Work Text:
Shouta hates gum. It’s loud, annoying, and since he teaches wild and uncontrollable teenagers for a living, he’s used to finding it in the most inconvenient of places. He’s had to replace his shoes too many times to be fond of the stuff.
Hizashi loves gum. He likes to smack it and blow bubbles and Shouta is convinced he’s always chewing a piece just to piss him off. And it works. He’s hit his friend upside the head once or twice to make him choke on the piece until he spits it out. Despite his annoyance, Hizashi always shows up to work with a pack of the same brand. Shouta was convinced he had a brand deal or something with the gum company. One time Nemuri had even given him a piece of her own and he’d hissed in frustration.
“These ones don’t have dares!” he’d groaned and Nemuri had arched a brow.
“Dares?” she’d asked and Hizashi had reached around in his pockets before pulling out an old wrapper. He’d unwrapped it and showed them the inside.
Lo and behold, the wrapper had a dare printed on the inside. It was one of the main reasons Hizashi bought that specific type of gum. The dare on that particular wrapper had read, Sing a song at the top of your lungs. When he’d opened his mouth, both Shouta and Nemuri had clamped their hands over his face.
So Shouta hates gum and especially hates the brand Hizashi buys. No wonder why he’s always doing dumb shit when he was chewing it.
But one morning Shouta is beyond stressed. He’s running late, his cat is sick, he has maybe one hour of sleep under his belt and he’s dropped all his graded papers in a puddle on the way to U.A. Hizashi, upon seeing his friends foul expression, offers a stick of gum.
“It helps relieve stress!” he says with a wicked grin.
Shouta normally refuses but he forgot to brush his teeth amidst the chaos of waking. So, with a grumble, he takes the piece and pops it in his mouth. It sweetly taste of oranges and lime and he inwardly groans. Of course, his friend has to be weird and exuberant with his flavors. He turns, going to head off to the teacher’s lounge for coffee before heading to class when a hand stops him. Hizashi peers over his shoulder, pointing at his closed fist. “Read the wrapper!” he insists and Shouta glares. “Aww C'mon! Live a little! It’s probably a stupid dare like, ‘Scream at the top of your lungs’ or ‘Wear your clothes inside out’.”
He wants to say no but he knows Hizashi will whine all day. Knowing him, he’ll keep texting him and eventually yell with his quirk. So Shouta, not wanting to lose his hearing, gives in and opens the wrapper. He reads it and Hizashi breaks out laughing.
His face turns red and he crumples it in his fist. Shouta, hair raised and eyes narrow, stalks off. “You gotta do the dare~!” Hizashi calls after him. His words bounce off the walls and Shouta spits the gum out in the nearest trash can. The taste lingers in his mouth, and the stupid wrapper’s words are printed in his head.
Confess your love to your crush.
Fuck gum.
Aizawa Shouta does not have a crush. That’s what he tells himself and everyone else. It’s not as though when he sees the color yellow his heart skips a beat and the soft smile of a certain teacher makes his head spin. It’s not as though he stays late to grade papers just so he can talk to the said teacher and maybe grab a drink or two. He has no crush.
Fuck, maybe he does. He’s not sure. All he knows is that he is hopelessly, helplessly head-over-heels for Yagi Toshinori.
It had been a shock to realize that All Might was actually timid, quiet Toshinori but once he’d found out, he’d grown a whole new level of respect for the hero. He respected All Might before he knew despite their differing opinions on various topics. But to realize he was battling an extreme injury on top of keeping up appearances? Shouta was impressed when the news had first broken. He still is as he learns more and more about the man.
Toshinori’s drive and focus on helping people remain even if his hero form doesn’t. He’s kind, caring, funny… It isn’t hard to be charmed by him even if he spits blood everywhere on occasion. If anything, Shouta is even charmed by that.
But he doesn’t tell anyone how the man makes him feel. It took a few months for Shouta to even admit it to himself. It would be easy to forget the gum wrapper if it hadn’t targeted the one weakness Shouta has and its this damn crush on Toshinori.
The man is in every part of his life. At first, it’d annoyed him but now he has grown eerily comfortable. He looks forward to coffee in the teacher’s room with Toshinori while the two discuss their plans for the day. Once it’s lunch, they eat together and grade any papers they have. After the school day, they stay late and plan lessons together. It’s not uncommon for their teaching to coincide and the students have noticed. So it’s a bit of a curse when Shouta runs into Toshinori in the teacher’s lounge later that day and all he can think is that stupid wrapper.
Confess your feelings to your crush.
Shouta feels his eye twitch. He was going to burn all of Hizashi’s gum on sight.
Normally, Shouta would just collapse next to Toshinori and sip on a juice pouch. Now? Now he lingers by the door, unsure of what to do. He’s distracted by the fitted suit clinging to the teacher’s form. It’s still odd to see him in clothing that isn’t three sizes too big. It makes his skin itch and fingers twitch.
Before Shouta can spontaneously combust from stress, Toshinori looks over his shoulder. His eyes are bright among the shadows of exhaustion and illness and Shouta is going to fucking die. Can he sue a gum company for emotional damages? “Ah, good afternoon, Aizawa-kun,” Toshinori says and Shouta closes the door behind him a bit too loudly. The man’s eyes widen and Shouta sighs.
“Hey,” he says lamely as he walks over, hiding underneath his capture weapon. His heart is loud as he walks over towards the small kitchenette. A voice stops him.
“I grabbed you a mug of coffee already,” Toshinori says and Shouta pauses, looking back at the man. He has an understanding look on his face and Shouta feels a little guilty. He runs his hand over his face to try and shake both the exhaustion and nerves away. Toshinori didn’t do anything to deserve his cold attitude.
“Thank you,” he mumbles as he walks over towards the couches, immediately falling onto the one across from Toshinori. The man watches him as he grabs the steaming mug of black coffee, greedily gulping it down.
“Rough morning?” he asks and Shouta hums, nodding slowly. “Do you...want to talk about it?”
Something in him flutters at how kind Toshinori is. It would be so easy to fall in love with him. Shouta closes his eyes, leaning into the cushions and tries to block out those sweet thoughts. He can’t indulge himself. It’s dangerous. “Koko is sick,” Shouta offers and Toshinori makes a noise of affirmation. Shouta opens his eyes and peers into the mug’s contents. “I dropped the kids' papers in a puddle on the way to work.” He takes a sip and lets the burn of the liquid ground him. “I was late.”
“I noticed,” Toshinori says and Shouta’s eyes flicker up to him. That blue gaze is on him as well and Shouta quickly looks away. His face feels warm. Confess. “I, uh, missed you this morning.”
Shouta is going to murder Hizashi.
He bites his lip as he takes another sip of coffee, hoping he can drown in it. Unfortunately, he cannot. He wants to say I missed you too. I look forward to seeing you. I want to spend all my time with you. I want you to meet Koko and grade papers with you and fall asleep with you and- “Sorry,” he says instead.
Toshinori hums and waves a hand. “Ah, don’t worry about it! I hope Koko feels better.” And with that, silence falls. Normally, it would be comfortable as Toshinori scribbled grades and Shouta had lunch or took a nap. But now his head spins. Now his chest is tight. Now he feels restless.
His phone buzzes and Shouta pulls it out. It’s a text from Hizashi with a picture attached. Frowning, Shouta opens the message only to see-
The stupid gum wrapper. Shouta’s fingers tighten on the device and his coffee spills. He doesn’t even feel the burn through his jumper as he goes to type out a very angry message only for another text to come through. It’s another picture and Shouta pauses, clicking on it. It’s a photo of the teacher’s lounge? Except instead of it being empty, it has Toshinori’s back and Shouta laying on the couch.
Shouta looks up. Through the window on the door, Hizashi shoots a thumbs up. Nemuri is behind him, performing a very explicit body move. Shouta stands and Toshinori looks up. He looks confused as Shouta sets down the coffee. “Thanks for the coffee, Toshinori,” Shouta says. “I’ll...see you later.” It comes out awkward and stiff, but the man still smiles. It lights up his face and makes him look so much younger, so much healthier.
There’s a thump out in the hallway and Shouta looks over to see Hizashi and Nemuri making kissing faces. Toshinori doesn’t look away from him though. “Of course. See you after class.” Shouta nods and the older man returns to grading papers. He stalks off and opens the door. His friends are already taking off down the hallway, laughing maniacally.
Too bad for them his capture weapon is faster.
After threatening to shave off Hizashi’s mustache and to end Shouta’s Snapchat streak with Nemuri, his friends promise to behave. It still doesn’t stop Hizashi from sliding the stupid gum wrapper into his pocket. Both of his friends send a wink his way before sauntering off.
Shouta should throw it away. He should burn it, shred it, stomp on it, whatever. But he doesn’t. Instead, he glowers at it, as if his quirk will erase the effect it has on him. It doesn’t. His heart still thunders and his skin still flushes at the thought of Toshinori.
And he agreed to meet with the man after class. Shouta cringes. He’d been incredibly awkward during lunch. How will he be later on in a secluded building when grading papers? He won’t be able to think straight. He barely can now and Toshinori isn’t anywhere nearby.
Shouta gets through his classes in a daze, moving on autopilot. Thankfully, his students don’t test his patience and are relatively calm. When they get a bit too rowdy, one look from him sends them into a silent panic. Iida even steps up to lead the class through a study session for an upcoming quiz, allowing him to crawl into his sleeping bag and fall fast asleep.
He plans for it to be a thirty-minute nap, just enough to help him get through the rest of the evening. After all, he still has to pick up food for Koko and grade papers with Toshinori. But with all the stress weighing on his shoulders, Shouta shouldn’t have been surprised that the planned 30-minute nap extended into 2 hours.
What is surprising is that Shouta wakes up to familiar blue eyes peering down at him. For a moment, Shouta still thinks he’s asleep and is having the best dream of his life. But when he reaches up to take a hold of dream-Toshinori’s face, he feels...skin. Real skin.
Shouta’s eyes widen a fraction and Toshinori’s face mirrors his. Fuck, he isn’t dreaming. He quickly shoots up and looks around, hair already raising in alarm. He isn’t in his classroom. No, instead he’s in the teacher’s lounge. Wait, where were the kids? Where was he? Was everyone safe? What-
“Aizawa-kun,” Toshinori says and a firm hand gently lays on Shouta’s shoulder. The man immediately looks over to his friend and sees his reassuring smile. “You fell asleep in class. Don’t worry, I dismissed the kids and brought you here.” Shouta’s hair falls back onto his shoulders as he calms from post-sleep confusion, a deep breath releasing from his chest. With a groan, he rubs his hands over his face.
“Shit, how long was I asleep for?” he asks before looking up, catching a glimpse of a nearby clock. Yep, he’d passed out for two hours. Guilt and dread flutters in his chest as he realizes the trouble he probably put Toshinori through.
“A few hours,” Toshinori offers and Shouta glances over, catching the man smiling nonchalantly. A cough itches Aizawa’s throat and he clears his throat, burrowing in his capture weapon.
“Sorry for putting you through the trouble,” he lamely apologizes and Toshinori raises his hands, shaking his head with that damn smile. It never fails to make Shouta lose his train of thought.
“No worries! You’ve been so busy. I didn’t want the kids to wake you when you needed the sleep,” he says and Shouta burrows even deeper in his capture weapon. His face feels warm as he looks at the man and then down. With a frown, he realizes he’s still in his sleeping bag.
“How did I get here, anyway?” he asks and Toshinori chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Shouta arches a brow his way.
“Well, I didn’t want you to be left there! So I, uh, picked you up and carried you here. Sorry if that was too far! I just didn’t want you to be confused when you woke up or have a sore back,” he says, words melting together from embarrassment. He laughs to break the silence that falls and Shouta learned long ago the man rambles when he’s nervous.
Toshinori Yagi, an injured and sick man who suffered a crippling injury that left him without a lung and stomach, picked up and carried Shouta Aizawa to the teacher’s lounge because he didn’t want him to have a stiff back. Despite his wavering powers, he still went out of his way to be kind. Shouta’s fingers dig into his jumpsuit.
Confess.
“Toshi,” Shouta says and the man pauses in his nervous laughter, looking at him with those damned blue eyes. He feels his heart skip a beat as the man tilts his head, waiting for him to speak. Shouta’s throat bobs. “I-” Confess.
Would Toshinori feel the same way? Or would he reject the underground hero? All Might could get whoever he wants. Shit, he could walk outside and the entire neighborhood would beg for his children. Shouta feels something uncomfortable and hot coil in his stomach at the thought. Why would Toshinori choose him?
“Aizawa?” He sounds so confused. His head throbs.
“Thank you.” He stands, easily stepping out of his sleeping bag. He folds it quickly with practiced movements, trying to ignore the confusion in those blue eyes as Shouta gathers it under his arms. Aizawa doesn’t meet the man’s gaze as he turns, shoving his hands into his pockets out of habit. “See you tomorrow.” But as removes his hand from his pocket to grab the door handle, something jostles and flies out. It’s such a small thing that Shouta barely even notices but as he goes to leave, it hits him.
The only thing he has in his pocket is that stupid gum wrapper. If Toshinori sees it, he’ll no doubt put two and two together. He’s a smart man and it’s not hard to see that Shouta is an absolute idiot around him because he can barely think straight. So Shouta spins on his heel to grab the wrapper in the air only to grasp nothing.
He looks and sees Toshinori standing, catching the trash as it falls in the air. Why he even bothers is beyond Shouta. Leave it to the man to grab a wrapper for someone because it was just the kind thing to do. But for once, Shouta wishes Toshinori was selfish and rude. Because as his friend opens his large palm to reveal the wrapper, dare side up, he sees those tired eyes read over the inside.
Fuck, Shouta thinks. And he almost says it when Toshinori looks up at him, eyes confused. He can feel his throat bob as he holds eye contact with Toshinori, unsure of what to say. The taller man speaks first. “I didn’t take you as a gum person, Aizawa,” he says, lips curling a bit at the corners.
Shouta burrows himself in his capture weapon, already plotting Hizashi’s death. Maybe he could shove the man into a pile of gum and leave him to suffocate. “I’m not.”
“So...you do the dares for fun then?” It’s a joke and normally Shouta would have smiled. Now, he just looks away.
“No,” he says and it’s curt. It almost stings and he suppresses a wince at Toshinori’s fallen face. He immediately jumps back in, saying, “Hizashi is always chewing it. He gave me a piece this morning and that- ” He jabs a finger at the offending wrapper. Toshinori lifts an invisible brow. “Was the dare.”
Toshinori hums as he scratches at the back of his head. “So, did you do it?” he asks, voice low.
It’s Shouta’s turn to lift a brow. “The dare?” The other man nods and Shouta crosses his arms, trying to retreat further into himself. “Ah, no.”
“Do you not have anyone to...confess to?”
Is Toshinori asking him if he has a crush? Shouta chews his lip. “I- I don’t think so,” he says after a deep breath, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Toshinori’s shoulders seem to slump ever so slightly but he must be hallucinating. Sleep deprivation does that. “No one who would feel the same way.”
Now that makes Toshinori perk up. His shoulders return to their original height as his head tilts to the side, wrapper still in his upturned palm. There’s a curious glint in his eyes and Shouta’s heart skips a beat. “Oh?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“Well,” he coughs and shit, when did it get so hot in here? Aizawa feels his skin itching with heat. “Whoever they are, they’d be very lucky to have you, Aizawa-kun.” His chest twists painfully. Would you want me? Would you consider yourself lucky to be mine? Toshinori smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes as he turns, walking over to the sink. His movements are stiff and Shouta watches him. He should leave. This could get awkward but something is off with Toshinori. “So, who is it?” he asks.
Surprise flashes in Shouta; cold and bitter. It makes his head shoot up out of his capture weapon. Toshinori’s back is to him as the man pours some water for himself. It should be a comforting sight; it’s one Shouta has seen time and time again. But something is hanging in the air that he can’t read. It’s stifling. “Uh…”
“Nemuri?” he asks. Shouta huffs, shaking his head before remembering Toshinori isn’t facing him.
“No. She’s a close friend. I’ve known her for years,” he offers.
He hums. “Hizashi, then?”
Shouta laughs but Toshinori just stiffens, turning and fixing him with a puzzled expression. “No, no, none of them,” he hums as he taps his foot on the ground. He’s jittery, unsure of what Toshinori is getting at.
“Why not? They’re attractive, young, healthy…” He trails off, looking down into his cup of water. The cup in the shape of a dog, one that matches Shouta’s cat mug. And it clicks. Just like that it clicks.
“You don’t think you’re attractive?” Shouta asks and Toshinori’s knuckles turn white on his mug. That’s answer enough and Shouta frowns, finally moving to close the door behind him. Except he doesn't leave. No, instead he steps in further and stares at Toshinori. Typically, he avoids taking in the man for too long. It leaves him flustered and confused. But now, now he really looks at him. “You think I just want young and healthy?”
Toshinori’s cheeks turn red with shame and he clears his throat, raising a hand dismissively. “No, no, I-”
“Is that how you view yourself?” Shouta asks and the man shuts up. Again, another answer. “Unnattractive? Old? Ill?” His mouth shuts into that tight grimace and Shouta feels so stupid for not realizing. Toshinori views himself as weak and repulsive, comparing himself to the beefcake All Might is. But Shouta doesn’t want to confess his love to All Might. He wants to confess his feelings to Toshinori Yagi. So Shouta steps forward again, only a few feet away from the older man. He has to crane his head up a little bit to meet those blue eyes and shit , they’re so beautiful up close. “Because when I saw that stupid fucking gum wrapper, I didn’t think of Nemuri. I didn’t think of Hizashi or even All Might. ” Toshinori’s face drops and he hangs his head but Shouta…
Shouta takes another step forward now and his chest is pressing against Toshinori’s. He can feel his heartbeat thumping erratically, can feel the warmth coming off that thin body in waves. It takes all his willpower to not trail his fingers up his arms and lay them against where his heart lays. “I thought of you.” It’s all he can get out, tongue heavy and leaden in his mouth. Toshinori isn’t moving, isn’t speaking, isn’t doing shit.
Maybe instead of throwing Hizashi in gum, he could bury him in it. That could be fun.
Fear flushes in his chest after a moment and he steps back, shrugging back into his capture weapon. His fingers shake as he turns. “Sorry, Toshi, I must have misread-”
Something wraps around his wrist, firm and secure. Shouta stops as he looks back to see Toshinori looking at him with wide eyes. “You mean that?” he asks, almost breathless. Shouta cocks his head and nods.
“Yes. I do.” I mean it with my whole body, Toshinori.
“I-I…” His throat bobs and Shouta feels his heart soar. He’s about to speak and Shouta listens and-
The door bangs open. The hand on Shouta’s wrist drops and they turn. Hizashi and Nemuri stand in the door, locked in animated conversation. They don’t even notice the two of them until a small growl comes from Shouta. They look up due to the noise and see Toshinori leaning against the counter, head lowered in his cup of water and cheeks red. In contrast, Shouta’s hair is twisting in the air as eyes glow. They stop talking.
“Did we interrupt?” Hizashi asks.
Yeah, maybe Shouta should bury him in gum.
Shouta seethes and Nemuri’s face widens in understanding as she looks between him and Toshinori. She reaches for Hizashi, tugging on his elbow. “Hizashi, we have that thing,” she says. Hizashi looks back, arching a brow.
“That... thing?” he asks.
Her eyes narrow and she hisses, “Yes. That THING! Now!”
Hizashi frowns, going to deny whatever she’s implying before looking back at the other men. He looks from Shouta’s furious expression to Toshinori before spotting the gum wrapper on the counter beside the older man. Immediately, a shit-eating grin curls his face as he whistles. “Right~! That thing, ” he hums before throwing a wink Shouta’s way.
Hizashi turns as Aizawa growls and Nemuri mouths an apology, but not before whispering, “Use protection! There’s lube in my desk.” He might bury Nemuri in gum too.
He ignores their catcalling as they close the door and exit the lounge, no doubt spying. But he has bigger issues than his friends being creeps. Shouta has just confessed his not-so-mild crush to Toshinori who had looked dumbfounded and confused. He turns, a sour apology on his lips when Toshinori surges forward.
Then another pair of lips is replacing that apology and this tastes so much sweeter. It’s clumsy, awkward and their noses bump. Toshinori doesn’t know where to put his hands and neither does Shouta, so he settles on gripping the collar of his shirt. He pulls him down to be closer, making the man gasp. It’s such a delectable sound,and Shouta deepens the kiss, savoring the warmth and feel of the taller man. Toshinori makes a needy noise as he leans back, taking in a deep breath.
And when Shouta opens his eyes, it’s to that blue. He tries to catch his breath but he can’t under that gaze.
“I-I like you too,” Toshinori finally says.
And that…
That is sweeter than the kiss. That is sweeter than the gum he had chewed earlier.
And as Shouta smiles and pulls Toshinori down for another kiss, maybe… Just maybe he doesn’t hate gum as much as he did before.