Work Text:
Izuku holds on tight to Shouto’s hand as he pulls him through a crowd of teens and families all stopped to take photos at the entrance of the theme park. Everyone around them is filled with happiness and their excited grins are making them glow as they pose under the cute faces of their favourite Sanrio characters that decorate the archway.
Curious and confused Shouto simply observes the character designs and the people standing under them trying to find a connection between what kind of person is drawn to certain characters and finds that there is seemingly no distinction. Disgruntled Shouto looks down at Izuku and takes note of the green bucket hat that covers his curls and shades his ever-vibrant emerald eyes. The connection there is apparent, Izuku is green and so is the frog face that adorns his hat.
“’Zuku?” Shouto calls out and gets a distracted hum in response as Izuku continues to navigate them to a café judging by Shouto’s estimated path.
“What is the sorting system for characters here, is there a test for me to take?” He asks seriously, eyeing the various character paraphernalia that everyone seems to be in possession of in one form or another. His eyes linger on the passing stall with hats similar to Izuku’s as he considers the designs carefully, not wanting to standout being without a character as he is. But all he gets is a giggle from Izuku who finally stops to look back at Shouto with smiling eyes.
“Shocchan! There isn’t a test to choose your mascot, you just … pick whichever one you think is cutest! You don’t have to limit yourself to just one either, no matter what anyone here tells you okay, you can have more than one favourite.” Izuku beams at him and waits for Shouto to give him a nod of understanding. Once he gets it Izuku nods back and begins leading him again.
“We’ll go to the café and get drinks since we have enough time before the first show starts. I think watching the stage play will help give you an idea of the main characters and their personalities, maybe one of them will be your mascot! But if not that’s okay, there are plenty of other characters around the park we can meet too!” Izuku happily babbles and Shouto nods as he continues to look around at everything he can while Izuku has his hand in a solid grip so they don’t get separated. Unaware that it’s even happening Shouto’s eyes tend to linger on bright pink bunny ear styled caps as he takes in all that he can, his height working to his advantage.
During his observations he notices at the corner of his vision two bulky figures that he makes an attempt to look at closer but just as his head turns and he catches a glimpse of blonde and pale white Izuku is tugging at him insistently and not wanting to trip he brings his attention back in front of him to see a café with adorable white and baby blue striped umbrellas shading small outdoor tables. Izuku lights up when he makes a noncommittal hum at the décor and he turns back to finish his investigation of the bulky figures, thinking them to be mascots like he’d seen earlier during their walk to the café, but to his confusion they are no longer anywhere to be seen. Frowning he scans the crowd around the area he’d seen them last and he notices an interesting group of four older boys with character sunglasses and hats that do not match as if they’d bought the first things they could get their hands on but he quickly continues his search. He would have dismissed the group all together if on his second scan of the crowd one of the two darker haired teens hadn’t snatched the floppy eared hat off the head of the blond and started a small battle of tug of war over it. In his bid to win the hat the blond stands at his full height and bumps into the slim-figured dark haired boy of their group who was cringing away at the fuss the other two were making. Unprepared for the full weight and height of the blond to bump into him the cringing boy stumbles sideways making his hat (which Shouto is half sure is styled after the head of the depressed looking penguin) fall off uncovering pointed elf-like ears and he then in turn collides with the last of their group. Hunched over as he is and wearing a fuzzy white hat, perfectly camouflaging equally soft white hair and matching the mascot of the café he and Izuku were about to enter coincidentally. The collision, while not enough to make him stumble is enough to knock his sunglasses askew revealing familiar grey eyes that lock with Shouto’s own and widen before squeezing shut in defeat.
Shouto watches in barely disguised amusement the way his older brother takes the sunglasses off and stuffs them in his pocket before he directs his gaze upwards in what Shouto recognizes as Natsuo’s muttered prayers for patience before whirling around to face the other three boys that Shouto now recognizes as Toogata, Amajiki, and Shindou. Shouto stands in silence as Izuku has momentarily pulled him to a stop in front of the café to look over the daily menu, he takes the time to watch his brother snatch the hat being fought over and switch it with his own and shoves his hat onto Mirio’s head and begins shaking his finger at the two boys that were fighting as he berates them in what Shouto knows has to be Natsuo’s “don’t be an idiot. use your head, it’s big enough” voice.
A tug at his hand has him looking down to Izuku and Shouto obediently moves to sit down in the shade of a dainty, striped umbrella after Izuku tells him that he has to save a table for them. He’s then informed that Izuku would get their drinks and in the back of his mind he wonders what kind of drink Izuku would get him at a place like this considering Shouto himself usually orders tea or iced coffee when he gets dragged out of the dorms. Those options might be basic but they are safe choices for him considering he has no idea what goes into anything more intricate than that. Regardless he spies what appear to be a young happy family exiting the café with adorable drinks topped with cream and sprinkles or bright red cherries bobbing cheerfully in sparkling fizzy drinks and hopes his drink will be just as ridiculously cute and delicious.
Shouto spares a thought for Izuku’s boys, who are essentially stalking them right now since he knows that Izuku believes them all busy doing other things today, before he decides that today is supposed to be his “besties day” and he won’t let them ruin his first time to a theme park. He decides to ignore them and not tell Izuku he spotted them, sure that as soon as Izuku knows they’re there the boys will not see a reason to hide and insert themselves into his day of fun, adventure, and cuteness.
Just as Shouto comes to this decision Izuku returns with a little blue tray holding fizzy cherry-filled pink drinks that have whipped cream shaped to look like cats with little strawberry slice ears as well as a pair of fruit sandwiches. Mesmerized Shouto’s eyes widen and he silently takes out his phone to take photos, looking forward to all the cute things he’ll be taking photos of throughout the day and excited to revisit the memories to come on a later day when he takes the proper time to figure out his herogram posts.
Izuku smoothers his giggles in an effort not to distract Shouto from planning the compositions of the next few posts on his herogram account. Shouto takes a moment to come back to himself and happily begins to slurp up the cute drink and has a little race against Izuku to see who can finish their sandwich the fastest. A quick selfie captured by Izuku who promises to send Shouto a copy and the boys are returning their empty tray and heading to the amphitheater to catch the first performance of the day and hopefully find Shouto’s mascot.
Half an hour later the boys emerge and follow the flow of the crowd into the gift shop for the stage show, this time Izuku is pulled along behind Shouto making a beeline for the My Melody section of the shop. With eyes blazing Shouto shamelessly cuts off a child meandering from the Kuromi section a few feet over to grab a pink bunny-eared baseball cap with a bow attached between the ears. He holds the hat tightly in his hands and looks at the same hat but a fluffy version of it and contemplates both, he slowly tests the feel of the fluffiness of the hat between his fingers before deciding that the regular hat would be better for the hot summer sun. Izuku giggles and patiently stands behind him while Shouto looks through phone charms, so far Shouto found a small double sided Keroppi (as he’s recently found out the name of the frog) that he’s picked out for Izuku and he’s looking for a My Melody in a matching style for himself. Finally finding one that matches Shouto nods and takes a look around the shop once more uncertain, Izuku is quick to guess what he’s thinking and assures him that there are plenty more shops throughout the park, some with different themes, and that they can always come back in when they’re leaving if he decides he wants more stage show merch. Nodding once more Shouto allows himself to be guided to the register and while waiting in line he spots Keroppi hats that look just like Izuku’s and becomes worried.
“’Zuku… aren’t you worried someone will think you’re taking your hat without paying?” Izuku hums and shakes his head then frowns as he tucks a few wild curls back into place under his hat.
“Nope! I’ve had this hat for forever and it’s a little faded now so it’s fairly obvious to tell it isn’t new. Plus! Mom told Papa to get my name embroidered on the brim right here,” Izuku’s pointer finger runs over the dark green embroidery thread that blends in with the slightly darker brim of his hat that it is unnoticeable unless you’re looking for it. “so that on the off chance an employee asks I won’t get in trouble for not carrying a receipt.” Izuku smiles at him, “It’s a pretty common practice for return visitors, they offer name embroidery to everyone that gets a hat at the register. You can still get your name on it even if you don’t plan on coming back though! You get to pick the thread colour and the placement and everything!”
A small smile lights up Shouto’s face and he decides that he’ll get his name done in a thread colour slightly darker than the hat just like Izuku did so it’ll blend in without ruining the look of everything. Turning the hat in his hands to figure out where he wants it Shouto decides on the center back along the edge, his first name in katakana just like Izuku’s. Soon after he’s made up his mind it’s their turn at the register and before he can set his things down Izuku has his wallet out, card in hand and ready to pay. He blinks once and opens his mouth to talk but Izuku grins at him and reminds Shouto that his papa suggested this outing as a treat for them both so Shouto doesn’t need to pay for anything today.
“Ne Shocchan, if we decide to come back again you can treat us then! We’ll take turns!”
Satisfied with that compromise Shouto nods and turns his attention to the peppy cashier to give them the details of his desired hat customization.
Hats on Shouto and Izuku wander out into the park once more and they find more cute cafés to try different character treats and drinks, plenty of photos were taken by Shouto for his new favourite cakes after Izuku assured him that similar ones are available in regular cafés as well. It really was a lovely day and so many new experiences were happening that Shouto forgot all about their little group of stalkers.
Until they sat down for their final meal before leaving the park and Shouto’s happy, tired eyes sweep over a group of very familiar boys squashed together around a dainty little café table filled with sandwiches, printed water bottles, and tall glasses of bubbly soda. Shouto takes care not to draw attention to the boys by staring and instead slowly continues to move his gaze over the crowd of people before settling on squinting through the big glass window of the café to see if he can spot anything with strawberries on display.
Izuku nudges him to get his attention,
“Shocchan I’m gonna go order us dinner plates, now that it’s late enough they should be serving them. They aren’t very big or filling but I really want you to see how they’re put together, it’s super cute! Afterwards we can go and have something more filling on our way back to the dorms, okay?”
Suddenly hit by how tired he is all Shouto can do is blink slowly and stifle a yawn as he nods his head. Izuku grins and gives him a pat on the head before speed walking to get a spot in the quickly growing line. Shouto takes this time to look over their bags, counting them to make sure they are all accounted for. Satisfied with all of their purchases being present he takes another look around the café, which looks more like a mini restaurant in his opinion, and notes the yellow and brown designs before recalling the character being called PomPomPurin is the one that corresponds to the palette. Sitting for more than three minutes has Shouto’s body slumping down in his chair ever so slightly and he slowly blinks away the fatigue and upon hearing approaching footsteps he turns to find Izuku carrying a tray with two sets of steaming food and ice chilled drinks. Happy for food Shouto looks down at the plate with a cute bed of rice shaped like PomPomPurin’s face floating in the middle of beef curry and nearly weeps at how beautiful and delicious it looks.
Quickly taking pictures of his plate he sets his phone to the side and digs in quickly. Izuku is less hurried with his first bite though the sound of his stomach grumbling is audible enough for Shouto to hear. He savours the hearty taste of the curry and tenderness of the beef in his first bite then giggles at the pace Shouto is scarfing down his plate and begins quickly eating his to catch up. Taking care to have slow sips of his iced tea every few bites Izuku finishes his food and avoids the crash of curry after a full day though Shouto cannot say the same. With muffled giggles Izuku watches the way Shouto’s blinks become slower and his head begins to nod.
With not much effort Izuku makes an attempt to keep Shouto awake and is not surprised to find himself unsuccessful. With a small nod of his own Izuku looks past Shouto to make knowing eye contact with his group of boys who suddenly jump at being caught out before they all wave sheepishly. Natsuo is the first to get up with a blush on his cheeks and a smile as he make his way to Izuku and Shouto, the others not far behind him.
Izuku beams at all of them as Shindou and Mirio quietly divide all of the bags between themselves while Tamaki assists Natsuo arrange a sleeping Shouto on his back who mumbles softly about noodles before he settles. Thankfully Shouto while tall, is still not so tall that it would make carrying him on his back awkward or challenging for Natsuo who is the tallest and widest among the boys. Izuku takes care to hold on to Shouto’s hat so it doesn’t slip off while they walk and he plans their route back to Yuuei with Tamaki so that they can stop off for noodles to bring back to the dorms, sure that Shouto will be starving when he wakes up again.
When Shouto wakes up it is to the feeling of his soft bed beneath him and the dim waving shadows on his walls he’s become familiar with as his laptop playing a movie in the dark. He turns his head to see Izuku and his boys, confirming his suspicions, sitting crowded around his laptop watching whatever Izuku decided to make the boys watch. The dialogue is too low for him to figure out what it is but the scent of broth and the occasional slurping has his stomach grumbling, a sound that Izuku picks up on immediately as he whips his head around to grin cheekily at finding Shouto awake and blearily blinking back at him.
“Hello sleepy head! We got you noodles on our way back and I put your phone on the charger when you’re ready!” Shouto nods his understanding and Izuku turns back to the movie quickly at the slight jump Mirio has in response to what happened on the screen.
Despite his loudly protesting stomach Shouto takes his time getting up, he stretches lightly in bed and finds himself more comfortable than he should be considering what he wore today and looks down to find himself in loose sleeping clothes and fuzzy socks. Shrugging at the magical wardrobe change he shimmies himself off the end of his bed and softly pads over to the other side of the low table which is currently holding the laptop the group of five are huddled around and quickly finds a still warm takeaway bowl of noodles with his name on the lid. Picking up chopsticks and his phone he settles himself on the dark side of the table to eat his food while scrolling through his photos from the day, not wanting to distract the others from their movie with the light of his phone.
Before he can get to his photos he spots several unread message notifications, curious he opens his messages to find they are all from the group chat he’s in with Izuku and the boys and every message is a photo of him and Izuku throughout the day taken by the boys. With flushed cheeks and a lump in his throat Shouto slowly opens each photo to take in every detail of the candid moments spent with his best friend. Some photos are moments where he and Izuku are joyfully cheering during the street parades, interacting with the mascots, others are with serious looks on their faces as they contemplate one piece of merch over another, and a few are of them getting off of the rides they went on with smiles stretched across their faces and visibly giddy with the rush they just felt. He gets to the last photo sent by Natsuo who must have gotten someone to take the photo for him and it’s of all six of them. Standing together under the arch of Sanrio Puroland. Mirio and Shindou have their arms full of bags on either side of Natsuo and Tamaki, both of them are carrying him and Izuku on their backs and he’s delighted to see that he is not the only one who fell asleep. Grinning at the limp forms of him and Izuku he zooms in to see what Izuku is holding and his grin softens when he sees that it is his hat gripped in Izuku’s hand, safe and sound. Shouto looks up and he searches around his room until landing on his dresser where atop sits his hat and Izuku’s, side by side and away from the clutter of the rest of their bags from the day.