Work Text:
“When you asked me for a favor, Eri, I didn’t expect it to be shopping,” Shinsou said, eyeing the pile of black dresses Eri had picked out, “I’m not complaining, I’m just saying.”
“I’m just no good at the gothic darkness look, Hitoshi,” Eri sighs, holding up one lacy black dress and then another one with fishnets, “But I figured you could help? Brutus magazine ranked you as the #1 best eyeliner on a hero, after all. And #2 best gothic inspired costume after Tokoyami.”
“Please don’t remind me,” Shinsou grumbles, “What kind of person takes pictures of underground heroes for a fashion magazine?”
“It’s a good photo, Tomoda got the full moon behind you and everything. Aizawa-sensei cut it out, and Mic-sensei had it framed,” Eri says with a small smile, taking another black dress, this one with an attached hood off the rack, “Doesn’t Tenya have a copy too?”
“He wanted to stick it in the living room, but I made him hang it in his study instead,” Shinsou replies, taking the dress from Eri’s hands, “So what are we going for here? Gothic Lolita? Aristocrat? Cyber Goth? Haute goth?”
Eri shuffles her feet, “Well—I’m not sure. It’s for the beauty pageant.”
Shinsou raises an eyebrow, “Did they institute a goth theme this year? That’s really new.”
“Well—no,” Eri says, twisting her fingers through the fabric of one of the dresses.
Shinsou narrows his eyes, “Why the sudden need for a goth princess makeover, Eri?”
“It’s—Izumi-kun,” Eri rushes out, looking up at Shinsou, “I—this beauty pageant is a chance to—make him see me, and I know he likes gothic stuff, so—”
(He’s half-tempted to go diving for his phone, but that’s the coward’s way out. Besides, Uraraka is effortlessly cute, Tsuyu has always known how to tie her hair into adorable ribbons, Ashido probably popped out of the womb breakdancing and super confident in her style, he’s pretty sure Kirishima dyed his hair red before ever meeting Bakugou, and even Yaoyorozu only tried the punk look to impress Jirou for like a day before she realized that Jirou was super into her preppy ojou aesthetic anyway.
On the other hand, he really doesn’t feel qualified to talk about this. After all, he had one high school crush that went from him being sure that he had no chance to being confessed to by said crush in a matter of weeks, and that was that.)
“Why don’t you ask Mic-sensei?” he asks, tapping his fingers against his leg.
Eri shakes her head, “Mic-sensei is more punk, and besides, if I tell Mic-sensei, he’s going to tell Aizawa-sensei, and then Aizawa-sensei will scowl and probably attempt to give Izumi-kun detention. I don’t think he likes Izumi-kun very much.”
(Shinsou feels like Aizawa probably isn’t enthused about anyone who doesn’t think Eri is absolutely adorable the way she is, and he is inclined to agree.)
“You never know,” Shinsou says, leaning back, “When I first figured out I liked Tenya, I called into Mic-sensei’s show for advice, and he didn’t tell Aizawa-sensei about that.”
“Seriously? You called into his advice hotline?” Eri asks, a grin spreading across her face, “Is there still a clip of that somewhere?”
“You unearth that clip Eri, I’ll dye your hair orange in your sleep,” Shinsou threatens, pointing a finger at the white haired girl.
Eri laughs, covering her mouth with her hand, “I can see the headlines now: Underground Hero MindJack’s Awkward Teenage Questions—”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, I’m sure I still have photos of you in that godawful neon monstrosity Aizawa-sensei thought was cute,” Shinsou groans, taking his phone out.
Eri pouts, pulling at his arm, “I thought you said you deleted those! You said they were too ugly to be on your phone!”
“Cloud storage is a thing Eri, and you know Mic-sensei never deletes any photos of us,” Shinsou says, scrolling through his albums.
“Fine, fine, I won’t go looking for your teenage angst clip,” Eri says, holding up her hands, “Now, help me pick out a dress?”
Shinsou puts his phone down, “You know, if he doesn’t like you the way you are, Eri, tell him to fuck off.”
“That would imply him noticing me in the first place,” Eri says, crossing her arms and glaring at him, “You don’t understand Hitoshi; you never had to try to get Tenya’s attention. You just won sports festivals and were effortlessly cool and stuff.”
(He is pretty sure Eri is the only one who could think that he had been “effortlessly cool” in his teenage years. He mostly remembers attempting to frantically balance school, training, friends, Tenya, and sleep, and mostly sacrificing sleep.
Now he’s traded school for underground hero work, and he’s still perpetually sleep-deprived, so being an adult is not much different than being in high school.)
“Okay, so I still have no idea how I actually managed to land Tenya, but you know what I do know?” Shinsou says, holding up a hand, “Tenya likes me as me.”
Eri sighs, sitting down next to Shinsou, “Izumi-kun is just so cool, Hitoshi. I don’t know how else to get his attention.”
“Have you tried asking Mirio?”
(This definitely seems more in the cheerful hero’s wheelhouse. He was used to trying to attract attention for hero rankings, right? Close enough to the same thing.)
Eri snorts, “Mirio has known Tamaki since they were toddlers, and even if he hadn’t, Mirio would never have any problems getting Tamaki to notice him.”
“Can’t you just try talking to this Izumi?” Shinsou asks, running a hand through his hair, “You’re in the same class, aren’t you?”
“I’ve tried, but—every time I look at him, I forget what I was going to say, and just say something stupid,” Eri says sadly, kicking at the ground with her feet.
“You could try beating him up at the sports festival? It’s practically a family tradition at this point,” Shinsou jokes, tweaking a strand of her hair.
Eri twists her head away with an annoyed shake of her head, “I don’t get why the sports festival is always about fights. There should be some rescue operations in there too,” she complains.
“Everyone sadly wants a good show,” Shinsou says with a sigh, “Although, you know who you should talk to about trying to get someone’s attention? Mic-sensei.”
Eri wrinkles her nose, “I don’t know, I feel like Mic-sensei’s strategy was to be as loud and flashy as possible to get Aizawa-sensei to notice him”
“So he just amplified himself,” Shinsou points out, “He didn’t actually bother changing who he was.”
“Mic-sensei always gets everyone’s attention; I don’t, so I have to change that,” Eri argues, picking another dress off the pile, “Are you going to help me or not?”
Shinsou runs a hand across his face (god save him from teenagers), “Of course, I’ll help you Eri, but are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes,” Eri says, a stubborn jut to her chin.
Shinsou sighs and starts sorting the dresses out, “Okay, so I think we should go for a more elegant Gothic Lolita style; more ruffles and lace, it’ll be closer to stuff you wear anyway, so you’ll probably be more comfortable. How attached are you to this all-black color scheme? You’d look better with some floral patterns in the mix.”
“That looks nice,” Eri says, touching the grey floral coat with ruffles and lace and draping sleeves Shinsou picked out, “Do you think I should dye my hair?”
“Mic-sensei will literally murder me if I let you ruin your hair with cheap hair dye,” Shinsou says, picking out a simple dress of crushed black velvet, black boater hat, black boots, and black tights to go with the coat, “How’s this: try these on, see if you like it, and I’ll do your hair and makeup the day of the competition.”
“Do you think I should get fake piercings?” Eri asks, biting her lip and gesturing at the line of earrings across Shinsou’s left outer ear.
“Won’t go with the look,” Shinsou says quickly (and it’s not like it looks like Eri wants to do that anyway).
Eri smiles, takes the coat, dress, hat, and tights, and hugs Shinsou, “You’re the best, Hitoshi!”
Shinsou laughs and mock-swats at her head, “Don’t let Midoriya or Mirio hear that; I think you would break their hearts.”
As Eri hurries off to the dressing room, Shinsou pulls out his phone and starts texting Tenya.
Shinsou: hey what do u know about izumi kouta?
Tenya: Oh no.
Tenya: Did he punch you in the scrotum?
Shinsou: wtf????
Shinsou: no???
Shinsou: is that like a thing he does
Shinsou: did he do it to you
Tenya: My apologies, that was my first meeting with him when he was a child. He punched Midoriya-kun in the scrotum, but he got better!
Shinsou: he punched midoriya?
Shinsou: geez why does eri like this kid
Tenya: Eri-chan likes him? That is adorable.
Shinsou: idk she says he doesnt notice her so she wants to do like a whole goth makeover
Tenya: What? But she’s so cute already!
Shinsou: right???
Shinsou: dont like this kid already
Shinsou: but anyway what do u know about him
Shinsou: besides him punching midoriya in the balls
Tenya: I know he did an internship with the Wild Wild Pussycats last year, but I think he is with Manual this year. He is also a huge Deku fan.
Shinsou: who isnt
Tenya: But he was the first!
Shinsou: thats a dramatic turnaround
Shinsou: anything else?
Tenya: Sorry, no, but I am sure if you asked Midoriya-kun, he might know more?
Shinsou: will do
Shinsou: also you want anything from the mall?
Tenya: Yes, if it is not too much trouble, I believe there is a new glasses display at Jins Glasses. Could you please take a picture of it?
Shinsou: you have like twenty pairs
Tenya: They are backups!
Shinsou: fine
Shinsou: just because i love u
Tenya: I love you too!
(Despite the fact that they’ve been together for a decade now, he can’t help but smile a little as he reads the words.)
Eri comes out of the dressing room, stepping slowly in the platform black boots before wrinkling her nose, “Hitoshi, you can be lovey-dovey with your boyfriend on your own time. Does this look okay?”
Shinsou puts his phone back into his pocket and looks her over. The floral patterns work well; Eri has always looked good in ruffles and lace, and her white hair is in striking contrast to the black hat perched fetchingly on her head, but—her hands pick at the sides of her sleeves, she’s a bit hunched over, and she keeps fidgeting. She couldn’t look more uncomfortable if she tried.
“Well, you don’t look bad—”
“It looks horrible, doesn’t it,” Eri says, placing her hands over her face and collapsing in the chair next to him, “I can’t pull it off—”
“Look, if you want to pull it off, I know you can,” he says, bending down a bit to look Eri in the eye, “And it’s a cute ensemble. Just—you should wear whatever makes you comfortable. If you don’t want to wear it, then we can just forget about this, and go over to Jane Marple—”
“No,” Eri says, taking a deep breath and clutching at her skirts, “I want to try. I’ll get this, and then I’ll—I’ll practice at home. The beauty pageant isn’t for a few weeks, I’m sure if I wear it more often, it’ll feel more natural, right?”
Shinsou shrugs, “If you’re sure, Eri. Change back into your clothes, and I’ll pay for whatever you want.”
Eri rummages in her mint green purse for her wallet, “I just got my allowance last week—”
Shinsou snorts and pushes her toward the dressing rooms, “If I’m in charge of your goth makeover, then it’s going to be nothing but the best, and I’m paying. Also, once we’re done here, I need to run by Jins Glasses. Tenya wants a picture of their new display or something.”
Eri scrunches up her brow, “How many pairs of glasses does Tenya have?”
“Enough to set up his own display,” Shinsou says with a roll of his eyes, “He has one at home, and one at the office.”
Eri grins and pats him on the arm, “Like you don’t have a backup set of glasses on you for him. We should also stop by the outdoor supply shop; Aizawa-sensei could use a new sleeping bag.”
“Yeah, it’s getting a little raggedy, isn’t it?” Shinsou comments, “Let’s do that.”
--
“I’m home,” Shinsou calls out as he closes the door to their apartment and takes his shoes off.
“Welcome home!” Iida calls out cheerfully, stepping out of the kitchen, “I made curry; how did Eri’s makeover go?”
“Well, I got her some Atelier Boz clothes, and they look cute on her, but honestly I think she should just stick to her usual style,” Shinsou says with a sigh, leaning up and giving Iida a peck on the cheek.
“It could be a chance for her to try something new?” Iida suggests, nuzzling his head before stepping back into the kitchen to grab the pot of bubbling beef curry.
“I’d be fine with that if she was just deciding to try it out herself, but I don’t like her changing her entire style for some boy,” Shinsou says with a scowl, walking into the kitchen, flipping open the rice cooker, and spooning out two bowls of rice.
“Yes, that does seems troubling,” Iida replies with a small frown, ladling some curry on the bowls, “What do Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei think?”
“She hasn’t told them yet, although honestly, they probably know. Can’t keep much from them,” Shinsou says with a shrug, handing a pair of chopsticks to Iida and sitting down.
“Well, she still has some weeks, does she not? Maybe she will get used to it or decide she does not wish to do it after all,” Iida says, clapping his hands together before digging in, “Oh, also I asked Midoriya-kun about Izumi-kun, and Midoriya said he’s shaping up to be a pretty good hero intern?”
“It’s Midoriya; he calls Bakugou Kacchan and probably couldn’t insult anyone if his life depended on it,” Shinsou says with a sigh, also digging in, “We’ll just have to hope Eri comes to her senses. Did you pick out more glasses?”
Iida nods happily, “Oh yes! The photo you sent me was very clear; I think I’ll put in the order for the black steel frames and perhaps the glacier ones as well.”
(So he will be the first to admit that he loves Tenya in glasses, but he can’t tell any of Tenya’s numerous pairs apart. They’re pretty much all the same frame and nearly the same color, and Tenya looks good in all of them. He just dusts around them and let’s Tenya arrange them however he likes.)
“If you need another display case, you’re sticking that in your office,” Shinsou says, gesturing at their bedroom, “We definitely don’t have room.”
“What if we installed one of those rotating display cases—” Iida holds up his hands at the look Shinsou shoots at him, “Or I can just install that in the office!”
“With the amount of pairs you go through, I’d expect your face to be a pancake,” Shinsou comments with a wave at Iida’s face, “Somehow, you’re as hot as ever.”
(Hotter even, maybe. Whatever little baby fat Tenya ever had was long gone, and there was a reason all of his interviewers made him take his helmet off, even if he didn’t get it.)
Iida beams, “Thank you! My helmet definitely helps protect my face during all the fights and patrols. Speaking of which, how is your schedule looking for the rest of the week?”
“Should be mostly free by the end of the week hopefully,” Shinsou says, spooning more curry onto his rice, “We think we know where the human trafficking victims are; just need to get them out intact, and then beat up all the traffickers.”
“Are you going with Mahou-sensei?” Iida asks, making chopping motions with his free hand.
“Yeah, but she’s backup. I’m the lead in this operation, so hopefully it goes well,” Shinsou says, tangling up his feet with Iida’s under the table.
“I am sure it will, but please be careful,” Iida says seriously, reaching over and taking his hand.
“Yeah, I will,” Shinsou replies gently, turning over his hand so he can twine their fingers together, “You stay safe on patrol too. Don’t go running into any walls.”
“That was one time!” Iida says with a laugh, giving him a squeeze of the hand before going back to eating, “Oh right, before I forget, an an magazine called at the office. They want to do an article.”
Shinsou grins and leans forward, “Look at you, hero Ingenium, getting profiled in best-selling women’s magazines. When can I get a copy?”
Iida shifts in his seat, “Er, you misunderstand me, Hitoshi. They want to do a profile on us.”
“Us?” Shinsou asks, pointing between the two of them, “Like hero team-up us, or couple-us? Oh no, is this a continuation of that battle couple article series? I’m never going to forgive Midoriya for starting that fad.”
“To be fair, neither Midoriya-kun nor Uraraka-kun knew how much attention that article would get,” Iida says, adjusting his glasses, “Uraraka-kun certainly didn’t know what angle they were taking.”
“Even more of a reason not to do it then,” Shinsou points out, setting his chopsticks down, “One ruined relationship is enough, don’t you think?”
“I would not call it ruined per say, they are still friends—and if we did do it, I would definitely get multiple people in Team Idaten to look it over before we gave them permission to publish,” Iida says, lifting up a hand.
(On the one hand, he’s an underground hero who definitely does not need to be profiled in a weekly women’s magazine and doesn’t give a flying fuck about his hero ranking.
On the other hand, he absolutely cares about Tenya’s hero ranking, and the better Tenya’s ranking, the more Team Idaten can afford to hire people with weird quirks that usually were ignored in the hero business. And it’s not like Midoriya’s and Uraraka’s relationship had not already had some strains due to his position even before that article came out.)
“…I’ll think about it. You think they’d let me keep my mask on?” Shinsou asks, taking his bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen to start washing it.
Iida snorts, “The photographer is the same one who did your Brutus magazine feature, so I think so.”
“What? It’s Tomoda? Fuck him,” Shinsou says with a frown, scrubbing his bowl.
“I would really prefer that you did not,” Iida said drily, bringing over his bowl as well.
Shinsou laughs and leans into Iida, “Aw, babe, don’t worry, that’s your job.”
Iida flushes red (no matter how many years go by, and no matter what they have done together, it seems Tenya will always turn red, and Shinsou loves it) and gently sets his bowl on the drying rack, “I—you will be back sometime tonight?”
Shinsou raises his eyebrows as he sets his bowl on the drying rack, “Why, you got plans for me?”
Iida’s flush travels down his neck as he rubs the back of his hand against mouth, “Yes—it’s just been a long time since we’ve had a night in…”
Shinsou grins, “Don’t worry, I also look forward to when our schedules synch back up again,” he twists around and sets both hands at the side of Iida’s face, “I will certainly try and make it back to you tonight.”
“Good,” Iida says, placing a hand on Shinsou’s wrist before leaning in and drawing his mouth over his for a deep kiss.
(Whatever else has changed through the years, with graduating, learning the ins and outs of being an underground hero and covert ops, Eri growing up, friends breaking up, he has always had this, and he knows all his luck has been spent on somehow getting this man to see him and still love him.)
Shinsou draws back after a bit, panting but smiling up at Iida (whose lips are attractively red and puffy and he did that, and he’s never over the sight of getting Tenya mussed up), “I better get going, as much as I would love to stay.”
Iida smiles back and gives his hand one last squeeze before stepping back, “Stay safe. And do not worry about the article; I will consult with Tensei about how to proceed.”
“Will do,” Shinsou says with a mock-salute as he strides off to their bedroom to change into his costume.
--
The human trafficking victims were safely rescued, the traffickers were beat up and given over to the police (he hopes they rot in jail forever), and even if he hadn’t managed to get home before Tenya had fallen asleep, it had still been a pretty good night.
He’s humming to himself slightly as he shuffles his makeup bag (Eri had wanted to try on a few looks) to his other hand as he opens the door to the Aizawa-Yamada residence and sees Aizawa sitting on the couch with a sleeping Yamada lying in his lap.
Aizawa draws a finger in front of his mouth as Shinsou carefully shuts the door behind him.
“Well, this is a reversal. Long night?” Shinsou whispers, setting his stuff on the kitchen table.
“Essays, his show, and then a villain showed up on the way home,” Aizawa says quietly, carding his hand through Yamada’s hair.
“Man, that’s rough. Is he okay?” Shinsou says, walking closer.
Aizawa snorts and looks at him, “It was a third-rate mugger. Don’t worry kid, we’re not old and decrepit just quite yet.”
“You guys aren’t decrepit maybe, but old, eh,” Shinsou makes a see-saw motion with his hand (as inwardly he takes a sigh of relief), “You’re getting up there.”
“If Nemuri or Mahou heard that, they’d kick your ass, brat,” Aizawa says evenly.
“Which is why I’m only saying that in front of you,” Shinsou says with a grin, “Definitely don’t want to get on either of their bad sides.”
“I did hear about the human trafficking sting; good job with that,” Aizawa says with a small smile.
“Yeah?” Shinsou rubs the back of his neck (even after all these years, it’s still amazing to him that Eraserhead was praising him), “Thanks. It was a team effort.”
“And you were the lead; Mahou was very proud, as were we,” Aizawa says, gesturing at Yamada.
Shinsou coughs and looks around, “Thanks, again. Where’s Eri?”
“She got an emergency text about her classes’ cafe stand having issues and rushed off,” Aizawa says with a wave of his hand, “You need her for something?”
“She wanted me to look over some stuff for the beauty pageant,” Shinsou hedges, grabbing Pudding the cat as she walked by.
Yamada shifts and cracks an eye open, “Hitoshi, if Eri wants to dye her hair, could you please tell her to come to me? She needs to go to a professional hair stylist; I’m worried she’ll try dying it herself, and who knows what those cheap black dyes will do to her beautiful hair.”
“It figures that the thing to get you to wake up would be hair,” Aizawa mutters, drawing a hand across the side of Yamada’s face.
Yamada twists so he can look Aizawa in the eye, “Someone in this family besides me needs to take care of their hair,” he huffs, “I thought Eri was my ally, but now she keeps looking up photos of models with black hair, and I’m getting worried she’s going to try and do it herself.”
“Don’t see why she has to dye her hair at all just to impress some snotty-nosed brat,” Aizawa grumbles, shifting as Yamada hauls himself up to lean against Aizawa’s side.
“Wait, you know?” Shinsou asks (crap, if they figured it out from him somehow, Eri really will probably dig up that clip of him calling into Yamada’s advice hotline).
Aizawa gives him a look, “I never know why you kids think you can keep any secrets from us; not only do you live with us, we’re also your teachers, and in Eri’s case, Nemuri is her homeroom teacher. Of course we know about Izumi Kouta.”
“And you don’t approve?”
“She could do so much better,” Aizawa says firmly, crossing his arms.
“Tenya-kun set a bit of a high bar,” Yamada laughs, “But—I would definitely prefer someone who liked Eri exactly the way she is.”
“I tried telling her that, but she just kept going on about how cool he is,” Shinsou says, sitting down on the other side of Aizawa and letting Pudding curl up at the corner of the couch.
Aizawa rolls his eyes, “That kid? Not even close.”
“What if we texted the Wild Wild Pussycats for embarrassing photos of him?” Yamada suggests, taking his phone out.
“You think that would help? Or would she just do a compare and contrast to the way he is now and think it’s cute?” Shinsou points out.
Yamada groans, “Why couldn’t sweet Eri-chan have fallen for the class representative like Hitoshi did?”
“Her class rep is no Tenya,” Aizawa comments, cracking his neck, “I’ll tell Nemuri to try and throw them in a group more often or something, see if either she gets tired of him, or he actually pays attention to her.”
“Well, I’ll leave this makeup stuff for her, and let her know if she really wants me to come by again to show her how to do the goth look, I will, okay?” Shinsou says, standing up, “But also let her know that honestly, I think she’d be better off calling Hadou for her pageant look.”
“Eri-chan, all grown up and competing in beauty pageants,” Yamada sighs, running a hand through his hair.
“We’ll let her know,” Aizawa says, wrapping a blanket around Yamada’s shoulders.
“Oh also, good job on your human trafficking bust, Hitoshi!” Yamada says, beaming at Shinsou, “Shouta here will have to watch out for his number one underground hero status.”
“Oh, that day is far away,” Shinsou says with a grin and a wave, “See you guys.”
“Come by for dinner soon! Bring Tenya!” Yamada calls out as Aizawa waves him away.
--
Shinsou is in the study, trying to fill out the paperwork for the human trafficking bust (the worst thing about being the lead on a mission was the sheer amount of paperwork after. It kind of made him miss being an intern), when his phone starts buzzing with Eri’s name flashing on the screen.
He automatically picks it up, “Eri? What’s up? You need me to come over?”
“Oh—no, um—well, maybe? It’s—hard to explain—”
Shinsou frowns, standing up, “Where are you?”
“It’s not bad, Hitoshi, it’s—oh my god, Izumi-kun said—he complimented me!” Eri finally stammers out.
Shinsou grins (well, well, maybe Aizawa’s plan had worked), “That’s great, right? What’d he say?”
“He said he liked my dress! And—Ami-chan told him I was going to be in the beauty pageant, and he said that he’d definitely be there!”
Shinsou sits back down and adjusts the family photo on his desk of all of them at his graduation (he’s holding his diploma and Eri, Aizawa is on his left and looking quietly proud, and Yamada is on his right and throwing a peace sign at the camera), “That’s great, Eri!”
“Yes, but—Hitoshi, you’re not going to be mad if I don’t do the goth look right?” Eri asks worriedly, “I know you already spent a lot of money—”
“Eri, wear whatever makes you comfortable,” Shinsou interrupts (it’s money well-spent as long as Eri is happy), “Tell Mirio to get Hadou to help you out—but show her that floral coat we got, I think it still can be used.”
“Okay. Thank you Hitoshi!”
“Knock them dead at the beauty pageant, Eri,” Shinsou says with a grin as he hangs up.
“You certainly look happy,” Iida comments, popping his head in as Shinsou proceeds to text both Aizawa and Yamada about the latest developments.
“Apparently that Izumi kid complimented Eri on her dress or something, so now she’s dropped the goth idea,” Shinsou replies, hitting send and looking up at him.
“That is good news,” Iida says with a smile, coming up from behind and wrapping his arms around him, “Are you still going to help her with her outfit?”
“If she wants me to, but I think Hadou has more experience there than me. She really should have just asked her in the first place,” Shinsou replies, setting his phone down and leaning into Iida’s chest.
Iida hums into his hair, “Perhaps, although you should probably still do the eyeliner.”
Shinsou laughs, “You like me in costume, Tenya?”
(The first time Tenya had seen him in full costume, Tenya had backed him into a wall and taken off his mask, and the only reason it hadn't gone past a heavy makeout session was because Tenya's armor was much harder to peel off.)
“I like you all the time,” Iida replies honestly, pressing a kiss to his head, “I heard the human trafficking victims are safe, and the traffickers are all taken care of. Good job!”
“Thanks,” Shinsou says, twisting around and wrapping his arms around Iida’s waist, “And what do I get as my reward?”
Iida licks his lips as he hoists Shinsou up and starts to carry him out of the study, “Why don’t we go to the bedroom and find out?”
--
Shinsou hasn’t been back to U.A. in a while, so coming back for the cultural festival is weirdly nostalgic. There’s students frantically bustling around, stalls set up all down the hallway, a haunted house by some class (personally he thinks his old GenEd class did it better, but he’s biased), multiple cafes, but only one dessert café run by Eri’s class, with a cute glass counter, pastel decorations, and clear tables. He and Iida are in the middle of sharing a surprisingly good strawberry parfait when Hadou taps him on the shoulder.
“There you are,” she says, peering around at the café, “Oh wow, this is super cute. Is that parfait any good? If not, at least they’ve got the whole aesthetic down. How long do you think it took them? Seems more complicated than what we did my year—”
“Did Eri need me for something, Hadou?” Shinsou asks, putting his spoon down (he’s learned it’s better to cut Hadou off before she can spiral away to tangents unknown).
“Yeah, she wants you to do her eyeliner. She already got Mic-sensei to braid her hair, and I got the outfit set up—that coat you guys bought is great, it suits her really well, she looks really cute. She might not win, since you know, there’s some pretty intense third-years, but she’ll look like the fairy princess she’s meant to be—”
“Thanks, Hadou,” he says as he grabs his bag and pats Iida on the hand, “Well, I better go help her out—”
“Wait, take these too,” Iida says, reaching into his bag and pulling out some dried red flowers and pushing them into Shinsou’s hands.
Shinsou raises an eyebrow, “…did you buy her a bouquet a long time ago and just forget until now?”
“No! I already have her congratulatory bouquet stored in one of the lockers,” Iida explains, pushing his glasses up, “I thought these would make good props for her? They’re amaryllises, and she can rewind them back to full bloom.”
“Oh!” Hadou says, peering at the dried flowers in Shinsou’s hand, “That would make a nice impression! She didn’t really have an act yet, but it’s fine since she’s just a first year. Plenty of time for her to make up a whole act in the years to come.”
“These are lovely, Tenya,” Shinsou says, reaching over and squeezing Iida’s hand, “I’ll be sure to give them to her.”
“Tell her good luck from me!” Iida says, smiling and nearly accidentally hand-chopping a waitress in the side.
“Of course,” Shinsou replies with a wave, following a bouncing Hadou away.
Eri looks splendidly cute, with her black floral jacket tied over a light pink dress with patterns of moon and stars in black, black boots, and her white hair braided up with flowers tucked into the crown of braids.
“Looking good, Eri,” he says, sitting down on a stool in front of her and unzipping the makeup bag he had brought with him, “Hadou and Mic-sensei did a good job.”
“I don’t know,” Eri frets, hands clenched in her skirt, “It’s—there’s a lot more people than I thought—it’s kind of scary—”
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but you know what you can do?” Shinsou asks as he gently nudges her to look up so he can apply her eyeliner primer properly, “You can just focus on one person in the crowd and pretend no one else is there.”
“Just don’t pretend everyone is a potato like Tamaki does,” Hadou says, leaning against a cabinet and kicking her feet out lightly, “It doesn’t work for him. He’s also tried pretending everyone is in their underwear, but that really doesn’t work for him.”
Eri takes a deep breath, “I—I’m going to try. Everyone has spent so much effort and time on helping me, it would be such a shame to let all that go to waste.”
“If you’re sure, Eri,” Shinsou says, carefully finishing up the last of her eyeliner and taking out the dried flowers, “There, now for the final touch, Tenya brought you these for luck. He thought you could rewind them back to full bloom on stage.”
“Oh!” Eri says, carefully taking the flowers from Shinsou, “That’s a really good idea! Here, I’ll replace some of the ones in my hair with these—there’s enough for that you think, right?”
“Looks good,” Shinsou reassures her, taking some of the live flowers out of her braids and replacing them with some of the dried ones, “Really sets off your eyes. You ready to win, Eri?”
“I don’t need to win, Hitoshi, I just need to not trip, or fall, or do anything embarrassing on stage,” Eri says, looking at herself in the mirror.
“Even if you do, I’m sure this Izumi will forgive you,” Shinsou says, tugging a little at one of her braids.
Eri puts a hand to her face, “Oh my god he’s watching—”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes—but—”
“You look super cute, Eri-chan,” Hadou interjects, patting her on her shoulder, “Any boy in your class watching you is going to blown away. You’re going to get so many confession letters! You may need to get a bigger locker. Although, I feel like you guys have bigger lockers than we did in my year. All those renovations really paid off—”
“Whether or not he’s there, we’re all going to be there, too,” Shinsou interrupts, “Me, Tenya, Aizawa-sensei, Mic-sensei, Midoriya, Mirio, and all the rest. And you’ll do great.”
“Thanks Nejire-chan,” Eri says, carefully wrapping her hands around the rest of the dried flowers looking each of them in the eye, “And thank you, Hitoshi.”
“Go give Mic-sensei enough photos for another whole photo album,” Shinsou says, giving her a slight push.
--
He’s got a few minutes before the beauty pageant is going to start, and he’s heading over towards the seat that Tenya has saved for him when someone calls out to him.
“Hey! Shinsou! Wait a sec!”
He turns around to see Tomoda walking up to him, camera strapped around his neck and notepad in hand.
“Oh, hell no,” he says with a roll of his eyes, “What are you doing here, Tomoda?”
“Lots of up and coming heroes here, dressing up and acting cute, and people eat that up,” Tomoda replies easily, “You heard about that an an article about you and Iida?”
Shinsou snorts, “Who’s going to want to be part of your battle couple series after your disaster with Uravity and Deku?”
“Okay, that’s not my fault,” Tomoda says, putting a hand up, “I had no idea they were going to make her look like a damsel in distress. I even had some pretty badass photos of her from the shoot! But the magazine nixed it.”
(To be fair to Tomoda, he had shown Shinsou those photos from the shoot, and he had managed to take some that had shown Uraraka’s core of steel that belied her adorable-ness, and Tomoda had argued for those photos to go in, but not hard enough. After all, Tomoda had always managed to get his way when he really wanted to, so if he had really pushed his quirk, he probably could have convinced his editors to change up the story a bit.
As it was, that article had probably been the last straw for Uraraka dealing with dating the symbol of hope, and even if Midoriya and Uraraka are still friends, there had been a lot of tears on both sides, and Shinsou isn’t exactly happy with Tomoda.)
“Well, good job, you still broke up the cutest couple,” Shinsou says, crossing his arms, “Now, I need to go—”
“Look for you guys, you won’t even be the main feature like Deku and Uravity! You’ll be part of an ensemble piece, with a few interviews scattered in, and it’ll be like a white knight/black king aesthetic—”
“No. Go get Creati and EarphoneJack, they’ve got a similar dynamic. Or LeMillion and Suneater.”
“We’ve already got them,” Tomoda says, jogging to keep up with Shinsou, “Like I said, it’s an ensemble piece.”
“Then I don’t see why you need us,” Shinsou says, looking at Tomoda.
“Three couples would balance out the spread better,” Tomoda admits, “And—look, we got a lot of blowback after Deku and Uravity broke up, so it’d be good to do a piece on a bunch of hero couples who don’t break up after we release the magazine featuring them.”
“Again, not seeing why we would want to do this,” Shinsou says, examining his nails, “You usually forget this, but I’m an underground hero.”
“Oh come on, that photo was awesome. Also, it’d be good publicity for Ingenium,” Tomoda points out, his mouth curving up into a sly smile, “He’s been expanding Team Idaten, hasn’t he? It’d be better for him if he’s at the forefront of public awareness for that. You can keep your mask and everything; it only covers the lower half of your face anyway. We could even just interview Iida for the interview part if you don’t want to talk, but he needs to take his helmet off and show his face.”
(See, this is what he means about Tomoda always getting his way; with his quirk, he always knows what buttons to press, and even if they’re old friends, he’s an annoying shit.)
“It’s a nice face, he should definitely have his helmet off,” Shinsou says automatically.
Tomoda groans, “You know, sometimes I wish I had a time travel quirk just so I could record some of the mushy stuff you say now and make teenage you listen to it.”
(Okay, so maybe some of Tenya’s ability to say embarrassing things has rubbed off over the years, but he still maintains that he has nothing on Tenya there. There hasn’t been an anniversary that has gone by without Tenya giving a speech and him having to bury his burning face into the side of Tenya’s neck by the end of the speech.
And then of course, he makes promises into Tenya’s ear that makes him turn an appealing shade of red, and they have always had very nice anniversaries.)
“So, you in?” Tomoda asks, tapping his pen against his notepad.
“You’re running the article past Team Idaten before printing,” Shinsou warns, tapping his fingers against his arm.
“Wouldn’t expect anything different,” Tomoda says with a smirk and a wave, “Looking forward to working with you.”
(Smug bastard. He guesses he should be thankful that Tomoda went into journalism instead of politics; now that would have been a nightmare.)
Shinsou sighs and shakes his head as he slides into the seat next to Iida, “Hey, babe.”
“Is Eri-chan okay?” Iida asks worriedly, twisting around and looking him in the face.
“Yeah, she’s golden,” Shinsou says with a wave of his hand, “No, I just ran into Tomoda. He pitched that an an article again, and I ended up agreeing.”
“Really?” Iida raises his eyebrows, “I mean, Tensei said it sounded like a sound pitch, but you know that—if you don’t want to do it, we do not have to participate?”
Shinsou laughs and grabs his arm, “Now you sound like me talking to Eri. It’s fine, Tenya. It’ll be good for you, and I think I can keep a relatively lower profile. I can wear my mask and everything, and you’re going to be the only one doing the interview.”
Iida takes his hand and nods solemnly, “I promise I will think carefully about all of my answers and portray you in both the most respectful and truthful light, while still trying to preserve your privacy. I will show you all my answers before I show them to Team Idaten, and I will ensure the confidentiality—”
Shinsou places a hand over Iida’s mouth, “I trust you, Tenya. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What’s this about an article?” Yamada asks, sitting down next to them.
“Nothing,” Shinsou says quickly, keeping his hand firmly over Iida’s mouth.
Aizawa sighs next to Yamada, “Reporters these days are so persistent; I’m glad I never had to deal with that.”
“I feel like that’s because they couldn’t get a good photo of you without Hizashi’s help,” Tensei comments, wheeling his chair next to Iida, “So you guys are doing the an an article? It sounds pretty good.”
“When is it coming out? Can I preorder it?” Yamada demands, whipping out his phone.
Shinsou groans, “We haven’t even done it—”
“That an an piece? Well, make sure they don’t use your real name; hard to do covert ops with that floating around,” Mahou says, sitting next to Tensei and fixing her hair.
“Oh, you guys are also doing it? That’s great!” Mirio says happily, slapping a hand on Shinsou’s shoulder as he sits down behind him, “Did you hear that Tamaki?”
“Oh good,” Tamaki says quietly, fiddling with his shirt, “I’m glad it’s you guys, and not people we don’t know.”
“I’m sure it will be a great article,” Midoriya says with a small smile, sitting by Mirio.
Shinsou buries his head in his hands, “Somehow, this is Tomoda’s fault,” he mutters darkly.
Iida pats him consolingly on the back, “The hero community is very tight-knit Hitoshi, they were bound to hear about it one way or another.”
Shinsou leans into his side, “If you have to make a poster of whatever photo spread they take, please put it in your office or something, not our living room.”
“Of course,” Iida says, with a kiss to the top of his head.
--
It turns out, the photo they end up putting in the living room is the wonderful shot of Eri being presented a bouquet of flowers by a blushing Izumi right after the beauty pageant, courtesy of Tomoda.
(He’s still not really sure this kid deserves Eri, but he has to admit, they make a cute couple. Apparently they’re going to see a movie next week.)
“This doesn’t make up for the entire Deku/Uravity debacle,” Shinsou grumbles as he smoothes out the side of the picture where the delighted rest of their family is watching the scene.
“He was not the main person in charge of that, and besides, he did a pretty good job with our article,” Iida points out, carefully sliding the photo into the frame.
(He will admit that it wasn’t a terrible spread. He had been in full costume, draped over Tenya wearing the Ingenium armor but not the helmet, looking back at the camera. The interview had actually been kind of sweet, with Tenya saying that it was true that being in a relationship with an underground hero had its challenges, but that he loved MindJack and would never trade him for anyone else.)
“You were good,” Shinsou admits, hanging the frame above the couch and looking at Iida, “You know that I—I would never trade you for anyone else either right? You’re—you work so hard as Ingenium, and I love you for it, even if our schedules don’t line up, and we’re always missing each other, but—you’re it for me. You always have been.”
“I know,” Iida says with a gentle smile, framing Shinsou’s face with his hands, “Shinsou Hitoshi, you are my most precious person, and I am proud and so lucky to have you with me all these years.”
Shinsou flushes and clutches at Iida’s shirt, “You think after all those years I’d be immune to all the embarrassing stuff you say,” he mutters.
“I’m glad you’re not,” Iida says happily, pushing him down into the couch and capturing his mouth with his.
(He wishes Eri all the joy and luck that he has somehow had with Tenya.
If Izumi ever makes her change her look though, he’s going to be first in line to kick that boy’s ass.)