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“Dad, no! Please don't do this! I swear I was gonna do the dishes, just after I finished this research!” Touya pleaded, abandoning the books about courting on the table to press his hands together in a prayer, hoping to placate his father.
“No, you were told to do your chores on Friday! It's Sunday night, and you know the punishment for that. I'm not sorry it has to come to this, it's important you learn responsibility!” Natsuo shoots up from his chair, face red as he also starts to beg their father for mercy.
“Why do the rest of us need to be punished!? Plus, we’re in our twenties, why are we doing chores?”
“Because instead of offering to help your brother, or reminding him of his chores in general, you spent the entire weekend making fun of him for his research. Learning to court properly so you can ensure a happy marriage is a very important goal, so long as you don't forget everything else in the process. So you can receive the same punishment, you know you have to do chores in exchange for staying in my house for free on family weekends. You both know the rules. Start fights or disregard housework, and I romance your mother all over again.” The soft chiming of Rei’s laughter drifted in from the doorway, a smile lighting up her face as she overhears the discussion. Enji immediately perks up, like a dog being offered a warm spot on the bed. He immediately sweeps her into his arms, gently dancing her around the room as she continues laughing, soft snow flurries following them.
“My love. My softly fallen snow. As powerful as a blizzard and as perfect as an ice sculpture. The universe wept in envy the day I worshiped you at your mountain, because you chose me and I can never show how grateful I am for your love and acceptance. I am a lowly peasant for my dear Moon Princess, darling Winter Kiss, my breathtaking Mountain Storm. I would snuff out my core just for a glance.” Enji continued peppering his wife's face with kisses as she laughed and squirmed, her snow trail getting wilder and picking up wind the more he flustered her with his antics. Fuyumi stayed at the table, watching her parents with awe and some jealousy, wondering when she'll find love like that.
“Enji, my Sunflare, our sons already ran away to do their chores. There's no need to beg for my attention, you'll get plenty of it after they both leave for school and work tomorrow. Please remember to redo the barriers around the house, Shouto will be home this weekend and if he learned any new magic at school, he'll want to test it out.” His beard flared out in excitement at the thought. Soon all four children will be graduated from high school and either in college or the workforce completely.
Fuyumi had started up her official job with teaching, Natsuo had settled nicely into his nursing program, and Touya was making waves in the magic community with his investigative work. That left young Shouto, in his seventh year preparing for his NEWTs. Enji felt his beard start to spark and smoke the more joy filled his chest. Four children and a wife that he loved more than anything, and their lives were as easy as he was able to make them. Paving the path for their success with his work as an Auror filled him with a pride no one could touch. He couldn't wait to surprise Rei with the retirement home he had built where they met. Her family was delighted he planned on spending the rest of their lives on the mountain where she could flourish in the icy temperature and have their children visit.
He dipped Rei in his arms, noses brushing softly in the steam their outpouring of joy had created.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Are they still being gross in there!? If the steam messes up my research books, Dad's paying for them!”
“You say that like he didn't already offer to. You could just skip all of this headache and studying if you just proposed.” Natsuo snorted at his brother’s pout, elbow deep in dishwater. “Point taken. But, seriously, do you know how happy Dad was when he found out you were trying to officially court Keigo? I think he relived courting mom like 5 times in his head before he called the head of the Magical Creatures bureau to get you more books on Harpy courting. At least we know Keigo won't try to kill you like a full blooded Harpy might.” Touyas face scrunched up at the reminder.
Harpy culture tends to cultivate violent behavior, strength over everything else is important in Mates so you can get stronger offspring that will survive longer. Harpies are also likely to kill mates immediately after a healthy hatching to limit outside “weak” influence. Keigo was different because his half Harpy father also happened to be a wizard known for stealing and killing people at random. Keigo was taken as a child and adopted by others, giving him a much different upbringing. Touya would never say Keigo was lucky to be taken away from his family, but he did appreciate how drastically that lowered the odds of Keigo murdering him when he confessed. Now that they're both graduated and stable in their careers, it's the perfect time for Touya to actually research Harpy courting and how to get his dumb bird to marry him.
He was startled out of his thoughts as his phone started to ring, pulling up the ugliest photo Touya had ever gotten of Shoto passed out on the couch in hello kitty pajamas and soba hanging out of his mouth. He dried his hands with a small burst of flame magic and quickly answered the phone.
“Hey Sho, how's studying?” The answering groan gave Touya all the information he needed. “That bad, huh? Well, I know one way to cheer you up. You'll never guess which nepobaby with a stick up his ass approached me at work the other day and asked some very intriguing questions about you. How about a trade? You tell me everything Broccoli uncovered about Harpies, and in return I'll tell you all about the blue blur.”
“A Sonic reference? Really?”
“The fact that you know what Sonic is means I'm not the first to make the comparison between a hyperactive hedgehog and your speedy admirer.” Touya levitated the phone by his ear so he could finish his chores and not be subjected to parental love any further.
“You know what? Sure . Let's trade. Midoriya said he would trade your old Creature research books for his information. I already have a date planned with Tenya, so your teasing won't do any good. Thanks for telling him my favorite food by the way, we're going to a noodle shop tomorrow night. -How the hell- Because I can COMMUNICATE with my boyfriend, instead of researching things and ignoring him for days on end. Keigo and Bakugo are two different Creatures, you don't have to do research all on your own like Midoriya does, you idiot.” The phone went silent as Shouto hung up on him, followed by several chimes as Shouto forwarded Midoriya’s research to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Touya bounced his head off his desk four times before his office door opened, muted footfalls getting closer before Tomura slammed four folders on his head.
“Did you finish sending off the investigation report on that dumbass politician, or have you been slamming your head into your desk all afternoon? You can't study Harpies or do your job through bluntforce trauma and osmosis, you know.” Touya glared at his best friend/boss/thorn in his side before turning his monitor around. The screen showed a confirmation email from the Auror leading the investigation, and in a separate window was a cheerful and multicolored message. Every section was a few lines long and in a different color, the subject line was cryptic and in bold.
WE HEAR YOU NEED SOME HELP! <3
“What the fuck?” Tomura whispered as he kept reading, every section was apparently a different member or family of the famous Quidditch team, The Holyhead Harpies. With the new laws around Creature descendants, the team was now mostly made up of Harpy descendants and other avian Creatures as an homage to their team name. “Are these all first or second hand accounts of courting? How did they get your work email and why do they give a damn?” Touya wordlessly scrolled to the bottom of the concerningly long email. A short paragraph from Gwenog Jones revealed Touya’s brother had met one of their beaters in a bar and had drunkenly ranted about how dumb courting culture was. The woman had then, while also drunk, called up every member of the team that were Harpies and gotten into a fist fight with random racists while calling Gwenog herself and demanding she relay all possible information to Touya as help. Attached to the email was a recording. Tomura looked back at Touya, who had begun blushing so hard he could see blue sparks flitting off the ends of his hair and heating his piercings a cherry red, and pressed play.
“HEYO BITCHACHO! BI-Bitch NACHO! Miruko here! I got a pretty boy here who thinks people shouldn't court their pigeons because courting is DUMB! He's correct! But also he- hick -he should mind his own BUSINESS! Let the, hhhhummmmm, BIRDS yeah birds, let the birds dance! Ya know like birds of a feather can fuck together dude! I know, like, a TON of bird people. Imma help!” The audio gets muffled slightly, possibly by Miruko leaning away yelling “the fuck’s a flock?! Shut up, you snowman-lookin head ass, I'm HELPIN’ YOU!” Miruko suddenly gets much clearer and louder, “You should help me beat up some guys botherin’ the snowflake dude! Or, wait-” Tomura hears indistinguishable words being yelled, followed by a solid thud of something hitting something else. “NAH I GOT THIS! Fuck yeah dude, okay, so, like, no need to beat up some dudes anymore! You should uuuuuhhhh, help! I'll help by drink’ sum more and yooouuuu help by listenin’ to all the voicemails I left the other members! Yeah! Team work makes the dream work! We have a TON of birdy bitches in our dream! No wait, TEAM. Team, yeah, our team. Anywhos, I gots to go! Love you, kisses, blah blah. fuck off. LINE UP RACISTS, WHOS NEXT YA BI-”
The audio cuts and Tomura starts cackling, Touya leaning over his desk to beat his head against Tomura’s stack of folders, leaving little singe marks with his nose piercings. He groans in-between thuds and makes a concussion his new life goal.
“I just * thud* want to propose * thud* to my boyfriend *thud* but I respect * thud* his * thud* avian * thud* heritage! *thud* uuugggGHHHHHHHHH.” Touya slumped down from his chair and desk and laid in a pool of embarrassment on the floor. Tomura tried to stop laughing as he sat on the floor next to his dramatically suffering friend.
“He really recruited an entire Quidditch team to help you out by bitching to strangers? That's a level of interpersonal relations I'll never reach. It’s difficult getting department heads to listen, let alone drunk strangers that can strangle me. Why haven't you just talked to Keigo about his Harpy heritage, asked some questions about his instincts and what he remembers from his parents when he was young?”
Touya shifts a hand under his desk and pulls out the hot pink rubber mallet he keeps there labelled ‘Stupid Questions’ and smacks Tomuras kneecap with it. “HEY! That hammer is for use on interns, not your boss, you whiny skunk. Not my fault you refuse to level your speech skill, especially with your man.”
“You know as well as I do that he's adopted, Tomura. I can't just ask him about his criminal birth family out of nowhere! It's hard enough getting him to talk about his instincts when he's in the middle of experiencing them, can you imagine how many parts of my face he'll rip off for asking when he's completely sober?!” Tomuras face did something odd as he came to an epiphany, face flushing an unhealthy red as he tried to hold back his laughter. Touya was waved off when he made a questioning noise, Tomuras face twisting up as he shook in silent laughter.
“How pfff- how long have you been researching again?”
Touya looked at his trembling friend suspiciously, “A while.. why?”
“And you have never asked him about his heritage before?”
“No, what if it's something he doesn't like talking about? I didn't want to dig into his personal stuff without permission, hence the fear of face ripping.” The trembling was getting worse and Touya made an aborted gesture to reach for the emergency button on the side of his desk, before Tomura burst out laughing for several minutes. He started doing calm breathing techniques before he was able to continue speaking.
“Touya. I am saying this as your friend, and as someone who scored higher than you in every class we have ever been in together. Have a less than five minute conversation with Keigo about this before you lose more brain cells than doctor recommended.”
“Fuck OFF.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey pretty bird, what's this envelope for?” Touya dropped his black attaché bag on the table, unzipping it and grabbing a few reports to double check before he sent them out over email. He kept his print out of the Holyhead email and attached links in a side pocket so the curious bird wouldn't find them sitting out.
“Oh! That's the invite for a Halloween Gala some important families are throwing. There'll be speeches and performances, along with costumes. Remember taking down the people in charge of that Dragon pit last month? Apparently one of the Creature descendants we saved had been missing for weeks, and is related to some very important people. Their entire clan wants us there to thank us. Do you wanna go? It's in a couple weeks.”
“Huh, well it would be kinda rude to not go, right? I'll let Tomura know I'm not available that weekend in case the party gets a bit spirited.” Keigo’s face lit up, flying forward to kiss every piercing on his boyfriend's face, animatedly talking about different costumes they could put together and how much fun they could have. Touya's mind started racing, he didn't have to have an uncomfortable conversation if he could pull something off! If he timed the calls while Keigo was at his stakeout over the weekend, then-
“Hey, where'd I lose you to?” Keigo flashed him a face full of concern before pulling a smile up. “Did Tomura run you ragged today investigating that break in? I can make dinner tonight if you aren't up for it.” Touya shook his head, giving Keigo a kiss to reassure him.
“I'm okay, pretty bird. Just got lost in thought for a second. Let me put my papers away and I'm all yours for the evening. Are we still on for that mind palace date tonight? I go in late tomorrow and you don't work until the day after.” Keigo chittered happily as he flew down the hallway, flinging open their bedroom door to land in the huge nest he made. The room had been designed with a circular conversation pit in the middle for Creatures to build up their nests from, the main reason they chose this apartment. Touya laughed as he headed for the shower.
After a light dinner, they settled into their nest, the blankets spelled to keep Keigo warm and Touya cool as they were wrapped up in each other. Keigo laid on him and stretched out his wings before letting them settle. He arched an eyebrow and Touya nodded, both smiling as the spell was sealed with a kiss, the effects washing over them as they laid comfortably.
Touya and Keigo had been raised with different expectations in love, Touya learning that not all things needed to be said in order to be known and Keigo learning that if something isn't acknowledged, it doesn't exist. Their love story started with several years of arson and misunderstandings that came to a stop during a class teaching them about Legilimency. A class where they were taught how to open their minds so they would know how to seal it off as well, a defense against people controlling the minds of others. The teacher had paired them together in the hopes that being literally open minded would stop them from fighting constantly. What the teacher didn't hope for was Touya and Keigo making out on their shared desk and starting a relationship with the most PDA in Yuuei’s history.
That class and their discovery started a monthly routine where they lay together for a night and have a date within a shared mindscape, going and doing whatever they can imagine, sharing emotions and losing secrets. Other than a ‘lock box’ of sorts for work and surprise plans, it was an open field with no misunderstandings about how much they loved one another.
They settled on an open field of red and blue poppies, Keigo telling him about something that happened at work while it's reenacted in a space in front of them. Touya talks about his newest find in fashion, several black long coats appearing in front of them; the sewing and threads getting bigger and breaking apart depending on his focus. That leads to them both ranting about the disgusting lack of fashion in their respective workplaces and Tomuras newest pair of ugly dress sneakers. They spend the night bonding until sleep breaks the spell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“ Oh that is absolutely doable, Todoroki-san. All you would need is the clothing and decide the music, we can prepare the rest. I'm honored to be able to give you this chance in return for the life and health of my baby cousin.” Touya breathed a sigh of relief, he already knew what he needed to do to court Keigo and if everything goes well he can now propose at the end of the Gala.
“Thank you for your help, Ryuko-sama. Will we be seeing little Mizuki there as well?”
“ Oh most definitely. The second they overheard our last call, they were demanding to help organize the entire thing. Declaring it fate that you'd not only saved them, but also need help just in time for a Gala. I believe they've been repeating the phrase ‘a favor for a favor’ under their breath?” Touya started to cackle at that, he'd told the kid a hundred times that night that saving people was his job and didn't need to be repaid, but what can you do against a determined dragon?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dressing up for the Gala wasn't exactly difficult, Lady Ryuko had provided them with their outfits. Seeing Keigo’s prince costume, dripping in gold chains and red linen, made it difficult to not propose on the spot. It was inspired by desert royalty in fantasy, a distinctly Egyptian vibe that was enhanced by his natural wings and eye markings. They might not match currently, but Touya’s own knight costume was spelled to change, hiding a surprise for his lover tonight.
The Gala was filled with music and dancing, several members of Mizuki’s family coming over to thank them profusely for saving their life. A large clock somewhere chimed close to midnight, a stage rose from the front of the room, a small chamber orchestra assembling beside it. Keigo chirped and looked to his left, wanting to ask Touya if he knew what was happening, only to see his boyfriend had disappeared. His eyes scanned the room, surprised to see Touya walking behind the stage. A hand gently touched his shoulder and he turned to see Lady Ryuko smiling softly at him, without a word he was led to a raised dias with a red chaise lounge on it that had appeared in front of the stage, connected to it by a small stone bridge. He leaned into the side of the chair, several pillows supporting him as he looked toward the stage, realizing this was either the surprise Touya hid from him on their last date or he was being ritually sacrificed.
A slow beat started to echo through the room as Touya climbed the steps, all conversation died as he lifted both arms. The lights died down as a blue flame enveloped both hands, slowly burning its way down his raised arms. Golden rings holding dark purple linen in place appeared after the flames that were slowly working themselves down his arms. The smoke and fire condensed around Touya's head, dyeing his hair black and leaving a halo of flickering blue behind. His costume armor disappeared under the flame and was replaced with swirling black and purple chiffon, held in place with golden clasps. He lowered himself into a bow and, as he flicked his arms outward, the flames raced across the floor, dyeing the stone stage black with flickering blue flames lighting up the room from candles placed at the edges. The beat faded out, the room tense with anticipation. Keigo was leaning so far forward he was almost spilling out of his chair.
Touya jerked his head up with a beat of the drum, blue eyes locking onto Keigos and stealing his breath. He couldn't see what expression Touya was making under the purple face veil, but his eyes were burning as another beat of the drum jerked his entire body up. He looked like the old myths of death Gods, coming to collect Keigo's soul and steal the breath from his lungs with a final kiss. Touya looked possessed by the beat of the drum, his movements becoming smoother and gaining fluidity as more instruments joined in the song. He pushed and pulled ropes of fire around him like ribbons, his body flowing like a river as the music directed him. Every step rippling fire across the stage in small bursts like he was dancing upon a river of lava.
It took Keigo an embarrassing amount of time during the dance to realize every move was inching Touya closer to him, fire rippling around his dias but never touching him. The music was steadily rising in pitch and speed, Touya racing to match it but never once losing the fluid style of his movements, until he has crossed the bridge to Keigo.
The music suddenly cut out and Touya fell to his knees in front of Keigo like a puppet with cut strings. Bowing low and folding his arms under his head, like a priest praying before their God. The black chiffon on his back split into two, reminiscent of wings gently folded.
“Beautiful…” Slipped out from Keigo's mouth, hushed and in awe. Touya sat up, a golden collar with rubies and sapphires in his hands as he looked up at Keigo, breath and heart heavy in his chest. He was faintly reminded of some necklaces he's seen older Wizards wear, and lost his breath again, tears pricking his eyes as he finally recognized the magic coming off the collar. Bonding Collars were very rare, even in the magic community, because it wasn't a marriage. It bound you together magically, able to pull from one another’s strengths; emotions and thoughts linked together. It can be undone, but that's almost unheard of. Touya wanted him, forever .
“Do you accept?” Lady Ryuko’s voice flowed over the room, magically amplified.
“Always.” Keigo guided Touya's hands up as he bared his neck. As the collar clicked shut around his neck, it adjusted to sit perfectly against his skin. A line of golden sparks descended from the collar to Touya's neck where an identical collar would be formed. Keigo lifted the edge of the veil and watched as the collar slowly set into Touyas skin, fading into a faint tattoo. The same would happen with Keigo’s if he willed it.
The breath was punched from Keigo's chest as magic, wild and burning and bright enveloped his body. His wings flared out wide as Touya's magic set into his bones, curling forward to wrap around his mate. Touya seemed to be equally breathless, a faint wind stirring his clothing and hair as Keigo's magic settled in him.
- I love you- was the first thought that echoed back and forth over the bond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So why a dance? I loved it, you were breathtaking the entire time, but I know how much you love monologuing. Why not just give a speech?” A recreation of Touya's Dance was blurrily playing among the poppies during their date the following week, the music echoing across the field.
“What do you mean ‘why’? I've never officially courted you before, so that needed to be done before I could do anything about my bonding and marriage plans. My dad would roast me over an erupting volcano if I tried anything before courting you.”
“Oh! I didn't know dancing was part of your courting process! Do you need me to plan a performance now? Glamoring my wings and talons to hide from a dance coach would make it difficult, but I can put something together.” The air was suddenly filled with different dancing trends and choreography school names, Keigo mentally scrolling through a list in his head.
“No? It's Harpy...?” The entire mindscape went blank, both trying to process what the other was saying.
“What…?”
Touya forcibly ended the spell, sitting up in their nest and staring at Keigo. “Did you not know that!?”
“Touya, you know I was adopted away from Harpies. I don't really know anything other than my diet and instincts. Why would you assume I did?”
Touyas mouth gaped open and shut, no sound escaping him as smoke started rising from his blushing face. He could feel more and more amusement and laughter echoing through the bond as he filled with embarrassment. He owed Tomura an apology.
“Touya... Baby, you do remember I wasn't adopted by Harpy descendants, right? I was raised by descendants of the Morae, aside from keeping a good work/life balance, they don't really care about courting. I wasn't raised with any courting practices outside of what my instincts want in a mate, and you exceeded those requirements a long time ago.”
Touya turned away from Keigo, smashing his face into a fireproof pillow before his cheeks and ears burst into flames. Keigo snorted, his chirping laughter shaking his entire body as he tried to console his mate long into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~
Touya is about as good with embarrassment as he is with rejection, so when Keigo broke the news that all his effort on the performance was wasted simply because they didn't have a thirty second conversation, well. His phone is off, and he's been staying at home away from work and friends for an entire day. He can still feel love and laughter echoing from Keigo so he thinks spending time with a supportive and loving family is a great coping mechanism, for at least another 48 hours.
“Are you seriously hiding?” Shouto balled up an oven mitt to toss at his head. “I'd think you had an allergy to honesty and happiness if I didn't know it was just shellfish.” -Nevermind.- “You do know he thinks it's amazing you were trying so hard to impress him, right? At least now you know the only thing stopping you from getting legally married is embarrassment.”
Loud laughter and furniture moving sounded in the other room as Touya drained the sink and wiped down the counter. “By the way, I invited him to dinner with our family, have fun.” The room went silent as Shouto walked out, and Touya could hear the unmistakable sound of talons clicking on hardwood flooring.
-You can't kill him, he's your precious baby brother. You can't kill him, he's your precious baby brother. You can't kill him, he's your precious baby brother.- Touya repeated the mantra in his head, laughter flooding the bond as he entered the dining area. His father was telling a theatrical version of how he courted their mother, twirling her around the room again as he recounted how their tale of love started. He stopped when he saw Touya and started loudly talking about what Touya would also happily do to court Keigo more if he wanted. - I can kill him though. Mom can remarry.- Keigo was laughing at his father's antics, leafing through the courting books on the table. He looked up and smiled brightly at Touya. - Fuck. Can't kill anyone when he looks so pretty and happy.- Keigo's gaze snapped to him, blushing as several chirps and whistles echoed across the bond before he looked back at his father.
“So, what do Fire Spirits do for courting? You've been talking about how you courted her, and how Touya could court me more, but that was all Yuki-Onna or Harpy traits. Are Fire Spirits similar? I would love to return the favor.” Touya paused on his way over to strangle whichever sibling was in range, having never actually thought about that before. Smoke started wafting out of his hair as he thought about Keigo crowing about how much he loves him to everyone in earshot, or dancing around the room with him like his father and mother do. He was so used to his father waxing poetic about his mother that he forgot there was probably another part to the story. He saw Natsuo make the same confused face before chilling a hand to scrub through Touya's flustered smoke, which had begun sticking to his hair and making it gray.
“Oh, no not at all. Fire Spirits are more action and intent based. Our core burns forever, but can be stuffed out in an instant, so our bonds form around that train of thought. While our forefathers focused more on murder and territory, having accidental kids along the way, modern descendants have a chosen Spark, or mate, but no actual courting method. I suppose you could say the decision to love another being is our version of courting. I knew I had courted Rei correctly when she speared ice through my chest, just millimeters from my heart! Such divine aim for a divine lady.”
“WAIT,” screeched Natsuo, “we knew you were a simp, but what do you mean mom almost killed you?! ”
“Oh! Dearest, have you really never told them?” Rei blinked up at her husband, whose face went slack in shock. He slowly started to crumple into her arms, lava flowing from his eyes in distress as he apologized. Rei cooed at him, reaching up to freeze his tears into small lines of basalt. “Oh, sweet Sunflare, I'm not upset at all. I'm just shocked that after almost three decades we still have stories untold. Such a sweet man, I'll never regret accepting your proposal. You courted me so lovingly, and still treat me like royalty, how could I regret you over such a small thing? My molten ocean, I'll be yours forever.” Rei turned to everyone as Enji wrapped his arms around her waist, steam slowly unfurling from where his chest and her back touched.
“Well, when Enji first started to court me, I will admit I made similar mistakes as dear Touya. I ended up accepting his proposal the Ifrit way, by trial of combat, and I certainly wasn't about to lose. According to the book I read, losing meant he would own me instead of marrying me. So I demanded a fight and, after winning, demanded a marriage before apologizing for how rough the fight got.”
Fuyumi looked equal parts disturbed and impressed. “Good thing you cleared up that specific misunderstanding before teaching Touya to start a fight instead of prancing around like a peacock.”
“It’s probably better to court someone wrong and be happy immediately than what Midoriya did. I don't think he'll be able to recover for a few more days.”
Keigo turned to Shouto, confused.
“I thought he was still researching? Isn't that why he was here last week?” Touya snorted at Keigo’s question, Broccoli needed to man up if he was ever gonna win the heart of someone that was so straightforward with everyone he encountered. Dandelion had never minced words in all the time Shouto had been hanging around him, so Touya can't see how avoiding the guy after school would do Broccoli any good.
“Well, no. He wasn't researching, he was hiding.” At everyone's confused stare, Shouto sighed and continued. “Bakugo’s heritage is a secret to everyone outside of their family. In order to court him you would need to win in a test of combat against him to prove your strength, figure out his Creature heritage and the descendant branch he is to prove wisdom, and endure his more fiery temper and get to know him while not backing down to prove patience and perseverance. Those traits are extremely important to his people, so it's not enough for him to just love Midoriya, Midoriya has to prove himself to Bakugos family as well.”
“Sounds harsh, but I thought Midoriya knew all of this already? Isn't that why he was trading research books with Touya? Still gonna make fun of you for that, by the way. I was under the impression he wanted to start the courting before graduation so they could move in together without any issues of concealed feelings.” Natsuo still couldn't believe how hard the kid had been running himself to impress an entire family. He'd take his lovely courtless relationship any day over that mess.
“Yeah. That was kind of the issue. Remember how they've been friends since childhood?” Everyone nodded, still confused. “Well, patience and perseverance. Remember them getting grounded at the dorms for fighting a few years ago? Well, they had a rematch where Midoriya planted Bakugo into the ground, and have been consistently sparring since. Strength by combat.”
“Oh! Did he finally figure out his creature heritage?! Good for the little green bean! He wiped out all the books in my library on rare Creatures, so I want them back if everything's settled. I know he's been researching them for quite a few years while going to school, I miss them.” Fuyumi’s eyes shone with excitement at getting her bookshelves full again. Empty shelves bother her more than any clutter. Touya leaned back into the curtain of feathers that wrapped around him. Keigo softly chirped at him when he heated up a hand to pet through some feathers.
“That would be the crux of their problems, and I'm referring to all of their problems. Midoriya already knew . And he Forgot. He didn't have to do research or spar because he apparently started and completed the courting when they were kids. Several years ago.” The table jostled slightly as everyone reacted, Touya wincing in sympathy. Stories about their past made sense now. If Midoriya had already completed all the prerequisites for courting, and yet was still researching and spending less time with Bakugo to research and prepare..
“So you're saying Broccoli had already successfully courted Dandelion, drifted away so he could study and train to prove himself, trained harder when his betrothed started targeting him, came back and asked to move in together, be Auror partners, basically planned their entire lives together, and then kept researching courting for other Creatures? Dandelion probably spent years thinking he got rejected, was accepted, and suddenly was being rejected again. Good thing Dandelion is head over heels for the idiot and knows a lot of healing spells. If Broccoli’s not in the hospital now, his friends will be putting him there soon for making them sit through years of mutual pining.” Keigo’s teeth clacked together as Touya finished speaking.
“Like you're one to talk, crying to all our friends and family, on top of having all those books when we're engaged already.” Touya looked over to see Keigo smirking with a death grip on the arms of his chair, holding in laughter.
“Yeah yeah, laugh it up. We both know I don't know shit about Harpies.”
“Me neither!”
The entire table descended into laughter.