I Swear that I'm Straight- part 2
"I swear that I'm straight."
The same sentence escaped Izuku's mouth for what must have been the hundredth time as he sat on the old couch in his shared apartment with his two roommates sitting along side him, it was the day after their wild party adventure and not one of them knew what to make of the debacle that had went down. Izuku currently found himself sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, hugging them for comfort as he tried to make himself look smaller, while Uraraka and Bakugou nursed their hangovers in silence.
"Sure, Jan." Uraraka mumbled as she moved the ice pack from her forehead to shoot her best friend a look as he let out a most pitifulest of whimpers, causing Bakugou to let out a low growl as he turned away from the two of them. Upon seeing the look of sheer agony on Izuku's face, Uraraka seemed to ease up a bit on him. "It just took us by surprise to find you like that last night, you know that we would never judge you for being gay or whatever."
"I know that, but I just..." Izuku didn't know what to say, so he just trailed off; it was odd really, usually he was pretty good with talking about his feelings, but right now, in this moment his words escaped him and he had no clue on what to say. Up until that point he was so sure that he was straight, but meeting Todoroki made him feel emotions that were very unfamiliar to him and it made him wonder if that was the 'feeling' that Uraraka was talking about that he was missing out on. Izuku felt something like anxiety curling up in his stomach.
"Well, maybe you're bisexual then?" Uraraka suggestion with a comforting smile. "Like you have a stronger preference towards women, but this guy gave you the big bi-awakening."
That... Could be possible? However, it still didn't sit quite well with Izuku so he just gave a careless shrug as he continued to mope. He wished he could have talked more with Todoroki to see what he thought of the current storm within Izuku's mind, but after they had been caught in the literal closet, embarrassment had caused the two to hurriedly go their separate ways with their respective friends.
"Deku, are you... Worried about what people might think of you if you like guys?" Uraraka asked, voice as gentle as she could manage, which only made Izuku's grimace grow. That was definitely something that he was concerned about sure, like what would his mom say if she found out, but he didn't think that was the entire reason. The green-haired man kept thinking back to his highschool days and the choice words that people sometimes would call him whenever they thought he wasn't listening, though they did seem to slow down once he started to date Uraraka. Then they broke up and occasionally he would date different girls and those words became a distant memory, but as he thought of his exes, he couldn't help but realize that the feeling he got when thinking about Todoroki had been different than what he had felt with the others.
"I'm straight." Izuku repeated in a mumble, he had so many things to worry about and this was just not something that he wanted to have to deal with.
"Deku." Bakugou finally said, for the first time that afternoon, getting the other two to look over to him in surprise as the blond sat up straight focussing on the green-haired man in a stern glare. "Either you're so far in denial that you think that you can lie to us and yourself through your ass, or that bastard took advantage of you and if he did then I'm gonna hunt him down and kick his ass."
That caused a jolt of panic to flare up through Izuku as the short boy hurriedly stood up, throwing his arms forward as if that would block Bakugou's path.
"No, don't!" He all but shouted, getting pained winces out of his two roommates, to which he apologetically rubbed the back of his head. The anxiety in his gut was soon replaced with sorrow as he gave an earnest frown. "Please, Todoroki doesn't deserve that, it was me that initiated it... I-I wanted to."
Uraraka opened her mouth as if to say something, but she snapped it shut without so much as a word once she noticed the beginnings of tears within her best friend's eyes.
"Can we... Can we just let this go?" Izuku asked, trying his hardest not to let those tears escape him, he had thought that he was over shedding all of his tears in highschool and yet here he was in college about to do just that. "I'm probably never going to see him again so what even is the point?"
Again, Uraraka wanted to say something, and again she just couldn't.
"Sure." Is what she let out instead, getting a slow nod from Izuku as he huffed out a very tearful sounding sigh before turning to flee into the hallway that lead to his bedroom.
"I'll be in my room." Is what he got out, the two on the couch being able to tell that he was crying despite his back turned, and with that he hurried away. Uraraka and Bakugou glanced at each other once they heard the sound of the green-haired man's door clicking shut behind him.
The worry that they felt taking their minds off of their hangovers, if only for a little bit while Izuku dug his face into his pillow and wept alongside all of the confusing emotions that were swimming around in his body.
"I'm actually pretty straight."
As soon as the sentence left his mouth, Izuku could feel himself cringing because this was a situation that he hadn't thought to plan for and so the words just carelessly tumbled out of him. Across the counter, Todoroki was curiously tilting his head to the side a small little smirk on his face while Yaoyorozu and Jirou looked at each other with expressions that said that they didn't quite believe him... At all.
The last thing that Izuku Midoriya had expected upon going to work today at the tiny corner grocery store he cashiered at was that those two girls and his dream boy (as Uraraka called him) would just walk in. Out of all of the grocery stores in this college town, it just had to be the smallest dankiest shop that he just so happened to work at and he found that it was especially odd as Todoroki and the girl with the ponytail, who he learned was named Momo Yaoyorozu, didn't really seem like the types to be shopping at a place such as this.
It had been two weeks since the party and while Izuku was sadly trying to get over what had happened, he noticed those two girls and was immediately wondering why they had looked so familiar when the punk-looking one had quickly pointed to him from across the building and shouted out "Look Todoroki, it's that guy you made out with!" and Izuku could have sworn that a part of his soul left his body in that moment. Though as the white and red-haired man came into his view with a look of shock, well it was shocked for him anyway, Izuku couldn't deny the tiny hint of excitement that he could feel within his gut.
However, he did panic when they came over to pay for their groceries.
"Hm, really now?" Jirou, he had quickly learned all of their names, said with a mischievous smirk during the present time. "Todoroki said that you sure don't kiss like a straight guy."
Izuku's face immediately turned red as he sputtered and he dared to shoot a glance towards Todoroki, noting that the other was looking away from him with the lightest shade of pink dusting his cheeks, so at least it seemed that they were in the same boat.
"I'm sorry, it was just, a wild party you know?" Izuku went on, not knowing what else to say. "It was wrong of me to lead you on like that, but I mean..."
Izuku trailed off, the mention of the time they spent together on the patio hanging in the air, but he had felt like he didn't need to bring it up especially as Todoroki turned his hardened gaze towards him. He could tell that the other man was thinking of the same.
"It's okay, Midoriya." Todoroki said and oh god, why did he have to say his name like that? Izuku could feel his so-called 'straightness' slipping out of his grasp no matter how hard he tried to deny otherwise. "I am not one for relationships anyway, so you don't have to worry about me pursuing you."
Izuku didn't know why, but that actually kind of hurt and he didn't think that he could leave it at that.
"Oh, well, I hope you wouldn't mind a new friend." He said, voice low and soft, getting a small look of surprise out of Todoroki as if he had not expected such an offer from Izuku.
"I... I think I would like that." Todoroki answer, the small curl of his lips that Izuku loved so much appearing on his face. Behind him Jirou snickered and Yaoyorozu put on the gentlest of smiles.
"Alright, so how do you guys want to pay for this?" Izuku asked, remembering that he was on the clock as he turned to look back at their groceries that he had just finished bagging. The smile was instantly wiped from Yaoyorozu's mouth as he let out a tired sigh instead.
"I actually have coupons." She said to which Izuku nodded, not questioning it in the slightest as he gave a patient smile, trying to keep his eyes off of Todoroki and ultimately failing.
Later that night, Izuku's phone pinged with a Facebook notification and the young man nearly screamed when he saw the friend request. When Bakugou finally kicked open the others door to see what the noise was about, he found his roommate laying in bed with the biggest smile on his face, giggling like a teenage girl who had just gotten a text from her crush. Bakugou huffed and then left him alone.
'I'm... There's no way that I'm not straight.'
That was the thought that entered in Izuku's mind a lot these days, especially on days like today when it was just him and Todoroki hanging out together. Days where Todoroki allowed his icy walls to melt, if just a little bit, in order for Izuku to see a new side of him that he had yet to witness. Kind of like now as Izuku watched Todoroki ordering his ice-cream, eyes gently sparkling with the excitement that very much reminded Izuku of a young child's, it brought a smile to his face.
Izuku had learned by now that Todoroki preferred the cold, so on a hot summer day like today, when he saw that the tiny festival on their campus serving free ice-cream for the students that were still hanging around he just knew that he had to invite his friend. Though it wasn't like this was a bizarre occurence by any means, the two had recently become inseparable since their reunion at Izuku's work around a month ago, so much so that their friends would be shocked to see one without the other. Sure, of course, their friends questioned the nature of their relationship and would often bring up their heavy make out session in the closet but it was all in good spirits. If one thing their friends agreed on that it was the two seemed to work well together and appeared much happier for it, well except for Bakugou, he didn't seem to trust Todoroki entirely and would often send him warning glares whenever the two were in the same room together.
Other than that it seemed to be just fine, even the fact that Izuku's feelings still had him questioning things didn't dare to hinder whatever thing that the two had going on in this moment of time.
"Will Uraraka be joining us?" Todoroki asked Izuku, bringing him out of his thoughts, once he got his cup of vanilla ice-cream and turned towards him. "I feel bad for taking up so much of your time from her."
"Nope, it's just us, I invited her but she said that she was busy." Izuku responded with a gentle smile as he motioned for Todoroki to follow after him, having already gotten his own chocolate ice cream. Todoroki hummed thoughtfully and Izuku was worried that the other was beginning to think that Uraraka didn't like him as she tended to try to ditch on days when it was just going to be the three of them. However, upon questioning about it, she jokingly said that she didn't feel like third-wheeling and wanted to keep her distance so Izuku and Todoroki could work out their feelings. Whatever that meant.
"Don't take it personally, her and Bakugou are going to visit her parents in about a week." Izuku said once he realized that the scowl on his companion's face wasn't vanishing. "She probably just needs to make sure that everything his finished by then."
Todoroki seemed to accept this and let out a hum as the two reached a bench to sit down at. Once there, a comfortable silence rose up as the two casually ate their treats, though as Izuku glanced over he realized that his friend had already nearly downed his.
"Hey, slow down, you're going to get a brain freeze." He said with a small chuckle as Todoroki gave him a side glance without actually slowing down, he could be cheeky like that. "You act like you've never eaten ice-cream before."
Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed.
"Oh." Izuku mumbled as he looked away and into his own cup.
"My father never let us have sweet things, growing up." Todoroki said with a shrug, finally bringing the spoon away from his mouth. "Not unless me and my siblings snuck some into the house, but it was never ice-cream, it's too messy and impossible to hide."
Izuku wanted to give an 'I'm sorry', but that was never something he could bring himself to say around the other, because he knew just how much Todoroki didn't appreciate that kind of pity. He never exactly responded with anger towards Izuku, but the green-haired man never missed the frown that appeared whenever he would apologize to him for something that he didn't do.
So instead, Izuku dared to take a glance at the long sleeves of Todoroki's shirt, clothing far too warm for a day like today.
"Did he..." Izuku asked motioning to his friend's arms, but didn't dare to finish the sentence as Todoroki tensed up and grabbed his left wrist with his right hand as if to keep his sleeves down just in case he tried to move them upwards, though he knew that the other had nothing to worry about as Izuku would never do anything that Todoroki didn't like. Especially as a scowl appearing on the red and white haired man's face.
The two then left it at that as they silently finished their ice-cream without another word until they had finished and Izuku perked up with one of his many ideas.
"Hey, I'm gonna be at the apartment alone for like a week when Uraraka and Kaachan leave." He said with a smile upon his face as Todoroki curiously tilted his to the side. "You could probably stay with me if you want, it'll be like a vacation away from your dad, but only if you want to-"
"I'd love to." Todoroki said without any hesitation and Izuku normally would have laughed at his friend's eagerness had the implications of why that was had not been so dark.
"Awesome, this'll be great, we can watch movies and order out whatever food we want." Izuku said, not afraid to splurge on one of his best friends if need be, while his heart pounded within his chest and in the back of his head an unspoken question rolled around. For as long as they've been hanging out together, Izuku has often had the urge to just ask Todoroki how and when he knew that he was gay, but the timing never felt right and the green-haired man feared that he would come off as rude which was the last thing that he wanted so he would just repeat to himself quietly that he was straight and move on with a different topic.
"Don't spend all your hard-earned cash on me." Todoroki stated to which Izuku finally let out a chuckle.
"I want to though!" He said to which Todoroki rolled his eyes, but not out of malice, and more because yea that was something that Izuku Midoriya would do for someone who he cared for.
"Well, if we're doing this, I should probably let Momo know." Todoroki said after another pause between the two to which Izuku nodded in agreement. The black-haired girl who Izuku knew to be one of Todoroki's closest friends, would often get worried about him if she did not hear from him quite periodically, the implications of that, also dark. It would probably be a good idea to let her know ahead of time since the two of them often would lose track of time and not even so much as glance at their cellphones whenever they were together. Another thing that their friends would lightly tease them for.
Not that Izuku minded that at all, really, he found that he kind of liked Yaoyorozu and Jirou. Having become inseparable from Todoroki, naturally that meant that Izuku started to hang out with the girls a lot, especially seeing as the white and red-haired man seemed to be much more comfortable around those two than he was with Izuku's friends. Or in the very least, he was calm whenever Yaoyorozu was around, though Izuku didn't take offense to that at all, since he could kind of understand why his own friends could be a little much what with Bakugou's endless glares towards Todoroki and Uraraka sending them suggestive winks.
Surprisingly, however, despite having hung out with Yaoyorozu and Jirou a lot, Izuku was still not in the loop when it came to whatever had happened to them that Todoroki had vaguely mentioned during the party that was the reason they were there to drink and relieve stress. He was curious, but he didn't push to know as it honestly was known of his business and if they wanted him to know, then he trusted them to tell him though that didn't stop him from having his suspicions of course. All he truly knew about the two, despite hanging out frequently, were that they were dating each and seemed to be having some money problems; honestly, Izuku was considering getting to know them a little bit better.
"Are you going over to their place now?" Izuku asked after a few minutes, leaning back against the bench with a lazy smile, he had been to their house once and thought it was a very lovely place despite being a little empty. He remembered that night very clearly because they only had a small love seat to sit on so Izuku had to practically sit on Todoroki's lap while they all crowded on it to play a board game. The green-haired man could still hear Jirou's snickers and Yaoyorozu's chiding, much to his exasperation, as Jirou made a comment about how they were treading on a thin line of sexual tension and that now it was only a matter of time. Izuku remembered sighing with a face that was beat red as he didn't understand why people couldn't just leave them alone because their relationship wasn't like that and they were just doing completely normal friend things. Right?
"Yea, do you want to tag along? I think Momo is making soup for dinner." Todoroki said, giving Izuku a curious glance, his mismatched eyes unreadable as he gazed at the other. Izuku found that it was kind of sad that Todoroki couldn't live with his friends for whatever the reason was, he found that the other man seemed to try to stay there as much as possible already, if only so he wouldn't have to go home though now Todoroki also would often find himself at Izuku's apartment as well.
"Sure, let me just text Uraraka and let her know." Izuku said as he stood up, cup of ice-cream now empty, as he pulled out his phone. "I should probably let them know that you're gonna be staying with me while they're gone too."
"Midoriya, what will the sleeping arrangements be since you don't have a guest room?" Todoroki casually asked as he followed suit and stood up as well, not noticing the way the other's face flushed at the words.
"Oh, well you can sleep in m-my bed and I'll take the couch!" Izuku said, praying that Todoroki didn't hear his words stutter as the other appeared to give a dissatisfied hum. "Well, or I could just sleep in Uraraka and Kaachan's bed if that'd make you feel better, but we can just worry about that when it comes time to."
"Of course." Todoroki murmured with a curl of his lips, making Izuku sigh as he should have known that the other would be unhappy with taking his bed if it meant that he had to take the couch. Izuku let out a laugh at this and then he gave a bright grin that Todoroki had to look away from.
"This is going to be really fun, I think!" Izuku said, getting a nod in agreement from the other.
Oh yes, just a couple of friends hanging out for an entire week, nothing strange about that in the slightest.
"...Oh..."
Eventually that day had finally come, and surely Jirou would have been laughing it up as Izuku's mind went blank and every doubt he ever had about his sexuality and his relationship vanished in a fog of lust as the thin-thread between them finally snapped. The two falling into his bed in a tangle of limbs, desperately clawing at each other's clothes without a second thought, whispering out their names in the dark of Izuku's room.
"M-Midoriya, are you okay with this?" Todoroki had asked him from where he hovered over the other, an honest look of concern on his face, probably the most Izuku had ever seem him express. With a gentle smile the green-haired man cleared the distance between them and pressed their lips together with fervor, his hands going up to entangle with the other's duel-toned locks.
It honestly had not even been a surprise to either of the two that their week-long stay together at Izuku's apartment had ended up like this. What started out innocently enough, what with the two staying up late to watch movies and eat unhealthy take-out, soon turned into something more as they settled down halfway through the week and went into a comfortable routine. Izuku had to go to work in the mornings, so they eased up and started to go to bed earlier, when he returned to the apartment Todoroki had been waiting for him there; the two then deciding together what they wanted to eat for dinner, tired of eating out, they'd cook something often with one another. No longer staying up late, the two would retire in the evenings to go to bed in Izuku's room, Todoroki took the bed while Izuku drug out an old futon mattress to sleep on, despite the other's protests. Dare Izuku say that the whole thing was very... Domestic.
It didn't take long for the green-haired man to feel something bubbling up within his chest, tightening, it felt as if something was going to burst. It was similar to his usual feelings towards Todoroki, but somehow it was much different this time, it was much like the one he had felt upon his first meeting with the other man during that party that felt like so long ago however it was definitely a lot stronger. Things soon became tense, the two often glancing at the other when they thought him not to be looking and should their hands accidentally touch, they would pull away quickly as if burned; the only good thing about it in Izuku's mind was that it was clear that he was not alone on this issue, though he wasn't really sure what had changed. However, it definitely was there, something unspoken hanging between them, a tension that they hadn't really had to worry about before when they had only hung out around their friends or in public.
And thus on their final night together, they fell into bed with a desperation that made it feel like they had to do something now less they never see each other again. Izuku wasn't quite sure who it was that had initiated it first, perhaps it had been apart of their mutual longing that brought them together, all kisses and biting like that. He didn't care though, because oh my god Todoroki made him feel like he was walking on air and if he wasn't absolutely terrified of the implications, he may even say that he was in love with one of his best friends. His 'heterosexuality' be damned, this was what he wanted right now and he could deal with the repercussions of their actions later.
The next morning did eventually come and with it, Izuku was sure would be nothing but regret at what they had done, however as he lay next to Todoroki all he could think about were the fuzzy warm feelings swimming around in his gut that made him feel all sorts of giddy. The only semblance of guilt that he felt was the fact that he promised Uraraka and Bakugou that he and Todoroki would behave themselves this weekend, his best friend leaving with a 'make smart choices!' before they had taken their leave. Izuku was starting to think that was a sarcastic remark because every time she said it with a smirk upon her face, he ended up doing the exact opposite and he knew that she knew that he would. If that made any sense.
Next to him, Todoroki's snoozing body was warm and yet it wasn't an uncomfortable warmth as Izuku snuggled up to his chest with a content sigh, the other wrapping a protective arm around him in his sleep. Unfortunately, eventually Izuku could feel the beginnings of nerves creep up his spine as he laid there and began to think about what this whole ordeal was going to mean for their friendship. Were they together now or was it just a one time thing? On top of that, Izuku didn't even want to touch upon his questionable sexuality now, because he was pretty sure of the implications that sleeping with another guy meant but that whole thing was a mess that he was far too exhausted to contemplate this early in the morning.
With a sigh the green-haired man somehow managed to wiggle his way out of Todoroki's embrace, though he was entirely reluctant to do so as getting up meant leaving the comfort of this moment and having to eventually face the reality of the world outside of that bedroom. Quickly he snatched a pair of sweat pants up off of the ground to slip them on before he quietly snuck out of his room with one last glance towards the man who was still currently sleeping in his bed. The sight of Todoroki laying there, looking so damn peaceful made his face flush, but also brought a wild joy to his heart and he would be sure to keep that memory close to him.
Trotting out into the tiny living area, Izuku casually cleaned up around the apartment without making too much noise, he knew that Uraraka and Bakugou would be back later so he wanted to make sure that the place looked as it did when they had left. He also hoped that Todoroki would be awake by then because Izuku definitely was not looking forward to that awkward conversation, even though all he wanted in that moment was to curl back up with his not-boyfriend.
Stomach rumbling, Izuku let out a huff once he had finished tidying up around the small apartment, making his way over towards the fridge in the kitchenette. Taking a gander inside he carefully plucked out a couple of eggs since they didn't really have much else, he would have to go grocery shopping with Uraraka when she got back, and went about the task of cooking them. He was tired and didn't put much thought into his actions, just being content with the calming motions of cooking that he was familiar with, barely even noticing as Todoroki finally stirred from his sleep and emerged from the hallway.
"Hey." Came his voice from behind him, Todoroki's voice raspy from sleep.
"Good morning." Izuku said with a fond smile as he turned to look at the other, not even startling at his sudden appearance, taking note of the wild way Todoroki's hair stuck out around his head with the white and red intermingling unlike how it usually was. The two stared at each other in a lingering silence, eyes clearly showing how tired they were, but the blushes on their face shown with something else.
"About last night..." Todoroki finally said, being brave enough to be the first one to bring it up, Izuku's flush grew as he finally looked away from the other in attempt to make this conversation go easier. However, it didn't exactly do much to help as his green eyes could only land on one of the dark and angry fist-shaped bruises that covered his friend in various places, they did nothing to help his stormy emotions as he remembered pressing against one a little too hard last night, getting a horribly pained yelp out of the other. Izuku had made sure to be much more gentle with him after that, but seeing them so pronounced in the light still pissed him off to no end, especially as he just didn't know what to do to help him.
"I'm sorry if I crossed a line somewhere." Todoroki was saying, bringing Izuku back to his attention. "I know that you were okay with what we did last night when it happened, but I also know that you're questioning your sexuality and I feel horrible about taking advantage of that, so I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, but I... I..."
Todoroki couldn't finish whatever it was that he was about to say, his face looking down right miserable as Izuku could feel his heart shatter into a million pieces. He quickly closed the distance between them just as he had done last night, his hand reaching up to gently caress against Todoroki's scar.
"Things are really weird with me right now, but please..." Izuku whispered as he leaned up against the Todoroki, getting the other to let out a noise that very closely resembled a purr oddly enough. "Don't ever say things like that and regret anything that happened this past week, because I absolutely loved every minute of it and I'm not mad at you for any reason it's quite the opposite. I really love being with you, you know."
Izuku gave a little wobbly smile as he watched Todoroki's face become one of wonder, he really loved seeing this more expressive side of the other, it was almost like witnessing a rare wonder of nature first hand for the first time. In fact, it was nigh impossible for him to resist stealing a kiss and so he didn't even try, placing a light peak on the other's lips. Todoroki tensed lightly in surprise for only a brief second before he melted and brought his lips to Izuku's as well, wrapping his arms around the other in that protective way that made the green-haired man's heart flutter happily.
Izuku then threw his arms around the other with haste as he tried to push Todoroki up against the kitchen cupboards, his frying eggs long forgotten, as the young man with the mismatched eyes gave a light growl and held his ground. Instead, Todoroki lifted Izuku up, instantly getting a small squeak out of him as he sat him on top of the counter to better have access to the shorter male. Izuku couldn't help but to let out a chuckle as their light kisses soon turned into them mashing their faces together and pulling each other's hair with almost as much desperation as they had last night, the green-haired man lightly trailing his fingertips up and down the still-fresh scratches along Todoroki's back in memory of the events. He mentally gave an apology for them, but he didn't think the other really minded all that much since they were far from any of his scars.
They were so absorbed in each other that neither of them even registered the sound of old hinges squeaking, quickly followed by a loud laugh and whistle.
"Whoo, get it Deku!" Uraraka cheered as she walked in on the two's heavy make out session, a lot less shocked than she was the first time, though that didn't stop Bakugou's over exagerated reaction as he let out an enraged scream.
"Not on my countertop!" The blond instantly dropped his bags and rushed over to literally pry the two apart, much to their annoyance, and basically yanking Izuku right off of the counter with little to no hesitation. The green-haired man let out a surprised squeak while Todoroki gave a low rumble that nearly resembled a growl, Bakugou sending him a death glare before he returned it to Izuku instead. "What the hell, Deku, I knew this would freaking happen if we left you two alone!"
However, his glare only lasted a moment as his gaze traveled down to Izuku's bare chest where love bites were so very clearly visible, and turning back to Todoroki he could see the bright red scratches that adorned his equally bare self and that the dual-toned man was brandishing with pride a light smirk on his face. Now while Bakugou didn't seem like it, he was an intelligent man and it only took him a few seconds to realize what had truly happened, his fists clenching so tight that his knuckles turned white with a snarl appearing on his face as he now fully turned towards Todoroki.
"You son of a bitch."
It took both Izuku and Uraraka intervening to hold back an enraged Katsuki Bakugou while Todoroki was left with no other option than leaving his things behind and reluctantly fleeing the premises before things could get even more out of hand than they already were.
Izuku wished that he and Todoroki could have gotten the time to further discuss what all of this meant for their friendship or relationship or whatever it was that they had between them, but it was probably in everybody's best interest that he left before Bakugou could potentially had to his bruises. It brought a frown to his face as he sat on the couch with Uraraka while Bakugou paced the livingroom floor, the girl he called his best friend gently dabbed some disinfectant on his bite marks much to both of their embarrassments. As per Bakugou's angry rambling of 'put some medicine on that, those are human bites and that shit can get infected, jesus christ Deku.'
"So how was your week?" Izuku asked his roommates in an attempt to lighten up the awkward mood that was around them, this making Uraraka give the smallest of smiles.
"It was good, how was... your's?" She paused as Izuku's face flushed red.
"It was pretty great." He answered, hoping that didn't sound to awkward, because he was pretty sure that being scrutinized for having a maybe one night stand was the very last thing that he had wanted to do today.
"Like hell it was."
"Katsuki please, you're making this a lot worse than it needs to be." Uraraka said to which her boyfriend grumbled in response though it did seem like he cooled off some of his steam so Izuku started to feel brave.
"Kaachan, I'm an adult, I should be able to sleep with whoever I want." He said in defense, his voice only wavering slightly much to his relief, however this only caused Bakugou to roll his eyes.
"But did you? Deku, just last week you were denying that you were anything other than straight and now you're riding on that asshole's dick like a champ." The blond growled out, quick to snap and turn on his childhood friend, causing Izuku to flinch back with a grimace because yea that was true and Izuku didn't really understand any of these feelings. It must have shown because Bakugou's glare only intensified. "You're letting this half and half bastard take advantage of you just like you did with all of those bitches in highschool-"
"Hey!"
"Most of those bitches in highschool." Bakugou crossed his arms and Izuku had to look away as he could feel the beginnings of tears well up in his eyes, making Uraraka huff out something to her boyfriend as she comfortingly patted him on the back, though whatever she said he did not catch.
"Are... Are you really one to talk?" Izuku asked, voice small as his voice cracked and he sniffled, getting an exhausted huff out of the other.
"Yea, I know what I did was bad, but at least I can admit it and move on." Bakugou responded, voice sounding uncomfortably calm, which was Izuku's warning to let that one go to which he did with a careless shrug. "Look, you're so easy to pick on that I'm just trying to stop you from getting hurt again."
Would Todoroki ever hurt him intentionally? Izuku didn't think so as the other man had been nothing but considerate towards him and his feelings, however unintentionally, the green-haired man had been hurt just because of his conflicting feelings. That was far from Todoroki's fault though as Izuku remembered the thing that he had felt last night, the pounding of his hear that sang a million different emotions at once.
"I'm sorry, I know that I'm so confused about what I am, but I just... I think I might be in love with him." Izuku said, voice barely above a whisper, Uraraka letting out an audible gasp from where she still sat next to him. Bakugou's expression was unreadable as he opened up his mouth to say something, but was cut short as Izuku's phone started to buzz from where it sat long forgotten on their coffee table.
All three of group turned their gazes to look at it as if it had personally offended them, however Izuku's expression soon turned to one of excitement as Todoroki's name appeared on the caller ID right above a picture of a cute cat that served as his contact image. The conversation forgotten for the moment, Izuku instantly cheered up as he reached for his phone, but alas didn't get very far before Bakugou snatched it up before him and forced Izuku back into the current reality that they were in. The green-haired man let out a childish whine as his roommate sent him a death glare that made him back off, while Uraraka put a protective arm around her friend with a huff in her boyfriend's direction.
"Hey bitch, it's Katsuki Bakugou." The blond said as calmly as he could muster as he answered the phone, immediately receiving another string of complaints of Izuku. Bakugou put his hand up in the other two's direction as if to tell them to wait a moment. "Listen, I don't care if you want to fuck my friend, lord knows that he probably needs it, but I don't really appreciate him being used as a sex toy by the likes of someone like you so the least you could do is buy him some goddamn dinner first."
Izuku's breath hitched as Bakugou went silent and he could hear the smooth murmuring coming from the other line as Todoroki calmly responded.
"Damn straight, or in this case, not really." Bakugou said into the phone with a smirk before promptly hanging up without another word, turning he tossed Izuku's phone back to him, the other hurriedly catching it. "He'll pick you up tomorrow night at six."
Izuku's teary eyes went wide as he looked up at Bakugou, the other simply choosing to give an uncaring shrug as he turned on his heel and left the room without another word.
"Deku has a date!" Uraraka cheered, her voice sounding just as happy and excited as Izuku was currently feeling. She lightly grasped his shoulders and gave him a little shake as he turned towards her with a largest grin on his face that he could muster, the two of them laughing like there was no tomorrow.
He actually had a date, and with somebody that he really and truly liked, in that moment he couldn't find it in himself to worry about any of his current problems.
"Alright." Uraraka said with a mischievous smile that made Izuku think that he had spoken much to soon. "So what are you going to wear?"
"I don't know what I am anymore..."
Izuku felt more than a little bit bad when he said it, but if anything he could feel himself succumbing from his confusion and all right in front of Todoroki, as such he felt as though he owed the other man who much. They were on a date to a fancy restaurant that Izuku was sure would cost him five of his paychecks, after all, honestly he would have been fine with anything as long as he was with the other but Todoroki insisted on splurging on him. To which he couldn't say no, especially as the other got that little excited sparkle in his heterochromatic eyes, so he agreed to let Todoroki spend money on him on the condition that it wouldn't become too much of a habit. Though that just made Todoroki chuckle, muttering something about how he would gladly buy Izuku whatever he wanted so to just let him know if he ever changed his mind about that. That made him blush, but also made him worried about where their relationship could have possibly been heading.
"Bakugou was worried that you might be stringing me around, but I'm afraid that it's the other way around." Izuku said with a frown as he looked away from the other while they were awaiting on their food, the green-haired man making sure to get the cheapest thing on the menu that he could find. "You know for a fact that you're gay, but I'm still so unsure about what I might be, all I know that what I feel for you is more than just the platonic friend feelings that I have with everybody else... You probably deserve to be with someone that's a lot more clear on what they want."
Izuku dared to glance up when he had finished talking to see a concerned frown on Todoroki's face.
"Midoriya, feeling that way is completely okay, you know I wasn't always so sure of my own sexuality." He said in that blunt way that he usually used when he was so sure about something, Izuku tilted his head to the side. "Originally I had tried very desperately to like girls, but it just never worked and I came to the eventual conclusion that it was just making me even more unhappy than I had been. I was lucky to have Momo to help me because she told me that feelings can be complex and will not always be able to be attached to some label. It shouldn't matter if you like both women and men or if you like only women and just so happen to be attracted to me as well for some odd reason, you don't owe anybody else an explanation for your feelings. They are yours and you should do what feels right for you and nobody else, plus there's not really a time limit anyway so if you find a label that suits you further down along the line then that's fine too."
Izuku absorbed his words and held onto them like a lifeboat in a sea of stormy emotions, feeling a little bit of the weight on his chest lifting up. He was so worried about what others would think and trying to find out what he was right now, that he never even stopped to consider just sitting down and actually thinking through his feelings without all of this panicked desperation. He let out a sigh as he felt like a fool, but he supposed he wouldn't actually change any of these events, because he was honestly happy with where things with Todoroki had ended up. In fact, as he gave the other a nod to show that he had heard and understood what he had said, he decided to forget his sexuality for the moment and focus on the thing that felt much more important in this moment.
"Izuku." The green-haired man said with an earnest smile, though when he got a confused look from Todoroki, he went on further to explain. "My first name, you can call me Izuku from now on if you want, I mean only if you want to."
"Oh." Todoroki said with a smile in his eyes and just a hint of a blush. "I think that I will, Izuku, and by all means feel free to call me Shouto then."
"Shouto." Izuku said, letting the name slip out of his mouth, sounding as sweet as honey and he could have sworn that he heard Shouto's sharp inhale of breath coming from him soon afterwards. Izuku looked over at the other with a gentle smile as Todoroki sighed and leaned forward, carefully reaching out to take a hold of the other's hand, their fingers instantly intertwining.
"Speaking of which, how are you feeling?" Shouto asked, voice low, and Izuku was surprised that he didn't feel flustered by it in the slightest and dare he say that he even felt rather comfortable. "You're not too sore are you?"
"I was a little achy yesterday, but I'm pretty sturdy so I'm fine now." Izuku said as he leaned forward to press the lightest of kisses to Shouto's cheek. Which, much to his surprise, the other man lightly blushed and looked away as if he were actually the one to be embarrassed for a change.
"Well, you are a lot more muscular than you look." Shouto managed, daring a glance towards Izuku's chest that he caught sight of, and nearly chuckled at. It would seem that he made Shouto just as weak in the knees as the the white and red-haired man did to him.
"I work out, it soothes my anxiety sometimes." Izuku said, voice lowering as Shouto twitched, giving off the feeling that he really wanted to make making out with the other right now. Izuku smiled, because yea, maybe they would do that after dinner and that was an exciting thing to think about. Shouto eventually let out a huff and eased up on his tense shoulders when he finally turned back to Izuku with a small frown.
"I know you said not to regret the other night, but I can't help thinking that I really should have taken you out first before sleeping with you." Shouto sighed out as he gave Izuku's hand a little squeeze. "I think I owe you as much."
"Well, better late than never." Izuku offered with a light shrug as he sent a grin off in Shouto's direction, the other seemed to appreciate it with the small curl of his own lips. Taking a quick glance away, Izuku quickly took notice of the several other couples around them all having dinner as well as a low contemplative hum escaped his lips. "So what are we exactly? I've been wondering that since... well, for a long time, really."
"We're whatever you want us to be, I'm entirely happy like this." Shouto said as he brought Izuku's rough and callused hand up to his face in order to brush his lips up against the other's knuckles. Izuku smiled.
"I am too." He said, sigh sounding almost dreamy as he tilted his head to the side slightly. "No labels, right?"
Shouto looked up at Izuku from where he was still smooching on his hand, a sly little smirk appearing on his lips as he whispered out.
"Well, not yet, anyway."
"I think that I might be bisexual."
The sentence escaped him so easily without a second thought that most of the people around their little study group in his apartment barely even reacted aside from a few murmurs of 'that's great, Deku.' It had been a couple of months since his first date with Shouto and the summer had come and gone, so now they found themselves in the midst of their fall semester and everyone had vowed to not suffer through finals like they had during their last semester. Thus, frequent studying sessions soon became a regular part of the squad's routine, often switching where they decided to have it, but it was usually the same people who showed up; mainly being Izuku's closest group of friends. Which more often than not did also include Shouto, though he had not been able to make it to this current session.
That being said, by now Izuku and Shouto's peculiar 'friends with benefits' kind of relationship was pretty common knowledge within that particular group of people and Izuku was incredibly thankful that nobody seemed to hold it against him or judge either of them for it even if they did find it to be a tad odd. Especially when the two would often sit in each other's laps, hold hands or whisper sweet nothings to each other without a care in the world of what other people thought of them, though they kept claiming that they 'weren't exactly dating, but yea we kind of are.' Izuku was pretty sure that he had the most amazing and accepting friends that anybody could have, they didn't even mind that he was currently trying to find himself, sure he took Shouto's advice about not worrying about a label too much but he found that he would be much more comfortable and sure about himself if he had one. That was fine too.
"I'm proud of you, Deku." Uraraka said as she was copying down Shinsou's notes into her own notebook. "Whomst else is?"
Several cheers rose up that made the green-haired man blush.
"So where is Todoroki at anyway?" Ojiro asked as he looked up from his homework with a curious glance. "It's still so weird to see you two without each other."
Izuku could feel his blush growing even more as he nervously looked down towards his hands.
"Oh, he said that he had some last minute family thing so he couldn't make it." He responded with a sigh, as Shouto hadn't exactly specified what it was exactly but did allude to the fact that apparently his father wanted to speak with him about something. That tiny fact made Izuku nervous to no ends, but Shouto assured him that it would be fine and so here he was without his not-boyfriend studying away with all of his friends.
"He's probably off fucking somebody else's roommate." Izuku could hear Bakugou grumble from where he was currently cooking a meal in their kitchenette, but all he did in response was roll his eyes and choose to ignore it. By now, Izuku was use to those kinds of side comments coming from the blond, he never truly tried to hide his obvious disdain for Shouto, though Izuku could never guess why that was as the two had seldom ever said more than a few words to each other. The most having been when they spoke on the phone to set up that date after the first time Izuku and Shouto had slept together. It seemed like so long ago.
Luckily, nobody really took any of Bakugou's words seriously as they turned back to working hard on their studies, Izuku letting out a contemplative hum as he listened to Tokoyami ask Tsuyu a question. However, he was soon once again dragged out of his concentration by a sudden rapping against their apartment's door, the trio that lived there were the only ones that perked up to look over at it in confusion as they had not been expecting anybody else and it was pretty unusual for them to get any sort of company. Bakugou, being the closest one, trotted over to answer it only to let out a curious grumble.
"Hey, Deku it's ponytail head." He called as he motioned for Yaoyorozu to come inside before he returned to the pots cooking on the stove, though the young woman didn't budge and stood stock still in the doorway while Izuku leaped up to his feet and cleared the distance between them.
"Oh hey, Yaoyorozu, weren't expecting you tonight." Izuku said with his usual smile despite the sudden growing concern that he felt for Yaoyorozu was never one to show up at places unexpectedly, and as he took in her frazzled appearance he frowned with a look of concern. "Is everything alright?"
By now everyone had gone silent and Izuku tossed a distressed look towards Uraraka, letting her know that he needed her next to him right now. His best friend understood immediately and hopped up to walk over as casually as she could to be with the other group.
"Yes, maybe... Um, I don't really know." Yaoyorozu said, sounding as frantic as she looked. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I tried calling and also texting."
Izuku frowned and looked back once again, noting that his phone wasn't in sight at all in the room, before he looked back apologetically.
"It must be in my room." Was all he could manage to say, and it was true, he usually did put his phone away during their study sessions as to not become distracted by it especially whenever Shouto wasn't there. Izuku gulped. "Yaoyorozu tell me, what's wrong."
"S-Shouto-" Yaoyorozu had managed to stammered out before Izuku grasped a hold of her shoulder, as carefully as he could not to hurt her as his arm shook.
"Take me to him." He said, voice firm to which Yaoyorozu gave a shaky nod and for the first time, Izuku noticed that there were tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, thus he let go of her with a quick apology as she glanced around the room.
"Does anyone here know how to set a dislocated shoulder?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper, but Izuku had picked it up just fine and quickly looked over at Bakugou in alarm. However, the blond wasted no time and was already practically out of the door, not even waiting to see if the others followed.
"Let's make this quick." He called out, his voice echoing around the apartment complex's hallway. As he did so, Izuku looked towards Uraraka, his friend then gently shooing him out the door with an understanding smile on her face.
"I'll hold down the fort and finish dinner, you go help out your boyfriend." She said, to which Izuku simply nodded and quickly took his leave with Yaoyorozu, the dark-haired girl clinging onto his arm as if she were worried that they'd get separated on the way out. Uraraka let out a sigh as she shut the door behind them, now having to reassure all of their guests that everything was fine, even though she wasn't even quite sure that was the truth.
Yaoyorozu hurriedly drove, against her usually well judgement, back to the house that she shared with Jirou; Izuku silently sat in the passenger seat with a twisting gut as he nervously wrung his hands together, Bakugou sat in the back without a word as he gazed out of the window. They lived in a much nicer part out town, thus it took them a handful of long and agonizing minutes in order to get to their destination; though once they finally did get there, Izuku all but leaped out of the car and ran towards the front door. Yaoyorozu was not far behind, though Bakugou unfortunately took his time with his moments as he let out a sigh, feeling as though the others were probably over-reacting.
"In the spare room." Yaoyorozu said when the duo entered the home and only very briefly did Izuku note in the back of his mind that the place seemed to be even emptier than before with a couple of boxes sitting around. Yaoyorozu lead him to the room in question and stepped aside to let him through the door.
"Shouto?" Izuku murmured, his coming out a lot softer than he ever thought that he could manage in a situation like this. The room was just as empty as the rest of the house, if not emptier, aside from the people that were currently inside of it; Shouto laid curled up on the floor, nothing but a pillow to help his head while Jirou sat next to him against the wall looking concern and unsure of what to do with herself. Shouto had a pained grimace on his face as he glanced over to Izuku with a look of surprise, a sheen of sweat causing his hair to stick to his forehead, as he tried to make himself look smaller but it didn't work as Izuku's gaze instantly locked onto his not-boyfriend's sagging left arm. Izuku bit his lip to stop any possible sobs from escaping as he knelt down next to Shouto, trying not to think too much about how the other's bad arm was covered in even more bruises than before along with a few spots of blood here and there as if somebody had angrily dug their nails into his skin.
"Izu... I told you not to tell him." Shouto said, sending a half-hearted glare towards Yaoyorozu.
"What else was I suppose to do, you're hurt!" His close friend shot back, her voice portraying just how desperate that she was feeling.
"I-I'm fine, I'll set it in a second." Shouto said, defensively, which only got a scoff out of Jirou.
"You've been saying that for the past half-hour man." She said in her usual tone, though as she looked over at him from the side of her eyes, it was apparent that she was also rather worried about him. "Stop saying you will and just do it."
Shouto huffed and still just laid there as Izuku frowned, getting the other's gaze to land on him.
"M'sorry, love, I didn't mean to worry you." Shouto said, voice barely above a whisper, causing Izuku's heart to pound. The green-haired man then forced a tiny smile as he carefully reached forward to brush his hand across Shouto's scar, receiving a content little hum out of him as his eyes slid shut.
"Don't worry so much about me, if you're ever in trouble I want you to let me know so I can help." Izuku murmured as his thumb started to rub slow circles against Shouto's cheek, the rest of the conversation left unspoken as Bakugou finally entered the fray, lightly punching his own hand.
"Alright, half n' half, you ready to take your medicine?" He sneered, getting Shouto to snap his eyes open, face setting into a scowl.
"You've been waiting for something like this to happen, haven't you?" He asked, getting a chuckle that was far too loud for their current situation. Letting out a slightly annoyed sounding sigh, Shouto then looked towards Izuku and Yaoyorozu. "You two should leave the room, I don't want you to see this."
"No, I want to stay with you." Izuku said immediately without hesitation, getting Shouto to lightly nuzzle his hand.
"Please, just do this for me, I don't like that you're seeing me like this..." He whispered, ultimately breaking Izuku's heart as he finally removed his hand with a silent 'fine.'
"Come along, Midoriya, we'll go get some beverages for everyone." Yaoyorozu said, her voice sounding a lot stronger for the first time that night as she bent down to gently touch the other's shoulder. Izuku sighed and nodded, then standing up straight to allow himself to be lead out of the room by the dark-haired girl, but not before she paused to look back at Jirou first.
"Are you coming?" She asked.
"Nah, I'm morbidly curious and I wanna see how this turns out." She said, wrinkling up her nose in distaste as Bakugou approached Shouto almost like a lion would an injured gazelle. "Plus, I gotta make sure blondey here doesn't kill Todoroki."
Yaoyorozu nodded as Bakugou grumbled, quickly taking her leave with Izuku, though not without shutting the door lightly behind them as they went. She lead him to the kitchen, sitting him down at the tiny table for two that she usually shared with her girlfriend before making her way over to the fridge and curiously looking on the inside of it.
"What would you like to drink, I'm sorry that we don't have much." Yaoyorozu said and Izuku could tell that her voice was still shaky with nerves even though she was trying so desperately to put her mind at ease by keeping busy.
"It doesn't matter." Izuku responded with an uncaring shrug, getting a sad sigh out of the other as she grabbed a couple of cans of some generic-branded soda before she turned on her heel and walked over to the table to sit across from the young man. She slid the soda over to him, but Izuku just stared at it, face blank while Yaoyorozu opened up her's with a shaky hand.
"We'll just give them a... a few minutes." She stated, getting Izuku to turn his suddenly hardened gaze towards her, taking the other by surprise as she hadn't ever known such an expression to ever appear on his face.
"Did his dad do this?" Izuku asked, eyes narrowing, as he had already known the answer to his question already though he just wanted it voiced out in the open. Yaoyorozu let out a tearful breath of air, more akin to that of a sob, as she nodded her head and looked down at her soda as if it were the most interesting thing in the world so she did not have to meet Izuku's gaze. The green-haired man, in turn, clenched his fists under the table and looked away; he wanted so desperately to help people, but he couldn't even help one of his closest friends and it made him feel horrible. Izuku couldn't understand it, how someone could bring harm to anyone, let alone their own child.
"I should have done something before it got this bad, I'm an idiot." Izuku stated, angry with himself that he hadn't done anything to help, but every time he tried to talk with Shouto about whatever was going in his home life the white and red-haired man would deflect the question or change the subject with a brief mutter of 'I'm fine, don't worry about it.' "I hate this so much, Yaoyorozu."
"Please, don't beat yourself up, Todoroki wouldn't want you to do that." Yaoyorozu said, finally looking up as she briefly dabbed the tears away from her eyes with a fresh napkin that had been laying out on the table. "If anything, it's my fault that he is still in this predicament, but he just refused to move in with us after I lost my parents' inheritance because he didn't want to put the burden on us..."
"Yaoyorozu, what happened?" Izuku asked as calmly as he could manage, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his raging emotions. "If you don't mind me asking that is, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Oh, you don't already know?" She asked with a small frown.
"I didn't think that it was my place to pry." He answered with an equally small frown. "I wanted to respect your privacy."
"I appreciate it, but it's not really a huge secret." Yaoyorozu said, letting out another sigh, this one sounded incredibly tired and much more so than any twenty-something year old should. "My parents are rather wealthy people and while I've been in a relationship with Kyoka ever since our final year of highschool, they hadn't known about it because they are very conservative people and thought that me and her were just very good friends. They were the ones paying our house and my classes, so I thought that it would be fine for Todoroki to live with us until he got a job and managed to get on his own feet; we all so desperately wanted to get him as far away from his father as we could."
Izuku gave a slight nod to show that he was still listening as Yaoyorozu paused to take a brief sip of her drink.
"Anyway, there was a terrible slip up and my parents had found out about Kyoka and I." Yaoyorozu said with a saddened sigh, getting a worried frown out of the other across from her, feeling as though a rock had dropped into his stomach. "So they gave me a choice, either I had to leave Kyoka and return home to finish my schooling there in order to 'change my ways' as they put it, or continue to be as I am but I would also essentially lose everything. It was a surprisingly hard decision to make, for I do truly still love my parents, but I knew that I would not be happy trying to be someone that I am not so I chose to stay with the person that I love."
"I could imagine how hard that would be." Izuku said, thinking of his own mother who he loved so dearly, and he dreaded the thought that she might not accept him for who he was; though it was only a very brief and fleeting idea because he knew that she loved him and would constantly tell him time and time again that she would love him no matter what. Still, it was a scary thought, telling her about his relationship with another man, but it was something that he would inevitably have to do. He wondered what he would do if she didn't accept it, a thought that he quickly chased out of his mind. "I think that you're very brave, Yaoyorozu."
She flushed at his words, bringing her hand up to sweep her bangs back behind her ear.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Yaoyorozu said with a small smile that quickly vanished as she rested her head in her hand, leaning forward ever slightly. "Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice, like maybe everybody would have been better off if I had left. It feels like I made a selfish decision."
"You're being true to who you are, I don't think that's a bad kind of selfish." Izuku responded, lightly flicking his soda can, knowing that at least she knew who she was and what she wanted. It was more than he could say.
"I know, I know, Kyoka keeps telling me that." Yaoyorozu responded, shoulders hunched. "It's just, I can't help but think that maybe she would have been better off if she only had to focus on her own finances instead of worrying about mine as well. I also think that maybe Todoroki could have moved into my parents house with me if I did go back, then he wouldn't be in this mess, they absolutely adorned him after all so I'm sure that it would have been fine."
Izuku felt a grimace rise to his face and it was then his turn to feel a little bit selfish. Yaoyorozu gave him a curious glance.
"Ah, I was just thinking that I'm kind of glad that you did what you did." The green-haired man said with a slight blush. "I probably wouldn't have met him if it weren't for you and Jirou, honestly... That sounds really bad, I think I'm the selfish."
Much to his surprise, Yaoyorozu laughed.
"It's funny, my parents love him, but if they had known of his lifestyle they would have lost it." Yaoyorozu chuckled, her eyes sparkling with a fondness as she looked at the man across from her. "Don't worry Midoriya, Todoroki completely and unquestionably loves you."
Izuku could feel his face flush while his heart wildly beat within his chest and the young man had to hurriedly open up his should to take a swig of it in order to try to cool himself down. Yaoyorozu saw this and smiled as she patiently waited for him to calm back down, though Izuku half-thought that she might be ending up waiting for him for a while.
"Um, so what do you mean by lifestyle?" Izuku decided to ask after a few moments in order to change the subject, he looked back over at the black-haired girl and caught her grimacing very briefly before the expression vanished and he was left to wonder if he had just imagined it.
"Oh, well, before he met you Todoroki had a bit of a wild rebellious streak." She said with a huff, to which Izuku wrinkled up his nose as he just couldn't picture it. "I don't hold it against him, he was very depressed and was just trying to lash out against his father, but all that this did was backfire and his father ended up finding out that Todoroki is gay."
The words were out in the open and Izuku could feel his stomach rumble with upset, because yea, he could have guessed as much but it still hurt to hear those words out loud.
"So that's why he does this to him?" The green-haired man dared to ask, though he already knew the answer to his question even before Yaoyorozu gave the pitiful nod of her head, making Izuku look away from her.
"It was always kind of bad, but it did seem to get worse once he found out, yes." Yaoyorozu said, biting her lip as she looked unsure of herself. "Midoriya, could you promise not tell Todoroki that I told you this stuff, I think it would be best he eventually opens up to you to tell you himself. I know I shouldn't have said anything, but you really deserve to know rather than being left in the dark."
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't planning on bringing it up again." Izuku said with a forced smile. "I want Shouto to be able to trust me with anything, so I can wait as long as need be for him."
"He's so lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky to have him." He was quick to respond with a fondness as Yaoyorozu gave a small and light-hearted giggle, the conversation seeming to ease up a bit. Izuku was glad for that as he took another drink of his soda, curiously glancing around the bare rooms, mostly empty aside from a few pieces of furniture and several boxes. "Are you guys moving?"
Yaoyorozu followed his gaze and gave a curt nod.
"This house is a little too expensive for Kyoka and I to afford right now." She responded with a sigh. "So we're selling what we don't need and storing the rest in Kyoka's grandparents' shed, then the both of us will be moving into the dorms on campus. I was lucky enough to be able to get some scholarships after I talked to my professors and advisors about my current situation, I get excellent grades and was told that I'm a very good student so they were happy enough to lend some assistance."
Izuku noted the hint of pride that was in Yaoyorozu's voice and he was happy for her, at least it sounded like that she and Jirou had a plan B that was going to work out for them.
"I'm glad." Izuku said softly, perking up slightly as he heard the sudden footfalls of somebody as they approached. He turned to see Jirou trotting into the kitchen.
"It's because you are a good student, Momo." She was saying, having caught the tail end of their conversation as she walked over to her girlfriend to toss an arm over her, getting the black-haired girl to flush slightly. "You telling Midoriya about how awesome and smart that you are?"
"Oh you." Yaoyorozu mumbled as she lightly brought her soda can up to her lips as if in an attempt to hide how flustered Jirou's praise made her. Izuku smiled at the two, his spirits lifting slightly as he then turned towards Jirou, a worried look upon his face.
"How's Shouto doing?" He asked, getting the punk-looking girl to turn her attention towards him.
"You're man is fine, short-fuse is just finishing up with him." Jirou responded with a light shrug, though her uneasy expression was enough to keep Izuku's nerves tensed up. However, she seemed to notice this and shot him a reassuring smirk, though it was unclear on who exactly she was trying to cheer up. "Hey, don't worry about it so much, he's far from fragile."
He didn't really know how to respond to that, Izuku knew that Shouto wasn't fragile and yet somehow something about him did seem oh so breakable, so the green-haired man just nodded as he looked away. Another pair of footsteps approaching, causing Yaoyorozu and Jirou to perk up slightly as they both looked over towards the doorway, Izuku following their lead as he twisted around in his seat in order to get a better look. Shouto stood there awkwardly looking at the small group in the kitchen, an old bed sheet wrapped around his injured shoulder as a make-shift sling to keep pressure off of it, while Bakugou walked out from behind him and headed straight towards the fridge, he was promised soda and he was going to get one, damn it.
"Sorry for worrying you all." Shouto stated, bringing a sad smile to Izuku's face and maybe even a few tears escaped his eyes as he leaped up from his seat in order to clear the distance between him and his not-boyfriend.
"It's okay, I'm just glad that you're alright." Izuku said as he carefully wrapped his arms around the other's waist as gently as he could, minding the bruises as he brought Shouto into a hug. The red and white-haired man seemed to instantly melt as he leaned up against Izuku with a tiny sigh, the other nuzzling against his neck as he gave a small whisper. "You are alright, aren't you, Shouto?"
"Mmhm." He heard Shouto mumble as the other buried his face into his wild green locks, sounding utterly exhausted as he held him tightly with his good arm. "I wanna go home."
Behind them, Izuku could hear Yaoyorozu's sharp intake of breath and he had to quickly lean away from Shouto with a look of shock, the other seeming confused at his reaction.
"Wait, y-you can't go back there-" Izuku said in utter horror as he thought about what could happen if Shouto returned, how much worse could the injuries get, he didn't want to think about it. The green-haired man then watched as Shouto's confused expression was slowly replaced with realization, his heterochromatic eyes going wide.
"N-No, I didn't mean... What I meant was..." Shouto stammered out, much to Izuku's surprise as his face flushed a red that could almost rival the red of his air. Then he took a deep breath and let out, in the smallest of whispers. "I want to go to your home."
Izuku's mouth made a silent 'o' shape as he glanced behind him towards the other, seeing Yaoyorozu looking relieved while Jirou suggestively wiggling her eyebrows, Bakugou simply grunted out as he glared at his soda; he didn't seem to like this situation, but Izuku was just going to have to deal with that later.
Turning back towards his not-boyfriend, Izuku gave one of his signature smiles, still managing to portray the emotions that he felt for the other despite all of the dark unpleasant things that had been happening lately as he reached out for Shouto's free hand. Izuku firmly grasped it with both of his hands and began to rub small circles into it with his thumbs.
"Okay, Shouto, let's go home."
"I'm not really straight."
The sentence was whispered into his phone's receiver as he held back a sob, had he not already cried all of his tears earlier that night then perhaps he would have. Izuku glanced over towards where Uraraka sat with her back against the wall, a personal tub of ice-cream sat in her lap, and she gave him a look of encouragement despite the tear-stains on her cheeks that most likely mirrored his own.
"What do you mean by that, Izuku?" His mother's soft and gentle voice came from the other line, though her voice wavered and he probably would have gave a fond and light-hearted chuckle at her innocence, had he not felt like he was going to throw up from telling her. Perhaps eating half of his own ice-cream tub beforehand was a bad idea, but it was late and far past the appropriate time for making smart decisions. Especially more so due to the fact that it was bathroom-icecream time with Uraraka, which was a surreal experience where they felt as tough they were the only two in the world as they cried out all their tears and ate away their feelings. Izuku briefly wondered when the last time they did this was, senior year maybe? Things had just been so good lately that they hadn't needed bathroom-icecream time.
Izuku wondered how they got to this point.
He supposed that it was in the backseat of Yaoyorozu's car as she drove him, Shouto and Bakugou back to the apartment. Izuku sat in the back with Shouto, their arms around each other as the other leaned into him in order to whisper to him the exact same story that Yaoyorozu had told him except that he supplied a little more detail. The green-haired man thought that he was prepared to hear the story over again, but from Shouto's own lips instead, however he did not take into account Shouto's raw emotion as he finally opened up to him going as far as to whisper out the origin of the burn on his face. It was all Izuku could do to hold his lover, crying all the while and he knew that he must have looked ridiculous being the one crying as Shouto didn't shed a tear though his shoulders did slightly quiver as he hid his face in the crook of Izuku's neck.
Once they had reached their tiny abode, Yaoyorozu had bid them a goodbye telling Shouto to text her in the morning to let her know how he was doing, with that she had left and Izuku and Bakugou had silently escorted Shouto back to their apartment where Uraraka was waiting anxiously. By then dinner had been eaten and all of their study buddies had gone and left, which Izuku was honestly quite thankful for, because it was very clear that Shouto didn't feel up to anyone else's company as he only mumbled a brief greeting to Uraraka before he retreated to Izuku's room.
"You can go ahead and lay down, I'll be to bed in a little bit." Izuku had called after him as he vanished into his room and the green-haired man had honestly not thought that he would take that long in explaining what had happened to Uraraka, but of course Bakugou had to throw a wrench into his plans.
"Deku." He had said, his tone dangerously low with an unspoken warning and Izuku could only guess as to why that was. "You can't just invite him to stay here without consulting the rest of us."
Perhaps that were true, but what kind of person would Izuku be if he denied solstice for his own lover. So, of course, Izuku was quick to defend Shouto.
"Can we not do this tonight?" He had asked in desperation, wishing that they could just please talk all of this over. "Please, it's been too much."
"We gotta talk now, what are we just going to let him live with us or something?" Bakugou had snapped, eyes narrowed in a glare directed right at Izuku. "All because you couldn't keep it in your pants around this guy? How's that fair to us?"
"Kaachan, if you're worried about money, don't be." Izuku said, desperate. "Shouto's looking for a job so he'll be able to support himself soon enough, just let him stay until then and I'll pay for him while he's here."
"Really, you're going to do that for him, you barely even know him." Bakugou retorted and Izuku face scrunched up in a rare burst of anger, because how dare he say that. "I've heard rumors about this guy and I didn't want to say anything because I didn't think it'd ever come this far, think about it Deku, you made out in a closet when you've first met for pete's sake, he's kind of a slut."
Izuku gritted his teeth together and clenched his fists, Yaoyorozu's words echoing in his mind, but in that moment he didn't care because Shouto wasn't like that. At least, he wasn't anymore, if that's the type of wild that Yaoyorozu was talking about.
Bakugou looked down on Izuku as if challenging him and the green-haired man might have even fell for it had it not been for Uraraka's hand wrapped tightly around his wrist in order to keep him grounded, his best friend having been utterly silent, but her presence definitely there. She then turned her fierce gaze towards her blond boyfriend.
"Come on, Katsuki, you know that that's a low blow." She had said and it was at this point that Izuku couldn't really remember the words that were said, emotions were high and visions blur as the three roommates had their spat, but if there were one thing that Izuku could clearly still see in his head is was the fact that Uraraka had agreed with him. This had made Bakugou absolutely livid as he shouted a few choice words at the two of them before storming out of the apartment to blow off some steam, where he went neither of them could know for sure, as he still wasn't back yet.
Thus the two had grabbed their individual buckets of ice-cream along with a spoon each and locked themselves in the bathroom while Shouto most likely slept in Izuku's room. As was their tradition whenever they were both upset at something at the same time.
"This is it, this is the big one, he's going to leave us." Uraraka had sobbed into her ice-cream. "Why do I love that asshole?"
Izuku couldn't say for sure and he also couldn't really answer the question about how they had gotten onto the topic of his mother either. Perhaps with the emotions all out in the air now, he had pitifully admitted to Uraraka his worries about telling his mother about his love affair with another man. Not wanting to dwell on her own love life anymore, Uraraka must have insisted that he call his mother right then and there while he had the emotional support that naturally came with bathroom-icecream.
Yea, that must have been it.
"Izuku, are you still there, honey?" His mother's voice soon brought him back to the present and he noticed Uraraka giving him a nervous look. Izuku blinked and took in a deep breath.
"Yea, sorry, I just kind of spaced out." He mumbled, his mind flitting back to the question that his mother had asked him before he zoned out. "Please, don't hate me."
"I could never hate you." His mother said, as was expected from her, though it sounded as though she were frowning at his words and Uraraka seemed to be mirroring her emotions. Neither of them liked when he second guessed himself.
"E-Even though I've... I've fallen in love with another man?" Izuku managed to get out with a strangled sob as even more tears managed to find their way to his eyes and fall down his face, despite how much he had already cried. His eyes were going to be terribly dry in the morning, he just knew it. "P-Please don't be mad."
Izuku could hear his mother's sharp intake of breath and in the following moments where she was completely silent, most likely to collect her thoughts on the matter, all Izuku could think of was the worst outcome. What if she turned her back on him just as Yaoyorozu's parents had? Sure she loved him and said that she could never hate him, but wasn't it just as likely that his friend's parents had said something similar at one point.
"Does he make you happy, Izuku?" Was what his mother finally decided to ask, though it didn't do much to calm the young man down as he gave a noise of affirmation, unable to voice out all the feelings that he felt for Shouto in that moment. It had been a long and harrowing night, so words were not something that he could think of in that moment. "Then who am I to try to tell you who you can and can't love? All I want is for you to be happy and true to who you are."
Izuku cried while his mother let loose some encouraging words in his ear, Uraraka grabbing a hold of her ice-cream and crawling over to him to sit next to him, lightly patting his back.
"Though I hope you know, that now I entirely expect to meet this boy that's stolen your heart." His mother chided with a light-hearted giggle, which was far too contagious as Izuku couldn't help the laugh that escaped him, Uraraka giving a small grin as she leaned up against the side of the tub.
"Of course!" Izuku responded, butterflies in his stomach to replace the painful grip of fear that he had felt only moments before, now he was feeling almost light-headed. He almost felt silly to think any less of his mother, he knew that he was truly lucky to have her in his life. "Maybe I'll bring him home for winter break."
Izuku had to quickly bring his phone away from his ear as his mother let out an excited shriek, then followed by some brief rambling from her end as she contemplated on what she should make them for dinner. The whole thing brought a smile to the green-haired man's face, getting Uraraka to let out a tired sigh as her eyes began to droop; with the worst of the emotions running away, pure exhaustion was soon taking their place.
"Hey, mom, can we talk more about this tomorrow?" He had suddenly asked her, though he did feel bad as he didn't entirely want to stop yet, but it was entirely too late and Shouto was currently waiting for him. "I think I want to go to bed now, I'm sorry for calling you so late."
"Don't be, I would much rather you call and wake me up instead of you suffering alone." She responded and while he wasn't exactly alone since he had Uraraka here with him, he still appreciated the sentiment none-the-less. "Now, you go get some rest, okay?"
"Will do, good-night, mom." Izuku bid her adieu before finally hanging up the phone with a happy little sigh as things had turned out better than he could have hoped for, now he just needed to help Uraraka with her relationship drama.
Izuku opened up his mouth as if to say something as he turned towards Uraraka to face her, however nothing came out of his mouth as he noticed that she was slumped over with her spoon full of ice-cream careless hanging out of her mouth as his best friend lightly snoozed. Letting out a small sigh, Izuku moved the ice-cream as he began to help his friend to her bed, they would have to wait until tomorrow for Uraraka's relationship damage control it would seem.
'I'm just being me and that's okay.'
Was the thought that kept repeating itself like a comforting mantra a lot these days, especially whenever Izuku looked over at Shouto, just like he was right in that moment while the two sat on the old couch in the apartment that he shared with his two other (now three, of course) roommates. Izuku sighed at the sight of Shouto's tiny smile while the red and white-haired man looked at something on his phone that must have been plenty interesting in order to get his eyes to sparkle like that. The green-haired man couldn't deny how hopelessly smitten that he was with the other that sat meer inches away from him.
It had only been a week, or maybe it had been about two, since the night Shouto had dislocated his shoulder and Izuku and Uraraka cried their hearts out in the bathroom while drowning themselves in ice-cream, but both events seemed to be a distant surreal memory. As per the usual whenever it came to the glorious bathroom-icecream.
In those two weeks, Shouto had not returned home at all, opting to go out and buy new clothes to wear instead of having to face his father and during this time his bruises started to heal. The mental scars were still there, but the physical ones were fading at least, the other would take a little bit more time to fade. Bakugou had returned with a grumble of 'I freaking live here, bitches' as he easily integrated himself back within the group though things still seemed to be more than a little bit awkward between all of them and his relationship with Uraraka still was shaky as the blond refused to waver completely and often opted to sleep on the couch most nights. That was something that was going to take some more time to deal with as well.
Despite it all, Izuku found himself to be incredibly happy, and as such Shouto seemed to be happy as well. Well, as much as he was willing to show on his stoic face from time to time, just like now as he played around on his phone with that tiny quirk of his lips. Izuku sighed and leaned into Shouto's shoulder, his lover letting out a hum as he brought up one of his hands to run his fingers through Izuku's green hair.
It was decided then, Izuku knew what he had to do next.
"Do you want to go out?" He asked as casually as he could muster, though his heart still pounded in response.
"Mm? Where do you want to go?" Shouto curiously asked as he finally pried his eyes away from his phone to gaze into Izuku's green eyes. The other gave a small laugh as his face flushed.
"No, I mean, like do you want to be my boyfriend? Officially, that is." He said, eyes sparkling as he loved the way that Shouto let out a quiet gasp that was full of surprise, though he didn't miss the way that his mismatched eyes shone with excitement. "No pressure or anything, but I just really care about you and-"
"I'm ready!" Shouto was quick to interrupt him and now it was Izuku's turn to be rather bewildered.
"What, right now? Ready for what?"
"A... A relationship." Shouto said, face lightly flushing as he looked away from the other shyly, getting a dazzling smile out of Izuku has he wrapped his arms around his now-boyfriend's shoulders.
"I'm going to make you the happiest guy on Earth." He said.
"Not if I make you the happiest guy first." Shouto retorted as he lightly nuzzled against Izuku's cheek.
"Was that a challenge?"
"Perhaps."
Izuku let out a sudden laugh and once it was out, he found he couldn't stop until he buried his face into Shouto's neck.
"Oh my god, I can't believe it." He mumbled as the other gently patted his head. "I'm... I'm so glad."
"Ironically, I was planning on asking you out tonight, but this works too I suppose." Shouto said, getting Izuku to lean away from him so he could get a better look of his face. The red and white-haired man held a smirk on his face as he lifted up his cellphone that he had previously been so engrossed in to show Izuku the screen. "I got a response from a job that I applied to, it's nothing much, just restocking shelves at a bookstore, but it's something and I won't be a burden to you anymore. So since I'll have my own money now, I thought it'd be the perfect timing."
"You could never be a burden to me, but that's really great news, anyway." Izuku cheered, his face lighting up at the news. "This does call for a celebration."
With that, the two cleared the distance between themselves to bring each other into a deep kiss, this one feeling much different than the others, it was something much more intimate than their most intimate of kisses. This one was almost like it was sealing the deal, making their declaration of now being officially together, all the more real and it felt amazing.
"I love you so damn much." Izuku couldn't help saying as he briefly pulled away, taking in the sight of Shouto's slacked jaw and blown pupils.
"I love you too, Izuku."
The green-haired man grinned as he brought the other back into their kiss, allowing him to feel all the love and devotion that he felt for him and in that moment, Izuku couldn't believe that he ever thought that he was straight.
