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You see, 15 is a strange age for everyone. Doesn't matter who you are. If you manage to live to 15, things got weird. No exceptions are made for Aizawa Shouta. He supposes things were already getting pretty weird for him, but half a year ago had been nothing compared to now. Sitting with his best friend and roommate Hizashi in the school courtyard eating lunch before they were to head back to class. He never thought he'd make a friend, but in Middleschool the blonde had attached himself to Shouta's side and didn't seem to plan on leaving any time soon. 1-A wasn't something Shouta fully believed he would ever get either. But he won his first sport's festival and earned his place in the heroics course
He definitely didn't think he would ever be finding romance.
Ask him a few months ago and he would've quickly and effortlessly murdered you in cold blood. But now he sat, listening to his friend ramble about some new rap album that came out recently, while trying to figure out how best to tell Hizashi that he was seeing someone. That's what you do when you have friends right? You tell your best friend about romance right? Oh god, romance wasn't something I thought I'd ever even consider and now I'm trying to figure out how to tell my best friend that I'm dating someone.
"Shouta? You okay dude, I know that look on your face, you look like someone stepped on a cat and you're trying to decide how best to murder them. What's going on buddy?" Shouta jerks his head to look at the uncharacteristically quiet boy beside him.
"You know I'm new to this whole friend thing, so I have a... question." At Hizashi's concerned smile and nod, he continues. "You're supposed to tell your best friend if you get a significant other right?" It only takes a moment for Hizashi's face to contort from concern, to confusion, then shock.
"SHOUTA YOU GOT A GIRLFR--?!?" Said boy has to quickly activate his quirk before Hizashi can deafen him.
"No. Boyfriend."
"Oh. Okay. SHOUTA YOU GOT A BOYFRIEND?!?" Shouta isn't quick enough to cut him off this time, instead managing to slap his hands over his own ears.
"God, Hizashi, shut up, I don't want the whole school knowing. And yes, uh, I guess so?" He grumbles quietly, ducking his head down to let his hair shield him from sight. This whole situation is so odd to him. He can feel his cheeks heat at the admission, and he clutches shakily at the hem of his uniform jacket.
"Oh my god, my little Shouta is growing up. What's he like? Do I know him? Does he go to U.A.? Is he treating you well or do I have to beat him up?" That last bit makes an amused snort escape Shouta, looking up at his friend.
"I mean, I seriously doubt you could beat him up if you wanted to. And I mean. He goes here... But… He's not.. Uh… In our grade..." His voice gets quieter as he talks, almost inaudible by the time he's done. If Hizashi couldn't read lips so well, he surely would have no idea what Shouta was saying, too quiet for his hearing aids to pick up.
"Oh. Oh my gOD! You're dating an older man?!?" Hizashi flails with his arms, making wide gestures. At Shouta's responding glare he back down a little, a sheepish grin painting his features. "Sorry, sorry, I know, volume. Okay. Well, what's he like? I've gotta know what my bro's getting into."
"Well… He's really sweet. He got me flowers when he first asked me out. And he's crazy tall. Blonde. Selfless to a fault." Shouta's aware of the little fond quirk of his lips but can't find it in himself to care, not when it's only him and Hizashi and he's finally able to talk about the boy he's slowly losing himself to. "He's in third year actually."
"Dude, like, you're being adorably sappy right now, who are you and what have you done with my Shouta?? You're supposed to be all grumpy sarcasm and dry self-deprecating humour. I've never seen you smile like that unless you're looking at a cat. This guy must be something special. What's his name, maybe I know him?" Hizashi chuckles, grinning wide like the idiot he is.
But no amount of comforting friendship can stop the cold panic that sets in when asked for his boyfriend's name. The freezing tendrils bury themselves in Shouta's chest, lungs tightening. That would make things so much more real. It was so different from just telling Hizashi that there was someone. This would be acknowledging just who had taken hold of him. Admitting a weakness. It was a terrifying feeling, the thought of someone knowing just how much control he lost to that boy, how emotionally attached he was. Ducking his head back down to hide in his hair, his mouth snaps shut of its own accord, his throat tightening of its own accord. He can feel distantly how his hands clutch desperately at his jacket hem once more. Thankfully it takes only a moment of his sudden panic for Hizashi to pick up on it. He could be an idiot sometimes but he was perceptive, especially when it came to Shouta.
"Oh man, it's okay, you don't have to answer that," he tries to speak calmly, and even if his voice cracks with the effort to stay quiet, Shouta mentally thanks him for keeping his voice low. It's not the first panic Hizashi has witnessed in him, and at this point in their friendship he knew how to spot them and not make them worse. "I expect answers sometime, but you don't have to force yourself right now. Later, I gotta know who I gotta beat up though, I gotta take the dad and big brother role dude!"
The joking tone of his voice brings Shouta back to himself a bit, and he lets out a slow breath. Yeah. You can do this. Hizashi won't hurt you, he won't make you talk right now. Thankfully Hizashi knows that even whilst Shouta is starting to calm down, he won't be fit to talk, so he goes back to rambling about that album he was excited about. The familiar drawl of his voice is soothing, and by the time lunch ends, Shouta has managed to calm himself back down.
Even though Shouta had been in the heroics course for several months now, his new classmates never quite adjusted to his presence, not in the classroom nor in training. It was fairly unheard of for a Gen Ed kid to even make it into the final rounds of the sports festival, much less place first over them all. But Shouta didn't mind. He only wished they'd pick up their slack in training. Even after all this time, whenever and whoever he was told to spar by his teacher, he never failed to come out on top. So now afternoon training had become a methodically boring routine to him. Whatever special training their teacher chose for the day. Quirk training. Then sparring. Shouta's aware it's become a sort of game to his classmates. "Who's going to get knocked the fuck out by Gen Ed today?" It just got a little boring some days. Today was no different.
He had been paired up to spar with Kan today, who had seemed to have a grudge against him since Shouta knocked him out within the first minute of their sports festival match. He was always too aggressive, too angry, and that always made it easy for Shouta to gain the upper hand. That emotion made him sloppy in a fight, but each time Shouta won because of that emotion, Kan only got angrier. Today was the same as always, they had been paired to spar, Kan got angry, shouted something irrelevant about putting Shouta in his place, then Shouta erased his quirk and used his own momentum and size against him to win. Kan never seemed to learn.
The class was just dismissed from training, the majority of them ribbing Kan for losing once more, and Shouta is taking his time changing out of his gym clothes. So far he's only managed to tug his shirt off before he got distracted by his phone, lazily plopping himself down on the bench behind him to check his Neko Atsume cats. When he unlocks his phone, he's met with a message notification. Curiously, he opens messenger.
[3:22] Sunflower
hey babe, wanna go to the cafe after training ends?? （ΦωΦ）
[3:27] Sunflower
ill buy you whatever cake you waaaant σ(≧ε≦ｏ)
[3:34] me
Sure
[3:35] Sunflower
Yay! Meet me at the front gate when ur done with training (♥ω♥ ) ~♪
His own texts are almost always short, but his boyfriend had a tendency to spam him with anything from random observations he made through the day, to stupid cat memes. The worst part was how scrolling through their previous conversations brought a small smile to his face without his knowledge, even the stupid emoticons making his heart clench with fondness.
"SHOUTA!!" Hizashi suddenly shouts over his shoulder, startling him in a way Shouta hadn't been startled in years. Looking over his shoulder at his friend he glares, but only gets an amused grin in response. His friend looks around them dramatically, checking that there's nobody close enough to their corner of the locker room before whispering (as quietly as Hizashi is capable of at least.) "Is that your booooyfriend? That's a super sappy name dude, does he know you've got him named that??"
Shouta shakes his head in response before he stands up, shutting his phone off and going back to changing. "Yes. It's him. And no. He doesn't know. I'm going out with him after school, so I won't be walking back to the apartment with you today." He says bluntly as he tugs his shirt on and in place.
Hizashi hums in understanding. "Alright buddy, have fun on your daaaaate then~ I'mma go grocery shopping then, we're out of food, anything ya want?" he snickers.
"I'd like for you to shut up." Shouta's response earns him a loud cackle from his friend.
When their teacher dismisses them to leave campus, Shouta nearly bolts out of there, hurrying to get out to meet his boyfriend before everyone else flooded the front gates. Luckily for him nobody but Hizashi seems to notice his rush. He takes quick strides towards his destination, cursing his body for not hitting any big growth spurts yet. Being one of the last boys in class to get it left him feeling short, and made it hard for him to get anywhere faster than people without running.
He manages to get off campus quickly enough, nearly skidding to a halt as he rushes through the gate. In an instant he's wrapped from behind in strong arms, a familiar deep laugh calming the momentary panic from being grabbed. Shouta relaxes back into the embrace, both hands clutching gently at the arms crossed over his chest.
"Hey babe. Where you going in such a hurry?" Shouta leans his head up to catch a glimpse at the smiling face above him, blonde bangs tickling his cheeks.
"Hello Toshi. Just trying to find you before the hoards show up." He flashes a rare little smirk. His words earn him another warm laugh that makes his stomach flutter with butterflies. Too soon he finds himself released, turned to face his boyfriend. Eyes take in the messy golden hair, impossibly blue eyes squinted to accommodate the bright sunshine smile, the wide shoulders, narrow hips, all towering over his own smaller frame. Shouta's never been one for public displays, but he can't help himself from standing on his tiptoes and tugging Toshinori by the bangs into a quick kiss. His boyfriend makes a startled sound that quickly shifts into a happy little hum. They pull apart to smile at each other, hands interlocking--
"SHOUTA YOU'RE DATING YAGI?!?!" They're both startled out of their little bubble, hit by a very familiar quirk, Shouta whirling around quickly to find Hizashi standing in the school gates, mouth gaping like a dying fish. When Shouta shakes out of his shock at being caught he manages a slow, nervous nod, and Hizashi shakes his head as if he's imagining things. "How in th-- Wha-- Whe--?!" He splutters, eyes darting between them.
Out of the corner of Shouta's eye he catches a worrying grin appear on Toshinori's face before he's tugged from behind into another hug, this time lifted off the ground slightly by the force of it. He lets out a sound like a dying cat, wriggling in his boyfriend's hold.
"Y-yagi T-toshinori! Y-you're not-- Making things-- Better!!" Shouta gets out between grunts as he struggles to escape Toshi's iron grip. Hizashi just stands there in shock, before he seems to shake himself out of it. He rushes over their way. God, kill me now.
"I demand to know how my little socially awkward grouchy Aizawa Shouta ended up dating," he pauses for a moment as if he's thinking about how to word this, "top of the school third year heartthrob Yagi Toshinori." He gestures at them wildly. Toshi happens to be the one to respond before Shouta can even open his mouth, laughing off Hizashi's description of them and setting the smaller boy down. He doesn't remove his arms from where they stay locked around Shouta's middle though, knowing the boy would dart off if given the opportunity.
"You must be Yamada Hizashi, right? Shouta talks about you a lot." Hizashi nods almost frantically, still looking between them awkwardly. "We met at the cat cafe down the street after the sport's festival. I thought he seemed interesting so I tried talking to him but he completely ignored me for days in favor of the cats. He didn't respond to me once until I told him about my own cat, which he demanded to meet, and eventually one thing led to another and we've been dating for a few weeks now." At those last words, Hizashi's eyes lock onto Shouta's, narrowing.
"WEEKS?? Shouta! You only told me today!" Shouta groans, staring down at the ground as if it could swallow him whole and let him escape this awkward situation. How did I end up with the two most energetic, loud students in the school?
"I didn't know how to tell you… Nemuri found out yesterday so I figured I had to tell you at this point, otherwise you'd be even more mad at me if she told you," he grumbles, feeling the anxiety creeping up on him again. Will Hizashi leave? I did wait a while to tell him, does he hate me for that?
"Oh man, so that's why she called me screaming yesterday but wouldn't tell me what was happening," Hizashi barks out a laugh. "Alright dude, I expect more explanations when you get home but I guess you two lovebirds should get going, huh~?" If Shouta's cheeks weren't already burning red, they would be aflame at Hizashi's tone. But before he can yell at his friend, Hizashi winks at them like the little shit he is and walks away, leaving Shouta flustered and embarrassed as hell.
Shouta sits on the cafe floor between Toshinori's legs, kitten in his lap and leaning back against his boyfriend's chest. His earlier frustration had dissipated the moment they walked in the little cafe they met in. He lets out a content sigh, letting the little calico kitten in his lap nibble on his fingers.
"Babe?" Toshinori's presses a kiss to the top of Shouta's head before he nuzzles into the black bird's nest.
"Hm?" Shouta responds, only paying a little attention to the boy behind him, focused on the cats around them.
"Y'know, the whole school will probably know about us by tomorrow? Your friend wasn't exactly quiet, I'm pretty sure he used his quirk once or twice when he caught us."
Shouta lets out a loud groan, thumping his head back on his boyfriend's shoulder as the blond laughs, arms tightening once more around his waist.
God damn it Hizashi.