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Shouto’s never minded being a beta, no matter anyone else’s opinion.
Gender designations seemed minor compared to quirks, which truly determined your place in life. Being a scentless, neutral beta seemed a lot better than all the issues he saw his alpha siblings deal with.
Being a beta even had its particular perks, at least when it came to the heavy pheromones his father left all over the house. His mother called Shouto a blessing—at least until Endeavor took her away—and often pressed her face to his hair whenever Endeavor’s smell got too intense.
Shouto didn’t realize his habit of neutralizing pheromones was considered rude until he got to U.A. and Bakugou started shouting at him in the middle of a training session. Apparently everyone else considered him too intimidating to bring it up.
So Shouto adjusts, learns to suppress his neutralizing pheromones except in rescue situations where it’s needed to prevent alpha or omega civilians from getting too agitated. Shouto continues using his pheromones when he visits his father, even though Endeavor doesn’t seem to care or even notice.
Ironically, even though Bakugou is the first person to tell Shouto to stop using his pheromones, he’s also the first to request Shouto use them to help his personal life.
“Look, when I tell you his scent is bad, I mean it. Stupid nerd came back from his mission all fucked up. So don’t be surprised when you walk in.”
“I’m sure I can handle it,” Shouto says mildly. He’s always thought Bakugou was a little dramatic, and this doesn’t seem any different. How bad could Izuku’s scent truly be? Logically, even if an alpha or omega’s scent changes due to stress, the base smell stays the same. Shouto can’t imagine how Izuku’s apple scent could ever be anything but pleasant.
Bakugou looks annoyed, and mutters some curse words under his breath before unlocking and opening the door to his and Izuku’s shared apartment. Shouto follows him inside, shuts the door behind them, and promptly starts sneezing. The smell is a mix of an obvious overuse of air fresheners that have been completely overpowered by a mix of apple spice. Heavy on the spice.
Bakugou hands Shouto a tissue from a tower of boxes they’ve got stacked right beside the door. He looks annoyingly smug.
“Oh no,” Izuku says, standing in front of them in the entryway with his hands held awkwardly in the air. He’s frozen in indecision, obviously wanting to help but knowing he’ll only make it worse, until Bakugou starts to shoo him away. “Bless you!” he calls as he retreats further into the apartment.
“Told you it was bad.”
“You said his scent was bad, not that it would give me an allergy attack,” Shouto manages once he’s able to breathe again. “You know I can’t clear this out in one visit, right? I don’t have time to come here every day with work as busy as it is right now.”
Bakugou looks away from him awkwardly. “Well, you could always just stay here. At least for now.”
Shouto’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Bakugou’s dislike of having people at his and Izuku’s home is infamous, especially after the time he kicked out a drunk Kirishima who tried to pass out on their couch after a night out. Mina still gets pissed over it, especially since she was the one he called at 3am to pick him up.
Bakugou coughs into his hand, ears going pink. “Stop looking at me like that and go ask Izuku about it. It was his shitty idea anyway.”
“Kacchan’s lying!” Izuku yells, and Bakugou stomps into their kitchen instead of arguing back.
Shouto walks into the living room to find Izuku on the couch, a thick-looking pair of scent-suppressing patches on his neck.
“You shouldn’t have to wear those in your own house,” Shouto frowns. “I already promised to help.”
“Ah, it’s okay! They’re not too bad, I barely even notice them!” Izuku awkwardly laughs and scratches the back of his neck, a sure fire sign he’s lying.
Shouto sighs and plops down beside Izuku on the couch before leaning forward to peel the patches off himself. Izuku’s face goes bright red, and his scent flows out even headier than before, but Shouto’s prepared this time. He lets his own pheromones out, combating the heavy smell in the air to something more neutral. Izuku relaxes in relief.
“We knew you could help, Shouto. You have the strongest pheromones of any beta we’ve ever met. Not that we expect you to do this forever!” Izuku corrects, face blushing scarlet all over again. “The doctor said my scent should probably adjust back to normal in a couple weeks. I just overextended myself a little on my last mission.”
“You do that a lot,” Shouto comments.
Izuku stares at his hands, clenching them into fists. “Well, I don’t know how much longer I have as a hero before my embers burn out, you know? I feel like I have to give my all while I can.”
“Like you didn’t do that before too,” Bakugou scoffs, walking in with three cups of tea perfectly balanced in his hands. Shouto takes it gratefully, enjoying the warmth in his hands and the sweetness on his tongue. Now that Izuku’s smell has calmed a bit, it actually pairs nicely with the taste of chai.
“So should I consider this our first date?” Shouto asks, and both Izuku and Bakugou choke on their drinks.
“W-why would you ask that?” Izuku sputters, his voice going tellingly high at the end.
“There are other ways to neutralize pheromones that don’t include asking your beta friend to move in.” Shouto takes another sip of his tea. “Aren’t alphas supposed to be territorial of their home spaces? Neither of you would ask anyone to move in, even temporarily, unless you were serious about them.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Bakugou mutters into his hands.
Izuku puts his hand on Shouto’s knee, drawing his attention back to him. “Shouto, um, did you know before now? How we feel about you?” He laughs, though it sounds a little choked. “To tell you the truth, we’ve been trying to date you for a while, but it didn’t really seem like you realized.”
Shouto blinks, confused.
Izuku groans. “I told you Kacchan. What did I tell you? I told you we needed to be more straightforward.”
“We took him to a fucking ice skating rink and a dinner at that fancy-ass restaurant that cost me three paychecks! How much more straightforward could we have been?!”
“... That was a date?” Shouto asks.
Bakugou lets loose a near-inhuman noise of frustration, tell-tale sparks lighting at his palms.
“That’s not important now. What’s important is how you feel, Shouto. Do you–”
“I’d like to date you as well. Both of you,” Shouto answers, smiling a bit when Bakugou’s quirk immediately extinguishes itself. “I do think I should still spend my weekends at home for now, though. Fuyumi will worry.”
Izuku immediately envelops him in a crushing hug. “That’s fine, that’s completely fine! You have no idea how long we’ve been trying to get you to realize how we feel, I mean Kacchan’s been getting so pouty lately–”
“Hey!”
“He even went ahead and bought your favorite soba noodles before he even asked you about this!”
Shouto laughs and pulls out of Izuku’s hug. Izuku’s grinning now, one of Shouto’s favorite sights. The smell of apple spice gets stronger, and Shouto can feel a tickle in his nose.
Bakugou reaches and pulls Shouto towards him, obviously aiming for a rough hug of his own. Shouto’s eyes widen as he realizes but isn’t fast enough to warn Bakugou before he sneezes directly in his face.
Years later, it’s still Izuku’s favorite story to tell.