Chapter Text
“Oh, Midoriya-san’s apartment is near here.”
Hizashi glanced in the rear-view mirror, trying to gauge the strange comment from Shoto. They had been in the car for almost a half-hour trying to the Midoriya’s apartment for their first official gathering but suddenly it was obvious that not everyone was on the same page.
Before he could question him, Hitoshi spoke over him. “That would imply you’ve been here before. Does Midoriya invite you over often or have you been stalking him?”
This dissolved into a petty argument over the definition of ‘stalking’ and Eri obliviously trying to make her own input. Hizashi took the distraction to reach over and tap Shouta’s leg to get his attention.
“Did you seriously not tell them where we’re going?” He mumbled low enough for it to only reach Shouta’s ears.
“I told them all they needed to know. I said that we are going to go visit my birth mother and half-brother.”
“Sho…”
“‘Zashi…” Shouta mimicked his husband’s exasperated tone to a T.
Hizashi rolled his eyes but was smiling as he turned onto the street Izuku’s apartment complex was on. “Logical ruse? Or is this just for fun?”
“I’m curious about how perceptive they are,” is all Shouta said before Shoto noticed the street name.
“This is a strange coincidence how close we are,” he mumbled, clueless as ever. “If there is an appropriate time, I would like to go over to Izuku’s and personally thank his mother for the cookies she sent me. Izuku said that she was just trying out new recipes but considering she made mint chocolate chip cookies less than a week after mentioning my love for them, I think she deserves a more direct thank you.”
"Uh, maybe if we get the chance," Hizashi added warily.
Shouta couldn’t help the wide smile crossing his face, a full toothy grin that would haunt the faint of heart. Still trying to concentrate on the road, Hizashi glanced over and noticed before smiling a bit himself. “I haven’t thought to ask this but does losing your sight mess with your facial expressions? Because I’ve noticed you doing the full-sized smile more often lately. Usually, you’d smirk before pretending to be unamused.”
“It could be worse, I could laugh at the same time.”
“Point taken but that doesn’t answer my question.”
“You’d-”
He was interrupted by Hizashi making a little “ah” sound before pulling into a spot along the curb. “Lucky parking spot~” He sing-songed as he unbuckled his belt and stepped out onto the curb. The others followed, Shouta was not quite happy about being cut off but was quickly distracted by trying to get Eri out of her booster seat by touch and muscle memory only. (Not that she really needed help.)
Once free from her confines, he silently opened his arms and offered to hold her. She might be a little too old for it by this point but she was catching up on a lot of childhood and being held by her dad was one thing Shouta was happy to provide. It only took a split-second for her to decide to accept and place herself between his arms so he could lift her.
As they made their way up to the building, Shouta fondly mused about how easily Eri had adjusted to his new disability. She, of course, had been confused and hurt and scared at first but out of his whole extended family, she had adapted the quickest.
He tried not to think about the fact that she was probably too relieved that he was alive to care about his sight. Or that living with a loving family was so new to her that having a blind dad wasn’t much more of an adjustment than having a dad at all.
Too deep in his thoughts, he completely blocked out getting into the building and the elevator ride up to the right floor. He only snapped out of his thoughts when Hizashi stopped suddenly, causing Shouta to bump into him. Before Shouta could say something snarky, Hizashi recited the apartment number to get a confirmation. Shouta responded in kind, simultaneously glad and terrified to be there so soon.
Before he could dive too far down that rabbit hole, Hizashi took Eri out of Shouta’s arms and led his fiance’s hand to the door so he could knock.
Even though he had planned it this way on purpose, to surprise his kids, Shouta suddenly regretted not sitting them down and telling them the whole story. Oh well, no sense in worrying about it now.
He barely rapped his knuckles against the door before it flung open and a bright voice chirps “Nii-san!”
Without prompting, Shouta opens his arms to Izuku’s inevitable hug. Izuku proceeds to try and crack his ribs with a hug alone but Shouta doesn’t quite mind considering how well the kid has been covering up their connection in class.
At this point, Shouta and everyone else involved has been perfect in their discretion and even most of the teachers don’t know. Yagi, Principal Nezdu, and Hizashi are all who know right now out of that group and thankfully it might stay that way for a bit longer. But now that that number has increased by three, it might be an open secret sooner or later.
“I'm so glad you’re here. I kinda freaked myself out a bit trying to make everything perfect but then I realized that you couldn’t really see whether I had dusted the shelves twice or not but everyone else can see and I really want to make a good impression even if I’ve already met Mic-sensei at school. Plus you mentioned bringing three more guests and I thought it might be someone from outside the school and if they matter to you, I want to make a good impression if I can and if they are teachers like Ms. Midnight or-”
“Izuku. You aren’t the blind one. Just look behind me instead of theorizing.”
Izuku shut up for a second, only to freeze when he did glance at a very stunned Shoto and Hitoshi. He was so stunned, he had to be prompted to let go out Shouta.
Fighting a grin, Shouta calmly said, “Izuku. Let me introduce my fiance, Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic.”
Hizashi made an amused chuckle, smiling at Izuku before throwing up a peace sign in typical Present Mic fashion.
Before Izuku could make a comment, Shouta continued. “And these are my honorary children, Eri, Shoto, and Hitoshi.”
Izuku was genuinely stunned into silence at this revelation. Of course, he knew about Eri (he had been so excited to realize she was soon to be legally part of his family). Hitoshi was kind of an obvious guess considering his relation with Shouta at school (also his hero costume is part Eraserhead, part Present Mic). But Shoto...was a surprise.
Watching over the whole fiasco, Hizashi was smiling hard enough to make his cheeks hurt. Poor Hitoshi was totally blown away while Shoto (who had been theorizing all the way up to the apartment) was visibly trying to put the pieces together. Eri, bless her, was the only one actually visibly excited.
The second Shouta was done introducing them, she took it as permission to practically leap into Izuku’s arms babbling about how he being her big brother. No one dared correct her as she buried her face into his shoulder, way beyond expectations for her usual comfort levels.
Hearing the commotion, Inko, with her apron lightly dusted with flour, came around the corner and visibly brightened when she spotted everyone in the entryway. She quickly removed the dusted garment so she could hurry over.
“Shouta,” she said softly, as to not startle him.
He did startle a bit but welcomed her predictably offered hug. It was a bit strange trying to get an understanding of someone he’d never seen face-to-face but so far her kind words and gentle touches were enough. “Hi Momma. Are we too early?”
“Nonsense,” she said in a faux stern voice. “You might have to wait a bit until everything is done but I’m not too worried about that.” She released him, backing up to see the rest of the menagerie. “Introduce me to everyone.”
Shouta chuckled before mumbling, “I just did.”
Still at the back of the pack, Hizashi watched Shouta and Izuku practically talking over each other trying to introduce Eri without scaring the poor girl who was faced with a familiar stranger. The image made him smile, a found family and blood-family falling into place like puzzle pieces.
He glanced over to see Shoto and Hitoshi still quiet, watching the whole thing,
Almost as if sensing his gaze Shoto turned to shoot Hizashi with a questioning look. In response, Hizashi just said softly, “I didn’t realize you didn’t know everything and Shouta shushed me when I tried to say something.”
Shoto’s expression only soured more, now with a tinge of disappointment and confusion. “So Izuku is my uncle? How is that supposed to work?”
In all honesty, Hizashi shrugged sheepishly. “You can talk to Izuku and Shouta later. For now, just enjoy it.”
Either sensing the roiling emotions and wanting to shift their attention or simply continuing down the line, Inko stepped up to Hitoshi next.
“Hello Hitoshi. I’m Inko Midoriya, Shouta and Izuku’s mom. But I think you already guessed that. "She eyed him a bit too close to his face. “If I weren’t so trusting of Shouta, I think I’d be questioning your parentage. If you had just a bit of a color change, I’d have to take a double-take just to make sure I was talking to the right kid.”
She ignored Shouta’s grumble of, “I’m not a kid,” and instead opened her arms and let the slightly startled boy come to her for an awkward but warm hug.
Hizashi sympathized with him a bit. It was hard to get used to hugs after being passed around in the foster system for so long. Especially when it was from really soft and kind motherly figures.
Thankfully, her attention turned to Shoto who seemed nervous but was trying to hide it. “Hello again, dear. I definitely wasn’t expecting you to join us today but you are beyond welcome any day.”
“Hello again Ms. Midoriya. Aizawa-sensei invited me to join because I’m his…” He trailed off obviously unsure. So Shouta picked it up.
“He’s the stray that keeps getting into my apartment, sleeping on my couch and eating my soba. I’d be mad considering he already has a place to sleep and soba to eat but I think he’s just a lonely stray.”
Inko smiled and laughed lightly at the explanation. “Well, I'm glad. I’ve been a bit lonely too with Izuku out of the house. Any friend of Izuku or Shouta is always welcome here.” She offered a single hand out to him and when he took it, she squeezed his hand between her open palms. It was a strange gesture but and obvious indication that she already knew Shoto’s boundaries and isn’t going to push them.
Finally, she turned to Hizashi who, despite already having met her on multiple occasions wasn’t quite comfortable with that excited gleam in her eye but before he could attempt an escape or do something too stupid, the doorbell rang again.
Hizashi quickly made eye contact with Inko, knowing that there were other guests supposedly going to arrive later. But like the Aizawa clan had been early too, so…
With a few quick strides across the room, Hizahsi took Eri’s hand, guiding her to the far wall away from the door. She was obviously already a bit overwhelmed and from what he knows about the energy that comes from the Midoriyas, it’d be best to give her some preemptive space.
From their safe space across the room, they watched Inko open the door, letting in a vaguely familiar pair. The older woman was obviously Inko’s mother, her long straight hair, bright green eyes, and soft smile immediately connected the mother and daughter. The other had to be Izuku’s Aunt, Midoriya Konomi. Her loose black curls (subverting her family name) and the intelligence in her eyes made Hizashi immediately think of Izuku.
Eri hid behind Hizashi’s legs, unnerved by the new characters but no longer immediately terrified of strangers, especially when her dads told her that they are a good person.
Furuipawa Haruka, Inko’s mother, was obviously a vibrant and friendly person, magnetic without even having spoken. That gene had more or less missed Shouta but smacked Izuku right between the eyes. She reached Shouta quickly, enveloping him in a hug much more abruptly than preferred with his new disability but she got a pass considering the excitement they both had over the situation.
Hizashi stayed on the sidelines, happy to watch as Shouta’s grandmother gently led him over to sit on the couch before encouraging the other adults to join and banishing the kids to the floor. It was simultaneously cute and hilarious to see Hitoshi’s face twist into annoyance when dropping to sit between the couch and coffee table. Izuku and Shoto didn’t seem too perturbed, Izuku too excited to see his family and Shoto lost in thought. (Probably a bit overwhelmed with having more found family in one room than he had ever met from his bio family.)
Glancing down to get a gauge on Eri’s mood, he decided to bring her over. She didn’t react beyond pulling herself up to climb into his arms. He tried to hide his grin when she didn’t move from his lap once he had taken the last chair
He could see both Auntie Konomi and Ms. Haruka perk up at seeing Eri but they were respectful and stayed where they were. Eri relaxed a bit when no one swarmed her and allowed herself to sit facing the group at large.
So far better than expected.
----
Honestly? Shouta started to drift off at one point.
It wasn’t that he was that bored, he just couldn’t quite connect to the story Shinsou was telling about his training. He was there. He was the only other character in most of these stories.
It didn’t help that his blindness was making everything dark all the time and thus his subconscious kept popping up like, “ Nighttime? Sleep? Sleepytime? Goodnight. ”
He hadn’t realized how far he was gone before a gentle hand was shaking his shoulder. Inko’s soft voice pulled him out of his half-asleep state. “Shouta? Are you still with us?” Realizing how much he was slouching, he sat up a little embarrassed.
“Did I miss something?”
Inko laughed softly and Shouta could practically feel Hizashi playfully roll his eyes and shake his head. He got his answer in the form of Eri scrambling up into his lap and happily attaching herself to his torso. “We’re gonna call your other moms to say hi. They want to see us all.”
That seemed like a bit of a jump from their other conversation about Hitoshi’s training. Maybe he was asleep longer than he thought.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I can’t really tell you that facetime is a good idea considering I wouldn’t be able to see the screen. It might be nice to hear them though.”
Eri cheered (she had gotten a few gifts from his moms and Shouta let Eri Facetime a bit with them before all of this) as someone pulled out a laptop and started setting everything up.
He let Eri cuddle in with her back against his chest, reminding him of an overeager kitten, too happy to have real affection from someone that she usually attached herself to him on a regular basis. After a few minutes of stroking her hair and listening to everyone shuffle around quietly, he felt himself drift again before being startled into awareness.
“Shouta, darling. Did you fall asleep waiting for us to pick up?”
He wanted to shrink into himself as everyone chuckled at his signature faux pas. “Sorry Nanay. You know how easy it is to fall asleep with a soft little thing on your lap.” He ruffled Eri’s hair to emphasize the point even if he wasn’t sure they could see them. (He hoped it’d distract them.)
“Anak, there could be a hurricane outside and you’d choose to take a nap. Don’t lie to me.”
“Dayea, darling. Leave him be. He’s obviously having a bit larger party than he’s used to so it’s tiring. Just because you can be fine on four hours of sleep and constant attention doesn’t mean everyone can.” He recognized his other mother’s voice gently consoling her wife, Shouta’s Nanay (mother).
The pair had a similar dynamic to Shouta and Hizashi’s. Dayea was a bit firmer and gruffer compared to Aika’s soft teacherly vibes. But despite their differences, they did everything they could for Shouta, standing firm when necessary and letting him cry when he didn’t understand why his birth mother didn’t want him. Thanks to them, he was the only student to be fluent in Filipino at the start of the year. (Yet Hizashi got a jump on that over Summer break just to have an excuse to talk to the badass but quiet kid at the back of the room.)
He loved and missed them dearly. The Philippines weren’t too far away but considering his jobs’ usual schedule, they might as well live on the moon. As much as their move hurt when he no longer could make a day trip out to them, his Nanay’s reunion with her brothers and sister made the ache worth it.
(Hizashi sends Aika a care package every few months full of her favorite Japanese candies and a couple of novels in Japanese to help ease her homesickness. He thinks Shouta doesn’t know but he’s always been too excitable to keep a fun secret.)
“If we keep chatting like this, it’ll take all night to say hi to everyone. Where are my grandbabies?” Dayea huffed. She was certainly where Shouta got his intolerance for chit-chat.
Eri perked up as Hitoshi and Shoto switched with Inko and Hizashi.
After shuffling around to put Inko in the armchair and Izuku sitting by her feet, Hizashi noticed slight details that indicated worry on their faces. It must have come from Inko’s side of the family. He gently put his hand on Inko’s shoulder and smiled softly at her and then at Izuku when he looked up.
Most of the day has been spent on introducing them to a whole new section of family they hadn’t met yet and even he (who’s career depends on being sociable) is getting a little worn down with meeting the rest of Inko’s family. But now they were having to wait and let the dread build.
After a moment, Hizashi decided he needed to step back mentally for a minute. He usually could keep up for hours even at large parties but the emotional strain plus the contrast between the pessimists and optimists at this gathering was exhausting. Poor Inko was going to be sandwiched in between her eldest son and grandson’s dreary disposition and his, Eri's and Izuku’s bounciness.
He was startled out of drifting off while standing (a skill he was not proud to have had to learn) by Inko and Izuku standing and taking Shoto and Hitoshi’s vacant seats. Before the children could dive for the armchair, Hizashi took it and triumphantly stuck his tongue out at his two young wards as Eri crawled up onto his lap.
“Inko, darling!”
Somehow surprised to be addressed despite that being the point of moving spots, Inko startled slightly before smiling at the screen. “Hello Dayea. Hello Aika. It’s lovely to meet you face to face.”
Aika was practically vibrating with energy, the glow in her eyes bright enough for the camera to catch it. As the more casual out of the two, Dayea smiled more with her eyes than her mouth. Either way, their excitement was palpable through the screen.
“Y-”
“We-”
Both Inko and Aiko jumped in at the same time. Startling each other into silence. They tried several more times until Dayea held her hand up to the camera and spoke first.
“We just want to let you know that there are no negative feelings on our end about you. From the little bit we were allowed to know, we understand you were in a tight spot and just wanted the best for your son. So thank you. Both for bringing the light of our lives into the world and then for sacrificing your own happiness for his’.”
It was a tense silence as Inko tried and failed to speak through emotional tears, everyone around her, including Shouta, offering a gentle touch as support. Izuku lasted only a few seconds before he too was having to wipe the tears away.
When she couldn’t manage to articulate anything after a moment, Grandma Harkua, who was leaning over the back of the couch, took over.
“I dunno about Inko but I think you did a great job with him. He might need a bit more self-love but he’s a wonderful teacher, hero, partner to Yamada and father to his kids. Never in a million years would I reconsider who we decided would adopt Shouta. Thank you. Both of you.”
Not for the first time, Shouta was thankful for his detailed control over his expression. Otherwise, he would probably be blushing brighter than a full moon.
Finally, Inko spoke up.
“I don’t think I can add much more to that. Izuku could break out a notebook and tell you all about Shouta’s school life but honestly, I’m just starting to learn about him. I’m a little worried about how often he gets hurt with his job but now…”
He tried not to cringe away from that reminder. Everyone already felt awkward enough about it without him shutting down every time someone mentioned it.
The laptop’s speaker crackled to life as his Nanay joined back in. “Don’t worry about that. He’ll figure out how to get into trouble even if he’s just a teacher. It’s in his nature. Just like adopting every lightly lonely child he sees.”
“Hey!”
Everyone ignored him, not bothering to his grins he couldn’t see. He tried to roll his eyes but had to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose where a pressure headache was forming. How did he end up with so many extroverts in his li-”
“Is that an engagement ring?”
Everyone went silent as the blood drained out of Shouta’s face. They had never made an announcement with all the shit that they went through right after getting engaged and with Shouta’s injuries and situation, they had postponed the wedding and trashed the previous plans.
He squeezed his hand into a fist, waiting for someone to say something before realizing he was wearing his ring on his right hand (as he had been until they were ready to make the announcement). The screen must be flipped from their perspective.
“Mom, the screen is just-”
“You haven’t told your parents?”
Shouta whipped his head around so fast his neck popped. Despite the futileness of glaring at him, Shouta knew that Hitoshi was definitely feeling his wrath from across the room.
“Oi, ‘toshi. Think before you speak, kid,” Mic chastised him a little gentler than Shouta was feeling.
The room fell into tense silence as everyone waited for another to speak. Shouta was waiting for his moms to start scolding him for not telling them sooner and everyone else was waiting for Shouta to say something.
“I...I meant to tell you but with everything that happened right after the engagement...we don’t even have a date set anymore. Maybe during Summer Break we can have a small party and just sign the documents whenever we get the chance?”
“Shouta…
He didn’t get the chance to cringe away or let it all fall into silence before a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, Hizashi quickly switching places with Izuku.
“Hey Aizawa-Mamas! Sorry about all of this but Shouta is right, it got a little messy and we were putting everything on pause. We aren’t even wearing our rings on our left hands. The camera must have flipped the image for you guys.”
“But you still told the children?” The sound of his mom’s soft voice hurt his heart a little as he could imagine her frown.
“Well, they helped with the proposal. That’s a whole ‘nother story, though. Sho was gonna invite you over for winter break and announce it then but-”
“Life happens. We understand.” Leave it to his Nanay to be rational about something like this.
His mom jumped in, no longer seeming hurt. “So no ceremony, just the reception?”
“Well, if Hizashi really wants a ceremony, we’re probably just going to do it with minimal people just so we can get it done with minimal complications. Kayama and Tensei will probably be our witnesses just because they were our friends from the beginning of our relationship.”
“So you have a color theme yet?”
“A guest list?”
Inko touched his arm and asked, “Do you need help planning or setting up?”
Shouta put his hand up before taking a deep breath and letting it out as he shook his head fondly before transferring the laptop to Hizashi’s lap. “I need some air. If you guys want to talk about wedding planning go ahead without me. I can’t exactly comment on the color scheme or flower choice.” He got up, Inko hesitated for a moment before quickly shifting to stand as well so she could take his arm and lead him out to the hallway.
“Do you have a headache? I noticed you pressing on your nose.” She asked gently as he slipped his shoes on. “I have pain medicine.”
He shook his head as he gently leaned on her for balance as he put his shoes on. “I’ve already done enough damage to my liver with the number of pain meds I’ve taken over the years. I’m fine for now. It's not that bad.”
The wooden door made a soft sound as it shut behind them, muffling the chaos of too many extroverts trying to chime in at once. Shouta shouldn’t have been surprised that Inko came out into the hall with him but the gentleness of her touch on his arm made his eyes tear up out of his control for the millionth time that day.
“I can go back inside if you really want to be alone but I was hoping to have a moment with you.”
“Of course.” He switched their hands around to hold her’s between his palms.
He couldn’t see it but he could practically feel the smile on her face and the fresh tears dripping from her eyes. “I just wanted to thank you again. You had every right to block me out of your life and never look back and yet I now have you, a wonderful son-in-law, grandbabies and an amazing older brother for Izuku. I’m never going to be able to put it all into words but-”
She cut herself off, leaving them in silence for a moment before she slowly reached up to Shouta’s face holding him like the most beautiful thing in the world, scars, scruff, uncontrollable curls and all.
“-I want you to know that I love you Shouta. No matter the time we spent apart or what I have missed in your life, you are my son and will always be my son.
Shouta had to wait a moment before he could breathe clearly enough to respond. In the meantime, he raised his hands to cover her’s so he could lean into the motherly touch.
“I should be thanking you too. Despite being a terrified and abandoned teenager in a toxic household, you put my needs over your own. I know you and Grandma Haruka gave up a lot to give me the best life you could. That’s why I decided to give you a chance. It took a lot to get the courage up for it but I’ve been ready to meet you for a long time.”
Inko let go to instead quickly wrap her arms around his torso, stifling her happy tears against his shirt. He hesitated a moment before relaxing and returning the embrace.
More content than he ever thought possible, Shouta let his eyes fall shut, enjoying the darkness for once instead of fearing it. His momma was there and was holding him close. The uncertainty wasn’t there anymore. He was safe. He was home. He had his family right where they needed to be.