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Originally, Shoto Todoroki was just a friend of a friend… of a friend at a party.
A party Katsuki Bakugou didn’t even want to go to, if not for Eijirou and Denki practically dragging him out of his dorm. Well, their dorm, he guesses, it’s a triple.
Katsuki’s eyes flit around the room, chockfull of extras he really could not care less about. Nobody interesting, nobody new.
The same familiar faces of his university, there’s Deku and the brunette girl he’s seeing, plus Shitty Hair’s girlfriend and Sparky’s weird pot-smoking boyfriend with their respective partners, who just so happen to be near Katsuki.
Katsuki groans, “Why the fuck did I let you drag me here, Shitty Hair?” he complains but Kirishima just rolls his eyes and laughs.
Katsuki scowls, eyes prowling the apartment in search of a drink. “What, is this a dry fucking party or what?”
Shinsou (man fuck this guy, Bakugou thinks to himself) speaks, snarky, “Jesus Bakugou, look the other way, there’s a keg,” he points, “Hey if drunk you’s more sufferable than right now, I won’t tug your arm to be sober.”
“Ha?” Katsuki’s eye twitches, “Sparky, get this fucker out of my face before I beat his ass!” he yells at Denki who just pulls Shinsou over to him.
Shinsou wraps his arms around his boyfriend and turns away. Katsuki feels slighted.
Mina laughs, “C’mon Babe, let’s get Blasty something to drink,” she tugs at her boyfriend and grabs Katsuki’s arm too, for good measure. He begrudgingly lets her.
“Shots shots shots!” she chants and Katsuki laughs, despite himself.
With a red cup in his hand, after Mina’s pout about there not being shots, Katsuki’s eyes again span across the room.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spots him. A man so striking it made Katsuki’s eyes pause and his heart stutter.
Dual-toned hair, white on one side and red on the other, with beautifully mismatched eyes that felt like they could probably see into Katsuki if they tried. And dressed so beautifully, with a lean waist Katsuki wants to grab and an expanse of revealed pale skin over his neck and collarbone that Katsuki wants to bite.
Katsuki turns toward him, only notes his name because it’s written in Sharpie on the guy’s cup. What a nerd. A cute one though, Katsuki thinks.
“Mommy taught you to write your name on what’s yours?” he teases, “Now you're something I'd like to put my name on.”
Shouto, courtesy of the Sharpie, looks up, startled. His pretty dual colored eyes widen and Katsuki steps closer.
“There was a Sharpie,” Shouto says but it sounds more like a question.
Katsuki laughs, “I’m sure, pretty boy.” Shouto’s cheeks flush slightly and Katsuki grins, “You new here, never seen ya before.”
Shouto looks defensive, “Well, you just uh don’t remember me.”
Katsuki clicks his tongue, leaning in to meet Shouto’s eyes at the shorter boy’s height, “Right, well. I think I’d remember you, princess.”
Katsuki downs the last of the Bacardi in his cup, setting it on the table behind him.
He watches Shouto stutter, “Well, it’s my brother’s apartment. I don’t go here,” Shouto finally says.
“Ha?” Katsuki grins, “So this is your brother’s apartment. I never know who throws these things.”
Really, Katsuki only noticed Shouto because they ended up right next to each other and he sang the wrong words way too loud to Katsuki’s favorite song.
Katsuki, ever the nickpicker, calls him out, “Halfie, you ain’t even close with those lyrics,” he teases, his chin falling to rest on Shouto’s shoulder from behind, breath tickling Shouto’s ear.
Shouto jumps, “My bad.”
God, why is this guy so fucking deadpan? Can’t he get that Katsuki’s flirting with him? Fine. Katsuki will make him get it.
“Don’t worry about it, princess. How about I get you another drink?”
Shouto’s ears flush pink at the tips. Gotcha, Katsuki thinks to himself with a grin.
But really, who would have known it would start with three drinks at 2 AM?
One rather weird, but rather on brand for Katsuki Bakugou, version of ‘Hey, nice to meet you.’
Then, “What you got goin’ on later?” Katsuki’s asking, rather polite for how rude the man can be.
His friends are dumbfounded, safe to say. But Shouto’s eyes are on Katsuki and he’s letting the blonde grab his waist and Katsuki is pleased.
Later, Katsuki wonders: How was Shouto ever a stranger?
They said those three words awfully fast, considering Shouto was just someone one month back.
Now loving him’s second nature, Katsuki can’t fathom how his pretty, pretty Shouto was ever a stranger.
Shouto smiles at his boyfriend, plopped in his lap at Katsuki’s friends’ movie night. He leans into his boyfriend’s rough, yet gentle, touch. How’d Shouto ever look at the blonde and not see it? That Katsuki would be the one that he’d trust with his secrets.
If someone had told Shouto that, that weekend, he wouldn’t have even believed it.
“Here, princess,” the spiky haired blonde, the handsome tall blonde, that Shouto still doesn’t know’s name, hands him another drink.
Shouto flushes. He doesn’t know why he’s so flustered when the man calls him that, but he thinks he likes it. He’s so awkward, no guy’s ever hit on him, especially not one like this man.
It had taken the promise of soba tomorrow for Natsuo to convince Shouto to even attend the college party his brother was throwing. Natsuo’s in his last year of university, along with all his friends and most of the people at this party.
Shouto’s just turned 19, but he goes to the fashion school, closer to downtown.
Shouto wonders how old the brash blonde is.
At 2 AM, here’s three drinks in Shouto’s system and he’s just drunk enough to pull Katsuki Bakugou (he finally asked his name) onto the dance floor.
Shouto loves Katsuki’s rough, callused palms all over him. He doesn’t even care when Natsuo-nii spots them and gives Shouto a look.
“Some extra’s giving me a death stare,” Katsuki murmurs, nipping at Shouto's neck.
Shouto lets out a little whine, despite himself, then chokes out the words: “It’s just my brother, ignore him.”
Katsuki laughs, meanly, “So sensitive, princess.” Shouto glares at him.
Katsuki pulls Shouto over to meet his friends and there’s so many of them. They all seem shocked at the way that Katsuki’s hanging onto Shouto, hugging him from behind and just encompassing him.
They say things that make it seem like Katsuki’s rather brash and blunt.
Shouto doesn’t really get why, the man was rather nice to him. Very nice, actually, plus Shouto thinks the angry thing is kind of adorable, if he’s honest.
The morning after the party, Shouto informs Natsuo, very seriously, “I like the blonde.”
Natsuo’s face shifts to a grimace, “Sho, no. You do not want to date Bakugou. He’s an asshole.”
Shouto pouts, “But Nii-San,” he whines, “I love him.”
“God help me,” Natuso’s features contort at that, “Fine okay. Just, don’t say that. To him or to anyone else. There’s timing with these things.”
Shouto waited a month before he said it.
To be fair, Natsuo Todoroki did not specify how long the timing was. Shouto, unfortunately, is a very literal person.
Thankfully, Katsuki Bakugou just wrapped his arms around the dual-colored man and kissed him, saying those three words back.
Loving Katsuki feels like second nature to Shouto. How was Katsuki ever a stranger?
Katsuki presses a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple, only half watching the movie that Denki is whining about dramatically to their friends.
It’s a good, big gathering. Katsuki finds he likes it, that he can interact with his friends but also, nobody notices if he and Shouto are quiet and just soak up each other for a little while. Well, Shitty Hair would disagree, he says Katsuki’s always loud and everyone notices when he’s quiet.
Katsuki hates him, or so he tells Shouto. No he doesn’t, Shouto reminds him, Eijirou’s his best friend. Shouto’s right.
He glances over to Eijirou and Mina. Eijirou just bought a ring, Katsuki knows. Mina’s going to freak. In a good way.
Katsuki looks back to his boyfriend, curled up in Katsuki's lap. Katsuki’s hands slip to wrap around Shouto and tug him even closer.
Katsuki never predicted him and Shouto getting this close. Honestly he’s never been anywhere close to mad about it though.
All of his emotions under the microscope, there’s not a part of Katsuki Bakugou that Shouto Todoroki doesn’t know.
Except maybe that Katsuki wants to buy a ring, just one month in.
A ring for that friend of a friend of a friend at a party. Or, more accurately. A friend of a friend’s brother. Brother of a friend of a friend?
Katsuki doesn’t know, but loving Shouto is second nature to him now and he can’t believe Shouto was ever a stranger.