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Shouto is beyond done with Valentine’s Day. He’s tired of putting on a kind smile every time he’s handed some letter, chocolate, or small notes, he can’t do it. Maybe he’d be less bothered and drained and done if the only person he wants a valentine from had given him one.
But he can’t be surprised. Katsuki Bakugou wouldn’t be caught dead handing out a valentine, much less to his publicly declared rival.
“Uh, S-S-Sho-Shouto, I-um-I- here.” squeaks a young girl as she bends at the waist, holding out a small, pink envelope with a heart sticker.
“Ah, thank you. But I’d like to tell you that I am interested in someone else. I don’t want you to waste a valentine on an uninterested person.” says Shouto, voice monotone as he repeats the same response for the seventh time.
He starts to slump in his desk as the girl straightens up and looks at him with wide eyes that bounce from his valentine covered desk to his face and back.
“Uh, b-but y-you a-and th-tho-those.” stutters the girl.
“They ignored my response, said I was just saying that because they came in duos: it’s up to you, but I have someone in mind.” replies Shouto tiredly as he looks away from her.
“O-oh, well I-I’ll t-ta-take m-mine b-back th-then. Go-goo-good l-luck!”
Shouto smiles lightly at the stuttered response, watching her leave so he can instantly aloud with a huff.
“You’re really popular on Valentine’s Day, huh Shouto? How many gifts did you get?” asks His teacher with a teasing tone as he inches his way out from behind his desk.
“Not cool, Sensei, not cool.” huffs Shouto with a pout.
“And your response isn’t working. Guess you’ll have to deal with it until you can hide in your dorm… oh wait-" adds Shota with his own mini chuckle. “I’m just teasing, I know it can be annoying when you want one person.”
“Sensei!” whines Shouto as he nudged the valentines forward so he can fold his arms on his desk without making a mess of them. “Go back to sleep, stop teasing meee. I should’ve known they’d freakin’ follow me during lunch.”
His head drops after Sensei inches back to his spot with a soft look about him. Shouto is so done. He closes his eyes, tired of it all, but he knows he can’t sleep yet. Shoot’s head almost whips up at the sound of the class door opening, but he’s comfortable despite the worry about it being another person with a valentine crawling up his arms, nope. He relaxes again and melts, but then he has to force himself to stay relaxed because he feels something drop on his arm.
Shouto thinks he heard something being said, but the blood is rushing through his ears. He does feel something brush against his head, barely there, but it’s warm. Then it’s gone, and Shouto’s curiosity has him tilting his head back to peek. But all he sees is the door shutting behind whoever it was. His eyes find a cream envelope laying partially on his arm, and there’s some sort of smell. But even more than the sweet smell, there’s something about the curve of his name, the way the s almost looks like an afterthought. Shouto has this undeniable urge to open it, but the door opens again as his classmates pile in, chattering, squealing, and cheering.
“Go to your dorms, I cannot deal with your excitement, not after last night. Go on, class canceled, disperse. I’m goin back to sleep, so stay outta trouble!” calls Shota in a gruff tone that startled everyone momentarily.
Shouto’s eyes haven’t left that envelope.
“Shouto, you comin’? Toshi and I want to hang out with you in his room!” calls Izuku, snapping him out of his trance.
“Ah, coming Zuku!” replies Shouto with a soft smile as he stands.
He grabs his bag, subtly shoving the intriguing valentine in through the opened spot. He zips it shut, swings his bag over his shoulder, and gathers up the other Valentines he received. Shouto makes the split decision to dump them into the garbage can on his way out the door.
“Let’s go-" starts Hitoshi quietly before pops of explosions cut him off.
“Dang it, Kaachan.” huffs Izuku with a fond eye roll.
“Why is Blasty huffy?” asks Hitoshi as they follow Izuku out of the main building.
“Probably one of his friends. The squad stayed behind with him.” replies Izuku as they head towards the dorms.
Shouto stops at that and groans, “Oh, I might’ve messed up.”
“Shouto?” asks Izuku in a questioning tone.
“Shouto, what’d you do?” asks Hitoshi in amusement.
“I think Katsuki might’ve given me a Valentine, and I threw the other ones away.” huffs Shouto as he pulls his bag around to pull that envelope back out, smiling when he presents it to them only to see confusion. “I threw the others away in front of him, but I kept the one he “potentially” gave me. He doesn’t know I kept it.”
Shouto watches the connection be made, t hen Izuku immediately leans forward to sniff the envelope.
“Yep, smells like Kaachan’s nitroglycerin! I’m so glad he listened to Eiji and me. But he definitely thinks you rejected him, so we have to fix that soon.” says Izuku in a thoughtful ramble.
“Alright, I need to read it. Then I’ll have to explain myself.” grumbles Shouto to himself as he holds the envelope closer to his face.
“Let’s go over there, so you can read it, and we can figure out a plan.” offers Hitoshi softly, pointing to a nicely shaded area.
It’s just a few meters away and seems mostly unbothered.
As soon as Shouto plops down, he’s carefully opening the envelope and gingerly extracting the content(s). Sure enough, there’s a folded piece of paper and what looks to be candy cane and shortcake charms on a blue lanyard.
“Awe, those are cute. Here, give us your keys. We’ll hook them together while you read. Feel free to read aloud if you want to.” says Izuku softly as he takes the offered lanyard.
“Huh, Blasty can be sweet.” chuckles Hitoshi as he takes the keys dangling from Shouto’s finger.
“Icy-hot, damn.
I already screwed up. Whatever, I was gonna sign it anyway. Look you half n half bastard, you won’t leave my damn mind, and I hate seeing those stupid extras flirting with you. Ignoring your stupid boundaries is an extra move, so forget about them and focus on me dammit. Be mine or be blasted shortcake.
~Blasty Katsuki”
Shouto is actually speechless, it’s such a Katsuki note. He’s not even surprised, but also, the feelings are reciprocated?! What the fuck??!!
“Oh, wow, well, we’ve got to fix this now. You need to get your man, Shouto.” says Hitoshi with a dangerous look in his eye.
“He won’t let you near him, nor will the squad, unless you prove to him that you saved the gift. It’ll be hard to get him alone to explain, let alone to even get his attention.” rambles Izuku as he hands over the lanyard.
“Don’t worry. This, I think I can handle myself. You two can go ahead. I’ll let you know how it goes.” replies Shouto as he lays the lanyard and letter on the envelope laying on his bag and pulls out his phone.
Katsuki 🧡
Shouto takes a deep breath as he stares at Katsuki’s messages, then he types.
“What are you going to do?” asks Izuku lightly, curious.
“Tell me you’re not confessing anything romantic over the phone. I know you have a valentine of your own in the dorms for him with spicy chocolates.” says Hitoshi quietly as he calls him out.
“Oh shush. I’ll be giving him my letter and the chocolates. But I have to get him to come to the dorms a little happier, so he won’t blow my letter up. Hence my message. He doesn’t back down from a challenge.” replies Shouto with a shit-eating grin as he turns his phone to them.
‘Your valentine is cute, can’t lie there, but I’m pretty confident mine is better. See you at the dorms, but drop your stuff off first, it’s two parts.’
Izuku and Hitoshi share a look before Hitoshi presses send.
Attached to the message already was a picture of Katsuki’s valentine on Shouto’s bag, opened and put to use.
“Let’s run, he’s probably going to blast to the dorm when he sees that. And you have to-" starts Izuku excitedly bouncing up.
“Slipped it into his room before I left this morning. It’s why I ran late. Hanta helped me by leaving the door cracked. I taped it under his calendar.” replies Shouto with a smirk as he carefully slips the letter into its envelope and zips his bag shut as his phone lights up.
‘Fuck off, half n half. You can’t beat me at shit. Even this. And I’ll prove it. Your room, an hour, and tell those dweebs to stop reading our messages or I’ll explode 'em into next year.’
Shouto laughs at their offended looks as he searches for his potential boyfriend, maybe.
When his heterochromatic eyes land on him, there’s a sweet smirk, focused red eyes on him, and then Katsuki Bakugou winks at him. Shouto’s face immediately turns red, and he has to look away, covering his face with his hands. He’s mentally squealing.
“Your phone is lighting up again.” says Izuku, sounding like he’s pouting.
“Want me to read it, blushy?” asks Hitoshi in a light, teasing tone.
Shouto groans as he lets one hand grab his phone, then he leans forward slightly to look at it.
Three messages from him...
Katsuki 🧡
‘You look like a strawberry shortcake when you blush, ya know?’
‘Hey, why’d you take away my view? Fucking cute.’
‘Alright, I’ll leave you alone for now. But move your ass Shocake, less than an hour. See you soon, icy-hot.’
His head darts up and immediately his eyes find a Katsuki waving, self-satisfied smirk, and mini explosions, before he starts to walk towards the dorm.
“He-I-Uh… I’ll ask- no big deal.” mumbles Shouto as he looks back to his phone.
‘Can I maybe walk with you-'
Shouto erases the message after contemplating it for who knows how long as Hitoshi and Izuku mumble to themselves.
“Let’s go to the dorm. I can message when it’s all said and done, but I’ll probably be doing homework after.” says Shouto as he pushes himself up.
He’s moving to swing his bag onto his shoulder as his friends look at him with scarily similar smirks. His bag is tugged, and Shouto instantly pouts at the action, he cannot deal with another valentine.
“Come on, Shouto, hurry your ass up.” comes a gruff voice that freezes him.
He turns to look at him, surprised. Katsuki Bakugou is swinging his bag onto his shoulder as his own is gripped at his side, and he’s smirking.
“Wh-what are you-" starts Shouto before he simply shakes his head. “I can carry my own bag, Bakugo.”
“Katsuki, and I’m carrying your bag. Don’t make me carry you as well.” threatens Katsuki with narrowed red orbs.
“You- Nope, not today. Let’s just go. Dunno why you’d bother walking all the way back here for nothing.” mumbles Shouto as he shakes his head.
“Shouto, why are you pouting? I decided I wanted to walk with you, so I came back. You want to fix that pout?” says Katsuki as he nudges Shouto lightly.
“Not pouting, just confused.” replies Shouto blankly, mentally arguing with himself about not just sending that message. “Uh, we should hurry back. I know Kirishima wants your help studying for the math test.”
Katsuki smiles, genuinely smiles before twisting it to a scowl, but Shouto sees it, sees the red-tipped ear, and he ducks his head to smile as they fall into step together.
It’s a quiet walk, with their hands brushing before they both shove them into pockets, and Shouto keeps sneaking glances at Katsuki, not noticing him doing the same. Getting into the dorm and the elevator together is easy enough as they ignore the small groups in the common area.
“Here, you need to go to your room. I can make it to mine just fine. Ah, I appreciate you being sweet, trust me, but I need you to go to your room first.” says Shouto as he pushes the button for Katsuki’s floor.
“Fuckin’ fine, but I’m coming up after I drop my bag off.” huffs Katsuki as he lets Shouto take his bag.
“Check your calendar first, it’ll make sense, just do it. Don’t argue.” replies Shouto as he nudged Katsuki towards the open doors.
“Shithead. I’ll check my damn calendar, but I checked it this morning. Nothing’s fuckin changed.” growls Katsuki as he looks at him from outside the elevator.
“That’s what you think, see you soon, Katsuki.” replies Shouto as he presses the button to close the doors.
He winks at Katsuki with a small grin.
Shouto is blessed with the sight of wide red eyes and a deep flush settling over pale skin. Then he bangs his head against closed elevator doors because what was that wink?! Shouto is beyond embarrassed, even if it was worth it to see Katsuki flustered and caught off guard. He is quick to exit the elevator on his floor, briskly moving down the hall to his room, which sits directly above Katsuki’s. He'd just sat down on the floor in front of his bed, mind screaming about everything that’s happened, when there’s a knock on his door.
“It’s unlocked, come in!” calls Shouto distractedly as he lays his head back on his bed.
“You idiot half n half prick. Of course, you can be mine! You read my damn thing! And when did you get this into my room?” rants Katsuki as soon as the door shuts, coming over to stand in front of Shouto and lean over him.
“Before classes this morning. Hanta helped.” replies Shouto slowly as he takes in how close their faces are, Katsuki’s hands on either side of his face.
“Elbows helped? Huh, alright, I won’t kill him for his sticky arms. Why are you on the floor?” asks Katsuki, biting back curses at how pretty this asshole looks this close up.
“I was-uh- processing. Why is your face all scowly?” asks Shouto as he tilts his head to the side.
“Because you’re fucking pretty, dammit!” curses Katsuki as he straightens up, hands popping.
“Katsuki, come back here.” huffs Shouto as his cool hand grips a wrist, he pulls him down again. “You need your other part, dummy.”
“Who are you calling a dummy?” grumbles Katsuki as he lets himself be guided into a sitting position on Shouto’s bed.
Shouto stands and walks over to his refrigerator, opening it as he pulls out a grenade styled box.
He takes a deep breath as he shuts the door and goes to stand in front of Katsuki.
“Part two should be spicy enough for you.” says Shouto lightly as he sets the box onto Katsuki’s lap.
He distracts himself by grabbing his bag and moving to his desk to pull out what he needs to work on in a bit.
“You did a good job, just shy of being overwhelming for the chocolate, but I’m definitely gonna fuckin enjoy all of these to myself. Nice box too, didn’t know they made these.” says Katsuki with a soft tone that sends a fluttery feeling through Shouto.
“I dunno if they do. Took me a while to make it, those folds were awful. Glad you enjoyed it though.” replies Shouto as nonchalantly as he can.
There’s a choked sound that makes Shouto whirl around only to be backed into his desk, both hands gripping the edge as Katsuki crowds him.
“K-Kats-" starts Shouto in a surprised stutter.
“You can call me that when we’re alone, but I gotta ask a question first. Will you be my boyfriend?” asks Katsuki as he cups Shouto’s face with shockingly dry, soft hands.
“Yes, of course I will.” replies Shouto in an awed whisper.
“Good, then you and I are together. We can do something tomorrow, but we have to study tonight. Those damn idiots need help for the math test, but I’ll make cold soba for dinner for you, okay?” asks Katsuki lightly, a grin on his lips that distracts Shouto.
“You are going to be a dangerous distraction.” mumbles Shouto as his eyes dart back up to rubies. “That sounds perfect, Kats.”
“Don’t worry, I’m thinkin’ the same Sho, but you’ll get your fuckin kiss after our first date. I need to go deal with my dumbasses, but I’ll message you when your dinner is done. Mkay baby?” says Katsuki cheekily as he presses their heads together before backing away.
“That was rude, Kats, teasing me even more. You’re evil, pumpkin. But that cold soba will definitely make it better.” teases Shouto even as he puts on a soft pout as Katsuki grabs his box of spicy chocolates.
“You are evil, cupcake, but that’s why I like ya. And you like it when I tease you, but nice pout. I’ll make it up to you when I don’t feel like exploding about all this.” replies Katsuki as he walks over to drop a kiss on his nose.
“I definitely feel like combusting myself. I didn’t see this happening today, but I am so happy it did.” replies Shouto softly, eyes shining.
“I am too, baby, I am too. I’ll see you in a few hours, Sho.” says Katsuki sweetly before he walks to the door.
“See ya in a few hours, Kats.” replies Shouto with a soft smile that doesn’t fade as the door shuts behind Katsuki.
This Valentine's Day couldn’t have gone better. He has a boyfriend and a date! He hopes this smile, this feeling, will never fade.