Dinner had been even more fun than Izuku had expected, after they'd mutually agreed to leave the Bakugou issue alone for the moment. They'd chatted about work, a little bit about their respective lives, and about the current heroes making their way up the chart. Izuku enjoyed being able to analyze and dissect what current heroes were doing with someone who didn't find it creepy, and could actually keep up with him.

Tipping his head in consideration, Izuku said, "Nedzu said he hadn't had a personal student for quite some time, when he first offered to take me on. He offered me extra credit if I could figure out who his last student had been. I never managed it while I was in school, but it was you, wasn't it?"

"It was," Shouta said, an amused smile playing at his mouth. "How did you figure it out?"

Izuku shrugged slightly. "I don't know, actually. Just how you analyze the heroes, I guess," he said.

"Or," Shouta murmured, suppressing his urge to laugh, "How I managed to keep up with you and understand what you were talking about?"

Izuku tipped his head to the side and considered that for a moment before grimacing as he flushed. "I think you're right, actually. Wow, that's kind of conceited of me," he muttered.

Shouta gave up on suppressing his laughter as he pointed out, "Izuku, Nedzu took you on as a student because your analysis was so far beyond what most other people are able to do. It's not arrogant or conceited to acknowledge the fact that you're so good at something that most people have trouble keeping up with you."

Sighing, Izuku wrinkled his nose a bit. "I suppose. I've gotten used to admitting that I'm good at it, but admitting that I'm better than some people is still a work in progress."

Shouta smirked at him. "You'll get there eventually I'm sure, but until you do I'll be sure to tell you every chance I get."

Izuku covered his face with his hands. "I'm going to be permanently red faced, aren't I?" He asked drily, unable to help his amused smile when Shouta reached out and pulled his hands off of his face.

"Until you learn to accept compliments about how intelligent you are," Shouta agreed, unperturbed.

Laughing, Izuku glanced at his watch. "We'd probably better get going, I'm sure you have some things you need to get done tonight and I have some take home work I need to poke at."

Shouta frowned. "Don't let them overwork you," he warned. "Your work is important and useful, but there are always people who want to wring every ounce of productivity they can from you, even to the point of burnout."

"I won't," he promised with a smile. "This is more of a fun project for me than anything."

Shouta nodded, satisfied, and then waved down a waitress and handed over the check and his card. He arched an eyebrow at Izuku's aborted noise of protest, telling him, "I'm more than capable of paying for our date Izuku."

Izuku's lips pressed together tightly. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," he admitted, "All things considered." And Shouta acting like this was a real date was wreaking havoc on his hormones, because he kept having to bite his lip to avoid inviting him into his apartment after dinner.

"Are we going to have to go over the fact that I'm choosing to do these things again?" Shouta asked curiously. "Because I'm more than old enough to choose what I want to do with my money, and tonight I'm choosing to buy you dinner." He arched an eyebrow again. "Any other concerns?"

Izuku held up his hands in surrender. "No more concerns," he promised. "Just promise that if you start feeling like I'm taking advantage you'll say something."

Shouta's lips twitched. "I promise you that you'll know very quickly if I have a problem with something."

"Good enough," Izuku decided. "And thank you," he smiled at Shouta, "For dinner. It was delicious, and beyond the issue with Bakugou, I had a lot of fun."

"I did as well," Shouta murmured. "Speaking of Bakugou, I wanted to ask that if he messages you again, that you show me the messages. I would like to stay in the loop as much as possible with that particular situation."

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I'll make sure to get the messages to you." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "It's probably wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that seeing me out with you will sink in and he'll just...let it go."

"There's no harm in being hopeful," Shouta murmured, "As long as you're prepared for when it doesn't turn out like that."

They stood up after the waitress brought the card back with a copy of the receipt, and Shouta reached out and slid an arm around Izuku's waist as they moved towards the door. Izuku let out a shaky breath as the arm settled and Shouta's hand curled around his hip possessively. But he shrugged mentally and slid his own hand in Shouta's back pocket, making the hand around his hip tighten slightly. "Ok?" He asked quietly.

Shouta hummed back, tugging Izuku even closer to his side. "Very ok," he murmured back, that strangely satisfied look on his face again. Izuku wanted to purr , because he was warm and comfortable and the arm around his waist was heavy and grounding in the best way. Even if this wasn't real, he was going to take advantage of the open affection Shouta was offering while they were pretending to date. Hitoshi wasn't opposed to physical affection, but it just wasn't the same.

"I'd like to walk you home," Shouta added, and his thumb slipping up under Izuku's shirt and slowly rubbing up and down and his bare skin was distracting enough that he just nodded, cheeks

flushing. "Thank you," he murmured, smiling down at him.

Izuku licked his lips, flushing when Shouta's gaze flicked down to his mouth to watch. "I actually wanted to talk to you about that," he murmured. "You've been...very clear," he finally decided on his wording, "That you'd like for me to let you know when I'm getting off work late. I don't mind letting you know if it's going to be late at night, but once daylight hits it seems unnecessary to me."

Shouta hummed consideringly, his grip on Izuku's hip tightening again. "I can understand that," he said finally. "But if you're going to be working over that long, that's a different concern I'd still like to know about. The owner of the agency is a good man, but I don't want them pushing and overworking you without a damn good reason. And sometimes it can be hard, when you're in the middle of it, to see if you're being overworked unnecessarily."

Tipping his head, Izuku considered that. "Ok," he said quietly after a moment. "That's reasonable." It was actually far more reasonable than it had originally seemed. "I'll let you know."

Shouta pulled him to a stop, shifting them to the side to avoid impeding anyone else. "That's it?" He asked disbelievingly. "No more objections?"

"You explained why you want me to let you know," Izuku said with a shrug, "And it's reasonable." He paused. "Do you want me to have more objections? I could probably scrounge something up for you if you'd like," he offered, eyes dancing with amusement.

Shouta huffed. "Brat," he muttered, trying to hide his smile. He drew Izuku back into the flow of pedestrian traffic and they started walking again. "Thank you," he said after a moment, "For being..." He paused and considered what he wanted to say. "For being willing to indulge me in this."

Izuku offered a slightly startled look. "Of course. As long as what you're asking me is reasonable, or has a good explanation, I'm always willing to..." He wrinkled his nose for a minute. "Mitigate your concerns, I guess." He shrugged. "There's no reason not to, you know?"

The older man looked down at him for a long moment, long enough that Izuku offered him a curious look back. Shouta nodded to himself, seemingly cementing a decision in his mind. "I think you and I get off around the same time tomorrow," he said. "Do you want to get dinner again?"

A faint smile curved Izuku's lips. He could already tell it would be the same deal as tonight, with Shouta paying and refusing to let Izuku protest. "Why don't you come over and I'll cook for you?" He offered, not letting himself second guess it. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be in crowds like that two night in a row."

Arching an eyebrow, Shouta looked at him. "I think you're not too interested in being in a crowd a second night in a row either."

"No," he admitted sheepishly. "I don't mind crowds in small doses, but I find them exhausting a lot of the time." He didn't hesitate this time at the front of his building, Shouta walking in step with him as they made their way to Izuku's apartment.

Once they reached the door, Shouta slowly let his hand slip off of Izuku's hip so he could unlock it. Izuku turned after unlocking it, and Shouta pressed a hand against the door right by Izuku's head, half caging him against it. "So," he murmured, leaning in a little closer, "I'll see you tomorrow." A little half smile played at his mouth. "I'm looking forward to you cooking for me."

Izuku bit his lip, delighting a little in the intent look Shouta offered his mouth when he did so. "I'm looking forward to it too," he said quietly. He really was. He enjoyed cooking, it had been one of the few things his mother had made time for and he had some of his happiest memories in the kitchen. "Any requests?"

Shouta grinned wickedly. "Katsudon?" He suggested playfully, making Izuku groan and drop his head back against the door.

"Tell Toshi to stop telling tales about me," he ordered with a laugh. "But to be fair, if you don't have any preferences it probably will be katsudon, so speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Katsudon is fine," Shouta murmured. "I haven't had it in a while, it sounds good actually."

Izuku grinned. "Great! I make it all the time, so it shouldn't be too terrible," he joked.

Dark eyes captured Izuku's for a moment. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Shouta shoved off of the door a little reluctantly, and Izuku fought the urge to pout. He enjoyed being the focus of the other man's attention. "Tell me when you get off, and if I'm off I'll swing by and walk back here with you," he offered.

"That sounds good, I'll let you know," Izuku agreed with a smile. They both offered quiet goodnights before Izuku turned and let himself into his apartment, locking the door behind him. He waited patiently to hear the soft footsteps disappear down the hall before he bounced on his toes with a gleeful laugh.

Izuku was almost giddy with excitement. It didn't matter too much that this wasn't an actual date, or that eventually their fake dating would have to end-Izuku wasn't someone who would waste his time by pining and sulking that something had to end. He was very much the type to take advantage of it while it was happening, and that was exactly what he was going to do with Shouta. And if he and the other man clicked, and Izuku managed to show that he would make a good partner for Shouta-if they managed to turn this into an actual relationship, that would be fantastic. And if not, that would be ok too, eventually.

A quick check of his fridge showed that he had the needed ingredients for katsudon, which was fantastic because the last thing he wanted to do was get up early tomorrow to go get groceries. He also had some juice and soda, as well as bottles of water. From what Izuku had seen so far, Shouta didn't seem like much of a drinker. Which was excellent, because that meant he didn't have to go out and buy anything at all. It also highlighted another difference between Bakugou and Shouta. Bakugou was always posting on his social media about being at another club or bar-and there was nothing wrong with that!

He never seemed to do anything untoward that would ruin his image, and he never seemed to drink enough the night before he was on duty to have it affect him. But it wasn't Izuku's scene at all, and knowing that Shouta wouldn't expect him to be in a club every night, in a crowd of people that didn't know the concept of personal space, was fantastic.

Of course, since they're both adults with additional obligations besides each other, they don't manage to get together the next night. Or the next few nights, actually. They stayed in near constant contact through text message and phone calls, but between a large takedown that Shouta was involved in, a large takedown that Izuku's boss had him directing, and their friends (and in Izuku's case his mother) demanding their own time, it was over a week before they were able to get together; the only reason they managed it at that point was because Izuku seemed to attract trouble-even in his personal life.

The evening after their first date, knowing Shouta's concerns about some of the Underground Pro's trying to overwork him, Izuku started keeping a slightly closer eye on things than he normally would. He did, in fact, catch several of the Underground Heroes pushing their luck a little bit throughout the week he was watching closer-especially the Hero Nite-Lite. She tended to go straight to Izuku with files, telling him that they were urgent and she needed his help immediately.

Throughout the week Izuku indulged her, as he did when anyone said it was urgent and needed immediately, but found that every time it was something that could have gone into the queue that he and his boss had set up for requests for analysis. With every other Hero, either it was something urgent, or Izuku could see where they were coming from. Nite-Lite was straight up exaggerating details when she spoke with him, and pretending she didn't understand the problem when Izuku called her out on it.

So Izuku went to his boss and explained what was going on, and got his permission to refuse to do immediate analysis for Nite-Lite. He was told to direct her to the boss if she had any questions or if she was upset over it. He also started paying closer attention to her specifically, especially when she was around him. The way that she was trying to wiggle her way into his life was odd.

Which meant he caught it when Nite-Lite was blocked firmly from reaching him one day by an older Pro Izuku couldn't name right off the bat. "You gotta stop this shit. He's messing with fuckin' Eraserhead you dumb fuck, you don't wanna get caught in the middle of that." They both looked over at Izuku then, and he didn't bother to look away, arching a curious eyebrow instead. "Shit," the other hero muttered. "Look kid," he tried to talk lower, but Izuku had long since trained his ears to pick up on very quiet noises-the benefit and peril of being Nedzu's student. "Eraserhead is a possessive ass, and if he sees you nosing around what's his he'll erase you from existence ."

Nite-Lite huffed. "He won't think I'm nosing around if I'm just asking Izuku to help me with some analysis, now will he?" Izuku rolled his eyes and focused on his assigned work. That was probably the dumbest thing he'd heard, but knowing Shouta's concerns really did have a basis-even if that basis was more carnally motivated than either of them would have thought-made him feel better about pulling out his phone and shooting a quick ' looks like I'm getting off on time tonight, you free?' text to him.

He smiled at the pleased response he got back in return, the smile fading as he looked up when Nite-Lite came to a stop in front of his desk. "Can I help you?" Izuku asked drily, doing his best to act normally with the hero.

"Yeah, actually!" Nite-Lite bounced on her toes, smiling brightly. "I was hoping I could get your help with some analyses of a few villains I'm looking to take down in the next few nights? They're kind of an emergency," she added, biting her lip slightly before offering a small, pleading pout.

Now, normally Izuku was all about helping out and letting some emergency situations bypass the queue of analyses he and his boss had going on. And the boss was normally fine with turning a blind eye to it as long as it didn't hurt anyone else in the long run. But the 'emergency' analyses Nite-Lite brought to the table tended to be a lot less urgent than she claimed. And she kept Izuku longer than anyone else, having him explain concepts to her several different times. Quite frankly, Izuku had thought she was just dumb, and he had despaired knowing she was out there saving people. Knowing she was actually just ineptly flirting was almost a relief.

Almost.

Still, he couldn't let her keep bypassing the queue for non-urgent matters. He was sure it was

irritating the other heroes. So, having already gotten permission from his boss, he asked, "Have you taken the profiles to the boss to put them in the queue?"

She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "No, like I said, they're sort of an emergency." Nite- Lite's voice was shading a bit sharp now, and some of the other heroes were starting to gather at her tone, looking a little eager. Apparently Izuku had been right, they were irritated she'd been jumping the line. He just couldn't tell if they wanted him to put her in her place, or for her to lose her temper and take it out on him.

Izuku made sure to look properly apologetic. "Sorry Nite-Lite, after the last few times you said they were urgent-and this last time when you said it wasn't-I decided it's best to have the boss evaluate them." He offered a bright smile. "We have to minimize injury when we can, after all!" Sue him, maybe Izuku was a little bitter about only being asked for an analysis on a villain after she'd gotten several heroes injured when he could have prevented it while she asked for analyses for thugs she could probably take down with her eyes closed.

Her cheeks flushed, and her jaw clenched. "Right," she bit out. "I understand."

"I'm glad," Izuku said with forced cheer, his fingers tapping a nervous rhythm on the table at the dark, angry expression on her face.

"As am I," said Kabuki Hideo from the doorway of his office, looking hard at the now rapidly paling Nite-Lite.

"Boss," Izuku said, a little surprised. Hideo was the retired Underground Pro known as NightOwl, and he rarely came out of his office. "Is there something wrong?"

Of course, what Izuku was really asking was 'did I do something wrong?' Luckily Hideo was almost fluent in Izuku Speak by now, so he offered an amused look and said, "Not regarding anything you're doing-you did good to tell her to come to me."

Then he turned a stern look at Nite-Lite. "You. In my office. Now ." He stepped back in his office, leaving his door open.

Izuku blinked slowly as Nite-Lite slowly made her way into the office. "Huh. I've never seen an open door look so menacing before."

Appearing in the open doorway to impatiently guide Nite-Lite into his office faster, Hideo offered Izuku a mockingly offended look. "I heard that you little brat." His eyes narrowed. "I've also heard a little rumor about you and Eraserhead. Care to confirm?"

"That depends on what you've heard," Izuku replied drily. "Because I've heard that I'm having a threesome with him and Hitoshi, and that's just fucking weird on all counts." Apparently someone had seen them sparring, and then seen when Izuku and Shouta had gone to dinner and come to an entirely wrong, very weird conclusion.

Hideo snorted. "Are you dating the bastard?" He asked directly.

Surprised at the direct nature of the question, given that Hideo rarely straight up asked anything, Izuku said, "I am, yes." Both he and Hideo liked to poke and prod and play word games, but a direct question deserved a direct answer.

"Huh." The other man looked contemplative. "You be careful with that. He's a possessive fuck, from what I've heard."

Izuku smiled faintly. "He's been remarkably reasonable so far, so I'm not too worried about it." Although his apparently well known possessive nature might have people warning Bakugou to back off like they were Nite-Lite, so hopefully he'd decide Izuku wasn't worth the effort on that. Hideo didn't repeat baseless rumors either, so it looked like Shouta was more possessive than he was showing right now. Likely because they weren't actually in a relationship. Something to consider, he decided. It wouldn't do either of them any good if people figured out they weren't actually dating because Shouta was acting different than he normally did while he was in a relationship.

"Suit yourself," Hideo shrugged, and apparently deciding his duty to warn Izuku was complete, he stepped back into his office and shut the door firmly.

There was a hush for a long moment-long enough for Izuku to start working again-and then a rush of voices as the other heroes crowded around his desk to question him in a muddle of voices.

Sighing, Izuku raised three fingers and told them, "I'm going to let you guys ask three questions. That's it." Some rapid murmuring took place, and then the same hero that had been warning Nite- Lite earlier stepped forward, apparently the spokesperson for the group now. At a better angle now, Izuku recognized him as a close to retirement hero named X-Ray for his x-ray vision-super creative, but that's what they got for letting teenagers choose Hero names.

"You're actually dating Eraserhead?" The man asked, disbelief leaking into his tone. Narrowing his eyes, Izuku informed him, "That's question one. And yes, I am." X-Ray snorted and nodded. "Fair enough. Do you feel safe in your relationship?"

Izuku blanked for a long moment. He wanted to be furious, when he finally processed the question, but the obvious, honest concern from a lot of the heroes had him breathing in and out slowly. "I'm very safe in my relationship, thank you." He paused before sighing. "And since that obviously came from a place of real concern, it doesn't count as one of your questions. Two more." This is why Hitoshi said he was too nice.

"When did your relationship start?" The question was said very carefully, as if he were treading on a landmine.

After a moment of puzzled staring, Izuku realized why. They wanted to make sure Shouta hadn't been messing with him while he was in school. It was very sweet, actually, in a rough 'we'll fuck him up if you were underage' sort of way. "It started pretty recently actually, after I started working here," he soothed, biting back the coo at their concern that wanted to break free. Not a single one of them would appreciate the sudden soft, gooey feelings Izuku had gotten.

X-Ray looked curious now. "It's not weird to date one of your teachers?"

Izuku laughed at that. "I was in the support course, Eraserhead taught maybe one class as an emergency substitute, but otherwise he was way too busy with his class of little disaster heroes." He shrugged. "We really didn't interact at UA much at all. And that was question number three everyone, so kindly go back to doing...whatever it is you do when you're not kicking people into walls please."

He grinned a little at the laughter he got at that, but quickly returned to his own work as the little crowd around his desk dissipated slightly. But of course, peace wasn't meant to last for him. Nite- Lite stalked up to him, cheeks burning red and eyes a little red rimmed as well. She looked like she'd gotten a strip torn off of her, and Izuku sympathized a little. He hated being yelled at too. "I

hope you're happy," she hissed venomously. "I'm on probation because of you."

Izuku looked blank. "I don't have anything to do with those types of decisions. If Hideo decided that you needed to be put on probation that's on him and on your own behavior." Which must have been worse than Izuku realized, because Hideo generally didn't give a rats ass what the heroes at his agency did inside the walls as long as they weren't dragging his Agency through the mud with their behavior outside of it.

"Exactly," Hideo said flatly, looking incredibly displeased. "And your behavior had better have a quick improvement before I decide you're a drain on my Agency instead of an asset."

Nite-Lite snarled, glaring at Izuku as she spat out, "Your relationship will never last." She spun on her heel and stalked out the door, every movement projecting fury.

"For fucks sake," slipped out of Izuku's mouth as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is the second person who's had a weird interest in telling me my relationship isn't going to last-at least she didn't say she would be waiting for me to realize it. Is it me?" He asked Hideo abruptly, suddenly concerned. "Am I flirting without realizing it? Or leading people on, making it seem like I'm interested in a relationship?"

Hideo dropped down into a chair by Izuku's desk, looking at him seriously. "No. Seriously, no. You're polite and helpful, but you don't do-or say-anything that I find inappropriate. More to the point, you made it clear to Nite-Lite that you weren't interested. Even if she wasn't flat out saying she was interested, you made yourself very clear-especially over this past week-that you're not interested in her romantically. I'm assuming you did the same with this other person?"

Izuku nodded slowly. "Yeah, I did. I was actually even more clear with him than I was with Nite- Lite, but he still pulled that same nonsense about my relationship not lasting." Fake relationship or not, that was going to start grating hard on his nerves if people kept it up. The relationship wasn't going to last, because it was fake, and the idea of Bakugou and Nite-Lite thinking they were right about it made his jaw clench.

"Yeah, they'll do that." Hideo huffed. "They want to bully you into a relationship, and that's bullshit. No is a complete sentence Izuku. And not just for women. Nite-Lite was harassing you and creating a potential hostile workplace by trying to jump the line to flirt with you, which was unacceptable. You made that clear, and she's trying to punish you. It's not on you. It's on them."

The tension in the back of Izuku's neck eased. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I needed to hear that."

The older man huffed again, standing and reaching out to roughly ruffle Izuku's hair. "Anytime kiddo. Let me know if something like this comes up again, OK?"

"I will," Izuku promised. And he would. Knowing that Hideo would actually do something if he was harassed made him a little teary eyed, so he laughed as he said, "You'd better go, I'm about to cry about how nice you're being."

Hideo immediately stood up. "Absolutely not, I forbid it," he snapped, before grimacing as the tears started spilling over. "Shit, I'm allergic to your tears," he grumbled, handing over a box of tissues before adding, "Take the rest of the night off. Go fuck your boyfriend or something." He waved a hand dismissively. "It's not a punishment of any kind, but Nite-Lite is going to come back from her patrol before you're off, and I don't think either of us want to deal with her bullshit again."

Izuku snorted and nodded, scrubbing his face with a tissue. "Yeah, I'll let Eraserhead know I'm off and then I'll head out."

"Good," Hideo muttered, eyeing his still teary eyes sourly. "By the way, Izuku?"

"Hm?" Izuku looked up from where he was texting Shouta to let him know he was off early and to see if he still wanted to do dinner.

"You really did do well in setting boundaries with Nite-Lite tonight. I'm proud of you." Hideo offered a rare smile.

"Thank you!" Izuku offered a smile back. He was proud of himself too.