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“Thanks, Dad.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Shinsou froze, eyes fixed on the worksheet he’d just gotten Aizawa’s help on. His breath caught in his throat. No one was supposed to know, and he’d gone and blown it. He couldn’t bring himself to look up at his adoptive father’s gaze, fear settling a pit in his stomach-
Laughter startled Shinsou out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head up, glancing around the classroom.
“Did purple hair seriously just call Aizawa-sensei Dad?!”
“Oh my god, Shinsou!”
“Really? Aizawa’s like the absolute least Dad-like person in the whole world!”
“That’s adorable!”
Shinsou chanced a look up at Aizawa, trying to will away his embarrassed flush – but Aizawa wasn’t looking at Shinsou, rather, he was staring out at the rest of his class with a scowl. When the other students saw the look in his eyes, they quieted down.
Midoriya gave Shinsou a sympathetic look. “It’s okay, Shinsou-kun, I’ve uh, I’ve done that a couple times in All Might’s classes…”
“Aw, I’m sorry, Shinsou!” Ashido said, “it’s just so funny to think of Aizawa-sensei as being a parent, like, at all! He’s so serious all the time-“
Aizawa cut her off with a harsh look, before looking back at Shinsou, his glare softening only enough for Shinsou to notice. “Don’t worry about it, Shinsou. It happens. Everyone, get back to work.”
Shinsou took a deep breath, in an attempt to quell the still-rapid beating of his heart. Of course Aizawa wouldn’t be upset. Of course the other students wouldn’t think he meant it literally. No reason to panic.
xx
When Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka approached him during lunch, he felt that panic start to crop up again. He really didn’t need Midoriya prying deeper into this, he was already way too observant for his own good. Except that neither him nor the others seemed to notice that he wasn’t in the mood for talking.
“Shinsou-kun, I’m so sorry about all that!” Uraraka began. “It was so uncool of everyone to laugh at you for that, I’m sure everyone’s called their teacher dad at some point!”
“Correct,” Iida joined in, “It was very rude of our classmates to treat you that way. I’d like to apologize on behalf of class 1-A for-“
“Really, guys, you don’t need to apologize.” Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’d probably laugh too, if it had been anyone else.”
“Oh, well, I’m glad you’re taking it okay, Shinsou-kun! If you want me to punch Bakugou for you, I totally will!”
Shinsou had to laugh at that. If he knew Uraraka, she most certainly would. “Thanks for the offer, but, really, that’s not necessary. I’d… much rather pretend it didn’t happen, if that’s okay with you guys.”
“Sure, Shinsou-kun,” – Shinsou breathed a short sigh of relief, and then – “but,” – there’s always a but – “um, well...”
“Out with it, Midoriya. Don’t leave me hanging here.” Shinsou tried not to let his impatience come through in his words. Against his will, he was getting more and more irritated with the situation. Why couldn’t they just drop it?
“Well, s-see, I kinda got to thinking, and… You and Aizawa-sensei are kind of alike?”
“Oh? How so?” Being adopted, Shinsou wasn’t exactly used to people talking about his similarities to his adoptive parents. Although, that could also be attributed to the fact that no one knew they were his parents. Nevertheless, he found his curiosity piqued at the thought of him somehow resembling his adoptive father.
“Well, you both have long-ish, kind of wild hair... yours sticks up a lot, so it’s more noticeable when Aizawa-sensei is using his quirk, but it’s more than that, too, you’re both tired a lot and you have bags under your eyes, I know you said you have insomnia and Aizawa-sensei seems like he might be kind of narcoleptic with how he sleeps during class sometimes and always has his sleeping bag with him, and even your quirks are kinda similar in that they don’t give you any real fighting ability and you’ve got to work a lot harder to be able to use them for hero work…”
Shinsou was half regretting giving Midoriya a reason to start rambling, though it had certainly opened his eyes a bit. He guessed the look that Todoroki had given him in class after his… slip up, earlier, was one of realization. It’d be funny if the class found out that Aizawa was his father, but thought they were biologically related somehow. He was almost excited to hear conspiracy theories about who his mother could be, considering Aizawa’s complete lack of interest in women, and the fact that he’d been married to Yamada for years now, although no one else knew that little detail either.
He managed to shake himself out of his thoughts when he realized Midoriya was still mumbling about his and Aizawa’s similarities.
“Okay, I uh, I think I get it. We are kinda alike, huh?”
Midoriya blushed at that, cutting himself off, “haha yeah, a little, it just, kinda made sense why you’d call him Dad, if the two of you are similar like that.”
“It would be much the same reason as why Midoriya sees All Might as somewhat of a father figure, as not only do they have similar quirks, but also a similar drive and passion for saving others!”
Midoriya resorted to blushing and stammering to Iida about how he and All Might weren’t really that similar at all, and really, it was just a mistake, but Shinsou wasn’t listening anymore. His thoughts drifted to what he was going to do when he got home that night, how he’d apologize to Aizawa for almost blowing everything in the middle of class, begging him not to kick him out.
Well, maybe not that last part. That was just the side of him that was a little too used to making a mistake and having his foster parents turn on him for good. He’d lost count of just how many times he’d slipped up, and found himself passed along to another family – but he knew Aizawa was different. He knew that he and Yamada weren’t going to give him up. Hell, even if he did blow the secret, they’d probably just shrug it off, with something like ‘they were bound to find out eventually’ and ‘don’t worry about it.’ He didn’t even realize he was smiling until his classmates were asking him why.
xx
That night, at home, Shinsou decided he needed to confront Aizawa about what happened. They’d gone through dinner like nothing had even happened, and Shinsou had been tense all evening. After spending way too long waffling over the decision, and stalling by playing with one of their cats, he strengthened his resolve. Making his way to Aizawa’s office, he hesitated at the threshold. The door was open, and Aizawa was sitting at his desk, grading papers. Shinsou was just about to chicken out, reasoning that he shouldn’t interrupt while he’s working, when Aizawa seemed to read his mind.
“Hitoshi? Everything alright?”
“I, uh, well, not exactly?”
At that, Aizawa turned in his desk chair to fully face him, and beckoned him inside. Hesitantly, Shinsou stepped inside Aizawa’s office, looking anywhere but in his father’s eyes.
“I ah, wanted to apologize, for this afternoon, in class, it just slipped out, and I know the class didn’t really take it seriously, but it could’ve been a lot worse, and if I’d just been a little more careful-“
“Hitoshi, stop that.” Aizawa stood from his chair, walking towards his son.
“But I-“
Aizawa cut off his protesting by pulling him into a tight hug. “Toshi, I’m not upset. We’re only keeping this a secret for your safety, and your classmates knowing doesn’t put you in any danger. The only real danger is if it gets to the general public, and any of my or Hizashi’s enemies try to come after you. Pretty soon, you’ll be strong enough to defend yourself, and you’ll have your provisional license, and even that won’t matter so much anymore.” Aizawa pulled away slightly, tipping Shinsou’s chin up to make their eyes meet. “Even if you slipped up and the whole world found out, I’d never be mad at you for it. Okay?”
Blinking back tears, Shinsou forced himself to nod. “Okay,” and softer, “you’re not mad, it’s okay…”
Pulling away fully, Aizawa ruffled Shinsou’s hair gently. “Better?”
“Much…” He nodded, scrubbing the tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Thanks, Dad.”