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One of the things Izuku loves the most about Shouto is how affectionate he can get. Ever since they found comfort in their newfound romantic relationship, Shouto hasn’t been shy about satisfying his need for a caring touch or a warm embrace. Izuku himself is no stranger to being touch starved, as someone who had spent the good part of his childhood being tossed around or left behind, his middle school years ostracised, he had grown used to this craving for a kind hold.
Shouto’s home life was a breeding ground for those same feelings, from what Izuku could gather of what his boyfriend would tell him, and now that he has found himself in a more nurturing environment all those years of pain have culminated in an almost desperate need for affection. It’s a win-win situation, really, if looked on the bright side of mostly grim situations, and Izuku likes to reciprocate just as much as he likes to receive.
More often than not, class 2-A can find them holding hands or just simply leaning against each other around the dorms, sharing in one another’s warmth and simply basking in their calm presence. It’s comfortable, pleasant.
Izuku wasn’t prepared for one particular development in their dynamic, however, and he isn’t quite sure how to properly handle it. Actually, he just can’t handle it at all. Not in a bad way, just in a ‘my heart is going to explode’ kind of way.
On top of showering him with affection, Shouto seems to be quite the expert at making Izuku as flustered as humanly possible. The thing is, Izuku gets flustered at the littlest things, and his boyfriend’s latest show of affection is one that only seems to get more effective at just that every time he uses it.
All it takes is a quick call of his attention, a soft whisper of his name, a gentle tap on his shoulder, and as soon as Izuku turns to face him… A quick touch of cool lips to his own renders him speechless, his cheeks catching fire in a blazing flush he can’t hide fast enough, bringing his arms up to shield his face as a high-pitched noise crawls from his throat unbidden. Each and every time, Shouto’s mouth will curve upward for barely a second before he returns to whatever he was doing before, leaving Izuku a completely flustered mess.
It’s so wildly unfair, how nonchalant Shouto can be about this, how Izuku feels like he’s ready to pass out while he just acts like nothing out of the ordinary even happened. And it’s not like they haven’t properly kissed before, it’s not even like Izuku has never been the one to kiss Shouto first! It’s just how he catches him completely off-guard, tearing his eyes away from anything he might be thoroughly focused on and ridding his mind of all forms of coherent thought in one fell swoop. It is evil! Evil, Izuku says!
And evil must be punished.
All that is good intentions, but it doesn’t exactly mean anything if he can’t get himself to dish it back at his boyfriend. He tries many things, and more often than not he is still the one left trying and failing not to squeal.
First, Izuku tries to be romantic. That plan should have been left on his bedroom floor along with all the other discarded notebook pages he had ripped off in frustration. Izuku isn’t good at being romantic, and getting his advice off of Hagakure and Ashido was never a good idea to begin with. Not because it’s bad advice, mostly because Izuku doesn’t know how to carry out all their plans without them backfiring spectacularly. It probably doesn’t help that he stumbles on every other word he has practiced, making himself look like even more of an idiot.
But he offers Shouto his favourite chocolates, leaves love notes along with blood-red roses on his desk before class starts, even makes him a bento box with Uraraka’s help once. And every time, Shouto smiles gratefully at each of the gifts, looks Izuku straight in the eyes and breathes out a soft “You keep giving me reasons to love you more” that leaves him utterly speechless yet again.
How is he supposed to compete with that?
A bit of hope shines at the end of the tunnel when Yaoyorozu suggests something she particularly enjoys in her romantic movies of choice. Hand kissing.
It’s simple… Elegant… And above all else, it is intimate.
Izuku psyches himself up for the good part of the day, letting out any pent-up embarrassment on the training dummy at the gym before he finally retires to the dorms. After dinner, the class gathers in the common room for their weekly movie night, and just as usual Shouto sits comfortably on one of the couches while Izuku settles between his legs on the floor. It has become a habit that Shouto will absentmindedly card his fingers through Izuku’s hair as they watch the class’ choice.
Tonight’s movie is a passionate romance, surprisingly suggested by Kacchan before anyone else agreed. Well, Kirishima made the suggestion, but Izuku saw him whispering in his ear beforehand.
As the movie progresses and the two leads fall hopelessly in love, Izuku knows he is blushing fiercely anyway. But no one else can see that, and most importantly, Shouto can’t see that.
Taking a deep breath, he reaches up for Shouto’s hand, slowly pulling it down to his face. It’s warm, he knows, but Izuku usually is, so it shouldn’t feel too out of the ordinary. He leans into his boyfriend’s palm, closing his eyes before turning his head slightly and placing a tender kiss there, then another. His heart is beating wildly in his chest, even more blood pooling in his cheeks and swooshing loudly past his ears, but he forces the small squeak back down his throat, risking a glance up at his boyfriend’s face.
Shouto’s eyes are focused on the TV in front of them, a corner of his lips tugging upward, but his expression is otherwise unchanged. Izuku barely manages to stifle an outraged gasp, the little noise drawing Shouto’s attention down to him.
Without missing a beat, Shouto snakes his hand from Izuku’s hold, brushing a few stray locks away from his widening eyes and mouthing a quiet “you’re adorable”. Unable to stop the whine from tumbling out of his lips, Izuku hides his face on Shouto’s knee as some of their classmates tell him to keep quiet.
Thwarted again.
It’s hopeless.
Shouto keeps kissing Izuku out of nowhere and it keeps flustering him beyond reason, and no matter what he tries to fluster Shouto in return it seems as if his boyfriend isn’t phased by anything he does. Not that he thinks Shouto doesn’t love him as much as he does, but it does seem a bit unfair how Izuku doesn’t have the same effect his boyfriend has on him.
Is it something to do with him? Is Izuku just not… smooth enough?
Izuku huffs, effectively pulling Shouto out of his studies. “Everything okay?”
Despite humming in reply, the pout on Izuku’s lips is a little contradictory and Shouto obviously notices, sliding his notes away and his chair closer. He leans towards Izuku’s face and, on instinct alone, Izuku puts his hand in front of Shouto’s approaching mouth. Shouto blinks in surprise, jerking backwards as a mix of confusion and shock settle in his features and something clicks in Izuku’s brain.
He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s doing it on purpose and he knows that Izuku is trying to get sweet revenge, schooling his reactions with such expertise he would have been none the wiser if not for this knee-jerk reaction.
Which means his defences are down!
Before the window of opportunity closes, Izuku closes the gap between them himself, leaving a quick, chaste peck on his boyfriend’s lips and pulling back with a cocky grin. “I think it’s about time I steal one myself.”
The left side of Shouto’s face goes up in flames for the full two seconds it takes him to bring his right hand over to snuff them out, steam rising up to the common room’s ceiling as he clears his throat, a pretty pink flush colouring his right cheek in uneven splotches.
“You’re adorable.” Izuku adds, feeling even prouder of himself when Shouto lets his head fall down to the table and covers it with his arms, a whine of his own sounding muffled as it tips from his lips.