Archive of Our Own

0. 

“Shou?”

“Hm?” 

“As much as I don’t mind you sleeping in my lap, I called you over for a reason.” 

“I know,” Shouto exhaled, his eyes still refusing to open. 

Hanta huffed, his eyes darting to the clock on his wall. He knew what he was getting himself into calling Shouto over this late in the day, but his boyfriend had been out all day visiting his mom, and right now was the only chance he’d be able to have this conversation. “If you fall asleep on me, I’m going to get mad at you.” 

“I can’t help that your lap is comfortable,” Shouto countered. 

Hanta wasn’t even sure how they had ended up in this position; one moment Hanta was opening his door for Shouto to come in after dinner, and the next moment the back of Shouto’s head was nestled on his outstretched thighs as they sat together on his bed. And apparently, in some moment of weakness, Hanta had yielded.

He wasn’t complaining, but he felt Temptation relentlessly poking his shoulder; the sight of Shouto’s duo-toned hair falling out of his face as he breathed calmly made Hanta want to forget everything he had wanted to talk about, made him want to sweep Shouto up in his arms and kiss him until the sun rose. Whether Shouto was doing it on purpose or not, it was extremely effective. 

But Hanta took a deep breath and steeled himself. As much as it hurt him to admit, kissing would have to wait.

“Shou, this is important. I need to talk to you about something. Nothing bad, I promise,” Hanta added hastily at the end because Shouto’s eyes shot open when he had said they needed to talk.

“Are you sure?” Shouto asked. 

“Yes, I’m sure. Sorry, I shouldn’t have phrased it like that,” Hanta said, carding a hand through the other’s hair as he talked, and Shouto relaxed a little at the touch. “It’s just about… well, I don’t really know how to describe it. But you were visiting your mom today, right?” 

“Yeah, why?” A tiny furrow had appeared between Shouto’s eyebrows as he gazed up at Hanta. 

“Did you tell her about me?”

“Oh. Yeah, I’ve talked to her about you. Not about the fact that we’re… boyfriends, but she knows who you are,” Shouto replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on telling your mom about us.”

Shouto was silent for a moment as he thought to himself, his eyes flitting down towards his chest. “I wasn’t planning on it. At least not today,” He finally said. 

“Any reason for that?” Hanta asked, his hand still ruffling through Shouto’s hair. 

“Not really,” Shouto shrugged. “I just don’t want to right now.”

“Not because she’s… homophobic, or anything like that?”

“My sister’s been out as a lesbian for a while. My mom’s fine with it, so I think she’ll be fine with me,” Shouto replied casually.   

“Oh, okay. Good,” Hanta said. “What about our classmates?”

Shouto’s shoulders tensed. “What about them?” He asked, looking back up at Hanta. 

“Well, I mean, we have school tomorrow. And we’re dating now. And I don’t know how comfortable you are with being… public... about our relationship.”

Shouto didn’t say anything, just stared at him.

“I… don’t really know what you mean,” He said slowly. 

“Do you want our classmates to know about us dating or not?” Hanta rephrased his question. “Because that kind of affects how we interact with each other outside of our rooms.” 

Shouto’s brows furrowed further. “It does, doesn’t it?” He murmured contemplatively. 

“Yeah, only kind of, though,” Hanta joked. “I have my opinion on it, but I want to know what you think first. I don’t want to sway you.”

“I mean… Well, I kind of... I didn’t tell you the truth about not having a reason for telling my mom. Because I do,” Shouto admitted quietly. “But it just sounds... weird. When I say it out loud. I’m sorry for not telling you earlier.” 

“It’s okay, Shou. At least you’re telling me now. And I promise you, whatever you have to say will be fine with me,” Hanta said. 

Shouto hesitated, and Hanta could literally feel him weighing his options. “I guess, I didn’t tell my mom because I wanted to keep you to myself for a while,” He murmured. 

“Wait, really?” Hanta exclaimed.

“You heard me,” Shouto said, a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“No, no, no, Shou, that’s okay! In fact, that’s more than okay. Because I feel the exact same way,” Hanta said reassuredly, trying not to call attention to the fact that Shouto’s head was physically heating up in his lap. 

Shouto’s eyes opened up wide. “You do?” He asked.

“Yes! I’m serious!” Hanta laughed. “Like, you took the words right out of my mouth.” 

Shouto shot up from Hanta’s lap to get a better look at him. 

“You really don’t want to tell anyone?” He said, almost breathlessly. 

“Yeah. I mean, you said it best. I want to have you to myself for a bit. And I don’t want anyone getting in our way right now. Even our friends,” Hanta grinned.

Shouto blinked at him. Hanta waited patiently and eventually, he could see the moment that the meaning of his words finally sank in because Shouto’s eyes relaxed and the corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly. “Okay. Yeah. That’s good.”

“Perfect. Um, you do realize this means we have to, like, act normal in front of our class, right? All 18 of them?” Hanta asked, lacing his fingers into Shouto’s. 

“Hanta, I know how to keep a relationship secret. I’ve seen TV shows with my friends,” Shouto replied. “That’s fine with me.”

“Okay, okay, just making sure you know what you’re signing up for,” Hanta said. 

“As long as I can still do stuff like this.” And Shouto raised their interlocked hands so he could kiss his knuckles, and Hanta’s cheeks blossomed.

“As long as it’s just the two of us alone in either of our rooms, then yeah,” He replied. 

Shouto nodded. “I can live with that.” He remarked. 

“Good. You’re going to have to,” Hanta replied. “Now, you said you told your mom about me?”

Shouto’s eyes averted. “She knows about all my friends,” He muttered defensively. 

“Oh, so I’m just your friend now?” Hanta replied, smiling wider. 

“I thought we just agreed on keeping our relationship a secret,” Shouto pointed out, a smile beginning to form on his face.

“Touché,” Hanta said.

Somehow, they had inched closer to each other, just staring at each other. That temptation from earlier was looking really… Well, tempting right now. But just as Hanta was about to make a move, Shouto began to talk.

“I should probably get going. I need to finish some homework before I go to bed tonight,” He said, rolling off the bed. 

“Right,” Hanta replied, trying not to let his disappointment show as he watched Shouto get up and head to the door. 

Hanta jumped off the bed as well, walking over and propping himself against the bathroom door. He crossed his arms in front of him as he watched Shouto gather his belongings from their spot by the door. 

“Uraraka’s the only person who you told, right?” Hanta suddenly asked. 

Shouto paused, halfway leaned over to grab his shoes. “She actually knew about my crush on you before I did, so yes. What about you?” 

Hanta snorted. “I told Kami and Mina. But they don’t know we’re dating.”

“You told Kaminari and Ashido about me?” Shouto questioned, fully standing up. 

“Yeah. Remind me to tell you that story another day, though. You have homework to finish,” Hanta chuckled to himself. “So, I guess those three are the ones we need to watch out for, but as long as we keep it vague with them, we should be good.” 

“Sounds good,” Shouto said. 

A couple of beats of silence as they stared at each other, Hanta expectantly and Shouto quizzically, the door still closed.

“You’re not thinking about sleeping over again, are you?” Hanta cracked.

“No,” Shouto said matter-of-factly. “I’m just debating whether or not I should ask you for a kiss goodbye.”

Hanta’s heart swelled. “Well, I think you should ask. I’ll probably say yes,” He responded, pushing himself up from his position on the wall and taking steps towards Shouto. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Shouto said, grinning a little and looking him square in the eye as he closed the gap between them.

Shouto’s hands were full with his shoes and his bag so Hanta was the one to snake his hand around the back of Shouto’s head and entwine his fingers in his hair as they kissed. Shouto’s lips were slightly chapped, and as they pushed further into each other, they began to move leisurely, almost casually against his own. Hanta couldn’t help the noise that escaped him as he matched his boyfriend’s pace, slotting against him lightly as if kissing a summer breeze. Shouto was so solid and so comfortable and so unbelievably Shouto in his arms, with his soft cloud of hair between Hanta’s fingers and the way he breathed out onto his bare skin and the frozen dumplings the class had made for dinner still lingering in his mouth and the way he left Hanta dizzy in the comedown.

He wasn’t lying last night when he said Shouto was becoming a surprisingly good kisser; it felt like every time they met in the middle like this, Shouto found a new way to set him alight from the inside out. Or maybe that didn’t have anything to do with the kissing, and maybe it was the fact that it was Shouto he was kissing. Either way, by the time they finally pulled apart, Sero was winded. 

“I’m gonna leave,” Shouto started, his cheeks flushed and his hair slightly tousled as he stared at Sero from centimeters away. “Before I change my mind about staying the night.” 

“Good idea,” Hanta responded, smiling. “Because that was definitely not a goodbye kiss, by the way.” 

“Sorry,” Shouto said as he pulled away from Hanta’s grasp in a tone that indicated that he wasn’t sorry at all, and Hanta reached his hand past him and opened the door for Shouto. 

“See you tomorrow,” Hanta started, and then he looked Shouto up and down before meeting his eyes again. “Pal.”

Shouto visibly cringed. “Don’t ever do that again,” He said.

“That was my impression of us being friends,” Hanta commented, laughing at the way Shouto’s nose had wrinkled in disgust. It was really cute, he decided. 

“It’s foolproof. No one will ever know,” Shouto replied, softening a little as he gazed at Hanta. 

“I hope not,” Hanta hummed. 

Shouto waved goodbye and crossed the threshold into the hallway. Hanta waved back and was about to turn back into his room and wonder aloud to himself how Shouto’s kisses were so stupidly perfect when the boy in question stopped and turned, his body framed in the doorway. 

“You sure no one will find out?” Shouto asked.

“Well, no,” Hanta admitted. “But I think we’ll be fine. We just need to be careful. Besides, it can’t be that hard to keep a relationship hidden, right?”

1.

THE DAY BEFORE

The results flashed on the TV screen, and Denki covered his ears jokingly as Bakugou let out a frustrated scream. 

“One more round, Racoon Eyes!” He snapped at Ashido, smoke curling around the Wii remote clutched in his hand as she grinned cheekily. “I refuse to let you win against me!” 

“Take it down a notch, Bakugou,” Tsu warned, hands on her hips. “If you blow that one up, that’ll be the third remote we’ve had to replace this year, ribbit.”

“Bakubro, you need a break! You’ve been going at it for 4 rounds now!” Kirishima laughed, reaching up and tugging on the blond’s sleeve, before wincing and wiping his hand on the seat of the couch. “Oh my God, you’re soaked.” 

“Can it, Shitty Hair!” 

“Nope! I think I’m good for now!” Ashido answered, winking at him and wiping the sweat from her brow as she sauntered back to her seat on the smaller couch in the common room. Jirou and Yaomomo each gave her high fives as she passed the remote to Uraraka. 

“Anyone want to join me for a round of ‘Call Me Maybe’?” Uraraka called out as she rose, fixing her classmates with a determined glint in her eyes. “Only if you’re prepared to lose, though.” 

“I’ll take you up on that,” Satou raised his hand and got up from his position on the floor, and Tsu tossed him her remote.

“Anyone want to take my remote? I need a break, too,” Denki sighed. 

A light, almost nefarious scoff sounded from the direction of the elevators, and everyone whipped their heads to see Aoyama standing in front of the doors.

“Did I hear we were dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen?” He said as he approached the crowd. “If so, I will relieve you, mon cher monsieur .” 

“Great, thanks!” Denki passed him the remote, who accepted it graciously.

“Oh, you’re going down, Pepé le Pew,” Uraraka said threateningly as Aoyama took his spot next to her. 

“I’d like to see you try,” Aoyama shot back casually, eyes already focused on the TV screen in resolution. 

“You’re on, Uraraka!” Kirishima crowed, fist-pumping the air as he leaped up. “Bakubro, give me the remote.”

But Bakugou was still standing there, glaring daggers at Ashido. 

“I want a fuckin’ rematch,” He spat out. 

“Bakubro, do your rematch later. If you take a break now, you’ll be in better shape to beat Mina later,” Kirishima reassured him. 

“Yeah, I’ll take you on in a bit. Besides, I plan on winning by even more points after I rest for a bit,” Ashido piped up from the corner as she took a gulp of water from a nearby cup. 

Bakugou paused, then shoved the remote in Kirishima’s outstretched hand. 

“This isn’t over,” He shot behind him as he stalked off into the kitchen, presumably to grab water. 

“Noob,” Someone whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear

“What the fuck did you just call me?” Bakugou yelled, whipping his head around to peals of laughter. 

Denki shook his head at Bakugou’s stubbornness and was about to follow him into the kitchen when a freezing cold circle pressed itself onto Denki’s bare arm. He hissed and jumped at the contact as he whipped his head around to see Shinsou, holding out an unopened plastic water bottle and grinning at Denki’s reaction. 

“Bitch!” Denki cried, snatching the bottle and smacking Shinsou playfully. 

“You have to admit, that was pretty good,” Shinsou chuckled. “You should have seen your face.”

“I won’t give you that satisfaction,” Denki shot back, taking a swig of the water. “When did you get here?” 

“Like two minutes ago. Just in time to see you… You know, I’m still not sure what that was called. Because it sure wasn’t dancing.” 

“Oh, come on. I wasn’t that bad,” Denki said to him. 

They had moved out of the way by now, heading towards Denki’s spot on the couch. Kirishima had gotten up to dance, so Shinsou sat down next to Denki, sandwiching the blond between himself and the arm of the couch.

“I feel like I earned my third place spot,” Denki continued.

“Perhaps,” Shinsou shrugged noncommittally. 

“What are you doing down here, anyway? I didn’t think this was your scene.” Denki asked. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Too many people having fun for my taste.” Shinsou deadpanned, his eyes surveying the scene in front of him. Mina ended up edging out Bakugou on the tiebreaker dice roll during their Mario Party session, to which Bakugou called bullshit. He demanded a rematch in a knockout round of Just Dance 4, and now about three-quarters of their class were downstairs in the common room with them, drawn to Mina’s text about a ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ showdown in the Class 2-A group chat like moths to a flame. 

“So why’d you come down?” Denki asked. 

“Um,” Shinsou started. He brought up a hand to tug at his hair. 

Denki stared at him for a second. Then it clicked. “Is it because I’m here?” He stage-whispered.

“No,” Shinsou replied immediately, but his eyes averted. 

“Aw, it totally is!” Denki elbowed him. 

“Whatever makes you feel better,” Shinsou responded acerbically, but the corners of his mouth were upturned slightly. 

They weren’t together just yet, but they were the closest they could get to being official without being official. Shinsou had explained to him on their study date last week that he had needed more time before feeling comfortable with putting a label on them, which Denki was more than fine with. 

“Sooooo, does that mean we can do a duet together? Oooh, we could totally do ‘I’ve Had The Time Of My Life,’ and you could even lift me up at the end!” Denki suggested whimsically, eyelashes fluttering. 

“I would rather eat glass,” Shinsou shot back, acid creeping up his voice. 

Denki just laughed and shoved him. Shinsou could take all the time he needed, if it meant that he could have a chance at being able to call him his boyfriend. 

They turned their attention to the action, where the first chorus of ‘Call Me Maybe’ was well under way. Uraraka and Aoyama’s scores were neck and neck, their foreheads beading with sweat and tenacity etched on their faces as they hit the admittedly easy moves with equal levels of precision and intensity. Kirishima was in a solid third place, grinning goofily and mouthing along the words passionately as he danced. Satou was admittedly fumbling through most of the moves, but he looked like he was having fun as well. 

“What are the odds those two start throwing elbows?” Shinsou asked, pointing at the two frontrunners, who had started moving into each other’s personal space. 

“I’m more concerned with that,” Denki jerked his head in the direction of Bakugou, who had returned to the seating area, lurking in the corner and shooting glances at Kirishima that were just short of starry-eyed. 

Shinsou snorted into his hand. 

“You know, you guys should really tell them you know,” He responded. 

“And risk getting literally murdered by Bakugou? I’ll pass.”

“Fair,” Shinsou said. 

A swell of noise from their classmates around them drew their attention away from their conversation. Uraraka and Aoyama had both nailed the Gold Move, and the crown above their display names had switched between them yet again. 

“Go, Uraraka!” Midoriya yelled.

“Take her down, Aoyama!” Hagakure cheered. 

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!” Denki grunted, punching the air as he chanted. Shinsou shot him a look. “What?”

“Nothing, just you as a person,” He replied casually. 

“Shut up.” 

The rest of the match was a nail-biter, but ultimately Uraraka ended up edging out Aoyama by a hair, while Kirishima and Satou both took third and fourth respectively. 

“A valiant effort, mon chéri,” Aoyama said, flicking the damp hair out of his eyes gracefully and turning to Uraraka once the canned applause began sounding from the TV. 

“Thank you, kind sir,” Uraraka grinned, extending her hand, and Aoyama shook it. “You put up quite the fight.” 

“You guys both beat the high score, too. Look!” Kirishima cried, pointing at the screen. 

“Yeah, look at us go,” Uraraka panted, evidently too pooped to properly celebrate. She held up the remote high. “Does anyone want this before I pass out?” 

“I’ll take it,” Jirou volunteered. “Me and Yaomomo want to do ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’.”

“Anyone wanna take mine?” Kirishima asked. His eyes fell on Denki and Shinsou. “Hey, Shinsou! Glad you could make it. You wanna try?”

“No, thanks,” Shinsou said politely. “I’m good with watching.”

“Denki?” 

“Nah, I’m still recovering from ‘We No Speak Americano’.” Denki chuckled. 

“Suit yourself. Oh, that reminds me!” Kirishima suddenly exclaimed. “At some point, we need to do ‘Oops! I Did It Again’ with you, me, Sero, and Mina like we did last time.”

“Did you say my name, Kiri?” Mina chimed in from the other couch. 

“‘Oops! I Did It Again’?” Kirishima turned to her, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“But Sero isn’t even down here. It won’t be the same without him.” Kaminari pointed out.  “Where is he, anyway?” 

“Probably fell asleep.” Mina waved her hand dismissively. “He hasn’t answered the group chat all afternoon. It’s happened before.”

“Guess so. Maybe later, then,” Kirishima shrugged before his attention caught on someone else.  “Hey, class rep! Why don’t you play a round?” He yelled to Iida.  

“Kirishima-kun, I am only here to make sure no one does anything illegal!” Iida responded.

“Come on, loosen up a little! Even the vice rep is getting into it,” Kirishima nodded in the direction of Yaomomo. “Do it for the class!”

Iida’s face contorted like he was sucking on a lemon, but then he sighed and grabbed the remote. 

“Alright, I suppose,” He relented. 

What followed was probably the funniest thing Denki had ever seen. Watching Iida, with his two left feet and robotic arms, try to jump, spin, and pump his fist to the beat of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ had everyone cracking up. Shinsou was physically biting back a laugh. 

“Go class rep! Go class rep!” Ashido cheered. 

His attention was so rapt on Iida’s lack of skills that Denki almost missed it. But halfway through the second chorus, he saw something out of the corner of his eyes that made him whip his head around and his eyes blow wide open. 

From his spot on the couch, he could see through the window two figures; one with shoulder-length black hair, the other with white and red hair split down the middle. Their heads were craned up towards the top of the building as they trudged along the edge of the woods. Eventually, the red-and-white haired one stopped to point at a tree, and then up at the building, and the black-haired one lifted an elbow to shoot a piece of tape out of his arm, where it hung from somewhere in the branches.

And then Sero wrapped his arm around Todoroki’s side. It was really too close for comfort, and Denki couldn’t blame Todoroki for startling a little. But then he actually relaxed into the other boy, wrapping his own arms around Sero as well, and did he just plant one on Sero? Denki rubbed his eyes hard with his fists, but before he could get a better look they were already catapulting up, their shoes jumbling together the last thing he saw before they disappeared out of frame. 

Denki realized that his jaw was on the floor. There was no way he just saw… No… Could it be… Why would he… What the… Huh? 

Frantically, his head swiveled around the room, looking for someone, anyone that had just seen what he had seen, to confirm that he wasn’t, in fact, going crazy. To say that yes, they had just seen Sero outside with Todoroki, and Sero and Todoroki had indeed hugged each other, and Todoroki had even… no, he had definitely imagined that last part. Is this what Sero meant when he had said they were ‘all good’? Damn, they moved quickly. 

But as he gazed around, he saw that everyone was too busy laughing at Iida’s beet-red face to notice anything. 

And then his eyes met Uraraka’s. Who was already looking him dead on, donning what he could only describe as a shit-eating grin. 

His eyes went even wider. “You saw…” He mouthed slowly at her. 

Uraraka nodded slowly, her eyebrows rising towards the sky. “Later,” She mouthed back. 

Oh. 

Denki felt his own mouth split into a smirk as the implications fully sank in, and he subtly pointed a finger at her and raised an eyebrow. 

She merely shrugged, but her smug face told an entirely different story. 

He nodded at her and both of them turned to the game. Uraraka was right; this was a conversation for later in the night, away from everyone else. 

The round ended with Jirou winning, Yaomomo in a respectable second place, and Iida barely earning one star. 

“You... did that... on purpose… Kirishima-kun!” Iida gasped, both hands on his knees and glowering at Kirishima. 

“I swear I didn’t!” Kirishima held his hands up. 

“Racoon Eyes.” A snarl drew their attention to Bakugou, who had suddenly appeared in the center of the room and was glaring at Ashido. “Get a fucking remote. We’re doing ‘Disturbia’.” 

“Oh, you’re on!” Ashido chimed, bouncing up and doing some warmup stretches. 

“This should be interesting,” Shinsou commented. 

Denki, whose mind was on anything but the faceoff in front of him, nodded in agreement. “Very.” He replied, that same smirk still on his face. 

Very interesting, indeed. 

2. 

Sometimes, Izuku’s mom liked to tell him, he was a little too observant for his own good. 

Of course, she was always referring to the way he could analyze quirks and pick out their strengths and weaknesses, the kinds of support gear they could use or strategies they could employ to best optimize their power. If only she knew what else he used it for. 

“Todoroki! I didn’t know you got your ears pierced!” He exclaimed at lunch. 

The other 4 of his friends swiveled immediately to look at Todoroki who had paused at the sudden attention, soba noodles half-slurped into his mouth and the edge of a sterling puck earring glinting in the bright noon sun. 

A beat of silence, and then they all started talking simultaneously.

“Wow, it looks so cool!”

“Nice.”

“Looking good, ribbit!”

“An excellent choice, Todoroki-kun! I must say, the silver compliments your skin tone nicely.”

“Thanks, you guys,” Todoroki said once he had finished his bite of food, and Izuku could have sworn he saw him brace himself a little. 

“When’d you get those done?” Tsu asked.

“This past Sunday,” He answered. 

“And you didn’t tell us?” Uraraka demanded. “That was two whole days ago!”

Todoroki just shrugged. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.” 

“Did it hurt?” Iida asked. 

“It wasn’t too bad.” 

“Where did you go to get that done?” Shinsou questioned.

“Metamorphose. It’s two stops past the Kiyashi Ward Station.” Shinsou nodded at that and immediately whipped out his phone to write down something. 

“Ooh, I’ve been there before! That’s where Mina got her helix done,” Uraraka supplied. 

Todoroki nodded as well, his eyes darting to the right quickly. 

“I can’t believe you of all people got pierced before me,” Shinsou said as he put his phone away, leaning his head back and closing his eyes in mock exasperation. 

The corners of Todoroki’s mouth turned up a little at that. “Sorry.”  

Izuku just sat there, listening to everyone talk and waiting patiently to ask his questions last. Partly because his inner analyst was going a mile a minute, and partly because he knew that once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And as the conversation lulled, he took his opportunity. 

“Tuck your hair behind your ears so I can see it better,” He requested, and Todoroki complied, while everyone at the table oohed and aahed at the circular piercing. Iida had a point; the silver did look good on Todoroki. 

“Did they have to make special ones?” Izuku asked. “I mean, with your quirk, I’d assume that your hot side would melt most metals, and your cold side could fracture other metals as well, so I wonder if they had to pick out a specific metal that could withstand both hot and cold temperatures, or even two different earrings. I mean, I can’t believe I haven’t even considered how body modifications might respond to different types of quirks. That could be something I look into later, but that’s not the point right now—”

“Midoriya-kun,” Iida cut him off suddenly. “You’re mumbling again.” 

Indeed, he was. “Right. Sorry,” He said reflexively, looking down. 

“I mean, you’re right, Midoriya,” Todoroki responded, and Izuku lifted his head. “The piercer had to ask me what my quirk was, and they happened to have earrings made out of a metal that could handle both my hot and cold side.” 

Izuku could feel how starry-eyed he probably looked. “That’s so cool! ” He marveled. 

“Do you think you’ll get more piercings, ribbit?” Tsu asked. 

Todoroki took a second to think to himself. “I don’t know. I’m open to it, though,” He finally said. 

You should totally get a helix! One right here, like on the top of your ear, would look so cool!” Uraraka exclaimed, already reaching over to point at his ears. “Ooh, or maybe a tragus…” 

Izuku had stopped listening at that point. He was too busy thinking hard to himself, making sure not to mumble this time. What metal were Todoroki’s earrings made out of? How would other body modifications affect Todoroki’s quirk usage? What other earrings could be made to suit different quirks? 

He had to write everything down before he forgot. 

The lunch bell suddenly rang, and everyone at their table began to stand up, but Izuku shot up quickly. “I’m going ahead, you guys, I have to, er, use the restroom!” He called out, not even bothering to wait for a response before he was tearing through the hallways of U.A., turning down the second-year wing and into his classroom before any of his classmates could beat him to it. 

Izuku knew the time he had was limited, so he wasted none of it. He rushed back to his desk and flipped open the top of his backpack, tabbing through the wasteland of binders and notebooks before his fingers finally closed around the one he was looking for. He pulled it out and slapped it on his desk, checking the front cover to make sure it was the right one (‘2-A Analysis For The Future, #11-#15’) before grabbing a pen from his pencil pouch and flipping to the last tabbed section. A diagram of Todoroki in costume with his quirk activated on both sides faced upwards towards the fluorescent light.

Izuku knew that his classmates were aware that he had taken notes on them before the Sports Festival. They didn’t know, however, that he had now written so much that he had to upgrade to 4 separate notebooks to fit all of his classmates. And he didn’t intend on telling anyone about them because if they fell into the wrong hands, that person would have extensive knowledge on how to take down every single member of his class, which he couldn't risk happening. 

Also, they would make the perfect graduation gifts. 

He turned to the last page of Todoroki’s section and began frantically writing: ‘Earrings - Unknown Metal (ask later). Research other body modifications (tattoos, other piercings). Acquired June 20th.’ 

He paused, pen hovering over the page. Why did that date suddenly sound so… familiar? 

The door to the classroom opened and Izuku let out a squeak as he slammed the notebook shut and shoved it into his bag without a second thought. 

“Hey!” He called out, looking up to see Ojiro and Kouda, who greeted him as well. If they had seen the notebook, they gave no indication of it. 

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and slunk back in his chair. His secret was still safe. 

But what about June 20th had caught his eye like that? What had he even done that day? Maybe if he retraced his steps of what he had done that day, it would probably become clearer. He had gone on a morning jog, ate breakfast in the common room, sparred with Uraraka and Kirishima, got bento with both them and Iida… What had he done after that…? Oh yeah, he had worked on his homework, did some hero analysis—

“Oi, Deku,” A voice sounded from his right and he startled as he turned to see Bakugou standing over him. How long had he been there?

“Yes, Kacchan?” Izuku asked in response. 

Bakugou looked at him, his eyes narrowing. “Shut the fuck up,” He finally said, before taking his seat behind him. 

Izuku rolled his eyes as subtly as he could manage. There was a nice way to ask him to stop mumbling, after all. “Right. Got it,” He replied instead, turning back to the front of the room. 

He had finished his hero analysis, gone back down to the common room to eat dinner, and played some Mario Kart with the rest of his class before going to bed. But where did Todoroki and his new earrings fit into any of this? Maybe he shouldn’t be focusing on what he did, but on what Todoroki did. And now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Todoroki that entire day. But that made sense, since he was probably out getting his ears pierced all day, and since it was out by Kiyashi Ward, he probably made it an all-day affair. But that day still jumped out at him for some reason, but why on Earth did Sunday, June 20th still sound so familiar—

“Deku, I swear to fucking God,” Bakugou suddenly growled from behind him, jolting him out of his thoughts. “If you keep muttering about IcyHot’s ears for one more goddamn second, I’m going to rip out your fucking vocal—” He suddenly paused. “Wait. Say that again.”

“What?” Izuku whipped his body around in his seat to look at Bakugou properly, whose eyes had suddenly widened, his mouth slightly agape. “Say what again?” Izuku asked. 

“You useless nerd, say what you just fucking said,” Bakugou said, and his words would have sounded threatening if they weren’t laced with the air of someone who was teetering on the edge of a realization. 

“Um,” Izuku said, trying to rack his brain for what he had just been thinking about. “Todoroki got his ears pierced on Sunday. The 20th.” 

Bakugou didn’t even hesitate to swing his head behind him, and Izuku followed his eyes to see Sero, talking with Tokoyami. And even though he was at a distance from them, it was impossible to miss the gold, red, and green earrings that contrasted sharply with his black hair and dangled from his ears. 

Click.

Izuku and Bakugou’s heads swiveled to look at each other, before looking back at Sero. 

That was why the date was so familiar. Izuku had come down to the common room that Monday morning to see half the class ogling the new additions to Sero’s ears. He had joined them in their staring, because Howl Pendragon’s earrings really did suit Sero. And later that day, he had gone up to his room and feverishly wrote June 20th as the day Sero had gotten his ears pierced, muttering all the while. 

Not to mention thinking back on the way Sero and Todoroki had started acting around each other this past week… Well, it definitely wasn’t a coincidence, was it? 

“Does that mean…” Izuku began out loud, mostly to himself. 

“Yes,” Bakugou said through gritted teeth, and Izuku spared a glance at him to see his face contorted in pure rage. “It means I’m going to fucking kill IcyHot.”

“What?” Izuku responded shrilly.

“Where is he? Where is that bitch? I’m gonna tear that bastard a new one!” Bakugou yelled as he stood up, his hands popping as he whipped his head around to look for Todoroki, who thankfully wasn’t in the classroom yet, but half the class was ogling Bakugou as he visibly seethed. Before Izuku knew it, the blond was striding fast and menacingly out into the hallway, and he had no choice but to follow him out, throwing an apologetic smile and a wave to his classmates as he rushed out. 

“Kacchan, what are you doing ?” Izuku said once he had caught up, throwing himself in front of Bakugou and stopping him in his tracks. 

“The fuck does it look like? I’m going to go kill IcyHot,” Bakugou spat out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And don’t you dare get in my way,” He added, shoving a finger in Izuku’s face.  

“But why?” Izuku swatted the hand out of his face. 

“For getting with fucking Tape Arms!” Bakugou’s expression flickered as he thought of something, before his face went back to fury. “Actually, you know what? I'm gonna fucking kill him too! That Scotch Tape bastard’s just as guilty, getting with the enemy like— Mmph !” He was cut off by Izuku slapping his hand against the blond’s mouth. 

“Kacchan, shut up! You’re making a scene,” Izuku hissed, looking around to make sure no one had overheard Bakugou yelling (various people were scattered through the halls, but thankfully no one from their class was in earshot). Something warm and wet pressed itself against his palm and Izuku gagged as he immediately let go of Bakugou. “You’re disgusting!” He yelled, all intentions of whispering thrown out the window as he wiped the spit on his uniform jacket. 

“Don’t you dare try to silence me, Deku,” Bakugou growled, wiping his mouth. “And don’t give me your shitty germs, either.” 

“ You’re the one who licked m— You know what? Never mind. I’m pretty sure those two don’t want the whole school knowing, so pardon me,” Izuku countered. “Also don’t you think there might be a reason they haven’t said anything?” 

“Yeah, because they know that I’m going to blow them to fucking kingdom come!” Bakugou yelled. 

“No, Kacchan.” And Izuku took a deep breath. What he was about to say had been swirling in his mind for a couple of seconds now, and he didn’t want to resort to it, but he knew it was either this or the lives of two of his classmates. “It's probably for the same reason you and Kirishima are keeping your relationship a secret,” He said in a lowered voice.

“ Haah? ” Bakugou’s eyes bugged out of his head. 

“You heard me,” Izuku said irritably. 

It was now Bakugou’s turn to look around to make sure no one had overheard. “You know about that?” He muttered angrily.

Izuku couldn’t help the scoff that escaped him. “Oh, come on, really? There’s no way you guys didn’t know how obvious you were being.” 

Bakugou was visibly shaking now, his mouth opening and closing yet no noise was coming out. 

“Wait, really? Well, I— Eeep!” He squeaked as Bakugou suddenly slammed a hand into the wall next to him and narrowly missing his head, his face contorted into pure fury as he moved in front of him and cornered him against the wall.

“Deku,” Bakugou said quietly this time, the words slicing through the air between them. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t blow you, Soy Sauce, and IcyHot to smithereens right now .” 

But Izuku was prepared. He had, after all, been watching Kirishima and Bakugou for months now. He knew exactly where to hit. “Because Kirishima would be mad at you,” He said simply.

Bakugou visibly paused, and some of the anger drained out of his face.

Izuku kept talking. “I mean, imagine how angry he would be if he found out that you killed two of his good friends for being in a relationship. For being happy together. You know how much Kirishima loves love. Not to mention it would make you look like a giant hypocrite. So I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” 

Bakugou looked about ready to bite his head off, but the hand next to his head dropped. 

“Besides, if Kirishima finds out you ruined their relationship, or whatever you’re thinking about doing to them, he might not talk to you ever again,” Izuku observed. 

Bakugou’s jaw clenched and his eyes darted to the side. Izuku knew Bakugou well enough to know that look meant that Izuku had made a point, and he couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face. 

“Oh! And you also shouldn’t tell Kirishima that the whole class knows about your relationship, or that I confronted you about it. That would just make him sad,” He added quickly, sneaking out from his position against the wall. 

That got Bakugou to look back at him, anger igniting again in his eyes. “The whole cla— Deku,” He warned, turning towards him and bringing his hand up again when he suddenly stopped, his features softening slightly as his eyes fixed on something in the distance behind Izuku.

“Hey, guys!” A voice chirped, and Izuku turned around to see Kirishima looking at both of them. “What’re you doing out here?” 

“I—” Izuku started. 

“ Nothing,” Bakugou spat out, and Izuku looked behind him briefly to see the blond’s hand suddenly shoved in his pocket. “We’re just talkin’,” He muttered. 

Kirishima looked at them for a second, before he beamed at both of them. “Cool! As long as you guys got it figured out!”

“Don’t worry, we have!” Izuku had recovered by now, and he smiled back at Kirishima with the same energy. Bakugou just grunted behind him.  

“Well, I’m going to head in, I guess!” Kirishima said, pointing his thumb back towards the classroom. 

Izuku nodded, and Kirishima turned around. As soon as he was certain the redhead was out of earshot, he turned to face Bakugou.

“Kaccha—” 

“Not. Another. Word .” And Bakugou rounded Izuku, refusing to look him in the eye as he stomped off after Kirishima. 

Izuku blinked for a moment, before walking back into class after Bakugou. Once he crossed the threshold, his eyes immediately found Todoroki, who had somehow snuck past him and Bakugou in the hallway. He was sitting at his desk and looking straight ahead at something, the binder in his hand halfway pulled out of his messenger bag. Midoriya followed his friend’s line of sight to see him openly staring at the back of Sero’s neck as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

Sometimes, Izuku thought to himself as he grinned. It pays to be observant. 

3.

Mina knew that Bakugou thought of himself as the smartest of their friend group. And of course, he wasn’t pulling that opinion out of his ass; academically, he was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of them, and he was oftentimes their voice of reason. Without him, they would have been expelled a million times over. Everyone in their friend group was at peace with him being on top, mostly because it was true and partly because they knew how he would get if he wasn’t number one.  

But right now, as she listened to Kirishima try to figure out what quirk was affecting Sero and Todoroki, she knew that she had to be at least a close second in terms of intelligence. 

“Why don’t you walk me through it one more time, Kiri? Like, go through each and every detail.” She suggested lightly. “Maybe then we’ll figure it out.”

She was, of course, lying her ass off. Mina wasn’t going to straight-up tell him what the quirk actually was. That would be overstepping a boundary as a friend of both Sero and Todoroki. No, he needed to come to the conclusion on his own, the same conclusion that she had reached weeks ago. 

Besides, she was really enjoying watching him struggle right now. 

“Right, okay,” Kirishima sighed, running a hand through his loose hair absentmindedly. It was just the two of them in Mina’s room, math homework lying forgotten on her table as he tried to solve the mystery. Kaminari had promised to join them in ten minutes after he beat the level of Crash Bandicoot he was on, so Mina left the door propped. Bakugou was sparring with Midoriya on Ground Delta. And Sero… Well, that was frankly none of her business, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that anyways. 

“So I walked into class this morning, right?” Kirishima started. 

“Mmhmm. I was with you,” Mina reminded him, checking her nail polish. 

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. My bad. And then I split off because I had to give Yaomomo back her ruler. And then, after I talked with her for a minute, I said goodbye, and then I saw Todoroki sitting down.”

“And that’s when you saw it?” She prompted. 

“Yeah. How could I miss it?”

“Remind me again what it looked like? I didn’t even see it.” Another lie. Of course she had seen it. 

“Well, it almost looked like... a rash. But I don’t think it was. It was, like, this red mark, just peeking out of his collar.”

“Interesting,” Mina said, feigning curiosity. “And you asked him what it was?”

“Well, yeah, of course I did!” Kirishima laughed. “I was concerned for my bro."

“And how did he react?”

“Um, he kinda startled and looked down. But then I figured, well, you know, maybe it was embarrassing how he got it.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Mina said, biting her tongue. God, he was so close. She almost wanted to smack the sense into him. “And he told you it was a quirk?” 

“Yeah. So I told him to see Recovery Girl, and he nodded, and that was that.” 

Mina had to give Todoroki credit for being able to think on the spot like that, but he was extremely lucky that his excuse was being used on Kirishima. Anyone else would have probably seen right through it. “And then Sero?” She asked. 

“See, that’s where I get stuck,” Kirishima said exasperatedly, rubbing his temples with his two fingers, as if trying to resuscitate his brain cells. “It just doesn’t make any sense .”

“Well, keep talking and maybe it will. We’ll figure it out eventually.” She really shouldn't be having this much fun with Kirishima, but she couldn’t help it. 

“Right. You’re right. So we had that training exercise today, and we were changing out of our costumes. And I looked over at Sero to ask him something and… He was trying to hide it, but Mina, they were everywhere. All over his shoulders and collarbones.” Kirishima scrubbed a hand across the front of his chest to emphasize the location.

“How many were there?” Mina asked, genuinely this time. 

“Like, at least 15 to 20.”

Oh my fucking God. She was going to have words with Todoroki once this was all over. And she was going to get Sero a leash. 

“And what’d you tell him?” Mina said, looking down at her lap because if she looked at Kirishima right now, she was going to bust a lung laughing. 

“I didn’t say anything at first. But after we had fully changed and everything, I cornered him and asked him about the marks. And he, like, told me the same thing, that him and Todoroki got hit with the same quirk.” 

“And you asked him why he hadn’t seen Recovery Girl?”

“Right!” Kirishima suddenly exclaimed. “And he laughed it off and he said he would later but I really don’t think he’s going to, Mina! I’m worried for him!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Mina said, looking up and patting his back. “Maybe if they didn’t think it was important enough to see Recovery Girl over, it’s probably not affecting them that much.”

Kirishima sighed. “I know, but still. I wish I was Midoriya right now. He’d know what to do with the quirk.” 

Something told Mina that wasn’t the case at all, but she kept her mouth shut. 

“I— I just don’t get it. What kind of quirk just leaves marks like that? It seems like a pretty stupid quirk, in my opinion. And for both of them to get hit with it at the same time...” 

“Uh-huh,” Mina mused. “It is weird.”

“I mean, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought—” Kirishima paused, a look crossing his face. Mina knew that expression well; eyebrows raised, lips pursed, nostrils flaring. It meant that the two brain cells he had were firing on all cylinders, and finally, finally, one of them had collided with the other and produced a thought in the empty expanse that was his brain. Lightbulb.

“Mina,” He said slowly, turning to look her in the eye. “What if that... wasn’t a quirk?” 

“Wait… You mean…” Mina pretended to realize.

“What if those were hickeys ?” He gasped. 

It was official: Mina was definitely the second smartest in the group. Because Kirishima had only just now figured it out after 15 minutes. She hadn’t had the chance to ask if Kaminari knew, but Kaminari was also Kaminari, which automatically disqualified him. And Sero? Well, Sero was the stupidest one out of all of them. Both him and Todoroki. 

“Holy shit,” Kirishima slumped down. “So that means…”

“Sero and Todoroki are a thing.” Mina finished his sentence, nodding along. “Wow. That’s crazy.”

“Holy shit. Holy shit, Mina !” Kirishima was beaming now, shaking her from side to side. “Sero and Todoroki were giving each other hickeys! And they thought they’d get away with it!”

“Yeah. They really almost got away with it, didn’t they.” Mina wasn’t even trying to hold back her laughter now. 

“That’s insane !” Kirishima flung himself back to lay down on Mina’s carpet. “I can’t believe it. Sero and Todoroki. Huh. You know, I kind of see it. Like, it works.”

“Yeah, I see it too. They’re a good match,” Mina agreed, scooching over and lying down next to him. “You know, we probably shouldn't tell anyone.” 

“Right. Right! Of course not! This is just our secret,” Kirishima nodded, and Mina could hear the smile in his voice. “I just— Wow! That’s amazing. I’m so happy for them.” 

“I know,” Mina said, smiling to herself as well. She was being 100% honest this time when she followed that up with, “Me too.”

They laid there for a couple moments, allowing the realization to sink in (Or in Mina’s case, to allow Kirishima time to let the realization sink in). 

“You know, there’s one thing I still don’t get,” Kirishima said into the air.

“Hm?” Mina hummed. 

“Why did the hickeys look like... that ?” Kirishima asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, the ones I usually give Ka—” 

Several more beats of silence. 

“Kiiiiiiiiiri,” Mina cooed. She had hit the jackpot today. “Do you have something you want to tell me?” 

“Oh my God,” Kirishima muttered, followed by something that sounded vaguely like ‘gonna kill me’. 

“Kiri, come on, it’s okay!” 

Kirishima heaved a deep sigh. “I’m in too deep now, huh?” 

“Yup,” Mina grinned. “Besides, you don’t think I haven’t noticed? They don’t call me the Cupid of Class 2-A for nothing.” 

“I don’t think anyone calls you that,” Kirishima said, sparing a smile. “But yeah, me and Bakugou are… yeah.” 

“Oh, I’m not talking about that .” Mina reached over and slapped his shoulder. “I knew that already. I’m talking about the hickeys.” 

“Minaaaa,” Kirishima groaned as he blushed all the way down to his neck, arm thrown over his eyes. 

“Come on !” Mina cried, sitting up. “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!” 

“No. That’s where I draw the line,” Kirishima moaned into his arms. 

Mina said nothing, only waited. And sure enough, the visible part of Kirishima’s face went through all 5 stages of grief before finally landing on acceptance. 

“The ones I give… him… look a lot different,” He mumbled.  

Mina let out a hoot. “So that’s why you didn’t think they were hickeys at first?” She giggled. “Are you talking about their size or their color?” 

“That’s enough,” A voice sounded from the doorway. 

At that moment, Mina’s door widened, and both of them turned their eyes towards Kaminari, holding his math folder in one hand and looking like the cat that had caught the canary. 

“Mina, you’ve had your fun. Let me have some,” Kaminari said. 

“Kami, wha— How long have you been standing there?” Mina cried out. 

“Long enough,” Kaminari replied. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. So, are you guys talking about Sero and Todoroki’s hickeys or Kiri and Bakubro’s?”

Kirishima, who had sat up from the floor, looked like he was about to sink back into it out of embarrassment. 

“Kami, lay off, you creep,” Mina chastised. “So, you know about Sero and Todoroki?”

“I’ve known about them since the day they got together. I mean, it’s not like they’re trying too hard to hide it.” 

“Well, that’s the thing,” Mina replied slowly. “I think they are .” 

“You guys won’t tell anyone about me and Bakugou, right?” Kirishima suddenly piped up.

Both of them turned to look at him. 

“Oh, Kiri, of course we won’t,” Mina reassured him, before shooting the dirtiest look she could muster at Kaminari, who was about to say something but then closed his mouth. 

“Right, we won’t,” Kaminari swallowed. 

“Okay, good,” Kirishima sighed. “Because honestly, I’m getting the vibes from Bakugou that he’s ready to tell the class, so if you guys could just hold off on telling people for now, that’d be great.” 

“Yeah, not a problem, Kiri. Your secret’s safe with us,” Kaminari replied. “Although…”

“Although what?” 

“You do realize that I have to flame your ass now, right? It’s tradition.” The shit-eating grin was back again.

“Kami, it can’t be a tradition if you’ve never done it before.” Mina pointed out. 

“Well, I’m starting a new one,” Kaminari said, plopping down. “Besides, I’ve been cooking up these ones for a while, ever since I suspected you guys were together.”

Kirishima’s jaw dropped. “You knew too ?”

“Well, yeah. You two are some of my best friends. Of course I could tell there was something between you guys. Now, let me at ‘em.” 

Kirishima groaned and rested his forehead on Mina’s table. “There’s no way out of this, then, is there?”

“‘Fraid not,” Mina smirked. 

“Lay it on me, then, I guess,” Kirishima said, looking up at the two of them and grinning. “I can take it.” 

Kaminari rubbed his hands together fast, as if charging them up, before taking one of them and cocking it at a 90-degree angle on his arm.

“Boy,” He began. 

4.

It was a blessing and a curse that Toru and the rest of the girls had decided to watch that horror movie so late at night. 

On one hand, if they hadn’t watched the movie, the girls would have gone downstairs in a group to retrieve the cake they had made earlier that night, but after the movie ended everyone was too terrified to go downstairs and she had drawn the short straw, so she was forced to brave the unknown horrors of Heights Alliance after dark by herself. But on the other hand, going alone was one of the things she had to thank. If that hadn’t happened, she probably wouldn’t have ever discovered the truth that night by a stroke of luck.

Another reason she was grateful: she had elected to take the stairs. Although, looking back, she really could have done without the jumpscare. 

“Eep!” She screamed, covering her mouth as a form suddenly materialized in front of her on the landing between the first and second floors. 

“Hagakure? Is that you?” A voice whisper-yelled, and only then did Toru see Shinsou, dressed in a faded Pokémon shirt and gray shorts and squinting his eyes to try and make out Toru at the top of the staircase. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” She whisper-yelled back so as not to disturb the rest of her classmates. The stairwell’s lighting dimmed at night, and it was also extremely echoey due to the high ceiling. Noises traveled all the way up the 5th floor if you weren’t careful with your volume. “Jesus Christ, Shinsou, you scared me.”

“Sorry. Why are you still up?” He asked. 

“Girls are having a sleepover,” Toru responded. 

“Ah,” Shinsou nodded, before his expression subtly slipped into something Hagakure didn’t recognize. “You’re not... going to the kitchen right now, are you?”

“Yeah, we made a strawberry sponge cake earlier. We had to let it sit in the fridge for a bit.”

There was no mistaking Shinsou’s face falling at her response. “I wouldn’t go down there if I were you.”

“Why not?” Toru asked, fear creeping into her voice.

“Just… trust me. I was just there.” Shinsou's eyes darted to the left.

“Is something wrong? Did something happen?” 

“Well... Something is currently still happening... It’s just…” Shinsou trailed off. “Believe me when I say you might want to wait a bit longer on that cake.” 

“Hmmm,” Toru thought out loud, bringing up a finger to scratch at her chin. “Well, the girls are getting pretty hungry. And the cake looked really tasty when we were finished. I’d hate to keep them waiting longer,” She said slowly.

Shinsou’s eyebrows raised, and it looked like he was about to argue with her for a split second but then he shrugged dismissively, mostly to himself.

“Welp,” He said flippantly. “I tried. Proceed at your own risk, then.” 

“Okay,” Toru said as she began to sneak down the stairs, and Shinsou stepped to the side as he climbed up so she could pass.

“Wait,” Shinsou suddenly said. 

“Huh?” Toru gasped. 

“Nice shoes,” Shinsou said as they crossed.

“Oh. Thank you!” She quietly gushed, shaking her bunny slippers for effect. Shinsou grinned a little at the ears flopping around.

She was halfway to the ground floor when she heard Shinsou whisper her name again, and she turned around to see him looking down at her, their positions switched.

“Do you think that maybe I could have a sli—” 

“Don’t even think about it. Girls only,” Toru shot back, holding up her hand so Shinsou could talk to it. 

Shinsou shrugged again, unphased. “Worth a try. Good luck,” He whisper-yelled behind him as he quietly opened the door to the 2nd floor and disappeared behind it. 

Toru watched the closed door for a second, the warning still turning over in her mind. 

Number three on the ongoing list of things to be thankful for: She had ultimately ignored Shinsou. Because she was, quite frankly, starving, and at the end of the day, her hunger outweighed her fear and his caution. 

The staircase spit the students out by the communal showers, so Toru still had to walk down a hall and around the corner to get to the kitchen. For whatever reason, all the lights were off on the ground floor when she got downstairs, and she had just closed the door behind her and when a soft noise made her stop and press her back and arms against the wall. 

There was no mistaking the location: it had come from the kitchen. Toru’s blood chilled slightly as she recalled Shinsou’s warning but nevertheless, she moved onwards, cursing whoever had turned the lights off. The girls were relying on her to deliver the cake safe and sound, and she wasn’t about to let them down. Her slippers softened her footfalls as she walked along the wall, her stealth training being put to good use as she crept forward slowly. Or at least, the best it could be, considering she was decked out in a baby blue silk pajama set and a spa headband with a plush bunny head on it. 

The corner of the hallway that led into the kitchen stared back at Toru as she approached it, fear starting to surpass her hunger. She suddenly realized why the girls said she would die first in a horror movie at one of their previous sleepovers. And they were absolutely right, which was why number four on the list was the most damning: Toru couldn’t help but be curious. She removed the headband and as she stuck her head out from behind the corner to sneak a peek, she began to understand the phrase she had learned in English class (something about ‘curiosity killing a cat’) a little more. 

At first glance, she wasn’t sure what it was. No matter how hard she squinted, the darkness still overwhelmed her vision. All she could make out was a form standing in the middle of the kitchen, wider than a person and taller than her. It was still making that weird noise she heard earlier; what sounded like a groan mixed with a hum, interspersed with the occasional smack. Toru bit back a gasp. Could it be...

The form stumbled a little on its numerous legs and pressed itself against the countertop. She could make out some more shapes now: limbs pressed into the cabinets, arms slung over shoulders, a pair of heads moving in tandem. Those same noises, louder this time, more frantic. She blinked again. Red and white and black…

“Someone’s going to catch us,” A voice hissed as part of the thing’s body leaned back, bracing itself against the counter with a pair of hands. She knew that voice. 

“I don’t care,” Another voice intoned softly as the other bent down slightly and grabbed the other’s thighs, suddenly lifting him up so he was sitting on the countertop as he pushed back in for more. She also knew that voice. 

Oh. My. God. 

Toru put half of her hand in her mouth to keep from screaming as she whipped her head behind the corner. As she processed what she had just seen, a Cheshire grin slowly spread across her face. 

The cake would simply have to wait. She didn’t want to interrupt what was clearly a good time. She had more tact than that. Besides, the piece of information she had just received was too valuable, too juicy to keep to herself. She had to share it with the girls or else she was going to explode. 

When she was certain that the urge to make a noise had passed, she padded back down the hall quietly, bunny ears flopping as Toru retraced her steps. She opened the door to the staircase, and once she had quietly closed it behind her she was flying up the stairs three at a time, almost running into the wall as she wrenched the door to the 3rd-floor open, finally keying into her own room and practically busting it down with a slipper-clad foot. 

“You guys !” She exclaimed joyfully, breathing heavily as she ran in. “You won’t believe what I just saw!”

Everyone in the room, in various stages of relaxation, turned to look at her. Uraraka’s hand paused over Jirou’s nails, the dark blue nail polish threatening to drip onto her table. Yaomomo and Ashido turned to look at her through their face masks, Yaomomo’s hair piled at the back of her head in an alligator clip and Mina’s hair covered by a bright pink silk bonnet. Tsu, Aoyama, and Tokoyami turned from their positions on her bed, pausing the shoujo anime they had put on in Toru’s absence. Even Dark Shadow stopped French braiding Tsu’s hair to gaze at Toru inquisitively. 

“What is it?” Jirou inquired.

“More importantly, where’s the cake?” Uraraka ordered. 

“What a herald of anarchy,” Tokoyami muttered.

“Give me a second,” Toru gasped, holding up a finger as she panted. 

“This better be good,” Ashido sighed. 

Toru took a couple of deep breaths before she cleared her throat for effect. 

“I saw Sero and Todoroki,” She whispered dramatically. “ Making out in the kitchen .” 

A beat of silence as everyone looked at Toru blankly.  

“Welp,” Uraraka began. “That’s a new low.” 

“Those morons,” Yaomomo muttered under her breath. 

“Guess we can wait a little longer on that cake, then, ribbit,” Tsu said matter-of-factly, putting a finger to her mouth.

Without another word, everyone simultaneously went back to their spa night. The nail polish droplets wiped up off the table, the remote pressing play on the anime. Dark Shadow went back to tying an elastic around Tsu’s braid. 

“Don’t you guys care at all ?” Toru cried, still standing there. “What about the part where they were making out ?”

“Oh, we care. It’s just not all that surprising to us, I guess,” Yaomomo offered, looking around at the rest of the room to confirm her claim before nodding to Toru. 

“I believe it was the poet Marceline Desmordes-Valmore who said it best: ‘Two hearts in love need no words’,” Tokoyami remarked drolly from the bed, softly rolling his eyes. 

“ Entre deux cœurs qui s'aiment, nul besoin de paroles ,” Aoyama translated from beside him, swooning to himself. “The French Romantics were something else.” 

Toru was beside herself. 

“You guys all knew already ?” She practically screamed, waving her arms around. 

“I mean,” Jirou piped up, twirling an earphone jack in her hand as she regarded Toru. “I’m more surprised by the fact that you haven’t noticed yet. They haven’t exactly been… Subtle about it.” 

Uraraka smacked Jirou’s hand away from her ears. “You’ll ruin my perfectly good paint job,” She scolded before looking up at Toru. “But yeah, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we all knew already.”

“Ooh!” Ashido excitedly, raising a hand. “Let’s play a game where we all go around and say when we figured out they were a couple. I’ll go first! I saw them coming back after they got their ears pierced together. Holding hands and everything .” 

“I figured it out when they were giving each other googly eyes during rescue training last week.” Yaomomo chimed in. “I mean, Todoroki almost wiped out while he was ice surfing because he was gawking at him.” 

“The time when Sero and Todoroki had all those hickeys on them,” Aoyama offered, eyes sparkling as he smirked. “ Quel scandale .” 

“They were flirting with each other in the stairwell one time when they thought no one was around,” Tokoyami recalled bitterly. “The memory is still a fresh wound upon my mind.” 

“Yeah, they’re pretty disgusting,” Jirou agreed. “I mean, I’m not homophobic, but there’s only so many times you can hold each other’s hands under a blanket on the couch before I want to commit a hate crime.” 

“Jirou!” Yaomomo gasped.

“What? I’m a lesbian, I’m allowed to hate gays a little,” She said defensively.

“Well, I’ve known since the first day,” Uraraka said, talking over Yaomomo and Jirou. “I mean, I pulled Todoroki aside to beat some sense into him and the next thing I know, they’re running around like Romeo and Juliet.”

“Those two are overrated,” Tokoyami interrupted. “Perhaps Achilles and Patrocles would better suit your comparison.” 

“Didn’t they die, too?” Dark Shadow pointed out through the elastic in his mouth, diligently working on the other half of Tsu’s hair. 

“Such is the plight of same-sex couples through the ages,” Tokoyami replied gravelly, clenching a fist. “All of them end in tragedy.”

“Hey, wait, I did the same thing with Sero!” Ashido exclaimed, holding out a raised palm for Uraraka. “Men are stupid.” 

“Men are stupid,” Uraraka agreed, and she leaned over to complete the high-five. “We’ll need to compare notes later.” 

Toru had been watching the scene unfold in front of her with equal parts astonishment and anger.

“Now you guys are just rubbing it in!” She crossed her arms. 

“Hey, you were bound to find out eventually, ribbit,” Tsu said. “Just be glad you were living in ignorance for so long.”

“But aren’t you guys happy for them? Like, at all?” Toru asked. “I mean, it really doesn't sound like you are.”

“Oh no, don’t get us wrong, we’re super happy for them. They’re a great couple,” Uraraka replied. “We’re just sick of them attempting to hide it, is all. At least Kirishima and Bakugou finally told the class.”

“It is pretty pitiful,” Aoyama nodded along. 

“Well,” Toru sighed to herself, before plopping down between Yaomomo and Mina and reaching for a face mask, ripping the top off the packet and pulling the mask out carefully. “I guess I have some catching up to do. How long did you guys say they’ve been together?”  

“I think we’re coming up on three weeks now,” Uraraka replied.

“And you think everyone knows by now? Like, everyone everyone?”

“I mean,” Mina grinned as she peeled the face mask off and dropped it into a nearby trash can. “I’d be truly astonished if someone didn’t know by now.”

“Yeah, they’d have to be pretty dumb to not catch those bozos eye-fucking all the time,” Jirou supplied. 

“Jirou!” Yaomomo hit her, but she was holding back a chuckle this time. 

“Oh, really?” Toru said to the girls gathered around the table, leaning in once she had applied the face mask. The second half of the quote from English class flashed through her mind. “Tell me more.”

5.

As the class representative for the second year running and one of the top students in his class, Tenya knew that he had the most responsibilities and duties to carry out. Having a regimented plan was part of his secret to success, and he had perfected every aspect of his program by now to keep his beloved Class 2-A running as smoothly as his meticulously maintained engines. From establishing a chore rotation to ensure the dorms looked spotless, to calculating the best time to text the group chat about arriving to school on time. And those were only two of his many spreadsheets. 

Well, he had perfected almost all of it. Class bonding wasn’t even something he had begun to consider at the beginning of his first-year stint, but thankfully the rest of his classmates had that area covered in spades, with ideas for Uno tournaments, video game nights, mall outings, and Saturday morning breakfasts. They usually let Tenya handle the communications and organization aspect of the events, which he was more than happy to do. He was at the point now where he felt comfortable letting the rest of his class decide those kinds of things. They had earned his trust, after all. 

It had been the girls’ idea to throw birthday parties in the dorms. After they had moved into the dorms last year, everyone quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to celebrate their birthdays with their families the way they used to. Yaomomo was especially crushed by this fact, crying over the loss of her favorite hors d'oeuvres and the world-famous string quartet that played at her parties. So, with the help of Satou’s baking, Tenya’s A+ planning, Aoyama’s numerous connections to French exports, and Endeavor’s credit card, they were able to throw a surprise birthday party for Yaomomo. They weren’t able to overnight ship the Iberico ham in time, but it ended up being a smash hit regardless, to the point where there was now a calendar hanging in the common room with everyone’s birthdays marked in red pen and a whiteboard counting down the days to the next birthday. 

The birthday parties had evolved a little over the months, but by the time Uraraka’s rolled around, they usually followed a similar formula: the Sunday after the person’s birthday, everyone in the class would crowd outside their door, sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and have them blow out the candles on their cake, and then they would all go downstairs to the festively decorated common room to celebrate with presents, games, and as many home comforts as the class could manage to buy in time. Even Bakugou participated in the festivities begrudgingly, although Tenya suspected that had to do with the fact that Satou had threatened to feed him store-bought cake if he didn’t.

They were actually almost done with the full cycle of birthdays; Sero, Ashido, Jirou, and Tenya himself were the only ones who hadn’t had a birthday party at the dorms yet. But by now, Tenya had the birthday tradition down to a science. Get everyone gathered outside their door at 6:00 PM sharp, light the candles as soon as the knock sounded, sing Happy Birthday in the key of C major. Everything according to plan. 

But as he removed his fist from Sero’s door to no answer for the sixth time, Tenya realized that he didn’t have a contingency plan for what would happen if the birthday boy didn’t show up. 

“Er, Sero-kun would have heard us knocking by now if he was wearing headphones, right?” He asked, addressing the entire class as he looked over his shoulder. The two candles on the black and yellow tape dispenser-shaped cake, currently held by Koda and Shouji, had long burnt out by now, and the ‘1’ looked slightly deformed. 

“I would assume so,” Kirishima sighed. 

“He’s not a heavy sleeper, is he?” Shouji pondered.

“Yeah, but not this heavy,” Kaminari replied. “We’ve had to bang on his door a couple times to get him up for class before, but usually he’ll get up by the third or fourth knock.”

“And we’ve knocked… What, six times now?” Midoriya frowned, stroking his chin with his finger. “That doesn’t seem right.” 

“Everyone step back,” Bakugou said nefariously as he left Kirishima’s side to push his way to the front of the crowd, rubbing his hands together. “I’m going to explode the door open.”

“Bakugou-kun, I can’t even begin to tell you how bad of an idea that is!” Tenya lectured as he stepped in front of Bakugou. 

“Be quiet, you dolts,” Jirou said, pushing through both of them and kneeling down by the door, plugging her headphone jack into it. Five seconds passed by in silence before she made another noise. “Huh.” 

“What do you hear, Jirou?” Hagakure asked. 

“I… don’t hear anything. Not even breathing,” She reported back, unplugging her ear as she stood up. 

“Is he out of his room right now?” Uraraka said, putting her hands on her hips. “I would think he’d know better than to be gone today.”

“Well, his birthday was on a Monday,” Tsu offered. “So maybe he just forgot, ribbit.” 

“He could be dead,” Shinsou shrugged. “More cake for us, I guess.”

“I still think blowing up his door is a good option,” Kaminari offered. 

“ Or,” Yaomomo stressed, cutting off Bakugou who looked like he was about to vehemently agree. “We could just call him.”

“On it,” Ashido chirped as she pulled out her phone, pink charms on her case clinking together as she dialed. Seconds later, she raised the phone to her ear. Tenya took a moment to look around the group before he noticed another glaring fault in the birthday celebrations. 

“Can someone call Todoroki-kun as well? I don’t see him here, either,” Tenya instructed. 

Whatever he had said, there was something clearly wrong with it. 17 pairs of eyes suddenly widened in shock as everyone stood stock still, as if the world had been put on pause. It was so quiet, Tenya could even hear the dial tone from Ashido’s phone, now switching over to Sero’s voicemail.

“...Anyone?” Tenya tried again. 

The spell broke, and the hallway exploded into noise. Half the class burst out into raucous cackling as they leaned against each other, while the other half traded knowing glances with each other. 

“Guys, seriously! Someone needs to let him know! Don’t tell me all of you forgot he was here?” Tenya cried out loudly, trying to be heard over the hysterics. What was going on with the class today?

“Holy shit! Oh my God, okay, I’ll call him, I’ll call him, but they’re not going to like it,” Uraraka wheezed, trying to pull herself together as she whipped out her phone, but she hadn’t even typed in her password before the sound of a door opening drew everyone’s attention to the noise. 

“What’s with all the— Oh.” Todoroki started as he stuck his upper torso out into the hallway, hair tousled and blue sleep shirt hanging loose on his body, and his eyes widened as he took in his entire class (sans one) standing outside his neighbor’s door. 

“Oh,” Todoroki repeated, his mouth slightly open (Why were his lips so chapped?). “I forgot this was. Today. Um. I’ll be out in a second. One second.” The door immediately slammed behind him as he disappeared back into his room, as what looked like traces of steam floated up towards the ceiling.

Moments later, the strains of frantic whispering began to filter through Todoroki’s door.

Tenya took a moment to look over his classmates. The classmates that were laughing before were now looking between the two doors with open mouths on the precipice of smiling. Kaminari, Aoyama, and Bakugou were wearing an expression akin to a child who had just been told Santa had come 6 months early, and with a whole herd of ponies. On the other hand, Satou, Koda, Ojiro, and Shouji looked like they wanted to be literally anywhere else. 

“Should we ask—” Kaminari started, a grin still plastered on his face. 

“ No , Kaminari,” Ashido cut him off.  

“Did anyone else see—” Hagakure began.

“Hagakure, with all due respect,” Jirou replied, her face contorted in disgust. “Shut the fuck up.”

The class lapsed back into an uncomfortable silence, with only the sound of Todoroki’s balcony door sliding open to fill the void. Tenya was feeling terribly confused. Why on Earth was Todoroki going out on his balcony?

He needn’t think too hard, because at that moment Todoroki’s door opened back up again and everyone’s heads turned to see the duo-colored boy slipping out into the hallway and regarding his classmates, still dressed in his PJ’s.

“I fell asleep,” He intoned plainly. Tenya nodded in reply. Seemed reasonable enough.

“Can you… um… light the candles, Todoroki-kun?” Satou said. He wasn’t looking at Todoroki for some reason. 

“What? Oh, yeah,” Todoroki walked over and held out an index finger and a small flame appeared on the end of it. 

Tenya was about to ask why Todoroki was lighting the candles when Sero wasn’t even here to blow them out, when suddenly Sero’s door flew open and the boy in question appeared, heaving and red-faced. 

“So— So sorry, guys! I just woke up from the fattest nap! Whew! Oh my God, look at the cake! It’s amazing, you guys!” Sero practically babbled, slapping a hand to his forehead. 

A beat of silence. 

“Well, we’re so glad you like it, Sero-kun! We spent half an hour decorating it,” Tenya piped up cheerily, trying to pick up the slack of his classmates and mask his bewilderment at the same time. “Alright, class, are you ready? One, two, three!” He added, waving his arms to the beat. 

What followed was the most pitiful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ Tenya ever had the misfortune of hearing. Class 2-A was by no means a group of singing telegrams (Jirou carried them for the most part), but even she couldn’t save the carnage that unfolded around her. A good handful of Tenya’s classmates (like Satou, Todoroki, and Shouji) were mumbling along awkwardly, and most of the ones that were trying were now laughing through the entire song, voices breaking horrendously on the high note. And all of them were off-key.

At least Sero, who had been standing there listening with a gritted smile, successfully blew out his candles once the singing had stopped. “Wow, thanks, you guys!” Sero finally said. “I’ll be down in a bit! Don’t start opening presents without me!” Without another word, the door slammed, leaving the rest of the class to stare unceremoniously at where he disappeared. 

“Alright,” Tenya said casually, breaking the silence as he adjusted his glasses. “Guess we should go downstairs, then?” 

“Sure, Iida,” Uraraka said, a devilish grin on her face. “Come on guys, we’ve got a party to get started.”

Hours later, as he was cleaning up the common room with Tsu and Ojiro, Tenya took a second to stretch his lower back and saw Sero and Todoroki walking outside Heights Alliance together, hand in hand as they talked. 

“Do you see that?” Ojiro had suddenly materialized beside him, and Tenya turned to see him jerk his head in the direction of the two boys. 

“I did. I’m glad they’ve gotten to know each other better,” Tenya replied earnestly, and if he hadn’t gone back to sweeping the confetti into a dustpan, he would have seen Ojiro’s face morph into stunned disbelief, before curling his lips inward in an effort to suppress his smile. But Tenya did look behind him briefly to see the blond shaking his head as he turned back around, muttering something that sounded vaguely like ‘That’s the class rep for ya’.  

“What was that, Ojiro-kun?”

“Nothing.”

+1.

“Well, I suppose you’re all wondering why we called you guys down here,” Hanta started as nonchalantly as he could manage, swinging his arms in front of him to clap his hands together.

The entire class, who was gathered on the couches and spilling onto the common room floor in front of them, stared back at the two of them silently with raised eyebrows, and Shouto began to get the sneaking suspicion that maybe, just maybe, they weren’t wondering that at all. 

The day after what Shouto was calling the ‘The Birthday Incident’ (and what Hanta was calling ‘The Time Our Entire Class Practically Caught Us Making Out In Your Room’), Shouto called Hanta into his room to talk after dinner. 

“I think I’m ready to tell the class. About us,” Shouto said once the door had closed behind them. 

“Oh. Okay,” Hanta replied, facing him now. “Are you sure, Shou?”

“I’m just… tired of hiding it. I mean, yesterday was a pretty close call. It’s kind of becoming a chore,” Shouto explained. “How are you feeling about it?”

“I mean, I’m ready,” Hanta breathed, taking both of Shouto’s hands in his. “We’ve been kind of dancing around the issue for a while, but I think it’s time.” 

“Okay,” Shouto responded. 

“It was fun while it lasted, though,” Hanta grinned. 

“It was,” Shouto agreed, a soft smile also overtaking his face. “So how should we go about it?” 

“I mean, we could just do what Kiri and Bakubro did.”

“You mean gather everyone in the common room and then yell at them that we’re dating and if you don’t like it, you can suck our—”

“ No, no, no no, not like that!” Hanta laughed, knocking his forehead gently against Shouto’s. “Well, kind of. I meant, like, gathering everyone in the common room and letting them know. I don’t exactly think we should use their wording.”

“I agree,” Shouto nodded.

Hanta exhaled softly, looking deeply into Shouto’s eyes. “We’ll be fine.” 

But as Shouto’s eyes now flitted over his classmate’s faces, he wasn’t so sure of Hanta’s reassurance anymore.

“I guess there’s no other way to put it, so I’ll just say it,” Hanta said, and then his fingers were lacing in between Shouto’s, holding him flush to where he stood. No backing out now. “We’re dating.”

A silence, even more potent than the last, fell over the room. 

“Congratulations!” Iida cried, clapping his hands together and standing up. “I think I speak for the entire class when I say this was definitely a surprise. We’re glad you had the courage to tell us, and we’ll support your guys’ relationship. Now, of course, just as with Kirishima-kun and Bakugou-kun, there will have to be some rules set in place—”

“Pay up, bozos!” A voice suddenly cried, and Iida whipped their heads around to see Kaminari, head down and arms raised victoriously, beckoning with his hands as around him, more than half the class simultaneously reached into their pockets and began pulling out their wallets. 

“Today is the closest to your day, then, ribbit?” Tsu asked.

“No.” Kaminari grinned even wider. “Today is the exact date .”

“Fuckin’ stupid,” Bakugou muttered, shoving a wad of cash into Kaminari’s hands. 

“Tell me about it,” Uraraka agreed, zipping open her coin pouch. 

“I’m surprised, Kami,” Ashido remarked. “I didn’t think any of us would actually get the exact date.”

“I left my cash in my room,” Shinsou said, cutting through the others’ dejected muttering.

“That’s okay, sweet cheeks,” Kaminari reached over and pinched his cheek, which Shinsou immediately swatted away. “You can just pay me later.”

“I hate it when you’re cocky like this,” Shinsou murmured under his breath.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” Kaminari cried, gathering a handful of cash from his lap and holding it up in front of Shinsou’s face. “ This is gonna come in real handy on our next date night!” 

Shouto’s head was spinning, and he was finding it hard to form any kind of words right now. He looked down at Hanta’s hand, which was shaking in Shouto’s, and then up at Hanta, whose face was pinched and red. 

“Did… Did you guys know this whole time ?” Hanta yelled, his voice coming out strangled. 

“Well, not the whole time, but for most of it, yeah,” Midoriya replied matter-of-factly. “Those two knew since the very beginning, though,” He said, pointing at Kaminari and Uraraka in turn, whose features suddenly took on an impish look as they shifted their gaze to the couple in front of them.

“And you all bet on us coming out?” Hanta’s eyes were blown wide open. 

“Technically, we didn’t bet on when you guys would come out,” Ojiro replied, digging around in his wallet. “Only on what day you guys would tell us about when you were dating.” 

Hanta started to sputter. 

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Ojiro said, counting out bills and handing them behind him. “Kaminari and Uraraka are the ones who set up the betting pool. Be mad at them.” 

“A thousand yen to guess what day you guys would tell us about your relationship, winner takes all,” Kaminari explained simply, leaning his head back into his hands as he reclined into the couch. “Whoever said money can’t buy happiness obviously never won the lottery.”

“Can it, Mr. Monopoly,” Uraraka said, arms crossed in indignation. 

“You’re just jealous because you didn't win,” Kaminari cooed at her. 

“No need to rub it in, though!” Hagakure shouted. 

“Okay, everyone, that’s enough,” Jirou held up her hands, silencing the argument before it got any further along. “What we’re trying to say but obviously failing to do is that we’re really happy for you guys. Even if we have weird ways of showing it. So, congratulations, you two.”

“ Thank you, Jirou,” Hanta said with a sigh. “That’s very nice of you.”  

“Right.” A grin overtook Jirou’s face. “So now that that’s out of the way, what exactly were you guys doing in Sero’s room this past Sunday?”

“I— We were just kissing !” Hanta replied weakly, his face growing hot as the class exploded into giggles. 

“Sure,” She said, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Up until that point, Shouto had been watching the situation unfold in front of him with a weird mixture of emotions sloshing around in him, which he had spent the entire time trying to identify so he could respond appropriately. There was some anger at his classmates, yes, but also surprise at the turn of events, confusion as to what exactly was going on right now, relief that he and Hanta didn’t have to keep hiding it anymore, and resignation to the fact that they probably didn’t do the best job of covering up their relationship. There were still some unknown feelings in there, but he had done the best he could have done with only two months of therapy under his belt. And he supposed that was enough to work with. But just as he opened his mouth to start talking, another voice beat him to it. 

“ Children .” 

There was another emotion now, as Shouto turned to look at Aizawa glaring at all of them from the front entrance. Fear. 

“Ai— Aizawa-sensei!” Kaminari said, waving nervously from his place on the couch. “Didn’t see you there.” 

“How much did you hear?” Uraraka asked, her voice tinny. 

“Enough,” Aizawa said with resignation as he looked at Hanta and Shouto. “But you kids are extremely lucky. I just got done with a professional development day and I don’t care enough to try and resolve this. I’m going to go to my room, take a handful of Advil, and hope I forget everything when I wake up.”

With his hands shoved in his pockets and his back hunched, he began his walk across the common room, his shoes padding on the carpet the loudest noise in the room. 20 heads turned to watch their teacher as he passed by, not even glancing at them as he shuffled past.

“Although,” Aizawa said, turning his head slightly to address his class at the corner. “If you ask me, I think it’s a little unfair that you guys didn’t react the same way to Kirishima and Bakugou.”

Without another word, he disappeared behind the corner, leaving the class in an even more stunned silence. 

“What a harbinger of chaos,” Tokoyami piped up. 

“What the fuck ?” Kaminari started eloquently. 

“How did Aizawa know they told the class?” Ashido demanded. 

“That bastard is lucky he’s our teacher,” Bakugou gritted. 

“More importantly, how did Aizawa know about us ?” Kirishima cried out. 

Bakugou’s face suddenly dropped, and for some reason he glanced at Midoriya, who shook his head in response. 

The noise in the common room slowly began to pick up, until it reached deafening levels as everyone began talking at once. Iida, who had finally recovered from his own shock, adjusted his previously askew glasses and shot Hanta and Shouto an apologetic look before trying to get the class under control, chopping maniacally as he began to yell to no avail. 

“Did you not see that?” Hanta suddenly murmured, just loud enough so that only Shouto could hear. 

Shouto turned to look at Hanta, who was grinning at him. 

“See what?” He asked in response. 

“He smirked at us,” Hanta said, jerking his head subtly in the direction of where Aizawa had disappeared. 

Shouto stared at him, before he smiled softly back. 

The two of them broke eye contact as they turned their heads back to take in the chaos. And maybe it was true that Shouto still didn’t know what was happening, or how he felt about everything that had just happened. The time to process everything would come later, but nothing else mattered right now with Hanta at his side. 

Not even Bakugou having to be held back by Satou, Shouji, and Kirishima, screaming at Midoriya about how lucky he was that Shitty Hair was his boyfriend. 

?

Shouta sighed to himself as the noise from the common room began to filter out as he got further down the hallway. Those two owed him for that. 

His phone rang, a familiar ringtone that Shouta knew far too well at this point. 

“What’d you think of the meeting today?” Hizashi’s voice filtered through the phone speaker into his ear as he picked up. 

“Terrible. I have a headache,” Shouta answered gruffly. 

A loud explosion rumbled through the halls. 

“What was that?” Hizashi asked. 

Shouta rolled his eyes as his head began to pound even harder from the aftershock. He might have to get involved, after all. “My hellions have no idea how to keep their relationships private.”

Hizashi chuckled at that. “Good thing you’re so good at keeping secrets.” 

Shouta swallowed, suddenly remembering the one-on-one meeting all those months ago, and the way Sero had asked him who Hizashi was. 

“Yeah,” He began to say, bracing himself. “About that.”