Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You really are so cool, Eraserhead!” A voice called out as Shouta took down the last of the villains in the plaza. He took time to give one last scan of the area, to make sure that no one was getting up yet, before turning to face the voice. He was greeted by the sight of a young man with wild green hair and a smile on his face. He didn’t look villainous, even now, after infiltrating the USJ, he looked kind and excited with bright eyes, and a wide smile. Like a kid meeting their favorite hero. 

There was a moment where all Shouta could do was pause. He knew that was a dangerous reaction but the man wasn’t coming closer and he was still trying to think. Where did he know him from? Where had he seen that face before? It couldn’t’ve been that long ago… 

“You’re the kid from the rooftop, aren’t you?” Shouta finally asked. He remembered the encounter vividly, he remembered finding the teen staring blankly at the horizon, tear tracks staining his face. He looked as though he had been there for hours and Shouta could barely get a word from him, but he talked, and he reassured when he could, but the boy never gave Shouta much other than a promise to get himself home safely. (Which Shouta had watched from the rooftops to verify, not wanting to risk anything.)

It was almost a year ago now, and Shouta took time to recall all that the man had told him that night, he was 17 and he was quirkless. Shouta hadn’t even gotten his name. What else could he remember- 

All of a sudden the man’s face split into a feral grin and his eyes glinted in a way that Shouta knew could only mean trouble. 

“I’m so glad you remember me, Eraserhead! I was prepared to remind you of where we met, it wasn’t a very long meeting after all, and I was far too shy to say anything to you. But for you to remember me? To realize all on your own? It’s like a dream come true!” The man was slowly stepping closer now, he eyes locked on Shouta the entire time. Shouta watched as the man tracked his every movement, the shift of his legs, the twitch of his arm, everything. Shouta felt as if the man might be able to count his heartbeats with the intensity of his gaze.

“I wanted to say something earlier, I’ve been watching you fight this whole time of course, and you looked so amazing! You’re such a great hero! But I wouldn’t risk distracting you, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” The man commented as he continued to walk closer, his voice taking on a strangely possessive tone.

This was good, Shouta thought to himself, this villain seemed calm enough, and best of all, seemed focused on him, rather than the students.

“You don’t want to hurt me? Then why attack the USJ? Why come after my class?” Shouta questioned, he had to have faith that help was on the way, and he’d have to stall this villain in the meant time. 

“Because I’m not here for your class. And while I’ve loved seeing you again I’m not even here for you. I mean look around you Eraserhead! Your children are occupied but they're uninjured. You exhausted yourself fighting but you’re not out of commission. And rest assured I could put you out of commission if I wanted to. ” The man paused, staring so hard into Shouta’s eyes that he couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine, “but I don’t want to hurt you, any of you. I’m just here for All Might.”

“All Might? You.. back on the rooftop, you mentioned wishing you hadn’t met your heroes... Is he why?” Shouta asked, trying to piece together what he remembered. He watched as the man took another few steps toward him, now only a few feet away from Shouta, as his smile grew just a tad wider.

“I didn’t expect you to remember what I said. I’m so glad you thought about me as much as I did you! But yes, All Might claims to be a hero who wants to save everyone but he’s still willing to crush a quirkless person’s dreams and leave them stranded on a rooftop. That doesn’t sound very heroic to me. He’s made it so hero society rests on his back, so without him the system collapses. He’s made our civilization dependent on his existence. That doesn’t sound very heroic. Do-” The man’s rant is interrupted by another figure materializing next to him.

“All Might isn’t here, Deku.” The new man said to, apparently, Deku, while scratching his neck “He was supposed to be here.”

“Calm down, Tomura. He should show up so-” The new man, Tomura, cut Deku off again, and Shouta barely managed to catch Deku’s face as it momentarily morphed into anger. 

“Maybe if we kill a few kids, he’ll show up.” Tomura suggested, and Shouta felt his blood run cold. He thought he could occupy them. Deku didn’t seem to have any interest in his students but this new man? Tomura? Shouta had no idea what he could do. He shifted slightly, aiming to step towards them but was cut off my Deku shifting in front of him, in between Shouta and the new man. 

“NO!” Deku snapped suddenly, before calming himself, “No, Tomura. We’re sticking to the plan. I’m not going to let you fuck everything up because you couldn’t be patient.” Deku glanced back at Shouta again and caught the tail end of relief on his face. Shouta couldn’t be sure why, and he couldn’t trust it entirely, but it seemed for now at least Deku was going to make sure his students were unharmed. 

Unfortunately, it was clear that Tomura also caught the look that Izuku had spared back at Shouta and took this moment to step towards them both. To Tomura was clear that Deku was arguing with his plan because of his fascination with Eraserhead and he wasn’t about to let that slide. Without warning he lunged forward, his hand outstretched towards Shouta. 

Shouta’s eyes widened it surprise as he made a move to dodge but even with his fast reflexes Deku was faster. He first grabs the wrist that was outstretched towards Shouta before turning to grab the other arm as well. Once restrained he sends a sharp knee into the other man’s gut.

“I told you, Tomura.” Deku starts, his teeth gritted tight as he releases Tomura and watches him fall to the ground. “Hands off Eraserhead. That was my one fucking rule Tomura, no one touches him but me.”

Shouta watches on in confusion and horror as this villain establishes his ‘claim’. It appears he was correct in his assumption that Deku would stay focused on him for now. He doesn’t have time to dwell on whether or not that’s a good thing as All Might breaks into the area. 

“Go Tomura,” Deku commands him. “You and the Nomu, this is what you came here for.”

Shouta watches as the other man grumbles angrily but eventually listens, taking the mist with him and leaving him alone with Deku.

“As much I’d love to take part in All Might’s down fall, there’s not much I could manage that Tomura can’t do himself. I think I’ll stay here for the time being.”

“Why did you stop him? When he wanted to hurt my students?” Shouta couldn’t help but ask. The man was young, he’d wanted to be a hero, and he had said he was only here for All Might. Could he trust that?

“Oh Eraser,” Deku cooed, raising his hand to Shouta’s face, “Don't look at me like that. I didn’t save them because I care, I saved them because I want to talk like this again. I’ll see you again, I can guarantee that, and I know that if I were to allow one of your students to be injured then you wouldn’t entertain me like this again.”

Shouta stood in silence for a few seconds, only moving to swat Deku’s hand off of his face. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He wanted to claim that no matter what Deku did or didn’t do he wouldn’t entertain him next time anyway but with how curious he was he’s not sure he could convince either of them of that. They stood in silence for a few more minutes before there was a loud noise, indicating the arrival of more pro-heroes. Before Shouta could even think of grabbing his scarf Deku was already retreating through one of the portals, throwing him a wink and blowing a kiss as he did so. 

Shouta looked around now and could barely wrap his head around what he was seeing. Deku had kept his word, Thirteen had sustained injuries but nothing that wouldn’t recover from, and all of his students came out of the fight unscathed. 

He wasn’t sure what to make of the ‘villain’, or the fascination he seemed to have with Shouta, but he still hoped he wouldn’t encounter him again any time soon. 

Chapter Text

It was shockingly easy to find Deku’s real name. 

Izuku Midoriya 

Now 18 years old, born and raised in Musutafu, Japan, quirkless. His father is reported to have left Japan 14 years ago, with his mother remaining in the same apartment from Izuku’s birth. 

When all is said and done it isn’t a lot of information, and Shouta wasn’t sure it would actually help him with anything but with how the man had acted at the USJ… Shouta wasn’t naive enough to believe they wouldn’t meet again. Shouta was just glad he could call the man something other than Deku now. He hoped it would put them closer to even footing. He wasn’t sure just how much Izuku, because he wasn’t going to give the villain the formality of a surname, knew about him. Izuku had seemed to be quite focused on Shouta at the USJ despite having a prior objective there so he couldn’t discredit the idea that he now had a stalker. 

Shouta brought his hand up towards his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could tell this was going to be nothing but trouble and a bad headache. 

—-------

Across the city, Izuku seethed. He had better things to be doing than getting lectured by ‘the master’. For instance, he could be watching Eraserhead. He could ensure his beloved was safe and that no one around him was getting too close for comfort. HE COULD BE LEARNING HIS NAME FOR FUCKS SAKE! But no. Between joining the league and earning at least a pinch of their trust he hadn’t had the time. He barely knew anything about the love of his life. That was unacceptable, and yet the League seemed determined to keep him busy. 

Izuku was close to screaming. 

But no. He had to keep his mouth shut and his head down while this faceless motherfucker lectured him for hurting Tomura. 

“Of course, I understand my mistake… master. I apologize for harming Tomura, I simply wanted to ensure he didn’t damage our future plans. Tomura might’ve believed that the nomu could kill All Might but you and I both knew that it was merely the beginning. Because of that, I wanted to ensure we didn’t stay on the heroes' radars as much as we would’ve if we had hurt one of the students. It would’ve ultimately made our plans for the future harder. I didn’t want Tomura to inconvenience you… master.”

All for One remained silent for a moment, Izuku hearing nothing but the static of the TV before the man finally spoke. 

“I understand my boy. I appreciate your dedication to the cause and I’m sure our plans will go smoother with you by Tomura’s side. Just ensure you don’t reach too far. I would hate to remove you from the equation.”

Izuku barely repressed a snarl. As soon as All Might was dead Izuku would unplug this crutsy faceless motherfuckers life support too. 

“Of course… master.”

“Good. Good. You’re excused.”

Izuku nodded his head in response before walking out of the bar. It was time. 

—--------------

Shouta shakes his head as he steps into the bar, wondering for the hundredth time in so many minutes if this was a bad idea. And honestly? Shouta knew it was. Doing this would get him a bad headache at best, and at worst? Well, Shouta doesn’t even want to think about the worst-case scenario. But it was too late now. 

“SHOUTAA!” he heard his name screamed from across the bar. He had texted his idiot friends to go drinking.

“Hizashi, Nemuri.” He greeted each of them with a nod. Barely managing to sit down before being accosted with a barrage of questions. 

“Is everything okay?”

“Are you dying?”

“Are we dying?”

“Is everyone dying?”

“What would that even mean Hizashi?”

“Well, obviously it means the apocalypse, Nem.”

“Why would it be the apocalypse?”

“I DON’T KNOW! Shouta texted us first to go out! What else am I supposed to think?”

“Are you guys done now?” Shouta cut them off, turning to each of them in turn with a raised eyebrow. “If you two would stay quiet for a second I can tell you why I texted you.” They both quieted down as Shouta said that. Him talking about his life was rare enough, but voluntarily? With no convincing? That meant something was wrong and they both knew it.

“I may have… left out a few details about the USJ,” Shouta said, pointedly taking a drink to avoid the gaping looks he was receiving. “I… met someone. His name is Deku and he… seemed focused on me. He’s 18, quirkless, and I met him about a year ago on a rooftop. A rooftop that… All Might left him on, after telling him he couldn’t be a hero.” 

Shouta took another swig of his drink if only to leave a pause for the gasps that came from Hizashi and Nemuri. Shouta could tell how they felt, all of them knew the statistics for quirkless people in this day and age. They knew how crushing it could be to hear you couldn’t be a hero. But for All Might to do that? The man who’s famous for saying anyone could be a hero? That could kill someone. And it almost did, Shouta admits, thinking back to Izuku’s face when he first sat down on that building.  

“I talked him down, made sure he got home safe, and that was that. But… he was there… at the USJ. He said he had come for All Might, that he didn’t even know I would be there. But he forewent confronting All Might to talk with me. He stopped another villain from hurting me, or the students. He’s the reason there were no injuries. And I-” Shouta paused looking up to meet their eyes, both full of concern and care, “I don’t know what he wants from me, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.”

There was a tense silence that sat heavy between the three of them. Heavier than the mood usually was. Shouta took another sip from his drink. He had wanted to distract himself for the night but he knew Hizashi and Nemuri would pry the reason out of him eventually, and it was better he say everything before the drinks kicked in he supposed. 

“Sooooo… Alcohol?” Hizashi asked, finally breaking the silence while Nemuri signaled a bartender for another round of drinks. Shouta couldn’t help himself from cracking a small smile, he knew he had texted them for a reason.

—----------------

Izuku watched Shouta from his seat at the bar, a small smile playing on his face. As much as he loved that his beloved had been thinking about him so often he also loved to see him like this. Happier, less guarded. 

Izuku’s gaze sharpened as Yamada Hizashi, whose name Izuku had finally learned about an hour prior, laid his hand yet again on Shouta’s arm. Izuku felt his skin prickle and he saw the look in the other man’s eyes. He knew that look. He knew that look at he couldn’t stand for it. But he couldn’t get rid of him. Izuku knew that. 

He had stopped Tomura from hurting the students because Shouta wouldn’t have forgiven him for that. Hurting Yamada Hizashi, no matter how badly Izuku wanted to, was another thing his Shouta wouldn’t forgive. Which meant he’d have to keep them apart through other methods. 

Shouta shifted, and the contact broke, allowing a smile to stretch across Izuku’s face yet again. He supposed he would just have to keep Shouta busy. Occupy his mind so entirely that Shouta would never have a chance to look at anyone else. Ensure he was the only one his beloved could think of. 

He had a date to plan.

Chapter Text

Shouta woke up as a bar of sunlight slanted itself against his eyes, causing him to squeeze them shut even harder. When it became obvious after a few minutes that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep Shouta sat up with a groan, his hands immediately flying to his head, hoping to ease the painful pounding even a bit. He took a a look around his room to confirm that neither Hizashi nor Nemuri had spent the night, (which was not an uncommon occurrence when they’d been drinking) and was pleased to see he was alone. 

He glanced over at his bedside table to find a bottle of water and some aspirin. Shouta wasted no time in downing both of them, hoping they would be able to persuade his headache away sooner rather than later. He took his time getting ready and after 3 cups of coffee, he was almost ready to go. 

Right when Shouta was about to leave he realized he had left his phone charging back in his room and swung back to grab it, only to see a small note text to it. Hizashi must’ve left it when he set out the aspirin, Shouta concluded, ignoring the fact that Hizashi normally texted. 

Shouta,

You drank a lot last night

I made sure you got home safely, so don’t worry

Hope your headache goes away soon

- <3

—-----------------

Shouta felt his phone buzz in his pocket and went to open it, expecting to be confronted with texts from his idiots.

He was not. 

He was instead confronted with several texts from an unknown number. 

(xxx)xxx-xxxx

Hello Eraser 

How’s your day going? Is your headache any better yet?

I hope the aspirin helped

Well that was… concerning 

Shouta Aizawa

Who is this?

(xxx)xxx-xxxx

Oh come now, darling

There can’t be that many options

Why don’t you take a guess?

Shouta paused. He knew exactly who this was. And he also knew he should either block this number or report it immediately. 

Shouta Aizawa

Izuku.

He did neither. 

Izuku 

First names already? How forward of you Shouta~

Shouta Aizawa

You started it. 

With the note this morning. 

I assume that was you then, right?

The aspirin?

Izuku

Of course, it was darling. 

I wouldn’t let anyone break into your apartment

You need new window locks by the way

Shouta Aizawa

Except you, you mean?

And you broke my window locks?

Izuku

Well of course except for me

And also no. 

I would never and I’m offended you think I would.

I care far too much for your safety to be reckless like that.

I mention it because it was too easy for me to get in last night. 

Not that I didn’t appreciate the access but if I could get in that easily 

Others could to

Shouta paused. Izuku, because he supposed they really were on a first-name basis now, seemed genuinely upset at the insinuation. Although he supposed the man did seem quite keen to protect him at the USJ. 

Shouta was having a hard time wrapping his head around all of this. And while Izuku seemed to be mixed up in the wrong crowd (and a little too willing to stalk Shouta in his free time) Shouta’s not actually sure he was doing anything villainous. 

Shouta Aizawa

I’ll look into them.

Izuku

Good. 

And now that you have my number 

Whenever you start thinking about me a bit too much

You can just text me 

Rather than going out drinking all night ;)

Goodbye for now, Shouta

Shouta Aizawa

Stay out of trouble.

—---------------

Izuku had to keep himself from laughing. It was painfully obvious what his beloved had meant by that comment. He had deduced, that since Izuku protected his children to please Shouta at the USJ, that his small comment would keep Izuku from doing anything… particularly villainous.

It was adorable. 

Izuku could tell that Shouta didn’t really view him as a villain, which he supposed he’d been given no real reason to, but that was a mistake on his part. As much as he tried to display kindness, in order to appeal to his beloved, Izuku was not a kind man. 

He sighed, a smile still on his face, as he put his phone down. It was almost time. 

He saw a man stumble into an alleyway and quickly jumped down to meet him. 

“Hello there.” Izuku greeted the man, who grunted in return. “Do you know why I’m here for you tonight?”

The man ignored Izuku’s words, trying to brush past him towards the back entrance of the bar, but Izuku stopped him with a knife to his throat. Making a small ‘tsk’-ing noise as he backed the man against a brick wall. 

“Now, now It’s not very kind of you to ignore me. But I’ll take that as a ‘no’ anyway. I’m here for you because you said some rather vulgar things to my beloved last night.” Izuku pressed the knife harder into the man’s throat, drawing blood. 

“What the hell man! I don’t even know you!” He cursed, attempting to get away but only succeeding in pressing the knife harder against his throat. 

“You don’t need to know me. I barely know you. But what I do know is that no one can talk to my beloved that way and get away with it. I’m already having issues with others getting too close.” Izuku ground his words out in a snarl, blonde hair, and green eyes flashing in his mind. He wanted Yamada Hizashi out of the picture too. He wanted anyone who got too close to his beloved out of the picture. 

But he couldn’t, Izuku took a breath to calm himself before looking back at the man in front of him, he would have to count for both of them.

—----------------

“Fuck! Goddamned shitty fucking widow locks!” Shouta cursed as a screw fell to the ground yet again. He had been at this for what felt like hours now. 

And he wasn’t going it because of Izuku. 

He got new window locks because if his were faulty that was the logical thing to do. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Izuku seemed to be worried. Because that would be an illogical reason to do something. 

“Fuck!” Shouta exclaimed again, bending down to pick up another screw, he decided he really fucking hated these window locks.

Chapter Text

Shouta let out a heavy sigh as his eyes fell on the flower that had been left on his bedside table yet again.

Shouta

Thank you for the flower

Shouta groans as he hits send on the text. The same text he had been sending for a week now, since, for a week now, he had woken up to a new flower next to him. Shouta would’ve suspected he’d installed the new locks wrong if it weren’t for Izuku’s very long, very appreciative text thanking him for taking care of himself. 

It was disconcerting, he thought absently as he twirled the stem between his fingers before adding it to the slowly growing vase in his kitchen, that Izuku could get in and out of his house that quickly and without Shouta noticing. Because dear god did Shouta try to notice, and yet, every morning he woke up (he does not remember going to sleep) with a brand new flower next to him. And he should report it, Shouta knows he should report it. That would be the logical thing to do. And yet…

Izuku

Of course, Darling.

Shouta

What is today’s?

While he waited for a response he observed his growing bouquet. The flowers really did go together quite nicely. He had a red rose, for true love; a black rose, for eternal love; a carnelian, for passion and desire; lavender, for devotion; a poppy, for pleasure; a primrose, that apparently means ‘I can’t live without you’, Shouta does not understand flower language, and now-

Izuku

A heliotrope. 

Shouta

What does this one mean?

Izuku

Devotion.

Shouta

Thank you.

Izuku

Anything for you.

This was how most of his conversations had gone since the first one. Short, to the point, and entirely overwhelming. Shouta didn’t really know what to make of the interactions or the pledges Izuku seemed to be making to him through the flowers. What he did know, and what he thought about regularly, was that he should report this. Or at the very least block the number. Or change his locks. Or set up alarms. Or do anything other than small interactions that would be unfortunately categorized as flirting with a villain.

And yet he hadn’t. For a few reasons he couldn’t quite place, or at the very least, one main reason he couldn’t quite admit barring the quiet thoughts in the dead of night that were too persistant to easily ignore. 

Shouta looked down at his phone once more, ‘Anything for you’ Izuku had sent. Shouta didn’t like that he believed it. 

—---------------

Izuku smiled to himself as he put away his phone, this was going well, better than he could’ve expected. It was difficult, almost painful, of course, forcing himself to act so nonchalant (He isn’t acting nonchalant at all. Izuku is so very chalant.) about his beloved, but he would do what needed to be done. And he could feign passivity if it got his Shouta to him sooner. There would be time for him to fuss once Shouta was his.

For now, he had other things to worry about. Namely, watching the UA Sports Festival.

He would keep a great deal of analysis to himself of course, but it was a thin line to walk. He had to divulge enough about the students that The League, mainly just ‘sensei’, believed he wasn’t withholding information, but leave enough out that he could stay in Shouta’s good graces by claiming he was still protecting the students in his own way. (If it wasn’t me it would be someone else Shouta. And someone else wouldn’t withhold obvious weaknesses like I have.)

Izuku still wanted to kill All Might, of course. He wanted to wreck the man and ensure he felt the same pain that Izuku felt on that rooftop all those months ago when his dreams and his hopes were shattered beyond repair and he felt completely and utterly helpless. However, as strongly as Izuku may feel about All Might, it pales in comparison to his love for Shouta. 

He would’ve killed himself, on that rooftop, Izuku knows he would’ve killed himself if Shouta hadn’t come along. But he did. He did and in doing so he saved Izuku. He tried to comfort a boy who had already admitted to being quirkless, his love still stayed and still tried to help. He even walked him home! Not that Shouta knows that Izuku knows he did that. So while Izuku would still work towards killing All Might, his first priority would always be his beloved.

After thinking of his Shouta for so long Izuku was barely fighting his instinct to go see him. Maybe tonight he would leave an apple bloom, representing ‘heady love’ and sensuality. Maybe he would leave a whole new bouquet.

—-------------

When Shouta got home that night he paused at his kitchen counter, looking at the flowers as he often found himself doing in recent days. He wondered what flower he would wake up to tomorrow. 

He also wondered when it became so normalized to expect a man to break into his appointment each night. He wondered when he began enjoying learning the meaning behind each flower left for him. He wondered when he started liking them.

…. This was not good.

This was very not good, Shouta decided as he caught himself smiling at the bouquet. This was very not good. And what did Shouta do when something was very not good? Something worse. 

Shouta

Meet me at the usual place. 

10pm tonight. 

We have to talk.

Chapter Text

“So.. why do you text so cryptically all of the time?” Hizashi asked as he approached, his hands in his pockets. 

“I told you when and where to meet me. How is that cryptic?” Shouta questioned with a raised eyebrow before waving a hand to dismiss both the question and Hizashi’s huff of disbelief. “Anyways I have more important things to tell you. Or, I have to catch you up on things I have omitted.”

Hizashi straightened immediately, all trace of humor gone. Whatever Shouta needed to tell him was obviously serious, especially since he had gone out of his way to avoid talking about it until now. Shouta didn’t do that frequently. Once the two men had settled into the corner booth of the cat café, Shouta began talking in a hushed voice. 

“So… Deku. I mentioned him the last time we hung out. There were things I didn’t tell you, and there have been developments since then. I know his name.” Shouta starts, waiting long enough so the screech Hizashi let out didn’t drown out his own words. When Hizashi closes his mouth, and promptly opens it again, clearly intending to speak, Shouta takes this as his cue to continue. “His name is Izuku Midoriya, and we’ve been texting.” A small pause, and then, “And he’s been breaking into my apartment every night for a week.”

Shouta glanced up at Hizashi, noted his gaping mouth and decided he had a while before any thoughts or questions were articulated well enough for him to worry about. He then turned his attention to the cat in his lap. Shouta had met her a few months ago and she had quickly become one of his favorites, leading him to… politely question the employees for any information, which, much to Shouta’s dismay, wasn’t a lot. All he knew was she was a gorgeous black ragamuffin cat with beautiful green eyes. Her name was Hecate, named after the greek goddess, and she was currently 3 years, 5 months, and 17 days old. He knew that she had a ear infection when she was 2 years and 1 month old but that had cleared after about a month. And, looking at her now, he knew that the paw she had sprained (back left) 2 weeks and 3 days ago had finally healed enough that she wasn’t limping anymore.

Shouta let out an irritated huff as he scratched behind Hecate’s right ear, the spot that made her purr the loudest, still upset that he knew next to nothing about her after all these months. 

“I just-” Hizashi started before cutting himself off with a loud sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t-” Another sigh. If Shouta didn’t know any better he’d say Hizashi was stressed. “Why didn’t you report this?” he seemed to settle on. 

Shouta took a long sip of his coffee and stroked Hecate a little harder. He’d been prepared to tell Hizashi when he sent the text, or at least, as prepared as Shouta ever was for an emotional conversation, but he still knew it wouldn’t go over well. 

“Because I don’t particularly… mind it.” Shouta finished his words with a wince, his voice going up as if he’d asked a question. He looked down at Hecate again, glad to see the bald spot on her back (she had been overgrooming due to stress) was growing back in nicely. 

“You- You don’t particularly mind?” Hizashi asked slowly, willing him to deny. But Shouta just gave a small shrug as he took another drink of his coffee. 

“He doesn’t do anything bad. In fact, he criticized the state of my window locks and told me to get new ones. And he just, you know, brings me different flowers every single night and swears devotion to me through flower language.” Shouta admitted, speeding through his words. It wasn’t this embarrassing when he had planned out this conversation beforehand. 

“Doesn’t do anything bad? Shouta he’s still breaking into your house. It doesn’t matter that he’s- what? You said he’s leaving you flowers? That’s fucking weird Shouta, you need to report it. And tell the fucking police and heroes that you work with every damn day that you know the name and number of a villain they’ve been trying to find. God damn it, Shouta, I shouldn’t have to tell you this.” Hizashi exclaimed, his words rising in volume as he moved his hands emphatically. 

Even after Hizashi had finished, Shouta stayed quiet. He knows this, he knows that what Hizashi said was logical and correct, because it’s the same argument he’s been having with himself since the beginning of the week. But he still hated hearing it. 

“I didn’t ask you to meet me here as Present Mic. I asked you to come as Yamada Hizashi, to listen to me as my friend.” Shouta started quietly, raising his hand to stop him when Hizashi tried to respond. “I know- trust me, Hizashi i fucking know- that i shouldn’t be doing this. That I should lure him out and capture him. But…” He paused, looking into Hizashi’s eyes, “I don’t want to. He protected me at the USJ, saved me from another villain, and he protected my students, Zashi. He lectured me about my window locks because he was worried that someone, other than him, would get in. He left out aspirin when I got drunk and he leaves me new flowers every morning and always tells me what they mean. And I have a bouquet on my counter that’s more sincere than most actual love confessions.” Shouta took a long pause, letting Hizashi digest what he had said. “I don’t want to turn him in, Zashi.” 

Shouta’s tone was softer than Hizashi had heard it in years. His words pleading with him to understand. And he didn’t. He couldn’t possibly understand what Shouta was thinking or feeling right now but this seemed like a hill Shouta was willing to die on. 

“I think it’s stupid.” Was the response Hizashi settled on,  “I think it’s fucked up and moronic. I don’t think I’ll ever support, or even agree with this.” Another pause as Hizashi watched Shouta wince. “But I won’t fight you and I won’t say anything.” Hizashi finished, before getting up and walking out of the cafe, not giving Shouta any time to respond. 

He sat there still and silent for a long minute. Shouta wasn’t sure what he was expecting but for some reason it wasn’t that. But he did stand by what he said, he didn’t want to turn Izuku in. Somewhere, between the bizarre flirting, Shouta had begun to care for him. 

He finished his coffee before walking to the counter, buying one of Hecate’s favorite treats, feeding her, and walking out himself.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt like crying. 

Scratch that, Izuku did cry. 

But could you really blame him?

His love had said such kind things about him. 

Izuku could admit he’d been worried when he finally made his way to Shouta and had found him at the cat cafe with him . With Hizashi Yamada, Shouta’s friend that was increasing Izuku’s concern exponentially the more he saw him around his love. But apparently Izuku had no reason to worry.

Because Hizashi Yamada, Shouta’s best friend, the person closest to him, had told Shouta to stop talking to him, to turn him in, and Shouta hadn’t! He’d defended him, him , against fucking Yamada! Izuku could die a happy man, except he couldn’t die because that would leave his Shouta grieving in the arms of that bright yellow chucklefuck, and Izuku couldn’t let that happen, but he would celebrate now. 

And the best part is, not only did Shouta defend him from Yamada, it seemed to push them further apart too. Izuku had been worried that Yamada would get too close and he might be forced to do something about him, which of course would’ve then been difficult because Izuku couldn’t hurt Yamada without Shouta getting mad at him but it seems as though Yamada took care of two birds with one stone and both outcomes were in Izuku’s favor. 

This was turning out to be an excellent day!

The day was turning out to be so good that Izuku was confident enough to meet Shouta in person again, the first time (that Shouta knows of) since the USJ! 

—-

When Shouta got back to his apartment and was met with an absurd amount red chrysanthemums, he paused only a second to stare at the flowers before pulling out his phone.

“Love and deep passion.” A voice called from further in Shouta’s apartment. And despite it having been weeks since he last heard the voice, Shouta recognized it instantly. (and thinks he still would've even if there were any other suspects for who broke into his apartment with flowers.)

“Izuku?” He called, more to acknowledge that he knew who it was rather than confirm.

“Hello, Shouta.” Izuku’s voice rang through the apartment again and Shouta moved gently around the flowers to find the source. What he found was Izuku, in his kitchen, cooking. 

“I- why- what are you doing?” Shouta finally stuttered out, he can confidently say this was not was he was expecting to come home to today. Even if he recognizes that this scene doesn’t bother him quite as much as it should.

Izuku turns to pin Shouta with a flat look, gesturing lightly to the pan with his shoulders. 

“Okay, you’re looking at me like it’s obvious. Yes, obviously you’re cooking. I'm not a dumbass. Why are you cooking in my kitchen? This is the first time we’ve seen each other or, god, the first time I’ve seen you since the USj. Why now?”

Izuku smiled at Shouta, his face light, he had forgotten how much fun it was, talking with his love. It had nothing on simply seeing him while he was sleeping, which was a treat of it’s own, down get him wrong. But an asleep Shouta couldn’t talk to him. Couldn’t cuss him out, which Izuku is not ashamed to say he’s very into. Couldn’t look at him like that. Couldn’t look at him at all actually, and it was such a shame, Izuku loves Shouta’s eyes. All that to say that Izuku has decided here and now that these in person visits will have to become more frequent. 

“Becuase I’m thanking you! And what better way to do that than to cook you a nice meal? 11pm is a late dinner for most people but, given that you sometimes don’t leave for patrol until right around now, I figured you wouldn’t mind too much.” Shouta looked entirely unimpressed with Izuku’s elaboration so he huffed out a laugh and continued. “The gratitude I’m referencing, since you won’t let me have any mystery, is because you defended me earlier to that blonde thing you call your friend. I won’t say I necessarily like your friends, Yamada especially, but I would never hurt your friends, or ask you to choose me over them, because I know that it would hurt you. So it,” Izuku paused, rubbing the back of his neck as his face turned awkwardly red, “it meant a lot to me that you defended me like that. SO… I’m saying thank you, and I’m doing that by cooking us dinner.”

Shouta fell silent, trying to organize his thoughts, as he sat relatively unsure of how to respond. First, this meant Izuku was watching him more and had far better surveillance than Shouta had originally accounted for. This wasn’t necessarily an issue, seeing as Izuku has yet to do anything with the surveillance but it was something to think about. Next, Izuku looked far too cute when he blushed like that. His flush had covered his ears and gone down his neck and Shouta longed to bite. Building off of that, Shouta had real issues that he should probably confront, centered around his attraction to his stalker. Lastly, Izuku saying he wouldn’t ask Shouta to choose, no matter his own feelings, because he wanted Shouta happy meant much more than it probably should. Especially coming from that conversation with Hizashi. 

With his thoughts freshly organized, Shouta looked to Izuku. He was once again focused on his dish but from what Shouta could see on the back of his neck he was still horribly red, and now shuffling awkwardly. It was hard to believe that this was the man breaking into his apartment to leave him flowers every night. 

“Thank you.” Shouta started, watching as Izuku startled lightly before turning back to face him, “for cooking dinner, it looks delicious. I appreciate your… commitment to not harm my friends, because it would upset me. So, thank you for that.. As well.”

Izuku stared at Shouta for a moment before nodding lightly and turning back to the meal. This time with far less tension. It was incredibly amusing to Shouta, comparing the man awkwardly cooking in his kitchen with the one who would flirt relentlessly over text everyday. But he supposed it was easier to flirt over text than in person. He’ll be excited to see if the flirting comes out more over dinner.