Archive of Our Own

“Hey ‘Zashi?”

“Yeah Shou?” Hizashi turns to face his friend. They were both young heroes, having graduated three years ago. It was now just past Shouta’s twenty-first birthday, and while they hadn’t gone crazy with the booze, they were definately tipsy.

“Y’know how you did a lot of thinking about yourself and you realized you were pan?”

Hizashi could feel his eyes widening. Not-so-deep-inside his heart Hizashi hoped he knew where this was going.

“Well I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.” Shouta’s voice starts from normal speaking level to a murmur. “You know how I’ve never really dated anyone before?”

Hizashi nodded, urging Shouta to go on.

The dark haired man closed his eyes, bracing himself for potential backlash. “I think I’m on the asexual scale.”

Definitely not what Hizashi was hoping he would say. He pushed his disappointment to the bottom of his heart, drawing out happiness for his friend.

“I’m glad you're taking the time to figure yourself out! Any idea what you are specifically?” Hizashi tried to keep his voice quiet, cheerful, and supportive, but ending up a little louder than he meant to.

Shouta's face instantly relaxed, looking relieved, but he still didn’t quite look Hizashi in the eyes. “Do you know what demisexual is?”

Hizashi shook his head. “Nope.”

Shouta didn’t look letdown. He looked like he was expecting it. “It’s when you only develop sexual attraction towards people you’ve known for a while or grown close to.”

Shouta warily looked up, meeting Hizashi’s eyes. He looked near to tears, although it was probably the alcohol in his system.

“Is that what you’d like to go by?” Hizashi wasn’t sure what to do to calm him down, but his slightly alcohol addled brain decides a hug is what Shouta needed.

It seems to work, as Shouta leaned into the hug and pressed his face against Hizashi’s shoulder. “Yes.” Shouta croaked, “Thank you for being so accepting. For this and the whole gender thing.”

“Why wouldn’t I accept you?” Hizashi chuckled, “You know that I’m a shameless, flaming pansexual right?”

Shouta let out a snort at that. He looked like he had something else he wanted to say, but he wasn’t quite drunk enough to actually say it.

Hizashi was glad they were drinking. It temporarily washed the pain of the truth away. Shouta being demisexual didn’t bother him and gender has never really mattered to Hizashi anyways.

He was hoping Shouta would say he was also gay. Or bi. Or something that swung his way, towards guys.

The stinging pain of the truth lingered, chasing Hizashi for years, never quite going away. His feelings refused to die (or even fade), despite how hard he tried to snuff them out. He was just never going to be over Shouta.

____________________________________________________________________________

At age thirty, nine years after Shouta came out for the second time, Hizashi had an emotional rollercoaster of a week.

It started when Nemuri loudly announced “I’m going to confess to Aizawa, and I don’t give a damn if he rejects me or not!”

Shouta was helping All Might on the practice fields with 1-A and could not hear her, but it still, of course, had gotten the other staff member’s heads to spin towards her at an alarming rate. Thirteen, Snipe, Lunch-Rush, and of course Mr. Yamada “Present Mic” Hizashi were all alarmed by this sudden proclamation. She stood on the teacher’s lounge coffee table for what felt like an hour, basking in the silence that had fallen over everyone.

Hizashi had shaken the alarm off quite quickly, going back to working on his lesson plans without saying anything. He knew most of the staff liked Shouta to some degree.

Despite pining on the man Midnight declared her next victim for twelve years, Hizashi knew it was no use to fight her for his affections. Nemuri would probably succeed.

Thirteen was the first to comment on this… unusual statement. “Why would he reject you? He’s friends with you and has known you for years.”

Hizashi didn’t even have to look up to know Nemuri was glaring at him. “Well Thirteen,” She huffed, “a certain rotten banana once hinted there was something more to Eraser’s sexuality. This certain somebody has never bothered to elaborate, despite me not only threatening with blackmail and violence but also me getting on my hands and knees begging him to tell me.”

Hizashi felt at least another glare focus onto his back and decided that the lesson plan could wait. Hizashi gathered his things and started walking to the door. “I never implied anything about his sexuality Nemuri,” Hizashi lies, hoping this time she’ll believe that Hizashi hadn’t slipped up, “I just said it might be a bit difficult to get whatever it is that you want.” It wasn’t technically a lie, and with that, Hizashi slipped out the door, leaving the pros with nothing but questions they couldn’t answer themselves.

However if pro-heroes are anything, it’s determined. The rumor that Hizashi knew something about Shouta’s sexuality spread like wildfire among the staff for reasons Hizashi didn’t know. By lunch everyone knew Hizashi was keeping some kind of secret, and they all wanted in on it. Most of the staff were suddenly trying to be Hizashi’s best friend, inviting him to a worrying amount of bars. It seems they all planned to get him tipsy enough to out Shouta, like Hizashi would ever consider it even while drunk.

“What’s with your sudden popularity?” Shouta mused, looking at the other teachers with a certain uncertainty in his eyes that Hizashi didn’t recognize. Shouta’s dark eyes and long eyelashes were so pretty, and every new expression Hizashi saw in them made them prettier.

If Hizashi hadn’t been fighting the urge to stare for the past twelve years he might not have answered the question. “I guess they finally see my charm.”

Hizashi was hoping Shouta would drop the subject. Hizashi was disappointed. “It doesn’t seem like it’s just that,” Shouta muttered, “it seems like they’re trying to take advantage of you.”

Hizashi disregarded the second part of that statement and felt a grin pulling at the sides of his face. Casually ignoring or denying a narcissistic statement wasn’t uncommon for Shouta, but casually agreeing with one is. “Did you just agree to the fact that I’m charming?” Shouta glared at Hizashi then quickly looked away. Hizashi knew the other man’s cheeks would be dusted with a hint of pink due to embarrassment.

Shouta mumbled something. “What was that Shota?” Hizashi said, his voice filled with the tone of good natured teasing, “Hmmmm?”

“I said,” Shouta quietly huffed, “that being ‘charming’ isn’t a fact. It’s an opinion.”

This only made Hizashi’s grin grow wider. “You didn’t deny that you think I’m charming!” Shouta tried to glare but with his cheeks being red it looked more cute than scary. “Objectively.” Shouta huffed.

Hizashi’s grin was still wide on his face. “Objectively.” Hizashi hummed back.

Shouta sighed. “You’re a popular pro-hero and a radio star,” he said, “so objectively , you are.” Shouta gave another glare, just to be sure his point has been made. Hizashi couldn’t help the small grin that remained on his face. Shouta looked even more tired, his face cooling down from tomato red to a light dusting of rosey pink.

“You’d think that you would be a little more worried about your coworkers trying to give you alcohol poisoning.” Shouta muttered. Hizashi couldn’t help but laugh at that.

When the teachers all left the staff room to go back to class, Hizashi felt the glare of at least one of them. Hizashi, assumed the person glaring was Nemuri, and rather than talk about it the voice-hero decided the best course of action was to head straight to his next English class.

The end of the day came faster than expected, and while Hizashi would have loved to leave he still hadn't finished next week’s lesson plan, never mind the new stack of papers he needed to grade. The teacher’s “nap-room” was empty, so Hizashi decided to take advantage of the quiet and get his work done there. Sitting down on the couch with his legs sprawled out was more comfortable than sitting at a desk anyways.

Hizashi had been working for twenty minutes when Shouta ran in and slammed the door shut, leaning his entire body against the door and breathing heavily. “Wh-h-what the fuck.” Shouta whispered. He didn’t seem to notice Hizashi at first, but when he did he froze. Hizashi stared at him. They both just looked at each other, neither one of them moving an inch. Silence chokes the room, the uncomfortable atmosphere sinking its claws in.

Hizashi knew Shouta would probably prefer to jump out of the window then begin an awkward conversation, but that didn’t mean Hizashi knew what to say. “So uhh, are you ok?” Very eloquent, the voice-hero thinks.

Shouta just stares, no closer to relaxing a single muscle in his body.

Hizashi shifts his position so that his legs were no longer taking up the entirety of the couch and pats the now empty space next to him. Shouta slowly leaned off of the door, taking a shaky step then collapsing onto the couch. Shouta hunched over and held his face in his hands, but at least he wasn’t crying. Hizashi waited a moment before reaching out to pat his back, unsure if the other man needed space or a hug.

Apparently he decided he needed a nap, laying his head down on Hizashi's leg. Hizashi stiffened for a moment, but calmed himself instantly. This is Shouta. He always needs a nap. Hizashi continued his lesson plans and tried not to disrupt him.

Hizashi didn't get very far, mumbling catching his attention. “What was that?”

“Nemuri confessed to me today.” Shouta repeated, a sad tone seeping into his voice. Hizashi put his papers aside and looked down at the other man. Shouta was laying on his side, facing away from Hizashi.

Before Hizashi could stop himself, he started to comb his fingers through Shouta’s hair, untangling knots that have probably been in there for weeks. At first the erasure-hero stiffened to the touch, but a moment later he relaxed himself. “What did you do?” Hizashi hummed, already trying to soothe him. The last thing Shouta needed was more to stress about.

“I ran here.” Hizashi didn’t know what he expected. He stopped detangling the other man's hair out of shock. He was convinced that Nemuri would have succeeded in making Shouta one of her boy-toys.

“Did you explain anything to her?” Hizashi’s voice was a little louder than he meant it to be, startling Shouta for a moment.

“No,” Shouta mumbled, “she was trying to kiss me and I just wanted to get away.”

Hizashi started to comb through Shouta’s hair again, more to soothe his own jealousy than to help Shouta. “She…. tried to kiss you?” Shouta nodded, clearly repulsed by the memory. Hizashi sighed, trying to figure out how to help. “You should find her and try to tell her you’re demisexual. It would help to explain things, even if you don’t want a relationship with her.” Shouta let out a hum of agreement, closing his eyes and trying to relax himself. Hizashi brushed the last tangle out of his hair and went back to his lesson plans and grading, knowing the conversation was over and expecting Shouta to leave.

Shouta instead fell asleep on Hizashi’s lap. Hizashi was too busy grading to realize that A: it was now well past six at night and B: Shouta was still using his leg as a pillow. The second realization had Hizashi fighting off a blush as he gently shook Shouta awake. “Hey dude,” Hizashi whispered, “it’s late and I gotta go.” Hizashi gave Shouta a moment to wake up.

Shouta blinked slowly, lifting his head off of Hizashi’s lap and looking around the room in clear disorientation. When his eyes finally fell on Hizashi he froze, like a deer caught in the headlights, a small blush forming along his face. “H-Hizashi?” Shouta jumped up onto the other side of the couch, creating as much distance as he could while staying on the small piece of furniture. It hurt, to see him jump away like that.

Hizashi refused to let his sorrow show. “It’s almost seven, do you want a ride home?” Hizashi wanted to ask if he’ll eat dinner with him tonight, but it might be crossing a line after waking up on his lap.

Shouta blinked, his blush fading and his expression going back to it’s neutral default. “Sure.”

The drive would have been awkwardly silent if it weren’t for the music drifting from the radio. Hizashi had never loved music more than he did in that moment. Hizashi pulled his car up to the curb of Shouta’s apartment complex. “Thanks.” Shouta said this quietly, as if he was thinking of saying something else. In the end he didn’t, unbuckling his seat belt and opening the car door.

“Anytime.” Hizashi replied, flashing a friendly smile and waving as Shouta stepped out of the car and closed the door, stepping up to the curb. Hizashi began to pull out, noticing that Shouta lingered at the curb as he watched Hizashi drive away.

___________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday mornings brought a weird energy to the school. The students were still as sleepy as ever while the teachers (namely Nemuri) had gotten past their weekend hangovers. However this particular Tuesday morning felt off. For one, Hizashi noted that Midnight was definitely out in a bar past midnight yesterday. Secondly the staff were all, again, fixated on him.  

They had all been subtly watching him and Nemuri, which was annoying and kinda creepy. No one had spoken to him aside from a quick hello, and while that may be normal for the average Tuesday morning it certainly isn’t normal at the moment.

Shouta was the last of the staff to arrive, which unfortunately made the entire teacher’s lounge go silent. Shouta, being the ninja that he is, silently moved across the room and pulled Nemuri aside to somewhere private.

The moment they were gone it was like everyone let go of a collectively held breath, no longer afraid to converse among themselves anymore. This also meant that a certain person gathered enough courage to talk to Hizashi.

“Yamada-san!” Toshinori’s usually booming voice had been tamped down, most likely by the sad and awkward air between the two dark haired teachers, “May I ask you a few things about Mr. Aizawa-san!”

An odd request if it were a usual day, however with today’s circumstances it made perfect sense. “Sure!” Hizashi began to wear his Present Mic persona on his face, preparing for a day of teaching.

“Aizawa-san seems to have been through some trouble and turmoil lately, so I was thinking he might like to go out drinking. What do you think?” Toshinori looks like he just suggested killing a cat, despite the casual question he asked.

“Ask him!” Hizashi said, deciding that light hearted agreement was probably what the man needed, “He’s a busy guy so he might not be able to, but I know he would appreciate the thought!”

“Oh--erm--Ok!” Toshinori seemed pleased enough with his answer, thanking Hizashi and continuing to prepare for his first class.

Shouta and Nemuri came back five minutes before the first bell, both looking mildly distressed. Shouta probably could use a drink, Hizashi thought, Even when ignoring the recent attacks his class have faced, he still overworks himself.

Hizashi continued to think this during their lunch break, when he tried to drag Shouta to the staff room in order to get him to eat. “‘M not hungry.” Shouta protested, immediately curling himself in his sleeping bag. He did seem tired, with large bags under his eyes, but Hizashi wouldn’t accept this.

“You shouldn’t work both day and night shifts Eraser,” Hizashi muttered, “and since I know you’re going to anyways you should at least take the time to actually fuel your body.”

Shouta grunted and shut his eyes, content to have Hizashi lecture him into sleep.

Hizashi sighed. He knew he had many other choices, but none involved harassing the sleepy man as much, so he truly only had one option. It was dangerous, but probably worth it.

Hizashi looked down at Shouta. His eyes were closed and he held no signs of moving anytime soon. “Eraser, give me your scarf so I can drag you to the staff room or I’m going to yell in your ear.”

Shouta knows that the threat is meaningless, and continues to sleep.

“Eraser, if you don’t give me your scarf now I will call All Might in here so we can both harass you.”

This threat got Hizashi a response, but not one he was expecting, as a certain steel-alloy capture weapon hit him in the face. The scarf like weapon, being about the weight of a thick wool jacket, didn’t hurt him but definitely made him shift his stance for a moment. “I thought you would have put up more of a fight!”

“All Might was being weird today,” Shouta grumbled, cracking his eyes open a bit while an sly smile crept across his face, “and I’m not sure I would be able to handle two weird idiots at once.”

“Hey!” Hizashi protested, jokingly acting offended.

“What are you even planning on doing with that scarf anyways?” Shouta snorted, closing his eyes and continuing to smile. Seeing Shouta smile while resting, no matter how mischevious the grin, always did funny little things to Hizashi’s heart, despite having seen these smiles for years. It created desires to shove himself into Shouta’s personal space or to spout his affections or to just try and kiss him once and for all.

Hizashi has been swallowing these desires and feelings for a long time, and he continued to do so today. He decided not to respond to Shouta’s little taunt, instead gathering his scarf and bending down to get closer to the large yellow lump that the pro hero known as Eraserhead was currently enveloped in.

Unfortunately silence is something to be suspicious of when around the voice-hero, and Shouta knows this. “Mic… what are you doing.” The sleepy raven-haired man didn’t try to get up, but he did squirm around, which was not what Hizashi needed.

“Hold still!” Hizashi was amazed when Shouta actually stopped wriggling around, although his eyes were cracked open and giving a soft glare. His tired eyes slipped shut after a moment, giving Hizashi his chance to strike.

Hizashi doesn’t have control over the capture weapon like Shouta does, but he does know how to tie a basic knot. He quickly lunges and wraps the scarf around the erasure-hero’s legs, ignoring the kicks that nearly hit his face and focusing on tying a sturdy knot with a length of extra scarf.

“Mic.” Shouta sounded royally annoyed, meaning Hizashi was at least partly successful in his plans.

Hizashi tightened the weapon so it was stable around the other hero’s legs, standing up and basking in Shouta’s glare. “It’s time to go to the teacher’s lounge!” Hizashi announced, using his MC voice and grinning down at the tired man. He grabbed the loose end of the scarf and began to drag the other teacher behind him.

“Why do you do this to me?” Shouta sounded exasperated and annoyed, but not angry. If Shouta had the energy to be mad Hizashi might not have survived that experience.

“Why not?” To Hizashi, any chance he had to harass his good friend and object of his affections was worth taking.

Hizashi had to focus less on how angry Shouta could have been and more on maneuvering him so his head doesn’t hit anything while they walk, or in Shouta’s case, slide against the floor. Hizashi looked back at the man, whose eyes were, to his surprise, open. Once Shouta saw Hizashi turn his head he turned onto his side, looking away and hiding his face.

Shouta was a puzzling person. The voice-hero could never imagine trying to go a day without food, and Shouta wanted to do this and work all night.

They rounded the corner and entered the door to the right. The teacher’s lounge. A few eyebrows were raised at Shouta’s method of transportation, but no one made any comments. Hizashi dragged the massive yellow lump until it was parked near the fridge.

Finding his own lunch quickly, Hizashi rummaged through the fridge hoping to find non-pouch food for Shouta. Unfortunately, he found none.

“Welp.” Hizashi grabs three jelly pouches and unceremoniously drops them next to Shouta. “I’m going to give you a little bit of my lunch so you don’t actually collapse, alright?”

The man inside the sleeping bag glared, but didn’t argue, and instead reached a hand out to grab the “food”. Hizashi sat down on the floor next to him, saying nothing.

They sat and ate in silence for a while, but Shouta eventually stirred, sitting upright. “Thanks for the food.” Shouta mumbled, still sleepy but at least a bit more energized.

“You gotta take better care of yourself Eraser.” There wasn’t much else for Hizashi to say. Shouta had been living like this for years.

Shouta just sighed, letting his eyes slip shut.

“You’re right.”

Shouta said this so quietly that Hizashi almost didn’t hear it. The only thing that kept Hizashi from acknowledging his reply was the fact that the dark haired man’s eyes had shut peacefully.

____________________________________________________________________________

Wednesdays would always be the worst day of the week in Hizashi’s mind. It stretches what should have been an hour into two and kills Hizashi’s energetic soul. He just feels antsy for no particular reason. Maybe it’s because the last time a Wednesday at school was eventful was the USJ attack.

Hizashi can’t help but glance over at his desk neighbor when he thinks of this. His eyes are suddenly met with dark bloodshot ones. Shouta immediately turned away, focusing back on his work.

Shouta has been acting strange lately. Hizashi thinks idly, It’s probably because of Nemuri’s confession.

Hizashi decided to focus on his grading, trying to finish the last, and worse, essay for his first class. Poor Kaminari didn’t understand English grammar well, and his sentences were far simpler than his classmates due to this. Hizashi continued to fill the paper with red marks, trying to go easy on the kid but finding too many mistakes to let slide.

Hizashi eventually finished, looking up and around the room. Teachers with a homeroom class had left, meaning he hadn’t noticed when Shouta had left. Hizashi looked at the clock. Two minutes before homeroom begins. Hizashi leaned back in his chair, already bored.

The soft squeak of sneakers alerted Hizashi of an approaching co-worker. Hizashi turns to find himself face-to-visor with Thirteen. “Hey Mic-kun!” The space-hero seemed to be both in high spirits and like they were dreading something. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Hizashi nodded, watching Thirteen sit down and fidget a bit. “Well, I’ve been trying to figure Aizawa-kun out.” Thirteen’s fidgeting increases. “Aside from things related to cats what does he like? I’ve been trying to find common ground with him that isn’t a fuzzy animal.”

Hizashi laughs at that. He too was once in the ‘what is this guy all about’ stage of a friendship with Shouta. “Eraser likes a lot of things! He just isn’t vocal about what he likes!” Hizashi came to the mans defence, but upon thinking about it found that he couldn’t name any specific thing. The erasure-hero had a lot of obscure interests and hobbies, but he didn’t seem to like any to the level he appreciated cats and cat merchandise.

Something came to Hizashi’s mind. “He really likes the color yellow! You like it as well, right?” Thirteen nodded. “He’s always complaining about how underappreciated the color is, and how few objects that aren’t hero-merchandise have it. Half the things in his home are yellow!”

Thirteen thought about this, nodding their head. “Do we have anything else in common?”

Hizashi honestly wasn’t sure, but knowing Shouta he could make a few guesses. “He likes the night sky,” Hizashi suggested, “although I know he doesn’t know much about space.”

Thirteen nodded, seeming happy underneath the dome of their helmet. “Thank you Mic-kun! I’ll consider talking to him about these things!” They stood up, walking to their desk and gathering a few things.

Hizashi looked at the clock. He still had nine minutes until he had to be there, so he would probably leave in around six minutes. He sighed, absentmindedly tapping his foot. There weren't  any English department responsibilities or hero responsibilities to fulfill.

One of the doors opened. Looking up, Hizashi saw Lunch-Rush enter, wandering across the room and greeting everyone.

“Hello Mic!” Lunch-Rush said, a cheery tone in their voice, “How are you today?”

Hizashi hates small talk, and that’s all he ever gets out of their local lunch-hero.

“I’m good Rush, how are you?” Hizashi tries and mostly succeeds in keeping the boredom out of his voice.

“I’m doing well, thanks for asking!” Lunch-Rush continued sounding cheerful and making Hizashi want to die because of where this conversation was heading. “Hey Mic, is it true that Aizawa doesn’t eat as much for lunch as he should?”

The question caught Hizashi off guard, expecting the usual ‘anything special going on’ type of conversation.

“He thinks he can survive off of those jelly pouches during the day.” Hizashi snorts, unable to keep his annoyance out of his voice. “He eats a large dinner and claims it makes up for not having any other real meals. I force feed him when he doesn’t show up here and when he isn’t hiding.”

Of course while it is a bother to find Shouta and drag him to the teacher’s lounge everyday Hizashi would never be able to deny that it’s one of his favorite parts of the day. Hizashi’s always loved to spend time with the grump, and Shouta’s cute when he’s “annoyed” anyways. While Shouta would never admit it to anyone else, he secretly enjoys their lunches together as well. Some part of Hizashi wonders if the dark haired man forgets to bring a real lunch on purpose, but considering how minimalist he is the thought is quickly pushed from his mind.

However Hizashi would much rather have Shouta take care of himself than eat with him everyday.

“Huh!” Lunch-Rush tries to pretend that this doesn’t interest or upset him, and utterly fails. Unfortunately Hizashi doesn’t have time to think about this, his first class starting in only a few minutes.

Poor Kaminari was not going to like his essay grade.

Despite the poor grades of a few of the first years, the day was running smoothly. Hizashi always planned more teacher-student interactive lessons on Wednesdays, considering how the day otherwise progressed at a snail’s pace.

Lunch came fairly quickly, much to the relief of everyone in the school. Hizashi waited a few minutes for lingering students to leave before he pulled out his phone and texted Shouta.

Me: Hey! Where r u hiding

A moment later his phone buzzed.

Shouta-kun: its called hiding 4 a reason

Hizashi frowned at the message. While this was the sort of thing Shouta would say in person, he usually just sends his location when texting. Hizashi waited a few more second to see if Shouta would elaborate, but impatience got the better of him.

Me: Don’t want to eat today?

Hizashi pocketed the phone and started walking towards the teacher’s lounge. Shouta probably wanted to fully devote this lunch period to sleeping, and Hizashi has never hunted him down unless he seemed upset or unhealthy. Hizashi’s pocket buzzed. Looking down at his lock screen, Hizashi could read the message Shouta sent in a glance.

Shouta-kun: not hungry

Hizashi sighed, sending a quick “Ok”. Sometimes Shouta just gets overwhelmed and has had to retreat from the world.

Hizashi didn’t hear from Shouta for the rest of the day, which was something uncommon, but not particularly concerning.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thursdays were an okay day in Hizashi’s opinion. They went by quickly and were usually fairly light on the workload, since Hizashi usually gave tests on Fridays. Thursdays certainly aren’t happy, but they’re not unhappy either. Just neutral, everyone too focused on what’s to come to really love or hate them. They were just okay. Everyone knew this, including Hizashi.

What Hizashi didn’t know was whether any of the staff was were okay or not. When Hizashi arrived in the morning, the heavy atmosphere almost crushed him. It was silent, the other staff members eyeing him suspiciously while pretending to work. The stares and glares made Hizashi’s skin crawl, but he avoided conversation and tried to grade a few papers, unable to focus due to the amount of eyes on him..

His co-workers were all acting weird and sad, something Hizashi didn’t want to mention due to his own temperament of weird and sad. The hero known as Present Mic is a lot of things, but he is no hypocrite. As much as he’d like to ask, he’s had plenty of experience pissing superpowered people off and would rather not deal with that before eight am.

Alongside the long faces of the other heroes, two unusually stoic people were missing from the staff room. Shouta and Cementoss must be working on something for 1-A in the gym.

After five minutes of feeling uncomfortable and doing nothing, Hizashi decided it was time to listen to music and drown out the rest of the world. He needed to grade these worksheets and there was no way he could read Tokoyami’s chicken scratch without being able to focus.

Hizashi somehow missed Shouta coming back from wherever he was, as well as his departure from classroom 1-A. It worried him a bit, but the beautiful sounds of children butchering English didn’t allow him to think much of it.

“The apple red fell from the tree .” Hizashi wanted to audibly sigh at this, but he somehow managed a bit of restraint. It was probably because it was Kaminari, a kid who was honestly trying his best and just couldn’t remember the differences between nouns and adjectives in English.

“Almost,” Hizashi explains, “The red apple fell from the tree . You have to put the adjective before the noun in English.” Hizashi held back a chuckle at Kaminari’s loud groan. “You’re almost there! It’s hard to remember sometimes, I used to forget a lot of rules like that at your age as well!”

The entire class perked up at this. “You used to be terrible at English?” Kaminari looked up at him hopefully. Hizashi swallowed a nervous chuckle. He didn’t want to let this kid down and say ‘I was the worst out of a fully trilingual family’.

“Well, while I wouldn’t quite say I was terrible at I did make a lot more mistakes than many people I knew back then.” It wasn’t quite a lie, but that didn’t stop the slight disappointment that flashed over not only Kaminari’s eyes, but the rest of the class as well. “But uh, I do know for a fact that a certain teacher of yours could barely say the word ‘definitely’, much less use it correctly in a sentence.” Hizashi offered.

“Do you mean Aizawa-sensei or someone else?” Yaoyorozu asked.

Hizashi let a devilish smile spread across his face. “I’ll leave you to figure out which.” The class grumbled. “I can’t just tell you listeners their secrets!”

After a moment of afterthought, Hizashi knew he needed to specify something else. “If you ask them they will both claim it’s the other, and they will both try to murder me.” Hizashi said, switching over to the language he was supposed to be teaching. “Try and find a subtle way to figure it out, will you?”

“Now Kaminari, can you tell me which word was an adjective and what I was describing with it? If you’d like me to repeat it it’s alright, it’s more difficult to translate from a verbal conversation than it is a written one!”

Kaminari thought for a moment, tapping his foot in his seat. “Was it subtle ?”

Hizashi had to choke down a laugh. “Yes, yes it was. ” Kaminari’s face lit up a little. “What was I using the word subtle to describe?”

“The way we’re going to try and figure out who’s terrible at English?” Kaminari sounded unsure.

“Correct!” Hizashi exclaimed, just as the bell rang. There wasn’t any homework so Hizashi slipped away, walking to his next period.

Hizashi’s final period before lunch seemed to drag on and on, the bell a relief. Lingering in the classroom, Hizashi waited for his students to file out of the door before relaxing. The sound of feet running against polished tile soon became audible, pulsing from where ever the runner was. Hizashi ignored it, pulling out his phone to quickly check for messages, finding none that interest him. The running was getting louder. Hizashi stood up and began to collect his papers, paying the noise no mind.

Suddenly the door burst open, a blond haired student running in and suddenly bracing himself on his knees, panting. Hizashi didn’t know how to react aside from staring silently for a moment.

“...You ok kid?” Hizashi was internally screaming about why this child was here, in a completely different classroom, nevermind why he had to run here. Running was the bane of Hizashi’s existence, something he had to do in order to keep his lungs in top shape in order to keep his quirk in top shape. He absolutely despised running, and couldn’t help but wonder why this kid decided he needed to run just to see him .

Kaminari suddenly looked up at him, eyes burning with the need for knowledge. Hizashi wasn't sure if he  he wanted to know what this kid was just dying to ask.

“I need help with English.” he blurts out. Hizashi can’t help the furrowed eyebrows his face decides is necessary. Kaminari suddenly looks a little nervous. “I um, I can’t process the text sometimes. Like I’ll read it once, and everyone else will understand it and I won’t. So I’ll reread it over and over and over again and even then I still need help with it. By the time I do understand I’ve run out of time and we’ve moved on.”

Hizashi nodded, already suspecting he knows what the problem is. “You sometimes just feel like everything’s just too overwhelming and that there’s just too much going on, right?” Kaminari almost violently shook his head in agreement, making Hizashi let out a small chuckle.

“I have the same issue as well. I’m also easily distracted and blurt out whatever thoughts I have. Do you experience that too?” Kaminari continued to nod, making Hizashi’s suspicions grow stronger.

“Why do you ask?” Kaminari asked, genuine confusion in his eyes.

Hizashi sighed. “It would be a better thing to talk to Hound Dog about.” Hizashi would like to help, but he knows it might just make things worse. Sharing a few of his ADHD symptoms wasn’t a definite diagnosis, and he didn’t want to put unnecessary worries in Kaminari’s head.

Kaminari just nodded, not really understanding but respecting Hizashi enough to agree.

As the electric blond began to gather his things, Hizashi continued speaking. “If you need more help in class feel free to call me over, and I’ll try to help you. I can talk to you about it more once you meet with Hound.”

Kaminari looked up, seeming a little put off, but not angry. He thanked Hizashi and left, heading towards the cafeteria.

Hizashi checked his phone again. There was still no word from Shouta.

Hizashi was starting to get worried.

___________________________________________________________________________

Friday morning, usually considered the best morning of the week, sucked. Hizashi couldn’t sleep the previous night, wondering if his antics from the other day had pissed off Shouta and was unsure what he should do. The fact that today Shouta was, again, missing from the teacher’s lounge and that, again, his co-workers were all miserable did not help. Hizashi knew no amount of coffee was going to help him with interacting with the staff today.

Luckily for Hizashi, the day went by quickly, everyone eager to leave. There was still no sign of Shouta, even as the final bell of the day rang. Hizashi quietly walked down to the staff room, stifling a yawn as he began to gather up his things. The room was quiet, the other teachers having already collected their things and left.

Shouta suddenly slammed the door open and glided through it, glaring a little more intensely than usual. His eyes scanned the almost empty room, and as soon as he saw Hizashi his eyes narrowed. Shouta almost stalked over to his desk, sitting down next to Hizashi and focusing that intense glare onto him. “What’s. Going. On.” Shouta growled the words out, sounding a little more upset than angry, an emotion only those familiar with Shouta would be able to hear.

“Nothing!” Hizashi defensively raised his hands, “What have I done?”

Shouta sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and loosening up a bit. “I was afraid you were in on this office wide prank.” Shouta looked up, a hint of distrust in his eyes.

“Office wide prank…?” Shouta’s distrust dissipated a little, but it still lingered in the dark depths of his eyes..

“Remember how earlier this week Nemuri asked me out?” Hizashi nodded, urging Shouta to go on. “Well, she wasn’t the only person to try.”

Hizashi stared for a moment. “You mean multiple people have tried to ask you out this week?” Shouta sighed and nodded.

“All Might was the first after Nemuri. Admittedly, I brought this one on myself. After a few of the parent student conferences I had told him that we should go out for drinks sometime, which in hindsight came off a little flirty. He approached me and asked if he could take me up on that offer. I went to invite you, but he seemed disappointed and told me it could wait. I didn’t realize he meant it as a date until today.”

“The next day Snipe invited me to a poly relationship with Gunhead and Ectoplasm. I wish I could have had more time to recover, but then Kan immediately found me and said ‘I’ll only admit that your class is better if you go on a date with me.’ which is not what I needed to hear from him. During our lunch period Lunch-Rush made me a bento with some of my favorite foods. It was shaped like a heart. I tried to deny it but he was insistent that I take it, even after I told him I wasn’t interested.”

“Yesterday Cementoss lead me to the gym where he basically created a cement promposal in my image. It was kinda horrifying to watch my face emerge from a big glob. He saw the horrified look on my actual face and stopped.”

“This morning Powerloader invited me into a tunnel. I didn’t go and I don’t want to know what was inside. At lunch while I was hiding in my homeroom Thirteen left a flower crown and an invitation to go to the planetarium.”

“The only people who haven’t tried are you and Hound, and since I know Hound is married the only person left to do this prank is you. A week ago the staff was overly interested in you, and suddenly they’re all doing…. whatever this is.” Shouta sighed, looking around as if searching for a way out.

Shouta finally turned to face Hizashi, getting more and more upset. “Are you all running a bet? Why would you….?”

Hizashi sat there for a moment, processing what Shouta said, speechless and wide eyed. “Shouta…. I would never do that to you. I had no idea this is what they were talking about.”

Shouta quirked an eyebrow. “You didn’t know they were talking about a bet?”

Hizashi felt like slamming his head into his desk. “They weren’t taking bets Shouta,” Hizashi really wished he wasn’t the one who had to say this, “they were all actually asking you out.” Shouta blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, quickly closing it, gaping like a fish. Despite this he seemed to be taking the news well, although there was a glint of hurt in his eyes.

“They wanted to go drinking with me so I would tell them about your sexuality and the types of people you had dated before.” Hizashi explained, “When they heard about Nemuri’s failed confession it probably convinced them you were gay.”

Shouta blinked. “I am gay.”

Hizashi replayed what Shouta said in his head to make sure he heard correctly. “You’re gay?” Shouta nodded. “I thought you were demisexual.”

Shouta looked like he was just given the answer to some great mysterious puzzle, and he looked very annoyed by it. “Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.” Shouta huffed, frustration in his voice.

“You never said!” Hizashi couldn’t believe it.

Shouta looked pissed, and Hizashi could only hope the other’s anger wasn’t directed at him. “I never thought I needed to say it. I thought it was obvious.”

“Oh.” They sat in silence, Shouta stewing over something silently.  

Shouta stood up, apparently sick of the silence. “I’ve got to go,” Shouta spit his words out like they burned him, “I should probably go properly explain things to the others since it’s not just a joke.” He turned to leave, seeming more angry then when he had first arrived.

Hizashi felt himself stand, and before he could process what he was doing he grabbed Shouta by the wrist. Shouta quickly turned and stared for a moment, a small blush forming, before he quickly looked down at the the wrist still in Hizashi’s grip. He made no move to leave. “S-Shouta, wait.”

The other man looked up, his dark eyes filled with curiosity and fear. “Yeah?”

What Hizashi meant to say was an apology for misunderstanding him years ago and an offer to hang out after Hizashi’s show. He would plan out a way to ask Shouta out the next time they did anything outside of work, and hope he wouldn’t be rejected.

A simple apology and a standing invitation to hang. That was all Hizashi wanted to do.

Hizashi’s mouth had other plans.

“I love you.”

It took a moment for Hizashi to process that yes, he really did just confess to Shouta. His face was heating up, and of course Shouta had to be staring into his widened eyes right then and there. Shouta’s dark eyes were filled with surprise, framed by the rose red of his probable embarrassment. Neither one of them anything for a moment, too shocked to do anything.

Before Hizashi could stop himself from worsening the situation, his natural instinct to talk overwhelmed him.

“Shouta I’m so sorry I should have thought about what I was doing and if you want to forget this ever happened that’s fine with me I can handle my emotions and keep them hidden just please forget about this and we can keep everything as it is, I promise none of this is a joke and I’ll just pretend I didn’t say anything and if you need space or want me to go away I understand it’s fine.”

Hizashi took a moment to breathe, realizing that he still hadn’t let go of the other’s wrist and immediately drawing his hand back. Shouta turned to face him fully, and Hizashi found himself filled with the need to flee.

“Hizashi,” Shouta began, but the voice-hero wasn’t listening, instead shoving everything off his desk into his messenger bag. Hizashi turned away and tried to leave, but he felt something grab his hand.

“‘Zashi,” Shouta tried again, pulling himself closer, “it’s ok.”

Hizashi fought against his screaming instincts and turned to look at Shouta. He looked worried until Hizashi looked him in the eyes, his face subtly lighting up. Hizashi felt frozen. Shouta took a small step closer, making Hizashi flinch, but he didn’t step back. Shouta took another small step, inching forward until he was well into Hizashi’s personal space. Dark eyes were locked on green ones the entire time, soft and full of care. Hizashi wasn’t sure whether he should still try to run or lean forward. He felt Shouta grip his hand, rubbing his thumb against his leather gloves. Hizashi was still frozen, trying to convince himself that he was reading too far into Shouta’s actions. The look Shouta wore on his face certainly didn’t help, but Shouta didn’t have any feelings for him and didn’t mean anything by it.

Just like how Shouta didn’t mean anything when he held his hand. Shouta stepping closer and putting his hand on Hizashi’s chest meant nothing as well. Shouta’s wide pupils were probably like a cat’s when it’s hunting, not loving whatsoever, and the hand on his chest gliding up to cup his neck was probably so Shouta could slam Hizashi into the ground. Shouta couldn’t possibly be the one lightly pulling Hizashi’s head down; He was doing it himself as a reaction to being so close.

Those thoughts quickly dissipated when Shouta closed the distance, pulling Hizashi into a kiss. Hizashi still felt like he couldn’t move, his mind going completely blank. For a moment all Hizashi could process was the scratch of Shouta’s stubble against his face. He soon realized what was happening and relaxed his jaw, opening his mouth a bit and giving into the kiss. He closed his eyes, letting Shouta take the lead. The way Shouta kissed was slow and full of love, shown not only by the feather light touch of his lips but also through the way he gently rubbed his thumb against Hizashi’s neck. He refused to let go of Hizashi’s hand, even while he softly pulled away, leaving Hizashi chasing his lips for a moment

Hizashi opened his eyes to find Shouta staring back, softly and a little bit nervously. “I love you.” Shouta whispered, looking at Hizashi like he’s waiting for rejection.

Hizashi brought his hand up to Shouta’s face, tracing the scar underneath one of his dark eyes with his thumb. “Love you too.” Hizashi whispered back.

Shouta started to laugh a bit, little fits of giggles that weren’t mean, but still worried Hizashi all the same. “Sorry… I just can’t believe that you actually like me.” He smiled at Hizashi, his eyes full of joy, before lowering his head and staring down at the ground. “I thought you were aware of my feelings and just toying with me.”

“Shouta, I wouldn’t-”

“I know,” Shouta said, glaring softly and cutting Hizashi off, “it was an irrational fear that I should have tried to defeat after I healed from the USJ incident. I thought I was being open and obvious with my feelings, and I jumped to the conclusion that any flirtatious comments given were to spite me for petty things.”  

Hizashi doesn’t know what to say, but he does know Shouta. He’s a man of action, and to him actions speak louder than words. Hizashi pulled Shouta into a hug, letting go of the erasure-hero’s hand. “You know me better than that Shou.” Hizashi murmured softly, “You know how big of an oblivious idiot I can be.”

Shouta pulled himself away and grinned. “I cannot believe you thought I was straight.”

Hizashi felt himself blush even further. “I can’t believe you didn’t realize I liked you before now.”

Shouta smiles fondly, before cupping Hizashi’s face in both of his hands and pulling him into another kiss. This one was just as soft and sweet but less hesitant. It was exactly what Hizashi had been craving for half of his life. He felt a hand stray from his face to the back of his neck, eventually hanging over his shoulder. Shouta pulled away, too soon for Hizashi’s taste.

Shouta saw Hizashi’s annoyment and grinned. “You’re needy today aren’t you?” He teased, dragging his hand up Hizashi’s face and poking him in the nose.

Hizashi felt a soft smile grow on his lips. “You’ve been gone all week, Eraser. How’s a guy supposed to feel?” He reached up and brushed a lock of Shouta’s hair out of his face. Shouta looked embarrassed.

“So Shouta,” Hizashi felt nervousness grow again, despite having nothing to worry about, “you want to go on a cat café date tomorrow?” Hizashi pulled the corners of his mouth up into a nervous grin.

Shouta smiled, a flash of soft excitement in his eyes. “You know me well.” He chuckled.

They cemented their plans as they collected their things and left the building together. Before leaving, Hizashi planted a small kiss of Shouta’s forehead and was successful in receiving a blushy smile and hug back from the scruffy man. Hizashi was a little disappointed when they parted ways for the night, both needing to go to their second jobs, but he was still apparently bouncing off the walls with excitement, evident by how multiple callers were asking about his good mood.

“Did something special happen?” The static from the caller’s phone crackled as Hizashi gave of of his signature “Present Mic laughs”, trying to think of what he should say.

“I’m just excited to see what tomorrow brings, listener!” It wasn’t technically a lie. “Sometimes you just need to find a way to bring new enthusiasm into your life, something I suggest to all listeners!” This also isn’t a lie.

Hizashi accepted two more calls before switching to his end of show playlist, ‘Banana Dreams’. The smooth music began to play and Hizashi’s personal phone immediately buzzed.

Shouta-kun: new enthusiasm huh

Hizashi felt his cheeks heat up a little at the text. He’s tempted to point out that he’s wanted to date Shouta since high school, so enthusiastic is a very appropriate term for what he’s feeling, but he isn’t sure Shouta would appreciate receiving that news over text.

Me: Did you want me to talk about our relationship on live air?

The songs switched from Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Pare Ko by the band Eraserheads. Hizashi barks out a small laugh. The band was where he had gotten the inspiration for Shouta’s hero name, but it also produced the most songs that reminded him of Shouta, even when ignoring the band name. The Eraserheads’ lyrics were simple and blunt but well spoken, and they usually were about a desire to be with the one they loved.

A song that was once bittersweet now makes his heart leap with joy. The song that once reminded him of his romantic desires now made him think about how his desires had become reality. A small grin fell on Hizashi’s face as he listened. He still couldn’t believe it.

A few more songs played before his phone buzzed again, drawing Hizashi out of his thoughts.

Shouta-kun: thank u 4 not doing that

Shouta-kun: i dont think i could handle listening to it

Shouta-kun: nevermind the fact that u would have announced it to the public

Hizashi looked at the clock. Four thirty-three am. Shouta got off of patrol an hour ago.

Me: Why r u still up?

Me: Ur off shift right?

Me: Go to sleep mr logical

Hizashi pocketed his phone and waited for the phone to buzz or for the playlist to end. Shouta isn’t exactly a fast texter during normal times of the day, much less so when he’s half asleep. To Hizashi’s surprise, Shouta responds only two minutes after Hizashi’s sent text, a new record.

Shouta-kun: cant

Hizashi was about to ask why, but Shouta immediately responded.

Shouta-kun: ur voice soothes me enough to sleep and ur not on air rn

Hizashi couldn’t stop the small, soft smile that crept along his face.

Me: Do you want me to come over?

Hizashi hit send before he thought about any implications one could interpret from the statement. Logically he knows Shouta will know what he means but he can’t stop himself from panicking a little bit. Hizashi silences his phone and takes a moment to listen to focus the music.

The song BRILLIANTE drifts through the air and calms Hizashi, preventing him from doing anything rash. The last thing he needs to do is jump the gun and ruin something he’s wanted for so long just because he’s awkward. Hizashi looks over at the clock. He has five minutes until he says his goodbyes and puts his usual end of show song, Bohemian Rhapsody, on.

It’s at four fifty-one that Hizashi realizes that he’s almost been up for 48 hours straight, having not slept the night before. It’s no wonder he’s feeling a little more overdramatic than usual. He’s only been starving off exhaustion with his coffee, not emotional instability.

BRILLIANTE, as brilliant of a song as it is, eventually ends. “SAY HEY LISTENERS!” Hizashi forces a cheer that actually sounds energetic. “This is Hero FM! Unfortunately it’s time to say goodbye to your favorite voice-hero and radio-host Present Mic, but don’t feel sad! You can listen to me next week when I host the show again or if you’re nearby when I inevitably fight another villain. Here’s the last song of the night! It’s the usual, Bohemian Rhapsody ! Have a nice night to both my listeners and banana dreamers alike, Present Mic is now off the air!” With that Hizashi shuts off the mics and turns on the final song, leaning back and sighing for a moment. His exhaustion was starting to hit him.

Ignoring how much he’d like to just collapse right then and there, Hizashi rises to his feet and grabbed his bags. Traffic hadn’t been bad so he had gotten to change out of his hero costume as well as wash and comb his hair. He said his goodbyes to the crew and left, finally checking his phone as he walked to his car.

Shouta-kun: yes

Hizashi smiled as he pocketed his phone and hopped in the driver’s seat of his car. He made sure to turn his radio to Hero FM to support the up and coming hero radio host. The girl had a lot of potential, plus her love for rock was exactly what Hizashi needed to stay awake. The drive was short and Hizashi was soon parked in Shouta’s apartment complex garage, heading up the stairs, and standing in front of Shouta’s apartment.

Getting in was no problem, Hizashi has had a key to Shouta’s apartment for the past five years, just as Shouta has had a key to his for just as long. Hizashi just felt nervous. Before he could stop himself a small fantasy flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook it away. Gathering a bit of courage, he opened the door, stepping into the dark apartment.

“Hey Shou?” Hizashi kept his voice fairly quiet as he called into the abyss that was Shouta’s apartment. He closed the door and felt around for a light. A small click later and the room was flooded with light. He heard a muffled groan of annoyment from Shouta’s bedroom. Hizashi turned the light back off and, now having his bearings, wandered towards Shouta’s room, finding the door shut.

Hizashi lightly rapped his knuckles along the door. “Come in.” Shouta’s slightly muffled voice called from behind the door. Hizashi slowly opened the door, finding another dark room. He turned on the lights.

The first thing Hizashi noticed was the bright yellow sleeping bag wrapped in heavy winter blankets sitting on top of the bed. Hizashi then noticed the death glare Shouta was giving him from within the giant burrito shaped heap. “Turn the lights off.” Shouta grumbled, most the sound muffled by his blankets.

Hizashi complied, shutting off the lights and letting his eyes adjust to the pale moonlight. He wandered over to the other side of Shouta’s bed, sitting down lightly. Shouta rolled over to face him, eyes softening a little now that the lights are off. They sat and stared at each other for a moment, neither one of them moving a muscle.

Hizashi quietly cleared his throat. “So I’m supposed to serenade you to sleep, huh? Should I leave once you’ve fallen asleep?” The last thing Hizashi wanted to do was overstep any boundaries.

Shouta sighed. “Quit acting so nervous.” he grunted, giving Hizashi a small glare. “Unless you’d rather not, I’d like it if you stayed.”

“Uh, no, yeah, I’d like to stay here!” Hizashi felt like an idiot.

Shouta hummed, seeming a bit more relaxed already, but still looking uncomfortable. He had to be hot underneath all of those layers.

“Do you want to, uh,” Hizashi tried to find a way to phrase his question, “maybe lose a few of those blankets? You look a little overheated.” Hizashi scratched behind his neck, smiling nervously.

Shouta mumbled something Hizashi couldn’t hear. “Sorry, could you repeat yourself?”

“I said I can’t sleep without a lot of blankets.” Shouta repeated. He looked up at Hizashi, a thoughtful look on his face. “Maybe I can try sleeping with only one.” He mumbled, suddenly very interested in the bed sheets in front of him.

Hizashi nodded, taking three heavy winter blankets off of Shouta, only leaving one blanket and his sleeping bag. Shouta shuffled out of the bag, throwing it to the ground beside the bed and kicking the blanket so it covered a little more of the bed. Hizashi took off his glasses and hearing aids, placing them on Shouta’s nightstand. He slid his feet underneath the covers and laid down, his face only a few inches from Shouta’s warm cheeks.

Hizashi hadn’t realized how much he wanted this. He felt so warm and safe, and exhaustion was catching up with him, tugging his eyelids down. The only thing keeping him from immediately passing out was the foreign firmness of Shouta’s mattress. That was good though. He hadn’t come there just to sleep, he came to help Shouta sleep as well. Shouta already looked a little sleepier now that Hizashi was with him. He would really only need one song to fall asleep at this point.

So Hizashi sang the first song that came to mind.

As Hizashi sang the lyrics that described his longing for so long, he wondered if Shouta would recognise the song from earlier in the evening. The title Pare Ko would always be ironic to him. Hizashi wondered if the Eraserheads songwriter had ever actually faced a similar dilemma in his life, loving their “buddy” and not being able to find the courage to admit it, or if the writer just wrote a love song. It didn't matter.

Hizashi sang his feelings out, singing about his longing in another language Shouta would (hopefully) never understand. The song wasn’t entirely accurate to their relationship, but it was close enough, letting Hizashi release his emotions in a productive way. Looking over at Shouta, he had already fallen asleep, his chest rising and falling in slow light movements. Hizashi continued to sing, finishing the song and promptly passing out afterwards, pulling Shouta closer to him.

____________________________________________________________________________

Hizashi woke up feeling oddly heavy, like a bag of sand was on his entire body. His eyelids refused to open as well, staying glued shut. He felt oddly warm, and he wasn’t sure why. He tried to recall what happened yesterday.

He fought with Shouta, made up with Shouta, made out with Shouta, did his-

Hizashi’s eyelids flew open. He almost pushed himself into a sitting position but recognising the massive lump of hair on his chest as Shouta’s head he stopped himself.

Hizashi felt overwhelmed. He forced himself to relax, not wanting to ruin the moment.

He really did kiss Shouta. Not only that, but he asked Shouta out and got to cuddle and sing to him until they both fell asleep.

Hizashi could die happy. He really could. He really would if he dared to move and wake up Shouta, but it would be a happy death.

Shouta currently laid with his head over Hizashi’s heart, his arms sprawled out in what could be interpreted as a loose hug but was most likely the result of flopping onto Hizashi in the middle of the night. Shouta shifted his head a bit, his stubble scratching Hizashi through his shirt. He let put a soft, disoriented groan as he began to stir. Shouta began to push himself off of Hizashi, cracking open his eyes as he rose to a braced position.

Shouta froze, his eyes growing wide and a blush rapidly growing onlong his face. Hizashi knew his face was just as rosey red as Shouta’s, but with a dopey expression settled in. “Hey there sleeping beauty.”

Shouts scrambled off of Hizashi, but stayed close, earning an amused laugh from the blond. Shouta looked a little confused, but he didn’t seem unhappy with what was going on.

Hizashi reached for the night stand and grabbed his hearing aids and glasses, putting them on. “Did you sleep well?” Hizashi asked, stretching his arms out.

Shouta nodded, yawning. “Yeah…” Shouta leaned forward, uncertain. “Thanks.” He pecked Hizashi on the nose, quickly moving back a bit, but still within Hizashi’s personal space.

Hizashi reached a hand to the back of Shouta’s neck and pulled him into a kiss, tangling his fingers into Shouta’s hair in the process. Shouta seemed a little surprised, but he melted into it, letting Hizashi take the lead. Hizashi kissed softly but not as lightly as Shouta did yesterday. He didn’t dare to take it deeper, pulling away and continuing to play with his hair. “You ready to go to that cat café?”

Shouta smiled, leaning backwards and sitting down. “Yeah, let’s do that.” He looked a little dazed and happy after that kiss, but he soon collected himself. “I need you to get out.”  

“Wha-?” Hizashi immediately started protesting. “Why are you throwing me out?”

Shouta chuckled, looking mildly amused. “I’m not throwing you out,” Shouta explained, “I’m asking you to leave the room so I can get changed.”

Hizashi holds back the temptation to flirt and does as Shouta asks, wandering out into Shouta’s kitchen to try and find something to make breakfast with. The clock on the wall says it’s three forty-nine. Hizashi opens the fridge and tries to find something to make a late lunch with, finding four large crates of jelly pouches and some eggs in the fridge. Hizashi grabs the eggs and a frying pan so he can make a late brunch.

Shouta wanders out when the scrambled eggs are almost done, rubbing at his eyes. His hair had been combed a bit, the usually tangled and frizzy mess looking unusually soft. Hizashi held back the desire to drift over and tangle his hand In Shouta’s hair, turning back to the eggs.

Hizashi suddenly felt something lightly pressing against his shoulder. Shouta was leaning up against him, looking at the eggs with a neutral expression. “Thanks for cooking.” Shouta mumbled, still seeming tired despite having at least nine hours of sleep.

“Did you really sleep all that well?” Hizashi asked, tempted to poke the man but fearing the consequences.

Shouta nods, which does little to convince Hizashi. “I don’t remember waking up last night. It was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in awhile.”

Hizashi felt himself short circuit at that statement. He remained fairly quiet throughout their meal, but the look on Shouta’s face indicated he knew why.

One of the codenames Shouta’s often given seemed especially ironic now. Mute.

Hizashi didn’t have any clothes to change into, so he borrowed a pair of pink sweats and a dark shirt, putting his hair into a simple bun. They walked to the café near Shouta’s apartment called the Cat’s Eye. Shouta’s apartment complex didn’t allow pets, so this was a place Shouta frequented. The hostess recognised the erasure hero, her face lighting up.

“Ah, Aizawa! Nice to see you again!” She smiled and waited for Shouta to hand her his card, attempting to talk to him. “You should be pretty close to getting a dessert of your choosing right? You have to have twenty stamps by now!” She laughed trying to get some sort of reaction from Shouta, in which she failed.

Her eyes wandered and only just seemed to notice Hizashi. “Oh! Welcome to the Cat’s Eye! Have you been with us before? If so I ca-”

“He’s with me.” Shouta said, cutting the hostess off with a small glare, holding out his card.

The hostess looked a little nervous taking it from him, as if he poisoned the small slip of paper. She looked down at it. “Oh! You already have twenty-five! Knowing you you’re going to be here for at least another hour, right?” She laughed, trying to clear the awkward air.

Shouta took the card back from her and wandered off into the cat filled room. Any annoyance Shouta still harbored washed away when one of the cats ran up to him for attention. Hizashi stared at Shouta as he lead the cat to a pile of cushions and threw himself down, a wide smile on his face. Hizashi knew his lips were drawn out in a wide smile as well.

Hizashi followed his date and sat down beside him, some part of him still in disbelief of the events occurring. The cat that was following Shouta curled up in between them, purring. Another cat sauntered towards them, sniffing at Hizashi in polite curiosity before wandering towards Shouta.

Shouta’s face glowed with subtle excitement. Hizashi began to stare, too amazed at the past few days events to tear his eyes away. How did he get so lucky? Hizashi didn't know. He just continued to stare at Shouta’s pretty, dark grey eyes, his long eyelashes framing them perfectly.

Shouta looked up at Hizashi, a little surprised to find them face to face. “You alright?” Shouta asked, “You seem a little spacy.”

Before his brain to mouth filter could kick in, Hizashi spoke. “I'm just enjoying the view.” Hizashi immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, mortified.

Shouta seemed amused. “What a coincidence,” he murmured, slowly drawing closer, “I am too.”

Shouta tugged down lightly at Hizashi’s arm, lowering his hand. He leaned forward and pressed their lips together for a second, a bit chaste but still nice. “Calm down.” Shouta instructed, “I’ve wanted to date you for a while. You’re allowed to flirt with me.”

“Ok.” Hizashi said simply, not wanting to argue. He allowed his shoulders to relax and leaned against the pillow pile. Hizashi laughed. “Did you know you’re my favorite person in the world?” Shouta blushed a little at the question.

“I could say the same about you.” Shouta replied, intertwining his hand with Hizashi’s. Hizashi could feel his face heat up a bit. Shouta sighed. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted this?”

Hizashi turned, his light eyes locked with dark ones. “I’ve wanted to date you since we were nineteen.” Shouta chuckled, looking away. “You have no idea how happy I am.”

All Hizashi could do was stare in disbelief. Shouta has liked him for eleven years. They could have started dating eleven years ago. Hizashi could have told him how he felt eleven years ago. It was overwhelming. Words bubbled uncomfortably at the back of Hizashi’s throat, fighting to make themselves heard but utterly unable to get past Hizashi’s pure shock.

They sat there quietly for a few minutes, Shouta looking increasingly uncomfortable. Shouta began to shift away. The cat finally released Hizashi’s tongue.

“Me too.”

It came out quieter than Hizashi meant it to. Shouta still heard, his hearing top notch.

“You too?” He sounded hopeful, turning to face Hizashi and revealing his nervous eyes.

“Yeah.” Hizashi said simply. “I’ve liked you for just as long.” It was longer, but Hizashi didn’t dare mention that.

Shouta’s eyes widened in shock. He pulled Hizashi in for a tight hug, squeezing the breath out of him.

“We’re idiots.”

“Yeah.”

They separated and sat in a comfortable silence. An orange tabby slowly stalked over, sniffing at Hizashi’s hand before laying on Hizashi’s lap.

Hizashi let out a sigh of relief and relaxation,feeling a lot less tense. Shouta leaned up against him, petting the cat on Hizashi’s lap quietly. Neither one of them moved to speak, and Hizashi was beginning to doze off again. Maybe going over forty-eight hours without sleep wasn’t a good thing.

“And you call me sleepy.” Shouta muttered, stirring Hizashi out of his lingering thoughts. Shouta wore a small smile that made Hizashi’s heart leap.

“You’re beautiful. ” Hizashi said in English. The way the sunlight filtered through Shouta’s hair and hit his face only made him seem prettier, his eyes becoming a silvery gray that made Hizashi feel weak.

Shouta’s soft smile turned into a mischievous grin. “You know,” He began, pausing for a moment, “my students decided to speak nothing but English during yesterday’s homeroom.” Hizashi suddenly felt a little uncomfortable underneath Shouta’s gaze. “You wouldn’t happen to know why, would you?”

Hizashi let out a quiet laugh. “They had a test in my class right after homeroom,” Hizashi replied, “maybe they were practicing for it?”

Shouta’s grin only grew wider. “They were asking me if I knew English, and when I stated that I did they moved onto asking me questions in English that I didn’t understand.” His silvery eyes were filled with amusement.

“Maybe the test was to gather basic information about their teachers using English?” Hizashi countered, knowing full well it was a weak attempt and accepting whatever Shouta was going to do to him already. Hopefully it wouldn’t be another chokehold.

Shouta wrapped his arm around Hizashi’s shoulders, pulling him a little closer. “You better not tell them about us.” Shouta whispered into Hizashi’s ear.

“I’m the voice hero!” Hizashi laughed, “What do you expect?” Hizashi laughed to himself for a moment before switching to a serious tone. “If you really don’t want people to know I won’t talk about it.”

Shouta stayed silent for a moment, releasing a sigh. “Thank you.” Shouta sounded relieved. He moved himself away from Hizashi’s ear, but kept his arm wrapped around his shoulder. Hizashi leaned into the other man, the cat on his lap shifting uncomfortably and running off.

“You scared off Tuna.” Shouta sounded mildly disappointed.

“Do you know the names of all the cats in here?” Hizashi chuckled.

“...No.” Shouta murmured, telling Hizashi all he needed to know.

Hizashi cupped a hand against Shouta’s check, his stubble poking Hizashi’s hand, and kissed him on the nose. “You’re a dork.”

Shouta smiled softly. “You are too.”

They stayed in the café for as long as they could, but since they had come so late they only got two hours in. They were both satisfied with the amount of time, although Hizashi wished they could have been there for longer, loving to watch Shouta play with the cats. They went back to Shouta’s apartment so Hizashi could collect his things and go.

“Do you want to stay over again?”

Hizashi didn’t expect the question. “Uh, sure! Need help sleeping again?”

Shouta gave him a weird little look. “You could say that.”

It took Hizashi a moment to decipher the words, but once he did he had never been redder in his life.

____________________________________________________________________________

Waking up with Shouta on top of him again was a blessing. Hizashi would give it up for nothing. Hizashi drifted in between sleep and consciousness throughout the morning, only getting up when Shouta woke.

They both had grading they had been putting off, but due to distracting each other with little kisses, it took them the entire day to get it done. Hizashi, unfortunately, had to leave, needing the things in his home to get ready for school tomorrow.

“Before you go,” Shouta stopped him, “we need to figure out what we’re going to do about our coworkers.” Hizashi could tell he had been dreading this conversation.

“What do you want to do?” It would be better for Shouta to decide who they told and didn’t tell with his antisocial nature and his status as an underground hero, despite being in the spotlight lately.

“Let's not tell them. Most thought we were already in a relationship anyways.” Hizashi opened his mouth to speak, but Shouta continued. “Considering we both like each other, spend all our time together, and are actually dating now, I don’t feel the need to announce it, but I’d rather not flaunt it anyways.”

Hizashi nodded. It made sense.

Except for one thing.

“Wait, so people were trying to break us up?”

Shouta stayed quiet for a moment, his cheeks flushing a bit. “They wanted to join us.”

“Oh.” Hizashi’s face flushed as well. They both stood quietly for a moment, before Hizashi gathered up the courage to ask another question. "So what did you tell them?"

Shouta was suddenly very interested in his feet. "I told them we would need some time to think about it. I figured it was a joke about my crush on you, so I didn't think I'd need to explain anything."

Hizashi wasn't really sure what to say. He would have never expected anything like that. They both continued to linger in the doorway, unable to tear themselves away from the other, but unsure of what to say or do.

Shouta finally decided to lean forward and kiss Hizashi on the cheek. “I love you. See you tomorrow. We can talk about it more later, ok?”

“That sounds good. Love you too. Bye Shou.” 

__________________________________________________________________________

Waking up was both easier and harder without Shouta. On the one hand Hizashi could actually get up but on the other hand he didn’t get to cuddle with Shouta.

He definitely preferred the latter.

His usual routine flew by quickly, actually having a little more time than usual. He takes the opportunity to stop at a local café and pick up a coffee and a pastry for himself and Shou. The man needed to eat actual food, so Hizashi was hoping a croissant would appeal to him more than a doughnut.

UA was empty and quiet when Hizashi arrived, his footsteps echoing a little in the hallways. As he approached the Staff room, chatter began to be audible. Standing in front of the door, Hizashi couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded very heated.

Hizashi opened the door. “WHAT!” Nemuri shrieked, scaring Hizashi. Nemuri appeared to be yelling at Shouta, Toshinori being the only thing standing between them.

A modern day angel. Hizashi thought.

Shouta and Toshinori turned their eyes to Hizashi. Nemuri followed their eyes, sending Hizashi a vicious glare. “Hey Mic.” She growled.

“I could have dropped my croissant.” Hizashi mumbled, completely missing the anger in her tone.

“Who cares about your fucking croissant!” Nemuri raged.

“Eraser.” Hizashi said before he could stop himself. That was not the answer one who wanted to live gave. “He never eats so I brought a little extra food.” Hizashi elaborated, hoping it would improve the situation a little bit. Shouta looked at the ground. Hizashi wished he could shove his foot in his mouth.

Nemuri stomped up to Hizashi, grabbed the pastry-bag, and went back to her desk. She did not appear to have any intentions of returning the food, grabbing Hizashi’s doughnut and tearing into it. Hizashi stared at her for a moment, choosing not to comment on her actions or protest her devouring his doughnut. It would be better to sacrifice a few pastries than to deal with an angry Nemuri.

Hizashi turned towards the others. Shouta and Toshinori were awkwardly looking between Nemuri, Hizashi, and themselves. Nedzu, whom Hizashi hadn’t noticed before, looked very amused at the situation. There was no one else here this early.

“Hello Mic,” Nedzu greeted him, “have a nice weekend?” The principal’s eyes had a mischievous gleam to them. He knew. He probably said something, which is probably why Nemuri is currently pissed.

“Yeah,” Hizashi began, “it was pretty relaxing.” He hoped that Nedzu would drop it, or that one of the other three people in the room would interrupt.

Unfortunately, no one did, and so Nedzu continued. “Do anything special?”

Hizashi kind of wanted to die. “...No?...” He wasn’t looking at Shouta, but he knew he hadn’t offended him. If Hizashi had to lie about how amazing his weekend was in order to survive, he knew Shouta wouldn’t try to stop him.

Nedzu let out one of his terrifying grins. “Ok then.” The mysterious creature then walked past Hizashi and exited the room, his tail swishing behind him. The door closed with a click, silence following.

After what felt like hours, Hizashi wandered over to his desk, hoping the relative peace would continue.

Of course it didn’t.

“So Mic.” Nemuri drawled, licking the remnants of his powdered doughnut off of her fingers, “because you so graciously forfeited your food to me, I’m considering letting you live.”

Hizashi wasn’t sure what to say, but luckily Shouta came to his rescue. “It’s not his fault, I wanted to keep quiet about it.” Nemuri ignores this and continues to send death glares Hizashi’s way.

Toshinori stepped forwards. “Let’s settle down.” His voice was stern, but his eyes looked a little hurt.

“No, I wanna know,” Nemuri is pissed, “Why didn’t you tell me you two were dating?”

Hizashi wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and eat him, but unfortunately that did not happen. “I uhh-”

“NO HIZASHI, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?”

“Nemuri, how about we talk about it?” Shouta said, his voice raised a little.

Nemuri glared at Shouta, grumbling underneath her breath. Shouta continued, undaunted by her anger. “I asked Mic not to talk about it because I wasn't ready to tell people, and he didn't know what to do when you said you were going to confess.”

Nemuri looked a little concerned, although she still looked very angry. “It’s ok, I’m happy for you two, but I wish you had told me. I mainly wanted to ask you out as a one time thing anyways.”

Both Shouta and Hizashi sent a little glare at that statement. Nemuri shrugged in response. “You were crying over me.” Shouta stated, clearly exasperated.

“Ok A, I had an amazing plan for our first hookup, and B, I’ve cried over way more ridiculous things.” Nemuri huffed, “Like that turtle. Remember the turtle that wasn’t born with any legs?”

“Are you ok?” Toshinori asked, real concern ringing in his voice.

Shouta took the opportunity to shuffle towards Hizashi, grabbing his arm. “It was Nedzu wasn’t it.” Hizashi whispered. Shouta nodded.

“Lets just let the word spread on its own.” Shouta muttered, clearly annoyed. “Nemuri’s probably already told at least five other people.”

Hizashi chuckled at that. She probably had.

The day went by normally, nothing drastically changing. There were just a few more kisses at the end of the day.

They talked about their relationship and their co-workers a little more. They were all clearly avoiding them, trying to give the two space. Hizashi and Shouta agreed to let their own relationship grow a bit and see how they felt later on. Hizashi was relieved. He wasn't sure how he would handle beginning to date not only one, but at least two of his coworkers within the span of a week.

UA went back to normal within the week, the only change being the Shout and Mute duo were much happier in the end.