#touch starved shouto todoroki

[mjbunnyluv]

Mochi Kisses

Hanta felt a deep snore shake his chest as he jolted awake. Sitting up on his elbows, he blearily looked around his dark room. The faint outline of his hammock and the stack of books on the floor stood out in the low light filtering in from under the door. The hall light was on. A crash and a low curse from the kitchen.

With a groan, Hanta rolled out of bed. Gray sweatpants hung low on his hips showing off the deep V and a trail of dark coarse hair below his belly button. 

He rubbed his eyes against the bright light when he exited his bedroom. Another crash, softer this time. Like something fell on top of a towel.

“Sho?” Hanta called out groggily. 

Ever since graduation, he and Shouto had been living together. Often on similar shifts it was strange to hear the hot and cold hero up so late. A quick glance at the hall clock told Hanta it was almost 2am. 

He turned the corner and froze at the sight waiting for him in the kitchen. Pots stacked in the sink, rice flour covering the counter and spilling onto the floor, and Shouto looking frazzled beyond belief. 

An amused snort left Hanta’s nose. His roommate - and long-time crush - looked cute. Dressed in basketball shorts and a tight tank turned white from rice flour, red and white hair tangled instead of separated in his signature hairstyle.

“What are you doing?” Hanta asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. His biceps bulged, showing off the intricate tribal tattoos that banded his skin. He didn’t miss the way gray and blue eyes flashed to his arms before jumping back to his face.

“Uuuuuuh,” Shouto answered lamely. 

He looked down at himself and seemed to only just then realize he was covered in rice flour. In a flurry of movement, hands swiped and patted his tank, sending white powder into the air. The fine particles danced and sparkled in the illumination provided by the warm light above the stove. 

“I was trying to make mochi.” Shouto pouted as he looked back to the messy counter.

“At two in the morning?” Hanta smirked. “Couldn’t wait til your day off?”

Shouto was quiet for a moment, shoulders rising with tension before slumping in defeat. “Couldn’t sleep. Nightmares.”

Hanta felt his heart clench. They were only two years out of high school and their class had gone through more than some heroes went through in an entire career. 

Dark eyes studied Shouto. Disheveled hair, a light sheen of sweat on his brow, tense jaw. Hanta mentally beat himself up. He should have noticed those things first…but then again he was just pulled from sleep. The lanky hero pushed off the wall and approached slowly. There was a glob of sticky dough on the counter.

“I think I messed it up,” Shouto sighed. “It’s lumpy.”

“Nah, just gotta play with it a little more,” Hanta smiled. “Here.” His hands landed on Shouto’s shoulders to turn the shorter man back toward the counter. 

Fingers slid down toned arms, making goosebumps erupt across Shouto’s skin. And then Hanta eclipsed his hands to guide them over the dough, pressing and rolling gently but firmly. Chest to back, both men were aware of their proximity, the elevation of their heart rates…the heat building between them. 

“You’ve made mochi before?” Shouto whispered through a tight swallow.

“My mom makes it all the time and I like to help,” Hanta answered with a hum.

The longer their hands moved together, the more relaxed they became. Shouto released the tension in his forearms and let Hanta take the lead. The quiet in the dead of night was peaceful now instead of suffocating. No shadows or lurking demons. Warmth and gentle touches replaced a frantic need for distraction.

“I was dead asleep when you knocked something over,” Hanta yawned before dropping his forehead to the smaller man’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” Shouto sighed. “I was trying to be quiet.”

“It’s fine,” the lanky hero mumbled against soft skin. 

Shouto shivered. A soft but sharp intake of breath jolted against Hnata’s chest. And without thinking, too comfortable nestled against his pretty roommate’s neck, Hanta pressed a kiss to that soft skin.

Shouto froze and it took a moment for Hanta’s sleepy brain to catch up. 

“Shit,” he mumbled and pulled away. “I didn’t mean-” But he was stopped by hands gripping his forearms.

“Don’t,” Shouto ordered barely above a whisper. “Don’t stop.”

The buzz of the light above the stove seemed to rise in pitch as time lingered between them. Slowly, Hanta leaned back in, nestling against the comfortable heat of Shouto’s back and tucking his face into his neck. Soft strands of white and red tickled his cheek and the familiar scent of crisp body wash mixed with the undeniable scent of Shouto filled his nostrils. 

Hanta hummed contentedly and pressed his lips against soft skin once more. Then again, tracing the length of Shouto’s neck up to the sensitive spot behind his ear that made the smaller man suck in a sharp breath. Trailing his lips back down, Hanta lightly sucked and licked, tasting the saltiness of sweat lingering on Shouto’s skin.

Too sleepy to have a quick reaction time, Hanta gasped when Shouto twisted in his hold. The sound was muffled by a set of lips pressing against his own, tight and hesitant. Hands rested on his biceps, fingers squeezing lightly and relaxing as Shouto pulled away. With eyelids fluttering, Hanta caught the light blush dusting across Shouto’s cheeks. He reached up between them to thumb across the warm skin.

“I-I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” Shouto breathed. His eyes were darting across Hanta’s face, past him to the opposite wall, down to his bare chest.

“Yeah?” Hanta asked, feeling his heart rate accelerate. “If I had known you were into me, too, I would have made a move sooner.”

“I didn’t really know what I was feeling,” Shouto admitted. “I’ve always liked you, Han. But it wasn’t until I saw the way Midoriya and Bakugou interact that I realized I wanted that with you.”

Hanta snorted a laugh and opened his palm to cup Shouto’s cheek. “Hopefully a less intense version of what they have. I like you, Sho. A lot.”

A rare smile pulled at Shouto’s lips, soft and gentle. It reached his eyes making blue and gray sparkle in the warm stove light. 

“How about we forget the mochi tonight and go to bed?” Hanta suggested.

“Yeah, okay.” Shouto looked down between them. “But I’m covered in rice flour.”

“I can wash my sheets.” Hanta said.

“The kitchen is a mess.”

“I have a day off tomorrow. I can clean in the morning.”

“But-”

“Sho,” Hanta stopped him. “Come to bed with me.” He stepped backward, and with Shouto’s hands still on his biceps, the shorter man followed. 

Leading him to his bedroom, Hanta leaned down every so often to capture those soft lips. A peck every so often that led to the pair stopping just short of Hanta’s bedroom where the lanky man pressed Shouto up against the wall and turned up the heat on their kiss. Swiping his tongue over swollen pink lips, silently asking for entrance. And when Shouto parted for him, it was with a gentle sigh. The hands squeezing Hanta’s biceps slid up to lock behind his neck.

The roll of their tongues was a lazy affair as they savored the taste of each other. Tensing slightly and adjusting their hands to feel and touch in ways they’d only dreamt up to that point. And then Hanta pulled back, eyes half-lidded and chest expanding rapidly. He grinned and leaned back down to tuck his face into Shouto’s neck, teeth nibbling soft skin before soothing with a kiss.

“Bed,” Shouto reminded him. 

“Mmmm, right here is good,” Hanta chuckled, nosing behind the other man’s ear. He sucked an earlobe between his lips and nibbled. The action was rewarded with a full body shiver. 

Hands slipped between the wall and Shouto’s back, pulling him close to the lanky hero. Their hearts beat erratically, thumping against one another as they finally shuffled into the sanctuary that was Hanta’s bedroom. Careful not to trip over anything, they finally collapsed on the platform bed with a thump.

With a few grunts and giggles, the sheets were pulled over them and Shouto was spooned against Hantas chest. One arm draped over the hot and cold hero’s stomach, the weight more of a comfort than anything Shouto had felt since he awoke from his nightmare.

Peace settled over them. Breaths evened out, hearts beat at a more relaxed rate. One of Hanta’s feet slipped between Shouto’s, his toes caressing the bony appendage.

The dull sound of a car passing by outside their apartment barely disturbed the quiet settling between them. Fuzzy warmth covered them like a blanket, wrapped up in each other. But then Shouto stirred and broke the silence.

“That’s it?” He asked. 

“What do you mean?” Hanta asked sleepily. Now that he was back in bed, exhaustion took hold once more.

“I thought we were…I mean you were kissing me and it was-”

Hanta could hear the confusion in his voice. It was edging on hurt and the tone made his stomach twist. “Mmm, let me take you on a proper date first, kay?”

“Oh.” Shouto gasped. A long pause. “Can I still kiss you before then?”

“You can kiss me whenever you want, Sho,” the lanky man chuckled and squeezed his arm around the smaller man’s middle.

The bed shifted, sheets twisting as Shouto turned to face his bed partner. Though his eyes were closed, Hanta could feel the heat of each puff of breath, growing in intensity until Shouto’s lips landed on his. Warm and soft, far less tense than he had been in the kitchen. They melted into the kiss and Hanta laid his arm across Shouto’s back protectively. Fingers tangled in silky strands of red and white, massaging the base of Shouto’s skull. 

“Sweet dreams,” Hanta whispered against soft, swollen lips.

Shouto hummed softly and tucked himself into the lanky man’s chest. A gentle smile pulled at his lips as the hand in his hair slowed until it became completely still. Soft snores filled the room and the dual colored man was completely consumed by Hanta. Scent, touch, sound, everything led back to the hero he’d been crushing on for years. With mind blissfully blank of anything other than Hanta, he drifted off. Eventually, he’d learn how to make proper mochi. And when he did, Shouto would be sure to feed the first one to Hanta.

[andypantsx3]

𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑖 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 : 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑖 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 : 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑣

𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: In order to placate your anxious mother, you agree to return to your hometown to participate in a mating run—knowing full well that betas rarely get chased, never mind betas nearly old enough to age out of the practice. You’ve decided to treat it like a vacation, a chance to visit with your childhood friends, the mating run itself a nice relaxing hike.All in all it’s a solid plan—until alpha Todoroki Shouto, your best friend's little brother,steps in and blows it all to pieces. 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡: omegaverse, no quirks au, alpha!shouto, beta!reader, mating rituals, age gap, best friend’s little brother, older reader, afab reader, some class differences, aged up characters, semi-public sex, slight small town romance vibes, background implied dabihawks for some reason, smut, knotting, 18+; mdni! 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ: 7.6k | chapter 4 of 4

Then

“Shouto duty,” was the first thing Touya grumbled as he emerged from his house.

A little shadow with red and white hair peered out from behind him, big eyes staring up at you. Shouto was dressed in a periwinkle t-shirt and khaki shorts in the late spring heat, and he was nearly vibrating with excitement. You reached out reflexively to pat that fluff of hair, and Shouto seemed to lean into your touch like a cat, probably starved of affection from his fussy older brother.

“My lucky day,” you said, grinning at the way it made Touya roll his eyes.

Shouto nearly launched himself off the steps, looking quietly thrilled to be tagging along. He shoved himself in between you and Touya as you walked, as if unable to bear Touya’s proximity to you, making Touya bark out an annoyed, “Oi, watch it.”

Shouto ignored him, turning to you. “Y/N, I have something to tell you.”

You looked down at him curiously. “What?”

“I lost a tooth,” he said, staring up at you seriously. You laughed, knowing most kids would have smiled to show off their tooth gap, but Shouto had always been a little bit more withdrawn, though he was fairly open around you.

“When?” you asked, ignoring Touya’s scoff. “Did the tooth fairy come?”

Shouto nodded. “Last night. I am adding the money to my inheritance for you.”

That made you laugh again, and you bumped his shoulder. “You’re a good kid, Shouto. I think you should buy yourself something with it though. Especially in this weather—it’s good popsicle weather.”

Shouto looked like he was seriously considering this. “Do you like popsicles?”

You nodded. “Definitely.”

He seemed to pocket that information, and you hid a fond smile. That kid was too sweet for his own good, when it came to you. You wondered when his little case of older-brother’s-friend worship would end. You hoped not for another few years, at least.

“Fucking finally,” Touya said when he caught sight of Rumi and Keigo at the end of his neighborhood, his booted steps growing faster, as if eager to get away from the two of you.

You didn’t mind—Shouto was easy company.

“Oi!” Keigo called out to you, waving a skinny arm. You accompanied Shouto over, watching with a little bit of self-satisfaction when Shouto ducked a hair ruffle from Rumi, the look on his face almost reminiscent of Touya.

You were still his favorite, it seemed.

The usual round of arguments commenced about what to play now that all of you were united, Touya snottily vetoing everyone’s suggestions—except, notably, Keigo’s. Eventually you settled on hide and seek, something Shouto could participate in too, since it didn’t involve convoluted rules, and established a set distance you could go.

Finally Shouto was dubbed the first seeker, and the rest of you took off into the surrounding neighborhood.

You immediately beelined for the sprawling oak at the edge of the neighborhood, its thick, leafy branches the perfect place to conceal yourself. Touya, Keigo, and Rumi had long caught on to the fact that you were almost always to be found up a tree, but Shouto hadn’t played this game with you before.

Thirty seconds and one bark-scraped palm later had you settled in your hiding place, just as you caught Shouto’s shout from afar, “Ready or not, here I come!”

You quieted your breath, listening for the sound of his approach. This late in spring, the cicadas were already roaring. The leaves rustled around you in the breeze and you could hear some other band of kids shrieking and laughing, far in the distance.

It was nearing ten minutes on by the time you heard the thump of Shouto’s sneakers approaching, and you could just make out that distinct mop of bright hair through the branches. He poked around behind bushes, peering at eye level, but didn’t seem to think to look up for you. You watched him hunt through the surrounding area, then dash off when you heard a distinctly Keigo squawk not too far away.

You were nearly asleep on your tree branch when you heard his return, and you sat up quietly to watch him again. You were impressed that he seemed to know you were somewhere nearby.

As you watched him rifle around, you wondered if you should drop a hint, just because he’d been so sweet to you earlier. He’d been so adorable insisting he’d save you his tooth money.

You deliberately rustled a branch, leaning on it so it made a loud creak.

Immediately, Shouto’s head snapped up. Two mismatched eyes narrowed in on you, and his face seemed to brighten when he saw you. A small smile quirked the corner of his mouth.

“Caught you,” he called up to you.

You stuck a leg down tauntingly. “Not yet.”

Something passed over Shouto’s face, and his gaze seemed to sharpen. “I have, too.” You could almost hear a foot stamp in his voice.

You grinned. “Not until I get down.”

A determined look settled across Shouto’s features, and he prowled over to the tree. You watched him jump for a lower branch, catching it securely before hefting himself up. His arms were skinny, but his movements were sure, intent. In no time at all you were helping lever him onto your own branch, pulling him up alongside you.

“I caught you,” Shouto repeated, settling a proprietary hand on your arm. His hand was warm, and his fingers caught your wrist tightly.

You smiled. “I let you catch me by making all that noise, you mean.”

A tiny frown pulled at Shouto’s mouth. “I knew you were around here,” he said, something almost like a pout in his voice.

You laughed. “I did notice you came back. Those are some good tracking skills—although don’t forget to look up. I’m usually always up a tree, when it comes to hide and seek, and Touya and the others I think have caught on too. They’re probably up their own trees somewhere.”

“I do not care about finding them,” Shouto said. His straightforward tone startled a laugh out of you.

You settled back against the branch, Shouto still gripping your arm firmly. “Should we let them wait, then?” you asked, grinning. “I bet Rumi will come out on her own pretty soon, she’s so impatient.”

Shouto nodded. “I will stay here with you.”

The sincerity of the statement warmed you, the way Shouto’s serious little proclamations always did. He was too sweet for this earth. “Then shall we discuss which popsicle you’re going to get later? I have some recommendations.”

Shouto nodded seriously, and you launched into your nonsense, pleased. The leaves rustled around you, the breeze cool and pleasant against your skin. It felt like time stretched out around you, thick like taffy, slow and lazy and easy in the late spring breeze.

You thought absently that wished you could have a million more moments, Shouto the easiest company beside you, just like this.

Now

The morning of the run dawned warm and dry, sunny with a light breeze.

It was perfect hiking weather, and that was the only thing that kept you in good spirits. You tried not to think about Shouto—about how he was going after someone today, how you’d possibly seen him for the last time before he did. He’d said he’d find your tree, but there was really no guarantee his omega was going to run in the same direction as you.

You ate breakfast on the couch with your mother, listening to her excitedly chatter about your prospects today. You hammed it up a little bit, pretending you had any interest in being chased by an alpha, so that you could milk it later and avoid promises to commit to next year’s run. You hoped it would be enough of a deterrent for her—every year you grew older without a mate, she seemed more desperate to find you one.

You repacked your bags, readying yourself to board your train back to the city tomorrow, feeling mournful. Then you spent the rest of the morning finishing up the small things your mother had let go while you were gone, YouTubing your way through a door knob repair, and some weather stripping replacements. You lifted her air-conditioning into the window, swearing and sweating the whole time and wishing you had even a fraction of Shouto’s easy alpha strength.

After everything was finished, you packed up for the run, placing all your snacks and the sandwich Shouto had helped assemble into a small backpack, stuffing in a water and a book after. Then you scrounged around in your clean laundry for some hiking clothes, settling on leggings and a tee-shirt, no reason to try to impress anyone.

It was late morning by the time you ducked out of your house and started the trek to the preserve on the edge of town. Throngs of people were already gathered when you got there, alphas and omegas alike crowding the entrance. An overwhelming mixture of scents washed over you, the sweetness and florals of the omegas, the tang and spice of the alphas, even the small muted underwash of a few betas.

The overstimulation was nostalgic, and brought to mind your first few runs—the anticipatory hope you felt, the determination not to get caught for some one-time mating with an alpha who wouldn’t prove to be your life mate. It had been years, and you knew the outcome already this time, but some small thrill of anticipation thrummed in your veins regardless.

You kept to the edge of the crowd, sprawling out on the grass until the organizers called for the omegas and running betas to come forward to their starting mark. The alphas and remaining betas would be called to the mark a half hour later, to follow their intended targets into the preserve.

Then the whistle was being blown, and the crowd of omegas around you surged into the forest.

The first hundred meters of the preserve were a tangle of wild trees and overgrowth—omegas typically stayed on the trails until the forest opened up, several paths intersecting and leading away into hills and towards a pond, with the last one stretching towards the coast. This was your usual route and you followed it until the trees thinned out, then stepped off the path to tromp through the woods in the direction of the coastline.

You kept a brisk pace, wanting to get as far in as you could before the alphas were let in. Eventually the spruces and firs gave way to mostly coastal scrub pines amid tall grass, and you could smell the ocean through the trees, hear the crash of the waves against the rocky outcroppings.

You stepped out of the woods along a small coastal path that stretched for miles, and followed it a few minutes more until it flattened out. There was a small meadow laid into the coastline, spanning several square meters of pale seagrass and flowering bushes, shaded by an enormous willow tree—your target.

The meadow had a beautiful view of the shining blue waves through the barren scrub trees, but more importantly it was out of the way, little known to people who did not frequent the coastline trails. The willow was the perfect cover, its trailing fingers and dense greenery more than enough to hide one disinterested beta.

You ducked through the leaves, latching onto one of the lower branches and heaving yourself up. It had been years since you’d climbed anything—the city not exactly chalk-full of great climbing trees—but you were pleased to find it just as satisfying. You scrambled up into the canopy, testing your weight against your designated branch, finding it still held you easily.

Perfect.

You immediately rewarded yourself with a granola bar, settling onto your branch and chewing contentedly, pleased with the temperature. The sun was hot, but in the shade of the leaves and the salty breeze drifting in off the sea, it was perfectly comfortable.

You’d just gotten out your book to read, flipping to the spot you’d last left off at, when the chirp of nearby birds stopped. The meadow seemed to grow quiet around you.

You sat up, alert, at the soft tread of a bootfall close by. Your breath froze in your lungs. An omega, looking for a place to hide? Or some alpha?

Except then a long-fingered hand parted the hanging tendrils of the willow, and a familiar head of scarlet and white hair was ducking inside the canopy.

Embarrassingly, your heart swelled. Shouto had made time to stop in before finding his omega.

“Shouto!” you shouted down, pleased.

Shouto’s face tipped up to you, a tiny smile on his mouth. He looked especially good today, you thought, a navy tee shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, baring the flesh of his biceps, a flush on his cheeks from the warm spring sun. He looked a little taken apart, windswept like he’d run here, and you furiously stamped down on the flash of heat in your tummy.

Nope. No.

“Y/N,” Shouto intoned quietly, his eyes glittering up at you. “Caught you.”

You were momentarily taken aback by the sound of something unfamiliar in his tone, some strange intensity in his voice and expression. It sounded almost like it meant something to find you here, something more than a momentary pitstop on his way to his omega—but of course that was ridiculous.

You waved down at him, smiling and sticking a leg down tauntingly like when you were kids. “Not yet.”

Shouto’s eyes narrowed, a flash of something predatory tinging his handsome features.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed to the tree, dense muscle coiling and pulling beneath his tee shirt as he pulled himself up. This time he needed none of your help, moving with a panther-like grace. He pulled himself onto the branch immediately below yours, close enough that it put him at eye level with the bottom of your chin.

Then he reached out and snared your ankle in one large, warm hand, a smug sort of glint in his eye. The follow up caught you went unspoken.

Another laugh bubbled up out of you. “Alright alright, this time you got me,” you agreed, flexing your ankle in his hold.

Shouto’s mouth turned up, clearly pleased, but he did not let go. A thumb stroked softly along the hollow beneath your ankle bone. A surprised shiver caught you, sliding up your spine.

“You, um, got here so quick,” you said, trying to think past the sudden fuzz of static in your brain. You hoped your voice sounded impressed and not embarrassingly breathy. “Did you at least note which way your life mate went?”

Shouto’s head tilted, his bangs falling into his eyes as his thumb petted across your skin again. “I did.”

You nodded approvingly, tensing against another shudder. “Did they come out this way? You’re probably the first alpha to make it out here but you won’t want to waste too much time.”

Shouto’s mouth twitched, those heterochromatic eyes trailing down your face. “No time spent with you is a waste.”

That made your face warm. You tried to prod him with your foot, but Shouto’s grip was firm. “You’re going to want to save the charm for your life mate, mister.”

“I am,” he said simply, tone sincere.

You felt your brow furrow—now what was that supposed to mean?—when suddenly Shouto leaned forward, abandoning his grip on your ankle. His hands found the branch at either side of your hip, trapping you inside his reach. You stared down at him, stunned with his sudden proximity.

You felt suddenly a little caged in, your breath pulling up short. What was he—?

“Will you come down to me?” Shouto asked, eyes intent on yours.

The ask felt significant, though you had no idea how. And he was so close, so focused on you.

But you had no clue exactly what he would need you to come down for. Maybe he wanted to split lunch or something? You had your sandwich in your bag, and it would be easier on the ground, you supposed.

Although Shouto probably shouldn’t go running around on too full a stomach, especially if he—with his omega, after—if they…

You found you couldn’t think it, your mind shying away like you’d prodded a nerve.

Really, Shouto should be going soon, before any ranging alphas made it this far out and sniped his life mate before he got to them.

With that thought, however, some selfish thing recoiled inside of you. You desperately craved just a few more minutes with him—this achingly familiar boy, this mind-numbingly beautiful man—before he wasn’t really yours to think of anymore. These were the last few moments you’d get to spend with him before everything changed. It took less than a second to make up your mind.

“Yeah,” you said, smiling. “I’ll come down.”

You shifted, gathering your backpack and maneuvering off your branch carefully. Shouto gave you just enough space to get down, a hand finding your waist as you steadied yourself. He shadowed you down, close at your back to make sure you didn’t slip.

He was acting the consummate gentleman—but there was a strange tension about him, something about the way he moved and the intensity with which he was trailing you. There was something expectant about it, something almost impatient.

Maybe he needed you to hurry up so he could get going. That was probably it.

You turned to your backpack as soon as he guided you safely to the ground. You’d barely gotten it unzipped, however, when Shouto suddenly crowded into your space, startling you.

You stumbled a reflexive step back, breath whooshing out of you when your back connected with the trunk of the willow. Shouto followed, still watching you with that unnerving intensity.

His fingers dipped under your chin, softly turning your face up to his. His gaze was serious—more solemn than you had ever seen him. You went still in his grasp, heartbeat rabbiting in your chest.

What was with him today?

“Shouto,” you said slowly. “Are you… alright?”

Shouto leaned down, pressing his forehead to yours. His slow exhale ghosted over your mouth, thumb stroking across your jaw. It sent a swarm of shudders down your spine, and you suddenly weren’t breathing at all.

“I have dreamed of this moment a thousand times,” Shouto said, his tone reverent. It was almost a whisper.

His tone implied there was something incredibly significant about this moment, but you could not for the life of you think of what. Especially not with his face so close, clouding up your thoughts.

You felt your brow furrow against his, and you opened your mouth to ask him what on earth he could be talking about.

Except before you could, Shouto’s hands took either side of your face. And then he bent his head—and pressed his mouth to yours.

All higher thought immediately evacuated your brain, leaving only a sudden zing of panic and the horrible, wonderful excitement of Shouto’s mouth on yours, of Shouto’s strong body so close to yours. Rough bark scraped against your back as Shouto’s front slotted warm and firm against your chest, and the feeling of all that strength pressed so tightly to you made you dizzy.

“Sho–-? Whuh—?” you said, slightly muffled into his mouth.

But Shouto only took the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth, soft and wet and so unbelievably hot your brain short circuited. Every single nerve ending in your body lit up as you realized Todoroki Shouto had his tongue in your mouth, and that he was kissing you so thoroughly and meticulously it felt as though this was the last kiss he’d ever be allowed. You heard yourself let out a gasp that turned into an embarrassing moan as he pressed harder against you, pinning you between himself and the tree.

Your mind felt like it was melting, Shouto’s mouth doing terrible things to your thoughts’ coherence. Your hands went to his shoulders, and you found yourself opening up to him, every inch of your skin hot. Every flick of his tongue, every brush of his lips felt better than you could have ever imagined, and you were helpless to do anything but let him have you.

Your thoughts were a puddle when Shouto finally let your mouth free. All you could do was stare up at him, shocked.

“Y/N,” Shouto said, his eyes searching your face. “You came down for me.”

His handsome face wore an expression you hadn’t ever seen before as he regarded you, something almost—possessive? His hands had slid to your waist, his touch hot through the material of your shirt.

Your brain swam. Words, what were words? “I—? Uh, yes—?”

Shouto seemed to understand you weren’t getting his point. “‘If I’m not an alpha, and I have to hide somewhere, I’m going to find the best tree in the preserve and go up it and not come down until I find my life mate,’” he said.

It sounded like a quote, and it took you an embarrassingly long moment to realize it was something you had said, years and years and years ago, when you were both kids.

Was he saying—? But that was absurd. No, there was no way. You hadn’t—he wasn’t—

“But you’re Shouto,” you groped around your thoughts for logic and reasoning. “You’re Shouto.”

Shouto watched you patiently, a white eyebrow raising slightly.

“You can’t mean—?” you sputtered. “No. You’re Touya’s baby brother. I’m too old for you. The first time I held you, you were a baby.”

Shouto pressed impossibly closer to you, a long-fingered hand winding its way into yours. “I am not a child, Y/N. And you are not that much older than I.”

You struggled to think through the feeling of his body pressed to yours. You knew it. You knew he wasn’t a child. But all the same, you’d spent long enough telling yourself he’d been meant for someone else. Long enough convinced that you were too old for him.

Long enough that you were absolutely certain this had to be a mistake.

“You’re off limits,” you told him, trying to press him back. Shouto did not budge, however, as solid as stone under your hand.

“You are my life mate,” he said. He raised your joined hands to his mouth, kissing over your knuckles. An electric jolt went through you at the feeling of that mouth on you again, firm and warm. “I have known my whole life. I am off limits to all but you.”

A storm of emotion churned in your gut, everything from guilt to disbelief to pleasure to relief. To hear it said so plainly, after all this time—you are my life mate—by a man who was already so beloved to you. By a boy you’d loved as a friend, a man who you wanted to love as more.

But you couldn’t—he had to deserve better.

“I won’t take advantage of you,” you insisted.

A small smile pulled at Shouto’s mouth. “I am not a child. And I am an alpha besides. Your alpha.”

You fought down a furious flush.

“But Shouto there’s so many things–!” you insisted. Beyond being older than him, beyond being a staple in his life since he was young. You were quickly realizing so many of the promises he’d made when he was younger, he actually meant.

“Your inheritance—I never meant to accept that from you for real. And your family, they would not like that I—”

The rest of your words were muffled in Shouto’s mouth, as he bent his head and kissed you again. A flick of his tongue turned even that into a muffled squeak instead. Why was he so good at this?

“Much of my family understands what it means to pursue something singularly,” Shouto said against your lips. “What it means to give everything you have in service of pursuit.”

Your stomach flipped. The Todoroki single-mindedness that you had been convinced had skipped right over Shouto. Suddenly years of solemn watchfulness over you, years of following you like a shadow, years of sharing all his toys and his thoughts and promising to take care of you—it all made a terrible, perfect sort of sense.

Single-mindedness. But not as destruction, as Enji’s and Touya’s had been. As devotion—as thoughtfulness, something so uniquely Shouto you wanted to cry.

God how had you missed this?

You rallied yourself for one last defense.

“Shouto. At the very least you need to consider if you’re making a mistake. Alpha-beta couplings are nontraditional—maybe your senses are off here. Maybe because I’m a beta and I was around when your brain was still forming and you liked me then it feels like there’s something but—”

Shouto’s grip on you flexed, and suddenly his determined expression flickered, a crease forming between those perfect brows.

“Do you see me as a child still?” he asked.

You shook your head. Not since you’d seen him prowl across the Todoroki kitchen, miles of sleek muscle flexing, that perfect campfire scent fogging your brain, tall and gorgeous and unmistakably alpha. And especially not since you’d come to understand the expanse of his life—the home he’d made, the job he had, the goals he’d taken.

“Then do you… not want me?” he asked.

Your heart immediately sank, aching with the soft flicker of hurt that crept across his features.

Your hands had shot out to hold his face before you knew what you were doing.

“Shouto, of course I want you,” you found yourself saying. “Who wouldn’t want you? You are perfect. You are so kind and have always been so good. You are sweet and funny and so beautiful it hurts to look at. Of course I want you. But I don’t want to hurt you—”

“Then say yes,” Shouto insisted.

God you wanted to. You wanted to. You had been so jealous this whole week, you realized, of whoever his life mate was going to be.

The realization crashed into you like a wave, knocking you off balance. You wanted all of Shouto’s time, all of his attention, wanted to curl up in his apartment on that plush couch with him and all but bodily fuse to him, never to come apart again. You wanted to spend a million afternoons cooking in that kitchen, running lunches to him at the firehouse, kissing him, laughing with him, indulging in him—in how kind and sweet and good he’d always been.

Your face must have said it all, because Shouto was crowding back into you.

“I am going to be so good to you, Y/N,” he promised, his mouth drawing closer.

You shivered. Some part of you still felt like you needed to resist him, needed to make him see. But the other part of you, the largest part, wanted to melt in his embrace. Wanted to let him kiss you and kiss him back, wanted to thread your fingers in that fluff of hair and sink into the relief of his companionship.

Shouto hammered the final nail into your coffin with the unerring precision of a boy who’d known you for twenty years.

“Trust me to take good care of you,” he said, his voice dipping to a low whisper.

And that was it—the refrain from all those years ago, before you’d ever understood what he was promising you. Even if you were uncertain about everything else, you would always be certain about Shouto’s care. Shouto’s inherent goodness.

Surrendering, you let yourself fall.

“I do,” you told him. “I trust you. I—always will.”

Then you closed your eyes and let him kiss you.

You could feel Shouto’s soft smile against your mouth, feel a renewed intensity in the way he poured himself into you with his next kiss. You almost sagged against him in sheer relief—the relief of knowing, against all odds, that your life mate had found you even across the years that had threatened to separate you.

Shouto kissed you with a startling vigor, leaving you breathless against the willow when he moved down to your neck, pulling your tee shirt wide to suck several very insistent markings into the hollow of your throat.

You leaned into the rough bark as he mapped his way lower, and lower, only startling when he dropped to his knees before you, pressing his face into the crease of your hip.

Your heart shot into your mouth, a shock of heat licking up your spine. “Shouto!” you stammered.

Shouto only uttered your name into the fabric of your leggings, the material thin enough that you could feel the heat of his exhalation on your skin. One of his hands came up to take your calf, the other creeping up into the band of your leggings, carefully pulling it down.

You watched him as he did, stomach fluttering.

He gently helped you step out of your leggings and panties, leaving you bare and vulnerable to him. You would have been more embarrassed if it wasn’t for the way his eyelashes fluttered appreciatively, and the immediate way he ducked his head to press his mouth right to your core.

You muffled a moan into your palm, thunking your head against the tree trunk.

You could feel Shouto’s slow smile as he hefted your thigh over his shoulder, hands grasping your waist. “Mine,” you heard him utter, soft and low, before licking right over you, possessive and deliberate. It made every inch of your skin flush hot, every nerve ending come to life under his mouth.

You could still hardly believe what was happening, even as you muffled more sounds into your palm as Shouto worked you, with the attentive diligence he’d always done everything when it came to you. You could feel those mismatched eyes on you, cataloging your every reaction to what he did.

He learned all too quickly exactly what you liked, and you were a writhing mess within minutes. Shouto pinned you to the tree with an iron arm across your stomach as you arched and screamed, not letting up until you’d come against his mouth, chanting his name like an oath.

He looked very pleased with himself when you were done, his hair ruffled from your hand, face flushed.

He looked too good to be real.

“I want—Shouto, please—” you said, nearly incoherent but apparently utterly shameless now that he’d had you.

Shouto got to his feet to kiss you again and you flushed when you could taste yourself on his mouth. “Come home with me,” he murmured, tone low.

“You don’t want—?” you said.

Shouto shook his head. “Not here. I’ve imagined this a thousand times, how I wanted it to happen. I’ve thought about what you deserve. I’ve thought about how I will not want to separate, after, not even to take you back home. Come home with me first.”

Fire spread across your cheeks at the idea of Shouto imagining it with you, over and over again. The way he said home, like it was both of yours.

“Okay. Okay yes,” you said, breathless.

Shouto helped you back into your leggings and gathered up your abandoned pack, which you’d apparently dropped and forgotten entirely the moment he’d kissed you. He held your hand in his the whole way back through the woods, occasionally cocking his head or scenting the air, and then taking a long detour around some place, like he didn’t want to share your presence with whoever else was in the woods.

The walk was long, but so easy in Shouto’s company, even with this new dimension of your relationship settling itself between you two. It was frighteningly easy, in fact, after everything.

You talked about everything and nothing, reliving the entire week together, Shouto sharing that he’d hoped you’d see him as a man, had taken the time right up until the run to try to be sure. Ears flaming, you’d shared that you’d been gone for him the moment you’d seen him in the doorway of the kitchen. Shouto’s smug look immediately mopped up any of the reflexive embarrassment you felt sharing that.

By the time you made it to Shouto’s you’d also managed to shoot a text off to your mother, and an emergency extension of your time off to your workplace.

Shouto was on you as soon as the door shut behind you, catching your noise of surprise in his mouth.

Your arms came around him, and he walked you back to his couch, following you down onto it and laying himself out over you. The weight of him made you shiver again, the heaviness of all that muscle anchoring you down.

Shouto kissed you absolutely boneless into the cushions of his couch, hands wandering everywhere, skimming under your shirt, calluses catching on the fabric of your leggings. Everywhere he touched felt like it was on fire, your nerves singing with pleasure. Shouto seemed to be trying to take his time with you, but you could sense something underneath that, his usual layers of patience eroded.

Feeling brave, you let your hands wander to the buttons of his pants, working them open. Shouto’s breath left him in a hiss as you wrapped your hand around him, feeling him hard and hot and velvet smooth in your palm.

“Ah… fffuck, love,” he muttered into your neck. He chased it with the soft scrape of his teeth, groaning when it made your grip tighten on him reflexively.

His hips flexed, sliding him through your fingers, flush and full. Butterflies fluttered to life in your stomach, and a hot streak of arousal licked up your spine. Your own hips shifted, lifting up into him, and you realized with a sudden desperation that you wanted him inside you, didn’t want to wait another second.

“Shouto please, please, please,” you found yourself babbling, stroking firmly down the shaft of him.

Shouto’s eyes were dark when they found yours again. “Anything, I would give you anything,” he said, his voice tight.

“I want you inside of me, please,” you said, your face burning with the admission.

The sheer elation flashing across his handsome face quelled any more embarrassment. In what felt like barely a breath, Shouto had you bare to him once more, flinging your leggings and shirt somewhere towards his kitchen. He covered you again, fitting himself between your thighs with another appreciative groan before pressing in.

You were so wild with want that he slid home easily, despite his impressive size. His skin burned hot against yours, and he felt so perfectly right over you, inside of you, that you had to fight down something like a sob.

Shouto looked equally as overwhelmed, staring at your face rapturously. “I have loved you my whole life,” he said, his tone wondering. “You are finally mine.”

Your entire body went hot with his declaration. You had not realized until today that you loved him too. But now that you did, it felt like everything made sense, that all was finally right.

You managed to gasp out as much between Shouto’s thrusts, as his hips bucked into yours, slowly at first, and then faster, more sure. He kissed you everywhere—your face, your neck, your shoulders, layering in soft bites like he could not help himself.

“Say it,” he groaned, mouthing at the underside of your jaw. “Please say it.”

“I love you,” you said. A yelp escaped you when Shouto suddenly seized you around the waist, rolling you on top of him and holding you to him as he levered the two of you upright. The position in his lap only made him sink deeper inside of you, and you hissed with the feeling, your fingernails digging into his back.

“Ah, fuck—Shouto!” you cried.

Shouto’s hands on your waist guided you with an easy strength—your head spun with the reminder of his power, the reminder that you had an alpha—your alpha—inside of you.

“Going to take good care of you,” he panted into your hair, pausing to kiss the shell of your ear even as the snap of his hips undid you. “Going to take such good care of you.”

Your fingers flexed on him, and you could feel your toes curl. You did not know what to do with all of the emotion welling up inside you, the well of your pleasure almost overflowing. He ground up into you, making your eyes nearly roll back in your head, and you fought down a scream when the pad of his thumb pressed to your clit, heightening every sensation.

“Oh Shouto, please—” was all you could manage.

Shouto looked enraptured, drinking in every change in your expression. As you squirmed and writhed under his touch, you felt him start to swell inside of you.

Both apprehension and arousal swirled inside of you, a beta’s body a little less adapted to knotting than an omega’s. But the firm circle Shouto’s thumb was drawing on your clit, and the low murmur of his voice in your ear, began to drown out any other thought.

“I have you, love,” Shouto said. His mouth dragged across your throat, leaving a sucking bruise along the column. Your nails scrabbled at his back as he swelled even further inside of you, starting to catch on your walls and make it harder to press back down on him.

“I have you,” Shouto said again, his voice rough with pleasure. The reassurance that he did, and the knowledge that he was barely managing his own pleasure struck you like a bolt of lightning. Something inside you unraveled and came loose, and you muffled a cry into Shouto’s broad shoulder as your orgasm slammed into you like a tidal wave.

A low swear escaped Shouto, and his knot swelled even further. His hands suddenly seized tight on either side of your waist, holding you down on him as he thrust up into you. You felt a sort of pressure you’d never anticipated, so overwhelming it was nearly painful—but then Shouto’s knot slid into you.

Shouto groaned into your neck, biting down hard. You writhed over him, your pleasure wringing you out until finally you slumped against him, shivering. Shouto eased back, propping himself up on the arm of the couch, you stuck to his chest like a sweat-slicked barnacle.

“That was—so much more intense than I ever imagined,” you said, when you’d recovered your faculty for human language.

You could feel the curve of Shouto’s smile against your neck. “For I, as well,” he said. “Though I had imagined it a great many times—we still have many other fantasies I intend to live out.”

You were embarrassed to feel yourself tighten around him. Shouto hissed, leaning back to pin you with a look—then looked more smug than you’d ever seen him.

“Like that, do you, love?” he asked.

The pet name made your ears heat, and you couldn’t help but pinch him. “You used to be so sweet, when did you get this fresh?” you demanded.

“Fresh is the least of what I intend to get with you,” Shouto informed you seriously. “I take my duties as a child bride very seriously.”

Your jaw dropped open, and you pressed back from him, gasping when it shifted him inside you. “You—! You heard—?”

Shouto’s smile was far too handsome and self-satisfied to be allowed. “That is when I knew I stood a chance.”

Your face burned. You couldn’t believe him. “You’re a menace.”

Shouto leaned into a press a kiss over where he’d sunk his teeth into you, butterfly-light. The touch of his mouth was warm and his campfire scent washed over you, fuzzing your thoughts. His mouth moved up to catch yours, and you let him kiss you until you realized you’d started to squirm in his lap again.

Several minutes later he had you coming on his knot again, locked against him and muffling the sounds of your pleasure into his neck.

He looked, if possible, even more satisfied, and you lifted a hand to thread through the strands of his hair, silky and damp.

“I can’t believe this is real,” you said, several orgasms having made you loose-tongued. You rubbed a strand of his hair between the pads of your fingers.

Shouto turned his head to drop a kiss to the base of your palm. “We have time enough to make you believe it, love.”

Another butterfly took wing in your stomach at the pet name. You wondered if you’d ever get used to hearing him say it.

“I’ll have to figure out my work—I don’t know if they’d let me work remotely all the way from here?” you said, thoughts suddenly shifting. You sort of doubted your company would make the exception for you, and a pang shot through your heart at the idea that you might have to leave Shouto to work in the city on weekdays. At least until you found another job, which might take months to arrange.

You did not want to be separated from him, now that you’d let yourself have him.

A hand caught your chin, thumb smoothing along your jaw. “I do not think you will have enough time,” Shouto said, a slim brow raising slightly. “What with the bookstore opening.”

You stared at him, wondering if you’d just had some sort of auditory hallucination.

“The—what?” you asked.

“The bookstore opening,” Shouto said. His mouth made the shape of the words exactly, and so it could not be that you’d hallucinated. But—

“What bookstore?” you asked.

Shouto’s mouth pressed into a deliberately flat line like he was trying not to smile.

“Yours. Downstairs,” he clarified—which did not clarify at all.

Your mouth dropped open against his fingers, your eyebrows shooting for the moon. “My—? Downstairs—?”

Your mind scanned back over the events of the last twenty-four hours, the first time you’d caught sight of the shop downstairs again as you’d followed Shouto home. The way it seemed so well-maintained, the windows glinting crystal-clear in the soft evening light. Your eyes reflexively dipped to the blonde wood of Shouto’s floor, the very same that had been installed across the floor of the shop, and an understanding suddenly dawned on you.

“I remember everything you have ever told me,” Shouto had said when you mentioned you’d been in love with the shop downstairs.

“No way,” was what left your mouth as you glanced back up at Shouto, disbelief rising.

Shouto was watching you carefully, his handsome face serious. “Your name is on the deed.”

A wellspring of emotion rose up inside you like a geyser, and you slammed yourself back into Shouto, throwing your arms around his shoulders. “Shouto—I. You didn’t need to—there’s no way I can accept—this is incredible, you’re incredible—but I’d be taking advantage—I can’t—”

A warm, long-fingered hand slid up your spine to rest on the back of your head, holding you against him. “I have always been yours,” Shouto murmured. “Everything I have has always been yours. If it is too much now, we can wait. But I, and everything I have, will always be yours.”

You blinked, embarrassed to realize you’d started dripping tears into Shouto’s shoulder. Shouto didn’t say anything, fingers petting through your hair as you tried to fight the emotion down.

“I promised to take good care of you, and I intend to,” he said. Pressed against him, you could feel the way the words rumbled in his chest.

You closed your eyes and shoved your face in his neck, letting him hold you to him. Everything about today felt too good to be true, but you knew with absolute certainty that Shouto had always been too good to be true, himself. And yet you’d told him you trusted it, when he said he’d take care of you.

And you did—you realized you would always trust it, trust the beautiful boy you’d known all your life.

“I’ll need to pay you back on your investment,” you said some minutes later, when you finally found your voice again. You leaned back to look Shouto in the face, trying not to be embarrassed about the drying tear tracks.

“There is no need,” he said, eyes finding yours.

You realized you were still in his lap, though his knot had softened, and you thought you might be able to separate now.

But now you had other plans—and an investment you wanted to enthusiastically return.

“I insist,” you said, leaning forward to mouth at Shouto’s neck.

You caught the flash of his eyes widening, and his head fell back as a sharp breath left him. “I—see,” he said, his voice growing rough as you sucked a careful mark into the skin of his shoulder.

You smiled against his skin. “You will,” you promised, feeling bolder than ever. It felt like you were daring to believe it, that you’d found your life mate, that you really got to have him, that he’d loved you as long as he’d lived.

You wanted to return all those years of love, now that you loved him too.

“I’m going to take good care of you too,” you informed Shouto, hips already flexing over his.

You felt him start to grow hard inside of you again, and he turned his head to catch your mouth. You could feel his smile against your lips.

“I trust it,” he said, his voice dropping low.

You smiled too, grinning against your lifemate’s mouth, intent on proving yourself worthy of that trust.

Though perhaps that could wait until you’d delivered some of the many fantasies it sounded like he’d stored up. There was no reason to rush.

You had the rest of your life together, after all.

[shibaraki]

HELD BY YOU, FELLED BY YOU ┊ TODOROKI SHOUTO

tags: GN reader, developing relationship, physical affection, touch starved shouto, loneliness, hugs + hand holding, fluff, only a little angst, obliviousness, pro hero shouto, reader works at hero agency

wc: 1.4K

series masterlist: 1/5

It is 4:03pm on a Thursday afternoon. The skies are grey, and the rain is so light it’s practically a wet fog. You have not touched Shouto in any meaningful way since Monday.

Before this week Shouto was certain that he must have been absorbed into a long-standing state of neutrality and apathy as a child. He didn’t long for anything, atleast, not in the way his friends claimed to. Whiny professions of loneliness, lamenting over romantic relationships and sex or lack thereof, dreamily recounting their passionate escapades. It didn’t appeal much to him.

Shouto had what he needed to survive—to live his day to day and climb the ranks without disruption, and it seemed that affection was not one of those things. The Todoroki household had never been particularly affectionate anyway. After his mother was admitted to the psychiatric hospital touch became less associated with comfort and happiness, and more of a thing to avoid altogether.

Shouto never actually voiced an aversion to touch. He held hands with crying children as he walked them back to their parents. He rubbed the backs of countless scared victims, he let them wrap around his arm and squeeze until his fingers grew numb. He offered his left side to elderly folk in the colder weather as they waited to be loaded into an ambulance.

But these small instances were always initiated by him, and his well-meaning friends decided to leave the ball in his court sometime during highschool. It never really left.

Until—

“Can I hug you?” you blurted. Your expression quickly twisted into a sheepish grimace. “You look like you could do with one, is all”.

At that moment Shouto had been sitting in the infirmary half covered in soot and picking out the bits of rubble that managed to get inside his suit’s ventilator. He stared up at you and wondered what that would even look like on himself, lifting a hand to feel his face and finding it relatively normal.

The sound of his heart flooded his ears and he frowned at the reaction. You weren’t a new friend by any means, but Shouto scarcely made new friends so you are newer than the others. You’ve never tried to be physically affectionate but he’s caught you gazing at him fondly sometimes, when you think he’s none the wiser, and he likes it.

Shouto nodded. Why, he doesn’t know. To quell your anxiety and get rid of the awkward atmosphere, he reasoned. Then your lips pulled into a soft, pleased smile, and he felt it like the sun on his face.

You stepped forward as though approaching some skittish animal. Shouto made no move to stand. He had only watched with trepidation as your hands lifted. A breath caught in his throat as they extended to rest on his sloped shoulders. “I’ll get you dirty,” he murmured dumbly in afterthought.

“That’s okay,” you replied, barely above a whisper. Your arms slipped around his back gently, and soon tightened to a secure hold when no objection came—there could be none, because the instant Shouto’s cheek pressed against your soft stomach, a rush of adrenaline speared through him and swept away all conscious thought.

To Shouto touch was like skipping a rock through the cavity in his chest; doing it only ever made its presence more obvious. But you cradled him there for what seemed like hours and he felt warm in ways he couldn’t articulate. Your fingers danced aimless patterns along the top of his spine, sometimes pausing to curl the wispy hair at his nape around them, and he sank.

True to his word, Shouto had dirtied your clothes. He apologised when you pulled away because it was all he could do not to whimper. You didn’t spare your shirt a glance—you just smiled at him again, and said you hoped it helped.

Helped? Helped?

The weight of your embrace had lingered for hours, cloven to the forefront of his mind, clinging to the memory before it became too obscure. Only now the memory hurt him to think about, and the pervasive ache for more intensified as the days passed.

Just this morning he’d wrapped his bedsheets tight and drew them around his shoulders to simulate that same feeling. Closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, picturing you there. Your sweet, purposeful touches. Your comforting scent. Your chest rising and falling. Your voice rumbling against his cheek. Heat filled his body, like you’d reached inside and turned the spigot of his heart.

It was mortifying. And exhilarating.

Shouto stuck his hand out from the shelter of the awning and let the rain lick at his fingers. Overturning his wrist, catching them on the shallow of his palm, he contemplates how he can get you to touch him again.

Last time you said he simply looked like he needed it. Too frustrating and vague, not to mention Shouto has been needing it all week. You could have meant his grimy post-battle appearance, but he didn’t really think this should warrant being thrown from another high rise building. Maybe he has to earn it this time.

You’re standing beside him, too preoccupied by the emails on your phone to notice his dilemma. Things have been fine. No awkwardness on your part, which he should probably be pleased about, but his mind keeps veering beyond rational conjecture. Nothing had changed. Everything had changed. It all felt too one sided.

Shouto gives you a sidelong glance. You might be the only person he knows that can look alluring in the dreary afternoon light. With a sigh he lets his hand drop to his hip and wipes it on his dry suit.

Your thumbs move fast across the screen. “Sorry, Shouto. I promise I’m not ignoring you—just need to reply to this intern,” you tell him. “God, have I ever mentioned how much I hate the email software your agency uses? Because I do”.

He hums, “You have”.

Whatever you hear in his voice has you looking up. There’s a crease etched in your brow, expression open and apologetic. Your gaze flickers to the hand held to his front, where he’s working out the static in his knuckles.

“Are you cold?” you ask, pocketing your phone. It’s a silly question. He is a walking furnace. But Shouto is statuesque as you reach to cup his distinctly bigger hand with your own. Heat prickles under his skin. The staccato of his heart kicks up. You lean down to exhale a warm breath over his fingers, and stroke your thumb along the dips and peaks of his knuckles.

Shouto sends a mental apology to Kaminari for the halfhearted response he gave after a long, lovestruck monologue about his girlfriend’s hands. He thinks he gets it, now.

Your lips curl into a satisfied smile. “Better?” you scan his face and the smile falters. “Shit. Sorry, Shouto. I should’ve asked,” then you’re retreating again and—

He reflexively grabs your wrist. It’s a loose grip, enough for you to free yourself from. You pause. “No,” a puff of steam billows out from his mouth and he has enough presence of mind to be embarrassed by it. “…It’s fine. You don’t have to stop”.

Your concern dwindles into amusement as he wafts it away. “Alright,” you say placatingly. The tension alleviates, and when your fingers slip against his you immediately twine them together, taking the ache in his chest with it. “Is this ‘fine’ too?”

Shouto nods, not yet trusting his voice or his quirk.

“I wasn’t sure if I crossed any lines on Monday,” your eyes dipped to stare at the pavement as you continued. “I know you aren’t touchy feely like the others. They were… surprised when I mentioned the hug”.

“I didn’t think I was,” he swallows, flexing his fingers to squeeze your hand. “I liked it”.

You squeeze back, “You did?”

Shouto squeezes harder, and can’t stop the smile coming unbidden to his lips. “I did,” he says.

You meet his gaze. He’s pinned by that fond look you always try to hide from him. “Do you want another one, then?”

“But I didn’t do anything”.

A litany of emotion passes over your face at his response. There’s determination in the purse of your lips as you step into his space, entangled hands caught between your bodies. Wrapping an arm around his waist, you tuck your nose into the hollow where his jaw met his neck.

There’s a clumsiness to his movements as he follows your lead and slips his arm around your back. Head suddenly too heavy for his neck, he rests his cheek on your crown, melting into the embrace.

“You don’t need to earn my affection, Shouto. Not now and not ever”.

“Oh,” Shouto breathes. “I can just ask?”

“You can,” you laugh softly.

Why hadn’t he thought to just—ask. That is far more reasonable than being flung from another burning high rise.

“What?”

Ah. He pulls you further into his chest until you’re pressed together like the pages of a book. “Nothing”.

[thatanimewriter]

STONE COLD.

➳ request: Hello! Can I ask for Tamaki, Shoto, Katsuki and Izuku with an s/o with a Medusa-type Quirk and who's parents are ex-villains? Thank you very much!

➳ character/s: amajiki tamaki, todoroki shouto, bakugou katsuki, midoriya izuku

➳ warnings: swearing, mentions of kidnapping (bakugou), mentions of assault (physical), mentions of injury

➳ notes: awww this actually turned out really cute, thanks for the requestt

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 / 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭  / 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 / 𝐰𝐢𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

──  𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐉𝐈𝐊𝐈 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈.

you scare him at the start

because ex-villain parents

and you got snakes for hair

but once he gets past all of that and sees you don’t reflect your parents behaviour much

he’s glued to you

don’t try to get rid of him, you’ll make him sad

every time you ate lunch with him, he would feed your snakes

while you’re dating, tamaki can’t help but feel sad that he can never see your eyes

cause you’re always wearing sunglasses or a blindfold

and it does bother him to no end, because he struggles to make eye contact with people

so that means that eye contact is extremely intimate for him

but he’ll never get to engage in such intimacy with you because he’ll be turned to stone ;v;

it’s ok, that’s why most people kiss with their eyes closed

DUH

he’ll give you all the kisses in private because he’s a lil touch starved

any bullies will get a tentacle slap

and a >:((( from tamaki

sometimes while tamaki is trying to talk to you, he gets distracted by a snake and then it becomes a conversation between the 3 of you

──  𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐈 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐎.

if it weren’t for the ex-villain parents

he’d be fine

he doesn’t care about the snake hair as much

you quickly proved yourself worthy though

and he just slurps soba while watching you from across the dorms

looks away when a snake stares at him in return

in a way it’s kinda good because i don’t think he can handle the embarrassment of you being the one to catch him

gatekeeps you from ENDEAVOR

you’re gonna get cancelled by him if he ever finds out n he’s not for that

he will use daddy’s money to get you new sunglasses though

sometimes he gets a sneak peak at your eyes from the side

but he’s not willing to test that any further and possibly get stoned for eternity

once y’all went on a crane game date at the arcade

and he found a snake plush that looked exactly like the snakes on your head

and he got 2

1 for him, 1 for you

he cuddles it when he can’t cuddle you instead

he also buys you guys matching sunnies

──  𝐁𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐆𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐈.

ICKY

he want nothin to do with VILLAINS

spits on your shoe (in his head)

eventually you get into his close social circle

don’t point out his silent arguments with your snakes

those facial expression conversations from his seat behind you

aizawa is giving him weird looks because wtf is he doing

bakugou reluctantly very eagerly makes food for your snakes as well as yourself

OK, AS MUCH AS HE LOVES YOU

he does do a background check on your parents and isn’t very impressed-

however, once you told him that it meant that if you ever got kidnapped or beaten up severely

they have CONNECTIONS

only then was bakugou somewhat ok with it

he’s still super protective of you though since you might’ve accidentally ended up on some mafia boss’ bad side through association

even if you can take your sunglasses off and just make them a statue on the spot

sometimes in the mornings if you’ve spent the night together

your snakes boop him with their snoots to wake him up

BUT EVEN YOU’RE NOT AWAKE YET??

──  𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐘𝐀 𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐔.

apprehensive at the start but otherwise chillin

not sure what you’re like because parents are a lil sketch

but he probably gave you the benefit of the doubt first

wrote a whole ass notes page for you

naturally

found that you were far from your parents through asking about your quirk

but he is a massive nerd

and he needs to know stuff about your past

so he found old news articles about your parents-

um

bit concerning with some of the stuff they’ve done such as physical assault on multiple people

but since they’re retired, he’s a lil less worried

he totally comes up with merch ideas for you

even though you’re still in high school

and CUDDLES

he might get a face full of snakes

but that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make

he gets kisses from them either way so is there really a sacrifice?

[envy-of-the-apple]

For the Naga AU with shouto, bakugou, Kirishima, and midoriya: In the original post it seems like the reader didn’t even know they considered her to be their mate, so I assume they’ve acted mostly platonic around her up until now. When would the pack shift to being more overtly romantic with her. Would they want the readers first time to be with all of them or would be willing to go one at a time? Would they wait for her to make the first move or would they choose to go a less consensual route to get what they want?

(warnings: yandere, mentioned kidnapping (?), i think?, brief implication of using hunger as a punishment)

Ohhhh good question! In that excerpt, I had the reader assume that the nagas didn't really think of her as a mate but rather a lesser species of their kind that just needed to be taken care of (like a pet). You just saw them as animals that were really into group cuddles and way too curious for their own good. Also, you were more used to human advances, rather than naga ones, so every time one of them rubbed their cheeks with yours, and bit you hard enough to draw blood, you just assumed it was an animal thing. In the beginning, despite being reluctant, you eventually give up on trying to evade their constant touches and let yourself be trapped in warm cocoons. I wasn't trying to be scientific for nagas (a mystical half-snake half-human being), but it'd be cool for all of them to be cold-blooded. Before you arrived, I bet the caves they stayed in got really cold so having a portable heat pad that only whines a little when they catch it, isn't really a bad idea. You saw it as a trade at first, body heat, in exchange for food and protection.

I don't think their tactics change a lot after it's revealed that they really really want you to stay. Eijirou is the touchiest out of all of them. He's the most apologetic about the encounter, as well as Izuku. On a particularly bad day, they'd both cuddle up close, allowing you to cry into their chest while they try to coo in a language you can't understand.

Katsuki also feels bad, but he doesn't show it. To him, it was a necessary setback. Now, you clearly know your place within his pack. Earlier, he had to be so careful with you, making sure his claws wouldn't slice you, which was frustrating considering back when you couldn't understand him and he had to physically manhandle you into whatever he wanted you to be doing. Nowdays, you're a bit more cementing into your place, even when you don't smile as you used to anymore. He thinks he can live with that. Humans get over their grudges quickly when they start starving.

Todoroki is the least apolgetic. If anything, you think he likes it when you're scared of him. In his eyes, you're more obedient now, not really kicking up a fuss whenever he tries to share your body heat.

The only one that changes their behavior is you, really. Now, you fight a bit more before eventually settling down when Katsuki gives a warning hiss. There would be more escape attempts, but where would you go? All five of you know that you have no place to run to.

[unhonest-iago]

BNHA Fic Masterlist

Bento Box; Reader makes bento boxes for Aizawa in attempts to get the man to eat more [GN]

Touch Starved; Aizawa always offered y/n a shoulder to cry on. Or y/n finally takes him up on his offer [Male]

Death Rattle; How Aizawa, Kurogiri, & Present Mic (separately) react to y/n's death [GN]

For Free?; Pro heroes Eraserhead, All Might, & Midnight react to their wiki feet pages

Malicious Gentle Parenting; If Aizawa knew what Hizashi's plan was, he would never have gone to him. 'Alright! When one you starts giving me attitude, I'm gonna start hitting on mom.'

Hand Clap; Hcs about Class 1-A comparing hand sizes

Electives; Hcs about the electives that Class 1-A & Class 1-B take

Bartender ≠ Mathematician; Denki finally gets carded by a bartender when one finally realizes he's under the legal drinking age

Freeze Gopher; Kirishima reminds Todoroki of his dad

Just Keep Swimming; Endeavor teaches Hawks how to swim

Lulled to Sea; In which both Hawks & Endeavor hear the same siren song, somehow ended up as a soulmates au

Fauna-Flora; Bakugou gifts Deku a bouquet saying 'fuck you' in flower language

Not a Damsel; Bakugou notices something off about the way l/n’s punching but he can’t put his finger on it. Ends in Bakugou taking care of y/n’s injured hand [Fem]

Trapped; Bakugou safewords while trying sensory deprivation with y/n. Bringing up past memories [GN]

Till Death Do Us Part; Dabi and Hawks meet in a different life and actually get to grow old together

Phoenix; 'From the moment, Dabi first saw Hawks, he knew he was looking at a lost soul.'

Flame Boy; Todoroki headcanons and his friendships w/ Class 1-A

Pebble; Touya teaches Shouto how to skateboard

Blank Canvas; Tamaki lets Reader paint his back [Male]

Dick Jokes; Dabi takes Reader up on their dare to read Shakespeare, ends up not understanding the bard's sex jokes. Reader explains it to him. [GN]

Wtf is This?; Dabi finds y/n's sex toy. Or y/n lies their way out of a sticky situation [GN]

Achoo; Dabi takes care of reader while they're sick [GN]

Time to Face the Music; Reader's fed up at being mistreated by the hero commission and Hizashi's oblivious to it end clashing into a tumultuous combo. [Fem]

Like Mother, Like Son; Bakugou takes after his mom in that he aggressively starts hitting on Deku once he realizes he likes him romantically

Fanboys; deku pulls a 'he said no pickles' and gets bakugou's all might card signed for him

Aizawa-Yamada Family Hcs

Bakugou + saying 'I'm proud of you' [GN]

Fuck Like a Pornstar; Hawks x Reader [Fem]

Todoroki Siblings + Thyroid Disorders Hc

[seiwas]

Sel how long is your tbr list ? And which fic(s) are looking forward to read the most ?

nonie hello!!! 🥹 my tbr rn is at ~150 🥲😭 (i put them in my drafts!! and i have huge backlog bc i just recently got off a reading ban while writing 'these traces of love, they outline you' 🥹)

listing some hehe this is gonna be long so i'll put it under the cut!!! (in no particular order of preference but it's categorised by anime & character)

am sure there are so many more i'm probably missing/weren't able to see yet tho!!

for jjk

intrinsic warmth by thatdesklamp (series, ongoing, gojo satoru) been wanting to read this for a while but just trying to find the time to!

godmaker by @firein-thesky (series, ongoing, gojo satoru) has been in my tbr for the longest time and every time i see cielo talk abt it i get itching to read it hsajhdfbj

[untitled 'halloween' fic] by @stellamancer (one-shot, gojo satoru) not yet out but niku's been working really hard on this and am so excited hehehe

and i'm asking you to hold me just like the morning paper by @selarina (one-shot, gojo satoru) older brother's best friend gojo; am such a sucker for long titles and older brother's bsf tropes! i also love rina v much!

bfb by @em1e (series, ongoing, kamo choso) best friends's older brother choso; emmie shared the idea and some scenes with me when she was conceptualising it and it was the final push that tipped me over to being a choso fucker

chaos theory by @/hawnks (one-shot, nanami kento) strangers to lovers nanami; op wrote one of my favourite gojo fics ever, cantor’s paradox!!

as it should have been by @k9nto (one-shot, nanami kento) friends to lovers nanami; tallulah always talks about how much fun she had writing this so i'm excited to get to this too!

let me out, i'm starving by @princess-okkotsu (one-shot, okkotsu yuuta) fwb!yuuta; aleks tipped me over to being a yuuta fucker and the idea of an fwb!yuuta with the way aleks characterises him is just soo ouuuuGHH

all of @twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat's new fics!! i have so many of ari's fics to catch up on!! but characterisation is always on point and the writing always feels like a movie!! (there are gojo, megumi, and yuuta ones afair!!)

every time @augustinewrites drops smth!! the fushigojos live in my mind but augustine's doing an anniversary event rn themed after taylor swift lyrics!! and the line-up looks so good!!

inez's @itadorey masterlist still have yet to do a sweep of inez's masterlist but i always find myself smiling reading her stuff!! (lot of gojo!!)

lin's @threadbaresweater older stuff while going thru lin's masterlist i saw a gojo fic and nanami fic i'm excited to read!! lin always writes with a certain kind of vulnerability that digs deep!!

for bnha

something just like this by @/ofmermaids (series, complete, midoriya izuku) i've been wanting to get to this for so so long. op wrote some of my favourite bakugo fics, surrender (whenever you're ready) + on my way (to you); this almost feels like a reward i'm saving for when i really have the time tbh

you had only to look at me by @willowser (series, complete, bakugo katsuki) childhood bff!bakugo; i read this a long time ago but willow reposted it and i am!! so excited to read it again!!!

nitroglycerine by @/alrightberries (one-shot, bakugo katsuki) kind of fwb!bakugo; the description/summary got to me omg and am such a sucker for fwb to lovers and the weird in-between

like real people do by @shibaraki (one-shot, todoroki shouto) strangers to friends to lovers; this has been in my tbr for so long too and can't wait to get to it bc i love the way monty writes shouto!!

the glass delusion by @shibaraki (series, on-going, todoroki shouto) touch-starved shouto; i read the first installment and am such a sucker for explorations of intimacy!! so am so excited for this one too!!

i'll find my way (back to you) - homecoming by @bluebird-in-the-breeze (side story of a series, complete, todoroki shouto) chef!reader; read the entire series and loved it!! i love birdie's writing and was so happy that she recently released this for the series's 1 year anniversary!!

i think i'm in love with my coworker (update) by @todorosie (one-shot, todoroki shouto) coworker shouto; the title alone had me so curious omg and i love the tone of sorin's spidey!gojo series so am excited to get to this too!!

fill my little world (right up) by @shibaraki (one-shot, aizawa shouta) single dad au; such a sucker for this au!! and am also really selective with the aizawa stuff i read but always love monty's!!!

the kids are gonna be alright by @shibaraki (one-shot, aizawa shouta) coworkers to lovers; i love the premise of this so much!! i love these kinds of explorations and idk!! again!! i am a shibaraki stan!! i love everything monty writes hjsdbgjfs i've been really wanting to go through monty's entire masterlist too!! (there's a lot of writing to feast on and no matter who it is i think monty always writes em well)

andie's @andypantsx3 entire masterlist!! andie has soooo many stuff i want to read i can't even single one out omg i never feel the length when i read andie's stuff!!

for hq!!

the burden of being by @sashimiyas (one-shot, miya osamu) amnesia au; this has been in my drafts for so long too bc i'm still afraid of reading it but reina writes some of my fave hq fics so am excited to sink my teeth into this!! honestly am also excited to go thru reina's entire masterlist + osamu masterlist!!

get him back by @noosayog (one-shot, miya osamu) fake dating osamu; fake dating is one of my fave tropes and i also love noos's writing!! osamu is also my comfort character... so all of this just speaks to me

cross check by @kagelun (series, on-going, iwaizumi hajime) hockey player!iwaizumi; my god i'll read anything iwa anyway but to have him be an athlete for a completely different sport... just does smth to my brain... also kit has the most insane iwa thoughts i'm excited for this

seasons by @mintmatcha (one-shot, hanamaki takahiro) friends to lovers; love mint's stuff and am trying to get into makki more lately so i can fully immerse into seijoh4!! also really love a friends to lovers any day

one, two, and... (onlyfans) by @mintmatcha (one-shot, hanamaki takahiro + matsukawa issei) was sooo excited for this when mint announced they were working on it omfg literally vibrating w excitement to get to this

for multi

leah's @missmeinyourbones new stuff not sure if they're new or just being resurfaced but i see leah rb some of her stuff and am so excited to get to each one asbfj so i might actually just do a masterlist sweep atp... (she's one of my fave writers fr)

[ao3feed-dadzawa]

Don't Leave Me (Please)

Don't Leave Me (Please) by AutisticSam

"Shouto!" Aizawa actually does shout this time. "I'm not going to beat you, for fucks sake."

The tears that are pooling in Shouto's eyes fall, sliding down his cheeks wetly. They're warm, and sticky, and he didn't mean to cry, he didn't! "Sir pl-ease!" Shouto begs, chest stuttering with the quick inhales of his breathing. The second word makes his voice crack, and he wants so badly to just be good. He wants to be good for Aizawa.

"I'll do anything. Anything, I swear. I won't talk, or eat, and I'll stay in my— in the room, a-and I'll even stay in the closet if that's what you want," He cries harder, but keeps pushing out his words. He needs Aizawa to know just how sorry he is. “You can hurt me however you'd… y-you'd like. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He buries his hands into his hair, pulling on the multi-colored strands.

(Or: Shouto accidentally breaks a mug that Oboro gave to Aizawa before he died)

(Or or: Dadzawa hurt/comfort)

Words: 3550, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Todoroki Shouto

Additional Tags: Mentioned Bakugou Katsuki, Mentioned Midoriya Izuku, Mentioned Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, Abusive Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Panic Attacks, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Todoroki Shouto, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Does this count as Heavy Angst?, whatever, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead is Bad at Feelings, Touch-Starved Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Shouto Whump

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47365540

[sero-pairo]

pretty’s on the inside (see it in your own eyes)

by PhizzyPhoenix

Shouto doesn’t like his scars. They're a terrible reminder of the past abuse his father put him through. Luckily, though, he has a super awesome boyfriend who's willing to help him change his mind.

Words: 1024, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Sero Hanta, Todoroki Shouto, Mentioned Midoriya Izuku - Character, Mentioned Uraraka Ochako - Character, mentioned Yaoyorozu Momo - Character, Mentioned Todoroki Rei - Character, Mentioned Todoroki Enji | Endeavor - Character

Relationships: Sero Hanta/Todoroki Shouto

Additional Tags: Todoroki Shouto-centric, also, Sero Hanta-centric, Touch-Starved Todoroki Shouto, he’s touch-starved change my mind, No Dialogue, Sharing a Bed, literally sleeping together, Cuddling & Snuggling, Idiots in Love, Teen Romance, Sero Hanta is a Good Significant Other, Soft Boys, Boyfriends, Sero Hanta is a bit of a Dork, Bisexual Sero Hanta, Gay Todoroki Shouto, seroroki, i know they aren’t as popular as kiribaku or some other ships, But I Love Them, Scars, Todoroki Shouto has Scars, and does his best to hide them from everyone, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, well some things hurt but it’s mostly beautiful, Fluffy Ending, Past Child Abuse, from Endeavor, me and my homies hate Endeavor, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, poor shouto, Self-Esteem Issues, Self Confidence Issues, Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, sero’s got him tho, Todoroki Shouto Angst, Insecure Todoroki Shouto, Fluff and Angst, no beta read

from AO3 works tagged 'Sero Hanta/Todoroki Shouto', https://ift.tt/UmEDsIr

[shibaraki]

STEADY BEGINNINGS ┊ TODOROKI SHOUTO

tags: GN reader, developing relationship (eventual friends to lovers), touch starved shouto, physical affection (hand holding + long hugs), good god the yearning, obliviousness, jealousy, fluff + angst, pro hero shouto, reader works at hero agency

wc: 3.8K

series masterlist: 2/5

Shouto was born to be a hero.

It is a sentiment shared by reporters and fans alike. Todoroki Shouto, the pride of Endeavor, the saving grace of his family name. True, his development had been entirely up to chance—no matter the intent or cruel desperation behind his father’s actions, he had to rely on the probability that the next offspring would win the genetic lottery—but low and behold, he did, and to many people that alone was a sign of destiny at work.

Ultimately, he chose to continue the path of being a hero himself, but no higher being put him there. His father did. At the time of his birth Shouto had not been a son, not even a baby. He was a project. A small, shapeless, squirmy thing. Malleable, like any young mind. It’s a miracle he retained any will and individuality.

Sometimes when alone with his thoughts, Shouto would hypothesise on the whys and the hows. The conclusion he always comes to is this: any sort of reality in which Shouto succumbs to his father’s ideals and manipulation would have to be a world in which his mother does not exist.

While his existence was planned, and wanted, he was to be a hero and as such, wasn’t cut from love—that came after. He loved his mother. So much so that when she hurt, he hurt. When she cried, he cried. She taught him what it meant to be gentle, to have hope, to aspire to be his own person. Years spent amongst the country's finest heroes and Shouto still regarded his mother as the bravest woman he knew, strong because she refused to be hardened by her circumstances; soft so that she can’t be broken again.

You are like his mother in that regard. Those same echoes of reassurance that softness isn’t weakness, and it isn’t earned. You’ve been touching him more as of late, as if determined to prove it. Static between brushed fingertips, words expressed by simply pressing your knees together, the weight of your hand on his bicep to garner his attention. The build up is subtle and cumulative and yet each instance strikes him with the magnitude of a thermodynamic explosion.

Nobody bats an eyelid to this shift in physicality, which makes it all the more difficult to determine whether he is reading into things or not. It could be that he’s noticing those small instances only because it’s you, and you are all he can think about lately.

You’ve given him permission to reciprocate. He merely has to ask for more if he wants it. What Shouto hadn’t accounted for is the unbearability of being vulnerable enough to ask. An innocent “can you hug me?” becomes so much more daunting to voice with all that longing crowded up behind it. He can’t help worrying you’ll see right through to the bottom of his desires.

A hand comes into view. Bakugo’s ash-smudged finger and thumb pinch and snap together in front of his face. “Come back to Earth, dumbass. Your thousand yard stare is scarin’ my new assistant”.

Shouto blinks out of his stupor and the blurred vignette surrounding his vision recedes. He glances at the skittish man sitting outside Bakugo’s office currently sending worried glances over his shoulder. “I think he’s more scared that you’re back,” Shouto intones dryly. “Isn’t he the fourth one this year?”

“Not my fault they’re all wimps,” Bakugo huffs. A slap reverberates around the office as he throws down a manila folder onto his desk and drops heavily into his chair. He regards Shouto with suspicion overtop his computer monitor. “Whatever you were just thinkin’ about—stop”.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking about”.

“I know you always manage to make Olympic level leaps in logic,” Bakugo rolls his eyes and tears open the folder. He slides out what Shouto assumes is a debrief and flips it between his fingers. Shouto keeps quiet. He reclines into the couch cushions and returns to reading the incident report on his lap, counting down from ten in the privacy of his mind. Anytime now.

Three, two, one.

“So what is it?” Bakugo asks, trying too hard to sound flippant but landing squarely on irritation. “Spit it out before you give yourself an aneurysm”.

Shouto opens his mouth and closes it again. A wave of hot embarrassment washes over him. He knows Bakugo will do him the kindness of being blunt and honest but it doesn’t make it any less humiliating to admit.

In their younger years Shouto saw something of a kindred spirit in Bakugo. He too did not like touch and aggressively voiced his distaste for it whenever he got the chance—which was often, because divine intervention sought fit to give him the most tactile, handsy friend group possible.

As they got older though, Shouto began to realise that the protests and threats were hollow. Despite being vehemently against affection, Bakugo would allow it anyway, and sometimes even seek it out. The aggression was bravado. Bakugo liked having his friends draped around his shoulders. He liked when Mina kissed his cheek, or Kaminari played with his hair, or Kirishima gathered him into a too-tight hug, or Sero tangled their ankles together on the couch.

Only, for him to comfortably accept it, Bakugo needed to act as though he were doing them a favour by allowing them into his space. And Bakugo’s friends played along without complaint.

From what he’s observed you are also an affectionate person. You are liberal with your warmth and adapt seamlessly to the boundaries of those around you. But you were also visibly uncomfortable whenever people took that affinity for intimacy as an open invitation, and recoiled if they encroached on your own.

Shouto has imagined reaching out only for your body to flinch away from him more times than he can count. It’s a battle staged in his head, ingrown fears. The possibility alone was enough to keep him from reciprocating, set in a state of fawn-like inertia.

“There’s somebody I want to get closer to. A friend,” he begins. Bakugo makes an inquisitive noise, props his cheek against his fist and narrows his eyes as he listens. Shouto retells the story in part, deciding to omit your name, and by the tail-end of it Bakugo’s forehead is deeply creased in dissatisfaction.

“You make all your own problems, Halfie. Y’know that?” he mutters, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and sinking back into his chair. “Fine, you don’t want to make this person uncomfortable, or whatever. If you need a hug so damn badly, why not ask Deku? Not like he’d say no”.

Knowing Bakugo would make his dilemma sound ridiculous is one thing, actually hearing it is another. “How do you know it isn’t about Midoriya,” Shouto returns petulantly.

“It ain’t Izuku or anyone else from your nerd squad,” Bakugo says, dropping his hand to drum on the desk. “I would’ve heard about it”.

“Why?”

“Because you don’t touch people. And that’s fuckin’ fine, yeah? But if you had, I know for a fact any one of them would’ve burst into tears and told everyone in a five mile radius”.

“Oh,” it leaves him a little off-kilter to hear. Shouto leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees, setting the report on the dark wood coffee table. The corner of the page is curled, and the spine is creased, and the ink annotation has smudged under his thumb. He details these things as he deliberates, the excuses cloying in his throat and thick like he might cry too.

Bakugo was right—if he craved close contact so badly, why couldn’t he go to Midoriya? He knows he would likely be met with enthusiasm.

“You don't have to tell me who. I don’t care. But you’re overthinking it,” Bakugo grunts at his lack of response, in a way that very much suggests that he cares. “Go ask. If they say ‘no’ it’s tough shit, but the world isn’t gonna end. From what you’ve told me they wouldn’t say ‘no’ anyway. Dumbass”.

Shouto nods and gives up the pretense of reading the paperwork. He feels coltish as he stands and brushes down his front, straightening the creases.

“You’re right”.

“I know”.

“Thank you, Bakugo,” he says. A small smile unfurls across his anxiety-bitten mouth. “You’re a good friend”.

“Shut up,” Bakugo grumbles. It’s a testament to his concern that he hadn’t cursed Shouto there and then. “Now get out of my office. What are you doing here in the first place? You got your own!”

“Yours gets all the sunlight. And it’s always quiet because nobody comes in here,” Shouto ignores the baleful slit of an eye Bakugo turns on him. “I’m going to take my lunch now”.

“Do what you want,” Bakugo dismisses haughtily, and Shouto smiles while thinking, not for the first time, that he’s very lucky to have friends like these.

The fidgety assistant bows as he exits and turns into the sun-drenched hallway. Warmth drapes around Shouto’s shoulders, lingering at his nape while he descends the dark stairwell where the light doesn’t reach. His boots thud against the linoleum, and he counts each footfall to keep his face neutral as his legs carry him toward your department.

Somewhere between one and one hundred and thirteen, a fraction of Shouto’s courage starts to dwindle. He grits his teeth. A hundred steps can’t be enough to dissuade him after decades of denying himself any kind of indulgence.

The further he goes into the support wing the more elaborate the layout becomes. You’re in research and development, assigned a workshop close to the quirk analysts. Heads turn as Shouto rolls through. Heroes didn’t often make personal visits to this area. If he thinks hard enough he could count a grand number of two past visits and neither of them were for you.

His stride falters when he catches sight of your nameplate. It is fixed to the wall outside your door, polished and gleaming proudly. Shouto traces the characters of your name engraved into steel before raising his hand to knock.

Your voice rings out from inside, “Come in!”

A pitched beeping sound comes from overhead. The workshop doors begin to open in a theatrical fashion, receding like curtains to reveal your space. The floor is mapped out with tape. Clear boundaries drawn between the work benches, the fume cupboards, the vault and your personal office, in an attempt at organised chaos. He might have been more interested in poking around for the first time if he had not felt on the edge of intrusion.

You’re tucked behind your curved desk surrounded by numerous monitors that dwarf your frame. Shouto furtively takes in your cute, rumpled appearance. The upper half of your coveralls have been undone to reveal an undervest, sleeves tied tight around and accentuating your waist.

“Take a seat, I’ll be with you in…” the dull tapping of practiced keystrokes comes to a stop as you notice him in the doorway. The professional veneer disappears. “Shouto?” you say, mostly to yourself. Your gaze slides beyond his shoulder, looking for whoever might be accompanying him. “Is everything okay?”

There’s a worried twist in your mouth that he wants to smudge away. A look in your eyes—a combination of warmth and weight that tugged at his being. Shouto rolls his shoulders, shaking off the tension, and moving deeper into your office. The doors close automatically behind him. “I’m okay,” he assures, taking the seat across from you.

Your expression gentles, and he likes how your gaze follows him. “I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me,” he continues. “But if you’re working I can head back”.

“Lunch?” you repeated. Your eyes darted to the corner of the monitor closest to you and promptly widened. “Oh, shit. When did that happen?”

An upswing of fondness catches him like a blow to the chest. His mouth quirks into a smirk. “How long have you been here?”

“Too long. I got lumped with a new project a few days ago and it’s almost done,” the monitors shut off one by one as you sheepishly press each button. Then you gave him a soft, apologetic look, “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. Must’ve missed me if you came all the way down here”.

Dread shriked through him. The low whirring from the equipment scattered around your workspace is suddenly inordinately loud. Was he that obvious?

You, however, fail to notice Shouto’s anxiety and grab him around the wrist as you pivot the desk. “C’mon. Let’s go before the good stuff is gone,” you tell him.

Shouto had absolutely no clue what the ‘good stuff’ entailed—maybe he should’ve bothered to ask. Atleast it would take his mind off your hand. It’s wrapped around his sleeve, right where the fabric ends, loose enough for him to unshackle from if he wants. When he doesn’t protest the contact you stroke your thumb in an arc over the heel of his hand and squeeze.

Shouto falls into step, too caught up to realise you’ve taken him to the cafeteria. He expects you’ll drop his wrist in the presence of your colleagues, yet you adjust your grip and glance back at him with an encouraging tilt of your head.

“I’m starving. I think I’ll get a rice bowl. Smells pretty good today, don’t you think?”

Shouto hummed his agreement. He felt out of his depth, and he didn’t trust his voice. The spark of giddiness was doing embarrassing things to his throat. The line is mercifully short and before long he has a warm bowl of food held against his front.

“Did you want to sit in here? I can take us to one of the senior staff lounges instead if you want,” you cast a nervous look across the sparse crowd. “I mean, support engineers aren’t really gossiping types but…”

A petty part of him hoped the whispers would escalate. To have your name linked with his, to be known as a person that you cared about—he found that deeply satisfying, for reasons he couldn’t yet put his finger on.

Then again, being alone with you far eclipsed the appeal of flaunting your friendship. “The senior staff lounge sounds best,” he answers after a minute of feigned consideration. You nod, regretfully having dropped his hand, and motion for him to follow once more.

The lounge is a modest room with a kitchenette, a breakfast nook and a few bean bag chairs. It smells faintly like peeled oranges. There are post it notes and blueprints haphazardly stuck to the pinboard, covering an out of date calendar filled out in illegible scrawl. This is no shop awning. There is no rainfall to lend to the ambiance. But you are together in an enclosed space, and that is enough to make his heart beat in anticipation.

You scoot into the breakfast nook. He sits on the same side of the table and tries to subtly spread his knees enough to nudge your thigh. You side-glance in surprise but choose not to mention it. Instead you smile through your first mouthful and ask, “How've things been since I last saw you?”

Achy, like he’s used an atrophied muscle. Lonely, and frustrating beyond words. But he doesn’t say any of that. He digs crescents into his thigh through his pant leg and says, “Boring”.

“Figured that might be the case. I saw the livestream of you fighting Haywire,” you bump your shoulder against his. “The Commission probably dumped a whole load of paperwork on you, huh?”

Shouto wrinkles his nose. He hoped you hadn’t caught that fight. The pursuit of Haywire—an eco terrorist with an electrical quirk—managed to cause an unprecedented amount of damage to the city infrastructure.

“You handled it as best you could. The power grid can be fixed. What’s important is people are alive because of you,” a warm weight covers the fingers restlessly whittling at his pant leg. You pet his hand, “I’m glad you weren’t hurt”.

Guided solely by his impulses, the instant you start to draw back he envelops the top of your hand and sandwiches it between his own. He goes hot and cold all over in quick succession. Boundaries, he reminds himself. But you’re not pulling away. You’re studying him with a knowing gleam in your eye.

Shouto clears his throat. Heat pricks across his skin, concentrated in his cheekbones. “Sorry,” he says. You can ask, a memory echoes. “Is this okay?”

“You don’t have to apologise. I told you it’s fine,” you reply firmly. “I’m happy to remind you if you need to hear it”.

“No, I…” his brow furrows. “I’ve been thinking”.

“That’s not good”.

Shouto snorts and shakes his head, his amusement petering out into a shallow breath. “I want to ask. I’ve wanted to ask like you said I could,” he explains vaguely. “I’m not very good at it, I think”.

You make a soft, understanding sound that immediately sets him at ease. “I guess, after denying yourself something for so long it can be scary to let yourself have it again,” you murmur, a faraway look in your eyes. After a pensive moment the sheen fades and your laughter lines deepen, “I’ll do what I did before, then. If you look like you need a hug I’ll ask you instead”.

“In what way do I ‘look like’ I need a hug?”

“You get this—I don’t know how to explain it,” you gesture vaguely at him. “This blankness about you, but not your normal resting face, I mean you don’t seem all there. I don’t like it. I like it best when you’re happy”.

“Ah,” comes his eloquent response. Shouto drops his gaze to where your hands knot together. Every quark in his body is urging him to get closer, and remain close. “Bakugo thinks I should try to hug Midoriya, too,” he adds, oddly flustered.

“Huh. You talked to Bakugo about—? That’s a surprise. A nice surprise, I mean! Well, Midoriya does give great hugs. It would be good for you to…”

Shouto’s thoughts grow louder and he frowns down at his rice. You’re saying something about physical touch and wellness and friends. Dopamine and serotonin. It barely registers. Two truths are pinging around his skull.

You have hugged Midoriya. Of course you have. You’re friends.

You think he’s great at it.

Why is that so unsettling? Teenagers think like this. Single minded and overly emotional.

He feels the shifting of your knuckles under his palm. “Hey. You’ll need one of these back if you’re going to eat,” you say.

“Right,” he lifts his left hand and picks up his chopsticks to take a pinch of rice from his bowl. He chews until the clamouring in his mind has settled, and you patiently accept his stoic silence without explanation. Shouto hasn’t been this awkward since highschool, and even then he was too wrapped up in his familial problems to be aware of it.

“What’s the project you’ve been working on?” he eventually asks.

You take the change of topic in your stride, leaning closer and lowering your voice to an excited whisper, “I’m not supposed to tell you but—it’s for Deku’s new costume”.

“Midoriya is getting a new costume?” Shouto replies. You playfully shush him and he pouts a little.

“Don’t sulk. He doesn’t know yet either,” you poke a chopstick at the corner of his jutted mouth. “It’s my job to prepare a design portfolio and talk through everything next week. You’ll get a new one too, when you break the top five”.

“If,” he amends.

“You don’t think you’ll move up?”

“Reaching the top was never really a priority for me,” Shouto’s attention splinters, half of his focus on the conversation and the other on the sensation of your skin. He considers overturning his hand to entwine your fingers. “I just want to be the best hero I can be”.

You hum, and as if plucking the desire right from his mind, absentmindedly slip into the gaps between his fingers. Shouto steadies his breathing and takes another mouthful.

The rest of the hour passes, syrupy and slow like molasses. By the final minute Shouto’s palm is sticky and reluctant to part from yours. You usher him out from the breakfast nook first, stacking the empty bowls before directing him back toward the emptied cafeteria.

You slide the bowls along the counter for the kitchen staff to take. Then you wipe your hands down your front as you pivot to face him, thrusting out both arms as he stands frozen.

“Can I hug you?”

Shouto touches his face and you laugh.

“This is because I want one,” you clarify with a warm grin, beckoning him closer.

Shouto inhales steps into the embrace, his arms instinctively wrapping around your back. There are less layers this time—the heat of your body is overwhelming, alongside the gentle rise of goosebumps across your bare shoulders. Your breath fell gently on his collarbone, his head lowering to curl into you. He thinks, were he not born to be a hero, he must surely be born for this.

“Thank you,” you mumble, squeezing his waist a final time as you retreat. “I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

Shouto nods. Your presence moves away like the sun being blocked out and he watches you go, departing words caught in his teeth, an incessant buzz in his fingertips. The walk back to his office is a gauzy yellow haze. Every physiological response in his body told him that he was in a free fall, despite his feet being firmly on the ground.

“Shouto!”

Shouto halts mid-step at the familiar voice. He turns to look at Izuku, at the tentative beginnings of his smile. “Izuku,” he says.

“We missed you at lunch—are you feeling alright?” Izuku asks, slightly bemused. “You look kinda… floaty,” his eyes are dark, softened in the afternoon light as they sweep over Shouto’s figure and his face.

"Izuku," Shouto said before he could convince himself otherwise, “Do you want a hug?”

The innocent question appeared to crash into Izuku with the levity of a bullet train in motion. Tears sprang to his eyes, brighter now. Shouto tenses as he is swept into a solid hug. Izuku smells like fresh air, sweat and sweet-salty broth. He holds Shouto as though trying to keep his seams from bursting; thick arms are secure around his shoulders, and a rough palm rubs broad strokes down his back, smoothing the tension until Shouto is relaxed.

You were right. Izuku does give great hugs. Shouto came away doughy, and fuller, and with the stark realisation that while touching Izuku soothed the ache, it still felt completely different to touching you.

Later, as he leaned his head against the desk surface, he sluggishly contemplated the implications of that.

[ao3feed-kiribaku]

please don't ask me how I've been

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yOQIezl by nonbinaryrock02 He should tell him, let the words pour out like poison and be done with it. Kirishima wasn’t a bad person, he was… genuinely, heart-wrenchingly good. He would understand. There’s no way he could tell him.   Also known as Bakugou goes through it and ends up with 4 supportive boyfriends and some healthier coping mechanisms Words: 1246, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M, Multi Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Monoma Neito, Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki/Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi/Todoroki Shouto Additional Tags: Bakugou Katsuki-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Sexual Assault, Rape Recovery, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Trans Bakugou Katsuki, Hard of Hearing Bakugou Katsuki, Bakugou Katsuki Has PTSD, Trans Kaminari Denki, Adopted Shinsou Hitoshi, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead | Dadzawa, Established Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, endeavor's a+ parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Genderqueer Todoroki, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Supportive Bakusquad (My Hero Academia), Touch-Starved, Everyone Is Gay, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Developing Friendships, this was cheaper than therapy, Eventual Happy Ending, no beta we die like we wish mineta would read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yOQIezl