#petty whispers and jealous denials cant even come close to chipping the bond they've forged together

[redrobin-detective]

Having trouble with MGM so here’s the tea on Tododeku in TLWA. Pro Hero Shouto is everyone’s dream: handsome, powerful, kind, rich. He’s on everyone’s ‘Superheroes I would Bone’ list. The public goes wild speculating on his love life which is surprisingly lacking. He’s been paired with most every major hero out there, Bakugou/Shouto is one of the most popular ships out there bc two hot, powerful guys with emotion issues? nut. But Yaoyorozu/Shouto, Iida/Shouto and Red Riot/Shouto are also popular. Shouto, meanwhile, is oblivious to all this having been pining for Deku for a solid decade. 

Deku has always been too busy for romantic relationships, his only notable one was his short fling with fellow hero, Uravity during their second year of school. Magazines pity speculate its because no one would want to actually date a quirkless partner. Still, Deku is a popular subject for submissive ships making him so laughingly ooc it’s basically a separate character sans the name. Izuku has long stopped reading mainstream tabloid articles about himself and, again, is so obnoxiously busy half killing himself to feel worthy of All Might’s legacy that romance is so far from his mind.

At the end of Rise Up, once Izuku is the Symbol of Peace and he’s feeling a bit surer in his own skin, he and Shouto finally start edging towards the gravitational pull they’ve always had. Shouto stays on long term at OFA and that leads to late night work sessions, dinner dates, nights spent crashing on the agency couch discussing their deepest fears at 2:48am which is turn leads to hand holding and cheek brushes and gentle kisses. Uraraka thought she was going to die of old age before those two stopped. messing. around. The first time she sees them kiss she almost passes out on the spot. Theirs is a slow, soft, utterly comfortable romance that has absolutely no pretense.

Now Shouto is shy (also jealously wants to hoard Izuku to himself) and Izuku is still busy af so they decide not to go to press immediately, wanting to savor the peace of their relationship for a little while. The world spins, Shouto takes time off to teach Intro to Heroics at a local (non hero) high school, Uravity and Ingenium have a world stopping wedding that everyone cried at and thirsty middle schoolers write inaccurate Shoutogou smut fics. Life is good. 

As time passes, Shouto and Izuku stop being so shy about their relationship. They slow dance together at the Uraraka/Iida wedding, Shouto gushes about his partner to his embarrassed students, Izuku (finally) moves out of All Might’s apartment and into Shouto’s larger townhouse. They’re not even close to hiding but all the newspapers talk about is “how nice that Shouto is so close to the Quirkless hero” and “Deku still without love, luckily former classmate, Shouto, was willing to accompany him to orphanage opening”. Shouto still is asked if he’s secretly dating Number One Hero, Explosion aka Kacchan and they can’t decipher his incredulous and slightly disgusted expression. 

Shouto talks at length about great his BOYFRIEND is and how much he LOVES him in a GAY way and they’re so happy TOGETHER and the media just... slides over it. “Sure is nice Shouto supports quirkless rights, how come he’s still single.” Shouto is at his wits end, Izuku, more than used to the double standard by now, still enjoys watching his partner just go off on romantic tangents when asked about his love life. Aro Ace Bakugou is also asked about his secret attraction to Shouto and responds “You idiots are stupid and prejudiced as fuck not to see Deku and Half and Half have been mooning over each other since Deku whipped his butt in the Sports Festival.” 

Every now and again, someone in 1A tries to explain that no, they’re not just good friends but actually really, properly in love. It never sticks as the media and fans frantically try to deny that the nation’s most desirable hero could be dating the chaotic quirkless hero who’s always doing cheesy public message ads. There are, obviously fans who understand and respect the relationship but it really is funny how many other people who ‘support Deku’ deny his love when his relationship with fan favorite Shouto comes up. And by funny I mean infuriating. 

“Sure is nice to see platonic love being expressed so openly,” a reporter says, sweating as Shouto and Deku kiss passionately after a hard won battle.

“Shouto is such a good friend to help babysit Deku’s adopted son,” a lovestruck Shouto fan says in denial when Toshirou calls both him and Deku ‘dad’.

“It’s too bad Deku couldn’t find real love but I guess it wasn’t meant to be,” bitter, quirkist fans say to themselves, turning their eyes at how achingly fond Deku looks at his partner. “Shouto is too nice to put up with him all the time.” Even if the world refuses to acknowledge their relationship, it doesn’t make it any less real, any less strong.