Hizashi hummed a little tune as he scrolled through various songs on his laptop. He found himself to be in a particularly good mood. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had dinner plans with Shouta tonight at a fancy restaurant. Shouta had been against having to dress up for their nightly outing, reasoning that it was an unnecessary amount of effort to put on a suit solely to be allowed to eat at an overpriced seafood restaurant. He had only agreed hesitantly after Hizashi said he would let him borrow a dress shirt and pants. Oh, it also helped that he had promised to pay for his share of the dinner.

It had been two years after their graduation, both of them finding hero work at separate agencies. Hizashi had fought tooth and nail to keep in touch with Shouta, refusing to lose contact after high school, mostly because he treasured their friendship, but also because he had a big fat crush on him.

Hizashi had originally planned to confess to Shouta after high school, but unfortunately his best friend wasted no time with the remaining ceremonial festivities after they received their graduation certificates. As for the two years after that… well, Hizashi didn't really have an excuse aside from being too afraid of rejection.

But tonight, Hizashi planned to confess his feelings. He was going to take Shouta out to a fancy dinner mainly because if he had to suffer through an uncomfortable confession, then his best friend could at least suffer with him by wearing formal wear.

It seemed like a fair trade: Hizashi pays for dinner to possibly get rejected and to also get the chance to stare at his crush's broad shoulders and defined ass in a nice button-up shirt and tight dress pants.

As Hizashi reflected on his life decisions, his phone vibrated on his bed. Nemuri had sent him a link leading to a video. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Hizashi tapped the link and was brought to a video titled, "Unknown Hero Saves Child From Potential Car Accident."

Hizashi watches a shaky handheld camera filming at what seemed to be a roadside villain attack. The group of villains had been detained but a child was seen crying in the crowd, running out into oncoming traffic as heroes tried to regain order. Hizashi felt his grip tighten on his phone as he heard screeching brakes. Just as the collision was about to occur, a hero with a grey scarf and yellow goggles quickly maneuvered his way through the crowd, swinging his capture weapon in time to grab the kid out of traffic.

The hero was unmistakably Shouta who was seen cradling the kid who was crying into his shoulder, his arms wrapped around his neck. Hizashi smiled at his friend's successful rescue, his heart swelling with pride and admiration. The camera couldn't pick up their conversation, but he could tell Shouta was whispering into the kid's ear, patting his back gently as he tried to spot any concerned parents in the crowd.

Just as Hizashi thought that his softie best friend would be the death of him, the video showed a mother running to the erasure hero, bowing deeply as she reached out for her child. As the kid was brought back into his mother's arms, pink strands were seen attached to the kid's hands, which stuck to Shouta's hair. There appeared to be some awkward maneuvering as Shouta activated his quirk to stop the kid's power. His hand was seen touching the pink substance in his hair, which left a stretchy trail of pink goop on his fingers. The video abruptly cut off as heroes ushered civilians away from the scene of the crime.

Based on the time the video was uploaded, this must have happened this morning during Shouta's patrol. He opened up his text messages and searched for his chat with Shouta.

(5:30) Hey there, my favorite listener! Just saw the video of your hero work from this morning. Good work!

Hizashi added a few hearts and thumbs-up emojis. He almost immediately received a text back.

(5:31) Thanks.

Hizashi was surprised at the prompt reply. Shouta usually didn't check his texts for hours. He once thought his best friend's phone had broke, or possibly something worse, when he didn't receive a reply for two weeks. Hizashi had cried so hard from worrying during this time, eventually finding out that Shouta had merely neglected to check his messages. After that incident, Shouta promised to check in with him at least once a week.

(5:32) I'll see you tonight at 7?

Hizashi watched the three dots appear on his phone, indicating that Shouta was typing back a reply. He stared at the animation for five minutes before finally receiving a response.

(5:37) I don't think I can make it. Sorry.

(5:38) Oh no is everything okay? Are you hurt? I'm coming over right now.

(5:40) No I'm fine. Don't come over.

(5:41) Why not? What's going on, Shouta? You're worrying me.

Hizashi stared at the message that indicated that Shouta had read his text. His eyebrows furrowed as he waited for a response, tapping his finger on his laptop impatiently.

After ten minutes, Hizashi figured he wasn't going to get a response any time soon. Hizashi bit his lip, disappointment and concern made his stomach flip. Shouta rarely cancelled on their plans and usually when he did, it revolved around hero work. But every time it happened, Shouta would give him an explanation instead of ignoring him.

Hizashi scrolled through his contacts and pulled up Nemuri's number.

(5:57) Did you hear anything from Shouta? He cancelled on our dinner plans and he won't tell me why. I'm worried about him.

(6:00) I was over at his place this afternoon. You should just bring take-out over to his place. He doesn't want to leave his apartment.

(6:01) Is he okay?

(6:02) Just bring dinner over to his place. You'll see. 3

Hizashi sighed, closing his phone. If Nemuri wasn't concerned, then there was most likely a good explanation. He closed his laptop and climbed out of bed. His fancy restaurant date might have been cancelled, but he wasn't going to just give up on dinner plans with his best friend.

Hizashi climbed the stairs leading to Shouta's apartment, one hand carrying a bag filled with hamburgers and yakisoba while the other hand held a bottle of sake he had picked up at the convenience store. Once he found the door he was looking for, he rang the doorbell, whistling a soft tune as he waited. When he didn't receive a response, he began to tap his foot.

"Shouta, it's me! Nemuri told me you were home," Hizashi shouted. "Come on, man. I'm worried about you! Don't make me break down your door. I think we both don't want that to happen again."

After a pause, he heard the familiar sound of Shouta's footsteps grow louder behind the door. He watched the door open slightly, only seeing Shouta's eye peek out from the crack.

"Why are you here?" he mumbled, his poorly lit hallway shadowing his face.

"Why am I – Shouta! I was worried about you! I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Hizashi pouted, stomping his foot as his voice grew louder in volume.

"Okay, I'm fine. Bye," Shouta muttered, getting ready to close the door.

Before Shouta could close the door, Hizashi abruptly threw his shoulder against the frame, pushing his way inside. The two of them stumbled against each other, the erasure hero clearly caught off guard from the sudden motion. As the two fell to the ground, Shouta grabbed Hizashi's torso, instinctively maneuvering himself so that he would take most of the impact from the fall.

Hizashi blinked slowly, his face a few inches away from Shouta as they both stared at each other silently.

"You cut your hair," Hizashi blurted out as he realized his best friend's long hair was now the same length as it had been in high school. From the short distance between them, he could see Shouta frown, his face growing red as he tried to hide behind his bangs.

"And you shaved!" Hizashi nearly screamed, grabbing Shouta's face with both hands on his cheeks, tilting his head up so that he could study his features more closely.

With a short "tsk", Shouta pushed Hizashi's hands away from his face. He dropped his head once again, scooting himself away from the voice hero to create some distance between them.

The two sat at Shouta's front entrance in silence. It couldn't have been more than a minute, but to Hizashi, it felt like hours. Pushing himself back onto his feet, Hizashi locked Shouta's apartment door. He turned to face his friend, offering his hand silently to help pull his him up.

"Um, I brought take-out for dinner. We don't have to go out if you don't want to," Hizashi weakly said. "Plus I brought your favorites."

Slowly lifting his head, Shouta stayed silent as he took Hizashi's hand, pulling himself up.

The two stood quietly in the entrance way. Hizashi fought the urge to pull his friend into a tight hug.

"Please talk to me, Shouta. What's wrong?" Hizashi asked, his hand still grasping Shouta's even after his best friend was back on his feet. He gave it a reassuring squeeze, smiling softly as he watched Shouta sigh, his other free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

"I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Like what?" Hizashi tilted his head to the side as if he was a confused puppy.

"My hair," Shouta mumbled, his face growing redder. "The kid I saved this morning had a bubblegum quirk. He must have activated it by accident when I saved him. He ruined my hair and I didn't know what to do since we were suppose to go out for dinner."

Hizashi waited patiently for Shouta to continue, slowly tugging him to his living room sofa so that they could both have a seat.

"I called Nemuri and she came over to fix it for me, gave me a haircut, and everything. Since she was already trimming my hair, she said I may as well shave too before I go out to dinner with you," Shouta said, his blush growing deeper in shade.

Hizashi briefly wondered why Nemuri had made Shouta shave. She probably knew that he had arranged a dinner date, Hizashi thought, cringing in embarrassment.

"Okay, I get that, but why did you cancel? Are you not feeling well?"

Shouta's grip on Hizashi's hand grew tighter, his mouth forming a thin line as he hunched his shoulders.

"I look like a kid," Shouta finally admitted. "It's like I haven't aged a day since high school. When I went outside to the convenience store a few hours ago, the cashier gave me a lecture about playing hooky and how it was bad to skip class."

Hizashi blinked, suddenly understanding that Shouta was insecure about his haircut. The man who slept in a bright yellow sleeping bag was embarrassed to look like a kid again. It was extremely baffling.

"Hey, Shouta, look at me," Hizashi gently said, patiently waiting for Shouta's eyes to shift their gaze to him. "I like your hair. I think it's cute."

"Cute is the last thing I want to be," Shouta muttered, eyes narrowing as he pouted his lower lip in frustration.

Hizashi took a deep breath, attempting to relax his shoulders. He absently thought about how they were still holding hands and how Shouta's palm just felt right against his own.

"Do you know why I grew out my hair?" Hizashi eventually settled on asking.

He was met with a puzzled look and a quick shake of the head.

"Because I wanted us to match," Hizashi admitted, his face heating slightly as he watched Shouta's eyes widen at his confession. "I wanted to have long hair like you. It's silly to say out loud, but I really like it when we both put our hair in a bun. Something about it feels… special, kind of like… couple's wearing matching shirts."

Hizashi could feel his heartbeat against his chest, swallowing thickly as he gathered himself.

"I feel a little sad that we don't match anymore but seeing you with your short hair reminds me so much of our high school days," Hizashi said, his eyes shifting from Shouta's face down to their intertwined fingers. "Things like your hair, your smile, your laugh… all the things that made me fall in love with you."

There was a short pause.

"What did you say, Hizashi?"

"Don't make people repeat their confessions," Hizashi huffed, gritting his teeth as he felt like he was two seconds away from combusting. "I've liked you since high school, Shouta. And seeing you with the hairstyle you had back then just reminds me of all the feelings I had tried to hide away."

"Oh." Shouta managed to exhale. His face was as bright as Hizashi's.

The two once again sat in silence. Hizashi absently wondered if Shouta could hear his heartbeat right now.

"Nemuri made me shave because she wanted me to look nice on our date," Shouta said, his voice small and vulnerable. "Was she right? About it being a date, I mean."

Hizashi nodded in response, praying that his heart wouldn't fly out of his chest.

"Good," Shouta mumbled. "Because I was really hoping it was one."

"We could still have one right now at your place. I mean, I brought booze and dinner. Sounds like a pretty hot date if you ask me," Hizashi joked, taking hold of both of Shouta's hands, his thumb gently stroking them in comfort.

"'kay," Shouta said, smiling softly as he hid behind his bangs.

"Then after dinner, we can watch a movie. I'll sleep over and tomorrow we can go to my hairstylist," Hizashi said with a chuckle. "So that we can match again, if that's okay with you."

"Only if you shave, too," Shouta said, grinning as Hizashi laughed.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."