Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"No one expected the villain who destroyed cities to say such a thing. The media is going crazy, the world is confused.

Why would Shigaraki Tomura want to date Natsuo Todoroki?!

He’s even willing to stop the war for him! Is this a joke?

Natsuo is not a villain or a hero he’s a normal civilian. He’s in college. We don’t know much about him; his father kept him and his sister away from the famous world,"

the announcer said as Natsuo turned off the TV.

He’s also confused. He doesn’t even remember meeting the villain.

He sat down on the couch, staring at the wall, until his phone rang. It was Fuyumi.

“Natsuo! Did you see the news?” Her voice was full of worry.

“You mean the part where a whole fuck ass villain wants to date me? Yeah, I did,” he joked.

“Natsuo! Can you take this seriously? You’re in danger!” she said, a little angry now.

“No, I’m not? He said he wants to stop the war if I agree to date him! That means I’m in the opposite part of danger. I’m like the safest person ever,” he said.

Fuyumi went silent, realizing he was kinda right.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Well, nothing? You know Enji wouldn’t let me do anything. He’ll lock me in the basement, if he could,” he said quietly as he received another call.

“I’ll call you later, there’s someone else calling me,” he said.

“it's probably dad. Be safe, I love you,” Fuyumi always showed her emotions through words.

“I love you too.” He hung up.

“Why didn’t you answer immediately?!” his father yelled into the phone.

“You should be thankful I even answered. What do you want?” Natsuo asked, pissed off.

“Don’t leave the house. I’ll put some heroes and policemen in front to keep you safe,” Enji said.

“From what? A guy?” Natsuo mocked.

“What do you mean? He’s not a normal guy he’s a villain!” Enji yelled.

“We both know that if he wanted to, he could find me. I’m not stopping my life because some guy wants to date me. Don’t you dare send anyone to my front door, or I’ll kick them out.” He hung up on his father with a sigh.

____

“Shigaraki! Are you crazy?! What are you talking about? We can’t stop the war just because you have a little crush on someone. What are you—a fifteen-year-old?” Dabi yelled, furious.

“Yeah, you can’t. But I can. And stop pretending you don’t want it to stop. I know what you do with that little bird of yours,” Shigaraki said, pushing him away.

“You got what you wanted from the start. You traumatized your family. We know you don’t want to go any further, Touya,” Shigaraki said.

Dabi knew he was saying the truth, but hearing it out loud made it real.

“I don’t mind stopping the war, Tomura-kun. I’m happy you found someone you like,” Toga said, smiling.

“You know Endeavor will never give him to you,” Dabi said. But it suddenly hit him Shigaraki had a crush on his little baby brother. He had been so focused on the fact that Shigaraki wanted to stop the war, he forgot it was only if he got to date Natsuo.

"even I wouldn't give him to you"
____
You might be wondering why.

Why is Shigaraki that desperate to date Natsuo?

When did they meet?

When did he fall for him?

I’m here to answer your questions, dear reader.

It was a rainy night. Natsuo had a fight with his father—again—and left the house, going back to his apartment, angry.

Meanwhile, there was a little villain stabbed in a closed alley. He had been tricked by someone who pretended they wanted to join the League of Villains, only to stab him for no reason. Well, Shigaraki had mocked his quirk, but that was no reason to stab someone and run!

He was trying to crawl to reach his phone, which had been thrown far away, to call Kurogiri to teleport him out. But apparently, his phone was broken from the fall.

He couldn’t call anyone.

He hadn’t told anyone where he went.

He was dead for sure.

That’s a stupid way to die! He was going to die in an alley, alone, because he got stabbed! He’s a villain-one everyone fears!-and he was going to die just like that?

“Hey there, kitty.”

He heard the voice of someone playing with a kitten.

What kind of idiot goes out at this hour? he thought to himself.

He laid back down without moving. It’s not like a civilian would help him anyway.

The place was silent for a while, only the sound of the kitten could be heard, until-

“You’re really cute. Am I the only one sniffing blood here, little kitten? I thought it was you at first, but you’re not bleeding. You know, I can tell since I’m a doctor,” he said. He sounded like he was bragging to the little cat.

“I sound stupid,” he murmured.

He raised his head and looked around until his eyes landed on his prey.

“Here you are!” he said, walking up to Shigaraki.
“Are you unconscious?” he asked, sitting down next to the villain, who looked at him with tired eyes and didn’t answer.

“Oh, you’re alive,” he said, checking his injury.

“You’re really lucky I found you,” he added, pulling out his phone to call an ambulance.

“Don’t,” Shigaraki said in a hoarse voice.

“Huh? Why? Are you planning to die? Is this a suicide? That’s impossible, you can’t stab yourself from this angle,” Natsuo asked.

“…You’re a villain. You don’t want to go to the hospital because someone might figure out who you are,” he said.

“You’re still lucky though, because I can help you. The knife isn’t deep it didn’t touch your organs,” he said, closing his phone.

“The only thing we might have to worry about is that I don’t have anything to disinfect it.”

“What- what are you doing?” Shigaraki asked, confused. The guy knew he was a villain. Why was he helping him?

“Do you think you can last until we get to my apartment?” he asked, then carried him as if he weighed nothing.

“Wha- put me down!” Shigaraki said. He didn’t trust the guy. He was about to touch him with his hand and kill him, but the guy was his only hope to stay alive.

“Don’t worry, I won’t call the cops. Being a villain doesn’t mean you don’t deserve help,” he said.

“Why should I believe you?” Shigaraki asked.

“Well, because I’m trying to help you… and I also don’t know your quirk, but I still picked you up. Do you even eat? Do they feed you there? I don’t know whatever place you live in. You’re not homeless, right?”

“You talk a lot.”

“Rude! I’m trying to keep you conscious. I’m Natsuo, by the way,” he said.

“Natsuo…” he murmured the name.

After a while of walking-during which Natsuo didn’t shut up-they stopped in front of a house. It wasn’t big, but it was good enough for someone living alone.

Natsuo looked like a college student.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Shigaraki asked as Natsuo laid him down on the kitchen table after covering it with sheets.

“Well… kinda. But it’s better than leaving you to die, right?”

Shigaraki looked at him, and then Natsuo started laughing.

“Yeah, I know what I’m doing. I’ve trained under doctors and done this before. You’re not the worst thing I’ve seen. So, what’s your name?”

He went silent, and then

“Tenko.”

Natsuo injected him with an anesthetic, and he fainted.

----

He woke up feeling less pain. He looked around, realizing he was in a bedroom. He remembered what happened yesterday. Where’s the guy? Is this his room? he thought to himself. Then he realized he was wearing different clothes it was probably because of the blood.

He should leave before-

“Tenko, you’re awake! How do you feel?”

Too late…

“Like shit.”

“Expected. Here, eat this and then you can drink your medication.”

He handed him some sort of soup.

“Do you want me to feed you?” he asked. He wasn’t mocking him; he was serious.

“No, I’m fine,” he said, starting to eat.

In the light, he could see the other’s face better. He was handsome, tall, and also buff. He seemed strong, which explained why he hadn’t struggled when carrying him.

“Why aren’t you scared? I might kill you any second,” Tenko pointed out.

“Same question to you. Why aren’t you scared I might call the cops, or a hero? You know nothing about me. What if I poisoned the food?” Natsuo asked.

“Fair point.”

They went silent. But it wasn’t the weird type of silence it was… nice

Chapter Text

They went silent. But it wasn’t the weird type of silence, it was… nice.

Shigaraki stared at the bowl in front of him, the spoon heavy in his hand. His brain was screaming at him to get up, to run, to kill this guy before he had the chance to betray him. That was what he should do. That was what anyone in the League would do.

But he didn’t.

Because this guy this random civilian had dragged his ass out of that alley and stitched him up without hesitation. He had touched him without flinching. He wasn’t even scared.

Natsuo sat across from him, elbows on the table, chin resting on one hand, looking at him like this was any other normal Tuesday night. He didn’t look tense, or cautious, or ready to fight for his life. Just curious.

And that made Shigaraki more nervous than anything.

Why wasn’t he scared? Why wasn’t he calling the cops? Why was he treating him like… like a person?

He glanced up and caught Natsuo staring right back at him.

“What?” Shigaraki rasped.

“You eat like a raccoon,” Natsuo said.

Shigaraki blinked. “…What the hell does that mean?”

“You’re hunched over like someone’s gonna take it away from you.”

Shigaraki didn’t answer. Because someone would take it away from him, if he didn’t finish fast enough. At the hideout, there was never enough food to go around.

Instead, he just kept eating.

For a second, Natsuo wondered if he made a mistake. This was a villain — the villain. The one who destroyed cities, killed heroes, put his family through hell. If anyone found out he had him here… Enji would burn the whole apartment down without hesitation.

But then Tenko glanced up at him again, and he didn’t look like a monster. He looked tired. And angry. And way too young to be bleeding out in an alley.

Natsuo leaned back in his chair. “Stop staring at me like you’re deciding whether to kill me or not.”

Shigaraki’s lips twitched into something that almost looked like a smile. “Stop talking so much and maybe I’ll decide faster.”

“Rude,” Natsuo said, smirking. “I’m trying to keep you conscious. You pass out, I have to deal with your blood again, and trust me, your blood is not easy to get out of clothes.”

That made Shigaraki actually huff out a laugh, quiet and almost disbelieving.

They fell into silence again, but this time it wasn’t awkward. It was heavy, but not in a bad way.

When Shigaraki finally pushed the empty bowl away, he felt something strange in his chest. Something… warm. It had been a long time since someone had just let him exist without expecting anything in return.

“I should go,” he said, standing up slowly.

“You shouldn’t,” Natsuo said immediately.

Shigaraki froze. “What?”

“You’ll just bleed again. Stay until you can walk without collapsing,” Natsuo said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Why do you care?”

Natsuo shrugged, getting up and taking the empty bowl. “Because I found you. If you die now, it makes me look bad. People will think I’m a terrible doctor.”

Shigaraki actually laughed at that, a quiet, broken sound that made Natsuo pause in the kitchen doorway.

“You’re insane,” Shigaraki said.

“Yeah,” Natsuo called back, “but so are you. So we match.”

Shigaraki’s fingers twitched at his side. No one had ever said something like that to him. Not without fear, or pity, or hatred.

He should leave. He should. But instead, he sat back down, letting himself breathe for the first time in days.

Natsuo came back with some painkillers and set them on the table. “Here. You can crash in the spare room. Try not to touch anything with your bloody hand.”

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes. “…You’re not scared I’ll kill you in your sleep?”

“If you were going to, you’d have done it already,” Natsuo said simply. “Besides, you look like you need the sleep more than I do.”

And that was the moment something inside Shigaraki shifted.

He didn’t know what this feeling was anger, gratitude, something in between but he knew one thing for sure:

He was going to remember this guy.

Forever.

When he finally stood by the door, ready to leave hours later, Natsuo didn’t try to stop him.

“If you get yourself stabbed again,” Natsuo said casually, “you know where to find me.”

Shigaraki froze in the doorway, staring at him like he had grown a second head.

No one had ever told him to come back.

No one had ever wanted him to.

He left without a word. But as the door shut behind him, his chest felt tight in a way that had nothing to do with the injury.