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hizashi and shouta always got together to study the night before a big algebra test. neither of them were great at math, but if they put their heads together they might just get a passing grade. oboro and nemuri were invited as usual and bailed as usual, something about studying being boring or not wanting to third wheel.
“hey shou? its getting pretty late,” hizashi said, punctuating it with a dramatic yawn.
“i’ll start getting my things together then, i think my mom said she’d pick me up,” shouta replied, grabbing his phone to text his mom. hizashi’s eyes darken a little at the thought of his boyfriend going home.
“actually i was thinking… maybe we could have a sleepover? yknow, study a little longer? i still don’t feel too great about this test,” he laughs nervously and fiddles with his hands. they’d never had a sleepover before and he was admittedly nervous to ask. for some reason shouta always refused, making up some lie about his parents wanting him home or his cats needing fed. he could see right through him though, some rational deception that was.
“uhm, well…” shouta paused, looking pensive, as if he were trying to think of a way out of it. hizashi grabs his hand and interrupts his thoughts, bringing it to his lips with a kiss.
“if it’s your anxiety or something i get it, shou. i’d rather you tell me than make something up again. we can be honest with each other, right?” he had a soft look in his pretty green eyes.
“fine, but it’s kinda dumb zashi.” now it was shouta’s turn to get nervous.
“not if it’s making you upset, silly goose!”
“whatever you say,” he moped. “it’s about my, uh, chest… you’ve never seen me without a binder and i guess i’m just nervous? that your perception of me will change?” as he was saying this, shouta pulled his knees to his chest and condensed himself. hizashi could tell it was taking a lot out of his boyfriend to be so vulnerable.
hizashi’s voice became uncharacteristically calm and low. “cmon now handsome, you don’t think i’d actually perceive you as a girl huh?” he reached for his boyfriend’s shoulder and shouta choked out a sob seemingly out of nowhere. “aw baby, i didn’t mean to upset you. can i hold you?”
shouta nodded and inched himself closer to hizashi, nuzzling his face into his neck and soaking hizashi’s shirt in tears. the blonde rubbed soothing circles onto his boyfriend’s back and held him as he cried, eventually pulling him into his lap. “poor thing, i didn’t mean to make you cry. i love you though, i’d never think of you as less of a man for taking off your binder at night.” he pushes shouta back by his shoulders so they’re eye to eye, then he cups his face in his hands and says, “self care is pretty damn manly!”
“pfffft, stop that ya weirdo,” shouta counters, but he has a smile on his face. “i’ll tell my parents i’m staying here then?”
“i’ll make popcorn!”
as disheartening as it can be, hizashi loves to be the one who can help shouta through his most vulnerable moments.
~•~
after some more studying, they can barely keep their eyes open and shouta’s starting to get clingy. hizashi’s laying flat on his stomach and finishing one last paragraph in his textbook while shouta uses his back as a pillow.
“don’t fall asleep now, sweetheart,” hizashi teases, twisting his head around to peek at his sleepy boyfriend.
“hmph.”
“shou, cmon. you gotta take your binder off silly.” at this he pulls his back out from under shouta’s head(luckily they were on his bed so his head didn’t get hurt on impact).
“s’fine, your back’s too boney anyways,” shouta slurs, still not opening his eyes.
“cmon now, pretty boy,” hizashi pulls his sleepy boyfriend into a sitting position, the pet name making shouta a bit more alert.
“promise you won’t hate crime me?”
“wouldn’t dream of it, shou-chan. i’ll step out while you change.”
hizashi gets up and moves to the door, shutting it behind him and waiting outside. after a few minutes of rustling sounds he hears his boyfriend say, “you can come back now, zashi.” he sounded more nervous than usual.
he opened to door slowly and gave shouta a dorky grin. he had pulled the comforter up to his shoulders, covering his whole body. “there’s my pretty boy, i missed you!”
“dramatic much?” shouta rolled his eyes before giving his boyfriend a soft smile. “if you missed me so much then cmere darling.”
the pet name made hizashi blush and hide his face in his hands. “ya gotta warn me before you get all cute like that!”
“just get over here idiot.”
hizashi moved closer then paused at the edge of the bed, unsure of how to touch his partner without making him uncomfortable. as if he could read his mind, shouta made room for him and pulled the covers back. “you’re thinking too much.”
“i just don’t wanna make you uncomfortable!” he whined. “how should we do this?”
“just cmere!” now shouta was the one whining. his sleepy state had him making grabby hands and pouting.
“gahh, okay.” he climbed into bed and shouta pulled him closer, curling into the fetal position and using hizashi’s belly as a pillow.
“what’re you doing down there, handsome?” he giggled as his boyfriend nuzzled his cheek against his stomach.
“tummy’s soft,” he replied contentedly, nearly purring at how warm and comfortable he felt.
“what about my goodnight kiss?”
shouta rolled his eyes and sat up, rubbing his eyes. “you’re so needy.”
“hey, i’m not the one using my boyfriend as a pillow!”
“hmph,” the dark-haired boy pouted, embarrassed to admit how touchy-feely he gets when he’s tired. “you want your kiss or not?”
hizashi wraps his arms around shouta’s neck and pulls him closer, green eyes locking with his boyfriend’s dark ones. “hi, handsome.”
“mm, hi sunshine.” at this, the green eyes shift and his pupils dilate to comically large proportions before he averts his eyes completely.
“wh-what’d i say about the pet names?” he might’ve sounded serious if his voice didn’t falter so much.
“guess i forgot, hm sweetness?” apparently sleep takes away the embarrassment that shouta gets from flirting and using pet names, too.
“you’re brutal tonight, aren’t ya?” hizashi pulls him in for a tender kiss, both of them enjoying the softness of this moment until shouta pulls back quickly.
“shou, what’s wrong?” at first it seemed like he needed a breather, but now he was trembling.
“m-my chest… it bumped you when we were k-kissing.” he had his arms wrapped around himself like he was trying to remain concealed.
“hey, it’s okay honey. can i touch you?” shouta nodded. “where at, hun? is your back okay?” he nodded again.
hizashi sat up and moved closer, rubbing shouta’s back softly and kissing his shoulder. “can i touch your face?” he receives a nod.
hizashi rubs the back of his hand along one cheek before cupping the other cheek and running his thumb beneath shouta’s eye. “just think: in a few years you’ll have some facial hair on this handsome mug of yours.” shouta grabs his boyfriend’s hand and nuzzles his face against it, letting the warmth of it distract him from his shitty mood. “poor baby, i hate to see you so sad.”
“you think about that kinda stuff? what i’ll look like on testosterone?”
“of course, is that okay? it just makes me happy knowing you’ll feel more like yourself someday.”
“i mean, yeah. it’s… nice, actually. sometimes i wonder if you’re with me because i’m ‘girl enough’? i dunno, its kinda silly, huh?”
“it’s not silly! but shou, i’m bi. i like dudes. you, specifically. you’re my dude,” he kisses shouta on the cheek. “i don’t have any reason not to love you and embrace your masculinity. it’s a major part of who you are and i love all of you, my sleepy prince.”
“you don’t have to smother me, zashi,” he joked. “you’re sweet though, i love you.”
“i’d show you some real smothering if you didn’t need space right now, you beautiful son of a bitch. i love you too.” he gave a toothy grin and shifted a little before asking, “alright, how are we gonna do this? talk to me shou.”
“can you hold me?”
“aw, baby, of course! you want me to spoon you?”
shouta suddenly realizes how forward he’s been in his tired state and blushes. “uh, yeah, sure. just uh,” he pauses, thinking of how to word it, “try not to touch my chest if possible.”
“mmhmm, anything for you lovey! can i give you a kiss?”
“sure thing.”
after a chaste kiss, hizashi grabs his face and peppers it in obnoxiously loud kisses. then he falls back onto the bed, giving shouta an expectant look. “lemme hold ya!”
shouta joins him, curling his back against hizashi’s chest and letting out a relieved sigh. hizashi’s hands find his way to shouta’s hips and he leans closer to ask, “can i, uh, caress you?”
“caress me?”
“well i dunno how else to word it! and i wanna make sure you’re comfortable!”
“it’s probably fine, i trust you. just do whatever.”
hizashi rolls his eyes in fake annoyance even though shouta can’t see his face. his hands skirt beneath the bottom of shouta’s shirt to run along his sides and tummy. shouta mewls as boney fingers trace circles around his stomach. he had always been self conscious about how soft and round his middle was. he was average as far as weight goes, but he didn’t have abs and wasn’t skinny. hizashi stroked along the curves of shouta’s belly with no hesitations, simply trying to soothe him, and if that didn’t make shouta’s insecurities melt away he wasn’t sure what would.
“s’nice, zashi. i knew there was a reason i trusted you,” he slurs, voice cracking with sleepiness.
“aw, how sweet,” hizashi beams. “is there anything else i can do to help you sleep?”
“do the humming thing.” if he were more awake he’d be less open about what he wants, but he doesn’t have that sort of control over himself right now.
“of course!” hizashi activates his quirk with a low vibration that reverberates through his chest and then through shouta. he feels his boyfriend lean back into him more, soaking up the vibrations.
“figures you only like me when i’m purring like a cat.”
“hmm, silly zashi,” he gives a sleepy grin and dozes further, losing all lucidity and fading into the gentle contact he has with his boyfriend.
“love you endlessly, shou,” hizashi whispers, the caresses slowing to a halt as the blonde falls asleep, holding his handsome boyfriend til morning.