For the amazing LillianBee! Some Hitoshi x Neito fluff for the poor and needy.
Third person pov
Alright, everyone shut the fuck up and buckle your seatbelts, because we're going on a ride. Neito is the driver, so you know this is about to get real. You see, he's in the middle of having some sort of gay panic. This is, as you may guess, not the best thing to be going through. Especially when the gay panic is in relation to one of your best friends in the whole wide world whom you'd rather die than lose to your overall gayness. Does Neito want to ruin their relationship? Fuck no! Is he going to end up doing it anyway? Knowing his luck, probably.
You see, it isn't his fault, though. It's not like he knocked on god's door while he was still a fetus and asked him to make an extremely hot insomniac for him to fall in love with. Or maybe he did and just doesn't remember. Details, details. Those don't matter now! What matters now is that he is stuck feeling rather horrified, all things considered. How else should he feel? Aside from completely smitten, and, you know... gay as hell.
"Why're you looking at me like that?" Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at his blonde friend. Recently, he'd been acting a little out there. Zoning out and just grinning at him in this dopey manner with rosy cheeks. It was mildly concerning, especially considering Neito was literally dead at the moment. Was there some sort of brain damage going on? His heart wasn't beating, so it wasn't pumping blood, so how was he even still functioning? You know what-- quirk were weird. It was better not to get into it. The point was, he'd been staring at him for a solid fifteen minutes and happily humming to himself.
Lillian glanced over from her place at the desk by Shoto's bed. She was gaming again, go figure, and Shoto was on his phone playing Temple Run. It seemed to be his favorite. He was good at it, too. Lillian was pretty sure his score could beat a few world records. No matter. Poor Hitoshi had absolutely no idea how completely and utterly gay Neito was for him. She shared a glance with Shoto, who simply shook his head in a nearly sad manner. The half-and-half teen was the worst with emotions out of all of them, and yet even he could see what Hitoshi couldn't. Sad life.
"No reason." Neito hummed, perking up slightly. He was glad Hitoshi had said something, because he was pretty sure he'd been on the verge of drooling just now. Fun.
Look, like he'd said. This wasn't on him. Hitoshi was just too hot, that's all. His hair was such an odd yet breathtaking color, all swept back in that perfect mess. His eyes were mesmerizing. Honestly, Neito could gaze into them for days. He'd also been working out like crazy. Between Mr. Aizawa's regimen and his own, he'd bulked up quite a bit. He was lean and tall, with a jawline that could kill a man with how sharp it was. Truly, looking at him for too long wasn't good for Neito's heart. Well, not that the state of his heart could get any worse at this point.
Hitoshi shrugged and went back to scrolling through Tumblr. Neito was weird, but Hitoshi loved him and his little queer ass all the same. Maybe a little too much, but he didn't want to dwell on the new feelings he'd had springing up lately. It wasn't like him to get a crush, yet here he was. Neito was the typical pretty boy. Only he wasn't, because he wasn't a total dick bag. He actually cared and was a decent person, with a good sense of humor and amazing personality.
Hitoshi sighed, turning to gaze up at the ceiling. What did the Hitoshi say when he left the scene? Bi! Fucking hell, he was screwed.
The night passed just like the rest did. Hitoshi slunk off to take a shower and then came back in nothing but a towel, looking for clean underwear and a pair of sweats that didn't smell like stale cheetos. Lillian had taken one look at Neito and almost lost it, turning away to try and hide her snickering. Shoto hid his laughter with a series of unconvincing fake coughs. Neito was shamelessly ogling, and it was hilarious that Hitoshi didn't notice.
"Purple sweatpants or grey sweatpants?" Hitoshi turned to Neito, seeing as he was the only one not doing anything. Neito wanted to say no sweatpants, but there were children present, so he'd keep it in his pants. For now. Seriously, his thoughts were ungodly! He needed to chill. This was his friend. And it was probably never going to happen... damn.
Soon everyone was passed out. Neito didn't really need as much sleep as the others, but he laid down on the top bunk anyway and stared at the ceiling with a frown. He felt... sad. When everyone else was sleeping, it gave him more time to dwell, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. He wasn't good enough for Hitoshi. He wasn't sure he was good enough for much of anyone, now that he thought of it. He wasn't ever going to be able to get someone as amazing as Hitoshi was. The tired teen only saw him as a friend, anyway. But was that enough? Neito didn't know, and that scared him just a bit.
He felt a bit tearful. Crying was vaguely pathetic of him, but it's not like his sorry ass had anything better to do. Sleep was rare, and only came when he was extremely comfortable and at ease. Right now? He wasn't at ease like, at all. He was just about ready to yeet himself off a cliff. Depression? Fucking mint. Literally dead? Fucking mint. In love with a your best friend who's way out of your league? Fucking mint.
"Neito?" Hitoshi's voice came from below him, and he froze, breath hitching. "Are you awake?"
Hah hah... hah. Fuck.
"Yeah." Neito answered, his voice a quiet sigh. He heard the bed below him creak and almost had a straight up aneurysm. He rushed to wipe at his teary cheeks, trying not to hiccup. Fuck, why were the tears coming faster! The tears start coming and they don't stop coming, fed to the rules and I hit the ground running, didn't make sense- no, not the time for a parody. Crisis mode, activated. Wait, shit, he didn't have a crisis mode. This had never happened before. What did a gay have to do around here to cry himself to sleep at night?
Hitoshi's head popped up over the side of his bed, barely illuminated by the dim light that shone through the curtains from the moon and street lamps outside. His brows were furrowed slightly in concern. Neito winced. Wow, now wasn't this just swell? He wasn't even sure what to say when Hitoshi inevitably asked what the fuck was wrong this time around. He should've never responded and instead feigned sleep. His sniffles probably would've given him away, but at least he would've tried.
"Scoot." Hitoshi demanded. Neito did as he was told, watching Hitoshi swing his leg over the edge of the bunk and hoist himself over with ease. He sort of wanted to cry even harder after seeing that, especially when Hitoshi's head fell on the other end of the pillow, less than a foot away. For a moment, they just laid there, staring at one another. Neito probably looked pathetic. He was literally a crying corpse in a bunk bed, which screamed sadness. Holy shit. He'd died a virgin and alone! Why was this just occurring to him? Had he been in jail on a life sentence, would it have ended because he was dead? Off topic, right. His very attractive friend was like, close enough to easily kiss.
"Hi." Neito said instead of doing anything productive, like a dumbass. Seeing Hitoshi's lips quirk into a half smile made it worth it.
"Hey." Hitoshi reached out, brushing some hair out of his face. That hit Neito right in the kokoro. He went full doki doki. It was an intimate movement, but the whole meme squad was pretty touchy-feely. Hell, Shoto was so gay he'd helped Lillian clip her bra in the bathroom just yesterday and neither had any shame about it. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah." Neito's voice cracked, and he winced. Hitoshi snorted at him, pulling his hand away. Neito wanted to pull it back, but that would make things more awkward than they already were. Instead, he settled for wiping pathetically at his tears like the pathetic person he happened to be. Did god hate him? He was pretty sure god hated him. Oh, sike, god didn't exist. Gang gang, my atheist amigos.
"Very convincing." Hitoshi said, amused but also very worried at the same time. "Do you want to tell me what it is?"
"No." Neito sighed, averting his gaze. He bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, yes. But... not right now."
"That's fine." Hitoshi said nonchalantly. He felt his cheeks get a little red as he cleared his throat, and hoped the overall lack of light in the room hid it. "Do you need a hug?"
Probably not because that would make this worse, but you'd be damned if you doubted Neito was going to take any form of physical affection he could get from Hitoshi. He scooted forward and into his awaiting arms, feeling himself smile as he sniffled and pulled the blanket over so it covered the both of them. Hitoshi had a peculiar but nice smell to him. Like sandalwood and apple cider. It was warm and homey, and he sunk further into his mattress with a satisfied sigh.
"Better?" Hitoshi asked quietly, hoping Neito couldn't hear his heart racing. God, why was he like this? It was horribly wrong of him to be getting so flustered in a situation like this, where his friend needed comforting. He'd been through some major trauma lately. It was a miracle he was still chugging along as happily as he was most days.
"Definitely." Neito smiled, sniffling again and wiping at his eyes. His tears had finally stopped. "You know I love you, right?"
Hitoshi felt himself smile as he wrapped his arms fully around his friend who he completely wished was more than just that, pulling him closer. Neito always smelled like Lemon Meringue Pie. He didn't know why, or how. He'd never seen Nieto eat Lemon Meringue Pie, or even be anywhere near it. He just... smelled like that. And Hitoshi sort of adored it.
"I love you too, Neito." Hitoshi said quietly, eyelids drooping. He hadn't been able to sleep before, but it felt... easier now.
His gaze dropped to meet Neito's. The blue-eyed teen looked tired but content in his arms, smiling sleepily up at him in a way that made Hitoshi's chest tighten and his lungs do this weird thing where they randomly just stopped working and almost killed him via suffocation. Like, whoa. Homeboys really went as far as to almost take themselves and him out. Still, he found himself bringing his face closer to Hitoshi's. So close, their noses were almost touching.
"Why did you say you were upset, again?" Hitoshi breathed, feeling dazed. His face felt hot and he felt tired. What time was it, anyway? He felt almost dizzy.
"I sort of like you, I guess." Neito answered, hushed. "In a gay way."
"Oh." Hitoshi smiled a little, closing his eyes. "I like you too. In a gay way."
Neito pressed his lips against Hitoshi's tentatively. It was soft and slow, and a little sloppy. Neither knew what they were doing. They had only a basic idea based on all they'd witnessed through TV and real life experience. Still, this was a first for both of them. It wasn't long and it didn't get heated, but it was... nice. It warmed Neito's entire body. For once, he felt truly warm. As he pulled away from Hitoshi, he felt something in him buzz gleefully. Hitoshi let out a breath. Neither said anything.
They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces. Because lying there, just with one another, it felt like enough. They could deal with what happened when they woke up. For right now, they were just two, tired teenagers, and that was... well, that was okay.