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Chapter Text

Natsuo waved goodbye to his friends and started the walk home. He'd just gotten off a twelve-hour shift, and he was looking forward to getting some greasy pizza for dinner and then getting some well-deserved sleep. Luck didn't seem to be on his side that night when he found a short, white-haired man sitting on the sidewalk, holding his arm.

Natsuo sighed, shook his head, and approached the man. He noticed that the man was awake, so he tried talking to him. Keyword "tried."

"Are you okay?"

"That's none of your fucking business," the man deadpanned.

"Well, you seem to be hurt, so it is my business," Natsuo responded, feeling the oncoming headache. He crouched down beside the man and opened up his first-aide kit.

"Are you a doctor or something?"

"A nursing student, actually. So, did you get shot, stabbed, or did you fall and break it?"

"I got shot! Now can you put some gauze or something on me so that we can go our separate ways? I don't want to be here any fucking longer than you do."

Natsuo sighed and glared at the man. 'Who does he think he is,' he thought as he took out some gauze, tweezers, and a medical knife. "Can you at least tell me your name, and can you take your hand off your arm?"

"Why does that matter? Why don't you tell me your's first?" The man asked, refusing to take his hand off his arm.

Natsuo could feel his blood boiling. He pressed his free hand to his forehead, counted to ten, and spoke as nonchalantly as he could. "I need to know what name to put into medical forms. Now, what is your name."

"Are you taking me to the hospital?"

"Why are you so keen on avoiding the question," Natsuo tried to say as steadily as he could. "Yes, we are going to the hospital. Now, I need your name."

"....Tomura Shigaraki. Now, what's your name?"

"Natsuo."

"What's your last name?"

Natsuo thought for a moment and realized it wasn't worth the effort. He wouldn't see this guy ever again, so what was the point?

"It's just Natsuo. I gave up my last name long ago."

The man- Shigaraki, had the audacity to laugh. At least he bothered to lift his hand off his arm. "Wow, edgy much?"

"Shut the fuck up. I don't want to talk about it." Natsuo got to work. He warned Shigaraki that it would hurt, and to his surprise, the guy only winced in pain. As he took out the bullet, which Natsuo thanked wasn't too deep in his arm, he wondered about where he heard the name "Shigaraki." He cleaned up the wound, wrapped gauze around his arm, and told Shigaraki he would get better care at the hospital.

"I'm not stupid. I know I can get better care at a hospital, I just can't, and I won't. I don't want to go to a hospital."

"Well, you're really stupid right now for not going to a hospital. Why won't you go?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, actually," Natsuo wondered why this guy was being so difficult.

"Haven't you been keeping up with the news?"

I regularly work twelve and fourteen-hour shifts. I don't exactly have the time to watch the news every day." Natsuo deadpanned.

"Have you heard about Kamino Ward or the USJ Attack?" Shigaraki sighed.

"Yeah, I have. It was a pain in the ass trying to get all the patients the help they need. The hospitals were flooded, and I can't believe how much damage there was. Wait, what do those attacks have to do with anything?"

"Are you kidding me? I was there at Kamino Ward! I was the leader of the USJ Attack!" Shigaraki yelled at Natsuo. "I am the infamous Tomura Shigaraki! Leader of the League of Villains!"

"Okay." Natsuo breathed in and out as he realized the situation he was in.

"Regret helping me now?"

Natsuo didn't answer. "Do you have a place that you can stay at?"

"Yeah. But I'll get there myself," Shigaraki sighed and got up, wincing at the pain in his arm. He started walking away. "I don't trust you."

"Wait, listen. You can stay at my apartment for now. You won't even need to pay me. Just help me clean up every now and then and maybe help cook occasionally." Natsuo regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. But what was he going to do, leave Shigaraki to somehow try and find his way back to his home? He didn't like the thought of that.

"Why should I trust you? I know you helped me, but that's just common decency. Anybody could have done that. How do I know you're not going to drag me back to your apartment and call the cops on me? How do I know you're not going to kill me the second we go into your apartment?" Shigaraki sighed and stopped walking.

"How do I know you're not going to interrogate me? How do I know you won't use any information I give you against me? Besides, you shouldn't keep a villain like me in your apartment, even if it's temporary. You'll probably be killed, or worse, shipped off to Tartarus. So please leave me be."

Natsuo didn't know why he even remotely cared about Shigaraki. They'd just met, and Shigaraki was stubborn and difficult to a fault. He knew his duty was to help anyone, but even this was going far for him. He also knew that Shigaraki might die. So, he tried talking to Shigaraki again.

"I don't really like a lot of heroes. Had a bad experience with a handful of them. I'm not going to rat you out or kill you; my quirk isn't made for that anyway. I don't care about the consequences of keeping you in my apartment. Nobody would know anyway. I just want to make sure that you're okay!"

"Alright, but this is temporary." Shigaraki turned around and started walking towards Natsuo. "Just answer one question for me. Why do you care about me? Why did you stop and help me? And don't tell me that it's your 'job' or whatever. You did something nice for seemingly no reason and offered me a temporary place to live. So, why did you do it?"

"Like you said, it was common decency. I guess, more than that, I knew you were hurt, and I knew that I should've done something about it."

"I guess it's a better answer than 'doing it for the greater good.'" Shigaraki sighed and looked at Natsuo. "Alright, Natsuo. Lead me to your apartment."

Natsuo packed up his things and led Shigaraki to his apartment. It was only a two-minute walk. Natsuo unlocked the door, took off his shoes, and hung up his keys. He walked over to the kitchen sink and motioned Shigaraki to follow him. Shigaraki followed him and Natsuo carefully undid the gauze, keeping in mind to avoid Shigaraki's hands.

He ran water over the wound, noting there wasn't as much blood as he expected, and wrapped up the arm in more gauze.

"Alright, how many pain killers do you usually take?"

"I... don't know. I think two, four hundred milligrams?"

"Of what?" Natsuo asked.

"I don't know, just some generic pain killer."

Natsuo sighed for the thousandth time that night and grabbed some water and the most generic bottle of painkillers. He looked up the dosage and gave Shigaraki two pain killer pills and a glass of water.

"What do you want for dinner? It's still early enough to order pizza. If you don't want that, I have some leftover katsu in the fridge."

"Let's order pizza. Pepperoni and olives."

"Fine, how much pizza can you eat? I was thinking about a medium pizza since it's only the two of us."

"I can probably eat three."

"Alright, medium it is." Natsuo placed an order for a medium half pepperoni and olive, half pepperoni pizza. He noticed that Shigaraki was just standing to the side, glaring at the water. It had only been twenty minutes since they'd met and only five since they'd entered his small apartment. For some reason, Natsuo was expecting Shigaraki to make himself at home. That, or kill him. He got off the call shortly after.

"That water isn't poisoned. Neither is the medicine," Natsuo said. "I mean, you'll still have to eat before you take your medicine, but I'd thought I'd mention it."

Shigaraki rolled his eyes and took a tentative sip as if to confirm that it actually wasn't poisoned, and then drank the whole glass of water in one gulp. He went to get some more water, and Natsuo didn't bother stopping him.

Natsuo turned on the T.V, sat on the couch, and took a deep breath. He couldn't believe what was actually happening. First, he found a villain and decided to help him. Then he brought him into his apartment. And now, they're getting pizza as if they were old pals or whatever. His dad would be so mad if he ever found out about this, and he couldn't tell if that would be a good or bad thing.

The doorbell rang, bringing him out of his thoughts. He opened the door, paid for the pizza, and plopped the pizza on the coffee table. He got out some paper plates, disposable cups, and ranch and put them on the table.

Shigaraki glanced at him and hesitantly grabbed a slice of pizza. Natsuo informed Shigaraki yet again that the pizza wasn't drugged or poisoned. Shigaraki took a bite and shrugged.

Natsuo rolled his eyes. The two ate in relative silence before Natsuo yawned and asked Shigaraki if he had any gloves on him.

"No, I don't. Why would I need gloves? I manage perfectly fine without them."

"Alright, that's fine. Just don't destroy my furniture. Are you okay with sleeping on the couch? I have some blankets and a pillow if you need them."

"I can sleep on the couch; I've slept on far worse. A blanket and a pillow would be fine."

"Okay." Natsuo got out a blanket and a pillow and handed them to Shigaraki. He noted that Shigaraki actually took his medicine. He put away the food, threw away the trash, and told Shigaraki to be careful not to sleep on his wound. "I'm going to study for a little bit."

Natsuo walked into his room and actually studied for a little bit. That is until thoughts about what he was doing started plaguing his mind. He started thinking about how bad it was that he was keeping a villain in his apartment. Thoughts about what he was doing something that was illegal and morally wrong but at the same time, he knew he was helping someone. He knew he shouldn't let anyone die, but he also knew he was a villain, a villain who needed help, but a villain nonetheless.

These thoughts kept him up all night until he eventually passed out due to pure exhaustion, with his last thought being, "why do I care about him this much?"

Chapter Text

Natsuo woke up to the sound of something blaring in his ear. He turned his head towards the alarm clock and glared at it, briefly wondering if he should get rid of it. He decided against it in the end. His vision cleared up, and he looked at the time.

It was ten am.

'Crap!' Natsuo thought as his eyes widened. He jumped up from his seat and started stuffing his backpack with papers, pencils, pens, his computer, and whatever else he could grab. He ripped open his door, ran inside the kitchen to get a granola bar, put on his shoes, and raced out the front door.

He ran as fast as he could to his class. It was late, far too late, but maybe he could at least catch the tail end of class. He arrived at the main college building and tried to open the door. No luck.

In a brief moment of panic, he turned on his phone to apologize to his professor, only to realize that it was Saturday.

Natsuo facepalmed and sighed. He walked to the nearest fast food place, ordered some food, and went home.

He unlocked the front door, took off his shoes, and dumped the bag of food on the table.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got you ramen. I got cold soba, so if you want to switch, then we can."

"...Thanks," Shigaraki said in confusion as he reached into the bag, got out his ramen, and got out Natsuo's cold soba.

Natsuo brought out two glasses of water. He gave Shigaraki his medicine and opened up his container of soba. He dug in. Yet again, the two ate in silence for a bit. Shigaraki had to be reminded again that the food wasn't poisoned.

Natsuo threw his container away. "How's your arm feeling?"

"It's doesn't hurt as much as it used to."

"Well, that's better than it hurting more. Are those pain pills working?"

"Yeah, they're working," Shigaraki shrugged.

"Alright, I need to study for a little bit. I have finals coming up, so please, don't destroy the apartment. Don't do anything illegal." Natsuo heard an indignant screech as he walked into his room, a smirk gracing his face.

He turned on his computer, put on some calming music, and started doing his homework and studied. For a solid five hours, that was all he did. He took as many notes as he could and tried to memorize every single detail. He finished up essays and answered formulas. He tried to make flashcards, but at that point, he was pretty drained. Natsuo reluctantly pushed himself away from his computer and books and decided to get some water.

He walked into the kitchen, got his water, and saw Shigaraki trying to make a card tower in the living room. He rolled his eyes and decided to join him; he had nothing to lose after all. 'Well, nothing except your family, friends, and everything you've ever loved!' his mind very helpfully supplied. He ignored the thought and joined Shigaraki on the couch.

Natsuo noticed that Shigaraki was focused on the tower, too focused. He looked at the tower, then to Shigaraki, and then back at the tower. A mischievous grin crossed his face as he ever so slightly touched the card tower.

The cards, unfortunately, didn't fall down. However, the aggravated look that Shigaraki gave him more than made up for it. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he chalked it up to annoying-older-brother instincts.

"Shouldn't you be studying?"

"I should, but I wanted to take a small break."

"Oh, so annoying me was your way of taking a break?"

"I didn't intend to annoy you," Natsuo chuckled before getting up.

Shigaraki rolled his eyes before returning his attention to the card tower while Natsuo went back to his room. He sighed as he turned his attention to his many, many books and studied.

He studied throughout the day and into the night. Studying was all he did these days. He needed to know how to help people; he needed to pass his one too many classes. There were also things he needed to do concerning his quirk.

After the first three hours, he started thinking that life was getting away from him, that he just had more work on top of more work. It took another four for him to realize that he was hungry. That's when he took a quick break and got a snack.

He looked at Shigaraki and asked for him to come to the kitchen sink.

"It's eleven at night; why do you need me?" Shigaraki yawned and followed Natsuo.

"I need to change out your gauze."

Natsuo turned on some warm water and got out the first aid kit. After Shigaraki got rid of the old gauze, he cleaned the wound and wrapped fresh gauze around it.

"Why are we doing this in the kitchen and not the bathroom," Shigaraki asked.

Natsuo rubbed his eyes before replying, "the bathroom is too small."

He saw Shigaraki shrugging and noticed that Shigaraki was staring at him while he wrapped up his arm. He didn't really think anything of it; he just gave Shigaraki the leftover pizza since he was hungry and went into his room.

He started working on his homework. There wasn't much, but it was pretty tricky. He worked on it for a couple of hours.

After that, he decided to test out his quirk on a dying potted plant that resided by his window. He brought his hand up to the plant and lightly frosted over some leaves. He paused for a moment before rubbing the ice off the leaves. Natsuo noticed that the leaves looked a bit better than before.

He continued doing it, adding additional layers of frost and making the frost harsher and harsher until the leaves looked good as new. He jot down the results into his notebook before wiping the frost away from his eyes and hands. He smiled tiredly at the plant and then looked at the clock. Thoughts plagued him on and off throughout the night, but they weren't as bad as last night's. Natsuo shook his head and decided to go to bed.

Chapter Text

The week passed by like a blur; the only thing he did was study and go to class. He'd nearly forgotten about Shigaraki if it wasn't for Shigaraki reminding him to change his gauze. But finally, as he handed in his last final, he was done.

'I can finally relax for a bit, even if it's only for a month,' Natsuo thought as he walked home. He opened the door, took off his shoes, and was greeted with the sight of an aggravated Shigaraki. "Hey Shigaraki, did you wake up on the wrong side of the couch this morning?"

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes, "shut the fuck up. Why were you ignoring me this last week? I get it, I'm the enemy, and quite frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time with you. But, this, this was just unusual."

"I had finals. I thought I mentioned that?" Natsuo gave Shigaraki a confused look.

"You did mention that. But, what are finals?"

Natsuo gave Shigaraki a blank look, trying to decide whether he should laugh or explain. He chose the latter, "finals are the final tests at the end of each semester. They test how much of the material from the semester you've memorized. Did you not have finals?"

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be asking you about them. I was homeschooled, I was given a pretty decent education, all things considered. But sensei thought it would be useless to bother myself with something like finals."

"Huh, didn't expect the leader of the League of Villains to have been homeschooled." Natsuo hung up his keys and walked towards the couch where Shigaraki sat.

"Well, it isn't like there's a school for villains," Shigaraki turned towards him and glared at him.

Natsuo shrugged as he turned on the small T.V and grabbed an Xbox 9000 controller from the side table. "Well, anyway, we can spend time together or whatever. I want to test my quirk on you anyway, and I don't think you trust me quite yet."

"Why do you want to use your quirk on me? Are you going to break my bones, perhaps? Ooh! Or are you going to take away my hands?" Shigaraki chuckled maniacally for a bit before turning his attention to the new Luigi game Natsuo was playing.

"Nope. I want to try healing your wound. I've only tried my quirk on plants, so I don't know exactly how well it'll work. But, then again, I don't know why it wouldn't work."

"So I'm your guinea pig then?"

"Sort of," Natsuo had Luigi befriend the ghosts he met as he walked through the castle.

"Great, just fucking great. Why couldn't you have tried this earlier?"

Natsuo pinched his nose bridge and sighed, "my quirk is still relatively weak, and getting shot with a gun is pretty serious. I only managed to keep a small plant from wilting yesterday."

Natsuo barely noticed Shigaraki rolling his eyes, but he elbowed him in the ribs anyway.

"You're awfully brave. I know we had an agreement and all, but still, that's brave."

"Coming from the guy who wanted to spend time with me."

"Shut up!"

Natsuo stayed silent for a while. Which seemed to work out for Shigaraki since he was enthralled with the game. He commented about how weird this game was and why didn't Natsuo attack the ghosts, but Natsuo ignored him. The next few hours dripped away with little conversation, only with Shigaraki asking for a controller and Natsuo absentmindedly giving it to him. The two of them occasionally talked about a character or two.

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Dinner was approaching, and Natsuo decided the best thing to do was to make dinner. He wasn't the worst cook in the world, but to say he was the best would be an insult to chefs everywhere. He asked Shigaraki what he wanted, but Shigaraki didn't care what was being made, just as long as there wasn't an odd texture or bad smell.

Natsuo settled on a beloved family dish. Cold soba. He tried to make it, keyword tried. Everything kinda went a little wrong. He was out of soba, so he had to get some more. The main burner on his stove broke, water splashed everywhere, and his main knife was dull. Shigaraki managed to procure popcorn out of thin air, and that made him even more frustrated. He managed to make it, but he was mad at the soba by the time it was done.

Shigaraki snorted at what had to have been a poor attempt at soba. Natsuo reluctantly put a portion of cold soba in Shigaraki's bowl. He dug into his own bowl in an attempt to avoid conversation. Of course, it wasn't going to happen.

"First time cooking?" Shigaraki sneered.

"Nope."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm stressed."

"Alright, alright," Shigaraki dug into his food.

A moment of silence followed before Natsuo spoke up.

"Why did you want to spend time with me? Like you said, you're the enemy. This is a temporary living situation as well. I don't mind spending time, but why?"

"I'm bored to death. Card pyramids and stealing your phone only bring so much entertainment."

"Wait?! You've been what?!"

"Calm down. I was joking. Anyway, yeah, I've been bored. You're the only other person here, so of course, I'd want to spend time with you."

Natsuo tossed the words around in his mind. He smiled absentmindedly at the thought of someone wanting to spend time with him. Sure, he had friends, but it was nearly impossible to meet up with them, what with him being so busy these days.

"Alright. Fair enough. I've got plenty of games; I'm sure we can spend time together."

"Okay, weirdo."

Natsuo could have sworn a small smile graced his face, but it was gone as quick as it came, so he chalked it up as a trick of the light.

"So, besides that weird-ass Luigi game, what kinds of games do you play?" Shigaraki asked.

"I play open-world RPGs like Minecraft Two, Skyrim Four, Breath of the Wild, stuff like that," Natsuo took a bite of his food.

"Eh, those aren't bad. I like Animal Crossing and Minecraft Two, but I prefer first-person shooters."

"Let me guess, you like playing the bad guys?"

Shigaraki glared at him for a second before continuing, "Nope. I actually like playing the good guys, ironically enough. I already live most of my life as a villain, so I want to be a good person. It's more interesting."

"I can get that. Sounds like a nice change of pace."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Shigaraki shrugged and took a bite of his food.

Dinner continued with more conversation. Natsuo asked Shigaraki about which characters he liked and which strategies worked the best. Shigaraki usually responded with something helpful, though he'd sometimes respond with a weird story. Natsuo couldn't help but find the stories interesting.

"I honestly think that Mordid cheated in his speed run of Mario 48..." Shigaraki said.

"....you can always go through the green pipes to get to the fourth dimension," Natsuo pointed out.

"Oh yeah, I main as Kirby, who do you main...." Shigaraki asked.

"Then there's this annoying glitch where you can get stuck if you're holding a hammer while jumping from a snowy tree...." Natsuo sighed.

"...that's when Toga threw the controller in a fit of rage!" Shigaraki exclaimed.

Natsuo laughed as he collected his and Shigaraki's dishes; he put them in the sink for later.

"How often does this happen?"

"At least three times a week! Thank god Kurogiri always helps out."

"Yeah, thank goodness. Hey, are you ready for me to use my quirk on your arm?" Natsuo walked towards Shigaraki, grabbing the lighter from the counter.

Shigaraki shifted in his seat, "you're not going to burn me, are you?"

"Nope, this is just in case I can't brush away the ice," Natsuo explained as he kneeled down to Shigaraki's height.

"Then, I'm ready as I'll ever be," Shigaraki held out his arm towards Natsuo.

Natsuo unwrapped the gauze and put his right hand right over the wound; his left hand kept Shigaraki's arm steady. Frost began to form over the wound; as soon as the wound was covered in ice, he wiped the frost away. He did this process multiple times, occasionally pausing to wipe the frost from his eyes and hand.

Each time he paused, he asked Shigaraki if he was cold or wanted to take a small break. Each time Natsuo asked, Shigaraki would say no.

About an hour passed before the wound looked like it would heal quickly on its own. Natsuo got up, wiped the frost from his eyes and hand for the last time, and smiled.

"Does your arm feel better, now?" Natsuo asked.

"Yeah, it does, thanks," Shigaraki mumbled, keeping his face hidden from view.

Natsuo was tempted to ask about it but decided not to. He threw away the gauze and did the dishes. At some point, Shigaraki must have left the kitchen because when he was done with dishes, he found Shigaraki on the couch browsing through shows.

Natsuo looked at his phone and saw that it was midnight. He shrugged and joined Shigaraki on the couch, keeping a bit of distance from him.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Howl's Moving Castle. I've heard about it but never watched it," Shigaraki admitted.

"It's pretty good; let me help you find it," Natsuo motioned for the controller, got it, and put on Howl's Moving Castle. He got comfortable and smiled.

The movie played, scenes dancing before his eyes. A strong sense of nostalgia filled him as he remembered the times he watched this movie with his siblings. The story was incredibly moving, so moving in fact, that he didn't notice that he and Shigaraki were moving closer together.

The movie came to a close after a while. Though Natsuo wouldn't admit it, he may have cried a bit. He felt something heavy on his chest, so he looked down and found a sleeping Shigaraki curled upon him. He tensed up, but he didn't move. He sighed, realizing what his fate was.

Natsuo turned off the T.V and pulled a blanket over him and Shigaraki. He held Shigaraki in his arms as he fell asleep, with a slight smile gracing his face. He knew he would regret this when he woke up, but right now, he couldn't find himself to care.

Chapter Text

Natsuo woke up to the sun glaring into his eyes. He groaned and snatched his phone from the side table. He scrolled through his texts and saw that he'd have to visit his mom today, so he tried to get up. He felt a weight on his chest and looked down, there he saw the sleeping figure of Shigaraki lying on him. His heart swelled at sight, and regret flooded him as he remembered that he hadn't told him about his father; why did he regret that?

He took a deep breath and paused for a moment, looking at the way Shigaraki's chest moved up and down as he breathed. Natsuo hesitantly moved the arm holding Shigaraki, and he noticed that Shigaraki moved towards his arm. Sighing, Natsuo realized that he probably wasn't going to get up anytime soon. He had a few hours to spare anyway.

He scrolled through Twitter and realized why he deleted the stupid app in the first place. 'Drama, drama, a tweet about how Eraserhead is problematic, another tweet about how great Endeavor is, said tweet sparked a debate. Here's some more drama and now a tweet about how wonderful nature is. Same old, same old,' Natsuo thought as he closed the app, debating on deleting it for the seventh time that month.

He looked down at Shigaraki and smiled. He didn't know why he was smiling, and he didn't know why he didn't mind. Nonetheless, he was smiling, and he noticed that Shigaraki was waking up. Shigaraki yawned and hopped off of him while Natsuo took the opportunity to get up. He was about to go get ready, but then Shigaraki asked him for his phone.

"What do you need my phone for?"

"League business. I need to make sure they won't kidnap me or do anything drastic. I haven't seen any of the idiots on the news, so either Kurogiri and Compress are keeping them in check, or they're planning something big."

"Alright, that seems like a good thing to do. Hey, do you have a way that the police won't track the call?"

"What do I look like, a noob?" Shigaraki rolled his eyes and smiled.

"No, I guess not," Natsuo smirked.

"What do you mean 'guess not'?"

"I mean, for all I know, you could be a gamer with five hundred thousand followers with a guild called the 'League of Villains,'"

Shigaraki actually laughed at his joke, bringing the millionth smile to his face that day.

"Alright, I'm going to go take a shower. I'm visiting my mom today, so don't destroy anything," Natsuo laughed when he heard a screech in mock offense as he went to take his shower.

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"I'm going out," Natsuo told Shigaraki as he put on his jacket and shoes. "How did your phone call go?"

"Well, good news, the League isn't going to kidnap me anymore."

"Bad news is?'

Shigaraki looked away, Natsuo was confused about that, but he didn't ask. He didn't want to be nosy.

"It's nothing. Nothing bad is going to happen to anyone per se. As in, nobody will get hurt or die."

"Oookay. Well, email me if something comes up, you can use my computer. Stay safe, don't get caught. I'll only be gone for an hour or two." Natsuo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright."

Natsuo shrugged and walked out of the door.

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Natsuo walked over to the train station. After getting on the train, he realized he had some time to himself. He put his hand on one of the overhead rails to steady himself.

'Aw shit, the thoughts are going to plague me.' Natsuo thought correctly as worse thoughts invaded his mind. The familiar ones about how terrible he was for keeping a villain were first. They were becoming an odd comfort by this point.

The next ones and the newer ones about how he shouldn't be kind to the villain- to Shigaraki appeared next. They were the strongest, especially after he just let Shigaraki fall asleep on him. These were the hardest to ignore. He always wondered why he cared for Shigaraki. He didn't know why Shigaraki made him feel happy, why Shigaraki made him feel safe.

Shigaraki, by his very nature, was the exact opposite of all those things. He hadn't even been able to spend much time with Shigaraki!

Yet, somehow, Shigaraki made him happy. That was something he couldn't ignore, no matter how hard he tried.

He also didn't want to make Shigaraki upset. He could tease him and be okay with it, but he didn't want to make him sad or angry. It was probably because Shigaraki had a stupidly cute smile that made Natsuo want to care for him, and this was something that he would take to his grave.

There was also the fact that he hadn't told Shigaraki about his father, something that was sure to make Shigaraki upset, and it was something he wanted to avoid. A problem that would destroy what tentative friendship they had. It shouldn't even be a problem in the first place. It wasn't like Shigaraki was going to move in with him. This was a temporary situation, and Shigaraki would leave before it became a problem. At least, he hoped so.

Natsuo gripped his forehead as he sat down in an empty seat. He was going to visit his mother; he didn't want to cry. Shutting his eyes, he gripped his arms, taking deep, shuddering breaths. He faintly heard the dinging bell that called off the platforms. Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked down at the floor. His stop would be next, so he got up and walked to the door.

He wiped his face and put on his best smile. The train stopped, and Natsuo got out. He walked to the nearest bakery and got some chocolate and strawberry mochi, and then he went to the hospital where his mom was.

He took a deep breath, walked to the front desk, told them he was there for his mom, and went to his mom's room. He opened the door and saw that Fuyumi was already there.

"Hey, Natsu!" Fuyumi greeted as she put a vase of flowers on mom's desk.

"Hello, Natsuo. I'm so glad you could make it! I know that you've been busy lately with finals," Rei smiled from where she sat on her bed.

"It's no problem, mom. I can always make time for my family."

Fuyumi rolled her eyes, and Natsuo rolled his eyes back.

"Finals, huh? I don't miss those. But, I guess it's why you haven't called lately. That or you've got a new girlfriend," Fuyumi smirked and sat down.

"I swear I've just been busy! I don't even have a new girlfriend."

"Okay, okay, if you insist."

"Fuyumi, Natsuo will tell us if he has a girlfriend," Rei smiled.

"Okay, I promise I won't bug him about it."

"It's fine, it's fine! Anyway, I've brought strawberry and chocolate mochi," Natsuo opened up the small box of mochi.

"Thank you, Natsuo, that was very thoughtful of you!" Rei said, taking a chocolate mochi.

Fuyumi took a strawberry mochi, "thank you, Natsu! You're the best."

Natsuo chuckled and thanked Fuyumi as he took a chocolate mochi and set the box on a nearby table. He then sat down in a nearby chair.

"Anyway, mom, how have you been doing?"

"I've been doing very well. The doctors are saying that I've made a lot of progress, and now, they're letting me listen to the news."

"That's great!" Fuyumi exclaimed.

"I know, I'm so happy. I think everything will be okay now," Rei smiled.

"I'm glad; I think everything will be okay too," Natsuo said.

"Fuyumi, how have you been?"

"I'm actually doing pretty good, mom. My class is ahead in the curriculum, so we've been able to spend time doing fun activities. We even had a small party last week! I'm so proud of them!" Fuyumi smiled brightly before frowning slightly.

"Home life-wise, dad has been getting better. Not much, but he hasn't yelled at Shoto in a couple of days. I'm pretty sure he decided he wanted to atone after one of Shoto's remedial classes."

"Oh, so after twenty years, the old man finally realizes that being abusive wasn't the brightest fucking idea?" Natsuo snapped.

"Natsu! Anyway, from what I've heard from Shoto, that is what happened. Though, in a more polite wording. Apparently, Dad wants to be the number one hero that people can look up to, so he's trying to make it up to us. He isn't looking for forgiveness."

"Are you going to forgive him?" Natsuo asked.

"I don't know. I think I will, though. If this is what it takes to have a normal family again, then I will forgive him. You two don't have to forgive him, though."

"Thank you for telling us, Fuyumi. I'm not sure if I will be able to forgive your father yet. Anyway, Natsuo, how have you been?"

"Stressed. I've been pulling twelve-hour shifts at the hospital recently. School's been rough, but I've earned a month break; I mean, I still have to study, but I don't have any assignments or tests." Natsuo decided that he wouldn't give his opinion on his dear old dad seeking atonement for now. "I have eaten a lot of pizza as of late, and I did try to make cold soba the other night."

"How did it go, Natsu?"

"I mean, I made it, and it was edible if that's what you're asking," Natsuo snorted. He heard his mom laugh a bit, and he smiled at that.
"My stove broke, my knives weren't sharp, it was a mess."

"I'm sorry to hear that. At least you were only cooking for yourself," Rei said, not looking the least bit sorry.

'If only you guys knew,' Natsuo thought, keeping the grin on his face. "Yeah! I might have made too much, and now I have a bunch of leftovers."

"Well, if you ever need someone to empty out your leftovers, then just call Shoto!"

"Alright, I might take you up on that offer!"

"If you wouldn't mind, Natsuo, could you bring some to the hospital?"

"I don't mind at all, mom! I'll stop by tomorrow and bring some."

"Thank you."
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The rest of the visit consisted of sharing stories, talking about various heroes, and making fun of Natsuo. For some reason, teasing Natsuo was his family's favorite pastime, though Natsuo didn't mind too much. He had even more embarrassing stories about Fuyumi, which he gladly shared.

After narrowly dodging a piece of mochi, Natsuo decided it was time to go home. After all, he accidentally stayed out half an hour longer than he was supposed to.

He stepped onto the train, and yet again, the thoughts tried to plague him. However, he was in too good of a mood for the usual ones to bother him. The small thoughts that he would lose his entire family if it got out that Shigaraki was his roommate did bother him, so he distracted himself with pointless drama.
-----------------
When he unlocked the door, he found Shigaraki lying on the couch and playing that Luigi game that they'd been playing last night. He snorted, took off his shoes, and locked the door behind him.

"Hey, Shigaraki, how's that game?"

"Finally, you're back; I was getting bored without you here. Anyway, it's actually pretty fun once you get past the whole 'befriending ghosts' thing."

Natsuo walked over to the couch and sat next to him. He noticed Shigaraki's smile.

"Yeah, I guess the whole concept is weird, but you get used to it."

"I think I've already gotten used to it," Shigaraki moved his head to look up at Natsuo.

"Alright. I guess it's a good thing that's not the entire game then," Natsuo tilted his head down and smiled at Shigaraki.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Shigaraki turned his attention back to the video game.

As Natsuo watched Shigaraki play, he sometimes turned his attention to Shigaraki's unfairly pretty eyes.

'Shit. I can't think that Shigaraki's eyes are pretty. Well, I guess I'll have to shelve this for later.'

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A week passed. Nothing of note happened. Well, other than the fact that it was time for Shigaraki to leave.

Over the course of the week, he and Shigaraki had gotten closer. Eventually, they stopped talking about video games and started talking about life. Like genres of music they liked, what books they liked, etc. It was intriguing and comforting, to say the least.

At some point, Shigaraki began sleeping in his bed and helped out around the apartment. The first time Natsuo found Shigaraki making dinner, he felt really touched by such a small gesture.

And now, the week was over. Shigaraki's gunshot wound had healed; there was no point in him staying. But for some selfish reason, he didn't want Shigaraki to leave.

Natsuo looked at Shigaraki and rubbed his neck. He didn't have anything to say; there was nothing to say.

Shigaraki broke the silence, "so, I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"I..." Shigaraki took a deep breath. "I don't know what to say. You've been so kind to me, and I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to repay me, you know."

"I know, but I want to do something. You wouldn't want me killing anyone, and I'm guessing unnecessary theft wouldn't work... What did you like most about me staying here?"

"I enjoyed your company," Natsuo said, mentally slapping himself over the mouth. "That, and your snark."

"Then.. maybe I can repay you by staying here. I'd still have to leave for League meetings, but I'd like to stay here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'd have to call Kurogiri to see what he thinks, and then, of course, I'd need to tell the League that there's been a change in plans, but it's doable. Would you be okay with me staying here?"

"Yea, I'd be more than okay with it," Natsuo smiled widely.

"Then, I guess it's settled. I need to go back to the base to get my clothes and phone, but after that, I should be set," Shigaraki said, returning the smile.

"Alright, that sounds good. Do you need any help?"

"Nope, I've got this, but thank you for offering. Well, I guess I'd better get going. See you in an hour and a half?" Shigaraki asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Don't get caught!"

"Okay, I won't!"

Natsuo bid goodbye to Shigaraki as he walked into the nearby alleyway. Natsuo walked back into the living room, guilt and regret creeping in. He ignored it in favor of feeling happier and freer than he has in a long time.

Chapter Text

"Hey, thanks for staying with me, Shigaraki. I hate to admit it, but I was pretty lonely in my apartment before you came along."

'Hey, it's not a problem. As much as I love the League, they can be pretty overbearing, so being with you is a breath of fresh air."

Natsuo rolled his eyes. "Alright, if you say so."
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"Hey, Natsuo, what do you want me to make for dinner?" Shigaraki asked, noticing that Natsuo was studying in the kitchen for once. He started looking for things in the cabinets.

Natsuo looked up from his textbooks and sat up in his chair. "Sashimi, maybe?"

Shigaraki made his way to the fridge and paused, "I don't think we have any more fish."

"Then how about Katsudon?"

"Alright, I think we have some more pork, so we can definitely do that."

Natsuo stood up and made his way over to Shigaraki, "would you like any help?" He stood right beside him and smiled.

"The only thing that you're helping me with is making the eggs and rice. Even you can't fuck that up," Shigaraki rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I'm not that bad at cooking," Natsuo groaned.

"You're right; you aren't that bad at cooking. However, unlike you, I can make toast without burning it."

"It was one time!" Natsuo groaned at Shigaraki's gloating. "Anyway, I guess we'll see how good you actually are at cooking."

"Shut up."

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Natsuo laughed when he told this story to his siblings, obviously replacing Shigaraki's name with one of his friends' names. This was a special occasion because this was one of the few days that they were all free. So, as a treat, they went to the mall to hang out and get food; they sat at the fountain in the middle of the mall. The story made Shoto laugh, which he was proud of, and Fuyumi facepalmed.

"Really, that's the funniest thing that happened to you this week?" Fuyumi joked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well, there was that time someone spray-painted the building with the words 'this school is for nerds,' so there's that."

"Th-that's not any better!" Shoto tried to say through his laughter.

"I mean, you're not wrong. But in my defense, nobody does anything entertaining. The funniest things usually happen at parties, and I'm not usually invited to them."

"Oh wow, can't imagine why."

Natsuo briefly glared at his sister before continuing the conversation, "anyway, I've heard from Shoto that you've got a crush on someone, Fuyumi. So, who is it?"

"I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours!"

"Oh, would you look at the time! I better get home," Natsuo got up and tried to walk away, but Fuyumi caught him by his hoodie.

"You're not leaving any time soon. Come on, we still have to help Shoto pick out a gift for his friend."

"Nee-san, it's okay! I've had a lot of fun today, and I'm actually going to bake something for Midoriya, so don't worry about it."

"Are you sure, Shoto? Because I was mostly joking."

"Yeah, I'm sure Natsu-nii."

"I guess it is getting pretty late," Fuyumi remarked and gathered up her things.

"Okay, then. When will you guys be able to meet up again?"

"I should be available after my remedial classes next Saturday," Shoto got up and picked up his things.

"I have a workshop early that day, but I should be available at 2."

"Alright, sounds good. Well, I should be going. Bye, guys!" Natsuo gathered up his things and waved bye.

"Bye, Natsu!"

"Bye, Natsu-nii."

Natsuo watched the two leave, and he left as well.

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Natsuo opened the door to his apartment and smiled when he saw Shigaraki on the couch, reading the book he'd bought for him. He took off his shoes and sat by Shigaraki on the couch.

"Hey, Shigaraki."

"Hey, Natsuo," Shigaraki turned to look at him and smiled.

"So, how's everything with Chisaki?"

Shigaraki groaned, and Natsuo knew that something happened.

"Twice showed up with Chisaki, and apparently, instead of a partnership like I was hoping for, Chisaki wanted to become our new boss. Something about me not having any goals and how the Hassaikai is small and that we could expand his empire because we're more recognizable, I don't know. Anyway, Big Sis Magne nearly died, but thankfully Compress marbleized her before Chisaki killed her. Compress did lose an arm, so we had to get Giran to make him a prosthetic."

"That- I'm so sorry. I'm glad that Magne didn't get killed, but I'm really sorry that Compress lost his arm."

"It's not exactly fine, but I did kill one of his guys, so while not 'eye-for-an-eye,' it still makes up for it."

Natsuo sighed. "Please tell me they deserved that, and you didn't just randomly murder someone."

Shigaraki flipped a page, "yeah, he did. Tried to kill me, so he definitely deserved it."

"Well, I guess in this case, it's good because I don't want to lose you."

"That's sounding like a love confession."

"I guess it kinda does. I-I'm really sorry, but it's not," Natsuo rubbed his neck.

"It's alright. Besides, unless it's a 'major secret,' you couldn't lose me if you tried," Shigaraki chuckled.

Natsuo laughed awkwardly, guilt flooding him.

"Well, um, I actually do kind of have 'major secret.'"

"So do I. Good thing I was kind of joking when I said that anyway. I'll respect whatever reasons you have for keeping your secret, well, a secret. So, don't worry about it."

"Alright."

He knew he should tell Shigaraki who his father is at some point, but he couldn't bring himself to. In the meantime, he decided to just ignore it.

------------------

It had been a week since that conversation.

Natsuo tossed and turned in his bed; he couldn't get comfortable no matter what. He needed to tell Shigaraki who his father was. 'It shouldn't be a big deal, but it probably is. How will he react? Will he be okay with it, or will he explode?'

Shigaraki's voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Natsuo? Are you okay?" Shigaraki asked tiredly.

"Yeah, Shigaraki, I'm okay. Just having a hard time getting to sleep."

"Alright, then. Do you want me to cuddle you?"

Natsuo's brain short-circuited at the question, "I- um, sure."

He felt Shigaraki moving around, and soon enough, Shigaraki's legs and arms were wrapped around him. He felt his cheeks warming up, and his thoughts zipped past him; he couldn't say anything. What could he say?

"Despite your ice quirk, you're pretty warm," Shigaraki mumbled and yawned.

"Thanks..."

He hated to admit it, or maybe he didn't hate it, but he liked being cuddled by Shigaraki. He didn't know why, or maybe he did know why; he just didn't want to admit it to himself. Especially when they've only known each other for a month or two. But he knew at some point that he had to, so even though this was probably the worst time, he admitted it.

He-he liked Shigaraki. Love may be too strong of a word for now, but he knew he had a crush on Shigaraki. He liked how kind Shigaraki was in his own way. He liked how beautiful his eyes are, how he's so understanding, how he's so confident, and so much more.

And that's why he has to keep the identity of his father a secret. He can't let Shigaraki know because who knows how badly he may react, and he didn't want to see Shigaraki upset.

It was a topic for another day. So he shelved it and finally fell asleep.

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It was bound to come out. It was his fault for not telling Shigaraki anyway. But somehow, someway, he managed to keep his secret until the day of the Haissaikai raid.

--------

"Shigaraki! Are you okay?" Natsuo sprinted over to Shigaraki, who stumbled through the doorway.

"As okay as I'll ever be. Just a few cuts and bruises, don't worry about it." Shigaraki shrugged and made his way to the couch.

"I- I saw on the news what happened. You could've been killed!" Natsuo brought his first-aide kit to the couch, opening it up and grabbing a few bandages.

"Nope. I couldn't have been killed. I had it all under control," Shigaraki groaned, but he still gave Natsuo his arm.

"Dude, you were sitting on the roof of a moving truck, transporting Chisaki to destroy his arms while being followed by heroes and the police," Natsuo deadpanned.

"But I lived."

"Yeah, but if my old man was there, then you would've died!" Natsuo exclaimed before starting to wrap up Shigaraki's arm.

"But he wasn't there," Shigaraki pointed out. "Who's your 'old man,' anyway?"

Natsuo realized what he said and paused for a moment to answer, "nobody you need to know about."

"I do need to know about him. If he can kill me, then I need to know how to counter his attacks. Besides, surely he couldn't be more than a level five enemy."

"You already know him," Natsuo mumbled.

Shigaraki raised a non-existent eyebrow at that, "I do? Alright, who is it?"

Natsuo took a deep breath.

"Endeavor. My dad is Endeavor."
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-
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Tomura yanked his half-wrapped arm out of Natsuo's grip. He stood, taking a few shuttering breaths.

"Let me get this fucking straight. Your father is Endeavor, the number-one hero, and you didn't think to tell me?" He glared at Natsuo.

"I- I didn't think it was important when we first met," Natsuo sighed and stood up. "At the time, you staying here was temporary, so I didn't think it mattered?"

"Wasn't important? Didn't matter?! What the hell? Of course, it matters!" Tomura took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm the most feared man in all of Japan, and your dad wants me dead. You're the son of a hero, and who knows how much information you've given to your family."

"I haven't given away any information! Endeavor sucks, so any information you've given me has been kept secret from him."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how much information you've given to your regular family, Todoroki!" Tomura knew he crossed a line, but he kept going. He turned towards Nat- Todoroki.

"The possible leaking of information is only part of it! You kept this big secret that could seriously affect me! You've kept Endeavor, someone who wants to lock me up or have me killed, hidden away! It's like you couldn't trust me!" Tomura exclaimed.

"Never call me Todoroki again!" Natsuo yelled. "I do trust you!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?!"

"I don't know! Maybe, it's because I love you!" A silence hung through the air for a moment before Natsuo continued talking, "Besides, you have a secret that I don't know about!"

"I've never told you because it doesn't affect you while your secret does affect me." Tomura sighed before putting his belongings into a backpack. "I need to leave; we need a break."

"Why?" Natsuo asked harshly.

"Because if I stay, then we're just going to have another argument about this. And, in any case, you need to realize that what you did was wrong," Tomura picked up his bag and made his way to the door.

"Oh wow, that's really ironic coming from a villain," Natsuo chuckled darkly.

"Says, the son of a hero," Tomura growled, opened the door, and on his way out, he slammed the door. He walked in the direction of the hideout; he needed a drink and maybe some words of comfort.

----------------------------------------------------------

As he walked into the hideout, he could tell everyone was on edge. It was probably because of Overhaul, he may be gone, but the memories of him and what he'd done were not.

He walked into his room, ignoring everyone, and shut the door behind him. He slid to the ground and tossed the bag to some unseen corner of his room. He felt his face heat up and felt tears start to roll down his cheeks, so he brought his hands up to his face.

He didn't mind crying, even if it was something he didn't often do. The League helped him better express his emotions, and it was something that he was grateful for. But even still, he didn't want them to see him crying; he didn't want to appear weak.

Tomura took a few short breaths before crying a bit louder. Sobs rang through the air. He put his head on his knees and wrapped his arms around his head.

'Why, why wouldn't he tell me? Am I not trustworthy enough? Would he have called Endeavor if I did something wrong? Why did I admit to killing someone?! He said he loved me, but did he really? Why didn't he tell me?!' Tomura thought, sobbing even louder. He loved Natsuo, but he wasn't sure that Natsuo loved him. He faintly heard knocking at his door, but he ignored it.

After a minute, the knocking stopped, and after a few more minutes, he stopped crying. He got up, rubbed his face, and sighed. He opened the door and walked out; he was surprised to find that everyone kept their distance. Well, at least for a moment, anyway.

"Hey, Tomu, are you okay?" Toga asked.

"You don't have to tell us right now! Just when you're ready to, boss!" Spinner exclaimed.

"I think I'm ready to, Spinner. Thank you," Tomura let a small smile grace his face. "I don't think I'm okay right now, but I'll be okay soon. So don't worry about it."

"Would you like a drink, Tomura Shigaraki?"

"Yeah, I would; thanks, Kurogiri. I would like a shot of the strongest vodka you have, please," Tomura sat down at the bar and turned his head to face his friends.

"Do you want to tell us what happened? Of course, he doesn't; he just ordered a powerful shot of vodka!"

"Maybe later, Twice. I still need to process what happened."

"Come guys, we need to give him space!" Magne exclaimed.

"I agree with Miss Magne."

"I appreciate the thought, Compress, and Magne, but I don't mind you guys being here. Where's Dabi?"

"I think Dabi went to go burn some new recruits! He's no fun anyway; he wouldn't let me go! I wouldn't have gone anyway because there's no blood, but still!"

Tomura groaned and drank his shot, "sounds like him." He got up and walked to his room. He'll tell the League what happened later, that or Toga will find out through the internet and tell everyone. Whichever comes first.

He took off his shoes and flopped down on his bed. It was only five in the afternoon, but he'd had an exhausting day. In any case, a word about the Haissaikai would reach other villainous organizations, and he needed to be ready in case he needed to get into contact with any of them.

It took a while to actually fall asleep, but eventually, he got to sleep, his mind heavy with things that he needed to say and do.

Chapter Text

A week passed by before more conflict arose. Within that week, Tomura had told the League about what happened with him and Natsuo; he changed Natsuo's name in the conversation. The League was mad, to say the least, but Tomura grew numb to the whole situation.

He accepted the fact that he wouldn't be allowed at Natsuo's place anymore and that Natsuo wasn't going to apologize. It's not like he would have a chance to apologize anyway. Maybe he accepted it too quickly, but he didn't care. He was too busy to care.

After the week was up, he started having to deal with Re-Destro and the Liberation Army. They were going to war sometime soon, and Tomura had to be prepared.

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"Shigaraki!"

Tomura looked around for the source of the sound, quickly finding Spinner to be the cause.

"Yeah?" Shigaraki sighed.

"You've gotta look out for Gigantomachia and the others! Twice already found Toga, and she didn't look so good!" Spinner growled, his swords ready in his hands as he looked around Daika.

"I'll have Twice take care of Toga until we can get back to them. As for Gigantomachia-" Tomura smirked, "-we'll know when he's near, and he's an easy target. In the meantime, I need to kill more of the Liberation Army; they've messed with the wrong group of people." He threw his head back in laughter, he'd been fighting for a week non-stop, and the lack of sleep was probably getting to him.

Just as he spoke, more Liberation Army members walked behind them in the street they were in, so he decayed them and anyone standing by the wall from a distance. He heard Spinner yell his name, but at that moment, he didn't care. His only goal was to get rid of the Liberation Army and anyone who supported them.

Yet again, Tomura heard his name being called and turned around to see more Meta Liberation Army members staring at him. He sighed and shouted for Spinner to stay behind him; he wasn't going to let anyone hurt more of his family.

The MLA members rushed at him, and he reached out his arms. Some rushed to his side and met their fate by Spinner's blade, some fell unconscious, but most of them died and turned into the dirt he walked on. He cackled and turned around, keeping one arm stretched out in case anybody dared to try and kill Spinner. Tomura noticed that Spinner took a couple of steps back.

"Shigaraki, are you okay?"

"In all honesty, I'm feeling pretty shitty right now. But I know I'll feel better once I wipe Re-Destro's stupid smile off his face," Tomura smirked.

"Do you have a plan?"

Tomura noticed Spinner's worried look. He dropped the grin and sighed. "I do. I just need to get to the tower and destroy it; hopefully, Re-Destro will die. I need you and the others to stay behind. Will you guys be able to handle some of this mess by yourselves?"

"We will be able to handle this. Just do whatever it takes to get rid of the MLA," Spinner gave Tomura with a determined look.

With that, Tomura smiled and walked to the tower to end the MLA once and for all.
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He destroyed the tower in seconds. He laughed but soon stopped when he realized that Re-Destro had survived his fall. Re-Destro looked pissed, and that was an understatement. Tomura knew he was in over his head, but he needed to protect his family.

The fight resulted in Tomura getting his first three fingers on his left hand, ripped off, and interestingly, some of his quirk awakening. He didn't know what this meant, but as long as he could control his quirk better, he was fine with it.

He felt the ground shake under his feet, and he turned around just in time to see Gigantomachia walking towards him. He groaned, feeling an oncoming headache. Tomura saw Toga and Spinner running to him; he sighed and outstretched his arm to prepare for battle.

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He was thankful for Spinner and Toga's help when it came to defeating Gigantomachia because, without them, it would have taken longer than a month.

There would still be more work to do, but he relished this victory. He looked at the remaining MLA members and smirked. 'Those idiots won't know what's coming.'

He and his gaggle of idiots began destroying the remanents of the MLA and what's left of Deika City.

After yet another week of this bullshit, he smiled. The realization of what happened hit him at full force.

Tomura cackled and reveled in the near destruction of Deika City. They'd finally won. He and Re-Destro talked about the war and how Tomura might be better suited to lead the MLA.

After telling the rest of the League of Villains to rest for a bit to prepare for the upcoming union of the MLA and the LOV, he stumbled to a place that he knew he wasn't welcome.

He wanted to gloat, to prove something to the person he hated. Tomura knew that it was too strong of a word, and he knew he would never gloat, but he wanted to feel something other than sadness towards Natsuo. So, he settled for anger.

He stumbled towards the door and pushed it open; he clutched his side and smirked. He saw that jerk sitting on the couch, and his smirk grew into a wide smile.

"Shigaraki!" Natsuo rushed to his side and wrapped an arm around him to steady him.

Tomura frowned; he hadn't been expecting this. "Todoroki."

"What are you doing here? What happened?"

"Quit acting like you care about me. I know you don't." Tomura snapped.

Natsuo walked Tomura into his bedroom and put him down on his bed. He dug through his medical supplies and got out bandages and disinfectant, "I do care about you. I care about you more than you could ever imagine, but I know that my words mean nothing to you. If I don't show you how much I care through my actions, then my words mean nothing."

"You're right; your words don't mean anything to me," Tomura sighed and relaxed into the bed.

An uncomfortable silence hovered in the room for a while. The only sound in the room was the occasional ripping of gauze.

"I'm really sorry for keeping my father a secret from you. You didn't deserve that. I should've come clean from the beginning, things may have been different, but at least you wouldn't be upset because of me. So, for that, I'm sorry." Natsuo sighed, frosting over the areas where the wounds weren't as bad. He wiped the frost away care.

It was a simple, necessary gesture. But it was so tender and gentle.

"I can't forgive you yet. This is going to take a lot of work, and I need time," Tomura said, blushing a bit.

"Then I'll give you all the time that you need. We can fix this, and I'll work hard to repair what I've damaged," Natsuo smiled softly at Tomura and gently placed a hand on his left arm, the one that had been damaged in the fight.

"Thank you," Tomura returned the smile. "Hey, I'm sorry that I called you a Todoroki. I shouldn't have done that."

"I forgive you. I understand why you did that; I would have done the same thing if I was in your place." Natsuo took a closer look at his wounds and wrapped gauze around some of his left arm.

This time, a comfortable silence fell on the pair. The room started to smell like a hospital as ointments, medicine, and bandages were applied to the scrapes, bruises, and wounds that littered Tomura's body.

"Hey," Tomura asked, breaking the silence, "did you mean what you said? When you told me you loved me?" He felt his face getting warm. He looked over his shoulder and saw Natsuo blush a bit.

Natsuo got on the bed and wrapped the gauze around Tomura's right arm, "I- yeah. I did mean it. But that's a discussion for another time, and you don't have to love me back. I understand if you don't love me."

"Oh," Tomura turned his head away from Natsuo, his face getting warmer by the second.

"Anyway, what happened to your hand?"

"Re-Destro happened. He ripped the fingers off. Didn't hurt as much I thought it would," Tomura turned his face back towards Natsuo.

Natsuo sighed, "I'll try to get you a prosthetic soon, that is, if you want one. We'd have to go to a hospital to get it attached, but I can pay the hospital staff to keep quiet."

"Wow, Todoroki, didn't think you would do something so illegal," Tomura chuckled.

Natsuo finished wrapping the gauze around Tomura's arm and turned Tomura onto his stomach to work on his back. He sighed and smirked, "honestly, neither did I. But I'm prepared to."

That brought a genuine smile to Tomura's face. "Thanks, and I'd like to get a prosthetic."

"Well, we'll get you one as soon as the rest of your wounds heal. It shouldn't be more than a couple of days; in the meantime, we need to make sure that your hand heals correctly."

"Alright, that sounds good to me."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a week of small arguments and discussions, compromising, and Natsuo genuinely trying his best before Tomura finally felt better. He got his prosthetic, something that he still had to get used to. He was appreciative and thanked Natsuo a lot for getting it. He hadn't forgiven Natsuo yet, but still, he was getting better.

He sat on the couch and played on his phone, courtesy of Re-Destro. He kept his guard up the entire time, constantly checking the door to make sure that nobody else entered the apartment. So, he wasn't exactly surprised when Natsuo sat by him.

"Hey, Shigaraki. Listen, there's something I need to tell you. It's about my family."

"...Alright, go ahead." Tomura hesitated and put his hand on Natsuo's left arm.

"I had an older brother named Touya. He was amazing, and sometimes I felt like he was the only one who understood me," Natsuo smiled. Yet, tears appeared, threatening to fall down at even the slightest movement.

"He was shorter than me for a while, which was funny since he was five years older than me. He made me happy, he played soccer with Fuyumi and me, he told us stores. I couldn't understand why he was forgotten, neglected. It was only when he died that I finally realized why." Tears fell freely, and Natsuo's expression grew angrier and angrier. "It was because of his fucking quirk that he neglected him. Endeavor didn't want anything to do with him once Shoto was born and when Endeavor figured out that Touya's quirk hurt himself."

"I'm sorry, Natsuo," tears threatened to fall from Tomura's eyes as he remembered the death of his own sister. "This is just one more thing in the 'Endeavor fucking sucks' category."

"Yeah," Natsuo sighed. "I feel responsible for his death. Touya told me what he was going to do, but I didn't stop him. I told him to go complain to Fuyumi or mom about this, but it resulted in his death. I've never stopped feeling guilty for it. I'm telling you all of this because I think he still might be out there, but I've been slowly losing hope for it. It happened eleven years ago, and since we haven't heard anything from him since that day, it's getting more and more likely that he's actually dead."

"Hey, you were what, eight years old? You weren't responsible for his death. If anything, it was your father's fault." Tomura thought for a bit, the description of Touya fitting the description of Dabi 'I smoke to look cool, but I hate the taste of cigarettes' no last name given. 'Well, I guess his last name would be Todoroki if Touya is, in fact, Dabi.'

"Hey Natsuo, you know about Dabi?"

"Yeah, bastard hurt Shoto and almost killed Endeavor. Oh, wait, you're not saying?" Natsuo looked at Tomura with bewilderment.

"That Dabi might be Touya Todoroki? That's exactly what I'm saying. I could be wrong, so take it with a pinch of salt. Anyway, thank you for telling me. I appreciate it." Tomura smiled and moved his hand to Natsuo's right hand.

Natsuo smiled at Tomura and grasped Tomura's hand. "You're welcome. And thank you, Shigaraki, for giving me more hope."

"Tomura. Call me Tomura," The words were out of Tomura's mouth before he could think about them, but he didn't regret them.

"Alright, Tomura. Do you want me to order dinner?"

Tomura's heart fluttered when he heard Natsuo say his name. He may not forgive him now, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he did forgive Natsuo. When he did, he knew that everything would get better and that maybe everything would be a comfortable, new normal. In the meantime, there was work to be done to repair their friendship, but it was work that he was willing to do.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Chapter Text

Tomura heard the doorbell ring and jumped from his spot on the couch. He sighed in relief when he saw Natsuo walk to the door, open it, and grab a package.

"What did you order, Natsuo?" Tomura asked, returning to the game on his phone.

"Some artist gloves! I know you don't really need them anymore, but I thought you'd like some just in case," Natsuo smiled, dropping the package on the coffee table and opening it to reveal a few different pairs of artist gloves.

"Thank you," Tomura smiled at the gesture. He put his phone on the table and grabbed a dark red pair of gloves that covered his thumb and middle finger.

"You're welcome. How's your prosthetic feeling?" Natsuo sat close to Tomura, to the point that he could feel their shoulders touching.

He flexed his left hand and placed it in his lap, "it still feels weird, and it feels a little loose. I can use it; I'm not just used to it."

"Do you want me to adjust it?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

"It's no problem, Tomura. You know, I like how sweet you're being," Natsuo adjusted the prosthetic and got up.

Tomura rolled his eyes and went back to his game, "what gave you that idea? Seriously, I need to fix it. I can't have anyone know I've gone soft for you. It would ruin my reputation."

Natsuo rolled his eyes and chuckled, "you care for your family, so I think your reputation is already ruined. In any case, you've been more patient and kind. You take the time to take care of people, even if it's chucking a water bottle and a sandwich at their face."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, while you're in the kitchen, can you get me an apple?"

"Sure, no problem. You're cooking dinner tonight, right?" Natsuo tossed an apple at Tomura.

Tomura caught the apple and took a bite, "would sashimi be okay, Natsuo?"

"That would be great, Tomura. I'm going to go study; let me know when you need help!"

"Bold of you to assume that I need your help. I can cook miles better than you!" Tomura yelled as he saw Natsuo leave. He checked the time and realized he needed to start on dinner soon, so he got up, walked to the kitchen, and set the salmon on a cutting board. He meticulously cut the fish into thin slices.

It only took a few minutes to finish making the rest of the dish, and soon enough, it was done. Tomura set the table and called for Natsuo.

"Tomura, this looks delicious, thank you," Natsuo smiled as he came out of his room and sat at the table.

"You're welcome. Studying for any major tests?"

"Nope. I'm interning at a hospital in Musutafu; I figured I would get a lot of experience because of how common villain attacks are over there..." Natsuo chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck.

"That's fair enough; you'll be able to heal many different types of injuries because of how varied our quirks are, so it'll be good practice. How long have you been interning?"

"Around a year, I finished high school early and applied to medical school to get away from home. I wasn't allowed to intern until I was eighteen."

"I see. Glad that you got out of that shitty situation when you did."

"Yeah, so am I." Natsuo smiled before continuing, "Hey, what was your family like?"

Tomura thought for a moment before shrugging. 'Eh, what the hell.'

"Current family or pre-quirk family?"

"Hm, pre-quirk, I guess. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Natsuo took a bite of fish.

"I'm fine talking about it, but I won't go into extreme detail. Anyway, from what I can remember, my dad was an abusive asshole who constantly made my life a living hell," Tomura growled and took a sip of water.

"He did his best to prevent me from becoming a hero, even going so far as to hitting and kicking it. It was a terrible crime to become a hero, in his eyes, at least. I had a grandmother named Nana, and she was a hero. I looked up to her, and I wanted to be like her. As you can tell, it never ended up happening."

"I'm guessing that's why you became a villain, then. Not that I blame you, you got dealt a bad hand."

"That's not why I became a villain, well not exactly, anyway. At least, I think it wasn't the reason." Tomura shrugged and looked up at Natsuo. "Sensei took me in and told me the truth about heroes, how they're all just a bunch of arrogant jackasses who only care about strangers. He allowed me to become who I am today. That's why I'm a villain."

He saw Natsuo's eyes getting wider by the second, and then Natsuo's face morphed into one of concern.

"What else did he do?"

"That's none of your business. Not for now, at least."

"Alright, that's fine," Natsuo sighed. "But, promise me you'll tell me when you're ready."

Tomura watched as Natsuo took another bite of fish. "Yeah, sure. I'll tell you when the time comes. I promise," he rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Thank you."

He saw Natsuo smile back at him, and he felt his face heat up.

A comfortable silence fell upon them as they ate, that is until Natsuo decided that this would be the perfect moment to ruin it.

"Hey, Tomura, is there something I can do to have you forgive me?"

"Hm? Not really; I just need time. You've already done so much for me, and I'm actually almost ready." That was the truth, but Tomura would be lying if he thought that the prospect of Natsuo doing something to earn his forgiveness wasn't interesting. In fact, it was too interesting to pass up.

"You've done a lot too. You've managed to get notes for me, cooked dinner, and you're giving me a chance. If I thought it was too much, I wouldn't be asking. I know that I've done a lot for you, but I did those things because I wanted to. You're worth it, I promise. If you don't want me to do anything else, then I won't, and I'll give you the time that you need." Natsuo held onto Tomura's left hand.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. I actually would like you to do something illegal if you don't mind."

"How illegal are we talking?" Natsuo smirked, let go of Tomura's hand, and started collecting dishes.

Tomura arched a non-existent eyebrow and laughed, "I don't know. Theft? Maybe rob a store? I can't have you getting blood on your hands."

"I mean, I guess it's too late since I have your blood on my hands. You know, since I've patched you up so many times?" Natsuo dumped the dishes into the sink.

"Okay, first off, it was like five times; second of all, I only got seriously injured twice. Technically once since the first time wasn't that bad."

"Yeah, okay, wasn't that bad?" Natsuo rolled his eyes.

"It could've been worse!"

Bickering became their new normal, so it wasn't much of a surprise when he and Natsuo bickered until they went to sleep.

What was a surprise was what Tomura found on the news the week after.

---------------------------

Tomura had been slightly joking when he told Natsuo that he should rob a store. But there he sat on the couch, amused and horrified at what the reporter said.

"...general store was shoplifted at five-fifteen pm today. The store's owner, who wished to remain anonymous, reported having lost four giant bags of chocolate. The store's owner saw the thief; however, they could not remember what the thief looked like, so the police are still searching far and wide for the mysterious candy thief. We'll keep you up on this exciting story as we get more information. Now, it's time for next week's forecast."

Now, he couldn't prove that it was Natsuo, but it seemed likely that it was. He called Natsuo and only got his voicemail in response. He waited as patiently as he could for Natsuo to come home, but time seemed to be at a standstill.

After what felt like an eternity, he heard someone knock on the door. There was only one person who would be at their apartment door this late. He opened up the door with a groan and found Natsuo standing there, smiling proudly and holding two large shopping bags.

"Want to explain to me why you didn't answer your phone?" He let Natsuo in, and he took a seat on the couch.

"It died?" Natsuo sat down beside Tomura. "But I got a shit ton of candy for us."

"I saw it on the news. Why did you think this was a good idea?"

"You said you wanted me to rob a store, so I did."

"I was joking- What's done is done, and I'm glad that you're safe," Tomura sighed for the fifteenth time that day. "You're a fucking idiot; you know that, right?"

"You're a fucking idiot too. I remember the first night you stayed; you were so insistent on going back home when you could've gotten an infection," Natsuo smirked.

"In my defense, it wasn't that far away. It would've only taken me two hours to get there," Tomura groaned. "Anyway, that's not the point."

"Meaning?"

"I forgive you. You did something so idiotic, but you did it for me. So yeah, I forgive you." Tomura felt like a weight was lifted off his chest.

"Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad that I could make it up to you," Natsuo moved closer to Tomura and put his hand on Tomura's hand.

"I'm glad too."

A warm, comfortable silence fell upon the two. Tomura and Natsuo were essentially cuddling at that point, and they were enjoying each other's company.

For Tomura, this felt like a dream come true, as cheesy as that sounds. He was just glad he was near someone he likes and possibly loves. So, he wasn't surprised to realize that his face was heating up. He turned to face the ground and gripped onto the couch cushion. As much as he hated interrupting the silence, he needed to tell Natsuo how he feels.

"Hey, I- I know this is sudden, but I think I feel comfortable doing this. I've had a crush on you since I got here, and I don't know if your feelings have changed for me, but can I kiss your cheek? It's fine if you don't want that," Tomura felt his face heat up and turned his face away. He knew he must be blushing like crazy.

Natsuo mumbled, "I wouldn't mind it."

Tomura turned to face Natsuo and saw that Natsuo's face was about as red as a tomato. "Alright. Tell me if you want me to stop."

"Okay, I will," Natsuo nodded and smiled.

He gently grabbed Natsuo's face with one hand, and then he kissed Natsuo's cheek. It felt like it lasted an eternity when it actually only lasted a few seconds.

Soon enough, Tomura stopped kissing Natsuo, and he turned to face the ground. He smiled brightly, and a feeling of endearment flooded him.

"That was... nice. I enjoyed it."

Tomura saw Natsuo smiling as brightly as him, and he couldn't help but feel the love for him grow.

"...What are we, Natsuo?"

"Whatever you want us to be. We can talk about this tomorrow if you want to," Natsuo got up and reached out to grab Tomura's hand.

Tomura grabbed Natsuo's hand and got up. He followed Natsuo into the bedroom and got in bed. "I'd like that."

After Natsuo got changed and lied down in bed, Tomura wrapped his arms and legs around Natsuo.

"I love you, too."

"Hm?"

"Well, you told me you loved me a while ago, so I figured I'd return the favor."

"You're such a nerd. Goodnight, Tomura," Natsuo chuckled.

Tomura smiled against Natsuo's back, "goodnight, Natsuo."

Chapter Text

"I love you, too."

Natsuo sighed in contentment, the memory bringing a smile to his face. He fixed what he'd broken; he may have done something illegal to get to the point of forgiveness, but it was worth it to have Tomura by his side.

He opened his eyes and saw Tomura looking at him.

"Hey, Natsuo, I'm going to make breakfast."

"Would you like any help?"

"I've got it. I confessed, so I'm making breakfast. You can buy me dinner later, though. Just get dressed and set the table," Tomura smiled at him and went to go make breakfast.

As soon as Tomura left, Natsuo got dressed in more casual clothing, a t-shirt, and sweatpants. He went into the kitchen and was hit in the face with the aroma of chocolate chip pancakes.

"Those pancakes smell really awesome. Are you using your own recipe or the box version?" Natsuo asked as he set the table and filled both of their glasses with orange juice.

"It's actually my grandma's. As much as I hate her, I have to admit her pancakes are pretty awesome. I don't really get to make them much nowadays, but whenever I get the chance, I get memories of when my mom used to make them whenever dad was away."

"That's really sweet."

"Ugh, you're getting the box kind from now on." Tomura turned around and put the pancakes on both of their plates.

"Wait! I take it back?" Natsuo arched an eyebrow in confusion and sat down.

"You're good. I'll make these pancakes for anyone. Though, when it comes to the MLA, I just tell them they're expensive boxed pancakes that I bought with Re Destro's money. The looks on their faces are hilarious." Tomura tossed his head back in laughter as he sat down and began eating his pancakes.

"Maybe you could record it next time? Do you tell them they're different pancakes each time?"

"Of course, I'll record it. Who am I to deny them the chance of being laughed at. Anyway, I tell them it's different each time and use different toppings. I think I'll use peanut butter next time I make them pancakes, and this time it will be the expensive kind."

Natsuo took a bite of his pancakes, rolled his eyes, and snorted, "you're so mean, sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Tomura arched an eyebrow.

"Okay, you're mean half of the time and sweet half of the time. Though I can't say how mean you are when you're at the MLA, I'd bet you're mean thirty percent of the time and sweet seventy percent of the time over there.

"Nah, it's the reverse. I'm kind to my family thirty percent of the time, but I mercilessly bully the MLA the rest of the time."

"Yeah, that sounds about right, vaguely knowing how the MLA is. Anyway, what's your grandma's recipe, and can I give it to Fuyumi?"

"No, you cannot. It's a well-guarded family secret that I only found out by accident on her official website that got closed down five years ago." Tomura put his plate and glass into the sink for Natsuo to wash.

"Alright, that's fine. I guess the recipe lives and dies with you then," Natsuo put his plate in the sink and started washing the dishes.

"I mean, it won't so long as I get a boyfriend who wants kids or has siblings who want kids. That actually brings me to what we need to talk about today."

Natsuo heard Tomura go into the living room, and once he was finished with dishes, he joined him and sat on the couch next to Tomura. He stared at the ground and tensed up as waves of worry and anxiety rushed over him. A gloved hand pulled him closer to Tomura, and he tried to relax into the hold but to no avail.

"So, I thought about this during the night, and I think I know what I was us, this, to be. If you don't want this, I understand, and I'll accept it."

Natsuo heard the hesitance in Tomura's voice, one that seemed to get weaker the more he spoke. 'Is he as anxious about this as I am?"

"I- I want us to be boyfriends, Natsuo. Again, if you don't want that, then we can just forget this ever happened. I can stay here, if you want, as a friend."

A weight was lifted off of Natsuo's chest, and he put his arm on Tomura's shoulder, "I'd like that. I would be thrilled if we were together."

'Yeah, but your family wouldn't. Just imagine how angry they'd be if they found out you were with a villain. Your own siblings would hate-' he squashed that thought like a bug. He wasn't free from them by any means, but they became less common as time wore on.

"Then I guess we're boyfriends now. I don't really know how these things work; I haven't been in a romantic relationship before," Tomura gripped his sweatpants and looked up at Natsuo.

"Good thing I have; I can teach you romantic gestures and stuff. Our relationship from now on will be pretty much the same, except we can kiss and make out and call each other sappy pet names."

"Was 'Frosty The Snowman' not working out for you?" Tomura asked sarcastically.

"I was thinking more basic like 'babe' or 'honey,' maybe even 'sweetie.'"

"Hm. Nah, 'Dr.Pepper' works better," Tomura smirked and leaned closer to Natsuo.

Natsuo leaned in closer and smirked; their noses were touching. "You're insufferable."

"You're stubborn."

"You're a jerk."

"So? You're dating me. Surely, there must have been something about me that was attractive; otherwise, we wouldn't be here," Tomura's smirk widened.

"Well, I guess it was your snark, your confidence, and your beautiful red eyes. Of course, who could forget about those lips?" Natsuo backed away a little bit and glanced at Tomura's lips before meeting his eyes again.

"Well then, would you like to kiss me? Just to see how amazing my lips apparently are?"

"I would love to," Natsuo leaned in closer and kissed Tomura.

It went slow, but it was still just as passionate. Natsuo thought about how even though Tomura's lips were chapped, they still felt amazing against his own. He moved his hand to cup Tomura's face and felt Tomura place his hand on Natsuo's hand.

Eventually, they had to break apart to take a breath. Natsuo sighed and looked at Tomura, noticing how cute he looked when he blushed. He found many things about Tomura to be beautiful, his mole and scars being two of them.

"What're you looking at?"

"You."

"Quit being sappy," Tomura gently pushed him away and smiled.

"Hey, you're really beautiful; I can't help but look at you. Your scars show how strong you are, your smile is pretty, and your mole is pretty cute."

"Hey, I didn't say anything self-deprecating!" Tomura groaned and took his hand away from Natsuo.

"I know you didn't, but now I can compliment you without it being weird!" Natsuo threw his hands in the air; he knew Tomura was just joking, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of exasperation.

"While that's fair, I wouldn't have minded you saying these things earlier."

"So you're telling me, we could have been together a lot earlier? Y'know, if I'd just told my thoughts to 'fuck off' from the first time, then we probably would have gotten together a lot earlier." Natsuo sighed loudly and facepalmed.

"Wait, what thoughts?"

'Shit!' "Uhm, thoughts about how my family and friends would hate me and disown me if they knew I was with you?"

Tomura sighed and pinched his nose, "and you didn't think to tell me about this?"

"I may have forgotten about them...?"

"We're getting you a therapist. While your thoughts probably aren't far from the truth, believe me when I say that your family probably won't give a shit. Considering how fucked up it is from what I've heard, this won't be that bad. Especially if the 'Touya is Dabi' theory is true." Tomura took Natsuo's hands and held them.

"So, you're not mad?" Natsuo arched an eyebrow and looked at his hands.

"Of course not. The League would probably kick my butt if they found out I was dating the son of the number one hero. That, or tease me because of how ironic it is."

"Sounds like them," Natsuo rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Yeah, believe me, you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of their torture. Once they found out I liked occasionally singing in the shower, they teased me for days," Tomura chuckled and released Natsuo's hands.

"They sound pretty mean, but other than that, they seem like an awesome family."

"They are. I can take you to visit them sometime if you want."

"I would like that. Do you want to go on a date in the park with me tonight? I can probably get my dad's credit card for tonight, so I can buy you whatever dinner you want."

Tomura shrugged. "Yeah, sure, it's not like I have anything better to do. Plus, I like free food."

Natsuo rolled his eyes and shoved Tomura's shoulders, receiving a "hey" in response. "You've always had free food here. In any case, you should get dressed. I'm going to go give dear old dad a call and see if I can get his credit card."

"Okay, good luck." Tomura gave Natsuo a thumbs up and got up to get changed.

"Thanks," Natsuo walked into his bedroom, got dressed, and called his dear old dad.

He furrowed his brows as hate and anger started swelling in his gut. It got stronger when Endeavor answered.

"Hey, dad."

"Oh, Natsuo, how are you?"

"Fine, how are you?" Natsuo deadpanned.

"I'm doing well; how's your mother?"

Natsuo bit back a sharp reply, "she's doing fine. Hey, I kinda need to ask you for a favor."

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine; I'm just going out on a date, and I need your credit card. I want to impress him with a fancy dinner."

"Alright, that sounds fine. If you don't mind, maybe you could bring him over for dinner sometime. If not to meet me, then meet the rest of the family?"

'Holy shit, it was that easy? It was the truth, but still.'

"Yeah, maybe I'll bring him over sometime."

"Well, alright then. Is there anything else you need?"

"Nope, but thanks for the offer. I'll stop by and pick up the card in about twenty minutes."

"Sounds great; I'll leave it on the kitchen table. Goodbye, Natsuo."

"Goodbye, Endeavor."

Natsuo sighed in relief as he hung up. He'd managed to get through a phone call with his dad without being too mean. That was an accomplishment, and it was one that he wasn't sure if he should be proud of or not.

He left a note on the table, explaining where he would be and when he would be back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a ten-minute train ride and a ten-minute walk, he was at Endeavor's house. He made his way inside with the house key, took the card on the table, and left.

The trip home droned on and on, so when he finally got back to his apartment, he sighed in relief. He opened the door, took off his shoes, and hung up his keys.

"Hey, Natsuo."

"Hey, Tomu-woah," Natsuo turned to face Tomura and found him dressed in a nice t-shirt and pants. He joined Tomura on the couch and put Endeavor's credit card on the table. "You look really hot."

"Sheesh, maybe I should dress like this all the time."

"I really wouldn't mind it if you did, but your choice."

"Alright, then."

"Seriously, you look really good. Anyway, what do you want for dinner? You can order whatever you want."

"What's the most expensive place that we can order for delivery?" Tomura asked with a smirk.

"I like the way you think. There's this really good and pretty expensive soba place. I can check if they have delivery."

"That would be great, thank you."

"It's no problem."

Natsuo checked the website on his phone and found out they did have delivery. He informed Tomura, and the two decided what they wanted. After figuring out their meals, they decided to order the most expensive bottle of champagne just to piss off Endeavor even more. To their credit, they didn't go over fifty-thousand yen. He decided to wait for a few hours to place the order and pay.

In that time, he got dressed, got a tiny bit of studying done, and played some video games with Tomura.

"You know that Pichu is the worst pokemon to play as," Natsuo groaned, picking Jigglypuff.

"Not if you're an experienced player like me."

"I bet you can't win a match as Pichu without dying!"

"Oh, you're on! I'll bet fifty yen," Tomura said, putting fifty yen on the table.

"Deal!" Natsuo put his own fifty yen on the table.

In the end, Natsuo lost and had to admit that Tomura was a pretty good Smash player. He ordered the food and ignored Tomura's gloating.

"Up for a rematch, Natsuo?"

"Heck yeah! But no more betting, alright?"

"You're no fun," Tomura groaned and chose his main, Kirby.

"I know, I know," Natsuo chuckled as he chose his main, Lucario.

After forty-five minutes, their food arrived. Natsuo packed the food and a blanket into a small basket the Fuyumi gifted him. He gave Tomura his jacket on the way out, and they walked the entire way to the park. He put the small blanket down.

"You've got the wine glasses, right?" Tomura asked as he set out the food.

"Yup, they should be in the basket," Natsuo sat down and put the food into the paper plates that they'd brought along.

"Ah, there they are. I'm glad that we got the water in case we didn't like the champagne."

"Me too. Want to do something cheesy like toast to our relationship or whatever?"

"Once I'm drunk enough, maybe." Tomura sat down and poured the champagne.

"Alright, once we're both drunk enough."

"I'm calling 'Giri in advance," Tomura took a bite of his food and texted something.

"Okay, tell him I said hi."

"Will do," Tomura texted something else and then turned his attention towards Natsuo.

"So, when will I get a chance to meet him? Like to talk with him."

"In all honesty, whenever you want. I think next Saturday would be the best because we have jackshit going on."

"Well, alright then. Next Saturday works for me," Natsuo took a bite of his food and smiled.

--------------------------------------------------

The rest of the date was filled with laughter and chatter as the two shared stories and jokes.

"No, no, I'm serious! Spinner got his sword stuck in a rock, and Compress had to magic it out!"
-
"...and Fuyumi would not stop talking about how these two characters were supposed to be together. I, being the dumb little ten-year-old I was, told her that the two characters hadn't even met."

Tomura threw his head back in laughter, "and how did she react?"

"She just told me that I was oblivious to the chemistry."

"Let me guess, the tree grew through the rock?" Natsuo took a sip of his over-priced champagne.

"The- *hic* tree grew through the rock!"

Towards the end of the date, they had a toast, just like Tomura promised. What Tomura apparently hadn't promised was that he would drink half the bottle of champagne by himself.

"So- *hic* I pro-propose a *hic* toast!" Tomura shakily put his wine glass up in the air. "To a preetty good firsst date!"

"To a pretty goood first date!" Natsuo laughed as he clinked his wine glass against Tomura's.

He packed up everything they'd brought and pulled Tomura up. Soon after, Kurogiri showed up. He appeared to look happy in the best way mist can look happy. Kurogiri opened the portal, and Natsuo stepped through, taking his and Tomura's shoes off.

He put the basket on the counter and brought Tomura into the bedroom, where he just dropped him on the bed. He heard Tomura laugh, and that brought the biggest smile to his face.

He tucked Tomura into bed and climbed into the bed.

"Hey, Natsuo?"

"Yeah?" Natsuo yawned.

"Thank you for everything. I had a nice time today."

"You're welcome. I had a good time too, now go to sleep."

"Pfft, nerd."

"Jerk."

Chapter Text

The next few weeks of their relationship passed by like a blur. The trip to the League ended up being postponed because the hospital ended up being flooded with patients, so Natsuo couldn't go. He noticed that Tomura seemed to be gone more often, but he didn't mind it; after all, Tomura warned him of it. But the few moments that he did get to spend with Tomura were spent learning more and more about him. He learned what his favorite flowers were, his favorite dessert, and what life he wanted to live after this was all done.

Today was going to be the day that they would visit the League, so as a bit of a celebration, Natsuo woke up early and began his plan. First, he went to the nearby florist to pick up the bouquet of chrysanthemums, peonies, and roses. Then, he went to the nearby bakery and picked up some ohagi. Last but certainly not least, he ordered a light breakfast to go from one of their favorite restaurants.

He walked home with the flowers in one hand and the box in the other. He kicked the door a few times, and soon, a very tired Tomura opened the door.

"Natsuo, what's all this?" Tomura yawned, took the ohagi from Natsuo, and set it on the counter.

"Well, since we're visiting your family today, I figured I'd treat you to a small breakfast before we went. Oh, and here's your bouquet of flowers!" Natsuo handed the flowers to Tomura and rubbed his neck. "I know it's kinda small, but we've only been dating for a few weeks, so-"

He was cut off when Tomura swiftly kissed him. He melted into the kiss for a few moments when Tomura backed off.

"Natsuo, this- this is perfect. I love it, and I love you." Tomura gave Natsuo a soft smile; he got a small jar from the cabinet, filled it with water, and put the flowers in.

"I love you too. I ordered some breakfast for us, just something light before we go."

"Thank you. But, you know the PLF mansion is only forty minutes away if we take the train. We have to be there at what, five in the afternoon? We'll be fine. I promise." Tomura walked to Natsuo and gave him a hug.

Natsuo returned the hug and sighed, "I know, it's just- I'm meeting your family, and I kinda don't want to get on their bad sides."

"You'll be fine. Trust me, they know that if I can trust you, then they can trust you. Besides, I can imagine you fitting into the family dynamic pretty easily. If you're worried about the whole 'son of the number one hero' thing, then I can vouch for you, and whether you tell them right away or at some point in the near future is your decision." Tomura hugged Natsuo tighter.

The two stayed like that for a bit, but then the ring of the doorbell startled them out of the hug.

"That should be the breakfast, go ahead and dig into the ohagi if you want!"

"Already two steps ahead of you," Tomura said as he grabbed an ohagi.

Natsuo chuckled, paid for the breakfast, and set it out on the dinner table. He sat down and smiled at Tomura, who also sat down.

"Hey, did you know that chrysanthemums mean death?"

Natsuo choked on his sip of water as he coughed out a "what?"

"Yeah, they mean death. I'm pretty sure peonies mean prosperity or some shit; I can't remember. I was an angsty teen when I was looking up everything that could possibly mean death. Then, I stumbled across chrysanthemums, felt like they kinda fit me, and picked them as my favorite flower."

"I was not expecting that as a topic of discussion, but here we are? Um, that's kind of cool. Are you interested in flower meanings?"

"Only if I want to send Re-Destro a polite and beautiful "fuck you.""

"Yeah, that's fair. Will I be meeting Re-Destro and the others?"

Tomura spit out his sip of water and quickly wiped it up. "I fucking hope not. I'm keeping them away from you; my family and friends are the only ones who have 'see and meet boyfriend privileges.' You know what, you can probably meet Skeptic, but he's always making videos and shit, so probably not."

Natsuo chuckled and went back to his food, "yeah, that's fair, I guess. Not too interested in meeting anybody else anyway."

"I get it, too many people. It's so crowded, I mean, it was crowded with the original League, but now it's overkill."

"Nah, I'm used to large groups of people. Enough hero galas will do that to you. It's more or less that I feel like your family will be more welcoming when I visit since you've probably told them stories. I don't really want to feel like an outsider, even though I am."

"I can sort of understand that."

"Well, in a weird sort of way, I'm glad. We aren't alone. Are you going to introduce me as your boyfriend or let them figure it out?"

"I'm introducing you as my boyfriend; by the time they figure it out, they'll have a betting pool going on. Those things always end up in fights because someone bet too many yen, and now they can't pay for the bet."

"Let me guess, there was a betting pool this week for Skeptic?"

"Yep! It was your brother fighting with Compress over the yen."

Natsuo sighed and facepalmed, "yeah, that sounds like him."

---------------------------------

The day passed by relatively quietly; the two mostly just played Minecraft and read all day.

Soon, four 'o clock rolled around, and the two made their way onto the train. They sat in a mostly empty train coach; despite that, they spoke in soft whispers in order to not draw attention to themselves. They mostly spoke about future plans, upcoming books and video games, and weird stories from their past.

Soon, the train stopped, and the two got off. They hiked through the forest for ten minutes before arriving at the PLF mansion. It took them an extra fifteen minutes to get there, but it was worth it.

The two stood at the door of the PLF mansion. Natsuo looked at Tomura and then back at the door.

"Are you ready?" Tomura placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think so; it's too late to go back now."

Tomura took a deep breath and opened the door, "Alright, Natsuo, welcome to the League."

Natsuo walked in with Tomura following closely behind him. The mansion was huge, hallways seemed to stretch on forever, and the air smelled stale. Laughter echoed from the room on his right, so he went to see what it is.

Inside the room was what had to be the League. He could spot Mr. Compress and Magne talking on the couch; Kurogiri stood next to the couch, and Spinner was on the floor, playing Mario Kart with Twice. Dabi stood in the corner, and Toga sat on the couch.

"Hey guys, I have someone that I want to introduce to you," Tomura motioned to Natsuo. "This is my boyfriend, Natsuo. He's going to be visiting us for a couple of days, so don't stab him."

"It's nice to meet you guys."

"No promises, Tomura! Wait, Natsuo?" Toga walked up to Natsuo with a confused look on her face. "Hey, weird question, but three years ago, do you remember meeting a girl who just got done with her first kill and was on the run?"

"I think so. Wait, Himiko?"

"Natsuo! It's so nice to see you after all this time! How've you been? Are you going to college? Can I drink your blood?"

"It's nice to see you too! I've been alright, got my own apartment, started visiting mom, and I'm going to college as a Quirk Specialist. After I get settled in, you can drink some of my blood. How have you been, and can I see your knife collection?" Natsuo put his bag in an unoccupied corner of the room and sat down on the floor.

"I've been pretty good! I've made so many friends, and I'm finally in a place where I feel like I can belong. Of course, you can see my knife collection! I've gotten so many knives, and I even have a box where I keep my knives; I'll have to show you them later!" Himiko sat on the ground next to Spinner.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Tomura asked.

"It's a long story, but I can say that I developed my quirk around that time. I think it was when I was trying to see how much damage my roommate's basil plant had."

"I remember you two freaking out while I just sat at the table wondering what the fuck was happening."

"I have so many fucking questions, but I'll save them for later. I'm going to go put our bags in our room, " Tomura sighed for the thousandth time that day and walked to their room.

Out of the corner of Natsuo's eye, he noticed Dabi trying to get away.

"Hey, you don't mind if we catch up more later? I have to see if my theory about Dabi is correct."

"Fiine! We're having a movie night later!"

"Okay, sounds good! I'm going to beat you in Mario Kart when I get back." Natsuo started walking towards Dabi when he heard Himiko say, "in your dreams!"

He sighed and continued walking towards Dabi. Before Dabi could make a run for it, Natsuo caught the sleeve of his jacket.

"Hey, I need to ask you something. I have a theory about you, so do you want to talk in the hallway?"

"Are you going to kill me, Todoroki?"

"Nope. I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to."

"I don't believe that for a fucking second, but fine. We'll talk." Dabi walked into the hallway.

Natsuo followed him, and immediately Dabi glared at him. If looks could kill, he'd be a pile of ash.

"Why the fuck are you here? Do you want information, a hostage, or do you want to kill somebody?"

"I've already said I don't want to kill you; I probably can't even kill you anyway. I don't want information nor a hostage. I just want to ask you a question, and if I'm wrong, I can leave you alone." Natsuo snapped.

"Fine. One question, and that's it."

"Are you my brother who died in a fire eleven years ago? Are you Touya Todoroki?"

If this was any other situation, Natsuo would be on the floor laughing his ass off, but it wasn't any other situation. He stepped back in surprise when Dabi's eyes grew comically huge.

"I- fuck I should've planned for this. Um... surprise? Wait, how the fuck do you know that?"

"Tomura told me? It was more or less a theory because I kinda spilled the beans after our huge fight."

"You what?! That was you, and why are you dating my boss?!"

Natsuo sighed and pinched the bridge of his boss, "I told Tomura about you and your "death," yes that was me, and it's a long story."

Dabi closed his eyes, grabbed a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.

"Okay, then I have two things to say to you. First, I don't give a flying fuck that we're brothers; I don't trust you. It's hard to trust anybody these days, especially ones associated with heroes. Creep might trust you, but I don't," Dabi took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke at the ground. "Second, I may not give a shit about my boss, but if you hurt him again, then mark my words, I will fucking murder you."

"Oh, and welcome to the League, Todoroki," Dabi sneered as he turned on his heel and walked down the hall.

Natsuo was frozen to the spot as he watched Dabi walk away; a chill ran up his spine when he finally processed the words. He drew in a shaky breath as the quickly changing mood threw Natsuo for a loop.

He should have known that his brother wouldn't be the same after all these years, but the realization hurt when it was spelled out for him.

'Was there anything I could have done? Should I have gone with him that day? I should have tried to find him earlier; maybe he wouldn't be like this. I should've listened to his rants; it's my fault he almost died. Why couldn't I have been better?!'

Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he took a deep breath. He faintly heard a door open and felt a gloved hand on his shoulder. He looked down at the ground and felt himself being dragged to a room.

"Natsuo, are you okay? What happened?"

Natsuo raised his head and met Tomura's eyes.

"I- I tried talking to Dabi, and it didn't go as planned. Can we sit on the bed, please?"

"Of course," Tomura guided Natsuo to the bed and sat down. "What happened with Dabi?"

Natsuo sat down and wiped his tears away, "I guessed that he was Touya and told him I was the guy who hurt you, in a roundabout way. I don't blame him for what he said. He said he couldn't trust me and that he'd kill me if I hurt you again. Again, I don't blame him; it's my fault he's like this."

"He said what?!"

"Yeah, threatened to murder me if I hurt you again."

"Babe, that's fucked up. It's not your fault your brother turned out to be an asshole; you were eight. He shouldn't have threatened to murder you, even if you messed up, because we're all human, and humans mess up constantly. Not to mention, he's your brother; not trusting you is one thing, but threatening to murder you is despicable." Tomura wrapped his arms around Natsuo.

Natsuo returned the hug and started to choke out an apology when Tomura cut him off.

"Here's what we're going to do. You're not going to apologize. I'm sending everyone but Dabi in here for an emergency movie night; as cheesy as that sounds, Kurogiri will steal some pizza, and I'm going to kill Dabi. And then, after everyone's tired and gone to bed, we are going to cuddle, and you're going to listen to me rant about Breath of The Wild 2 for an hour. Got it?"

"Got it, just- don't kill Dabi.

"First, you don't want me to kill Endeavor, and then you don't want me to kill Dabi. Come on, they deserve it!" Tomura groaned.

Natsuo chuckled and sighed, "I know they do, but I don't want them to die. Not yet, at least."

"Okay, okay. I'm going to get everyone; go ahead and pick out which movies you want to watch," Tomura kissed Natsuo on the cheek, got up, and left the room.

"Alright."

Natsuo smiled and started looking through his phone for movies to watch. After a few minutes, he chose a variety of Ghibli films, and around the same time, the rest of the League began trickling into the room. He started to feel anxious, but deep down he knew that he would be okay. He sighed and gripped the blanket, even if he had a good time, it was only going to be a few days before he could go home. He could deal with that.

Chapter Text

Natsuo heard a sound and looked at the door.

"Natsuo! Are you okay?" Himiko jumped on the bed and wrapped the blanket around herself.

"I do apologize for Dabi's actions. He's not known for being sociable, to say the least, though dramatics are unfortunately his expertise."

"I'm alright now, Himiko. You don't need to apologize for Dabi; you aren't in charge of him."

"Want me to stab him?"

"Tomura already offered, but I'm good."

Mr. Compress sat on the chair next to the bed, waved a greeting to Kurogiri and Magne, and sighed. "Still, I would like you to know that you are welcome here. If Shigaraki trusts you, then we all trust you."

"Thank you."

Spinner ran through the door and face planted on the floor. Then, he got up and sat on the bed, "so what movies are we watching?"

"Something amazing! They'll fucking suck!" Twice sat on the floor and leaned against the bed.

"I'm sure Natsuo has good taste," Magne sat on the floor next to Twice and turned her head to face Natsuo. "I'm sorry about what happened with Dabi."

"I agree with Magne. I sincerely hope that you're okay, and it is completely fine if you're not." Kurogiri sat on the other chair in the room.

"Thank you, Magne, and I'll be okay. Not right now, but eventually, I'll be fine and get used to it. We're watching some Ghibli films if that's alright; I was thinking of watching Princess Mononoke first."

Murmurs and shouts of agreement arose from the group.

Kurogiri's head floated towards Natsuo, "what kind of pizza would you like?"

"Pepperoni and bacon. And then, whatever everyone else wants."

Natsuo watched Kurogiri nod before turning his attention to Tomura, who stomped into the room.

"You guys better not be overwhelming my boyfriend," Tomura grumbled and sat by Natsuo on the bed.

"Us? We would never!" Magne rolled her eyes and laughed.

Natsuo watched Tomura roll his eyes, and he chuckled; he started up the movie.

He'd watched this movie a couple of times when his friends practically begged him to watch it. He couldn't recite this movie word-for-word, and this movie wasn't nostalgic for him quite yet, but it was still one of his favorite movies.

Scenes twirled before him, and recent memories played in his mind.

As he looked around at everyone eating pizza that, at some point, Kurogiri brought in. They were smiling, laughing, and enjoying the movie, and he found himself starting to cry.

"Natsuo, are you okay?" Tomura whispered.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Natsuo turned to face Tomura and smiled.

"Good. Want to put in another movie?"

"Sure. How about Ponyo?"

"Shut up, you two! I'm trying to watch the movie!" Himiko loudly whispered.

Natsuo rolled his eyes but obliged nonetheless.

As soon as the credits rolled, everyone was either crying, smiling, or a combination of both. Natsuo allowed them a few minutes to put themselves together before putting in the next movie.

The next few hours were some of the best in Natsuo's life. Everyone was like a family; people talked over each other, and popcorn was thrown at the T.V. They bantered, people cried. It all brought a bright smile to Natsuo's face. He'd finally found a family.

One by one, they all started falling asleep. It was getting pretty late, so Natsuo didn't blame them. Twice dragged Spinner away, Kurogiri carried Mr. Compress into their room, and Magne had to drag Toga away just so that she could get some sleep.

Natsuo yawned, went about his evening routine before flopping on the bed. Tomura was already asleep, so Natsuo pulled the blanket over the two of them, and he wrapped his arms around Tomura. Despite being asleep, Tomura seemed to relax even more.

Natsuo placed a gentle kiss in Tomura's hair and murmured a "good night," before falling asleep.

-------------------------------------

The next few days were filled with joy as he spent time with the League.

----
"I won a bet against Spinner and got this knife! Ooh, and I got this one right after joining the League! I stole this beauty from Overhaul!"

"Where did you get this one?" Natsuo asked, holding up a dagger with blue jewels.

"I got that one pretty recently. I stole the dagger from some rich kid, and then I robbed a craft store, and then I just glued the jewels onto the dagger! It looks super cool, doesn't it?" Toga grabbed a few more knives out of the box.

"It does look really cool. And what about that knife?"

"That one? Well, it's a long story. Good thing we have all the time in the world! Let's see, it all began last month..."

----

"...and then this idiot shot me in the back! I switched teams after that," Spinner groaned as he killed another orc.

"That sucks. Did you manage to get your revenge?" Natsuo watched Spinner run around the map.

"No! His team kicked our asses. So, in the end, I gave up and just played Zelda for the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing; the art design of the early 2010s was terrific, and the designs for the weapons, in particular, were fantastic!"

----

"When we thought all hope was lost, Twice pushed me out of the way, and Compress took the brunt of the attack!" Magne excitedly yelled as she attempted to flatten Natsuo's hair.

"I wasn't scared at all! I knew it would go according to plan! I was terrified, and I thought that we were going to die!" Twice knocked the nail polish bottle over and nearly spilled nail polish on the table. "Everything wound up being okay after Mr. Compress got his prosthetic, but it still didn't make it any less scary."

"I'm just glad that you two are okay. I don't blame you two for being scared. But, hey Magne, when you're done, could I try putting your hair up in a ponytail?"

"Sure you can! It's a pretty simple hairstyle, but I can give you some tips!"

----
"...and then you want to add the ice," Kurogiri explained as he shook the mixer.

"Making drinks are a lot more complicated than I remember. Maybe I was just too drunk to realize it."

Kurogiri simply nodded and explained the rest of the steps.

"Putting the boy to work already? He's here to relax," Mr. Compress teased as he walked into the room and sat at the bar.

"I actually wanted to learn. It seemed neat, and I want another skill to impress Tomura."

"Young love," Mr. Compress sighed and glanced at Kurogiri.

"We're still young, dear."

"I'm thirty-two; I'm far too old! Our love is too old to be even considered "young love.""

"Thirty-two is not old, and we've only been dating for a year," Kurogiri deadpanned as he went about making another drink.

Natsuo chuckled and poured the drink into a glass. As he heard the two bickering, he silently hoped that he and Tomura would still share the same amount of love in the future.

----------------------------------------------

Eventually, the trip came to a close. As Natsuo and Tomura were packing up their things, there was a moment of silence. Then, he realized that he could ask Tomura a question that had been bugging him for a bit.

"Hey, babe. I need to ask you about something you said a couple of weeks ago," Natsuo said, zipping up his jacket.

"Yeah?"

Natsuo sat down next to Tomura on the bed and took a deep breath.

"Okay, so, when we went on our first date, you said something along the lines of having kids. Do you want kids? I know that it's a serious question; it's just kinda been bugging me these past few weeks."

"Um, hm. I- maybe? I kind of just said that in the heat of the moment. Which I guess wasn't really the heat of the moment since you weren't pressuring me or anything. It's just- I don't know. If we find a kid on the street and they need help, then sure, I'd want to help them. But, not right now if I can help it."

"Alright, that's fine. I agree with that. I mean, we're still pretty young, and I don't think I'm ready for that level of responsibility yet. I don't mind kids per se; I just don't want them right now."

"I get that, and I completely understand," Tomura looked at Natsuo and sighed.

"If we ever find a kid on the street who needs help and needs a home, then we can co-parent them with the League."

"That sounds good. I'm sure Toga would be happy to have another sibling. In any case, if you never want kids, then that's fine; one of your siblings will probably want kids. And if they don't, that's fine too. I can probably trust Spinner to keep the recipe," Tomura looked up and smiled at Natsuo. He got up and grabbed his bag full of books and games.

"I'm pretty sure Fuyumi and Shoto want kids. I think Fuyumi wants to adopt, and that might be the same with Shoto; I don't really know, though. In any case, we'd better be going. Train's coming in an hour, and I don't want to be late."

"Alright," Tomura rolled his eyes and walked out the door with Natsuo following right behind him.

The two bid the League goodbye and started hiking through the woods.

"Last one to the train station has to listen to one of Kurogiri's rants!" Natsuo shouted as he started running to the train station.

"Oh, you're so on!" Tomura ran close behind.

They reached the train station pretty quickly, with Natsuo winning the race. They sat on one of the benches in an attempt to catch their breaths.

"You cheated!"

"It's not my fault I'm tall, and you're short!"

"Yes, it is!"

Natsuo bent over laughing and began coughing.

"Don't fucking die on me, at least not before you get your gift."

"Gift?" Natsuo wheezed.

"Yes, a gift. It's nowhere near as fancy as the one you gave me, but I know that you keep giving and giving, so I want to give you something because I appreciate you." Tomura dug around in his bag and pulled out a handful of boxes.

Natsuo took the boxes and began opening them. In the first box was a small bag of his favorite candy and a small box of mochi; in the second box was a game that Natsuo had been wanting for ages, and in the third box were two tickets to a concert being performed by his favorite band."

"Again, I know it's not much, but I hope you like it."

"Tomura, I love it!"

Natsuo kissed Tomura on the lips and melted into it. After a few seconds, Tomura started kissing back, and Natsuo smiled. Like all of their kisses from before, this one was short and sweet, but nonetheless, it was cherished.

"That much?" Tomura sheepishly asked as soon as they broke apart.

"Yes, that much. You're so sweet and thoughtful, and I love you."

"I love you too."

Soon, their train arrived, and as the two stepped into the coach, they were smiling brightly as they enjoyed each other's company.

-------------------------------------------

When they arrived home, they laid down on the couch with Tomura cuddling Natsuo. Then, Natsuo turned on their favorite show and relaxed.

"Thank you for everything. I'm glad I got to meet everyone, and I had a blast. Weirdly, I think I'm glad I found out who my brother is. Even if he is an asshole, that mystery, for me at least, has been solved."

"You're welcome. Everyone loved you, and you're always welcome with us. I'm glad that your mystery has been solved, even if Dabi is an asshole."

Natsuo nodded and felt Tomura kiss his head. He smiled as they watched their show in peace. They loved each other, and they didn't know what the future would hold, so they wanted to make every moment count.

Chapter Text

Sunlight drifted from the window into Natsuo's eyes. Groaning, Natsuo yawned and woke up. He kissed Tomura's forehead, a gentle smile gracing his face as he did so. Tomura had latched onto him, so Natsuo was effectively trapped, not that he really minded.

He scrolled through his phone, deleted Twitter for the last time, went through the various texts from his friends, and saw a few missed calls from Fuyumi. He made a mental note to return the calls because he knew he would be dead if he missed one more call.

It only took a few minutes for Natsuo to catch up with the news and stuff, so he played some games on his phone. Then, it took an hour for Tomura to wake up. He knew Tomura was awake when he felt him kiss the back of his head. Smiling a bit brighter, he turned towards his boyfriend.

"Good morning, babe."

"Goood morning, Natsuo," Tomura latched on tighter to Natsuo.

"Please let me go; I have a nice day planned for us."

Tomura groaned and hid his face on Natsuo's shoulder. "Come on, five more minutes? We can do whatever you want after that."

"Wait, so I can bake a cake for us tonight?"

That got Tomura's attention as he sprung out of bed and tried to get dressed. Keyword, "tried." He was flailing around, trying in vain to get his t-shirt on, only for it to end up backwards.

Natsuo laughed and started getting dressed. Tomura then gave him a pointed look which only made Natsuo laugh even louder.

"I hate you," Tomura spat as he turned his shirt around.

"I love you too, babe!"

They left the room, and Natsuo went into the kitchen. He called Fuyumi back; it was about a possible family dinner which Natsuo declined. Fuyumi seemed to be okay with it, and she respected his privacy when it came to the identity of his boyfriend.

After making plans to meet up with her and Shoto at an aquarium later that week, he hung up and smiled. He walked out of the kitchen and sat on the couch next to his boyfriend, who was playing Breath of the Wild 2.

He laid down, and Tomura laid on top of him. They sat in relative silence as he watched Tomura play. Natsuo combed his fingers through Tomura's hair as he focused on the quests, the fantastic plot, the characters, and the beautiful scenery. He occasionally asked questions about the game, and Tomura answered them and expanded on them.

Tomura didn't freely talk about video games or his favorite book for a while unless they were already in a conversation. But now, after a couple months of dating, Tomura talks about his interests a lot, and Natsuo's ended up learning a lot about books and games he'd never heard of.

He loves it when his boyfriend rambles on about his interests. He loves how passionate Tomura looks, how he sometimes goes off on tangents, and how happy Tomura looks when he's done.

"... and for some reason, you have to get this really rare and specific item just to get this weapon! I know it fits into the storyline and that it's supposed to make the game more challenging, but quite frankly, this is bullshit."

"I know, babe. At least when you get the weapon, you'll be one step ahead of the next boss."

"You're right, but still, it's annoying as hell!" Tomura sighed before continuing; he sounded uncertain as he spoke. “Also, if my rambling gets annoying then you can always tell me to shut the fuck up.”

"I love your rambling; I won't ever tell you to shut up.. You're passionate about the things you love, and this is one way you show your love for them. Did anyone tell you to stop?"

"Nope. I've just read online that people can get annoyed when other people ramble. If this were anybody else, I wouldn't give a shit about it, but I want to make sure that I'm not annoying you."

"You aren't annoying me; I promise you're not."

"Thank you. I have something I need to tell you; I can't believe I fucking forgot about it."

Natsuo paused for a moment and took his hands out of Tomura's hair. "What is it? Are you okay?"

Tomura paused his game and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. Well, your reaction, that is. Just to get this out there, I'm autistic. I'm still the same person you fell in love with, I don't need special treatment or whatever, and I don't need or want to be treated like a kid. My brain just functions differently."

Natsuo sighed and looked down at him. He wrapped his arms around Tomura's stomach. .

"Okay then, that's fine with me. I won't treat you any differently unless you ask me to. I'll call you out if you're being overly bitchy, but other than that, our relationship won't change."

"...You're not upset?"

"I'm not upset. Sure, if you told me earlier, that would've been better, but it's okay. I'm glad you told me, and I don't mind."

"Thank you." Tomura gently grabbed one of Natsuo's hands and smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Natsuo held onto Tomura's hand and gave him a look filled with adoration.

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Natsuo looked at their intertwined hands and chuckled as he continued walking down the path. Cherry blossom petals dotted the ground.

A calm silence filled the air as he walked through the park with Tomura. They eventually found a bench where they sat down. Natsuo watched Tomura's expressions shift.

Tomura might look angry or bored to the ordinary person, but Natsuo knows that Tomura analyzes everything. The possibilities are endless, from possible exit routes, to the number of trees, to how many people there are. The look of awe that Tomura held made Natsuo smile as if he was the only one to witness this.

They talked about their futures, their pasts, and what they want to do. Just as Tomura was wrapping up another Mon-Chan story, a small corgi trotted by them. The corgi wagged its tail and licked Tomura's hand.

Tomura yanked his hand away from the corgi as fast as he could. The corgi barked a couple of times before seemingly returning to its owner.

Natsuo asked why he did that, and Tomura responded something along the lines of "I don't want to hurt it..." Accepting that as a reply, he changed the subject.

For the rest of the afternoon, they walked around the park, telling as many stories as they could remember and generally enjoying each other's company. Towards the end of their date, Natsuo called up Tomura's favorite restaurant and ordered take-out. That earned him a kiss.

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"Ya know, I didn't take you for an outdoorsy kind of person. Think I might have to take you hiking sometime."

"In your dreams."

Natsuo chuckled and flopped down on the couch as he turned on a movie. Tomura followed him and climbed into his arms; he kissed Tomura's forehead and wrapped his arms around Tomura's chest.

Time flew by as the movie played before them, Tomura sank deeper into Natsuo's hold, and Natsuo started yawning.

"Don't fall asleep just yet. We still have to talk about the League and what happened with Dabi."

"Whaat is there to say? The League is greaat, almoost like a second family to me. Dabi's an asshole. That's all there is tooo it," he sighed.

"I need to know what happened."

"Just threatened to kill me."

"I know that part. What did Dabi say to you."

"I meean, he said he didn't trust me, didn't care that we're brothers, said he didn't give a shit about you but said he cared for you? He said he would kill me if I ever hurt you again. You would kill me if you hurt me, though, so he's gotta get in line."

"Unless you literally killed or seriously injured someone close to me, I would never kill you. Sure, it sucks that you're related to a hero, but so is Dabi, so I don't care about it anymore. In any case, whenever you visit the League from here on out, you'll be by my side. I'll make sure that Dabi never gets near you."

Natsuo snorted and sunk deeper into the couch. He played with a strand of Tomura's hair. "Protective much?"

"If you're not going to protect yourself, then I may as well do it."

"Saysss the one who barelly slept for more than a couple hours while fighting the MLA."

"That was a war; this is different," Tomura groaned and turned his head to glare at Natsuo. "Also, there's no correlation."

"Yeeah, there is, just because I ssaid so."

"You're insufferable," Tomura got up and dragged Natsuo to his feet. "Let's continue this little debate in the morning. I'm tired as fuck, and clearly, you are too."

"Youu're so cute when you're mad!"

"Oh yeah? Then I'm about to get real fucking adorable."

Natsuo was dragged into his bedroom, where Tomura took off his jacket. He laid down on the bed. Soon, Tomura joined him, with his arms and legs wrapped around Natsuo.

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Groaning, Natsuo woke up to find that it was still dark outside. He turned on his phone to check the time; he found out that it was four am. He looked at his sleeping boyfriend and back at his phone.

He sighed and wriggled out of Tomura's grasp. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, and the idea of laying in bed until morning didn't exactly appeal to him. He walked over to his desk and sat down. He grabbed one of his wilting plants.

Natsuo summoned his quirk and began frosting over the leaves. He used just enough to heal them; too much ice would kill the plant. Meticulously, he healed each leaf, adding and lessening the ice as needed. He brushed away the ice on his hands.

He looked at the plant with pride. This had been the quickest that he'd been able to heal half a plant. If he were less tired, he'd have made a mental note to thank Kamui Woods for the plant suggestion. He was about to start on the other half when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Natsuo nearly jumped out of his seat when he realized that it was just Tomura.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yes! I woke up when you left me alone in bed. You're worse than Twice."

An otherwise angry remark was softened by Tomura's small grin.

"Come back to bed."

"I won't be able to get to sleep, though."

"Screw that; you're coming to bed."

Natsuo smiled and walked to the bed with Tomura.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Tomura laughed at that.

They got in bed, and like usual, Tomura wrapped his arms and legs around Natsuo.

For once in Natsuo's life, he managed to get back to sleep, feeling more loved than he ever imagined.