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Shouto's...not believed he was beautiful, for so many years, given the ghosts of his past, given the most haunting reminder of them all, etched on his face as a brand.
All that changed over the course of falling in love with Izuku Midoriya, whose twinkling viridian eyes whispered have we met in a way that had called out to Shouto, in a subway metro, despite his own forbidding cold exterior, borne from a tired, lonely place of the vacancy of his past.
And all of it left Shouto enchanted, at the end of it all.
The first time he's called as such, is when he and Izuku, are on their first date- on the rocky shore of Lake Ontario, the stars twinkling merrily high above them in the cosmos. Shouto hadn't been expecting the compliment at all, even as he absently sketched the constellations on his sketch pad, warm and at ease at the smile Izuku has pressed to his shoulder.
"You're beautiful," Izuku murmurs, the vibrations of the words rolling over Shouto in time with the ripples whispering through the lake.
Shouto freezes, and looks down at where Izuku's resting his head on Shouto's shoulder, an automatic refusal on his lips.
"You're joking." Shouto says tightly, swallowing and trying to add mirth to his tone to deflect any of the coldness the compliment brings.
Izuku stills, and he looks up at Shouto, eyes wide for a moment before cupping his boyfriend's left cheek. The move causes Shouto's face to flush, and he clenches his jaw.
Shouto knows he's hideous- he's a walking Frankenstein's monster, two halves clumsily stitched on to each other to create something aesthetically unpleasing and disturbing. Not to mention the literal patch of burned scar tissue stretching across the left half of his face, which may have healed, but it doesn't take away the fact it's jarring to see.
He's not stupid.
And it's upsetting that Izuku even says that because- there's no way Izuku's saying that sincerely at all, even if he is a pretty nice guy. You'd have to be blind to call Shouto of all the people beautiful, and Shouto knows it.
"You really think that." Izuku says, voice quiet.
Shouto bites on his lip. "Thank you, Izuku, but- there's nothing I have to think about, especially when it's true. You may tend to see the best of everything, but my looks- there's nothing really to see."
Izuku doesn't say anything, but his eyes are suddenly unfathomable, in the sense Shouto can't look away from them even if he wants to.
"I'll prove it to you." Izuku says, thumb brushing the hollows of Shouto's scarred cheekbone.
"There's nothing to prove." Shouto says, almost desperately.
Izuku's lips quirk into a determined half-smile after a long, tense moment, even if he doesn't say anything.
"If you say so." Izuku finally says, the skin where he had been caressing now cold as he takes his hand away, resting his head on the shoulder.
Shouto has the feeling it's not the end of this discussion.
He's- he's nothing even remotely attractive.
He knows that much.
The second time he hears Izuku call him beautiful, it is when they're at the beach during a warm summer evening, a gentle breeze fluttering by as Shouto, smiling, fondly watched his boyfriend barrel himself into the sea with a loud whoop.
Izuku then re-emerges from the sea with a broad grin, before drying himself off and settling on a bench next to Shouto on the sand.
Shouto for his part, sees Izuku's insistent gesture of patting the spot next to him for him to sit, and laughs, before doing so. So it is that despite not having much to do, they still have fun- Izuku is bright and vivacious, handsome under the setting sun and stealing Shouto's heart as a result as he talks about everything and nothing.
Night's falling upon them, but the sounds of their talking and laughter haven't yet dimmed, on the contrary- they become louder and brighter, as they talk about college, their friends, the rude people they often bump into at the subway, and Shouto thinks, he could stay here with eyes only for Izuku, for a very long time.
Shouto laughs at Izuku talking about how his step-brother, Katsuki, blocked his number for a day just because Izuku had thought of matchmaking for him, and he laughs so loudly he doesn't register Izuku looking at him, mouth parted and eyes awed.
"He really blocked your number?" Shouto asks, voice shaking with laughter.
"Yeah." Izuku says softly, a dazed grin on his face. "He really did."
Shouto shakes his head, smiling widely, before registering that Izuku seems a lot more muted than before. His smile dims, as he regards Izuku in concern. "Izuku?"
Izuku blinks, startled, before shaking his head. "Yeah?" He asks, smiling.
Shouto frowns. "Did something happen? You seem off."
Izuku blinks again, before smiling softly. "No, no. It was nothing."
"Really?" Shouto asks, concerned.
"Really. Besides," Izuku's smile becomes a wry smirk. "You wouldn't want to hear it anyway."
Shouto blinks, before narrowing his eyes and leaning forward in concern, thoughts about how he could spend forever listening to Izuku at the back of his mind. "I would. So tell me."
Izuku blinks, before his grin turns teasing. "Nah." He says blithely, causing Shouto to only scowl, if in an effort to hide how flustered he is at the look on Izuku's face.
Stupid boyfriends and their stupid, sexy muscles and their stupidly devastating freckles, Shouto thinks furiously.
"Izuku."
Izuku laughs, throwing his head back as he does so, before he shakes his head, smile softening for a moment before he rubs the back of his neck, now hesitant. Shouto's scowl softens at the expression on his boyfriend's face, as he sits closer to Izuku.
"It's just..." Izuku says shyly, smiling helplessly. "You looked gorgeous. Laughing like that."
You wouldn't want to hear it anyway, Izuku's teasing voice rumbles in his mind, and Shouto's face could have happily gone up in flames at this precise moment, only if to prove that Izuku Midoriya was a very smooth-talking bastard of the highest order. Of course, that wasn't the most apt description given how hesitantly Izuku is looking at him right now, but Shouto himself is flustered by the comment, and the rush of endorphins that suffuses him more recently from being with Izuku these days allows him to see the sincerity behind the compliment.
"Really?" Shouto asks, softly.
"Really. I'd never get tired of telling you that- I know there's also the possibility I'd sound repetitive to you, but it's the truth. I do find you beautiful, and-" Izuku's hands gesticulate a little too wildly at that moment, before he smiles at Shouto sheepishly. "I just do. You may not know what I see, but I'll always tell you that what I see is the most gorgeous man in front of me. I always will. As long as you want me to."
Shouto swallows, a lump forming in his throat, at this unbelievable man in front of him, and he only lets out a small sniff. "And you say I have no embarrassment in complimenting you." He finally says, voice choked at the sincerity of Izuku's words.
Izuku blinks, before his eyes widen and his face goes red, but his lips are twitching. "You said you wanted to lick my abs once! I think there's a difference between me calling you pretty and you being horny!" He shrieks, voice high.
Shouto only smirks, as the sight of those very muscles in front of him serve to remind him exactly why he said that. "I was drunk, and besides, I wasn't exactly wrong either." He says innocently, batting his eyes.
"You weren't that drunk and we both know it! You're impossible, I say!" Izuku protests, swatting Shouto's shoulder, but his voice is shaking with laughter as he says it, and Shouto's laughing as well, face warm and happy.
he still isn't sure about what Izuku sees in him, but...for now, he'll take it.
Shouto still doesn't understand what Izuku sees in him, but perhaps Izuku knows that fact all too well, and Izuku has always been restlessly determined to showcase the innate good in everyone, and that happens to include Shouto as well.
It's only when Izuku and Shouto, sitting in the library and prepping for their respective pop quizzes, does Shouto actually realize what Izuku sees.
"Oi, Izuku! Where the fuck are my flashcards, you damn nerd?!"
"There he goes again." Shouto deadpans, as Katsuki Bakugou stomps into the room with a baleful look on his face, a rolled up paper in one hand as he regards a suddenly tired Izuku.
Shouto can relate- it's the exact same look Natsuo has on his face when Touya is up to some bullshit. Or more precisely, when the unhinged older brother in question is found mixing two cans of Red Bull with a can of Mountain Dew; Shouto still shudders thinking of that day.
"My flashcards! Where?!" Katsuki hollers, smacking Izuku on the head with the rolled up paper, and Izuku only glares at Katsuki.
"Did you forget the part we weren't in middle school anymore?" Izuku asks, drily.
Katsuki scoffs.
"Ha, ha. Very smart- too bad I got over the guilt tripping, you fucking nerd. Now where the hell are my damn flashcards?! I have a pop quiz in five and this is what I get for handing them over to you!"
"Jesus Christ, stop yelling, we're in a library. They should be in my dorm room-"
"Should be?!"
"Did you forget the part where I told you not to yell?" Izuku deadpans, and Katsuki blows a raspberry at him.
Shouto hides a smile on his face, as Izuku only rolls his eyes.
"What-the-fucking-ever. Flashcards, nerd. Now."
"A'right, A'right. Hey, babe," Izuku says, now looking at Shouto apologetically, as Katsuki's particularly vivid mime of gagging up and strangling himself behind Izuku goes ignored. "Sorry about this, I know that we made plans-"
"Relax, Izuku, go before Katsuki pops a blood vessel." Shouto says, smiling.
Izuku grins back, before kissing Shouto chastely on the lips once and then waving, ignoring Katsuki's scandalized screams at the back, then going back to sarcastically chiding his brother once more, the yelling of their banter making Shouto smile.
All is quiet in the library again, until Izuku's phone rings with a call from some friend or the other (it's Uraraka, when he reads the caller ID) but that's not what causes him to stare at the phone while it's ringing.
It's the fact that, Izuku's phone lock screen is a picture of Shouto smiling warmly.
He remembers that day- it had been a December date at a coffee shop, and Izuku had dared Shouto that he could catch a snowflake with his tongue, and Shouto had warned Izuku not to do it, but Izuku had done it anyway, before he had actually done it, shivering at the cold sensation while awkwardly grinning with the snowflake melting on his tongue and Shouto had laughed before smiling at Izuku, who had grinned back. Izuku had then said he wanted to take a picture of the two of them for the date, and Shouto had agreed with a quiet laugh.
But now- looking at the lock screen- it was clear Izuku hadn't angled the camera to include himself at all.
"Dude, are you gonna pick up your boyfriend's stupid phone or not?" Some white dude snapped opposite Shouto, and Shouto only glared at the guy in question, before scoffing and making a face.
"You didn't seem to mind when Bakugou was yelling in here, for one. For two, you broke your phone skinny dipping at some frat party because you were too dumb to take your phone out of your boxers, and everyone here knows you're too broke to fix your phone, so you can shut it." Shouto mocks, and the guy's face reddens as people stare with raised eyebrows, and he smirks for a moment, before picking up the call.
"Hi, this is Shouto. Izuku went do his dorm to pick up some flashcards for Katsuki and left his phone here." Shouto says, into the phone, after hearing Uraraka's cheery 'hello!'.
"Oh, Shouto, hi! Ah, okay- can you just tell him that I want my Forensic Psych notes when he like, comes back?" Uraraka asks, cheerily.
"Yeah, will do. Good luck on the pop quiz, by the way. Izuku told me."
"You're sweet! Good luck for yours too, buddy!"
Shouto smiles as he gets off the phone, his smile dimming when he sees the lock screen.
He can't believe that's...well, him. He doesn't remember having smiled that widely his whole life, given the way his shitty old man had tormented his entire family, but...
His eyes are crinkled, and his lips are pulled into a wide smile, the type he'd seen on Izuku's face, or on Ochako's face.
He doesn't see Izuku walk in, his eyes wide at seeing Shouto looking at the photo on his lock screen.
"Uh. Um. Shouto-"
Shouto blinks, startled, as he looks at a very sheepish Izuku, before his own face heats up in embarrassment as he then quickly puts down Izuku's iPhone on the table. "Sorry." Shouto mumbles.
"God, don't be." Izuku says quickly, sitting next to Shouto with a worried look in his eyes. "I just hope you didn't think I was being creepy or anything-"
"Why would I think that? I was there with you when you took that photo." Shouto says, genuinely baffled.
Izuku laughs nervously. "Call it anxiety."
Shouto smacks Izuku's shoulder. "Shut up." He says firmly, before his eyes soften. "Izuku...I thought you said you wanted to take a photo of the both of us, not just-"
Izuku's answering smile is a gentle thing, one that tugs at Shouto's heartstrings. "How couldn't I? Did you see yourself?"
Shouto's heart beats a little too loudly and too rapidly, almost as if trying to get out of the cage of bones it was trapped in. "Izuku..."
"Remember that day at the beach? When I told you that I saw the most gorgeous man in front of me?"
"That white dude is in front of you." Shouto says, unable to resist, and because he learned a long time ago that jokes were a nice way to bat away feelings so that he didn't have to feel them all too acutely.
Turned out Touya was good for something apart from being a crackhead, after all.
Izuku stares at Shouto, lips twitching even if his eyes blink slowly in incredulity. "You are out of this planet, I swear." He says, resisting a grin as he sits opposite Shouto this time.
"Yes, that's why you asked me out at a children's playground two weeks after having too much of eye contact with me on the subway, so as to observe my non-human tendencies." Shouto says seriously, and Izuku laughs fondly, cheeks reddening as he squeezes Shouto's hand under the table.
"All part of my secret plan to study the alien that you are. It's the budding psychologist in me, you see, Shouto, no hard feelings." Izuku says solemnly, and Shouto lets out a little giggle despite himself. Izuku grins, before his smile softens.
"I told you before, that I'd always think you're beautiful. And I don't mean that just because I find you attractive- I find everything about you beautiful, Shouto," Izuku says softly, rubbing a scarred thumb over Shouto's knuckles, in a tender gesture. "I find it beautiful when you smile and laugh, not just because it's beautiful to look at, but because you smile only when you're really happy, and that's what so enchanting." He says, voice a gentle whisper.
Shouto swallows a lump again, as he looks into those green eyes, and it's in that moment, he wonders if Izuku knows- how much Shouto really, really wants him.
"You're beautiful. And that's something I'm going to believe in, because I know it." Izuku whispers, resting his forehead against Shouto's own.
"You're impossible." Shouto whispers back, smiling tremulously.
Thank you.
I love you.
Shouto finds himself wanting to hear more of Izuku's gentle voice saying 'you're beautiful' when it's been nine months since they started dating and he blinks as Izuku stares at him outside of the movie theater for their date.
"What?" Shouto asks self-consciously, tucking a lock of red hair behind his ear.
"You're beautiful." Izuku says with a helpless smile.
Shouto's face reddens under that sparkling night, one of many memories of his love for Izuku tucked away gently, carefully. "You always say that." He says, but he can't help but be genuinely flattered by the comment.
Izuku laughs, before kissing Shouto's cheek. "I said I would, no matter what, wouldn't I?"
Shouto only smiles, squeezing Izuku's hand. "You did." You really did.
And when they're inside the theater, as The Book of Life plays and Shouto smiles at the two lovers finally reuniting, before he looks at Izuku's wonderstruck face lit through the darkness by the screen, and then thinks to himself I might have what they have too.
I might have that perfect fairy tale romance too.
Thinking thus, Shouto rests his head on Izuku's shoulder, before smiling up at the confused look on his boyfriend's face. In a moment however, that confused look turns into something more fond, and Izuku grins, wrapping an arm around Shouto's shoulders, even as Manolo finally confessed the true extent of his love to Maria on the screen, and there, Shouto thinks, is the most peaceful moment of his life.
Shouto finds himself adoring Izuku calling him beautiful- Izuku takes care to do it every time; when they move in, and Shouto's wearing Izuku's stupidly large hoodie and cuddling with him, soothed by the beat of his boyfriend's heart, smiling as Izuku's strong arms hold him close, lips brushing the shell of his ear and calling him 'pretty' and Shouto thinks he can spend forever like that, even if forever is a childish dream.
When they dance on the ice rink at New Years' Eve on Wollman Rink, after three outrageously hilarious weeks of Shouto teaching Izuku how to ice skate, Izuku waggling his eyebrows as he invites Shouto to dance with him along with the many other couples on the rink, while Shouto rolls his eyes fondly and Izuku laughs and pulls him in, twirling him around despite their height difference, Shouto thinks- that he may not be much for dancing at all, but with Izuku's bright smile the most beautiful thing under the Christmas lights, he thinks he could dance as long as he could, with Izuku by his side.
Before Izuku has the chance to say it, Shouto leans in and kisses him, telling Izuku everything he wants I was lucky to have met you, Izuku, a smile dancing on his face as he kisses those warm lips, the clock ticking down to midnight, to a new year, to another year of being with the love of his life.
Under the flawless night sky, Izuku's face reddens even as he smiles slowly, as Shouto smiles back down at him.
"I love you." Shouto murmurs, and Izuku leans up to rest his forehead against Shouto's own.
"I love you too, beautiful. I love you too." Izuku says softly, caressing Shouto's cheek, and Shouto has never been more in love with Izuku than at that very moment.
Years later, when Izuku's twenty seven, and Shouto's twenty six, after a tearful proposal, after many near break-ups, because relationships are rarely uncomplicated, nervous yet happy all the same in a chapel- Izuku's waiting anxiously, as the priest smiles up reassuringly at him. Izuku smiles weakly, but he's been standing at the altar for over fifteen minutes and Katsuki's clearly starting to get agitated, while people cast around questioning glances, clearly wondering where the groom's run off to.
Izuku's frankly starting to get nervous.
Just when Katsuki is about to open his mouth, the bells of the door ring from the other side of the altar, and Touya, handsome in a black suit, walks in with a rare smile on his scarred face.
And then Izuku's breath is taken away, as Shouto's silhouette under the dewy sunlight makes its way in, a nervous look on his usually calm face, the word beautiful not even doing him any justice.
"Here comes the bride," Touya jokes, and people laugh, the uncertain atmosphere of the church clearing to one of hushed awe, as they take in Shouto, Izuku included.
"Shut up." Shouto mutters at Touya, before his eyes lock with Izuku's own, and his eyes widen, the morning light making them sparkle like gemstones, and Izuku wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of skin, tell Shouto how much he loves him over and over again, and Izuku's so fond, so in love, that he cannot imagine himself anywhere else.
"Hello." Izuku says, voice hushed and loving.
Shouto swallows, but his face breaks out into a soft smile. "Hello." He says quietly.
There are so many days where Shouto's beauty just hits him, renders him speechless, and he knows there are so many more days in the future, where he's going to fall for Shouto Todoroki (it's Midoriya, now, Midoriya! he thinks with a dizzy giddiness), but this, this moment, when Shouto is a sight for his sore eyes in midnight blue, he can't think of anything else now.
And when he seals their marriage, with a long, sweet kiss to Shouto, and looks up at his breathtakingly wonderstruck face, Izuku thinks he could spend the rest of his days loving Shouto, being in love with this beautiful, beautiful soul.