Training Shinso

Chapter 18: A Lovely Day & Cat Puns

"What? Really?" Hitoshi visibily brightened with excitement before he could help himself. Seeing the victorious smirk on Izuku's face, he composed himself, "I mean, it could be a possibility."

"We're going. It's decided." Before Hitoshi could protest, he was tugged along again as they meandered down the next street.

Hitoshi began taking in all the buildings around him but he hadn't spotted anything he particularly wanted to check out yet. "Any shops you want to go to?" It didn't escape his notice that Izuku was subtly eyeing an All Might merchandise shop. He breathed out, speaking in a playful tone, "Well, I don't know about you, but I wanna go to this All Might store..."

Izuku blushed, giving a rosy smile as Hitoshi pulled them inside. "Do you realise what you've just done? I don't think it's within my capability to spend less than a few hours in here."

"I don't know what you mean. This place was my choice," Hitoshi shrugged nonchalantly with an innocent expression as he let go of his arm to step further into the shop, admiring the merchandise as he passed. Shaking his head, Izuku began exploring the shop excitedly. He would usually be embarrassed to let his inner fanboy out around others but he felt safe around Hitoshi. He knew he would never judge him, especially when it came to his interests.

Almost two hours later, Izuku managed to drag himself outside but not without the two bags that were full to the brim with All Might merch. He packed one into his backpack and Hitoshi generously offered to carry the other in his. They spent the following hour checking out any shops that interested them as they passed by. When it reached midday, the sun was at its peak and the temperature had become sweltering.

"Why don't we go to the mall? It'll be cooler in there and there's loads more shops," Izuku suggested, itching his nose beneath his sunglasses.

Hitoshi nodded. "Good idea. It's just around the corner." When they reached the mall, he paused at the entrance as he caught sight of something. "Hey, Midoriya." The aforementioned turned his attention on him curiously. "Remember that training session where I gave you a false memory that we had ice cream at the mall together? Well, I want that to be real, so I thought we could get some ice cream here."

Izuku's eyes widened, emerald orbs sparkling. "I'd love to!" They made their way towards the ice cream stand and chose their flavours. Hitoshi was delighted to find they had a coffee flavour while Izuku went with bubblegum. After paying, they sat on the stone wall surrounding the water fountain in the centre of the mall.

Izuku had already managed to get his ice cream around his mouth and Hitoshi wheezed. "Midoriya, you've got a little something..." he gestured a circle at his face.

"Hm?" Izuku paused. "Oh, oops," he giggled a little and covered his mouth with his free hand.

"I've got a tissue," Hitoshi said as he fished one out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Thanks," Izuku replied and quickly wiped his mouth then chucked the tissue in the bin beside him. "I'm really enjoying today," He gazed up at Hitoshi with an earnest expression. "Thank you."

Sucking in a small breath, Hitoshi nodded. "Of course...Thank you, too."

Biting his bottom lip, Izuku glanced down at his melting ice cream. "You know...I—Um—really like you, Shinso."

"I really like you too, Midoriya." A smirk sneaked across Hitoshi's features. "How about we try that kiss again?"

Izuku broke his new record at how quickly his skin turned red, glancing back up at him with squirrel eyes. "W-what—Right here? W-with all these people—?"