Izuku swallowed, keeping himself carefully still as he watched Bakugou. "Ok," he agreed quietly. "What do you want to talk about?" Nedzu had taken Izuku to a hostage negotiation class once, and they'd said the best thing to do was keep the offender talking. Silence was the killer, and that absolutely applied to Bakugou. If he was being loud, it was safe enough. It was when he got quiet that he got mean in a way that had always sent a chill down Izuku's spine.

"What do I want to talk about?" Bakugou asked, disbelief coating his voice. "Maybe, Deku, I want to talk about the fact that you're dating fucking Hobo-Sensei when I was pretty fucking clear that I wanted you!" He laughed harshly. "And then, then you fucking run around flaunting it in my fucking face!" Bakugou's palms popped with small explosions as he gestured furiously, and Izuku's skin burned with remembered pain. He couldn't help the way his shoulders tensed up, although he did his best to keep his posture as timid and non-threatening as possible.

Izuku breathed out slowly, slowly and carefully moving closer to Bakugou-and, not coincidentally, closer to the phone on his kitchen table as well. "I'm sorry if it's looked like I'm flaunting my relationship in your face," he began. Mirror their wording, he remembered from that same hostage negotiation class. They'll feel closer to you if you mirror what they say. Not that he necessarily wanted Bakugou to feel closer to him, but at this point it was better than the alternative. "That absolutely hasn't been my intention." He was careful to keep his voice low and soothing, without sounding condescending.

" It hasn't been your intention ," Bakugou mocked, sneering at him. "Your fucking intentions don't matter Deku! It matters that you've been fucking running around, wrapped around the fucking hobo without any fucking shame !"

A muscle in Izuku's jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth, but he kept his defense behind his teeth. He was just about done with people's judgment for dating Shouta already, but now definitely wasn't the time to lose the tight grip he'd managed to keep on his temper so far. "I'm sorry I've upset you," Izuku said finally, managing to wrestle his anger down to a point where it didn't choke him. Spitting the venom he wanted to at Bakugou wouldn't help matters at this point. Instead, he made his face as soft and sympathetic as possible as he moved another few steps closer, his eyes trained on Bakugou as he made sure the blonde didn't realize what he was trying to do.

It was a dangerous game right now of trying to get close enough to the kitchen-and his phone-that he could make a break for it without getting close enough for Bakugou to grab him. "Aw," Bakugou smirked, taking his own step forward now. "Did I upset you Deku? Are you going to cry ?" There was something oddly eager in his expression now. "It's been a long fucking time since I've made you cry."

Izuku's skin was crawling at this point, listening to Bakugou's wistful voice as he talked about some of the worst times in Izuku's life, but he had continued his slow, steady movements towards

both Bakugou and his phone. "You've always had a way of upsetting me more than almost anyone else," he agreed. And it was true, but it also had the benefit of relaxing the blonde in a strange way. He rocked back on his heels, a cocky smile crossing his face.

"That's right," he gloated. "No one else can upset you like I can." The triumph on his face made Izuku feel physically ill, but it distracted the man just enough that Izuku could finally make his move.

He launched himself past Bakugou, towards the kitchen, and he heard Bakugou's sharp shout of anger, could feel Bakugou's hand wrap around his wrist, the fingers clawed and nails sharp and painful. The sharp pain of the explosions going off against his wrist and the nails digging in made Izuku ripped his arm away more roughly than he'd originally intended. Bakugou stumbled just slightly from the abrupt movement, but it was just enough for Izuku to dart into the kitchen and grab his phone, moving so the table was between the two of them. He barely managed to glance at his phone before Bakugou stormed into the kitchen, so he quickly tapped the conversation thread he saw Hitoshi's name on, and typed a quick SOS text out and sent it.

"I will call the fucking police," Izuku warned sharply, hand clenched tightly around his phone, the dull ache of his wrist telling him that in addition to the burns and scratches he might have sprained it as well when he'd yanked it out of Bakugou's grip. "You need to leave. Now."

Red eyes narrowed as Bakugou watched him for a long moment. "Deku, you don't really want me to leave," he said, his patronizing tone making Izuku itch to throw something at him.

"Yes, I do," he said, his voice firm and clear. "I want you to leave right now, and I do not want you to come back." Come on Hitoshi , Izuku thought desperately. Tonight is not the night to ignore my text messages . But he hadn't felt the tell tale buzz of a response, and fear started creeping up his throat.

"Stop saying that ," Bakugou snarled. There was an edge to his voice that Izuku had never heard before, and that fear started clawing at his insides.

But he refused to give a single inch on this. Not only because Bakugou was scaring him in a way he never had before, but the thought of telling Shouta what had happened and admitting that he had given in out of fear was unacceptable. "No," Izuku said steadily, clamping down hard on the fear that threatened to make his voice shake. "I won't stop saying it just because you don't like hearing it, Bakugou. I want you to get out ," he hissed furiously.

Bakugou snarled, explosions popping furiously, but then they stopped abruptly.

"You'd better get the fuck out before I make you ," came a low, flat voice from behind Bakugou. Izuku jerked in surprise, eyes widening as Bakugou spun furiously.

" You !" He spat out furiously. "You already left, what the fuck are you doing here again?" Bakugou demanded.

Shouta's face was emotionless, but Izuku could see how the corners of his mouth were tightened and his shoulders were rigid. He was furious. "That's none of your business," he said flatly, eyes glowing and hair floating slightly.

"The fuck it isn't," the blonde snarled back. "Deku obviously wasn't fucking expecting you back, so why the fuck are you here? "

"It doesn't matter," Izuku interrupted sharply. "I want him here, but I don't want you." He met

Bakugou's eyes steadily. "You need to leave Bakugou."

"Fine," he said finally. "Fucking fine . But this isn't fucking over Deku. Not by a long fucking shot." He spun around, and watched as Shouta's eyes slid past him to Izuku as he started forward, obviously dismissing him. Bakugou's infamously short temper snapped, and he launched himself at Shouta.

Izuku let out a sharp warning noise, shifting like he wanted to throw himself between Bakugou and Shouta. Luckily for everyone involved, Shouta had excellent situational awareness-and a strong desire to break Bakugou in half. He shifted, ducked under the sloppy punch Bakugou threw and shoved Bakugou into the wall, following just a moment later with a hard punch that caught the blonde square in the face. The sharp 'snap' of cartilage and bone under his hand had never satisfied Shouta more than that very moment. The only reason he didn't haul back for another swing was because he was more worried about the oddly silent Izuku than anything else.

Letting out a strangled noise of pain, Bakugou shouldered past Shouta roughly, his cupped hand around his nose doing little to stop the blood falling on the floor as he barrelled out the door. Shouta followed, both to make sure he actually made it out the door and to close it and carefully lock it before heading back into the kitchen.

Izuku stared blankly for a long moment, his eyes slowly sliding from the door to the splatter of blood on his floor, and then his throat tightened as his breath came in short pants. The phone dropped from suddenly numb hands and Izuku slowly sank to the floor as a chill settled over him.

"-Zuku," he heard Shouta say, the other man's voice low and calm. "Izuku, I need you to breathe with me. Come on, listen to my voice. Breathe in, one two three, breathe out." Izuku struggled to obey, but slowly he came back to himself, his breathing calming and feeling coming back to his extremities.

"Shit," he managed after another few minutes. "I haven't had that happen in a long time."

Shouta was crouched in front of him, concern obvious in his dark eyes. "Izuku, can I touch you?" He asked, his hands hovering over Izuku's arms but not touching yet.

"Yes," Izuku said, before clumsily shifting forward and half hugging the other man. "Sorry," he added, his voice muffled in Shouta's shoulder. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"I know," Shouta murmured into his hair. "It wasn't your fault." He shifted so he was sitting with his back against the wall, and then he gently moved Izuku onto his lap.

"How did you know there was a problem?" Izuku asked after a few moments of soaking in the quiet affection, tipping his head up to look at him.

Shouta smiled briefly. "I was assuming you didn't really look at your phone," he said, an apparent non-sequitur before he added, "You sent your SOS in the group chat. I called Hitoshi immediately, and I was closer than he was. He said you wouldn't send it unless you needed help immediately, so we agreed since I was closer I was the better choice, even if you'd probably meant to send it just to him."

Izuku let out a soft, shuddery little laugh. "I'm glad it was you," he admitted. "I love Toshi, but he would have decided that this was the best time to mouth off to Bakugou about how much he can't stand him. Again." Which would have been far less effective at getting the blonde to leave, and Izuku is pretty sure he would have actually burst into tears if Bakugou hadn't left when he did.

"I understand the urge," Shouta said drily, "But not necessarily helpful."

"Right," Izuku agreed, slumping against him with a soft groan. "I'm sorry that you had to turn around to come help me," he said quietly. "You really do need your sleep, and I'm cutting into that."

Shouta's arms tightened around him, like he was afraid Izuku was going to try and leap out of his lap immediately. "I'm not comfortable leaving again tonight," he said slowly. "I know that he probably won't come back tonight, but the thought of leaving you alone after all of this..." He hesitated before admitting, "I don't really like the thought of that."

Humming, Izuku considered the options they had. "Well, I can always sleep on the couch and you can take my bed," he offered.

"Absolutely not," the other man refused immediately. "If I'm not leaving you alone, I'm sure as hell not going to let you sleep in the living room right by the door."

Izuku thought about that for a moment, and remembered the sharp pang of fear when the door had banged open. "Yeah," he said. "That's fair." He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sleep if he was by the door anyway. "But I'm also not letting you sleep on the couch either."

Shouta shrugged. "So I'll sleep on your floor. I always have my sleeping bag, and I've slept in worse places before."

"I-you have the sleeping bag now?" Izuku was baffled. " Where ?" He shook his head a moment later. "No, never mind, not important. I'm not going to have you sleep on my floor, that's terrible."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Shouta asked, exasperated. "There's only so many places to sleep."

Izuku sighed. "We're both grown ass adults," he said drily. "I think we can handle one night in the same bed without making a big deal out of it."

"You think so?" Something in Shouta's voice made Izuku shift enough to look up at his face again. "Because I'm not so sure."

Izuku arched an eyebrow, and promptly shifted so that instead of curled up on his lap he was facing Shouta, knees bracketing his sides. "No?" Izuku couldn't hide the slow smile that crept onto his face. "You're going to give me a big head, saying that you don't think you can keep your hands off of me," he teased, laughing a little before sliding off of his lap.

Shouta let out a small noise of protest, reaching out to try and grab him. "I'm comfortable," he protested. "Come back here."

Izuku laughed a little more. "You come up here ," he said, reaching down to grab Shouta's hand. "Sitting on the floor like that cannot actually be comfortable."

"I was comfortable enough with you on me," he grumbled, letting Izuku pull him up.

"I'm going to make some tea, do you want some?" Izuku asked, shooting him an amused look. Shouta sighed, resigning himself to losing the cuddles for a while. "Coffee?" He asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not," Izuku shot down immediately. "It is way too late for that much caffeine." He muffled a laugh at Shouta's disgruntled look. "I also have some juice," he offered.

"Tea would be nice," he finally agreed reluctantly. Coffee would be better, but the stubborn look on Izuku's face said that he wouldn't be getting it anytime soon. He settled at the table at Izuku's gesture, watching him go through the motions of making the tea.

Oh.

Well, now he felt stupid. It was obvious that making tea was a ritual of sorts to level Izuku out, the repetitive motions helpful as an almost meditative movement. Shouta stayed quiet, allowing Izuku to finish the tea in peace. "Thank you," he murmured when a steaming cup was placed in front of him.

Izuku settled across from him, warm mug cradled in his hands as he breathed in the steam. "Do you need me to set an alarm for the morning?" Izuku asked, focusing on the logistics of Shouta spending the night before anything else.

"No, I can set it on my phone." Shouta paused. "If you have a spare charger I'd appreciate it though, I don't have one on hand and I don't know that I'll have enough time to charge my phone in the morning."

Izuku held out a hand, and Shouta obligingly handed over his phone. "Yeah, that's fine. We actually have the same phone, so I'll throw yours on the charger tonight if you'll put mine one once you get up?"

"That'll work," he agreed. "I'll try to avoid waking you up-I know you don't have to be up for a while after I do."

"The perils of teaching and doing Underground Hero work," Izuku said drily, before shaking his head. "Honestly, I don't know how you handle it. I probably would have snapped and murdered half of the school by this point if I were you."

Shouta snorted. "You get used to it at a certain point." He shrugged then. "Besides, it's worth it."

"I'm glad," Izuku said with a warm smile that quickly turned mischievous. "You know, you should absolutely brag to Nemuri and Tensei about spending the night with me after the second date around Hizashi, since he was so concerned about you dating me," he said playfully. Nemuri would probably find it hilarious, and Tensei had noted and dismissed the age gap in the same breath, so he would probably be amused by it as well.

Shouta choked on his tea, making Izuku laughingly apologize, his eyes bright and amused. "I only get to brag to those three if I actually manage to get at least your shirt off," he shot back, smirking when Izuku squeaked and went bright red.

Covering his face with his hands, Izuku laughed helplessly. "I deserved that," he admitted, dropping his hands from his face after a few moments. "But to be fair, you probably will get my shirt off. I always end up too hot in the middle of the night and take it off anyways." He offered a sheepish smile. "I'll try to keep it on, but I can't make any promises while I'm half asleep."

Shouta made a low, interested noise. "Don't stress over it on my account," he said with a smirk. "I won't complain if it happens."

Izuku laughed again, tipping his head back. Sobering, he said quietly, "I'm so glad you decided to come back. I can't imagine that I would feel this much better if I had been alone after Bakugou left."

Shouta reached out to gently touch Izuku's hand, smiling when the younger man flipped his hand

over to grab Shouta's. "At some point, I'm going to ask you what he said that scared you like that. Not now," he reassured, seeing how Izuku's shoulders tensed. "But at some point, when you're ready."

"I'm going to ask my therapist for an emergency appointment tomorrow," Izuku murmured, tracing his fingers over the small scars and calluses on Shouta's hands. "Let me talk everything through with him, so I can figure out how to avoid triggering another panic attack."

"When you're ready," Shouta repeated. "Even if that means I have to wait."

"You're sweet," Izuku decided, making Shouta let out a startled bark of laughter.

"I don't think anyone has ever called me sweet in my life," he said, eyes glinting in amusement.

Izuku shrugged. "You've been sweet to me literally since we met, so I don't know what to tell you. Better start being an asshole if you want to save your reputation," he deadpanned, a smirk threatening at the corners of his lips.

Shouta fought back his own smile. "I don't think being an asshole to the man I'm going to be sleeping beside tonight is the smartest idea," he joked back.

Izuku finally let his grin break free. "Probably not," he agreed, pushing himself up from the table and grabbing their mugs as he did so. He put them in the sink, and made the executive decision to leave that for tomorrow. He picked his phone up from where he'd dropped it earlier, and turned back to Shouta. "If you want a shower I might have some of Toshi's clothes here that should fit you, and I definitely have a spare toothbrush in the bathroom."

Shouta paused. "Why does Hitoshi have clothes here?" He asked carefully.

Izuku huffed and rolled his eyes affectionately, thinking about his friend. "He's ended up covered in gunk and closer to my apartment than his three different times in the past two months, so I told him to bring some of his stuff over here instead of looking ridiculous in my sweats that come halfway up his calves."

"That makes sense," Shouta murmured, looking amused and a little relieved.

Izuku frowned slightly. "Why did you think he had clothes over here?" He asked slowly, tilting his head curiously. He saw a faint flush come to the older man's cheeks, and he snorted when he realized. "You thought he and I were sleeping together and he left clothes here, right?"

Shouta slumped down and sighed. "I wondered," he said in agreement. "I didn't get that impression from the two of you, but I've been wrong before about that sort of thing."

He drifted over and pressed himself against Shouta's side, arm slipping over his shoulders in a half hug, smiling faintly. "I get it. But it's definitely not like that between us-not to mention Toshi is doing his weird on again off again thing with Todoroki. He's pretty invested, actually, so he wouldn't risk messing that up."

Straightening up a little, Shouta frowned. "Todoroki? Really?" His frown deepened. He'd heard something about that during the sparring session, but he had been distracted and had dismissed it. "Endeavor won't be happy about that, he's invested in Todoroki following the path he laid out, and that certainly doesn't include his dating an Underground Hero."

Izuku wrinkled his nose a little. "Yeah, hence the whole on again off again thing. He asked me to stay out of it though, so I'm doing my best to do so." He grimaced. "Although honestly, if they

don't get their shit together I might smother Toshi in his sleep. He gets very... maudlin when they're in their 'off again' phases."

"Well," Shouta began drily, "That's far more than I ever wanted to know about Hitoshi's romantic endeavors."

Izuku shrugged. "Sorry, you agreed to listen to me complain about him-and his, uh, 'romantic endeavors'-when you decided you wanted to date for real." He smiled cheerfully in the face of Shouta's attempt at denial. "No take backs!" He sang out, dropping an easy kiss on the side of his head before pulling away. "So, shower tonight or no?"

Shouta sighed and leaned back, considering. "I probably should," he finally decided.

"Cool," Izuku said. "I'll grab you a towel, Toshi's clothes, and a toothbrush." He glanced at Shouta's hair with a small frown. "I don't have a hairdryer, so you'll be stuck towel drying your hair."

Shouta lifted a shoulder dismissively. "That's fine, I typically let it air dry most days anyway. I appreciate you letting me use your shower."

Izuku huffed a small laugh. "You're literally the one doing me a favor by staying tonight, don't thank me for offering some basic decency."

"Accept my gratitude," Shouta ordered flatly, making Izuku burst out laughing. "You're ridiculous," he said fondly. "Go take your shower."

Shouta obeyed, taking the items Izuku offered with another playful thanks before disappearing into the bathroom. Izuku took a moment to lean against the wall and just bask in the feeling of being cared for. He would have never expected anyone to stay the night just because Bakugou had scared him, but the fact Shouta had offered first, without Izuku having to say a word-it made him feel loved .

He knew it was too early to start breaking out the 'I love you's', but he couldn't help how it made him feel. Sighing, Izuku went to the bedroom to toss his dirty clothes in the basket and change into pajamas. He changed into a t-shirt and athletic shorts, glancing up as the half shut door was pushed open.

Izuku's mouth promptly went dry. Shouta had Hitoshi's sweatpants on, but the shirt was nowhere to be found. He was towel drying his hair, and small droplets of water were sliding down his chest. Izuku had known the man was muscled, but seeing it first hand was an entirely different beast than feeling it through his shirt.

Shouta caught Izuku's gaze, and he smirked when he saw the flushed face and quick glances at his bare torso. "I think this means you get to brag to your friends, right? Since you got my shirt off?" Shouta teased with a little smirk.

Izuku's flush deepened, and he blindly reached to the little area Hitoshi kept his emergency clothes in, grabbing a shirt and tossing it at Shouta's face. "Put a shirt on," he huffed. "I don't have the self control for you to be running around shirtless when we both have things we need to get done tomorrow."

"You know," Shouta murmured, stepping closer and dropping the towel in the basket. "I wouldn't be opposed if you had a little less self control right now."

"Nope," Izuku pointed a finger at him. "You stay over there until you put that shirt on. Not only do we both have things to do, the first time I get to put my hands on you shirtless is not going to be in my bedroom. That's just asking for trouble."

Shouta hummed and tipped his head to the side, commenting, "I'm not opposed to a little bit of trouble."

Izuku groaned, and he laughed, finally tugging the shirt on over his head. "I'm going to brush my teeth," Izuku said after a moment, smiling at him. "I don't have a side preference, but my charger is by the window."

After brushing his teeth, Izuku crawled into the bed beside Shouta and then hesitated. He hadn't slept in the same bed as another person since he was six, and it was more awkward than he'd expected. Shouta didn't even acknowledge the brief moment of awkwardness, instead rolling over to drape an arm over Izuku's waist.

Izuku relaxed almost immediately into the warmth Shouta generated, and quickly fell asleep.