Work Text:
Shouto was 99% sure he was gay, had been since he was probably 10, and he had never told anyone. Not his mom, not his teacher, not even his closest friends. He could admit he was afraid of how they'd react, which was why the first person he decided he'd tell was Touya.
His oldest brother was the only openly gay person Shouto knew, as well as the only person actively in a gay relationship. Hawks and Dabi hadn't been dating, per say, but now, after years of rehabilitation, therapy, and honest conversations between the both of them, Keigo and Touya definitely were. In all honesty, they'd only been official for about a week, but that was still the longest queer relationship Shouto knew about personally.
This found him late one night, having finished his homework, standing outside Touya's door, trying to make himself knock. After their mom finally divorced Endeavor, he bought her a small house with just enough rooms to fit everyone without being as overly grand as their old estate. While Fuyumi and Natsuo had moved out, Touya still had to save up enough money to get his own place. Keigo still had enough money saved from his Hero career to take care of them both, but Touya, in his own words, said he didn't "wanna be a damn househusband." Ergo, him staying with Shouto and Mom until he could get his own apartment.
It certainly made Shouto's life easier, having the only queer person he knew living in the same house instead of streets or even cities away. Still, he was nervous to even knock, because that would mean he'd be one step closer to coming out to another living human being rather than just his reflection or the stray cats that liked to follow him around. (They liked him for his warm left side. Shouto wondered if cats liked Touya a lot, too, since his entire body ran warm.) His brother could probably hear him shuffling outside his door, just begging him to get over himself and knock.
Sure enough, after a few more minutes of hesitation, Touya swung the door open with a tired expression. "You're gonna wear out the damn floor pacing like that, kid. Do you want something or not?" While his old grafts had been replaced with healthy ones that actually healed into his body, Touya kept most of his piercings as well as black-dyed hair. He'd spent his first few paychecks on tattoos to cover his scars, making him look like a yakuza member of old, but his eyes were a lot warmer than they used to be.
Shouto opened his mouth but couldn't find any words, so he just nodded and entered the room silently.
Touya closed the door, a muted curiosity and maybe even worry in his eyes. "What's up, brat?" he asked, taking a seat on his bed. "It better be something important. I've got a job interview in the morning so I don't wanna stay up for some dumb shit."
The youngest Todoroki hesitated, suddenly wondering if this really was important or "dumb shit." He didn't want to keep Touya up, especially if it ruined his chances of getting a job, but he also knew he'd never get the courage to try again if he left now. So he steeled himself and took a breath. "How did you know you were gay?" he blurted out.
Touya's eyes widened. "Oh. It's that kind of conversation. Uh. Okay. Hm. Sit down, kid." He put his elbows on his knees and grew a concentrated expression. "Gimme a moment; I'm trying to figure out how the hell to explain this."
Shouto did as he was told, already relieved Touya hadn't immediately turned him away.
"Okay!" the older Todoroki announced, startling Shouto a bit. "So, you know how like, when we were kids, Endeavor talked about marrying us off to girls with powerful Quirks so we could have grandchildren who could succeed where we failed and shit? Well, he had me actually meet some perspective girls, and honestly? Some of them were nice and I wanted to be friends with them. That was it, though. I didn't wanna like, kiss them or anything like that, and we were all like fourteen so it wasn't some immature 'cooties' or whatever the fuck other bullshit. I just genuinely did not feel any kind of attraction other than platonic to these girls. After my... death... I befriended this boy, and found myself wanting to kiss him and other stuff, things I'd never felt for those girls. I'd tried kissing girls before, and it made me feel nothing, really, except mild discomfort. When I kissed this boy, though, I felt good, like really good. I guess that's how I figured out I was gay? For a while I thought I was ace, though, since I wasn't exactly allowed to interact with anyone ever. Turned out I was arospec instead, which is a whole other topic for another time, unless you also think you're arospec?" he asked, not totally comfortable with the conversation.
Shouto blinked a few times. "No, I don't think I'm arospec? That- The gay stuff sounds similar to what I feel, though. I... I'm pretty sure I'm... I'm gay."
"Cool," was all Touya said. "Was that... all then?"
The youngest Todoroki stared at him in utter shock. "That's- That's all?"
Touya looked confused. "Do you want me to make a bigger deal out of it? 'Cause I mean, I'm gay myself; I'm not gonna, like, freak out or something."
Staring very pointedly at the carpet of Touya's room, Shouto forced out, "You're the first person I've told."
Silence filled the air. "Oh, well, congratulations? Fuck, I sound like an asshole, um, I mean that's pretty ballsy, then. Your first time coming out is always stressful as fuck. I'm, uh, I'm trying to channel my therapist and be honest about how I'm feeling and it's probably coming out like shit but I'm, like, kinda flattered you came out to me first? Thank you? And you know what? I'm proud of ya, kid, good on you for figuring yourself out and being honest about it."
Shouto stared at him, taking in his discomfort and earnestness. "Thank you," he said, suddenly finding himself blinking back tears.
"Oh, fuck, why are you crying? Is it something I said? Are you okay? Three years of therapy does not erase twenty years of repression; help me out here!"
Though it only seemed to confuse Touya more, Shouto laughed. "I just noticed, you tend to smoke when you get stressed. I do the same, a little bit. I mean, it's more like steam, but, I guess that's another thing we have in common."
Touya stared at him a moment longer before letting out a laugh of his own. "Fucking hell, kid." He rose from the bed tiredly, but still smiling. "I'm gonna make some tea, want some?"
"Sure."
The two went down to the kitchen where Touya poured some water from their electric kettle into two mugs then dumped some tea leaves inside. It wasn't traditional, but Shouto still had nightmares about whistling kettles and teapots, so they compromised as best they could. It certainly made mornings easier.
As they sat sipping their teas, Touya asked, "So, is there anyone you got a crush on, then?"
Shouto immediately began blushing. "Um."
Touya's grin was more reminiscent of Dabi's. "You do! Who is it? It's not the explosion kid I kidnapped, right? I don't think that'll go over too well."
The youngest Todoroki blushed more. "No, it's not Bakugou." He tried to hide his face in his mug.
"Is it the broccoli kid then?"
Steam immediately began to emanate from Shouto's form, causing Touya to burst out laughing.
"Oh my god, that's fucking fantastic!" he howled. "Holy shit, I approve! Still gotta give the brat the shovel talk, of course, but he's a fine enough choice."
Shouto steamed even more.
Touya wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. "Oh, fuck. Well, hey, in honor of your coming out to me, I'll let you have the honor of being the first family member I come out to. I'm also agender."
That caused Shouto to pause. "That means you don't identify as male or female, right?"
"Or anything else, yeah. No gender here. I also use they/them pronouns."
Shouto nodded. Then, "I heard of something called genderfluid, once. It's when you alternate between identifying as male or female?"
"Or anything else," Touya repeated with a chuckle. "Why?"
"I think I might also be that."
Touya descended once more into laughter.