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Chapter Text

It was looking like today was going to be a pretty good day for Hizashi. He was currently sitting in the comfiest chair in the faculty lounge, having his favorite lunch, listening to his favorite song on the radio and his friend Nemuri was sitting next to him making idle small talk. He loved days like this, where everything just seemed to fit together, and things felt great. He smiled to himself as he glanced out the window.

Suddenly though he was struck with the weirdest feeling, like his whole outlook shifted, something suddenly seemed very wrong, but he couldn’t place what.
Just then his phone rang, he glanced down, expecting to see Shouta’s name pop up. He and Thirteen were training at the USJ today and Hizashi had asked him to call and update him on how everyone was doing. Instead it was an alert from Nezu. The words Villian Attack flashed in bold black letters on the screen and he almost dropped his phone.
“Hizashi what’s wrong.” Nemuri asked, clearly worried.
“There’s been an attack at the USJ,” Hizashi said, loudly enough that the whole room heard him. The teachers all stood and moved toward the door instantly.
“What happened?” Hizashi heard Snipe call from the front of the group.
“I don’t know, I just got the alert from Nezu.” He explained.
“Aizawa is there,” Cementos commented, “And Thirteen, I am sure their doing everything they can to keep the children safe.” He added.
“Yeah, I am sure they are.” Hizashi mumbled to himself.
“He’ll be fine Hizashi,” Nemuri stepped up to his side as they exited the building.
“You don’t know that. You know how he gets, he’ll push himself to far if there’s children at risk.” He glanced over at her, and she nodded.

The group piled into a bus and took off as fast as they could. Hizashi was unable to shake the dread that had settled in his stomach. Nezu sat at the front of the bus and filled them in on the drive over. All Might was already at the scene, but they would need backup. As far as anyone knew there were at least ten to twenty small time villains.
Hizashi glanced out the window as buildings rushed by. Ten to twenty villains, even if Shouta and Thirteen worked together that was still a crazy amount to take on by themselves, and Thirteen didn’t do hand to hand combat which meant Shouta would be on his own. He didn’t know what any of them would be walking into when they got there, he just hoped that everyone was mostly alright.
Eventually the bus finally pulled up to the building.

“Hizashi, look.” Nemuri grabbed his hand and pointed to the side of the building where a gaping hole had opened.
“You think that was All Might?” She asked, He just shrugged,
“We should get in there and find out.” Snipe commented as the group rushed in the front doors.
When they finally entered the facility Hizashi could hear shouting from down below. Snipe walked past him and immediately into the fray but Hizashi was frozen, to his right was a group of students and on one of their backs was Shouta.

When Hizashi was young there was a little girl that lived next to him, her older brother was a nuisance and was always breaking her favorite doll, Hizashi had tried to fix it for her a few times. He was reminded of that doll now.
Shouta was unconscious, he could tell from his shallow breathing. Both of his arms were broken from the way they were hanging at odd angles. His right arm was covered in blood, as was the small amount of his face that was visible through his hair.
He felt like he was going to be sick, but he knew there were more pressing worries right now. He heard Snipe fire a few rounds and stepped up next to him. He inhaled deeply and put all his anger into the loudest scream he could, his directional speaker blasting it at the villains down below.
He could see All Might with a few other students around him so when he felt that most of the villains in front of him had been knocked down by his sound he took off with a few other teachers to the different parts of the arena. He hoped that helping find the students would take his mind off Shouta, but it didn’t.

Eventually the leaders of the group took off and the police arrived to handle the rest of the situation.
Hizashi hung back for a while with Nemuri, helping the police round up the last of the villains and giving his statement as usual. Once it seemed like everything he needed to help with had been handled he glanced to Nemuri,
“I am gonna go see if I can figure out where they took Shouta.” He said, she looked over to Nezu who was talking with the head detective.
“I’ll come with you.” And they headed off together.
It took some doing but they were finally able to figure out where they needed to go. A paramedic eventually caved and let them know which hospital Thirteen and Aizawa had been taken too. Thankfully it was only a few blocks away and there was enough adrenalin in Hizashis’ system that he could run the distance easily.

When they arrived, things got significantly trickier. Hizashi was neither family nor relative so the nurses refused to give him any information.
“Please, look I know we’re not related but we work together, we were at the same attack, I just want to know if he’s okay.” He pressed.
“Sir, I am sorry, but I am not allowed to pass on any information,”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He shouted a bit louder than he meant to and Nemuri grabbed his hand in an attempt to get him to calm down.
“You’re asking about Shouta Aizawa sir?” Came a voice from behind him. Hizashi spun around to find a doctor staring him down.
“Yes, we work together, I just want to know if he’s okay, please.” The doctor sighed but nodded to them.
“The most I can tell you right now is that he’s in surgery.”
“Surgery?” Hizashi felt his entire body go cold.
“What for?” Nemuri asked.
The doctor sighed and led them to a seating area but Hizashi was to on edge to sit.
“Listen, your pros so I’ll be blunt with you. When Aizawa came in he wasn’t in good shape. Both of his arms are broken, and his right elbow looks partially decomposed. Aside from that he has significant contusions to his skull and his right orbital floor has been shattered.” The doctor explained. Suddenly all Hizashis’ energy drained and he sat down slowly, Nemuri moved to sit beside him.
“His orbital floor?” She asked.
“The bones under his right eye, their pretty badly damaged. As of right now we don’t know what his eyesight will be like when he recovers. If he’s lucky there will be minimal change.” The doctor continued.
“His quirk,” Hizashi started,
“He uses his eyes for his quirk, yes we know. We’re doing everything we can to make sure he doesn’t lose the use of his eyes but it’s going to take some time. Your welcome to wait, right now I have to go check on some other patients.” When neither Hizashi nor Nemuri responded the doctor turned to leave.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, processing the information they’d been given.
“His eyes Nemuri.” Hizashi finally said.
“I know.” She said quietly, and they lapsed into silence again.

They waited for a long time, Hizashi would stand and pace for a few minutes then return to the chair next to Nemuri. He repeated this process three more times before the doctor finally emerged from behind a set of doors at the end of the hall.
“Hizashi,” Nemuri elbowed him to get his attention and they both glanced down the hallway. The doctor was talking to someone else and they both kept glancing at Hizashi and Nemuri.
“What are they looking at, why don’t they just come talk to us?” Hizashi questioned. Eventually the doctor made his way back to them.
“Is everything okay?” Nemuri asked, concern clearly evident in her voice. The seconds it took the doctor to respond were murder on Hizashi.
“He’s out of surgery and stable but he’s not conscious yet. We did the best we could with his eye but there’s no way to know until he wakes up and even then, it’ll take a few weeks for the wound to heal properly before he’s back to normal.” The doctor explained.
“Can we see him?” Hizashi was up and moving down the hall before the doctor even responded.
“I am not sure it’s a good idea,” Hizashi stopped and spun on his heel coming face to face with the doctor.
“Sir, you’re going to let me see him.” He was done playing games, he just wanted to see Shouta.
The doctor sighed and didn’t say anything but moved in front of Hizashi and led he and Nemuri down the hall.
“Like I said earlier he’s not conscious and we’re not sure when he’ll wake up.” The doctor stopped in front of a closed door.
“You can’t stay long, I’ll be back soon to check on him.” Then he turned and left.
Hizashi took a second to collect himself, then took a breath and opened the door.
“Oh, god.” Nemuri grabbed Hizashis’ hand tightly as they stood in the doorway.
Shouta was lying on the hospital bed, completely covered in bandages. Both of his arms were wrapped along with most of his face.
It took every ounce of composure Hizashi had not to scream or cry. Instead he walked up to the bed, Nemuri trailing behind him. He stepped right up next to Shouta and placed a hand on his arm.
“I am so sorry.” He whispered to him, he didn’t know what else to say.
“The kids are safe Shouta, everyone is alright and your safe, you just have to wake up now, so they can check on your eyes. You’re gonna be okay.” Hizashi wasn’t sure why he was talking, he wasn’t sure Shouta could hear him anyway, but he felt like he should tell him.
Machines beeped steadily in the room and when Hizashi glanced around he saw Shouta’s capture scarf lying on a tray, it was torn and bloodied and just made his heart ache.
Nemuri stood beside him for a while but he could tell she wasn’t comfortable and eventually she left to wait outside.
“I can’t stay here tonight Shouta, but I promise I’ll be back first thing tomorrow. You’re gonna be awake then and we’re gonna talk okay?” He hoped that if Shouta could hear him that he’d hear his conviction and it would help him wake up.
It took everything in him to walk away but he knew there was nothing he could do for him right now, hopefully by tomorrow things would be better.
They left before the doctor ever came back but he made sure to tell the nurses on the way out that he would be back tomorrow morning, he didn’t want a repeat of tonight, they would let him in the next time.

He didn’t sleep much that night, a bit of his heart felt empty and he couldn’t get the image of Shouta, small, broken and bandaged out of his head.

Chapter Text

Nemuri found him back at the hospital the next afternoon. He’d pulled up a chair next to Shouta’s bed and had taken up residence there.
“Hey, how is he?” She asked as she knocked gently on the door. Hizashi sighed and turned to her,
“The doctors say his vitals are better today than they were yesterday so that’s a plus, he still hasn’t woken up though.” He explained.
“You know Shouta, any chance he gets to sleep he’s gonna take it.” Nemuri said with a laugh, and Hizashi chuckled with her,
“Yeah, but it’s important that he wakes up,” He turned back to Shouta, “It’s important that you wake up Sho, they have to check your eyes.” He told him.
“They still don’t know how they are?” Nemuri asked.
“All I can get out of them was that the surgery was successful and they were able to repair the bones as best they could but there’s no guarantee his eyes will be normal anymore.” Nemuri nodded and placed a hand on Hizashi’s back.
“He’ll wake up soon, he’s probably missing you anyway.” She smiled but Hizashi didn’t return it, he was to nervous.

Nemuri stayed for a while and filled Hizashi in on everything that had been going on with the school. They’d canceled classes for the rest of the week, hoping to give 1-A and the rest of the school a chance to come to terms with everything. She also told him everything they’d found so far on the group that instigated the attack, or the League of Villains as they were calling themselves.
Eventually they’d exhausted all lines of conversation and Nemuri left letting Hizashi know to call her if anything happened.

Hizashi sat for another few hours, he dozed off for a while, and when he woke it was dark outside. He tried to watch the news but he couldn’t listen to all the details of the attack over and over again.
Soon hunger won out and he had to leave to go get food.
When he came back there was a group of doctors and nurses piling into Shouta’s room and Hizashi ran the last few feet to the door, his mind thinking the worst.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” He pushed into the room despite protests.
“He’s awake, but he’s confused, we’re just trying to get him to calm down.” One of the doctors explained.
It was then that he heard muffled shouts and grunts coming from the bed.
“Of course he’s confused, he woke up with his face wrapped in bandages, wouldn’t you be confused?” He snapped at the doctor.
“Move, let me see him, Shouta!” Hizashi pushed a few more people aside till he stood next to the bed again. He grabbed at his arms as best he could,
“Sho, hey It’s me, It’s Zashi, you’re okay alright, but you have to calm down your gonna hurt yourself.” He raised his voice enough so he could hear him through the bandages. At once he stilled and his face turned to find Hizashi.
“I am right here.” He said, trying to help him lock onto his voice. “Shouta, you’re in the hospital okay, they took you here after the attack. Everyone is safe though okay, the kids are fine, and you’re gonna be okay, you just have to calm down and let the doctors look at you alright?” He watched as Shouta took a few steadying breaths and then nodded.
“Alright, do whatever you need to do. I am gonna stay right here okay.” He directed the last part at Shouta, letting him know he wasn’t going to leave.

Most of the doctors filed out of the room, the few that remained removed the bandages from his arms to check and clean his wounds and then wrapped them back up.
“Mr. Aizawa, we’re going to take the bandages off your face now, you should close your eyes so the light doesn’t hurt them.”
Hizashi watched closely as the doctor slowly removed the bandages from around Shouta’s face. As they fell away he could see a line of stitches under his right eye.
The doctor moved to the large window and drew the blinds closed leaving only the light in the ceiling to illuminate the room.
“Alright, I’d like you to slowly open your eyes for us please.” He asked.
Hizashi’s eyes never left Shouta’s. The doctor had told him before that they wouldn’t know the extent of the damage to Shouta’s eyes until he could open them. This was it, he either had sight or he didn’t and the ball of nerves in Hizashi’s stomach griped him tight.
Very slowly Shouta cracked his eyes open, he blinked a few times then opened them a bit more. He repeated this process a few times before his eyes were fully open. They were still red and bloodshot but otherwise they looked the same.
“Tell me about what you see Mr. Aizawa, is your vision blurry, be as specific as you can please.”
Shouta moved his eyes around the room, taking in the scene around him, eventually his gaze landed on Hizashi where it stayed.
“I can see, not clearly though, things are blurry.” Hizashi kept his eyes locked on his.
“This is going to sound redundant but how blurry?” The doctor asked.
“Like everything has a fuzzy outline.”
The doctor nodded and made a few notes.
“I am going to be perfectly blunt with you Mr. Aizawa, you can be very lucky that you’re not blind right now.”
Shouta’s gaze moved to focus on the doctor.
“You came in with a shattered Orbital Floor, the surgery we had to perform was incredibly intricate. As of now we were able to reconstruct the bone by placing a small metal plate beneath your eye.” The doctor pointed to the stitches running under Shouta’s eye.
“It’s entirely possible that you won’t be able to use your quirk for long extended periods of time anymore, these are all things we’ll have to test for later. For now, I highly recommend against using your quirk, at least for the next few weeks until your stitches heal. Unfortunately, you’ll also need to keep the bandages on for a while, that wound needs time to heal. As for your arms they were both broken pretty badly. Your right elbow was partially decomposed so you’re going to have a nasty scar. However, with some time and a few treatments from Recovery Girl they should be better.”
The doctor moved about the room collecting a few things.
“I have a few other patients to check in on. I’ll give you some time to soak in everything I’ve said. When I come back we’ll have to do some tests to check your eyesight.” And with that he left.

The two heroes sat in silence for a while.
“I guess this is how Midoriya feels when I scold him for using his quirk and breaking all his bones.” Shouta said without the slightest hint of amusement. Hizashi, however, cracked out in a smile and laughed.
“Shouta did you just make a joke?” He asked, Shouta merely shrugged.
“So how long have I been out for?” Shouta asked, changing the subject quickly.
“Only a day, I figured it’d be a while till you woke up, after,” Hizashi paused and glanced at the bandages and wounds littering Shouta’s body.
“Well, after everything.” He finished.
“What happened after I,” Shouta left the statement hanging, not quite sure how to end it.
“What was the last thing you remember?” Hizashi asked quickly.
Shouta thought for a minute, there was a lot about that day that was fuzzy, pieces he couldn’t remember.
“I remember, taking the kids to the USJ, All Might didn’t show up, then the villains attacked. The last thing I remember that massive bird thing had me.” He stopped and Hizashi watched as his eyes glossed over for a second.
“What the hell was that thing Hizashi?” When Shouta’s eyes met his he almost lost his breath. If Hizashi didn’t know any better he’d have thought Shouta looked scared, terrified even, but Shouta was never scared, at least not that he showed so clearly.
“The most we know is it’s some kind of genetically altered being. Apparently, it has multiple quirks which made it almost unbeatable.” Hizashi didn’t really know what to say, they didn’t have to much information on the thing yet.
“Did they catch it?” Shouta asked.
“Yeah, All Might blasted the thing through the roof of the USJ, it landed in a forest a few miles away, the police captured it and they have it secure.” He explained, adding a little punch to the air for emphasis.
“Asui!” Hizashi’s eyes grew large at Shouta’s sudden outburst.
“What about her?” He asked
“That guy with the hands was going after her, he was about to touch her, he was going to, do whatever the hell he did to my arm to her. I tried to stop him.” There was worry written clearly on his face and Hizashi stood quickly and moved closer to his bedside to calm him down.
“Asui is fine Sho, all the kids are fine. You must have disabled his quirk at the last second because she’s okay.” He put a hand tentatively on his shoulder.
“You did save your class Shouta. Sure All Might came in and did his bit in the end but, if you wouldn’t have taken out all those thugs to begin with, they would have gone after the kids. They’re alright because of you.”
Shouta stared at him for a while and Hizashi could see the gears turning in his head as he absorbed his words.
“What’s the school doing?” He asked finally, Hizashi nodded and sat back down, not willing to push his luck.
“Their giving the kids some time off to rest up and try and wrap their heads around it all.” Hizashi told him.
“The Sports Festival is coming up.” Shouta said absentmindedly.
“Yeah, they’re still going through with it. They just emailed me today asking me to commentate actually.”
“I’ll have to be with the kids.” Shouta said.
“Um, no, absolutely not, there’s no way you’ll be healed in time to go back.” Hizashi said.
“Well I am not just gonna sit here, someone has to be there for them, to explain to them what all is at stake.” Hizashi could tell this was a sore subject. Shouta hated being in hospitals, one time he broke his leg and refused to stay so it could heal, he spent a week hobbling around and telling everyone he was fine. He was horribly stubborn and Hizashi knew if he had his way he’d be leaving tomorrow.
“Shouta, you should rest, you got some serious injury’s this time, the doctors said they didn’t know,” Hizashi coughed and cleared the lump from his throat.
“The doctors didn’t know if you would make it when they brought you in, or if you’d ever see again. You got lucky but you need to rest.” He finished quietly.
“Your friend’s right.” Both men glanced up to the door as the doctor walked back in.
“What’s the earliest I can leave?” Shouta said. Hizashi and the doctor sighed.
“We need to run some tests on your eyes, you must rest them so they can heal. If your tests come up okay, and you have someone who can look after you, then I suppose you can leave tomorrow.” The doctor said. Shouta glanced at Hizashi expectantly.
It wasn’t out of the norm for one of them to stay at the others place if they needed help after a particularly nasty injury. When Hizashi broke his arm last summer Shouta spent a few days at his place to help him with things.
“Yeah, alright, I’ll go pack a bag or two.” Hizashi stood and made to turn for the door when he felt something bump against his wrist, he turned to see Shouta’s bandaged hand reaching out for his.
“Thanks Zashi.” He said quietly, Hizashi nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

When he got outside he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called Nemuri.
“Heellooo!” She answered brightly on the other end.
“Hey, it’s me, Shouta woke up a little while ago.” He heard Nemuri gasp.
“Oh my god, and is he, I mean, can he?”
“He’s not blind, he said his vision was fuzzy so their running some tests but it sounds like he’s gonna be okay.” Hizashi told her.
“Oh, that’s so great, thank gosh. Now let me guess, he’s trying to commandeer a wheelchair as we speak, telling everyone he’s ‘totally fine’.” She imitated Shouta’s monotone voice at the end and Hizashi laughed.
“Just about. The doctor talked him into staying the night, he’s leaving tomorrow though.”
“How’s he going to do anything with his face and arms bandaged like that?” Nemuri asked. Hizashi was silent for a few seconds.
“You told him you’d look after him, didn’t you?” She said, her voice rising an octave.
“Well it was either that or let him walk around like a mummy, and you know he’d do it too.” Nemuri laughed on the other end.
“Hizashi, why don’t you just tell him?” She blurted out. Nemuri had no filter, which most of the time didn’t bother Hizashi but then she was brutally honest with him and he’d rather she not be.
“Nemuri, he just woke up from a hellish fight, he’s got crazy injuries, he needs to focus on healing, not on me or my feelings about him.” Nemuri sighed impatiently.
“I wish you’d just get it over with already, I told you I am sure he feels the same way.” She said.
“Well look, I am not risking it, not right now. Maybe after this is all over.”
“Sure, Zashi.” He could almost hear her roll her eyes.
“Look, I have to go pack, it’s probably gonna be a long stay.” Hizashi said as he stepped onto the train that would take him to his neighborhood.
“Alright, maybe I’ll swing by and visit tomorrow.”
Hizashi gave a noncommittal response and hung up the phone as he sat down and the train lurched forward.

He hated when Nemuri brought up his feelings for Shouta. Years ago, when they were in High School and his crush on his friend had developed Nemuri was the only person he trusted enough to tell. Now, years later, and she was still bringing it up, doing everything she could to push the two of them together. She swore that Shouta felt the same but Hizashi had a hard time agreeing with her. While he and Shouta were incredibly close, and had been for years, Hizashi had never seen Shouta in a relationship with anyone else. It got to the point where he just figured it was one of those things that Shouta dubbed ‘irrational’ and that he didn’t want a relationship with anyone. Hizashi tried to put his feelings aside, to come to terms with it and for the most part he had, but when things like the villain attack happened, every single ounce of those feelings came rushing back. He didn’t want to lose Shouta, he was his best friend, and had been since they’d met. Shouta meant everything to him and he didn’t want to ruin that relationship by confessing his love to him when Shouta clearly didn’t feel the same way.
Hizashi swallowed another lump forming in his throat and stood as the train reached his stop.
The night was clear when he stepped out onto the sidewalk, peaceful, betraying the tumult of emotions swirling in his head.
He’d move in with Shouta for a while until he could do things on his own again, he was just being helpful, that’s what friends did. However, he couldn’t stop his heart from beating a little faster at the prospect of spending so much time with Shouta, but he didn’t try to stop it.

Hizashi arrived at the hospital early the next morning, he knew Shouta would want to leave as soon as he could.
He met the doctor at the front desk and spent about twenty minutes going over everything he needed to know.
Shouta’s tests had come back clear the night before, the bandages still had to stay in place to keep the stitches from breaking but they’d rearranged them so that he could start to use his eyes again and they could begin to heal. His arms were another story, most of the bones had been pretty badly snapped or shattered and his right elbow was a mess of scar tissue. Unfortunately, that meant his hands and arms had to stay bandaged at least for the next few days. He was told that Recovery girl was with Shouta now giving him a treatment for his arms so that he could at least move them, but it would take a few more and a lot of healing before they were recovered enough for him to use regularly. Until that time, they both had to remain in slings and the wound on his elbow needed to be cleaned and re dressed every few hours.
After signing some papers and collecting a bag of medical supplies and a few pill bottles the doctor let Hizashi back to Shouta’s room. As he rounded the door to his room he was so distracted by all the thoughts running through his head he almost ran right into Recovery Girl,
“Chiyo!” He reached his hands out to steady her but she beamed up at him anyway.
“Hizashi, good morning!” She gave his arm a pat as he stepped aside.
“How’s our patient?” He asked, glancing back at Shouta who was lying in the hospital bed, wearing his hero uniform. He had his eyes closed, Hizashi knew he was awake though, he could tell by his breathing.
“Oh, he’s doing alright, a little worse for wear but soon, he’ll be back to his usual self.” She commented.
“I hear you’ll be taking care of him for the next few days.” She said, quirking her eyebrow at him.
“Yes Ma’am!”
“Well, just make sure he rests as much as he can.” She said gently.
“I’ll do my best.” Hizashi nodded.
“I know Shouta can be stubborn when it comes to injury’s but he listens to you.” She gave his arm another pat and smiled.
“You flatter me Chiyo, he doesn’t listen that well though, if he did he’d be staying here instead of going home.”
“You both do know that I can hear you right? It was my eyes that were damaged, not my ears.” Shouta grumbled from the bed.
“Well Hizashi is right, you should be staying here to let the doctors take care of you. As it is your lucky you have someone like Hizashi who’s willing to care for you.” Chiyo scolded. Shouta cracked an eye open and stared at them.
“Now, I must be off, meetings for the sports festival. I’ll see you tomorrow Shouta.” She smiled at him then turned to whisper to Hizashi “Take good care of him.” And then she slipped around the door.
“Why is everyone scolding me lately?” Shouta asked.
“How’s it feel to be on the receiving end of grumpy people?” Hizashi fired back, moving to sit on the end of his bed.
“Awful.” Shouta answered.
“Now think about how your class feels.” Shouta glared at him but Hizashi just smirked and gave him a quick wink.
“So, the doctor said their letting the bandages off your eyes now.” Hizashi remarked, Shouta nodded.
“They said they’ll heal quicker if I use them but only in little bits at a time, I still have to rest them.” He explained.
“Well that shouldn’t be any trouble for you, you love to rest your eyes.” Hizashi leaned back and smiled at him and Shouta offered a small smile back.
“Hizashi,” Shouta started. He wanted to say something Hizashi could see the thoughts forming behind his eyes so he waited patiently.
“Chiyo is right, I am lucky that you’re willing to look after me. I know I said it yesterday but, thank you.” He wouldn’t look Hizashi in the eye so he didn’t see the blush that was creeping up Hizashi’s cheeks.
“No problem Sho, that’s what friends are for right?” He said simply. Shouta nodded, his eyes finally meeting Hizashi’s. There were still things he wanted to say, Hizashi could tell, but he couldn’t read his face clearly enough with the bandages to know what they were. He opened his mouth to speak again but the doctor knocked on the door, cutting him off.
“Alright Mr. Aizawa, I just need you to take a look at a few forms and you’re free to go.” The doctor walked a over to the bed and went over an abridged version of everything he’d told Hizashi earlier. Since Shouta couldn’t use his hands to sign is own name the doctor made a quick X on the line stating that Shouta had been released.
“Best of luck.” He said, looking over to Hizashi.
“Remember you do need to come back in a few days to have your eyes reexamined.” The doctor nodded at the both of them and then turned to leave.
“Alright, you ready?” Hizashi asked, standing up and holding his hands out to Shouta. He nodded and stood up slowly his legs a little unsteady beneath him. Hizashi placed his hands gently under Shouta’s arms, trying to steady him without getting to close to the wound on his right elbow. Once he got his balance Hizashi let go and allowed him to take a few steps towards the door
Hizashi walked next to him as they made their way through the hallways, he waved to the nurse at the front desk as they passed and headed to the front door.
“Oh, Shouta wait!” They stopped and Shouta turned back to him.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I figured your eyes would still be pretty sensitive and, well I didn’t want the sun to hurt them so, I got you these.” Hizashi fished in his jacket pocket for a second then pulled out a pair of silver sunglasses and showed them to Shouta.
He glared at them for a second, almost as if he were scared they would bite him, but then Hizashi watched as his face softened and he nodded.
“Thanks.” He mumbled. Hizashi grinned and slipped them gently on his face, being careful not to bump the bandages.
“You may look like a mummy but now you look like a stylish mummy!” He proclaimed as they stepped out into the sun.
“Well thank goodness for that.” Shouta grunted, Hizashi laughed at his comment as they made their way to his car.

Chapter Text

The ride back to Shouta’s apartment was quiet. Hizashi normally had music playing but he opted to keep the radio off this time. He could tell Shouta had closed his eyes the second they started moving and he didn’t want to disturb him if he was resting.
When they finally got to their destination Hizashi grabbed his bags from the trunk and then opened the passenger door for Shouta. He helped him out of the car, careful of his arms, both in slings now, and they made their way up to his apartment.
Hizashi used his spare key, which Shouta had given him for emergencies, to let himself in.
“Do you mind?” Shouta asked, gesturing as well as he could to the sunglasses still perched on his face. Hizashi laughed,
“Oh yeah.” And slipped them back off, lying them on the small table next to the door.
Shouta immediately made his way to his bedroom and Hizashi moved to the spare room to put his things away.

A few years ago, Hizashi had started crashing at Shouta’s place after particularly long patrols. Hizashi’s place was further away than Shouta’s and sometimes he was to tired to make his way home. He’d also come over a few times to patch Shouta up after a particularly nasty villain fight and Shouta had done the same for him once or twice. Eventually Shouta told him it was irrational for him to continue crashing on his couch so one day he helped Hizashi lug his old futon up to his apartment so that he’d have a place to sleep.
Hizashi moved about the small room now, pulling the futon out so it lay flat. The spare room didn’t have much in the ways of furniture. Aside from the bed there was a nightstand and a small chest of drawers. Hizashi had also bought a nice mirror second hand and hung it up on the wall.
Once he’d gone about putting all his things away he made his way to the kitchen to see what there was to eat.
He figured Shouta hadn’t had a decent meal in a while and he knew he hadn’t gotten anything good from the hospital. He had decided to make him something good for dinner but as he looked at the meager contents of Shouta’s refrigerator he realized he would have to go get some food first.
He made his way quietly into Shouta’s bedroom and found him lying on the bed.
“Hey Shouta?” He whispered, Shouta grunted, clearly not asleep.
“You don’t have much in the way of food, so I am gonna run and pick some stuff up. You need anything before I go?” He asked.
“I am fine.” Was his response.
“I’ll probably have to change the bandages on your arms when I get back.” Hizashi added.
“Alright.” Hizashi could tell Shouta was tired so he decided to leave and let him sleep.

About an hour later Hizashi made his way back to Shouta’s apartment. He let himself in and busied himself with putting away all the food he’d picked up. When he finished he decided he really should wake Shouta and change his bandages.

Shouta’s bedroom was dark, as it usually was, the curtains permanently drawn. Hizashi made his way over to his bed and shook him gently. He jumped when Shouta shot bolt upright, almost as if he was about to attack Hizashi.
“Hey, it’s just me, sorry, I was trying to wake you up gently.” Hizashi held his hands in front of him.
“Sorry Hizashi, you just surprised me.” Shouta settled back in bed and Hizashi walked closer to him.
“I have to change the bandages on your arms.” He said simply, nodding toward the bathroom.
“Yeah, alright.” Shouta said with a sigh.
Hizashi led the way to the bathroom with Shouta following close behind. Hizashi moved about, collecting all the items the doctor had given him while Shouta sat on the closed toilet seat.
Once he had everything he needed Hizashi moved to stand next to Shouta and began pealing the bandages off.
He started with his left arm which, while it still had multiple scrapes and gashes didn’t look to bad. He cleaned the wounds, apologizing when Shouta winced a few times. When he finished he wrapped the arm up again and then moved to his right.
Hizashi had seen the wounds on this arm before at the hospital but he hadn’t realized at the time how bad it really was. It wasn’t the minor gashes that shocked him most, it was the massive patch of scar tissue on his elbow that he couldn’t stop staring at.
“It was his quirk.” Shouta said, Hizashi’s eyes snapped to his as he spoke.
“It’s some kind of decay or decomposition quirk. All he did was touch me and it was like my elbow just started to fall away.”
“That’s awful.” Hizashi responded. He wasn’t sure what else to say. It looked painful and he did his best to be gentle as he cleaned the fresh skin and re bandaged it.
When he finished he sat down on the floor and stared at Shouta.
“Are you okay?” He asked bluntly.
“In what sense? I am covered in bandages in case you couldn’t tell.”
Hizashi shook his head and scoffed at Shouta’s sarcasm.
“No, I don’t mean physically, obviously I know your pretty beat up, I mean, how are you dealing with all this. I can’t imagine how it must have felt going through all that.” Hizashi said, looking up at his face, Shouta’s eyes just peeking out from behind the bandages.
“I am fine Hizashi, honestly. It’s our job to be in less than ideal situations. It’s not the first villain attack I’ve experienced.” He said with a shrug.
“Alright.” He sounded convincing so Hizashi dropped the conversation.
“I am making you some actual food for dinner okay?” He said as he stood and followed Shouta back into the bedroom.
“Let me know when it’s done. You know where I’ll be.” Hizashi watched and Shouta maneuvered himself back into bed and closed his eyes.

The next time Shouta woke up he could tell it was early evening. The smell of food wafted into his room and he swore he could hear Hizashi laughing with someone in the kitchen. He could feel his stomach clench at the thought of food, he couldn’t remember the last time he had a decent meal. He was also genuinely curious about who Hizashi was talking to, so he stood up from the bed as best he could and made his way into the kitchen.
“Well if it isn’t mummy man himself!” Nemuri said, walking over to give Shouta a hug. He winced a bit and she stepped back. Shouta watched as she took everything in.
“I am really glad your okay Shouta.” She said honestly.
“Thanks.” He muttered. “Hizashi didn’t say anything about you coming over.” He added, tossing a glare at Hizashi.
“In my defense she just kind of, showed up.” Hizashi said with a shrug as he moved about the kitchen.
“Well Hizashi told me you were being released and I had to come see how you were doing.” She said, walking with Shouta over to the small kitchen table.
They sat together and chatted for a bit while Hizashi worked on dinner. Shouta watched how Hizashi moved around his kitchen, effortlessly, as though it was his own. It twisted something in his heart, so he closed his eyes and focused back on what Nemuri was talking about instead.
Eventually Hizashi presented each of them with a plate of food and settled next to Shouta at the table. Nemuri and Hizashi started eating but Shouta simply stared at the food, unsure of what to do next.
“Hizashi?” He said finally. Hizashi glanced up at him mid bite and suddenly realized the issue.
“Oh, crap, um.” For a second Hizashi wasn’t sure how to respond, Nemuri giggled.
“Hizashi, you made him a dinner he can’t even eat?” She laughed.
“I forgot! I am sorry Shouta, um, I can,” Shouta watched as his cheeks turned pink.
“I can feed it to you, if you want that is.” He ducked his gaze and Shouta could feel Nemuri smiling next to him.
“You’ll have to break your arms more often Shouta, this I have to see.”
“Shut it Nemuri.” Hizashi snapped.
Shouta wasn’t sure how to answer any of this, he couldn’t use his hands to eat though as they were all bandaged up.
“Yeah, alright.” He said finally. Logically he didn’t have any other choice, he had to eat, and he couldn’t use his arms so this was his only option.
Hizashi picked up Shouta’s fork and speared a bit of the steak he’d grilled off then presented it to Shouta. Shouta leaned forward and took a bite trying not to listen to Nemuri sigh next to him.
“How romantic.” She fanned herself and Shouta watched as Hizashi shot her a dirty look which only made her laugh more.
“Oh alright, continue feeding your boy Zashi.” She waved a hand at them dismissively and went back to her own plate.
“Sorry Shouta.” Hizashi whispered again.
“It’s fine.” He took another bite and did his best to offer Hizashi a smile.
“It tastes great, thank you.” Hizashi beamed at him.

When the three of them had finished Nemuri helped Hizashi clean up and they moved to the living room. Shouta sat on the sofa with Hizashi curled up on the opposite side and Nemuri perched on one of the chairs.
“So, I hear your commentating for the Sports Festival again this year.” Nemuri commented.
“Like they’d ever bother asking anyone else.” Shouta mumbled.
“Suppose you’ll have to watch it on TV this year huh?” Nemuri said.
“Why? Shouta asked.
“Well you’re not planning on being there.” She glanced at Hizashi who just shook his head.
“I am planning on being there when the kids go back.” Shouta said, matter of fact.
“Shouta that’s 4 days from now, there’s no way you’ll be in good enough shape to be back.” She countered.
“Hizashi please tell me you’re not letting him do this.” Nemuri looked at Hizashi again but he just shrugged.
“I’ll be fine Nemuri, I know what my limits are. I have sessions with Recovery girl the next few days, I won’t be back to normal no, but I’ll be healed enough that I can be there for my students.”
Nemuri sighed and shook her head.
“I think you’re crazy, but I know you won’t listen to reason so, I guess I’ll see you on Monday.” She stood and turned to Hizashi,
“It’s late, my patrol starts in an hour. Good luck with that one.” She pointed at Shouta who simply rolled his eyes.
“See ya Nemuri.” He waved as she stepped out the door.

For a while the two of them sat in silence. Hizashi knew Shouta was going to get back to work as soon as he could, he never had any illusions about that. However, that didn’t mean he had to like the idea of it.
“You know, I could use a partner for the Sports Festival.” Hizashi said finally. Shouta turned and looked at him.
“Don’t you normally do the commentary by yourself?” He asked.
“Well yeah but, it’s gotten kinda boring in past years. I could use someone to buddy up with, so it’s not just me talking.” He could see Shouta thinking about it, weighing the options in his head.
“I guess I can do that.” He said finally. Hizashi smiled brightly.
“Great! I’ll email the principal first thing tomorrow.” He said.
Shouta stood and started moving towards his bedroom.
“Hey Shouta.” Hizashi called after him. Shouta turned and met his gaze.
“Thanks.”
He simply nodded and closed the door behind him.

It was a few hours before Hizashi finally ran out of energy and crashed for the night. Plus, the Futon mattress wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep so it took him a while to get settled.
When he did finally get to sleep he was woken up only a few hours later by grunts and a considerable crash.
He shot out of bed and spared a glace at the clock which read three fifteen. Hizashi scrambled out of his room and to the source of the noise coming from Shouta’s room.
“Shouta?” He called and pulled the door open.
“Shit!” Shouta was sitting upright in bed, eyes staring at the wall in front of him, his quirk fully activated. His hair moved slowly above his head and his eyes glowed a faint red in the darkness.
Hizashi rushed over to him and tried to get him to break his concentration.
“Shouta, you can’t use your quirk, your gonna hurt your eyes.” He told him. He didn’t want to scream or startle him any worse, but he had to wake him up as he was clearly still dreaming.
“Sho please, I don’t know what it is you think you see but let it go, your gonna hurt yourself.” Hizashi placed his hands on his shoulders and shook him gently, trying to make eye contact with him.
“Come on Sho.” He crawled on the bed and knelt in front of him, trying desperately to shake him awake.
Eventually he snapped out of it, finally blinking, his hair falling around his shoulders again.
“Shouta, hey are you okay?” Hizashi asked, his hands holding his shoulders gently.
Shouta squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds and when he opened them again Hizashi could see how dry they were. It took him a second but eventually Shouta focused on Hizashi in front of him.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“What am I doing?” What are you doing?” Hizashi countered. “I heard grunting and a crash and when I come in here your using your quirk on that very threatening wall behind me.” He explained.
Shouta was silent for a few minutes.
“I was just dreaming.” He said finally.
“About what?” Hizashi asked.
Shouta shook his head and moved out of Hizashi’s grasp.
“Nothing don’t worry about it.” He laid back down and Hizashi moved to sit on the side of the bed.
“Your eyes Sho.” He said quietly.
“Their fine, just dry, I can still see okay.” He closed his eyes and Hizashi took that as his cue to leave. He stood up and moved to the door, but he turned back around and watched Shouta for a few more minutes, making sure he fell asleep again before he left.

The next two days went by fairly quickly and before Hizashi knew it, it was Sunday.
Recovery girl had been over every day giving Shouta his treatments and while his body seemed to be getting better physically Hizashi could see that mentally Shouta was struggling.
Every night Hizashi was woken up by Shouta shouting in his sleep and every night he raced to his room, only to find him dreaming. Thankfully he hadn’t used his quirk since the incident a few days ago but it didn’t make Hizashi worry any less.
Shouta refused to talk to him about it though. Every night when Hizashi would finally wake him up he would just tell him he was fine and leave it at that.

On Sunday Hizashi spent most of the day helping Shouta send emails to the Principal and get lesson plans together, as he still fully intended to go back to work the next day no matter how many times Hizashi had tried to convince him otherwise.
Recovery girl came over later that evening for another of Shouta’s treatments and Hizashi sat at the kitchen table, working at his laptop while they finished in the living room.
“You have healed up quicker than I expected so that’s a good thing.” Chiyo said from her spot next to Shouta on the sofa.
“Can I take these bandages off yet?” Shouta asked. Chiyo sighed and was silent for a minute as she thought.
“You can leave them off when your home, but if you really are planning on going back to work tomorrow I want them back on, you don’t need to exacerbate your injuries.” She explained.
“All I really want is to be able to get a bath.” Shouta grumbled.
“Hey, I told you I’d be more than happy to give you a sponge bath.” Hizashi called from the kitchen, throwing Shouta a wink when he turned to glare at him. Hizashi felt his cheeks heating at the thought of helping Shouta with a bath.
Slowly Chiyo removed the bandages from Shouta’s arms and face. Hizashi watched closely, almost dazed as Shouta’s skin was revealed. Not that he hadn’t seen him when he changed his bandages, but he’d gotten so used to the image of Shouta covered in bandages that he almost forgot what he looked like.
The cuts and gashes on his arms had almost gone apart from the large patch on his right elbow which Chiyo said would probably never totally heal. The line of stitches under his right eye looked less red. Shouta had an appointment at the hospital at the end of the week to get them removed and to have his eyes reexamined.
Hizashi watched as Shouta flexed and twisted his arms, testing his range of motion.
“Thank you.” He said to Chiyo, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. She smiled and shooed him away.
“Flattery will get you nowhere Shouta Aizawa, I am still not pleased that your returning to work so early.” She called after him as he moved to the bathroom. He just let out a chuckle and closed the door behind him.
“Alright then,” She said with a sigh “Come over here and tell me what it is you’ve been worrying about for the past half hour.” She turned to face Hizashi who gaped at her.
“I can see your wheels turning so get over here Yamada.”
He sighed but stood and moved to sit next to her on the sofa anyway.
“Shouta hasn’t been sleeping well lately.” He said simply
“That’s unlike him.” Chiyo said
“I know. He keeps waking up in the middle of the night shouting. He’s having these dreams, but he won’t tell me what their about.” He explained.
“It’s not surprising. What Shouta went through was brutal, even for a pro, I would be surprised if he wasn’t having some issues dealing with it honestly.” She put a hand on Hizashi’s knee and smiled at him.
“He’ll talk to you though, just keep at him. What he needs right now is someone to rely on and he has that with you.” Hizashi sighed, he hoped she was right.

He walked Chiyo to the door then set about making dinner again.
By the time he was done Shouta finally emerged from the bathroom and Hizashi tried his absolute best not to stare as he moved about the apartment in nothing but a towel slung low on his hips.
Considering the amount of damage his body took Shouta didn’t look any worse for wear. There were a few telling bruises scattered across his chest and the two scars on his elbow and under his eye but otherwise you’d never know that just a few days ago he was fighting for his life.
“Are you okay?” Shouta asked, snapping Hizashi out of his thoughts. It seemed despite his best efforts, he was caught staring.
“Yeah just,” He swallowed audibly and could swear he saw a light blush rise on Shouta’s cheeks.
“Chiyo was right, you’ve healed up pretty quickly.” Shouta simply nodded but didn’t avert his gaze.
“Um, dinner is just about ready.” Hizashi stammered, finally breaking eye contact and turning back to the stove.
He listened as Shouta moved into his room, a few drawers opened as he got dressed and then he padded back out into the kitchen.
He fell in next to Hizashi seamlessly, helping him finish up the meal he was preparing and then they sat down together to eat.
“Bet it feels nice to feed yourself again huh?” Hizashi asked around a bite of food.
“It does, but I appreciate your help though. I appreciate all of your help Hizashi.” Shouta said and Hizashi glanced up at him.
“You’ve been a huge help these past few days. I know Chiyo says I am healing quickly but,” Shouta fell silent for a few seconds and Hizashi watched as he figured out how to say what he wanted to.
“If you wanted to stick around for a little while longer, I won’t mind.” He finally said. Hizashi looked at him carefully, trying to read his expression. He’d always been good at reading Shouta’s body language, after 15 years of friendship he could know what Shouta was thinking before he did. If he had to peg an emotion to how he was feeling now though it would have been scared, and that confused Hizashi because Shouta rarely showed fear.
“Yeah, I’d love to stay.” Hizashi said, and he visibly watched Shouta relax.
“You have your appointment at the hospital at the end of the week, I wanna make sure everything goes well with that.” He added. Shouta nodded and they finished their meal in silence.

As they cleaned up he could tell that Shouta was getting tired, his movements became slower and Hizashi could see his eyes starting to droop.
“Chiyo’s session take it out of you huh?” Hizashi asked as they finished the last of the dishes.
“Yeah, I am gonna turn in.” Shouta said. He placed a hand on Hizashi’s arm to steady himself and he blinked slowly.
“Are your eyes okay?” Hizashi asked, trying to calm his racing heart.
“Dry.” Is all he said
“Okay, let’s get you into bed and I’ll do your drops.” Hizashi wrapped an arm around Shouta’s waist and steered him to his bedroom. He laid down on the bed willingly and Hizashi grabbed the bottle of eye drops from the stand next to Shouta’s bed.
With a practiced hand he gently opened Shouta’s eyes, carefully when he did his right eye, and let two drops fall into each one. Shouta sighed contentedly as Hizashi capped the bottle and set it back where it was.
As he turned to leave though he felt Shouta’s hand latch onto his wrist pulling him back.
“Zashi, thank you.” His words came out mumbled, sleep ready to claim him.
“No problem Sho.” Hizashi let his hand slide against Shouta’s, their fingers twining for a second as Hizashi gave it a reassuring squeeze then he let go.

As if on cue Hizashi woke up again at three in the morning, this time instead of hearing broken shouts he heard his name. He’d never moved so fast in his life. He jumped out of bed and was through Shouta’s door in an instant and what he saw just about broke him.
Shouta was sitting in the middle of his bed, crying quietly and continually calling out for Hizashi.
“Shouta?” Hizashi said quietly. From the clouded over look in Shouta’s eyes Hizashi could tell he was dreaming but he couldn’t imagine what about that would cause this kind of reaction. Hizashi could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen Shouta cry.
“Hizashi, please!” Shouta called again, and Hizashi’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest. He walked over to the bed and crawled into the center, sitting in front of Shouta like he’d done the first time he found him dreaming.
“I am right here Sho.” He reached out and took Shouta’s hands in his own, trying to ground him and wake him up.
The tears continued to run down his face for a few seconds but then he blinked, and his eyes cleared, and he wrapped his arms around Hizashi so quickly Hizashi could do nothing but hug him back.
Clearly that’s wasn’t enough though as Shouta wrapped Hizashi tighter, then crawled his way into his lap the tears continuing to fall.
Hizashi just held him, completely stunned at this show of emotion. It killed him that whatever Shouta was dreaming about could upset him like this.
“Sho, what happened?” Hizashi asked when Shouta’s breathing finally evened out. He simply shook his head, refusing to say anything.
“You should try and get back to sleep, it’s early.” Hizashi said, as he pushed the wet, matted hair out of Shouta’s face.
“Can you,” Shouta cut himself off and Hizashi watched him try to work through whatever it was that had just happened. He could see the tears re-forming in Shouta’s eyes.
“Can you stay?” Shouta finally asked, his voice rough from crying.
“Um, yeah, okay.” Hizashi nodded and dropped his arms, letting Shouta lie back down. Hizashi moved to lie next to him, and Shouta took his hand in his own.
It only took a few minutes for his breathing to even out as he slipped back to sleep but Hizashi stayed awake for a while, watching him closely.

Chapter Text

When he woke up the next morning Shouta had moved in his sleep. He’d pressed up against Hizashi’s side, head resting on Hizashi’s chest, their fingers still twined together.
Hizashi glanced at the clock on the wall that read five a.m. He knew he should get out of bed, start breakfast, get things ready to re apply Shouta’s bandages, but he didn’t want to get up yet.
He glanced down at Shouta who was finally sleeping peacefully, his hand grasping Hizashi’s tightly.
Hizashi wondered, not for the first time, what it was that Shouta had dreamed about.
Shouta stirred gently against him, nuzzling against Hizashi’s chest more and Hizashi closed his eyes against the influx of emotions in his heart.
He wanted it to always be like this, so for a moment he indulged himself. He melted against the warmth of Shouta’s chest pressed against his, the feel of his breath ghosting across his skin. He opened his eyes and looked down at him again. A piece of hair had fallen into his face when he moved so he gently reached out and pushed it behind his ear. He let his fingers linger under the stitches at his right eye. He’d almost lost him, he’d been so close to never seeing Shouta again. Maybe Nemuri was right, he thought, maybe he should just tell him.
Without thinking he ran his fingers slowly through Shouta’s hair which was enough to finally rouse him. It took a second for him to get his bearings but when he did Hizashi could feel his body tense against his own and he quickly put distance between the two of them. Hizashi’s hand felt cold as Shouta pulled his away.
“Sorry Hizashi.” He mumbled.
Hizashi’s heart fell, this was why he’d never be able to get up the nerve to tell Shouta his feelings.
“It’s alright.” He said, moving out of the bed without looking back at Shouta.
“I am gonna go start breakfast. We’ll have to put your bandages back on then.” He added as he walked out of the room.

Shouta laid in bed for a few more minutes after Hizashi left. He was worried he’d upset him. Shouta imagined Hizashi wasn’t expecting to wake up and find him wrapped around him the way he did. He’d moved out of his arms to try and give him some space. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at how quickly he’d left. Shouta knew Hizashi didn’t think of him as anything more than a friend, but Shouta would have gladly taken just five more minutes in Hizashi’s arms.

Hizashi moved about the apartment in silence, making breakfast for himself and Shouta. Eventually Shouta joined him and the two ate and then moved to the bathroom where Hizashi re applied Shouta’s bandages.
“The kids are gonna get a kick outta you.” Hizashi mumbled as he finished.
Shouta chuckled and Hizashi gave him a smile.
“I am sure they’ll be happy to see you though.” He added, Shouta nodded and Hizashi knew that deep down he was excited to see them too.

Hizashi drove them up to the school and helped Shouta out of the car again.
“Your positive you still wanna do this? We can just get back in the car and go back to your apartment you know?” Hizashi asked as they walked up to the doors of the school.
“I’ll be fine Hizashi, I am feeling much better today, and I can rest in the faculty lounge when I am not teaching.” He reasoned with him. Hizashi nodded and they stopped in the middle of the hallway. Shouta would continue on and head to homeroom while Hizashi had an hour or so to spare until his class.
“Alright well, you know where I’ll be if you need me just, take it easy okay?” He asked. Shouta nodded and continued walking down the hallway to his room. Hizashi stood for a few minutes and watched as he made his way through the open door to 1A. Within seconds he could hear the kids shouts of surprise that their teacher was back and safe and Hizashi smiled to himself as he walked away.

The day went by without incident but Hizashi kept a close eye on Shouta, peeking into the classroom every now and then to see how he was doing or watching from the windows when he took the kids outside for some exercise.
At the end of the day Shouta headed to the teachers’ lounge to meet Hizashi.
“How was the first day back Shouta?” Nemuri called from her desk.
“Fine.” He grunted.
“The kiddos didn’t give you to hard a time, did they?” She pouted at him, but he just rolled his eyes.
“They were their usual selves.” He told her as he stood in the doorway waiting for Hizashi to join him.
The teachers had all welcomed him back excitedly, even All Might had popped his head into his classroom to say hello. The kids were, surprised, that he was back so soon after everything. They knew the injuries he’d sustained were severe but Shouta didn’t dwell on it with them and if anything, it seemed to make them push harder when they’d had training later that afternoon.
He’d given them the rundown about the Sports Festival, they only had a few days to train and prepare but they all seemed committed and he knew the majority of them would do just fine.

“Hey Shouta!” Hizashi smiled at him as he stepped into the teachers lounge.
“Lemme grab a few things and we can get moving.” He added with a smile.
Shouta had to stop in to see Recovery Girl for his daily session before they left and Hizashi sat with him through it, knowing Shouta would be exhausted afterwards.
By the time they were back in the car and heading home Shouta was fast asleep in the passenger seat.
Hizashi shook him gently to wake him when they got back to Shouta’s apartment and the two of them headed up to his door.
“You should rest, I’ll work on making us something to eat.” Hizashi said, closing the door behind him. Shouta didn’t have to be told twice, he headed right for his bedroom, carefully pealing the bandages off his face as he went.

By the time Hizashi had finished making dinner the sun was dipping low in the sky. He headed for Shouta’s room to wake him, so he could eat something. He opened the door but stood still, watching Shouta for a minute. He seemed peaceful enough, his face devoid of any emotion as his chest rose and fell steadily.
Hizashi was nervous though, tonight he had to go back to his patrol and his job at the radio station which meant leaving Shouta alone for the evening. He wanted to take another week off, but his employers didn’t seem to pleased about that idea so he would have to go back.
Hizashi let his gaze move over Shouta, he could feel his cheeks warming as he thought about how much he wanted to crawl into the bed next to him, to hold him close, to tell him he would be okay. His heart beat a little faster as he wondered what Shouta’s lips would feel like against his own.
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook the thoughts from his head. He couldn’t think about things like that. Shouta didn’t feel that way about him, he was only here to offer support. But when Hizashi opened his eyes his heart warmed as Shouta nuzzled his face further into his pillow and Hizashi couldn’t help what he did next. His feet took him to the side of Shouta’s bed and he sat down on the floor next to his head. He was quiet for a few seconds, the words swirling around his head, trying to make their way out.
“I love you.” He whispered finally, so quiet he barely heard it himself and for a second his body felt lighter, like he’d finally let something out into the universe that needed to be said.
“Zashi?” Shouta mumbled, and Hizashi went cold, his eyes growing wide with fear. What if Shouta had heard him? He’d kick him out, he’d tell him never to come back.
Shouta rubbed his eyes and blinked up blearily at Hizashi.
“Why are you on the floor?” He asked.
“I, um, I was just,” Hizashi stumbled for words. Shouta didn’t seem to have heard Hizashi, he imagined if he had he would have started with ‘what the hell did you just say?’ instead of asking why Hizashi was on the floor.
“Dinner is ready.” He finally blurted out. Shouta stared at him for a second and Hizashi tried not to cave under his gaze.
“Alright, I’ll be right there.”
And with that Hizashi stood and fled to the safety of the kitchen.

Shouta eventually joined him for dinner and Hizashi did his best to not act like he was guilty of something. When a good half hour had passed and Shouta still hadn’t mentioned Hizashi’s confession Hizashi assumed it was safe to say he really hadn’t heard him, and he could feel the tension uncoil in his chest.
“You haven’t changed?” Shouta commented on Hizashi’s attire as he helped him with the dishes.
“No, I,” Hizashi cleared his throat and turned to Shouta.
“I have to go back on patrol tonight, and to the station. I tried to get another week off, so you wouldn’t be alone, in case you needed anything but.”
“It’s fine Hizashi.” Shouta said, waving a hand dismissively.
“I can’t expect you to stop your life just because I need help.” Hizashi nodded and went back to putting away the dishes.
“Besides, I am doing better, I am sure I can manage without you for a few hours. I’ll be asleep anyway.” Shouta added.
That was what worried Hizashi the most though. The thought of Shouta waking up from another nightmare without him sent a pang of dread through Hizashi’s veins.

“You’ll really be okay?” Hizashi asked as he was about to leave for the evening.
“I’ll be fine Hizashi, honestly.” Shouta said from his spot on the sofa.
“Alright, but, I’ll keep my cell phone on, just, if you need anything call me, I’ll come home right away.” Shouta tensed up for a second and Hizashi was sure the blush on Shouta’s cheeks matched his own.
“Home?” Shouta asked quietly, glancing at Hizashi.
“I didn’t mean, I meant here, I’ll come here right way. I,” Hizashi fumbled with the door handle as he grasped it desperately.
“I have to go.” He said and slipped out into the hallway as quickly as he could.
“Smooth Hizashi, real smooth.” He mumbled to himself as he made his way out of the building.

Shouta sat on the sofa for a while. Hizashi had called his apartment home. He tried desperately to keep the smile from forming on his face, but he couldn’t help it. He’d be lying if he said his apartment didn’t feel better with Hizashi in it. Things felt more relaxed, less lonely. He was dreading the moment when Hizashi would go back to his place. For now, though, Shouta put those thoughts out of his mind.

He spent the next hour or so stretching his arms and testing his strength. He hadn’t lost to much from their disuse, but he would have to do some extra work to get back to where he was before the attack.
His quirk was a different story. He hadn’t used it consciously since the USJ. Hizashi had woken him up his first night home and told him he’d been using his quirk, but he had no recollection of it.
He wanted to test it, but he knew Hizashi would kill him if he found out. He had to know if he could at least still use it though, he needed to feel it himself.
He sat very still on the sofa and focused. Slowly he could feel the familiar pressure start behind his eyes and once he had that he pushed just a bit harder and activated his quirk. He felt his hair pull up around his head and his vision tinted red around the edges as it usually did. Before he could over work it, he closed his eyes and let it go. He knew he would need to test how long he could use it for, he imagined the time had diminished a bit after the surgery but that was something he’d worry about later.

Shouta stood from the couch and stretched as he headed to his bedroom. It had gotten late, and he should at least attempt to get some sleep. He stared at his bed angrily before he crawled in. He hadn’t been sleeping well since the attack. Every night he would wake up from the same nightmare and he hated it. Usually Hizahsi was there to calm him down and set him right but tonight he would be on his own. He sent up a silent wish that tonight he would sleep without the nightmares.

Sleep claimed him rather quickly and for a while Shouta saw nothing, no dreams, good or bad. After a while though his brain started to piece together his usual nightmare.
He was at the USJ, the villains just entering the compound. For the most part the beginning of his dream stayed true to the events of that day. He ambushed the smaller villains and took out whole groups of them. Things were going well, and then the leader of the group grabbed his elbow and Shouta could feel the pain in his arm every time as his skin tissue fell away. He would manage to get away, until the Nomu caught him. And this was where things went drastically wrong.
No matter what Shouta did he couldn’t shake the Nomu off. He’d struggle and twist and try to punch or use his quirk, but it was no use and eventually the thing got in enough hits that he was easy to pin to the ground.
After that Shouta could do nothing but watch as the leader of the villains took out every one of his students. He watched helplessly as they were all disintegrated in front of his eyes. He’d scream and call out and thrash in the grasp of the Nomu but it was no use and eventually they were all gone.
The next part was what he hated most. As the leader turned back to him Shouta could see Hizashi charging towards him. Shouta’s eyes grew wide and he screamed at Hizashi to help him. The Nomu picked Shouta up and tossed him into the ground violently. Shouta could feel his vision going, breaths getting harder to take. The villain caught sight of Hizashi but turned back to Shouta and rushed towards him, his hand outstretched, ready to attack. Every time Shouta would scream for Hizashi, would beg him to run faster but Hizashi never made it. The leader of the villains would latch his hand onto Shouta and he watched as his body disintegrated before his eyes.
He could hear himself screaming, shouting for Hizashi, trashing against the hand to try and shake it off and that’s when he would wake up.

Shouta could feel himself breathing heavily, his throat raw from screaming. He reached a hand up to his face, his fingers came away wet with tears.
For a second, he just sat in the middle of the bed, unsure of what to do. His heart clenched, usually Hizashi was here.
“Damnit.” He cursed, he wanted Hizashi to be here so badly.
He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed his phone, turning it on and pulling up Hizashi’s number. He’d told him to call if anything happened. Then he looked at the time, it was two thirty in the morning, Hizashi would be in the middle of his radio show and as much as he wanted him here, he didn’t want to interrupt him. Shouta sighed and thought for a few minutes, his finger hovering over Hizashi’s number. Eventually he shook his head and backed out of his contact list, but then he had a better idea.
He quickly brought up the website that Hizashi’s show streamed from and pushed play. Within seconds Hizashi’s booming voice filled the room and Shouta had to stop himself from sobbing in relief.
For a while he just sat, his hands clutching the phone like it was his lifeline. He closed his eyes and let Hizashi’s voice wash over him. It didn’t even matter what he was talking about, Shouta could feel himself relaxing, his heart rate slowing by the second.
When he was relaxed enough he opened his eyes and stared back at the bed. He knew it was irrational, but he didn’t want to sleep here, he knew if he laid back down in this bed he’d just dream the same thing and he couldn’t do it again.
So instead, without thinking he stood up, his phone still clutched in his hand, and padded down the hallway to the room Hizashi was staying in.
He collapsed onto the old futon and immediately felt safer. Hizashi’s voice still echoed out of the speaker on Shouta’s phone as he wrapped himself in Hizashi’s blanket. He grabbed one of his pillows and pulled it close, it smelled like Hizashi’s shampoo and for a second, he allowed himself to breath in the familiar scent. A part of him hated how he was acting, he felt week and needy. However, a few minutes ago he was also terrified, and logically he knew that Hizashi was the only thing that could calm him.
Once he finally settled he listened as Hizashi told some joke, smiling to himself as he listened to Hizashi laugh.

Shouta had known for years that he loved Hizashi. But he also knew that Hizashi most likely didn’t feel that way about him. Hizashi had his listeners, he had hordes of fans, and Shouta avoided the limelight like it was the plague. They weren’t a match, and usually Shouta was pretty good at dealing with his feelings. Lately however he’d been needing Hizashi more and more, but the last thing he wanted to do was scare him away. In a few days Hizashi would go back to his apartment and he would go back to his normal solitary life, that was just how things would be. Shouta did his best to ignore the ache in his heart as he thought about it.
Eventually Shouta could feel exhaustion setting in, Hizashi’s voice lulling him back to sleep.

It was late by the time Hizashi got back to Shouta’s apartment, well after four in the morning. Shouta hadn’t called or texted him all night so Hizashi hoped he’d slept well.
The apartment was dark when he let himself in and after kicking off his shoes he went right to Shouta’s room to see how he was. He found the door open, but Shouta was gone. Hizashi was immediately on alert, he went back out into the living room to see if he’d fallen asleep on the sofa, or in his sleeping bag somewhere but there was no sign of him.
“Shouta!” Hizashi called into the apartment as he headed back to Shouta’s bedroom.
“Zashi?”
Hizashi breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he heard Shouta call for him. He was confused about why the sound was coming from his borrowed room though. Hizashi walked down the hall and peeked into his room, finding Shouta curled up on his futon staring at him bleary eyed.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Hizashi asked as he came over and sat on the bed. He bumped something hard with his hand and when he pulled the covers aside he saw Shouta’s phone, still lit up and playing white noise.
“Were you listening to me?” Hizashi asked, closing the window on the phone. The silence was almost deafening.
“I um, I had the dream again.” Shouta said quietly. Hizashi looked at him worriedly.
“Are you alright?” He asked, Shouta nodded.
“I just couldn’t calm down and I, well, usually you’re here to help me so I just, I needed your voice.” He said.
“And my pillow apparently.” Hizashi said with a chuckle, glancing at the pillow Shouta held in his arms. Shouta looked at him sheepishly and held the pillow out to him.
Hizashi smiled and took the pillow, lying it back where it belonged.
He then shrugged his jacket off and grabbed an old pair of sweatpants. He changed quickly then crawled into bed next to Shouta.
He took Shouta’s hand in his own and felt the tension rush out of him.
“I am sorry.” Shouta said after a few minutes.
“For what?” Hizashi asked, he had no idea what Shouta had to be sorry for.
“That, that I am,” Shouta trailed off, and Hizashi waited as he found his words.
“You’ve been putting up with a lot from me these past few days. I am worried I am starting to depend on your presence to much and I don’t want you to feel bad for leaving and doing your job.” He explained
“You don’t have to be sorry for that Shouta. You’ve been through a lot, I am here for you.” He said, smiling over at him.
“Thanks Zashi.” Shouta said quietly, squeezing Hizashi’s hand gently
“No problem, now try and get some sleep.” He said.

When Hizashi woke up the next morning Shouta was tucked into his side and sleeping peacefully. Hizashi didn’t have the heart to wake him so instead he wrapped his arms around him and planted a soft kiss to the top of his head. The world could wait a little while longer, right now he was going to allow himself this moment.

Chapter Text

The next few days flew by faster than Hizashi expected. He was busy helping with prep for the sports festival and taking care of his regular classes. He also continued his patrol and radio show. Every night when he got back to Shouta’s apartment Hizashi would find him curled up on his futon, his phone still lit up to the site that carried Hizashi’s radio program.
Hizashi hated the idea of waking him up so instead he just laid down next to him and fell asleep himself.
Every morning Hizashi would wake up with Shouta curled around him but neither said anything about it.

The day of the sports festival Hizashi followed Shouta to his homeroom. He stood outside in the hall while Shouta gathered the class and took roll call like he did every morning. Eventually the group lined up and filed out of the class to head down to the arena. Shouta followed after and Hizashi fell into step next to him.
Once everyone was settled in the small waiting room Shouta turned to leave but Hizashi stopped him.
“I think this is where your supposed to give them a little pep talk.” He said, glancing over Shouta’s shoulder at the nervous looks on the kids faces. Shouta sighed but turned back to the group.
“Look.” He said, his voice muffled by the bandages. The group looked up at him expectantly.
“You’ve had some experience, fighting real villains was a huge test of your strength. However, don’t let that go to your head. Stay focused, don’t get ahead of yourselves.” He let the words linger and Hizashi shook his head from where he stood leaned up against the wall of the room, Shouta never was good with pep talks.
He turned to leave but stopped when he heard someone call his name at the back of the room.
“Mr. Aizawa?” Shouta and Hizashi turned back around to find Asui with her hand raised. He nodded at her, prompting her to continue.
“No one’s said it yet but, I know we’re all thinking it. We’re all really glad your okay, and that you came back.” Hizashi smiled. Asui’s voice was quiet, and with the way Ochacko was holding her hand he could tell she was nervous. He glanced over to Shouta but he couldn’t read his expression through the bandages. After a moment he cleared his throat and spoke.
“Thank you Asui. I am glad your all okay too.” And with that he offered them one last nod and left the room, Hizashi trailing close behind.
Hizashi kept shooting Shouta glances as they walked down the hall and eventually Shouta sighed and glanced at him.
“Enough, alright?” Hizashi smiled and bumped Shouta’s shoulder with his own. He knew Shouta had a soft spot for his class.

“Oh, hello beautiful!” Hizashi said as they stepped into the commentator’s booth. He rushed over to the control board and ran his hands reverently over the few buttons and nobs that littered the board.
Shouta followed him into the room and took a seat, immediately closing his eyes.
“Hey, remember, you promised you’d help me commentate, that means you have to be awake.” Hizashi said, taking a seat next to Shouta.
“I know, but the festival doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.” Shouta mumbled. Hizashi smiled at him and went back to messing around with the panel in front of him.
He wasn’t going to begrudge Shouta his sleep.

The festival lasted most of the day and Shouta only fell asleep one other time. Overall, he seemed pleased with how his class did and as they walked to Recovery Girls office for Shouta’s daily treatment Hizashi gushed over how powerful they all were.
“Seriously Shouta, you have some pretty amazing kids this year, I had no idea they were so powerful.” He hopped from foot to foot as they walked down the hallway.
Shouta only grunted a response as they made their way into Recovery Girls office.
Hizashi could tell he was tired, it had been a long day and Shouta had actively engaged with most of his loud conversations while the sports festival was taking place. He knew that once Shouta had his treatment he’d probably be out for the rest of the night. Hizashi hoped he’d sleep somewhat peacefully.

When Hizashi finally returned from patrol that night he found Shouta in his usual spot, curled up on the futon in Hizashi’s spare room, his phone playing staticky white noise. Usually he would maneuver himself into bed silently and fall asleep next to Shouta but as he moved to settle down Shouta stirred in his sleep and blinked up at Hizashi.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Hizashi apologized.
“It’s okay, I wasn’t really asleep.” Shouta mumbled, his voice scratchy.
“The dream again?” Hizashi asked. Shouta nodded and Hizashi sighed, settling in next to him.
“Are you ever going to tell me what it’s about?” He asked, glancing over at Shouta. He was silent for a while but when he finally responded he changed the subject.
“I have my appointment at the hospital tomorrow.” He said, Hizashi nodded.
“You’ll come with me?” He added.
“Of course, if you want me there.” Hizashi said quietly. Shouta took his hand and closed his eyes.
“Yeah, I do.” He said, and Hizashi watched as he slipped back into sleep again.

The next morning when they woke up Shouta had gravitated to Hizashi again. He was curled up against Hizashi’s chest as usual, their legs tangled together beneath the sheets. Hizashi smiled down at his sleeping form but he felt a pang of sadness shoot through him. Shouta was getting his stitches out today. And Yesterday Recovery girl said his arms were healed enough for his bandages to stay off. After today, Shouta wouldn’t need him here anymore, he’d have to go back to his own apartment, alone.
Hizashi took a deep breath and sighed. He wrapped his arms around Shouta a little tighter. He didn’t want to go, he didn’t want this to end. As much as he knew Shouta wasn’t consciously seeking him out, that he didn’t think of him as anything more than a close friend, Hizashi still wasn’t ready to lose this yet. He’d gotten so used to waking up with Shouta in his arms every morning that he didn’t want to go back to waking up alone.
Eventually Shouta roused next to him, blinking up at Hizashi from his spot against his chest. He wasn’t quick to put distance between them this time though. Instead he closed his eyes and wrapped his arm a little tighter around Hizashi’s waist.
Hizashi could feel his heartbeat increase. He must still be half asleep, he thought. Hizashi knew Shouta wouldn’t normally linger against him in the mornings.
Eventually Hizashi had to move, his need to use the bathroom greater than his need to prolong his last morning with Shouta. Slowly and quietly he slid himself out from under Shouta’s hold and slipped out of the room.

The two of them went about their morning routines quietly. Shouta didn’t seem able to say much to Hizashi and he wondered if it was out of embarrassment for how much he’d clung to him this morning. Hizashi wanted to tell him it was fine, that he didn’t mind, he would have stayed there in that moment all morning if he could have. He refused to lead himself on though, he couldn’t have that with Shouta, and it was only going to hurt worse in the long run if he kept pretending.
Eventually two o’clock rolled around and Hizashi drove Shouta to the hospital.
They wouldn’t let him go back as Shouta got his stitches removed so he had to sit in the waiting room and be patient. About half an hour went by before a nurse stepped into the waiting room and called his name.
“Hizashi Yamada?” Hizashi spun around from where he stood looking out the window and walked over to her.
“Is everything okay?” He asked, the nurse smiled and nodded.
“Mr. Aizawa is asking for you.” She led Hizashi back to a room. Shouta was sitting cross-legged on a hospital bed and the same doctor from before was in a chair across the room.
“Ah, Mr. Yamada, thanks for coming back.” The doctor said as Hizashi stepped into the room.
“No problem is everything alright?” Hizashi asked, trying to search Shouta’s face for an answer.
“I have to test my quirk.” He said, glancing up to meet Hizashi’s eyes.
The skin under Shouta’s right eye was no longer stitched together, the only thing that remained now was a thick scar that ran just above his cheekbone.
“Um, okay, so what did you need me for?” Hizashi stepped into the room and walked over to stand beside the bed where Shouta sat.
“I need a quick to erase so we know it’s working okay.” He explained.
“And you asked for me?” Hizashi pointed to himself.
“Are you sure you don’t want someone with a less, destructive quirk?” He continued, glancing around the room as if such a person would hop out and present themselves.
“No, I want it to be you, I know you can do this Hizashi.” Hizashi met Shouta’s gaze, he seemed nervous and suddenly Hizashi understood why he wanted it to be him.
Shouta was worried his quirk wouldn’t work, and if it didn’t, if this was the moment he realized he couldn’t use it anymore, he didn’t want some random stranger with him, he wanted Hizashi.
“Alright Sho.” Hizashi moved onto the bed, facing him and mirroring Shouta’s cross-legged position.
It took him a second but then he thought of an idea. He moved himself a little closer to Shouta, their knees bumping into each other. Then he took Shouta’s hand, gave it a gentle squeeze and placed it on his chest, just under his sternum. Shouta gave him a questioning look.
“Can you feel this?” Hizashi asked, then closed his mouth and hummed, putting enough kick from his quirk behind it that he knew Shouta would be able to feel the vibrations.
“Yeah.” Shouta nodded
“I am using just enough of my quirk so that you can feel it. When you erase my quick the vibrations will go away, that’s how you’ll know it’s working.” Hizashi explained.
“Okay.” Shouta still looked nervous so Hizashi gave him his brightest smile.
“Been a while since you’ve erased my quirk.” He said with a chuckle. Shouta cracked a small smile then turned to the doctor.
“We’re all set Mr. Aizawa.” The doctor said. Shouta turned his eyes back to Hizashi and met his gaze. Hizashi could feel the hand against his chest shaking slightly so he reached out and grabbed Shouta’s other hand, holding it in his. Shouta took a deep breath and nodded then Hizashi activated his quirk, humming just loud enough that Shouta could feel the vibrations against his hand. Hizashi watched as Shouta locked his gaze onto him and activated his own quirk. Hizashi breathed a sigh of relief and he watched Shouta’s eyes turn red and his hair pull up like it always did.
Hizashi squeezed Shouta’s hand and nodded. Now they had to wait. The doctor was timing the length between Shouta’s blinks and watching to make sure the wound under his eye didn’t split open as Shouta used his quirk.
Hizashi sat still for a long while as Shouta practiced using his quirk again. When he’d blink Hizashi could feel his voice come back but then Shouta would reactivate his quirk and just like that it disappeared again.
After about ten minutes the doctor called time and Shouta blinked one last time. His hand fell off Hizashi’s chest but immediately grabbed for Hizashi’s other hand which he held tightly.
“Alright Mr. Aizawa. The wound under your eye seems fine, I don’t see any swelling or irritation caused by the quirk.” The doctor said as he stood up. Shouta kept his eyes closed but nodded.
“Looking at the most recent paperwork on your quirk it does seem like your time between blinks has decreased a small bit, but it’s not a substantial enough amount of time for me to be concerned with.”
Hizashi squeezed Shouta’s hand but he still refused to open his eyes.
“As for your eyes themselves the tests we ran earlier came back fine, if anything you might want to start thinking about glasses, it’s a possibility that in the next few years you might need them.” Shouta nodded again.
“Thank you doctor.” He said.
“Your free to go whenever your ready.” The doctor closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Hizashi and Shouta alone.
“Do you have your drops?” Hizashi asked, knowing what he needed.
“Yeah.” Shouta let go of one of Hizash’s hands and reached into his pocket, pulling out a bottle of eyedrops.
Hizashi took them and stood up from the bed.
He reached over and gently took Shouta’s head in his hands, his fingers pulling back his eyelids as he dropped two drops into each eye.
Shouta sat for a minute then blinked a few times, finally opening his eyes fully and focusing back on Hizashi.
“So that all sounded like good news to me.” Hizashi said, smiling.
“Yeah.”
“And glasses aren’t so bad.” Hizashi said, pushing his own dark frames back up on his face a bit. Shouta looked up at him and grimaced.
“I’ll look awful in glasses.” He mumbled, standing up from the bed.
“You’ll look fine.” Hizashi said, bumping his shoulder with his own as they made their way out of the room and down the hall.
“I am glad everything went well.” Hizashi said as they stepped outside. Shouta just nodded and Hizashi was confused about why he didn’t seem more excited.
He was so nervous about losing his quirk but now that he had it and knew it still worked he almost seemed, disappointed?
Hizashi didn’t say much on the ride home, still trying to figure out why Shouta seemed so down.

“I am going to call off work tonight, so we can celebrate!” Hizashi announced as they stepped back into Shouta’s apartment.
“I’ll call Nemuri too, I am sure she’d want to know the news and she can come celebrate with us!” He added, as he fell back against the sofa.
“Hizashi?” Shouta followed behind him and stopped in front of him, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Yeah?” He said, trying to read the emotions running across Shouta’s face.
“I just wanted to say thank you for everything these past two weeks. I wouldn’t have been able to make it through all this without you.” He glanced up cautiously, finally meeting Hizashi’s eyes.
“Of course, Sho, you know I am always here for you.” Hizashi said, sitting up to meet Shouta’s gaze more completely.
“I know, thank you.” It looked like Shouta wanted to say something else, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“I am gonna go lie down.” He said instead and left before Hizashi could respond.

Shouta closed the door behind him and took a shaky breath. He felt so out of control. He was thankful that things seemed stable with his quirk, of course he was. However, that also meant he had no more reasons to ask Hizashi to stay anymore and he wanted him to stay so badly. He walked over to his bed and collapsed onto it, absentmindedly rubbing at the fresh skin under his right eye.
This morning he’d woken up in Hizashi’s arms again and it’d felt so good that for the first time this week he hadn’t moved out of his arms right away. Instead he’d closed his eyes and held onto Hizashi tighter but then Hizashi had left. He’d slipped out of his arms and left. He couldn’t keep fooling himself like this, Hizashi didn’t want him that way.
Shouta closed his eyes and tried to push the thoughts from his mind before he fell asleep.
Nemuri showed up later that evening and helped Hizashi prepare dinner as Shouta slept.
“So, you’ve literally been sleeping together all week?” She asked, glaring at Hizashi as she took a sip of wine.
“It’s not like that and you know it.” Hizashi scolded her, she just giggled and winked.
“So, what’s it like then?” She asked.
“Look, Shouta hasn’t been sleeping well lately. He’s having this awful dream, but he won’t tell me about it. He wakes up at night screaming and I am just trying to comfort him.” Hizashi explained. Nemuri wiggled her eyebrows at him.
“The first night I went back on patrol I came back to find him asleep in my spare bed. He’d been listening to my radio show, he said it calmed him down.” Hizashi added.
“That’s almost adorable.” Nemuri commented, Hizashi shot her a look.
“Zashi for the love of God, why can’t you see how head over heels he is about you?” Nemuri groaned.
“Because he’s not, okay. He’d wake up every morning and it was like he had to see how quickly he could get away from me.” Hizashi bit back, taking a swallow of his own glass of wine.
“And maybe he’s only doing that to spare you, because he thinks your not into him and doesn’t want to make it awkward.” Nemuri countered.
Hizashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“I know how badly you want him Zashi, now’s your chance, be brave and just do it already.” Nemuri placed a hand gently on his arm and smiled at him.
“Is it that obvious?” He mumbled.
“To everyone but Sho apparently.” She said with a laugh and Hizashi chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Hizashi and Nemuri turned to find Shouta standing in the kitchen.
“Sho!” Nemuri sprung into action as Hizashi turned to hide the blush creeping up his face. If Shouta had heard him, that wasn’t how he wanted to confess his feelings.
“Zashi told me the good news about your quirk! I am glad your still able to purposely give yourself dry eye!” Hizashi turned back around and watched as Shouta punched her lightly on the arm. Nemuri feigned injury and gave her best pout.
“Geez, you get the use of your arms back and you’re already beating everyone up!” She said with a laugh, then they each smiled at each other and Nemuri pulled him in for a hug.
“Seriously though, I am glad everything worked out for you Shouta.” She said honestly.
“Thanks, Nemuri.”
“And, while you were sleeping Zashi made a delicious meal! I would say I helped but I really just watched him work and drank some wine.” She said, walking back over to the stove to grab a plate and fill it with the stir fry Hizashi had made.
The three of them sat down at the table and ate, passing idle small talk back and forth.
“I have to say this dinner isn’t nearly as entertaining as the one last week where you had to feed Shouta.” Nemuri commented, Hizashi glared at her but she just chuckled.
“Oh, come on, it was cute Zashi.” She teased.
Hizashi glanced over and caught the blush settling on Shouta’s cheeks, he was sure it matched his own.
Nemuri helped them clean up when they were done eating and they settled in the small living room to relax for the evening.
“Zashi I forgot to tell you, you did an excellent job commentating on the games this year.” Nemuri said, finishing off her glass of wine.
“And it was a treat to have Sho join you.” She added, smiling at the two of them.
“Thanks Nemuri.” Hizashi said, although he felt like there was a joke coming.
“There was a lot of dead air between matches though, what all did you two get up to in that booth?” She wiggled her eyebrows and Hizashi sighed, there was the joke.
“That was probably my fault, I was trying to rest as much as I could.” Shouta said, his cheeks reddening again.
Hizashi shot Nemuri a look that he hoped conveyed, knock it off, and she laughed.
“It’s always amazed me how you seem to be able to sleep wherever you please.” She said, standing and taking her empty glass into the kitchen.
“Maybe that’s your real quick Sho!” She said with a giggle. Hizashi rolled his eyes and glanced at Shouta who was shaking his head.
“Alright, I am leaving you two grumps alone for the evening.” Nemuri said as she walked back into the living room, wrapping her arms around Hizashi’s shoulders.
“Tell him.” She whispered in his ear.
“Goodnight Nemuri.” He said.
She gave him a kiss on the cheek then moved onto Shouta, wrapping him up in a hug as well.
“It’ll be nice to see you at school without all the bandages.” She said honestly, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek as well.
“See you two later!” She called, closing the door behind her.
“Sometimes I forget how much of a force of nature Nemuri is.” Shouta said after a few minutes, Hizashi chuckled.
“Yeah, she’s something.” He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. He should just do it, tell him right now like Nemuri said. The words caught in his throat though and he couldn’t bring himself to voice them, even as he turned to look at Shouta, soft and tired next to him.
“It’s late.” Shouta said finally, startling Hizashi out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, yeah it is. Your probably exhausted.” Hizashi commented as they stood and moved to their separate rooms
“Goodnight Hizashi.” Shouta said. The two of them stood outside their rooms, unable to break eye contact.
Hizashi wanted so badly to say something, to just open up and admit his feelings. It looked like Shouta was trying to bring himself to say something too, but he couldn’t.
“Night, Sho.” Hizashi finally said, then ducked into his room, a surge of disappointment rushing through him.

The night played out just like every night had for the past two weeks. Hizashi fell asleep but was woken up again around three in the morning to Shouta calling for him. On instinct he moved out of his room and into Shouta’s. This time he found him curled in on himself, his face wet with tears. Hizashi knelt beside the bed and brushed Shouta’s hair out of his face.
“Hizashi, Hizashi help me!” Shouta shouted.
“I am right here Sho.” Hizashi said, bringing a hand down to stroke his face gently.
“Hizashi please.” Shouta’s voice broke on a sob and Hizashi’s heart constricted painfully in his chest at how upset he sounded.
“Your dreaming Sho, I am here, I am right here.” He whispered to him, his thumb brushing away the tears that fell.
“Don’t leave me, Hizashi please don’t leave.” Hizashi knew Shouta was dreaming, but he couldn’t help how his heart broke at the words.
“Sho, you have to wake up now okay?” Hizashi shook him gently.
“I am right here.”
Eventually Shouta blinked and Hizashi could see his eyes clearing up as he shook himself out of the dream.
“Zashi?” Shouta reached out to him, his hand shaking slightly and Hizashi took it in his, trying to steady him or ground him to something.
“You were dreaming again Sho.” He explained. Shouta nodded and wiped the last remaining tears from his face.
“I am sorry.” He mumbled
“It’s alright, are you okay?” Hizashi gave his hand a gentle squeeze, Shouta nodded and Hizashi could tell he was trying to hold his gaze, but something seemed to be distracting him.
Hizashi wasn’t sure what to do, Shouta seemed to be waring with something in his head and he didn’t want to bother him if he needed space to work it out.
He stood up and gave his hand another gentle squeeze then let go and turned to leave.
“Hizashi, could you just, could you just stay for a little?” His voice was quiet and Hizashi could swear he heard his tone waver a bit. He turned back around and sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed, unsure of what Shouta wanted from him.
“No, it’s okay, you can,” Shouta didn’t finish his thought, just moved over in the bed, leaving room for Hizashi to lie next to him.
“I sleep better with you here is all.” He said and Hizashi knew he was just trying to rationalize it to himself, but he didn't say anything about it.
For a while they just laid in silence but Hizashi could tell Shouta still hadn’t settled.
“What do you dream about Sho?” Hizashi asked. Shouta was quiet for a while before he answered and when he did it was just a single word.
“Dying.” It hung in the air for a few minutes, neither of them willing to break the silence.
“I hate that I am scared of it Hizashi. I am not scared of anything.”
“You can’t not be scared of anything.” Hizashi interrupted.
“You know what I mean.” Shouta said, and Hizashi nodded.
“I hate that I am scared of dying now.” He said. Hizashi rolled over to look at him but Shouta wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Why does it scare you now?” Hizashi asked. Shouta was quiet and eventually shook his head, refusing to answer.
“You know what I think?” Hizashi asked, Shouta glanced over at him which he took as his cue to continue.
“You didn’t used to be scared of dying because you thought you didn’t have anything to live for, now you do.”
Shouta scoffed, “Enlighten me.”
“Well, I know you’ll deny it, but you love your class. They get on your last nerve, but I can tell you care about them.” Hizashi watched as a light blush bloomed on Shouta’s cheeks.
“I also think you really enjoy your job. I think you have fun working with Nemuri and I and everyone. Teaching suits you.”
Shouta refused to answer him but he had rolled onto his side to meet his gaze.
“I was scared I was going to be blind when they took those bandages off.” He admitted quietly.
“Yeah, so was I.” Hizashi responded.
They stared at each other for a while. Hizashi watched his gaze carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
“Mostly because it would be me that would have to cart you around if you couldn’t see anything.” He was trying to diffuse the tension but Shouta reached down for his hand and took it in his own.
Hizashi immediately went quiet, Shouta wasn’t one to initiate physical contact, especially like this.
Slowly he brought Hizashi’s hand up to his face and placed it on his cheek. Hizashi felt like he couldn’t breathe, his eyes never leaving Shouta’s.
Gently he ran his thumb underneath the line of fresh skin at his right eye.
“Shouta?”
“What if I never saw you again?” Shouta said, and Hizashi’s heart broke at how small and scared he sounded.
The next thing he knew Shouta had pushed his lips against his own.
For a split second Hizashi froze, his eyes wide in shock. A million thoughts ran through his head at once. He was ecstatic, he was terrified, he was elated, he was confused. He’d wanted this for so long, but he didn’t want it like this, not if this was just Shouta expressing a fear.
Against all his better judgement though he closed his eyes and kissed him deeper, pulling him close against his chest.
For a second, he lost himself in Shouta’s warmth but when he moaned lightly against Hizashi’s lips he pulled away. He placed a hand on Shouta’s chest giving them distance.
“Shouta?” Hizashi wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to upset him, but he also wanted to be sure that Shouta really wanted this.
“Your okay now Shouta, you’re here, you can see, I am right here. But I think,” Hizashi stopped and took a deep breath, he knew what he was going to say next would upset him.
“I don’t think we should do this right now. You’re in a fragile state right now and I,” He could see Shouta shutting down, he watched as he rebuilt his walls and closed himself off.
“It’s fine Hizashi, just, forget it, go to sleep.”
And with that he rolled over, turning his back on Hizashi.

It took them both a while to fall asleep that night but Hizashi refused to move from Shouta’s side. Eventually they both drifted off but when Hizashi woke up the next morning Shouta was gone.

Chapter Text

For a while Hizashi laid in the bed staring at the empty space beside him. He reached out and touched the sheets, cold, Shouta had been gone for a while.
Hizashi squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself not to cry.
He hated upsetting Shouta, especially about something this important but, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he took advantage of Shouta while he was in such a fragile state. He’d done the right thing, no matter how much it had hurt him.
By the time he finally got enough energy to will himself out of bed it was mid-morning and Shouta hadn’t returned. Hizashi assumed he had gone to do some training now that he was cleared to use his arms fully again.
Hizashi moved around the apartment, making himself breakfast and then cleaning up a bit.
By noon Hizashi still hadn’t heard from Shouta so he decided to send him a text to see what he was up to. However, as he grabbed his phone and walked into the living room he spotted Shouta’s phone sitting on the coffee table.
Hizashi sighed and shook his head, so much for getting in touch with him.

He spent the rest of the day catching up on grading and working on lesson plans and it wasn’t until the sun started dipping in the sky that he realized it had been almost an entire day and he had no idea where Shouta was.
He tried not to think about it to much as he made dinner that night, there were lots of things he could be getting up to.

It was around eleven o’clock that Hizashi started to worry. He’d called off his patrol for the night because he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus if he didn’t know where Shouta was or if he was okay.
Eventually he caved and picked up his phone, dialing Nemuri.
“This better be you calling to tell me you confessed to Shouta.” Nemuri said as she answered the phone.
“No, this is me asking if you’d seen Shouta at all today because he kissed me last night and now I don’t know where he is.” Hizashi snapped at her, his nerves shot.
“Whoa, hold on back up, he kissed you?” Nemuri asked, Hizashi sighed into the phone.
“Okay, look, long story short. He had another nightmare last night, he asked me to lie down with him. He told me what he’d been dreaming about, he was scared he was never going to see me again, and then he kissed me.” Hizashi explained.
“Wow, Shouta normally isn’t one for impulsivity.” Nemuri commented.
“I know, which is why I stopped him. He wasn’t himself and I wasn’t going to take advantage of it.” He said.
“Well, you did the right thing.” Nemuri told him.
“I know but he got upset and when I woke up this morning he was gone. He didn’t take his phone with him and I haven’t heard from him or seen him all day.” He said, worry creeping into his voice.
“I haven’t seen him either but then again I haven’t been out much today. I am getting ready to head out on patrol though, so I’ll let you know if I see him okay?” Nemuri said.
“Alright, thanks.” Hizashi hung up and took a deep breath. He hoped wherever Shouta was he was okay.

The wind ruffled Shouta’s hair as he perched on top of a building. The ends of his new capture scarf blew in the breeze.
Shouta had left the apartment early that morning. He didn’t want to run out on Hizashi, but he needed space to think.
He spent a few hours at the school working on some things. Then he picked up the new capture scarf he’d commissioned. He had a spare he could use after his was ruined in the fight, but he always liked to have a backup just in case. Finally, he stopped by the police station to check on the investigation into the USJ incident.
Right now, he was doing a quick patrol of his usual area. The doctors had told him to take it easy and not to do any hero work for a little while, but he couldn’t sit around.
He stood and used his scarf to leap a few more buildings till he reached one a little higher.

His brain continued to play the events of last night over in his head. How could he have been so stupid, kissing Hizashi like that? He wanted him yes but that wasn’t the way to go about it. As far as he was concerned Hizashi was sending him mixed signals. He’d kissed him back last night, Shouta couldn’t forget that. But as soon as Shouta thought they were okay, that maybe Hizashi had wanted this too, he pushed him away.
Shouta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt so stupid, he let his feelings get the better of him and he lost control.
He knew he had to start making his way home, he’d been out for to long and his body was starting to tire, he needed sleep. He was nervous to return to his apartment though. For all he knew Hizashi could have packed up and left today, not wanting anything more to do with Shouta. But there was a more likely chance that he was still there and Shouta wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to him yet.
Either way he needed rest and that meant heading back home, no matter what was waiting for him.

Hizashi was sure he’d paced a hole in Shouta’s floor by the time he finally heard a key slip into the lock of the door. He spun around just in time to see Shouta walking through the door.
“Where the hell have you been?” He asked, his voice a mixture of concern and annoyance.
“I had some things to take care of, don’t worry about it.” Was all Shouta said, and he refused to meet Hizashi’s gaze.
“Don’t worry about it? You’ve been gone all day I had no idea where you were, I couldn’t even get a hold of you because you left your phone here. Did you,” He stopped rambling as he watched Shouta pull his capture scarf and goggles off his neck.
“Did you go on a patrol?” He could hear his voice getting louder, his quirk threatening to kick in with his anger.
“Yeah.” Shouta breezed past him as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Are you crazy?” Hizashi snapped at him, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him around to face him.
“You only just got the use of your arms back, and your quirk. You’re not in any shape to fight, what if you had run into a villain?” Shouta didn’t provide an answer.
“What if you had gotten hurt, how would you have called for help, you left your phone!” Hizashi tossed Shouta’s phone at him for emphasis which he promptly sat on the kitchen counter.
“Why do you care?” He asked.
Hizashi gaped at him, completely and utterly at a loss for words.
“Why do I,” He stammered and shook his head.
“Why do I care? Did you seriously just ask me that?” His voice was quiet now, almost at a whisper.
“I’ve been caring for you for the past two weeks. Hell, I’ve been caring for you for the past fifteen years, not that you ever noticed.” He snapped.
“You didn’t seem to care to much last night.” Shouta mumbled. Hizashi scoffed.
“Is that what this is about, because I pushed you away?” Shouta wouldn’t meet his gaze but Hizashi knew he was right.
“Shouta I only pushed you away because I didn’t want to take advantage of you. I know you wouldn’t normally think of me that way, that you were only expressing a fear, I didn’t want to make things awkward or put stress between us.” He tried to explain.
“You don’t think I think of you that way?” Shouta said, finally raising his head to meet Hizashi’s gaze.
“I don’t, no I don’t.” Hizashi admitted. He always knew his feelings for Shouta were one sided, he’d chalked last night up to a fluke, something he’d done in the heat of the moment.
“You’re wrong.” Shouta said simply and Hizashi’s entire world screeched to a halt.
“I know you don’t think of me that way.” Shouta said, tossing Hizashi’s words back at him.
“I’ve felt that way about you for fifteen years Hizashi. Nothing has ever changed that. What I did last night wasn’t because I was scared, or acting on a fear, it was because I wanted to. Because I’ve wanted to for so long.”
Hizashi’s whole world shifted on its axis. He could tell Shouta was still talking but his ears were ringing so loud he couldn’t hear anything. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, but on instinct his mind knew how to fix it.
He closed the distance between himself and Shouta as fast as he could, wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. He felt Shouta tense up against him in surprise then felt him relax against him, his hands running up his back and tangling in Hizashi’s hair.
Eventually Hizashi pulled away to take a breath and he punched Shouta square in the chest.
“Ow, Hizashi what the hell?”
“Fifteen years you’ve felt this way and you never said anything!” Hizashi snapped.
“I didn’t think you felt the same way, I didn’t want to make things weird.” Shouta mumbled, rubbing his chest.
“Yes, I feel the same way. I’ve felt the same way since the day I met you!” Hizashi said. He pushed at Shouta’s chest but then pulled him back in for another kiss.
“Well why didn’t you say anything then?” Shouta said when they broke apart again. Hizashi ducked his gaze and let his hands fall to play with the hem of Shouta’s shirt.
“Because I didn’t want to make things weird.” He said quietly. When he glanced back up at Shouta Hizashi could tell he was trying to hold back laughter.
“We’re really bad at this huh?” He said, but Hizashi just shook his head and pulled him in for another kiss.

“So, is it okay if I move in?” Hizashi asked later as he and Shouta lay in his bed. Shouta laughed and ran his fingers through Hizashi’s hair.
“You move quick.” He glanced down at Hizashi who’d taken up residence against his chest, he smiled up at him happily.
“I just love being here with you. These past two weeks have been really nice.” He said, placing a kiss on the skin over Shouta’s heart.
“I am glad my injuries allowed you to have such a nice time.” He joked. Hizashi scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Hizashi said, his hands beginning to wander across the smooth skin of Shouta’s chest.
“I know. And yes, you can move in. I didn’t want you to leave anyway.” Shouta said pressing a kiss to Hizashi’s forehead.
Hizashi smiled at him then leaned up and pressed his lips against Shouta’s sweetly, pleased that he could do this whenever he wanted now. He moaned quietly as Shouta deepened the kiss, running his fingers through Hizashi’s hair and pulling him closer.
“Now who’s moving quick.” Hizashi said, grinning at Shouta.
“We have fifteen years’ worth to catch up on.” He said, before pulling Hizashi back in for another kiss.

Hizashi woke up the next morning to the familiar feeling of Shouta wrapped around him, he smiled as he glanced down at him, brushing his hair away from his face. Hizashi yawned then glanced at the clock next to the bed. Six fifteen, he’d slept through the night, more importantly Shouta had slept through the night. For the first time in two weeks he’d gotten a full night’s rest.
Shouta’s thoughts seemed to mirror Hizashi’s as he roused, wrapping himself tighter around Hizashi.
“You did it.” He mumbled into the skin of Hizashi’s chest.
“What’s that?” Hizashi asked.
“In my dream, you saved me. Now I am home.”