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They just managed to catch one of the last trains for the night. Izuku could barely put one foot in front of the other, a fact that Hitoshi was already aware of as he kept his arm around the shorter man’s waist to keep him from toppling over. He wasn’t sure what they’d do if Izuku put his full weight on him and he didn’t want to find out.
The carriage they entered was nearly empty which was a blessing as it allowed Hitoshi to maneuver Izuku into the first available seat. Before he sat, he did a perfunctory check of the environment then settled down too. A couple passengers that appeared to have nodded off were sitting near the back and a woman was scrolling through something on her phone across from them. If it came down to a fight he felt like he could manage.
‘Or maybe not,’ he thought as Izuku slumped against his shoulder. Bringing his arm around him again, Hitoshi let Izuku cushion his cheek on his shoulder and carefully adjusted the red hood so it covered more of his distinctive curls. “Hey. No sleeping yet.” Izuku mumbled something that had him leaning closer. “What?”
“Not sleeping,” Izuku repeated though his eyes were definitely closed. “Just recharging. You’re comfortable.”
“You’re not Kaminari and I’m not an outlet for you to siphon off.” Hitoshi didn’t move away and let Izuku burrow closer. “This is what happens when you take too many shifts in a row. You know this.” He thought he heard a protesting mumble but the noise of the train covered it up. “Why didn’t your agency offer to drive you back?”
“Didn’t wanna bother anyone.”
“Oh, so you’re bothering me instead?”
“You’re different, Hitoshi.”
“Thanks,” he said flatly and could swear he felt Izuku giggle. There was probably a smile on his face too but Hitoshi couldn’t bend around that far in this position. Sweaters covering their outfits and body armor also made it difficult. “So glad I’m worth bothering.”
“You know that’s not what I meeean.”
Izuku’s whine was barely there and Hitoshi sighed quietly. He really must have been exhausted if he could barely put up a fight. It didn’t seem like he was injured either so it likely just came down to a natural need to sleep mixed with quirk fatigue. Even if he hadn’t intentionally broken his bones in years, Izuku always managed to overdo it somehow. But maybe that was why their peers and civilians alike always looked to him when they needed help. Even his motivation could be overdone but they all still believed in him. Relied on him.
‘A little too much,’ Hitoshi thought sourly as Izuku fell quiet again and curled closer to him. It was a slow process but he watched as Izuku turned and brought his legs over Hitoshi’s lap and tucked his head more securely under his chin. This sort of position wasn’t uncommon at home. Izuku was worse than their cats from clinginess at times with the couch and their bed being his favorite hunting grounds. In public was a different story due to how famous he was growing – barely twenty and already the #7 hero – but there was no point in reminding him of that now.
Letting arms close around his shoulders, Hitoshi breathed out and wrapped his own around Izuku’s waist to keep them connected. “You want me to try and carry you home?” When he didn’t get a response, he squeezed him carefully and felt a warm puff of air tickle his neck from a snort.
“I dunno if you can pick me up like this,” came another mumble. “Too heavy. Todoroki-kun says I’m-” Hitoshi felt rather than heard a yawn cut him off, “-mm, says I’m too dense. But he’s a distance fighter so it makes sense he doesn’t have as much muscle mass dedicated to lifting others even with his rescue training. Uraraka-san was able to lift me easier but she specializes at a closer range and worked hard to get a lot stronger. As for Iida-kun-”
Hitoshi let him ramble to keep him awake even if he was privately wondering when they had all had time to have a lifting contest recently. Maybe it was when they’d last had lunch together? The four of them always managed to get into something when they met up. As he half listened, he nudged Izuku’s legs back to the floor when he noticed their stop coming up. Detangling the arms around him was another matter but he was successful in that and getting him to stand.
It was well past midnight at this point as they maneuvered themselves off the train. The station was empty and it made the hair on the back of Hitoshi’s neck prickle in discomfort. Even if his usual working hours were at night, he at least started and ended his shift when there were people around. To see it so lifeless felt like a disaster had happened.
This distraction cost him as Izuku stumbled over his own feet, forcing Hitoshi to grab him and grunted quietly as he pulled him upright. “Todoroki’s right. You are dense,” he said and wrapped an arm around him again as they started up the stairs. It was like climbing Mount Fuji with a weight strapped to his side that had legs and some motor skills and was also his boyfriend. “Like a brick. Who was the one who said your dad’s a brick house?”
“Ashido-san,” came the response, closely followed by, “All Might’s not my dad.”
“You call him dad. Every time you’re on the phone with him and we see him, you call him dad.”
“But he’s not technically—”
“Sensei adopted me when I was ten. Are adopted parents not good enough for you now?”
He knew he was needling but he really needed Izuku to stay awake until they got home. Carrying him would have to do in a pinch but Hitoshi really, really didn’t want to try doing that. Back injuries weren’t fun. At least he was rewarded when Izuku finally raising his head and scowled. Not many people got to experience that look from the rising Symbol of Peace. Well, not anyone that didn’t know him personally and liked pushing his buttons every now and then.
“That’s not what I’m saying at all and you know it! It’s just…”
Cresting the stairs, Hitoshi let out an inaudible sigh of relief and paused to meet Izuku’s eyes only to find him suddenly looking away. Bending a little, he could see his cheeks were turning pink and felt himself start to grin. “Just?” he prompted as he got them walking again. At least it was all downhill from here to their apartment.
“Well…just…every kid wants All Might as their dad, right? It just doesn’t feel real sometimes that he wants me for his son.”
Izuku’s voice sounded so small in that moment that Hitoshi had to stop them again as he felt his chest constrict. After all the lives he’d touched and shaped, all the battles he’d won and people saved, he sometimes forgot that Izuku’s self-worth still had moments where it faltered. There had been a therapist at UA who helped him a lot with what his friends couldn’t but every now and then it crept up in moments like this when he could let himself be vulnerable. The fact that he was letting himself be so vulnerable around Hitoshi had him wrapping both of his arms around Izuku and hugging him to his chest in a fierce protectiveness that no longer surprised him.
“‘Toshi?” Izuku mumbled and twisted a little as he tried to look up. His arms were already moving around him to return the hug regardless and he was rubbing Hitoshi’s back as though he was the one who needed comforting. “What’s wrong?”
“Suddenly you’re wide awake,” Hitoshi muttered. “Figures.” There was no one around so he didn’t worry about tugging Izuku’s hood off and combed his fingers through his hair. “You don’t have to save me. I’m right here.”
“Then why—”
“I love you,” Hitoshi cut him off and his arm brought Izuku even tighter against him. The body armor digging into his skin was uncomfortable now but he didn’t care. “You’re deserving of everyone’s love, dummy. All Might’s included.”
Maybe he should have waited to say anything until they got home. But maybe he wouldn’t have been able to keep his heart out of his mouth for that long when Izuku sounded so sad. Even if that meant watching his boyfriend tear up and start taking tight, little breaths. Unable to help it, he chuckled and felt some tension release in his own chest as Izuku gripped the back of his sweater.
“Love you too. Love you so much.”
“I know you do.”
Continuing to drag his fingers through Izuku’s hair, Hitoshi then moved on to gently scratch the base of his scalp as he heard him sniffle. “You really must be tired if that got you so fast.”
“Mean.”
“Yup.”
“The worst.”
“That’s me.”
“Love you so much.”
“Love you too, Izuku. Let’s go home, okay?”
“M’kay.”
- - -
Looking at the pile their combined armor and outfits made, Hitoshi made the executive decision that it could all wait until morning to be sorted out. It wasn’t like he was particularly tired – this shift had been earlier than normal – but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to actually share a bed with Izuku for longer than their usual hour. It was the price they paid for being in a relationship with a pro who was in the spotlight and underground respectively.
Tora gave him a look that he could only imagine was betrayal when he picked her up out of his spot and set her at the foot of the bed. “Go see your sister,” he said and was quick to lie down before she could scamper her way back up. Kuma had already taken up her usual position on Izuku’s ankles and was purring in contentment. “She’s just happy to be here. You could learn some gratitude. And manners.”
Cracking open an eye, Izuku smiled and shuffled closer to Hitoshi. “I think you need to come the next time our friends wanna get together. You’re giving them too much personality again.” It was a shame he chose that moment to yawn and got to miss Hitoshi’s purposeful look of misunderstanding. “Gotta socialize you too.”
“I’m plenty social,” Hitoshi argued, voice quiet as he brought Izuku into his arms. “I’m the most social person I know and I know at least six people excluding the cats.”
A quiet giggle was his only response and he cupped Izuku’s cheek as he watched him fall asleep. He always did drop off quickly when they were together. That tight feeling was back in his chest but it didn’t hurt this time.
“Izuku?”
Quiet breathing was his only response so he leaned in to kiss his forehead. Hitoshi could have grabbed his phone after that and let his natural insomnia play out. But he didn’t. Instead, he pressed their foreheads together gently and smiled.