first) was squeezing the life out of him in front of his apartment complex.
"I really like you, Shouta." Shouta managed to hear Hizashi say. He felt Hizashi move to intertwine their fingers, and he tensed up.
"What's wrong?" Hizashi asked, pulling his fingers away. "You don't want me to hold your hand?"
"It's not that," Shouta mumbled. "I'm just... nervous."
"That's it?" Hizashi laughed softly, brushing the hair gently out of Shouta's eyes. "You don't have to be nervous, Shouta. I don't bite."
"With those huge teeth?"
"Hey!" Mic pulled away slightly to look at Shouta. "My teeth are perfectly normal!"
"Maybe for a horse," Shouta chuckled.
Hizashi's expression softened the longer he looked at Shouta. His eyebrows, instead of furrowed like they usually were, were relaxed, and there was a small, genuine smile spread across his lips.
"Why are you staring?"
Hizashi's face heated up at his question.
"I--" Hizashi stuttered for the second time in his life. "I mean, you're just-- you're just handsome. You're really handsome. Like, seriously handsome."
Shouta buried his face into Hizashi's shoulder and mumbled something. Hizashi couldn't quite hear it, but he knew Shouta well enough to know that he was telling him to stop.
"So," Hizashi began, grasping for Shouta's hand again. "Does this mean we're dating? Like, officially?"
Shouta stiffened slightly before squeezing Hizashi's hand. "Yeah, I guess."
"So I can call you my boyfriend now?"
"... Yeah."
A large grin broke out onto Hizashi's face. Boyfriend had a nice ring to it. A very nice ring.
"You're my boyfriend..." Hizashi repeated to himself. He didn't quite believe it, it all seemed too good to be true. It repeated in his mind, making his heart swell and, oddly, his hands sweat. Not that Shouta minded, though, he still held them firmly.
They stood there for some time in silence, gazing at each other in unspoken fondness. Shouta would look away every so often, to attempt to cool his face down every time he felt like he would start to blush. But every time he looked back, the heat would come crawling right back up, and he would have to look away again. Hizashi found it rather amusing and, if he were being honest, rather cute.
"Hey, it's getting pretty late," Hizashi said, checking the time on his watch. "I should probably get going."
"Yeah..."
"Can I kiss you?"
Shouta's eyes widened at Hizashi. "Already?"
"Just on the cheek," Hizashi explained. "Just a real quick kiss. Please?"
Shouta was silent for a few moments before turning his head slightly. "Okay."
Hizashi smiled and leaned in swiftly, placing a soft kiss onto Shouta's cheek. Shouta brought his hand up slowly, gently touching the place where his new boyfriend had kissed him, and smiled to himself.
"See you tomorrow?" Hizashi smiled.
"See you tomorrow."
Shouta woke up the next day feeling something new. Something foreign. He couldn't quite put a label on it. It made his stomach do flips, but in the best way, and his heart pound at a mile a minute. It made his palms sweat and his mouth run dry, but he didn't feel sick.
He found himself out of the apartment particularly early that day. It was as if his body was on autopilot, getting himself ready and to school as quickly as possible.
He walked to his class swiftly, although it felt more like he was floating. He felt elevated, excited, and a little bit nervous. Like there was something behind the classroom door that he just had to see. And he had no idea why until he walked through the door and into his class.
Hizashi was sat on top of his desk like usual, making small talk with his other classmates. He was always good at communication, Shouta noted, as Hizashi started laughing with the other students.
Shouta seemed to figure out why he was so excited in an instant. He wasn't sick, or scared. He was just excited to see Hizashi at school.
Hizashi's gaze turned to Shouta and his face lit up like a firework. Grinning, he motioned Shouta over, all while waving goodbye to the other students. Shouta smiled and shuffled over to his boyfriend, placing his belongings down and sitting in his chair.
"Hello, my beautiful new boyfriend," Hizashi flirted. Shouta rolled his eyes and playfully pushed him.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Hizashi laughed. "How's your morning going?"
"Better,"
"Better? Why's that?"
Shouta blushed slightly and looked towards the door. "Because... I get to see you..."
Hizashi's eyes lit up like sparklers, and he grinned his signature grin that Shouta loved.
"You're real cute, you know that?" Hizashi praised, punctuating it with a little bit of English at the end. He surveyed the room, making sure nobody was looking, and leaned down to press a kiss to Shouta's cheek.
"Hizashi--"
"Don't worry, I won't kiss you in public," Hizashi reassured. "Not while people are looking, at least."
Shouta relaxed into his chair and gazed at his boyfriend. It seemed so long ago that he sat here filled with nothing but pure annoyance for Hizashi. It felt foreign to him now; he couldn't imagine hating Hizashi ever again. He couldn't, not when there were so many things to love about him.
Like the way his green eyes seemingly glowed when he was happy. Or how when he was excited, he would go back and forth between signing and speaking (Shouta didn't quite understand it, but he was starting to learn). Or how he was almost scarily good at making people happy, with his great sense of humor and his sense of empathy.
Shouta loves how he strutted rather than walked. He loved how Hizashi would accidentally activate his quirk when he was particularly excited about something. He loved how content and at home Hizashi looked when he listened to music. He just... loved Hizashi. In every single way, he felt nothing but love for Hizashi.
"I love you."
Hizashi stopped talking dead in his tracks and stared, wide-eyed, at Shouta.
Shouta couldn't figure out why Hizashi was looking at him strangely for a few seconds. It hit him like a ton of bricks soon after, and he felt his face begin to burn scarlet as he stuttered his apology.
"I didn't-- I mean, I don't-- fuck, I'm sorry, Hizashi. I didn't mean to--"
"I love you too."
Shouta closed his mouth and looked up at Hizashi. His voice seemed fragile, honest, barely spoken above a whisper, which Shouta didn't know he was even capable of.
"I love you too, Shouta." Hizashi repeated, voice trembling a bit. Shouta was really hoping he wouldn't cry. He didn't want to cause a scene.
"Don't cry," Shouta reassured. He shushed Hizashi, calming him down by rubbing small circles on the back of his hands with his thumbs.
Shouta began to think while he was calming his boyfriend. The two were an unlikely, almost completely opposite pair. Where Hizashi was loud, Shouta was quiet. Where Hizashi was sociable, Shouta was introverted. They were as different as night and day, black and white, yet they still got along. They completed each other in a sense, balanced each other out, in the same way the day balanced out the night. By themselves, they were unique; but with each other, they were whole. Two halves of a puzzle, coming together to form one, beautiful picture.
Perhaps it was odd, but it felt so right. Not one story felt as fresh, as loving, or as perfect as the story of how Shouta fell in love with someone like Hizashi.