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The last first day of school. Usually, Shoto loves going back to school, no matter how odd that makes him sound because summer break is spoken about like some kind of fairytale land. But he’s just excited to see his friends again and to get away from his dad. Regardless of how excited Shoto is, it is somewhat bittersweet to be in his last year of school. Seeing as he’s not exactly popular, there’s quite a few high school experiences that he “missed out on”, even if he doesn’t really mind.
He’s never been to a proper party, not one with more than say 10 people and certainly not any as intense as the ones Katsuki and Eijiro throw.
He’s never gotten blackout drunk, not that he wants to because he thinks being that drunk especially in front of lots of people is embarrassing.
He’s never failed a class (Shoto has absolutely no idea why people think this is a staple high school experience, but to be fair it was Denki who mentioned this), and he doesn’t intend to.
He’s also never dated anyone. Which, for reasons that Shoto cannot begin to comprehend, absolutely outrages his group. He found out just how seemingly important this was when he was at one of those group sleepovers Ochako and Izuku always organise, that were always at Izuku’s house because Inko is an amazing chef (Shoto in particular loves her “famous mac and cheese”, which is literally just made with the recipe on the back of the macaroni noodles and somehow tastes like heaven). The sleepover was going great, but the realisation that everyone else was much more bothered by his lack of a love life than him first started because Tenya was talking about his breakup with Momo.
“It’s nothing against her or me, we just both decided we were better off as friends.” Tenya explained, adjusting his glasses with a tired smile. Ochako pouts, her lipgloss from earlier in the day now fading.
“But you two were so perfect for eachother! You’re both… smart… and tall!” She complains, before sighing dramatically, “I guess it makes sense though. You two seemed like you were just friends even when you were actually dating.”
That earns a giggle from Izuku and a laugh from Tsuyu. Shoto’s lips curl into a slight smile, and he nods. The joke continues;
“Like Chako and Izuku!” Tsuyu says, a grin on her face. Ochako goes pink and Izuku splutters a little. Shoto lets out a huff of breath that sounds vaguely like a laugh, and Iida chuckles. It’s the usual way of the group, and Shoto is used to this kind of interaction. Then, Izuku asks a question that absolutely hits him out of left field.
“Who do you like, Shoto? Got your eye on anyone?” His tone is casual and friendly, it always is, but Shoto goes quiet, confused.
“…No?” he replies, his voice lifting at the end of the word that makes it sound more like a question than a statement. “Do you think I like someone?” he asks, deeply lost as to how this conversation got directed to him. The one who’s never expressed any interest in romantic activities of any kind.
“Take your pick,” Ochako comments, smirking.
“I thought you liked Izuku.” Tsuyu adds thoughtfully.
“And I thought you liked Tenya!” Izuku remarks with a slight grin.
“I will admit, I assumed you liked Momo.” Tenya says with a sigh.
“And I thought you liked Katsuki.” Ochako pipes back up.
Shoto’s eyes widen. It’s his turn to stutter now.
“W-what?!… okay, Katsuki is pushing it….” he finally chokes out, mumbling that last part. He clears his throat, “Sure, I spend time with Momo and you two—“ he gestures between Izuku and Tenya, but I’m not romantically interested. In anyone.” he explains, relaxing a little. Hopefully they’d stop pushing. Right?
No. Of course not. Ochako gasps like this has personally offended her, Tsuyu looks a bit surprised but more calm than Ochaco, and Izuku and Tenya both look confused.
“Like… no one? You’ve never thought about anyone in our grade like that?” Izuku asks.
“…No? You have?” Shoto replies, which makes Izuku shut up. Clearly he doesn’t want to talk about his history of crushes which, fair enough, Shoto doesn’t want to talk about romance at all so he’s perfectly happy with the conversation ending here. But he’s not stupid, so he’s not surprised when Tsuyu picks up where Izuku left off.
“Everyone has. Like Ochako and Izuku used to like eachother, Tenya and Momo, Eijiro and Mina, Denki and Kyoka…” she trails off, noticing that Shoto is still confused. “…oh my gosh. You’re serious. You’ve…. never?…”
The whole group just looks slightly shocked. Shoto shifted in his seat.
After that, he realised that statistically speaking it isn’t normal that he’s never had feelings for anyone. He realised that maybe he isn’t normal.
Shoto thought maybe he should consult the people in his group.
When Tenya invited them all to the mall to go back to school shopping, Shoto asked them all.
“What is a crush?”—then, realising he was too vague—“As in like, what does it feel like? Like…” he searches for the right words, “…how do you guys know? When you like someone. Romantically speaking.”
Everyone pauses for a moment, before Tsuyu speaks up finally.
“Well, I don’t really know how to explain it. You just… kinda… realise?” She says, thinking. Ochako is next to speak.
“It’s kind of like, you think they’re cute, like, the cutest in the whole world, and you really wanna spend time with them, and do… romantic stuff!” She tries, and it’s Izuku’s turn next.
“Yeah! And, like, you admire all their qualities a lot, and you feel like you want a relationship with them, and you wanna talk to them all the time.” He adds, nodding thoughtfully. Tenya speaks finally, his voice a bit softer than everyone else’s.
“But it’s not just that. It’s also like… something else that you can’t really explain but you just know it eventually. That makes it different from a platonic feeling. You decide that friends isn’t enough and you want more, something more romantic.” He says, and judging by everyone’s hums of approval, that seems to be the general consensus. Shoto speaks again, his voice measured and his words clearly thought out quite a lot.
“That… isn’t too helpful, though. How do you realise you need more? Surely if you like someone you would be fine with just being friends?” He says, not quite understanding.
Izuku sighs. “No one can’t really explain it, though. No one that I know of, at least. You just… realise.”
Shoto left that trip to the mall feeling unsatisfied with every answer he received. Seriously, what kind of explanation was that?
Since then, Shoto has convinced himself he’s just never going to find out. Which doesn’t particularly bother Shoto. Sure, it’s slightly annoying that people keep bugging him about this stuff, but whatever. He’s been annoyed over worse. So today, he puts on his uniform with as much enthusiasm as he always would, which isn’t much, granted, but it’s not nothing. He walks through the school gates with his bag slung over one shoulder, texting Hanta with his other hand.
See, in middle school, Izuku and Katsuki went to the same school and Katsuki bullied Izuku, even though they were childhood friends. Beat him up, insulted him, and eventually going as far as telling him to end it all. From what Izuku has told Shoto, even though it isn’t all of what happened, he knows it fucked them both up pretty badly, specifically Izuku. He won’t lie and say this hasn’t caused him to harbor resentment toward Katsuki, of course it has, Izuku was his first actual friend. However, since then, Katsuki has been… working on… his anger issues, which apparently means he and Izuku are friends again. Shoto doesn’t know exactly know to feel about it, but Izuku seems happy about it so as long as he’s fine, Shoto doesn’t mind. Either way, it benefits Shoto, in that he has practical immunity from any judgement from anyone. He’s “friends” with Katsuki Bakugo and his group, and he’s practically untouchable because of it. As well as that he has a new friend which is rare for Shoto.
Hanta Sero. Friends with Katsuki Bakugo, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Mina Ashido, and Kyoka Jirou. Notorious for his lack of care about respect for teachers and somehow still getting somewhat good grades.
He’s good for a joint (Shoto was never one for weed, but Hanta’s convinced him, and for whatever reason Shoto likes having an excuse to hang out with him), and fun to talk to when Izuku insists on their groups merging for “parties” which just involve watching Katsuki get soft for Izuku and Kaminari get rejected by Jirou. So Shoto and Hanta meet up practically every weekend, occasionally to get high and usually to just hang out in his basement. On this particular rainy and gloomy Saturday, he’s laying on the floor of Hanta’s basement, while Hanta leans back in an old armchair that probably hasn’t been cleaned in 5 years minimum. This is familiar. The feeling of the high, the soft lighting from a small floor lamp in the corner, the musky smell of the couch that took 7 of these hangouts to not gag at.
“Hanta. Hanta. Hanta.” Shoto starts, his voice muffled by the carpet. He rolls over onto his back and sits up quickly. Hanta grins.
“Shobro. Shobro. Shobro.” Hanta replies, his voice slightly drawn out from the weed. Shoto groans.
“Explain crushes to me. How do you… like… how does it feel?” He asks. Despite him thinking he was over this stupid curiosity, he can’t help but wonder. And Hanta is a relatively good listener. Hanta pauses for a moment, before replying slightly quieter.
“Well… it’s like… the same as wanting to be friends with them. But you… also wanna kiss them. And spend your life with them. And be partners. And that stuff!” Hanta explains. Huh. That… kind of makes sense? It’s more of an explanation than anything else he’s gotten.
“…Interesting,” Shoto mumbles, exhaling, reaching for the closest bag of chips. As he opens one, he continues, “…Have you ever?…” Yeah. That totally makes sense. Hanta smirks.
“Well, yeah. Have you not?” and Shoto answers honestly, shaking his head no. Hanta’s expression changes, to one of pure shocks.
“WHAT?!” he exclaims, and Shoto is taken aback. “I thought you of all people would have loads of romantic experience! I mean, you’re hot, you’re rich, you’re funny, you’re smart… seriously, you’ve never… had a crush? Or a partner?” he continues. Shoto shakes his head again.
“Never.”
Hanta sits up straight.
“Okay, no, that is unacceptable. Tell you what. End of year formal. I’m going to find you someone to take. And I guarantee you’ll like them!” he vows dramatically.
Shoto just sighs. He seriously doubts anything will actually come from this, but… fuck it, why not? He might as well try. Right?
He nods.
Hanta’s face lights up, and he jumps up. “YES!” A few moments pass, and then;
“Oh, and Shobro? Remind me when I’m sober because I’m gonna forget.”
Yeah, that sounds about right