Chapter Text
After that day, speaking with the young mother, Kan couldn’t stop thinking about having children. It had never really been a thought in his mind before, not any more than what his anatomy told him when he forgot to take his suppressants at least. But now, it was hard to ignore. He saw it everywhere. From families that he saw walking down the street, now inspiring jealousy instead of happiness, to walking into work, he was thinking about having a family.
For an alpha, it might have been the need to carry on the bloodline, or produce an heir in some neanderthalic idea of dominance. Or maybe it was just wanting to raise something, to add another person to the pack they worked so hard to protect. For Kan, as an omega, he just wanted to give something life. To be able to create and mold a creature into something, was one of the greatest joys he could think of. One of the few things that would give his life meaning.
He found it leaking into every part of his life, starting with work. Kan had always been an attentive teacher. From the start of the year, he was invested in his students, grading with their best interests in mind, criticising with care and time. But once his need for kids flared, he was… nearly fatherly in their lives.
They were doing fantastic, only one failure on their exams, everyone passing their hero license exam. It was easy to care about them. When they paired off to train while Kan watched, it was easy to pitch them corrections in between compliments, explaining each reason why they needed adjustments. Some took his words in stride, always attempting to be better. It always stunned him to see how far they aspired to go, how much they wanted to make him proud, how hard they fought even in training. No one ever let anyone else off the hook, not even his sweetest students.
He was happy to see Kendo throw Monoma to the ground yet again, her foot on his throat for a moment before she stepped away. “Wonderful work!” He stepped forward, glancing to the side to see Awase fall off balance. “Your side is unprotected.” He called just as Tetsutetsu kicked him in the ribs. He hissed and turned his attention back to Monoma, helping him to his feet.
There were, of course, some people in his class that weren’t like Kendo. Who didn’t swell with pride when Kan gave them a compliment, or buckle down and try to understand what he was teaching, or the criticism he gave out. Monoma was certainly one of them. His lips were already curled into a sneer before Kan started speaking, arms crossed over his chest while Kendo tried to work the soreness from her shoulder.
Kan set his jaw, and sighed. “What do you think you did wrong?” Some of his students required a different approach. Monoma started a bit, and Kan flashed a smile at Kendo as she graciously left to spot another student.
Kan let his student flounder a bit more before he spoke again. “Why do you think Kendo was able to beat you?” Monoma needed to be coaxed into admitting he did something wrong, and if Kan were to point it out, he surely would have had hell to pay.
Monoma avoided his gaze, but Kan gave him his time, knowing how long it could take to reckon with pride. He was a particularly hard student to handle, but Kan was sure that he was well equipped for it. Monoma acted much like he once had, with all the arrogance of someone who knew what they were aspiring to and the power to back it up, Monoma rarely had to face defeat. Occasionally, another peer would best him, and send him into a downward spiral of rage and violence, thankfully, Sekijiro had managed to interrupt this one.
“I underestimated her.” He finally gritted out, seeming a moment away from punching Kan in the throat. It was a look on the young man that he was suspiciously used to.
“Hmmm.” Kan sat in mock contemplation for a moment, watching Monoma seethe. “Seems like a pattern doesn’t it?” Before the student’s frustration could bloom into full on rage, Sekijiro held up his hand. “Work on it. I don’t like seeing you fail. And I know you would win every fight if you learned to play against someone’s strengths, instead of assuming your superiority.” Monoma scowled even when Kan clapped his hand on his shoulder. “Do better next time right?” He didn’t have a moment to force the boy to say it before the period ended and his students were rushing off to the next part of their day.
It was a shock to him to hate to see them go. Usually he relished in his breaks, as did most of the teachers, no matter how dedicated to their job. Now, his breaks seemed dull without his students to fill in the gaps.
This fatherly vibe even spread past his homeroom. Moments where he sat in and taught with other teachers were injected with the same kind of care. He seemed more intune with everyone else in the room, never leaving anyone behind. He picked up on weaknesses and strengths better. A single moment with Aizawa and a child pushed forth an entire change of personality.
He was glad to see that he wasn’t completely making this change up, when one of his coworkers brought it up to him. Kayama was an alpha, but even she noticed the inherent change before Aizawa did. Much to his surprise, they were assigned to a patrol together. The school was tight lipped about the situation, but it was surely dire if teachers were being sent out during school hours, and the infamous Midnight was going to be shoved back into the public eye.
Even so, it was nice to be around her, strolling through the city and getting intercepted for a photo or signature every other block was a bit overwhelming, but besides that they had fun. Kayama had a way with that, managing to make every situation more lighthearted and exciting. Kan was glad for it, after being trapped in his head for so long, batting around ideas and trying to figure out how to even approach the topic with Aizawa, it was like a breath of fresh air when the woman spoke. “Have you ever thought about having kids?”
Her face was sly as she spoke, eyes slanted toward him with a little quirk to her mouth. “Has it really been that obvious?” He felt like he might be glowing, a smile already tugging at his lips as she elbowed him.
“To the well trained eye? Yes. You’ve been acting like a mother duck for weeks.” Kan bit the inside of his cheek, figuring that it really had been that long. Hard to tell when the thoughts were only kept to himself.
“On patrol, Aizawa and I ran into some kids.” He scratched his face, trying to ignore the urge to gush about the event all over again. “I guess I’ve always quietly wanted kids, maybe just assumed that I always would. But when I saw him talking and playing with this little boy…” He trailed off, shrugging a bit as he smiled at the memory.
Kayama didn’t respond immediately, instead breaking into a jog as they reached the point of interest they were supposed to be checking out specifically. Kan shook the thoughts from his head as they looked around the block. There was nothing of interest to be found, and Kan found himself wondering what the school could have been so worried about without even any evidence of foul play.
“I know how you feel.” Kayama was quick to pick up the threads of their conversation as they dropped back to a walk. “I think its… different for alphas.” Kan nodded. “Most of the time, their need to.. Breed,” Kan snorted, “comes out of some disgusting instinctual urge or misogynistic view on the world. It took me a long time to come around to the idea of having kids, even longer to talk about it seriously.” She was trapped in her own world for a moment or two, before she was able to look back at Kan. “I’m excited for you. I’m glad you’ve discovered this.”
He smiled and nodded. “I’ve certainly been thinking about it a lot. I guess it will be interesting to see what Aizawa thinks. I don’t even know how I’m gonna talk to him about it…”
Kayama squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it too much, I’m sure it will be natural, and he will be receptive.” Kan nodded, trying to keep those words of good luck in his mind as they finished up the patrol.
Of course, with his luck, the topic came up at the most inopportune time. On a morning after a rough night, where Aizawa was hurt and unable to sleep, where Kan was sore and still exhausted. At the moment when Shouta dropped Sekijiro’s pack of suppressants in front of him. In his lethargic stupor, he must have forgotten to take them in the bathroom.
An action which usually would have been sweet, and thoughtful, felt like a stab to Kan’s chest. It was unfair, and rude to assume that Aizawa would have knowledge of the inner workings of Sekijiro’s mind. He had never shared his ideas about having kids, he had never even spoken of that one fateful patrol that inspired all of these feelings inside him. But lethargy got the best of him, and instead of calming down, frustration and exhaustion festered into something worse.
Instead of thinking about the best way to approach the issue and creating a tactful way to speak to Aizawa about it, Kan blindsided him. “Do you want to have kids?” They had barely taken a sip of their coffee, Kan was still punching the pill that served as his heat suppressant and birth control out of the packaging.
A deathly quiet fell through their apartment, making Kan feel sick as he swallowed the pill. “What?” Aizawa finally said. As soon as Kan really looked at him, guilt boiled in his veins. Shouta already looked so tired, face gaunt and hair limp, the bags under his eyes dark and heavy.
“Nothing, nothing.” He was quick to backtrack, averting his eyes from Shouta’s intense gaze as he shook his head. “Now isn’t the time to talk about it. I apologize.” He sounded like he was talking about a banking issue. Sounded like he was talking to a stranger.
Aizawa thankfully let the topic drop, even though they didn’t speak a word of it in the days after. Barely spoke at all in fact. Sekijiro’s mind continued to betray him. An awful part of him was angry at Aizawa, for the fact that his answer wasn’t instinctual, he wanted his partner to want kids no matter what, he wanted the answer to be immediate, no matter how tired or hurt. It was ridiculous and unfair, but that didn’t stop him.
It drove a wedge between them. It was hard to speak about anything with something so large weighing between them. While Kan was too afraid to bring it up and risk stressing his partner, Aizawa was unsure how to breach the subject without having a repeat of the last conversation. It became hard to make eye contact, or even sleep in the same bed together.
In the same way that Kayama quickly picked up on his interest in kids, she was the first of his coworkers to sense his melancholia. They ended up down at a bar one night, Kan dragged into her car before he could escape back to his apartment before Aizawa. “So, what’s going on?” She quickly got to the bottom of it once they grabbed a table, sipping on a rum and coke while Sekijiro rubbed his thumb around the condensation around the outside of the beer bottle.
“The conversation with Aizawa didn’t go great.” He deadpanned, finding no point in beating around the bush after struggling with the event for so long on his own. She blinked.
“The conversation?” She used large air quotes that at least brought a smile to Kan’s face. “You mean you only had one and figured it would be solved?” He bit the inside of his cheek, nearly flushing in the face of her exasperation.
“Maybe?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Kan?” She shook her head, taking another hefty sip of her drink. “That man is terrified of children. He fluctuates quickly between wanting to raise a child and being afraid he’s going to kill one.” Sekijiro nearly spat out his beer, shaking his head as Kayama laughed. “If you think it’s only gonna take one conversation to get that neurotic bastard onto the path of parenthood, you’re fucking high.” Kan choked on his laughter, banging on the table as he shook his head.
“You’re ridiculous.” He wheezed, barely believing that a few words from Kayama could burn away the majority of his sadness.
“I’m right.” She cocked an eyebrow over the rim of her glass before giving a mock cheers and downing the rest of it. “Aizawa is a scared little boy, and it's your job to coax him out of his shell. Please, be patient with him. I know you love him. He needs time.” Kan nodded, finally letting her advice sink in. “I was the exact same way with my mate.”
They were both pulled back into their own stories for a few moments, staring off to the side with sweet smiles before Kan spoke. “Why do you, sex icon Midnight, give the best advice?”
She snorted, and stood from the table. “It's just the alpha in me, nothing to do with the sadism. Now let's get you home to your pathetic mate, I hate seeing the two of you moping around.” Kan finished his beer and followed easily.
The apartment was dark when he got home, Aizawa’s shoes at the door the only proof of him even being there. Kan didn’t want to talk about it now, not the big looming thing that had kept them from conversing normally for four days. Instead, he slipped off his shoes and padded into the bedroom. Aizawa was already in bed, all the lights off as Kan pulled off his uncomfortable work clothing and replaced it with a baggy shirt.
His mate roused when he rolled into bed. They stared at each other in the dark for a few moments. “Can I hold you?” Kan was the first to speak, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. Aizawa seemed just as stunned by them, just barely nodding before his eyes fell shut again. Kan wrapped his arms around his mate, both of them seeming to breathe a sigh of relief as they fell back into their normal patterns. Their breathing synced up and they fell into the most restful sleep they had gotten in days.
The morning was similar. They were no longer dodging around touching each other or speaking, instead staying close together with sweet kisses and soft whispers. They were back to normal. Having a conversation about what had happened wasn’t even a thought in Kan’s mind until Aizawa brought it up. “I guess we have to talk about it, don’t we?” They were still splayed in bed together, sipping on cups off coffee as they talked about the relaxing weekend ahead of them.
Kan shrugged. “We don’t have to.” Aizawa looked at him, and he amended his statement. “Eventually? Yes, it’s a conversation we must have. But it's not dire. If you aren’t ready to talk about it, then let's push it off into the future.” He grabbed Aizawa’s hand, lacing their fingers together as he smiled at his mate.
“I want to talk now.” Aizawa’s voice was firm, and Kan turned to him.
“Let's talk then.” Aizawa had a look of supreme concentration on his face, the same look he wore when he walked into an inevitable battle. Kan was more lighthearted about it, musing over the right words before he spoke. “I would love to have a child with you.” Aizawa started beside him, and Kan tried to restrain his laughter. “Does that scare you?”
Shouta sighed, leaning back to rub his hand over his eyes. “Yeah. It terrifies me, in fact.” Kan waited, a bit of his jolly attitude dropping away as Aizawa struggled with his words. “I can handle teenagers, even the worst.” Kan snorted as he thought of the literally explosive child that Aizawa had to deal with daily. “But children are a whole other matter.” He sighed, unable to look at Kan. “I don’t think I’m ready, I don’t think I’m ready to be responsible for another person’s life, I dont think I’m ready to shape someone into a real member of society.”
Kan stared at him for a few moments, a bit of disbelief coloring his features. “Then we’ll wait! Oh my god, Shouta, of course we’ll wait. Is that what you were so terrified about? Did you think I was going to break our bond because you wanted to wait to have kids?” Aizawa didn’t look at him, and suddenly Kan had his answer.
He set his coffee cup on his nightstand, leaning forward to cup both sides of Aizawa’s face. “You are so crazy. You are my alpha, I’m not gonna leave you because you don’t want to have kids.” His thumbs ran across the tops of Aizawa’s cheekbones, making him flush and turn into the touch. “We’ll wait. It’s fine.” He murmured, pressing their foreheads together.
Aizawa relaxed into him, grabbing his biceps and kneading at them. “Thank you.” Sekijiro ducked down to kiss him, dragging him back down onto the mattress.
Aizawa was a good alpha. Maybe a it too good, with a fear of letting his omega down, with a desperate need to make everyone happy. But Sekijiro couldn’t have asked for anyone better.