Chapter Text
Shoto’s second year at U.A. just started, and he already wants to drop dead.
Lately, he feels like it has become his default mood. Between the hectic start of the new school year and the exhausting feud between his family members, his year is not off to a great start.
Shoto sits in his third class, heavy eyelids already drooping, chin propped up on a palm with his head hanging forward dangerously. If he were to let himself fall asleep, he’d wake up in the infirmary with his nose broken and bleeding. He eyes the clock mounted on the wall and sighs. The teacher’s lecture is doing wonders for his sleep-addled mind, the words going in one ear and out the other, the soft timbre of the voice soothing like a lullaby.
He thinks about the softness of his bed, the comfort of his dorm room, and wishes he could be there right now. In bed, he doesn’t bear the responsibility of being a student in a prestigious school, doesn’t bear the responsibilities of the current number one hero’s successor, and doesn’t bear the responsibilities of the youngest son of a dysfunctional family.
Oh, how much he’d give to be able to stay in bed and sleep the whole day away.
But, alas, he’s Endeavor’s successor, he’s the youngest of three annoyingly loving siblings, and he’s in his second year in the hero course at U.A. No matter how badly he wishes to, he can’t run away from his responsibilities. Thus, he forgoed sleeping and powered through his classes.
He feels a nudge on his ankle. Willing himself to stay awake, he turns his head to whoever wants his attention. He sees the glaring eyes of Katsuki Bakugo, brow raised and lip curled. Shoto doesn’t need words to understand what Bakugo was trying to say: ‘You okay?’
Shoto doesn’t need Bakugo’s yelling to understand the message. He nods and looks away, eyes immediately succumbing to tiredness. Bakugo scoffs from beside him, and Shoto manages to ignore the alpha’s heavy gaze boring holes into his head. He resists the urge to squirm under the scrutinising stare.
Somehow, after the mess that was the first year of high school, he and Bakugo had become… close. It’s the nearest thing that Bakugo would allow it to be labelled, as he isn’t exactly fond of calling it a friendship. He supposes that after one too many near-death experiences, it was bound to happen eventually, no matter if Bakugo didn’t like the idea of them being friends or not.
Their classmates described their relationship as odd.
“I can’t believe you and Bakugo have gotten close,” Tsuyu had said to him one day. “You’re a weird pair, but you fit nicely.”
“Right?” Jiro had agreed. “You’re like the perfect balance. I’m sure if you weren’t here, Bakugo would be blowing our faces up every day. From what I can tell, he’s changed for the better. Whatever you did to him, keep it up!”
(Shoto doesn’t quite know what Jiro meant with the last part, but he assumed he was doing something right. He doesn’t think he actually changed anything in Bakugo—Shoto had no part of it; Bakugo had done it all on his own—but he just smiled and nodded.)
They’re close enough to the point where Bakugo is showing concern for him for almost falling asleep during class. The alpha probably wants to tease him. Later, at lunch, Shoto will meet up with Bakugo and the rest of his unofficial-official gang and get an earful of mocking from them. The thought makes him want to curl up on his bed and sleep for an eternity even more.
A few more minutes of endurance later, Shoto admits defeat. With his arms crossed over his desk and his head pillowed on it, he lets himself slip into unconsciousness. The current teacher is easy-going, and Shoto knows he’ll get away with sleeping in her class so long as he does his classwork. He hopes Bakugo will wake him up before the next class, and he hopes the thirty minutes of sleep he will get will be enough to keep him going until the end of the day.
Speaking of Bakugo, he stopped nudging Shoto with his foot. Shoto keeps his head down and listens to the rustling from his left side, assuming Bakugo is shifting around in his seat. He was about to fall asleep when a warm jacket was draped over his back. Hands tugged at the jacket so it sat on Shoto’s broad shoulders comfortably, completely covering him in the soft material and the scent of its owner. Shoto relaxes at the smell of cinnamon and saccharin; spicy, yet sweet, a little smokey, too, and something else buried under the layers of aroma, something distinctly alpha. Shoto will recognise Bakugo’s scent from anywhere.
He finally falls asleep to the lecture, aided by the strangely comforting scent of Bakugo’s jacket. (He doesn’t think about why Bakugo’s scent of all things gives him comfort — why Shoto’s omega feels calm and sated in Bakugo’s presence, of all people.)
Later on, Bakugo accompanied him on his way to the cafeteria. Shoto stayed silent as Bakugo chatted (read: complained) his ears away. Shoto didn't catch anything he was saying, but he was happy to sit back and listen, tuning the alpha’s ranting into white noise. Before they reached the cafeteria, Bakugo stopped abruptly, causing Shoto to nearly crash into his back.
“Aren’t you gonna give it back?” Bakugo asked, turning to him with a miffed raise of his brow.
Shoto blinked. He clutched the collar of the jacket that was still draped over his shoulders. He hadn’t worn the thing — the sleeves flowed behind him as he shifted his footing.
“Give what back?”
Bakugo gave him a look that Shoto deciphered as his ‘Are you serious?’ face. “The jacket, dumbass,” Bakugo spat out, annoyed and rolling his eyes.
“Oh.”
At his lack of response, Bakugo’s expression shifted into a scowl. “Well?! You just gonna stand there?!”
Shoto rolled his eyes, which only served to rile the other up. He shrugged off the jacket and held it out for Bakugo to take. “You could have told me you wanted it back.”
Bakugo only huffed. Before the alpha could take the jacket, Shoto moved it away and held it up to his chest, eyes widening slightly at a realisation. “Wait, my scent’s still on it—”
“It’s fine, Halfie,” Bakugo grumbled, his volume lowering. He stepped closer to Shoto and took the jacket, clutching it in a fist.
The other began to walk again. Shoto scrambled after him, walking side-by-side once more, confusion seeping through him. Wouldn’t Bakugo be bothered by having his scent on his jacket? Or maybe the alpha hadn’t noticed it. Shoto doubts the thought; his own omegan, sweet strawberry, is hard to miss, standing out strikingly against Bakugo’s alphan scent.
“I don’t mind washing it,” Shoto frowns slightly, gaze worriedly shifting between the jacket and its owner.
“I said it’s fine, didn’t I?”
Shoto shut his mouth when Bakugo started getting riled up again. He didn’t want to anger him even more, and though he knew Bakugo wasn’t actually mad at him, he didn’t want to push his luck. It’s how the alpha is; always grumbling and growling, almost impossible to tell if he’s actually mad. Shoto doesn’t get him sometimes, but he has made peace with it. They’re still friends, anyway; that’s all that matters to him.
“Okay,” Shoto reluctantly gives in.
He hadn’t given it any more thought, even as other people started approaching them and looked curiously back and forth between him and Bakugo. Kirishima looked slightly puzzled as he stared at the jacket and back at Bakugo with a peculiar glint in his eye. Sero clapped them both on the shoulder and led them into the cafeteria, stealing quick eye contact with Shoto, wearing a knowing smile. Ashido giggled softly to herself while teasingly nudging his shoulder, while Kaminari stared at him with wide eyes, saying nothing but everything at the same time.
Kaminari is trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t figure out what. He thinks this is one of those ‘omega telepathy’ things Kaminari had told him about. He isn’t quite good at it yet, but he tries, and right now, he cannot figure out what his electric classmate is trying to say. He’ll have to ask Kaminari about it later. Right now, all he wants is some food in his stomach; he’ll need it to push through the rest of the day.
|
Shoto entered the 2-A dorm nearing evening, being instantly assaulted by noise and a chaotic mixture of scents. He’d come to be familiar with the mixed scents of his 1-A classmates, and he’s glad that nothing changed as they went into their second year, with only the addition of Hitoshi Shinso from 1-B. He can pick out the scent of deep coffee and a hint of dark chocolate among the others that Shoto has already memorised, guessing that the odd one out was probably from their new classmate.
He spots Shinso lingering in the kitchen, mingling about with Kaminari as Bakugo stands behind them, scanning the fridge. Upon spotting Kaminari, Shoto walked over to the trio. He forgot to ask about what happened during lunch, and this might be the best time to do so.
“Kaminari,” Shoto began as he neared the kitchen. Kaminari instantly lit up when he saw him and waved him over. Shinso gave him a curt nod, to which he returned before turning his attention back to the fellow omega. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“What for?” Kaminari smiled, wrapping his hands around Shoto’s forearm as soon as he was at arm’s length. Shoto knows the other often has too much pent-up energy, electricity buzzing around him and zapping people in his vicinity. He does what he can to release it, and Shoto is sometimes the one in front of the gun. He doesn’t mind Kaminari being touchy — he enjoys it, even. He quite likes the vibration of Kaminari’s quirk around him, even though he gets zapped every few seconds. It’s pleasant — it reminds him of an omega’s purr. Calming.
“What were you trying to tell me earlier during lunch?” He inquires, lightly patting the hands around his forearm.
Kaminari froze. The electric blonde quickly glanced at Shinso, who was silently watching the interaction, and leaned closer to Shoto, like he was about to tell him a secret only they could know.
“What’s going on with you and Bakubro?” Kaminari lowered his voice to a hush, getting all up in Shoto’s personal space.
Shoto made a quiet noise, not moving away despite Kaminari practically shoving their faces together. “Nothing’s going on with us?” It comes out more as a question, as if he isn’t sure that nothing really is going on between him and Bakugo.
“Really?” Kaminari’s expression shifts into shock. “I could have sworn you two were—” Kaminari cut himself off, whipping his head around to look at Bakugo pulling food out of the fridge before turning back to him.
“We were…?” Shoto prompts, but Kaminari only shrugs, not moving a centimetre from his face.
“I thought you two were in that phase in your relationship already,” Kaminari said easily, as if Shoto already knew what he was talking about. Shoto does not, in fact, know what he is talking about.
Brows furrowing, Shoto purses his lips. What is Kaminari trying to tell him?
“What phase?”
“You know,” Kaminari gestures vaguely, doing nothing at all to help Shoto’s case. “The cou—”
“Shh!”
Shinso suddenly piped in, hurriedly clamping a hand over Kaminari’s mouth. “It’s nothing, Todoroki. Don’t, ah, don’t worry about it”
The two shared a look. Shoto’s eyes jumped between them, growing more and more confused as the silent conversation between them continued, growing even more confused the longer it went on. His question still hasn’t been answered yet, and he’s starting to feel a little left out.
Kaminari wraps a hand around Shinso’s wrist and pulls it off his mouth, shooting Shoto a wide grin, though he can see the subtle signs of it wavering. Shoto knows that look; it’s his ‘I said something I shouldn’t have and now I have to fix it’ face. He’s seen it on Kaminari multiple times, typically when he gets in trouble with one of the teachers.
“I was just, uh, curious about your… relationship! I was just, um, speculating!”
A snort comes from Shinso, followed by a “Good save,” but it goes ignored by Shoto. Whatever Kaminari is trying to cover up, Shinso is in on it, and Shoto does not like it when Shinso is involved. He’s only been classmates with the guy for a month and a half, but he knows enough about him to know that a scheming Shinso is a dangerous foe.
Shoto tilts his head, puzzled and suspicious. “What is there to be curious about? We’re friends.”
“Right, you are,” Kaminari agrees. Shoto can’t tell if he’s only nodding to appease him. “Don’t worry about it, Todoroki. You keep doing you!”
What is Kaminari so interested in about him and Bakugo, and why does Shinso not want it to be said aloud? They’re either hiding something from him or they’re plotting. Whatever it is, Shoto wants— needs —to know. This will keep him up at night, he’s already anticipating it.
Before he could press further, Bakugo called out to him from behind the counter, sounding irritated and impatient. “Oi, Icyhot, what do you want for dinner?”
Shoto opens his mouth to answer, but Bakugo raises a hand to halt him. “Wait, don’t answer that, you’ll only say cold soba, you borefest.”
Well, he’s right, so Shoto doesn’t say anything.
“Hey, why are you only asking him? We wanna eat, too!” Kaminari exclaims and pouts.
“Because I’m making him dinner, idiot! Go get your own dinner!” Bakugo snaps, his patience running out.
“Aw, man,” Kaminari grumbled. The poor guy looks dejected, looking awfully like a kicked puppy. Shoto doesn’t blame him; Bakugo’s cooking is, what his classmates would say, an absolute bomb . It reminds him of his siblings’ cooking, in a way, warm and homey.
Shinso snickers. “You're playing favorites now, huh? Won’t even make us dinner anymore. You’re lucky, Todoroki, he’s a keeper.”
Shoto supposes he is lucky. Bakugo is making him dinner, and no one else. Now that he thinks about it, he wonders why that is. Bakugo has never had a problem cooking for the class before. He’s been 1-A’s resident chef for one—going into two years now, and if Shoto so much as requests a meal from him, he would explode and scream at him about how he isn’t anyone’s personal chef.
“Hah?! Shut it, Eyebags!” Bakugo snaps at Shinso, earning him an amused laugh.
The evening ends with Shoto’s belly filled with delicious soba, Bakugo biting at anyone who dared question the solo meals between them, and his questions still left unanswered. He figured Kaminari wouldn’t spill anything now that he was caught. It’ll be difficult to get him to slip up again, so that is a no-go plan.
As he lay in his bed, staring up at his blank ceiling, he decided that it was probably not worth it to dwell on it any more. He’ll mind his business. Whatever is going on between him and Bakugo is nobody else’s issue — if there even is anything between them. He goes to bed that night with a troubled mind.
|
Shoto is… bored.
It’s usually no problem for him; he can entertain himself just fine. He can go take a walk around the campus and get lost in his own head. He could wander around the city and do some window shopping, or he could ask permission to leave the dorms and spend the night at his older brother’s place. He is getting a little homesick, and Toya would never turn him away from his home, not to mention they hadn’t seen each other since school started. Or maybe he could go see what his classmates are doing, and maybe they’d squeeze him into whatever activity they had planned.
He was mulling his options over when a familiar scent reached his nose. Yes, he can recognise Bakugo’s scent from anywhere — the alpha is very hard to miss.
“Bakugo?” He asked, turning his body to where Bakugo is stalking toward him, pace unhurried and posture laid back. “Can I help you?”
The alpha stops right before him. For a moment, no words were shared. Shoto stared into Bakugo’s vermilion eyes, unblinking. He starts to shift under the alpha’s gaze, not knowing if he should say something or run away.
“You busy, Half ‘n Half?” Bakugo finally muttered.
“Um, no. Why? Did you want to spar?” Shoto replies, confused at the random stare-off in the middle of U.A. grounds.
When Bakugo approaches him out of nowhere, it’s usually an invitation from the alpha to spar. Shoto would never turn it down, looking for any excuse to keep training and hone his skills. This time, however, the request didn’t come.
“No. I was gonna… ask,” Bakugo trailed off, averting his gaze and touching the back of his neck nervously, and Shoto noticed the way the alpha tries to act nonchalantly about it. “If… This ain’t that hard, dammit!”
Shoto blinks, taken aback by the sudden outburst. Bakugo finally looks him in the eye, a flush creeping up his cheeks. “You wanna go out to the city with me? There’s a new night market that opened up. Figured you’d, y’know—” Bakugo faltered, seemingly getting embarrassed before composing himself. “—like it, or whatever.”
He’d just been thinking of that! Uraraka had been talking about a new night market that had recently opened up. She raved on to the class about how much she wanted to go, and Shoto had been intrigued. Now, he has an excuse to go there. He’d been looking for something to do, anyway, and it seemed that Bakugo thought the same.
“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” Shoto says, the corner of his lips twitching up.
For some reason, Bakugo looked even more embarrassed at his answer, but he shrugged it off, slipping on his usual scowl and clicking his tongue, looking annoyed. “Great. Let’s go.”
Shoto followed the alpha after he beckoned him with a tilt of his head. They left the school wordlessly, the air around them getting colder as it neared sunset. Shoto watched the clouds as they walked, noting that Bakugo didn’t seem to want to make conversation.
The invite is a bit strange. Shoto isn’t new to Bakugo’s spontaneous trips outside the school. He often gets dragged out by the alpha, barely given time to get ready or even think about the sudden invite before Bakugo grabs his wrist and steers him away to wherever. What’s unusual is that Bakugo is asking. He doesn’t do that — ever. Bakugo takes what he wants because he knows he’ll get it; he doesn’t need to ask. Even if he did ask, Shoto would always say yes, so it wouldn’t have made a difference, but still.
Maybe Bakugo just wanted to be considerate this time. He may be an alpha who’s full of himself and carrying an ego too big for his head, but he’s an alpha with manners. He had even said so himself.
“What the hell made you idiots think I’d be a bad alpha?! I’m a great alpha! I was raised right, you morons!” He had yelled in a fit of rage during their first year. Shoto doesn’t remember what started the impromptu rant, but for some reason, that part stuck with him.
Out-of-character invite or not, Shoto is happy to spend time with his friend. He hadn’t had much time to let loose lately, and Bakugo’s proposal is the perfect remedy for his hectic schedule.
“Why did you decide to bring me?” Shoto asked. Bakugo looked back at him from his shoulder in acknowledgement before staring straight ahead, not bothering to spare him another glance.
“If you didn’t want to come, you could have said so,” Bakugo had spoken with a gruff tone.
“No, I wasn’t saying that,” Shoto shook his head. “I’m merely curious.”
Bakugo scoffed. “What, you think I’d wanna go with someone else?”
Shoto shrugged. “You could have.”
“Well, I don’t want to.”
“But you want to be with me?”
“Yeah,” Bakugo threw him a glare. “Got a problem with it, Candy Cane?”
Well, he supposes he doesn’t have a problem with it. He’s delighted, even. “No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The rest of the way there was spent in silence. Shoto never minded the silence between them; it always felt comfortable. Safe — something he doesn’t usually feel with anyone else. Despite having gone closer to his classmates, he still couldn’t let himself be as free and open as he is with Bakugo. The alpha had denied it then, but they’re friends. Close friends, if Shoto had a say in it. He couldn’t deny the fact that there is something special between them, whether Bakugo felt it too or not.
Maybe this was what Kaminari was on about?
Something about Bakugo drew him in. Whether it was the way Bakugo seemed to hold himself to a higher standard, always seeking to prove himself on top but not leaving everyone else behind, a stark difference to the way he acted at the start of first year—Shoto had recognized and appreciated the development—or the way he would soften up his rough exterior whenever it was just the two of them. The alpha had a reputation to uphold, but in rare times, he would stop caring and just be around Shoto. Laugh at the jokes he claimed to be ‘lame’ and wordlessly spend time with him like he is right now. He doesn’t know when and how their relationship changed from intense rivalry to easy company, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
It’s the little things that Shoto appreciates about Bakugo — he isn’t at all surprised that he likes the alpha so much. Maybe a little too much, but that’s a train of thought that he had never bothered to look further into.
They had walked for a few more minutes before they reached the night market. It’s bustling with life; the atmosphere is filled with a chaotic mess of noise and the swirling aroma of fresh food. Stalls of different products lined the street, with lanterns in all of the colors one could imagine hung up everywhere to brighten up the place. Shoto can see smoke climbing up into the sky coming from the stalls, and he thinks he spots a noodle stand that he hopes serves cold soba. People filled the crowd, loud and lively, with children running around and playing with each other in youthful joy.
Bakugo stepped closer to Shoto, the backs of their hands brushing lightly at the close proximity. Even with the mix of smells in the air, Shoto could still clearly make out Bakugo’s unique scent. It’s relaxing compared to the overwhelming scents of the night market, and Shoto had to resist pressing closer to the alpha to seek it out.
“Well? Not too bad, ain’t it?” Bakugo murmured close to his ear. The alpha must be staying close to him to avoid getting separated by the crowd.
“Can we check out the noodle stand first?” Shoto points to the aforementioned noodle stand that he’d been eying the moment they got here.
Bakugo let out a short chuckle. “Right, of course you’d wanna go to that one first.”
The alpha steered them away from the crowd and approached the noodle stand. Shoto eyed the way Bakugo kept a hand on his elbow to guide him, barely keeping two steps of distance between them. They had to squeeze through the crowd to move around, and Shoto thinks that if the alpha hadn’t been holding onto him, they would have already been separated.
“You wanted soba, right?” Bakugo asked as soon as they were in line for the noodle stand. He let Shoto go first, standing behind him but not straying too far away.
“Cold — how did you know?”
Bakugo scoffed. “Know you too well. You never eat anything else.”
Shoto hummed. “You can never go wrong with cold soba.”
“There’s other food here, y’know?”
Looking around the market, Shoto nods in agreement. “Yes. I’d like to try more of them. I’ve never been to a place like this before.”
At that, Bakugo leaned forward over Shoto’s shoulder so he could look him in the eye. “What, you mean you’ve never been to a night market before?” The alpha asked in disbelief, eyes widening slightly.
Shoto shook his head. “No. My parents never took me to one of these before — neither did my siblings.”
Bakugo leaned back and stuck his hands in his pockets, shifting his footing. “Must have been a boring childhood.”
Shoto thought back to the memories he had of his childhood. “You could say that. Father didn’t let me join in on my mom and my siblings’ outings. As we grew older, and I could see them again, they stopped going out. Natsu and Yumi prefer to stay at home. Dinner became our only bonding activity.” If you could call Natsuo and Father arguing over the dinner table with Fuyumi acting as the mediator, while he sat silently watching like it was a soap opera bonding time.
A short silence enveloped them before Bakugo broke it with a nudge to Shoto’s shoulder. He looked back at the alpha, finding him wearing his typical bored expression, though he could see a hidden layer of care underneath the tough exterior.. “Don’t you live with your brother now?”
Shoto gives a nod. “With Toya and his mate, yes.”
“Why don’t you go with them?”
Shoto thought about it for a moment. “I suppose I could.” It wouldn’t hurt to at least ask. Toya has been busy lately, and he might appreciate a chance to relax for one night. Asking Keigo won’t be hard, either; he knows that his brother’s mate would never say no to him. He has a soft spot for Toya and Shoto.
“Or,” Bakugo interrupted Shoto’s train of thought. “You could always ask me. I wouldn’t mind taking you here again.”
Shoto didn’t reply. A flush starts to creep up Bakugo’s cheeks as he flusteredly squirms under Shoto’s silent stare. Bakugo averted his gaze, rocking on his heels awkwardly. “Don’t think about it too much, alright?! I’m being nice here!”
“You? Being nice?” Shoto says, teasing. “That’s a first.”
“Shut it or this won’t happen again, Icyhot!”
“So you want it to happen again?”
Bakugo looked back at him, his eyes shining under the colorful light of the lanterns. “Yeah, and so what!?”
Shoto hoped to make a witty retort, but the words died on his tongue as the response sank into him. So, Bakugo does want this to happen again? Their spontaneous trip to the night market wasn’t meant to be a one-time thing? Bakugo is inviting him to more?
“Nothing,” Shoto finally says, now his turn to be shy, his own blush heating his cheeks. “It’s, um, quite sweet of you, actually. I didn’t, ah, expect that from you.”
Bakugo scoffed, now looking mildly annoyed. “What, you thought I couldn’t treat you to something nice? More likely than you think, Peppermint.”
Peppermint? That’s a new one.
“Well, thank you.”
The alpha seemed to have cooled down, now sporting an expression Shoto had never seen before on him. He couldn’t quite describe it. “It’s no sweat. No big deal to me at all.”
They were finally at the front of the line, and they could order. Before Shoto could say anything to the nice-looking vendor, Bakugo beat him to it, ordering two servings of Shoto’s favorite soba. The alpha also paid for both, causing Shoto to frown (read: pout) as they stood off to the side to wait for their orders.
“I could have paid for mine,” Shoto says once they’re out of the line.
“I didn’t want you to,” Bakugo replied curtly.
Confused, Shoto tilted his head. “Why?”
Bakugo glanced at him before looking away, gaze jumping between the other food stands they could try. “I’m not about to let you pay for anything. Especially on a date.”
The world paused. A date? Bakugo is taking him out on a date?! And he didn’t even know?!
“I…” Shoto trailed off, face heating up into an embarrassing red. “I didn’t know this was a date…”
Bakugo’s world paused, too. “Wh… what?!”
“I… I’m sorry…?” It came out more as a question rather than a proper apology.
“No,” Bakugo shook his head firmly. “No, don’t apologise. I should have told you from the start.”
Now, Bakugo was starting to look ashamed. They sat in awkward silence after. Neither could bear looking at each other for more than a few seconds.
Shoto could never tell if he was being flirted with. Midoriya had sat him down one time early on in their second year to talk to him about the students randomly approaching him at times. Shoto had discovered that he was being ‘hit on’, and that multiple people were interested in him. He hadn’t given it much thought, saying he only needed to focus on his studies, and Midoriya left it at that. He didn’t think that Bakugo would be one of his ‘admirers’, but for some reason, he didn’t find it so bothersome.
If it were anyone but Bakugo, Shoto would have left by now. But no — Bakugo is his friend; he’s not some random stranger that he goes to school with. If anything, Bakugo would be the only person he would choose to go on a date with, which—maybe he should start to delve deeper into that thought.
“Look, I, uh,” Bakugo began. The alpha lost the indifferent and intimidating mask he wore, and instead opened up a moment of vulnerability rare to both of them. Bakugo looked slightly uncomfortable, but Shoto could tell that the alpha was holding it together to have this conversation with him. He appreciates that. “I understand if this is… weird to you. I don’t usually… do these kinds of things. If you want to leave, you can, and I’ll never ask you to another one again.”
Shoto frowned. “I don’t want to leave; why would I want to?”
If he’s being honest, Shoto wants Bakugo to ask him out on another date.
“Because I’m a weirdo who roped you into a date? Non-consensually?”
Shoto let out a snort. “I went willingly. I still am. Willing, I mean.”
Bakugo blinked at him, surprise coloring his face. Shoto thinks the alpha looks good like this, without the weird faces and constant furrowing of his brows. He thinks he likes the non-angry Bakugo as much as he likes the angry Bakugo. He thinks he just likes Bakugo in general.
“And you’re not a weirdo, for the record,” Shoto adds when he notices Bakugo not answering.
“So, you… Don’t mind that this is a date?”
“No,” Shoto says bluntly. The flush on his cheeks is becoming hard for him to ignore any longer. “I’d, um… like for this to be a date, actually,” he admits, bashful.
“ Hah?! You do?!”
Shoto jumps at the sudden loud volume. It broke the awkward air around them, and a grin split Shoto’s face. “Yeah. If you still do, too?”
“Of course!” Bakugo scoffed, almost offended. “Wouldn’t have called this one, otherwise.”
Now that the awkwardness had dissipated into something lighter, Shoto realised that going on a date with Bakugo was fun, and he would definitely like to do this again. He didn’t expect the alpha to be so attentive. Everything they did, Shoto had to give the okay first before it happened. Shoto’s eyes were opened to an endless menu of food, and his taste buds had the absolute pleasure of tasting every food combination he thought impossible. This was the most fun he had had with someone in a long while.
Bakugo was so attuned to Shoto’s wants that he rarely ever voiced them out for the alpha to understand what he wanted. He realised that Bakugo would be an incredibly good partner. And dare he say, a good alpha. Shoto found himself completely charmed by him by the end of the night.
Shoto realises that he has been missing out on a lot.
He also realises that he might have developed feelings for Bakugo without knowing.
“You were so focused on me, I noticed,” Shoto commented as they were walking back to the dorms, hand-in-hand and swinging their arms back and forth and clutching an ice cream in the other hand. “Did you have fun?”
Shoto would be embarrassed about holding hands in public, but Bakugo, for his part, didn’t look bothered. If anything, the alpha looked delighted. He had gotten good at reading Bakugo for the past two years, and he knew that Bakugo wouldn’t blow his face up over something as small as hand-holding. He probably would, if it were anyone else. But Shoto isn’t just anyone else, and the thought makes something warm simmer deep in his chest.
“The most fun I’ve ever had, Halfie,” Bakugo replied.
“It can’t have been much fun if it was all about me.”
“I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to. I’d do this any day.”
Oh. Well. “The assurance feels nice.”
He hadn’t meant to let that slip, but Bakugo didn’t seem to think anything of it.
“Assurance for what?”
“That you liked this. Liked me. I wanted to do something for you, too, but you wouldn’t let me, and nothing seemed good enough to me for you.”
He feels a little… selfish.
He tried to pay for Bakugo’s food, but the alpha hadn’t let him take his wallet out once the whole night. He tried to find at least something to buy for the alpha, but nothing appealed to him. Either he thought that they weren’t good enough to repay Bakugo’s kindness, or he thought that the alpha wouldn’t like them. He felt guilty about ending their date without doing anything for Bakugo, knowing that the alpha focused entirely on Shoto’s pleasure.
Bakugo shook his head, interrupting Shoto’s train of thought. “You don’t have to do anything, Halfie. And don’t even think about repaying me — I know what’s going through that little head of yours.”
Shoto couldn’t find a response, so he shut his mouth. He still thinks he owes Bakugo for his kindness. It doesn’t matter what the alpha thinks; he will repay him, one way or another, and nothing—not even Bakugo’s indifference—will stop him.
The alpha walked him all the way to his dorm despite his protests. Once they stood outside his door, Shoto turned around to face Bakugo, a tiny smile lifting the corner of his lips.
“I told you, you should have gone to your dorm. I could have walked by myself.”
Bakugo gave him another ‘Are you serious?’ look and scoffed, as if the alpha was deeply offended he’d even brought it up. “Like hell I’ll let you walk alone at night.”
“You could have gone to bed by now; aren’t you tired?” Shoto rebutted, confused.
Bakugo heaved an annoyed sigh. “Everything I’ve been doing has been of my own volition. Just let me do things for you, dammit! It ain’t that hard to sit still and look pretty, Half ‘n half!”
Shoto curled his lip in a frown and tried to ignore the strange, fuzzy feeling fluttering in his chest despite the words being spoken rather harshly. “Fine, since you like it so much.”
The alpha even opened his door for him. “Damn right I do.”
Shoto reached out to hold Bakugo’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for tonight, Bakugo,” he said right before entering his dorm.
Just as he was about to close the door, Bakugo gave him one last huff. “Yeah, thanks too, I guess.”
Shoto caught the flush of the alpha’s cheeks before he closed the door, and he couldn’t help his own blush. The strange feeling in his chest returned in full force. This must be the butterflies his classmates kept talking about; it has to be. Shoto had never felt this way before, and he would be lying if he said it was unpleasant. It felt good, even.
Bakugo was the only person who managed to make him feel this way. None of his ‘admirers’ ever made him feel strange things in his chest or caused him to blush like a schoolboy with a crush.
‘Toya will never let me live this down if he finds out,’ Shoto thought with a groan.
He tried not to think about his new feelings as he went to bed. He has a long day ahead of him, and he is not about to fall behind in his classes because of his feelings.
|
Shoto is accustomed to people perceiving him, watching, and judging, regardless of whether he notices it or not. However, this time felt a bit different. Instead of the usual critique and judgment stemming from the flashy display of his quirks, it was about small things involving him for once, a couple of curious pairs of eyes observing him from a distance, and questions posed to him here and there throughout his day. He isn’t used to people showing interest in him rather than in his quirks or the hero-related topics that others typically gawk at.
Now, people ask him about Bakugo all the time. Oddly enough, it makes him feel… normal. Like he isn’t an aspiring hero, but just an ordinary second-year student, even if it’s just for gossip. He supposes that normal students engage in gossip, anyway, and his classmates are no different.
After his… revelation, Shoto began noticing things about Bakugo. Minuscule, barely-there things, but still there, and it’s becoming quite hard not to notice them.
After the fateful night he spent with Bakugo, the alpha ensured that the progress in their relationship was apparent to everyone in class 2-A—at least to those who cared to notice—which made them the centre of gossip.
Shoto was taken aback by Bakugo's nonchalance regarding their relationship. The ‘budding romance’, as their classmates have dubbed it, did not go unnoticed by the class of 2-A.
He can’t fault his classmates for talking about them; he would also start to get curious and gossip if he were in their shoes. However, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re still talking about them .
“Don’t they bother you?” Shoto had asked Bakugo one time during a free period.
Bakugo had scooted close to his table, not saying a word as he scrolled on his phone next to Shoto, with the alpha’s hand on his thigh. Bakugo chose to be with him instead of entertaining the pestering from his friends, which made him feel a bit special. Shoto hadn’t minded it until he felt the stares.
“Who bothers me?”
Shoto takes a glance around the room. “Them. They talk about us, you know.”
“I’m the last person to care, Halfie.”
Which is fair, he supposes — Bakugo was never one to care about others’ opinions, anyway, why would he start now?
They left the conversation at that. The rest of the free period was spent in silence. Shoto looked over Bakugo’s shoulder to watch whatever he was doing on his phone while the alpha absentmindedly drummed his fingers on his thigh.
At lunch later that same day, Bakugo sat closer to Shoto than usual. He didn’t mind it, as long as he was wrapped up in the alpha’s scent and could steal a few pieces of his food. The rest of Bakugo’s—and by extension his —friends, who also occupied the table, stared slack-jawed. On the way back to their classroom, Bakugo let Shoto wrap his hands around the alpha’s arm, having sought the contact. When he let go, Bakugo caught his hands and placed them back on his arm again, not sparing him a glance as he continued his conversation with Kirishima. Ashido grinned at him, her eyes sparkling with glee, having noticed the action.
Later, Shoto visited the library to study. They had a quiz the next day, and he wanted to be prepared. He informed Bakugo of this over text since they do that now, and the alpha promised to bring him something. True to his word, Bakugo arrived and dropped off a latte, leaving with a warning for Shoto to return to the dorms before sunset. Despite the irritated frown he wore, the alpha wasn’t actually bothered by bringing him the latte, and he was sure that if he asked, Bakugo would do it again and some more.
Before dinner, Shoto stopped by the kitchen and noticed Bakugo. He asked for the alpha’s notes on the quiz he was studying for. Although Bakugo had teased him, he ultimately agreed to let Shoto borrow his notebook, accompanied by a threat on Shoto’s life if he tampered with it. Shoto hadn’t left the kitchen without feeling a brief touch at his waist, as the alpha wrapped a hand around his side, the touch vanishing as quickly as it came.
Then, during dinner, Bakugo once again sat next to Shoto closer than usual. The alpha angrily snapped his fangs when Sero commented on it, and no one had uttered a word since, for fear of facing his wrath. Shoto felt the eyes on him, but he managed to ignore them throughout his dinner. He excused himself to start studying the notes he borrowed, receiving a ‘don’t kill yourself by studying’ text from the alpha that made him laugh.
Shoto noticed all of these things. He had another realisation that day: Katsuki Bakugo is a very attentive and very shameless partner (lover).
The alpha hadn’t shied away from physical contact — he was often the one initiating it, even. Bakugo wasn’t attempting to keep them a secret, nor was he embarrassed to be around Shoto. He delighted in being around Shoto, actually; the thought makes the same warm, fuzzy feeling he felt during the date resurface.
Shoto is being charmed by Bakugo day by day, and he is falling fast.
|
“You gotta tell me what’s going on with you and Bakubro, man!”
Sero ambushed him in the common room. It was a Saturday, and Shoto planned to spend it lazing around in the common area. Sero plopped down next to him on the couch, and Shoto immediately knew he was in for an interrogation.
“What would you like to know, exactly?” Shoto asked plainly, turning off his phone and placing it upside down on the cushion next to him. He might as well entertain the questions.
“When? How? And why?!” Sero nearly yelled, and Shoto was afraid that he’d wake up the others.
“One question at a time, please — and don’t yell.”
By now, they had attracted a generous amount of attention. He expected Kaminari and Shinso’s presence, but he noticed Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, Midoriya, and Ashido here, too.
Kaminari and Shinso wore knowing expressions. This must have been what they hid from him that one evening.
“When did you and Bakugo happen?!” Uraraka asked, her volume just as loud, knocking into Sero in her excitement.
When did it start? Shoto can’t even remember — he can’t even tell, for that matter. So, he shrugged.
“I don’t know. It kinda just… happened?” He supplied unhelpfully.
“I didn’t expect you two at all,” Yaoyorozu mused.
Midoriya tilted his head at her. “Really? I totally did. I caught on way before second year started.”
“Woah, dude. Are you, like, a seer, or something? Only you would notice something like that,” Sero commented.
Has it been that obvious even before? But Shoto hadn’t realized he liked Bakugo until the accidental date happened. Unless Midoriya is talking about Bakugo and not him. They have been together for so long—it makes sense why Midoriya would be the one to catch on.
“It’s been that long?” Kaminari looked awed. “How haven’t we noticed?”
Midoriya gave the blonde a shrug. “I dunno — Kacchan’s a pretty private person. He rarely ever talks about stuff like this. It took me a while to figure it out, and when I asked him about it, he didn’t deny it; he only yelled at me and told me to mind my business.”
Yeah, that sounds like Bakugo, alright.
“Okay, next question then,” Sero seemed happy with the answer, so he moved on to the next. “How?!”
Shoto winced at the ever-growing volume of the tape hero’s voice. “You seem way too interested in my love life.”
“So, you two are in love!” Ashido leaned closer and pointed an accusing finger at him, giggling.
That made a blush creep up high on Shoto’s cheeks. “I, um, didn’t say that…”
He squirmed under the attention of his classmates, all of them pushing and prodding at him to spill everything he knows. Eventually, he relented.
“I guess it started on our date—”
“Date?!” The group exclaimed in unison.
“—When we were getting soba. I realised then that I liked him, and it kept moving forward from there.”
Sero made a face, almost pouting, but not quite. “There’s not a lot we can get out of that, dude.”
Kirishima suddenly piped in. “Oh, yeah! You guys went to that new night market, didn’t you? Bakubro told me all about it — I’ve been dying to go ever since.”
At that, Shinso finally uttered something, mirroring the awe Kaminari was in. “He told you? Willingly?”
“Yeah?” Kirishima asked with a raise of his brow. “I didn’t blackmail him, or anything. He tells me this stuff!”
Then he must have told Kirishima about the embarrassing parts of that night, too. The thought makes Shoto shift awkwardly.
“He treated me really well, too,” Shoto continued, the attention back on him in an instant. “He paid for everything; he even walked me back to the dorms.”
Ojiro, who was merely a passerby, stopped in his tracks and inched closer to the gossip. He joined in, fitting perfectly into the semicircle that the others formed around Shoto. “Wow, what a gentleman.”
(“When did you get here?” Ashido asked the tailed boy.
“I was always here, what do you mean?”)
Shinso gave a half-snort, half-hum. “Sounds like you’re way past the talking stage and straight into dating.”
Which—Shoto had never understood the whole ‘talking stage’ thing. Isn’t that just getting to know each other? Why create a label for it? By that logic, he would have been in a talking stage with everyone in his life before he considered them friends, despite not having any romantic interest in them. It doesn’t make sense to him.
“Well, yeah. They’re courting, aren’t they?” Midoriya asked.
Panic flashed through Kaminari and Shinso’s faces. They slapped a hand over Midoriya’s mouth, the boy shrieking in surprise.
Ah. This was what they were hiding from him.
“Courting?” Shoto asked cluelessly. “We’re courting?”
Ashido stared at him, flabbergasted. “I think you would know if you’re courting, Todoroki.”
Does he know he and Bakugo are courting?
At his silence, Ashido gasped, and Yaoyorozu gave a sympathetic coo. “Todoroki, did you not know?”
Apparently, no.
“Oh my god, we ruined it, didn’t we?!” Sero cried out, panicked. “Bakubro’s going to kill us!”
“Does Bakugo know you’re courting?” Ojiro asked, teasing, but equally dumbfounded.
How would he know?!
“Of course, he does! He told me about it!” Kirishima nodded rapidly.
“And he just tells you these things?” Kaminari utters in suspicion.
“Of course, he does! We’re, like, best bros!”
What a bombshell. Shoto is going to need a whole night of reflection in his bed after this.
“How… how did you know he was courting me?” And how did he not notice?
The group grew silent for a moment. They shifted so they sat properly, all eyes on Shoto. It felt a little creepy.
“Do you want a list?” Shinso chuckled.
“Humor me.”
Midoriya fidgeted with a pillow as he thought about the question. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you wear his scent all the time—”
“I do?”
“—and he never lets another alpha touch you. Or get too close, for that matter. We were talking once, and I felt him wishing death upon me from the back of my head. I took the hint and stepped away, and he hadn’t murdered me after, surprisingly.”
Adding on, Kaminari gave his own input. “Also, he doesn’t get mad when it’s an omega. I cling to you all the time, and Bakubro doesn’t care.”
Kirishima nodded in agreement. “Yeah! He even planned out your date night! He refused to tell me what he had planned, but it meant a whole lot to him, even if he didn't show it.”
As he reflected on the date, Shoto remembered that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the alpha. He was his usual self, grumbly and snarky. Perhaps he really did hide what he was truly feeling if Shoto hadn’t managed to recognise anything out of the ordinary.
“Not to mention how much he seems to pay attention to you,” Yaoyorozu smiles at him, similar to Fuyumi’s when she’s patiently explaining something to him. “He’s clearly putting in effort. He opens doors for you, always lets you go first, pays for your food, knows when to be touchy and when to give you space — heck, he even makes you walk on the safe side of the sidewalk! He’s in deep.”
The little things—even the little things—his classmates noticed. They noticed everything.
Shoto thinks he might be in deep, too.
When he said that Bakugo was so attuned to him, he meant it.
“Oh! The food, too!” A different voice piped in. “Everyone knows food is Bakugo’s love language!”
“Hagakure?!” Kaminari shrieked. “When did you get here?!”
“I was always here.”
“Hey, that’s what I said!”
“Dark Shadow and I are here, too, if you guys don’t mind.”
“My, what a twinkling, beautiful, blossoming of love! I can feel it — love is in the air!”
Is everyone from 2-A here to witness the birth of Shoto’s love life? He wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Aizawa has been secretly spying on them in his bright neon yellow sleeping bag under the couch at this point.
Shoto groans. Has Bakugo really been doing all this without him knowing it was courting? He thought the alpha was just being nice. Now he truly feels bad about not buying him a gift or paying for his food.
He needs to do something nice for Bakugo, but what, he doesn’t know. He’ll need to figure it out. If he can’t figure it out on his own, then he’ll ask for some help.
It’s the weekend, and he remembers that Toya invited him for brunch on Sunday. All of his siblings are omegas, and he figures that if anyone can help him, it’s them. Natsuo might freak out if he tells him he’s being courted, and Fuyumi might also freak out and accidentally tell their dad. It’s a terrifying thought.
In conclusion, Toya is his best bet. Their eldest is the only one out of all of them with actual relationship experience—even being married—and he’s the last person to judge Shoto’s decisions. If one of his siblings is going to help him, it has to be Toya.
“Thank you guys for your help, I gotta go, bye!” Shoto rushes off to his dorm for some peace and quiet, as well as to mentally prepare himself for the dreadful conversation he’s going to have with his eldest brother the next day.
(“Do you guys think Bakugo will be mad at us for telling his omega he’s being courted?” Ashido asked the group as soon as Shoto made his hasty leave.
Kaminari scoffs. “Nah, we did him a favor.”
Uraraka pursed her lips and nodded her agreement. She taps a finger on her cheek in thought. “Not gonna lie, Todoroki is a little bit of an airhead. If we hadn’t outright told him, he would have stayed in the dark forever.”
Shinso hums. “Spiky owes us, then.”)
|
As he stood in front of Toya’s door, the nerves started to kick in.
He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous; it’s just Toya. He’d never had a reason to be embarrassed around his eldest brother, but somehow, he feels like a hole will open up from under him as soon as he walks through the door.
The door opened, and a head of blonde hair popped out from behind it. Keigo’s face lit up when he saw Shoto, and the pro hero quickly beckoned him inside.
“Hey, Sho! How have you been?” Keigo asked when Shoto was safely inside the house, toeing off his shoes and emptying his pockets onto a table. “You haven’t called in a while; Toya and I thought you had died.” Keigo pulled him into a hug, his strong arms and huge, silky wings wrapping around him like a cocoon.
Shoto rolled his eyes good-naturedly and hugged his favorite (only) brother-in-law tighter. The house smells of fresh brunch, the savory aroma wafting through the air enticingly. They parted, and Shoto went further into the living room. The place is neatly organised and shiny with cleanliness, spotless no matter where you look. The long couch is draped with a thin blanket, the pillows scattered in their proper places around it. Shoto flopped down on the couch and stretched his body like a cat, listening to Keigo’s footsteps padding around the room. A show plays on the television at low volume.
“I’m not dead yet; school’s just been rough.”
Keigo huffed a chuckle. “Your teachers’ been giving you trouble?”
“No,” Shoto grumbled. “I do miss Mr. Aizawa, though. Homeroom isn’t the same without him.”
“He retired?”
Something crashed in the kitchen. Shoto can’t be bothered to check it out.
“He’s not our teacher anymore, but he’s still teaching. New 1-A kids are so lucky.”
“With your track record, I sure hope they are. Freshmen shouldn’t have to go through what your class did.”
Shoto thinks back to the events of his first year of high school. No, he wouldn’t wish those upon the new kids, either.
“Sho? That you, little man?” Toya’s voice boomed from the kitchen.
Shoto sat up just in time to see Toya exiting the kitchen, walking into the joint dining room holding a plate of food. He leapt off the couch and ran to his brother. Keigo scrambled to take the plate from Toya’s hands while fluttering around the house to prepare the table as the brothers caught up.
“Hey! How are ya, little prodigy?” Toya asked as he squeezed Shoto into a bone-crushing hug.
Toya’s scent is pleasant, fruity, and slightly sweet, with a hint of ash and something deeper buried within. It blended nicely with Keigo’s saffron. His clothes smelled of smoke and food, but Shoto didn’t mind as he hugged his brother even tighter, nuzzling into his chest while letting out a quiet purr.
“I’m so tired,” Shoto whined pitifully into Toya’s chest. “Can’t I stay here for the week?”
The older omega petted Shoto’s hair. “As much as we’d love to have you here, you can’t abandon your studies. Don’t be like me.”
Keigo finished setting up the table and called them over. Shoto sat across from the pair of mates, wasting no time digging into his food as soon as they finished the before-meal rituals. He had a mouthful of rice when he replied. “You turned out fine for someone who barely had an education.”
Toya shrugged in dismissal. “It’s different. I was homeless for years, Sho.”
“Right, and look where you are now.” Living a life of luxury, mated and married to the number two pro hero of the country, and earning fortunes.
A friendly conversation continued. Keigo and Toya asked him about his new, peaceful life, while Shoto inquired about theirs. Keigo remains the same hero loved by all, and Toya noted that he left his old workplace and plans to start a new job elsewhere.
(“I’m telling you, Tou,” Keigo interjected. “I’ll provide for you. I make enough money for the three of us to live easily; we can afford for you to stay at home.”
“I’m not staying home feeling useless, Kei.”
“I’d love to stay at home and do nothing; can I do that instead?” Shoto butted in.
“You’re too young to become someone’s stay-at-home omega, Firefly,” Keigo shook his head in disagreement. “No househusband duties for you yet, kid. Maybe wait until you’re thirty.”)
Shoto is starting to feel dread creeping up on him, the longer they eat. He fidgeted with his chopsticks as Toya and Keigo became immersed in a pointless argument about the show playing in the background. Shoto hadn’t been listening, too caught up in his thoughts to notice that the pair had stopped and were staring at him with concern.
“I know that look,” Toya clicked his tongue. “You want to say something.”
The words pulled Shoto from his thoughts. He looked up and met Toya’s firm but kind azure eyes.
“Tell us or I’ll get worried you’ll explode, or something — you look ready to combust.”
Shoto is ready to combust — any moment now, actually.
Keigo looked back and forth between the siblings, looking vaguely concerned as he devoured his bowl. How the bird-like hero has a bottomless pit of a stomach, Shoto may never know.
For a while, Shoto said nothing. He stared into Toya’s eyes, the older omega now looking mildly uncomfortable. “Your silence scares me, dude — spit it out!”
“How do you respond to courting?”
The table fell silent. Toya’s eyes widened into saucers. Keigo froze mid-chew, letting out a disbelieving huff of laughter. Shoto heaved a sigh, an embarrassing blush slowly climbing up his face.
“You… you? Being courted?” Toya asked, perplexed. “When?! How?! What?!”
‘That’s almost how Sero interrogated me, too,’ Shoto thought.
Keigo managed to swallow his food, grinning widely. “Aw, you’re being courted? How cute! Who is it? Wait! Don’t answer that — I want to guess!”
“Good luck,” Shoto muttered.
“Is it that Deku kid? Or the smart one with the glasses and blue hair? He’s in your class, right? Or is it that Yaoyorozu girl you’re close friends with?”
“Um,” Shoto glanced warily at Toya, afraid of his brother’s reaction. “None of them. It’s— um—”
“Katsuki Bakugo?”
Oh. He didn’t think Keigo would actually get it right.
“Bingo.” Shoto smiled nervously. “Surprise?”
“You know the kid by name?” Toya turned to Keigo.
“Of course, I do.”
Shoto sighed. He may as well tell them what he’s truly here for.
“I didn’t even know I was being courted. I thought Bakugo was just being nice — I thought we were going out casually. And now that I know, I feel bad because I don’t know how to reciprocate. How— how do you… How do you respond?”
The silence that enveloped them made Shoto’s skin crawl. Toya stared at him blankly, gears seemingly turning in his head as he processed the information. Keigo looked thoughtful, chewing on his food as he mulled over his response.
“Well, what does this kid do to court you?” Toya finally asked. He doesn’t seem to be upset about the news, and Shoto can now rest easy without the looming threat of his brother’s disapproval.
He relays everything to them—from the casual hangouts and the date to the conversation in the common room. By the end of the story, they have finished their food, now loitering at the dining table, all three too lazy to do the dishes just yet. They have more pressing matters at hand, like Shoto’s romantic predicament.
“He sounds sweet, at least,” Keigo commented, leaning back on his chair with a thoughtful expression. “I think you should say yes.”
“Keigo!”
“The kid wants answers! And I’m being honest!”
“I don’t want to just say yes or no. That’s lame. ” Bakugo doesn’t do lame. “I want to do something for him, too.”
Toya huffs. “Your answer is the only thing the kid’s looking for.”
Well, Shoto knows that. He knows how courting works. At least, how courting omegas work.
“How do you court an alpha?”
Toya’s eyes widened at the question. The older omega huffs out a startled laugh. “You’re serious about him, huh?”
Shoto only nods.
Toya heaves an exasperated sigh. “Well, he treats you right — I suppose that’s enough for me. Do whatever you want, kid, so long as Keigo and I meet this guy before you make it official. Let me tell you now, I’m gonna have blood on my hands as soon as I see a collar on your neck before we even meet your alpha. Hell, I’ll find this kid myself and bring him here if you don’t. Tell him to watch himself, yeah?”
“Toya, please don’t kidnap Bakugo.” Shoto is mildly horrified.
Keigo, however, visibly brightens at Toya’s unsettling words. “Wait, I’m invited to the boyfriend shovel talk?”
“Are there any other alphas in this house to do it?”
That’s as good of an approval as Shoto’s gonna get from his brother. He can think about his father’s reaction later when he and Bakugo decide to make it official; by then, Father would no longer have a say in it.
“So, you want to know how to court an alpha?” Keigo leans over the table, sporting a mischievous grin. “You’ve come to the right guy.”
Toya stood up to gather the dishes, moving to the kitchen to start cleaning them. “Don’t teach him anything stupid, you bird-for-brains.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Keigo tells Shoto. “I’m an alpha; I’m the best person for this job. Now, listen up, Firefly, all of these are gonna be in the test…”