"You're going out tonight?" 

Touya pauses in his gait with a heavy sigh of exasperation. He'd hoped that he wouldn't have to do this whole exchange---that he could just slip out behind Shouto without being seen but alas, the universe is hardly ever on his side. 

"Yeah." He says curtly, turning on his heels to face his stepfather and trying his damn best not to look as annoyed as he actually is. The blonde is leaning against the wall of the foyer, careful in his posture. He doesn't seem to be looking for a fight. 

Keigo nods, pushing himself up from the wall as he takes a few cautious steps forward. He's courteous enough to keep his distance, at least. "Alright. You know the drill; look after your little brother, drive the speed limit. If you're gonna get shit faced, don't drive and remember not to let your brother drive either because he wrecked my Porsche last time. Call me or your mom and we'll come get you or if you're stayin' at your friend's place at least let us know you're safe so we can---" 

"I know. I don't need you to fuckin' remind me every time I leave the house; I'm not a fuckin' child---" 

"Okay. Alright. I get it, kiddo, calm down." Keigo relents, raising his hands in surrender as he backs away a little bit. "I'm not tryna start a fight, Touya, honestly. Your mom worries about you and so do I." 

Touya snorts at him with a cynical laugh and a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, cause punching me in the jaw definitely means that you've got my best interest in mind." He counters and Keigo huffs irately. "Don't start, kid. You put your hands on me first and I already told you that I was sorry, alright? Angry or not, I shouldn't have allowed myself to stoop that low." He admits, tugging at his hair. "I don't even know what set you off, Touya. I never know what I say or do that's enough to piss you off and you never talk to me, kid. I'm tryna be a good dad---" 

"What do you even care for? I'm a grown man, Keigo, why do you give a shit about being a father figure to me?" 

"Cut the shit, Touya, you're twenty-three years old. You're still tryna get the milk outta your hands---you're legal, not grown." It's stern, not condescending. He's not trying to belittle him in any way and Touya can sense that but it's still pissing him off. His souring scent makes itself prominent and Keigo groans sufferingly. It would seem that he's not going to win this. 

"Alright. Go to your party. But listen, Touya. I'm not your enemy, okay? I know you don't think so but I love your mom and I love you kids too." 

Touya's defensive stature deflates with a grunt. He's pissed because he can't tell whether or not Keigo has even the slightest bit of sincerity in him and as much as he wants to punch him in his face, he won't. Instead, he simply shoves his hands into his pockets and goes on his way. 

"Yeah, whatever."

God, he needs a drink. 

#

"Kacchan, are you ready yet?" Izuku calls from the bottom of the stairs, checking the time as he hits send on a text to Shouto to check in with him and Touya. He supposes he owes Touya for helping him get back onto good terms with the little omega and he actually, for once in his life, doesn't feel inclined to bitch about it. He'll do whatever stupid favor the other alpha asks of him even though he's fairly certain he's just going to have him do something humiliating. 

Bastard. 

"Coming!" Katsuki calls and Izuku can hear the clicking of high heels against the hardwood as the blonde comes down the stairs. 

Izuku's going to have a heart attack. 

"W-What---where the hell are you going dressed like that?! Where the hell are the rest of your clothes?!" He shrieks, hands flailing about in outrage. Katsuki seems confused, looking down at his ensemble to make sure that he was, in fact, fully dressed when he looks back up at Izuku with unbridled confusion. "What do you mean? I am fully dressed." 

"Not in that dress, you aren't. We're not going anywhere until you put some pants on or even one of your cute, frilly little dresses." 

"But...Shouto picked this dress for me and said it would be fitting for tonight. I happen to like it very much, I do not want to take it off." 

It's a little black dress, skin tight around Katsuki's tiny frame. It hugs at the curves of his hips and the slight swell off his backside, stopping just at his thighs. It accentuates curves that Izuku hadn't known that Katsuki even had and the alpha feels it in his bones that if Katsuki goes to this party dressed like that, he's going to end up punching someone in the face. 

"I think you look beautiful, honey." Toshinori chimes as he passes Katsuki, leaning down to press a kiss to the crown of his fluffy head before he shoots Izuku a stern look. "Don't be rude. He's allowed to dress however he likes. We don't do this kind of shaming in this house; it's his body and not yours." 

"But dad---" 

"Enough, Izuku. You'll look out for your brother and he won't have to worry about being objectified by some unsavory company, won't you?" 

Izuku narrows his gaze in his father's direction but relents with a groan. "Yes, obviously. I wouldn't ever let anyone hurt or disrespect Kacchan, you know that." 

"I sure do. Which means that this entire conversation is null and void." 

"Fine, dad. Fine." 

"Atta boy." And then he leans over to kiss Izuku's head as well. "I know you're probably not planning on drinking tonight but still be safe. Tell Shouto we said hi." A sort of farewell as he goes to join his wife on the living room sofa. Izuku slumps in defeat, motioning towards the front door and jingling the keys in his hand. "Alright, let's get goin'. Everyone's already there." 

Tonight is going to be a long night. 

#

Katsuki thought he'd be okay. He's been doing well, meeting new people and learning not to be so afraid of them but he can't help but feel an overwhelming amount of anxiety as they approach this new place that Katsuki hasn't ever been to before. 

There are quite a few cars parked out front, none of which Katsuki recognizes even though Izuku assured him that he'd see some familiar faces. He told him that this party was strictly supposed to be for his friends and that they were all nice people but he also mentioned that one of his friends, Mina, had a tendency to turn kickbacks into house parties. He'd assured him that he'd be safe either way and Katsuki, regardless of how rude he thinks Izuku has been, trusts that Izuku will look after him. It isn't that he doesn't want to meet new people---to have new experiences. 

He's just incredibly terrified. 

"Katsuki." He tears his gaze away from his own trembling legs to look Izuku in the eyes. He hadn't even realized that he was holding onto him so tightly. "Baby. Just tell me if you wanna go home, okay? I don't want you to feel like you have to be here if you're scared. At any point tonight you decide you wanna go home, I'll stop whatever I'm doing and I'll take you. Okay?" The alpha iterates, giving Katsuki a gentle squeeze back to comfort him. Katsuki gives him a shaky nod. 

"T-That is...very tempting. But I do not plan to pigeon out of this. I believe it will be good for me." He says, determined. It falters the slightest bit when Izuku fails to stifle an airy laugh. "Honey. Are you trying to say 'chicken out'? God, you're so adorable." 

"Do not laugh, I am being very serious!" 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I hear you. You don't wanna be a big chicken. And that fine and all. But you gotta promise you won't force yourself. And if you're in an uncomfortable situation, you gotta tell me so I can fix it, yeah?" 

Katsuki smiles. "I promise." 

# 

Touya grunts as Tetsu hands him another beer, popping the top off with his teeth and practically inhaling it. It's his fifth one tonight and he's only been there for forty-five minutes---an hour tops. Tetsu made the comment that he's throwing them back pretty quickly and maybe he should try to moderate a bit but Touya told him to mind his own business because he---initially, anyway---had a plan. 

Granted, it was a shitty plan. 

It consisted of maybe getting buzzed enough to muster up the amount of fucks it would take for him to want to get up and dance, maybe flirt with a few of the cute betas and omegas that Mina had invited from campus. He'd be in a less shitty mood if it weren't for Keigo pissing on his parade right before the party. He just doesn't get that guy. And why wait until he's about to go out to have that talk with him? He's such a fucking wet blanket.

Usually he'd be hanging out with Tetsu and Hitoshi but they were both...occupied at the moment. Tetsu had brought his girlfriend along and although they hadn't been drinking, he seemed to be pretty content with entertaining her for the night. Touya could imagine that they didn't get a lot of time to spend together with Itsuka going to a different college on the other side of town and he knows that Tetsu is head over heels in love so the least he could do is be a bro and give them a night to enjoy each other. 

What can he say? Happiness looks good on Tetsu. He wishes that his friend could be this happy every day. 

Hitoshi, on the other hand, is undoubtedly wasted and currently trying to swallow Fumikage's face whole with his aggressive kissing, holding the beta in his lap and marking up his skin with hickeys and love bites that are going to be impossible to hide come morning. Fumi seems to be enjoying the attention from his alpha, however, so Touya doesn't see a need to go and stick his nose where it doesn't belong. He expects for them both to disappear within the next ten minutes or so. 

Hitoshi's a fuckin' perv, that brilliant bastard. 

But that just leaves Touya bored and wishing he'd have stayed home. Oh well. At least he'd gotten free booze out of it all. 

#

"Oh, hey! You must be Katsuki!" 

Katsuki startles as the woman, an alpha with curly pink hair, seemingly appears out of nowhere. She hugs him in a tight embrace, catching Katsuki completely by the ankle. The only thing he could think to himself was that she smelled very sweet for an alpha. Like bubblegum and a hint of something hot enough to make his eyes water. He can imagine how wide eyed and starstruck he must seem, standing and unmoving as she buzzes around him. There's another woman there---another alpha with short brown hair who stands a bit behind the enthusiastic woman, choosing to greet Katsuki with a sweet smile and a wave. 

"It's so nice to meet you, sweetie, we've heard so much about you! I'm Mina Ashido and this is my fiancée, Ochako Uraraka. We're good friends of Izuku and Shouto, so you can consider us good friends of you!" The pinkette greets him and Katsuki can only stand there, absolutely stunned. 

"You're...both very beautiful." Is the first coherent thought that he's able to voice and Mina squeals, embracing him again but much tighter this time. 

"Izuku! Oh my gosh, he's such a sweetheart!" 

Izuku chuckles. "I know. And one thing about Kacchan is that you won't ever have to worry about whether or not he's being honest. Our baby doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body. So he's not just trying to flatter you when he says that." He reaches over to hug both alphas and Katsuki can quickly piece together that they haven't seen each other in a while. 

"Eiji didn't come?" 

"Not tonight, no. He hasn't had the chance to tell everyone yet but they just found out that Tamaki's pregnant so they're gonna steer clear from parties for a while." 

Izuku's brows nearly hit his hairline, grinning from ear to ear as he grips Mina by the shoulders and shakes her excitedly. 

"No way, for real?!" 

"Yeah! Shouto didn't tell you?" 

"No, he didn't tell me! I'm so happy for them, I know Eiji must be over the moon right about now. Speakin' of which, has anyone seen my baby boy? He said him and the gremlin were already here---" 

"You should already where you can find either of the Todoroki's at any social function because they're both wild children with no sense of moderation." Ochako snickers and Izuku sheepishly scratches at the back of his head. "In other words, Shouto's in the kitchen with a bottle of hard liquor and drunk dancing to Beyonce songs. Gotcha." He sighs, but it's fond in nature. Man, does he love his Shouto. "You wanna come find Sho with me, Kacchan?" 

"No way! You know Shouto's gonna wanna be all over you when he sees you, don't make Katsuki be a third wheel!" Ochako says, wrapping an arm around Katsuki's slim waist as she waves Izuku off. "Yeah! Besides, Denki and Mashirao are here. Why don't we introduce Katsuki to those two lovebirds?"

"Mei, Hanta and Kyouka are here too." 

"We'd introduce you to Hitoshi but he's already totally wasted." 

"But Tetsu and Itsuka came and I know they'd love to meet you. He was with Touya earlier and---" 

"T-Touya is here?" Katsuki interrupts them, cheeks flushed as he holds onto Ochako's hand excitedly. She giggles, squeezing Katsuki's hand back. "He is! You want me to take you to him? Would you feel a little less nervous?" 

Izuku's lip juts out in a pout when Katsuki follows up with a nod, grimacing at the idea that Katsuki feels safer with Touya than he does with him. A part of him knows that Katsuki has grown some sort of friendly attachment to Touya, not in the same familial way that he views Izuku. He supposes that should be a good thing but...well, he just wishes he'd made that attachment with someone else. Maybe Eijirou or Denki or even Fumikage. 

Instead, he's stuck dealing with him. 

"Alright. If you need me, come find me, okay? And if you can't find me you can always count on Mina and Ocha. They'll get in touch with me and I'll come running for you, promise." 

Katsuki flashes another smile, much softer this time. 

"Okay, Izu-nii." 

Izuku feels a little more confident in leaving him, knowing that Katsuki has confidence in him. 

#

Touya's managed to work up a good buzz, not feeling anywhere near as shitty as he did upon arriving. He's made his way into some room in the back of the house where the music is so loud that the bass rattles the walls, a cup of something much harsher than beer poised in his hand. He's in the process of sweet talking some cute little brunette. She doesn't attend University with them, says she goes to the community college nearby. She's not difficult to impress. Apparently all he had to do was flex his tattoos and whisper in her ear a little and she was putty in his hands. Says she wants to go back to her place and was wondering if he'd be interested in coming along. He wants to say yes. 

But none of what he's doing feels right at all. 

It's not that she isn't attractive or that she feels all that sleazy---in fact, Touya could confidently say that she was a really nice girl. But talking about taking her to bed? It all just felt pretty empty. Pretty pointless. 

Kind of wrong, honestly. 

Quite frankly, he'd lost interest in fucking her before they'd even gotten the chance to leave the room. 

He pulls away from the kiss abruptly, gently pushing her away with a sigh and a shake of his head. 

"On second thought, doll. I think I'm gonna pass on your offer." 

She seems genuinely confused and disappointed, poor thing---checking her breath to make sure that she hadn't run him off with an unintentional case of bad breath. 

"I-I'm sorry, is it something I said?" 

"Nah. It ain't you, it's me. Just not feelin' it. You're a cute girl though. Maybe you'll still get laid tonight. Just not by me." He says, fully expecting the offended expression he receives. She shoves his hand off of her shoulder and storms off in the opposite direction. He snorts out a laugh, staggering a bit as he goes to drink from his cup but turning it bottom up when he realizes that it's empty.  

"Touya~" 

He groans when he hears Mina call out to him, making the motion to tell her to grab him something else to drink when he feels his heart jump right into his throat. He nearly gives himself whiplash with how fast he double takes, empty cup clattering to the floor.

Katsuki looks like an absolute dream. 

"...holy fuckin' shit, baby…" He breathes out, not meaning to have said it out loud but unable to process any other thought but that one---it's the only one that's rattled around in his fog addled brain the moment he'd laid eyes on Katsuki.

The omega is absolutely red in the face but he doesn't look as happy to see Touya as the alpha is to see him. Touya makes a mental note of that as he ambles over to them, offering his tiny blonde friend a lopsided smile. 

"Hey, Kitty Kat." 

"Hello." Katsuki says flatly, arms folded over his chest and Touya can sense that he's a bit peeved with him. 

Admittedly, he's struggling to try and figure out why. 

Mina seems to read the room fairly well, quietly easing her way out of the situation with the excuse of having to make sure that Ochako was keeping herself out of trouble. Touya shifts a bit anxiously under Katsuki's scrutinizing gaze. 

"You just gettin' here?" 

"Yes. It would seem that you've been here long enough to drink yourself into an inebriated state." 

"If I'd have known you'd be here, I wouldn't have been drinkin' at all." He responds honestly. He'd never want to conduct himself in such an unsavory way in Katsuki's presence, wouldn't want to lose the respect he's earned. His head tilts curiously as he takes in Katsuki's oddly irate posture. "What's wrong, Kit? Somethin' bothering you?" 

Katsuki's gaze practically cuts right through him. 

"I was not interrupting anything, was I? You seemed to be busy when we came." 

Touya is visibly confused. "Huh?" 

Katsuki's gaze narrows. 

"Your friend from a few moments ago. You know. The one that you were busy doing the face sucking with?" 

Oh. 

Oh! 

"You saw that." 

"I did. I was not aware that you had a girlfriend." His tone is venomous but he masks it with something that could easily be mistaken for cordial. Touya scoffs. "Not my girlfriend, Kit. Just...had a little much to drink." 

"Are you planning to go home with her?" 

"Honestly? I thought about it but it would be pointless. Kissing her felt wrong. Going home with her would've been a mistake. Guess I'm just not into her." 

Katsuki seems to relax a bit at that, blushing red up to the tips of his ears. 

"O-Oh. What a-are you into then?" 

Touya realizes that he might be a little fuckin' slow. His eyes widen just the slightest at his newfound revelation and a happy smile curls at the corners for his mouth. 

"Kitten, are you jealous?" 

Katsuki's deepening blush is a dead giveaway, even as he haughtily turns his nose up at the alpha. 

"I do not know what it is that you mean." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yes." 

"Mm. You look gorgeous tonight, you know." Touya tries and he is happy to know that he was able to get a smile out of Katsuki at least. He takes this as his green light to come closer and wrap his arms around Katsuki's black clad frame to hug him. "You say that every time I see you." Katsuki counters and Touya hums, swaying them back and forth to the beat of the song currently playing---a slow song, ironically. 

"Well, you look gorgeous every time I see you. If you're looking for somethin' a little more accurate, though, then I gotta say that you look absolutely delicious in that dress." Touya continues, his smile spreading at the shy giggle that Katsuki gives him in response. He adjusts Touya's hands properly, one on his narrow waist and another laced with his own fingers. Dancing. 

They're dancing together. 

"You're so silly, Touya." 

"What'chu talkin' about? I'm not jokin'. Not tryna be rude but you're fuckin' sexy, Kats." 

"If you keep complimenting me like that, I just may start to think that you are attracted to me."  

"...would it be bad...if I was attracted to you?" 

A pause. Katsuki's fingers tighten around Touya's arm and Touya can't tell if it's his own heart beating so fast or if it's Katsuki's.

"I...I think we should save that conversation for when you are not under the influence of inebriating substances." 

"Katsuki, I'm not drunk, I'm just---" 

"Touya. Please." Katsuki stops dancing altogether, hands dropping back to his side as he looks Touya in the eyes. "I do not want this to be something that you change your mind about when you wake up tomorrow morning so just...allow yourself some time to think and---" 

"I have been thinking about it. Almost every day since I've met you and I'm not just talking about how absolutely fuckin' gorgeous you are. I keep telling you, Katsuki, I'm not just talkin' outta my ass here---everything that I say to you is coming from the heart." He pleads, jaw tight because he knows damn well he wouldn't be speaking so loosely if it wasn't for the fact that he'd been drinking so much. He takes a deep breath, pulling Katsuki in for another hug. 

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I should have just shut up and left it alone like you asked. We don't have to talk about it anymore. Just forget that I said it." 

Katsuki doesn't want to forget. 

But if he ever finds out that Touya doesn't mean what he's said, Katsuki doesn't ever think that he could face him again. 

Touya pulls away, his smile coming back as if it hadn't ever faded. 

"You hungry? I think I saw some cookies out in the kitchen."