Why do children have to be so small?

Lipstick marks

Toshinori comes back to the dorms with a large lipstick smudge on his cheek. His ears are bright red and he looks like he could be high. I have to force myself to not smile.
"Did you have fun on your date?"
He dramatically sits down in the couch and puts his head in my lap. I should be used to it at this point; he's very affectionate. 
"Oh she was lovely, Shota! She laughed at all my jokes and corrected all my mistakes… she's so kind…"
He gestures in the air with his hands as he speaks.
"And she was so gorgeous, like she was glowing like an angel. She wore the cutest dress and the prettiest lipstick…"
"I noticed."
I try to rub away the lipstick from his cheek with my thumb.
"Are you going on another date? It sounds like it went well."
"Yes! I told her that I don't really know what I like doing so she suggested we'd go ice skating the next time! Y'know at that indoors rink where the hockey players practice during the summer?"
"Yes, I know what you mean. Have you ever been ice skating?"
"Once! I think! I'm not very great at it."
"Is she great at it?"
"Nope!"
"Then you can learn together."
He let out a dramatic gasp, like he just realized something.
"You're right! If we're both bad at something then I don't have to feel worthless because I've only been good at one thing my whole life!"
He says it in such an optimistic tone it almost slips past me.
"What?"
"Yeah, I always feel like I've thrown away my life because I haven't been able to explore my own interests and stuff…"
"Saving people is not a waste of time. And you have time now. To explore your interests and love and social life and what not."
I lightly swat his forehead.
"You don't get to talk like that about yourself. 'Worthless' my ass."
I roll my eyes.
"You're just like all of the students. 'I'm worthless', 'I can't do anything', 'I'm a waste of space'. Shut up, no you're not. Why can't Toshinori have the same confidence as All Might?"
When I look back down at him, a wide smile is spread across his lips.
"Look at you, caring about people and stuff! Oh how you've grown."
He reaches up and grabs my cheek, as if he were my grandma.
"Hey. Stop that."
I rub off the last of the lipstick from his cheek.
"It's almost dinner time. Wanna see what I learned today?"
"I mean, sure, I never say no to free food."
"I might need some help, though."
"I would be surprised if you didn't need help."
He finally moves his head from my lap and stands up, heading to the dorm kitchen. I haven't seen him walk with that little bounce in his step before. Love sure does weird things.
"Okay, so first yo-"
"First you wash your hands and put your hair up."
I hand him one of the hair ties around my wrist and point to the sink.
"Oh, right! I just got so excited, sorry."
He ties his hair up in the messiest bun I've ever seen and washes his hands. It doesn't seem like he ever puts his hair up, despite it being so long. I sigh.
"Alright, you should probably ask Inko to teach you how to fix your hair as well."
I pull him down to my height and fix his terrible updo.
"Oh yes she's great at that, she had the prettiest braid…"
His ears go red again.
"Right, the food."

I've never seen Toshinori being up this late before. He's on the couch, having an intense text conversation with someone. I gently tap his shoulder.
"Toshinori. It's near midnight. You gotta sleep, it's a school day."
I peek over his shoulder and down at his phone. The person he's texting is labeled as "My boy Izuku 🥦". 
"Tell Izuku he needs to sleep too."
"Yeah yeah yeah I'm coming…"
I get a quick flash of a picture as he's scrolling. It's of him and Inko. He's wearing a white button up and she's wearing a bright red, dotted dress that looks like something from the 50's america. Looks like they both got flour on their aprons. 
"As long as you go to sleep before one."
I head towards the elevator before his words stop me.
"Shota?"
"Yes?"
"Is this what love feels like?"
I can't help but smile.
"Like what?"
"Like… like butterflies and constant blushing and not being able to stop thinking about them all the time…"
His face is red again.
"Yeah. That's what love feels like."
I'm glad he's found love. I'm glad he's happy.

He did not get back to his dorm. He fell asleep on the couch with his phone on his chest, legs off the edge. I sigh.
"I understand you're happy but you need to sleep. Alright, here we go…"
I lift him up in my arms. He's surprisingly light for his size. 
"You big baby…"
Luckily his room is on the same floor as mine and Hizashi's. I click the button in the elevator with my elbow. He seems dead asleep, mouth half open. The door elevator opens again and i step out. His room is two doors away from mine. I open the door and step inside. I don't think I've ever been in here before. It's surprisingly… bare, compared to what his desk looks like. The wallpapers are a light blue with no pattern, there's not a single All Might poster on the walls or anything. Just walls, his bed, the closet and desk. I put him down on the bed. It's larger than the average bed because he's so extremely tall. He's still wearing his button up he wore to the date.
"Oh boy…"
I start unbuttoning his shirt, exposing his chest. The large scar on his side has faded some more since the last time I saw it, but it's not going to go away, we all know that. I wonder if he's shown Inko the scar. I walk over to his closet, looking for something he can wear to bed. I end up pulling out a large sweater. He's replaced or sewn in most of his closet to fit his true form. It looks a lot better than when he walked around in clothes that were way too large. I pull the sweater over his head and the blanket over his body. Love is great and all, but your body comes first.