Chapter Text
Tiredness had set into Izuku Midoriya, all the way to the bones. The multiple villains he had fought with Todoroki and Katsuki were difficult to handle, enough to tire him out. He’d had the several years after graduation to fully develop the use of his quirk, but with that, came not seeing his friends often. Which is why he was glad he’d gotten the opportunity to see them, especially Todoroki. He hadn’t admitted it out loud, but all his feelings from UA had flooded his senses, making him slightly dizzy and less alert than usual: one of the reasons it had taken longer to detain them than he had expected.
Rain startled him out of his thoughts, and he sighed, rubbing his shoulders to get rid of the ache. His eyes grew heavy and he couldn’t bring himself to activate his quirk and go home, so he continued down the alley he had landed in to shake off the news reporters. A noise from next to him made him stop in his tracks, turning his head slowly, startled when he saw two young boys.
They were sat, huddled together, in a tipped over box so they were sheltered from the rain. Izuku crouched down to get a better view of them, still surprised someone had abandoned two children here. The boy on the right was blonde and angry looking, making him Izuku smile, clearly reminded of his friend (not that Kacchan would admit they were friends). The other had half white hair and half red, with a scar around his left blue eye.
“What the…” Izuku pulled back, on-edge and confused as to why they were so similar to his old classmates. He glanced down the alley, trying to find the person who had left them.
The Shoto-like boy made a noise, drawing Izuku’s attention back to them. His arms were reaching out to the hero, with the blonde grumpily staring at him. He couldn’t just leave them there. It was for the best if he took them. He tried to convince himself it was a good idea as he picked the two up. They were cold to the touch, so he held them close to him, as he activated his quirk. His rest would have to wait. He tightened his grip, making sure not to hold the children too tight as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, on his way home.
*****
“This is Todoroki Shoto. I’m not here, leave a message.” Deku sighed when he heard his monotone friend’s voicemail message. Damn. No answer.
“Um, hi Sho!” Izuku awkwardly left a voicemail, not seeing the dual haired toddler perk up at the nickname. “Listen, I found this kid in an alley, and he looks like you… Weird, I know. I was wondering if you could come over? Call me when you get this!”
Izuku groaned, falling onto the sofa next to the toddlers. He was tired after his action-packed day and the surprise of finding the kids. He craned his neck, looking upside-down at the boys. The blondie was already asleep, adorably curled up in the blanket he’d left them on. Sleep felt like a good plan. Izuku closed his eyes, letting the tension from his day fade away, his shoulders dropping.
“Oh!” He was surprised to see the Todo lookalike peering down at him.
“Hi.” He smiled at the boy, adjusting himself so he was sitting normally. The boy climbed into his lap right away, and Izuku took him into his arms.
“Aren’t you tired?” He asked, feeling exhaustion wash over himself. The dual-haired boy shook his head, making Izuku’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“You understand what I’m saying?” The boy nodded and Izuku smiled at him.
“What a smart little guy!” He tickled the toddler’s stomach, smiling at the giggle he got in response.
“You might not be tired, but I sure am. I’m going to bed.” He placed the boy down, going to get up but getting stopped when the toddler climbed onto him again.
“What, you want to sleep with me? I don’t know.” He stared at the boy, who pouted, and his resolve crumbled. The boy was just too cute!
“Fine. But only because you’re cute.”
*****
Izuku woke up, having completely forgotten about the day before. That was until he felt a small body curled up against him, snoring softly. He glanced down, looking at the small boy. Adorable! He gently eased away, trying not to wake the kid as he went into the living room. The blonde kid was asleep too, leaving Izuku to wonder what toddlers could eat for breakfast. He decided to just make toast, since he wasn’t a good enough cook to make something fancier. He cut up the children’s toast into strips, still unsure on how to deal with them.
“Alright, little Shoto.” Izuku gently nudging the boy awake. “I don’t know your name, so… It’s breakfast time!”
Little Shoto was easily carried to the table, but the same couldn’t be said for Little Bakugo, who growled when awoken and glowered at Izuku until he set him down at the table.
“I hope this is okay.” Izuku addressed the two, shrugging an apology. “I can’t really make anything else.”
The two didn’t respond, and started eating, giving Izuku a thought.
“Can you talk?”
The dual-haired boy stared at Izuku, who elaborated.
“I mean, you’re about 2 or 3, and that’s when children start talking, right?”
There’s a pause before the blonde opened his mouth. “De…ku.”
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, unsure where he’d heard that name. He hadn’t said what he was called, and he definitely didn’t use his hero name. Maybe he had watched the news with him on. After all, he was pretty famous.
“Toast.” The other responded and Izuku smiled.
“Right! That’s a good start. We’ll talk about names later.”
“Stu…pid Deku.” The blonde stuttered slightly and Izuku was very confused. This kid was reminding him of Kacchan more and more.
“No, call me Izuku.” He didn’t particularly like the idea of a kid calling him his hero name every time they talked, especially if it came with stupid in front of it.
“Izuchan!” Little Shoto shouted and Izuku smiled.
“Yeah! Call me Izuchan.”
*****
“This is Todoroki Shoto. I’m not here, leave a message.” Izuku flopped onto his bed, holding his phone next to his ear. He had wanted to hear his friend’s (well, crush’s) voice so he’d left the kids in the lounge with the TV on. He checked for a response from Katsuki, but he hadn’t got one.
“Damnit.” He sighed, unsure what to do now. He phoned Todoroki again, turning it on speaker as it rang out.
“This is Todoroki Shoto. I’m not here, leave a message.”
“Hey, Sho. It’s Izuku… Listen, I’m in a weird situation here and I really want some help. I don’t know who else to talk to except you… It was always easy to talk to you. Remember when we were best friends in UA? I enjoyed every second with you, Shocchan.” Izuku blushed, realising he had used the nickname he’d always wanted to call Shoto but never had the courage.
“God, I had such a crush on you. I guess some things never change, huh…” He stared at the profile picture of Shoto in his contacts.
“Hah, as if I could ever send that…” He deleted the message, staring up at the ceiling. He should probably get dressed and get back to the kids. He headed towards his en-suite, unaware of the red-and-white-haired boy peering through the small gap in the slightly ajar door.
“Hey, boys. We’re going out.” Izuku headed into the living room, seeing the blonde grumble and wander away from him. When he glanced down at the other boy, he could’ve sworn he saw a small blush.
“Shocchan.” Izuku’s face turned red as he stared at the boy.
“W-What?”
“Shocchan. Crush.” He pointed up at Izuku, whose eyes widened.
“U-Uh, it’s crushing me that I haven’t seen my friend Shocchan for a while! Yeah… Okay, let’s go!” He ushered the boys out the door, blushing and the dual haired boy giggled slightly.
*****
“Hmm. Just as I thought.” Izuku’s friend on the police sat back in his chair, his fingers interlaced. He’d come to see if anyone had reported two missing children, but his friend insisted their prints were to be checked. “In your fight with that gang yesterday, Ground Zero and Shoto were both hit with an unknown quirk. We’ve since found out it was a quirk that reverses the age of people.”
Izuku stared at his friend, before looking at the two boys on his lap. The blonde was always mad and called him ‘Stupid Deku’. Totally pluasinale that it was Kacchan. Izuku cringed when he looked over at Shoto. He had heard the call, there was no denying it. Todoroki knew that he had a crush on him. It was official. He was going to jump off a cliff.
“Do you know how long it should last?”
“Not precisely.” His friend shrugged. “Anywhere between a day and two weeks.”
“Stupid!” Kid Kacchan shouted, an explosion erupting from his palm and Izuku wrapped an arm around him.
“Ah, sorry. Will they remember this?”
“I see no reason why not. Be sure they’re sleeping somewhere where they have enough room for an adult, since the transformation back should happen overnight.”
Izuku nodded. Damn. It’ll be a long two weeks.