Work Text:
Day Four:Endearments
1
Shouto wasn’t someone with a huge ego or a tendency to brag. He was quiet guy and kept to himself, even if he had a million and one things to brag about at the worst of times. His family had lots of money, he had a quirk that gave him almost unlimited power, and he was one of the smartest kids in class. He could brag about his father if he wanted to, but he’d rather die.
Building off of that, Shouto was really, really smart. Classically.
He had been brought up in home school for most of his life. Bad things happened if he got answers wrong based on just stupid mistakes. He had learned to triple check every problem he did in every subject quickly and with no complaints. He read at a fast pace, since it was one of the only things he could do in his freetime other than school work and training. He had good work habits ground into him, from the fact that his older sister was a teacher and his father wanted him to be the best student that had ever existed.
So he was good at school work. He was debatably smart, since he was completely inexperienced and stupid when it came to emotions, his and others, and his social skills were unimaginably low. He didn’t know much about art or music, though he did know some, since Fuyumi had tried to teach him about that and give him books on it. He was completely clueless when he was on his own in something that varied from person to person, something he had no clear answer to.
Analyzation could be difficult for him, especially if it was a thing that could be analyzed in a million and ten different ways. However, having a boyfriend that did nothing but analyze people for the first thirteen years of his life had its academic perks.
So when he got homework in his literature class that left him nauseous and exhausted, he had someone to rant to when he was in distress.
“I don’t get it, at all! There were people who finished it in class, is it easy and I’m just not seeing it? I don’t understand the meaning behind it or what its supposed to represent in any way and I’m sure that the answer I guessed for is wrong and I’m gonna get a bad grade and it’s gonna be really stupid and the answer is simple and-” he worked himself up into a hyperventilating mess at his desk, hands finding his hair and fisting, pulling at them, grasping for straws at any way to get focused. It might seem dramatic, but staring at a sheet of paper for an hour could do that to anyone. Izuku hummed and pulled them away gently, running a hand down his back as they left.
“Relax, babe. Breathe. Nothing’s gonna make sense if you panic. Let’s read it again, together this time. You’ll find it, let’s just look at it with the themes of the book and the history behind it…”
Shouto wasn’t listening anymore. All of the tension dissolved in his body and his shoulders slumped as soon as the b-word was uttered from Izuku’s mouth. He felt his cheeks heat up. Izuku paused in his explanation and gentle help, looking to Shouto and chuckling under his breath. If anything, that just made him blush more.
“Aww, Shouchan, did you like that?” Izuku giggled and leaned to kiss his cheek where Shouto was desperately trying to hide it by practically bending over. “You’re adorable, I can’t handle it, babe.”
Shouto was going to die. It was a good way to get him to do his homework, though.
2
As a 25 year old, Shouto hadn’t changed much.
Of course, he was taller. He had a bit more muscle. He was on some anti-depressants and saw a therapist every other Wednesday, so he was a lot more relaxed than he was as a teenager. He wasn’t as angry and not as unstable, though he still had his bad days. His dad was dead, which definitely had a lot to do with it. No more extra stress of presenting himself the way he wanted him to in public and no stress about his mother, who now lived close to the ocean and with a nurse just in case. However, he still had the same stubborn and slightly snarky personality he always did.
This only got worse when he was sick.
It might have been another thing on the long list of childhood issues. He felt like he could be doing so much more, like being at work or tidying up or going and interacting with the public, literally anything more productive than being wrapped in a comforter and being force-fed tea and soup. It was only a cold,it shouldn’t have been as big of a deal as it was! Sadly, Izuku was just as stubborn as he was and didn’t take no for an answer, tucking him into bed with a “Your health takes priority.” Ugh.
Izuku was already in Deku mode, costume on and ready to hit the streets in search of some villainy, while Shouto was still pouting and waiting for the Mucinex to kick in and let him breathe. The Tylenol hadn’t dulled the pain yet either. His pounding headache and aching throat practically taunted him as he watched Izuku zip up his jumpsuit.
Izuku bent over the bed and pressed a kiss to his forehead in the quick way a parent does before leaving a child. A quick peck after a combing back of bangs. “Try to get a lot of sleep. You’ll be better in no time, sweetie.” Then he was out the door.
Shouto didn’t have the heart to complain, especially when he was already bright red and pouting at the way it fluttered.
3
Ochako and Tenya get married before they do. Barely, but they win the marriage race.
Izuku has the fine idea to bake them some cookies to congratulate them. Great idea.
Ochako has loved his cookie recipe since high school and all of the times where Izuku baked off stress that he had at all times. Eventually Satou and Izuku combined forces to make the best and most intricate sweets of all time.
They were standing in their kitchen, oven already heating to 190 degrees and pan already slicked to be readied for the cookies. Shouto could always heat the pan, but the cookies always turned out unevenly cooked, and no one really liked slightly raw cookies.
Izuku was already covered in flour as he combined the flour and cornstarch in a bowl, swaying his hips to whatever song he was humming. He looked up at Shouto and suddenly smiled, though there was an odd hint to it. It was almost a smirk, and Shouto was terrified to know what he was thinking of.
“Can you hand me the sugar, sugar?” Izuku asked, chuckling at his terrible, not even worthy of being called a joke, joke. Shouto huffed and rolled his eyes before handing it to him, though if he said he wasn’t smiling it would be a lie. His treacherous cheeks pinkened once again but luckily, Izuku didn’t notice it, or just didn’t bring it up.
Fine. Shouto could do without his teasing.
4
“Hey, hey, Shouto. Will you do the laundry? Please? The villain I fought yesterday was suuuper hard and now my legs hurt like hell. I don’t wanna stand.”
No response.
“Hey, hey. Shouto.”
No reply, just a groan and a turning of a head.
“Shouto~” nothing. “Lovely? Angel? Sweetpea? My beautiful katsudon? Please?”
Shouto looked up, pout free, unlike three seconds ago. “Hmm?”
“Laundry? Please. “
“Of course,” Shouto gave Izuku a peck on the cheek before retreating to the laundry room.
“Works every time,” thought Izuku as he snuggled back into the couch.
5
Sometimes the quiet moments are the most important ones, out of all of them. The ones where the only thing that can be heard is their quiet breathing and the ever present buzz of the sound from the street outside their window. The occasional sound of a bird or the whirr of a helicopter, the beeps of a siren. The quiet times.
Shouto was laying on their bed, wet hair strewn across the plush pillow. He laid flat on his back, almost spread-eagled on top of the quilt. Getting under the blankets was too daunting after an emotionally exhausting week. They had busted a ring of “weapons” dealers. Weapons, being, children with powerful quirks . It was awful and disgusting and much too close to home, so when they had finally finished, Shouto was aching, exhausted, and thankful.
Izuku laid next to him, propped up on one elbow. He carded a hand through Shouto’s hair, watching as the white and red strands tumbled through his fingers. He was easily entertained by it, watching with awe. Shouto sighed a long sigh and smiled tiredly at him, eyes soft. The smile was genuine and pure and big, which was incredibly rare for Shouto. Izuku’s heart swelled.
“I’m so tired,” Shouto groaned and rolled over, pushing his head into Izuku’s hand. Izuku chuckled under his breath and resumed his hair stroked as Shouto closed his eyes and hummed in a sleepy tone.
“Sleep, darling. Everything’s alright.” Izuku whispered.
Shouto cracked an eye open and raised a brow. “Because you are here?”
“Pfft,” Izuku snorted and covered his mouth. “Why? Because I am here!” he mocked and his heart ached with nostalgia of when that really meant something. The fall of All Might would always be raw and it didn’t matter that it was ten years ago, or that he still met Yagi for tea every other day.
When Izuku got back from his own shower, Shouto was fast asleep, still on top of the blankets. Izuku tucked him neatly, making sure while tugging the blankets to not wake him, and then settled in for his own night of peaceful sleep.
+1
They were dancing in tailored suits, shined shoes tapping against a ballroom floor as they swayed and spun the tune of their favorite music. Izuku had tears drying on his cheeks and they shone in a light in a way that was nothing but breathtaking.
“You...you really went all out, with the decorations.” Izuku murmured, pulling his hand back from Shouto’s shoulder, ring glimmering in the light as he rubbed the tears away. “I thought we were gonna have something low key, but this is….so much better. You guys outdid yourself.”
For the wedding, Izuku focused on the guest list and food and music, while Shouto and their mothers focused on the decorations.
Shouto smiled and leaned down to kiss tears away, his own eyes welling up with them. “Anything for you, my love.” He whispered. Izuku’s eyes widened and he sobbed, hand tightening where it lay on his shoulder.
The tears spilled over Shouto’s cheek as he beamed, as they beamed, at each other.
Maybe Izuku had a thing for sweet nicknames too.