Chapter 11: Shouto Should Not Become An Artist
Chapter Text
Katsuki was reading a manga on Izuku's bed while the freckled boy sorted through his old clothes, figuring out what to donate now that he had too many clothes for his closet. Well, that was his intention, but he was actually digging through all his clothes trying to figure out what he could possibly wear for his first date with Shouto. They'd agreed to wait until after their internships this week, but Izuku wanted to be prepared. He couldn't help it if all his waking moments were spent trying to focus on anything other than the promised day with his hopefully soon to be boyfriend.
Shouto had booked time at an art store where you could paint your own mug during a session where they showed you how to paint a surprise hero. Then they were going to dinner at a casual restaurant. It all sounded perfect, but what do you wear for your first date with the perfect boy who'd already declared his intent to marry you? Izuku's face turned red every time he remembered a smirking Kacchan coming into his room after returning from his parent's house that weekend and teasing him, "So Deku, Auntie told me I need to start preparing my best man speech, but if you decide to have a nerd ass hero themed wedding, I'm not fucking coming."
His protests did nothing to stop the teasing until Izuku finally shot him a glare, "Kacchan, at least I have a date with my crush. How are your feelings for Shinso going?"
A red faced Katsuki had thrown a pillow at him, "I don't have feelings for eyebags. I don't have feelings! Feelings are disgusting and I refuse to do them."
Izuku reminding his best friend of the time he'd cried over a video of a puppy getting a wheelchair after it lost a leg started a playful slap fight that ended with Katsuki dumping Izuku's trash can over his head and both boys dying laughing at the yogurt lid stuck to Izuku's face. Now he was going to have to endure more teasing if he wanted help from the grumpy blonde with his outfit dilemma.
" Kacchan , help me. I have nothing to wear!" Katsuki sent a pointed look at the mountains of clothes on the floor and Izuku stomped a foot, puffing out his cheeks. "Kacchan, be helpful! I have to look nice or Shouto won't want a second date."
Katsuki rolled his eyes, "You could show up in a trash bag and Icyhot would swoon. Boy's whipped for you." After Izuku weaponized his puppy eyes, his friend finally got up to look at his options. They settled on a nice, royal blue sweater, ripped jeans, and a small cuff earring in the same red as his shoes. (Because Katsuki claimed the other boy 'drooled like a brain dead idiot' when Izuku wore earrings)
With that handled, Izuku managed to put away the clothes he would keep and pack up the donations so they could finish their homework and get some sleep before their internships the next day.
Izuku had accepted an internship with the number eight hero Loud Cloud. Sure, he planned on going underground, but Aizawa had agreed that there would be more opportunities to intern with underground heroes in the future and Loud Cloud used a fighting style that would only improve Izuku to learn from. It helped that the man was a long time friend of Izuku's two favorite teachers and his internship offer came with a note that Izuku could choose to simply train together and learn how the agency and being a spotlight hero worked instead of going out on patrols with him if that's what Izuku wanted.
The man insisted on being called Oboro instead of his hero name and referred to Izuku as "little cloud". It was more fond than anything and never felt patronizing so he never protested the nickname. Oboro was a cheerful, energetic person who seemed to be loved by everyone in his agency. Everyone greeted them happily when they walked through the building, Oboro showing Izuku every department and answering all of Izuku's questions about how everything operated.
Oboro showed him new moves with his bo staff and brought in sidekicks who could teach him other skills and get him more experience fighting against a variety of quirks. The man had never even mentioned Izuku's quirklessness, but the teen could tell it was because it didn't matter to the man not because he was trying to ignore it. He seemed to treat Izuku like any other person in his agency and it was slowly earning him a place on the approved hero list for the Zeroes.
Izuku had chosen to go on patrol with the hero, hoping to see him in action with the understanding that if there were any incidents, his job would be to evacuate bystanders. The first two patrols were quiet, just Oboro explaining the intricacies of patrol routes and the importance of interacting with civilians. He answered every question Izuku had about his quirk and offered to introduce him to other heroes who would be happy to discuss their quirks with him.
It was the third patrol that something other than a quickly handled mugging or robbery happened. They were walking through a park when the sound of crying reached their ears. A little off the main path, there was a girl of about fourteen quietly crying on a bench. They approached slowly and Oboro asked in a soft voice if she needed any help.
Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide, "Loud Cloud! No, I'll be fine, it's just stupid middle school drama. Nothing to bother a hero with."
The way she averted her eyes and pulled nervously at her sleeves told Izuku that the best option here was to talk to the girl alone. "Loud Cloud, could you get her something to drink from those vending machines we passed a while back? We don't want her getting dehydrated after all. I'll stay with her until you get back."
Luckily, Oboro was smart enough to immediately know what Izuku was planning and nodded before leaving him to handle this. Izuku sat at the other end of the bench, leaving enough space to ensure the girl didn't feel uncomfortable. "I dealt with a lot of drama in middle school that I wouldn't have wanted to tell a hero too. If you want someone to listen that won't judge, I'm all ears and I won't say a word to Loud Cloud, promise."
The girl eyed him for a moment before she slumped forward to bury her head in her hands. "There's this girl at school, I thought she liked me! We even kissed a few times so when she asked for a…a picture of me I thought it would be fine. Then she said that if I didn't do all her homework she'd send it to everyone at school and they'd all know I was a…slut."
She was crying again and Izuku slid a little closer. "Is it alright if I touch your shoulder?" A nod and he rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "In this situation most people would say you should go to the police, but you should be aware that if they want to be nasty they could charge you with distributing pictures of a minor."
The girl cried harder and he rubbed her shoulder soothingly, "Or you could give me your phone number and this other girl's number and I can get rid of the picture."
She looked at him with wide eyes, "How?" Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket and smiled. "I have a friend who can hack anything and she owes me a favor."
As soon as he had the numbers he dialed Phoenix, "Hey Phoenix, I'm going to give you two numbers and I need you to find the picture, without looking at it, that one sent to the other. See if it was downloaded or sent to any other devices and delete all copies of it for me please. Yeah its for someone I met on patrol with Loud Cloud. That's great, the numbers are…" He waited for a few moments and ended the call. Turning back to the girl with a smile. "It's taken care of. You don't have to worry about the picture anymore."
Izuku got an arm full of teenage girl when she threw herself across the bench to hug him. "Thank you so much! I just feel so stupid."
He patted her back, "Don't, you trusted her and she took advantage of that. That isn't your fault and there's no shame in exploring these kinds of things with people you trust. And I'm sure after this you'll be more careful with who you trust."
She pulled back and nodded. "Yeah, I'm definitely not sending any more nudes for a very long time, if ever." They both chuckled and Oboro chose that moment to approach from where he'd been waiting out of earshot with the girl's juice. As they were walking away the girl stopped them. "Wait. I know your name from the sports festival, but I haven't seen your hero name anywhere. What is it?"
Izuku smiled brightly, "I'm the quirkless hero: Void."
As they walked out of the park Oboro ruffled Izuku's hair, "You're going to be a great hero, Void."
The rest of their internships flew by and Izuku bought Aizawa a pack of jelly pouches to thank him for suggesting Loud Cloud to him. Oboro had gotten an Eraserhead hoodie Izuku had custom made to show his appreciation to this mentor. The hero loved it and sent Aizawa a picture of him wearing it right away. Izku bought his teacher a second pack of jelly pouches to apologize for it. Aizawa had sighed heavily before pulling a pouch from the pack and popping it in his mouth. After sucking the entire thing down while holding eye contact with his student, he threw it in the trash and said, "You really are a problem child, aren't you Midoriya?"
Izuku managed to hold in his giggles until he left the man's office. Then he had to go get ready for his date. He showered, dressed, and spent far too long styling his hair and applying eyeliner before making his way downstairs to meet Shouto in the common room. Shouto blushed when he caught sight of Izuku, "You look great. The blue looks amazing with your eyes."
"You look amazing yourself." And he did. Shouto had picked a white shirt, loose gray cardigan, and a pair of sinfully tight dark wash jeans. When he stepped in front of Izuku to open the door to the dorm for him, Izuku had to struggle to keep his eyes to himself.
They held hands on the way to the art shop chatting about their internships, both trying to hide their blushes. The hero they were painting was Hawks, much to their delight. Because of his years sketching heroes in his notebooks, Izuku's mug turned out amazing. The person leading the class praised it excessively.
Shouto's…existed. It kind of looked like Hawks, if he'd been run over by several buses and the person looking at him was mostly blind. But when the boy shyly told Izuku he had wanted to give it to him to remember the date before he messed it up and made to throw it away, Izuku snatched it up and held it to his chest. "It's not messed up, it has character! And it's the most beautiful gift anyone's ever given me."
Shouto looked at him incredulously, "Have all the other gifts you've gotten been rocks?"
Izuku giggled and put the mug he'd made in Shouto's hands. "No, it doesn't matter what it looks like. It's beautiful because you made it for me."
His face turned as red as his scar as Shouto looked down at the mug in his hands. "You…you're giving me the one you made?"
"Of course, now you have something to remember our first date too!" The smile he got in response was the biggest one Izuku had ever seen on Shouto's face. They ate a nice dinner with their hands connected over the table and Izuku was basically floating as he walked through his door after Shouto gave him a soft kiss on the lips and whispered that he wanted to do this again. Izuku had almost broken his neck nodding and he thought nothing could bring down his mood.
Then he found Katsuki in his room with his arms crossed. "So take it the date went well? I don't have to hide a body tonight?"
Izuku rolled his eyes, "No Kacchan. He was a perfect gentleman and we're going on another date soon. He even made me this mug!"
Katsuki eyed the mug he held up proudly. "That's the ugliest fucking thing I've ever seen."
"You must not look in the mirror often then." Izuku snapped at him as he set the mug lovingly on his shelf, right next to his Hawks figurine. Then he cut of Katsuki's angry shouting. "Now get out of my room or I'll show Shinso your baby pictures. You're killing my mood."
The harsh slam of his door didn't even bother him because he was busy reading a sweet text from Shouto asking if they could have another date in two days. Followed by a text asking why Bakugo had just stuck his head in his room, yelled "learn to draw fuckface", and left. Laughing at his friend's antics, he sent a text back to set up their next date. You know , he thought, maybe a hero themed wedding wouldn't be so bad .