Archive of Our Own

“I like… you.”

“You don't mean that. Again. Louder.”

“I like you.”

“Do you even want me to believe you?”

Izuku cowers behind the couch, hands pressed to his chest, heart beating so fast and hard it'll break out from his ribcage any second, for sure.

“I'm in love with you.” 

Shouto’s voice is impassive and Katsuki is clearly unimpressed. 

“Convince me, already.”

Seeing Shouto with his hands twisted into the front of Katsuki’s shirt and pushing him against the wall with their bath supplies scattered across the floor around them, Izuku had almost called out to them before realizing how intimate the scene looked somehow, upon which he instinctively ducked behind the couch instead.

He couldn’t bring himself to say anything to interrupt them as their conversation progressed, and he’s sort of lost the opportunity, now.

“Look. I--”

“Just shoving someone around won't show them you're serious, you asshat!” A soft whacking noise and Shouto muttering “Ow?” follows, before Katsuki continues. “Name.”

“What?”

“Name.”

“Why?

“Just do it.”

“I love you, Bakugou.”

Even though he sounds exasperatedly questioning, something about that is definitely puzzling. Izuku’s heart goes from speeding to a screeching halt that reverberates through his entire body, and he covers his mouth to keep a gasp in, dropping his towel and soap.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake -- not mine, idiot!” Katsuki's voice is muffled, like he’s covering his mouth as he speaks. “You're not talking to me!”

He’s not?

“... I'm not?”

“No!” Katsuki groans. “How stupid are-- I'm Deku!”

Katsuki is Izuku?

“You are obviously not Midoriya in any way, shape or form.”

“Why would you practice a love confession to someone you don't even like? No wonder you fucking body-slammed me to the wall! You'd do that to Deku too?”

“Of course not. I thought it was the general act of confessing no matter the recipient.”

A thick silence falls which feels like it goes on for years, putting pressure on Izuku’s chest like he’s actively being strangled, and it’s only worsened by the fact that he feels like he needs to hold his breath or it’ll be loud enough for him to be found out.

“So you’re saying you’d confess to me by throwing me around like a goddamn ragdoll?”

Izuku continues to press his hand to his mouth throughout the following moments of quiet as well, but exhales slowly through his fingers when his head starts spinning.

“... yes?” A loud smack, which seems to actually hurt this time judging from Shouto’s indignant “Ow!”.

“I’d have rejected your ass! Now, let the fuck go of me--” Fabric rustles, Katsuki is obviously patting down and smoothening his clothes out, and Izuku feels like he’s too aware - like his senses are on overdrive. “-- okay. Okay. Dumbass. Listen. Do it like I’m short and sniveling like the nerd-ass crybaby I am.”

“You're--”

“Do it.”

So, wait. 

Wait, wait, wait. 

The entire thing is supposed to be directed at Izuku? 

That changes everything.

“I can’t if you’re going to look at me like that.”

“ ‘s not like I'd actually start crying at you, though I bet you'd like to see that. Deal with it.”

“Why would I want to see you--”

“Come the fuck on already, win me over, here. Boohoo. I don't have all night! I have, I don't know, heroes to stalk and shit.”

“That's the worst impersonation attempt I have ever seen.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo.”

“If you want me to try, you should too.”

“You think I want your love confession?! None of this is for my own damn benefit you self-centered little shit so just do it before I blast you to the fucking moon!”

There's a lot for Izuku to unpack in the events unfolding for him to hear with his own two ears, and he's tempted to cover them to try and catch up, but he's physically unable to move. This huge bomb being dropped on him and then turning out to be completely different than he initially thought midway has left whatever defenses he managed to scramble into existence useless by the time it actually lands.

If it'd actually been Katsuki…

… not that it matters, because it isn't--

-- but wait, it actually does matter, he just can't connect the pieces yet because there's nothing really to connect them with, he's never had to deal with anything similar before and the idea that Shouto might actually be in love with Izuku instead is absolutely ridiculous. Because first of all, he's noticed very clearly how Katsuki and Shouto have gotten along ever since failing to get their hero licenses the first time around, how they've spent more time together and not only by necessity. It's been a year and half of that already and Shouto has obviously been avoiding labeling their relationship as anything and even struggled to call them friends so that they still hang around each other had to mean something. Even Eijirou seems to be thinking that it's been kind of significant in one way or another because Izuku has caught him watching them with a puzzled frown together with Denki that Izuku has related to all too easily, seeing not only one but two of his friends slip away from him and together to boot, and honestly even trying to think about it from an outsider’s point of view Izuku can't quite grasp even a smidgen of a fraction of the situation because even if he does try to entertain the idea that Shouto might be i-in lo --

“Midoriya.” 

Jumping, Izuku is brought out of his spiraling train of thought by Shouto’s voice - soft in a way he's never heard in his entire life. He can’t tell if the following pause drags out or if it’s just him, but he waits with bated breath for what feels like years before Shouto continues.

“I'm in love with you.”

Another few beats pass before he hears Katsuki snicker loudly.

“You can do it if you try, huh? Heart almost skipped half a beat there, you pretty boy piece of garbage. Absolutely disgusting.”

Izuku realizes too late, when he hears steps across the floor, that they're coming straight to his hiding spot, but even if he'd noticed earlier he wouldn't have been able to do much about it when Katsuki grabs him by the collar and pulls him up from the floor easily - like Izuku hadn’t filled out in the past year and almost caught up with him physically in the least - and around to the front of the couch, into Shouto’s field of view.

“So there you fucking have it, blockhead.”

“Sorry! Sorry, I wasn't-- I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I was just--just going to the, uh, the bath--” Seeing Katsuki’s eyes narrow further with every word, head tipping backward with that one snarling look only Katsuki can pull off so intensely, Izuku tries to start over. “I mean, I ‘fucking have’ nothing, not a single thing has been ‘had’--”

“Shut the hell up already! Shit, you're both giving me the worst fucking headache of my life, you lukewarm shitstains!” 

“L-Lukewarm what now--ah?!”

Katsuki kicks him in the lower back with the sole of his foot and he stumbles into the couch, bracing himself against the backrest with a knee sinking into the cushion. 

“Deku! Don't be a loser for once in your miserable existence, I didn't suffer through that shit for you to dumb it off!”

“Kacchan--” By the time he's twirled around, Katsuki is already leaving - shoving his way past Shouto and kicking up his towel from the floor and putting bottles of what looks like fairly fancy soap, shampoo and conditioner onto it, before picking up the corners and flinging it over his shoulder and walking away wordlessly - and sure, Izuku is admittedly fairly used to speaking to his back but for some reason, coherency escapes him even in the privacy of his own mind, and it’s like he reverts back a good three years, stuttering his way through syllables that end up leading nowhere. “D-Do-- Wh-- Are--”

Shouto, however, seems to regain his ability to move after being frozen in place and walks up close to Izuku, kicking a stray bottle he almost steps on away over towards the rest of his stuff with a frown before turning his eyes back up to Izuku and speaking in a rather urgent manner.

“Midoriya, it's not what you think.”

Like he'd be able to misunderstand!?

Izuku hides behind his hands like a shield, turning his burning face to the side and making himself as small as he can while bent over backwards against the couch, the back of his knees pressed towards it deep enough that he can use it as leverage but his body still trembles slightly from the strain.

“N-No, no, it's exactly what I think--”

Taking his elbows but without trying to move them out of the way, Shouto’s hands are notably warm and cold and his voice keeps the edge of insistence, fingers digging in.

“I'm in love with you.”

Maybe Shouto thought Izuku had just entered the room.

“That!” He actually impresses himself with how high his falsetto can go. “Is exactly what I thought!”

“It is?”

“Yes!” Realizing he sounds conceited, he backpedals. “No! Or, it is, because I heard, um, everything. So.”

“Everything?”

“From when you guys left the bath.”

“Oh.”

Shouto takes a tiny step back at that and allows Izuku to flop down into the couch, his dual-colored gaze falling to the floor briefly before darting away, face starting to flush a little red - significantly more so on his left side than his right.

“Um. But. Yes. Yeah. So. Thank--thank you?” Things like this just didn’t happen to Izuku. Being confessed to is something Shouto himself is much more accustomed to and handles with certain levels of grace, at least nowadays, but Izuku’s never had anyone come at him so directly before. He’s got no idea where to even start unraveling the tangled mess in his chest, so he gestures toward the elevators. “I need to, uh. Go.”

“You're not taking a bath?”

What.

“I’m not--? Oh, oh no, I am! You're right, I was going to-- yes. I'm taking a bath.”

“Then go ahead. Kaminari was going in.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Shouto turns slowly, picking up his things from the floor and putting them into a little basket he uses to carry them more easily as Izuku hurries around the couch to pick his own things up too.

“Midoriya.”

“Yes!” 

He looks up from behind the couch.

“You don't have to say anything yet.”

“Eh?”

Shouto holds the basket pressed to his chest with both hands, knuckles whitened as they clutch the edge.

“About me being in love with you.” He's speaking clearly, but his voice is quiet. “You don't have to say anything, but I mean it when I say that I am.”

There's an underlying plea of ‘don't forget’ behind the words that make Izuku feel like his insides unravel, the tension of his muscles phasing out, steadying his shaking hands. He stands up straight and holds his bottle of shampoo (albeit upside down) in front of him, sort of shielding, and catches Shouto’s gaze with his own before drawing a deep breath.

“I know you do.” He replies, doing his best to keep his voice calm and eternally grateful for all the time he's practiced smiling for any and all occasions, because Shouto shoulders drop a little seeing it and his death grip on the basket softens, letting Izuku lower his own hands with the bottle slightly too.

Of course, he knows. 

After all, Izuku’s insecurities aside, he knows Shouto always speaks his mind with unwavering honesty. He wouldn't say something like that if he wasn’t sure that’s what he felt. Knowing that doesn't stop the voice biting into the back of his mind, whispering that maybe Shouto is mistaking whatever affection he feels for Izuku for something it's not due to inexperience - Izuku can't tell the difference between his own emotions too easily either, sometimes - but he won't tell Shouto that. Not while he's standing there looking smaller than Izuku has ever seen him.

It's not the right time.

“Thanks.”

“You-- you really don't have to thank me. I haven't done anything.” Which is exactly what he's been doing - a whole bunch of nothing. “I should thank you, honestly, so I… thanks. Thank you.”

He'd already said so, but he doesn't know what else to add - he's too busy trying to process everything.

“Good night, then, Midoriya.” There’s a soft touch to Shouto’s voice that hasn’t ever been there before, and it makes Izuku want to hide behind his hands again but he doesn’t. 

“You, too! Good night!”

When he makes it into the bath he's exhausted, sinking below the surface and trying to sort everything out until Denki pulls him up by the hair.

“Hello, are you actually trying to die!?”

He'd forgotten he needed to breathe.

“What? That's literally not possible, people can't forget to breathe, Midoriya!?” Coughing, lungs burning and head spinning even worse than before, Izuku realizes Denki is perfectly right. “You scared me, what the heck!”

“Sorry, sorry! Just-- Just got some things on my mind, kind of.”

And he isn't all that used to sharing any worries he's trying to sort out, at least not of this kind. He isn't used to these kinds of worries in the first place. None of this is something he's even remotely familiar with, at least not from this angle. This point of view. He's had crushes and stuff, though he'd never confessed to anyone or anything... but this? And getting to know like this, before Shouto had even been ready to tell? Izuku hadn't been ready to know, he never would've been - but Shouto could’ve been ready to tell if Izuku hadn’t decided to hide like a tool instead of just letting them know he was there.

“If it's enough for you to forget basic human functions it's obviously not just ‘some’ things!” Denki’s frown suddenly softens with concern. “You're not in trouble or anything, right?”

“Trouble? No! No, no trouble, I'm fine! Thank you! You, um, can let go of my hair, now.”

“Oh, yeah.” Denki watches him closely, both in focus and distance, as he quickly lets go and pats Izuku’s hair down for him (or something to that effect, because Izuku is fairly sure Denki isn't the type to give out awkward, encouraging head-pats over near-death experiences. He’s fairly sure pretty much no one is.) “But, okay, seriously. What's up?”

“It's…” Struggling profusely with his head spinning too fast to vocalize anything coherently, he really doesn't know where to start even if he wanted to talk about it. It kind of feels like the past twenty minutes or so were a hallucination or something. “It's not… nothing.”

“I can tell it isn't nothing.”

“No, no, I meant, just nothing. It's nothing. It's not something… anything… it's not… I don't know.”

Denki watches him with a cuttingly analyzing type of gaze that Izuku doesn't see on him that often but recognizes nonetheless. It feels like he actually might be able to see through Izuku’s head into his thoughts and maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he did, but it'd also be life-shatteringly horrible if he did, so Izuku can’t really win no matter what.

“Well.” He says, eventually. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk about it I’ll drop it. But don’t forget to breathe or whatever again without someone around, alright?”

“I won’t forget it at all!”

Crossing his arms, Denki doesn’t look too convinced but when he changes the topic, Izuku gratefully latches on to the conversation like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do and in some ways, it feels like it is.

As time passes, at least he doesn’t forget to breathe again.

The truth of the matter is he's been looking at it from the wrong angle the entire time.

Spending a week and a half going in circles, he comes to the realization after hearing Ochaco and Tooru discuss the plot of a romantic tv-drama, where apparently a guy had been playing someone for money and favors for an organization only to actually fall in love with them, but lost them because he couldn't convince them he had fallen for them once the organization was exposed. It really isn't all that similar to Izuku’s current dilemma, but the way they excitedly come back to what a twist it'd been that it turned out the guy was serious in the end, has him considering the importance of different points of view.

He connects some dots from there, albeit painstakingly.

Rather than trying to question how serious Shouto is - because ultimately he ends up not knowing no matter how many times he tries, because while he knows Shouto is honest that still doesn’t mean he’s right - he should be examining how serious he himself is and then, maybe the pieces will fit differently from that perspective. Sure, it's only a first step in some direction - he has no idea which - but since he's been effectively running in place since overhearing the incident, even just a tiny step is a huge one for mankind. 

At least the humanity in him, as it keeps falling apart more and more with every passing day. 

Hour. 

Minute.

Second. 

He's losing it, is what he's been forced to realize is what's going on. 

So he'll go against his treacherous, “best” judgment and try something else.

Working under the assumption that Shouto knows what he's talking about and how he's talking about it, i.e. that his love confession is a genuine one (which Izuku does not doubt even for a second) and the feelings he expresses are the ones one would expect, then… 

… then, that'd be fine. 

Staring at the clouds chasing each other across the evening sky from his balcony, listening to a live podcast regarding a recent case of a pro hero office turning out to be cooperating with the League of Villains - a topic important enough that it really should keep his attention but doesn't - he thinks to himself that rather than fine, it'd be amazing if Shouto was in love with him. 

Love-loved him. 

In fact, he'd be on top of the world, and he knows what that means.

Of course, that's exactly why he can't get himself to let go of the idea that Shouto could be confused. 

Because obviously, if he's on top of the world thinking Shouto is in love with him, then that means he'll hit the ground just that much harder if it turns out Shouto’s feelings are different from what Izuku thinks they are. 

And for whatever reason, that thought just won't leave him alone.

He catches Shouto after school, asking him to please come with him for a bit, but he has no idea where to actually lead him. They end up just around the corner from the main entrance to the school. He isn't sure how to phrase his thoughts, and Shouto looks confused at his attempts as well.

“... what?”

“I'm-- I just wonder, I mean, do you… do you understand what you're telling me, do you… do you know how I'm understanding it? What it is that I think you're--”

Shouto frowns, and Izuku falls quiet because he knows he's crossing a line. But he can't assume. He has to know.

“I say I'm in love with you because I'm in love with you.” He says it in a way that makes it sound so obvious, it makes Izuku feel even worse for doubting it. “I'm not saying I like you, though I do. But I'm in love with you too. I want to be romantically involved with you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, but--”

“I don't know why you wouldn't know what I mean.”

That’s a fairly reasonable conclusion to reach off of Izuku’s rambling questioning.

“No, I-I know what you-- it's not that.”

“Then.” Shouto pauses for a brief moment before continuing. “I have no idea why you'd think I don't know what I'm telling you.”

“Because--Because it's such a big thing, and I'm, like…” A lot of things, and a whole lot of nothing. Feeling a lot of things, too. Though, ultimately... “... just... me?”

Frown softening, Shouto seems to piece something together but Izuku isn't sure what. He sighs and steps a little closer, enough that he can lean in, and Izuku freezes but all Shouto does is press his forehead to Izuku’s shoulder, his voice low when he speaks up.

“Don't project onto others when you can't understand how lovable you are. In every way, really.” 

Izuku physically can't answer even if he'd known what to say. His throat tightens up enough that he can barely breathe, face on fire. It forces Shouto into continuing, the wind gently rustling the dry leaves falling off the trees in preparation for winter.

“You are. It makes me selfish. I want you, in every way. So I'm happy to be with you any way I can be, really, but…” His hands tug at the cuffs of Izuku’s blazer. “... but if I can have more than one way and be more than one thing to you, then one isn't enough.”

Head so hot he's feeling dizzy, Izuku really is trying to collect himself but Shouto isn't giving him any opportunity to recover.

“I want to be special to you. I want you to feel like you can't breathe when you see me, too. I want you to look at me even when I'm not talking with you, like how I watch you even though I don't mean to.” Although his voice is even, it's a little deeper than usual and a bit muted. “I want to kiss you. All the time. I can't stop thinking about it. I think about how it'd feel if you touched me like I want you to. Let me touch you like I want to. Should I go on? Because I can.”

“N-No, I get you, I just-- because, maybe-- I mean, I thought you'd-- if you'd said you're…” He can't seem to put the words ‘in love with me’ in his mouth so he trails off before picking up from past that point instead. “... but then it turned out it was, I don't know, that you wanted to be closer friends or something, then I--”

“Midoriya.” 

Despite not lifting his head from Izuku’s shoulder Shouto’s voice holds an edge to it that not only shuts him up but also makes Izuku wonder if Shouto had realized the nature of Izuku’s lack of faith in him, which actually is insulting - he knows it is. But he doesn’t know how these things should go, and Shouto probably doesn’t either. At least that’s what he’s assuming. But it’s not like he thinks he’s right and Shouto is wrong - it’s just that he can’t bring himself to believe in something he can’t understand. Not in this case. Because the more he thinks about it, the worse the idea that he’d be wrong feels. And he shouldn’t be so self-centered, but… but…! 

He swallows heavily, before croaking a “Yes?” with hurting lungs.

“I know what being friends with you is like. I treasure that. But I want to be something different to you, too. On top of-- no, next to that. I want both.”

Izuku takes a slow breath, followed by a second, and a third.

“Okay.”

“You get it?” With fingers tugging lightly at Izuku’s sleeves as Shouto rubs the hems between his thumb and pointer finger restlessly, Shouto sounds calm even though his hands are trembling, and just a bit too cold, too hot. “I'm in love with you, Midoriya. I know I am. Do you?”

Closing his eyes hard when his sight goes slightly blurry, Izuku tilts his head back a little and bites into his lower lip as he hums his acknowledgment that yes, he actually does get it this time.

He knows.

“Good.” Even though there's a finality to the way he says it, Shouto doesn't make any move to leave. The silence stretches out until Izuku can't hold back a sniffle and Shouto lifts his head while mumbling a low “It's pretty cold, isn't it? We--” only to fall quiet and Izuku assumes it's because he finally noticed just how scrunched up his face is with the effort of trying not to projectile himself into outer space with his tears. If he gives them as much as a brief moment he can definitely kiss his dreams of becoming a hero goodbye and instead aim for an extraterrestrial career in globe-circling. He could go to the moon and back with that analogue but only because his brain is running at inhuman speed, making Shouto’s voice sound distant even though he's so close.

“... are you in pain? Kirishima didn't go easy on you during battle traini--”

“No!” He wheezes, not realizing he'd been holding his breath too until he tries to speak. “No, no, no, I'm-- I mean, he didn't, but that's a good thing and I'm not hurt!”

He's pretty sure, actually, that Eijirou had purposefully tried to get him to go harder just to blow off steam. It's the kind of thing that generally speaking probably works better for Eijirou himself, or Katsuki, or even Shouto, but it'd been pretty nice this time. Maybe even the reason Izuku could approach Shouto after school at all.

“Then why are you…” He pauses briefly. “... making that face?”

Sometimes, just sometimes, Shouto’s blunt obliviousness is a curse and a blessing at the same time to the point where Izuku genuinely has no idea how to react to it.

Especially not when already bursting.

“Because-- jeez.” He takes a deep breath. “Because I'm happy.”

“... you are?”

“Yes. Yes! Yeah! I'm-- you know--” Shouto wouldn't know. Probably not even if Izuku told. Izuku barely knows, himself. “-- I was worried about a ton of things and I couldn't understand what you felt, and what I felt about that and-- and everything, and it was--” Scary. “-- but I'm… happy. More than I thought I was. I'm so happy.”

“Okay.” Shouto sounds a little apprehensive and Izuku rubs at his eyes with his sleeves, clearing his throat.

“Because, you-- I'm-- with you. I mean, in love with-- I don't know. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it so I didn't know what to make of anything, and I was confused and going in circles but… but at the end of the day, I want you. Ah--um, to be with… with me. I want you to be with me. I want to be with you. So... So that's why I'm happy, and trying not to cry. I'm not in pain. Or maybe a little, actually, from being so happy I'm kind of exploding. But that's, you know. Nice.” He peeks up over his hands at Shouto with a loud sniffle and whatever he'd expected, the wide-eyed look of shock he gets beats it. “It's nice.”

Meeting Shouto’s eyes for what feels like an eternity he isn't the one who looks away first. Shouto’s gaze bounces off and away and Izuku isn't sure what it flickers between but he does see the flush spreading over his left side much faster than his right. He recovers faster than Izuku would've by far, if he’d suddenly gotten this kind of bomb dropped on him after a week and a half of nothing. 

When he looks back at Izuku a smile that's wider than any Izuku has ever seen from him starts tugging at the corners of his mouth, and Izuku is pretty sure his heart stops - at least for a bit.

“Yeah. That's nice.”

Hearing the soft shiver to his voice, Izuku can't help but smile, too.

“That took way too fucking long. You're a piece of shit, Deku.”

He has no idea how Katsuki, sitting in one of the dorm couches and pushing Denki off of him and having him tumble to the floor, can tell but he obviously does - the very second Izuku and Shouto shuffle into the common area on their way to the elevators not more than 30-40 minutes after everyone else, tops. Because as soon as Izuku had gotten his tear ducts under control, he and Shouto had walked the five minutes from the main building to the dorms in silence and that's how they'd entered their class’ building too.

At most, they'd been just close enough to each other for their arms to brush against each other lightly.

“It's only twenty past five, you know.” Shouto says in a tired kind of monotone after checking his phone.

“Not--” Katsuki groans, throws himself back against the backrest of the sofa and slides down slightly, enough to put his feet up on the table in front of it. “-- I meant since last week, dumbass.”

“Oh.”

Denki, sitting on the floor after tugging himself up with a grip of Katsuki’s knee, stares at them with a look intense enough for Izuku to practically hear the gears moving in his head before he sits up straighter with a loud “Hah!” that has Izuku jump even though he sort of could see it coming.

“... you knew?” He squeaks, his entire body but especially his vocal cords tensed up, and Denki rolls his eyes.

“I've been wondering how the heck you didn't.” A clear hint of dryness laces his voice as he crawls back up into the sofa and Izuku has no idea what to say to that except mimicking Shouto’s earlier ‘Oh.’. “So that’s why you almost drowned?” 

“What?”

“What?”

Izuku echoes just behind Shouto who turns to him with a questioning look on his face but Denki interrupts him before he has the time to ask anything, and Izuku is fairly grateful for that.

“Well, better late than never, right?” He nudges at Katsuki who rolls his eyes. “Right?”

“Whatever, I don’t give a fuck.”

“You totally do.” There’s a sing-songy tone to Denki’s voice that’s more than able to equal to a death wish if used in Katsuki’s presence, especially at him. But then again, Denki never was afraid of Katsuki, not even for a single moment. “What happened last week? You did something, didn’t you.”

“No.”

“You said it took way too long. From then. Specifically.”

“So?”

“Obviously, you’re involved since you know that. Duh.”

“‘Duh’ your ass, if I said I wasn’t then I fucking wasn’t, alright?!”

“Oh, I confessed to him.” Shouto says lightly and Denki chokes on nothing, coughing violently.

“What!?” He forces the words out way before he’s recovered enough to be able to speak fluently. “You’re... going for... Bakugou... too!?”

“No, no!” Izuku feels the need to intervene, because Shouto is about as good at explaining things like these as he is at reading the atmosphere. “It was to me, technically, because Kacchan was pretending to be me, so, uh… yeah.”

Denki finally stops coughing, leaning across Katsuki towards Izuku and Shouto.

“Good, because there’s no way I’d be able to compete against the resident talented, nice guy, pretty boy!”

“Why the actual fuck are you assuming I’d fall for his dumb ass?” Katsuki growls. “He thought the best way to confess to me was to full-body tackle me against the wall.”

“Hmm? Wait, but that’s how I--”

Katsuki wraps his arm around Denki to push his palm into his face, attempting and succeeding to muffle him silent mid-sentence while raising his voice loud enough for Izuku to wince slightly.

“Shut up, whatever, I don’t want him!”

“I told you, I thought it was love confessions in general.” Shouto, however, speaks calmly as he scoffs, shifting where he stands next to Izuku - it puts him closer, close enough that their arms press together and Izuku doesn’t move away. Mostly because he’s absolutely flabbergasted by the entire conversation, granted, but also because it has his heart speed up in a way that has him go pleasantly warm. “I sure don’t want you either. He’s all yours, Kaminari.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah…” Denki wrestles Katsuki’s hand away, with effort considerable enough to have him stutter. “... w-well, he su-sure is-- okay, okay stop, st-stop that already, leave my f-face alone, oh my fricking--”

Katsuki, belatedly, freezes before going beet red in the blink of an eye.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘sure is’!? Is your brain actually fried?!”

“No.” Denki, able to free himself with Katsuki’s shock hitting as hard as it does, snickers while turning towards him and straddling his stomach. “But hearing you pretended to be Midoriya for Todoroki to practice confessing to him may actually be my ultimate demise. That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever--”

“Finish that sentence and it will be your ultimate demise!” 

His palms spark loudly as if to match the insult and Denki snorts, flicking his forehead.

“So, just for the record, when you said you didn’t want a love confession from me, he’s the one you wanted one from?” Shouto asks like he’s asking about the weather forecast. Izuku isn’t sure if Shouto does it on purpose or not, but since Katsuki sure can bring the sassiest parts out of him it’s quite likely Shouto is fully aware of just how annoying that question would be to him.

“Shut up, half-- half--” Spitting the words out, Katsuki’s trying to worm himself out from under Denki. “--ass -- would you get the fuck off?!”

Izuku hadn’t thought about that, but Katsuki had specified it like that at the time, hadn’t he?

Though, if Denki had thought Izuku and Shouto were obvious in any way at all, then Denki had to be the very definition of it - and he’s been clearly aiming for Katsuki for quite a long time, too. There’s no way Katsuki wouldn’t have already gotten that confession. 

Over and over.

“Anyway, congrats Midoriya, Todoroki!” Denki, using the fact that Katsuki has no good leverage to put power behind his squirming because he’d slid down the seat of the couch, grins at Izuku and Shouto. “Nice, good going! Amazing, even!”

“Um… thanks.” Izuku lifts his hand to tug lightly at Shouto’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”

“Mhm.”

Shouto follows easily as Izuku heads off and Denki and Katsuki’s bickering is loud enough to follow them all the way into the elevator, making Izuku release a long breath only after they reach his floor.

“Jeez.” The doors slide open, and when Izuku moves to leave he notices Shouto stays behind. “Oh, you’re staying?”

Tilting his head slightly, Shouto hums thoughtfully before answering.

“My room’s not on this floor.”

Izuku swings a leg in between the doors as they move to close, the sensors catching it and instantly making them open back up again.

“I know, I know, but I thought that… that, uh…” He realizes he hadn’t asked or anything, and Shouto hadn’t said anything to allude to that at all either, but he’d just assumed they’d stick together during the evening and it has his face heat up enough for him to instinctively press his hands to his cheeks to try and cool them down. “... I don’t know, I just thought we’d hang out. Or something.”

“Ooh.”

He sounds like the thought just occurred to him and it makes Izuku’s face burn even hotter.

“I don’t know, it’s not like we said anything about that, so-- woah--”

Obediently twirling around as Shouto promptly steps up to him, grabs him by the shoulders and turns him, he doesn’t resist when Shouto leads him down the corridor towards his room even though he instinctively goes “Huh, wait, what--”and as Shouto replies he does it in a low voice, close enough to his ear to make him shiver.

“Let’s.”

It’s unfair how Shouto makes it seem so easy - unfair, but nice, and he’s grateful. It’s something that he’ll surely only be more and more grateful for down the road, and honestly? He can’t wait. 

He’s on top of the world, and yet, he can only go higher from here.

Softly putting a hand over Shouto’s warm one on his left shoulder as he opens the door to his room, he smiles.