I Even Like His Shocking Pickup Lines [ShinKami]

You Can't Help the Things Your Heart Longs For

Avoiding Kaminari hadn't worked.

He was still the first person he wanted to see in the morning, the last voice he heard echoed in his dreams at night and every goddamn thought in between.

He was just as stupidly, uselessly attracted to him as he had been before but now he was going out of his mind because amongst all of this, he'd lost his friend too.

The worst part? Kaminari had been so stupidly understanding and that made it all so much worse.

His thoughts were interrupted by the stamp of a small foot. "Toshi. You're not even listening to me."

"Why aren't you like this with anyone else?" Shinsou asked the tiny white haired child who was currently pouting because he'd said no to baking cookies. But he already knew, he was one of the few people who she trusted, which was a big deal, and now she acted almost like a normal child around him. None of the small timid voice and downcast eyes that she still needed to hide behind with others.

"Because you're my bossy older brother who always says no," Eri replied in the way only small children can, making him feel all warm despite her cranky words.

He smiled fondly at her and bent down to her height. "Hey that's not true, remember what happened last time we made cookies?"

Eri giggled, obviously thinking about the explosion of flour and cocoa that had covered the entire kitchen when they were done, earning them a long suffering sigh from their Dad and how they had been banned from the kitchen ever since.

"Next time you come to visit you can ask Sato to make a cake or Bakugou to make some cookies for you. He has a hard time saying no to puppy dog eyes."

Eri's face lit up at the idea. "Okay! But what are we going to do now? Dad won't be back for ages and Papa will be even later."

"Come on, how about you do my hair?" Shinsou said, slipping down to sit on the floor at the base of the couch.

Eri gasped. "But you never let me braid your hair!" She scrambled to collect her hairbrush and scrunchies from her room in their Dads' apartment before he changed his mind.

"Yeah, well, I've got someone to impress," Shinsou said without thinking, a habit he'd picked up from Kaminari, apparently. He wasn't sure why he said it but he realised it was true, he did want to impress Kaminari, even if he wasn't talking to him.

Eri reappeared in the doorway with her things and walked towards him slowly. He didn't think she'd heard him but he recognised the gleam in her eye and suppressed a groan. She was becoming too much like Aizawa.

"Who are you trying to impress?"

Shinsou considered not telling her but he didn't want to lie to her. "His name's Denki."

Eri nodded before climbing on the couch behind him. "Why do you need to impress him?"

Shinsou released a long breath. Did he ask this many questions when he was young? No, he wouldn't have. He didn't have anyone to ask them to. "I upset him so he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Did you say sorry? Papa says when I upset someone, I can say sorry and it's all better."

Huh, he actually hadn't. That was probably a good place to start. Shinsou marvelled at how simplistic her response was.

"Not yet."

Eri considered this information seriously as her little fingers thread through his hair. "What did you do?"

"I ignored him because I got scared by how much I like him."

Her hands paused. "You don't like many people."

Shinsou couldn't help the laugh that huffed out of his chest. This little brat knew him too well. "I know. That's the problem." Then quieter, "You can't help the things your heart longs for."

He tilted his head back far enough to look at her. "I like you don't I?" That earned him a giggle. The sound made his heart squeeze. She'd come a long way since coming to live with Aizawa.

"We better make your hair look extra good," Eri confirmed.

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door closing. Both of them looked up from the table where they sat playing a board game and nodded in greeting.

"I see Eri's been hard at work," Aizawa said as he came in and hung up his coat and took in the sight of Shinsou's hair.

"Hitoshi has to impress Denki," Eri said seriously.

Shinsou froze with his hand on his game piece. He dared a look at his Dad to see Aizawa's posture mirrored his own.

Aizawa recovered first and looked toward the couch where Eri's things still lay spread out and turned to face her. "How about you go and put away your things and then we'll make some dinner." Eri nodded and scrambled off to the lounge.

Aizawa turned and walked toward the kitchen. "Are you staying for dinner, Hitoshi?" He called over his shoulder.

Shinsou knew this was a request to follow him. He got up from the table and perched on the stool at the kitchen bench. "No, I have to get back."

Aizawa nodded before busying himself fixing them both a mug of coffee. This was obviously a conversation he wasn't getting out of.

A steaming mug was pushed in front of him and he picked it up to drink, thankful for something to do. When the silence started to stretch uncomfortably thin, Aizawa finally broke it. "So, Kaminari, huh?"

Shinsou just nodded as he sipped his coffee. Desperately willing his cheeks not to give him away by doing something so stupid as blushing.

Aizawa leaned back against the counter and looked back at him with arms leisurely crossed over his chest. "He's very-"

"If you're going to say dumb, I'm leaving."

"Loud."

Shinsou scoffed. "Having a thing for loud blonds must run in this family."

Aizawa just gave him a look but Shinsou felt like there was the tiniest amount of something pleased in his gaze.