Chapter 17: Feelings, Meetings, and Mall Trips
The first day of their summer break Izuku stood in front of the new Todoroki residence more nervous than he'd ever been. Endeavor had done everything Izuku blackmailed told him to do and now Rei Todoroki was divorced and living in a modest house where all her children visited her regularly. Shouto had wanted to introduce his boyfriend to his mother immediately, but they all decided to give her some time to adjust. Going from a mental institution to complete freedom was jarring enough without finding out her eldest child was still alive.
A few months had gone by and now she was settled in and begging to meet the teenager who'd changed her family's life. So here he was, sweating in his nice shirt and telling himself that the sweet woman he'd heard so much about wouldn't hate him and insist her son dump him immediately. Shouto squeezed his hand, a small smile tugging at his lips. Izuku took a deep breath and nodded to show he was ready.
Shouto opened the door and Izuku found himself face to face with a smiling Rei. "Izuku, I'm so glad you could make it! Shouto never stops talking about you and I just had to meet such an amazing young man."
Izuku bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. Thank you for inviting me to your home."
Rei pulled him into a hug, "There's no need to be so formal, the boy who got us away from my ex husband is welcome here any time." She pulled back with a large smile. "Especially since Shouto is apparently intending to make you part of the family one day."
She was still giggling at Izuku's flustered expression when Dabi (who'd kept the name so his dad wouldn't find out he was alive) entered the room. "Well he needs to hurry up so Izuku can be my favorite brother officially."
They moved into the family room where Rei had tea waiting for them while Shouto bickered with Dabi about how he would always be Dabi's favorite. Rei and Izuku chatted while her sons continued to poke at each other's nerves. She seemed to pick up on the fact that her thanking him for getting her out of the hospital made him uncomfortable, unused to so much gratitude, so she kept the conversation light. His studies and life in the dorms turned into her new job and trying to figure out how to make new friends when everyone knew her face after her public divorce.
Izuku couldn't be blamed for giving her his mother's number. He could tell the two would get along well and they could both use more friends who didn't care about their past relationships or kids' quirks. Eventually Natsuo and Fuyumi joined them for lunch and it felt like he was spending time with old friends instead of meeting his boyfriend's mom for the first time. Conversation flowed naturally and they all teased each other in good fun, mostly the young couple to get as many blushes from them as possible.
After lunch Shouto showed him the rest of the house, the call from Dabi as they went upstairs to "use protection" giving them twin blushes. Shouto's room was cozy, like his dorm room was these days since his friends plied him with knick knacks, pillows, stuffed animals, and soft blankets. A large bed and a simple desk were really the only furniture aside from the bookshelf full of manga, books, and pictures of Shouto with his UA friends and siblings. Izuku studied the pictures with a smile until Shouto suggested they watch a movie on his laptop. They were cuddled up on the bed watching one of the rom coms his boyfriend loved so much when Dabi threw the door open. "Oh come on! You're hormonal teenagers, how can you really be this boring?"
Shouto had a completely blank face when he asked, "Would you prefer we act like you and your boyfriend?"
Dabi gaped for a second, "What boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend and you can't prove anything!"
He slammed the door as he fled and Shouto looked at Izuku, "He thinks we don't know it's him in those pictures with Hawks in the gossip magazines, but I bought him the hoodie he was wearing in one of them." Izuku laughed, teasing his boyfriend about reading gossip magazines until the movie caught their attention again.
Shouto walked him to the train station that evening and kissed Izuku sweetly before informing him, "My mother loves you. My whole family does and…so do I."
Izuku's face hurt from his wide smile. "I love you too Sho." They kissed again for a long moment before Izuku's train showed up and he didn't stop smiling until he was falling asleep in bed that night.
The next day they went to the mall as a class to prepare for the training camp that would start the day after. Mina squealed over how cute they were holding hands as they walked through the mall like she wasn't swinging her and Iida's joined hands between the two of them. Izuku thought the relationship between them and Mei was sweet, just like the new relationship between Kaminari and Kirishima. Katsuki grumbled about all the PDA he was forced to see now. Izuku always sent him a look when he complained that clearly said you could be doing it too if you got your head out of your ass . Katsuki did not appreciate those looks.
Trying to work some magic, Izuku decided to steer his classmates away from his two best friends. Maybe being alone in public would give them a push in the right direction. He suggested splitting up to make things more efficient than everyone going to every store. Iida jumped on board as soon as efficiency was mentioned and the two of them managed to split everyone up. It helped the plan that Izuku knew only Katsuki and Shinso needed anything from the shoe store. Just a subtle Kacchan didn't you also need new hiking shoes after Shinso voiced he needed a pair and the two were off on their own. Thinking about what a great friend he was, Izuku pulled Shouto off to the bookstore, he needed a travel sized first aid guide.
Deku wouldn't know subtle if it bit him in the ass, Katsuki thought to himself as he and Shinso made their way to the shoe store. Things had been awkward between them for a while now. Not enough to keep them from having fun while they hung out, but ever since Katsuki finally admitted to himself (not Deku because the nerd would never stop rubbing it in his face) that he liked the other boy there was a kind of tension between them. Maybe he was imagining it now that he let himself imagine what it would be like to kiss the sleep deprived asshole. Maybe it had always been there and he didn't notice.
Whatever, Katsuki Fucking Bakugo wasn't going to let stupid fucking feelings ruin a perfectly good day out with a friend. They spent far too long bickering over why Shinso shouldn't be allowed to pick out his own shoes. Seriously, arch and ankle support beat a cheaper shoe any day. When Shinso finally snapped out that he couldn't afford the shoes Katsuki was trying to push on him, the blonde simply grabbed the box from his hands and slapped it down on the counter next to his.
Shinso was apparently too shocked to speak until they were outside the store and Katsuki tried to hand him his bag. "You know I wasn't trying to get you to buy them for me, I would have been fine with the cheaper shoes."
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "I'm fucking aware you aren't an asshole trying to use me for my money just like you're aware I'm not an asshole pitying you or treating you like a chairty case. My parents give me too much money for my allowance and you need to focus on training at camp, not how bad your feet hurt because of a shitty pair of shoes."
The other boy finally accepted the bag, huffing, "You know this is why Midoriya is convinced you like me."
Katsuki's face was bright red and keeping his normal scowl in place was a struggle. "You say that like I fucking don't"
"You don't have to spare my feelings, Bakugo. We both know you're the kind of person who says whatever they're thinking, so of course if you liked me back you'd say that."
He must have had an incredulous look on his face if Shinso's confused expression was anything to go by. "I say what I think , but feelings are…I've never, you're the first…look, I don't know how to do this!"
A grin spread across Shinso's face then. "It's nice to see you flustered for once. For the record, I like you and you like me and now we're dating. Cool?"
"Cool." Katsuki tried to pretend his face wasn't twice as red as he grabbed Shinso's hand. Of course when they rejoined the class Deku had a smug look on his face about their joined hands. He'd have to beat the nerd up later.