Izuku took the time after he texted Shouta to calm down. He leaned against the wall outside of the building and just breathed in the cool night air. He kept an eye on his surroundings, of course, but he took the time to relax. He glanced up and smiled as Shouta dropped down in front of him. He and Hitoshi had the same habit of running on the roofs, even out of their hero gear.
"You're off early," Shouta murmured, looking curious.
Izuku smiled faintly, shoving off of the wall and falling in step with him as they made their way to Izuku's apartment. "Yeah, Nite-Lite lost her damn mind tonight, and Hideo dropped the bombshell about our relationship to the rest of the Agency, so he told me to take the rest of the night off."
"Nite-Lite has always been pretty calm when I've worked with her," Shouta said, frowning. "What happened?" Izuku paused. He wasn't going to lie to Shouta, but he didn't necessarily want to just blurt out 'she was flirting and got so pissed when I shut her down that Hideo had to talk with her'.
" What ?" The other man looked shocked, with anger beginning to surface. "Shit." Izuku grimaced. "I said that out loud?"
"You did." Shouta narrowed his eyes. "Were you not planning on telling me?" There was something hard in his tone that told Izuku he should tread carefully here. But Izuku had rarely tread carefully anywhere in his life, and he wasn't going to now.
"Oh, I was going to tell you, I was just hoping to figure out a better way to say it." Izuku shrugged. "But yeah, she lost her mind because I shut her down and the boss put her on probation."
Surprised by that, Shouta grimaced. "Shit, she must have really pushed a button with him. He normally doesn't bother with interpersonal bullshit."
"Well." Izuku hesitated for a second before forging on. "With how she was flirting-she was jumping the line, so to speak, in a big way for unimportant things-it had the potential to turn into a hostile environment for me. Because I had originally let her, since I'd thought it was urgent, and then shut it down. He wanted to nip that in the bud quickly and make it clear that the situation wasn't my fault."
" Did he make it clear that it wasn't your fault?" Shouta's eyes were laser focused on him.
"He did." Izuku smiled a little. "And, more importantly to me, he made it clear to me that it wasn't my fault, which was helpful." Seeing the slightly confused frown creeping onto Shouta's face, he explained, "With Bakugou's nonsense and now Nite-Lite as well, I was concerned I was...
doing something to cause this. He reassured me that I wasn't."
Shouta smiled back. "Good," he murmured. "I'm glad he made sure that was clear to you." He paused for a moment, eyes flicking back towards the Agency. "How upset would you be if I made myself clear about how irritated I am with Nite-Lite?" He asked carefully.
Izuku let out a small hum. "I...would actually not be upset at all right now, considering how ticked off I am at her, but she's still out on patrol."
Humming back, Shouta smirked. "Good, it gives me time to think about how to best make her regret every decision that led to tonight. I'll probably catch her on patrol tomorrow," he decided. "I'm off patrol now for tonight now actually-I took an early night since you did-but it sounds like tonight has been kind of rough on you. If you want, we can order in instead of you cooking?" Shouta offered.
"I think you're just afraid I'm going to give you food poisoning," Izuku teased, grinning at the small huff he received in response. "Seriously though, I'm still OK to cook." His grin widened slightly. "I cried it out all over the boss, which may have contributed to him telling me to go home and-" Izuku stopped abruptly, flushing. "Well, anyway."
"You can't just stop there," Shouta told him with an arched eyebrow. "Now I'm curious. He told you to go home and what?"
Izuku waved him off, fishing his keys out of his pocket to unlock his door and usher the other man inside before locking it behind him. "It doesn't matter, he was being...well, himself," Izuku said with a faintly affectionate eye roll.
When Izuku went to turn and walk to the kitchen, he found himself caged in by Shouta's arms as the other man placed his palms on the door behind him. "Now I'm very curious," he said softly. "Izuku. What did he say?"
"For fucks sake." Izuku sighed, his face red from both the proximity and the reminder of the crude order given by Hideo. "Fine. He told me to go home and fuck my boyfriend. Happy?" He
asked. Izuku could feel the heat on his cheeks, and he knew his face was a bright, burning red at the moment.
"Ecstatic," Shouta murmured, shifting and dropping one hand to Izuku's waist as he stepped a little closer. Before either of them could do anything but breathe, the rattling of the doorknob and then pounding on the door behind Izuku made him jolt closer to Shouta, pressing up against him and grabbing onto him in surprise as Shouta pulled him closer as well.
"Deku, I know you're fucking in there. Open the fucking door!" Bakugou snapped through the thin wood of the door, rattling the knob furiously again.
Izuku frowned, shifting slightly closer to Shouta. " How did he know I was off work yet?" He murmured in the other man's ear. He had been concerned about Bakugou ever since Hitoshi had mentioned the alleged crush or whatever the blonde had on him-he knew how Bakugou could get after all, but a hint of fear began to mingle with concern now. There was no reason for Bakugou to know that Izuku was off of work yet-unless he was following him. Which was quite frankly a level of creepy that Izuku hadn't known the blonde could reach.
"Let's find out," the dark haired man said flatly, shifting Izuku behind him in a blatantly protective move that Izuku was in no mood to protest. Opening the door, his flat, "Bakugou. What?" Made the blonde freeze, before he bared his teeth in a snarl.
"I don't want to talk to you, you fucking hobo. Deku, are you gonna let him fuckin' talk for you?" A vicious smile curves Bakugou's lips. "Or are you as much of a coward as I always thought?"
Even a year ago, that would have pressed enough buttons that Izuku would have shifted forward despite the way Shouta's hand drifted back and pressed against him gently, a silent request to stay behind the older man. Maybe even a few weeks ago, Izuku would have let Bakugou bait him into stepping around Shouta to face him. But he had told Shouta that if a request was reasonable, he would do his best to oblige. Shouta asking him to stay behind him was reasonable, so Izuku stayed put.
His snarl deepening when he failed to taunt Izuku into moving to where Bakugou could see him, the blonde looked at his former teacher. "You won't be able to keep him." His face smoothed out, looking almost calm as he watched the two of them. "You'll figure it out soon enough-you can't compete with our history. I know him better than you ever will, I grew up with him." Bakugou smirked then. "You're nothing more than a second choice he's sticking with because he didn't realize he could have me, and he's trying to be loyal ."
Shouta watched his former student walk away, fighting the urge to punch him in the face. Feeling Izuku step back some, he did the same and shut the door carefully, locking it again. "He's very insistent that your history is going to be the deciding factor," he murmured finally, his voice toneless and face expressionless as he turned to face Izuku.
Izuku paused, because that particular brand of blankness had never been directed at him before, although Hitoshi had mentioned it. And how creepy it was when Shouta was so furious he just blanked .
"Well, he's not wrong," he admitted, "Although it's not going to go the way he wants." Needing to do something with his hands, he headed to the kitchen, mindful of how Shouta was following on silent feet. Hitoshi had once mentioned how Shouta had to purposefully make noise when he walked, otherwise he didn't make a sound and people had complained that it made them feel hunted. Obviously Shouta didn't care if Izuku felt hunted at the moment. Again, Izuku mourned the type of man he was attracted to, because he absolutely should not find that attractive at all.
"Go on," Shouta invited after a long moment of silence as Izuku got the ingredients for the katsudon out of the fridge.
"Bakugou and I do have a lot of history. Some of it's good, but honestly? Most of it is bad." Izuku shrugged faintly, alternating between cooking and facing Shouta. "He and I...well. Most of our history is what I was talking about over dinner last night. It was hurtful and hateful at the best of times, and downright cruel at the worst." He stopped then, and thought about 'Take a swan dive off of the roof and pray for a Quirk in your next life!' "It was ugly, and even if he could get over all of that, I can't. I don't want to, and according to Abe-San, as long as I'm not holding onto the resentment and letting it fester into something ugly, I don't have to."
Shouta relaxed slightly, but his eyes were still intense, following Izuku closely as he made their meal. "You don't want him."
It was more an order than a question, and so presumptuous if it was anyone else Izuku would have bit back hard . But it made Izuku flush enough that he made sure to face the food rather than Shouta as he agreed, "No, I don't. I've forgiven him for what he did because I can't carry that around with me, but it's not something I could forget enough to ever date him."
"Good," the older man said, the tense line of his spine finally relaxing as he propped his chin up on his hand. "It's unfortunate that he seems to be getting more determined, rather than less."
"Yeah," Izuku agreed with a sigh. "It really is. But maybe seeing you in my apartment will have been a wakeup call." He smiled faintly at the flicker of confusion. "I don't bring people to my apartment. Ever. Even Toshi has only been here a few times, beyond some emergency gunk removal after a few particularly disgusting patrols." The time he'd be doused by someone who produced green slime held a special place in Izuku's heart...and his scrapbook.
A soft smile forms on Shouta's face then. "Well, I'm glad you chose to allow me to come in."
Izuku laughed. "To be fair, the first time you were here you were being very insistent about walking me home."
Shouta shrugged, the smile turning into a smirk. "You were very gracious about it," he returned, his voice teasing.
"I'm a very gracious person," he said drily as he deposited the bowls of katsudon on the table, grabbing water for the both of them before he slid into his seat.
"Thank you," Shouta murmured before taking his first bite. His eyes widened slightly. "Oh," he said after swallowing. "That's very good, Izuku."
A flush stole across Izuku's cheeks. "Thank you," he said, ducking his head a little. He absolutely didn't didn't want to think about why the compliment affected him so much, but he tilted his head up to offer Shouta a small, soft smile anyway. Inwardly he scolded himself, because he knew better than to do this to himself.
"You're very welcome," Shouta said quietly. "Incidentally, anytime you feel like cooking, please let me know. This is far better than anything I can make," he admitted.
Izuku arched an eyebrow. "Is that the reason for the jelly pouches?" He asked curiously.
"Now who's Hitoshi telling tales about?" Shouta asked drily. "Partially. The other part is that they're nutritionally complete and make excellent meal replacements when I'm too tired to get food." He offered a small shrug. Shouta had two full time jobs as a Hero and a teacher, and add in his friends insistance that he needed a social life, his time spent teaching Hitoshi and now time spent with Izuku he rarely had the time or the inclination to cook.
"Ah, I get it," Izuku murmured, offering a sympathetic look. "It wasn't as bad as I'm sure it is for you, but after Hitoshi got started on the Pro Hero circuit, before he was getting a steady paycheck, he was working some odd jobs to make ends meet and the last thing he was interested in some days was anything it took actual energy to eat."
Shouta hummed. "He never mentioned he was having trouble." Which was concerning. Had his student not thought Shouta would help him?
"I think he was embarrassed by the situation," Izuku said. "And asking for your help regarding training was entirely different than admitting to a man he looks up to that he can't make ends meet." Izuku smiled then. "But luckily for everyone involved, I've never been one to let someone starve, and Toshi already knew better than to try and tell me no, so I stocked his freezer and fridge with some easy meals."
And had threatened to tell Eraserhead himself if he had to, which is why Hitoshi had finally gone to the man to ask for help in breaking into the Underground circuit. He'd already been well aware of Izuku's huge crush on the man, so knowing that Izuku would gladly go up to the man to tell him about Hitoshi's problems had shown him exactly how worried Izuku was.
"I should have known that he would have trouble," Shouta murmured, almost to himself. "I know first hand how hard it is to break into the Underground agencies, and he didn't have the experience to let him freelance."
"There was no way for you to know unless he said something, and he was very invested in not doing so," Izuku said, meeting the other man's eyes with a sympathetic smile.
Shouta considered him for a moment, eyes narrowing. "You know, when Hitoshi came to me and asked for some advice on the Agencies, he was muttering about you on and off. He was complaining about you being pushy for weeks afterwards, actually."
Izuku couldn't help his little smirk. "I made myself clear," was all he would say, making Shouta laugh.
"Fair enough." He held up his hands in surrender, before standing up and collecting the dishes from the table. Heading towards the sink with his hands full of dishes, he glanced towards Izuku. "Where's your dish soap?"
Izuku paused. "You don't have to do the dishes," he said after a moment, watching him carefully.
Shouta blinked, turning to face him after placing the dishes in the sink. "You cooked, it's only fair that I do the dishes."
Why does that make him ten times more attractive? Izuku asked himself mournfully, before gesturing to the cabinet under the sink. "Under there, I have limited counter space and it takes up just enough space that I don't care to have it out in the open."
Shouta grabbed it and started the water, and Izuku stood after a moment and grabbed a dish towel. "Pass the clean dishes over and I'll dry them," he said. Shouta did so with a small smile, and Izuku was quietly freaking out over how incredibly domestic the entire scene was.
Shouta drained the dishwater before turning to Izuku, something satisfied flickering over his face as he watched him dry the last dish and put it away. "Hizashi, Nemuri and Tensei have heard that we're dating, so they're insisting on meeting you," he said after a moment.
Izuku hesitated, taking a moment to put the names given to Present Mic, Midnight, and the former Ingenium-some of Shouta's closest friends, according to Hitoshi. "You've told them that we're fake dating to get Bakugou off my back, I assume?" He asked cautiously.
Shouta hummed, smirking. "I haven't, actually." He searched Izuku's face as he added, "I can, if it makes you uncomfortable, but the fewer people who know about it the better." He paused for a second. "I also want to mess with them," he admitted with a small shrug, still watching Izuku's face for a hint of what he was thinking.
"Well, I'm not opposed to causing some chaos among your friends," Izuku said after a moment of consideration, smiling at the glint of mischief in the other man's eyes. "You won't find it too uncomfortable to lie to them?"
"It won't really be lying to them," Shouta said with a shrug. "We just won't be telling them all the details about what's going on."
Izuku frowned, confused. "I mean, if they ask how we got together, or...really any details about the relationship, we would absolutely have to lie to them."
Shouta let out a low, rough laugh. "Hitoshi warned me that you could be oblivious," he murmured,
stepping closer and trapping Izuku against the edge of the counter.
"Is there something going on that I should be paying attention to?" He asked, breath catching in his throat as Shouta settled a large hand on one hip, the other curling around the back of his neck.
"I thought I've been pretty clear, personally, but let's see if I can be more direct ." Shouta took a final step closer to Izuku, pinning him against the counter with his hips as he dipped his head and captured Izuku's lips in a careful kiss.
Izuku let his hands slide up Shouta's chest and then he let one hand rest on his shoulder as the other slid under his hair and curved around the back of his neck. Licking his lips as the kiss broke, Izuku murmured, "I'm going to need you to tell me exactly what you want Shouta." He tipped his head back and looked him in the eye. "Because if you just want to fuck me, I'm down for that." His lips twitched as Shouta's hands tightened, irritation flashing over the older man's face.
"Oh, I want to fuck you," Shouta said evenly. "But more than that, I want this to be real. I want to date you. And I want you to want that too."
"I want that too," Izuku said softly. His smile was small but incredibly bright as he gently played with Shouta's hair.
Shouta shifted, slid both his hands down to the backs of Izuku's thighs, and then lifted him up to sit on the counter, smirking a bit at the startled yelp as Izuku's grip on his shoulder and hair tightened automatically. "I want to hear you say it, Kitten," he murmured as he stepped between Izuku's knees.
For a long moment, Izuku couldn't breath. "Kitten?" He asked, his voice a little rough before he swallowed, carefully releasing the lock of hair he'd gripped when Shouta had startled him.
"Is the nickname a problem?" Shouta asked curiously.
Izuku breathed out, dropping his head forward onto Shouta's chest. "No," he said after a moment. "No, it's not a problem at all." Which was its own sort of problem, actually. Izuku had never appreciated nicknames after Bakugou had nicknamed him Deku, so the flicker of heat Shouta's nickname sent through him was unexpected to say the least.
"Good," Shouta said before tipping Izuku's head back so he could see his face. "I still want to hear you say it."
Izuku licked his lips, fighting down a small smile when he saw Shouta's eyes flick down and darken as he watched Izuku's mouth. Maybe he should have guessed this after seeing the other man's interest in his mouth when he'd dropped Izuku off the last time. "I want you. I want to date you." He had been prepared to admit to his long standing crush as well, but Shouta sank his fingers in his messy hair and pulled him up to kiss him again. This time the kiss was less gentle as Shouta pulled Izuku close and Izuku happily followed the demanding hands until he was plastered across Shouta's front, knees bracketing the other man's hips as his hands tangled in Shouta's hair as well.
They broke away from each other reluctantly, breathless and wanting. Izuku tried to shift back slightly, but Shouta slipped one hand from his hair down to his back and kept him pressed right up against his front. "So, I think we're agreed that we're not going to have to lie tomorrow," he said, smirking at the flush spreading across Izuku's cheeks.
"No," Izuku agreed drily. "Although Toshi is going to absolutely die laughing at me."
Shouta arched an eyebrow. "And why would that be?" He'd noticed a curious subtext between the
two of them during the few times he'd seen them together, but he tried to respect Hitoshi's privacy as much as possible. Izuku slumped down slightly, huffing and muttering something Shouta couldn't quite catch. "You're mumbling," he said with a curious look. "I can't hear you."
Izuku groaned a little. "I had a huge crush on you, and Toshi knew it. He kept trying to get me to agree to meet up with him when you were around or talk to you-or let him poke at you a little bit to see if you'd be interested in meeting me."
"You weren't interested?" Shouta was invested in this now, watching Izuku flush and duck his head.
"I was interested , but I was..." Izuku paused and frowned, considering his words. "If you weren't interested, it would have been fine. Eventually. But if I didn't put myself out there, I could keep the fantasy alive, so to speak, without having to worry about being rejected." His lips curved into a wry little smile. "According to Abe-San, anyways, and he seems to know what he's talking about most of the time," he joked lightly.
"Well, I'm very interested," Shouta murmured, smiling at him. "And I'm glad that ultimately you agreed to put yourself out there with me, even if it was supposed to be fake at first." He thought back to that day in the gym and huffed a small laugh. "That explains your reaction when I first suggested you date me though."
"Yeah, it was like everything I wanted was right there in front of me, but it was an illusion I couldn't actually have." Izuku shrugged. "Then I decided that I was going to take advantage of it and enjoy the dating, and I'd see if you were interested in going on an actual date after Bakugou's nonsense was dealt with."
Shouta smirked slightly. "I guess I beat you to it," he said, dipping his head down to brush his lips against Izuku's again before glancing at the clock on the wall and biting back an irritated hiss.
"Time to go?" Izuku asked, smiling at the quick, almost startled look he received at that. "Unless you have something against my clock, that's the only reason I can think of that you'd look pissed off at it."
"Yes," Shouta said after a moment of amusement, "I have another patrol and then hopefully I'll be able to grab a few hours of sleep before class."
Izuku frowned slightly. "Then tomorrow we'll be meeting with your friends," he said quietly. "Do you have another split patrol tomorrow?"
"No, thankfully. I'm not a fan of split patrols," Shouta grimaced at the thought of them. "Why? Did you have plans after meeting up with my group of idiots?" He didn't really care for that idea.
"No," Izuku said quietly. "I'm hoping you'll be able to get more sleep tomorrow than you will tonight. If I'd known that you had a split patrol I probably would have suggested that we have dinner some other night."
Shouta arched an eyebrow. "Are we really going to have to go over the fact that I'm a grown man who can make my own decisions again ? I thought we'd already settled that." Shouta was amused at Izuku's small pout.
"No, we've settled that," he agreed with a sigh. "It bothers me, but that's a me issue and not something you should worry about." It would probably bother him less if a small, selfish part of Izuku wasn't quietly thrilled that a man who was well known for how much he loved sleep was
giving up sleep to spend time with him. Izuku was the one who leaned forward this time, brushing his lips against Shouta's in a soft, sweet kiss. "Go on patrol, and then go get some rest," he murmured. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Sighing, Shouta stepped back and helped Izuku off of the counter. "Tomorrow," he agreed. He and Izuku made their way to the door, and he ducked his head to steal a final kiss before they offered each other their goodbye's and he walked out the door.
Izuku shut and locked the door behind him, and then let his head thunk gently on the wood with a soft, almost giddy laugh. He stayed there for a few minutes before peeling himself away from the door and heading to bed.