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Tenya touches him a lot.
Even back when they were in school, it was a constant, whether he was carrying Shouto away from the battlefield or simply slinging a friendly arm around him at the dorm. The most common nowadays is a hand on his shoulder or his back. Sometimes, it’s simply arms brushing against one another. Every time Tenya gets close, even without actually making contact, Shouto feels the same familiar warmth run across his skin as if the touch is there. It’s a warmth that he’s grown very fond of over the years — one that draws him in. He begins to lean into the touches, his body gravitating toward them almost subconsciously.
It doesn’t go unnoticed. Although he’s quite accustomed to Shouto’s social oddities, Tenya does question it the first few times; he watches when Shouto shifts closer to him, wonders if he’s going to ask a question or maybe tell him about something that’s weighing on his mind. He never does, however, so Tenya comes to simply let his touch linger until Shouto moves away.
This goes on until one day when he greets Shouto with a pat on the shoulder that he curls very distinctly into, the motion so fluid that Tenya’s hand naturally slides down his shoulder blade to rest at the small of his back. Shouto looks up at him with eyes big and glassy, and Tenya finds himself clearing his throat.
“Maybe this is a strange question,” he starts carefully, “but I’ve noticed that you tend to… Well…”
Shouto blinks at him and cocks his head just slightly, not unlike a cat.
“I tend to…?”
Tenya swallows a bit dryly. There’s a heat slowly prickling up around his collar.
“Lately, you’ve been getting… Awfully close, I suppose — Not that I mind, of course, not to worry! — but I was wondering if there was something… The matter? I hope you know that you can confide in me if anything is bothering you.”
“Oh.”
Shouto’s gaze wanders up and down the man before him, as if just now processing how close they’re standing. He brings a hand up to Tenya’s bicep, and Tenya’s breath hitches in his throat while he waits for a response.
“I just like being close to you. Is that okay?”
“I— O-of course that’s okay!” Tenya stammers out.
He mashes his lips together, jaw tensed. Shouto is still fixing him with that delicate gaze, eyes full of something that Tenya just can’t decipher.
“Would you… Would you like me to remove my hand, or—”
He doesn’t get to finish that thought, because Shouto leans right in and kisses him. A strangled, helpless sound creaks out from Tenya’s throat as his whole body goes rigid. Shouto pulls back and regards him with a kind of bemused little smile.
“I don’t want you to remove your hand. But I do want to kiss you again.”
Tenya sucks in a sharp breath through his nose, face beet-red.
“… I would like that.”
They meet again in a more measured kiss, slow and gentle and sweet. Tenya takes a firmer hold around Shouto with both hands, and Shouto moves his own to rest lightly on his chest. When Shouto’s tongue peeks out to prod at Tenya’s lower lip, the latter lets out a startled gasp.
“Sorry,” Shouto says, idle fingers fiddling with the seam of Tenya’s shirt. “I got kind of greedy.”
“I-it’s fine,” Tenya manages. “I apologize for… For being so taken aback, but, well, I’m just…”
He licks his lips nervously, grip frozen on Shouto’s waist as if he’s afraid to move.
“Should I take this to mean that you’d like to… Become involved? R-romantically?”
Shouto smiles brightly.
“Yeah, I guess you should.”
He reaches back to cover Tenya’s right hand in his, prying it from his waist to turn it over between both his palms.
“I’ve always liked it when you touch me. It feels… Really familiar. And warm, in a different way from my quirk.”
“… I see,” Tenya says. “If that’s the case, then I will… Make an effort to do so more often. ” He swallows hard as he looks down at his hand cupped in Shouto’s more slender grasp. “Which won’t be too difficult, since I’m… I’m very fond of you, Shouto.”
The reply is a chuckle that makes his heart skip.
“I’m fond of you, too.”
There’s a tentative silence. Tenya clears his throat once more, eyes lowering to Shouto’s lips.
“W… What now, then? D-do you want to stay like this, or should we, I mean— Perhaps we should—”
“This is good. But I might get greedy again.”
Their faces hover closer; Tenya hesitantly turns his head so that their lips just barely brush together.
“I think… I’d like that very much.”