'I like you. Please go out with me.'

Those words are ringing inside Izuku's head as he stares at Shouto. He doesn't know what to say, a love confession the last thing he expected when Shouto said they wanted to talk about them.

'W-what?' Izuku manages to say. His mind is whirring as he tries to keep himself from falling apart. Shouto is looking at him, and by the way he's standing, Izuku couldn't tell that the dual-user was nervous at all. But he was.

'I said I like you and I want you to go out with me,' Shouto repeats. His heart is pounding in his chest, even though he doesn't show. He's looking at Izuku who looks bewildered with his confession and is afraid about the things going inside his head. Does he need to brace himself for a rejection? Is he trying to sort his own feelings out? There's no way for Shouto to tell.

Izuku isn't quite sure what to say, he had never considered dating Shouto as a possibility. For the past few years he only had eyes for Katsuki, but he seemed completely oblivious to Izuku's admiration as well as annoyed with the fact that Izuku was somehow still breathing. Despite that, he wasn't sure if he could give all of that up to date one of his other classmates.

'I'm.. I'm not sure,' Izuku replied. He swears he could see Shouto frown a little. 'You're just.. kind of overwhelming me, I didn't expect you to ask that at all. And I kinda have someone else..'

'You're already in a relationship?' Shouto asks, now frowning for real. Izuku quickly shakes his head. 'No, no! I wish I was,' he mutters. He looks back up at Shouto who is now staring at him quizzically. 'I just have a crush on someone else, but..'

That one single word pulls Shouto's hopes up again.

'He would never be interested in me.'

He. So Izuku was gay. It at least eased some of Shouto's worries. He steps forward and makes the rash decision of taking a hold of Izuku's hands. Izuku flushes red as he stares at Shouto's hands – they were surprisingly divided evenly between hot and cold – and then back at Shouto who is still staring intently at him.

'I don't know who this person is, but it is his mistake for not being interested in you.' Izuku wishes he could cower away. The last thing he needs right now is pity. 'But I am interested in you, Midoriya.' Shouto's voice is soft and so are his dual-colored eyes. Somehow, Izuku is starting to drown in them.

'I know that the feelings of love can be overwhelming and lasting. Even if I'm not that person, please go out with me. I want to show you more of who I am, and I want to know more about you, and hopefully you'll fall in love with me as well, but if not, I'll accept that and we'll go our separate ways.'

Izuku gulps. That was surprisingly sweet for a boy that barely ever showed emotion. He looks away, his hands still trapped between Shouto's, thinking what the right thing is to do. He wants to say no, wants to save all his love for his Kacchan, unconditionally, even though unrequited. But at the same time a stinging feeling in his gut tells him that no matter how long he will wait, Katsuki will never see him in the same way as Izuku does.

Accepting Shouto's offer is a leap of fate that can end in two ways: either he'll fall in love, and they'll both end up happy, or he doesn't, and they'll both end up miserable, having wasted time on a love not meant to be. Still, Izuku's heart has been yearning for a companionship he hasn't been able to get from anyone else so far, and he can't deny that Shouto is gorgeous; not the same as Katsuki, but beautiful in his own way.

'If I go out with you…' Izuku starts. 'We'll just see where it goes. You can choose to quit anytime, no strings attached.'

Izuku looks at the ground, then their hands intertwined, then past Shouto into the hall, somehow secretly hoping for someone to save him from this awkward situation, and then at Shouto himself. His eyes are sparkling in anticipation and with the light of twilight shining on his face through the window he looks almost surreal.

In the back of Izuku's head doubt is still lingering, trying to tell him that he has a chance with Katsuki, he would just have to tell him his feelings and then everything will be okay, but the majority of Izuku's conscience disagrees. He nods once, more to himself than to anyone else. Shouto slightly cocks his head at the sight.

'Alright. I'll go out with you.'

Shouto's heart leaps in his chest at the words. 'For real?' he blurts out. Izuku stares up at him, determination twinkling in his eyes and a smile on his lips. 'For real,' he reassures.


Izuku was standing in front of his bathroom mirror running his hands through his hair to try to get it in shape. Shouto had told him they'd go out on their next free Sunday, which was today, but had refused to tell where they were going. Still, as this was still a first date, Izuku tried to look his very best.

He had spent a couple of hours discussing with Uraraka on what to wear before deciding on his outfit. He had confided in Uraraka about Shouto's confession and his date, trusting that she wouldn't tell anyone.

The door to his room slammed open, making him jump a foot into the air and his heart pound. He looks around and sees Uraraka walking in, stopping at the entrance of the bathroom and frowning at him. 'Aren't you ready yet?' she pouts.

Izuku huffs as a piece of his hair falls in front of his eyes again; there goes all his wasted effort. 'I was doing my hair,' he replies as he turns back to the mirror, plucking on his green curls again. She sighs before stepping forward and grabbing his hands to pull him away. 'You and I both know that's a wasted effort and you're just trying to stall for time,' she says sweetly.

Izuku is starting to flush red. Fact is, he still isn't quite sure whether agreeing to go on a date with Shouto was a good idea, but he's too far in to back out now.

'What's the worst that could happen?' she coos as she pushes him out of his room and into the hallway. Izuku has a thousand different answers to that.

As she shoves him into the empty elevator she waves and smiles at him as the doors close and the anxious feelings in Izuku's gut become more prominent. Even though his stomach is twisting and he feels slightly nauseous, as soon as he steps out of the elevator and sees Shouto sitting in the common room, all of the feelings disappear. Shouto is emanating a relaxed aura that radiates confidence.

'S-sorry I'm late,' Izuku mutters, making Shouto look up. Shouto gets to his feet and closes the distance between them as he smiles. 'It's okay.'

Izuku takes a deep breath as he looks Shouto over. He's barely ever seen the dual-user in casual attire, and for some reason the sight before him is intriguing. Shouto is wearing plain jeans and sneakers, paired with a white t-shirt and a dark blue jacket. It looks so stylish and yet so simple.

Izuku feels extremely overdressed in his best clothes, even though it almost matches the same casual style as Shouto. He put on a pair of grey pants, a white blouse and a light green jacket, paired with his ever-present red sneakers.

Izuku considered his attire too fancy for the occasion, but felt a rush of happiness when Shouto spoke up. 'You look good.' Izuku looks up at him, smiling back. 'So do you,' he compliments, feeling a tad awkward. Flirting was never a strong point of his.

'Shall we go?' Shouto asks, holding out his hand for Izuku to grab. Izuku's hand is shaking softly as he reaches out, but when Shouto wraps his fingers around it, Izuku feels reassured and the anxious sensations stop overtaking him.

Shouto starts to lead them outside. The walk to the train station is quite long, but as Shouto starts to ask questions about Izuku to break the ice and lift the tension, Izuku happily answers them, asking questions in return and thus resulting in a conversation that made them forget about time.


'When are you going to tell me where you're taking me?' Izuku asks. 'Never,' Shouto simply replies. Izuku chuckles. 'Then how will I know when we get there?'

Shouto looks aside and does his best way to grin smugly, but somehow it just looks like a very crooked smile on him. Despite that, still adorable, at least to Izuku. 'You will know.'

Izuku pouts a little. It took them quite some time to get to the train station in the first place, then they boarded a train that went all the way to Tokyo, and when they got there they had to switch to yet another line of the subway before they took on another hike. Izuku was starting to get a bit exhausted, and besides that quite hungry considering it was lunch time, even though the day had barely started.

'Is it far?' Izuku said, trying not to sound whiney. 'Almost there,' Shouto reassured and Izuku felt better knowing they were finally getting close. As they walked on the curb Izuku could hear the sounds of excited children from not so far away.

Being completely and utterly unfamiliar with the lay-outs of Tokyo, Izuku had no idea where they were or what there was to do around here. He had to rely on Shouto for directions and for some reason he felt like Shouto was the kind of person to easily get lost.

Shouto tugged on Izuku's hand, making him follow obediently as they rounded the corner, when Izuku finally realized where they were, eyes opening wide in surprise and excitement burbling up in his chest.

'Is that..! No way..!' Izuku tried to start proper sentences but got lost in the enthusiasm as he recognized the giant blue building in front of them. Izuku looked over at Shouto, his eyes glimmering like a child's. Shouto simply nodded, affirming Izuku's suspicions.

'That's the Tokyo Aquarium!' Izuku squealed like a child. It made Shouto's heart warm to see the excited response Izuku was giving, and he was glad that his choice had been right.

Izuku practically dragged Shouto along as they went to buy tickets and went inside. Shouto had the right mind to let go of Izuku's hand before letting him run wild, keeping his eyes on the green-haired boy that went running from tank to tank to admire the fishes with his mouth agape and his eyes as wide as they could be.

After admiring the so-manieth fish in one of the tank, Izuku looked around and saw Shouto standing a little away. He realized then that he hadn't spent any attention on his date in the past thirty minutes and he started to feel a little bad.

Cautiously he made his way back to Shouto who was raising an eyebrow at why Izuku's excitement had disappeared so sudden. 'I'm sorry, I'm not spending any time with you,' Izuku admitted. Shouto smiled. 'That's okay. I like watching you run around. It's adorable.' Izuku flushed red. Again. He should really keep count, in case somebody wanted to bet on it.

'How about we go to eat something?' Shouto proposed. In turn Izuku's stomach growled. He had been so occupied by all the mesmerizing creatures in their tanks that he had completely forgotten that he had been hungry since an hour ago. He scratches his head as he smiles sheepishly. 'Yeah, let's do that.'

Shouto reached his hand out to Izuku again who gladly took it as he led them to the cafeteria. They sat down to eat – Shouto had gotten them some takoyaki and soft drinks – Izuku's mouth half full as he rambled on about facts he knew about marine life, not stopping to think whether Shouto would be interested or not.

Shouto leaned forward on his hand, looking at Izuku as he excitedly gushed about the things he liked. It was an adorable trait that Shouto had fallen for, as well as many others. When Izuku finally managed to finish his last piece of food, they left again, watching the rest of the exhibition.

'Did you know that some fish, very similar to some bird species as well as some mammals, choose one partner they have for life?' Izuku tells Shouto as they stand under a glass tunnel that makes them be surrounded by fish, sharks, turtles and other marine animals. The light that's shining on Izuku's hair makes it look like it's shimmering.

'When it's time, they go to search for a partner, and once they have found them, they won't ever leave. Even if their partner dies, they'll never get a new one. Sounds kinda romantic, doesn't it?' Izuku giggles as he looks at Shouto. Shouto inches closer to Izuku as they stare up at a turtle swimming by, casting a shadow over both of them. 'I hope to have one partner for life too.'

He feels Izuku tense up beside him. 'I'm not saying it's you,' he reassures, 'but once I have found my partner, I don't want them to leave. Ever. That's what love means to me.'

Izuku stares up at him, Shouto staring into the tank. Who knew that this emotionally damaged teen could be so deep and romantic? When they move on and reach the end of the exhibit, Izuku realizes how much his energy-tantrum has tired him out.

They walk out of the building while Izuku shields his eyes off from the setting sun with one hand, the other in front of his mouth as he yawns. 'I think it's a good idea to go back,' Shouto suggests. Izuku looks at him with a half drowsy smile. 'I think so too.'

The way back home seems shorter than the way there, but maybe that's because Izuku fell asleep halfway on the train, leaning against Shouto, who looked down in content and simply hoped that Izuku would stay with him after today.


Izuku yawned widely as Shouto pulled him closer to keep Izuku steady on his feet. 'Nearly there,' he coaxes. 'Just stay awake a little longer.' Izuku nods, his head hazy as he tries put one foot in front of the other. Today has drained more energy out of him than he expected.

As they enter Heights Alliance again, Shouto thinks it's probably best to take Izuku safely to his bed before leaving him. The elevator ride doesn't take long, since Izuku's room is on the second floor, but to Izuku standing still like that is long enough to nearly fall asleep on Shouto's shoulder.

Shouto gently shakes him as he drags him out of the elevator and towards his room. 'Where's your keycard?' Shouto asks.

Izuku rubs his eyes to rid them off the heaviness for a second as he puts himself back on his feet and reaches in his back pocket to retrieve the keycard from his wallet. The lock to his room beeps before opening and Shouto gently guides Izuku inside.

Shouto turns around to look where he can leave the sleepy teen, Izuku leaning against the wooden door that leads to the hallway.

'It's okay,' Izuku assures. 'I'll be fine from here. Can barely anything go wrong,' he jokes. Shouto smiles. 'Okay, I trust you.' He steps forward, hand on Izuku's chin as he slightly lifts it.

'Midoriya?' Shouto asks. 'Izuku,' he slurs in return. Shouto's eyes open a little in surprise and then soften. 'Izuku, is it okay for me to kiss you?'

Izuku smiles and nods. His mind might not be completely clear anymore, but he is still fully aware of what's going on, and he wants it. Desperately.

Shouto slowly leans forward, one hand on Izuku's chin, the other on the small of his back to support him from falling over as he has propped himself against the door. Their lips meet, soft, gentle, a touch neither of them ever could have imagined.

Shouto is the one to pull away first, not wanting to push too far. He takes Izuku's hand and guides him to his own bed where he immediately crashes. Shouto looks down, smiling as Izuku's chest is going up and down at a steady pace, already having drifted off.

As he leaves, Izuku wakes for a moment, coming to his senses to change into his sleepwear. While he's struggling to take his normal pants off and his sweatpants on, he thinks about the day. He had a great day, it was a lot of fun and being around Shouto like that had felt so natural.

Not having the energy to grab a shirt Izuku wriggles himself between the sheets, pulling them around his shoulders. Yeah, today was a great day, and Izuku was certain he had felt something in his chest that he had never felt before. But if it was love..? He wasn't sure.