Work Text:
Hizashi sat at his computer, grading away at the latest round of english papers, and made a point to ignore the red-eyed glare from the man sitting beside him. He'd made a big mistake during lunch, accidentally referring to All Might by the nickname he'd given the man only a few weeks ago in front of half the staff. The rookie teacher had stared at him for only a moment before rushing from the lounge, red-faced and covering his mouth.
He'd tried to call after him but found himself bound in place and rendered silent by his best friend. Both Midnight and he had dragged Hizashi to the roof and demanded an explanation. She wanted all the juicy details and he wanted to know why they were just finding out about their so called relationship. He'd never felt more humiliated than in that moment. He had no idea exactly where Toshinori had gone and by the time Aizawa and Nerumi were done with him, it was too late to look for him.
When school had released, he texted him to let him know that he was staying a bit late to start grading the papers. Though after making the mistake of reading through Iida's paper first, he was ready to call it quits and finish the rest over the weekend while he was hungover... which was likely to be the case as Toshinori had yet to message him back.
"How long are you going to stare at your phone?" Aizawa questions.
Hizashi sighs through his nose and pockets the device. "Well, if someone hadn't interrogated me during our entire lunch hour, I'd be able to focus and grade your classes papers."
"I wasn't the one who slipped up," he retorts.
Hizashi wanted to say something back, but Shouta was right. If he had been paying attention, then he wouldn't have called Toshinori by his nickname, then he'd not be in this situation at all. He felt so horrible for embarrassing him like that and all he wanted to do was to apologize, but he was being shut out and could blame no one but himself.
Whatever anger he wanted to direct at the man beside him dissipated when he looked away from him and leaned forward to hold his head in his hands. When they'd decided to get together, Toshinori had made Hizashi promise not to tell anyone. At the time, He'd shrugged away the man's worries but agreed nonetheless. Hizashi didn't care if the world knew that he was dating All Might, but it seemed that the number one hero preferred his private life to remain as such.
For a guy who was constantly under public scrutiny, Hizashi didn't blame him for wanting to keep things between them quiet. Still, he didn't expect that he'd react so strongly to their friends and co-workers finding out about them. He sighs again and Aizawa rolls his eyes and starts locking up his desk. When he gets to the door, he looks back at the blond, looking very unlike himself with that sullen face.
"He was looking a bit exhausted when I saw him this afternoon. It's likely he went home early and is resting. You should go make sure he's okay." Hizashi looks up at Aizawa, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Hizashi, think you idiot. We're not children so I doubt that he's holding a grudge against you," he says, then shuts the door behind him.
The english teacher remembered that Toshinori had been covering his mouth when he rushed out earlier. Had he been holding back a coughing fit? Dammit, now he was really pissed at Shouta and Nerumi. He locks the papers in his desk and dials Toshinori's number, rushing from the building to the train station. He has to call twice before he finally gets an answer.
"Hello?" he hears Toshinori say on the other end followed by a cough.
"Toshinori? Are you okay?" he asks worriedly.
"Hizashi? I'm fine. I just overdid it a little today," he says calmly.
"I'm coming over, can I bring you anything?" he asks as he stepping on the train. "Shit... I guess I should ask if it's okay that I come over."
Toshinori notices that Hizashi's voice is cheerless. "Of course you can come over. I think I'd feel a bit better if you did," he suggests.
Hizashi perks up at his words as the train continues on its route. "R-Really? You're sure?" he asks just to make sure.
"I want to see you, Songbird." Hizashi's cheeks redden at the nickname. "I'll start dinner, so I hope you're hungry."
Thirty minutes of standing on the train and he finally makes it to Toshinori's place. He spent the entire ride thinking about how it was actually Toshinori that had initiated the whole nicknaming between them. After the first night that he'd stayed at Toshinori's place, he'd woken up early the following morning and decided to cook breakfast for them. He didn't know if was the smell of food or sounds of movement in the kitchen that woke him, but all he knew was that Toshinori had spent a good minute watching him work away while he sang to himself.
He'd have had music playing on his phone but he didn't want to stir Toshinori so it was just him singing. When Hizashi had finally noticed him, he'd turned a bright shade of red and his face in his hands. Toshinori walked up to him and moved his hands aside, and told him that he had a beautiful voice, which only made him blush harder. He liked doing that to Hizashi, though he had a knack for always being able to make Toshinori laugh so it ended up being a fair trade between the two of them.
But it was that morning that Toshinori had first called him Songbird and he honestly loved the man for it. Given his quirk, singing had come naturally to him as a child but when puberty had hit him and his voice changed, it became something that he had to practice if he wanted to continue. Each time his voice would crack, he'd use his quirk without meaning to. For a little bit, he had thought about just giving up but music had always been a part of his life.
When he steps inside Toshinori's apartment, he can hear music playing and smiles at the familiar tune. He leaves his shoes and speaker at the door, then meanders to the kitchen and starts singing in time with the song, never losing beat.
"Sometimes we all are get lonely. I can see the light shining in your eyes," his voice lilts, coaxing a smile from Toshinori. Hizashi walks up behind the taller man and wraps his arms around him and buries his face into Toshinori's back.
The blue-eyed man places a hand over of Hizashi's who continues to hum with the music. "How was your day?" Toshinori asks.
"Honestly, I've been distracted since lunch," he admits. Feeling the rumble of his voice causes the taller man to shiver and straighten his back.
"Is that why you sounded so... crestfallen on the phone?" Face pressed against Toshinori's back, Hizashi nods. "Songbird, I'm not upset about that. It was an accident and sooner or later our co-workers were going to find out."
"Still," he mumbles and Toshinori can barely hear him. "I embarrassed you and everyone found out because of me."
"You surprised me, yes," he agrees. "But that's not why I left." Toshinori switches off the stove and turns around to look at Hizashi. Arms still around his waist, he rests his chin on Toshinori's chest as he looks up into his eyes. "I had a pretty bad fit earlier and ended up spending the rest of the hour in the infirmary."
"You should have called me or something, Toshinori!" he chides, his voice teetering.
"I didn't want you to worry so I just spent the afternoon resting until class," he explains and presses a kiss to Hizashi's forehead. "I'm sorry if you thought I was upset with you."
"I'm more pissed at Aizawa and Midnight. You know they spent that entire hour trying to get every little detail from me, right?"
Toshinori just laughs and leans in for a chaste kiss on the lips this time. "Then I should be thankful that you came back to me in one piece."
"I thought Shouta was gonna kill me for keeping something like that from him."
"Can I say something, Hizashi?" The shorter man nods against his chest. "I was actually really happy when you let that nickname slip out earlier. It made me feel like you were happy to have me," he admits.
Hizashi looks up and reaches a hand to Toshinori's defined cheek. "I'm more than happy to have you Sunflower. I'm damn lucky," he says and pulls his down for another kiss.